Governor of Virginia

“ Virginia prolific in great leaders. For seventy years or more before the Declaration of Independence the matters of general public concern, about which stump speeches were made on Virginia court-days, were very similar to those that were discussed in Massachusetts town meetings when representatives were to be chosen for the legislature. Such questions generally related to some real or alleged encroachment upon popular liberties by the royal governor, who, being appointed and sent from beyond sea, was apt to have ideas and purposes of his own that conflicted with those of the people. ”

“ In July 1692 he returned to America as governor of Virginia. Here he encouraged education, founded William and Mary College, promoted manufactures and agriculture, and made himself generally popular. He, however, quarrelled with the colonial church authorities, and through the influence of Dr. Blair, the Bishop of London's commissary in Virginia, was recalled in 1698. In 1704 he was appointed governor of Jersey, which office he held till 1706. ”

“ Why he was now called forth by the Assembly to take once more the most important office in Virginia, cannot be certainly determined. It seems strange that the Burgesses in one act should assert their own sovereignty in the most emphatic terms, and in the next elect as their Governor this ardent servant of the Crown. If it had been their only aim to choose a leader of executive ability, they did not lack men of power and experience whose love of popular government was unquestioned. ”

“ Such now was the royal governor of Virginia.
The justiciary government of the province was also changed; the magistrates were appointed by the governor and council, and held their offices for life. The county courts, now independent of the people, levied county-rates at their own pleasure and for their own expenses—they being an irresponsible body. Like the county magistrates, the newly-elected members of assembly, though nominally chosen for two years held themselves to be equally irresponsible, and remained in office for many years. ”

“ The prosperity of Virginia begins with the day when it received, as "a commonwealth," the freedom to make laws for itself. In a solemn address to King James, which was made during the government of Sir Francis Wyatt, and bears the signature of the Governor, Council, and apparently every member of the Assembly, a contrast is drawn between the former "miserable bondage," and "this just and gentle authoritye which hath cherished us of late by more worthy magistrates. ”

“ After they had gone in to the Council Chamber, where the new Governor administered the oath, they stepped over to the Raleigh Tavern for supper. Then Botetourt was escorted to the Palace through the illuminated Duke of Gloucester Street and the Palace Green. [1]
If the British Government had hoped to please the people of Virginia in sending them a Governor General, they were not disappointed. "All ranks vied with each other in testifying their gratitude and joy that a nobleman of such distinguished merit and abilities is appointed to preside over and live among them." ”

“ A Bill of Rights and State Constitution, prepared by George Mason, was adopted on June 12th; and on June 29th, the Commonwealth of Virginia came into being.
Under the state constitution, the legislative department was divided into a House of Delegates and a Senate; eligibles were to be freeholders elected by freeholders. The executive department was to be presided over by a governor, to be elected annually by the House and Senate. Patrick Henry was chosen as first governor and Edmund Randolph attorney general. ”

“ The governor must be at least thirty years of age, a resident of the state for five years next preceding his election; and, if of foreign birth, a citizen of the United States for ten years. He appoints numerous officers with the concurrence of the Senate, has the usual power of vetoing legislative bills, and has authority to inspect the records of officers, or to employ accountants to do so, and to suspend, during a recess of the General Assembly, any executive officer at the seat of government except the lieutenant-governor ”

“ His fame was now established; business flowed in, and he was soon elected to the Virginia Legislature. He was a delegate to the Congress of 1774, and in 1775 made the prophetic speech of which the following selection is a portion. It was his own motion that the "colony be immediately put in a state of defense." During the Revolution he was, for several years, Governor of Virginia. In 1788 he earnestly opposed the adoption of the Federal Constitution. When he died, he left a large family and an ample fortune. ”

“ The executive powers shall be exercised by a Governor, who shall be chosen by joint ballot of both houses of assembly, and when chosen shall remain in office five years, and be ineligible a second time. During his term he shall hold no other office or emolument under this state, or any other state or power whatsoever. By executive powers, we mean no reference to those powers exercised under our former government by the crown as of its prerogative, nor that these shall be the standard of what may or may not be deemed the rightful powers of the governor. ”

“ Our desires we have intrusted to that worthy gentleman, Mr. Digges, our late governor; we shall desire you would please to give him access to you and by your highness. And as we promise you will find nothing but worth in him, so we are confident he will undertake for us that we are a people not altogether ungrateful, but will find shortly a nearer way than by saying so, to express really how much we esteem the honor of your patronage, which is both the hopes and ambition of your very humble and then obliged servants.
"From the Assembly of Virginia, 15th December, 1656." ”

“ It was rumored that it was he who persuaded the Auditor General to appoint Philip Ludwell Auditor of Virginia. And when the British government turned down the [Pg 186] recommendation of a Governor in filling a vacancy in the Council in favor of one by the merchants, it was deeply resented in the colony. "Your Lordships cannot but be sensible that little regard is likely to be paid a Governor who shall be supposed to have no interest at your Lordships' Board," Gooch wrote in 1747. ”

“ Say to Governor Jefferson that I believe it to be General Cornwallis' intention to advance into Virginia in an attempt to over-run and subjugate that state. Say to him, that I hope, with the assistance of Sumter's and Marion's rangers, without further reënforcements, to relieve the Southern States, and afterwards, if I am needed, I will gladly come to the help of Virginia. I would not have him think that I have deserted that noble commonwealth whose aid, more than that of any of the others, has enabled me to do what so far it has been possible to accomplish in this department. ”

