They held
their heads above the Dutch traders of New York, and the money-getting
Roundheads of Pennsylvania and New England. Never were people less
republican than those of the great province which was soon to be foremost
in the memorable revolt against the British Crown.
3. The gentry of Virginia dwelt on their great lands after a fashion
almost patriarchal. For its rough cultivation, each estate had a multitude
of hands--of purchased and assigned servants--who were subject to the
command of the master. The land yielded their food, live stock, and game.
4. The great rivers swarmed with fish for the taking. From their banks the
passage home was clear. Their ships took the tobacco off their private
wharves on the banks of the Potomac or the James River, and carried it to
London or Bristol,--bringing back English goods and articles of home
manufacture in return for the only produce which the Virginian gentry
chose to cultivate.
5. Their hospitality was boundless. No stranger was ever sent away from
their gates. The gentry received one another, and traveled to each other's
houses, in a state almost feudal. The question of slavery was not born at
the time of which we write. To be the proprietor of black servants shocked
the feelings of no Virginia gentleman; nor, in truth, was the despotism
exercised over the negro race generally a savage one.
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