rebellion crumbled to pieces. The exultant Berkeley punished the
leading rebels without mercy. He hanged twenty-two, and was so ferocious
that the king lost patience and ordered him to return to England. "The
old fool!" he exclaimed; "he has taken away more lives in that naked
country than I did for the murder of my father."

PROSPERITY OF THE COLONY.

Colonial Virginia underwent several changes in its form of government. A
"Great Charter" was granted to it in 1613 by the London Company. This
permitted the settlers to make their own laws. The House of Burgesses,
which was called together at Jamestown by Governor Yeardley, July 30,
1619, was the first legislative body that ever met in this country. King
James was dissatisfied with the tendency of things, and in 1624 he took
away the charter and granted a new one, which allowed the colony to
elect the members of the House of Burgesses, while the king appointed
the council and their governor. This made Virginia a royal province,
which she remained until the Revolution.

[Illustration: ARMOR WORN BY THE PILGRIMS IN 1620.]

Virginia became very prosperous. Immense quantities of tobacco were
raised and sent to England and Holland, where it became widely popular.
Its cultivation was so profitable in the colony that for a time little
else was cultivated. It was planted even along the streets of Jamestown
and became the money of the province. Everything was paid for in so many
pounds of tobacco. The population steadily increased, and in 1715 was
95,000, which was the same as that of Massachusetts. A half-century
later, Virginia was the richest and most important of the thirteen
colonies. The people lived mostly on large plantations, for land was
plentiful and the Indians gave no further trouble. Most of the
inhabitants were members of the Church of England, and their assemblies
passed severe laws against the entrance of people of other religious
beliefs into the colony. It required the furnace blasts of the
Revolution to purify Virginia and some other provinces of this spirit of
intolerance.

Education was neglected or confined to the rich who could send their
children to England to be educated. Some of the early schools were
destroyed by Indians, but William and Mary College, founded in 1692, was
the second college in the United States. It was never a very strong
institution.

THE "OLD DOMINION."

It is worth recording how Virginia received the name of the "Old
Do