OLD VmGlNlJCSlM
HER NEIGHBOURS
Xt"c
pLStCb
SHu^tratcD Edition
OLD VIRGINIA
AND HER NEIGHBOURS
By JOHN FISKE
IN TWO VOLUMES
VOLUME II
^vrtt
COPYRIGHT, 1S97 AND 1900, BY JOHN FISKE
COPYKIGHT, 1900, PA" HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
CONTENTS
CHAPTER X
THE COMING OF THE CAVALIERS
PAGE
Virginia depicted by an admirer i
Her domestic animals, game, and song-birds .... 2
Her agriculture .......... 2
Her nearness to the Northwest Passage 2, 3
Her commercial rivals 4
Not so barren a country as New England 4
Life of body and soul were preserved in Virginia ; Mr. Benjamin
Symes and his school ......... 4
Worthy Captain Mathews and his household .... j;
Rapid growth in population 5, 6
Historical lessons in names of Virginia counties ... 6
Scarcity of royalist names on the map of New England , . 7
As to the Cavaliers in Virginia; some popular misconceptions . 8, 9
Some democratic protests 9
Sweeping statements are inadmissible 10
Difference between Cavaliers and Roundheads was political, not
social ............ 10
Popular misconceptions regarding the English nobility ; England
has never had a //^^/^i-j-*?, or upper caste ... . . . u
Contrast with France in this respect i i
Importance of the middle class 12
Respect for industry in England . , 12
The Cavalier exodus 13
Political complexion of \'irginia before 1649 ^3
The great exchange of 1649 H
Political moderation shown in Virginia during the Commonwealth
period 14. 15
Richard Lee and his familv t<^)
How Berkeley was elected governor by the assembly . . 16,17
Lee's visit to Brussels . . 18
How Charles TI. was proclaimed king in \'irginia, 1 ut not before
he had been proclaimed in England . . . . . .18
IV
CONTENTS
The seal of \'irginia . . . . .
Significant increase in the size of land grants .
Arrival of well-known Cavalier families
Ancestrv of Georsfe Washington
'9
20, 21
21
21, 22
If the pedigrees of horses, dogs, and fancy pigeons are important,
still more so are the pedigrees of men .....
Value of genealogical study to the historian
The Washington family tree .......
How Sir William Jones paraphrased the epigram of Alc^eus .
Historical importance of the Cavalier element in Virginia .
Differences between New England and Virginia were due, not to
differences in social quality of the settlers, but partly to ecclesi-
astical and still more to economical circumstances
22
-7-7
23
24-26
26
Settlement of New England by the migration of organized con-
gregations .......
Land grants in Massachusetts ....
Township and village ......
Social position of settlers in New England
Some merits of the town meeting
Its educational value ......
Primogeniture and entail in \'irginia .
Virginia parishes .... ...
The vestry a close corporation ; its extensive powers
The county was the unit of representation
The county court was virtually a close corporation
Powers of the county court
The sheriff and his extensive powers .
The county lieutenant
Jefferson's opinion of government l)y town meeting
Court day ........
Summary
Virginia prolific in great leaders ....
26
• 27
27
. 28
28
29,30
30
• 30
31
• 32
32,33
• 33
34
• 36
37
• 37
37, 38
. 38
CHAPTER XI
bacon's rebellion
How the crude mediaeval methods of robbery began to give place
to more ingenious modern methods . . . . . -39
The Navigation Act of 1651 . 39^40
Second Navigation Act ......... 40
John Bland's remonstrance 40
Some direct consequences of the Navigation Act . . . .42
Some indirect consequences of the Navigation Act ... 42
CONTENTS
54-
55-
Bland's exposure of the protectionist humbug . • . .
His own proposition .........
Effect of the Navigation Act upon \'irginia and Maryland : disas-
ters caused by low price of tobacco
The Surry protest of 1673 •
The Arlington-Culpeper grant ......
Some of its effects .......
Character of Sir William Berkeley
Corruption and extortion under his government
The Long Assembly. 1 661 -1676
Berkeley's violent temper
Beginning of the Indian war 51.
Colonel John Washington
Affair of the five Susquehannock envoys ....
The killing of the envovs ......
Berkeley's perverseness in not calling out a mihtary force .
Indian atrocities ........
Nathaniel Bacon and his family . . . . .
His friends William Drummond and Richard Lawrence
Bacon's plantation is attacked by the Indians. May, 1676 .
Bacon marches against the Indians and defeats them .
Election of a new House of Burgesses ....
Arrest of Bacon
He is released, and goes to lodge at the house of "'thoughtful Mr.
Lawrence" ^
Bacon is persuaded to make his submission and apologizes to the
governor .......... 59, 60
In spite of the governor's unwillingness, the new assembly reforms
many abuses . . • • . . . . • 61, 62
How the " Queen of Pamunkey " appeared before the House of
Burgesses .......... 62-64
The chairman's rudeness 64
Bacon's flight 64
His speedy return 65
How^ the governor was intimidated ....... 65
Bacon crushes the Susquehannocks while Berkeley flies to Acco-
mac and proclaims him a rebel ...... 66
Bacon's march to Middle Plantation 66
His manifesto 67
His arraignment of Berkeley: he specifies nineteen persons as
" wicked counsellors *' ....... 68-70
Oath at Middle Plantation 70
Bacon defeats the Ap])omattox Indians . . ■. . . -7'
Startling conversation between Bacon and Goode . . . 71-74
43
44
45
45
46
46
48
50
50
51
52
52
53
53
54
55
56
56
57
57
58
58
58
VI
CONTENTS
Perilous situation of Bacon ......
The •' White Aprons " at Jamestown ....
Bacon's speech at Green Spring
Burning of Jamestown
Persons who suffered at Bacon's hands ....
Bacon and his cousin .......
Death of Bacon, Oct. i, 1676
Collapse of the rebellion
Arrival of royal commissioners, January, 1677
Berkeley's outrageous conduct
Execution of Drummond .......
Death of Berkeley
Significance of the rebellion
How far Bacon represented popular sentiment in Virginia
Political changes since 1660 ; close vestries
Restriction of the suffrage
How the aristocrats regarded Bacon's followers
The real state of the case ......
Effect of hard times . . . . . .
Populist aspect of the rebellion .....
Its sound aspects . . ...
Bacon must ever remain a bright and attractive figure
74
76
76
11
11
78
79
79
79
80
82
83
83
84
86
'^'], 88
89, 90
90,91
. 91
92
. 92
93
CHAPTER XII
WILLIAM AND MARY
A century of political education 94
Robert Beverley, clerk of the House of Burgesses . . 94, 95
His refusal to givs up the journals 95
Arrival of Lord Culpeper as governor 96
The plant-cutters' riot of 1682 96. 97
Contracting the currency with a vengeance .... 98
Culpeper is removed, and Lord Howard of Effingham comes to
govern in his stead ......... 98
More trouble for Beverley ........ 99
For stupid audacity James II.. after all, was outdone by George
III 100
Francis Nicholson comes to govern Virginia, and exhibits eccentric
manners .......... loo, loi
How James Blair founded William and Mary College . . . 102
How Sir Edmund Andros came as Nicholson's successor and
quarrelled with Dr. Blair 104. ic6
How young Daniel Parke one Sunday pulled Mrs. Blair out of
her pew in church . . . . . . . . . ic6
CONTENTS
vu
107
108
108
109
Removal of Andros
The Karl of Orkney draws a salary for governing Virginia for the
next forty years without crossing the ocean, while the work is
done by lieutenant-governors
The first of these was Nicholson once more ....
Who removed the capital from Jamestown to Middle Plantation,
and called it Williamsburg
How the blustering Nicholson, disappointed in love, behaved so
badly that he was removed from office . . . . no, iii
Fortunes of the college in
Indian students .........
Instructions to the housekeeper
Horse-racing prohibited
Other prohibitions
The courtship of Parson Camm ; a Virginia Priscilla .
Some interesting facts about the college ....
Nicholson's schemes for a union of the colonies .
1 12
1 12
113
114
114, 115
. 1 16
116, 117
CHAPTER XIII
MARYLAND'S VICISSITUDES
Maryland after the death of Oliver Cromwell
Fuller and Fendall .........
The duty on tobacco . 119,
Fendall's plot ..........
Temporary overthrow of Baltimore's authority ....
Superficial resemblance to the action of Virginia
Profound difference in the situations
Collapse of Fendall's rebellion .......
Arrival of ths Quakers 123,
The Swedes and Dutch on the Delaware River ....
Augustine Herman . . . . . . . -124.
He makes a map of Maryland, and is rewarded by the grant of Bo-
hemia Manor ..........
How the Labadists took refuge in Bohemia Manor
How the Duke of York took possession of all the Delaware settle-
ments ............
And granted New Jersey to Lord Berkeley and Sir George Car-
teret
Which resulted in the bringing of William Penn upon the scene
Charter of Pennsylvania ........
lioundaries between Penn and Baltimore .....
Old manors in Maryland ........
18
19
20
20
21
22
22
23
24
24
25
26
28
29
29
29
30
30
Vlll
CONTEXTS
Life on the manors
The court leet and court baron
Changes wrought b}' slavery
A fierce spirit of liberty combined with ingrained respect for law
Cecilius Calvert and his son Charles
Sources of discontent in Maryland , . . . . .135.
A pleasant little family party
Conflict between the Council and the Burgesses ....
Burgesses claim to be a House of Commons, but the Council will
not admit it
How Rev. Charles Xichollet was fined for preaching politics.
The Cessation Act of 1666 137^
Acts concerning the relief of Quakers and the appointment of
sheriffs ............
Restriction of suffrage in 1670 138.
Death of Cecilius, Lord Baltimore
Rebellion of Davis and Pate, 1676; their execution .
How George Talbot, lord of Susquehanna Manor, slew a revenue
collector, and was carried to Virginia for trial . . . 140-
How his v/ife took him from jail, and how he was kept hidden un-
til a pardon was secured
" A Complaint from Heaven with a Hue and Cry "...
The anti-Catholic panic of 1689
Causes of the panic .........
How John Coode overthrew the palatinate government . .144,
But did not thereby bring the millennium
How Nicholson removed the capital from St. Mary's to Annapo-
lis ........... .
Unpopularity of the establishment of the Church of England
Episcopal parsons .........
Exemption of Protestant dissenters from civil disabilities
Seymour reprimands the Catholic priests .....
Cruel laws against Catholics . . . . . . • 150,
Crown requisitions .........
Benedict Calvert, fourth Lord Baltimore, becomes a Protestant
and the palatinate is revived .......
Change in the political situation .......
Charles Carroll entertains a plan for a migration to the ?*Iissis-
sippi Valley
How the seeds of revolution were planted in Maryland
End of the palatinate .........
32
34
34
35
n -
36
36
36
37
37
3<S
38
39
39
40
42
42
42
43
43
45
46
47
48
48
49
49
52
52
53
54
55
S6
CONTENTS
IX
CHAPTER XIV
SOCIETY IX THE OLD DO-MINION
How the history of tobacco has been connected with the history
of liberty ...........
Rapid growth of tobacco culture in A'irginia ....
Legislative attempts tocheck it ...... .
Need for cheap labour .........
Indentured white servants ... ^ ... .
How the notion grew up in England that Virginians were de-
scended from convicts ; Defoe's novels, a comedy by Mrs. Behn,
Postlethwayt's Dictionary, and Gentleman's Magazine . i6o-
Who were the indentured white servants .....
Redemptioners ..........
Distribution of convicts .........
Prisoners of war ..........
Summary ............
Careers of white freedmen ........
Representative Virginia families were not descended from white
freedmen ...........
Some of the freedmen became small proprietors ....
Some became " mean wdiites '' .......
Development of negro slavery ; effect of the treaty of Utrecht .
Anti-slaverv sentiment in Mrs^inia .......
Theory that negroes were non-human
Baptizing a slave did not work his emancipation ....
Negroes as real estate .........
Tax on slaves ...........
Treatment of slaves 178.
Fears of insurrection .........
Cruel laws 180,
Free blacks a source of danger
Taking slaves to England; did it work their emancipation '^
Lord Mansfield's famous decision ... ....
Jefferson's opinion of slavery ......
Immoralities incident to the system ....
Classes in Virginia society .......
Huguenots in Virginia .......
184.
186,
189,
Influence of the rivers upon society .....
Some exports and imports
Some domestic industries ........
Beverley complains of his countrymen as lazy, but perhaps his re
proachful tone is a little overdone .....
158
15S
159
159
64
64
^5
66
68
68
69
70
70
71
72
74
7S
76
77
77
79
80
81
82
82
83
S3
85
85
87
88
90
90
192
CONTENTS
Absence of town life
Futile attempts to make towns by legislation .
The country store and its treasures ....
Rivers and road
Tobacco as currency .......
Effect upon crafts and trades
Effect upon planters' accounts
Universal hospitality ......
Visit to a plantation ; the negro quarter
Other appurtenances ......
The Great House or Home House ....
Brick and wooden houses .....
House architecture .......
The rooms ........
Bedrooms and their furniture .....
The dinner table ; napkins and forks
Silver plate ; wainscots and tapestry ....
The kitchen ........
The abundance of wholesome and delicious food
The beverages, native and imported ....
Smyth's picture of the daily life on a plantation .
Very different picture given by John Mason ; the mode of 1
Gunston Hall .........
A glimpse of Mount Vernon . . . . .
Dress of planters and their wives . . .
Weddings and funerals
Horses and horse-racing ......
Fox-hunting
Ciamblinor .........
220,
224.,
A rural entertainment of the olden time .
Music and musical instruments .....
The theatre and other recreations ....
Some interesting libraries ......
Schools and printing ......
Private free schools .......
Academies and tutors ......
Convicts as tutors ........
Virginians at Oxford ......
James Madison and his tutors .......
Contrast with New England in respect of educational advantages .
Causes of the difference ....... 230-
Illustrations from the history of American intellect
Virginia's historians ; Robert Beverley .....
William Stith .......... 234,
193,
I95»
i99»
203,
208,
210,
fe at
211
214,
194
194
196
197
198
198
199
200
201
202
202
203
204
205
205
206
207
208
208
209
211
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215
216
217
218
219
219
-T) J
OO J
223
226
226
226
227
228
229
230
•232
233
234
236
CONTENTS
XI
William Byrd 236-238
Jefferson's notes on Mrginia; AlcClurg's Belles of Williamsburg;
Clayton the botanist 238
Physicians, their prescriptions and charges 239
Washington's last illness 239, 240
Some Virginia parsons, their tricks and manners . . . 240-242
Free thinking ; superstition and crime .... 243, 244
Cruel punishments .......... 244
Lawyers 245
A* government of laws 246
Some characteristics of Maryland ..... 246, 247
CHAPTER XV
THE CAROLINA FRONTIER
How South Carolina was a frontier against the Spaniards
How North Carolina was a wilderness frontier .
The grant of Carohna to eight lords proprietors
John Locke and Lord Shaftesbury ....
"Fundamental Constitutions" of Carolina
The Carolina palatinate different from that of Maryland
Titles of nobility ........
Albemarle colony
New Englanders at Cape Fear
Sir John Yeamans and Clarendon colony
The Ashley River colony and the founding of Charleston
First legislation in Albemarle .....
Troubles caused by the Navigation Act ....
The trade between Massachusetts and North Carolina
Eastchurch and Miller .......
Culpeper's usurpation .......
How Culpeper fared in London .....
How Charleston was moved from Albemarle Point to
Point
Seth Sothel's tyranny in Albemarle and his banishment
Troubles in Ashley River colony
The Scotch at Port Royal
A state without laws .......
Reappearance of Sothel, this time as the people's friend
His downfall and death .......
Clarendon colony abandoned .....
Philip LudwelFs administration .....
Joseph Archdale and his beneficent rule
. 248
248, 250
. 250
251
52, 253
254
. 255
256
. 256
256
. 257
258
. 260
260-262
. 262
263
. 264
Oyster
. 264
265, 266
. . 267
267
. 268
. 268
. 268
269
. 270
270
xii COxNTENTS
Sir Nathaniel Johnson and the dissenters 271
Unsuccessful attempt of a French and Spanish fleet upon Charles-
ton 272, 274
Thomas Carey 275
Porter's mission to England 275, 276
Edward Hyde comes to govern North CaroHna .... 276
Carey's rebellion 277
Expansion of the northern colony ; arrival of Baron Graffenried
with Germans and Swiss; founding of New Berne . . . 277
Accusations against Carey and Porter of inciting the Indians
against the colony ......... 277
These accusations are highly improbable and not well supported . 277
Survey of Carolina Indians ....... 278-280
Algonquin tribes 278
Sioux tribes ; Iroquois tribes 278-280
Muscogi tribes ........... 280
Algonquin-Iroquois conspiracy against the North Carolina settle-
ments ........... 280
Capture of Lawson and Graffenried by the Tuscaroras ; Lawson's
horrible death 280
The massacre of September, 1711 . . . . . . 282
Aid from Virginia and South Carolina 283
Barmvell defeats the Tuscaroras 284
Crushing defeat of the Tuscaroras by James Moore ; their migra-
tion to New York . ....... 286
Administration of Charles Eden ....... 286
Spanish intrigues with the Yamassees 287
Alliance of Indian tribes against the South Carolinians and nine
months' warfare ......... 287
Administration of Robert Johnson ....... 288
The revolution of 1719 in South Carolina ; end of the proprietary
government in both colonies ...... 288, 289
Contrast between the two colonies ...... 290
Interior of North Carolina contrasted with the coast . . . 292
Unkempt life . . 293
A genre picture by Colonel Byrd 293, 294
Industries of North Carolina 296
Absence of towns .......... 296
A frontier democracy ......... 297
Segregation and dispersal of Virginia poor whites . . . 298
Spotswood's account of the matter ...... 299
New peopling of North Carolina after 1720; the German immi-
gration . .......... 300
Scotch Highlanders and Scotch-Irish ...... 301
•
301
•
301
303,
304
•
305
like
•
305
.
306
306,
307
•
308
•
310
•
311
•
312
312,
313
•
313
•
314
•
315
.
316
CONTENTS xiii
Further disposal of poor whites ......
Barbarizing effects of isolation .....
The settlers of South Carolina, churchmen and dissenters
The open vestries .........
South Carolina parish, purely English in its origin, not French like
the parishes of Louisiana ......
Free schools ..........
Rice and indigo ........
Some characteristics of South Carolina slavery .
Negro insurrection of 1740 .. = ...
Cruelties connected with slavery ......
Social life in Charleston .......
Contrast between the two Carolinas
The Spanish frontier and the founding of Georgia
James Oglethorpe and his philanthropic schemes
Beginnings of Georgia .......
Summary ; Cavaliers and Puritans once more
CHAPTER XVI
THE GOLDEN AGE OF PIRATES
The business of piracy has never thriven so greatly as in the sev-
enteenth century . . . . . . . . . -319
Pompey and the pirates . . . . . . . -319
Chinese and Malay pirates on the Indian Ocean and Mussulman
pirates on the Mediterranean Sea 319,320
The Scandinavian Vikings cannot properly be termed pirates . 320
Sir William Blackstone's remarks about piracy . . . 320, 321
Character of piracy .......
To call the Elizabethan sea-kings pirates is silly and outrageous
Features of maritime warfare out of which piracy could grow
Privateerins: ..........
Fighting without declaring war
Lack of protection for neutral ships .....
Origin of buccaneering ; " Brethren of the Coast " .
Illicit traffic in the West Indies ......
Buccaneers and filibusters .......
The kind of people who became buccaneers .
The honest man who took to buccaneering to satisfy his creditors' 328
The deeds of Olonnois and other wretches . . 328, 329
Henry Morgan and his evil deeds ...... 330, 332
Alexander Exquemeling and his entertaining book . . . 332
How Morgan captured Maracaibo and Gibraltar in Venezuela 334
•
321
is
322
•
323
•
OJ OJ
to to
4- OJ
y~
4,
325
3-5
326
32
^
327
xiv CONTENTS
The treaty of America of 1670 for the suppression of buccaneering
and piracy 336
Sack of Panama by Morgan and his buccaneers .... 336
How Morgan absconded with most of the bpoty . . . 338
How English and Spanish governors industriously scotched the
How the chief of pirates became Sir Henry Morgan, deputy-gov-
ernor of Jamaica, and hanged his old comrades or sold them to
the Spaniards . 339
How the treaty of America caused his downfall .... 340
Decline of buccaneering . . " . . . . . . 340
Pirates of the South Sea ........ 340, 341
Plunder of Peruvian towns 342
Effects of the alliance between France and Spain in 1701 . . 344
Pirates in the Bahama Islands and on the Carolina coast . . 344
Effect of the navigation laws in stimulating piracy . . . 345
Effect of rice culture upon the relations between South Carolina
settlers and the pirates 346
Wholesale hanging of pirates at Charleston 346
How pirates swarmed on the North Carolina coast . . . 347
Until Captain Woodes Rogers captured the Island of New Provi-
dence in 1718 347
The North Carolina waters furnished the last lair for the pirates 347
How Blackbeard, the last of the pirates, levied blackmail upon
Charleston 347, 348
Epidemic character of piracy ; cases of Kidd and Bonnet . . 350
Fate of Bonnet and Blackbeard, and final suppression of piracy 351
CHAPTER XVII
FROM TIDEAVATER TO THE MOUNTAINS
Family and early career of Alexander Spotswood .... 352
He brings the privilege of habeas corpus to Virginia, but wrangles
much with his burgesses ........ 352
His energy and public spirit ........ 353
How the Post-Office Act was resisted by the people . . 354-356
Disputes as to power of appointing parsons 356
Beginnings of continental politics in America .... 357
Beginning of the seventy years' struggle with France . . . 357
How the continental situation in America was affected by the war
of the Spanish succession ........ 358
Different views of Spotswood and the assembly with regard to
sending aid to Carolina 359, 360
CONTENTS XV
How the royal governors became convinced that the thing most
needed in English America was a continental government that
could impose taxes 361
Franklin's plan for a federal union ...... 361
It was the failure of the colonies to adopt Franklin's plan that
led soon afterwards to the Stamp Act 362
How Spots wood regarded the unknown West . . . 362, 363
Attempts to cross the Blue Ridge 364
How the Blue Ridge was crossed by Spotswood . . . 364
Knights of the Golden Horseshoe 366
Spotswood's plan for communicating between \lrginia and Lake
Erie 366, 368
Condition of the postal service in the English colonies under Spots-
wood's administration ......... 370
Brief mention of Governors Gooch and Dinwiddle . . '370
Importance of the Scotch-Irish migration to America . . . 371
In 161 1 James I. began colonizing Ulster with settlers from Scot-
land and England . . . . . . . . -371
In Ulster they established flourishing manufactures of woollens and
linens . . 372
Which excited the jealousy of rival manufacturers in England . 372
Legislation against the Ulster manufacturers 372
Civil disabilities inflicted upon Presbyterians in Ulster . . 373
These circumstances caused such a migration to America that by
1770 it amounted to more than half a million souls . . . 373
Many Scotch-Irish settled in the Shenandoah Valley, and were
closely followed by Germans ....... 374
This Shenandoah population exerted a most powerful democratiz-
ing influence upon the colony ...... 374, 375
Jefferson found in them his most powerful supporters . . 376
Lord Fairfax's home at Greenway Court ; Fairfax's affection for
Washington ........... 376
How the surveying of Fairfax's frontier estates led Washington on
to his public career ......... 377
The advance of Virginians from tidewater to the mountains brought
on the final struggle with France 377. 378
Advance of the French from Lake Erie ..... 378
Washington goes to warn them from encroaching upon English ter-
ritory , 379
NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGI
Colonel William Byrd, of Westover {photogravure)
Frontispiece
From a painting owned by IMiss Stewart, of Brook Hill. Autograph
from the Virginia Historical Societ}'.
Facsimile title of A Perfect Description, etc. ... 3
From the original, in the library of Harvard University.
Map illustrating the westward growth of Old Vir-
ginia 6
From a sketch by the author.
P^arrer"s Map of Virginia, 1651 12
From the original in Lenox Library.
Colonel Richard Lee 15
After a family portrait, engraved in Lee of Virgmia, by kind permission of
Dr. E. J. Lee.
Charles II 17
From the National Portrait Gallery, after the original painting by Mrs.
Mary Beale.
Seal of Virginia after the Restoration 19
From the William and Mary College Quarterly.
Lucius Cary, Viscount Falkland 25
After a painting by Vandyke, in the Arundel Collection. Autograph from
Boston Public Library.
Mrs. Richard Lee 29
From Lee of Virginia^ after a family portrait.
List of servants in \"irginia. August i, 1622 35
Facsimile of a MS. in Lenox Library.
Facsimile TITLE of Lord Delaware's Relation .... 41
From the original in Lenox Library.
xviii NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS
Henry Bennet, Earl of Arlington 47
From Birch's Heads of Illustrious Persons. Autograph from Autographs
of Remarkable Personages.
Lower Brandon, North Front . . ., 49
From a photograph.
Site of House of Burgesses, Jamestown 59
From a photograph.
Richard Lee, the Younger 69
From an engraving in Lee of Virginia., after a family portrait. Autograph
from the same book.
Commercial document signed by Nathaniel Bacon . . "ji
Facsimile of a MS. in Virginia State Library,
Lower Brandon, South Front 81
From a photograph.
Autograph of John Washington 84
From Lenox Library.
Facsimile title of Strange News from Virginia . . . %s
From the original in Lenox Library.
Arms of Ludwell •. • • 89
From Lee of Virginia.
Lord Culpeper 97
From a painting in the possession of the Virginia Historical Society.
Lord Howard of Effingham 99
From a painting in the Virginia State Library.
James II loi
From National Portrait Gallery, after an original painting by John
Riley.
James Blair {photo g^ravure) facing 102
From one of the portraits of him at William and Mary College. Auto-
graph from Winsor's America.
Message from Sir Francis Nicholson to the Speaker of
the Assembly of South Carolina 103
Facsimile of a MS. in Lenox Library.
Early View of William and Mary College 104
From Winsor's America.
An Order of Sir Edmund Andros 105
Facsimile of a MS. in Lenox Library.
NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS xix
Colonel Daniel Parke 107
After an original portrait by Sir Godfrey Kneller, engraved in Colonial
Mansions, by kind permission of Messrs. H. T. Coates & Co. of Fhiladelpliia.
George Hamilton Douglas, Earl of Orkney 109
From Birch's Heads of Illustrious Persons.
Piece of sixteenth century armour unearthed at James-
town no
Photographed from the piece in possession of the Virginia Historical
Society.
Autograph of Robert Boyle 11 1
From Winsor's America.
Medal presented by James II. to the "King of Potow-
MACKs" 113
Photographed from the medal in possession of the Virginia Historical
Society.
Mrs. James Blair 115
From the portrait at William and Mary College.
Augustine Herman 125
From a painting in the possession of Mrs. James OldJiam, of Philadelphia,
Autograph of William Claiborne 126
From Virginia Historical Society.
Tuckahoe, South Front 127
From a photograph.
Autographs of Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret . 129
From Winsor's America.
William Penn 131
From an engraving by John Sartain of a copy of the portrait by an un-
known hand, painted in Ireland in 1666, now preserved in Pennsylvania
Castle, Isle of Portland, Dorset. The Pennsylvania Historical Society has
the copy from wliich Sartain's engraving was made.
Doughoregan Manor, Maryland 133
From a photograph.
Autograph of Charles Calvert, Third Lord Baltimore 139
From Winsor's America.
Tuckahoe, South Stair 141
From a photograph.
Autograph of Louis XIV 143
From Winsor's America.
XX NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS
William III 145
From National Portrait Gallery, after an original painting by Jan Wyck.
Mary II 146
From National Portrait Gallery^ after an original painting by William
V Wissing. Autograph from Netherclift's Autographs.
Autograph of Leonard Calvert 147
From Maryland Historical Society.
Drawixg-Room at Doughoregan Manor 151
Fiom a photograph.
Autograph of Benedict Leonard Calvert, Fourth Lord
Baltimore 152
From Maryland Historical Society.
Arms of Carroll 154
From Marion Harland's More Colonial Homes, by permission.
Frederick Calvert, Sixth Lord Baltimore 155
From an engraving in the London Magazine. June, 1768. Autograph
from Maryland Historical Society.
Facslmile title of Aphra Behn's The Widow Ranter . i6t
From the original in Lenox Library.
Westover, the Byrd mansion 163
From a photograph.
Facsimile title of A Declaration, etc . 167
From the original in Lenox Library.
Autograph of Samuel Mathews 169
From Virginia Historical Society.
Broadside regulating indenture of servants 170
From the original in Lenox Library.
Facsimile title of Hariot's Brief and True Report . .173
From the original in Lenox Library.
Gate at Westover 176
From a photograph.
A Virginia Half Penny 177
From Dickeson's Ainerican Numismatic Maiiual.
Colonel John Page 178
From the portrait at William and Mary College.
NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS xxi
Autograph of Robert Beverley 179
From Virginia Historical Society.
Old wood carving of Lee Arms 184
From Lee of Virginia.
Sir John Randolph > 186
Lady Randolph \ 187
From the portraits at William and Mary College. *
Wharf at Upper Brandon 189
From a photograph.
Facslmile title of Beverley's book 191
From the original in my own library.
County Court-House, Duke of Gloucester Street, Wil-
liamsburg 193
From a photograph.
Fireplace in a slave's kitchen 201
From a photograph.
Stratford Hall 204
From Lee of Virginia.
A chair of Governor Gooch 205
Photographed from the original in possession of the Virginia Historical
Society.
Old doorway at Oaklands 209
From a photograph.
Martha Washington 213
After a painting by Woolaston, in the possession of G. W. P. Custis.
Autograph from Smith and Watson's American Historical and Literary
Curiosities.
Mary Washington 215
From a painting in the possession of Mrs. S. F. B. Morse, of New York.
Home of Mary Washington 216
From a photograph.
Autograph of Hugh Jones 218
From Winsor's America.
Autograph of Sir William Berkeley 224
From the same.
Seal of the Merchants of A^irginia 225
From the original in the \'irginia State Library.
xxii NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS
Home of the Washington Family 229
After an engraving in Putnam's Homes of American Statesmen.
SCHOOLHOUSE AT TUCKAHOE, WHERE ThOMAS JeFFERSON
WENT TO SCHOOL 23 1
From a photograph.
Arms of Byrd 233
From Mrs. Burton Harrison's paper on William Byrd, in the Century
Magazine, June, 1S91, by permission of the Century Company.
Facsimile title of Stith's History » 235
From the original in Lenox Library.
Instruments used by Byrd and Mayo in running the
dividing line „ 237
Photographed from the originals in possession of the Virginia Historical
Society.
Interior of Bruton Parish Church 241
From a pliotograph.
St. Luke's Church, Newport Parish, near Smithfield . 243
From a photograph.
Spotswood's order for the trial of a negro 244
From the MS. in possession of the Virginia Historical Society,
Nicholas Cumberford\s map of the north part of Caro-
lina 249
From the original in Lenox Library,
Autographs of the Lords Proprietors of Carolina . . 251
From Winsor's America.
Anthony Ashley Cooper, First Earl of Shaftesbury . 253
From National Portrait Gallery, after an original painting by Greenhill.
Edward Hyde, First Earl of Clarendon ...... 254
From Natio7ial Portrait Gallery, after the original painting by Gerard
Zoust, in the collection at Grove Park, Watford, Hertfordshire.
William Craven, First Earl of Craven 257
From National Portrait Gallery, after the original painting by Gerard
Honthorst, in the collection at Combe Abbey.
Facsimile title of A Brief Description, etc. . » . . . 259
From the original in Lenox Library.
George Monk, Duke of Albemarle {photogravure) . facing 260
From National Portrait Gallery, after the original painting by Sir Peter
Lely.
Lederer's Map of Carolina, 1670 261
From Winsor's America.
NOTES OX THE ILLUSTRATIONS xxiii
Map of Coopp:r and Ashley Rivers 265
From the same.
Morden's Map of Carolina, 1687 269
From the same.
Autograph of Philip Ludwell 270
From Virginia Historical Society.
Al'tograph of John Archdale 271
From Winsor's America.
Sir Nathaniel Johnson 272
From an original painting preserved at \\'appahoola Plantation. Berkeley
County, South Carolina; through the kindness of J. K. P. Bryan. Esq.
Plan of Charleston, 1704 273
From Winsor's America.
Lady Johnson 275
From an original painting preserved at Wappahoola Plantation, Berkeley
County, South Carolina; through the kindness of J. K. P. Bryan, Esq.
Map of North Carolina Precincts, 1663-1729 276
After a map in Hawks's History of North Carolina.
Indian Map of South Carolina 279
From Winsor's America.
Facsimile title of John LA^vsoN's book 281
From the original in Lenox Library.
Tomb of Colonel William Byrd. at Westover .... 283
From a photograph.
Facsimile of Craven's instructions 285
From a MS. in possession of the South Carolina Historical Society.
Original Broad Seal of South Carolina 286
Photographed from the seal in possession of the Virginia Historical
Society.
Autograph of Nicholas Trott 288
From South Carolina Historical Society.
Colonel James Moore"s order for supplies 289
From the original in Lenox Library.
Plan of Charleston. 1732 291
From Winsor's Avierica.
Map of y"^ most improved part of Carolina 292
From the same.
Facsimile title of Virgo Tricmphans 295
From the original in Lenox Library.
xxiv NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS
Birthplace of Sir Walter Raleigh, at Hayes in Devonshire 297
From a photograph.
Mulberry Castle, the home of Thomas Broughtox . . 299
From a photograph.
John Locke ( photogravure) facing 300
Photographed from a copy in oil, painted for me by my mother, Mrs.
Mary Fiske Stoughton, of one of the original portraits of Locke, by Sir
Godfrey Kneller, in the gallery of the Hermitage, at St. Petersburg. Kneller
painted Locke several times. The autograph is from King's Life of JoJui
Locke.
Bruton Parish Church, from the Graveyard 303
From a photograph.
Medal of the Carolina Company 304
From Betts's American Colonial History ilhistrated by Contemporary
Medals.
Map of South Carolina and Georgia, 1733 309
From Winsor's America.
James Oglethorpe {photogravure) facing 312
From a mezzotint by Burford, in the prmt room at the British Museum,
after an original painting by Ravenet. Autograph from Winsor's America.
Savannah in i 741 315
From Jones's History of Georgia, after a print published in London in
1741.
Map of the Coast Settlements before 1743 317
From Winsor's America.
A Buccaneer 327
From Exquemeling's Histoire des avanticriers, Paris, 1686, in my own
library.
Map of the Gulf of Maracaibo 329
From the same.
Facsi:mile of engraved title-page of Exquemeling's book
IN the Dutch edition 331
From the original in Lenox Library.
Facsimile of printed title-page of Exque:meling's book
IN THE Dutch edition 333
From the same.
Facsimile of engraved title-page of Exquemeling's book
in the French edition 335
From the original in my own library.
Facsimile of printed title-page of Exquemeling's book
IN THE French edition 337
From the same.
NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS xxv
Sir Hexry Morgan 339
From the English edition (1684) of Exquemeling"s book, in Lenox Library.
WlLLL\M Da.MPIER 34 1
From an engraving by Horsbergh, reproduced in Lives and Voyages of
Drake, Cavendish, and Da^npier, Edinburgh, 1837.
Philip V. of Spaix , . 343
From Gavard's- Versailles, after a painting by Rigaud. Autograph from
Isografhie des homtnes celibres.
Map of the Isthmus of Dariex, 1686 344
From the French edition of Exquemeling's book, in my library.
Captain Teach, commonly called Blackbeard 349
From an old print in Lenox Library.
Alexander Spotswood { photogravure) facing 352
From a painting in the possession of the Virginia Historical Society,
which has also kindly furnished me with the autograph.
Powder Magazine at Williamsburg 355
From a photograph.
Passage of James River through the Blue Ridge . . . 363
From a photograph.
Bruton Parish Church, from Main Street 365
From a photograph.
Facsimile title-page of Virginia's Discovery of Silk- worms 367
From the original in Lenox Library.
James Blair 369
From one of the portraits of him at William and Mary College.
Autograph of Hugh Drysdale 370
From Virginia Historical Society.
Mount \^ernon (photogravure) facing 370
From an old print.
Robert Dixwiddie {photogravure) facing 372
After a portrait formerly in possession of the late Gen. Gilbert Hamilton
Dinwiddle, of the British army. Autograph from Winsor's America.
Autograph of William Gooch 374
From the same.
Thomas, Sixth Lord Fairfax 375
From the painting (London, 1730) now in Gallery of Alexandria (\'a.)
Washington Lodge.
Arms of Fairfax 377
From Lee of Virginia.
OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
CHAPTER X
THE COMING OF THE CAVALIERS
"These things that follow in this ensuing relation are
certified by divers letters from Virginia, by men of worth
and credit there, written to a friend in England, that for his
own and others' satisfaction was desirous to know Virginia
these particulars and the present estate of that ^^p^^*^^
country. And let no man doubt of the truth of it. There
be many in England, land and seamen, that can bear witness
of it. And if this plantation be not worth encouragement,
let every true Englishman judge."
Such is the beginning of an enthusiastic little pamphlet,
of unknown authorship, published in London in 1649,^ the
year in which Charles I. perished on the scaffold. It is
entitled " A Perfect Description of Virginia," and one of its
eftects, if not its purpose, must have been to attract immi-
grants to that colony from the mother country. In Virginia
''there is nothing wanting" to make people happy; there
are ''plenty, health, and wealth." Of English about 15,000
are settled there, with 300 negro servants. Of kine, oxen,
bulls, and calves, there are 20,000, and there is . . ,
' Animals
plenty of good butter and cheese. There are 200
horses, 50 asses, 3000 sheep with good wool, 5000 goats,
1 It is reprinted in Force's Tracts, vol. ii. ; and in jMaxwell's Vir-
ginia Historical Register, ii. 61-78. The original, of which there is
one in the library of Harvard University, was priced by Rich, in 1832.
at ^i los., and by Quantch, in 1879, at £zo. See Winsor. Xarr. and
Crit. Hist. iii. 157.
VOL. II
2 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
and swine and poultry innumerable. Besides these European
animals, there are many deer, with " rackoons, as good meat
as lamb," and " passonnes " [opossums], otters and beavers,
foxes and dogs that ''bark not." In the waters are ''above
thirty sorts" of fish "very excellent good in their kinds."
The wild turkey sometimes weighs sixty pounds, and besides
partridges, ducks, geese, and pigeons, the woods abound in
sweet songsters and " most rare coloured parraketoes, and
[we have] one bird we call the mock-bird ; for he will imitate
all other birds' notes and cries, both day and night birds,
yea, the owls and nightingales."
The farmers have under cultivation many hundred acres
of excellent wheat ; their maize, or " Virginia corn," yields an
Agricui- increase of 500 for i, and makes "good bread and
*"^^ furmity" [porridge]; they have barley in plenty,
and six brew-houses which brew strong and well-flavoured
beer. There are fifteen kinds of fruit that for delicacy rival
the fruits of Italy ; in the gardens grow potatoes, turnips,
carrots, parsnips, onions, artichokes, asparagus, beans, and
better peas than those of England, with all manner of herbs
and "physick flowers." The tobacco is everywhere "much
vented and esteemed," but such immense crops are raised
that the price is but three pence a pound. There is also a
hope that indigo, hemp and flax, vines and silk-worms, can
be cultivated with profit, since it is chiefly hands that are
wanted. It surely would be better to grow silk here, where
mulberry trees are so plenty, than to fetch it as we do from
Persia and China " with great charge and expense and haz-
ard," thereby enriching "heathen and Mahumetans."
At the same time they are hoping soon to discover a way
to China, " for Sir Francis Drake was on the back side of
Virginia in his voyage about the world in 37 degrees . . .
Northwest and now all the question is only how broad the
passage l^md may be to that place [i c. California] from the
head of James River above the falls." By prosecuting dis-
covery in this direction "the planters in Virginia shall gain
the rich trade of the East India, and so cause it to be driven
-**^
A Pcrfed Defcription of
VIRGINIA:
, B E I N G ^
A full and tme R elation of the prefent: Stat^
of thePlamadon ^.theii Health, Peace, and Plenty: the nunibcj:
cfpccplc/.virhthcirabundarce of Catidl FovvJ^Fifli, Sec. with feverallt
fores ot rich ant! gooclConuim;iuics,vvhid;'may there be had,ekh«%^^
Naturally, or by Art ami Labour. Whicffr^v'c arc f^ferfp
prociui. from S^.i'iK^FjiOUeyDgntniiilf^^Stifede'aidficiii^/^^^ ''.-
Pt /,,»'/, yea, fVom the £d^-l«MO«. Tbc1#* ' ' *
having been nothing related of the.**' i'-
rrue tftatc of thi» WanW-
tionthcfcijycars.
Being fcnt from Virginia , At the rec^ucjl efa GentUmdn ofi^orth^note^
rf ho defredto ks^ow the true State of Virginia as itnovpfiands,
ALSO,
A Narration of the Countrey ^ within a few
dayes journey of Vngirita^ Wcjl andhj South, Avherc people come
to trade J being related lo the Goverf«ilir , Sir fVtilias?* ^erckjej,
who is to go himielfcto difcovcr it with gohorl«,^nd50 foot,
"^a-.id other things nccdfulJ for bis entcrprize. '
\With the manner horp thej^j>et^ Nithota^ance .
came to Sir WUliam Berckley ^attepdcd iviA 6vcpctT5'*^Kbigs,
tofiocHoniage, and bring Tribute to '^Stig Char l g 5^Jjl^JtJJ.^s
folem^c Protcftation , that the Sun and Moon fhouldfofel " *
ihcirL'ghts,beforchc(or his people in that Country^)
J. fliould \»rove difloyoHj'buc cvcf to kccpcFaich
"** ana Allegiance to King CHARLES.
Londc^^'^md for RichardWedeneth^it the Scar und t^i Pacts
Q\i]Xic\i'xs\CornhiH\ i'60'
TITLE OF "A PERFECT DESCRIPTION OF VIRC.IMA
4 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS |
through the continent of Virginia, part by land and part by |
water, and in a most gainful way and safe, and far less '-
expenseful and dangerous, than now it is."
It behooves the English, says our pamphlet, to be more
vigilant, and to pay more heed to their colonies ; for behold,
" the Swedes have come and crept into a river called Dela- j
war, that is within the limits of Virginia," and they are driv- ]
ing "a great and secret trade of furs." Moreover, "the Hoi- ]
Commer- laudcrs havc stolen into a river called Hudson's
ciai rivals River, in the limits also of Virginia, . . . they have I
built a strong fort . . . and drive a trade of fur there with |
the natives for above ^10,000 a year. These two planta- '
tions are ... on our side of Cape Cod which parts us and i
New England. Thus are the English nosed in all places, \
and out-traded by the Dutch. They would not suffer the
English to use them so ; but they have vigilant statesmen, '
and advance all they can for a common good, and will not
spare any encouragements to their people to discover." j
" Concerning New England," which is but four days' sail 1
from Virginia, a trade goes to and fro ; but except for the '
fishing, ''there is not much in that land," which in respect \
New of frost and snow is as Scotland compared with j
England England, and so barren withal that, " except a her-
ring be put into the hole that you set the corn or maize in, ,
it will not come up." What a pity that the New England '
people, " being now about 20,000, did not seat themselves 1
at first to the south of Virginia, in a warm and rich country, 1
where their industry would have produced sugar, indigo, '
ginger, cotton, and the like commodities ! " But here in Vir- I
ginia the land "produceth, with very great increase, whatso- ]
ever is committed into the bowels of it ; . . . a fat rich soil i
everywhere watered with many fine springs, small rivulets, '
and wholesome waters." As to healthiness, fewer people
die in a year proportionately than in England ;
body and " siucc that men are provided with all necessaries,
have plenty of victual, bread, and good beer, ...
all which the Englishman loves full dearly." Nor is their
THE COMING OF THE CAVALIERS 5
spiritual welfare neglected, for there are twenty churches,
with " doctrine and orders after the church of England ; "
and "the ministers' livings are esteemed worth at least ;^ioo
per annum ; they are paid by each planter so much tobacco
per poll, and so many bushels of corn ; they live all in peace
and love."
" I may not forget to tell you we have a free school, with
200 acres of land, a fine house upon it, 40 milch kine, and
other accommodations ; the benefactor deserves
perpetual memory ; his name, Mr. Benjamin Symes,
worthy to be chronicled ; other petty schools also we have."
Various details of orchards and vineyards, of Mr. Kinsman's
pure perry and Mr. Pelton's strong metheglin, entertain us ;
and a pleasant tribute is paid to "worthy Captain Mathews,"
the same who fourteen years before had assisted at the
thrusting out of Sir John Harvey. " He hath a fine house,
and all things answerable to it ; he sows yearly store of
hemp and flax, and causes it to be spun ; he keeps captain
weavers, and hath a tan house, causes leather to be and^^L^^^
dressed, hath eight shoemakers employed in their household
trade, hath forty negro servants, brings them up to trades in
his house ; he yearly sows abundance of wheat, barley, &c.,
the wheat he selleth at four shillings the bushel, kills store
of beeves, and sells them to victual the ships when they
come thither ; hath abundance of kine, a brave dairy, swine
great store, and poultry ; he married the daughter of Sir
Thomas Hinton, and, in a word, keeps a good house, lives
bravely, and a true lover of Virginia ; he is worthy of much
honour."
It will be observed that Captain Mathews possessed, in
his forty black servants, nearly one seventh part of the negro
population. Of the conditions under which wholesale negro
slavery grew up, I shall treat hereafter. In the third quarter
of the seventeenth century it was still in its be- ^^ .^
winnings. Between 1650 and 1670, along with an growth of
... , , . population
extraordmary growth m the total population, we
observe a marked increase in the number of black slaves. In
6 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
the latter year Berkeley estimated the population at 32,ocx)
free whites, 6000 indentured white servants, and 2000 ne-
groes. Large estates, cultivated by wholesale slave labour,
were coming into existence, and a peculiar type of aristo-
cratic or in some respects patriarchal society was growing
up in Virginia. It was still for the most part confined to the
peninsula between the James and York rivers and the terri-
tory to the south of the former, from Nansemond as far as
the Appomattox, although in Gloucester likewise there was
a considerable population, and there were settlements in
Middlesex and Lancaster counties, on opposite banks of the
Rappahannock, and even as far as Northumberland and
Westmoreland on the Potomac. In the course of the dis-
putes over Kent Island, settlements began upon those shores
and increased apace.
Some significant history is fossilized in the names of Vir-
ginia counties. When they are not the old shire names im-
ported from England, like those just mentioned, they are apt
to be personal names indicating the times when the counties
were first settled, or when they acquired a distinct existence
as counties. For a lono^ time such personal names
Names of . o sr
virginia wQYQ chiefly taken from the royal household. Thus,
while Charles City County bears the name of
Charles I., bestowed upon the region before that king as-
cended the throne, the portion of it south of James River,
set off in 1702 as Prince George County, was named for
George of Denmark, consort of Queen Anne. So King
William County on the south bank of the Mattapony, and
King and Queen County on its north bank, carry us straight
to the times of William and Mary, and indicate the position
of the frontier in the days of Charles II. ; while to the west
of them the names of Hanover and the two Hanoverian
princesses, Caroline and Louisa, carry us on to the days of
the first two Georges.^ At the time with which our narra-
^ The following list of Virginia counties bearing royal names, founded
between 1689 and 1 765, is interesting : —
King and Queen, 1691, after William and Mary.
WESTWARD GROWTH
OF
OLD YIIIGIXIA
30
Scale of Miles.
ThE M.-N. CO., BUFFALO, N. V
'
THE COMING OF THE CAVALIERS
tive is now concerned, all that region to the south of Spott-
sylvania was unbroken wilderness. In 1670 a careful esti-
mate was made of the number of Indians comprised within
the immediate neighbourhood of the colony, and there were
counted up 725 warriors, of whom more than 400 were on
the Appomattox and Pamunkey frontiers, and nearly 200
between the Potomac and Rappahannock.
The map of Virginia, in the light in which I have here con-
sidered it, shows one remarkable point of contrast with the
map of New England. On the coast of the latter one finds
a very few names commemorative of royalty, such as Charles
River, named by Captain John Smith, Cape Ann, named by
Charles I. when Prince of Wales, and the Elizabeth Scarcity of
Islands, named by Captain Gosnold still earlier and names' on
in the lifetime of the s^reat Queen. But when it ^^e map
comes to names given by the settlers themselves, England
one cannot find in all New England a county name taken
from any English sovereign or prince, except Dukes for the
island of Martha's Vineyard, and that simply recalls the
fact that the island once formed a part of the proprietary
domain of James, Duke of York, and sent a delegate to the
Princess Anne, 1691, after the princess who was afterwards Queen
Anne.
William III.
the Prince Consort.
George I.
one of the king's foreign dominions.
do. do.
the queen of George II.
William, Duke of Cumberland,
the Prince of Orange, who in that year
married Anne, daughter of George II.
a daughter of George II.
P>ederick, Prince of Wales,
the Princess of Wales,
a daughter of George II.
one of the king's foreign dominions.
a son of Frederick, Prince of Wales,
the queen of George III.
her father, Duke of Mecklenburg.
King William,
1701,
Prince George,
1702,
King George,
1720,
Hanover,
1720,
Brunswick,
1720,
Caroline,
1727,
Prince William,
1730,
Orange,
1734,
Amelia,
1734,
Frederick,
1738,
Augusta,
1738,
Louisa,
1742,
Lunenburg,
1746,
Prince Edward,
i753i
Charlotte,
1764,
Mecklenburg,
1764,
8 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
first legislature that assembled at Manhattan. Except for
this one instance, we should never know from the county
names of New England that such a thing as kingship had
ever existed. As for names of towns, there is in Massachu-
setts a Lunenburg, which is said to have received its name
at the suggestion of a party of travellers from England in the
year 1726 ; ^ it was afterward copied in Vermont ; and by dili-
gently searching the map of New England we may find half
a dozen Hanovers and Brunswicks, counting originals and
copies. Between this showing and that of Virginia, where
the sequence of royal names is full enough to preserve a
rude record of the country's expansion, the contrast is surely
striking. The difference between the Puritan temper and
that of the Cavaliers seems to be written ineffaceably upon
the map.
We are thus brought to the question as to how far the
Cavalier element predominated in the composition of Old
Virginia. It is a subject concerning which current general
The Cava- Statements are apt to be loose and misleading. It
gTniV:"some ^as givcu Hsc to much discussiou, and, like a good
popular ^.|g^j q£ what passes for historical discussion, it has
misconcep- ^
tions too often been conducted under the influence of
personal or sectional prejudices. Half a century ago, in the
days when the people of the slave states and those of the
free states found it difficult to think justly or to speak kindly
of one another, one used often to hear sweeping generaliza-
tions. On the one hand, it was said that Southerners were
the descendants of Cavaliers, and therefore presumably of
gentle blood, while Northerners were descendants of Round-
heads, and therefore presumably of ignoble origin. Some
such notion may have prompted the famous remark of Rob-
ert Toombs, in i860: "We [i. e. the Southerners] are the
gentlemen of this country." On the other hand, it was
retorted that the people of the South were in great part
descended from indentured white servants sent from the jails
^ Jewett's History of Worcester Comity, Massachusetts^ ii. 30.
Charlestowri was named from the river at the mouth of which it stands.
THE COMING OF THE CAVALIERS 9
and slums of England.^ This point will receive due atten-
tion in a future chapter. At present we may note that de-
scent from Cavaliers has not always been a matter of pride
with Southern speakers and writers. There was a time when
the fierce spirit of democracy was inclined to regard such a
connection as a stigma. The father of President Tyler " used
to say that he cared naught for any other ancestor than Wat
Tyler the blacksmith, who had asserted the rights of op-
pressed humanity, and that he would have no other device
on his shield than a sledo-e hammer raised in the act of strik-
o
ins:."^ On the subject of Cavaliers a well known ^
^ •' Some de-
Virginian writer, Hugh Blair Grigsby, once grew mocratic
very warm. "The Cavalier," said he, "was essen-
tially a slave, a compound slave, a slave to the King and a
slave to the Church. I look with contempt on the miserable
figment which seeks to trace the distinguishing points of the
Virginia character to the influence of those butterflies of the
British aristocracy." ^ Historical questions are often treated
in this way. We grow up with a vague conception of some-
thing in the past which we feel in duty bound to condemn,
and then if we are told that our own forefathers were part
and parcel of the hated thing we lose our tempers. Mr.
Grigsby's remarks are an expression of American feeling in
what may be called its Elijah Pogram period, when the
knowledge of history was too slender and the historic sense
too dull to be shocked at the incongruity of classing such
men as Strafford and Falkland with "butterflies." The
study of history in such a mood is not likely to be fruitful of
much beside rhetoric.
Before we proceed, a few further words are desirable con-
cerning the fallacies and misconceptions which abound in
^ W. H. Whitmore, The Cavalier Dismounted, Salem, 1864.
- William and Majy College Quarterly, i. 53. In the same connec-
tion we are told that Beverley Tucker apologized for putting on record
a brief account of his family, saying, "at this day it is deemed arrogant
to remember one's ancestors. But the fashion may change^" etc.
^ See Cooke's Virginia, p. 161.
lo OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
the opinions cited in the foregoing paragraph. It is impos-
sible to make any generalization concerning the origin of the
white people of the South as a whole, or of the North as a
Sweeping wholc, further than to say that their ancestors
^^^^fnad"*^ came from Europe and a large majority of them
missibie from the British islands. The facts are too compli-
cated to be embraced in any generalization more definitely
limited than this. When sweeping statements are made
about "the North" and "the South," it is often apparent
that the speaker has in mind only IMassachusetts and tide-
water Virginia, making these parts do duty for the whole.
The present book will make it clear that it is only in connec-
tion with tidewater Virginia that the migration of Cavaliers
from England to America has any historical significance.
It is a mistake to suppose that the contrast between Cav-
aliers and Roundheads was in any wise parallel with the con-
trast between high-born people and low-born. A majority of
the landed gentry, titled and untitled, supported Charles I.,
while the chief strength of the Parliament lay in the smaller
Difference landholders and in the merchants of the cities. But
between i\^q Rouudhcads also included a lar2:e and powerful
Cavaliers ,
and Round- minority of the landed aristocracy, headed by the
political, Earls of Bedford, Warwick, Manchester, Northum-
not socia bcrlaud, Stamford, and Essex, the Lords Fairfax
and Brooke, and many others. The leaders of the party,
Pym and Hampden, Vane and Cromwell, were of gentle
blood ; and among the officers of the New Model were such
as Montagues, Pickerings, Fortescues, Sheffields, and Sid-
neys. In short, the distinction between Cavalier and Round-
head was no more a difference in respect of lineage or social
rank than the analogous distinction between Tory and Whig.
The mere fact of a man's having belonged to the one party
or the other raises no presumption as to his *' gentility."
It is worth while here to correct another error which is
quite commonly entertained in the United States. It is the
error of supposing that in Great Britain there are distinct
orders of society, or that there exists anything like a sharp
THE COMING OF THE CAVALIERS ii
and well defined line between the nobility and the common-
alty. The American reader is apt to imao;ine a
,,1 , England
" peerage, the members of which have from time has never
immemorial constituted a kind of caste clearly Meste^^m
marked off from the great body of the people, and "PP^^'^^^te
into which it has always been very difficult for plain people
to rise. In this crude conception the social differences be-
tween England and America are greatly exaggerated. In
point of fact the British islands are the one part of Europe
where the existence of a peerage has not resulted in creating
a distinct upper class of society. The difference will be
most clearly explained by contrasting England with France.
In the latter country, before the Revolution of 1789, there
was a peerage consisting of great landholders, local rulers
and magistrates, and dignitaries of the church, just as in Eng-
land. But in France all the sons and brothers of a ^
Contrast
peer were nobles distinguished by a title and reck- with
oned among the peerage, and all were exempt from
sundry important political duties, including the payment of
taxes. Thus they constituted a real noblesse^ or caste apart
from the people, until the Revolution at a single blow de-
stroyed all their privileges. At the present day French
titles of nobility are merely courtesy titles, and through
excessive multiplication have become cheap. On the other
hand, in England, the families of peers have never been
exempt from their share of the public burdens. The *' peer-
age," or hereditary right to sit in the House of Lords, be-
longs only to the head of the family ; all the other members
of the family are commoners, though some may be addressed
by courtesy titles. During the formative period of modern
political society, from the fourteenth century onward, the
sons of peers habitually competed for seats in the House of
Commons, side by side with merchants and yeomen. This
has prevented anything like a severance between the inter-
ests of the higher and of the lower classes in England, and
has had much to do with the peaceful and healthy political
development which has so eminently characterized our mother
12 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
country. England has never had a noblesse. As the upper
class has never been sharply distinguished politically, so it
has not held itself separate socially. Families with titles
have intermarried with families that have none, the younger
branches of a peer's family become untitled gentry, ancient
peerages lapse while new ones are created, so that there is a
''circulation of gentle blood" that has thus far proved emi-
nently wholesome. More than two thirds of the present
House of Lords are the grandsons or great-grandsons of
commoners. Of the 450 or more hereditary peerages now
existing, three date from the thirteenth century and four
from the fourteenth ; of those existing in the days of Thomas
Becket not one now remains in the same family.
Importance ^
of the mid- It has always been easy in England for ability and
character to raise their possessor in the social scale ;
and hence the middle class has long been recognized as the
abiding element in England's strength. Voltaire once com-
pared the English people to their ale, — froth at the top and
dregs at the bottom, but sound and bright and strong in the
middle. As to the last he was surely right.
One further point calls for mention. In mediaeval and
early modern England, great respect was paid to incor-
Respect poratcd crafts and trades. The influence and au-
dustry°m thority wielded by county magnates over the rural
England population was paralleled by the power exercised
in the cities by the livery companies or guilds. Since the
twelfth century, the municipal franchise in the principal
towns and cities of Great Britain has been for the most part
controlled by the various trade and craft guilds. In the
seventeenth century, when the migrations to America were
beginning, it was customary for members of noble families to
enter these guilds as apprentices in the crafts of the draper,
the tailor, the vintner, or the mason, etc. Many important
consequences have flowed from this. Let it suffice here to
note that this fact of the rural aristocracy keeping in touch
with the tradesmen and artisans has been one of the safe-
guards of English liberty ; it has been one source of the
A
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Thrida.io 4-1 de£ • hunJj^ erf tutv En^Und^ |
1K(.1X1A, i(,5i
THE COMING OF THE CAVALIERS 13
power of the Commons, one check upon the undue aspirations
of the Crown. It indicates a kind of pubUc sentiment very
different from that which afterward grew up in our southern
states under the mahgnant influence of slavery, which pro-
claimed an antagonism between industry and gentility that
is contrary to the whole spirit of English civilization.
With these points clear in our minds, we may understand
the true significance of the arrival of the Cavaliers in Vir-
ginia. The date to be remembered in connection with that
event is 1649, and it is instructive to compare it The Cava-
with the exodus of Puritans to New England. The ^^^^ exodus
little settlement of the Mayflower Pilgrims was merely a
herald of the great Puritan exodus, which really began in
1629, when Charles I. entered upon his period of eleven
years of rule without a parliament, and continued until
about 1642, when the Civil War broke out. During those
thirteen years more than 20,000 Puritans came to New Eng-
land. The great Cavalier exodus began with the king's
execution in 1649, ^^^ probably slackened after 1660. It
must have been a chief cause of the remarkable increase of
the white population of Virginia from 15,000 in 1649 ^^
38,000 in 1670.
The period of the Commonwealth in England thus marks
an important epoch in Virginia, and we must be on our
guard against confusing what came after with what political
preceded it. As to the political complexion of orvir^iilJa
Virginia in the earliest time, it would be difficult to ^^^o""^ ^^49
make a general statement, except that there was a wide-
spread feeling in favour of the Company as managed by
Sandys and Southampton. This meant that the settlers
knew when they were well governed. They did not approve
of a party that sent an Argall to fleece them, even though
it were the court party. So, too, in the thrusting out of
Sir John Harvey in 1635 we see the temper of the coun-
cillors and burgesses flatly opposed to the king's unpopular
representative. But such instances do not tell us much
concerning the attitude of the colonists upon questions of
14 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
English politics. The fortunes of the Puritan settlers in Vir-
ginia afford a surer indication. At first, as we have seen,
when the Puritans as a body had not yet separated from the
Church, there were a good many in Virginia ; and by 1640
they probably formed about seven per cent, of the popula-
tion. The legislation against them beginning in 163 1 seems
to indicate that public sentiment in Virginia favoured the
policy of Laud ; while the slackness with which such legisla-
tion was enforced raises a suspicion that such sentiment was
at first not very strong. It seems probable that as the
country party in England came more and more completely
under the control of Puritanism, and as Puritanism grew
more and more radical in temper, the reaction toward the
royalist side grew more and more pronounced in Virginia.
If there ever was a typical Cavalier of the more narrow-
minded sort, it was Sir William Berkeley, who at the same
time was by no means the sort of person that one might
properly call a "butterfly." If the eloquent Mr. Grigsby had
once got into those iron clutches, he would have sought
some other term of comparison. When Berkeley arrived in
Viro;inia, and for a long; time afterward, he was ex-
The great & ' t^ ' ^
exchange trcmcly popular. We have seen hmi actmg with
^ ^ '^^ so much energy against the Puritans that in the
course of the year 1649 not less than 1000 of them left the
colony. Upon the news of the king's death, Berkeley sent
a message to England inviting royalists to come to Virginia,
and within a twelvemonth perhaps as many as 1000 had
arrived, picked men and women of excellent sort. Thus it
curiously happened that the same moment which saw Vir-
ginia lose most of her Puritan population, also saw it
replaced by an equal number of devoted Cavaliers.
PYom this moment we may date the beginnings of Cavalier
ascendency in Virginia. But for the next ten years that
g^o^'^'i^g ascendency was qualified by the necessity
tion shown of Submitting to the Puritan government in Eng-
irginia ^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ Berkeley was obliged to retire from
the governorship, and the king's men in Virginia found it
THE COMING OF THE CAVALIERS
15
prudent to put some restraint upon the expression of their
feelings. But in this change, as we have seen, there was no
violence. It is probable that there was a considerable body
of colonists ''comparatively indifferent to the struggle of
parties in England, anxious only to save Virginia from spoli-
ation and bloodshed, and for that end willing to throw in
COLONEL RICHARD LEE
their lot with the side whose success held out the speediest
hopes of peace. There is another consideration which helps
to explain the moderation of the combatants. In England
each party was exasperated by grievous wrongs, and hence
its hour of triumph was also its hour of revenge. The
struggle in Virginia was embittered by no such recollec-
. • Ml
tions. ^
A name inseparably associated with Berkeley is that of
1 Doyle's Virginia, etc. p. 283.
i6 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
Colonel Richard Lee, who is described as " a man of good
stature, comely visage, an enterprising genius, a
Richard souud head, vigorous spirit, and generous nature," ^
qualities that may be recognized in many of his
famous descendants. This Richard Lee belonged to an
ancient family, the Lees of Coton Hall, in Shropshire, whom
we find from the beginning of the thirteenth century in
positions of honour and trust. He came to Virginia about
1642, and obtained that year an estate which he called Para-
dise, near the head of Poropotank Creek, on the York River.
He was from the first a man of much importance in the
colony, serving as justice, burgess, councillor, and secretary of
state. In 1654 we find him described as "faithful and useful
to the interests of the Commonwealth," but, as Dr. Edmund
Lee says, ''it is only fair to observe that this claim was made
for him by a friend in his absence;"^ or perhaps it only
means that he was not one of the tribe of fanatics who love
to kick against the pricks.^ Certain it is that Colonel Lee
was no Puritan, though doubtless he submitted loyally to
the arrangement of 1652, as so many others did. There
was nothing for the king's men to do but possess their souls
in quiet until 1659, when news came of the resignation of
Richard Cromwell. ''Worthy Captain Mathews," whom
the assembly had chosen governor, died about the same
Election of time. Accordingly, in March, 1660, the assembly
byth?^ resolved that, since there was then in England no
assembly resident sovereign generally recognized, the su-
preme power in Virginia must be regarded as lodged in the
assembly, and that all writs should issue in the name of the
Grand Assembly of Virginia until such a command should
come from England as the assembly should judge to be law-
^ Written in 1771 by his great-grandson William Lee, alderman of
London, and quoted in Edmund Lee's Lee of Virginia, Philadelphia,
1895, p. 49.
2 " The petition of John Jeffreys, of London," in Sainsbury's Calen-
dar of State Papers, 15 74- 1660, p. 430 ; Lee of Virginia, p. 61.
3 Compare L. G. Tyler's remarks in Williaiii and Mary College
Quarterly, i. 155.
THE COMING OF THE CAVALIERS
17
fill. Having passed this resolution, the assembly showed its
political complexion by electing Sir William Berkeley for
governor : and in the same breath it revealed its independ-
ent spirit by providing that he must call an assembly at
CHARLES II
least once in two years, and oftener if need be ; and that he
must not dissolve it without the consent of a majority of
the members. On these terms Berkeley accepted office at
the hands of the assembly.
Before this transaction, perhaps in 1658, Colonel Lee
seems to have visited Charles IT. at Brussels, where he
handed over to the still exiled prince the old commission of
VOL. H
i8 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
Berkeley, and may have obtained from him a new one for
Lee's visit future use, reinstating him as governor.^ There is
to Brussels ^ vague tradition that on this occasion he asked
how soon Charles would be likely to be able to protect the
colony in case it should declare its allegiance to him ; and
from this source may have arisen the wild statement, re-
corded by Beverley and promulgated by the eminent his-
torian Robertson, that Virginia proclaimed Charles 11. as
sovereign a year or two before he was proclaimed in Eng-
land.- The absurdity of this story was long ago pointed
out ; ^ but since error has as many lives as a cat, one may
^, , ,, still hear it repeated. Charles II. was proclaimed
Charles II. , . ^ ^
proclaimed king in England on the 8th of May, 1660, and in
'^ Virginia on the 20th of September following.'^ In
October the royal commission for Berkeley arrived, and the
governor may thus have felt that the conditions on which he
accepted his office from the assembly were no longer bind-
ing. Our next chapter will show how lightly he held them.
If one may judge from the public accounts of York
County in 1660, expressed in the arithmetic of a tobacco
currency, the 20th of September must have been a joyful
occasion : —
Att the proclaiming of his sacred Maisty :
To y^ Ho"^^^ Govn'' p a barrell powd', 112 lb 00996
To Cap* ffox six cases of drams 00900
To Cap* ffox for his great gunnes 00500
To M'" Philip Malory 00500
To y*^ trumpeters 00800
To M"" Hansford 176 Gallons Syd"" at 15 & 35
gall at 20, caske 264 03604
^ See the testimony of John Gibbon, in Lee of Virginia, p. 60.
- Beverley, ///j- A? r)/ and Pi^esent State of Virginia^ London, 1705, p.
56 ; Robertson, History of America, iv. 230.
^ Hening's Stat7ites, i. 526.
^ The document is given in IVil/iani and Mary College Quarterly^
i. 1 58, where the bill of items quoted in the next paragraph may also be
found. Mr. Philip Malory was an officiating clergyman.
THE COMING OF THE CAVALIERS
19
There can be no doubt that it was an occasion proHfic in
legend. The historian Robert Beverley, who was born
about fifteen years afterward, tells us that Governor Berke-
ley's proclamation named Charles II. as "King of England,
Scotland, France, Ireland, and Virginia." The document
itself, however, calls him *'our most gratious soveraigne,
Charles the Second, King of England, Scotland, ffrance, &
Ireland," and makes no mention of Virginia.
William Lee tells us that it was " in consequence of this
step " that the motto En dat Vii'ginia quintain was placed
upon the seal of the colony.^ Since ''this step" The seal of
was never taken, the statement needs some qualifi- ^ i^g^^i^
cation. The idea of designating Virginia as an additional
kingdom to those over which the
English sovereign ruled in Eu-
rope was already entertained in
1590 by Edmund Spenser, who
dedicated his "Faery Oueene "
to Elizabeth as queen of " Eng-
land, France,^ and Ireland, and
of Virginia. ' ' ^ As early as 1 6 1 9
the London Company adopted
a coat-of-arms, upon which was
the motto En dat Virginia qnin-
ium, in which the unexpressed
noun is regnum : " Behold, Vir-
ginia gives the fifth [kingdom]."
After the restoration of Charles II. a new seal for Virginia,
adopted about 1663, has the same motto, the effect of which
was to rank Virginia by the side of his Majesty's other four
1 Meade's Old Churches, ii. 137.
- The claim to the French crown set up by Edward III. in 1328 led
to the so-called Hundred Years' War, in the course of which Henry \'I.
was crowned King of France in the church of Notre Dame at Paris in
143 1. His sway there was practically ended in 1436, but the English
.sovereigns continued absurdly to call themselves Kings of France until
1 801.
^ See above, vol. i. p. 238.
SEAL OF VIRGINIA AFTER THE
RESTORATION
20 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
dominions, England, Scotland, " France," and Ireland. We
are told by the younger Richard Henry Lee that in these
circumstances originated the famous epithet " Old Domin-
ion." In 1702, among several alterations in the seal, the
word quintum was changed to qiniitam, to agree with the
unexpressed noun coronam : " Behold, Virginia gives the fifth
[crown]." After the legislative union of England with
Scotland in 1707, another seal, adopted in 17 14, substituted
qiiartmn for quintain} '
Just how many members of the royalist party came to
Virginia while their young king was off upon his travels,
it would be difficult to say. But there were unquestionably
a great many. We have already remarked upon the very
rapid increase of white population, from about 15,000 in 1649
to 38,000 in 1670. Along with this there was a
Increase in . . . ^
the size of marked increase in the size of the land grants, both
^^ the average size and the maximum ; and in this
coupling of facts there is great significance, for they show
that the increase of population was predominantly an increase
in the numbers of the upper class, of the people who could
afford to have large estates. In these respects the year
1650 marks an abrupt change,^ which may best be shown by
a tabular view of the figures : —
Largest number of acres Average number of
Years. in a single grant. acres in a grant.
1632 350
1634 5,350 719
1635 2,000 380
1636 • . 2,000 351
1637 5.350 445
1638 3,000 423
1640 1,300 405
1641 872 343
1642 3.000 559
1643 4,000 595
^ See the able paper by Dr. L. G. Tyler on '-The Seal of Virginia,"
William a7id Mary College Quarterly^ iii. 81-96.
2 For my data regarding land grants I am much indebted to the very
learned and scholarly work of Mr. Philip Bruce, Eco7iomic History of
Virginia in the Seventeenth Century, i. 487-571.
THE COMING OF THE CAVALIERS 21
1644 670 370
i<J45 1,090 333
1646 1,200 360
1647 650 361
1648 1,800 412
1649 3j5oo 522
1650 5,350 677
1651-55 10,000 591
1656-66 10,000 671
1667-79 20,000 890
1680-89 20,000 607
Another way of showing the facts is still more striking : —
Number of grants exceed-
Years. ing 5,000 acres.
1632-50 3
1651-55 3
1656-66 20
1667-70 37
1680-89 19
The increase in the number of slaves after 1650 is a fact
of similar import with the greater size of the estates. All
the circumstances agree in showing that there was a large
influx of eminently well-to-do people. It is well known,
moreover, who these people were. It is in the reign of
Charles 11. that the student of Virginian history begins to
meet frequently with the familiar names, such as cavaiier
Randolph, Pendleton, Madison, Mason, Monroe, families
Gary, Ludwell, Parke, Robinson, Marshall, Washington, and
so many others that have become eminent. All these were
Cavalier families that came to Virginia after the downfall of
Charles I. Whether President Tyler was right in claiming
descent from the Kentish rebel of 1381 is not clear, but
there is no doubt that his first American ancestor, who came
to Virginia after the battle of Worcester, was a gentleman
and a royalist.^ Until recently there was some uncertainty
as to the pedigree of George Washington, but the Ancestry of
researches of Mr. Fitz Gilbert Waters of Salem ^v^^hhig-
have conclusively proved that he was descended ^""
from the Washingtons of Sulgrave, in Northamptonshire, a
^ Letters and Times of the Tylers^ i. 41.
22 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
family that had for generations worthily occupied positions
of honour and trust. In the Civil War the Washingtons were
distinguished royalists. The commander who surrendered
Worcester in 1646 to the famous Edward Whalley was
Colonel Henry Washington ; ^ and his cousin John, who came
to Virginia in 1657, was great-grandfather of George Wash-
ington. After the fashion that prevailed a hundred years
ago, the most illustrious of Americans felt little interest in
his ancestry ; but with the keener historic sense and broader
scientific outlook of the present day, the importance of such
matters is better appreciated. The pedigrees of horses, dogs,
and fancy pigeons have a value that is quotable in terms of
hard cash. Far more important, for the student of human
affairs, are the pedigrees of men. By no possible ingenuity
of constitution-making or of legislation can a society made
up of ruffians and boors be raised to the intellectual and
moral level of a society made up of well-bred merchants and
Value of yeomen, parsons and lawyers. One might as well
genealogy expcct to scc a dray horse win the Derby. It is,
moreover, only when we habitually bear in mind the threads
of individual relationship that connect one country with an-
other, that we get a really firm and concrete grasp of history.
Without genealogy the study of history is comparatively life-
less. No excuse is needed, therefore, for giving in this
connection a tabulated abridgment of the discoveries of My.
Waters concerning the forefathers of George Washington. ^
Beside the personal interest attaching to everything asso-
ciated with that immortal name, this pedigree has interest
and value as being in large measure typical. It is a fair
sample of good English middle-class pedigrees, and it is
typical as regards the ancestry of leading Cavalier families
1 He is mentioned by Pepys in his Dia?y, Oct. 12, 1660: ''Office
day all the morning, and from thence with Sir W. Batten and the rest
of the officers to a venison party of his at the Dolphin, where dined
withal Colonel Washington, Sir Edward Brett, and Major Norwood,
very noble company.''
2 Waters, An Exaviinaticn of the English A7icest7y of George
Washington., Boston, 1889.
WASHINGTON OF NORTHAMPTON AND VIRGINIA
Arms. — A rgent., two bars and in chief three mullets Gules
John Washington,
of Whitfield,
.ancashire, time of Henry VI.
Robert Washington,
of Warton, Lancashire, 2d son.
John Washington,
of Warton, m. Margaret Kitson, sister of Sir Thomas Kitson,
alderman of London.
Lawrence Washington,
of Gray's Inn, mayor of Northampton, obtained grant of
Sulgrave Manor, 1539, d. 1584 ; m. Anne Pargiter, of Gretworth.
Robert Washington,
of Sulgrave, b. 1544; m. Elizabeth Light.
Lawrence Washington,
of Sulgrave and Brington,
d. 1616 ; m. Margaret Butler.
I
Lawrence Washington,
of Gray's Inn, register of High
Court of Chancery, d. 1619.
I
Sir Lawrence Washington,
register of High Court of
Chancery, d. 1643.
Sir Williarn Washington, Sir John Washing- Rev. Lawrence Washington, Lawrence Wash-
d. 1643 ; m. Anne Villiers, ton, d. 1678. M. A., Fellow of Brasenose ington, d. 1652 ;
half-sister of George Villiers, College, Oxford, Rector of m. Eleanor
Purleigh, d. before 1665.
Duke of Buckingham.
Gyse.
Henry Washington, John Washington, Lawrence Washington, Elizabeth Washington,
colonel in the royalist b. 1631, d. 1677 ; came b. 1635, came to heiress, d. 1693 ; m.
army, governor of to Virginia, 1657; Virginia, 1657. Earl Ferrers.
Worcester, d. 1664. m. Anne Pope.
Lawrence Washington,
d. 1697 ; m. Mildred, dau. of Augustine Warner.
Augustine Washington,
b. 1694, d. 1749; m. Mary Ball.
George Washington,
b. 1732, d. 1799.
First President of the Utiited States.
24 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
in Virginia ; an inspection of many genealogies of those who
came between 1649 and 1670 yields about the same general
impression. Moreover, this pedigree is equally typical as
regards the ancestry of leading Puritan families in New Eng-
land. The genealogies, for example, of Winthrop, Dudley,
Saltonstall, Chauncey, or Baldwin give the same general im-
pression as those of Randolph, or Gary, or Cabell, or Lee.
The settlers of Virginia and of New England were opposed
to each other in politics, but they belonged to one and the
same stratum of society, and in their personal characteristics
they were of the same excellent quality. To quote the lines
of Sir William Jones, written as a paraphrase of the Greek
epigram of Alcaeus, inscribed upon my title-page : —
''What constitutes a State?
Not high-raised battlement or laboured mound,
Thick wall or moated gate ;
Not cities proud with spires and turrets crowned ;
Not bays and broad-armed ports.
Where, laughing at the storm, rich navies ride ;^
Not starred and spangled courts,
Where low-browed baseness wafts perfume to pride.
No : — MEN, high-minded MEN,
Men who their duties know,
But know their rights, and, knowing, dare maintain.
Prevent the long-aimed blow,
And crush the tyrant while they rend the chain :
These constitute a State." ^
Such men were the Gavaliers of Virginia and the Puritans
of New England.
There can be little doubt that these Gavaliers were the
men who made the greatness of Virginia. To them it is due
im ortan e ^^^^ ^^^ history represents ideas and enshrines
of the events which mankind will always find interesting.
Cavalier . i i i , •
element in It IS apt to bc the casc that men who leave their
irginia country for reasons connected with conscience and
principle, men who have once consecrated themselves to a
1 Sir William Jones's Works, ed. Lord Teignmouth, London, 1807,
X. 389.
THE COMING OF THE CAVALIERS
25
cause, are picked men for ability and character. Such men
are nkely to exert upon any community which they may enter
an influence immeasurably greater than an equal number of
men taken at random. It matters little what side they may
have espoused. Very few of the causes for which brave
men have fought one another have been wholly right or
wholly wrong. Our politics may be those of Samuel Adams,
but we must admit that the Thomas Hutchinson type
of mind and character is one which society could ill afford
to lose. Of the 2:allant Cavaliers who drew the sword for
King Charles, there were many who no more approved of
his crooked methods and despotic aims than Hutchinson
26 OLD \'IRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS.
approved of the Stamp Act. No better illustration could be
found than Lord Falkland, some of whose kinsmen emi-
grated to Virginia and played a conspicuous part there. A
proper combination of circumstances was all that was re-
quired to bring the children of these royalists into active
political alliance with the children of the Cromwellians.-
Both in Virginia and in New England, then, the principal
element of the migration consisted of picked men and women
n;ffor.n..c of the same station in life, and differino^ only in
Uinerences ' o j
between their vicws of civil and ecclesiastical polity. The
land and'' differences that grew up between the relatively
irginia aristocratic type of society in Virginia and the rela-
tively democratic type in New England were due not at all
to differences in the social quality of the settlers, but in
some degree to their differences in church politics, and in a
far greater degree to the different economic circumstances
of Virginia and New England. It is w^orth our while to
point out some of these contrasts and to indicate their
effect upon the local government, the nature of which, per-
haps more than anything else, determines the character of
the community as aristocratic or democratic.
That extreme Puritan theory of ecclesiastical polity, ac-
cording to which each congregation was to be a little self-
Settiement go^'^ming republic, had much to do with the way in
of New which New England was colonized. The settlers
congrega- ' camc in Congregations, led by their favourite min-
isters, — such men, for example, as Higginson and
Cotton, Hooker and Davenport. When such men, famous
in England for their bold preaching and imperilled thereby,
decided to move to America, a considerable number of their
parishioners would decide to accompany them, and similarly
minded members of neighbouring churches would leave their
own pastor and join in the migration. Such a group of peo-
ple, arriving on the coast of Massachusetts, would naturally
select some convenient locality, where they might build their
houses near together and all go to the same church.
This migration, therefore, was a movement, not of individ-
THE COMIx\G OF THE CAVALIERS 27
uals or of separate families, but of church-congregations, and
it continued to be so as the settlers made their way inland
and westward. The first river towns of Connecticut were
thus founded by congregations coming from Dorchester,
Cambridge, and Watertown. This kind of settle- Land
ment was favoured by the government of Massa- flassachu-
chusetts, which made grants of land, not to Individ- ^^^^
uals but to companies of people who wished to live together
and attend the same church.
It was also favoured by economic circumstances. The
soil of New England was not favourable to the cultivation
of great quantities of staple articles, such as rice or tobacco,
so that there was nothing to tempt people to undertake
extensive plantations. Most of the people lived on small
farms, each family raising but little more than smaii
enough food for its own support ; and the small ^^"""^^
size of the farms made it possible to have a good many in a
compact neighbourhood. It appeared also that towns could
be more easily defended against the Indians than scattered
plantations ; and this doubtless helped to keep people to-
gether, although if there had been any strong inducement
for solitary pioneers to plunge into the great woods, as in
later years so often happened at the West, it is not likely
that any dread of the savages would have hindered them.
Thus the early settlers of New England came to live in
townships. A township would consist of about as many
farms as could be disposed within convenient distance from
the meeting-house, where all the inhabitants, young and old,
gathered every Sunday, coming on horseback or Township
afoot. The meeting-house was thus centrally sit- ^"'^^'^^•^s^
uated, and near it was the town pasture or ** common," with
the school-house and the block-house, or rude fortress for
defence against the Indians. For the latter building some
commanding position was apt to be selected, and hence we
so often find the old village streets of New England running
along elevated ridges or climbing over beetling hilltops.
Around the meeting-house and common the dwellings grad-
28 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
ually clustered into a village, and after a while the tavern,
store, and town-house made their appearance.
Among the people who thus tilled the farms and built up
the villages of New England, the differences in what we
should call social position, though noticeable, were not ex-
Sociai treme. While in England some had been esquires
position of or countrv magistrates, or " lords of the manor," —
settlers in ,
New a phrase which does not mean a member of the
" peerage, but a landed proprietor with dependent
tenants, — some had been yeomen, or j^ersons holding farms
by some free kind of tenure ; some had been artisans or
tradesmen in cities. All had for many generations been
more or less accustomed to self-government and to public
meetings for discussing local affairs. That self-government,
especially as far as church matters were concerned, they
were stoutly bent upon maintaining and extending. Indeed,
that was what they had crossed the ocean for. Under these
circumstances they developed a kind of government which
has remained practically unchanged down to the present
day. In the town meeting the government is the entire
adult male population. Its merits, from a genuine demo-
cratic point of view, have long been recognized, but in these
days of rampant political quackery they are worth recalling
to mind, even at the cost of a brief digression.
Within its proper sphere, government by town meeting is
the form of government most effectively under watch and
Some control. Everything is done in the full daylight
the"tow^n ^^ publicity. The specific objects for which public
meeting moucy is to be appropriated are discussed in the
presence of everybody, and any one who disapproves of any
of these objects, or of the way in which it is proposed to
obtain it, has an opportunity to declare his opinions. Under
this form of government people are not so liable to bewil-
The dering delusions as under other forms. I refer
fund^-^''^ especially to the delusion that *' the Government "
delusion jg ^ gQj-^ Qf mystcrious power, possessed of a magic
inexhaustible fund of wealth, and able to do all manner of
THE COMING OF THE CAVALIERS
29
things for the benefit of "the People." Some such notion
as this, more often impUed than expressed, is very common,
and it is inexpressibly dear to demagogues. It is the prolific
root from which springs that luxuriant crop of humbug upon
which political tricksters thrive as pigs fatten upon corn.
In point of fact no such government, armed with a magic
fund of its own, has ever existed upon the earth. No gov-
ernment has ever yet used
any money for public pur-
poses which it did not first
take from its own people,
— unless when it may
have plundered it from
some other people in vic-
torious warfare.
The inhabitant of a New
England town is perpetu-
ally reminded that '*the
Government " is " the
People." Although he
may think loosely about
the government of his
state or the still more
remote government at
Washington, he is kept
pretty close to the facts
where local affairs are concerned, and in this there is a polit-
ical training of no small value.
In the kind of discussion which it provokes, in the neces-
sity of facing argument with argument and of keeping one's
temper under control, the town meeting is the best E^uca-
political training school in existence. Its educa- ^^^^^^^
tional value is far higher than that of the newspa- the town
r • • vrr meeting
per, which, m spite of its many merits as a dittuser
of information, is very apt to do its best to bemuddle and
sophisticate plain facts. The period when town meetings
were most important from the wide scope of their transac-
MRS. RICHARD LFE
30 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
tions was the period of earnest and sometimes stormy dis-
cussion that ushered in our Revokitionary War. In those
days great principles of government were discussed with a
wealth of knowledge and stated with masterly skill in town
meeting.
In Virginia the economic circumstances were very differ-
ent from those of New England, and the effects were seen in
a different kind of local institutions. In New England the
system of small holdings facilitated the change from primo-
geniture to the Kentish custom of gavelkind, with which
many of the settlers were already familiar, in which the
property of an intestate is equally divided among the chil-
dren.^ In Virginia, on the other hand, the large estates,
Primogeni- Cultivated by servile labour, were kept together by
entairin ^^^ Combined customs of primogeniture and entail,
Virginia which lastcd uutil they were overthrown by Thomas
Jefferson in 1776. In this circumstance, more than in any-
thing else, originated the more aristocratic features in the
local institutions of Virginia. To this should be added the
facts that before the eighteenth century there was a large
servile class of whites, to which there was nothing even
remotely analogous in New England ; and that the introduc-
tion of negro slavery, which was beginning to assume notice-
able dimensions about 1670, served to affix a stigma upon
manual labour.
In view of this group of circumstances we need not won-
der that in Old Virginia there were no town meetings. The
distances between plantations cooperated with the distinction
between classes to prevent the growth of such an institution.
Virginia The English parish, with its churchwardens and
parishes vestry and clerk, was reproduced in Virginia under
the same name, but with some noteworthy peculiarities.
1 The change was somewhat gradual, e. g. in Massachusetts at first
the eldest son received a double portion. See The Colonial Laius of
Massachusetts, reprinted from the edition of 1660, ed. W H. Whit-
more, Boston, 1889, pp. 51, 201.
THE COMING OF THE CAVALIERS 31
If the whole body of ratepayers had assembled in vestry
meeting, to enact by-laws and assess taxes, the course of
development would have been like that of the New England
town meeting. But instead of this the vestry, which exer-
cised the chief' authority in the parish, was composed of
twelve chosen men. This was not government by a pri-
mary assembly, it was representative government. At first
the twelve vestrymen were elected by the people of the
parish, and thus resembled the selectmen of New England ;
but in 1662 "they obtained the power of fillinoc va- _,
■^ ^ ^ The vestry
cancies in their own number," so that they became a close
what is called a " close corporation," and the people ^°^p°''^ ^°^
had nothing to do with choosing them. Strictly speaking,
that was not representative government ; it was a step on the
road that leads towards oligarchical or despotic government.
It was, as we shall see, one of the steps ineffectually opposed
in Bacon's rebellion.
It was the vestry, thus constituted, that apportioned the
parish taxes, appointed the churchwardens, presented the
minister for induction into office, and acted as over- powers of
seers of the poor. The minister presided in all the vestry
vestry meetings. His salary was paid in tobacco, and in
1696 it was fixed by law at 16,000 pounds of tobacco yearly.
In many parishes the churchwardens were the collectors of
the parish taxes. The other officers, such as the sexton and
the parish clerk, were appointed either by the minister or
by the vestry.
With the local government thus administered, we see that
the larger part of the people had little directly to do. Never-
theless, in those small neighbourhoods government could be
kept in full sight of the people, and so long as its proceedings
went on in broad daylight and were sustained by public sen-
timent, all was well. As Jefferson said, ''The vestrymen
are usually the most discreet farmers, so distributed through
the parish that every part of it may be under the immediate
eye of some one of them. They are well acquainted with the
details and economy of private life, and they find sufficient
32 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
inducements to execute their charge well, in their philan-
thropy, in the approbation of their neighbours, and the dis-
tinction which that gives them."^
The difference, however, between the New England town-
ship and the Virginia parish, in respect of self-government,
was striking enough. AVe have now to note a further dif-
ference. In New England, the township was the unit of
representation in the colonial legislature ; but in Virginia
the parish was not the unit of representation. The county
™ ^ was that unit. In the colonial leo:islature of Vir-
1 he county o
was the ginia the representatives sat, not for parishes but
represent- for countics. The difference is very significant. As
the political life of New England was in a manner
built up out of the political life of the towns, so the political
life of Virginia was built up out of the political life of the
counties. This was partly because the vast plantations
were not grouped about a compact village nucleus like the
small farms at the North, and partly because there was not
in Virginia that Puritan theory of the church according to
which each congregation is a self-governing democracy.
