Sir William Berkley left Virginia for England in June, 1644, and returned in June, 1645, his place being filled during his absence by Richard Kemp.
The spirit of freedom long gaining ground, like a smothered fire, began now to flame up and burst forth in England. Charles the First, incomparably superior to his father in manners, habits, and tastes—a model of kingly grace and dignity, yet was a more determined and dangerous enemy to the rights of the people. On the 19th of March, 1642, having escaped from insurgent London, he reached the ancient capital, York, and on the twenty-fifth day of August raised his standard, under inauspicious omens, at Nottingham. The royal forces under Prince Rupert suffered a disastrous defeat at Marston Moor, July 2d, 1644; and while Sir William Berkley was crossing the Atlantic, the king was overthrown at Naseby, on the 4th of June, 1645. In this eventful year, and so disastrous to the king, of whom the Berkleys were such staunch supporters, Gloucester, the chief city of the county where they resided, and which had been ravaged and plundered by Rupert, was now in the hands of the parliamentary forces, and Cromwell had been early in the year convoying ammunition thither.[204:A] A sad time for the visit of the loyal Berkley!
During the troubles in England the correspondence of the colony was interrupted, supplies reduced, trade obstructed; and the planters looked forward with solicitude to the issue of such alarming events.
In the mean while Lord Baltimore, taking advantage of the weakness of the crown, had shown some contempt for its authority, and had drawn upon himself the threat of a quo warranto.
Early in 1645, Clayborne, profiting by the distractions of the mother country, and animated by an indomitable, or, as his enemies alleged, a turbulent spirit, and by a sense of wrongs long unavenged, at the head of a band of insurgents, expelled Leonard Calvert, deputy governor, from Maryland, and seized the reins of government. In the month of August, 1646, Calvert, who had taken refuge in Virginia, regained command of Maryland. Nevertheless, Clayborne and his confederates, with but few exceptions, emerged in impunity from this singular contest.
Opechancanough was succeeded by Necotowance, styled "King of the Indians," and in October, 1646, a treaty was effected with him, by which he agreed to hold his authority from the King of England, (who was now bereft of his own,) while the assembly engaged to protect him from his enemies; in acknowledgment whereof, he was to deliver to the governor a yearly tribute of twenty beaver skins at the departure of the wild-geese.[205:A] By this treaty it was further agreed, that the Indians were to occupy the country on the north side of York River, and to cede to the English all the country between the York and the James, from the falls to Kiquotan; death for an Indian to be found within this territory, unless sent in as a messenger; messengers to be admitted into the colony by means of badges of striped cloth; and felony for a white man to be found on the Indian hunting-ground, which was to extend from the head of Yapin, the Blackwater, to the old Mannakin town, on the James River; badges to be received at Fort Royal and Fort Henry, alias Appomattox. Fort Henry had been established not long before this, at the falls of the Appomattox, now site of Petersburg; Fort Charles at the falls of the James; Fort James on the Chickahominy. This one was under command of Lieutenant Thomas Rolfe, son of Pocahontas.[206:A] Fort Royal was on the Pamunkey.
The colony bore a natural resemblance to the mother country, no little modified by new circumstances, and followed her, yet not with equal step. The government and the people were apparently, in the main, loyal, but there was a growing Puritan party, and William Clayborne appears to have been at the head of it. In 1647 certain ministers, refusing to read the Common Prayer on the Sabbath, were declared not entitled to tythes. Two years before, mercenary attorneys had been, by law, expelled from the courts, and now attorneys were prohibited from receiving any compensation for their services, and the courts were directed not to allow any professional attorneys to appear in civil causes. In case there appeared danger of a party suffering in his suit by reason of his weakness, the court was directed to appoint some suitable person in his behalf from the people. It has been suggested in modern times, as an improvement in the administration of justice, to allow the parties to make their own statements.
