In the end the King had his way. The Burgesses made two minor amendments, and then passed the bill. When it came before Charles again, he vetoed one of these amendments, and allowed the other. A quarter of a century later, when the Board of Trade asked Attorney General Simon Harcourt and Solicitor General James Montague to pass on the validity of the act, they reported that it had been put through irregularly. "It would be wise," they said, "if any part of her Majesty's revenue depends on this act, to have another in its place."[54]
Yet the act was permitted to stand, and the cause of self-government in colonial Virginia suffered its greatest reverse. No longer could the Assembly force the Governor to sign this bill or that by refusing to vote his salary. No longer did they hold a sword over the heads of the Council. It is true that they still retained in part their grip upon the purse, since the export duty together with the quit rents seldom met even the ordinary needs of the government, and were entirely inadequate in times of emergency. It is this which explains why such notable gains for liberty were made during the colonial wars. Yet from this time until the Declaration of Independence the Virginia Assembly had to fight the royal prerogative with one hand tied behind its back.[55]
Having secured the passage of the King's three laws, Culpeper rested on his laurels. He seems to have yielded to the plea of the Council not to deliver the King's rebuke to the Assembly. If he ever told the Council of his instruction to initiate bills with their advice and secure the King's approval before sending them to the House, they must have argued that it was impractical. They had no desire to have representative government in the colony made a mockery. Were the Burgesses to have the right of amending bills? they must have asked. If so, would the amended bills have to go back to England for the King's approval? Under such conditions, it might take years to enact the simplest laws. So this instruction was ignored.
Equally impractical was it to secure the King's permission before calling an Assembly. In case of a sudden emergency it might be fatal to wait until the Governor had written to Secretary Coventry, until he had taken the matter up with his Majesty, until some vessel sailed and had made the tedious voyage to Virginia. If the need were the outbreak of war with the Indians, half the colony might be scalped before the Assembly could meet to raise men and money for arms and forts. So Culpeper ignored this instruction also.