Robert
Dennis was to be one, had the power to appoint captains and other
officers, and to raise forces within each of the aforesaid plantations,
for the furtherance of the service; and such persons as should come in
and serve as soldiers, if their masters should stand in opposition to
the government of the English Commonwealth, might be discharged and set
free from their masters, by the commissioners. A similar measure was
adopted by Lord Dunmore in 1776. In case of the death of Captain
Dennis, his place was to be filled by Captain Edmund Curtis, commander
of the Guinea frigate.[217:A] It is a mistake to suppose that the
members of the Long Parliament were all of them, or a majority of them,
Puritans, in the religious sense of the term; but they were so in
political principles.

In March, 1652, Captain Dennis arrived at Jamestown, and demanded a
surrender of the colony. It is said by some historians that Sir William
Berkley, either with a hope of repelling them, or of commanding better
terms, prepared for a gallant resistance, and undertook to strengthen
himself by making use of several Dutch ships,[217:B] which happened to
be there engaged in a contraband trade, and which he hired for the
occasion; that there chanced to be on board of the parliament's fleet
some goods belonging to two members of the Virginia council, and that
Dennis sent them word that their goods should be forfeited if the colony
was not immediately surrendered; and that the threat kindled dissensions
in the council, and the governor found himself constrained to yield on
condition of a general amnesty.[217:C]

Such is the account of several chroniclers, but it appears to be based
only on a loose and erroneous tradition. It would have been a mere empty
gasconade for Sir William Berkley to oppose the English naval force, and
the truth appears to be, that as soon as the parliamentary squadron
entered the Chesapeake Bay, all thoughts of resistance were laid aside.
If the story of the preparation for resistance were credited, it must at
the same time be believed that this chivalry and loyalty suddenly
evaporated under the more potent influence of pecuniary interest.[217:D]

The capitulation was ratified on the 12th of March, 1652, by which it
was agreed that the Colony of Virginia should be subject to the
Commonwealth of England; that the submission should be considered
voluntary, not forced nor constrained by a conquest upon the country;
and that "the