A history of Virginia from its discovery and settlement by Europeans to the present time |
| 2 |
 | I. |
| 9 |  | II. |
| V. |
| 9 | VI. |
| VII. | CHAPTER VII. |
| VIII. |
 | CHAPTER VII. A history of Virginia |  |
CHAPTER VII.
Royal commissioners—Robert Beverley persecuted—Lord Culpeper arrives
—His proceedings—His covetousness—Act of cohabitation—Destruction
of tobacco plants—Severe measures against the rioters—Robert Beverley's
wrongs—Assembly deprived of judicial power—Howard of Effingham—Treaty
with the Five Nations—Death of Charles II.—Accession
and character of James II.—Rebellion of Monmouth—White slaves
—Revolution in England—William, Prince of Orange—Francis Nicholson
governor—College of William and Mary—Sir Edmund Andros in
Virginia—Nicholson again governor—Capture of a pirate—Nicholson's
ambitious schemes—His proceeding in New York—Edward Nott—
Alexander Spotswood governor—He promotes the welfare of the colony
—His expanded views—Expedition across the Alleghany Mountains—
Knights of the Golden Horseshoe—Blackbeard the pirate—Spotswood
superseded—William Gooch governor—Expedition against Carthagena
—Death of Commissary Blair—Of Colonel William Byrd—Governor
Gooch's charge to a grand jury—Capitol destroyed by fire—Departure
of Gooch—Robert Dinwiddie governor.
Herbert Jeffries exerted himself in good faith
and with commendable zeal, in restoring comfort
and peace to the colony. But it was not easy to
close a chasm rent open by a convulsion hitherto
unequalled in violence. Virginia long retained
the marks of injuries commenced by the Parliament
and King of England, and consummated by
her own abortive effort for relief. She had now to
endure an insult from the men who had seemed at
first disposed to sympathize in her sufferings.
The commissioners of Charles were required to
and in exercising their power, they pursued a
course of deliberate tyranny which would never
have been expected. They demanded the journals
of the General Assembly, and were met by a
prompt refusal. They repeated the demand, urging
it now personally upon Robert Beverley, the
clerk, who, with inflexible courage, refused to
yield them, unless ordered so to do by the body
who had committed them to his charge. Incensed
by this opposition, the commissioners resorted to
force, and by their agents wrested the journals
from the custody of their guardian![236] No important
information was gained by this unworthy measure.
Its only effect was to embitter the feelings of the
Assembly, and excite a memorable train of persecution
against their faithful officer.
The Indians properly belonging to Eastern Virginia
had been effectually subdued, and Jeffries
succeeded in making a treaty with the western
tribes, by which they bound themselves to terms
of friendship with the whites. This compact was
concluded at Williamsburg, or the Middle Plantation,
as it was then called, and was ratified with
all due solemnity.[237]
But it did not long restrain
the savages. No oaths or forms that the red men
of America have ever been induced to assume,
a hope for revenge was awakened by a prospect
for its indulgence.
Sir Herbert did not long wear his honours in
the colony. He died in the close of the year 1678,
and was succeeded by Sir Henry Chicheley,
already well known as a member of the Council.[238]
This gentleman has the rare merit of having done
many things for the good of his charge, and of
having left undone many things that would have
been to her injury. (1679, April 25.) During his
government, the Assembly passed an act for erecting
strong forts at the heads of the four rivers, Potomac,
Rappahannoc, James, and Mattapony, and
for placing in them sufficient garrisons to guard
the country from sudden irruptions of the savages.[239]
This measure was salutary, but expensive. It was
continued in use some years; but was finally displaced
by a less cumbrous substitute. Two other
acts, passed by the Assembly of 1679, have been
censured by every historian who, in subsequent
years, has turned his eyes upon them. Yet they
merit something more than hasty condemnation.
Reciting the many evils which had afflicted the
colony from the importation of tobacco by sea, the
Assembly enacts, that no more shall be imported
into Virginia from the other colonies round the
This act has been ridiculed as operating unfavourably
upon Virginia, by diminishing her shipping,
and preventing her from obtaining a monopoly of
the carrying trade from Maryland and North Carolina.[240] But let it be remembered, that under the
Navigation Laws, every particle of tobacco imported
from the other colonies bore a tax on entering port.
If reshipped, it was taxed again, and on landing in
England it must receive a farther burthen. It
would not increase, it would rather diminish the
average price of tobacco, thus to accumulate it in
one state; and Virginia, whose heaviest interest
was bound up in the culture of this weed, would
not have been compensated for the real loss thus
incurred, by seeing an increased number of British
ships and British sailors in her navigable waters.
The law particularly relating to Maryland was a
measure of retaliation, called for by her illiberal
conduct as to Virginia vessels and goods, and it
was to cease when this northern sister amended
her ways.[241] Men are seldom blind to their pecuniary
interests. The very fact that other settlements
found it to their advantage to export tobacco
to the older colony, proves the wisdom of Virginia
in refusing to receive it into her ports.
Early in this year a new governor arrived from
England. Thomas Lord Culpeper had already
been introduced to the people of the colony, by
favourite, the fairest part of their broad lands.
He came now to visit his subjects and overlook in
person his Northern Neck. He had been bred in
the worst school in Europe, and soon proved himself
an accomplished scholar. A polished manner
covered a cold heart; an appearance of liberality
concealed insatiate cravings for money; professions
of respect and affection for the colony, accompanied
a secret disgust and uneasiness at the very thought
of residing upon its soil. His only wish was to
realize as much gain from his office as possible, to
inveigle the simple burgesses into an increase of
his perquisites and his presents, to effect a profitable
compromise of his claims upon the Northern Neck,
and to return to the luxuries of England with the
enjoyments of a sinecure.
He opened his game by publishing an act of indemnity
for the benefit of all who had been engaged
in Bacon's Rebellion,[242]
and by various courtesies
he insinuated himself into the hearts of the
lawmakers for Virginia. The result of his good
management soon became apparent, and the hopeless
settlers had cause long to regret their complacency
to his smooth lordship. The members of
Assembly, feeling through all the nerves of their
bodies the mesmeric touch of the Governor, hastened
to show their gratitude. The salary of his
office had been one thousand pounds per annum;
they immediately raised it to two thousand, and in
the duties and quit-rents accruing to the King
which had theretofore been subject to their own
revisal.[243] Thus they deliberately resigned the only
power of self-defence they had heretofore possessed
against the encroachments of majesty and
its minions.
But this was not all; it had been the custom of
masters of foreign ships on ascending the James
to present to the Governor wines, liquors, and provisions,
to cheer his soul and sustain him in his
arduous labours. To make this praiseworty custom
more useful, Culpeper procured an act imposing
a regular duty proportioned to their tonnage
on all such ships, which was to be applied to the
benefit of himself and his successors in office.[244]
The Assembly, having provided for his table, gave
him one hundred and sixty pounds per annum for
the rent of the gubernatorial mansion. We are
surprised that we do not find appropriations to build
stables for his horses, sheds for his cows, and kennels
for his canine companions.
Having obtained nearly as much by open demand
as he could venture to accept, his lordship
next resorted to an ingenious scheme of secret
knavery. He had received from the King instructions
to quell the late rebellion, and to pay them their
respective dues. In view of this, he began to express
great concern at the depreciated value of silver
coin in the colony, which caused a constant
drain to the other settlements in which the depreciation
did not exist. The Assembly were proposing
to remedy the evil, but Culpeper reminded
them that the right to regulate the value of coin,
was a high prerogative of the crown with which
they had no right to interfere. As the representative
of the King, he then issued a proclamation
raising the current value of the silver coin known
as "pieces of eight" from five to six shillings.
Having previously procured an immense number
of these pieces of eight, he immediately paid off
the unlucky soldiers at the increased value, thus
realizing unto himself the consoling profit of
twelve pence in every amount of five shillings.[245]
But some time afterwards, he found his own
salary and perquisites paid in this same money at
its current rate, and not being at all content with
this evenhanded justice, he incontinently issued
another proclamation and reduced the coin to its
former value! His object had been gained, and
his avarice had little regard for the losses of
others.[246]
Although Virginia now furnished every thing
yet cursed with the luxurious pleasures that had
gained admission into England during the reign
of Charles the Second. (Aug.) Lord Culpeper
hastened back to the mother country, to renew his
old associations, and to live on the profits of his
office. Sir Henry Chicheley again assumed the
government. From this time, we note the permanent
establishment of a custom which had already
prevailed to some extent. The governor-in-chief
preferred to reside in England, and enjoyed a revenue
of twelve hundred pounds; the lieutenant-governor
resided in the colony, performed all the
duties, and received eight hundred pounds for his
salary.[247] At first, the King did not heartily acquiesce
in this arrangement, and preferred that the
governor should dwell on the soil of his province;
but gradually this rule was relaxed, until it became
a dead letter.
After the departure of Culpeper, the act of "Cohabitation,"
passed by the last Assembly, went
into effect. With many in the colony, it had long
been a favourite scheme to have towns on the
rivers, and to imitate, as far as possible, the policy
of the northern settlements. The spirit pervading
Virginia was opposed to this scheme. The people
preferred their free lives in the country, to the conventional
restraints of city manners; and, with
some justice, they regarded towns as the instruments
of oppression; useful for little except to enforce
the hated Navigation Laws. When ships entered
as tide-water extended; anchoring whenever and
wherever they found it expedient, and lading or
unlading their cargoes at one or several plantations,
as events might require. The Assembly attempted
that which never has been and never will
be accomplished. Selecting many points on the
principal rivers, they forthwith gave them the dignity
of "towns;" forbade ships to receive or discharge
freight at any other places; and required all
persons to bring their produce to these favoured
points.[248] But the legislature soon discovered that
it was easier to make laws than to make cities.
Omnipotence may call a world into being by a
command; but man cannot legislate into existence
even the most humble hamlet. The laws of trade
are paramount even to the enactments of an English
Parliament.
