was no lower class or society sharply marked off from the upper, on
the other hand in Virginia there was an insurmountable distinction
between the owners of plantations and the so-called "mean whites" or
"white trash." This class was originally formed of men and women
who had been indentured white servants, and was increased by such
shiftless people as now and then found their way to the colony, but
could not win estates or obtain social recognition. With such a
sharp division between classes, an aristocratic type of society was
developed in Virginia as naturally as a democratic type was developed
in New England.

[Sidenote: Virginia parishes.]
[Sidenote: The vestry of a close corporation.]
In Virginia there were no town-meetings. The distances between
plantations cooperated with the distinction between classes to prevent
the growth of such an institution. The English parish, with its
churchwardens and vestry and clerk, was reproduced in Virginia under
the same name, but with some noteworthy peculiarities. If the whole
body of ratepayers had assembled in vestry meeting, to enact by-laws
and assess taxes, the course of development would have been like that
of the New England town-meeting. But instead of this the vestry, which
exercised the chief authority in the parish, was composed of twelve
chosen men. This was not government by a primary assembly, it was
representative government. At first the twelve vestrymen were elected
by the people of the parish, and thus resembled the selectmen of
New England; but after a while "they obtained the power of filling
vacancies in their own number," so that they became what is called a
"close corporation," and the people had nothing to do with choosing
them. Strictly speaking, that was not representative government; it
was a step on the road that leads towards oligarchical or despotic