USA > Virginia > A history of Virginia : from its discovery and settlement by Europeans to the present time. Vol. I > Part 24
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The Indians properly belonging to Eastern Vir- ginia had been effectually subdued, and Jeffries succeeded in making a treaty with the western tribes, by which they bound themselves to terms of friendship with the whites. This compact was concluded at Williamsburg, or the Middle Planta- tion, as it was then called, and was ratified with all due solemnity.b But it did not long restrain the savages. No oaths or forms that the red men of America have ever been induced to assume,
a This Robert Beverley was the rally her martyr. Burk, ii. 214; same heretofore mentioned as giv- Hening, iii. 548, Hist. Documents. ing active aid to Sir William Berke- ley. He opposed the rebellion ; ii. 219.
b Beverley, 77; Keith, 162 ; Burk, but he loved freedom, and was lite-
374
FORTS ON THE RIVERS.
[CHAP. VII.
have been strong enough to hold their hands, when a hope for revenge was awakened by a prospect for its indulgence.
Sir Herbert did not long wear his honours in the colony. He died in the close of the year 1678, and was succeeded by Sir Henry Chicheley, already well known as a member of the Council.a This gentleman has the rare merit of having done many things for the good of his charge, and of having left undone many things that would have been to her injury. (1679, April 25.) During his government, the Assembly passed an act for erect- ing strong forts at the heads of the four rivers, Po- tomac, Rappahannocjames, and Mattapony, and for placing in them sufficient garrisons to guard the country from sudden irruptions of the savages.b This measure was salutary, but expensive. It was continued in use some years; but was finally dis- placed by a less cumbrous substitute. Two other acts, passed by the Assembly of 1679, have been censured by every historian who, in subsequent years, has turned his eyes upon them. Yet they merit something more than hasty condemnation. Reciting the many evils which had afflicted the colony from the importation of tobacco by sea, the Assembly enacts, that no more shall be imported into Virginia from the other colonies round the
b Hening, ii. 433-440; Beverley,
a Burk, ii. 223, Beverley, 78, Keith, 162, says Sir William Chicheley. 78; Keith, 162; Burk, ii. 223. The author of the. "Outline," in Howe, 82, &c., calls him Sir Henry Chickerly.
375
THOMAS LORD CULPEPER.
1679.]
capes, in any ship, sloop, boat, or other vessel. This act has been ridiculed as operating unfavour- ably upon Virginia, by diminishing her shipping, and preventing her from obtaining a monopoly of the carrying trade from Maryland and North Ca- rolina.ª But let it be remembered, that under the Navigation Laws, every particle of tobacco imported from the other colonies bore a tax on entering port. If reshipped, it was taxed again, and on landing in England it must receive a farther burthen. It would not increase, it would rather diminish the average price of tobacco, thus to accumulate it in one state; and Virginia, whose heaviest interest was bound up in the culture of this weed, would not have been compensated for the real loss thus incurred, by seeing an increased number of British ships and British sailors in her navigable waters. The law particularly relating to Maryland was a measure of retaliation, called for by her illiberal conduct as to Virginia vessels and goods, and it was to cease when this northern sister amended her ways.b. Men are seldom blind to their pecu- niary interests. The very fact that other settle- ments found it to their advantage to export tobacco to the older colony, proves the wisdom of Virginia in refusing to receive it into her ports.
Early in this year a new governor arrived from England. Thomas Lord Culpeper had already been introduced to the people of the colony, by
a Beverley, 78; Keith, 163; Burk,
b These two laws may be read in ii. 223. The author of the Outline, Hening, ii. 445-447, acts viii. and ix. in Howe, 82, calls this " a silly act."
376
THOMAS LORD CULPEPER. [CHAP. VII.
the letters of the King, giving to him and to an- other favourite, the fairest part of their broad lands. He came now to visit his subjects and overlook in person his Northern Neck. He had been bred in the worst school in Europe, and soon proved him- self an accomplished scholar. A polished manner covered a cold heart; an appearance of liberality concealed insatiate cravings for money ; professions of respect and affection for the colony, accompanied a secret disgust and uneasiness at the very thought of residing upon its soil. His only wish was to realize as much gain from his office as possible, to inveigle the simple burgesses into an increase of his perquisites and his presents, to effect a profitable compromise of his claims upon the Northern Neck, and to return to the luxuries of England with the enjoyments of a sinecure.
