University of Virginia Library

THE ENGLISH REVOLUTION OF 1642.

The war clouds which had darkened the political horizon of England
for many years now broke forth in a storm of uncontrolled fury. Civil
war drenched the island in blood. The Royalists were defeated; Charles
went to the scaffold; monarchy was overthrown, and Oliver Cromwell
declared Protector of the Commonwealth of England, the destinies of
which he controlled until the year 1658, when he was succeeded by his
son, Richard, who held the reins of government until the restoration of
monarchy in 1660.

Throughout the period of the revolution the Virginians continued
loyal to the royal cause, not because they loved monarchy, but because
they cherished the liberties secured under the constitution which Charles
I. had given them, and after the execution of Charles I. they recognized
his fugitive son as their rightful sovereign—then an exile in Holland.
The loyalty of Virginia to the father did not escape the notice of his
son, and from a foreign shore he transmitted to Berkeley a commission
as governor, signed by his royal highness. Thus the fugitive from
England, the refugee to Holland, was still the sovereign of Virginia.

In the meantime the last opposition to the Parliamentary army in
Britain had been overcome, and Cromwell now turned his attention
to his distant colony, determined to force it to submit to the
new government.

Virginia was now rapidly becoming a nation. Under the influence
of her salutary laws, the products of a virgin soil, wrought by willing
hands, and the advantages which her foreign trade had given her, she
had increased her population from a few hundred to twenty thousand,
and there were trading to her ports ten ships from London, two from
Bristol, twelve from Holland, and seven from New England. Such was
the colony which Cromwell now proposed should submit to the government
of the Commonwealth.

A fleet, together with a considerable land force, sailed for Virginia,
and cast anchor before Jamestown. But the colonists, in anticipation
of the projected conquest, had not been idle. Many veterans from the
shattered royal army had taken refuge in Virginia. The colonial army,
thus augmented, was a power of which the Commonwealth was ignorant.
In addition, several Dutch merchant ships were lying in the river,
trading in violation of the acts of Parliament, and of course were armed,
that they might defend themselves against the fleets of the Commonwealth.
They now allied themselves with the colonial forces. The
commissioners of Cromwell, surprised at such a show of resistance,
hesitated, and offered fair and honorable terms to the colonists. By
them was insured a continuation of their liberties, the preservation of
their constitution intact, and a full and complete pardon for all past
offenses. Thus the colonists could gain by treaty all that they could
hope to gain by the most successful resistance. The articles were signed
by the commissioners on the part of the Commonwealth, and the council
on the part of the State of Virginia, "as equals treating equals."

From this time to the Restoration, Virginia governed herself, and obtained
unlimited liberty of commerce, which was regulated by independent
laws. The famous Navigation Acts of Cromwell were not
designed for her oppression, and were never enforced on her shores. A
trade was opened between Virginia and Denmark, and finally with

"every Christian nation in amity with England." When the colony
recognized the authority of Cromwell, Berkeley, who held his commission
from the exiled king, was too loyal to continue in office, and
Richard Bennett, one of the commissioners, was chosen to succeed him.
A council was also chosen to act in accordance with instructions from
Parliament, and to exercise such powers as the assembly might delegate
to it. Bennett retired from office in March, 1655, and Edward Digges
became his successor. He served two years, when an election was held,
and the choice fell upon "worthy Samuel Mathews, an old planter of
nearly forty years' standing, a most deserving Commonwealth's man,
who kept a good house, lived bravely, and was a true lover of
Virginia."

He, like most Virginians since, was opposed to long sessions of the
legislature, and in the spring of 1659, threatened to dissolve that body
unless it speedily adjourned. The worthy Samuel had forgotten that it
was the legislature that made the governor. His attention was, however,
called to the fact by the reply of the Speaker to the effect that
"the House of Burgesses, the representatives of the people, were not
dissolvable by any power yet extant in Virginia, except their own; and,
that the former election of the governor and council was void." The
old governor thus learned that Virginia, then—as well as now—regarded
her officers as servants and not dictators.