USA > Virginia > History of the colony and ancient dominion of Virginia > Part 23
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In the year 1670 complaints were made to the general court by members of the council and others, being gentlemen, of the coun- ties of York, Gloucester, and Middlesex, representing their ap- prehensions of danger from the great number of felons, and other desperate villains, sent hither from the prisons of England. Masters of vessels were prohibited from landing any such con- victs or jail-birds. In 1671 Captain Bristow and Captain Walker
* Beverley, B. i. 64. + P. W. Leland, in Hist. Mag., iii. 41. ¿ Jefferson's Notes on Virginia, 97; Hening, ii. 274.
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were required to give security in the sum of one million pounds of tobacco and cask, that Mr. Nevett should send out the New- gate-birds within two months. Mr. Jefferson* has made the fol- lowing remark: "The malefactors sent to America were not suf- ficient in number to merit enumeration as one class out of three which peopled America. It was at a late period of their history that the practice began. I have no book by me which enables me to point out the date of its commencement; but I do not think the whole number sent would amount to two thousand." And he supposed that they and their descendants did not, in 1786, ex- ceed four thousand, "which is little more than one-thousandth part of the whole inhabitants." Mr. Jefferson appears to have been mistaken in his opinion, that malefactors were not sent over until a late period in the annals of Virginia; and he probably underrated the, number of their descendants.
The acts prohibiting the exportation of wool, hides, and iron, were repealed, and every one was "permitted to make the best he can of his own commodity." The preamble to the act for the naturalization of foreigners declares, that "nothing can tend more to the advancement of a new plantation, either to its defence or prosperity, nor nothing more add to the glory of a prince, than being a gracious master of many subjects; nor any better way to produce those effects than the inviting of people of other nations to reside among us by communication of privileges."t
In 1672 the assembly provided for the defence of the country by rebuilding and repairing of forts. Repeated and vigorous laws were enacted providing for the apprehension of runaways; rewards were offered the Indians for apprehending them. A negro slave was valued at four thousand five hundred pounds of tobacco; an Indian slave at three thousand pounds of tobacco.
* Writings of Jefferson, i. 405.
+ Hening, ii. 289.
CHAPTER XXX.
1670-1671.
Governor Berkley's Reply to Inquiries of the Lords Commissioners of Planta- tions-Government of Virginia-Militia-Forts-Indians-Boundary-Com- modities-Population-Health-Trade-Restrictions on it-Governor's Salary -Quit-rents-Parishes-Free Schools, and Printing.
THE lords commissioners of foreign plantations, in 1670, were Arlington, Ashley, Richard George W. Alington, T. Clifford, S. Trevor, Orlando Bridgeman, C. S. Sandwich, president, Thomas Grey, - Titus, A. Broucher, H. Slingsby, secretary, Hum. Winch, and Edmund Waller. These, during this year, pro- pounded inquiries to Sir William Berkley, governor, respecting the state and condition of Virginia; and his answers made in the year following present a satisfactory statistical account of the co- lony. The executive consisted of a governor and sixteen coun- cillors, commissioned by the king, to determine all causes above fifteen pounds; causes of less amount were tried by county courts, of which there were twenty. The assembly met every year, composed of two burgesses from each county. Appeals lay to the assembly; and this body levied the taxes. (This power was delegated for some years to the executive.) The legislative and executive powers rested in the governor, council, assembly, and subordinate officers. The secretary of the colony sent the acts of the assembly to the lord chancellor, or one of the princi- pal secretaries of state. All freemen were bound to muster monthly in their own counties; the force of the colony amounted to upwards of eight thousand horsemen. There were five forts: two on the James, and one on each of the three rivers, Rappahan- nock, York, and Potomac; the number of cannon was thirty. His majesty, during the late Dutch war, had sent over thirty more, but the most of them were lost at sea. The Indians were in perfect subjection. The eastern boundary of Virginia, on the sea-coast, had been reduced from ten degrees to half of one de-
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gree. Tobacco was the only commodity of any great value; exotic mulberry-trees had been planted, and attempts made to manufacture silk. There was plenty of timber; of iron ore but little discovered. The whole population was forty thousand; of which two thousand were negro slaves, and six thousand white servants. (The negroes had increased one hundredfold in fifty years, since 1619, when the first were imported.) The average annual importation of servants was about fifteen hundred; most of them English, a few Scotch, fewer Irish; and not more than two or three ships with negroes in seven years. New plantations were found sickly, and in such four-fifths of the new settlers died. Eighty vessels arrived yearly from England and Ireland for to- bacco; a few small coasters came from New England. Virginia had not more than two vessels of her own, and those not over twenty