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that there might be no appeal to the king under the
value of two hundred pounds.
1
The holders of land within the grant of
Culpepper now lay at his mercy, and were compelled eventually to negotiate a compromise.
All accounts agree in describing the condition of
Virginia, at this time, as one of extreme distress.
Culpepper had no compassion for poverty—no sympathy for a province impoverished by perverse legislation—and the residence in
Virginia was so irksome, that in a few months he returned to
England.
The council
reported the griefs and restlessness of the country; and they renew the request, that the grant to
Culpepper and
Arlington may be recalled.
The poverty of the province rendered negotiation more easy; the design agreed well with the new colonial policy of Charles ii.
Arlington surrendered his rights to
Culpepper, and, in the following year, the crown was able
to announce that
Virginia was again a royal province.
2
Nor did
Culpepper retain his office as governor His patent was for life; but, like so many other charters, it was rendered void by a process of law,
3 not so much from regard for
Virginia liberties, as to recover a prerogative for the crown.
Lord Howard of
Effingham was
Culpepper's success-
sor. Like so many before and after him, he solicited office in
America to get money,
4 and resorted to the usual expedient of exorbitant fees.
It is said, he did not scruple to share perquisites with his clerks.
The ideas of right and wrong—the same in every breast.
