"When Liberty rallies
Once more in thy regions, remember me then."
_Byron._

It was on a calm, clear morning in the latter part of the month of
September, that the little army of Nathaniel Bacon, wearied and worn
with protracted marches, and with hard fought battles, might be seen
winding through the woodland district to the north of Jamestown. The two
cavaliers, who led the way a little distance ahead of the main body of
the insurgents, were Bacon and his favourite comrade, Hansford--engaged,
as before, in an animated, but now a more earnest conversation. The brow
of the young hero was more overcast with care and reflection than when
we last saw him. The game, which he had fondly hoped was over, had yet
to be played, and the stake that remained was far more serious than any
which had yet been risked. During the brief interval that his undisputed
power existed, the colony had flourished and improved, and the bright
dream which he had of her approaching delivery from bondage, seemed
about to be realized. And now it was sad and disheartening to think that
the battle must again be fought, and with such odds against him, that
the chances of success were far more remote than ever. But Bacon was not
the man to reveal his feelings, and he imparted to others the
cheerfulness which he failed to feel himself. From time to time he would
ride along the broken ranks, revive their drooping spirits, inspire them
with new courage, and impart fresh ardor into their breasts for the
glorious cause in which they were engaged. Then rejoining Hansford, he
would express to him the fears and apprehensions which he had so
studiously concealed from the rest.

It was on one of these occasions, after deploring the infatuated
devotion of so many of the colonists to the cause of blind loyalty, and
the desertion of so many on whom he had relied to co-operate in his
enterprize, that he said, bitterly:

"I fear sometimes, my friend, that we have been too premature in our
struggle for liberty. Virginia is not yet ready to be free. Her people
still hug the chains which enslave them."

"Alas!" said Hansford, "it is too true that we cannot endue the infant
in swaddling bands with the pride and strength of a giant. The child who
learns to walk must meet with many a fall, and the nation that aspires
to freedom will often be checked by disaster and threatened with ruin."

"And this it is," sa