IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) '^ A (A 1.0 I.I 1.25 1^ ilii^ 1^ ||||2.2 [1^ li£ 11 2.0 1.4 i.8 1.6 V] /^ cM % /a > > /; /^ Hiotographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. MS80 (716) 872-4503 d ^^ ,\ .^\^ ^- %^4 A Wk\ ^9)^ & ^ & ^ ^^ CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiques The tot The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checked below. D Coloured covers/ Couverture do couleur I I Covers damaged/ Couverture endommagAe Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaurie et/ou pelliculde Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque Coloured maps/ Cartes gdographiques en couleur Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) I I Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ n Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur Bound with other material/ Reli6 avec d'autres documents D Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ La re liure serrie peut causer de I'ombre ru de la distortion le long de la marge intArieure Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajout6es lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, lorsque cela 6tait possible, ces pages n'ont pas M fiimies. L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a dt6 possible de se procurer. Les details de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-dtre uniques du point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dans la mithode normale de filmage sont indiqu^s ci-dessous. I I Coloured pages/ Pages de couleur Pages damaged/ Pages endommag6es Pages restored and/oi Pages restaurdes et/ou pellicul^es Pages discoloured, stained or foxe< Pages d6color6es, tachetdes ou piqudes Pages detached/ Pages ddtachdes Showthrough/ Transparence Quality of prir Qualiti inigale de I'impression Includes supplementary materic Comprend du materiel suppl^mentaire Only edition available/ Seule Edition disponible I I Pages damaged/ I I Pages restored and/or laminated/ rri Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ I I Pages detached/ r'[^ Showthrough/ j I Quality of print varies/ I I Includes supplementary material/ I I Only edition available/ & Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to ensure the best possible image/ Les pages totalement ou partiellement obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure, etc., ont 6t6 filmdes d nouveau de fapon d obtenir la meilleure image possible. The pos oft film Ori| beg the sior othi first sior or il The she TIN whi Mai diffi enti beg righ reqi met El Additional comments:/ Commentaires suppl^mentaires; Various pagings. We uuition of them is sometimes attended with sati«^ty ? We try to make ibem more to us than (Jod has fitted them to be. Such attempts must ever be in rain. We do not enjoy tliem as the gifts and refreshments afforded ns by God, and in subordinution to his will and purpose in giving. If we did so^ «ur use would be humble, grateful, mod 'irate, and happy. The good tJn» IfQO n*»*a IS: tkorn ia \t^»mtnAt^A • !>..> ... .— . .U-^ :_ -I—— — ^i(* ^t--! - I--' — t- -»-ssi I "^ - -=■ »»•- .i. — . ij-j^tiwva , inii x3Sica max a. UTaWs OU^ j'l'ri r itIIQBISi' ties MEMOIR. iheir God, ac- be author beii^ 5." Mr. Gra- lies of local in- learning." In stened his taste '• topics having tings with little ticism led him be obliterated, r of his ripened ould have con- daughter died, ) which endan- severest of all :t of his anlini- rahame's mind ,v, John Stew- nal is deep re- 8 meditations, urious and in- ctions did not also evidences t ordinary oc- are constantly aciples. Tb» ►, — is as re- of others." ivements, Mr. i 19, be writes,, Icbrew ; and,, own in a few of the mind is intemplated.'* rary and pro- :iHil depressed oral watchfut- hus, in April,. 15 struck witji is temptations' ; the cottduci on of a cBse^ jtober foliow- and that tlte to make thenr jst ever be in IForded ns hy Ef we did so^ be good tbatr IX ^1 OKir L i!igfB2BF sweetness and best use may be found in the testimony they afford of his ex- haustless love and goodness." And again, in February, 1822, — "We are all travelhng to the grave, — but in very different attitudes ;— some feasting and jestmg, some fastmg and praying ; some eagerly and anxiously strugelins lor things temporal, some humbly seeking things eternal." An excursion into the Low Countries, undertaken for the benefit of his health, m 1823, enabled Mr. Grahame to gratify his "strong desire to be- come acquainted with extrema vestigia of the ancient Dutch habits and man- ners. In this journey he enjoyed the hospitalities, at Lisle, of its gover- nor, Marshal Cambronne, and formed an intimacy with that noble veteran, which, through the correspondence of their sympathies and principles, ripen- ed into a friendship that terminated only with life itself. r > i- About this period he was admitted a fellow of the Royal Society of Ed- inburgh and soon after began seriously to contemplate writing the history of the United States of North America. Early education, relilious princi- pie, and a native earnestness in the cause of civil liberty concurred to in- clme his mind A this undertaking. He was reared, as we have seen, under the immediate eye of a father who had been an early and uniform advocate ot tJie principles which led to American independence. In 1810, whil vet but on the threshold of manhood, his admiration of the illustrious men ^vho were distmguisiied m the American Revolution was evinced by the familiari- ty with ^vhich he spoke of their characters or quoted from their writings. 1 he names of Washington and Franklin were ever on his lips, and his cbief source of delight was m American history.^ This interest was mtenseiy in- creased by the fact, that religious views, in many respects coinciding \nth his own had been the chief moving cause of one of the earliest and m^x successful of the emigrations to North America, and had exerted a material eftect on the structure of the political institutions of die United States Ihese combined inguences elev. ,.ed his feelings to a state of enthusiasm oa the subject of American history, and led him to regard it as " the noblest in dignity, the most comprehensive in utility, and the most interesting in oro- gress and event, of aU the subjects of thought and investigation." In jL», 1824, he remarks m his journal,-"! have had soraelhoughts of wrhine tJTl °i,N°?h America from the period of its cotenization from E«! rope till the Revolution and the establishment of the republic. The subiect seems to me grand and noble. It was not a thirst of gold or of conqSSu but piety and virtue, that laid the foundation of those settlements. The^ ^L"!"^ f • ^1'*' P''"''!;' ' '""T' °^^'"" «"'^ •="■'"«' »>»* of manly ente.- S «lTn K .1. y °'' ""V^^ ^V' *'="'*^ °^ Freedom betrayed and abandon J^l V w'^ I'^'T ""^^ ^'"Sland. The share that religious men ted S» accomplishing the American Revolution is a matter well deservmg inm^J" but leading I fear, into very difficult discussion." ^ ^ ^' engaged m it w th many doubts and after frequent misRivings^ Nor did be Sused^^iCff^'"'-"'^' »;^ P«^««-«d, were scattered'broken, a^ Ues 'nd chSlv to\ "^""f ""•* f^T^ ^y ^'"'^^^" independent sove^ign- ties , and chiefly to be sought in local tracts and histories, h ard to be Si- ' Sit John P. W. Herwjhei't lettVK ~~ ~~" xr MEMOIR. tamed, and often little known, even in America, beyond the scenes in which they had their origin, and on which their light was reflected. It was a work which must absorb many years of his life, and task all his faculties. Not only considerations like these, but also the extent of the outline, and the number and variety of details embraced in his design, oppressed and kept in suspense a mmd naturally sensitive and self-distrustful. Having at length become fixed in his purpose,— chiefly, there is reason to believe, through the predominating influence of his religious feelings and views, — on the 4ih of December, 1824, he writes in his journal, — " After long, profound, and anxious deliberation, and much preparatory research and inqui.v, I began the continuous (for so I mean it) composition of the historv of the United States of North America. This pursuit, whether I succeed in it or not, must ever attract my mind by the powerful consideration, that it was first suggest- ed to me in conversation with my father, Mr. Clarkson, and Mr. Dillwyn » And, at a subsequent date,— " May God (whom I have invoked in the work) bless, direct, and prosper my undertaking ! The surest way to exe- cute It well IS to regard it always as a service of body and^splrit to God • that the end may shed its light on the means. »» In the same spirit, he writes to Mr. Herschel, on the 31st of December, — " For a considerable time 1 have been meditating a great literary work, and, after much prepara- tory reading, reflection, and note-writing, have at length begun it. If I con- tinue It, as I hope to do, it will absorb much of my time and mind for manv years. It is a history of North America, — the most interesting historica'l subject, J think, a human pen ever undertook. I have always thought the labors of the historian the first in point of literary dignity and utility. His- tory IS every thing. Religion, science, literature, whatever men do or think falls within the scope of history. I ardently desire to make it a religious work, and, in writing, to keep the chief end of man mainly in view. Thus I hope, the nobleness of the end I propose may impart a dignity to the means." ' The undertaking, once commenced, was prosecuted with characteristic ardor and untiring industry. All the time which professional avocations left to him was devoted to this his favorite field of exertion. His labors were continued always until midnight, and often until three or four o'clock in the morning, and he became impatient of every other occupation. But late hours, long sittings, and intense application soon seriously affected his health and symptoms of an overstrained constitution gradually began to appear Of this state of mind, and of these effects of his labors on his health, his letters give continual evidence. " I am becoming increasingly wedded to my his- torical work, ?>nd proportionally averse to the bar and forensic practice. At hall past three this morning I desist, from motives of prudence (tardily op- erating, it must be confessed) rather than from weariness." — " Sick or well, my History is the most interesting and absorbing employment I have ever found. It is a noble subject." ** By application thus active and incessant, the first volume of his work comprehending the history of the settlement of Virginia and New England' was so nearly co mplejed^atjyjnjhej^^ as^c^dmit of his then ' A manuscript journal of iho progress of tliiH HiHtory, includinglhTamhiii^i^onWltecr depoBited .n the library of that institution, to ivhich it now belong.. It i. ono of the docu ■lent* URcd in tho preparation of thJH Memoir. • Lotten to llerKhel, January and Februury, IHas, cess. MEMOIR. XI 3 scenes in which . It was a work s faculties. Not outline, and the essed and kept in Having at length believe, through ivs, — on the 4th ig, profound, and (uhy, I began the he United States it or not, must (vas first suggest- i Mr. Dillwyn." ! invoked in the rest way to exe- l^splrit to God ; J same spirit, he r a considerable r much prepara- ;un it. If 1 con- d mind for many resting historical vays thought the id utility. His- nen do or think, ^e it a religious n view. Thus, a dignity to the th characteristic il avocations left lis labors were r o'clock in the tion. But late icted his health, I to appear. Of ;alth, his letters Jded to my his- practice. At ice (tardily op- " — " Sick or loyment I have e of his work, New England, rnit of his then thnritioH conBiilted^ 1 College, and waa a one of tho docu opening a negotiation for its publication. In a letter to Longman, his book- seller, Mr. Grahame expresses in the strongest terms his devotedness to the undertaking, and adds, — "Every day my purpose becomes stronger to abandon every other pursuit, in order to devote to this my whole time and attention." He now imniediately set about collecting materials for his second volume. , Having ascertained that in England it was impossible to obtain books essen- tial to the success of his historical researches, and that rich treasures in the department of American history were deposited at Gottingen, he undertook a journey to that city, and found in its library many very valuable materials for his work. To these resouices his attention had been directed by Sir William Hamilton, whose " unwearied labors in supplying him with infor- mation on the subject of his historical work, and whose interest in its suc- cess," he gratefully acknowledges in his letters ; adding, — " To him noth- ing is indifferent that concerns literature, or the interests of his friends." During Mr. Grahame's short residence on the continent of Europe, his mother, to whom he was tenderly attached, died ; and he returned to En- gland i/i the following September (1825) under a heavy depression of spirits. He resumed, however, his favorite labors, but, in consequence of the feilure of his health, was soon obliged to desist. " The latter part of 1825 and the beginning of 1826," his friend Her- schel states, " was passed by Mr. Grahame in London, under pressure of severe and dangerous as well as painful illness, the exhausting and debilitat- ing effects of which were probably never obliterated from his constitution, and which made it necessary for him to seek safety in a milder climatfi than ;! that of Scotland. Thither, however, he for a while returned, but only to ; write in a strain like the following : — ' Whitehill, April 24, 1826. My bodily health is nearly reestablished ; but my mind is in a wretched state of feebleness and languor, and indifference to almost every thing. My History is completely at a stand. The last month has been the most disagreeable I p "}y. '''®- '^ ^ ^^ "ot t" undergo some great change in the state of my . faculties, I do sincerely hope my life may not be long. My discontent and i uneasiness are, however, mitigated by the thought, that our condition is ap- pointed by God, and that there must be duties attached to it, and some de- gree of happiness connected with the performance of those duties. Sure- y, the highest duty and happiness of a created being must arise from a wil- hng subservience to the designs of the Creator.' " • Being apprized by his physicians that an abode in Scotland during anoth- er winter would probably prove fatal to him, he transferred his residence to the bouth of England, and thenceforth, abandoning his profession of advo- cate, devoted himself exclusively to the completion of his historical work, as appears by the following entry in his diary : — " March, 1826. Edin- » f? J j""™ ^V P"^^?^""? ^o strike my tent, that is, dissolve my house- hold and depart for ever from this place ; my physicians requiring me not to pass another winter in ihe climate of Scotland. I quit my profession with- out regret, having little liked and greatly neglected it ever since I under- took lie history of America, to which I shall be glad to devote uninterrupt- edly ail my energies, as soon as I succeed in re-collecting them." His journal bears continued testimony lo ilie deep interest he took in every thing American, and the philosophic views which he applied to the condition and duties of the people of' the United States. — *' American VOL. I. t «« xu MEMOIR. writers are too apt to accept the challenge of Europeans to competitions quite unsuitable to their country. Theraistocles neither envied nor emulat- ed the boast of the flute-player, to whose challenge he answered : ' I can- not, indeed, play the flute like you ; but I can transform a small villaee into a great city.' From evils of which America is happily ignorant there arise some partially compensating advantages, which she may very well dispense with. Titular nobility and standing armies, for example, develope polite- ness and honor (not honor of the purest and noblest kind) among a few at the expense of depraving and depressing vast multitudes. Great inequalities of wealth, the bondage of the lower classes, have adorned European realms with splendid castles and cathedrals, at the expense of lodging the mass of society in garrets and hovels. If American writers should succeed in per- suading their countrymen to study and assert equality with Europeans in dramatic entertainments, m smooth polish of manners, and in those arts which profess to enable men to live idly and uselessly, without wearying, they will orra a taste inconsistent with just discernment and appreciation of their po- htical institutions. Vespasian destroyed the palace of Nero, as a monument ot luxury and pernicious to morals. The absence of such palaces as Tria- non and Marly may well be compensated by exemption from such tyranny as the revocation of the edict of Nantes, which was coeval with their erection " Uf Mrs. Trollope's «' Domestic Manners of the Americans," and her de- preciating view of "the society which he regarded with love, admiration, and hope, he thus writes m a subsequent page of his journal : — " What is inith .' Is it not as niirch in the position of the observer as in the condition of the observed > Mrs. Trollope seems to me full-fraught with the most pitilui vulgarities of aristocratical ignorance and pretension ; and these would naturally mvite the shock of what she seems to have met with in the antipa- thy of democratic insolence and coarseness ; — she is Basil HaJl in petticoats. 1 hmk of such a brace of pragmatical pretenders and adventurers as he and she, sitting m judgment on America ! " It is impossible not to remark the delight his mind took in any associations connected with America. « At the printing ofiice of Messrs. Strahan and Spottiswoode," he writes " I corrected a proof-sheet of my History of Worth America, sitting mtktn the walls of that establishment u>kere Franklin once ..as a workman- Again, at Kensington :-- I delight tostroU am 3 the sombre grandeur of these gardens. The lofty height and deep shade of h!,! S'^" !"'a'1!'' '"'P^ ^ P'^"''"?' solemn, half-melancholy gloom. Here Penn aid Addison walked. Here Rousseau, when in England, w" wont to sit and muse. Sometimes, in spirit, I meet their spirits here." rioH nf f^v'TuT' 1^^'' T'^' ^""S!"g »»'e narrative down to the pe- ai^ IROT ,^!;p''f\"'"^'"'r' ^^""? '^ '""S'^ completed, were in FebVu- RrJtlcE ?r' !"u ,?!" ^''^°''y "^^^ ""^^^'^^^ ^''h little interest by the British public, and by all the greater Reviews with neglect. The Edinbi.rcli n'en^e""!"' "V^ ^-^'S" ^^^-b' maintained 'toward, it an omints probation. For Englishmen the colonial history of the United States had but few attractions; and the spirit in which Mr. Grahame had treated he subject was not calculated to gratify their national pride. He was thought ..! ,j.,a»,,f {3ad icaijuiaica m aveiaiou tu nionarciiy/' that to. ca. MEMOIR. competitions i nor eniulat- red : ' I can- tU village into nt there arise well dispense elope polite- ong a few, at >t inequalities opean realms ; the mass of ;ceed in per- uropeans, in se arts which ng, they will I of their po- a monument ces a$ Tria- luch tyranny ir erection." ' and her de- admiration, ~ " What is he condition th the most these would ) the antipa- n petticoats, rs as he and associations Stralian and History of re Franklin • stroll amid ;p shade of loly gloom, igland, was here." 1 to the pe- i in Febru- ustain a se- rest by the Edinburgh, in ominous Lialified ap- States had treated the las thought lid that his — that to- xin wards the church of England "his feelings were fanatical," towards the church of Rome " illiberal and intolerant." • Conscious of the labor he had bestowed upon it, and of the fidelity with which It was executed, Jfr. Grahame was not disheartened by the chillinc reception his work met with from the British public, nor deterred from pur- suing his original design ; the conviction predominating in his mind, that sooner or later it would conciliate public esteem. Accordingly, in the au- tumn of the same year in which his first two volumes were published, he not only conimenced their revision, but began an extension of his History to the period of the declaration of American independence. His interest in his subject evidently increased. " American history," he writes, " is my fa- vorite field."— " I am averse to all other occupation."— " I am pleased to gather from any quarter wherewith to decorate my beloved North Ameri- ca. — '^ God bless the people and institutions of North America ' So prays their warm friend, and obscure, but industrious, historian." About this time, through the kindness of James Chalmers, nephew of the late George Chalmers, he obtained admission to the library of that distin- guished American annalist. The treasures there opened to him rekindled his zeal, and he renewed his historical labors with an intense assiduity ill comporting with the critical state of his health. Apprehending a fatal termi- nation ot his disease, his medical advisers urged him to pass the ensuing win- ter at the IS and of Madeira ; and thither his friend Herschel, through anx- iety lor his life, offered to accompany him. But no consideration could in- duce him to leave England, where alone the researches which occupied his mind could be pursued with advantage ; and for the purpose of availing him- self of the books on American history which London afforded, he established himself in the vicinity of that city. In May, 1828, Mr. Grahame visited Paris, accompanied by his father who introduced hira to La Fayette. " I was received," he writes, " by this renerable and illustrious man with the greatest kindness. His face expresses grave, mild, peaceful worth, the calm consciousness and serene satisfaction ol virtue. I was charmed with his dignified simplicity, his mild but generous benevolence, and the easy, genUe, superior sense and virtue of his thinking." ^rom Paris, Mr. Grahame travelled with his father along the banks of the Loire, visited Nantes, renewed his acquaintance with Marshal and Madame Cambronne, and spent some days in their family. ♦« The modest, simple, ^'•J'vaJrous character of Marshal Cambronne," says Mr. Stewart, " attract- ed Mr. Grahame's esteem and admiration, and strengthened those ties of mutual interest and attachment which their former intercourse had originated." Returning to the neighbourhood of London in June following, his health recruited by his excursion, he immediately resumed, with characteristic ar- dor, his favorite historical pursuits. At this time the Catholic emancipation question strongly agitated the British nation, and \»r. Grahame'i ardent love of liberty and religious toleration excited in tv: kc-en interest in the suc- cess of this measure. Having found the clima. f Nantes adapted to his constitution, and enabling him, as he expressed himself, " to labor night and day at his historical work," he returned to that city in October of the same year, and fixed his residence there during the ensuing winter and spring. In May, 1829, on his homeward journey, he passed through Paris, again -. — _ sj , _«,, ,.„„ ,j,„, ijj ^fjg „,iuSi ui ni3 lanitiy, " surrounued, toe writes, « by a troop of friends, some of distinguished character und as- XIV MEMOIR. pect, and all regarding him with respect and admiration. Thus serene is the evening of his troubled but glorious life." Mr. Grahame adds : — "I had the honor and happiness of long and most interesting conversations with him, respecting the origin and commencement of his connection with the Ameri- can cause. Nothing could be more friendly, kind, or benevolent than his manners ; nothing more instructive, entertaining, or interesting than the con- versation he bestowed upon me. How mild, wise, and good La Fayette is • Mr. Clarkson described him to Me as a man toho desires the happiness of the hu:., in race, in consistence with strict subservience to the cause of truth and the honor of God. I deem this a very honorable diploma. In the compa- ny of La Fayette, I feel an elevation of spirit and expansion of heart. What a roll of great deeds, heroic virtues, and interesting scenes is erij;raven on the lines of the venerable face of the prisoner of Olmiitz ! " From these and other conversations Mr. Grahame acknowledges that he derived the materials for various passages in the text and notes of the fourth volume of his History of the United States. This work he finished in De- cember, 1829. The intense labor which he had applied to its completion brought on a severe nervous fever, which, for a short time, threatened a fatal result. In April, 1830, Mr. Grahame was married, at Nantes, to Jane A. Wil- son, daughter of the Rev. John Wilson, the Protestant pastor of that city. Concerning this connection, John Stewart, Esq., his son-in-law, thus writes : — " From this period till his death, Mr. Grahame's home was at Nantes ; and in the society of his pious, amiable, and accomplished wife, and under her tender and vigilant care, Mr. Grahame enjoyed a degree of tranquil hap- piness and renewed health to which he had been long a stranger ; — inter- rupted only, at times, by his tendency to excessive literar) exertion ; but at a later period more seriously and permanently, by the dangerous, lingering, and almost hopeless illness of his daughter. Between Mr. and Mrs. Gra- hame existed the most devoted attachment, based upon a complete apprecia- tion of and profound esteem for each other's qualities and principles. They were both interesting, even in appearance ; tall and well proportioned ; — their features bearing the impress of a happy seriousness, while their de- meanour evinced that peculiarly attractive stamp of real gentility which Chris- tian principles add to natural good-breeding." After his marriage, Mr. Grahame resided for several years at L'Eperon- niere, an ancient chateau in the environs of Nantes ; Mr. and Mrs. Wilson the aged parents of his wife, being inmates of his family. " Through their long standing connections," continues Mr. Stewart, " Mr. Grahame found himself at once in the best French society of Nantes. There the worth of his character soon made itself respected. The interest he took in every thing affecting the welfare of the city (to which, if necessary, he was accus- tomed liberally to subscribe), the urbanity of his demeanour in his intercourse With nidividuals, united with the generosity of his disposition, soon caused him to be regarded more in the light of a fellow-citizen than as a stranger ; and in process of time all such local distinctions as his numerous friends could bestow upon him, or induce him to accept, were conferred on him. The influence he thus acquired was chiefly and successfully exerted in the support of the small but increasing church professing the Protestant faith at Nantes. To several Frenchmen residing at Nantes Mr. Grahame became IvnriTllv attnnUnrl 1.... tisough liis spirit of general benevolence led him to take MEMOIR. rene is the — "I had I with him, he Ameri- it than his n the con- 'ayette is • ness of the ' truth and he compa- rt. What yen on the ;es that he the fourth ed in De- ;ompletion ned a fatal 3 A. Wil- ihat city, us writes : t Nantes ; and under nquil hap- ; — inter- »n ; but at lingering, i'lrs. Gra- apprecia- Bs. They ioned ; — their de- ich Chris- i'Eperon- . Wilson, 3ugh their me found the worth L in every 'as accus- itercourse )n caused stranger ; IS friends on him. ted in the It faith at s became ui to take XV a warm mterest m those among whom he lived, and notwithstanding he saw much among the French to admire and respect, yet the character of his mind and habits, staid, serious, and retired, did not penuit his feelings towards that country to approach to any thing like the warmth of his affection and admiration for either America or England." Although Mr. Grahame had finished writing his History in December, 1829, he was far from regarding it as ready for the press. He attributed the ill success of his first two volumes to the haste with which they had been published ; he therefore resolved to devote several years to the revis- ion of the entire work, and often expressed a doubt of its publication in his Iiietime. Nearly four years had now elapsed since the appearance of Mr. Grahame's volumes, yet the general silence concerning them had not been broken by any voice from this side of the Atlantic. The high price of the English edition rendered any considerable circulation in this country hopeless ; and American editors were yet to learn that it was possible for a foreigner and a Briton to treat the early history of the United States with fairness and im- partiality. The knowledge of the nature and true value of this composition was confined to a few individuals. At length, in January, 1831, a just and discriminating critical notice of the work appeared in the North American Review. After expressing regret at the neglect with which it had hitherto been treated :n America, and pointing out the causes of the little interest it had excued in this country, the reviewer proceeds to do justice to the inde- pendent spirit of the author ; to his freedom from prejudice ; to " the happy discrimination he had manifested in the selection of the leading principles that led to the colonization of the several States, and the able exposition of the results that followed" ; and to his having " corrected, with a proper boldness, the mistakes, whether of ignorance or malignity, which his prede- cessors in the same labors had committed." The reviewer adds, " Mr. Grahame, with a spirit able to appreciate the value of his subject, has pub- lished what we conceive to be the best book that has anywhere appeared, upon the early history of the United States." "He has not invariably avoided error, but he has coped very successfully \!vith the disadvantages of his situation." This is believed to be the first time Mr. Grahame's Histo- ry had been made, either in America or Europe, the special subject of notice in any leading Review. This high commendation of the two volumes then published appears by his journal to have been " very gratifying" to Mr. Grahame, and to have encouraged him to proceed with the revision and preparation of his extended work. While, under this new incitement, he was assiduously employed in reexamming the details of his History, and exerting himself to render it as accurate as possible, he was interrupted by events which filled his domestic circle with grief and anxiety. In May, 1833, the death of his wife's moth- er, Mrs. Wilson, for whom he entertained an affection truly filial, was im- mediately followed by the dangerous illness of his only daughter. Her phy- sicians, both in France and England, having declared that her life depended upon a change of climate, Mr. and Mrs. Grahame immediately accompanied her to Madeira ; whence, after, a residence of nine months, they returned, her restoration being now deemed hopeless. She eventually recovered, however, in a manner " incomprehensible and unparalleled in medical expe- rience," and ultimately attained a state of fair and permanent health, to which the assiduous attention of her excellent molher-in-law greatly contributed. Xvi MEMOIB. i- On his return from Madeira, Mr. Grahame first heard of the death of L» Fayette, to whose memory he pays the following tribute in his diary : " La Fayette is dead ! This ' sun of glory ' is blotted from the political firmament, which he has so long adorned. Every honest and generous breast must ' feel the sigh sincere ' for the loss of this great man, — the extinction of an effulgence of honor, virtue, and wisdom so benignly bright. Fully and beautifully did he exemplify the words of Wolsey : ' Love thyself last,' and 'Corruption wins not more than honesty.' He drew his last breath, and ceased to be a part (how honored, how admirable a part !) of human nature, at an early hour on the twentieth of this month [May], at the age of nearly seventy-seven. Pity that his last days must have been embit- tered by the existing dissensions in his beloved America ! Of the human beings I have known, and knowing have regarded with unmingled veneration, there exist now only Mr. Clarkson and my father. It seems strange to me that La Fayette should be no more, — that such an illustrious ornament of human nature should disappear, and yet the world continue so like what it vyas before. Yet the words ' La Fayette is dead ' will cause a keen sensa- tion to vibrate through every scene of moral and intellectual being on earth. A thousand deep thoughts and earnest remembrances will awaken at that name, over which ages of renown had gathered, while yet its cvner lived and moved and had his being among us. France, in losing this man, seems to me to have lost the brightest jewel in her national diadem, and to have suf- fered an eclipse of interest and glory." During his residence in Madeira, Mr. Grahame continued the revision of his History, and on his return, after devoting another year to the same object, he took up his residence in London for the purpose of superintending its publication. Here, again, his anxiety and unremitting industry induced a dangerous illness. His restoration to health he attributed to the assiduous care of two of his friends, Mrs. Reid and Dr. Boott. The former took him from his hotel to her own house, and thus secured for him retirement, auiet, and her undivided attention. *' From her," he says, " I have received le most comfortable and elegant hospitality, fhe kindest and most assiduous care, and conversation seasoned with genius, piety, and benevolence, and the finest accomplishments of education." Concerning Dr. Boott, who is a na- tive of Boston, Massachusetts, established as a physician in London, Mr. Grahame remarks in his diary, — " His knowledge is great ; his abilities excellent ; his flow of thought incessant ; his heart and dispositions admira- ble. He insists that his valuable attendance upon me be accepted as friend- ly, and not remunerated as professional, service. In this man, America has sent me one of her noblest sons, to save the life of her historian." After an interruption of six weeks, Mr. Grahame resumed the revision of the proof-sheets of his work ; and in December, having finished this labor, returned to his family, at Nantes. In the ensuing January (1836), his His- tory was published. Eleven years had now elapsed since Mr. Grahame had commenced writ- ing the History of the United States. More earnest and assiduous research had seldom been exerted by any historian. His interest in the subject was intense. His talents were unquestionable. There Was no carelessness in the execution, no haste in the publication. A Briton, highly educated, uni- versally respected, of a moral and religious character which gave the stamp of authority to his statements and opinions, had devoted the best year? of his i) I MEMOIR. xtn f death of Lt lis diary : — the political ind generous t man, — the nignly bright. Love ihyself Irew his last a part !) of ;May], at the 2 been embit- )f the human id veneration, strange to me ornament of like what it a keen sensa- iing on earth, /a ken at that ner lived and an, seems to to have suf- le revision of same object, rintending its ry induced a he assiduous former took n retirement, lave received iost assiduous snce, and the who is a na- London, Mr. ; his abilities tions admira- ted as friend- America has m." le revision of ed this labor, 36), his His- Tienced writ- lous research i subject was relessness in ducated, uni- ve the stamp t yentf of hi< .Ife to the task of introducing his countrymen and the world to an acquaint- ance with the early fortunes of a people who had risen with unparalleled rap- idity to a high rank among the nations of the earth ; yet a second time his work was received with neglect by those literary Reviews in Great Britain which chiefly guide the public taste, and distribute the rewards and honors of literary industry. Although highly wrought, elevated in sentiment, gener- ous and noble in its design, all its views and influences made subservient to tlie cause of pure morals and practical piety, yet, as has been already ob- served, it was obviously not adapted to conciliate either the prejudices, the feelings, or the interests of the British people. It could not well be expect- ed, that, under an Episcopal hierarchy, whose Roman Catholic origin and tendencies are manifest, a history of successful Puritanism would be favorably received. It could not be hoped, that, in a nation which had risen to the height of civiHzation and power under a monarchy based on an aristocracy, a work illustrative and laudatory of institutions strictly republican would be countenanced, — much more, generally patronized. Mr. Grahame, more- over, had not only imbibed the political principles of the Puritans, but had caught much of their devotional spirit. Hence his language, at times, is ill suited to the genius of an age which does not regard religion as the great busi- ness of life, nor the extension of its influences as one of the appropriate ob- jects of history. Owing to these causes, his work received little encourage- ment in Europe, and the knowledge of its claims to respect and attention was limited. Nor were these consequences confined to Great Britain. Amer- ican readers commonly rely on the leading Reviews of that country for no- tices of meritorious productions of British authors, and are not apt to make research after those which they neglect or depreciate. As Mr. Grahame belonged to no political or literary party or circle, he was without aid from that personal interest and zeal which often confer an adventitious popularity. He trusted the success of his work wholly to its own merits, and, when dis- appointed a second time, neither complained nor was discouraged, — sup- ported, as before, by a consciousness of his faithful endeavours, and by a firm belief in their ultimate success. He had assumed the whole pecuniary risk of his extended publication, in four volumes octavo, which resulted in a loss of one thousand pounds sterling, — and that, at a time, as he states, when it was not easy for him to sustain it. Taking no counsel of despond- ency, however, he immediately began to prepare for a second edition of his entire work, and devoted to it, during the remaining years of his life, all the time and strength which a constitutional organic disease permitted. Hitherto, Mr. Grahame's interest in America had been derived from the study of her history and institutions ; but in 1837 he formed an acquaintance with a few distinguished Americans, and received from them the respect due to his historical labors. Among these was Robert Walsh, Esq., who, after a brilliant and effective literary career in this country, had transferred his residence to Paris ; by him Mr. Grahame was introduced to Washington Irving. Both these eminent Americans united in urging him to write the history of the American Revolution ; Mr. Walsh offering to procure for him materials, and a sufficient guaranty against pecuniary loss. Under this influence he now entered upon a course of reading embracing that period of American history ; but, as may be gathered from the general tenor of his subsequent remarks and the result, more from curiosity and in- terest in the subject than from any settled purpos ' writing upon it ; for XVlll MEMOIR. early m August of this year (1837), he observes in his diary, — " Mr Walsh, in his letters to me, renews his urgency that I should write the his- tory of the Revolutionary War. But I think I have done enough as a his- torian, and that a prudent regard to my own reputation bids me rather enforce my title than enlarge my claim to public attention." And about the same time he wrote to Mr. Walsh, — " 1 cannot agree with you in thinking that our beloved America will regard with equal complacency a historic garland attafched to her brows by foreign hands, and one in which a son of her own blends Ins own renown with hers." Yet, from a letter to the same gentle- man in September following, it is evident that Mr. Grahame entertamed a strong predilection for the design ; for he thus writes : — " The more I pur- sue my present American studies, the more I am struck with a pleasing as- ^nishnient. The account of the formation of the federal constitution of iNorth America inspires me with delight and admiration. I knew but the outline of the scene before. Now, I find that the more its details are exam- ined, the more honorable and interesting it proves. Truly does it deserve to be termed the greatest scene of human glory that ever adorned the tide ot human time. 1 wish, that, ere my health and spirit had been broken, I had ventured to be the historian of that scene. But surely the country the magna mater mrum, that has produced such actors and such deeds, is hei- sell destined to afford their fittest historian." In a similar strain he writes in his journal, under the same date, — " The account (by Pitkin and oth- ei-s), which I am reading, of the formation of the federal constitution of INorth America, after the achievement of her national independence, fills me with astonishment and admiration. It would make me glad to be con- vinced that the present people of America and their leaders are altogether such as were the Americans of those days. Far more was gamed to Amer- ica (and through her, I hope, eventually to the whole world) by the wisdom Virtue, and moderation exhibited by her children after the War of Indenend- T± I^'"i • f '^' r^""' 'I''' ^'■^"Sht that war to its happy close, sich a scene the history of no other country ever exhibited. I wish I Imd been its historian. But a fit historian will surely arise one day " Botta, who had written the history of the American Revolution, died about his time in Pans. Mr. Grahame's feelings were deeply moved b; the even 'I hope," he wrote in his diary, " that the Americans at Paris attended to nnr^ i, JtT '^/y'^'J^Z^,"^ American, I would have desired leave o attend, had I been there." And m a letter to Mr. Walsh, he remarks, - 1 hope some memoir of Botta will appear. It should gratify Americans to learn, that, on his death-bed, he related (it was to myself), Uiat^iis son in some distant part of the world, received civilities from the officers and of Lv?^'"Tf"-''^'''^' ^^J>° i»stantly recognized as a friend the son llnl > w?" °/»'f/,^o""|'-y' -adding, ' That was a rich reward of my labors.' When I told him that Jefferson had expressed admiration of his work, he squeezed my hand and testified much delight. And when I told him that both Jefferson and John Adams condemned his speeches as ficti ions, he smiled, and answered with naiveU, ' They are not wholly invented.-' Mr. Walsh having, m conversation, expressed to Mr. Grahame h-s sur- prise at tlje partia ..y he evinced for his coin.ry and countrymen, he repl Ld, il^lni't. •"'^'' T"' ''l'^\^y '''^ ^'''^''' ^° ^^'^ ^he Romans, so was I trained by mine to love the Americans." And, in writing to that gentle- man in October. Ififi?. h*- rnmorUo ;„ ,i.„ _„„_ ' • •. ,9 , ^' gtniie- I see the defence of America conducted with recrimination against Great I MEMOIR. j^ . Britain. But I must confess that my own indignation at the conduct and lan- guage of some of my countrymen towards America is at times uncontrollable. I wish that Americans could regard these follies with indulgence, or magnani. mous (perhaps disdainful) indiilerencc. For my part, I cap truly say, that my daughter is hardly dearer to me than America and American renown." His admiration of the character of Washington is thus expressed in his journal, under the date of September, 1837 : — "O, what a piece of work of divine handicraft was Washington ! What a grace to his nation, his age, and to human nature was he ! I know of no other military and political chief who has so well supported the character delineated in these lines of Horace : — ' Justuin ac tenacem propoHiti virum Non civium ardor prava jubentium, Non vultug inntantis tyranni, Mente quatit solidA.' With the same feeling that tempted the clergyman, who read the funeral service over the body of John Wesley, to substitute, for the formula, • our dear brother here departed,' the words, ' our dear father here departed,' I am inclined to regard Washington rather as a father than a brother of his fellow-men. What a master, what a pupil, were Washington and La Fay- ette ! One day, when I was sitting with La Fayette, he said to me, ♦ I was always a republican, and Washington was always my model and my master.' " During the same month, he wrote to Mr. Walsh, — " Washington impresses me with so much veneration, that I have become more than ever anxious to know what really was the state and complexion of his religious opinions " ; and , recurring, in a subsequent letter, to the same topic, he remarks, — " I find McGuire's * Religious Opinions and Character of Washington ' heavy, tire- some, and, in general, unsatisfactory. But last night I reached a passage which gave nie lively delight ; for now I can look on Washington as a Christian." Until near the close of this year, Mr. Grahanie continued to pursue his researches on the subject of the American Revolution, although laboring un- der a constant depression of health and spirits, and a prevailing apprehension that his life would be shorty and that his constitutional disorders were symp- tomatic of sudden death. But in December, 1837, his physicians prohib- ited him from " writing or reading for some months, on any subject likely to provoke much thinking " ; and on the 19th of this month, he wrote to Mr. Walsh, that he had reason to attribute his recent illness to his " late historic studies, and to the anxiety of mind earnest meditation had induced." '^For me to undertake such a work," he says, "or even contemplate it, or dili- gently prepare for it, until my health be totally renovated (which, in all hu- , man probability, it never will be), would, 1 clearly see, be to do to the sub- ject and to myself unreasonable injustice. / therefore renounce it altogether. 1 hope you will not blame me, nor regret the trouble you have takeri and the kindness you have shown me with the view of my prosecuting the career from which I have novr retreated. For a long time betore I had the pleasure of your acquaintance, I had resolved, from a sense of both moral and phys- ical incompetency, as well as on account of the slenderness of my success, the heaviness of my pecuniary loss, and other considerations, to cs^rty my historic narrative rio farther. It was your flattering encouragement t— the laus laudati viri — that tempted me to mistake an agreeable vision for a reasonable hopej and to embrace the purpose I must now painfully, but de-. cidedly, forego. * Hotweopip ui alit: ponuiU quia powa videnlur.' VOL. I. ' - -jp: ^ I i h { t I I'l zz MEMOIR. Neither category was mine. I had no success to sustain me, and no internal confidence to impel mo ; but the very reverse." The charge of "invention," preferred against Mr. Grahame by Mr. Bancroft, in his History,' on account of the epithet " baseness " apphed by him to the conduct of Clarke, the agent of Rliode Island, in negotiating for that cblony the charter it obtained in 16G3 from Charles the Second, first came to Mr. Grahame's knowledge early in the year 1838, and excited in him feelings of surprise and a deep sense of wrong. " There is here," he immediately wrote to Mr. Walsh, " a plentiful lack of the kindness I might have expected from an American, and of the courtesy which should char- acterize a gentleman and a lan of letters. I had deserved even severer lan- guage, if the invention with which I am charged were justly laid to me. But the imputation is utterly false. — 1 have written under the guidance of authorities, on which I have, nerhaps crringly, certainly honestly, relied I would rather be convicted of the grossest stupidity, than of the slightest degree of wilful falsification ; for I greatly prefer moral to intellectual merit and repute." A defence against this attaclt upon Mr. Grahame's veracity as a historian was soon after published by Mr. Walsh in " The New Yort American " ; and was succeeded by another, from Mr. Grahame himself, in the same paper. Mr. Bancroft, in a subsequent edition of his History,' silently withdrew the charge of " invention," and substituted in its stead that of " unwarranted misapprehension." It is not apparent how this charge is more tenable than was the other. Mr. Grahame's strictures on Clarke's conduct in the negotiation referred to drew upon him the animadversions of " some of the literati of Rhodp Island." Through them, he became acquainted with the intrinsic worth of Clarke's general character, and readily acknowledged him to be "a true patriot and excellent man, and well deserving the reverence of his natural and national posterity." Yet Mr. Grahame's mind was so deeply and un- alterably impressed with the opinion, that Clarke had exceeded '* the line of honor and integrity " in that negotiation, that he appears to have been unable to reconcile it to his sense of truth, as a historian, wholly to exoner- ate his conduct from censure. Accordingly, in the present edition of his History,' Mr. Grahame thus alters the sentence which had occasioned the animadversions alluded to: — " The envoy conducted his negotiation with a jiuppleness of adroit servility, that rendered ihe success of it dearly bought " ; impjying that Clarke, in suing for favors under such pretences as he • • -^d 10 obtain them, had exhibited a "servile" spirit "supple" in respert ' policy, and "adroit " in the color he gave to the facts on which he ' v. .Lis hopes of success ; and intimating that he could find no other apology lor his conduct, than " the aptitude even of rood men to be transported beyond tiie line of honor and integrity, in conducting such negotiations as that which was confided to Ck ike . '"' • Vol. II., p. 64, edit. 18.xr ' • Vol. II., p. 64, edit. 1841. ' See Vol. I., p. 224. * It is due to the subject, cT'tt.. Memoir hure to inquire into those general tacts and cir- «ilin»tanccs which led Bfi. )j • ome ('h:: tenor of whose mind towards the people of the fJoited States was kind, C!i' 1 ;t iatory) to express so strongly and adhere so persevur- JMgly to tlie opioion he had 'iominr e. >>ncori]iing Clarke's conduct in the negotiation above ad- verted to. At the time of Clarke's negotiation, >.Ta88achusett8 and Rhode Island were both present by tieptity at the court of Charieii tho Huuuii« ', "~ ""I'l mvttd aline otj je&f ; irisssaciiusetts oi trie tcme, being Bpprchenai.vo it .was his jnteiftii >n to vacate her old charter ; Rhode Island of Mas- MwnuMtts, wn9 had shown a disposition t» >.'Xtcnd her jurisdiction over territory which Rhode V MEMOIR. XXI I no internal me by Mr. ' applied by gotialing for Jeccnd, first i excited in s here," he less I might ihould char- severer Ian- laid to me. guidance of stly, relied the slightest ectual merit le's veracity New Yort me himself, ly withdrew unwarranted tenable than ion referred t of Rhod(> jic worth of be "a true his natural ply and un- d " the line ) have been f to exoner- dition of his :asioned the iation with a y bought " ; as he • v?d I respect of :h he ' f n apology Jor rted beyond s that which ol. I., p. 224. (acta and cir- people of the re BO poreevur- ition above ad- loth present by -i........ e .1.' Island of Mas- ' which Rhode From Mr. Grahame's position as a distant observer, his views of charac- ter and events may sometimes conflict with those entertained in this country ; yet his spirit is wUolly American, and it is his desire and delight to do jus- tice to the actors in the scenes he describes. The high moral tone, and the ever active, all-controlling religious principle and feeling, which pervade his work, inspire the strongest confidence in all that he writes ; and it seems impossible for any one, in the exercise of a sound and unprejudiced judg- ment, to believe that a mind impelled by motives so pure and elevated, hav- ing no personal ends to serve, no party purposes to answer, could, under any circumstances, knowingly warp the truth, invent or suppress facts, or give to them any false or delusive coloring. Mr. Grahame never visited the United States, and his opportunities for intercourse with its citizens were few ; but he sparu! nei'.hei li.jie, labor, nor expense to acquaint himself with the authentic m^terin's of its history ; he laid the public libraries of Scotland, Engbnd, I rauce, and Germany under contribution, to the completeness and acci'r . y of his work ; and if he has occasionally fallen into mistakes, they are eitijer such as all historians, who rely for their facts on the authority of others, are subject to, or such as might naturally be expected under the pe- culiar circumstances of the case, — being chiefly on points of local history, in their nature of Jittle interest or importance beyond the immediate sphere Island claimnd, aa also to interfere with the local ffovernmont and rcliffioua libertioa of thia colony. It was no motive of loyalty that induced the appearance of either of them at court ; nor waa there any thing in their previoua history which could entitle the deputies of either colony to vaunt any sentiment of this sort on the part of their conatituents. In this state of things, and notwithstanding " Rhode Island had solicited and accepted a pa- tent from the Long Parliomcnt, in the commencement of its atriigglea with Charles the First, while Massachusetts declined to make a similar recognition, even when the Parliament wua at the utmost height of its power and success," (Grahame, I., 323,) —Chalmers represents Clarke as boasting of the loyalty of the inhabitants of Rhode Island, and, in order to depre- ciate MassachusetU in the opinion of King Charles the Second, and exalt Rhode Island, as challenging the deputies of the former colony " to display any one act of duty or loyalty shown by their constituente to Charles the First or to the present king, from their first establishment in New England." " The challenge thus confidently given,^' adds Chalmers, " was not ac- cepted. • — Political Mnala of the United Colmits, p. 273. — The agents of Massachusetts would not condescend, for the sake even of saving their charter, to feign a sentiment which they were sensible had no existence. Their silence, under such circumstances, it is impossible for any fair mind not to honor and approve. Furthermore, Chalmers states that the Rhode-Islanders " procured from the chiefs of the Narragnnsets a formal surrender of their country, which was atlerwnrda called the King's Province, to Charles the First, in right of his crown," and that their "deputies boasted to Charles the Second of the merits of this transaction." — Ihid. — Now, in point of fact, the name of King's Province was not given to the Narroganset country until 1666, three years aRcr Clarke's negotiation ; — see Collections of Rhode Island Historical Society, Vol. IV., p. 69 ;— and in respect of the surrender of the Narraganset country, Gorton, who was the chief agent in re- ceivin r it, explicitlj states, that it was self-motcd on the part of the Indians; that they sent to the c I bts and voluntarily offered it ; and does not pretend that the Rhode-Islanders had any further agency in the affair than encouraging the disposition of the Indians to make the sur- render, aiding tlicm in doing it in legal form, and promising to transmit their deed and desire of protection to the English government. — See Gorton's Simplicities Drfenee, pp. 79-81. In view of Clarke's hollow pretences of loyalty on the part of his constituents, and the sup- posititious proofs of it adduced by him, it is not wonderful that a mind like that of Mr. Grahaino should have become immovably fixed in the opinion, that the conduct of the Rhode Island deputy was not reconcilable with truth and integrity, and that it was unbecoming a historian who meant to be just, and was conscious of being impartial, to refrain from expressing with fidelity the convictions forced upon him by a knowledge of the facts and circumstances. Clarke was unquestionably faithful to his agency. He acted according to the views and wish- wi of his constituents, and in vaunting their loyalty probably followed their instructions ; he was therefore fully entitled to all the thanks they expressed, and all the honors they conferred upon him. A Christian moralist, like Grahame, who had drunk deep of" Siloa's brook, which flowed fast by the oracles of God," naturally can allow no comnroniise with truth for the sake of effect or success, and must unavoidably apply to the conduct of men, whether acting as pri vate individuals or ns public agents, one and the same pure and elevated moral standard ; a ■trictnesa of moral principle, which, it must bo confessed, in respect of public agents, the cu»- touM and opinions of the world do not regard as either practicable or politic. xxu BfEMOIR. EM'f 1;; I II' If- ' h\ or the partlculnr persons they affect ; and when traciefl to' their sources, it will often be found that even into these he was led by authorities whose er- rors have been detected only by recent research, in some instances subse- quent to the publication of his volumes. In February, 1839, Mr. Grahame writes to Mr. Walsh, — " You pro- pose (and deeply I feel the honor and kindness of the proposal) to have an American edition of my work published at Philadelphia. Now, pray, {)onder wisely and kindly these suggestions. Much as I should otherwise ike a republication of my work in America, 1 could not enjoy it, ' with un- reproved pleasure free,' if I thought it would be at all disagreeable to Mr. Bancroft, or that it would be construed in America as a competitory chal- lenge of an English to an American writer. Let there be, it it be neces- sary or profitable, a rivalry (a generous one') between England and America. But I am far too much Americanized to think, without chagrin and impa- tience, of my seeming the rival (the foreign rival) ofa great American writ- er. Dear to me is the fame of every man whose fame is interwoven with the fame of America, and whose career tends to justify to myself and to the world the delightful feelings of admiration and hope with which she inspires me." And, in a subsequent letter on the same topic, he writes to the same correspondent, — " Most sincerely do I wish that an American may prove the great, the conclusive, and the lasting historian of America. I shall be content, if of my work some Englishmen and perhaps a few Americans say, ' So thought an Englishman who loved his country, but affected still more warmly the cause of truth, justice, and universal human welfare.' " In his correspondence with this gentleman during this and the ensuing year, the American bias of his mind appears on almost every occasion and every subject. Intermingled with this, we continually meet with manifesta- tions of that all-pervading religious sentiment, and of that tenderness of tte domestic affections, which constituted the most striking and beautiful elements of his character. Thus, in congratulating Mr. Walsh on the restored health of his "tci/c," he remarks, — " They say that Americans, in general, say lady and female, when we say wife and woman. Now, I reckon wife, woman, and mavima to be the three loveliest words in the English language." And, writing concerning his having completed the forty-ninth year of his age, he adds, — " The period of life, at which, I believe, Aristotle fixes the decline of human abilities. I would give all the abilities I have, and ten times more, if I had them, for a deep, abiding sense of piety and the love of God. May that, my dear, kind friend, be yours and mine ! And can we wish a happier portion to those whom we love ? All else fades away." In the course of this year (1839), a highly laudatory review of the " History of the United States " was read before the Royal Academy of Nantes, by M. M ilherbe, in which its merits were analyzed and acknowl- edged ; and Mr. Grahame was, in consequence, unanimously elected a mem ber of the Academy. In August, of the same year, the degree of Doctor of Laws was confer- red on Mr. Grahame by the Corporation and Overseers of Harvard Uni- versity. It was the first public evidence of respect he had received from this side of the Atlantic ; and it drew from him unqualified expressions of sat- wfaciion. In a letter to the Rev. George E. Ellis, pf Massachusetts, in November foHowing, he writes, — " Harvard College has bng been a spot irt hovered. my '1II« terrarum mihi prater omnet Angulua ridet.' Mr sources, it ties whose er- stances siibse- - " You pro- )Osal) to nave Now, pray, uld otherwise ^ it, ' with un- eeable to Mr. ipetitory chal- it it be neces- and America, rin and impa- imerican writ- terwoven with self and to the h she inspires ;s to the same !an may prove I. I shall be Lmericans say, ted still more re.»" id the ensuing r occasion and vith manifesta- Jerness of the utiful elements restored health n general, say reckon wt/if, ish language." ear of his age, totlc fixes the have, and ten Y and the love ! And can we ies away." •eview of the I Academy of and acknovvl- (lected a mem vs was confer- Harvard Uni- rcceived from •cssions of sat- isarhusetts, in ig been a spot m I ^m9m'. xxiii Now, indeed, it is doubly dear to me ; for I feel myself, in a manner, one of its sons. The view of the College buildings in Peirce's History awaken- ed and detained my fondest regards. May truth, virtue, and happiness flour- ish within those walls, and beam forth from them to the divine glory and human welfare ! Though somewhat broken by years and infirmities, I yet cherish the hope to see Harvard University before I die." In a letter to Mr. Walsh, in October following, he thus refers to the sanie topic : — "I am now an American. Your dear country has adopted me. Never let me hear again of America or Americans owing any thing to me. I am the much indebted party. I feel with, the keenest sensibihty the honor that Harvard University has conferred upon me." The writer of a critical notice of Bancroft's History of the United States, in the North American Review, for January, 1841, introduced some inci- dental remarks on that of Mr. Graharae. After bearing testimony to his capacity, though a foreigner, to appreciate the motives and institutions of the Puritans, and acknowledging the fidelity and candor, the extent and accura- cy, of his researches, the critic adds, — "Mr. Grahame's work, with all its merit, is the work of a foreigner. And that word comprehends much that cannot be overcome by the best writer. He may produce a beautiful com- position, faultless in style, accurate in the delineation of prominent events, full of sound logic and most wise conclusions. But he cannot enter into the sym|jathies, comprehend all the minute feelings, prejudices, and peculiar ways of thinking, which form the idiosyncrasy of the natir/i." The author of this review was well understood to be William H. Prescolt, Esq., and Mr. Grah^me thus remarks upon it in his journal : — " Prescott's critical notice of Bancroft's third volume, in the North American Review, contains some handsome commendation of my work ; — qualified by that favorite canon of American literary jurisprudence, that no man not born and bred in America can perform, as such a function ought to be performed, the task of describing the people, or relating even their distant history. Now, I am inclined to suspect that this theorem is unsound in principle and false in fact. 1 think a man may better describe objects, from not having been inveterately habituated and familiarized to them ; and at once more calmly contemplate and more impartially estimate national character, of which he is not a Uillj necessitated, born partaker, — and national habits, prejudices, usages, and peculiarities, under the dominance of which his own spirit has not been moulded, from its earliest dawn of intelligent perception." In a letter to Mr. Prescolt, dated March 3d, 1841, he recurs to this topic, " On the general censure of your countrymen, that, ' personally unacquaint- ed with America, I cannot correctly delineate even her distant history,* — Queen Elizabeth desired that her portrait should be painted without shade ; because, by a truly royal road to the principles of that art, she had discov- ered that shade is an accident. Are not some of your countrymen possessed of a similar feeling, and desirous that every historic portrait of America should represent it as it ought to be, and not as it is 9 When I look into the works of some of your greatest American writers, and see how daintily they handle certain topics, — elusively playing or rather fencing with them, as if they were burning ploughshares, — I must respectfully doubt, if, as yet at least, an American is likely to be the best writer of American history. That the greatest and most useful historian that has ever instructed mankind Tiii Vvl aiist; III xiiiiciIUU xijiiciicu. r_- ji.