The conditions which made the New England town meeting
were absent. The only alternative was some kind of repre-
sentative government, and for this the county was a small
enough area. The county in Virginia was much smaller
than in Massachusetts or Connecticut. In a few instances
the county consisted of only a single parish ; in some cases
it was divided into two parishes, but oftener into three or
more.
• In Virginia, as in England and in New England, the
county was an area for the administration of justice. There
Th count "^^^G^G usually in each county eight justices of the
court was peacc, and their court was the counterpart of the
close cor- quarter session in England. The}^ were appointed
poration |^^, ^|^^ govcmor, but it was customary for them to
nominate candidates for the governor to appoint, so that
1 See Howard, Local Constitittional Histoiy of the United States^ i.
12''.
THE COMING OF THE CAVALIERS 33
practically the court filled its own vacancies and was a close
corporation, like the parish vestry. Such an arrangement
tended to keep the general supervision and control of things
in the hands of a few families.
This county court usually met as often as once a month
in some convenient spot answering to the shire town of Eng-
land or^ New England. More often than not, the place
originally consisted of the court-house and very little else,
and was named accordingly from the name of the county, as
Hanover Court House or Fairfax Court House ; and the
small shire towns that have grown up in such spots The county
often retain these names to the present day. Such ^ourT
names occur commonly in Virginia, West Virginia, House
and South Carolina, and occasionally elsewhere. Their num-
ber has diminished from the tendency to omit the phrase
" Court House," leaving the name of the county for that of
the shire town, as for example in Culpeper, Va. In New
England the process of naming has been just the reverse;
as in Hartford County, Conn., or Worcester County, Mass.,
which have taken their names from the shire towns. Here,
as in so many cases, whole chapters of history are wrapped
up in geographical names. ^
The county court in Virginia had jurisdiction in criminal ac-
tions not involving peril of life or limb, and in civil suits where
the sum at stake exceeded twenty-five shillings. Smaller
suits could be tried by a single justice. The court powers of
also had charge of the probate and administration ^^^ ^""''^
of wills. The court appointed its own clerk, who kept the
county records. It superintended the construction and repair
of bridges and highways, and for this purpose divided the
county into "precincts," and appointed annually for each
precinct a highway surveyor. The court also seems to have
1 A few of the oldest Virginia counties, organized as such in 1634,
had arisen from the spreading and thinning of single settlements origi-
nally intended to be cities and named accordingly. Hence the curious
names (at first sight unintelligible) of "James City County" and
" Charles City County."
VOL. II
34 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
appointed constables, one for each precinct. The justices
could themselves act as coroners, but annually two or more
coroners for each parish were appointed by the governor.
As we have seen that the parish taxes — so much for
salaries of minister and clerk, so much for care of church
buildings, so much for the relief of the poor, etc. — were
computed and assessed by the vestry ; so the county taxes,
for care of court-house and jail, roads and bridges, coroner's
fees, and allowances to the representatives sent to the colo-
nial legislature, were computed and assessed by the county
court. The general taxes for the colony were estimated by
a committee of the legislature, as well as the county's share
of the colony tax. The taxes for the county, and sometimes
the taxes for the parish also, were collected by the sheriff.
They were usually paid, not in money, but in tobacco ; and
The the sheriff was the custodian of this tobacco, re-
^^^" sponsible for its proper disposal. The sheriff was
thus not only the officer for executing the judgments of the
court, but he was also county treasurer and collector, and
thus exercised powers almost as great as those of the sheriff
in England in the twelfth century. He also presided over
elections for representatives to the legislature. It is inter-
esting to observe how this very important officer was chosen.
" Each year the court presented the names of three of its
members to the governor, who appointed one, generally the
senior justice, to be the sheriff of the county for the ensu-
ing year." ^ Here again we see this close corporation, the
county court, keeping the control of things within its own
hands.
One other important county officer needs to be mentioned.
In early New England each town had its train-band or com-
pany of militia, and the companies in each county united to
form the county regiment. In Virginia it was just the other
way. Each county raised a certain number of troops, and
because it was not convenient for the men to go many miles
1 Edward Channing, *' Town and County Government in the English
Colonies of North America," y^/^z/j- Hopkins Univ. Studies, vol. ii.
., . *l I 4,.
Q-^b-.
f .
t < ,ik, ' f (,
kUi V
' CSfU^a.^ /'T.^.y^^
^ C /' '
I vi^J^J'v-v-wv* O^-KTA TT»-»--v
i' #'
</
/
»
• r
§6c^
j;^5 ^TO^t^
f J
LIST OK SERVANTS IN VIRGINIA, AUGUST I, l622
36 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
from home in assembling for purposes of drill, the county
was subdivided into military districts, each with its company,
according to rules laid down by the governor. The military
The county Command in each county was vested in the county
lieutenant lieutenant, an officer answering in many respects
to the lord lieutenant of the English shire at that period.
Usually he was a member of the governor's council, and as
such exercised sundry judicial functions. He bore the hon-
orary title of "colonel," and was to some extent regarded as
the governor's deputy ; but in later times his duties were
confined entirely to military matters.^
If now we sum up the contrasts between local government
in Virginia and that in New England, we observe : —
1. That in New England the management of local affairs
was mostly in the hands of town officers, the county being
superadded for certain purposes, chiefly judicial ; while in
Virginia the management was chiefly in the hands of county
officers, though certain functions, chiefly ecclesiastical, w.ere
reserved to the parish.
2. That in New England the local magistrates were almost
always, with the exception of justices, chosen by the people ;
while in Virginia, though some of them were nominally
appointed by the governor, yet in practice they generally
contrived to appoint themselves, — in other words, the local
boards practically filled their own vacancies and were self-
perpetuating.
These differences are striking and profound. There can
be no doubt that, as Thomas Jefferson clearly saw, in the
long run the interests of political liberty are much safer
1 For an excellent account of local government in Virginia before
the Revolution, see Howard. Local Const. Hist, of the U. S. i. 388-
407 ; also Edward Ingle in Johns Hopkins Univ. Stndies, iii. 103-229.
With regard to the county lieutenant's honorary title, Mr. Ingle sug-
gests that it may help to explain the superabundance of military titles
in the South, and he quotes from a writer in the London Magazine in
1745 : '• Wherever you travel in Maryland (as also in Virginia and Caro-
lina) your ears are astonished at the number of colonels, majors, and
captains that you hear mentioned."
THE COMING OF THE CAVALIERS 37
under the New England system than under the Virginia
system. Jefferson said : " Those wards, called town- Jefferson's
ships in New England, are the vital principle of J^P^^"jj°"j °^
their governments, and have proved themselves govem-
. . . 1-111 • r ment
the wisest mvention ever devised by the wit 01
man for the perfect exercise of self-government, and for its
preservation.^ ... As Cato, then, concluded every speech
with the words Carthago delenda est, so do I every opinion
with the injunction : 'Divide the counties into wards!' "^
We must, however, avoid the mistake of making too much
of this contrast. As already hinted, in those rural societies
where people generally knew one another, its effects were
not so far-reaching as they would be in the more compli-
cated society of to-day. Even though Virginia had not the
town meeting, ''it had its familiar court-day," "Court-
which "was a holiday for all the countryside, espe- '^^^''
cially in the fall and spring. From all directions came in
the people on horseback, in wagons, and afoot. On the
court-house green assembled, in indiscriminate confusion,
people of all classes, — the hunter from the backwoods, the
owner of a few acres, the grand proprietor, and the grinning,
heedless negro. Old debts were settled, and new ones
made ; there were auctions, transfers of property, and, if
election times were near, stump-speaking." ^
For seventy years or more before the Declaration of In-
dependence the matters of general public concern, about
which stump speeches were made on Virginia court-days,
were very similar to those that were discussed in Massachu-
setts town meetings when representatives were to be chosen
for the legislature. Such questions generally related to
some real or alleged encroachment upon popular liberties
by the royal governor, who, being appointed and sent from
beyond sea, was apt to have ideas and purposes of his own
that conflicted with those of the people. This perpetual
antagonism to the governor, who represented British impe-
1 Jefferson's Works^ vii. 13. ^ Id. vi. 544.
3 Ingle, iny. //. U. Studies, iii. 90.
38 OLD \'IRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
rial interference with American local self-government, was
an excellent schooling in political liberty, alike for Virginia
and for Massachusetts. When the stress of the Revolution
came, these two leading colonies cordially supported each
other, and their political characteristics were reflected in
the kind of achievements for which each was especially dis-
tinguished. The Virginia system, concentrating the admin-
istration of local affairs in the hands of a few county fami-
virsinia Hcs, was eminently favourable for developing skilful
greau'ead- ^"^^ vigorous leadership. And w^hile in the history
^^ of Massachusetts during the Revolution we are
chiefly impressed with the remarkable degree in which the
mass of the people exhibited the kind of political training
that nothing in the world except the habit of parliamentary
discussion can impart ; on the other hand, Virginia at that
time gave us — in Washington, Jefferson, Henry, Mason,
Madison, and Marshall, to mention no others — such a group
of leaders as has seldom been equalled.
CHAPTER XI
bacon's rebellion
The rapid development of maritime commerce in the seven-
teenth century soon furnished a new occasion for human folly
and greed to assert themselves in acts of legislation. Crude
mediaeval methods of robbery began to give place to the in-
genious modern methods in which men's pockets are picked
under the specious guise of public policy. Your mediaeval
baron would allow no ship or boat to pass his Rhenish castle
without paying what he saw fit to extort for the privilege,
and at the end of his evil career he was apt to compound
with conscience and buy a ticket to heaven by building a
chapel to the Virgin. Your modern manufacturer obtains
legislative aid in fleecing his fellow-countrymen, while he
seeks popularity by bestowing upon the public a part of his
ill-gotten gains in the shape of a new college or a town
library. This change from the more brutal to the more
subtle devices for living upon the fruits of other men's
labour was conspicuous durino^ the seventeenth cen- _,
^ "^ , , The Navi-
tury, and one of the most glaring instances of it gation Act
was the Navigation Act of 165 1, which forbade the ^^
importation of goods into England except in English ships,
or ships of the nation that produced the goods. This foolish
act was intended to cripple the Dutch carrying-trade, and
speedily led to a lamentable and disgraceful war between
England and Holland. In its application to America it
meant that English colonies could trade only with England
in English ships, and it was generally greeted with indigna-
tion. Cromwell, however, did little or nothing to enfoixe it
in America. Charles II.'s government was more active in
40 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
the matter and soon became detested. One of the earhest
causes of the American Revolution was thus set in operation.
The poUcy begun in the Navigation Act was one of the
grievances that kept Massachusetts in a chronic quarrel with
Charles II. during the whole of his reign, and it was a source
of no less irritation in Virginia.
A second Navigation Act, passed at the beginning of the
reign of Charles II., prescribed that " no goods or commodi-
ties whatsoever shall be imported into or exported from any
of the king's lands, islands, plantations, or territo-
The second a • a r • a • • i i
Navigation ries m Asia, Africa, or America, in any other than
^^^ English, Irish, or plantation built ships, and whereof
the master and at least three-fourths of the mariners shall be
Englishmen, under forfeiture of ships and goods." It was
further provided that " no sugar, tobacco, cotton, wool, indigo,
ginger, fustic and other dyeing woods, of the growth or man-
ufacture of our Asian, African, or American colonies, shall be
shipped from the said colonies to any place but to England,
Ireland, or to some other of his Majesty's said plantations,
there to be landed, under forfeiture of goods and ships."
The motive in these restrictions is obvious enough. Their
effects were ably set forth in 1677, in a memorial by John
Bland's re- Bland, a sagacious London merchant, whose grasp
monstrance q{ ^Yiq principles of political economy was very re-
markable for that age.^ In order that merchants in Eng-
land might buy Virginia tobacco very cheap, the demand for
it was restricted by cutting off the export to foreign markets.
In order that they might sell their goods to Virginia at exor-
bitant prices, the Virginians were prohibited from buying
anything elsewhere. The shameless rapacity of these mer-
chants was such as might have been expected under such
fostering circumstances. If the planter shipped his own
tobacco to England, the charges for freight would be put so
high as to leave him scarcely any margin of profit.
^ '• The humble Remonstrance of John Bland, of London, Merchant,
on the behalf of the Inhabitants and Planters in Virginia and Alari-
land,'" reprinted in Virginia Historical Magazine, i. 142-155.
f I i
T
RELATION. OF
the Right Honourable the LorI
T>c^La4Fatre, Lord Goiicrnour
and Cittai'ic^* Generall of the
f clonic , planted iu
ViRGINEA.
I^ONDQN
yeard.-.rdKvSi.ncorthc,Su.Mr
TITLE OF LORD DELAWARE'S "RELATION"
42 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
Such restrictions were apt to have other effects than those
contemplated. The "protected" merchants chuckled over
their sagacity in keeping Dutchmen away from Virginia, for
thus it would become possible to make the Dutchmen pay
three or four shillings in England for tobacco that
rectconse- cost a ha'penny in the colony. But the worthy
qiiences burghcrs of the Netherlands took a different view
of the matter. They began planting tobacco for themselves
in the East Indies, so that it became less necessary to buy
it of the English. Another somewhat curious consequence
maybe stated in Bland's own words: "Again, if the Hol-
landers must not trade to Virginia, how shall the planters
dispose of their tobacco ? The English will not buy it [all],
for what the Hollander carried thence was a sort of tobacco
not . . . used by us in England, but merely to transport for
Holland. Will it not then perish on the planters' hands .-*
which undoubtedly is not only an apparent loss of so much
stock and commoditie to the plantations who suffer thereby,
but for want of its employment an infinite prejudice to the
commerce in general."
There was yet another aspect of the matter. " I demand
then, in the next place, which way shall the charge of the
c{overnments be maintained, if the Hollanders be debarred
trade in Virg-inia and Maryland, or anything raised
Some indi- ^ -^ i i • r i
rectconse- to defray the constant and yeany levies for the
quences securing the inhabitants from invasions of the In-
dians ? How shall the forts and public places be built and
repaired, with many other incident charges daily arising,
which must be taken care for, else all will come to destruc-
tion ? for when the Hollanders traded thither, they paid upon
every anchor of brandy (which is about 25 gallons) 5 shillings
import brought in by them, and upon every hogshead of
tobacco carried thence 10 shillings; and since they were
debarred trade, our English, as they did not, whilst the Hol-
lander traded there, pay anything, neither would they when
they traded not . . . ; so that all these charges being taxed
on the poor planters, it hath so impoverished them that they
BACON'S REBELLION 43
scarce can recover wherewith to cover their nakedness. As
foreign trade makes rich and prosperous any country that
hath within it any staple commodities to invite them thither,
so it makes men industrious, striving with others to gather
together into societies, and building of towns, and nothing
doth it sooner than the concourse of shipping, as we may see
before our eyes, Dover and Deal what they are grown into,
the one by the Flanders trade, the other by ships riding in
the Downs."
But if in spite of all these arguments the Navigation Act
must stand, then, says this acute writer, "let me
■' Exposure
on the behalf of the said colonies of Virginia and of the
Maryland make these following proposals, which I "™ "^
hope will appear but equitable : —
''First, that the traders to Virginia and Maryland from
England shall furnish and supply the planters and inhabit-
ants of those colonies with all sorts of commodities and
necessaries which they may want or desire, at as cheap rates
and prices as the Hollanders used to have when the Hol-
lander was admitted to trade thither.
" Secondly, that the said traders out of England to those
colonies shall not only buy of the planters such tobacco . . .
as is fit for England, but take off all that shall be yearly'
made by them, at as good rates and prices as the Hollanders
used to give for the same, by bills of exchange or other
wise. . . .
'' Thirdly, that if any of the inhabitants or planters of the
said colonies shall desire to ship his tobacco or goods for
England, that the traders from England to Virginia and
Maryland shall let them have freight in their ships at as low
and cheap rates as they used to have when the Hollanders
and other nations traded thither.
''Fourthly, that for maintenance of the governments, rais-
ing of forces to withstand the invasions of the Indians, build-
ing of forts and other public works needful in such new
discovered countries, the traders from luigland to pay there
in Virginia and Maryland as much }■ early as was received of
44 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
the Hollanders and strangers as did trade thither, whereby
the country may not have the whole burden to lie on their
hard and painful labour and industry, which ought to be
encouraged but not discouraged.
"Thus having proposed in my judgment what is both just
and equal, to all such as would not have the Hollanders per-
mitted to trade into Virginia and Maryland, I hope if they
will not agree hereunto, it will easily appear it is their own
profits and interest they seek, not those colonies's nor your
Majesty's service, but in contrary the utter ruin of all the
inhabitants and planters there ; and if they perish, that vast
territory must be left desolate, to the exceeding disadvantage
of this nation and your Majesty's honour and revenue."
After this keen exposure of the protectionist humbug the
author concludes by offering his own proposal. '' Let all
Hollanders and other nations whatsoever freely trade into
Virginia and Maryland, and bring thither and carry
own thence whatever they please," with only one quali-
proposa fication. It had been urged that, without legisla-
tive aid, English shipping could not compete successfully
with that of other countries. Insatiableness of commercial
greed begets a fidgetty, unreasoning dread of anything like
free competition. Just as the Frenchman puts tariff duties
upon German goods because he knows he cannot compete
with Germans in a free market, while at the same moment
the German puts tariff duties upon French goods because he
knows he cannot compete with Frenchmen in a free market,
so it was with men's arguments two centuries ago. It was
urged that French and Dutch ships could be built and navi-
gated at smaller expense than English ships ; and this point
our author meets by suggesting a differential tonnage-duty
"to counterpoise the cheapness," only great care must be
taken not to make it prohibitory.
The principal effect of the Navigation Act upon Virginia
and Maryland was to lower the price of tobacco while it
increased the cost of all articles imported from England.
As tobacco was the circulating medium in these colonies,
BACON'S REBELLION 45
the effect was practically a depreciation of the currency with
the usual disastrous consequences. There was an Distress
inflation of prices, and all commodities became fo^^pri^e^
harder to get. Efforts were made from time to "^ tobacco
time to contract the currency by curtailing the tobacco crop.
It was proposed, for example, in 1662, that no tobacco should
be planted in Maryland or Virginia for the following year.
Such proposals recurred from time to time, but it proved
impossible to secure concerted action between the two colo-
nies. In 1664 the whole tobacco crop of Virginia was worth
less than ^3 15 s. for each person in the colony. In 1666 so
much tobacco was left on the hands of the planters that a
determined effort was made to enforce the cessation of plant-
ing, and after much discussion an agreement was reached
between Maryland, Virginia, and the new settlements in Car-
olina, but the plan was defeated by disapproval in Maryland
which led to a veto from Lord Baltimore. In 1667 the price
of tobacco fell to a ha'penny "a pound, and Thomas Ludwell,
writing to Lord Berkeley in London, ''declared that there
were but three influences restraining the smaller landowners
of Virginia from rising in rebellion, namely, faith in the
mercy of God, loyalty to the king, and affection for the gov-
ernment." ^
The discontent sometimes took the form of a disposition
to resist the collection of taxes, as in Surry, in December,
1673, when "a company of seditious and rude people to
y^ number of ffourteene did unlawfully Assemble at y^ pish
church of Lawnes Creeke, w^^ Intent to declare they would
not pay theire publiq taxes, & y^ they Expected jj^^g^j.^.
diverse oth""^ to meete them, who faileing they did protest,
not put theire wicked design in Execution." Nev- ^ "^^
ertheless these persons assembled again, some three weeks
later, in an old field "called y^ Divell's field," where they
passed divers lawless resolutions interspersed with heated
harangues. In particular one Roger Delke did say, " we will
1 Bruce, Economic History of Virj^inia in the Seve?iteenth Century,
i- 394
46 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
burne all before one shall Suffer," and when brought be-
fore the magistrates, '* y^ s'^ Delke Acknowledged he said
y^ same words, & being asked why they meet at y^ church
he said by reason theire taxes were soe unjust, & they would
not pay it." ^ The ringleaders in this affair were fined, but
Governor Berkeley remitted the fines, provided ''they ac-
knowledged their faults and pay the court charges."
Another cause of trouble was the king's recklessness in
rewarding public services or gratifying favourites by exten-
sive grants of wild land in America. It was an easy way to
The pay debts, for it cost the king nothing, and all the
Cuipeper" l^^bour and expense of making the grant valuable
grant, 1673 {q\\ i^ipon the grantee. To many of these grants
there could, of course, be no objection. Those that founded
the Carolinas and Pennsylvania and the Hudson Bay Com-
pany were all proper enough. The trouble began when ter-
ritory already granted and occupied by Englishmen was given
away again; There were some complicated and obscure
instances of this in New England, but a flagrant and exas-
perating case occurred in Virginia in 1673, when Charles
made a grant of the whole country to the Earl of Arlington
and Lord Culpeper, to hold for thirty-one years at a yearly
rent of 40 shillings to be paid at Michaelmas.
The practical effect of this grant was to convert Virginia
into something like a proprietary government, with Arling-
ton and Culpeper for proprietors. It was, of course, not
the intention to disturb individuals in the possession of lands
already acquired by a valid title ; but escheated lands were
Some of its ^^ S^ ^° thcsc proprietors instead of the crown, and
effects there was an opportunity for grievous injustice, for
many escheated lands were occupied by persons who had
purchased them in good faith. The lord proprietors were to
receive the revenues of the colony, to appoint all public offi-
cers, and to present pastors for installation. In short, the
entire control of the internal administration of the colony
^ Papers from the Records of Surry County, Willicnn and Mary
College Quarterly^ iii. 123-125.
BACON'S REBELLION
47
was to be placed in their hands, and against such favourites
of the king an appeal at any time was likely to be of little
avail. It is needless to add that the grant was made without
consulting the Virginians. For people who had lavished so
much loyalty upon a worthless sovereign, this was a scurvy
requital. To find its match for ingratitude one must go to
the story of Inkle and Yarico. No sooner did the House of
Burgesses hear of it than they sent commissioners to Eng-
land to make an energetic protest. They found the king
48 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
rather surprised to hear that the Virginians cared anything
about such a trifle ; he promised to satisfy everybody, and
that naturally took some time, so that the matter was still
under discussion when things came to a blaze in Virginia.
The unprincipled government of Charles II. in England
was matched in some respects by the oppressive administra-
tion of Sir William Berkeley in Virginia. We have already
met this gentleman on several occasions ; it is now time
Character to noticc him more particularly. He was son of
William ^^^ Mauricc Berkeley, w^ho was one of the members
Berkeley Qf ^j^g Londou Company when it was first organized
in 1606. Several members of the family were interested in
American affairs. Sir William's elder brother. Lord Berke-
ley of Stratton, was a favourite of Charles II., and one of the
group of proprietors to whom that king granted Carolina in
1663. Sir William was an aristocrat to the ends of his fin-
gers, a man of velvet and gold lace, a brave soldier, a devoted
husband, a chivalrous friend, and withal as narrow and bigoted
and stubborn a creature as one could find anywhere. He
had no sympathy with common people, nor any very clear
sense of duty toward them. When he first arrived in Vir-
ginia in 1642, at the age of thirty-four, he was considered
very gracious and affable in manners, and during the ten
years of his first governorship he seems to have been gener-
ally popular. From 1652 to 1660 he lived in retirement on
his rural estate of Greenspring near Jamestown, where he
had an orchard of more than 2000 fruit trees — apples,
pears, quinces, peaches, and apricots — and a stable of seventy
fine horses. There he entertained Cavalier guests and drank
healths to King Charles until he was once more called to
Jamestown to be governor. In 1661 he went to London and
stayed for a year, and it was afterwards thought that his
visit with his froward and hot-tempered brother ^ worked a
change in him for the worse. Berkeley's errand in London
was to oppose an attempt which the old London Company
was making to have its charter restored ; the people of Vir-
^ Pepys, Diary, Nov. 29, Dec. 3, 1664.
z
o
b
a
H
:£.
O
z
o
a
z.
<
o
1-1
so OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
ginia had long ago passed the stage at which they regretted
the overthrow of the Company. During his stay in London,
Berkeley saw one of his own plays performed at the theatre,
for this courtier and Cavalier dabbled in literature. Of this
tragi-comedy, "The Lost Lady," Pepys tells us in his Diary
that at first he did not care much for it. but liked it better
the next time he saw it.^
After Berkeley's return to Virginia the evils of Charles's
miseovernment soon bes-an to show themselves. A swarm
of place-hunters beset the king, who carelessly gave them
appointments in Virginia, or recommended them to Berkeley
for places. Judo-es and sheriffs, revenue collectors
Corruption / i • i • i r
and extor- and par-sous, were thus appomted without rererence
to fitness, with the natural results ; the law^ was ill-
administered, the public money embezzled, and the church
scandalized. The custom-house charges on exported tobacco
afforded chances for extortion and blackmailing, of which
abundant advantage was taken, and Berkeley was not the
sort of man who w^as quick to punish the rogues of his own
party. Enemies accused him of profiting by the malad-
ministration of his officials, and he himself confessed in a
rather cynical letter to Lord Arlington that, while advancing
years had taken away his ambition, they had left him cov-
etous. A little group of wealthy planters, friends of Berke-
ley, obtained places on the council, and contrived to have
everything their own way for several years. With their aid
the governor tried to do aw^ay with the popular election of
representatives. Amid the blaze of royalist exultation over
the restoration of monarchy, the House of Burgesses elected
in 1 66 1 contained a large majority of members who
The Long . , . , . , ,. . . , ^ ,
Assembly, believccl m high prerogative and divme right ; and
1661-1676 3gj.]^g^g^.^ having thus secured a legislature that was
quite to his mind, kept it alive for fifteen years, until 1676,
simply by the ingenious expedient of adjourning it from year
to year, and refusing to issue writs for a new election. The
effect of such things was to carry more than one staunch
Cavalier over into what was by no means a Puritan but none
1 Dia?y. Jan. 19 and 28, 1661.
BACON'S REBELLION 51
the less a strong opposition party. As this opposition could
not find adequate voice in the legislature, it became ready
for an explosion. As Berkeley's old popularity ebbed away
he grew arrogant and cross, and now and then some instance
of mean vindictiveness swelled the rising tide of hatred
against him. He became subject to fits of violent passion.
The famous Quaker preacher, William Edmundson, who
visited Virginia in 1672, called on the governor and ^ , , ,
^, ' \ ^ , Berkeley's
sought to intercede with him for the Society of violent
Friends, the members of which were shamefully
treated in that colony. "He was very peevish and brittle,"
says Edmundson, "and I could fasten nothing on him, with
all the soft arguments I could use. . . . The next day was
the men's meeting at William Wright's house [where I met]
Major-General Bennett. . . . He asked me 'How I was
treated by the governor } ' I told him ' he was brittle and
peevish.' . . . He asked me Mf the governor called me dog,
rogue, etc' I said ' No.' 'Then,' said he, 'you took him in
his best humour, those being his usual terms when he is
angry, for he is an enemy to every appearance of good.' " ^
Such was the governor of Virginia and such the state of
things there, when to the many troubles that were goading
the people to rebellion the horrors of the tomahawk and
scalping-knife were suddenly added. In 1672, after a fearful
struggle of twenty years' duration, the Five Nations of New
York had completely overthrown and nearly anni- Beginning
hilated their kinsmen the Susquehannocks. The dian'^wa"
defeated barbarians, slowly retreating southward, ^'■'75
roamed on both sides of the Potomac, while parties of the
victors, mostly from the Seneca tribe, pursued and harassed
them. Early in the summer of 1675 some Algonquins of
the Doeg tribe, dwelling in Stafford County, not far from
the site of Fredericksburg, got into a dispute with one of the
settlers and stole some of his pigs. The thieves were pur-
sued, and in the chase one or two of them were shot. A few
days afterward a herdsman was found mortally wounded at
the door of his cabin, and said with his dying breath that it
^ Neill, Virginia Carolonim, p. 341.
52 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
was Doegs who had done it. Then the county Heutenant of
Stafford turned out with his militia to punish the offenders.
This officer was Colonel George Mason, whose cavalry troop
had gone down before Cromwell's resistless blows in the
crowning mercy at Worcester. He was great-grandfather
of the George Mason who sat in the Federal Convention of
1787. One party of Colonel Mason's men overtook and slew
eleven of the Algonquins, and another party at some distance
in the forest had already shot fourteen red men, when a chief
came running up to Colonel Mason and told him that these
latter were friendly Susquehan nocks, and that the murderers
of the herdsman were neither Algonquins nor Susquehan-
nocks, but Senecas. The firing was instantly stopped, but
the unfortunate affair had evil consequences. Murders by
Indians along the Potomac became frequent. The Susque-
hannocks occupied an old blockhouse on the Maryland side
of the river, and a force of Marylanders, commanded by
Major Thomas Truman, marched out to dislodge them.
At the request of the Maryland government, Virginia sent
a party to cooperate in this task. Its commander bore a
^ , name which his srreat-o^randson was to make forever
John _ ^ ^
Washing- illustrious. Coloucl Johu Washington had come
over from England in 1657, with his younger bro-
ther LawTcnce, and settled in Westmoreland County. He
was now forty-four years old, a man of wealth and influence,
a leading judge, and member of the House of Burgesses.
When the Virginia troops crossed the Potomac they found
their Maryland allies assembled before the blockhouse, with
five Susquehannocks in custody. These Indians were envoys
who had come out for a parley, but had apparently taken
alarm and sought to escape, whereupon Major Truman seized
The five and detained them until the Virginians should ar-
hannock ^^^^- Then Coloucl Washington, with his next in
envoys command, Major Isaac Allerton, proceeded to inter-
rogate the Indians, while Major Truman listened in silence.
Washington demanded satisfaction for the murders and other
outrages committed in Virginia, but the Indians denied
BACON'S REBELLION 53
everything and declared that their deadly enemies the Sen-
ecas were the sole offenders. Washington then asked how
it happened that several canoe-loads of beef and pork, stolen
from the plantations, had been carried into the Susquehan-
nock fort ; was it their foes the Senecas who were thus sup-
plying them with food ? And how did it happen that a party
of Susquehannocks just captured in Virginia were dressed in
the clothes of Englishmen lately murdered ? The falsehood
was too palpable. The guilt of the Susquehannocks was
plain, and they must either make amends or taste the rigours
of war.
There can be little doubt that Colonel Washington was
right. Then, as always until after 1763, the Long House
was from end to end the steadfast ally of the English, and
nothing could be more unlikely than that one of its tribes
should have been guilty of these murders. It is quite clear
that the Susquehannocks lied, with the double purpose of
saving themselves and bringing down vengeance upon the
Senecas. The first murders had been committed by Algon-
quins, and evidently the Susquehannocks had joined in the
work in retaliation for the unfortunate mistake committed by
Colonel Mason's men.
At the close of the conference Major Truman called to
Colonel Washington, asking if these were not impudent
rogues to deny the murders they had done, when at that
very moment the corpses of nine of their ow^n tribe were
lying unburied at Hurston's plantation, where in a fight the
defenders of the place had just slain them. As the envoys
persisted in denying that these dead Indians were ^.^^^ j_.jj.^
Susquehannocks, Washington suggested that they of the
6* Tl V O V S
should be taken to Hurston's and confronted with
the bodies. So Truman's men marched away with the five
envoys, and presently put them to death, "w^^ was occa-
tion," says one of the Virginian witnesses, " y* much amaized
& startled us & ou'' Comanders, being a thing y^ was never
imagined or expected." ^
^ In describing this affair I have relied chiefly upon the affidavits
54 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
The killing of these envoys was in violation of a rule that
holds in all warfare, whether savage or civilized, and Truman
was impeached for it in the Maryland assembly ; but owing
to an obstinate disagreement between the two houses as to
the penalty to be inflicted, he escaped without further pun-
ishment than the loss of his seat in the council.
Colonel Washington's force proved too small to hold in
check the infuriated Susquehannocks, who seem to have
entered into alliance with the Algonquins of the country.
Soon the whole border, from the Potomac to the falls of the
James, was swarming with painted barbarians, and day after
day renewed the tale of burning homes and slaughtered wives
and children. This sort of thing went on through
Berkeley's
perverse- the fall and winter, driving people into frenzy, but
Berkeley would not call out a military force for the
occasion. He insisted that it was enough to instruct the
county lieutenants, each in his county, to keep his militia in
readiness. It was charged against him that fear of losing
his share in a very lucrative fur trade made him unwilling
to engage in war with the Indians. However this may have
been, the spirit of the people had become so mutinous that
he was probably afraid to entrust himself to the protection
of a popular militia. Whatever the motive of his conduct,
Indian its conscquenccs were highly disastrous. On a
atrocities single day in January, 1676, within a circle of ten
miles' radius, thirty-six people were murdered ; and when
the governor was notified, he coolly answered that '' nothing
could be done until the assembly's regular meeting in
from the records of Westmoreland County, reprinted by Dr. L. G. Tyler,
in his admirable William and Mary College Qitartei'ly, ii. 39-43- The
affidavits were taken by Nicholas Spencer and Richard Lee, son of the
Richard Lee mentioned in the preceding chapter. In Browne's Mary-
land^ p. 131, an attempt is made to throw the blame for killing the
envoys upon the Virginians, but the affidavits seem to me trustworthy
and conclusive. It is not likely that there was or is any discernible
difference between human nature in Virginia and in Maryland, and
public opinion in both colonies condemned Truman's conduct.
BACON'S REBELLION 55
March " ! ^ Meanwhile the work of firebrand and tomahawk
went on. In Essex County (then known as Rappahannock),
sixty plantations were destroyed within seventeen days. It
was thought by some persons that the Indians were stimu-
lated by reports of the fearful havoc which their brethren
were making in New England, where King Philip's war was
raging. Surely the wrath of the planters must have been
redoubled when they heard of the stalwart troop led by
Josiah Winslow into the Narragansett country, and noted
the stern vengeance it wrought there on a December day of
1675, and contrasted these things with what they saw before
them. As the Charles City people afterward declared with
bitterness, " we do acknowledge we were so unadvised then
... as to beheve it our duty incumbent on us both by the
laws of God and nature, and our duty to his sacred Ma-
jesty, notwithstanding . . . Sir William Berkeley's prohibi-
tion, ... to take up arms . . . for the just defence of our-
selves, wives, and children, and this his Majesty's country." ^
At length, in March, the Long Assembly, as people called
it, which had been elected in 1661, was convened for the
last time ; a force of 500 men was gathered, and all things
were in readiness for a campaign, when Berkeley by pro-
clamation disbanded the little army, declaring that the fron-
tier forts, if duly prepared and equipped, afforded all the
protection the country needed. To many people this seemed
to be adding insult to injury ; for while no fortress could
prevent the skulking approach of the enemy through the
tangled wilderness, it was widely believed that the repairing
of forts was simply a device for enabling the governor's
friends to embezzle the money granted for the purpose.
At this time there was a young man of eight-and-twenty
living on his plantation on James River, hard by Nathaniel
Curl's Wharf. His name was Nathaniel Bacon, ^'"^°"
son of Thomas Bacon, of Eriston Hall, Suffolk, a kinsman
^ '* Cittenborne Parish Grievances, reprinted from Winder Papers,
Virginia State Library," in Viri^inia Magazine^ iii. 35.
- '' Charles City County Grievances," Virghiia Magazine, iii. 137.
S6 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
of the great Lord Bacon.^ His mother was daughther of a
Suffolk knight, Sir Robert Brooke. He had studied law at
Gray's Inn, and after extensive travel on the continent of
Europe had come to Virginia with his young wife shortly
before the beginning of these Indian troubles. His father's
cousin, Nathaniel Bacon, of King's Creek, who had dwelt in
the colony since about 1650, was a man of large wealth and
influence. The abilities and character of the young Nathan-
iel were rated so high that he already had a seat in the
council. He was clearly an impetuous youth, brave and
cordial, fiery at times, and gifted with a persuasive tongue.
He was in person tall and lithe, with swarthy complexion
and melancholy eyes, and a somewhat lofty demeanour.
One writer says that his discourse was " pestilent and pre-
valent logical," and that it "tended to atheism," which
doubtless means that he criticised things freely. Two other
prominent men were much of his way of thinking. One
was a hard-headed and canny Scotchman, William
Drum- -^ '
mondand Drummoud, who had been governor of the Albe-
marle colony in Carolina.^ The other was Richard
Lawrence, an Oxford graduate of scholarly tastes, whom an
old chronicler has labelled for posterity as " thoughtful Mr.
1 The following abridged table shows the relationship (see Virginia
Magazine, ii. 125) : —
Robert Bacon, of Driiikstone, Suffolk.
1 \ \
Thomas Bacon. Sir Nicholas Bacon, James Bacon,
Lord Keeper of the Great alderman of London, d. 1573.
Seal, b. 1510, d. 1579. I
Francis Bacon, Sir James Bacon, of Friston
Viscount St. Albans Hall, d. 1618.
and I/Ord t^hancellor, I
b. 1 56 1, d. 1626. i I
Nathaniel Bacon, Rev. James Bacon,
b. 1593, d. 1644. Rector of Burgate,
I d. 1670.
Thomas Bacon, |
m. Elizabeth Brooke. Nathaniel Bacon,
I of King's Creek,
Nathaniel Bacon, b. 1620, d. 1692;
the Rebel, came to Virginia
b. 1648, d. 1676. cir. 1650, and settled
at King's Creek,
York County.
2 Drummond Lake, in the Dismal Swamp, was named for him.
BACON'S REBELLION 57
Lawrence." Both Drummond and Lawrence were wealthy
men, and lived, it is said, in the two best built and best fur-
nished houses in Jamestown, which, it should be remem-
bered, had scarcely more than a score of houses all told.
Beside the estate where Bacon lived, he had another one
farther up, on the site still marked by the name " Bacon
Quarter Branch " in the suburbs of Richmond. " If the
redskins meddle with me," quoth the fiery young Bacon's
man, "damn my blood but Lll harry them, com- ^at?a"cked"
mission or no commission ! " One May morning ^^^>'' ^^76
in 1676 news came to Curl's Wharf that the Indians had
attacked the upper estate, and killed Bacon's overseer and
one of his servants. A crowd of armed planters on horse-
back assembled, and offered to march under Bacon's lead.
He made an eloquent speech, accepted the command, and
sent a courier to the governor to ask for a commission.
Berkeley returned an evasive answer, whereupon Bacon sent
him a polite note, thanking him for the promised commission,
and forthwith started on his campaign. He had not gone
many miles when a proclamation from the governor overtook
him, commanding the party to disperse. A few He defeats
obeyed; the rest kept on their way and inflicted a ^^^ I'^^i^'^s
severe defeat upon the Indians. Then Bacon and his vol-
unteers marched homeward. ^
1 For the picturesque details of this narrative I have followed the
well-known document found by Rufus King when minister to Great
Britain in 1803, and published by President Jefferson in the Richmond
Enquirer in 1804; since reprinted in Force's Tracts, vol. i., Wash-
ington, 1836, and in Maxwell's Virginia Historical Register, vol. iii.,
Richmond, 1850. The original manuscript was written in 1705, and
addressed to Robert Harley, Queen Anne's secretary of state, after-
ward Earl of Oxford. The writer signs himself " T. M.," and speaks
of himself as dwelling in Northumberland County and possessing a
plantation also in Stafford County, which he represented in the House
of Burgesses. From these indications it is pretty certain that he was
Thomas Mathews, son of Governor Samuel Mathews heretofore men-
tioned. His account of the scenes of which he was an eye-witness is
quite vivid.
58 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
Meanwhile the indignant Berkeley had gathered a troop
of horse and taken the field in person to arrest this refrac-
tory young man. But suddenly came the news that the
whole York peninsula was in revolt. The governor must
needs hasten back to Jamestown, where he soon realized
Election of that if he would avoid civil war he must dissolve
House of ^^^ moss-grown House of Burgesses and issue writs
Burgesses fQj- ^ ^g^y election. This was done. In anticipa-
tion of such an emergency, an act had been passed in 1670
restricting the suffrage by a property qualification, which
had called forth much indignation, since previously universal
suffrage had prevailed. In this excited election of 1676 the
restriction was openly disregarded in many places, and un-
qualified persons voted illegally. Bacon offered himself as
a candidate for Henrico County and was elected by a large
majority. As he drew near to Jamestown in his sloop with
Arrest of thirty followcrs, a w^arship lay at anchor awaiting
Bacon i^^jy^^ ^Lud the high sheriff arrested him with his
whole party. He was taken into the brick State House and
confronted with the governor, who simply said, " Mr. Bacon,
have you forgot to be a gentleman ?" *' No, may it please
your honour," said Bacon. ''Very well," said Berkeley,
" then I '11 take your parole." This was discreet in the gov-
ernor, since the election had gone so heavily against him.
Bacon was released and went to lodge in the house of Rich-
ard LawTcnce.
This "thoughtful" gentleman, the Oxford scholar, "for
wit, learning, and sobriety equalled by few%" is said to have
"kept an ordinary," while his house was one of the best in
Jamestown. It should be remembered that the permanent
residents in the town numbered less than a hundred,^ while
the sessions of the assembly brouo^ht a erreat in-
" Thought- .7 & t>
fui" Mr. flux of temporary sojourners, so that any or every
Lawrence , i i i i i-
house would be made to serve as a tavern, borne
years before, Mr. Lawrence had been " partially treated at
law, for a considerable estate on behalf of a corrupt favour-
^ Bruce, Economic History^ ii. 455.
BACON'S REBELLION
59
ite" of Sir William Berkeley; a fact well certified by the
testimony of the governor's friend, Colonel Lee. For this
reason Lawrence bore the governor a grudge and spoke of
him as a treacherous old villain. It was believed by some
SITE OF HOUSE OF BURGESSES, JAMESTOWN
people that in the conduct of the rebellion Lawrence w^as
the Mephistopheles and Bacon simply the Faust whom he
prompted.
There seems to have been an understanding that, if Bacon
were to acknowledge his offence in marching without a com-
mission, he should be received back to his seat in the coun-
cil, and the governor would give him a commission Bacons
to go and finish the Lidian war. The old Nathaniel submission
Bacon, of King's Creek, being " a very rich politic man and
childless," and intending to leave his estates to young
Nathaniel, succeeded in persuading him, " not without much
pains," to accept the compromise. The old gentleman wrote
out a formal recantation, which his young kinsman consented
to read in public, and a scene was made of it. The State
6o OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
House was a two-story building in which the burgesses had
lately begun sitting apart on the second floor, while the gov-
ernor and council (in point of dignity the " upper house ")
held their session on the first floor. On the 5th of June,
1676, the burgesses were summoned to attend in the council
chamber while Berkeley opened parliament. In his opening
speech the governor referred to the Indian troubles, and
expressed himself with strong emphasis on the slaying of
the five envoys : " If they had killed my grandfather and
grandmother, my father and mother and all my friends, yet
if they had come to treat of peace they ought to have gone
in peace ! " ^ Then, changing the subject, the governor an-
nounced : " If there be joy in the presence of the angels
over one sinner that repenteth, there is joy now, for we
have a penitent sinner come before us. Call Mr. Bacon."
The young man knelt at the bar of the assembly and read
aloud the prepared paper in which he confessed that he had
acted illegally, and offered sureties for future good behaviour.
Then said the governor impressively, and thrice repeating
the words, ''God forgive you! I forgive you." "And all
that were with him," interposed a member of the council.
'' Yea," continued Berkeley, " and all those that were with
you." The sheriff at once released Bacon's followers, and
he took his old seat in the council, while the burgesses filed
off upstairs. Our informant, the member for Stafford, tells
us that while he was on his way up to the burgesses that
afternoon, and through the open door of the council chamber
descried ''Mr. Bacon on his quondam seat," it seemed "a
^ T. M. goes on to remark that " the two chief commanders . . . who
slew the four Indian great men " were present among the burgesses.
This may seem to impHcate Colonel Washington and Major Allerton in
the kilHng of the envoys ; but T. M.'s recollection, thirty years after the
event, is of not much weight when contradicted by the sworn affidavits
above cited. The facts that, while Truman was impeached in Mary-
land, no such action seems to have been undertaken in Virginia against
Washington and Allerton, and that, after the governor's strong words
regarding the slaying, the friendly relations between him and these
gentlemen continued, would indicate that their skirts were clear.
BACON'S REBELLION 6i
marvellous indulgence " to one who had so lately been pro-
scribed as a rebel.
The governor's chief dread was the free discussion of
affairs in general by a hostile assembly. Now that the
Indian imbroglio had brought these new burgesses together,
he wanted them to confine their talk to Indian affairs and
then go home, but this was not their way of thinking. They
aimed, thouc^h feebly, at greater independence than ^
^ , . Governor
heretofore, and the governor's intent was to frus- vs.
trate this aim. It was moved by one of his parti-
sans in the House of Burgesses "to entreat the governor
would please to assign two of his council to sit with and
assist us in our debates, as had been usual." At this the
friends of Bacon scowled, and the member for Stafford ven-
tured to suggest that such aid might not be necessary,
whereat there was an uproar. The Berkeleyans urged that
" it had been customary and ought not to be omitted," but a
shrewd old assemblyman named Presley replied, "'Tis true
it has been customary, but if we have any bad customs
amongst us, we are come here to mend 'em." ^ This happy
retort was greeted with laughter, but the Cavalier feeling of
loyalty to the king's representative was still strong, and
Berkeley's friends had their way, apparently in a tumultuous
fashion. As the member for Stafford says, the affair ''was
huddled off without coming to a vote," so that the burgesses
must " submit to be overawed and have every carped at ex-
pression carried straight to the governor." Nevertheless,
^ Beverley H{istory and Presettt State of Virginia., London, 1705,
bk. iv. p. 3) tells us that before 1680 the council and burgesses sat
together, like the Scotch parHament, and that the separation occurred
under Lord Culpeper's administration; and his statement is generally
repeated by historians without qualification. Yet here in 1676 we find
the two houses sitting separately, and the discussion cited shows that
it had often been so before ; otherwise the sending of two councillors
to sit with the burgesses could not have been customary. Beverley's
date of 1680 was evidently intended as the final date of separation : not
as the date before which the two houses never sat separately, but as
the date after which they never sat together.
62 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
they went sturdily on to their work of reform, and the acts
Reform of which they passed most clearly reveal the nature of
abuses ^^iQ evils from w^hich the people had been suffering.
They restored universal suffrage ; they enacted that vestry-
men should be elected by popular vote, and limited their
term of office to three years ; they reduced the sheriff's
term to a single year ; they declared that no person should
hold at one and the same time any two of the offices of
sheriff, surveyor, escheator, and clerk of court ; and they
imposed penalties upon the delay of public business and the
taking of excessive fees. Councillors with their families, and
the families of clergymen, had been exempted from taxation ;
this odious privilege was now abolished. Sundry trade
monopolies were overthrown ; two magistrates, Edward Hill
and John Stith, were disfranchised for alleged misconduct ;
and provision was made for a general inspection of public
expenses and the proper auditing of accounts.^
The Indian troubles were not neglected. Arrangements
were made for raising and maintaining an army of looo
men, and the aid of friendly Indians was solicited. There
was a picturesque scene when the '' Queen of Pamunkey "
was brought before the House of Burgesses. That interest-
ing squaw sachem appears to have been a descendant of
the fierce Opekankano. Her tribe was the same that John
Smith had visited on the winter day when he held his pistol
to the old warrior's head, with the terse mandate, " Corn or
your life ! " That remnant of the Powhatan confederacy was
still flourishing in Bacon's time, and indeed it has survived
An Indian ^^ ^^"'^ prcscut day, a mongrel compound of Indian
'•princess" ^.ud ncgro, ou two Small reserv^ations in King Wil-
liam County.^ The " Queen of Pamunkey " in Bacon's time
^ The acts of this assembly, known as " Bacon's Laws," are given in
Hening's Statutes, ii. 341-365.
- "It is still their boast that thev are the descendants of Powhatan's
warriors. A good evidence of their present laudable ambition is an
application recently made by them for a share in the privileges of the
Hampton schools. These bands of Indians are known by two names:
BACON'S REBELLION 63
commanded about 1 50 warriors, and what the assembly
wanted was to secure their aid in suppressing the hostile
Indians. The dusky princess " entered the chamber with a
comportment graceful to admiration, bringing on her right
hand an Englishman interpreter, and on the left her son, a
stripling twenty years of age, she having round her head a
plat of black and white wampum peag three inches broad in
imitation of a crown, and was clothed in a mantle of dressed
deerskins with the hair outwards and the edge cut round six
inches deep, which made strings resembling twisted fringe
from the shoulders to the feet ; thus with grave courtlike
gestures and a majestic air in her face she walked up our
long room to the lower end of the table, where after a few
entreaties she sat down ; the interpreter and her son stand-
ing by her on either side as they had walked up. Our chair-
man asked her what men she would lend us for guides in the
wilderness and to assist us against our enemy Indians. She
spake to the interpreter to inform her what the chairman
said (though we believed she understood him). He told us
she bid him ask [her] son to whom the English tongue was
familiar (and who was reputed the son of an English colonel),
yet neither would he speak to or seem to understand the
chairman, but, the interpreter told us, he referred all to his
mother, who being again urged, she, after a little musing,
with an earnest passionate countenance as if tears w^ere
ready to gush out, and a fervent sort of expression, made a
harangue about a quarter of an hour, often interlacing (with
a high shrill voice and vehement passion) these words, Tota-
potamoy cJiepiack ! i. e. Totapotanioy dead! Colonel Hill,
being next me, shook his head. I asked him what was the
matter. He told me all she said was too true, to our shame,
and that his father was general in that battle where divers
the larger band is called the Pamunkeys (120 souls); the smaller goes
by the name of the Mattaponies (50). They are both governed by
chiefs and councillors, together with a board of white trustees chosen by
themselves.'' Hendren, " Government and Religion of the Virginia
\x\d\-A.xi'&^'' Johns Hopkins Univ. Studies, x\\\. 591.
64 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
years before ^ Totapotamoy her husband had led a hundred of
his Indians in help to the English against our former enemy
Indians, and was there slain with most of his men ; for
which no compensation at all had been to that day rendered
to her, wherewith she now upbraided us."
The candid member for Stafford calls the chairman of the
committee morose and rude for not so much as " advancing
one cold word towards assuaging the anger and
chairman's gricf " of the squaw sachcm. Having once ob-
tained a favour and so ill requited it, the white men
in an emergency were now suppliants for further good offices
of the same sort. But disregarding all this, the chairman
imperiously demanded to be informed how many Indians she
would now contribute. A look of angry disdain passed over
the cinnamon face ; she turned her head away and " sat
mute till that same question being pressed a third time, she,
not returning her face to the board, answered with a low
slighting voice in our own language, Sh' ! but, being fur-
ther importuned, she, sitting a little while sullen, without
uttering a word between, said, Tzvelve ! . . . and so rose
up and walked gravely away, as not pleased with her treat-
ment."
Small wisdom was shown in this mean and discourteous
treatment of a useful ally, but men's thoughts were at once
abruptly turned from such matters. " One morning early a
Bacon's bruit ran about the town. Bacon is fled ! Bacon is
flight ^Q^ I " ^j^^i £qj- ^Y\q moment Indian alliances and
legislative reforms were alike forgotten. Mr. Lawrence's
house was searched at daybreak, but his lodger had gone.
Not only had the governor withheld the expected commis-
sion, but the air was heavy with suspicion of treachery. The
elder Bacon, of King's Creek, who was fond of "this uneasy
^ In 1656 a tribe called Ricahecrians. about 700 in number, from
beyond the Blue Ridge, had advanced eastward as far as the falls of
the James River, where they encountered and defeated Hill and Tota-
potamoy. After this the Ricahecrians may have retraced their steps
westward ; we hear no more of them on the Atlantic seaboard.
BACON'S REBELLION 65
cousin " without approving his conduct, secretly informed
him that his Hfe was in danger at Jamestown. So the young
man sHpped away to his estate at Curl's, and within a few
days marched back upon Jamestown at the head of 600 men.
Berkeley's utmost efforts could scarcely muster 100 men, of
whom we are told that not half could be relied on. Early in
the warm June afternoon Bacon halted his troops upon the
green before the State House, and walked up to- „.
° .... /His return
ward the building with a little guard of fusileers.
The upper windows were filled with peering burgesses, and
crowds of expectant people stood about the green. Out from
the door came the old white-haired governor, trembling with
fury, and, plucking open the rich lace upon his bosom,
shouted to Bacon, " Here I am ! Shoot me ! 'Fore God, a
fair mark, a fair mark — shoot ! " Bacon answered mildly,
*' No, may it please your honour, we have not come to hurt
a hair of your head or of any man's. We are come for a
commission to save our lives from the Indians, which you
have so often promised, and now we will have it before we
go-
But we are told that after the old man had gone in to talk
with his council, Bacon fell into a rage and swore that he
would kill them all if the commission were not granted.
The fusileers presented their pieces at the windows and
yelled, "We will have it ! we will have it ! " till shortly one
of the burgesses shook " a pacifick handkercher " Thegov-
and called down, "You shall have it." All was timidated.
soon quiet again. The assembly drew up a memo- J""^' ^^/^^
rial to the king, setting forth the grievances of the colony and
Bacon's valuable services ; and^ it made out a commission for
him as general of an army to be sent against the Indians.
Next day the governor was browbeaten into signing both
these papers ; but the same ship that carried the memorial
to Charles II. carried also a private letter wherein Berkeley
told his own story in his own way. The assembly was then
dissolved.
Bacon was a commander who could move swiftly and strike
VOL. n
66 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
hard. Within four weeks the remnant of the Susquehan-
Bacon nocks had been pretty nearly wiped out of exist-
Sus^cuehlm- ^^^^e, when he heard that the governor had pro-
nocks claimed him and his followers rebels. It was like
a cry of despair from the old man, who felt his power and
dignity gone while this young Cromwell rode over him
rough-shod. He tried to raise the people in Gloucester,
Berkeley reputed the most loyal of the counties, but his
comac°a\'^d efforts wcre vain. Ominous groans and calls of "a
proclaims Bacon ! a Bacon ! " greeted him, until in anticipa-
rebei tion of Still worsc difficulties he fled across Chesa-
peake Bay to the Accomac peninsula, launching the pro-
clamation behind him like a Parthian arrow. This was on
July 29, and Richard Lawrence carried the news up-stream
to Bacon, who was probably somewhere about the North
Anna River. The young leader was stung by what he felt to
be cruel injustice. " It vexed him to the heart for to think
that while he was hunting Indian wolves, tigers, and foxes,
which daity destroyed our harmless sheep and lambs, that
he and those with him should be pursued with a full cry, as
Bacon's a more savage or a no less ravenous beast." He
mddV° quickly marched back at the head of his troops to
Plantation Middle Plantation, half way between Jamestown
and York River, the site where Williamsburg was afterward
built. What had best be done was matter of discussion
between Bacon and his friends, and the affair began to as-
sume a more questionable and dangerous aspect than before.
The Scotch adviser, William Drummond, was a gentleman
who did not believe in half measures. When some friend
warned him of the danger of rebellion he was heard to reply,
" I am in over shoes ; I will be over boots ! " His wife was
equally bold. It was suggested one day that King Charles
might by and by have something to say about these proceed-
ings, whereupon Sarah Drummond picked up a stick and
broke it in two, exclaiming, " I care no more for the power
of England than for this broken straw ! " Bacon was advised
by Drummond to have Berkeley deposed and the more pla-
BACON'S REBELLION 67
cable Sir Henry Chicheley put in his place ; and as a prece-
dent he cited the thrusting out of Sir John Harvey, forty-
one years before. But Bacon preferred a different course of
action. First, he issued a manifesto in rejoinder to Berke-
ley's proclamation. A few ringing sentences from it will
serve as a sample of his peculiar eloquence.
'' If virtue be a sin, if piety be guilt, all the principles of
morality, goodness and justice be perverted, we must confess
that those who are now called Rebels may be in danger of
those high imputations. Those loud and several j^j^
bulls would affright innocents, and render the de- manifesto
fence of our brethren and the inquiry into our sad and heavy
oppressions Treason. But if there be (as sure there is) a just
God to appeal to, if religion and justice be a sanctuary here,
if to plead the cause of the oppressed, if sincerely to aim at
his Majesty's honour and the public good without any reser-
vation or by-interest, if to stand in the gap after so much
blood of our dear brethren bought and sold, if after the loss
of a great part of his Majesty's colony deserted and dis-
peopled freely with our lives and estates to endeavour to
save the remainders, be treason — God Almighty judge and
let guilty die. But since we cannot in our hearts find one
single spot of rebellion or treason, or that we have in any
manner aimed at subverting the settled government or at-
tempting of the person of any either magistrate or private
man, notwithstanding the several reproaches and threats of
some who for sinister ends were disaffected to us and cen-
sured our innocent and honest designs, and since all people
in all places where we have yet been can attest our civil,
quiet, peaceable behaviour, far different from that of rebel-
lion [rebellious ?] and tumultuous persons, let Truth be bold
and all the world know the real foundations of pretended
guilt. We appeal to the country itself, what and of what
nature their oppressions have been, or by what cabal and
mystery the designs of many of those whom we call great
men have been transacted and carried on. But let us
trace these men in authority and favour to whose hands
68 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
the dispensation of the country's wealth has been com-
mitted." 1
This is the prose of the seventeenth century, which had
not learned how to smite the reader's mind with the short
incisive sentences to which we are at the present day accus-
tomed ; but there is no mistaking the writer's passionate
earnestness, his straightforward honesty and dauntless cour-
His ar- age. As we read, we seem to see the gleam of
of'ITke"* lightning in those melancholy eyes, and we quite
ley understand how the impetuous youth was a born
leader of men. With strong words tumbling from a full
heart the manifesto goes on to " trace these men in author-
ity," these "juggling parasites whose tottering fortunes
have been repaired^ at the public charge." He points out
at some length the character of the public grievances, and
appeals to the king with a formal indictment of Sir William
Berkeley : —
" For having upon specious pretences of public works
raised unjust taxes upon the commonalty for the advance-
ment of private favourites and other sinister ends, but no
visible effects in any measure adequate.
" For not having, during the long time of his government,
in any measure advanced this hopeful colony either by forti-
fication, towns, or trade.
"For having abused and rendered contemptible the ma-
jesty of justice, of advancing to places of judicature scanda-
lous and io^norant favourites.
"For having wronged his Majesty's prerogative and inter-
est by assuming the monopoly of the beaver trade.
"[For] having in that unjust gain bartered and sold his
Majesty's country and the lives of his loyal subjects to the
barbarous heathen.
" For having protected, favoured, and emboldened the
Indians against his Majesty's most loyal subjects, never con-
triving, requiring or appointing any due or proper means of
^ The original MS. of the manifesto is in the British State Paper
Office. It is printed in full in the Virginia Magazine, i. 55-61.
BACON'S REBELLION
69
satisfaction for their many invasions, murders, and robberies
committed upon us."
And so on through several further counts. At the close
of the indictment nineteen persons are mentioned by name
as the governor's " wicked and pernicious counsellors, aiders
and assisters against the commonalty in these our cruel
70 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
commotions." Among these names we read those of Sir
. Henry Chicheley, Richard Lee, Robert Beverley,
counsel- Nicholas Spencer, and the son of our old friend
William Claiborne, who had once been such a
thorn in the side of Maryland. The manifesto ends by
demanding that Berkeley and all the persons on this list be
promptly arrested and confined at Middle Plantation until
further orders. Let no man dare aid or harbour any one of
them, under penalty of being declared a traitor and losing
his estates.
When he had launched this manifesto Bacon called for a
meeting of notables at Middle Plantation, to concert mea-
sures for making it effective. There on August 3, accord-
ingly, were assembled " most of the prime gentlemen of
those parts," includins: four members of the coun-
The oath , . .
at Middle cil. The discussiou lasted all day, and was kept
up by the light of torches until midnight. There
were many who were not willing to go all lengths with
Bacon. All were willing to subscribe an agreement not to
aid Berkeley in molesting Bacon and his men, but all were
not prepared to promise military aid to Bacon in resisting
Berkeley. Bacon insisted upon this and even more. It
was not unlikely that the king, influenced by calumnies and
misrepresentations, might send troops to Virginia to sup-
press the so-called "rebellion." In that case all must unite
in opposing the royal forces until his Majesty should be
brought to see these matters in their true light. Many
demurred at this. It was equivalent to armed rebellion.
They would sign the first part of the agreement, but not
this. Bacon replied that the governor had already pro-
claimed them rebels, and would hang them for signing any
part of the agreement ; one might as well be hanged for a
sheep as for a lamb, and as for himself he was not going to
be satisfied with half support. They must choose between
Berkeley and himself. It is said that they might have
argued all that summer night but for a sudden Indian scare
which emphasized the need for prompt action. Then the
BACON'S REBELLION 71
hesitating gentlemen came forward and signed the entire
paper, while the whole company, and no one more emphat-
ically than Bacon himself, asseverated that these proceed-
ings in no way impaired their allegiance. In other words,
they were ready if need be to make war on the king for his
own good. It was "We, the inhabitants of Virginia," that
drew up this remarkable agreement, which Charles 11. was
presently to read. Writs were then made out in the king's
name for a new election of burgesses and signed by the
four councilmen. Then Bacon crossed the James Defeat of
River and defeated the Appomattox Indians near *'^^ Indians
the spot where Petersburg now stands. After this he moved
about the country, capturing and dispersing the barbarians,
until early in September it might be said that every home-
stead in the colony was safe.
In the proceedings which attended the taking of the oath
at Middle Plantation it may be plainly seen that Bacon was
in danger of alienating his followers by pursuing too radical
a policy. This is strikingly confirmed by a document which
has only lately attracted attention, a letter from startling
John Goode to Sir William Berkeley, dated Jan- tron"^^^^^'
uary 30, 1677. This John Goode was a veteran g^j^^^Q^^^^d
frontiersman of sixty years, a man of importance Goode
in the colony. He seems to have been a faithful adherent
of Bacon from his first march against the Indians in May
until the beginning of September, when there occurred the
conversation which, after all was over, he reported to the
governor as follows. The affair is so important and so little
known that I quote the dialogue entire, with the original
spelling and punctuation : ^ —
Hon'd Sr. — In obedient submission to your honours com-
mand directed to me by Capt. \\'m. Bird - I have written the full
^ The original is in the Colo7iial Entry Book, Ixxi. 232-240. It is
printed in G. B. Goode's Virginia Coiisitis j a Study of the Ancestry
and Poste?'ity of John Goode^ of Whitby, Richmond, 1887, pp. 30-^-30'^.
A brief summary is given in Doyle's Virginia, p. 251.
- Bacon's neighbour and adherent, William Byrd, purchaser of the
Westover estate, and father of William Byrd the historian.
72 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
substance of a discourse Nath : Bacon, deceased, propos'd to me
on or about the 2d day of September last, both in order and
words as followeth : —
Bacon. — There is a report Sir Wm. Berkeley hath sent to the
king for 2,000 Red Coates, and I doe believe it may be true, tell
me your opinion, may not 500 Virginians beat them, wee having
the same advantages against them the Indians have against us.
GooDE. — I rather conceive 500 Red Coats may either Subject
or ruine Virginia.
B. — You talk strangely, are not wee acquainted with the
Country, can lay Ambussadoes, and take Trees and putt them
by, the use of their discipline, and are doubtlesse as good or bet-
ter shott than they.
G. — But they can accomplish what I have sayd without hazard
or coming into such disadvantages, by taking Opportunities of
landing where there shall bee noe opposition, firing out [our ?]
houses and Fences, destroying our Stocks and preventing all
Trade and supplyes to the Country.
B. — There may bee such prevention that they shall not bee
able to make any great Progresse in Mischeifes, and the Country
or Clime not agreeing with their Constitutions, great mortality
will happen amongst them, in their Seasoning which will weare
and weary them out.
G. — You see Sir that in a manner all the principall Men in
the Countrey dislike your manner of proceedings, they, you may
bee sure will joine with the Red Coates.
B. — But there shall none of them bee [permitted ?].
G. — Sir, you speake as though you design'd a totall defection
from Majestie, and our native Country.
B. — Why (smiling) have not many Princes lost their Domin-
ions soe.
G. — They have been such people as have been able to subsist
without their Prince. The poverty of Virginia is such, that the
Major part of the Inhabitants can scarce supply their wants from
hand to mouth, and many there are besides can hardly shift,
without Supply one yeare, and you may bee sure that this people
which soe fondly follow you, when they come to feele the miser-
able wants of food and rayment, will bee in greater heate to leave
you, then [than] they were to come after you, besides here are
many people in Virginia that receive considerable benefitts, com-
BACON'S REBELLION 73
forts, and advantages by Parents, Friends and Correspondents
in England, and many which expect patrimonyes and Inherit-
ances which they will by no meanes decline.
B. — For supply I know nothing : the Country will be able to
provide it selfe withall, in a little time, save Amunition and Iron,
and I believe the King of France or States of Holland would
either of them entertaine a Trade with us.
G. — Sir, our King is a great Prince, and his Amity is infinitely
more valuable to them, then [than] any advantage they can reape
by Virginia, they will not therefore provoke his displeasure by
supporting his Rebells here ; besides I conceive that your fol-
lowers do not think themselves inagaged against the King's Au-
thority, but against the Indians.
B. — But I think otherwise, and am confident of it, that it is the
mind of this country, and of Mary Land, and Carolina also, to
cast off their Governor and the Governors of Carolina have taken
no notice of the People, nor the People of them, a long time ; ^
and the people are resolv'd to own their Governour further ; And
if wee cannot prevaile by Armes to make our Conditions for
Peace, or obtaine the Priviledge to elect our own Governour, we
mav retire to Roanoke.
And here hee fell into a discourse of seating a Plantation in a
great Island in the River, as a fitt place to retire to for Refuge.
G. — Sir the prosecuting what you have discoursed will una-
voidably produce utter mine and destruction to the people and
Countrey, & I dread the thoughts of putting my hand to the
promoting a designe of such miserable consequence, therefore
hope you will not expect from me.
B. — I am glad I know your mind, but this proceeds from meer
Cowardlynesse.
G. — And I desire you should know my mind, for I desire to
harbour noe such thoughts, which I should fear to impart to any
man.
B. — Then what should a Gentleman engaged as I am, doe,
you doe as good as tell me, I must fly or hang for it.
G. — I conceive a seasonable Submission to the Authority you
^ Bacon's allusion is to the troubles in North Carolina which broke
out during the governorship of George Carteret and were chiefly due
to the Navigation Act. See below, p. 260 ; and as to Maryland, see p.
140.
74 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
have your Commission from, acknowledging such Errors and
Excesse, as are yett past, there may bee hope of remission.
I perceived his cogitations were much on this discourse, hee
nominated, Carohna, for the watch word.
Three days after I asked his leave to goe home, hee sullenly
Answered, you may goe, and since that time, 1 thank God, I
never saw or heard from him.
This interesting dialogue reveals the nature of the situa-
tion into which Bacon had drifted. As the days went by, he
could hardly fail to see that the kins: was more
Bacon's -^ •=>
perilous likely to take Berkeley's view of the case than his.
situation ^ ,. , . ...
According to that view the deliverer of Virginia
from the Indians was a proscribed rebel who must *' fly or
hang for it." There was little hope for Bacon in "season-
able submission." He would, therefore, consider it safer and
better for Virginia to hold out until the king could be in-
duced to take Bacon's view of the case ; or failing this, it
might still be possible to wear out the king's troops and
achieve independence for Virginia, with the aid of the discon-
tented people in the neighbouring colonies. These were the
speculations of a man whom circumstances were making des-
perate, and the effect which they wrought upon John Goode
was likely to be repeated with many who had hitherto loy-
ally followed his fortunes.
Thus far Bacon's fighting had been against Indians. His
quarrel with the governor had been confined to fulminations.
Now the two men were to come into armed collision and
give Virginia a brief taste of civil war. Bacon sent Giles
Bland, " a gentleman of an active and stirring disposition,"
with four armed vessels, to arrest Berkeley in Accomac,
but Colonel Philip Ludwell, aided by treachery, succeeded in
capturing Bland with his flotilla. Bland was put
takes the in irons, and one ship's captain was hanged for an
offensive , __ i -i t» i i i- •
example. Meanwhile Berkeley was enlisting troops
by promising as rewards the estates of all the gentlemen who
had taken the oath at Middle Plantation. He also sought
to win over the indentured servants of gentlemen fighting
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'j^i OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
under Bacon by promising to give them the estates of their
niasters. ]\Iany longshoremen also were enrolled. Having
in these ways scraped together about looo men, the gov-
ernor sailed up the river to Jamestown and took possession
of the place, from which Lawrence and Drummond fled in
the nick of time.
When this news reached Bacon it found him at West
Point, with the work of subduing the red men practically
finished. Not four months had yet elapsed since the first
attack on his plantation. It was clearly no ordinary young
man that had done that summer's arduous work. Now he
advanced upon Jamestown, and made his headquarters in his
adversary's comfortable mansion at Green Spring. Sir Wil-
liam had thrown an earthwork across the neck of the pro-
The white nioutory, and Bacon began building a parallel. It is
aprons gaid that he compelled a number of ladies in white
aprons — wives of leading Berkeleyans — to stand upon the
works, and sent a message to the governor not to fire upon
these guardian angels. " The poor gentlewomen were
mightily astonished," says the chronicle, '*and neither were
their husbands void of amazement at this subtle invention." ^
The incident is an ugly spot in that brief career. One would
glacUy disbelieve the story, but our contemporary authority
for it seems unimpeachable, and is friendly w^ithal to Bacon.
The speech made by the young commander to his men at
Green Spring before the final assault is a good specimen of
Bacon's ^^^ cloquencc : " Gentlemen and Fellow Soldiers,
speech j^qw I am transported with gladness to find you
thus unanimous, bold and daring, brave and gallant. You
have the victory before the fight, the conquest before the
battle. . . . Your hardiness will invite all the country along
as we march to come in and second you. . . . The ignoring
of their actions cannot but so much reflect upon their spirit,
as they will have no courage left to fight you. I know you
have the prayers and well wishes of all the people in Vir-
^ One of these ladies is said to have been the wife of the elder Na-
thaniel Bacon I
BACON'S REBELLION 'j-j
ginia, while the others are loaded with their curses. Come
on, my hearts of gold ; he that dies in the field lies in the
bed of honour ! " ^
The governor's motley force was indeed no match for
these determined men. In the desultory fighting that ensued
about Jamestown he was badly defeated and at last fled again
to Accomac. Jamestown remained at Bacon's mercy, and he
burned it to the ground, that it might no longer Burnin<^ of
"harbour the rogues." We are told that Lawrence Jamestown
and Drummond took the lead in this w^ork by applying the
torch to their own houses with their own hands. At Green
Spring an "oath of fidelity" was drawn up, w^hich was taken
voluntarily by many people and forced upon others. Bacon
seems now to have shown more severity than formerly in
sending men to prison and seizing their property. One de-
serter he shot, but from bloodthirstiness he was notably free.
Among the gentlemen who suffered most at his hands were
Richard Lee and Sir Henry Chichelv, who were ^ ^
-^ _ _ -^ Simerersat
kept several weeks in prison, Philip and Thomas Bacon's
Ludwell, Nicholas Spencer and Daniel Parke, Rob-
ert Beverley and Philip Lightfoot, whose estates were at
various times plundered. John Washington and others who
were denounced as " delinquents " saw their corn and tobacco,
cattle and horses, impressed and carried away. Colonel Au-
gustine Warner, another great-grandfather of George Wash-
ington, "was plundered as much as any, and yet speaks little
of his losses, though they were very great." ^ Among the suf-
ferers appears " the good Queen of Pamunkey," who was
"driven out into the wdld woods and there almost famished,
1 " A True Narrative of the Rise, Progresse, and Cessation of the
Late Rebellion in Virginia, most humbly and impartially reported by
his Majestyes Commissioners appointed to enquire into the Affairs of
the said Colony," [Winder Papers, Virginia State Library], reprinted in
Virginia Magazine^ iv. 117- 154.
- "Persons who suffered by Bacon's Rebellion; Commissioners' Re-
port.'' [Winder Papers], reprinted in Virginia Magazine. \. 64-70.
See, also, the extracts from the Westmoreland County records, in Wil-
liam and Mary College Quarterly, ii. 43.
78 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
plundered of all she had, her people taken prisoners and sold ;
the queen was also robbed of her rich watchcoat for which
she had great value, and offered to redeem at any rate." The
next paragraph in the commissioners' report is delightful :
"We could not but present her case to his Majesty, who,
though he may not at present so well or readily provide rem-
edies or rewards for the other worthy sufferers, yet since a
present of small price may highly oblige and gratify this
poor Indian Queen, we humbly supplicate his Majesty to
bestow it on her."
One of the accusations against Bacon was that to him a
good Indian meant a dead Indian, so that he did not take the
trouble to discriminate between friends and foes. But what
shall we say when we find him plundering his own kinsman,
Bacon and the affcctiouatc cousiu whose timely warning had
his cousin once pcrhaps saved his life ? The commissioners
report the losses of Nathaniel Bacon the elder, at the hands
of his "unnatural kinsman," as at least ^looo sterling.
The old gentleman was " said to have been a person soe
desirous and Industrious to divert the evil consequences of
his Rebell kinsman's proceedings, that at the beginning hee
freely proposed and promised to invest him in a consider-
able part of his Estate in present, and to leave him the
Remainder in Reversion after his and his wife's death, offer-
ing him other advantages upon condicion hee would lay
downe his Armes, and become a good subject to his Ma-
jestic, that that colony might not be disturbed or destroyed,
nor his owne ffamily stained with soe foule a Blott."
At the burning of Jamestown the end of Bacon and of his
rebellion was not far off. " This Prosperous Rebell, conclud-
ing now the day his owne, marcheth with his army into
Gloster County, intending to visit all the northern part of
Virginia . . . and to settle affairs after his own measures
. . . But before he could arrive to the Perfection of his
designes (w*^'^ none but the eye of omniscience could Pene-
trate) Providence did that which noe other hand durst (or
at least did) doe and cut him off." Malarious Jamestown
BACON'S REBELLION 79
wreaked its own vengeance upon its destroyer. When Bacon
marched away from it he was already ill with fever,
r ^ Death of
and on the first day of October, at the house of a Bacon,
friend in Gloucester, he "surrendered ujd that fort ^'^'^ "^
he was no longer able to keep, into the hands of the grim
and all-conquering Captain, Death." Accusations of poison
were raised, but it is not likely that any other poison was
concerned than impure water and marsh gases. The funeral
was conducted with extraordinary secrecy. If a sudden turn
of fortune should put Berkeley in possession of the body, he
would surely hang it on a gibbet ; so thoughtful Mr. Law-
rence took measures to prevent any such indignity. One
chronicler darkly hints that Bacon's remains were buried in
some very secret place in the woods, but another mentions
stones laid in the coffin, which suggests that it was sunk
beneath the waves of York River, as Soto was buried in the
Mississippi and mighty Alaric in the Busento.
A strange meteoric career was that of young Bacon, begun
and ended as it was in the space of about twenty weeks.
On the news of his death the rebellion collapsed
Collapse
with surprising suddenness. His followers soon of the
began giving in their submissions to the governor ;
the few that held out were dispersed or captured. Al-
though it was not until January that the work of suppression
was regarded as complete, yet that work consisted chiefly in
catching fugitives. In January an English fleet .^.^ , .
arrived, with a regiment of troops, and a commis- royal com-
sion for investigating the affairs of Virginia. The January,
commissioners were Sir John Berry, Sir Herbert ^ '^'^
Jeffries, and Colonel Francis Morison, three worthy and
fair-minded gentlemen. They found nothing left for soldiers
to do. They had authority for trying rebels, but in that
business Berkeley had been beforehand. Soon after Bacon's
death one of his best officers. Colonel Thomas Hansford, was
captured by Robert Beverley, and carried over to Accomac.
He asked no favour save that he mijrht be "shot like a
soldier and not hanged like a dog," but this was not granted.
8o OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
Hansford has been called " the first native martyr to Ameri-
can liberty."^ Soon afterward two captains were hanged,
and the affair of Major Edward Cheesman seems to have
occurred while Berkeley was still at Accomac. It is the
foulest incident recorded in Berkeley's career. When Chees-
man was brought before him, the governor fiercely de-
manded, ''Why did you engage in Bacon's designs?" Be-
fore the prisoner could answer, his voune: wife
Outrageous -^ ' j o
conduct of Stepped forward and said, " It was my provocations
that made my husband join the cause ; but for me
he had never done what he has done." Then falling on her
knees before the governor, she implored him that she might
be hanged as the guilty one instead of her husband.^ The
old wretch's answer was an insult so atrocious that the roy-
alist chronicler can hardly abide it. " His Honour " must
have been beside himself with anger and could not have
meant what he said ; for no woman could have " so small
an affection for her husband as to dishonour him by her dis-
honesty, and yet retain such a degree of love, that rather
than he should be hanged she will be content to submit her
own life to the sentence." Perhaps the governor's thirst for
vengeance was satisfied by his rufifian speech, for Major
Cheesman was not put to death, but remanded to jail, where
he died of illness.
After Berkeley had occupied the York peninsula little
work remained for him but that of the hangman. Not all
the leaders were easy to find. Richard Lawrence, thought-
ful as always, escaped from the scene. '' The last account
of him," says T. M., " was from an uppermost plantation,
whence he and four other desperadoes, with horses, pistols,
etc., marched away in a snow ankle-deep." Here the schol-
^ See F. P. Brent, " Some unpublished facts relating to Bacon's
Rebellion on the Eastern Shore of \"irginia." and Mrs. Tyler,
" Thomas Hansford, the First Native Martyr to American Liberty," in
Virginia Historical Society^s Coliectio?is, vol. xi.
^ Some interesting information about the Cheesmans may be found
in William and Mary College Quarterly, vol. i.
STRANGE NEWS
FROM
^
«^
Being a full and true
ACCOUNT
OF THE
LIFE and D E A T H
OF
3\(athanael S^rc?« Efquire,
Who was the only Caufe and Original of all »the lare
Troubles in that COUNTRY.
With a full Relation of all the Accidents which havs
happened in the late War there between the , .
Chriftians and Indians.
L<) NDO N,
Printed for William Harris^ next door to the Turn-
Stile without il/(?or-£tfte, y(>7T*
IITLK OF "strange NI.WS IIM'M VIKC.INIA
82 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
arly rebel vanishes from our sight, and whether he perished
in the wilderness or made his way to some safer country, we
do not know. On a cold day in January his friend Drum-
mond, hiding in White Oak Swamp, was found and taken to
the governor. *' Aha ! " cried the old man, with a low bow,
''you are very welcome. I would rather see you just now
than any other man in Viro^inia. Mr. Drummond,
Execution -^ "
of Drum- you shall be hanged in half an hour!" ''What
your honour pleases," said the undaunted Scotch-
man. He was strung up that afternoon, but not until his
wife's ring had been pulled from his finger, for rapacity vied
with ferocity in the governor's breast. Before the end of
January some twenty more had been hanged. An election
was then going on, and the newly-elected assembly called
upon Berkeley to desist from this carnival of blood. " If we
had let him alone," said Presley, the venerable member for
Northampton, to T. M., the member for Stafford, "he would
have hanged half the country ! "
The governor's rage had carried him too far. His con-
duct did not meet with the approval of the commissioners,
whose report on the disturbances is written in a fair and
impartial spirit. He treated the commissioners with crazy
rudeness. It is said that when they had called on him at
Green Spring and were about to return to their boat on the
river, he offered them his state-coach with the hangman for
driver ! whereupon they preferred to walk to the landing-
place. Fresh seeds of contention were sown, to bear fruit
in the future. The complaints of Drummond's widow and
others found their way to the throne. "As I live," quoth
the king, " the old fool has put to death more people in that
naked country than I did here for the murder of my father."
In the spring the royal order for Berkeley's removal arrived,
and on April 27 he sailed for England, apparently expecting
to return, for he left his wife at Green Spring. Sir Herbert
Jeffries, one of the commissioners, succeeded him with a
special commission as lieutenant-governor. Berkeley's de-
parture was joyfully celebrated with bonfires and salutes of
BACON'S REBELLION 83
cannon. He cherished hopes of justifying himself in a per-
sonal interview with the king, but the interview was delayed
until, about the middle of July, the old man fell ^eath of
sick and died. It was believed that his death was Berkeley
caused by vexation and chagrin. A few weeks afterward the
other two commissioners. Sir John Berry and Colonel Mor-
ison, returned to England ; and we are told that one day
the late governor's brother, Lord Berkeley, meeting Sir John
Berry in the council chamber, told him, " with an angry
voice and a Berkeleyan look," that he and Morison had
murdered his brother.^ In October a royal order for the
relief of Sarah Drummond declared that her husband " had
been sentenced and put to death contrary to the laws of the
kingdom."
Thus ended the first serious and ominous tragedy in the
history of the United States, a story preserved for us in
many of its details with striking vividness, yet concerning
the innermost significance of which we would fain know
more than we do. It may fairly be pronounced the most
interesting episode in our early history, surpassing in this
regard the Leisler affair at New York, which alone can be
compared with it for intensity of human interest, signifi-
As ordinarily told, however, the story of Bacon therebei-
presents some features that are unintelligible. It ^i«"
is customary to liken the little rebellion of 1676 to the great
rebellion of 1776, and we are thus led to contemplate Bacon
and Virginia as arrayed against Berkeley and England. In
such a view the facts are unduly simplified and strangely
distorted. If it were possible thus fully to identify Bacon's
cause with the cause of Virginia, it would become impossible
to explain the ease with which his followers were suppressed
by Virginians, without any aid from England. But when all
the facts are considered, we can see at once that such a
result was inevitable.
Careful inspection of the relevant facts will show us that
Bacon was contending against four things : —
1 Neill's Virginia Caroloriun, p. 379.
84 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
1. The Indian depredations.
2. The misrule of Sir William Berkeley.
3. The English navigation laws.
4. The tendency toward oligarchical government which
had been rapidly growing since the beginning of the great
influx of Cavaliers in 1649.
Under the first three heads little need be said. The facts
have been generally recognized. It was by Bacon's zeal and
success in suppressing the Indian power that he acquired
How far pubUc favour. As for the peculation and extortion
pr^J^sented practised or permitted by Berkeley, it cannot for a
finl'ent^n" Hioment be supposed that such men as John Wash-
virginia ingtou, Richard Lee, etc., were inclined to tolerate
or connive at it. As for the navigation laws, it was a com-
mon remark, after the oath at Middle Plantation, that now
Virginians might look forward hopefully to trading with all
countries. It is therefore altogether probable that on all
these grounds the public sentiment of Virginia was over-
whelmingly on the side of Bacon.
Under the fourth head some explanation is needed, for
historians have generally overlooked or disregarded it. One
of the most conspicuous facts in the story of Bacon's rebel-
lion is the fact that a great majority of the wealthiest and
The lead- most important men in the colony were opposed to
wfreTn' '^^ him from first to last. The list of those who were
o^"osed pillaged by his followers is largely a list of the
to him names most honoured in Virginia, the great-grand-
fathers of the illustrious men who were anions: the fore-
most in winning independence for the United States and in
building up our federal government. It is also largely a list
of the names of Cavaliers who had come from En Hand to
Virginia since 1649. The political ideas of these men were
«5
o
o
I
z
'4:
a
<
a
o
86 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
surely not democratic. If they were devout disbelievers in
popular government, the fact is in nowise to their discredit.
Popular government is still on its trial in the world, and the
last word on the subject has not yet been said. In our day
the men who do the most to throw discredit upon it are
often those who prate most loudly in its favour ; political
blatherskites, like the famous " Colonel Yell of Yellville,"
whose accounts were sadly delinquent though his heart beat
with fervour for his native land. The Cavaliers who came
to Virginia were staunch and honourable men who believed
— with John Winthrop and Edmund Burke and Alexander
Hamilton — that society is most prosperous when a select
portion of the community governs the whole. Such a doc-
trine seems to me less defensible than the democratic views
of Samuel Adams and Thomas Jefferson and Herbert Spen-
cer, but it is still entitled to all the courtesies of debate.
Two centuries ago it was of course the prevailing doctrine.
In the preceding chapter I pointed out that the period
of Cavalier immigration, between 1650 and 1670, was char-
acterized by a rapid increase in the dimensions of landed
estates and in the employment of servile labour. The same
period witnessed a change of an eminently sympto-
changes matic kind in local government. In any state the
th"e*^ciose ° ' local institutions are the most vitally important
^^^^""^ part of the whole political structure. Now, as I
have already mentioned,^ the English parish was at an early
time reproduced in Virginia, and its authority was exercised
by a few chosen men, usually twelve, who constituted a
vestry. At first, and until after 1645,^ the vestrymen were
elected by the people of the parish, so that they were analo-
gous to the selectmen of New England. A vestry thus
elected is called an open vestry. Now soon after the Long
Assembly had begun its sessions in 1661, in the full tide of
royalist reaction, we find on its records a statute which trans-
formed the open vestry into a close vestry. In March, 1662,
it was enacted that '' in case of the death of any vestryman,
^ See above, p. 30. ^ Hening's Statutes, i. 290.
BACON'S REBELLION 87
or his departure out of the parish, . . . the minister and
vestry make choice of another to supply his room." ^ The
speedy effect of this was to dispense with the popular elec-
tion and to convert the vestry into a self-perpetuating close
corporation. When we consider the great powers wielded
by the vestry, we realize the importance of this step. The
vestry made up the parish budget, apportioned the taxes, and
elected the churchwardens, who were in many places the
tax-collectors. By its " processioning of the bounds of every
person's land," the vestry exercised control over the record
of land-titles. Its supervision of the counting of tobacco was
also a function of no mean importance. The vestry also
presented the minister for induction. All the local govern-
ment not in the hands of the vestry was administered by the
county court, which consisted of eight justices appointed by
the governor. So that when the people lost the power of
electing vestrymen they parted with the only share they had
in the local government.^ Nothing was left them except the
rio:ht to vote for buro:esses, and not only was this „ . .
^ & ' J Restriction
curtailed in 1670 by a property qualification, but it of the
was of no avail while the Long Assembly lasted, ''
since during those fifteen years there were no elections.
That political power should thus rapidly become concen-
trated in the hands of the leading families was under the
circumstances but natural. That the deprivation of suffrage
was by many people felt to be a grievance is unquestion-
able.^ No testimony can outweigh that of the statute book,
^ Hening's Statutes, ii. 45. In the same statute it was further en-
acted ''that none shall be admitted to be of the vestry that doth not
take the oath of allegiance and supremacy to his Majesty and subscribe
to be conformable to the doctrine and discipline of the Church of Eng-
land." This effectually excluded Dissenters from taking a part in local
government.
2 See Channing, "Town and County Government in the English
Colonies of North America,"/. H. U. Studies, ii. 484 ; Howard, Local
Constitntional Histo?y of the United States, i. 388-404.
3 "We have not had liberty to choose vestrymen wee humbly desire
that the wholle parish may have a free election.'' '' Surry County
Grievances," Vifi^inia Magazine, ii. 172.
88 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
and two of the notable acts of Bacon's assembly in June,
1676, were those which restored universal suffrage and the
popular election of vestrymen, and limited the terms of ser-
vice of vestrymen to three years. The first assembly after
the rebellion, which met at Green Spring in February, 1677,
with Augustine Warner as speaker, declared all the acts of
Bacon's assembly null and void. Then in the course of
that year and the three years following several of those
wholesome acts were reenacted, especially those which related
to exorbitant fees and the misuse of public money. Great
pains were taken to guard against extortion and corruption,^
but the provisions concerning vestrymen were not reenacted.
A law was passed allowing the freeholders and housekeepers
in each parish to elect six "sober and discrete" representa-
tives to sit wdth the vestry and have equal votes with the
vestrymen in assessing the parish taxes ; in case the parish
should neglect to choose such representatives, or in case
they should fail to appear at the time appointed, the vestry
was to proceed without them.^ This act seems to have had
little effect, and the law of 1662, which created the close
vestry, still remained law after more than a century had
passed.^ As for the right to vote for burgesses, the royal
instructions received from Charles II. in January, 1677,
restricted it to " ffreeholders, as being more agreeable to
the custome of England, to which you are as nigh as you
conveniently can to conforme yourselves." ■* According to
the same instructions the assembly was to be called together
only once in two years, ''unlesse some emergent occasion
shall make it necessary ; " and it was to sit "ffourteene days
. . . and noe longer, unlesse you find goode cause to con-
tinue it beyond that tyme ; " qualifications which could easily
be made to defeat the restriction.