tons. Sir William Berkley complains bitterly of the act of parliament restricting the commerce of Virginia to the British kingdom-a policy injurious to both parties; and he adds that "this is the cause why no small or great vessels are built here; for we are most obedient to all laws, while the New England men break through and trade to any place that their interest leads them to." Sir William gave it as his opinion, that nothing could improve the trade of Virginia, unless she was allowed to export her staves, timber, and corn to other places besides the king's do- minions. The only duty levied was that of two shillings on every hogshead of tobacco exported; the exportation of the year 1671 amounting to fifteen thousand hogsheads. Out of this revenue the king allowed the governor one thousand pounds, to which the assembly added two hundred more, making twelve hundred pounds, which was four-fifths of the entire customs revenue for that year. Yet he complains: "I can knowingly affirm, that there is no government of ten years' settlement but has thrice as much allowed him. But I am supported by my hopes, that his gracious majesty will one day consider me."
The king had no revenue in the colony except quit-rents ; these were not of much value, and the king gave them to Colonel Henry Norwood. Every man instructed his children at home according to his ability. "There were forty-eight parishes, and our minis- ters are well paid; by my consent should be better, if they would
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pray oftener, and preach less. But as of all other commodities, so of this, the worst are sent us; and we have had few that we could boast of, since Cromwell's tyranny drove divers men hither. But I thank God there are no free schools, nor printing, and I hope we shall not have these hundred years; for learning has brought disobedience into the world, and printing has divulged them and libels against the best governments. God keep us from both !"*
* Hening, ii. 511.
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CHAPTER XXXI.
1673-1675.
Acts of Assembly-The Northern Neck-Earl of Arlington-Threatened Revolt in 1674-Agents sent to England to solicit a Revocation of the Grants of Ter- ritory and to obtain a Charter-The effort fruitless.
THE acts of a session were headed as follows: "At a Grand Assembly holden at James City, by prorogation from the 24th day of September, 1672, to the 20th of October, Annoque Regni Regis Caroli Secundi Dei Gratia Anglia, Scotia, Francia et Hibernia, Regis, fidei Defensoris, &c., Anno Domini 1673. To the glory of Almighty God and public weal, of this his ma- jesty's colony of Virginia, were enacted as followeth."
Provision was made during this year for a supply of arms and ammunition. The commissioners appointed for determining the boundaries of the Counties of Northumberland and Lancaster were Colonel John Washington, Captain John Lee, Captain Wil- liam Traverse, William Mosely, and Robert Beverley.
The restoration, that worst of all governments, re-established an arbitrary and oppressive administration in Virginia in church and state; and as soon as reinstated, tyranny, confident of its power, rioted in wanton and unbridled license.
The grant which had been made by Charles the Second in the first year of his reign, dated at St. Germain en Laye, of the Northern Neck, including four counties and a half, to Lord Hop- ton, the Earl of St. Albans, Lord Culpepper, etc., was surren- dered , in May, 1671, to the crown, and new letters-patent were issued, with some alterations, to the Earl of St. Albans, Lord Berkley, Sir William Morton, and others,-to hold the same forever, paying annually the quit-rent of six pounds thirteen shillings and four pence to his majesty and his successors. In February, 1673, the king granted to the Earl of Arlington and Thomas, Lord Culpepper, the entire territory of Virginia, not merely the wild lands, but private plantations long settled and (274)
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improved, for the term of thirty-one years, at the yearly rent of forty shillings. The patents entitled them to all rents and es- cheats, with power to convey all vacant lands, nominate sheriffs, escheators, surveyors, etc., present to all churches and endow them with lands, to form counties, parishes, etc. Although the grants to these noblemen were limited to a term of years, yet they were preposterously and illegally authorized to make convey- ances in fee simple .*
Henry Bennet, Earl of Arlington, said to have been the best bred person at court, like his master, as far as he had any pretension whatever to religion, was a disguised Papist. He became allied to the monarch as father-in-law to the first Duke of Grafton, the king's son by Lady Castlemaine. Arlington had received, while fighting on the royal side in the civil war, a wound on the nose, the scar of which was covered with a black patch. Barbara Vil- liers, only daughter of William, Viscount Grandison, and wife of Roger Palmer, created Earl of Castlemaine in 1661, distinguished for her beauty and her profligacy, becoming mistress to Charles at his restoration, was made, in 1670, Duchess of Cleveland. Henry Bennet was created Baron of Arlington in 1663, and Vis- count Hetford and Earl of Arlington in 1672. He was also Knight of the Garter and chamberlain to the king, his chief favorite, companion in profligate pleasure, and political adviser. He and Culpepper were members of the commission of trade and plantations.