When ships came into the rivers, they found it
almost impossible to obey this law; the planters
refused to bring their tobacco to a distance, at
great expense, when they might load it so easily
before their own doors. Some voyages were entirely
lost; some daring men openly defied the
law; others sought to evade it; disorder crept into
the movements of commerce; criminal proceedings
were instituted against many citizens; and
nearly all parties united in anathematizing a system
so pregnant with folly and evil.[249]
Its remote results were worse than was its immediate
operation. The derangement in trade
caused a farther decline in the price of tobacco;
all previous efforts of the Assembly, to procure
what was called "cessation,"[250]
in Maryland and
North Carolina, had falled; the people were driven
to despair by the insufficiency of their only resource
to supply their wants. Stormy passions
began to rise, and the public mind was so much
excited, that nothing but a leader seemed needful
to renew the fires kindled a few years before in
the oppressed colony. (1682, May 1.) In this
crisis, many inhabitants of Gloucester, New Kent,
and Middlesex Counties, assembled, and directed
their rage not against their fellow-men, but against
the devoted weed of their land. They fell upon
the tobacco plants with vigour, and in a short time
cut up the whole growing crop, covering extended
fields in their respective counties.[251]
They directed
their fatal attack chiefly to the sweet-scented tobacco,
because this kind was raised in Virginia
alone, and they hoped thus greatly to enhance its
price.
(1682.) Intimations of a threatened tempest had
been carried across the Atlantic, and the King
commanded Lord Culpeper to repair in person to
the seat of his government. He arrived in November,
Council and Assembly. His temper was soured
by disappointment, and he regarded with disgust
the people, to govern whom he was called from
the luxuries of the English court. He rebuked
both councillors and burgesses for remissness in
duty, and threw out dark threats of chastisement,
if they again incurred his displeasure. The tobacco
rioters were prosecuted with the utmost
rigour; many of them were already in jail, and
were immediately brought forth to be placed upon
trial. It will not be premature at once to state the
result of this remarkable outbreak. Most of the
offenders were too obscure to be detected; but
some were followed with all the vindictive energy
of the law. At the session of 1684, an act was
passed, denouncing the penalty of death against
the offence of plant-cutting, and declaring a combination
for the purpose to be high treason.[252] Lord
Culpeper had, by proclamation, on the 22d May,
1683, pardoned all the rioters, except seven individuals,
whose names are given;[253]
and in 1684, during
the administration of Lord Howard, six of these
unhappy men were executed under previous conviction
and sentence.[254] It is to be feared they suffered
under that most terrible of all engines of
power—an ex post facto law.
A more noble victim than these had felt the
weight of kingly persecution. The name of Robert
Beverley is comparatively unknown in Virginia,
yet does it merit to be preserved among the
records of those who have suffered martyrdom in
the cause of liberty. We have already seen that
he refused to yield the journals of the House of
Burgesses when demanded by the royal commissioners.
His conduct was approved by the Assembly,
who voted that the forcible taking of their records
was "a violation of their privileges; and desired
satisfaction to be given them, that they might
be assured no such violation should be offered for
the future."[255]
When this magnanimous act was
reported to Charles, he was startled by its boldness,
and immediately commanded that it should be
erased from the journals of the house,[256]
and that
Culpeper should have a bill introduced into the
Assembly condemning its previous conduct. Before
the second arrival of his lordship, the proceedings
against Beverley commenced. (May 9.) Under
the pretext that he had fomented opposition to
the "paper towns," had urged on clamours for an
Assembly, and had incited the plant-cutters to
their work, he was seized and sent aboard the
Duke of York, a ship of war then lying at Jamestown,
Three members of Council were ordered to seize
his papers, and if necessary to break open doors in
order to obtain them.[258]
It would be painful rather than instructive to
follow Beverley through the various scenes of deliberate
persecution prepared for him by the government.
He was hurried from ship to ship, perhaps
from fear that he would be forcibly set at liberty if
confined on land. He was sent to the Eastern Shore,
and subjected to rigid custody. He escaped once,
and was immediately afterwards seized and guarded
with increased vigilance. His demand for a lawful
trial, and for information of the charges against him,
was unheard. His prayer for the sacred writ of
habeas corpus was refused, or was granted only
that he might be mocked by the appearance of its
protection. When at length Lord Culpeper returned
to the colony, it was thought necessary to
proceed in form against the prisoner. (Jan. 10.)
In addition to the charges already made, it was
considered best to fortify their case by accusing
him of having broken open letters containing writs
for electing members of the House of Burgesses.[259]
Sir Henry Chicheley asserted that this act was
without his consent, but it is certain that Beverley
had warrant for his conduct, having received the
with permission to examine their contents
if he thought proper.[260] Thus was this resolute
victim kept in close confinement, debarred from
the privileges of life, the joys of family intercourse,
and the test of a fair trial, until Culpeper passed
out of office and a successor assumed his station,
and rivalled his tyranny.
His lordship was not content with individual
wrong; he aimed a blow at the whole colony, and
directed his assault to a point peculiarly sensitive
and unprotected. Heretofore the General Assembly
had been the supreme judicial tribunal of
Virginia, to which appeals lay even from the General
Court, composed of the members of Council.
Culpeper knew that the Assembly would be perfectly
intractable on the subject of his claims upon
the Northern Neck. Whenever a question involving
his right to this territory came before them,
he could expect nothing but signal defeat. With
much mean ingenuity, he fanned the flames of a
contest between the Council and Burgesses as to
their judicial rights, and at length on pretence of
deciding it, he referred the matter to King Charles,
who immediately took away all power as a court
from the Assembly, and made the Council the
final tribunal, except in cases involving more than
one hundred pounds, in which an appeal was allowed
at one fell stroke the House of Burgesses lost all
judicial power, and this tremendous arm of government
was subjected directly or indirectly to
the will of the English sovereign. Lord Culpeper
had no longer any reason to fear opposition in his
encroachments upon the proprietors of the Northern
Neck. His principal difficulty was to get
agents willing to represent him among these high-souled
planters.[262]
Wearied with litigation, they at
length determined to effect a compromise of the conflicting
claims, but his lordship derived little profit
from his success, having, in 1684, surrendered his
grant to the King.[263] After James II. ascended the
throne, he again made a full grant of this territory
to the Culpeper family, of which the sole heiress
married Thomas, Lord Fairfax, from whom was
descended the Earl whose name even to the present
day graces the title deeds of landed proprietors
in this pleasant portion of Virginia.[264]
The Governor remained upon the soil of the
colony as short a time as decency would permit.
He fled again to the delights of England, and so
fascinated did he become, that his master could not
drive him to his task. Charles could be stern
when his caprice required it. He brought Culpeper
to a trial, on the charge of having misapplied
the provincial revenues, and the verdict of a jury
solemnly affirmed the justice of the charge.[265]
He
lost his commission, and for a few years at least,
he was driven from the sunshine of royal favour.
(1684, April 15.) A change of men in the colony
produced no salutary change of measures.
English governors, at this time, were formed in
the same mould, and we mark but little difference
between them, except that some were more successful
in pillage than others. Lord Howard, of
Effingham, appeared in Virginia, and his commission
from the King was read on the 15th of April.
He came with the hope and design of gathering
money, and to this end his prominent measures
were directed. He commenced with an annual
tax of twenty shillings upon school-masters,[266]
probably
to prove his appreciation of learning, and his
desire for its progress in the colony. Had he given
a heavy bounty to this invaluable class of men, instead
not merely to his own, but to subsequent
times. He imposed a tax of five pounds upon
lawyers in the General Court, and fifty shillings on
those practising in inferior courts. Probates of
wills, and letters of administration were soon laden
with pecuniary burthens. Nothing that could
bear an impost escaped the vigilant eye of this exactor.
Even when the unhappy plant-cutters,
who had escaped theretofore, were brought to execution,
he seemed more anxious to gratify his own
avarice than to provide victims for insulted sovereignty.
The greater part of their estates, by an
old order of Council, which was produced for the
occasion, became the property of the Governor.[267]
With such temptations, Effingham would willingly
have seen the most substantial men in the
colony wreaking their revenge upon the growing
crop of tobacco.
Although he was profoundly ignorant of the
higher mysteries in legal science, he fell into an
error too common in such cases. He believed himself
to be one of the most enlightened of jurists.
He erected a Court of Chancery, in which he himself
presided, to pass upon the rights of people
compelled to sue in his court, and astonish them
by his luminous decrees.[268]
It is not improbable,
that he was urged to this measure by a wish to
secure the fees of the office, rather than by the
suggestions of his ridiculous vanity.
Finding that he could no longer delay to grant
to Robert Beverley the trial to which he was entitled,
Howard, if possible, resolved to make this
case a means of gathering to himself a measure of
popular love. Long imprisonment and loss of
hope had acted sensibly upon the spirits of the
victim; and when it was intimated to him, that by
an humble application to the Governor he might
obtain a pardon, he thought himself compelled to
seek it. It is affecting to see, in his letter to Effingham,
the struggle within a soul conscious of
its own rectitude, and yet depressed by the weight
of irresistible power. Acknowledging his lordship's
kindness in offering to his "sorrowful petitioner"
the aid of counsel, he declines to receive it,
and throws himself upon executive mercy.[269]
(May
9.) The court found him guilty of "high misdemeanours,"
and thereupon the Governor outstretched
the hand of clemency and granted him a pardon.[270]
A more revolting triumph of oppression could not
have been shown. This courageous man was not
guilty of one of the offences charged upon him.
He was far removed from the plant-cutters, and in
no form participated in or incited their riot. He
properly refused to deliver the journals of the Assembly
without their order. He opened the letters
containing writs, upon the express permission of
Sir Henry Chicheley. He had been a faithful
friend to the government, and had upheld Sir
Yet, during more than two years, he was followed
by incessant persecution, seized like a common
felon, imprisoned in ships of war, guarded with
unwonted harshness, kept from his family, forbidden
to practise an honourable profession,[272] and
when at length brought to trial, he was convicted
of high offences, asked forgiveness on his knees,
and received a pardon from the Governor! Let
humanity weep over such an example. When
the innocent must be pardoned for sins never committed,
the guilty will go unquestioned, though
stained with a thousand crimes.
