University of Virginia Library

I. PART I.

History of the Executives of Virginia from the Patent granted
by Queen Elizabeth to Sir Walter Ralegh, 1584, to
the close of the Revolutionary War, 1781.

INTRODUCTION.

That the great Western Continent of our earth bears witness
to a venerable past, is a world-accepted fact, and that its
gradual advance in culture has been in obedience to a fixed law
of humanity, is also a matter beyond dispute. A different distribution
of land and water on the globe is a possible factor in
the problem of the early spread of the human race, but as yet
science has not been able to solve this question, and with all the
lights of modern civilization, no sifting of the mutilated records
of the past has brought the long-sought knowledge.
No firm foundation has been found on which to fix the first
link in a chain of reasoning; no corner stone on which to
build a theory of the primeval dawn. In the language of a
distinguished scientist.

"Multitudes of races and nations have arisen upon the
American Continent and have disappeared, leaving no trace
but ruins, mounds, a few wrought stones or fragments of pottery.
History can only preserve facts founded on written
records, or bona fide traditions, and it is from these formulations
that it builds up chronology and traces the pedigree of
nations. Here all these fail. Those whom we are disposed
to call aborigines are perhaps but the conquerors of other
races that preceded them; conquerors and conquered are forgotten
in a common oblivion and the names of both have
passed from the memory of man."

It is generally agreed that Asia was the cradle of the
human race, and that by successive migrations during an
incalculable period man spread to the uttermost parts of the
globe. The stories of Memphis, Thebes, Babylon, Assyria,
Lydia, Media, and Persia, open our minds to the progress of
mankind in early days, and from the history of Egypt alone we
can form some idea of that ancient world which in process of

time was to people the whole earth. In recent wonderful
discoveries at Tel El-Amarna, in Upper Egypt, of epistolary
correspondence between Egyptian kings of the 18th dynasty
(or 15th century B. C.) and potentates of Western Asia, we
are confronted with the surprising truth that this was a
period of great literary activity, and that there was a "world
of letters" before the Hebrew conquest of Palestine, is now a
widely spread opinion. Dwelling upon the constantly unfolding
revelations of the hoary past, we may well conceive how
advanced were the nations of the ancient world, and how populous
must have been the continent which drove its surplus
human hordes upon the far shores of America. That these
waves of living men, belonging to the outer edges of Asiatic
nomadic barbarism, came to North America by Behring
Strait, and spread along the line of the 30th parallel, south,
to South America, is a plausible hypothesis, but of their
growth afterwards nothing definite can be known. It is only
supposed that they passed through the necessary processes of
evolution until, after centuries of waiting, they reached a
higher and higher plane of culture, gradually crystalizing
their ideas in so permanent a form that pre-historic remains
are scattered broadcast over the three Americas. To the
North, these vestiges of life exist from the Rocky Mountains
on the West to the Alleghanies on the East; from the Great
Lakes on the North to the Gulf of Mexico on the South; and
the monuments of Mexico, Peru, and Central America proclaim
a yet more advanced degree of culture. These last
"must have required skilled labor, a numerous population,
and an established priesthood, such as could have developed
only during the lapse of centuries."

But not the works of man alone tell of the teeming life
which in the remote past covered this continent with sentient
beings. Traces of myriads of human skeletons speak their
own story of a brief sojourn upon earth, but leave no certain
clue to solve the mystery of their being. Which way they
came, which way they went, what form they wore, is lost forever
to the grasp of human lore. Yet in the great brotherhood
of humanity, it touches a chord of sympathy to know

that these early peoples had their homes among the mountains
and valleys which we call our own; that they basked in the
same sun and slept beneath the same stars we love to gaze
on, and that they buried their bones in the same Mother Earth
that will receive our ashes! Further than this we cannot go;
Night wrapt their cradle round with darkness, and having run
their course they fell into eternal silence.

Thus, no effort of archæologist or biologist has ever
traced a history of these forgotten races, and hidden in the
shell-heap, the mound, and the pueblo, or buried beneath the
monuments of Mexico and the farther South, lie peoples that
have perished from the annals of the world, leaving in the
great march of life only a nameless grave to mark their
by-gone and mysterious existence.

This shadowy outline of what may scarce be called a
history, is that which can be told of the earliest state of
America; but the time was drawing near for a long-delayed
and higher life to which the Creator of the universe had
destined it.

For several centuries before the Christian era, philosophers
had taught that the earth was round, and that the water
which bounded Europe on the West washed also the shores
of Asia on the East. This opinion gained ground as the
years rolled on, and it was said of him who was ordained to
be the great, successful Navigator, that he "comforted himselfe
with this hope, that the land had a beginning where the
sea had an ending." To find a shorter route to India and
to win a portion of the trade as yet carried on by caravans
with the farther East, had long been the dream of the
Portuguese, the Spanish, and the English. But to students
and wise men the great field of discovery offered a nobler
aim—the certain knowledge of the formation of the globe
and the consequent advancement of mankind.

And so it came to pass in the 15th century, that Christopher
Columbus, the geographer and philosopher, the hardy mariner
and dauntless apostle of an untried creed, tempted the
"Sea of Darkness" and sailed toward the horizon's rim.
By faith and patience he fulfilled the prophecy of ages.

When he had traversed a waste of waters and robbed Old
Ocean of his hidden treasure, in the transport of his joy he
knelt and kissed the ground; at this, a reflex of "The
Sleeping Beauty" of romance, the land awoke, and

rose to renewed vitality.

Although it is asserted that the Western Continent had
been seen as early as the 10th century by roving Norsemen,
still its real discovery was made by[1] Christopher Columbus
in 1492. Imperishable be his name! Like that unchanging
star which led him on his stormy way, the splendor of his
triumph will know no going down. In undiminished brightness
will it shine as ages pass away.

In his career on earth Columbus had been called to taste
the bitter and the sweet, had known the rapture of success and
the sharp sting of base ingratitude, and, saddest to tell, had
died in want and woe. But Time has garnered up his glory.
No other navigator can claim to have discovered "The New
World"; it was he alone who opened the gates of the morning
and flooded the trackless deep with everlasting light.

When Columbus had rent the veil which hid this great
reserve of Nature, he beheld upon its shores a savage race,
a race perhaps washed on the American Continent by a later
wave of migration, from that great nursery of the world, old
Asia. Columbus called these people "Indians," believing
that the islands he had struck were but the outer
fringes of the India which he sought. Though this illusion
has been long dispelled, the names he gave remain. "Indians"
and "West Indies" abide as way-marks in the progress
of mankind.

And now, no sooner had the existence of a trans-Atlantic
continent become assured, than Western Europe rose to
seize the prize. Spain, having sent Columbus on his courageous
voyage, prepared to take advantage of his finding, and
soon acquired much territory in the South. France spread
her canvas too for conquest, and planted her banner in the

frozen North. But between these two dominions lay a vast
and unclaimed territory. Thither sent England her daring
Cabot and his sons, who landed on the New World, planted
the royal standard upon her virgin coasts, and laid an empire
at Britannia's feet—an empire stretching from the ice-clad
regions of the snow-king to the beauty, and fragrance, and
opulence of the land of the sun; whose Western and whose
Eastern coast lines are washed each by a majestic ocean, and
whose hidden and incalculable wealth made it at once the El
Dorado of hope and of fruition.

The patent conferred on John Cabot by Henry VII. is
the "most ancient American state paper of England." The
style of the commission is:

"Johanni Cabotto, Civi Venetiarum, ac Ludovico, Sebastiano,
et Sancto, Filiis dicti Johannis, etc." It is dated
March 5th, in the eleventh year of the reign of Henry VII.

Although John Cabot came from Venice, the place of his
birth is unknown, and on his second voyage to America all
trace of him is lost. But his name will adorn the annals of
England so long as the Dominion of Canada exists, and the
grand Banks of Newfoundland pour their pounds and shillings
into British coffers. These banks are one of the treasuries
of the ocean, and the most valuable fishing grounds in
the world.

It was in this wise that John Cabot took possession of the
country. He came in his first voyage upon the Western
Continent, June 24, 1497, about latitude fifty-six degrees,
among the dismal cliffs, of Labrador. He ran along the
coast for many leagues, and finally decided to land at a point
which he called Prima Vista. This is generally acceded to
be the island of Newfoundland. Here he erected a large
cross with the flag of England on it; and from affection for
the [2] Republic of Venice he added also the banner of St.
Mark.

But seventy-nine years were suffered to pass away before
England, from causes adverse to the extension of industry,
trade, and navigation, again turned to her possessions in the

New World. In 1576, Elizabeth, Queen of England, sent
out Martin Frobisher for the discovery of a northwest passage;
failing in his effort, he returned to England, from
whence he was sent again in 1577 to explore further the
coast of Labrador and Greenland. Finding his search an
unavailing task, he sailed for home, and in 1578 returned to
America with the design of forming a settlement in the northernmost
part of the continent. In this plan he was also
thwarted, and the supposed gold, which had been found in
such abundance in glittering stones and sand, proved as
delusive as the hope of establishing a home in that inhospitable
land. Still Elizabeth, dazzled by dreams of finding the
precious ore in the ice-clad regions of the North and a mine
of wealth in the fisheries of Newfoundland, readily granted
a patent to Sir Humphrey Gilbert, one of her adventurous
subjects, authorizing him to discover and take possession of
all remote and barbarous lands, unoccupied by any Christian
prince or people. She vested in him, his heirs and assigns
forever, the full right of property in the soil of those countries
of which he should take possession, to hold of the crown of
England by homage, on payment of the fifth part of the gold
or silver ore found there; conferred complete jurisdiction
within the said lands and seas adjoining them; declared that
all who should settle there should enjoy all the privileges of
free citizens and natives of England, any law, custom, or
usage to the contrary notwithstanding, and prohibited all
persons from attempting to settle within 200 leagues of any
place which Sir Humphrey Gilbert or his associates should
have occupied during the space of six years.

Gilbert soon after prepared to put to sea with a considerable
fleet; but dissensions arose and he was deserted by some
of his associates. He set sail, however, yet losing one of his
ships in a storm he returned to England, and the effort
proved abortive. On this adventure he was accompanied by
his half-brother, Sir Walter Ralegh. In 1583 Gilbert
equipped a new squadron and embarked under happier auspices.
He sailed for Newfoundland June 11, and in August,
entering St. John's harbor, he summoned the Spaniards and

Portuguese to witness the ceremonies by which he was to
take possession of the country for his sovereign. When
assembled, his commission was read and interpreted to the
foreigners. A turf and twig were then delivered to him, and
proclamation was immediately made that by virtue of his
commission from the Queen, he took possession of the harbor
of St. John and 200 leagues every way around it, for the
crown of England. Not far from this place a pillar was
erected, upon which were "infixed the armes of England."
This formal possession, in consequence of the voyage of the
Cabots, is considered by the English as the foundation of the
right and title of the crown of England to the territory of
Newfoundland and to the fishery upon its banks.

But Gilbert was not destined to enjoy the reward of his
enterprise and courage. On his return voyage the little
Squirrel which he commanded—a bark of ten tons only—
foundered at midnight in a fierce gale at sea, and ship nor
crew were ever seen again. The Hind one of the fleet,
reached home in safety, and her captain, Edward Haies,
detailed the sad disaster.

But Sir Walter Ralegh, undaunted by the tragic fate of
Gilbert, resolved to make the desperate venture once again.
Observing that the Spaniards had not yet occupied a vast
extent of territory north of the Gulf of Mexico, he hoped by
planting a colony there to thwart the Spanish and the French
from gaining entire possession of the continent. Ever since
the arrival in England, in 1565, of the Huguenots who had
escaped massacre in Florida by the Spaniards, the knowledge
of the increasing power of Rome in America had been
growing. This may have been one reason which lured the
Protestant Elizabeth to seek a permanent settlement there;
but it is certain that the reputed mines of gold in the new
country had much to do with energizing the project. So Sir
Walter Ralegh, young, accomplished, and in favor with the
Queen, had little difficulty in obtaining her consent to fit out
another expedition. She gave to Ralegh a patent with prerogatives
and jurisdictions as ample as had been granted to
his brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert.

The following is an exact copy of this interesting paper:

The expedition thus inaugurated consisted of two ships,
the one commanded by Philip Amidas, and the other by
Arthur Barlow. They sailed from England on the 27th of
April, 1584, and on July 4th following, arrived on the coast
of America. Here, somewhat north of the West Indies and
opposite what was afterwards called "Carolina," on the island
of Wocoken, the southernmost of the islands forming Ocracoke
Inlet, they lifted the British flag and took possession of the
country in the name of Queen Elizabeth.

Prophetic July 4th! Little dreamed those mariners of
England of the "Open Sesame" inscribed, unseen to mortal
eye, upon that rippling banner! Little dreamed they how it

called upon the realms of Night to yield the sceptre of her
ebon throne and let the Day come in; how it bid the Arcana
of Nature to give up to Science and to Art their hoarded
wealth; how it opened a way for the progress of Christianity,
and spread out a land of light and freedom destined to
become one of the first powers,

In September, 1584, upon their return from this voyage
of discovery, Amidas and Barlow gave such splendid descriptions
of the beauty and fertility of the country, the mildness
of the climate, and of the gentleness of the aborigines, that
Elizabeth, delighted with the idea of occupying so fine a territory,
bestowed upon it the name of "Virginia," as a memorial
that this happy acquisition was made under a virgin
Queen.

Thus did this imperial domain await the hour when, in
the providence of God, it was conceded to the mighty forces
at work among mankind, predestined to a Titanic progress under the Anglo-Saxon race, beneath the equal sway of law
and liberty.

Twice did Sir Walter Ralegh endeavor to plant a colony
upon the shores of the New World. On the island of Roanoke,
not far from "Wocoken," in 1585 and 1587, he made
these efforts, but failed in both attempts. Having thus
expended many thousand pounds in vain, he used the privilege
of his patent March 7, 1589, to endow a company of merchants
and adventurers with large concessions, and this act
was the connecting link between the first efforts on Roanoke
Island and the final colonization of Virginia.

The new instrument ("An indenture made between Sir
Walter Ralegh, Chief Governor of Virginia, on the one part,
and Thomas Smith, etc., etc., of the other part, witnesseth,
etc.,") was not an assignment of Ralegh's patent, but the extension
of a grant already held under its sanction, by increasing
the number to whom the right of that charter belonged.

The assigns of Ralegh became the leaders in applying to
James I. for leave "to deduce a colony into Virginia." He

consented, and on the 10th of April, 1606, set his seal to the
first colonial charter under which the English were planted
in America.

Although Sir Walter Ralegh was not permitted to see his
own personal schemes realized, they yet stamp him as the
author of the Plantation idea in Virginia, and the pioneer in
that great "Westward Ho," which still rings in the ears of
civilized Europe.

I.

SIR WALTER RALEGH.

I. Chief Governor of Virginia
and
Founder of Roanoke Colony.

I. 1585.

Sir Walter Ralegh, an illustrious Englishman, was
born at Hayes, in the parish of Budley, Devonshire, in 1552.
He was for some time at Oriel College, Oxford, but the pursuits
of ambition and an active life were more congenial to
his tastes than academic labors. So at the age of seventeen
he commenced his career as a soldier, being one of a number
of volunteers sent by Elizabeth to France to support the
Protestants. Here he remained nearly six years, when he
returned to England, and in 1578 embarked for the Netherlands
with the troops sent against the Spaniards. On getting
home from this expedition, he found that his half-brother,
Sir Humphrey Gilbert, had just obtained a patent
for establishing a plantation in America, and into this scheme
Ralegh entered with enthusiasm. They put to sea in 1579,
but one of their ships was lost, and the remainder were crippled
in an engagement with a Spanish fleet, so they came
back without making land.

Ralegh now began a career of brilliant services to his
country and mankind. In his military life in Ireland his
bravery and intelligence were so conspicuous in quelling the
insurgents, that he was received at court with unusual favor,
and it is narrated that his position there was much strengthened
by an act of knightly gallantry rendered personally to
the Queen. One day as her Majesty was walking, the party
came upon a muddy path, whereat the courtly Ralegh laid

his mantle at his sovereign's feet for her to step on. Elizabeth,
struck anew at the polished courtesy of her subject,
made him a knight indeed, and rewarded his many loyal
and distinguished services by several lucrative grants, including
a large share of the forfeited estates in Ireland.
Ralegh, whose talents only needed opportunity, now soon
rose to positions of honor and distinction in the royal service.
One of the most interesting subjects which occupied his
active mind was the colonization of "The New World" by
the English people.

Sir Humphrey Gilbert's mother was the mother also,
by a second marriage, of Sir Walter Ralegh, and it was this
elder brother's zeal for seeking "summer isles" that first
fired the heart of Ralegh

in search of riches, fame, and power.

On March 25, 1584, Ralegh obtained from Elizabeth an
ample patent and the title of Lord Proprietor over an extensive
region in America, which the Queen subsequently called
"Virginia." Here, he made two unsuccessful attempts to
found a colony, but his zeal in this matter was full of consequence
and will never be forgotten in the annals of the early
settlement of America.

When England was threatened by the Spanish Armada,
Ralegh joined the fleet with a squadron of ships belonging
to gentlemen volunteers, and contributed signally to the victory
which it pleased Providence to grant the English over
the Spaniards. He was now advanced at court, but, unfortunately,
fell after a time into disfavor with the Queen. His
success in the expedition to Cadiz, however, where his valor
and prudence contributed so largely to a victorious result,
combined with other important services, restored him to the
partiality of his Queen.

But Ralegh's bravery, distinguished abilities, and great
enterprise made him the object of envy as well as of admiration.
Queen Elizabeth conferred honors upon him, but her successor

sent him to the Tower. During a long confinement there
of thirteen years he wrote his "History of the World," a
book of unusual finish and erudition; and his contributions
made from time to time to general literature were numerous
and valuable. In March, 1615, he was liberated from prison,
but not pardoned. A last unsuccessful venture in Guiana was
the culmination of his disastrous efforts to redeem his fortunes.
Having failed to find the gold on which so much
depended, he returned to England in 1618, broken in hope
and health. Soon afterwards he was arrested, and to please
the Spanish, King James suffered the sentence of death to be
executed on him.

Ralegh's life had been full of vicissitude, and after many
triumphs and many failures, much honor and much misfortune,
he finally finished his chequered course on the scaffold
in Old Palace Yard, London, October 29, 1618. His behavior
at the end was calm, and after addressing the people in his
own justification he received the stroke of death with
perfect composure. He remarked to the executioner, with
a smile, as he felt the edge of the axe with his hand,
"This is a sharp medicine, but it is one that will cure all
diseases."

The following beautiful tribute to Ralegh is paid by the
distinguished American historian, George Bancroft:

After the lapse of two long centuries, the state of North
Carolina revived in its capital the name of this chief author
of early colonization in the United States, and future generations
in America will cherish the memory of Sir Walter
Ralegh not only as the founder of Virginia, but as one whose
laws should "be not against the true, Christian faith nowe
professed in the Church of England."

To him belongs the meed of making here the wilderness
and the solitary place glad, and of opening a way for the
desert "to rejoice and blossom as a rose."

II.

II. RALPH LANE.

II. Governor of Ralegh's 1st Colony.

II. 1585-1586.

Ralph Lane, second son of Sir Ralph Lane, of Orlingbury,
and his wife Maud, daughter of William, Lord Parr
(uncle of Queen Catherine Parr), was born in Northamptonshire
about 1530; entered the Queen's service in 1563,
and was so much esteemed by Elizabeth for his services as a
soldier that she knighted him. In 1585 Sir Walter Ralegh
sent out from England a fleet of seven sail, with people to
form a settlement in Virginia, deputing Sir Richard Grenville
to be General of the expedition and Mr. Ralph Lane to be
Governor of the Colony. This was the first English settlement
ever planted in America, and was established on Roanoke
Island. It consisted of 107 persons, under the government of
Lane. The colonists suffered great dangers from the machinations
of the Indians, who at first intended to starve
them by abandoning them, and leaving the island unsown.
Foiled here, they next formed a conspiracy for the general
massacre of the colonists. This, however, was frustrated
by the vigilance of the English Governor, who contrived
a counterplot, in execution of which Pemisapan, the
wicked son of the good old Indian king, Ensenore, was
slain on June 1, 1586.

Unable, however, to contend with hostile Indians and
want of provisions, the whole Colony returned to England
June 18, 1586. Lane carried tobacco home with him, and
Sir Walter Ralegh, at that time a man of gaiety and fashion,
adopting the Indian usage of smoking it, by his influence

and example introduced it at court, where the pipe soon
became the mode.

Thus terminated the first English colony planted in
America. The only acquisition made by this expensive
experiment was a knowledge of "the weed," and a better
acquaintance with the country and its inhabitants.

III.

JOHN WHITE.

III. Governor of Ralegh's 2d Colony.

III. 1587.

On April 26, 1587, Sir Walter Ralegh, intent on planting
the territory of Virginia within his patent (it was "to continue
the space of six years, and no more") sent out another
company of 150 adventurers. He incorporated them by the
name, "The Borough of Ralegh in Virginia," and constituted
John White, Governor, in whom, with a council of
twelve persons, the legislative power was vested; and they
were directed to plant at the Bay of Chesapeake and to erect
a fort there. They, however, landed at Roanoke, July 22, and
commenced a second plantation. On August 13, Manteo,
a friendly Indian, was baptized in Roanoke, and according
to a previous order of Sir Walter Ralegh was called, Lord
of Roanoke. On the 18th of August, Mrs. Dare, daughter of
the Governor, gave birth to a daughter in Roanoke, and
on the next Lord's day the infant was baptized "Virginia,"
being the first English child born in the country. On the 27th
of August, at the urgent solicitation of the whole Colony, the
Governor sailed for England to procure supplies, but of his
countrymen who remained behind, nothing was ever afterwards
known.

Governor White, though personally detained in England
(being of the Queen's Council and the country threatened
with war), sent in 1588 supplies for the relief of the Colony,
but this expedition, more intent on taking prizes than in
sailing to Virginia, was finally disabled and rifled by two
men of war and was compelled to put back for England.
In 1590, however, Governor White, being at liberty to
return to his Colony, sailed March 20 from Plymouth with

three ships and went to the place where he had left the
English settlers. Coming to this landing point, he found on
a tree at the top of the bank, CRO carved in distinct Roman
letters, but the cross, the sign of distress, was wanting; further
on they found carved on a tree, CROATOAN. This Croatoan
was an Indian town on the north side of Cape Lookout, and
thither Governor White determined to sail next day, but a
violent storm arose and being short of water and provisions
they went back to England. It is said that Ralegh sent
out five times, at his own charges, to the succor of the Colony
left in Virginia in 1587. Other efforts were also made to
search for these lost emigrants, but all to no avail. Their
fate was never known, and so ended in tragic eclipse Sir
Walter Ralegh's enterprise for settling the New World.
The Governor of this last ill-starred effort, John White,
came first to Virginia with Governor Lane in 1585, and was
always interested in this initial work. Though White's
Colony met with such a doubtful fate in his absence, he
sought again and again to find some traces of it, and was
conspicuous in his concern in the adventure of settling America.

He was a good artist, made maps of the various portions
of Virginia which he visited and drawings of the inhabitants,
etc. Some of his paintings are now in the Sloane collection
and in the Greenville Library, British Museum.

IV.

SIR THOMAS SMITH.

IV. First President of the London Company, and its
Treasurer.

IV. 1605-1607.

King James I., having recently made peace with Spain,
and the passion for the discovery of a northwest passage being
now in its full vigor, a ship was sent out with a view to this
purpose by the Earl of Southampton and Lord Arundel, under
the command of Capt. George Weymouth. He sailed from
England on the last of March, 1605, and remained a month
exploring the American coast. The discovery of which he
seems to have been proudest was that of the Penobscot River.
On his return to England he took with him five Indians, three
of whom he yielded to Sir Ferdinando Gorges, the Governor
of the town of Plymouth, whose attention was thus addressed
to the New World. The information Gorges gathered from
Weymouth filled him with the strongest desire to become a
proprietary of lands beyond the Atlantic. His influence, with
that of Sir John Popham, Lord Chief Justice of England, and
the combined enthusiasm of the assigns of Ralegh, were the
means employed by Providence to induce King James I. to
set his seal to the patent of April 10, 1606. He divided that
portion of North America which stretches from the 34th to the
45th degree of north latitude into two districts, nearly equal.
The southern, called the First Colony, he granted to the London
Company; the northern, called the Second Colony, he
granted to the Plymouth Company. He authorized Sir
Thomas Gates, Sir George Somers, Richard Hakluyt,
Edward Maria Wingfield, and their associates, chiefly resident
in London, to settle any part that they should choose
of the southern district, and vested in them a right of property

to the land extending along the coast fifty miles on each
side of the place of their first habitation, and reaching into
the interior country 100 miles. The northern district he
allotted as a place of settlement to several knights, gentlemen,
and merchants of Bristol, Plymouth, and other parts of
the West of England, with a similar grant of territory. The
following is an extract from the instructions given for the government
of the Colonies:

Sir Thomas Smith, chief of the assignees of the patent
of Sir Walter Ralegh, was the first President of the Council
of the London Company of Virginia, and its Treasurer
until the close of 1618. His services in establishing a Colony
in Virginia, and thus securing a foothold for England in

America, cannot be overestimated, and a history of the factions
in the Virginia Company after this period of its earliest
inauguration, will show the storms and struggles through
which the infant Colony began its life. Sir Thomas Smith
was the third son of Thomas Smith, commonly called "Mr.
Customer Smith," and Alice, daughter and heiress of Sir
Andrew Judde, Lord Mayor of London (by whom he
acquired the manors of Ashford and Westure). Sir Thomas
Smith was born about 1558, was educated at Oxford, and at
an early age became a prominent man.

It is greatly to be regretted that the history of Sir Thomas
Smith's administration of affairs in Virginia rests almost
entirely upon the adverse testimony of his opponents. But
that his services were recognized by the crown, is to be seen
in the fact that in the second charter to "The Treasurer and
Company of Adventurers and Planters of the City of London
for the First Colony in Virginia," he was named as one of
"our Council for the said Company."

"And the said Thomas Smith we do ordain to be Treasurer
of the said Company, which Treasurer shall have authority
to give order for the warning of the Council and summoning
the Company to their courts and meetings."

That the distant colonists may have had their grievances
is true, as is related in "A Briefe Declaration of the Plantation
of Virginia Duringe the First Twelve Yeares, when Sir
Thomas Smith was Governor of the Companie, and downe
to the present tyme" (1621), but, the conclusion is inevitable
that Sir Thomas Smith had much to do with the permanent
establishment of the Virginia Colony. He was Treasurer and
Governor of the Company during the first twelve years, which
ended the 18th of November, 1618, and his administration
was confined to a presidency of the Council and Company in
England, while the affairs of the Colony were managed by one
of the Council resident there. He was never actually Governor
in Virginia.

It was on March 9, 1607, that King James I. issued the
following:

"An Ordinance and Constitution enlarging the number of

our Councel for the two several Colonies and Plantations in
Virginia and America, between thirty-four and forty-five degrees
of northerly latitude, and augmenting their authority,
for the better directing and ordering of such things as shall
concerne the said Colony."[3]

Sir Thomas Smith died Sept. 4, 1625, at his house at
Tunbridge, and was buried under a most superb monument
in Hone Church, Kent.

The following inscription will give some idea of the scope
of his usefulness, and the honors which he won:

"To the glory of God, and to the pious memorie of the
honorable Sir Thomas Smith, Knt. (late Governor of the East
Indian, Muscovia, French, and Sommer Island Companies;
Treasurer for the Virginia Plantation; prime undertaker [in
the year 1612] for that noble designe, the discoverie of the
North-West passage; principall commissioner for the London
expedition against the pirates and for a voiage to the ryver
Senega, upon the coast of Africa; one of the chief commissioners
for the navie-roial, and sometime ambassador from
His Majestie of Great Britain to the emperour and great duke
of Russia and Muscovia, etc.), who, havinge judiciously, conscionably,
and with admirable facility, managed many difficult
and weighty affairs to the honor and profit of this nation,
rested from his labors the 4th day of Septm., 1625."

V.

EDWARD MARIA WINGFIELD.

President of the Council in Virginia.

V. May 13, 1607, to September 10, 1607.

On the reception of the patent from King James, April 10,
1606, several persons of consequence in the English nation
undertook the arduous task of planting the Southern Colony.
Having chosen a Treasurer, and appointed other officers,
they provided a fleet of three ships to transport the
emigrants, 100 in number, to Virginia. The charge of this
embarkation was committed to Christopher Newport, already
famous for his skill in western navigation, who sailed
from the Thames on the 20th of December, carrying with
him the royal instructions and the names of the intended
Colonial Council, carefully concealed in a box. It was the
intention of Captain Newport to land at Roanoke, but being
driven by a violent storm to the northward of that place, he
stood directly into the spacious Bay of Chesapeake, which
seemed to invite his entrance. The promontory on the south
of the bay he named Cape Henry, in honor of the Prince of
Wales, and that on the north Cape Charles, in honor of the
Duke of York, afterward King Charles I. of England.
Thirty men going on shore at Cape Henry for recreation
were suddenly assaulted by five Indians, who wounded two
of them very dangerously. At night the box was opened
and the orders were read, in which Bartholomew Gosnold,
John Smith, Edward Wingfield, Christopher Newport,
John Ratcliffe, John Martin, and George Kendall were
named to be of the Council, and to choose from their number
a President for a year, who, with the Council, should govern
the Colony. The adventurers were employed in seeking a

place for settlement until the 13th of May, when they took
possession of a peninsula on the north side of the river Powhatan
(called by the English, James River), about forty miles
from its mouth. To make room for their projected town,
they here began to cut down the trees of the forest, which
had for centuries afforded shelter and food to the natives.
The code of laws, hitherto cautiously concealed, was at
length promulgated. Affairs of moment were to be examined
by a jury, but determined by the major part of the
Council, in which the President was to have two voices. The
Council was sworn, Wingfield was chosen President, and "now
commenced the rule of the most ancient administration of
Virginia, consisting of seven persons, and forming a pure
aristocracy." In honor of King James, they called the town
they now built, Jamestown.

"Captain Edward Maria Wingfield, of Stoneley Priorye"
in Huntingdonshire, was born 1560. He commenced life as
a soldier and was a prisoner of war at Lisle with Ferdinando
Gorges, where probably their friendship began, which resulted
in a closer association in the colonizing of Virginia. Wingfield
was elected, May 4, 1607, the first President of the first Council
of the first permanent English Colony in America, but becoming
obnoxious to the Company he was deposed from the presidency,
September 10, 1607, and Captain Ratcliffe elected in his
place. Wingfield was of a Catholic family. Cardinal Pole
and Queen Mary were sponsors for his father. He left Virginia,
April 10, 1608, and arrived in England, May 21, 1608.
He wrote "A Discourse of Virginia," which was first printed
in 1860 by the American Antiquarian Society.

VI.

JOHN RATCLIFFE.

VI. President of the Council in Virginia.

VI. September 10, 1607, to September 7, 1608.

Captain John Ratcliffe was President of the Virginia
Colony from September 10, 1607, to September 7, 1608, when,
suffering from a wounded hand, he went to England, but returned
the following year, in July, in command of the Diamond,
with colonists. Many dissensions divided the Colony at this
time and its history is a sad recital of rivalries and jealousies,
privations and sufferings, among the settlers, and dangers seen
and unseen from the treacherous Indians.

It is said that Ratcliffe was "betrayed and murdered by
Powhatan in the winter of 1609-1610." In one of the manuscripts
preserved by the remarkable Hakluyt, which came
into the hands of the Rev. Samuel Purchas, and which was
"written by that honorable gentleman, Master George
Percy," we read: "The eleventh day (September, 1607)
there was certain articles laid against Master Wingfield, which
was then President; thereupon he was not only displaced out
of his Presidentship, but also from being of the Councell.
Afterwards Captaine John Ratcliffe was chosen President."

VII.

CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH.

VII. President of the Council in Virginia.

VII. September 10, 1608, to August, 1609.

Captain John Smith, according to his own account, "was
born in Willoughby in Lincolneshire, and a scholler in the
two free schooles of Alford and Louth. His father anciently
descended from the ancient Smiths of Crudley in Lancashire,
his mother from the Rickands at great Heck in Yorkshire.
His parents dying when he was about thirteene years of age,
left him a competent means, which hee not being capable to
manage little regarded; his minde being even then set upon
brave adventures, sould his satchell, books, and all he had,
intending secretly to get to sea, but that his father's death
stayed him."

In the register of the Willoughby Rectory is found an
entry of the baptism of John, son of George Smith, under date
of January 9, 1579. Peculiarly courageous, restless, and fond
of adventure, he left his native country at the age of fifteen,
traveled in France, and served in the Netherlands, a soldier in
the cause of liberty. After having returned to England and
devoted some attention to military tactics and history, he
went again to France and embarked thence for Italy with a
company of Pilgrims, who, regarding him as a heretic, threw
him into the sea near a small island off Nice, to calm a tempest
by which they were overtaken. He swam to the shore
and proceeded to Alexandria. In returning, he entered the
service of Hungary against the Turks, where he soon distinguished
himself and obtained the command of a body of horse.
At the siege of Regal, a Turkish nobleman sending a challenge
to fight with any Christian captain who would venture
a contest for the amusement of the ladies, Smith accepted

the ofer, and meeting his antagonist on horseback bore away
his head, and gained a similar victory in a second and third
contest. For this exploit he was given a coat of arms, as
seen by the following:

"Sigismundus Bathor, by the Grace of God, Duke of
Transilvania, Wallachia, and Moldavia, Earle of Anchard,
Salford and Growenda; to whom this Writing may come or
appeare. Know that We have given leave and licence to
John Smith, an English Gentleman, Captaine of 250 Souldiers,
under the most Generous and Honourable Henry
Volda, Earl of Meldritch, Salmaria, and Peldvia, Colonell of
a thousand horse, and fifteen hundred foot, in the warres of
Hungary, and in the provinces aforesaid under our authority;
whose service doth deserve all praise and perpetuall
memory towards us, as a man that did for God and his
Country overcome his enemies: Wherefore out of Our
love and favour, according to the law of Armes, We have
ordained and given him in his shield of Armes, the figure
and description of three Turks' heads, which with his sword
before the towne of Regall, in single combat he did overcome,
kill, and cut off, in the Province of Transilvania."

Captain Smith was afterwards taken prisoner by the
Turks, and sold as a slave. Escaping from this tyranny, he
traveled much in Northern Europe, passed into Spain, and
finally went to Morocco. From thence he returned to England.
Aged about 26 and full of experience and honors, he
eagerly joined in the great drama of discovery and adventure
in which he found some of his countrymen engaged. He
entered with enthusiasm into the project of colonizing the
New World, and with Newport, Gosnold, Ratcliffe, Wingfield,
Hunt, and others, set out in December, 1606, with a
squadron of three small vessels for Virginia, under the
authority of a charter granted by James I. The Sarah Constant,
in charge of Captain Christopher Newport, the commander
of the expedition, carried seventy-one men; the
Godspeed, in charge of Captain Bartholomew Gosnold, carried
fifty-two men, and the Discovery, a pinnace, in charge of John
Ratcliffe, carried twenty men. They landed May 13th, at

Jamestown. Amidst the unhappy dissensions, difficulties,
and distresses of the first years of the great enterprise, Smith
rendered the most important services by his irrepressible
hopefulness, his practical wisdom, and his vigorous government.
But for his wisdom and noble exertions the project
would probably have been abandoned. He made important
geographical explorations and discoveries. In 1607, ascending
the Chickahominy and penetrating into the interior of the
country, he and his comrades were captured by the Indians,
and he only, by his rare self-possession, escaped with life. He
remained a prisoner for some weeks, carefully observed the
country, got some knowledge of the language of the natives,
and when at last they were going to put him to death, he
was saved by the affectionate pleading of Pocahontas, the
daughter of the chief Powhatan, a girl ten or twelve years
old. Reconducted to Jamestown, Smith had need for all his
energy to save the desponding colonists. In the summer
of 1608 he explored in an open boat the Bay of the Chesapeake
and its tributary rivers, a navigation of nearly 3000
miles. He also penetrated inland, established friendly relations
with the Indians, and prepared a map of the country.
On his return from this wonderful expedition, he was made
President of the Colonial Council. In 1609 he was severely
injured by an accidental explosion of gunpowder, and without
reward for his splendid services, except in his own conscience
and the applause of the world, returned to England.

Three times had Smith prevented the abandonment of the
Colony, preserved it from starvation and destruction for nearly
three years, and had left it, on a change of administration, in
a condition to take care of itself with judicious management.
This great work, accomplished in a new settlement rent by
intestine dissensions and threatened hourly with destruction
by a wily and powerful foe, would surely entitle the author of
it, to be called "The Father of the Colony."

