Page:Economic History of Virginia Vol 2.djvu/31

 Of all offences of which the servants were guilty, running away was the most common. The inclination to this act was exhibited at an early date in the history of the Colony and was attributable to a variety of causes, such as harsh treatment in special instances, the desire to escape from the trammels of an uncongenial situation, or the promptings of an intractable nature. It is easily conceivable that this disposition developed itself more frequently in youths under nineteen years of age who were bound for long periods, than in older persons whose terms would end in a much shorter time, and who, therefore, had not the same inducement to desert their masters. The younger laborers were naturally more restless, more unruly, and less likely to show patience and self-restraint if the conditions of their lives were repugnant to their tastes and ambitions. The inclination to run away was, however, confined to no age. The man who, in consideration of being transported across the ocean to Virginia, without payment of the usual charges, had conferred upon the merchant or shipowner the right to dispose of him in the Colony, would much more probably feel this impulse and act upon it than the man who had come out under articles of indenture with the planter to whom he was consigned, and as to whose character and standing he must have obtained more or less definite information. In such cases, the engagement of the servant had not been formed unadvisedly, but after consultation and thoughtful consideration.

In the beginning, the frequency with which servants abandoned their masters was in some measure due to the scarcity of labor. Many unscrupulous planters were led by this circumstance to hold out secret offers to persons of that class who were in the employment of landowners residing at a distance. These offers were accompanied