- luiiuiy hope, dcoire, and believe. It woi'd.bo ray pride to be regarded as the pioneer of such a writer, and to have, in A* ■ • XXIV MEMOIR. I I li; . ;; .i any wise, contributed to the utility of his work and the extension of Amen- can fame. I trust it is with you, as it is with me, a sacred maxim, that to good historiography elevation and rectitude of soul are at least as requisite as literary resource and intellectual range and vigor." In June of this year, he received, and in his journal thus comments on, Quincy's History of Harvard University : — " Read it with much interest. No other country, from the first syllable of recorded time, ever produced a seat of learning so honorable to its founders and early supporters as Harvard University. This work is the only recent American composition with which [ am acquainted that justifies his countrymen's plea, that there is something in their history that none but an American born and bred can adequately conceive and render. His account of the transition of the social system of Massachusetts, from an entire and punctilious intertexture of church and state, to the restriction of municipal government to civil affairs and occupa- tions, is very curious and interesting, and admirably fills up an important void in New England history. He wounds my prejudices by attacking the Math- ers, and other persons of a primitive cast of Puritanism, with a severity tho more painful to me that I see not well how I can demur to its justice. But though I disapprove and dissent from many of their views, and regret many of their proceedings, yet the depths of my heart are with the primitive Puri- tans and the Scottish Covenanters ; and even their errors I deem of nobler kind than the frigid merits of some of the emendators of their policy." In the same strain he wrote to Mr. Quincy on the 4th of July following, — "I rp;]'ard the primitive Puritans much as I do the Scottish Covenanters ; respectfully disapproving and completely dissenting from many of their views and opinions ; especially their favorite scheme of an intertexture of church and state, which appears to me not only unchristian, but antichristian. But I cordially embrace all that is purely doctrinal in their system, and regard their persons with a fond, jealous love, which makes me indulgent even to their errors. Carrying their heavenly treasures in earthly vessels, they could not fail to err. But theirs were the errors of noble minds. How different from those of knaves, fools, and lukewarm professors ! I forget what poet it is that says, 'Some failings are of nobler kind Than virtues of a narrow mind.' " The complete restoration to health of his only daughter, and her marriage to John Stewart, Esq., the brother-in-law of the friend of his youth and manhood. Sir John F. W. Herschel, shed bright rays of happiness over the last years of Mr. Grahame's life. These were passed at Nantes in his do- mestic circle, in the companionship of the exemplary and estimable lady who had united her fortunes with his, and cheered by the reflected happiness and welfare of his children. His only son, who was pursuing successfully the career of a solicitor in Glasgow, occasionally visited him as his professional avocations permitted. His daughter and son-in-law divided their time be- tween Nantes and England. Always passionately fond of children, and hav- ing the power of rendering himself singularly attractive to them by his gentle, quiet, playful manner, he was devotedly attached to his little granddaughter, who became his frequent companion. Under the influence of these tran- uuil scenes of domestic happiness his health visibly improved ; nor was there the slightest suspicion of the organic disease which was destined soon to terminate his life. By direction of his medical atinndani Dr. Fr.v.vf' an eminent physician of Nantes, he abstained from all severe literary toil ; 'yet ■J ages. MEMOU;,, XXV >n of Ameri- ixim, that to t as requisite Dftiments on, luch interest, r produced a i as Harvard n with which is something n adequately al system of church and and occupa- iportant void ig the Math- severity the ustice. But regret many mitive Puri- sm of nobler alicv." ly lollowing, ovenanters ; f their views e of church istian. But , and regard jent even to , they could ow different it what poet ler marriage 1 youth and 3ss over the s in his do- le lady who ppiness and essfully the professional lir time be- n, and hav- '• his gentle, iddaughter, these tran- r was there ed soon to » ^ 'Ml -_ J au y toil ; yet 'j : whatever study was permitted to him was directed to the improvement of his History of the United States, to which he made many additions and amend- ments, and which he declared, shortly before his death, he had 6nally com- pleted to his own satisfaction, and thoroughly prepared for a second edition. Circumstances in which Mr. Grahame had been accidentally placed had forcibly directed his mind to the subject of slavery, the enormity of the evil, and its effects on the morals and advancement of the people among whom it existed. Ke had acquired, in right of his first wife, aa estate in the West Indies, which was cultivated by slaves. His feelings in respect of this slave- derived income are strongly expressed in a letter to Sir John F. W. Her- schel, dated the 24th of February, 1827. " A subject has for some time been giving me uneasiness. My children are proprietors of a ninth share of a West India estate, and I have a life-rent in it. Were my children of age, I could not make one of the negroes free, and could do nothing but appro- priate or forego the share of produce the estate yielded. Often have I wished it were in my power to make the slaves free, and thought this bar- ren wish a sufficient tribute to duty. My conscience was quite laid asleep. Like many others, I did not do what I could, because I could not do what I wished. For years past, something more than a fifth part of my income has been derived fron) the labor of slaves. God forgive me for having so long tainted my store I and God be thanked for that warning voice that has roused me from my lethargy, and taught me to feel that my hand offended me ! Never more shall the price of blood enter my pocket, or help to sus- tain the lives or augment the enjoyment of those dear children. They sym- pathize with me cordially. Till we can legally divest ourselves of our share, every shilling of the produce of it is to be devoted to the use of some part of the unhappy race from whose suffering it is derived." Subsequently, with the consent of his children, Mr. Grahame entirely gave up this slave- property, amounting to several thousand pounds. His interest in the fate of the African race had been excited several years before by a circumstance which he thus relates in his diary, under date of October, 1821 : — "My father is most vigorously engaged in protecting three poor, forlorn Africans from being carried, against their wills, back to the West Indies. They were part of the crew of a vessel driven by stress of weather into the port of Dumbarton. While the vessel was undergoing some repairs, the people of the town remarked with surprise the precautions by which unnecessary communication with the shore was prevented ; and their surprise was converted into strong suspicion, when they perceived sometimes, in the evening, a few black heads on the deck, suffered to be there a short time, and then sent below. A number of the citizens applied to the magistrates, but the magistrates were afraid to interfere ; so the peo- f)le had the sense and spirit to convey the intelligence by express to my ather, whose zeal for the African race was well known. He instantly caused the vessel to bo arrested, and has cheerfully undertaken the enormous dam- ages, as well as the costs of suit, to which he will be subjected, if the case be decided against him." In a subsequent entry in his diary, Mr. Grahame Writes, — " But it was decided in his favor." By the same daily record it appears, that, in 1823, his feelings were still Airther excited on the subject of slavery by an incident which he thus no- tices : — " Zachary Macaulay showed me to-day some of the laws of Ja- maica, SHu poHited out liOvv coniDietclv evefv orovision foi poi ;Oinp iy ly pn siruiuiii g I1U memoir: cruelty of the masters and alleviating the bondage of the slaves is defeated by counter provisions that render the remedy unattainable. — What a stain on the history of the church of England is it, that not one of her wealthy ministers, not one of her bishops who sit as peers of the realm in the House of Lords, has ever attempted to mitigate the evils of negro slavery, or ever called the public attention to that duty ! No, they leave the field of Chris- tian labor to Methodists and Moravians." Actuated by such feelings and sentiments, he published, in 1823, a pam- phlet, entitled " Thoughts on the Projected Abolition of Slavery," — a S reduction, whicli, in the latter years of his life, he declared that he looked ack upon with unalloyed pleasure and satisfaction. In 1828, Mr. Grahame relates in his journal, that he had had a long conversation on this subject with the celebrated Abbe Gregoire, to whom he had been introduced by La Fayette. In the course of this conversation, the Abbe stated to him that he " had written to Jefferson, combating the opinions expressed in Jeffer- son's ' Notes on Virginia,' of the inferiority of the intellectual capacity of the negroes, and that Jefferson had answered, acknowledging his error." The prevalent language on the subject of negro slavery in some parts of the United States, and the apparently general acquiescence of the people in the continuance of that institution, led him, in the latter years of his life, to apprehend, that, in the first edition of his History, he had treated that sub- ject with more indulgence than was consistent with truth and duty. Under this impression, he remarks in his diary, in December, 1837, — " My ad- miration of America, my attachment to her people, and my interest in their virtue, their happiness, their dignity, and renown, have increased, instead of abating. But research and reflection have obliged me, in the edition of my work which I have been preparing since the publication in 1835, to beat down some American pretensions to virtue and apologies for wrong, which I had formerly and too hastily admitted. Much as I value the friendship and regard of the Americans, I would rather serve than gratify them, — rather deserve their esteem than obtain their favor." Early in the year 1842, a pamphlet, published in London in 1835, entitled *' A Letter to Lord Brougham on the Subject of American Slavery, by an American," was put into Mr. Grahame's hands, as he states, " by another American, most honorably distinguished in the walks of science and philan- thropy," who bid him ^^ read there the defence of his (the American's) country."' The positions maintained by this writer — that " slavery was introduced into the American colonies, now the United States, by the Brit- ish government," and that " the opposition to it there was so general, that, with propriety, it may be said to have been universal ", — roused Mr. Gra- hame's indignation ; which was excited to an extreme when he perceived these statements repeated and urged in a memorial addressed to Daniel O'Connell by certain Irish emigrants settled at Pottsville, in the United States. Having devoted some lime to a careful perusal of tliis pamphlet, he ' felt himself called upon as a Briton, from a regard to the reputation of his country and to truth, and from a belief that '* no living man knew more of the early history of the American people than himself," to contradict, in the most direct and pointed manner, the statements referred to ; pledging him- self "to prove that the abovemcntioned pamphlet was a production more disgraceful to American literature and character (in so far as it was to be SICCXIICU tne iuj;ri;sciuaiivc of cither) than with which he was acquainted. any otner literary periormance MiinmM^ xiifii- i He accordingly applied himself forthwith to an extended discussion of this subject in a pamphlet to which he affixed the title, — "Who is to blame ? or Cursory Review of American Apology for American Accession to Negro Slavery." In this pamphlet Mr. Grahame admits that Great Britain "facilitated her colonial offspring to become slaveholders," — that " she encouraged her merchants in templing them to acquire slaves," — that " her conduct during her long sanction of the slave-trade is indefensible," — that " she excelled all her competitors in slave-stealing, for the same reason that she excelled them in every other branch of what was then esteemed le- gitimate traffic " ; — but denies that she ^^ forced the Americans to become slaveholders," — denies that "the slave-trade was comprehended within the scopeC and operation of the commercial policy of the British government until the reign of Queen Anne," — and asserts, that, "prior to that reign, negro slavery was established in every one of the American provinces that finally revolted from Great Britain, except Georgia, which was not planted until 1733." The argument in this pamphlet is pressed with great strength and spirit, and the whole is written under the influence of feelings in a state of indignant excitement. Without palliating the conduct of Great Britain, he regards the attempt to exculpate America, by criminating the mother coun- try, as unworthy and unjust ; contending that neither was under any peculiar or irresistible temptation, but only such as is common to man, when, in the language of the Apostle, " he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed." His argument respecting the difference, in point of criminality, between America and Great Britain results as another identical question has long since resulted concerning the comparative guilt of the receiver and the thief. In the month of June, 1842, at the urgent request of his and his father's friend, Thomas Clarkson, the early and successful asserter of the rights of Africans, he repaired to London, for the purpose of superintending the pub- lication of this pamphlet. On arriving there, he placed his manuscript in the hands of a printer, and immediately proceeded to Playford Hall, Ipswich, the residence of Mr. Clarkson. Concerning this distinguished man, Mr. Grahame, under date of the 25th of June, thus writes in his diary : — " Mr. Clarkson's appearance is solemnly tender and beautiful. Exhausted with age and malady, he is yet warmly zealous, humane, and affectionate. Fifty- seven years of generous toil have not relaxed his zeal in the African cause. He watches over the interests of the colored race in every quarter of the world, desiring and promoting their moral and physical welfare, rejoicing in their improvement, afflicted in all their afflictions. The glory of God and the interests of the African race are the mastersprings of his spirit." After two days passed in intercourse with this congenial mind, Mr. Gra- hame returned to London and occupied himself zealously in correcting the ])roof-sheets of his pamphlet. On the morning of the 30th of June, he was assailed by severe pain, which his medical attendant attributed at first to indigestion, and treated as such. But it soon assumed a more alarming character. Eminent physicians were called for consultation, and his broth- er, Thomas Grahame, was sent for. From the nature and intensity of his suffering, Mr. Grahame soon became sensible that his final hour was ap- proaching, and addressed himself to meet it with calmness and resignation. He proceeded to communicate his last wishes to his son-in-law, directed where he should be buried, and dictated his epitaph : — " James Grahame, Advocate, Edinburgh, Author ofllie History of the United States of North America ; aged 51." He, at the same time, expressed the hope concern- VOL. I. 9 XXVUl MEMOIB. ,,,, ' r > I ing his recently published pamphlet, that no efforts might be spared to secure its sale and distribution, *'as he had written it conscientiously and with sin- gle-heartedness, and had invoked the blessing of God upon it." Notwithstanding the distinguished skill of his physicians, every remedy failed of producing the desired effect. His disorder was organic, and beyond the power of their art. Such was the excruciating agony which preceded his death, that his friends could only hope that his release might not be long delayed. This wish was granted on Sunday morning, the 3d of July. " His endurance of the pain and oppression of breathing which preceded his death," says Mr. Stewart, " was perfectly wonderful. His features were constantly calm, placid, and at last bore a bright, even a cheerful ex- pression. His attendants, while bending close towards him, caugjjt occa- sionally expressions of prayer ; his profound acquaintance with the Scriptures enabling him, in this hour of his need, to draw strength and support from that inexhaustible source, where he was accustomed to seek and to find it." He was buried in KenSlall Green Cemetery, in the neighbourhood of Lon- don. His son-in-law, John Stevva.!, and his brother, Thomas Grahame, attended his remains to the grave. His son, also, who had set out from Scotland on hearing of his illness, though arriving too late to see him before he expired, was not denied the melancholy satisfaction of being present at his interment. A plain marble monument has been erected over his tomb, bearing the exact inscription he himself dictated. These scanty memorials are all that it has been possible, in this country, to collect in relation to James Grahame. Though few and disconnected, they are grateful and impressive. The habits of his life were domestic, and in the family circle the harmony and loveliness of his character were eminently cqnspicuous. His mind was grave, pure, elevated, far-reaching ; its enlarged views ever on the search after the true, the useful, and the good. His religious sentiments, though exalted and tinctured with enthusiasm, were always candid, liberal, and tol- erant. In politics a republican, his love of liberty was nevertheless qualified by a love ol order, — bis desire to elevate the destinies of the many, by a respect for the rights and interests of the /cw. As in his religion there was nothing of bigotry, so in his political principles there was nothing of radicalism. As a historian, there were combined in Mr. Grahame all the qualities which inspire confidence and sustain it ; — a mind powerful and cultivated, patient of labor, indefatigable in research, independent, faithful, and fearless ; engaging in its subject with absorbing interest, and in the development of it superior to all influences except those of truth and duty. To Americans, in all future times, it cannot fail to be an interesting and gratifying circumstance, that the foreigner, who first undertook to write a complete history of their republic from the earliest period of the colonial settlements, was a Briton, eminently qualified to appreciate the merits of its founders, and at once so able and so willing to do justice to them. The people of the United States, on whose national character and success Mr. Grahame bestowed his affections and hopes, owe to his memory a recipro- cation of feeling and interest. As the chief labor of his life was devoted to illustrate the wisdom and virtues of their ancestors and to do honor to the institutions they established, it is incumbent on the descendants to hold and perpetuate in grateful remembrance his talents, virtues, and services. TO ROBERT GRAHAME, Esq., or waiTGHUX, lanarxshibb, icotland, THIS WORK IS DEDICATED, WITH IBHTIMKNT8 OF PROFOUNDEST RBVERENCK AND AFPBCTIOIf BT HIS SON. 1 i PREFACE. This historibal work is the fruit of niore than elevien years of eager re- search, intense meditation, industrious composition, and solicit6u<< revisal. To the author, the scene of labor which he how concludes has been one of the most agreeable features of his life. And, should the perusal of his work afford to others even a slight share of the entertainment that its pro- duction has yielded to himself, he may claim th# honor and gratification of a successful contributor to the stock of human happiness and intelligence. In the year 1827, I published a work in two flumes, entitled Th6 His- tory of the Rise and Progress of the United Statei of Jforth Amttica^till the British Revolution in 1688. My plan, as 1 then announced, was, and it still is, restricted to the history of those provinces of North AmeHca (originating, all except New York and Delaware, fforti British colonization), which, at the era of the American Revolution, were included in the confed- eracy of The United States ; — the illustration of the parentage and birth of this great republic being the main object of rny labors. The first and second volumes of the present woirk rtiay be eoriiSideV^' as a republication of the forrner one. They enibrabe the rise of such 6i t!»6se States, comprehended within my getteral plan^ as wete founded 'prior lb' the British Revolution in 1688 ; and trace their jprogress till that epoch, and, in several instances, till a period somewhat later. Various additional researches which I have rtiade since my first historical publication, and in which I l^ave been assisted by suggestions communicated to me from America, have ena- bled me to correct some important errors by which that work was deforitied, and now to reproduce it in an enlarged and greatly ameiided condition. Of some of these emendations the nature and effect are such as to render it im- possible (without making one volume contradict the statements in another) to publish a continuation of the History, except in connection with the present republication of the first portion of it, — a circumstance which will perhaps expose me to blame, and which I most sincerely regtet. The respect wiiich I feel foi the judgment of some intelligent and estimable frieWds (and in par- ticular of my brother') has induced mo to cancel various passages in the original publication, which were censured as obtruding duperfiuous (perhaps irrelevant) reflections, or accumulating an excess of d'^tail and illustration. A diligent and laboriou s revision, frequently repeated, ha* been prodiictive 'Author of Jl Treatis$on IntenuU intereouru and Commtmitatioii iii CivEtittd SuUtitad other icientifio works. 4 If'', ff xxxu PREFACE. of numerous alterations, and, I hope, proportional improvement, in the style of my performance. The third and fourth volumes of the present work form the second com- position which was prospectively announced in the preface to my first histor- ical publication. They continue the history (commenced in the first two vol- umes) of the older American States, and also embrace the rise and progress of tliose younger colonial commonwealths which were subsequently founded, — till the revolt of the United Provinces from the dominion of Britain, and their assumption of national independence. Strictly speaking, they form a continuation, not of my original publication, but of my original work as it has been subsequently altered and amended. In the preface to my first publication, I announced a third historic com- position, which was intended to embrace the Revolutionary War, and the establishment and consolidation of the North American republic. But I have been induced, on farther reflection, to abandon the purpose I had entertained of this ulterior effort. Since my first publication, I have met with and read Botta's History of the IVar oJJlmtrican Independence, — a work of so much merit, and so well suited, I think, to the present era, that it seems to me to render any other composition (at least, any other European composition) on the same subject, at present, superfluous. Fifty or sixty years hence, a final and more compendious delineation of the scene may be required. In the collection of materials for the production of this work, I have been obliged to incur a degreti of toil and expense, which, in my original contem- plation of the task, I was far from anticipating. Considering the connection that so long subsisted between Great Britain and the American States, the information concerning the early condition and progress of many of these communities, which the public libraries of Britain are capable of supplying, is, or at least till very lately was, amazingly scanty. Many valuable works, illustrative of the history and statistics both of particular States and of the whole North American commonwealth, I found had no place and were en- tirely unknown in the British libraries ; a defect the more discreditable, as the greater part of these works might have been obtained without much difficulty in London or from America. After borrowing all the materials that I could so procure, and purchasing as many more as I could find in Britain or obtain from America, my collec- tion proved still so defective in many respects, that, in the hope of enlarging it, and in compliance with the advice of my friend. Sir William Hamilton * (of whose counsel and assistance I can better feel the obligation than express the value), I underlook a journey, in the year 1825, from Edinburgh, where I then resided, to Gdttingen ; and in the library of this place, as I had been taught to expect, I found a richer treasury of North American literature than any, or indeed all, of the libraries of Britain could at that time supply. From the resources of the Gottingen library, and the liberality with which its ad- ministrators have always been willing to render it subservient to the purposes of literary inquiry, I derived great advantage and assistance. I am indebted, also, to the private collections of various individuals in England and France for the perusal of sorne very rare and not less valuable and interesting works, illustrative of the subject of my labors. To particularize all the persons who have thus or otherwise assisted m y exertions and enriched my stock of ma- . ' '*™r*"^' of Univeraal Hiitury. and anerwarda of Losic and MeUDhvuca. in tho Univer City 01 l^Uiuburgb. ~ ... i nt, in the style 3 second com- my first histor- le first two vol- e and progress lently founded, of Britain, and g, they form a nal work as it I historic corn- War, and the 3. But I have lad entertained with and read )rk of so much eems to me to imposition) on hence, a final red. :, I have been iginal contem- he connection an States, the Tiany of these of supplying, iluable works, es and of the and were en* icreditable, as tvithout much nd purchasing ;a, my collec- le of enlarging Hamilton ' (of than express iburgh, where is I had been iteraiure than jpply. From which its ad- the purposes am indebted, i and France esting works, persons who stock of ma- . in tho llniver I terials would weary rather than interest the reader, ~ whom it less imports to know what opportunities I have had than what use I have made of them Yet I must be indulged in one grateful, perhaps boastful, allusion to the ad- vantage I have enjoyed in the communications which I had the honor of receiving from that illustrious friend of America and ornament of human na- ture, the late General La Fayette, History addresses her lessons to all mankind ; but when she records the fortunes of an existing people, it is to them that her admonitions are espe- cially directed. Ihere has never been a people on whose character their own historical recollections were calculated to exercise a more animating or salutary influence than the nation whose early history I have undertaken to relate. In national societies established as the United States of North America Jmve been, history does not begin with obscure traditions or fabulous legends The origin of the nation, and the rise and progress of all its institutions, may be distinctly ascertained ; and the people enabled to acquire a complete and accurate conception of the character of their earliest national ancestors, as well as of every succeeding generation through which the inheritance of the national name and fortunes has devolved on themselves. When the inter- esting knowledge thus unfolded to them reveals, among other disclosures that their existence as a nation originated in the noblest efforts of wisdom' fortitude, and magnanimity, and that every successive acquisition by which their liberty and happiness have been extended or secured has proceeded from the exercise of the same qualities, and evinced their faithful preserva- tion and ummpaired efficacy, — respect for antiquity becomes the motive and pledge of virtue ; the whole body of the people feels itself ennobled by the consciousness of ancestors whose renown will constitute, to the end of time, the honor or reproach of their successors ; and the love of virtue is so interwoven with patriotism and with national glory, as to prevent the one from becoming a selfish principle, and the other a splendid or mischievous Illusion. If an inspired apostle might with complacency proclaim himself a citizen of no mean city, a North American may feel grateful exultation in styling himself the native of no ignoble land, — but of a land that has yielded as rich a harvest of glory to God and of happiness to man, as any other portion of the world, from the earliest lapse of recorded time, has ever had the honor of affording. Were the dark and horrible blot of negro slav- ery obliterated from this scene, the brightness of its aspect would awaken universal admiration, and shed a cheering and ameliorating ray through the whole expanse of human nature and society. A more elevated model of human character could hardly be proposed to the imitation of the American people than that which their own early history, and the later scene of their achievement of national independence, bequeath to them. It is at once their interest and their honor to preserve with sacred care a bequest so richly fraught with the instructions of wisdom and the incitements of duty. Ac- quaintance with the past is essential to a wise estimate and use of the pres- ent, and to enlightened consideration of the future. The diffusion of knowl- edge^jhe^progressjof p opular liberty and improvement, have de prived of n^iin^^J^^iaVlut" u''""j' wish to 8ce perpetuated among us the old Asiatic and Eurooean ZTZ^A '"''«''»»•« .''•'"d'tary excellence. '^But surely thfro is a point at Xch good fS l'raTr„t£TrfL''^=r„.r!i',-^^^ "l« »>-' P?rts of our charit:';!;! UXIV PBEFACE. K'i ■r 1 III iu exclusive and sristocratic import Uie oft-repeated maxim of other dava, that Uiitory is the U$$on of ktngt. Tlie American people will cherish a generous and profitable sell-respect, while tliev comply with the canon of divine wisdom, to " remember the days of old, and consider the years of many generations " ; and the venerated ashes of their fathers will dispense a nobler influence than the relics of the prophet of Israel in reviving piety and invigorating virtue.* The most important requisite of historical compositions, and that in which, I suspect, they are commonly most defective, is truth,** — a requisite, of which even die sincerity of the historian is insuificicnt to assuro us. In tracing as- certained and remarkable facts, either backward to their source, or forward in their operation, the historian frequently encounters, on either hand, a per- plexing variety of separate causes and diverging cfl^ects ; among which it is no less difficult, than important to discriminate the predominant or peculiar springs of action, and to preserve the main and moral stream of events. In- Oiscriminate detail would produce intolerable fatigue and confusion ; while selection necessarily infers the risk of error. The sacred historians often re- cord events with little or no reference to their moral origin and lineage .: and have thus given to some parts of the only history that is infallibly authen- tic an appearance of improbability, which the more reasoning narratives of uninspired writers have exchanged, at least as frequently, for substantial misrepresentation. It may be thought an imprudent avowal, and yet I have no desire to conceal, that, in examining and comparing historical records, I have more than once been forcibly reminded of Sir Robert Walpole's as- surance to his son, that " History must be false." ^ Happily, this auothegm ■ tppiies, if not exclusively, at least most forcibly, to that which Waipole probably regarded as the main trunk of history, but which (especially in ; modern times, and in relation to free and civilized communities) isi indeed, . the most insignificant branch of it, ->-the intrigues of cabinets, the secret schemes and machinatibhs of ministers, and the conflicts of selfish and trad ing'^oliticians. In contemplating scenes of liuman dissension and strife, it is difficult, or rather it is impossible, for an observer, partaking the infirmities of human * nature, to escape entirely the contagion of those passions which the contro- versies arose from or engendered. Thus partiaHties are secretly insinuated . into the mind ; and, in balancing opposite testimony, they find a subtle and , 90 much the surer means of exerting their influence. I am not desirous of i. concealing that I regard America with sentiments of ardent, perhaps partial, ' " No people can be liound to acknowledge and adore the invhtible hand which conducts J. the afTuirt) ofmen more than the people of the United States. Every step bv which they have .' kdvanccd to the character of an independent nation seems to have been nistingiiished by some "token of providential agency." Washincton's Speech to Concrem, 30t1i April, 17B0. '"Truth is the eye (» History." Polybius. No writer, ancient or modern, has so well ex- plained and inculcated the main duties ofa historian as Polybius; and few, if any, have better ^exemplified them. He is one of the rare exceptions to Dr. Johnaon'R maxim, that EteryhUto- * riait aueorers Ms enuntry. * Horace Walpole's Works. A curious illustration of historical inafccurncy was. related by .the latn President Jefferson to an intolligont English Iravellor "Phe Abb6 Raynal, in hia His- * ttrjf nf the British Settlements in America, has recounted a remarkable atory which implies the existence of a particular law in New England. Some Americans, being in company whit the Abb4 at Purls, questioned the truth of the story, alleging that no such law had ever existed in r^ New England. 'J |1ry; Dr. Franklin, ' Jliid, " I can accni mtf. The Abb6 maintained tho authenticity of his History, till he was intcmiplod who was present, and, af\er listening for aoMo time in silence to the dispute, :an account lor all this: you took the anecdote from a ncJwspaper, of which 1 Was at Hall » Travtls in Canada and the Unittd States. PREFACE. IMMf I of other days, le will cliurish a b tho canon of er the years of rs will dispense n reviving piety id that in which, juisite, of which In tracing as- rce, or forward ler hand, a per- long which it is lant or peculiar of events. In- mfusion ; while lorians often re- ;in and lineage .: ufallibly authen- ig narratives of for substantial and yet I have orical records, t Walpole's as- , this apothegm vhich Walpole I (especially in ies) isj indeed, lets, the secret elfish and trad t is difUcult, or nitles of human ich the cootro- retly insinuated id a subtle and not desirous of >erhaps partial, id wbioh conducts f which they have nxiiished by iomo pril, 17B0. rn, ham so «rdl ex- ifpny, have hotter I, that Etery histo- icy wa» related by laynal, in hiii Hit- which implies tho company with the nd over existed in le was interrupted ICC to the dlqtote, nf which I was at ■a 1 I ifTection ; and, in surveying various scenes in her history, I d«r!ve a warm, unreproved pleasure from the conviction, that, in dignity, wisdom, and worth, they transcend the hijjhest conce{)iion suggested by the annals of any other people in ancient or in modern times. If my consciousness of the exist- ence of feelings somewhat partial should not exempt my judgment from their influence, I hope the avowal, at least, will prevent the error from extending to my readers. I am far from thinking, or from purposing to assert or insinuate, that every part of the conduct of the American States, throughout tho various contro- versies in which they have been involved, was pure and blameless. Guile, evil passion, violence, and injustice have in some instances dishonored tli« councils and transactions of the leaders and assemblios of America ; and it was the conduct of one of the States, the most renowned for piety and vir- tue, that suggested to her historian the melancholy observation, that, " in all ages and countries, communities of men have done that, of which most of th J individuals of whom they consisted would, acting separately, have been ashamed." » But mingled masses are justly denominated from the elements and qualities that preponderate in their composition ; and sages and patriots must be regarded as the mere creations of fancy, if we can never recognize the lineaments of worth and wisdom under the vesture of human imperfection. There exists in some romantic, sjieculative minds a Platonic love of liberty, as well as virtue, that consists with a fastidious disgust for every visible and actual incarnation of either of these principles ; and which, when not cor- rected by sense and experience, conducts to ingenious error or to seemingfy generous misanthropy. Whoever, with attention minute and impartial, examines the histories of individuals or communities, should prepare himself to be disappointed and perplexed by numberless imperfections and inconsistencies, which, wisely pondered, confirm the Scriptural testimony of the inherent frailty of human nature and the reflected lustre of human virtue. Much error is produced and prolonged in the world by unwillingness or inability to make candid con- cessions or to admit charitable interpretations, — to acknowledge in an ad- versary the excellence that condemns our undiscriminating hate, — in a friend or hero, the defects that sully the pleasing image of virtue, that diminish our exultation, and rebuke the excesses of inordinate confidence. There is not a more conrimon nor more unhappy mistake than that which confounds the impulse of sincerity with the virtue of candor. Widi partial views, sincerely embraced, but not candidly appreciated, we encounter the opposite partialities of antagonists ; and, by mutual commission and perception of injustice, con- firm, augment, and reciprocate each other's misapprehensions. It should be the principal object of every man, who undertakes the office of a historian, to correct, as far as he may, the errors by which experience is thus render- ed useless ; and this object I have purposed and endeavoured to keep steadi- y in view. li'EpERONNII^RE, NEAR NaNTES, September, 1835. ' Hutchinson's History ofMassachusettsT^rUjr^h^rvation referred immediately to tho di»- pute between Massachusetts and the confederated States of New England in 1649 ; but the gen- eral proposition winch it involves is one which Hutchinson (himself an ambitious and disap pointed antaRonist of popular assemblies) snatches, throughout his work, every occasion to propound and illustrate. '' VOL. I. 3 p* ZXXVI PREFACE. P. S. The variations which distinguish the second from the first edition of this work consist of the retrenchment of superfluities in some quarters, the introduction of additional facts and remarks in others, and numerous emendations of the style, — the result of a severe revision, in which I have been aided by the taste and sagacity of some accomplished friends, and espe- cially of my father-in-law, the Rev. John Wilson, President of the Protes- tant Consistory of Nantes and La Vendee. To the kindness of those dis- tinguished American writers, Robert V/alsh and Josiah Quincy (whose friendship has been one of the most agreeable fruits of my labors), I owe my recent access to some valuable literary materials and my acquaintance with some curious historic details. It may be proper to observe (which I omitted to do in the preface to the former edition) , that, in the course of tliis historical digest, I have frequently illustrated particular portions of my narrative by citation of various authorities not one of which accords entirely either with the statements of the others or with my own. To explain, in every such instance, how I have been led, from comparison of conflicting authorities, to the view that I have considerate- ly embraced, would encumber evefy chapter of my work with a long series of subsidiary disquisitions. Much of the labor of an honest historian must either be painfully shared by his readers, or remain wholly unknown to them. 5 Placz db Launay, NAnxES, June, 1842. 5/, i CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME BOOK I. PLANTATION AND PROGRESS OF VIRGINIA, TILL THE BRITISH REV OLUTION, IN 1688. CHAPTER I. Cabot despatched by Henry the Seventh — visits the Coast of North America. — Ntglect of Cabot s Discovery by Henry — and by iiis immediate Successors. — Reign of Eliza- beth—favorable to maritime Adventure. — Rise of the Slave-trade. — Sir Walter Raleigh — projects a Colony in North America — first Expedition fails. — Elizabeth names the Country Virginia. — Grenvillo despatched by Raleigh — establishes a Colony at Roanoke. — Misfortunes of the Colonists — their Return. - Use of Tobacco introduc- ed into England. — Farther Ellbrts of Raleigh — terminate unsuccessfully. — Accession of James to the English Crown. — Gosnold's Voyage — its Effects. — James divides North Ainericii bc.twton two Companies. — Tenor of their Charters. — Royal Code of » ^^^rT.! *'"' ^"^y of Colonists embarked by the London Company — arrive in the Bay of Chesapeake— found Jamestown. — Dissensions of the Colonists. — Hostility of the Indians. — Distress and Disorder of the Colony. — Services of Captain Smith — he IS taken Prisoner by the Indians — his Liberation — ho preserves the Colony. — The Colonists deceived by Appearances of Gold.— Smith surveys the Bay of Chesapeake — elected President of the Colony.— New Charter. — Lord Delaware appointed Gov- ernor.— Newport, Gates, and Somers sent to preside till Lord Delaware's Arrival — are wrecked on the Coast of Bermudas. — Captain Smith returns to England. . 25 CHAPTER II. The C-jlony a Prey to Anarchy — and Famine. — Gates and Somers arrive from Bermudas. — Abandonment of the Colony dotorinincd upon — prevented by the Arrival of Lord Delaware. — His wise Administration — liis Rolurn to England. — Sir Thomas Dale's Administration. — Martial Law established. — Indian Chief's Daughter seized by Argal — married to Rolfe. — Right of private Property in Land introduced into the Colony.— Lxpcdition of Argal against Port Royal and New York. — Tobacco cultivated by the Colonists. — I list Assembly of Representative's convened in Virginia.— New Consti- tution of the Colony. — Introduction of Negro Slavery. — Migration of young Women Irom England to Virginia. — Dispute between the King and the Colony. — Conspiracy of the Indians, — Ma.ssacre of the Colonists. —Dissensions of the London Company. — 1 he Company dissolved. — The King assumes the Government of the Colony— his Death. — Charles the First pnrsiips his Fathers arbitrary Policy. — Tyrannical Govern- ment of Sir John Harvey. — Sir William Berkeley appointed Governor. — The nrovin- cial^ Liberties restored. — Virginia espouses tlio royal Cause — subdued by the Long "|!:i'""^."[. — '*estf:tinls 'itipt.scd on the Trade of the Colony. — IlevoU of the Coioiiy — Sir William Berkeley resumes the Government. — Restoration of Charles the Second. I 59 XXXVIU CONTENTS. l^ i' CHAPTER III. The Navigation Act — its Impolicy. — Discontent and Distress of the Colonists. — Natu ralization of Aliens. — Progress of the provincial Discontent. — Indian Hostilities. — Bacon's Rebellion. — Death o Bacon — and Restoration of Tranquillity. — Bill of Attainder passed by the colonial Assembly. — Sir William Berkeley superseded by Colo nel Jefl'reys. — Tartiality of the now Governor — Dispute with the Assembly. — Ro newal of Discontents. — Lord Culpepper appointed Governor — Severity and Rapacity of his Administration. — An Insurrection — Punishment of the Insurgents. — Arbitra- ry Measures of the Crown. — Jaraes the Second — augments the Burdens of the Colo- nists. — Corrupt and oppressive Government of Lord Eflinghain. — Revolution in Britain. — Complaints oitho Colonies against the former Governors discouraged by King William. — Eflect of the English Revolution on the American Colonics. — State of Vir ginia at this Period — Population — Laws — Manners 90 BOOK II. FOUNDATION AND PROGRESS OF THE NEW ENGLAND STATES, TILL THE YEAR 1698. CHAPTER I. Attempts of the Plymouth Company to colonize the northern Coasts of America. — Popham establishes a Colony at Fort Saint George. — SntFeriiigs and Return of the Colonists. — Cantain Smith's Voyage and Survey of the Country — which is named New England. — His ineffectual Attempt to conduct a Colony thitlier. — The Company relinquish the Design of colonizing New England. — History and Character of the Puritans. — Rise of the Brownists or .Independents. — A Congregation of Independents retire to Holland — they resolve to settle in America — their Negotiation with Iting James — they Arrive in Massachusetts — and found New Plymouth. — Hardships — and Virtue of the Colo- nists. — Their civil Institutions. — Community of Property. — Increase of civil and ecclesiastical Tyranny in England. — Project of a new Colony in Massachusetts. — Salem built. — Charter of Massachusetts Bay obtained from Charles tlie First by an Association of Puritans. — Embarkation of the Emigrants — Arrival at Salem. — Their ecclesiastical Institutions. — Two Persons banished from tho Colony for Schism. Intolerance of some of the Puritans . I5il I ! *m CHAPTER II. The Charter Government transferred from England to Massachusetts. — Numerous Emi- gration. — Foundation of Boston. — Hardships endured by the new Settlers. — Dis- franchisement of Dissenters in the Colony. — Influence of the provincial Clergy. John Cotton and his Colleagues and Succes-sors. — Williams's Schism — he founds Prov- i(?"ni;o. — Representative Assembly established in Ma.'isachiisetts. — Arrival of Hugh Peters — and Henry Vane, who is'olccted Governor. — Foundation of Connecticut — and New Haven. — War with the P.quod Indians. — Severities exercised by the vic- torious Colonists. — Disturbances created by Mrs. Hutchinson. — Colonization of Rhode Inland — andofNew Hampshire and Maine. — Jealousy and fluctuating Conduct of tho '^.'If • — Measures adopted against the Liberties of Massachusetts — interrupted by the Civil Wars. — State of New England — Population — Laws — Manners. CHAPTER III. Now England embraces the Cause of the Parliament. — Federal Union between tho Now England States. — Provincial Coinage of Money. — Disputes occasiimcd by the Dis- franchisement of DisHcnters in Massaciiusetts. — liiipenclinicnt and Trial of'^Cfovernor Winthrop. — Arbitrary Proceedings against the Dis-^entcrs. — Attempts to convert and civilize the Indians. — Character and Labors of Flint and .Maj hew. — Indian Bible printed in Massiichiisetts. — Etier'H Admin- itions to the Inhabitants of Maasachuselts — declined by them. — Persecution of the Anabaptists in Massachusetts. — Conduct and Sufferings of tlie Quakers. — The Restoration. — Ad- dress of Massachusetts to Charles the Second. — Alarm of the Colonists — their Decla- ration of Rights. — The King's Message to Massachusetts— how far complied with. — Royal Charter of Incorporation to Rhode Island and Providence — and to Connecticut and New Haven. ^ jgj CHAPTER IV. Emigration of ejected Ministers to New England. — Royal Commissioners sent thither Petition of the Assembly of Massachusetts to the King — rejected. — Policy pursued by the Commissioners.— 1 heir Disputes with the Government of Massachusetts — and Return to England. — Policy of the Colonists to conciliate the King — Effects of it. — Cessior. of Acadia to the French. — Prosperous State of New England. — Conspiracy of the Indians. — Philip s War. — The King resumes his Designs against Massachusetts. — Controversy respecting tho Right to Maine and New Hampshire. — Progress of the Dispute between the King and the Colony. — State of Parties in Mateachusetts. — State of Religion and Morals in New England. — Surrender of tho Charter of Massachusetto demanded b^ the King — refused by the Colonists. — Writ of Quo Warranto issued against the Colony. — Firmness of the People. — Their Charter adjudged to be forfeited. 287 CHAPTER V. Designs— and Death of Charles the Second. — Government of Massachusetts under a temporary Commission from James the Second. — Andros appointed Governor of New tngland. — Submission of Rhode Island. — Effort to preserve the Charter of ConnectjL- f"'" — ,VPP''<'ssive Government of Andros. — Colonial Policy of the King. — Sir Wil- ham Phips. — Indian Hostilities renewed by the Intrigues of the French. — Insurrection at boston. — Andros deposed— and the ancient Government restored. — Connecticut and Rhode Island resume their Charters— William and Mary proclaimed. — War with the 1- rench and Indians. — Sir William Phips conquers Acadia.— Ineffectual Expedition against Quebec. — Impeachment of Andros by the Colony discouraged by the English Ministers — and dismissed. — Tho King refuses to restore the ancient Constitution of Massachusetts. -Tenor of the new Charter.— Sir William Phips Governor. — The New England Witchcraft. - Death of Phips. — War with the French and Indians. — Loss of Acadia. — Peace of Rygwick. — Moral and Political State of New England. . 8S5 BOOK III. PLANTATION AND PROGRESS OF MARYLAND, TILL THK CLOSB OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. ChartOT of Maryland obtained from Charles the First by Lord Baltimore. — Condition of the Roman Catholics in England.- Emigration of Roman Catholics to the Province.— Friendly Treaty with the Indians. — Generosity of Lord Baltimore— Opposition and Intrigues of Cla^yborne. — First Assembly of Maryland.— Representative Governmenl established. — Early Introduction of Negro Slavery. — An Indian War. — Clayborne's Rebellion. — Religious Toleration established in the Colony. — Separate Establishment ot tlie House of Burgesses. —Clayborne declares for Cromwell — and usurps the Ad- ministration. — Toleration abolished. — Distractions of the Colony — terminated by the Restoration.- Establishment of a provincial Mint. — Happy State of the Colony. — Naturalization Acts. — Death of the first Proprietary. -Wise Government of his Son and Successor. — Law against importing Felons.— Establisliment of the Church of fcngland suggested. — Dismemberment of the Delaware Territory from Maryland.— Arbitrary Projects of James the Second. — Rumor of a Popish Plot. — A Protestant As- sociation is formed — and usurps the Administration. — The Proprietary Government •usponded by King William. — Establishment of tho Church of Englqad, aod PeraeoM- tion of the CathorMa.-Suto of t}ie Province — MaoDers-Uw*. . . . 301 xl CONTENTS. BOOK IV. PLANTATION AND PROGRESS OF NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA, TILL THE BEGINNING OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. CHAPTER I. Early Attempts of the Spaniards an the French to colonize this Territory. First Char- ter of Carolina granted by Charles the Second to Lord Clarendon and others. — Forma- tion of Albemarle Settlement in North Carolina. — Settlement of Ashley River in South Carolina. — Second Charter of the whole united Province. — Proceedings at Albemarle — The Proprietaries enact the Fundamental Constitutionsof Carolina. — Expedition of Emigrants to South Carolina. — John Locke created a Landgrave. — Hostilities with the Spaniards in Florida — and with the Indians. — Disgusts between the Proprietaries and the Colonists. — AfTaiVs of North Carolina.— Culpepper's Insurrection. — He is tried in England — and acquitted. — Discord among the Colonists. — Sothel's tyrannical Admin- istration. — He ia deposed 340 CHAPTER II. Affairs of South Carolina. — Indian War. — Practice of kidnapping Ir dians. — Emigrations from Ireland — Scotland — and England. — Pirates entertained in the Colony. — Emigra- tion of French Protestants to Carolina. — Disputes created by the Navigation Laws — Progress of Discontent in the Colony. — Sothel usurps the Gfovernment. — Endeavours of the Proprietaries to restore Order. — Naturalization of French Refugees lesistcd by the Colonists.— The Fundamental Constitutions abolished. — Wise Administration of Archdale. — Restoration of general Tranquillity.— Ecclesiastical Condition of the Prov- ince. — Intolerant Measures of the Proprietaries. — State of the People — Manners — Trade, &c ggn f'Vl £ » BOOK V. • FOUNDATION AND PROGRESS OF NEW YORK, TILL THE BEGINNING OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. CHAPTER I. Hudson's Voyage of Discovery —First Settlement of the Dutch at Albany.— Tho ProT- ince granted by tho States General to the West India Company of Holland.— The Dutch Cojonists extend their Settlements into Connecticut. — Disputes with tho New fcngland colonics. — Delaware first colonized by tho Swedes.— War between the Dutch and Indians. — Further Disputes with New England. — Designs of Charles tho Second.- Alarm and Exertions of the Dutch Governor. — The Province granted by recaptures it Arbitrary Gov- The Duke consents to give Nevr Charter to the Duke of York — invaded by an English Fleet — surrenders. — Wisi i'*' 'J,"'®"' of Colonel Nichols. — Holland cedes New York to England — — finally cedes it again. — New Charter granted to the Diike of York ernment of Andros. — Discontent of the Colonists York a free Constitution CHAPTER II. ^'S"^' -9°"?,""'* Administration. - Account of the Five Indian Nations of Canada. — Their Hostility to the French. - Missionary Labors of the French Jesuits. - James tho Becond abolishes the Liberties of New York - commands Dcngan to abandon tho Five ilj T^i." '^« '^'■p""''- -Andros again appointed Governor. — War between tho French and tho Five Nations. - Discontents at New York. - Leislcr declares for King William, and assumes the Government. - The French attack the Province, and burn Schenec- tady. ~ Arrival of Governor Sloiighter. — Perplexity of Leisler - his Trial - and Ex- Bcution.— Wars and mutual Cruelties of the French and Indians. — Governor Fletch- FnMTr„'""'™"""-7.''T''r"*" '^>:''.^''''<-l''r'"y at New York. -Captain Kidd. - Factions occasioned by the Fate of L- isler. - Trial of Ua vard. - Corrunt and onnr«.. te^oth c"'"ti^"'''"**" "^^""^ Curnbury.- State of the Colony at the Close'of the lioven- 387 4X7 ■1 CONTENTS. Xli mnera — GINNING nnnrng. BOOK VI. PLANTATION AND PROGRESS OF NEW JERSEY, TILL THE BEGINNING OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. Sale of the Territory by the Duke of York to Berkeley and Carteret. - Liberal Frame of Coverninent enacted by tiie Proprietaries.- Emigration from Long Island to New Jer- ."^liaT •"'^!' r *'«''"•«' Governor and Settlers from England. -Discontent and Dis- ,M nr?h n'!^''^°v^ r^«"°^"^'°" °/j''«'fi"«s to Now Jersey.- Equivocal Con- iltfJll P ** ^?''^r ?'t"""°n.?f » 'p Quakers in England. - Sale of Berkeley'* S] a e of the Provmce to Quakers. -Partition of the Province between them and Car- nl;7f Vn f h" ^?''"' 'rT ^i'JS'?'' '" ^^'' •'*''««y- - Encroachments of the Duke of York— Remonstrance of the Quakers -causes the Independence of New Jer- J?K I Tr\'-y,'' T '•"•«» Assc.nblv of West Jersey. -The Quakers purchase East tZl' ~ nl; ""/^'^y- opPO'nteJ Covernor.- Emigration from Scotland to East oH h^tl.7i7 f f- ■'"'T" ^'".^''•=°"** "g"'"«» l''e Proprietary Governments- defeat- ed by the Revo uuon.-lncfficicnt State of the Proprietary Government. - Surrender ot the provincial Patent to the Crown - and Reunic. of East and West Jersey. - Con- the"colon Provincial Government. — Administration of Lord Cornbury. - State of ■•••.. .. 461 BOOK VII. PLANTATION AND PROGRESS OF PENNSYLVANIA AND DELAWARE TILL THE BEGINNING OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. CHAPTER I. "'ni! "?'' ^'"'™<'t«' of William Pcnn.-He solicits a Grant of American Territory from Charles the Second. - Charter of Pennsylvania. - Object and Meaning of tho7lauX peculiar to this Charter. -Engish and American Oprnions thereon, i PennlS o peoDle his Territories. - Emigration of Quakers to the Province. - Letter from Penn to the Indians. -Pcnn's first Frame of Government for the Province. - Grant o" DeZ 499 ware by the Duke of Vork t^ P^.r^- wirsX'ii; AmeWcrrsi;yVu?"^^^ there. - Numerous Emigrations to the Province. - First legislative A^emb v - iW jylvan.a and Delaware united. - Controversy with Lord Baltimore. -Sy with Z eZfT'!i~^^'"'"^ Assembly -new Frame of Government adopted. -pKkdelphia founded. - Ponn's Return to England - and Farewell to hia People. '^[""'"^'P'"* CHAPTER II. ''Tit n"'*"'" tho Court of James the Second. -Dissensions amon^ ^m Colonists - the. Disagreement with Penn about his Quitrents.- He appoinU filr. Commissionem of State. -Rumor of an Indian Conspiracy. - Penn dissatisfied with his Commission- ers- appoints Blackwell Deputy-Governor. - Arbitrary Conduct of Blackwell. - Dk- pleasure of the Assembly. - Dissension between the Peopleof Delaware and PennVyl- vama. -Delaware obtains a separate executive Government. - George Keith's SchiL in Pennsylvania. - Peiin deprived of his Authoritv by King William. - Fletcher a^ Cer aZZ'hT w"" ' "^."."'"V'^ restored. -J T^ird frame of Govemmen .fl Quaker Accession to War. — Ponn's second Visit to his Colony. - Sentiments and Conduct of the Quakers relative to Negro Slavery. -Renewal of the Disp" teTbeTween Delaware and Pennsylvania.- Fourth and last F?ame of Government. -Penn tZZ to England. -Union of Pe,.nsylvnnia and Delaware dissolved. - Complaints of hS SXn ^ TnT ,^«»"-;Mi«'=°nd»ct of Governor Evans. -He i, s^pTseded K . .1 V^r r". * *i«"non8tranco to his People.- State of Pennsylvania and Delaware at the Close ofthc seventeenth Century. ... "J["""|" ""° ^'^'^w"* ^.^^ APPENDIX I. Htato and Prosnocfs of the North American Provinces at the Cloae of the seventeenth Jl.?!"^ •. ~?n '"^".r "• "^ ^P'"'""" "'' *'"' <^^°'°"''"» respccUng the Sovereignty and ~ ' "• "•'"• ""Win, »*e NOTES 551 Cabot Cab( — fi proj( — F Engl Bod^ — fd and Indii pear Colo 8om mud It pher < ever < sail fi Octol vador forth ' Dr the wc but of I tea, Bo some t The pi Thw op Am that it n, ity thai vol THE HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. BOOK I. VIRGINIA. CHAPTER I. Cabot despatched by Henry the Seventh — visits the Coast of North America. — Neglect of Cabot's Discovery by Henry — and by his immediate Successors. — Reign of EUzabeth — favorable to Maritime Adventure. — Rise of the Slave-trade. — Sir Walter Raleigh — projects a Colony in North America — first Expedition fails. — Elizabeth names the Couo<> try Virginia. — Grenville despatched by Raleigh — establishes a Colony at Roanoke. — Misfortunes of the Coloniste — their Return. — Use of Tobacco introduced into England — Farther Efforts of Raleigh — terminate unsuccessiully. — Accession of James to the English Crown. — Gosnold's Voyage — its Effects. — James divides North America be» tween two Companies. — Tenor of their Charters. — Royal Code of Laws. — The first Body of Colonists embarked by the London Company — arrive in the Bay of Chesapeake — found Jamestown. — Dissensions of the Colonists. — Hostility of tho Indians. — DiBtrew and Disorder of the Colony. — Services of Captain Smith — he is taken Prisoner by the Indians — his Liberation — he preserves the Colony.— The Colonists deceived by Aj>- pearancee of Gold. — Smith surveys the Bay of Chesapeake — elected President of tfi» Colony.— New Charter. — Lord Delaware appointed Cfovernor. — Newport. Gates, and Somers sent to preside till Lord Delaware's Arrival — are wrecked on tne Coast of Ber- mudas. — Captain Smith returns to England. It was on the third of August, 1492, a little before sunrise, that Christo- pher Colunibus, undertaking the grandest enterprise that human genius has ever conceived, or human talent and fortitude have ever accomplished, set sail from Spain for the discovery of the western world. On the 13th of October, about two hours before midnight, a hght in the island of San Sal- vador was descried b/ Columbus from the deck of his vessel, and America for the first time beheld by Europ ean eyes.' Of the wide train of impor- ' Dr. Robertson espoused the opinion, that the ancients had no notion of the exietence of tbe western world, and has collected from ancient writers many proofs, not only of ignorance, but of most barbarous error, respectii.g the extent and dimensions of the earth. Hist. ofJimer- wa, Book I. Yet a Roman writer, to whose sentiments he has not adverted, is supposed by some to have prophesied the discovery of America, 1400 years before this •vent took place The passage occun in one of Seneca's tragedies. " Venient annis Secula scris, quibus oceanus Vincula rerum laxet, et ingens Pateat tellus, Tiphysque novos Petegat orbes ; nee sit terris _,.. , Ultima Thulc." Jlf^rfea, Act H. Chorus. X nw passage attracted a good deal of comment from the early Spanish and Flemish writen op America. Acp»t» opposed the common notion of its bein^ n prophecy, and maintained Uiat It was (as matt prpbably it was) a mere conjecture of the poet. A'alurnl and Morml Uiftnryqf (he #ndi«»,.B._ I. Certain passages in Virgil's JRneid, in Lucan's PhnrsaJia, and ^I*"L''"' j*^ ""f''" "' °"" "'°" writers, have been equally uiled, with tnure eeai and insenu- ity than discreUou and jtmsmt, as containing allusions to America. S«e, on thia Mibject, thai VOL I 4 C I 26 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK I. tant consequences that depended on this spectacle, perhaps not even the penetrating and comprehensive mind of Columbus was adequately sensiMe ; but to the end of time, the heart of every human being who reads the story will confess the interest of that eventful moment, and partake ihc feelings of the illustrious man. On the following day, the Spanish adventurers, preceded by their commander, took possession of the soil ; the external emblems of Christianity were planted on the shores of the western hemi- sphere ; and a connection, pregnant with a vast and various progeny of good and evil, was established between Europe and America. By one of those accide.its to which the solidest titles to human fame are exposed, the dis- coverer of the new world was defrauded of the honor of blending his own name with the great fruit of his noble adventure ; which has derived its now unalterable denomination from the bold imposture by which an earlier writer, though much later visitor of the region, Amerigo Vespucci, of Flor- ence, contrived for a while to persuade mankind that he was the first Euro- pean to whom America had revealed her existence.* The intelligence of the successful voyage of Columbus was received in Europe with the utmost surprise and admiration. In England, more espe- cially, it was calculated to produce a strong impression, and to awaken at once emulation and regret. While Columbus was proposing his schemes with little prospect of success at the court of Spain, he had despatched his brother Bartholomew to the court of Henry the Seventh in England, there to solicit patronage and tender the fruits of discovery. Bartholomew was taken prisoner by pirates, and after a long detention was reduced to such poverty, that, on his arrival in London, he was compelled by the labor of his hands to procure the means of arraying himself in habiliments becoming his interview with a monarch. His propositions were favorably entertained by Henry ; but before a definitive arrangement was concluded, Bartholomew was recalled by the intelligence, that his brother's plans had at length been sanctioned and espoused by Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. If the warefu) and penurious disposition of Henry contributed to diminish his regrets for the abandonment of a hazardous and expensive undertaking the astonishing success which attended its actual prosecution by other'^ re- vived the former projects of his mind, and inspired a degree of enterprise that showed him both instructed and provoked by the better fortune of the bpanish crown.8 In this temper he hearkened with satisfaction to the pro- posals of one Gabato or Cabot, a Venetian, residing in Bristol ; who, Irom retlection on the discoveries of Columbus towards the southwest, had con- ceived the opinion, that lands might likewise be discovered towards the northwest, and now offered to the king to conduct an expedition in this direction. Henry, prompted by his avarice and stung with envy and dis- appointment, readily closed with this proposal, and not only bestowed on Its author a commission of discovery, but, on two subsequent occasions, issued similar commissions to other individuals for exploring and appropri- atingjhe^ territorial resources of unknown portions of the globe.^ htrlUjTJnJt .''''""™'''«;f.P"'"'<>n «/ thiB injustice, at the period when Amcricn nchicved UnitnH <^^^ .7 "'" •;•"»''''«''•"«"» "fthe independence nnd the fedcnil ronntitution of tha JeSTthttvIro? AinS;f ^^ '''""'"*'" is .ho grandest poetical tribute ever ran » Baeoa '■ Uislory of Henry tju'seventk. » BwoB. [BOOK I. lot even the oly sensil'le ; ids the story ' ihe feehngs adventurers, the external ?stern henii- ;eny of good one of those ed, the dis- !ing his own derived its ;h an earHer ci, of Flor- 3 first Euro- received in more espe- awaken a( lis schemes patched his ^land, there )lomew was led to such he labor of :s becoming entertained irtholomew length been to diminish ndertaking, r Others re- enterprise tune of the to the pro- who, from , had con- )wards the ion in tliis y and dis- stowed on occasions, appropri- 9n of Jahn'f •icn npliicved tution of the jtc over ren CHAP. I.] CABOT'S DISCOVERIES. S7 M ! ) F 1 The commission to Cab( i, the only one which was productive of inter- esting consequences, was granted on the 5th of March, 1495, (about two years after the return of Columbus from America,) and empowered that adventurer and his sons to sail under the flag of England in quest of coun- tries yet unappropriated by Christian sovereigns ; to take possession of them m the nanie of Henry, and plant the English banner on the walls of their castles and cities, and to maintain with the inhabitants a traflic exclusive of all competitors and exempted from customs ; under the condition of paying a tilth part of the free profit of every voyage to the crown. ^ About two years alter tlie date of his commission, Cabot, with his second son, Sebastian, embarked at Bristol ,n a ship provided by the king, and attended by four small vessels equipped by the merchants of that city. Sebastian Cabot appears to have greatly excelled his father in genius and nautical science ; and It IS to him alone that historians have ascribed all the discoveries with which the name of Cabot is associated. The navigators of that age were as much influenced by the opinions as incited by the example of Columbus, who erroneously supposed that the islands he' discovered in his first voyage were outskirts or dependencies of India, not lar remote from the Indian continent. Impressed with the same notion, Sebastian Cabot conceived the hope, that, by steering to the north- west, he might fulfil the design and improve the performance of Columbus and reach India by a shorter course than the great navigator himself had attenipted. Accordingly pursuing that track, he discovered die islands of Newfoundland and St. John ; and, continuing to hold a westerly course, soon reached the continent of North America, and sailed along it from the confines of Labrador to the coast of Virginia. Thus, conducted by Cabot, whose own lights were derived from the genius of Columbus, did the Eng- lish achieve the honor of being the second European nation that visited the western world, and the first that discovered the vast continent that stretches Irom the Gulf of Mexico towards the North Pole : for it was not till the succeeding year [1498] that Columbus, in his second voyage, was enabled to complete his own discovery, and advance beyond the islands he had first visited to the continent of America. Cabot, disappointed in his main object of findh.g a western passage to India, returned to England to relate the discoveries he had already accom- plished, — without attempting, either by settlement or conquest, to gain a footing on the American continent.^* He would willingly have resumed his exploratory enterprise in the service of England, but he found that in his absence the king's ardor for territorial discovery had greatly abated. Seated on a throne which he acquired by conquest, in a country exhausted by civil wars, — involved in hostilities with Scotland, — and harassed by tlie insur- rections of his subjects and the machinations of pretenders to his crown, — Henry had little leisure for the execution of distant projects ; and his sordid disposition found small attraction in the prospect of a colonial settlement which was not likely to be productive of immediate pecuniary gain. He was engaged, likewise, at this time, in negotiating the marriage of his son with the daughter of Ferdinand of Spain, — a transaction that supplied ad- ditional reasons for relinquishing designs which could not fail to give umbrage to this jealous prince, who cla imed the whole continent of America in virtue • »» » I . — * - — - — ' — — ^ naKiiiyi. •ta ■ "7*- .Chaimers'B Jinmah »/ the United Colonies. Hazard s Historical l?!i\',u""Z''}f. "/.'■'»'•«'«■'•'■''. JV'w England, and tht Smtt M^. (JoUectiow^ 28 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK ) of a donative from the pope. Nor were the subjects of Henry in a con- dition to avail tliempelves of the ample field tlirown open by Cabot's discov- erv to their enterprise and activity. The civil wars had dissipated wealth, repressed commerce, and even excluded tlie English people from partaking the general improvement of tlie otlier nations of Europe ; and all the benefit, which for the present they derived from the voyage of Cabot, was lliat right of territorial property which is supposed to arise Irom priority of discovery, — an acquisition, which, from the extent of the region, the mildness of its climate, and the fertility of its soil, afforded an inviting prospect of advan- tageous colonization. But by the counteracting circumstances to which we liave already adverted, was England prevented from occupying this impor- tant field, till tlie moral and religious advancement which her people were soon to attain should qualify her to become the parent of civihty and popu- lation in North America. Cabot, finding that Henry had abandoned all colonial projects, soon after transferred his own services to the Spaniards ; and the English seemed contented to surrender tlieir discoveries and the discoverer to the superior fortune of that successful people. The only im- mediate fruit of his enterprise is said to have been the importation from America of the first turkeys • that were ever seen in Europe. It is remarkable, that, of these earliest expeditions to the western world by Spain and England, not one was either projected or conducted by a citi- zen of the state which supplied the subordinate adventurers, defrayed the expense of the equipment, and reaped the benefit of the enterprise. The honor of the achievement was thus more widely distributed. The Spanish adventurers were conducted by Columbus, a native of Genoa ; the English, by John Cabot, a citizen of Venice ;** and though Sebastian Cabot, whose superior genius assumed the direction of the enterprise, was bom in Eng- land, it was by the experience and instructions of his fatlier that his ca- pacity was trained to naval affairs, and it was to the father that the projeor tion of the voyage was due, and the chief command of it intrusted. Happily for the honor of the English people, the parallel extends no farther ; and thfi treatment which the two discoverers experienced from the nations that en)r ployed them differed as widely as the histories of the two empires whicja they respectively contributed to found. Columbus was loaded with chains in the region which he had the glory of discovering, and died, the victim pf ingratitude and disappointment, among the people whom he had condiict^ to wealth and renown. Cabot, after spending some years in the service of Spain, also experienced her ingratitude ; and returning in his old age to England, obtained a kind and honorable reception from tlie nation wlilo^ had as yet derived only barren hopes and a seemingly rehnquished litis from his expedition. He received the dignity of knighthood, the appoint- ment of Grand Pilot of England, nnd a pension that enabled liim to &pea4 his declining years in circumstances of honor and comfort.^ From Uiis period till the reign of Elizabeth, no fixed views were enter- tained nor any deliberate purpose evinced in England of occupying territory fft establishing colonies in America. In the earlier part of the reign 0| Henry the Eighth, the attention and energy of the English govcrniuont were ' Why tbu 4>trd received tlie name it cnjova in England line never been aatiffiMttiriJy nploined. Bjr the French it was cnllnd eoq ifhde, on account of its American pngunUj Ani«rica bfUnK,W«n i^enernlly termed Western India. Italian, John Verazzan, a native of Florence. * Smith. "i t^nntjtt^ttkA^ im litrA tnnnnmr. -7 ■ CHAP. I.] NEGLECT OF CABOT'S DISCOVERIES. ary in a con- bot's discov- tated wealth, 3111 partaking il the benefit, vas tliat right )f discovery, ildness of its ct of advan- to which we g this impor- people were ty and popu- bandoned all J Spaniards ; ries and the rhe only ii»- >rtotion from estern world ted by a citi- defrayed the •prise. The The Spanish the Enghsh, /abot, whose bom in Kng- that his car t the projecr :ed. Happily her ; and tb|B ions that eii)r upires whtcti i with chains he victim pf id conduct,(^ 16 service of s old age U^ nation wliic^ quished titLs the appoint* um to &pefi4 were enter- yring territory the reign ,o? Tnmont were an satiyfimtirily jricim ,origioiJi tnaffUMT. hm an : 7 -y — 29 sbsorbed by wars and intrigues on the continent of Europe ; and the inno- vations in religious doctrine and ecclesiastical constitution, that attended its cJose, supplied ample employment at home for the minds of the king and of the great bulk of the people. It was during this reign that (after many pre- lusive gleams supphed during successive ages by that small Christian com- munity which never admitted the sway nor adopted the errors of the church of Rome •) the full hgln of the Reformation broke forth in Germany, whence it was rapidly diffused on all sides over the rest of Europe! Henry, at first, resolutely opposed himself to the adversaries of the church of Rome, and even attempted by his pen to stem the progress of the inno- iTZ'T^f service which the pope rewarded by conferring on him the title of Defender of the Faith. But his subsequent controversy with the papal see awakened and sanctioned a spirit of inquiry among his own sub- jects, which spread far beyond his expectations and desiresfand eluded all his attempts to control and restrain it. A discussion of the pretensions of the church of Rome naturally begot inquiry into her doctrines; for her grand pretension to infallibility formed the only authority to which many of these doctrines were indebted for their currency. This pretension, indeed, was so c osely interwoven with the whole fabric of her canons and institu- tions, that even a partial dissent from any one of them attacked a principle that pervaded them all. In a system so overgrown with abuses, the spirit of inquiry, wherever ,t gained admission, could not fail to detect error ; and ^?^"ArL"P^ '"'*'• ''^ "f u"''^ detection, by shaking the fundamental tenet of infalhbiluy, arraigned the solidity of the whole structure. This danger which could not have been entirely evaded, was aggravated by the alarm with which It inspired the Roman pontiffs, and thetprudenceVf the de fensive pohcy which they adopted. Utterly proscribing Uie spirit of inquiry hnl':!'' '"""^^ ^"^,7 rr^t '/" '"PP^"^''' '^^y °"'>^ "'flamed its vigor and Kn ^'f th Tf "'"* ^' Reformers to extend their views from an emen- dation of the actual state of the church of Rome to an unqualified impugna- tion of her authority and revolt from her communion. ^ ^ ,nl.