XVI.
CONCLUSION.
And was Bacon's Rebellion, then, a failure? Far from it. Judged by its results, it was indeed a signal success, for though the gallant leader himself was cut down by disease at a moment when he himself felt that he had but begun his work, though many of the bravest of his men paid for their allegiance to the popular cause upon the scaffold, that cause was won—not lost. Most of the people's grievances were relieved by the reforms in the administration of the government, and the re-enactment of Bacon's Laws made the relief permanent. The worst of all the grievances—the Indian atrocities—was removed once and forever, for Bacon had inspired the savages with a wholesome fear of the pale faces, so that many of them removed their settlements to
a safe distance from their English neighbors, and a general treaty of peace, which seems to have been faithfully kept, was effected with the others. And so the colonists never had any more trouble with the red men until they began to make settlements beyond the Blue Ridge.
According to a deposition made by "Great Peter, the great man of the Nansemond Indians," the Weyanoke tribe, "when Bacon disturbed the Indians," fled to their former settlements upon Roanoke River, in North Carolina. In 1711 some "old men of the Nottaway Indians" upon being asked if they knew anything of the return of the Weyanokes to Carolina replied, "They did go thither for they were afraid of Squire Bacon, and therefore were resolved to go to their own land."
Lovely woman flits in and out through the whole story of Bacon's Rebellion, touching up the narrative here and there with the interest her presence always creates. First there is the fair and fascinating young wife of Sir William Berkeley, said to have turned his head in his old age. A beautiful
portrait of her remains to make excuses for the bewitched husband's weakness. She seems to have been capable of excessive irony upon occasion. The Royal Commissioners indignantly complained that when they went ashore and called upon Lady Frances Berkeley she received them courteously and sent them back to the wharf, in state, in the Governor's coach, but they afterward found that the coachman she chose to drive them was the "common hangman."
Then there is the brave-hearted young bride of the Rebel, trembling with fears for his safety, no doubt, but exulting in his popularity, and writing home to tell about it.
We have a series of characteristic pictures in the dusky "Queen of Pamunkey" upbraiding the Virginians for the death of her consort, the "mighty Totapotamoy"; the house-wives running out of their homes to see the victorious Rebel pass and heap him with blessings and gifts of food; the white-aproned ladies guarding the Rebel fort from the guns of their own husbands,
and, at the end of all, the wife of Major Cheesman upon her knees before the Governor, praying to be hanged in her husband's place. Madam Sarah Drummond seems to have been as ardent an admirer of Bacon as her husband. When others were hesitating for fear of what his Majesty's "red-coats" might do, she picked up a stick and broke it in two, saying, "I fear the power of England no more than a broken straw."
The only child left by Nathaniel Bacon was a daughter, Mary, born a short time before or after his death, and through her many can claim descent from the Rebel, though none of them bear his name. She grew, in due time, to womanhood, and married, in England, Hugh Chamberlain, a famous doctor of medicine and physician to Queen Anne, and became the mother of three daughters. The eldest of these, Mary, died a spinster, the second, Anna Maria, became the wife of the Right Honorable Edward Hopkins, who was a Member of Parliament for Coventry in the time of
William III and Anne, and Secretary of State for Ireland. The third daughter, Charlotte, married Richard Luther, Esq., of Essex, England.
Young Madam Bacon, so early and tragically widowed, was married twice afterward—first becoming Madam Jarvis and later Madam Mole. Devoid of romance as this record sounds, her first love affair and marriage had not been without a strong flavor of that captivating element. The young woman's father, Sir Edward Duke, for reasons unknown, opposed the match with "Nat" Bacon and provided in his will that his bequest to her of £2,000 should be forfeited if she should persist in marrying "one Bacon." That Mistress Elizabeth gave up her fortune for him, is but another proof of the Rebel's charm.
Later, as Madam Jarvis, she and her husband brought suit for a share in her father's estate, but the Lord Chancellor decided against her, and gave as his opinion that her father had been right—"such an example of presumptuous disobedience highly meriting such punishment; she being
only prohibited to marry with one man by name, and nothing in the whole fair garden of Eden would serve her but this forbidden fruit."
