Old Virginia and her neighbours

SOCIETY IN THE OLD DOMINION. 267ginia planter meant that his government should beone of laws. With his extensive es- A governtatesto sni)ermtena and country interests nient of/laws.. . . .to look after, his position was in manyrespects like that of the country squire in England.In his House of Burgesses the planter had a parliament; and in the royal governor, who was liableto subordinate local to imperial interests, therewas an abiding source of antagonism and distrust,requiring him to keep his faculties perpetuallyalert to remember all the legal maxims by whichthe liberties of England had been guarded sincethe days of Glanvil and Bracton. On the whole,it was a noble type of rural gentry that the OldDominion had to show. Manly simplicity, loveofhome and family, breezy activity, disinterestedpublic spirit, thorough wholesomeness and integrity,—such were the features of the society whoseconsummate flower was George Washing-ton.This chapter must not close without a brief mentionof the social features of Maryland, but a briefmention is all that is needed for my purpose, sincethe portraiture just given of Leah will answer inmost respects for her younger sister Rachel. TheEnglish colonists in Maryland were of the sameexcellent class as the Cavaliers who were thestrength of Virginia. Though tidewater Virginiaat the beginning of the eighteenth century containedbut few people who did not11 i-T»r Tother hand, in Maryland, not more thanbelono;to the Church of Eng-land, on the teristicsofMaryland.one sixth of the white population belonged to that