A HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.* THERE is an important difference between
the original in- tention of the author of this book and his ultimate achieve- ment. His original intention, he tells us, was to write an account of the economic condition of the people of Virginia in the period between the Revolution and the Civil War. When, however, he was endeavouring to do this, he discovered
• Economic History of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century. By Philip Alexander Bruce. 2 vols. London : Macmillan and Co.
that a tolerably intimate acquaintance with the preceding Colonial period was necessary, and, following these lines, he determined to deal with that Colonial period first. Still his task grew upon him as he proceeded, until he found that, for a work so fall and precise as he desired to produce, a single century was quite as much as he could crowd into two volumes. Accordingly he has confined himself to the first hundred years of the colony, with which, for the present, we must rest satisfied. Nevertheless, although he makes no promisee, we may hope that the present work is only a first instalment.
This incident, showing as it does that Mr. race fully realised the importance of his task, and was ready to face its ever-increasing difficulties, leads us to expect that the result will be a good one. And in this we are not dis- appointed. Mr. Bruce has proved that he possesses in a marked degree the three essentials for a good historian,— thoroughness in research, critical acumen, and, not least, the ability to make his narrative readable. The majority of readers might naturally find his subject "dry," and it is one which few writers could make interesting, especially if, like Mr. Bruce, they should steadfastly refuse to introduce any element of romance, but keep strictly to facts. It is not to be denied that Mr. Bruce's own book needs close and carefu: reading; but whoever does so read it will find his reward in the pleasure as well as in the instruction it affords.
Virginia has been less favoured by the history writers than her younger sister-colony of New England. In the case of New England, the facts themselves are tinged;with romance, whereas the origin of Virginia was essentially prosaic,—a mere matter of commercial enterprise. It was a desire for worldly wealth, not for religions liberty, that moved the first settlers. While every notable American has ancestors who crossed in the 'Mayflower,' there are none who care to boast that any forefathers of theirs were among the one hundred and five men who on December 19th, 1606, set sail from England in three vessels to establish- the colony of Virginia. Nevertheless, several general histories of Virginia have been written. Mr. Bruce's task is, however, distinct from these, and, so far as we know, has never before been seriously attempted. He is concerned with general history only so far as it bears on economic history. It is true that, in the case of Virginia, the economic history of its early years is its only essential history. For there were no important wars and there was no religions struggle to divert the people from the pursuit of wealth. Consequently, in giving us the economic history so fully, Mr. Bruce gives us all the history of the first century that is worth having,—a much more complete history than the general historian would, or even should, give.
The reasons set forth why Virginia should be colonised were such as are usually offered, namely, that it was a measure which would put money in the British purse, and would relieve the old country of its surplus population, for even in those days England had a "surplus population," which, it was supposed, she could export with advantage to herself. The new colony would prove an outlet for British trade, and would increase the amount of British shipping. But the chief inducement offered was that Virginia was reputed to be rich in the precious metals. "The fertility of the soil, the rareness, variety, and profusion of the products, and the wholesomeness of the climate" were all described "in the most glowing language ;" but it was admitted that "the discovery of a gold-mine, by the goodness of God, or a passage to the South Sea, or some way to it, and nothing else, can bring this country in request, to be inhabited by our nation." Astonishing were the assertions made and eagerly accepted as to the riches of the new colony, and as to another desire of those days, a passage to the South Sea. The native Indians fed these false hopes. They assured the too credulous Ralph Lane that "from one of their villages, not far from Roanoke, it required only a journey of thirty days to arrive at the head of the Moratoc River, and that its waters gushed out of an enormous rock, situated so near to the sea that the waves of the latter very often, in heavy storms, mingled with the stream as it poured from the rock, causing it to become brackish to the taste." Probably the Indians were themselves ignorant of the truth, for they had little reason for desiring to encourage the new settlers, and the hint of the possibility of a passage via, the West to India was, next to gold, the greatest possible encouragement. As to gold, the
confiding first settlers sent more than one shipload of worth.' less stones to England, under the impression it was the precious ore; and there were persons in England who, when they were undeceived themselves, had interested motives for not un- deceiving others. So the rumours of gold induced many persons to go oversea, where their labour was much needed, and it was many years before either the gold myth or the South Sea myth was wholly dispelled. Had it not been for them, the Indians might have remained in undisturbed possession until a considerably later period.
The actual development of Virginia is a repetition of the story of the dying father who (rather disingenuously, it must be admitted), told his sons there was treasure hidden in the earth of the farm he bequeathed to them. The sons set to work, and digging diligently but vainly for gold, found the promised treasure in their enhanced crops. There were no gold-mines in Virginia, but vast stores of wealth lay there awaiting the coming of the tobacco. planter.