Had Nathaniel Bacon's life been spared, who can say what its possibilities might or might not have been? His brief career was that of a meteor—springing in the twinkling of an eye into a dazzling being, dashing headlong upon its brilliant way, then going out in mystery, leaving only the memory of an existence that was all fire and motion. If he had lived a hundred years later the number of heroes of the American Revolution would doubtless have been increased by one—and his name would have been at the top of the list, or near it.
For about two hundred years after the episode of Bacon's Rebellion, in the history of Virginia, there was no light by which to view it other than such as was afforded by a few meagre accounts of persons opposed to it. It is only by the most painstaking and judicious sifting of these contemporary and sometimes vexingly conflicting statements,
diligent study of the period, and research into official colonial records, of late years unearthed, that the truth of the matter can be arrived at.
Unveiled by such investigation, the character of Bacon seems to have been (while of course he had his faults like other mortals) self-sacrificing to a heroic degree, sincere, unmercenary, and high-minded. If otherwise, it nowhere is revealed, even by the chronicles of his enemies, who while they frown upon his course cannot hide their admiration of the man. Such of his followers as lived to tell the story of the struggle from their own point of view doubtless dared not commit it to paper. If his intrepid and accomplished friends, Drummond and Lawrence, had lived, they might have left some testimony which would have prevented the world from misjudging him as it did through so many generations, though, after all, no musty document could speak so clearly in his behalf as does the fact that they like so many others, were ready to give their lives for him. A fire-brand! Perhaps so; for some
sores caustic is a necessary remedy. Profane? That he undoubtedly was, but plain speech was a part of the time he lived in, and a people settled in a wilderness and driven to desperation by hard times and the constant fear of violent death would hardly have chosen for their leader in a movement to redress their wrongs a man of mincing manners or methods. The only memorial of him left by a friendly hand, now remaining, is a bit of rhyme entitled, "Bacon's Epitaph made by his man," which truly prophesied,
"None shall dare his obsequies to sing
In deserv'd measures, until time shall bring
Truth crown'd with freedom, and from danger free
To sound his praise to all posterity."
APPENDIX.
Original Sources of Information for "The Story of Bacon's Rebellion."
Most of the official records and other contemporary manuscript documents—including private letters—which supply material for a history of Bacon's Rebellion have been printed and copies of them may be found in collections of Virginiana owned by historical societies and libraries.
No one of these documents, however, sheds more than an imperfect side-light upon this interesting subject. To understand the man Bacon, and the merits of the rebellion led by him, familiarity with all contemporary evidences, and a painstaking sifting of them, is necessary.
From the aforesaid evidences the author of this modest work has made a sincere attempt to draw the real facts, bit by bit, and to patch them together into a true story.
The items of the list which here follows
have not been arranged in chronological order—indeed, a number of the most important papers bear no date. The collections where the original manuscripts may be or once could have been found are indicated by italics. In some instances it has been impossible to locate the original.
The British Public Record Office is referred to as P. R. O. and Colonial Papers and Colonial Entry Books mentioned are classes of records in that great depository.
The list does not include the abstracts in the English Calendar of State Papers, and the acts in Hening's Statutes at Large of Virginia. All the papers referred to are full copies.
THE LIST.
The Beginning, Progress and Conclusion of Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia in the year 1675 and 1676. Known as "T. M's" account—printed in the Richmond (Va.) Enquirer, Sept., 1804, from the original, formerly in the Harleian Collection, subsequently included in Force's Tracts.
An account of our late troubles in Virginia written in 1676 by Mrs. An. Cotton of Q. Creeke. Published from the original manuscript in the Richmond Enquirer, Sept. 1804, and afterward in Force's Tracts.
A Narrative of the Indian and Civil Wars in Virginia in the year 1675 and 1676. A manuscript found among the papers of Captain Nathaniel Burwell of King William County, Virginia, first printed in Vol. 1, 2nd Series, Massachusetts Historical Society Collection.
