nies 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]

[Footnote 40: Robertson. Chalmer.]

{1651}

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. After 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]

[Footnote 41: Robertson. Chalmer.]

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]

[Footnote 42: Idem.]

[Sidenote: Charles II. proclaimed in Virginia.]

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