It was during Captain Smith's term of office as President
of the Colonial Council that King James I. granted "The
second Charter to the Treasurer and Company, for Virginia,
erecting them into a corporation and Body Politic, and for

the further enlargement and explanation of the privileges of
the said Company and First Colony of Virginia."[4]

Having returned to England in a torn and bleeding state
from his injury, in the autumn of 1609, Captain Smith remained
there until March 3, 1614, when he set sail on a voyage of discovery
to North Virginia. He ranged the coast east and west
from Penobscot to Cape Cod, and bartered with the natives for
beaver and other furs. By this voyage he made a profit of
nearly ¢1500. From the observations which he now made,
on shores, islands, harbors, and headlands, he on his return
home formed a map, and presented it to Prince Charles, who,
in the warmth of admiration, declared that the country should
be called New England.

Smith in this voyage made several discoveries, and distinguished
them by peculiar names. The northern promontory
of Massachusetts Bay, forming the eastern entrance into the
bay, he named Tragabigzanda, in honor of a Turkish lady to
whom he had been formerly a slave at Constantinople. Prince
Charles, however, in filial respect to his mother, called it
Cape Ann, a name which it still retains. The three small
islands lying at the head of the promontory, Smith called
the "Three Turks' Heads," in memory of his victory over
three Turkish champions; but this name has also been changed.
Another cluster of islands, to which the discoverer gave his
own name, "Smith's Isles," was afterwards denominated
"The Isles of Shoals," and still retains that name. On one
of these isles (Star Island), erected on the southerly summit,
stands a marble shaft in honor of John Smith.

Encouraged by commercial success, Smith, in 1615, in the
employment of Sir Ferdinando Gorges and of friends in London
who were members of the Plymouth Company, endeavored
to establish a colony in New England. Sixteen men were all
whom the adventurers destined for this occupation. The
attempt was unsuccessful. Smith was forced by violent
storms to return. Again renewing his enterprise, he suffered
from the treachery of his companions, and was intercepted by

French pirates. His ship having been taken away, he himself
escaped alone, in an open boat, from the harbor of
Rochelle. The severest privations in a new settlement would
have been less wearisome than the labors which his zeal now
prompted him to undertake. Having published a map and a
description of New England, he spent many months in 1617
visiting the merchants and gentry of the West of England, to
excite their enterprise. He proposed to the cities, mercantile
profits to be realized in short and safe voyages; to the noblemen,
vast dominions; from men of small means, his earnestness
concealed the hardships of emigrants, and upon the dark
ground drew a lively picture of the rapid advancement of fortune
by colonial industry, of the abundance of game, the
delights of unrestrained liberty, and the pleasures to be derived
from "angling and crossing the sweet air from isle to isle
over the silent streams of a calm sea." The Company
began now to form vast plans of colonization; Smith was
appointed Admiral of the country for life, and a renewal of the
letters patent, with powers analogous to those possessed by
the Southern Company, became an object of eager solicitation.
But a new charter was not obtained without vigorous opposition.
After two years' entreaty, the ambitious adventurers
gained everything which they had solicited, and in November,
1620, King James issued to forty of his subjects, some of
them members of his household and his government, the most
wealthy and powerful of the English nobility, a patent, which
in American annals, and even in the history of the world, has
scarcely a parallel. The adventurers and their successors were
incorporated as "The Council established at Plymouth, in the
County of Devon, for the planting, ruling, ordering, and governing
New England, in America."

Smith never lived to see, even partially realized, his hopes
of colonization in South or North Virginia. He demonstrated
the power of enthusiasm in accomplishing great ends, but like
many another hero, he fell unhonored while his work went on.
For twenty years he was a voluminous writer, and with his
sword and pen laid the foundations of the noble commonwealth
of Virginia, whose glory will ever shed luster on his name.

"Captain John Smith died unmarried, nor is there any
record that he ever had wife or children. This disposes of
the claim of subsequent John Smiths to be descended from
him. He was the last of that race; the others are imitations.
He was wedded to glory. That he was not insensible to the
charms of female beauty, and to the heavenly pity in their
hearts, which is their chief grace, his writings abundantly
evince; but to taste the pleasures of dangerous adventure, to
learn war, and to pick up his living with his sword, and to
fight wherever piety showed recompense would follow, was
the passion of his youth, while his manhood was given to the
arduous ambition of enlarging the domains of England, and
enrolling his name among those heroes who make an ineffaceable
impression upon their age. There was no time in his
life when he had leisure to marry, or when it would have been
consistent with his schemes to have tied himself to a home."

He died in London, June 21, 1631, in his fifty-second year,
and was buried in St. Sepulcher's Church.

The following record is taken from Stow's "Survey of
London," 1633:

"Thus on the arrival of Captain Smith, the first founder of the
Colony of Virginia," etc.—Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of
Virginia.

"Parson Weems," of Virginia (who wrote a "Life of
Washington," which, according to the distinguished Virginia
historian, John Esten Cooke, has "gone through more
editions and been read by more people than the Lives of Marshall,
Ramsay, Bancroft, and Irving put together"), says:
—"the souls of Columbus, Raleigh, and Smith looking
down from heaven with joy beheld the consummation of all
their labors and wishes."

The beautiful story of the devotion of the Indian princess,
Pocahontas, to the English Colony, deserves here more than
a passing mention. She was really the guardian angel of

those sad emigrants over whose destiny she often presided.
Her rescue of Captain John Smith from a cruel death has
been perpetuated by the historian, the poet, the painter, and
the sculptor, and the thrilling picture of the Indian girl rushing
between the victim and his fate, appealing to her imperial
father to spare the fatal blow, will ever remain a part of
the early history of this country. Pure and simple-hearted
she often forgot her own danger in her desire to inform the
colonists of impending trouble. She forsook the wild rites of
her savage tribe, embraced the Christian religion and was
baptized and received into the Church under the name of
Rebecca. She was united in holy matrimony with one of
the colonists, Mr. John Rolfe, a man of high character and of
great usefulness in the plantation. It is worthy of note that
he was the originator of the culture of Virginia's great
staple, tobacco, and one of the most active in developing the
various resources of the country. The marriage of Pocahontas
with Rolfe brought peace with the Indians. Sir Thomas
Dale, who was acting as Governor, carried her with her husband
and child to England in 1616, where she was handsomely
entertained by the London Company and others, the
Queen and the Court paying her marked attention. As she
was about to return to Virginia, "The Lady Rebecca," as
she was called in London, died on shipboard at Gravesend,
after a brief illness, March 21, 1617. She left one son,
Thomas Rolfe, who was educated in England and became
afterwards a person of note in Virginia. He was the founder
of a distinguished family of whom the celebrated John Randolph
was a descendant.

VIII.

CAPTAIN GEORGE PERCY.

VIII. President of the Council in Virginia.

VIII. August, 1609, to May, 1610.

President John Smith, enfeebled by an accident to his
person from an explosion of powder, and requiring medical
aid only to be obtained in England, returned thither towards
the close of the year 1609, leaving three ships, seven boats,
upwards of four hundred and ninety persons, twenty-four
pieces of ordnance, three hundred muskets, with other arms
and ammunition, one hundred well-trained and expert soldiers,
a competent supply of working tools, live stock, and ten weeks'
provisions. Jamestown was strongly palisaded, and contained
about sixty houses. Smith, for more than a year, had
maintained his authority, and when forced to embark for
England he delegated his office to Percy. But the colonists,
no longer controlled by an acknowledged authority, abandoned
themselves to improvident idleness.

Nothing could have been more inauspicious for the Colony
of Virginia than the departure of Captain Smith. The provisions
having been wasted after he left, a dreadful famine
ensued, and prevailed to such extremity that this period was
ever afterwards distinguished by the name of "the starving
time." Of nearly five hundred persons left in the Colony by
the late President, sixty only remained at the expiration of
six months.

Captain George Percy passed through a trying experience.
On the arrival of Sir Thomas Gates, May, 1610, the colonists
insisted upon sailing for Newfoundland and burning behind
them the town in which they had been so wretched. Gates
prevented this, but they started on their sad return, and
"none dropped a tear, for none had enjoyed one day of happiness."

On the 8th of June, 1610, they fell down the stream
with the tide, but next morning they met Lord De la Warr,
with emigrants and supplies, and he turned the faces of the
fugitives once more towards the deserted Jamestown. It was
on the 10th of June that the restoration of the Colony began.

Under the second charter granted the London Company
for Virginia, May 23, 1609, it was empowered to choose the
Supreme Council in England, and under its instructions and
regulations a Governor was provided, invested with absolute
civil and military authority, with the title of "Governor and
Captain-General of Virginia." The resident council was still
retained. Thomas West, Lord De la Warr, was appointed
First Governor and Captain-General for life, May 23, 1609, but
as he did not reach the Colony until June 10, 1610, Sir Thomas
Gates was authorized to administer the affairs of the colony
until the arrival of Lord De la Warr. When, therefore, Sir
Thomas Gates arrived in Virginia, May 24, 1610, he superseded
Captain George Percy, whose term of office had been such an
eventful one.

George Percy, eighth son of Henry, eighth Earl of Northumberland,
was born September 4, 1580; served for a time in
the Low Countries; sailed for Virginia in the first expedition,
December, 1606; was President of the Colony during "the
starving time," from August, 1609, to May, 1610, and when
Lord De la Warr returned to England in March, 1611, in
recognition of Percy's former services, he was appointed Governor
until the arrival of Dale in May following. Percy left
Virginia, April, 1612, went again to the Low Countries, where
he distinguished himself as a soldier, was captain of a company
in 1627, and died unmarried in 1632. He wrote "A
Trewe Relacyon," in defense of his administration in Virginia.

IX.

SIR THOMAS GATES.

IX. Lieutenant-General
and
Deputy-Governor.

IX. May, 1610, to June 10, 1610.

Sir Thomas Gates was born at Colyford, in Colyton
Parish, Devonshire. He was one of the first petitioners for
royal license to colonize America, and was an incorporator of
the first charter, April 10, 1606. When Lord De la Warr
was created Governor and Captain-General for life, in May,
1609, Sir Thomas Gates, with Newport and Sir George
Somers, was authorized to administer the affairs of the Colony
until the coming of Lord De la Warr. He accordingly
assumed command on his arrival in May, 1610, and prevented
the burning of Jamestown by the desperate colonists. But
having consulted with Sir George Somers, Captain Newport,
and the Council of the former government, they determined
to abandon the country. This was prevented by the providential
appearing of Lord De la Warr, who at once, June
10, 1610, assumed the reins of government. Sir Thomas
Gates left Virginia, July, 1610, but returned again in May,
1611. He remained nearly three years, and went back to
England in April, 1614.

X.

LORD DE LA WARR.

X. Governor
and
Captain-General.

X. June 10, 1610, to March 28, 1611.

Sir Thomas West, third Lord De la Warr, the first
resident Governor-in-Chief of the Colony of Virginia, was
born in 1579. He received this important appointment on account
of his virtues as well as in consideration of his rank,
for he was descended from a long line of noble ancestry. He
assumed control of the Colony June 10, 1610. Having published
his commission, which invested him with the sole command,
he appointed a Council of six persons to assist him in
the administration. An essential change now took place in
the form of the ancient Virginia Constitution; the original
aristocracy was converted into a rule of one, over whose
deliberations the people had no control. Security returned to
the Colony and prosperity appeared under the auspices of this
intelligent and distinguished nobleman. But Lord De la
Warr's health failing, he sailed March 28, 1611, for the island
of Nevis, for the benefit of the warm baths, leaving his Colony
in the charge of Captain George Percy. His health improving
somewhat, he desired to return to Virginia, but was persuaded
to go to England. The settlement at this time consisted
of about two hundred men, but the Governor's departure
produced great despondency. Fortunately, Sir Thomas Dale,
"an experienced soldier," had been dispatched from London
with supplies for the Colony. He arrived in the Chesapeake,

May, 1611, and assumed the government, which he soon afterwards
administered upon the basis of martial law.

In this year, 1611, Samuel Argall, exploring the neighboring
coast to the north, at nine o'clock in the morning of the
27th of July, cast anchor in a very great bay, with many
affluents, and gave it the name of Delaware.

"A short relation made by the Lord De la Warre, to the
Lords and others of the Counsell of Virginia, touching his
unexpected return home, and afterwards delivered to the
Generall Assembly of the said Company, at a court holden
the twenty-five of June, 1611, published by authority of the
said Counsell," says:

"In the next place, I am to give accompt in what estate I
left the Collony for government in my absence. It may please
your Lordships, therefore, to understand that upon my departure
thence, I made choise of Captaine George Pearcie (a gentleman
of honour and resolution, and of no small experience
in that place), to remaine Deputie-Governor untill the comming
of the Marshall, Sir Thomas Dale, whose commission
was likewise to be determined upon the arrivall of Sir Thomas
Gates, according to the intent and order of your Lordships
and the Councill here."

The following, from the same, is an interesting allusion to
the noble Potomac:

"The last discovery, during my continuall sicknesse, was
by Captaine Argall, who hath found a trade with Patomack
(a king as great as Powhatan, who still remaines our enemie,
though not able to doe us hurt). This is a goodly River,
called Patomack, upon the borders whereof there are growne
the goodliest Trees for Masts, that may be found else-where
in the World; Hempe better then English, growing wilde in
abundance; Mines of Antimonie and Leade. Without our
Bay to the Northward is also found an excellent fishing Banke
for Codde and Ling as good as can be eaten, and of a kinde
that will keepe a whole yeare, in Shippe's hould, with little
care, a tryall whereof I have now brought over with me," etc.,
etc.

During Lord De la Warr's stay in England at this time,

he was largely instrumental in procuring "A Third Charter of
King James I. to the Treasurer and Company for Virginia."[5]

This charter not only confirmed all their former privileges,
and prolonged their term of exemption from payment of duties
on the commodities exported by them, but granted them more
extensive property and more ample jurisdiction. By this
charter, all the islands lying within three hundred leagues of
the coast were annexed to the Province of Virginia. Lord
De la Warr set sail from England to return to Virginia in
March, 1618, but unfortunately died (near the bay which
bears his name) on the 7th of June following.

XI.

CAPTAIN GEORGE PERCY.

XI. Deputy-Governor.

XI. March 28, 1611, to May 19, 1611.

Captain George Percy was appointed by Lord De la
Warr "to remain Deputie-Governor untill the comming of the
Marshall, Sir Thomas Dale." This honor he assumed on
March 28, 1611, and held until the arrival of Dale, May,
1611. Again a period of great depression occurred in the
colony, but Dale, with his supplies and enthusiasm, stiried
the embers of hope in the hearts of the desponding settlers.
Percy left Virginia, April 22, 1612, and never returned.

XII.

SIR THOMAS DALE.

XII. High Marshal
and
Acting Governor.

XII. May 19, 1611, to August, 1611.

The London Company having sent Sir Thomas Dale
with supplies for the relief of the Colony, he arrived in the
Chesapeake duly in May, 1611, and assumed charge of the
government. The code which he adopted, and which had
been sent to Virginia by the Treasurer of the London Company,
Sir Thomas Smith, was a severe one; but he sent letters
to England which induced Gates to bring over six ships,
with three hundred emigrants, and this was a happy move for
the colonists, who rejoiced with joy unspeakable at the
approach of this friendly fleet. Gates assumed command,
and the Colony numbered seven hundred men. Dale now
went up the river to found two new plantations, one of
which was named in honor of Prince Henry. He carried
with him the Rev. Alexander Whittaker and three hundred
and fifty men. One of the new positions was called New
Bermuda, or what is now known as Bermuda Hundred, and
the other, five or six miles higher up on the James, on the
opposite side of the river, was located on Farrar's Island.
This last was called Henrico City. In each of these places a
church was built, and Mr. Whittaker was placed in charge of
them. These were the first establishments after James City.
The elevation upon which Henrico City once stood, commands
a most romantic view. Four beautiful rivers appear to lend
their charms to the prospect, while in fact it is only

through the graceful windings of one that this illusion is
produced.

Sir Thomas Dale's name is thus associated with some of
the most interesting events in the early life of the Colony,
particularly with the foundation of the churches above mentioned.

XIII.

SIR THOMAS GATES.

XIII. Acting Governor.

XIII. August, 1611, to March, 1613.

The return of Gates to Virginia at this time with recruits
and supplies, brought a revival of hope to the colonists, who
from that hour began to advance in strength and happiness.
The greatest change in their condition resulted from the
incipient establishment of private property. To each man a
few acres of ground were assigned for his orchard and garden,
and henceforward the sanctity of private property was
recognized. Agriculture enriched Virginia, and the stability
of the Colony was no longer a matter of doubt. At this point
we may exclaim with Michael Angelo, who inscribed at the
base of one of his greatest works: "No man hath knowledge
how much blood this cost!"

Through much tribulation, the settlement of America
was assured, and on this remote frontier the Episcopal Church,
coeval with the settlement of Jamestown, was established.

Sir Thomas Gates left Virginia in charge of Dale in March,
1613, and returned to England, where he employed himself in
pressing forward the interests of the colonists.

XIV.

SIR THOMAS DALE.

XIV. Acting Governor.

XIV. March, 1613, to April, 1616.

When Sir Thomas Gates returned to England, in March,
1613, he left the Colony in the keeping of Sir Thomas Dale.
In April of this year John Rolfe married Pocahontas, the
daughter of King Powhatan. This union brought peace
with the Indians, and is mentioned with approbation by
every historian of Virginia. The earliest land laws, though
imperfect and unequal, gave now the cultivator the means of
becoming a proprietor of the soil. These changes were made
by Sir Thomas Dale, who has gained much commendation
for his zeal and good judgment in such matters. He returned
to England in 1616, and took with him Mr. Rolfe and his
wife, Pocahontas.

Sir Thomas Dale died in India in 1620—"whose valor,
having shined in the Westerne, was set in the Easterne
India."

XV.

CAPTAIN GEORGE YEARDLEY.

XV. Deputy, or Lieutenant-Governor.

XV. April, 1616, to May, 1617.

Sir Thomas Dale, having remained five years in America,
now departed for his native country, and left George
Yeardley, as Deputy-Governor, in charge of the administration.
He indulged the people in the cultivation of tobacco
in preference to corn, which he compelled the natives of furnish
by way of tribute. An instance of Yeardley's method
of "raising" corn is as follows:

Having sent to the Chickahominies for the tribute corn,
and receiving an insolent answer, Governor Yeardley proceeded
with one hundred men to their principal settlement,
where he was met with contempt and scorn. Perceiving
the Indians to be in a hostile and menacing posture, he ordered
his men to fire on them, and twelve were killed on the spot.
Twelve also were taken prisoners, two of whom were elders;
but they paid one hundred bushels of corn for their ransom, and,
as the price of peace, loaded three English boats with the coveted
cereal!

Yeardley's government was successful, but he was, through
Sir Thomas Smith's influence, superseded by Captain Samuel
Argall, who arrived in Virginia, May, 1617, and assumed
control of affairs.

It is worthy of notice that in this year, 1616, died Richard
Hakluyt, historian and geographer, a man whose enthusiasm
and courage stimulated the American enterprise and influenced
the early settlement of Virginia in a pre-eminent degree.

XVI.

CAPTAIN SAMUEL ARGALL.

XVI. Deputy, or Lieutenant-Governor.

XVI. May, 1617, to April, 1619.

Samuel Argall came to Virginia as early as 1609, to
trade and to fish for sturgeon. This traffic was in violation
of the laws, but as the wine and provisions which he brought
were much in demand, his conduct was connived at, and he
continued to make voyages for his own advantage and in the
service of the Colony. In 1613 he arrived at the island of
Mount Desert, off the coast of Maine, for the purpose of fishing,
and finding a settlement of French, which was made two
years before, he attacked it and took most of the settlers prisoners.
A Jesuit priest was killed in the engagement. This
was the commencement of hostilities between the French and
English colonists in America. Captain Argall soon afterwards
sailed from Virginia to Acadie, and destroyed the
French settlements of St. Croix and Port Royal.

In 1614 he went to England, and returned in 1617, clothed
with the authority of Lieutenant-Governor of the Colony of
Virginia. Being now beyond the reach of immediate control,
he incurred the displeasure of the people and the proprietors
by his tyrannical course. He was arrogant and greedy of
gain, and by his arbitrary rule he "imported more hazard to
the plantation than ever did any other thing that befel that
action from the beginning." Before an account of Argall's
despotic sway had reached London, the authorities there had
despatched Lord De la Warr, the Governor-General, to Virginia
with two hundred men and supplies for the Colony.
Orders followed to send Argall to England, where he was
"to answer everything that should be laid to his charge."

But the good Lord De la Warr was doomed not to reach Virginia.
He died on this voyage, and Argall was left to oppress
the colonists and defraud the Company to his heart's content.
The condition of Virginia became insupportable, for life itself
was insecure against the passionate whims of this unscrupulous
tyrant. The Colony languished, and no emigrants could
be found for this unhappy settlement; but the news which
checked the spirit of adventure also roused the indignation of
some of the London Company. Argall was displaced, and
the mild and popular Yeardley elected Governor in his stead,
with higher rank. During Argall's term of office, martial
law, which had been proclaimed and executed during the
turbulence of former times, was, in a season of peace,
made the common law of the land. By this law a gentleman
was tried for contemptuous words that he had spoken of the
Governor, was found guilty, and condemned; but his sentence
was respited, and he appealed to the Treasurer and Council,
who reversed the judgment of the court-martial. This is the
first instance of an appeal carried from an American colony
to England.

Argall's first exploit in Virginia had been the abduction
of Pocahontas, in 1612, from the care of a chief who had been
intrusted by Powhatan with the charge of his daughter, but
who surrendered her for the bribe of a brass kettle. Taking
her to Jamestown, Argall gave her into the keeping of the
Governor and the church. When he left the Colony he continued
to lead an adventurous life. On September 6, 1625,
he sailed from Plymouth as Admiral of twenty-four English
and four Dutch ships, and during the cruise took seven vessels,
valued at ¢100,000; he is also said to have commanded
the flag-ship during the attack on Cadiz. Beyond this, little
is known of him, save that he was married and left children;
was knighted by James I. in 1623, and died in 1639. His
partnership in trade with the Earl of Warwick had protected
him in his colonial difficulties.

It was during Argall's reign in the Colony that the old
king, Powhatan, its former ruler, passed from the green woods
and river shores of Virginia, to the happy hunting grounds

of the Indian belief. "He was a prince of eminent sense and
abilities, and deeply versed in all the savage arts of government
and policy. Penetrating, crafty, insidious, it was as
difficult to deceive him as to elude his own strategems.
But he was cruel in his temper, and showed little regard to
truth or integrity."

Argall's character has been variously interpreted, but he
was without question a man of talents and of unrivaled
industry in any pursuit into which either his greed or his
ambition led him.

XVII.

CAPTAIN NATHANIEL POWELL.

XVII. President of the Council in Virginia.

XVII. April 9, 1619, to April 19, 1619.

Sir George Yeardley having been knighted by King
James I., November 22, 1618, the vessels lay waiting in the
Thames to bear him to Virginia, but before the new Governor
could reach his destination, Argall had decamped, bearing his
booty with him.

Captain John Smith says: "For to begin with the yeere
of our Lord 1619, there arriued a little Pinnace priuately from
England about Easter for Captaine Argall, who taking order
for his affairs, within foure or fiue daies returned in her and
left for his Deputy, Captaine Nathaniell Powell. On the
eighteenth of Aprill, which was but ten or twelue daies after,
arriued Sir George Yeardley," etc., etc.

Captain Powell was one of the first Virginia planters.
He came over in April, 1607, and took an active part for several
years in colonial affairs, contributing a good deal by his
personal efforts and his pen to the benefit of the Plantation.
Unhappily, he and his wife were killed by the Indians, March
22, 1622. Eleven others were also slain in this massacre at
"Powle Brooke."

XVIII.

SIR GEORGE YEARDLEY.

XVIII. Governor
and
Captain-General.

XVIII. April 19, 1619, to November 8, 1621.

On the 19th of April, 1619, Sir George Yeardley entered
upon the duties of his appointed office. The Colony was "in
a poore estate" at this time, but from the moment of Yeardley's
accession to power, the real life of Virginia began.
Bringing with him "commissions and instructions from the
Company for the better establishing of a Commonwealth," he
declared "that those cruell lawes, by which the ancient planters
had soe longe been governed, were now abrogated, and
that they were to be governed by those free lawes, which his
Majestie's subjectes lived under in Englande."

"That the planters might have a hande in the governing
of themselves, yt was graunted that a Generall Assemblie
shoulde be helde yearly once, whereat were to be present the
Govenor and Counsell, with two burgesses from each plantation,
freely to be elected by the inhabitantes thereof, this
assemblie to have power to make and ordaine whatsoever
lawes and orders should by them be thought good and profitable
for their subsistence." In conformity with these instructions,
Sir George Yeardley "sente his summons all over the
country, as well to invite those of the Counsell of Estate that
were absente, as also for the election of the burgesses," and
on Friday, the 30th day of July, 1619, the first elective legislative
body of this continent assembled at James City. As
"a perpetual interest attaches to the first elective body representing
the people of Virginia, more than a year before the

Mayflower, with the Pilgrims, left the harbor of Southampton,"
its record is given here in full, from Senate Document
(Extra), Colonial Records of Virginia:

Colonial Records of Virginia.

STATE PAPERS.

COLONIAL. Vol. I.—No. 45.

[July 30, 1619.][6]

A Reporte of the manner of proceeding[7] in
the General assembly convented at James
citty in Virginia, July 30, 1619, consisting
of the Governor, the Counsell of Estate[8]
and two Burgesses elected out of
eache Incorporation and Plantation, and
being dissolved the 4th of August next
ensuing.

First. Sir George Yeardley, Knight Governor & Captaine general of
Virginia, having sente his sumons all over the Country, as well to invite
those of the Counsell of Estate that were absente as also for the election of
Burgesses, there were chosen and appeared

For James citty

Captaine William Powell,

Ensigne William Spense.

For Charles citty

Samuel Sharpe,

Samuel Jordan.

For the citty of Henricus

Thomas Dowse,

John Polentine.

For Kiccowtan

Captaine William Tucker,

William Capp.

For Martin Brandon—Capt. John Martin's Pla'tation

Mr Thomas Davis,

Mr Robert Stacy.

For Smythe's hundred

Captain Thomas Graves,

Mr Walter Shelley.

For Martin's hundred

Mr John Boys,[9]

John Jackson.

For Argall's guiffe[10]

Mr Pawlett,

Mr Gourgaing.[11]

For Flowerdieu hundred

Ensigne[12] Rossingham,

Mr Jefferson.

For Captain Lawne's plantation

Captain Christopher Lawne,

Ensigne[13] Washer.

For Captaine Warde's plantation

Captaine Warde,

Lieutenant Gibbes.

The most convenient place we could finde to sitt in was the Quire of
the Churche Where Sir George Yeardley, the Governour, being sett
downe in his accustomed place, those of the Counsel of Estate sate nexte
him on both handes, excepte onely the Secretary then appointed
Speaker, who sate right before him, John Twine, clerke[14] of the General
assembly, being placed nexte the Speaker, and Thomas Pierfe, the Sergeant,
standing at the barre, to be ready for any service the Assembly
shoulde comaund[15] him. But forasmuche as men's affaires doe little prosper
where God's service is neglected, all the Burgesses tooke their places
in the Quire till a prayer was said by Mr. Bucke, the Minister, that it
would please God to guide and sanctifie all our proceedings[16]
to his owne
glory and the good of this Plantation. Prayer being ended, to the intente
that as we[17] had begun at God Almighty, so we[18] might proceed wth awful
and due respecte towards the Lieutenant, our most gratious and dread
Soveraigne, all the Burgesses were intreatted to retyre themselves into
the body of the Churche, wch being done, before they were fully admitted,
they were called in order and by name, and so every man (none staggering
at it) took the oathe of Supremacy, and then entred[19] the Assembly.
At Captaine Warde the Speaker tooke exception, as at one that without
any Comission or authority had seatted himselfe either upon the Companies,
and then his Plantation would not be lawfull, or on Captain Martin's
lande, and so[20] he was but a limbe or member of him, and there could be
but two Burgesses for all. So Captaine Warde was comaunded to absente

himselfe till such time as the Assembly had agreed what was fitt for him
to doe. After muche debate, they resolved on this order following:

At the reading of the names of the Burgesses, Exception was taken
against Captaine Warde as having planted here in Virginia without any
authority or comission from the Tresurer, Counsell and Company in Englande.
But considering he had bene at so great chardge and paines to
augmente this Colony, and had adventured his own person in the action,
and since that time had brought home a good[21] quantity of fishe, to relieve
the Colony by way of trade, and above all, because the Comission for
authorising the General Assembly admitteth of two Burgesses out of every
plantation wthout restrainte or exception. Upon all these considerations,
the Assembly was contented to admitt of him and his Lieutenant (as
members of their body and Burgesses) into their society. Provided, that
the said Captaine Warde, wth all expedition, that is to saye between this
and the nexte general assembly (all lawful impediments excepted) should
procure from the Tresurer,[22] Counsell and Company in England a comission
lawfully to establish[23] and plant himselfe and his Company as the
Chieffs[24] of other Plantations have done. And in case he doe neglect this
he is to stande to the censure of the next general assembly. To this Captaine
Warde, in the presence of us all, having given his consente and
undertaken to perform the same, was, together wth his Lieutenant, by
voices of the whole Assembly first admitted to take the oath of Supremacy,
and then to make up their number and to sitt amongst them.

This being done, the Governour himselfe alledged that before we
proceeded any further it behooved us to examine whither it were fitt,
that Captaine Martin's Burgesses shoulde[25] have any place in the Assembly,
forasmuche as he hath a clause in his Patente wch doth not onely
exempte him from that equality and uniformity of lawes and orders
wer[26] the great charter faith are to extende[27] over the whole Colony, but
also from diverse such lawes as we must be enforced[28] to make in the General
Assembly. That clause is as followeth: Item. That it shall and may
be lawfull to and for the said Captain John Martin, his heyers, executours
and assignes to governe and comaunde all suche[29] person or persons as at
this time he shall carry over with him, or that shalbe[30] sente him hereafter,
free from any comaunde of the Colony, excepte it be in ayding and
assisting the same against[31] any forren or domestical enemy.

11 30, Bancroft.

Upon the[32] motion of the Governour, discussed the same time in the
assembly, ensued this order following:

After all the Burgesses had taken the oath of Supremacy and were
admitted into the house, and all sett downe in their places, a Copie of
Captain[34] Martin's Patent[35] was produced by the Governor[36] out of a Clause
whereof it appeared that when the general[37] assembly had made some
kinde of lawes requisite for the whole Colony, he and his Burgesses and
people might deride the whole company and chuse whether they would
obay[38] the same or no.[39] It was therefore ordered in Courte that the foresaid
two Burgesses should wthdrawe themselves out of the assembly till
suche time as Captaine Martin had made his personall appearance before
them. At what time, if upon their motion, if he would be contente to
quitte and give over that parte of his Patente, and contrary therunto
woulde submitte himselfe to the general forme of governemente as all
others did, that then his Burgesses should be readmitted, otherwise they
were utterly to be excluded as being spies rather than[45] loyal Burgesses,
because they had offered themselves to be assistant at the making of[46]
lawes wch both themselves and those whom they represented might chuse
whether they would obaye[47] or not.

Then came there in a complainte against Captain[48] Martin, that having
sente his Shallop to trade for corne into the baye, under the commaunde
of one Ensigne Harrison, the saide Ensigne should affirme to one
Thomas Davis, of Paspaheighe,[49] Gent. (as the said Thomas Davis deposed
upon oathe,) that they had made a harde voiage, had they not mett wth a
Canoa coming out of a creeke where their shallop could not goe. For the
Indians refusing to sell their Corne, those of the shallop entered the Canoa
wth their armes and tooke it by force, measuring out the corne wth a
baskett they had into the Shallop and (as the said Ensigne Harrison saith)
giving them satisfaction in copper beades[50] and other trucking stuffe.

Hitherto Mr. Davys upon his oath.

Furthermore it was signified from Opochancano to the Governour
that those people had complained to him to procure them justice.[51] For
wch considerations and because suche[52] outrages as this might breede danger

and loss[53] of life to others of the Colony wch should have leave to trade
in the baye hereafter, and for prevention of the like violences against the
Indians in time to come, this order following was agreed on by the general
assembly.

It was also ordered by the Assembly the same daye that in case Captaine
Martin and the ging of his shallop would[54] not throughly answere
an accusation of an outrage comitted against a certaine Canoa of Indians
in the baye, that then it was thought reason (his Patent,[55]
notwthstanding
the authority whereof, he had in that case abused) he shoulde[56] from
henceforth take leave of the Governour[57] as other men, and should putt[58]
in security, that his people shall comitte no such[59] outrage any more.

Upon this a letter or warrant was drawen in the name of the whole
assembly to sumon Captaine Martin to appeare before them in forme following:

These obstacles removed, the Speaker, who a long time had bene
extreame sickly, and therefore not able to passe through long harangues,
delivered in briefe to the whole assembly the occasions of their meeting.
Which[64] done, he read unto them the comission for establishing the Counsell
of Estate and the general[65]
Assembly, wherein their duties were
described to the life.

Having thus prepared them, he read over unto them the greate
Charter, or comission of priviledges, orders and lawes, sent by Sir George
Yeardley out of Englande.[66] Which[67] for the more ease of the Committies,
having divided into fower books, he read the former two the same
forenoon for expeditious[68] sake, a second time over, and so they were
referred to the perusall of twoe Comitties, wch did reciprocally consider of
either, and accordingly brought in their opinions. But some man may

here objecte to what ende we should presume to referre that to the examination
of Comitties wch the Counsell and Company in England[69] had
already resolved to be perfect, and did expecte nothing[70] but our assente
thereunto?[71] To this we answere, that we did it not to the ende to correcte
or controll anything therein contained, but onely in case we should
finde ought not perfectly squaring wth the state of this Colony or any lawe
wch did presse or binde too harde, that we might by waye of humble petition,
seeke to have it redressed, especially because this great Charter is to
binde us and our heyers for ever.

The names of the Comitties for perusing the
first booke of the fower:

       

1. Captain William Powell,	2. Ensigne Rosingham,
3. Captaine Warde,	4. Captaine Tucker,
5. Mr. Shelley,	6. Thomas Douse,
7. Samuel Jordan,	8. Mr. Boys.

The names of the Comitties for perusing the
second booke:

       

1. Captaine Dawne,[72]	2. Captaine Graves,
3. Ensigne Spense,	4. Samuel Sharpe,
5. William Cap,	6. Mr. Pawlett,
7. Mr. Jefferson,	8. Mr. Jackson.

These Comitties thus appointed, we brake up the first forenoon's
assembly.

After dinner the Governor and those that were not of the Comitties[73]
sate a seconde time, while the said Comitties[74] were employed in the
perusall of those twoe bookes. And whereas the Speaker had propounded
fower severall objects for the Assembly to consider on: namely, first, the
great charter of orders, lawes and priviledges; Secondly, which of the
instructions given by the Counsel in England to my lo : la: warre,[75] Captain
Argall or Sir George Yeardley, might conveniently putt on the
habite of lawes; Thirdly, what lawes might issue out of the private conceipte
of any of the Burgesses, or any other of the Colony; and lastly,
what petitions were[76] fitt to be sente home for England. It pleased the
Governour[77] for expedition[78] sake to have the second objecte[79]
of the sower
to be examined & prepared by himselfe and the Non-Comitties. Wherin
after having spente some three howers'[80] conference, the twoe Committies[81]
brought in their opinions concerning the twoe former bookes, (the
second of which beginneth at these wordes of the Charter: And forasmuche

as our intente is to establish one equall and uniforme kinde of government
over all Virginia &c.,)[82] wch the whole Assembly, because it was late, deferred
to treatt[83] of till the next morning.

Satturday, July 31.

The nexte daye, therefore, out of the opinions of the said Comitties,[84]
it was agreed, these[85] Petitions ensuing should be framed, to be presented
to the Treasurer, Counsel & Company in England. Upon the
Comitties'[86] perusall of the first booke,[87] the General[88] Assembly doe
become most humble suitours to their lops and to the rest of that honble
Counsell and renowned Company, that albeit they have bene pleased[89] to
allotte unto the Governor[90] to themselves, together wth the Counsell of
Estate here, and[91] to the officers of Incorporations, certain lande[92] portions
of lande to be layde out within the limites of the same, yet that[93] they
woulde vouchsafe also,[94] that[95] groundes as heretofore had bene granted by
patent to the antient[96] Planters by former Governours that had from the
Company received comission[97] so to doe, might not nowe after so muche
labor and coste, and so many yeares habitation be taken from them. And
to the ende that no man might doe or suffer any wrong in this kinde, that
they woulde favour us so muche (if they meane to graunte this our petition)
as to send us notice, what comission or authority for graunting of
landes they have given to eache[98] particular Governour in times paste.

