" he adds, "he is sometimes called 'King'
Carter."[70]

Beyond doubt this haughtiness was chiefly the result of the life upon
the plantation. The command that the planter possessed over the lives
of scores of servants and slaves could not fail to impress him with a
feeling of respect for his own importance. John Bernard, the
traveller, shows that he understood this matter clearly. "Woe," he
says, "to the man who lives constantly with inferiors! He is doomed
never to hear himself contradicted, never to be told unwelcome truth,
never to sharpen his wits and learn to control his temper by argument
with equals. The Colonial Cavaliers were little kings, and they proved
the truth of the saying of the royal sage of Rome that the most
difficult of tasks is to lead life well in a palace."[71]

Political conditions also tended to the same result, for the leading
men of the colony were possessed of extraordinary influence and power.
Many of the prominent families of the 17th century were related to
each other and they formed a compact little oligarchy that at times
controlled the affairs of the colony at will.

But as time went on a decided change took place in the nature of the
Virginian's pride. During the 18th century he gradually lost that
arrogance that had been so characteristic of him in the age of
Nicholson and Spotswood. At the time of the Revolution are found no
longer men that do not hesitate to trample under foot the rights of
others as Custis, Byrd, and Carter had done. Nothing could be more
foreign to the nature of Washington or Jefferson than the haughtiness
of the typical Virginia planter of an earlier period. But it was
arrogance only that had been lost, not self-respect or dignity. The
Virginian of the later period had a most exalted conception of what a
man should be, and they respected themselves as exemplifiers of their
ideals, but they were always ready to accord to others the same
reverence they paid themselves. The change that had taken place is
shown in the lack of pretence and self-assertion in judges,
councillors, in college presidents and other dignitaries. Thomas
Nelson Page, in speaking of the fully developed Virginia gentleman,
says, "There was the foundation of a certain pride, based on
self-respect and consciousness of power. There were nearly always the
firm mouth with its strong lines, the calm, placid, direct gaze, the
quiet speech of one who is accustomed to command and have his commands
ob