Part 27 (1/2)
The Governor, even now, showed no inclination to put an end to the trials and executions. No sooner would the courts empty the jails of prisoners than he would fill them up again. The unhappy rebels, finding that the King's pardon gave them little protection, and that Berkeley excepted from it whom he wished, could not know where next the axe would fall.[769] None can say how far Sir William would have carried his revenge had not the a.s.sembly requested him ”to hold his hand from all other Sanguinary punishment”.[770] This brought him to his senses and he consented, though with extreme reluctance, to dismiss his witnesses and juries, and put an end to the executions. And even then ”he found out a new way” to punish his victims, ”ffyning some of their Treasons and Rebellions and condemning others to banishment to England”.[771]
The Governor's extreme severity and the insatiable greed of the loyal party brought the colony to the verge of another rebellion. The people were deeply angered. Had there appeared any person to lead them, ”bould and courageous ... that durst venture his neck”, the commons were ready ”to Emmire themselves as deepe in Rebellion as ever they did in Bacon's time”.[772] For many months it was feared that Lawrence, ”that Stubborn desperate and resolved Rebell”, would emerge from seclusion to put himself at the head of a new swarm of mutineers.[773] Were he to appear at this juncture, not even the presence of the English troops could prevent Bacon's veterans from flocking to his standard. ”Soe sullen and obstinate” were the people that it was feared they would ”abandon their Plantacons, putt off their Servants & dispose of their Stock and away to other parts”. Had England at this juncture become involved in a foreign war, the Virginians would undoubtedly have sought aid from the enemies of the mother country.[774]
Nor could the people expect relief or justice from the General a.s.sembly which met at Green Spring, February the twentieth, 1677.[775] The elections had been held soon after the final collapse of the Rebellion, amid the general terror inspired by the numerous executions, and had resulted in an overwhelming victory for the loyalists. In many counties, staunch friends of the Governor had been put in nomination, and the commons given an opportunity of showing the sincerity of their repentance by electing them to the a.s.sembly. William Sherwood declared that most of the Burgesses were Berkeley's ”owne Creatures & choase by his appointments before the arrivall of the Commissioners”.[776] In several places fraud as well as intimidation seems to have been used to secure the election of loyalists. The commons of Charles City complained that there had been illegal voting in their county and seventy of them signed a pet.i.tion, demanding a new election, which they posted upon the court house door.[777] That the a.s.sembly was in no sense representative of the people seems to have been recognized even in England, for some of the King's ministers declared that it had been ”called when ye Country was yet remaining under great distractions, and uncapable of making their Elections after ye usual manner”.[778]
Certain it is, that the House of Burgesses as well as the Council, was filled with ardent loyalists and friends of the Governor. They pa.s.sed several acts confirming all Berkeley's recent measures, and inflicting further punishment upon the luckless rebels.[779] Some that had escaped the gallows were forced to pay heavy fines, others were banished.[780]
Many were compelled to make humble submission, with ropes around their necks, upon their knees before the Governor or the county magistrates.
Large sums of money were voted to reward the most active of Berkeley's supporters. All that had held command among the rebels, even Ingram and Walkelett, were made forever ”incapable of any office civil or military in Virginia”. To speak ill of the Governor and Council or of the justices of the peace, was declared a high crime, punishable by whipping. If the people, to the number of six, a.s.sembled in arms, they were to be considered mutineers and rebels. And the Burgesses showed great reluctance to reduce their own salaries, which the people considered so excessive. The Governor feared to insist upon it, ”least perhaps he might thereby disoblige and thwart his own ends and interest in the a.s.sembly”, and only the positive commands of the King, delivered to them by the commissioners, could induce them to make any reduction at all.[781]
They pa.s.sed resolutions praising the wisdom, the bravery, the justice and integrity of the Governor, and exonerating him for all blame for the outbreak of the Rebellion.[782] ”The distempered humor predominant in the Common people”, which had occasioned the insurrection, they declared the result of false rumors ”inspired by ill affected persons, provoking an itching desire in them to pry into the secrets of the grand a.s.sembly”.[783] They snubbed the King's commissioners, replying to their request for a.s.sistance in discovering the common grievances that the a.s.sembly alone was the proper body to correct the people's wrongs.[784]
Yet when the commons did come to the Burgesses with their complaints they were repulsed with harsh reproofs and even severe punishment.