A List of those that have been Executed for the Late Rebellion in Virginia by Sir William Berkeley, Governor of that Colony. Printed in Force's Tracts from the original manuscript in the British Museum (Harleian Collection, Codex 6845, page 54) copied by Robert Greenhow, Esq., of Virginia.
Strange Newse from Virginia, &c. (Printed) London, 1677.
Nathaniel Bacon's acknowledgement of offences, and request for pardon, June 9, 1676. General Court "Deeds and Wills, 1670-1677." Hening's Statutes at Large of Virginia, II, 543.
A True Narrative of the Rise, Progress and Cessation of the Late Rebellion in
Virginia. * * * By His Majesty's Commissioners. P. R. O. Col. Papers, XLI, 79. Va. Mag. Hist. & Biog., IV., 117-154.
Defence of Colonel Edward Hill. P. R. O. Va. Mag. Hist. & Biog., III, 239-252, 341-349; IV, 1-15.
Charles City County Grievances, May 10, 1677. P. R. O. Va. Mag. Hist. & Biog., III, 132-160.
William Byrd's Relation of Bacon's Rebellion. Century Magazine (Edward Eggleston), Va. Mag. Hist. & Biog., V, 220.
Council and General Court Records. Robinson Notes. Va. Mag., VIII, 411, 412; IX, 47, 306.
Bacon's Rebellion in Surry, County Court proceedings, July 4, 1677. Surry Records. Wm. & Mary Quarterly, 125-126.
Bacon's Rebellion in Westmoreland County, depositions, &c., in regard to, Oct. 21, Nov. 25, 1676, &c. Westmoreland Records. Wm. & Mary Quarterly, II, 43-49.
Extracts from the records of Lower Norfolk County in regard to Capt. William Carver, June 15, 1675, Jan. 15, 1676. Lower Norfolk Records. Wm. & Mary Quarterly, III, 163-164.
Bacon's Rebellion in Isle of Wight
County, entries in county records relating to, May 22, and July 14, 1677. Isle of Wight Records. Wm. & Mary Quarterly, IV, 111-115.
Indian War, Orders of Northumberland County Court in regard to, July 4th and 19th, and Sept. 20, 1676. Northumberland Records. Wm. & Mary Quarterly, VIII, 24-27.
Grievances of Cittenborne Parish, Rappahannock County, March, 1677. P. R. O. Col. Papers, Vol. XXIX, Nos. 62-63, also Col. Entry Book, LXXXI, pp. 300-302. Va. Mag., III, 35-42.
Isle of Wight County Grievances, March, 1677. P. R. O. Col. Papers, Vol. XXIX, Nos. 82-83, and Col. Entry Bk., Vol. LXXXI, pp. 316-319. Va. Mag., II, 390-392.
Gloucester County Grievances, March, 1677. P. R. O. Col. Pap., Vol. XXIX, No. 94, and Col. Entry Bk. No. 81, pp. 325-327. Va. Mag. II, 166-169.
Lower Norfolk County Grievances, March, 1677. P. R. O. Col. Pap., Vol. XXIX, No. 95, and Col. Entry Bk. No. 81, pp. 327-328. Va. Mag., II, 169-170.
Surry County Grievances, March, 1677. P. R. O. Col. Pap., Vol. XXIX, Nos. 69-70, and Col. Entry Bk., Vol. 81, pp. 304-307. Va. Mag., II, 170-173.
Northampton County Grievances, March, 1677. P. R. O. Col. Pap., Vol. XXIX, No. 74, 75, and Col. Entry Bk., Vol. 81, pp. 309-312. Va. Mag. 289-292.
A Description of the fight between the English and the Indians in May, 1676. Egerton MSS., 2395. Wm. & Mary Quarterly, IX, 1-4.
Letter, Philip Ludwell, Va., June 28, 1676, to Sir Joseph Williamson. P. R. O. Col. Pap., Vol. XXXVII, No. 16. Va. Mag. I, 174-186.
Letters, William Sherwood, James City, June 1 and 28, 1676, to Sir Joseph Williamson. P. R. O. Col. Papers, Vol. XXXVII, No. 1 and No. 17. Va. Mag. I, 167-174.