^n^^T^'' °^ this growing spirit of inquiry operated with strong and salutary influence on the character and fortune of the nations in which it fi!Jl t • ^ ' -T^^n '■^*'°""* investigation had at length been found, that could interest the dullest and engross the most vigorous capacities ; the contagion of fervent zeal and bold excursive thought was wkly propa- gated ; and every people by which the reformed doctrines were embraced was elevated m force and dignity of intellectual character. Introduced into Ji^ngland by the power of a haughty, capricious, and barbarous tyrant, whose otnect was, not the emancipation of his subjects, but the deliverance of him- self from an authority which he wrested from the pope only to wield with his own hands, --some time elapsed before these doctrines worked their way mto the minds of^ the people, and, expelling the corruptions and adul- terations of the royal teacher, attained a full maturity of reasonable influ- ence. Besides leavening the national creed with the spirit of the ancient siiperstition, Henry encumbered the national worship with many of the Komish institutions ; retaining whatever was calculated to prove a useful auxiliary to royal prerogative, or to gratify the pomp and pride of his own • sensual imagination In the composition of the ecclesiastical body, he pre- 1 — ' ^r„i,_nj , ana m tnc suic mnnies of worship, tiie gor ' Bogfg History of the Moravian Church. ~ ' 30 HISTORY or NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK I. geous ceremonial of the church of Home. But he found it easier to promul- gate ecclesiastical ordinances, than to confine tlie strean> of human opinion, or stay the heavenly shower by which it was gradually reinforced and en- larged ; and in an after age, the repugnan('e that manifested itself between the constitution of the English church and the reUgious sentiments of the English people produced consequences of very great importance in the history of England, and the origination of civilized society in North America. The ruptqre between Henry the Eighth and the Roman see removed whatever obstacle the papal donative to Spain might have opposed to the appropriation of American territory by the English crown ; but of the two immediate successors of that monarch, the one neglected this advantage, and the other renounced it. During the reign of Edward the Sixth, the court of the royal minor was distracted by faction, or occupied with the conduct and the vicissitudes of a war with Scotland ; and the attention of the king, and of a great portion of his people, was engrossed by the care of extend- ing and confirming the establishment of the Protestant doctrines. Introduced by Henry and patronized by Edward, these doctrines multiplied their con- verts with a facility that savored somewhat of the influence of human au- thority and the suggestions of secular interest ; till, under the direction of Providence, the same temporal power that had been employed to promote the introduction of truth was permitted to attempt its extinction. The royal authority, which Henry had blindly made subservient to the spread and recognition of the Protestant doctrines, was now employed by Mary, with equal blindness, as an instrument to sift and purify the collective mass of Protestant professors, to separate the genuine from the spurious portions of it, and to enable the sound and sincere believers, by a wonderful display of fortitude, faithfulness, and patience, to illustrate the perfection of Chris- tian character in unison with the purity of Christian faith. This princess, restoring the connection between England and the church of Rome, and united in marriage to Philip of Spain, was bound by double ties to refrain from contesthig the Spanish claims on America. It ws? not till the reign of Elizabeth, that the obstacles created by the pretensi.ms of Spain were finally removed ; and then, indeed, tlie prospect of collision with the de- signs of this state, so far from appearing objection9ble, presented the strongest attraction to tlie minds of the English. But although, during this long period, the occupation of America was entirely neglected, the naval resources adapted to the formation and main- tenance of colonies were diligently cultivated in England, and a vigorous impulse was communicated to the spirit of commercial enterprise. Under the directions of Cabot, in the reign of Henry the Eighth, the English mer- chants visited the coast of Brazil, and traded with the colonial settlements of the Portuguese. In the reign of Edward the Sixth, tlie fisheries on the Banks of Newfoundland, which had been previously established, were ex- tended and encouraged ; and an association of adventurers for the discovery of new countries was incorporated by royal charter. Even Mary contributed to promote this direction of the national disposition and faculties : she founded the Corporation of Merchants trading to Russia, and studied to augment the security of their traffic by cultivating a friendly relation with sovereign of that country. During her reign, an attempt highly cred- .e to i^ngiiSn enterprise anu energy, and noi wholly unsuccessful) wa the itoKI vus CHAP. I.] SPANISH CONaUESTS IN AMERICA. • to promul- lan opinion, e.d and en- ilf between lents of the ance in the ' in North ;e removed ased to the of the two antuge, and 1, the court :he conduct )f the king, of extend- Introduced I their eon- huniun au- hrcction of to promote The royal spread and Mary, with ^e mass of js portions rful display J of Chris- s princess, lome, and s to refrain II the reign 5pain were ith the de- sented the nerica was and main- a vigorous 3. Under iglish mer- iettlements ■ies on the , were ex- discovery contributed kies : she studied to ation with ghlv cred- ;55iul, was 3] made to reach India by land ; » and a commercial intercourse was estab- lished with the coast of Africa. Many symptoms conspired to indicate with what adventurous vigor and persevering ardor the Kngjish might be expected to improve every opportunity of exerting and enlarging their resources, and how high a rank they were destined to hold in the scale of nations, when the force o| their genius should be thoroughly developed by the progress of their recent improvement, and when the principles and policy of their government shoud more perfectly coincide with the temper and character of the people. Ihe Spaniards, meanwhile, had spread their settlements over the southern regions of the new world and achieved an extent of conquest and accession of treasure that dazzled the e^es and awakened the emulation of all Europe Men of active and enterprising disposition in Spain, curbed and restricted at home by the illiberal genius of their municipal government, eagerly rushed into tiie outlet of grand adventure presented to them on the vast theatre of Mexico and Peru, rhe paganism of the natives of these regions allured the invasion of bigots wedded to a faith that recognized compulsion as an in- strument of conversion ; and their wealth and effeminacy not less powerfully tempted the cupidity and ambition of men in whom pride inflamed the thiri ol riches, while it inspired contempt of useful industry. Thus every pros- pect that could address itself prevailingly to human desires, or to the peculi- arities of Spanish taste and character, contributed to promote that seri.-s of rapid and vigorous invasions by which the Spaniards overran so large a portion of the continent of South America. The real and lasting effect of their acquisitions has corresponded, in a manner very satisfactory to the moral eye, with the character and merit of the achievements by which thoy were earned. The history of the expeditions which terminated in the con- quest of Mexico and Peru displays, perhaps, more strikingly than any oth^r portion of the records of the human race, what amazing exertions the spirit ol man can prompt him to attempt, and sustain him to endure, — how sig- nally he IS capable of misdirecting the energy with which his Creator has endowed him, and of disgracing the most admirable capacities of his nature, by rendering them instrumental to sordid, unjust, and barbarous ends. Iteligion, the grand corrective of human evil, error, and woe, shared this tatal perversion ; and the crosses, which, as emblems of Christianity, suc- cessively announced the advent of this faith to each newly discovered re- gion, proved far other than the harbingers of glory to God or good-will to men. 1 he deliberate pride, and stern, unsparing cruelty of the Spanish ad- venturers, their arrogant disregard of the rights of human nature, and calm survey of the desolation of empires and destruction of happiness and life, are rendered the more striking and impressive by the humility of their own oriz- inal circumstances, which seemed practically to level and unite them by habit and sympathy with the mass of mankind. Their conquests were ac- complished with such rapidity, and followed with such barbarous oppres- sion, that a very few years sufficed not only to subjugate but almost vvholly to extirpate the slothful and effeminate idolaters who were fated to perish by their hands. Yet tlie fate of these victims of Spanish cruelty was not tin- avenged. To their conquerors, and through them to all Europe, they com- ^ municated the most loathsome and horrible disease that has ever afflicted and corrupted the human frame. The settlements that were founded in the con- quered countries produced, from the nature of the soil, a vast influ x of gold ' Hakluyt. ~ 32 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK I. ' and silver into Spain, and finally exercised a pernicious influence on the lib- erty, industry, and prosperity of her people. But it was long before the bit- ter harvest of i'lis golden shower was reaped ; and in an age so darkly blind to the liberal truths of pohtical science, it could not be foreseen through the dazzling pomp and renown with which the acquisition of so much empire and the administraUon of so much treasure invested the Spanish monarchy. The exploits of the original adventurers, embellished by the romantic genius of Spain, and softened by national partiality, had now occupied the pens of Spanish historians, and excited a thirst for kindred enterprise and hopes of similar enrichment in every nation to which the tidings were conveyed. The study of the Spanish language, and the acquaintance with Spanish litera- ture, which the marriage of Philip and Mary introduced into England, con- tributed to cherish this impulse in the minds of the English, and gave to the rising spirit of adventure among them a strong determination towards the continent of America. The reign of Eli-iabeth was productive of the first attempts of the English people to establish a permanent settlement in America. But many causes conspired to enfeeble their exertions for this purpose, and to retard the ac- complishment of so great a design. The civil government of Elizabeth, in the commencement of her reign, was acceptable to her subjects ; and her commercial policy, though frequently perverted by the interests of arbitrary power and the principles of a narrow and erroneous system, was in the main, perhaps, not less laudably designed than judiciously directed to the cultiva- tion of their resources and the enlargement of their prosperity. By permit- ting a free exportation of corn, she promoted at once the agriculture and the commerce of England ; and by treaties with foreign powers, she endeav- oured to establish commercial relations between their territories and her own.* Sensible how much the dignity and security of her crown and the welfare of her people depended on a naval force, she studiously encouraged navigation ; and so greatly increased the shipping of the kingdom, both by building large vessels herself, and by promoting ship-buildbg amon;^; the merchants, that she was styled by her suWects the Restorer of Naval Glory and the Queen of the Northern Seas.** Rigidly just in discharging the ancient debts of the crown, as well as in fulfilling all her own particular engagements, — yet for- bearing towards her people in the imposition of taxes ; frugal in the ex- penditure of her resources, and yet exerting a firm and deliberate persever- ance in tho prosecution of well directed projects ; the policy of her civil government at once conveyed good lessons to her subjects, and happily coincided with the general cast and bent of their genius and disposition. Dnrint; a reign thus favorable to commercial enterprise, the spirit that had been gradually pervading the steady minds of the English was called forth into active and vigorous exertion. Under the patronage of Dudley, Earl of Warwick, and conducted by Martin Frobisher, an expedition was de- * She obtained from John BasilidrH, the cznr of Muscovy, a patent which conferred th« whole trade of hia dominions on the English. With this grant, the tyrant, who lived in con- tinual dread of a revolt of his subjectii, purciiascd from Elizabeth the assurance of an asylum from tlieir fury in England. But Ills son Theodore revoked il, mid answered to the quoenV remonstrances, that ho was determined to rob neither his own subjects nor foreigners by sub- jecting to monopolies what should be free to all munUind. Camden. Ho superior was ilie commercial policy which natural justice taught this barbarian to the Hystem which Elizabeth derived from her boosted learning and renowned ability, and which, in the progress of her r»!K- I I..J tU eompaniea. * Camden. Strypo. *u- £ 1 — 1 :_j.._._.. _r I 1- ...:ti. „„• — »- -« — .-^i — i;— -«.! ..-..1..-:..^ tiic jstrtrtiuiii auu iiiuuBtlV vt ttvt pwpit: mtu utttciitc, uivDvpviiTTB, arit* r,-A. tUe»iT^ [BOOK I. ce on the lib- »efore the bit- > darkly blind n through the much empire sh monarchy, naantic genius i the pens of le and hopes re conveyed. Spanish litera- Cngland, con- d gave to the towards the )f the English many causes retard the ac- Elizabeth, in cts ; and her s of arbitrary 3 in the main, the cultiva- By permit- ilture and the , she endeav- and her own.^ lie welfare of d navigation ; building large irchants, tliat id the Queen t debts of the ;s, — yet for- ;al in the ex- ate persever- ' of her civil and happily iposition. pirit that had 1 called forth Dudley, Earl tion was de- Ji conferred the lo lived in con- ^fi of nn asylum I to the queen's reigncrs by sub- uperior was tlio vhii:h Eli/.iil>eth progress of h«^r CHAP. I.] MARITLME ADVENTURE UNDER ELIZABETH. S3 5fit u t:A»i UWt m as spatched for the discoviery of a nortliwest passage to India [1578] : but after exploring the coasts of Labrador and Greenland, Frobisher was compelled to return with the tidings of disappointment. If the ardor of the English was damped by this failure, it was speedily reanimated by the successful efibrt of Sir Francis Drake, who, with a feeble squadron, undertook and accomplished the same enterprise that for sixty years had formed the pecu- liar glory of the Portuguese navigator Magellan, and obtained for England the honor of being the second nation that completely circumnavigated the globe. A general enthusiasm was produced by this splendid achievement, and a passion for naval exploits laid hold of almost all the leading spirits of the age. Yet still, no project of effecting a permanent settlement abroad had been entertained or attempted by the English. The social happiness enjoyed by the subjects of Ehzabeth enhanced those attractions that bind the hearts of men' to their native land, and that are rarely surmounted but by the expe- rience of intolerable hardships at home, or the prospect of sudden enrich- ment abroad. Now the territory of North America presented none of the allurements that had incited and rewarded the Spanish adventurers ; it en- couraged no hopes but of distant gain, and invited no exertions but of patient industry. The prevalence of the Protestant doctrines in England, and the increasing influence of a sense of religion on the minds of the people, dis- inclined many persons to abandon the only country where the Reformation appeared to be securely established ; engrossed the minds of others with schemes for the improvement of the constitution and ritual of their national church ; and probably repressed in some ardent spirits the epidemical thirst of adventure, and reconciled them to that moderate competency which the state of society in England rendered easily attamable, and the simplicity of manners preserved from contempt. But if the immediate influence of religious principle was unfavorable to projects of colonization, it was to the further development of that noble principle that England was soon to be indebted for the most remarkable and interesting colonial establishment that she has ever possessed. The ecclesi- astical policy of Elizabeth was far from giving the same general satisfaction that her civil government afforded to her subjects. Inheriting the arrogant temper, the lofty pretensions, and the taste for pompous pageantry by which her father had been distinguished, without partaking his earnest zeal and sin- cere bigotry, she frequently blended religious considerations with her state policy, but suffered religious sentiments to exert little, if any, influence on her heart. Like him, she wished to render the establishments of Chris- tian worship subservient to the indulgence of human pomp and vanity, and, by a splendid hierarchy and gorgeous ceremonial, mediate an agreement be- txyeen the loftiness of her heart and the humility of the gospel. But the trials and afflictions which the English Protestants underwent from Mary had deepened and purified the religious sentiments of a great body of this people, and at the same time associated with many of the ceremonies re- tained in the national church the idea of popery and the recollection of persecution. This repugnance between the sentiments of the men who now began to be termed Puritans and the ecclesiastical policy of the Englisli government continued to increase during the whole of Elizabeth's reign : but QQ tlm infliionrp \vliir>li it ovor'^iao*! <->!•> Atn nr^\r^^'.^^t'.^-. -,(" A !__ — , J- ..._ s> : ,, ,,,, ,,„ , ,ji^jniiuliun ui .iimciiCil Hits liul manifested till the succeeding reign, the further account of it must be de- VOL. I. 5 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK 1 llvi I >»t> J. ferred till we come to trace its effects in the rise and progress of the settle- men's in New England. During tlie present reign, there was introduced into England a branch ol" that inhuman traffic in negro slaves which afterwards engrossed so large a share of her commercial wealth and activity, and converted a numerous body of her merchants into a confederacy of robbers, and much of what she termed her trade into a system of the basest fraud and the most atrocious rapine and violence. The first Englishman who exposed himself and his country to this foul reproach was Sir John Hawkins, who subsequently attained a high nautical celebrity, and was created an admiral and treasurer of the British navy. His father, an expert English seaman, having made several voyages to the coast of Guinea and from thence to Brazil and the West Indies, had acquired considerable knowledge of these countries, which he transmitted to his son in the copious journals he preserved of his travels and observations. In these compositions, he described the soil of America and the West Indies as endowed by nature with extraordinary richness and fertility, yet languish- ing in total unproductiveness from the actual want of cultivators. Europeans were represented as unequal to the toil of agriculture in so sultry a climate ; but the natives of Africa as pecuharly well adapted to this employment. Forcibly struck with his father's remarks, Hawkins deduced from them the project of transporting Africans into the western world ; and having com- posed a plan for the execution of this design, he produced it to some per- sons with whom he was acquainted, of opulent estate and enterprising dispo- sition, and sohcited their approbation and concurrence. A subscription was opened, and speedily completed, by Sir Lionel Ducket, Sir Thomas Lodge, Sir William Winter, and other individuals, who plainly perceived the large emolument that might be derived from the adventiu-e proposed to them. By their assistance, Hawkins was enabled to set sail for Africa in the year 1562 ; and having reached Sierra Leone, he began his commerce with the negroes. While he trafficked with them in the usual articles of barter, he took occasion to give them an inviting description of the country to which he was bound ; contrasting the fertility of its soil and the wealth of its inhabitants with the barrenness of Africa and the poverty of the African tribes. Finding that the unsuspecting negroes listened to him with implicit belief, and were greatly captivated with the European luxuries and orna- ments which he displayed to their view, — he offered, if any of them were willing to exchange their destitute circumstances for a happier condition, to transport them to this more bountiful region, where he assured them of a friendly reception, and an ample participation in the enjoyments with which he had made them acquainted, as a certain recompense of easy labor. The negroes were ensnared by his flattering promises ; and three hundred of them, accepting his offer, consented to embark along with him for Hispan- iola. On the night before their embarkation, they were attacked by a hos tile tribe ; when Hawkins, hastening with his crew to their assistance, re pulsed the assauh, and carried a number of the assailants as prisoners on board his vessels. The next day ho set sail with his mixed lading of human ware, and during the passage treated the negroes who voluntarily accom- panied him with more kindness and indulgence than he extended to his prisoners of war. On his arrival at Hispaniola, he disposed of the whole cargo to great advantage, and endeavoured to inculrnfe on the Rnnniards who bought the negroes the same distinction in the treatment of them w liich CHAP. I] RISE OF THE SLAVE-TRADE. 35 he himself had observed. But, having now put the fulfilment of his promises out of his own power, it was not permitted to him so to limit the evil con- sequences of his perfidy ; and the Spaniards, who had purchased all- the Africans at the same rate, considered them as slaves of the same condition, and treated them all alike. When Hawkins returned to England with a rich freight of pearls, sugar, and ginger, obtained in exchange for his slaves, the success of his voyage excited universal interest and curiosity respecting the sources from which so much wealth had been derived. At first the nation was shocked with the barbarous aspect of a traffic in the persons of men ; and the public feeling having penetrated into the court, the queen sent for Hawkins to inquire in what manner this novel and extraordinary description of commerce was con- ducted ; declaring to him, that, " if any of the Africans were carried away without their own consent, it would be detestable, and call down the ven- geance of Heaven upon the undertakers." Hawkins, in vindication of him- self, protested, that, in no expedition which he conducted should any of the people of Africa (except captives obtained in defensive and legitimate war) be compulsorily removed from their native soil ; and he declared, that, so far from entertaining any scruple r#specting the righteous nature of his traf- fic, he deemed it an act of humanity to carry men from a worse condition to a better, from a state of heathen barbarism to an opportunity of sharing the blessings of Christianity and civilization.^ It is believed, indeed, and seems consonant with probability, that Hawkins did not himself contemplate the perpetual slavery of the negroes whom he sold, but expected that they would be advanced to the condition of free servants whenever their labor had produced to their masters an equivalent for the expense of their pur- chase. The queen was satisfied with his explanation, and dismissed him with the assurance, that, while he and his associates acted with humanity, they might depend on her countenance and protection. The very next voyage that Hawkins undertook demonstrated still more clearly than the former the deceitfulness of that unction which he had ap- plied to his conscience, and the futility even of those intentions of which the fulfilment seemed to depend entirely on himself. In his passage he met with an English ship-of-war, which joined itself to the expedition and accompa- nied him to the coast of Africa. On his arrival, he began as formerly to traffic with the negroes, and endeavoured, by reiteration of his former topics of persuasion, to induce them to embark in his vessels. But they now treated his advances with a reserve that betrayed jealousy of his designs. As none of their countrymen had returned from the former voyage, they were appre- hensive that the English had killed and devoured them ; a supposition which, however offensive to the English, did greatly and erroneously extenuate the inhumanity of which they were actually guilty. The crew of the ship-of-war, observing the Africans backward and suspicious, began to deride t^^ gentle and dilatory procedure to which Hawkins confined himself, and proposed immediate recourse to the summary process of impressment. The sailors belonging to his own vessels joined with the crew of the man-of-war, and, ' This was tlic pica by which nil tho conductors and apologists of the slave-trade attempted to vindicate the practice in its infancy. The danger of hearkening to a policy that admits of " doinji ants of those men, whom'wo have seen (both in America and the West Indies) enact laws proiiibiting iill cuucatiun, moral, poiiticoi, or rciigious, of their negro slaves, and even of cmuii- cipatcd negroes. :loing evil that good may come " was never more strikingly illusUated than "by the descend- ts of those men, whom wo have seen (both in America an' 36 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK I. applauding their suggestion, made instant preparation for carrying it into effect. Hawkins protested against such lawless barbarity, and vainly en- deavoured to prevail on them to deist from their purpose. But the instruc- tions of the queen and the dictates of conscience were ineffectually cited to men whom he bad initiated in piratical injustice, and who were not able to discover the moral superiority of courteous treachery over undisguised vio- lence. They pursued their design, and, after various unsuccessful attacks, in which many of them lost their lives, another cargo of human beings was at last forcibly collected.^ Such was the origin of the English branch of the slave-trade, which is here related the more minutely, not only on ac- count of the remarkable and instructive circumstances that attended the com- mencement of the practice,*^ but on account of the influence which it subse- quently exercised on the colonization and condition of some of the prov- inces of North America. The spirit of adventure which had been awakened in the English nation found a more inviting scene of exertion in the southern than in the northern regions of America ; and when, after twenty years of peace, Elizabeth was engaged in war with her brother-in-law, Philip, the prospect of enrichment and renown to be gathered from the pluniJer of the Spanish colonies opened a new career, which was eagerly embraced and successfully prosecuted by numerous bands of enterprising men issuing from every rank of society in England. Accordingly, for many years the most popular and notable ex- ploits of the English were performed in the predatory hostilities which they waged with the colonies and colonial commerce of Spain. Even in scenes so unfavorable to the production or display of the better qualities of human nature, the manly character and moral superiority of the English were fre- quently and strilangly disclosed. Drake and other adventurers in the same career were men equally superior to avarice and fear ; and though willing to encounter hardship and danger in quest of wealth, they did not esteem it valuable enough to be acquired at the expense of honor and humanity. And yet it was to this spirit, so unfavorable to industrious colonization, and so strongly attracted to a more congenial sphere in tlie South, that North America was indebted for the first attempt to colonize her territory. Thus irregular and incalculable (to created wisdom) is the influence of hu- man passions on the stream of human affairs. The most illustrious adventurer in England was Sir Walter Raleigh, a man endowed with brilliant genius, unbounded ambition, and unconquerable activity ; whose capacious mind, stimulated by an ardent, elastic, and versa- tile spirit, and strongly impregnated with the enthusiasm, credulity, and sanguine expectation peculiar to the age, no singhe project, however vast or arduous, could wholly absorb. The extent of his capacity combined ac- quirements that are commonly esteemed remote and almost incompatible with each other. Framed in the prodigality of nature, he was at once the most industrious scholar and the most accomplished courtier of his age ; as a projector, profound, ingenious, and indefatigable ; as a soldier, prompt, daring, and heroic ; so contemplative (says an old writer) that he might have been judged unfit for action, so active that he seemed to have no leisure for contemp lation.'^ The chief defect of his mental temperamant ' Hakluyt. Hill'a jyaml History. Ilewit's History of South Carolina and Georgia. ' 8nn Note I. at the end nf the vnl'.in'.!^. ' Lloyd's Slate Worthies. Raleigh's friend, Edmund SpcnBer, the poet, with a strange, fantastic mixture of images, lias termed him, in a sonnet, The Shtfherd of the Ocean. CHAP. I] PROJECT OF A COLONY UNDER GILBERT. 37 was the absence of moderation and regulation of thought and aim. Smitten with the love of glorious achievement, he had imfortunately embraced the maxim, that " whatever is not extraordinary is nothing "; and his mind (till the last scene of his life) was not sufficiently pervaded by religion to recog- nize that nobility of purpose, which ennobles the commonest actions, and elevates circumstances, instead of borrowing dignity from them. Uncon- trolled by steady principle and sober calculation, the fancy and the passions of Raleigh transported him, in some instances, beyond the bounds of recti- tude, honor, and propriety ; and, seconded by the malevolence of his for- tune, entailed reproach on his character and discomfiture on his undertakings. But though adversity might cloud his path, it could never depress his spirit, or quench a single ray of his genius. He subscribed to his fortune with a noble grace, and by the universal .consent of mankind his errors and in- firmities have been deemed within the protection of his glory. The con- tinual discomfiture of his efforts and projects served only to display the exhaustless opulence and indestructible vigor of that intellect, of which no accumulation of disaster nor variety of discouragement could either repress the ardor or narrow the range. Amidst disappointment and impoverishment, pursued by royal hatred, and forsaken by his popularity, he continued to project and attempt the foundation of empires ; and in old age and a prison he composed the History of the World. Perhaps there never was another instance of distinguished reputation as much indebted to genius and as litde to success. So powerful, indeed, is the association that connects merit with success, and yet so strong the claim of Raleigh to elude the censure which this view implies, that we find it difficult to pronounce him, even amidst uninterrupted disaster, an unsuccessful man. Whatever judgment may be formed of his character, it must be acknowledged that in genius he was worthy of the honor which he may, perhaps, be considered to have at- tained, of originating the settlements that grew up into the North American commonwealth. In conjunction with a kindred spirit, his half-brother. Sir Humphrey Gil- bert, Raleigh projected the establishment of a colony in that quarter of Amer- ica which Cabot had visited ; and a patent for this purpose was procured without difficulty, in favor of Gilbert, from Elizabeth. [1578.] This patent authorized him to explore and appropriate remote and barbarous lands, un- occupied by Christian, powers, and to hold them as a fief of the crown of England, to which he was obliged to pay the fifth part of the produce of their gold or silver mines ; it permitted the subjects of Elizabeth to accom- pany the expedition,* and guarantied to them a continuance of the enjoy- ment of the rights of free denizens of England ; it invested Gilbert with the powers of civil and criminal legislation over the inhabitants of the territory which he might occupy ; but with this limitation, that his laws should be framed with as much conformity as possible to the statutes and policy of England, and should not derogate from the supreme allegiance due to the English crown. The endurance of the patent, in so far as related to the app ropriation of territory , was limited to six years ; and all other persons ' This provision was nooossnry to evade the obstructions of the existing law of England By the ancient law, as declared In the Groat Charter of King John, all men might go freely out of the kingdom; retaining, indeed, their allogiatlco to the king. But no such clause ap pears m the charter of liis successor ; and during the reign of Elizabeth it was enacted, that ■i„y subject, drparfinjr rbr. r-r.hn whhr.-.-.t a license under the Great Sea!, should forfeit hiu personal estate, and the rent of his landed property. 13 Eliz. cap. 3. D m HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK 1. were prohibited from establishing themselves within two hundred leagues of any spot which the adventurers might occupy during that period. i The arbitrary power thus committed to the leader of tlie expedition did not prevent the accession of a numerous body of subordinate adventurers. Gilbert had earned high and honorable distinction by his services, both in France and Ireland ; and the attractive influence of his reputation, combin- ing with the spirit of the times, and aided by the zeal of Raleigh and the authority of Secretary Walsingham, enabled him speedily to collect a suffi- cient body of associates, and to accomplish the equipment of the first expe- dition of British emigrants to America. But in the composition of this body there were elements very ill fitted to establish an infant commonwealth on a solid or respectable basis ; tlie officers were disunited, the crew mutinous and licentious ; and, happily for tlie credit of England, it was not the will of Providence tliat the adventurers should gain a footing in any new region. Gilbert, approaching the American continent by too northerly a course, was dismayed by the inhospitable aspect of the coast of Cape Breton ; his largest vessel was shipwrecked ; and two voyages, in the last of which he himself perished, finally terminated in the defeat of the enterprise and dispersion of the a"d venturers.^ [1583.] But the ardor of Raleigh, neither daunted by difficulties nor damped by miscarriage, and continually refreshed by the suggestions of a fertile and un- curbed imagination, was incapable of abandoning a project that had gained his favor and exercised his energy. Applying to the queen, in whose esteem he then held a distinguished place, he easily prevailed with her to grant him a patent in all respects similar to that which had been previously bestowed up- on Gilbert. 3 [1584.] Not less prompt in executing than intrepid in project- ing his schemes, Raleigh soon despatched two small vessels, commanded by Amadas and Barlow, to visit the districts wliich he intended to occupy, and to examine the accommodations of their coasts, the productions of the soil, and the condition of the inhabitants. These officers, avoiding tlie error of Gilbert in steering too far north, shaped their course by the Canaries, and, approaching the North American continent by the Gulf of Florida, anchored in Roanoke Bay, off the coast of North Carolina. Worthy of the trust reposed in them, they behaved with much courtesy to the inhabitants of the region, whom they found living in all the rude independence, and laborless, but hardy, simplicity, of savage life, and of whose hospitality, as well as of the mildness of the climate and the fertility of the soil, they published a flat- tering encomium on their return to England. This intelligence diffused gen- era' satisfaction, and was so agreeable to Elizabeth, that, in exercise of the parentage she proposed to assume over the country, and as a memorial that the acquisition of it originated with a virgin queen, she thought proper to bestow on it the name of Virginia.* A prospect so encouraging not only pricked forward the enthusiastic spirit of Raleigh, but, by its influence on the minds of his countrymen, enabled him the more speedily to complete his preparations for a permanent colo- nial settlement ; and he was soon in a condition to equip and despatch a ' Stith's History of Virginia. ^ Hakluyt, III. 14"3. ' Stith. " * Smith. Hazard's Historical Collections. Hazard. The country was so called Cgnvs Oldmixon) either in honor of tlio virein estate of tho queen, " or, as tlic Virginiiins will have, bccausu it still sconicd to retain Uic virgin j-urtty and picnij- of tho first creation." Oidmixon's Vritish Empire in jlmerica, 2d edit. CHAP. I ] COLONY AT ROANOKE. 39 lusiastic spirit men, enabled squadron of seven ships under the command of Sir Richard Grenville, one of the most heroic spirits of the time, and eminent for valor in an age distin- guished by the numbers of the brave. But this gallant leader, unfortunately, was more infected with the spirit of predatory enterprise, at that time so prev- alent among the English, than endued with the qualities which his peculiar duty on the present occasion required ; and, commencing his expedition by cruising among the West India islands and capturing the vessels of Spain, he initiated his followers in pursuits and views very remote from peaceful indus- try, patient perseverance, and moderation. At length he landed a hundred and eight men^ at Roanoke [August, 1585] , and left them there to attempt, as they best might, the arduous task of founding and maintaining a social es- tablishment. The command of this feeble band was committed to Captain Lane, assisted by some persons of note, of whom the most eminent were Araadas, who had conducted the former voyage, and Thomas Heriot, the im provcr of algebraical calculation, — a man whose generous worth and wisdom might have preserved the colony, if these qualities had been shared by his associates, and whose unremitted endeavours to instruct the savages, and diligent inquiries into their habits and character, by adding to the stock of human knowledge, and extending the example of virtue, rendered the ex- pedition not wholly unproductive of benefit to mankind. The selection of such a man to accompany and partake the enterprise reflects additional honor on his friend and patron, Raleigh. On their first arrival, the adven- turers were regarded with the utmost awe and veneration by the savages, who, seeing no women among them, were inclined to believe them not born of woman, and therefore immortal. Heriot endeavoured to avail himself of the admiration they expressed for the guns, the clock, the telescopes, and other implements that attested the superiority of their visitors, in order to lead their minds to the great Source of all sense and gcience. But while they hearkened to his instructions, they accommodated the import of them to their own depraved notions of Divine Nature ; they acknowledged that the God of the strangers was more powerful and more beneficent to his people than the deities whom they served, and expressed an eager desire to touch and embrace the Bible, and apply it to their breasts and heads. ^ In the hands of an artful or superstitious priest, such practices and dispositions would probably have produced a plentiful crop of pretended miracles and imaginary cures of diseases, and terminated in an exchange of superstition, instead of a renovation of moral nature. But Heriot was incapable of flat- tering or deceiving the savages, by encouraging their idolatry and merely changing its direction ; he labored to convince them that the benefits of re- ligion were to be obtained by acquaintance with the contents of the Bible, and not by an ignorant veneration of the exterior of the book. By these labors, which were too soon interrupted, he succeeded in making such im- pression on the minds of the Indians, that Wingina, their king, finding him- self attacked by a. dangerous malady, rejected the assistance of his own priests, and solicited the attendance and prayers of the English; and his example was followed by many of his subjects.'' But, unfortunately for the stability of the settlement, the majority of the colonists were much less distinguished by piety or prudence, than by eager and impetuous desire; to obtain immediate wealth ; their first pursuit was gold ; and, smitten with the persuasion that every part of America was per- • Smith, B. i. « Heriot, apud Smith. » Ibid. " 40 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK 1. vaded by ramifications of the mines \v':inh enriched the Spanish colonies their chief efforts were directed to the acquisition of treasures that happily had no existence. The natives, discovering the object which the strangers sought with so much avidity, amused them with tales of a neighbouring re- gion abounding with the precious metals, and possessing such quantities of pearl, that even the walls of the houses glittered with its lavish display. * Eagerly listening to these agreeable fictions, the adventurers consumed their time and endured extreme hardships in pursuit of a phantom, while they neglected entirely the means of providing for their future subsistence. The detection of the imposture produced mutual suspicion and disgust between them and the savages, and finally led to open enmity and acts of bloodshed The stock of victuals brought with them from England was exhausted • the additional supplies they had been taught to expect did not arrive ; and the hostdity of the Indians left them no other dependence than on the pre- carious resources of the woods and rivers. Thus, struggling with increasing scarcity of food, and surrounded by enemies, the colonists were reduced to a state of the utmost distress and danger, when a prospect of deliverance was unexpectedly presented to them by the arrival of Sir Francis Drake with a fleet, which he was conducting home from a successful enterprise against the Spaniards in the West Indies. Drake consented to supply them with an addition to their numbers and a liberal contribution of provisions • :ind if this had been done, it seems probable, that, with the ample reinforce- ment soon after transmitted by Raleigh, the colonists might have been able to maintam their establishment in America. But Drake's intentions were jrustrated by a storm, that carried out to sea the very ship which he had reighted with the requisite supplies ; and as he could rot afford to weaken his fleet by a further contribution for their defence or subsistence, the ad- venturers, now completely exhausted and discouraged, unanimously deter- mined to abandon the settlement. In compliance with their desire, Drake accordingly received them on board his vessels, and reconducted them to England.2 [1586.] Such was the abortive issue of the first colonial settle- ment planted by the English in America. Of the political consequences that resulted from this expedition, the cata- logue, though far from copious, is not devoid of interest. An important accession was rr.ade to the scanty stock of knowledge respecting North America ; the spirit of mining adventure received a salutary check ; and the use of tobacco, already introduced by the Spaniards and Portuguese into other parts of Europe, was now imported into England. This herb tlie Indians esteemed their principal medicine ; ' and some tribes are said to have ascnbed its virtues to the inhabitation of one of those spiritual bein-s which they supposed to reside in all the extraordinary productions of nature, liane and his associates, contracting a relish for its properties, brought a (piantity of tobacco with them to England, and taught the use of it to their countrymen. Raleigh, in particular, adopted, and, with the help of some young men of fashion, encouraged the practice, which soon established Itself, and spread with a vigor that outran the help of courtiers, and defied Uie hinderance of kings ; and awakening a new and almost universal appetite in human nature, formed an important source of revenue to England, and multipli ed the ties that uni ted Europe with America.'' „ ■*■•;• ? •■•i'-"f'r!n iiersdf, in tho close ol ii.r iiii-, tHViitne one of Raleigh s r.unils in the accomphsluiieiit of su.ok.ng. One day, as she was partaking thi« indulgence, Raldgh betted CHAP. I] COLONY AT ROANOKE. 41 on, the oata- But the disappointment that attended this enterprise did not terminate with the return of Lane and his followers to England. A few days after their departure from Roanoke, a vessel, despatched by Raleigh, reached the evacuated settlement with a plentiful contribution of all necessary stores ; and only a fortnight after this bark set sail to return from its bootless voyage, a still larger reinforcement of men and provisions arrived in three ships, equipped bv Raleigh, and commanded by Sir Richard Grenville. Discon- certed by the absence of the vessel that preceded him, and unable to obtain any tidings of the colonists, yet unwilling to abandon the possession of the country, Grenville landed filty men at Roanoke, and, leaving them in pos- session of an ample 3upply of provisions, returned to England to communi- cate the state of affairs and obtain further directions.^ These successive defeats and mishaps excited much gloomy speculation and superstitious surmise in England,^ but could neither vanquish the hopes nor exhaust the resources of Raleigh, whose dauntless and aspirins; mind still rose superior to all mischance. In the following year [1587], he fitted out and despatched three ships under the command of Captain White, with di- rections to join the small body that Grenville had established at Roanoke, and thence to transfer the settlement to the Bay of Chesapeake, of which the superior advantages were remarked in the preceding year by Lane. A charter of incorporation was granted to White and twelve of his principal associates, as Governor and Assistants of the City of Raleigh in Virginia. In the hope of evading the unprosperous issue of the former expeditions, more efficacious means were adopted, in the equipment of this squadron, for preserving and continuing the colony. The stock of provisions was more abundant; the number of men greater, and the means of recruiting their numbers afforded by a competent intermixture of women. But the full extent of the precedent calamities had yet to be learned ; and on land- ing at Roanoke, in quest of the detachment that Grenville had placed there. White and his companions could find no other trace of it than the significant memorial presented by a dismantled fort and a heap of human bones.' The apprehensions excited by this melancholy spectacle were con- firmed by the intelligence of a friendly native, who informed them that their countrymen had fallen victims to the enmity of the Indians. Instructed rather than discouraged by this calamity, they endeavoured to cultivate the good-will of the savages ; and determining to remain at Roanoke, they hastened to repair the houses and restore the colony. One of the natives was baptized into the Christian faith, and, retaining an unshaken attachment to the English, contributed his efforts to pacify and conciliate his country- men.* But finding themselves destitute of many articles which they judged essential to their comfort and preservation, in a country thickly covered with forests and peopled only by a few scattered tribes of savages, the col- onists deputed their governor to solicit for them the requisite supplies ; and White repaired for this purp ose to England. In his voyage thither he with her that ho could ascertain the weight of tlic siiioko that should issue in a given time from her Majesty's mouth. For this purpose, he weighed first the tobacco, and afterwards tiie ashes left in the pine, and assigned the difference as the weight of the smoke. The queen acknowledged that lie liad gained his bet; adding, that she believed he was the only alchemist who had ever succeeded in turning smoke into gold. Stith. ' Smith. " The Virginians positively affirm that Sir Walter Raleigh made this voyage in person." Oldmixon's British Empire in ^meiica, 2d edit. But the generous wish alone seeins to have been the parent of this notion. » Smith. VOL. I. Ibid. 6 Ibid. 42 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK 1 touched at a port in Ireland, where he is reported to have introduced the first specimens ever seen in Europe of the potato plant, which he had brought with him from America. But wlietlier this memorable importation was due to him, or, as some writers have affirmed, to certain of the carher associates of Raleigh's adventures, it must be acknowledged that to the enterprise of Raleigh and the soil of America, Great Britain is indebted for hor acquaint- ance with the potato and with tobacco, the staple article of diet, and the most cherished, as well as the most innocent, luxury of a great portion of her people. White arrived at a juncture very unfavorable for the success of his mis- sion. England was now engrossed with the more immediate concern of self-preservation : the formidable armada of Spain was preparing to invade her, and the \yhole naval and military resources of the empire were placed under requisition for the purposes of national defence. The hour of his country's danger could not fail to present the most interesting employment to the generous spirit of Raleigh ; yet he mingled, with his distinguished efforts to repel the enemy, some exertions for the preservation of the colony which he had planted. For this purpose he had, with his usual prompti- tude, equipped a small squadron, which he committed to the conduct of Sir Richard Grenville, when the cjjueen interposed to detain the ships that were adapted for fight, and to prohibit Grenville from leaving England at such a crisis. White, however, was enabled to reerabark for America with two small vessels [1588] ; btit, yielding to the temptation of trying his fortune by the way in a cruiso against the Spaniards, he was beaten by a superior force, and totally disabled from pursuing his voyage. The colony at Roanoke was, in consequence, left to depend on its own feeble resources, of which the diligent cultivation was not likely vo be promoted by the hopes tliat were entertained of foreign succour. [1589.] What its fate was may he easily guessed, but never was certainly known. White, conducting an expedition to Roanoke in the following year, found the territory evacuated of the colonists, of whom no further tidings were ever obtained.^ This last expedition was not despatched by Raleigh, but by his succes- sors in the American patent ; and our history is now to take leave of that illustrious man, with whose schemes and enterprises it ceases to have any farther connection. The ardor of his mind was not exhausted, but diverted bv a multiplicity of new and not less important concerns. Intent on peo- pling and improving a large district in Ireland, which the queen had con- ferred on him ; engaged in the conduct of a scheme, and the expense of an armament, for establishing Don Antonio on the throne of Portugal ; and already revolving his last and wildest project of an expedition for the dis- covery of mines in Guiana ; he found it impossible to continue cither the ttention or the expenditure which he had devoted to his American colony. Yet desiring with earnest inclination that a design, which he had so gallantly and steadfastly pursued, should not be entirely'abandoned, and, hoping tliat the spirit of commerce would preserve an intercourse with America that might terminate in a colonial settlement, he consented to assign his patent to Sir Thomas Smith and a company of merchants in London, who under- took to establish and m&intain a traffic between England and Virginia. The patent which he thus transferred had already cost him fortv thousand pounds, without affording him the slig htest return of pecuniary profit ; yet the only ' Smitii. Stith. Williiunson's History of S'ortk Carolina. ~~~ CHAP 1] GOSNOLD'S VOYAGE. 43 personal consideration for which ho stipulated with the assignees was a small sliare of "^-«^«^ omitted'in the most elabc omlont Inwvl; .h f^''^'^^ Ponn«y van.a, which was revised and finally adjusted by that eminent lawyer, he Lord Keeper Guildford. When King William was aLut to renew tho n Fn'Jl„°nH rr''T"'' ""•'": '^^ ""''"'' Revolution, he was advised by the ablest \Zy2 llX^.\ ■ ! '" a provision was nugatory ; the law necessarily inferring (they declared) tV' . ^^"'' V"" tn^hshmen, and both entitled to the rights, and obliged to the dmies^ 46 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK I. lions they possessed no control. There is likewise -i manifest inconsis- tency between the assurance of participation in all the privileges of English- men to the colonists, and the reservation of legislative power exclusively to the king, the control of whose legislative functions constitutes the most val- uable political privilege that f:nglishmen enjoy. But we have no reason to suppose that the charter was unacceptable to the patentees ; on the contrary Its most objectionable provisions are not more congenial to the character ol the king, than conformable to the views which the leading members of that body plainly appear to have entertained. Their object (notwithstanding the piore liberal designs professed in the charter) was rather to explore the continent and appropriate its supposed treasures, by the agency of a body ol adventurers over whom they retained an entire control, than to establish a permanent and extensive settlement. The instructions to the provincial governors, which accompanied the second shipment despatched by the Lon- don company, demonstrated, very disagreeably to the wiser emigrants and very injuriously to the rest, that the purposes with which their rulers were mainly engrossed were not patient industry and colonization, but territorial discovery and hasty gain.i In furtherance of these views, the leadine; pat- entees were careful, by mixing no women with the first emigrants, to retain the colony in dependence upon England for its supplies of people, and to give Iree scope to the cupidity and the roving spirit of minds, undivided by the cares, and unfixed by the habits and attachments, of domestic life. .1 he king appears to have entertained ideas somewhat more liberal, and a more genume purpose of colonization, than the patentees. While their leaders w_ere employed m making preparations to reap the benefits of their charter, James was assiduously engaged in the task, which his vanity ren- dered a rich enjoyment, and the well guarded hberties of England a rare one, ot digesting a code of laws for the projected colonies. This code issued under the sign manual and privy seal, enjoined the preaching of the gospel m America, and the performance of divine worship, in conformity Willi fhe doctrines and rites of the church of England. Legislative and executive functions within the colonies were conferred on the provincial councils ; but with this controlling provision, that laws originating there should, m substance, be consonant to the English laws ; that they should contniuem force only till modified or repealed by the king or the supreme council in England ; and that their penal inflictions should not extend to death or demembration Persons attempting to withdraw the colonists from their allegiance to the English crown were to be imprisoned ; or, in cases highly aggravated, to be remitted for trial to England. Tumults, mutiny, rebellion, murder, and incest were to be punished with death ; and for these oflences the culprit was to be tried by a jury. Summary trial was appointed lor inferior inisdemeanours, and their punishment intrusted to the discretion ol the president and council. Lands were to be holden by the same tenures that prevailed in England ; but, for five years after the plantation of each colony, a community of labor and gains was to have place among the col- onists. Kindness to the heathen inhabitants of America, and the Communi- cation of reh-ious instruction to them, were enjoined. And, finally, power was resen«.d to the king and his successors to enact further laws, in consist- ence always with the ju-isprudence of England.*" These regulations, in tlm innip arp r'-^'l^t-i'-lp tn thc^ "r>voro;-« -i — "' — — 1., 3i!. i .. .j,,.,,,i^. iQ jjje sovereign wno com- HsiiHith: ~ » stith. ' CHAP. I] COLONIAL CODE OF JAMES I. 47 posed them. No attempt was made, nor right pretended, to legislate for the Indian tribes of America ; and if the large territories, which these sav- ages rather claimed than occupied, were appropriated and disposed of with- out any regard to their pretensions, at least no jurisdiction ^s assumed over their actions, and, in point of personal hberty, they were regarded as an independent people. Ihis was an advance in equity beyond the prac- tice of the^ Spariiards and the ideas of Queen Elizabeth, whose patent as- serted the jurisdiction of the English crown and laws over the old as well as the new inhabitants of her projected colonies. In the criminal legislation of this code, we may observe a distinction which trial by jury has enabled to prevail over that ingenious and perhaps expedient rule of ancient colonial policy, which intrusted proconsular governors with the power of inflicting death, but restrained them from awarding less formidable penalties, as more likely to invite the indulgence of interest or caprice. If the charter, in some of its provisions, betrayed a total disregard of political liberty, the code, in establishing trial by jury, interwove with the very origin of society a habit and practice well adapted to cherish the spirit and principles of freerlom. The London company, to which the plantation of the southern colony ivas committed, applied themselves promptly to the formation of a colonial settlement. But, though many persons of distinction were included among iH the proprietors, their funds at first were scanty, and their early efforts pro- portionally feeble. Three small vessels, of which the largest did not ex- ceed a hundred tons burden,^ under the command of Captain Newport, formed the first squadron that was to execute what had been so long and so vainly attempted, and sailed with a hundred and five men destined to remain in America. Several of these emigrants were members of distinguished families, — particularly George Percy, a brother of the Earl of Northum- berland ; and several were officers of reputation, — of whom we mny notice Bartholomew Gosnold, the navigator, and Captain John Smith, one of the most distinguished ornaments of an age that was prolific of memorable men. Thus, at length, after a research fraught with perplexity and disappoint- ment, but_ assuredly not devoid of interest, into the ources of the great transatlantic commonwealth, we have reached the first inconsiderable spring, whose progress, opposed by innumerable obstructions, and nearly diverted in its very outset, yet always continuous, expands under the eye of patient inquiry into the grand and grandly spreading stream of American population. After the lapse of a hundred and ten years from the discovery of the con- tinent by Cabot, and twenty-two years after its first occupation by Raleigh, was the number of the Enghsh colonists limited to a hundred and five ; and this handful of men ^ undertook the arduous task of peopling a remote and uncultivated land, covered with woods and marshes, and inhabited only by tribes of savages and beasts of prey. Under the sanction of a charter, which bereaved Englishmen of their most valuable rights, and banished from the constitution of American society the first principles of liberty, were the foundations laid of the colonial greatness of England, and of the freedom and prosperity of America. From this period, or at least very shortly after, a regular and connected history ensues of the progress of Virginia and New Englan d, the two eldest-born colo nies, whose example promoted the rise, , -^-.-^^ — _ __ * " Never wns the prophetic dociarntitui, llmt ' a llltJo one shaii becomo a thousund, nnd si small nnc! ii strong nation,' more wonderfully exemplified than in tho planting and rearing of these colonics." General Casa Discourse. (183G.) I 48 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK I. '^'ii 4 I as their shelter protected the weakness, of the others whicli were succes- sively planted and reared. Newport and his squadron, pursuing, for some unknown reason, the wider compass taten by the first navigators to America, instead of the less cir- cuitous traft that had been recently ascertained, did not accomplish tlieir voyage in a shorter period than four months ; but its termination was ren- dered peculiarly fortunate by the effect of a storm, which defeated their purpose of landing and settling at Roanoke, and carried them into the Bay of Chesapeake. [April, 1607. J As they advanced through its waters, they easily perceived the advantage that would be gained by establishing their settlement on the shores of this spacious haven, replenished by the tributary floods of so many great rivers, which fertilize the soil of that extensive dis- trict of America, and, affording commodious inlets into the interior 'arts, facihtate their foreign commerce and mutual communication. Newport first landed on a promontory forming the southern boundary of the bay, which, in honor of the Prince of Wales, he named Cape Henry. Thence, coast- ing the southern shore, he entered a river which the natives called Pow- hatan, and explored its banks for the space of forty miles from its mouth. Impressed with the superior convenience of the coast and soil to which they had been tlius happily conducted, the adventurers unanimously deter- mined to make this the place of their abode. They gave to their infant settlement, as well as to the neighbouring river, the name of their king ; and Jamestown retains the distinction of being the oldest existing habitation of the English in America.^ But the dissensions that broke out among the colonists soon threatened to deprive them of all the advantages of their fortunate territorial position. Their animosities were inflamed by an arrangement, which, if it did not originate with the kuig, at least betrays a strong affinity to that ostentatious mystery and driftless artifice which he affected as the perfection of political dexterity. The names of the provincial council were not communicated to the adventurers when they departed from England ; but the commission which contained them was inclosed in a sealed packet, which was directed to be opened within twenty-four hours after their arrival on the coast of Virginia, when the counsellors were to be installed in their office, and to elect their own president. The disagreements, incident to a long voyage and a band of adventurers rather conjoined than united, had free scope among men unaware of the relations they were to occupy towards each other, and of the subordination which their relative and allotted functions might imply ; and when the names of the council were proclaimed, the dis- closure was far from affording satisfaction. Captain Smith, whose superior talents and spirit excited the envy and jealousy of his colleagues, was ex- cluded from a seat in the council which the commission authorized him to assume, and even accused of traitorous designs so unproved and improb- able, that none less believed the charge than the .persons who preferred it. The privation of his counsel and sen'ices in the difficulties of their outset was a serious loss to the colonists, and might have been attended with ruin to the settlement, if his merit and generosity had not been superior to their mean injustice. The jealous suspicions of the individual who was elected president restrained the use of arms, and discouraged the construction of fortifications ; and a misunderstanding having arisen with the Indians, the " • tjtith. ^"" CHAP. I.] COLONY AT JAMESTOWN. 49 rere succes- colonists, unprepared for hostilities, suffered severely from one of the sud- den attacks characteristic of the warfare of those savages.^ Newport had been ordered to return with the ships to England ; and as the time of his departure approached, the accusers of Smith, with aftected clemency, proposed that he also should return with Newport, instead of abiding a criminal prosecution in Virginia. But, happily for the colony, he scorned so to comproniise his integrity ; and, demanding a trial, was honor- ably acquitted, and took his seat in the council.** The fleet was better victualled than the magazines of the colony ; and while it remained with them, the colonists were permitted to share the pleiitv enjoyed by the sailors. But when Newport set sail for England, they found tliemselves limited to scanty sup])lies of unwholesome provisions ; and the sultry heat of the climate, and moisture of a country overgrown with wood, (;o()perating with the defects of their diet, brought on diseases that raged with fatal violence. Before the month of September, one half of their num- l)er had miserably perished ; and among these victims was Bartholomew (josnold, who planned the expedition, and materially contributed to its ac- complishment. This scene of suffering was embittered by internal dissen- sions. The presidept was accused of embezzling the public stores, and finally detected in an attempt to seize a pinnace and escape from the colony and its calamities. At length, in the extremity of their distress, when ruin tfeemed to impend ahke from famine and the fury of the savages, the colo- nists obtained a complete and unexpected deliverance, which the piety of iSmith ascribed to the influence of God in suspending the passions and con- trolling the sentiments and purposes of men. The savages, actuated bv a sudden and generous change of feeling, not only refrained from molesting them, but gratuitously brought to them a supply of provisions so liberal, as at once to dissipate their apprehensions of famine and hostility.^ Resuming their spirit, the colonists now proved themselves not wholly unin-tructed by their misfortunes. In seasons of exigency merit is illus- trated, and the envy that pursues it is absorbed by deeper interest and alarm. The sense of common and urgent danger promoted a willing and even eager submission to the man whose talents were most likely to extricate his com- panions from the difficulties with which they were encompassed. Every eye was now turned on Smith, and with universal acclaim his fellow-colonists devolved on him the authority which they had formerly shown so much jealousy of his acquiring. This individual, whose name will be for ever associated with the foundation of civilized so'ciety in America, was descend- ed of a respectable family in Lincolnshire, and born to a competent fortune. At an early age, his lively mind was deeply smitten with the spirit of adven- ture that prevailed so strongly in England during the reign of Elizabeth ; and yielding to his inclination, he had passed through a great variety of military service, with little pecuniary gain, hut high reputation, and with the acquisition of an experience the more valuable that it was obtained without exhausting his ardor or tainting his morals." The vigor of his constitution had preserved his healtli unimpaired amidst the general sickness ; the un- daunted mettle of his soul retained his spirits unbroken, and his judgment unclouded, amidst the general misery and dejection ; and his adventurous zeal, which once attracted the reproach of overweening ambition, was now felt to diffuse an animating glow of hope and courage among all around him. Smith. » Ibid. a Ibid. « Siitli. ~ I VOL. I. 50 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK 1. A strong sense of religion predominated over the well proportioned quali- ties of his mind, refreshed his confidence, extended and yet regulated his views, and gave dignity to his character and consistency to his conduct. Assuming the direction of the affairs of the colonists, he promptly adopted the only policy that could save them from destruction. Under his direc- tions, Jamestown was fortified by such defences as were sufficient to repel the attacks of the savages ; and by dint of great labor, which he was always the foremost to partake, its inhabitants were provided with dwellings that afibrded shelter from the weather, and contributed to restore and preserve their health. Finding the supplies of the savages discontinued, he put him- self at the head of a detachment of his people, and penetrated into the in- terior of the country, where, by courtesy and liberality to the tribes whom he found well disposed, and vigorous retribution of the hostility of such as were otherwise minded, he succeeded in procuring a plentiful stock of provisions.