But among all of Effingham's delinquencies,
history will do him justice. He was active in procuring
a treaty, from which Virginia certainly
derived advantage during many years. The Indians
properly belonging to her soil had long
since ceased to give her serious trouble. But
other tribes of red men yet remained. The Five
Nations had won for themselves a name which will
endure with the records of America. These renowned
savages were chiefly settled in the magnificent
country now covered by the western part of
New York; but their influence extended itself
from New England to Carolina. The Mohawks,
Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas, formed
action was to conquer neighbouring tribes, and to
unite them with themselves.[273] The accession of
the Tuscaroras,[274] who dwelt on the borders of Virginia
and Carolina, swelled the number of the
tribes to six, and made their attacks more formidable
and their name more renowned. These natives
were among the most intellectual and formidable
that America has ever contained. They
were eminent for physical strength and beauty;—
so eminent, that when Benjamin West first saw
the statue of the Apollo Belvidere, he started back
in amazement at the close resemblance to the
graceful proportions of a young Mohawk warrior.[275]
They were terrible in war. To the subtlety of the
savage, they united much of the skill at combined
effort displayed by the civilized. Their courage
was indomitable; their revenge never slumbered.
"They advanced like foxes, attacked like lions,
and retreated like birds."[276] To their Indian enemies
their very name inspired terror; and the
whites found in them foes never to be despised, or
neglected with safety. These dangerous red men
had already extended their incursions to Virginia,
and Effingham eagerly embraced an opportunity
of concluding with them a treaty of peace, under
In company with two members of his Council,
he joined Colonel Dongan, Governor of New York,
at Albany, and, on the 13th July, they met deputies
from the several tribes of this Indian league.
The "talk" was opened by Effingham, who, by
means of an interpreter, made a speech to the
natives, well chosen in ideas, and quite sufficient
to give us a favourable view of his abilities. He
told them that they had often provoked their white
brethren of Virginia by their aggressions; brought
to mind particular acts of cruelty they had committed;
threatened, in dignified terms, to retaliate
upon them; and finally urged them to adopt the
provisions of the treaty offered. They were to
call out of Maryland and Virginia all their young
men who had been sent thither for war; they
were to observe profound peace with the friendly
Indians; they were to make no incursions upon
the whites in either state; and, when they marched
southward, they were not to approach near to
the heads of the great rivers on which plantations
had been made. On consenting to these terms,
the chain of friendship was to be brightened,
its links were to remain ever inviolate, and two
hatchets were to be buried in token of peace.[277]
To these proposals an orator of the Mohawk
clan made a reply full of Indian figures and
energy. Disclaiming, in behalf of his tribe, all
the Onondagas, and Cayugas, for their evil deeds.
"You, Onondagas," he said, "our brethren, you
are like deaf people that cannot hear; your senses
are covered with dirt and filth;" then, after farther
exhortation to all, he said, "There are three things
we must all observe: first, the covenant with Corlaer;
secondly, the covenant with Virginia and
Maryland; thirdly, with Boston. We must stamp
understanding into you, that you may be obedient;
and take this belt for a remembrancer."[278]
In addressing
the governors, he enforced his terse and expressive
sentences by occasional presents of belts,
raccoons, and beavers; and, at the close of the
treaty, a hole was dug, and five axes were buried:
two for Virginia and Maryland, and three for
the Onondagas, Oneidas, and Cayugas. The Mohawks
declared that no axe was necessary for
them, as they had never been hostile; and the
deputies of the senecas had not yet arrived.[279] Thus
was concluded an important treaty, afterwards fully
ratified by a meeting of deputies from Virginia, and
her Indians, with chiefs from the Five Nations.
At this interview a Mohawk orator sang every
link of the symbolic chain of love held in his
hand, and concluded with a chant of peace to the
sachems of the southern colonies.[280]
After this time the natives continued to decrease
in number in the counties east of the Alleghanies.
The forts on the heads of rivers were disused;
and, instead of them, companies of mounted rangers
were appointed, armed with pistols, a sword,
and a carbine, whose duty it was to scour the
country in all parts infested by Indians, and repel
their attacks.[281]
This measure was found highly
useful, and it gradually gave existence to a class
of men known as "Virginia Rangers," whose services
were of the greatest importance in subsequent
wars.
(1685.) In the next year Charles the Second
descended to his grave, and was succeeded by
his brother, the popish Duke of York. We can
derive but small profit from reflection either on the
life or the death of the sovereign who had passed
away; and he who now came on the stage would
be equally unworthy of thought, but for the errors
which arrayed England against him, and the merited
misfortunes to which they gave birth. He
was a coarse being, and might have been useful in
the world had he been destined always to occupy
the quarter-deck of an English man-of-war. Popery
offered a convenient creed to him, who could only
repair his injury to Ann Hyde, by making her his
wife and adopting her religion. He was unworthy
to be the king of a noble nation, and he abdicated
her throne, only to escape being hurled from it by
her indignant arm.
Few changes in Virginia followed the accession
of James to the English throne. The illegitimate
Earl of Monmouth made use of the name of his
father, Charles Stuart, to incite a rebellion in the
mother country. His followers were routed; and
he was himself brought to the scaffold, where the
executioner acted the part of an unwilling torturer,
by striking the victim again and again without
severing his head from his body.[282]
But James, and
his worthy judicial coadjutor Jeffries, turned the
inferior rebels to better use, by selling them for
"ten or fifteen pound apiece," to be slaves in the
colony.[283]
(Sept. 19.) Virginia was willing to receive
these unhappy men. They were dishonoured
by no crime, save that of having attempted to overthrow
a dominion already hated by the virtuous
and the prudent; and on her generous soil they
soon acquired independence and tranquillity.
The Assembly which convened in this year was
composed of courageous and stubborn spirits. They
had already re-elected Robert Beverley their clerk;
and they now proceeded to scrutinize Effingham's
measures, and to censure his exactions with becoming
boldness. He found it impossible to escape
their vigilance. How could he hope for peace, after
having planted thorns in his pillow by numberless
acts of dishonesty? In one point, however, it is to
be feared that the Assembly mistook their own
powers. The King had always claimed the right
to express dissent to the enactments of the provincial
laws. The constitution of the colony had
never been freed from this shackle; but so rarely
had it been felt, that its existence was almost forgotten.
Lord Howard, by royal proclamation, repealed
certain acts of the Assembly, which themselves
repealed certain prior laws. The constitutional
effect of this was, of course, to revive these prior
laws, and restore them to full vigour.[284] But against
this the House of Burgesses vehemently protested,
and the dispute waxed so warm, that the Governor
referred it to his majesty in council. Finding the
Assembly inexorable, and most uncomfortably attentive
to his own public conduct, on the 13th December,
Howard abruptly prorogued them.
(1686, Nov. 15.) The next year, arrived a letter
from King James, which Effingham hastened to
inflict upon the refractory burgesses. His majesty's
ire was greatly excited by their obstinacy, and in
this epistle he reprimands them like schoolboys
under the eye of a lordly pedagogue. He talks of
their "disaffected and unquiett dispositions," is
much shocked that his power to negative their laws
should be called in question, and commands that
they shall be dissolved, that the "inhabitants of
that our colony" may send better men to represent
their interests.[285]
The conclusion is more remarkable.
source of all evil, he declares him incapable of holding
any office under government, and requires that
he shall be prosecuted again with the full rigour of
the law;[286] —and yet farther, he instructs the Governor
himself to select a clerk for the House, and
on no pretence to permit any other person to exercise
the duties of that office.[287] English monarchs
began already to find American Assemblies and
their officers the most dangerous of foes to their extravagant
pretensions.
(1687.) The succeeding year brought for ever
to a close the persecutions that man could inflict
upon one of his fellows. Worn down by suffering
and anxiety, Robert Beverley sank into the grave;[288]
whither, it may be, the hatred of his enemies would
have followed him, could they have made him
longer feel the wounds that revenge would have
inflicted upon him. Enough were, however, yet
alive to endure the malice of the Governor. We
are informed of one James Collins, who, for treasonable
expressions against the King, was thrown into
prison and confined in irons; of one James Howard,
who was committed for merely slighting the authority
of a member of Council; and of Christopher
Berryman, who disobeyed President Bacon's warrant,
and for this high offence was compelled to ask
were once more gaining strong ground in
the ancient colony.
King James would fain have introduced popery
into Virginia, had his rule been long enough to
accomplish it. Whenever an officer was to be appointed,
he took care that he should be one friendly
to Rome; whenever he could touch the church, he
sought to turn her eyes to the City of the Seven
Hills.[290]
But God would not permit his designs to
be consummated. The storm was already gathering,
which at length burst upon his head; and his
own ruin, and the overthrow of his governor in
the province, were nearly simultaneous. At the
very time when James was driven from his throne,
and compelled to fly before his son-in-law, Effingham
left the colony never to return; and he was
immediately followed by Philip Ludwell, as the
agent of the people, to lay their complaints at the
feet of royalty.[291]
(1689, May 23.) When the Prince of Orange
was announced as King of England, the most
heartfelt joy pervaded America. The late dynasty
had done little, except oppress and annoy the provinces,
and any change would have been grateful.
William did not immediately declare himself as
they derived from the revolution were numerous
and great, but they were silent and gradual
in their developement. The complaints against
Effingham were heard, and some of the grievances
set forth were removed;[292] but this unworthy man
still held the office of governor-in-chief of Virginia.
In his absence, Nathaniel Bacon, as President of
Council, administered the government. Many
abuses were corrected; justice returned to her former
regular habits; exorbitant fees were reduced;
the traces of Howard's avaricious follies were gradually
erased, and Virginia began again to give
evidence of prosperity.
(1690, Oct. 16.) In the next year, Francis Nicholson
took his seat in Council, as lieutenant-governor,
under Lord Effingham. This gentleman
had already spent much time in America, and his
course of petty tyranny and annoyance in New
York, had nearly cost him his life. He was compelled
to abscond in great haste, to escape a popular
outburst, which his conduct had roused. Yet,
when transferred to the southern colony, his course
was more moderate, and for a season, at least, he
was regarded with esteem. We are tempted to
believe that he resorted to some doubtful artifices,
in order to gain the good will of the people. He
had certainly never been distinguished either for
courage or bodily prowess; yet, in Virginia, we
find him encouraging manly games, and attending
which were favourite sports in the colony.[293]
For this, we may forgive—we may even commend
him; but it is not so easy to approve the motives
which would invite a mob into his dining-room,
where he was entertaining his friends, that he
might be amused by their struggles for the viands
before them.[294]
After such an exhibition, we may be surprised
to find Nicholson zealously promoting a scheme
for establishing a permanent college in Virginia.
