Its commerce

The colony was now in a flourishing state. had increased, so that upwards of thirty ships were engaged in the traffic with different ports in New England and Europe. The inhabitants, in 1648, had increased to twenty thousand.

In the dispute between Charles I. and the parliament of England, Virginia espoused the cause of the king; and when the republicans had obtained the ascendency, a fleet was fitted out from England, for the purpose of reducing the colony to submission.

In the mean time, an ordinance of parliament, of 1650, which forbade all intercourse between the loyal colonies and foreign countries, was rigorously enforced, as well as the act of 1651, which secured to English ships the entire carrying trade with England. When the fleet arrived, commissioners were instructed to reduce the colony to submission. It was found that parliament offered to the colonists, provided they would adhere to the commonwealth, all the liberties of Englishmen; with an amnesty for their past loyalty to the deposed king, and, as free trade as the people of England.' On the other hand, war was threatened in case of resistance.

6

The Virginians, with their accustomed gallantry, 'refused to surrender to force, but yielded by a voluntary deed, and a mutual compact.' All the rights of self-government, formerly enjoyed, were again guaranteed. Richard Bennet, who had been one of the commissioners of parliament, was elected governor, and Berkeley retired to private life.

In 1655, and 1658, the assembly of burgesses exercised the right of electing and removing the governor of the colony; and on occasion of receiving intelligence of the death of Cromwell they were careful to re-assert this right, and require the governor, Matthews, to acknowledge it, in order, as they said, 'that what was their privilege now, might be the privilege of their posterity.'

On the death of Matthews, the government of England being in an unsettled state, the assembly elected Sir William Berkeley for governor; and, as he refused to act, under the usurped authority of the parliament, the colonists boldly raised the royal standard, and proclaimed Charles the Second, as their lawful sovereign. This was an act of great temerity, as it fairly challenged the whole power of Great Britain. The distracted state of that country saved the Virginians from its consequences, until the restoration of Charles to the British throne gave them a claim to his gratitude, as the last among his subjects to renounce, and the first to return to, their allegiance.

CHAPTER VIII.

VIRGINIA AFTER THE RESTORATION.

THE intelligence of the restoration was received with enthusiasm in Virginia. It naturally excited high hopes of favour, which were increased by the expressions of esteem and gratitude, which Charles found no difficulty in addressing to the colonists. These hopes they were, for a short time, permitted to indulge. The assembly introduced many important changes in judicial proceedings; trial by jury was restored; the Church of England, which of course had lost its supremacy during the protectorate, was again established by law; and the introduction of Quakers into the colony was made a penal offence.

The principles of government, which prevailed in England during the reign of Charles II., were extended to the colonies, which were now considered as subject to the legislation of parliament, and bound by its acts. The effects of this new state of things, were first perceived in the restrictions on commerce. Retaining the commercial system of the Long Parliament, the new house of commons determined to render the trade of the colonies exclusively subservient to English commerce and navigation. One of their first acts was to vote a duty of five per cent. on all merchandise exported from, or imported into, any of the dominions belonging to the crown. This was speedily followed by the famous Navigation Act,' the most memorable statute in the English commercial code.

By this law, among other things, it was enacted, that no commodities should be imported into any British settlement in Asia, Africa, or America, or exported from them, but in vessels built in England, or the plantations, and navigated by crews, of which the master and three-fourths of the mariners, should be English subjects, under the penalty of forfeiture of ship and cargo; that none but natural born subjects, or such as had been naturalised, should exercise the occupation of merchant or factor, in any English settlement, under the penalty of forfeiture of goods and chattels; that no sugar, tobacco, cotton, wool, indigo, ginger, or woods used in dyeing, produced or manufactured in the colonies, should be shipped from them

RESTRICTIONS ON COMMERCE.

45

to any other country than England; and to secure the observance of this regulation, the owners were required, before sailing, to give bonds, with surety, for sums proportioned to the rate of their vessels. Other articles of merchandise were subsequently added to the list, as they became important to the colonial trade.

As some compensation to the colonies for these commercial restrictions, they were allowed the exclusive privilege of supplying England with tobacco, the cultivation of which was prohibited in England, Ireland, Guernsey, and Jersey. In 1663, the navigation act was enlarged, by prohibiting the importation of European commodities into the colonies, except in vessels laden in England, and navigated and manned according to the provisions already quoted.

At the same time the principle was assumed, and declared, that the commerce of the colonies ought to be confined to the mother country, and that the colonies themselves should be retained in firm and absolute dependence. Not content with this, the parliament proceeded to tax the trade of the several colonies with each other, by imposing a duty on the exportation of the commodities enumerated in the navigation act, from one colony to another, equivalent to what was levied on the consumption of those articles in England.

