and he that would not haue him chosen shall bring in a blanke: and euery one that hath more written papers then blanks shall be a Magistrat for that yeare; wch papers shall be receaued and told by one or more that shall be then chosen by the court and sworne to be faythfull therein; but in case there should not be sixe chosen as aforesaid, besids the Gouernor, out of those wch are nominated, then he or they wch haue the most written paprs shall be a Magestrate or Magestrats for the ensueing yeare, to make vp the foresaid nüber.

3. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed, that the Secretary shall not nominate any prson, nor shall any prson be chosen newly into the Magestracy wch was not prpownded in some Generall Courte before, to be nominated the next Election; and to that end yt shall be lawful for ech of the Townes aforesaid by their deputyes to nominate any two who they conceaue fitte to be put to election; and the Courte may ad so many more as they judge requisitt.

4. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed that noe prson be chosen Gouernor aboue once in two yeares, and that the Gouernor be always a mēber of some approved congregation, and formerly of the Magestracy wthin this Jurisdiction; and all the Magestrats Freemen of this Commonwelth; and that no Magestrate or other publike officer shall execute any prte of his or their Office before they are seuerally sworne, wch shall be done in the face of the Courte if they be prsent, and in case of absence by some deputed for that purpose.

5. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed, that to the aforesaid Courte of Election the seurall Townes shall send their deputyes, and when the Elections are ended they may prceed in any public searuice as at other Courts. Also the other General Courte in September shall be for makeing of lawes, and any other publike occation, wch conserns the good of the Commonwelth.

6. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed, that the Gournor shall, either by himselfe or by the secretary, send out sumons to the Constables or eur Towne for the cauleing of these two standing Courts, on month at lest before their seurall tymes: And also if the Gournor and the gretest prte of the Magestrats see cause vppon any spetiall occation to call a generall Courte, they may giue order to the secretary soe to doe wthin fowerteene dayes warneing; and if vrgent necessity so require, vppon a shorter notice, giueing sufficient grownds for yt to the deputyes when they meete, or els be questioned for the same; And if the Gournor and Mayor prte of Magestrats shall ether neglect or refuse to call the two

Generall standing Courts or ether of thē, as also at other tymes when the occations of the Commonwelth require, the Freemen thereof, or the Mayor prte of them shall have power to giue order to the Constables of the seuerall Townes to doe the same, and so may meete together, and chuse to themselves a Moderator, and may preeed to do any Acte of power, wch any other Generall Courte may.

7. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed that after there are warrants giuen out for any of the said Generall Courts, the Constable or Constables of ech Towne shall forthwth give notice distinctly to the inhabitants of the same, in some Publike Assembly or by goeing or sending frō howse to howse, that at a place and tyme by him or them lymited and sett, they meet and assemble the selues together to elect and chuse certen deputyes to be att the Generall Courte then following to agitate the afayres of the commonwelth; wch said Deputyes shall be chosen by all that are admitted Inhabitants in the seurall Townes and haue taken the oath of fidellity; pruided that non be chosen a Deputy for any Generall Courte wch is not a freeman of this Commonwelth.

The aforesaid deputyes shall be chosen in manner following: euery prson that is prsent and quallified as before exprssed, shall bring the names of such, written in seurrall papers, as they desire to haue chosen for that Imployment, and these 3 or 4, more or lesse, being the nüber agreed on to be chosen for that tyme, that haue greatest nüber of papers written for the shall be deputyes for that Courte; whose names shall be endorsed on the backe side of the warrant and returned into the Courte, wth the Constable or Constables hand vnto the same.

8. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed, that Wyndsor, Hartford and Wethersfield shall haue power, ech Towne, to send fower of their freemen as deputyes to euery Generall Courte; and whatsoeuer other Townes shall be hereafter added to this Jurisdiction, they shall send SO many deputyes as the Courte shall judge meete, a reasonable prportion to the nuber of Freemen that are in the said Townes being to be attended therein; wch deputyes shall have the power of the whole Towne to giue their voats and alowance to all such lawes and orders as may be for the publike good, and unto wch the said Townes are to be bownd.

9. It is ordered and decreed, that the deputyes thus chosen shall haue power and liberty to appoynt a tyme and a place of meeting togather before any General Courte to aduise and consult of such things as may concerne the good of the

publike, as also to examine their owne Elections, whether according to the order, and if they or the gretest prte of them find any election to be illegal they may seclud such for prsent fro their meeting, and returne the same and their resons to the Courte; and if yt proue true, the Courte may fyne the prty or prtyes so intruding and the Towne, if they see cause, and giue out a warrant to goe to a newn election in a legall way, either in prte or in whole. Also the said deputyes shall haue power to fyne any that shall be disorderly at their meetings, or for not coming in due tyme or place according to appoyntment; and they may returne the said fynes into the Courte if yt be refused to be paid, and the treasurer to take notice of yt, and to estreete or levy the same as he doth other fynes.

10. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed, that euery Generall Courte, except such as through neglecte of the Gournor and the greatest prte of Magestrats the Freemen themselves doe call, shall consist of the Gouernor, or some one chosen to moderate the Court, and 4 other Magestrats al lest, wth the mayor prte of the deputyes of the seuerall Townes legally chosen; and in case the Freemen or mayor prte of the, through neglect or refusal of the Gouernor and mayor prte of the magestrats, shall call a Courte, yt shall consist of the mayor prte of Freemen that are prsent or their deputyes, wth a Moderator chosen by the; In wch said Generall Courts shall consist the

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supreme power of the Commonwelth, and they only shall haue power to make laws or repeal the, to graunt leuyes, to admit of Freemen, dispose of lands, vndisposed of, to seuerall Townes or prsons, and also haue power to call ether Courte or Magestrate or any other prson whatsoeuer into question for any misdemeanour, and may for just causes displace or deale otherwise according to the nature of the offence; and also may deale in any other matter that concerns the good of this comonwelth, excepte election of Magestrats wch shall be done by the whole boddy of Freemen.

