1660-82] Virginia and the Restoration. 9 Parliament; and those who remained loyal to the King were allowed a year in which to arrange their affairs before leaving the colony. As the overthrow of monarchy had been accepted in Virginia peace- fully, so was the Restoration. It was not long, however, before the colony began to smart under the reckless prodigality of Charles II. During his exile he had rewarded some of his followers by a huge grant of territory in Virginia, including much that was already regularly occupied and cultivated. After the Restoration the representatives of the colonists obtained the revocation of that grant. But it was cancelled only to be replaced by one of wider extent and more dangerous import. In 1672 the whole soil of the colony was granted to Lord Arlington and Lord Culpeper with extensive proprietary rights, including powers to exact quit-rents, nominate sheriffs and land-surveyors, and appoint clergy. An agency was sent to England to oppose this monstrous invasion; and the protest was received with favour. A charter was drafted which, if carried through, would have been a document of the greatest constitutional importance, since it contained a clause providing that the colonists could not be taxed without the consent of their own legislature. All this was brought to naught by an ill-timed outburst of popular fury in the colony. Various causes were at work creating discontent. A poll-tax had to be imposed to meet the expense of the agency. An Act was passed limiting the right of voting to landholders and house- holders and thereby disfranchising many electors. But the chief grievance of the settlers was the supineness of Berkeley in checking and punishing outrages by the natives. At last an enterprising young settler, Nathaniel Bacon, took up arms on his own responsibility. For this Berkeley treated Bacon as a rebel. What followed is somewhat obscure. For a time there seemed to be a reconciliation, and Bacon was restored to his rank as a councillor. Then again they quarrelled. Bacon obtained armed possession of Jamestown. Finally Berkeley prevailed. Bacon died suddenly, with suspicions not unnatural, but probably unfounded, of poison ; and his supporters were punished with a fury and vindictive- ness which excited the displeasure of the Crown and brought about Berkeley's dismissal. The choice of the next two governors illustrates a danger which was coming over colonial administration. Hitherto a colonial governorship had been but little of a prize. The governors had all belonged to the class of wealthy planters and had made their home in the colony. Now the official emoluments and patronage had increased to such an extent as to offer a temptation to a needy fortune-hunter. Lord Culpeper, who became governor in 1682, and Lord Howard of Effingham, who followed him, were representatives of a type of whom the student of colonial history sees a good deal too much. Culpeper was already tainted in reputation in the eyes of the colonists as one of the recipients of that CII. I.
