verting the labor of the free colonists to his own use or pleasures, he con-
sumed the time of the servants of the company upon his own plantations.
At length his conduct was so flagitious in the case of one Brewster, who
was left by Lord Delaware to manage his estate, and who only sought to
prevent Argall from utterly despoiling it, that neither the colony or compa-
ny could bear his tyranny longer, but he was deposed and Sir George
Yeardley sent in his place. Yet he contrived to escape punishment, by the
mismanagement of some, and the connivance of others, and preserved all of
his ill-gotten booty.
One of the first acts of Yeardly was to emancipate the remaining ser-
1619 vants ofto colony. The labor now being free, each man enjoying
the fruits of his own industry and anxious to increase his store, there
w T as no fear of scarcity, and no time or opportunity for mutiny among the
scattered and industrious planters. With the increasing strength and inde-
pendence* of the colony all fear of the savages had vanished. It is mani-
fest that in these altered circumstances a modification of the despotic go-
vernment ought to have been made, because its severity was no longer ne-
cessary, and whilst the power existed it might be abused, as the colony se-
riously experienced in the case of Argall. The only use of government is
to insure the safety of the state from external foes, to secure justice and the
free disposition of person and property to each individual, and sometimes to
aid m the prosecution of such objects of general utility as individual enter-
pnze cannot accomplish. The moment the colonists began to take an in-
terest in the country, by the enjoyment of their own labor, and the posses-
sion of property, it was right that they should have some share in that go-
vernment, in the prudent conduct of which they were most interested.—
Yeardley was aware of this, for without any authority from home which
them as formlrl n ° W sometimes P urcha sed corn of the English, instead of supplying
HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 565
we can trace* he called together a General Assembly consisting- of two mem-
bers from every town, borough or hundred, besides the governor and coun-
cil, which met at Jamestown, near the end of June 1619. In this assembly
seven corporations were represented, and four more were laid off in the
course of the same summer.
In this first North American Legislature, wherein was "debated all mat-
ters thought expedient for the good of the colony," several acts were passed
which were pronounced by the treasurer of the company to be " well and
judiciously carried," but which are unfortunately lost to posterity. This
was an eventful year to the colony, for in addition to their assembly, a col-
lege was established in Henrico, with a liberal endowment. King James
had exacted £15,000 from the several bishops of his kingdom for the pur-
pose of educating Indian children, and 10,000 acres of land were now ad-
ded by the company; and the original design was extended to make it a
seminary of learning also for the English. One hundred idle and dissolute
persons, in custody for various misdemeanors, were transported by the au-
thority of the king and against the wishes of the company to Virginia.
They were distributed through the colony as servants to the planters; and
the degradation of the colonial character produced by such a process, was
endured for the assistance derived from them in executing the various plans
of industry, that were daily extending themselves. This beginning excited
in the colonists a desire for using more extensively other labor than their
own, an opportunity for the gratification, of which unfortunately too soon
occurred. In this eventful year too, a new article was introduced into the
trade of the company with the colony, by the good policy of the treasurer
Sir Edwin Sandys, which produced a material change in the views and feel-
ings of the colonists with regard to the country. At the accession of Sir
Edwin to office, after twelve years labor, and an expenditure of eighty thou-
sand pounds by the company, there was in the colony no more than six
hundred persons, men, women and children. In one year he provided a.
passage for twelve hundred and sixty one new emigrants. Among these
were ninety agreeable young women, poor but respectable and incorrupt,
to furnish wives to the colonists. The. wisdom of this policy is evident,—
the men had hitherto regarded Virginia only as 3 place of temporary so-
journ for the acquisition of wealth, and never dreamed of making a perma-
nent residence in a place where it was impossible to enjoy any of the corn-
forts of domestic life. They had consequently none of those endearing ties
of home and kindred to bind them to the country, or attach them to its in-
terests which are so necessary to make a good citizen. This new com-
modity was transported at the expense of the colony, and sold to the young
planters, and the following year another consignment was made of sixty
young maids of virtuous education, young, handsome, and well recommend-
ed. A wife in the first lot sold generally for one hundred pounds of tobac.
eo, but as the value of the new article became known in the market, th e
— ■— — — - . ■■- , - — — . . 1 . — . — ,
*It is not however probable that such an important step was taken without authori-
ty. The assembly seems to have been convened in conformity to principles laid down
in the instructions to Sir Francis Wyatt in 1621, and probably was procured at the so-
licitation of the colony after the deposing of Argall. The authority on which the
statement that such an assembly was held is Stith 160: (See Hen. Stat, at Large, I.
