raged the most
exaggerated charges, and contributed to the unjustified sympathy
extended by the King to many petitioners who did not deserve such
consideration. Some of the "crimes" charged against Harvey were even
discovered to have their origin in the King's own commands or in earlier
acts of Assembly. Yet they contributed to clouding the atmosphere and
blinding the lords of England to the true worth of their representative
in Virginia.

On the basis of unjustified or unsupported charges concerning Harvey's
alleged misappropriation of the mutinous Councilors' estates, which had
been seized for the King pending their trial, the King, on May 25, 1637,
ordered these estates returned to their owners. Harvey complied
immediately as far as four of the Councilors were concerned, but he had
already allowed legal action to be directed against Mathews' estate by
those who had claims against Mathews, and judgments had been made in
favor of the plaintiffs. When the English government heard he had not
turned back Mathews' property, it promptly ordered that he do so without
delay, which order Harvey then tried to put into effect as best he
could. The damage had been done, however, and the impression created
that he had willfully misappropriated Mathews' property and disobeyed
the King's commands.

Harvey's fight against the charges his enemies brought against him in
England suffered another blow when Mr. Anthony Panton, a minister who
had been twice banished from the colony, returned to England to add his
complaints to those of the others. Harvey was not given a chance to
defend himself against the new charges, and on January 11, 1639, Sir
Francis Wyatt was appointed to succeed him.

On Wyatt's arrival Harvey's estate was seized and the old Governor
prevented from returning to England until he could satisfy his
creditors. To meet their demands, Harvey, in 1640, was forced to sell
all his land and much of his personal property. The fact that he was in
debt to many persons in the colony is itself a significant indication
that he had not abused the powers of his office. It is a curious fact
that both Governor Sir William Berkeley and Governor Harvey were much in
debt when the rebellions against their rule began, while their principal
enemies were among the wealthiest men in the colony.

Harvey was finally able to return to England, probably in 1641. There he
found Anthony Panton continuing his campaign of defamation against him.