Old Virginia and her neighbours

BACON'S REBELLION. 97Indian power that he acquired public favour.Asfor the peculation and extortion prac- how fartised or permitted by Berkeley, it cannot p^se^tedfor a moment be supposed that such men timintln"'as John Washington, Richard Lee, etc., ^''^s'^'*-were inclined to tolerate or connive at it. As forthe navigation laws, it was a common remark,after the oath at Middle Plantation, that nowVirginians might look forwardhopefully to tradingwith all countries. It is therefore altogetherprobable that on allthese grounds the public sentimentof Virginia was overwhelmingly on the sideof Bacon.Under the fourth head some explanation isneeded, for historians have generally overlookedor disregarded it. One of the most conspicuousfacts in the story of Bacon's rebellion is the factthat a great majority of the wealthiest and mostimportant men in the colony were op-1 1 • c n 1 mi ^^® leadingposed to mm from first to last. The famines, . , , . . were in gen-erai opposed° "^to him.list of those who were pillaged by hisfollowers is,largely a list of the namesmost honoured in Virginia, the great-grandfathersof the illustrious men who were among the foremostin winning independence for the UnitedStates and in building up our federal government.It is also largely a list of the names of Cavalierswho had come from England to Virginia since1649. The political ideas of these men weresurely not democratic. If they were devout disbelieversin popular government, the fact is innowise to their discredit.Popular government isstill on its trial in the world, and the last word on