121.) The acts passed were presented on the 29th of March following, to the court of
the company for confirmation, and were pronounced by Sir Edwin Sandys then trea-
surer, to be well and judiciously formed: See also Smith, vol. II. 39, for an account of
this assembly in confirmation of Stith.
566 HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
price rose, and a wife would bring a hundred and fifty pounds of tobacco.
A debt for a wife was of higher dignity than other debts, and to be paid
first. As an additional inducement to marriage, married men were gene-
rally preferred in the selection of officers for the colony. Domestic ties
were formed, habits of thrift ensued, comforts were increased, and happiness
diffused; the tide of emigration swelled; within three years fifty patents
for land were granted, and three thousand five hundred parsons found their
way to Virginia.
In the month of August of this year an event occurred which stamped
icon i ts impress upon the constitution of Virginia, and indeed of the
' whole southern portion of America so deeply, that it will be difficult
to erase it save by the destruction of society. This was the introduction of
%G A f rican slaves by a Dntch vessel, which availed itself of the freedom of
commerce which had been released from the shackles of the company's
monopoly in the early part of this year, to rivet forever the bonds of slavery,
sipon a portion of their fellow-creatures and their descendants. The in-
dented and covenanted servants which had been long known in Virginia,
and whose condition was little better than that of slavery, was a small evil
and easily removed, because they were of the same color and country with
their masters; when they were emancipated they leaped at once from their
shackels to the full dignity of freedom. No one scorned to associate with
them, and no one spurned their alliance, if honorable and worthy in other
respects they were equal lo their masters and might even rise to distinction.
£?ut not so to the poor African. Nature has fixed upon him a stamp which
cannot be erased or forgotten, the badge of his bondage is borne with him,
\y\ien his fetters have crumbled to the dust, the curse of Cain is upon him,
and no one will mingle with him. By the white man he is loved and che-
rished as a distant and humble dependant. — but he is despised with disgust
as a companion ;-^-and the contamination of a mixture with his blood is
loathed as a deep, endless, irremediable stain. Under such circumstances
emancipation is impossible without removal, but when and where and how
is this to be effected 1 ? This question posterity must answer, — all that we
can do is to treat them with kindness and humanity, and this is done.
The overbearing disposition of king James created a powerful popular
party in England, which being unable to establish a liberal government at
home, was determined to secure for free principles a safe asylum in the col-
onies. The accomplishment of this determination was accelerated by the
disposition of the king to intermeddle with this very subject. He was ex-
ceedingly jealous of the company, in which the patriot party prevailed, and
suspicious of the liberal principles discussed in its meetings with uncontrol-
ed freedom: he feared it as the school of debate, and nursery of Parliamen-
tary leaders. Upon the resignation of Sir Edwin Sandys of his office as
Mav T7 1620 treasurer, tbfi king determined to try the extent of his influ-
^ ' ' ence in the election of a successor to this first office in the
company. He accordingly sent in a nomination of four individuals, to one
of whom he desired the office to be given; but he proved unsuccessful in
his attempt at dictation, and none of his nominees were elected, but the
choice fell upon the earl of Southampton.