^ In the midst of his successes, he was surprised [1607] during an expe- dition by a band of hostile savages, who, having made him prisoner, after a gallant and nearly successful defence, prepared to inflict on him the usual fate of their captives. His genius and presence of mind did not desert him in this trying emergency. He desired to speak with the sachem or chief of the tribe to which he was a prisoner ; and presenting him with a mariner's compass, expatiated on the wonderful discoveries to which this little instru- ment had contributed, — de&^anted on the shape of the earth, the extent of its lands and oceans, the course of the sun, the varieties of nations, and the singularity of their relative terrestrial positions, which made some of them antipodes to the others. With equal prudence and magnanimity he refrained from any expression of solicitude for his life, which would infallibly have weakened or counteracted the effect which he studied to produce. The savages listened to him with amazement and admiration. They had handled the compass, and viewing with surprise the play of the needle, which they plainly saw, but found it impossible to touch, from the intervention of the glass, were prepared by this marvellous object for the reception of those sublime and interesting communications by which their captive endeavoured to gain ascendency oyer their minds. For an hour after he had finished his discourse, they remained undecided ; till, their accustomed sentiments re- viving, they resumed their suspended purpose, and, having bound him to a tree, prepared to despatch him with their arrows. But a deeper impression had been made on their chief ; and his soul, enlarged for a season by the admission of knowledge, or subdued by the influence of wonder, revolted from the dominion of habitual barbarity. This chief bore the harsh and uncouth appellation of Opechancanough, — a name which the subsequent history of the province was to invest with no small terror and celebrity. Holding up the compass in his hand, he gave the signal of reprieve ; and Smith, though still guarded as a prisoner, was conducted to a dwelling, where he was kindly tressed and plentifully entertained.? But the strongest impressions pass away, >...iie the influence of habit remains. After vanilv attempting to prevail on their captive to betray the English colony into their hands, the Indians referred his fate to Powhatan, the emperor or princi])al sachem of the country, to whose presence they conducted him in triumphal procession. This prince received him with much ceremony, ordered a ' Sniiiii. Stilli. « ?hid CHAP. I] SMITH'S INFLUENCE OVER THE INDIANS. 51 plentiful repast to be set before him, and then adjudged him to suffer death by having his head laid on a stone and beaten to pieces with clubs. At the place appointed for his execution, Smith was again rescued from im- pending destruction by the interposition of Pocahontas, the favorite daughter of the king, who, finding her first^entreaties, in deprecation of the captive's intended fate, disregarded, threw her arms around him, and passionately declared her determination to save him or die with him. Her generous hu- manity prevailed over the cruelty of her tribe ; and the king not only gave Smith his life, but soon after sent him back to Jamestown, where the benefi- cence of Pocahontas continued to follow him with supplies of provisions, that delivered the colonists from famine.^ After an absence of seven weeks, Smith returned to Jamestown, barely in time to prevent the desertion of the colony. His associates, reduced to the number of thirty-eight, impatient of farther stay in a country where they had met with so many discouragements, and in which they seemed fated to reenact the disasters of Roanoke, were preparing to abandon the settlement ; and it was not without the utmost difficulty, and alternately employing per- suasion, remonstrance, and even violent interference, that' Smith prevailed on them to relinquish their design.^ The provisions that Pocahontas sent to him relieved their present wants ; his account of the plenty he had wit- nessed among the Indians revived their hopes ; and he endeavoured, by a diligent improvement of the favorable impressions he had made on the savages, and by a judicious regulation of the intercourse between them and the colonists, to promote a coalition of interests and reciprocation of advan- tages between the two races of people. His generous efforts were suc- cessful ; he preserved a steady and sufficient supply of food to the English, and extended his influence and consideration with the Indians, who began to respect and consult their former captive as a superior being. If Smith had sought only to magnify his own repute and establish his supremacy, he might easily have passed with the savages for a demi-god ; for they were not more averse to yield the allegiance which he claimed for their Creator, than for- ward to tender an abject homage to himself, and to ratify the loftiest pre- tensions he might advance in his own behalf. But no alluring prospect of dominion over men could tempt him to forget that he was the servant of God, or aspire to be regarded in any other light by his fellow-creatures. With uncompromising sincerity he labored to divert the savages from their idolatrous superstition, and made them all aware, that the man, whose su- periority they acknowledged, despised their false deities, adored the true God, and obtained from his gracious communication the wisdom which they ?o highly commended. His pious exertions were obstructed by imperfect acquaintance with their language, and very ill seconded by the conduct of his associates, which contributed to persuade the Indians that his religion was something peculiar to his own person. Partly from the difficulties of his situation, partly from the defectiveness of his tuition, and, doubtless, in no small degree, from the stubborn blindness and wilful ignorance of the persons whom he attempted to instruct. Smith succeeded no farther than Heriot had formerly done. The savages extended their respect for the man to a Being whom they termed " the God of Captain Smith " ; and some of them acknowledged that this Being excelled their own deities in the same proportion that artillery excelled bows and arrows, and sent deputies Smith. Ibid. 52 HISTORY OF NORTH A5IEUICA. [BOOK I. to Jamestown to entreat thai Smith would pray for rain, when their idols seemed indisposed or unable to afford them a supply.' They were willing enough to believe in gods made after the image of themselves, and in the partial control exercised by those superior beings over the affairs of men ;, but the announcement of an Jllmighty Creator^ the great source and sup- port of universal existence, presented a notion which their understandings refused to admit, and required a homage which their hearts revolted from yielding. While the affairs of the colony were thus prospering under the direction of Captain Smith, a reinforcement of a hundred and twenty men, with an abundant stock of provisions, and a supply of vegetable seeds and instru- ments of husbandry, arrived in two vessels from England. [1608.] The colonists were not a little gladdened by this accession to their comforts and their force. But, unhappily, the jealousies, which danger had restrained rather than extinguished, again budded forth in this gleam of prosperity ; the ascendency which Smith exercised over the Indians excited the envy of the very persons whose lives it had preserved ; and his authority now began sensibly to decline. Nor was it long before the cessation of his influ- ence, together with the defects in the composition of tlie new body of emi- grants, gave rise to the most serious snischiefs in the colony The restraints of discipline were relaxed, and a free traffic was permitted with the natives, who speedily began to complain of fraudulent and unequal dealing, and to exhibit their former animosity. In an infant settlement, where the views and pursuits of men are unfixed, and habitual submission to authority has yet to be formed, the welfare, and indeed the existence, of society are much more dependent on the manners and moral character of individuals, than on the influence of laws. But in recruiting the population of this colony, too little consideration was shown for those habits and occupations which must everywhere form the basis of national prosperity. This arose as well from the peculiar views of the proprietors, as from the circumstances of the English people, whose working classes were by no means over- crowded, and among whom, consequently, the persons, whose industry and moderation best qualified them to form a new settlement, were the least dis- posed to abandon their native country. Of the recruits newly arrived in the colony, a large proportion were gentlemen, a few were laborers, and several were jewellers and refiners of gold.^ Unfortunately, some of this latter description of artists soon found an opportunity of exercising their pecu- liar departments of industry, and of demonstrating (though too late) their complete deficiency even of the worthless qualifications which they pro- fessed. A small stream of water, issuing from a bank of sand near Jamestown, was found to deposit in its channel a glittering sediment which resembled golden ore, and was fondly mistaken for this precious material by the col- onists. Only this discovery was wanting to reawaken the passions which America had so fatally kindled in the bosoms of her first European invaders The depositation of the ore was supposed to indicate the neighbonrhood of a mine ; every hand was eager to exjilorc ; and considerable qu^n* tirs of the dust were amassed, and subjected lo the scrutiny of ignoranr > pre- possessed by the strongest and most deceptive of human passions, and inis- l ed by the blunderin g guidance of superficial pretenders to superior skiif. Smith. tbid. ■J CHAP. I.] EXPLORATION OF CHESAPEAKE BAY. 58 s, and in the Smith exerted himself to disabuse his countrymen, and vainly strove to stem the torrent that threatened to devastate all their prospects ; assuring them with prophetic wisdom, that to addict themselves to mining in preference to agriculture would be to squander and misdirect, in pursuit of a phantom, the exertions on which their subsistence depended. The deceptive dust having undergone an unskilful assay of the refiners who had recently been united to the colony, was pronounced to be ore of a very rich quality • and horn that moment the tliirst of gold was inflamed into a rage that reproduced those extravagant excesses, but, happily, without conducting to the same profligate enormities, for which the followers of Cortes and Pizarro were distinguished. All productive industry was suspended, and the operations of mining occupied the whole conversation, engrossed every thought and absorbed every effort of the colonists. The two vessels that had brought their late supplies, returning to England, the one laden with this valueless dross, and the other with cedar wood, carried the first remittance that an English colony ever made from America. [June, 1608.] They conveyed back with them, also, some persons who had been invested and despatched to the colony with the absurdly inappropriate appointments of Admirals, Kecorders, Chronologers, and Justices of the Peace, — a supply as useless to America as the remittance of dust was to Europe. * Foreseeing the disastrous issue to which the delusion of his associates inevitably tended. Captain Smith, with the hope of preventing some of its most fatal consequences, conceived the project of extending his researches far beyond the range they had hitherto attained, and of exploring the whole of the great Bay of Chesapeake, for the purpose of ascertaining the quali- ties and resources of its territories, and promoting a beneficial intercourse with the remoter tribes of its inhabitants. This arduous design he executed with determined resolution and proportional success ; and while his fellow- colonists were actively engaged in disappointing the hopes of England, and rivalling tlie sordid excesses that had characterized the adventurers of fepain, he singly sustained the honor of his country, and, \a armed with a nobler emulation, achieved an enterprise that equals in dignity, and surpasses m value, the most celebrated exploits of the Spanish discoverers. When we compare the slenderness of the auxiliary means which he possessed, with the magnitude of the results which he accomplished, with the hardships he endured, and the difficuhies he overcame, we recognize in this achievement a monument of human power no less eminent than honorable, and willingly transmit a model so well calculated to warm the genius, to animate the forti- tude, and sustam the patience of mankind. With his friend. Dr. Russell, and a sniall company of followers, whose fortitude and perseverance he was frequently obliged to resuscitate, and over whom he possessed no other au- thority than the ascendant of a vigorous character and superior intelligence, he performed, in an open boat, two voyages of discovery, that occupied more than four months, and embraced a navigation of above three thousand miles. With prodigious labor and extreme peril, he visited every inlet and bay on both sides of the Chesapeake, from Cape Charles to the River husquehannah ; he sailed up many of the great rivers to their falls, and (hhgently examined the successive territories into which he penetrated, and the various tribes that possessed them. He brought back with him an ac- count so ample, and a plan so a ccurate, of that great portion of the Ameri ' Suiith. Stithi ~~~ ~~ 54 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK I. can continent now comprehended in the States of Virginia and Maryland, that all the subsequent researches which it has undergone have only ex- panded and illustrated his original view ; and his map has been made the groundwork of all posterior delineations, with no other diversity than what has inevitably arisen from the varieties of appropriation and the progress of settlements. But to come and to see were not his only objects ; to win was also the purpose of his enterprise, and the effect of his exertions. In his intercourse with the various tribes which he visited, he displayed the genius of a commander, in a happy exercise of all those talents that overcome the antipathies of a rude |)eople, and gain at once the respect and good-will of jnankind. By the wisdom and hberality with which he negotiated and traded with the friendly, and by the courage and vigor with which he re- pelled and overcame the hostile, he succeeded in inspiring the savages with the most exalted opinion of himself and his nation, and paved the way to an intercourse that promised important advantage to the Virginian colony. ' This was, indeed, the heroic age of North America ; and such were the men, and such the labors, by which the first foundations of her greatness .ind prosperity were laid. While this expedition was in progress, the golden dreams of the colo- nists were finally dispelled ; and they had awaked to all the miseries of sickness, scarcity, disappointment, and discontent, when Smith once more returned to reanimate their drooping spirits with his success, and reheve their wants by the resources he had created. Shortly after his return, he was chosen President by the council [10th Sept. 1608] ; and accepting the office, he employed his influence so efficiently with the savages, that imme- diate scarcity was banished, and exerted his authority so vigorously and ju- diciously in the colony, that orderly dispositions and industrious habits began generally to prevail, and gave promise of lasting plenty and steady improvement.'* If we compare the actions of Smith, during the period of his presidency, with the enterprise that immediately preceded his election, it may appear, at first view, that the sphere of his exertions was contracted and degraded by his official elevation ; and we might almost be tempted to regret the returning reasonableness of the colonists, which, by confining this active spirit to the petty details of their government, withdrew it from a range more congenial to its excursive vigor, and more fraught with general advantage to mankind. Yet, deeper and wiser reflection suggests, that a truly great mind, especially when united with an ardent temper, will never be contracted by the seeming restriction of its sphere, but will always be nobly as well as usefully employed, and not the less nobly when it dignifies what is ordinary, and improves those models that invite the widest imitation and are most level with common opportunities. Accordingly, when we examine the history of that year over which the official supremacy of Captain Smith was extended, and consider the results of the multifarious details which it embraces,^ we discern a dignity as real, though not so glaring, as that which invests his celebrated voyage of dis- covery ; and are sensible of consequences even more interesting to human nature than any which this expedition produced. In a small society, where no great actual inequality of accommodation could exist, where power de- rived no aid from pomp, circumstance, or mystery, and where he owed his of fice to the appointment of his associates, and h eld it by the tenure of their ' RusBell.apiid Smith. Bngnu!^ tod. loc. « Stilh. ^"Smith! CHAP. I.] SMITH'S ADMINISTRATION. 65 mtiated and ler greatness I good-will,' he preserved order and enforced morality among a crew of dis- solute and disappointed men ; and so successfully opposed his authority to the allurements of indolence, strengthened by their previous habits and pro- moted by the community of gains that then prevailed, as to introduce and maintain a respectable degree of laborious and even contented industry. What one governor afterwards achieved, in this respect, by the influence of an imposing rank, and others by the strong engine of martial law, iSmitli, without such aid, and with greater success, accomplished by the continual aj)i)lication of his own superior sense and his preeminent vigor, fortitude, and activity. Some plots were formed against him ; but these he detected and defeated without either straining or compromising his authority. The caprice and suspicion of the Indians involved him in numberless trials of his temper and capacity. Even Powliatan, notwithstanding the friendly ties that united him to his ancient guest, was induced, by the treacherous arti- fices of certain Dutchmen who deserted to him from Jamestown, first to form a secret conspiracy, and then to excite and prepare open hostility against the colonists. [1609.] Some of the fraudful designs of the royal savage were revealed by the unabated kindness of Pocahontas ; others were de- tected by Captain Smith ; and from them all he contrived to .xtricate the colony with honor and success, and yet with little and only defensive blood- shed ; displaying to the Indians a vigor and sagacity they could neither over- come nor overreach, a courage that excited their admiration, and a gen- erosity that carried his victory into their minds, and reconciled submission with their pride. He was ever superior to that political timidity, which, in circumstances of danger, suggests not the proportionate, but always the strongest and most violent, remedy and counteraction ; and admirably illus- trated the chief political uses of talent and virtue, in accomplishing the ob- jects of government by gentler efforts and milder means than stupidity and ferocity would have ventured to employ. In demonstrating (to use his own words) " what small cause there is that men should starve or be murdered by the savages, tliat have discretion to manage them with courage and 'in- dustry," ^ he bequeathed a valuable lesson to his successors in the Ameri- can colonies, and to all succeeding settlers in the vicinity of savage tribes ; and in exemplifying (though, it must be confessed, only for a brief period and on a sniall scale) the power of a civilized people to anticipate the cruel and vulgar issue of battle, and to prevail over an inferior race without either extirpating or enslaving them, he obtained a victory, which Casar, with all his boasted superiority to the rest of mankind, was too ungenerous to ap- preciate, or was incompetent to achieve. There was one point, indeed, in which it must be confessed that his con- duct to the Indians was chargeable with defect of justice and good policy ; though the blame of this error must be divided between himself and the royal patentees whom he served, and, in additio n to other palliating circuni- ' It was the testimony of his soldiers and lellow-adventurers, says Stith, "that he was ever Iruitful in expedients to provide for the people under his command, whom ho would never sutler to want any thing he either had or could procure ; that he rather chose to lead than send his soldiers into danger ; " tiiat, in all their expeditions, ho partook the common fare, and never gave a commnnd that he was not ready to execute ; " that he would suffer want rather than borrow, and starve sooner than not nay ; that he had nothing in him counterfeit or shy, but was open, honest, and sincere." Stitli adds, respecting this founder of civilized so- ciety in North America, what the son of Columbus has, with a noble elation, recorded of hia father, that, though habituated to naval manners, and to the command of factious and licen- tious men, he never was cuiltv of profane swearine. « Smith. - - - I 56 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK 1. Stances, was disguised by its conformity with the universal and unreproved practice of European settlers in barbarous lands. No j)art of the territory which the first colonists occupied was purchased from the rude tribes who considered themselves its owners, and who probably at first regarded with little apprehension the settlement of a handful of ttrangers in a valueless corner of their wide domains. The col< ..stv, iiMliircrent to the opinion of tile Indians, seem not to have conceiv.-tl Uiat Uu i.nportant right of prop- erty in land could be derived from orca'^ional visitations of savage hunters, and readily took, as from the hands of nature, the territory which appeared to them to have been never reclaimed from its natural wildness and vacancy i)y deliberate occupation or industrial use. If they had reasoned upon the matter, they would probably have denied the right of the Indian- 'o defeat the chief end of so large a portion of the earth, and n ,trici lo an ignoble ministration to the idle subsistence of a few barbarians the soil which indus- try and virtue might render subservient to the diffusion of civility and the extension of life. But if their views had been regulated by the same equity and moderation which distinguished the later colonists of North America, they might have ascertained that their interests would be at once more cheaply and more humanely promoted by recognizing than by disputing the jiretensions of the Indians ; who, if they claimed land by a title which Euro- peans accounted unworthy of respect, were generally willing to part with it or a price which Europeans found it very easy to pay. It was reserved tor the 1 uritan fathers of New England to set the first example of more lib- eral justice, and more impartial consideration of the rights of mankind ; and, by a transaction in which sound pohcy and refined morality were happily blended, to mediate an amicable agreement between their own wants and the claim which the Indians asserted on the territorial resources of the country. Captain Smith was not permitted to complete the work which he so well began. His admmistration was unacceptable to the company in England, lorthe same reasons that rendered it beneficial to the settlers in America ihe patentees, very little concerned about the establishment of a happy and respectable community, had fondly counted on the accumulation of smiden wealth by the discovery of a shorter passage than was yet ascertained to the feouth feea, or the acqmsition of territory replete with mines of the precious metals. In these hopes they were hitherto disappointed ; and the state of attairs m the colony was far from betokening even the retribution of the ex- penditure which they had already incurred. The prospect of a settled and improving state of society at Jamestown, so far from meeting thfeir wishes threatened to promote the growth of habits and interests perfectly incom- patible with them. Still hoping, therefore, to realize their avarl* ions dreams, they conceived it necessary for this purpose to resume all authority into their o\yn hands, and to abolish every semblance or substance of jurisdiction originating m America. In order to fortify their pretensions, as well as to increase their funds, they now courted the acquisition of additional asso- ciates ; and, having strengthened their interests by the accession of some persons of the highest rank and influence in the realm, they applied for and obtauied a new charter. ^ '■ If the arbitrary introduction of a new charter {23d May, 1G091 proclaimed an entire nisregard of the rights of ^he ^olonists who had emigraied on the sTuiih." ■ ~~ — ■ CHAP. I] LORD DELAWARE APPOINTED GOVERNOR. 67 i faith of the original one, the provisions peculiar to the new charter demon- strated no less plainly the iiit<3ntion of restricting the civil liberty of those emigrants, and ii reasing their dependence on the English patentees. The new charter was granted to twenty-one peers, ninety-eight knights, and a great multitude of doitors, esquires, gentlemen, merchants, and citizens, and sundry of the corporations of London, in addition to the former adventurers ; and the whole body was incorporated by the title of " The Treasurer and ( 'ompany of Adventurers of the City of London for the first Colony in \'irginia." The boundaries of the colonial territory and the power of the corporation were enlarged ; die offices of president and council in Virginia were abolished ; a new council was established in England, and the com- pany empowered to fill all future vacancies in it by election ; and to this council was cornmitted the power of new-rnodelling the magistracy of the olony, of enacting all the laws that were to have place in it, and nominating all the officers by whom these laws were to be carried into execution. Nevertheless, was it still formally stipulated that the colonists and their pos- terity should retain all the rights of Englishmen. To prevent the doctrines of the church of Rome from gaining admission into the plantation, it was announced that no persons would be allowed to setde in Virginia without having previously taken the oath of supremacy.* The new council appointed Lord Delaware governor and captain-general of the colony ; and the hopes, .inspired by the distinguished rank and re- spectable character of this nobleman, contributed to strengthen the company by a considerable accession of funds and associates. Availing themselves of the favorable disposition of the public, they equipped without loss of time a squadron of nine ships, and despatched them with five hundred emigrants, under the command of Captain Newport, who was authorized to supers-^de the existing administration, and to govern the colony till the arrival of Lord Delaware WMth the remainder of the recruits and supplies. But by an un- lucky combination of caution and indiscretion, the same powers were sev- erally intrusted to Sir Thomas Gates and Sir George Somers, without any adjustment of precedence between the three functionaries ; and they, finding tlieniselves unable to settle this point among themselves, agreed to embark on board the same vessel, and to be companions during tlie voyage, — thus deliberately provoking and eventually producing the disappointment of the main object which their association in authority was intended to secure. The vessel that contained the triumvirate was separated from the fleet by a storm, and stranded on the coast of Bermudas.^ The residue of the squad- ron arrived safely at Jamestown ; but so little were they expected, that, when they were first descried at sea, hey were mistaken for enemies ; and this rumor gave occasion to a ve ry satisfactory proof of the friendly dispo- ' Stith. Hazard. ~ ~~ * It wns probably this disaster which produced the only mention of the American regions wiiich wo find in the works of Shakspcare. In The Tempest, which was composed about three years after this period, Ariel celebrates the stormy const of "the still vexed Bermudas." An allusion to the British settlements in America is couciied in the prophecy which Shak- pponrc, in the last scene of King Henry the Eighth, imputes to Cranmer respecting King James, "Wherever the bright sun ofhenven shall shine, Hie honor and the greatness of his name Shall be, and ninlic new nntioris." Milton, I believe, has never mentioned America, except in his casual allusion (Paradise Lost, 11. IX.) to the condition of the Indiiiiis \\ lieu thoy wiTe first visited by Columbus. VOL, I. 8 58 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK I. sition of the Indians, who came forward with the utmost alacrity, and ofiered to tight in defence of the colony.' These apprehensions, which were dissipated by the nearer approach of the fleet, gave place to more substantial and more formidable evils, arising from the composition of the reinforcement which it brought to the colonial community. A great proportion of the new emigrants consisted of profli- * gate and licentious youths, sent from England by their friends with the hope of changing their destinies, or for the purpose of screening them from the justice or contempt of their country ; of indigent gentlemen, too proud to beg, and too lazy to work ; tradesmen of broken fortunes and broken spirit ; idle retainers, of whom the great were eager to rid themselves ; and de- pendents too infamous to be'Kieccntly protected at home ; with others, like these, more likely to corrupt and prey upon an infant commonwealth than to improve or sustain it.^ The leaders of this pernicious crew, though de- void of legal documents entithng them to supersede the existing authority, proclaimed the changes which the constitution of the colony had undergone, and hastened to execute that part of the innovation which consisted in the overthrow of the provincial presidency and council. Their conduct soon demonstrated that their title to assume authority was not more defective than their capacity to exercise it. Assuming supreme jurisdiction, they were unable to devise any frame of government, or establish even among them- selves any fixed subordination ; sometimes the old commission was resorted to ; sometimes a new model attempted ; and the chief direction of affairs passed from hand to hand in one uninterrupted succession of folly and pre- sumption. The whole colony was thrown into confusion by the revolutionary state of its government ; and the Indian tribes were alienated and exas- perated by the turbulence, injustice, and insolence of the new settlers. This emergency summoned the man, who had already more than once rescued the settlement from ruin, again to attempt its deliverance. The call was seconded by the wishes of the best and wisest of the colonists ; and, aided as much by the vigor of his own character as by the cooperation of these individuals, Smith reassumed his natural ascendant and official su- premacy, and declared his intention of retaining the authority created by the old commission, till a legal revocation of it and legitimate successors to him- self should arrive. With a determined vigor of purpose, to which instant acquiescence was yielded, he imprisoned the chief promoters of tumult ; and, having restored order and obedience, endeavoured to prevent a recur- rence of the former mischiefs by detaching from Jamestown a portion of the new colonists to form a subordinate settlement at some distance from this place. This was an unfortunate step ; and it is remarkable that the only signal faihng in the policy of this eminent commander was evinced in the only instance in which he seemed to distrust his own vigor and capacity. The detachments which he removed from Jamestown conducted themselves so imprudently as to convert all the neighbouring Indians into enemies, and to involve themselves in continual difficulty and danger. The Indians as- sailed him with complaints ; the detached settlers with requisitions of coun- sel and assistance ; and Smith, who never spent in lamenting misfortunes the lime that might be employed in repairing them, was exerting himself with nis usual activity and good sense in redressing these disorders, when be re- ceived a dangerous wound from the accidental explosion of a mass of gun- '~Srnhh7~Stilh. ^'"StTth^ CHAP. II ] ANARCHY AND FAMINE AT JAMESTOWN. 69 powder. Completely disabled by this misfortune, and destitute of surgical aid in the colony, he was compelled to resign his command, and take his departure for England.* [Oct. 1G09.] He never returned to Virginia again. It v\as natural that he should abandon with regret the society which he had exerted so much admirable vigor to preserve, — the settlement which he had conducted through difliculties as iormidabln as those which obstructed the infant progress of Carthage or Rome, — and the scenes which he had dignified by so much wisdom and virtue. But our sympathy with his regret is abated by the reflection, that a longer residence in the colony would speedily have consigned him to very subordinate office,^ and might have de- piived the world of that stock of valuable knowledge, and his own character ol" diat accession of fame,' which the publication of his travels has secured and perpetuated. CHAPTER II. Indian Cliief's Daughter seized by Argal — married yolon irginia. — -iNew Constitution of the Colony 1. — jriaruai i^aw estaoiisiied. — Indian Uliie! s daughter seized by Ife. — Right ofprivate Property in Land introduced into the Colony against Port Royal and New York. — Tobacco cultivated by the i ibly of Representatives convened in Virginia. — New Constitution xpedition of Colonists. — First The Colony a Prey to Anarchy — and Famine. — Gates and Somcrs arrive from Bermudas.— Abandonment of the Colony determined upon — prevented by the Arrival of Lord Dela- ware. — His wise Administration — his Return to England. — Sir Thomas Dale's Adminis- tration. — Martial Law established. — i^-i:".. r-i. :-.»•'» i» u. :_..i u.. a — i • ■ to Uolfe Argal Assemb ^ .^ Introduction of Kegro Slavery. — Migration of^oung Women from England to Virginia.— Dispute between the King and the Colony. — Cfonspiracy of the Indians. — Massacre of the Colonists. — Dissensions of the London Company. — The Company dissolved. — The King assumes the Government of the Colony — his Death. — Charles the First pursues his Father's arbitrary Policy. — Tyrannical Government of Sir John Harvey. — Sir William Berkeley Bjipointed Governor. — The provincial Liberties restored. — Virginia espouses the royal Cause — subdued by the Long Parliament. — Restraints imposed on the Trade of the Col- ony. — Re volt of the Colony. — Sir William Berkeley resumes the Government. — Restora- tion of Charles the Second. At the period of Smith's departure, the infant commonwealth was com- posed of five hundred persons, and amply provided with all necessary stores of arm-!, provisions, cattle, and implements of agriculture ;"* but the sense to improve its opportunities was wanting ; and fortune forsook it along with its preserver. For a short time, the government was administered by George Percy, a man of sense and probity, but devoid of tlie vigor that gives efficacy to virtue ; and the direction of affairs soon relapsed into the same mischievous channel from which Smith had recalled it. The colony was delivered up to the wantonness of a giddy and distracted rabble, and presented a scene of riot, folly, and profligacy, strongly invoking vindictive retribution, and speedily overtaken by it. The magazines of food were ex- hausted with reckless improvidence ; and the Indians, incensed by repeated injuries, and aware that the man whom they so much respected had ceased to govern the colonists, not only refused them all assistance, but harassed them with continual hostilities. Famine ensued, and completed their wretchedness and degradation by transforming them into cannibals, and compelling them to support their live s by feeding on the bodies of the In 'Smith. Stith. * See Note II., at the end of this volume. ' He became so famous in England b('fi)re his death, that his adventures were dramatized and represented on the stage, to nis own great annoyance. Stith. * Stith 60 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK 1. in lii:^ F..1SIIIJ mi Plantations. "It is ii filiiiriicful niiJ iiriblcFscd thing to tiikc tlu' scimi of the pi'oplc, uikI wicked, cotid(!inii('d nicn, to lie tlic pconlc witli wliorii \vi' jilfint ; iiiid not only so, hut it H[)oili'!li tliu plantation ; fiir they will ever live like roi;iiis iiiid not lidl lo work, hut he lii/y and do niiseliief iin who col- erance no lien hope n. Before e met by Hujjply of ; stock of )n.^ ral of the :'ai*icnt in md a title iiith. issiij{« in Ilia iIk! iii'oplc, ly SI), but it liiif Ik- 1,'i/v Sllrll jiliilii- ot claim tlio CHAP, ii] ADMINISTRATION OF LORD DELAWARE. 61 of nobility, in an age when such distinctions were regarded with much ven- eration, he joined a dignified demeanour, a disinterested character, respec- table sense, and a firm and resolute temper. The hope of rendering an important service to his country, and the generous pleasure of cooperating in a great design, had induced him to exchange ease and splendor at home for a situation of the general difficulties of v>hich he was perfectly aware ; and the same firmness and elevation of purpose preserved him undaunted and unperplexed by the astounding scene of calamity w^hich he encountered on his arrival in Virginia. Stemming the torrent of evil fortune, he carried back the fugitives to Jamestown, and commenced his administration by at- tendance on divine worship. After some consultation respecting the affairs of the settlement, he summoned all the colonists together, and addressed them in a short, but judicious and impressive harangue. [1611.] He re- buked the folly, sloth, and immorality that had produced such disasters, and reconnnended a return to the virtues most likely to repair them ; he declared his determination not to hold the sword of justice in vain, but to punish the first recurrence of disorder by shedding the blood of the delinquents, — though he would infinitely rather (he protested) shed his own to protect the colony fi-om injury. He nominated proper oflicers for every department of the public service, and allotted to every man his particular station and busi- ness. This address was received with general applause and satisfaction ; and the factious humors of the people seemed readily and entirely to subside beneath the dignity and the prudent and resolute policy of Lord Delaware's administration. The deference which had been reluctantly extorted by the superior talent and genius of Smith was more willingly yielded to claims of suj)erior birth and hereditary elevation, more palpable' to the apprehension, and less offensive to the self-complacency, of the mass of mankind. By an assiduous attention to his duty, and a happy union of qualities fitted equally 10 inspire esteem and command submission. Lord Delaware succeeded in maintaining peace and good order within tlie settlement, in awakening u spirit of hidustry and alacrity among the colonists, and in again impressing the dread and reverence of the English name on the minds of the Indians. This promising beginning was all that he was permitted to accomplish. Ojipressed by disease occasioned by the climate, he was comi)elled to quit the country ; having first connnitted the administration of his authority to (icorge Percy. 1 The restoration of Percy [March, 1611] to the official dignity which ho had once before enjoyed was attended with the same relaxation of discipline, and would probably have issued in a rciiotition of the same disorders that so fatally distinguished his former presidency, liut, happily for the colony, a squadron that had been despatched from England, before Lord ])elaware's return, with a supply of men and provisions, brought also with it Sir Thomas Dale, whose commission authorized him, in the absence of that nobleman, to assume the chief command. [May, 161 J.] This new governor found the colonists ffist relapsing into idleness and penury ; and though iie exerted himself strenuously, and not unsuccessfully, to restore better habits, yet the loss of Lord Delaware's imposing rank and authoritative character was sen- sibly felt. What Dale could not accomplish by milder means, he was soon ciiahled to jiroduce by a system of notable rigor and severity. A cede of rules had been conipilcd by r^ir Tiiomas Siiiilli, ilu; Hcasurcr of ilic com* ' Stitli. Lord l)c\a\viiro'a DiscouTaCf apud iSinitii. 62 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK I. rt;i UJl pany of patentees, from the martial law of the Low Countries, the most severe and arbitrary frame of discipline then subsisting in the world ; and having been printed by the compiler for the use of the colony, but without the sanction or authority of the council, was transmitted by him to the gov- ernor.' This code did not long remain inoperative. Dale caused it to be proclaimed as the estabHshed law of the colony ; and some conspiracies having broken out, he administered its provisions with great rigor, but not greater than was judged by all who witnessed it to have been requisite for the general safety. The wisdom and honor of the governor, who thus be- came the first depositary of those formidable powers, and the salutary conse- quences that resulted from the first exercise of them, prevented the alarm which the introduction of a system so arbitrary and despotic was calculated to provoke. Dale was succeeded in the supreme command by Sir Thomas Gates [August, 1611], who arrived with six vessels, containing a powerful veinforcement to the numbers and resources of the colonists. The late and the present governor were united 6y mutual friendship and similarity of char- acter. Gates approved and pursued the system of strict discipline, and steady, but moderate, execution of the martial code introduced by Dale ; and under the directions of Dale, who remained in the country and cheer- fully occupied a subordinate station, various detached parties of the colonists began to form additional settlements on the banks of James River, and al some distance from Jamcsiown.^ An application was now made by the company of patentees to the king, for an enlargement oC their territory and jurisdiction. The accounts they received from the periions who were shipwrecked on Bermudas, of the fer- tility and convenience of this region, impressed them with the desire of ob- taining possecsior of its. v sources for the benefit of Virginia." Their request was granted without Jiliiculty ; and a new charter was issued [March, 1612], investing them with all the islands situated within three hundred leagues of the Virginian coast. Some innovations were made, at the same time, in the structure and forms of the corporation ; the term of exemption from customs was prolonged ; the company was empowered to apprehend and remand persons deserting the settlement, in violation of their engagements ; and in order to promote the advancement of the colony and the reimbursement of the large sums that had been expended on it, license was granted to open lotteries in any part of Engla 1. The lottery which was established in vir- tue of this license was the first institution of the kind that ever received puWic countenance in England ; it brought twenty-nine thousand pounds into the treasury of the company, but loaded this body with the reproarh of defrauding the English people and corrupting their manners. The House of Commons remonstrated against the permission of the lottery, as a meas- ure equally unconstitutional and impolitic ; and the license was shortly after recalled. Happy if their example had been sooner copied by after ages, and the rulers of mankind restrained from polluting their financial adminis- tration by a system of chicane, promoting n their subjects tho se gambling; ' Stifh. Nothing can be rr.orc funcifu! or crronrotis tlian Dr. Robertson'B account of tlio introduction of this gysteii), which, without the slightest authority, he BBcribcs to the ndvieo of Lord Bacon, and, in ouooHition to all evidence, represents as the act of the compiiiiy. See Note III., at x s end of the volume. * Smith. Stith. .... - Siith. Abxjut iais iinic, the patentees profnotcd a subse-fiptior: amon^ tievO^it pr-^'^-ni ••" London for building churches in the colony; but the money was diycrtca to other purposes; and ■♦. was not till some years aAcr, that chiirches were built in Virginia. Oldmixon. CHAP. II.] MARRIAGE OF POCAHONTAS. 63 tastes and habits which dissolve industry and virtue and frequently beget even the most atrocious crimes ! Notwithstanding the eagerness of the com- pany to acquire the Bermuda Islands, they did not long retain this territory, but sold it to a junto of their own associates, who were united by royal charter into a separate corporation, named the Somer Islands Company.' The colony of Virginia had once been saved, in the person of its own deliverer, Captain Smith, by Pocahontas, the daughter of the Indian king, Powhatan. This princess maintained ever since a friendly intercourse with the English, and was destined now again to render them a service of the highest importance. A scarcity prevailing at Jamestown, and supplies being obtained but scantily and irregularly from the neighbouring Indians, with whom the colonists were often embroiled. Captain Argal was despatched to the shores of the river Potomac in quest of a cargo of corn. Here he learned that Pocahontas was living in retirement at no great distance from him ; and hoping, by possession of her person, to obtain such an ascendant over Powhatan as would insure an ample contribution of provisions, he pre- vailed on her, by some artifice, to come on board his vessel, and then set sail with her to Jamesto\Vn, where she was detained in captivity, though treated with ceremonious respect. But Powhatan, (who, like many Indian chiefs, though devoid of steady, generous wisdom, yet possessed a wild, uncultivated virtue,) more indignant at such treachery than subdued by his misfortune, rejected with scorn the demand of a ransom ; he even refused to hold any communication with the pirates who still kept his daughter a pris- oner ; ^ declaring, nevertheless, that, if she were re'stored to him, he would forget the injury, and, feeling himself at liberty to regard the authors of it as friends, would gratify all their wishes. The colonists, however, were too conscious of not deserving the performance of such promises, to be able to give credit to them ; and the most injurious consequences seemed likely to arise from an unjust detention, which they could no longer continue with advantage, nor relinquish with safety, — when, behold ! all at once the aspect of affairs underwent a happy and surprising change. During her residence in the colony, Pocahontas, whose pleasing manners and other per- sonal attraction^ have been celebrated with warm commendation, gained the affectionK of a young man named Rolfc, a person of rank and estimation among the planters, who offered her his hand, and, with her approbation and the cordial encouragement of the governor, solicited the consent of Pow- hatan to their marriage. This the old prince readily bestowed, and de- spatched certain of his relatives to attend the ceremonial, which was per- formed with extraordinary pomp [April, 1613], and laid the foundation of a firm and sincere friendship between his tribe and the English. This for- tunate event also enabled the provincial government to conclude a treaty with the Chickahominies, a horde distinguished by their bravery and their military experience, who consented to acknowledge themselves subjects of the British monarch, and to style themselves henceforward Englishmen, — to assist the colonists with their arms in war, and to pay an annual tribute of Indian corn. But a material change, w hich now took place in the social structure of ' Stiih. Cfmlmer'a Annals. ' ' Ho would not deem Wipfid off in honorable keeping her." ShakBpeare. ^-1 64 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK I the colony, contributed to fix its prosperity on foundations more solid and respectable than the alliance or dependence of the Indian tribes. The in- dustry* which had been barely kept alive by the severe discipline of martial law, languished under the discouraging influence of that community of prop- erty and acquisition which was introduced, as we have seen, by the provis- ions of the original charter. As a temporary expedient, this system could not have been easily avoided ; and the censure which historians have so readily bestowed on its introduction seems to be far from reasonable. The real impolicy consisted in prolonging its duration beyond the time when thf colony acquired stability, when modes and habits of life were fixed, and when, the resources of the territory and the productive powers of labor being fully understood, the government might safely and beneficially have remitted every individual to the stimulus of his own interest and dependence on his own exertions. But in the outset, it was necessary, or at least highly expedient, that the government should charge itself with the support of its subjects and the regulation of their industry ; and that their first experimental exertions should be referred and adapted to the principle and governance of a system of partnership. How long such a system may endure, when orig- inated and maintained by a strong and general impulse of that Christian spirit which directs every man to regard his office on earth as a trust, his life as a stewardship, and the superiority of his faculties and advantages at designating, not the enlargement of his privileges, but the extent of liif^. responsibility, is a problem to be solved by the future history of mankind. But as a permanent arrangement, supported only by municipal law, it at- tempts an impossibility, and commits its practical administration to an influ- ence destructive of its own principles. As soon as the sense of individual interest and security begins to dissolve tlie bond of common hazard, dan- ger, and difficulty, the law is felt to be an irksome and injurious restriction ; but as in theory it retains a generous aspect, and the first symptoms of its practical inconvenience are the idleness and immorahty promoted by its se- cret suggestions, it is not surprising that rulers should seek to remove the effect, while they preserve the cause, and even by additional severities of regulation extinguish every remains of the virtue which they vainly attempt to rekindle. . . r /r • Sir Thomas Dale, by his descent from the supreme direction of afiairs to a more active participation in the conduct of them, was enabled to dis- cern with accurate and unprejudiced observation the influence of the pro- vincial laws on the dispositions of the colonists ; and soon discovered tho violent repugnance between a system which enforced community of prop- erty, and all the ordinary motives by which human industry is sustained. He saw that every one was eager to evade or abridge his own share of labor ; that the universal reliance on the common stock impaired, univer- sally, tlie diligence and activity on which the accumulation of that stock de- pended ; that the slothful trusted to the exertions of the industrious, while the industrious were deprived of alacrity by impatience of supporting and ronfirming the slothful in their idleness ; and that the most conscientious; citizen would hardly perform as much labor for the community in a week as he would for himself in a day. Under Dale's direction, the evil was re- dressed by a radical and eflectual remedy : a sufficient portion of land \\a> divided into lots, and one of them was appropriated to every settler. From that moment, industry, freed from the obstruction that had relaxed its incite- CHAP. II.] EXPEDITIONS AGAINST POUT ROYAL AND NEW YORK. 65 nients and intercepted its recompense, took vigorous root in Virginia, and the prosperity of the colony experienced a steady and rapid advancement.' (Jates returning to England [1G14], the supreme direction again devolved on Sir Thomas Dale, whose virtue seems never to have enlarged with the extension of his authority. He retained for two years longer the gover- nance of the colony, and in his domestic administration continued to prc- niote its real welfare ; but he launched into foreign operations little produr- tive of advantage, and still less of honor. In Captain Argal, the author of the flagitious but fortunate abduction of Pocahontas, he found a fit instru- ment, and perhaps a counsellor, of designs of a similar character. The French settlers in Acadia had, in the year 1G05, built Port IJoyal, in the Bay of Fundy, and ever since retained quiet possession of the adja- cent country, and successfully cultivated a friendly intercourse wiili tic neighbouring Indians. Under the pretext, that the French, by settling in Acadia, invaded the rights which the English derived from prior di.scovcrv of the continent, was Argal despatched, in a season of prolbund pence, to make a hostile attack on Port Royal. Nothing could be n)ore unjust or mi- warranted than this enterprise. The Virginian charters, with the protection of which alone Sir Thomas Dale was intrusted, did not embrace the ten i- tory which ho now presumed to invade, and which the French had peaceably jiossessed for nearly ten years in virtue of .charters from their sovereign', Henry the Fourth. Argal easily succeeded in surprising and plundering a community totally unsuspicious of hostility and unprepared for defence ; but as he estabhshed no garrison in the place, the French soon resumed tlieir station ;^ and the expedition produced no other permanent effect than ij.e indignant recollections it left in the minds of the French, and the unfavor- able impression it produced on the Indians. Returning from this expedition, Argal undertook and achieved a similar enterprise against New York, which was then in possession of the Dutch, whose claim was derived from Captain Hudson's visit to the territory in 1C09, when he commanded one of their vessels, and was employed in their service. Argal, however, maintained, that, as Hudson was an Englishman by birth, the benefit of his discovery accrued by indefeasible right to his native country ; and the Dutch gov- ernor, being unprepared "for resistance, was compelled to submit, and dc- clare the colony a dependency of l^ngland, and tributary to Virginia. But another governor arriving shortly after, with better means of asserting the tide of his countrymen, the concession was retracted, and the English claim successfully defied.' One of the first objects which engaged the increasing industry of the col- onists was the cidtivation of tobacco, a confimodity now for the first time introduced into the commerce of Virginia. [1G15.] King .L >' s had con- ceived a strong antipathy to the use of this herb, and in his celebrated trea- tise, entitled Covnterblasl against Tuhuceo, sj.udeavoured to prevail over one of the strongest appetites of human nature by the 'cft-ce of pedantic fustian, and reasoning as ridiculous as the lille of his performance. 'J'lu issue of the contest cornjsponded better with his interests than with his wishes ; his testimony, though pressed vi ith all the vehemence of exahed ' fimith.' Stitli.~ " ~ "" — — - _ - ' Stith. F.»r,arhoi'» Ilistoru of A'etc Fiancr. I'urchn.s. Argal's piratical attack on Porl Royal was revenged by tlic French on Captain Smith in the following year I post. ■' Stifii. See the tliitury of J^ew Y'ink, in Bo, i '', pott. VOL. I. 9 |.« See Book II. Chap 66 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK I. folly, could not prevail with his subjects over the solicitation and evidence of their own senses ; and thougli he summoned his prerogative to the aid of his logic, and guarded the soil of England from pollution by forbidding the domestic culture of tobacco, he found it impossible to withstand its impor- tation from abroad ; the demand for it continually extended, and its value and consumption daily increased in England. Incited by the hopes of shar- ing a trade so profitable, the colonists of Virginia devoted their fields and labor almost exclusively to the production of this commodity. Sir Thomas Dale, observing their inconsiderate ardor, and sensible of the danger of neglecting the cultivation of the humbler but more necessary productions on which the subsistence of the colony depended, interposed his authority to check the excesses of the planters ; and adjusted by law ♦tie proportion be- tween the corn crop and the tobacco crop of every proprietor of land. But after his departure [1616], his wise policy was forgotten, and his regulations disregarded ; and the culture of tobacco so exclusively occupied the atten- tion of the settlers, that even the streets of Jamestown were planted with it, and a scarcity of provisions very soon resulted. The colonists, unable to devise any better remedy for this evil than the renewal of exactions from the Indians, involved themselves in disputes and hostilities which gradually alienated the regards of these savages, and paved the way to one of those schemes of vengeance which they are noted for forming with impenetrable secrecy, maturing with consummate artifice and executing with unrelenting; ferocity.' This fatal effect was not experienced till after the lapse of one of those intervals which to careless eyes seem to disconnect the misconduct from the sufferings of nations, but impress reflective minds with an awful conception of that strong, unbroken chain, which, subsisting unimpaired by time or distance, preserves and extends the moral consequences of human actions. But a nobler produce than any that her physical soil could supply was to grace the dawn of civilization in Virginia ; and we are now to contemplate tb.e first indication of that active principle of liberty which was destined to obtain the most signal development from the progress of American society. When Sir Thomas Dale returned to England, he committed the government of the province to George Yeardley, whose lax administration, if it removed a useful restraint on the improvident cupidity of the planters, enabled them to taste, and prepared them to value, the dignity of independence and the advantages of freedom. He was succeeded [1617^] by Captain Argal, a man of considerable talent and activity, but sordid, haughty, and tyrannical. Argal provided with ability for the wants of the colony, and introduced some politic regulations of the traffic and intercourse with the Indians ; but he ' Smith. Stith. Purchas. In the year 1615, was published at London A true Discourse nf the present State of Virginia, by Ralph Hanior, Secretary to the (Colony; a tract which has lo Other merit but its rarity. * In the nre.sent year died Pocahontas. She had nrcompanicd her husband on a visit to England, where her history excited nmch interest, and the craee and dignity of her manners no less respect and admiration. Captain Sniith introduced h(;r to the queen, and her society was courted by the most eminent of the nobility. But the mean soul of the kin^ regarded hi r with jealousy ; and ho expressed alternate murnuirs at Rolfes presumption in marrying ii princess, and alarm at the title that this planter's posterity might acquiie to the sovereigntv of Virginia. Pocahontas (iief their In-lian origin. Dr. Smith's Essay on iht Causes of the Varir.h) vf Covi- plexmn atui I'tgme tn ihe Human SpecieM. CHAP. II.] FIRST REPRESENTATIVE LEGISLATURE. nd evidence the aid of rbidding the d its iinpor- nd its value pes of shai- sir fields and Sir Thomas e danger of iductions on authority to aportion be- land. But i regulations d the atten- ilanted vvitli lists, unable lotions from ;h gradually me of those inpenetrable unrelenting; apse of one misconduct th an awful mpaired by !s of huma)i pply was to contemplate destined to ;an society, government " it removed labled them ice and the lin Argal, a tyrannical, duced some ns ; but he e Discourse •>/ which luis 1 1> J on a visit to f her niiinnpr!^ nd her soriety i, regarded her n marry ill!; a sovereigntv of it, of" a Chris- n liiHtorian of lean writer, in 1 the exterior xrif.tii of Com- 67 cramped the liberty of the people by minute and vexatious restrictions, and enforced a practical conformity to them by harsh and constant exercise of martial law. While he affected to promote piety in others by punishing ab- sence from ecclesiastical ordinances with a temporary servitude, he post- poned, in his own personal practice, every other consideration to the acquisition of wealth, which he greedily pursued by a profligate abuse of the opportunities of his office, and defended by the terrors of despotic authority. Universal discontent was excited by his administration ; and the complaints of the colonists at length reached the ears of the company in England. Lord Delaware, who had always been the zealous friend and advocate of the colonists, now consented, for their deliverance, to resume his former office, and again to undertake the direction of their affairs. He embarked for Vir- ginia [1618] with a splendid train, but died on the voyage. His loss was deeply lamented by the colonists. Yet it was, perhaps, an advantageous cir- cumstance for them, that an administration invested with so much pomp and dignity was thus seasonably intercepted, and the improvement of their affairs committed to men whose rank and manners were nearer the level of their own condition ; and it was no less advantageous to the memory of Lord Delaware, that he died in the demonstration of a generous willingness to at- tetnpt what he would most probably have been unable to accomplish. The tidings of his death were followed to England by increasing complaints of the odious and tyrannical proceedings of Argal ; and the company having conferred the office of Captain-General on Yeardley [April, 1619] , this nevv governor received the honor of knighthood, and repaired to the scene of his administration.* Sir George Yeardley, on his arrival in Virginia, perceived at a single glance that it was impossible to compose the prevalent jealousy of arbitrary power and impatience for liberty, or to conduct his own administration in a satisfactory manner, without reinstating the colonists in full possession of the rights of Englishmen ; and accordingly, to their inexpressible joy, he promptly signified his intention of convoking a provincial assembly, framed with all possible analogy to the parliament of the parent state. This first representative legislature that America ever beheld consisted of the gov- ernor, the council, and a number of burgesses, elected by the seven existmg boroughs, who, assembling at Jamestown, in one chamber, discussed all matters that concerned the general welfare, and conducted their delibera- tions with good sense, moderation, and harmony. The laws which they enacted were transmitted to England for the approbation of the treasurer and cx)mpany, and are no longer extant ; but it is asserted by competent judges, that they were, in the main, wisely and judiciously framed, though (as might reasonably be expected) somewhat intricate and unsystematical.^ The com- pany soon after passed an ordinance by which they substantially approved and ratified the platform of the Virginian legislature. They reserved, how- ever, to themselves the nomination of a council of state, which should assist the governor with advice in the executive administration, and should also form a part of the legislative assembly ; a nd they provided, on the one hand, ' Smith. slitiT ~~ ~ » Rolfc opurf Smith Stith. The assembly, when they transmitted their own ordinances to England, requcgted the general court to prepare a digest for Virginia of the laws of Encland. and to procure for it the sanction of the kmg^s approbation, adding, «» that it was not fit that jiis subjecjts should be governed by any other rules than such aa received their influence from jiiiii. cnaimers. M i^' =?M , i '*-! ■'*.■ .' 68 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK I that the decrees of the assembly should not have the force of law till sanc- tioned by the court of proprietors in England ; and conceded, on the other hand, that the orders of this court should have no force in Virginia till rati- fied by the provincial assembly.* Thus early was planted in America that representative system which forms the soundest political frame wherem the spirit of liberty was ever embodied, and at once the safest and most efficient organ by which its energies are exercised and developed. So strongly im- bued were the minds of Englishmen in this age with those generous principles which were rapidly advancing to a first manhood in their native country, that, wherever they settled themselves, the institutions of freedom took root and grew up along with them. . -r i • It had been happy for the morals and the welfare of Virginia, if her in- habitants, like their countrymen in Massachusetts, had oftener elevated their eye from subordinate agency to the great First Cause, and had referred, ill p-rticular, the signal blessing that was now bestowed on them to the will and bounty of God. Liberty, so derived, acquires at once its firmest and noblest basis ; it becomes respected as well as beloved ; the dignity of the origin to which it is referred influences the ends to which it is rendered instrumental ; and all men are taught to feel that it can neither be violated nor abused without provoking the divine displeasure. It is this preservative principle alone, which, recognizing in the abundance of divii.e goodness the extent of the divine claims, prevents the choicest blessings and most ad- mirable talents from cherishing in human hearts an ungrateful and counter- acting spirit of insolence and pride, — a spirit which led the Virginians too soon to plant the rankest weeds of tyrannic injustice in that field where the seeds of liberty had been so happily sown. The company of patentees had received orders from the king to transport to Virginia a hundred idle, dissolute persons who were in prison for various misdemeanours in London.** These men were dispersed through the prov- ince as servants to the planters ; and the degradation of the provincial character and manners, produced by 'such social intermixture, was over- looked, in consideration of the advantage that was expected from so man} additional and unpaid laborers. Having once associated felons with their pursuits, and committed the cultivation of their fields to servile and de- praved hands, the colonists were prepared to yield to the temptation ^vhi^ll speedily presented itself, and to blend, in barbarous combination, the char- acter of oppressors with the claims and condition of freemen. A Dutch ship, from the coast of Guinea, arriving in James River, sold to the planters a part of her cargo of negroes ; ^ and as this hardy race was found more capable of enduring fatigue in a sultry climate than Europeans, the number was increased by continual importation, till p large proportion of the inhab- itants of Virginia 'vas composed of men degraded to a state of slavery by the selfishness and ungrateful barbarity of others, who, embracing the gifts without imbibing the beneficence of their Creator, turned into a scene of bondage for their fellows the territory that fiad proved a seat of liberty and happiness to themselves. • Stith. • Stith. Hazard, v^i.ui. Cnptain Smith relatfig, that, sinre his dnparture from tlio colony, the numhor of felons and vagabondu tramportcd to Virpnia Iwought such evil report on the place, " that somti Old choose to be han;;cd ere th«y would ao thither, and were." " This custom," says Stith, " hath laid one of tht* finest eountri«H in Amorica under the aniust scandal of boing another Siberia, fit only for tiie reception of malefactors and the vilest of the people." ' Beverly, 'History of Virgirua. CHAP. II.] YOUNG WOMEN SENT OUT TO VIRGINIA. 69 ivated their d referred, to the will firmest and ;nity of the s rendered be violated ireservative lodness the i most ad- id counter- rginians too I where the Lo transport for various h the prov- i provnicial I was over- ni so many i with their ile and dc- ation whirli 1, the char- A Dutch the planters bund more the number f the inhab- slavery by ng the gifts a scene of liberty and (he number of ;c, " that 8omr n," Bays Stith, boinc anotlivr Another addition, at this epoch [1620], more productive of virtue and felicity, was made to the number of the colonists. Few women had as yet ventured to cross the Atlantic ; and the English, restrained by the pride and rigidity of their character from that incorporation with the native Americans, which the French and Portuguese have found so conducive to their inter- ests and so accordant with the phancy of their manners, were generally flestitute of the comforts and connections of married life. Men so situated could not regard Virginia as a permanent residence, and must have gener- ally entertained the purpose of returning to their native country after amass- ing as expeditiously as possible a competency of wealth. Such views are inconsistent with patient industry, and with those extended interests that produce or support patriotism ; and in conformity with the more liberal policy which the company now began to pursue towards the colony, it was proposed to send out a hundred young women of agreeable persons and respectable characters, as wives for the settlers. Ninety were sent ; and the speculation proved so profitable to the company, that a repetition of it was suggested by the emptiness of their exchequer in the following year [1621], when sixty more were collected and transported. They were immediately disposed of to the young planters, and produced such an accession of happi- ness to the^colony, that the second consignment fetched a larger profit .ban the first. The price of a wife was estimated first at a hundred and twenty, and afterwards at a hundred and fifty pounds of tobacco, which was then sold at three shillings per pound. The young women were not only bought with avidity, but received with such fondness, and so comfortably established, that others were invited to follow their example ; and virtuous sentiments and provident habits spreading consequently among the planters enlarged the happiness and prosperity of the colony. ^ To the blessings of marriage naturally succeeded some provision for the benefits of education. A sum of money was collected by the English bishops, by direction of the king, for the mahuenance of an institution in Virginia for the Christian education of Indian children ; and in emulation of this good example, various steps were taken by the chartered company towards the foundation of a provincial col- lege, which was afterwards completed in the reign of William and Mary. It is remarkable that the rise of civil liberty in North America was nearly coeval with the first dispute between her inhabitants and the government of the mother country. With the increasing industry of the colony, the produce of Its tobacco fields became more than sufficient for the supply of England, where, also, its disposal was vexatiously restricted by the wavering and arbitrary policy of the king, in granting monopolies for the sale of it, in limiting the quantities permitted to be imported, in appointing commis- sioners " for garbhng the drug called tobacco," with arbitrary powers to confiscate vyhatever portions of it they might consider of base quality, in loading the importation with a heavy duty, and at the same time encouraging the import of tobacco from Spain. The company, harassed by these absurd and iniquitous restranits, opened a trade with Holland, and established ware- ^'""'^' ^^ ^" ^^'^^ countr y, to which they sent their tobacco directly from ' Htitli. Tliis int.restiiis i'ranch of traffic appears to have subsisted for many years, during kvhicli Its seeming indcliciicy was qualified as far urn pos8il)!e by the nice attention that was paid to the ascertaiimiont of tiie moral rharartor of every woman aspiring to become a Virginian matron. In the year U>^2, Iiy an order of the provincial council, two young women, who had hecn seduced during their passage from England, were ordered to t)e sent back, as " unwor iny to pra(jhT»r iht; imt- of Virginians." Bulk s History of I'irginia. 