15. Legal proceedings were now instituted against the company, and the judges decided that the patent was null and void. The charter was canceled by the king, and in June of 1624 the London Company ceased to exist. But its work had been well done. A torch of liberty had been lighted on the banks of the James, which all the tyranny of after times could not extinguish.
CHAPTER XI.
Virginia.—The Royal Government.
Royal Governors.
A royal government was now established in Virginia consisting of a governor and twelve councilors. The General Assembly of the colony was left undisturbed, and the rights of the colonists remained as before. Governor Wyatt was continued in office. Charles I., the successor of King James, paid but little attention to the affairs of his American colony until the commerce in tobacco attracted his notice, and he then made an unsuccessful attempt to gain a monopoly of the trade.
2. In 1626 Governor Wyatt retired from office, and Yeardley, the old friend of the colonists, was reappointed. The young State was never more prosperous than under this administration, which was ended with the governor's death in 1627. During the preceding summer a thousand new immigrants had come to swell the population of the province.
3. The council of Virginia had the right, in case of an emergency, to elect a governor. In this manner Francis West was chosen by the councilors; but as soon as the death of Yeardley was known in England, King Charles commissioned John Harvey to assume the government. He arrived in the autumn of 1629, and became a most unpopular chief magistrate. He began his administration by taking the part of certain land speculators against the people. The assembly of 1635 passed a resolution that Sir John Harvey be thrust out of office, and Captain West be appointed in his place "until the king's pleasure may be known in this matter." But King Charles treated the whole affair with contempt, and Harvey continued in power until the year 1639, when he was superseded by Wyatt, who ruled until the spring of 1642.
