ey thought
proper, and were directed to establish a new government in accord with
the present constitution of England.

When, in the spring of 1652, the British fleet sailed up the James
river, Captain Denis found the intrepid Berkeley prepared for a
strenuous resistance. With the guns of the warships approaching his
capital, with English soldiers ready for a landing, with a strong party
in the colony in sympathy with the invaders, he might well have
despaired. Resistance would certainly entail enormous misfortunes upon
the colony--bloodshed, devastation, civil strife--and success could be
but temporary. Should he beat off the present expedition, others too
powerful to be resisted would undoubtedly follow, and the punishment of
the colony would be but the more severe.

Yet the Governor did not falter. He called around him the full strength
of the colonial militia, posted them to good advantage, and himself took
active command. Several Dutch vessels that had been trading in the James
were pressed into service, filled with men and moored in close to
Jamestown, with their guns trained upon the approaching enemy. Behind
them were several land batteries. The whole made an imposing appearance,
and might well have given apprehension to the invaders.

Fortunately, however, the threatened conflict was averted by the
persuasion of the Parliamentary commissioners. These men, anxious to
avoid civil war, availed themselves of the authority given them by the
Council of State, to offer very lenient terms of surrender. Some of them
seem to have preceded the fleet to Virginia, to consult with their
friends and to formulate plans to render the Governor's resistance
ineffectual. It is not improbable that these efforts were seconded by
some of the most prominent men of the colony. Two members of the Council
itself, it is said, who possessed goods of great value upon vessels in
the fleet, received warning that their property would be at once
confiscated, if they gave their support to the Governor. They therefore
were constrained to advocate submission. With division in the ranks of
the colonists and with the invaders ready for action, even Berkeley was
at last forced to give way and consent to a capitulation.

The terms of surrender were drawn up at Jamestown and agreed to by the
commissioners on the one hand, and by the Governor, Council and
Burgesses on the other. It was agreed first, that Virginia should
acknowledge its due allegianc