Certain grievances from Isle of Wight county were denounced as ”libellous, Scandalous and rebellious” and ”the chiefe persons in the Subscriptions” were to be punished ”to the merits of their Crymes”.[785]
A pet.i.tion from Gloucester county was declared to savor so strongly of the ”old leaven of rebellion” that it must be expunged from the records.
When the people of Nansemond appealed for a more just method of taxation, they were answered briefly, ”It is conceived the pole is the equallest way.”[786]
One is inclined to wonder why the people, thus finding the a.s.sembly but an instrument of oppression in the Governor's hands, did not turn eagerly for support and relief to the King's commissioners. These men had invited them to bring in all their pressures, without restraint or fear of punishment. His Majesty, they announced, was anxious to know what had caused them to rise against his authority. All just complaints would be carefully considered and all grievances redressed.[787] But dread of Sir William's anger held the people back. Their chief grievance was the old Governor himself, but there were few that dared say so, even with the promise of the King's protection. The commissioners wrote Secretary Coventry that until ”the awe of his stay” was removed, they could ”never thoroughly search and penetrate into the bottome of the Businesse”.[788] Berkeley, they said, continually impeded their investigations and prevented the people from testifying. It might be necessary for Colonel Jeffreys to send him home, before the mists he cast before them could be dispelled.[789] When he was gone, a short time would show boldly those things that as yet only cautiously peeped forth.[790]
The violent opposition which the commissioners encountered from the Governor and the loyalists soon forced them to become the leaders of the defeated party. The poor people looked forward with hope to the day when Sir William would leave and Colonel Jeffreys a.s.sume control of the executive. Then, they were sure, the persecutions would end and justice be done them.
The hatred and contempt of the Governor's friends for Colonel Jeffreys and his colleagues is shown by an interesting and unique incident.
Having heard that Sir William was at last preparing to sail for England, they went to Green Spring, on the twenty-second of April, to bid him farewell.[791] This they thought due his dignity and rank, even though their relations with him had been far from cordial.[792] As they left the house, after paying their respects to the Governor and his lady, they found Sir William's coach waiting at the door to convey them to their landing.[793] But before they rode away a strange man came forward, boldly putting aside the ”Postillion that used to Ryde” and got up himself in his place. The Governor, several Councillors, and others saw what occurred, but did not offer to interfere. Lady Berkeley went ”into her Chamber, and peep'd through a broken quarrell of the Gla.s.s, to observe how the Show look'd”.[794] After reaching their boat, the commissioners found to their horror that the strange postilion was none other than the ”Common Hangman that ... put the Halters about the Prisoner's Necks in Court when they were to make their submission”. This seemed to them so gross an insult, not only to the ”Great Seal”, but to their ”persons as Gentlemen”, that they were resolved to make his Majesty himself acquainted with it.[795] ”The whole country rings of ...
the public Odium and disgrace cast upon us,” they said, ”as the Exchange itselfe shortly may.”[796]
It is probable that Lady Berkeley alone was responsible for this incident, which, as the commissioners themselves said, looked ”more like a woman's than a man's malice”.[797] The Governor denied with pa.s.sionate vehemence that he was in any way guilty. ”I have sent the Negro[798] to be Rebuked, Tortur'd or whipt, till he confesse how this dire misfortune happen'd,” he wrote the commissioners, ”but I am soe distracted that I scarce know what I doe.”[799]
Even before Berkeley left the colony Colonel Jeffreys issued a proclamation, formally taking possession of the government.[800] For some time it had been apparent that the Lieutenant-Governor's long delay in entering upon his duties was greatly weakening him in the estimation of the people. Since he had been forced to sit idly by for several months while Sir William carried to completion matters of the utmost importance, and had not dared to take his office so long as it pleased the old man to linger in the colony, many thought, quite naturally, that he could not have been entrusted with full authority to act as Governor.
