The leading features of New England local government, then, were (1) its democratic character, seen particularly in the town meeting; and (2) the fact that nearly all local affairs were managed by the town government, leaving but one important function, and that judicial in its nature, for the county.

The Settlement of Virginia.—­In the colony of Virginia we find conditions that bring about entirely different results in the organization and workings of local government.  Here the settlers were not bound by religious or other ties into compact social bodies as the Puritans were.  Natural conditions in Virginia made it better for the settlers to live apart, so that nearly all their attempts to form cities and towns failed.  The cultivation of tobacco, of course, explains this to a large extent.  The fertile soil and the ease of raising this product led to the formation of large plantations.  The broad rivers made progress into the interior remarkably easy; and there seemed little necessity for towns as shipping ports, because ocean vessels could stop at the private wharves of the various plantations.  The rich planters were most prominent in the social and political life of the colony, and local government fell under their control.

The Importance of the County.—­Now, of the various local organizations to which the Virginians had been accustomed in England, the one best suited to their condition in the colony was the county.  So they copied the English county and made it their chief organ of local government.  The principal governing body was the county court, composed of justices appointed at first by the governor of the colony.  The court had both legislative and judicial functions.  It managed such matters as roads, licenses, and taxation; it also tried civil and criminal cases.  Other county officers were the sheriff and the lieutenant, the latter being commander of the militia.

The Parish and the Vestry.—­That part of the Virginia local government which corresponded to the New England town was the parish; but it is apparent that few functions remained to be exercised in this, their smallest political organization.  The counties were generally composed of several parishes.  The governing body of each was the vestry; it had charge of church affairs and of poor relief.  The members of the vestry and also the justices of the county court were not elected by the people, as the town officers were in New England.  On the contrary, both the vestry and the county court filled vacancies in their own number, without popular election.

This fact serves to illustrate the general truth that local government was democratic in New England and aristocratic in Virginia; in the former colony the mass of voters took part most actively in local government, while in the latter a few men constituted the ruling class.  This does not mean that local affairs in Virginia were badly managed, for the leading men were on the whole intelligent and public-spirited; and in the years of the Revolution they were among the foremost in the defense of American liberties.  In New England, however, it was noticeable that the mass of voters were intelligent and understood the practical management of political affairs—­a result which doubtless came largely from their training in the town meeting.