This had often before been spoken of and attempted,
but it was now to be crowned with success.
James Blair was already in the colony—a learned
and accomplished minister of the Established
Church, holding the office of "commissary,"
under the Bishop of London, and exercising a
general superintendence over the spiritual interests
of the people. A subscription was commenced
for funds, and at its head appeared the
names of the Lieutenant-Governor and several members
of Council, giving large amounts to the proposed
object: In a short time, two thousand five
hundred pounds were raised: all persons seemed
eager to aid; merchants in London came forward
in the cause; and so flattering did the prospect
appear, that Mr. Blair was sent to England to solicit
a charter, and implore the aid of the reigning
powers. William and Mary received the application
was immediately granted, in accordance with
the views of the commissary, and a more substantial
proof of royal bounty was given. The balance
due upon quit-rents in the colony, amounting to
nearly two thousand pounds sterling, was released
for the benefit of the college; twenty thousand
acres of "choice land" were set apart for its support,
and a revenue of one penny per pound on all
tobacco exported from Virginia and Maryland, to
the other American plantations, swelled the funds
intended for its endowment.[295]
Thus rose into being the College of "William
and Mary." The Middle Plantation was selected
for its site, and ample edifices were soon in a course
of preparation. Commissary Blair was the first
President; and the institution was entitled to a representative
in the House of Burgesses.[296]
They
taught, first, "three things—divinity, languages,
and natural philosophy;"[297]
a divinity shaped and
moulded at every point by the liturgy and creed
of the English Church; languages, which filled
the college walls with schoolboys hating Greek
which was but just learning to believe that the
earth revolved round the sun, rather than the sun
round the earth.[298] But the College of William and
Mary has long been the cherished child of Virginia.
She yields in antiquity to none of her sisters,
except Harvard University, in Massachusetts; and
it would be difficult to find an institution of learning
from which have issued so many men who
might lay claim to renown, for eminent ability
united with ardent patriotism.
Francis Nicholson received from the Assembly
a present of three hundred pounds, in token of their
love. Before he would accept it, he obtained a dispensation
from the King; it being an established
rule that the Governor should take nothing from
the legislature of the province. When all obstacles
were removed, he bestowed one-half of the
amount upon the college, in addition to the sum
he had already subscribed.[299]
In 1692, Sir Edmund Andros arrived, with the
complete title of Governor-in-Chief. Nicholson
was transferred to Maryland, where he administered
affairs during several succeeding years.
Andros was not a stranger in America. He had tormented
New York; and had weighed, like an incubus,
upon the happiness of New England. Connecticut
had snatched her charter almost from his
hand, to commit it to a more faithful guardian; and
Massachusetts had seized and imprisoned him, in
is strange that such a man should have been again
selected by an English king to represent him in
the colonies; and it is still more strange, that on
arrival and during his stay, he should have carried
himself as became a zealous, wise, and moderate
officer. Whether experience had taught him wisdom,
or advancing years had calmed the heat of
youth, or he found no pretext for the exercise of
arbitrary power, we know not; but all authorities
agree in declaring, that his administration was a
season of unwonted prosperity in Virginia. His
manners were conciliatory, rather than forbidding;
he was active in promoting schemes of useful labour;
he encouraged manufactures, incited the
planters to the cultivation of cotton, and gave his
assent to an act establishing the first fulling-mills
ever known in the settlement. He carried his love
of order into the public departments; and, finding
the documents and papers in the several offices
mingled together in frightful confusion, torn, soiled,
and eaten of moths, he commenced a reform,
and urged it with much vigour and success.[300] His
efforts were unhappily retarded by a fire, which
destroyed much that had been done; but he experienced
no abatement in his zeal, and in a short
time the state-house again began to rise from its
ashes. In these salutary labours, years rolled
silently but prosperously away. Laws were revised,
education was fostered, the people were quiet
and contented. History, whose unhappy fate it is
misfortunes of men, finds little to record of Andros
in Virginia, except her approval of his conduct, and
her surprise at his happy change of character.[301]
(Dec. 9.) In 1698, Sir Francis Nicholson was
again transferred from Maryland to Virginia, and
the dignity of Governor-in-Chief was bestowed
upon him. An unfavourable change in his temper
towards the colony was soon exhibited. That
he possessed great pliancy of manners, may be inferred
from what has already been said of him. He
now no longer wore the smooth brow and complacent
smile that had won so many hearts during his
previous government. Ambition had crept into his
soul, and gradually possessed all of its active faculties.
We have strong reason to believe that he had
formed the design of effecting a union of all the
American colonies under one head, and of obtaining
for himself the high office of Governor-General.[302]
His local knowledge, his restless talents, his popular
arts, all combined to fit him for success in this
scheme; but the watchfulness of his colonial charge
entirely defeated him.
He looked with little favour upon domestic manufactures.
Knowing that upon England must depend
the accomplishment of his ambitious plan, he
which was to render the colonies independent of
their mother. This course involved him in an inconsistency
which has not escaped a cotemporary
observer. He had previously complained that the
price of tobacco was so low that it would not purchase
in England clothes for the planters; and in
the same memorial he afterwards urges Parliament
to pass an act forbidding the colonists to make their
own clothing, "thus desiring," saith Beverley, "a
charitable law that the planters shall go naked."[303]
It was, perchance, the same aspiring vanity, which
induced Nicholson to transfer the seat of government
from Jamestown to the Middle Plantation.
He flattered himself with the hope of being the
founder of a city. Under his own eye the streets
were marked so as to form the letter W; and King
William, it may be, was the more flattered, because
this arrangement was at once the most uncommon
and inconvenient that could have been selected.
The new town bore the name of Williamsburg.
The college buildings were already complete; and
opposite to them soon arose a stately edifice, which
the Governor dignified with the title of "the
Capitol."[304]
(1700.) The Governor, though vain and designing,
was a man of promptness and energy. An incident
occurred in his time which deserves to be recorded.
For some years the coast of America had been infested
by a band of pirates, generally leagued together,
and of the West India Islands their places
of concealment. As mercantile shipping increased,
the temptations to this mode of life were multiplied,
and the absence of a heavy naval force
in these waters gave confidence to the outlaws.
Several merchantmen, which had been trading in
the rivers of Virginia, had fallen down to Lynhaven
Bay on the outward voyage. A pirate ship,
cruising out of the capes, with consummate audacity,
ventured into the bay and seized several
prizes in full view of a small vessel bound up James
River. But this insolence was speedily chastised.
By a fortunate direction of events, the Shoram, a
fifth rate English man-of-war had but just arrived,
and Captain Passenger was paying his respects to
the Governor when the account of the late capture
was received. The Captain immediately returned to
his ship, whither he was soon followed by Nicholson
himself, and at night the anchor was weighed and
they proceeded down the river. At daybreak they
encountered the pirate just between the capes. A
desperate struggle ensued; the outlaws fought
with all the resolution of despair; the ships were
nearly equal in size, and for ten hours the conflict
was undecided; but at length the pirates were
compelled to strike their colours, and surrender
themselves unconditionally to the mercy of the
King.[305]
It had been better for the fame of Nicholson,
had he always confined his energies to contests
with piratical cruisers. Still intent upon his
scheme for uniting the colonies, he had recommended
to the Court of England a project for
erecting and maintaining forts along the western
frontier of the state of New York. In order fully
to comprehend this plan, it should be remembered,
that England and France had waged a bloody war
from 1689 to 1697, when it was terminated by the
peace of Ryswick. (1702.) Queen Anne had not
long been seated upon the throne, ere hostilities recommenced,
and the memorable contest followed,
in which Marlborough led the allied armies to certain
triumph over the hosts of France.
America could not be tranquil while a conflagration
was raging that affected the two powers most
deeply interested in her soil. The Count de Calliers,
Governor of Montreal, had already made a
strenuous effort to divide the British strength, by a
blow aimed at the middle province of New York;
and though he had been unsuccessful, yet his plan
was too imposing to be forgotten by either party.[306]
Count Frontenac, the French Governor-in-Chief,
saw the importance of this point, and constantly
menaced New York with an irruption of his own
forces and their Indian allies. Virginia had heretofore
contest; the tide of general war had not yet
reached her borders; but she was not always to
enjoy this security.
In 1695, England had proposed a plan of general
defence for the colonies, by which each was to contribute
in men and military supplies according to
its population; but this scheme did not take effect,
inasmuch as every colony desired to employ its
means in a manner indicated by its own comparative
danger or safety.[307]
When the war was renewed,
New York again became the object of attack on
the one side, and defence on the other. Early in
his present administration, Nicholson had proposed
to the General Assembly of Virginia, that they
should appropriate a sum of money to build a
strong fort in the western border of the threatened
colony. After due deliberation, they determined to
decline this expenditure, and when their resolve
was made known, the Governor was overwhelmed
with astonishment and chagrin. He immediately
addressed a report to the King, presenting in the
strongest light the importance of the measure he
wished, and he so operated on the mind of majesty,
that William urged the Assembly to reconsider
their vote and grant the money. We cannot fail
to be struck with the firm conduct of this provincial
body, under the influence of a monarch's advice.
They replied that they saw no reason to
change their former view; that neither the existing
the slightest degree protect Virginia, because both
French and Indians might pour their destructive
masses upon her, and yet not approach within a
hundred miles of these fortresses; should she
therefore comply with the Governor's wish, she
would be weakening her own resources, and increasing
rather than diminishing her danger.[308]
To these conclusive arguments, no farther objection
was made by the English Court. Queen
Anne was content, but Nicholson was not. The
reason was obvious: he had a secret purpose to
accomplish, to which ran counter the determined
course of the Assembly; and from this time he appears
to have conceived a steady hatred of Virginia
and all her interests. Hastening to New
York, he there took a prominent part in a farce,
which deserves to be recorded only that it may be
ridiculed. Professing to feel great contempt for
the penurious spirit which, as he declared, had influenced
Virginia, he did incontinently execute his
own sealed note for the sum of nine hundred
pounds, to be appropriated to the desired fortresses.
