ms than those offered them. Charles rejected the
counter-proposals of the Virginians, with some show of anger, but he did
not abolish the Assembly, and in ensuing years sessions were held with
great regularity.[244]

The apprehensions of the colonists during this trying period were made
more acute by the resignation of Sir Francis Wyatt. In the winter of
1625-26 the Council wrote the Virginia commissioners, "The Governor hath
long expected a Successor, and the necessity of his private estate
compelling him not to put off any longer his return for England, wee
hope it is already provided for."[245] Great must have been the relief
in the colony when it was learned that Sir George Yeardley had been
chosen to succeed Governor Wyatt. Yeardley had been the bearer of the
Virginia Magna Charta, under which the first Assembly had been
established, and his services had not been forgotten by the people. But
he was not destined to see the restoration of the Burgesses, for he died
in November, 1627.[246] We have lost, wrote the Council in great grief,
"a main pillar of this our building & thereby a support to the whole
body".[247]

By virtue of previous appointment, Captain Francis West, brother of the
Lord De la Warr who had lost his life in the service of Virginia, at
once assumed the reins of government. Captain West continued in office
until March 5th, 1629, when he resigned in order to return to
England.[248] John Harvey, a member of the Virginia commission of 1624,
was the King's next choice for Governor, but pending his arrival, the
office fell to one of the Council--Dr. John Pott. This man had long been
a resident of Virginia, and had acted as Physician-General during the
years when the sickness was at the worst. He is described as "a Master
of Arts ... well practiced in chirurgery and physic, and expert also in
the distilling of waters, (besides) many other ingenious devices".[249]
He had made use of these accomplishments to poison large numbers of
Indians after the massacre of 1622.[250] This exploit caused the
temporary loss of his place in the Council, for when James I settled the
government after the fall of the Company, Pott was left out at the
request of the Earl of Warwick, because "he was the poysoner of the
salvages thear".[251] In 1626 his seat was restored to him. He seems to
have been both democratic and convival, and is described as fond of the
company of his inferiors, "who hung upon him while his good liquor