The above coin is clearly confirmatory of these facts. Hence the origin of the phrase "Old Dominion," frequently applied to Virginia.

History does not confirm all these statements, though it establishes some, and sufficiently discloses, in the conduct of Virginia during the Protectorate of Cromwell, a cause for the origin of the name Old Dominion, frequently applied to Virginia. The facts, as gathered from a variety of creditable historians, appear to be these:

After the death of king Charles I., and the installation of Oliver Cromwell as Protector, the colony of Virginia refused to acknowledge his authority; and Parliament having subdued opposition elsewhere, were not disposed to submit to such a resistance of its authority by the 20,000 inhabitants of Virginia. It issued an ordinance declaring them notorious robbers and traitors; prohibited all intercourse with the refractory colonists, either by the people of England, the inhabitants of the other American settlements, or with foreign nations; and finally, sent over a fleet, under Sir George Ayscue, to overpower the provincial royalists, and extinguish the last traces of monarchial authority that still lingered in extremities of the empire. The commissioners appointed to accompany this expedition were empowered to try, in the first instance, the efficacy of pardons and other conciliatory propositions, in reducing the colonists to obedience; but if their pacific overtures should prove ineffectual, they were then to employ every species of hostile operations.

From Barbadoes, Captain Ayscue dispatched Capt. Dennis with a small squadron to the Chesapeake, to land his forces, and drive Sir William Berkeley out of Virginia; for during the whole preceding struggle of Charles I. and the Parliament, the Virginians were firm on the side of their king, and enacted a declaration, "that they were born under a monarchy, and would never degenerate from the condition of their birth, by being subject to any other government." After the king was beheaded, they acknowledged the authority of the fugitive prince, and actually continued the provincial government under a commission which he sent to Sir William Berkeley from his retreat at Breda. The young prince was not, however, actually invited over to establish a kingdom in Virginia; though, according to Clarendon, Sir William Berkeley was so assured of the loyalty of the inhabitants, and so impressed with confidence of ultimate success, that he wrote to him, " almost inviting him to America!" In these acts consisted the enmity of the Parliament to the governor; and for this open defiance of its power, Virginia was to be ravaged by a fleet in her waters, and insidious assassins on her soil. Historians differ greatly as to the proceedings of Sir William, after the arrival of the fleet within the Capes of Virginia. Several, as Beverly, (p. 45;) Oldmixon, (i. 375;) Burke, (European Settlements, ii. 223 ;) Graham, (i. 99,) have asserted that he made a great show of resistance, assisted by the Dutch ships in the harbor, and the royalists, who were a majority of the population.

Bancroft, (i. 223,) citing contemporary authorities of the highest value, says, no sooner had the Guinea frigate entered within the waters of the Chesapeake, than (quoting from Clarendon) all thoughts of resistance were laid aside. It marks, continues Bancroft, the character of the Virginians; that they refused to surrender to force, but yielded by a voluntary deed and mutual compact." "By the articles of surrender a complete indemnity was stipulated for all past offences; and the colonists recognising the authority, were admitted into the bosom of the English commonwealth, and expressly assured of an equal participation in all the privileges of the free people of England. In particular, it provided that the Provincial Assembly should retain its wonted functions, and that the people of Virginia should have as free trade as the people of England to all places and all nations," and "shall be free from all taxes, customs, and impositions whatsoever, without the consent of their own Assembly." Berkeley disdained to make any stipulation for himself, with those whom his principles of loyalty taught him to regard as usurpers. Without leaving Virginia, he withdrew to a retired situation, where he continued to reside as a private individual, universally beloved and respected till a new revolution was to summon him once more to defy the republican forces of England and restore the ascendancy of royalty in the colony.

This was in March, 1652: and affairs continued much in this state until 1660. In the mean time, Richard Bennet, Edward Digges, and Samuel Matthews, had been severally elected by the Burgesses, Governor of Virginia, under allegiance to Oliver Cromwell, and on his death, 1658, to Richard Cromwell. But in 1660, Gov. Matthews died; and the people, discontented with some commercial restrictions imposed by the Protectorate, did not wait for a new commission from England, but elected Sir William Berkeley, and "by an obliging violence compelled him to accept the government." He, however, refused to act under the usurpation of the Cromwells, and would not consent, unless they joined with him in joining their lives and fortunes for the king who was then an exile.