The company having thus vindicated its own privileges, proceeded next
to guarantee freedom to the colonists, by a constitution remarkably liberal
for the time and circumstances. This "charter of freedom, the principle^ of
which the Virginians never could be brought subsequently to relinquish, has
HISTORY OF VIRGINIA, 567
been preserved to posterity in "summary of the ordinance and constitution
of the treasurer, council and company in England, for a council of state, and
another council to be called the General Assembly in Virginia, contained in
a commission to Sir Francis Wyatt (the first governor under that ordinance
and constitution) and his council," dated July 24, 1621.*
The council of state was to be chosen by the treasurer, council and com-
pany in England, with the power of removal at pleasure, their duty was to
advise, and assist the governor, and to constitute a portion of the General
Assembly. This General Assembly was to be called by the governor once
a year, and not oftener, unless on very extraordinary and important occa-
sions; it was to consist, in addition to the council of state, of two burgesses,-
out of every town, hundred or other particular plantation, to be respectively
chosen by the inhabitants; in which council all matters were to be decided,
determined and ordered by the greater part of the voices then present, re-
serving to the governor always a negative voice. "And this General As-
sembly was to have full power, to treat, consult and conclude, as well of all
emergent occasions concerning the public weal of the said colony, and every
part thereof, as also to make, ordain and enact such general laws and or-
ders, for the behoof of said colony, and the good government thereof, as from
time to time might seem necessary."
The General Assembly and council of state were required to imitate and
follow the policy of the form of government, laws, customs and manner of
trial, and of the administration of justice, used in the realm of England, as
near as might be, as the company itself was required to do, by its charter.
No law or ordinance was to continue in force or validity unless it was so-
lemnly ratified in a general quarterly court of the company, and returned
under seal ; and it was promised that as soon as the government of the colo-
ny should once have been well framed and settled, that no orders of court
should afterwards bind the colony, unless they were ratified in the same
manner by the General Assembly.
Thus were the elements of a free government established, at the arrival
of Sir Francis Wyatt, on a soil from which they were never to be eradicated ,
in less than one year from the time when domestic slavery was instituted in
the same place, on a footing which promises equal permanence.
When Sir Francis arrived he found that negligence and security amongst
the colonists, which is the inevitable consequence of a long peace. Old
Powhatan had died in 1618, honored by the esteem and respect of all who
knew him, — his own people, holding in grateful remembrance his prowess
and policy in youth, and his mildness in nge, — and his English friends and
brethren admiring his firm support of his dignity, his paternal affection, his
mild simplicity, and his native intelligence. He was succeeded in his pow-
er by Opechancanough his younger brother, who was cunning, treacher-
ous, revengeful and cruel. He renewed the former treaties, with every as-
surance of good faith, and wore the mask of peace and friendship so suc-
cessfully as completely to lull the whites to security. But this crafty
prince had always viewed with peculiar jealousy and hate the progress of
the colony. He had given much trouble, and engaged in frequent hostili-
ties, whilst he was king of Pamunkee, and it was not to be supposed that
he would patiently submit to the continued and rapid encroachments of the
whites upon his lands, to the entire extermination or banishment of his peo.
*See Henning's Stat, at Large, vol. I. p. 113,
568 HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
pie* now that he possessed the empire of his brother. But to meet them in
the field was impossible, the disparity in arms was too great, and the num-
bers in fio-hting men now equal,* the attempt would be madness ar.d des-
peration, and lead to that extermination of his race which he wished to
avoid. His only resource was to strike some great and sudden blow which
-should annihilate the power of the colony at once. He had applied to a
king who resided on the Eastern Shore, to purchase a subtle poisonf which
grew only in his dominions, but this king being on good terms with the
whites and wishing to enjoy their trade refused to gratify him. His ne.xt
resource was in a general massacre, to take effect upon all of the scattered
plantations on the same day. The situation of the whites favored this de-
sign, they not only placed confidence in the words of the savages which
had now been so long faithfully kept, but in their weakness and cowardice.