The second petition of the General assembly framed by the Comitties[99]
out of the second book is. That the Treasurer[100] & Company in
England would be pleased wth as muche convenient speed[101] as may be to
sende men hither to occupie their landes belonging to the sower Incorporations,
as well for their owne[102] behoofe and proffitt as for the maintenance
of the Counsell[103] of Estate, who are nowe[104]
to their extream hindrance
often drawen far from their private busines and likewise that they will have
a care to sende[105] tenants to the ministers of the fower Incorporations to
manure their gleab, to the intente that the allowance they have allotted
them of 200 G.[106] a yeare may the more easily be raised.

The thirde Petition humbly presented by this General Assembly to the
Treasurer, Counsell & Company is, that it may plainely be expressed in
the great Comission (as indeed it is not) that the antient Planters of both
sortes, viz., suche as before Sir Thomas Dales' depart[107] were come hither
upon their owne chardges,[108] and suche also as were brought hither upon

the Companie's coste, may have their second, third and more divisions successively
in as lardge and free manner as any other Planters. Also that
they wilbe pleased to allowe to the male children, of them and of all others
begotten in Virginia, being the only hope of a posterity, a single share a
piece, and shares for their issues or[109] for themselves, because that in a newe
plantation it is not knowen whether man or woman be the more necessary.

Their fourth Petition is to beseech the Treasurer, Counsell & Company
that they would be pleased to appoint a Sub-Tresurer[110] here to collecte
their rents,[111]
to the ende that[112] the Inhabitants of this Colony be not tyed
to an impossibility of paying the same yearly to the Treasurer in England,
and that they would enjoine the said Sub-Treasurer not precisely according
to the letter of the Charter to exacte mony of us (whereof we have none at
all, as we have no minte), but the true value of the rente in comodity.

The fifte Petition is to beseeche the Treasurer, Counsell & Company
that, towards the erecting of the University and Colledge, they will sende,
when they shall thinke[113] it most convenient, workmen of all sortes, fitt for
that purpose.

The sixte and laste is, they wilbe[114] pleased to change the savage name
of Kiccowtan, and to give that Incorporation a newe name.

These are the general Petitions drawen by the Comitties out of the two
former bookes wch the whole general assembly in maner and forme
above[115] sett downe do most humbly offer up and present[116] to the honourable
construction of the Treasurer, Counsell and Company in England.

These petitions thus concluded on, those twoe Comitties broughte
me[117] a reporte what they had observed in the two latter bookes, wch was
nothing else but that the perfection of them was suche as that[118] they could finde nothing therein subject to exception, only the Governors[119] particular
opinion to my selfe in private hathe bene as touching a clause in the thirde
booke, that in these doubtfull times between us and the Indians, it would
beehoove[120] us not to make as[121]
lardge distances between Plantation and
Plantation as ten miles, but for our more strength ande security to drawe
nearer together.

At the same time, there remaining no[122] farther scruple in the mindes
of the Assembly touching the said great Charter of lawes, orders and priviledges,
the Speaker putt the same to the question, and so it had both the
general assent and the applause of the whole assembly, who, as they professed
themselves in the first place most submissively thankfull to almighty
god, therefore so they commaunded the Speaker to returne (as nowe he
doth) their due and humble thankes to the Treasurer, Counsell and company
for so many priviledges and favours as well in their owne names as in
the names of the whole Colony whom they represented.

This being dispatched we fell once more[123] debating of suche instructions
given by the Counsell in England to several[124] Governors[125] as might
be converted into lawes, the last whereof was the Establishment of the price
of Tobacco, namely, of the best at 3d[126] and the second at 18d the pounde.
At the reading of this the Assembly thought good to sende for Mr. Abraham
Persey, the Cape marchant, to publishe this instruction to him, and to
demaunde[127] of him if he knewe of any impediment why it might not be
admitted of? His answere[128] was that he had not as yet received any suche
order from the Adventurers of the[129] in England. And notwthstanding
he sawe the authority was good, yet was he unwilling to yield, till suche
time as the Governor[130] and Assembly had layd their commandment upon
him, out of the authority of the foresaid Instructions as followeth:

We will and require you, Mr. Abraham Persey, Cape Marchant, from
this daye forwarde to take notice, that, according to an article in the
Instructions confirmed by the Treasurer, Counsell[131] and Company in Englande
at a general quarter courte, both by[132] voices and under their hands[133]
and the Comon seall,[134] and given to Sir George Yeardley, knight, this
present governour, Decemb.[135] 3, 1618, that you are bounde to accepte of
the Tobacco of the Colony, either for commodities or upon billes,[136] at three
shillings the beste[137] and the second sorte at 18d the pounde, and this
shalbe[138] your sufficient dischardge.

James citty out of the said General Assembly, July 31,[139] 1619.

At the same[140] the Instructions convertible into lawes were referred to
the consideration of the above named Committies,[141] viz., the general
Instructions to the first Committie[142] and the particular Instructions to the
second, to be returned by them into the assembly on Munday morning.

Sunday, Aug. 1.

Mr. Shelley, one of the Burgesses, deceased.

Munday,[143] Aug. 2.

Captain John Martin (according to the sumous sent him on Friday,[144]
July 30,) made his personall appearance at the barre, whenas the Speaker
having first read unto him the orders of the Assembly that concerned him,
he pleaded lardgely for himself[145] to them both and indevoured[146]
to answere
some other thinges[147] that were objected against[148] his Patente. In fine,

being demanded out of the former order whether he would quitte that
clause of his Patent[149] wch (quite otherwise then Sir William Throckmorton's,
Captain Christopher Dawnes'[150] and other men's patentes) exempteth
himselffe and his people from all services of the Colonie excepte onely in
case of warre against[151]
a forren or domesticall enemie. His answere[152] was
negative, that he would not infringe any parte[153] of his Patente. Whereupon
it was resolved by the Assembly that his Burgesses should have no
admittance.

To the second order his answere was affirmative, namely, that (his
Patent[154]
notwithstanding) whensoever he should send into the baye to
trade, he would[155] be contente to putt in security to the Governour[156] for
the good behaviour of his people towardes[157] the Indians.

It was at the same time further ordered by the Assembly that the
Speaker, in their names, should (as he nowe doth[158]
) humbly demaunde[159]
of the Treasurer, Counsell[160] and Company an exposition of this one clause
in Captaine[161] Martin's Patente, namely, where it is saide That he is to
enjoye[162] his landes in as lardge[163] and ample manner, to all intentes and[164]
purposes, as any lord of any manours in England dothe holde his grounde
out of wch some have collected that he might by the same graunte protecte
men from paying their debts and from diverse other dangers of lawe. The
least the Assembly can alledge against this clause is, that it is obscure, and
that it is a thing impossible for us here to knowe the Prerogatives of all the
manours in Englande. The Assembly therefore humbly beseeche[165] their
lopps[166] and the rest of that honble house[167] that in case they shall finde any
thing in this or in any other parte of his graunte whereby that clause
towardes the conclusion of the great charter, (viz., that all grauntes aswell
of the one sorte as of the other respectively, be made wth equall favour, &
graunts[168] of like liberties & imunities[169]
as neer as may be, to the ende that
all complainte[170] of partiality and indifferency[171] may be avoided,) might[172]
in any sorte be contradicted or the uniformity and equality[173] of lawes
and[174] orders extending over the whole Colony might be impeached, That
they would be pleased to remove any such hindrance as may diverte out of
the true course the free and[175] publique current of Justice.

Upon the same grounde and[176] reason their lops, together with the rest
of the Counsell[177] and Company, are humbly besought[178] by this general[179]
assembly that if in that other clause wch exempteth Captaine[180] Martin and
his people from all services of the Colony &c., they shall finde any resistance
against[181] that equality and[182] uniformity of lawes and orders intended

nowe by them to be established over the whole Colony, that they would be
pleased to reforme it.

In fine, wheras[183] Captaine[184] Martin, for those ten shares allowed him
for his personal[185] adventure and[186] for his adventure of ¢70 besides, doth
claim 500 acres a share, that the Treasurer, Counsell and Company woulde
vouchsafe to give notice to the Governour[187] here, what kinde[188] of shares
they meante he should have when they gave him his Patent.[189]

The premisses about Captaine Martin thus resolved, the Committies[190]
appointed to consider what instructions are fitt to be converted into lawes,
brought in their opinions, and[191] first of some of the general[192] instructions.

By this present Generall Assembly be it enacted, that no[194] injury or
oppression be wrought by the Englishe[195] against[196] the Indians whereby the
present peace might be disturbed and antient quarrells might be revived.
And farther[197] be it ordained, that the Chicohomini are not to be excepted
out of this lawe; until either that suche[198] order come out of Englande, or
that they doe provoke us by some newe injury.

Against Idlenes, Gaming, durunkenes & excesse in apparell the Assembly
hath enacted as followeth:

First, in detestation of Idlenes[199]
be it enacted, that if any men be
founde to live as an idler or renagate, though a freedman, it shalbe[200] lawfull
for that Incorporation or Plantation to wch he belongeth to appoint him a
Mr to serve for wages, till he shewe apparant signes of amendment.

Against gaming at dice[201] & Cardes be it ordained by this present assembly
that the winner or winners shall lose all his or their winninges and[202]
both winners and loosers shall forfaicte[203] ten shillings a man, one ten
shillings whereof to go to the discoverer, and the rest to charitable & pious
uses in the Incorporation where the faulte[204] is comitted.

Against drunkenness be it also decreed that if any private person be
found culpable thereof, for the first time he is to be reprooved privately by
the Minister, the second time publiquely, the thirde time to lye in boltes 12
howers in the house of the Provost Marshall & to paye his fee,[205] and if he
still continue in that vice, to undergo suche severe punishment as the Gov-
ernor[206] and Counsell of Estate shall thinke fitt to be inflicted on him. But

if any officer offende in this crime, the first time he shall receive a reprooff
from the Governour, the second time he shall openly be reprooved in the
churche by the minister, and the third time he shall first be committed and
then degraded. Provided it be understood that the Governr[207] hath alwayes[208]

power to restore him when he shall, in his discretion thinke fitte.

Against excesse in[209] apparell that every man be cessed in the churche
for all publique contributions, if he be unmarried according to his owne
apparrell, if he be married, according to his owne and his wives, or eithre
of their apparell.

As touching the instruction[210] of drawing some of the better disposed of
the Indians to converse wth our people & to live and labour amongst[211]
them,
the Assembly who knowe[212] well their dispositions thinke it fitte to enjoine,[213]
least to counsell those of the Colony, neither utterly to rejecte them nor yet
to drawe them to come in. But in case they will of themselves come voluntarily
to places well peopled, there to doe service in killing of Deere, fishing,
beatting of Corne and other workes, that then five or six may be admitted
into every such place, and no more, and that wth the consente[214]
of
the Governour. Provided that good[215] guarde[216] in the night be kept upon
them, for generally (though some amongst many may proove[217] good) they
are a most trecherous people and quickly gone when they have done a villany.
And it were fitt[218]
a housewe builte for them to lodge in aparte[219] by
themselves, and lone inhabitants by no meanes[220] to entertaine them.

Be it enacted by this present assembly that for laying a surer foundation
of the conversion of the Indians to Christian Religion, eache towne,
citty, Borrough, and particular plantation do obtaine unto themselves by
just means a certaine number of the natives' children to be educated by
them in true religion and civile course of life—of wch children the most
towardly boyes in witt & graces of nature to be brought up by them in the
first elements of litterature, so[221] to be fitted for the Colledge intended for
them that from thence they may be sente[222] to that worke of conversion.

As touching the busines of planting corne this present Assembly doth
ordaine that yeare by yeare all & every householder and householders have
in store for every servant he or they shall keep, and also for his or their
owne persons, whether they have any Servants or no, one spare barrell of
corne, to be delivered out yearly, either upon sale or exchange as need shall
require. For the neglecte[223] of wch duty he shalbe[224] subjecte to the censure
of the Governr[225] and Counsell of Estate. Provided alwayes that the first
yeare of every newe man this lawe shall not be of[226] force.

About the plantation of Mulbery trees, be it enacted that every man as
he is seatted[227] upon his division, doe for seven yeares together, every yeare

plante and maintaine in growte[228] six[229] Mulberry trees at the least,[230] and
as many more as he shall thinke conveniente and as his virtue[231] & Industry
shall move him to plante, and that all suche persons as shall neglecte the
yearly planting and maintaining of that small proportion shalbe[232] subjecte
to the censure of the Governour & the Counsell of Estate.

Be it farther[233] enacted as concerning Silke-flaxe, that those men that
are upon their division or setled[234] habitation doe this next[235] yeare plante
& dresse 100 plantes, wch being founde a comedity,[236] may farther be increased.
And whosoever do faill in the performance of this shalbe[237] subject
to this punishment of the Governour[238] & Counsell of Estate.

For hempe also both Englishe & Indian, and for Englishe[239] flax &
Anniseeds, we do[240] require and enjoine all householders of this Colony that
have any of those seeds[241] to make tryal thereofe the nexte season.

Moreover be it enacted by this present Assembly, that every householder
doe yearly plante and maintaine ten vines untill they have attained
to the art and experience of dressing a Vineyard either by their owne industry
or by the Instruction of some Vigneron. And that upon what penalty
soever the Governor[242] and Counsell of Estate shall thinke fitt to impose
upon the neglecters of this acte.

Be it also enacted that all necessary tradesmen, or so[243] many as need
shall require, suche[244] as are come over since the departure of Sir Thomas
Dale, or that shall hereafter come, shall worke at their trades for any other
man, each[245] one being payde according to the quality[246] of his trade and
worke, to be estimated, if he shall not be contented, by the Governor and
officers of the place where he worketh.

Be it further ordained by this General Assembly, and we doe by
these presents enacte, that all contractes[247] made in England between the
owners of lande and their Tenants and Servantes wch they shall sende[248]
hither, may be caused to be duely[249] performed, and that the offenders be
punished as the Governour[250] and Counsell of Estate shall thinke just and
convenient.

Be it established also by this present Assembly that no crafty or advantagious
means be suffered to be putt in practise for the inticing awaye the
Tenants or[251] Servants of any particular plantation from the place where
they are seatted. And that it shalbe[252] the duty of the Governor[253] &
Counsell of Estate most severely to punishe both the seducers and the
seduced, and to returne[254] these latter into their former places.

Be it further enacted that the orders for the Magazin[255] lately made be
exactly kepte, and that the Magazin be preserved from wrong[256] and

sinister practises, and that according to the orders of courte in Englande[257]
all Tobacco and sassafras be brought[258] by the Planters to the Cape marchant
till suche time as all the goods[259] nowe or heretofore sent for the
Magazin be taken off their handes at the prices agreed on. That by this
meanes[260] the some[261] going for Englande[262] with[263] one hande, the price
thereof may be uphelde[264] the better. And to the ende that all the whole
Colony may take notice of the last order of Courte made in Englande and
all those whom it concerneth may know[265] howe[266] to observe it, we[267] holde
it fitt to publishe it here for a lawe[268] among the rest of our lawes. The
wch[269] order is as followeth:

Upon the 26[270] of October, 1618, it was ordered that the Magazin[271]
should continue during[272] the terme formerly prefixed, and that certaine[273]
abuses now complained of should be reformed, and that for preventing of
all Impositions save the allowance of 25 in the hundred proffitt, the
Governor[274] shall have an invoice as well as the Cape Marchant, that if any
abuse in the sale of the[275] goods be offered, wee,[276] upon Intelligence and
due examination thereof, shall see it correctede. And for the incouragement[277]
of particular hundreds, as Smythe's hundred, Martin's hundred,
Lawnes' hundred, and the like, it is agreed that what comodities are
reaped upon anie of these General[278] Colonies, it shalbe lawefull for them
to returne the same to their own adventurers. Provided that the same[279]
comodity be of their owne growing, wth out trading wth any other, in one
entyre lumpe and not dispersed, and that at the determination of the jointe
stocke, the goods then remaining in the Magazin[280] shalbe[281] bought by the
said particular Colonies before any other goods wch shall be sente by private
men. And it was moreover ordered that if the lady la warre, the
Lady Dale, Captain Bargrave and the rest, would unite themselves into a
settled[282] Colony they might be capable of the same priviledges that are
graunted to any of the foresaid hundreds. Hitherto the order.

All[283] the general Assembly by voices concluded not only the acceptance
and observation of this order, but of the Instruction also to Sir George
Yeardley next preceding the same. Provided first, that the Cape Marchant
do[284] accepte of the Tobacco of all and everie the Planters here in
Virginia, either for Goods or upon billes of Exchange at three shillings
the pounde the befte, and 18d the second sorte. Provided also that the
billes be only payde in Englande. Provided, in the third place, that if
any other besides the Magazin[285] have at any time any necessary comodity
wch the Magazine doth wante, it shall and may be lawfull for any of the

Colony to buye[286] the said necessary comodity of the said party, but upon
the termes of the Magazin[287] viz: allowing no more gaine then 25 in the
hundred, and that with the leave of the Governour. Provided, lastely,[288]
that it may be lawfull[289] for the Governr[290] to give leave to any Mariner,
or any other person, that shall have any suche necessary comodity wanting
to the Magazin[291] to carrie home for England so muche[292]
Tobacco or other
naturall comodities of the Country[293] as his Customers shall pay him for
the said necessary comodity or comodities. And to the ende we may not
only persuade and incite men, but inforce them also thoroughly and
loyally to aire their Tobacco before they bring it to the Magazine,[294] be it
enacted, and by these presents we doe enacte, that if upon the Judgement
of power sufficient even of any incorporation where the Magazine[295] shall
reside, (having first taken their oaths to give true sentence, twoe whereof
to be chosen by the Cape Marchant and twoe by the Incorporation,) any
Tobacco whatsoever shall not proove[296]
vendible at the second price, that
it shall there imediately be burnt before the owner's face. Hitherto suche
lawes as were drawen out of the Instructions.

Tuesday, Aug. 3,[297] 1619.

This morning a thirde[298] sorte of lawes (suche as might proceed out of
every man's private conceipt[299] ) were read and referred by halves to the
same comitties[300] wch were from the beginning.

This done, Captaine[301] William Powell presented to the Assembly a
petition to have justice against a lewde[302] and trecherous servante of his
who by false accusation given up in writing to the Governor[303] sought not
onely to gett[304] him deposed from his government of James citty and
utterly (according to the Proclamation) to be degraded from the place and
title of a Captaine, but to take his life from him also. And so out of the
said Petition sprang this order following:

Captaine William Powell presented a Petition to the generall[305] Assembly
against[306]
one Thomas Garnett, a servant of his, not onely for extreame
neglect of his business to the great loss[307] and prejudice of the said Captaine,
and for openly and impudently abusing his house, in sight both of Master
and Mistresse, through wantonnes[308]
wth a woman servant of theirs, a
widdowe, but also for falsely accusing him to the Governor[309] both of
Drunkenes &[310] Thefte, and besides for bringing all[311] his fellow servants
to testifie[312] on his side, wherein they justly failled[313] him. It was thought

fitt by the general assembly (the Governour himselfe[314] giving sentence),
that he should stand[315] fower dayes with his eares nayled to the Pillory,
viz: Wednesday, Aug. 4th, and so likewise Thursday, fryday and Satturday[316]
next following, and every of those sower dayes should be publiquely
whipped. Now, as touching the neglecte of his worke, what satisfaction
ought to be made to his Mr for that is referred to the Governour and
Counsell of Estate.

The same morning the lawes abovewritten, drawen out of the instructions,
were read, and one by one thoroughly examined, and then passed
once again[317] the general[318] consente of the whole Assembly.

This afternoon the committies brought in a reporte, what they had
done as concerning the third sorte of lawes, the discussing whereof spente
the residue of that daye. Excepte onely the consideration of a petition of
Mr John Rolfes againste Captaine John Martine[319]
for writing a letter to
him wherein (as Mr Rolfe alledgeth) he taxeth him both unseemly[320] and
amisse of certaine thinges[321] wherein he was never faulty, and besides, casteth
some aspersion upon the present goverment, wch is the most temperate
and juste[322]
that ever was in this country, too milde, indeed, for many of[323]
this Colony, whom unwoonted[324] liberty hath made insolente and not to
knowe[325] themselves. This Petition of Mr Rolfes' was thought fitt to be
referred to the Counsell of State.

Wednesday, Aug. 4th.

This daye (by reason of extream heat, both paste and likely to ensue,
and by that meanes of the alteration of the healthes of diverse of the general
Assembly) the Governour, who[326] himselfe also[327] was not well, resolved
should be the last of this first session; so in the morning the Speaker (as he
was required by the Assembly) redd over all the lawes and orders that had
formerly passed the house, to give the same yett one reviewe[328] more, and
to see whether there were any thing to be amended or that might be excepted
againste. This being done, the third sorte of lawes wch I am now
coming[329] to sette downe, were read over throughly[330] discussed, wch,
together wth the former, did now passe the laste and finall consente of the
General[331] Assembly.

A third sorte of lawes, suche as may[332]
issue out of
every man's private[333] conceipte.

It shalbe free for every man to trade wth the Indians, servants onely
excepted, upon paine of whipping, unless the Mr will[334] redeeme it off wth
the payment of an Angell, one-fourth parte whereofe to go[335]
to the Provost

Marshall, one fourth parte to the discoverer, and the other moyty to the
publique uses of the Incorporation.[336]

That no man doe[337] sell or give any of the greatter howes to the
Indians, or any Englishe dog of quality, as a mastive,[338] greyhound, bloodhounde,
lande or water spaniel, or any other dog or bitche whatsoever, of
the Englishe race, upon paine of forfaiting 5s[339] sterling to the publique
uses of the Incorporation where he dwelleth.

That no man do sell or give any Indians any piece, shott or poulder, or
any other armes, offensive or defensive, upon paine of being held a Traytour
to the Colony, and of being hanged as soon as the facte[340] is proved,
wthout all redemption.[341]

That no man may go above twenty miles from his dwelling-place, nor
upon any voiage whatsoever shalbe absent from thence for the space of
seven dayes together wthout first having made the Governor[342] or comaunder
of the same place acquainted therewth,[343]
upon paine[344] of paying
twenty shillinges[345] to the publique uses of the same Incorporation where
the party delinquent dwelleth.

That noe man shall purposely goe to any Indian townes, habitations or
places of resort[346] wthout leave from the Governor[347] or comaunder[348] of
that place where he liveth, upon paine of paying 40s to publique uses as
aforesaid.

That no man living in this Colony, but shall between this and the first
of January next ensuing come or sende to the Secretary of Estate[349] to
enter his own and all his servants' names, and for what terme or upon
what conditions they are to serve, upon penalty of paying 40s to the said
Secretary of Estate.[350] Also, whatsoever Mrs or people doe[351] come over to
this plantation that within[352] one month of their arrivall (notice being first
given them of this very lawe) they shall likewise resorte to the Secretary of
Estate[353] and shall certifie him upon what termes or conditions they be
come hither, to the ende that he may recorde their grauntes and comissions,
and for how long time and upon what conditions[354] their servants (in
case they have any) are to serve them, and that upon paine of the penalty
nexte above mentioned.

All Ministers in the Colony shall once a year, namely, in the moneth
of Marche, bringe to the Secretary of Estate a true account of all Christenings,
burials and marriages, upon paine, if they faill, to be censured for
their negligence by the Governor[355] and Counsell[356] of Estate; likewise,
where there be no ministers, that the comanders of the place doe supply
the same duty.

325 English, McDonald.

No man, wthout leave of the Governor, shall kill any Neatt cattle whatsoever,
young or olde, especially kine, Heyfurs or cow-calves, and shallbe[357]
carefull to preserve their steeres[358] and oxen, and to bring them to the
plough and such profitable uses, and wthout having obtained leave as aforesaid,
shall not kill them, upon penalty of forfaiting the value of the beast so
killed.

Whosoever shall take any of his neighbours' boates, oares, or canoas
wthout leave from the owner shalbe held[359]
and esteemed as a felon and so
proceeded againste;[360] tho[361] hee that shall take away by violence or stelth
any canoas or other thinges from the Indians shall make valuable restitution
to the said Indians, and shall forfaict, if he be a freeholder, five pound;
if a servant, 40s, or endure a whipping; and anything under the value of
13d[362]
shall be accounted Petty larceny.

All ministers shall duely read divine service, and exercise their ministerial
function according to the Ecclesiastical lawes and orders of the
churche[363] of Englande, and every Sunday in the afternoon[364] shall Catechize
suche as are not yet ripe to come to the Com.[365]
And whosoever of
them shalbe[366] found negligent or faulty in this kinde shalbe subject to the
censure of the Governr and Counsell of Estate.

The Ministers and Churchwardens shall seeke to presente[367] all ungodly
disorders, the comitters wherofe[368]
if, upon goode[369] admonitions and mild
reprooff,[370] they will not forbeare the said skandalous offenses,[371]
as suspicions
of whoredomes,[372] dishonest company keeping with weomen and
suche[373] like, they are to be presented and punished accordingly.

If any person after two warnings, doe[374] not amende[375] his or her life in
point[376] of evident suspicion of Incontincy[377] or of the comission[378] of any
other enormous sinnes,[379] that then he or shee be presented by the Churchwardens
and suspended for a time from the churche by the minister. In
wch Interim if the same person do[380] not amende and humbly submit[381] him
or herselfe to the churche, he is then fully to be excomunicate and soon
after a writt or warrant to be sent[382] from the Governr[383] for the apprehending
of his person ande seizing on[384] all his goods. Provided alwayes, that
all the ministers doe meet[385] once a quarter, namely, at the feast of S
Michael the Arkangell, of the nativity of our saviour, of the Annuntiation
of the blessed Virgine, and about midsomer, at[386] James citty or any other
place where the Governor[387] shall reside, to determine whom it is fitt to
excomunicate, and that they first presente their opinion to the Governor[388]
ere they proceed to the acte of excomunication.

For reformation of swearing, every freeman and Mr of a family after
thrise admonition shall give 5s or the value upon present[389] demaunde, to
the use of the church where he dwelleth; and every servant after the like
admonition, excepte his Mr dischardge[390] the fine, shalbe subject to whipping.
Provided, that the payment of the fine notwthstanding, the said servant
shall acknowledge his faulte publiquely in the Churche.

No man whatsoever, coming by water from above, as from Henrico,
Charles citty, or any place from the westwarde of James citty, and being
bound for Kiccowtan,[391] or any other parte on this side,[392] the same shall
presume to pass by, either by day or by night, wthout touching firste here
at James citty to knowe[393] whether the Governor[394] will comande him
any service. And the like shall they performe that come from Kicawtan[395]
ward, or from any place between this and that, to go upwarde, upon paine
of forfaiting ten pound sterling a time to the Governor[396] . Provided, that
if a servant having had instructions from his Master to observe this lawe,[397]
doe, notwthstanding, transgresse the same, that then the faid[398] servant
shalbe punished at the Governor's discretion; otherwise, that the master
himselfe shall undergo the foresaid penalty.

No man shall trade[399] into the baye, either in shallop, pinnace, or ship,
wthout the Governr's[400] license, and wthout putting in security that neither
himself nor his Company shall force or wrong the Indians, upon paine
that, doing otherwise, they shalbe censured at their returne by the Gov-
ernor[401] and Counfell[402] of Estate.

All persons whatsoever upon the Sabaoth daye[403] shall frequente divine
service and sermons both forenoon and afternoon, and all suche as beare
armes shall bring[404] their pieces, swordes, poulder and shotte. And every
one that shall transgresse this lawe shall forfaict[405] three shillinges[406] a time
to the use of the churche, all lawful and necessary impediments excepted.
But if a servant in this cafe shall wilfully neglecte his Mr comande he
shall suffer bodily punishmente.

No maide or woman servant, either now resident in the Colonie or
hereafter to come, shall contract herselfe in marriage wthout either the consente
of her parents, or of her Mr or Mrs, or of the magistrat[407] and minister
of the place both together. And whatsoever minister shall marry or contracte
any suche persons wthout some of the forefaid consentes shalbe[408] subjecte
to the severe censure of the Governr[409] and Counsell[410] of Estate.

Be it enacted by this[411] present assembly that whatsoever servant hath
heretofore or shall hereafter contracte himselfe in England, either by way
of Indenture or otherwise, to serve any Master here in Virginia and shall

afterward, against[412] his said former contracte, depart from his Mr wthout
leave, or, being once imbarked, shall abandon the ship he is appointed to
come in, and so, being lefte behinde, shall putt[413] himselfe into the service
of any other man that will bring him hither, that then at the same servant's
arrival here, he shall first serve out his time with that Mr that
brought him hither and afterward also shall serve out his time[414] wth his former
Mr according to his covenant.

All these lawes being thus concluded and confented to as aforesaide[415]
Captaine Henry Spellman[416] was called to the barre to answere to certaine
misdemeanors layde to his chardge by Robert Poole, interpretour, upon his
oath (whose examination the Governor sente into England in the Prosperus),
of wch accusations of Poole some he acknowledged for true, but the
greattest[417] part he denyed. Whereupon the General[418]
Assembly, having
throughly heard and considered his speaches, did constitute this order following
against him:

Aug. 4th, 1619.

This day Captaine Henry Spelman[419] was convented before the General
Assembly and was examined by a relation upon oath of one Robert
Poole, Interpreter, what conference had passed between the said Spelman[420]
and Opochancano at Poole's meeting with him in Opochancano's courte.
Poole chardgeth him he spake very unreverently and maliciously against[421]
this present Governr,[422] wherby the honour and dignity of his place and
person, and so of the whole Colonie, might be brought into contempte, by
wch meanes what mischiefs might ensue from the Indians by disturbance of
the peace or otherwise, may easily be conjectured. Some thinges of this
relation Spelman confessed, but the most part he denyed, excepte onely
one matter of importance, & that was that he hade informed Opochancano
that wthin a yeare there would come a Governor[423] greatter then[424] this that
nowe is in place. By wch and by other reportes it seemeth he hath alienated
the minde of Opochancano from this present Governour, and brought
him in much disesteem, both wth Opochancano[425] and the Indians, and the
whole Colony in danger of their slippery designes.

The general assembly upon Poole's testimony onely not willing to putt
Spelman to the rigour and extremity of the lawe, wch might, perhaps both
speedily and deservedly, have taken his life from him (upon the witness[426]
of one whom he muche excepted against), were pleased, for the present, to
censure him rather out of that his confession above written then[427] out of
any other prooffe. Several and sharpe punishments were pronounced

against[428] him by diverse of the Assembly, But in fine the whole course[429]
by voices united did encline to the most favourable, wch was that for this
misdemeanour[430] he should first be degraded of his title of Captaine,[431] at
the head of the troupe, and should be condemned to performe seven yeares
service to the Colony in the nature of Interpreter to the Governour.

This sentence being read to Spelman he, as one that had in him more
of the Savage then of the Christian, muttered certaine wordes to himselfe
neither shewing any remorse for his offences, nor yet any thankfulness to
the Assembly for theire sofavourable censure, wch he at one time or another
(God's grace not wholly abandoning him) might wth some one service have
been able to have redeemed.[432]

This day also did the Inhabitants of Paspaheigh, alias Argall's towne,
present a petition to the general assembly to give them an absolute dischardge
from certaine bondes wherin they stand bound to Captain Samuell
Argall for the paymt of 600G,[433] and to Captain William Powell, at Captain
Argall's appointment, for the paymt of 50G[434] more. To Captaine Argall
for 15 skore acres of wooddy ground, called by the name of Argal's[435] towne
or Paspaheigh; to Captaine Powell in respect of his paines in clearing the
grounde and building the houses, for wch Captaine[436] Argal ought to have
given him satisfaction. Nowe,[437] the general assembly being doubtful
whether they have any power and authority to dischardge the said bondes,
doe by these presents[438] (at the Instance of the said Inhabitants[439] of Paspaheighs,
alias Martin's hundred people) become most humble sutours to the
Tresurer, Counsell and Company in England that they wilbe[440] pleased to
gett the said bondes for 600G[441] to be cancelled; forasmuche as in their
great comission they have expressly and by name appointed that place of
Paspaheigh for parte of the Governor's[442] lande. And wheras Captain[443]
William Powell is payde[444] his 50G wch Captaine[445]
Argall enjoined the saide
Inhabitantes to presente him with, as parte[446] of the bargaine, the general
assembly, at their intreaty, do become sutours on their behalfe, that Captaine
Argall, by the Counsell & Company in England, may be compelled
either to restore the said 50G[447] from thence, or else that restitution therof
be made here out of the goods of the said Captain Argall.

The last acte of the General Assembly was a contribution to gratifie
their officers, as followeth:[448]

Aug. 4th, 1619.

It is fully agreed at this generall[449] Assembly that in regarde of the
great[450] paines and labour of the[451] Speaker of this Assembly (who not
onely[452]
first formed the same Assembly and to their great ease & expedition
reduced all matters to be treatted of into a ready method, but also his
indisposition notwthstanding wrote or dictated all orders and other expedients
and is yet[453] to write severall bookes for all the Generall[454] Incorporations
and plantations both of the great charter, and of all the lawes) and
likewise in respecte of the dilligence of the Clerke and sergeant, officers
thereto belonging. That every man and manservant of above 16 yeares of
age shall pay into the handes and Custody of the Burgesses of every Incorporation
and plantation one pound of the best Tobacco, to be distributed to
the Speaker and likewise to the Clerke and sargeant of the Assembly,
according to their degrees and rankes, the whole bulke whereof to be delivered
into the Speaker's handes, to be divided accordingly. And in
regarde[455] the Provost Marshall of James citty hath also given some attendance
upon the said Generall Assembly, he is also to have a share out of the
same. And this is to begin to be gathered the 24th of February nexte.

In conclusion, the whole Assembly comaunded[456] the Speaker (as
nowe he doth) to present their humble excuse to the Treasurer[457] Counsell
& Company in England for being constrained by the intemperature of the
weather and the falling sick of diverse of the Burgesses to breake up so
abruptly—before they had so much as putt their lawes to the ingrossing.
This they wholly comited to[458] the fidelity of their speaker, who therin[459]
(his conscience telles him) hath done the parte[460] of an honest man, otherwise
he would be easily founde[461] out by the Burgesses themselves, who wth
all expedition are to have so many bookes of the same lawes as there be
both Incorporations and Plantations in the Colony.

In the seconde place, the Assembly doth most humbly crave pardon
that in so shorte[462] a space they could bring their matter to no[463] more perfection,
being for the present enforced to sende home titles rather then
lawes, Propositions rather then resolutions, Attemptes then Acchievements,
hoping their courtesy will accepte our poore indevour, and their wisdome
wilbe[464] ready to supporte the weaknes of this little flocke.

Thirdly, the General Assembly doth humbly beseech[465] the said
Treasurer,[466] Counsell & Company, that albeit it belongeth to them onely
to allowe or to abrogate any lawes wch we shall here make,[467] and that it is
their right so to doe,[468] yet that it would please them not to take it in ill
parte if these lawes wch we have nowe brought to light, do passe currant[469]

& be of force till suche time as we[470] may knowe their farther pleasure out
of Englande: for otherwise this people (who nowe at length have gotte[471]
the raines[472] of former servitude into their owne swindge) would in shorte
time growe so insolent, as they would shake off all government, and there
would be no living among them.

Their last humble suite is,[473] that the said Counsell & Company would
be pleased, so soon as they shall finde[474] it convenient to make good their
promise sett downe[475] at the conclusion of their commission for establishing
the Counsel[476] of Estate & the General[477] Assembly, namely, that they will
give us power to allowe or disallowe of their orders of Courte, as his
Maty[478]
hath given them power to allowe or to reject[479] our lawes.

In sume Sir George Yeardley, the Governor[480] prorogued the said
General[481] Assembly till the firste of Marche, which is to fall out this
present yeare of 1619, and in the mean season dissolved the same.

The McDonald copy has the following after Finis:

The above document is taken from the Colonial Records
of Virginia. This record was printed from copies of the
original obtained from the Public Record Office of Great
Britain; viz., the McDonald and De Jarnette copies, and an
abstract furnished by Mr. Sainsbury; Bancroft, also, obtained
a copy, but the De Jarnette copy being in loose sheets
was selected as the most convenient for the printer. Whenever
a difference in either of these versions occurs, the footnotes
make mention of it.

A natural desire had long existed to know something of
the proceedings of the first legislative Assembly ever held in
Virginia, an event which inaugurated a new era in the history
of the hitherto disturbed and oppressed Colony. The
historian, Stith, could find no trace of this paper; Jefferson
searched for it in vain, and the patient, painstaking Hening
believed it no longer extant.

