individual; and the political views attributed to him were those of
the Lee family, who remained faithful to the royal cause in all its
hours of adversity.

It will be seen that Richard Lee, the first of the Virginia Lees, was
an ardent monarchist. He came over during the reign of Charles I., but
returned to England, bequeathing all his lands to his servants; he
subsequently came back to Virginia, however, and lived and died there.
In his will he styles himself "Richard Lee, of Strafford Langton, in
the County of Essex, Esquire." It is not certainly known whether he
sought refuge in Virginia after the failure of the king's cause, or
was tempted to emigrate with a view to better his fortunes in the New
World. Either may have been the impelling motive. Great numbers of
Cavaliers "came over" after the overthrow of Charles at Naseby; but a
large emigration had already taken place, and took place afterward,
induced by the salubrity of the country, the ease of living, and
the cheapness and fertility of the lands on the great rivers, where
families impoverished or of failing fortunes in England might "make
new settlements" and build on a new foundation. This would amply
account for the removal of Richard Lee to Virginia, and for the
ambition he seems to have been inspired with, to build and improve,
without attributing to him any apprehension of probable punishment for
his political course. Very many families had the first-named motives,
and commenced to build great manor-houses, which were never finished,
or were too costly for any one of their descendants to possess. The
abolition of primogeniture, despite the opposition of Pendleton and
others, overthrew all this; and the Lees, like other families, now
possess few of the broad acres which their ancestors acquired.

To return, however, to Richard Lee. He had already visited Virginia in