The legislation of Bacon's assembly concerning the suf-
1 See e.g. Hening's Statutes, ii. 402, 411, 412, 419, 421,443, 445, 478,
486.
- Hening's Statutes, ii. 396. ^ Laws in Force in ijdg, p. 2.
■* Id. ii. 425.
BACON'S REBELLION
89
frage and the vestries proves that the people whom he repre-
sented were not in sympathy with the poUtical and social
changes which had been growing up since the middle of the
century. These enactments were a protest against the in-
creasing tendency toward a more aristocratic type of society.
It was, therefore, natural that a large majority of the aristo-
crats should have been opposed to Bacon. Doubt- ,,
^ I _ _ How the
less they sympathized with his protests against aristocrats
regarded
legislative oppression and official corruption, but Bacon's
they did not approve of his levelling schemes. Their *° ^''^^^^
language concerning Bacon's followers shows how they felt
about them and toward them.
William Sherwood calls them
"y^ scum of the Country." ^
According to Philip Ludwell,
deputy secretary and member
of the council, Bacon ''gathers
about him a Rabble of the
basest sort of People, w^hose
Condicion was such, as by a
chaunge could not admitt of
worse, \v^^ these he begins to
stand at Defyance ag't the Gov-
ernm't." 2 Again, " Mr. Bacon
had Gotten at severall places
about 500 men, whose fortune
and Inclinations being equally desperate, were ffit for y^ pur-
pose there being not 20 in y^ whole Route, but what were
1 Sherwood to Sir Joseph Williamson, June 28, 1676, Virginia Mag-
azine, i. 171. Sherwood was a gentleman, probably educated as a law-
yer, who had been convicted of robbery in England and pardoned
through the intercession of Sir Joseph Williamson, secretary of state.
(As to gentlemen robbers, compare the reference to Sir John Popham,
above, vol. i. p. H of the present work.) Sherwood became attorney-
general of Virginia in 1677, and was for thirty years an esteemed mem-
ber of societv.
2 Ludwell'to Sir Joseph Williamson, June 28, 1676, Virginia Maga-
zine, i. 179.
go OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
Idle & will not worke, or such whose Debaucherie or 111 Hus-
bandry has brought in Debt beyond hopes or thought of
payment these are the men that are sett up ffor the Good
of ye Countrey ; who for ye ease of the poore will have noe
taxes paied, though for ye most p^ of them, they pay none
themselves, would have all magistracie & Governm'nt taken
away & sett up one themselves, & to make their Good Inten-
tions more manifest stz'ck not to talk openly of sJiareing mens
Estates among themselves} with these (being Drawne to-
gether) Mr. Bacon marches speedly toward the tovvne, etc." ^
Governor Berkeley's testimony should not be omitted ; he
wrote to the king in June, "I have above thirty-five years
governed the most flourishing country the sun ever shone
over, but am now encompassed with rebellion like waters in
every respect like to that of Masaniello except their leader." ^
In other words, the rebels were a mere rabble, except their
leader, who was not a humble fisherman like the Italian, but
a gentleman of high birth and breeding. According to the
careful and fair-minded commissioners. Bacon " seduced the
Vulgar and most ignorant People (two-thirds of each county
being of that Sort) Soe that theire whole hearts and hopes
were set now upon " him.*
Allowance for prejudice must of course be made in con-
sidering the general statements of hostile witnesses, such as
Berkeley and Sherwood and Philip Ludwell. It is quite clear
The real ^^^^ Bacou's followcrs wcrc by no means all of the
state of the bascr sort. This is distinctly recognized in a letter
C3.SG
to the king by Thomas Ludwell and Robert Smith,
containing proposals for reducing the rebels. In a certain
event, they say, "there will be a speedy separation of the
1 In other words, they entertained communistic ideas. I have ital-
icised the statement, to mark its importance.
2 The same letter, Virginia Magazine^ i. 183.
2 T. M.'s Narrative, Virginia Historical Register, iii. 126. It will
be remembered that Masaniello's insurrection occurred in 1647, and
was thus fresh in men's memories. Masaniello was twenty-four years
of age, and was murdered in his hour of apparent triumph.
^ •' A True Narrative," etc., Virginia Magazine, iv. 125.
BACOxN'S REBELLION 91
sound parts from the rabble." ^ Here we have an explicit
admission that there was a "sound part." It will be remem-
bered that Drummond had been a colonial governor, and that
his house and Lawrence's were the best in Jamestown. The
officers we have met in the story, Hansford and Bland and
Cheesman, were men of good family ; and among the fore-
most men in the colony we are told that Colonel George
Mason was inclined to sympathize with the insurgents.^ In
this he was clearly by no means alone. On the whole, how-
ever, there can be no doubt that Bacon's cause was to a
considerable extent the cause of the poor against the rich, of
the humble folk against the grandees.
When we take into account this aspect of the case, which
has never received the attention it deserves, the whole story
becomes consistent and intelligible. The years preceding
the rebellion were such as are commonly called " hard
times." People felt poor and saw fortunes made by corrupt
officials ; the fault was with the Navigation Act and with
the debauched civil service of Charles H. and Effect of
Berkeley. Besides these troubles, which were hard times
common to all, the poorer people felt oppressed by taxation
in regard to which they were not consulted and for which
they seemed to get no service in return.'^ The distribution
of taxation by polls, equal amounts for rich and for poor, was
1 Virginia Magazine^ i. 433.
2 See Miss Rowland's admirable Life of George Mason^ 1 725-1 792,
New York, 1892, i. 17.
3 From the list of Surry grievances we may cite "6. That the 2s per
hhd Imposed by ye 128^^ act for the payment of his majestyes officers
& other publique debts thereby to ease his majestyes poore subjects
of their great taxes : wee humblely desire that an account may be
given thereof. ... 10. That it has been the custome of County Courts
att the laying of the levy to withdraw into a private Roome by wch
meanes the poore people not knowing for what they paid their levy did
allways admire how their taxes could be so high. Wee most humbly
pray that for the future the County levy may be laid publickly in the
Court house." From the Isle of Wight grievances, " 21. Wee doe also
desire to know for what purpose or use the late publique leavies of 50
pounds of tobacco and cask per poll and the 12 pound per polle is for
92 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
resented as a cruel injustice.^ The subject of taxation was
closely connected with the Indian troubles, for people paid
large sums for military defence and nevertheless saw their
houses burned and their families massacred. Under these
circumstances the sudden appearance of the brave and elo-
quent Bacon seemed to open the way of salvation. The
indomitable queller of Indians could also curb the tyrant.
Naturally, along with a more respectable element, the rabble
gathered under his standard ; it is always the case in revo-
lutions with the men who have little or nothing to lose. It
Populist is likewise usual for men with much property at
theTebe?-^ Stake to bc Conservative on such occasions. Philip
iJo" Lud well's statement, that some of the rebels en-
tertained communistic notions, is just what one might have
expected. There is always more or less socialist tomfoolery
at such times. In some of its aspects there is a resem-
blance between Bacon's rebellion and that of Daniel Shays
in Massachusetts one hundred and ten years later. But the
Massachusetts leader was a weak and silly creature, and his
resistance to government had nothing to justify it, though
there were palliating circumstances. The course of Bacon,
on the other hand, was in the main a justifiable protest
Its sound against misgovernment, and until after the oath at
aspects Middle Plantation a great deal of the sound senti-
ment in Virginia must have sympathized with him. In the
unwillingness of some of the gentlemen present to take the
oath, we seem to see the first ebbing of the tide. Evidently
there began to be, as Thomas Ludwell had predicted, " a
separation of the sound parts from the rabble;" and this
appears very distinctly in the defection of Goode about four
weeks later.
In the intention of resisting the king's troops, which thus
and what benefit wee are to have for it." Virginia Magazine, ii. 171,
172, 389.
^ Isle of Wright grievances, " 16. Also wee desire that evrie man
may be taxed according to the tracks [tracts] of Land they hokl."'
Virginia Magazine^ ii. 388.
BACON'S REBELLION 93
weakened Bacon's position, he certainly showed more zeal
than judgment. It has the look of the courage that comes
from desperation. Had he lived to persist in this course,
the policy most likely to strengthen him would have been to
make his foremost demand the repeal of the Navigation Act
which all Virginians detested and even Berkeley disapproved.
But it is not likely that anything could have saved him from
defeat and the scaffold. Death seems to have intervened in
kindness to him and to Virginia.^
In the early history of our country Bacon must ever remain
one of the bright and attractive figures. Our heart is always
with the man who boldly stands out against corruption and
oppression. To many persons the name of rebel seems
fraught with blame and reproach ; but the career of man-
kind so abounds in examples of heroic resistance to intoler-
able wrongs that to any one familiar with history the name
of rebel is often a title of honour. Bacon's brief career was
an episode in the perennial fight against taxation without
representation, the ancient abuse of living on other men's
labour. We cannot fail to admire his quick incisiveness, his
cool head, his determined courage ; and the spectacle of this
young Cavalier taking the lead, like Tiberius Gracchus, in a
movement for justice and liberty will always make a pleasing
picture,
1 " One proclamation commanded all men in the land on pain of
death to joine him. and retire into the wildernesse upon arrival of the
forces expected from England, and oppose them untill they should pro-
pose or accept to treat of an accomodation, which we who lived com-
fortably could not have undergone, so as the whole land must have
become an Aceldama if god's exceeding mercy had not timely removed
him." So says T. AL, whose narrative is by no means unfriendly to
Bacon.
CHAPTER XII
WILLIAM AND MARY
Between the breaking out of Bacon's rebellion in the
summer of 1676 and the Declaration of Independence, the
interval was exactly a hundred years. It was for Virginia
a century of political education. It prepared her for the
Political gi'eat work to come, and it brought her into sym-
education pathy morc or less effective with other colonies
that were struggling with similar political questions, espe-
cially with Massachusetts. It was in that same year, 1676,
that Charles II. sent Edward Randolph to Boston, to enforce
the Navigation Act and to report upon New England affairs
in general. This mission of Randolph led to quarrels which
resulted in the overthrow of the charter and the sending of
royal governors to Massachusetts. From that time forth
the legislatures of Massachusetts and Virginia had to con-
tend with similar questions concerning the powers and pre-
rogatives of the royal governors, so that the two colonies
kept a close watch upon each other's proceedings, while
both received a thorough training in constitutional politics.
Amid such circumstances came into existence the necessary '
conditions for the establishment of political independence I
and the formation of our Federal Union. \
The suppression of Bacon's rebellion was far from equiva- \
lent to a surrender to Charles II. or his representatives. ;
Questions of privilege soon arose, and it was not long before ;
Berkeley's most efficient officer came himself to be regarded j
Robert almost in the light of a rebel. Major Robert Bever- :
Beverley ]gy^ Qf Bcvcrley in Yorkshire, an ardent royalist,
had come to Virginia in 1663. He was elected clerk of the !
I
WILLIAM AND MARY 95
House of Burgesses in 1670, and held that office for many
years. No one was more active in stamping out rebellion
in the autumn of 1676, but after the arrival of the royal
commissioners he was soon at feud with them. As the
disturbances had been quieted without the aid of their
troops, there was a disposition to resent their coming as
an interference, especially as they seemed to lend too ready
an ear to the complaints of the malcontents. In the list of
grievances of Gloucester County we find '' a complaint
against Major Robert Beverley that when the country had
(according to Order) raised 60 armed men to be an Out-
guard for the Governor — who not finding the Governor nor
their appointed Comander they were by Beverly comanded
to goe to work, fall trees and maule and toate railes, which
many of them refusing to doe, he presently disbanded them
& sent them home at a tyme when the countrey were
infested by the Indians, who had a little before cut off six
persons in one family, and attempted others." Upon this
the commissioners remarked, " Wee conceive this dealing of
Beverly's to be a notorious abuse and Grievance, to take
away the peoples armes while ther famlies were cutt off by
the Indians, and they deserve just reparation here." But
Berkeley declared that what Beverley had done was by his
orders, and the newly elected House of Burgesses stood by
its clerk. After Berkeley had sailed for England, in April,
1677, the commissioners called upon the House His refusal
of Burgesses to give up its journals for their in- Jj^e^our"^
spection, and Beverley refused to comply with the "^^^
demand. No king in England, said the burgesses, would
venture to make such a demand of the House of Commons.
Then the commissioners seized the journals, and the bur-
gesses indignantly voted that such an act was a violation of
privilege. This enraged the king, and in February, 1679,
the privy council ordered that Beverley should be removed
from office.
A change of governors, however, altered the situation.
After Jeffries and Chichely, who served but a year each,
96 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
came Lord Culpeper, whom Charles 11. had undertaken to
make co-proprietor of Virginia, along with the Earl of Arling-
Lord ton. Culpeper was an average specimen of the
Culpeper public officials of the time, fairly agreeable and
easy-going, but rapacious and utterly unprincipled. In one
respect he might be contrasted unfavourably with all the
governors since Harvey. Such men as Bennett and Mathews
and Berkeley looked upon Virginia as home. After his own
fashion the tyrannical Berkeley had the interest of Virginia
at heart. But Culpeper regarded the Virginians simply as
people to be fleeced. Through four years of chronic brawl
he kept coming and going, coming to manage the assembly
and returning to consult with the king. Charles wished
to have the power of initiating legislation taken away from
the burgesses. All laws were to be drafted by the gov-
ernor and council, and then sent to England for the royal
approval, before being submitted to the burgesses. With
such an arduous task before him, it was wise for Culpeper
to avoid giving needless offence ; and seeing the high regard
in which Beverley was held, he caused the order for his
removal to be revoked.
The evil effects of the Navigation x^ct still continued. In
1679 th^ tobacco crop was so large that a considerable surplus
was left over till the next year unsold. In 1680 the sur-
plus was still greater, so that there was evidently more than
enough to supply the English market for two years. The
assembly therefore proposed to order a cessation of
cutters' planting for the year 1681, but on account of the
' customs revenue it was necessary to obtain the
king's assent to such an order. By the same token the as-
sent was refused, and great was the indignation in Virginia.
The price of tobacco had fallen so low that, according to
Nicholas Spencer, a whole year's crop would not so much as
buy the clothes which people needed.^ The distress was
like that which was caused in the War of Independence by
the Continental currency and the rag money issued by the
several states. It was the kind of sickness that has always
^ Bruce, Economic History of Virginia, i. 402.
WILLIAM AND MARY
97
come and always will come with *' cheap money." Culpeper
insisted that the only chance of relief was in exporting beef,
pork, and grain to the West Indies. A more effective mea-
sure would have been the repeal of the Navigation Act. In
LORD CULPEPER
the spring of 1682, on the petition of several counties, the
assembly was convened for the purpose of ordering a cessa-
tion of planting. Amid great popular excitement the assem-
bly adjourned without taking any decisive action. Then a
fury for destroying the young plants seized upon the people.
''The growing tobacco of one plantation was no sooner
destroyed than the owner, having been deprived either with
or without his consent of his crop, was seized with the same
frenzy and ran with the crowd as it marched to destroy the
crop of his neighbour." ^ The contagion spread until ten
1 Bruce, Economic Histo?y of Virginia^ i. 405 ; Hening's Statjctes,
ii. 562.
VOL. II
98 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
thousand hogsheads of tobacco had been destroyed. In
Gloucester, where the most damage was done, two hundred
plantations were laid waste. The riot was suppressed by
the militia, three ringleaders were hung, and the rest par-
doned. One, we are told, received pardon on condition that
he should build a bridge.^
This was contracting the currency with a vengeance, but
it produced the desired effect. In 1683 the purchasing
power of tobacco was greatly increased, and a feeling of con-
tentment returned. But the destruction of the plants served
to heighten the king's indignation at Culpeper's ill success
in curtailing the power of the burgesses. Culpeper tried to
play a double part and appear complaisant to the assembly
without offending the king. Consequently he pleased no-
Cuipepei's body, and early in 1684 he was removed. Shortly
removal afterward the king confirmed him in the possession
of the territory known as the Northern Neck, and he relin-
quished all proprietary claims upon the rest of Virginia in
exchange for a pension of ^600 yearly for twenty years.
Culpeper's successor was Lord Howard of Effingham, an
unworthy descendant of Elizabeth's gallant admiral. He
was as greedy and dishonest as Culpeper, without
Howard of his conciliatory temper. The difference between
ngiam ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ bccu aptly compared to the difference
between Charles II. and his brother. Howard was indeed as
domineering and wrong-headed as James II., and rapacious
besides. He treated public opinion with contempt. His
administration was noted for corruption and tyranny. No
accounts were rendered of the use of public funds, and men
were arbitrarily sent to jail. Howard went so far as to claim
the right to repeal the acts of the assembly, and over this
point there was hot contention. The subject of "plant-cut-
ting," or the destruction of growing tobacco, came up again,
and the crown was enabled in one and the same act to wreak
its vengeance upon an eminent victim and to aim a blow at
the independence of the House of Burgesses.
1 Doyle's Virginia^ p. 261.
WILLIAM AND MARY
99
Robert Beverley, as we have seen, had incurred the royal
displeasure by refusing to hand over to the commissioners
the journals of the House of Burgesses. In 1682 he was
strongly in favour of a cessation of planting, and
accordingly it suited the purposes of his enemies to trouble for
point to him as the prime instigator of the plant- ^^^^^^
cutting riots. On this accusation he was turned out of office
and several times imprisoned. At last, just after Lord
Howard's arrival, he was set free after asking pardon on his
LORD HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM
bended knees and giving security for future good behaviour.
A statute passed about this time made plant-cutting high
treason, punishable with death and confiscation.^
As soon as Beverley was set free the House of Burgesses
again chose him for its clerk. But presently Lord Howard
tried to get the burgesses to allow him to levy a tax, and
^ Hening's Statutes, iii. 10.
loo OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
in the course of the quarrel sundry trumped-up charges
were brought against Beverley, so that in 1686 James II.
instructed Howard to declare him incapable of holding any
ofifice of public trust. The same letter ordered that hence-
forth the clerk of the House of Burgesses should be ap-
pointed by the governor.^
It is worthy of note that the most despicable and law-
less of modern English kings did not venture to deny the
For stupid right of Virginians to tax themselves by their own
janies fi. representatives. Howard's instructions merely
was out- authorized him to "recommend" certain measures
done by
George III. to the assembly. His attempt to get permission
to levy a tax independently of the burgesses was such a re-
commendation. However arrogant and illegal in spirit, it
still conceded to the colonists the constitutional principle
over which the fatuous George III. and his rotten-borough
parliaments were to try to ride rough-shod.
By 1688 Howard concluded that it would be pleasant and
comfortable for him to live on his governor's salary in Eng-
land and send out a deputy-governor to deal with refractory
burgesses. When he arrived in England he found William
and Mary on the throne, but they showed no disposition to
interfere with his plans. Just the right sort of man for
Francis deputy-govcrnor appeared at the right moment.
Nicholson Francis Nicholson had held that position in New
York under the viceroy of united New York and New Eng-
land, Sir Edmund Andros. When that unpopular viceroy
was deposed and cast into jail in Boston, Nicholson was de-
posed in New York by Jacob Leisler, and went to England
with the tale of his w^oes, which King William sought to
assuage by sending him to Virginia as deputy-governor.
Nicholson was a man of integrity and fair ability, though
highly eccentric and cantankerous. " Laws of Virginia," he
cried one day, seizing the attorney-general by the lapel of his
^ Doyle's Vii'^inia, pp. 259-265 ; Stanard. " Robert Beverley and his
Descendants," Virginia Magazine, ii. 405-413; Hening's 6'/^//^/^'^, iii.
41, 451-571-
WILLIAM AND MARY
lOl
JAMES II
lis
manners
silk robe, " I know no laws of Mrginia ! I know my com-
mands are going to be obeyed here ! " At another hi
time he told the comicil that they were "mere
brutes who understood not manners, . . . that he would
beat them into better manners and make them feel that he
was governor of Virginia." ^
In spite of his queer peppery ways, the rule of Nicholson
^ William and Ma>y College Quarterly, i. 66.
102 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
was a decided relief after such worthless creatures as Cul-
peper and Howard. It is chiefly memorable for the founding
of the second American college, a work which encountered
such obstacles on both sides of the ocean as only an iron
James wiU could vanquish. Such was found in the person
Sunder of of Jamcs Blair, a Scotch clergyman, who in 1689
William ^y^^s appointed commissioner of the Church in Vir-
and Mary ^^ .
College ginia. The need for a bishop was telt, and a little
later there was some talk of sending out the famous Jona-
than Swift in that capacity, but no Episcopal bishopric was
created in America until after the War of Independence.
Dr. Blair had a seat in the colonial council, presided at
ecclesiastical trials, and exercised many of the powers of a
bishop. Since the old scheme of Nicholas Ferrar and his
friends for a college in Virginia had been extinguished amid
lurid scenes of Indian massacre, nearly seventy years had
elapsed^ when Blair in 1691 revived it. He began by col-
lecting some ^2500 by subscription, and then went to Eng-
land to get more money and obtain a charter. He was aided
by two famous divines, Tillotson, Archbishop of Canterbury,
and Stillingfleet, Bishop of Worcester, but from the trea-
sury commissioner, Sir Edward Seymour, he received a
coarse rebuff, which shows the frankly materialistic view at
that time entertained by the British official mind regarding
England's colonies. When Blair urged that a college was
needed for training up clergymen, Seymour thought it w^as
no time to be sending money to America for such purposes ;
every penny was wanted in Europe for carrying on the neces-
sary and righteous war against Louis XIV. Blair could
not deny that it was an eminently righteous war, but he was
not thus to be turned from his purpose. "You must not
forget," said he, "that people in Virginia have souls to save,
as well as people in England." "Souls!" cried Seymour,
"damn your souls ! Grow tobacco ! " In spite of this dis-
couraging view of the case, the good doctor persevered until
1 From time to time there had been futile attempts to take up the
matter afresh : see, for example, Hening's Statutes, ii. 30.
I
*
m
f^
v^
"^
V :K'
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104
OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
he obtained from William and Mary the charter that founded
the college ever since known by their names.
The college was established in 1693, with Blair for its
president.^ Governor Nicholson, with seventeen other per-
sons appointed by the assembly, formed the board of trus-
tees. From the outset Nicholson was warmly in sympathy
with the enterprise, but now this friend was called away for
a time. In the anti-Catholic fervour which attended the
accession of King William and Queen Mary, the palatinate
government in Maryland had been overturned, and the new
royal governor, Sir Lionel Copley, died in 1693. Nicholson
was then promoted from deputy-governor of Virginia to be
EARLY VIEW OF WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE
governor of Maryland. About the same time Lord Howard
of Effingham resigned or was removed, and Sir
Edmund Andros was sent out to Virginia as gov-
ernor. It may seem a strange appointment in
view of the obloquy which Andros had incurred at
the north. But in all these appointments William III. seems
} Dr. Blair held the presidency for fifty years, until his death in
1743-
Nicholson
succeeded
by Sir
Edmund
Andros
r
I
r^ '.-
/^
;'• C^J'
c re- J
/ '
./.,,
v^-4
r
/a
// / > N
L
DOCUMENT BEARING AUTOGRAPH OF SIR EDMUND AXDROS
io6 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
to have acted upon a consistent policy of not disturbing,
except in cases of necessity, the state of things which he
found. As a rule he retained in his service the old officials
against whom no grave charges were brought ; and while
the personality of Andros was not prepossessing, there can
be no doubt as to his integrity.
Nicholson's career as royal governor of Maryland lasted
until 1698, while Andros was having a hard time in Virginia
trying to enforce with rigour the Navigation Act and to
. , make life miserable for Dr. Blair. His conduct was
Andros
quarrels far more moderate than it had been in New Eng-
land, but he had his full share of trouble in Vir-
ginia. The moving cause of his hostility to the college of
William and Mary is not distinctly assigned, but he is not
unlikely to have believed, like many a dullard of his stripe,
that education is apt to encourage a seditious and froward
spirit. He did everything he could think of to thwart and
annoy President Blair. At the election of burgesses he pre-
dicted that the establishment of a college would be sure to
result in a terrible increase of taxes. He tried to persuade
subscribers to withhold the payment of their subscriptions.
He sought to arouse an absurd prejudice against Scotchmen,
for which it was rather late in the day. Finally he conniv-ed
at gross insults to the president and friends of the college.
Among the young men to whom Andros showed especial
favour was Daniel Parke, whose grandson, Daniel Parke
Custis, is now remembered as the first husband of Martha
Washington. This young Daniel did some things to which
posterity could hardly point with pride. He is described
as a "sparkish gentleman," or as some would say a slashing
blade. He was an expert with the rapier and anxious to
thrust it between the ribs of people who supported the col-
lege. His challenges were numerous, but clergymen could
not be reached in such a way. So " he set up a claim to
the pew in church in which Mrs. Blair sat, and one Sun-
day," as we are told, "with fury and violence he pulled her
out of it in the presence of the minister and congregation,
WILLIAM AND MARY
107
who were greatly scandalized at this ruffian and profane
action." ^
This was going too far. The stout Scotchman had power-
.,j ilim "
COLONEL DAM EL PARKE
ful friends in London ; the outrage was discussed in Lam-
beth Palace ; and Sir Edmund Andros, for winking Rei^o^ai
at such behaviour, was removed. He was evidently °^ Andros
a slow-witted official. His experiences in Boston, with Par-
son Willard of the Old South, ought to have cured him of
his propensity to quarrel with aggressive and resolute clergy-
men. For two or three years after going home, Sir Edmund
governed the little channel island of Jersey, and the rest of
his days were spent in retirement, until his death in 1714.
1 William and Mary College Quarterly, i. d^.
io8 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
The system of absentee governors, occasionally exempli-
fied in such cases as those of Lord Delaware and Lord How-
ard, was now to be permanently adopted. A great favourite
with William III. was George Hamilton Douglas, whose dis-
Eariof tinguished gallantry at the battle of the Boyne and
Orkney other occasions had been rewarded with the earldom
of Orkney. In 1697 he was appointed governor-in-chief of
Virginia, and for the next forty years he drew his annual
salary of ;£i200 without ever crossing the ocean. Hence-
forth the official who represented him in Virginia was entitled
lieutenant-governor, and the first was Francis Nicholson, who
was brought back from Maryland in 1698.
One of Nicholson's achievements in Maryland, as we shall
see in the next chapter, had been the change of the seat
Return of °^ govcmment from St. Mary's to Annapolis. He
Nicholson ^ow proceeded to make a similar change in Vir-
ginia. After perishing in Bacon's rebellion, Jamestown was
rebuilt by Lord Culpeper, but in the last decade of the cen-
tury it was again destroyed by an accidental fire, and has
never since risen from its ashes. Of that sacred spot, the
first abiding-place of Englishmen in America, nothing now
is left but the ivy-mantled ruins of the church tower and
a few cracked and crumbling tombstones. The site of the
hamlet is more than half submerged, and unless some kind
of sea-wall is built to protect it, the unresting tides will soon
wash ever3^thing away.^ Jamestown had always a bad repu-
tation for malaria, and after its second burning people were
1 I leave this as it was first written a few years ago, and take pleasure
in adding to it the following quotation from Mr. Bruce : " That the
entire site of the town will not finally sink beneath the waves of the
river will be due to the measures of protection which the National
Government have adopted at the earnest solicitation of the Associatio7t
for the Prese}'vatio7i of Virginia Antiquities. This organization is
performing a noble and sacred work in rescuing so many of the ancient
landmarks of the state from ruin, a work into which it has thrown a
zeal, energy, and intelligence entitling it to the honour and gratitude of
all who are interested in the history, not merely of Virginia, but of
America itself." Econo7)iic History of Virginia., ii. 562.
WILLIAM AND MARY
109
not eager to restore it
Plans for moving the government
elsewhere had been considered on more than one occasion.
In 1699 the choice fell upon the site of Middle
. Founding
Plantation, half way between James and York rivers, of wii-
with its salubrious air and wholesome water. It had '^"^^ "^^
already, in 1693, been selected as the site of the new college.^
Nicholson called the place Williamsburg, and began building
a town there with streets so laid out as to make W and M,
the initials of the king and queen, a plan soon abandoned
GEORGE HAMILTON DOUGLAS, EAKL OF ORKNEY
as inconvenient. The town thus founded by Nicholson
remained the capital of Virginia until 1780, when it was
superseded by Richmond.
Nicholson was in full sympathy with President Blair as
regarded the college, but occasions for disagreement Nicholson
between them were at hand. On the lieutenant- ^"^ ^'^'^
governor's arrival the wise parson read him a lesson upon the
1 Hening's Statutes, iii. 122.
no
OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
PIECE OF SIXTEENTH CENTURY ARMOR
UNEARTHED AT JAMESTOWN
need for moderation in the display of his powers. The
career of his predecessor Andros, in more than one colony,
furnished abundant examples of the need for such modera-
tion. Blair offered him some good advice tendered by the
Bishop of London, whereupon Nicholson exclaimed, with a
big round oath, '' I know how
to govern Virginia and ]\Ia-
ryland better than all the
bishops in England. If I had
not hampered them in Mary-
land and kept them under, I
should never have been able
to govern them." The doc-
tor replied : '' Sir, I do not
pretend to [speak for] Mary-
land, but if I know anything
of Virginia, they are a good-
natured [and] tractable peo-
ple as any in the world, and
you may do anything with them by way of civility, but you
will never be able to manage them in that way you speak
of, by hampering and keeping them under." ^ The eccentric
governor did not profit by this advice. Of actual tyranny
there was not much in his administration, but his bluster-
ing tongue would give utterance to extravagant speeches
whereat company would sit ''amazed and silent."
At last in a laughable way this blustering habit proved his
ruin. Not far from Williamsburg lived Major Lewis Bur-
well, who had married a cousin of the rebel Bacon and had
a whole houseful of blooming daughters. With one of these
A scoidin'^ young ladics the worshipful governor fell madly in
swain love, but to his unspeakable chagrin she promptly
and decisively refused him. Poor Nicholson could not keep
the matter to himself, but raved about it in public. He sus-
pected that Dr. Blair's brother was a favoured rival and
threatened the whole family with dire vengeance. He swore
^ lVilliai?i and Maiy College Qiiartet'ly, i. 66.
WILLIAM AND MARY iii
that if Miss Burwell should undertake to marry anybody but
himself, he would '' cut the throats of three men : the bride-
groom, the minister, and the justice who issued the license."
This truculent speech got reported in London, and one of
Nicholson's friends wrote him a letter counselling him not to
be so unreasonable, but to remember that English women
were the freest in the world, and that Virginia was not like
those heathen Turkish countries where tender ladies were
dragged into the arms of some pasha still reeking with the
blood of their nearest relatives. But nothing could quiet the
fury of a '' governor scorned ; " and one day when he sus-
pected the minister of Hampton parish of being his rival, he
went up to him and knocked his hat off. This sort of thing
came to be too much for Dr. Blair; a memorial Removal of
was sent to Oueen Anne, and Nicholson was re- >^'ichoison
called to England in 1705. Afterwards we find him com-
manding the expedition which in 1710 captured the Acadian
Port Royal from the French. He then served as governor
of the newly conquered Nova Scotia and afterwards of South
Carolina, was knighted, rose to the rank of lieutenant-gen-
eral, and died in 1728.
Meanwhile the college of William and Mary, in which
Nicholson felt so much interest, was flourishing. Unfor-
tunately its first hall, desio;ned by Sir Christopher
•' . . The college
Wren, was destroyed by fire in 1705, but it was be-
fore long replaced by another. Until 171 2 the faculty con-
sisted of the president, a grammar
master, writing master, and an usher ;
in that year a professor of mathe-
matics was added. By 1729 there
were six professors. Fifty years later the departments of
law and medicine were added, and the name ** College" was
replaced by '' University." ^
As in the case of Harvard, it was hoped that this college
might prove effective in converting and educating Indians.
In 1723 Brafferton Hall was built for their use, from a fund
1 William ajid Mary College Quarterly., ii. d'^.
112 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
given by Robert Boyle, the famous chemist. It is still stand-
ing and used as a dormitory. We are told that the '' Queen
Indian ^^ Pamunkey " sent her son to college with a boy
students to Wait upou him, and likewise two chiefs' sons, " all
handsomely cloathed after the Indian fashion ; " ^ but as to
any effects wrought upon the barbarian mind by this Chris-
tian institution of learning, there is nothing to which we can
point.
The first Commencement exercises were held in the year
1 700, and it is said that not only were Virginians and In-
dians present on that gala day, but so great was the fame of
it that people came in sloops from Maryland and Pennsyl-
vania, and even from New York.^ The journals of what
we may call the " faculty meetings " throw light upon the
manner of living at the college. There is a matron, or
housekeeper, who is thus carefully instructed : '* i. That you
instruc- never concern yourself with any of the Boys only
house-°*'^^ when you have a Complaint against any of them,
keeper ^iud then that you make it to his or their proper
Master. — 2. That there be always both fresh and salt Meat
for Dinner ; and twice in the Week, as well as on Sunday in
particular, that there be either Puddings or Pies besides ;
that there be always Plenty of Victuals ; that Breakfast,
Dinner, and Supper be serv'd up in the cleanest and neatest
manner possible ; and for this Reason the Society not only
allow but desire you to get a Cook ; that the Boys Suppers
be not as usual made up of different Scraps, but that there
be at each Table the same Sor^ : and when there is cold
fresh Meat enough, that it be often hashed for them ; that
when they are sick, you yourself see their Victuals before it
be carry'd to them, that it be clean, decent, and fit for them ;
that the Person appointed to take Care of them be constantly
with them, and give their Medicine regularly. The general
Complaints of the Visitors, and other Gentlemen throughout
the whole Colony, plainly shew the Necessity of a strict and
^ Williajns and Mary College Quarterly^ i. 187.
^ Cooke's Virgmia, p. 306.
WILLIAM AND MARY
113
regular Compliance with the above Directions. ... 4. That
a proper Stocking-mender be procured to live in or near the
college, and as both Masters and Boys complain of losing
their Stockings, you are desired to look over their Notes
given with their Linnen to the Wash, both at the Delivery
and Return of them. ... 5. That the Negroes be trusted
with no keys ; . . . that fresh Butter be look'd out for in
Time, that the Boys may not be forced to eat salt in Sum-
mer. — 6. As we all know that Negroes will not perform
their Duties without the Mistress' constant Eye, especially
in so large a Family as the College, and as we all observe
You going abroad more frequently than even the Mistress of
a private Family can do without the affairs of her province
greatly suffering, We particularly request it of you, that your
MEDAL PRESENTED BY JAMES II. TO THE " KING OF POTOWMACKS "
visits for the future in Town and Country may not be so fre-
quent, by which IMeans we doubt not but Complaints will be
greatly lessened." ^
At another meeting it is ordered " y^ no scholar belonging
to any school in the College, of w^ Age, Rank, or Quality,
soever, do keep any race Horse at y^. College, in
y^ Town — or any where in the neighbourhood —
y^ they be not anyway concerned in making races,
or in backing, or abetting, those made by others, and y' all
Race Horses, kept in y^ neighbourhood of y^ College & be-
^ iri/iiavi and Mary College Quarterly^ iii. 263.
racing
prohibited
VOL. II
114 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
longing to any of y^ scholars, be immediately dispatched &
sent off, & never again brought back, and all of this under
Pain of y^ severest Animadversion and Punishment."'
There is a stress in the wording of this order which makes
one suspect that the faculty had encountered difficulty in
suppressing horse-racing. Similar orders forbid students to
other pro- take part in cock-fighting, to frequent "y^Ordina-
hibitions rics," to bct, to play at billiards, or to bring cards
or dice into the college. Punishment is most emphatically
threatened for any student who may " presume to go out of
y^ Bounds of y^ College, particularly towards the mill pond "
without express leave ; but why the mill pond was to be
so sedulously shunned, we are left to conjecture. P'inally,
" to y^ End y^ no Person may pretend Ignorance of y^ fore-
going . . . Regulations, ... it is Ordered ... y^ a clear
& legible copy of y"' be posted up in every School of y^
College." 1
One of the brightest traditions in the history of the college
is that which tells of the wooing and wedding of Parson
^, ^ Camm, a o^entieman famous once, whose fame de-
The story .
of Parson scrvcs to bc rcvivcd. Tohn Camm was born in
1 718 and educated at Trinity College, Cambridge.
He was a man of good scholarship and sturdy character, an
uncompromising Tory, one of the leaders in that " Parsons'
Cause " which made Patrick Henry famous.^ He lived to
be the last president of William and Mary before the Revo-
lution. After he had attained middle age, but while he was
as yet only a preacher and professor, and like all professors
in those days at William and Mary a bachelor, there came
to him the romance which brisfhtened his life. Amono: those
who listened to his preaching was Miss Betsy Hansford, of
the family of Hansford the rebel and martyr. A young
friend, who had wooed Miss Betsy without success, persuaded
the worthy parson to aid him with his eloquence. But it was
in vain that Mr. Camm besieged the young lady with texts
1 Williani and Mary Collcc^e Qiiartef-ly^ ii. l"^, 56.
- See my American Revolution, i. 17, 18.
WILLIAM AND MARY
115
from the Bible enjoining matrimony as a duty. She proved
herself able to beat him at his own game when she suggested
that if the parson would go home and look at 2 Samuel xii. 7,
he might be able to divine the reason of her obduracy.
MRS. JAMES BLAIR
When Mr. Camm proceeded to search the Scriptures he
found these significant words staring him in the face : " And
Nathan said to David, TJiou art the man ! " The sequel is
told in an item of the Virginia Gazette, announcing the mar-
riage of Rev. John Camm and Miss Betsy Hansford.^
So, Virginia, too, had its Priscilla ! In the words of the
sweet mediaeval poem : —
EI fait que dame, et si fait bien,
Car SOS ciel n'a si france rien
^ This charming story is only one of many good things for which I
am indebted to President L. G. Tyler; see lVillia)n aud Maty College
Quarterly, i. 1 1.
ii6 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
Com est dame qui violt amer,
Quant Deus la violt a qo torner :
Deus totes dames beneie.^
But this marriage was an infringement of the customs of the
college, and was rebuked in an order that Jicrcaftcr the mar-
riage of a professor should ipso facto vacate his office.
The college founded by James Blair was a most valuable
centre for culture for Virginia, and has been remarkable in
Some inter- many ways. It was the first college in America to
aboufthf"^ introduce teaching by lectures, and the elective
college system of study ; it was the first to unite a group
of faculties into a university ; it was the second in the Eng-
lish world to have a chair of Municipal Law, George Wythe
coming to such a professorship a few years after Sir William
Blackstone ; it was the first in America to establish a chair of
History and Political Science ; and it was one of the first to
pursue a thoroughly secular and unsectarian policy. Though
until lately its number of students at any one time had never
reached one hundred and fifty, it has given to our country
fifteen senators and seventy representatives in congress ;
seventeen governors of states, and thirty-seven judges ; three
presidents of the United States, — Jefferson, Monroe, and
Tyler ; and the great Chief Justice Marshall.^ It was a
noble work for America that was done by the Scotch parson,
James Blair.
As for Governor Nicholson who was so deeply interested
in that work, he played a memorable part in the history of
the United States, which deserves mention before we leave
Nichoi- the subject of his connection with Virginia. When
schemes ^e was first transferred from the governorship of
S'the'ct^- ^'^^^ ^°^^ t^ th^^t ^f the Old Dominion, with his
nies head full of experiences gained in New York, he
proposed a grand Union of the English colonies for mutual
^ Pm'tonopeiis de Blois, 1250, ed. Crapelet, tom. i. p. 45. "She acts
like a woman, and so does well, for under the heavens there is nothing
so daring as the woman who loves, when God wills to turn her that
way: God bless the ladies all ! "
2 Williani and Ma?y College Ammal Catalogue, 1894-95.
WILLIAM AND MARY 117
defence against the encroachments of the French. King
William approved the scheme and recommended it to the
favourable consideration of the colonial assemblies. But a
desire for union was not strong in any of these bodies, and
as for Virginia, she was too remote from the Canadian border
to feel warmly interested in it. The act of 1695, authorizing
the governor to apply ^500 from the liquor excise to the
relief of New York, shows a notably generous spirit in the
Virginia burgesses, but the pressure which was to drive
people into a Federal Union was still in the hidden future.
The attitude of the several colonies so exasperated Nichol-
son as to lead him to recommend that they should all be
placed under a single viceroy and taxed for the support of a
standing army. When this plan was submitted to Queen
Anne and her ministers, it was rejected as unwise, and no
British ministry ever ventured to try any part of such a
policy until the reign of George III. Francis Nicholson
should be remembered as one of the very first to conceive
and suggest the policy that afterward drove the colonies into
their Declaration of Independence.
CHAPTER XIII
Maryland's vicissitudes
The accession of William and Mary, which wrought so
little change in Virginia, furnished the occasion for a revolu-
tion in the palatinate of Maryland. To trace the causes of
this revolution, we must return to 1658, the year which wit-
,,. . . nessed the death of Oliver Cromwell and saw Lord
\ irginia
and Mary- Baltimore's government firmly set upon its feet
through the favour of that mighty potentate. The
compromises which were then adopted put an end to the
conflict between Virginia and ^Maryland, and from that time
forth the relations between the two colonies were nearly
always cordial. For the next century the constitutional de-
velopment of Maryland proceeded without interference from
Virginia, although on many occasions the smaller colony was
profoundly influenced by what went on in its larger neigh-
bour, as well as by those currents of feeling that from time
to time pervaded the English world and swayed both colo-
nies alike. We shall presently see, for example, that marked
effects were wrought in IMaryland by Bacon's rebellion, and
we shall observe what various echoes of the political situa-
tion in England were heard in all the colonies, from the wild
scare of the Popish Plot in 1678 down to the assured triumph
of William III. in 1691, and even later.
It will be remembered that when the Puritans of Provi-
dence, in IMarch, 1658, gave in their assent to the compro-
mises by which Loid Baltimore's authority was securely
established in IMaryland, only three years had elapsed since
their victory at the Severn had given them supreme control
over the country. While the defeated Governor Stone Ian-
MARYLAND'S VICISSITUDES 119
guished in jail, the victorious leader, William Fuller, exercised
complete sway and for a moment could afford to p^^ugj. ^^^
laugh at the pretensions of Josias Fendall, the new Fendaii
governor whom Baltimore appointed in 1656, But this state
of things came abruptly to an end when it was discovered
that Lord Baltimore was upheld by Cromwell Virginia,
with her Puritan rulers, Bennett and Claiborne and Ma-
thews, was thus at once detached from the support of Fuller,
so that nothing was left for him but to come to terms. Fen-
dall's policy toward his late antagonists was pacific and gen-
erous, so much so that in the assembly of 1659 we find the
names of Fuller and other Puritan leaders enrolled among
the burgesses. Associated with Fendall, and second to him
in authority, was the secretary and receiver-general, Philip
Calvert, younger brother of Cecilius, Lord Baltimore.
After the fires of civil dudgeon had briskly burned for so
many years, it was not strange that their smouldering embers
should send forth a few fitful gleams before dying. Apart
from questions of religion or of loyalty, there were difficul-
ties in regard to taxation that can hardly have been without
their effect. There seems to have been more or less widely
diffused a feeling of uneasiness upon which agitators could
play. In 1647 the assembly had granted to the lord propri-
etor a duty of ten shillings per hogshead on all jj^^ ^^^^^.
tobacco exported from the colony. This grant °" tobacco
called forth remonstrances which seem to have had their
effect, as in 1649 ^^'^^ ^<^t was replaced by another which
granted to the proprietor for seven years a similar duty upon
all tobacco exported on Dutch vessels if not bound to some
English port.^ This act seemed to carry with it the repeal
of that of 1647, concerning which it was silent ; if the first
act continued in force, the second was meaningless. During
the turbulence that ensued after 1650 it is not likely that
the revenue laws were rigidly enforced. In 1659 Baltimore
1 See Sparks, "Causes of the ^Maryland Revolution of iG^q," Jo/ins
Hopkins University Studies, vol. xiv. p. 501, a valuable contribution to
our knowledge of the subject.
I20 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
directed Fendall to have the act of 1647 explicitly repealed
on condition that the assembly should grant him two shillings
per hogshead on tobacco when shipped to British ports and
ten shillings when shipped to foreign ports. Whether this
demand was popular or not, we may gather from dates that
are more eloquent than words. The act of 1647 was repealed
by the assembly in 1660, but no grant in return was made to
the proprietor until 1671, and then it was a uniform duty of
two shillings. Unless the demand had been unpopular it
would not have been resisted for eleven years.
When the assembly met on the last day of February, 1660,
to consider this and other questions, memorable changes had
occurred in England. The death of mighty Oliver, in Sep-
tember, 1658, threatened the realm with anarchy; and the
prospect for a moment grew darker when in May, 1659, his
gentle son Richard dropped the burden which he had not
strength to carry. For nine months England seemed drift-
ing without compass or helm. When our assembly met, one
notable thing had just happened, early in February, when
George Monk, " honest old George," entered London at the
head of his army, and assumed control of affairs. The news
of this event had not yet crossed the ocean, and even if it
had, our Marylanders would not have understood what it
Fendaii's portended. To some of them it seemed as if in
P^o^ this season of chaos whoever should seize upon the
government of their little world would be likely to keep it.
So Governor Fendall seems to have thought, and with him
Thomas Gerrard, a member of the council and a Catholic,
but disloyal to Baltimore. Why should not the government
be held independently of the lord proprietor and all fees and
duties to him be avoided ? In this view of the case Fendall
had two or three sympathizers in the council, and probably
a good many in the House of Burgesses, especially among
the Puritan members, who were in number three fourths of
the whole.
In the course of the discussion over the tobacco duty the
burgessefi sent a message to Governor Fendall and the coun-
MARYLAND'S VICISSITUDES 121
cil, saying that they judged themselves to be a lawful assem-
bly without dependence upon any other power now existing
within the province, and if anybody had any objections to
this view of the case they should like to hear them. The
upper house answered by asking the lower house if they
meant that they were a complete assembly without the upper
house, and also that they were independent of the lord pro-
prietor. These questions led to a conference, in which,
among other things, Fendall declared it to be his opinion
that laws passed by the assembly and published in Temporary
the lord proprietor's name should at once be in full overthrow
^ ^ . of Balti-
force. Two of the council, Gerrard and Utie, more's
agreed with this view, while the secretary, Philip " °" ^
Calvert, and all the rest, dissented. In these proceedings the
governor was plainly in league with the lower house, and this
vote demonstrated the necessity of getting rid of the upper
house. Accordingly the burgesses sent word to the gov-
ernor and council, that they would not acknowledge them as
an upper house, but they might come and take seats in the
lower house if they liked. Secretary Calvert observed that
in that case the governor would become president of the
joint assembly, and the speaker of the burgesses must give
place to him. A compromise was presently reached, accord-
ing to which the governor should preside, with a casting vote,
but the right of adjourning or dissolving the assembly should
be exercised by the speaker. Hereupon Calvert protested,
and demanded that his protest be put on record, but Fendall
refused. Then Calvert and his most staunch adherent. Coun-
cillor Brooke, requested permission to leave the room. " You
may if you please," quoth Fendall, '*we shall not force you
to go or stay." With the departure of these gentlemen the
upper house was virtually abolished, and now Fendall quite
threw off the mask by surrendering his commission from
Lord Baltimore and accepting a new one from the assembly.
Thus the palatinate government was overthrown, and it only
remained for Fendall and his assembly to declare it felony
for anybody in Maryland to acknowledge Lord Baltimore's
authority.
122 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
These proceedings in Maryland become perfectly intelli-
gible if we compare them with what was going on at the
^ . , very same moment in Virginia. In March, 1660,
Superficial J ^ ' '
resem- the assembly at Jamestown, in view of the fact that
the action there was no acknowledged supreme authority then
o \iiginia j.g5J(jgj-|^ jj-^ England, declared that the supreme
power in Virginia was in the assembly, and that all writs
should issue in its name, until such command should come
from England as the assembly should judge to be lawful.
This assembly then elected Sir William Berkeley to the
governorship, and he accepted from it provisionally his com-
mission. ^
Now in JMaryland there was a superficial resemblance to
these proceedings, in so far as the supreme power was
lodged in the assembly and the governor accepted his com-
mission from it. But there was a profound difference in
the two situations, and while the people of Virginia read
Profound their own situation correctly, Fendall and his
inthcTitua- abcttors did not. The assembly at Jamestown was
tions predominantly Cavalier in its composition and in
full sympathy with the expected restoration of the mon-
archy ; and its proceedings were promptly sanctioned by
Charles II., whose royal commission to Sir William Berke-
ley came in October of the same year. On the other hand,
the assembly at St. Mary's was predominantly Puritan in
its composition, and one of its most influential members
was that William Fuller who fi\'e years before had defeated
Lord Baltimore's governor in the battle of the Severn, and
executed drumhead justice upon several of his adherents.
The election had been managed in the interest of the Puri-
tans, as is shown by Fuller's county, Anne Arundel, return-
ing seven delegates, whereas it was only entitled to four.
The collusion between Fuller and Fendall is unmistakable.
For two years the Puritans had acquiesced in Lord Balti-
more's rule, because they had not dared resist Cromwell.
Now if Puritanism were to remain uppermost in England,
^ See above, p. 17.
MARYLAND'S VICISSITUDES 123
they might once more hope to ov^erthrow him ; if the mon-
archy were to be restored, the prospect was also pendaii's
good, for it did not seem hkely that Charles 11. ^^^^^
would befriend the man whom Cromwell had befriended.
Here was the fatal error of Fendall and his people. Charles
II. had long ago recovered from his little tiff with Cecilius
for appointing a Parliamentarian governor, and as a Roman-
ist at heart he was more than ready to show favour to Cath-
olics. Thus with rare good fortune — defended in turn by
a king and a lord protector, and by another king, and aided
at every turn by his own consummate tact, did Cecilius tri-
umphantly weather all the storms. When the news of Ken-
dall's treachery reached London it found Charles II. seated
firmly on the throne. All persons were at once instructed
to respect Lord Baltimore's authority over Maryland, and
Sir William Berkeley was ordered to bring the
force of Virginia to his aid if necessary ; Cecilius of the
appointed his brother Philip to the governorship ;
the rebellion instantly collapsed, and its ringleaders were
seized. Vengeance was denounced against Fendall and
Fuller and all who had been concerned in the execution of
Baltimore's men after the battle of the Severn. Philip Cal-
vert was instructed to hang them all, and to proclaim mar-
tial law if necessary, but on second thought so much severity
was deemed impolitic. Such punishments were inflicted as
banishment, confiscation, and loss of civil rights, but nobody
was put to death. Such was the end of Fendall's rebellion.
In the course of the year 1661, Cecilius sent over his only
son, Charles Calvert, to be governor of the palatinate, while
Philip remained as chancellor; and this arrangement con-
tinued for many years.
Fendall's administration had witnessed two events of
especial interest, in the arrival of Quakers in the colony and
of Dutchmen in a part of its territory. Quakers The
came from Massachusetts and Virginia, where they Q"''^^^'"^
suffered so much ill usage, into Maryland, where they also
got into trouble, though it does not appear that the objec-
124 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
tions against them were of a religious nature. The pecul-
iar notions of the Quakers often brought them into conflict
with governments on purely civil grounds, as when they
refused to be enrolled in the militia, or to serve on juries, or
give testimony under oath. For such reasons, two zealous
Quaker preachers, Thurston and Cole, were arrested and
tried in 1658, but it does not appear that they were treated
with harshness or that at any time there was anything like
persecution of Quakers in Maryland. When George Fox
visited the country in 1672, his followers there were numer-
ous and held regular meetings.
With the arrival of Quakers there appeared on the north-
eastern horizon a menace from the Dutch, and incidents
occurred that curiously affected the future growth of Lord
^^ Baltimore's princely domain. Since 1638 parties
Swedes and of Swcdcs had been establishino: themselves on the
w^estern bank of the Delaware River, on and about
the present sites of Newcastle and Wilmington. This region
they called New Sweden, but in 1655 Peter Stuyvesant de-
spatched from Manhattan a force of Dutchmen which speed-
ily overcame the little colony. Stuyvesant then divided his
conquest into two provinces, which he called New Amstel
and Altona, and appointed a governor over each. It was
now Maryland's turn to be aroused. The governor of New
Netherland had no business to be setting up jurisdictions
west of Delaware River. That whole region was expressly
included in Lord Baltimore's charter. Accordingly the
Dutch governors of New Amstel and Altona were politely
informed that they must either acknowledge Baltimore's
jurisdiction or leave the country. This led to Stuyvesant's
sending an envoy to St. Mary's, to discuss the proprietorship
of the territory in question. The person selected for this
Augustine busiucss was a man of no ordinary mould, a native
Herman ^f Praguc, with the German name of Augustine
Herman. He came to New Amsterdam at some time before
1647, in which year he was appointed one of the Nine Men
whose business it was to advise the governor. This Herman
MARYLAND'S VICISSITUDES
125
was a man of broad intelligence, rare executive ability, and
perfect courage. He was by profession a land surveyor and
draughtsman, but in the course of his life he accumulated a
great fortune by trade. His portrait, painted from life, shows
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AUGUSTINE HERMAN
US a masterful face, clean shaven, with powerful jaw, firm-
set lips, imperious eyes, and long hair flowing upon his
shoulders over a red coat richly ruffled.^ Such was the man
whom Stuyvesant chose to dispute Lord Baltimore's title to
the smiling fields of New Amstel and Altona. He well
understood the wisdom of claiming everything, and when the
discovery of North America by John Cabot was cited against
him, he boldly set up the priority of Christopher Columbus
as giving the Spaniards a claim upon the whole hemisphere.
1 For this description of Herman I am much indebted to E. N. Val-
landigham's paper on '- The Lord of Bohemia Manor," reprinted in
Lee Pliillips, Virginia Cartography, Washington, 1896, pp. 37-41.
126 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
To the Dutch, he said, as victors over their wicked step-
mother Spain, her claims had naturally passed ! One is
inclined to wonder if such an argument was announced
without something like a twinkle in those piercing eyes.
At all events, it was not long before the astute ambassador
abandoned his logic and changed his allegiance. Romantic
tradition has assigned various grounds for Herman's leaving
New Amsterdam. Whether it was because of a quarrel
with Stuyvesant, and whether the quarrel had its source in
love of woman or love of pelf, we know not ; but in 1660
Herman wrote to Lord Baltimore, asking for the grant of a
manor, and offering to pay for it by making a map of Mary-
land. The proposal was accepted. The map, which was
completed after careful surveys extending over ten years and
was engraved in London in 1673, with a portrait of Herman
attached, is still preserved in the British IVIuseum. For this
important service the enterprising surveyor received an estate
Bohemia ^^ ^^^^ -^^^ Rivcr, which by successive accretions
Manor came to include more than 20,000 acres. ^ It is
still called by the name which Herman gave it, Bohemia
Manor. There he grew immensely rich by trade with the
Indians along the very routes which Claiborne had hoped to
monopolize, and there in his great manor house, in spite of
matrimonial infelici-
ties like those of So-
crates and the elder
Mr. Weller, he lived
to a good old age and dispensed a regal hospitality, in which
the items of rum and brandy, strong beer, sound wines, and
" best cider out of the orchard " were not forsfotten. Her-
man's tomb is still to be seen hard by the vestiges of his
house and his deer park. Six of his descendants succeeded
him as lords of Bohemia Manor, until its legal existence
^ To enable him to hold real estate in Maryland, Herman received
letters of naturalization, the first ever issued in that province, and he
is supposed by some writers to have been the first foreign citizen thus
naturalized in America.
^
'arc*>^-jijir-
128 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
came to an end in 1789. The fact is not without interest
that Margaret Shippen, wife of Benedict Arnold, counted
among her ancestors the sturdy Augustine Herman.^
A noteworthy episode in the history of Bohemia Manor
is the settlement of a small sect of Mystics, known as Laba-
-Phg dists, from the name of their French founder, Jean
Labadists ^q Labadic. Their professed aim was to restore
the simplicity of life and doctrine attributed to the primitive
Christians. Their views of spiritual things were brightened
by an inward light, their drift of thought was toward antino-
mianism, they held all goods in common, and their notions
about marriage were thought to be such as to render them
liable to be molested on civil grounds. The persistent recur-
rence of such little communities, age after age, each one
ignorant of the existence of its predecessors and supremely
innocent of all knowledge of the world, is one of the interest-
ing freaks in religious history. Even in the tolerant atmos-
phere of Holland these Labadists led an uneasy life, and in
1679 two of their brethren, Sluyter and Bankers, came over
to New York, to make fresh converts and find a new home.
One of their first converts was Ephraim, the weak-minded
son of Augustine Herman, and it may have been through
the son's persuasion that the father was induced to grant
nearly 4000 acres of his manor to the community. A com-
pany settled there in 1683 and were joined by persons from
New York. As often happens in such communities, the
affair ended in a despotism, in which the people were ruled
with a rod of iron by Brother Sluyter and his wife, who set
themselves up as a kind of abbot and abbess. On Sluyter' s
death in 1722 the sect seems to have come to an end, but
to this day the land is known as "the Labadie tract."
Long before Augustine Herman's death. Lord Baltimore
had granted him a second estate, called the manor of St.
Augustine, extending eastward from Bohemia Manor to the
shore of Delaware Bay ; but to the greater part of it the
Herman family never succeeded in making good their title,
1 See Vallandigham, loc. cit.
MARYLAND'S VICISSITUDES 129
for the territory passed out of Lord Baltimore's domain.
Once more the heedlessness and bad faith of the Stuart
kings, in their grants of American lands, was exhibited, and
as Baltimore's patent had once encroached upon the Vir-
ginians, so now he was encroached upon by the Duke of
York and presently by William Penn. The pro- jj^g ^^j^g
vince of New Netherland, which Charles II. took of York
takes pos-
from the Dutch in 1664 and bestowed upon his session of
brother as lord proprietor, extended from the upper ware settle-
waters of the Hudson down to Cape May at the "^^"^^
entrance to Delaware Bay, but did not include a square foot
of land on the west shore of the
J /? /J ^^y' since all that was expressly
(\/f'd^^£/r/d^'^^^^^ included in the Maryland charter.
/f y^ It was not to be expected that
Swedes or Dutchmen would pay
any heed to that English charter ; but it might have been
supposed that Charles II. and his brother James would have
shown some respect for a contract made by their father.
Not so, however. The little Swedish and Dutch settlements
on the west shore were at once taken in charge by officers
of the Duke of York, as if they had belonged to his domain
of New Netherland, while the southern part of that domain
was granted by him, under the name of New Jersey, to his
friends. Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret.
Nothing more of consequence occurred for several years,
in the course of which
interv'al, in 1675, Cecil-
ius Calvert died and
was succeeded by his
son Charles, third Lord '^ "
Baltimore. Not long afterward William Penn appeared on
the scene, at first as trustee of certain Quaker estates in New
Jersey, but presently as ruler over a princely domain of his
own. The Quakers had been ill treated in many of the colo-
nies ; why not found a colony in which they should be the
leaders ? The suggestion offered to Charles 11. an easy way
VOL. II
130 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
of paying an old debt of ^16,000 owed by the crown to the
estate of the late Admiral Penn, and accordingly William was
made lord proprietor of a spacious country lying
Pennsyi- wcst of the Delaware River and between Maryland
to the south and the Five Nations to the north. His
charter created a government very similar to Lord Balti-
more's but far less independent, for laws passed in Pennsyl-
vania must be sent to P^ngland for the royal assent, and the
British government, which fifty years before had expressly
renounced the right to lay taxes upon Marylanders, now
expressly asserted the right to lay taxes upon Pennsylva-
nians. This change marks the growth of the imperial and
anti-feudal sentiment in England, the feeling that privileges
like those accorded to the Calverts were too extensive to be
enjoyed by subjects.
According to Lord Baltimore's charter his northern bound-
ary was the fortieth parallel of latitude, which runs a little
Boundaries uorth of the sitc of Philadelphia. The latitude was
Rinn^and Hiarkcd by a fort erected on the Susquehanna
Baltimore River, and when the crown lawyers consulted with
Baltimore's attorneys, they were informed that all questions
of encroachment would be avoided if the line were to be
run just north of this fort, so as to leave it on the Mary-
land side.^ Penn made no objection to this, but when the
charter was drawn up no allusion was made to the Susque-
hanna fort. Penn's southern boundary was made to begin
twelve miles north of Newcastle, thence to curve northwest-
ward to the fortieth parallel and follow that parallel. Mea-
surement soon showed that such a boundary would give
Penn's province inadequate access to the sea. His position
as a royal favourite enabled him to push the whole line twenty
miles to the south. Even then he was disappointed in not
gaining the head of Chesapeake Bay, and, being bent upon
securing somewhere a bit of seacoast, he persuaded the
Duke of York to give him the land on the west shore of
Delaware Bay which the Dutch had once taken from the
^ See Browne's Maryland^ p. 137.
MARYLAND'S VICISSITUDES
131
Swedes. By further enlargement the area of this grant
became that of the present state of Delaware, the whole of
which was thus, in spite of vehement protest, carved out of
the original Maryland, in such matters there was not much
profit in contending against princes.
In the course of this narrative we have had occasion to
mention the grants of Bohemia and other manors. In order
WILLIAM PENN
that we should understand the course of Maryland history
before and after the Revolution of 1689, some description
of the manorial system is desirable. One of the ^^^
most interesting features in the earlv historv of manors in
. . , • 1 '1 ^■rr ^ Maryland
Endish America is the wav m which ditterent
phases of English institutions were reproduced in the differ-
132 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
ent colonies. As the ancient English town meeting reached
a high development in New England, as the system of close
vestries was very thoroughly worked out in Virginia, so the
old English manor was best preserved in Maryland. In
1636 Lord Baltimore issued instructions that every grant of
2000 acres or more should be erected into a manor, with
court baron and court leet. " The manor was the land on
which the lord and his tenants lived, and bound up with the
land were also the rights of government which the lord pos-
sessed over the tenants, and they over one another." ^ Such
manors were scattered all over tidewater Maryland. Mr.
Johnson, in his excellent essay on the subject, cites at ran-
dom the names of " George Evelin, lord of the manor of
Evelinton, in St. Mary's county ; Marmaduke Tilden, lord of
Great Oak Manor, and Major James Ringgold, lord of the
manor on Eastern Neck, both in Kent ; Giles Brent, lord of
Kent Fort, on Kent Island ; George Talbot, lord of Susque-
hanna Manor, in Cecil county," and he mentions a sale, in
1767, of "twenty-seven manors, embracing 100,000 acres."
In the life upon these manors there was a kind of patri-
archal completeness ; each was a little world in itself. There
Life in the ^^^^ ^^^ great housc with its generous dining-hall,
manors i^s panelled wainscot, and its family portraits ; there
was the chapel, with the graves of the lord's family beneath
its pavement and the graves of common folk out in the
churchyard ; there were the smoke-houses, and the cabins
of negro slaves ; and here and there one might come upon
the dwellings of white freehold tenants, with ample land
about them held on leases of one-and-twenty years. In
establishing these manors. Lord Baltimore had an eye to the
military defence of his colony. It was enacted in 1641 that
the grant of a manor should be the reward for every settler
who should bring with him from England twenty able-bodied
men, each armed with a musket, a sword and belt, a bande-
lier and flask, ten pounds of powder, and forty pounds of
bullets and shot.
1 Johnson, " Old Maryland Manors," Johns Hopkins University
Studies, vol. i.
3
<
O
■J
o
134 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
These manors were little self-governing communities. The
court leet was like a town meeting. All freemen could take
The court P^^^ ^^ ^^- ^^ cnactcd by-laws, elected constables,
i^^t bailiffs, and other local officers, set up stocks and
pillory, and sentenced offenders to stand there, for judicial
and legislative functions were united in this court leet. It
empanelled its jury, and with the steward of the manor pre-
siding as judge, it visited with fine or imprisonment the thief,
the vagrant, the poacher, the fraudulent dealer.
Side by side with the court leet was the court baron, an
equally free institution in which all the freehold tenants sat
The court ^^ judgcs determining questions of law and of fact,
"baron This court decided all disputes between the lord
and his tenants concerning such matters as rents, or tres-
pass, or escheats. Here actions for debt were tried, and
transfers of land were made with the ancient formalities.
These admirable manorial institutions were brought to
Maryland in precisely the same shape in which they had long
existed in England. They were well adapted for presendng
liberty and securing order in rural communities before the
days of denser population and more rapid communication.
In our progress away from those earlier times we have gained
vastly, but it is by no means sure that we have not also lost
something. In the decadence of the Maryland manors there
was clearly an element of loss, for that decadence
Changes ' . ■'
wrought by was chicfly brought about by the growth of negro
slavery, which made it more profitable for the lord
of the manor to cultivate the whole of it himself, instead
of leasing the whole or parts of it to tenants. Slavery also
affixed a stigma upon free labour and drove it off the field,
very much as a debased currency invariably drives out a
sound currency. From these causes the class of freehold
tenants gradually disappeared, *' the feudal society of the
manor" was transformed into "the patriarchal society of the
plantation," ^ and the arbitrary fiat of a master was substi-
tuted for the argued judgments of the court leet.
^ Johnson, op. cit. p. 21.
MARYLAND'S VICISSITUDES 135
Among the people of Lord Baltimore's colony, as among
English-speaking people in general, one might observe a
fierce spirit of political liberty coupled with en-
grained respect for law and a disposition to achieve spirit of
results by argument rather than by violence. Such
a temper leads to interminable parliamentary discussion, and
in the reign of Charles II. the tongues of the Maryland
assembly were seldom quiet. As compared with the stormy
period before 1660, the later career of Cecilius and that of
his son Charles down to the Revolution of 1689 seem peace-
ful, and there are writers who would persuade us that when
the catastrophe arrived, it came quite unheralded, like light-
ning from a cloudless sky. A perusal of the transactions
in the Maryland assembly, however, shows that the happy
period was not so serene as we have been told, but there
were fleecy specks on the horizon, with now and then a faint
growl of distant thunder.
That the proprietary government had many devoted friends
is not to be denied, and it is clear that some of the opposition
to it was merely factious. There is no doubt as to the lofty
personal qualities of the second Lord Baltimore, his courage
and sagacity, his disinterested public spirit, his devotion to
the noble ideal which he had inherited. As for cecilius
Charles, the third lord, he seems to have been a andCharies
paler reflection of his father, like him for good intentions,
but far inferior in force. The period of eight-and-twenty
years which we are considering, from 1661 to 1689, is divided
exactly in the middle by the death of Cecilius in 1675. be-
fore that date we have Charles administering the affairs of
Maryland subject to the approval of his father in London;
after that date Charles is supreme.
Now the circumstances were such that father and son
would have had to be more than human to carry on the gov-
ernment without serious opposition. In the first place, they
were Catholics, ruling a population in which about sources of
one twelfth part were Catholics, while one sixth discontent
belonsred to the Church of Enc^land, and three fourths were
136 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
dissenting Puritans. To most of the people the enforced
toleration of Papists must have seemed like keeping on terms
of polite familiarity with the devil. In the second place, the
proprietor was apt to appoint his own relatives and trusted
friends to the highest offices, and such persons were usually
Catholics. As these high officers composed the council, or
upper house of the assembly, the proprietor had a permanent
and irreversible majority in that body. When we read the
minutes of a council composed of Governor Charles Calvert,
his uncle Philip, his cousin William, Mr. Baker Brooke, who
had married cousin William's sister, Mr. William Talbot, who
was another cousin, and Mr. Henry Coursey, who was uncle
The family Philip's bosom friend, we seem to be assisting at
party a pleasant little family party. Again, when the
governor marries a widow, and each of his five stepchildren
marries, and we are told that '' every one who became related
to the family soon obtained an office," ^ we begin to realize
that there was coming to be quite a clan to be supported
from the revenues of a small province. Nepotism may not
be the blackest of crimes, but it is pretty certain to breed
trouble.
The governing power opposed to this family party was the
House of Burgesses, or lower house of assembly. Those
freeholding tenants and small proprietors who had brought
with them from England their time-honoured habits of self-
government in court leet and court baron, represented the
^ „. . democratic element in the constitution of Maryland,
Conflict in , ^ -'
the assem- as the Upper house represented the oligarchical ele-
blv
ment. The history of the period we are consider-
ing is the history of a constitutional struggle between the
two houses. We have seen that it was not a part of the
proprietor's original scheme that the assembly should take
an initiative in legislation, and that on this ground he refused
his assent to the first group of laws sent to him in 1635 ^^^
his signature. Apparently it was his idea that his burgesses
should simply comment on acts passed by their betters, as
^ F. E. Sparks, op. cit. p. 65.
MARYLAND'S VICISSITUDES 137
on old Merovingian fields of i\Iarch the magnates legislated
while the listening warriors clashed their shields in token of
approval. If such was the first notion of Cecilius he promptly
relinquished it and gracefully conceded the claim of the
assembly to take the initiative in legislation. But the veto
power, without any limitation of time, was a prerogative
which he would not give up. At any moment he could use
this veto power to repeal a law, and this was felt by the
colonists to be a grievance. On such constitutional matters,
when we read of antagonism between the proprietor and the
assembly, it is the burgesses that we are to understand as in
opposition, since the council was almost sure to uphold the
proprietor.
One point upon which the upper house always insisted
was that the burgesses were not a house of commons with
inherent rights of legislation, but that they owed their exist-
ence to the charter, with powers that must be limited as
strictly as possible. But this point the burgesses
would never concede. They were Englishmen, with the" bur-
cresses
the rights and privileges of Englishmen, and it was
an inherent right in English representatives to make laws
for their constituents ; accordingly they insisted that they
were, to all intents and purposes, a house of commons for
Maryland.^ On one occasion a clergyman, Charles Nichol-
let, preached a sermon, in which he warned the burgesses
not to forget that they had no real liberty unless they could
pass laws that were agreeable to their conscience ; as a house
of commons they must keep their hand upon the purse
strings and consider if the taxes were not too heavy. The
family party of the upper house called such talk seditious,
and the parson was roundly fined for preaching politics.
But it would be grossly unfair to the proprietor to overlook
the fact that on some important occasions he took sides with
the representatives of the people against his own cessation
little family party. As an instance maybe cited Act of 1666
the act of 1666 concerning the " Cessation of Tobacco." As
* Archives of Maryland : Assanhly, ii. 64.
138 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
the fees of public officials were paid in tobacco, a large crop
was liable to diminish their value, and accordingly the upper
house wished to contract the currency by an act stopping all
planting of tobacco for one year. The lower house objected
to this, but after a long dispute was induced to give consent,
provided Virginia should pass a similar act. The speaker,
however, wrote to Cecilius urging him to veto the act, and
he did so.^
The occasions of difference between the two houses were
many and various. One concerned the relief of Quakers.
In Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Jamaica, they were allowed
to make affirmations instead of taking oaths. When the
Quakers of Maryland petitioned for a similar relief, the bur-
gesses granted it, but the council refused to con-
cur. A more important matter was the appointment
of sheriffs. In addition to the ordinary functions of the
sheriff, with which we are familiar in more modern times,
these officers collected all taxes, superintended all elections,
and made out the returns. These were formidable powers,
for a dishonest or intriguing sheriff might alter the composi-
tion of the House of Burgesses. Sheriffs were appointed by
the governor, and were in no way responsible to the county
courts. The burgesses tried to establish a check upon them
by enacting that the county court should recommend three
persons out of whom the governor should choose one, and
that the sheriff thus selected should serve for one year ; but
the upper house declared that such an act infringed the
proprietor's prerogative. No check upon the sheriffs, there-
fore, was left to the people except the regulating of their
fees, and upon this point the burgesses were stiff.
In 1669 the disputes between the houses were more stormy
than usual, and in the election of the next year the suffrage
. . was restricted to freemen owninoj plantations of
Restriction ° '■
of suffrage, fifty acrcs or more, or possessed of personal pro-
'^° perty to the amount of ^50 sterling. This restric-
tion was not accomplished by legislation ; it must have been a
^ Archives of Maryla7td : Council, ii. 18.
MARYLAND'S VICISSITUDES 139
sheer assertion of prerogative, either by CeciUus or by Charles
acting on his own responsibiUty. All that is positively known
is that the sheriffs were instructed to that effect in their
writs. It is worthy of note that a similar restriction of
suffrage had just occurred in Virginia. Perhaps Charles
Calvert was imprudently taking a lesson from Berkeley. But
still worse, in summoning to the assembly the members who
had been elected, he omitted a few names, presumably those
of persons whose opposition was likely to prove inconvenient.
When the burgesses demanded the reason for this omission,
Charles made a
shuffling explana- /^^ 2^ /^^"/-^ /^^/^ y^
tion which they Y,^^;^^
saw fit to accept t / I \
for the moment, — V J
and thus a prece-
dent was created of which he was not slow to avail himself,
and from which endless bickering ensued. For the present
a house of burgesses was obtained which was much to the
governor's liking ; accordingly, instead of allowing its term
to expire at the end of a year, he simply adjourned it, and
thus kept it alive until 1676, — another lesson learned from
Berkeley.
It was this comparatively submissive assembly that in
167 1 passed the act which for eleven years had been resisted,
granting to the proprietor a royalty of two shillings on
every hogshead of tobacco exported. In return for this
grant, however, the lower house obtained some _ . .
o ' I ' ... Death of
concessions. With the death of Cecilius, in 1675, Cediius,
the situation was certainly changed for the worse. '^
Now for the first time the people of Maryland had their
lord proprietor dwelling among them and not in England ;
but Charles was narrower and less public-spirited than his
father, his measures were more arbitrary, and the feeling
that the country was governed in the interests of a small
coterie of Papists rapidly increased. In 1676 Maryland
seemed on the point of following Virginia into rebellion.
140 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
Lord Baltimore went to England in the spring, and by mid-
summer it had become evident that Bacon had able sym-
pathizers in Maryland. A set of manuscript archives,
recently recovered from long oblivion, ^ make it probable
that but for Bacon's sudden death in October and the col-
lapse of the movement in Virginia, there would have been
bloodshed in the sister colony. In August a seditious paper
was circulated, alleging grievances similar to those of Vir-
Rebdiion ginia, and threatening the proprietor's government.
an(?Pate Two gentlemen named Davis and Pate, with others,
1676 gathered an armed force in Calvert county with the
design of intimidating the governor and council, and extort-
ing from them sundry concessions. When the governor,
Thomas Notley, ordered them to disband, promising that
their demands should be duly considered at the next assem-
bly, they refused on the ground that the assembly had been
tampered with and no longer represented the people. As
Notley afterward wrote to Lord Baltimore, never was there
a people "more replete with malignancy and frenzy than
our people were about August last, and they wanted but a
monstrous head to their monstrous body." But
Execution , ...
of Davis this incipient Davis and Pate rebellion derived its
strength from the Bacon rebellion, and the collapse
of the one extinguished the other. Davis and Pate were
hanged, at which Notley tells us the people were "terrified,"
and so peace was preserved.
An episode which occurred before the final catastrophe
throws some light upon the relations of parties at the time.
George An Irish kinsman of Lord Baltimore's, by name
laibot George Talbot; obtained in 1680 an extensive grant
of land on the Susquehanna River, where he lived in feudal
style, with a force of Irish retainers at his beck and call,
hunting venison, drinking strong waters, browbeating In-
dians, and picking quarrels with William Penn's newly
' MSS. Arc/n'ves of Maryland, Libej- R. H. and R. R. R. and Couji-
cil Books 1677-1683, of the Cotincil Proceedings : Maryland Hi.storical
Society.
MARYLAND'S VICISSITUDES
141
TUCKAHOE, SOUTH STAIR
arrived followers. In 1684 Lord Baltimore went again to
England, leaving his son, Benedict Calvert, in the governor-
ship ; and as Benedict was a mere boy, there was a little
regency of which George Talbot was the head. Now the
exemption of Maryland from king's taxes did not extend to
custom-house duties. These were collected by crown officers
and paid into the royal treasury ; and the collectors were
apt to behave themselves, as in all ages and countries, like
enemies of the human race. Between them and the pro-
prietary government there was deep-seated antipathy. They
accused Lord Baltimore of hindering them in their work,
and this complaint led the king to pounce upon him with a
claim for ^2500 alleged to have been lost to the revenue
through his interferences. One of these collectors, Chris-
topher Rousby, was especially overbearing, and some called
him a rascal. Late in 1684 a small ship of the royal navy
was lying at St. Mary's, and one day, while Rousby was in
142 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
the cabin drinking toddies with the captain, Talbot came on
board, and a quarrel ensued, in the course of which Talbot
drew a dagger and plunged it into Rousby's heart. The
captain refused to allow Talbot to go ashore to be tried by
a council of his relatives ; he carried him to Virginia and
handed him over to the governor. Lord Howard of Effing-
ham. Talbot was imprisoned not far from the site where
once had stood the red man's village, Werowocomoco, where
he was in imminent danger of the gallows, or perhaps of
having to pay his whole fortune as a bribe to the greedy
Howard. But Talbot's brave wife, with two trusty follow-
ers, sailed down the whole length of Chesapeake Bay and
up York River in a boat. On a dark winter's night they
succeeded in freeing Talbot from his jail, and returning as
they came, carried him off exulting to Susquehanna Manor.
For the sake of appearances his friends in the Maryland
council thought it necessary to proclaim the hue and cry
after him, and there is a local tradition that he was for a
while obliged to hide in a cave, where a couple of his trained
hawks kept him alive by fetching him game — canvas-back
ducks, perhaps, and terrapin — from the river ! It is not
likely, however, that the search for him was zealous or
thorough. For some time he stayed unmolested in his manor
house, but presently deemed it prudent to go and surrender
himself. The council refused to bring him to trial in any
court held in the king's name, until a royal order came from
England to send him over there for trial, but before this
was done Lord Baltimore interceded with James H. and
secured a pardon.
The general effect of this Talbot affair was to weaken the
palatinate government by making it appear lukewarm in its
allegiance and remiss in its duties to the crown. The
custom-house became a subject of hot discussion, and the
. , _ chargces of defraudin^r the royal revenue were reit-
A " Com- ^ . .
plaint from Crated with effect. Some time before this a re-
markable pamphlet had appeared with the title,
"Complaint from Heaven with a Huy and Crye and a
MARYLAND'S VICISSITUDES 143
petition out of Virginia and Maryland." It was evidently
written by some Puritan friend of Fendall's. After a bitter
denunciation of the palatinate administration some measures
of relief were suggested, one of which was that the king
should assume the government of Maryland and appoint the
governors. The time was now at hand when this suggestion
was to bear fruit.
The forced abdication of James II. in 1688, with his
flight to France, was the occasion of an anti-Catholic panic
throuo:hout the greater part of English America. ^,
"-^ o i o i]^Q anti-
It was as certain as anything future could be that Catholic
the antagonism between Louis XIV. and William
of Orange would at once break out in a great war, in which
French armies from Canada would invade the English colo-
nies. There was a widespread
fear that Papists in these colo-
nies would turn traitors and as-
sist the enemy. It was in this
scare that Leisler's rebellion in
New York originated, although there too a conflict between
democracy and oligarchy was concerned, somewhat as in
Maryland. Everywhere the ordinary dread of Papists be-
came more acute. It was soon after this time that the clause
of an act depriving Roman Catholics of the franchise found
its way into the Rhode Island statutes, the only instance
in which that commonwealth ever allowed itself to depart
from the noble principles of Roger William.s.^
While there were absurdities in this anti-Catholic panic, it
contained an element that was not unreasonable. Through-
out the century the Papist counter-reformation had causes of
made alarming progress. In France, the strongest ^^^ ^^^^^
nation in the world, it had just scored a final victory in the
expulsion of the Huguenots. In Germany the Thirty Years'
War had left Protestantism weaker than it had been at the
death of Martin Luther. England had barely escaped from
having a Papist dynasty settled upon her ; nor was it yet
^ See Arnold's Ifistory of Rhode Is /and, ii. 490-494.
144 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
sure that she had escaped. A caprice of fortune might
drive King WilHam out as suddenly as he had come. Ire-
land still held out for the Stuarts, and there in May, 1689,
James II. landed with French troops, in the hope of winning
back his crown. The officer who held Ireland for James
was Richard Talbot, Duke of Tyrconnel, a distant relative
and intimate friend of Lord Baltimore. Under these cir-
cumstances a panic was natural. There were absurd rumours
of a plot between Catholics and Indians to massacre Pro-
testants. More reasonable was the jealous eagerness with
which men watched the council to see what it would do
about proclaiming William and Mary. Lord Baltimore was
prompt in sending from London directions to the council to
proclaim them ; whatever his political leanings might have
been, he could in prudence hardly do less. But the messen-
ger died on the voyage, and a second messenger was too late.
Meanwhile, in April, 1689, there was formed ''An Asso-
ciation in arms for the defence of the Protestant Religion,
and for asserting the right of King William and Queen
Mary to the Province of Maryland and all the English
^ , , Dominions." The president of this association was
Coode's
coup John Coode, who had married a daughter of that
^ ^ '^ 9 yj^omas Gerrard who took a part in Kendall's rebel-
lion. Another leader, who had married another daughter
of Gerrard, was Nehemiah Blackiston, collector of customs,
who had been foremost in accusing the Calverts of obstruct-
ing his work. Others were Kenelm Cheseldyn, speaker of
the house, and Henry Jowles, colonel of the militia. As
the weeks passed by, and news of the proclaiming of Wil-
liam and Mary by one colony after another arrived, and still
the council took no action in the matter, people grew impa-
tient and the association kept winning recruits. At last,
toward the end of July, Coode appeared before St. Mary's
at the head of 700 armed men. No resistance was offered.
The council fled to a fort on the Patuxent River, where
they were besieged and in a few days surrendered. Coode
detained all outward-bound ships until he had prepared an
MARYLAND'S VICISSITUDES
145
account of these proceedings to send to King William in
the name of the Protestant inhabitants of Maryland. Like
the insurrection in Boston, three months earlier, which over-
threw Sir Edmund Andros, this bold stroke wore the aspect
of a rising against the deposed king in favour of the king
WILLIAM III
actually reigning. William was asked to undertake the gov-
ernment of Maryland, and the whole affair met overthrow
with his approval. He issued a scire facias against paia^nate
the Baltimore charter, and before a decision had ^^91
been reached in the court of chancery he sent out Sir Lionel
Copley in 1691, to be royal governor of Maryland. In such
wise was the palatinate overturned.
146
OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
If any party in Maryland expected the millennium to fol-
Oppressive low this revolution, they were disappointed. Taxes
enactments ^^gj-g straightway levied for the support of the
Church of England, the further immigration of Catholics
was prohibited under heavy penalties, and the public cele-
bration of the mass was strictly forbidden within the limits
of the colony. When Governor Nicholson arrived upon the
MARYLAND'S VICISSITUDES 147
scene, in 1694, he summoned his first assembly to meet at
the Anne Arundel town formerly known as Providence ;
and in the course of that session it was decided Removal of
to move the seat of government thither from St. Jo^Annrpo-
Mary's, The purpose was to deal a blow at the i'^- ^^94
old capital, the social and political centre of Catholicism in
IVIaryland. Bitter indignation was felt at St. Mary's, and a
petition signed by the mayor and other municipal officers,
with a number of the freemen, w^as sent to the assembly,
praying that the change might be reconsidered. The House
of Burgesses returned an answer, brutal and vulgar in tone,
which shows the wellnigh incredible virulence of political
passion in those days.^ The blow was final, so far as St.
Mary's was concerned. Her civic life had evidently de-
pended upon the presence of the government. At one time,
with its fifty or sixty houses, the little city founded by Leon-
ard Calvert was much
larger than Jamestown ; x? / /^/ /
but after the removal it / ^j^^^^ f^lU^^
dwindled till little was N. (
left save a memory. The >w ^^^^^
name of the new capital
on the Severn w^as doubt-
less felt to be cumbrous, for it was presently changed to
Annapolis,^ the first of a set of queer hybrid compounds with
which the map of the United States is besprinkled. Nichol-
son wished to crown the work of founding a new capital by
establishing a school or college there, and accordingly in
1696 King William School was founded. For many years
the income for supporting this and other free schools was
derived from an export duty on furs.^
1 The petition and answer are given in Scharf s History of Mary-
land, i. 345-348-
2 Probably in honour of Princess Anne, the heiress presumptive,
afterward Queen Anne.
3 Every bearskin paid Qcl., elk I2d., deer or beaver 4d., raccoons
3 farthings, muskrats 4d. per dozen, etc. Scharf, i. 352.
148 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
The change of the capital was perhaps bewailed only by
the Catholics and others who were most strongly attached
to the proprietary government. But the change in ecclesias-
Unpopii- tical policy disgusted everybody. Taxation for the
IstabiiLh-'^^ support of the Episcopal church, of which only a
ment of the small part of the population were members, was
Episcopal ^ _ ^ ^ .
church as uupopular with Puritans as with Papists. The
Puritans, who had worked so zealously to undermine the
proprietary government, had not bargained for such a result
as this. The manner in which the church revenue was
raised was also extremely irritating. The rate was forty
pounds of tobacco per poll, so that rich and poor paid alike.
A more inequitable and odious measure could hardly have
been devised. The statute, however, with the dulness that
usually characterizes the work of legislative bodies, forgot to
specify the quality of tobacco in which the rates should be
paid. Naturally, therefore, they were paid in the vilest
unmarketable stuff that could be found, and the Episcopal
Episcopal clergymen found it hard to keep the wolf from the
parsons door. There was thus no inducement for compe-
tent ministers to come to Maryland, and those that were
sent from England were of the poorest sort which the Eng-
lish Church in that period of its degradation could provide.
Dr. Thomas Chandler, of New Jersey, who visited the east-
ern shore of Maryland in 1753, wrote to the Bishop of
London as follows : " The general character of the clergy
... is wretchedly bad. ... It would really, my lord, make
the ears of a sober heathen tingle to hear the stories that
were told me by many serious persons of several clergymen
in the neighbourhood of the parish where I visited ; but I
still hope that some abatement may be fairly made on ac-
count of the prejudices of those who related them." ^ The
Swedish botanist, Peter Kalm, who visited Maryland about
the same time, tells us that it was a common trick with a
1 Meade's Old Churches^ ii- 352. Bishop Meade adds: "My own
recollection of statements made by faithful witnesses . . . accords with
the above." '
MARYLAND'S VICISSITUDES 149
parson, when performing the marriage service for a poor
couple, to halt midway and refuse to go on till a good round
fee had been handed over to him.^ On such occasions it
may be presumed that the tobacco was of unimpeachable
quality.
The last decade of the seventeenth century was a period
of ceaseless wrangling over church matters. Almost every
year saw some new act passed from which its oppo- Exemption
nents succeeded in causing the assent of the crown ^nt dIs-^ "
to be withheld. The s^overnment of William III. ^enters
o irom civil
was not ill-disposed toward a policy of toleration, disabilities
except toward Papists. Accordingly, although the act of
1692 remained substantially in force until the American
Revolution, it was so qualified in 1702 as to exempt Quakers
and other Protestant Dissenters from civil disabilities, and to
allow them the free exercise of public worship in their own
churches or meeting-houses. They were not exempted, how-
ever, from the poll tax for the maintenance of the Episco-
pal church.
For the Catholics there was neither exemption nor privi-
lege; they were shamefully insulted and vexed. In the
autumn of 1704 two priests were summoned before the coun-
cil : the one, William Hunter, was accused of consecrating
a chapel, which he answered with a plea that was in part
denial and in part " confession and avoidance ; " the Seymour's
other, Robert Brooke, acknowledged the truth of ['PtheCatl
the charge that he had said mass at the chapel ^^'^ priests
of St. Mary's. The request of these gentlemen for legal
counsel was refused. As the complaint against them was a
first complaint, they were let off with a reprimand, which the
^ Alexander Graydon tells us that in his eady days any jockeyins:.
fiddling, wine-bibbing clergyman, not over-scrupulous as to stealing his
sermons, was currently known as a " Maryland parson." Graydon's
Mejnoirs, Edinburgh, 1822, p. 102. This was in Pennsylvania, and any
sneering remark or phrase current in any of our states with reference to
its next neighbours is entitled to be taken cum gra)io salts. But there
was doubtless justification for what (iraydon says.
