The Story of Bacon's Rebellion Part 7

Sir William sent a message to the a.s.sembly directing that some mark of distinction be set upon his loyal friends of Accomac, who had twice given him shelter during the uprising. It fell to the lot of a Baconian, Col. Augustine Warner, as Speaker of the House, to read the Governor's message, but that fiery gentleman consoled himself by adding, upon his own account, that he did not know what the "distinction" should be unless to give them "earmarks or burnt marks"--which was the common manner of branding criminals and hogs.

So many persons had been put to death by Governor Berkeley, "divers whereof were persons of honest reputations and handsome estates," and among them some of the members of the last a.s.sembly, that the new a.s.sembly pet.i.tioned him to spill no more blood. A member from Northumberland, Mr. William Presley by name, said that he "believed the Governor would have hanged half the country if they had let him alone."

His Majesty King Charles II is said to have declared when accounts of Berkeley's punishment of the rebels reached his ears, that the "old fool had hanged more men in that naked country than he [Charles] had done for the murder of his father."

With the completion of Sir William Berkeley's wholesale and pitiless revenge fell the curtain upon the final act in the tragedy of Bacon's Rebellion.

As soon as the country was quiet many suits were brought by members of the Governor's party for damages to their property during the commotion.

These suits serve to show how widespread throughout the colony was the uprising.

The records of Henrico County contain sundry charges of depredations committed by Bacon's soldiers, showing that the people's cause was strong in that section. Major John Lewis, of Middles.e.x, laid claim of damages at the hands of "one Matt Bentley," with "forty or fifty men-of-arms," in the "time of the late rebellion." Major Lewis's inventory of his losses includes "400 meals" (which he declares were eaten at his house by Bacon's men during their two days encampment on his plantation), the killing of some of his stock, and carrying off of meal "for the whole rebel army," at Major Pate's house.

The records of Westmoreland County show that the Baconians, under "General" Thomas Goodrich, had control in the Northern Neck of Virginia as late as November, 1676. Major Isaac Allerton, of Westmoreland, brought suit for thirteen thousand pounds of tobacco for damages his estate had suffered at the hands of a rebel garrison which had seized and fortified the house of his neighbor, Colonel John Washington. The jury gave him sixty-four hundred pounds.

Many ill.u.s.trations of the unbroken spirit of Bacon's followers are preserved in the old records.

When Stephen Mannering, the rebel officer who had given the order for the seizure of Colonel Washington's house, inquired how many prisoners had been taken there, and how they were armed, he was told fourteen, with "guns loaden." Whereupon he exclaimed that if he had been there with fourteen men, he would "uphold the house from five hundred men, or else die at their feet."

Mannering furthermore expressed the opinion that "General Ingram was a cowardly, treacherous dog for laying down his arms, or otherwise he would die himself at the face of his enemies."

John Pygott, of Henrico, showed how far from recantation he was by uttering a curse against all men who would not "pledge the juice and quintessence of Bacon."

XV.

PEACE RESTORED.

About the time of meeting of the "Green Spring" a.s.sembly, a small fleet arrived from England, bringing the long-looked-for "red-coats" and also three gentlemen--Sir John Berry, Colonel Herbert Jeffreys, and Colonel Francis Moryson--commissioned by the King to inquire into and report upon the state of affairs in the colony. His Majesty's "red-coats" found that their services were not needed, but the conciliatory att.i.tude of the "Commissioners" doubtless aided in restoring peace, and their official report makes interesting reading. In a tactful address to the a.s.sembly they expressed the hope that the "debates and consultations" of that body might be for the "glory of G.o.d, the honor of his most sacred Majesty, and the happy restoration, public good, and long lasting welfare and resettlement of this so miserable, shattered, and lacerated colony," and that the a.s.sembly might gain for itself the "name and memorable reputation of the _healing_ a.s.sembly," and in order that it might be the "more truly styled so," the Commissioners advised that it would thoroughly "inspect and search into the depth and yet hidden root and course of these late rebellious distempers that have broke out and been so contagious and spreading over the whole country," that it might thus decide "what apt and wholesome laws" might be "most properly applied, not only to prevent the like evil consequences for the future but also effectually to staunch and heal the fresh and bleeding wounds these unnatural wars have caused among you, that there may as few and small scars and marks remain, as you in your prudent care and tenderness can possibly bring them to."