"This," says Beverly, "was their dearest wish, and therefore, with a unanimous voice, they told him that they were ready to hazard all for the king." Now, this was actually before the king's return to England, and proceeded from a broad principle of loyalty for which they had no example. Sir William Berkeley embraced their choice, and forthwith proclaimed Charles II. king of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Virginia, and caused all processes to be issued in his name. Thus his majesty was actually king in Virginia before he was in England. On the restoration of the king he sent Sir William a new commission, and granted him permission to visit England.

He was received by the monarch with much kindness; and there is recorded a tradition, that the king, in compliment to that colony, wore at his coronation a robe made of the silk which was sent from thence. Such is a condensed narration of the causes and incidents which gave to Virginia the honored title of the "OLD DOMINION."

SLAVERY AND TOBACCO.

The following relates to the introduction of slaves, and the cultivation of tobacco, with their influence on the character and condition of the inhabitants of Virginia. It is drawn from the Life of Jefferson, by Prof. George Tucker, of the University of Virginia; a work written with perspicuity and candor, and incidentally elucidating important points in the civil and political history of the state.

In 1744, at the period of the birth of Mr. Jefferson, the settlements had extended about 200 miles from the sea-coast, and in the northern part of the colony, had passed the Blue Ridge. The population was then about 200,000, of whom from a quarter to a third were slaves.

The cultivation of tobacco, and the introduction of slaves, soon after Virginia was settled, have had a marked influence upon the habits, character, and fortunes of the country. The introduction of tobacco, in England, about 20 years before the settlement of Jamestown, led to a rapid extension of its use. A demand being thus created, and a heavy price paid, encouraged the first settlers of Virginia to cultivate it for market, to the neglect of other crops. It long continued the sole article of export, and from the inadequate supply of the precious metals, it became the general measure of value, the principal currency of the colony. In 1758, the quantity exported had increased to about 70 millions of pounds, since which time the product has somewhat diminished.

"As this plant requires land of the greatest fertility, and its finer sorts are produced only in virgin soil, which it soon exhausts, its culture has been steadily advancing westwardly, where fresh land is more abundant, leaving the eastern region it has impoverished to the production of Indian corn, wheat, and other grain. Its cultivation has thus generally ceased in the country below the falls of the great rivers, and in its progress to the west, the centre of the tobacco region is now two hundred miles from the coast.

"The business of cultivating tobacco, and preparing it for market, requires such continual attention, and so much, and so many sorts of handling, as to allow to the planter little time for any of the other useful processes of husbandry; and thus the management of his dairy and orchard, and the useful operations of manuring, irrigation, and cultivating artificial grasses, are either conducted in a slovenly way, or neglected altogether. The tobacco district nowhere exhibits the same external face of verdure, or marks of rural comfort and taste, as are to be seen in those countries in which its culture has been abandoned.

"But the most serious consequence of the tobacco cultivation is to be found in the incréase of slaves; for though it did not occasion their first introduction, it greatly encouraged their importation afterwards. It is to the spirit of commerce, which in its undistinguished pursuit of gain, ministers to our vices no less than to our necessary wants, that Virginia owes this portentous accession to her population. A Dutch ship from the coast of Guinea entered James River, in 1620, thirteen years after the first settlement of Jamestown, and sold twenty of her slaves to the colonists.

"The large profits which could be made from the labor of slaves, while tobacco sold at three shillings sterling a pound, equal to about ten times its ordinary price now, greatly encouraged their further importation, by giving to the planters the means of purchasing as well as the inclination; and the effect would have been much greater, if they had not. been continually supplied with labor from the paupers, and sometimes the convicts, who were brought from England and sold to the planters for a term of years, to defray the expenses of their transportation.

"This supply of English servants, together with the gradual fall in the price of tobacco, had so checked the importation of slaves, that in the year 1671, according to an official communication from the governor, Sir William Berkeley, while the whole population was but 40,000, the number of indented servants was 6,000, and that of the slaves was but 2,000. The importations of the latter, he says, did not exceed two or three cargoes in seven years, but that of servants, of whom he says, 'most were English, few Scotch, and fewer Irish,' he estimates at 1,500 annually.

