Old Virginia and her neighbours

96 OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS.cance of which we would fain know more thanwe do. It may fairly be pronounced the mostinteresting episode in our early history, surpassingin this regard the Leisler affair at New York,which alone can be compared with it forSignificance , • •c i fof the intensity of human interest. As ordmarebellion..1rilyi itold,ihowever,1the storypofi-»Baconpresents some features that are unintelligible. Itis customary to liken the little rebellion of 1676to the great rebellion of 1776, and we are thusled to contemplate Bacon and Virginia as arrayedagainst Berkeley and England. In such a viewthe facts are unduly simplified and strangely distorted.If it were possible thus fully to identifyBacon's cause with the cause of Virginia, it wouldbecome impossible to explain the ease with whichhis followers were suppressed by Virginians, withoutany aid from England. But when all thefacts are considered, we can seea result was inevitable.at once that suchCareful inspection of the relevant facts vsrillshow us that Bacon was contending against fourthings :—1. The Indian depredations.2. The misrule of Sir William Berkeley.3. The English navigation laws.4. The tendency toward oligarchical governmentwhich had been rapidly growing since thebeginning of the great influx of Cavaliers in1649.Under the first three heads little need be said.The facts have been generally recognized. It wasby Bacon's zeal and success in suppressing the