Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 1.djvu/167

 COLONIAL COUNCILLORS OF STATE

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erley and, coming to Virginia about 1663, set- tled in Middlesex county, of which he was a justice in 1673. ^^^ rapidly attained great l)rominence in colonial affairs and was one 01 the most i^opular men of his period with the rank and tile of the colonists. The situa- tion at the time was a peculiar one. In 1670 Beverley had been elected clerk of the house o: burgesses and soon became the leader of the majority of that body, and it was they who, at the outbreak of Bacon's rebellion, were, with the Ludwells and Thomas Ballard in the council, the strongest supporters of Gov. Berkeley in his efforts to suppress the up- rising. It seems surprising that the popular I'.ouse with their chosen leader should have been so strong in support of the governor and that the only effective aid wdiich the rebels received should have come from members of the aristocratic council. Beverley himself was very active in the field against Bacon's follow-ers. and, in 1676, Berkeley appointed him commander of all his forces, and finally a member of the council. Lpon the arrival of the commissioners, sent from England to sup- ])ress the rebellion, there was introduced another element into the dispute. Gov. Berke- ley, resenting the intrusion of these strangers to the colony, was not disposed to yield any of liis authority or prerogatives to them or to aid them in their task, and in this he was again strongly sup])orte(l by the house of burgesses under I'everley's leadership, who. with the governor, were disposed" to regard the commissioners as interlopers. Beverley thus incurred the enmity of those who were later to possess the authority in the colony, and especially of Jeft'reys, soon to be the gov- ernor. Beverley was accused to the commis- sioners of plundering during his activities against Bacon, but Berkeley was able to save

him from punishment for the time. During the governorship of Chicheley, however, Bev- erley was accused of inciting the rioting tobacco planters and was imprisoned on ship- board. He escaped a number of times, but was recommitted, while other charges were trumi)ed up against him by his powerful enemies and carried to England. Gov. Cul- peper, being at that time in England, the King directed him, upon returning to \'irginia, to I)ut Beverley out of all his public offices. He was finally released from prison ui)on his humbly asking pardon for his past oft'ences and giving security for In.s future good be- liavior. His popularity had not waned in the meantime and the house of burgesses imme- diately elected him their clerk. But with Bev- erley's sturdy independence of spirit, position could only be the prelude of misfortune. The creatures of King James were now securely intrenched in their hold on the colony, and the only power with the inclination to resist them was the house of burgesses. The opportunity soon came, for at the session next following Beverley's reelection the governor and council made the illegal recjuest of the assembly to be empowered to levy a tax upon the colony. This the house at once and firmly refused, and, according to Gov. Effingham, even dis- ])uted the right of the King himself to use the veto. Beverley seems to have been a leader in this action and thus incurred the anger of the throne, which ordered him to be disabled from holding any public office and prosecuted to the full extent of the law as Effingham should deem advisable. It is illustrative of the fact that the political questions of that time were by no means simple, that the same man should have been at once a royalist and a champion of the people, and, furthermore, that the democratic Beverlev should have so