What a prize then, is this "Reporte," in its full and circumstantial
details of the baptism of representative government
in the New World.

Here, it will be seen that this first legislative Assembly in
the wilds of America was opened with prayer, and that in its
deliberations the Church of England was confirmed as the
Church of Virginia.

When Christopher Columbus ceased from the recital of his
successful voyage of discovery before the Court of Spain, it is
said that Ferdinand and Isabella, "together with all present,
prostrated themselves on their knees in grateful thanksgiving,
while the solemn strains of the Te Deum were poured forth
by the choir of the royal chapel, as in commemoration of some
glorious victory." And yet, this first Assembly in the land
rescued from darkness by the liberality of Spain, was opened
by a prayer which rose to Heaven, not in the liquid language
of old Castile, but in the English tongue!

In the far past, the Creed held sway that the Pope of
Rome, as vicar of Jesus Christ, had power to dispose of all
countries inhabited by heathen nations, in favor of Christian
potentates; and yet, the three papal bulls of Alexander VI.,
"out of his pure liberality, infallible knowledge, and plenitude
of apostolic power," investing Spain with plenary
authority over all countries discovered by it, and confirming
its absolute possession of the same, all previous concessions
to the contrary notwithstanding; yet, with all the weight of
actual discovery, and the decrees of the pontifical throne
in support of Spain, not the triple crown of Rome, but "The
Church of England," first raised its spire in these primeval
forests. Here it laid broad and deep the foundations of that
Holy Religion which has been the bulwark of Virginia's

liberties, the strength of her manhood, the glory of her
womanhood; the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire
by night, which for nearly three centuries has preserved the
true and higher life of this noble old commonwealth!

The London Company approved the Colonial Assembly
which had been convened by Sir George Yeardley, and on
the 24th of July, 1621, a memorable ordinance, established for
the colony a written constitution. Its terms were few and
simple, but the system of representative government and trial
by jury became an acknowledged right in the New World.
On this celebrated ordinance Virginia erected the superstructure
of her independence. "It constituted the plantation, in
its infancy, a nursery of freemen," and its influences—sometimes
written in letters of living light, sometimes written in
blood—may be traced through all her history.[482]

As an evidence of the increasing prosperity of the colony,
it may be stated that in 1619, 20,000 pounds of tobacco were
exported to England from Virginia; in April, 1620, a special
commission was issued by King James for the inspection of
this weed, and in June following, a proclamation for restraining
the disorderly trading in the obnoxious article. Thus its
uses and abuses began at an early period of colonial enterprise.

This year of 1620 is also memorable for the introduction
of negro slaves into Virginia. A Dutch man-of-war landed
twenty negroes for sale, and these were the first brought into
the country—

to the far-off descendants of the colonists.

XIX.

SIR FRANCIS WYATT.

XIX. Governor and Captain-General.

XIX. November 8, 1621, to May 17, 1626.

Sir Francis Wyatt came to Virginia in October, 1621,
at the request of Governor Yeardley, whose term of office was
soon to expire. He succeeded Yeardley, November 8, 1621,
and was in his turn succeeded by Sir George Yeardley, May
17, 1626. Wyatt brought with him the new Constitution for
the Colony, and the opening clause of his instructions reads
as follows:

"To keep up religion of the Church of England as near
as may be; to be obedient to the King and do justice after
the form of the laws of England; and not to injure the natives;
and to forget old quarrels now buried."

During Wyatt's administration the Indian massacre of
March 22, 1622, occurred, in which 347 of the colonists were
killed, and "the 22d of March" was ordered by the General
Assembly held March 5, 1623, to "be yearly solemnized as
holliday," in commemoration of the escape of the Colony
from entire extirpation at this time. The calamities which
had befallen the Virginia Colony, and the dissensions which
had agitated the Company having been represented to the
King, he, after some measures of inquiry, had the matter
brought to trial in the Court of King's Bench, where judgment
was given against the Virginia Company, and the
charter vacated in 1624. King James now issued a new
commission for the government of Virginia, continuing Sir
Francis Wyatt in his office, with 11 Counsellors, and empowering
them to govern "as fully and amplye as any Governor
and Council resident there, at any time within the space of
five years now last past." This term of five years was precisely

the established period of representative government, and
so the continuance of popular assemblies was formally sanctioned.
But King James was denied the task of giving to
the Colony a code of fundamental laws, for he died March
27, 1625, and was succeeded by Charles I.

The demise of the Crown having annulled all former
appointments for Virginia, Charles I. now reduced that Colony
under the immediate direction of the throne, appointing
a Governor and Council, and ordering all patents and processes
to issue in his own name. His proclamation "for settling
the plantation of Virginia," is dated May 13, 1625. When,
however, early in 1626, Wyatt retired, the re-appointment of
Sir George Yeardley by Charles I. was a guarantee in itself
that, as "the former interests of Virginia were to be kept inviolate,"
so the representative government would be continued,
for it was Yeardley who had introduced the system.
King Charles, intent only on increasing his revenue, favored
the wishes of the colonists, and in his commission to Yeardley
expressed his desire to encourage and perfect the plantation
"by the same means that were formerly thought fit for
the maintenance of the Colony." He also limited the power
of the Governor and Council, as had before been done in the
commission of Wyatt, by a reference to the usages of the last
five years. In that period representative liberty had become
the custom of Virginia. A new heaven and a new earth had
spread before the Virginia colonist, and time nor change has
ever blotted from his race that love of freedom which he first
tasted then.

XX.

SIR GEORGE YEARDLEY.

XX. Governor and Captain-General.

XX. May 17, 1626, to November 14, 1627.

When, early in 1626, Wyatt retired from office (returning
to Ireland on account of the death of his father), Charles I.
appointed Sir George Yeardley his successor. Virginia rose,
now, rapidly in public esteem. In 1627 one thousand emigrants
arrived, and there was an increasing demand for the
rich products of this virgin soil. During Yeardley's three
administrations many and great events in the life of the Colony
had taken place. Posterity retains a grateful recollection
of the man who called together the first representative assembly
in the New World. His career was closed by death, in
November, 1627, and the colonists, in a letter to the Privy
Council, pronounced a eulogy on his virtues. The day after
his burial, and in the absence of John Harvey, who was named
in Yeardley's commission as his eventual successor, Francis
West was elected Governor, for the Council was authorized to
elect the Governor "from time to time, as often as the case
should require."

XXI.

CAPTAIN FRANCIS WEST.

XXI. President of the Council
and
Governor.

XXI. November 14, 1627, to March 5, 1629.

Captain Francis West was a younger brother of Lord
De la Warr. He came to the Colony early in its settlement.
Here he married, and was long a member of the Council. In
1623 he went to Plymouth with a commission to be Admiral
of New England. He was authorized to restrain vessels
from fishing or trading on the coast without a license from
the New England Council, but, meeting with difficulty in
executing this part of his commission, he sailed for Virginia.

When Governor Yeardley died, the administration devolved
on West. During his control of affairs the Colony
received large accessions of emigrants from Europe. Captain
West returned to England, March 5, 1629, when Dr. John
Pott succeeded him in presiding over the fortunes of the Colony.
Captain West is said to have come back again to
Virginia, and to have met his death by drowning.

XXII.

DOCTOR JOHN POTT.

XXII. President of the Council
and
Governor.

XXII. March 5, 1629, to March, 1630.

Sir John Harvey was appointed Governor and Captain-General,
March 26, 1628, but not coming to Virginia at once,
Dr. John Pott succeeded Captain Francis West in the government,
and continued in office until the arrival of Sir John
Harvey in March, 1630. During this period the Assembly
was twice convened, and many regulations adopted for the
defense of the Colony. Dr. Pott had accompanied Sir Francis
Wyatt to Virginia as physician, in October, 1621, and was a
member of the Council under the provisional government
constituted by the King in 1624. He was esteemed the best
surgeon and physician in the Colony.

XXIII.

SIR JOHN HARVEY.

XXIII. Governor and Captain-General.

XXIII. March, 1630, to April, 1635.

John Harvey was commissioned Governor of the Colony,
March 26, 1628, and was knighted soon after by Charles I.
He met his first Assembly of Burgesses, March 24, 1630.
Harvey was one of the most rapacious, tyrannical, and unpopular
of the royal Governors; was suspended by an indignant
Assembly in 1635, and impeached, but was restored by the
King the next year, and continued in office until 1639. But,
during the period of his office, despite his partial judgments
and cruel exercise of power, the accustomed legislative rights
of the Colony were unimpaired.

On June 20, 1632, Charles I. granted to Lord Baltimore
a patent for a portion of Virginia, which he named "Maryland"
in honor of his Queen. This grant gave great
umbrage to the planters of Virginia, and offers the first
example in colonial history of the dismemberment of an
ancient colony by the formation of a new province, with separate
and equal rights. Virginia regarded the severing of
her territory with apprehension. She remonstrated against
the grant "as an invasion of her commercial rights, an
infringement on her domains, and a discouragement to her
planters"; but she remonstrated in vain.

John Harvey courted the favor of Lord Baltimore and
sympathized with Maryland in the dispute over Kent
Island and trade in the Chesapeake, and he was odious to
the colonists, whose territorial interests he betrayed. They
rose in indignation at his abuse of power, and on the 28th of
April, 1635, arrested him "for treason" and drove him out
of the country. But the territory of Maryland they could
not reclaim; it had been taken from Virginia forever.

XXIV.

CAPTAIN JOHN WEST.

XXIV. President of the Council.

XXIV. April 28, 1635, to April 2, 1636.

Captain John West was a younger brother of Lord De
la Warr. When Sir John Harvey was "thrust out of his
government," April 28, 1635, John West was selected to succeed
him. He in turn was superseded by Harvey, April
2, 1636.

In March, 1659-60, when Sir William Berkeley was Governor,
the House of Burgesses passed the following act:

"Whereas, the many important favours and services rendered
to the countrey of Virginia by the noble family of the
West, predecessors to Mr. John West, their now only survivor,
claim at least that a grateful remembrance of their
former merrits be still continued to their survivor, It is ordered
That the levies of the said Master West and his family be
remitted, and that he be exempted from payment thereof during
life."

Captain John West remained in Virginia until his death.

XXV.

SIR JOHN HARVEY.

XXV. Governor and Captain-General.

XXV. April 2, 1636, to November, 1639.

Reinstated in his office by Charles the First, Sir John
Harvey returned to Virginia. Without delay he met the
Council at the church, at Elizabeth City, and published the
King's proclamation pardoning, with a few exceptions, all
persons who had given aid in the late uprising against him.
In November, 1639, he was superseded by Sir Francis Wyatt.

XXVI.

SIR FRANCIS WYATT.

XXVI. Governor and Captain-General.

XXVI. November, 1639, to February, 1642.

In November, 1639, Sir Francis Wyatt succeeded to
power, and convened a General Assembly in the following
January. The XIth Act of this Assembly reads: "James
City to be the chief town and Governor is to have his residence
there." In consequence of laws restricting the culture
of tobacco, this Assembly (Act VIII.) declared "Not to pay
above two thirds of their debts during the stint." Beyond
this, the administration of Wyatt, during this, his second
term, passed quietly away. He died at Bexley, Kent, England,
in 1644.

XXVII.

SIR WILLIAM BERKELEY.

XXVII. Governor and Captain-General.

XXVII. February, 1642, to June, 1644.

Sir William Berkeley was constituted Governor
August 9, 1641, but did not assume the government until
February, 1642. Harmony prevailed, and the memory of
ancient griefs was lost in the growing spirit of independence
which thrilled through every vein of the new and growing
Body Politic. Virginia now enjoyed all the liberties which a
monarch could concede and retain his supremacy.

The Indians, however, goaded on by grievous wrongs and
a determination on the part of the settlers to make no terms
of peace with them, resolved upon a general massacre of the
pale-faced foe. This they attempted on April 18, 1644, but
after slaying three hundred they abandoned their savage work
and fled to the woods. So little was apprehended from them
after this, that two months later Governor Berkeley embarked
for England and left Richard Kempe as his substitute.

Sir William Berkeley was born near London in 1610. He
was educated at Oxford, and by extensive travel and acquaintance
with the world, was well fitted for the position of influence
to which he was appointed in the Colony. How sad that
so fair an entrance into power should e'er have had so foul an
ending!

XXVIII.

RICHARD KEMPE.

XXVIII. President of the Council
and
Acting Governor.

XXVIII. June, 1644, to June, 1645.

Richard Kempe comes before us first as a member of
the Council of Virginia, in 1642, and in 1644 as Acting Governor
during Sir William Berkeley's absence in England.
Bishop Meade, in his "Old Churches, Ministers, and Families
of Virginia," says:

On Sir William Berkeley's return, Richard Kempe continued
to serve the Colony as a member of the Council until
1648, and perhaps later, and subsequently acted as the Secretary
of that body.

On a slab in the grave-yard around the old church at
Williamsburg, Bruton Parish, Virginia, and lying against
the wall of the church in order to preserve it, might be seen,
a few years ago, the following:

XXIX.

SIR WILLIAM BERKELEY.

XXIX. Governor.

XXIX. June, 1645, to April 30, 1652.

While the Colony of Virginia was acquiring the management
of its own concerns, slowly but surely England was being
distracted by a civil war. This war resulted in the dethronement
and capture of the King, who was afterwards beheaded in
front of his palace at Whitehall, January 30, 1649. Justice
was no longer to be administered in the King's name, and the
title of the realm was exchanged for that of "The Commonwealth
of England." Oliver Cromwell was declared Captain-General
of the troops of the state, and afterwards rose to the
supreme power, with the title of Protector. During this civil
war, Governor Berkeley took the royal side, and Virginia was
the last of the English possessions which acknowledged the
authority of Cromwell. Two years after Charles I. was
beheaded, Parliament sent a fleet to Virginia to compel its
submission. Sir William Berkeley was obliged then to surrender
to superior power.

Cromwell ruled England for eleven years, during which
time peace and prosperity reigned in all the countries under
his control. Although Virginia had been forced to submit to
his authority, she never gave up her loyalty to the throne of
England. She sent a vessel to Flanders, to the son of Charles
I., who was in exile there, offering him her support, and inviting
him to come to Virginia and set up his throne upon her
territory. Charles accepted, and was actually preparing to
embark when his subjects in England recalled him to the
throne of his fathers. Once established in power, Charles II.,
in gratitude to Virginia for her loyalty, caused her to be proclaimed
an independent member of his empire, which was to

consist of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Virginia, and her
coat-of-arms was added to those of the other three countries
comprised in his realm. Ever since that time Virginia has
retained the title of "The Old Dominion."

Sir William Berkeley was superseded in Virginia by
Richard Bennet, April 30, 1652.

XXX.

RICHARD BENNET.

XXX. Acting Governor Under the Commonwealth of
Cromwell.

XXX. April 30, 1652, to March, 1655.

Richard Bennet first took part in colonial affairs as
Burgess, in October, 1629, from "Warrosquoyeake," which
formed one of the eight original shires, in the year 1634. This
shire embraced a distance of ninety miles, but its name was soon
changed to Isle of Wight, and in 1642 it was divided into two
parishes, the upper and lower, or Newport and Warwicksqueake,
each extending the full length of the county, or ninety
miles.

Under Berkeley's administration, Richard Bennet had
been oppressed in Virginia, and he fled to Maryland to
escape presecution. From thence he went to London, where,
on September 26, 1651, he was chosen as one of the commissioners
appointed by the Commonwealth of England to reduce
the royal Colony of Virginia to submission. The commissioners
were constituted pacificators and benefactors of the
country. In case of resistance, war was threatened; if Virginia
would adhere to the Commonwealth, she might be the
mistress of her own destiny.

The following reports of official papers bearing on this
period are taken from Hening's "Statutes at Large," Vol. I.:

ARTICLES AT THE SURRENDER OF THE COUNTRIE.

Theise articles were signed and sealed by the commissionors of the
Councill of State for the Common Wealth of England, the twelveth day
of March, 1651.

Theise articles were signed, sealed, sworne vnto by vs the commissioners
for the parliament of the common wealth of England, the 12th of
March, 1651.

AN ACT OF INDEMQUITIE MADE ATT THE SURRENDER OF
THE CONTREY.

Whereas by the authoritie of the parliament of England, wee the
commissioners appointed by the Councill of State authorized thereto having
brought a fleete and force before James Cittie in Virginia to reduce
that collonie vnder the obedience of the common-wealth of England, and
finding force raised by the Governour and countrey to make opposition
against the said ffleet, whereby assured danger appearinge of the ruine and
destruction of the plantation, for prevention whereof the Burgesses of all
the severall plantations being called to advise and assist therein, vppon
long and serious debate, and in sad contemplation of the grate miseries
and certaine destruction, which were soe nearly hovering over this whole

countrey, Wee the said commissioners have thought fitt and condescended
and granted to signe and confirme under our hands, seales and
by our oath, Articles bearinge date with theise presents. And do further
declare, That by the authoritie of the parliament and commonwealth of
England derived vnto vs theire commissioners, That according to the
articles in generall, Wee have granted an act of indempuitie and oblivion
to all the inhabitants of this colloney, from all words, actions or writings
that have been spoken, acted or writt against the parliament or common
wealth of England or any other person from the beginning of the world to
this daye, And this we have done, That all the inhabitants of the collonie
may live quietly and securely vnder the comon-wealth of England, And
wee do promise that the parliament and common wealth of England shall
confirme and make good all those transactions of ours, Wittnes our hands
and seales this 12th day of March, 1651.

Richard Bennet had the great satisfaction of benefiting
permanently the home of his adoption. Virginia now
enjoyed large liberties. "The executive officers became
elective, and so evident were the designs of all parties to
promote an amicable settlement of the government, that
Richard Bennet, himself a Commissioner of the Parliament,
and, moreover, a merchant and a Roundhead, was, on the
recommendation of the other Commissioners, unanimously
chosen Governor." Cromwell never made any appointments
for Virginia; not one Governor acted under his commission.
When Bennet retired from office, the Assembly elected his
successor, and Edward Digges, who had before been chosen
of the Council, and who "had given a signal testimony of
his fidelity to Virginia and to the Commonwealth of England,"
received the suffrages.

In 1666 Bennet commanded the militia of three of the four
military districts into which Virginia was divided, with the
rank of Major-General, and was a member of the Council as
late as 1674. He owned the plantations of "Weyanoak"
and "Kicotan," on the James River, and has many distinguished
descendants in Virginia.

XXXI.

EDWARD DIGGES.

XXXI. President of the Council
and
Governor
Under the Commonwealth of Cromwell.

XXXI. March, 1655, to March 13, 1658.

"Att a Grand Assembly Held at James Citty, March 31, 1655, Ordered
the Governor and Councill be as followeth: Edward Digges, Esqr.,
Governor, Coll. Wm. Clayborne, Secretary, and next in Council, etc."

According to Hening, "this is the second election of
Governor and Council which appears to have been made
since the existence of the Commonwealth in England."

Governor Digges took much interest in the manufacture of
silk in the Colony, it being found "the most profitable
comoditie for the countrey," and during his term an act was
passed for "ten mulberry trees to be planted for every 100
acres of land held in fee-simple, and sufficiently fenced and
tended." Later it was enacted "that what person soever
shall first make one hundred pounds of wound silke in one
yeare within this Colloney, shall in his so doing be paid ffive
thousand pounds of tobacco out of the publique levie."

Although the cultivation of this industry was at a later date
abandoned, it is said that part of the coronation robe of
Charles II. was composed of Virginia silk, sent to him from
the Colony. This particular mark of favor from the King
was in acknowledgment of the firmness which the Virginians
had expressed in the royal cause.

Governor Digges was a younger son of Sir Dudley Digges,
of Chilham, County Kent, England, and was born in 1620.
He died March 15, 1675, and was buried at his seat, "Bellefield,"
about eight miles from Williamsburg, Va. His
descendants took an active part in the affairs of the Colony
for many years.

XXXII.

CAPTAIN SAMUEL MATTHEWS.

XXXII. President of the Council under the Commonwealth of
England.

XXXII. March 13, 1657, to January, 1659.

This was the third election of Governor and Council
during the Commonwealth of England. The Burgesses
being elected and returned by the Sheriffs for the several
plantations, they proceeded to recite as follows:

The right of electing the Governor, it will be seen, continued
to be exercised by the representatives of the people.
Samuel Matthews, son of an old planter, was chosen to fill the
office. From too exalted ideas of his station, he, with the
Council, became involved in an unequal contest with the
Assembly by which he had been elected. But it is interesting
to observe in the following extracts (taken from Hening's
Statutes at Large, Vol. 1.) how the spirit of popular liberty

* See Hening's Statutes at Large, Vol. I., pp. 431-2.

established all its claims and that "the House of Burgesses"
had a complete triumph.[484]

Vpon which transactions being but three monthes

absente, It was voted vnanimously, That no Burgesse
and if any shall depart, That he shall be censured as a person betraying
the trust reposed in him by his country, And the remaining to act in all
things and to all intents and purposes as a whole and entire house, And
ffurther, That Mr. Speaker signe nothing without the consent of the
major part of the house.

Voted further, That an oath of secresy be administred to the Burgesses
which was done as followeth:

The Oath.

You shall sweare that as a Burgesse of this House you shall not either
directly or indirectly repeate nor discover the present or future transactions,
debates or discourses that are now or hereafter shall be transacted or
debated on in the House to any person or persons whatsoever except to a
Burgesse of this Assembly now present dureing the time of this present
session. So help you God and the contents of this Booke.

This oath taken by all the Burgesses present.

The House vnsatisfied with these answers, appointed a comittee to
draw vp a report for manifestation and vindication of the Assembly's
power which after presentation to the House to be sent to the Governour
and Councill. These vnderwritten being appointed the commitee:

Coll. John Carter, Mr. Warham Horsmendon, Coll. John Sidney,
Lev't Coll. Thomas Swann, Major Richard Webster, Mr. Jerom Ham,
Capt. Wm. Michell.

The same committee is by the House impowered to draw vp all such
propositions as any way tend to or concerne the settling the present affaires
of the country and government.

By the Grand Assembly.

Directed to Capt. Robert Ellison, High Sheriff of James City County and
Serjeant at Armes for this present Grand Assembly.

It is ordered, That whereas the supreame power of this country of
Virginia is by this Grand Assembly declared to be resident in the Burgesses,
the representatives of the people, That in referrence and obedience
thereto Coll. William Claiborne, late secretarie of state, forthwith surrender
and deliver the records of the country into the hands of the
Speaker of this present Grand Assembly.

Coll. Claiborne being sent for by the sergeant at armes, there was
drawen vp the next ensueing order.

Whereas it hath been ordered by this present Grand Assembly, That
Coll. William Claiborne late secretarie of state should deliver, vppon oath,
all the records concerning this country of Virginia or any perticular member
thereof vnto this Grand Assembly, These are to impower & authorize
Coll. John Carter and Mr. Warham Horsmenden to receive the same in
the name and behalfe of the aforsaid Grand Assembly, and for such
records as they shall receive to give the said Coll. Claiborne a full receipt
and discharge.

April the 3d, 1658.

The comittee appointed for manifestation of the countreys power did
this day by order of the house present to the Governor the forme of the
oath to be taken by him and the Councill, which by him was approved
and a list of those he desired to be of his councill presented by him to the
house.

The Oath.

I doe sweare that as Governour and Capt. Gen'll of Virginia, I will,
from time to time to the best of my vnderstanding and conscience deliver
my opinion in all cases for the good and wellfare of this plantation of Virginia,
And I do also swear that as a minister of justice in Virginia, I will,
to the best of my judgement and conscience, do equall right and justice
vnto all persons in all causes when I shall bee therevnto called according
to the knowne laws of England or acts of Assembly which are or shall be
in force for the time being without favour, affection, partiality or malice
or any by respect whatsoever; Neither will I, directly or indirectly give
councell or advice in any cause depending before me. So help me God.

The names of the Councellors nominated by
the Governour and approved by the House.

S: Coll. Samuell Matthewes, Esq'r Governour and Capt. Gen'll of Virginia.

Richard Bennett

S: Coll. Wm. Claiborne,

Secretary of State

Coll. Hill

Coll. Thomas Dew

S: Coll. Wm. Bernard

Coll. John West

S: Coll. Tho's Pettus

S: Coll. Obedience Robins

Capt. Henry Perry

Le'tt Coll. John Walker.

S: Coll. George Reade.

Coll. Abraham Wood.

Coll. John Carter.

Mr. Warham Horsmenden.

Le'tt Coll. Anto. Ellyotte.

These 3 last not to be sworne vntill the dissolution of the Assembly.

These marked in the margent with the letter S: where then sworne
in the forme expressed, their titles onely changed.

On the 3d of September, 1658, the great Cromwell died.
He passed away "peaceably in his bed at his palace of Whitehall,
and was buried with more than regal pomp in the sepulchre
of our monarchs."

Unmolested by Cromwell in internal affairs, during the
Protectorate, "the People of Virginia" had really governed
themselves. Tranquility and a rapid increase of population
promised a permanent existence to the Colony, and life was
sweetened and industry quickened by the enjoyment of equal
franchises. Every officer in the government was chosen,
directly or indirectly, by the people.

Gov. Matthews filled his position with honesty and ability,
and was greatly regretted when he died, in January, 1659. He
was succeeded by Sir William Berkeley.

XXXIII.

SIR WILLIAM BERKELEY.

XXXIII. Governor.

XXXIII. March 13, 1659-60, to April 30, 1661.

Virginia had now so nearly completed her institutions that
until her final separation from England she made little further
advance towards freedom. The love of liberty had grown in
the hearts and lives of the colonists, and the struggling band
had increased and flourished as they felt "the glorious privilege
of being independent." The country for which they
had suffered so much had become dear to them. It was
theirs through famine, pestilence, and the sword—wrested
from the grasp of no common foe, and bought by the blood
of no common sacrifice.

Thus, at the advent of Sir William Berkeley again to
office, the Colony was estimated from eight to twelve thousand
in population, growing rich, free, and in favor with the world.

It is said by Hening that no portion of the history of
Virginia has been so palpably misunderstood as that which
relates to the re-appointment of Sir William Berkeley at this
time. Colonel Samuel Matthews having died in January,
1659, the next Assembly, which sat on the 13th of March,
1659-60, elected Sir William Berkeley, Governor. The Governors
of Virginia during the Commonwealth of England
were all elected by the House of Burgesses, and it was not until
after the Restoration, which took place May 29, 1660, that
the word "King" or "Majesty" occurred in the proceedings
of the Assembly. "Att a Grand Assemblie held at James
Cittie in Virginia, the 11th Oct., 1660, these orders following
were made in the Government of The Right Hon. Sir William
Berkeley, his Majesties Governor," etc.

Berkeley had been re-elected Governor by the Assembly

in Virginia on March 13, 1659-60, and was commissioned to
act by Charles II., July 31, 1660.

The Navigation Act having made the colonists uneasy as
to a violation of their rights, they sent Governor Berkeley to
England to protest against its enforcement.

Whilst Governor Berkeley was absent on this mission,
Colonel Francis Moryson was elected by the Council to be
Governor and Captain-General of Virginia.

During the Commonwealth of England there were four
Governors appointed under the provisional government of
Virginia, viz.: Richard Bennet, April, 1652; Edward
Digges, March, 1655; Samuel Matthews, March, 1657-8.

Samuel Matthews was elected March, 1657-8, and at the
same session, a contest arising between the Governor and
Council and the House of Burgesses, as to the constitutional
power of dissolving the Assembly, the Burgesses declared
all former elections of Governor and Council void and null,
but, immediately after, re-elected Matthews. By the first act
of March, 1658-9 Matthews was again elected, and by the
second act of March, 1659-60, Sir William Berkeley was
re-elected by the Assembly in Virginia, and was commissioned
to act by Charles II., July 31, 1660. Thus the power to
appoint the Governors reverted to the Crown of England.

XXXIV.

COLONEL FRANCIS MORYSON, OR MORRISON.

XXXIV. Deputy or Lieutenant-Governor.

XXXIV. March 23, 1661, to December 23, 1662.

Colonel Moryson had arrived in the Colony in the autumn
of 1649. He was a loyalist and as such received a
warm welcome from Sir William Berkeley, who, it is said,
gave Moryson the command of the fort at Point Comfort.
He became a member of the Council, was Speaker of the
House of Burgesses in 1656, and was finally selected Deputy-Governor
during Sir William Berkeley's absence in England.

During Colonel Moryson's term of office, at a Grand Assembly
held at James City, March 23, 1661-62, the whole
body of the laws of the Colony was reviewed and a copy sent
to England to Sir William Berkeley, "to procure his Majesty's
royal confirmation." These Acts, numbering 142, began
with the following:

Thus it will be seen that all through the history of the
early settlement of this country a reverence for the Church
is constantly recognized, and though this "outward and visible
sign" may not always have evidenced "an inward and
spiritual grace," still it is edifying to observe that God was

acknowledged first in all the temporal affairs of the first Virginians.
Bishop Meade relates, in connection with the Parish
of James City, that there exists in the Library of the Theological
Seminary of Virginia "a large silver chalice and
paten, with the inscription on each,

Also a silver alms-basin with the inscription, "For the use
of James City Parish Church." It is an interesting speculation
as to whether Governor Moryson had any connection
with these gifts.

Colonel Moryson, at the expiration of his term as Governor,
was sent to England as the agent of the Colony, with
an annual salary of ¢200. Whether he ever returned to Virginia
is not recorded, but he left substantial tokens with the
people he had served, of great fidelity to their welfare.

XXXV.

SIR WILLIAM BERKELEY.

XXXV. Governor.

XXXV. December 23, 1662, to April 27, 1677.

By the foregoing it will be seen that Governor Berkeley
now entered upon his fourth term of office in Virginia. He
had fostered the Colony in its infancy, and during his rule,
though it had seen many changes, it had steadily advanced
in the path of prosperity. But clouds were rising to burst
in fury on the venerable Governor's path. The low price of
tobacco, and the ill-treatment of the planters in the exchange
of goods for it; the splitting of the Colony into proprietaries,
contrary to the original charters, the heavy restraints and
burdens laid upon their trade by Act of Parliament, and
last, though not least, the troubles with the unsleeping Indian
foe; all these wrongs stirred the souls of many Virginia
Fathers, who were soon to show their discontent in that
historic period known as "Bacon's Rebellion." This suffering
time, which cost much blood and treasure, which broke
up the local government for a time, and laid the first-born city

of the Western Wild in ashes, was in the end a blessing to
the people. Nathaniel Bacon perished, but not before he had,
by valor unsurpassed, defied tyrannic power and destroyed
forever, the Indian Empire in Virginia.

"Bacon's Quarter Branch" and "Bloody Run" have
their own imperishable story.

But around the death of Nathaniel Bacon mystery has
always hung. No circumstantial details of the event have been
preserved, and though historians have ascribed his untimely
"taking off" to cold and great fatigue from arduous duties,
still there has ever lurked suspicion that he fell by the hand
of an assassin employed by the government. When we consider
the instructions of the King to Governor Berkeley, that
Bacon was to be taken at all hazards, that both force and
design were to be employed, it gives a terrible significance to
the following words, Act I., General Assemblie, June 8, 1680:
"until it pleased the Almighty to send him, the said Bacon,
an infamous and exemplary death."[488]

There were two persons living at this time who bore the
name of Nathaniel Bacon. The elder was a friend and follower
of Governor Berkeley; the younger was the heroic spirit
who headed the Rebellion. These two men were cousins,
but this did not prevent the elder Bacon from persecuting to
"the bitter end" the men whom he termed "rebels."

Yet more bloody than Bloody Run was Berkeley's vengeance
upon the men who had driven him from his citadel a
refugee and had refused obedience to his arbitrary laws. His
thirst for blood increased with what it fed on, and in the
language of an ancient Burgess, "He would have hanged half
the country if he had been let alone." The King himself,
horrified at the cruelty of Berkeley, exclaimed, "That old fool
has hanged more men in that naked country than I have done
here for the murder of my father."

So closed in deep dishonor a career which opened with such
fair promises of usefulness and virtuous example. Berkeley
had been loved and venerated for many years, but he was not

born for trial, and when the supreme hour broke upon him
he greatly fell!

Scorned and execrated in Virginia, he turned to his King
and to his native land for recognition and for favor. The one
refused him admittance to the Court, and in the other was
no one found to do the old man reverence. Crushed, yet proud,
he turned aside to lay him down and die. Let us devoutly
hope, that standing before the Great and Last Tribunal, he
met with Divine compassion, even though when "clothed with
a little, brief authority" upon earth he had been unmindful of
the sweet promise to the merciful, and had forgotten that
gentlest Virtue, which

XXXVI.

SIR HERBERT JEFFRIES.

XXXVI. Lieutenant-Governor.

XXXVI. April 27, 1677, to December 30, 1678.

Sir Herbert Jeffries was appointed Lieutenant-Governor
of Virginia, and one of the commissioners for inquiring into
the state of the Colony, in 1676. He assumed the administration
on the return of Sir William Berkeley to England,
and exerted himself wisely and well to restore peace to a distracted
country. He made a treaty with the Indians of the
West, by which each town agreed to pay three arrows for
their land and twenty beaver skins annually for protection.
But Jeffries did not live to see the accomplishment of his judicious
plans. He died in 1678, when the government devolved
upon Sir Henry Chicheley.

It is a matter of interest to note that the last Assembly
held by Governor Berkeley "Begunne at Green Spring,"
and that the Grand Assembly, held by Governor Jeffries,
Oct. 10, 1677, "Begunne at Middle Plantation, Att the
house of Capt. Otho Thorpe."

Green Spring was Governor Berkeley's residence, which
he had built himself only a few miles from James City, and
Middle Plantation was afterwards called Williamsburg. This
change of venue was of course the result of the burning of
James City.

XXXVII.

SIR HENRY CHICHELEY.

XXXVII. Deputy-Governor.

XXXVII. December 30, 1678, to May 10, 1680.

In the year 1666 the vestry of Lancaster Parish, Virginia,
agreed to build a church about midway the parish, to be called
Christ Church, the glass and iron to be gotten from England.
Here Sir Henry Chicheley served as vestryman, and here his
mortal part was buried. Says Bishop Meade, in 1872:

In 1656 Sir Henry Chicheley was a Burgess from Lancaster
County, and in 1674 he was a member of the Council.
In March, 1676, he was made commander of the forces to be
sent against the Indians, but Sir William Berkeley disbanded
them before they entered upon duty. Upon the death of
Governor Jeffries, Sir Henry Chicheley became Deputy-Governor,

under a commission dated February 28, 1674, and
served until the arrival of Lord Culpeper, March 10, 1680;
but he continued to act as Deputy-Governor after the arrival
of Lord Culpeper, and during his absence from the government,
(which was frequently the case) until 1683.

Sir Henry Chicheley took very energetic measures for the
protection of the colonists against the encroachments of the
Indians, causing that "fower houses for stores or garrisons
be erected and built at the heads of the ffower greate rivers,"
namely, the Potomac, Rappahannock, Mattapony, and James.
By these and other measures for the public weal, Sir Henry
greatly ingratiated himself in public favor. He died about
1692, and was buried, as before stated, in the "Mother
Church," Middlesex County, Virginia.

XXXVIII.

THOMAS, LORD CULPEPER.
(BARON OF THORSWAY.)

XXXVIII. Governor and Captain-General.

XXXVIII. May 10, 1680, to September 17, 1683.

All accounts agree in describing the situation of Virginia
during Lord Culpeper's administration as one of extreme
suffering. Charles II. had in 1673, with lavish prodigality,
given to two of his favorite courtiers, Lord Culpeper and the
Earl of Arlington, "all the dominion of land and water called
Virginia, for the term of thirty-one years." This grant gave
rise to the 1st Act of September, 1674, for an address to the
King on the subject. Three agents were appointed, and the
zeal and ability with which they prosecuted their mission deserved
a better result. The King consented to a new charter
confirming all the essential stipulations insisted on, and
twice ordered the instrument to be prepared, but, after empty
promises, he eventually gave a "miserable skeleton" containing
little more than a declaration of the dependence of the
Colony on the Crown of England.