Letter, Virginia, June 29, 1676, from the wife of Nathaniel Bacon to her sister. Egerton MSS., 2325. Va. Mag., V, 219-220. Wm. & Mary Quarterly, IX, 4-5.
Mr. Bacon's Account of the Troubles in Virginia, June 18, 1676. Egerton MSS., 2395. Wm & Mary Quarterly, IX, 6-10.
Charter of Virginia, dated Oct. 10, 1676 (but never granted). Bland MSS., Library of Congress and contemporary copy, Va. Historical Society. Hening II, 532, 533; Burk's Virginia, II, lxii.
Proclamation by Charles II, Westminster, Oct. 10, 1676, granting pardon to the Governor and Assembly and other subjects in Virginia. Pat. Roll, 28 Car. II, No. 11. Hening II, 423-424.
Letter, Governor Berkeley, Nov. 29, 1676, to Major Robert Beverley, Beverley MSS. Hening III, 568.
General Court Proceedings, Sept. 28, 1677 (in regard to the Rebellion). General Court Records. Hening II, 557.
General Court Proceedings, Oct. 26, 1677. General Court Records. Hening II, 557-558.
Bacon's Rebellion, Depositions, Nov. 15, 1677, in regard to Col. Thomas Swann's Conduct in. Surry Records. Wm. & Mary Quarterly, XI, 80-81.
Mrs. Bird's Relation, who lived Nigh Mr. Bacon in Virginia * * * Egerton MSS., 2395. Wm. & Mary Quarterly, IX, 10.
Proposals of Thos. Ludwell and Robert Smith, to the king, for reducing the rebels in Virginia [1676]. P. R. O. Va. Mag. I, 432-435.
Petition of Thomas Bacon (father of Nathaniel) to the King, June (?) 1676. P. R. O. Col. Pap., Vol. XXXVII, No. 15. Va. Mag., I, 430-431.
Proceedings of Court Martial on board ship in York River, Jan. 11, 1676-77. General Court Records. Hening II, 545-546.
Proceedings of Court Martial on board ship in York River, Jan. 12, 1676-77. General Court Records. Hening II, 546.
Proceedings of Court Martial at Green Spring, Jan. 24, 1676-77. General Court Records. Hening II, 547-548.
Proceedings of Court Martial at Bray's House, Jan. 20, 1676-77. General Court Records. Hening II, 546-547.
A True and faithful account in what condition we found your Majesty's Colony of Virginia, of our transactions, &c., signed by the Commissioners Berry and Moryson. P. R. O. Col. Pap., Vol. XXXVII, No. 51. 427. Burk's Virginia II, 253-259.
Proceedings of Court Martial at Green Spring, Jan. 24, 1676-77. General Court Records. Hening II, 547-548.
Proceedings of General Court at Green Spring, March 1, 1676-77. General Court Records. Hening II, 548.
Proceedings of General Court at Green Spring, March 8, 1676-77. General Court Records. Hening II, 549-550.
Proceedings of General Court at Green Spring, March 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 22, 1676-77. General Court Records. Hening II, 550-556.
Nathaniel Bacon's Manifesto Concerning the present troubles in Virginia (n. d.) P. R. O. Col. Pap., Vol. XXXVII, No. 51. Va. Mag. I, 55-58.
The Declaration of the People, By Bacon. Aug. 3, 1676. P. R. O., Vol. XXXVII, No. 41. Va. Mag., I, 59-61. Mass. Hist. Soc. Collections, 4th Series, Vol. IX, 184-186.
Bacon's Appeal to the People of Accomac (n. d.). P. R. O. Col. Entry Bk., Vol. 81, pp. 254-263. Va. Mag., I, 61-63.
Orders of the General Assembly at Session begun Feb. 26, 1676-77. Northumberland Co. MS. Hening II, 401-406.
Additional instructions from the King to Governor Berkeley, Whitehall, Nov. 13, 1676. P. R. O. Col. Entry Bk., Vol. 80, pp. 111-114. (In the English Cal. Col. State Papers, these instructions are dated Oct. 13; in Hening, Nov. 13.) Hening II, 424-426.