And this opinion had been industriously furthered by the loyal party.
The departure of Sir William, they declared, did not mean a permanent change of administration. Jeffreys was to act only as his deputy during his absence and would retire upon his return.[801] Feeling that these views, if universally accepted, would undermine his influence and authority, Jeffreys entered a vigorous denial in his proclamation. He had been appointed, he declared, to exercise the power of Governor, as fully as Berkeley or any of his predecessors had done. No man should dare to belittle his office or authority. Berkeley was going home at his own request because his great age and infirmities rendered him unfit to sustain further the burdens of his position. The new executive had refrained from a.s.suming his duties earlier, ”because an a.s.sembly being ... ready to convene, the issueing forth a new Summons ... must needs have greatly r.e.t.a.r.ded the publique Weale”.[802] Nor did he scruple to claim the full t.i.tle of ”Governour and Captain Generall of Virginia”.
This proclamation aroused Berkeley's deepest ire. ”Your ejecting me,” he wrote Jeffreys, ”from having any share in the Government whilst yet I am in the Countrey ... I beleeve can neither be justified by your Comision nor mine.” ”You say that his Majesty out of the knowledge of my inability to govern did surrogate so able a man as Coll: Jeffreys to supply my defects. I wish from my heart Coll: Jeffreys were as well known to the King and Counsel as Sir William Berkeley is, for then the difference would be quickly decided.” The letter was addressed to the ”Right honorable Coll: Herbert Jeffreys, his Majesty's Lieutenant Governor of Virginia”, and was signed ”William Berkeley, Governor of Virginia till his most Sacred Majesty shall please to determine otherwise”.[803]
In the meanwhile the letters of the commissioners, reporting Berkeley's disobedience to the King's commands, had arrived in England. Charles was angered, not only at his delay in surrendering the government, but also at his presumption in disregarding the royal proclamation of pardon.
”You may well think,” he wrote Berkeley, ”we are not a little surprised to understand that you make difficulty to yield obedience to our commands, being so clear and plain that we thought no man could have raised any dispute about them. Therefore ... we do ... command you forthwith ... without further delay or excuse (to) repair unto our Presence as We formerly required you.”[804]
Secretary Coventry wrote even more severely. We understand, he said, that to the King's clear and positive orders for you to resign the government to Colonel Jeffreys, ”upon certain pretences which are no wayes understood here, you have delayed at least if not refused obedience.... His Majesty ... seemeth not a little surprised as well as troubled to find a person that had for so many years served his Royal Father and himself through ye worst of times with so unshaken a loyalty, and so absolute obedience and resignation, should now at one time fall into two such great errors as to affront his Proclamation by putting out one of his owne at ye same time with his, and in that to exempt several persons from pardon, which were by the King's owne Proclamation made capable of Pardon; then after positive orders given for your immediate return ... you yet stay there ... and continually dispute with his Majesty's commissioners. I will a.s.sure you, Sir, his Majesty is very sensible of these miscarriages, and hath very little hopes that ye people of Virginia shall be brought to a right sense of their duty to obey their Governours when the Governours themselves will not obey the King. I pray you, Sir, ... take not councell from your owne nor any other body's pa.s.sion or resentment, to take upon you to judge either conveniency or not conveniency of the King's orders, but obey them, and come over; and whatever you have to say ... you will be heard at large.”[805]
Even before these letters were written Sir William had left the colony.
He had embarked for England, May the fifth, in Captain Larrimore's st.u.r.dy s.h.i.+p which had stood him in such good stead in the hour of need.[806] But the old man, worn out by his violent pa.s.sions and unusual exertions, was physically unfit for the long voyage across the Atlantic.
