d) hath there by soe
fortifyed his power over us, as of himselfe without respect to our laws,
to doe what soever he best pleased, and from time to time ... to gaine
and procure great quantities of Tobacco and mony from us to his proper
use over and besides the Thousand pounds yearly salary ... and over and
besides the fees, profitts and per quisites to the place of Governour
belonging."[433]

Bacon himself declared, in justification of his rebellion, that
oppression and injustice were rife in the colony, and that it was
useless to appeal to the Assembly for redress. "The poverty of the
Country is such," he said, "that all the power and sway is got into the
hands of the rich, who by extortious advantages, having the common
people in their debt, have always curbed and oppressed them in all
manner of wayes." The poor, he declared, were kept in such perpetual
bondage that it was not possible for labor or industry to extricate
them. The great men of the colony had brought misery and ruin upon the
common people by perverting all equity and right. The perpetual breach
of laws, remiss prosecutions, excuses and evasions, but too plainly
attested that things were carried by the men at the helm, "as if it were
but to play a booty, game or divide a spoile". "Now consider," he adds,
"what hope there is of redress in appealing to the very persons our
complaints do accuse."[434]

And when once the Governor had obtained a House that was subservient to
his will, he might, by his power of prorogation, continue it
indefinitely. During the years from the Restoration to Bacon's
Rebellion, there were not more than two general elections, and probably
only one--that of 1661.[435] Under these circumstances the Assembly
could no longer be said to represent the voters of the colony. The
Burgesses might defy or betray the people as they chose, they could not
be made to answer at the polls for their misconduct. And their is ample
proof that this Long Assembly attended more to the commands of the
Governor than to the wishes of electors that could no longer elect. Even
Sir William's best friends admitted that his authority in Virginia was
almost despotic. Secretary Thomas Ludwell, writing in 1666, declared
that the Governor was "the sole author of the most substantial part" of
the government, "either for Lawes or other inferior institutions".[436]
"Our representatives," complained the Charles City commons eleven years
later "(of which for this coun