This magnificent act was spread abroad by the
tongue of Fame, that its author might gain popularity;
but Nicholson, with wondrous wisdom,
took a counter-bond from the person to whom his
own note was given, by which it was agreed, that
he should not be called upon for the nine hundred
pounds until her majesty, Queen Anne, should
Virginia.[309] In point of fact, no portion of this
money was ever paid.
When Sir Francis returned to his own province,
his ill-humour exhibited itself in many captious
proceedings. To detail them would be a task
more of annoyance than of profit; but there is one
feature in his conduct which cannot be passed in
silence. One Colonel Quarry represented some of
the interests of England in the colonies, and with
him Nicholson joined in preparing and presenting
a memorial to the Council of Trade in the mother
country. In this luminous production, they took
care first to trumpet forth praises of the Governor's
generosity to New York; and in so doing, they
gave currency to a falsehood as dishonouring as
could have been invented.[310]
Not content with this,
they proceeded to draw a portrait of Virginia character,
representing her people as numerous and
rich, and imbued with a dangerous republicanism,
which required the sternest rebuke from the reigning
powers. They urged immediate measures of
that a frown from the Queen would have the happiest
effect. They spoke in plain terms of the necessity
for a standing army to awe the rebellious,
and implored that all the colonies should be united
under one government, and subjected to the surveillance
of a single viceroy.[311] Such were the artful
views of these unworthy slanderers. It is a
source of the purest consolation to reflect that their
advice was totally disregarded, and that one of the
parties was speedily informed that her majesty
could dispense with his services and his presence
in her colony. Nicholson was displaced in the
following year, (1704.)
On his removal, the office of Governor-in-chief
of Virginia was bestowed upon the Earl of Orkney,
who held it during thirty-six consecutive
years, without once crossing the Atlantic.[312]
In
1705, Edward Nott arrived in the colony, and entered
upon the duties of his place. He held a full
commission from the Queen as Governor-General,
in order to inspire the people with respect; but in
truth, he was only the lieutenant of Orkney.[313]
The new officer ruled with mildness, and inspired
nothing but measures for peace and happiness. A
full revision of the laws, which had long been
called for, now at length took place.[314] Every department
of colonial jurisprudence was remodelled,
except that relating to the church and clergy, and
here Mr. Commissary Blair made so many difficulties
that the bill was dropped, and for a season
entirely lost.[315] One important change effected
was, by the law making slaves real estate, instead
of personal chattels, as they had theretofore been.
This change was intended for the benefit of three
deserving classes, orphans, widows, and the slaves
themselves. Many of the incidents attaching upon
personal property were yet retained, and it may be
here mentioned, that this law, though wise in some
respects, has been found inconvenient, and has long
since been repealed.[316]
Edward Nott did not live long enough to enjoy
the happiness that his gentle rule tended to give to
the colony. (1706.) He died in August of the
next year, and was succeeded by Edmund Jennings,
who, as President of the Council, assumed
the duties of governor. The administration of
Nott was universally approved, and during its
course we have but to record a single painful incident,
direction of a higher power. By some unhappy
accident, the College buildings took fire, at ten
o'clock at night, in a time when a public meeting
had convened in Williamsburg, and before the
alarm was given, the flames had gained such
strength that it was impossible to arrest them.
The edifice was burned to the ground, and many
years elapsed before this misfortune could be fully
repaired.[317]
Years now rolled quietly away, only to bring increased
comfort and happiness to Virginia. Europe
was involved in a terrific war, and the northern
colonies sustained many of its heaviest strokes;
but the "Old Dominion" was at peace, and was
content to watch the progress of affairs, and to
hold herself in readiness to do her duty, whatever
it might be. So profound was the calm reigning
in her bosom, that the intervention of an Assembly
was never required to amend existing laws, or to
interpose between the governor and his people.
It is believed that Brigadier General Robert
Hunter received a commission as lieutenant of
Lord Orkney, and was actually on his way to the
colony, when his ship was captured by a French
man-of-war, and he was carried a prisoner into
France.[318]
(June 23.) In 1710, a gentleman arrived
to assume the reins of her government, whose
memory Virginia will ever rejoice to cherish with
born of Scottish parents, in Tangier, in Africa,
and his earliest years were passed amid the scenes
of the camp and the bivouac.[319] He delighted in
his profession, and bestowed upon it the close
study of an acute and vigorous mind. His talent
for the mathematics was remarkable, and a taste
for drawing made him skilful in one of the highest
duties of the military engineer. Although possessed
of the courage and the accomplishments
which in a peculiar manner fitted him for the life
of a soldier, he had not neglected civil studies,
and his well-trained intellect had mastered much
of the learning necessary to the lawyer and the
statesman.[320] But perhaps his chief advantage consisted
in his social and moral character, in which
aspect it would not be easy to find one, of whom
might be truly asserted so much that is good and
so little that is evil. He came to Virginia after a
time of active employment in the army of Britain.
In the great battle of Blenheim, in which Marlborough
annihilated, for a season, the strength of
France, Colonel Spotswood received a dangerous
wound in the breast by a musket-ball,[321] but by
skilful treatment he recovered, and before the war
in the colony.
He had been a very short time in Virginia ere
his active genius suggested plans for her improvement,
which his industry hastened to carry into
effect. A love of architectural grace displayed
itself in the magazine which he caused to be built
in Williamsburg; and when the Assembly, in
accordance with an intention formed years before,
voted money for the governor's house, Spotswood
applied it with so much prudence and skill that
none could regret its appropriation.[322]
He devised improvements in the tobacco trade,
by which the planters were to deposit their crops
in public warehouses, at certain places, and to
receive certificates of officers as to the amount and
the quality. These certificates they could afterwards
use as money; but though this plan was in
many points convenient, the people did not like it,
and after a time it fell into disuse. The planters
could not endure the slightest approach to the
hated "law of towns." It is wonderful that Virginia
has ever had one hundred houses in juxtaposition.
The mind of the Governor, which had so long
been engaged in the immense field of European
politics, could not be confined to the narrow limits
of a few colonial plantations. He reflected upon the
broad lands, the forests, the rivers, and mountains
of America, with astonishment and delight; and it
to grasp some of her capacities for future
greatness. He often turned his eyes to the west.
A few daring pioneers had crossed the beautiful
ridge of mountains which first opposed the progress
of settlers, and the vast region of Orange
was soon to yield a part of its domain to the claims
of West Augusta.[323] But the Alleghanies were still
unexplored: their summits towered far above their
eastern sisters, and the rugged precipices found
among them discouraged the labours of the most
enterprising and undaunted. Natural obstacles
remained in all their pristine strength. Wolves,
bears, and catamounts abounded in the fastnesses
of this wild country; and the Indians on either
side of the mountains were distinguished for their
fierceness and their ability. But these difficulties,
instead of discouraging the Governor, stimulated
his zeal, and added to his design the attractive
zest of novelty and hazard. He resolved to undertake
an expedition for the purpose of exploring the
country, and discovering its resources west of the
rugged barrier that had hitherto bounded the hopes
even of Anglo-Saxon adventurers.
When this object was made known, the General
Assembly lent its aid, and made provision for its
accomplishment. Some of the most enlightened
and the chivalry of the "Old Dominion" eagerly
enlisted in a cause promising so much of interest
and excitement.[324] A number sufficient to meet all
enemies were soon assembled. They were well
armed, and mounted on horses selected with a
special view to the duty before them. At the
head of this gallant array, Spotswood turned his
face to the far West. Their course was seldom
interrupted, and was almost a continued triumph.
They marked carefully the resources of a country,
which has since realized all the hopes they could
have formed. The rich valley lying between the
two chains of mountains was then covered with
the wildness of nature, but it was already beautiful
enough to attract a sensitive beholder. On
reaching the base of the Alleghanies, they found
it difficult to select a point at which ascent was
practicable either to man or horse; but when, at
length, they gained the summit, the view presented
repaid them for their exertions. The point
they had attained gave them a view of the splendid
champaign country beyond;[325] and those who
have often enjoyed this prospect may conceive
something of the pleasing wonder it excited in the
minds of colonists beholding it for the first time.
Not yet content with their achievement, they descended
into the plains below; and, after satisfying
themselves that America was indeed one of
the favoured lands of Heaven, they returned to
had not, in person, enjoyed them.[326]
When the results of this expedition were made
known in England, King George, who had succeeded
Anne upon the throne, bestowed on Spotswood
the honour of knighthood, and presented to
him, as an appropriate device for his coat of arms,
a small golden horse shoe, bearing the Latin inscription,
"Sic jurat transcendere montes."[327]
The
English Court was not entirely insensible to the
value of an undertaking so materially affecting
their dominion in America; and although this
achievement became afterwards the occasion of
an unhappy difference between its author and the
ruling powers, yet it greatly added to his fame on
either side of the Atlantic. It would be unjust to
suppose that one so philosophical in his habits of
thought as was the Governor, was content with
He may have admired the mountains, been refreshed
by the valleys, and rejoiced in the display
of almost exhaustless natural wealth; but he could
not forget the effect that the presence of man was
to have in these fair regions. Although the war
between France and England had been ended by
the peace of Utrecht, concluded the preceding year,
yet Alexander Spotswood could discern causes
which would sooner or later renew the conflict,
and he looked with the deepest interest to the
broad valley of the Ohio, upon which the French
had already thrown a glance of hope and preparation.
Few events now occurred to disturb the peace
or impede the rapid growth of Virginia. Blessed
with good laws, a representative government, and a
chief deservedly popular, she pursued her course
with steadiness and content. The Governor sought
to meliorate the condition of the natives still living
within their bounds, by sending competent and
pure men among them, to inspire a love of order
and civilization. He required that some of the
children of the sachems, delivered up as hostages
to the whites, should be admitted into William
and Mary College, and instructed according
to their necessities for future life.[328]
As his administration
break in upon its happy monotony. Although
often heavily chastised, pirates continued to infect
the shores of America and prey upon defenceless
merchantmen. At this period one character, in
particular, distinguished himself by a course of
ferocity even beyond that of the worst of his compeers.
John Theach was his real name, but he
was best known by the title of "Blackbeard," to
which the hideous natural appendage that he wore
gave him undisputed claim. He exhibited, in its
most intense form, every cruel and revolting trait
that could grace the character of a pirate. Fourteen
wretched women were at once the instruments
of his detestable pleasures, and the victims of his
infernal passions. He often personated a fiend for
the entertainment of his crew, and once gave them
a scenic display intended to represent the regions
of the damned![329] With him nothing was more
common than the murder of his own men, whom
he slew when heated to frenzy by rage and intemperance.
