" Enquiries to the Governor of Virginia." submitted by the lords commissioners of foreign plantations, with the governor's answers to each distinct head.
[From a book in the office of the General Court labelled "Inquisitions, &c. 1665 to 1676," pa. 239.]
These enquiries were propounded in the year 1670, and received their answers in 1671, while Sir William Berkeley was governor of Virginia. A more correct statistical account of Virginia, at that period, cannot, perhaps, any where be found. The answers appear to have been given with great candor, and were from a man well versed in every thing relating to the country, having been for many years governor. As it respects the inhabitants of Virginia, Sir William Berkeley seems to have been well qualified to rear them up as food for despots, since, in his answer to the last enquiry, he thanks God that there are no "free-schools or printing," and "hopes that we shall have none these hundred yeares."]
1. What councils, assemblies and courts of judicature are within your government, and of what nature and kind? Council, Assembly and Courts.
Answer. There is a governor and sixteen counsellors, who have from his sacred majestie, a commission of Oyer and Terminer, who judge and determine all causes that are above fifteen pound sterling; for what is under, there are particular courts in every county, which are twenty in number. Every year, at least the assembly is called, before whom lye appeales, and this assembly is composed of two burgesses out of every county. These lay the necessary taxes, as the necessity of the war with the Indians, or their exigencies require.
2. What courts of judicature are within your government relating to the admiralty?
Answer. In twenty eight yeares there has never been one prize brought into the country; so that there is no need for a particular court for that concern.
3. Where are the legislative and executive powers of your government seated.?
Answer. In the governor, councel and assembly, and officers substituted by them.
4. What statute laws and ordinances are now made and in force?
Answer. The secretary of this country every year sends to the lord chancellor,* or one of the principal secretaries, what laws are yearly made; which for the most part concern our own private exigencies; for, contrary to the laws of England, we never did, nor dare make any, only this, that no sale of land is good and legal, unless within three months after the conveyance it be recorded in the general court, or county courts.
5. What number of horse and foot are within your government, and whether they be trained bands or standing forces?
Answer. All our freemen are bound to be trained every month in their particular counties, which we suppose, and do not much mistake in the calculation, are near eight thousand horse: there are more, but is too chargeable for poor people, as wee are, to exercise them.
6. What castles and fforts are within your government, and how situated, as also what stores and provision they are furnished withall?
Answer. There are five fforts in the country, two in James river and one in the three other rivers of York, Rappahannock and Potomeck; but God knows we have neither skill or ability to make or maintain them; for there is not, nor, as far as my inquiry can reach, ever was one ingenier in the country, so that we are at continual charge to repair unskilfull and inartificial building of that nature. There is not above thirty great and serviceable guns; this we yearly supply with powder and shot as far as our utmost abilities will permit us.
7. What number of priviteers do frequent your coasts and neighbouring seas; what their burthens are; the number of their men and guns, and the names of their commanders?
Answer. None to our knowledge, since the late Dutch war.
8. What is the strength of your bordering neighbours, be they Indians or others, by sea and land; what correspondence to you keep with your neighbours.
Answer. We have no Europeans seated nearer to us than St. Christophers or Mexico that we know of, except some few ffrench that are beyond New England. The Indians, our neighbours are absolutely subjected, so that there is no fear of them. As for correspondence, we have none with any European strangers; nor is there a possibility to have it with our own nation further than our traffick concerns.
9. What armes, ammunition and stores did you find upon the place, or have been sent you since, upon his majestyes account; when received; how employed; what quantity of them is there remaining, and where?
Answer. When I came into the country, I found one only ruinated ffort, with eight great guns, most unserviceable, and all dismounted but four, situated in a most unhealthy place, and where, if an enemy knew the soundings, he could keep out of the danger of the best guns in Europe. His majesty, in the time of the Dutch warr, sent us thirty great guns, most of which were lost in the ship that brought them. Before, or since this, we never had one great or small gun sent us, since my coming hither; nor, I believe, in twenty years before. All that have been sent by his sacred majesty, are still in the country, with a few more we lately bought.
10. What monies have been paid or appointed to be paid by his majesty, or levied within your government for and toward the buying of armes or making or maintaining of any ffortifications or castles, and how have the said monies been expended?
Answer. Besides those guns I mentioned, we never had any monies of his majesty towards the buying of ammunition or building of fforts. What monies can be spared out of the publick revenue, we yearly lay out in ammunition.
11. What are the boundaries and contents of the land, within your government?
Answer. As for the boundaries of our land, it was once great, ten degrees in latitude, but now it has pleased his majesty to confine us to halfe a degree.* Knowingly, I speak this. Pray God it may be for his majesty's service, but I much fear the contrary.
12. What commodities are there of the production, growth and manufacture of your plantation; and particularly, what materials are there already growing, or may be produced for shipping in the same?
