Panton was not content to accuse the previous government in Virginia of
every sort of general crime (although he failed to cite any specific
instance of oppression) but charged that the commission the King had
granted to Sir William Berkeley in August 1641 to replace Wyatt had been
surreptitiously obtained. The House of Lords therefore ordered
Berkeley's voyage delayed while they examined the case. The House of
Commons, on the basis of an earlier petition from Panton, had similarly
prevented the return to Virginia of Richard Kemp, Secretary of the
colony, and Christopher Wormeley. Both Berkeley and the two Virginians
presented counterpetitions, the one pointing out that he was charged
with nothing and hence desired not to be held up on his costly voyage,
the others asserting that all Panton's accusations were untrue and
similarly requesting permission to leave. The House of Lords thereupon
granted these petitions, sending Panton's charges to the Governor and
Council of Virginia for a decision.

THE EARLY ADMINISTRATION OF SIR WILLIAM BERKELEY, 1642-1644: AN ERA OF
GOOD FEELING

In March 1642 Sir William Berkeley took up his duties in Virginia and
began a career which ended both gloriously and ignominiously thirty-five
years later. Berkeley came from a distinguished family, was a graduate
of Oxford and the Inns of Court, a playwright, and a courtier much
admired by the King. Men frequently wondered why he chose to waste his
talents in the American wilderness when he might have achieved eminence
at Court. The mystery will probably ever remain. In Virginia Berkeley
had to work with many of the same Councilors who bedeviled Harvey, but
Berkeley was able to get along well with them and with the Assembly and
people of Virginia. No Governor of Virginia in the seventeenth century
was ever so well or so deservedly loved by the people. Since he ended
his long career as Governor amidst a colonial rebellion against his rule
in 1676, historians have found it hard to determine whether to bestow
praise or blame upon him. Usually he is praised for his early years in
the government and condemned for his later years, thus taking on a Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde character. The last word has not yet been written on
Governor Berkeley, however, and his character may prove to be more
consistent than historians have realized.

Berkeley's first action was to join the Burgesses and Council in a
violent denunciation of those who were attempting t