The colony now numbered 700. New settlements were formed, one situated up the river, called Henrico, after Prince Henry; and here, on the frontiers of the Indians, Alexander Whitaker, the “Apostle of Virginia,” preached the word of God to the natives. But perhaps the most efficient change which occurred in the colony had reference to the now established law of private property. To each man was allotted a few acres of land for a garden and orchard. Hitherto the land had all been worked in common, and the produce deposited in public stores. The excellent results of the new arrangement were soon apparent in the increased industry of all. To this shortly followed larger assignments of land, and before long the mode of common labour in the common field, to fill the public stores, was wholly abandoned. From this time the sanctity of private property, at least as regarded the colonists, was recognised. The colonists themselves still made free with the possessions of the Indians; as regarded them, _might_, which was strong in their hands, was _right_, as is too often the case where the civilised man deals with the savage. In March, 1612, a new charter was obtained by the London company for Virginia, which produced an important change in the constitution of the colony, and through which the first seed of democracy was introduced into the government of Anglo-America. Hitherto, as we have seen, all power had been vested in the council, which under the first charter was appointed by the king; now the control of the company’s affairs was removed from the council, and placed in the hands of the stockholders themselves, who were empowered to convene meetings for the transaction of the lesser business, whilst a great and general court was held once a quarter for important business. This charter also allowed the company to raise money by means of lotteries; but this liberty, after a few years, was withdrawn as a public evil. The powers of the company were increased by the new charter, and the affairs of the colony assumed an aspect of stable prosperity. As in the days of Smith, the Indians entered into treaties of alliance, nay, even went beyond it, declaring themselves tributaries of the English.