ISO OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
newly installed governor, John Seymour, thus politely admin-
istered : " It is the unhappy temper of you and all your tribe
to grow insolent upon civility and never know how to use it,
and yet of all people you have the least reason for considering
that, if the necessary laws that are made were let loose, they
are sufficient to crush you, and which (if your arrogant prin-
ciples have not blinded you) you must need to dread. You
might, methinks, be content to live quietly as you may, and
let the exercise of your superstitious vanities be confined to
yourselves, without proclaiming them at public times and in
public places, unless you expect by your gaudy shows and
serpentine policy to amuse the multitude and beguile the
unthinking, ... an act of deceit well known to be amongst
you. But, gentlemen, be not deceived. ... In plain and
few words, if you intend to live here, let me hear no more of
these things ; for if I do, and they are made good against
you, be assured I '11 chastise you. ... I '11 remove the evil
by sending you where you may be dealt with as you deserve.
. . . Pray take notice that I am an English Protestant gen-
tleman, and can never equivocate." After this fulmination
the governor ordered the sheriff of St. Mary's county to lock
up the Catholic chapel and ''keep the key thereof ;" and
for all these proceedings the House of Burgesses declared
themselves " cheerfully thankful " to his excellency, whom
they found "so generously bent to protect her majesty's
Protestant subjects here against insolence and growth of
Popery." ^
From 1704 to 171 8 several ferocious acts were passed
against Catholics. A reward of ;;^ioo was offered to any
^ ,, informer who should "apprehend and take" a
Cruel laws ^ ^
against pricst and convict him of saying mass, or perform-
Catholics . ^ . , , . , , , ^
ing any of a priest s duties ; and the penalty tor
the priest so convicted was perpetual imprisonment. Any
Catholic found guilty of keeping a school, or taking youth
to educate, was to spend the rest of his life in prison. Any
person sending his child abroad to be educated as a Catholic
^ Scharf, i. 368.
MARYLANirs \'ICISSITUDES
151
DRAWIXG-ROOM AT DOUGHOREGAN MANOR
was to be fined ^100. No Catholic could become a pur-
chaser of real estate. Certain impossible test oaths were to
be administered to every Papist youth within six months
after his attaining majority, and if he should refuse to take
them he was to be declared incapable of inheriting land, and
his nearest kin of Protestant faith could supplant him. The
children of a Protestant father might be forcibly taken away
from their widowed mother and placed in charge of Protest-
ant guardians. When extra taxes were levied for emergen-
cies, Catholics were assessed at double rates. ^
These atrocities of the statute book were a symptom of the
inflammatory effect wrought upon the English mind by the
gigantic war against Louis XIV., and immediately afterward
by the wild attempt of the so-called James III. to seize the
crown of Great Britain. From the accession of William and
Mary to the end of the reign of Anne, war against P'rance
was perpetual except for the breathing spell after the Peace
of Ryswick. This state of things brought a fresh burden
1 Scharf, i. 370, 383.
152 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
upon Maryland. War between France and Great Britain
meant war between the Algonquin tribes and the
requisi- English colonies aided by the Five Nations. The
new situation was heralded in the Congress w^hich
met at New York in 1690, at Leisler's invitation, when Mary-
land was called upon to contribute men and money toward
the invasion of Canada. With the advent of the royal gov-
ernment came royal requisitions for military purposes ; and
althouo:h this new burden was due to the new continental
situation rather than to the change in the provincial govern-
ment, it was one thing the more to make Marylanders look
back with regret to the days of the proprietary rule.
For four-and-twenty years after 1691 the third Lord Balti-
more lived in England in the full enjoyment of his private
Benedict rights and revenues, though deprived of his govern-
Somesa i"i"iG^^t. His SOU, Benedict Leonard Calvert, was a
Protestant princc who took secular views of public policy, like
the great Henry of Navarre. He preferred his palatinate to
his church, and abjured the Catholic faith, much to the
wrath and disgust of his aged father, who at once withdrew
his annual allowance of ^450. Benedict was obliged to
apply to the crown for a pension, which was granted by
Anne and continued by George I. until on February 20,
171 5, the situation was completely changed by the father's
-, . , ^ death. On the petition of Benedict, fourth Lord
Revival of _ ^ '
thepaiat- Baltimore, the proprietary government of Mary-
^ land was revived in his behalf. But Benedict sur-
vived his father only six weeks, and on April 5 his son
MARYLAND'S VICISSITUDES
153
Charles Calvert became fifth Lord Baltimore. As Charles
was a lad of sixteen, whose Romanist faith had been forsworn
with his father's, he was forthwith proclaimed Lord Propri-
etor of Maryland, and royal governors no more vexed that
colony.
Despite all troubles it had thriven under their administra-
tion. The population had doubled within less than twenty
years, and on Charles's accession it was reckoned at 40,700
whites and 9500 negroes.^ Oppressive statutes had not jDre-
vented the Catholics from increasing in numbers and the
influence which ability and character always wield. They
were preeminently the picked men of the colony. Entire
suppression of their forms of worship had been recognized
as impracticable. An act of 1704 had allowed priests to
perform religious services in Roman Catholic families,
though not in public. From this permission advantage was
taken to build chapels as part of private mansions, so that
the family with their guests might worship God after their
manner, relying upon the principle that an English- change
man's house is his castle. By some of these people p^oi^^f^ai
it was hoped that the restoration of the palatinate situation
would revive their political rights and privileges. But this
1 The following
estimate of the population of th
e twelve
colonies
in 1 71 5 (from Chalmers's American Colonies^ ii. 7)
may be
of inter-
est: —
White.
Black.
Total.
Massachusetts ... . 94,000
2,000
96,000
Virginia .
72.000
23,000
95,000
Maryland
40,700
9,500
50,200
Connecticut
46.000
1,500
47.500
Pennsylvania )
Delaware )
43,300
2,500
45,800
New York
27.000
4,000
31,000
New Jersey
21,000
1,500
22,500
South Carolina
6,250
10.500
16,750
North Carolina
7,500
3,700
11,200
New Hampshire
9,500
150
9,650
Rhode Island
8,500
500
9,000
375,750
58,850
434,600
154
OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
CARROLL ARMS
renewal of the palatinate was far from restoring the old
state of things. The position of
the fifth Lord Baltimore was very
different from that of the second
and third. They were Catholic
princes, and were steadily sup-
ported by two Catholic kings of
England. The new proprietor was
a Protestant, dependent upon the
favour of a Protestant king. The
features of the old palatinate gov-
ernment, therefore, which lend the
chief interest to its history, were
never restored. Catholic citizens
remained disfranchised, and continued to be taxed for the
support of a church which they disapproved.
An interesting project was entertained about this time,
by Charles Carroll and other Catholic gentlemen, of leading
Charles ^ migration to the Mississippi valley, thus transfer-
Carroii j-j^g their allegiance from Great Britain to France.
Mr. Carroll, a descendant of the famous Irish sept of O'Car-
rolls, and one of the foremost citizens of Maryland, had
long been agent and receiver of rents for the third Lord
Baltimore. The scheme which he was now contemplating
might have led to curious results, but it was soon abandoned.
A grant of territory by the Arkansas River was sought from
the French government,^ but it proved impossible to agree
upon terms, and that region remained a wilderness until
several questions of world-wide importance had been settled.
Though the accession of the fifth Lord Baltimore did not
reinstate the Catholics in their civil rights, it nevertheless
did much to mitigate the operation of the oppressive statutes
against them. An early symptom of Charles's temper was
shown by his reappointment of Carroll as his agent. He
went on to do such justice to Catholics as was in his power,
and under his mild and equitable rule the fierceness of polit-
^ Scharf, i. 390.
MARYLAND'S VICISSITUDES
155
ical passion was much abated. The proprietary government
retained its popularity until it came to an end with the
Declaration of Independence. But the interval of crown
JO-€^ O^Oy-^!^^
government from 1691 to 171 5 had for the first time made
the connection with Great Britain seem oppressive, seeds of
and had planted the seeds of future sympathy with '■e''"^"^'""
the revolutionary party in Massachusetts and Virginia. As
the long struggle with France increased in dimensions, the
political questions at issue in the several colonies became
more and more continental in character. All were more or
156 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
less assimilated one to another, and thus the way toward
federation was prepared. Thus the discussions in Maryland
came more and more to deal with the rights of the colonial
legislature and British interference with them. At the same
time Maryland had a grievance of her own in the poll tax for
maintaining a foreign and hated church. In 1772 an assault
upon that tax was the occasion of one of the most remark-
able legal controversies in American annals ; and the leader
in that assault, Charles Carroll's grandson and namesake,
Charles Carroll of Carrollton, soon afterward signed his name
to the Declaration of Independence.
In 175 1, after a tranquil reign, only two years of which
were spent in Maryland, Charles Calvert died in London,
and was succeeded by his son Frederick, sixth and last Lord
End of the Baltimore. After a series of Antonines, at last
palatinate came the Commodus. Frederick was a miserable
debauchee, unworthy scion of a noble race. For Mary-
land he cared nothing except to spend its revenues in
riotous living in London. One adventure of his, for which
he was tried and acquitted on a mere technicality, fills one
of the most loathsome chapters of the Newgate Calendar.^
But this villain was represented in Maryland by two excel-
lent governors, Horatio Sharpe from 1753 to 1768, and then
Sir Robert Eden, who had married Frederick's younger sis-
ter. Eden remained in authority until June 24, 1776, when
he embarked for England with the good wishes of the people.
The wretched Frederick died in 1771, without legitimate
children, and the barony of Baltimore became extinct. By
the will of Charles, the fifth baron, the proprietorship of
Maryland was now vested in Frederick's elder sister, Louisa,
wife of John Browning. But Frederick had also left a will, in
which he devised the province to an illegitimate son, called
Henry Harford. This young man laid claim to the proprietor-
ship, but before the chancery suit was ended the Palatinate of
Maryland had become one of the thirteen United States.
1 Knapp and Baldwin, Newgate Calendar^ ii. 385-397; Pelham,
CJu'onicles of Crime, i. 213-220.
CHAPTER XIV
SOCIETY IX THE OLD DOMINION
A LEARNED SOU of Old Virginia, who is fond of wrapping
up a bookful of meaning in a single pithy sentence, has de-
clared that '' a true history of tobacco would be the history of
English and American liberty." This remark occurs near the
beginning of Mr. Moncure Conway's dainty volume printed
for the Grolier Club, entitled " Barons on the Potomack and
the Rappahannock." When construed liberally, as all such
sweeping statements need to be, it contains a kernel of
truth. It was tobacco that planted an English xobacco
nation in Virginia, and made a corporation in Eon- ^"^ liberty
don so rich and powerful as to become a formidable seminary
of sedition ; it was the desire to monopolize the tobacco trade
that induced Charles I. to recognize the House of Burgesses ;
discontent with the Navigation Act and its effect upon the
tobacco trade was potent among the causes of Bacon's Re-
bellion ; and so on down to the eve of Independence, when
Patrick Henry won his first triumph in the famous Parsons'
Cause, in which the price of tobacco furnished the bone of
contention, the Indian weed has been strangely implicated
with the history of political freedom.
Furthermore, when we reflect upon the splendid part
played by Virginia in winning American independence and
bringing into existence the political framework of our Federal
Republic ; when we recollect that of the five founders of this
nation who were foremost in constructive work — Washing-
ton, Hamilton, Madison, Jefferson, and Marshall — four were
Virginians, — it becomes interesting to go back and study
the social features of the community in which such leaders
158 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
of men were produced. The economic basis of that commu-
nity was the cultivation of tobacco on large plantations, and
from that single economic circumstance resulted most of the
social features which we have now to pass in review.
We have seen in a previous chapter how important was
the cultivation of tobacco in setting the infant colony at
Jamestown upon its feet in 1614 and the following years. In
the rapid development of the colony during the reign of
Charles I. other kinds of agriculture thrived, there were good
crops of wheat, and Indian corn was exported. But tobacco
Rapid culture increased rapidly and steadily until in the
fobrcco"^ latter part of the century it nearly extinguished
culture ^\i other kinds of activity, except the raising of
domestic animals and vegetables needed for food. Long
before this result was reached, the tendency was deplored by
the colonists themselves. To use a modern political phrase,
it was "viewed with alarm." This is quite intelligible. "We
know now that tobacco, though not strictly a necessary of
life, is one of those articles whose consumption may be
looked on as certain and permanent. In the seventeenth
century, men could hardly be blamed if they regarded the
use of tobacco as a precarious fashion." ^ It was also felt
that in case of war it would be dangerous for Virginia to be
forced to rely upon importing the manufactured necessaries
of life. Moreover, the absorption of the colony's industry in
the production of a single staple made it especially easy for
the home government to depress that industry by stupid
legislation, as in the reign of Charles II., when the Naviga-
tion Act so seriously diminished the purchasing power of
Attempts tobacco. For these various reasons many attempts
to check it were made to check the cultivation of the Indian
weed. The legislation of the seventeenth century was full
of instances. It was attempted to establish rival industries
and to produce silk, cotton, and iron ; laws were made for-
bidding any planter to raise more than 2000 plants in one
year's crop, and so on. All such attempts proved futile ; in
^ Doyle's Vz'rgim'a, p. 192.
SOCIETY IN THE OLD DOMINION 159
spite of everything that could be done, tobacco drove all
competitors from the field.
This tobacco was generally cultivated upon large estates.
The policy of making extensive grants of land as an induce-
ment to settlers was begun at an early date, and all that was
needed to develop the system was an abundance of ,, , ,
^ . •' Need for
cheap labour. English yeomanry, such as came to cheap
New England, was too intelligent and enterprising
to furnish the right sort. English yeomanry, coming to Vir-
ginia, came to own estates for itself, not to work them for
others. It soon became necessary to have recourse to ser-
vile labour. We have seen negro slaves first brought into
the colony from Africa in 16 19, but their numbers increased
very slowly, and it was only toward the end of the century
that they began to be numerous. In the early period the
demand for servile labour was supplied from other sources.
Convicted criminals were sent over in great numbers from
the mother country, as in later times they were sent to
Botany Bay. On their arrival they were indented
as servants for a term of years. Kidnapping was white ser-
also at that time in England an extensive and lucra-
tive business. Young boys and girls, usually but not always
of the lowest class of society, were seized by press-gangs on
the streets of London and Bristol and other English sea-
ports, hurried on board ship, and carried over to Virginia to
work on the plantations or as house servants. These poor
wretches were not, indeed, sold into hopeless slavery, but
they passed into a state of servitude which might be pro-
longed indefinitely by avaricious or cruel masters. The period
of their indenture was short, — usually not more than four
years ; but the ordinary penalty for serious offences, such as
were very likely to be committed, was a lengthening of the
time during which they were to serve. Among such offences
the most serious were insubordination or attempts to escape,
while of a more venial character were thievery, or unchaste
conduct,^ or attempts to make money on their own account.
1 For runaways additional terms of from two to seven years were
i6o OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
Their lives were in theory protected by law, but where an
indented servant came to his death from prolonged ill-
usage, or from excessive punishment, or even from sudden
violence, it was not easy to get a verdict against the master.
In those days of frequent flogging, the lash was inflicted
upon the indented servant with scarcely less compunction
than upon the purchased slave ; and in general the condition
of the former seems to have been nearly as miserable as that
of the latter, save that the servitude of the negro was per-
petual, while that of the white man was pretty sure to come
to an end. For him. Pandora's box had not quite spilled out
the last of its contents.
In England the notion presently grew up that the aristo-
Notionthat cracy of Virginia was recruited from the ranks of
arede-^^"^ thcsc kidnapped paupers and convicts. This im-
scended prcssiou may have orisfinated in statements, based
from con- i ^ o
victs upon real but misconstrued facts, such as we find
in Defoe's widely read stories, " Moll Flanders " ^ and *' Colo-
sometimes prescribed. The birth of a bastard was punished by an ad-
ditional term of from one and a half to two and a half years for the
mother and a year for the father. See Ballagh, '' White Servitude in
the Colony of Virginia," y^'//;/^- Hopkins Univ. Studies^ xiii. 315.
1 " Among the rest, she often told me how the greatest part of the
inhabitants of that colony came thither in very indifferent circumstances
from England ; that, generally speaking, they were of two sorts : either,
1st. such as were brought over by masters of ships to be sold as ser-
vants : or, 2nd, such as are transported after having been found guilt}' of
crimes punishable with death. When they come here . . . the planters
buy them, and they work together in the field till their time is out. . . .
[Then] thev have a certain number of acres of land allotted them by
the country, and they go to work to clear and cure the land, and then to
plant it with tobacco and corn for their own use ; and as the merchants
will trust them with tools and necessaries upon the credit of their crop
before it is grown, so they again plant every year a little more [etc.].
• . . Hence, child, says she, many a Newgate-bird becomes a great man,
and we have . . . several justices of the peace, officers of the trained
bands, and magistrates of the towns they live in, that have been burnt
in the hand. . . . You need not think such a thing strange ; • • • some
of the best men in the country are burnt in the hand, and they are not
ashamed to own it-, there's Major , says she, he was an eminent
T HE
c^'
/
Widdow Ranter
OR,
The H I S T O R Y of
Bacon in
m #
%
TRAGICOMEDY
i . A<fted by their Majeilies Seivants.
Written by Mrs. A. TSehn.
####
*|^#^
LONDON^ Printed for JamesKnaptm At- the?
Cro\va in St»J?4t^/'.^ Cliorch-Yard^.. 1690.
TITLE OF MRS. APHRA BEHN S ''WIDOW RANTER"
i62 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
nel Jack." So, too, in Mrs. Aphra Behn's comedy, "The
Widow Ranter, or, The History of Bacon in Virginia," one
of the personages, named Hazard, sails to Virginia, and on
arriving at Jamestown suddenly meets an old acquaintance,
named Friendly, whereupon the following conversation en-
sues : —
Hazard. This unexpected happiness o'erjoys me. Who could
have imagined to have found thee in Virginia .'*...
Friendly. My uncle dying here left me a considerable planta-
tion. . . . But prithee what chance (fortunate to me) drove thee
to this part of the New World ?
Hazard. Why, 'faith, ill company and that common vice of the
town, gaming. ... I had rather starve abroad than live pitied
and despised at home.
Friefidly. Would [the new governor] were landed ; we hear he
is a noble gentleman.
Hazard. He has all the qualities of a gallant man. Besides,
he is nobly born.
Friendly. This country wants nothing but to be peopled with a
well-born race to make it one of the best colonies in the world ;
but for want of a governor we are ruled by a council, some of
whom have been perhaps transported criminals, who having ac-
quired great estates are now become Your Honour and Right
Worshipful, and possess all places of authority.-^
It is not only in novels and plays, however, that we en-
counter such statements. Malachy Postlethwayt, author of
-. , , several valuable and scholarly treatises on com-
Malachy -^
Postie- merce, tells us : " Even your transported felons,
sent to Virginia instead of Tyburn, thousands of
them, if we are not misinformed, have, by turning their hands
to industry and improvement, and (which is best of all) to
honesty, become rich, substantial planters and merchants,
settled large families, and been famous in the country ; nay,
we have seen many of them made magistrates, officers of
pickpocket ; there 's Justice B was a shoplifter. . . . and I could
name you several such as they are." Moll Flanders, p. 66.
^ Plays writteti by the late itigenioits Mrs. Behn, London, 1724. iv.
1 10-112.
i64 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
militia, captains of good ships, and masters of good estates." ^
Either from the study of Postlethwayt, or perhaps simply
Dr. John- from reading "Moll Flanders," we may suppose
^°" that Dr. Johnson got the notion to which he gave
vent in 1769 when quite out of patience because the min-
istry seemed ready to make some concessions to the Ameri-
cans. " Why, they are a race of convicts," cried the irate
doctor, "and ought to be thankful for anything we allow
them short of hanging ! " ^ Thus we witness the progress
of generalization : first it is some Virginians that are jail-
birds, or offspring of jail-birds, then it is all Virginians, finally
it is all Americans. A few years ago, in the time of our
Civil War, one used to find this grotesque notion still surviv-
ing in occasional polite statements of European newspapers,
informing their readers that the citizens of the United States
are the " offspring of the vagabonds and felons of Europe." ^
The statement of the worthy Postlethwayt seems based
partly on observation, partly on information, and has unques-
The real tionably been the source of inferences much more
question sweeping than facts will sustain. In order to arrive
at clear views of the subject, we must distinguish between
two questions : —
1. What sort of people, on the whole, were the indented
white servants in Virginia ?
2. How far did they ever succeed, as freedmen, in attain-
ing to high social position in the colony ?
In answering the first question, a mere reference to
"felons" and "convicts" will carry us but little way. A
considerable proportion of the indented white servants were
1 Postlethwayt's Dictionary of Commerce, 3d. ed., London, 1766. vol.
ii. fol. 4 M, 2 recto, col. i.
2 Boswell's Life of fohnson, ed. Birkbeck Hill, ii. 312. Professor
James Butler, in an excellent paper on '' British Convicts shipped to
American Colonies,"' American Historical Review, ii. 12-33, suggests
that Johnson's impression may have been derived from his long connec-
tion with the Gentleman's Magasijte, wherein the lists of felons, re-
prieved from the gallows and sent to America were regularly published.
^ Whitmore, The Cavalier Distnoiinted, p. 1 7.
SOCIETY IN THE OLD DOMINION 165
poor but honest persons who sold themselves into slavery for
a brief term to defray the cost of the voyage from England.
The ship-owner received from the planter the passage-money
in the shape of tobacco, and in exchange he handed over the
passenger to be the planter's serv^ant until the debt was
wiped out. Indented servants of this class were known as
" redemptioners," and many of them were eminently indus-
trious and of excellent character. Such redemp- Redemp-
tioners came in large numbers to Virginia, Mary- tioners
land, and the middle colonies, and much more rarely to New
England, where the demand for any kind of servile labour
was but small.
Again, among the transported convicts were many who
had been sentenced to death for what would now be consid-
ered trivial offences ; the poor woman who stole a joint of
meat to relieve her starving children was not necessarily a
hardened criminal, yet if the price of the joint were more
than a shillino: she incurred the death penalty. For „ . ,
^ . '^ ■' ^ Punish-
counterfeiting a lottery ticket, or for personating ments for
the holder of a stock and receiving the dividends
due upon it, the punishment was the same as for wilful
murder.^ The favourite remedy prescribed in law was the
gallows, as in medicine the lancet. Yet many judges and
officers of state w^ere conscious of the excessive severity of
the system, and welcomed the device of sending the less
hardened offenders out of the kingdom instead of putting
them to death. There is reason for believing that murder-
ers, burglars, and. highwaymen continued to be summarily
sent to Tyburn, while for offences of a lighter sort and in
cases with extenuating circumstances the death penalty was
often commuted to transportation. As a rule it was not the
worst sort of offenders who were sent to the colonies.
The practice of sending rogues beyond sea began soon
after the founding of Virginia, and continued until it was cut
short in America by the War of Independence ; thereafter
the Australasian colonies were made a receptacle for them
1 Pike, History of Crime in England, ii. 447.
i66 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
until the practice came to an end soon after the middle of the
Number nineteenth century. It has been estimated that
bufiolror between 17 17 and 1775 not less than 10,000 " invol-
convicts untary emigrants " were sent from the Old Bailey
alone ; ^ and possibly the total number sent to America from
the British islands in the seventeenth and eighteenth centu-
ries may have been as high as 50,000.^ In the lists of such
offenders their particular destinations are apt to be very
loosely and carelessly indicated ; the name Virginia, for
example, is often used so vaguely as to include the West
Indies.^ The destinations most commonly specified are Vir-
ginia, Maryland, Barbadoes, and Jamaica, but it is certain
that all English colonies outside of New England received
considerable numbers of convicts. Very few were brought
to New England, because the demand for such labour was
less than elsewhere, and therefore the prisoners would not
fetch so high a price."^ Stringent laws were made against
bringing in such people. In 1700 Massachusetts enacted
that every master of a ship arriving with passengers must
hand to the custom-house officer a written certificate of the
"name, character, and circumstances" of each passenger,
under penalty of a fine of ^5 for every name omitted ; and
the custom-house officer was obliged to deliver to the town
clerk the full list of names with the accompanying certifi-
cates.^ The existence of this wholesome statute indicates
that undesirable persons had been brought into the colony ;
and the reenactment of it in 1722, with the fine raised from
£S to ^100, is clear proof that the nuisance was not yet
^ Ainerica7i Historical Review^ ii. 25.
2 Penny Cyclopadia, xxv. 138.
^ Report of Royal Historical MSS. Conunission^ xiii. 605.
'^ The only specific mention which Professor Butler has been able to
find of a criminal sent to New England is that of Elizabeth Canning,
who was sent out for seven years under penalty of death if she returned
to England during that time. She was brought to Connecticut in 1754,
married John Treat two years afterward, and died in Wethersfield in
1773. American Historical Review, ii. 32.
^ Massachusetts Acts and Resolves^ i. 452 ; ii. 245.
DECLARATION
OF THE STATE OF
the Colony and A fFaircs
in FIRGINIA,
WITH
The ^h(jmes of the aAduenturorSf
and Suaimes aduentured in
ihtx. Aaion.
■m
By his MaiefliesCounfeilfoi; Virginia.
LONDON:
I- tinted by Tbotr.us Stwdham I <J a at
TITLR 01" THE COUNCIL'S Rrl'ORT FOR l620
i68 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
abated. Nevertheless, partly because of such vigilant mea-
sures of prevention, but much more because of the economic
reason above alleged, the four New England colonies received
but few convicts.
A very different class of transported persons consisted of
those who were not criminals at all, but merely political
offenders, or even prisoners of war. P'or example, of the
Prisoners Scotch prisoners taken at Dunbar in 1650, Cromwell
^^^^'^'' sent about 150 to Boston. The next year orders
were issued for sending 16 10 of the Worcester captives to
Virginia, but very few of them seem to have arrived there. ^
In 1652 a party of 272 men captured at Worcester were
landed in Boston, but so small was the demand for their
labour that they were soon exported southward, — perhaps
to the West Indies in exchange for sugar or rum. After the
restoration of the monarchy so many non-conformists were
sold into servitude in Virginia as to lead to an insurrection
in 1663, followed by legislation designed to keep all convicts
out of the colony.2 On the whole, the number of political
offenders brought to those colonies that have since become
the United States was certainly much smaller than the num-
ber of criminal convicts, while the latter were in all probabil-
ity much less numerous than the redemptioners. During
the seventeenth century the demand for wholesale servile
white labour was much greater in Virginia and Maryland
than elsewhere, and there are many indications that they
received more convicts and redemptioners than the other
colonies. In the eighteenth century, however, the middle
colonies, especially Pennsylvania, probably received at least
as large a share.
^ Bruce, Econo7nic History of Virginia^ i. 609; Gardiner, History of
the Commonwealth, i. 464. It is commonly said that many of the pris-
oners condemned for taking part in Monmouth's rebellion, 1685, were
sent to Virginia (see Bancroft, Hist, of U. S. i. 471 : Ballagh./. H. U.
Studies^ xiii. 293). But an examination of the lists shows that nearly
all were sent to Barbadoes, and probably none to V^irginia. See Hot-
ten. Original Lists of Persons of Quality^ Emigrants^ Religious Exiles,
Political Rebels, etc. pp. 315-344.
^ Hening's Statutes, ii. 50.
SOCIETY IN THE OLD DOMINION 169
Our survey shows that in the class of indented white
servants there was a wide range of gradation, from thrifty
redemptioners ^ and gallant rebels at the one extreme down
to ruffians and pickpockets at the other. Bearing ^
^ ^ '^ Careers
this in mind, we come to our second question. How of white
far did white freedmen succeed in attaining to high
social position in such a colony as Virginia ? There is no
doubt that, as Postlethwayt declares, some of the best of
them did work their way up to the ownership of plantations.
In the seventeenth century they were occasionally elected
to the House of Burgesses. The composition of that assem-
bly for 1654 affords an interesting example. One of the
two members for Warwick was the worthy Samuel Mathews,
soon to be elected governor ; and one of the four members
£^/lJiMi l^^Pfinru
for Charles City was Major Abraham Wood, who, as a child
of ten years, had been brought from England in 1620, and
had been a servant of Mathews. John Trussel, the member
for Northumberland, and William Worlidge, one of the two
members for Elizabeth City, had been servants brought over
in 1622, aged respectively nineteen and eighteen.^ Whether
these lads had been offenders against the law does not
1 Mr. Bruce has well said that in the seventeenth century the white
servant was " the main pillar of the industrial fabric " of Virginia, and
"performed the most honourable work in establishing and- sustaining"
that colony. There can be no doubt, as he goes on to say, that the
work of colonization which has been performed by the people of Eng-
land surpasses, both in extent and beneficence, that of any other race
which has left an impression upon universal history, and the part the
manual labourers have taken in this work is not less memorable than
the part taken by the higher classes of the nation." Econo7nic History
of Virginia, i. 573, 582.
2 Neill's Virginia Caroloriini, p. 279; Hotten's Original Lists, pp.
207, 233, 254 : Hening's Statutes, i. 386.
I70 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS.
appear, nor do we know whether the child had come with
parents not mentioned, or as the victim of kidnappers. We
only know that all three were servants,^ and, if the word is
to be understood in the ordinary sense, it was much to their
credit that they rose to be burgesses. Cases of ordinary
indented servants thus rising were certainly exceptional in
Represent- ^^^ seventeenth century, and still more so in the
atiye vir- eiofhtcenth. Nothino^ can be more certain than
ginia fami- . ^ . .
lies are not that the representative families of Virginia were
from white Hot dcsccndcd from convicts, or from indented ser-
freedmcn yauts of any sort. Although family records were
until of late less carefully preserved than in New England,
yet the registered facts abundantly prove that the leading
families had precisely the same sort of origin as the leading
families in New England. For the most part they were
either country squires, or prosperous yeomen, or craftsmen
from the numerous urban guilds ; and alike in Virginia and
in New England there was a similar proportion of persons
connected with English families ennobled or otherwise emi-
nent for public service.
As for the white freedmen, those of the better sort often
acquired small estates, while some became overseers of
^., white servants and black slaves. The kind of life
Some white
freedmen which they led IS described in Defoe's " Colonel
became t i >> • i i • >
small pro- Jack With that great writers customary minute-
pnetors ^^^^ ^£ information. The class of small proprie-
tors always remained in Virginia, and included many other
persons beside freedmen. With the increasing tendency
toward the predominance of great estates in tidewater Vir-
ginia, there was a tendency for the smaller proprietors to
move westward into the Piedmont region or southward into
North Carolina, as will appear in the next chapter.
^ In the absence of detailed specific knowledge it is unsafe to base
inferences upon the word "servant," inasmuch as in the seventeenth
century it included not only menials but clerks and apprentices, even
articled students in a lawyer's or doctor's office, etc. See William and
Mary College Quarterly^ i. 22; Bruce, Economic History, i. 573-575;
ii. 45.
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SOCIETY IN THE OLD DOMINION 171
While it was true that *' the convicts . . . sometimes
prove very worthy creatures and entirely forsake their
former follies," ^ it was also true that many of them "have
been and are the poorest, idlest, and worst of mankind, the
refuse of Great Britain and Ireland, and the out- some
cast of the people." ^ These degraded freedmen un^^e"n
were apt to be irreclaimable vagabonds. According whites"
to Bishop Meade, they gave the vestrymen a great deal of
trouble. " The number of illegitimate children born of them
and thrown upon the parish led to much action on the part
of the vestries and the legislature. The lower order of per-
sons in Virginia in a great measure sprang from those ap-
prenticed servants and from poor exiled culprits. It is not
wonderful that there should have been much debasement of
character among the poorest population, and that the ne-
groes of the first families should always have considered
themselves a more respectable class. To this day [1857]
there are many who look upon poor white folks (for so they
call them) as much beneath themselves ; and, in truth, they
are so in many respects." ^ Indeed, the fact that manual
labour was a badge of servitude, while the white freedmen
of degraded type were by nature and experience unfitted to
perform any work of a higher sort, was of itself enough
to keep them from doing any work at all, unless driven by
impending starvation. As manual labour came to be more
and more entirely relegated to men of black and brown
skins, this wretched position of the mean whites grew worse
and worse. The negro slave might take a certain sort of
pride in belonging to the grand establishment of a powerful
or wealthy master, and from this point of view society might
be said to have a place for him, even though he possessed
no legal rights. There was no such haven of security for
the mean whites. If the negro was like a Sudra, they were
simply Pariahs. Crimes against person and j^roperty were
^ " Tour through the British Plantations," Lo7idon Magazi?ie^ ^7SS-
- Hugh Jones, Present State of Virginia, 1724, p. 114.
3 Meade's Old Churches, i. 366.
172 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
usually committed by persons of this class. They were
loungers in taverns and at horse-races, earning a precarious
livelihood, or violent death by gambling and thieving ; or
else they withdrew from the haunts of civilization to lead
half-savage lives in the backwoods. In these people we may
recognize a strain of the English race which has not yet on
American soil become extinct or absorbed. There can be
little doubt that the white freedmen of degraded type were
the progenitors of a considerable portion of what is often
called the "white trash" of the South. Originating in Vir-
ginia and Maryland, the greater part of it seems to have been
gradually sifted out by migration to wilder regions westward
and southward, much to the relief of those colonies. As to
the probable manner of its distribution, something will be
said in the next chapter.
Long before the end of the seventeenth century, Virginia
and Maryland had begun to protest against the policy of
sending criminals from England,^ and as negro slaves became
more numerous white servitude was greatly diminished.
The rapid increase of negroes began toward the end of the
Pj ^ , century, and an immense impetus was given it by
mentofne- the asieiito clausc of the treaty of Utrecht in 171 3.
treaty of ' By Way of indemnifying herself for the cost of the
War of the Spanish Succession, victorious Eng-
land bade Spain and France keep their hands off from
Africa, while she monopolized for herself the slave trade.
We are reminded by Mr. Lecky that this was the one clause
in the treaty that seemed to give the most general satisfac-
tion ; and while an eminent prelate affixed his name to the
treaty and a magnificent Te Dejtm by Handel was sung in
^ Before the Revolution this grievance had come to awaken fierce
resentment. A letter printed in 1751 exclaims : "In what can Britain
show a more sovereign contempt for us than by emptying their gaols
into our settlements, unless they would likewise empty their offal upon
our tables ? . . . And what must we think of those merchants who for
the sake of a little paltry gain will be concerned in importing and dis-
posing of these abominable cargoes ! " — Virginia Gazette^ May 24,
I7ST.
^ A briefe and true re-
portof the newfound land of Virginia: of
the commodities there found and to he rayjedy as well mar-
charitable^ as others Ibrviduall^bulldingand other neceffa-
rievfesforthofethiit are and p^albetheiflanters there; and of the //4-
tureand mannersof the natural! inhabitants : Difcoueredby the
Engltp) Colony there featcd hj Sir Richard Grcinuile Kmght in the
yeere 158?. whichremaincdvnderthegoueramcntof Rate Lane Efcjui-
eXi one of ha' Maicflies Equieres^ during thcfpace oftr^dut' vwnethes : at
the fecial! charge and diredion of the Honourable S I K
WALTER RA LEIGH Knight, Lord Warden of
the ftaiincries j who therein hath bceiic fauou-
redand authorifed by heri^faicili^ and
her letters patents:
Direcfled tothe Aduenturers^Fauourers^
andWelwillersoftheaSiion^for the inhabit
tingand planting there:
By Thomas Hariot-^ fcruant to the abouenamed
Sir Walter^ a member of the Colony y an J
there imphyed in difcoucrhig.
Imprinted at London 1588.
TITLE OF THOMAS HAKlOT S BOOK
174 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
the churches, it occurred to nobody to denounce as unchris-
tian a national scheme for kidnapping thousands of black
men and selling them into slavery.^ Before 17 13 the part
which English ships had taken in the slave trade was com-
paratively small ; and it is curious now to look back and
think how Marlborough and Eugene at Blenheim were un-
consciously cutting out work for Grant and Sherman at
Vicksburg. In 1700 there were probably 60,000 Englishmen
and 6000 negroes in Virginia ; by 1750 there were probably
250,000 whites and 250,000 blacks, while during that same
half century the peopling of the Carolinas was rapidly going
on.^ This portentous increase of the slave population pre-
sently began to awaken serious alarm in Virginia. At-
tempts were made to restrict the importation of negroes, and
at the time of the Revolutionary War the humanitarian spirit
of the eighteenth century showed itself in the rise of a party
in favour of emancipation. In 1784 Thomas Jefferson an-
nounced the principle upon which Abraham Lincoln was
elected to the presidency in i860, the prohibition of slavery
in the national domain ; Jefferson attempted to embody this
Anti-sia- principle in an ordinance for establishing territorial
mentln"^^" government west of the Alleghanies. In 1787
Virginia Qcorgc Mason denounced the '' infernal traffic " in
flesh and blood with phrases quite like those which his
grandchildren were to resent when they fell from the lips of
Wendell Phillips. The life of the anti-slavery party in Vir-
ginia was short. After the abolition of the African slave
trade in 1808 had increased the demand for Virginia-bred
slaves in the states farther south, the very idea of emancipa-
tion faded out of memory.
1 have already remarked upon the approval with which
negro slavery was by many people regarded in the days of
^ Lecky, History of England, i. 127.
2 Smyth's Tour in the United States, London, 1784, i. 72. In 1748
Maryland had 98,357 free whites, 6870 redemptioners, 1981 convicts,
and 42,764 negroes. See Williams, History of the N^egro Race in
America, i. 247.
SOCIETY IN THE OLD DOMINION 175
Queen Elizabeth. To bring black heathen within the pale
of Christian civilization was deemed a meritorious business.^
But there were people who took a lower and coarser view
of the matter. They denied that the negro was jj^^^j.
strictly human ; it was therefore useless to try to that
. nesrroes
make him a Christian, but it was rio;ht to make were non-
him a beast of burden, like asses and oxen.^ This
point of view was illustrated in the remark made by a lady
of Barbadoes, noted for her exemplary piety, to Godwyn,
the able author of "The Negro's and Indian's Advocate; "
she told him that " he might as well baptize puppies as
negroes."^ This line of thought was pursued to all sorts
^ See above, vol. i. p. 18.
2 At the famous meeting in the Tabernacle at New York, in May,
1850, when Isaiah Rynders and his ruffians made a futile attempt to
silence Garrison, one of the speakers maintained "that the blacks were
not men, but belonged to the monkey tribe." Willia7n Lloyd Ga?'ri-
son : the Sto?y of his Life^ told by his Children, iii. 294. Defenders
of slavery at that time got much comfort from Agassiz's opinion that
the different races of men had distinct origins. It was perhaps even
more effective than the favourite " cursed be Canaan *' argument.
^ Bruce, Economic History, ii. 94. About 1854 (I am not quite sure
as to the date) it was reported in Middletown, Conn., that the " horrid
infidel," Rev. Theodore Parker, had, on a recent Sunday in the Boston
Music Hall, brought forward sundry cats and dogs and baptized them
in the name of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ! ! ! I shall never forget
the chill of horror which ran through the neighbourhood at this tale of
wanton blasphemy. In 1867 I found the belief in the story still surviv-
ing among certain persons in Middletown with a tenacity that no argu-
ment or explanation could shake. The origin of the ridiculous tale
was as follows : The famous abolitionist, Parker Pillsbury, made a
speech in which he quoted what the lady said to Godwyn, that "he
might as well baptize puppies as negroes." In passing from mouth to
mouth the report of this incident underwent an astounding transforma-
tion. First the speaker's name was exchanged for that of another
famous abolitionist, the strong and lovely Christian saint, Theodore
Parker: and then the figure of speech was developed into an act and
clothed with circumstance. Thus from the true statement, that Parker
Pillsbury told a story in which an allusion was made to baptizing pup-
pies, grew the false statement that Theodore Parker actually baptized
cats and dogs. A great deal of what passes current as history has no
better foundation than this outrageous calumny.
176
OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
GATE AT WESTOVER
of grotesque conclusions. Some held that mulattoes were
made half human by the infusion of white blood, and might
accordingly be baptized. Others deemed it poor economy
to baptize the slave, since it would be incumbent on the
master to feed Christians better than heathen, and to flog
them less. And there were yet others who had heard the
doctrine that Christians ought not to be held in bondage,
and feared lest baptism should be judged equivalent to
emancipation.^ This notion was at first so prevalent in Vir-
ginia that in 1667 it was enacted : ''Whereas some doubts
have risen whether children that are slaves by birth, and by
the charity and piety of their owners made partakers of the
blessed sacrament of baptisme, should by vertue of their
baptisme be made ffree ; It is enacted and declared by this
grand assembly and the authority thereof, that the confer-
ringe of baptisme doth not alter the condition of the person
as to his bondage or ffreedom ; that diverse masters, ffreed
from this doubt, may more carefully endeavour the propaga-
tion of Christianity by permitting children, though slaves, or
^ Bruce, op. cit. ii. 96-98.
SOCIETY IN THE OLD DOMINION
177
those of greater growth if capable, to be admitted to that
sacrament." ^
During the seventeenth century the slave was regarded
as personal property, but a curious statute of 1705 declared
him to be for most purposes a kind of real estate. Negroes as
He could be sold, however, without the registry of a ^^^^ ^^^^*^
deed ; he could be recovered by an action of trover ; and he
was not reckoned a part of the property qualification which
entitled his master to the political privileges of a freeholder.^
In the system of taxation white servants and negro slaves
played an important part. The primary tax upon all land-
holders was the quit-rent of a shilling for every Taxes on
fifty acres, payable at Michaelmas. This quit-rent ^^^^^^
was at first collected in the name of the Company, but after
1624 in the King's name ; and the proceeds were devoted
to various public uses. It was always an unpopular tax,
inasmuch as there was no feasible way (as now-a-days with
our blessed tariffs) of
making dullards believe
that *^ the foreigner paid
it," and there were fre-
quent complaints of de-
linquency. Another tax
was the duty of two
shillings upon every
hogshead of tobacco ex-
ported. A third was the tax upon slaves and servants. At
the close of the seventeenth century adult negroes were
valued at from ^25 to ^40, and children at ^10 or £\2\
there seems to have been little if any difference between the
prices of men and women. ^ The taxation of slave property
was equitable, inasmuch as it bore most heavily upon those
best able to pay.
1 Hening's Statutes, ii. 260. ^ Hening, iii. 333-335.
'' For many of these details concerning slavery I am indebted to
Bruce's Economic History of Viniiiiia, chap, xi., — a book \vhic4i it
woukl be difficult to praise too highly.
VOL. n
VIRGINIA HALF PENNY
178
OLD X'IRGINIA AXr3 HER NEIGHBOURS
It is generally admitted that the treatment of slaves by
their masters was mild and humane. There were instances
of cruelty, of course. Cruelty forever lurks as a hideous
Treatment possibility in the mildest system of slavery ; it is
of slaves p-^j-^ of its innermost essence. In every community
there are brutes unfit to have the custody of their fellow-
creatures. Such a ruffian was the Rev. Samuel Gray, who
COLONEL JOHN PAGE
had his runaway bliick boy tied to a tree and flogged to
death. Separation of families also occurred, though much
less frequently than in later times, l^ut cases of cruelty
were on the whole rare. The cultivation of tobacco was
not such a drain upon human life as the cultivation of sugar
SOCIETY IN THE OLD DOMINION 179
in the West Indies, or the raising of indigo and rice in
South Carolina. It created a kind of patriarchal society in
which the master felt a genuine interest in the welfare of his
slaves. " The solicitude exhibited by John Page of York
was not uncommon : in his will he instructed his heirs to
provide for the old age of all the negroes who descended
to them from him, with as much care in point of food, cloth-
ing, and other necessaries as if they were still capable of the
most profitable labour."^ The historian, Robert Beverley,
writing in 1705, tells us that "the male servants and the
slaves of both sexes are employed together in tilling and
manuring the ground, in sowing and planting corn, tobacco,
etc. Some distinction indeed is made between them in their
clothes and food; but the work of both is no other than
what the overseers, the freemen, and the planters themselves
do. . . . And I can assure you with a great deal of truth
that generally their slaves are not worked near so hard, nor
so many hours in a day, as the husbandmen and day-labour-
ers in England." As for cruelty, he exclaims, with honest
fervour, '' no people more abhor the thoughts of such usage
than the Virginians, nor take more precaution to prevent
it." 2
Nevertheless, a state of enforced servitude is something
which human nature does not willingly endure. A slave-
holding community must provide for catching runaways and
suppressing or preventing insurrections. It is one of the
1 Bruce, op. cit. ii. 107.
2 Beverley, History and J' resent State of Virginia, London, 1705,
part iv. pp. 36-39. The historian was son of Major Robert Beverley
mentioned above, on p. 95 of the present volume.
i8o OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
remarkable facts in American history that there have been
so few insurrections of negroes. There have been, however^
Fears of in- occasional instanccs and symptoms which have kept
surrection slave-owncrs in dread and given rise to harsh legisla-
tion. In 1687 a conspiracy among the blacks on the Northern
Neck was detected just in time to prevent the explosion.^ In
1 7 10 a similar plot in Surry County was betrayed by one of
the conspirators, whom the assembly proceeded to reward
by giving him his freedom with permission to remain in the
colony.^ The fears engendered by such discoveries are
revealed in the statute book. Slaves were not allowed to be
absent from their plantations without a ticket-of-leave signed
by their master. The negro who could not show such a
passport must receive twenty lashes, and was liable to be
treated as a fugitive or *' outlying " slave. Such runaways
were formally outlawed ; a proclamation issued by two jus-
tices of the peace was read on the next Sunday by the parish
clerk from the door of every church in the county,
after which anybody might seize the fugitive and
bring him home, or kill him if he made any resistance. In
the latter event the master was indemnified from the public
funds. At the discretion of the county court, such mutila-
tion might be inflicted upon the outlying negro as to protect
white women against the horrible crime which then as now
he was prone to commit.'^ In 1701 we find an act of the
assembly directed against "one negro man named Billy,"
who " has severall years unlawfully absented himselfe from
his masters services, lying out and lurking in obscure places,
. . . devouring and destroying stocks and crops, robing the
houses of and committing and threatening other injuryes to
^ Burk's History of Virginia^ Petersburg, 1805, ii. 300.
^ Hening's Statutes, iii. 537. For the loss of this slave by emancipa-
tion his master was indemnified by a payment of ;^4o from the colonial
treasury.
^ Hening, iii. 461 ; vi. in. In England in the Middle Ages such
mutilation was a common punishment for rape ; sometimes, in addition,
the culprit's eyes were put out. See Pollock and Maitland, History of
Ejiglish Law before the Time of Edward L ii. 489.
SOCIETY IN THE OLD DOMINIOxN i8i
severall of his majesty e's good and leige people." It was
enacted that whosoever should bring in the said Billy alive or
dead should receive a thousand pounds of tobacco in reward,
and if dead, his master's loss should be repaired with four
thousand pounds. Anybody who should aid or harbour Billy
was to be adjudged guilty of felony.^ No penalty was at-
tached to the murder of a slave by his master ; but if he
were killed by any one else, the master could recover his
value, just as in case of damage done to a dog or a horse.
Slaves were not allowed to have fire-arms or other weapons
in their possession ; " and whereas many negroes, under pre-
tence of practising physic, have prepared and exhibited
poisonous medicines, by which many persons have been mur-
dered, and others have languished under long and tedious
indispositions, and it will be difficult to detect such perni-
cious and dangerous practices if they should be permitted
to exhibit any sort of medicine," it was enacted that any
slave who should prepare or administer any medicine what-
soever, save with the full knowledge and consent of the
master or mistress, should suffer death. ^ The testimony
of a slave could not be received in court except when one
of his own race was on trial for life ; then, if he should be
found to testify falsely, he was to stand for an hour with
one ear nailed to the pillory, and then be released by slicing
off the ear ; the same process was then repeated with the
other ear, after which the ceremony was finished at the
whipping-post with nine-and-thirty lashes on the bare back,
"well laid on." ^ Stealing a slave from a plantation was a
capital offence.'* No master was allowed to emancipate one
of his slaves, except for meritorious services, in w'hich case
he must obtain a license from the governor and council. If
a slave were set free without such a license, the church-
wardens could forthwith arrest him and sell him at auction,
appropriating the proceeds for the parish funds, and thereby
lightening the taxes.^ When a license was granted, the
1 Hening, iii. 210. - Id. vi. 105. ^ Id. 107.
'' Id. V. 558. 5 Id. vi. 112.
i82 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
master receiv-ed the usual indemnity, and by an act of 1699
the freedman was required to quit the colony within six
months ; ^ for obviously the presence of a large number of
free blacks in the same community with their enslaved
brethi'cn was a source of danger. They were apt, moreover,
to become receivers of stolen goods, and their shiftless habits
made them paupers.^ Nevertheless there were some free
negroes in the colony, and at one time they even appear to
have had the privilege of voting, for an act of 1723 deprived
them of it ; but no free negroes, whether men or women,
were exempt from taxation.^
Since gentlemen from the North American colonies and
from the West Indies not unfrequently visited England, and
sometimes remained there for months or years, it was quite
natural that they should take with them household slaves to
whose personal attendance they were accustomed. In course
^ , . of time the question thus arose whether the arrival
1 aking ^
slaves to of a slavc upon the free soil of England worked his
' *' emancipation. According to Virginia law it did
not.^ The opinion expressed in 1729 by Lord Talbot, the
attorney-general, and supported by Lord Hardwicke, agreed
with the Virginia theory. These eminent lawyers held that
mere arrival in England was not enough to free a slave with-
out some specific act of emancipation, but Chief Justice Holt
expressed a contrary opinion. Meanwhile masters kept carry-
ing negroes to London until in 1764 the " Gentleman's Maga-
zine " asserted (surely with wild exaggeration) that no less than
20,000 were domiciled there. Escape was so easy for them
that their owners felt obliged to put collars on them, duly
inscribed with name and address. In 1685 the "London
Gazette " advertised Colonel Kirke's runaway black boy,
upon whose silver collar the colonel's arms and cipher were
engraved; in 1728 the "Daily Journal" informs us that a
stray negro has on his collar the inscription, " My Lady
Bromfield's black in Lincoln's Inn Eields ; " and in the
1 Hening, iii. 87, 88. - Bruce, op. cit. ii. 129.
3 Hening, iv. 133, 134. •* Id. ii. 448. act of 1705.
SOCIETY IN THE OLD DOMINION 183
"London Advertiser," 1756, a goldsmith in Westminster
announces that he makes " silver padlocks for Blacks' or
Dogs' collars." Colonel Kirke and Lady Bromfield were
not American visitors, but residents in London, and there
is evidence, not abundant but sufficient, that negroes were
now and then bought and sold there for household service.
When the forger John Rice was hanged at Tyburn in 1763,
his effects were sold at auction, and a black boy brought ^32.
A similar sale at Richmond in 1771 was mentioned in terms
of severe condemnation by the " Stamford Mercury." ^ How-
ever the English people may have sanctioned the establish-
ment of slavery beyond sea, they were not disposed to toler-
ate it at home ; and in the sixty years withal since the treaty
of Utrecht, the public conscience had grown tender on the
subject. The days of Clarkson and Wilberforce
1 1 \ • Lord
were at hand. A cry was raised by the press, a Mansfield's
test case was brought before the King's Bench,
and in 1772 Lord Mansfield pronounced the immortal deci-
sion that " as soon as a slave sets foot on the soil of the
British islands he becomes free."
It is not long after this that we find Thomas Jefferson —
himself the kindest of masters, and familiar with slavery in
its mild Virginia form — thus writing about it : " The jefferson
whole commerce between master and slave is a per- ^" slavery
petual exercise of the most boisterous passions, the most
unremitting despotism on the one part, and degrading sub-
missions on the other. Our children see this, and learn to
imitate it. . . . The man must be a prodigy who can retain
his manners and morals undepraved by such circumstances.
. . . With the morals of the people their industry also is
destroyed. For in a warm climate no man will labour for
himself who can make another labour for him. This is so
true that of the proprietors of slaves a very small proportion,
indeed, are ever seen to labour. And can the liberties of the
nation be thought secure when we have removed their only
^ See Larned's excellent History for Ready Reference^ iv. 2921, where
the case is ably summed up.
i84 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these
liberties are of the gift of God ? that they are not to be vio-
lated but with his wrath ? Indeed, I tremble for my country
when I reflect that God is just." '
In no respect was the system of slavery more reprehensible
than in the illicit sexual relations that grew out of it. The
Sexual im- extent of the evil may be realized when we simply
moralities reflect that the numerous race of mulattoes and
quadroons did not originate from wedlock. In 1691 it was
enacted that any white man or woman, whether bond or
free, intermarrying with a negro, mulatto, or Indian, should
be banished for life. In 1705 the penalty was changed to
fine and imprisonment, and for any minister who should dare
to perform the ceremony there was prescribed a fine nearly
equal to his -whole year's salary.^ Yet the *' abominable mix-
ture and spurious issue," against which these statutes were
aimed, went on, unsanctioned by law
and unblessed by the church. Usually
mulattoes were the children of ne-
gresses by white fathers, but it was not
always so. Some of the wretched
women from English jails seem to have
had fancies as unaccountable as those
of the frail sultanas of the Arabian
Nights. In such cases the white mo-
ther, if free, was fined ^15, or in de-
fault thereof was sold into servitude
for five years ; if she were a bond-
woman, the church-wardens waited for
her term of service to expire, and then
sold her for five years ; her child was
bound to service until thirty years of
age.^ The case of the bastards of negresses was very simply
disposed of by enacting that the legal status of children was
the same as that of their mother.'* This made them all slaves,
^ ] efier son' s A^o Us 0^2 l7?-<;mm, 1782. Query xviii.
3 Hening, iii. 87. 454. ^ Id. 87. ^ Id. ii. 170, act of 1662.
OLD WOOD CARVING OF
LEE ARMS
SOCIETY IN THE OLD DOAIENTOxN 185
from the prognathous and platyrrhine creature with woolly
hair to the handsome and stately octoroon, and secured their
labour to the master. At first the illicit relations between
masters and their female slaves were frowned at, and in some
instances visited with church discipline or punished by fines.^
But public opinion seems to have lost its sensitiveness in the
presence of a custom which lasted until slavery was abol-
ished.2 With the signal advance in refinement which the
nineteenth century ushered in, there is reason to believe that
in many a southern home there were earnest hearts that
deplored the dreadful evil, and welcomed at last the downfall
of the system that sustained it.
Some writers divide Old Virginia society into four classes,
— the great planters, the small planters, the white servants
and freedmen, and the negro slaves. The division
' •-' Classes in
is sound, provided we remember that between the Virginia
1 1 1 r T 1 society
two upper classes no hard and last hne can be
drawn. Already in England the classes of rural gentry and
yeomen shaded into one another ; in Virginia both alike
became land-holders and slave-owners, they mingled together
in society, and their families intermarried. A typical instance
is that of the parents of Thomas Jefferson. His paternal
ancestors were yeomanry who in Virginia developed into
country squires. The first Jefferson in Virginia w^as a mem-
ber of the first House of Burgesses in 1619 ; Thomas's
father, who was also a burgess and county lieutenant, owned
about thirty slaves. Thomas's mother, Jane Randolph,
whose grandfather migrated to Virginia in 1674, belonged
to a family that had been eminent in England since the
thirteenth century, including among its members a baron of
the exchequer, a number of knights, a foreign ambassador, a
head of one of the colleges at Oxford, etc.
^ See Bruce, Econofnic History , ii. 109, wher^ we are told that James-
town was sorely scandalized by the loose behaviour of " thoughtful Mr.
Lawrence."
- " The gain from the African labour outweisfhed all fears of evil
from the intermixture." Foote's SkctcJies of Virginia, i. 23.
1 86
OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
There can be no doubt that the white blood of tidewater
Viro-inia was Encfhsh almost without admixture until the end
Huguenots of the Seventeenth century, and of the very slight
wate'J^ admixture nearly all was from the British islands.
Virginia There was a desultory sprinkling of Protestant
Frenchmen, Walloons, and Dutch, scarcely appreciable in
SIR JOHN RANDOLPH
the mass of the population. But after the revocation of the
Edict of Nantes, in 1685, Virginia received a small part of
the Huguenot exodus from France. The largest company,
more than seven hundred in number, led by the Breton
nobleman, Olivier, Marquis de la Muce, arrived in the year
SOCIETY IN THE OLD DOMINION
187
1700, and settled in various places, more particularly at
JVlonacan Town in Henrico County. A part of this company
were Waldenses from Piedmont, who had taken refuge in
Switzerland, and thence made their way through Alsace and
the Low Countries to England.^ Other parties came from
time to time, adding to Virginia many estimable citizens
whom France could ill afford to lose. Among the Huguenot
names in Virginia, the reader will recognize Maury, Flour-
noy, Jouet, Moncure, Fontaine, ]\Iarye, Bertrand, and others.-
Dabneys ^D Aiibigne) and Bowdoins {Baitdoiiin) came to
LADY RANDOLPH
Virginia as well as to Boston. Such was the principal for-
eign admixture while Virginia was still tidewater Virginia,
before the crossing of the Blue Ridge. The advent of Ger-
mans and Scotch-Irish will be treated in a future chapter.
1 liaircl History of the Hui!;uenot Emig?'ation to America, ii. 178-
2 Brock. Docufnents relatifig to the Hnonenot Emigration to Vir-
ginia, Va. Hist. Soc. Coll. N. S. v. ; cf. Hayden's Virginia Genealogies,
Wilkes-Barre, 1891.
i88 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS \
Having thus considered the composition of society in its
different strata, as connected with wholesale tobacco culture,
let us observe one of the most conspicuous results of this
industry as influenced by the physical geography of the
country. One might suppose that the necessity for export-
ing the enormous crops of tobacco would have called into
existence a large class of thriving merchants, who would
naturally congregate at points favourable for shipping, and
thus give rise to towns. In most countries that is what
would have happened. But the manner in which the Vir-
ginia planter disposed of his crops was peculiar. Most of
Influence the large plantations lay on or near the wide and
pr.^nnni''' ^ccp rlvcrs of that tidewater country ; ^ and each
society planter would have his own wharf, from which his
own slaves might load the tobacco on to the vessels that
were to carry it to England. If the plantation lay at some
distance from a navigable river, the tobacco was conveyed to
the nearest creek and tied down upon a raft of canoes, and
so floated and paddled down stream until some head of navi-
gation was reached, where a warehouse was ready to receive
it. The vessels which carried away this tobacco usually paid
for it in all sorts of manufactured articles that might be
needed upon the plantations. Every manufactured article
that required skill or nicety of workmanship was brought
from England, in ships of which the owners, masters, and
1 Chesapeake Bay, says Rev. Francis Makemie, is " a bay in most
respects scarce to be outdone by the universe, having so many large
and spacious rivers, branching and running on both sides: . . . and
each of these rivers richly supplied, and divided into sundry smaller
rivers, spreading themselves ... to innumerable creeks and coves,
admirably carved out and contrived by the omnipotent hand of our wise
Creator, for the advantage and conveniency of its inhabitants ; ... so
that I have oft, with no small admiration, compared the many rivers,
creeks, and rivulets of water . . . to veins in human bodies." A Plam
and Friendly Perswasive, London, 1705, p. 5. " One receives the im-
pression in reading of colonial Virginia that all the world lived in
countrv-houses on the banks of rivers. And the Virginia world did
live very much in this way."' Miss Rowland's Life of George Mason,
\. cp.
SOCIETY IN THE OLD DOMINION
189
crews were for the most part either natives of the British
islands or of New England. Such a ship would unload upon
the planter's wharf some part of its motley cargo of mahog-
any tables, chairs covered with russia leather, wines in great
WHARF AT UPPER BRANDON
variety from the Azores and Madeira,^ brandy, Gloucester
cheeses, linens and cottons, silks and dimity, quilts and
feather-beds, carpets, shoes, axes and hoes, hammers and
nails, rope and canvas, painters' white lead and colours, sad-
dles, demijohns, mirrors, books, — pretty much everything.^
If she came from a New England port she was likely to
bring salted cod and mackerel, with fragrant rum, either out
of the distilleries at Newport and Boston,'^ or imported from
1 The Huguenots seem to have preferred a French wine, for one of
the first things they did (in 1704) was to " begin an essay of wine, which
they made of the wild grapes gathered in the woods : the effect of
which was noble, strong-bodied claret, of a curious flavour," Beverley,
History of Virginia, London, 1705, part iv. p. 46. This has the ear-
mark of truth. American clarets are to this day strong-bodied, with a
curious flavour !
2 Bruce, Economic History of Virginia, ii. 340-342.
^ Weeden, Economic and Social History of New Englajid, ii. 501.
I90 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
Antigua or Jamaica. Sometimes the rum came from Barl^a-
does, along with sugar and molasses, and occasion-
Some ex- .
ports and ally ginger and lime-juice, in return for which the
impor s ^j^.p often carried away some of the planter's live
hogs or packed pork, as well as butter, and corn, and tanned
leather. The landing of rum was sometimes private and
confidential, for there were duties on it which lent a charm
to evasion.
It would be too much to say that there was no manufac-
turing done in colonial Virginia. There were probably few
if any plantations where the spinning-wheel and hand-loom
were not busy. Female slaves and white servants
Some ■'
domestic wovc coarsc cloth and made it up into suits of
industries iiir iri-
clothes ^ for people of then' sort, and doubtless for
some of the small planters. Such artisans as blacksmiths,
carpenters, and coopers, shipwrights, tailors, tanners, and
shoemakers were often to be found among the indentured
servants. Boys of this class were sometimes upon their arri-
val made apprentices in these crafts. Occasionally negro
slaves became more or less skilled as workmen, especially as
coopers and joiners. There must always have been some
demand for the labour of white freedmen acquainted with
any of the mechanical arts, and in fact instances of free
labourers in these departments are found. There can be no
doubt, however, that the style of work thus attained was apt
to be unsatisfactory ; for we find such planters as Colonel
Byrd and Colonel Fitzhugh, late in the seventeenth century,
sending to England for skilled workmen, and offering to pay
very high wages, on the ground that it was wasting money
to employ such workmen as were to be had in the colony.^
The historian Beverley, who sometimes indulged himself
(like the late Matthew Arnold) in upbraiding his fellow-
countrymen for their own good, says of the Virginians in
^ Bruce, op. cit. ii. 471, where we are also told that "in many cases
the wealthy planters imported from England the clothes worn by these
servants and slaves."
2 Bruce, op. cit. ii. 395, 399, 403, 405-
T H E
HISTORY
A N D
Prefent State
"'^n^'^
VIRGI
111 Four Pa r t s.
I. The H I s T o K Y of the Firfr Settlement
of Virgrfiia^ atul the Government ilicrc-
of, to the prefent - lime.
II. The Naturarproductions and Convcnl-
encies of the Country, fuited to I'rade
and improvement.
IILThe Native foaWi-jtheir Religion, Laws,
and Cuifoms, in War and Peace.
IV. The prefent State of the Country, as to
the Fohtv of the Government, and the
Improvements of the Land.
By d Native W Inhabitant/?/ r/;^ P l a c e.
LONDON:
Printed fori^. Parker, at ihcVni^oyn^ tender the Pi(i:^:^as '
of the Hoy -it- Exchange, M DCC V.
TITLE OF ROBERT BEVERLEV'S HISTORY OF VIRGINIA
193 OLD \'IRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
1705 : "They have their Cloathing of all sorts from Eng-
land, as Linnen, Woollen, Silk, Hats, and Leather. Yet
, . Flax and Hemp grow no where in the World, bet-
Beverley s . ^ .
complaint ter than there ; their Sheep yield a mighty In-
country- crease, and bear good Fleeces, but they shear them
"^^" only to cool them. The Mulberry-Tree, whose
Leaf is the proper Food of the Silk-worm, grows there like
a Weed, and Silk-worms hav^e been observ'd to thrive ex-
treamly, and without any hazard. The very Furrs that their
Hats are made of, perhaps go first from thence ; and most
of their Hides lie and rot, or are made use of, only for cover-
ing dry Goods, in a leaky House. Indeed some few Hides
with much adoe are tann'd, and made into Servants Shoes ;
but at so careless a rate, that the Planters don't care to buy
them, if they can get others ; and sometimes perhaps a better
manager than ordinary, will vouchsafe to make a pair of
Breeches of a Deer-Skin. Xay, they are such abominable
Ill-husbands, that tho' their Country be over-run with Wood,
yet they have all their Wooden Ware from England ; their
Cabinets, Chairs, Tables, Stools, Chests, Boxes, Cart-wheels,
and all other things, even so much as their Bowls, and
Birchen Brooms, to the Eternal Reproach of their Laziness.
. . . Thus they depend altogether upon the Liberality of
Nature, without endeavoring to improve its Gifts, by Art or
Industry. They spunge upon the Blessings of a warm Sun,
and a fruitful Soil, and almost grutch the Pains of gathering
in the Bounties of the Earth. I should be asham'd to pub-
lish this slothful Indolence of my Countrymen, but that I
hope it will rouse them out of their Lethargy, and excite
them to make the most of all those happy Advantages which
Nature has given them ; and if it does this, I am sure they
will have the Goodness to forgive me." ^
It was not, however, as ]\Ir. Bruce reminds us, from an}'
''inherent repugnance " that Englishmen in Virginia did not
take kindly to manufactures, and perhaps the good Bever-
^ Beverley, Historv ami Present State of Viiginia, book iv. pp.
5S. '^S-
SOCIETY IN THE OLD DOMINION
193
COUNTY COURT-HOUSE, DUKE OF GLOUCESTER STREET, WILLIAMSBURG
ley's reproachful tone is a trifle overdone. When the
planter could get sharp knives, well-made boots, and fine
blankets at his own wharf, simply by handing over to the
skipper a few hogsheads of tobacco, he was not True state
greatly to be blamed for preferring them to such °^ ^^^^ ^^^®
dull knives, clumsy boots, and coarse blankets as could be
made by the workmen within reach. Many inconveniences,
however, grew out of the absence of local means for supply-
ing local needs, and I have little doubt that sundry trades
and crafts could have been made to flourish much better
than they did, had it not been for the baneful effects of a
tobacco currency, which we shall presently have to consider.
The most conspicuous result of the absorption of all activ-
ities in tobacco-planting, and the absence of developed arts
and trades, was the non-existence of town life. At the begin-
ning of the eighteenth century there was hardly so Absence of
much as a village in Virginia, unless we make an t*^^" ^^^^
exception in honour of Williamsburg, the new seat of govern-
ment and of the college. By the middle of the century
Williamsburg contained about 200 houses, chiefly wooden,
and its streets were unpaved. Richmond, founded in 1737,
VOL. II
194 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
had a population of 3761 in the census of 1790. The growth
of Norfolk, founded in 1705, was exceptional. The trade
with the West Indies, for sugar, molasses, and rum, tended
to become concentrated there, and the proximity of North
Carolina made it a mart for lumber at a time when Virginia
forests in the lower tidewater region had been largely cleared
away. Colonel Byrd in 1728 says of the Norfolk people :
**They have a pretty deal of lumber from the borderers on
the Dismal, who make bold wdth the king's land thereabouts,
without the least ceremony." Besides boards and shingles,
they sent beef and pork to the West Indies, and it was not
unusual to see a score of sloops and brigantines riding in the
noble harbour. Under these favourable circumstances the
population of Norfolk had come by 1776 to be about 6000.
At that time Philadelphia had some 35,000 inhabitants, and
New York 25,000, though the population of their two states
taken together scarcely equalled that of Virginia.
The lack of urban life was deplored by the legislators at
Jamestown and Williamsburg, and assiduous efforts were
made to correct the evil ; but neither bounties nor orders to
build were of avail. To make towns on paper w^as
attempts as casy as to make a promissory note, but nobody
townfby would go and settle in the towns. Most of the
legislation ^.^^^j-^^y geats cousistcd simply of the court-house,
flanked by the jail, the dismal country inn, and the nonde-
script country " store," where the roving peddler sometimes
replenished his pack on his route through the plantations.
Among the legislative acts designed to encourage the build-
ing of towns, three were especially important. The act of
1662 ordered that thirty-two brick houses should be erected
at Jamestown, and forbade the building or repairing of
wooden houses there ; all tobacco growm in the three coun-
ties of James City, Charles City, and Surry was to be sent
to Jamestown and stored there for shipping, and the pen-
alty for disobedience of this order was a fine of 1000 lbs. of
tobacco ; every ship, moreover, ascending the river above
Mulberry Island, must land its cargo at Jamestown and
SOCIETY IN THE OLD DOiMINION 195
nowhere else, under penalty of forfeiting the cargo. Half of
these fines was to be paid to the town, the other half to the
informer. 1 The statute of 1680, commonly known as the
Cohabitation Act, undertook in somewhat similar fashion
to establish a town in every county ; and the attempt was
renewed on a larger scale in 1 691.2 But all these acts were
either disregarded or suspended. When the Surry planter
could effect an exchange at his own wharf, without incidental
expense or risk, it was useless to command him to load his
crop on shallops and send it to Jamestown, with a charge for
freight, a chance of capsizing, and warehouse dues at the
end of the journey. The skipper withal had no wish to be
saddled with port dues, or to be hindered from stopping and
trading wherever a customer hove in sight. So skipper and
planter had their way, and towns refused to grow.'^ When
Thomas Jefferson entered William and Mary College in
1760, a lad of seventeen years, he had never seen so many
as a dozen houses grouped together.
The country store was an important institution in Old
Vireiinia. Under some conditions it would have formed a
nucleus around which a town would have been de- ^^^ ^^^^,
veloped, but in Virginia the store seems to have *'">■ ^^^^^
been regarded as a kind of rival against which the town could
not compete.* It furnished a number of petty centres which
did away with the need for larger centres. The store was
1 Hening, ii. 172-176. - Id. 471-478: iii. 53-69.
^ There was much strong feeling and vehement writing on the sub-
ject by those who were disgusted at the prevalent state of things : " I
always judged such as are averse to towns to be three sorts of persons :
I. Fools, who cannot, neither will see their own interest and advantage
in having towns. 2. Knaves, who would still carry on fraudulent de-
signs and cheating tricks in a corner or secret trade, afraid of being
exposed at a public market. 3. Sluggards, who rather than be at labour
and at any charge in transporting their goods to market, though idle at
home, and lose double thereby rather than do it. To which I may add
a fourth, which are Sots, who may be best cured of their disease by a
pair of stocks in town." Makemie's Plain and Friendly Perswasive^
London, 1705, p. 16.
^ Present State of Virginia^ 1 697, p. 12.
196 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
apt to be an appendage to a plantation, unless its size be-
came such as to reverse the relationship, after the manner
of Dundreary's dog. It might be a room in a planter's
house, or it might be a detached barn-like building on the
estate. Mr. Bruce tells us that to enumerate its contents
would be to mention pretty much every article for which
Virginians had any use. For example, the inventory of the
Hubbard store in York County, taken in 1667, "contained
lockram, canvas, dowlas, Scotch cloth, blue linen, oznaburg,
cotton, holland, serge, kersey, and flannel in bales, full suits
for adults and youths, bodices, bonnets, and laces for women,
shoes, . . . gloves, hose, cloaks, cravats, handkerchiefs, hats,
and other articles of dress, . . . hammers, hatchets, chisels,
augers, locks, staples, nails, sickles, bellows, froes,^ saws,
axes, files, bed-cords, dishes, knives, flesh-forks, porringers,
sauce-pans, frying-pans, grid-irons, tongs, shovels, hoes, iron
posts, tables, physic, wool-cards, gimlets, compasses, needles,
stirrups, looking-glasses, candlesticks, candles, funnels, 25
pounds of raisins, 100 gallons of brandy, 20 gallons of wine,
and 10 gallons of aqua vitae. The contents of the Hubbard
store were valued at £614 sterling, a sum which represented
about $15,000 in our present currency."^ One can imagine
how dazzling to youthful eyes must have been the miscel-
laneous variety of desirable things. Not only were the
manufactured articles pretty sure to have come from Eng-
land, but everything else, to be salable, must be labelled
English, "insomuch that fanciers used to sell the songsters
unknown to England, if they sang particularly well, as B/i^-
lisJi mocking-birds y ^
We have seen how the rivers and creeks were used as
highways of traffic ; for a long time they were the only high-
ways, and the sloop or the canoe was the only kind of vehi-
cle, public or private, in which it was possible to get about
with ease and safety."^ Until after the middle of the eigh-
1 A kind of cleaver. 2 Bruce, Economic History, ii. 382, 383.
2 Conway, Barons of the Potoniack and the Rappahannock, p. 116.
^ Though the attempts to stimulate shipbuilding met with little sue-
SOCIETY IN THE OLD DOMINION 197
teenth century there were but few roads save bridle-paths,
and such as there w^ere became impassable in rainy
weather. There were also but few bridges, and
these were very likely to be unso.und, while the ferry-boats
were apt to be leaky. It was often necessary for the travel-
ler to swim across the stream, with a fair chance of getting
drowned, and more than a fair chance of losing his horse.
The course of the bridle-path often became so obscure that
it was necessary to blaze the trees. It was not uncommon
for people to lose their way and find themselves obliged to
stay overnight in the woods, perhaps with the howls of the
wolf and panther sounding in their ears. The highway
robber was even a more uncomfortable customer to meet
than such beasts of prey ; and in those days, when banking
was in its infancy and travellers used to carry gold coins
sewed under the lining of their w^aistcoats, the highwayman
enjoyed opportunities which in this age of railways and
check-books are denied him. Nevertheless crime was far
less common than in England or France, and travelling was
much safer than one might suppose. This was true of the
whole colonial period. In 1777 a young Rhode Island mer-
chant, Elkanah Watson, armed with a sabre and pair of
pistols, journeyed from Providence to Charleston in South
Carolina, with several hundred pounds sterling in gold quilted
into his coat. In seventy days he accomplished the distance
of 1243 miles, partly on horseback and partly in a sulky,
without encountering any more serious mishaps than being
arrested for a British spy in Pennsylvania, and meeting a
large bear in North Carolina ; and he has left us a narrative
of his journey, which is as full of instruction as of interest.^
The traveller in Old Virginia, however, was not likely
to carry large sums of money concealed on his person, for
he dealt in a circulating medium too bulky for that. In
cess, the manufacture of barges, pinnaces, and shallops was sustained
by imperative necessity. See Bruce, op. cit. ii. 426-439.
^ Elkanah Watson, Men ajid Times of iJie J\evolutioii, 2d ed., New
York. 1856. chap. ii.
198 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
the course of this book we have had frequent occasions to
Tobacco as obscrve that the Virginian's current money was
currency tobacco. The priccs of all articles of merchandise
were quoted in pounds of tobacco. In tobacco taxes were
assessed and all wages and salaries were paid. This use of
tobacco as a circulating medium and as a standard of values
was begun in the earliest days of the colony, when coin was
scarce, and the structure of society was simple enough to
permit a temporary return toward the primitive practice of
barter. Under such circumstances tobacco was obviously
the article most sure to be used as money. It was exchange-
able for whatever anybody wanted in the shape of service or
merchandise, and it was easily procured from the bountiful
earth. But as time went on this ease of attainment made it
an extremely vicious currency. In the course of our narra-
tive we have encountered some of the disastrous financial
and social results that flowed from the use of so cheap a
substitute for money. Many reasons have been alleged for
the scarcity of coin throughout the whole colonial period in
Virginia ; ^ but assuredly the chief reason was the fact that
tobacco was currency. The bad money drove away the good
money, as it always does. There are indications that there
was always a small stock of coin in the colony, but it was
hoarded or sent to other colonies or to England in the settle-
ment of trade balances. Yet it was not easy to demonetize
tobacco without a radical revolution in the industrial system
and in the commercial relations of the colony.
The nature of the currency evidently had much to do with
the ill success of "the attempts to encourage manufactures,
j.^^ ^ The carpenter or shoemaker, after doing his work,
upon crafts must Wait for his pay until the year's crop of to-
bacco was gathered and cured. Meanwhile he had
nothing to live on unless he raised it for himself ; he might
either plant grain and rear cattle, or else grow tobacco where-
with to buy things. But the time consumed in these agri-
cultural operations was time taken from his handicraft. The
^ See Ripley's Financial History of Virginia, pp. 119-124.
SOCIETY IN THE OLD DOMINION 199
evil was attacked by legislation. "In 1633 brickmakers,
carpenters, joiners, sawyers, and turners were expressly for-
bidden to take part in any form of tillage." In 1662 trades-
men and artisans were exempted from all taxes except
church-rates, on condition that they should abstain from all
interest, direct or indirect, in the growing of tobacco. But
the evil was not cured.^
Further disaster came from the fact that tobacco was a
highly speculative crop. The fluctuations in its value were
liable to be great and sudden, and they affected the Effect
price of every article that was bought and sold pfaSers'
throughout the colony. No one could estimate accounts
from one year to another, with any approach to accuracy,
what the purchasing power of his income was going to be.
The inevitable results of this were extravagance in living and
chronic debt. The planter was drawn into a situation from
which it was almost impossible to extricate himself. " The
system of keeping open accounts in London was calculated
to encourage extravagance ; and these accounts were habit-
ually overdrawn. Many of the merchants even made it a
rule to encourage this indebtedness, so as to assure the con-
tinuance of their customers. It gave them a certain ad-
vantage in all their dealings with the planters." ^ They
charged nearly twice as much for their goods sent to Nor-
folk or Williamsburg as for the same goods sent to New
York.^ In all this they were aided by the Navigation Act.
Extravagance in living was further stimulated by the regal
hospitality for which the great planters early became famous.
Although the life upon their estates was much more busy
than some writers seem to suppose, yet the drudgery of
business did not consume all their time ; and in Hospitai-
their rural isolation, with none of the diversions of i*y
town life, the entertainment of guests by the month together
^ Bruce, op. cit. ii. 411-416.
2 Ripley, Financial History of Vii'ginia, p. 122; cf. Bruce, op. cit.
ii. 36S.
2 Mc Master, History of the People of the United States, i. 273.
200 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
was regarded both as a duty and as a privilege ; and the
example set by the large plantations was followed by the
smaller. Even the keeper of an inn, if he wished to make a
charge for food and shelter, must notify the guest upon his
arrival, for a statute of 1663 declared that in the absence of
such preliminary understanding not a penny could be re-
covered from the guest, however long he might have staid
in the house. ^ As a rule, no person whose company was at
all desirable was allowed to stop at an inn, for the neigh-
bours vied with one another in offering hospitality. Every
planter kept open house, and provided for his visitors with
unstinted hand.
1 Hening, ii. 192. An old satirical writer mentions the same custom
at a Maryland inn, where, however, he did not seem in all respects to
relish his supper: —
So after hearty Entertainment
of Drink and Victuals without Payment ;
For Planters Tables, you must know,
Are free for all that come and go.
While Pon and Milk, with Mush well stoar'd,
In Wooden Dishes grac'd the Board;
With Homine and Syder-pap,
(Which scarce a hungry dog would lap)
Well stuff 'd with Fat from Bacon fry'd,
Or with MoUossus dulcify'd.
Then out our Landlord pulls a Pouch
As greasy as the Leather Couch
On which he sat, and straight begun
To load with Weed his Indian Gun. . . .
His Pipe smoak"d out, with aweful Grace,
With aspect grave and solemn pace.
The reverend Sire walks to a Chest ; . . .
From thence he higs a Cag of Rum.
The nio-ht had for our traveller its characteristic American nui-
sance : —
Not yet from Plagues exempted quite,
The Curst Muskitoes did me bite ;
Till rising Morn and blushing Day
Drove both my Fears and Ills away ;
but the morning meal seems to have made amends : —
I did to Planter's Booth repair,
And there at Breakfast nobly Fare
On rashier broil'd of infant Bear :
I thought the Cub delicious Meat,
Which ne'er did ought but Chesnuts eat.
Ebenezer Cook, The Sot-U^ecd Factor ; 0?% a Voyage to Maryland,
London, 1708, pp. 5. 9.
SOCIETY IN THE OLD DOiMINION
20 r
Let us put ourselves into the position of one of these
visitors, and get some gUmpses of life upon the old planta-
tion. Our host we may suppose to be a vestry- visit to a
man, justice of the peace, and burgess, dwelling tiIe"negro"'
upon a plantation of five or six thousand acres, with q^'arter
his next neisfhbours at a distance of two or three miles. ^
The space is in great part cleared for the planting of vast
FIREPLACE IN A SLAVES KITCHEN
fields of tobacco, but here and there are extensive stretches
of woodland and coppice, with noble forest trees and luxuri-
ant undergrowth, much rougher and wilder than an English
park. The cabins for slaves present the appearance of a
hamlet. These are wooden structures of the humblest sort,
built of logs or undressed planks, and afflicted with chronic
dilapidation. An inventory of 1697 shows us that the cabin
might contain a bed and a few chairs, two or three pots and
kettles, " a pair of pot-racks, a pot-hook, a frying-pan, and a
beer barrel ; " and advertisements for runaways describe
Cuffy and Pompey as clad in red cotton, with canvas drawers,
waistcoat, and wide-brimmed black hat. Their victuals, of
1 For the description of the planter's house and its surroundings I
am much indebted to the admirable work of Mr. Bruce, chap. xii.
202 OLD \'IRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
" hog and hominy " with potatoes and green vegetables, were
wholesome and palatable. If there were white servants on
the estate, they were commonly but not necessarily some-
what better housed and clothed.
Leaving the negro quarters, with their grinning mammies
and swarms of woolly pickaninnies, one would presently
come upon other outbuildiuf^rs ; the ample barns
Other ^ . ^ ^ 1111
appurte- for tobacco and granaries for corn, the stable, the
cattle-pens, a hen-coop and a dove-cot, a dairy, and
in some cases a malt-house, or perhaps, as we have seen, a
country store. There were brick ovens for curing hams
and bacon ; and the kitchen likewise stood apart from the
mansion, which was thus free from kitchen odours and from
undue heating in summer time. There was a vegetable gar-
den, with " all the culinary plants that grow in England, and
in far greater perfection," besides "roots, herbs, vine-fruits,
and salad-flowers peculiar to themselves," and excellent for
a relish with meat.^ Nearer to the house, among redolent
flower-beds gay with varied colours, some vine-clad arbour
afforded shelter from the sun. A short walk across the
mown space shaded by large trees, called, as in New Eng-
land, the yard, would bring us to the mansion, very com-
monly known as the Great House. From this epithet no
Th= Great ^^^^^ inference can be drawn as to the size of the
House building, for it simply served to contrast it with its
dependent cabins and outhouses. It was often called the
Home House. It was apt to stand upon a rising ground, and
from its porch you might look down at the blue river and the
little wharf, known as " the landing," with pinnaces moored
hard by and canoes lying lazily on the bank or suddenly
darting out upon the water. Turning away from the river,
the eye would rest upon an orchard bearing fruits in great
variety, and a pasture devoted to horses of some special
breed.
The planter's mansion might be built of wood or brick,
but was comparatively seldom of stone. In tidewater Vir-
1 Beverley, History and Preseiit State of Virginia, book iv. p. 56.
SOCIETY IN THE OLD DOMINION 203
ginia, good stone for building purposes was not readily
found, but there was an abundance of red clay ,, . ,
•' Brick and
from which excellent and durable brick could be wooden
made. A number of brick houses were built in the
seventeenth century, but wood was much more commonly
used, since the work of clearing away the forests furnished
great quantities of timber of the finest quality. Among the
many articles that were imported from England, bricks are
not to be reckoned.^ Brickmaking went on from the earliest
days of the colony, and much of this work was done by white
servants and freedmen. In course of time there came to
be many brick houses, and chimneys were regularly of this
material. For roofs the strong and durable cypress shingle
was the material most commonly used. Partition walls,
covered first with a tenacious clay and then whitewashed,
were very firm and solid. The glass windows, for protection
against storms of a violence to which Englishmen had not
been accustomed, had stout wooden shutters outside, which
gave the house somewhat the look of a stronghold.
During the seventeenth century not much architectural
beauty was attained. To any criticisms on this score the
planters would have replied, as the early settlers did to Cap-
tain Butler, that their houses were for use and not for orna-
ment.^ During the eighteenth century some progress was
made in this respect, but for the architectural effect ^,
^ _ _ House
of the mansions not much is to be said, though they architec-
were often highly picturesque. The earliest type,
the house of greater width than depth, with an outside chim-
1 One often hears it said, of some old house or church in \'irginia,
that it was built of bricks imported from England : but, according to
Mr. Bruce, all bricks used in Virginia during the seventeenth century
seem to have been made there. Bricks were 8 shillings per 1000 in
Virginia when they were i8s. S^d. in London, to which the ocean
freight would have had to be added. It is not strange, therefore, that
Virginia exported bricks to Bermuda. As early as the Indian massacre
of 1622 some of the Indians were driven away with brickbats. See
Bruce, Economic Hist07'y, ii. 134. 137, 142.
2 See above, vol. i. p. 201.
204
OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
ney at each end, is familiar to every one, at least in pictures.
It was as characteristic of Old V^irginia as the house of huge
central chimney and small entryway with transverse stair-
case was characteristic of early New England. Both are
slightly modified types of the smaller English manor-houses
of the Tudor period. A more picturesque style, and some-
what more stately, is that of Gunston Hall, the homestead
of the Mason family ; while scarcely less attractive, and still
STRATFORD HA.LL
more capacious, is that of Stratford Hall, the home of the
Lees. The well-known Mount Vernon shows a further de-
parture from English models ; while in Monticello both the
name and the house present symptoms of the beginning of
that so-called classical revival when children were baptized
Cyrus and Marcellus, and dwelt in the shade of porticoes
that simulated those of Greek temples.^
^ The Marquis de Chastellux. who visited Monticello in 1782, says:
*' We may safely aver that Mr. Jefferson is the first American who has
consulted the fine arts to know how he should shelter himself from the
weather." See Randall's Life of Jefferson, i. 373.
SOCIETY IN THE OLD DOiMlXION
The rooms
The differentiation of rooms for specific iises had by no
means proceeded so far as in modern houses. One mediaeval
English feature which was retained was the pre-
dominance of the Hall, or Great Room, used for
meals and for general purposes. Along with the hall, there
might be as few as five or six rooms, or as many as eighteen
or twenty, upstairs and down. Stratford Hall, built about
1725-30, contained eighteen large rooms, exclusive of the
central hall,^ whereas Governor Berkeley's house at Green
Spring, built three quarters of a century earlier, had but six
rooms altogether. Beside the central hall, there might be a
hall parlour, equivalent to reception room and family sitting-
room combined, and in this there might be chests and a bed ;
the others were simply bedrooms. Beds were such as we
are still familiar with ; their tickino- mio;ht be stuffed „ ,
'-' ^ Bedrooms
with feathers or hair or straw, but feathers were and their
much more commonly used than now, as they are
now more commonly used in chilly England than in the fiery
summers and hot-house winters of America. With sheets,
blankets, and counterpane, pillows,
curtains, and valances, the bed was
dressed as at present, save that cur-
tains are now departing along with
the brass warming-pans, bequests
from higher latitudes. Already the
Virginia bed often had a protection
for which England could have no
use, the mosquito net. For such
members of the household as were
lazily inclined in the daytime there
was a couch, which might be plainly
covered with calico, or more expen-
sively with russia leather or embroi-
dered stuffs. The chairs might be
upholstered likewise, or be seated with cane, wicker, or rush-
work. In every bedroom was a chest for storing clothes not
^ Lee of Virginia, p. 116.
CHAIR OF GOVERNOR GOOCH
2o6 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
ill immediate use. There were also the ewer and basin, and
the case of drawers with looking-glass. If one of the big
chimneys was accessible, there was a fireplace for wooden
logs, supported on andirons of iron or brass, and guarded by
iron or tin fenders ; otherwise there was an open brazier,
such as we see to-day in Italy. Floors were usually ill-made in
those days, and woollen carpets faithfully accumulated dirt ;
so that the sunbeam straggling through the dimity or printed
calico window-curtains would often gild long dusty rays.
In the Hall, or Great Room, the principal feature was the
long dining-table of walnut or oak or cedar, flanked either
The din- ^Y bcuchcs or by chairs. For daily use it was cov-
ner-tabie Qred witli a cloth of unbleached linen, known as
hoUand, while on extra occasions a damask cloth was used.
Napkins were abundant, and often of a fine fabric delicately
embroidered. Forks, on the other hand, were in the earlier
days scarce. Before the seventeenth century, forks were
nowhere in general use, save in Italy. Queen Elizabeth ate
Avith her fingers. A satirical pamphlet, aimed at certain
luxurious favourites of Henry III. of France, derides them
Napkins ^^^ couvcying bits of meat to their mouths on a lit-
and forks tie prougcd implement, rather than do it in the
natural way.^ Forks are nowhere mentioned in Shakespeare.