Thus did Charles II. sow the seeds of discontent which
finally resulted in the separation of the Colonies from the
mother country. This grant to Culpeper was unjust and oppressive,
as it included lands which had been long cultivated
by others; and, about two years after the patent was issued,
he, the better to "put in his thumb, and take out a plum,"
obtained the appointment of Governor of Virginia for life.
As such, he was proclaimed soon after Berkeley's departure.
But he remained in England, and not until reproved by the
King did he set sail for Virginia; here he arrived early in
1680. Having taken the oath of office at Jamestown, he
commenced a course of personal aggrandizement; the Governor's

salary was doubled; a further grant was made for
house rent; perquisites of every kind were sought for and increased;
nay, the soldiers of the Colony were defrauded of a
part of their pay by an arbitrary change in the value of current
coin. He procured an Act of Assembly which "authorized
a perpetual export duty of two shillings a hogshead on
tobacco, and granted the proceeds for the support of government,
to be accounted for, not to the Assembly, but to the
King." Besides all this, Lord Culpeper had received an immense
grant of land from the King in what is known as the
Northern Neck of Virginia, which embraced the territory lying
between the Rappahannock and Potomac rivers back as far as
the Blue Ridge Mountains. Having employed his time profitably
for himself, and balefully for Virginia, from May until
August, he then returned to England to enjoy the fruits of
his labors, and left Sir Henry Chicheley as Deputy-Governor
of the Colony. After Culpeper's departure, discontent grew
widespread among the planters at a law that had been passed,
compelling them to load their tobacco at certain specified
places along the river banks. For many years Jamestown
was the only town in the Colony, and after it was burned
there was a great necessity for some fixed places of trade. In
order to secure the building of towns this Act was passed.
But the planters, accustomed now to load the vessels at their
own plantations, resisted the measure, and in Gloucester
County some of them actually destroyed their entire crop,
rather than be pressed to dispose of it in a way that was
contrary to their wishes. Others followed their example and
open rebellion to the law was threatened. The King compelled
Lord Culpeper to return to Virginia, and he, vexed at
leaving the pleasures of London, determined to make short
work of the difficulty. He soon filled the jails with prisoners,
hung six men for this trifling offence, proclaimed the penalty
of death against all "plant cutters," and, by this cruel
course, ended the Tobacco Rebellion. Culpeper returned to
England, September 17, 1683, and left Nicholas Spencer as
the executive of the Colony.

For this second breach of faith in quitting his government,

in violation of orders, he was arrested immediately on his arrival
in England. His patent was for life, but it was rendered
void by a process of law, not so much from regard to colonial
liberties as to recover a prerogative for the Crown. On July
25, 1684, Virginia became again a royal province.

As an evidence of Lord Culpeper's hostility to the introduction
of printing into the Colony, the following extract is
made from a MS. of unquestionable authority:

This step rivals Sir William Berkeley's views, who
thought that the more profoundly ignorant the colonists were
kept, the better subjects they were for slavery.

Lord Culpeper died in 1719, and left not a very fragrant
memory in the Ancient Dominion.

XXXIX.

NICHOLAS SPENCER.

XXXIX. President of the Council.

XXXIX. September 17, 1683, to April 16, 1684.

Upon the departure of Lord Culpeper for England, he
appointed Nicholas Spencer, President of the Council. The
first patent signed by Nicholas Spencer, as President, is dated
the 17th of September, 1683. He continued in office until
the 16th of April, 1684, on which day a commission to
Francis, Lord Howard, dated 28th September, 35 Car. 11
(1683), was read.

Nicholas Spencer was said to have been a kinsman of
Lord Culpeper. In June, 1666, he was a member of the House
of Burgesses, and in October, 1686, he was Secretary of the
Colony, which in 1681 contained about 14,000 "tithables, or
working hands," and the House of Burgesses consisted of
forty-one members. At this time it was said in relation to
the Indians and Tobacco: "We are at peace with all; at
least, in war with none. But that which bids fair to be the
speedy and certain undoing of this Colony, is the low or
rather no price of the only product of our lands, and our only
commodity, tobacco; for the market is overstocked and every
crop overstocks it more. Our thriving is our undoing, and
our buying of blacks hath extremely contributed thereto, by
making more tobacco. We are too many for that, and too
few for anything else."

XL.

FRANCIS, LORD HOWARD.
(BARON EFFINGHAM.)

XL. Lieutenant-Governor.

XL. April 16, 1684, to October 20, 1688.

Lord Effingham opened his career in Virginia with
instructions from England "to allow no person to use a printing
press on any occasion whatsoever." This was "agreeably
to the prayers of Sir W. Berkeley." Being equally as
avaricious as Lord Culpeper, he soon, by his overbearing
measures, made himself generally detested. Trouble with
the Indians again assailing the tranquility of the Colony,
Lord Effingham went to Albany, and there, with the Governor
of New York, met the chiefs of the Five Nations and
effected with them a Treaty of Peace. These Five Nations,
the Oneidas, Onondagos, Cayugas, Mohawks, and Senecas,
had absorbed all the other Indians in the country, and
formed a very powerful combination.

During Effingham's absence in New York, Nathaniel
Bacon, Senior, President of the Council, assumed his duties.
"Lord Howard was not present in the General Court after
22d April, 1687, and then, Nathaniel Bacon was President;
but Lord Howard did not leave the country, for he
signed patents till 20th October, 1688." At this time he
embarked for England, being recalled at the request of the
colonists. His course in Virginia had been cruel and tyrannical,
and he perverted the noble opportunities of his position
to personal emolument and benefit. He was the son and
heir of Sir Charles Howard, and succeeded to his title in
1681. He died in England in 1694.

XLI.

NATHANIEL BACON.

XLI. President of the Council.

XLI. October 20, 1688, to October 16, 1690.

"Nathaniel Bacon, a near kinsman of him who was
called `The Rebel,' and who was high in office during the
period of the rebellion, as he was before and after, married
Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Richard Kingswell, of
James City County. His residence was on King's Creek,
near York River and not far from Williamsburg." Near the
bank of this river, on a tombstone, the following inscription
may be seen, viz.: "Here lyeth the body of Elizabeth, wife
of the Honourable Nathaniel Bacon, who departed this life
the second day of November, one thousand six hundred and
ninety-one, in the sixty-seventh year of her age." Nathaniel
Bacon's tombstone is said by Bishop Meade to lie "in a field
on Dr. Tinsley's farm," near Williamsburg, at which point
it is supposed that Bacon had another residence. Nathaniel
Bacon was long prominent in public affairs, having been among
other offices of trust, a member of the Council for over forty
years. When Lord Effingham returned to England in October,
1688, Bacon, as President of the Council, became the
Acting Governor of Virginia, until the arrival of Francis
Nicholson, October 16, 1690.

Bacon must have been active in Church as well as State as
it was announced in the Virginia Gazette for March, 1746, that
the plate given by Colonel Nathaniel Bacon to York-Hampton
parish had been stolen. Hening narrates that "Nathaniel
Bacon continued President all April Court 1690: and the 16th
of October, 1690, Francis Nicholson, Esquire, Lieutenant-Governor,
was present."

Many changes meanwhile had taken place in England.
Charles II. died on the 16th February, 1685, and was succeeded
by his brother, James II. King James II. abdicated
the throne, 23d December, 1688, and William, Prince of
Orange, and Mary, the daughter of James, were proclaimed
Joint-sovereigns of England.

It was during the short presidency of Colonel Bacon, that
the project for a college was first agreed upon and approved
by the President and Council of Virginia, and the charter
was granted on the 8th February, 1692, in the fourth year of the
reign of William and Mary. This venerable institution of
learning, called in honor of them, has ever since been interwoven
with the annals of Virginia. Nathaniel Bacon died
March 16, 1693, and as he left no children bequeathed his
estate to his niece, Abigail Smith, who married Major Lewis
Burwell.

XLII.

SIR FRANCIS NICHOLSON.

XLII. Lieutenant-Governor.

XLII. October 16, 1690, to October 16, 1693.

Although Effingham had been recalled to England,
October 20, 1688, Nicholson was appointed Lieutenant-Governor
under him, and in such capacity arrived in the
Colony in 1690. In this same year the name of Sir Lionel
Copley appears as Governor of Virginia. This, however, is
not substantiated, though we know that Sir Lionel arrived in
1692 in Maryland with a royal commission, during the
Catholic and Protestant troubles there. He dissolved the
convention, assumed the government, convened an Assembly,
whose first act was to recognize as Sovereigns, William
and Mary of England.

Sir Francis Nicholson, having relieved President Nathaniel
Bacon in Virginia, held the reins of government until
October 16, 1693, when he was, in his turn, relieved by Sir
Edmund Andros, Governor-in-Chief. Nicholson was by profession
a soldier, and had been Lieutenant-Governor of New
York under Andros, and at the head of the administration
from 1687 to 1689. During the early part of his administration
in Virginia he was very popular, as he endeavored to
ingratiate himself in public favor. He instituted athletic
games, and offered prizes in riding, running, shooting, wrestling,
and fencing. He also proposed the establishment of a
post-office, and had the great honor of securing the charter of
the first college in the oldest Colony in the New World. The
preamble states that "to the end that the Church of Virginia
may be furnished with a Seminary of Ministers of the Gospel,
and that the youth may be piously educated in good letters
and manners, and that the Christian Faith may be propagated

among the Western Indians, to the glory of Almighty God,"
etc.

Francis Nicholson and seventeen other persons, nominated
and appointed by the Assembly, were confirmed as Trustees,
etc. In grateful acknowledgment of the royal patronage and
benefaction, the college was called "William and Mary."

XLIII.

SIR EDMUND ANDROS.

XLIII. Governor.

XLIII. October 16, 1693, to December 9, 1698.

Lord Effingham being removed from the government
of Virginia, Sir Edmund Andros, of obnoxious memory in
New England, was appointed Governor in his stead. Andros
is generally accepted as having been not a bad Governor for
Virginia, but in consideration of his previous lawless career
in New England, his advancement occasioned the amazement
of the public. He was born in London, December 6, 1637,
and arrived in the Colony of Virginia, October 16, 1693. He
had been, at an earlier period, appointed Governor of New
York, in 1674, and continued in that office until 1682. In
December, 1686, he arrived at Boston with a commission from
King James for the government of New England. Here his
administration was most tyrannical and oppressive. The
press was restrained, and exorbitant taxes levied. It was
pretended that all titles to land were destroyed, and the farmers
were obliged to take new patents, for which they paid
large fees. He prohibited marriage unless celebrated by
Ministers of the Church of England, and at that time there
was said to be but one Episcopal clergyman in the country;
and by this and various other acts of lawless usurpation, he
inflamed the spirits of the people whom he governed. Animated
with the love of liberty which they had bought in the
wilds of America, on the morning of April 18, 1689, the inhabitants
of Boston took up arms. The people poured in from the
country, and the Governor, with about fifty of his obnoxious
followers, was seized and confined. The old magistrates were
restored, and the next month the joyful news of the Revolution
in England reached this country, quieting all apprehensions for

the consequences of what had been done. After having been
kept at the castle a prisoner until the February following, Sir
Edmund was sent to England for trial. The government
failed to censure him, and in 1692 he was appointed Governor
of Virginia.

Before he assumed this office, Sir Edmund had seen
a good deal of military and civil service in England and
in New England, and had, so to speak, "sowed his wild
oats" when he took charge of the government of the Ancient
Dominion. During his administration, William and Mary
College was established, an Act was passed by the General
Assembly ascertaining the place for its erection, and also an
Act laying an imposition upon "skins and furs" for its better
support.

Governor Andros had a great love of order, and to his
care the historical inquirer is indebted for the preservation of
the early papers of Virginia. He went into the public repositories
of official documents, and finding them in confusion—
torn, soiled, and neglected—he ordered steps to be taken for
their re-arrangement and better preservation. He encouraged
manufactures, suggested the cultivation of cotton, and stimulated
the life of the Colony by his own eager and industrious
spirit. Unhappily, he fell into strife with James Blair, President
of William and Mary College, which resulted in the
removal of Andros from office.

During the term of Andros, an Act was passed appointing
Rangers at the heads of the four great rivers in Virginia.
These were to consist of one lieutenant, eleven soldiers, and
two Indians, to be well furnished with horses and arms, to be
called Rangers, and to be constantly on duty. Also, in 1695,
the General Assembly of Virginia passed "An Act impowering
the Governor, with the advice of the Councell, to apply
five hundred pounds sterling, out of the imposition of liquors,
raised by this Assembly, to the assistance and preservation of
New York, if found necessary." This step was taken at a
time when the peace of New York was threatened by internal
dissensions between the Governor and his Assembly, and is
an interesting piece of history to recall in the close of the
nineteenth century.

Sir Edmund Andros died in London, February, 1714, at
an advanced age, and is, perhaps, best recollected in the
annals of the United States as the man who demanded, at the
head of his troops, the charter of Connecticut, which was
hidden from him in the famous oak at Hartford, Conn.

XLIV.

GEORGE HAMILTON DOUGLAS.
(EARL OF ORKNEY.)

XLIV. Governor-in-Chief.

XLIV. 1697-1737.

George Hamilton, Earl of Orkney, was fifth son of
Lord Selkirk. He entered the army early, and distinguished
himself at the battle of the Boyne and on other occasions, for
which he was raised to the peerage, and created by William
III. Earl of Orkney, in consideration of his gallantry. His
valor was equally displayed under Marlborough at Blenheim
and Malplaquet. In 1697 he was appointed Governor-inChief
of Virginia, and enjoyed the honor and emoluments of
the position for forty years, although the actual conduct of the
government was delegated to others. Out of an annual salary
of ¢2000 he received ¢1200, though he never once set foot upon
the soil of Virginia. But he was as great a favorite of Queen
Anne as he had been of William III. She bestowed honors
upon him, and he served with distinction in the wars of her
reign. He was made a Major-General and a Knight of the
Thistle, and as one of the sixteen peers of Scotland he was a
member of the House of Lords for many years. He married
in 1695, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Edward Villiers, and left
descendants. He died January 29, 1737, and was succeeded
as Governor-in-Chief of Virginia by the Earl of Albemarle.

XLV.

SIR FRANCIS NICHOLSON.

XLV. Lieutenant-Governor.

XLV. December 9, 1698, to August 15, 1705.

Sir Francis Nicholson, having served a term as Governor
of Maryland, was for a second time appointed to the
administration of affairs in Virginia. One of his earliest
measures was to remove the seat of government from Jamestown
to "Middle Plantation," afterwards called, "Williamsburg."
An instructive provision in Act II. of his first Assembly,
April 27, 1699, reads as follows: "If any money, meat,
drink, or provision be given or promised to a voter, in order to
be elected, the election declared void." The XIV. Act of this
same Assembly was "directing the building the Capitoll and
the City of Williamsburg." Governor Nicholson did much
to encourage the immigration of settlers. They had a certain
quantity of land allotted to them, were to be exempt from
taxes or levies for twenty years, and from military service
except in their own defense. But in the midst of his plans
for the benefit of the Colony he became involved unpleasantly
with the clergy, and upon their complaint he was recalled to
England, and was succeeded August 15, 1705, by Edward
Nott. After this, Nicholson saw some military service; was
Governor of Nova Scotia for five years, was knighted, and
served as Governor of South Carolina from 1721 to 1725.
On his return to England he was made Lieutenant-General.
He died in London, March 5, 1728, and his career may be
said to have been a distinguished one.

During Governor Nicholson's administration in Virginia,
King William III. of England died, in his 52d year, and was
succeeded by Anne, Princess of Denmark, daughter of James
II.

THE HEART OF THE REBELLION,

Old Capitol, Williamsburg, Va.

XLVI.

EDWARD NOTT.

XLVI. Lieutenant-Governor.

XLVI. August 15, 1705, to August, 1706.

Edward Nott succeeded Governor Nicholson, and
arrived in the Colony in August, 1705. He died in August,
1706, and although he was in office one year only, he enjoyed
the esteem and affection of the people in the highest degree.
In some measure he was subordinate to the Earl of Orkney,
but his official acts were always for the benefit of the Colony
over which he presided. In the first year of his government
William and Mary College was burnt to the ground. The
building was first modeled by Sir Christopher Wren; it was
afterwards rebuilt by the ingenious direction of Governor
Spotswood.

During Governor Nott's administration an Act was passed
"directing the building an house for the Governor of this
Colony and dominion," appropriating land for that purpose,
stating dimensions and materials for house, and authorizing
the Governor to draw on the Treasurer for the sum of ¢3000.
An Act also was passed at this time, continuing the Act directing
the building of the Capitol and City of Williamsburg at
Middle Plantation. The specifications of this Act are very
interesting, when in the light of later days we review the
plans laid for the Capitol of Virginia. Special provision was
also made now for the French refugees, whose settlement was
above the Falls of James River, and their parish was known
as "King William Parish in the County of Henrico."

Virginia in 1703 contained 60,606 souls, not including
the French refugees, and it numbered 25 counties. Such
had been the outgrowth of the landing of 1606, nearly one
hundred years before.

Governor Nott died in Virginia August 23, 1706, and was,
buried in the churchyard of Old Bruton Church, in Williamsburg.
In the graveyard surrounding the Old Church at
Williamsburg, Bruton Parish, Virginia, the following inscription
was found on a time-worn slab:

XLVII.

EDMUND JENINGS.

XLVII. President of the Council.

XLVII. August, 1706, to June 23, 1710.

Upon the untimely death of Governor Nott, Edmund
Jenings, then President of the Council, succeeded to the
administration of the government, and remained in office
until the accession of Lieutenant-Governor Spotswood, June
23, 1710. The Colony at this period enjoyed tranquility and
increasing prosperity. The safeguard of the liberties of Virginia
lay in the individual freedom of mind which was the
fruit of independent and somewhat isolated living. In
seclusion men thought for themselves, and "pernicious
notions, fatal to the royal prerogative, were improving daily."
From the time of Bacon's Rebellion, Virginia had known only
the undisturbed blessings of peace, and with steady advance
she was becoming stronger and stronger in her own individuality.

Governor Jenings was prominent in the affairs of Virginia
for many years, first as Attorney-General of the Colony, in
1684, and afterwards in various important positions. He
married Frances, daughter of Henry Corbin, and his descendants
are among some of the most distinguished families in
the Old Dominion.

XLVIII.

ROBERT HUNTER.

XLVIII. Lieutenant-Governor.

XLVIII. April 4, 1707.

Robert Hunter on his voyage to Virginia to assume
the reins of government, was captured by the French, who
were then at war with England. He was taken a prisoner
to Paris, and never acted as executive under this commission.
The vellum document conveying his authority is still preserved
among the archives of the Virginia Historical Society.

In 1710, Hunter was made Governor of New York, and
arrived in that Colony with 2700 expatriated Palatines. He
returned to England in 1719, but on the accession of George
II. he was re-instated in the government of New York and
New Jersey. In 1728 he was appointed Governor of Jamaica,
and died there, 31st March, 1734. His epitaph, in elegant
Latin, was written by the Rev. Mr. Flemming.

Robert Hunter was the author of the famous "Letter on
Enthusiasm," attributed by some to Swift, and by others to
Shaftesbury; he also wrote a farce entitled "Androboros."

XLIX.

ALEXANDER SPOTSWOOD.

XLIX. Lieutenant-Governor.

XLIX. June 23, 1710, to September 27, 1722.

We now approach a very interesting period in the history
of the Virginia Colony. Up to this time, both Governors and
people had been content with the territorial restrictions
which hostile Indians on the border, and multiplied difficulties
at home had enforced. They knew nothing of the country
which lay hidden by that billowy range of mountains
which ever on the sunset sky would trace suggestions of a
great Beyond. It had been a capital maxim of the French in
their American policy, to conceal all knowledge of the country
between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi
River, so that the English knew only such uncertain accounts
as had been given by straggling travelers and by Indians.
Yet now, the hour had struck when these mountains were no
longer to be a barrier to advancing civilization, but rather,
"a stepping-stone to higher things." On June 23, 1710,
there arrived in the Colony a man whose coming marked a
new era in its history. Colonel Alexander Spotswood had
been appointed Lieutenant-Governor to George Hamilton,
Earl of Orkney, the Governor and Commander-in-Chief of
Virginia. He was a man of uncommon enterprise and public
spirit, a friend to learning and to religion. He came of a
long line of distinguished ancestry and was a noble son of
noble sires. His great-grandfather was John Spotswood,
Archbishop of St. Andrew's and author of the "History of
the Church of Scotland"; his grandfather was Robert Spotswood,
Lord President of the College of Justice, and author of
the "Practicks of the Laws of Scotland." Sir Walter Scott
narrates that this Robert Spotswood (who was one of the

eight eminent lawyers executed by the Parliament of Scotland,
which consisted wholly of Covenanters), while at private
prayer on the scaffold, was interrupted by the Presbyterian
minister in attendance and asked if he did not desire his
prayers and those of the people. Sir Robert replied, that he
earnestly desired the prayers of the people, but not those of
the preacher, for that, in his opinion, God had expressed his
displeasure against Scotland by sending a lying spirit into
the mouths of the prophets. Governor Spotswood's father
was Dr. Robert Spotswood, physician to the Governor of
Tangier, an English Colony in Africa. His mother was
the widow, Catherine Elliott, when she married Dr. Spotswood.
The portrait of Mrs. Catherine Elliott's son, General
Elliott, now hangs in the State Library at Richmond,
Virginia. Alexander Spotswood was the only son of Robert
and Catherine Spotswood. He was born in Tangier in
in 1676; was reared among soldiers and educated for a military
life. He became aide to the Duke of Marlborough, and was
badly wounded in the breast at the battle of Blenheim.
Exchanging, however, now, the hardships and honors of
military life in the Old World, for the high position of
Lieutenant-Governor of Virginia, he turned the current of his
energies to the promotion of her welfare. His soldierly
experience and genius enabled him to wield the militia with
great effect against the hostile Indians, and his interest in
matters civil and religious is evidenced by many acts during
his administration.

A number of German Protestants having about this time
settled above the Falls of the Rappahannock River, at a place
afterwards named Germanna, to the great advantage of the
Colony, and the security of the frontiers from the incursions
of the Indians, the Assembly passed an Act to exempt them
from levies for seven years, and for erecting Germanna into a
distinct parish, by the name of "St. George." Here Governor
Spotswood established a furnace and built a "Castle," in
which he occasionally resided. He endeavored to develop
the mineral resources of this section, and the Rev. Hugh
Jones, one of the colonial clergy, says:

At this time pig and bar iron were first made in Virginia.

The dangerous extent of the French claims upon the
Continent had for a long time attracted the attention of the
Colonies. To resist it, was one of the earliest efforts of
Spotswood, who hoped to extend the line of the Virginia
settlements far enough to the West to interrupt the chain of
communication between Canada and the Gulf of Mexico.

In 1716, Governor Spotswood, with some of the first gentlemen
in the Colony, led personally an expedition to search for a
passage or gap through "the great mountains." Campbell
says: "The whole company was about fifty persons. They
had a large number of riding and pack-horses, an abundant
supply of provisions, and an extraordinary variety of liquors."
This gay party of adventurers started from Germanna, and
after leisurely advancing through the country reached "Swift
Run Gap," which is supposed to be the now historic "pass."
Governor Spotswood is said to have cut his Majesty's name
upon a rock on the highest mountain they ascended, naming
it "Mt. George," and the gentlemen of the party called the
peak next to it, in honor of the Governor, "Mt. Spotswood."

What must have been the exultation and the triumph
which thrilled the hearts and brains of those explorers as
they beheld the goodly heritage which spread before them!
At their feet lay an unconquered realm, untrodden and
unknown! Here was a time, indeed, to pause and dream of
glories "yet to be." Thoughts such as Columbus had in his
supreme moment of discovery must have shaken those sturdy
forms and filled those wondering eyes with a prophetic meaning.
Now, that those visions are realities, that those hopes have
faded in fruition; now, that the Atlantic and Pacific surges

wash the shores of one country and one people, well may we

as this knightly company, breaking through Swift Run Gap,
planted their daring standard on the Appalachian Range,
and grasped in that momentous hour an imperial hope—

On this eventful Quest, these cavaliers were compelled to
carry a large number of horseshoes, things seldom used in
the eastern part of Virginia, where there were few stones.
In commemoration of the journey, the Governor on his return
presented each of his companions with a golden horseshoe,
bearing the inscription, "Sic juvat transcendere Montes."
By this he intended to stimulate them to return to this wild
region and open the country to future settlers. Any one
entitled to wear this golden badge could prove that he belonged
to "The Tramontane Order," and had drunk his
Majesty's health on wild Mt. George. King George, when
he heard of the expedition, bestowed upon Governor Spotswood
the honors of knighthood, and sent him a golden horseshoe
set with jewels. All who took part in this memorable
trip were recognized by the title of "The Knight of the
Golden Horseshoe."

The following journal of one of the party on this
expedition cannot fail to be of lasting interest. It was
written by Mr. John Fontaine, who came to Virginia, in 1713,
for the purpose of exploring the country and choosing lands
for the settlement of his family. He was an Ensign in the
British army, and shows by his journal that he had the
indomitable spirit of the British soldier. He made the
acquaintance of Governor Spotswood, who no doubt gladly
enrolled him in his band of discoverers:

Governor Spotswood is recognized as one of Virginia's
wisest Governors, combining many noble virtues with that
fine executive ability which gave the best direction to the
highest efforts. He it was who pressed the passage of an Act
for improving the staple of tobacco and making tobacco-notes
the medium of circulation. Being a thorough soldier, he
kept the militia in excellent discipline. He was master of
mathematics, built the octagon magazine at Williamsburg,
which still stands, and rebuilt William and Mary College.
At his request, a grant of ¢1,000 was made by the college in
1718, and a fund created for instructing Indian children
in Christianity. A school for this purpose was established at
Fort Christiana, on the south side of Meherrin River, in
what is now Southampton County. Under his wise leadership,
Virginia paid her taxes in tobacco, and alone of all the
Colonies had no public debt, no banks, no bills of credit, and

no paper money! He urged upon the mother country the
policy of establishing a chain of posts beyond the mountains,
from the lakes to the Mississippi, to restrain the encroachments
of the French, but his voice fell upon a deaf ear,
though, years afterwards, his scheme was carried out. The
authors of Universal History say, that about the year 1716
Governor Spotswood of Virginia proposed to purchase some
of the lands belonging to the Outaowais (since called the
Twightees) on the river Ohio, and to erect a company for
opening a trade to the southward, westward, and northward
of that river; and that this proposal gave rise to the Ohio
Company. "This noble project," they proceed to observe,
"clashing with the views of the French, who had by this
time formed their great schemes on the Mississippi, and the
ministry of George I. having reasons for keeping well with
that Court, the scheme was not merely relinquished, but the
French were encouraged to build the fort of Crown Point on
the territory of New York."

Long after this suggestion of Governor Spotswood, in
1716, after the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, October 7, 1748, in
the year 1749, some influential persons in Virginia and England
associated under the name of "The Ohio Company"
and obtained from the Crown a grant of 600,000 acres of land
about the Ohio River. This grant alarmed the French as being
calculated to prevent the junction of Canada and Louisiana,
and was the first link in a chain of causes which produced
the ensuing wars between England and France. Had Governor
Spotswood's timely warning been listened to, a bloody war
might have been averted; but his advice was unheeded by
England, and the Colonies had in later times to suffer for
this neglected opportunity.

Many and great were the benefits which Governor Spotswood
sought to bestow upon the home of his adoption, but,
in the midst of his wise and spirited exertions for the
advancement of the Colony, he fell into disfavor with the
clergy, who effected his removal as Governor, in September,
1722. Possessing a tract of 45,000 acres of land in Spotsylvania
County (which was named after him), he retired there

and engaged largely in the manufacture of iron, as the ore
largely abounded in this region. In 1730 he was made Deputy
Postmaster-General for the American Colonies, and held
the office until 1739, and it was he who made Benjamin
Franklin postmaster for the province of Pennsylvania. He
married in 1724, Anne Butler, daughter of Richard Brayane,
Esq., of England, and this lady subsequently married Rev.
John Thompson. Governor Spotswood had four children,
John, Robert, Anne Catherine, and Dorothea. Anne Catherine
married Bernard Moore, of Chelsea, in King William
County; their daughter married Charles Carter, of Shirley,
and was the grandmother of General Robert Edward Lee.
Governor Spotswood died at Annapolis, Md., June 7, 1740,
on the eve of embarking in command of the four battalions
raised in the Colonies to assist England in the attack upon
Carthagena. He was buried at "Temple Farm," his country-seat,
near Yorktown. The place derived its name from
a house in the garden built by Spotswood as a cemetery, and
was destined to become famous in history. It was in the
mansion at "Temple Farm" that Lord Cornwallis met General
Washington and signed those world-renowned "Articles
of Capitulation," which secured to America her blood-bought
independence!

L.

HUGH DRYSDALE.

Lieutenant-Governor.

L. September 27, 1722, to July 22, 1726.

Hugh Drysdale succeeded Governor Spotswood as
Lieutenant-Governor of Virginia, September 27, 1722.
Although his administration was a brief one, he left his mark
upon the "body of the times." His correspondence with
the Bishop of London on the subject of the colonial clergy,
shows the high standard he had for ministers of the Gospel,
and his position upon the slave trade is equally well defined.
In order to relieve the colonists from a poll-tax, a duty was
laid by the Assembly on the importation of liquors and slaves,
but owing to the opposition of the African Company, the Act
was annulled by the British Board of Trade. Governor
Drysdale announced to the House of Burgesses that "the
interfering interest of the African Company had obtained the
repeal of that law." The planters beheld with dismay the
alarming increase of negroes, but, as was said by one unbiased
by hostility to England, "the British government constantly
checked the attempts of Virginia to put a stop to this infernal
traffic." In June, 1712, Queen Anne, in her speech to Parliament,
boasts of her success in securing to Englishmen a
new market for slaves in Spanish America. George II.
favored the custom, and soon every obstruction to private
enterprise was removed and the ports of Africa laid open to
English competition. The statute declared that "the slave
trade is very advantageous to Great Britain," and so, this
great sin, though forced upon Virginia, became in the lapse
of years its own avenger.

Governor Drysdale died and was gathered to his fathers,
but in the light of the nineteenth century, his opposition to
bringing slaves into Virginia will make his term memorable.

LI.

ROBERT CARTER.

LI. President of the Council.

LI. July 22, 1726, to October 13, 1727.

According to Hening, "Hugh Drysdale died the 22d
July, 1726, and Colo. Jennings being suspended, Colo.
Robert Carter took upon himself the administration of the
government, as President of the Council. Robert Carter
continued President of the Council till some time between the
17th of August and 13th of October, 1727, when William
Gooch was appointed Govenor."

Robert Carter was born in 1667. He was the son of John
Carter, an emigrant from England, who settled first in upper
Norfolk County and held many important positions under the
colonial government. Robert Carter was for many years the
agent of Lord Fairfax, the Proprietor of the Northern Neck
grant. He was Speaker of the House of Burgesses for six
years, long a member of the Council, and as President of that
body presided over the government of Virginia until the
arrival of Governor Gooch. By his large landed possessions
he obtained the title of "King Carter," and those who have
read his letters and studied his character declare that he possessed
some kingly attributes. The old Christ church in
Lancaster County was built by him, and his remains lie
under the tombstone at the east end of the church, which yet
stands, a memorial of the past. The following is a translation
of Governor Carter's Latin epitaph:

LII.

WILLIAM GOOCH.

LII. Lieutenant-Governor.

LII. October 13, 1727, to June, 1740.

King George I. of England having died, 11th June, 1727,
William Gooch assumed the reins of government in Virginia,
in the first year of the reign of George II. Governor Gooch
was born at Yarmouth, England, 21st October, 1681. He was
educated for the army, served under Marlborough, and was an
officer of superior military ability. His course as Chief Magistrate
in Virginia has always met with unqualified commendation,
and so wise was the policy he adopted, that he is said to
have been the only colonial Governor in America against whom,
at home and abroad, there was never a shadow of complaint.
Virginia enjoyed prosperity and repose under his administration.
In 1728 the boundary line between Virginia and
North Carolina was satisfactorily settled, an act of great
importance to the inhabitants of these Colonies who lived on
their respective borders. In 1740 troops were transported
from the Colonies for the first time, to assist the soldiers of
the Mother-country. Major-General Alexander Spotswood
had been appointed to the command of the four colonial battalions
(four hundred men of which, being Virginia's quota),
raised to join in an attack on Carthagena, but dying unexpectedly,
on the eve of embarkation, Governor Gooch assumed
command of the expedition. During his absence, the government
of Virginia devolved upon Commissary James Blair,
President of the Council.

LIII.

WILLIAM ANNE KEPPEL.
(SECOND EARL OF ALBEMARLE.)

LIII. Governor-in-Chief.

LIII. September 6, 1737, to December 23, 1754.

William Anne Keppel, second Earl of Albemarle,
was born at Whitehall, in 1702, and received his second
Christian name from Queen Anne, who was present at his
baptism, acting as sponsor on the occasion. In 1717, he was
appointed by George I. a Captain in the British Army, and
was continuously promoted for gallant and meritorious conduct
until 1743, when he was made a Lieutenant-General.
He was distinguished in many battles and won many honors;
was Embassador to France in 1748; created a Knight of the
Garter, 1750; a member of the Privy Council, 1751; and
enjoyed many other high positions of trust and confidence,
among them, that of "Governor-in-Chief of Virginia." To
this, he succeeded George Hamilton, Earl of Orkney, on the
death of the latter, September 6, 1737, being appointed thereto
by George II.

Lord Albemarle died in Paris, 1754, but his name still
lives in a county in Virginia, and in a sound on the coast of
North Carolina. He married Anne, daughter of Charles,
first Duke of Richmond, and the celebrated Viscount Augustus
Keppel was his son.

LIV.

COMMISSARY JAMES BLAIR.

LIV. President of the Council.

LIV. June, 1740, to July, 1741.

James Blair was born in Scotland, in 1655. Having
been educated for the Church, he became one of its most
zealous champions, and was sent by the Bishop of London, in
1685, as a missionary to Virginia. He was the minister of
Henrico parish for nine years, and then moved to Jamestown
in order to be more convenient to the college which he was
raising up. He had been made Commissary of the Bishop
of London, and in 1710 he became the Minister of Bruton
parish. He was largely instrumental in procuring the
charter for William and Mary College, and a grant of twenty
thousand acres of land for its support. The King himself
subscribed ¢2,000 towards its building, out of the quit-rents.
Seymour, the Attorney-General of Great Britain, remonstrated
against such liberality, urging that the nation was
engaged in an expensive war. Commissary Blair in reply
said, that the institution was for the education of young men
to be ministers of the gospel, and suggested that the people
of Virginia had souls to be saved, as well as the people
of England. "Souls!" exclaimed Seymour, "damn your
souls! make tobacco!" But notwithstanding this command,
the college was built, and owed its existence in large measure
to Mr. Blair.

The history of Mr. Blair during the last forty-three out
of the fifty-three years of his ministry, is inseparably connected
with the history of Williamsburg, the College, the
Governors, Council, Assembly, and Church of Virginia. He
filled a large space about him, and battled manfully in support
of his convictions of right. As a faithful soldier of

Christ, his trumpet had no uncertain sound. That a man of
his active character and superior mind should for more than
half a century have been associated in matters of high importance
to church and state without many contests, was not
possible. He was engaged in controversies with Governors
and clergy during the whole period of his Presidency of the
College, and few men ever contended with more difficulties
or surmounted them better than Dr. Blair. In addition to
his daily and varied duties, he found time to write one hundred
and seventeen sermons expository of the "Sermon on
the Mount." Bishop William Meade says, in 1872: "As
an accurate commentary on that most blessed portion of
Scripture, I should think it can never have been surpassed."

Dr. Blair was long a member of the Council, and as President
of that body, was the Acting Governor of Virginia
during the absence of Governor Gooch on the Carthagena
expedition, from June, 1740, to July 25, 1741. He died
August 3, 1743, aged 88, and was buried at Jamestown. By
his will he left his library and ¢500 to the College, and
¢10,000 to his nephew and the children of his nephew,
besides some smaller legacies. His nephew, John Blair, was
long President of the Council, and a man of high character.
His son, John Blair, "was distinguished as a patriot, statesman,
and jurist. He represented the College of William and
Mary in the House of Burgesses for a long time, took an
active part in all the Revolutionary movements, was a member
of the great convention which met to revise the Articles
of Confederation, and finally, was one of the Supreme Federal
Court."

The following is a translation of the Latin inscription on
Commissary Blair's tombstone, in the old graveyard at
Jamestown, Va.:

LV.

SIR WILLIAM GOOCH.

LV. Lieutenant-Governor.

LV. July, 1741, to June 20, 1749.

Upon the accession of George I., King of England, 1714,
the Continental Colonies counted 375,750 white inhabitants
and 58,850 black, and were increasing with unexampled
rapidity. The love of popular power was alive everywhere,
and a period of tranquility necessary to healthy progress was
vouchsafed the country. In the different Colonies the spirit
of liberty and desire for self-government prevailed, and America,
by a slow but steady growth, was unconsciously ripening
for independence. But neither the threatening troubles of
England on the North with France, nor her wars on the
South with Spain, neither the invasion by the mother country
of colonial rights, nor the growing and palpable necessity
for co-operation, had yet moved the Colonies to common
action.