The Virginians grew so impatient under their accumulated grievances that a revolt was near bursting forth in 1674, but no person of note taking the lead, it was suppressed by the advice of "some discreet persons," and the insurgents were persuaded to disperse in compliance with the governor's proclamation. The movement was not entirely ineffectual, for justices of the peace were prohibited from levying any more taxes for their own emolu- ment .; The assembly determined to make an humble address "to his sacred majesty," praying for a revocation of the fore- mentioned grants of her territory, and for a confirmation of the rights and privileges of the colony. Francis Morrison, Thomas
* Hening, ii. 519.
¡ Ibid., ii. 315.
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Ludwell, and Robert Smith were appointed agents to visit Eng- land and lay their complaints before the king; and their expenses were provided for by onerous taxes, which fell heaviest on the poorer class of people. These expenses included douceurs to be given to courtiers; for without money nothing could be effected at the venal court of Charles the Second .* Besides the revoca- tion of the patents, the Virginia agents were instructed to en- deavor to obtain a new charter for the colony. They prayed "that Virginia shall no more be transferred in parcels to indivi- duals, but may remain forever dependent on the crown of Eng- land; that the public officers should be obliged to reside within the colony; that no tax shall be laid on the inhabitants except by the assembly." This petition affords a curious commentary on the panegyrics then but recently lavished by "his majesty's most loyal colony" upon his "most sacred majesty," who repaid their fervid loyalty by an unrelenting system of oppression. The negotiations were long, and display evidence of signal diplomatic ability, together with elevated and patriotic views of colonial rights and constitutional freedom. After many evasions and much delay, the mission eventually proved fruitless. ; Applica- tion was also made to Secretary Coventry to secure the place of governor to Sir William Berkley for life.
* Account of Bacon's Rebellion in Va. Gazette, 1766.
¡ Hening, ii. 518, 531.
CHAPTER XXXII.
1675.
The Reverend Morgan Godwyn's Letter describing Condition of the Church in Virginia.
THE Bishop of Winchester, during the whole negotiation, lent his assistance to the agents; he also brought to their notice a libel which had been published against all the Anglo-American plantations, especially Virginia. It was written by the Rev. Morgan Godwyn, who had served some time in Virginia; and he had given a copy of it to each of the bishops. The agents make mention of him as "the fellow," and "the inconsiderable wretch." They sent a copy of it to Virginia, thinking it necessary that a reply should be prepared, and addressed to the Bishop of Win- chester and the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is probable that this pamphlet is no longer extant; but the character of its con- tents may be inferred from a letter addressed by the author to Sir William Berkley, and appended to a pamphlet published by him in 1680, entitled the "Negro's and Indian's Advocate." Indeed this letter may have been itself the libellous pamphlet circulated in England in 1674, and referred to by the Virginia agents. In this letter Godwyn gives the following account of the state of religion, as it was in that province some time before the late rebellion, i.e. Bacon's, which occurred in 1676. Godwyn acknowledges that Berkley had, "as a tender father, nourished and preserved Virginia in her infancy and nonage. But as our blessed Lord," he reminds him, "once said to the young man in the gospel, 'Yet lackest thou one thing;' so," he adds, "may we, and I fear too truly, say of Virginia, that there is one thing, the propagation and establishing of religion in her, wanting." And this he essays to prove in various ways: saying that "the minis- ters are most miserably handled by their plebeian juntos, the ves- tries, to whom the hiring (that is the usual word there) and ad-