In 1608, while travelling in Italy, one Thomas Coryat took
a liking to them and introduced the fashion into England,
for which he was jocosely nicknamed Furcifcr? Naturally
the use of forks narrowed the functions of napkins.^ Spoons
1 Larousse. Dictionnaire -iinh'ej'sel^ viii. 668.
- A double entendre, either " fork-bearer " or " gallows-bird."
^ Mee?'Cfaft. — Have I deserved this from you two, for all
My pains at court to get you each a patent ?
GiltJiead. — For what ?
Meercraft. — Upon my project o' the forks.
Sledge. — Forks ? what be they ?
Meercraft. — The laudable use of forks,
Brought into custom here, as they are in Italy,
To the sparing o' napkins.
Ben Jonson, The Devil is an Ass, act v. scene 3.
SOCIETY IN THE OLD DOMINION 207
were in much more common use, and, in the New World as
in the Old, were of iron or pewter in the poor man's house,
and of silver in the rich man's. The dishes and plates were
of earthenware or pewter, but in the eighteenth century the
use of chinaware increased. Pewter cups and mugs were
everywhere to be seen, and now and then a drinking-horn.
Well-to-do planters had silver tankards, sometimes
marked with the family arms, as well as silver salt- ^^ ^
cellars, candlesticks, and snuffers. A cupboard with glass
doors, or light drapery, displayed the store of cups and
dishes ; while about the walls sometimes hung family por-
traits, and more rarely paintings of other sorts. This central
hall retained many marks of its mediaeval miscellaneousness
of use ; capacious linen-chests, guns and pistols, powder-
horns, swords, saddles, bridles, and riding-whips, in pic-
turesque and cosy confusion. In the eighteenth century a
luxurious elegance was developed quite similar to that of
the " colonial mansions " at the North, such as the Philipse
manor-house on the Hudson River, or Colonel Vassall's
house in Cambridge, where Washington dwelt for a few
months, and Longfellow for many years. Panelled wainscots
of oak and carved oaken chimney-pieces were com-
. , Wainscots
mon ; the walls were hung with tapestry ; and and tapes-
artistic cabinets, screens, and clocks adorned the
spacious room. In the Lee homestead at Stratford the hall
added to its other functions that of library. The ceiling was
very high and vaulted, and parts of the panelled walls had
bookshelves set into them.^ Such rooms were warmed by
huge logs of hickory or oak, burning in open fireplaces.
They were lighted by candles, which might be made of beef
tallow or deer suet, but the favourite material was a wax
obtained by boiling the berries of a myrtle that grew pro-
fusely in marshy land. It was extremely cheap and burned
with a pleasant fragrance, giving a brilliant light.
The central object in the kitchen was, of course, the fire-
place, which was sometimes very large. At Stratford it was
1 Lee of Virginia^ p. ri6.
2o8 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
** twelve feet wide, six high, and five deep, evidently capable
The °^ roasting a fair-sized ox." ^ In the days when
kitchen pains werc taken not to spoil good meat with bad
cooking, your haunch of venison, saddle of mutton, or stuffed
turkey was not baked to insipidity in an oven meant for
better uses, but was carefully turned about on an iron spit,
catching rich aroma from the caressing flame, while the
basting was judiciously poured from ladles, and dripping-
pans caught the savoury juices. Then there was the great
copper boiler imbedded in brick and heated from under-
neath ; there were the kettles and saucepans, the swinging
iron pot, the gridirons and frying-pans, and the wooden trays
for carrying the cooked dishes to the dining-hall.
The settlers in the strange wilderness of the Powhatans
had once had their Starving Time, but it would be hard to
Abundance P<^i^^t to any part of the earth more bountifully sup-
of food plied with wholesome and delicious food than civil-
ized Old Virginia. Venison, beef, and dairy products were
excellent and cheap. Mutton was less common, and was
highly prized. The pork in its various forms was pronounced
equal to that of Yorkshire or Westphalia. Succulent vege-
tables and toothsome fruits were grown in bewildering variety.
Good Henry of Navarre's peasant, had he lived in this
favoured country, might have had every day a fowl in his
pot ; while, as for game and fish, the fame of Chesapeake
Bay is world-wide for its canvas-backs, mallards, and red-
heads, its terrapin, its soles, bass, and shad, and, last not
least, its oysters. The various cakes which the cooks of the
Old Dominion could make from their maize and other grains
have also won celebrity.
To wash down these native viands the Virginian had
divers drinks, whereof all the best were imported. English-
^ men could not in a moment leave off beer-drinkino:.
Beverages, ^^
native and but the gcucrous, f ull-bodicd and delicate-flavoured
imported i r i i i ^
ale or the mother country has never been success-
fully imitated on this side of the Atlantic, and indeed seems
^ Lee of Vh'ginia, loc. cit.
SOCIETY IN THE OLD DOMINION
209
hardly adapted to our sweltering summers. Concerning
the beer brewed in Old Virginia opinions varied ; but since
barley soon ceased to be cultivated, and attempts were made
to supply its place with maize or pumpkins or persimmons,
OLD DOORWAY AT OATLANDS
we need not greatly regret that we were not there to be
regaled with it. Cider, with its kindred beverages, w^as
abundant,! and doubtless of much better quality. Apple-
1 For Planters' Cellars, you must know.
Seldom with good October flow,
But Perry Quince and Apple Juice
Spout from the Tap like any Sluce.
Cook's Sot-Weed Facto?', p. 22.
VOL. 11
2IO OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
jack and peach brandy were distilled. Other beverages were
imported, most commonly sack, of which Falstaff was so
fond ; the name was applied to such dry (Spanish scco) and
strong wines as sherry and madeira. In the cellars of
wealthy planters were often found choice brands of red wine
from Bordeaux and white wine from the Rhineland. Cog-
nacs were also imported, and of rum we have already spoken.
Evidently our friends, the planters, had sturdy tipplers
among them.^ Fortunately for them, the manufacture of
coarse whiskey from maize and rye had not yet come into
vogue, while of the less harmful peaty " mountain dew "
from Ireland or Scotland we hear nothing.
Of the daily life of a rich planter we have a graphic ac-
count from John Ferdinand Smyth, a British soldier who
travelled through Virginia and other colonies, and sojourned
for some years in Maryland, about the middle of the eigh-
teenth century. I cite the description, because so much
has been made of it : " The gentleman of fortune rises about
nine o'clock ; he may perhaps make an excursion to walk as
far as his stable to see his horses, which is seldom
Smyth's
picture of morc than fifty yards from his house ; he returns to
apaner ^rcakfast between nine and ten, which is generally
tea or coffee, bread-and-butter, and very thin slices of venison,
ham, or hung beef. He then lies down on a pallet on the
floor, in the coolest room in the house, in his shirt and
trousers only, with a negro at his head and another at his
feet, to fan him and keep off the flies ; between twelve and
one he takes a draught of bombo, or toddy, a liquor com-
posed of water, sugar, rum, and nutmeg, which is made weak
and kept cool ; he dines between two and three, and at every
table, whatever else there may be, a ham and greens, or cab-
bage, is always a standing dish. At dinner he drinks cider,
toddy, punch, port, claret, and madeira, which is generally
excellent here ; having drank \sic^ some few glasses of wine
after dinner, he returns to his pallet, with his two blacks to
^ A minute account of the beverages and their use is given in Bruce,
op. cit. ii. 21 1 -23 1.
SOCIETY IN THE OLD DOMINION 211
fan him, and continues to drink toddy, or sangaree, all the
afternoon ; he does not always drink tea. Between nine
and ten in the evening he eats a light supper of milk and
fruit, or wine, sugar, and fruit, etc., and almost immedi-
ately retires to bed for the night. This is his general way
of living in his family, when he has no company. No doubt
many differ from it, some in one respect, some in another ;
but more follow it than do not." ^
This extract seems to show that Rev. Samuel Peters was
not the only writer who liked to entertain his trustful British
friends with queer tales about their American cousins.^ No
doubt Mr. Smyth wrote it with his tongue in his cheek ; but
if he meant what he said, we must remember that the be-
setting sin of travellers is hasty generalization. We will take
Mr. Smyth's word for it that one or more gentlemen were
in the habit of passing their days in the way he describes,
and w^e may freely admit that a good many gentlemen might
thus make shift to keep alive through some furious attack
of the weather fiend in August ; but his concluding state-
ment, that this way of living was customary, is not to be
taken seriously. An extract from the manuscript recollec-
tions of General John Mason, son of the illustrious George
Mason, gives a different picture : —
" It was very much the practice with gentlemen of landed
and slave estates ... so to organize them as to have con-
siderable resources within themselves ; to employ and pay
but few tradesmen, and to buy little or none of the coarse
stuffs and materials used by them. . . . Thus my _ ,
•' ^ i he mode
father had among his slaves carpenters, coopers, of life at
sawyers, blacksmiths, tanners, curriers, shoemakers,
spinners, weavers, and knitters, and even a distiller. His
1 Smyth's Tour in the United States, London, 17S4, i. 41.
2 Samuel Peters, a Tory refugee, published in London, in 1781, an
absurd " History of Connecticut," in which he started the story of the
" Blue Laws " of the New Haven Colony, which most people allude to
incorrectly as " Blue Laws of Connecticut." These " Blue Laws " were
purely an invention of the mendacious Peters. There never were any
such laws. See my Beginnings of New England^ p. 136.
212 OLD VIRGIxMIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
woods furnished timber and plank for the carpenters and
coopers, and charcoal for the blacksmith ; his cattle killed
for his own consumption and for sale supplied skins for the
tanners, curriers, and shoemakers ; and his sheep gave wool
and his fields produced cotton and flax for the weavers and
spinners, and his orchards fruit for the distiller. His car-
penters and sawyers built and kept in repair all the dwelling-
houses, barns, stables, ploughs, harrows, gates, etc., on the
plantations, and the outhouses at the house. His coopers
made the hogsheads the tobacco was prized in, and the tight
casks to hold the cider and other liquors. The tanners
and curriers, with the proper vats, etc., tanned and dressed
the skins as well for upper as for lower leather to the full
amount of the consumption of the estate, and the shoemakers
made them into shoes for the negroes. A professed shoe-
maker was hired for three or four months in the year to
come and make up the shoes for the white part of the family.
The blacksmiths did all the ironwork required by the estab-
lishment, as making and repairing ploughs, harrows, teeth,
chains, bolts, etc. The spinners, weavers, and knitters made
all the coarse cloths and stockings used by the negroes, and
some of finer texture worn by the white family, nearly all
worn by the children of it. The distiller made every fall a
good deal of apple, peach, and persimmon brandy. The art
of distilling from grain w^as not then among us, and but few^
public distilleries. All these operations were carried on at
the home house, and their results distributed as occasion
required to the different plantations. Moreover, all the
beeves and hogs for consumption or sale were driven up and
slaughtered there at the proper seasons, and w^hatever was
to be preserved was salted and packed away for after distri-
bution.
** My father kept no steward or clerk about him. He kept
his ow^n books and superintended, with the assistance of a
trusty slave or two, and occasionally of some of his sons, all
the operations at or about the home house above described.
... To carry on these operations to the extent required, it
SOCIETY IN THE OLD DOMINION
213
will be seen that a considerable force was necessary, besides
the house servants, who for such a household, a large family
and entertaining a great deal of company, must be numerous ;
^n^ n^ r/^/.^y/^
and such a force was constantly kept there, independently
of any of the plantations, and besides occasional drafts from
them of labour for particular occasions. As I had during
my youth constant intercourse with all these people, I re-
214 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
member them all, and their several employments as if it was
yesterday." ^
Now when we consider that Colonel Mason had some 500
persons on his estate, and was known to have sent from
his private wharf as many as 23,000 bushels of wheat in a
single shipment, it is clear that no gentleman who spent the
day lolling on a couch and sipping toddy could have super-
intended the details of business which his son describes.
George Mason was, no doubt, a fair specimen of his class,
and their existence was clearly not an idle one. With the
public interests of parish, county, and commonwealth to look
after besides, they surely earned the leisure hours that were
spent in social entertainments or in field sports.
A glimpse of the life of a planter's wife, which Bishop
IMeade declares to be typical, is given in a letter from Mrs.
Edward Carrington to her sister, about 1798. Colonel Car-
rino^ton and his wife were visiting at Mount Vernon.
A glimpse ^ /-- 1 1
of Mount After tellino- how \Vashin2:ton and the Colonel sat
up together until midnight, absorbed in reminis-
cences of bivouac and hard-fought field, she comes to Mrs.
Washington, who alluded to her days of public pomp and
fashion as "her lost days." Then Mrs. Carrington con-
tinues : " Let us repair to the old lady's [Mrs. Washington's]
room, which is precisely in the style of our good old aunt's,
— that is to say, nicely fixed for all sorts of work. On one
side sits the chambermaid, with her knitting ; on the other,
a little coloured pet, learning to sew. An old, decent w^oman
is there, with her table and shears, cutting out the negroes'
winter clothes, while the good old lady directs them all,
incessantly knitting herself. She points out to me several
pairs of nice coloured stockings and gloves she had just
1 Miss Rowland's Liye of George Mason, i. loi, 102. This Mason,
author of the Virginia Bill of Rights, and member of the Federal Con-
vention of 1787, was great-grandson of the George Mason who figured
in Bacon's rebellion. His son John, whose narrative I here quote, was
father of James Murray Mason, author of the Fugitive Slave Law of
1850, and one of the Confederacy's commissioners taken from the
British steamer Trent by Captain Wilkes in 1861.
SOCIETY IN THE OLD DOMINION
215
finished, and presents me with a pair half done, which she
begs I will finish and wear for her sake." At this domestic
picture Bishop Meade exclaims : ** If the wife of General
Washington, having her own and his wealth at command,
should thus choose to live, how much more the wives and
mothers of Virginia with moderate fortunes and numerous
MARY WASHINGTON
children ! How often have I seen, added to the above-men-
tioned scenes of the chamber, the instruction of several sons
and daughters going on, the churn, the reel, and other
domestic operations all in progress at the same time, and the
mistress, too, lying on a sick-bed ! " ^
^ Meade's Old Churches^ i. 98.
2l6
OLD X'IRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
mM^y^f'"^
HOME OF IMARV WASHINGTON
Although Mrs. Carrington may have finished and worn
the pair of knit gloves, yet most articles of dress for well-
to-do men and women were imported. London fashions
Dress of vvere strictly followed. In the time of Bacon's
am"thdr rebellion, your host would have appeared, perhaps,
^^•^^^ in a coat and breeches of olive plush or dark red
broadcloth, with embroidered waistcoat, shirt of blue holland,
long silk stockings, silver buttons and shoe-buckles, lace
ruffles about neck and wrists, and his head encumbered with
a flowing wig ; while the lady of the house might have worn
a crimson satin bodice trimmed with point lace, a black
tabby 1 petticoat and silk hose, with shoes of fine leather
galloon ed ; her lace headdress would be secured with a gold
bodkin, and she would be apt to wear earrings, a pearl neck-
^ A rich Oriental silk, usually watered, tirst made in the Attabiya
quarter of Bagdad, whence its name.
SOCIETY IN THE OLD DOMINION 217
lace, and finger-rings with rubies or diamonds, and to carry
a fan.^
The ordinary chances for the ladies to exhibit their gar-
ments of flowered tabby, and beaux their new plush suits,
were furnished by the Sunday services at the parish churchy
and by the frequent gatherings of friends at home. Wed-
dino's, of course, were hii^h times, as everywhere ^,, , ,.
^ ' ' ^ ' -^ . Weddings
and always ; and the gloom of funerals was relieved and funer-
by feasting the guests, who were likely to have
come long distances over which they must return.^ These
journeys, like the journeys to church and to the court-house,
might be made in boats ; on land they were made on horse-
back. Carriages were very rare in the seventeenth century,
but became much more common before the Revolution. In
their fondness for horses the Virginians were true children
of England. In the stables of wealthy planters were to be
1 Mr. Bruce gives many inventories taken from county records, of
which the following may serve as a specimen : " The wardrobe of Mrs.
Sarah Willoughby. of Lower Norfolk, consisted of a red, a blue, and a
black silk petticoat, a petticoat of India silk and of worsted prunella, a
striped linen and a calico petticoat, a black silk gown, a scarlet waist-
coat with silver lace, a white knit waistcoat, a striped stuff jacket, a
worsted prunella mantle, a sky-coloured satin bodice, a pair of red
paragon bodices, three fine and three coarse holland aprons, seven
handkerchiefs, and two hoods." Economic History, ii. 194.
2 The following specimen of a bill of funeral expenses is given in.
Bruce, op. cit. ii. 237 :
lbs.
tobacco.
Funeral sermon
•
200
For a briefe .
•
400
" 2 turkevs .
.
80
" coffin
• •
150
2 geese
• •
80
I hog .
• •
100
2 bushels of flour
.
90
Dunghill fowle
•
100
20 lbs. butter .
• •
100
Sugar and spice .
•
5c
Dressing the dinner
•
100
6 gallon sider
.
60
6 " rum
• ■
.
240
2i8 OLD A'IRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
found specimens of the finest breeds, and the interest in
racing was universal. Common folk, however, were not
Horse- allowcd to take part in the sport, except as look'
racing ers-ou. One of the earliest references to horse-
racing is an order of the county court of York in 1674 :
"James Bullocke, a Taylor, haveing made a race for his mare
to runn w'th a horse belonging to Mr. Mathew Slader for
twoe thousand pounds of tobacco and caske, it being con-
trary to Law for a Labourer to make a race, being a sport
only for Gentlemen, is fined for the same one hundred
pounds of tobacco and caske." ^ Half a century later, Hugh
Jones tells us that the Virginians " are such lovers of riding
that almost every ordinary
person keeps a horse ; and I
have known some spend the
morning in ranging several
miles in the woods to find
and catch their horses only to ride two or three miles to
church, to the court-house, or to a horse-race." ^ After 1740
there w^as a systematic breeding from imported English
thoroughbreds.^ Thirty years later, we are told that " there
are races at Williamsburg twice a year ; that is, every spring
and fall, or autumn. Adjoining to the town is a very excel-
lent course for either two, three, or four mile heats. Their
purses are generally raised by subscription, and are gained
by the horse that wins two four-mile heats out of three ;
they amount to an hundred pounds each for the first day's
running, and fifty pounds each every day after, the races
commonly continuing for a week. There are also matches
^ Virginia Magazine^ ii. 294; cf. W^illiatn and Ma>y College Quar-
terly, iii. 136.
2 Jones's Present State of Virginia, London, 1724. p. 48.
3 Mr. W. G. Stanard, in an admirable paper on this subject, gives
some names of famous horses then imported, " many of them being
ancestors of horses on the turf at the present day; " such as "Aristotle,
Bolton, Childers, Dabster, Dottrell Fearnaug:ht. Jolly Roger, Juniper,
Justice, Merry Tom. Sober John. Wampire, Whittington, James, Ster-
ling, Valiant, etc.'' Virginia Magazine, ii. 301.
SOCIETY IN THE OLD DOMINION 219
and sweepstakes very often for considerable sums. Besides
. . . there are races established annually almost at every
town and considerable place in Virginia ; and frequent
matches, on which large sums of money depend. . . . Very
capital horses are started here, such as would make no de-
spicable figure at Newmarket ; nor is their speed, bottom, or
blood inferior to their appearance. . . . Indeed, nothing can
be more elegant and beautiful than the horses here, either
for the turf, the field, the road, or the coach ; . . . but their
carriage horses seldom are possessed of that weight and
power which distinguish those of the same kind in Eng-
land."!
Since the Virginians were excellent horsemen, it was but
natural that they should enjoy hunting. No sport was more
dear than chasing the fox. Washington's extreme pox-hunt-
delight in riding to the hounds is well known ; he ^"s
kept it until his sixty-third year, when a slight injury to his
back made such exercise uncomfortable. Washington was
a true Virginian in his love for his dogs, to whom he gave
such pretty names as Mopsey, Truelove, Jupiter, Juno, Ro-
ver, Music, Sweetlips, Countess, Lady, and Singer. Shoot-
ing and fishing were favourite diversions with Washington ;
when he was President of the United States, the newspapers
used to tell of his g^reat catches of blackfish and ^ ,,.
^ ^ ^ , Gambling
sea-bass.^ In these tastes his neighbours were like
him. Less w^holesome sports were cock-fighting, and gam-
bling with cards. The passion for gambling was far too
strong among the Virginians. Law^s were enacted against
it ; gambling debts were not recoverable ; innkeepers who
permitted any game of cards or dice, except backgammon,
were subject to a heavy fine besides forfeiting their licenses.'^
An interesting newspaper notice, in the year 1737, shows
^ Smyth's Tour in the United States, i. 20.
2 Ford, The True Geo7'ge Washiiii^ton, pp. 194-198.
^ Hening, v. 102, 2.i()-ii\ : vi. 76-81. Washington was very fond of
playing at cards for small stakes, also at billiards ; and he sometimes
bet moderately at horse-races. See Ford, loc. cit.
220
OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
that some of the innocent open-air sports of mediaeval Eng-
land still survived : '* We have advice from Han-
entertain- over County, that on St. Andrew's Day there are
to be Horse Races and several other Diversions,
for the entertainment of the Gentlemen and Ladies, at the
Old Field, near Captain John Bickerton's, in that county (if
permitted by the Hon. Wm. Byrd, Esquire, Proprietor of
said land), the substance of which is as follows, viz. : It is
proposed that 20 Horses or Mares do run round a three
miles' course for a prize of five pounds.
'' That a Hat of the value of 20s be cudgelled for, and
that after the first challenge made the Drums are to beat
every Quarter of an hour for three challenges round the
Ring, and none to play with their Left hand.
" That a violin be played for by 20 Fiddlers ; no person to
have the liberty of playing unless he bring a fiddle with him.
After the prize is won they are all to play together, and each
a diflferent tune, and to be treated by the company.
" That 12 Boys of 12 years of age do run 1 12 yards for a
Hat of the cost of 12 shillings.
" That a Flag be flying on said Day 30 feet high.
" That a handsome entertainment be provided for the sub-
scribers and their wives ; and such of them as are not so
happy as to have wives may treat any other lady.
" That Drums, Trumpets, Hautboys, &c., be provided to
play at said entertainment.
*' That after dinner the Royal Health, His Honour the
Governor's, &c., are to be drunk.
" That a Quire of ballads be sung for by a number of
Songsters, all of them to have liquor sufficient to clear their
Wind Pipes.
" That a pair of Silver Buckles be wrestled for by a num-
ber of brisk young men.
"That a pair of handsome Shoes be danced for.
** That a pair of handsome silk Stockings of one Pistole ^
value be given to the handsomest young country maid that
1 About four dollars.
SOCIETY IX THE OLD DOMINIOxN 221
appears in the Field. With many other Whimsical and
Comical Diversions too numerous to mention.
" And as this mirth is designed to be purely innocent and
void of offence, all persons resorting there are desired to
behave themselves with decency and sobriety ; the subscrib-
ers being resolved to discountenance all immorality with the
utmost rigour." ^
The part played by violins in this quaint programme re-
minds us that fiddling was an accomplishment highly esteemed
in the Old Dominion. As an accompaniment for dancing it
was very useful in the home parties on the plan- .
tations. The philosophic Thomas Jefferson, as a
dead shot with the rifle, a skilful horseman, and a clever vio-
linist, was a typical son of Virginia. As boys learned to play
the violin, and sometimes the violoncello, girls were taught to
play the virginal, which was an ancestral form of the piano.
Virginals, and afterward harpsichords, were commonly to be
found in the houses of the gentry, and not unfrequently
hautboys, flutes, and recorders.^ The music most often
played with these instruments was probably some form of
dance or the setting of a popular ballad ; but what is called
" classical music " was not unknown. Among the effects of
Cuthbert Ogle, a musician at Williamsburg, who died in
1755, we find Handel's " Acis and Galatea," and "Apollo's
Feast," four books of instrumental scores of his oratorios,
and ten books of his songs ; also a manuscript score of
Corelli's sonatas, and concertos by the English composers,
1 Virginia Gazette, October, 1737, cited in Rives's Life of Madison,
i. 87, and Lodge's History of the English Colonies^ pp. 84, 85.
- The recorder was a member of the flute family, and its name may
be elucidated by Shakespeare's charming lines {Pericles^ act iv., pro-
logue) : —
To the lute
She sang, and made the night-bird mute
That still records with moan.
Mr. Bruce {op. cit. ii. 175) mentions cornets as in use in Old Virginia,
but this of course means an obsolete instrument of the hautboy family,
not the modern brass cornet, which has so unhappily superseded the
noble trumpet.
222 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
William Felton and Charles Avison, now wellnigh forgot-
ten, i
After 1 716 there was a theatre at Williamsburg, and during
the sessions of the assembly, when planters with their fam-
otherre- ^^^^^ Came from far and wide, there was much gay-
creations, ety. At other seasons the monotony of rural life
was varied by the recreations above described, with an occa-
sional picnic in the woods, or a grand barbecue in honour of
some English victory or the accession of a new king.
Some time was found for reading. The inventories of
personal estates almost always include books, in some in-
Worme- stauccs fcw and of little worth, in others numerous
ley's library ^nd valuable. The library of Ralph Wormeley, of
Rosegill, contained about four hundred titles. Wormeley,
who had been educated at Oriel College, Oxford, was presi-
dent of the council, secretary of state, and a trustee of Wil-
liam and Mary College; he died in 1701. Among his books
were Burnet's "History of the Reformation," a folio history
of Spain, an ecclesiastical history in Latin, Camden's " Brit-
annia," Lord Bacon's " History of Henry VH.," and his
"Natural History," histories of Scotland, Ireland, France,
the Netherlands, and the West Indies, biographies of Richard
III., Charles I., and George Castriot, Plutarch's Lives, Bur-
net's "Theory of the Earth," Willis's "Practice of Physick,"
Heylin's "Cosmography," *'a chirurgical old book," "the
Chyrurgans mate," Galen's "Art of Physick," treatises on
gout, pancreatic juice, pharmacy, scurvy, and many other
medical works. Coke's Reports and his "Institutes," collec-
tions of Virginia and New England law^s, a history of tithes,
"The Office of Justice of the Peace," a Latin treatise on
maritime law, and many other law books. Usher's " Body of
Divinity," Hooker's "Ecclesiastical Polity," Poole's "Anno-
tations to the Bible," "A Reply to the Jesuits," Fuller's
"Holy State" and his "Worthies," a concordance to the
Bible, Jeremy Taylor's "Holy Living and Dying," "The
^ The inventory is printed in William and Mary College Quarte7'ly,
iii. 2^1,
SOCIETY IN THE OLD DOMINION 223
Whole Duty of Man," a biography of St. Augustine, Baxter's
" Confession of Faith," and many books of divinity, a liberal
assortment of dictionaries and grammars of English, French,
Spanish, Latin, and Greek, the essays of Montaigne and
other French books, Caesar, Virgil, Horace, Ovid, Thucy-
dides, Josephus, Quintus Curtius, Seneca, Terence, "^sop's
Fables," "Don Quixote," '' Hudibras," Ouarles's poems,
George Herbert's poems, Howell's "Familiar Letters," Wal-
ler's poems, the plays of Sir William Davenant, " ffifty Com-
odys & tragedies in folio," ''The Displaying of Supposed
Witchcraft," "An Embersee from y^ East India Comp^ to
y^ Grand Tartar," "The Negro's and Indian's Advocate,"
"A Looking Glass for the Times," and so on.^ Though not
the library of a scholar, it indicates that its owner was a
thoughtful man and fairly well informed.
A more remarkable library was that of William Byrd, of
Westover. It contained 3625 volumes, classified nearly as
follows : History, 700 ; Classics, etc., 650 ; French, , ., .
•' ' . . Libraries
550; Law, 350; Divinity, 300; Medicine, 200; of Byrd
Scientific, 225 ; Entertaining, etc., 650.^ This must
have been one of the largest collections of books made in the
colonial period. That of the second Richard Lee, who died
in 171 5, contained about 300 titles, among which we notice
many more Greek and Latin writers than in Wormeley's,
especially such names as Epictetus, Aristotle de Anima^
Diogenes Laertius, Lucian, HeHodorus, Claudian, Arrian,
and Orosius, besides such mediaeval authors as Albertus
Magnus and Laurentius Valla.*^
Such libraries were of course exceptional. In most plant-
ers' houses you would probably have found a few English
classics, with perhaps "Don Quixote" and "Gil Bias," and
an assortment of books on divinity, manuals for magistrates,
and helps in farming. Virginia was not eminent as a literary
^ The full list is given in IVilliajn and Mary College Quarterly^ iii.
170-174.
- See Lyman Draper, in Virginia Historical Register, iv. 87-90.
2 William and Mary College Quarterly , iii. 247-249.
224 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
or bookish community. There was no newspaper until the
estabUshment of the "Virginia Gazette" in 1736. As for
schools, the Lords Commissioners of Plantations
Schools , .
and print- sent ovcr a scrics of mterrogatones to Sir William
'"* Berkeley in 1671, and asked him, among other
things, what provision was made for public instruction. His
reply was characteristic : " I thank God there are no free
schools nor printing, and I hope we shall not have these hun-
dred years ; for learning has brought disobedience and heresy
and sects into the world, and printing has divulged them, and
libels against the best government. God keep us from
both! " ^ Lord Culpeper seems to have been much of Berke-
ley's way of thinking, for we read that, " February 21, 1682,
John Buckner [was] called before the Lord Culpeper and
his council for printing the laws of 1680 without his excel-
lency's license, and he and the printer [were] ordered to
€nter into bond in ^lOO not to print anytJiing thereafter
until his majesty's pleasure should be known." ^ The plea-
sure of Charles II. was, that nobody should use a printing-
press in Virginia, and so he instructed the next governor,
Lord Howard, in 1684.
The establishment of a system of schools such as flour-
ished in New England was prevented by the absence of
town life and the long distances between plantations. When
Berkeley said there were no free schools in Virginia, he may
have had in mind the contrast with New England. No such
Private free schools wcrc fouudcd in Virginia by the assembly,
schools •[3^t there were instances of free schools founded by
individuals ; as, for example, the Symms school in 1636,
Captain Moon's school in 1655, Richard Russell's in 1667,,
' Hening. ii. 517. - Id. ii. 518.
Merchants of Virginia.
T He Company of Merchant^ caiied Merchants ^f FirgimA^
'Bermudat, or Summer-JXmds , for (as I hcarej all thefe additi
ons arc givca them. Ifcaownot the time of their mcorporating
neither by whom thck Arma>, Supporters, and Creil wefe gr^
ted, and thercjforc ani compelled cc^ieaue them abfuptiy .
SEAL OF COLONY OF VIRGINIA
226 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
Mr. King's in 1669, the Eaton school some time before
1689, and Edward Moseley's in 1721.1 Indeed, there was
after 1646 ^ a considerable amount of compulsory primary
education in Virginia, much more than has been generally
supposed, since the records of it have been buried in the
parish vestry-books. In the eighteenth century we find evi-
dences that j)ains were taken to educate coloured people.^ It
was not unusual for the plantation to have among its numer-
ous outbuildings a school conducted by some rustic dignitary
of the neighbourhood. In the ** old field schools" little
more was taught than "the three Rs," but these humble
institutions are not to be despised ; for it was in one of them,
kept by " Hobby, the sexton," that George Washington
learned to read, write, and cipher. His father and his elder
Academies brother Lawrcucc had been educated at Appleby
and tutors School, in England ; George himself, after an in-
terval with a Mr. Williams, near W^akefield, finished his
school-days at an excellent academy in Fredericksburg, of
which Rev. James Marye was master. The sons of George
Mason studied two years at an academy in Stafford County
kept by a Scotch parson named Buchan, " a pious man and
profound classical scholar." Afterwards John INIason was
1 Virginia Magazine, i. 326, 348 ; William and Mary College Quar-
terly, V. 113. Allusion has already been made, on page 5 of the pre-
sent volume, to the school founded by Benjamin Symms, or Symes.
2 Hening, i. 336.
^ President Tyler cites from the vestry-book of Petsworth Parish, in
Gloucester County, an indenture of October 30, 1716, wherein Ralph
lievis agrees to ''give George Petsworth, a molattoe boy of the age of
2 years, 3 years' schooling, and carefully to Instruct him afterwards
that he may read well in any part of the Bible, also to Instruct and
Learn him ye s^ molattoe boy such Lawful! way or ways that he may
be able, after his Indented time expired, to gitt his own Liveing, and to
allow him sufficient meat. Drink, washing, and apparill, until the ex-
piration of ye sd time, &c., and after ye finishing of ye sd time to pay ye
sd George Petsworth all such allowances as ye Law Directs in such
cases, as also to keep the afores^ Parish Dureing ye afores^ Indented
time from all manner of Charges," etc. William and Mary College
(2uarterly,\. 219.
SOCIETY IN THE OLD DOMINION 227
sent to study mathematics with an expert named Hunter,
"a Scotchman also and quite a recluse, who kept a small
school in a retired place in Calvert County, Maryland."
Much teaching was also done by private tutors. In the
Mason household there were three Scotchmen in succession,
of whom " the two last were especially engaged [in Scotland]
to come to America (as was the practice in those times with
families who had means) by my father to live in his house
and educate the children. . . . The tutoress of my sisters
was a Mrs. Newman. She remained in the family for some
time."i
Sometimes the schoolmaster or private tutor was an in-
dented white servant who had come out as a redemptioner,
or even as a convict. Among the criminals there might
be persons of rank, as Sir Charles Burton, a Lin- convicts
colnshire baronet, w^ho was transported to America ^^ ^"^^'■^
in 1722 for " stealing a cornelian ring set in gold ; " or schol-
ars, like Henry Justice, Esq., of the Middle Temple, Barris-
ter, who in 1736 was convicted of stealing from the library
of Trinity College, Cambridge, " a Field's Bible with cuts,
and Common-prayer, value £2^, Newcastle's Horsemanship,
value ^10, several other books of great value, several Tracts
cut out of books, etc." For this larceny, although Mr. Jus-
tice begged hard to be allowed to stay in England for the
sake of his clients, " with several of whom he had great con-
cerns," he was nevertheless sent to America for seven years,
under penalty of death if he were to return within that time.^
From such examples w^e see that, while the convict ships
may not have brought many Eugene Arams, they certainly
brought men more likely to find employment in teaching
than in manual labour. Jonathan Boucher, rector at Anna-
polis in 1768, declares that "not a ship arrives with either
redemptioners or convicts, in which schoolmasters are not as
regularly advertised for sale as weavers, tailors, or any other
1 Miss Rowland's Lz/e of George Mason, i. 97.
2 Butler's "British Convicts Shipped to American Colonies," Ameri-
can Historical Review, ii. 27.
228 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
trade ; with little other difference that I can hear of, except
perhaps that the former do not usually fetch so good a price
as the latter." ^
Sometimes, as we have seen in the case of Augustine
Washington and his son La^vrence, the young Virginians
Virginians ^^crc scut to school in England. Oftener, perhaps,
at Oxford ^hc education begun at the country school or with
private tutors was \' finished " (as the phrase goes) at one of
the English universities. Oxford ^ seems to have been the
favourite Alma Mater, doubtless for the same reason that
caused Cambridge to be chiefly represented among the
founders of New England ; Oxford was ultra-royalist in sen-
timent, while Cambridge was deeply tinged with Puritanism.
1 The worthy pastor even goes so far as to exclaim, with a groan,
that two thirds of the schoolmasters in Maryland were convicts working
out a term of penal servitude! Boucher's Thirtee)i Se?'mofis, p. 182.
But in such declamatory statements it is never safe to depend upon
numbers and figures. In the present case we may conclude that the
number of such schoolmasters was noticeable ; we are not justified in
going further.
2 From the excellent papers by W. G. Stanard, on "Virginians at
Oxford," William and Mary College Quarterly, ii. 22, 149, I have
culled a few items which may be of interest : —
John Lee, armiger (son of ist Richard, see above, p. 16), educated at
Queens, B. A. 1662, burgess.
Rowland Jones, cler.^ Merton, matric. 1663, pastor Bruton Parish.
Ralph Wormeley, armiger, of Rosegill (see above, p. 222), Oriel, matric.
1665, secretary of state, etc.
Emanuel Jones, cler.. Oriel, B. A. 1692, pastor Petsworth Parish,
Bartholomew Yates, cler., Brasenose, B. A. 1698, Prof. Divinity W.
& M.
Mann Page. ar?niger, St. John's, matric. 1709, member of council.
William T>2i\\?,ox\, plebs.. Queens, matric. 1720, M. A. 1728, D. D. 1747,
Prof. Moral Phil. W. & M. 1729, Pres. W. & M. 1743-52.
Henry Fitzhugh, ^jo'^;//., Christ Church, matric. 1722, burgess.
Christopher Robinson, geiit.^ Oriel, matric. 1724, studied at Middle
Temple.
Christopher Robinson, ^^;//., Oriel, matric. 1721, M. A. 1729, Fellow of
Oriel.
Musgrave Dawson. /A'/;^., Queens, B. A. 1747, pastor Raleigh Parish.
Lewis Burwell, armiger, Balliol, matric. 1 765.
SOCIETY IN THE OLD DOMINION
229
This difference would readily establish habits and associa-
tions among the early Virginians which would be followed.
It was not in all cases necessary to go to England to ob-
tain a thorough education. James Madison's tutors were
the parish minister and an excellent Scotch school- j^j^^^
master ; he was graduated at Princeton College in -^iadison
1772, and never crossed the Atlantic ; yet for the range,
«rVH'.
r^.
f s.
HOME OF THE WASHINGTON FAMILY
depth, and minuteness of his knowledge of ancient and
modern history and of constitutional law, he has been rivalled
by no other English-speaking statesman save Edmund Burke.
Such an instance, however, chiefly shows how much more
depends upon the individual than upon any institutions.
There are no rules by which you can explain the occurrence
of a heaven sent genius.
On the whole, the facilities for education, whether primary
or advanced, were very imperfect in the Old Dominion.
This becomes especially noticeable from the contrast with
230 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
New England, which inevitably suggests itself. It is no
Contrast doiibt customary with historical writers to make
Enlih^nd'in too much of this contrast. The people of colonial
respect of jslew Eno:land were not all well-educated, nor were
educational ^
advantages all their country schools better than old field
schools. The farmer's boy, who was taught for two winter
months by a man and two summer months by a woman, sel-
dom learned more in the district school than how to read,
write, and cipher. For Greek and Latin, if he would go to
college, he had usually to obtain the services of the minister
or some other college-bred man in the village. There was
often a disposition on the part of the town meetings to
shirk the appropriation of a sum of money for school pur-
poses, and many Massachusetts towns were fined for such
remissness.^ This was especially true of the early part of
the eighteenth century, when the isolated and sequestered life
of two generations had lowered the high level of education
which the grandfathers had brought across the ocean. In
those dark days of New England, there might now and then
be found in rural communities men of substance who signed
deeds and contracts with their mark.
After making all allowances, however, the contrast be-
tween the New England colonies and the Old Dominion
remains undeniable, and it is full of interest.
Causes of
the differ- The contrast is primarily based upon the fact that
New England was settled by a migration of or-
ganized congregations, analogous to that of the ancient
^ Weeden, Eco7io7nic and Social Histoiy of A^eiv Englajid, i. 282,
412, 419; ii. 861. For neglecting to "set up school" for the year, a
town would be presented by the grand jury of the county, and would
then try to make excuses. "In February, 1744, the usual routine was
repeated. The farmers were summoned 'to know what the Town's
Mind is for doing about a School for the insuing year.' The school of
the previous year having cost ;^55 old tenor, which may have been
equivalent to 55 Spanish dollars, and it being necessary to raise this
sum by a general taxation, the Town's Mind was for doing nothing;
and not until the following July did it consent to have a school opened."
Bliss, Colonial Times on Buzzard'' s Bay, p. 118.
SOCIETY IN THE OLD DOMINION
231
Greek city-communities ; whereas the settlement of Virginia
was effected by a migration of individuals and families.
These circumstances were closely connected with the Puritan
doctrine of the relations between church and state, and fur-
thermore, as I have elsewhere shown, ^ the Puritan theory of
life made it imperatively necessary, in New England as in
Scotland, to set a high value upon education. The compact-
ness of New England life, which was favoured by the agri-
SCHOOLHOUSE AT TUCKAHOE, WHERE THOMAS
JEFFERSON WENT TO SCHOOL
cultural system of small farms owned by independent yeomen,
made it easy to maintain efficient schools. In Virginia, on
the other hand, the agricultural conditions interposed grave
obstacles to such a result. There was no such pervasive
^ In my Bcij^iiinitigs of New E?iglatid, pp. 148-153.
232 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
organization as in New England, where the different grades
of school, from lowest to highest, cooperated in sustaining
each other. There were heroic friends of education in Vir-
ginia. James Blair and the faithful scholars who worked
with him conferred a priceless boon upon the common-
wealth ; but the vitality of William and Mary College often
languished for lack of sustenance that should have been
afforded by lower schools, and it was impossible for it to
exercise such a widespread seminal influence as Yale and
Harvard, sending their graduates into every town and village
as ministers, lawyers, and doctors, schoolmasters and editors,
merchants and country squires.
Among the founders of New England were an extraordi-
nary number of clergymen noted for their learning, such as
Hooker and Shepard, Cotton and Williams, Eliot and the
Mathers ; together with such cultiv^ated laymen as Winthrop
and Bradford, familiar with much of the best that was written
in the world, and to whom the pen was an easy and natural
instrument for expressing their thoughts. The character
originally impressed upon New England by such men was
maintained by the powerful influence of the colleges and
schools, so that there was always more attention devoted to
scholarship and to writing than in any of the other colonies.
Communities of Europeans, thrust into a wilderness and
severed from Europe by the ocean, were naturally in danger
of losing their higher culture and lapsing into the crudeness
of frontier life. All the American colonies were deeply
affected by this situation. While there were many and great
advantages in the freedom from sundry Old World trammels,
yet in some respects the influence of the wilderness was
barbarizing. It was due to the circumstances above men-
tioned that the New luiirland colonies were more successful
than the others in resisting this influence, and avoiding a
breach of continuity in the higher s]:)iritual life of the com-
munity. This is strikingly illustrated by the history of Amer-
ican literature. Among men of letters and science born and
educated in America before the Revolution, there were
SOCIETY IN THE OLD DOMINION
233
three whose fame is more than national, whose names belong
among the great of all times and countries. Of
these, Jonathan Edwards was a native of Connec-
ticut, Benjamin Franklin and Count Rumford were
natives of Massachusetts. In such men we can
trace the continuity between the intellectual life of England
in the seventeenth century and that of America in the nine-
teenth. In Virginia, if we except political writers, we find
Illustra-
tions from
history of
American
intellect
BYRD ARMS
no names so high as these. But there is one political book
which must not be excepted, because it is a book for all
time. "The Federalist" is one of the world's philosophical
and literary masterpieces, and of its three authors James
Madison took by far the deepest and most important part in
creating it.^
1 Of the numbers in The Federalist^ 51 were written by Hamilton,
29 by Madison, and 5 by Jay. But the frame of government which the
book was written to explain and defend was not at all the work of
Hamilton, whose part in the proceedings of the Federal Convention
was almost ;///. It was very largely the work of Madison, and while
234 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
Among books of a second order, — books which do not
rank among classics, — there are some which deserve and
have won a reputation that is more than local. Of such
books, Hutchinson's " History of Alassachusetts Bay " is a
good example. In the colonial times historical literature was
of better quality than other kinds of writing ; and Virginia
produced three historical writers of decided merit. With
Virginia's Robcrt Bevcrlcy the reader has already made some
RoSr"^ ' acquaintance through the extracts cited in these
Beverley pagcs. His *' History of Virginia," published in
London in 1705, is a little book full of interesting details
concerning the country and the life of its red and white
inhabitants. The author's love of nature is charming, and
his style so simple, direct, and sprightly that there is not a
dull page in the book. It was written during a visit to
London, where Beverley happened to see the proof-sheets
of Oldmixon's forthcoming ''British Empire in America,"
and was disgusted with the silly blunders that swarmed on
every page. He wrote his little book as an antidote, and
did it so well that many coming generations will read it with
pleasure,
A book of more pretension and of decided merit is the
" History of Virginia " by Rev. William Stith, who was presi-
wiiiiam ^^"^ °^ William and Mary College from 1752 to his
^^i^^" death in 1755. The book, which was published at
Williamsburg in 1747, was but the first volume of a work
which, had it been completed on a similar scale, would have
filled six or eight. It covers only the earliest period, ending
with the downfall of the Virginia Company in 1624 ; and
among its merits is the good use to which the author put the
minutes of the Company's proceedings made at the instance
of Nicholas Ferrar.^ Stith's work is accurate and scholarly,
and his narrative is dignified and often graphic. His ac-
count of James I. is pithy : *' He had, in truth, all the
The Federalist shows Hamilton's marvellous flexibility of intelligence,
it is Madison who is master and Hamilton who is his expounder.
^ See above, vol. i. p. 209.
THE
HISTORY
O F T H E
Firft DISCOVERY
AND
SETTLEMENT
O F
FIR GIN
BEING
An ESSAY towards a General
History of this COLONY.
By William Stith. yl. M.
Rector of Henrico Parifh, and one of the Governors of
IVilliam and Mary College.
Tanta mslis erat *** cond^re gentem. Virg.
I
1
IVILLIAMSBURG:
Printed by William Park s, M,DCC,XLVII.
TITLE OF STITH'S HISTORY
236 OLD A'IRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
forms of wisdom, — forever erring very learnedly, with a
wise saw or Latin sentence in his mouth ; for he had been
bred up under Buchanan, one of the brightest geniuses and
most accomplished scholars of that age, who had given him
Greek and Latin in great waste and profusion, but it was
not in his power to give him good sense. That is the gift
of God and nature alone, and is not to be taught ; and
Greek and Latin without it only cumber and overload a
weak head, and often render the fool more abundantly foolish.
I must, therefore, confess that I have ever had ... a most
contemptible opinion of this monarch ; which has, perhaps,
been much heightened and increased by my long studying
and conning over the materials of this history. For he
appears in his dealings with the Company to have acted with
such mean arts and fraud ... as highly misbecome majesty." ^
From the refined simplicity of this straightforward style it
was a sad descent to the cumbrous and stilted Johnsonese
of the next generation, which too many Americans even now
mistake for fine writing.
Contemporary with Beverley and Stith was William Byrd,
one of the most eminent men of affairs in Old Virginia, and
William eminent also — probably without knowing it — as
^y^ a man of letters. His father came to Virginia a
few years before Bacon's rebellion, and bought the famous
estate of Westover, on the James River and in Charles City
County, with the mansion, which is still in the possession of
his family, and is considered one of the finest old houses in
Virginia. From his uncle Colonel Byrd inherited a vast
estate which included the present site of Richmond. He
sympathized strongly with his neighbour, Nathaniel Bacon,
and held a command under him ; but after the collapse of
the rebellion he succeeded in making his peace with the
raging Berkeley. He became one of the most important
men in the colony, and was commissioned receiver-general of
the royal revenues. On his death, in 1704, his son succeeded
him in this office. The son had studied law in the Middle
^ Stith, History of Vifi^inia, preface, vi., vii.
SOCIETY IN THE OLD DOMINION
237
Temple, and for proficiency in science was made a fellow of
the Royal Society. He was for many years a member of the
colonial council, and at length its president. He lived in
much splendour on his estate of Westover, and we have seen
what a library he accumulated there. A professional man of
letters he was not, and perhaps his strong literary tastes
might never have led to literary production but for sundry
interesting personal experiences which he deemed it worth
while to put on record. In 1727 he was one of the commis-
sioners for determining the boundary between Virginia and
North Carolina. In the journeys connected with that work
he selected the sites where the towns of Richmond and
Petersburg were afterwards built ; and he wrote a narrative
of his proceedings so full of keen observations on the people
INSTRUMENTS USED BY BYRD AND MAYO IN RUNNING THE
DIVIDING LINE
and times as to make it an extremely valuable contribution
to history.^ Among early American writers Byrd is excep-
^ Byrd's History of tJie Dividing Line, with \\\s Jonrney to the Land
of Eden, and A Progress to the Mines, remained in MS. for more than
a century. They were pubhshed at Petersburg in 1841, under the title
of Westoi'er Manuscripts. A better edition, edited by T. H. Wynne,
was published in 1866 under the title of Byrd Manuscripts.
238 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
tional for animation of style. There is a quaintness of phrase
about him that is quite irrepressible. After a dry season he
visits a couple of mills, and *' had the grief to find them both
stand as still for the want of water as a dead woman's tongue
for want of breath. It had rained so little for many weeks
above the falls that the Naiads had hardly water enough left
to wash their faces." He suggests, of course with a twinkle
in his eye, that the early settlers of Virginia ought to have
formed matrimonial alliances with the Indians : " Morals and
all considered, I can't think the Indians were much greater
heathens than the first adventurers, who, had they been
good Christians, would have had the charity to take this only
method of converting the natives to Christianity. For after
all that can be said, a sprightly lover is the most prevailing
missionary that can be sent among these, or any other infi-
dels. Besides, the poor Indians would have had less reason
to complain that the English took away their land, if they
had received it by way of portion with their daughters. . . .
Kor would the shade of the skin have been any reproach
at this day ; for if a Moor may be washed white in three
generations, surely an Indian might have been blanched in
two." ^ With such moralizing was this amiable writer wont
to relieve the tedium of historical discourse. We shall again
have occasion to quote him in the course of our narrative.
Among other works by writers reared before the Revolu-
tion, the well-known " Notes on Virginia," by Thomas
Jefferson, deserves high praise as an essay in descriptive
sociology. Of American poetry before the nineteenth cen-
tury, scarcely a line worth preserving came from any quarter.
In 1777 James McClurg, an eminent physician, afterward
a member of the Federal Convention, wrote his " Belles of
Williamsburg," a specimen of pleasant society verse ; but it
had not such vogue as its author's *' Essay on the
Science ; ^ 1 1 • i
John Human Bile, which was translated mto several
c ayton European languages. Science throve better than
poetry, and was well represented in Virginia by John Clayton,
1 Bj'n/ J/SS. i. 5-
SOCIETY IN THE OLD DOMINION 239
who came thither from England in 1705, being then in his
twentieth year, and dweh there until his death in 1773, on
the eve of the famous day which saw the mixing of tea with
ice-water in Boston harbour. Clayton was attorney-general
of Virginia, and for fifty years clerk of Gloucester County.
His name has an honourable place in the history of botany ;
he was member of learned societies in nearly all the coun-
tries of Europe; and in 1739 his ''Flora of Virginia" was
edited and published by Linnaeus and Gronovius.
In Old Virginia, as in all the other colonies, the scientific
study and practice of medicine had scarcely made a begin-
ning. Those were everywhere the days of " kill or
cure " treatment, when there was small hope for
patients who had not enough vitality to withstand both drugs
and disease. In the light of the progress achieved since the
mighty work of Bichat (i 798-1 801), the two preceding cen-
turies seem a period of stagnation. Strong plasters, jalap,
and bleeding were the universal remedies. Mr. Bruce gives
us the items of a bill rendered by Dr. Haddon, of York,
about 1660, for performing an amputation. " They included
one highly flavoured and two ordinary cordials, three oint-
ments for the wound, an ointment precipitate, the operation
of letting blood, a purge per diem, two purges electuaries,
external applications, a cordial and two astringent powders,
phlebotomy, a defensive and a large cloth." On another
occasion the same doctor prescribed " a purging glister, a
caphalick and a cordial electuary, oil of spirits and sweet
almonds, a purging and a cordial bolus, purging pills, urseca-
tory, and oxymell. His charge for six visits after dark was
a hogshead of tobacco weighing 400 pounds."^ Of the
many thousand victims of these heroic methods, the most
illustrious was George Washington, who, but for medical
treatment, might probably have lived a dozen or „, , .
^ ^ . ■' Washing-
fifteen years into the nineteenth century. When ton's last
Washington in full vigour found that he had caught
a very bad cold he sent for the doctors, and meanwhile had
1 Bruce, Economic Histo?y, ii. 234.
240 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
half a })int of blood taken from him by one of his overseers.
Of the three physicians in attendance, one was his dear
friend, the good Scotchman, Dr. James Craik, " who from
forty years' experience," said Washington, '' is better quali-
fied than a dozen of them put together." His colleague, Dr.
Elisha Dick, said, " Do not bleed the General ; he needs all
his strength." But tradition prevailed over common sense,
and three copious bleedings followed, in the last of which a
quart of blood was taken. The third attendant. Dr. Gus-
tavus Brown, afterward expressed bitter regret that Dr.
Dick's advice was not followed. Besides this wholesale
bleeding, the patient was dosed with calomel and tartar
emetic and scarified with blisters and poultices ; or, as honest
Tobias Lear said, in a letter written the next day announ-
cing the fatal result, '' every medical assistance was offered,
but without the desired effect."^
The physician in Old Virginia was very much the same as
elsewhere, but the parson was a very different character
from the grave ministers and dominies of Boston and New
York. He belonged to the class of wine-bibbing, card-
playing, fox-hunting parsons, of which there were so many
examples in the mother country after the reaction against
Virginia Puritanism had set in. The religious tone of the
parsons English church during the first half of the eight-
eenth century was very low, and it was customary to send
out to Virginia and Maryland the poorest specimens of
clergymen that the mother country afforded. Men unfit for
any appointment at home were thought good enough for the
colonies. The royal governor, as vicegerent of the sover-
eign, was head of the colonial church, while ecclesiastical
affairs were superintended by a commissary appointed by the
^ See the history of the case, in Washington's Writings, ed. W. C.
Ford, xiv. 255-260. According to Mr. Paul Ford, "there can scarcely
be a doubt that the treatment of his last illness by the doctors was little
short of murder." T/ie True George Washington, p. 58. The ques-
tion is suggested, if Washington liad lived a dozen years longer, would
there have been a second war with EnMand ?
SOCIETY IN THE OLD DOMINION
241
BRUTON PARISH CHURCH, WILLIAMSBURG
Bishop of London. The first commissary, Dr. Blair, as we
have seen, was president of the college, and in his succes-
sors those two offices were usually united. Several attempts
were made to substitute a bishop for the commissary, but
the only result of the attempts was to alienate people's sym-
pathies from the church, while the conduct of the clergy
was such as to destroy their respect for it. Bishop Meade
has queer stories to tell of some of these parsons. One of
them was for years the president of a jockey club. Another
fought a duel within sight of his own church. A third, who
was evidently a muscular Christian, got into a rough-and-
tumble fight with his vestrymen and floored them ; and then
justified himself to his congregation next Sunday in a sermon
from a text of Nehemiah, "And I contended with them, and
cursed them, and smote certain of them, and ]:)lucked off
their hair." In 171 1 a bequest of ^i 00 was made to the
vestry of Christ Church parish in Middlesex, providing that
VOL. II
242 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
the interest should be paid to the minister for preaching four
sermons each year against " the four reigning vices, — viz. :
atheism and irreligion, swearing and curshig, fornication and
adultery, and drunkenness." Later in the century the living
was held for eighteen years, and the sermons were preached,
by a minister who was notoriously guilty of all the vices
mentioned. He used to be seen in the tavern porch, reeling
to and fro with a bowl of toddy in his hand, while he called
to some passer-by to come in and have a drink. When this
exemplary man of God was dying in delirium, his last words
were halloos to the hounds. In 1726 a thoughtful and
worthy minister named Lang wrote to the Bishop of London
about the scandalous behaviour of the clergy, of whom the
sober part were "slothful and negligent," while the rest
were debauched and " bent on all manner of vices." ^ This
testimony against the clergy, it will be observed, comes from
clergymen. Yet it seems clear that the cases cited must
have been extreme ones, — cases of the sort that make a
deep impression and are long remembered. A few such in-
stances would suffice to bring down condemnation upon the
whole establishment ; and not unjustly, for a church in
which such things could for a moment be tolerated must
needs have been in a degraded condition. This state of
things afforded an excellent field for the labours of Baptist
and Presbyterian revivalist preachers, and to such good pur-
pose did they work that by the time of the Revolution it
was found that more than half of the people in Virginia were
Dissenters. At that time the Episcopal clergy were not
unnaturally inclined to the Tory side, and this last ounce
was all that was needed to break down the establishment
and cast upon it irredeemable discredit. The downfall of the
Episcopal church in Virginia and its resurrection under more
wholesome conditions make an interesting chapter of history.
In imputing to his tipsy parson the **vice" of atheism,
Bishop Meade warns us that he does not mean a denial of
the existence of God, but merely irreligion, or "living without
^ Meade's Old ChiDxhes, i. 18, 361, 385.
SOCIETY IN THE OLD DOMINION
243
God in the world." In 1724 the Bishop of London was offi-
cially informed that there were no " infidels " in Virginia,
negroes and Indians excepted. A few years later, " when
the first infidel book was imported, ... it produced such an
ST. LUKE S CHURCH, NEWPORT PARISH, NEAR SMITHFIELD
excitement that the governor and commissary communicated
on the subject with the authorities in England." In preethink-
those days freethinkers, if prudent, kept their '"s
thoughts to themselves. All over Christendom the atmos-
phere was still murky with intolerance, and men's concep-
tions of the universe were only beginning to emerge from
the barbaric stage. Virginia was no exception to the general
rule.
In respect also of superstition and crime the Old Domin-
244 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
ion seems to have differed but little from other parts of
EnHish America. Belief in witchcraft lasted into
Supersti- "
tion and the eighteenth century, and the statute book reveals
crime
an abiding dread of what rebellious slaves might
do ; but there were no epidemics of savage terror, as at
Salem in 1692, or in the negro panic of 1741 in New York.
Of violent crime there was surely much less than in the
England of Jack Sheppard and Jonathan Wild, but probably
more than in the colonies north of Delaware Bay ; and its
perpetrators seem to have been chiefly white freedmen and
" outlying negroes." ^ Duelling seems to have been infre-
quent before the Revolution. ^ Murder, rape, arson, and
violent robbery were punished with death ; while pillory,
stocks, whipping-post, and ducking-stool were kept in readi-
ness for minor offenders. The infliction of the death penalty
in a cruel or shockins; manner was not common. Neo^roes
were occasionally burned at the stake, as in other colonies,
north and south ; and an instance is on record in which negro
murderers were beheaded and quartered after hanging.^ No
1 It is difficult to obtain exact data. My impression is derived from
study of the statutes and from general reading.
- It is authoritatively stated in the Virgi?ua Magazine, i. 347, that
from the time of the Company down to the time of the Revolution,
"there is no record of any duel in Virginia." In the thirteen volumes
of Hening I find no allusion to duelling; for the mention of " chal-
lenges to fight" in such a passage as vol. vi. p. 80, clearly refers to
chance affrays with fisticuffs at the gaming table, and not to duels. Yet
in 1 73 1 Rodolphus Malbone, for challenging Solomon White, a magis-
trate, '-with sword and pistol," was bound over in ^50 to keep the
peace : see Virgifiia Magazine, iii. 89.
3 Virgi?tia Magazine, i. 128. A w^oman named Eve was burned in
Orange County in 1746 for petty treason, /. e. murdering her master.
Id. iii. 308. For poisoning the master's family a man and woman were
burned at Charleston. S. C, in 1769. Id. iv. 341. For petty treason a
negro woman named Phillis was burned at the stake in Cambridge,
Mass., Sept. 18, 1755: see Boston Evening Post, Sept. 22, 1755;
Paige's History of Cambridge, p. 217. For riotous murder in the
city of New York 21 negroes were executed in 1712, several of whom
were burned and one was broken on the wheel ; and again in 1741. in
the panic over an imaginary plot, 13 negroes were burned at the stake :
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SOCIETY IN THE OLD DOMINION 245
white persons were ever burned at the stake by any ol the
colonies.-^
In the early days of Virginia there was not much practice
of law except by the county magistrates in their work of
maintaining the king's peace. The legal profession
was at first held in somewhat low repute, being ^^^^""^
sometimes recruited by white freedmen whose careers of ras-
cality as attorneys in England had suddenly ended in penal
servitude. But after the middle of the seventeenth century
the profession grew rapidly in importance and improved in
character. During the eighteenth century the development
in legal learning and acumen, and in weight of judicial author-
ity, w^as remarkable. The profession was graced by such
eminent names as Pendleton, Wythe, and Henry, until in
John Marshall the Old Dominion gave to the world a name
second to none among the great judges of English race and
speech.
One cause of this splendid development of legal talent was
doubtless the necessarily close connection between legal and
see Ac^s 0/ Assemdfy, New York^ ann. 171 2; DocuDients Relating to
Colonial History of iVew York, vol. vi. ann. 1741. There may have
been other cases. These here cited were especially notable.
^ Prof. M. C. Tyler (History of Ainerican Literature^ i. 90) quotes a
statement of Burk {History of Virginia^ Petersburg, 1805, vol. ii. appen-
dix, p. XXX.) to the effect that in Princess Anne County a woman was
once burned for witchcraft. But Burk makes the statement on hearsay,
and I have no doubt he refers to Grace Sherwood, who between 1698
and 1708 brought divers and sundry actions for slander against persons
who had called her a witch, but could not get a verdict in her favour!
She was searched for witch marks and imprisoned. It is a long way
from this sort of thing to getting burned at the stake ! Mrs. Sherwood
made her will in 1733, and it was admitted to probate in 1741. See
Williani and Maty College Quarterly, i* 69; ii. 58; iii. 96, 190, 242;
iv. 18. — There is a widespread popular belief that the victims of the
witchcraft delusion in Salem were burned ; scarcely a fortnight passes
without some allusions to this "burning" in the newspapers. Of the
twenty victims at Salem, nineteen were hanged, one was pressed to
death : not one was burned. See Upham's History of W^itchcraft and
Salem Village^ Boston, 1867. 2 vols.
246 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
political activity. The Virginia planter meant that his gov-
ernment should be one of laws. With his extensive
A govern-
ment of estates to supermtend and country interests to look
1 A w s
after, his position was in many respects like that of
the country squire in England. In his House of Burgesses
the planter had a parliament ; and in the royal governor, who
was liable to subordinate local to imperial interests, there
was an abiding source of antagonism and distrust, requiring
him to keep his faculties perpetually alert to remember all
the legal maxims by which the liberties of England had been
guarded since the days of Glanvil and Bracton, On the
whole, it was a noble type of rural gentry that the Old
Dominion had to show. Manly simplicity, love of home and
family, breezy activity, disinterested public spirit, thorough
wholesomeness and integrity, — such were the features of
the society whose consummate flower was George Washing-
ton.
This chapter must not close without a brief mention of the
social features of Maryland, but a brief mention is all that is
needed for my purpose, since the portraiture just given of
Leah will answer in most respects for her younger sister
Rachel. The English colonists in Maryland were of the
same excellent class as the Cavaliers who were the strength
of Virginia. Though tidewater Virginia at the beginning of
Some char- the eighteenth century contained but few people
of Mary-'^^ who did uot bcloug to the Church of England, on
land ^]^Q other hand, in Maryland, not more than one
sixth of the white population belonged to that church, while
one twelfth were Roman Catholics, and three fourths were
Puritans. But these differences in religion did not run par-
allel with differences in birth, refinement, or wealth. Nat-
urally, from the circumstances under which the colony was
founded, some of the best human material was always to be
found among the Catholics ; and they wielded an influence
disproportionately greater than their numbers.
Eor the first three generations tobacco played as impor-
SOCIETY IN THE OLD DOMINION 247
tant a part in Maryland as in Virginia. Nearly all the people
became planters. Cheap labour was supplied at first by
indented white servants and afterwards by negro slaves, who
never came, however, to number more than from one fourth
to one third of the whole population. There was the same
isolation, the same absence of towns, the same rudeness of
roads and preference for water-ways, as in Virginia. The
facilities for education were somewhat poorer ; there was no
university or college, no public schools until 1728, no news-
paper until 1745.
But early in the eighteenth century there came about an
important modification of industries, which was in large part
due to the rapid growth of Maryland's neighbour, Pennsyl-
vania. In the latter colony a great deal of wheat was raised,
and the export of flour became very profitable. This wheat
culture extended into Maryland, where wheat soon became
a vigorous rival of tobacco. In 1729 the town of Baltimore
was founded, and at once rose to importance as a point for
exporting flour. Moreover, as Pennsylvania exported various
kinds of farm produce, besides large quantities of valuable
furs, and as she had no seacoast and no convenient maritime
outlet save Philadelphia, her export trade soon came to ex-
ceed the capacities of that outlet, and a considerable part of
it went through Baltimore, w^hich thus had a large and active
rural district dependent upon it, and grew so fast that by
1770 it had become the fourth city in English America, with
a population of nearly 20,000. The growth of Annapolis
was further stimulated by these circumstances; and this
development of town life, with the introduction of a wealthy
class of merchants and the continual intercommunication
with Pennsylvania, went far toward assimilating Maryland
with the middle colonies while it diminished to some extent
her points of resemblance to the Old Dominion.
CHAPTER XV
THE CAROLINA FRONTIER
'' St. Augustine, a Spanish garrison, being planted to the
southward of us about a hundred leagues, makes Carohna a
frontier to all the English settlements on the Main." These
The s an- memorable words, from the report of the governor
ish frontier ^^^d couucil at Charleston to the lords proprietors
of Carolina in London, in the year 1708, have a deeper his-
toric significance than was realized by the men who wrote
them. In a twofold sense Carolina was a frontier country.
It was not only the border region where English and Spanish
America marched upon each other, but it served for some
time as a kind of backwoods for Virginia. Until recently
one of the most important factors in American history has
been the existence of a perpetually advancing frontier, where
new territory has often had to be won by hard fighting
against its barbarian occupants, where the life has been at
once more romantic and more sordid than on the civilized
seaboard, and where democracy has assumed its most dis-
tinctively American features. The cessation of these cir-
cumstances will probably be one of the foremost among the
causes which are going to make America in the twentieth
century different from America in the nineteenth. Now for
the full development of this peculiar frontier life two condi-
tions were requisite, — first, the struggle with the wilderness ;
secondly, isolation from the currents of European thought
with which the commercial seaboard was kept in
The
wilderness coutact. Thcsc conditions were first realized m
North Carolina, and there was originated the type
of backwoods life which a century later prevailed among
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250 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
the settlers of Tennessee and Kentucky. That was the one
point where the backwoods may be said to have started at
the coast ; and in this Hght we shall have to consider it. On
the other hand, South Carolina, with the Georgia colony for
its buffer, is to be considered more in the light of a frontier
against the Spaniard. We shall have furthermore to con-
template the whole Carolina coast as preeminently the fron-
tier upon which were wrecked the last remnants of the piracy
and buccaneering that had grown out of the mighty Eliza-
bethan world-struggle between England and Spain. With-
out some mention of all these points, our outline sketch of
the complicated drama begun by Drake and Raleigh would
be incomplete.
The region long vaguely known as Carolina, or at least a
portion of it, had formed part of Sir Walter Raleigh's Vir-
ginia; but the Spaniards had never ceased to regard it as part
of Florida. In defiance of their claims, Jean Ribaut planted
his first ill-fated Huguenot colony at Port Royal in 1562,
and built a fort which he called Charlesfort, after Charles
IX. of France. Whether the name *' Carolina " was applied
to the territory at that early time is doubtful,^ but we find it
used in England, in the time of Charles I., when the first
Lord Baltimore \vas entertaining a plan for a new colony
south of Virginia. The name finally served to commemorate
Charles II., who in 1663 granted the territory to eight
The^Tant " lords proprietors," gentlemen who had done him
of Carolina inestimable scrviccs. To the most eminent, George
]\Ionk, Duke of Albemarle, he owed his restoration to the
throne; the support of Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon,
had been invaluable ; the others were Anthony Ashley
Cooper, afterwards Earl of Shaftesbury, Lord Craven, Lord
Berkeley, and his brother. Sir William Berkeley, governor
of Virginia, Sir George Carteret, and Sir John Colleton.
All these names appear to-day on the map, — Albemarle
Sound, Hyde, Craven, and Carteret counties in North Caro-
lina ; Clarendon and Colleton counties, Berkeley parish, and
1 Winsor, A'a/r. and Crit. Hist. v. 286.
THE CAROLINA FRONTIER
251
the Ashley and Cooper rivers, in South Carolina, while in
Charleston we have the name of the king.
These gentlemen contemplated founding a colony which
should emulate the success of Virginia. The most actively
engaged in the enterprise was the one whom we know best
by his title of Shaftesbury, and it was thus that the founding
of Carolina became connected for a moment with one of the
greatest names in the history of England. A charm- Shaftesbury
ing story is that of the residence of John Locke in and Locke
the Ashley family, as physician, private tutor, and general
adviser and guardian angel ; how he once saved his lord-
ship's life by most daring and skilful surgery, how he taught
Greek to the young Ashley, how he took the boy at the age
of seventeen to Haddon Hall and made a happy match for
him with pretty Lady Dorothy Manners aged twenty, how he
jUii': /i^e;f<^
AUTOGRAPHS OF THE LORDS PROPRIETORS
252 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
afterward assisted at the birth of the grandson destined to
become even more famous in literature than the grandfather
in poHtical history, — all this is pleasantly told by the grand-
son. " My father was too young and inexperienced to choose
a wife for himself, and my grandfather too much in business
to choose one for him. The affair was nice ; for, though
my grandfather required not a great fortune, he insisted on
good blood, good person and constitution, and, above all, good
education and a character as remote as possible from that of
court or town-bred lady. All this was thrown upon Mr.
Locke, who being ... so good a judge of men, my grand-
father doubted not of his equal judgment in women. He
departed from him, entrusted and sworn, as Abraham's head
servant that ruled over all that he had, and went into a far
country (the north of England) to seek for his son a wife,
whom he as successfully found." ^
In the summer of 1669, while the great philosopher was
engaged upon this match-making expedition, he varied the
proceedings by drawing up a constitution for Carolina, the
original draft of which, a small neatly wTitten volume of 75
pages bound in vellum, is still preserved among the Shaftes-
bury papers. This constitution diverges widely in some
respects from such a document as would have expressed
The Fun- Lockc's ow^u idcas of the right sort of government.
Constitu- ^^^ scheme which it set forth was in the main Ash-
tions ley's, with such modifications as w^ere necessary to
secure the approval of the other proprietors. It is not w^orth
our while to recount its complicated provisions, inasmuch as
it was never anything but a dead letter, and civil government
sprouted up as spontaneously in Carolina as if neither states-
man nor philosopher had ever given thought to the subject.
One provision, however, expressed an idea of which Locke
was one of the foremost representatives, and herein Ashley
agreed with him ; it was the idea of complete liberty of con-
science in matters of religion. It was provided that any
seven or more persons who could agree among themselves
^ Fox-Bourne's Life of John Locke, i. 203.
THE CAROLINA FRONTIER
253
upon any sort of notion about God or any plan for worship-
ping him might set up a church and be guaranteed against
all interference or molestation. An ideal so noble as this
was never quite realized in the history of any of the colo-
FIRST EARL OF SHAFTESBURY
nies ; but there can be little doubt that the publication of
Locke's "Fundamental Constitutions " in 1670, in 1682, and
1698 had much influence in directing toward Carolina the
stream of Huguenot emigration from France, which was an
event of the first importance.^
1 The Fundamental Constitutions are printed in Locke's lVorks\,
London, 1824, ix. 175-199. An excellent analysis of them is given by
Professor Bassett, "The Constitutional Beginnings of North Carolina,"
254
OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
In its general character the government created by the
Fundamental Constitutions was a palatinate modelled after
that of Durham. The difference between Carolina and
Maryland consisted chiefly in the fact that the
palatinate privileges were granted to eight co-pro-
prietors instead of a single proprietor. Those
privileges were quasi-royal, but they were limited by giving
to the popular assembly the control over all money bills.
This limitation, however, was partly offset by giving to the
higher officers regular salaries payable from quit-rents or the
The
Carolina
Palatinate
EUWAKD HYDE, EARL OF CLARENDON
sales of public lands. These salaries went far toward making
such officers independent of the legislature, and thus led to
much complaint and dissatisfaction. Before the Revolution
/. H. U. Studies, xii. 97-169 : see, also, Whitney, " Government of the
Colony of South Carolina." Id. xiii. 1-121.
THE CAROLINA FRONTIER 255
questions concerning the salaried independence of high
pubUc officials had in several of the colonies come to be one
of the most burning questions of the day.
The lords proprietors, as tenants-in-chief of the crown,
were feudal sovereigns over Carolina. They could grant
estates on any terms they pleased, and subinfeudation, which
had been forbidden in England since 1290, was expressly
permitted here. The eldest of the proprietors was jj^^
called the Palatine ; he presided at their meetings, Palatine
and his vote with those of three associates was reckoned a
majority. As the proprietors remained in England, it was
arranged that each of them should be represented in Caro-
lina by a deputy ; and the Palatine's deputy, sometimes
called V^ice-Palatine, was to be governor of the colony. But
any one of the proprietors coming into the colony, or the
oldest of those coming, if there were more than one, was to
take precedence over everybody and become at once Vice-
Palatine.
By a curious provision of the charter, the lords proprietors
could grant titles of nobility, provided they were unlike those
used in England. Hence the outlandish titles, such ^j^j^^ ^^
as "landgrave" and "cacique," which occur in the nobility
Fundamental Constitutions. With the titles there was com-
bined an artificial system of social gradations which is not
worth recounting. As for the political status of the settlers,
they were guaranteed in the possession of all the rights and
privileges enjoyed by Englishmen in England.
The planting of two distinct colonies in Carolina was no
part of the original scheme, but the early centres of coloniza-
tion were so far apart and communication between them was
so difficult that they could not well be united in a single
community, although more than once there was a single gov-
ernor over the whole of Carolina. Emifrration from \lr<rinia
o o
had begun as early as 1653, when Roger Greene with a hun-
dred men made a small settlement in the Chowan precinct,
on the north shore of Albemarle Sound. ^ In 1662 George
^ Hcning, i. 380.
256 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
Durant ^ followed, and began a settlement in the Perquimans
precinct, just east of Chowan. In 1664 Governor Berkeley,
of Vir2:inia, — himself one of the eio^ht lords pro-
The & ' & r
Albemarle prictors, — scvercd this newly settled region from
coony Virginia, and appointed William Drummond as its
governor. Such were the beginnings of Albemarle, the col-
ony which in time was to develop into North Carolina.
Meanwhile in 1660 a party from New England made a
settlement at the mouth of Cape Fear River ; or perhaps we
ought rather to call it a visit. It lasted no longer than Thor-
finn Karlsefni's visit to Vinland,^ for the settlers had all de-
parted by 1663. There is a tradition that they were sorely
harassed by the natives, in revenge for their sending sundry
Indian lads and girls aboard ship, to be taken to Boston and
^„ ... "educated," i. e. sold for slaves.'^ This is not im-
Ine visit 01
NewEng- probable. At all events, these New Englanders
went off in a mood not altogether amiable, leaving
affixed to a post, at the mouth of the river, a "scandalous
writing . . . the contents whereof tended not only to the
disparagement of the land . . . but also to the great dis-
couragement of all such as should hereafter come into those
parts to settle."^
But this emphatic warning did not frighten away Sir John
Yeamans, who arrived at Cape Fear early in October, 1663,
and ascended the river for more than a hundred and fifty
miles. Sir John was the son of a gallant Cavalier who had
lost life and estate in the king's service, and he had come
out to Barbadoes to repair his fortunes. His report
Clarendon of the Cape Fear country was so favourable that by
coony ^^^ ^^^^ ^^ May, 1665, we find him there again,
with several hundred settlers from Barbadoes, to make the
beginnings of the new colony of Clarendon, of which the
^ He is commonly called a Quaker, but the tradition is ill supported.
See Weeks, Soiithei'7i Quakers and Sla7>ery, p. 33.
^ See my Discovery of America, i. 167-169.
•^ Hawks, History of N^orth Carolina, ii. 72.
^ Lawson, A Description of N'orth Carolina, London, 1718, p. 73.
THE CAROLINA FROxNTIER 257
lords proprietors had appointed him governor. In the same
year the colony of Albemarle elected its first assembly.
In 1667 William Sayle, a Puritan from Bermuda, explored
the coast, and reported the value of the Bahama Islands for
offensive and defensive purposes in case of war with Spain.
These islands were accordingly appropriated and annexed to
Carolina, as the Bermudas had once been annexed to \lr-
s^inia. It was decided to make a settlement at Port ^, , ,
° The Ash-
Royal ; the venerable Sayle, whose years were ley River
more than three-score-and-ten, was appointed gov- *^°°"^
ernor ; and on March 17, 1670, the first colonists arrived on
WILLIAM, FIRST EARL OF CRAVEN
the Carolina coast. On further inspection Port Royal
seemed too much exposed to the attacks of Spaniards from
St. Augustine, and accordingly the ships pursued their way
northward till they reached and entered the spacious bay
formed by the junction of two noble rivers since known as
Ashley and Cooper. They proceeded up the Ashley as far
as an easily defensible highland at Albemarle Point, where
they began building a village which they called Charles
258 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
Town. Their cautiousness was soon justified. Spain and
England were then at peace, but no sooner were the Span-
iards notified of these proceeding's than a warship
Founding a •
of Charles- Started f rom St. Au^-ustine and came as far as Stono
on, o/o Iy\\qX., where it learned the strength of the English
position and concluded to retreat.^ The next year Governor
Sayle died, and was succeeded by Sir John Yeamans, who
came in 1672, bringing from Barbadoes the first negro slaves
ev-er seen in Carolina. In 1674 Yeamans was superseded by
Joseph West, under whom the first assembly was elected.
Thus there were three small communities started on the
coast of Carolina : i. Albemarle, on the Virginia border,
constituted in 1664 ; 2. Clarendon, on the Cape Fear River,
in 1665 ; 3. The Ashley River colony, in 1670.
For a moment we must follow the fortunes of Albemarle,
where in 1667 Drummond was succeeded in the governor-
ship by Samuel Stephens. Two years later there was passed
„. ^, . a statute which enacted that no subject could be
rirst legis- ^ _ ■'
lation in sucd within five years for any cause of action that
might have arisen outside of the colony ; that all
debts contracted outside of the colony were ipso facto out-
lawed ; and that all new settlers should be exempted from
taxes for one year.- IMoreover, all " transient persons,"
not intending to remain in the colony, were forbidden to
trade with the Indians. It was furthermore provided that,
since there were no clergymen in the colony to perform the
ceremony of marriage, a declaration of mutual consent,
before the governor and council and in the presence of a few
acquaintances, should be deemed a binding contract.^ These
laws were of course intended to stimulate immigration, and
the effect of the first two was soon plainly indicated in the
indignant epithet, '' Rogue's Harbour," bestowed by Virginia
people upon the colony of Albemarle*
1 Rivers, Early History of Sout/i Carolina, Charleston, 1856, p. 96.
2 Williamson, History of NortJi Carolina. Philadelphia, 1812, i. 120.
'^ Williamson, op.cit. i. 121.
^ Moore's History of JVort/i Caroli^ia, Raleigh, 1880, i. 18.
A Brief Description
The Province
CAROLINA
Onthe Coasts of VLOKED A.
AND
More perticularly of a Nen^-^Plantation
begun by the ENGL J iJH at Cape-Fear'ey
on that River now by them called Charles-River^
JVhers'rai^fet forth
The Healtbfuhefs of the Air '^ the Fertility o£
the Ejrtb ^ and IVaiers 5 and the great FteajHrc and
profit: Will accrue to thoie that fhall go thither to enjoy
the fame,
^//.,
Directions and advice tofuch as (hall go thither whether
on tn:i: 0 :.q accompts, or to ferve under another. '"
Together with
A moft accurate MAP of the whole PROVINCE.
Lonioa ^ Printed ioi Robert Horr,e\x\ the firft Court of GrejljAm-
Colledge neer Bl\ko^[gate fireet, \666*
TITLE OF "a brief DESCRIPTION, ETC., OF CAROLINA"
26o OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
The desire of increasing the number of settlers, without
regard to their quality, induced the lords proprietors to sanc-
tion these curiosities of legislation. But troubles, not of
their own creating, were at hand in this little forest com-
munity. In 1673 the Fundamental Constitutions were pro-
mulgated by Governor Stephens, who soon afterward died.
Troubles Under his temporary successor, George Carteret,
thextvi^ president of the council, the troubles broke out,
gation Act ^^d it has been customary to ascribe them to the
attempt to enforce the Fundamental Constitutions upon an
unwilling community. It does not appear, however, that the
official promulgation of this frame of government was fol-
lowed by any serious attempts to enforce it.^ The real
source of the disturbances was undoubtedly the Navigation
Act, — that mischievous statute with which the mother
country was busily weaning from itself the affections of its
colonies all along the American seaboard. Sundry un-
founded rumours increased the bitter feeling. The king's
grant of Virginia to Arlington and Culpeper in 1673 was
part of the news of the day. It was reported that the pro-
prietors of Carolina were going to divide up the province
among themselves, and that Albemarle was to be the share
of Sir William Berkeley, a man especially hated by the Vir-
ginians of small means, who were the larger part of the
Albemarle population. Though these reports were baseless,
they found many believers. But the Navigation Act and
the attempts to break up the trade with ]\Iassachu-
The trade ^ . ^
with New sctts wcrc vcry real grievances. Ships from Boston
"^^" and Salem brought down to Albemarle Sound all
manner of articles needed by the planters, and took their
pay in cattle and lumber, which they carried to the West
Indies and exchanged for sugar, molasses, and rum. Often
with this cargo they returned to Albemarle and exchanged
it for tobacco, which they carried home and sent off to
Furope at a good round profit, in supreme defiance of the
^ I am glad to find this opinion corroborated by Professor Bassett in
his able paper above cited,/. H. U. Studies, xii. 109.
George Monk, Duke of Albemarle
THE CAROLINA FRONTIER
261
LEDERERS MAP OF CAROLINA, 167O
Statutes. It was said that the new colony was enriching
Yankee merchants much faster than the lords proprietors.^
In truth the trade was profitable to merchants and planters
alike, and by the summer of 1676 sundry attempts to break
it up had brought the little colony into quite a rebellious
^ Hawks, History of XortJi Carolina, ii. 470.
262 OLD \^IRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
frame of mind. We have seen how Bacon looked forward to
possible help from Carolina against Sir William I^erkeley.
Bacon spoke of the desirableness of the people electing their
own governors.^ New England furnished examples of such
elected governors who were in full sympathy with the people.
The men of Albemarle were likely to make trouble for govern-
ors appointed in England to carry out an unpopular policyc
When Carteret resigned his position in 1676, two men,
who were supposed to represent the popular party, had lately
Eastchurch goi"^^ ovcr to England. One of them, by name
and Miller Eastchurch, had been speaker of the assembly ; and
so anxious were the lords proprietors to have their intentions
carried out without irritating the people, that in the autumn
of 1676 they appointed him governor of Albemarle. The
other was a person named Miller, who had been illegally
carried to Virginia and tried by Governor Berkeley for mak-
ing a seditious speech in Carolina. In England he found it
profitable to pose as a martyr. The proprietors made him
secretary of Albemarle, and the king's commissioners of cus-
toms made him collector of the revenues of that colony.
Early in 1677 the new governor and secretary sailed for
America, and made a stop at the little island of Nevis,
famous in later years as the birthplace of Alexander Hamil-
ton. For Eastchurch it proved to be an isle of Calypso. He
fell in love with a fair Creole and staid to press his suit, while
he appointed Miller president of the council, and sent him on
in that capacity to govern Albemarle.
That little commonwealth of less than 3000 souls had in
the mean time been enjoying the sweets of uncurbed liberty,
when there was no king in Israel, and every man did what
was right in his own eyes. Miller, as a martyr to free speech,
was cordially welcomed, but as proprietary governor and
king's collector he found his popularity quickly waning. He
tried to suppress the trade with Massachusetts, and thus ar-
rayed against himself the Yankee skippers, aided by a " party
within," at the head of which was the wealthy George Durant,
1 See above, p. 73 of the present volume.
THE CAROLINA FRONTIER 263
the earliest settler of Perquimans. The train was well laid
for an insurrection when a demagogue arrived with the match
to fire it. This man was John Culpeper, surveyor-general of
Carolina, whose seditious conduct on the Ashley River had
lately made it necessary for him to flee northward to escape
the hangman. Culpeper's proposal to resist the enforcement
of the odious Navigation Act brought him many followers.
In December, 1677, a Yankee schooner, heavily The Cui-
armed and bearing a seductive cargo of rum and p^tion"^"'^'
molasses, appeared in Pasquotank River. Her 1677-79
skipper, whose name was Gillam, had scarcely set foot on
land when he was arrested by the governor and held to bail
in ^1000. The astute Yankee, with an air of innocent sur-
prise, meekly promised to weigh anchor at once and not re-
turn. Hereupon a thirsty mob, maddening with the thought
of losing so much rum, beset Gillam with entreaties to stay.
Governor Miller was a man in whom bravery prevailed over
prudence, and, hearing at this moment that Durant was on
the schooner, he straightway boarded her, pistol in hand, and
arrested that influential personage on a charge of treason.
This rash act was the signal for an explosion. Culpeper's
mob arrested the governor and council, and locked them up.
Then they took possession of the public records, convened
the assembly, appointed new justices, made Culpeper gov-
ernor, and, seizing upon ^3000 of customs revenue collected
by Miller for the king, they applied it to the support of this
revolutionary government.
For two years these adventurers exercised full sway over
Albemarle. During this time Governor Eastchurch arrived
from the island of Nevis, bringing with him the fair Creole
as his bride. He met with a cold reception, and lost no time
in finding shelter in Virginia, where he drank a friendly glass
with Governor Chicheley, and asked for military aid against
the usurping Culpeper. The request was granted, but before
the troops were ready the unfortunate I^Lastchurch succumbed
to chagrin, or perhaps to malaria, and his Creole bride was
left a widow.
264 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
Ciilpeper, however, remained in some dread of what Vir-
ginia might do. He had issued a manifesto, accusing Miller
of tyranny and peculation and seeking to justify himself ; but
he thought it wise to play a still bolder part. He went to
H w Cui- I^i"'g^^i"^d in the hope of persuading the lords pro-
peper fared prictors to Sanction what he had done, and to con-
firm him in the governorship. In London he was
surprised at meeting the deposed Miller, who had broken jail
and arrived there before him. The twain forthwith told their
eloquent but conflicting tales of woe, and Culpeper's tongue
proved the more persuasive with the lords proprietors. He
seemed on the point of returning in triumph to Carolina,
when suddenly the king's officers arrested him for robbing
the custom-house of ^3000. This led to his trial for treason,
in the summer of 1680, before the King's Bench, under the
statute of Henry VHI. anent ''treason committed abroad;"
the same statute under which it was sought, on a fine April
morning ninety-five years later, to arrest Samuel Adams and
John Hancock. The Earl of Shaftesbury ably defended Cul-
peper, and he was acquitted but not restored to power. ^ He
returned to Carolina, a sadder if not a wiser man ; and in his
old capacity of surveyor, it is said, laid out the plan of the
city of Charleston on its present site. The original Charles
Town, as already mentioned, was begun at Albemarle Point
^, , on Ashley River, in 1670. Another settlement was
Charleston ^
moved to a made two years later at Oyster Point, on the ex-
tremity of the peninsula enclosed between the two
rivers. This new situation had greater advantages for a sea-
port, and its cooler breezes were appreciated by sojourners
in that fiery climate. It grew at the expense of the older
settlement, until in 1680 it had a population of 2500 souls,
and took over the name of Charles Town, while Albemarle
Point was abandoned. So the autumn of 1680 had work at
Oyster Point for a surveyor like Culpeper.
^ Dr. Hawks, in his Histojy of A'orth Carolina, ii. 463-483, gives a
detailed and very entertaining account of the Culpej^er rebellion, to
which I amjndebted for several particulars.
