may well have been one of the factors that under- 

 mined Lord Treasurer Danby, whose power was 

 greatest in 1675 when income was most plentiful and 

 weakest when the Kind's financial problems became 

 intolerable. 



The role played by Virginia in creating the financial 

 disaster of 1676 has never been adequately considered, 

 partly because of the secondary consideration normally 

 given colonial occurrences by the mother country. 

 Detailed analysis of the precise economic loss occa- 

 sioned by Bacon's Rebellion has yet to be made. A 

 thorough study of the eflFect of Bacon's Rebellion on 

 English finances should take into account not only the 

 fact that imports from Virginia declined drastically at 

 the time of the uprising but that in the fall of 1676 ex- 

 ports from England were reduced becau.se of the em- 

 bargo placed on ships sailing for Virginia ports. 

 Because of the nature of the American trade routes 

 this embargo had an adverse effect on English trade 

 with the West Indies as well as with English colonies 

 on the North American mainland. The drop in West 

 Indian customs receipts was, indeed, spectacular. Be- 

 tween Michaelmas (September 29) 1675 and Michael- 

 mas 1676, the returns of the 4'^ per cent duty in 

 Barbados and the Leewai'd Islands amounted to 

 £5,993. In the following 12-month period the returns 

 of this duty fell to £800. In the 1677-1678 period 

 the proceeds from the West Indian dutv jumped to 

 £3,650.2*> 



Whatever the exact figure may be, Virginia's 

 unsettled condition resulted in a disastrous financial 

 loss for the Crown. On December 3, 1676, Charles II 

 complained to the French ambassador that Virginia 

 would cause him a loss of £80,000 on tobacco duties 

 and that furthermore an expenditure of £120,000 

 would be required to put down the rebellion.-" 



-'' Thornton, op. cif. (footnote 3), pp. 258-259. 



2^Antoine Courtin to King Louis XIV, December 3, 1676, 

 Francois Augustc Marie .Mexis Mignet's N egociatiotis relalivea 

 a la succession d'Espagne sous Louis XJV on Correspondances, 

 mimoires, el acles diplomatiques concernant les pretentions el 

 Vavenement de la Afaison de Bourbon au trone d'Espagne accom- 

 pagnes d'un texte historique el precedes d'une introduction, Paris, 

 1835-1842, vol. 4, p. 430. The figure of £80,000 yearly ac- 

 cruing to the Crown from the Virginia tobacco duties is cited 

 in the debates of the House of Commons, March 7, 1670 (Basil 

 Duke Henning, ed., The Parliamentary Diary of Sir Edward 

 Bering, 1670-1673, New Haven, 1940, pp. 92-93). In an un- 

 dated petition to the King (Colonial Office Papers, ser. 1, vol. 

 40, no. 110, Public Record Office, London), Governor Berkeley 

 reported that the Virginia trade brought in £100,00(1 annually. 



Careful husbanding of resources by Treasurer 

 Danby, involving reductions in expenses for almost 

 every branch of the government, failed to solve the 

 financial problem.^' In February 1677 Charles II 

 recalled Parliainent and asked for a money bill to 

 supply Ills many needs. Parliament was more recal- 

 citrant than it had previously been in granting the 

 King's requests for funds. The long adjournment 

 was deemed illegal by many members who asserted 

 that Parliament was thereby automatically dissolved. 

 The King's reluctance to enter a formal alliance 

 against the French and a suspicion that the monarch 

 was secretly wedded to French interests made Parlia- 

 ment reluctant to grant the Crown large sums of 

 money. In vain did the King plead with the House 

 of Commons; in \ain did he cite his extraordinary 

 expenses of 1676 caused ijy "those contingencies 

 which may happen in all kingdoms, and which 

 have been a considerable burden on me this last 

 year." -' Parliament wanted proof that his intentions 

 matched its own; until such proof was forthcoming, 

 Charles II must manage his affairs as best he could. 

 The plight of the King is shown in the instructions he 

 gave to the Earl of Feversham, who was sent to the 

 court of Lotiis XI\' in the winter of 1677. Charles 

 pointed out: 



. . . wc shall be necessitated to call a Parliainent in April, 

 by reason of a very great Branch of our Revenue that will 

 determine at Midsummer next .... How far the 

 irresislable tein|x-r of the House did necessitate us to a peace 



Berkeley's figure is matched in a petition entitled "The Virginia 

 Trade .Stated" submitted by the merchants and traders in to- 

 bacco to the House of Commons in 1677 (Colonial Office 

 Papers, ser. 1, vol. 40, no. 142, Public Record Office, London). 

 Summaries of these petitions are contained in W. Noel Sains- 

 bury and J. W. Fortescue, eds., Calendar of State Papers, Colonial 

 Series, America and West Indies, 1677-1680, London, 1896, nos. 

 304, 552. 



2' Browning, op. cil. (footnote 7), vol. 1, pp. 186-187ff. 



29 Speech of King Charles II to both houses of Parliament, 

 February 15, 1677, in ,-1 Collection of King.i'' Speeches; with the 

 Messages to and from both Houses oj Parliament, Addresses by the 

 Lords and Commons, and the Speeches of the Lords Chancellors and 

 Speakers of the House of Commons; From the Restauralion, the Tear 

 One Thousand Six Hundred and Sixty, to the Tear One Thousand Six 

 Hundred and Eighty-five, London, 1772, pp. 135-136. In his 

 speech of January 28, 1678, to both houses (ibid., pp. 141-142, 

 and Journals of the House of Commons, vol. 9, p. 427), Charles II 

 specifically mentioned the heavy charge of "a Rebellion in 

 Virginia." In the debate of March 12, 1677, on the King's 

 request for more funds. Sir John Ernly pointed out that "the 

 rebellion of Virginia has cost the King £100,000," and that a 



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BULLETIN 225: CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEl'M OF HISTORY .A.ND TECHNOLOGY 



