[
151]
and industry, his judgment and conduct.
Having re-
mained five years in
America, and now desiring to visit
England and his family, he appointed
George Yeardley deputy-governor, and embarked for his native country.
1
The labor of the colony had long been misdirected; in the manufacture of ashes and soap, of glass and tar, the colonists could not sustain the competition with the nations on the
Baltic.
Much fruitless cost had been incurred in planting vineyards.
It was found that tobacco might be profitably cultivated.
The sect
of gold-finders had become extinct; and now the fields, the gardens, the public squares, and even the streets of
Jamestown, were planted with tobacco;
2 and the colonists dispersed, unmindful of security in their eagerness for gain.
Tobacco, as it gave animation to Virginian industry, eventually became not only the staple, but the currency of the colony.
With the success of industry and the security of
property, the emigrants needed the possession of political rights.
It is an evil incident to a corporate body, that its officers separate their interests as managers from their interests as partial proprietors.
This was found to be none the less true, where an extensive territory was the estate to be managed; and imbittered parties contended for the posts of emolument and honor.
It was under the influence of a faction which rarely obtained a majority, that the office of deputy-governor was intrusted to
Argall.
Martial law was at that time the common law of the country: that the despotism of the new deputy, who was both self-willed and avaricious, might be complete, he was further invested with the place of admiral of the country and the adjoining seas.
3 
