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Sir William Berkeley was superseded in Virginia by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.