They had extended their plantations over a space of one hundred and forty
miles, on both sides of James river, and made some settlements in the neigh-
borhood of the Potomac; in short wherever a rich spot invited to the culti-
vation of tobacco, there were they established, and an absence of neighbors
.was preferred-! The planters were careless with their arms, never usin-
their swords, and their fire-arms only for game. The old law making it
-criminal to teach a savage the use of arms was forgotten, and they were
fowlers and hunters, for many of the planters, by which means they became
well acquainted with the use of arms and the places in which they were
kept. One great object with the settlers, and with the company, in whose
instructions we find it perpetually enjoined, had been the conversion of the
Indians to the christian religion. To promote this pious object, they had
always been received in the most friendly manner, they became market
people to the planters, and they were fed at their tables, and lodged in their
bed-chambers as friends and brothers.
Opechancanough had renewed the treaty with governor Wyatt, and took
every other means in his power to avoid suspicion. He told a messenger
about the middle of March, that the sky should fall ere he would violate ..the
treaty of peace; only two days before the fatal 22nd, the English were guid-
ed in safety and kindness through the forest by the unsuspected Indians,
and a Mr. Browne who had been sent to. live among them to learn ! hen-
language was sent safely to his friends, — nay, so well was the dread secret
•kept that the English boats were borrowed to transport the Indians over the
-river to consult on the " devilish murder that ensued^' and even on the.day
itself, as well as on the evening before, they came as usual unarmed into
the settlements with deer, turkies, fish, fruits and other provisions ta sell,
and in some places sat down to breakfast with the English. The concert
and secrecy of this great plot is the more astonishing when we reflect that
the savages were not living together as one nation, and did not have for
most purposes, unity of action, but were dispersed in little hamlets contain-
ing from thirty to two hundred in a company ; " yet they all had warning
given them one from another in all their habitations, though far asunder,
M h 99 Ifi99 to meet at t ^ le day a °d hour appointed for the destructiori
iVlarcn. 44, lb^,-. of ^ English at their several plantations; some directed
to one place, some to another, all to be done at the time appointed, which
they did accordingly: some entering- their houses under color of trading, io
♦Bancroft 193 and references there quoted. =- -
t Smith II. 71.
* Smith, vol. 11.66. - - - . „
HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 569
took their advantage ; others drawing them abroad under fair pretences, and
the rest suddenly falling upon these that were at their labors." They spared
no age, sex, or condition, and were so sudden in their indiscriminate
slaughter that few could discern the blow or weapon, which brought them
to destruction. Their familiarity with the whites led them with fatal pre-
cision to the points at which they were certain to be found, and that â– 'â– fatal
morning fell under the bloody and barbarous hands of that perfidious and
inhuman people, three hundred and forty seven men, women and children.
principally by their own weapons." Not content with this destruction, th e y
brutally defaced and mangled the dead bodies, as if they would perpe.tr? tr
a new murder, and bore off the severed portions in fiendish triumph Those
who had treated them with especial kindness, and conferred many benefits
Upon them, who confided so much in them that to the last moment they
could not believe mischief was intended, fared no better than the rest. The
ties of love and gratitude,the sacred rig hts of hospitality and recipi -oca lfrienship,
oaths, pledges and promises, and even the recent, and solemn profession of
fidelity to an all-merciful and omnipotent God, were broken asunder or for-
gotten in obedience to the command of their chief for the execution of a
great but diabolical stroke of state policy. With one and only one of all
who had been cherished by the whites, did gratitude for their kindness and
fidelity to his new religion prevail over his allegiance to his king, and affec
tion for his people. A converted Indian who resided with a Mr Pac 3 . ?nd
who was treated by him as a son, revealed the plot to him in the night of
the 21st. Pace immediately secured his house and rowed himself up to
Jamestown, where he disclosed it to the governor, by which means that
place and all the neigboring plantations, to which intelligence could be con-
veyed, was saved from destruction; for the cowardly Indians when they saw
the whites upon their guard immediately retreated. Some other places
were also preserved, by the undaunted courage of the occupants, who never
failed to beat off their assailants, if they were not slain, before their suspi-
cions were excited By these means was Virginia preserved from total an-
nihilation in a single hour, by this well conceived, well concealed, and well
executed plot of her weak and simple adversaries. The larger portion of
the colony was saved, for a year after the massacre it contained two thou-
sand five } hundred persons †¢ but the consternation produced by k,
caused the adoption of a ruinous policy. Instead of marching at once bold-
ly to meet the adversary and driving him from the country, or reducing"
him to subjection by a bloody retaliation, the colonists were huddled To-
gether from their eighty plantations into eight, the college, manufactories
and other works of public utility, were abandoned, and oulti'/ation confined
to a space almost -too limited, merely for subsistence. These crowded quar>
ters produced sickness, and some were so disheartened that they sailed for
England.