"But in process of time, slave labor was found preferable to that of indented white servants, partly because the negro slaves were more cheaply fed and clothed than the laborers who were of the same race as the masters, but principally because they were less able to escape from bondage, and were more easily retaken. The colonial statute book affords abundant evidence of the frequency and facility with which the indented servants ran away from their masters; and the extent of the mischief may be inferred from the severity of its punishment. In 1642, runaway servants were liable, for a second offence, to be branded on the cheek; though fifteen years afterwards the law was so far mitigated as to transfer this mark of ignominy to the shoulder. In 1662, their term of service, which did not often exceed four or five years, might, for the offence of running away, be prolonged, at the discretion of a magistrate, and the master might superadd moderate corporeal punishment.' In the following year, this class of persons, prompted by the convicts who had been sent over after the restoration of Charles the Second, formed a conspiracy of insurrection and murder, which was discovered just in time to be defeated. Seven years afterwards, in 1670, the governor and council took upon themselves to prohibit the further importation of convicts, whom they call jail birds;' and they assign this conspiracy as one of their motives for the order. The privilege, too, enjoyed by the servant of complaining to the magistrate for the harsh treatment of his master, either as to food, clothing, or punishment, formed, no doubt, a further ground of preference for slaves, who had no such inconvenient rights.

"Under the united influence of these circumstances the number of negro slaves so increased, that in 1732, the legislature thought proper to discourage their further importation by a tax on each slave imported; and not to alarm the commercial jealousy of England, the law, conforming to the notions of the age, formally provided for what no mode of levying the tax could have prevented, that the duty should be paid by the purchaser. This duty was at first five per cent. on the value of the slave, but in a few years afterwards, (1740,) it was increased to ten per cent., from which it was never reduced. It did not, however, prevent large importations, for we find the number to have increased in 119 years, in the ratio of 1 to 146; that is, from 2,000 in the year 1671, to 293,427 in 1790; while in the same period the whites had increased only as 1 to 12, or from 38,000 to 454,881. In the forty years which have elapsed, from the first to the last census, it is gratifying to perceive that the increase of the free population in Virginia has been somewhat greater than that of the slaves, in the proportion of 63 per cent. to 60, and that this comparative gain seems to be gradually increasing.

"As Eastern Virginia is everywhere intersected by navigable rivers, which are skirted on either side by rich alluvial lands, the early settlers, whose plantations were principally along the margins of the rivers, were able to carry on a direct intercourse with foreign countries, from their separate dwellings. Thus commerce, by the very diffusion of its most important natural facilities, did not here concentrate in a few favorable spots, and foster the growth of towns, as in most of the other colonies; and at the beginning of the revolution, Williamsburg, the seat of government, and the largest town in Virginia, itself the most populous of the colonies, did not contain 2,000 inhabitants. But as the bees which form no hive, collect no honey, the commerce, which was thus dispersed, accumu. lated no wealth. The disadvantages of this dispersion were eventually perceived by the colonists, and many efforts were made by the legislature to remedy the mischief by authorizing the establishment of towns on selected sites, and giving special privileges and immunities to those who built, or those who resided on them. Their purpose was also favored, and even stimulated by the government, from fiscal considerations. But most of these legislative efforts failed, and none were very successful. Thus in 1680, as many as twenty towns were authorized by act of assembly, being one for each county; yet at not more than three or four of the designated spots is there even a village remaining to attest the propriety of the selection.

"There were indeed wanting in the colony all the ordinary constituents of a large town. Here were no manufactories to bring together and employ the ingenious and industrious. The colonists, devoting themselves exclusively to agriculture, owned no shipping, which might have induced them to congregate for the sake of carrying on their foreign commerce to more advantage: here was no court, which by its splendor and

amusements might attract the gay, the voluptuous, and the rich: there was not even a class of opulent landlords, to whom it is as easy to live on their rents in town as in the country, and far more agreeable. But the very richest planters all cultivated their own land with their own slaves; and while those lands furnished most of the materials of a generous, and even profuse hospitality, they could be consumed only where they were produced, and could neither be transported to a distance, nor converted into money. The tobacco, which constituted the only article of export, served to pay for the foreign luxuries which the planter required; yet, with his social habits, it was barely sufficient for that purpose, and not a few of the largest estates were deeply in debt to the Scotch or English merchants, who carried on the whole commerce of the country. Nor was this system of credit more eagerly sought by the improvident planter, than it was given by the thrifty and sagacious trader; for it afforded to him a sure pledge for the consignment of the debtor's crop, on the sales of which his fair perquisites amounted to a liberal profit, and if he was disposed to abuse his trust, his gains were enormous. The merchants were therefore ready to ship goods, and accept bills of exchange on the credit of future crops, while their factors in the colony took care in season to make the debt safe by a mortgage on the lands and slaves of the planter. Some idea of the pecuniary thraldom to which the Virginia planter was formerly subjected may be formed from the fact, that twice a year, at a general meeting of the merchants and factors in Williamsburg, they settled the price of tobacco, the advance on the sterling cost of goods, and the rate of exchange with England. It can scarcely be doubted that the regulations were framed as much to the advantage of the merchants as they believed it practicable to execute. Yet it affords evidence of the sagacious moderation with which this delicate duty was exercised, that it was not so abused as to destroy itself.

