In 1742 an act was passed to prevent lawyers from exacting or receiving exorbitant fees. In this year the town of Richmond was established by law, and the County of Louisa formed from a part of Hanover.
Governor Spotswood had effected a treaty (1722) with the Six Nations, by which they stipulated never to appear to the east of the Blue Ridge, nor south of the Potomac. As the Anglo-Saxon race gradually extended itself, like a vapor, beyond the western base of that range, collisions with the native tribes began to ensue. A treaty was concluded (July, 1744,) at Lancaster, in Pennsylvania, by which the Six Nations unwillingly relinquished, for four hundred pounds paid, and a further sum promised, the country lying westward of the frontier of Virginia to the River Ohio. The tomahawk was again buried, and the wampum belts of peace again delivered, to brighten the silver chain of friendship. The Virginia commissioners were men of high character, but they negotiated with the red men according to the custom of that day, and regaled them with punch, wine, and bumbo—that is, rum and water. The consideration apparently so inadequate, was yet perhaps equivalent to the value of their title and the fidelity of their pledge. The expense of this treaty was paid out of the royal quit-rents.
The Rev. Anthony Gavin, a zealous minister of St. James's Parish, Goochland, (1738,) complains to the Bishop of London of difficulties with Quakers, who were countenanced by men in high station, and of the disregard of Episcopal control in Virginia, the cognizance of spiritual affairs, by the laws of the colony, being in the hands of the governor and council, and that the greatest part of the ministers "are taken up in farming, and buying slaves." The ministers were compelled either to hire or buy slaves to cultivate their glebes, on which they depended for a livelihood.[434:A] The Rev. Mr. Gavin, besides his regular duties, appears to have performed a sort of missionary service, making distant journeys as far as to the country near the Blue Ridge.
Robert Dinwiddie having been appointed (1741) surveyor-general of the customs, was named, as his predecessors had been, a member of the several councils of the colonies. Gooch readily complied with the royal order, but the council, prompted both by jealousy of Dinwiddie's functions and by an aristocratic exclusiveness, refused to allow him to act with them, and sent the king a remonstrance against it. The board of trade decided the case in Dinwiddie's favor. We may see in this affair the germ of that mutual jealousy which afterwards grew up between him and some of the leading characters in Virginia.
In the year 1743 died Edward Barradall, Esq., an eminent lawyer; he held the office of attorney-general, judge of the admiralty court, and other high posts. He married Sarah, daughter of the Honorable William Fitzhugh. He was buried in the churchyard in Williamsburg, where a Latin epitaph records his worth.
In the same year died the Rev. James Blair, Commissary to the Bishop of London. Finding his ministry in Scotland obstructed by popular prejudice, he retired to London, whence he was sent over to Virginia as a missionary, (1685.) He was minister for Henrico Parish nine years; in 1689 was appointed commissary. From Henrico he removed to Jamestown, in order to be near the college, which he was raising up. He became (1710) the minister of Bruton Parish, and resided at Williamsburg. He was a minister in Virginia for about fifty-eight years, commissary for fifty-four years, and president of the college fifty years. His sermons, one hundred and seventeen in number, expository of the Sermon on the Mount, were published in England, (1722,) and passed through two editions. They are highly commended by Dr. Waterland and Dr. Doddridge. Dr. Blair appears to have been a plain-spoken preacher, who had the courage to speak the truth to an aristocratic congregation. Alluding in one of these sermons to the custom of swearing, he says: "I know of no vice that brings more scandal to our Church of England. The church may be in danger from many enemies, but perhaps she is not so much in danger from any as from the great number of profane persons that pretend to be of her, enough to make all serious people afraid of our society, and to bring down the judgments of God upon us: 'by reason of swearing the land mourneth.' But be not deceived: our church has no principles that lead to swearing more than the Dissenters; but whatever church is uppermost, there are always a great many who, having no religion at all, crowd into it, and bring it into disgrace and disreputation." Commissary Blair left his library and five hundred pounds to the college of which he was the founder, and ten thousand pounds to his nephew, John Blair, and his children.[435:A] Commissary Blair was alike eminent for energy, learning, talents, piety, and a catholic spirit; he was a sincere lover of Virginia and her benefactor; his name is identified with her history, and his memory deserves to be held in enduring respect and veneration.
