Give Me Liberty

ed. No more could he bully them in the Council meetings, no more could he thwart them in the General Court by packing juries, no more could he ignore them in appointing officers, no more could

o control him and keep the

overnors when they first arrived and were unacquainted with men and conditions in the colony, he was dependent upon the Councillors for advice and guidance. Before he could learn the ropes, he died. Since four years elapsed b

families in England. These critics did not stop to consider that it was more to their credit to have won by their own efforts posi

ous. "In every river there are from ten to thirty men who by trade and industry have gotten very competent estates," wrote Colo

hey had the right to certain titles which carried great distinction. The term "esquire" was given to members of the Council, and was invariably used by them in signing legal documents. If a man were not a Councillor, yet was prominent and

I, and, stripping off his coat, drew his sword as if to attack him, he was arrested and clapped into jail. At his trial he excused himself by saying he was a stranger in the country and igno

fact that they served but four or five years limited the return they brought their masters. With the importing of slaves in large numbers in the last two decades of the seventeenth century and the first third of the eighteenth century, the cost of raising tobacco was greatly lowered.

ds. The wealthy man who wished to build a residence pored over James Gibbs' A Book of Architecture, or Abraham Swan's The British Architect. In laying out his garden he c

te history in brick and wood. The lovely gardens, some of which have been restored in recent years, are in the formal style of Le Notre and Rose. The mansions were furnished with tables, chairs, bookcases by the English masters; on the tables were pitchers, goblets, and c

lated to each other by blood or marriage. James Blair and Philip Ludwell were brothers-in-law of Nathaniel Harrison; William Byrd's wife was the niece of Ludwell; Willi

General Courts held of late in Virginia, has abundant reason to know that there is a strong link of relatives on the bench, who by their majority have the determination of all causes," he wrote in 1718. "When one of their kindred is charged with enormous crimes, clerks may

er him roughshod. This became evident when they tried to take the patronage out of his hands. "I do believe the Council have a mind to dispute with me the making of the collectors of the two shillings per hogshead," he wrote the

d Colonel William Wilson. But when nothing of consequence was brought against them, the Governor insisted on continuing them. At the sa

l officers. "I think this instruction very strange," he wrote the Lords of Trade. "To be deprived of those few places of profit ... brings the con

ected new commissioners of peace," he wrote the Lords of Trade, "and not knowing persons yet, I left the nomination

an election was held for a new Assembly, opposing candidates were put up by the pro-Nicholson and anti-Nicholson factions. Although the latter won an overwhelming victory, enough Nicholson men were returned to continue the old feuds and hatreds. G

hould take upon himself to represent to the Queen the grievances of the colony without the consent of the House of Burgesses, it said. No thanks, but rather a check should be given to those that had done so against the late

embly, and all had been witnesses of the shameless way in which Nicholson had handed out jobs. So they passed a bill requiring each county court to nominate three men, all of them justices, from whom the Governor was to select one as sheriff, who w

ronage, leave him at the mercy of the Council and Assembly, and make him a mere figurehead. When the Lords of Trade heard that he had vetoed this bill, they wrote congratulating him. "The restraining Governors from making justices ... is entrenching on prero

ew bill bore the disarming title of "An Act for raising a public revenue for the better support of the government ... and for ascertaining the salary of the Council." Nott apparently saw nothing alarming in i

ct? And that your Lordships may see the snake in the grass, please observe that the Assembly are pleased to appropriate the Queen's revenue as they think fit, a thing never pretended to before, and to limit and confine her Majesty from disposing of her own money.... Whereas i

ntrary to the present method," and should be superseded by a new one, the Board decided to let sleeping dogs lie. So they advised the Queen to veto the Act of 1716. "'Tis hoped it will never be revived by any Governor who has at heart the

a few months. Now, on August 23, 1706, death ended the brief administration of Governor Nott. He was mourned by the people, and was buried in Bruton Parish churchyard with all the solemnity the colony was capable of. "Had

mselves the administration of the government. But they were far from happy that Colonel Edmund Jenings, as the senior Councillor, was to preside at their meetings with such powers as were necessary in "carrying on the public

ernment upon the death of a Governor had caused many controversies between the President and the Councillors and had greatly hindered public business. So they

nt and the Council are all natives or else entirely settled here, nature and self-interest may sway them to do some things and pass some acts that may be (as they will imagine) for the good of their country and make and secure an interest with the people. This may be preju

e man had had a distinguished career. He had been clerk of the York County court, collector of the York River district, commissioner for the College of William and Mary, member of

Colonel Robert Hunter, and that he had sailed from Portsmouth in June, 1707. But month after month passed and he failed to appear. As late as March, 1708, the Council was wondering what had become of

ht question their proceedings. It is true that six times they set the date for a meeting of the Assembly, but six times they postponed it. At last, when peopl

expenses of the government-their own salaries and those of the President, Auditor, Attorney General, and other officials-they paid out of the export duty on tobacco and the quit rent fund. In September, 1708, Jenings wrote that privateers had come in between th

aquet, and elsewhere. It is probable that it was intended from the first that the office should be a sinecure, and though Orkney held it for years he never set foot on Virginia soil. But Virgini

to liberty in Virginia came less from the Throne than from the Council. A free people could not be

rinciples of English liberty, they must have asked, for a clique of wealthy men, many of them united in one family, to have such power o

TNO

sett to Perry & C

1314, Do

esent state of Virgini

, Social life o

The planters of colon

wood to Lords of Tr

-1340,

Ib

id., D

5-1316,

he House of Burges

Ibid.

362, March

uary to Lordship

CO5

1315, Aug

urnals of the Cou

5-1362,

5-1314,

1362, pp.

1362, pp.