70 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK I. Vircinia • but the king interposed to prohibit such evasion of his revenue, aiKrected that all the ViVginian tobacco should be brought in the first instance England. A Icngtbened and acrimonious dispute arose between h feeble prince and the colonists and colonial corporation. Against the nonopdy established in England they petitioned the House of Conimons; and in support of their practice of trading directly with Holland, they con- tended fot the general rfght of Englishmen to carry their commodities to the be"t market they could find, and pleaded the special concessions of their own charter, which expressly conferred on them unlimited liberty of com- merce. At length, the dispute was adjusted by a conipromise, hj which the company obtained, on the Ene hand, the exclusive right of impor mg tobacco into the kingdom, and engaged, on the other, to pay an import duty of mne- nence per |ound, and to send all the tobacco produce of Virginia to Lng- ^Vt a cloud had been for some time gathering over the colony ; and even the circumstances that were supposed most forcibly to betoken the prosperity of its inhabitants were provoking the storm to burst with more destructive violence on their heads. [1622.] At peace with the Indians, unapprehensive of danger, and wholly engrossed with the profitable cultivation of a fertile territory, their increasing numbers had spread so extensively over the prov- ince, that no fewer than eighty settlements were already formed ; and every planter being guided only by his own peculiar taste or convenience m t l.o choice of his dwelling, and more disposed to shun than to court the neigh- bourhood of his countrymen, the settlements were universally straggling and uncompact.2 !„ the Scriptures, which the colonists received as their rule of faith, they might have found ample testimony to the cruelty and treachery of mankind in their natur^^l state ; and from their own experience they might have derived the strongest assurance that the savages, by whom they were surrounded, could claim no exemption from this testimony of divine wisdom and truth. Yet the pious labors by which the evil dispositions ol the Indians might have been corrected, and the military exercises and precautions )\ which their hostility might have been overawed or repelled, were equa ly neglected by the English settlers ; who, moreover, contributed to foster the martial habits of the Indians by employing them as hunters, and en argcd their resources of destrtiction by furnishing them with firearms, which they very soon learned to use with dexterity. The marriage of the planter Rolfe to the Indian princess did not pro- duce as lasting a friendship between the English and the Indians as at first it seemed to portend. The Indians eagerly courted a repetition of sucl. intermarriages, and were painfully stung by the disdain witn which [he Eng- lish receded from their advances and declined to become the husbands ot Indian women.^ The colonists forgot that they had inflicted this mortihca- tion • but it was remembered by the Indians, who sacredly embalmed tlio memory of every affront in lasting, stern, silent, and implacable resentment. Earnest recommendations were repeatedly transmitted from England to at- tempt the conversion of the savages ; but these recommendations were not promoted bv a sufficient attention to the means requisite for their accom- plishment. Yet neither were they entirely neglected by the colonists, borne attempts at conversion were made by a few pious individuals, and the suc- -_._ 5r - — „f tV^ ..nfU.jl^tofllir mino-ntpH thfi ralnniitv that was impending; ; nstitiil «^Smilh. ' Bovcrly. CHAP 11] INDIAN CONSPIRACY. 71 I revenue, [1 the first 3 between gainst the onimons ; they con- ties to the IS of their jr of coni- which the ig tobacco ty of nine- ia to Eng- ; and even prosperity destructive prehensive )f a fertile r the prov- and every !nce in the the neigh- agghng and 3 their rule i treachery they might they were ine wisdom the Indians cautions by ere equally foster tho id enlarged which they id not pro- is as at first Jon of such ch the Eng- tiusbands of is mortifica- ibalmed the resentment, igland to at- )ns were not .heir accom- nists. Some ind the suc- impending ; but these efforts were feeble and partial, and the majority of the colonists lied contented themselves with cultivating a friendly acquaintance with the Indians, who were admitted at all times into their habitations, and encour- aged to consider themselves as welcome and familiar guests.' It was in the midst of this free and unguarded intercourse, that the In dians formed, with deliberate and unrelenting ferocity, the project of a general massacre of the English, which devoted every man, woman, and child in the colony to indiscriminate destruction. On the death of Pow- hatan, in 1618, the power of executing a scheme so daring and sanguinary devolved on a man fully capable of contriving and conducting it. Opeclian- canough,** who succeeded to the supremacy over Powhatan's tribe, and possessed extensive influence over all the neighbouring tribes of Indians, was distinguished by his ferocious bravery, his j)rufound dissimulation, and a rancorous hatred and jealousy of the European colonists of America. He renewed the pacific treaty which Powhatan had concluded with the English after the marriage of his daughter to Rolfe ; and he availed himself of the security into which it lulled the objects of his guile, to prepare, during the four ensuing years, his friends and followers for the several parts they were to act in the tragedy which he contemplated. The tribes in the neighbour- hood of the English, except those on the eastern shore, whom, on account of their peculiar friendship for the colonists, he did not venture to intrust with the design, were successively gained over ; and all cooperated with that singlemindedness and intensity of purpose characteristic of Indian con- spiracy and revenge. In a tribe of savage idolaters, the passions of men arc left unpurified by the influence of religion, and unrestrained by a sound or elevated morality ; and human character is not subjected to that variety of impulse and impres- sion which it undergoes in civilized society. The sentiments inculcated and the dispositions contracted in the family and in the tribe, in domestic edu- cation and in public life, in all the scene? through which the savage passes from his cradle to his grave, are the same ; there is no contest of opposite principles or conflicting habits to dissipate his mind or weaken its determina- tions ; and the system of morals (if it may be so called) which he em- braces being the offspring of wisdom and dispositions congenial to his own, a seeming dignity of character arises from the simple vigor and consistency of that conduct which his moral sentiments never disturb or reproach. The understanding, neither refined by variety of knowledge, nor elevated by the grandeur of its contemplations, instead of moderating the passions, becomes the abettor of their violence and the instrument of their gratifi- cation. Men in mahce, but children in sense, it is in the direction of fraud and cunning that the intellectual faculties of savages are chiefly exercised ; ' Stith. To the remonstrances of certain of the coIonistB against their worship of demons, some of the Indians of Virginia answered that thoy believed in two great spirits, a good and an evil one ; that the first was a being sunk in the enjoyment of everlasting indolence and case, who showered down blessings indiscriminately from the skies, leaving men to scramble for them as they chose, and totally indiflerent to their concerns ; but that tlie second was an active, jealous spirit, whom they were obliged to propitiate, that he might not desiroy them. Oldmixon. ' Stith. Opechancanough, in imitation of the English, had built himself a house, nnd was so delighted with the contrivance of a lock and key, that he used to spend whole hours in repetition of tho experiment of locking and unlocking his door. Oldmixon. No European invention struck the Indians witii greater surprise than a windmill ; they came from vast dis- tances and cnntin'.ied for mnx.y dnvs fn gsizc at a phenomenon wfiich thoy asrribed to tho agency of demons shut up within tfio edifice. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) / /./ 4 4. R Zs ^ 1.0 1^ 1^ 12.2 If »£ III 2.0 I.I m 1.25 |u 1.6 ^ 6" % vl ^^'5.'^ 7: #« ^m /A 7 Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. M580 (716) 872-4503 72 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOX I. and so perfect is the harmony between their passions and their reflective powers, that the same delay which would mitigate the ferocity of more cultivated men serves but to hai-den their cruelty and mature the devices ior Its mdulgence. Notwithstanding the long interval that elapsed between tiie lormation and the execution of their present enterprise, and the continual intercourse that subsisted between them and the white people, the most im- penetrable secrecy was preserved by the Indians ; and so fearless, consum- mate, and inscrutable was their dissimulation, that they were accustomed. to borrow boats from the English to cross the river, in order to concert and communicate the progress of their design.* An incident, which, though minute, is too curious to be omitted, con- I Uibuted to stimulate the malignity of the Indians by the sense of recent provocation. There was a man, belonging to one of the neighbciuring tribes called Nemattanow, who, by his courage, craft, and good fortune, had at' tamed the highest repute among his countrymen. In the skirmishes and engagements which their former wars with the English produced, he had ex- posed his person with a bravery that commanded the esteem of his fellow- savages, and an impunity that excited their astonishment. They iudged him .nvunerable, whom so many dangers had vainly menaced ; and the obiect ol their admiration partook, or at least encouraged, the delusion which seemed to invest Inm with a character of sanctity. Opechancanough, the king whether jealous of this man's reputation, or desirous of embroiling tlie J'.nglish vviUi the Indians, sent a message to the governor of the colony, to acquaint him that he was welcome to cut Nemattanow's throat. Such an indication of Indian character as this message afforded ought to have oro- duced alarm and distrust in the minds of the English. Though the offer of the king was disregarded, his' wishes were not dis- appointed. Nemattanow, having murdered a planter, was shot by one of the servants of his victim, who attempted to arrest him. In the pangs of death the pride, but not the vanity, of the savage was subduedf and he entreated his captors that they would never reveal that he had been slain by a bullet, and that they would bury him among the English, in order that the secret of his mortality might remain imknown to his countrymen. The re- quest seems to mfer the possibility of complying with it ; and the colonists, of d,iT/I "''' f sleeted, had cause to regret their imprudent disclosure of the fa al event. The Indians were filled with grief and indignation ; and Opechancajiough inflarned their anger by pretending to share it. Having nSn r'f ?rtf "r« ^^' S« satisfaction of his subjects, he affected £ So 7. ' ^cf'r i ^'' ""T^"^' ^"'^ ^^^"--^^ the English that the sky should sooner fall than the peace be broken by him. But the plot mean- while advanced to maturity, and, at last, the day was fixed on which all the l.nglish settlements were at the same instant to be attacked. The and that they might be enabled to occupy their posts without awakening suspicion, some carried presents of fish and game into the interior of the colony, and others presented themselves as guests soliciting the hospitahty ot their English friends, on the evemng before the massacre. As the fatal hour drew nigh, the rest, under various pretences, and with every demon- SLh Z P??^"^ i"'^"'' ^''^^^^^^^ «round the detached and unfortifie d^ settlements of the colo ^- sts ; and not a sent iment of compunction, > stitiT ~ • 1 CHAP. II.] MASSACRE OF THE COLONISTS. 73 compunction, not a rash expression of hate, nor an unguarded look of exultation, had occurred to disconcert or disclose the purpose of their well disciplined ferocity. The universal destruction of the colonists seemed unavoidable, and was prevented only by the consequences of an event, which, perhaps, at the time when it came to pass, appeared but of little importance in the colony, — the conversion of an Indian to the Christian faith. On the night before the massacre, this man was made privy to it by his own brother, who com- municated to him the command of his king and his countrymen to share in the exploit that would enrich their race with spoil, revenge, and glory. A summons of such tenor was well calculated to prevail with a savage mind ; but a new mind had been given to this convert, and, as soon as his brother left him, he revealed the secret to an EngHsh gentleman in whose house he was residing. This planter immediately carried the tidings to Jamestown, from whence the alarm was communicated to the inhabitants of the nearest settlements barely in time to prevent the last hour of the perfidious truce from being the last hour of their lives. But the intelligence came too late to be more generally available. At mid-day [March 22, 1622], the moment they had previously fixed for this execrable deed, the Indians, raising a hideous yell, rushed at once on the English in all their scattered settlements, and butchered men, women, and children with undistinguishing fury, and every aggravation of brutal outrage and enormous cruelty. In one hour, three hundred and forty-seven persons were cut off, almost without knowing by whose :hands they fell. The slaughter would have been still greater, if the English, even in some of those districts where no prior intimation of the danger was received, had not flown to their arms with the energy of despair, and defended themselves so bravely as to repulse the assailants, who almost universally displayed a cowardice proportioned to their malignity, and fled at the sight of weapons in the hands even of the women and boys, whom, unarmed, they were willing to attack and destroy.^ « The colony received a wound no less deep and dangerous than painful and alarming. Six of the members of council, and several of the wealthiest and most respectable inhabitants, were among the slain ; at some of the set- tlements, the whole of their population had been exterminated ; at others, a remnant escaped the general destruction by the efibrts of despair ; and the survivors were impoverished, terrified, and confounded by a stroke that at once bereaved them of friends and fortune, and showed that they were surrounded by legions of foes, whose enmity was equally furious and unac- countable, and whose treachery and ferocity seemed to proclaim them a race of fiends rather than men.** To the massacre succeeded a vindictive and exterminating war between the English and the Indians ; and the colonists were at last provoked to retaliate, in some degree, the fraudful guile and indiscriminate butchery to which they found themselves exposed from their savage adversaries. But though a dire necessity was thought to justify or palliate such proceedings, yet the warfare of the colonists was never wholly divested of honor and magnanimity. During this disastrous period, the ~ '"Smith. SUthl ~~~~~ * It was long before the British colonists were properly on their guard against the ferorit> of a race of men capable of such consummate treachery, nnd who " in anger wore not, like fhfi KnjgrliHh, talkative nntl hoistnrous, hut Bullen find revrngeful." TrunibuU's History of Connerlicut. VOL. I. 10 74 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK I. design that had been entertained of erecting a provincial college, and various other public institutions, was abandoned ; the number of the settlements was reduced from eighty to six ; and an afflicting dearth of food was added to the horrors, of war.' When the tidings of this calamity arrived in England, they excited, along with much disapprobation of the defective policy and inefficient precautions of the company of patentees, a lively i.ympathy with the danger and distress of the colonists. By order of the king, a supply of arms from the Tower was delivered to the treasurer of the company ; and vessels were despatched to Virginia with cargoes of such articles as were supposed to be most urgently needed by the planters. Captain Smith submitted to the company the project of an enterprise, which he offered to conduct, for the deliverance of the colony by the expulsion or subjugation of all the Indian tribes within the limits of its territory ; but, though generally approved, this proposition was not embraced. By dint of the exertions which they made in their own behalf, and with the assistance of the supplies that were actually sent to them from England, the colonists were barely saved from perishing with hunger ; and it was not till after a severe and protracted struggle that they were enabled again to resume their prosperous attitude and extend their settlements. More amj)le supplies and more active assistance would have been afforded to the colonists from England, but for the dissensions among the associate^ patentees, which had been spreading for a considerable period, and at this juncture attained a height that portended the dissolution of the corporation. 1 he company was now a numerous body ; and being composed of able and enterprising men, drawn from every class in society, it presented a faithful abstract of tlie state of poHtical feeling in the nation ; while its frequent courts or convocations afforded a convenient arena in which the parties tried tlieir strength, and a conspicuous organ by which the prevailing senti- ments were publicly expressed. At every meeting, the transaction of business was impeded Uy the intrigues of rival factions, and tb'.^ debates were inflamed and protracted by tlieir mutual altercations. At every elec- tion, the offices of the company were courted and contested by the most emment persons in the state. [1623.] The controversy between the court party and the country party, that was spreading through the nation, was the more readily insinuated into those assemblies from the infrequency and irregularity of its more legitimate theatre, the parliament ; and various cir- cumstances in the history of the company tended to nourish and extend this source of disagreement. Many of the proprietors, dissatisfied with the slen- der pecuniary returns that the colony afforded, were disposed to blame the existing officers and administration for the disappointment of their hopes ; not a few resented the procurement of the third charter, the exclusion of Captain Smith from the direction which he had shown himself so well quali- fied to exercise, and the insignificance to which they were themselves con- demned by the arbitrary multiplication of their associa tes ; and a small but .k'-5L''^i-.^* '^M* I am al)lo to discover, the retaliatory deceit practised by the colonists in their hostihtios with the Indians has been greatly overrated. Stith seems to have mistaken expressions of indignation for deliberate designs; and Dr, Robertson has extended the error !)v mistaking purposes for the execution tlicy never attained. The contemplation, and especiall'v the endurance, of cruelty tends to make men cruel ; yet, to the honor of the colonists, bo it renjembered, that, even during the prevalence of those hostilities, a deliberate attempt to cozon and subjugate a body of Indians was punished by the provincial magistrates, as an ofTenro against the law of God and against national faith iind honor. Stith CHAP. II] DISSENSIONS OF THE LONDON COMPANY. 76 active and intriguing party, who had labored with earnest though unsuccess- ful rapacity to engross the offices of the company, to usurp the direction of its affairs, and to convert the colonial trade into their own private patrimony by monopolies which they bought from needy courtiers, naturally ranged themselves on the side of the court, and by their complaints and misrepre- sentations to the king and privy council, sought to interest them in the quarrels, and infect them with suspicions of the corporation.' At the head of this least numerous, but most dangerous, faction was the notorious Captain Argal, who continued to display a rancorous enmity to the liberty of Virginia, and hoped to compass by intrigue and servility at home the same objects which he had pursued by tyranny and violence abroad. Sir Thomas Smith, too, the treasurer, whose predilection for ar- bitrary government we have already had occasion to remark, encouraged every complaint and proposition that tended to abridge the privileges of the colonial company, and give to its administration a less popular form. The arbitrary changes which the charter had already undergone taught all the malcontents to look up to the crown for such farther alterations as might remove the existing obstructions to their wishes ; and the complete ascendency which the country party acquired in the company strongly dis- posed the king to suppress or modify an institution that served to cherish public spirit and disseminate liberal opinions. " These Virginia courts," said Gondemar, the Spanish envoy, to him, '• are but a seminary to a seditious parliament." ^ The hardihood which the rt mpany had displayed in their late dispute with him concerning the restrictions of their tobacco trade, the freedom with which his policy was canvassed in their delibera- tions, the firmness with which his measures were resisted, and the contempt they had shown for the supremacy alike of his wisdom and his prerogative in complaining to the House of Commons, eradicrtpd frorn the mind of James all that partiahty to an institution of his own creation, that might have sheltered it from the habitual dislike and suspicion with which he re- garded the authority of a popular assembly. But the same qualities that rendered them odious caused them also to appear somewhat formidable, and enforced some attention to equitable appearances, and deference to public opinion, in wreaking his displeasure upon them. The murmurs and discontents, that were excited in England by the intelligence of the Indian massacre, furnished him with an opportunity which he did not fail to improve. Having signalized his own concern for the misfortunes of the colony by sending thither a quantity of military stores for defence. against the Indians, and by issuing his mandate to the company to desjpatch an ample supply of provisions, he proceeded to institute an inquiry into the cause of the dis- aster. A commission was addressed to certain of the English judges and other persons of distinction [Majr, 1623], requiring them to examine thu transactions of the corporation smce its first estabhshment ; to report to the privy council the causes of the late disasters ; and to suggest the ex pedients most likely to prevent their recurrence.^ In order to obstruct the efforts of the company for their own vindication, and to discover, if pos ' Suth. . , . , . „ , , » So powerful were the leaders of the Virginia Companv, that they could influence the eleo tion of members of parliament. Under their auspices, the pious and accomplished Nicholaii Ferrar obtained about this time a seat in the House of Commons, where he distinguished him- self by an active opposition to the court. Bishop Turner's Life of Ferrar. ' Stith. HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK 1. sible, additional matter of accusation against them, measures the most arbi- trary and tyrannical were employed. All their charters, books, and papers were seized ; two of their principal officers were arrested ; and all letters from the colony intercepted and carried to the privy council. Among the witnesses whom the commissioners examined was Captain Smith, who might reasonably be supposed to entertain little favor for the existing con- stitution of the corporate body by which his career of honor and usefulness had been abridged, and who had recently sustained the mortification of see- ing his- offer to undertake the defence of the colony and subjugation of the Indians treated with thankless disregard, notwithstanding the approbation of a numerous party of the proprietors. Smith ascribed the misfortunes of the CO ony, and the slenderness of the income derived from it, to the neglect of mihtary precautions ; the rapid succession of governors, which stimulated the rapacity of their dependents ; the multiphcity of public offices, by which industry was loaded and revenue absorbed ; and, in general, to the inability ot a numerous body of men to conduct an undertaking so complex and arduous. He recommended the annexation of the colony and of all the juris- diction over It to the crown, the introduction of greater simplicity and economy mto the frame of its government, and an abandonment of the prac- tice of transporting criminals to its shores. i The commissioners did not communicate any of their transactions to the company, who first learned the tenor of the report in which they were so deeply mterested from an order of the king and privy council [Oct. 16231 signifying to them that the misfortunes of Virginia had arisen from theii- misgovernment, and that, for the purpose of repairing them, his Maiestv had deterramed to revoke the old charter and issue a new one, which should commit the powers of government to fewer hands. In order to quiet the minds ol the colonists, it was declared, that private property would be re- spected, and that all past grants of land should remain inviolate. An in- stant surrender of their privileges was required from the company ; and, in default of their voluntary submission, they were assured that the king was prepared to carry his purpose into effect by process of law.^ 1 his arbitrary mandate produced so much astonishment and consternation in the assembled court of proprietors, that a long and deep silence ensued on Its communication. But, resuming their spirit, they prepared to defend their rights with a resolution, which, if it could not avert their fate, at least redeemed their character. They indignantly refused to sanction the stigma affixed to their conduct by the order of council, — to surrender the fran- chises which they had legally obtained, and on the faith of which they had expended large sums of money, — or to consent to the abolition of a popu- Jar frame of government, and deliver up their countrymen in Virginia to the dominion of a narrow junto wholly dependent on the pleasure of the king. In these sentiments they persisted, in spite of all the threats and promisei by which their firmness was assailed ; and by a vote, which only the dissem oi Captmn^rgal and seven of his adher ents rendered not quite unanimous, ' Smith. -— ^ , ___ opln^ed''lheVr'lIi^JiVNnHi''A "^''"^^ diotracfions, pay« S.i.h, tl.nt the Muses for the first tim, ^iAiJI • . P . . "" Amor.cn. One of the ei.r est ferBrv nroduitioiis i.f the Fn.rlish of Zvir.fni"„ r"""'"""" °^.^''"^'' ^""""^/"'--- nm.le in ]fi2:jL^Gt" go Sandy trSe^ tl Flry.% i".h Snu »V'r m""^";'''' P"''"^j'-' J" England, and dedicated lo Char ci ■^.Thni^in. J^ 'I " Inudable performance for the times" ; and Drvden mentionfi the ••.thor with respect, in the prefoce to his own Iramlations from Ovid. ^ "'"ntions the CHAP. II ] THE LONDON COMPANY DISSOLVED. 77 they finally rejected the king's proposal, and declared their resolution to defend themselves against any process he might institute. Incensed at their audacity in disputing his will, James directed a writ of quo warranto to be issued against the company, in order to try the validity of their charter in the Court of King's Bench. With the hope of coUectuig additional proofs of their maladministration, he despatched envoys to Vir- ginia to inspect the condition of the colony, and attempt to form a parly there opposed to the pretensions of the court of proprietors. The royal envoys, finding the provincial assembly embodied [Feb. 1624], endeavoured, with great artifice and magnificent promises of military aid, and of other marks of royal favor, to detach the members from their adherence to the company, and to procure an address to the king, expressive of " their willingness to submit to his princely pleasure in revoking the ancient pa- tents." But their exertions were unsuccessful. The assembly transmitted a petition to ,the king, professing satisfaction to find themselves the objects of his especial care, beseeching him to continue the existing form of gov- ernment, and sohcitiug, that, if the promised military force should be granted to them, it might be placed undeir the control of their own governor and house of representatives. The domestic legislation of this assembly was marked by the same good sense and patriotism that appeared in the recep- tion which it gave to the propositions of the royal envoys. The governor was deprived of an arbitrary authority which he had hitherto exercised. It was ordained that he should no longer have power to withdraw the inhabit- ants from their private labors to his own service, and should levy no taxes but such as the provincial assembly should impose and appropriate. White women still were objects of great scarcity and value in the colony ; and to obviate an inconvenience that resulted from the ardor and frequency of amorous competition, a fine was now imposed on any woman who should encourage the matrimonial addresses of more than one man at a time. Various wise and judicious laws were enacted for the improvement of man- ners and the reformation of abuses, the support of divine worship, the secu- rity of civil and political freedom, arid the regulation of traffic with tlie Indians. Whether the suit between the king and the company was prosecuted to a judicial consummation or not is a point involved in some uncertainty, and ' truly of very little importance ; for the issue of a suit between the king and any of his subjects at that period could never be doubtful for a moment. Well aware of this, the company looked to |>rotection more efficient than the ordinary administration of law could afford them, and presented a peti- tion to the House of Commons, detailing a part of their grievances, and soliciting redress. Their application was entertained by the House so cordially, that, had it been sooner presented, it might have saved the cor- poration ; but they had deferred this last resource till so late a period of the session of parliament, that there was not time to enter on the wide inquiry which their complaints demanded ; and fearing to exasperate the king by preferring odious charges which they could not hope to substantiate, they confined their pleading before the House to the discouragement of their tobacco trade, which the Commons without hesitation pronounced a national grievance. They gained no other advantage from their complaint, nor from their limitation of it. The king, enraged at their presumption, and en- couraged by their timidity, launched forth a proclamation [July, 1624], " Q* 78 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK I. suppressing the courts of the company, and committing the temporary administration of the colonial affairs to certain of his privy counsellors in conjunction with Sir Thomas Smith and a few other persons.' The Vir- ginia Company was thus dissolved, and its rights and privileges reabsorbed by the crown. James did not suffer the powers he had resumed to remain long unex- ercised. He issued a special commission [August, 1624], appointing a governor and twelve counsellors, to whom the direction of the affairs of the colony was intrusted. No mention was made in this instrument of a house of representatives ; a circumstance, which, coupled with the subsequent im- position of royal proclamations as legislative edicts, has led almost all the historians of Virginia into the mistaken belief, that the provincial assembly was abolished along with the mercantile corporation. The commission as- cribes the disasters of the settlement to the popular shape of its late gov- ernment, which intercepted and weakened the beneficial in^uence of the king's superior understanding ; and, in strains of the most vulgar and lus- cious self-complacency, prospectively celebrates the prosperity which the colony must infallibly attain, when blessed with the directer rays of royal wisdom. With this demonstration of hostility to the political liberties of the colonists, there was mingled some favorable attention to their commercial interests ; for, in consequence of the remonstrance of the English parliament [Sept. 1624], James renewed by proclamation his former prohibition of the culture of tobacco in England, and restricted the importation of this com- modity to Virginia and the Somer Isles, and to vessels belonging to British subjects. 2 This was James's last public act in relation to the colony ; for his inten- tion of composing a code of laws for its domestic administration v^as frus- trated by his death. [1625.] He died the first British sovereign of an established empire in America ; and thus closed a reign, of which the only illustrious feature was the colonization which he impelled or promoted. To this favorite object both the virtues and the vices of his character proved subservient. If the merit he might claim from his original patronage of the Virgmian colonists be cancelled by his subsequent efforts to bereave them of their liberties ; and if his persecution of the Puritans in their native country be but feebly counterbalanced by his willingness to grant them an asylum m New England ; — his attempts to civilize Ireland by colonization connect him more honorably with the great events of his reign. Harassed by the turbulent and distracted state of Ireland, and averse to the sanguinarj' remedy of military operation, he endeavoured to impart a new character to Its inhabitants by planting colonies of the English in the six northern counties of that island. He prosecuted this plan with so much wisdom and steadi- ness, as to cause, in the space of nine years, greater advances towards the reformation of Ireland than were made in the four hundred and forty years which had elapsed since the conquest of the country was first attempted, and aid the foundation of whatever affluence and security it has since been enabled to attam.3 It is difficult to recognize the dogmatical oppressor of Uie Turitans, and the weak and arrogant tyrant of Virginia, in the wise and humane legislator of Ireland. The fall of the Virginia Company excited the less concern, and the arbi- Rymer. 1 I^lnn^l'. Hazard. Uimt,^.. ^r I I I • •*v*vr^ «y XtClUltU. IIuiuc'b HUiory of England, Ibid. CHAP. II.] EFFECT OF THE COMPANY'S DISSOLUTION. 79 trary measures of the king the less odium, in England, from the disappoint- ments and calamities with which the colonial plantation had been attended. More than a hundred and fifty thousand pounds ' were already expended on diis settlement, and upwards of nine thousand inhabitants had been sent to it from the mother country. Yet, at the dissolution of the company, the •TOSS value of the annual imports from Virginia did not exceed twenty thousand pounds, and the population of the province was reduced to about eighteen hundred persons.' The effect of this unprosperous issue, in facili- tating tlie overthrow of the corporation, may be regarded as a fortunate cir- cumstance for Virginia ; for, however unjust and tyrannical were the views and conduct of the king, they were overruled to the production of a most important benefit to the colony, in the suppression of an institution which would have dangerously loaded and cramped its infant prosperity and free- dom. It is an observation of the most eminent teacher of political science, that, of all the expedients that could possibly be contrived to stunt the natural growth of a new colony, the institution of an exclusive company is the most effectual ; ^ and the observation is confirmed by the experience of history. In surveying the constitutions and tracing the progress of the various colo- nial establishments which tlie nations of Europe have successfully formed, we find a close and invariable connection between the decline and the revival of their prosperity and the ascendency and overthrow of sovereign mercantile corporations. A sovereign company of merchants must ever consider their political power as an instrument of commercial gain, and as deriving its chief value from the means it gives them to repress competition, to buy cheaply the commodities they obtain from their subject customers, and to sell as dearly as possible the articles with which they supply them ; that is, to diminish the incitement and the reward of industry to the colonists, by restricting their powers and opportunities of acquiring what they need and disposing of what they have. The mercantile habits of the rulers prevail over their political interest, and lead them not only to prefer immediate profit to permanent revenue, but to adapt their administration to this policy, and render govern- ment subservient to the purposes of monopoly. They are almost necessa- rily led to devolve a large discretionary power on their provincial officers, over whom they retain at the same time but a feeble control. Whether we regard the introduction of martial law into Virginia as the act of the com- pany, or (as it really seems to have been) the unauthorized act of the treasurer and the provincial governors, the prevalence it obtained displays, in either case, the unjust and arbitrary pohcy of an exclusive company, or the inability of such a sovereign body to protect its subjects against the op- pression of its officers. How incapable an organ of this description must be to conduct a plan of civil policy on fixed and stable principles, and how strongly its system of government must tend to perpetual fluctuation, is at- tested by the fact, that, in the course of eighteen years, no fewer than ten successive governors had been appointed to preside over the province. Even after the vigorous spirit of liberty, which was so rapidly gaining grotmd in that age, had enabled the colonists to extort from the company the right of composing laws for the regulation of their own community, still, as the company's sanction was requisite to give legal prevalence to the enactments of the provincial legislature, the paramount auth ority resided with men who » Smith's fVealth of jyations. Smith. * ChaliaetB'B AnruiU. 80 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK I had but a temporary interest in the fate of their subjects and the resources of their territories. While, therefore, we sympathize with the generous indignation which the historians of America have expressed at tlie tyrannical measures by wliiuli the company was dissolved, we must regard with salis- I'action an event, which, by its concomitant circumstances, inculcated an abhorrence of arbitrary power, and by its operation overthrew a system under which no colonv has ever grown up to a vigorous maturity. Charles the First mheriied [March, 1625], with his father's throne, all the maxims that had latterly regulated his colonial policy. Of this he has- tened to give assurance to his subjects by a series of proclamations, which he issued soon after his accession to the crown, and which distinctly un- folded the arbitrary principles which he entertained, and the tyrannical administration he intended to pursue. He declared, that, after mature deliberation, he had adopted his father's opinion, that the misfortunes of the colony were occasioned by the democratical frame of its civil constitution, and the incapacity of a mercantile company to conduct even the most insig- nificant affairs of state ; that he held himself in honor engaged to accomplish the work that James had begun ; that he considered the American colonies to be a part of the royal empire devolved to him with the other dominions of the crown ; that he was fully resolved to establish a uniform course of government through the whole British monarchy ; and that henceforward the entire admhiistration of the Virginian government should be vested in a council nominated and directed by himself, and responsible to him alone. This unlimited arrogation of power has given rise to the common belief, that Charles deemed the provincial assembly already abolished ; and the arbi- trary manner in which the functions of this body were repeatedly superseded by exertions of royal prerogative in the earlier part of the present reign has induced the greater number of the historians of Virginia erroneously to sup- pose and relate, that no assembly was actually convoked in the province during that period. But in truth neither the king nor his father seems to have entertained the design of extirpating the popular branch of the consti- tution. Their object appears to have been to reduce it to what they con- ceived a due subordination to the supremacy of their own prerogative ; and to vindicate and develope the efficacy of royal proclamations, both in sus- pending laws already made, and in legislating for cases not yet regulated by statutory provision. While Charles expressed the utmost scorn of the capacity of a mercantile corporation, he did not disdain to embrace its illiberal spirit, and copy its interested policy. As a specimen of the extent of legislative authority which he intended to exert, and of the purposes to which he meant to render it subservient, he prohibited the Virginians, under the most absurd and frivo- lous pretences, from selling their tobacco to any persons but certain com- missioners appointed by himself to purchase it on his own account.' Thus the colonists found themselves* subjected to a municipal administratiqn that combined the vices of both its predecessors, — the unlimited prerogative of an arbitrary prince, with the narrowest maxims of a mercantile corporation ; and saw their legislatorial rights invaded, their laws and usages rendered uncertain, all the profits of their industry engrossed, and their only valuable commodity monopolized by the sovereign, who pretended to have resumtd the government of the colony only in order to blend it more perfectly vviili the general frame of the British empire. • Rymer. Hazard! Burk. CHAP, ir.] HARVEY'S TYRANNICAL CONDUCT 81 Charles conferred the office of governor of Virginia on Sir fleorge Yeardley, and empowered him, in conjunction with a council of twelve per- sons, to exercise the authority of an indefinite prerogative ; to make and execute laws ; to impose and levy taxes ; to seize the property of the late company, and apply it to public uses ; and to transport the colonists to Kng- land, to be tried there for offences committed in Virginia. The governor and council were specially directed to exact the oaths of allegiance and su- premacy from every inhabitant of the colony, and in all points to conform their own conduct to the inslructions which from time to time the king might transmit to them.' [1627.] Yeardley's early death prevented the full weight of his authority from being experienced by the colonists during his short iidministration. He died in the beginning of the year 1 627, and, two years after, was succeeded by Sir John Harvey. Meanwhile, and during a long subsequent course of time, the king, who seems to have inherited his father's prejudices respecting tobacco,^ continued to restrict and encumber the im- portation and sale of this commodity by a series of regulations so vexatious, oppressive, multifarious, and unsteady, that it is impossible to undergo the fatigue of perusing them without a mixture of contempt for the fluctuations and caprice of his counsels, and of indignant pity for the wasted prosperity and abused patience of his people. Notwithstanding these disadvantages, however, the colonial population increased with rapidity ; and in the year 1628 more than a thousand persons emigrated from Europe to Virginia.^ Sir Jdhn Harvey, the new gsovernor, proved a fit instrument to carry the king's systsra of arbitrary rule into complete execution. Haughty, rapacious, and cruel, he exercised an odious authority with the most offensive insolence, and by the rigor of his executive energy increased the provocation inspired by his legislatorial usurpation and injustice. His disposition was perfectly congenial with the system which he conducted ; and so thoroughly did ho personify as well as administer tyranny, as not only to attract, but to engross in his own person, the odium of which a large share was properly due to the prince who employed him. He added every decree of the Court of High Commission in England to the ecclesiastical constitutions of Virginia ; and selected for especial enforcement every regulation of English law which was unsuitable to the circumstances of the colonists, and therefore likely to entail and multiply legal penalties, all of which were commuted into fines and forfeitures appropriated to the governor.* Of the length to which he carried his arbitrary exactions and tyrannical confiscations some notion may be formed from a letter of instructions by which the royal committee of council for the colonies in England at length thought proper [July, 1634] to incul- cate on him a more moderate demeanour. It signified, that the king, in the plenitude of his bounty, and for the encouragement of the planters, desired that the interests which had been acquired under the late corporation should be respected, and that the colonists, '■'■for the present, shall enjoy their es- tates with the same freedom and privilege as they did before the recalling of the patent. '"* ' Chalmers. _______ _ ' That he inherited also his Tathor's style of writing against the use of this commodity ap- pears from a letter wliich he addressed to the governor and council of Virginia in IffifT, m which he declares, that " it may well be said that the plantation is wholly built on smoke, which will easily turn into air, ifeither English tobacco be pennitted to be planted, or Spanish imoorted." Burk. ' »- , P». ' Rymer. Chalmers. Hazard. Campbell. * Bcrcrly. Bwrk. ' State Paper*, ap. Chalmen. VOL. I. 11 82 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK I We might suppose this to be the mandate of an Kastern sultan to one of his satraps ; and, indeed, the rapacious tyranny of the governor seems hardly more odious than the cruel mercy of the prince, who interposed to mitigate oppression only when it had reached an extreme which is proverbially liable to inflame the wise with madness and drive the patient to despair. The most significant comment on the letter is, that Harvey was neither censured nor displaced for the injustice which it commanded him to restrain. The effect, moreover, which it was calculated to produce, in ascertaining the rights and quieting the apprehensions of the colonists, was counterbalanced by large and vague grants of territory within the province, which Charles inconsiderately bestowed on his courtiers, and which gave rise to numerous encroachments on established possession, and excited general distrust of the validity of tides and the stability of property. The consequence of one of these grants was the formation of the State of Maryland, by dismembering a large portion of territory that was previously annexed to Virginia. For many years, this event proved a source of much discontent and serious incon- venience to the Virginian colonists, who had endeavoured to improve their trade by restricting themselves to the exportation only of tobacco of superior quality, and now found themselves deprived of all the advantage of this sac- rifice by the transference of a portion of their own territory to neighbours who refused assent to their regulations.* The instructions communicated by the letter of the royal committee left Harvey still in possession of ample scope to his tyranny [1635] ; and the colonial assembly, respecting or overawed by the authority with which he was invested, endured it for some time longer without resistance, and prac- tically restricted their own functions to the degrading ceremonial of register- ing the edicts and decrees of their tyrant. At length, after a spirited, but ineffectual, attempt to curb his excesses by enactments which he disregarded, the assembly, yielding to the general desire of their constituents, suspended him from his ofiice, and sent him a prisoner to England, along with two deputies from their own body, who were charged with the duty of repre- senting the grievances of the colony and the misconduct of the governor. But their reliance on the justice of the king proved to be very ill founded. Charles was fated to teach his subjects, that, if they meant to retain their liberties, they must prepare to defend them ; that neither submissive pa- tience nor respectful remonstrance could avail to relax or divert his arbitrary purposes ; and that, in order to obtain justice to themselves, they must de- prive him of the power of withholding it. The inhabitants of Virginia en- dured oppression (of which he had already avowed his consciousness) with long resignation, and, even when their yoke became intolerable, showed that they neither imputed their wrongs to him nor doubted his disposition to re- dress them. Against the hardships and ill treatment to which they were exposed, they appealed to him as their protector, and impiored a relief to which their claim was supported by every consideration that could impress a just or move a generous mind. Yet, instead of commiserating their suf- ferings, or redressing their wrongs, Charles resented their conduct on this occasion as an act of presumptuous audacity little short of rebellion ; and all the applications of their deputies were rejected with calm injustice and inflexible disdain. Harvey, released from his bonds, became in his turn the accuser ; and the calumnies of the disgraced and banished tyrant were ' Beverly. CHAP. II] THE PROVINCIAL LIBERTIES RESTORED. 83 listened to with complacency and attention, while the representatives of the brave and loyal people whom he had oppressed were regarded as traitors, and forbidden to appear in the presence of their sovereign. The king re- fused to hear a single word from the provincial deputies, cither in defence of their countrymen or in crimination of Harvey ; and, having reinstated tliis obnoxious governor in his office, sent him back to Virginia [April, 1637] with a renovation of the powers which he had so grossly abused. There, elated with his triumph, and inflamed with rage, Harvey resumed and aggra- vated a tyrunnical sway that has entailed infamy on himself and disgrace on his sovereign, and provoked complaints so loud and vehement, that they began to penetrate into England, where thev produced an impression, which, mingling with the general irritation in the parent state, could not be siifcly disregarded.* If the administration of Sir John Harvey had been protracted much longer, it must have ended in the revolt or the ruin of the colony. So great was the distress it occasioned, as to excite the earnest attention of the Indians, and awaken their slumbering hostility by suggesting the hope of ex- erting it with success. Opechancanough, the ancient enemy of the colonists, was now far advanced in years [1638] ; but age, though it had bent his body and dimmed his eyes, had neither impaired his discernment nor ex- tinguished his animosity. Proud, subtle, sly, fierce, and cruel, he watched, with enduring and considerate hate, the opportunity of redeeming his glory and satiating his revenge. Seizing the favorable occasion presented by the distracted state of the province, he again led his warriors to a sudden and furious attack, which the colonists did not repel without the loss of five hun- dred men. A general war ensued between them and all the Indian tribes under the influence of Opechancanough." But a great change was now [1639] to reward the patience of the Vir- ginians with a bloodless redress of their grievances. The public discon- tents, which had for many years been gathering force and virulence in Eng- land, were advancing with rapid strides to a full maturity, and threatened to issue in some violent eruption. After a long intermission, Charles was forced to contemplate the reassembling of a parliament ; and perfectly aware of the ill-humor abeady engendered by his government at home, he had rea- son to apprehend that the displeasure of the Commons would be inflamed, and their worst suspicions confirmed, by representations of the despotism exercised in Virginia. There was yet time to soothe the irritation, and even secure the adherence of a people, who, in spite of every wrong, re- tained a generous attachment to the prince whose sovereignty was regarded as the bond of political union between them and the parent state ; and from the propagation of the complaints of colonial grievances in England, it was easy to foresee that the redress of them, if longer withheld by the king, would be granted, to the great detriment of his credit and influence, by the parliament. To this assembly the Virginians had applied on a former occa- sion, and the encouragement they had met with increased the probability both of a repetition of their application and of a successful issue to it. These considerations alone seem to account for the entire and sudden alter- ation which the colonial policy of the king underwent at this period. Harvey was recalled, and the government of Virginia was committed [1641], first, to Sir Francis Wyatt, and afterwards t o Sir William Ber keley , — a person i~Chalmen. Oldmixonr Burk. * Beverly. u HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK I not only of superior rank and abilities to any of his immediate predecessors, but distinguished by every popular virtue of which Harvey was deficient, — of upright and honorable character, mild and prudent temper, and manners at once dignified and engaging. A change not less gratifying was introduced into the system of government. The new governor was instructed to rec- ognize in the amplest manner the legislative privileges of the provincial as- sembly, and to invite tliis body to compose a code of laws for the province, and improve the administration of justice by introduction of the forms of English judicial procedure. Thus, all at once, and when they least expected it, was restored to the colonists the full enjoyment of those liberties which they had originally pro- cured from the Virginian Company, and which had been exposed to con- tinual peril and violation from the same authority by which the company itseir was subverted. Universal joy and gratitude were excited throughout the colony ; and the king, who, amidst the hostility that lowered upon him om every other quarter of his dominions, was addressed in the language of ateful loyalty by this people, seems to have been a little touched by the generous sentiments which he had so ill deserved, and which forcibly proved to him how cheap and easy were the means by which princes may render their subjects attached and happy. And yet so strong were the illusions of his self-love, or so deliberate his artifice, that, in his answeb to an address of the colonists, he eagerly appropriated the praise for which he was indebted to their generosity alone, and endeavoured to extend the appli- cation of their expressions of gratitude even to the policy from which he had desisted in order to awaken this sentiment.* While Charles thus again introduced the principles of the British consti- tution into the domestic government of Virginia, he was not inattentive to the policy of preserving its dependence on the mother country, and securing to England the exclusive possession of the colonial trade. [1641.] For this purpose Sir William Berkeley was directed to prohibit all commerce with other nations; and to require a bond from the master of every vessel sailing from Virginia, obliging him to land his cargo in some part of the king's dominions in Europe. Yet the pressure of this restraint was more than counterbalanced by the gracious strain of the other contemporary measures of the crown ; and with a mild and liberal domestic government, which offered a peaceful asylum and distributed ample tracts of land to all emigrants who sought its protection, the colony advanced so rapidly in pros- perity and population, that, at the beginning of the civil war m the parent state, it contained upwards of twenty thousand inhabitants. By the vigor and conduct of Sir William Berkeley, the Indian war, after a few cam- paigns, was brought to a successful close ; Opechancanough was taken prisoner ;^ and a peace concluded with the savages, which endured for many years. It was happy for Virginia that the restitution of her domestic liberties was accomplished in this manner, and not deferred tiii a later period, when the • Beverly. Clmlmeni. Campbell. • Beverly. Jt was the intonUon of Sir William Berkeley to send this remarkable person- ufio to England ; but ho was shot, after being taken prisoner, by a soldier, in resentment of ihr calamities ho had inflicted on the proviaco. Ho liii7ered under tho mortal wound for several days, and continued proud and stout-hearted to t' . st. Indignnnt nt the crnwda who rnmi! to gaze at him on his death-bed, he exclaimed, «• If 1 had taken Sir William Berkeley prisoner, I would not have exposbd him as a show to the people." He would probably have made him expire under Indian torture. CHAP. U.] VIRGINIA ESPOUSES THE ROYAL CAUSE. 3d boon would probably have been attended with the reestablishment of the company of patentees. To this consummation some of the members of the suppressed company had been eagerly looking forward ; and notwithstanding the disapj)ointment inflicted on their hopes by the redress of those grievances whose existence would have aided their pretensions, they endeavoured to turn to their own advantage the jealous avidity with which every complaint against the roj^al government was received in the Long Parliament, by pre- senting a petition in the name of the assembly of Virginia, praying for a restoration of the ancient patents. This petition, though supported by some of the colonists, who were justly dissatisfied with the discouragement which ihe Puritan doctrines, and certain preachers of them whom they had invited from Massachusetts, 1 experienced from the domestic government of Vir- ginia, was, undoubtedly, not the act of the assembly, nor the expression of the prevailing sentiment in the colony. The assembly had tasted the sweets of unrestricted freedom, and were not disposed to hazard or encumber their system of liberty by reattaching it to the mercantile corporation under which it was originally established. No sooner were they apprized of the petition to the House of Commons than they transmitted an explicit disavowal of it ; and at the same time presented an address to the king, acknowledging his bounty and favor to them, and desiring to continue under his immediate protection. In the fervor of their loyalty, they framed and published a declaration [1642], "that they were born under monarchy, and would never degenerate from the condition of their births by being subject to any other government." ^ The only misfortune attending the manner in which the Vu-ginians had re- gained their liberties was, that it allied their partial regards to an authority which was destined to be overthrown in the approaching civil war, and which could no more reward than it deserved tlieir allegiance. During the whole period of the struggle between the king and parliament in England, they re- mained unalterably attached to the royal cause ; and after Charles the First was beheaded, and his son driven out of the kingdom, they acknowledged the fugitive prince as their sovereign, and conducted the provincial govern- ment under a commission which he despatched to Sir William Berkeley from Breda.' The royal family, though they had little opportunity during their exile of cultivating their interest in the colony, were not entirely re- gardless of it. [June, 1650.] Henrietta Maria, the queen-mother, obtained the assistance of the French government to the execution of a scheme pro- jected by Su: William Davenant, the poet, of emigrating in company with a large body of artificers whom he collected in France, and founding with them a new plantation in Virginia. The expedition was intercepted by the English fleet ; and Davenant, who was taken prisoner, owed the safety of liis life to l: he friendship of Milton.* ' Thi* tiauKaction forins a part of the history of New England. * Chalmers. Gordon's History of America. Burk. ^ Hume's England. Chalmers. This year a tract was published at London, by one Edward Williams, recommendinff the culture of silk in Virginia. * Johnson's Life ofMUton. Encydopicdia Britanniea, V.688. Cowley, in a poem addr«:88e Rich. H. cap. 3, " that, to increase the navy of England, no aoods or merchandises shall be cither exported or imported but only in ships belonging to the King's subjects." This enactment was premature, and soon foil into disuse. A bill proclaiming its revival to a limited extent, in 1460, was rejected by Henry the Sixth. These measur- s were probably suggested fay the commercial policy of Aragon. See Prescott's History of Fttvdinand and Isabella, Introduct. § 2. « Scobell's Jicts, 1652, cap. 2. I 88 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK I This unjust restriction of the colonial traffic, though by no means rigor- ously enforced, tended to keep alive in Virginia the attachment to the royal cause, which was farther maintained by emigrations of the distressed cava- liers, who resorted thither in such numbers, that the population of the colo- ny amounted to thirty thousand persons at the epoch of the Restoration. . IJut Cromwell had now prevailed over the parliament [1653], and held the reins of the commonwealth in .his vigorous hands ; and though the flame pf discontent was secretly nourished in Virginia by the passions and intrigues of so many cavalier exiles, yet the eruption of it was repressed by the terror of his name, and the energy which he infused into every department of his administration. Other causes, too, which have been long obscured by the misrepresentations of partial or ignorant historians, contributed to the tran- quillity and security of Cromwell's dominion in Virginia. For a century and a half it had been repeatedly asserted, without contradiction, by suc- cessive generations of writers,' that the government of the Protector in this province was illiberal and severe ; that he appointed governors whose dispositions rendered them fit instruments of a harsh policy, and yet fre- quently displaced them from distrust of their exclusive devotion to his in- terest ; and that, wliile he indulged his favorite colonists of Massachusetts with a dispensation from the commercial laws of the Long Parliament, he exacted the strictest compliance with them from the Virgmians. But the reputation of Cromwell's colonial policy has been triumphantly vindicated by the intelligent industry and research of a modern historian' of this prov- ince, who has proved, beyond the possibility of further doubt or denial, that the treatment which tlie Virginians experienced under the protectorate was mild and humane ; that their privileges were rather enlarged than circum- scribed ; and that Cromwell dignified his usurped dominion over thern by the most liberal justice and fearless magnanimity. So far from having regulated the appointment and dismission of governors by the principles which have been imputed to him, he never appointed or displaced a smgle governor of the province ; but, from the first, surrendered this branch of the sovereign's prerogative to the legislative assembly of a state which he knew to be the resort of his own most implacable enemies ; aiid though he appears not to have granted to the Virginians an express exemption from the commercial ordinances of the Long Parliament, he suffered them practically to indulge a total disregard of these oppressive restrictions. Though his government was not fitted to inspire attachment, it seems to have gained the esteem and approbation of impartial and con- siderate men in Virginia, and to have trained their minds to freer reflection and inquiry than they had ever before entertamed with respect to the rea- sonable objects and purposes for which municipal governments are instituted. But from a numerous and increasing party of the inhabitants of Virginia neither dispassionate reflection nor impartial judgment could reasonably be expected. To many of them the name of Cromwell was associated with recollections of personal disappointment and humiliation ; and to all of them it recalled the ruin of their friends and the death and exile of their kings. Hatred and hope combined to unite their hearts to the downfall ' Among whom we find the respectable names of Beverly. Oldmixou, Chalmers, Robert- son, and dordon. ' Burk. The history of Virginia has derived the most valiinbic and impi ...„j„..j ^.. _ ,., ,,,._ ■,5,„,f ,,,_ .,j,^ ,2 utrlutvu Dy it; ornament. 7 ortnnt illustration oriii, iiiuirutriciuu) CHAP. II.] REVOLT OF VIRGINIA. B9 of the protectorate and commonwealth ; and as passionate are much more contagious than merely reasonable sentiments, the public mind in Virginia, notwithstanding the liberality of Cromwell's administration, was strongly leavened with the wish and expectation of change. The Puritan colonists of New England had always been the objects of suspicion and dislike to a great majority of the inhabitants of Virginia ; and the manifest partiality which Cromwell entertained for them now in- (^reased the aversion with which they were heretofore regarded. New England was generally considered by the cavaliers as the centre and focus of ruritan sentiment and republican principle ; and, actuated partly by religious and partly by political feelmgs, the Virginian cavaliers conceived a violent antipathy against all the doctrines, sentiments, and practices that were reckoned peculiar to the Puritans ; and rejected all communication of the knowledge that flourished in New England, from hatred of the au- thority under whose shelter it grew and of tho principles to which it administered support.^ At length the disgust and impatience of the roy- alist party in Virginia spurned further restraint. Matthews, the last gov- ernor appointed during the supremacy of Cromwell [1658], died nearly at the same period with the Protector ; and before an assembly could be convened to nominate his successor, a numerous body of the inhabitants, though yet unacquainted with Cromwell's death, assembled in a tumultuous manner, and, having forced Sir W^illiam Berkeley from his retirement, declared him the only governor whom they would acknowledge in Vir- ginia.^ Berkeley declining to act under usurped authority, the insurgents venturously erected the royal standard, and proclaimed Charles the Second to be their lawful sovereign ; a measure which entailed apparently a contest with the arras of Cromwell and all the force of the parent state. Happily tor the colonists, the distractions that ensued in England deferred the ven- geance which her rulers had equal ability and inclination to inflict till the sudden and unexpected restoration of Charles to the throne of ms ances- tors [1660] converted imprudent temerity into meritorious service, and enabled the Virginians safely to exult in the singularity which they long and proudly commemorated, that they were the last of the British sub- jects who renounced, and the first who resumed, their allegiance to the crown. ' The prejudices of an old cavalier against popular education are strikingly displayed by Sir William Berkeley, in a letter descriptive of the state of Virginia, some years after the Restoration. " I thank God," he says, " there are no free schools nor printing ; and I hope we shall not have them these hundred years. For learning has brought heresy and disobe- dience and sects into the world, and priutiiu; has divulged them, and libels against the best government : God keep us from both f " Cbalmen. * That Cromwell meditated some important changes in Virginia, which death prevented him from attempting to accomplish, may be inferred from the publication of a small treatise at London in the year 1657, entitled ^^ Public Good without Private Interest," written by Dr. Gatford, and dedicated to the Protector. In this little work, the Protector is urged to re- (oTva the numerous abuses extant in Virginia, — the Jisreeard of religion, — the neelect of education, — and the fraudulent dealings of the f^'ai'v.Ti with the Indians; on all which topics the author descants very forcibly. Of this tr«^r, a^ well as of the tracts by Hamor and Williams and gome others, which I have hud occr., ;d notice elsewhere, I found copies in the library of the late George Chalmers. ^ Oldmixon. Beverly. Chalmers. Burk. Campbell. iluiers, Robert- VOL. I. 12 H 90 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. fBOOK I CHAPTER III. The Navigation Act— its Impolicy. — Discontent and Distrew of the Colonista. — Naturali- zation of Aliens. — Progress of the provincial Discontent. — Indian Hostilities. — Bacon'i Rebellion — Death of Bacon — and Restoration of Tranquillity.