Page:Economic History of Virginia Vol 1.djvu/14

 f the use of this material in houses, because it seemed to be more consistent to include it under the head of the Religious Establishment. For the same reason, also the scope of taxation and the powers of the vestries have only been dwelt upon incidentally to facts relating directly to the economic condition of the people. A full account of both would with more fitness be given under the head of the Political System. Similar limitations, but in no instance of special importance, will be observed in other branches of the subject, as treated in this work.

The overwhelming mass as well as the extraordinary variety of the matter which enters into the economic history of Virginia in the Colonial Age are clearly shown in my own experience in approaching the subject. I began with the intention of writing an account of the economic condition of the Virginian people in the period between the Revolution and the late War. After investigation extending over several months, I perceived that it would be impossible to obtain a thorough understanding of this period, unless a careful examination was made of their economic condition in colonial times. Becoming very much interested in the study of the different economic aspects of that age, I determined to narrow the scope of my work to the interval between the foundation of Jamestown and the Declaration of Independence. As the course of my inquiry proceeded, the details relating to the subject grew into such volume that I was compelled to confine my attention to the seventeenth century; and even