He became very ill on s.h.i.+pboard, and reached England a dying man. ”He came here alive,” wrote Secretary Coventry, ”but so unlike to live that it had been very inhumane to have troubled him with any interrogacons.”[807] The news of the King's displeasure at his conduct added much to his suffering. He pleaded for an opportunity ”to clear his Innocency” even though the ”tedious pa.s.sage & griefe of mind” had reduced him ”to extreame weaknesse”.[808] That Charles did not refuse him this privilege is attested by a letter written to Berkeley by Secretary Coventry. ”I am commanded by his Majesty,” he said, ”to let you know that his Majesty would speake with you as soone as you can, because there are some s.h.i.+ps now going to Virginia, and his Majesty would see what further Instructions may be necessary to be sent by them.”[809] But Berkeley could not attend the King, either to give information or to plead his own cause. His condition rapidly became critical, and a few days later he died.[810]
Hardly had Sir William breathed his last than Thomas Lord Culpeper ”kissed the King's hand as Governour”.[811] This n.o.bleman had received a commission, July 8, 1675, which was to take effect immediately upon the death, surrender or forfeiture of the office by Berkeley.[812] It had never been Charles' intention that Colonel Jeffreys should remain permanently at the head of the government of Virginia, and he now notified him to prepare to surrender his office to the new Governor.[813] The King, who felt that the unsettled condition of Virginia required Culpeper's immediate presence, ordered him to depart ”with all speed”, and told the colonists they might expect him by Christmas ”without fayle”.[814] But this pampered lord, accustomed to the luxury of the court, had no desire to be exiled in the wilderness of the New World. By various excuses he succeeded in postponing his departure for over two years, and it was not until the spring of 1680 that he landed in Virginia.[815] Thus, for a while, Colonel Jeffreys was left as the chief executive of the colony.
In the meanwhile the commissioners, freed from the baleful presence of the old Governor, were continuing their investigation into the causes of the Rebellion. Berkeley had advised them, when they first announced their mission, to carry out their work through the county courts.[816]
But they had refused to accept this plan. The justices were almost all henchmen of Sir William, many were hated by the people and some were the objects of their chief accusations. Had the investigation been intrusted to their hands, they would most certainly have suppressed the princ.i.p.al complaints.[817] The commissioners, therefore, appointed especial officers in the counties to hear the people's grievances, draw them up in writing and bring them in for presentation to the King.[818] Even then the loyal party attempted, by intimidation, to prevent the commons from explaining without reserve what had caused them to take up arms against the government. Sir William, they were careful to report, would most certainly return, and any that dared charge him or his friends with corruption might expect the severest punishment.[819] But the announcement by the commissioners that his Majesty himself had promised his protection to all informants relieved the fears of the people and many came forward with the story of their wrongs.[820] These seem to have been faithfully drawn up by the officers and in time presented to the King.
The loyal party complained loudly that the commissioners used in this matter none but the enemies of the Governor.[821] Lord John Berkeley declared that they had sought information from such only as were known ”to be notorious actors in the rebellion”.[822] But the commissioners were undoubtedly right in insisting that all grievances should come from those that had been aggrieved. They themselves, they declared, were not responsible for the truth of the charges; their function was only to receive and report them. The King had sent them to Virginia to make the royal ear accessible to the humblest citizen. This could be done only by brus.h.i.+ng aside the usual channels of information and going directly to the commons themselves. That some of the accusations were exaggerated or even entirely false seems not improbable; many were undoubtedly true.
Posterity must accept them, not as the relation of established truth, but as the charges of a defeated and exasperated party.
In their work of investigation the commissioners found that they had need of the records of the House of Burgesses. In April, 1677, after the adjournment of the session at Green Spring, they came to Major Robert Beverley, the clerk of the a.s.sembly, and demanded ”all the Originall Journals, Orders, Acts”, etc., then in his custody.[823] Beverley required them to show their authority, and this they did, by giving him a sight of that part of their commission which concerned his delivery of the records.[824] He then offered to allow them to examine any of the papers necessary to the investigation, but he refused absolutely to relinquish their custody.[825] The commissioners, who distrusted Beverley and perhaps feared that he might conceal the records, ”took them from him by violence”.[826]