Page:Economic History of Virginia Vol 2.djvu/63

 that the laborer, by the exercise of sound judgment in his trading, ought to have accumulated sixty pounds sterling, and if he had been allowed by his employer to cultivate a patch of tobacco of his own, this sum would be very materially increased.

The women who were exported from England to the Colony had unusual opportunities of advancing their welfare in life. If they enjoyed an honorable reputation, they found no difficulty in marrying into a higher station than they had been accustomed to; Bullock mentions the fact that no maid whom he had brought over failed to find a husband in the course of the first three months after she had entered into his service. The fortunes of these imported women were frequently superior to their deserts, for a large proportion of them were considered to be worthless.

The number of persons in the Colony who had been condemned to servitude for violating the law was always small, and in 1642, the statute prescribing this form of punishment, which had been passed in 1619, was abolished.

The salable value of the servant depended in principal measure on the length of time which his indenture still had to run. It was of course affected by the degree of his physical strength. Striking the general average for the series of years represented in the uncompleted terms appraised in the inventories of estates entered in the county court records, the following will be found to be substantially correct: a man having still one year unexpired, ranged in value from two pounds sterling to four; having two years, from six pounds sterling to eight; having three years, from eight to fourteen pounds sterling; having four years, from eleven to fifteen pounds sterling;