“ At the Council of April 30, 1652, Captain-General Matthews, Col. John West, brother of Lord Delaware, and Colonel Yeardley, son of Governor Yeardley, acted as Councillors of Virginia "to treat with the enemy." Each a faithful adherent to "the waiting King"; each devoted to the welfare of Virginia, and fully determined to secure the most that could be secured in her interest. ”

“ The governor had dissolved them, and they had assembled at the Raleigh tavern in convention, and appointed delegates to represent Virginia in the approaching General Congress. That Congress met; its acts have elsewhere been noticed in detail. * The breach between the governor and the people continued to widen; the affairs of Great Britain and her American colonies rapidly approached a crisis. Every day the power of royal governors became weaker; every day the representatives of the people became bolder. ”

“ In the event of an emergency or enemy attack upon the soil of Virginia and a resulting inability of the House of Delegates to convene to fill the vacancy, the Speaker of the House, the person designated to act in his stead as prescribed in the Rules of the House of Delegates, the President pro tempore of the Senate, or the majority leader of the Senate, in that designated order, shall serve as Acting Governor until such time as the House of Delegates convenes to elect a Governor. ”

“ It will doubtless seem a matter for wonderment to those who may read this chronicle, that it was no more difficult, in those days, to secure an interview with the Governor of the State of Virginia than with any other gentleman in the Commonwealth. The morning after my arrival in Williamsburg, I betook myself to the Governor's mansion, clanged the iron knocker, and was shown by the negro doorkeeper straight into the Governor's office. ”

“ But he told them that he was resolved "by a new charter to appoint a Governor and twelve assistants, resident here in England, unto whom shall be committed the government." These assistants were to appoint a Governor and twelve assistants to reside in Virginia, "whereby all matters of importance may be directed by his Majesty." [22] In essence this was the original plan of 1606. There was "hot debate" in the Company when they met to consider this proposal. Every man present knew that the fate of the Company hung in the balance. ”

“ With many families becoming rich through the settlement of the West and the growth of the tobacco trade, with many hundreds of small farmers acquiring a degree of well-being by the purchase of a few slaves, with no immediate threat from the Indians on the frontier, with Governor and Council maintaining cordial relations, with the Governor cooperating with the Assembly and not trying to dominate it, with rapid strides being made toward the goal of self-government, the years of Gooch's administration may aptly be termed the golden era of Virginia colonial history. ”

“ The governor, supported by the great families, retained the same House of Burgesses for sixteen years lest a new one might not be submissive. The increasing mass of the population dwelt along the western border or on the less fertile ridges which make up the major part of the land even in tide-water Virginia. These poorer people—who were not, however, “poor whites”—developed an abiding hostility towards the oligarchy. They desired a freer land-grant system, protection against the inroads of the Indians along the border, and frequent sessions of an assembly to be chosen by all the freeholders. ”

“ In pursuance of the authorities given to the company by these charters, and more especially of that part in the charter of 1609, which authorised them to establish a form of government, they on the 24th of July 1621, by charter under their common seal, declared that from thenceforward there should be two supreme councils in Virginia, the one to be called the council of state, to be placed and displaced by the treasurer, council in England, and company, from time to time, whose office was to be that of assisting and advising the governor ”

“ When the Earl of Loudoun was made Governor General of Virginia, he received more than a hundred instructions. He must guard zealously the prerogative of the Crown, he must permit no riders to acts of Assembly, he must accept no gifts from the Assembly, he must not permit the issuing of paper money. The twenty-fourth instruction is especially revealing of the accepted view in Great Britain that American interests must be disregarded if they clashed with those of the mother country. ”

“ The new governor arrived in April, and soon after, to the inexpressible joy of the inhabitants, declared his determination to convoke a colonial assembly.
This is an important era in the history of Virginia. Heretofore, all legislative authority had been exercised, either by the corporation in England, or by their officers in the colony. The people had no voice, either personally, or by their representatives, in the government of themselves; and their most important concerns were managed by persons often unacquainted with their situation, and always possessing interests different from theirs. ”

“ It was not necessary for the Governor to make a direct promise; every man of prominence and wealth knew that he was being watched. But in one case at least a bargain was struck. In 1683 Governor Culpeper wrote the Privy Council that Isaac Allerton had assured him "of his utmost services in whatsoever the King should command him by his Governor," and he had promised in return "that he should be of the Council ... though not to be declared till after the session of the next Assembly." ”

“ It would make the restoration in Virginia easy and peaceful, for the staunchest republican would not dare resist, with Charles II on his throne and Sir William Berkeley ruling at Jamestown. Moreover, it could but please [Pg 111] the King and recommend the colony to his favor. On the other hand, the Assembly was careful to reserve all real authority to itself. Sir William was to be its servant, not its master. If, out of the confusion in England, should emerge a real republic, they could force the Governor either to acknowledge the new power or to resign his commission. ”

“ In Virginia, during this period, the commons could guard their interests only by means of the House of Burgesses. All other organs of government were controlled by Berkeley and his friends. The people had no voice in the selection of vestrymen, or sheriffs, or justices of the peace, and no control over their actions. The Council was entirely submissive to the Governor's will. Its members not only held their seats at Sir William's pleasure, but were the recipients of numerous other favors that bound them closely to his interest. ”

“ The predominant feeling, however, in Virginia as in England, was in favor of the restoration of Charles the Second. Sir William Berkley, in his speech addressed to the assembly on their proffer of the place of governor, said: "I do, therefore, in the presence of God and you, make this safe protestation for us all, that if any supreme settled power appears, I will immediately lay down my commission, but will live most submissively obedient to any power God shall set over me, as the experience of eight years has shewed I have done." ”