(1718.) This wretch had long been the scourge
of the seas near the coasts of North Carolina and
Virginia, and hitherto all efforts to bring him to
justice had been unavailing. Governor Spotswood
and the Assembly had proclaimed an ample reward
for his capture, and when it was at length known
Maynard, commanding a small English ship of
war in the waters of Virginia, hastened to find and
attack him. (Nov. 21.) He discovered the pirate
vessel watching for prey at the mouth of one of
the dangerous inlets to Pamlico Sound, and immediate
preparations were made for battle. Blackbeard
saw that a decisive hour had arrived, and
drinking deep draughts of ardent spirits to excite
himself to desperation, he placed one of his men
with a lighted match at the magazine, instructing
him to blow up the ship should she be captured.
The fight which followed was terrible, but Maynard
and his heroic crew were victorious. When the
outlaw chief found that his orders were not obeyed,
he rose with a cocked pistol in his hand, but in
the act of stepping back he fell to the deck and
almost instantly expired. His body was covered
with wounds, from which blood had flowed in
streams around the spot where he stood.[330] The rest
of the pirates were taken, and, after solemn trial,
they all met the fate their crimes deserved.[331]
In the close of Spotswood's administration, a
controversy respecting boundaries, which had
long been pending between North Carolina and
Virginia, was placed upon a ground which at least
prevented the continuance of embittered feeling.
This dispute had been so serious, that the Governor
had found it necessary to forbid by proclamation
any settlements in the doubtful territory beyond
were at length appointed on both sides,
who surveyed the land and marked the bounds
within which each colony was to have jurisdiction
and control, leaving a small part yet to be appropriated.
Among these commissioners was Colonel
William Byrd, a Virginia gentleman of great wealth,
respectable talents, and untiring industry, to whom
our state is much indebted for the preservation of
her ancient records. He kept a journal of the
route and proceedings of the surveyors, which has
descended to us, and which is replete with humour
and good sense. After this survey, the controversy
was in great measure ended, though legislation
was from time to time applied to the subject.[333]
Though Alexander Spotswood was beloved by
all classes in the colony, he was by no means so
highly regarded by the powers then ruling in England.
Whether he was considered as too warm a
friend of the people to be a decided friend to the
King, we do not know; but he was often thwarted
in his schemes, and disappointed in some of his
most reasonable expectations. When he applied
to the English government for a vote of money, to
defray the expenses of his progress across the Alleghany
Mountains, his claim was heard with coldness
and displeasure. It was vain to urge that
this undertaking had been very useful to the
mother country, inasmuch as it developed the resources
with the means of rendering it profitable. England
was already deeply involved in debt, and she
looked to her colonies rather for supplies, than as
objects of expenditure. After a service of nearly
thirteen years, Spotswood was removed, and his
place was filled by Hugh Drysdale, of whom we
know little and see little, except his signature to
the acts of two sessions of the General Assembly.[334]
The former Governor did not leave the colony,
but, retiring to his plantation near Germanna, in
the newly created county of Spottsylvania,[335] he
passed many quiet days in mining and agricultural
pursuits, surrounded by an attached family,
and beloved even by the lower animals that his
care had domesticated.[336] When the alarm of war
was again heard, in 1739, he was called from his
retirement to take command of the colonial forces;
but he died ere he was able to strike a blow in behalf
of his adopted country.[337]
Drysdale died on the 22d day of July, 1726,
and, after a short season, during which the government
was administered by Robert Carter, as President
of the Council, William Gooch arrived, still
empowered to serve only as lieutenant of the immortal
the observant reader of American history will
mark an interesting change in the feelings and
policy of the several provinces, in their intercourse
with each other. In their childhood, they had
shown little disposition to unite in bonds of friendship.
They had in truth manifested but too much
of the petulant jealousy which children are prone
to exhibit in their days of juvenile folly. As the
settlements grew older, they were kept apart by a
consciousness of conflicting interests. Their trade
was fettered, and their hearts were rendered cold,
by the unfeeling policy of their common mother.
But when their eyes were gradually opened to
their own strength and importance, they began to
cast off these unworthy doubts, and to regard each
other with ever-growing confidence. They stood
erect; and feeling within themselves the developement
of those energies which have since rendered
them so formidable, they exchanged salutations of
mutual pride and friendship. The coalescing
movement began at the North, where the Puritan
colonies had long been known under the common
bond of New England, and gradually the generous
feeling made its way to the South. New
York, Pennsylvania, and their young sisters on
the Atlantic—Maryland, Virginia, the Carolinas,
Georgia—no longer regarded each other as rivals,
but began to interchange expressions and deeds of
were not yet conscious of the pressure of
that golden chain of sympathy, which was at last
to unite them never to be sundered; but they were
already alive to influences which induced each, at
once, to extend to the others the hand of confidence
and affection.
William Gooch was one of the most popular
governors that ever blessed the colony over which
he presided. His urbane manners were the open
expression of a warm and generous heart. If his
conduct was sometimes tinged with a shade of intolerance,
there was much in the events surrounding
him to produce it. It was now a favourite
policy of England to appoint military officers to
administer the affairs of her provinces. The troubled
state of Europe rendered war either a present
or a rapidly approaching evil; and it was no longer
possible to confine the heat of human passions to
the ancient world. Gooch was a brigadier-general
in the English service. When the far-famed expedition
against the Spanish town of Carthagena was
projected, Virginia and North Carolina were called
upon for supplies of armed men, and they furnished
them without delay.[339]
(1741.) The brave Governor
himself headed the forces from Virginia, and embarked
in the transports that attended the naval
command of Admiral Vernon. To relate minutely
all the events of this disastrous expedition, would
be foreign to our present subject; but many hearts
Vernon was brave, but he was possessed neither of
the skill nor of the self-command requisite for success.
The military and naval chiefs lost precious
hours in idle disputes, and sacrificed more precious
lives in rash endeavours. The fire of the enemy
cut down comparatively few, but a more fearful foe
assailed them: disease preyed upon their strength;
fatal fevers swept them away by thousands; gloom
filled their souls, and all energetic effort was at once
destroyed. In melancholy condition they weighed
their anchors, and left the spot which had been to
them a scene of continued defeat and mortality.[340]
A short time after the Governor's return, an Assembly
convened, embracing an unusually large
number of members, and much excited by recent
events. Gooch addressed them in a speech full of
military spirit. The war in which King George
the Second was engaged was lauded in strong
terms, and the burgesses were entreated to make
suitable provision for maintaining it, to build forts,
to encourage the importation of powder and ball,
and to appoint annual salaries for gunners and engineers.
But the legislature was not yet prepared
to commit their state so fully in the contest. They
returned a polite answer to the Governor, assuring
but they passed no act for the purposes he had so
strenuously urged upon them.[341] They were more
attentive to measures of peace than of war. At
this session was passed an act establishing the town
of Richmond, on land owned by Colonel Byrd, and
beautifully disposed in successive hills extending
nearly to the banks of James River.[342] The town
grew slowly until 1779, when the seat of government
was transferred thither from Williamsburg,
and then immediately it assumed a prominence
which has ever since been retained.
(1743.) In the next year, the College lost its president,
and the country a valued citizen. James
Blair had been educated under the best influences
of Scottish literature, yet had he retained his attachment
to the English Church. He may be called
the father of systematized learning in Virginia; and
if he had an abiding admiration for the privileges
and dignities of the clergy, he was able to unite
with it an ardent love of freedom, and a strong desire
to see letters flourish in America. These two
last-mentioned things were inseparably connected.
Every oppressor hated learning and opposed its
progress.[343]
(Nov. 4.) The death of Blair was followed
whose name deserves a high place in the records
of colonial improvement. William Byrd was immensely
rich, and his habits manifested a tendency
to profusion and luxury; but wealth did not enervate
his character; he was constantly active, and
exerted himself in many plans for the welfare of a
people whom he truly loved. Cold indeed must
be the heart that will not accord to such a man the
praise of having deserved well at the hands both of
those who knew and of those who survived him.[344]
In the huge county of West Augusta, a serious
conflict occurred between a band of Shawanese
Indians and a company of militia, under Captain
McDowell. At the first fire, the Captain and seven
of his men fell dead on the spot; and before the
whites could recover from the shock, another volley
was poured in by the natives with fatal effect. We
know not how to account for the want of courage
shown by the colonists on this occasion: the savages
were even permitted to carry off their dead
and the scalps of their lifeless victims. No immediate
march against them took place, and the frontier
settlements in the valley were agitated with
fears of Indian massacre.[345]
Happily, however, the
evil day was yet deferred for a time; a treaty was
under the influence of the Six Nations; the hatchet
was buried, the silver chain was brightened, and
peace was solemnly declared to exist between the
belligerents.[346]
As the minds of men became expanded by
knowledge, toleration for the opinions of others on
religious subjects had been gradually established.
Yet the very existence of this word "toleration"
will prove how far public opinion yet fell below
freedom and truth. No insolence can exceed that
of human governments which have declared their
purpose to "tolerate" what the laws of God have
placed beyond their control. It would be wiser in
them to announce toleration to the course of the
sun in the heavens! Governor Gooch was religiously
inclined, but his religion was bounded by
the rubric; he knew some Scripture, but it was all
from the English Prayer Book. (1745.) In the
midst of his administration, there appeared in the
colony a large number of fanatics, composed of
Methodists, Moravians, Quakers, and a sect known
as New-light Presbyterians. What these last-named
persons believed is not certainly known,
but they were doubtless impressed with the delusive
hope, that an immediate revelation had been
made to them by the Deity—a hope which, from
the death of the Apostles to the present hour, has
been invariably productive of folly and crime in
in church authorities. These wild declaimers
spread themselves abroad, preaching their doctrines
to all who would listen. We do not learn
that they were guilty of any deeds adverse to the
substantial interests of the state. If they were disorderly,
they were amenable to police regulations;
if they were rebellious, Virginia had a law of treason.
No unwonted rigour seemed to be required.
