CHAPTER X.

THE COMING OF THE CAVALIERS.

PAGE

Virginia depicted by an admirer 1

Her domestic animals, game, and song-birds 2

Her agriculture 2, 3

Her nearness to the Northwest Passage 3

Her commercial rivals 3, 4

Not so barren a country as New England 4

Life of body and soul were preserved in Virginia; Mr. Benjamin Symes and his school 5

Worthy Captain Mathews and his household 5

Rapid growth in population 6

Historical lessons in names of Virginia counties 7

Scarcity of royalist names on the map of New England 8, 9

As to the Cavaliers in Virginia; some popular misconceptions 9, 10

Some democratic protests 10, 11

Sweeping statements are inadmissible 11

Difference between Cavaliers and Roundheads was political, not social 12

Popular misconceptions regarding the English nobility; England has never had a _noblesse_, or upper caste 13

Contrast with France in this respect 13, 14

Importance of the middle class 14

Respect for industry in England 15

The Cavalier exodus 16

Political complexion of Virginia before 1649 16, 17

The great exchange of 1649 17, 18

Political moderation shown in Virginia during the Commonwealth period 18

Richard Lee and his family 19

How Berkeley was elected governor by the assembly 20

Lee’s visit to Brussels 20

How Charles II. was proclaimed king in Virginia, but not before he had been proclaimed in England 21

The seal of Virginia 22, 23

Significant increase in the size of land grants 23, 24

Arrival of well-known Cavalier families 25

Ancestry of George Washington 25

If the pedigrees of horses, dogs, and fancy pigeons are important, still more so are the pedigrees of men 26

Value of genealogical study to the historian 26

The Washington family tree 27

How Sir William Jones paraphrased the epigram of Alcæus 28

Historical importance of the Cavalier element in Virginia 28

Differences between New England and Virginia were due not to differences in social quality of the settlers, but partly to ecclesiastical and still more to economical circumstances 29, 30

Settlement of New England by the migration of organized congregations 30

Land grants in Massachusetts 31

Township and village 31, 32

Social position of settlers in New England 32

Some merits of the town meeting 33

Its educational value 34

Primogeniture and entail in Virginia 35

Virginia parishes 35

The vestry a close corporation; its extensive powers 36

The county was the unit of representation 37

The county court was virtually a close corporation 38

Powers of the county court 39

The sheriff and his extensive powers 40

The county lieutenant 41

Jefferson’s opinion of government by town meeting 42

Court day 42, 43

Summary 43

Virginia prolific in great leaders 44