Surry County, submission of Bacon's followers in, Feb. 6, 1677. Surry Records. Wm. & Mary Quarterly, XI, 79-80.
Testimony of Governor Berkeley in regard to Robert Beverley's services during the Rebellion, Northampton Co., Nov. 13, 1676. Beverley MS. Hening III, 567.
Letter, Governor Berkeley, Jan. 18, 1676
(7), to Robert Beverley. Beverley MS. Hening III, 569.
Letter, Governor Berkeley, Jan. 21, 1676-77, to Robert Beverley. Beverley MS. Hening III, 569.
The Petition of the County of Gloucester, July, 1676, to Sir William Berkeley, and his answer. Chalmers (Aspinwall) Papers. Mass. Hist. Col., 4th Series, Vol. IX, 181-184.
The Declaration and Remonstrance of Sir William Berkeley, May 29, 1676. Chalmers (Aspinwall) Papers. Mass. Hist. Col., 4th Series, Vol. IX, 178-181.
The Opinion of Council of Virginia Concerning Mr. Bacon's Proceedings, May 29, 1676. Chalmers (Aspinwall) Papers. Mass. Hist. Col., 4th Series, Vol. IX, pp. 177-178.
Virginia's Deploured Condition. Or an Impartial Narrative of the Murders Committed by the Indians there, and the sufferings * * * under the Rebellious outrages of Mr. Nath. Bacon, Jr. * * * to the tenth day of August, 1676. Chalmers (Aspinwall) Papers. Mass. Hist. Col., 4th Series, Vol. IX, 162-176.
A dialogue between the Rebel Bacon and one Goode as it was presented to * * *
Sir William Berkeley, Governor of Virginia. P. R. O. Col. Entry Bk., lxxi. pp. 232-240. Goode's "Our Virginia Cousins."
A Review, Breviarie and Conclusion, being a Summarie account of the late rebellion in Virginia. P. R. O. Col. Entry Bk., Vol. 81, pp. 411-419. Burk's Virginia, II, 250-253.
Letter, Giles Bland, James Town, April 20, 1676, to Charles Berne (England). Burk's Virginia II, 245-249.
Letter, Francis Moryson, London, Nov. 28, 1677, to Thomas Ludwell. Burk's Virginia II, 265-270.
Letter, Charles II, Oct. 22, 1677, to Governor Jeffreys. Burk's Virginia II, 264-265.
Vindications of Sir William Berkeley (1676). Randolph MS., Va. Hist. Soc. Va. Mag. VI, 139-144. Burk's Virginia, II, 259-264.
List of persons who suffered in Bacon's Rebellion, report by the Commissioners, Oct. 15, 1677. P. R. O. Col. Entry Bk., Vol. 81, pp. 353-357. Va. Mag. Hist. & Biog. V, 64-70.
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES
On page 42, the name "Skipton" is used while page 43 has "Skippon". If this is the same person, the name on page 42 is spelled incorrectly. Skippon is listed as the name of the author of an article in "Churchill's Voyages".
Pages 2, 6, 8, 12, and 170 are blank in the original.
The following corrections have been made to the text:
Page 21: Assembly chosen in 1662[original has 1862]
Page 109: GOVERNOR BERKELEY[original has BERKELY] IN ACCOMAC.
Page 120: neck of land, thus cutting[original has cuting] off all communication
Page 133: triumph was marked by dignity[original has diginity]
Page 146: upon her knees pleaded[original has plead] that she
Page 159: grievous and burdensome to the country,"[quotation mark missing in the original]
Page 171: Original Sources of Information for "The Story of Bacon's Rebellion."[quotation mark missing in original]
Page 176: Egerton MSS., 2395. Wm.[period missing in original] & Mary Quarterly, IX, 1-4.
Page 177: Egerton MSS., 2395. Wm. & Mary Quarterly,[comma missing in original] IX, 10.
Page 179: Vol. 81, pp.[period missing in original] 254-263