The assembly, composed of the governor, the council, and burgesses, met together in one apartment, and there discussed the various matters which came before them. The laws then enacted, which, it is believed, are no longer extant, were transmitted to England for the approbation of the treasurer and company.[33] [Footnote 33: Robertson. Chalmer. Stith.] [Sidenote: First arrival of females,] {1620} Although the emigrations from England continued to be considerable, few females had crossed the Atlantic. Men without wives could not consider their residence in the country as permanent, and must intend after amassing some wealth, to return to their native land. To remove this impediment to the population of the colony, ninety girls, of humble fortune and spotless character, were transported by the company to Virginia; and in the subsequent year, they were followed by sixty of the same description. They were received by the young planters as a blessing which substituted domestic happiness for the cheerless gloom of solitude; and the face of the country was essentially changed.[34] The prospect of becoming parents was accompanied with the anxieties for the welfare of their children; and the education of youth soon became an object of attention. The necessity of seminaries of learning was felt, and several steps were taken towards founding the college, afterwards established by William and Mary. [Footnote 34: Mr. Stith says the price for a wife was at first, one hundred, and afterwards, one hundred and fifty pounds of tobacco; and a debt so contracted was made of higher dignity than any other.] [Sidenote: and of convicts.] About the same time the company received orders from the King to convey to Virginia one hundred idle and dissolute persons, then in custody of the knight marshal. These were the first convicts transported to America. The policy which dictated this measure was soon perceived to be not less wise than it was humane. Men who, in Europe, were the pests of the body politic, made an acceptable addition to the stock of labour in the colony; and, in a new world, where the temptations to crime seldom presented themselves, many of them became useful members of society. {1621} [Sidenote: African slaves.] Heretofore the commerce of Virginia had been engrossed by the corporation. In the year 1620, this distressing and unprofitable monopoly was given up, and the trade was open to all. The free competition produced by this change of system was of essential advantage to the colony, but was the immediate cause of introducing a species of population which has had vast influence on the past, and may affect the future destinies of America, to an extent which human wisdom can neither foresee nor control. A Dutch vessel, availing itself of this commercial liberty, brought into James river twenty Africans, who were immediately purchased as slaves.[35] [Footnote 35: Robertson. Chalmer. Stith.]