At the outset, however, the settlers found nothing but luxuriant vegetation, dense forests, and marshes, and they had to solve the problem how the land was to be cleared and made ready for crops. The fitness of the soil and climate foi tobacco was soon recognised, bat it was some years before any was planted. Other experiments were tried first. Seeds of the orange, the melon, the potato, and other exotics were introduced, and these plants flourished. English wheat was also tried, but the newly opened soil was too rich for it, causing it to waste itself in stalk, and maize was preferred. The profusion of mulberry-trees suggested the possibilities
of silk, and at one time and another flax and grape-vines were tried. There were legal stipulations to encourage the production of flax and silk, but after tobacco-planting WU begun (16l2), these and all other industries had to give place to it. As Mr. Bruce says :— "The general economic tendencies of a people are never founded upon mere wilfulness, but upon a just appreciation of their imme- diate interests as controlled by their physical surroundings. First of all—and from a material point of view, this was sufficient in itself if tobacco could be cultivated as cheaply as any other crop— it commanded, proportionately to weight, a higher price in the markets of England and Holland_ When Captain Smith was examined by the Royal Commissioners at the time the question of repealing the Charter of the Company was agitated, he was asked to explain why it was that the Colony, in spite of the fertility of its soil and the variety of its natural products, exported but one commodity. His reply was a significant one. The reason, he declared in substance, was that grain only brought two shillings and sixpence a bushel, while tobacco brought three shillings a pound. A man's labour in tobacco was calculated to be worth as much as sixty pounds. but in grain it was worth only ten."
With tobacco-planting the labour problem became urgent. A tobacco crop quickly exhausts the earth, which accordingly must be renewed or abandoned. Land in Virginia was so plentiful that the planters preferred the latter mode, and new clearings were being made continually. The density of the forest growths, however, made this process a most laborious one, and methods, honest and dishonest, were re- sorted to for securing able-bodied men from England. Some were kidnapped in London and Bristol. A few of the criminal classes were transported, but the objections against giving a penal character to the colony outweighed even the desire for labourers. The chief resource was the " indented " servant, bound by agreement to serve his master for a stated period in return for food, clothing, and lodging, and certain payments when the period had expired. It was not until 1619 that an attempt was made to introduce negro labour, and the growth of slavery was slow. In 1625 there were four hundred and sixty-four white servants and twenty-two negroes in Virginia. In 1671 there were six thousand white servants and only two thousand slaves. The difference between a ser- vant and a slave was mainly this,—that the former had voluntarily sold himself for a term of years, while the latter had been arbitrarily confiscated for life. During the period of service the servant was, in effect, a slave, as absolutely the property of his master, and almost as little regarded, as the negro. Mr. Bruce cites various laws passed for the protection of the servant, and speaks of "the solicitude of the General Court to ensure him the amplest protection in all his rights." But that such laws were made, points, not to the merciful dis- position of the colony as a whole, but, on the contrary, to the existence of cruelty too great to be tolerated. It is not to the existence of laws, but for evidence that they were successfully
enforced, that we should look, for between the making of laws and the enforcing of them there is, in all ages, a vast differ- ence. There is too much reason to suppose that the condition of " indented " servants throughout the seventeenth century was pitiable enough, in spite of the solicitude of the General Court. The statement is significant that, in 1730 the charges made by medical men were so extortionate "that masters were tempted to suffer a servant to perish for want of proper advice and medicines, rather than submit to their exactions." And in 1664 the trouble seems to have still existed, for, we are told that the medical fee demanded was "frequently greater in value than the amount of capital invested in individual servants at the time of purchase," in consequence of which "a large number of planters" deferred calling any doctor in "until it was too late to save the lives of their sick labourers." On the other hand, labour was too precious to be lightly wasted, and this, probably, was the labourer's one real, though incomplete, safeguard. The punishment of runaways was severe, and included whipping, branding, and extension of the period of bondage, and it is abundantly evident that the laws on this subject did express the public sentiment, for they were rigidly enforced. Large rewards were offered for the capture of fugitives, but by-and-by it was found necessary to provide against collusion between runaway and captor for the purpose of securing the reward.
We regret that we have not space to discuss the other sec- tions of the book, especially those which reveal the morale and the social customs of the people. The law-givers were kept busy by their efforts to regulate both, and very curious were some of their enactments. Perhaps the quaintest of them all was occasioned by the first colonists, who, when they had blistered their hands with the unaccustomed task of felling trees, vented their feelings in profane oaths. Whereupon it was decreed that "every oath should be numbered and, when the work of the day was over, for each oath a can of water was poured down the sleeve of the person who had been guilty of uttering it."
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