"reducing the Country and Government into his own immediate ordering all patents and processes to issue in his own name, reserving to himself a quit-rent of two shillings for every hundred acres of land."
The first act was by proclamation as follows:—
"That whereas, in his royal father's time, the charter of the Virginia Company was by a quo warranto annulled; and whereas his said father was, and he himself also is, of opinion, that the government of that Colony by a company incorporated, consisting of a multitude of persons of various dispositions, amongst whom affairs of the greatest moment are ruled by a majority of votes, was not so proper, for carrying on, prosperously, the affairs of the colony; wherefore, to reduce the government thereof to such a course as might best agree with that form which was held in his royal monarchy; and considering also, that we hold those territories of Virginia and Somer isles, as also that of New England, lately planted, with the limits thereof, to be a part of our royal empire; we ordain that the government of Virginia shall immediately depend on ourself, and not be committed to any company or corporation, to whom it may be proper to trust matters of trade and commerce, but cannot be fit to commit the ordering of state affairs.
"Wherefore our commissioners for those affairs shall proceed as directed, till we establish a council here for that colony; to be subordinate to our council here for that colony. And at our charge we will maintain those public officers and ministers and that strength of men, munition, and fortification, which shall be necessary for the defence of that plantation. And we will also settle and assure the particular rights and interests of every planter and adventurer. Lastly, whereas the tobacco of those plantations (the only present means of their subsisting) cannot be managed for the good of the plantations, unless it be brought into one hand, whereby the foreign tobacco of those plantations may yield a certain and ready price to the owners thereof: to avoid all differences between the planters and adventurers themselves, we resolve to take the same into our own hands, and to give such prices for the same as may give reasonable satisfaction, whereof we will determine at better leisure."
From this time forward the Plantation seemed to prosper, Charles granted lands to all the planters and adventurers who would till them, upon paying the annual sum of two shillings payable to the crown for each hundred acres. direction, appointing the Governor and Council himself, and Before the death of King James, however, the cultivation of tobacco had become so extensive that every other product seemed of but little value in comparison with it, and the price realized from its sale being so much greater than that obtained for "Corne," the latter was neglected and its culture almost entirely abandoned.
Arthur and Carpenter, in their History of Virginia, give a graphic and truthful picture of its cultivation during the reign of King James:—
"The first articles of commerce to the production of which the early settlers almost exclusively devoted themselves, were potash, soap, glass and tar. Distance, however, and a want of the proper facilities to enable them to manufacture cheaply, rendered the cost of these commodities so great, that exports of a similar character from Russia and Sweden were still enabled to maintain their old ascendency in the markets of Europe. After many fruitless and costly experiments in the cultivation of the vine, the growing demand for tobacco enabled the planters to turn their labor into a profitable channel. As the demand increased the profits became correspondingly great, and every other species of labor was abandoned for the cultivation of tobacco.
"The houses were neglected, the palisades suffered to rot down, the fields, gardens and public squares, even the very streets of Jamestown were planted with tobacco. The townspeople, more greedy of gain than mindful of their own security, scattered abroad into the wilderness, where they broke up small pieces of rich ground and made their crop regardless of their proximity to the Indians, in whose good faith so little reliance could be placed."
During the reign of Charles I. many families of respectable connection joined the colony, and from this time forward the colony increased in wealth as well as numbers. King Charles, to use the language of another, had now commenced "as a tobacco merchant and monopolist," and in 1627 issued a proclamation renewing his already strong monopoly more effectually, by appointing certain officers of London
"to seize all foreign tobacco, not of the growth of Virginia or Bermudas, for his benefit, agreeable to a former commission: also to buy up for his use all the tobacco coming from our said plantations, and to sell the same again for his benefit."