Page:Economic History of Virginia Vol 2.djvu/57

 immediate importance in the community. As late as 1654, however, we find in the Assembly, burgesses who, only a few years before, had been working for different planters, under indenture or by the custom of the country. The explanation of this fact is to be sought either in their superior ability and energy after securing a release, or in their thrifty habits during the continuation of their service.

It was not impossible for an active and industrious man bound by indenture or by the custom of the country to accumulate a good estate in the course of his employment; it is said that there was a general disposition on the part of the landowners to assist their laborers in acquiring property as a preparation for starting under the most advantageous circumstances on their own account as soon as they had obtained certificates of freedom. The relation of kindness and confidence prevailing between master and servant was shown in the frequency with which the latter acted as the attorney of the former. The servant was often allowed a tract of cleared ground in which to plant tobacco to be disposed of by himself when the annual