"This state of things exerted a decided influence on the manners and character of the colonists, untrained to habits of business and possessed of the means of hospitality. They were open-handed and open-hearted; fond of society, indulging in all its pleasures, and practising all its courtesies. But these social virtues also occasionally ran into the kindred vices of love of show, haughtiness, sensuality-and many of the wealthier class were to be seen seeking relief from the vacuity of idleness, not merely in the allowable pleasures of the chase and the turf, but in the debasing ones of cock-fighting, gaming, and drinking. Literature was neglected, or cultivated by the small number who had been educated in England, rather as an accomplishment and a mark of distinction, than for the substantial benefits it confers.

"Let us not, however, overrate the extent of these consequences of slavery. If the habitual exercise of authority, united to a want of steady occupation, deteriorated the character of some, it seemed to give a greater elevation of virtue to others. Domestic slavery, in fact, places the master in a state of moral discipline, and according to the use he makes of it, is he made better or worse. If he exercises his unrestricted power over the slave, in giving ready indulgence to his humors or caprice-if he habitually yields to impulses of anger, and punishes whenever he is disobeyed, or obeyed imperfectly, he is certainly the worse for the institution which has thus afforded aliment to his evil pro. pensities. But if, on the other hand, he has been taught to curb these sallies of passion, or freaks of caprice, or has subjected himself to a course of salutary restraint, he is continually strengthening himself in the virtues of self-denial, forbearance, and moderation, and he is all the better for the institution which has afforded so much occasion for the practice of those virtues.* If, therefore, in a slave-holding country, we see some of the masters made irascible, cruel, and tyrannical, we see many others as remarkable for their mildness, moderation, and self-command; because, in truth, both the virtues of the one and the vices of the other are carried to the greater extreme by the self-same process of habitual exercise."

INDIANS OF EASTERN VIRGINIA.t

According to the account of Captain John Smith, that part of Virginia that lies between the sea and the mountains, was inhabited by forty-three different tribes of Indians. Thirty of these were united in a grand confederacy under the emperor Powhatan. The dominions of this mighty chief, who was long the most powerful rival, and most impla

The character of the Presidents which Virginia has furnished, may be appealed to for a confirmation of this view; and many living illustrations will readily present themselves to all who have a personal knowledge of the southern states.

+ This article is from the various histories of Virginia.

cable foe, with whom the English had to contend, extended over that part of the country that lies south of the Potomac, between the coast and the falls of the rivers.

In comparison with civilized countries, this extensive territory contained but a scanty population. The Powhatan confederacy consisted of but about eight thousand inhabit

Besides this confederacy, there were two others which were combined against that of Powhatan. These were the Mannahoacks and Manakins; the former of whom, consisting of eight tribes, occupied the country lying between Rappahannock and York rivers; and the latter, consisting of five tribes, was settled between York and James rivers, above the falls. Besides these, were the Nottoways, the Meherricks, the Tuteloes, and several other scattering and independent tribes.

The hereditary dominions of Powhatan lay on James River, which originally bore his name. He had a seat on this river, about a mile below the falls, where Richmond now stands, and another at Werowocomoco on the north side of York River, within the present county of Gloucester.

This monarch was remarkable for the strength and vigor of his body, as well as for the energies of his mind. He possessed great skill in intrigue and great courage in battle. His equanimity in the career of victory, was only equalled by his fortitude in the hour of adversity. If he had many vices incident to the savage life, he had some virtues seldom found among the civilized. He commanded a respect rarely paid by sav ages to their werowance, and maintained a dignity and splendor worthy the monarch of thirty nations. He was constantly attended by a guard of forty warriors, and during the night a sentry regularly watched his palace. Though unlimited by custom in the number of his wives, his seraglio exhibited the apathy of the Indian character. When he

* Powhatan, Arrowhattock, Appamattock, Pamunkey, Youghtanund, and Mattapoment, descended to him from his ancestors.