During this time of advance and prosperity, William
Gooch, returning from the expedition against Carthagena,
assumed again the government of Virginia. During his
administration the settlement of the beautiful valley of Virginia
was effected, in 1734. Through reports brought back
by Governor Spotswood and party of this fertile region,
settlers were induced to visit it, and this led to its permanent
occupation. It is narrated that one of these settlers carried
a young buffalo calf to Williamsburg and presented it to
Governor Gooch. In return the Governor gave him a grant
for five thousand acres of land in the valley, upon condition
that he would, within ten years, settle one hundred families
upon it. Governor Gooch returned to England in 1749,
having been previously created a Baronet, and in 1747 was
made a Major-General. On his departure he left John Robinson,
President of the Council, as Acting Governor of the
Colony. Sir William Gooch died December 17, 1751.

LVI.

JOHN ROBINSON.

LVI. President of the Council.

LVI. June 20, 1749, to September 5, 1749.

The first of the Robinson family of whom we have knowledge
was John Robinson, of Cleasby, Yorkshire, England,
who married Elizabeth Potter, of Cleasby, daughter of
Christopher Potter, from whom, no doubt, the name of Christopher,
so common in the family, was derived. The fourth
son of John Robinson was Dr. John Robinson, Bishop of
Bristol, and while Bishop, was British Envoy for some years
at the Court of Sweden, writing while there, a history of
Sweden. He was also British Plenipotentiary at the Treaty
of Utrecht, being, it is supposed, the last bishop or clergyman
employed in a public service of that kind. He afterwards
became Bishop of London, in which office he continued
until his death, in 1723. Having no children, he devised
his real estate to the eldest son of his brother Christopher,
who had emigrated to Virginia and settled on the Rappahannock
River. This Christopher was a vestryman in the church
in Middlesex County, in 1664. He married Miss Bertram,
and their oldest son (who inherited the Bishop of London's
estate) was John Robinson, born in 1683. He married
Catherine Beverley, daughter of Robert Beverley, author of
"The History of Virginia," and "Speaker Robinson," or
John Robinson, who was Speaker of the House of Burgesses
and Treasurer of the Colony, was their son.

John Robinson (born in 1683) occupied many important
positions in the Colony. He was Speaker of the House of Burgesses
under Sir William Gooch, and was the first on the list of
gentlemen named by Governor Gooch to disburse the ¢4000
appropriated by the General Assembly for an expedition

against Canada. This Act reads, "Whereas his most sacred
Majesty, for vindicating the honor of his crown, and for
restoring the peace and tranquility of Europe, is engaged in
a just and necessary war against the French King; and with
a fervent and paternal vigilance ever meditating the advancement
of his people's happiness, and the confusion of our
common enemy, hath resolved on an important expedition to
the Northward, and required his American Colonies to second
it with their united forces and abilities; and hath instructed
his Lieutenant-Governor of this Colony to enlist men with all
possible speed, who with the levies made in the other governments
are to rendezvous at Albany, in New York, and thence
proceed to act in conjunction with the troops from Great
Britain, in the Conquest of Canada," etc., etc.

The most important feature of Governor Robinson's brief
administration was the passage of several Acts by the
Assembly, touching the government of the Colony, which
were afterwards, in 1752, repealed by the King. "This,"
says Hening, "made a very important change in our system
of jurisprudence, and it became necessary to publish a new
edition of our laws."

LVII.

THOMAS LEE.

LVII. President of the Council.

LVII. September 5, 1749, to February 12, 1751.

Thomas Lee, President of the Council, succeeded President
Robinson in the administration of the government of
Virginia, in 1749. In this station he continued for some time,
until the King thought proper to appoint him Governor of
the Colony; but he died before his commission reached him.

Thomas Lee was the fourth son of Richard and Lettice
(Corbin) Lee, and was descended in the third generation
from Richard Lee, who emigrated from Shropshire, England,
and settled in Westmoreland County, Virginia, in 1641.
This Richard Lee, known as "The Emigrant," had several
children; the eldest two, John and Richard, were educated
at Oxford, England, where John took his degree as Doctor of
Physic, and, returning to Virginia, died before his father.
Richard, the eldest son then living, born 1647, spent most of
his life in study, and usually wrote his notes in Greek, Hebrew,
or Latin, many of which are now in Virginia. He was
a member of the Council in Virginia, and held other offices
of honor and profit. He married Lettice Corbin, daughter of
Henry Corbin, Gentleman. She died October 6, 1706, aged
49 years, and left the following children, viz.: Richard,
Philip, Francis, Thomas, Henry, and Mary. Philip is the
progenitor of Francis Lee Smith, to whom this book, in deep
veneration, is dedicated. Thomas is the subject of the present
article, and Henry is the progenitor of General Robert
Edward Lee.

In Cople Parish, in the Burnt-House fields, at Mount
Pleasant, Westmoreland County, Virginia, is a tombstone
with Latin inscriptions, of which the following are translations,
viz.: First:

Second:

The will of the first Richard Lee, dated 1663, can be seen
in Mr. Charles Campbell's History of Virginia, p. 157. He
was devoted to Virginia, and was bent on settling all of his
family in the Colony. So firm was he in this purpose that
by his will he ordered an estate he had in England, near
Stratford-by-Bow, in Middlesex, at that time worth eight or
nine hundred pounds per annum, to be sold and the money
to be divided among his children. The value of this settlement
in the Colony of Virginia is read in the pages of her
history.

Thomas Lee was born about the year 1680, and (as says
his son William) "though with none but a common Virginia
education, yet having strong natural parts, long after he was
a man he learned the languages without any assistance but
his own genius, and became a tolerable adept in the Greek
and Latin. By his industry and parts he acquired a considerable
fortune, and though he had very few acquaintances in
England, he was so well known by his reputation that upon
his receiving a loss by fire the late Queen Caroline sent him
over a bountiful present out of her own privy purse." This
establishes the source from whence came the means of building
the present house at Stratford, in Westmoreland County, Virginia.
In the thickness of its walls and excellency of its
architecture it is not surpassed in Virginia. It has sometimes
been called "The Governor's House," because the
owner and builder was Thomas Lee. He married in 1721,

Hannah, daughter of Philip Ludwell, and granddaughter of
Lady Berkeley (widow of Sir William Berkeley), who married,
thirdly, 1680, Philip Ludwell.

Thomas Lee left by his marriage with Miss Ludwell six
sons and two daughters. These sons, Philip Ludwell,
Thomas Ludwell, Richard Henry, Francis Lightfoot, William,
and Arthur, are names familiar to every student of
Virginia history.

Thomas Lee was long a member of the House of Burgesses
and of the Council, and as President of that body, on the
untimely death of Governor Robinson, became the Acting
Governor of the Colony. He was a member of the famous
Ohio Company, and a man of enterprise and wisdom. He
died early in the year 1751. The following inscription is on
a slab in the family vault at Stratford:

It was near Pope's Creek Church, on the road from Westmoreland
Court-House to King George County, that Gen.
Geo. Washington was born, and here he was baptized. Historic
ground.

Of the six sons of Thomas Lee, of Stratford, mention must
be made here, that the father may participate in the greatness
of his children:

Philip Ludwell Lee, the eldest, succeeded his father at Stratford.
He married a Miss Steptoe, and their daughter, Matilda,
married General Henry Lee, of the Revolutionary Army.

Thomas Ludwell Lee settled in Stafford, and married a
Miss Aylett.

Richard Henry Lee was educated in England, returned to
Virginia in his 19th year, and married first a Miss Aylett,
and second a Mrs. Pinkard, who was a Miss Gaskins. He
took an active part in the Revolution, and his interesting life
has been written and preserved to us by his grandson, Richard
Henry Lee.

Francis Lightfoot Lee also participated largely in the
stirring events of the Revolution, and was regarded as one of
the ablest orators and statesmen of that day.

William Lee became Sheriff and an Alderman of London,
and subsequently "commercial agent for Congress, in Europe
and their Commissioner at the Courts of Berlin and Vienna."

Arthur Lee, the sixth and youngest son, as a scholar, a
writer, a philosopher, and a diplomatist, was equalled by few
of his contemporaries. He studied Physic in Edinburgh,
where he took his degree, but disliking the profession, he
studied Law. "The services rendered by him to his country
as her Minister at foreign Courts were most valuable."

LVIII.

LEWIS BURWELL.

LVIII. President of the Council.

LVIII. February 12, 1751, to November 20, 1751.

The ancient seat of the Burwell family in Virginia was
in Gloucester County, in full view of York River. A
portion of the house was recently standing and appeared by
figures on the walls to have been built some time in the latter
part of the 17th century. This place at one time was called
"Fairfield," but of recent date has been known as "Carter's
Creek." The proprietor of this seat and the original settler was
Major Lewis Burwell, who came to the Colony and located
on Carter's Creek in 1640, and who died in 1658. His wife
was a Miss Higginson, whose father had signalized himself
in the wars with the Indians. On a tomb at Carter's Creek
is found this inscription:

His fourth son, Nathaniel Burwell, married Elizabeth,
eldest daughter of Robert Carter ("King Carter"), and this
lady, after the death of Major Burwell, married Dr. George
Nicholas, and was the mother of Robert Carter Nicholas, long
the Treasurer of Virginia. The eldest son of Major Nathaniel
and Elizabeth (Carter) Burwell was Lewis Burwell (of
"The Grove"), born 1710. He was educated in England,
and on his return to the Colony, being a man of high character
and much learning, was called to fill many important
offices in Virginia. He was a Burgess from Gloucester

County in 1736; later, he became a member of the Council,
and as President of that body succeeded Thomas Lee in the
administration of affairs in Virginia. During the time that
Lewis Burwell presided at the head of the government, Hening
in his "Statutes at Large" records no meeting of the
General Assembly, though he mentions patents as having been
signed by Burwell when President of the Council. Major Burwell
married in October, 1736, Mary, daughter of Colonel
Francis and Ann Willis. This Mary Willis was made heiress
by John Smith, Gentleman, of Gloucester County, Petsworth
Parish, to the estates of Old and New Purton, by will dated
May 10, 1735. (See Hening's "Statutes at Large," Vol. 8,
page 663.) Major Lewis Burwell was relieved from his post
as chief executive of Virginia by the arrival of Lieutenant-Governor
Robert Dinwiddie, November 20, 1751. He died
in 1752.

LIX.

LIX. ROBERT DINWIDDIE.

Lieutenant-Governor.

LIX. November 20, 1751, to January, 1758.

Robert Dinwiddie was of Scotch descent and the name
appears in history as far back as 1296. The immediate
ancestors of Governor Dinwiddie had lived in Glasgow, and
his father, Robert Dinwiddie, was a merchant of that city.
His mother was Sarah, daughter of Matthew Cumming, who
was Bailie of Glasgow in 1691, 1696, and 1699. Governor
Dinwiddie was born at his father's seat, "Germiston," in
1693. In December, 1727, he was appointed collector of the
customs in the Island of Bermuda, which position he filled until
1738, when, in acknowledgment of his valuable services in exposing
a long practiced system of fraud in the collection of the
customs of the West India Islands, he was made "Surveyor
General of the Customs of the southern ports of the Continent
of America." This appointment gave rise to some complications
between Dinwiddie and Virginia. In August, 1743,
he was specially commissioned to examine into the duties of
the Collector of Customs of the Island of Barbadoes, and here
he exposed to his Government enormous defalcations. In July,
1751, he was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Virginia,
which high position he filled honorably and wisely in a time
of great anxiety and critical importance. He it was who first
called young Washington to the public service of his country.
Hearing that the French had made treaties with all the Western
tribes of Indians, and were building forts on the Ohio
River, he determined to send a messenger to remonstrate
against these encroachments. For this difficult and perilous
enterprise George Washington offered himself to the Governor,
and it proved to be the flood in the tide of his career which

led "on to fortune." Undaunted by the wilds which had only
resounded to the war-whoop of the savage or the roar of the
scarcely less savage beast, unchecked by rushing mountain
currents or frozen streams, with nature in all her aspects sternly
opposing his onward way, he achieved his mission and
brought to his Governor a clear and intelligent report of the
situation on the Ohio. It was decisive of war. The services
of this young Virginian were highly appreciated. Being one
day in Williamsburg, he went into the gallery of the House
of Burgesses, where soon he heard the Speaker say, "Gentlemen,
it is proposed that the thanks of this House be given to
Major Washington, who now sits in the gallery, for the very
gallant manner in which he has executed the important trust
lately imposed in him by his Excellency, Governor Dinwiddie."
In a moment the House rose as one man, and turning
towards the blushing young officer, saluted him; he tried to
reply, but so completely overcome was this young hero, who
had not feared to brave any danger in pursuit of duty, that
he stood speechless with emotion. At last he found voice to
say, "Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker!" and then was silent.
The Speaker called out laughingly, "Major Washington,
Major Washington, sit down. Your modesty alone is equal
to your merit."

In reviewing the situation of America at this interesting
and trying period, Bancroft thus beautifully introduces upon
the pages of his history, the man destined to wear the triple
crown of "First in War, First in Peace, and First in the
hearts of his Countrymen":

The English Ministry having now determined on an
offensive policy by sea and land against France, in 1755 a
fleet was sent into the North American waters, and General
Braddock arrived in Virginia accompanied by two regiments
of the regular army, with the appointment of Commander-inChief.
Braddock was unhappily defeated, and it is narrated
that Washington, who was his volunteer aid-de-camp, though
in danger of pursuit by Indians, did, on the night after this
memorable defeat, in the absence of a chaplain, himself perform
the last funeral rites over the body of Braddock, a
soldier holding the candle or lighted torch while the solemn
words were read.

The situation of affairs had now become so alarming that
the Colonists began to organize local companies. The Assembly
voted ¢40,000 for the service, the Virginia Regiment
was enlarged to sixteen companies, and the command of the
same given to George Washington.

Governor Dinwiddie, after having met the many and
heavy responsibilities of his position, through failing health
requested to be relieved from his trust as Governor of Virginia.

He sailed for England in January, 1758, after receiving
voted testimonials of the regard of the Council and of
the municipal authorities of Williamsburg, the seat of Government
of the Colony. He died at Clifton, Bristol, whither
he had gone in quest of health, on July 27, 1770, and was
interred in the Parish church there.

LX.

LX. JOHN CAMPBELL.

LX. Earl of Loudon.

LX. July, 1756, to 1768.

John Campbell, son of Hugh, Earl of Loudon, was born
in 1705, and succeeded to his title in November, 1731. He
was in 1756 appointed Commander-in-Chief of the troops in
North America, but, being detained in England, Major-General
Abercrombie was ordered to proceed immediately to
America to take command of the troops until his lordship
should arrive. The Earl was likewise constituted Governor
of Virginia, and was also invested with such powers as were
thought necessary to enable him to promote a union among
the English Colonies.

The Earl of Loudon arrived in America, July 29, 1756,
and assumed command of the Army. In the month of January,
1757, a Council was held at Boston, composed of Lord
Loudon and the Governors of the New England provinces
and of Nova Scotia. At this Council his lordship proposed
that New England should raise 4,000 men for the ensuing
campaign; and that requisitions proportionately large should
be made on New York and New Jersey. The requisitions
were complied with, and his lordship found himself, in the
spring, at the head of a very considerable army. In 1758
Lord Loudon returned to England, and General Abercrombie,
on whom the chief command of the entire forces for the
American war had devolved, was now at the head of 50,000
men; the most powerful army ever seen in America.

It does not appear that the Earl of Loudon ever came to
Virginia. He was succeeded by Norborne Berkeley, Baron
de Botetourt, as Governor-in-Chief of this Colony, in 1768.
He died April 27, 1782.

LXI.

LXI. JOHN BLAIR.

LXI. President of the Council.

LXI. January, 1758, to June 7, 1758.

The successes of the French over the English during the
year 1757 had left the Colonies in a somewhat despondent
state, but the animating spirit of Pitt infused hope in America,
and the Colonies, rising in full proportion to the occasion,
prepared for the coming contest. Notwithstanding the pressure
of events at this juncture, the Colony of Virginia exported,
in 1758, the largest quantity of tobacco ever yet produced
in that Colony in one year; 70,000 hogsheads of this
staple were shipped to foreign ports.

As Governor Dinwiddie had, at his own request, been
relieved from the post of Governor of Virginia, his place was
taken in that important office by John Blair, President of the
Council.

John Blair was the son of Dr. Archibald Blair, and a
nephew of the Rev. James Blair, former President of William
and Mary College. He was born in Williamsburg, Virginia,
in 1689. He occupied many important positions in the government;
was a Burgess from James City County, in 1736,
later, a member of the Council, and as President of that body,
succeeded to the direction of affairs on the departure of Governor
Dinwiddie for England, in January, 1758, and held the
position until the arrival of Lieutenant-Governor Francis
Fauquier, June 7th, 1758.

During Governor Blair's administration an Act was passed,
"augmenting the forces in the pay of this Colony to two
thousand men," and further recites that "whereas by reason
of the great scarcity of gold and silver in this Colony, the
taxes imposed by this Act cannot be collected in time to

answer the purposes hereby intended: Be it enacted, by the
authority aforesaid, That it shall and may be lawful for the
said Treasurer, or the Treasurer for the time being, appointed
as aforesaid, to issue and emit treasury notes, to answer the
demands that shall be made upon him for the purposes aforesaid,
so as the whole sum of such notes, so to be issued,
shall not exceed the sum of thirty-two thousand pounds;
which notes, so to be issued, shall be prepared, printed,
engraved, and numbered, in such form and after such method
as the said Treasurer shall judge most safe from counterfeits
and forgeries," etc., etc.

Thus, while Virginia was bracing herself for the conflict,
whereby she might establish Great Britain's claim to sovereignty
in the New World, little did she realize that she was
calling into play forces, which would, ere long, make her the
untrammeled arbiter of her own destiny.

LXII.

LXII. FRANCIS FAUQUIER.

LXII. Lieutenant-Governor.

LXII. June 7, 1758, to March 3, 1768.

Francis Fauquier was born in 1703, and was appointed
Lieutenant-Governor of Virginia, February 10, 1758. He
arrived in the Colony on June 7, following. Though he is
sometimes described as having been a man of fashion, with
frivolous tastes, he is by others reputed as one of the wisest
of the colonial governors. Thomas Jefferson says of Governor
Fauquier, that he was "the ablest man who had ever
filled that office." In the first year of his administration,
the coveted French fortress of Fort du Quesne fell into the
hands of the English, and Governor Fauquier has the credit
of having coincided with Washington in his views as to the
importance of gaining this stronghold. It fell, finally, into
the hands of the English, without a blow, and with its fall
ended the war between the French and English, upon the
frontiers of Virginia. Louisburg had been conquered by
the English, who, on July 26, 1758, took entire possession of
the Island of Cape Breton; Fort du Quesne fell on November
25, following, and Ticonderoga, Niagara, and Quebec,
resulted in the final conquest of Canada. The story of the battle
upon the Plains of Abraham affords a thrilling picture in
American history. Wolfe and Montcalm, the central figures
in that bloody scene, each fell, as only heroes fall.
The one, the conqueror Wolfe, died in the arms of victory,
saying with his expiring breath, "Then I die happy";
the other, the conquered Montcalm, when told his wound
was mortal, exclaimed, "I am glad of it; so much
the better; I shall not then live to see the surrender of
Quebec."

In the midst of these triumphs to the British arms, the
King of England, George II., died suddenly, October 25,
1760, and was succeeded by George III., his grandson.

Affairs in Virginia now progressed quietly, and her population
increased rapidly. Washington, after several years of
active service against the Indians and the French, had laid
down his sword and retired for a season to the shades of Mount
Vernon. Virginia was slowly preparing herself, all unconscious
of her destiny, for those high duties which the future
held in store for her. In 1765, the passage of "The Stamp
Act," in London, waked the Slogan in America. It was
viewed as a violation of the British Constitution, and as
destructive of the first principles of liberty. At this momentous
period, there arose in Virginia a man whose burning
eloquence fired the souls and nerved the arms of the Colonists
to strike for "liberty or death." It was a memorable
day, when in the House of Burgesses, Patrick Henry stood,
holding in his hand the Resolutions (against submitting to
the Stamp Act,) which he had traced with a pencil upon the
leaf of an old book. Portentous hour! Quivering in the
balance—a race of vassals, or a great and liberated people!
Henry was unknown to fame, and with his plain, coarse
garb and awkward mien, gave to the world no outward sign
of the veiled genius hidden there. But, like Olympian Jove,
he shook his Ægis and the tempest rolled! Felt were the
thunder and the lightning of his power, and the Resolutions
passed. It is much to be regretted that this burst of passionate
appeal has not been preserved, and that only its
conclusion has come down to us. "Cæsar," he cried, "had
his Brutus, Charles I. his Cromwell, and George III."—
Here he was interrupted by loud cries of "Treason!
treason!" Henry knew that he stood upon the edge of a
precipice, that the daring words he would have uttered would
reveal too much; so with a prudence as masterful as was
his valor, he continued, "and George III. may profit by
their example. If this be treason, make the most of it!"
The news of the adoption of these celebrated Resolutions
spread like wildfire throughout the whole country. They set

forth the facts that Virginians had a right to all the privileges
of English subjects; that, having no representatives in
Parliament, they should not be taxed by Parliament; that
the right of these Colonies to tax themselves had always been
recognized by the Kings and Parliaments of England; and
that no one had a right to tax Virginians but the General
Assembly of Virginia, and to submit to anything else would
destroy American freedom. The other Colonies adopted
similar resolutions, and determined that nothing bearing
the stamp of England should come into the country. This
had the effect of encouraging home institutions, and was
another step in the gradual cutting loose from old relations.

Governor Fauquier, in the progress of all these stirring
events, preserved the respect of the people over whom he
presided. He died March 3, 1768, and until the arrival of
Lord Botetourt in October following, the government again
devolved on John Blair, President of the Council.

The following address and resolutions of the patriots of
the Northern Neck of Virginia, in the year 1765, immediately
after the passage of the Stamp Act, were drawn up by Richard
Henry Lee. It is said to have been the first public association
in the land for resistance to that Act, and fittingly finds
a place under this brief review of Governor Fauquier's term
of office.

LXIII.

LXIII. SIR JEFFREY AMHERST.

LXIII. Governor-in-Chief.

LXIII. 1763-1768.

Perhaps none of the Colonial Governors appears in the
list of Virginia's executives with such a distinguished military
record as Sir Jeffrey Amherst; none certainly had his
dreams of ambition more fully realized, and none reaped in
ampler measure the honorable rewards of a grateful country.
He had the honor of laying Canada at the foot of the British
throne, and of destroying French supremacy in this coveted
possession. Lord Jeffrey Amherst was descended from an
ancient Kentish family near Seven-Oaks, where he was born
in 1717. He early devoted himself to the profession of Arms,
receiving an Ensign's commission when only fourteen years
of age. When twenty-five years old, he acted as aide-decamp
to Lord Ligonier in the battles of Dettingen and Fontenoy,
and afterwards served on the staff of the Duke of
Cumberland at Laffield and Hastenbeck. In 1756 he
received the colonelcy of a regiment, and was appointed
Major-General, and in the summer of 1758 commanded the
expedition against Louisburg, which, together with the
whole island of Cape Breton, surrendered to his arms. The
capture of Fort du Quesne, Niagara, Ticonderoga, and Quebec
in due time followed, and in 1760, the whole of Canada
being reduced, General Amherst received for his share in
these exploits the thanks of the House of Commons and the
Order of the Bath. In 1763, he was made Governor of Virginia;
in 1770, Governor of the Isle of Jersey, and in 1772,
Lieutenant-General of the ordnance, and officiating Commander-in-Chief
of the English forces. Besides these and
several other military honors, he was in 1776 created a peer,

by the title of Baron Amherst of Holmesdale, in the County
of Kent. On the breaking up of the "North" administration,
Lord Amherst was removed from the commandership-in-chief
and the lieutenancy of the ordnance, but in 1787
received another patent of peerage as Baron Amherst of Montreal,
with remainder to his nephew, William Pitt Amherst.
On the staff being reäppointed in 1793, he was once more
called upon to act as Commander-in-Chief. In 1795 he
resigned the commandership-in-chief to the Duke of York,
and in 1796 received the rank of Field Marshal. He died in
1797, in the eighty-first year of his age.

Lord Amherst was twice married, but left no children. He
was made Governor of Virginia in 1763, but when, in 1768, it
was desired by the Ministry that he should reside in the Colony,
he resigned the office and was succeeded in July, by Lord
Botetourt. Amherst County, Virginia, was named in honor of
Lord Amherst. He is represented as a man of collected and
temperate mind, not given to parade or ostentation, a strict
officer, yet the soldier's friend. It is also written in history
that "Sir Jeffrey Amherst, in his advice to the Ministry, strenuously
opposed the repeal of the Stamp Act." How different
was it with the noble Pitt! In this present age of the glory and
power of America, when the public mind turns to commemorate
the virtues and valor and talents of her earliest and best friends,
should William Pitt be quite forgotten? Foreseeing the separation
of the American Colonies from the mother country, if
the arbitrary measures then adopted should be continued, he
advocated in the House of Commons, especially in 1766, a
conciliatory policy and the repeal of the Stamp Act. In the
House of Lords, as Lord Chatham, he continued to recommend
the abandonment of the coercive measures employed
against America, particularly in 1774; but his warning was
rejected, and in 1776 the Colonies declared themselves independent.
He still, however, labored in the cause, and used
all his efforts to induce the government to effect a reconciliation
with the American states; and as he was speaking with
his accustomed energy on the subject in the House of Lords,
April 7, 1778, he fell. He died on the 11th of the following

month. Who that has followed his burning appeals for America
can doubt, if he had lived on this side of the Atlantic, that
his name today would be a household word, as deeply reverenced
as any of the Revolutionary heroes? With deep emotion
do we read these words of one of England's most illustrious
statesmen, orators, and patriots, and gratefully remember
him, who turned from his high estate of power and
grandeur to become a party in the distant colonial struggle:

He fought for the Colonies afar, upon the battle-field of

parliamentary debate, and in the fervor of his demand for
justice to the oppressed, glowing with thoughts that had for
years weighed heavy on his heart—he fell, all suddenly, into
the arms of death—but, from his pinnacle of fame, his dying
plea was for—America! Macaulay thus describes him when
at the zenith of his power:

And now that in this country, the Washington monument
towers all other shafts beyond; now that Virginia has raised
her triumphal memorial at Old Yorktown, and Vermont has
lifted her battle column at Bennington; now that Columbus
will be remembered in the greatest exhibition of the world's
progress ever seen, should America forget the noble Pitt,
he who defied kings and princes and the sweet voice of
popular applause, to tell the story of her wrongs, and who
planted his name on the side of her constitutional liberties?
"No, never, never, never!"

LXIV.

LXIV. JOHN BLAIR.

LXIV. President of the Council.

LXIV. March 3, 1768, to October, 1768.

Lord Botetourt was appointed Governor-in-Chief of
Virginia in July, 1768, though he did not arrive in the Colony
until the October following. Governor Fauquier having
died March 3, 1768, until the arrival of Lord Botetourt in the
following October, John Blair, "President of the Council,"
was the acting Governor of the Colony. During the trying
period of the incumbency of President Blair, his ability and
fidelity were conspicuously displayed. Although Parliament
had repealed the obnoxious Stamp Act in 1766, the next year
witnessed their imposing duties to be paid by the Colonists on
paper, glass, painters' colors, and teas imported into the Colonies.
This, with the attempt to enforce the Act to provide
quarters for British soldiers in the Colonies, at the expense of
the Colonies, again excited public indignation and alarm.
Massachusetts guardedly and reluctantly consented, but New
York declined making the provision demanded. For this
offence, Parliament passed an Act for restraining the Assembly
of New York from passing any Act until they should comply
with this requisition. This arbitrary Act fanned the flame
of suspicion and discontent among all the Colonies. "An
Act for suspending the Legislature of that province," said
Richard Henry Lee, "hangs like a flaming sword over our
heads, and requires, by all means, to be removed." Again
Parliament passed an Act for establishing a Custom House in
America in 1767. The discussions occasioned by the Stamp
Act had convinced the Colonists of their exemption from parliamentary
taxation, and so they were on the alert at every
attempt of England in this direction. This new occasion of

dissatisfaction roused afresh the suspicions of the Colonists
and some Essays on Colonial rights under the name of "Letters
from a Farmer in Pennsylvania to the Inhabitants of the
British Colonies" had a rapid and extensive circulation in
America. The souls of men here were being prepared for
the deadly conflict—the conflict for "liberty or death!"
Massachusetts sent a petition to the King against these
recent acts of Parliament and issued a circular letter to the
other Colonies to unite in suitable measures to obtain redress.
Virginia sent a memorial to the House of Lords and a remonstrance
to the House of Commons, complaining of the taxes
imposed, and her action and that of Massachusetts were
fully endorsed by the House of Assembly in Georgia.

During this stormy period Governor Blair held the reins
of government in Virginia from March to October of 1768,
the last patent signed by him bearing date the 24th October,
1768. He had served for several years as Deputy Auditor of
the Colony and had also been a visitor of William and Mary
College. His life was one of varied usefulness in a time that
tried men's souls. He died November 5, 1771, and some of
his descendants have been distinguished in the annals of Virginia.

LXV.

LXV. NORBORNE BERKELEY.
(BARON DE BOTETOURT.)

LXV. Governor-in-Chief.

LXV. October 28, 1768, to October 15, 1770.

It is said by Bancroft that

But the year after Lord Botetourt arrived, the Assembly
passed two resolutions: First, that Virginia would no longer
submit to be taxed by England; and, second, that she would
not send her criminals to England to be tried. Lord Botetourt
knew that Virginia was right in this, but he thought
that his duty to his King compelled him to check what
seemed rebellion. He said to the Assembly: "I have heard
of your resolves, and augur ill of their effects; you have
made it my duty to dissolve you, and you are dissolved
accordingly." But, though the Governor dissolved the
Assembly, he could not disperse its members. The spirit of
freedom was aroused in every patriot breast, and instead of
returning quietly to their homes, the Burgesses met at a
private house in Williamsburg and adopted resolutions which
Washington had brought with him from Mount Vernon, and

"which formed a well-digested, stringent, and practicable
scheme of non-importation, until all the `unconstitutional'
revenue acts should be repealed." They also made a special
covenant with one another not to import any slaves, nor
purchase any imported. These compacts were signed by
Peyton Randolph, Richard Bland, Archibald Cary, Robert
Carter Nicholas, Richard Henry Lee, Washington, Jefferson,
Henry, Carter Braxton, Nelson, and all the Burgesses there
assembled, and were then sent throughout the Colony for
every man to sign.

Virginia stirred the smouldering spirit of Pennsylvania to
endorse her action; Delaware adopted the resolutions of the
Old Dominion, and every Colony south of her followed her
example. So determined were the colonists, that when
some time later a vessel loaded with tea entered Boston
Harbor, a number of citizens disguised as Indians went on
board of the ship at night, and threw overboard three hundred
and forty-two chests of tea.

America confined its issue with Great Britain to the
repeal of the Act imposing a duty on Tea, because of the principle
of the Act, expressed in the preamble.

England was, at this time, in a most perplexed condition
as to her policy. Junius, with his firebrands, had heated the
atmosphere of society; the Ministry often divided, and the
King, unequal to the situation, had almost filled the measure
of colonial dissatisfaction, and Revolution in America, hovering
on the confines of Tyranny, was steadily taking form, and
passing from an idea into an action.

Governor Botetourt having received assurances from the
Earl of Hillsborough, Secretary of State for the Colonies,
that the Ministry would advocate a repeal of the obnoxious
taxes, the relations between the Governor and the colonial
legislative bodies were fully restored; but, soon finding that
he had been misled, Botetourt indignantly demanded his
recall. Shortly after, and it is asserted, on account of his
peculiar embarrassments, he fell sick, and died on October
15, 1770. His death doubtless was hastened by his troubles.
Governor Botetourt was admired and respected by Virginians,

and their appreciation of his worth is shown by their
erecting a monument to his memory at Williamsburg, and
naming one of their most beautiful counties after him. His
example of courtesy and patience in public life, his genial
affability in the social sphere, and of high honor everywhere,
his fidelity to his people, and his noble Christian character,
are still cherished memories among the people he loved so
well.

LXVI.

LXVI. WILLIAM NELSON.

LXVI. President of the Council.

LXVI. October 15, 1770, to August, 1771.

After having been President of the Council for a long
term of years, on the decease of Lord Botetourt, William
Nelson became the Acting Governor of the Colony. He was
the son of Thomas Nelson, who came to America from Penriff,
near the border of Scotland, and hence was known as
"Scotch Tom." The same settled at York, in Virginia,
and was the founder of that town, which was laid out in 1705.
His eldest son, Thomas, was known as "Secretary Nelson,"
because so long Secretary of the Council; and the second
son, William, or "President Nelson," is the subject of this
notice. He was born in 1711, and was the father of the
patriotic General Thomas Nelson, of Revolutionary fame.

William Nelson is said to have laid the corner-stone of
the historic Nelson House at Yorktown. Though an infant,
he was held by his nurse, and the brick laid in his apron
and passed through his little hands. This mansion descended
to President Nelson's eldest son, General Thomas
Nelson, and was his residence until the threatened siege of
York by the English, induced him to remove his family to
"Offley," in Hanover County. During this siege the Nelson
House was occupied by Lord Cornwallis, and General Nelson's
unselfish desire for its destruction is a fitting illustration
of the spirit which made Virginia free.

To quote from another, in describing the situation of this
now celebrated town:

How such a scene as this must have nerved the arm of
patriots, and warmed the heart of every son of liberty in the
fight for freedom. And how well they fought, that monument
at Yorktown, which commemorates the hundred years of
liberty they bought, now tells the tale.

President Nelson presided over the affairs of Virginia
during an exciting period, but the life of the Colony seems to
have progressed under his judicious sway. He died November
19, 1772, and the following extract from a printed
sermon on his death, by Mr. Camm, President of William
and Mary College, will give some idea of his character and
of the position he held among his fellow-men. He was

Among the tombstones in the old churchyard at York,
Virginia, may be seen one with the following inscription:

LXVII.

LXVII. JOHN MURRAY.
(EARL DUNMORE.)

LXVII. Governor-in-Chief.

LXVII. July, 1771, to June, 1775.

Earl Dunmore had been appointed Governor of New
York, January, 1770, and of Virginia in July, 1771. He
was born in 1732, and was descended in the female line from
the royal house of Stuart. He succeeded to the peerage in
1756, and is described as a man of culture—this, indeed,
seems to be the only commendation which history accords
him.

The people of Virginia, conciliated by Lord Dunmore's
apparent friendliness, desired through their Assembly to
honor permanently his name, and that of his eldest son,
George, Lord Fincastle. By Acts passed February, 1772,
the Counties of Berkeley and Dunmore were created from
Frederick County, and the County of Fincastle, created from
the County of Botetourt. But as time went on, the relations
between the Governor and his people changed, and Dunmore
and Fincastle became extinct names in the list of Virginia
Counties. Dunmore was changed to Shenandoah, and
Fincastle was divided into Kentucky, Washington, and
Montgomery.

Bancroft describes Dunmore as a man who came to America
"to amass a fortune, and in his passion for sudden gain,
cared as little for the policy of the Ministers or his instructions
from the Crown, as for the rights of property, the
respective limits of jurisdiction of the Colonies, or their civil
and political privileges. To get money for himself was his
whole system." He became arbitrary in his rule in Virginia

—prorogued the House of Burgesses from time to time as it
suited his pleasure, until at last, a forgery of the paper currency
of the Colony compelled him to call the Assembly
together again, by proclamation, March 4, 1773.

An English armed revenue vessel having been burned in
Narragansett Bay, an Act of Parliament passed, making such
offences punishable with death, and ordering the accused to
be sent to England for trial. This was in direct violation of
Virginia's remonstrance in 1769, and thus was another torch
added to the fire of liberty which was spreading far and wide
over the continent.

During these dark and threatening days, some of the Virginia
patriots were in the habit of meeting together in the
evening, in a private room in the Old Ralegh Tavern at
Williamsburg. Here they laid their plans and here they
pledged a common vow to make their country free. Whether
that vow should become a reality, rested on Virginia. Her
Assembly came together on the 4th of March, 1773. Says
Bancroft:

Richard Henry Lee is said by others to have been the author
of the plan of inter-colonial committees of correspondence,
and that it was in the Old Ralegh Tavern agreed that Carr
should present the matter to the House of Burgesses. On the
day after the dissolution of this Assembly the Committee appointed
by it addressed a circular to the other American Colonies.
Thus, steadily were the battalions of freedom forming!
"Glorious Virginia," cried the Assembly of Rhode Island,
glowing with admiration for "its patriotic and illustrious
House of Burgesses," and this brave little New England
Colony was the first to follow the example of the Old Dominion,
"by electing its committee and sending its circular
through the land."