He opened his game by publishing an act of in- demnity for the benefit of all who had been enga- ged in Bacon's Rebellion,a and by various courte- sies he insinuated himself into the hearts of the lawmakers for Virginia. The result of his good management soon became apparent, and the hope- less settlers had cause long to regret their compla- cency to his smooth lordship. The members of Assembly, feeling through all the nerves of their bodies the mesmeric touch of the Governor, hast- ened to show their gratitude. The salary of his office had been one thousand pounds per annum ; they immediately raised it to two thousand, and in
a Hening, ii. 458-464; Beverley, 78, 79; Kent, 163; Burk, ii. 224; Campbell, 85 ; Outline in Howe, 82.
377
A LOVER OF MONEY.
1679.]
the height of their loyalty they made perpetual the duties and quit-rents accruing to the King which had theretofore been subject to their own revisal.ª Thus they deliberately resigned the only power of self-defence they had heretofore pos- sessed against the encroachments of majesty and its minions.
But this was not all; it had been the custom of masters of foreign ships on ascending the James to present to the Governor wines, liquors, and pro- visions, to cheer his soul and sustain him in his arduous labours. To make this praiseworty cus- tom more useful, Culpeper procured an act impo- sing a regular duty proportioned to their tonnage on all such ships, which was to be applied to the benefit of himself and his successors in office.b The Assembly, having provided for his table, gave him one hundred and sixty pounds per annum for the rent of the gubernatorial mansion. We are surprised that we do not find appropriations to build stables for his horses, sheds for his cows, and ken- nels for his canine companions.
· Having obtained nearly as much by open de- mand as he could venture to accept, his lordship next resorted to an ingenious scheme of secret knavery. He had received from the King instruc-
a Act iii., Hening, ii. 466-469; been better expressed than by ma- Beverley, 79; Burk, ii. 225; Ban- king an addition of one thousand croft, ii. 247. Campbell, 85, says, pounds to his salary" !! "the prudent administration of Cul- b Burk, ii. 225; Beverley, 79, 80, gives the rate of duty. peper entitled him to the friendship of the colony, which could not have
378
HIS KNAVERY.
[CHAP. VII.
tions to disband the regiment of soldiers sent over to quell the late rebellion, and to pay them their respective dues. In view of this, he began to ex- press great concern at the depreciated value of sil- ver coin in the colony, which caused a constant drain to the other settlements in which the depre- ciation did not exist. The Assembly were propo- sing to remedy the evil, but Culpeper reminded them that the right to regulate the value of coin, was a high prerogative of the crown with which they had no right to interfere. As the representa- tive of the King, he then issued a proclamation raising the current value of the silver coin known as "pieces of eight" from five to six shillings. Having previously procured an immense number of these pieces of eight, he immediately paid off the unlucky soldiers at the increased value, thus realizing unto himself the consoling profit of twelve pence in every amount of five shillings.ª
But some time afterwards, he found his own salary and perquisites paid in this same money at its current rate, and not being at all content with this evenhanded justice, he incontinently issued another proclamation and reduced the coin to its former value ! His object had been gained, and his avarice had little regard for the losses of others.b
Although Virginia now furnished every thing
a Beverley, 80; Keith, 164; Ban- be suspected of making an unjust croft, ii. 247. Mr. Burk, ii. 238, 239, attack upon a royal governor. attempts to defend Culpeper on this b Beverley, 81 ; Keith, 164; Burk, charge, but surely Beverley will not ii. 238.
379
ACT OF COHABITATION.
1680.]
that was essential to moderate desires, she was not yet cursed with the luxurious pleasures that had gained admission into England during the reign of Charles the Second. (Aug.) Lord Culpeper hastened back to the mother country, to renew his old associations, and to live on the profits of his office. Sir Henry Chicheley again assumed the government. From this time, we note the perma- nent establishment of a custom which had already prevailed to some extent. The governor-in-chief preferred to reside in England, and enjoyed a reve- nue of twelve hundred pounds; the lieutenant- governor resided in the colony, performed all the duties, and received eight hundred pounds for his salary.ª At first, the King did not heartily, ac- quiesce in this arrangement, and preferred that the governor should dwell on the soil of his province; but gradually this rule was relaxed, until it became a dead letter.