They "most heartily" a.s.sured the a.s.sembly that in accordance with "his Majesty's royal commission," granted to them, "under the great seal of England," and his "instructions therewith given," they would "most readily a.s.sist, promote and advise" it, and would be "happy" to bear home to his Majesty the "burthens" which had disturbed "that peace and tranquillity which his good subjects had so long enjoyed under his Majesty's happy government," and which "by reason of the great and remote distance" of Virginia from "the usual place of his royal residence," could not be "so easily made known to him" as the troubles of "other his subjects who live at a nearer distance." They promised that the people's grievances, "be they few or many, great or less,"

should be received and "most sincerely reported" to the King, who, they declared, "out of his royal favor and compa.s.sion" had been pleased to promise a "speedy redress thereof, as to his royal wisdom shall seem meet."

The Commissioners furthermore promised to aid in bringing about a "truly good and just peace" with the Indians, and exhorted the Virginians to keep peace among themselves, that the Indians might not again "look on"

while they were "murdering, burning, plundering and ruining one another, without remorse or consideration." They recommended to the a.s.sembly various measures for the relief of the people's grievances--among them reduction of salaries of the Burgesses to "such moderate rates as may render them less grievous and burdensome to the country," a new election of representatives every two years, cutting off the allowance for "liquors drank by any members of committees," and other perquisites for which the "t.i.thable polls" had to pay so dearly.

The Commissioners refused to consider anonymous complaints, but appointed Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays as days to receive and examine "grievances" that were duly signed and sworn to.

The Commissioners' address to the a.s.sembly is dated, "Swann's Point, Feb. 27th, 1676-7," and is signed, "Your friends to serve you, Herbert Jeffreys, John Berry, Francis Moryson."

In a proclamation dated "Whitehall, October 27, 1676," the King declared that every man engaged in the Rebellion who would submit to the government and take the oath of obedience within twenty days after the royal proclamation should be published, would be "pardoned and forgiven the rebellion and treason by him committed," and "be free from all punishments for or by reason of the same."

Upon February 10 of the following year Sir William Berkeley published at "Green Spring" a proclamation, similar to that of his Majesty, save that it announced the "exception and expulsion of divers and sundry persons"

from the offer of pardon.

Upon May 15 still another proclamation was issued from Whitehall, wherein his Majesty condemned Governor Berkeley's proclamation as "so different from ours and so derogatory to our princely clemency toward all our subjects," that it was declared to be of "no validity," and his Majesty's own directions were ordered to be "punctually obeyed in all points."

When the fleet of the Royal Commissioners sailed again for England, Sir William Berkeley sailed with it to plead his own side of the question before King Charles. Happily for himself, perhaps, he died not long after he reached his native land, and without having seen the King. In a letter written "on board Sir John Berry's ship," however (which has already been quoted), he expressed some very energetic opinions concerning Bacon and the Rebellion, which still live to bear witness to the bitter old man's views.

In an address to the a.s.sembly in June, 1680, Governor Berkeley's successor, Governor Jeffreys--the same Jeffreys that had been a Royal Commissioner--reminded the Virginians how the King had pardoned "all persons whatever" that had engaged in the uprising, "except Bacon that died and Lawrence that fled away," and added, "as his Majesty hath forgot it himself, he doth expect this to be the last time of your remembering the late Rebellion, and shall look upon them to be ill men that rub the sore by using any future reproaches or terms of distinction whatever."

XVI.

CONCLUSION.

And was Bacon's Rebellion, then, a failure? Far from it. Judged by its results, it was indeed a signal success, for though the gallant leader himself was cut down by disease at a moment when he himself felt that he had but begun his work, though many of the bravest of his men paid for their allegiance to the popular cause upon the scaffold, that cause was won--not lost. Most of the people's grievances were relieved by the reforms in the administration of the government, and the re-enactment of Bacon's Laws made the relief permanent. The worst of all the grievances--the Indian atrocities--was removed once and forever, for Bacon had inspired the savages with a wholesome fear of the pale faces, so that many of them removed their settlements to a safe distance from their English neighbors, and a general treaty of peace, which seems to have been faithfully kept, was effected with the others. And so the colonists never had any more trouble with the red men until they began to make settlements beyond the Blue Ridge.

According to a deposition made by "Great Peter, the great man of the Nansemond Indians," the Weyanoke tribe, "when Bacon disturbed the Indians," fled to their former settlements upon Roanoke River, in North Carolina. In 1711 some "old men of the Nottaway Indians" upon being asked if they knew anything of the return of the Weyanokes to Carolina replied, "They did go thither for they were afraid of Squire Bacon, and therefore were resolved to go to their own land."

Lovely woman flits in and out through the whole story of Bacon's Rebellion, touching up the narrative here and there with the interest her presence always creates. First there is the fair and fascinating young wife of Sir William Berkeley, said to have turned his head in his old age. A beautiful portrait of her remains to make excuses for the bewitched husband's weakness. She seems to have been capable of excessive irony upon occasion. The Royal Commissioners indignantly complained that when they went ash.o.r.e and called upon Lady Frances Berkeley she received them courteously and sent them back to the wharf, in state, in the Governor's coach, but they afterward found that the coachman she chose to drive them was the "common hangman."