We now enter upon a period of misrule which soon eventuated
in the activities of a Revolution. In 1773, the last
laws were passed in Virginia under the colonial government.
In 1774, no laws were passed. At the Assembly which met
June 1, 1775, no laws were enacted. Governor Dunmore
dissolved on the 26th May, 1774, an Assembly, because the
House of Burgesses had by a resolution on the 24th of May,
set apart the 1st day of June (the day on which the Boston
Port Bill took effect) as a day of "fasting, humiliation, and
prayer," and ordered a sermon to be preached suitable to the
occasion. On the dissolution of the Assembly by Dunmore,
the Burgesses repaired immediately to the Ralegh
Tavern, and in the "Apollo" room adopted resolutions
against the use of tea and other imported commodities, and
recommended an annual Congress of representatives of the
Colonies. On the 29th of May, the Burgesses held a
meeting, at which Peyton Randolph presided, and they issued
a Circular calling an assembly of deputies to meet in
convention in Williamsburg, the 1st of August following.

This was the first public Revolutionary assemblage.

And now, in the midst of turmoil and distress at the
seat of government, the war-whoop of the savage was again
heard on the frontiers of the Colony. The white men
seem to have commenced the trouble, or rather to have punished
small offences of the Indians, by the spilling of blood.
This roused the tribes to fury and they wreaked their vengeance
on the frontier settlements. An army was raised and
placed under the command of General Lewis, who marched
to Point Pleasant, where the Kanawha River empties into
the Ohio. Here ensued a bloody battle. The Indians were
led on by a gigantic warrior named "Cornstalk," and they
fought with great desperation. When all seemed lost for the
Virginians, a reïnforcement arrived under Colonel Fleming,
who, adopting the Indian method of shooting from behind
trees, turned the tide of battle, which finally resulted in a
complete, though dearly bought, victory. The Virginians
lost 140 men, among whom were many valuable officers.
Governor Dunmore, who had promised to join General
Lewis, took another direction, and some eighty miles distant,
made his camp. Not to his prowess as a soldier, but to his
position as Governor, do we read that "Lord Dunmore
secured a treaty of peace with the savages." Dunmore now
concluded a treaty with the various Indian tribes, and at this
pacification the celebrated speech of Logan, the Cayuga
chief, was delivered. The circumstances relating to this
subject are, according to Thomas Jefferson, as follows:

Early in 1775, the people of Virginia called another Convention,
which met in Richmond on the 20th March. Upon
an eminence which is now called "Church Hill," stands an
old wooden church, and it was in this "St. John's Church"
that the Convention met to deliberate upon the situation.
Here Patrick Henry voiced the people's hopes and sounded
that tocsin of liberty whose peals resounded over all the land.
Lord Dunmore, alarmed at the threatening aspect of affairs,
caused the removal of the powder from the magazine at Williamsburg
to an English ship. The people flew to arms
under Patrick Henry, and Dunmore was forced to pay for the
powder. On the 6th of June he fled with his family and
took refuge on board the Fowey, a man-of-war. What a
contrast does Lord Dunmore's exit from Virginia, present to
his entrance, only three short years before! Behold him on
his coming, received with expressions of warmth and affection
by the Assembly; later, two counties called in honor of
his family; a daughter born in the Colony and named "Virginia,"
formally adopted by the Assembly as the Daughter
of the Dominion, with provision for her life support; and
then behold Lord Dunmore, seeking to deprive Virginians of

the means of self-defence, and in the dead of night removing
all the powder from the magazine in Williamsburg; behold
him fleeing in conscious guilt to the Fowey; behold him
plundering the inhabitants along the James and York Rivers
and carrying off their slaves; behold him making battle at
Great Bridge, and with a last, fell stroke, firing and destroying
Norfolk, the most flourishing town in Virginia! History
records these painful facts, and it is wise for the descendants
of the Revolutionary Fathers to remember through what
deep seas of suffering these heroes struggled to their freedom!
Lord Dunmore returned to England in the latter part of the
summer of 1776, and in 1786 was appointed Governor of Bermuda.
He died at Ramsgate, England, in May, 1809.

LXVIII.

LXVIII. PEYTON RANDOLPH.

LXVIII. President of
The Virginia Convention of August, 1774,
The Virginia Convention of March, 1775,
The Virginia Convention of July, 1775.

Never since the foundation of Virginia had there been
greater need of wisdom and courage in her people than was
necessary in the critical juncture now at hand, and not in
vain did the occasion summon the indignant Colonists to high
and patriotic duties.

Standing face to face with a great crisis which they
intrepidly resolved to meet, they pledged their lives, their
fortunes, and their sacred honor to the conflict, and shoulder
to shoulder moved on to the momentous issue of "liberty
or death."

Peyton Randolph, first President of the American
Congress, was born in Virginia in 1723, and died in Philadelphia,
October 22, 1775. He was the second son of Sir
John Randolph, and after graduating at the College of William
and Mary, went to England and studied law. On
his return in 1748 he was appointed King's Attorney-General
for the Colony, was chosen a member of the House of Burgesses,
and was chairman of a committee to revise the laws
of the Colony. In 1764 he drew up the address of the
Burgesses to the King, against the passage of the Stamp Act.
In 1765, after that Act became a law, Randolph, with other
proprietors of large estates, opposed Patrick Henry's celebrated
five resolutions, being loath to cast the die of Revolution.
In the same year Virginia forwarded to England

petitions similar to those adopted by the Congress,
(held in the City of New York, October, 1765) with an
address to the King, written by Randolph. In 1766 Randolph
was made Speaker of the House of Burgesses, resigning,
about the same time, his office of Attorney-General. In the
measures of opposition to the English government he now
took a conspicuous part. He was a member of the committee
of vigilance, appointed to obtain the most accurate intelligence
of all Acts of Parliament affecting the rights of the Colonies,
and authorized to open a correspondence with the other
Colonies. In August, 1774, he presided in the Convention at
Williamsburg, and was one of the delegates elected to the
Continental Congress. On the assembling of that body in
Philadelphia, in September, he was unanimously elected its
President, but in consequence of ill-health, held the post only
five or six weeks. In March, 1775, he presided over the second
Convention of Virginia, at Richmond, was elected again as a
delegate to Congress, and when that body met at Philadelphia
on May 10, 1775, was re-elected President; but nearer duties
recalling him to Virginia, he was succeeded by John Hancock.
The Convention which met in Richmond, July 17,
1775, elected Peyton Randolph its President, making him
thus for the third time the Moderator of the revolutionary
proceedings in Virginia. But his valuable services were
destined to be of short duration. He died suddenly, of apoplexy,
in Philadelphia, October 22, 1775, but his remains
were interred beneath the pavement of the famous "Old
Chapel" of William and Mary College, at Williamsburg,
Virginia.

Of all Peyton Randolph's public services, none, perhaps,
were more valuable than those he rendered in the three
historic Revolutionary Conventions over which he presided
in his native state. He was one of the most distinguished
lawyers and patriots of his time and country, and, though
not remarkable for eloquence, he derived great weight from
the solid powers of his understanding, and the no less solid
virtues of his heart. Besides being an eminent lawyer, he
was a well-informed and practical statesman, and his thorough

THE CRADLE OF LIBERTY.

"Apollo Room," Old Ralegh Tavern, Williamsburg, Va.

acquaintance with all forms of parliamentary proceeding made
him a tower of strength in those days of anarchy and confusion.

On the morning of May 25, 1774, when Lord Dunmore
dissolved for the last time the Virginia House of Burgesses,
the indignant members repaired immediately to the Ralegh
Tavern, about one hundred paces from the Capitol, and with
Peyton Randolph, their late Speaker, in the chair, held a solemn
Council. They voted that the late attack on Massachusetts
was an attack on all the Colonies, which should be opposed
by the united wisdom of all. They advised an annual
Continental Congress, and they named Peyton Randolph, with
others, a Committee of Correspondence, to invite a general
concurrence in this design. On the following Sunday afternoon,
May 29, 1774, letters from Boston reached Williamsburg,
of such an exciting and important nature, that the next
morning, at ten o'clock, the Burgesses met, having called to
their aid Washington, who was in Williamsburg at the time.
Being but twenty-five in number they felt unwilling to
assume the responsibility of definite measures of resistance,
but summoned a Convention of delegates to be elected by the
several counties, to meet at the Capitol on the first day of the
ensuing August. It was in this Convention that Washington
uttered the wish to raise one thousand men, subsist them at
his own expense, and march at their head to the relief of
Boston. It is also a point of historic interest to note, that
the people of Boston endorsed "the plan proposed by our
noble, patriotic, sister Colony of Virginia."

Among the great causes of colonial dissatisfaction with
the mother country, we may briefly mention the Navigation
Act of 1651, the Sugar Act of 1764, the Stamp Act of 1765;
but the spark which fired the smouldering continental
discontent was the duty on Tea, which, resisted, led to the
Boston Port Bill, in 1774, and this—to war.

The Act which shut up the harbor of Boston was
speedily followed by another, entitled, "An Act for the better
regulating the government of Massachusetts," and this
unveiled intention of interfering with Home Rule was too
much for struggling freedom.

On June 1, 1774, the day appointed to carry the Port Bill
into operation, business was finished at Boston by twelve
o'clock noon, and the harbor shut up. The day was observed
through all the Colonies as a day of mourning. In this
feverish condition of public feeling, the Convention, summoned
to meet in Williamsburg, assembled in the old Capitol on
August 1, 1774, and Peyton Randolph was elected its President.
Here, in the "Heart of the Rebellion," as this building was
called, was first proclaimed in outline that noble chart of
human liberty—the Declaration of American Independence.
Illness detained Thomas Jefferson on the road, but he sent
for inspection a paper which foreshadowed his mighty work.
It was presented by Peyton Randolph, President of the Convention,
and printed by some of the delegates. Enumerating
the grievances which affected all the Colonies, it made a special
complaint of a wrong to Virginia.

Of these words every heart acknowledged the justice.
Moreover, the Fairfax Resolves, in which George Mason and
Washington had given their solemn judgment against the
slave trade, were brought by the Fairfax delegates before
the Convention, and in August that body came to the unanimous
vote:

In this Convention, the eloquence of Richard Henry Lee
and of Patrick Henry made such profound impression, that
the one was compared to Cicero and the other to Demosthenes,

and Washington declared, "The crisis is arrived when we
must assert our rights or submit to every imposition that can
be heaped upon us, till custom and use shall make us tame
and abject slaves." The great lawyer, Thomson Mason,
of Virginia, denied, through the press, the right of England
to make laws for the Colonies, and exclaimed, "I do not
wish to survive the liberty of my country one single moment,
and am determined to risk my all in supporting it." Thus
the voice of Virginia, within and without the Convention,
was for Liberty, and she sent Patrick Henry, Washington,
Richard Henry Lee, and Peyton Randolph to expound her
views in the Continental Congress, which met at Philadelphia,
September 4, 1774. Peyton Randolph, late Speaker of the
Assembly of Virginia, was unanimously chosen President of
the first Continental Congress. The assemblage baptized
itself "The Congress," and its Chairman "The President."
Eleven Colonies were represented by fifty-five members, each
Colony sending as many members as it pleased, and here
Patrick Henry, Washington, Richard Henry Lee, Samuel
Adams, John Adams, Jay, and many other noble patriots
met to face the desperate resort of Revolution.

At the beginning of the second day's session, a long and
deep silence prevailed. The voice of Virginia was waited
for, and soon it was heard to break that momentous stillness.
Amid the solemn hush rose Patrick Henry to speak his
country's wrongs, and to grave as "with an iron pen and
lead in the rock forever," the glorious idea of American
union. "British oppression," he said, "has effaced the
boundaries of the several Colonies; the distinctions between
Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englanders
are no more. I am not a Virginian, but an American!"

In 1774 the number of white inhabitants in all the thirteen
Colonies was about 2,100,000, and of blacks about 500,000.
This was the America which determined to be free. But,
before the patient patriots in Congress assembled turned to
the last resort, they determined to make one final appeal to
England. They sent an address to the King, a memorial to

the people of British America, and an address to the people of
Great Britain. Mr. Lee, Mr. J. Adams, Mr. Johnson, Mr.
Henry, and Mr. Randolph prepared the address to the King;
Mr. Lee wrote the memorial to the people of British America;
and Mr. Jay, the address to the people of Great Britain.

Lord Chatham, in speaking of these communications in
the House of Lords, said: "When your lordships look at
the papers transmitted to us from America, when you consider
their decency, firmness, and wisdom, you cannot but
respect their cause and wish to make it your own. For
myself, I must declare and avow that in all my reading and
observation—and state-craft has been my favorite study, I
have read Thucydides, and admired the master states of the
world—that for solidity of reasoning, force of sagacity, and
wisdom of conclusion under such complication of circumstances,
no nation or body of men can stand in preference to
the general Congress at Philadelphia." It is true that the
Congress of 1774 was composed of men of the highest order
of wisdom and talent, "but, if you speak of solid information
and sound judgment," said Patrick Henry, "Washington
is unquestionably the greatest man of them all."

But England would not relent, and the pressure of events
which thickened as the time rolled on, found Virginia
in 1775 embarrassed by unusual difficulties. Subjected to
the tyranny of a Governor now opposed to her every interest,
and, saving a little powder in a magazine near Williamsburg,
destitute of warlike stores, she was, with many hindrances,
quite unprepared for war. Of all the Colonies, she was most
open to attack. The Bay of the Chesapeake, the deep waters
of the Potomac, the James, the York, and other streams,
exposed her to invasion, and when day after day she saw the
English men-of-war hovering upon her coast, she knew "the
hour" had come, and she bared her bosom to the storm. To
meet the crisis, she called a convention to assemble at Richmond
in March of this year, 1775. Williamsburg was no
longer a place for revolutionary assemblages. Dunmore sat
in his palace and watched in angry silence the progress of
events, relying for his own protection on the British men-of-war

lying in the river near at hand. So the patriots convened,
March 20, 1775, in Richmond, on what is now known
as "Church Hill," in old St. John's Church, there to make
ready for the morrow. They knew their cause was just, and
they knew that whatever course might be decided on for the
defence of Virginia, the people at home were ready to lay
down their money and their lives to accomplish it. Of this
Convention Peyton Randolph was chosen President, and
here Patrick Henry delivered one of those stirring, fiery
appeals of eloquence which has in part come down to us.
He said, addressing the President:

Says William Wirt in describing this scene: "He took
his seat. No murmur of applause was heard. The effect
was too deep. After the trance of a moment, several members
started from their seats. The cry, `To arms!' seemed
to quiver on every lip and gleam from every eye,"—and the
following Resolution was immediately adopted:

Patrick Henry, Richard H. Lee, Robert C. Nicholas,
Benjamin Harrison, Lemuel Riddick, George Washington,
Adam Stevens, Andrew Lewis, William Christian, Edmund
Pendleton, Thomas Jefferson, and Isaac Zane were appointed
a committee to prepare the plan called for by the above
Resolution.

"Thus the fathers of the Revolution," says Hening,
"when they dared that hazardous enterprise, found themselves
without a government, without men, and without
money. Indeed, they had nothing to support them in the
awful contest but their own virtue and talents, and a firm
reliance on the Sovereign Disposer of all events." The
progress of the Revolution shows with what facility all difficulties
were surmounted, what rapid progress was made in
military science, and how fitly every measure was adapted to
the circumstances of the country.

Thus was Virginia fairly launched into the War of the
Revolution. Meeting at her own door the treacherous Lord
Dunmore, who, by fire, sword, and every wicked strategem,
sought her ruin, she failed not to join hands with her sister
Colonies, to work out their common redemption.

In this exciting posture of affairs the Colonial Convention
of Virginia met again in Richmond, on Monday, the 17th day
of July, 1775. Peyton Randolph was chosen President of
this Convention, whose proceedings were marked by great
decision and vigor. Their first measure was "An ordinance
for raising and embodying a sufficient force for the defence
and protection of this Colony." Two regiments of regulars,
to consist of one thousand and twenty privates, rank and file,
were to be forthwith raised and taken into the pay of the
Colony; also other military forces were provided for, and
soldiers armed, trained, and furnished with all military
accoutrements, were to be ready to march at a minute's
warning. Patrick Henry was elected Colonel of the 1st

Virginia Regiment, and made Commander of all the forces
raised and to be raised, for the defence of the Colony. On
the 15th of June, little less than a month before, Washington,
at the age of 43, had been elected by the Continental Congress,
then in session in Philadelphia, General of "The
Continental Army." This appointment was brought forward
"at the particular request of the people in New England,"
and he was elected by ballot unanimously. Upon accepting
the position he said, "As the Congress desire it, I will enter
upon the momentous duty, and exert every power I possess
in their service and for the support of the glorious cause.
But, I beg it may be remembered by every gentleman in this
room, that I this day declare, with the utmost sincerity, I do
not think myself equal to the command I am honored with."

It was in the midst of all these exciting scenes that Peyton
Randolph, the immediate subject of this sketch, died suddenly,
on the 22d October, 1775, aged 52. He left a noble
record of personal honor, usefulness, and patriotism, holding
in many a storm the rudder of the ship of state, in those dark
hours "which tried men's souls."

THE COMMITTEE OF SAFETY.

The Convention of July, 1775, held at Richmond, Va.,
Peyton Randolph, President, "for the more effectual carrying
into execution the several rules and regulations established
by this Convention, for the protection of this Colony,"
appointed the following eleven members, on the Committee
of Safety, viz.:

• Edmund Pendleton,

• George Mason,

• John Page,

• Richard Bland,

• Thomas Ludwell Lee,

• Paul Carrington,

• Dudley Digges,

• William Cabell,

• Carter Braxton,

• James Mercer,

• John Tabb.

Again, at the Convention of December, 1775, held at
Richmond, Va., Edmund Pendleton, President, an ordinance
was passed "for revising and amending an ordinance appointing
a Committee of Safety." By this Act the following
eleven members were created:

• Dudley Digges,

• John Page,

• Paul Carrington,

• Edmund Pendleton,

• James Mercer,

• Thomas Ludwell Lee,

• William Cabell,

• Richard Bland,

• Joseph Jones,

• John Tabb,

• Thomas Walker.

These Committees constituted the executive department of
the government when the Conventions were not in session,
and were held subordinate to the Conventions by the restriction
that "said Committee shall cause all their proceedings
and transactions to be fairly entered in a book or books to be
provided at publick expense for that purpose, which shall be
laid before the next Convention, to whom the said Committee

shall be accountable for their conduct touching the premises
in every respect whatever."

Mr. Hugh Blair Grigsby says, in his "Discourse on the
Virginia Convention of 1776" (page 16), "Let it be kept in
mind that the Convention not only performed the ordinary
duties of the legislative department, but, while in session,
those of the executive also," hence, we find the delicate
machinery of government required for the anomalous condition
of the times carefully provided, and with almost supernatural
wisdom every exigency anticipated.

Edmund Pendleton had the honor of being Chairman of
the Committee of Safety during the perilous period when
Virginia was passing from the Colony to the Commonwealth;
but, his chief claim to the position of Executive is, that he was
President of the Conventions of December, 1775, and of May,
1776; the highest and most responsible office in Virginia, at
the time, in the gift of his fellow-colonists.

LXIX.

LXIX. EDMUND PENDLETON.

LXIX. President of
The Convention of December, 1775,
and
The Convention of May, 1776.

The burning period now to be reviewed is known in the
annals of Virginia as the "Interregnum," being the time
embraced from the dissolution of the regal government, practically
dissolved upon the flight of Lord Dunmore, June 6,
1775, until the establishment of the Commonwealth on the
29th June, 1776.

Edmund Pendleton, whose name heads this article, was
born in the County of Caroline, Va., in 1712, and on his
estate, "Edmundsbury," in that county, spent such portion
of his life as was not devoted to public service. He became
first, Clerk of the County Court, then a member of the bar,
and at the age of thirty entered the House of Burgesses of
Virginia. He soon rose to distinction, and was one of the
most conspicuous among the great men of his state during
the war of the Revolution. He was a man of fine endowments
and vigorous application, and by hard study remedied
the wants of early education. He was for a long time one of
the leading members of the House of Burgesses of Virginia,
and in 1773 was appointed one of the Committee of Correspondence
for gaining intelligence of the acts of the British
government, and for communicating with the Colonies. He
was a member of the Congress of 1774, and President of the Virginia
Conventions of December, 1775, and May, 1776. In 1787
he was appointed President of the Convention of Virginia,
elected to consider the Constitution of the United States, and

employed his influence to obtain its adoption. In 1789 he
was appointed Judge of the United States District Court for
Virginia, but declined the office. He was for many years a
Judge of the Court of Appeals of Virginia, and its President
at the time of his death, which took place at Richmond, 23d
October, 1806. He held the first rank as a lawyer and
statesman, and was particularly distinguished for the force
and clearness of his thoughts, for subtlety in discrimination,
and dexterity in argument. Edmund Pendleton is thus
described by the celebrated William Wirt, of Richmond, Va.:

Pendleton has also been described as the conservatist-revolutionist
of the era, saying of himself, that his great aim
was to "raise the spirits of the timid to a general united
opposition," and oppose "the violent who were for plunging us
into rash measures." Surely none better suited to the high
and responsible position could have been chosen to preside
over the Convention of Virginia, in December, 1775. This
Convention was "held at the Town of Richmond, in the
Colony of Virginia, on Friday, the first of December, in the

year of our Lord one thousand and seven hundred and
seventy-five, and afterwards, by adjournment, in the City of
Williamsburg." Its proceedings were such as the urgency
of the times demanded. But no one can appreciate the perils
and difficulties of those days, without realizing that the representatives
of the people of Virginia were endowed "with
wisdom from on high." Indeed, they had formerly declared
their dependence upon the God of Hosts, (see the declaration
of the Convention in their Journal of the 13th December,
1775,) and had lifted their arms in the name of "One mighty
to save."

The first Ordinance enacted was "for raising an additional
number of forces for the defence and protection of this
Colony," and for otherwise perfecting their military system;
next, "An Ordinance for appointing Sheriffs"; next, "An
Ordinance for providing arms and ammunition for the use of
this Colony"; next, "An Ordinance for revising and amending
an Ordinance appointing a Committee of Safety"; and
then, after making wise regulations concerning some matters
of domestic policy, they passed a comprehensive "Ordinance
for establishing a mode of punishment for the enemies to
America in this Colony."

On the 19th day of April, 1775, the first blood of the
Revolution was shed on the plains of Lexington, in Massachusetts.
Eight Americans were killed. This battle was the
signal of war, and not until Old Yorktown, Virginia, had witnessed
the capitulation of Lord Cornwallis to General Washington,
on October 19, 1781, did the storm of conflict abate.

In May, 1776, Virginia again assembled in Convention in
Richmond, and the history of this momentous occasion
cannot by another pen be so well described as by the accomplished
historian, Bancroft, in the following:

Thus beautifully does Bancroft describe that ever-to-be-remembered
Convention, which gave to the human race the
Bill of Rights.

On the 29th June, 1776, a Constitution or form of government
was unanimously adopted by this Convention, and
Patrick Henry, the people's idol, immediately elected first
Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, with Edmund
Randolph as Attorney-General. A short time before, on the
7th of June, 1776, Richard Henry Lee had moved in Congress,
"That these united Colonies are and ought to be free and
independent states, and that all political connection between
them and the State of Great Britain is and ought to be totally
dissolved." John Adams seconded the motion. After animated
debate, a committee was appointed to draw up the
"Declaration." Richard Henry Lee having been called
away to Virginia by illness in his family, the position which
belonged to him (as by courtesy, chairman of this committee,)
was conferred on Thomas Jefferson. He accordingly
drew up the paper, and on July 4, 1776, the Declaration of
Independence was adopted by Congress.

Among the contributions of Virginia to the cause of America
up to this juncture may be noted:

The Resolutions of 1765, denouncing the Stamp Act;

The originating in 1773 the Committees of Correspondence,
which first united the Colonies;

The call in 1774, by her Convention, for a General Congress;

The instructions, by the Convention of May, 1776, to the
Virginia delegates, to propose a Declaration of Independence,
which Richard Henry Lee moved in Congress, which Thomas
Jefferson wrote, and which Washington was by his sword to
lay broad and deep as the corner-stone of Republican liberty.

LXX.

LXX. PATRICK HENRY.

LXX. Governor.

LXX. June 29, 1776, to June 1, 1779.

Patrick Henry, the second son of John and Sarah Henry,
and one of nine children, was born on the 29th of May, 1736,
at the family seat, called "Studley," in the County of Hanover
and Colony of Virginia. In his early childhood his parents
removed to another seat in the same county, then called
"Mount Brilliant," now, "The Retreat." At this last place
Patrick Henry was raised and educated. His parents, though
not rich, were in easy circumstances, and in point of personal
character were among the most respectable inhabitants of
the Colony.

Patrick Henry was sent first to an "old field school," where,
at that period, tuition was chiefly confined to the primary
departments of learning. Under his father he acquired a
competent English education and some acquaintance with
Latin and mathematics. As a boy, he was fond of hunting
and angling, and would desert his books at any moment for
these pleasures, loving, at that time, such amusements far
better than any serious employment. Merchandise and
agriculture, and merchandise again, he tried in turn without
success, until about 1759, when at the age of twenty-four he
embraced the study of law. This was the turning point in his
life. Having when eighteen years old married Miss Sarah
Shelton, of Hanover County, Virginia, it well behooved him to
make some decided advance in life. He had met with disappointments,
and the past was marked with failures, but this
stage of Patrick Henry's experience was the deep darkness just
before the dawn. At last he had found the path for which he
was designed, and now, with him "old things are passed away;

behold, all things are become new." A new heaven and a
new earth spread before him, and henceforth hitherto unseen
constellations were to guide the future statesman. It has
been said that from the beginning of his career as a lawyer,
Mr. Henry's practice was extensive; it has been frequently
asserted on the other hand, that he was not distinguished at
the bar for three years after he adopted his interesting profession.
Be these facts as they may, it is recorded history
that Patrick Henry's first great impression upon the public
was on the first of December, 1763, in the trial at Hanover
Court House, of "The Parson's Cause." In this celebrated
case the clergy were arrayed against the people, and the
contest was a bitter one. The clergy were entitled by law to
16,000 pounds of tobacco per annum, each, and the Acts of
the House of Burgesses, in 1755 and 1758, curtailed very
sensibly their revenue. Owing to the failure in these years
of the tobacco crop, these Acts provide that "all persons
from whom any tobacco was due, were authorized to pay the
same, either in tobacco or in money, after the rate of sixteen
shillings and eight pence per hundred, at the option of the
debtor." These Acts were to continue, severally, for ten
months and no longer. The law was universal in its application,
but bore specially on the clergy of the Established
Church. They resolved to bring the question to a judicial
test, and suits were accordingly brought by them, in the
various County Courts of the Colony, to recover their stipends
in the specific, tobacco. They selected the County of Hanover
as the place of the first experiment. The case went
against the defendants, and Mr. John Lewis, their attorney,
convinced that nothing more could be done, retired from the
cause. In this desperate situation Mr. Lewis's clients applied
to Patrick Henry, and he undertook to argue the case for
them before a jury at the ensuing term of Court.

Mr. William Wirt, of Richmond, Va., the accomplished
biographer of Patrick Henry, gives a soul-stirring account of
this scene; he says:

Such is William Wirt's vivid picture of that Court House
scene, the sequel to which is so well known. The jury had
scarcely left the bar, when they returned with a verdict of
one penny damages; a motion for a new trial was overruled,
and amidst the redoubled acclamations of the people, this
forest-born Demosthenes was borne upon their shoulders out

of the Court House and around the green. In that brief
hour he had taken captive the heart of Virginia, and had
burst upon the public gaze like Minerva from the brain of
Jove, in full armor and with a mighty war shout. Henceforth
he was to go forth conquering and to conquer.

In 1764, Mr. Henry removed from Hanover to the
County of Louisa, and resided at a place called "The
Roundabout." It was in the fall of this year that he had an
opportunity of distinguishing himself upon a new theatre.
A contest occurred in the House of Burgesses in the case of
Mr. James Littlepage, the returned member for the County
of Hanover. The rival candidate and petitioner was Nathaniel
West Dandridge. The charge against Mr. Littlepage
was bribery and corruption. The parties were heard
by their counsel, before the committee on Privileges and
Elections, and Mr. Henry was on this occasion employed by
Mr. Dandridge. He here struck amazement into the committee
by his eloquence and brilliant display on the great
subject of the rights of suffrage "superior to anything that
had been heard before within those walls."

On the 1st of May, 1765, Mr. Henry entered the House of
Burgesses as the representative from Louisa County, and by
some resolutions which he introduced in reference to The Stamp
Act, obtained the honor of being the first to inaugurate open
opposition to the oppressive measures of the British Crown.
This opposition was doomed to result in a bloody struggle, but
through crimson fields of revolution the desperate patriots
marched to victory and blood-bought independence. In 1767,
Mr. Henry removed from Louisa to his native county, Hanover,
but was continued a member of the House of Burgesses.
In 1769, he was admitted to the Bar of the General Court,
and rose to distinguished prominence in his profession.

But, events were hurrying on a mighty conflict between
the mother country and the Colonies, and soon Patrick
Henry was to display his complex genius upon a wider
field of action. He was to become the ardent, imposing,
dazzling orator of the Revolution, moving men not only by
that irresistible eloquence which took them captive, but

also leading them whither he would, by a nerve and resolution
which was indomitable.

Much has already, in other articles in this work, been said
of Patrick Henry's eloquence and zeal in the Virginia Conventions
of 1774, 1775, and 1776; also of his brilliant appeals in the
Continental Congress of 1774 and of 1775. In this last year,
1775, he lost the wife of his youth, who had shared the changing
fortunes of his early life. Soon after, he sold the farm in
Hanover called "Scotch Town," on which he had resided,
and purchased about ten thousand acres of land in Henry
County. This county was formed in 1776 from Pittsylvania
County, and named in his honor, as was subsequently the
neighboring county of Patrick, carved from Henry County
in 1791. His estate in Henry County was known as
"Leatherwood."

In April, 1775, Lord Dunmore, Governor of the Colony of
Virginia, removed secretly all the powder from the magazine at
Williamsburg, to a sloop of war lying in the York River. This
step naturally aroused the deepest feelings of resentment
among the people, and Patrick Henry, stepping to the front,
placed himself at the head of the company of Captain Samuel
Meredith (who resigned in his favor), of Hanover
County, and marched upon Williamsburg. The effect of
this movement was like magic. Companies started up on all
sides, and it is said that five thousand men, at least, were in
arms and crossing the country to crowd around Henry's standard
and support it with their lives. The march was conducted
with the greatest regard for private rights, and in perfect
order. But, this advance meant an appeal to Heaven, that
last resort when there can be no judge on earth. This crisis Patrick
Henry saw, although the patriots in Williamsburg were
not prepared to grasp the situation. Messenger after messenger
was sent to meet Captain Henry and beg him to desist and
discharge his men. In vain; he had resolved to effect his purpose
or perish in the attempt. Dunmore, alarmed at his warlike
advance, sent out to meet him, and paid a satisfactory
equivalent of ¢330 for the powder. Lord Dunmore, in consequence
of these proceedings, issued a proclamation denouncing

"a certain Patrick Henry, of the County of Hanover, and a
number of deluded followers"; but, his threats were useless,
and this brave man by this brave act became enthroned more
permanently in the hearts of his people.

In June, 1775, Mr. Henry was appointed Colonel of
the First Virginia Regiment, and Commander-in-Chief of
all the forces of the Colony. He at once went into camp at
Williamsburg and ardently began recruiting and disciplining
the troops. Lord Dunmore (having fled from Williamsburg)
was at this time ravaging the shores of the
Chesapeake and threatening Norfolk, and the Committee of
Safety was compelled to take prompt action. Colonel William
Woodford, of the Second Virginia Regiment, was detached
at the head of a greater portion of the forces against the
enemy, and with his few, raw, Virginia recruits drove back
the best trained English soldiers and gained a brilliant
victory at the battle of Great Bridge. The action of the
Committee of Safety in selecting Woodford (who had distinguished
himself in the French and Indian war) to command
this expedition was in consequence of his military experience.
But this promotion of Woodford over Colonel Henry, and
later, the advancement in the continental line to the rank of
Brigadier-General of two Colonels, to whose appointments
his own was prior, so wounded Henry's spirit that he resigned
his commission. Public feeling rose high in sympathy with
him, and his resignation nearly produced a mutiny in the
Army. But though adverse influences were at work against
Henry's career as a soldier, the Committee of Safety and
Congress had "builded better" than they knew. Guided
by The Hand into whose keeping they had committed their
destinies, they were setting aside from the perils of war, one,
who in the conduct of the Revolution, they could not spare
from their councils. That clarion voice must not be hushed
in the wild din of battle; that leader of men's thoughts must
not be given to the mercy of the sword!

The following is the notice of Colonel Henry's resignation,
in Purdie's paper, of March 1, 1776:

Immediately after resigning his commission as Colonel,
and withdrawing from the immediate concerns of war, Patrick
Henry was elected delegate from Hanover County to
the Convention which was to meet May 6, 1776, at
Williamsburg. On the 12th of June, in this Convention, was
adopted the "Bill of Rights," and on the 29th of the same
month, "The Constitution, or Form of Government," was
unanimously adopted by Virginia. These two celebrated
papers were prepared by George Mason, of Virginia, and
stand a permanent monument to his patriotism and ability.

The salary of the Governor to be appointed under the
new Constitution, was immediately fixed by a resolution of
the Convention, at one thousand pounds per annum, and the
House proceeded to elect forthwith the first Republican
Governor for the Commonwealth of Virginia. The question
was decided on the first ballot, and Patrick Henry was the
choice of these representatives of the people. In his reply
"To the Honourable, the President and House of Convention,"
in concluding his letter of acceptance, he says:

On the day that Virginia adopted her Constitution, she
raised her chosen son to the highest office within her gift.
And so, Patrick Henry, turned by an unseen Hand from the
path to military fame, must wear the civic wreath with which
his people crowned him. The brilliant orator, the daring
soldier, had now the statesman's honors to bear before the
world, and as a minister of the public weal, must prove
worthy of the high confidence of his compatriots.

The following extract from the Williamsburg Gazette
affords a realistic picture of colonial life at this perilous
time. On the 15th of May, 1776, the Convention of Virginia
passed Resolutions instructing their delegates in Congress to
propose to that body "to declare the United Colonies free
and independent states."

Extract from Williamsburg Gazette, of May 17th, 1776:

"The Union Flag of the American States" here spoken
of, was probably one of the "Union flags" so frequently
mentioned in the newspapers of those days, viz.: An ordinary
English red ensign, bearing the Union jack, and carrying
some patriotic motto, such as "Liberty," "Liberty and
Property," "Liberty and Union," etc., etc.

In investigating the character of the earliest banners
borne by the revolutionary colonists in the South, we find
that the one adopted in South Carolina, September, 1775,
was a large blue flag, made with a white crescent in the
dexter corner. William Moultrie, Colonel of the Second
South Carolina Regiment, selected this design, as the
First and Second South Carolina Regiments wore in front
of their caps a silver crescent. The flag bore also the
word "Liberty" across its centre. The first armed vessels
commissioned by Washington sailed under a white
flag with a green pine-tree. A yellow ensign bearing
the device of a rattlesnake in the attitude of striking, with
the motto, "Don't tread on me," had also been previously
used. This emblem was suggested, probably, by the
cuts displayed at the head of many newspapers of the time,
which represented a snake divided into thirteen parts, each
bearing the abbreviation of a Colony with the motto beneath,
"Join or Die," typifying the necessity of union. On the
1st January, 1776, the tri-colored American banner, not yet
spangled with stars, but showing thirteen alternate stripes of
red and white, with the united red and white crosses of St.
George and St. Andrew on a blue ground in the corner, was
unfurled over the new Continental Army around Boston. It
was given to the breeze at a critical moment, for this untried
army consisted of but 9650 men.

The first recorded legislative action for the adoption of a
national flag, was on June 14, 1777, when Congress resolved
"that the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen
stripes, alternate red and white; that the Union be thirteen
stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation."
It is not known by whom the stars were originally suggested.

After the Constitution of Virginia had been adopted, her

statesmen next proceeded to select a device and motto for her
seal. It seems like turning our eyes back to the first crimson
streak upon the horizon of America, as we recall that earliest
seal used upon Virginia soil when King James I. ordered
April 10, 1606, that his portraiture should be engraven on
the one side with the inscription, "Sigilvm Regis Magnæ
Britaniæ, Franciæ et Hiberniæ," and on the other side, his
Arms, with the inscription, "Pro Concilio Primæ Coloniæ
Virginiæ."