In later and happier times, the flames of their zeal
would have been permitted to expire for want of
fuel. Resistance tended only to make them more
determined and enthusiastic. (April 25.) But the
Governor was greatly scandalized by their course,
and at the next meeting of the General Court, he
proceeded to deliver an edifying charge to the
Grand Jury, directing their thoughts to these persons,
and urging them to present or indict them
under the laws requiring conformity. The chief
offence of these hapless dreamers seems to have
consisted in the doctrine, that salvation was not to
be obtained in any communion except their own.[347]
Of this the Governor complained; but he might
with justice have been reminded, that such doctrine
was neither unknown to nor unapproved by
many in the church to which he adhered with all
his powers, both of mind and body.
The whole of this charge has been preserved,[348]
study one of the closing pages of American intolerance.
It shall here be passed, with the remark,
that unless the worthy Governor generally wrote
more correctly, neither his rhetoric nor his thought
merited the commendation which Mr. Burk has
been pleased to bestow upon them.[349] We find
afterwards a proclamation, issued by Gooch,
against Romish priests who might come from
Maryland.[350] He had no love for any rational creature
that pretended to think differently from his
church on the subject of religion; and it deserves
to be noted, that he was sustained by men who
were afterwards among the sternest supporters of
freedom in all her expansion. The General Assembly
passed laws against Moravians, New-lights,
and Methodists, and the name of Pendleton
appears among those who approved the Governor's
counsel.[351]
It may be that their minds had been stimulated
to undue severity by events which had lately
shaken the mother country to her centre. Charles
Edward, the young popish pretender to a throne
from which his popish ancestor had been driven
nearly a half century before, had landed in Scotland
under the favouring eye of France. Highland
clans had flocked to his standard, and in two
battles their resistless onset had broken English
armies to pieces. (1746, April 27.) But the reverse
the field, and at Culloden the hopes of the Roman
Catholic party in the English realm were for ever
crushed. (Oct. 10.) The Pretender fled again to
France, after wandering for a time in imminent
hazard amid the caves and fastnesses of the country
over which he had hoped to reign.[352] When
news of his first progress in Scotland reached Virginia,
she hastened to express her loyalty to the
King, and her resolve to resist with all her strength
the effort of the Pretender;[353] and when his overthrow
was announced, sincere joy pervaded every
class of her people.
During the recess of the Assembly in this year,
an incendiary fired the Capitol, and before the
flames could be arrested, the building was almost
totally destroyed. The Governor considered this
disaster a sufficient reason for summoning the Assembly
to meet at the College, previous to the time
to which they had been prorogued. When they
had convened, a grave question presented itself for
debate. The rapidly extending population of Virginia
had already pressed into the valley beyond
the first range of mountains, and the burgesses
from Augusta and Frederick would willingly have
had the seat of government nearer to their homes.
Others were equally in favour of removal, and the
late conflagration gave them a fair ground on which
ponderous obstacles would oppose any such scheme.
The Governor had purchased property in Williamsburg,
which derived its chief value from the presence
of government business and officers, and in
the Council and Legislature there were not a few
who deprecated a removal from motives nearly
allied to selfishness. It was vain to oppose strong
reasons and soothing flattery to the arguments of
such a monitor as Mammon. The Assembly adjourned
without any decision on this point, and
when, two years afterwards, the subject was renewed,
the Governor threw off all reserve, declared
himself against the change, and in a short
time a heavy majority of members appeared on
his side.[354] Nothing therefore remained but to rebuild
the Capitol, and guard it more securely for
future time.
(1748.) But though unwilling to commence a
new town in person, the Assembly was disposed
to encourage others in efforts at "cohabitation."
Petersburg and Blandford were established: of
which the first has become a flourishing mart, and
the last has degenerated into a mere appendage.[355]
Sites for other towns were selected in Augusta, in
King William, and in Fairfax; but these remained
"in paper," and have not gathered to themselves
the more substantial materials of wood and stone.
able committee appointed for the purpose.[356]
Thus Virginia enjoyed peace without and within.
She had felt but lightly the hand of war, which
had pressed with so much force upon her sisters in
the North. When the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle
was concluded, and France and England, for a
season, laid aside their arms, Virginia experienced
no change in her internal economy, and recognised
the treaty only to deplore, with the other American
settlements, the shameful submission, which had
yielded up to France the dearly-bought prize of
colonial heroism.[357]
Governor Gooch now prepared to leave America,
and assume a permanent abode in the mother country.
He had presided over the destinies of Virginia
during more than twenty-two years, and there
were few of her inhabitants who did not respect
him as a friend and even love him as a father. His
family were linked by many tender ties to the
children of the soil, and his name is still known to
be esteemed in the "Old Dominion." Just before
his departure, the President and Council, accompanied
by the officers of the College, and of the
town, paid him a visit, and one selected from
among them delivered an address, expressive of
We cannot doubt the sincerity of the
tokens of sorrow every where shown on this occasion.
The Governor had been firm, yet gentle;
sound in his views; moderate in his measures;
cordial in his intercourse with all who approached
him. When, on the 14th August, 1749, he embarked
for his voyage to England, many, by tears
and audible blessings, gave proof of the extent to
which he had enlisted their affections.[358]
Mr. Robinson, President of the Council, succeeded
to the administration of affairs; but he had
held his office a very few days ere he was removed
by death, and the duties devolved upon Thomas
Lee, who had followed Robinson in the presidency.
Mr. Lee was a gentleman of talents and
influence, and it is probable he would have been
permanently appointed to the office of Lieutenant-Governor,
had his life been spared.[359]
In England,
Lord Albemarle had followed Orkney, as Governor-in-chief.
Louis Burwell, as President of Council,
administered the government of Virginia during
more than a year. While residing in England, he
had sustained a severe injury of the head, by a fall
from his horse, and had been compelled to undergo
the painful operation of the trepan. His habits
had been studious, but from the time of this accident,
he was subject to attacks of mental alienation,
for business.[360] (1751.) History can record in his
administration, no event more important than the
building of a theatre at Williamsburg, by a company
of comedians from New York, who felt a
laudable desire to present some of the charms of
the drama to the dull burgesses of Virginia Plantations.[361]
In 1752, Robert Dinwiddie arrived in the colony,
with a full commission to preside over her counsels
as her Lieutenant-Governor. Originally a clerk
in a custom-house in one of the British West India
Islands, he had powerfully commended himself to
favour, by discovering a vast system of fraud,
which had long been practised by his superiors.
For this, he was rewarded by an appointment to
Virginia, and immediately took possession of his
novel honours.[362]
But it would be premature farther
to speak of his character or his conduct. His
name will instantly recall to our minds a period
pregnant with important deeds and grand developements.
A new era opens to our view; great
names are now to be recorded, and great events
are to attend upon them. A hero is to appear, to
whom the centuries of the past had produced no
prototype; and, as he enters upon the stage of
being, we are not surprised to find him surrounded
by the light of a purer civilization—a more exalted
philanthropy!
This Robert Beverley was the
same heretofore mentioned as giving
active aid to Sir William Berkeley.
He opposed the rebellion;
but he loved freedom, and was literally
her martyr. Burk, ii. 214;
Hening, iii. 548, Hist. Documents.
Burk, ii. 223, Beverley, 78, Keith,
162, says Sir William Chicheley.
The author of the "Outline," in
Howe, 82, &c., calls him Sir Henry
Chickerly.
Beverley, 78; Keith, 163; Burk,
ii. 223. The author of the Outline,
in Howe, 82, calls this "a silly act."
Hening, ii. 458-464; Beverley, 78, 79; Kent, 163; Burk, ii. 224;
Campbell, 85; Outline in Howe, 82.
Act iii., Hening, ii. 466-469;
Beverley, 79; Burk, ii. 225; Bancroft,
ii. 247. Campbell, 85, says,
"the prudent administration of Culpeper
entitled him to the friendship
of the colony, which could not have
been better expressed than by making
an addition of one thousand
pounds to his salary"!!
Beverley, 80; Keith, 164; Bancroft,
ii. 247. Mr. Burk, ii. 238, 239,
attempts to defend Culpeper on this
charge, but surely Beverley will not
be suspected of making an unjust
attack upon a royal governor.
Hening, ii. 471-478. Mr. Hening,
with great propriety, calls these
nurslings of the Assembly, "paper
towns."—Hist. Doc., iii. 541.
That is, cessation from planting
the weed for a year or more, until its
price should rise. Outline, in Howe,
82; Hist. Doc., in Hening, iii. 541,
542.
Hist. Doc., in Hening, iii. 542.
Report of Council to Governor, on
the state of the country, Hening, ii.
562; Beverley, 81; Keith, 164;
Burk, ii. 234; Grahame, i. 131; Bancroft,
ii. 248; Chalmers's Revolt
Am. Colon., i. 165.
Proclam., in Hening, iii. 563,
564. The names of the excepted
are, Richard Bayley, Henry Ismon,
John Wise, John Hayley, John Sackler,
Thomas Amies, and Robert Beverley.
Order made by King Charles II.
21st Dec., 1681. Hening, ii. 560,
561. This was the first "expunging
act" ever carried into effect in America,
so far as my researches enable
me to decide. Another case was
furnished by the celebrated "Expunging
Resolution" passed by the
Senate of the United States, January
16th, 1837.
These members were Ralph
Wormeley, Matthew Kemp, and
Christopher Wormeley. Hening, iii.
545; Burk, ii. 241. These names
are yet known in Virginia, and
their possessors now, it is hoped,
hate oppression.
Beverley, 83; Marshall's Am.
Colon., i. 163; Keith, 165; Hening,
iii. 550; Bancroft, ii. 248, 249. The
first three authorities say "three
hundred pounds," but the original
record in Hening, says one hundred.
Beverley, 83, says, "After him
Col. George Brent, and Col. William
Fitzhugh, that were noted lawyers
and inhabitants of said Neck, were
employed in that affair, but succeeded
no better than their predecessors."
On the 17th of October, 1746,
commissioners appointed by direction
of King James II. traced the
dividing line between Maryland and
Virginia, and planted "The Fairfax
Stone" at the head of the north branch
of Potomac River. This branch
is often called the Cohongoroota.
