rom them to any other country but
England. As a compensation, the colonies were permitted the exclusive
cultivation of tobacco. The parliament, soon after, in 1663, passed
additional restrictions; and, advancing, step by step, gradually
subjected the colonies to a most oppressive dependence on the mother
country, and even went so far as to regulate the trade of the several
colonies with each other. This system of monopoly and exclusion, of
course, produced indignation and disgust, and sowed the seeds of
ultimate rebellion. Indian hostilities were added to provincial
discontent, and even the horrors of civil war disturbed the prosperity
of the colony. An ambitious and unprincipled adventurer, by the name
of Bacon, succeeded in fomenting dissension, and in successfully
resisting the power of the governor. Providence arrested the career of
the rebel in the moment of his triumph; and his sickness and death
fortunately dissipated the tempest which threatened to be fatal to the
peace and welfare of Virginia. Berkeley, on the suppression of the
rebellion, punished the offenders with a severity which ill accorded
with his lenient and pacific character. His course did not please the
government in England, and he was superseded by Colonel Jeffries. But
he died before his successor arrived. A succession of governors
administered the colony as their disposition prompted, some of whom
were wise and able, and others tyrannical and rapacious.

The English revolution of 1688 produced also a change in the
administration of the colony. Its dependence on the personal character
of the sovereign was abolished, and its chartered liberties were
protected. The king continued to appoint the royal governor, and the
parliament continued to oppress the trade of the colonists; but they,
on the whole, enjoyed the rights of freemen, and rapidly advanced in
wealth and prosperity. On the accession of William and Mary, the
colony contained fifty thousand inhabitants and forty-eight parishes;
and, in 1676, the customs on tobacco alone were collected in England
to the amount of one hundred and thirty-five thousand pounds. The
people generally belonged to the Episcopal Church, and the clergy each
received, in every parish, a house and glebe, together with sixteen
thousand pounds of tobacco. The people were characterized for
hospitality and urbanity, but were reproached for the indolence which
a residence in scattered villages, a hot climate, and negro slav