After the departure of Culpeper, the act of " Co- habitation," passed by the last Assembly, went into effect: With many in the colony, it had long been a favourite scheme to have towns, on the rivers, and to imitate, as far as possible, the policy of the northern settlements. The spirit pervading Virginia was opposed to this scheme. The people preferred their free lives in the country, to the con- ventional restraints of city manners; and, with some justice, they regarded towns as the instru- ments of oppression ; useful for little except to en- force the hated Navigation Laws. When ships en-
a Note to Grahame's Colon. Hist., iii. 65.
380
ACT OF COHABITATION.
[CHAP. VII.
tered their rivers, they traded up and down as far as tide-water extended; anchoring whenever and wherever they found it expedient, and lading or unlading their cargoes at one or several planta- tions, as events might require. The Assembly at- tempted that which never has been and never will be accomplished. Selecting many points on the principal rivers, they forthwith gave them the dig- nity of " towns ;" forbade ships to receive or dis- charge freight at any other places; and required all persons to bring their produce to these favoured points.ª But the legislature soon discovered that it was easier to make laws than to make cities. Omnipotence may call a world into being by a command; but man cannot legislate into existence even the most humble hamlet. The laws of trade are paramount even to the enactments of an Eng- lish Parliament.
When ships came into the rivers, they found it almost impossible to obey this law ; the planters refused to bring their tobacco to a distance, at great expense, when they might load it so easily before their own doors. Some voyages were en- tirely lost; some daring men openly defied the law; others sought to evade it; disorder crept into the movements of commerce; criminal proceed- ings were instituted against many citizens; and nearly all parties united in anathematizing a sys- tem so pregnant with folly and evil.b
a Hening, ii. 471-478. Mr. He- b Hist. Doc., in Hening, iii. 541 ; ning, with great propriety, calls these Burk, ii. 229, 230; Bancroft, ii. nurslings of the Assembly, " paper 248.
towns."-Hist. Doc., iii. 541.
1682.] DESTRUCTION OF TOBACCO PLANTS. 381
Its remote results were worse than was its im- mediate operation. The derangement in trade caused a farther decline in the price of tobacco ; all previous efforts of the Assembly, to procure what was called " cessation,"ª in Maryland and North Carolina, had failed; the people were driven to despair by the insufficiency of their only re- source to supply their wants. Stormy passions began to rise, and the public mind was so much excited, that nothing but a leader seemed needful to renew the fires kindled a few years before in
the oppressed colony. (1682, May 1.) In this crisis, many inhabitants of Gloucester, New Kent, and Middlesex Counties, assembled, and directed their rage not against their fellow-men, but against the devoted weed of their land. They fell upon the tobacco plants with vigour, and in a short time cut up the whole growing crop, covering extended fields in their respective counties.b They directed their fatal attack chiefly to the sweet-scented to- bacco, because this kind was raised in Virginia alone, and they hoped thus greatly to enhance its price.
(1682.) Intimations of a threatened tempest had been carried across the Atlantic, and the King commanded Lord Culpeper to repair in person to the seat of his government. He arrived in No-
a That is, cessation from planting Report of Council to Governor, on the weed for a year or more, until its the state of the country, Hening, ii. price should rise. Outline, in Howe, 562; Beverley, 81; Keith, 164; 82; Hist. Doc., in Hening, iii. 541, Burk, ii. 234; Grahame, i. 131; Ban- croft, ii: 248; Chalmers's Revolt 542.
b Hist. Doc., in Hening, iii. 542. Am. Colon., i. 165.
382
RIOTERS EXECUTED.
[CHAP. VII.
vember, and immediately appeared before the Council and Assembly. His temper was soured by disappointment, and he regarded with disgust the people, to govern whom he was called from the luxuries of the English court. He rebuked both councillors and burgesses for remissness in duty, and threw out dark threats of chastisement, if they again incurred his displeasure. The to- bacco rioters were prosecuted with the utmost rigour ; many of them were already in jail, and were immediately brought forth to be placed upon trial. It will not be premature at once to state the result of this remarkable outbreak. Most of the offenders were too obscure to be detected; but some were followed with all the vindictive energy of the law. At the session of 1684, an act was passed, denouncing the penalty of death against the offence of plant-cutting, and declaring a com- bination for the purpose to be high treason.ª Lord Culpeper had, by proclamation, on the 22d May, 1683, pardoned all the rioters, except seven indivi- duals, whose names are given ;b and in 1684, during the administration of Lord Howard, six of these unhappy men were executed under previous con- viction and sentence." It is to be feared they suf- fered under that most terrible of all engines of power-an ex post facto law.