In November, 1743, William Fairfax, son of Lord Fairfax, proprietor of the Northern Neck, was appointed one of the council in the place of Dr. Blair. The Rev. William Dawson succeeded him as president of the College of William and Mary, and as commissary.
About this time also died Colonel William Byrd, of Westover, second of the name, one of the council. A vast fortune enabled him to live in a style of hospitable splendor before unknown in Virginia. His extensive learning was improved by a keen observation, and refined by an acquaintance and correspondence with the wits and noblemen of his day in England. His writings display a thorough knowledge of the natural and civil history of the colony, and abound in photographic sketches of the manners of his age. His diffuse style is relieved by frequent ebullitions of humor, which, according to the spirit of his times, is often coarse and indelicate. His sarcasm is sometimes unjust, and his ridicule frequently misplaced, yet his writings are among the most valuable that have descended from his era, and to him is due the honor of having contributed more perhaps to the preservation of the historical materials of Virginia than any other of her sons, by the purchase of the Records of the Virginia Company. He lies buried in the garden at Westover, where a marble monument bears the following inscription: "Here lieth the Honorable William Byrd, Esq. Being born to one of the amplest fortunes in this country, he was sent early to England for his education, where, under the care and direction of Sir Robert Southwell, and ever favored with his particular instructions, he made a happy proficiency in polite and various learning. By the means of the same noble friend he was introduced to the acquaintance of many of the first persons of that age for knowledge, wit, virtue, birth, or high station, and particularly contracted a most intimate and bosom friendship with the learned and illustrious Charles Boyle, Earl of Orrery. He was called to the bar in the Middle Temple; studied for some time in the Low Countries; visited the court of France, and was chosen Fellow of the Royal Society. Thus eminently fitted for the service and ornament of his country, he was made receiver-general of his majesty's revenues here; was thrice appointed public agent to the court and ministry of England; and being thirty-seven years a member, at last became president of the council of this colony. To all this were added a great elegancy of taste and life, the well-bred gentleman and polite companion, the splendid economist, and prudent father of a family, withal the constant enemy of all exorbitant power, and hearty friend to the liberties of his country. Nat. Mar. 28, 1674. Mort. Aug. 26, 1744. An. Ætat. 70." His portrait, a fine face, is preserved. Colonel Byrd amassed the finest private library which had then been seen in the New World, a catalogue of which, in quarto, is preserved in the Franklin Library, Philadelphia. Sir Robert Southwell was envoy extraordinary to Portugal in 1665, and to Brussels in 1671; was subsequently clerk of the privy council, and was repeatedly chosen president of the Royal Society. He died in 1702.
France, endeavoring to impose a popish pretender of the house of Stuart upon the people of England, the colonies were advised to put themselves in readiness against the threatened blow. Accordingly in the following year the assembly met, but still adhering to a rigid economy, the burgesses refused to make any appropriation of money for that purpose. About this time Edward Trelawney, governor of Jamaica, was authorized to recruit a regiment in Virginia. In 1745 a rebellion burst forth in Scotland in favor of the Pretender, Charles Edward Stuart, grandson of James the Second. When intelligence of this event reached Virginia, the assembly was again called together, and the college, the clergy, and the assembly, unanimously pledged their private resources and those of the colony to support the house of Hanover. A proclamation was also issued against Romish priests, sent, it was alleged, as emissaries from Maryland, to seduce the people of Virginia from their allegiance. The tidings of the overthrow of the Pretender by the Duke of Cumberland, at Culloden, on the 16th of April, 1746, were joyfully received in the Ancient Dominion, and celebrated by burning the effigies of the unfortunate prince, and by bonfires, processions, and illuminations.
About this time the Rev. William Stith was engaged in composing his "History of Virginia," at Varina, on the James River. It is much to be regretted that this accurate, judicious, and faithful writer did not receive encouragement to complete the work down to his own times.