Answer. Commodities of the growth of our county, we never had any but tobacco, which in this yet is considerable, that it yeilds his majesty a great revenue; but of late, we have begun to make silk, and so many mulberry trees are planted, and planting, that if we had skilfull men from Naples or Sicily to teach us the art of making it perfectly, in less than half an age, we should make as much silk in an year as England did yearly expend three score years since; but now we hear it is grown to a greater excess, and more common and vulgar usage. Now, for shipping, we have admirable masts and very good oaks; but for iron ore I dare not say there is sufficient to keep one iron mill going for seven years.
13. Whether salt-petre is or may be produced within your plantation, and if so, at what rate may it be delivered in England?
Answer. Salt-petre, we know of none in the country.
14. What rivers, harbours or roads are there in or about your plantation and government, and of what depth and soundings are they?
Answer. Rivers, we have four, as I named before, all able, safely and severally to bear an harbour a thousand ships of the greatest burthen.
15. What number of planters, servants and slave; and how many parishes are there in your plantation?
Answer. We suppose, and I am very sure we do not much miscount, that there is in Virginia above forty thousand persons, men, women and children, and of which there are two thousand black slaves, six thousand christian servants, for a short time, the rest are born in the country or have come in to settle and seat, in bettering their condition in a growing country.
16. What number of English, Scots or Irish have for these seven yeares last past come yearly to plant and inhabite within your government; as also what blacks or slaves have been brought in within the said time?
Answer. Yearly, we suppose there comes in, of servants, about fifteen hundred, of which most are English, few Scotch, and fewer Irish, and not above two or three ships of negroes in seven years.
17. What number of people have yearly died, within your plantation and government for these seven years last past, both whites and blacks?
Answer. All new plantations are, for an age or two, unhealthy, 'till they are thoroughly cleared of wood; but unless we had a particular register office, for the denoting of all that died, I cannot give a particular answer to this query, only this I can say, that there is not often unseasoned hands (as we term them) that die now, whereas heretofore not one of five escaped the first year.
18. What number of ships do trade yearly to and from your plantation, and of what burthen are they?
Answer. English ships, near eighty come out of England and Ireland every year for tobacco; few New England ketches; but of our own, we never yet had more than two at one time, and those not more than twenty tuns burthen.
19. What obstructions do you find to the improvement of the trade and navigation of the plantations within your government?
Answer. Mighty and destructive, by that severe act of parliament which excludes us the having any commerce with any nation in Europe but our own, so that we cannot add to our plantation any commodity that grows out of it, as olive trees, cotton or vines. Besides this, we cannot procure any skilfull men for one now hopefull commodity, silk; for it is not lawfull for us to carry a pipe stave, or a barrel of corn to any place in Europe out of the king's dominions. If this were for his majesty's service or the good of his subjects, we should not repine, whatever our sufferings are for it; but on my soul, it is contrary for both. And this is the cause why no small or great vessell are built here; for we are most obedient to all laws, whilst the New England men break through, and men trade to any place that their interest lead them.
20. What advantages or improvements do you observe that may be gained to your trade and navigation.
Answer. None, unless we had liberty to transport our pipe staves, timber and corn to other places besides the king's dominions.
21. What rates and duties are charged and payable upon any goods exported out of your plantation, whither of your own growth or manufacture, or otherwise, as also upon goods imported?
Answer. No goods either exported or imported, pay any the least duties here, only two shillings the hogshead on tobacco exported, which is to defray all public charges; and this year we could not get an account of more than fifteen thousand* yearly, with which I must maintain the port of my place, and one hundred intervening charges that cannot be put to public account. And I can knowingly affirm, that there is no government of ten years settlement, but has thrice as much allowed him. But I am supported by my hopes, that his gracious majesty will one day consider me.
22. What revenues doe or may arise to his majesty within your government, and of what nature is it; by whom is the same collected, and how answered and accounted to his majesty?
Answer. There is no revenue arising to his majesty but out of the quit-rents; and this he hath given away to a deserving servant, Col. Henry Norwood.
23. What course is taken about the instructing the people, within your government in the christian religion; and what provision is there made for the paying of your ministry?
Answer. The same course that is taken in England out of towns; every man according to his ability instructing his children. We have fforty eight parishes, and our ministers are well paid, and by my consent sould be better if they would pray oftener and preach less. But of all other commodities, so of this the worst are sent us, and we had few that we could boast of, since the persicution in Cromwell's tiranny drove divers worthy men hither. But, I thank God, there are no free schools nor printing, and I hope we shall not have these hundred years; for learning has brought disobedience, and heresy, and sects into the world, and printing has divulged them, and libels against the best government. God keep us from both!
Nothing can display in stronger colors the execrable policy of the British government, in relation to the colonies, than the sentiments uttered by Sir William Berkeley, in his answer to the last interrogator. These were, doubtless, his genuine sentiments, which recommended him so highly to the favor of the crown, that he was continued governor of Virginia from 1641 to 1677, a period of thirty-six years, if we except the short interval of the commonwealth, and a few occasional times of absence from his government, on visits to England. The more profoundly ignorant of the colonists could be kept, the better subjects they were for slaver. None but tyrants dread the diffusion of knowledge and the liberty of the press.
Source : Hening's Statutes at Large, Volume II, P511-517.