See Kercheval's Hist. Valley of
Va., 209-215, and the very able report
of Charles James Faulkner, Esq.,
relative to the boundary line between
Virginia and Maryland, dated
Nov. 6, 1832, in Kercheval, 215-223,
Keith, 167. The author has frequently
seen the signature of Lord
Fairfax. It is regarded as evidence
of a good title in the Northern Neck,
but it is a permanent badge of royal
selfishness. Read Stephens's Heirs
vs. Swann, ix. Leigh, 404-421.
Beverley's petition is given by Hening, iii. 548, 549. It is alluded to
in Burk, ii. 280; Outline, in Howe, 85.
Letters and certificates in Hening,
iii. 567-571. These were received
by Mr. H. in a very ancient
manuscript, from Robert Berkeley,
Esq., of Blandford, Essex Co., Va.
He was a lawyer by profession,
and appears also, at times, to have
performed the duties of a surveyor.
Hening, iii. 565, 566.
Burk, ii. 281; Grahame, ii. 207.
The map in Bancroft, iii. 241, may
be consulted with advantage.
Treaty in Colden's Five Nations,
i. 49, 50; in Burk, ii. 285;
Bancroft, ii. 421. Corlaer was the
Governor of New York. They called
the Governor of Virginia, Assarigoa.
Burk, ii. 291. This was in 1685.
The white deputies from Virginia
were Colonel Byrd and the Attorney-General,
Edmund Jennings.
Burk, ii. 293; Bancroft, ii. 254.
The author of the Outline, in Howe,
85, appears to sympathize with the
Assembly in regarding this as an
illegal exercise of power; but if Howard
really acted under authority from
the King, I do not perceive that he
transcended the bounds of the existing
constitution. Vide Grahame, note,
i. 135.
April, 1687. Robert Beverley
being lately dead.—Hening, iii. 550.
Mr. Burk dates his death in the preceding
year.
Burk, ii. 299, 305. "Colonel
John Scarborough had told Lord
Howard, that His Majesty King
James would wear out the Church
of England; for that when there
were any vacant offices, he supplied
them with men of different persuasion."
Beverley, 88; Keith, 168, 169;
Campbell, 88, 89; Burk, ii. 312314;
Frost's Pict. Hist. U. S., i. 125;
Hawks's Eccl. Hist. Va., 73-75.
Appendix, in Burk, ii. 15; Beverley,
230; Outline, in Howe, 325.
In the Assembly of 1693, two acts
were passed; one establishing the
college at Middle Plantation, and
the other imposing for its support a
tax on sundry skins, to wit: raw-hides,
buck-skins, doe-skins, otter-skins,
wildcat-skins, minx-skins, fox-skins,
raccoon-skins, muskrat-skins,
and elk-skins.—Acts iii. and iv.,
Hening, iii. 122, 123. These wild
animals paid a severe tax to the
cause of education.
Grahame, iii. 9, 10; Keith, 169,
170; Beverley, 90, 91; Burk, ii.
316, 317; Bancroft, iii. 25; Outline,
in Howe, 86; Campbell, 91, and
220; Holmes's Annals, i. 468. During
the prior administration of Nicholson,
and that of Andros, farther
attempts were made to promote the
growth of "towns," by acts of cohabitation,
but they met with small
success.
Beverley, 94, 95, from whom I
obtain this account, makes some remarks
intimating doubt as to Governor
Nicholson's zeal or courage
in this matter; but it is certain that
the Governor was aboard the Shoram
during the whole affair, though
he willingly yielded the honour of
the fight to Captain Passenger. See
Act of Assembly against Pirates, in
1699, Hening, iii. 176, 177.
Beverley, 96; Outline, in Howe,
88; Burk, ii. 325. Mr. Burk greatly
misrepresents Beverley by changing
a single word in a sentence quoted
from him. Beverley says, "I have
heard him boast that he gave this
money out of his own pocket, and
only depended on the Queen's
bounty to repay him. Though the
money is not paid by him to this
day," 96. This last clause is, evidently,
the historian's comment on
Nicholson's boast; but Mr. Burk
appears to attribute the whole to the
Governor, and quotes thus: "though
the money is not paid to him to this
day," ii. 325. The accurate reader
will recognise the importance of
this correction.
Memorial of Quarry, in Beverley,
97; Burk, ii. 326; Grahame,
iii. 13; Bancroft, iii. 27-29. This
memorial is preserved in the British
Museum.
Sir William Keith mentions the
practice of permitting the governor
to reside in England, of giving him
twelve hundred pounds for doing
nothing, and his lieutenant eight
hundred pounds for doing all. Hist.
of Va., 171. Yet he does not seem
to disapprove of this. Vide Grahame,
iii. 65, and in note; Oldmixon's
Brit. Empire.
This was the fifth revision since
the settlement of the colony. It
will be found in Hening, iii. 229 to
481.
Beverley, 98. Something nearly
similar occurred in the reign of
Henry II. of England. Hume, i. 158,
edit. 1832, ch. viii. An established
clergy has seldom been content with
impartial laws.
Campbell, 91; Beverley, 99;
Keith, 172; Burk, ii. 330, and iii.
101, 102; Oldmixon, ii. 401; Grahame,
iii. 66.
Keith, 172, says, "the battle of
Hockstadt." This celebrated conflict
is known by three distinct names.
"Telle fut la celèbre bataille qui, en
France a le nom de Hochstet, en
Allemagne de Pleintheim, et en Angleterre
de Blenheim."—Voltaire,
Siècle de Louis XIV., ii. 127.
Under the name of Orange was
first included all that part of Virginia
lying west of the Blue Ridge.
In 1738, the counties of Frederick
and Augusta were created, covering
the whole of this magnificent region.
—Howe's Hist. Collections, 177. The
valley was settled in 1732, by German
families from Pennsylvania.—
Kercheval's Hist. Valley, 64-66.
Grahame, iii. 67; Keith, 173;
Campbell, 91. The author of the Outline,
in Howe, 89, says, he "effected
a passage over the Blue Ridge;"
but it was undoubtedly the Alleghany
range that he crossed. Mr.
Grahame calls him "Spottiswoode,"
but the original records give his
own signature, "A. Spotswood."
Hist. Docum., in Hening, iv. 546,
547, &c.
I give this incident on the authority
of Howe's Outline History,
p. 89. It has been to me a source
of deep regret that I have not been
able to procure the use of a very
valuable manuscript, prepared by
Governor Spotswood, and giving a
history of the colony, from the time
of his arrival, to a period near the
date of his death. This MS. was
carried to England some years ago,
by Mr. Featherstonaugh, an English
geologist, I believe, who travelled
through America for scientific purposes.
Besides other interesting
matter from this work, we would
have obtained an authentic account
of a society, known as "Knights of
the Golden Horseshoe."—Letter to
the author, from John R. Spotswood,
Esq., of Orange County, Virginia,
dated March 25, 1846.
Keith, 172, 173; Burk, iii. 102;
Chalmers's Revolt of Am. Colon., ii.
74. Although Spotswood was beloved
by the great body of the colonists,
he was sometimes involved in
disputes with the Assembly. The
Burgesses from the counties of Virginia
could not yet appreciate his
expanded views, and complaints and
recriminations on either side sometimes
crossed the Atlantic. The
Governor was generally in the right,
and was supported by the people.
Chalmers speaks of "the impudent
insolence of Spotswood," Revolt Am.
Colon., ii. 73; an expression betraying
ignorance as well as injustice.
Hening, iv. 142, 181; Burk, iii.
96; Chalmers's Revolt Amer. Colon.,
ii. 79, 80. He dates Drysdale's accession
in 1722.
Act of 1720, Hening, iv. 77.
One of the boundary lines of Spottsylvania
then ran "through the
high mountains," to the head of
Rappahannoc River.
Read an extract from Colonel
Byrd's Progress to the Mines, written
in 1732, in Howe's Hist. Collec.,
476.
List of Governors, on first page of Hening, vol. iv. Burk and Campbell
say nothing of Carter. Chalmers's Revolt Am. Colon., ii. 161.
Chalmers's Revolt of Am. Col., ii. 198, 199; Campbell, 94; Burk, iii. 101,
104; Grahame, iii. 212.
Campbell, 94; Outline, in Howe,
89; Burk, iii. 104; Grahame, iii.
213; Smollett's Contin. of Hume,
viii. 257-260, chap. 7. The reader
will recall the expressive lines of
Thomson:
The British fire. You, gallant Vernon! saw
The miserable scene. * * * * * *
* * * * * * you heard the groans
Of agonizing ships from shore to shore,
Heard nightly plunged amid the sullen waves
The frequent corse."
Burk, iii. 105. Colonel Byrd
owned a warehouse which occupied
a spot very near the site of the present
Exchange Hotel, in Richmond.
Vide Howe's Hist. Collec., 304; Ordinances
of Richmond City, 1-4.
Chalmers calls Blair, "the Bishop
of London's seditious commissary,"
Revolt Am. Colon., ii. 73. It will
not be impertinent to give here one
closing sentence from Sir William
Keith, to show what were his sentiments
on this point. "Although
great advantages may accrue to the
mother state, both from the labour
and luxury of its plantations, yet
they will probably be mistaken who
imagine that the advancement of
literature, and the improvement of
arts and sciences, in our American
Colonies, can ever be of any service
to the British state!"—Remarks on
Trade and Government of Virginia,
187.
Campbell, 95, says in 1742;
Burk, iii. 110, says 1743. Chalmers's
notice of this skirmish will mislead
the incautious reader. Revolt Am.
Col., ii. 201.
Governor's charge to Grand
Jury, in Burk, iii. 119. See Campbell,
96, 98; Outline, in Howe, 90;
Hawks's Eccles. History of Virginia,
110.
Voltaire, Precis du Siècle de
Louis XV., v. 10-28; Smollett's
Continuation of Hume, viii. chap.
xi., 347-351.
The members were Peyton Randolph,
Philip Ludwell, Beverley
Whiting, Carter Burwell, and Benjamin
Waller.—Delaplaine's Repos.
Dict. Am., Part ii. 108; Campbell,
99; Burk, iii. 135.
That is, Cape Breton, with the
town of Louisbourg, which had been
captured by forces principally from
New England, in 1745.—Bancroft,
iii. 463-466; Burk, iii. 132; Grahame,
iii. 305.
| CHAPTER VII. A history of Virginia | |