& Act ii., Hening, iii. 10. See John Wise, John Hayley, John Sack- also iii. 542, Hist. Doc.
b Proclam., in Hening, iii. 563, 564. The names of the excepted are, Richard Bayley, Henry Ismon,
ler, Thomas Amies, and Robert Be- verley.
c Burk, ii. 278.
383
1684.] ROBERT BEVERLEY PERSECUTED.
A more noble victim than these had felt the weight of kingly persecution. The name of Ro- bert Beverley is comparatively unknown in Vir- ginia, yet does it merit to be preserved among the records of those who have suffered martyrdom in the cause of liberty. We have already seen that he refused to yield the journals of the House of Burgesses when demanded by the royal commis- sioners. His conduct was approved by the Assem- bly, who voted that the forcible taking of their re- cords was " a violation of their privileges; and de- sired satisfaction to be given them, that they might be assured no such violation should be offered for the future."a. When this magnanimous act was reported to Charles, he was startled by its boldness, and immediately commanded that it should be erased from the journals of the house, and that Culpeper should have a bill introduced into the Assembly condemning its previous conduct. Be- fore the second arrival of his lordship, the proceed- ings against Beverley commenced. (May 9.) Un- der the pretext that he had fomented opposition to the " paper towns," had urged on clamours for an Assembly, and had incited the plant-cutters to their work, he was seized and sent aboard the Duke of York, a ship of war then lying at James-
a Hening, ii. 560; Burk, ii. 215. me to decide. Another case was b Order made by King Charles II. furnished by the celebrated "Ex- 21st Dec., 1681. Hening, ii. 560, punging Resolution" passed by the Senate of the United States, Janu- ary 16th, 1837. 561. This was the first " expunging act" ever carried into effect in Ame- rica, so far as my researches enable
384 ROBERT BEVERLEY PERSECUTED. [CHAP. VII.
town, and commanded by Captain John Purvis.ª Three members of Council were ordered to seize his papers, and if necessary to break open doors in order to obtain them.b
It would be painful rather than instructive to follow Beverley through the various scenes of deli- berate persecution prepared for him by the govern- ment. He was hurried from ship to ship, perhaps from fear that he would be forcibly set at liberty if confined on land. He was sent to the Eastern Shore, and subjected to rigid custody. He escaped once, and was immediately afterwards seized and guarded with increased vigilance. His demand for a lawful trial, and for information of the charges against him, was unheard. His prayer for the sacred writ of habeas corpus was refused, or was granted only that he might be mocked by the appearance of its protection. When at length Lord Culpeper re- turned to the colony, it was thought necessary to proceed in form against the prisoner. (Jan. 10.) In addition to the charges already made, it was considered best to fortify their case by accusing him of having broken open letters containing writs for electing members of the House of Burgesses.c Sir Henry Chicheley asserted that this act was without his consent, but it is certain that Beverley had warrant for his conduct, having received the
a Hening, iii. 543, 544; Burk, ii. 545; Burk, ii. 241. These names 241. are yet known in Virginia, and b These members were Ralph their possessors now, it is hoped, Wormeley, Matthew Kemp, and hate oppression.
Christopher Wormeley. Hening, iii.
c Hening, iii. 548; Burk, ii. 245.
1683.] ROBERT BEVERLEY PERSECUTED. 385
letters by a messenger from the Lieutenant-Go- vernor, with permission to examine their contents if he thought proper.a Thus was this resolute victim kept in close confinement, debarred from the privileges of life, the joys of family intercourse, and the test of a fair trial, until Culpeper passed out of office and a successor assumed his station, and rivalled his tyranny.
His lordship was not content with individual wrong; he aimed a blow at the whole colony, and directed his assault to a point peculiarly sensitive and unprotected. Heretofore the General Assem- bly had been the supreme judicial tribunal of Virginia, to which appeals lay even from the Ge- neral Court, composed of the members of Council. Culpeper knew that the Assembly would be per- fectly intractable on the subject of his claims upon the Northern Neck. Whenever a question involv- ing his right to this territory came before them, he could expect nothing but signal defeat. With much mean ingenuity, he fanned the flames of a contest between the Council and Burgesses as to their judicial rights, and at length on pretence of deciding it, he referred the matter to King Charles, who immediately took away all power as a court from the Assembly, and made the Council the final tribunal, except in cases involving more than one hundred pounds, in which an appeal was al-
a This is proved by the affidavit of Richard Farmer, given in He- ning, iii. 561, 562.
