The House of Commons, however, having succeeded in the establishment of its power over England, was not disposed to permit its authority to be questioned in Virginia. An ordinance was passed, declaring that, as the colonies were settled at the cost and by the people of England, "they are and ought to be subordinate to, and dependent on, that nation; and subject to such law and regulations as are or shall be made by parliament. That in Virginia and other places, the powers of government had been usurped by persons who had set themselves up in opposition to the commonwealth, who were therefore denounced as rebels and traitors; and all foreign vessels were forbidden to enter the ports of any of the English settlements in America." As the men who then governed were not in the habit of making empty declarations, the council of state was empowered to send a fleet to enforce obedience to parliament.[40]
Sir George Ayscue was accordingly detached with a powerful squadron, and was instructed to endeavour, by gentle means, to bring the colonists to obedience; but, if these failed, to use force, and to give freedom to such servants and slaves of those who should resist, as would serve in the troops under his command. 1651After reducing Barbadoes, and the other islands to submission, the squadron entered the Chesapeak. Berkeley, having hired a few Dutch ships which were then trading to Virginia, made a gallant resistance; but, unable long to maintain so unequal a contest, he yielded to superior force, having first stipulated for a general amnesty. He then withdrew to a retired situation where, beloved and respected by the people, he resided as a private man, until a counter revolution called him, once more, to preside over the colony.[41]
After the revocation of the charter, it became more easy to obtain large grants of land. This circumstance, notwithstanding the tyranny of the provincial government, promoted emigration, and considerably increased the population of the colony. At the commencement of the civil war, Virginia was supposed to contain about twenty thousand souls.[42]
While the ordinance of 1650, forbidding all trade between the colonies and foreign nations, was dispensed with in favour of republican New England, it was rigorously enforced against the loyal colony of Virginia. These restrictions were the more burdensome, because England did not then furnish a sufficient market for all the produce, nor a supply for all the wants of the colonies. This severity was not calculated to detach the affections of the people from the royal family. Their discontents were cherished, too, by the great number of cavaliers who had fled to Virginia after the total defeat of their party in England. Taking advantage of an interregnum occasioned by the sudden death of governor Matthews, the people resolved to throw off their forced allegiance to the commonwealth, and called on Sir William Berkeley to resume the government. He required only their solemn promise to venture their lives and fortunes with him in support of their King. Charles II. proclaimed in Virginia.This being readily given, Charles II. was proclaimed in Virginia, before intelligence had been received of the death of Cromwell. His restoration was soon afterwards effected in England; and this rash measure not only escaped chastisement, but became a meritorious service of which Virginia long boasted, and which was not entirely forgotten by the Prince.[43]
At the restoration, the colony contained about thirty thousand persons.
One of the causes which, during the government of Harvey, had disquieted Virginia, was the diminution of territory occasioned by grants of great tracts of country lying within the limits of the colony. The most remarkable of these was the grant of Maryland to Lord Baltimore.
Maryland.
In June 1632, Charles I. granted to that nobleman for ever, "that region bounded by a line drawn from Watkin's Point on Chesapeak bay, to the ocean on the east; thence, to that part of the estuary of Delaware on the north, which lieth under the 40th degree, where New England is terminated; thence, in a right line, by the degree aforesaid, to the meridian of the fountain of the Potowmac; thence, following its course, by the farther bank to its confluence." The territory described in this grant was denominated Maryland, and was separated entirely from Virginia. The proprietor was empowered, with the assent of the freemen, or their delegates, whom he was required to assemble for that purpose, to make all laws for the government of the new colony, not inconsistent with the laws of England. Privileges, in other respects analogous to those given to the other colonies, were comprised in this charter; and it is remarkable that it contains no clause obliging the proprietary to submit the laws which might be enacted to the King, for his approbation or dissent; nor any reservation of the right of the crown to interfere in the government of the province.[44]
This is the first example of the dismemberment of a colony, and the creation of another within its original limits, by the mere act of the crown.
The first migration into the new colony consisted of about two hundred gentlemen with their adherents, chiefly Roman Catholics, who sailed from England under Calvert, the brother of the proprietor, in November, 1633and, early in the following year, landed in Maryland, near the mouth of the Potowmac. Their first effort was to conciliate the good will of the natives, whose town they purchased, and called St. Mary's. This measure was as wise as it was just. By obtaining the peaceable possession of land already prepared for cultivation, the Marylanders were enabled to raise their food immediately; and this circumstance, together with their neighbourhood to Virginia, where the necessaries of life were then raised in abundance, secured them from famine and its concomitant diseases;—afflictions which had swept away such numbers of the first settlers of North America.