THE CAROLINA FRONTIER
265
COOPER AND ASHLEY RIVERS
SethSothel
The governor who succeeded this usurper in the Albe-
marle colony was a new lord proprietor, byname Seth Sothel,
to whom the Earl of Clarendon had sold out his
rights and interests. On his way to America, early
in 1680, Sothel was captured by Algerine pirates and carried
off into slavery. Not until 1683 did Sothel obtain his free-
dom and arrive at his destination. In five years of misrule
266 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
over Albemarle he proved himself one of the dirtiest knaves
that ever held office in America. A few specimens of his
conduct may be cited. On the arrival of two ships from
Barbadoes on legitimate business, Sothel seized them as
pirates and threw their captains into jail, where one of them
died of ill-treatment. The dying man made a will in which
he named one of the most respected men in the colony,
Thomas Pollock, as his executor ; but Sothel refused to let
the will go to probate, and seized the dead man's effects ;
the executor then threatened to carry the story of all this to
England, whereupon the governor lodged him in jail and
kept him there. George Durant called such proceedings
unlawful, whereupon Sothel straightway imprisoned him and
confiscated his whole estate. If he saw anything that
pleased his fancy, be it a cow or a negro or a pewter dish, he
just took it without ceremony, and if the owner objected he
locked him up. From criminals he took tips and saved them
from the gallows. The people of Albemarle endured this
tyranny until 1688, — that year when over all English lands
the sky was so black with political thunder-clouds. One day
certain leading colonists laid hands upon Seth Sothel, and
prepared to send him to England to be tried for a long list
of felonies. Then this model for governors and lords propri-
etors, suddenly realizing the dismal prospect before him, with
Tyburn looming up in the distance, begged with frantic sobs
and tears that he mis-ht be tried by the assem-
Banish- *^ . . ^ .
ment of bly, and not be sent to England ; for he felt sure
that the assembly would hardly dare take the re-
sponsibility of hanging him. In this he calculated correctly ;
he was banished from the colony for one year, and declared
forever incapable of holding the governorship.^
The prudence of the assembly was well considered. The
lords proprietors in England, ill informed as to the affairs of
their colony, wearied with the everlasting series of com-
plaints, and unwilling to believe that one of their associates
could be such a scoundrel, were inclined to scold the colo-
1 Hawks, op. cit. ii. 489.
THE CAROLINA FRONTIER 267
nists for their treatment of Sothel. As for that worthy, his
full career was not yet run. Scenes of turbulence _ , , .
. . Troubles in
were awaiting him in the little settlement between the south-
the Ashley and Cooper rivers. Joseph West had ^™^°°"^
ruled there with a strong hand from 1674 to 1683, and the
colony prospered during that time, but disagreements arose
between West and the proprietors which ended in his re-
moval. The next seven years were a period of anarchy.
After five changes of governors in quick succession, the
office was given to James Colleton, brother of Colleton the
lord proprietor, but the situation was not improved. The
troubles arose partly from the practice of kidnapping In-
dians for slaves, which invited bloody reprisals ; partly from
the demand that quit -rents be paid in coin, which was very
scarce in Carolina; partly from the low character of many of
the settlers and their dealings with pir^-tes ; partly from the
unwillingness of the English settlers to admit the Huguenot
immigrants to a share in the franchise ; and partly from the
fitful and arbitrary manner in which the lords proprietors
tried from beyond sea to cure the complicated evils. The
muddle was aggravated by Spanish hostility. In 1683 a few
Scotch families were brought by Lord Cardross to Port
Royal, where they made the beginnings of a settle- The Scotch
ment. Those were the cruel days of Claverhouse Roy^f^
in Scotland, and a scheme was entertained for 16S3-86
bringing 10,000 sturdy Covenanters to Carolina ; but it
came to nothino-. Cardross g-ot into difficulties with the
people at Charleston, and went back to Scotland in disgust.
In 1686, in time of peace, a Spanish force pounced upon
Port Royal, murdered some of the Scotchmen, flogged others
within an inch of their lives, carried off what booty they
could find, and left the place a smoking ruin. Dire was the
indignation of the Charleston men at these "bloody inso-
lencies." Two stout ships with 400 men were just ready to
sail against St. Augustine, when the newly appointed Gov-
ernor Colleton arrived upon the scene and forbade their sail-
ing. His mandate was obeyed with growls and curses. The
268 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
lords proprietors upheld him. ''No man," as they reasonably
said, " can think that the dependencies of England can have
power to make war upon the king's allies without his know-
ledge or consent." ^ It was an inauspicious beginning for
Colleton. The old troubles continued, along with others
growing out of the Navigation Act. The wrangling between
governor and assembly grew so hot that in 1689 the proprie-
tors instructed Colleton to summon no more parliaments in
Carolina w^ithout express orders from them. The
without effect of such an order was probably not foreseen
by those well-meaning gentlemen. It was a curious
feature in the Ashley River colony that the acts of its as-
sembly expired at the end of twenty-three months unless
renewed. This term had so nearly elapsed when the order
arrived that ''in 1690 not one statute law was in force in the
colony ! " ^
This heroic medicine did not cure the malady. Things
grew worse in the spring of 1690, when Colleton proclaimed
martial law. The air was thick with sedition when Sothel
arrived in Charleston. As a lord proprietor he had the
right to act as governor over Colleton's head. Several of
the leading colonists begged him to call a parliament, and
forthwith the exemplary Sothel posed as "the people's
friend." He summoned a parliament which ban-
Reappear- _ ^ '■
ance of ishcd Collctou and enacted sundry laws. A queer
Sothel , . , . . . -^ , ,
spectacle it was, the victim of one popular revolu-
tion becoming the ringleader of another, the banished play-
ing the part of banisher ! But the lords proprietors had
become aware of Sothel's misdeeds ; they annulled the acts
of his parliament, deposed him, and ordered him to return to
England to answer the charges against him. Sothel did not
relish this. His term of banishment from Albemarle had
expired, and he believed it to be a safer hiding:-
His death ^ ^
place than London. Where he skulked or how he
died is unknown. All we know is that his will was admitted
^ Rivers, Early History of South Carolina^ p. 145.
2 Id. p. 153.
THE CAROLINA FRONTIER
269
MORDEN'S map of CAROLINA. 1687
to probate February 5, 1694 ; and that his tombstone, which
came from England, was never paid for ! ^
Since the founding of the Ashley River colony it had fared
ill with the Clarendon colony on Cape Fear River, which
under favouring circumstances might perhaps have developed
into a IMiddle Carolina. There w^ere not people ^,
^ '■ Clarendon
enough, and there was not trade enough for so Colony
, r-' /^^ 1 i-ni -i abandoned
many settlements. So Clarendon dwmdled until
1690, when it was abandoned. This left a wide interval of
^ Records of Goicral Co7(rt of Albonarlc, 1697 : Hawks, op. cit. ii. 491.
270 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
forest and stream between Albemarle and the Ashley River
colony, or North Carolina and South Carolina, as they were
beginning to be called. The formal separation of Carolina
into two provinces did not take place until 1729, but the two
colonies were from the outset, as we have seen, distinct and
independent growths ; and by 1690 the epithets North and
South were commonly used.
Just at this time, however, the two were united under one
governor. Colonel Philip Ludwell, of Virginia, who had
Philip '^^b' supported Berkeley against Bacon, and had
Ludwell afterward married Berkeley's widow, was Sothel's
successor in Albemarle in 1689, and he was appointed to
succeed him at Charleston in 1691. The proprietors wished
i^M^T"
to bring all Carolina under one government, and the Albe-
marle people were requested to send their representatives to
the assembly at Charleston, but distance made such a scheme
impracticable. The northern colony, however, was often
governed by a deputy appointed at Charleston. The troubles
were not yet over. Ludwell was an upright and able man,
but the disagreements between the settlers and the lords
proprietors were more than he could cope with, and in 1692
he was superseded.
It is not worth while to recount the names of all the
men who served as governors in the two Carolinas. In the
world of history there is a certain amount of meaningless
John mediocrity which a general survey like the present
Archdaie j^-,;^y ^yell pass by without notice. The brief admin-
istration of John Archdaie, in 1695, marks a kind of era.
Archdaie was a Quaker, a man of broad intellisfence and
character at once strong and gentle. He had become one
of the lords proprietors, and in that capacity came out to
Carolina, where for one year he ruled the whole province
THE CAROLINA FRONTIER 271
with such authority as no one had wielded before ; for while
he was backed up by the proprietors, he conciliated the
assemblies. In the matter of the Indians and the quit-rents
much was done, and the veto power of the proprietors was
curtailed. After a year Archdale felt able to go home, leav-
ing his friend Joseph Blake, a nephew of the great Joseph
admiral, as governor in Charleston. Under Blake ^lake
still further progress was made by admitting to full political
rights and privileges the Huguenot immigrants, who had
come to be in some respects the most important element in
the population of South Carolina. But after Blake's death,
in 1700, it grew stormy again. The new governor, James
Moore, came out to make money, and to that end he renewed
the vile practice of kidnapping Indians. This presently
made it necessary to gather troops and defeat the angry red
men. Quarrels with the assembly were chronic. When the
war of the Spanish Succession broke out, Moore invaded
Florida, but accomplished nothing except the creation of a
heavy public debt. In 1703 he was superseded by <..^ ^, _
Sir Nathaniel Johnson, a precious bis^ot, who un- thaniei
■^ \ 1 Johnson
dertook to force through the assembly a law ex- and the
cludino: from it all Dissenters. This was effected ^"^^^ ^^^
by trickery ; the act was passed by a majority of one, in a
house from which several members were absent. After the
fraud was discovered, the assembly by a large majority voted
to repeal the act, but the governor refused to sign the repeal.
The Dissenters were perhaps three fourths of the popula-
tion. They made complaint to the lords proprietors, but a
majority of that body sustained the governor. Then a suc-
cessful appeal was made to the House of Lords, and the
proprietors suddenly found themselves threatened with the
2.11
OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
loss of their charter. The result was a great victory for the
South Carolina assembly, which at its next session restored
Dissenters to their full privileges.
Like many another bigot, Governor Johnson was a good
fighter. In August, 1706, Charleston was attacked by a
SIR NATHANIEL JOHNSON
French and Spanish squadron. A visitation of yellow fever,
Unsuccess- with half a dozen deaths daily in a population of
of^ ^p^"^P/ 3000, had frightened many people away from the
and Span- town. On a broiling Saturday afternoon five col-
iipon umns of smoke floating lazily up over Sullivan's
Island announced that five warships were descried
in the offing. They were French privateers with Spanish
reinforcements from Cuba and St. Augustine. When the
signal was reported to the governor at his country house,
the militia were called together from all quarters and the
lii-.i' ijj ^ J ^, ?!
mlivii ^i '•.< I.. <\ '. ^ ^P'^ h
i%^:lii''^
PLAN OF CHARLESTON, I704
The Key : A, Granville bastion. B, Craven bastion. C, Carteret bastion. D, Colleton
bastion. E, Ashley bastion. F, Blake's bastion. G, Half-moon. H, Drawbridge. I, John-
son's covered lialf-moon. K, Drawbridge. L, Palisades. M, Lieut -Col. Rhett's bridge.
N, Smith's bridge. O, Minister's house. P, English Church. Q, French Church. R, Inde-
pendent Church. S, Anabaptist Church. T, Quaker meeting-house. V, Court of guard.
W, First rice patch in Carolina. — Owners of houses as follows: i, Pasquero and Garrett. 2,
Land.sack. 3, Jno. Crosskeys. 4, Chevelier. 5, Geo. Logan. 6, Poinsett. 7, Eiicott. 8,
Starling. 9, M. Boone. 10, Tradds. 11, Nat. Law. 12, Landgrave Smith. 13, Col. Rhett.
14, Ben : Skenking. 15, Sindery.
274 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
ships in the harbour were quickly made ready for action.
The evening air was vocal with alarm guns. But the enemy
approached with such excessive caution that Johnson had
ample time for preparation. It was not until Wednesday
that the affair matured. Then the French commander sent
a flag of truce ashore and demanded, in the name of Louis
XIV., the surrender of the town and its inhabitants ; the
governor, he said, might have an hour to consider his answer.
Johnson replied that he did not need a minute, and told the
Frenchman to go to the devil. The enemy then landed
150 men on the north shore of the harbour, at Haddrell's
Beacon, but the militia soon drove them into the water, with
the loss of a dozen killed and more than thirty prisoners.
Many more were drowned in swimming to their boats. An-
other detachment on the south shore was similarly discom-
fited. On Thursday Colonel William Rhett, with six small
craft heavily armed and a fire-ship, bore down upon the
enemy's fleet. But instead of waiting to fight, the French
commander hastily stood out to sea. This conduct, as well
as his whole delay, may be explained by the fact that an im-
portant part of his force had not come up. The best of the
French ships, carrying beside her marine force some 200
regular infantry, did not arrive until Friday, when, in igno-
rance of the repulse of her consorts, she entered Sewee Bay
and landed her soldiers. It was rushing into the lion's jaws.
The soldiers were promptly attacked and put to flight with
the loss of one third of their number, while at the same time
Colonel Rhett blockaded the bay and took the French ship
with all on board. Thus the ill-concerted attack ended in
ignominious defeat, with the loss of the best ship and 300
men out of 800.
After the halcyon days of Archdale there was quiet in
North Carolina until 1704, when Governor Johnson sent a
deputy, Robert Daniel, to rule there and set up the Church
of England, while making it hot for Dissenters. As nearly
all the Albemarle people came within the latter category,
there was trouble at once. It was allayed for a moment by
THE CAROLINA FRONTIER
275
the same proceedings in England which gave victory to the
Dissenters of South CaroHna. The Quakers of Al- Thomas
bemarle succeeded in getting Johnson to appoint the Qua-
a new deputy, Thomas Carey, in whom they had ^^^^^
confidence. But their confidence proved to have Caroima
been misplaced. A recent act of Queen Anne's Parliament
had prescribed certain test oaths for all public officials, with-
out making any reservation in behalf of the conscientious
scruples of Quakers. Carey, as deputy governor of North
Carolina, undertook to administer these test oaths, and at
LADY JOHNSON
once disgusted the Quakers, who sent John Porter to Eng-
land to plead with the lords proprietors. This Por- ,
ter, who was himself a Quaker, had a persuasive mission to
tongue. Acts of Parliament had not usually been "^'^"
heeded by the colonics ; it was by no means clear that they
were even intended to apply to the colonies without some
276 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
declaratory clause to that effect, or without being supple-
mented by a royal order in council. The lords proprietors
virtually admitted that the Queen Anne test oath act did not
apply to the colonies, when in response to Porter's petition
they removed Carey from office. At the same time they
suspended Governor Johnson's authority over North Carolina.
This action left that colony without a head, and there ought
to have been no delay in appointing a new governor, but
there was delay. On Porter's return William Glover was
chosen president of the council, which made him temporary
governor. Glover belonged to the Church of England, but
was believed to be opposed to the test oaths. We can fancy,
then, the wrath of the Quakers when he insisted upon ad-
ministering the oaths, precisely as the deposed Carey had
done ! The remedy was an instance of political homoeopathy,
AUiance or treatment with a hair of the dog that bit you.
Pm-ter"and ^^^ angry Portcr at once turned to Carey and en-
Carey tcrcd iuto an alliance with him from which dire
evils were to grow. Porter contrived to assemble various
resident deputies of the lords proprietors, and persuaded
them to depose Glover and reinstate Carey ; but Glover
refused to be bound by these irregular proceedings. He
continued to act as governor and issued writs for the election
of an assembly ; Carey did likewise, and anarchy reigned
supreme. Several of the principal colonists fled to Virginia
for safety. In 1710, after a delay of more than three years,
Edward ^^^ proprietors sent out Edward Hyde, a kinsman
Hyd^ of the queen's grandfather, the first Earl of Claren-
don, to govern North Carolina. His commission needed the
signature of the governor-in-chief at Charleston, but that
dignitary happened to die just before Hyde's arrival, so
that further delay was entailed in completing his commis-
sion. Early in 171 1, before receiving it, he issued writs for
an election. Carey made strenuous efforts to secure the
election of a majority of his friends and adherents to the
Commons House of Assembly, or House of Commons, as it
came to be called. Failing in this attempt he maintained
Longitude West from Greenwieh.75'
Currituck Jiilet
THE CAROLINA FRONTIER 277
that the election was illegal because Hyde had not received
his vouchers. The assembly retorted by summoning Carey
to render an account of all the public moneys which he had
used, and presently it issued orders for his arrest. Thus
driven to bay, Carey set up a rival government and cai-ey's
tried to arrest Hyde, who appealed to Virginia for rebellion
military aid. Virginia's response was prompt and effective.
The discomfited Carey fled to the wilderness between the
heads of Albemarle and Pamlico sounds. After a while he
ventured into Virginia, intending to take passage there for
England ; but he was arrested and sent to England to be
tried for treason. For lack of accessible evidence he seems
to have been released without trial, and thereupon he made
his way to the West Indies, where history loses sight of him.
With his disappearance from North Carolina tranquillity
seemed for the moment restored ; but more terrible scenes
were at hand.
In spite of all the turmoil the little colony had received
new settlers, and had begun to expand until North Carolina
was no longer synonymous with Albemarle. In the first
decade of the eighteenth century, numbers of Huguenots
settled in the neighbourhood of Bath, where the Taw River
widens into an arm of Pamlico Sound ; and parties Expansion
of Swiss, with many Germans from the Rhenish nortifern
Palatinate, under the lead of Baron de Graffenried, colony;
' arrival of
founded the town of New Berne, where the Trent Graffenried
River flows into the Neuse. The increase of population in
Albemarle, moreover, had carried the frontier from the
Chowan to the Roanoke. All this entailed some real and
still more prospective displacement of native tribes, and some
kind of mild remonstrance, after the well-known Indian
fashion, was to be expected. It was believed by many per-
sons at the time that Carey, on the occasion of his , , ,
-^ Improbable
flight to the w^ilderness between the Roanoke and charges
Taw rivers, solicited aid from the Indians, and that c£e"y and
his Quaker friend, John Porter, had gone as emis- ^^^^^^
sary to the Tuscaroras, " promising great rewards to incite
278 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS ^
them to cut off all the inhabitants of that part of CaroUna
that adhered to Mr. Hyde.''^ But a charge of such frightful
character needs strong evidence to make it credible, and in
this case there is little but hearsay and the vague beliefs of
men hostile to Carey and Porter, in a season of fierce politi-
cal excitement. No such infernal wickedness is needed to
account for the Indian outbreak. The ordinary incidents
connected with the advance of the white man's frontier into
the red man's country are quite sufficient to explain it. But,
without feeling it necessary to accuse Carey and Porter of
having urged the Indians to murder their fellow-countrymen,
we must still admit that the civil discord into which they had
plunged the colony had so weakened it as to offer the watch-
ful red men an excellent opportunity.
The Indians of North Carolina at the time which we are
treating belonged to three ethnic families. Along the coast,
Carolina northward from Cape Lookout to the Virginia line,
Algonquin ^^^^ Corccs, Pamlicos, Mattamuskeets, Pasquotanks,
tribes a^i^j Chowanocs all belonged to the Algonquin fam-
ily, and they could muster in all about 400 warriors. The
coast territory occupied by these tribes was continuous with
that which had once been controlled by the Powhatan Con-
federacy to the northward. The Corees, in Carteret Precinct,
were the southernmost of these Algonquin tribes. The Cape
Fear Indians, on the coast southwest of Carteret, belonged
to the great Sioux or Dakota family. From the meridian of
77° 30' westward to the Blue Ridge, and from the Santee
Sioyjj. River on the south to the Potomac on the north,
tribes ^hc country was occupied by Sioux tribes, of which
the names most familiarly known are the Waxhaws, Cataw-
1 Spotswood's Official Letters (Va.'Hist. Soc. Coll.), Richmond, 1882,
i. 106. Several other passages in Spotswood's letters of the summer
and autumn of 1711 express a similar belief. The opinion of Spots-
wood is adopted in Hawks, Histoiy of A'orth Caroli7ia. ii. 522-533, who
is followed by Moore, History of North Carolina^ i. 35. I am glad to
find that my opinion of the inadequacy of the evidence is shared by so
great an authority as Professor Rivers, in Winsor, Narr. and Crii. Hist.
V. 29S. '
THE CAROLINA FRONTIER
279
JTiis TTUip cUfcribiyz^ thtJitucUwn ufthtjiveral nations cf Indians tof?uJTMof
South CaroUna, was coppvf-d from a draught drcr.um, :^ painted on aDuT Skin'by ccn
Jndia,7i, Cuci^ue and prefnited to Francis Nickdyon £stfr CLovernouT of SovjtkCzrotijia,
l>y ic^m, it is ^coft Janrcbly deduxtted to Eis Royat Ki^TiSeoTyeFrinceirf'WaZes
INDIAN MAP OF SOUTH CAROLINA ABOUT 1 730
bas, Waterees, Saponis and Tutelos, IMonacans and IVIanaho-
acs.^ Now deep into this Sioux country, in North CaroHna,
there ran a powerful wedge of alien stock. The thick end
of the wedge covered the precincts of Bath and Craven, with
part of New Hanover ; and from its centre, at the mouth of
Trent River, it ran northwestward more than a hundred
miles, a little beyond the site of Raleigh, with an average
width of less than thirty miles. This wedge of ji-oquois
population consisted of the Tuscaroras, a large tribe t"^^^
of the dreaded Iroquois family, able to send forth at least
1200 warriors. Another tribe of Iroquois then dwelt in
^ See the learned essay by James Mooney, T]ie Sioiian Tribes of the
^rt J-/ (Bureau of Ethnology, Bulletin 22), Washington, 1894. Until re-
cent years it was not known that there were ev'er any Sioux in the
Atlantic region.
The Catawbas, etc., were supposed to be Muskogi.
28o OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
Bertie Precinct, between the Chowan and Roanoke rivers.
It was known as the Meherrins, and was really the remnant
of the fierce Susquehannocks, from whom Bacon had deliv-
ered Virginia in 1676. Its fighting numbers can hardly have
been much over a hundred. Just north of the Meherrins
was another small Iroquois tribe called Nottoways. To frame
our picture, although it takes us away from the scene of ac-
tion, we should add that the whole Alpine region west of the
Sioux country, from the Peaks of Otter as far southwest as
Lookout and Chickamauga mountains, belonged to the great
Iroquois tribe of Cherokees ; while to the south of Santee
Miisko'-i River, from Florida to the Mississippi River, we
tribes encouuter a fourth ethnic family, the Muskogi, re-
presented by such tribes as Choctaws and Chickasaws, the
Creek Confederacy, the Yamassees, and others.
Between the Tuscaroras and the numerous Sioux tribes
by which they were partly surrounded there was incessant
and murderous hostility. On the other hand, there was
amity and alliance, at least for the moment, between the
Tuscaroras and the Algonquin coast tribes whose lands the
palefaces were invading. The first murders of white set-
tlers occurred in Bertie Precinct at the hands of
Algonquin-
iroquois Mchcrrins, and seem to have been isolated cases.
conspiracy -^ . • i at
But a general conspiracy 01 Iroquois and Algonquin
tribes was not long in forming, and the day before the new
moon, September 22, 171 1, was appointed for a wholesale
massacre.
A few days before the appointed time the Baron de Graf-
fenried started in his pinnace from New Berne to explore
the Neuse River. His only companions were a negro ser-
vant and John Lawson, a Scotchman who for a dozen years
had been surveyor-general of the colony. Lawson was the
Capture of author of an extremely valuable and fascinating
and La\v-^ book ou Carolina and its native races, — a book
son which one cannot read without loving the writer and
mourning his melancholy fate.^ No man in the colony was
^ Lawson, A New Voyage to Carolina^ containing the Exact Descrip-
ANEW
VOYAGE
CARO^LINA;
Containing the
Exa3 Defcription and Natural Hijiory
OFT HA T
COUNTRY:
Together with the Prefent St^te thereof
A JOURNAL
Of a Thoufand Miles, Travel'd thro' feveral
Nations of INDIANS.
Giving a particular Account of their Cuftoms,
Manners, (iyc.
By John Law son, Gent. Surveyor-
General of North-Carolina.
LONDON:
Printed in the Year ijoj.
TITLli OF LAWSON's BOOK
282 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
better known by the Indians, who had frequently observed
and carefully noted the fact that his appearance in the woods
with his surve)'ing instruments was apt to be followed by
some fresh encroachment upon their lands. Lawson and
Graffenried had advanced but little way into the Tuscarora
wilderness when they were surrounded by a host of Indians
and taken prisoners. The Indians were very curious to learn
why they had come up the river ; perhaps it might indicate
that the people at New Berne had some suspicion of the in-
tended massacre and had sent them forward as scouts. If
any such dread beset the minds of the red men, it was prob-
ably soon allayed ; for it is clear that, had there been any
suspicion, Graffenried and Lawson w^ould not thus have ven-
tured out of all reach of support. The barbarians were two
or three days in making up their minds what to do.
Lawson s ^ o x
horrible Then they took poor Lawson, and thrust into his
skin all over, from head to foot, sharp splinters of
lightwood, almost dripping with its own turpentine, and set
him afire.^ The negro was also put to death with fiendish
torments, but Graffenried was kept a prisoner, perhaps in
order to be burned on some festal occasion.
Before the news of this dreadful affair could reach New
Berne, the blow had fallen, not only there, but also at Bath
and on the Roanoke River. Some hundreds of settlers were
massacred, — at New Berne 1 30 within two hours from the
signal. No circumstance of horror was wanting. Men
^, were slashed and scorched, children torn in pieces.
The mas- ° . r '
sacre, Sept. womcu impaled on stakes. The slaughter went on
' for three days. A war-chief called by the white
men Handcock seems to have been the leading spirit in this
Hon and A^atnral History of that Country : together with the Present
State thereof. And a Journal of a Tho?isand Miles travelled through
several uYations of Indians, giving a particular Account of Their Cus-
toms, Man7iers.ctc. London, 1709, small quarto, 258 pages.
^ For this and other atrocities see the letter of November 2. 171 1,
from Major Christopher Gale to his sister, printed in Nichols's Illustra-
tions of the Literary History of the Eighteenth Century, iv. 4S9-492.
THE CAROLINA FROxNTIER
283
concerted attack, but as usual in Indian warfare the concert
was incomplete.! An outlying detachment of Tus-
caroras in Bertie Precinct, whose head war-chief
was called Tom Blunt, took no part in the massa-
cre and remained on good terms with the whites. Perhaps
Aid from
Virginia
and South
Carolina
TOMB OF COLONEL WILLIAM BYRD AT WESTOVER
Blunt' s attitude may have been affected by nearness to Vir-
ginia and its able governor, Alexander Spotswood, who was
^ In Professor Rivers's version of the story there was either no gen-
eral conspiracy or only a sudden one conceived after the murder of
Lawson. He suggests that "being fearful of the consequences '' of
that act, the Indians "were hurried into the design of a widespread
massacre," etc. Early History of S 021th Carolina, p. 253. It may be
.so. Questions relating to concert between Indian tribes are apt to be
hard to settle. I think, however, that in this case the simultaneity of
attack at distant points is in favour of the generally accepted view of a
conspiracy arranged before Lawson's death.
284 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
certainly instrumental in keeping the Nottoways and Me-
herrins quiet. Through Blunt' s intervention, Spotswood se-
cured the release of Graffenried, after five weeks of captivity,
and it was not the fault of this valiant governor that Virginia
troops did not march against Handcock ; for his House of
Burgesses, after advising such a measure, behaved like a
"whimsical multitude," and refused to vote the necessary
funds. ^ Important aid, however, was obtained from South
Carolina, which had for the moment a more complaisant
assembly, and in Charles Craven a wise and able governor.
Advantage was taken of the deadly hatred which the Sioux
and Muskogi tribes bore to the Iroquois. With a small body
of white men, supported by large numbers of Muskogi
Creeks and Yamassees, and of Sioux Catawbas, Colonel John
Barnwell made a lonor and arduous winter march
Barnwell "
defeats the throu<rh morc than 2c;o miles of viro^in forest to the
ras, Jan. Ncusc Rivcr, wherc he encountered the Tuscaroras,
^ '^'^^^ and in an obstinate battle defeated them with the
loss of 400 warriors. Then Handcock, retiring behind a
stockade, sought and obtained terms from Barnwell ; a treaty
was made, and the South Carolina forces went home.
They had scarcely departed when the faithless red men
renewed their bloody work, and in March the distracted col-
ony was again obliged to ask for succour. Summer added
to the other horrors the scourge of yellow fever, which car-
ried off some hundreds of victims, among them Governor
Hyde. In December a force of 50 white men and 1000
Indians from South Carolina, under Colonel James Moore,
arrived on the scene, and in March, 171 3, Handcock was
^ Spotswood to the Lords of Trade and to Lord Dartmouth, Decem-
ber 28, 171 1, Official Letters, i. 129-138. This was one of the early in-
stances of the extreme difficulty of obtaining money from "whimsical "
legislatures for the common defence, which in later years led Parlia-
ment to the attempt to cure the evil by means of the Stamp Act. Even
in what he did accomplish on the border, Spotswood had to depend
upon voluntary contributions, just as money was raised by Franklin in .
1758 for the expedition against Fort Duquesne, and by Robert Morris
in the great crisis of Washington's Trenton-Princeton campaign.
-l^"-.
I
Jyr nsmrn^ Quu^- :£mrn.if
^rtnfm^-ad (M^r/^irF ]3M}?u
{y.nima:
^
W4^ &!i^^!kfmf&k
:••/
heai f.
''^r
nw-
^e
craven's ixstrlxtions
286 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
driven to cover on the site of the present town of Snow Hill,
Crushing in Greene County. His palisaded fort was stormed
fhe^Tusca- with great slaughter, and that was the end of the
roras ; mi- Indian DOwer in eastern North Carolina. The rem-
grationto '^
New York naut of defeated Tuscaroras withdrew to the upper
waters of the Roanoke, and thence migrated northward to
central New York, where they were admitted into the great
confederacy of their kinsmen, the Iroquois of the Long
House. Thus did the celebrated Five Nations become the
Six Nations.
After Hyde's death the government was ably administered
by one of the leading colonists, Thomas Pollock, as president
of the council. In 17 14 Charles Eden came out as governor.
Under the stress of war the colony had begun to issue paper
money, a curse from which it was destined long to suffer.
Charles ^^^^ somc Other evils were remedied. Liberty of
Eden conscience was secured to Dissenters, and in the
matter of test oaths the Quaker's affirmation was accepted
as an equivalent. Eden was a very popular governor and
managed affairs with ability until his death in 1722. His
name is preserved in that of the town of Edenton, in Chowan
County, which was in his time the seat of government.
We must now turn to South Carolina, where we have seen
Governor Craven using the Yamassee and Catawba warriors
as allies to be sent against the Tuscaroras. The year 171 3,
which witnessed the crushing defeat of the Tuscaroras, was
the year of the treaty of Utrecht, which ended the long war
of the Spanish Succession. Throughout that war the power-
The Ya- ful tribe of Yamassees had been steadfast friends
alfd^h? of t^^ English. From time to time they made in-
Spaniards cursious iuto Florida and brought away many a
Spanish captive to be burned alive, until government checked
their cruelty by offering a ransom for Spanish prisoners
delivered in safety at Charleston ; the prisoners were then
sent home on payment of the amount of their ransom by the
government at St. Augustine.
The Yamassee country was the last quarter from which
THE CAROLINA FRONTIER
287
the South CaroHnians would have expected hostilities to
come. But after 171 3, in spite of treaty obligations, the St.
Augustine government bent all its energies to stirring up all
the frontier tribes to a concerted attack upon the English.
Bribes in the shape of gaudy coats, steel hatchets, and fire-
arms were distributed among the chiefs ; the solemn palavers,
the banquets of boiled dog, the exchanges of wampum belts,
ORIGINAL BROAD SEAL OF SOUTH CAROLl.NA
the puffing of red clay pipes, the beastly orgies of fire-water,
may be left to our imagination, for we have no such minute
chroniclers here as the Jesuits of Canada. The out- Alliance of
come of it all was a grand conspiracy of Yamassees, tdbeT
Creeks, Catawbas, and Cherokees, with other less 1^^"^ ^^g^f
important tribes, comprising perhaps 7000 or 8000 oiinians
warriors, against the colony of South Carolina. But, as in
all such plans for concerted action among Indians, the
concert was very imperfect. Hostilities began in ^^^ Indian
April, 171 5, with the massacre of ninety persons ^^"^^^
at Pocotaligo, and lasted until February, 1716, by which time
400 Christians had lost their lives ; while the red men were
thoroughly vanquished, and the shattered remnant of the
Yamassees sought shelter in Florida.
Governor Craven, who had conducted this war with great
ability and courage, was a man of high character, and when
he returned to England in 171 7 his departure was mourned.
His successor, Robert Johnson, was son of Sir Nathaniel
288
OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
Johnson, who had formerly been governor. The younger
Robert Johnson, an able and popular official, was the last
Johnson govcmor of South Carolina under the lords propri-
etors. His romantic experiences in dealing with pirates will
be recounted in my next chapter. The chain of events
which brought about a political revolution in 17 19 admits of
brief description. The Indian war had laden South Carolina
with debt, and it was felt that the lords proprietors ought to
contribute something toward relieving the distress of a col-
ony which had yielded them a princely income. But the
lords proprietors did not take this view of the case. As a
means of discharging the public debt, the assembly laid a
revenue tariff upon imports, but the lords proprietors vetoed
it. The assembly proposed to raise money by selling Ya-
massee lands to settlers, but the lords proprietors laid claim
to the conquered territory for their own use and behoof.
Thus the situation was fast becoming unendurable.
In December, 17 18, war broke out again between Spain
and England. The Spaniards planned an expedition against
Therevoiu- Charleston, and Johnson asked the assembly for
fn^Southf^^ money. They proposed to raise it by collecting
Carolina rcvenuc Under the tariff act, in disregard of the
veto. Nicholas Trott, the chief justice, declared that this
would not do ; the courts would uphold delinquents who
'''^i^Jra,
should refuse to pay. The assembly denied the right of
the proprietors to veto their acts. The members consulted
their constituents and were sustained by them. Finally the
assembly resolved itself into a revolutionary convention, de-
posed the lords proprietors, and offered the governorship to
THE CAROLINA FRONTIER
289
Johnson as royal governor. On his refusal to take part in
such proceedings, the convention chose for provisional royal
governor Colonel James Moore, the hero of the Tuscarora
war. Johnson's only reliance, in such an emergency, was
the militia ; but the militia deserted him and went over to
the convention, and thus, in December, 1719, the popular
revolution was complete. When the news reached London,
<^
i^7
^ (f^C*^ '^^ '"'"^^^
//l
•^
COLONEL JAMES MOORE'S ORDER FOR SUPPLIES
the course of the assembly was approved by the crown, the
proprietary charter was declared to be forfeited, and our old
friend Sir Francis Nicholson was sent out to South Carolina
as royal governor.
Three years later there was renewal of civil discord in
North Carolina, after the death of Governor Eden and the
arrival of his successor, George Burrington, a vulgar ruffian
who had serv^ed a term in prison for an infamous assault
upon an old woman. Five years of turmoil, with End of the
changes of governors, followed. In 1728 Parlia- P^t-''''^
ment requested the king to buy Carolina, and ap- '"^"^
propriated money for the purpose. The proprietors were
290 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
Henry Somerset, Duke of Beaufort, and his brother, Lord
Charles Somerset ; Lord Craven ; Lord Carteret ; John Cot-
ton ; the heirs of Sir John Colleton ; James and Henry-
Bertie ; Mary Dawson and Elizabeth Moore. Lord Carteret
would not sell his share. All the others consented to sell
for a modest sum total scarcely amounting to ;^50,ooo ; and
so in 1729 the many-headed palatinate founded by Charles
n. came to an end, and in its place were the two royal pro-
vinces of North and South Carolina.
The careers of the two southern colonies whose be^in-
nings we have thus sketched were very different, and be-
Contrasts twccn their respective social characteristics the
tiiHw" contrasts were so great that it is impossible to make
Caroiinas general statements appUcable alike to the two. In
one respect the contrast was different from that which one
would observe in comparing Virginia with New England.
In New England a marked concentration of social life in
towns and villages co-existed with complete democracy, while
in Virginia the isolated life upon great plantations was con-
nected with an aristocratic structure of society. But be-
tween the two Caroiinas the contiast was just the reverse of
this. Of all the southern colonies. North Carolina w^as the
one in which society was the most scattered, and town life
the least developed, while it was also the one in which the
general aspect of society was the least aristocratic. On the
other hand, in South Carolina there was a peculiarly strong
concentration of social life into a single focus in Charleston ;
and in connection with this we find a type of society in
some respects more essentially aristocratic than in Virginia.
We shall find it worth our while to dwell for a moment upon
some of the immediate causes of these differences.
The history of North America affords an interesting illus-
Effect of tration of the way in which the character of a
S\?on-^ community may be determined for good or ill by
ditions geographical circumstances. There have been his-
torians and philosophers unable to see anything except such
THE CAROLINA FRONTIER
291
PLAN OF CHARLESTON. 1 732
physical conditions at work in determining the course of
human affairs. With such views I have small sympathy,^
but it would be idle to deny that physical conditions are very
important, and the study of them is highly instructive. But
for the peculiar physical conformation of its coast, North
1 See my Outlines of Cosmic F/tilosop/iy, ii. 200.
292 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
Carolina, rather than Virginia, would doubtless have been
the first American state. It was upon Roanoke Island that
the earliest attempts were made, but Ralph Lane in 1585
already came to the conclusion that the Chesapeake region
would afford better opportunities. First and foremost, the
harbourage was spoiled by the prevalent sandbars. Then
huge pine barrens near the coast hindered the first efforts of
the planter, and extensive malarial swamps imperilled his
Interior of Hfe.^ The first attempts at cultivation increased
Carolina ^^^ danger, which was of a kind that would yield
contrasted only to modem methods of drainage. It was only
with the •' . . ° ''
coast by the coast that the conditions were thus forbid-
ding. No American state has greater natural advantages
than North Carolina. For diversity of eligible soils, for
salubrity of climate, for variety of flora and fauna, she is un-
surpassed ; while for beauty and grandeur of scenery she
may well claim to be first among the states east of the
Rocky Mountains.^ John Lawson describes North Carolina
with enthusiasm as '' a delicious country, being placed in that
girdle of the world which affords wine, oil, fruit, grain, and
silk, with other rich commodities, besides a sweet air, mod-
erate climate, and fertile soil. These are the blessings,
under Heav^en's protection, that spin out the thread of life
to its utmost extent, and crown our days with the sweets of
health and plenty, which, when joined with content, render
the possessors the happiest race of men upon earth." ^ The
good Lawson, who was somewhat inclined to see things in
rose-colour, praised even the gentleness of the Indians, who
(as we have seen) returned the compliment after their man-
ner, by roasting him alive. But, with all this beauty and
^ Dr. Hugh Williamson, in his History of N'orth Cai-olina^ Philadel-
phia, 1812, ii. 173-21 1, gives a very interesting account of these mala-
rial swamps, their geological causes, and their effects upon the people.
2 For a sprightly account of the Alpine region of North Carolina and
its inhabitants, see Zeigler and Grosscup, The Heart of the Allegha-
nics, Raleigh, 1883.
"' Lawson's New Voyage to Carolina, T.ondon. 1718, p. 79.
-A. 31 ap of y most 1 inp ro'ved
Part of C^ROJvII>J^
£nalts^h Sdttlementj
xt Indian S^ttlimirttJ
THE CAROLINA FRONTIER 293
richness of the interior country, the obstacles presented at
the coast turned the first great wave of English colonization
into Virginia ; and thereafter the settlement of North Caro-
lina was determined largely, and by no means to its advan-
tage, by the social conditions of the older colony.
In its early days North Carolina was simply a portion of
Virginia's frontier ; and to this wild frontier the shiftless
people who could not make a place for themselves in Vir-
ginia society, including many of the " mean whites," flocked
in large numbers. In their new home they soon acquired
the reputation of being very lawless in temper, holding it to
be the chief end of man to resist all constituted authority,
and above all things to pay no taxes. In some respects, as
in the administration of -justice, one might have witnessed
such scenes as continued for generations to characterize
American frontier life. The courts sat oftentimes unkempt
in taverns, where the tedium of business was re- ^'^^
lieved by glasses of grog, while the judge's decisions were
not put on record, but were simply shouted by the crier
from the inn door or at the nearest market-place. It was not
until 1703 that a clergyman was settled in the colony, though
there were Quaker meetings before that time. As late as
1729 Colonel Byrd writes of Edenton, the seat of govern-
ment : " I believe this is the only metropolis in the Christian
or Mohammedan world where there is neither church, chapel,
mosque, synagogue, or any other place of public worship, of
any sect or religion whatsoever." In this country "they pay
no tribute, either to God or to Caesar." ^
According to Colonel Byrd, these people were chargeable
with laziness, but more especially the men, who let their
wives work for them. The men, he says, "make their wives
rise out of their beds early in the morning, at the a genre
same time that they lie and snore till the sun has coWi^^
run one third of his course and dispersed all the ^y^^
unwholesome damps. Then, after stretching and yawning
for half an hour, they light their pipes, and under the ]:)ro-
1 Byrd MSS.\. 59, 6^.
294 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
tection of a cloud of smoke venture out into the open air ;
though, if it happens to be never so Httle cold, they quickly
return shivering into the chimney corner. When the weather
is mild, they stand leaning with both their arms upon the
cornfield fence, and gravely consider whether they had best
go and take a small heat at the hoe, but generally find rea-
sons to put it off until another time. Thus they loiter away
their lives, like Solomon's sluggard, with their arms across,
and at the winding up of the year scarcely have bread to
eat." ^ Every one has met with the type of man here de-
scribed. In Massachusetts to-day you may find sporadic
examples of him in decaying mountain villages, left high and
dry by the railroads that follow the winding valleys ; or now
and then you may find him clustered in some tiny hamlet
of crazy shanties nestling in a secluded area of what Mr.
Ricardo would have called " the worst land under cultiva-
tion," and bearing some such pithy local name as " Hard-
scrabble " or "Satan's Kingdom." Such men do not make
the strength of Massachusetts, or of any commonwealth.
They did not make the strength of North Carolina, and it
should not be forgotten that Byrd's testimony is that of an
unfriendly or at least a satirical observer. Nevertheless there
is strong reason for believing that his portrait is one for
which the old Albemarle colony could have furnished many
sitters. Such people were sure to be drawn thither by the
legislation which made the colony an Alsatia for insolvent
debtors.
The industries of North Carolina in the early times were
purely agricultural. There were no manufactures. The sim-
plest and commonest articles of daily use were imported from
the northern colonies or from England. Agriculture was
conducted more wastefully and with less intelligence than in
any of the other colonies. In the northern counties tobacco
was almost exclusively cultivated. In the Cape Fear region
there were flourishing rice-fields. A great deal of excellent
timber was cut ; in particular the yellow pine of North Car-
1 Byrd MSS. i. 55.
O R,
VIRGINIA
riehly and truly valuca ^- more cfpeci-
ally rhc Sooth pare thereof ; O'VX. '
The fertile Carolana, and no btfe excel-
lent Ifleof R o A N o A K of Laritadc from
51 ro^7 Degr.relatingij^cmfancsof
lajfing infinite profifs to the Adventu-
rers and Pianccrs :
Humbly prcfcntcd as the Aufpicc of a beginning Yeare,
To the Parliamcnc of E N G L A N D ,
And CounccII of S x a x e.
By Edward Wiiliam s,Gent,
LONDON, Printed by Thcmxs Harper, for John Stephe»fon,
and arc. tobe f<;Id at his bhopon ludgate-Hill, at the Signe
06 the Sunnc » i 6 5 o»
?
TITLE OF WILLIAMS'S " VIRGO TRIUMPHANS"
296 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
olina was then, as now, famous for its hardness and durabil-
ity. Tar and turpentine were also produced in
large quantities. All this furnished the basis for a
flourishing foreign commerce ; but the people did not take
kindly to the sea, and the carrying trade was monopolized by
New Englanders. The fisheries, which were of considerable
value, were altogether neglected. All business or traffic
about the coast was carried on under perilous conditions ; for
pirates were always hovering about, secure in the sympathy
of many of the people, like the brigands of southern Italy in
recent times.
In the absence of manufactures, and with commerce so
little developed, there was no town life. Byrd describes
Edenton as containing forty or fifty houses, small and
cheaply built : " a citizen here is counted extravagant if he
has ambition enough to aspire to a brick chimney." ^ As
late as 1776 New Berne and Wilmington were villages of
five or six hundred inhabitants each. Not only were there
no towns, but there were very few large plantations with
Absence of stately mauor-houscs like those of Virginia. A
towns great part of the country was covered with its
primeval forest, in which thousands of hogs, branded with
their owners' marks, wandered and rooted until the time
came for hunting them out and slaughtering them. Where
rude clearings had been made in the wilderness there were
small, ill-kept farms. Nearly all the people were small farm-
ers, whose work was done chiefly by black slaves or by
white servants. The treatment of the slaves is said to have
been usually mild, as in Virginia. The white servants fared
better, and the general state of society was so low that when
their time of service was ended they had here a good chance
of rising to a position of equality with their masters. The
country swarmed with ruffians of all sorts, who fled thither
from South Carolina and Virginia ; life and property were
insecure, and lynch law was not unfrequently administered.
The small planters were apt to be hard drinkers, and among
1 Byrd MSS. i. 59.
THE CAROLINA FRONTIER
297
their social amusements were scrimmages, in which noses
were sometimes broken and eyes gouged out. There was a
great deal of gambling. ]^ut, except at elections and other
meetings for political purposes, people saw very little of
each other. The isolation of homesteads, which prevailed
over the South, reached its maximum in North Carolina.
It is not strange, then, that the colony was a century old
before it could boast of a printing-press, or that there were
BIRTHPLACE OF SIR WALTER RALEIGH AT HAYES IN DEVONSHIRE
no schools until shortly before the vv^ar for Independence. A
mail from Virginia came some eight or ten times in a year,
but it only reached a few towns on the coast, and down to
the time of the Revolution the interior of the country had
no mails at all.
All these consequences clearly followed from the character
of the emigration by which North Carolina was first peopled,
and that character was determined by its geographical posi-
tion as a wilderness frontier to such a commonwealth as Vir-
ginia. In the character of this emigration we find ^ frontier
the reasons for the comparatively democratic state democracy
of society. As there were so few large plantations and
298 OLD \'IRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
wealthy planters, while nearly all the white people were small
landowners, and as the highest class was thus so much lower
in dignity than the corresponding class in Virginia, it became
just so much the easier for the "mean whites" to rise far
enough to become a part of it. North Carolina, therefore,
was not simply an Alsatia for debtors and criminals, but it
afforded a home for the better portion of Virginia's poor
people. We can thus see how there would come about a
natural segregation of Virginia's white freedmen into four
classes : i. The most enterprising and thrifty would succeed
in maintaining a respectable existence in Virginia ; 2. A
much larger class, less thrifty and enterprising, would find it
easier to make a place for themselves in the ruder society of
North Carolina ; 3. A lower stratum would consist
Segrega- .
tion and of pcrsous without enterprise or thrift who re-
vh-gTnla*s^ maiucd in Virginia to recruit the ranks of " white
poorwhites |-^^g]^ . " ^ jj^g lowcst Stratum would comprise the
outlaws who fled into North Carolina to escape the hang-
man. Of the third class the eighteenth century seems to
have witnessed a gradual exodus from Virginia, so that in
1773 it was possible for the traveller, John Ferdinand Smyth,
to declare that there were fewer cases of poverty in propor-
tion to the population than anywhere else ''in the universe."
The statement of Bishop Meade in 1857, which was quoted
in the preceding chapter,^ shows that the class of "mean
whites " had not even then become extinct in Virginia ; but
it is clear that the slow but steady exodus had been such as
greatly to diminish its numbers and its importance as a social
feature. Some of these freedmen went northward into Penn-
sylvania,^ but most of them sought the western and southern
frontiers, and at first the southern frontier was a far more eli-
gible retreat than the western. Of this outward movement
of white freedmen the governor of Virginia wrote in 1717 :
" The Inhabitants of our frontiers are generally composed of
such as have been transported hither as Servants, and being
^ See above, p. 171 of the present volume.
2 Williain and Mary College Quarterly, ii. 146.
THE CAROLINA FRONTIER
299
MULBERRY CASTLE, BUILT IX I714, HOME OF THOMAS BROUGHTON
out of their time, . . . settle themselves where Land is to
be taken up . . . that will produce the necessarys of Life
with little Labour. It is pretty well known what Morals
such people bring with them hither, which are not like to be
much mended by their Scituation, remote from all spots-
places of worship ; they are so little concerned cmmt^or
about Religion, that the Children of many of the t'^^ "^^tter
Inhabitants of these ffrontier Settlements are 20, and some
30 years of age before they are baptized, and some not at
all. . . . These people, knowing the Indians to be lovers of
strong liquors, make no scruple of first making them drunk
and then cheating them of their skins ; on the other hand,
the Indians, being unacquainted with the methods of obtain-
ing reparation by Law, frequently revenged themselves by
the murder of the persons who thus treated them, or (accord-
ing to their notions of Satisfaction) of the next Englishman
they could most easily cutt off." ^ In this description we
may recognize some features of frontier life in recent times.
1 Spotsvvood to the Lords of Trade, April 5, 1717, Official Letters,
ii. 227.
300 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
We have hitherto considered only the earUest period of
North Carohna history. From about 1720 marked changes
besran to be visible. There was such a chang^e in the
character of the immigration as by and by to result in
more or less displacement of population. Since the bar-
barous devastation of the Rhenish Palatinate by French
troops in 1688-93 there had been much distress among those
worthy Germans, and after a while they sought to mend
,.„ ^, their fortunes by com in ^^ to America. This mio:ra-
IheGer- . . ^
man immi- tion Continued for many years. Some of these
* ' Germans settled in the Mohawk valley, where their
mark was placed upon the map in such town names as
Minden, Frankfort, and Oppenheim, and where they con-
tributed to our Revolutionary War one of its most pictur-
esque figures in Nicholas Herkimer. A great many came to
the Susquehanna valley in what was then the western part
of Pennsylvania, w^here their descendants still speak and
write that sweet old-fashioned language which we ought
hardly to call Pennsylvania Dutch, since it is a dialect of High
German besprinkled with English. From Pennsylvania large
numbers followed the valleys between the Blue Ridge and
the Allcghanies and made their way as far as South Caro-
lina. We have already noted the arrival of Germans, Swiss,
and Huguenots on the North Carolina seaboard early in the
century. Later on, in 1745, after the suppression of the
Jacobite rebellion, there came to North Carolina a powerful
reinforcement of Scotch Highlanders, among them many
of the clan ]\Iacdonald, including the romantic Flora Mac-
donald, who had done so much for the young fugitive prince.
But more important and far more numerous than all the
other elements in the population were the Scotch-Irish from
Ulster, who — goaded by unwise and unjust laws — began
coming in large numbers about 1719, and have played a
much greater and more extensive part in American history
than has yet been recognized. There was hardly one of the
thirteen colonies upon which these Scotch-Irish did not leave
their mark. To the story of their coming I shall revert in
I
. :^i
THE CAROLINA FRONTIER 301
my concluding chapter, where it forms the most important
part of the story of the westward advance of Vir- The
ginia. For the present it may suffice to point out J^nsh^'i^n^mi.
that in North CaroUna they had come, before the gration
Revolutionary War, to be the strongest element in the popu-
lation of the colony. Under the influence of these various
and excellent streams of immigration, the character of the
colony was gradually but effectively altered. Industry and
thrift came to prevail in the wilderness, and various earnest
Puritanic types of religion flourished side by side on friendly
terms.
As society in North Carolina became more and more or-
derly and civilized, the old mean white element, or at least
the more intractable part of it, was gradually Di^piace-
pushed out to the westward. This stream that !"^"* ^"^
^ ... . lurther dis-
had started from Old Virginia flowed for a while persaiof
, , . 1 r- 1 /^ T 11 POO'' whites
southwestward mto the South Carolma back-
country. But the southerly movement was gradually turned
more and more to the westward.
Always clinging to the half-savage frontier, these poor
white people made their way from North Carolina westward
through Tennessee, and their descendants may still be found
here and there in Arkansas, southern Missouri, and what is
sometimes known as the Egyptian extremity of Illinois.
From the South Carolina back-country, through Georgia,
they were scattered here and there among the states on the
Gulf of Mexico. Taken at its worst, this type of American
citizen is portrayed in Martin Chuzzlewit's unwelcome visitor,
the redoubtable Hannibal Chollop. Specimens of him might
have been found among the border ruffians led by the savage
Ouantrell in 1863 to the cruel massacre at Lawrence, and
among the desperadoes whose dark deeds used forty years
ago to give such cities as Memphis an unenviable promi-
nence in the pages of the "Police Gazette." But in the
average specimens of the type one would find not criminality
of disposition so much as shiftlessness. Of the stunted,
gaunt, and cadaverous " sandhillers " of South Carolina and
302 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS.
Georgia, a keen observer says that "they are incapable of
" Crack- ^'ipplyi^^to themselves steadily to any labour, and
ers," etc. their habits are very much like those of the old
Indians."^ The ''clay-eaters," who are said to sustain life
on crude whiskey and aluminous earth, are doubtless of sim-
ilar type, as well as the ''conches," "crackers," and "corn-
crackers " of various Southern states. All these seem to
represent a degraded variety or strain of the English race.
Concerning the origin of this degraded strain, detailed docu-
mentary evidence is not easy to get ; but the facts of its
distribution furnish data for valid inferences such as the
naturalist entertains concerning the origin and migrations of
some species of animal or plant.
There \s, first, the importation of degraded English hu-
manity in large numbers to the two oldest colonies in which
there is a demand for wholesale cheap labour ; secondly, the
substitution of black cheap labour for white ; thirdly, the
tendency of the degraded white humanity to seek the fron-
tier, as described by Spotswood, or else to lodge in seques-
tered nooks outside of the main currents of progress. These
data are sufficient in general to explain the origin and distri-
bution of the "crackers,"- but a word of qualification is
needed. It is not to be supposed that the ancestors of all
the persons designated as " crackers " were once white freed-
men in Virginia and Maryland ; it is more probable that this
class furnished a nucleus about which various wrecks of de-
cayed and broken-down humanity from many quarters were
gradually gathered. Nor are we bound to suppose that
every community of ignorant, semi-civilized white people in
the Southern states is descended from those white freed-
men. Prolonged isolation from the currents of thought and
feeling that sway the great world will account for almost any
extent of ignorance and backwardness ; and there are few
geographical situations east of the Mississippi River more
conducive to isolation than the southwestern portion of the
great Appalachian highlands. All these circumstances
' Olmsted's Slave States, p. 507.
THE CAROLINA FRONTIER
303
should be borne in mind in dealing with what, from what-
ever point of view, is one of the interesting problems of
American history.
The settlement of South Carolina took place under differ-
ent circumstances from those of the sister colony, and the
resulting state of society was very different. In
the earliest days there were many settlers of a
rough and turbulent character, which their peculiar
dealings with pirates, to be recounted in the following chap-
ter, did not tend to improve. But the Huguenots, in whose
Settlers of
South
Carolina
BRUTON PARISH CHURCH. FROM THE REAR
veins flowed some of the sturdiest blood of France, soon
came in great numbers. From the acquaintanceship of the
Berkeleys, the Ashleys, the Hydes, and others, there came a
certain number of Cavaliers ; but at the end of the seven-
teenth century the impulse which had carried thousands of
Cavaliers to Virginia had quite died out, and on the whole
304
OLD \'IRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
the general complexion of South Carolina, as regarded re-
ligion and politics, was strongly Puritan.
In one respect there is a resemblance by no means super-
ficial between the settlement of South Carolina and that of
Massachusetts. Most of the South Carolina settlers had
left their homes in Europe for reasons connected with re-
ligion ; and emigrants who quit their homes for such reasons
CAROLINA COMPANY MEDAL
Church-
men and
Dissenters
are likely to show a higher average of intelligence and
energy than the great mass of their fellow-countrymen who
stay at home. Calvinism was the prevailing form of theo-
logy in South Carolina, though there were some Lutherans,
and perhaps one fifth of the people may have belonged to
the Church of England, which was established by
the proprietary charter, and remained the state
church until 1776. We have seen how much dis-
turbance was caused by the attempts of the High Church-
men early in the eighteenth century to enforce conformity
on the part of the Dissenters ; but such attempts were soon
abandoned as hopeless, and a policy of toleration prevailed.
Though the Church of England was supported by public
taxation, yet the clergymen were not appointed to office, but
were elected by their congregations like the Dissenting
clergymen. Their education was in general very good, and
their character lofty ; and in all respects the tone of the
church in South Carolina was far higher than in Virginia.
At the outbreak of the Revolution the elected Episcopal
clergy of South Carolina were generally found on the side
THE CAROLINA FRONTIER 305
of the Whigs ; a significant contrast to the appointed Epis-
copal clergy of Virginia, whose Toryism was carried so far
as to ruin the reputation of their church. But the most
interesting feature connected with the establishment of the
English church was the introduction of the parish system of
local self-government in very much the same form in which
it existed in England. The vestries in South Carolina dis-
charged many of the functions which in New Eng- ^-j^g
land were performed by the tow^n meeting, — the vestries
superintendence of the poor, the maintenance of roads, the
election of representatives to the Commons House of Assem-
bly, and the assessment of the local taxes.
In one fundamental respect the political constitution of
South Carolina was more democratic than that of Virs^inia.
The vestrymen were elected yearly by all the tax-
r\ ■ ^ T 1 • 1 , The South
payers or the parish. In this they were analogous Carolina
to the selectmen of New England. Parish govern- ^^^^
ment in Virginia was in the hands of a close vestry ; in South
Carolina it was administered by an open vestry. Moreover,
while in Virginia the unit of representation in the legislature
was the county, in South Carolina it was the parish. Now
the South Carolina parish was of purely English origin, not
of French origin like the parishes of Louisiana. The Loui-
siana parish is analogous to a county, that of South Carolina
was nearly equivalent to a township.^ Although the colony
had such a large proportion of French settlers, and of such
marked ability and character, the development of its govern-
mental institutions was as thoroughly English as if no
Frenchman had ever set foot upon its soil. The approxima-
tion to the New England township is interesting. The free-
men of South Carolina, with their open vestry, possessed
what the smaller landed proprietors of Virginia in Bacon's
rebellion strove for in vain.
In this connection it is worth while to observe that, from
the first decade of the eighteenth century, a strong interest
1 Cf. Ramaf^e, " Local Government and Free Schools in South Car-
olina," y^Z/wi- Hopkins Univ. Studies^ vol. i.
3o6 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
in popular education was felt in South Carolina. The same
obstacles to schools in the rural districts that we have
already observed in Virginia prevented the growth of any-
thing like the public school system of New England. But of
Free private free schools in the colony of South Carolina
schools there were quite a number, and their quality was
very good. The first was established in Charleston in 1712,
and it not only taught the three Rs, along with bookkeeping,
but it had classes in Greek and Latin. Private donations
were encouraged by a provision that every giver of ^20
** could nominate a scholar to be taught free for five years."
The commissioners of the school also appointed twelve
scholars. Free schools were afterward erected by private
bequests and subscriptions at Dorchester, Beaufort, Ninety-
Six, and in many other places. A noteworthy instance was
afforded by St. Thomas parish, where ''James Childs be-
queathed ^600 toward erecting a free school, and the pa-
rishioners, by local subscription, increased the amount to
;£28oo." ^ In such beginnings there lay the possibilities of
a more healthy development than can be secured by the pre-
valent semi-socialist method of supporting schools by public
taxation ; ^ but the influences of negro slavery were adverse
to any such development.
The economic circumstance which chiefly determined the
complexion of society in South Carolina was the cultivation
of rice and indigo. The value of the former crop was dis-
covered in 1693, when a ship from Madagascar, accidentally
stopping at Charleston, had on board a little bag of rice,
which was planted with very notable success. Rice was not
Rice and ^^^^S '^^^ becoming the great staple of the colony,
indigo -^y J 740 it yielded more than ^200,000 yearly.
Indigo was next in importance. Much corn was raised, and
^ Ramage, op. cit.
^ The remarks of Herbert Spencer on state education, in his Social
Statics, revised ed., London, 1892, pp. 153-184, deserve most careful
consideration by all who are interested in the welfare of their fellow-
creatures.
THE CAROLINA FRONTIER 307
cattle in large numbers were exported to the West Indies.
Some attention was paid to silk, flax, and hemp, tobacco,
olives, and oranges. Some cotton was raised, but that crop
did not attain paramount importance until after the inven-
tion of the gin and the development of great factories in
England.
Rice and indigo absorbed the principal attention of the
colony, as tobacco absorbed the attention of Virginia. Man-
ufactures did not thrive. Every article, great or small,
whether a mere luxury or an article of prime necessity, that
had to be manufactured, was imported, and paid for with rice
or indigo. This created a very prosperous trade in Charles-
ton. The planters did not deal directly with the shipmasters,
as in Virginia, but sold their crops to the merchants in
Charleston, whence they were shipped, sometimes in British,
sometimes in New England vessels, to all parts of the world.
Now the cultivation of rice and the cultivation of indigo
are both very unhealthy occupations. The work in the
swamps is deadly to white men. But after 171 3 negroes
were brought to South Carolina in such great numbers that
an athletic man could be had for ^40 or less. Every such
negro could raise in a single year much more indigo or rice
than would repay the cost of his purchase, so that it was
actually more profitable to work him to death than to take
care of him. Assuming, then, that human nature in South
Carolina was neither better nor worse than in other parts of
the civilized world, we need not be surprised when told that
the relations between master and slave were noticeably dif-
ferent from what they were in Virginia, Maryland, and North
Carolina. The negroes of the southern colony were reputed
to be more brutal and unmanageable than those to the north-
ward, and for this there is a twofold explanation. In the first
place, slaves newly brought from Africa, half-savage hea-
then, were less tractable than African slaves who had lived
many years under kindly treatment among white people, and
far less tractable than slaves of the next generation born
in America. Such newcomers as had been tribal chiefs or
3o8 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
elders in their native country were noted as especially inso-
lent and insubordinate. 1 In many respects the
Some char- t • i i i i i r •
acteristics ncgro has proved quickly amenaole to the sottennig
Carolina influences of civilized life, and to the teachings of
slavery Christianity, however imperfectly apprehended. In
the second place, the type of Virginia slavery was old-fash-
ioned and patriarchal, while South Carolina slavery was of
the modern and commercial type. The slaves on a Virginia
plantation were like members of a great family, while in a
South Carolina rice swamp their position was much more
analogous to that of a gang of navvies. This circumstance
was closely connected with a peculiarity of South Carolina
life, in which it afforded a striking contrast to the slave
states north of it. Except in the immediate neighbourhood
of Charleston, few if any planters lived on their estates. The
reason for this was doubtless the desire to escape the intense
heat and unwholesome air of the newly tilled lowlands. The
latitude of South Carolina is that of Morocco, and it was
natural for settlers coming from the cool or chilly climates
of France and England to seek such relief as the breezes of
Charleston harbour could afford.- As a rule, the planters
had houses in Charleston and dwelt there the year round,
making occasional visits to their plantations, but leaving
them in the mean while to be managed by overseers. Thus
the slaves, while set to much harder labour than in Virginia,
were in the main left subject to the uncurbed tyranny of
underlings, which is apt to be a very harsh kind of tyranny.
The diminutions in their numbers, whether due to hardship
or to whatever cause, were repaired by fresh importations
from Africa, so that there w-as much less improvement in
^ Bruce, Economic History of Virginia, ii. io8.
2 Americans are apt to forget how much nearer the equator the
familiar points in this country are than familiar points in Europe. Al-
thougli every family has an atlas, many persons are surprised when
their attention is called to the facts that Great Britain is in the latitude
of Hudson Bay, that Paris and Vienna are further north than Quebec,
that Montreal is nearly opposite to Venice, Boston to Rome, Charleston
to Tripoli, etc.
o
'ifunvja
3IO OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
their quality than under the milder patriarchal system. The
dog that is used to kicks is prone to snarl and bite, and the
slaves of South Carolina were an object of dread to their
masters, all the more so because of their overwhelming num-
bers. Nothing can indicate more forcibly the social differ-
ence between the two Carolinas than the different ratios
of their black to their white population. About 1760 the
inhabitants of North Carolina were reckoned at 200,000, of
whom one fourth were slaves ; those of South Carolina at
150,000, of whom nearly or quite three fourths were slaves.
In the former case the typical picture is that of a few black
men raising tobacco and corn on the small plantation w^here
the master lives ; in the latter case it is that of an immense
gang toiling in a rice swamp under the lash of an overseer.
Care should always be taken not to exaggerate such con-
trasts, but after making all allowances the nature of the
difference is here, I think, correctly indicated.
In 1740, while war was going on between Spain and Eng-
land, there was a brief but startling insurrection of slaves in
South Carolina. It was suspected that Spanish emissaries
were concerned in it. However that may have been, the
occasion of such a war might well seem to the negroes to
furnish a s^ood opportunity. Under the lead of a
Negro in- ^ ^ ^ , -^
surrection fellow named Cato the insurgents gathered near
^ '^° Stono Inlet and began an indiscriminate massacre of
men, women, and children. The alarm was quickly given and
the affair was soon brought to an end, though not until too
many lives had been lost. The news arrived in Wilton while
the people were attending church. It was the custom of the
planters to carry rifles and pistols, and very little time was
lost before Captain Bee led forth a well-equipped body of
militia in quest of the rebels. They were overtaken in a
large field, all in hilarious disorder, celebrating their bloody
achievement with potations of rum ; in which plight they
were soon dispersed with slaughter, and their ringleaders
were summarily hanged.^
^ S'lmms'' Histojy of South Carolina^ '^. 106; Williams, History of
the Negro Race hi A)tierica, i. 299.
THE CAROLINA P^RONTIER 311
The habit of carrying fire-arms to church was part of a
general system of patrol which grew out of the dread in
which the planters lived. The chief business of the patrol
was to visit all the plantations within its district at least
once a fortnight and search the negro quarters for concealed
weapons or stolen goods. ^ The patrolmen also hunted fugi-
tives, and were authorized to flog stray negroes wherever
found. The ordinary death penalty for the black man was
hanging. Burning at the stake was not unknown,
but, as I have already mentioned, there is one in-
stance of such an execution in Massachusetts, and there are
several in New York, so that it cannot be cited as illustrating
any peculiarity of the South Carolina type of slavery. The
most hideous instance of cruelty recorded of South Carolina
is that of a slave who for the murder of an overseer was left
to starve in a cage suspended to the bough of a tree, where
insects swarmed over his naked flesh and birds had picked
his eyes out before the mercy of death overtook him.^ That
such atrocities must have been condemned by public opinion
is shown by the act of 1740, prescribing a fine of ^700 cur-
rent money for the wilful murder of a slave by his master or
any other white man ; .£350 for kiUing him in a sudden heat
of passion, or by undue correction ; and £100 for inflicting
mutilation or cruel punishment.^
The circumstance that most of the great planters had
houses in Charleston went along with the brisk foreign trade
to make it a very important town, according to the American
standards of those days. In 1776, with its population of
1 Whitney, " Government of the Colony of South Carolina," Johns
Hopkins Univ. Studies, xiii. 95 ; Statutes of South Carolina^ iii. 395-
399, 456-461, 568-573-
2 The story is told by St. John de Crevecoeur, in his Letters from an
American Far?ner, Philadelphia, 1793, pp. 178-180. Crevecoeur was
on his way to dine with a planter when he encountered the shocking
spectacle. He succeeded in passing a shell of water through the bars
of the cage to the lips of the poor wretch, who thanked him and begged
to be killed ; but the Frenchman had no means at hand.
^ Statutes of South Carolina, vii. 410, 411.
312 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
15,000 souls, it ranked as the fifth city of the United States.
Life in Charleston had a theatre, while concerts, balls, and
Charleston dinner parties gave animation to its social life. It
was a general custom with the planters to send their chil-
dren to Europe for an education, and it was said that a
knowledge of the world thus acquired gave to society in South
Carolina a somewhat less provincial aspect than it wore in
other parts of English America.^ The sharpest contrast,
however, was with its next neighbour. As South Carolina
may have been in some respects the most cosmopolitan of
the colonies south of Pennsylvania, so on the other hand
North Carolina was certainly the most sequestered and pro-
vincial. As I observed at the beginning of this chapter, for
Contrast the development of the frontier or backwoods phase
the'tw" ^f American life two conditions were requisite :
Caroiinas first, the Struggle with the wilderness ; secondly,
isolation from European influences. This combination of
conditions was not realized in the case of the first settlers of
Virginia and Maryland, of the Puritans in New England, or
the Dutch in New Netherland, or the Quakers in Pennsyl-
vania. In all these cases there was more or less struggle
with the wilderness, but the contact with European influ-
ences was never broken. With North Carolina it was differ-
ent ; the direct trade with England was from the outset
much less than that of the other colonies. For a time its
chief seaport was Norfolk in Virginia ; European ideas
reached it chiefly through slow overland journeys ; and it
was practically a part of Virginia's backwoods. On the
other hand, South Carolina, focussing all its activities in the
^ " La plupart des riches habitans de la Caroline du Sud, ayant etd
elevds en Europe, en ont apporte plus de gout, et des connaissances
plus analogues a nos moeurs, que les habitans des provinces du Nord,
ce qui doit leur donner generalement sur ceux-ci de Favantage en so-
cidte. Les femmes semblent aussi plus animees que dans le Nord,
prennent plus de part a la conversation, sont davantage dans la societe.
. . . Elles sont jolies, agreables, piquantes ; mais ... les hommes et
les femmes vieillissent promptement dan ce climat." La Rochefoucauld-
Liancourt. Voyaj^c' dans les Etats-Uiiis. Paris. T709. iv. 13.
I
THE CAROLINA FRONTIER 313
single seaport of Charleston, was eminently accessible to
European influences. Its life was not that of a wilderness
frontier, like its northern neighbour. But its military posi-
tion, with reference to the whole Atlantic seaboard, was that
of an English march or frontier against the Spaniards in
Florida and the West Indies.
The contrast above indicated applies only to lowland South
Carolina, the only part with which the earlier decades of the
eighteenth century are concerned. At that time the high-
lands of both Carolinas remained in the possession of the
Cherokees, so that they have nothing to do with my compari-
son. At a later time that whole highland region became a
wilderness frontier, the scene of the civilized white man's
backwoods life. All the way, indeed, from Pennsylvania to
Georgia, along the Appalachian chain, there was a strong
similarity of conditions and of life, in marked contrast with
the divergencies along the coast region, in stepping from
Pennsylvania into Maryland, thence into Virginia, and so
on ; but that life along the coast which approached most
nearly to the life of the interior wilderness was to be seen
about Albemarle and Pamlico sounds.
The mention of Georgia serves to introduce the statement
that, wdth the growth of civilization on the South Carolina
coast, the need for a buffer against the Spaniards began to
be more and more strongly felt. We have seen how the
vexatious Yamassee war of 171 5 was brought on The Span-
by Spanish intrigues. After the overthrow of the ^^'^ frontier
Yamassees the troubles did not entirely cease. For some
years the Indians continued to be a source of annoyance,
and in their misdeeds the secret hand of Spain was discern-
ible. The multitude of slaves, too, in regions accessible to
Spanish influence, greatly increased the danger.
In 1732 the state of affairs on the South Carolina frontier
attracted the attention of a ofallant Ens^lish soldier whose
name deserves a very high place among the heroes of early
American history. James Oglethorpe, an officer who in
314 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
youth had served with distinction under Prince Eugene
T asfainst the Turks,^ conceived the plan of freeing
James & ' i fc>
Oglethorpe i\^q insolvent debtors who crowded English prisons
by carrying them over to America and establishing a colony
which might serve as a strong military outpost against the
Spaniards. The scheme was an opportune one, as the
South Sea Bubble and other wild projects had ruined hun-
dreds of English families. The land between the Savannah
and Altamaha rivers, with the strip starting between their
two main sources and running westward to the Pacific
Ocean,^ was made over to a board of trustees, and was
named Georgia, in honour of the king, George 11. The
charter created a kind of proprietary government, but with
powers less plenary and extensive than had been granted to
the proprietors of Maryland, Carolina, and Pennsylvania.
Oglethorpe was appointed governor ; German Protestants
and Highlanders from Scotland were brought over in large
numbers ; and a few people from New England joined in the
enterprise, and founded the town of Sunbury. All laws
were to be made by the trustees, and the settlers were at
first to have no representative assembly and no voice in
making the government. But this despotic arrangement
was merely temporary and provisional ; it was intended that
after the lapse of one-and-twenty years the colony should be
^ Boswell has a characteristic anecdote of Oglethorpe, who was very
high-spirited, but extremely sensible. When a lad of nineteen or so,
he was dining one day with a certain Prince of Wiirtemberg and
others, when the insolent prince fillipped a few drops of wine into his
face. " Here was a nice dilemma. To have challenged him instantly
might have fixed a quarrelsome character upon the young soldier ; to
have taken no notice of it might have been considered as cowardice.
Oglethorpe, therefore, keeping his eye upon the prince and smiling.
. . . said. ' That 's a good joke, but we do it much better in England,'
and threw a whole fjlass of wine in the prince's face. An old general,
who sat by, said, ' II a bien fait, mon prince, vous I'avez commence ; '
and thus all ended in good humour." L(f£ of Johnson, ed. Birkbeck
Hill, ii. i8o.
- See the charter, in Jones's History of Georgia, i. 90.
THE CAROLIxXA FRONTIER
315
held to have come of age, and should choose its own govern-
ment. Military drill was to be rigidly enforced. Slave-
labour was absolutely prohibited, as was also the sale of
intoxicating liquors ; so that Maine cannot rightfully claim
the doubtful honour of having been the first American com-
monwealth to try the experiment of a " Maine Law." Such
were the beginnings of Georgia, and in the Spanish Beginnings
war of 1739 it quite justified the foresight of its ^^ Georgia
founder. The valour of the Highlanders and the admirable
generalship of Oglethorpe were an efficient bulwark for the
older colonies. In, 1742 the Spaniards were at last decisively
SAVANNAH IN 1 741
defeated at Frederica, and from that time forth until the
Revolution the frontier was more quiet. But proprietary
government in Georgia fared no better than in the Carolinas.
In 1752, one year before the coming of age, the government
by trustees was abandoned. Georgia was made a crown
colony, and a representative government was introduced
simultaneously with negro slavery and Jamaica rum.
The social condition of colonial Georgia does not present
many distinctive or striking features. In 1770 the popula-
tion numbered about 50,000, of which perhaps one half were
3i6 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER xNTEIGHBOURS
slaves. There was no town life. Rice and indigo were the
principal crops, and there was a large export of lumber.
Near Savannah there were a few extensive plantations, with
fine houses, after the Virginia pattern ; but most of the
estates were small, and their owners poor. The Church of
England was supported by the government, but the clergy
had little influence. The condition of the slaves differed
but slightly, if at all, from their condition in South Carolina.
There were a good many "mean whites," and there was,
perhaps, more crime and lawlessness than in the older colo-
nies. The roads were mere Indian trails, and there were
neither schools, nor mails, nor any kind of literature. Colo-
nial Georgia, in short, with many of the characteristics of a
"wild West," stood in relation to South Carolina somewhat
as North Carolina to Virginia. It was essentially a frontier
community, though the activity of Savannah as a seaport
somewhat qualified the situation.
A comparative survey of Old Virginia's neighbours shows
how extremely loose and inaccurate is the common habit of
alluding to the old Cavalier society of England as if it were
characteristic of the southern states in general. Equally
CavaUers loosc and ignorant is the habit of alluding to Puri-
?rns^once tauism as if it were peculiar to England. In point
more of fact the Cavalicr society was reproduced no-
where save on Chesapeake Bay. On the other hand, the
English or Independent phase of Puritanism was by no
means confined to the New England colonies. Three
fourths of the people of Maryland were Puritans ; English
Puritanism, with the closely kindred French Calvinism,
swayed South Carolina ; and in our concluding chapter we
shall see how the Scotch or Presbyterian phase of Puritanism
extended throughout the whole length of the Appalachian
region, from Pennsylvania to Georgia, and has exercised in
the southwest an influence always great and often predomi-
nant. In the South to-day there is much more Puritanism
surviving than in New England.
GEORGIA, COAST SETTI.KMF.XTS BEFORE 1 743
3i8 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
But before we join in the westward progress from tide-
water to the peaks of the Blue Ridge and the Great Smoky
range, we must look back upon the ocean for a moment and
see how it came to be infested with buccaneers and pirates,
and what effects they wrought upon our coasts.
CHAPTER XVI
THE GOLDEN AGE OF PIRATES
At no other time in the world's history has the business
of piracy thriven so greatly as in the seventeenth century
and the first part of the eighteenth. Its golden age may be
said to have extended from about 1650 to about 1720. In
ancient times the seafaring was too limited in its area to
admit of such wholesale operations as went on after the
broad Atlantic had become a highway between the Old
World and the New. No doubt those Cretan and Cilician
pirates who were suppressed by the great Pompey
were terrible fellows. After the destruction of and the
Carthage they controlled the Mediterranean from ^"^^ ^^
the coast of Judaea to the Pillars of Hercules, and captured
the cargoes of Egyptian grain till at times Rome seemed
threatened with famine. Roman commanders one after
another went down before them, until at length, in the year
B. c. Gy, Pompey was appointed dictator over the iMediter-
ranean and all its coasts for fifty miles inland. The dimen-
sions of his task are indicated by the fact that in the course
of that year he captured 3000 vessels, hanged or crucified
10,000 pirates, and made prisoners of 20,000 more, whom he
hustled off to hard labour in places far from the sound of
surf. Nevertheless those ancient pirates worked on a much
smaller scale than the buccaneers of America. In ^.
Piracy on
the Indian Ocean and adjacent stretches of the the Indian
Pacific there has always been much piracy until the Meditc'rra-
recent days when F'rench and English ships have "^'^" ^^^
patrolled those waters. The fame of the Chinese and ^Malays
as sea robbers is well established. So too with those vile
320 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
communities north of Sahara which we used to call the Bar-
bary States, their eminence in crime is unsurpassed. From
the fifteenth century to the first years of the nineteenth,
piracy was one of their chief sources of revenue ; their ships
were a terror to the coasts of Europe, and for devilish
atrocity scarcely any human annals are so black as those of
Morocco and Algiers. But as these Mussulman pirates and
those of eastern Asia were as busily at work in the seven-
teenth century as at^any other time, their case does not im-
pair my statement that the age of the buccaneers was the
Golden Age of piracy. The deeds done in American waters
greatly swelled, if they did not more than double, the volume
of maritime robbery already existing.
If we look into mediaeval history for examples to compare
with those already cited, we may observe that the Scandina-
vian Vikino:s, such men as sailed with Rolf and
TheVik- *=* '
ingswere Guthomi and Swegen Forkbeard, are sometimes
not pirates ■, ^ .^ -rr i ^ • r j • r
in the strict spokcu 01 as piratcs. it such a classmcation ot
sense them wcrc correct, we should be obliged to assign
the Golden Age of piracy to the ninth and tenth centuries,
for surely all other slayings and plunderings done by sea-
faring men shrink into insignificance beside the operations
of those mighty warriors of the North. But it is neither a
just nor a correct use of language that would count as pirates
a race of men who simply made war like all their contempo-
raries, only more effectively. The warfare of the Vikings
was that of barbarous heathen, but it was not criminal unless
it is a crime to be born a barbarian. The moral difference
between killing the enemy in battle and murdering your
neighbour is plain enough. If there is any word which im-
plies thorough and downright criminality, it is pirate. In
the old English law the pirate was declared an enemy to
Biackstone the humau race, with whom no faith need be kept,
cdme^of *' As therefore," says Biackstone, ''he has re-
piracy nouuccd all the benefits of society and government,
and has reduced himself afresh to the savage state of nature
by declaring war against all mankind, all mankind must de-
THE GOLDEN AGE OF PIRATES 321
clare war against him, and every community hath a right by
the rule of self-defence to inflict that punishment upon him
which every individual would in a state of nature have been
otherwise entitled to do for any invasion of his person or
property." ^ Pirates taken at sea were commonly hung from
the yard-arm without the formality of a trial, and on land
neither church nor shrine could serve them as sanctuary. It
was also well understood that they were not included in the
benefit of a general declaration of pardon or amnesty.
The pirate thus elaborately outlawed was anybody who
participated in violent robbery on the high seas, or in crim-
inal plunder along their coasts. The details of such character
crimes were apt to be full of cruelty. The capture °^ p'^^'^y
of a merchant ship with more or less bloodshed was usually
involved, and such bloodshed was wholesale murder. If pro-
visions were less than ample, the survivors were thrown
overboard, or set ashore on some lonely island and left to
starve, and this often happened. Murders from sheer wan-
tonness were not uncommon, and the sack of a coast town
or village was attended with nameless horrors. On the whole
we cannot wonder that public opinion should have branded
the skippers and crews who did such things as the very
worst of criminals. One can see that in old trials for piracy,
as in trials for witchcraft, the dread and detestation were often
so great as to outweigh the ordinary English presumption
that an accused person must have the benefit of the doubt
until proved guilty. Desire to extirpate the crime became
a stronger feeling than reluctance to punish the innocent.
The slightest suspicion of complicity with pirates brought
with it extreme peril.
When we thus recall what the crime of piracy really was,
we cannot fail to see how reprehensible is the language
sometimes applied, by writers who should know better, to
the noble sailors who in the days of Queen Elizabeth saved
England from the Spanish Inquisition.^ Had it not been
1 Blackstone's Com7ne?ita?'ies, bk. iv. chap. 5.
2 See above, vol. i. p. 26.
VOL. II
322 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
for the group of devoted men among whom Sir Francis
To call the ^i"3.ke was foremost, there was imminent danger
Eliza- three hundred years ago that human freedom mieht
bethan sea j >^ o
kings '-pi- perish from off the face of the earth. The name
silly and of Drake is one that should never be uttered
outrageous ^y^^j^Q^^t revcrence, especially by Americans, since
it is clear that but for him our history would not have begun
in the days of Elizabeth's successor. His character was far
loftier than that of Nelson, the only other sea warrior whose
achievements have equalled his. His performances never
transgressed the bounds of legitimate warfare as it was con-
ducted in the sixteenth century. Among his contemporaries
he was exceptionally humane, for he would not permit the
wanton destruction of life or property. To use language
which even remotely alludes to such a man as a pirate is to
show sad confusion of ideas. As for Elizabeth's other great
captains, — such as Raleigh, Cavendish, Hawkins, Gilbert,
Grenville, Frobisher, Winter, and the Howards, — few of
them rose to the moral stature of Drake, but they were very
far above the level of freebooters. It seems ridiculous that
it should be necessary to say so. Their business was war-
fare, not robbery.
It is nevertheless undeniable that naval warfare in the
days of Elizabeth stood on a lower moral plane than naval
Features of warfare in the days of Victoria, and things were
warfare out donc without hesitation then that would not be
of which tolerated now. Wars are uHy thins-s at best, but
pnac}' o y o
could grow civilized people have learned how to worry through
them without inflicting quite so much misery as formerly.
Three centuries ago not only were the usages more harsh
than now, but the methods of conducting maritime warfare
contained a feature out of which, under favouring circum-
stances, piracy afterward grew. There can be no doubt that
the seventeenth century was the golden age of pirates be-
cause it came immediately after the age of Elizabeth. The
circumstances of the struggle of the Netherlands and Eng-
land against the greatest military power ni the world made
THE GOLDEN AGE OF PIRATES 323
it necessary for the former to rely largely, and the latter
almost exclusively, upon naval operations. Dutch ships on
the Indian Ocean and English ships off the American coasts
effectually cut the Spaniard's sinews of war. Now in that
age ocean navigation was still in its infancy, and the work
of creating great and permanent navies was only beginning.
Government was glad to have individuals join in the work
of building and equipping ships of war, and it was accord-
ingly natural that individuals should expect to reimburse
themselves for the heavy risk and expense by tak- privateer-
ing a share in the spoils of victory. In this way ^"s
privateering came into existence, and it played a much more
extensive part in maritime warfare than it now does. The
navy was but incompletely nationalized. Into expeditions
that were strictly military in purpose there entered some of
the elements of a commercial speculation, and as we read
them with our modern ideas we detect the smack of bucca-
neering.
To this it should be added that fighting between hostile
states occurred much more frequently than now without a
formal declaration of war. There were times in
righting
the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries when the without de-
. , . , , 7. . ^ daring war
hatred between the commercial rivals, Venice and
Genoa, w^as so fierce that whenever their ships happened to
meet on the Mediterranean they went to fighting at sight,
yet those bloody scrimmages did not always lead to war. In
the youth of Christopher Columbus it was seldom that
Christian and Turkish ships met without bloodshed, on the
assumption that war was the normal state of things between
Crescent and Cross. So when the Dutch were contending
against Philip II. the English often helped their heroic
cousins by capturing Spanish ships long before war was de-
clared between Philip and Elizabeth. Such laxity of inter-
national usage made it easy to cross the line which demar-
cates privateering from piracy.
It should also be remembered that the ships of neutral
nations had no such protection as now. The utmost that is
324 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
now permitted the belligerent ship is to search the neutral
Lack of ship for weapons or other materials of war bound
FTneutrai ^^^ ^^ euemy's port, and to confiscate such materi-
siiips als without further injury to person or property.
In the sixteenth century it was allowable to confiscate the
neutral ship bound for an enemy's port, sell her cargo for
prize money, and hold her crew and passengers for ransom.
The milder doctrine that any kind of goods might be seized,
but not the shijD and her people, had been propounded but
was not yet generally accepted.
All the circumstances here mentioned were favourable to
the growth of piracy. At the same time the temptations
were unusually strong. There was a vague widespread be-
s anish ^^^^ ^^^^ America was a land abounding in treasure,
treasure ^.ud there wcrc facts enough to explain such a be-
lief. Immense quantities of gold and silver were carried
across the Atlantic in Spanish ships, to say nothing of other
articles of value. This treasure was used to support a war
which threatened English liberty, and therefore English
cruisers were right in seizing it wherever they could. But it
only needed that such cruising should fall into the hands of
knaves and ruffians, and that it should be kept up after
Spain and England were really at peace, for this semi-mediae-
val warfare to develop into a gigantic carnival of robbery and
murder. And so it happened.
It was toward the end of the sixteenth century, in the
course of the great Elizabethan war, that the West Indies
witnessed the first appearance of the marauders known as
^. . , "Brethren of the Coast." They were of various
Origin of ^
buccaneer- nationalities, chiefly French, English, and Dutch.
^ They all regarded Spain as the world's great bully
that must be teased. The Spaniards had won such a repu-
tation for tyranny and cruelty that public opinion was not
shocked when they were made to swallow a dose or two of
their own medicine. After peace had been declared, any
foreign adventurers coming to the West Indies were liable
to be molested as intruders, and their ships sometimes had
THE GOLDEN AGE OF PIRATES 325
to fight in self-defence. Wherefore the more unscrupulous
rovers, expecting ill-treatment, used not to wait for it, but
when they saw a good chance for robbing Spaniards they
promptly seized it. This they called, in the witty phrase of
a French captain, se dedomniager par avance, or recouping
one's self beforehand.
It was not all the people of Spanish America, however,
that frowned upon foreigners. Among those who came were
sundry small traders of the illicit sort. Like all semi-barba-
rous governments, the court of Spain pursued a highly pro-
tectionist policy. The colonists were not allowed to receive
European goods from any but Spanish ports, and thus the
Spanish exporters were enabled to charge exorbitant prices.
Many of the colonists therefore welcomed smug- jjj— ^
glers who brought European wares to exchange for ^^^^^
cargoes of sugar or hides. To suppress this traffic, the
authorities at San Domingo patrolled the coasts with small
cruisers known as gitardacostas, and when they caught the
intruders they pitched them overboard, or strung them up to
the yard-arm, without the smallest ceremony. In revenge
the intruders combined into fleets and made descents upon
the coasts, burning houses, plundering towns, and commit-
ting all manner of outrages. Thus there grew up in the
West Indies a chronic state of hostilities quite independent
of Europe. It came to be understood among the intruders
that, whether their countries were at peace or war with one
another, all persons coming to the West Indies were friends
and allies against that universal enemy, the Spaniard. Thus
these rovers took the name of ''Brethren of the Coast."