Then there is the brave-hearted young bride of the Rebel, trembling with fears for his safety, no doubt, but exulting in his popularity, and writing home to tell about it.

We have a series of characteristic pictures in the dusky "Queen of Pamunkey" upbraiding the Virginians for the death of her consort, the "mighty Totapotamoy"; the house-wives running out of their homes to see the victorious Rebel pa.s.s and heap him with blessings and gifts of food; the white-ap.r.o.ned ladies guarding the Rebel fort from the guns of their own husbands, and, at the end of all, the wife of Major Cheesman upon her knees before the Governor, praying to be hanged in her husband's place. Madam Sarah Drummond seems to have been as ardent an admirer of Bacon as her husband. When others were hesitating for fear of what his Majesty's "red-coats" might do, she picked up a stick and broke it in two, saying, "I fear the power of England no more than a broken straw."

The only child left by Nathaniel Bacon was a daughter, Mary, born a short time before or after his death, and through her many can claim descent from the Rebel, though none of them bear his name. She grew, in due time, to womanhood, and married, in England, Hugh Chamberlain, a famous doctor of medicine and physician to Queen Anne, and became the mother of three daughters. The eldest of these, Mary, died a spinster, the second, Anna Maria, became the wife of the Right Honorable Edward Hopkins, who was a Member of Parliament for Coventry in the time of William III and Anne, and Secretary of State for Ireland. The third daughter, Charlotte, married Richard Luther, Esq., of Ess.e.x, England.

Young Madam Bacon, so early and tragically widowed, was married twice afterward--first becoming Madam Jarvis and later Madam Mole. Devoid of romance as this record sounds, her first love affair and marriage had not been without a strong flavor of that captivating element. The young woman's father, Sir Edward Duke, for reasons unknown, opposed the match with "Nat" Bacon and provided in his will that his bequest to her of 2,000 should be forfeited if she should persist in marrying "one Bacon." That Mistress Elizabeth gave up her fortune for him, is but another proof of the Rebel's charm.

Later, as Madam Jarvis, she and her husband brought suit for a share in her father's estate, but the Lord Chancellor decided against her, and gave as his opinion that her father had been right--"such an example of presumptuous disobedience highly meriting such punishment; she being only prohibited to marry with one man by name, and nothing in the whole fair garden of Eden would serve her but this forbidden fruit."

Had Nathaniel Bacon's life been spared, who can say what its possibilities might or might not have been? His brief career was that of a meteor--springing in the twinkling of an eye into a dazzling being, dashing headlong upon its brilliant way, then going out in mystery, leaving only the memory of an existence that was all fire and motion. If he had lived a hundred years later the number of heroes of the American Revolution would doubtless have been increased by one--and his name would have been at the top of the list, or near it.

For about two hundred years after the episode of Bacon's Rebellion, in the history of Virginia, there was no light by which to view it other than such as was afforded by a few meagre accounts of persons opposed to it. It is only by the most painstaking and judicious sifting of these contemporary and sometimes vexingly conflicting statements, diligent study of the period, and research into official colonial records, of late years unearthed, that the truth of the matter can be arrived at.

Unveiled by such investigation, the character of Bacon seems to have been (while of course he had his faults like other mortals) self-sacrificing to a heroic degree, sincere, unmercenary, and high-minded. If otherwise, it nowhere is revealed, even by the chronicles of his enemies, who while they frown upon his course cannot hide their admiration of the man. Such of his followers as lived to tell the story of the struggle from their own point of view doubtless dared not commit it to paper. If his intrepid and accomplished friends, Drummond and Lawrence, had lived, they might have left some testimony which would have prevented the world from misjudging him as it did through so many generations, though, after all, no musty doc.u.ment could speak so clearly in his behalf as does the fact that they like so many others, were ready to give their lives for him. A fire-brand! Perhaps so; for some sores caustic is a necessary remedy. Profane? That he undoubtedly was, but plain speech was a part of the time he lived in, and a people settled in a wilderness and driven to desperation by hard times and the constant fear of violent death would hardly have chosen for their leader in a movement to redress their wrongs a man of mincing manners or methods. The only memorial of him left by a friendly hand, now remaining, is a bit of rhyme ent.i.tled, "Bacon's Epitaph made by his man," which truly prophesied,

"None shall dare his obsequies to sing In deserv'd measures, until time shall bring Truth crown'd with freedom, and from danger free To sound his praise to all posterity."