. And, upon receipt of Our commands, you shall then summon an
Assembly, and propose the said Laws for their consent."[884]

Most fortunately neither of these instructions could be enforced. The
great distance of England from Virginia, and the time required to
communicate with the King, made the summoning of the Assembly and the
initiation of legislation without the royal assent a matter of absolute
necessity. Lord Culpeper, with his Majesty's especial permission,
disregarded these orders during his first visit to the colony, and
later, to his great satisfaction, the Committee of Trade and Plantations
"altered their measures therein".[885]

Culpeper was directed to secure in the colony a permanent revenue for
the King. It was rightly judged that the representatives of royal
authority could never be entirely masters of the government while they
were dependent for their salaries upon the votes of the Assembly. Sir
William Berkeley, it is true, had rendered his position secure by
obliging all "the men of parts and estates", but similar methods might
be impossible for other Governors. The King and Privy Council did not,
however, attempt to raise the desired revenue by imposing a tax upon the
people without their own consent. An act levying a duty of two shillings
a hogshead upon all tobacco exported from Virginia was drawn up by the
Attorney-General for ratification by the Assembly.[886] The consent of
the King in Council was duly received and the bill, with an act
concerning naturalization and another for a general pardon, were sent to
Virginia by Lord Culpeper. "These bills," the King told him, "we have
caused to be under the Greate Seale of England, and our will is that the
same ... you shall cause to be considered and treated upon in our
Assembly of Virginia."[887]

The revenue bill was quite similar to an act of Assembly still in force,
which had imposed a duty upon exported tobacco, but an all-important
difference lay in the disposal of the funds thus raised. The former
statute had given the proceeds of this tax to the Assembly, "for the
defraying the publique necessary charges",[888] but the new act was to
grant the money "to the King's most excellent Majesty his heires and
Successors for ever to and for the better support of the
Government".[889]

In order to carry out these new designs for the government of the
colony, the King ordered Lord Culpeper to prepare to sail at once. The
Governor, however, was most rel