As the consequence of more than a century of frightful
misrule the beautiful island of Hispaniola, or Hayti, had
come to be in many parts deserted. Many good havens were
unguarded, and everywhere there were immense herds of
cattle and swine running wild. Some of the brethren, mostly
Frenchmen, were thus led to settle in the island and do a
thriving business in hides, tallow, smoked beef, and salted
pork, which they bartered with their sailor brethren for
326 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
things smuggled from Europe. They drove away the Span-
iards who tried to disturb them, and amid perpet-
Buccaneers , _ . , i • i i
and "Hi- ual fighting the island came to be more and more
French. Presently, from 1625 to 1630, they took
possession of the little islands of St. Christopher and Nevis,
and built strong fortifications at Tortuga. About this time
they began to be called "boucaniers" or ''buccaneers." To
cure meat by smoking was called by the Indians " boucan-
ning " it. La Rochefort says of the Caribs that they used to
eat their prisoners well boucanned. In the days before cattle
came to the New World, Americus Vespucius saw boucanned
human shoulders and thighs hanging in Indian cabins as one
would hang a flitch of bacon. The buccaneers were named
for the excellent boucanned beef and pork which they sold.
For their brethren on shipboard another name was at first
used. The English word ''freebooter" became in French
mouths "flibustier," in spelling which a silent s was inserted
after the u by a false analogy, as so often happens. In recent
times " flibustier " has come back into English as " filibuster,"
a name originally given to such United States adventurers as
William Walker, making raids upon Spanish-American coasts
in the interests of slavery. In the first use of the epithets,
if you lived on shore and smoked beef you were a boticanier ;
but if you lived on ship and smuggled or stole wherewithal
to buy the beef you were a jiibnstier. Naturally, however,
since so many of these restless brethren passed back and
forth from the one occupation to the other, the names came
to be applied indiscriminately, and whether you called a
scamp by the one or the other made no difference.
Those " Brethren of the Coast " were recruited in every
way that can be imagined. Cutthroats and rioters, spend-
Thekindof thrifts and debtors, thieves and vagabonds, runaway
became bu?- apprentices, broken-down tradesmen, soldiers out
caneers Qf ^ jq^^^ escapcd couvicts, rcligious cranks, youths
crossed in love, every sort of man that craved excitement or
change of luck, came to swell the number of the buccaneers.
Graceless sons of good families usually assumed some new
ONE OF EXQUEMEMNG'S PRINTS
328 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
name. Yet not all were ashamed of their lawless occupation.
Some gloried in it, and deemed themselves pinks of propriety
in matters pertaining to religion. One day, when a certain
sailor was behaving with unseemly levity in church while a
priest was saying mass, his captain suddenly stepped up and
rebuked him for his want of reverence, and then blew his
brains out. It is told of a Frenchman from Languedoc that
his career was determined by reading a book on the cruelties
of the Spaniards in America, probably " The Destruction
of the Indies," by Las Casas. This perusal inflamed him
with such furious hatred of Spaniards that he conceived it to
be his sacred mission to kill as many as he could. So he
joined the buccaneers, and murdered with such exemplary
diligence that he came to be known as Montbars the Exter-
minator. Another noted freebooter, Raveneau de Lussan,
joined the fraternity "because he was in debt, and wished, as
every honest man should do, to have wherewithal to satisfy
his creditors." ^
One of the early exploits of the brethren was performed
by Pierre of Dieppe, surnamed "the Great." In a mere
longboat, with a handful of men, he surprised and captured
the Spanish vice-admiral's ship, heavily freighted with trea-
sure, set her people ashore in Hispaniola, and took his prize
to France. This exploit is said to have given quite an impe-
tus to buccaneering. In 1655 the buccaneers had grown so
powerful that they gave important aid to Cromwell's troops
in conquering Jamaica. When any nation went to war with
Spain, the buccaneers of that nationality would get from the
government letters of marque, which made them privateers
and entitled them to certain rights of belligerents. Their
aid was so liable to be useful in time of need that the Eng-
lish and French governments connived at some of their per-
formances. No civilized government could countenance
Deeds of their cruelties. One monster, called Olonnois, hav-
oionnois [^ig capturcd a Spanish ship with a crew of ninety
men, beheaded them all with a sabre in his own hands..
^ JBurney, Histoiy of the Buccaneers of A7nerica, p. 52.
o
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330 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
Four cases are on record in which he threw the whole crew
overboard, and it is said that he sometimes tore out and de-
voured the bleeding hearts of his victims, after the Indian
fashion. In concert with another wretch, Michel le Basque
(whose name tells his origin), at the head of 650 men, he cap-
tured the towns of Gibraltar and Maracaibo, in the Gulf of
Venezuela, and carried off a booty of nearly half a million
crowns, equivalent to more than two million modern dollars.
Prisoners were tortured to disclose hidden treasure. But
this precious Olonnois was soon afterward paid in his own
coin : he fell into the hands of a party of hungry Indians,
who cooked and ate him.
Such incidents as these in Venezuela made many Spanish
towns prefer to buy off the buccaneers, and thus a system
of blackmail was established. It was for the buccaneer to
decide for himself whether he deemed it more profitable
to end all in one mad frolic of plunder and slaughter, or to
accept a round sum and leave the town for the present
unharmed. Operations on a grand scale began about 1664,
Henry uudcr a leader named Mansvelt, who soon died and
Morgan ^y^s succccdcd by Hcury Morgan, the most famous
of the buccaneers and one of the vilest of the fraternity.
This Welshman is said to have been of good family and well
brought up. He made his way to Barbadoes as a redemp-
tion er, and after serving out his term joined the pirates. He
was a man of remarkable courage and resource. For cruelty
no Apache could surpass him, and his perfidy equalled his
cruelty. He paid so little heed to the maxims of honour
among thieves that it is a wonder he should have retained his
leadership through several expeditions.
One of Morgan's early exploits was the capture of Puerto
del Principe, in Cuba. Then with 500 men he attacked
Porto Bello, on the Isthmus of Darien. Having taken a
convent, he forced the nuns to carry scaling ladders and
plant them against the walls of the citadel, perhaps in the
hope that Spaniards would not fire upon Spanish women ;
but many of the poor nuns were killed. After the garrison
rAnt/ierJam h Jj^lSi X.cn. HOORX. Boecki-erkc^er
Over net OiiJe flcereloaement- ^ i6yS
ENGRAVED TITLE OF EXQUEMELING'S BOOK — DUTCH EDITION OF 1678
332
OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
had surrendered, Morgan set fire to the magazine and blew
into fragments the fort with its defenders. The scenes that
followed must have won Satan's approval. With greed un-
satisfied by the enormous booty, the monster devised hor-
rible tortures for the discovery of secret hoards that doubtless
existed only in his fancy. Many victims died under the
infliction.
Soon afterward Morgan met in the Caribbean Sea a pow-
erful French pirate ship and invited her to join him. On
the French captain's refusal, Morgan, with an air of supreme
cordiality, invited him to come over to dinner with all his
officers. No sooner had these guests arrived than they were
seized and put in irons, while Morgan attacked their ship
and captured it. Then came a strange retribution. Mor-
gan put some of his own officers with 350 of his crew into
the French ship ; presently the officers got drunk, and
through accident or carelessness the ship was blown up with
all the English crew and the French prisoners. This story
is told by a pious and literary Dutch buccaneer, the frater-
nity's best historian, by name Alexander Exqueme-
Exqueme- ling, somctimes corrupted into Oexmelin. His
'' well-written narrative was first published at Am-
sterdam in 1678, entitled De Americaensche Zee-Roovers. It
has been translated into nearly all the languages of Europe,
and ranks among the most popular books of the last two
centuries.^ The pious Exquemeling, in recounting the ex-
^ Exquemeling was sent to Tortuga in 1666, in one of the Dutch
West India Company's ships, and on his arrival was sold for thirty
crowns into three years' servitude. He says very neatly : " Je ne dis rien
de ce qui a donne lieu k mon embarquement, suivi d'un si facheux
esclavage, parce que cela seroit hors de propos, et ne pourroit estre
qu'ennuyeux." He was cruelly treated. After gaining his freedom he
joined the buccaneers, apparently because there was nothing else to do.
He went home in 1674 in a Dutch ship, "remerciant Dieu de m'avoir
retir^ de cette miserable vie, estant la premiere occasion de la quitter que
j'eusse rencontrd depuis cinq annees." Oexmelin, Histoire des ava7i-
turiers, Paris, 1686, i. 13 ; ii. 312. The English version of his book is
entitled "History of the Bucaniers of America" (London, 1684). The
De
AMERICAENSCHE
Z E E - R O O V E R S.
BebelTcndeecnpertinente en waerachtigc Bcfchrijving vanalledc
voornaemfteRoveryen, en onmenfchelijckewreeaheden,
dicdc Engelfe en Franfc Rovers , tegens de Spanjaerden
^ in America , gcpleeght hebben.
ii^trtJiElt in tiit tietlen ;
H«EerneDeelverhandelthoedeFranfea op Hifpanjola gekomcn zijn , dc
.erdt van 't Land: , liiu-oonders , en hun manicr van leven aldacr.
He: T^^'eede Deel , de opkomrt van de Rovers , hun regel en leven onder mal-
kancer, nevens verfcheyde Rover>en aen de Span.aerden g^?l^^g^'-
Het Derde ' t verbranden van de Sradc P-»x«4 , door d Engellche en Fianfc
Rovers gedaen , neve^is het gccn de Schri) ver op fi)n Rcys voorgevaUen is.
Kicr aclitcr is byccvocgbt ,
^^ ^nlioninen rn Besting alDatr.
A' -ad- c-n kort bcgnjp van alle de voornacmfte Plaetfen in het fclve Gewcft,
ondcr Chriften PotcnUtcn bchoorcnde.
25sfcf|Jlbm DOO? A. O. Exqucmclin.
Dicfclfailedefc Rovcrycn , door noodt , bvgcwoont hccfi.
\', .,. • '-a_;,;.n, Kaerten, en Comerfeytfelsj alle na't leven gctccclccnCvcrHen,
;^^
I'AMSTERDAM.
*5a Ian ten Hoorn, 2&accIibrr&op£r / ober 't^ute
PRINTED TITLE OF EXQUEMELING'S BOOK — DUTCH EDITION OF 1678
334 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
plosion of the captured ship, sees in it a special divine
judgment upon Morgan for treachery to guests, a kind of
philosophizing which is duly ridiculed by Voltaire in his
" Candide." ^
The loss of 350 men and a ship better than any of his own
was a serious blow to Morgan, but it did not prevent him
from capturinsf those unhappy towns, Maracaibo
Maracaibo . ^ ^ ^ ^ -^
and Gibrai- and Gibraltar, where he shut up a crowd of prison-
ers in a church and left them to die of starv^ation.
His own escape from capture, however, was a narrow one.
Three Spanish galleons arrived at the entrance to the Gulf
of Venezuela and strongly garrisoned a castle that stood
there, so that it began to look as if the day of reckoning for
Morgan had come. But he made one of his vessels into a
fire-ship and succeeded in burning two of the galleons. Then
it became easy for his little fleet to surround and capture the
third, after which a masterly series of stratagems enabled
him to slip past the castle, richer by a million dollars than
when he entered the Gulf, and ready for fresh deeds of wick-
edness.
The Rritish government lamented these cruel aggressions
upon people whose only offence was that of having been born
Spaniards, and in 1670 a treaty was made between Spain
and Great Britain for the express purpose of putting an end
to buccaneering. This interesting treaty, which was con-
Spanish version is known as " Los Piratas.'' Not only do the titles
thus differ, but each translator has added more or less material from
other sources, in order to exalt the fame of the rascals of his own
nation.
^ "Lecapitaine . . . du vaisseau submerge etait un pirate hollandais;
c'etait celui-la meme qui avait vole Candide. Les richesses immenses
dont ce scelerat s'etait empare furent ensevelies avec lui dans la mer, et
il n'y eut qu'un mouton de sauve. Vous voyez, dit Candide a Martin,
que le crime est puni quelquefois: ce coquin de patron hollandais a eu
le sort qui'il meritait. Oui, dit Martin ; mais fallait-il que les passagers
qui dtait sur son vaisseau perissent aussi ? Dieu a puni ce fripon, le
diahle a noye les autres." Voltaire. G^iivres, Paris. 1785, tom. xliv.
p. 294.
i.
Chex jAcmjr^ uk P'bbvre, au dernier pillierdeia
Gratid'Salle.vis-avjV ie5 Requeues ciii Palais.
ENGRAVED TITLE OF EXQUEMKI.lNC.'s BOOK — FREN'CH EDITION OF 1686
336 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
ceived in an unusually liberal and enlightened spirit, was
_ , called the treaty of America. As soon as the buc-
Treaty of -'
America, canccrs heard of it, they resolved to make a defiant
^ ''° and startling exhibition of their power. Thirty-seven
ships, carrying more than 2000 men of various nationalities,
were collected off the friendly meat-curing coast of Hispan-
iola. Morgan was put in the chief command, and it was
decided to capture Panama. On arriving at the isthmus they
stormed the castle at the mouth of the river Chagres and
put the garrison to the sword. Thus they gained an excel-
lent base of operations. Leaving part of his force to guard
castle and fleet, Morgan at the head of 1200 men made the
difficult journey across the isthmus in nine days. Panama
was not fortified, but a force of 2000 infantry and 400 horse
confronted the buccaneers. In an obstinate battle, without
quarter asked or given, the Spaniards lost 600 men and gave
way. The city was then at the mercy of the victors. It
Sack of contained about 7000 houses and some handsome
Panama churchcs, but Morgan set fire to it in several places,
and after a couple of days nearly all these buildings were in
ashes. By the light of those flames most hideous atrocities
were to be seen, — such a carnival of cruelty and lust as
would have disgraced the Middle Ages. After three bestial
weeks the buccaneers departed with a long train of mules
laden with booty, and several hundred prisoners, most of
whom were held for ransom. Among these were many gen-
tlewomen and children, whom Morgan treated savagely. He
kept them half dead with hunger and thirst, and swore that
if they failed to secure a ransom he would sell them for
slaves in Jamaica. Exquemeling draws a pathetic picture of
the poor ladies kneeling and imploring at Morgan's feet
while their starving children moaned and cried ; the only
effect upon the ruffian was to make him ask them how much
ransom they might hope to secure if these things were made
known to their friends. When the party arrived at Chagres,
there was a division of spoil, and the rascals were amazed to
find how little there seemed to be to distribute. Morgan
H I S T O I R E
DBS
AVANTURIERS
qni SE SONT SIGNALEZ DANS LES INDES,
CONTENANT
CE QU'ILS ONT FAIT DE PLUS REMAR.
Q^UABLB DEVUIS vlNCr ANNJ^£S.
L era.lifTemcnt d'une Chambie des Comptes^ans I«
rant EccIcfTaf hques que Seculieres ou le Roy d Ef
pagne poarvoit ks Revenus qu',1 ttre derAmerit
i:^ ^a/^/.;^ir^i ^, Cartes Geographia^ues ^ de Figures
en Tatlle-ilcuce. ,
TOMZ PREMIER, ■
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^VEC FRiniSGS JDU Ror.
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PRINTED TITLE (IF EXQUEMELINO'S BOOK — FREN'CH EDITION OF 1686
338 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
was accused of loading far more than his rightful share upon
his own vessels, whereupon, not wishing to argue the matter,
Mor an ^^^ made up his mind to withdraw from the scene,
absconds " which he did," says our chronicler, "without call-
ing any council or bidding any one adieu, but went secretly
on board his own ship and put out to sea without giving
notice, being followed only by three or four vessels of the
whole fleet, who it is believed went shares with him in the
greatest part of the spoil." All that can be said for him is
that most of his comrades would gladly have done the same
by him.
With Morgan's departure the pirate fleet was scattered,
and plenty of strong language was used in reference to their
tricksome commodore.^ The arrival of a new English gov-
ernor at Jamaica, with instructions to enforce the treaty of
America, led to the hanging of quite a number of bucca-
neers ; and a crew of 300 French pirates, shipwrecked on the
coast of Porto Rico, were slaughtered by order of the Span-
ish governor. But such casualties produced little effect upon
the swarming multitude of rovers, and within half a dozen
Scotchin^r years we find the governor of Jamaica conniving at
the snake them and sharing in their plunder. One pirate
crew brought in a Spanish ship so richly freighted that there
was ^400 for every man after a round sum in hush-money
had been handed to the governor. Then the pirates burned
the ship and embarked in respectable company for England,
"where," says Exquemeling, "some of them live in good
reputation to this day."
But what shall we say when we find the devil turning
monk, when we see the arch-pirate Morgan administering
the king's justice upon his quondam comrades and sending
them by scores to the gallows ! It reads like a scene in
comic opera, how this dirty fellow, after absconding with a
lion's share of the Panama spoil and bringing it to Jamaica,
suddenly put on airs of righteousness, wooed and won the
fair daughter of one of the most eminent personages on the
^ Histoire des avanturiers^ ii. 216.
THE GOLDEN AGE OF PIRATES
339
island, and was appointed a judge of the admiralty court.
The finishino^ touch was put upon the farce when „
*^ '■ '^ Morgan s
Charles II. decorated him with knighthood. It is metamor-
not clear how he won the king's favour, but we ^ ^^^
know that Charles was not above taking tips. After this our
^0^;^!l^J^:J''*.~M>Jl:mm±a^^
S"^ Hen Mok gas M^
Part. j^. Cnap . -f
capacity for amazement is so far exhausted that we read with
benumbed acquiescence how in 1682 Sir Henry Morgan was
appointed deputy-governor of Jamaica.^ But when we find
^ Exquemeling says : '• A I'heure que je parle il est dleve aux plus
dminentes dignitez de la Jamaique ; ce qui fait assez voir qu'un homme,
tel quMl soit, est toujours estime & bien receu par tout, pourveu qu'il ait
de I'argent.'' Histoire des avanturiers. ii. 214.
340 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
him handing over to the tender mercies of the Spaniards a
whole crew of Enghsh buccaneers who had fallen into his
clutches, we seem to recognize the old familiar touch, and
cannot repress the suspicion that he sold them for hard cash!
He remained in office three years, until James 11. ascended
the throne, when the Spanish government accused him of
secret complicity with the pirates. On this charge he was
removed from office and sent to England, where he was for
some years imprisoned but never met the fate which he
deserved.
Exquemeling expresses the opinion that, after the trick
which Morgan played upon his comrades at Chagres, he
must have thought it more prudent to be on the side of gov-
ernment than to stay with the buccaneers. He may also
have foreseen that sooner or later the treaty of America was
likely to interfere with the business of piracy. It is curious
that, after all his caution, his downfall on a charge brought
by Spain before the British government was due to the
treaty of America. Although imperfectly enforced, that
treaty seems to have marked the turning point in
buccaneer- the history of buccancering. The sack of Panama
was the apogee of the golden age of pirates ; the
events that followed are incidents in a gradual but not slow
decline. In 1684 the number of French buccaneers in the
West Indies and on adjacent coasts was estimated at 3000,
and of other nationalities there were perhaps as many more ;
but their operations were on a smaller and tamer scale than
those of Olonnois and Morgan.
About this time the South Sea began to be the favourite
field of work for some of the most famous buccaneers. In
1680 the first party crossed the isthmus and set sail on the
Bay of Panama in a swarm of canoes, with which on the
same day they captured a Spanish vessel of 30 tons. With
this ship they captured another the next day, and so
Buccaneers i j l j '
of the on till at the end of the week they were in posses-
South Sea ' r • r\ • • 1 • r
sion of quite a fleet, comprismg some ships or 400
tons. They cruised as far as the island of Juan Fernandez
THE GOLDEN AGE OF PIRATES
341
and beyond, capturing many ships and much treasure, but
not doing much harm ashore. One of the officers, Basil
Ringrose, an educated man, left a journal of this cruise, the
original manuscript of which is in the British Museum.
Other voyages followed until the buccaneers had visited such
remote places as the Ladrone Islands, Easter Island, the
coasts of Australia, and Tierra del Fuego. Among their
--^^s^
WILLIAM DAMPIER
commanders were men of far better type than those that
have hitherto been mentioned ; such were Ambrose Cowley,
Edward Davis, the surgeon Lionel Wafer, and the celebrated
William Dampier, whom we are more wont to remember as
a great navigator and explorer than as a pirate. Cowley,
Wafer, and Dampier have left charming narratives of their
adventures, in which a mixture of scientific inquisitiveness
with the love of barbaric independence is more conspicuous
than mere greed. As Henry Morgan was a pirate of the
worst type, so Edward Davis, discoverer of Easter Island,
was of the best. He never would permit acts of cruelty
or wanton bloodshed, and his loyalty and kindness to his
342 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
comrades won their affection, so that his mellowing influence
over rough natures was remarkable. In 1688 he took ad-
vantage of a royal proclamation of amnesty to quit bucca-
neering and go to England, where he was afterward counted
as "respectable."
As we read the journals of those remote voyages it is easy
to forget for a moment that the business is piracy. We seem
to see the staunch ships, superbly handled by their expert
sailors, blithely cleaving the blue waters under the Southern
Cross ; we breathe the cool salt breeze ; we watch with inter-
est the gray cliffs, the strange foliage, the birds and snakes
and insects which arouse the curiosity of the mariners ; we
follow them to the Galapagos Islands, which first suggested
to Darwin and afterward to Wallace the theory of natural
selection ; we note with pleasure their description of the
uncouth natives of Australia ; and w^e remember Thackeray
when we encounter oysters so huge that Basil Ringrose has
to cut them in quarters.^ In the careless freedom of life on
an unknown sea with each morrow bringing its new adven-
tures, we forget what company we are in, till suddenly the
victim ship heaves in sight, the brief chase ends in a deadly
struggle, the Spanish colours go down before the black flag,
a few bodies are buried in the depths, and a rich spoil is
^, , , divided. It is vulg^ar robbery and murder after all,
Plunder of . .
Peruvian and thcrc was a good deal of it in the South Sea.
The coast of Peru, where there were the richest
towns, suffered the most. The Lima Almanacs for 1685-87,
comprising an of^cial record of events for each year imme-
diately preceding, mention the towns of Guayaquil, Santiago
de Miraflores, and five others as plundered by the pirates.
When Davis divided his booty at Juan Fernandez, there was
enough to give every man a sum equivalent to $20,000.
Very often a pirate got more gold and silver than he could
handle or carry, but it was apt to slip away easily. Many
of Davis's company quickly lost every dollar in gambling
' Ringrose's MS. Narrative^ British Museum, Sloane collection, No.
3820.
THE GOLDEN AGE OF PIRATES
343
with their comrades. Our friend Raveneau de Lussan, who
took to piracy in order to satisfy his creditors, tells his read-
ers that his winnings at play, added to his share of booty,
amounted to 30,000 pieces of eight, which would now be
w^mMM
equivalent to at least $120,000; so we may hope that he
paid his debts like an honest man.
The event which did more than anything else to put an
end to buccaneering was the accession of a Bourbon prince,
Philip v., to the throne of Spain in 1701. It was then that
his grandfather, Louis XIV., declared there were no longer
344 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
any Pyrenees. Ever since the days of Ferdinand and Isa-
bella, Spain and France had been enemies. Their
Effects of
the alliance relations now became so friendly that all the ports
Francrand of Spanish America, whether in the West Indies
Spain Qj, Q^ ^^Q Pacific coast, were thrown open to French
merchants. This made trade more profitable than piracy,
and united the French and Spanish navies in protecting it.
The English and Dutch fleets also put forth redoubled
efforts, and during the next score of years the decline of the
pirates was rapid.
The first English settlements south of Virginia were made
at the time when buccaneering was mighty and defiant. The
colony of Sir John Yeamans, on Cape Fear River,
and the was bcguu in 1665, and it was in 1670, the very
year of the treaty of America, that Governor Sayle
landed at Port Royal. The earliest settlers in Carolina, as
we have seen, were not of such good quality as those who
came a few years later. They furnished a convenient market
for the pirates, who were apt to be open-handed customers,
ready to pay good prices in Spanish gold, whether for clothes,
weapons, and brandy brought from Europe, or for timber,
tar, tobacco, rice, or corn raised in America. One of the
Bahama Islands, called New Providence, had been settled by
the English. Its remarkable facilities for anchorage and its
convenient situation made it a favourite haunt of pirates,
whose evil communications corrupted the good manners of
the inhabitants. Rather than lose such customers they
befriended them in every possible way, so that the island
became notorious as one of the worst nests of desperadoes
in the American waters. The malady was not long in spread-
ing to the mainland. The Carolina coast, with its numerous
sheltered harbours and inlets, afforded excellent lurking-
places, whither one might retreat from pursuers, and where
one might leisurely repair damages and make ready for
further mischief. The pirates, therefore, long haunted that
coast, and it was rather a help than a hindrance to them when
settlements began to be made there. For now instead of a
SZVTL
MAP OF THE ISTHIV
Taojsr
JNl/O R D
h OF DAKIEN, 1686
THE GOLDEN AGE OF PIRATES 345
wilderness it became a market where they could buy food,
medicines, tools, or most of such things as they needed. So
long as they behaved moderately well while ashore, it was
not necessary for the Carolinians to press them with ques-
tions as to what they did on the high seas. For at least
thirty years after the founding of Carolina, nearly all the
currency in the colony consisted of Spanish gold and silver
brought in by freebooters from the West Indies.
Nothing went so far toward making the colonists tolerate
piracy as the Navigation Laws which we have already de-
scribed. We have seen how they enabled English
merchants to charge exorbitant prices for goods the Naviga-
shipped to America, and to pay as little as possible
for American exports. The contrast between such custom-
ers and the pirates was entirely in favour of the latter, who
could afford to be liberal both with goods and with cash that
had cost them nothing but a little fighting.^ After the found-
ing of Charleston, the dealings with pirates there were made
the subject of complaint in London. In 1684 Robert Quarry,
acting governor of Carolina, a man of marked ability and
good reputation, was removed from office for complicity with
pirates. This did not, however, prevent his being appointed
to other responsible positions. His successor, Joseph Morton,
actually gave permission to two buccaneer captains to bring
their Spanish prizes into the harbour. Soon afterward John
Boon, a member of the council, was expelled for holding cor-
respondence with freebooters. At the close of Ludwell's
administration, it was said that Charleston fairly swarmed
with pirates, against whose ill-got gold the law was power-
less. Along with such commercial reasons, the terror of
their fame conspired to protect them. Desperadoes who had
sacked Maracaibo and Panama might do likewise to Charles-
ton or New York. It was not only in Carolina that such
fears combined with the Navigation Laws to sustain piracy.
In Pennsylvania a son of the deputy-governor Markham was
^ See Hughson, " The Carolina Pirates and Colonial Commerce,'*
Johtis Hopki)is University Studies, xii. 241-370.
346 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
elected to the Assembly, but not allowed to take a seat
because of dealings with the freebooters. Governor Fletcher,
of New York, was deeply implicated in such proceedings, and
the record of distant New England was far from stainless.
But at the end of the seventeenth century a marked
change became visible. In South Carolina the cultivation
Effect of ^^ ^^^^ ^^^ reached such dimensions that tonnage
rice culture euough could uot be fouud to Carry the crop of 1699
across the Atlantic. The colonists were allowed to sell in
foreign markets such goods as were not wanted in England,
and England took very little rice. Most of it went to Hol-
land, Hamburg, Bremen, Sweden, Denmark, and Portugal.
As rice was thus becoming the chief source of income for
South Carolina, people began to be sorely vexed when pirates
captured their cargoes. Besides this, the character of the
population was entirely changed by the influx of steady, law-
abiding English Dissenters under Blake, and by the immigra-
tion of large numbers of Huguenots. The pirates became
unpopular, and the year 1699 witnessed the hanging of seven
of them at Charleston. As the colony yearly grew stronger
and the administration firmer, such rigours increased, and the
great gallows on Execution Dock was decorated with corpses
swinging in chains, a dozen or more at a time, until the
pirates came to think of that harbour as a place to be
shunned.
There still remained for them, however, an excellent place
of refuge in the neighbourhood. In the year 1700 Edward
i^^orth Randolph reported that the population of North
Carolina Carolina consisted of smugglers, runaway servants,
and pirates. There is no doubt that for the latter it furnished
a favourite hiding-place.
For some years after 1700 the vigorous measures of South
Carolina kept her own coast comparatively safe, but the snake
Swarms of ^^^ ^^ Y^^ ^^^Y scotched. Swarms of buccaneers,
pirates though far thinner than of old, were still harboured
in the West Indies, and when occasion was offered thev came
out of their dens. In 171 5, when South Carolina was nearly
THE GOLDEN AGE OF PIRATES 347
exhausted from her great Indian war, with crops damaged
and treasury empty, and mihtary gaze turned toward the
frontier and away from the coast, the pirates 'swarmed there
again, with numbers swelled by rovers and bandits turned
adrift by the peace of Utrecht in 171 3. James Logan, Sec-
retary of Pennsylvania, reported in 17 17 that there were
1500 pirates on our coasts, with their chief headquarters at
Cape Fear and New Providence, from which points they
swept the sea from Newfoundland to Brazil. For South Car-
olina there was ground of alarm lest wholesale pillage of rice
cargoes should bring ruin upon the colony. But that year
1 7 17 saw the arrival of the able governor Robert Johnson,
who was destined, after some humiliation, to suppress the
nuisance of piracy.
The next year, 171 8, was the beginning of the end. In
midsummer an English fleet, under Woodes Rogers, captured
the island of New Providence, expelled the free- ,,
^ New
hooters, and established there a strong company of Providence
law-abiding persons. Henceforth New Providence
became a smiter of the wicked instead of their hope and
refuge. It was like capturing a battery and turning it
against the enemy. One of its immediate effects, however,
was to turn the whole remnant of the scoundrels over to the
North CaroUna coast, where they took their final stand. For
a moment the mischief seemed to have increased. One deed,
in particular, is vivid in its insolence.
Among these corsairs one of the boldest was a fellow
whose name appears in court records as Robert Thatch,
though some historians write it Teach. He was a Biackbeard
native of Bristol in England, and his real name of^the^^^*
seems to have been Drummond. But the soubri- Pirates"
quet by which he was most widely known was " Biackbeard."
It was a name with which mothers and nurses were wont to
tame froward children. This man was a ruffian guilty of all
crimes known to the law, a desperate character who would
stick at nothing. P'or many years he had been a terror to
the coast. In June, 171 8, he appeared before Charleston
348 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
harbour in command of a forty-gun frigate, with three at-
tendant sloops, manned in all by more than 400 men. Eight
or ten vessels, rashly venturing out, were captured by him,
one after another, and in one of them were several prominent
citizens of Charleston, including a highly respected member
of the council, all bound for London. When Blackbeard
learned the quality of his prisoners, his fertile brain con-
ceived a brilliant scheme. His ships were in need of sundry
medicines and other provisions, whereof a list was duly made
out and entrusted to a mate named Richards and a party of
sailors, who went up to Charleston in a boat, taking along
one of the prisoners with a message to Governor Johnson.
The message was briefly this, that, if the supplies mentioned
were not delivered to Blackbeard within eight-and-forty
hours, that eminent commander would forthwith send to
Governor Johnson, with his compliments, the heads of all
his prisoners.
It was a terrible humiliation, but the pirate had calculated
correctly. Governor and council saw that he had them
South completely at his mercy. They knew better than
government ^^ ^^^^ dcfcnceless the town was ; they knew that
overawed ^jg ships could batter it to pieces without effective
resistance. Not a minute must be lost, for Richards and his
ruffians were strutting airily about the streets amid fierce
uproar, and, if the mob should venture to assault them, woe
to Blackbeard's captives. The supplies were delivered with
all possible haste, and Blackbeard released the prisoners
after robbing them of everything they had, even to their
clothing, so that they went ashore nearly naked. From one
of them he took $6000 in coin. After this exploit Black-
beard retired to North Carolina, where it is said that he
bought the connivance of Charles Eden, the governor, who
is further said to have been present at the ceremony of the
pirate's marriage to his fourteenth wife.^
While the arch-villain, thus befriended, was roaming the
coast as far as Philadelphia and bringing his prizes into
^ See Watson's Annals of PhiladelpJiia, ii. 222.
?1
re J ***
( ;^///////// , '/(//(// ,;•//.' //I c/f/// (\i//i/ ( /uthy: ^/v///y.
350 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
Pamlico Sound, another rover was making trouble for
Epidemic Charleston. Major Stede Bonnet, of Barbadoes,
of piracy; had taken up the business of piracy scarcely two
cases of ttii i-,
Kiddand ycars beiore. He had served with credit in the
army and was now past middle life, with a good
reputation and plenty of money, when all at once he must
needs take the short road to the gallows. Some say it was
because his wife was a vixen, a droll reason for turning pirate.
But in truth there was a moral contagion in this business.
The case of William Kidd, a few years before Bonnet, is an
illustration. Kidd was an able merchant, with a reputation
for integrity, when William III. sent him with a swift and
powerful ship to chase pirates ; and, lo ! when with this fine
accoutrement he brings down less game than he had hoped,
he thinks it will pay better to turn pirate himself. In this
new walk of life he goes on achieving eminence, until on a
summer day he rashly steps ashore in Boston, is arrested,
sent to London, and hanged.^ Evidently there was a spirit of
buccaneering in the air, as in the twelfth century there was
a spirit of crusading. And even as children once went on a
crusade, so we find women climbing the shrouds and tend-
ing the guns of pirate ships.^ Major Bonnet soon became
distinguished in his profession, and committed depredations
all the way from Barbadoes to the coast of Maine. Late in
the summer of 171 8 Governor Johnson learned that there
was a pirate active in his neighbourhood, and he sent Colonel
William Rhett, with two armed ships, to chase him. The
affair ended in an obstinate fight at the mouth of Cape Fear
River, in the course of which all the ships got aground on
sand-bars. It was clear that whichever combatant should
first be set free by the rising tide would have the other at
his mercy, and we can fancy the dreadful eagerness with
which every ripple was watched. One of Rhett's ships was
' In Kidd's case there were many extenuating circumstances : he
was far from being such a scoundrel as most of the pirates.
- See the cases of Mary Read and Anne Bonny, in Johnson's History
of the Pirates^ London, 1724, 2 vols.
THE GOLDExN AGE OP^ PIRATES 351
first to float, and just as she was preparing to board the
pirate he surrendered. Then it was learned that ^^^^ ^^
he was none other than the famous Stede Bonnet, i^on^et
At the last his brute courage deserted him, and the ecstasy
of terror with which he begged for life reminds one of the
captive in *' Rob Roy " who was hurled into Loch Lomond.
But entreaty fell upon deaf ears. It was a gala day at
Execution Dock when Bonnet and all his crew were hung in
chains.
A few weeks later, while Blackbeard was lurking in Ocra-
coke Inlet, with ship well armed and ready for some fresh
errand, he was overhauled by two stout cruisers p^teof
sent after him by Governor Spotswood, of Virginia. Blackbeard
In a desperate and bloody fight the " Last of the Pirates "
was killed. All the survivors of his crew were hanged, and
his severed head decorated the bowsprit of the leading ship
as she returned in triumph to James River.
Such forceful measures went on till the waters of Carolina
were cleared of the enemy, and by 1730 the fear of pirates
was extinguished. For year after year the deeds of Kidd
and Blackbeard were rehearsed at village firesides, and tales
of buried treasure caused many a greedy spade to delve in
vain, until with the lapse of time the memory of all these
things grew dim and faded away.
CHAPTER XVII
FROM TIDEWATER TO THE MOUNTAINS
It is time for our narrative to return to Virginia, where in
June, 1 710, just a hundred years after the coming of Lord
Delaware, there arrived upon the scene one of the best and
ablest of all the colonial governors. Alexander Spotswood
Alexander was a member of the old and honourable Scottish
Spotswood fai^iiy which took its name from the barony of
Spottiswoode, in Berwick. His great-great-grandfather had
been archbishop of St. Andrews and chancellor of Scotland.
His great-grandfather, Sir Robert Spottiswoode, as secretary
of state, had signed the commission of Montrose, for which
he was beheaded by the Covenanters in 1646.^ Alexander
himself had been brought up from childhood in the army,
where he had seen some hard fighting. Already at the age
of eight-and-twenty he had attained the rank of colonel, and
in that year received an ugly wound at Blenheim. Six years
after that great battle he arrived in Virginia, a tall, robust
man, with gnarled and wrinkled face and an air of dignity
and power. He was greeted at Williamsburg with more
than ordinary cordiality, because he brought with him a writ
confirming the claim of the Virginians that they were as
much entitled as other Englishmen to the privilege of habeas
corpus. Notwithstanding this auspicious reception, he had
a good many wrangles with his burgesses, chiefly
and bur- ovcr qucstious of taxatiou, and sometimes talked to
them quite plainly. On one occasion when, during
the Yamassee war in Carolina, he requested an appropriation
for a force to be sent in aid of their southern neighbours, he
^ Burton's History of Scotland., vi. 403.
^
354 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
the next he is undertaking to smelt iron and grow native
wines ; the next he is sending out ships to exterminate the
pirates. For his energy in establishing smelting furnaces
he was nicknamed "The Tubal Cain of Virginia." For the
making of native wines he brought over a colony of Germans
from the Rhine, and settled them in the new county named
for him Spottsylvania, hard by the Rapidan River, where Ger-
manna Ford still preserves a reminiscence of their coming.
Some of Spotswood's disputes with the assembly brought
up questions akin to those which agitated the country half
a century later, in the days of the Stamp Act. A recent
act of Parliament had extended the post-office system into
The Post- Virginia, whereupon the burgesses declared that
office Act Parliament had no authority to lay any tax (such as
postage) upon the people of Virginia without the consent of
their representatives ; accordingly they showed their inde-
pendence by exempting from postage all merchants' letters.
But we may let Spotswood speak for himself : "Some time
last Fall the Post M'r Gen'll of America, having thought
himself Obliged to endeavour the Settling a post through
Virginia and Maryland, in y^ same manner as they are settled
in the other Northern Plantations, pursu't to the Act of Par-
liament of the 9th of Queen Anne, gave out Commissions
for that purpose, and a post was accordingly established once
a fortnight from W'msburg to Philadelphia, and for the Con-
veyance of Letters bro't hither by Sea through the several
Countys. In order to this, the Post M'r Set up printed
Placards (such as were sent in by the Post M'r Gen'll of
Great Britain) at all the Posts, requiring the delivery of all
Letters not excepted by the Act of Parliament to be deliv-
ered to his Deputys there. No sooner was this noised about
but a great Clamour was raised against it. The people were
made to believe that the Parl't could not Levy any Tax (for
so they call y^ Rates of Postage) here without the Consent of
the General Assembly. That, besides, all their Lazvs ^ were
1 There is evidently a slip of the pen here ; Letters must have been
the word intended.
FROM TIDEWATER TO THE MOUNTAINS
355
POWDER MAGAZINE AT WILLIAMSBURG
exempted, because scarce any came in here but what some
way or other concern'd Trade ; That tho' M'rs should, for
the reward of a penny a Letter, dehver them, the Post M'r
could Demand no Postage for the Conveyance of them, and
abundance more to the same purpose, as rediculous as Arro-
gant. . . . Thereupon a Bill is prepared and passed both
Council and Burg's's, w'ch, tho' it acknowledges the Act of
Parliam't to be in force here, does effectually prevent its
being ever put in Execution. The first Clause of that Bill
Imposes an Obligation on the Post Master to w'ch he is no
ways liable by the Act of Parliament. The second Clause
lays a Penalty of no less than ^5 for every Letter he de-
mands or takes from a Board any Ships that stand Decreed
to be excepted by the Act of Parliament ; and the last Clause
appoints y^ Stages and the time of Conveyance of all Letters
under an Extravagant Penalty. As it is impossible for the
Post Master to know whether the Letters he receives be
excepted or not, and y't, according to the Interpreters, Our
356 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
Judges of the Act of Parl't, ail Letters sent from any Merch't,
whether the same relate to Merchandize on board or not, are
within the exception of the Law, the Post M'r must meddle
w'th no Letters at all, or run the hazard of being ruin'd.
And the last Clause, besides its Contradiction to the Act of
Parliament in applying the Stages, w'ch is expressly Bestowed
to the Post Master according to the Instruction of the
Soveraign, is so great an impossibility to be complyed w'th
that, considering the difficulty of passing the many gr't Riv-
ers, the Post M'r must be liable to the penalty of 20s. for
every Letter he takes into his care during the whole Season
of the Winter. From whence yo'r Lo'ps may judge how
well affected the Major part of Our Assembly men are
towards y^ Collecting this Branch of the King's Revenue,
and w'll therefore be pleas'd to Acquitt me of any Censure
of Refusing Assent to such. a Bill." ^
With an assembly so adroit and so stubborn, the way of
the postmaster was hard indeed. Another source of irrita-
tion was the question as to appointing parsons. In
ment of practice they were appointed by the close vestries,
paisons ^^^^ ^^^ governor wished to appoint them himself.
It also appeared that the king's ministers would like to send
a bishop to Virginia. On these questions the worthy Spots-
wood got embroiled with eight of the councilmen as well as
with the burgesses, and complained of being rather shabbily
treated: ''When in Order to the Solemnizing his Maj'ty's
Birth-day,2 I gave a publick Entertainment at my House, all
gent'n that would come were Admitted ; These Eight Coun-
sellors would neither come to my House nor go to the Play
w'ch was Acted on that occasion, but got together all the
Turbulent and disaffected Burg's's, had an Entertainment of
their own in the Burg's House and invited all y^ Mobb to a
Bonfire, where they were plentifully Supplyed with Liquors
to Drink the same healths without as their M'rs did within,
^ Spotswood to the Lords of Trade, June 24, 1718. Official Letters,
ii. 280, 281.
- The fifty-eighth birthday of George I., May 28, 1718.
FROM TIDEWATER TO THE MOUNTAINS 357
w'ch were chiefly those of the Council and their Associated
Burg's, without taking any [more] Notice of the Gov'r, than
if there had been none upon the place." ^
In such disputes between the legislatures chosen at home
and the executive officials appointed beyond sea, Virginia,
like the sister colonies in their several ways, was getting
the kind of political education that bore fruit in 1776. In
Virginia the appointment of clergymen over parishes, in
Maryland the forty per poll for a church to which only one
sixth of the people belonged, in Massachusetts the perennial
question of the o-overnor's salary, — all these were
. . . Beginning
occasions for disputes about matters of internal ad- ofcontinen-
ministration in w^hich far-reaching principles were ^ i^^^^^^
involved. Other questions, like that of postage just men-
tioned, showed that gradually but surely and steadily a conti-
nental state of things was coming on. From the Penobscot
to the Savannah there was a continuous English world, albeit
a strip so narrow that it scarcely anywhere reached inland
more than a hundred and fifty miles from the coast. The
work of establishing postal communication throughout this
region seemed to require some continental authority inde-
pendent of the dozen local colonial legislatures. We see
Parliament, with the best of intentions, stepping in and exer-
cising such continental authority ; and we see the Virginians
resisting such action, on the ground that in laying the species
of tax known as postage rates Parliament was usurping func-
tions which belonged only to the colonial legislatures. Thus
did the year 1718 witness a slight presage of 1765.
Nothing did so much toward bringing the several colonies
face to face with a great continental situation as the strug-
gle with France which began with the expulsion Be<Tinning
of the Stuarts in 1680 and was not to be decided of the
•^ _ seventy
until seventy years later, when Wolfe climbed years'
the Heights of Abraham. The destruction of the with'"'
Invincible Armada, a century before the downfall ^'■'^"'^^
of James II., had shown that Great Britain was to belong to
' Spotswood, Official Letters, ii. 284.
358 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
the Protestant Reformers ; the latter event had shown that
she was not to be won back to the Cathohc Counter-Reforma-
tion which, starting with the election of Paul IV. in 1555, had
gained formidable strength in many quarters. At the begin-
ning of the seventeenth century, when the colony of Virginia
was founded, the France of Henry IV. was in sympathy
with England and hostile to Spain. Before the end of that
century the France of Louis XIV. had been won over to
the Counter-Reformation. The dethronement of England's
Catholic king came almost like a rejoinder to the expulsion
of a million Protestants from France. The mighty struggle
which then began was to determine whether North America
should be controlled by Protestantism and Whiggery, or by
the Counter-Reformation and the Old Regime.
The first notable effect wrought in English America by
the outbreak of hostilities was the assembling of a Conti-
The Conti- ncutal Congrcss at New York in 1690, the first
^^5^0?^"' meeting of that sort in America. The continental
1690 aspects of the situation were not as yet apparent
save to a few prescient minds. The infant settlements in
Carolina hardly counted for much. Virginia was too far
from Canada to feel deeply interested in the organization of
resistance to the schemes of Frontenac, and so the southern-
most colony represented in the first American Congress was
Maryland.
It was not long, however, before the continental aspects
of the situation began to grow more conspicuous. The
reader will remember how, in 1708, the government at
Charleston, in an official report on the military resources of
the colony, laid stress upon the circumstance that Carolina
was a frontier to all the English settlements on the mainland.
The occasion for this emphasis was the great European war
that broke out in 1701, when Louis XIV. put his grandson,
Philip of Anjou, on the vacant throne of Spain. The alli-
ance of Spain with France threatened English America at
both ends of the line. The destruction of Deerfield by
an expedition from Canada in 1704, and the attempt upon
FROM TIDEWATER TO THE MOUNTAINS 359
Charleston by an expedition from Florida in 1706, were blows
delivered by the common enemy, Louis XIV., the persecutor
of Huguenots, the champion of the Counter-Reformation,
the accomplice of the Stuarts. From that moment we may
date the first dawning consciousness of a community of inter-
ests all the way from Massachusetts to Carolina. But it was
only a few clear-headed persons that were quick to under-
stand the situation. The average members of a legislature
were not among these ; their thoughts were much more upon
the constituencies "to whom they owed their elections " than
upon any wide or far-reaching interests. Such of the royal
governors as were honest and high-minded men saw the situ-
ation much more clearly, since it was their business to look
at things from the imperial point of view. Especially such
a man as Spotswood, a soldier of noted ability, who had
himself been scarred in fighting the common enemy, could
not fail to understand the needs of the hour. His official
letters abundantly show his disgust over the froward and
niggardly policy that refused prompt aid to hard-pressed
Carolina.^ To sit wrangling over questions of prerogative
^ His feelings find temperate expression in his letters to the Lords of
Trade and to the secretary of state, James Stanhope ; e. g. in October,
1712 : " This Unhappy State of her Maj't's Subjects in my Neighbour-
hood is ye more Affecting to me because I have very little hopes of
being enabled to relieve them by our Assembly, which I have called to
meet next Week. . . . No arguments I have used can prevail on these
people to make their Militia more Serviceable ; " and in July, 1715 : " I
cannot forbear regretting yt I must always have to do w'th ye Repre-
sentatives of ye Vulgar People, and mostly with such members as are of
their Stamp and Understanding, for so long as half an Acre of Land
. . . qualifys a man to be an Elector, the meaner sort of People will
ever carry ye Elections, and the humour generally runs to choose such
men as are their most familiar Companions, who very eagerly seek to
be Burgesses merely for the Lucre of the Salary, and who, for fear of
not being chosen again, dare in Assembly do nothing that may be dis-
relished out of the House by ye Comon People. . . . However, as my
general Success hitherto with this sort of Assemblys is not to be Com-
plained of, and as I have brought them, in some particulars, to place
greater Trust in me than ever they did in any Governor before, and seeing
their Confidence in Me has encreased with their Knowledge of me, I
36o OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
while firebrand and tomahawk w^ere devouring their brethren
on the frontier ! To our vaUant soldier such behaviour
have great hopes to lead even this new Assembly into measures that may
be for the hon'r and safety of these parts of his Maj't's Dominions.
... ye Assembly of No. Carolina has already faulted their Governor
for dispatching away to ye relief of his next Neighbours a small rein-
forcement of Men, they alledging that their own danger requir'd not to
weaken themselves. . . . None of ye Provinces on ye Continent have
yet sent any Assistance of Men to So. Carolina, except this Colony
alone, and No. Carolina, and by w't I understand from Govern'r Hun-
ter [of New York] I am afraid they may be diverted from it, he writing
me word yt their Indians are grown very turbulent and ungovernable.
We are not here without our dangers, too, but yet I judg'd it best, and
ye readiest way to save ourselves, to run immediately to check the first
kindling Flames, and even to stretch a point to succour Carolina with
Arms and ammunition ; and I made such dispatch in ye first Succours
of Men I sent thither yt they pass'd no more than 15 days between the
Day of ye Carolina Comm'rs coming to me and ye day of my embarking
118 Men listed for their Service. I have since sent another Vessel with
40 or 50 Men more ; and hope in a short time to have ye Complem't raised
w'ch this Government has engag'd to furnish. ... I need not offer,
for my justification, to wound his Maj't's Ears with particular relation
of the miserys his Subjects in CaroHna labour under, and of ye Inhu-
man butchering and horrid Tortures many of them have been exposed
to."' So in Oct. 1715 : " Such was the Temper and Understanding [of
the House of Burgesses] that they could not be reason'd into Whole-
some Laws, and such their humour and principles yt they would aim at
no other Acts than what invaded ye Prerogative or thwarted the Gov-
ernment. So that all their considerable Bills Stopt in the Council.
. . . On ye 8 of Aug'st . . . they plainly declar'd they would do nothing
. . . till they had an Answer from his Maj'tie to their Address about
the Quitt rents. I need not repeat to you, S'r, what I have formerly
represented of the inconveniency a Governm't without money is ex-
pos'd to, especially in any dangerous Conjuncture. . . . The bulk of
the Ellectors of Assembly Men concists of the meaner sort of People,
who . . . are more easily impos'd upon by persons who are not re-
strained by any Principles of Truth or Hon'r from publishing amongst
them the most false reports, and have front enough to assert for truth
even the grossest Absurdities. [How well this describes tTie blatant
demagogues who thrive and multiply in the cesspool of politics to-day,
like maggots in carrion !] . . . These mobish Candidates always outbid
the Gent'n of sence and Principles, for they stick not to vow to their
Electors that no consideration whatever shall enga2:e them to raise
FROM TIDEWATER TO THE MOUNTAINS 361
seemed fit only for churls ; while waiting for the danger
to come upon one, instead of marching forth to attack the
danger, was surely as impolitic as unchivalrous. So, with-
out waiting on the uncertain temper and devious argu-
ments of many-headed King Demos, the governor hurried
his men on board ship as fast as he could enlist and arm
them, well knowing that in a ''dangerous conjuncture" the
more precious minutes one loses, the more costly grow
those that are left. During half of the eighteenth century,
as the conflict with France was again and again renewed,
such experiences as those of Spotswood with his burgesses
were repeated in most of the colonies, until the royal gov-
ernors became profoundly convinced that the one thing most
needed in English America was a Continental Government
that could impose taxes, according to some uniform principle,
upon the people of all the colonies for the common defence.
At the Albany Congress of 1754, when the w^ar- Franklin's
clouds were blacker than ever, Benjamin Franklin pederaf^
came forward with a scheme for creating such a Union
central government for purely federal purposes. That scheme
would have inaugurated a Federal Union, with president
appointed by the crown ; it would have lodged the power of
taxation, for continental purposes, in a federal council repre-
senting the American people ; and it w^ould have left w^ith
the several states all governmental functions and preroga-
tives not explicitly granted to the central government. Had
Franklin's plan been adopted and proved successful in its
working, the political separation between English America
and English Britain would not have occurred when it did,
and possibly might not have occurred at all. But Franklin's
plan failed of adoption just at the moment when American
politics were becoming more completely and conspicuously
money, and some of them have so h'ttle shame as publickly to declare
that if, in Assembly, anything should be proposed w'ch they judij'd
might be disagreeable to their Constituents, they would oppose it, tho'
they knew in their consciences yt it would be for ye good of the Coun-
try." Spotswood's Official Letters, ii. i, 2, 124, 125, 130, 132, 164.
362 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
continental than ever before. In the presence of a gigantic
war that extended " from the coast of Coromandel to the
Great Lakes of North America," ^ the need for a continental
government and the evils that flowed from the want of it
were felt with increasing severity ; the old difficulties which
had beset honest Spotswood were renewed in manifold ways ;
until, when the war was over. Parliament, with the best of
intentions but without due consideration, undertook in the
. Stamp Act to provide a steady continental revenue
the Stamp for America. When the Americans refused to ac-
Act
cept Parliament as their continental legislature,
and, in alliance with Pitt and his New Whigs, won a noble
victory in the repeal of the Stamp Act, a great American ques-
tion became entangled in British politics, and a situation was
thus created which enabled the unscrupulous and half-crazy
George III. to force upon America the quarrel that parted
the empire in twain. Nowhere in history is the solidarity of
events, in their causal relations, more conspicuous than in
America during the eighteenth century ; and for this reason
the disputes of the royal governors with their refractory
assemblies are nearly always rich in political lessons.
Looking back from the present time at Spotswood's ad-
ministration, we find its incidents perpetually reminding us
that the colonies were already entering upon that long period
of revolution from which they were not to emerge until the
adoption of our Federal Constitution. We never lose con-
sciousness of the French and Indian background against
which the events are projected. Toward this vast dim back-
ground Spotswood set his face in 1716, in his memorable
expedition across the Blue Ridge. For more than a century
since the foundino; of Jamestown had the beautiful
The un- . ,
known valley of the Shenandoah remamed unknown to Vir-
ginians. It was still part of the strange, unmea-
sured wilderness that stretched away to the remote shores
^ The expression is suggested by a famous passage in Lord Macau-
lay, who seems to think that it all happened in order that Frederick the
Great might keep his hold upon Silesia !
FROM TIDEWATER TO THE MOUNTAINS
3^3
which Drake had once called by the name New Albion.'
Some of its most savage solitudes had in Spotswood's youth
been traversed by the mighty La Salle, and other adven-
turous Frenchmen kept up the explorations among fresh-
water seas to the northwestward, where English and Scotch
officials of the Hudson Bay Company were beginning to
come into contact with them. What was to be found be-
tween those freshwater seas and the Gulf of Mexico no
Englishman could tell, save that it had been found to be
solid land, and not a Sea of Verrazano.^ So much might
Spotswood have gathered from reading and from hearsay,
but not through any work done by Englishmen. In the
PASSAGE OF JAMES RIVER THROUGH THE BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS
early days, as we have seen. Captain Newport had tried to
reach the mountains and failed.'^ It 1653 it was enacted
that, " whereas divers gentlemen have a voluntarie desire to
discover the Mountains and supplicated for lycence to this
Assembly, . . . that order be granted unto any for soe
doing, Provided they go with a considerable partie and
strength both of men and ammunition.* But nothing came
^ See above, vol. i. p. 29.
^ See above, vol. i. p. 1 18.
2 See above, vol. i. p. 65.
^ Hening's Statutes, i. 381.
364 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
of this permission. In Sj^otswood's time the very outposts
of Enghsh civilization had not crept inland beyond tidewater.
A strip of forest fifty miles or more in breadth still inter-
vened between the Virginia frontier and those blue peaks
visible against the western sky. This stalwart governor was
not the man to gaze upon mountains and rest content with-
out going to see what was behind them. Especially since
the French were laying claim to the interior, since they had
for some time possessed the Great Lakes, and since they had
lately been busy in erecting forts at divers remote places in
the western country,^ it was worth while for Englishmen to
take a step toward them by crossing the mountains.^ The
expedition was extremely popular in Virginia. A party of
Spotsvvood fifty gentlemen, with black servants, Indian guides,
BTueRid<^e. ^^^^ packhorscs, Started out toward the end of Au-
1716 g^st and made quite an autumn picnic of it. One
can fancy what prime shooting it was in the virgin forest all
alive with the finest of game. To wash down so much tooth-
some venison and grouse, the governor brought along sev-
eral casks of native wines — red and white Rapidan, so to
speak — made by his Spottsylvania Germans; but cognac
and cherry cordial were not forgotten, and champagne-corks
popped merrily in the wilderness. Crossing the Blue Ridge
at Swift Run Gap,^ on nearly the same latitude as Fred-
1 These were Kaskaskia and Cahokia in 1700, Detroit in 1701, Mo-
bile in 1702, and Vincennes in 1705 ; and Bienville was just about to
found New Orleans, which he did in 1718.
- •• I have often regretted that after so many Years as these Coun-
trys have been Seated, no Attempts have been made to discover the
Sources of Our Rivers, nor to Establishing Correspondence w'th those
Nations of Indians to ye Westw'd of Us, even after the certain Know-
ledge of the Progress made by French in Surrounding us w'th their
Settlements." Spotswood. Official Letters, iii. 295. A reconnoissance
was made in 1710, which reported that the Blue Ridge was not, as had
been supposed, impassable. Id. i. 40.
3 Fontaine's journal of the expedition shows that the crossing was
not at Rockfish Gap, as formerly supposed. Cf. Peyton's History of
Atigtista County, Staunton, 1882, pp. 24, 29.
FROM TIDEWATER TO THE MOUNTAINS
365
BRUTON PARISH CHURCH
ericksburg, the party entered the great valley a little north
of the present site of Port Republic, and about eighty miles
southwest from Harper's Ferry. The exploits of Stonewall
Jackson in 1862 have clothed the region with undying fame.
Spotswood called the river the Euphrates, an early instance
of the vicious naming by which the map of the United States
is so abundantly disfigured, but happily the melodious native
name of Shenandoah has held its place. On the bank of
that fair stream one of the empty bottles was buried, with a
paper inside declaring that the river and all the soil it drained
were the property of the King of Great Britain. Having
thus taken formal possession of the valley, the picnickers
returned to their tidewater homes.
A letter of Rev. Hugh Jones, who preached in Bruton
Church, says that Spotswood cut the name of George I.
upon a rock at the summit of the highest peak which the
party climbed, and named it Mount George, whereupon some
of the gentlemen called the next one Mount Alexander, in
honour of the governor. ''For this expedition," says Mr.
Jones, *'thcy were obliged to provide a great quantity of
366 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
horseshoes, things seldom used in the lower parts of the
country, where there are few stones. Upon which
Knights oi "^ .
the Golden account the govemor upon their return presented
Horses oe ^^^j^ q£ j-^jg companions with a golden horseshoe,
some of which I have seen, studded with valuable stones,
resembling the heads of nails, with this inscription . . . Sic
jiLvat transcendere montes} This he instituted to encourage
gentlemen to venture backwards and make discoveries and
new settlements, any gentleman being entitled to wear this
golden shoe that can prove his having drank \sic\ his Ma-
jesty's health upon Mount George."^ In later times this
incident was called instituting the order of Knights of the
Golden Horseshoe.
Spotswood's letters to the Lords of Trade, in which he
mentions this expedition to the mountains, are testimony to
the soundness of his military foresight. In recent years, he
Spots- says, the French have built fortresses in such posi-
^ieW the tions "that the British Plantations are in a manner
situation Surrouudcd by their Commerce w'th the numerous
Nations of Indians seated on both sides of the Lakes ; they
may not only Engross the whole Skin Trade, but may, when
they please. Send out such Bodys of Indians on the back of
these Plantations as may greatly distress his Maj'ty's Sub-
jects here, And should they multiply their settlem'ts along
these Lakes, so as to joyn their Dominions of Canada to
their new Colony of Louisiana, they might even possess
themselves of any of these Plantations they j^leased. Nature,
'tis true, has formed a Barrier for us by that long Chain of
Mountains w'ch run from the back of South Carolina as far
as New York, and w'ch are only passable in some few places,
but even that Natural Defence may prove rather destructive
to us, if they are not possessed by us before they are known
to them. To prevent the dangers w'ch Threaten his Maj'ty's
Dominions here from the growing power of these Neigh-
bours, nothing seems to me of more consequence than that
^ " Thus it is a pleasure to cross the mountains."
2 Jones, Present State of Virginia, London, 1724, p. 14.
V 1 R G I N I AS
Difcorery of
SILKE^VVORMES,
wiih their bcncfitt
AND
The Implanting of MULBERRY TREES;
The drcfTing and keeping of Vines , for the rich Ttade
of making Wines tlierc.
The making of the Saw-miil ^ vcryufcfuUin F/rpm^
for cutting of Timber and Clapbord y to build with^
all, and its converfion to other as profitable Ufes»
L0N1>0JV,
Printed by T.H. for John Stephenfo^y at the Signc of
theSuo>bclowLudgatc, i^jo.
TITLE OF "VIRGINIA'S DISCOVERY OF SILK-WORMS "
368 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
now while the Nations are at peace, and while the French
are yet uncapable of possessing all that vast Tract w'ch lies
on the back of these Plantations, we should attempt to make
some Settlements on y^ Lakes, and at the same time possess
our selves of those passes of the great Mountains, w'ch are
necessary to preserve a Communication w'th such Settle-
ments." ^
He goes on to say that the purpose of his late expedition
across the Blue Ridge was to ascertain whether Lake Erie,
occupying as it did a central position in the French line of
communication between Canada and Louisiana, was easily
accessible from Virginia. Information gathered from In
dians led him to believe that it was thus accessible.^ He
therefore proposed that an English settlement should be
made on the south shore of Lake Erie, whereby the English
power might be thrust like a wedge into the centre of the
French position ; and he offered to take a suitable body of
men across the mountains and reconnoitre the country for
the purpose of finding a site. As for the expense of such an
enterprise, the king need not be concerned about it ; for
there was enough surplus from quit-rents in the colonial
treasury to defray it. One cannot read such a letter without
admiring the writer's honest frankness, his clear insight, his
prudence, and his courage.
But with all Spotswood's virtues and talents, and in spite
of his popularity, he fell upon the same rock upon which
Andros and Nicholson had been wrecked : he quarrelled with
^ Spotswood, Official Letters, ii. 297.
- He understood that from Swift Run Gap it was but three days'
march to a tribe of Indians living on a river which emptied into Lake
Erie: also that from a distant peak, which was pointed out to him,
Lake Erie was distinctly visible ; so he estimated the total distance as
five days' march. The river route thus vaguely indicated was probably
down the Youijhiogheny or the Monongahela to the site of Pittsl^urgh,
then up the Alleghany and so on to the site of Erie, distant in a straight
line about 300 miles from Swift Run Gap. Braddock in 1755 was a
month in gettinij over less than one fourth of the actual route. But, in
spite of the false estimate. Spotswood's general idea was sound.
FROM TIDEWATER TO THE MOUNTAINS
369
Dr. Blair, who tells us that ''he was so wedded to his own
notions that there was no quarter for them that went not
with him." ^ With a change of name, perhaps the same might
have been said of the worthy doctor. The quarrel seems to
REVEREND JAMES BLAIR
have originated in the question as to the right of appointing
pastors, and it ended, as Blair's contests always ended, in the
overthrow of his antagonist. Nobody could stand up against
that doughty Scotch parson.^ Spotswood was removed from
1 Willia))i and Maty College Quarterly, 1.7.
2 In this respect one of his family in the days of our great Civil War
was like him. The noble statue at the entrance of Forest Park in St.
Louis stands there to remind us that it was chiefly the iron will of
Francis Preston Blair that in 1861 prevented the secessionist govern-
ment of Missouri from dragging that state over to the Southern Confed-
eracy.
VOL. II
370 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
his governorship in 1722, but continued to live in the Vir-
ginia which he loved. As postmaster-general for the Amer-
ican colonies, he had by 1738 got the mail running regularly
from New England as far south as James River.
wood's last It took a wcck to carry the mail from Philadelphia
^^^^^ to Williamsburg ; for points further south the post-
rider started at irregular intervals, whenever enough mail had
accumulated to make it worth while. In 1740 Spotswood
received a major-general's commission, and was about to sail
in Admiral Vernon's expedition against Cartagena,^ when he
suddenly died. He was buried on his estate of Temple
Farm, near Yorktown. In later days the surrender of Lord
Cornwallis was negotiated in the house which had sheltered
the last years of this noble governor.^
Spotswood was succeeded by Hugh Drysdale, who died in
1726, and next came William Gooch, another military Scotch-
Gcoch and i'^'^^-^'^j quict, uiodcst, and shrewd, who managed
Dinwiddie things for twcuty-two ycars, from 1727 to 1749,
with marked ability and success. After an interval, Gooch
was followed by Robert Dinwiddie, still another Scotchman,
who came in 1751 and staid until 1758, and whose adminis-
tration is the last one that calls for mention in the present
narrative.
The period of Gooch's government was remarkable for the
development of the westward movement prefigured in Spots-
wood's expedition across the Blue Ridge. This development
occurred in a way that even far-seeing men could not have
^ George Washington's elder brother, Lawrence, served in this expe-
dition, and named his estate Mount Vernon after the admiral.
- In 1-78 1 the mansion at Temple Farm was known as the Moore
House.
Mount Venion
FROM TIDEWATER TO THE AIOUNTAIxNS 371
predicted. It introduced into Virginia a new set of people,
new forms of reli2:ion, new habits of life. It af- ^,
. The
fected all the colonies south of Pennsylvania most Scotch-
profoundly, and did more than anything else to
determine the character of all the states afterward founded
west of the Alleghanies and south of the latitude of middle
Illinois. Until recent years, little has been written about
the coming of the so-called Scotch-Irish to America, and yet
it is an event of scarcely less importance than the exodus of
English Puritans to New England and that of English Cava-
liers to Virginia. It is impossible to understand the drift
which American history, social and political, has taken since
the time of Andrew Jackson, without studying the early life
of the Scotch-Irish population of the Alleghany regions, the
pioneers of the American backwoods. I do not mean to be
understood as saying that the whole of that population at the
time of our Revolutionary War was Scotch-Irish, for there
was a considerable German element in it, besides an infusion
of English moving inward from the coast. But the Scotch-
Irish element was more numerous and far more important
than all the others. A detailed account of it belongs espe-
cially with the history of Pennsylvania, since that colony was
the principal centre of its distribution throughout the south
and west ; but a brief mention of its coming is indispensable
in any sketch of Old Virginia and Her Neighbours.^
Who were the people called by this rather awkward com-
pound name, Scotch-Irish ? The answer carries us back to
the year 161 1, when James I. began peopling Ulster with
colonists from Scotland and the north of England. The
plan was to put into Ireland a Protestant popula- coloniza-
tion that might ultimately outnumber the Catholics u'iste/by
and become the controlling element in the country. 1^"^^^ ^•
The settlers were picked men and women of the most excel-
lent sort. By the middle of the seventeenth century there
^ In my next following work, entitled "The Dutch and Quaker Colo-
nies in America," I have given a further account of the Scotch-Irish
and their work in this countrv.
372 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
were 300,000 of them in Ulster. That provmce had been
the most neglected part of the island, a wilderness of bogs
and fens ; they transformed it into a garden. They also
established manufactures of woollens and linens which have
ever since been famous throughout the world. By the be-
ginning of the eighteenth century their numbers had risen
to nearly a million. Their social condition was not that of
peasants ; they were intelligent yeomanry and artisans. In
a document signed in 1718 by a miscellaneous group of 319
men, only 13 made their mark, while 306 wrote their names
in full. Nothing like that could have happened at that time
in any other part of the British Empire, hardly even in New
England.
When these people began coming to America, those fam-
ilies that had been longest in Ireland had dwelt there but for
three generations, and confusion of mind seems to lurk in
any nomenclature which couples them with the true Irish.
The antipathy between the ScotchTrish as a group and the
true Irish as a group is perhaps unsurpassed for bitterness
and intensity. On the other hand, since love laughs at
feuds and schisms, intermarriages between the colonists of
Ulster and the native Irish were by no means unusual, and
instances occur of Murphys and McManuses of Presbyte-
rian faith. It was common in Ulster to allude to Presby-
terians as "Scotch," to Roman Catholics as "Irish," and to
members of the English church as " Protestants," without
much reference to pedigree. From this point of view the
term "Scotch-Irish" may be defensible, provided we do not
let it conceal the fact that the people to whom it applied are
for the most part lowland Scotch Presbyterians, very slightly
hibernicized in blood.
The flourishing manufactures in Ulster aroused the jeal-
ousy of rival manufacturers in England, who in 1698 suc-
ceeded in obtaining legislation which seriously damaged the
Ulster's Irish linen and woollen industries and threw many
grievances workmen out of employment. About the same
time it became apparent that an epidemic fever of persecu-
m
-.1
/
'-z^fe^tWyi^
^-2^-
FkOM TIDEWATER TO THE MOUNTAINS 375
This settlement of the Valley soon began to work pro-
found modifications in the life of Old Virginia. Hitherto it
had been purely English and predominantly Epis-
copal, Cavalier, and aristocratic. There was now effect upon
a rapid invasion of Scotch Presbyterianism, with ^''§^"^^
small farms, few slaves, and democratic ideas, made more
ry^M'M/^''/f^/y^ -y/.'Z'
yz^^m^^^^'W^"'''''-^'^^^'^'^^^^^'^^''^^^'^^^^^^
iW^
THOMAS, SIXTH LORD FAIRFAX
democratic by life in the backwoods. It was impossible that
two societies so different in habits and ideas shoukl coexist
side by side, sending representatives to the same House of
Bur<resses, without a stubborn conflict. For two generations
there was a ferment which resulted in the separation of
church and state, complete religious toleration, the abolition
376 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
of primogeniture and entails, and many other important
changes, most of which were consummated under the leader-
ship of Thomas Jefferson between 1776 and 1785. Without
the aid of the Valley population, these beginnings of meta-
morphosis in tidewater Virginia would not have been accom-
]:»lished at that time.
Jefferson is often called the father of modern American
democracy ; in a certain sense the Shenandoah Valley and
adjacent Appalachian regions may be called its
phase of cradlc. In that rude frontier society, life assumed
emociacy j^-jg^^-jy^j^g^ aspccts, old customs wcrc forgotten, old
distinctions abolished, social equality acquired even more
importance than unchecked individualism. The notions,
sometimes crude and noxious, sometimes just and whole-
some, which characterized Jacksonian democracy, flourished
greatly on the frontier and have thence been propagated
eastward through the older communities, affecting their legis-
lation and their politics more or less according to frequency
of contact and intercourse. Massachusetts, relatively remote
and relatively ancient, has been perhaps least affected by this
group of ideas, but all parts of the United States have felt
its influence powerfully. This phase of democracy, which
is destined to continue so long as frontier life retains any
importance, can nowhere be so well studied in its beginnings
as among the Presbyterian population of the Appalachian
region in the eighteenth century.
The Shenandoah Valley, however, was not absolutely
given up to Scotchmen and Germans ; it was not entirely
^ ^ ^ . without EnHish inhabitants from the tidewater
Lord Fair- , *^
fax and rcgiou. Amoug thcsc, one specially interesting ■
George "^ • a i i i
Washing- group arrcsts our attention. At the northern end
^°" of the Valley was a little English colony gathered
about Lord Fairfax's home at Greenway Court, a dozen miles
southwest from the site of Winchester. We have seen how
Lord Culpeper, in relinquishing his proprietary claims upon
Virginia-, had retained the Northern Neck. This extensive
territory passed as a dowry with Culpeper's daughter Cath-
FROM TIDEWATER TO THE MOUNTAINS 377
arine to her husband, the fifth Lord Fairfax;^ and in 1745
their son, the sixth Lord Fairfax, came to spend the rest
of his days in Virginia. There was much surv^eying to be
done, and the lord of Greenway Court gave this work to
a young man for whom he had conceived a strong affection.
The name of Fairfax's youthful friend was George Wash-
ington, and it is impossible to couple these two names
without being reminded of
a letter written a hundred
years before, in 1646, when
Charles I. had been over-
thrown and taken prisoner,
and Henry Washington, roy-
alist commander at Worces-
ter, still held out and refused
to surrender the city with-
out authority from the king.
Thus wrote the noble com-
mander to the great General
Fairfax, commander of the
Parliament army : " It is ac-
knowledged by your books, and by report of your own quar-
ter, that the king is in some of your armies. That granted,
it may be easy for you to procure his Majesty's commands
for the disposal of this garrison. Till then I shall make
good the trust reposed in me. As for conditions, if I shall
be necessitated I shall make the best I can. The worst I
know and fear not ; if I had, the profession of a soldier had
not been begun nor so long continued by your Excellency's
humble servant, — Henry Washington." ^
There is a ring to this letter which sounds not unlike the
utterance of that scion of the writer's family who was des-
tined to win independence for the United States. It is plea-
sant to know that General Fairfax obtained the order from
Kina: Charles and "-ranted most honourable terms to the
FAIRFAX ARMS
1 Cf. Winsor, Xarr. and Crit. Hist. v. 276.
2 Greene's .Intiquitics of Worccsti'r. j). 273.
378 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS
brave Colonel Washington. In the following century a
member of the house of Fairfax, in engaging the younger
Effect of Washington to survey his frontier estates, put him
wid ad- ii^to a position which led up to his wonderful public
vance upon q^yqqj-^ Por this advaucc of the Viro:inians from
the military t?
situation tidcwatcr to the mountains served to bring on the
final struggle with France. The wholesale Scotch-Irish immi-
gration was fast carrying Virginia's frontier toward the Ohio
River, and making feasible the schemes of Spotswood in a
way that no man would have thought of. Hitherto the strug-
gle with the house of Bourbon had been confined to Canada
at one end of the line and Carolina at the other, while the
centre had not been directly implicated. In the first Amer-
ican Congress, convened by Jacob Leisler at New York in
1690 for the purpose of concerting measures of defence
against the common enemy, Virginia (as we have seen) took
no part. The seat of war was then remote, and her strength
exerted at such a distance would have been of little avail.
But in the sixty years since 1690 the white population of
Virginia had increased fourfold, and her wealth had increased
still more. Looking down the Monongahela River to the
point where its union with the Alleghany makes
way of the the Ohio, shc beheld there the gateway to the
Great West, and felt a yearning to possess it ; for
the westward movement was giving' rise to speculations in
land, and a company was forming for the exploration and
settlement of all that Ohio country. But French eyes were
not blind to the situation, and it was their king's pawns, not
the English, that opened the game on the mighty chess-
Advance of board. Frcncli troops from Canada crossed Lake
the French Ene, and built their first fort where the city of Erie
now stands. Then they pushed forward down the wooded
valley of the Alleghany and built a second fortress and a
third. Another stride would bring them to the gateway.
Something must be done at once.
At sach a crisis Governor Dinwiddle had need of the
ablest man Virginia could afford, to undertake a journey of
FROM TIDEWATER TO THE MOUNTAINS 379
unwonted difficulty through the wilderness, to negotir.te
with Indian tribes, and to warn the advancing Frenchmen
to trespass no further upon Enghsh territory. As
the best person to entrust with this arduous enter- Washing-
prise, the shrewd old Scotchman selected a lad of appear?.nce
one-and-twenty. Lord Fairfax's surveyor, George ^" i^^^ory
Washinsfton. Historv does not record a more extraordinar^^
choice, nor one more completely justified.
This year 1753 marks the end of the period when we can
deal with the history of Virginia by itself. The struggle
against France, so long sustained by New York and Xew
England, acquires a truly Continental character when \'ir-
ginia comes to take part in it. Great public questions forth-
with come up for solution, some of which are not set at rest
until after that young land surveyor has become President of
the United States. With the first encounter between French-
men and Englishmen in the Alleghanies, the stream of Vir-
ginia history becomes an inseparable portion of the majestic
stream in which flows the career of our Federal Union.
INDEX
Abbot, George, i. 72 ; portrait, i. 70.
Abbot, Jeffrey, i. 135, 161.
Abraham, Heights of, i. 165 : ii. 357.
Absence of towns in North Carolina, ii. 296.
Accomac peninsula, i. 211 ; ii. 75.
Act of Uniformity, i. 284.
Adam of Bremen, i. 20.
Adams, C. F., i. g.
Adams, Henry, i. 113.
Adams, Samuel, i. 34; ii. 25, 86, 264.
Adelmare, Julius Csesar, i. 72.
Adoption of captives, i. 109-113, 134.
.^sop's crow, i. 51.
African slaves, less tractable than those born in
America, ii. 307.
Agassiz, Louis, ii. 175.
Agnese's map, i. 65.
Agriculture in North Carolina, ii. 294.
Aiaric, ii. 79.
Albany Congress, ii. 361.
Albemarle Colony, ii. 255 ; Bacon looked for
possible help from, ii. 262.
Albemarle Sound, i 251.
Alcaeus, epi,'ram of, in Greek on title-page,
English paraphrase, ii. 24.
Alexander VI., i. 22, 33.
Alexander, Sir William, i. 270 ; portrait and
autograph, i. 270.
Algerine pirates, ii. 320.
Algonquins, i. 95; ii. 51-54. 152, 278.
Allerton, Isaac, ii. 52, 60.
Altona, ii. 124, 125.
Alva, Duke of, i. 24.
Amadis, Philip, i. 34.
America, first occurrence of the name in Eng-
lish, i. 14.
American Antiquarian Society, i. 2.
Americans not subject to Parliament, view of
James I., i. 207.
Ancient British drama, i. 64.
Andros, Sir Edmund, ii. 100, 106, 107 : docu-
ment bearing autograph of, ii. 105.
Annapolis, i. 254. 292 ; ii. loS, 147, 227, 247.
Anne Arundel County, ii. 122.
Anne of Denmark, Queen of James I., i. 105 ;
portrait and autograph, i. 105.
Anne, Queen, ii. 117.
Anti-Catholic panic, ii. 143, 144-
Anti-slavery sentiment in Virginia, ii. 174.
Antwerp, i. 51.
Apaciies, the, i. loS.
Appalachian region the cradle of modern demo-
cracy, ii. 376.
Appleby School, ii. 226.
Appomattox Indians, ii. 71.
Arabian Nights, i. 115; li. I.S4.
Aram, Eugene, ii. 227.
AFber, Edward, i. 85, 114.
Archdale, John, ii. 270, 271 ; autograph, ii. 271.
Archer, Gabriel, i. 124, 149.
Archer's Hope, i. 124.
Argall, Samuel, i. 142, 158, 163, 165-167, 175,
177. 197) 205, 248; ii. 13; autograph, i. 158.
ArgalPs Gift, i. 177.
Ark, the ship, i. 258, 274.
Arlington, Earl of, ii. 46, 96, 260; portrait and
autograph, ii. 47.
Armada, the Invincible, i.9, 39, 41-44, 46, 55,
ii. 357 ; picture of, i. 44.
Arnieiiica, i. 14.
Armor, piece of i6th century, unearthed at
JamestovvU; ii. no.
Arundel, Lady Anne, wife of second Lord Bal-
timore, i. 254, 292; portrait, i. 286.
Arundel of Wardour, Lord, i. 61.
Ashley River Colony, ii. 257.
Ashley, Sir Anthony, i. 72.
Ashley, W. J., i. 54. _
Asieitto agreement, ii. 172.
Assembly, Maryland, i. 267, 292; ii. 120-123,
i35~i39, 147; Massachusetts, i. 228: North
Carolina, ii. 276; Virginia, i. 178, 205,228-
238, 291, 293; ii. 16, 47, 60, 88, 122, 169; its
" Tragical Declaration," i. 205.
Atheism, how defined by Bishop Meade, ii.
242, 243.
Australasian colonies, ii. 165.
Avalon, proposed palatinate in Newfoundland,
i. 248-250.
Avison, Charles, ii. 222.
Ayllon's colony on James River, i. 94.
Azov, Sea of, i. 91.
Azores, i. 40, 146, 175.
Backwoods life, ii. 250, 251, 297.
Bacon, Lord, i. 73, 142, 1S9, ig8, 254; ii. 56;
autograph, i. ig8.
Bacon, Nathaniel, the elder, ii. 55, 56, 59, 77.
Bacon, Nathaniel, the rebel, his pedigree, ii.
56 ; his manifesto, ii. 67-69 : document signed
by, ii- 75; his death, ii. 79, 80.
Bacon's assembly, ii. 88, 89.
Bacon's rebellion, ii. 31, 39-93; sympathizers
ill .Mar\'land, ii. 140, 151.
Baffin, William, i. 6g.
Bahama Islands, their military value, ii. 257.
Bailiffs, i. 261.
P.aird, C W., ii. 187.
Balboa, i. 28.
Ballagh, J. C., ii. 160.
lialtimore arms, i. 237.
Baltimore, Lady, wife of first Lord, i. 250.
382
INDEX
Baltimore, Lord. See Calvert.
Baltimore, Lord, coins, penny, i. 263; six-
pence, i. 263.
Baltimore, the city, ii. 247.
Baltimore, the Irish village, i. 242.
Bancroft, George, li. 16S.
Barbadoes, i. 260; ii. 166, 175, 190, 256, 266.
r>arbecues, ii. 222.
Barlow, Arthur, i. 36.
Barns, ii. 202.
Barnwell, John, defeats the Tuscaroras, ii. 2S4.
Barrow, John, i. 29, 30.
Bassett, J. S., ii. 253, 25S.
Bates, H. W., i. 190.
Beadell, Gabriel, i. 122.
Beaumont, Francis, i. 60.
Becket, Thomas, ii. 12.
Bedford, Countess of i. 176.
Bedroom furniture, ii. 205.
Bee, Captain, ii. 310.
Beggars, i. 53.
Behn, Mrs. Aphra, ii. 162; facsimile title-page
of her " Widow Ranter," ii. i6i.
Belknap, Jeremy, i. i.
Belles of Williamsburg, a poem, ii. 23S.
Bennett, Richard, i. 283, 290 ; ii. 51, 96.
Berkeley Plantation, i. 181.
Berkeley, Lord, i. 72 ; ii. 45, 48, Si, 129, 250;
autograph, ii. 129.
Berkeley, Sir Maurice, i. 72; ii. 48.
Berkeley, Sir William, i. 72, 240, 2S4, 287, 290,
293 ; ii. 14, 17-191 46, 4S, 50, 51, 54, 58-62, 65,
90-93, 94, 95, 122, 139, 205, 224, 250, 256, 262 ;
autograph, ii. 224.
Berkeleys, the, i. 159.
Bermuda Hundred, i. 163, 213.
Bermuda Islands, i. 148, 149, 158, 198.
Bermudez, Juan, i. 148.
Berry, Sir John, ii. 79, S3.
Bertrand, a Huguenot family, ii. 187.
Beverages, ii. 208, 209.
Beverley, Robert, clerk of assembly, ii. 70, 77,
79. 94-99-
Beverley, Robert, the historian, ii. ig, 61, 179,
190, 192, 234; autograph, ii. 179; facsimile
title-page of his " History and Present State
of Virginia," ii. 191.
Bichat, Xavier, ii. 239.
Billingsgate, i. 62.
Billy, a runaway negro, ii. iSo.
Birds, ii. 196.
Bishop, intention to appoint one in America,
ii. 102.
Blackbeard, the last of the pirates, ii. 348-351 ;
portrait, ii. 349.
Black Death, the, i. 25.
Black-eyed Susan, i. 80.
Blackiston, Nehemiah, ii. 144.
Blackmail in the West Indies, ii. 330.
Blackstone, William, ii. 116, 320.
Blair, Francis Preston, ii. 369.
Blair, James, i. 223 ; ii. 102-111,116,232,241,
369; portraits, ii. 102, 369.
Blair, Mrs. James, ii. 106; portrait, ii. 115.
Blake, Joseph, ii. 271, 346.
I5land, Giles, ii. 75, 91.
island, John, ii. 41-44.
Blenheim, battle of, ii. 174, 352.
Bliss, William R., ii. 230.
Blood debt, Indian ideas of, i. no.
B-Uie Anchor tavern, i. 62.
Blue Rid^e, ii. 64, 1S7, 362 ; crossed by Spots-
wood, ii. 364. '
Blunt Point, i. 200.
Blunt, Tom, a Tuscarora chief, ii. 283.
Bodleian Library, i. 30.
Bohemia, i. 92.
Bohemia Manor, ii. 126.
Bolivia, i. 28.
Boiling family descended from Pocahontas, i.
167.
Bologna, i. 85.
Bonnet, Stede, ii. 350, 351.
Boon, John, ii. 345.
Boroughs, i. 214.
Boston, Mass., i. 20.
Boswell, James, ii. 314.
Boucher, Jonathan, ii. 227.
Boulogne, i. 43.
Bowdoin, a Huguenot family, ii. 187.
Bowdoin College, i. 50.
Boyle, Robert, ii. 112; autograph, ii. in.
Bradford, William, ii. 232.
Brafferton Hall, ii. 112.
Brandon, Lower, view of north front, ii. 49;
view of south front, ii. 75 ; view of dining-
room at, ii. 85.
Brandon, Upper, wharf at, ii. 189.
Brandt, Sebastian, i. 14.
Brant, F. P., ii. 80.
Braziers, ii. 206.
Brazil Huguenots in, i. 20.
Breaking on the wheel, i. 161 ; ii. 224.
Brent. Giles, i. 286 ; ii. 132.
" Brethren of the Coast," ii. 324, 326.
Brick for building, ii. 203.
Bright, J. F., i. 198.
Bristol, i. 48, 61.
Brock, R. A., ii. 187.
Bromfield, Lady, ii. 182, 183.
Brooke, Baker, ii. 136.
Brooke, Lord, ii. 10.
Brooke, Robert, a priest, ii. 149.
Brooke, .Sir Robert, ii. 56.
Brown, Alexander, i. 26, 33, 64, 107, 154, 143,
176, 184.
Browne, W. H., i. 248, 250, 254; ii. 54, 130.
Browning, Louisa, ii. 156.
Bruce, Philip, ii. 20, 45, 58, 96, 108, 168-170,
175, 176, 182, 185, 189, igo, 196, 197, igg, 201,
203, 210, 217, 221, 239, 327.
Brunswick, ii. 8.
Bruton Parish Church, Williamsburg, ii. 241 ;
view from the rear, ii. 303 ; view of, ii. 365.
Buccaneering, origin of, ii. 324.
Buccaneers, i. 26 ; origin of the name, ii. 326.
Buenos Ayres, i. 28.
Burgesses, House of, i. 178; view of its site,
ii. 59.
Burghley, Lord, i. 42 ; portrait and autograph,
i. 42. '
Burgundy, House of, i. 51.
Burk, John, ii. iSo, 245.
Burke, Edmund, ii. 86, 229.
Burney, James, ii. 328.
Burning alive, i. 151 ; ii. 244, 245.
Burroughs, Anne, i. 114.
Burton, Sir Charles, a convict, ii. 227.
Burwell, Lewis, ii. no.
Butler, James, ii. 164, j66, 227.
Butler, Nathaniel, his attack upon the Loudon
Company, i. 19S-202, 217; ii. 203.
Butterflies of the aristocracy, ii. 9, 14
Buzzard's Bay, i. 61.
Byrd arms. ii. 233.
Byrd, William, the elder, ii. 71, 190, 237.
Byrd, William, historian, ii. 71, 194, 220; por-
trait, ii. frontispiece ; his library, ii. 223,
INDEX
383
236, 23S ; describes life in Xortli Carolina,
ii. 236, 237, 2Q3 ; tomb of, at Westover, ii.
283.
Byrd and Mayo, instruments used by, ii. 237.
Cabot, John, i. 12 ; ii. 125.
Cabot, Sebastian, i. 12-14; portrait and auto-
graph, i. 13.
Cadiz, battle of, i. 45, 60, 68.
Cadiz harbour, attacked by Drake, i. 39.
Casar, Sir Julius, i. 72 ; portiait and auto-
graph, i. 71.
Calderon, i. 11 ; portrait and autograph, i. 11.
Caliban, i. 15.
California, i. 39, 65.
Calvert, Georse, first Lord Baltimore, i. 242,
248, 254: his house in Ferryland, picture of,
i. 249; portrait, i. 254.
Calvert, Cecilius, second Lord Baltimore, i.
242, 252, 254, 258, 265, 267-274, 290, 292,
294-296; ii. 1 19-127, 129, 139; portrait, i.
276.
Calvert, Charles, third Lord Baltimore, ii. 123,
129, 135. 136, 139-145: autograph, ii. 139.
Calvert, Benedict, fourth Lord Baltimore, ii.
141 ; autograph, ii. 152.
Calvert, Charles, fifth Lord Baltimore, ii. 153-
'56.
Calvert, Frederick, sixth Lord Baltimore, ii.
156: portrait and autograph, li. X55.
Calvert, George, brother of second Lord Balti-
more, i. 258.
Calvert, Leonard, i. 258,260, 274-276,281, 287;
ii. 147 ; autograph, ii. 147.
Calvert, Philip, ii. 119, 121, 123.
Calvert, William, ii. 136.
Cambridge, ]\Iass., i. 50.
Cambridge University, i. 282 ; ii. 227.
Camden, W., i. 28, 60.
Camm, John, ii. 114, 115.
Campbell, Lord, i. 84.
Canada, i. 66, 114, 117, 152.
Canary Islands, i. 92.
Candles of myrtle wax, ii. 207.
Cannibals, i. 14S, 151.
