When this ardent and impetuous nature was vanquished as alone it could be vanquished--by death--Berkeley might, by judicious magnanimity, have healed the wounds of civil war; but, instead, he pursued the conquered rebels with a malignant perseverance, which seemed to grow by what it fed on. "Mr. Drummond," he said ironically to a follower of Bacon brought to him as a prisoner, "you are very welcome! I am more glad to see you than any man in Virginia. You shall be hanged in half an hour." Twenty-three leaders of this rebellion were thus executed before Berkeley stayed the bloody hand of his vengeance. "The old fool," quoth the King, "hath taken more lives in that naked country, than I for my father's murder!" Bacon's death remains one of the mysteries of history. Some said he died of miasma in the Virginia swamps; some hinted that his foes poisoned his food, so sudden and mysterious was his ending; and lest Berkeley's revenge should extend to insulting the very corpse of his foe, Bacon's followers buried him with the greatest secrecy, and no man knoweth the resting place of this first colonial champion of popular rights. But the spirit of popular liberty did not die with Bacon, nor vice-royal tyranny with Berkeley. Culpeper, Howard, and a score of others came over from England, one after another, all differing on many points of provincial policy, but united in the determination to fill their own pockets and the royal exchequer by means of colonial revenue. "Lord Colepepper," commented Beverley, "reduced the greatest perquisite of his place to a certainty, which before was only gratuitous; that is, instead of the masters of ships making presents of Liquors or provisions toward the Governor's housekeeping, as they were wont to do, he demanded a certain amount of money, remitting that custom." Such petty exactions as this were a dangerous experiment with a vehement and high-spirited people, who were willing to _give_ much, but to _yield_ nothing. The justice and moderation of Spotswood's government held back the tide of popular revolt for some time, and the French and Indian War roused a final flicker of loyalty to the mother-country; but England's success in that struggle cost her the American provinces. When Quebec surrendered to Wolfe's troops, and the French force was withdrawn from Canada, the Comte de Vergennes prophesied the coming revolution against England. "The colonies," said he, "will no longer need her protection. She will call on them to contribute toward supporting the burdens they have helped to bring on her, and they will answer by striking off all dependence."