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mission of ministers is solely left. And there being no law obliging them to any more than to procure a lay reader, (to be ob- tained at a very moderate rate,) they either resolve to have none at all, or reduce them to their own terms; that is, to use them how they please, pay them what they list, and to discard them whensoever they have a mind to it. And this is the recompense of their leaving their hopes in England, (far more considerable to the meanest curate than what can possibly be apprehended there,) together with the friends and relations and their native soil, to venture their lives into those parts among strangers and enemies to their profession, who look upon them as a burden; as being with their families (where they have any) to be supported out of their labor. So that I dare boldly aver that our dis- couragements there are much greater than ever they were here in England under the usurper." After citing various evidences in support of these statements, among which he specifies the hiring of the clergy from year to year, and compelling them to accept of parishes at under-rates, Godwyn thus proceeds : "I would not be thought to reflect herein upon your excellency, who have always professed great tenderness for churchmen. For, alas ! these things are kept from your ears; nor dare they, had they opportunity, acquaint you with them, for fear of being used worse. And there being no superior clergyman, neither in coun- cil nor any place of authority, for them to address their com- plaints to, and by his means have their grievances brought to your excellency's knowledge, they are left without remedy. Again, two-thirds of the preachers are made up of leaden lay priests of the vestry's ordination; and are both the shame and grief of the rightly ordained clergy there. Nothing of this ever reaches your excellency's ear; these hungry patrons knowing better how to benefit by their vices than by the virtues of the other." And here Godwyn cites an instance of a writing-master, who came into Virginia, professing to be a doctor in divinity, showing feigned letters of orders, and under different names con- tinuing in various places to carry on his work of fraud. He states also that owing to a law of the colony, which enacted that four years' servitude should be the penalty exacted of any one who permitted himself to be sent thither free of charge, some of the
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clergy, through ignorance of the law, were left thereby under the mastery of persons who had given them the means of gratuitous transport; and that they could only escape from such bondage by paying a ransom four or five times as large as that to which the expenses of their passage would have amounted. Moreover, he describes the parishes as extending, some of them, sixty or seventy miles in length, and lying void for many years together, to save charges. Jamestown, he distinctly states, had been left, with short intervals, in this destitute condition for twenty years. "Laymen," he adds, "were allowed to usurp the office of minis- ters, and deacons to undermine and thrust out presbyters; in a word, all things concerning the church and religion were left to the mercy of the people." And, last of all: "To propagate Christianity among the heathen-whether natives or slaves brought from other parts-although (as must piously be sup- posed) it were the only end of God's discovering those countries to us, yet is that looked upon by our new race of Christians, so idle and ridiculous, so utterly needless and unnecessary, that no man can forfeit his judgment more than by any proposal looking or tending that way." Such is the Rev. Mr. Godwyn's account of the state of religion and the condition of the clergy in Vir- ginia during Sir William Berkley's administration .*
* Anderson's Hist. of Col. Church, first edition, ii. 558, 561.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
1675.
Lands at Greenspring settled on Sir William Berkley -Indian Incursions - Force put under command of Sir Henry Chicheley-Disbanded by Governor's Order-The Long Parliament of Virginia-Colonial Grievances-Spirit of the Virginians-Elements of Disaffection.
THE lands at Greenspring, near Jamestown, were settled during this year on Sir William Berkley, the preamble to the act reciting among his merits, "the great pains he hath taken and hazards he has run, even of his life, in the government and preservation of the country from many attempts of the Indians, and also in preserving us in our due allegiance to his majesty's royal father of blessed memory, and his now most sacred majesty, against all attempts, long after all his majesty's other dominions were sub- jected to the tyranny of the late usurpers; and also seriously considering that the said Sir William Berkley hath in all time of his government, under his most sacred majesty and his royal father, made it his only care to keep his majesty's country in a due obedience to our rightful and lawful sovereign," etc. The Rev. John Clayton, (supposed to be father of the Virginia naturalist,) writing in 1688, says: "There is a spring at my Lady Berkley's called Green Spring, whereof I have been often told, so very cold, that 'tis dangerous drinking thereof in summer time, it having proved of fatal consequence to several. I never tried anything of what nature it is of."