5 VOL. I.
25
386
A COMPROMISE. 1
[CHAP. VII.
lowed to the King in Council.ª (May 23.) Thus at one fell stroke the House of Burgesses lost all judicial power, and this tremendous arm of go- vernment was subjected directly or indirectly to the will of the English sovereign. Lord Culpeper had no longer any reason to fear opposition in his encroachments upon the proprietors of the North- ern Neck. His principal difficulty was to get agents willing to represent him among these high- souled planters. Wearied with litigation, they at length determined to effect a compromise of the con- flicting claims, but his lordship derived little profit from his success, having, in 1684, surrendered his grant to the King. After James II. ascended the throne, he again made a full grant of this territory to the Culpeper family, of which the sole heiress married Thomas, Lord Fairfax, from whom was descended the, Earl whose name even to the pre- sent day graces the title deeds of landed proprie- tors in this pleasant portion of Virginia.ª
a Beverley, 83; Marshall's Am. d On the 17th of October, 1746, Colon., i. 163; Keith, 165; Hening, commissioners appointed by direc- iii. 550 ; Bancroft, ii. 248, 249. The tion of King James II. traced the first three authorities say " three hundred pounds," but the original record in Hening, says one hundred. b Beverley, 83, says, " After him Col. George Brent, and Col. William Fitzhugh, that were noted lawyers and inhabitants of said Neck, were employed in that affair, but succeed- ed no better than their predeces- sors."
1
dividing line between Maryland and Virginia, and planted " The Fairfax Stone" at the head of the north branch of Potomac River. This branch is often called the Cohongoroota. See Kercheyal's Hist. Valley of Va., 209-215, and the very able re- port of Charles James Faulkner, Esq., relative to the boundary line be- tween Virginia and Maryland, dated Nov. 6, 1832, in Kercheval, 215-223,
c Bancroft, ii. 249.
1684.]
HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM.
1 387
The Governor remained upon the soil of the colony as short a time as decency would permit. He fled again to the delights of England, and so fascinated did he become, that his master could not, drive him to his task. Charles could be stern when his caprice required it. He brought Cul- peper to a trial, on the charge of having misapplied the provincial revenues, and the verdict of a jury solemnly affirmed the justice of the charge.ª He lost his commission, and for a few years at least, he was driven from the sunshine of royal favour.
(1684, April 15.) A change of men in the co- lony produced no salutary change of measures. English governors, at this time, were formed in the same mould, and we mark but little difference between them, except that some were more suc- cessful in pillage than others. Lord Howard, of Effingham, appeared in Virginia, and his commis- sion from the King was read on the 15th of April. He came with the hope and design of gathering money, and to this end his prominent measures were directed. He commenced with an annual tax of twenty shillings upon school-masters, pro- bably to prove his appreciation of learning, and his desire for its progress in the colony. Had he given a heavy bounty to this invaluable class of men, in-
Keith, 167. The author has fre- a Grahame's Colon. Hist. i. 131,
quently seen the signature of Lord 132. Fairfax. It is regarded as evidence of a good title in the Northern Neck, but it is a permanent badge of royal selfishness. Read Stephens's Heirs vs. Swann, ix. Leigh, 404-421.
b Beverley, 85 ; Keith, in general terms, 167.
388
HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM. [CHAP. VII.
stead of taxing them, he would have been a bene- factor not merely to his own, but to subsequent times. He imposed a tax of five pounds upon lawyers in the General Court, and fifty shillings on those practising in inferior courts. Probates of wills, and letters of administration were soon laden with pecuniary burthens. Nothing that could bear an impost escaped the vigilant eye of this ex- actor. Even when the unhappy plant-cutters, who had escaped theretofore, were brought to exe- cution, he seemed more anxious to gratify his own avarice than to provide victims for insulted sove- reignty. The greater part of their estates, by an old order of Council, which was produced for the occasion, became the property of the Governor.ª With such temptations, Effingham would wil- lingly have seen the most substantial men in the colony wreaking their revenge upon the growing crop of tobacco.
Although he was profoundly ignorant of the higher mysteries in legal science, he fell into an error too common in such cases. He believed him- self to be one of the most enlightened of jurists. He erected a Court of Chancery, in which he him- self presided, to pass upon the rights of people compelled to sue in his court, and astonish them by his luminous decrees.b It is not improbable, that he was urged to this measure by a wish to secure the fees of the office, rather than by the suggestions of his ridiculous vanity.
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