To Queen Elizabeth's titles had been added that of
"Queen of Virginia," and James I., who was already the
titular sovereign of four realms, now accepted as the motto
for the London Company's coat-of-arms, "Lo! Virginia
gives a fifth crown." Although the accession of James VI.
of Scotland, in 1603, to the throne of England as James I.
really joined the two nations in one, still the countries were
not legislatively united until 1707. After this union the
motto of the Virginia arms consisted of the English shield,
with the inscription, "En Dat Virginia Quartam."

During the reign of Queen Anne, 1710, the broad seal of
the Colony of Virginia represented a crowned female figure
extending the symbol of the cross to an Indian, who, kneeling,
offers her the first fruits of the land. The inscription on this
seal was "Sigillvm Provinciæ Virginia in America," "En
Dat Virginia Quartam."

And now, last and best, we have the seal as proposed in
the Convention of 1776, by Mr. George Wythe, and chosen
by that body. On the obverse side is a female figure resting
on a spear with one hand and holding a sword in the other,
representing Virtue; her foot is pressed upon the neck of
Tyranny, indicated by a prostrate man, with a crown falling
from his head, a broken chain in his left hand and a scourge
in his right. Over the head of Virtue is engraved, "Virginia,"
and beneath her feet is inscribed, "Sic Semper
Tyrannis." In 1779, when Thomas Jefferson was Governor,
the General Assembly ordered "Perseverando" to be engraved
on the reverse side of the great seal of Virginia.
Better than the portraiture of Kings, or the emblazoned

shields of heraldry, is this sacred emblem of our liberty.
Through it we read the souls of those who stamped their
image on it, and learn that human happiness has no security
but in freedom; and that freedom has no foundation but in
virtue.

To return now to the consideration of Patrick Henry's
life, we find that as soon as he was elected Governor preparations
were made to provide a suitable residence for him at
the Capital. The Governor's palace, together with the outbuildings
belonging to it, in Williamsburg, having by a
previous Resolution of the Convention, been appropriated as
a public hospital, was, by a Resolution of the first of July,
restored to its original purpose, and the committee who
had been appointed to notify the Governor of his election,
was now directed to inform him of the desire of the Convention
that he would make the palace his future home. On
the fifth of July, the sum of one thousand pounds was directed
by the House to be laid out in furniture for the palace,
including the furniture already there belonging to the country;
and, on the same day, the Governor and members of the
Privy Council took their respective oaths of office, and entered
at once upon the discharge of their constitutional duties.

The autumn of 1776, the year in which Patrick Henry
was made Governor of Virginia, was one of the desperate
periods of the Revolutions, "Men's hearts failing them for
fear," and darkness seemed to have settled over the patriotic
struggle. The disaster at Long Island had occurred, by
which a considerable portion of the American Army had
been cut off—a garrison of between three and four thousand
men had been taken at Fort Washington—and the American
General, with the small remainder, disheartened and in want
of every necessary, was retreating through the Jerseys before
an overwhelming power.

It was of this time that Thomas Paine wrote in "The
American Crisis, No. 1,"

But, in the midst of the storm which raged around him,
George Washington stood unmoved. Relying upon the

justness of his cause, which had been submitted to the
arbitrament of the sword, he was resolved to do—or die.

In these moments of supreme trial, the Legislature of
Virginia swerved for a brief season from its fealty to Republican
principles. According to Thomas Jefferson:

That Mr. Henry was thought of for this office at both of
these critical junctures, there seems to be little doubt, but
those who have studied his noble character are well assured
that no temptation to personal elevation would ever have
led him to deny that watchword, "Liberty or Death," which
he had given to his people.

In the year 1777, Patrick Henry married for his second
wife, Dorothea Dandridge, granddaughter of Governor Alexander
Spotswood, and daughter of Nathaniel West Dandridge,
a descendant of Captain John West, the brother of
Lord Delaware, once colonial Governor, also, of Virginia.
Patrick Henry was re-elected to the office of Governor until
the May session of 1779, when no longer eligible, according to
the Constitution, he retired, not, however, without an effort
on the part of his friends to retain him in his responsible
position upon some legal technicality touching his appointment
for the first term. But, he set the matter at rest by a
letter to the Speaker, and retired at the expiration of his third
term to his estate, "Leatherwood," in Henry County. In
1780 he was again in the State Assembly, serving actively in
that body until 1784. On the 17th November, 1784, Mr.
Henry was again elected Governor of Virginia, his term of
three years to commence on the 30th of that month. On the
29th of November, 1786, he resigned his position as Governor
while yet a year remained of his constitutional term.
Although simple and unostentatious in his style of living, he
found himself involved in debt at this moment, and private

honor rose superior to public duty. He determined to seek
in the active practice of the law means adequate to dispel
his financial obligations, and during the next six years he
attended regularly the district courts of Prince Edward and
New London. His success was abundant, and relieved him
from the financial pressure so galling to his lofty soul. On
the 4th of December, 1786, Mr. Henry was appointed by the
Legislature one of seven deputies from the Commonwealth,
to meet a Convention proposed to be held in Philadelphia on
the following May, for the purpose of revising the Federal
Constitution. His name follows Washington's on the list,
viz.: George Washington, Patrick Henry, Edmund Randolph,
John Blair, James Madison, George Mason, and
George Wythe. The same cause, however, which compelled
Mr. Henry's retirement from the executive chair of his state,
disabled him now from obeying this almost imperative call of
his country, and well may be imagined the conflict in that
honorable breast between private and public duty. The
Federal Constitution, the result of the Philadelphia Convention,
was not viewed with favor by Mr. Henry, although it
had the sanction of the revered name of Washington. He
feared that it threatened the liberties of his country and
endangered the rights of the sovereign states. A Convention
was called to decide the fate of this instrument in Virginia,
and Mr. Henry was chosen a member for the County of Prince
Edward. It met in Richmond, on the 2d June, 1788, and
rarely has so much talent ever been exhibited in a deliberative
body in this country. Says William Wirt:

In this meeting of intellectual giants the course of discussion

ran high, and for almost the only time in public life,
Patrick Henry failed to carry his point. After the Constitution
of the United States had been formally adopted, the
government organized, and Washington elected President,
Mr. Henry gradually became reconciled to the situation.
His opposition in the Convention had not been wholly in
vain, for he secured a variety of amendments, afterwards
incorporated into the Constitution. In 1794 he retired
from the bar, with an ample estate, and removed to
his seat, "Red Hill," in Charlotte County. In 1794 he
was elected United States Senator, and in 1796 Governor
of Virginia, but declined both offices, as he did in 1795,
the appointment by Washington as Secretary of State, and
subsequently that of Minister to France, by President Adams.
After Mr. Henry had declined the position of Secretary of
State, in 1795, it appears that General Washington desired
his acceptance of the Chief-Justiceship of the Supreme Court
of the United States. But having bid a final adieu to his
profession, in 1794, he retired to the bosom of his family
and never again made his appearance in a public character.
It is true that in March, 1799, yielding to the request of
Washington and other distinguished persons, and desirous of
doing his part to avert what he feared would be the disastrous
results of the "Resolutions of '98," passed by Virginia, he
offered himself for the State Senate in his district. It was
only necessary for him to indicate his wish to fill any public
position and he was only too gladly elected. His speech at
Charlotte Court House in this connection was his last, and is
said to have been worthy of his fame. After he had spoken the
polls were opened and he was chosen by his accustomed commanding
majority. "As he finished he literally descended
into the arms of the uncontrollable throng and was borne about
in triumph." Perhaps, with a prescience sometimes given
to humanity, they felt that his sun had set in all its glory.
Too true was this prophetic instinct, for in three brief months
thereafter, their idol's voice was hushed forever. He died on
the 6th of June, 1799, and his ashes were tearfully laid to
rest at "Red Hill," his seat in Charlotte County.

William Wirt thus beautifully describes Mr. Henry when
he bade a final adieu to his profession and sought a season
of repose, so well earned in a long period of devotion to
public needs and private duties:

Although Patrick Henry began life in the school of poverty,
in his later years he enjoyed an independence which
resulted partly from a remunerative profession, and partly
from judicious purchases of lands. In his habits of life he
was remarkably simple, always frugal and abstemious, and
his example as the head of a family, as well as the Chief
Executive of his native state, is without reproach. His
conversation was remarkably pure and chaste, and he was
never heard to take the name of his Maker in vain. Well
may be repeated with undiminished fervor the conclusion of
General Henry Lee's touching obituary:

LXXI.

LXXI. THOMAS JEFFERSON.

LXXI. Governor.

LXXI. June 1, 1779, to June, 1781.

Upon the retirement of Patrick Henry from the executive
chair, Thomas Jefferson was chosen by the General Assembly
Governor of Virginia, on June 1, 1779. He was the
son of Peter and Jane Randolph Jefferson, and was born at
"Shadwell," Albemarle County, Virginia, on April 2, 1742.
His father, a practical surveyor, had been chosen with Joshua
Fry, (Professor of mathematics at William and Mary College),
to continue the boundary line between Virginia and North Carolina, a work already begun by Colonel Byrd. Colonel
Jefferson and Mr. Fry were also employed together in making
a map of Virginia. This association perhaps had a controlling
influence on Thomas Jefferson's life, as it inspired
his father to bestow upon him the inestimable benefit of a liberal
education. He was sent to William and Mary College,
at Williamsburg, Virginia, in the spring of 1760, and remained
there two years. In alluding to this period, in his
autobiography, he says:

In 1769, at the age of twenty-six, Thomas Jefferson was
chosen to represent his county in the House of Burgesses,
where he at once took a stand with the opponents of parliamentary
encroachment. At this, his first session, he introduced
a bill empowering the owners of slaves to manumit
them if they thought proper; but it was defeated, and its
policy not fully embraced until 1782. It is calculated that
upwards of 10,000 slaves obtained freedom in Virginia
between 1782 and 1791, after the passage of a law, in 1782,
authorizing the manumission of slaves.[491] After serving his
term in the House of Burgesses, Jefferson returned to his
practice, and in the following year removed from "Shadwell,"
his early home, to a residence destined to be the
famous "Monticello"—the Mecca of many a pilgrim since.
On January 1, 1772, he married Martha Skelton, widow of
Bathurst Skelton and daughter of John Wayles, an influential
lawyer of Charles City. This lady was young and beautiful,
and with a handsome patrimony added largely to Mr.
Jefferson's happiness and fortune. In the spring of 1773, he
was appointed by the House of Burgesses a member of the
"Committee of Correspondence and Inquiry, for the dissemination
of intelligence between the Colonies," the plan of which
he had himself aided in devising. In 1774 he published his
defense of the Colonists in a paper entitled, "Summary View
of the Rights of British America." This document, as Jefferson
believed, procured the enrollment of his name on a Bill
of Treason introduced into Parliament. But, it had a marked
influence on the career of its author; it brought him before

the public in England and America as a bold advocate of constitutional
freedom, and as a brilliant and thoughtful writer.

On June 1, 1775, Lord Dunmore, the then "Dissolving
View" of royal authority in the Colony of Virginia, presented
to the House of Burgesses certain resolutions of the
British Parliament, to which Jefferson, as chairman of the
committee appointed for that purpose, replied in a very able
manner. This forcible response to Lord North's "conciliatory
proposition," Jefferson laid before Congress in Philadelphia,
a few days later. There it met with the warmest
approval and placed Jefferson at once among the leaders in
that important assemblage. When Congress proceeded to
act upon Lord North's proposition, Jefferson as author of the
answer of Virginia, was requested by the committee of which
he was a member, to prepare the reply. This he did in Resolutions
which were immediately adopted.

On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee offered in Congress
the memorable resolution from which the Declaration of
Independence was formulated. Being called suddenly home
by the illness of his wife, he left to others the work which he
had begun, returning however to his post, in time to append
his name to the historic document.

On the 9th of June, 1776, Jefferson was appointed chairman
of that committee to which was delegated the stupendous
responsibility of drawing up a paper explaining the causes of
the taking up of arms, and proposing a declaration of the
independence of the Colonies. Jefferson was "unanimously
pressed to undertake the draft" by his associates in the committee.
He yielded to their wish, and gave in that great
Instrument his name to freedom and to fame, bestowing
upon his country a state paper which rivals in renown that
"Keystone of English liberty," the Magna Charta of Runnymede.
The "Declaration of Independence" was so complete
in every detail, that only two or three verbal alterations
were made in it. It cannot be claimed, however, that this wonderful
Chart of Liberty was the result of the inspiration of the
hour. It was the product of days of questioning and nights
of study; it was the calm and sober declaration that God,

who had bestowed the blessing of human life, had also given
with that life certain inalienable rights which this people dared
maintain; it was the final protest of the chainless mind against
oppression; the high resolve of many men nobly portrayed
by one.

Having served actively and efficiently in Congress during
the session of 1776, Thomas Jefferson returned to his home
in Virginia. He was re-chosen a delegate to Congress, but
declined the appointment, devoting himself during the remaining
years of the Revolutionary War to the service of
his native state. He took his seat in the General Assembly
of Virginia, October, 1776, and commenced at once that vigorous
attempt at fundamental reform in the organic laws of
his state which he felt that the new era demanded. He
began by obtaining leave to bring in bills for cutting off
entails, and for a general revision of the laws of the Commonwealth.
This was a great work of reconstruction,
which had its advocates and opponents, but the reorganization
was in time complete. Jefferson in his autobiography
says:

Jefferson continued to sit in the General Assembly
during 1777 and 1778, and battled successfully for these
radical changes, the importance of which had so long
engaged his attention. On June 1, 1779, he was elected
Governor of Virginia, and ably and honorably discharged
that office.

At this time Virginia was laid under very heavy contributions
for the support of the campaign in Georgia and the

Carolinas. She had nearly 10,000 troops in the Continental
Army, and a steady drain had been made upon her resources
for men, arms, horses, and provisions, so that she was nearly
exhausted and utterly unprepared to resist the enemy upon
her own soil. Her long extent of sea-coast, and noble rivers
leading thereto, made her an easy prey to hostile fleets; therefore,
when the hour for her invasion came, General Leslie
readily took possession of Hampton Roads and Portsmouth,
and Arnold, with less than 2,000 men, quietly ascended
James River. Arnold entered Richmond, which had recently
become the capital of the state, on January 5, 1781. The
city was evacuated, the public functionaries retiring before
the foe to avoid certain capture—but Jefferson remained
until the enemy had actually possessed the lower part of
the city, and until the last moment busied himself in
attempts to protect the public stores. Arnold ravaged the
place, burned some buildings, then took to his boats and
departed.

Although the name of Benedict Arnold is almost a synonym
for "traitor," we would pause for a moment here and
recall the many noble deeds of valor, which he at an earlier
day performed for his bleeding country. He was born in
Connecticut and died in London, and the story of his chequered
life is the sad recital of that ever vain endeavor to
avenge personal wrongs at the expense of personal honor.
A distinguished officer in the patriot cause of the Revolution,
wearing the honors of a Major-General, he allowed
fancied slights on the part of Congress to turn the current of
his fealty, and in an evil hour of wild temptation he became
that fallen thing men call—a traitor. After betraying
his country, he received a commission as Major-General
in the British Army, and after the surrender of Cornwallis,
he went to England and was paid in gold the reckoning
of his infamy. But the English Crown itself could
not outweigh his sin, or hide the mark of Cain now
stamped upon his brow! Arnold was shunned by men of
honor everywhere, and died far from his native land, in want,
neglect, and fell despair. 'Tis told, that in his dying hour he

clasped an old blue coat; the remnant of a tattered flag with
here and there a silver star; and pressed to his failing heart a
parchment which bore his commission as Colonel in the Continental
Army! That coat he had worn as he planted the
American banner on Ticonderoga—it had been torn by a
bullet in the fight at Quebec—and that commission, as it lay
in his nerveless hands, seemed like a benediction to his passing
soul. Might it be, perchance, a passport to the silent
pity of his countrymen!

After the abandonment of Richmond the legislators
assembled in Charlottesville, where Cornwallis determined to
attempt their capture. Tarleton was selected for this raid,
but only succeeded in dispersing the Legislature and in
driving Jefferson from his home at Monticello, from which
place he escaped on horseback just in time to avoid capture.
Jefferson's term of office had expired two days before Tarleton
entered Charlottesville, and he had determined to decline a
re-election. In his autobiography he says that he came to
this conclusion "from a belief that under the pressure of the
invasion under which we were then laboring, the public
would have more confidence in a military chief." Of course
this step gave rise to criticism, but it was silenced by a Resolution
passed "In the House of Delegates, Wednesday, 12th
December, 1781, and agreed to by the Senate, December 15,
1781," viz.:

It was during Mr. Jefferson's administration as Governor,
that Virginia, in the interests of harmony among the sister
states of the untried Republic, made an imperial gift to her
country. She had already bestowed her patriotism, intellect,
blood, and treasure, and now she laid her princely domain
of lands on the northwest side of the Ohio River at the foot
of the Union.

According to our highest authority, William Waller
Hening, Thomas Jefferson was Governor of Virginia "until
June, 1781, when he resigned, and on the twelfth day of
June, 1781, Thomas Nelson, Junior, Esquire, was elected."
In the interim, the executive functions of the government
fell upon William Fleming, of Botetourt, and the General
Assembly passed the following Resolution, indemnifying him
for the administration of the same:

William Fleming was a Scotchman by birth, but emigrated
early in life to Virginia, and was among the first
settlers in that portion of Augusta County which was formed
into Botetourt. In 1774 he raised a Regiment, which he
gallantly commanded in the battle of Point Pleasant, where
he was severely wounded. He had also served in the French
and Indian War in 1755 and 1756. He was a member of
the Council of Virginia in 1781, and represented the County
of Botetourt in the Virginia Convention of 1788, which ratified

the Federal Constitution. He was said to have been of
noble extraction, had received a liberal education, and was
of a bold and adventurous spirit.

In the close of the year 1782, Mr. Jefferson was appointed
Minister Plenipotentiary to join the representatives already
in Europe, to negotiate the terms of a treaty of peace,
but the treaty was concluded in Paris in 1783, before
he was ready to sail. As chairman of the committee
to which this matter had been referred in the Congress
of 1783, he had the pleasure of reporting a definitive
treaty of peace with England. On March 30, 1784, he was
chosen to preside in Congress, and was chiefly instrumental
in revising and perfecting the Treasury Department of the
government. On May 7, 1784, Thomas Jefferson was appointed
to join John Adams and Benjamin Franklin in Paris,
and to negotiate treaties of commerce for the United States
with foreign nations. On March 10, 1785, he was chosen by
Congress to succeed Franklin as Minister to France, and being
re-appointed in October, 1787, he remained there until October,
1789, during which time he conducted many important
negotiations for his country. Immediately upon his return
to America, Mr. Jefferson was appointed by President Washington,
Secretary of State, and filled the office with marked
ability through the four years of Washington's first administration.
The Cabinet meetings were often very stormy, and
this period is marked by the origin of an active struggle
between the two great political parties into which the Americans
had divided themselves. Alexander Hamilton was the
leader of the Federalists, and Thomas Jefferson stood at the
head of the Republicans. But, wishing at this time to retire
for a season from public life, Jefferson resigned his office as
Secretary of State, on December 31, 1793, and spent some
three years in quiet at Monticello, devoting himself to personal
affairs, which, through attention to public matters, he
had somewhat neglected.

The close of the eighteenth century should not be recorded
without allusion to one of the most afflictive events which had

yet befallen America. On the 14th of December, 1799,
GEORGE WASHINGTON died at Mount Vernon, Virginia,
aged 68 years, in favor with God and man. Said Mr.
Adams in a letter to the Senate:

In September, 1796, Washington had announced that he
would not again be a candidate for the presidency, and thereupon
the political parties of the country settled upon John
Adams, of Massachusetts, as the candidate of the Federalists,
and Thomas Jefferson, of Virginia, as the standard bearer of
the Republicans. Mr. Adams was elected President, and
Mr. Jefferson, as was then the law, became the Vice-President
of the United States.

On March 4, 1797, Jefferson took the oath of office as presiding
officer in the Senate, and delivered before that body a
short address, in which he expressed in a masterly way his
attachment to the laws and his desire to fulfill his duty.
This he did amply, and when the time rolled around for
another presidential election, he was again the candidate of
his party for that high office. Aaron Burr was the Democratic
nominee for Vice-President. The Federalists supported
Adams and Pinckney. When the votes were opened,
it was found that Jefferson and Burr were elected by an equal
number of voices. This threw the election upon the House
of Representatives, where, after thirty-five ineffectual ballots,
a member from Maryland, authorized by Mr. Burr, withdrew
that gentleman's name, and on the thirty-sixth ballot Mr.
Jefferson was elected President, and Colonel Burr became
Vice-President.

Jefferson delivered his inaugural address in Washington
(to which City the Capital had been removed some months
before), on March 4, 1801, in the presence of both Houses of
Congress.

A new social as well as political era had burst upon
the country. Jefferson, the philosopher of democracy, who

had proclaimed and extolled its principles, was now, as
the political head of the country, about to apply them. A
change in dress and manners appeared; the old régime had
suddenly passed away, and the stately dignity and ceremony
of Washington's administration were supplanted by a republican
simplicity. Jefferson himself headed the movement, and
sent his message to Congress by a common messenger; before
his day, the President had in person made the communication,
to which the Speaker, in behalf of Congress, had at once replied
in a formal address.

This term of Mr. Jefferson was distinguished by the
purchase from France of the entire territory of Louisiana, in
1803, for the sum of $15,000,000.

In 1803, Commodore Preble vindicated American rights in
the Mediterranean against the Emperor of Morocco. With an
American fleet he bombarded the town and forts of Tripoli.
The United States, it has been remarked, set the first example
to the world, of obliging the Barbary powers to respect its
flag by the force of arms, instead of a disgraceful tribute. In
1803, the frigate Philadelphia, belonging to Preble's squadron
and commanded by Captain Bainbridge, struck on a
rock in the harbor of Tripoli, and was taken by the
Tripolitans; her officers and crew, amounting to 300 men,
were made prisoners. In 1804, Stephen Decatur, a lieutenant
in the American navy, with Preble's approval sailed from
Syracuse in a small schooner, with seventy men, accompanied
by the brig Syren, with the design of retaking or destroying
the captured frigate Philadelphia, at Tripoli. He succeeded
in setting fire to her, February 16, 1804, amidst a tremendous
assault from two corsairs and the batteries on shore.
Having accomplished his mission, he retired with his brave
and daring companions. Tripoli was afterwards bombarded,
in August, by the Americans, compelled to sue for peace, and
the treaty for same was concluded June 3, 1805.

The acquisition of Louisiana, the naval victories, and
general prosperity of the country added no little to the
popularity of the new order of things, and Jefferson was
reëlected President, with George Clinton, of New York, as

Vice-President, for the term commencing March 4, 1805. The
Democratic majority was 148, out of 176 electoral votes.

In 1806 the President was called upon to arrest Aaron
Burr for suspected treasonable operations in the Southwest.
He was accused of prosecuting a scheme for the separation
of the Western States from the Union, was brought
to trial in Richmond, Virginia, but no overt act of treason
could be proved, and the jury rendered the verdict,
"Aaron Burr is not proved to be guilty under the indictment
by any evidence submitted to us." This trial,
on account of the high position of the accused, became a
matter of national concern. The people trembled to see a
man who had been a distinguished soldier and statesman, and
candidate for the Presidency (which high office he came
within one vote of obtaining, and then voluntarily withdrew
from the contest); a man who had been Vice-President of the
United States for four years, and whose name had become
identified with the honor of the nation—the people trembled
to see this man arrested for high treason, and the country
felt relieved when the great trial was at an end.

About this time, trouble with Great Britain again threatened
the tranquility of the United States. England was
engaged in war with France, and was contending with a
nation stimulated by the ambition of the Emperor Napoleon.
She needed men for her navy, and she allowed her naval officers
to impress British seamen from merchant vessels, and
force them to serve on men-of-war. She also claimed the
right to impress her own subjects when found on ships of
other nations. This led to the conflict between the American
frigate Chesapeake, sailing from Hampton Roads, and
the British ship Leopard, one of a squadron then at anchor
within the limits of the United States, in which the Chesapeake,
unprepared for armed resistance to the arbitrary
demand of the commander of the Leopard, was compelled to
surrender. She remained under fire twenty or thirty minutes,
suffered much damage, lost three men killed and eighteen
wounded, when Commodore Barron ordered his colors to
be struck and handed over his ship to the enemy. The commander

of the Leopard sent an officer on board, who took
possession of the Chesapeake, mustered her crew, and carrying
off four of her men, abandoned the ship, which Commodore
Barron took back to Hampton Roads. On receiving
information of this outrage, Jefferson, by proclamation, interdicted
the harbors and waters of the United States to all
armed British vessels, forbade intercourse with them, and
made such other preparations as the occasion appeared to
require. An armed vessel of the United States was dispatched
with instructions to the American minister at London
to call on the British government for the satisfaction and
security which the outrage demanded.

Whilst now the war between England and France was agitating
the Old World, America sought to preserve a proper
neutrality. But England, all-powerful on the seas, tried to
interrupt our trade with France or her dependencies, and Napoleon
issued orders to prevent our trade with England. In
this trying situation, Jefferson thought that the United States
might get the offensive decrees repealed, by stopping all its
trade with the outside world. In pursuance of these views an
Act was passed in December, 1807, forbidding the departure of
vessels from American ports; it was known as "Jefferson's
Embargo." This law gave great offence to the Federalists, but
it was only intended as a temporary resort, and was repealed in
February, 1809, by Congress, who substituted for it an Act
of non-intercourse with France and England.

At this interesting point in the history of his country,
Jefferson retired from public life and terminated his political
career. But a long period of varied and extended usefulness
was yet in store for this distinguished son of Virginia.
Though personally removed from the turmoil of public life,
his interest in the affairs of his country was undiminished.
From his home at Monticello, he still, through others, largely
controlled the direction of events at the Capital, and the
sovereignty of his intellect was still as decisive as when he
himself held office. In matters of internal concern he now
busied himself, and directed his talents and influence to the
promotion of University education in his native state. He

was largely instrumental in establishing the "University of
Virginia," near Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1817, and in
1819 superintended the erection of the buildings himself.
His connection with this institution of learning was a source
of pleasure and of pride to him, and when he drew up
the epitaph to be inscribed upon his tomb, he added to the
words, "Author of the Declaration of Independence, and of
the Statute of Virginia for religious freedom," these others:
"and father of the University of Virginia." What a canopy
to cover a single grave!

It should be here noted that Jefferson's first desire in
connection with University education in Virginia, was to
transform William and Mary College, his alma mater, into a
state university. For this he struggled long and well, but
insurmountable objections to this plan turned his views to
the establishment of a separate institution. It is deeply interesting
to observe how keenly alive were both Washington
and Jefferson to the importance of higher education at home.
Washington, in a letter to Governor Brooke, of Virginia, says:

These views were substantiated by the generous endowment
of a National University made in Washington's last Will
and Testament. So, with eyes cast upon the future of this
unfolding empire of freedom, both Washington and Jefferson
hoped and planned for University education.

But the story of Jefferson's life is drawing to a close. A
little past noon on July 4, 1826, his spirit passed from earth
and left a great void in his home, and state, and country. At
almost the same hour, John Adams, the venerable and distinguished
son of Massachusetts, breathed his last, and this
double blow was deeply felt through the length and breadth
of the Union.

Among Jefferson's valuable written contributions to his
state may be cited his "Notes on Virginia," his "Manual
of Parliamentary Practice," and his manuscripts, under the
title of "The Writings of Thomas Jefferson; being his Autobiography,
Correspondence, Reports, Messages, Addresses,
and other writings." With his own hand he wrote what
men should read upon his urn—but, as the years roll by, the
scope of his life-work broadens. The forces which he helped to
set in motion have in their onward progress, "unhasting, yet
unresting," borne his name, with those of the patriot fathers,
to a pinnacle of fame—to that high point of greatness won by
a country which was their nursling once, but which, through
their endeavor and the grace of God, stands one of the first
powers of the Christian world.

LXXII.

LXXII. THOMAS NELSON, JR.

LXXII. Governor.

LXXII. June 12, 1781, to November 30, 1781.

It surely demanded the heart of a hero to assume charge
of affairs in Virginia at the critical period when Thomas
Nelson consented to become her Governor. The tide of war
had rolled from North to South, and now was rolling back
again to engulf, if possible, the revolutionary cause upon the
soil of the Old Dominion. The British successes in the
North had been followed by more decided victories in the
South, and the conquest of the whole country seemed to be
but a question of time to the elated English. Virginia, ever
regarded as the centre of the Revolution, was now selected
as the most salient point at which to bring the whole matter
to a conclusion. So, by sea and land, the British began to
concentrate their forces about her devoted territory. In the
midst of all the discouragements which environed the Revolutionists,
one gleam of light shone on the darkness—it
flashed from the treaty of February 6, 1778, with France.
The surrender in 1777 of Burgoyne's whole army to General
Gates at Saratoga, had so advanced the cause of America in
the sympathies of France, that her wavering policy then
became fixed, and on the 6th February, Louis XVI. entered
into treaties of amity and commerce, and of alliance with the
United States, on the footing of the most perfect equality and
reciprocity. This alliance under Providence was certainly
one of the great causes of the final triumph at Yorktown,
and of the permanent establishment of American independence.
And now, in 1781, when hemmed in on every side,
the hope which sustained the patriots came mostly from their

French allies. The British were closing in upon Virginia,
and desperate seemed the cause of liberty. It was in such
an hour as this that Thomas Nelson assumed the rudder of
the ship of state, to guide it through the gathering storm, not
knowing what the end might be.

Thomas Nelson, junior, was born in York County, Virginia,
December 26, 1738, and died in Hanover County,
Virginia, January 4, 1789. But between "the coming" and
"the going" he wrought a noble work, and left his footprints
in the sands of time. He was the son of William Nelson,
for many years President of the Colonial Council of Virginia,
and at one time Acting Governor of the Colony, and
grandson of Thomas Nelson, the first of the name in Virginia.
This last Thomas Nelson, came from Penriff, near the border
of Scotland, and was called "Scotch Tom" on that account.

Thomas Nelson, the subject of this sketch, was early
placed by his father under the care of the Reverend Mr.
Yates, of Gloucester County, Virginia (afterwards President
of William and Mary College), in order to prepare
him for an English university. At the age of fourteen he
was sent to England, and was for some time at a preparatory
school of Dr. Newcome, at Hackney, and afterwards under
the special care and tutorship of Dr. Porteus. He graduated
with distinction from Trinity College, Cambridge, and after
an absence of seven years, he returned to Virginia. Being
just twenty-one years of age, he was elected to the House of
Burgesses on his voyage home, as an evidence of the esteem
in which his father was held, and of the hopes entertained of
the son.

In 1762 Thomas Nelson married Lucy Grymes, of Middlesex
County, Virginia, eldest daughter of Philip and Mary
Randolph Grymes; settled at Yorktown, and, being associated
with his father as a merchant, was in affluent private circumstances.
At his father's death he came into the possession
of a handsome patrimony.

Thomas Nelson early became a decided partisan in the
patriot cause, and rendered efficient services in the House of

Burgesses. He was a member of the revolutionary Conventions
of 1774 and 1775, and was appointed by the Convention
in July, 1775, Colonel of the Second Virginia Regiment, which
post he resigned on being elected to the Continental Congress
in the same year. He was again called to administer in
home affairs, and was a prominent member of the Virginia
Convention of 1776, which met in May to frame a Constitution
for her government. Here he offered the Resolution instructing
the Virginia delegates in Congress to propose a Declaration
of Independence. Having been elected one of these
delegates, he had the satisfaction of seeing the hopes and
wishes of his people embodied in a crystallized form, and with
unfaltering faith in its declarations, set his seal to the historic
instrument, July 4, 1776. In the following year he was compelled,
through indisposition, to resign his seat in Congress.

In August, 1777, on the approach of the British fleet
within the capes of Virginia, Thomas Nelson was appointed
Commander-in-Chief of the state forces, and soon after, in
response to an appeal from Congress, he raised a troop of cavalry
which he led to Philadelphia, the point which had now
become the theatre of war. During this campaign around
Philadelphia, an illustration of the devoted heroism of the colonists
may be seen in the following incident related by General
Henry Lee, in his "Memoirs of the War in the Southern
Department of the United States." In speaking of the battle
of Germantown and the scene at Chew's house, he pays a
handsome tribute to young Captain Matthew Smith, a son of
John Smith and Mary Jaquelin, of "Shooter's Hill," Middlesex
County, Virginia, and a descendant of some of the earliest
and most distinguished settlers of that Colony. General
Lee says:

The danger from Sir William Howe's movements against
the Colonists having been averted, Thomas Nelson's corps
was disbanded, and he resumed his duties as a member of the
General Assembly of Virginia. Here, he strongly opposed
the proposition to sequestrate British property, on the ground
that it would be an unjust retaliation of public wrongs on private
individuals. In February, 1779, Nelson again took his
seat in Congress, but was soon obliged by illness to resign.
In May, 1779, he was suddenly called upon to organize the
militia of his State, to repel an invasion of Virginia by the
enemy, and when early in June, 1780, Virginia resolved to
borrow $2,000,000 to be deposited in the Continental Treasury
by the middle of the month, Thomas Nelson, in that period
of despondency and distrust, did, by his own personal efforts
and on his own personal security, raise a large portion of the
amount. This loan was in obedience to a call from Congress
for contributions to provide for the French fleet and armament.
General Nelson, also, about this time, advanced
money to pay two Virginia Regiments ordered to the South,
whose arrears were not discharged. Thus were his ample
fortune and credit freely and liberally expended for the public
good.

And now, at a period almost of despair, he took the helm
of State, being chosen by the people, Governor of Virginia,
June 12, 1781, and in person, with the militia he could summon,
opposed, with sleepless vigilance and wonderful military
sagacity, the enemy invading his State. It was in no small
degree owing to his exertions that the American Army was

kept together during its stay in Virginia. Participating in
the siege of Yorktown, as Commander of the Virginia militia,
and having charge of the first battery which opened upon the
enemy in the town, he pointed the first gun at his own
dwelling, offering to the gunner a reward of five guineas for
every shot fired into it. This house had been taken by Lord
Cornwallis as his headquarters.

During these days of trial and of peril, Governor Nelson
had been compelled to assume dictatorial powers. Obeying
the higher law of stern necessity, he did not hesitate to step
beyond the written code, assuming here, as everywhere, any
perilous consequence to himself, if thereby he could save his
country. For these assumed powers, he was, however, fully
indemnified by the following Act of Assembly:

It seemed a fitting recompense, that General Nelson
should have the honor of being Governor of Virginia when
Cornwallis surrendered, October 19, 1781; when upon Virginia

soil the British gave up 7,247 regular troops, 840
sailors, and 106 guns; when beneath Virginia skies the
broken sword of the Commander of the English Army sealed
the independence of America. Owing to failing health Governor
Nelson was now compelled to retire from public duty;
not, however, until he had seen the morning break upon the
cause he loved so well. He resigned the office of Governor
in November, 1781, and passed the remnant of his days in
the retirement of a country home.

General Nelson had entered upon the Revolutionary War
a rich man; he came out of it so poor, that after a few years
had passed away, and he was laid in the old graveyard at
York, without a headstone or slab to mark the spot, his property,
save the old house in deserted York, and some broom-straw
fields in Hanover, was put up at public sale to pay
the debts contracted in his country's cause. Even the old
family Bible with the births and baptisms of the family,
with the little table on which it stood, was sold on that
occasion.

When the illustrious Virginia leaders of this period pass in
review before us, we can dwell in admiration upon the lofty
principles, the varied talents, the prudence and the courage
which made "The Father of his Country" great; our souls
can glow and burn when we remember the services of Patrick
Henry, Thomas Jefferson, Peyton Randolph, Edmund Pendleton,
George Wythe, George Mason, and Richard Henry
Lee; but the name of Thomas Nelson challenges a tenderer
recollection. The tear will spring as we behold that grand
old man, the embodiment of Christian and patriotic virtue,
resting from his labors in the evening of life. We see him
crowned, 'tis true, with the love and blessing of his emancipated
country, but we behold him bent beneath the weary
disease of asthma, contracted in the soldier's camp, having
the gaunt figure of poverty as the companion of his fireside,
and the hungry spectre of debt as his constant shadow. He
died at his seat, "Offley," a small wooden house in Hanover
County, Virginia, January 4, 1789. A bronze statue, one of

the six which adorn the Washington Monument at Richmond,
Virginia, commemorates his services.

A century has winged its flight since Thomas Nelson
died, but in the presence of his history the inspiration of
sacrifice is as fresh today as when renewed Virginia first
wept above this buried Curtius of the Revolution.