In wch Courte the Gouernour or Moderator shall haue power to order the Courte to giue liberty of spech, and silence vnceasonable and disorderly speakeings, to put all things to voate, and in case the vote shall be equall to haue the casting voice. But non of these Courts shall be adorned or dissolved wthout the consent of the maior prte of the Court.

11. It is ordered, sentenced and decreed, that when any Generall Courte vppon the occations of the Comonwelth haue agreed vppon any sume or somes of mony to be leuyed vppon the seuerall Townes wthin this Jurisdiction, that a Comittee be chosen to sett out and appoynt wt shall be the prportion of euery Towne to pay of said leuy, prvided the Comittees be made vp of an equall nüber out of each Towne.

14th January, 1638, the 11 Orders abouesaid are voted.

Suc

After the London Company had been dissolved, the affairs of the colony were much depressed because of the uncertainty attending land titles and even the form of government. King James had declared that

VOL. I.-18

he had no intention of disturbing the interest of either planter or adventurer, but as he subsequently appointed a commission consisting of opponents of the Company to take temporary charge of Virginia affairs,

the people did not know exactly what to expect. It was feared that the act establishing representative government would be recalled and the privileges the colonists enjoyed under the Company annulled, for though Sir Francis Wyatt and twelve others in Virginia were authorized to conduct the local government, no summons had been issued for an assembly. As before stated, James died March 27, 1625, and with his death expired the commission for Virginia affairs in England. "Charles I. had all the arbitrary notions of his father but fortunately he was under personal obligations to Sir Edwin Sandys and Nicholas Ferrar, Jr., and for their sake he dismissed the former royal commissions and intrusted affairs relative to Virginia to a committee of the Privy Council friendly to the old Company. The Virginians sent George Yeardley to England, and, as a result of his representations, he was returned as governor [in 1626]."'* Yeardley died the next year, however, much lamented by the colonists, and in the same year Francis West was elected governor by the council. In this same year, in response to repeated petitions, memorials, etc., from Virginia, Charles I. decided to permit the colony to retain her General Assembly and other political charter rights which James I. had so bitterly op

*The South in the Building of the Nation, vol. i., pp. 23-24.

posed. The royal order restoring the House of Burgesses arrived in Virginia in March, 1628, and West then issued orders for the first election of burgesses under the grant and also summoned the General Assembly to meet at Jamestown in March, 1628.*

Industrial conditions in the colony were not, however, what had been expected, and we learn from a letter addressed to the king by West and the council that the war with the Indians had not yet terminated; that there was very little enterprise and still less capital, and that the staple product of the colony was that "nauseous, unpalatable weed, tobacco, neither of necessity nor ornament to human life." Despite these economic conditions and other disadvantages to which the colony was subjected, the population had continued to increase, and in 1628 more than 1,000 emigrants arrived from Europe.

trouble, not only for imbibing too freely in "distilled waters," but also under a charge of cattle-stealing; nothing of any importance grew out of the charges, however, Potts being pardoned and set free so that he could resume the practice of medicine, of such practitioners there being too few in the colony.* When Harvey arrived in the colony he immediately ordered the construction of a fort at Point Comfort, so that he would be able to enforce the payment of a fee (consisting of powder and ball) by every ship passing into the harbor. Harvey was also instrumental in establishing salt works on the eastern shore of Chesapeake Bay.

In 1632 the laws of the colony were revised, many of them being consolidated into a single statute so as to eliminate unnecessary laws and to better those which were retained. As there were a number of regulations regarding religion and morals, it is evident that the authorities were very much concerned in the promotion of morality and godliness among the inhabitants. The various statutes covered many other things: the publishing of bans of marriage, the catechizing of children, the number of times a minister should preach and administer the communion during the year, the punishment to be inflicted for drunkenness, profanity, adultery, slander, etc., and the tithes which

* Fiske, Old Virginia, vol. i., pp. 252–253. See also Cooke, Virginia, p. 164.

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should be demanded for the support of religious institutions. At the same time it was attempted to limit the amount of tobacco to be produced by each colonist, as thereby the planters hoped to raise the price in the English market. Because of competition from the planters in the Barbadoes and the Leeward Isles, the price of tobacco in the markets of England had fallen to six pence per pound, and in order to raise the price the colonists cut down the production. They were required to cultivate a certain portion of the land in corn and to plant and rear vines. Other laws were passed requiring that military exercises be maintained, prohibiting parley with the Indians, and forbidding emigration to New England, unless previous permission had been granted by the governor. This revised code was read at the beginning of every monthly court, a manuscript copy of which was open to public inspection.*

In 1634 the colony was divided into eight counties, each county having a lieutenant appointed by the governor, while the people themselves chose the sheriff. In order that the Virginians might not be alarmed over the various infringements made upon their charter rights by the royal commission, the colonial committee of the Privy Council in August, 1634, wrote

See Fiske, Old Virginia, vol. i., pp. 243-250; Neill's Virginia Company; Cooke's Virginia; Hening's Statutes at Large, vol. i., p. 156 et seq. Howe, Historical Collections of Virginia, p.

58.