The Indians having renewed their incursions upon the frontier, the people petitioned the governor for protection. Upon the meeting of the assembly, war was declared against them in March, 1676; five hundred men enlisted, and the forts garrisoned. The force raised was put under command of Sir Henry Chicheley, who was ordered to disarm the neighboring Indians. The forts were on the Potomac, at the falls of the Rappahannock, (now Fredericksburg,) on the Matapony, on the Pamunkey, at the falls (280)
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of the Appomattox, (now Petersburg,) either at Major-General Wood's, or at Fleets', on the opposite side of the river, on the Black- water, and at the head of the Nansemond. Provision was made for employing Indians; articles of martial law were adopted; arms to be carried to church; the governor authorized to disband the troops when expedient; days of fasting appointed. The In- dians having been emboldened to commit depredations and mur- ders by the arms and ammunition which they had received, con- trary to law, from traders, a rigorous act was passed to restrain such. When Sir Henry Chicheley was about to march against the Indians he was ordered by Sir William Berkley to disband his forces, to the general surprise and dissatisfaction of the colony.
There had now been no election of burgesses since the res- toration, in 1660, the same legislature since that time having continued to hold its sessions by prorogation. It may be called the Long Parliament of Virginia in respect to its duration. Among its members may be mentioned Colonel William Clay- borne, Captain William Berkley, Captain Daniel Parke, Adju- tant-General Jennings, Colonel John Washington, Colonel Ed- ward Scarburgh. Robert Wynne was made speaker shortly after the restoration, and so continued until 1676, when he was suc- ceeded by Augustine Warner, of Gloucester. James Minge, of Charles City, was now the clerk, and had been for several years.
The price of tobacco was depressed by the monopoly of the English navigation act, and the cost of imported goods, enhanced. Duties were laid on the commerce between one colony and another, and the revenue thence derived was absorbed by the collecting officers. The planters, it is said,* had been driven to seek a remedy by destroying the crop in the fields, called "plant cutting." The endeavors of the agents in England to obtain a release from the grants to the lords and a new charter, appeared abortive. The Indian incursions occurring at this conjuncture, filled the measure of panic and exasperation. Groaning under exactions and grievances, and tortured by apprehensions, the Vir- ginians began to meditate violent measures of relief. Many of the feudal institutions of England, the hoary buttresses of mediæ-
* Account of Bacon's Rebellion, in Va. Gazette, 1766.
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val power, could have no existence in America; a new position gradually moulded a new system; and men transplanted to another hemisphere changed opinions as well as clime. Thus, in Virginia, the most Anglican, oldest, and most loyal of the colo- nies, a spirit of freedom and independence infused itself into the minds of the planters. The ocean that separated them from England lessened the terror of a distant sceptre. The supremacy of law being less firmly established, especially in the frontier, a wild spirit of justice had arisen which was apt to decline into contempt of authority. Added to this, the colony contained malecontent Cromwellian soldiers reduced to bondage, perhaps some of them men of heroic soul, victims of civil war, ripe for revolt. The Indian massacres of former years made the colonists sensitive to alarms, and impatient of indifference to their cruel apprehensions, which can hardly be realized by those who have never been subjected to such dangers. The fatigues, privations, hardships, perils of a pioneer life, imparted energy; the wild magnificence of nature, the fresh luxuriance of a virgin soil, un- pruned forests, great rivers and hoary mountains, these contri- buted to kindle a love of liberty and independence. Moreover, the disaffection of the colonists was somewhat emboldened by the civil dissensions of England, which appeared now again to threaten the stability of the throne.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
1675-1676.
Three Ominous Presages-Siege of Piscataway-Colonel John Washington-In- dian Chiefs put to death-Fort evacuated-Indians murder Inhabitants of Frontier-Servant and Overseer of Nathaniel Bacon, Jr., slain-The People take up Arms-Bacon chosen Leader-His Character-Solicits Commission from Berkley-He proclaims the Insurgents Rebels-Pursues them-Planters of Lower Country revolt-Forts dismantled-Rebellion not the Result of Bacon's Pique or Ambition-He marches into the Wilderness-Massacre of friendly Indians-Bacon returns-Elected a Burgess-Arrested-Released on Parole- Assembly meets-Bacon sues for Pardon-Restored to the Council-Nathaniel Bacon, Sr .- Berkley issues secret Warrants for arrest of the younger Bacon.
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