reasonable to believe that his vices were called out by the changeful fortunes of those stirring times, by the sufferings of his party and its revengeful triumph, in each of which he had a share. For the present he seems to have been politically in union with a large and influential party in Virginia, while his personal qualities, if they did not make him universally popular, at least saved him from the hatred of his opponents. His in The instructions with which he was sent out are interesting from more than one point of view. The dangers which were threatening the crown made it expedient to enumerate structions. formally certain principles which had hitherto been secured only by usage. The imposition of the oath of allegiance, and the provision for the establishment of public worship according to Anglican usage, were little more than formal repetitions of accepted principles, and were probably quite in harmony with the views of most of the settlers. There was practically nothing new in the order by which the appointment of the minor public officers was formally vested in the Governor, while the crown retained its right of nominating the higher officials. But at least one important constitutional change was introduced. Councilors were to be exempted from all taxes save those for the support of the Church, and special imposts for public buildings and purposes of war. That this exemption included ten of the servants of each councilor is an incidental proof of the patriarchal establishments of the large planters. This enactment, by exempting one branch of the legislature from taxation, must inevitably have detached its financial interests from those of the community, and diminished the motive for frugality. We cannot doubt that this was at once a symptom and a cause of that separation of the community into an oligarchical and a popular party, of which we have still clearer evidence at a later date, and it is important to observe that the former seems thus early to have enjoyed the support and favor of the crown. Save in this one point, the instructions to Berkeley were, like most of Charles I.'s dealings with Virginia, moderate and politic, free alike from the meddlesome interference of his father and the profusion and rapacity of Charles II. and his creatures. The new Governor was instructed to encourage the growth of hemp, vines, and other commodities, and to regulate the production of tobacco. The 1 These instructions are in the Colonial Entry Book, lxxix. p. 219-30. A full epitome of them is given by Mr. Sainsbury, p. 321. SECOND INDIAN MASSACRE. 209 intercourse between the colonists and the crews of merchant ships was to be under the control of the Governor. Trade with the savages was only to be allowed under special license, and the obligation to build a house was reimposed on the holders of land. By a wise regulation new-comers were exempted from certain taxes. The increase of trade was recognized in the establishment of quarterly courts for the trial of civil suits, as well as minor courts for suits where the matter at issue did not exceed ten pounds in value. These courts were also empowered to try petty offenses. Indian The arrival of the new Governor was marked by a great public calamity. During fifty years of peace the settlers had forgotAnother ten the massacre, and the savages had forgotten the massacre. vengeance which followed. But one at least of the Indians looked back with regret to the days when no white intruder had ever set foot on the realms of Powhatan. Opechancanough was now in title, as he had been before in reality, the supreme ruler, and his hatred of the English had been only waiting for a fit opportunity. His bodily strength had passed away, but the Indian could reverence chiefs whose authority rested solely on strength of mind and will. The outbreak of the war between the king and the Parliament, among its other remote and indirect results, furnished Opechancanough with the chance for which he had long hoped. Rumors found their way amid the Indian villages that the invaders were at strife among themselves, and one savage had actually seen two English ships in combat off Jamestown. Such calculations show how much intimacy there was between the two races, and how much of cool statecraft entered into the revengeful temper of the savage. In 1644 the first blow was struck. It fell on an unsuspecting people, and before an attempt at resistance could be made three hundred of the settlers had perished. Then it would seem the courage of the assailants suddenly failed them. No better proof can be found of the increased stability of the settlement than the trifling effect produced by what thirty years before would have been regarded as an almost fatal blow. No contemporary writer has thought it worth while. to preserve the details of the second massacre, and it left no 1 The materials for an account of this war are but scanty. A good deal may be learned from the statutes in Hening. There is an incidental reference to it in the contemporary journal of Winthrop, the New England statesman. The submission of Necottowance is described in a pamphlet in Force, vol. ii., entitled A Perfect Description of Virginia, by Richard Wodenoth. London 1649. abiding trace on the social and industrial life of the colony. At first the task of defense and revenge was left to be carried out by the hastily-raised militia of the districts specially threatened, and the war consisted of a series of border skirmishes. But in the spring of 1646 it became evident that unless hostilities were to drag on, and to imperil the security and well-being of the colony, more decisive measures must be taken. A force of sixty men was raised at public expense, and a fort was built to cut off the Indians from their fisheries. It is worth noting that the number of men to be raised, their pay, and the special manner of their employment, were all left to the Assembly, a strong illustration of the popular character of the colonial government. In the same year the war was ended by the capture of Ope chancanough. Though we have no definite contemporary auDeath of thority, we may safely accept colonial tradition as Opechan canough. evidence for the fact of his death soon after. The details of his end are uncertain. According to one story, Berkeley brought him to Jamestown and exhibited him in triumph to the citizens, an insult which only extorted from the captive king the high-minded reproach that he would have treated his enemy far differently had their fates been reversed.' The Governor, it is added, would have sent Opechancanough as a prisoner to England if the Indian had not perished by the brutality of one of the soldiers who captured him. One cannot help suspecting that tradition may have done something to color this story and to give a fittingly dramatic end to the great enemy of the English, the last formidable representative of the house of Powhatan. sion of his His death ended the war. His successor, Necottowance, at once came to terms, and a solemn treaty was drawn up and Submis- signed. The opening article pledging the English to successor. uphold the Indian king against all rebels, raises a suspicion that the Virginian government were adopting what has been so often our policy in India, and setting up a creature of their own whose authority had to be supported from without. The treaty went on to mark out the frontier, and established a system of badges as passports. Indian children of twelve years old were exempted from this condition, otherwise all persons of either race who crossed the frontier without a badge did so at the risk of their lives. In the following March, Necottowance with five of his chief men came in to Jamestown and made a solemn profes 1 Beverley, p. 50. OPECHANCANOUGH'S SUCCESSOR. 211 sion of loyalty. For thirty years there was almost uninterrupted peace between the two races, and when an Indian war did again break out, it was mainly dangerous from its effect on the internal politics of the colony. of the Com CHAPTER VIII. VIRGINIA UNDER THE COMMONWEALTH.1 The ascendency of the Commonwealth opens a new era in colonial history, and that in a twofold manner. In the first place, it marked the beginning of a definite colonial policy. nial policy Hitherto the colonies, actual or projected, had been monwealth, dealt with on no fixed and distinct principles. Their fortunes had been left to the enterprise, the benevolence, or the rapacity of individual citizens, to the wisdom or folly of the sovereign. By the Navigation Act the Long Parliament first practically asserted and acted on the doctrine that the colonies formed a connected whole, a member of the body politic, to be dealt with on certain fixed principles and for the benefit of the entire community. In this matter the Long Parliament was more fortunate than in many others. Much of its legislation was but an unfulfilled anticipation of distant reforms, only to be achieved after many generations had passed away. In dealing with the colonies it established principles which held good till the hour of their separation. Virginia Moreover, the relations of Virginia to the Long Parliament mark a change within the colony itself. At an earlier period the Attitude of conflict of parties in England would have had no more towards effect on the plantation by James River than it would parties in England. on the factories at Bantam or Surat. The struggle of king and Parliament might have interested the Virginian tobaccogrowers as it would interest any other English citizens. There might be amongst them both Royalists and Puritans, and so far the conflict might call out corresponding divisions. But these 1 The materials for this portion of Virginian history are somewhat scanty. Our knowledge of it is chiefly derived from Hening's Collection, with occasional help from the State Papers and from Beverley. |