So the trials and executions continued. Gyles Bland, despite the pleading of influential friends in England, was hastened off to the gallows. When Robert Jones showed the wounds he had received fighting for the King in the Civil War, Moryson pleaded with Lady Berkeley to intercede for him. "I would with more easiness of mind have worn the canvas linen the rebels said they would make me glad of," replied this proud lady.[8] Yet she weakened, and the Governor did pardon him. Others were not so fortunate. Not until the Assembly requested him "to hold his hand from all other sanguinary punishment," after a score or more had paid the extreme penalty, did he put an end to the executions.[9]
Yet the Assembly was overwhelmingly loyalist. If we may believe William Sherwood most of the Burgesses were Berkeley's "own creatures and chose by his appointments before the arrival of the commissioners."[10] In the elections intimidation and even fraud were used freely. Jeffreys wrote that the Assembly "by reason of the unsettled condition of the country was not so legally nor freely elected."[11] In Charles City County a petition was posted on the courthouse door demanding a new election on the grounds that there had been illegal voting.[12]
As was to be expected, this Assembly backed Berkeley in all he had done and was doing. They praised his wisdom, bravery, justice, and integrity. They did their best to block the commissioners in their inquiry into the causes of the rebellion. When the people presented their grievances they were denounced as "libellous, scandalous, and rebellious."[13] Many former rebels were forced to make humble submission on their knees before the Governor and Council, with ropes around their necks.[14] Some were attainted, some were banished. To speak ill of the Governor and Council was made a high crime punishable by whipping.
The people were deeply angered by the brutality of the Governor and his puppet Assembly. Governor Notley, of Maryland, thought that, should a leader appear who was bold enough to risk his neck, "the commons of Virginia would enmire themselves as deep in rebellion as ever they did in Bacon's time."[15] Many a sullen planter eyed his fusil longingly, in the hope that Lawrence might emerge from the forests to head a new mutiny.[16] "The putrid humor of our unruly inhabitants are not so allayed, but that they do frequently vent themselves ... and were they not awed by the overruling hand of his Majesty would soon express themselves by violent acts," wrote Secretary Nicholas Spencer.[17] That the Assembly was not unconcerned at the danger is shown by their re-enacting in much the original form of several of Bacon's reform laws.
Berkeley and his friends treated Jeffreys with contempt. "A pitiful little fellow with a periwig," Philip Ludwell called him.[18] But it took a woman's spite to give him the greatest insult. When the commissioners heard that at last Berkeley was about to leave for England, they called on him at Green Spring. On leaving they found the Governor's coach waiting for them at the door. They did not realize that Lady Berkeley was peeping through "a broken quarrel of glass to observe how the show looked." But they were horrified to learn on reaching their destination that the coachman was the "common hangman." "The whole country rings of ... the public odium and disgrace cast on us, as the Exchange itself shortly may," they wrote.[19]
It was on May 5, 1677, that Berkeley sailed for England on the Rebecca. The passage, though quick, was a terrible one for him. As he paced the deck, he could but reflect that the time was at hand when he must account to his royal master, not only for the failure of his administration, but for his flagrant disobedience. By the time he reached England the "tedious passage and grief of mind" had reduced him to great weakness. But he pleaded for an opportunity to "clear his innocency." If it is true, as was whispered about, that word reached his ears that the King had said that that old fool had hanged more men in that naked country than he for the murder of his father, it must have broken his heart. He died on July 13, 1677, and was interred at Twickenham.
Berkeley's departure did not bring peace to the distracted colony. The loyalist faction had spread the report that Jeffreys was merely Sir William's deputy, that he could not exercise the full powers of Governor, and would retire upon his return. To refute these rumors Jeffreys issued a proclamation a few days before Berkeley left, formally taking over the government. In it he declared that he had as much power as any other Governor, and warned all men against belittling his office. And he put his finger on the very foundation of the Berkelean system when he declared that he would strive to reform, regulate, and redress "all apparent abuses, oppressions, excesses, and defects in the power, practice, and proceedings of all county courts."[20]
But reform was just what the loyalists did not want. They wanted the grievances of the people suppressed, the county courts to be packed with their friends; they wished to continue their illegal seizures. The leader of this group was the colorful and vigorous Lady Berkeley. She held such frequent meetings at her home that the loyalists became known as the Green Spring Faction. Here came Colonel Edward Hill, "a great oppressor, of unparalleled impudence"; Philip Ludwell, Lady Berkeley's future husband; Robert Beverley, who Jeffreys declared had risen from a "mean condition" by toadying to Berkeley; and others.[21]
As they sat in the spacious hall where the Assembly had met after the burning of the statehouse in Jamestown, they denounced Jeffreys as a nincompoop, who was not worth a groat in England, as a liar, as a "worse rebel than Bacon." They would secure compensation for their losses despite all he could do. So they planned their strategy. Lady Berkeley was to strike terror into the people by threatening dire things when Sir William returned. Nor did they relax their efforts when word of Berkeley's death reached the colony. It was known that Lord Culpeper was his successor, so Lady Berkeley gave it out that he was her close friend, and promised great favors upon his arrival. To plead their cause in England they engaged Captain Alexander Culpeper, Lady Berkeley's brother.[22]
After Berkeley's departure Jeffreys had called for the election of a new Assembly to meet October 10, 1677. Unfortunately, at this moment, when he was most needed, he became ill. Early in September a letter from the Privy Council to the Governor and Council had been received, making void Berkeley's proclamation of February 10, which had excepted so many persons from the royal pardon. Had Jeffreys been a well man he would certainly have published this letter immediately and relieved the people from their fear. But the Council urged him to conceal it for the present, and being weak and in bed, he yielded. This daring defiance of the King's orders had an important effect on the election, for the people were still trembling for their lives and property, and so were bullied by the sheriffs into returning loyalist Burgesses. Daniel Parke reported that there had been illegal elections in James City County, Kent, and elsewhere.[23]