In England this disastrous intelligence so far from dispiriting the com*
pany, excited their sympathies to such a degree, that it aroused them to re-
newed exertion, and a more obstinate determination to secure at all hazards
a' country which had cost so much blood and treasure. Supplies were
promptly despatched, and even the king was moved to the generosity of
giving some old rusty arms from the tower, which he never meant to use,
and promising further assistance, which he never meant to render.
Serious discussions now took place in the courts of the company as to
the policy proper to be pursued with the Indians, and some advocated' their
72
570 HISTORY. OF VIRGINIA.
entire subjection, in imitation of the example of the Spaniards, which poli*
cy would surely have been more merciful than that war of extermination
which was carried into effect, whether by deliberate design or a system of
temporary expedients does not appear. Smith offered the company to pro-
tect all their planters Irom the James to the Potomac, with a permanent
force of one hundred soldiers and thirty sailors, with one small bark, and
means to build several, shallops ; and there is no doubt but that he would
have accomplished it, by which means the planters could have employed
themselves much more successfully in attending to their crops, than when
they had to keep perpetual watch, and occasionally to take up arms to de-
fend themselves, or make an attack upon the enemy. Smith received for
answer that the company was impoverished, but that he had leave
to carry his proposal into effect, if he could find means in the col-
ony, and would give the company half the booty he should acquire; upon
x^hich answer he observes, that except some little corn, he would not give
twenty pounds for all the booty to be made from the savages for twenty
years. The colonists, although they could not be soon again lulled to their
former security, speedily recovered from their recent panic, and. on July of
fhe same year* sallied forth with three hundred men to seize the corn and
inflict other punishment on the Indians;, but they suffered themselves to be
deceived, by false pretences until the corn was removed from their reach, so
that they got but little ; they succeeded however in burning many of
their villages, and destroying much of their property, by which they said they
were likely to suffer much during the ensuing w r inter. We find that a law
was passed on the following session by the General Assembly, requiring that
on the beginning of Fuly next, the inhabitants of every corporation should
fall upon the adjoining savages as bad been done the last year ; and enacting
that those who were hurt should be cured at the public charge, and such as
were maimed should be maintained by the country, according to their quality.!
We find it also further enacted in 1630, "that the war begun upon the In-
dians be effectually followed, and that no peace be concluded with them ; and
that all expeditions undertaken against them should be prosecuted with dili-
gence.| This state of fierce warfare continued to rage w f ith uninterrupted
fury until a peace was concluded in 1632, under the administration of go-
vernor Harvey. § In the course of this warfare the Indians were not treat-
ed with the same tenderness, with which they had generally been before |j the
massacre, but their habitations, cleared lands, and pleasant sites, when once
taken possession of, were generally retained by the victors, and the van-
quished forced to take refuge in the woods and marshes.
Whilst these events were transpiring in the colony, an important change in
1623 tile cnamcter °f tne i' f government was about to takis-plaee in England.
The company had been unsuccessful ; thefact could no longer be denied.
They had transported more than nine thousand persons, at an expense ex-
ceeding a hundred thousand pounds, and yet in nearly eighteen years there
were only about two thousand persons in the colony, and its annual exports
did not exceed twenty thousand pounds in value. The king took advantage
. *Mr, Bancroft makes this the following year, but if he will look to the date of the
law to which he refers, he will find his error: (I Hen. Stat. L. T p. 123,— Act No, 32.)