— Bill of Attainder passed by the colonial Assembly. — Sir William Berkeley superseded by Colonel Jeffreys. — Par- tiality of the new Governor — Dispute with the Assembly. — Renewal of Discontents. — Lord Culpepper appointed Governor — Severity and Rapacity of his Administration. — An Insurrection — Punishment of the Insurgents. — Arbitrary Measures of the Crown. — James the Second — augments the Burdens of the Colonists. — Corrupt and oppressive Govern- ment of Lord Effingham. — Revolution in Britain. — Complaints of the Colonies against the former Governors discouraged by King William. — Eflect of the English Revolution on the American Colonies. — State of Virginia at this Period — Population — Laws — Manners. The intelligence of the restoration of the House of Stuart to the throne of Britain excited very different emotions in the various British colonies which were now established in America. We shall have occasion hereafter to notice the gloomy impressions it produced in the States of New England. In Virginia, whose separate history we still exclusively pursue, it was re- ceived by a great majority of the people like the surprising fulfilment of an agreeable dream, and hailed with acclamations of unfeigned and unbounded joy. Even that class of the inhabitants, which had recently expressed esteem and approbation of the protectoral government, manifested a new- born zeal for royalty hardly inferior to the more consistent ardor of the genuine cavaliers. These sentiments, confirmed by the gracious expressions of regard and good-will^ which the king very readily vouchsafed, begot hopes of substantial favor and recompense which it was not easy to gratify, and which were fated to undergo a speedy and severe disappointment. Sir William Berkeley, having received a new commission from the crown to exercise the office of governor [1660], convoked the provincial assem- bly, which, after zealous declarations of loyally and satisfaction, undertook a general revision of the laws and institutions of Virginia. Trial by jury, which had been discontinued for some years, was now again restored ; judicial procedure was disencumbered of various abuses ; and a provision of essential importance to the interests of liberty was made for enlarging the number of representatives in the assembly in proportion to the increase of the province in peopled and cultivated territory. The supremacy of the church of England was recognized and established by law ; stipends were allotted to its ministers ; and no preachers but those who had received their ordination from a bishop in England, and who should subscribe an engage- ment of conformity to the forms and constitutions of this established church, were permitted to exercise their functions either publicly or privately within the colony.^ A law was shortly after enacted against the importation of Quakers into Virginia, under the penalty of five thousand pounds of tobacco inflicted on the importe rs ; but with a special exception of such Quakers as ' Sir William Berkeley, who made a journey to England to congratulate the king on hia restoration, was received at court with distinguished regard ; and Charles, in honor of his loyul Virginians, wore at his coronation a robe manufactured of Virginian silk. Oldmixon. This was not the first royal robe that America supplied. Queen Elizabeth wore a gown made of the silk grass, of whirli Raleigh's colonists sent a quantity to England. Coxe'a Description of Carofana. There is a copy of this curious work in the library of the Royal liistltulion ol' Great Britain • Chalmers. Burk. CHAP. HI] THE NAVIGATION ACT. 9\ might be judicially transported from England for breach of her legislative ordinances.^ The same principles of government which prevailed in England after the Restoration uniformly extended their influence, whether salutary or baneful, across the Atlantic ; and the colonies, no longer deemed the mere property of the prince, were considered as adjunctions of the British lerritor)', and subject to parliamentary legislation. The explicit declaration by the Long Parliament of the dependence of the colonies on the parent state introduced maxims which received the sanction of the courts of Westminster Hall, and were thus interwoven with the fabric of English law. In a variety of cases which involved this great constitutional point, the judges pronounced, that, by virtue of those principles of the common law which bind the territories to the state, the American plantations were included within the pale of British dominion and legislation, and affected by acts of parliament, either when specially named or when reasonably supposable within the contempla- tion of the legislature.'' In conformity with the adjudications of the courts of law was the uniform tenor of the parliamentary proceedings ; and the colonists soon perceived, that, although the Long Parliament was no more, it had bequeathed to its successors the spirit which influenced its commer- cial councils. The new House of Commons determined not only to retain the system of colonial policy which the Long Parliament had introduced, but to mature and extend it, — to render the trade of the colonies com- pletely subject to parliamentary governance, and exclusively subservient to the interests of English commerce and navigation. No sooner was Charles seated on the throne, than a duty of five per cent. was imposed by the parliament on all merchandise exported from, or im- ported into, any of the dominions belonging to the crown ; ' and the same session, in producing the celebrated JSPavigation Jlct [1660], originated the most memorable and important branch of the commercial code of England. By this statute, (in addition to many other important provisions, which are foreign to our present consideration,) it was ordained, that no commodities should be imported into any British settlement in Asia, Africa, or America, or exported from thence, but in vessels built in England or her colonial plantations, and navigated by crews of which the masters and three fourths of the mariners should be English subjects, under the penalty of forfeiture of ship and cargo ; that none but natural-born subjects of the English crown, or persons legally naturalized, should exercise the occupation of merchant or factor in any English colonial settlement, under the penalty of forfeiture of goods and chattels ; that no sugar, tobacco, cotton, wool, indigo, ginger, or woods used in dyeuig, produced or manufactured in the colonies, should be shipped from them to any other country than England ; and to secure the observance of this regulation, ship-owners were required, at the port of lading, to give bonds with surety for sums proportioned to the tonnage of their vessels. "^ The commercial wares thus restricted were termed enumer- ated commodities ; and when new articles of colonial produce, as the rice of Carolina and the copper ore of the northern provinces, were raised into importance, and brought into commerce by the increasing industry of the ' Chalmers. In 1663, the assembly entertained a complaint against one of its own mem- bers, of " being loving to the Quakers." Burk. » Freeman's Reports, 175. Modern Reports, III. 159, 160, IV. 225. Vaughan's Reports, 170, 400. Salktjid'ii ICeporls, II. 0. » 12 Car. II. cap. 4. * Ibid. cap. 18. 98 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK 1. colonists, they were successively added to the original list which we have noted, and subjected to the same regulations. As some compensation to the colonies for these commercial restraints, the parliament at the same time conferred on them the exclusive supply of tobacco, by prohibiting its cultivation in England, Ireland, Guernsey, and Jersey.' The Navigation Act was soon after enlarged, and additional re- strictions imposed by a new law [1663], which prohibited the importation of European commodities into the colonies, except in vessels laden in Eng- land and navigated and manned in conformity with the requisitions of the original statute. More rigorous and effectual provisions were likewise de- vised for securing the infliction of the penalties attached to the transgres- sion of the Navigation Act ; and tlie principles of commercial policy on which the whole system was founded were openly avowed in a declaration, tliat, as it was tlie practice of other nations to keep the trade of their plan- tations to themselves, so the colonies that were founded and peopled by English subjects ought to be retained "in 6rm dependence upon England, and obliged to contribute to her advantage in the eraplOTment of English shipping, the vent of English commodities and manufactures, and the conversion of England into a settled mart or emporium, not only of the productions of her own colonies, but also of such commodities of other countries as the colonies themselves might require to be supplied with.' Advancing a step farther in the prosecution of its domineering policy, the parliament assumed the prerogative of regulating the trade of the several colonies with each other ; and as the Act of Navigation had left all the colonists at liberty to export the enumerated commodities from one settle- ment to another without paybe any duty, this exemption was subsequently withdrawn, and they were subjected, in trading with each other, to a tax equivalent to what was levied on the consumption of their pecuhar com- modities in England.^ The system pursued by these regulations, of securing to England a monopoly of the trade of her colonies, by shutting up every other channel which competition might have formed for it, and into which the interest of the colonists might have caused it preferably to flow, excited in their minds the utmost disgust and indignation. In England, it was long applauded as a masterpiece of political sagacity ; retained and cherished as a main source of national opulence and power ; and defended on the plea of expediency, deduced from its supposed advantages. The philosophy of political sci- ence, however, has amply refuted these illiberal principles, and would long ago have corrected the views and amended the institutions which they sanctioned or introduced, but that, from the general prevalence of narrow jealousies, and of those obstinate and violent prepossessions that constitute wilful ignorance, the cultivation of political science has much more fre- quently terminated m knowledge merely speculative, than visibly operated to improve human conduct, or increase human happiness. Nations, biased by virulent enmities, as well as mean partialities, have suffered an illiberal jealousy of other states to contract the views thev have formed of their own interests, and to induce a line of pdicy, of which the operation i^ to procure a smaller imount of exclusive gain, in preference to a larger contingent in the participation of general advantage. Too uttssionate or eross-siehted to discern the bonds that connect the interests '12 Car. II. cap. 34. « 15 Car. II. cap. 7. 3 25 Car. II. cup. 7, Anno 1672. rHAP. iti 1 IMPOLICY OF THE EXCLUSIVE SYSTEM. 93 of all the members of the great family of mankind, they have accounted the detriment and exclusion of their rivals equivalent to an extension of benefit to themselves. The prevalence of this mistaken policy has com- monly been aided by the interested representations of tlie lew who contrive to extract a temporary and partial advantage from every abuse, however generally pernicious ; and when, in spite of a faulty commercial system, the prosperity of a state has been augmented by the' force of its natural ad- vantages, this effect has been eagerly ascribed to the very causes which really impeded and abridged, without being able entirely to intercept it. But the discoveries obtained by the cultivation of poHtical science have, in this respect, coincided with the dictates of Christian morality, and demon- strated, that, in every transaction between nations and individuals, the inter- course most solidly and lastingly beneficial to both and each of the parties is that which is founded on the principles of fair reciprocity and mutual ac- commodation ; that all policy suggested by jealous or malevolent regard of the advantage of others implies a narrow and perverted view of our own ; that that which is morally wrong can never be politically right ; and that to do as we would be done by is not less the maxim of prudence than the precept of piety. So coherent must true philosophy ever be with the prescriptions of divine wisdom. But, unfortunately, this coherence has not always been recognized even by those philosophers whose researches have tended to its illustration ; and confining themselves to reasonings sufficiently clear and convincing, no doubt, to persons contemplating human affairs m the simplicity and disinterested abstraction of theoretical survey, they have neglected to promote the acceptance of important truths by reference to those principles that derive them from infallible wisdom, and connect them with the strongest sanctions of human duty. ... They have demonstrated* that a parent state, by restraining the com- merce of her colonies with other nations, impairs the industry and produc- tiveness both of the colonies and of foreign nations ; and hence, by enfeebling the demand of foreign purchasers, which must be proportioned to their ability, and lessening the quantity of colonial commodities actually produced, which must be proportioned to the actual demand for them, enhances the price of the colonial produce to herself as well as to the rest of the world, and so far diminishes its power to increase the enjoyments and animate, the industry of her own citizens as well as of other states. Besides, the monopoly of the colonial trade produces so high a'rate of profit to the merchants who carry it on, as to attract into this channel a great deal of the capital that would, in the natural course of things, be directed to other branches of trade ; and in these branches the profits must consequently be augmented in proportion to the diminished competition of the capitals em- ployed in them. But whenever the ordinary rate of profit in any country is raised by artificial means to a higher pitch than it would naturally attain, that country is necessarily subjected to great disadvantage in every branch of trade of which she does not command a monopoly. Her merchants can- not obtain such higher profit without selling dearer than they otherwise would do both the commodities of foreign countries which they import into their own, and the goods of their own country which they carry abroad. The country thus finds herself undersold at foreign markets in many I — ._i, f „_ -«„ . o «i:ca/ifranta ♦" whirb she is the more exposed, Smith's Weaiih of No 94 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK I. '«f *"' ■I' that In foreign states much capital has been forced into those branches by her exchision of foreigners from partalcing her colonial trade, which would have absorbed a part of it. Thus, by the operation of a monopoly of tlie colonial trade, the parent state obtains an overgrowth of one branch of dis- tant traffic, at the expense of diminishing the advantages which her own citizens might derive from the unrestricted produce of the colonies, and of impairing all those branches of nearer trade, which, by the greater frequency of their returns, afford the most constant and beneficial excitement to na- tional industry. Her commerce, instead of flowing in a variety of moderate channels, is trained to seek principally one great conduit ; and hence the whole system of her trade and industry is rendered dangerously liable to obstruction and derangement. But the injurious consequences of this exclusive policy are not confined to its immediate operation upon trade. The progress of our history will demonstrate, that the connection, which a parent state seeks, by the aid of such a system, to maintain with colonies in which the spirit and institutions of liberty obtain any prevalence, carries within itself the principles of its own dissolution. During the infancy of the colonies, a perpetual and vexatious exertion is required from the parent state to execute and de- velope her restraining laws ; while a corresponding activity is awakened in the colonies to obstruct or elude their operation. Every rising branch of trade, which is left, for a time or for ever, free to the colonists, serves, by the effect of contrast, to render more striking and sensible the disadvantages of their situation in the regulated branches ; and every extension of the restrictions provokes additional discontent. As the colonies increase their internal siiength, and make advances in the possession and appreciation of social importance, the disposition of their inhabitants to emancipate them- selves from such restraints is combined with ability to accomplish their deliverance, by the very circumstances and at the very period which will expose the trade of the parent state to the greatest injury and disorder. And the advantages which the commerce of other nations must expect from the destruction of the monopoly unites the wishes of the whole world with the revolt of the colonies, and gives assurance of the most powerful assist- ance to promote their emancipation. A better apology for the system which England adopted towards her colonies, than the boasted expediency of her measures would thus appear to supply, may be derived from the admitted fact, that her colonial policy, on the whole, was much less illiberal and oppressive than that which any other nation of Europe had ever been known to pursue. While the foreign trade of the colonies was restrained for the supposed advantage of England, whose prosperity they partook, and by whose power they were or were supposed to be defended, their internal liberty was in the main suffered to flourish and mature itself under the shelter of wise and liberal domestic insti- tutions ; and even the commercial restrictions imposed on them were niuch less rigorous and injurious than those which the colonies of France, Spain, Portugal, and Denmark endured from their respective parent states. The trade of the British settlemehts was not committed, according to the prac- tice of some of those states, to exclusive companies, nor restricted, accord- ing to the practice of others, to a particular port ; but, being left free to all the people, and admitted to all the harbours of England, employed a body ot iiritish traders too numerous and dispersed to admit of their renouncing CHAP. Ill ] THE NAVIGATION ACT A GRIEVANCE. 96 mutual competition and uniting in a general confederacy to oppress the colonists and extort exorbitant profits to themselves. This apology is ob- viously very unsatisfactory, as every attempt to palliate injustice niust necessarily be. It was urged with a very bad grace by the people of Eng- land, and totally disregarded by the inhabitants of America. In none of the American colonies did this tyrannical system excite greater resentment than in Virginia, where the larger commerce of the people, iheir preeminent loyalty, and the recent experience of the lenient and liberal policy of Cromwell, rendered the pressure of the burden more severe, and the infliction of it more exasperating.* No sooner was the Navigation Act promulgated in Virginia, and us effects perceived, than the colonists warmly remonstrated against it as a grievance, and petitioned earnestly for relief. Ut't, although the English monarchs were accustomed at this period to ex- ercise a dispensing power over the laws, — insomuch, that, when the court at a later period ventured openly to pursue a system of arbitrary govern- ment, even the Act of Navigation itself, so great a favorite with the nation, was suspended for a while by an exertion of this stretch of prerogative, — yet, during the early period of his reign, Charles, unassured of the sta- bility of his throne, and surrounded by ministers of constitutional principles, was compelled to observe the limits of a legal administration, and to aid with his authority the execution even of those laws that were most repug- nant to his principles and wishes.'' So far from lending a favorable ear to the petition of Virginia, Charles and his ministers adopted measures for carrying the act into strict execution. Intelligence having been received that its provisions were violated almost as generally as tliey were detested, and that the provincial authorities were reluctant to promote the efficacy of a system which they perceived was so hateful to the persons over whom they presided, — a royal mandate was issued to the governors of the settle- ments, reprimanding them for the " neglects, or rather contempts," which the law had sustained, and enjoining their future attention to its rigid en- forcement ; ^ and in Virginia, more especially, demonstration was made of the determined purpose of the English government to overcome all provin- cial resistance, by the erection of forts on the banks of the principal rivers, and the appointment of vessels to cruise on the coasts. But, notwith- standing the threatening measures employed to overawe them, and the vigi- lance of the British cruisers, the Virginians contrived to evade the law, and to obtain some vent to the accumulating stores of their depreciated produce, by a clandestine traffic with the settlement of the Dutch on Hudson's River. This relief, however, was inconsiderable ; and the discontent of ' It was to Virginia alone that Montesquieu's justificatory principle of the system of re- stricted trade could be considered as in any degree applicable. " It has been established,' says this writer, " that the mother country alone shall trade in the colonies, and that from very good reason, — because the design of the settlement was the extension of commerce, and not the foundation of a city or of a new empire." Spirit of Laws. This was in some measure true in regard to Virginia, though her first charter professes more enlarged designs ; but it was not applicable to New England, Maryland, or the other posterior settlements of the English. .... /. „ » When the parliament, in 1666, proposed the unjust and violent law, which they finally established, against the importation of Irish cattle into England, the king was so much struck with the remonstrances of the Irish people against this measure, that he not only exerted all hiit interest to oppose the bill, but openly declared that he could not conscientiously assent to it ; bat the Commons were inflexible in their purpose, and the king was compelled to submit. " The spirit of tyranny," says Hume, " of which nations are as susceptible as individuals, had estremely animated the English to exert their authority over their dependent state." ' Chalmers. State Paper i, ibid. 96 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK 1. the planters, inflamed by the hostilities which the frontier Indians now resumed, began to spread so widely as to inspire some veteran soldiers of Cromwell, who had been banished to Virginia, with the hope of rendering themselves masters of the colony, and delivering it entirely from the yoke of England. A conspiracy, which has received the name of Birkinhead's Plot, was formed for this purpose ; but the design, having been seasonably disclosed by the fear or remorse of one of the persons engaged in it, was easily defeated by the prudence and vigor of 8ir William Berkeley, and with no farther bloodshed than the execution of four of the conspirators.' The distress of the colony continuing to increase with the increasing depreciation of tobact. , now confined almost entirely to one market, and with the augmentation of the price of all foreign commodities, now de- rivable only from the supplies which one country could furnish, —-various ellbrts were made from time to time by the provincial assembly for the re- lief of their constituents. Retaliating, in some degree, the injustice with which they were treated, they framed a law ordaining, that, in the payment of debts, foreign creditors should be postponed to Virginian claimants, and that the provincial tribunals should give precedence in judgments to en- gagements contracted within the colony. Statutes were enacted for re- straining the culture of tobacco ; and attempts were made to introduce a new staple, by encouraging the plantation of mulberry-trees and the manu- facture of silk ; but neither of these projects was successful. Numerous French Protestant refugees being attracted to Maryland by a statute of naturalization in their favor, which was enacted in this province in the year 1666, the Virginian assembly endeavoured to recruit the wealth and popu- lation of its territories from the same source, by framing, in like manner, a series of laws which empowered the governor to confer on aliens taking tlie oath of allegiance all the privileges of naturalization [1671] ;" but it was provisionally subjoined, that this concession should not be construed to vest aliens with the power of exercising any function which they were disabled from performing by the statutes of the English parliament relative to the colonies. This prudent reference to a restriction which the provincial patents of naturalization must inevitably have received from the common law was intended to guard against the disputes and confiscations which might ensue from the attempts of naturalized aliens to infringe the Navigation Act. But the precaution was unavailing ; and at an after period many for- feitures of property were occasioned, and much judicial controversy pro- duced, by the traffic which aliens in the colonies carried on o>- rhe ' Oldmixon. Beverly. Burk. • It was not till after the Revolution of 1688 that the population of Virjpnis • i -x, ccession from the influx of these or other foreigners. In 1671, Sir William ^^i-.-l/ th describes the state of its population : — " There are in Virginia ahove 40,000 persons, men, women, and children ; of whidi there are ,-',000 black s),i'",s, 6.000 Christian servanui for » nhort time, and the rest have heen born iu the country, or have come in to settle or serve in hope of bettering lh?iT condition in a growing country. Yearly, we suppose, there como in of servants about 1 ,500, of which most are English, few Scotch, and fewer Irish ; and noi Answers to the Lords of the Committee iif Colonies, apud C!lnJ,mfi^ She numerous importations of servants mentioned by Sir William Berkeley were protiii'y ,V iked hy Jie troubles that preceded and attended Bacon's Rebellion. The later importatif (is^ w ■ mo>. available than the earlier ones ; the diseases of the country huring diminished in ircij! 'ncy and vioL>nce as the woods were progressively cut down , diseases occasioned by the repugnance of the human constitution to novelty of climate were diminished by the lapse of time and the conscaucnt gradual compliance oi the bodily frnina with the properties of the rofion. The mortality among the new comers, we learn from ^ir William Berkeley, was at tirbt enormous, but had became very trifiing phui iw liMl. niAP. ni.] INDIAN WAR. -INSURRECTIONS 97 in It, was niithority of general patents of denization granfrd to thcni by the ignorance or inattention of the royal governors. Their pretensions, though quite re- pugnant to the navigation laws, were supported bv the American r^ourts !)l' justice, but uniformly disallowed by the English privy council, which, lifter repeated decisions m conformity with the principle, that the ordinances of a provincial legislature cannot derogate from the general jurisprudence of the empire, finally prohibited all farther denizations by the provinciul governors or assemblies.* Far from being mitigated by the lni)se of time, tlie discontents in Vir- a;inia were exasperated by the incrca5, he demanded the commU.-mn which his pro6eedrngs and'reWnUb fehoW^d'how little he either noeded'or regarded. Berkeley, undismayed by the dangers that environea 100 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK 1, m-L him, was sensible of his inability to repel the force of the insurgents, and yet disdained to bend his authority before their menacing attitude, or "ield to their imperious demands. Confronting, with invincible courage, the men who reproached him with defect of this virtue, he peremptorily commanded them to depart ; and when they refused, he presented his breast to their weapons, and calmly defied their rage. But the council, more considerate of their own safety, and fearful of driving the multitude to some fatal act of fury, hastily prepared a commission, by which Bacon was appointed captain- general of all the forces of Virginia, and, by dint of earnest entreaty, pre- vailed with the governor to unite with them in subscribing it. The insur- gents, thus far successful, retired in triumph ; and the council no sooner felt themselves delivered from the immediate presence of danger, than, pass- ing from the depth of timidity to the height of presumption, they enacted and published an ordinance annulling the commission they had granted, as having been extorted by force, proclaiming Bacon a rebel, com-nanding his followers to deliver him up, and summoning the militia to arm in defence of the constitution. They found too little difficulty in persuading the gov- ernor to confirm, by his sanction, this indiscreet affectation of an authority which they were totally incapable of supporting. The consequences might have been easily foreseen. Bacon and his associates, flushed with their re- cent triumph, and incensed at the impotent menace, which they denounced as a base and treacherous breach of compact, returned directly to James- town ; and the governor, destitute of any force sufficient to cope with the insurgents, retired across the bay to Accomac on the eastern shore. Some of the counsellors accompanied him thither ; the rest retired to their estates ; the frame of the provincial administration seemed to be dissolved, and Bacon took unresisted possession of the vacant government. The preeminence which he attained by this vigorous conduct Bacon em- ployed with much address to add strength and reputation to his party. To mvest his usurped jurisdiction with the semblance of a legal estabhshment, he summoned a convention of the principal planters of the province, and prevailed with a numerous body of them to pledge themselves by oath to .support his authority and resist his enemies. A declaration or manifesto was published, in the name of this body, setting forth that Sir William Berkeley had wickedly fomented a civil war among the people, and that, after thus violating his trust, he had abdicated the government, to the sur- f>rise and confusion of the country ; that General Bacon had raised an army or the public service and with the public approbation ; that the late gov- ernor having, as was reported, abused the ear of the king by falsely repre- senting that the general and his followers were rebels, and pressing his Majesty to send forces to subdue them, the welfare of the colony and their true allegiance to his most sacred Majesty alike required that they should oppose and suppress all forces whatsoever, except those commanded by the general, till the king should be fully informed of the real merits and nature of the case by persons despatched to him by Bacon, IMi1*nnQPn »»»!7r!tg,- tSl- ^Ttr- ., , ., J.., , ny-i ; - r — ; to render the discontents of his followers subservient, which extended be- CHAP HI] DEATH OF BACON. 101 yond the immediate measures in relation to the Indians, and which had already suggested to him a specious pretence for exposing the colony to a war with the forces of the mother country. Yet such was the spirit of the times, and so prompt the sympathy with resistance to every branch of an administration which Charles was daily rendering more odious and suspected, tliat, when the rebel manifesto was promulgated in England, it found ad- mirers among the people, and even within the walls of tliat parliament whose injustice formed the only real grievance that Virginia had at present to com- plain of. Though Bacon designedly omitted to remind his adherents that the conduct of the Indian war was the object for which they had originally intrusted him with military command, it was to tliis object that his first exer- tions were actually directed. To redeem his promise and to exercise his troops, he marched at the head of an expedition against the hostile savages, who, rashly awaiting a general engagement, were defeated with a loss which they never were able to repair. Berkeley, meanwhile, having collected a force from levies among the planters who remained well affected to him, and from the crews of the Eng- lish shipping on the coasts, prepared to give battle to the army of the usurper ; and several sharp encounters ensued between the parties with va- rious success. All tlje horrors of civil war descended on the colony. James- town, which already contained several efegant buildings, erected at con- siderable expense by the governor and the more opulent planters, was re- duced to ashes by the insurgents, at the command of Bacon, who judged it a station which he could not safely retain ; the estates of the loyalists were pillaged, their friends and jelatives seized as hostages, and the richest plan- tations in the province laid waste. The governor was prompted by his indignation, as well as by the rage of his partisans, to retaliate these ex- tremities, and even to execute some of the insurgents by martial law ; and the animosity of both parties was rapidly mounting to a pitch that threatened a war of mutual extermination. The superiority of the insurgent force had hitherto confined ihe efforts of the loyalists in the field to mere skirmishing engagements ; but the tidings of an approaching armament, which the king despatched from England under Sir John Berry to the assistance of the governor, gave promise of a wider range of carnage and desolation. Charles had issued a proclamation [Oct. 1676], declaring Bacon a traitor and the sole promoter of the insurrection ; tendering pardon to all his followers who should forsake him, and freedom to all slaves who would assist in suppressing the revolt. However elated the loyalists might be with the intelligence of the approaching succour, the leader of the insurgents was no way dismayed by it ; and his influence over his followers was unbounded. Conscious now tiiat his power and his life were indissolubly connected, he determined to encounter whatever force might be sent against him. He was aware, at the same time, of the importance of striking a decisive blow while the advan- tage of numbers remained with him ; and with this view, having enlarged his resources by proclaiming a general forfeiture of the property of all w ho either opposed his pretensions or even affected neutrality, he was preparing to take tlie field, when his career was arrested by that Power which can wither in an instant the sinews of abused strength, and arrest the uplifted arm of the most formidable destroyer. Happily for his country, and to the mani- fest advantage not less of his followers than his adversaries. Bacon unex- pectedly sickened and died. [Jan. 1677.] M HISTORY Of NORTH AMERICA. tftOOK I The ascendency with which this remarkable person had predominated, as the master-spirit of his party, was illustrated bv the effect of his death on their sentiments and conduct. The bands of their confederacy seemed to be cut asunder by the loss of their general, nor did any successor even attempt to reunite them ; and their sanguine hopes and resolute adherence to Bacon were succeeded by mutual distrust and universal despondency. Ingram, who had been lieutenant-general, and Walklate, who had been major-general of the insurgent forces, showed some disposition to prolong the struggle by maintaining possession of a stronghold which was occupied by their party ; but after a short treaty with Sir William Berkeley, they consented to surrender it, on condition of receiving a pardon for their offences. The other detachments of the rebel army, finding themselves broken and disunited, afraid to protract a desperate enterprise, and hoping, perhaps, to be included in the indemnity granted to Walklate and Ingram, or at least to experience equal lenity, laid down their amis [1677], and submitted to the governor. Thus suddenly and providentially was dissipated a tempest that seemed to portend the entire ruin of Virginia. From the man whose evil genius excited and directed its fury, this insurrection has been distinguished by the name of Bacon's Rebellion. It placed the colony for seven months in the power of that daring adventurer, mvolved the inhabitants during all that period in bloodshed and confusion, and was productive of a devastation of property to the extent of at least a hundred thousand pounds.^ To the mother country it conveyed a lesson which she appears never to have under- stood, till the loss of her colonies illustrated its meaning, and the conse- quence of disregarding it. For, after every allowance for the ability and artifice of Bacon, it was manifest that the general discontent and irritation, occasioned by the commercial restrictions, had formed the groundwork of his influence ; and it required little sagacity to foresee that those sentiments would be rendered more inveterate and more formidable by the growth of the province, and by the increased connection and sympathy with the other colonial settlements, which the lapse of time and the habitual consciousness of common interests and grievances would infallibly promote. Had Bacon been a more honest and disinterested leader, this lesson would perhaps have been more distinctly unfolded, and the rebellion, it is probable, would not have ended with his life. But, instead of sincerely embracing the cause of his associates, he contrived to render their passions instrumental to the gratification of his own sinister ambition. The assertors of the interests of Virginia were thus converted into the partisans of an individual ; and when his presence and influence were withdrawn, they perceived at once that they were embarked in a contest which to themselves had neither interest nor object. No sooner were the insurgents disbanded, and the legitimate government restored, than Sir William Berkeley developed the vindictive powers of the law with a rigor more proportioned to the guilt of the rebels and the provocation he had received from them, than akin to the general humanity ' Boverljf. Oldmixon. Modem Vnitersnl History, XLI. Sir William Keith's History of Virginia. Chalmers. Biirk. Campbell. Mrs. Aphra Bchn celebrated this rebellion m a tf nil' il ill lliu iWiliah Muntiuiii. Il i«,-Ui hlHiorictii IrUUl uuUrtily ttUil aVuWtiJiy at defiance, andf is replete with coarse humor and indelicate wit. iryden 1 1690. CHAP. Ill ] RIGOROUS PUNISHMENT OF THE REBELS. 103 ionsciousness of his character and the lenity which he had extended to the promoters of former insurrections. But the recent rebellion had produced a scene of outrage and bloodshed to which nothing similar had occurred in the pre- ceding commotions, and which he probably regarded as the reproach and requital of his lenity on those occasions. Refusing to publish the royal proclamation which he now received from England, offering pardon to all who would lay down their arms, he caused several of the rebels who were not included in his treaty with Walklate and Ingram to be brought to trial for treason. All who confessed their guilt and implored mercy seem to have been exempted from the extremity of legal rigor ; but of others who abided the issue of a trial, ten were convicted and executed. The number of the guilty, which at first had seemed to betoken their security, served now to aggravate and diffuse the terror of these proceedings, which were at last interrupted by an address from the provincial assembly, beseeching the governor to forbear from the farther infliction of capital punishment. By this assembly a few of the surviving ringleaders of the insurrection were subjected to fines and disabilities, and Bacon, together with certain of his officers who had perished in the contest, was attainted. An attainder of the dead seems an arrogant attempt of human power to extend its arm beyond the scene of human life, to invade with its vengeance the inviolable sanctuary of the grave, and to reclaim to the jurisdiction of transient authority and fallible judgment the defenceless being and supposed offender, who has already been removed by the act of divine power to abide the decree of eternal and unerring justice. In England the measure was regarded as an act of sovereignty beyond the competence of a subor- dinate legislature, and held to be void from defect of power ; but this ob- jection was obviated, and the attainder subsequently re^nacted, by a bill to the same effect, which was framed in England, and transmitted under the great seal to the colonial assembly.^ The tardy aid despatched from England to the defence of the provincial government did not reach Virginia till after the rebellion was suppressed. With the fleet arrived Colonel Jeffreys [April, 1677], appointed by the king to signify the recall and succeed to the office of Sir William Berkeley, who now closed in peace an administration of nearly forty years ; and shortly after, closing his life, may be said to have died in the service of Virginia. This gallant and honorable man was thus spared the mortification of beholding the injustice and impolicy with which the royal authority was soon after employed to blacken his fame, and to weaken all those senti- ments of loyalty in the colony, which it had been the great object of hi s ' MridgmetU of the Laws of Virginia. Oldmixon. Keith. Chalmers. Burk. Campbell The account which I have given of the penal proceedings which followed the suppresBion of the rebellion is derived from a Btrict examination and comparison of the statements of these and other writers, and coincides entirely with none of them. Except Burk and Campbell rwho mprely repeats, without vouching for, the statements of Burk), every other writer has declared that Sir William Berkeley punished none of the rebels capitally, and ascribed this forbearance to his having procured their surrender by a promise of general pardon. Burk ex- pressly asserts that Berkeley gave such assurance to the rebels, and charges him with having violated it both by the executions which I have related and by others inflicted by the more summary process of martial law. But an attentive examination of the documents to which he refers has satisfied me that there is no credible evidence of any person having been put to death by martial law, except during the subsistence of the rebellion, or of any promise of par- don having been made to those who wero tried and convicted after its suppression. Neither the colonial assembly, in their address against further capital punishinente, nor the royal cotn- niisBioaers, in ihoir subsequent charges aguinst ihc governor, have given nny rouRtcnonce to the suppositions adopted by Burk. 104 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK I. wishes to culiivate and cherish. Entertaining all the principles of an old cavalier, endowed with a character well formed to recommend his princi- ples, and presiding in a colony where the prevailing sentiments of the people were for a loiig lime entirely congenial with his own, he had hoped to ren- der Virginia a scene where the loyalty that was languishing in Europe might be renovated by transmigration into a young and growing body politic, and expand to a new andgpore vigorous maturity. But this was not the desti- nation of the provinces of America. The naked republican principle, that substitutes the respect and approbation of citizens toward their magistrate, in place of the reverence and attachment of subjects to their sovereign, was held by all the cavaliers in utter abhorrence ; and a more favorable speci- men of the opposite principle which they embraced, and of that mixed sys- tem of opinion and sentiment which it tended to produce, will not easily be found than in the character and conduct of Sir William Berkeley. The courageous regard he demonstrated for his people not only excited their grateful achuiration, but recommended to their esteem the generous devotion to his king with which it was in his language and demeanour inseparably blended. When the hopes of the royalists were extinguished in every other (juarter of the empire, this governor of an infant province boldly arrayed his scanty forces on the Isanks of James River, in defence of his people and his principles, against the victorious arms of the most formidable power in Kurope ; and afterwards, emerging from retirement, and seconding the pop- ular impulse, he again braved the same unequal contest, and, disowning tne authority, defied the forces, of the protectoral government. For many years, his influence in Virginia was unbounded, and his virtues expanded with the growth and the enjoyment of his popularity. But in the close of his administration, — when he saw the efficacy of these virtues impaired, his long labors defeated, and the scene of all his loyal and disinterested service gradually pervaded by discontent and democratical sentiment, and finally defaced and convulsed by rebellion, — liis disposition seemed to derive a tincture from the bitterness of disappointment, and his conduct, both during the continuance and after the suppression of Bacon's rebellion, has been re- jn-oached with splenetic impatience and vindictive severity. In happier times, he approved himself a wise legislator, as well as a benevolent and upright magistrate ; and we are informed by the editor of the Laws of Virginia^ that the most judicious and most popular of them were suggested by Sir William Berkeley. When his death was known, and he was no longer an object of flattery or of fear, the provincial assembly recorded the sentiments which the colony entertained of his conduct in the grateful dec- laration, " that he had been an excellent and well deserving governor " ; and earnestly recommended his widow to the justice and generosity of the king.i The bosom of the king, however, was little accessible to such senti- ments ; and his reign was calculated to dispel, instead of confirming, the impressions of cavalier loyalty. The most remarkable event that distinguished the government of Colonel .TefTreys was the conclusion of the Indian war, which had raged so long, and contributed, with other causes, to the production of the late rebellion, by a treaty which gave universal satisfaction. This, too, was the only act of^liis administration that was attended with consequences so agreeable. » Chnlraeri. Preface to MorjsoirB edition of the Law fof^ Virginia. £»/e of Sir IViHiam tfvrn vt€V, CHAP. Ill] COMMISSIONERS FOR INVESTIGATING THE REBELLION. 105 f Sir lyuiiam Jeffreys, Sir John Berry, and Colonel Moryson were appointed commis- sioners to investigate and report the causes of Bacon's rebellion. They commenced their inquiries with an avowed prepossession in favor of the insurgents, and conducted them with the most indecent partiality The temptation which their office presented to magnify the importance of their labors by new and unexpected discoveries, and to prove, by arraignment of the late administration, that they had not been appointed its censors in vain, contributed, no doubt, to inspire the malevolence and injustice which they displayed in a degree that would otherwise seem quite unaccountable. In- stead of indemnifying, or even applauding, they discountenanced the loyalists who had raUied in the time of danger around the provincial government ; and having invited all persons who were engaged in the insurrection to come for- ward and state their grievances without fear, and unequivocally demonstrated the favorable acceptance which such representations might expect, they succeeded in collecting a mass of confused and passionate complaints, which they digested into a report fraught with crimination of Sir William Berkeley and his council, and with insinuations against the honesty and the courage of all the planters who had united with the governor in withstanding the rebels.' While their folly or malignity thus tended to rekindle the dissen- sions of the colonists, their intemperance involved them in a dispute that united all parties against themselves. Finding that the assembly hesitated to comply with a requisition they addressed to it, that all its books and journals should be submitted to their inspection, they seized these records by force, and withdrew them from the clerk who was intrusted with their custody. Incensed at this insult, the assembly demanded satisfaction from Jeffreys ; and when he appealed to the authority of the great seal of Eng- land, under which the commissioners acted, they replied to him, in language worthy of the descendants of Englishmen and the parents of Americans, " that such a breach of privilege could not be commanded under the great seal, because they could not find that any king of England had ever done 30 in former times." The spirit thus displayed by the assembly appears the more deserving of applause, when we consider that a body of regular troops, the first ever sent to Virginia, were now stationed in the colony, under the command of Sir John Berry. Informed of this proceeding, the king, in strains that rival the arrogance of his father and grandfather, com- manded the governor " to signify his Majesty's indignation at language so seditious, and to give the leaders marks of the royal displeasure." Berry and Moryson soon after returned to England, leaving the colony in a state of ferment, and all parties disgusted and disappointed. ' The memory of Sir William Berkeley was defended against the misrepresentations of the commissioners by hia brother, Lord Berkeley, (Chalmers,) and his fame suffered no diminu lion from their report. Burk, who has evidently conceived a strong prejudice against Berke ley, expresses a different opinion. He asserts, tliat Berkeley, on his return to England, founc tliat his conduct was disapproved by the king. But Oldmixon, whose authority on a poin like this is entitled to the highest respect, declares that Berkeley before his death received aL DSEiirancc of the esteem and approbation of his sovereign. During the disputes that preceded the war of independence, it was common for the writers who espoused the cause of^ America to aggravate the blame of the British government bj tixaggcrating the previous loyalty of the Americans. But this representation has ceased to please in America ; and some of her late writers have preferably devoted their labor and in gonuity to the illustration of the antiquity of her republii-an spirit. Burk, in particular, has iiiaf^nined beyond their due importance the first manifestations of discontent ana democratical ti't'ling in Virginia ; and, for the credit both of his representations and of his countrymen, has rngcrly adopted every fitctious charge and injurious supposition with respect to Sir William Berkeley. VOL, I. 14 106 HISTORY OP NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK I To the other causes of discontent v. as added the burden of supporting the soldiery, who, receiving no remittances of pay from England, indemni- fied themselves by their exactions from the planters. The impatience created by this treatment, however, was mitigated by the mild and prudent conduct of an aged officer and venerable man. Sir Henry Chicheley, to whom, as lieutenant-governor, the administration devolved, on the death of Jeffreys [1678] ; and as, (flying his presidency, some of the large and improvident donations of land by Uie crovm, that had been so much complained of, were revoked, and certain other grievances corrected, a short gleam of prosperity was shed on the colony, and an interval of comparative repose gave the people time to breathe, before the resumption of tyranny with a violence which was to endure till the British Revolution.^ It was not to royal generosity or benevolence that the colonists were in- debted for the lenient administration of Sir Henry Chicheley. Charles had some time before conferred the government of the province on Lord Cul- pepper, who, though very willing to accept this important office, showed so little readiness to perform the duties of it, that it was not till he had been reprimanded by the king for his neglect that he made his voyage to Vir- ginia. [May, 1680.] His administration was conducted with the same arbi- trary spirit that the royal government had now begun to indulge without con- trol in the mother country. Having vn-ested from the assembly the nomi- nation of its own most confidential officer, the secretary who composejl its journals ; having abolished the power it had hitherto exercised of entertaming appeals from the decisions of the provincial judicatories ; having accumulated a considerable sum of money by official pillage ; and having guarded his ty- ranny from complaint by a proclamation, that interdicted, under the severest penalties, all disrespectful speeches against the governor or his administra- tion,— he returned [Aug. 1680], after a very short stay in Virginia, to dis- sipate the spoils of the province in the luxury of England. Yet on this ignoble lord did the king confer the commission of governor for life, and a salary twice as large as the emoluments of Sir William Berkeley. The irritation created by these proceedings sharpened the sense of the hardships which the colonists were now enduring from the depressed price of tobacco ; and the public impatience exploded in a tumultuary attempt to destroy all the new tobacco plantations that threatened to increase the de- pression of price by multiplying still farther the quantities of produce. [May, 1682.] The insurrection might have proceeded to very serious ex- tremities, if the prudence and activity of Sir Henry Chicheley had not again been exerted to compose the pubHc discontent, and restore the peace of the colony. To any mind influenced by liberal Justice, or susceptible of humane impressions, this slight and short-lived msurrection was strongly recommended to indulgent consideration. It was but a momentary expres- sion of popular impatience created by extreme suffering ; and the earnest, tliough ineffectual, addresses by which the assembly had recently solicited from the king a prohibition of the increase of tobacco plantations both suggested and seemed to sanction the object to which the violence of the rioters was directed. But to the king it appeared in the light of an outrage to his dignity, which imperiously demanded a severe, vindictive retribution ; and Lord Culpepper, again obeying the royal mandate to repair to Virginia, caused a number of the insursents to be tried for high treason : and by a ' ClialinerH. CHAP. Itt ] TYRANNY AND RAPACITY OF ErFlNGHAM. lot series of bloody executions impressed that tnute terror which tyrants de- nominate tranquillity. Having thus enforced a submission not more pro- pitious to the colony than the ferment uhich attended his former departure, Lord Culpepper again set sail for l^ngland, where he was immediately put in confinement for returning without leave ; and, on a charge of misappro- priating the provincial revenues, was shortly after arraigned before a jury, and in consequence of their verdict deprived of his commission.* In displacing this nobleman, it was the injury done to himself, and not the wrongs of the colony, that Charles intended to redress. The last ex- ertion of his royal authority, which Virginia experienced, was the appoint- ment of a successor to Culpeppdr, in Lord Effingham [Aug. 1683], whose character was very little if at all superior, and whom, amon^ other instruc- tions, the king expressly commanded to suffer no person within the colony to employ a printing-press on any occasion or pretence whatsoever. Along with the new governor was sent a frigate, which was appointed to be sta- tioned on the coast with the view of compelling a stricter execution of the Navigation Act than this obnoxious measure had yet been able to obtain.* On the death of Charles the Second, his successor, James, was pro- claimed [Feb. 1685] in Virginia with demonstrations of joy, indicating less the attachment of the colonists to the person of their new sovereign, than that impatient desire with which men, under the pressure of hardship and annoyance, are ready to hail any change in their prospects or situation. Acclamation far more warmly expressive of gladness and hope had attended the commencement of the preceding reign ; and if the hopes that were now awakened were more moderate, they were not on that account the less faUacious. The colonists soon learned with regret, that, in his first parlia- ment, James had procured the imposition of a tax on tlie consumption of tobacco in England ; and in imploring the suspension of this tax, which threatened still farther to obstruct the sale of the only vendible production of their soil, they descended to an abjectness of entreaty which produced no other effect than to embitter their disappointment with the consciousness of humiliatmg and yet fruitless prostration. Though the assembly judged it expedient to present an address of felicitation to the king on the defeat of Monmouth's invasion of England, the colonists found an opportunity of in- dulging very different sentiments on that occasion, in the kindness with which they treated some of the insurgents, whom James, from a satiety of blood- shed, which he termed the plenitude of royal mercy, appointed to be trans- ported to the American plantations ; and even the assembly paid no regard to the signification of the royal desire that they should frame a law to pre- vent these unfortunate persons from redeeming themselves from the servi- tude to which they were consigned. This conduct, however, of the colo- nists and their assembly, in so far as it was not prompted by simple hu- manity, expressed merely their dissatisfaction with the king's treatment of themselves, and denoted no participation of their wishes or views in the designs of Monmouth. The general discontent was increased by the per- sonal character of the governor, through whom the rays of royal influence were transmitted. Lord Effingham, like his predecessor, ingrafted the base- ness of a sordid disposition on the severity of an arbitrary and despotic administration. He refused to convoke the provincial assembly. He insti- tutcu u court oi Cuancery, in Wnicii he nimsGii prcssoeci 8 9 judge , ann, » Chalmers. Beverly. Chalmers. 108 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK I, besides multiplying and enhancing the fees attached to his own peculiar functions, he condescended to share with clerks the meaner perquisites of subordinate office. For some time he contrived to stifle the remonstrances which his extortions produced, by the infliction of arbitrary imprisonment nud < ther tyrannical severities ; but at length the public displeasure became so general and uncontrollable, that he found it impossible to prevent the complaints of the colony from being carried to England, — for which country lie in consequence resolved himself to embark, in order to be present at his own arraignment. [1688.] He was accompanied by Colonel Ludwell, wiiom the assembly appointed their agent to advocate the complaints of his conduct and urge his removal from office.' But before the governor and his accuser arrived in England, the Revolu- tion, which the tyranny of James provoked in that country, had transferred the allegiance of all parties to new sovereigns. The Virginians, though they readily acquiesced in the fliange, appear to have surveyed with very little emotion an event which coincided with none of their anticipations, and to the production of which their concurrence had not been demanded. Whatever might be its remoter consequences, its immediate effect was for- cibly to remind them of their own insignificance, as the appendage of a dis- tant empire, whose political changes tliey were fated to follow, but unable to control. The most deep-seated and lasting grievances under which they labored, having proceeded from the English nation and parliament, were such as the present event gave no promise of alleviating. Their immediate complaints were to be submitted to sovereigns of whom they knew abso- lutely nothing ; and their late experience had diminished their trust in princes, and discouraged hopes of advantage from changes of royalty. The coolness, then, with which the Virginians are said to have regarded the great event of th? British Revolution [1688], so far from implying that their minds were not touched with a concern for freedom, may, with much greater probability, be referred to the ardor with which they cherished this generous principle, and the deliberate reflection which they combined with it.* In some respects, too, the policy of die new government that arose in the parent state was but ill formed to convey to them more satisfactory impres- sions of the change that had taken place, or to invite their sympathy with the feelings of that portion of their fellow-subjects by whose exertions it was accomplished. Notwithstanding the representations of Colonel Ludwell (who himself was gratified with the appointment of governor of Carolina) , King William, disin- clined and perhaps unable to dismiss those officers of his predecessor who were willing to transfer their personal adherence and official service to him- self, retained Lord Effingham in the government of Virginia. This noble- man, however, did not again return to the province ; and as long as his commission was sufl^ered to endure, the administration was conducted by a deputy governor. He was removed in the year 1692, and replaced by a successor still more obnoxious to the colonists. Sir Edmund Andros, whose tyrannical conduct, prior to the Revolution, in the government of other American provinces, more justly merited the brand of legal punish- ment and disgrace than continuance of official trust and dignity. If such ' Beverly. Oldmixon. Chalmers. * Colonel Quarry 's.VeTTwriVi/ to the f^/rds of Trade, in the year 1703, on the state of the Amorican provinces, rcproscnts the Virginian piantors as a numerous and wcaJUiy ruee, deeply uiftcted with " republican notions and principloi." CHAP, ni] EFFECTS OF THE BRITISH REVOLUTION. 109 apnointmcnts remind us that the English ministry was still composed of many of the persons who had dispensed patronage in the preceding reigns, tiiey may also in part be accounted for by other considerations. Of the oincers who were thus undeservcdlv retained, some pretended to great local experience and official ability. This was particularly the case of Sir Ed- mund Andros, whose administration eventually proved highly beneficial to Virginia. And they excused the arbitrary proceedings which they had con- ducted in the former reigns, by pleading the authority of the sovereign whose commands they had obeyed, — a plea which always finds favor with a king, when not opposed to wrongs which he deems personal to himself. More- over, the complaints of the colonists were not always accurate ; for anger is a more copious than discriminating accuser. Justice suffered, as usual, Irom the defect of temper and moderation with which it was invoked ; and the guilty artfully availed themselves of the inconsiderate passion by which their accusers were transported, in order to defeat or discredit the charges which they preferred. The insolence and severity, for example, that per- vaded the whole of Lord Effingham's government, had elicited many com- plaints, in which the accusers either neglected or were unable to discrimi- nate between the legality of official acts and the tyrannical demeanour or malignant motives of the party by whom they were performed. Accord- ingly, while some of the remonstrances which the Virginians transmitted to England by Colonel Ludwell were favorably received and approved by the British government, there were others that produced only explanations, by which the assembly was given to understand that it had mistaken certain points of English constitutional law.^ In the infancy of a free state, collis- ions and disputes not unfrequently arise from conflicting pretensions of dif- ferent, but coordinate, branches of its municipal constitution, before time has given consistence to the whole structure, and those relative limits, which abstract reason finds it difficult to prescribe to the respective parts, have been determined by the convenience of practice and the authority of precedent. The revolution of the British government, both in its immediate and its remote operation, was attended with consequences highly beneficial to Vir- ginia, in common with all the existing provinces of America. Under the patronage and by the pecuniary aid of W'illiam and Mary, the college which had been projected in tlie reign of James the First was established.^ The political institutions, under which the manly character of Englishmen is formed, were already planted in the soil to which so large a portion of their race had migrated ; the literary and religious institutions, by which that character is refined and elevated, were now, m like manner, transported to Virginia ; and a fountain opened within her own territory, which promised ' Beverly. Chalmers. One of the grievances complained of by the assembly of Virginia was, that Lord Effingham, having by a proclamation declared the royal dissent to an act of assembly which repealed a former law, gave notice that this law was now in force. This was tirroneously deemed by the asseftibly an act of legislation. ' Beverly. Seymour, the English attorney-general, having received the royal commands to prepare the charter of the college, which was to be accompanied with a grant of two thousand pounnB, remonstrated against this liberality, protesting that the nation was engaged in an ex- pensive war, that the money was wanted for more important purposes, and that he did not see the slightest occasion for a college in Virginia. Blair, the commissary for the Bishop of London in Virginia, represented to nim that the object of the institution was to educate and qualify young men to be ministers of the gospel, and begzed Mr. Attorney would consider that ing nonnto G! Vififiift Hsid souls to bs suvfid Hs wfil! HH tse ^co^ls of Enffland. '* So^ilsf ' ssmti be; ^^ damn your souls ! make tobacco." Franklin's Corrupondence. no HISTORY or NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK I. to dispense to her children the streams of science, physical, moral, and religious. 6iU the most important and decisive influence which the British Revolu- lion exercised on the condition of the colonics, consisted in tlie abridgnieni and almost entire abolition of their dependence on the personal character of the king. A conservative principle was infused by that great event into the main trunk of the British constitution in England, and into all the djial shoots that had issued from the parent stem, and germinated in the settle- inents abroad. The continuity of existence and supremacy of power, wliich the parliament acquired in Britain, extended the constitutional superinten- dence of this national assembly to every subordinate organ of popular rights , and if it oppressed the trade, it protected the chartered liberties, of the provinces of America. The king still continued to appoint the governors of Virginia and of some of the otlier settlements ; and men of sordid dispo- sitions and of feeble or profligate character were frequently the objects of this branch of the royal patronage. But the powers of these officers were in general circumscribed and distinctly defined ; and the authority of the provincial assemblies was able to restrain, and even overawe, the most vigorous administration of the executive functionaries. Whatever evil influ- ence a wicked or artful governor might exert on the domestic harmony of the people, or on their opinions of the royal prerogative which he admin- istered, he could "nmmit no serious inroad on the constitution of the prc/ince over which he presided. From this period a tolerably equal and impartial policy distinguished the British dominion over the American provinces ; the diminution of the personal influence of the sovereign eflaced in a great de- gree the inequahties of treatment previously occasioned by the difTerent degrees of favor with which he might happen to regard the religious or political sentiments of the inhabitants of the respective states ; and conse- quently extinguished, or at least greatly abated, the jealousies which the several colonial communities had hitherto entertained of each other. A farther abatement of these mutual jealousies was produced by the religious toleration which the provincial governments were henceforward compelled to observe. Even when intolerant statutes were permitted to subsist, their execution was generally disallowed ; and the principles cherished in one province were no longer exposed to persecution in another. We must now transfer our inquiry to the rise of the other colonies in North America which were founded antecedently to the British Revolution, and trace their separate progress till that era. But before our undivided attention be withdrawn from this, the earliest of the settlements, it seems proper to subjoin a few particulars of its civil and domestic condition at the period at which we have now arrived. Notwithstanding the unfavorable circumstances to which the colony was exposed in a greater or less degree ever since the Restoration, the number of its inhabitants had continued to increase. The deputies to Charles the Second, in 1675, represented the population as amounting, at that time, to 50,000 persons.' If their statement were not exaggerated (as it prob- ably was), we must suppose that Bacon's Rebellion and the subsequent tyranny gave a very severe check to this rapid increase ; for there is no reason to suppose that tlie colony contained a much greater number than 60,000 at the Revolution of 1688. From a table appended to the first ' ClwkH>ra- CHAP- »" ] CIVIL AND DOMESTIC STATE OF VIRGINIA. Ill edition of Beverly's History, it appears, that, in 1703, the population of Virginia (exclusive of 800 French refugees conveyed thither by King William) amounted to 60,606 souls. Of this number, 20,023 were tithabUa (a denomination implying liability to a poll tax, and embracing all wliite n»en above the age of sixteen, and all negro slaves, male and female, above that lige), and 35,583 were children of both races, and white women. The most intelligent and accomplished of the modern historians of Virginia has con- jectured, that, at the period of the British Revolution, one half of the popu- lation of tlie province consisted of slaves.