This colonial system was considered highly conducive to the interests of England; and was, of course, popular in that country, but it was felt to be unjust and injurious to the colonists, and excited their indignation, as well as a determination to evade it in every possible way.

The Virginians, who had naturally expected distinguishing favours from the restored government, were highly exasperated at this selfish and cruel attack upon their prosperity. They remonstrated against it as a grievance, and petitioned for relief. But Charles, instead of listening to their request, enforced the act with the utmost rigour, by erecting forts on the banks of the principal rivers, and appointing vessels to cruise on the coast. Relief was sought by entering into a clandestine trade with the Dutch, on Hudson river. This, however, was of trifling importance. A conspiracy for throwing off the yoke of England, which has received the name of Birkenhead's 's plot, was entered into by some banished soldiers of Cromwell; but it was easily suppressed by the prudence of Sir William Berkeley, and the leaders were executed. (1663.) The colonial assembly, by way of retaliation on the mother

46

DISCONTENT OF THE VIRGINIANS.

country, enacted a law, that in the payment of debts, country creditors should have the priority, and that all courts of justice should give precedence in judgment to contracts made in the colony. Acts were passed to restrain the cultivation of tobacco, and to introduce the production and manufacture of silk. These designs were unsuccessful. The people would raise tobacco as long as they found a ready market for it; and the price of labour in a new country, was found to be wholly incompatible with the profitable culture of the silkworm.

The discontents, occasioned by the commercial restrictions, were further increased by the inconsiderate grants of land which the king made to his favourites, in violation of the rights of the Virginians, and the grants which had previously been made.

In the beginning of the year 1675, there occurred some slight out-breakings of popular discontent, which, though easily suppressed by the prudence and decision of the governor, gave a significant intimation of the state of public feeling. To avert the crisis, and obtain some redress, a deputation was sent to England, who, after a tedious negotiation with the king and his ministers, had nearly succeeded in their object, when they received the intelligence of a formidable rebellion in the colony.

A tax, imposed by the assembly to defray the expenses of the deputation, had caused some irritation, which the delay of the government in affording relief, exasperated into fury. A war with the Susquehannah Indians, which had distressed the frontiers for some time, now burst forth with new violence, and threatened additional expense and distress to the people. The governor, Sir William Berkeley, whose popularity had been hitherto equal to his spirit and integrity, was now pronounced too old and infirm for his office. He was ungratefully accused of wanting honesty to resist the oppressions of the mother country, and courage to repel the hostility of the savages.' These charges were urged with great artifice, eloquence, and address, by an adventurer who had arrived in the colony about three years before, Nathaniel Bacon.

This man had been bred to the law, and had gained, by his talents and insinuating manners, a seat in the council, and the rank of colonel in the militia. He was not satisfied with these distinctions, but aspired to greater things. He had taken a part in the insurrection of the preceding year, and had been taken prisoner, but pardoned by the governor. This cir

BACON'S REBELLION.

47

cumstance had cut him off from all hope of promotion by the regular government of the colony, and his ambition took another direction. He inveighed, with much warmth and eloquence, against what he termed the inertness and neglect of the governor, in the conduct of the frontier war: and declaring that the whole Indian race might easily be exterminated, he exhorted the people to take up arms in their own defence, and, by one vigorous campaign, to terminate the war.

His harangue was successful. A great number of the people were soon embodied for an expedition against the Indians; and, having elected Bacon for their general, placed themselves entirely at his disposal. To sanction the authority he had acquired, or to create an open breach with the existing government, he applied to the governor for a confirmation of his election, and offered instantly to march against the common enemy. Berkeley temporised, and when pressed for a decision, issued a proclamation, commanding the multitude, in the king's name, to disperse immediately, under the penalties of rebellion.

Bacon, by no means disconcerted at this turn of affairs, marched directly to Jamestown, at the head of six hundred of his followers; and, surrounding the house where the governor and assembly were met, he demanded the commission in a tone not to be mistaken. Berkeley refused with firmness, and presenting himself to the conspirators, who had charged him with cowardice, he undauntedly exposed his breast to their weapons, and awaited the result. The council, less courageous than their leader, hastily prepared a commission, appointing Bacon captain general of all the forces in Virginia, and by dint of earnest entreaty, prevailed on the governor to sign it.

The insurgents raised a shout of triumph and retired; and the assembly, feeling their courage suddenly revive with the departure of the danger, voted a resolution, annulling the commission they had just granted, as having been extorted by force, denouncing Bacon as a rebel, and commanding his followers to deliver him up. The governor readily confirmed this act of the assembly.

Bacon and his army could now charge their opponents with baseness and treachery; and give their own cause a colour of justice. They returned to Jamestown; and the governor was obliged to retire to Acomac on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake. Some of the councillors accompanied him; the rest