Canning, Elizabeth, ii. 166.
Cape Breton, i. 12.
Cape Charles, i. 163, 212.
Cape Clear, i. 242.
Cape Cod, i. 61, 93, 158 ; ii. 4.
Cape Fear River, i. 66.
Cape Finisterre, i. 63.
Cape Henry, i. 93, 95.
Cape Lookout, i. 34.
Capetian monarchy in France, i. 243.
Capital offences, i. 160.
Cardross, Lord, ii. 267.
Carey, Thomas, ii. 275.
Carey's rebellion, ii. 277.
Carlton, Thomas, i. 92.
Carolina, i. 67, 72, 252 ; ii. 46 ; Bacon's watch-
word, ii. 75; palatinate government of, ii.
254; facsimile title-page of " Brief Descrip-
tion of the Province,"' ii. 259: Lederer's
map of, 1670, ii. 261: Morden's map of.
1687, ii. 269; Algonquins in, ii. 27S; map of
ye most improved part of, ii. 292 ; Spanish
gold and silver in, ii. 345.
Carolina Company medal, ii. 304.
Caroni River, i. 18S.
Carriages, ii. 219.
Carrington, Mrs. Edward, ii. 214-216.
Carroll arms, ii. 154.
Carroll, Charles, of Carrollton, ii. 156.
Carroll, Charles, the elder, ii. 154-156.
Cartagena, i. 38; view of, i. 37.
Carter, i. 203.
Carteret, Sir George, ii. 130, 250; autograph,
ii. 129.
Car>', Sir Henry, i. 72; portrait, i. 72.
Caspian Sea, i. 76.
Cathay and its riches, i. 7, 12.
Catholics in Maryland, i. 257-260; ii. 135;
civil disabilities of, ii. 150-152.
Cattle, i. 162, 218; ii. 2, 325.
Cavalier families, ii. 21.
Cavalier society reproduced only on Chesa-
peake Bay, ii. 316.
Cavaliers in Virginia, ii. 8-25, 30-38 ; in South
Carolina, ii. 303.
Cavendish, Lord, i. 197, 203, 204, 208.
Cavendish, .Sir Thomas, portrait and auto-
graph, i. 38 ; circumnavigation of the earth
by, i- 39 ; not a pirate, ii. 322.
Caviar, i. 142.
Cecil, Sir Robert, i. 46, 60, 142.
Central America, i. 65.
Cessation of tobacco crops, ii. 45, 136.
Chain Lightning City, i. 214.
Chamberlain, a court gossip, i. 197.
Champlain, Samuel, i. 117.
Chancellor of temporalities, i. 262.
Cliancery courts, i. 262.
Chandler, Thomas, ii. 148.
Channing, Edward, ii. 35, 87.
Chapman, George, i. 61.
Charatza Tragabigzanda, i. 90.
Charcoal and its fumes, i. 140.
Charlecote Hall, i. 73.
Charles L, i. 93, 186, 224, 226, 231, 238, 240,
250, 251, 271, 275, 279, 2S7, 2S8, 291,294: ii.
1, 6, 10, 13, 25, 157, 250, 377; portrait and
autograph, i. 187; portrait, i. 227.
Charles II., i. 263, 2S2, 288, 291 ; ii. 6, i;^2i,
40, 46-48, 65, 70, 88, 91, 94-98, 123, 129, 135,
224, 250, 338; portrait, li. 17.
Charles V., the Emperor, i. 51.
Charles IX. of France, i. 252 ; ii. 250.
Charles City, i. 178, 213, 216.
Charleston, the city, founding of, ii. 257,258;
removed' to a new situation, ii. 264 ; com-
merce of, ii. 307 ; social life in, ii. 312: at-
tacked by French and Spanish fleet, ii. 358,
359; plan of, ii. 273 ; plan of, 1732, ii. 291.
Charter of Massachusetts carried to New Eng-
land, i. 225.
Chastellux, Alarquis de, i. 4 : ii. 204.
Cheesman, Edward, ii. 80, 91.
CheesiTian, Mrs., insulted by Berkeley, ii. 80.
Cheltenham, i. 50.
Cherokees, the. ii. 2S0.
Chesapeake Bay, i. 37, 61, 65, 114, 158, iSi,
260.
Cheseldyn, Kenelm, ii. 144.
Chester, palatinate of, i. 244.
Chicheley, Sir Henry, ii. 67, 70, 77, 263.
Chickahominy, tlie river, i. 102, 213.
Chickahominy, the tribe, i. 140.
Childs, James, founder of a free school, li. 306.
Chili, i. 39.
Chimneys, ii, 203, 204.
China, i. 47.
Chinese pirates, ii. 319.
Chollop, Hannibal, ii. 301.
Chowan River, i. 251.
Christiansen, Hendrick, i. 165.
Christopher, the Syrian saint, i. 120.
Cluirch at Jamestown, i. i57,*i64, 231.
384
INDEX
Church of England established in Maryland,
ii. 146.
Church wardens, ii. 30, 87.
Cluizzlewit, Martin, ii. 301.
CiiUra, i. 40.
Circumnavigation of the earth by Drake, i.
2S-30.
Claiborne, William, i. 252, 269-278, 2S0-282,
285-288,292-296; ii. 70, 126; portrait, i. 269;
autograph of, ii. 126.
Clarendon Colony, ii. 256; abandoned, ii. 270
Claret, American, i. 20; ii. 189-
Clarkson, Thomas, ii. 183.
Classical revival, ii. 204.
Clay-eaters, ii. 302.
Clayton, John, botanist, ii. 238, 239.
Clement VIII., i. 85.
Clergymen in early New England, ii. 26, 232 ;
in Virginia and Maryland, ii. 240; in South
Carolina, how elected, ii. 304 ; contrast with
those of V^irginia, ii. 304, 305.
Clergymen's salari2s, i. 235; ii. 31.
Climate of South Carolina, ii. 30S; of Virginia.
Clobery & Co., fur traders, i. 270, 275, 281.
" Cloister and the Hearth," the, i. 83.
Cobham, Lord, i. 188.
Cockatrice, the ship, i. 276. ,
Code of laws in Dale's time, i. 160.
Codfish, ii. 189.
Coke, Sir Edward, i. 259.
Cold Harbor, i. 212.
Coligny, Admiral, i. 20, 21, 34; portrait and
autograph, i. ig.
Colleton, Sir John, ii. 250, 267.
Colhngwood, Edward, i. 209.
Colonels in the South, why so common, ii. 36.
Colonization of Ulster bj' James I., ii. 371.
Columbia, S. C, i. 66.
Columbine as a floral emblem, i. 154.
Coli^bus, Christopher, his object in sailing
westward, i. 7 ; ii. 125, 323.
Comanches, i. 108.
Commons, House of, i. 232 ; ii. n.
Communal houses, i. 20.
Communal lands, i. 95.
Communion vessel, oldest in Virginia, i. 284.
Comm.unism among the first settlers of Vir-
ginia, i. 141, 146, 156, 161, 162.
Communists and lager beer, i. 162 ; in Bacon's
rebellion, ii. 90.
" Complaint from Heaven," ii. 142.
Conch, a kind of mean white, ii. 302.
Congregations, migration of, ii. 28, 230.
Congress of 1690, ii. 152.
Conspiracy of the Carolina Indians, ii. 280.
Constables, i. 261.
Constantine the Great, i. 25.
Continental Congress of 1690, ii. 358.
Convicts sent to America, ii. 159-172 ; as
schoolmasters, ii. 227.
Conway, Moncure, ii. 157, 196.
Coode, John, ii. 145.
Cook, Ebenezer, his poem "The Sot-Weed
Factor," ii. 200.
Cooke, J. E., i. 234; ii. 9, 112.
Cooper, A. A., Earl of Shaftesbury, ii. 250,
264.
Cooper and Ashley Rivers, ii. 265.
Copeland, Patrick, i. 222.
Copley, Sir Lionel, ii. 104, 145.
Cordilleras, i. 28.
Corn crackers, a kind of mean white, ii. 302.
Cornets and trumpets, ii. 221.
CornwalJis.'the Earl, i. 258.
Cornwallis, Thomas, i. 258, 287.
Coronado, expedition of, i. 65.
Coroners, ii. 34.
Corrnption and extortion, ii. 50.
Coruiia, i. 40.
Coryat, Thomas, introduces the use of forks
into England, ii. 206.
Cortez in Mexico, i. 103.
Cotton crop in South Carolina, ii. 307.
Counter-reformation, ii. 143, 359.
Counties in Virginia, ii. 32.
Count Palatine, meaning of the title, i. 244.
County court, English, i. 179.
County courts in Virginia, ii. 32.
County lieutenants in Virginia, ii. 36.
Coursey, Henry, ii. 136.
Court day in Virginia, ii. 37.
Court House in town names, ii. 33.
Court Party, i. 174.
Courts baron, ii. 132, 134; leet, i. 266; ii. 132,
134; quarter session, i. 262.
Cowley, Abraham, i. 30.
Cowley, Ambrose, a buccaneer, ii. 341.
Crackers, a kind of mean white, ii. 302.
Craft guilds, ii. 14; of London, i. 172.
Craftsmen desired in Virginia, i. 159.
Cranfield, Sir M., i. 202.
Craven, Lord, ii. 250, 284; portrait of, ii.257;
his instructions, ii. 285.
Creeks and rivers as roadways, i. 201.
Crevecceur, St. John de, ii. 311.
Crimes and punishments, ii. 244.
Croatan, i. 45.
Cromwell, Oliver, Lord Protector, i. 142, 263,
292, 294-296; ii. 10,39, 118) 120, 328.
Cromwell, Richard, ii. 16, 120.
Crown requisitions, ii. 152.
Cruel punishments, ii. 311.
Crusades, i. 8.
Cuitlahuatzin, i. 103.
Culpeper, John, and his rebellion, ii. 263.
Culpeper, Lord, ii. 46, 61, 96-98, 224, 260; por-
trait of, ii. 97.
Culpeper, the town, ii. 32.
Cumberford, Nicholas, JMS. map on vellum of
the south part of Virginia, 1657, ii. 249.
Curl's Wharf, ii. 55, 57,. 65.
" Cursed be Canaan," ii. ij^.
Custis, D. P., ii. 100.
Cypress shingles, ii. 203.
Cyprus, i. 85.
Dabney, a Huguenot family, ii. 187.
Dale, Sir Thomas, i. 159-165, 184, 211, 282;
code of laws in Dale's time, i. 160.
Dale's Gift, i. 163, 212.
Dampier, William, ii. 341 ; portrait of, ii. 341.
Daniel, Robert, ii. 274.
Danvers, Sir J., i. 20S; portrait and auto-
graph, i. 20S.
Dare of Virginia, i. 41, 46.
Darien, the peak in, i. 289; map of the Isth-
mus of, ii. 344.
Dartmouth, Eng., i. 58.
Darwin, Charles, ii. 342.
Davenant, Sir William, i. 288.
Davis, a Maryland rebel, ii. 140.
Davis, Edward, a buccaneer, ii. 341.
Davis, John, i. 24, 56.
Deane, Charles, i. 50, 113.
Defoe, Daniel, ii. 160, 170.
Deerfield, destruction of, ii. 258.
De Laet's map, part of, 1630, i. 229.
Delaware, i. 144.
INDEX
385
Delaware, Lady, i. 165.
Delaware, Lord, i. 145, 146, 150, 153, 156-159,
162, 170, 175, 231; portrait of, i. 152; fac-
simile title-page of his " Relation," ii. 41.
Delaware, the colony, i. 224.
Delaware, the river, i. 65.
Delawares, the tribe, i. 145.
Deliverance, the ship, i. 149.
Delke, Roger, ii. 46.
Demagogues, ii. 29.
Demos, the many-headed king, ii. 361.
Deptford, i. 30.
Devil, the, is an Ass, a comedy, ii. 206.
Devonshire, first Earl of, i. 197.
Diderot, D., i. 2.
Digges, Edward, i. 293.
Dining-room furniture, ii. 206.
Dinwiddie, Robert, ii. 370; portrait of, ii. 372.
Discovery, the ship, i. 75.
Dismal Swamp, ii. 56, 194.
Dissenters, i. 282; ii. 87, 149, 242, 271.
Doeg, the tnbe, ii. 57.
Domestic industries, ii. 190.
Dominica, the island, i. 93.
Donne, John, i. 60.
Don Quixote, i. 58.
Don, the river, i. 91.
Doughoregan Manor, view of, ii. 133; draw-
ing room at, view of, ii. 151.
Douglas, Earl of Orkney, ii. 108 ; portrait of,
ii. 109.
Dove, the ship, i. 258, 274.
Doyle, J. A., i. 48, 118, 176; ii. 15, 158.
Dragon, Spanish nickname for Drake, i. 38.
Drake, Sir Francis, i. 22, 26, 28, 38, 40, 42, 63 ;
ii. 322, 363 ; portrait of, i. 28.
Draper, Lyman, ii. 223.
Drayton, Alichael, i. 80-82, 123, 221 ; portrait
and autograph, i. 79.
Dress, of planters and their wives, ii. 216; leg-
islation concerning, i. 234.
Drinking horns, ii. 207.
Drummond Lake, ii. 56.
Drummond, Sarah, ii. 66, 82, 83.
Drummond, William, ii. 56, 66, 76, 77,82, 256,
258-
Drunkards, 1. 234.
Drysdale, Hugh, ii. 370; autograph of, ii. 370.
Duelling, ii. 244.
Dunkirk, i. 43, 44.
Durand, William, i. 290.
Durant, George, ii. 256, 266 ; and the Yankee
skippers, ii. 263.
Durham, Bishop of, i. 261 ; his cathedral, i.
246; picture of, i. 246; nave, i. 247; palat-
inate of, i. 245 ; ii. 254.
" Dust and Ashes," pseudonym for Gabriel
Barber, i. 222.
Dutch in the East Indies, i. 10 ; the commer-
cial rivals of England, ii. 4, 39-44-
Dutch Gap, i. 162.
Dwina, the river, i. 76.
Eastchurch, Gcvernor of Albemarle, and his
Creole bride, ii. 262, 263.
East Greenwich, manor of, i. 68.
East India Company, Dutch, i. 56.
East India Company, English, i. 56, 6g, 176.
" Eastward, Ho," the comedy, i. 61.
Eden, Charles, ii. 286, 348.
Eden, Richard, i. 15; facsimile title-page of
" ATreatyseof the Newe India,"by ium, 16.
Eden, Sir Robert, ii. 156. ,
Edenton, the town, ii. 296. I
Edgar the Peaceful, i. 248.
Edmund Ironside, i. 248.
Edmundson, William, ii. 51.
Education of Indians, i. 233.
Education in Ulster, ii. 392.
Edward III., i. 25, 245 ; ii. ig.
Edward VI., i. 14, 56; portrait and autograph
of, i. 15.
Edwards, Jonathan, li. 233.
Egypt, i. 85.
Egyptian extremity of iUmois, 11. 301.
El Dorado, i. 59, 118, 183.
Eldredge family, descended from Pocahontas,
i. 167.
Elizabeth City, i. 212, 216.
Elizabeth Islands, i. 61.
Elizabeth, Queen, i. 10, 18, 24, 25, 30, 32, 34,
42, 50, 55. 58-60, 64, 145, X91 ; ii. 22, 175,
206; portrait of, i. 54 ; tomb of, i. 193.
Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia, i. 212 ; portrait
and autograph, i. 213.
England, population of, in Elizabeth's time, i.
52 ; never had a noblesse, or upper caste, ii.
II .
English colonies in America promised self-
government by Queen Elizabeth, i. 34.
English man-of-war, 1646, i. 293.
English methods of colonization, i. 28.
Episcopal Church in Virginia, its downfall, ii.
242.
Erie, Lake, its strategic importance, ii. 366,
368.
Escurial, i. 44.
Essex, the Earl of, i. 45.
Eugene, Prince, ii. 174, 314.
Euxine, the sea, i. 76.
Evelin, George, i. 281.
Evelinton Manor, ii. 132.
Exodus of Cavaliers from England to Virginia,
"• 13- ...
Exodus of Puritans from Virginia, li. 14.
Expedition of French and Spanish ships
against Charleston, ii. 272, 274.
Exquemeling, Alexander, ii. 332, 336, 33S;
print from his book, ii. 327; facsimile en-
graved title-page of " De Americaensche
Zee-Roovers," ii. 331 ; facsimile printed title-
page of " De Americaensche Zee-Roovers,"
ii- .■?33i facsimile engraved title-page of
" Histoire des avanturiers," ii. 335 ; facsimile
printed title-page of " Histoire des avantu-
riers," ii. 337.
Faculty meetings at William and Mary, ii.
112.
Fairfax arms, ii. 377.
Fairfax, first Lord, ii. 10.
Fairfax, fifth Lord, ii. 376, 377.
Fairfax, sixth Lord, ii. 376, 377 ; portrait of,
ii- 375-
Fairfax, Sir Thomas, li. 376, 377.
Falkland, Lord, i. 72; ii. 9, 26; portrait and
autograph, ii. 25.
Falling Creek, i. 214.
FalstafF, ii. 210.
Farnese, Alexander, i. 43.
Farnese, Francesco, i. 90.
Faust, ii. 59.
Fayal, i. 32, 60.
" Federalist, The," one of the world's master-
pieces, ii. 233.
Felton, William, ii. 222.
Fendall, Josias, i. 296; ii. 1 19-123 ; autograph
of, i. 296.
3^6
INDEX
Ferrar, Nicholas, the elder, i. 194.
Ferrar, Nicholas, the younger, i. 176, 193-197,
203, 204, 206, 20S, 210, 2iS, 224; ii. 102,234;
facsimile of his receipt, j. 139 ; portrait of, i.
195-
Ferryland, 1. 243.
Festivities at proclamation of Charles II., ii.
18.
Feudal lords, imperfect subordination of, i.
243-
Fiery dragons, missiles invented by Smith, i.
86.
Fighting without declaration of war, ii. 323.
Filibuster, origin of the name, ii. 326.
First supply for Virginia, i. 114, 123.
B'itzhugh, William, ii. 190.
Five Nations, the, ii. 51, 130, 152.
Flanders, Moll, ii. 160.
Flash, Sir Petronel, i. 61-64.
Fleete, Henry, i. 275.
Fleming family, descended from Pocahontas,
i. 167.
Fletcher, Governor of New York, ii. 346.
Fletcher, John, i. 60.
Flibustiers, origin of the name, ii. 326.
Flirting, prohibited by act of legislature, i. 234.
Florence, i. 86.
Florida, discovery of, i. 12, 64, 66, 252 ; Hugue-
nots in, i. 20 ; massacre of, i. 25, 184.
Flournoy, a Huguenot family, ii. 187.
Flowerdieu Hundred, i. 178.
Flower-gardens, ii. 202.
Flutes, ii. 221.
Folkmotes, i. 262.
Fontaine, a Huguenot family, ii. 187.
Foote, W. H., ii. 1S5.
Force, Peter, ii. 57.
Ford, P. L., ii. 219, 240.
Ford, W. C, ii. 240.
Forestallers, law against, i. 236.
Fort Duquesne, ii. 284.
Fort James, i. 94.
Fort Nassau, i. 241.
Fox-Bourne, H. R., ii. 252.
Fox, George, in Maryland, ii. 124.
Fox-hunting, ii. 219.
France, once had a noblesse, or upper class, ii.
1 1.
Franklin, Beniamin, ii. 233, 284; his plan for
a federal union, ii. 361.
Frederica, battle of, ii. 315.
Fredericksburg, ii. 51, 226.
Free negroes, ii. 182.
Freethinking, ii. 243.
French colonization, i. 183.
French posts in Mississippi valley, ii. 364.
Frobisher, Sir Martin, i. 24, 42 ; ii. 322 ; por-
trait and autograph, i. 23.
Frontenac, Count de, ii. 358.
Frontier against Spaniards, ii. 249, 250.
Frontier life, ii. 232; effects of, in American
history, ii. 249, 250 ; in North Carolina, ii.
293-
Froude, J. A., i. 18, 24, 41.
Fuller, Thomas, i. 84, 155.
Fuller, William, ii. 119, 122.
Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina, ii. 252,
253, 2'^0.
Fundy, Bay of, i. 66, 164.
Funerals, ii. 219.
Fur trade, the, i. 269, 272.
Galapagos Islands, ii. 342.
Gale, Christopher, ii. 282.
Gama, Vascode, i. 12.
Gatae, ii. 20S.
Gardiner, S. R., i. 191, 257 ; ii. 168.
Garrison, W. L., ii. 175.
Gates, Sir Thomas, i. 68, 145, 146, 149, 151,
158, 159, 165 ; autograph of, i. 146.
Gateway of the West, ii. 378.
Gay family, descended from Pocahontas, i.
167.
Gayangos, Pascual de, i. 90.
Geddes, Jenny, i. 224.
Genealogy, importance of, ii. 22 ; of Washing-
ton, ii. 22.
Genoa, ii. 323.
Gentlemen as pioneers, i. 122.
Genty, the Abbe, i. 4 ; facsimile title-page of
" LTnfluence de la Decouverte," i. 5.
Geographical conditions, influence of, ii. 291.
Geographical knowledge, progress of, i. 47.
George J., ii. 152.
George III.,i. 34; ii. 100.
Georgia, i. 67, 265 ; a frontier colony, ii. 313 ;
slavery prohibited in, ii. 315; introduced
there, ii. 315 ; Spaniards driven from, ii. 3 15 ;
population of, ii. 315; coast settlements be-
fore 1743, view, of, ii. 317; map of, 1733, ii.
309-
Germanna Ford, ii. 354.
Germans at Werowocomoco, i. 131, 138; in
Appalachian region, ii. 300 ; immigration to
North Carolina, ii. 300 ; in the Mohawk Val-
ley, ii. 300; in Shenandoah Valley, ii. 374;
on the Rapidan River, ii. 354.
Gerrard, Thomas, ii. 120, 144.
Gibbon, John, ii. 18.
Gibraltar, Venezuela, sack of, by Le Basque,
ii. 330 ; sacked by Morgan, ii. 334.
Gift of God, the ship, i. 74.
Gilbert, Bartholomew, i. 6i, 103.
Gilbert, Raleigh, i. 70, 74.
Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, i. 21-26, 30 ; part of his
map, 1576, i. 31 ; portrait and autograph of,
i. 33 ; ii. 322 ; shipwreck of, i. 32.
Gillam, a Yankee skipper, ii. 263.
Glass, attempts to manufacture, i. 123, 218.
Glastonbur>' Minster, i. 248.
Glover, William, ii. 276.
Goddard, Anthony, i. 23.
Godspeed, the ship, i. 75.
Godwyn, ii. 175.
Gog, i, 47.
Gold fever in Virginia, i. 123.
Golden Hind, the ship, i. 29, 30, 63 ; chair
made from timber of, i. 29.
Gomez, i. 29.
Gondomar, Count, i. 186, 188, 190, 191 ; por-
trait and autograph of, i. 189.
Gooch, William, ii. 370, 374 ; chair of, ii. 205 ;
autograph of, li. 374.
Goode, G. B., ii. 71.
Goode, John, his conversation with Bacon, ii.
Gookin, Daniel, the elder, 1. 283.
Gookin, Daniel, the younger, i. 285 ; autograph
of, i. 285.
Gorges, Robert, i. 271.
Gorges, Sir F., i. 61, 69.
Gorton, Samuel, i. 271.
Gosnold, Bartholomew, i. 60, 75, 93, 100.
Gourgues, Dominic de, i. 24, 76.
Government, of early settlers in Virginia, i.
159; of Durham, i. 261-264; of laws, il
246.
Gracchus, Tiberius, ii. 93.
INDEX
387
Graffenried, Baron, leads a party of Swiss and
Germans to North Carolina, ii. 277 ; cap-
tured by the Tuscaroras, ii. 280-284.
Granaries, ii. 202.
Grant, U. S., i. go; ii. 174.
Gratz in Styria, i. 86.
Gray, Asa, ii. 373.
Gray, Samuel, ii. 178.
Gray's Inn, i. 168.
Graydon, Alexander, ii. 149.
Great circle sailing, i. 93.
Great Wighcocomoco, naval fight at, i. 276,
280.
Greene, Roger, ii. 255.
Greene, S. A., ii. 143.
Green Spring, ii. 48, 76, 77, 88, 205.
Grenville, Sir Richard, i. 36, 39, 41, 42; ii.
322 ; portrait of, i. 36.
Greenway Court, ii. 376.
Grigsby, H. B., ii. g.
Grimm, F. M., Baron, i. 4.
Grolier Club, ii. 157.
Gtiardacostas^ small cruisers, ii. 325.
Guiana, i. 59.
Gunpowder explosion at Werowocomoco, i.
140.
Gunpowder plot, i. 70.
Gunston Hall, ii. 204; mode of life at, ii. 211-
214.
Habeas corpus introduced into Virginia, ii.
352-
Haddon, Dr., his prescriptions and bills, ii.
239-
Haddon Hall, ii. 251.
Hakluyt, Richard, the elder, i. 47.
Hakluyt, Richard, the younger, i. 48-56, 68,
75, 129: autograph of, i. 48 ; facsimile title-
page of " Divers Voyages," i. 49.
Hale, E. E., i. i.
Halidon Hill, battle of, i. 246.
Halmote in Durham, i. 262.
Hamilton, Alexander, ii. 86, 157, 254.
Hammond, John, i. 272 ; facsimile title-page
of his " Leah and Rachel," i. 273.
Hamor, Ralph, i. 162; facsimile title-page of
his " True Discourse," i. 215; his "True
Discourse," mentioned, i. 220.
Hampden, John, i. 196; ii. 10.
Hampton, i. 131, 162, 178, 212.
Hampton Court, i. 190.
Hampton Roads, i. 93, 152.
Hancock, John, ii. 264.
Handcock, a Tuscarora chief, ii. 282-286.
Handel, G. F., ii. 172, 221.
Hanham, Thomas, i. 70.
Hannibal, i. 22.
Hanover, ii. 8.
Hansford, Betsey, ii. 114, 115.
Hansford, Thomas, ii. 79, 91.
" Hardscrabble," ii. 294.
Hardwicke, Lord, ii. 182.
Harford, Hen.y, ii. 156.
Harlot, Thomas, facsimile title-page of his "A
Briefe and True Report," ii. 173.
Harpsichords, ii. 22 r.
Harrison, Thomas, i. 286, 290.
Harvard College, i. 145, 222, 223.
Harvey, Sir John, i. 239, 240, 251, 260, 270, 276-
280, 2S4; ii. 5, 13, 67.
Hautboys, ii. 221.
Hawkes, F. L., ii. 256, 261, 264, 266, 278.
Hawkins, Sir John. i. 17-22,27,42,64; por-
trait and autoi^rapli, i. 17 ; arms, 1. 18.
Hawkins, William, I. 16.
Hayden, H. E., ii. 187.
Hayti, ii., 326.
Hedges, dying under, i. 201.
Heidelberg, i. 244.
Hell Gate, i. 284.
Hendren, .S. R., ii. 63.
Hening"s Statutes, i. 218, 235-238, 278, 284 ; ii.
18, 62, 86, 87,99, io-> io9> 168, 169, 177, 180'
1S5, 195, 200, 219, 224, 225, 244.
Henrico County, i. 163 ; ii. 58.
Henricus, City of, i. 163, 178, 214, 217, 222.
Henriette Marie, Queen of Charles I., i. 252 ;
portrait and autograph of, i. 253.
Henry L, i. 243.
Henry II., i. 243.
Henry III., i. 245.
Henry III. of France, ii. 206.
Henry IV., i. 24, : ii. 208.
Henry IV. of France, ii. 152, 358.
Henry VL, ii. 19.
Henry VII., i. 55, 173.
Henr>' VIII., i. 25, 52, 53, 245, 268 ; ii. 264.
Henry the Navigator, i. 55.
Henry, Patrick, i. 34; ii. 114, 245.
Henry, Prince of Wales, i. 93, 159, 163, 185 ;
portrait and autograph, i. 185.
Henry, \V. W., i. 113.
Heralds' College, i. 88.
Herbert, George, i. 208.
Herbert of Cherbury, Lord, i. 208.
Herbert, William, i. 72.
Herkimer, Nicholas, ii. 300.
Herman, Augustine, ii. 128 ; portrait of, ii.
'25-
Herman, Ephraim, ii. 128.
Hervey, Lord, i. 69.
Highwaymen, amateur, i. 84 ; ii. 8g.
Hildreth, Richard, i. 285.
Hill, Edward, ii. 62, 63.
Hindustan, i. 28.
Hinton, Sir Tiiomas, ii. 5.
Hispaniola, ii. 325.
Hobby the sexton, ii. 226.
Hoe-cake, i. 20.
Hdlinshed, i. 30.
Holy Grail, the, i. 195.
Holy Roman Empire, i. 244.
Holy Staircase, i. 86.
Hominy, i. 260.
Hooker, Richard, i. 73, 224.
Horse-racine, ii. 218, 219; prohibited at Wil-
liam and Mar\', ii. 113.
Horses, i. 21S.
Hospitality in Virginia and Maryland, ii. 199,
200.
Hotten, J. C, ii. 168, 169.
Hou.sekeeper's instructions at William and
Man.', ii. 112.
Houses in Virginia, i. 201, 202, 229.
Howard of Effingham, Lord, governor of
Virginia, ii. 98-102, 142, 224 ; portrait of, ii.
99.
Howard of Effingham, Lord, the admiral, i.
42 : ii. 322.
Howard, Lord Thomas, i. 45; ii. 322.
Hubbard's store, an inventory of, ii. 196.
Ilurison Hay Company, ii. 46, 363.
Hudson, Henry, i. 60, 69.
Hudson, the river, i. 65, 66.
Hughson, S. C, ii. 345.
Huguenots, in Florida, i. 20,21 ; in Brazil,!.
20; massacre of, i. 21, 25. 76: expelled from
France, ii. 143 ; in Virginia, ii. 186; in Car-
388
INDEX
olina, ii. 253 : in South Carolina, ii. 267, 271,
303 : in North Carolina, ii. 277.
Humboldt, Alexander, i. 60.
Hume, David, i. 59.
Hundreds and boroughs, i. 216, 217.
Hundreds in Marj'land, i. 268; in Virginia, i.
178.
Hungar>', i. 92.
Hunt, Robert, i. 94.
Hunter, school tutor, ii. 227.
Hunter, William, a jariest, ii. 149.
Huntingdon School, i. 142.
Huntingdonshire, i. 196.
Hutchinson, Thomas, i. 228 ; ii. 25 ; his work
ni histor)', ii. 234.
Hyde, Edward, Lord Clarendon, ii. 250, 265 ;
portrait of, li. 254.
Hyde, governor of Albemarle, ii. 276.
Idaho, i. 178.
" II Penseroso," i. 196.
Independence, Declaration of, ii. 94, 155.
Indian corn, as a floral emblem, i. 154; its im-
portance in American history, i. 154; culti-
vated in Virginia, i. 220; raised in Maryland,
i. 261 ; ii. 2.
Indian girls dancing, i. 116.
Indian troubles in Albemarle probably not
incited by Carey and Porter, ii. 277.
Indians, of North Carolina, i. 34; of Virginia,
i. 61, 77; number of , in Virginia, ii. 7; of
Carolina classified, ii. 278-280.
Indians sold for slaves, ii. 256.
Indigo an important staple of South Carolina,
ii. 306.
Industries, domestic, ii. 190.
Infanta Maria, i. 186, igo, 191.
Ingle, Edward, i. 216; ii. 36, 37.
Ingle, Richard, i. 287.
Ingram, David, i. 22.
Initiative in legislation, i. 267; ii. 136.
Inns in Virginia, i. 200; in Alaryland, ii. 200.
Inquisition, the Spanish, i. 23, 43, 51.
Insolvent debtors in North Carolina, ii. 294 ;
Oglethorpe's plan for relieving, ii._3i4._
Instructions for the Virginia colonists, i. 75-
79-
Insurrections of slaves, ii. 179 ; in South
Carolina, ii. 310.
Ireland, i. 69; southern coast of, ?. 242.
Isabella, Queen, i. 55.
Isle of Wight County, i. 283.
Isles of Demons, i. 149.
Isolation, barbarizing effects of, ii. 232, 302,
312, 313.
Jack of the Feather, a chief, i. 180.
Jackson, Andrew, ii. 371.
Jamaica, ii. 183 ; conquest of, ii. 328.
James I., i. 60, 66, 73, 105, 116, 145, 150, 184,
206, 224-226, 243, 250 •, ii. 229, 391; portrait
and autograph, i. 59; censures Rolfe for
marrj'ing a princess, i. 165; tries to get on
without a parliament, i. 186; his hatred of
Raleigh, i. 188; tries to interfere with elec-
tion of treasurer of Virginia Company, i.
192-194; quarrels with Parliament, i. 198:
attempts to corrupt Nicholas Ferrar, i. 204.
James II., ii. 7, 129, 130, 143, 144; portrait of,
ii. loi.
James City, i. 17S, 200.
James, Duke of York. See James II.
James River, fight in, i. 285 ; its passage
through the Blue Ridge Mountains, ii. 363.
James, the Old Pretender, ii. 151.
James, Thomas, of New Haven, i. 284.
Jamestown, i. 45: founding of, i. 94, 140;
famine at, i. 150, 217 ; ruins of brick church
built at, i. 231; burned by Bacon, ii. 77;
ruins of, ii. 108.
Jay, John, ii. 233.
Jefferson, Thomas, i. 209; ii. 31, 37, 57, 86,
157. 174, 183, 185, 195, 204, 221, 238,376;
schoolhouse at Tuckahoe where he went,
view of, ii. 231.
Jeffries, Sir Herbert, ii. 79, 82.
Jewett, C, ii. 8.
Johnson, C, ii. 350.
Johnson, John, ii. 132.
Johnson, Lady, portrait of, ii. 275.
Johnson, Robert, ii. 287, 288, 347-351.
Johnson, Samuel, ii. 164.
Johnson, Sir Nathaniel, ii. 271 ; portrait of,
ii. 272.
Johnsonese writing, ii. 236.
Joint Stock Companies, i. 56, 66, 182, 264.
Jonah, the prophet, i. 85.
Jones, C. C, ii. 314.
Jones, Hugh, i. 283; ii. 171,218, 366; auto-
graph of, ii. 218.
Jones, Sir William, ii. 24.
Jonson, Ben, i. 60, 61 ; ii. 206.
Jouet, a Huguenot family, ii. 187.
Jowles, Henry, ii. 144.
Joj'ce, P. VV., i. 242.
Justice, Henry, barrister and convict, ii. 227.
Kalm, Peter, ii. 148.
Karlsefni, Thorfinn, ii. 256.
Kawasha, patron of tobacco, i. 168.
Kecoughtan, i. 178, 199.
Kecoughtans, the tribe, i. 131.
Keith, George, i. 283.
Kemp, Richard, i. 277, 280.
Kendall, George, i. 93, loi.
Kennebec River, i. 74.
Kent, i. 68 ; palatinate of, i. 244.
Kent Island, i. 270, 272-277, 278, 280-282, 287,
294, 296.
Kentucky, its settlers, ii. 373, 374.
Kidd, William, ii. 350.
Kidnapping, ii. 159, 169; of Indians, ii. 256,
271.
King Philip's War, 11. 55.
King, Rufus, ii. 57.
Kinship reckoned through females, i. 96.
Kinsman, ii. 5.
Kirke, Colonel, ii. 182.
Kitchens, ii. 202, 207, 208.
Knights of the Golden Horseshoe, ii. 366.
Knowles, John, of Watertown, i. 284.
Knox, Henn,', ii. 394.
Kocoum, chieftain, said to 'have been first
husband of Pocahontas, i. 163.
Labadie, Jean de, ii. 12S.
Labadists, ii. 128.
La Belle Sauvage, name for London taverns,
i. 166.
Labrador, i. 12, 65.
La Cosa, the pilot, i. 120.
Lady of Barbadoes, a, ii. 175.
La 5luce, Marquis de, ii. 186.
Lancaster, palatinate of, i. 245.
Land grants, ii. 159; in New England, ii. 27;
in Virginia, ii. 20, 21, 30.
Lane, Ralph, i. 36, 38, 156.
La Plata, the river, i. 28.
INDEX
389
Larned, J. N., ii. 183.
La Roche, Captain, i. 85.
La Rochefort, ii. 326.
La Rocliefoucauld-Liancourt, ii. 312.
La Salle, Robert de, ii. 363.
Las Casas, i. 4; ii. 32S.
Latane, J. H., i. 283.
Laud, William, Archbishop, i. 196,280,284;
ii. 14.
Laudonniere, Rene de, i. 19.
Lawnes" Plantation, i. 178.
Lawrence, Richard, ii. 56, 59, 66, 76, 77, 79,
80, 1S5.
Lawson, John, surveyor, ii. 256 ; his history
of Carolina, his charming style, captured by
the Tuscaroras, his horrible death, ii. 2S0,
282; facsimile title-page of "A New Voy-
age," ii. 281 ; his description of North Caro-
lina, ii. 292.
Lawyers in Virginia, ii. 245.
Laydon, John, i. 114.
Laziness, charge of, brought against Virgini-
ans, ii. 192.
Leaders of men, Virginia prolific in, ii. 38.
Leah and Rachel, i. 272, 290, 293, 296 ; ii.246.
Lear, Tobias, ii. 240.
Le Basque, Michel, a buccaneer, ii. 330.
Lecky, W., ii. 174.
Lee Arms, old wood carving of, ii. 184.
Lee, Edmund, ii. 16.
Lee, Richard, the first, ii. 16.
Lee, Mrs. Richard, ii. 29; portrait of, ii. 15.
Lee, Richard, 2d, ii. 54, 70; portrait and auto-
graph, ii. 69.
Lee, Richard Henry, 2d, ii. 20.
Lee, William, ii. 16, 19.
Lees of Colon Hall, ii. 16.
Legislation in Albemarle Colony, ii. 258.
Legislature, first in America, i. 177.
Legislatures, bicameral, i. 179.
Leipsic, i. 92.
Leisler, Jacob, ii. 83, 100, 143, 378.
Le INIoine, the painter, i. 21, 34 ; his sketch of
the building of Fort Carolina, i. 21.
Libraries in Virginia, ii. 221-223.
Life of Virginia planters, ii. 210-214.
Lightfoot, Philip, ii. 77.
Lincoln, Abraham, ii. 174.
Linen manufacturers in the United States, ii.
372, 373-
Liquors, price regulated by law, 1. 236.
Little Gidding, i. 196.
Locke, John, i. 224; ii. 251, 252; portrait of,
ii. 300.
Logan, James, ii. 347.
Lok, Captain, i. 18.
Lok, Michael, i. 65, 72.
London Company, the, i. 66-75, 83, 116, 129,
130; second charter of the, i. 142-145, 182;
its third charter, i. 170; its quarter sessions,
i. 170; factions form in, i. 174, 179; its
overthrow, i. 187, 197-210; some effects of
its downfall, i. 226-228.
Long Assembly, the, ii. 50, 55, 86.
Longfellow, H. W., ii. 207.
Long Island Sound, i.66.
Lord lieutenant, i. 265.
Lord Proprietor of Maryland, his powers, i.
256.
Lords, House of, ii. 11, 12.
Lords of the manor, ii. 28.
Lords of Trade, i. 282.
" Lost Lady, the,"' a comedy, ii. 50.
Lctteries, i. 171.
Lottery, declaration of, i. 171.
Louis XIV., i. 56; ii. 103, 143, 151, 343, 358,
359; autograph of, ii. 143.
Lucy, Sir Thomas, i. 73.
Ludwell Arms, ii. 89.
Ludwell, Philip, ii. 75, 77, 89, 90, 270; auto-
' graph of, ii. 270.
Ludwell, Thomas, ii. 45, 77, 90, 92.
Lunenburg, ii. 8.
Luther, Martin, i. 9; ii. 143.
Lyly, John, i. 58.
McClurg, James, ii. 238.
Macdonald, Flora, ii. 300.
Mace, Samuel, i. 60.
MacGregor, The, i. 96.
Machiavelli, i. 84.
McMaster, J. B., ii. 199.
Madison, James, ii. 157, 229, 233.
Madre de Dios, the ship, i. 58.
Madrid, i. 184.
Magellan, i. 29.
Magog, i. 47.
Meherrins, the tribe, last remnant of the
Susquehannocks, ii. 280.
Mahomet and the mountain, i. 116.
Maine, i. 69.
Maine Historical Society, i. 50.
Maine Law, ii. 315.
Maitland, F. W., ii. 180.
Makemie, Francis, ii. 188.
Malaria, ii. 108.
Malay pirates, ii. 319.
Malbone, Rodolphus, ii. 244.
Malory, Philip, ii. 18.
Manhattan Island, i. 240, 284; ii. 124.
Manners, Lady Dorothy, ii. 251.
Manorial courts, i. 262.
Manor, lords of the, ii. 28.
Manors in Maryland, i. 266: ii. 131, 213;
transformed by slavery, ii. 134.
Mansfield, Lord, his decision that slaves land-
ing on British soil became free, ii. 183.
Mansvelt, a buccaneer, ii. 330.
Map of North Virginia, i. 61.
Map of Virginia contrasted with that of Nev.'
England, ii. 7, 8.
Maracaibo, map of the Gulf of, ii. 329; sack
of, by Le Basque, ii. 330 ; by Morgan, ii. 334.
Marcus Aurelius, i. 84.
Marches or border counties, i. 244.
Market, the American, i. 52.
Marlborough, Duke of, ii. 174.
Marquis, meaning of the title, i. 244.
Marseilles, i. 85.
Marshall, John, ii. 116, 157, 245.
Martha's Vineyard, i. 61 ; ii. 7.
Martian, Nicholas, i. 271.
Martin Brandon, i. 178; and Flowerdieu
Hundred, i. 213.
Martin, John, i. 93, 233.
Martin, Richard, his speech in the House of
Commons, i. 173, 174; portrait of, i. 173.
Martin's Hundred, i. 178, 200.
Martyr, Peter, i. 15.
Mary II., portrait of, ii. 146.
Mary and John, the ship, i. 74.
Marye, a Huguenot family, ii. 187.
Marye, James, ii. 226.
Maryland, i. 67, 144; origin of the name, i.
252 ; called the Scarlet Woman, i. 27S ; map
of, 1635, '• 259; map of the palatinate of, i.
264; Puritans in, ii. 122, 136; Quakers in,
ii. 123 ; Catholics in, ii. 135 ; sheriffs in, ii.
39°
INDEX
137 ; parsons, ii. 149 ; wheat culture in, ii.
247 ; social features of, ii. 246, 247 ; poll tax
in, ii. 357-
Maryland Historical Society, i. 254.
INIarylanders mistaken for Spaniards, i. 275.
Mary Tudor, i. 69.
Masaniello, ii. go.
" Mask of Flowers, The," a play, i. 168.
Mason, George, colonel of cavalry, ii. 52, 91,
Mason, George, statesman, ii. 52, 226; life on
his plantation, ii. 211-214.
Mason, James Murray, ii. 214.
Mason, John, ii. 211-214, 226.
Masquerade of Indians, i. 116.
Mass celebrated for the first time in English
America, i. 260.
Massachusetts, i. 67; ii. 10; laws concerning
immigrants, ii. 168.
Massachusetts Bay Company, i. 225 ; its first
charter, i. 255.
Massachusetts Historical Society, i. i.
Massacre by Indians in 1622, i. 181, 199, 283;
in 1644, i. 286; in 1672, i. 224; in 1676, ii.
54; in 1711, ii. 282; in 1715, ii. 287.
Massacre by border ruffians at Lawrence in
1863, li. 301.
Massacre of Huguenots, i. 21.
Massasoit, i. 154.
Mather, Cotton, i. 285.
Mathews, Samuel, i. 277, 280, 293 ; ii. 16, 57,
96, 169; autograph of, ii. 169.
Mathews, Thomas, ii. 57, 60, 80, 82, 90, 93.
Mattapony River, i. 138.
Maur}', a Huguenot family, ii. 187.
Mayflower pilgrims, the, i. 73, 154, 224, 240;
ii. 13.
Mayo and Byrd, instruments used by them in
running the dividing line, ii. 237.
Maxwell, W., ii. i, 57.
Meade, Bishop, ii. 19, 148, 171, 215, 241, 242,
298.
Medina-Celi, Duke of, i. 55.
Memphis, Tenn., ii. 301.
Memphremagog, i. 47.
Menefie, George, i. 279, 280.
Menendez, i. 21, 76, 80.
Mercator, G., i. 91.
Mermaid in St. John's River, i. 248.
Mermaid Tavern, i. 60.
Merovingian kings, i. 244: legislation, ii. 136.
" Merry Wives of Windsor, "i. 73.
Mexico, i. 47.
Middle Plantation, the oath at, ii. 70, 84, 92;
name changed to Williamsburg, ii. 109.
Middlesex, Earl of, i. 202 ; portrait and auto-
graph, i. 203.
Middleton, member of Parliament, attacks
London Company's charter, i. 172.
Migration from Ulster to American colonies,
ii- 373-
Miller, the martyr and revenue collector, ii.
262.
Milton, John, i. 196, 288.
Ministers, appointment of, ii. 87.
Molasses, ii. 194, 200, 260.
Moncure, a Huguenot family, ii. 187.
Monk, George, Duke of Albemarle, ii. 120,
250 ; portrait of, ii. 260.
Monroe, James, President, ii. 116.
I\Iontbars, the exterminator, ii. 328.
Montague, Sergeant, i. 172.
Montezuma, i. 1C3.
Monticello, ii. 204.
Moonev, James, ii. 279.
Moore, J. W., ii. 25S, 278.
Moore, James, ii. 271.
Moore, James, the younger, defeats the Tus-
caroras, ii. 384 ; his order for supplies, ii. 289.
Moore's house at Vorktown, ii. 370.
^loore. Sir Thomas, i. 52.
Morgan, Sir Henry, i. 27; ii. 330; his treach-
ery and cruelty, ii. 332-336 ; Puerto del
Principe captured by, ii. 330 ; Porto Bello
captured by, ii. 330 : Maracaibo sacked by,
ii. 334: Gibraltar, Venezuela, sacked by, ii.
334 ; Panama sacked by, ii. 336 ; deserts his
comrades at Chagres, ii. 338: knighted by
Charles II., ii. 338; governor of Jamaica,
ii. 338 ;_ portrait of, ii. 339 ; thrown into
prison, ii. 346.
Morgan, Lewis, i. 113.
Moriscos expelled from Spain, i. 10.
Morison, Francis, ii. 79.
Morley, Lord, i. 70.
Morocco, i. 92.
Morris, Robert, ii. 284.
Morton, Joseph, ii. 345.
Mosquitoes, ii. 205.
Mount Airy, Virginia, view of Four Court of,
i. 223.
Mount Desert Island, i. 165, 248.
Mount Vernon, ii. 204, 370; mode of life at,
ii. 214; view of, ii. 370.
Mulattoes. ii. 184.
Mulberries, i. 218; ii. 2.
Mulberry Castle, home of Thomas Broughton,
view of, ii. 299.
Mulberry Island, i. 152.
Miiiister, Sebastian, i. 65.
Murray family descended from Pocahontas, i.
167.
Muscovy Company, i. 15, 56.
Muskogi, the, in Carolina, ii. 280.
Muster master-general, i. 266.
Mystics at Bohemia Manor, ii. 128.
Mytens, Daniel, i. 190, 254.
Nalbrits, i. 91.
Names, local, in Carolina, ii. 250.
Nansemond, i. 283, 290.
Napkins and forks, ii. 206.
Napoleon I., i. 43, 44.
Narragansett Indians, ii. 55.
National floral emblem for the United States, i.
'54-
Navigation Act, ii. 40; its, effect upon the
price of tobacco, ii. 44, 93, 94 : effects upon
tobacco, ii. 158: effects upon Virginia com-
merce, ii. 199: mischievous effects in Albe-
marle Colony, ii. 260 : its mischievous effects
on Sourh Carolina, ii. 268; its effects upon
piracy, ii. 345.
Navy, the English, i. 25, 50.
Negro panic in New York, 1741, ii. 244.
Negro quarters, ii. 202.
Negro slaves, ii. 159, 171-185: theory that they
were not strictly human, ii. 175 : treatment of,
in Virginia, ii. 178- 181 : cruel laws concern-
ing, ii. 180, 181 : effect of taking them to Eng-
land, ii. 183; in South Carolina, ii. 258,307-
311 ; in North Carolina, ii. 310.
Negro slavery, ii. 30.
" Negro's and Indian's Advocate," ii. 175.
Negroes as real estate, ii. 177.
•Nearoes, number of, in Virginia, i. 240.
Neill, E. D., i. 99, 107, 112, 171, 173, 174, 2or,
204, 233, 239, 258, 276; ii. 51, 83, 169.
INDEX
391
Nelson, Thomas, i. 278.
Netherlands, the, i. 24, 25, 51, 69, 159, 253,
264.
Neutral ships ill protected, ii. 323, 324.
Neville's Cross, battle of, i. 246.
Nevis, as an isle of Calypso, ii. 262.
New Albion, i. 29; ii. 363.
New Amstel, ii. 124, 125.
New Amsterdam, i. 241 ; ii. 3.
New Berne, ii. 277, 296.
Newcastle, Delaware, ii. 124, 130.
New Englanders, attempt a settlement at Cape
Fear River, ii. 256; in Georgia, ii. 314.
Newfoundland fisheries, i. 14, 26, 32, 50, 152.
New France, i. 56; ii. 378.
Newgate Calendar, ii. 156.
New Hampshire, i. 67.
New Haven Colonj', i. 264.
New Jersey, i. 67 ; founding of, ii. 129.
New Mexico, i. 28.
Newport, Christopher, i. 58, 71, 83,92-96, 114-
116, 118-120, 123-135, 146, 151, 214.
Newport News, origin of the name, i. 93, 200.
New Providence, island of, ii. 344, 347.
New Style, i. i.
New Sweden, ii. 124.
New York, i. 25, 65, 67 ; ii. 194.
Nichols, J., i. 169.
Nichoison, Sir Francis, ii. 100-106, 108-111,
116, 117, 146, 147 ; autograph of, ii. 103.
Nicot, Jean, i. 168.
Nicotiana, name for tobacco, i. 168.
Noble savage, the, i. 4.
Nonesuch, i. 150, 214.
North Carolina, i. 46; agriculture in, ii.294;
white trash in, ii. 297-299; German immigra-
tion to, ii. 300; negro slaves in, ii. 310.
Northern Neck reserved by Culpeper, ii. 98.
North Virginia, old name for New England, i.
61.
Northwest Passage, attempts to find, i. 37, 50,
76, 114, 118, 126, 214; ii. 4.
Norumbega, i. 31, 61.
Notley, Thomas, ii. 140.
Nova Scotia, i. 270.
Oath at Middle Plantation, ii. 70, 84, 92.
Oath of supremacy tendered to Lord Baltimore,
1.251.
Oatlands, old doorway at, ii. 209.
Ocracoke Inlet, i. 37.
Octoroons, ii. 1S5.
Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, i. 245.
Oexmelin. See Exquemeling.
Ogle, Cuthbert, ii. 221.
Oglethorpe, James, ii. 314; portrait of, ii. 312.
Old Bailey, ii. 166.
Old Fielcl Schools, ii. 235.
Oldmixon's " British Empire," a book full of
blunders, ii. 234.
Old Style, i. i.
Olonnois, the buccaneer, ii. 328.
O'Neill, The, i. 96.
Opekankano, i. 102, 103,108, 125, 138, 180,212,
285; ii. 62.
Orator, an Indian, i. 136.
Orchards, ii. 202.
Oregon, i. 30.
Orinoco, the river, i. 59.
Outlying slaves, ii. iSo.
Ovid's Metamorphoses, i. 221.
Oxford, the university, i. 30, 48, 242, 254 ; ii.
56, 185, 228.
Oysters, i. 142.
Pacific coast of South America, i. 28.
Pacific Ocean, naval warfare in, i. 27.
Page, John, ii. 179; portrait of, ii. 178.
Paige, Lucius, ii. 244.
Palatinates, their origin and purpose, i. 243-
248: the Rhenish, i. 244; ii. 300.
Pamlico .Sound, i. 34, 37.
Pamunkey, Queen of, ii. 62-64, 77> '^2.
Pamunkey River, i. 103, 120.
Panama sacked by Morgan, ii. 336.
Panton, Anthony, i. 277, 2S0.
Paper money, ii. 96; in North Carolina, ii.
286.
Paradise, estate of, ii. 16.
Paraguay, i. 28.
Pardoning power, i. 266.
Paris matins, i. 24.
Parishes, in Virginia, ii. 30 ; in Carolina of
English origin, not French, ii. 305 ; in Lou-
isiana analogous to counties, ii. 305.
Parke, Daniel, ii. 77, 106 ; portrait of, ii. 107.
Parker, Theodore, ii. 175.
Parker, William, i. 70.
Parkman, Francis, i. 113.
Parsons, appointment of, ii. 356.
Parsons' cause, ii. 114, 157.
Parsons, Robert, i. 85.
Partition walls, ii. 203.
Partonopeus de Blois, ii. 116.
Pass, Simon Van, i. 166.
Passamagnus River, i. 251.
Patagonia, i. 29.
Patapsco River, i. 114, 242, 270.
Pate, a Maryland rebel, ii. 140.
Paternal government, i. 228.
Patience, the ship, i. 149.
Patuxents, the tribe, i. 275.
Paul IV., ii. 358.
Pauperism in England, i. 54.
Peasants, English, in the i6th century, i. 53.
Pedigrees, value of, ii. 22.
Peerage, the English, ii. 11.
Pelican, the ship, i. 29.
Pelton, ii. 5.
Pembroke, Earl of, i. 176.
Pembroke, palatinate of, i. 245.
Pendleton, Edmund, ii. 245.
Penn, William, ii. 130, 140; portrait of, ii. 132.
Pennington, Admiral, i. 259.
Pennsylvania, i. 25, 67; ii. 46; distributing
centre for .Scotch-Irish immigrants, ii. 371-
374-
Pennsylvania Dutch, ii. 300.
Pepys, Samuel, ii. 22, 48.
Pequot War, i. 224.
Percy, George, i. 99, 107, 131, 138, 150, 158,
160; portrait and autograph, i. 99.
Persecutions in Scotland, ii. 267.
Peruvian towns plundered by buccaneers, ii.
•?42-
Peters, Samuel, ii. 211.
Petersburg, ii. 71, 237.
Pewter vessels, ii.207.
Phettiplace, William, i. 135.
Philadelphia, ii. 194, 247.
Philip II., i. S-io, 25, 27, 40; ii. 323; portrait
and autograph, i. 8.
Philip III., i. 59, 79, 184, 191; portrait and
autograph, i. 78.
Philip v., ii. 343,358; portrait and autograph,
ii-.343-
Philip, chief of the Wampanoags. ii. 55.
Philipse manor house, ii. 207.
Phillips, Lee, ii. 125.
392
INDEX
Phillips, Sir Thomas, i. 50.
Phillips, Wendell, ii. 174.
Physicians in Virginia, ii. 239, 240.
Picked men, importance of, ii. 26.
Picnics, ii. 222.
Pierre of Dieppe, a buccaneer, ii. 32S.
Pike, L. O., ii. 165.
Pillsbiiry, Parker, ii. 175.
Pinzon, Vincent, i. 12, 14S.
Piracy, its Golden Age the 17th century, ii.
319, 320; definition of, ii. 320, 321.
Pirates, i. 26; Algerine, ii. 265, 320: on the
Carolina coast, ii. 296, 344-351 ; Chinese, ii.
319 ; Malay, ii. 319.
Pitt, William, ii. 362.
Plantation, a typical, ii. 5 : description of a, ii.
201-207.
Plant-cutters' riot, ii. 96, 97.
Plant-cutting made high treason, ii. 99.
Plymouth Colony, i. 265.
Plymouth Company, the, i. 66-70, 144, 168.
Plymouth, England, i. 16, 29, 61, 69, 74, 168.
Plymouth, Mass., i. 32.
Pocahontas, her rescue of Captain Smith, i.
104-113, 117 ; her visits to Jamestown, i.
130 ; reveals an Indian plot, i. 137 ; her ab-
duction by Argall, i. 163 ; rescues Henry
Spelman from tomahawk, i. 163 ; her mar-
riage with John Rolfe, i. 164 ; picture of, i.
164; takes the name of Rebekah, i. 164; her
visit to London, i. 165 ; her portrait, i. 166 ;
her death at Gravesend, i. 167 ; baptism of,
i. 2S3.
Pocomoke River, skirmish in, i. 276.
Pogram, Elijah, ii. 9.
Poindexter, Charles,!. 113.
Point Comfort, i. 93, 142, 144, 152, 212, 260,
271, 274.
Pole, Reginald, i. 69.
Poles in Virginia, i. 21S.
Political homoeopathy, ii. 276.
Poll tax in Maryland, ii. 357.
Pollock, Thomas, ii. 180, 266, 286.
Polonian or Baltic Sea, i. 76.
Pomeiock, view of Indian village of, i. 95.
Pompey and the Cilician pirates, ii. 319.
Pone, i. 260.
Poor law of 1601, i. 54.
Popham, George, i. 70, 74.
Popham, Sir John, i. 64, 71, 84, 156; ii. 89.
Popular government, ii. 86.
Population of England in Elizabeth's time, i.
25, 52;
Population of New England, i. 240; of Ameri-
can colonies, ii. 153 ; of the two Carolinas,
ii. 310; of Georgia, ii. 315.
Pork, i. 158 ; ii. 189.
Poropotank Creek, ii. 16.
Porter, John, ii. 276.
Porto Bello captured by ISIorgan, ii. 330.
Port Royal, N. S., i. 164, 248 ; ii. iii.
Port Royal, S. C, ii. 250, 257 ; burned by the
Spaniards, ii. 267.
Port St. Julian, i. 29.
Postage rates, ii. 357.
Postal service in America under Spotswood,
ii. 370.
Postlethwayt, Malachy, ii. 164, 169.
Post-office Act, ii. 354-356.
Potomac, the river, i. 66, 114, 158.
Potowmacks, medal presented to the king of,
by James II., ii. 113.
Pott, Dr. John, i. 239, 240, 259, 270, 276, 279,
280.
Pott, Francis, i. 278.
Potts, Richard, i. 98.
Poultry, a street in London, i. 194.
Powhatan, The, i. 103-1:6, 132-135, 162, 180
Smith before, i. 112.
Powhatan, the village, i. 95, 128.
Powhatans, the tribe, i. 95, tig.
Precious metals, effect of their increased
quantity after the discovery of America, i.
10, 53.
Presbyterians in Ulster, disabilities inflicted
upon, ii. 373.
Presley, a burgess, ii. 61, 82.
Primary assemblies, i. 268.
Pring, Martin, i. 61, 69.
Priscilla, a Virginia, ii. 115.
Prisoners of war, ii. 168.
Privateering, ii. 323.
Processiening of bounds, ii. 87.
Proprietarj' governments, beginnings of, i.
-55-.
Proprietors of Carolina, sell out their interests.
ii. 289, 290.
Proprietors, Lords, autographs of, ii. 251.
Prospero's Isle, i. 149.
Providence, a settlement in Maryland, i. 292,
294-
Puerto del Principe sacked by Morgan, ii.
339-
Punishments for crime, ii. 165.
Purchas, Rev. S., i. 89, 283.
Puritan families in New England, ii. 24.
Puritanism v.idely spread in the South, ii.
316-
Puritans, in Virginia, i. 2S2 ; ii. 14 ; in Mary-
land, i. 291-296; ii. 122, 136; and education,
ii. 231-233 ; in South Carolina, ii. 303, 304.
Putin Bay, i. 96.
Pym, John, i. 196, 198, 224; ii. 10.
Quadroons, ii. 184.
Quaker relief acts, ii. 137 ; in North Carolina,
ii. 286.
Quakers in Maryland, ii. 123; in Albemarle
Colony, ii. 275.
Quantrell, a border ruffian, ii. 301.
Quaritch, Bernard, ii. i.
Quarry, Robert, ii. 345.
Quicksilver, Frank, i. 61.
Quinine, i. 5.
Quit rents, ii. 177.
Quo ivarranto, writ of, i. 206.
Raccoons, i. 116.
Raleigh, Sir Walter, i. 21, 30-36, 41, 42, 46,
50, 57-61, 126, 159, 18S-191 ; ii. 250, 322;
portrait of, i. frontispiece; facsimile title-
page of his "The Discoverie," i. 57; his
" History of the Worid," i. 188; his verses
just before death, i. 191 ; birthplace at Hayes
in Devonshire, ii. 297.
Randall, D. R., i. 284.
Randolph, Edward, ii. 94, 346.
Randolph, Jane, ii. 1S5.
Randolph, John, of Roanoke, i. 167; portrait
of, ii. 1S6.
Randolph, Mrs. John, ii. 187.
Randolph, Peyton, i. 209.
Rappahannock River, i. 103.
Ratcliffe, John, i. 75, 93, loi, 114, 119, 125,
149-151, 163; autograph, i., 119.
Rats, i. 141.
Raveneau de Lussan, the buccaneer, ii. 328,
343-
INDEX
393
Raynal, the Abbe, i. 2; portrait, i. 2; facsimile
title - page of " Histoire Philosophique et
Politique," i. 3.
Receiver-general, i. 262.
Recorder, a musical instrument, ii. 221.
Recouping one's self beforehand, ii. 325.
Redemptioners, ii. 165, 169 ; as schoolmasters,
ii. 227.
Reed, James, i. loi.
Regal, a town in Transylvania, i. 88.
Renaissance and Reformation, tendencies of,
i. iq6.
Representative government in America es-
tablished by Sir Edwin Sandys, i. 73.
Revolution of 1719 in South Carolina, ii. 288.
Rhett, William, defeats the French and
Spanish fleet, ii. 274 ; defeats and captures
the pirate Bonnet, ii. 350, 351.
Rhode Island, i. 67, 265, 266.
Ribaut, Jean, i. 20 ; ii. 250.
Ricahecrians, the tribe, ii. 64.
Ricardo, David, ii. 294.
Rice, the great staple of South Carolina, ii.
306, 307, 346.
Rice, John, hanged at Tyburn, ii. 183.
Rich, Lady Isabella, f. 176.
Rich, Robert, Lord Warwick, i. 175 ; portrait
of, i. 175.
Richard III., i. 279.
Richmond, the city, i. 94, 180, 214; ii. 109,
193, 236, 237.
Ringgold, James, ii. 132.
Ringrose, Basil, a buccaneer, ii. 341.
Ripley, W. Z., ii. 199.
Rivers, their effect upon society in Virginia,
ii. 188; as highways, ii. 196, 197.
Rivers, W. J., ii. 258, 268, 278, 283.
Rives, W., ii. 221.
Roanoke Island, i. 34, 37-41, 45, 46, 50, 60.
Robber barons, ii. 39.
Robertson, W., ii. 18.
Robertson family descended from Pocahon-
tas, i. 167.
Rochambeau, Count, i. 4.
Rogers, Woodes, captures New Providence,
ii- 347-
Rogues' Harbour, a nickname of Albemarle
Colony, ii. 258.
Rolfe, John, i. 105 ; his marriage with Poca-
hontas, i. 164 ; makes experiments in raising
tobacco, i. 169, 179.
Rolfe, Thomas, son of Pocahontas, ancestor
of many Virginia families, i. 167.
Ronsard, Pierre, i. 58.
Rothenthurm, battle of, i. 90.
Roundheads, ii. 10.
Rousby, Christopher, ii. 141.
Rousseau, J. J., i. 4.
Rowland, Miss K. RI., ii. 91, 188, 214, 227.
Roval governors and their legislatures, ii. 359-
361.
Rudolph II., Emperor, 1. 86.
Rum, ii. 189, 194, 260.
Rumford, Count, ii. 233.
Rump Parliament, i. 294.
Rural entertainments, ii. 220, 221.
Russell, John, i. 122, 135, 138.
Russia, i. 44, 69, 91.
Rynders, Isaiah, ii. 175.
Ryswick, Peace of, ii. 151.
Sabbath breaking, i. 235. I
Sack, a kind of wine, meaning of the name, ii. '
210.
St. Augustine, i. 38 ; ii. 248.
St. Bartholomew, massacre of, i. 24.
St. Bernard Archipelago, i. 148.
St. Christopher, picture of, i. 121.
St. Clement's Island, i. 260.
St. John's River, i. 19.
St. Lawrence, Gulf of, i. 164.
St. Lawrence River, i. 47, 65, 66.
St. Luke's Church, Newport Parish, near
Smithfield, ii. 243.
St. Mary-s River, i. 260.
St. Mary's, the town, i. 275, 286, 287, 292, 294,
295 ; ii. io8, 124, 144.
St. Osyth's Lane, i. 194.
St. Paul's Cathedral, i. 30.
St. Paul's Churchyard, i. 171.
Salaries of governors, ii. 357.
Salem witchcraft, ii. 244, 245.
Salisbury, Earl of, i. 143.
San Domingo, i. 38, 148.
San Prancisco, i. 29.
San Juan de Ulna, i. 22, 28.
j Sandhillers, ii. 301.
Sandys, George, i. 221, 239 ; portrait of, i. 221.
Sandys, Sir Edwin, i. 72, 176, 177, 179, 181,
191-194, 203, 204, 206, 208, 222, 224, 226; ii.
13 ; facsimile letter from, i. 127 ; portrait of,
i. 196.
Sassafras, i. 124.
Savannah in 1714, view of, ii. 315.
Sayle, Wm., ii. 257, 344.
Scandalous gossip, i. 235.
Scapegraces in Virginia, i. 151, 159.
Scapethrift, i. 62.
Scharf, J. P., ii. 147, 150, 154.
Schlosser, F. C, i. 86.
Schools in Virginia, ii. 224-229 ; in New Eng-
land, ii. 230-232 ; in South Carolina, ii. 306.
Scire facias, writ of, ii. 145.
Scotch Highlanders in North Carolina, ii. 300 ;
in Georgia, ii. 315.
Scotch-Irish immigration to America, ii. 300,
301, 370-37S.
Scotch Presbyterianism, its effects upon Vir-
ginia, ii. 375.
Seagull, Captain, i. 62.
Sea kings of Elizabeth's time were not pirates,
ii. 321, 322.
Seal of Virginia, ii. 19.
Sea Venture, the ship, i. 146, 147, 150.
Second Supply for Virginia, i. 114, 120, 123-
125.
Secotan, view of Indian village of, i. 97.
Security, money lender, i. 61.
Segar, Sir W., i. 89.
Segovia, Lake of, i. 41.
Selden, John, i. 60.
Senecas, ii. 51-53.
Seneschals, i. 262.
Separatists, i. 282.
Serfdom, i. 53.
Servants, broadside regulating indenture of,
ii. 170.
Setebos, i. 15.
Severn, the English river, i. 291.
Severn, the Maryland river, i. 291 ; battle of
the, i. 295.
Seymour, .Sir Edward, ii. 102.
Seymour, John, ii. 150.
Shaftesbury, first Earl of, i. 72 ; ii. 251, 252 ;
portrait of, ii. 253.
Shakespeare, i. 11, 15. 60,69,72, 178, 194,220,
2S8 ; ii. 206 : his *• Tempest," i. 148.
Sharpe, Horatio, ii. 156.
394
INDEX
Sharpless, Edward, clerk of Assembly, i. 232.
Sharplisse, Thomas, draws a prize in a lottery,
i. 171.
Shays, Daniel, ii. 92.
Sheep-raising, i. 52.
Shenandoah Valley, ii. 365.
Sheppard, Jack, ii. 244.
Sheriffs, i. 266; ii. 35; in Maryland, ii. 137.
Sherman, W. T., ii. 174.
Sherwood, Grace, accused of witchcraft, ii. 245.
Sherwood, William, ii. 89, 90.
Shippen, Margaret, ii. 128.
Shire-motes, i. 263.
Shirley Hundred, i. 163.
Sibyl, the Roman, i. 7.
Sicklemore, an alias of President Ratcliffe, i.
119.
Sidney, Sir Phihp, 1. 21, 34, 37, 38, 48, 58, 65,
72; portrait and autograph, i. 35.
Sigismund, Prince of Transylvania, i. 86.
Silenus, his conversation with Kawasha, i.
16S.
Silk culture, ii. 307.
Silk-worms, i. 218; ii. 3.
Silver vessels, ii. 207.
Simancas, archives of, i. 184.
Simms, W. G., ii. 310.
Singeing the king of Spain's beard, i. 40.
Sioux tribes in Carolina, ii. 278.
Six Nations, ii. 286.
Size Lane, i. 194.
Skottowe, B. C., i. 232.
Slader, M., ii. 218.
Slavery, alleged beneficence of, i. 18 ; different
types in Virginia and South Carolina, ii.
307; prohibited in Georgia, ii. 314; intro-
duced there, ii. 315.
Slave's kitchen, fireplace in, ii. 201.
Slave hunters, Spanish, i. 148.
Slaves' collars, ii. 182.
Slaves, price of, ii. 177, 183.
Slave trade, the African, i. 16.
Sluyter, a Labadist, ii. 128.
Smith, John, i. 83-96, 100, 102-122, 142, 145,
149-159, 160, 162, 166 ; ii. 72 ; fiery dragons
invented by, i. 86 ; his combats with the
Turkish captains, pictures of, i. 86, 87, 89;
Turks' heads cut off by, i. 87 ; name for
Cape Ann, i. 91 ; portrait of, i. 92 ; his" True
Relation," i. 103 ; is rescued by Pocahon-
tas, i. 104-113; his " History of Virginia,'"
i. 104 -, picture of his rescue by Pocahontas,
i. 106 ; facsimile title-page of his " A True
Relation," i. m; before the Powhatan,!.
112; facsimile title-page of his" The Generall
Historie of,"' i. 115; his mapof Virginia,
i. 119; his " Rude Answer," i. 119, 125-129 ;
drops into poetry, i. 122 ; as a worker of
miracles, i. 140; .says, "He that will not
work shall not eat," i. 141 ; leaves Virginia,
i. 150; his faithful portrayal of Indians, i.
155 : nobility of his nature, i. 155 ; touching
tribute by one of his comrades, i. 158: his
voyage to North Virginia, i. 166; changes
the name to New- England, i. 166; his last
years, i. 220.
Smith, Robert, ii. 90.
Smith, Thomas, captain of a ship, i. 276; tried
for piracy and hanged, i. 281 ; portrait of, i.
68.
Smith, Sir Thomas, i. 58, 69, 145, 158, 172,
174-176, 188.
Smith's Hundred, i. 178.
Smith's Sound, i. 69.
Smugglers, ii. 325.
Smyth, J. F., ii. 210, 211, 219, 298.
Soap, i. 123, 218.
Social features of Maryland, ii. 246, 247.
Socrates, ii. 127.
Somers, Sir George, i. 68, 145, 147, 149, 150-
158; portiait, i, 147; coin, i. 150.
Sothel, Seth, ii. 265 ; as the people's friend, ii.
268.
Soto, F. de,i. 65; ii. 79.
Souls and tobacco, comparative claims of, ii.
103.
Southampton, Earl of, i. 60, 61, 69, 176, 192,
194, 197, 198, 208 ; ii. 13 ; his Majesty's letter
to, i. 133 ; portrait of, i. 206.
Southampton Hundred, i. 17S.
South Carolina, i. 66 ; ii. iii; Indian map of,
about 1730, ii. 279; back country of, ii. 301;
early settlers of, ii. 303 ; Cavaliers in, ii. 303 ;
Puritans in, ii. 304; clergymen in, how
elected, ii. 304 ; contrast with those in Vir-
ginia, ii. 304; rice a great staple of, ii. 306;
indigo an important staple of, ii. 306; silk
culture in, ii. 307; cotton crop in, ii. 307;
negro slaves in, ii. 307-311; original broad
seal of, ii. 287; map of, 1733, ii. 309; insur-
rection of slaves in, ii. 310.
Southey, Robert, i. 58.
South Sea Bubble, ii. 314.
Spaniards driven from Georgia, ii. 315.
Spanish galleon, i. 39.
Spanish marriage, i. 186, 190, 206, 243.
Spanish methods of colonization, i. 28, 183.
Spanish ships in port, i. 27.
Spanish Succession, war of, ii. 173.
Spanish treasure, i. 6, 11, 26, 51, 59; ii. 324.
Sparks, F. E., i. 266; ii. 119.
Spelman, Henry, i. 151 ; his rescue by Poca-
hontas, i. 163; his ''Relation about Vir-
ginia," i. 163.
Spelman, Sir Henry, the antiquarj', i. 163;
autograph, i. 164.
Spencer, Herbert, facsimile title-page of "To
the Most High," i. 237; on state education,
ii. 306.
Spencer, Nicholas, ii. 54, 70, 77, 96.
Spendall, i. 62.
Spenser, Edmund, i. 58; ii. 19.
Spinsters sent to Virginia, i. 179.
Sports, old-fashioned, ii. 220, 221.
Spotswood, Alexander, ii. 284, 352-370,377;
on the distribution of white freedmen, ii.
302 ; warrant of, for executing a criminal in
1719, ii. 244 : portrait of, ii. 352.
Spottiswoode, Sir Robert, ii. 352.
Spottsylvania, ii. 8.
Stamp Act, ii. 26, 284, 354, 362.
Stanard, W. G., ii. 218, 228.
Stanhope, James, ii. 353.
Stanley, H. M., i. 100.
Star Chamber, i. 259, 272.
Stark, John, ii. 373.
State education, ii. 306.
State House in Jamestown, scenes in, ii. 58,
60, 65.
States General in France dismissed, i. 187.
Stebbing, William, i. 58, igo, 191.
Stephens, Samuel, ii. 279.
Stevens, Henry, i. 50, 114, 163.
' Stillingfleet, Bishop, ii. 102.
Stith, John, ii. 62.
Slith, William, i. 209; facsimile title-page of
"History of the First Discovery," ii. 235.
Stone Age, the, men of, i. 108.
INDEX
395
Stone, William, i. 288,290-292, 294-296; auto-
graph of, i. 295.
Stores, countrj', li. 195.
Stourton, Erasmus, i. 248.
Stover, Jacob, how he secured many acres, ii.
374-
Stowe's Chronicle, 1. 171.
Strachey, William, i. 149, 163 ; autograph of,
i. 149.
Strafford Count}', ii. 51.
Strafford, Earl of, i. 196, 207, 254, 284; ii. 9.
Stratford Hall, picture of, ii. 204; its library,
ii. 207; its kitchen, ii. 207, 208.
Stuart, Lady Arabella, i. 188.
Studley, Thomas, i. 95, 98.
Stuyvesant, Peter, ii. 124, 125.
Subinfeudation, permitted in Carolina, li. 255.
Suffrage, restriction of, in Virginia, ii. 58, 138,
139; in Maryland, ii. 138, 139.
Sugar, ii. 194.
Superstition, ii. 244.
Supper with Indians, i. 117.
Surry protest, ii. 45.
Surtees, i. 261.
Surveyor, i. 266.
Susan Constant, the ship, i. 74.
Susquehanna Manor, ii. 132, 142.
Susquehanna River, i. 114, 272.
Susquehannock envoys, slaughter of, ii. 53,
54, 60.
Susquehannock Indians, i. 114, 260; ii. 51-54.
Swedes in Delaware, ii. 4.
Swift, Jonathan, li. 102.
Swift Run Gap, ii. 364.
Symes, Benjamin, ii. 5, 224.
Tabby silk, meaning of the name, ii. 216.
Talbot, George, ii. 132, 141, 142.
Talbot, Lord, ii. 182.
Talbot, Richard, Duke of Tyrconnel, ii. 144.
Talbot, William, ii. 136.
Tammany Society, i. 1.
Tampico, i. 22.
Tanais or Don River, i. 76.
Tantalus and his grapes, i. 191.
Tar, i. 124 ; ii. 296.
Tariff logic, specimens of, ii. 44, 177.
Tariffs, protective, ii. 39.
Taswell-Langmead, i. 232.
Taxation without representation, ii. 100, 130.
Taxes on slaves, ii. 177.
Teach, Robert. See Blackbeard.
Temple Farm, ii. 370.
Tennessee, its settlers, ii. 373, 374.
" Terence in English,'" i. 169.
Test oaths for public officials, ii. 275.
Thatch, Robert. See Blackbeard.
Theatres, ii. 222.
Third Supply for Virginia, i. 149, 156.
Thirlestane House, i. 50.
Thirty Years' War, ii. 143.
Thompson, William, of Braintree, i. 284.
Thomson, Sir Peter, i. 50.
Thorpe, George, murdered by Indians, i. 222.
Throckmorton, Elizabeth, i. 58.
Thrusting out of Governor Harvey, i. 279.
Tichfield, i. 209.
Tidewater Virginia, i. 212.
Tilden, Marmaduke, ii. 132.
Tillotson, Archbishop, ii. 102.
Timour, Pasha of Nalbrits, i. 91.
Tindall, Thomas, put in the pillory, i. 251.
Titles of nobility in Carolina, ii. 255.
Tobacco, first recorded mention of, i. 167;
bull of L'rban VIII. against, i. 167; James
I."s Counterblast, i. 167; its tendency to
crush out other forms of industry, i. 220 ;
monopoly of, coveted by Charles I., i. 231 ;
planted by the Dutch in the East Indies, ii.
42; as currency, ii. 96; duty on, in Mary-
land, ii. no; and liberty, ii. 157; attempts
to check its cultivation, ii. 158 ; effects of, ii.
Tobacco currency, effects of, in Virginia, ii.
198; upon crafts and trades, ii. 198; upon
planters' accounts, ii. 199.
Todkill, Anas, i. 118, 122, 135.
Toleration, religious, in Maryland, i. 253, 254,
257, 28S-290.
Toleration Act, so-called, passed by Man,'land
Puritans, i. 288-290, 296; original contem-
porary edition of, i. 288; endorsement of, i.
291.
Tomocomo, his attempt to take a census of
England, i. 167.
Toombs, Robert, ii. 8.
Tories and Whigs, i. 174.
Torture by slow fire, i. 109.
Totapotamoy, ii. 63.
Town meetings, ii. 28, 29.
Towns, absence of, in Virginia, ii. 194 ; at-
tempts to build, ii. 195.
Townships in England, ii. 27, 30.
Trade between Massachusetts and Albemarle
Colony, ii. 260.
Tragabigzanda, Charatza, i. 90.
I'ram-bands in New England, ii. 35.
Treachery of Indians, i. 129, 135, 137.
Treason committed abroad, ii. 264.
Treat, John, ii. 166.
Treaty of America, ii. 336, 340.
Trent, the British steamer, ii. 214.
Trott, Nicholas, ii. 28S ; autograph of, ii. 288.
Truman, Thomas, ii. 52, 54, 60.
Trussel, John, ii. 169.
Tubal Cain, the, of Virginia, ii. 372.
Tuckahoe, south front, view of, ii. 127 ; south
stair, view of, ii. 141.
Tucker, Beverley, ii. 9.
Turkeys, first,that were taken to England, i. 123.
Turkish treasure, i. 85.
Turks' heads cut off by Smith, i. 87, 91.
Turks' Heads, the islands, i. 91.
Turks, desire of Columbus to drive them from
Europe, i. 7.
Turpentine, ii. 296.
Tuscarora meeting-house, ii. 374.
Tuscaroras in North Carolina, ii. 279 ; expelled
from North Carolina, migrate to the Mohawk
valley and add one more to the Five Na-
tions, ii. 286.
Twelfth Night, i. 168.
Tyler, John, Governor of Virginia, ii. 9.
Tyler, John, President of U. S., ii. 21, 116.
Tyler, L.G. ,1.278; ii. 16, 20, 54, 80, 115, 226.
Tyler, M. C, ii. 245.
Tyler, Wat, ii. 9, 21.
Tzekely, Moses, i. 87.
L^nion of the Colonies, schemes for, ii. 116.
Unitarians threatened witli death in Maryland
Toleration Act, i. 290.
University College of London, i. 114.
" Unmasked Face of our Colony in Virginia,"
i. 199, 202.
Urban VIII., his bull against tobacco, i. 16S.
Utie, John, i. 279, 280.
Utrecht, treaty of, ii. 172.
396
INDEX
Valentia, Lord, i. 50.
Vallandigham, E. H., ii. 140.
Valparaiso, i. 29.
Vandyke, i. 268.
Vane, Sir Harr}', ii. 10.
Vassall's house in Cambridge, ii. 207.
Vegetables, ii. 2, 202.
Venetian argosv, fight with the Breton ship, i.
85.
Venezuela, 1. 188.
Venice, i. 86 ; ii. 323.
Venus and Adonis, the poem, i. 60.
Vera Cruz, i. 22.
Vermont, i. 66.
Verrazano, Sea of, i. 65 ; ii. 363.
Vespucius, Americus, i. 12, 13, 93, 148; ii.
326.
Vestry, close, ii. 31, 86, 356; open, ii. 87; in
South Carolina, ii. 305.
Veto power, ii. 136.
Vicksburg, ii. 174.
Victoria, Queen, i. 245.
Vikings, not properly called pirates, ii. 320.
Villiers, George, Duke of Buckingham, i. 188.
Vinland, i. 20; ii. 256.
Violins, it. 221.
Virginals, ii. 221.
Virginia, origin of the name, i. 36 ; believed to
abound in precious metals, i. 63, 123 ; first
charter of, i. 64-68; Smith's map of, 1612, i.
118; seal of the company, i. 209 ; extent of
the colony in 1624, i. 211 ; population of, i.
240; ii. 1,4, 20, 21; facsimile title-page of
"A Perfect Description of," ii.3 ; westward
growth of, ii. 6; Farrer's map of, 165 1, ii. 12 ;
seal of, after the restoration, ii. xg; list of
servants in, ii. 35 ; prolific in leaders of men,
ii. 38 ; facsimile title-page of " Strange News
from, ii. 81 ; facsimile title-page of the
"Council's Report for 1620," ii. 167; half
penny, ii. 177; seal of colony of, ii. 225;
habeas corpus introduced into, ii. 352; fac-
simile title-page of " Virginia's Discovery of
Silk-worms," ii. 367.
Virginia Historical Society, i. 113; ii. 298.
Virginian historians, ii. 234.
Virginians at Oxford, ii. 228.
Volga River, i. 76.
Voltaire, ii. 13, 334.
Wafer, Lionel, a buccaneer, ii. 341.
Wahunsunakok, i. 96.
Waldenses, the, ii. 187.
Wales, conquest of, i. 245.
Walker, William, ii. 326.
Walsingham, Sir F., i. 42 ; portrait and auto-
graph, i. 43.
Walton, Izaak, i. 208.
^\'ampum, i. 136.
Ward's Plantation, i. 178.
Warner, Augustine, ii. 88.
Warren, William, i. 278.
Warrasqueak Bay, i. 131, 200.
Washington, Augustine, ii. 278.
Washington, George, i. 73, 258, 278; ii. 157,
207 ; his love for dogs, horses, hunting, and
fishing, ii. 219; killed by his doctors, ii. 240;
his intimacy with Lord Fairfax, ii. 376; sent
to warn the French, ii. 379.
Washington, Henry, ii. 22, 377.
Washington, John, ii. 22, 52, 60, 84 ; autograph
of, ii. 84.
Washington, La^vrence, brother of George, ii.
226, 228, 370.
Washington, Lawrence, brother of John, ii.
52.
Washington, Lawrence, of Sulgrave, i. 73.
Washington, Martha, ii. 106; portrait and au-
tograph, ii. 213 ; her life at home, ii. 214.
Washington, Mary, portrait of, u. 215; home
of, ii. 216.
Washington family tree, ii. 23.
Washington family, home of, ii. 229.
Waters, Fitz Gilbert, ii. 22.
Watson, Elkanah, ii. 197.
Wedding, the first in English America, i. 114.
Weddings, ii. 217.
Weeden, W. B., ii. 230.
Weller, Tony, ii. 127.
Weromocomoco, i. 95, 96, 113, 116, 120, 130,
131, 138, 161, 212; ii. 142.
West, Francis, i. 131, 138, 145, 239.
West, John,i. 279, 280.
West, Joseph, ii. 258, 267.
West, Penelope, i. 145.
Westminster Abbey, i. 48.
Westminster School, i. 48.
Westover, i. 213 ; ii. 237 ; gate at, ii. 176.
West Point, Va., i. 212.
West Virginia, its settlers, ii. 373.
Wetting one's feet, i. 200.
Weymouth, George, i. 61, 69; autograph, i.
61.
Whalley, Edward, the regicide, ii. 22.
Wharves, private, ii. 189, 201.
Wheat culture in Maryland, ii. 247.
Whigs, ii. 362.
Whigs and Tories, i. 174.
Whitacres, a boon companion of Dr. Pott, i.
239-
Whitaker, Alexander, the apostle, his " Good
News from Virginia,"' i. 220, 282 ; facsimile
title-page of his " Good Newes," i. 219.
Whitburne, Richard, i. 248.
White, Andrew, a Jesuit father, i. 260, 287.
White, John, i. 41, 45, 58, 60, 63, 64, 116 ; his
map of Florida and Virginia, 1585, i. 40.
White, Solomon, ii. 244.
White Aprons, the, ii. 76.
White Oak Swamp, i. 102.
White servants in Virginia, ii.8, 159-174.
"White trash," origin of, ii. 171; in North
Carolina, ii. 297-299 ; dispersal of, ii. 301,
302.
Whitmore, W. H., ii. 9, 30.
Whitney, E. L., ii. 254.
Whittle family descended from Pocahontas, i.
167.
"Widow Ranter," the comedy, ii. 162.
Wififen, Richard, i. 135.
Wilberforce, W., ii. 183.
Wilde, Jonathan, ii. 244.
Willard, Samuel, ii. 107.
William and Mary College, ii. 102-116,232;
early view of, ii. 104.
William the Conqueror, i. 245.
William the Silent, i. 10 ; portrait of, i. 9.
William IIL, ii. 108, 144, 149; portrait of , ii.
145-
William III. and Mary, ii- loi, 104.
Williams, Edward, facsimile title-page of his
" Virgo Triumphans," ii. 295.
Williams, G. W., ii. 310.
Williams, Roger, i. 258, 291; ii. 144.
Williamsburg, ii. log, 193, 218, 221 ; county
court house, Duke of Gloucester St., ii.
193 ; powder magazine at, ii. 355.
Williamson, Hugh, ii. 258, 292.
INDEX
397
Williamson, Sir J., ii. 8g.
Willoughby, Eng., i. 84.
Willoughby, Sarah, her wardrobe, ii. 217.
Willoughby, Sir Hugh, i. 15.
Wilmington, Del., ii. 124.
Wilmington, N. C, ii. 296.
Window shutters, ii. 203.
Wines, native, ii. 354, 364.
Wingandacoa, i. 36.
Wingfield, E. M., i. 68, 93,94, 98, 100-103, 114,
124.
Winslow, Josiah, ii. 55.
Winsor, Justin, i. 14, 20, 261 ; ii. i, 250, 278.
Winter, Sir William, i. 42 ; ii.322.
Winthrop, John, i. 20, 69, 223, 284, 2S6; ii. 86,
231-
Witenagemote, i. 263.
Wolfe, James, i. 165.
Wood, Abraham, ii. 169.
Wooden houses, ii. 203.
Woods, Leonard, i. 50.
Woollen industries of Ulster, ii. 372.
Woollen industrA', i. 50.
W^orkmen needed in Virginia, i. 128.
Worlidge. William, ii. 169.
Wormeley, Ralph, his library, ii. 222, 223.
Wren, Sir Christopher, ii. 111.
Wright, William, ii. 51.
Wyanoke, i. 213.
Wyatt, Sir Francis, i. 229, 240.
Wythe, George, ii. 116, 245.
Yale College, ii. 232.
Yamassees, a Carolina tribe, ii. 280 ; and other
tribes incited by the Spaniards attack South
Carolina, ii. 287 ; war in Carolina, ii. 352.
Yang-tse-Kiang, the river, i. 47.
Yeamans, Sir John, his colony at Cape Fear,
ii. 256, 344.
Yeardley, Sir George, i. 165, 169, 177, 229,
230: autograph, i. 177.
Yell of Yellyille, ii. 86.
Yeomanrv in the i6th
185.
York River, i. 131, 212.
Yorktown, i. 258, 271.
century, 1. 52, 53
Zuiiiga, i.64, 79, 171, 184.
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