* Many circumstances contriouted to give free scope to the increase of the provincial population, and to counterbalance the influence of commercial restraint and despotic govern- ment. The healtlifulness of the country had greatly improved ; and the diminution of disease not only closed a drain from which the population had severely suffered, but rendered the general strength more available to the general support. The use of tobacco now prevailed extensively in Europe ; and the diminution of its price was compensated by the increased demrncj lor the commodity. In 1671, it was computed, that, on an average, eighty vessels came annually from England and Ireland to Virginia for tobacco. In 1675, there were exported from Virginia above 23,000 hogsheads of to- bacco, and in the following year upwards of 25,000. In this latter year, the customs on tobacco from Virginia and Maryland, collected in England, amounted to JE 135,000." Sir Vvilliam Berkeley rates the number of the militia, in the year 1671, at nearly 8,000, and adds, that the people were too poor to afford the equipment of cavalry. In the year 1680, the militia amounted to 8568, of whom 1300 served as cavalry.' Our estimate, how- ever, of the increased wealth which the cavalry establishment seems to indi- cate, must be abated by the consideration of the increased exertions which the Indian war and Bacon's Rebellion had rendered necessary. In the year 1703, we learn from Beverly that the militia amounted to 9522, of whom 2363 were light horse, and the remainder foot and dragoons ; and that, as few of the planters were then destitute of horses, it was judged that the greater part of them might, if necessary, be converted into dragoons.* Every freeman (a denomination embracing all the inhabitants, except the slaves and the indented servants), from sixteen to sixty years of age, was enrolled in the militia ; and as the people were much accustomed to shoot ill the woods, they were universally expert in the use of firearms." The militia was commanded by the governor, whose salary was £ 1000 a year, till the appointment of Lord Culpepper, who, on the plea of peerage, pro- cured it to be doubled.' The twelve provincial counsellors, as well as the governor, were ap- pointed by the king ; and a salary of £ 350, assigned to the council, was divided in proportion to the official services which the members respectively performed. In all matters of importance, the concurrence of the council widi the governor was indispensably requisite. The provincial assembly was composed of the counsellors, who termed themselves the Upper House, and claimed privileges correspondent with those exercised by the English House of Lords ; and the burgesses, who were elected by the freemen of the respective counties, and performed the functions of the House of Commons, * Beverly. Biirk. * Chalmera. In the year 1604, the whole customs of Ensland amounted only to £127,000, of which £110,000 was collected in the port of London. Hume. ' » Chalmers. « Beverly. " * Bevfrly (edit. 175J2). • Beverly. 112 History of north America. [BOOK I. receivine waees proportioned to their services, and derived, like all the other provincial salaries, from provincial taxation. A poll tax long continued to be the only domestic tribute imposed on the Virgmians ; and subjection to this tax inferred the qualification of a freeman. The poorer classes were reconciled to the poll tax by this identification of its burden with the enjoy- ment of the political franchise, and by the specious apphcation of a maxim which became current in the colony, that the lives and industry of the cxtU -ens were objects of greater value than lands and houses. Until the year 1680, the several branches of the assembly had collectively formed one deliberative body ; but in that year the counsellors separated themselves from the burgesses, and assumed a distinct political existence. In con- junction with the governor, the counsellors formed the supreme tnbunal of the province ; from whose judgments, however, in all cases involving more than £ 300, an appeal was permitted to the king and privy council of Eng- land. In 1681, the province contained twenty counties ; in 1703, it con- tained twenty-five. A quitrent of two shillings for every hundred acres of land was paid by the planters to the crown.^ In the year 1688, the province contained forty-eight parishes, embracing upwards of 200,000 acres of appropriated land. A church was built in every parish, and a house and glebe assigned to the clergyman, along with a stipend, which was fixed by law at 16,000 pounds of tobacco. 1 his mode of remuneretion obviously tends to give a secular cast to the lifd and character of the ministers, and to entangle them with concerns remote from their spiritual duties. The equalization which it proposes is deceptive ; the different degrees of fertility of different parishes rendenng the burden un- equal to the people, and the varying quality of the tobacco produced in various soils making the remuneration unequal to the clergymen. 1 he privilege of collating to ecclesiastical benefices, prior to the British Revo- lution, belonged to the governor, but was generally usurped or controlled by the parishioners. After the British Revolution, it ^vas grasped by the hands of parochial vestries, which, though originally elected by the people, came, in process of time, to exercise the power of supplying vacancies m their numbers by their own appointment. The bishop of London was accounted the diocesan of the province ; and a resident commissary (genera ly a mem- ber of the council), appointed by that prelate, presided over the clergy, with the power of convoking, censuring, and even suspending them from the ex- ercise of their ministry. The doctrines and rites of the church of l.ngland were established by law ; attendance at divine worship in the parochial churches, and participation in the sacraments of the church, were enjoined under heavy penalties ; the preaching of dissenters, and participation in the rites and worship of dissenting congregations, were prohibited, and subjected to various degrees of punishment. There was one bloody statute, which menaced Quakers returning from banishment with the punishment of death ; but no execution ever took place in consequence of this law, and it was repealed soon after the Revolution of 1688. The other intolerant laws were not then abolished, but they were no longer strictly or generally executed ; and though the statute-book continued to forbid the promulgation of tenets and performance of worship dissent'-.g from the established model, the pro- hibition was little regarded, and a practical liberty of conscience was con- si derabiy realized, in 1688, a great n^jority oi the people belongc-u to ~" ~ I Chalmera. Burli. CHAP. Ill] CIVIL AND DOMESTIC STATE OF VIRGINIA. 113 ;ience was con- the established church. Other opinions and practices, however, began to arise, and were doubtless promoted by the influence of the free schools, of which a great many were founded and endowed soon after that period ; and the provincial government, being restrained from executing the intolerant laws against dissenters, endeavoured to cherish the ecclesiastical establish- ment by heaping temporal advantages upon its ministers. This policy pro- duced its usual fruits, and generated in the state clergy a spirit and character so odiously contrasted, and so inadequate to cope, with the zeal and dili- gence of dissenting teachers stimulated by the most powerful motives both temporal and spiritual, that at the era of the American Revolution two thirds of the inhabitants of Virginia had become dissenters from the episcojial rhurch, and were obnoxious, on that account, to the ban of their own muni- cipal law.' Of every just and humane system of laws one main object should be to protect the weak against the strong, and to temper and correct, instead of promoting and perpetuating, the inequalities of social condition created from lime to time by inequalities of human strength, skill, success, or industry. This wise and benevolent principle must be sacrificed, to a considerable extent, in the code of every country where slavery is admitted. By the laws of Virginia, all persons arriving voluntarily or involuntarily in the colo- ny by sea or land, not having been Christians in their native country, were subjected to slavery, even though they might be converted to Christianity after their arrival. A slave accused of a capital crime was remitted to the judgment of commissioners named by the governor, without the interyention of a jury ; and if the punishment of death were inflicted, indemnification to the extent of the pecuniary value of the slave was awarded from the provin- cial treasury to the master. This last regulation has prevailed in every State into which negro slavery has gained admission ; notwithstanding its manifest tendency to injure the public by relaxing the domestic vigilance of masters, and its injustice to the slaves in weakening the slight but sole security of humane treatment which they derive from the pecuniary interest of their owners in the preservation of their lives. In the year 1669, it was enacted that the death of a slave occasioned by the correction of a master should not be accounted felony ; " since it cannot be presumed," says the act, " that prepensed malice, which alone makes murder felony, should induce any man to destroy his own estate." But reason and experience alike refute this pernicious sophistry, which ascribes to absolute power a tendency to repress human irascibility, and accounts avarice and selfishness suflicient motives and pledges of justice, humanity, and moderation. Neither infidels nor negroes, mulattoes nor Indians, were allowed to purchase Christian white servants ; and if any person, having Christian white servants, should marry an infidel, or a negro, mulatto, or Indian, all such servants were made free. Any free white person intermarrying with a negro or mulatto, and any minister celebrating such marriage, were punished with fine and imprisonment. ' Abridgment of the Imws of Virginia. Beverly. Bumaby's fravela thrmigh the. Middi* SfUlement^ of America. Chnlmcrs. Jcfforson's J^ote.s on Virginia. From the Journa/ of Thomas Chalkley, the Quaker, it nppcars that many of his fellow-sectarieB were peaceably and hap- pily established in Virginia before the end of the seventeenth century. Among these, he mentions one Porter, who (in the year 1698^, at the age of ninety-two, had a daughter two r,]A Bt ih.; Porter died leaving seventy deacendanta in the province. VOL. I. 15 i J> 114 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK 1. It will excite the merriment of a satirist, the disgust of a philosopher, and the indignant concern of a Christian, to see, combined with such inhu- man and tyramiical laws, the strictest injunctions of the worship of that great Teacher of charity and humility who commanded his worshippers to honor all men ; together with many solemn denunciations and penal enact- ments against travelling on Sunday, profane cursing, and profanely getting drunk Justices of the peace were commanded to hear and determine th« comptos of all servants, except slaves, against their masters. Various regu- lations were established for securing mild and equitable treatment to indented servants ; at the close of their indentures, they received from their masters each a musket, a small sum of money, and a quantity of corn ; but it, dur- ing the currency of their term of service, they presumed to marry without consent of their master or mistress, they were punished with an additional year of servitude. To divert the planters from employing female indented servants in agricultural labor, it was decreed that all white women ex- empted from such labor should be also exempted from poll tax, but that any of them who might be employed in rustic toil should forthwith be en- rolled in the list of tithables. All persons riotously assembhng, to the num- ber of eight or more, for the purpose of destroying tobacco, incurred the guilt of treason. Every person, not being a servant or slave, committing adultery or fornication, was for the greater offence fined one thousand and for the lesser, five hundred, pounds of tobacco. Women convictefl of slander were adjudged to be ducked, in default of their husbands consetiung to redeem them from the penal immersion at the cost of a pecuniary mulct. There bein- no inns in the country, strangers were entertained at the houses of the inhabitants, and were frequently involved in lawsuits by the exorbitant claims of their hosts for indemnification of the expenses of their mercenary hospitality ; for remedy whereof, it was ordained, that an mhabitant, neg- lectmg in such circumstances to forewarn his guest and to make an express compact with him, should be reputed to have entertained him from mere courtesy and benevolence.^ All the foregoing laws continued m force long after the British Revolution. . .1 , It appears from the first of these statutes, that Indians visiting the terri- tories of the State were liable to be enslaved by the colonists ; and in Jefferson's statistical account of Virginia, it is admitted that the practice of subiecting those savages to slavery did at one time actually prevail. But with the Indian tribes situated in their immediate vicmity, and comprehended in the pacification negotiated by Colonel Jeffreys, the colonists rnamtained relations more approaching to friendship and equality. The Indians paid, indeed, in conformity with the treatv of peace, an annual tribute of beaver- skins to the provincial government.^ But their territories were ascertaine.l by the treaty, and secured to them by the guaranty of the provincial laws ; and every wrong they might sustain at the hands of any of the colonists was punished in the same manner as if it had been done to an Lng ishman. By the aid of a do nation from that distinguished religious philosopher , " i Mridgment of the Latct of Virginia. Beverly. Burk. ^ geverly the Indians bv conquoit is not «o general a truth as I8 suppoHcd. I find, in our historians anil locordsrooeaLd proof, of purchases which cover a cons'uierable pari of the lower country, r;±'„vToro wL^d doubflcss be found on farther search. The upper country we kno«, ha. been acquired altogetiier by purchase. nmd« lu the rao« unexccpuonauic lurm. .-v,,. on Virginia. ftf-l CHAP ni] CIVIL AND DOMESTIC STAT OF VIRGINIA. 116 Hobert Boyle, an attempt was made to render the institution, which, from its founders, has been called William and Mary College, subservient to the instruction of the Indians. Some young persons, belonging to the friendly tribes, received at this seminary the rudiments of civil and religious educa- tion ; and the colonists, sensible of the advantages they derived from pos- sessing in the persons of such pupils the most valuable hostages of the pacific demeanour of their parents, prevailed with some of the more remote "nations of the Indians to send a few of their children to drink of the same fountain of knowledge. But as the pupils were restored to their parent tribes, when they attained the age that fitted them for hunting and warlike exercises, it is not likely that the course of collegiate instruction which they pursued pro- duced any wide or permanent impression on the character of the Indians, or made any adequate compensation for the destructive vices and diseases which the Europeans were unhappily much more successful in imparting. * Attempts to convert barbarians V3ry frequently disappoint their promoters ; and not those persons only who have assisted the undertaking from merely secular ends, but those also, who, truly regarding the divine glory in the end, disregard, at least in some measure, the divine agency in the means. As an instrument of temporal improvement merely, and civilization, the preach- ing of the gospel will ever be found to disappoint all those who have no higher or ulterior views. In a civihzed and Christian land, the great bulk of the people are Christians merely in name ; reputation, convenience, and habit are the sources of their religious denomination ; an early and habitual familiarity with mysterious doctrine evades the difficulty of reasonable assent to it ; vices are so disguised, that the testimonies of Christian preachers against them often miss their aim ; and a professed devotedness to the ser- vice of piety and the pursuit of spiritual good is easily reconciled with, and esteemed a decent livery of, more real and substantial devotion to all that is worldly, selfish, and sensual. But among heathens and savages, a convert to Christianity must change his style of life, overcome his habits, renounce his opinions, and forfeit his reputation ; and none, or at least very few, be- come professors, except from the influence of real conviction, more or less lasting and profound. Those who remain unconverted, if they be honestly addressed by the missionary preachers, are incensed at the testimony against their evil deeds and sullied nature ; and the conduct of many professing Christians among their civilized neighbours too often contributes to mislead and confirm them in error. But this topic will derive an ampler illustration from occurrences that relate to others of the North American States, than the early history of Virginia is fitted to supply. Literature was but very slightly cultivated in Virginia. There was not at this period, nor for many years after, a single bookseller's shop in the colony. ** Yet a history of Virginia was written some years after by Beverly, a native of the province, who had taken an active part in public affairs prior to the Revolution of 1688. The first edition of this work in 1705, and a later edition in 1722, were published in England. Beverly is a brief and some- ' Beverly (edit. 1722). In citing this author, it is the edition of 1705 that I refer to, when tlic other is not expressly named. ' The literature of North America was at this time monopolized almost entirely by New England. In the beginning of the eighteenth century, when Boston contained five prmting- nfliccs and many booksellers' shops, tliere was but one bookseller's shop in New York, and not one in Virgmia, Maryland, or Carolina. Neal's History of Jfeie England. Even in tho provincial towns ol tho parent state booksoliors' shops were very rare at this period. Boi well's Lift of Johnson^ , 116 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK 1. what agreeable annalist, and has appended to his narrative of events an ac- count of the institutions of the province, and of the manners of the colonial and aboriginal inhabitants. He is chargeable with great ignorance and in- correctness in those parts of his story that embrace events occurring in England, or elsewhere beyond the immediate precincts of Virginia. Only the initial letters of his name appear on the title-page of his book, — whence Oldmixon was led into the mistake of supposing his name to have been Bullock ; and in some of the critical catalogues of Germany he has received the erroneous appellation of Bird.^ A much more enlarged and elaborate liistory of Virginia (but, unfortunately, carried no further down than the year 1624) was written at a later period by Stith, also a native of the prov- ince, and one of the governors of William and Mary College. Stith is a candid, accurate historian, and accomplished scholar; tediously minute in relating the debates in the Court of Proprietors of the Virginia Company, and tlieir disputes with the king ; but generally impressive and interesting. A manly and liberal spirit pervades every page of his work, which was first published at Williamsburg in 1747. Beverly warmly extols the hospitality of his countrymen ; a commen- dation which the peculiarity of their condition renders sufficiently credible, though the preamble of one of their laws, which we have already noticed, demonstrates that its application was by no means universal. He reproaches them with indolence, which he ascribes to their residence in scattered dwellings, and their destitution of that collected life which promotes mutual cooperation and competition, invigorates industry, and nourishes the spirit of adventurous enterprise. It may be ascribed, also, to the influence of slavery in fostering pride and discrediting labor. A life like that of the first Virginian colonists, remote from crowded haunt, unoccupied by a multitude and variety of objects and purposes, sequestered from the intelligence of passing events, and yet connected, by origin, remembrance, and interest, with a distant and distinguished realm, is the life of those to whom the com- pany of strangers is peculiarly acceptable. All the other circumstances of such a lot contribute to the promotion of hospitable habits. As for many of their hours the inhabitants can find no more interesting occupation, so of much of their superfluous produce they can find no more profitable use, than the entertainment of visitors.' It was the remarkable and fortunate peculiarity of their local situation, that prevented a people so early devoted to commerce as the Virginians from congregating in large towns and forming marts of trade. The same peculiarity characterized that portion of their original territory which was subsequently formed into the separate province of Maryland ; and thero, too, it was attended with similar effects. The whole of that vast region is pervaded by numerous streams, that impart fertility to the land, and carry the produce they have promoted to the great highway of nations. From the Bay of Chesapeake, where all those streams unite, the greater number of ' Warden, a late Amoricnn writer, has repeated this error, and described ns the production of Bird what in reality was the first edition of Beverly's work. There really was a history of Virginia written and published by a Colonel Bird, m the be§innii:g of the eighteenth cen- tury ; but 1 liavo never Leon able to meet with it. Oldmixon, in his Preface, gives some ac- count of the auUiur, and refers to his work among the other materials which he himself had madt) use of * " Mr. JefTi-rson told mo, that in his father's lime it was no uncommon thing for gentlemen to post their scr.'ant» on the :i3ain road ibr the purpd. along the banks of tlie rivers, and united the healthful felicity of rural life with the advantages of commerce. Except the small towns of Williamsburg, which succeeded Jamestown as the capital of Virginia, and Annapolis, the capital of Mary- land, no cities grew up for a very long period in either of these provinces. This social condition proved highly favorable to those two great sources of national happiness, — good morals, and the facility of gaining by industry a moderate competence and a respectable station in society. The convicts who were transported to the colony, finding none of the opportunities of confederacy, pillage, and concealment, that large towns afford, either re- turned to Europe at the expiration of their periods of service, or, impressed with the advantages which the country so liberally tendered to honest toil and sobriety of manners, they melted into the mass of humble and respec- table free laborers. To this important class of society the virtues of indus- try and economy were recommended by prizes both greater and nearer than any other social community ever before presented. Labor was so valuable, and land so cheap, that a very few years of diligent exertion could promote die laborer to the condition of a land -owner ;*» no one needed to despair of a competence ; and none found it practicable to amass enormous wealth. Manual work, no longer the badge of hopeless poverty, was respected as the certain passport to independence ; nor was there among the free popu- lation any distinction of rank which industry and virtue were unable to sur- mount. A constant and general progression, accomplished without scramble or peril, gave a quiet ahcrity to life ; and fellow-feeling was not obstructed, nor insolence and servility engendered, by numerous instances of a wide inequality of condition. They were, and are, undoubtedly, a happy people. Two causes, however, have contributed, in this and others of the Ameri- can provinces, to impede the operation and abridge the influence of circum- stances so favorable to happiness and virtue. Of these, by far the most important is the institution of domestic slavery ; a practice fraught with in- calculable evil to the morals, manners, and felicity of every country into which It has gained admission. The slaves are reduced to a state of misery and degradation ; to a state which experience has pronounced so destructive to virtue, that, in many languages, the condition of a slave and the character of a thief are expressed by the same word. The experience of every age has confirmed the maxim of Homer, that the day which makes man a slave takes half his worth away. The masters are justly loaded with the guilt of all the wretchedness anM worthlessness which the condition of slavery in- evitably infers ; every mind is tainted with the evil which it engenders and displays, and sustains an abatement either of happiness or virtue. Every master of a slave, whether he term himself citizen or subject, is a monarch endowed with more uncontrolled authority than any sovereign in Europe enjoys ; end every country wher e sla very is admitted, whether it ca ll itself ' "But, as the bees which have no hive collect no honey, the commerce which was thuH dispersed accumulated no wealth." Tucker's Life of Jefferson. " '.remember the time when five pounds were loft by a charitable testator to the poor of me parish he lived m ; and it lay nine years before the executors could find one poor enough to tie entitled to nnv nnrt nF iliia loompv • nr.>1 ..♦ I..< :» ,..-- -ii ~:..~- » -u -..- » k.t .I,- _ ■ ^ -1 ""i — " r 'ra~'j 7 "» " •^"" ">• giren iw tmu oju woman, co Jiat Uiu may in truth be termed the best poor man's country in the world." Beverly. 118 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK I. kingdom or republic, is a country subject to the dominion of tyrants. Nay, the more liberal its political constitution, the more severe in general is its system of domestic tyranny ; and the experience of every age has verified the Grecian proverb, that none are so completely enslaved as the slaves of the free. Human character is as much corrupted and depraved by the arro- eance of domination as by the depression of servitude ; and slavery is a state wherein one man ruleth over another to his oien hurt. The same wis- dom which assigned to man his duties adapted them to the development of his understanding and the refinement of his sensibility. This adaptation is particularly visible in the duties that regulate the mutual intercourse of men. To violate therein the law of kindness and the principles of equity is to warp the understanding,^ as well as to corrupt the heart ; to lower the dig- nity of rational, and the happiness of sensible beings. There is a perpetual reciprocation of evil between a master and his slaves. His injustice con- signs them to their servile state ; and the evil qualities that this condition engenders in them tend continually to provoke his irascibility. His power inflicts their degradation ; and their degradation at once provokes and facil- itates the excesses of his power. In proportion to the rigor of their treat- ment is the hatred which he inspires in them, and which, reacting on its own dire cause, imparts a wider scope and keener edge to his cruelty. Hence the commerce between master and slave tends to stimulate and exhibit all that is odious and revolting in human passion and conduct. The delicate susceptibility of women is exposed to the impression of this spectacle, and the imitative disposition of children exercised amidst its continual display. In the picture that Juvenal has drawn of the toilet of a Roman lady we be- hold a striking illustration of the influence of domestic slavery in corrupting even the gentler sex with the direst cruelty ; and that the picture was far from being overcharged may unhappily be deduced from the delineations, still more odious, that present themselves in the pages of modern travellers in North America and the West Indies. Female slaves, regarding the freemen as a superior race of beings, lose alike the virtues and the rights of women in their intercourse with thenri, and introduce into rural life modes of vice even more disgraceful and corruptive than those which are generated by the temptations of profligate cities. The freemen, habituated to consider the great majority of the females with whom they associate as an inferior race, are consequently exposed to an influence hostile to those sentiments and manners which constitute the moral grace and symbol of civilized life ; and proportionally descend to the level of that barbarous state in which women are regarded merely as instruments of drudgery or ministers of voluptuousness. Every description of work that is committed to slaves is performed with as much neglect and indolence as they dare to indulge, and is so degraded in common estimation, that the poorest freenian disdains to undertake it except when he is working for himself. White servants in America have been always distinguished for a jealous impatience of their position, and a reluctant and imperfect regard to the will of their masters. As the numbers of the slaves are multiplied, the industry of the free is thus repressed by the extension of slave labor ; and the safety of the state is endangered by the strength of a body of internal enemies ready to conspire against its tranquillity or to join its first invader." The number of the s laves ' See Note iV., ftl Ui« end of the volume. » " I tremble for my country," says Jefferson, in his obrorvations on the slave populsUon CHAP. HI] CIVIL AND DOMESTIC STATE OF VIRGINIA. 119 le slave population 1111(1 gladiators contributed to the downfall of Rome ; and, indeed, every body politic, compounded of parts so heterogeneous as freemen and slaves, plain- ly contains within itselt a principle of progressive disease and corruption. Siicli a mixture tends also to pervert and confound the moral sentimeiits of all mankind, and to degrade the value of those free institutions which are seen to form a canopy for the shelter of domestic tyranny,' to mock one portion of the people with such liberty and dignity as jailers enjoy, and to load all the rest with such fetters as only felons should wear. or all the forms under which slavery has ever appeared in the world, ne- gro slavery is the most odious and mischievous. The difference of color i)o-gravates the distinction of condition between the master and the slave ; and the mutual hatred and fear generated between individuals by this acci- dental relation are extended to natural distinctions of bodily feature, and perpetuated between whole races of men. Long as well as grievous are the consequences of guilt and injustice. The first introduction of slavery into a country plants a canker, of which the entire malignity is not perceived till in an after age, when it has attained an extent, which, concurring with the at- tendant train of prejudices and antipathies, renders its extirpation exceeding- ly difficult. This consideration, without lending to diminish our abhorrence of a system so fraught with mischief and danger, mitigates the severity of our censure on those to whom the system, already matured by long continuance and fortified by inveterate prejudice, has unhappily descended. And even with regard to the race who first introduced it we shall not fulfil the duty of fellow-men, if we omit to consider the apologies which may reasonably be supposed to have deluded their conscience and understanding, and veiled from their view the wickedness they committed and the misery they prepared. The negroes first brought to Virginia were enslaved before they came there, and by the purchase of the colonists were delivered from the hold of a slave-ship and the peculiar and notorious cruelty of the Dutch. Some little good might thus at first seem to result from the commission of evil. When the slaves were few in number, and consequently incapable of awakening public jealousy and alarm, they appear to have been kindly treated ;- and their masters per- haps intended to emancipate them at that convenient season for adjusting the accounts of interest and conscience, which every added year and every ad- dition to their numbers tended still farther to postpone. Even at a later pe- nt' this province, " when I reflect that God ia just ; that his justice cannot sleep for ever ; that, cunsidcring numbers, nature, and natural means only, a revolution of the wheel of fortune, a:, (exchange of situntion, is among possible events; that it may become probable hy supernatural interference ! The Almighty has no attribute which can take side with us in such a contest.' .Votfs on Virginia. So early as the year 1687, we are told that ' a plan of insurrection of the l)lanks was at this time discovered in the Northern Neck, just in time to prevent its explosion." Hencca relates that it was once proposed at Rome to discriminate the slaves by a peculiar drcsf , but it was justly apprehenr'dd tiint there might bo some danger in acquainting them with ;!ieir own numbers. Tnis information is conveyed to the negroes by their color ; and this color bi-- ing always a mark of contempt, even those negroes, who become free in countries where their nice is generally enslaved, continue allied, both by the most irritating feelings, and by the sym- pathy tliey must entertain for men of the same complexion, with all those who remain in a »tiite of bondage. ' To dream of frerdinn in hln slave's cmhraer — is represented with bitter satire and melun- cholv truth by the Irish bard, Moore, as the felicity of many an American planter. '-' The treatment of slaves at lioriie, latterly distinguished liy the most enormous cruelty, was originally kind and humane. Plutarch, Life of Coriolanus. In the reign of the Emperor Clau- dius, it was foimd necessary to pass a law forbidding masters to kill their slaves on account of age or infirmity. The original admission of the Hebrews into Egypt was an act of benevo- lence ; and it was only when they had waxed numerically strong that they experienced the rii;ors of bondage. 120 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK I. riod and in altered ciiciimslances, numerous instances have been known of what is most inappropriately termed the humane treatment of negro slaves by masters, who, freely dispensing physical comforts and indulgences to them, and carelully barring tliem from the knowledge that would waken aspiration for a higher moral condition, appeal to their unmanly content- ment with degradation as a proof that slavery may be a nappy state. • Negro slavery lingered long in the settlements of the Puritans in New England, and of the Quakers in New Jersey and Pennsylvania ; although in none of these States did the climate, or the soil and its appropriate culture, suggest the same temptations to this inhumanity which presented themselves in the southern quarters of America. Las Casas, so distinguished by the warmth of his philanthropy, first suggested its introduction into Mexico and Peru ; George Fox, the most intrepid and enthusiastic of reformers, de- manded no more of his followers than a mitigation of its rigor in Bar- badoes ; and the illustrious philosopher, John Locke, renowned also as the champion of religious and political freedom, introduced an express sanction of it into the fundamental constitutions of Carolina. Georgia is the only one of the North American States in which slavery was expressly disal- lowed by the fundamental laws ; but these laws were soon repealed ; and in none of the other States has slavery proved a more rigorous and op- pressive yoke than in Georgia. Considerations such as these are calculated to increase at once our indulgence for mankind, and our abhorrence of \hm insidious and formidable mischief which has so signally baffled the penetra- tion of the wise, and triumphed over the benevolence of the humane. The other cause which has been alluded to, as operating unfavorably on the prosperity of Virginia, is the inordinate cultivation of tobacco. As long as Virginia and Maryland were the only provinces of North America where this commodity was produced, their inhabitants devoted themselves almost exclusively to a culture which is attended with much inconvenience lo the persons engaged in it, and no small disadvantage to their country even when moderately pursued. It requires extremely fatiguing labor from the cultivators, and exhausts the fertility of the ground ; and, as little food of any kind is raised on the tobacco plantations, the men and cattle em- ployed on ihem are badly fed, and the soil is progressively impoverished.* This disadvantage was long experienced in Virginia ; but h 13 been dimin- ished jy the introduction into the markets of Europe of the tobacco produce; of territories more recently subjected to cultivation.' ' One of the best pictures I have ever met with of the actual operation of negro slavtrv occurs in Pinckard's Xotes on the fVest India. * JeSferfion's M'otts on Virginia ' Priest's Travels in America. Warden. BOOK II. THE NEW ENGLAAD STATES. CHAPTER I. Attempts of the Plvmouth Company to colonize the northern Coastx of America. — Pophain cstablislics a Colony at Fort Saint George. — Sufferings and Return of the Colonists. — Captain Smith's Voyage and Survey of tne Country — which is named New England. — Hid ineffectual Attempt to conduct a Colony thither. — The Company relinquish the Design of colonizing New England. — History and Character of the Puritans. — Rise of the Brown- ists or Independents. — A Congregation of Independents retire to Holland — they resolve to settle in America — their Negotiation with King Junies — they arrive in Massachusetts and found New Plymouth. — Hardships — and Virtue of the Colonists Their civil Institutions. — Community of Property. — Increase of civil and ecclesiastical Tyranny in Krigiand. — Project of a new Colony in Massachusetts. — Salem built. — Charter of Massa- (liiisetts Bay obtained irom Charles the First by an Association of Puritans. — Embarkation of the Emigrants — Arrival at Salem. — Their ecclesiastical Institutions. — Two Persons banished from the Couny for Schism. — Intolerance of some of the Puritans. When James the First of England gave his sanction to the project of colonizing the vast district of North America which was comprehended at that time [1606] under the name of Virginia, he made a partition, which we have already remarked, of the territory between two trading companies, and established the residence of the one at London, and of the other at Plymouth. If the object of this partition was to diminish the inconven- ience of monopoly, and diffuse the benefit of colonial relations more exten- sively in England, the means were ill adapted to the end ; and eventually the operauon of this act of policy was far from corresponding with its design. The resources of the adventurers, who had already prepared to undertake the enterprise of colonization, were divided so unequally, and yet so much to the disadvantage of all parties, that even the more powerful company was barely enabled to maintain a feeble and precarious settlement in Vir- ginia ; while the weaker, without ability i.o accomplish the purpose of its institution, obtained little more than the privilege of debarring the rest of the world from attempting it. We have seen that the southern colony, — though promoted by a corporation which reckoned among its members some of the richest and most considerable persons in the realm, and en- joyed the advantage of being situated in a town then engrossing almost all ihe commercial wealth of England, — even with the aid of these favorable circumstances, made but slow and laborious advances to a secure establish- ment. The Plymouth Company possessing much narrower resources and a less advantageous situation, its efforts were proportionally more feeble and inadequate. The most conspicuous members of the Plymouth Company were Sir •Tohn Popham, lord chief justice of England, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, governor of Plymouth Fort, and Sir John Gilbert, nephew of that dis- tineuishod adventurer who has already engaged our notice as the first ob- tainer of a patent of colonization from Queen Elizabeth, and the earliesl VOL. I. 16 K 122 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK II conductor of emigrants to America. Animated by the zeal of these men, and especially of Popham, who assumed the principal direction of their measures, the Plymouth Company, shortly after their association, despatched a small vessel to inspect their territories ; but soon received the mortifying intelligence of its capture by the Spaniards, who still pretended right to ex- clude every other people from the navigation of the American seas. The chief justice and his friends, however, were too much bent on the prose- cution of their purpose to be deterred by this disaster. At his own expense, Popham equipped and despatched another vessel to resume the survey ; and having received a favorable report of the appearance of the country, he availed himself of the impression produced by the tidings to raise a suf- ficient supply of men and money for the formation of a colony. [May, 1607.] Under the command of his brother, Henry Popham, and of Raleigh Gilbert, brother oi" Sir John, a hundred emigrants, embarking in two ves- sels, repaired to the territory of what was still called Northern Virginia ; and took possession of a piece of ground near the River Sagadahoc, where they built a stronghold and named it Fort Saint George. The district where they established themselves was rocky and barren ; and their provisions were so scanty, that they were obliged, soon after their arrival, to send back to England all but forty-five of their number. The winter proved extremely severe, and confined this small remnant to their miserable dvvelling, and a helpless contemplation of the dreary waste that surrounded it. Disease, the offspring of scarcity and hardship, augmented the general gloom ; and before the return of spring, several of the adventurers, and among others their president, Henry Popham, had sunk into the grave. With the spring [1608], arrived a vessel laden with supplies from England ; but the intelli- gence that accompanied these supplies more than counterbalanced the satis- faction they afforded ; for the colonists were now informed of the deaths of Chief Justice Popham and Sir John Gilbert, the most powerful of their patrons and most active of their benefactors. Their resolution was com- pletely subdued by so many misfortunes ; and, imanimously exclaiming against longer continuance in those dismal scenes, they forsook the settle- ment and returned to their native land, which they filled with the most dis- heartening accounts of the soil and climate of Northern Virginia.^ The American historians have been careful to note that this disastrous expedition originated with the judge, who (odious and despicable in every part of his professional career) had, three years before, presided with the most scan- dalous injustice at the trial of Raleigh, and condemne lo the death of a traitor the man to whom both England and America were so greatly beholden. The miscarriage of this colonial experiment, and the evil report raised against the scene where it had been attempted, deterred the Plymouth Company for some time from ^-^y farther exertion to plant a settlement in Northern Virginia, and produced an impression on the minds of the people of England very unfavorable to emigration to that territory. For several years, the operations of the company were confined to a few fishing voyages •o Cape Cod, and a traffic in peltry and oil witli the natives. At length their prospects were cheered by a gleam of better fortune ; and the intro- duction of Captain Smith — already know n to us by his guardianship of the I a_:.!.'- «.„»__. «f i/.v~,v.> v-.» Fn"lai>d *" Stiih'a MijiUrru of Virainia. Neal's HiSr tory of Jftu) England Hutchinson's History of Massachuaells. CHAP. I ] FUTILE ATTEMPTS AT COLONIZATION. 123 ia. Neal's His- infant province of Virginia — into their service, seemed to betoken more vigorous and successful enterprise. Sir Ferdinando Gorges and some other leading members of the Plymouth Company, justly appreciating the genius and merit of this man, were fain to engage his valuable services, which the London Company had unworthily neglected. [1614.] Six years after the abandonment of the settlement at Sagadahoc, two vessels were despatched, under the command of Captain Smith and Captain Hunt, on a voyage of trade and discovery to the Plymouth Company's territories. Smith, having (concluded his traffic with the natives, left his crew engaged in fishing, and, accompanied by only eight men, travelled into the interior of the country, surveyed its condition, explored with care and diligence the whole coast from Cape Cod to Penobscot, and composed a map in which its features were accurately delineated. On his return to England, he presented his map, with an account of his travels and observations, to Prince Charles, who was so much pleased with the description of the country, that he bestowed on it the name of New England, which it has ever since re- tained. The successful voyage of Captain Smith, and the favorable account that he gave of the territory, though they contributed not a little to animate the spirit of commercial adventure, could not overcome the general reluctance to a permanent settlement in this region, which the misfortunes of the first colonists had created in England. The impediments to a colonial establish- ment In this quarter of America, besides, were greatly increased by the conduct of Hunt, who had been associated with Smith in the late voyage. That sordid and profligate man, unwilling that the benefit of the existing narrow traffic with the company's territories, which was exclusively shared by himself and a few others who were aware of its advantages, should be more generally diffiised by the formation of a colony, resolved to defeat the design by embroiling his countrymen with the natives ; and for this purpose, having enticed a number of these people on board his ship, he set sail with them for Malaga, where he had been ordered to touch on his homeward voyage, and sold them for slaves to the Spaniards. The company, indignant at his wickedness, instantly dismissed him from their service ; but his mis- chievous purpose was accomplished ; and the next vessel that returned from New England brought intelligence of the vindictive hostilities of the savages. Undismayed by all these difficulties and dangers, Smith determined to make an effort for the colonization of the northern territory ; and having commu- nicated a portion of his own resolute hope and spirit to some of the leading patentees, he was enabled, by their assistance, to equip a small squadron, and set sail at the head of a band of emigrants for New England. [1615.] Thus far could energy prevail ; but in a struggle with fate, farther advance- ment was impracticable ; and Smith, who had now accomplished all that man could do, was destined to experience that all was unavailing. The voyage was one uninterrupted scene of disaster. After encountering a vio- lent tempest by which the vessels had nearlj^ perished, and escaping more than once from the attacks of pirates. Smith was made prisoner by the commander of a French fleet, who mistook or pretended to mistake him for Captain Argal, and charged him with the guilt of the piratical enterprise which Argal had conducted in the preceding year against Port Royal. * On this unjust charge. Smith was separat ed from his crew, and detained > BooFl-VChapTlI., ante. 124 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK II. long in captivity. It was happy for himself and for mankind that he lived to return to his country and write the history of his travels, instead of reach- ing i\e\v England, where his blood would probably have stained the land wh'u'h his genius and virtue have contributed to illustrate. Several years alierwards [1619], the Plymouth Company, having discovered that an In- dian, named Squanto, one of the persons kidnapped by Hunt, had escaped from the Spaniards, and found his way to Britain, acquitted themselves to Ills satisfaction of the injury he had suffered, enriched him with valuable gifts, and sent hiin back to New England along with a small expedition coinnianded by one Dormer, who was directed to avail himself of Squanto's assistance in regaining the friendship of the Indians. But although Squanto earnestly labored to pacify his abused countrymen, and assured them that Hunt's treachery had been condemned and punished in England, they would hearken to no suggestion that forbade the gratification of their burning re- \enge, and, watching a favorable opportunity, attacked and dangerously wounded Dormer and several of his party, who, escaping with difficulty from the hostile region, left vSquanto behind to urge at more leisure and with better success his topics of apology and conciliation. Disgusted by so many disappointments, the company laid aside all thoughts of establishing colonies in New England. An insignificant traffic bounded their own adventures ; and they exercised no farther dominion over the territory than the distribu- tion of small portions of the northern quarter of it to private adventurers, who occupied them in summer as mercantile factories or victualling statirtns for the use of vessels resorting thither for trade.' We have sufficient assurance that the course of this world is not gov- erned by chance ; and that the series of events which it exhibits is regulated by divine ordinance, and adapted to purposes, which, from their tran- scendent wisdom and infinite rai'ge, often elude the conceptive grasp of created capacity. As it could not, then, be without high design, so it seems to have been for no common object, that discomfiture was thus entailed on the counsels of princes, the schemes of the wise, and the efforts of the brave. It was for no ordinary people that the land was reserved, and of no common qualities or vulgar superiority that it was appointed the prize. New England was the destined asylum of oppressed piety and virtue ; ^ and its colonization, denied to the pretensions of greatness and the efforts of might, ^vas reserved for persons whom the great and mighty despised for their in- significance, and persecuted for their integrity. The recent growth of the Virginian colony, and the repeated attempts to form a settlement in New England, naturally attracted to this quarter the eyes of men who felt little reluctance to abandon a country, where, for conscience's sake, they had already incurred the loss of temporal ease and enjoyment ; whom persecu- tion had fortified to the endurance of hardship, and piety had taught to de- spise it. It was at this juncture accordingly, that the project of colonizing New England was undertaken by the Puritans ; a class of men of whose ori- gin, sentiments, and previous history it is proper that we here subjoin some account. Of all the national churches of Europe, which, at the era of the Refor- mation, renounced the doctrine and revolted from the dominion of the see of Rome, there was none in which the origin of the separation was so dis- creditable, or the proceedings to which it immediately gave rise so unrea- ' Smith. Neal. * "Jupiter iila pise 8ccrcvitIitloragcnti." Horace. CHAP I] TIIF, lUlFOllMATION IN ENGI-AND. 125 ponablo and inrquitablo, as (jjo cluirrh of England.' This arose partly from the c.ircunistaiKO of tho alteralion in this cliuich having mainly originated with the tJMuporal inagistrat«, and partly from thn character of the indi- vidiiiils by whom the interposition of magisterial authority was exerted. In the I'alatinate, in Urandenburg, Holland, (ieneva, and Scotland, where tho reform proceeded from the general conviction, the doctrine and constitution of the national church corresponded with the religious sentiments of the people. The Biblical Christianity taught by Calvin and Luther (with cir- cumstantial varieties, occasioned by variety of human capacity, sensibility, and attainment) superseded the traditional dogmas of the church of Rome ; and the primitive simplicity of the Presbyterian administration (with pro- jjortioiiate varieties, of similar origin) superseded the pageantry of her cere- monial and the pomp of her constitution. In England, the Reformation originating from a different source, its institutions received a tincture from qualities proportionally different. The same haughty and imperious dispo- sition, that prompted Henry the Eighth to abolish the authority of the church of Rome in his dominions, regulated all his views and conduct in construct- ing a substitute for the abrogated system. Abetted by a crew of servile dependents and sordid nobles, whom he enriched with the spoils of the plun- dered monasteries, and by a compliant House of Commons, whose profes- sion of faith veered about with every variation of the royal creed, he neither felt nor affected the slightest respect for the sentiments of the mass of the people, a portion of his subjects to whose petitions he once answered, by a public proclamation, that they were " but brutes and inexpert folk," and as unfit to advise him as blind men were to judge of colors.** His object was to substitute himself and his successors as heads of the church, in place of the pope ; and for the maintenance of this usurped dominion, he retained, both in the ceremonies of worship and in the constitution of the clerical or- der, a great deal of the machinery which his predecessor in the supremacy had found useful. The unbridled vehemence of his temper detracted some- what from the poHcy of his devices, and greatly disguised their aspect as a politic system by that show of good faith and sincerity which accompanied all his actions, and which was but the natural result of sincere and impetuous selfishness, and of a presumptuous and undoubting conviction of the superi- ority of his own understanding and the infallibility of its dictates.^ While he rigidly denied the right of private judgment to his subjects, his own incessant and imperious exercise of this right continually tempted them,^to partake the satisfaction it seemed to afford him ; and the frequent variations of the creeds he promulgated at once excited a spirit of speculation akin to his own, and practically refuted the only pretence that could recommend or entitle his judgment to the implicit assent of fallible men. The pope, expressly maintaining, that, in virtue of his sacred office, he could never be in the ' " The work, which had been begun by Henry, tho murderer of his wives, was continued liy Somerset, the murderer of his brother, and completed by Elizabeth, the murderer of her jruost. Sprung from brutal passion, nurtured by seifish policy, the Reformation in England displaced little of what had in other countries distinguished it, unflinching and unsparing devotion, boldness of speech, and singleness of eye." Edinburgh Revieio. * Lord Herbert's Lije of Henry ihe Eighth. ' The public disputation which he hela with one of his subjects, the noble-minded and un- fortunate Lambert, 'who denied the doctrine of the real presence, was, perhaps, regarded at the time as an act of admirable zeal and most generous condescension. It might have merited this praise, if the horrid death by which he revenged the impotence of his logic did not prove i: io iiavv bcc. on overflowing uf arrogance and vsin-glory. 126 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK 11 wrong, was disabled from correcting either his own errors or those bequeathed to him by his predecessors. Henry, merely ^etending to the privilege of being always in the right, defeated this pretension by the variety and incon- ;sistency ot the systems to which he applied it. While he insisted on retain- ing mucii of the peculiar doctrine of the church of Rome, he attacked, in lis infallibility, a tenet not only important in itself, but the sole sanction and foundation of a great many others. Notwithstanding his desire to restrain it, — nay, promoted, indeed, by some part of his own conduct, — a spirit of religious inquiry began to arise among the multitude of professors who blindlj or interestedly had followed the fortunes and the fluctuations of the royal creed ; and the knowledge of divine truth, combined with a growing regard for simplicity of divine worship, arising first in the higher classes, spread downwards through the successive grades of society in this and the following reigns. The administration of inquisitorial oaths, and the infliction, in va- rious instances, of decapitation, torture, and burning, for the crime of heresy, during Henry's reign, demonstrate how fully he embraced the character as well as the pretensions of the haughtiest pontiffs that ever filled the Romish see,* and how ineffectually he labored to impose his own heterogeneous sys tem of opinions on the understandings of his subjects. Evenjn his lifetime, the Protestant doctrines had spread far beyond the limits of any of the pecu liar creeds which he adopted and promulgated ; and in their illegitiniatt extent made numerous proselytes in his court and kingdom. The propaga- tion of them was aided by the translation and diffusion of the Scriptures, which he vainly endeavoured to prevent, and which enabled his people tc imbibe religious knowledge, unstinted and unadulterated, from its everlasting fountains. The open profession of those illicit opinions was in many in- stances repressed by the terror of his inflexible cruelty, and by the influence over his measures which his lay and clerical courtiers found it easy to ob- tain by feigning implicit submission to his capricious and impetuous temper.^ The temptations which these men were exposed to proved fatal, in some instances, to their integrity ; and several of them (even the vaunted Cran- iner) concurred, though reluctantly, in punishinp; by a cruel death the public avowal of sentiments which they secretly cherished in their own breasts. By the death of Henry the Eighth his Protestant subjects were released from the necessity of farther dissimulation. In the reign of his son, Edward the Sixtli, the Catholic doctrines were wholly expunged from the national creed, and the fundamental articles of the Protestant faith recognized and established by law. As, among other practices of the preceding reign, the absurd and tyrannical device of promoting uniformity of faith and worship by persecution was still pursued,^ the influence of temporal fear and favor contributed, no doubt, to encumber the Protestant church with many reluc- tant and hypocritical professors. In the hope of reconciling the English nation as extensively as possible to the system which they established, the ministers of Edward preserved not only the ecclesiastical constitution whicli Henry had retained, but as much of the ancient ceremonial of worship as they judged likely to gratify the taste and predilections of minds that still hankered after Catholic pageantry. They rather complied in this respect ' One of hie laws (31 Henry VlTl. Cap. 14^ bear« the pregumptuous title of " An act foi ebolishing ditersittj of opinions in certain articlea concerning the ChriBtiqn religion." • Lord Herbert. * « *- 3 Edward VI. C ap. I. Riirnot'a tflmtnru nt lh» ftufitrminlinn. RvnjAf i CHAP. I] RISE OF PURITANISM. 127 with the prevalent temper and disposition of the people, than indulged their own sentiments or followed out their principles ; and plainly insinuated their opinion, that, whenever the public mind was sufficiently prepared for it, a farther reformation should be introduced into the establishment, by inserting a prayer to this purpose in the liturgy.^ But, in the exercise of their tem- porizing policy, the rulers of the English reformed church encountered a spirit of resistance, originating in the Protestant body itself. During the late reign, the disaffection that had been cherished in secret towards the national church was not confined to the doctrines savoring of Popery, which she retained, and which many Protestants connected in their opinion and esteem with the ceremonial rites and clerical habits that had for ages been their inveterate associate and distinctive livery. With their enmity to the doctrines of the Romish church, they combined an aversion to those cere- monies which her ministers had too often rendered subservient to imposture ; which seemed to owe their survivance in the national system to the same cloud of error and superstition that had long sheltered so much doctrinal heresy ; and which diverted the mind from that spiritual worship expressly claimed for the Most High in the Scriptures of truth. These sentiments, which were subsequently developed and ripened into the doctrines of the Puritans, had already taken possession of the minds of some of the English Protestants ; but their operation was yet compara- tively feeble and partial. One of the most remarkable manifestations of their influence that has been transmitted to us was afforded by Bishop Hooper, who, in the reign of Edward, refused to be consecrated to his office in the superstitious habits (as he deemed them) appropriated by the church to the episcopal order. The Protestant opinions of this prelate had ren- dered him an exile from England during the latter part of the preceding reign, and his Puritan sentiments were confirmed by the conversation of the Pres- byterian teachers with whom he associated during his residence abroad. Cranmer and Ridley, who were afterwards his fellow-sufferers under the persecution of Mary, resorted to arguments, threats, entreaties, and im- prisonment, in order to overcome Hooper's objections ; and it was not without great difficulty and reluctance that his rigid spirit condescended to terminate the dispute by a compromise.'' The sentiments which had thus received the sanction of a man distinguished no less by the purity and ele- vation of his character than by the eminence of his station in the church, continued to manifest themselves throughout the short reign of Edward ; and there was scarcely a rite of the established worship, or an article of eccle- siastical apparel, that escaped impugnatlon and contentious discussion.^ The defenders of the controverted practices (or at least the more enlightened of this party) did not pretend thai they were of divine appointment, or in themselves of essential importance. They maintained that they were in themselves inoffensive, and that by long establishment and inveterate asso- ciation they had taken possession of the reverence of the people, and con- tributed to attach their affections to the national worship. They admitted, that, as useless and exotlcal appendages, it was desirable that time and reason should gradually obliterate such practices ; but insisted that it would be botii unwise and illiberal to abolish them abruptly, and at the risk of unhinging the important sentinients with which they had accidentally connected themselves. This reasoninp' was very unsatisfactory to the Puritans, who rejected such > Neat. ?tory * Burnet. Heylin's History of the Reformation. Strype. 128 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK n. temporizing policy as the counsel of lukewarm piety and worldly wisdom, and regarded with abhorrence the mixture of superstitious attractions with the motives to that which should be entirely a reasonable service ;^ and whatever weight the arguments of the prevailing party may be considered to possess, they certainly cannot justify the violent imposition of obser- vances, which their own patrons regarded as indifferent, on persons who deemed them sinful and pernicious. The sentiments of the Puritans, whether supported or not by superior force of reason, were overborne by the force of superior numbers, and might perhaps have gradually died away, if the reign of Edward had been farther prolonged, or his sceptre been transmitted to a Protestant successor. But the reign of Mary was destined at once to purify the Protestant body by separating the true and sound members from tlie false or formal professors, and to radicate every Protestant sentiment by exposing it to the fiery test of tyrannical rage and persecution. The administration of this queen was productive of events that tended to enliven and extend the Puritan sentiments, and at the same time to animate the opposition of some of their adversaries. During the heat of her bloody persecution, many of the English Protestants forsook their country, and sought refuge in the Protestant states of Germany and Switzerland. There, . in regulating for themselves the forms and ordinances of divine worship, their ancient disputes naturally recurred, and were exasperated by the ap- proach of the two parties to an equality of numbers that never before Sib- sisted between them, and protracted by the utter want of a spirit of mutual compliance, and the absence of any tribunal from which an authoritative decision could be obtained. Tiie Puritans beheld with pleasure in the con- tinental churches the establishment of a constitution and ritual which had been the object of tlieir own warm approbation and earnest desire ; and they either composed for themselves a formula of religious association on a similar model, or entered into communion with the churches established in the places where they resided. Their opponents, on the other hand, clung more firmly than ever to their ancient practices ; refused to surrender any one of the institutions of the faith, for the sake of which they had forsaken tlieir country ; and plumed themselves on reproducing, amidst the desola- tion of their church at home, an entire and accurate model of her ordi- nances in the scene of their exile. Both parties were willing to have united in church-fellowship with each other, if either could have yielded in the dis- pute concerning forms of office, habits, and ceremonies. But though each considered itself strongest in faith, neither felt disposed on that account t.o succumb to what it deemed the infirmities of the other ; and though united in the great fundamental points of Christian belief, and associated by the common calamity that rendered them fellow-exiles in a foreign land, their iVuidess controversies separated them more widely than they had ever been before, and inflamed them with mutual dislike and animosity.'' On the death of Mary, both parties returned to England ; the one joyfully expecting to sec their ancient style of worship restored ; the other more firmly wedded to their Puritan sentiments by the opportunity they had obtained of freely in- dulging them, and entertaining (in common with many who had remained at home) an increased antipathy to the habits and ceremonies which the recent ascendency and measures of Catholic bigots forcibly associated with the in Strype. • Neal. CHAP. I] THE ACT OF UNIFORMITY. 129 le to animate The views, of which the Puritans expected the accomplishment from the accession of Elizabeth to the throne, were seconded by the disposition of not a few even of their opponents among the leading Protestant churchmen who had weathered the storm at home. Several of the most distinguished persons of this class expressed the strongest reluctance, in restoring the Protestant constitution, to interweave with its fundamental canons any sub- ordinate or merely ceremonial regulations that might be offensive to men en- deared to them by their common calamity, and so recently associated with them as confessors not merely for the forms but for the very substance of the Christian religion. Some of the Puritans, no doubt, were stiffly bent on reducing the model of the church to a strict conformity with their own peculiar sentiments and standard of propriety ; and some of their opponents were as stoutly resolved to prohibit and suppress every trace of Puritan practice.* The majority, however, as well as the leading members of both parties, were sincerely desirous to promote an accommodation on the prin- ciple of mutual forbearance ; and willingly agreed that the disputed habits and ceremonies should be retained in the church as observances merely of a discretionary and indifferent nature, not to be controverted by the one party nor enforced by the other, but left to be confirmed or abolished, ex- tended or qualified, by the silent progress of sentiment and opinion.^ But these wise and candid concessions were frustrated by the views and temper of the queen; whose authority soon defaced the fair prospect that had arisen of concord and happiness, and involved the people committed to her care in a long and widening scene of strife, malevolence, and misery. Elizabeth inherited the headstrong and arrogant disposition of her father, and his taste for splendid pageantry. And though she was educated with her brother Edward, and her understanding had received a stiong tincture of Protestant opinion, her sentiments inclined her, with manifest bias, in fa- vor of the rites, discipline, and even doctrine of the Catholics ; of every thing, in short, that could lend an imposing aspect to the ecclesiastical estab- lishment of which she was the supreme head, and extend the dominion which she was resolved to maintain over the clergy. She publicly thanked one of her chaplains for preaching ui defence of the Real Presence, and rebuked another for mentioning with little reverence the Catholic notion of an inherent virtue in the symbol of the cross.^ She desired to make the clergy priests, and not preachers ; discouraged their sermons ; and would have interdicted them from marriage, had she not been restrained by the remonstrances of her minister, Lord Burleigh.