There were in Virginia, in 1648, about fifteen thousand English, and of negroes that had been imported, three hundred good servants. Of cows, oxen, bulls, and calves, "twenty thousand, large and good;" and the colonists made plenty of butter and good cheese. The number of horses and mares, of good breed, was two hundred; of asses fifty. The sheep numbered three thousand, producing good wool; there were five thousand goats. Hogs, tame and wild, innumerable, and the bacon excellent; poultry equally abundant. Wheat was successfully cultivated. The abundant crop of barley supplied malt, and there were public brew-houses, and most of the planters brewed a good and strong beer for themselves. Hops were found to thrive well. The price-current of beef was two pence halfpenny (about five cents) a pound, pork six cents. Cattle bore about the same price as in England; most of the vessels arriving laid in their stores here. Thirty different sorts of river and sea fish were caught. Thirty species of birds and fowls had been observed, and twenty kinds of quadrupeds; deer abundant. The varieties of fruit were estimated at fifteen, and they were comparable to those of Italy. Twenty-five different kinds of trees were noticed, suitable for building ships, houses, etc. The vegetables were potatoes, asparagus, carrots, parsnips, onions, artichokes, peas, beans, and turnips, with a variety of garden herbs and medicinal flowers. Virginia (or Indian) corn yielded five hundred fold; it was planted like garden-peas; it made good bread and furmity, and malt for beer, and was found to keep for seven years. It was planted in April or May, and ripened in five months. Bees, wild and domestic, supplied plenty of honey and wax. Indigo was made from the leaves of a small tree, and great hopes were entertained that Virginia would in time come to supply all Christendom with the commodity which was then procured "from the Mogul's country." The Virginia tobacco was in high esteem, yet the crop raised was so large that the price was only about three pence, or six cents, a pound. A man could plant enough to make two thousand pounds, and also sufficient corn and vegetables for his own support. The culture of hemp and flax had been commenced. Good iron-ore was found, and there were sanguine anticipations of the profits to be derived from that source. There were wind-mills and water-mills, horse-mills and hand-mills: a saw-mill was greatly needed, it being considered equivalent to the labor of twenty men. There came yearly to trade above thirty vessels, navigated by seven or eight hundred men. They brought linens, woollens, stockings, shoes, etc. They cleared in March, with return cargoes of tobacco, staves, and lumber. Many of the masters and chief mariners of these vessels had plantations, houses, and servants, in the colony. Pinnaces, boats, and barges were numerous, the most of the plantations being situated on the banks of the rivers. Pitch and tar were made. Mulberry-trees abounded, and it was confidently believed that silk could be raised in Virginia as well as in France. Hopeful anticipations of making wine from the native grape were entertained, but have never been realized. Virginia was now considered healthy; the colonists being so amply provided with the necessaries and comforts of life, the number of deaths was believed to be less, proportionally, than in England. The voyage from England to Virginia occupied about six weeks; the outward-bound voyage averaging about twenty-five days.
At this time a thousand colonists were seated upon the Accomac shore, near Cape Charles, where Captain Yeardley was chief commander. The settlement was then called Northampton; the name of Accomac having been changed in 1643 to Northampton, but the original name was afterwards restored. Lime was found abundant in Virginia; bricks were made, and already some houses built of them. Mechanics found profitable employment, such as turners, potters, coopers, sawyers, carpenters, tilemakers, boatwrights, tailors, shoemakers, tanners, fishermen, and the like. There were at this time twelve counties. The number of churches was twenty, each provided with a minister, and the doctrine and orders after the Church of England. The ministers' livings were worth one hundred pounds, or five hundred dollars, per annum, paid in tobacco and corn. The colonists all lived in peace and love, happily exempt by distance from the horrors of civil war that convulsed the mother country. The Virginia planters were intending to make further discoveries to the south and west. A colony of Swedes had made a settlement on the banks of the Delaware River, within the limits of Virginia, and were carrying on a profitable traffic in furs. The Dutch had also planted a colony on the Hudson River, within the Virginia territory, and their trade in furs amounted to ten thousand pounds per annum. Cape Cod was then looked upon as the point of demarcation between Virginia and New England. Cattle, corn, and other commodities were shipped from Virginia to New England. Sir William Berkley had made an experiment in the cultivation of rice, and found that it produced thirty fold, the soil and climate being well adapted to it, as the negroes affirmed, who, in Africa, had subsisted mostly on that grain. There were now many thousands of acres of cleared land in Virginia, and about one hundred and fifty ploughs at work. Captain Brocas of the council, a great traveller, had planted a vineyard, and made excellent wine.
At Christmas, 1647, there were in the James River ten vessels from London, two from Bristol, twelve from Holland, and seven from New England. Mr. Richard Bennet expressed twenty butts of excellent cider from apples of his own orchard. They began now to engraft on the crab-apple tree, which was found indigenous. Another planter had for several years made, from pears of his own raising, forty or fifty butts of perry. The governor, Sir William Berkley, in his new orchard, had fifteen hundred fruit trees, besides his apricots, peaches, mellicotons, quinces, wardens, and the like.