* Disregarding the wishes and entreaties both of Churchmen and Puritans, she restored King Edward's constitutions, with no other alteration than the omission of a few passages in the liturgy which were offensive to the Catholics ; and caused a law to be framed, com- manding, under the penalties of fine, imprisonment, and deprivation of ministerial office, a strict uniformity of religious worship.' This was the first step in a line of policy which the church of England has had de^^i and lasting cause to deplore, and which, by compelling thousands of her best and ablest ministers reluctantly to forsake her communion, afflicted her with a decay of internal piety, of which the traces continued to be visible after the lapse of many generations. But this law was for some time neither strictly nor generally executed. The queen could not at once find a sufficient number of Msrsons fittf^d Ui ' Nool. » Strype's Life of Parker. VOL. I. 17 Neal. ^ Hevlin. Strypo. « Neal 130 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK II. sustain the dignity of episcopal elevation, and yet willing to become the in- struments of her arbitrary designs ; nor could all her efforts for a while excite general strife and ill-wiU among men, of whom so many, though dif- fering from each other on subordinate points, had but lately been united by community of sentiment and suffering in the noblest cause that can interest human hearts. Her first bench of bishops were not only eager to clear themselves of the reproach of having composed or approved the ex- isting laws,* but, by a general forbearance to exact compliance with them, enabled the Puritan ministers and the practices of Puritanism to obtain a considerable footing in the church. And though she reprimanded the pri- mate, Parker, for his negligence, and at length stimulated him to the exer- tion of some rigor in the execution of the Act of Uniformity, it was far from obtaining general prevalence ; and by various acts of connivance on the one side, and prudent reserve or simulated compliance on the other, the Puritans were enabled to enjoy the semblance of toleration. Their tranquillity was promoted by the accession of Grindall to the primacy. The liberal princi- ples and humane disposition of this man revolted against the tyrannical injus- tice which he was required to administer ; and at the expense of his own temporal liberty and dignity (for the queen disgraced and imprisoned him), he prolonged the duration of lenient policy and the peace of the church.^ At length, on the death of Grindall, the primacy was bestowed on Whit- gift, a man of severe temper, a rigid votary of the established system of ecclesiastical discipUne and policy, and an implacable adversary of the Puri- tans, against whom he had repeatedly directed the hostility of his pen, and now gladly wielded a more formidable weapon. From this period, all the force of the law was spent in uninterrupted efforts to harass the persons or violate the consciences of the Puritans. A great number of Puritan minis- ters were deprived of their benefices ; and many of their parishioners were punished by fine and imprisonment for attending their ministry in the fields and woods, where they continued to exercise it. Vainly were the exertions of wise and good men employed to move the queen, ere yet it was too late, to recede from her fatal pohcy, and stifle the flame of discord which she was essaying to kindle among her people. Burleigh and Walsingham ear- nestly interceded for the suspended ministers ; urging the indulgence due to their conscientious scruples, the humane concern to which their families were entitled, and the respect which sound policy demanded for the senti- ments of that numerous portion of the people by whom they were revered and beloved. The House of Commons, too, showed a desire to procure some relief for the oppressed Puritans. But Whitgift flung himself on his knees before the queen, and implored her to uphold the sinking church, and to admit no alteration of its ritual that would authorize men to say that she had maintained an error.^ His humiliation, most probably, was prompted rather by flattery than fear ; for Elizabeth had shown no inclination what- ever to mitigate an imperious policy so con genial to her own character. ""' InTheirTettcrg to theiTfriondd at home and abroad, they not only reprobate the obnoxious institutions, but promise to withstand them "till they bo sent back to hell, from whence tlicy came to sow discord, confusion, and vain formality in the church. Burnet. Weal. * Strype'g Life of Grindall. Neal. ' Walton, a erettt admirer of this prelate, thus chnractenzes hiB policy with the queen " By justifiable sacred insinuations, such an St. Paul to Agrippa, ' Agrippa, believest thou. » i.i-.- .L_. .1 i.„i;..,„.> • i,„ ..../Mioht (limaoir "mtn an orrnnt a dnffrco of favor With ner, OS, 1 kifioVthat thou believest,' he wrought himself into so great a degree of ny rns piuua astr vt It, ijntii j;-" •" •- s ^''^Vi "i " in that into which they are now both entered. ' Life of Hooker^ world and ofelorv CHAP. I.] MEASURES FOR ENFORCING UNIFORMITY. 131 The exaction of implicit deference to her judgment, and of rigid con- formity to the ecclesiastical model she had preferred, was the result of her early and stubborn choice, and pursued with her usual firmness and vigor of determination. She overbore all opposition ; and the primate and his associates being encouraged to proceed m the course which they had com- menced, their zeal, enlarging as it flowed, soon transported them beyond all bounds of decency and humanity. They were empowered to establish a court of commissioners for the detection of non-conformity, which even the privy council complained of as a copy of the detested tribunal of the In- quisition. By the assistance of this tyrannical engine, they gave freer course to the severities of the law ; and having rendered integrity hazardous, they made prudence unavailing to the Puritans. In vain were they reminded of the maxim of the earliest Christian council, which recommended the impo- sition of no greater burden on the people than the observation of duties undeniably necessary and of primary importance. For the purpose of im- posing a load of ceremonies, which they could not pretend to characterize as essential requisites to salvation, they committed such oppression as ren- dered the ceremonies themselves tenfold more obnoxious to those persons to whom even bdulgent treatment would have failed to recommend them ; and roused the opposition of others, who would willingly have complied with the ceremonial ordinances, if they had been proposed to them merely as matters of convenient observance, but revolted from them, as fraught with danger and mischief, when it was attempted to bind them on the conscience, and place them on a level with the most sacred obligations. The chief fruits of this increased severity were the enkindling of much additional zeal and fervor in the minds of the Puritans ; the multiplication of their numbers, by the powerful influence of sympathy with their courage and compassion for their sufferings ; and a growing abhorrence among them of the order of bishops and the whole frame of a church which to them was an organ of injustice and tyranny. It is certain that all or almost all the Puritans of those times were at first averse to separate from the church of England ; and their ministers were still more reluctant to abet a schism and renounce their preferments. They willuigly recognized in her the character of a true Christiaji church, and merely claimed for themselves indulgence with regard to a few ceremonies which did not affect the substance of her constitution. But the injurious treatment which they received held forth a premium to very different considerations, and at once aroused their pas- sions, stimulated, their inquiries, and extended their arguments and objec- tions. Expelled from fellowship with the national church, they were forci- bly invited to inquire If they could not dispense with that which they found they could not obtain ; and were easily led to question if the genuine fea- tures of a Christian chiurch could be recognized in that society which not only rejected but persecuted them for conscientious adherence, in a matter of ceremonial observance, to what they believed to be the manifest will of God. As the Puritan principles spread through the mass of society, and encountered in their progress a greater variety of character in their votaries and of treatment from their adversaries, considerable varieties and inequali- ties of sentiment and conduct appeared in different portions of the Puritan body. Some of them caught the spirit of thair oppressors, and, in words the doctrines of the New with the practices of the Old Testament, in a man- 132 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK II. ner which will not excite the wonder of those who recollect that some of the very earliest votaries of Christianity in the world comnutted the same error, and so far forgot the meekness they had been commanded to evmce, as even in the presence of their Divine Master to propose the invocation of fire from heaven on the men who rejected their society. But the instances of this spirit were at first exceedingly rare ; and it was not till the following reigns that it prevailed either strongly or widely. In general, the oppressed Puri- tans conducted themselves with the fortitude of heroes and the patience of saints ; and, what is surprising, they made more zealous and successful efforts to preserve their loyalty than the queen and the bishops did to ex- tinguish it. Many, in defiance of every danger, followed the preaching of their favorite ministers into the highways and fields, or assembled privately m conventicles, which the general sympathy, or the connivance of their secret partisans among the adherents of the ecclesiastical establishment, sometimes preserved from detection. Others reluctantljr tarried withm the pale of the national church, unweariedly pursuing their ineffectual attempts to promote parliamentary interference in behalf of the Puritan cause, and casting a wistful eye on the presumptive succession of a prince who was educated in a Presbyterian society. Some, at length, openly disclaimed the national system, and were led by the cruel excesses of magisterial power to the conviction, that magisterial power ought to be banished entirely froip the administration of the kingdom of Christ.^ , , , , , The designs of the queen were cordially abetted by the angry zeal of those Churchmen who had fled from England in the preceding reign, and taken part in the controversy that arose with the Puritans during their com- mon exile. But the whole civil and ecclesiastical policy of the present reign was mainly and essentially the offspring of Elizabeth's own character and disposition. The Puritan writers, bestowing an undue proportion of their resentment on those persons whose functions rendered them the instru- ments as well as the apologists of the queen's ecclesiastical system, have been disposed to impute the tjTannical features of this system exclusively to the bishops, and particularly to Whitgift, whose influence with Elizabeth they ascribe to his constant habit of addressing her on his knees. But Whitgift, in seconding her enmity to the Puritans, did no more than suh- minister to her favorite and declared purpose ; with zeal half courtly, half clerical, he flattered a temper which she had already unequivocally mani- fested, and swam with tlie stream of that resolute determination, which, he saw, would have its way. The abject homage which he paid her was nothing more than she was accustomed generally to receive ; and the obser- vation which it has attracted from the Puritans denotes rather a peculiarity in their own sentiments and manners, than any thing remarkable in the con- duct of their ecclesiastical adversary. Not one of her subjects was permitted to address the queen without kneehng ; wherever she turned her eye, every one was expected to fall on his knees ; and even in her absence, the nobles, who were alone deemed worthy to cover her table, made three genuflec- tions every time they approached or retired from it in the performance of their menial duty.^ This was an exact counterpart of the homage rendered by the CathoHcs to the Real Presence, which they beheved to reside m the I fi«.^no'. IJf. nt WhUttiti FiiHcr's Church History. Neul. ' Kctt\. » UeTa7.ner'B Joiirney into England in I5SW. Mt.ch'of this abject reremoninl w«» aboi.»lH-.i by King James, who, though liiehly relishing adulation, found himself embarrassed by a modi of displaying it so ill suited to liis awkward manners and ungainly appearance. CHAP. I] LIBERAL PRINCIPLES OF THE PURITANS. Ids Host ; and the sentiments which it tended to implant, both in the prince who received and the subjects who profFered it, were confirmed by the language of parliament, in which the queen was continually flattered with attributes and praise befitting the homage of creatures to their Creator. Nor was this servile system of manners peculiar to the reign of Elizabeth. On the contrary, it was carried even to a greater extent under the govern- ment of her predecessors ; and her ministers frequently noted and deplored the decay of that fearfulness and reverence of their superiors which had for- merly characterized the inferior estates of the realm.' Sense and reason shared tlie ignominy and degradation of manners ; arrogance disordered the understanding of the prince, while servility deformed the sentiments of the people ; and if Henry the Eighth, by a royal proclamation, assured the populace that they were brutes, — the same populace, in their petitions against his measures, represented the promotion oi low-born persons to pub- lic trust and honor as one of the most serious and intolerable grievances of which they had reason to complain.* The sentiments which such practices and manners tended to create or nourish in the mind of the queen enhanced the displeasure with which she regarded the Puritans, who were fated to offend her by their political con- duct, as well as their religious opinions. Many persons of note among them obtained seats in parliament, where they studied to cherish and invigorate a spirit of liberty, and direct its energy to the protection of their persecuted brethren. Impelled, by the severity of the restraints they experienced, to investigate the boundaries of that authority by which such restraints were imposed, — and regulating their sentiments rather by the consequences they foresaw than by the precedents they remembered, — they questioned the rational legitimacy of the most inveterate practices, and obtained the con- fidence of the people by showing themselves the indefatigable and fearless defenders of all who were oppressed. In the annals of those times, we find them continually supporting petitions in parliament against monopolies, and advocating propositions for reformation of ecclesiastical abuses and corrup- tions. Attracting popular favor, and willing to undergo the labor of parlia- mentary service, they gradually multiplied their numbers in the House of (commons, and acquired an ascendant over its deHberations. The queen, observing that the Puritans were the sole abettors of measures calculated to restrict her prerogative, was easily led to ascribe the peculiarity of their re- ligious and political opinions to the same source, — a malignant aversion to exalted rank, and mutinous impatience of subordination. Their reluctance to render to the Deity that ceremonious homage which she herself received from the most illustrious persons in the land, and their inclination to curtail the royal authority, which from no other quarter experienced resistance, seemed to her the manifest proofs of an insolent disregard no less of the Supreme Being than of her, his acknowledged vicegerent and representative, — a presumptuous insurrection of spirit against the reverence due to God and the loyalty due to the prince.^ ' Hayne's Collection of State Papers. ' Lord Herbert. ' In a speech from the throne, she informed the Commons (after a candid confession that she knew nobody who had read or reflected as much as herself), that whoever attacked the (onstitutions of the church slandered her as its supreme head, divinely appointed; and that, if the Papists were inveterate enemies to her person, the modern sectaries were no less for- midable to all regal government. She added, that she was determined to suppress their over- Doiduuw ill uresuiiiptuously scanning the will of God Almighty. D'Ewes's 'Account of Queen Elizabeth's Parliaments. The cruel law that was passed in the thirty-fifth year of the queen'i 134 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOR 11. '1- Nothing could be more unjust and fallacious than this royal reasoning. The religion as well as the loyalty of the Puritans was the less ceremonious, only because it was the more reflective, profound, and substantial. To jpre- serve an unstained conscience, they encountered the extremities of ecclesi- astical rigor. Notwithstanding the most oppressive and tyrannical treatment, they exhibited a resolute constancy of regard to their sovereign. And nei- tlier intimidated by danger nor dispirited by defeat, they maintained a con- tinual effort to check the excesses of despotic authority, and to rear and sustain the infant liberties of their country. They have incurred the re- proach of gloomy and unseasonable melancholy from those who rendered their lives at once bitter and precarious ; of a neglect of general literature, and an exclusive study of the Bible, from those who destroyed their writ- ings, subjected the press to episcopal licensers, and deprived them of every source of comfort and direction but what the Bible could supply ; of an ex- aggerated estimate of little matters, from those who rendered such matters the occasion of cruel suffering and enormous wrong to them ; of a stern jealousy of civil power, from those who made it continually their interest to question and abridge the authority by which they were oppressed. A great philosopher and historian, who will not be suspected of any undue partiality for Puritan tenets, whether religious or political, has been constrained to acknowledge that the Puritans were the preservers of civi' and religious liberty in England.^ It was a scion of the same stock that was destinW to propagate these blessings in America. The minds of a numerous party among the Puritans had been gradually prepared to disclaim the authority of the national church, and to deny the lawfubess of holding communion with it ; insomuch, that, when these senti- ments were first publicly proclaimed by Robert Brown, m 1586, they readily gained the assent and open profession of mulatudes. Brown, who obtained the distinction of bestowing hre name on a sect which derived very little credit from the appellation, was a young clergyman of good family, endowed with a restless, intrepid disposition, a fiery temper, and an insatiable thirst for controversy. Encountering the wrath of ecclesiastics with still fiercer wrath, and trampling on their arrogance with more than clerical pride, he roamed about the country, inveighing against bishops, ecclesiastical courts, religious cerehionies, and episcopal ordination of ministers, and exulting, above all, in the boast that he had been committed to thirty-mo prisons, m some of which he could not discern his hand at noonday. His impetuous and illiberal spirit accelerated the publication of opinions which were not yet matured in the Puritan body, and which, but for his unseasonable rcisn, against all ecclesiasticul recusants, is entitled "An Act t retain hor Majesty's Subjects in Theirdue Obedience," and was intended, as the preamble declares, to repress the evil prac ticos of "sectaries and disloyal persons," - synonymous descnpUons of guilt, in the estimation "'"i^u sf abrolute, indeed, waa the authority of the crown, tliat.the precious spark of liberty had been kindled and was preserved by the Puritans alone ; and it was to »»•« sect, whose principles appear so frivolous and habits so ridicuous, that the Engl^h owe the whole freedom Sf the'ir consUtution." Hume's England. Again, " It was only during he «"» K«n^ « '» that the noble principles of liberty took root, and, spreading themselves under the shelter of Puritanical absurdities, became fashionable among the people. Ibid. In a well known passage, Hume has represented the domestic leisure and social convex of the Puritan leaders as polluted by a harfcarous sullenncss, vulgarit; and [«n««''l"™ ' J".^ unjustly, as every one must have felt, who, in reading the Mfrnotrs o/ Cohnd ^«'f '«*««- f"; j.-L-j'^»„. »l.- U^V.^htM nip.ur« thev present of case and leisure devoted to elegant studies. Virtuous pursuits, ureful wicupations', polite amusements, rational converse, avid che«rtui hoapitality. CHAP. I ] RISE OF THE BROWNISTS. 135 interposition and perverting influence, might sooner have been ripened into the system of the Independents. The queen and the bishops applied the usual remedy of persecution to this innovation, with even more than the usual evidence ot the unfitness of such instrumentality to accomplish their purpose. Supported by strong argument, maintained with striking zeal and courage, and opposed by cruelties that disgraced the name of religion, the principles of the Brownists spread widely through the land. Brown him- self, and a congregation more immediately attached to him, expatriated to Miildelburg, in Zeeland, where they were permitted to express and culti- vate their opinions without molestation. But Brown had collected around him spirits oo congenial to his own to preserve their union when the iron band of oppression was withdrawn. The congregation crumbled into par- ties, and was soon dissolved ; and Brown, returning to England, rejoined the national church, and, contracting dissolute habits, ended his days in indolence and contempt. But the doctrines which he had been the means of introducing to public notice had firmly rooted themselves in the Puritan body, and received daily accessions to the numbers and respectability of the r votaries.^ The Brownists did not dissent from the church of England in any of her articles of faith, but they accounted her ritual and discipline unscriptural and superstitious, and all her sacraments and ordinances invalid ; and they re- nounced communion not only with her, but with every other Protestant church that was not constructed on the same model as their own. Their ecclesiastical model was derived from the closest imitation of the apostolical institutions as delineated in Scripture. When a church or congregation was to be formed, all the persons who desired to be members of it professed the particulars of their religious faith in each other's presence, and signed a covenant by which they obliged themselves to make the Bible and its or- dinances the sole guide of their conduct. Each congregation formed an independent church, and the admission or exclusion of members resided with the brethren composing it. Their ecclesiastical ofiicers were elected from among themselves, and invested with their several charges of preaching the gospel, administering the sacram.ental ordinances, and relieving the poor, — after fasting and prayer, by the imposition of the hands of certain of the brethren. They did not account the priesthood a distinct order, nor the ministerial character indelible ; but deemed, that, as the appointment of the church conferred on a minister his function (which in its exercise, too, was limited to the special body to which he was attached), so the same au- thority was sufficient to deprive him of it. It was permitted to any one of the brethren to exercise the liberty of prophesying, which meant the address- ing of occasional exhortation to the people ; and it was usual for some of them, after the customary religious service, to promulgate questions and considerations relative to the doctrines that had been preached.** The con- dition to which the Puritans were reduced by their oppressors favored the prevalence of all that was separative and unsocial in the principles of the Brownist teachers ; for, as they could assemble only by stealth, it was im- possible to preserve a regular intercourse between their churches, or to ascertain how far they mutually agreed in doctrine and discipline. Against these men, in whose characters were united more piety, virtue, pnurnfo nnd Invaltv tVinn ax>v Other nnrtion of her neonlfi disnlaved,' did ■ ^1 FuTlerr~NeaI. • Neal. 186 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. f BOOK il. Elizabeth and her ecclesiastical counsellors direct the whole fury of the law. John Udall, one of their ministers, was tried in the year 1591, for having published a defence of tl.eir tenets, which he entitled, w3 Demonstration of the Discipline which Christ hath prescribed in his Word for the Govern- ment of the Church in all Times and Places until the fVorld^s End. This j)erformance, consistently with Elizabeth's maxim, that whoever attacked the established church slandered the queen, was regarded as a political libel, and Udall was arraigned on a charge of capital felony. In conformity with the barbarous jurisprudence which then prevailed in England, the witnesses against the prisoner were not confronted with him ; his proposition to adduce exculpatory evidence was disallowed, as an affront to the majesty of the crown ; and because he refused at the bar to swear that he was not tlie author of the book, his refusal was urged against him as the strongest proof of his guilt. When he was told by one of the judges that a book re- plete with sentiments so inconsistent with the established institutions tended to the overthrow of the state by the provocation of rebellion, he replied, " My Lords, that be far from nie ; for we teach, that, reforming things amiss, if the prince will not consent, the weapons that subjects are to fight withal, are repentance and prayers, patience and tears." The judge offered him his life, if he would recant ; and added, that he was now ready to pronounce sentence of death. " And I am ready to receive it," exclaimed this magnanimous man ; " for I protest before God (not knowing that I have to live an hour) that the cause is good ; and I am contented to receive s°n- tence, so that I may leave it to posterity how I have suffered for the cause. "1 He was condemned to die ; and being still urged to submit to the queen, he readily expressed his regret that any of his writings had given her offence, and disclaimed any such wish or intention, but firmly refused to dis- own what he believed lo be truth, or to renounce liberty of conscience. By the interest of some powerful friends, a conditional pardon was obtained for him ; but before the terms of it could be adjusted, or the queen prevailed on to sign it, he died in prison. Penry, Greenwood, Banow, and Dennis, of whom the first two were clergymen, and the others laymen, were soon after tried on similar charges, and perished by the hands of the executioner. A pardon was offered to them, if they would retract their profession ; but, inspired by a courage which no earthly motive could overcome, they clung to their principles, and left the care of their lives to Heaven. Some more were hanged for dispersing the writings, and several for attending the discourses, of the Brownists. Many others endured the torture of severe imprisonment, and numerous families were reduced to indigence by heavy fines. ^ Who could doubt the final triumph of a cause that already produced so noble an army of heroes and martyrs ? As the most virtuous and honorable are ever, on such occa- sions, most exposed to danger, every stroke of the oppressor's arm is aimed at those very qualities in his adversaries that constitute his own defence and security ; and hence, severities, so odious to mankind, and so calculated to unite by a strong sympathy the minds of the spectators and the sufferers, ' HoweH's State Trialt. It is remarkable, that, although one devoted victim of royal vcn- gnnnce and persecution (Sir Nicholas Thropnorton) was enabled to escape during tne reign of Mary, not one of the objects of Elizabeth b hostility was equally fortunate. A great addition to the power, aa well as the pretensions, of the first Protestant sovereigns of England wna derived from their assumption of the ecclesiastical supremacy previously ascribed to the * Strype's Ufe of Hliitgift. Fuller. Noel CHAP. 1 ] PERSECUTION OF THE PURITANS. 137 are more likely to diminish the virtue than the numbers of a party. By (lint ol' Jong continuance and of the exertion of their influence on a greater variety of human cliaracter, they finally divested a great many of the Puritans of the spirit of meekness and non-resistance for which the fathers of the party had been so highly distinguished. But this fruit was not gathered till a subsequent reign ; and the first eflfect of the system of rigor was not only to multiply the numbers, but to confirm tlie virtue of the Puritans. When persecution had as yet but invigorated their fortitude without inspiring fero- city, a portion of this people was happily conducted to the retreat of Ameri- there to plant and extend the principles of their cause, — while their ca, _ ^_ brethren in England remained behind to revenge its accumulated wrongs. When the queen was informed, by Dr. Reynolds, of the firm and ele- vated, yet mild and gentle, piety which the martyrs of her cruelty had dis- played, — how they blessed their persecuting sovereign, and turned the scaffolds to which she consigned them into scenes of holy charity, whence ihey prayed for her long and happy reign, — her heart was touched with a sentiment of remorse, and she expressed regret for having taken their lives away. But repentance with all mankind is too often but a fruitless anguish ; and princcr' have been known to bewail, even with tears, the mortal con- dition of multitudes whom they were conducting to slaughter, and the brevity of that life which their own selfish and sanguinary ambition was contributing still farther to abridge. Elizabeth, so far from alleviating, increased, the legislative severities whose effects she had deplored ; and was fated never to see her errors, till it was too late to repair them. In the year 1593, a few months after the executions which we have remarked, a new and se- verer law was enacted against the Puritans. These sectaries were not only increasing their numbers every day, but furnishing so many votaries of the Brownist or Independent doctrines, that, in the debate which took place in the House of Commons on the introduction of this measure. Sir Walter Raleigh stated that the number of professed Brownists alone then amountf.tl to twenty thousand. The humane argument, however, which he derived from this consideration, was unavailing to prevent the enactment of a law,^ which ordained, that any person above sixteen years of age, who obstinately refused, during the space of a month, to attend public worship in a legiti- mate parochial church, should be committed to prison ; that, if he persisted three months in his refusal, he must abjure the realm ; and that, if he either refused this condition, or returned after banishment, he should suffer death as a felon. If this act was not more fortunate than its predecessors in ac- complishing the main object of checking the growth of Puritan principles, it promoted at least the subordinate purpose of driving a great many of the professors of ecclesiastical independency out of England. A nqpierous society of these fugitives was collected, about the close of the sixteenth century, at Amsterdam, where they flourished in peace and piety for upwards of a hundred years. Others retired to various Protestant states on the continent, whence, with fond, delusive hope, they looked to be recalled to their native land on the accession of Elizabeth's successor. The remainder continued in England, to fluctuate between the evasion and the violation of the law, — cherishing along with their principles a stern im- ' ST) Eliz. Cap. 1. Raleigh was not the only favorite of Elizabeth who was opposed to bn ecclesiastical policy. One of the causes of her displeasure at Lord Essex was the counte- n^rire ■■- gave to iiio Puritans, who had jfrcvitms!}- received still more active patronage from her haughty ininibn, Lord Leicester. Walton's Life of Hooktr. VOL. I. 18 138 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK n ii patience, generated by the galling restraint that impeded the free expression of them ; and yet retained in submission by the hope, which, in common with the exiles, they indulged, of a mitigation of their sufferings on the de- mise of the queen.' Some historians have expressed surprise at the close concurrence of that general and impatient desire of a new reign, which was manifested in the conclusion of Elizabeth's life," with the strong and sudden disgust which the government of her successor experienced ; and hence have taken occasion, with censorious but inappUcable wisdom, to deplore the in- gratitude and fickleness of mankind. But the seeming inconsistency admits of an explanation more honorable to human nature, though less creditable to royal wisdom and virtue. Elizabeth had exhausted the patience and loyalty of a great portion of her subjects ; and the adherence to her policy, whicli her successor unexpectedly manifested, disappointed all the hopes by which those virtues had been sustained. The hopes of the Puritans were derived from the education of the Scot- tish king, and supported by many of his declarations, which were eagerly cited and circulated in England. James (pupil of the great George Bu- chanan, who succeeded no farther than in rendering the object of his tuition, what Sully termed him, the wisest fool in Europe) was bred a Presbyterian ; he had publicly declared that the church of Scotland was the best ecclesi astical constitution in the world, and that the English liturgy resembled, to his apprehension, an ill-chanted mass. On his accession to the English he was solicited by numerous petitions to interpose his authority for crown. the protection and relief of the Puritans ; and at first he showed himself so far disposed to comply with their wishes as to appoint a solemn conference between their leaders and the heads of the Church party at Hampton Court. But the hopes inspired by the proposition of this conference were disap- pointed by its result. [Jan. 1604.] If James ever sincerely preferred a Presbyterian to an Episcopal establishment, his opinion was entirely re- versed by the opportunity he now enjoyed of comparing them with each other, and by the very different treatment he experienced from their respec- tive ministers. In Scotland he had been engaged in perpetual contentions with the clergy, who did not recognize in his kingly office any supremacy over their church, and who differed from him exceedingly in their estimate of his piety, ca- pacity, and attainments. Precluded by his poverty from a display of regal pomp, that might have dazzled their eyes, and hid the weakness of the man behind the grandeur of the monarch, he stood plainly revealed to their keen glance, an awkward personification of conceit and pedantry, obstinate but unsteady, filled with the rubbish and subtilty of scholastic learning, void of manly sense and useful knowledge. They have been accused, and not with- out reason, of disturbing his government by exercising a censorial power over it ; but it was he himself that first taught, or at least encouraged, them thus to overstep their functions. Extending his administration into their peculiar province, where it had no right to penetrate, he seemed to sanction as well as provoke their retributive strictures on his intrusion. Mingling re- ligious notions with his political views, he attempted to remodel the church ; and the clergy, mingling political doctrines with their theological sentiments, complained of his interference, and censured the whole strain of his govern- ment. In an appeal to the public opinion an d will, they easily triumphed ' Strype's Lt/e of Whitgijt. D'Ewes. Neal. » " Four dnys aAur her death, she was forgotten." Carte's England CHAP. I ] ECCLESIASTICAL POLICY OF JAMES I. 139 over the unpopular pretensions of their feeble sovereign, and gained a vic- tory which tliey used witli little moderation, and vvliicb lie resented not less as a theological than as a political affront. One of the ministers of the church of Scotland had so far transgressed the limits of decency and pro- priety as to declare publicly that " all kings are tlie Devil's children " ; ' and James retorted the discourtesy, when he found himself safe from their spleen and turbulence in England, by warmly protesting that " a Scottish presbytery agrees as Well with monarchy as God and the Devil.'"* The sentiments Uiat naturally resulted from offended arrogance and mortified pre- sumption were expanded to their amplest plenitude by the blaze of flattery and adulation with which tlie dignitaries of the English church greeted their new sovereign. By them he was readily hailed the supreme head of their establishment, the protector of its privileges, the centre of its splendor, the fountain of its dignities ; and Whitgift did not scruple to declare, in the con- ference at Hampton Court, that undoubtedly his JHajesty spake by the special assistance of God^s spirit.'^ This was the last impulse that the deluded ecclesiastic was destined to impart to royal pride and folly. Confounded at tlie wide and spreading explosion of Puritan sentiment, which he had flattered himself with the hope of having almost entirely extinguished, his grief and concern so vio- lently affected his aged frame as to cause his death very shortly after. Lt'eb. 1604.] But he had already contributed to instil the ecclesiastical spirit of Ehzabeth into tiie mind of her successor ; and James, inflamed with admiration of a church, which, like a faithful miiTor (he thought), so justly reflected and illustrated his royal perfections, became henceforward the de- termined patron of the church of England, and the persecutor of all who opposed her institutions. He was the first prince who assumed the title of Sacred Majesty, which the loyalty of bishops transferred from their God to their king. His natural conceit, fortified l9y the testimony of the English prelates, soared to a height of surpassing arrogance and presumption ; and he, who, in Scotland, liad found himself curbed in every attempt to interfere with the religious institutions of his own narrow realm, now reckoned himself qualified and entitled to dictate the ecclesiastical policy of foreign nations. Engaging in a dispute with Vorstius, professor of theology in a Dutch university, and finding his adversary insensible to the weight of his argu- ments, he resolved to make him feel at least the weight and the stretch of his power ; and, roused on this occasion to a degree of energy and haughti- ness to which no other foreign concernment was ever able to excite him, he remonstrated so strenuously with the States of Holland, that, to silence his clamor, they stooped to the mean injustice of deposing and banishing the professor. With this sacrifice to his insulted logic James was forced to be contented, though he had endeavoured to inspire his allies with the purpose of more sanguinary vindication, by acquainting them, " that, as to the burning of Vorstius for his blasphemies and atheism, he left them to their own Christian wisdom, — though, surely, never heretic better deserved the flames." He did not fail to reinforce this charitable counsel by his own example ; and in the course of his reign burned at the stake two persons who entertained the Arian system of doctrin e,^ and an unfortunate lunatic "' SDottiBwoodG^ * Fuller. ' Kennet. * One of theM victims is termed by Fuller, in his Churek History, " our English VoreUus. 140 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK II. who mistook himself for the Deity, and whose frenzy was thus cruelly treated by a much more dangerous and deliberate invader of diviue at- tributes. If James had not been restrained by the growing political ascendency of the Puritans, there would probably have been more of such executions in England. He did, however, as much as he dared ; and finding in Bancroft H fit successor to Whitgift, he made, with his assistance, so vigorous a com- mencement, that in the second year of his reign three hundred Puritan min- isters were deprived of their benefices, and either imprisoned or banished. To preclude the communication of light from abroad, the importation of any books hostile to the restraints imposed by the laws of the realm or the king's proclamations was forbidden under the severest penalties ; to prevent its rise and repress its spread at home, no books were suffered to be printed in England without the license of a committee of bishops or their deputies ; and arbitrary jurisdictions for the trial of ecclesiastical offences were multi- plied and extended. Persons suspected of entertaining Puritan sentiments, even though they adhered to the established ecclesiastical system, were sub- jected to fine and imprisonment for barely repeating to their families, in the evening, the substance of the discourses they had heard at church during the day, — under the pretence, that this constituted the crime of irregular preaching. One Peacham, a Puritan minister, in whose study there was seized, by a tyrannical stretch of power, a manuscript discourse never preached, nor intended to be preached, containing censures on the toyal government, was, by the king's desire, first tortured on the rack, and then condemned to the death of a traitor. Some of the Puritans having conceived the design of withdrawing to Vir- ginia, where they hoped that distance would at least mitigate the violence of oppression, a small party of them did actually repair thither ; and a larger number were preparing to follow, when Bancroft, apprized of their intention, obtained a proclamation from the king, commanding that none of his subjects should settle in Virginia without the authority of an express license under the great seal. [1620.] Thus harassed and oppressed in Eng- land, and denied a refuge in Virginia, the Puritans began to retire in con- siderable numbers to the Protestant states of the continent of Europe ; and the hopes of the still greater and increasing portion that remained at home W3re fixed on the House of Commons. In this assembly the Puritan as- cendency at length bacame so manifest, that, in spite of the king's procla- mations for encouraging mirthful games on Sunday, a bill was introduced for compelling a more strict and solemn observance of the day, to which it gave the denomination of the Sabbath ; and when one member objected to this as a Puritan appellation, and ventured to justify dancing on Sunday by a jocose misapplication of some passages of Scripture, he was, on the sugges- tion of Pym, expelled from the House for his profanity.' But we have now reached the period at which we forsake the main stream of the history of the Puritans, to follow the fortunes of that illustrious branch which was des- tined to visit and ennoble the deserts of America. In reviewing the strange succession of events which we have beheld, and the various impressions they have produced on our minds, it may perhaps occur to some, as a The king, in itiitation of Henry the I'lghth's grnerogity to Lambert, held a personal dispute with him. and concluded it by ilelivering him into the hands of the executicnor. I K- Jainei'f ffor/u. Journals of lite Jlousc of Cummons. llyiuer. iSciU. tiiith's Virgm'' Smt Trial!. CHAP. I.] RELIGIOUS VIEWS OF JOHN ROBINSON. 141 jraonal dispute humiliating consideration, that the crimes and follies, the cruelties and weak- nes.ses, which would excite no other sentiments but horror, grief, or pity in an angelic beholder, are capable of presenting themselves in such an aspect to less purified eyes, as to excite the splenetic mirth even of beings whose nature is reproached by the odious or absurd display. In the year 1610, a congregation of Brownists, expelled by royal and ecclesiastical tyranny from their native land, removed to Leyden, where they were permitted to establish themselves in peace under the ministry of their pastor, John Robinson.^ This excellent person may be justly re- garded as the founder of the society of Independents, having been the first teacher who steered a middle course between the narrow path of Browriism and the broader Presbyterian system ; to one or other of which the views and inclinations of the Puritans were now generally tending. The sentiments which he entertained, when he first quitted his country, bore the impress of the persecution under which they had been formed, and when\ he com- menced his ministry at Leyden he was a rigid Brownist ; but after he had seen more of the world, and enjoyed opportunities of familiar converse with learned and good men of different ecclesiastical denominations, he began to entertain a more charitable opinion of those minor differences, which he plainly perceived might subsist without injury to the essentials of religion, and without violating charity or generating discord. Though he always maintained the legitimacy and expediency of separating from the established Protestant churches in the country where he lived, he willingly allowed them the character of churches substantially Christian ; esteemed it lawful to unite with them in preaching and prayer ; and freely admitted their mem- bers to partake the sacrament of the Lora's Supper with his own congrega- tion. He considered that each particular church or society of Christians possessed the power of electing its oflficers, administering the gospel ordi- nances, and exercising over its own members every necessary act of disci- pline and authority ; and, consequently, that it was independent of all eccle- siastical synods, convocations, and councils. He admitted the expediency of synods and councils for composition of emergent differences between particular churches by the communication of friendly advice to them ; but df3nied their competence to exercise any act of jurisdiction, or authoritatively to impose any articles or canons of doctrine. These sentiments Robinson recommended to esteem, by exemplifying in his life and demeanour the best fruits of that divine spirit by whose tuition they were imparted, — by a char- acter and behaviour, in which the most eminent faculties and the highest attainments were leavened and controlled by the predominating influence of a solemn, affectionate piety.** [1620.] Enjoying the counsel and direction of such a pastor, and entertaining a just sense of his value, the English exiles composing this congregation re- mained for ten years at Leyden, in harmony with each other and in peace with their neighbours. But at the end of that period, the same pious views that had prompted their original departure from England incited them to undertake a more distant migration. * They beheld with strong concern the prevalence around them of manneis which they esteemed loose and orofane: more particularly, the general neglect among th e Dutch of a revereniiai ' Cardinal Bcntivoglio, in hia Account of the United Provinces, describes these exiles as a hod'j of F.\\fflisk ksrttics. called Puritans who had resorted to Holland for purposes of commerce •'Mather's Ecciesiasiical History of JN'eio England. Neal. Robinson'B Jifoiogy for tht Brownints. 142 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK II. observance of Sunday ; and they reflected with apprehension on the danger to which their children were exposed from the natural contagion of habits so inimical to serious piety. Their country, too, still retained a hold on their affections ; and they were loath to behold their posterity commingled and identified with the Dutch population. The smallness of their numbers, to- getlier with the difficulties occasioned by difference of language, discour- aged them from attempting to propagate in Holland the principles, which with so much peril and suffering, they had hitherto maintained ; and the con- duct of the English government extinguished every hope of toleration in their native land. The famous Arminian Controversy^ moreover, which was now raging in Holland with a fury that produced the barbarous execu- tion of the Grand Pensionary Barneveldt and the imprisonment of the illus- trious Grotius, probably contributed to alienate the desires of the English exiles from farther residence in a land where the Calvinistic tenets which they cherished were thus disgraced by practical cruel.y and intolerance. In these circumstances, it occurred to them that they might combine the in- dulgence of their patriotic attachment with the propagation of their religious principles, by estaWishing themselves in some remote, sequestered part of the British dominions ; and after many days of earnest supplication for tlie counsel and direction of Heaven, they unanimously determined to transport themselves and their families to the territory of America. It was resolved that a select portion of the congregation should proceed thither befotre the rest, to prepare a settlement for tlie whole ; and that the main body hiean- while should continue at Leyden with their pastor. In choosing the partic- ular scene of their establishment, they hesitated for some time between the territory of Guiana, of which Sir Walter Raleigh had published a most daz- zling and attractive description (mainly the offspring of his own lively and fertile imagination) , and the province of Virginia, to which they finally gave the preference ; but Providence had ordained that their residence should be established in New England. By the intervention of agents, whom they deputed to, solicit the sanction of the English government to their enterprise, they represented to liie king, " that they were well weaned from the delicate milk of their mother coun- try, and inured to the difficulties of a strange land ; that they were knit to- g»!ther in a strict and sacred bond, by virtue of which they held themselves bound to take care of the good of each other and of the whole ; and that it was not with them as with other men, whom small things could discourage, or small discontent cause to wish themselves at home again." The king, wavering between his desire to promote the colonization of America, and his reluctance to suffer the consciences of any portion of his subjects to he emancipated from his control, refused to grant them a charter assuring the full enjoyment of ecclesiastical liberty, but promised to connive at their practices, and to refrain from molesting tliem. They were forced to accept tliis precarious security, and would hardly have obtained it but for the friendly interposition of Sir Robert Nanton, one of the secretaries of state, and a favorer of the Puritans ; but they relied with more reason on their distance from the ecclesiastical tribunals of England, and from the eye and arm of their persecuting sovereign. Having procured from the Plymouth Company a grant of a tract of land, situated, as was supposed, within the limits of its oatent, some memheps of the congregation sold their estates-, and expended the purchase-money in the equipment of two vessels, in which [BOOK n I CHAP. I] ROBINSON'S EXHORTATION TO THE EMIGRANTS. 143 a hundred and twenty of their number were appointed to embark from an English port for North America.^ [1620.] All things being prepared for the departure of this detachment of the congregation from Delft Haven, where they took leave of their associates, for the English port of ultimate embarkation, Robinson and his people de- voted their last meeting in Europe to an act of solemn and social worship, intended to implore a blessing from Heaven upon the hazardous enterprise. He preached a sermon to them from Ezra viii. 21 : — I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict our$elves before our God^ to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance ; — and concluded his discourse with the following exhortation, to which, with the fullest perception of its intrinsic merits, our sentiments will fail to do justice, unless we remember tliat such a spirit of Christian candor and liberality as it breathes was then hardly known in the world. "Brethren," said he, "we are now quickly to part from one another, and whether I may ever live to see your faces on earth any more the God of heaven only knows ; but whether the Lord has appointed that or no, I charge you, before God and his blessed angels, that you follow me no far- ther than you have seen me follow the Lord Jesus Christ. " If God reveal any thing to you by any other instrument of his, be as ready to receive it as ever you were to receive any truth by my mmistry ; for I am verily persuaded, I am very confident, the Lord has more truth yet to break forth out of his holy word. For my part, I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches, who are come to a period in religion, and will go at present no farther than the mstruments of their reformation. The Lutherans cannot be drawn to go beyond what Luther saw ; whatever part of his will our good God has revealed to Calvin, they will rather die than embrace it ; and the Calviiusts, you see, stick fast where they were left by that great man of God, who yet saw not all things. " This is a misery much to be lamented ; for though they were burning and shining lights in their times, yet they penetrated not into the whole counsel of God ; but, were they now living, would be as willing to embrace farther light, as that which they first received. I beseech you, remember it, 't is an article of your church covenant, that you be ready to receive what- ever truth shall be made known to you from the written word of God. Remember that, and every other article of your sacred covenant. But I must herewithal exhort you to take heed lohat you receive as truth. Exam- ine it, consider it, and compare it with other scriptures of truth, before you receive it ; for 't is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of antichristiaxi darkness, and that perfection of knowledge should break forth at once. " I must also advise you to abandon, avoid, and shake off the name of Brownist ; 't is a mere nickname, and a brand for the making rehgion, and the professors of it, odious to the Christian world." Having said thus much, he exchanged with them embraces and affection ate farewells ; and kneeling down with them all on the seashore, commended them, in a fervent prayer, to the blessing and protecti on of Heaven.^ Such " < MntherT Neal. HutchinBOnT^Haznrd. Oldmixon. If the Puritans would have stooped I on the danger ion of habits so a hold on their jmmingled and ir numbers, to. 5uage, discour- nciples, which, 1 ; and the con- )f toleration in oreover, which rbarous execu- jnt of the illus- of the English ic tenets which nd intolerance, combine the in- f their religious Bstered part of lication for the led to transport It was resolved ither befo|re the ain body hiean- sing the partic- ne between the led a most daz- own hvely and ley finally gave jsidence should cit the sanction ted to ihe king, ir mother coun- ly were knit to- leld themselves )le ; and that it uld discourage, ." The king, ' America, and } subjects to be ter assuring the onnive at their irced to accept it but for the etaries of state, reason on their 3m the eye and n the Plymouth )sed, within the 1 their estotes, essels, in which to intrigue and duplicity, they might have had more powerful partisans at court than Sir anton. The Duke of Buckingham, in imitation of the policy of Lord Leicester and Robert tans by * Mather. caressing their leaders. Ilazard. Inlv nttAmnted to obtain an ascendency over the Pun- 144 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK II. were the men whom the English monarch cast out of his dominions ; and such the scenes of wisdom and piety, which the control of Divine Providence elicited from the folly, arrogance, and bigotry of a tyrant. The emigrants were at first driven back by a storm which destroyed one of their vessels ; but finally reenibarking in the other at Plymouth, on the 6th of September, they succeeded, after a long and dangerous voyage, in reaching the coast of America. [9th Nov., 1620.] Hudson's River was the place where they had proposed to disembark, and its banks were the scene of their intended settlement ; but the Dutch, who conceived that a preferable right to this territory accrued to them from its discovery by Captain Hudson, had main- tained there, for some years, a small commercial establishment, and were actually projecting a scheme of more extensive occupation, which they were neither disposed to forego, nor yet prepared to defend. In order to defeat the design of the English, they bribed the captain of the vessel in which the emigrants sailed, who was a Dutchman, to carry his passengers so far towards the north, that the first land which they reached was Cape Cod, a region not only beyond the precincts of their grant, but beyond the terri- tories of the company from which the grant was derived. The advanced period of the year, and the sickliness occasioned by the hardships of a long voyage, compelled the adventurers to settle on the soil to which they were thus conducted, and which seemed to have been expressly prepared and evacuated for their reception by a pestilential disease, which, during several preceding years, had swept away nine tenths of its savage and idolatrous population. Aft«r exploring the coast, they chose for their station a place afterwards included within the province of Massachtisetts, to which they gave the name of New Plymouth, in commemoration of the city with which their last recollections of England were associated. To supply, in some measure, the absence of a more formal title, they composed and subscribed an instrument declaratory of the purpose with which tliey had come to Amer- ica, recognizing the sovereign authority of the English crown, and expressing their own combination into a body politic, and their determination to enact just and righteous laws, and to evince and enforce a strict obedience to them.^ Here, then, remote from scenes and circumstances of temporal grandeur, these men embarked on a career, which, if the true dignity of human actions be derived from the motives that prompt them, the principles they express, and the ends they contemplate, must be allowed to claim no common measure of honor and elevation. To live for eternity, and in the prospect of it, they deemed the great business of their lives ; this was a just and noble calculation of the value of existence. The speedy approach and intense severity of their first winter in America ])ainfully Convinced the settlers that a more unfavorable season of the year could not have been selected for the plantation of their colony ; and that the slender stores with which they were provided were greatly short of what was requisite to comfortable subsistence, and formed a very inadequate jtreparation to meet the rigor of the climate. Their exertions to procuro for themselvRS suitable dwellings were obstructed, for a time, by the hostile attacks of sc m of the neighbouring Indians, who had not forgotten the inju- rious conduct of Captain Hunt ; and the colonists had scarcely succeeded in repulsing them, when sickness, occasioned by scarcity of provisions iind I »*-•! M I f\lJ — ■~-n II..«..!.;.i»".. Thn r...ii£l iytr ivkinli thn r>ut«'ll rnntl'ivt'H 1(1 divert these emigrants from Hudson's River was discovered iind stated in n memorial, wliieh was published in England before the close of this year. Prince's JVeir England Chronoloipi CHAP. I] SUFFERINGS OF THE PLYMOUTH COLONY. 145 the increasing horrors of the season, afflicted them with a calamity, perhaps less dangerous to their virtue, but more fatal to their strength and security, than the perils of war. More than one half of their number, including John (Jarver, their first governor, perished by hunger or disease before the return of spring ; and during the whole of the winter, only a few were capable of providing for themselves, or rendering assistance to the rest. But 'hope and virtue survived ; and, rising in vigor beneath the pressure of accumulated suffering, surmounted and ennobled every circumstance of distress. [1G21.] Those who retained their strength became the servants of the weak, the afflicted, and the dying ; and none distinguished himself more in this hu- mane employment than Carver, the governor. He was a man of large estate, but more enlarged benevolence ; he had spent his whole fortune on the colonial project ; and now, willingly contributing his life to its accomplish- iiiont, he exhausted a feeble body in laboriously discharging the humblest offlees of kindness and service to the sick. He was succeeded by William Bradford, who, inheriting the merit and the popularity of his predecessor, was reelected to the same office for many successive years, — notwith- standing his own earnest desire to be released from the charge, and his oft repeated remonstrance, that, if this office were an honor, it should be shared by his fellow-citizens, and if it were a burden, the weight of it should not always be imposed upon him. When the distress of the colonists was at its height, the approach of a powerful Indian chief with a band of his followers seemed to portend their utter destruction ; but, happily, in the train of this personage was the an- cient guest and friend of the English, Squanto, who eagerly and successfully labored to mediate a good understanding between them and his countrymen. He afterwards cancelled the merit of this useful service, and endeavoured to magnify his o^vn importance by fabricating charges of plots and conspira- cies against some of the neighbouring tribes, while at the same time he maintained an empire of terror over these tribes by secretly assuring them that the English were in possession of a cask filled with the plague, which only his influence prevented them from setting abroach for the destruction of the Indians. But, before he resorted to this mischievous policy, the colonists had become independent of his services. His friendship with the English was never entirely dissolved ; and on his death-bed, soon after, he desired Governor Bradford to pray for him, that he might go to the English- man's God in heaven. Some of the neighbouring tribes, from time to time, made alarr.:ing demonstrations of hostility ; but they were at length com- pletely overawed by the conduct and valor of Captain Miles Standish, a gallant and skilful officer, who, witli a handful of men, was always ready to encounter their strongest force, and foil their most dexterous stratagems atid rapidest movements.^ On the arrival of summer, the health of the colonists was restored ; and their numbers continued to be recruited occasionally, by successive emigra- tions of oppressed Puritans from Europe. But these additions fell far short of their expectations ; and of the reinforcement which they had mainly looked for from the ac cession of the remanent congregation at Leyden, they ' Marherr~Neal. Oidmixon. Belknap's American Biography. Poter Martyr declares, that the hardships endured by the Spaniards in South America were Buch as none hut Spaniards • oiild have supported, llut the hardsiiips sustained by the first colonists of New Plymouth • " , . .. . ... :_ J.....: J :_. — :... g^e Hutchinson, H., Ap- appear to have exceeded tlicm both in duration and intensity. pe ndix. VOL. I. 19 146 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK II, were unliapplly disappointed. The unexpected death of Robinson, their pastor, deprived his people of the only leader whose animating counsels could have overcome the timidity inspired by the accounts of the manifold hardships and distresses sustained by tlieir friends in New England ; and upon that event, tlie greater part of those who had remained behind at Ley. den now retired to join the other English exiles at Amsterdam, and very few had the courage to proceed to New Plymouth. This small colony, however, had displayed a hardy virtue that showed it was formed for endu- rance ; and, having surmounted its first misfortunes, continued to flourish in the cultivation of piety, and the enjoyment of rehgious and pohtical freedom. A generous attachment was formed to the soil which had been so worthily earned, and to tlie society whose continuance attested so manly and glo- rious a struggle with every variety of ill. While the colonists demonstrated a proper respect for the claims of tlie original inhabitants of the country, by purchasing from them the territory over which their settlement extended, they neglected no preparation to defend by force what they had acquired with justice ; and, alarmed by the tidings of the massacre of their country- men in Virginia, Uiey erected a timber fort [1622], and adopted other pru- dent precautions for their security. This purchase from savages, who rather occasionally traversed than permanently occupied the territory, is perhaps the first instance on record of the entire prevalence of the principles of justice in a treaty between a civilized and a barbarous people. The ecclesiastical coiicatution which the emigrants established was the same with that which had prevailed among them at Ley den ; and their sys- tem of civil government was founded on those ideas of the natural equality of men, to which their religious policy, so long the main object of their concern, had habituated their minds. The supreme legislative body was composed at first of all the freemen vCho were members of the church ; and it was not imtil the year 1639 that they established a house of representa- tives. The executive power was committed to a governor and council, annually elected by the members of the legislative assembly. Their juris- prudence was founded on the laws of England, with some diversity in the appreciation and punishment of crimes, wherein they approximated more nearly to tl»e Mosaic institutions. Deeming the protection of morals more important t^n the preservation of wealth, they punished fornication with flogging, and adultery witli death, — while on forgery they inflicted only a moderate fine. The clearing and cultivation of the ground, fishing, and the curing of fish for exportation, formed the temporal occupations of the colo- nists. The peculiarity of their situation naturally led them, like the Vir- ginians, for some time to throw all their property into a common stock, and, like members of one family, to carry on every work of industiy by their joint labor for the public behoof. But the religious zeal which pro- moted this self-denying policy was unable to overcome the difficulties which must always attend it, and which are peculiarly aggravated in a society deriving its princij^e of increment not so much from internal growth as from the confluence of strangers. About three years after the founciatioa of New Plymouth, it was judged proper to introduce separation of possessions, though the full right of separ itc property was not admitted till a much later period ; and even that firsi 'hange is represented as Jrvhig produced a great and manifieBt improvement of the industry of the people.* ' Mather. Neul. Chalmers. CHAP. I ] CHARTER OF THE PLYMOUTH COLONY. 147 The slow increase, which, for a considerable period of time, the popula- nnn of the colony exhibited, has been ascribed to the prolonged operation nf this system of equality ; but it seems more likely that the slowness of the ;„' ease (occasioned by the poverty of the soil and the report of the hard- hins attending a settlement in New England) was itself the reason why the complete ascertainment of the rights of separate property was so long re- tarded In the first society of men collected by the bond of Christianity, nnd additionally united by persecution, we find an attempt made to abohsh individual property ; and from the apostolic direction, that he who would not Lrfc should not eat, we may conclude that the disadvantage, which the op- pration of this principle is exposed to in a society mainly deriving its increase from the accession of strangers of dissimilar characters, was pretty early experienced. In Paraguay, the Jesuits formed a settlement where this neculiar disadvantage was not experienced, and which affords the only au- thenticated instance of the introduction and protracted endurance oi a state of equality in a numerous society. But there the great fundamental difliculty was rather evaded than encountered, by a system of tuition, adapted, with pvnuisite skill, to confound all diversities of talent and disposition among the savage or barbarous natives in an unbounded and degrading dependence on their Jesuit instructors. . , v • .u • ♦ ^^ After remaining for some years without a patent legahzmg their territo- rial occupation, the colonists, whose numbers now amounted to a hundred and eighty, employed one Pierce as their agent in England, to solicit a grant of diis nature from the English government, and the Grand Council ^^ ll^outh, — a new corporation, by which James, m the year 1620, had superseded the original Plymouth Company,.and on which he conferred all he American territory lying between the fortieth and forty-eighth degrees of north latitude. This corporate body continued to subsist for a consid- erable time, notwithstanding a vote of the House of Commons, m the year after its creation, declaring its privileges a public grievance, and its patent void Pierce procured a charter from the council, and caused it to be framed in his o^vn name, with the appropriation of large territories and privi- leges to himself and his family [1623] ; but, havnig f^barked with a nu- merous body of associates, whom he collected m England, and mduced to accompany him, and assist in the prosecution of his ainbitious designs, his "^^" .r •/ , . ' , 1 -_j T>: i u;^»«if o« /) cmovoil with the disastrous resigned his unjust acquisition. ^ -, - treachery, despatched Window, one of their own r^mber, t« resume the solicitation for a charter.. Winslow did not succeed m procmring a patent from the crown, but he obtained, after a long delay, a grant of land and a charter of privileges from the council. It was directed Jan. 1630] to William Bradford, the existing governor; and the immumties it bestowed uere appropriated to him, his heirs, associates, and assignees ; but Bradlord instantly surrendered all that was personal in the charter and grant, and as- sociated the general court of the freemen to the privileges it conferred. By this charter of the Grand Council of Plymouth, the colonists were authorized to choose a governor, council, and general court, fo^tf enact- ment and execution of laws instrumental to the public good. Some Amer can historians have mistaken this char ter for a patent from the crown. But > Hazard. Chalmers. Trumbull's History of Connecticut. 148 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK II. no such patent was ever issued ; and the social community of New Plymouili was never incorporated with due legal formality into a body politic, but re- mained a subordinate and voluntary municipal association, until it was united to its more powerful neighbour, the colony of Massachusetts. Both before and after the reception of their charter, the colonists were aware of the doubts that might be entertained of the validity of the acts of government which their magistrates exercised. This circumstance, perhaps, was not altogether un- favorable to the interests of the people, and may have contributed to the liberal principles and conciliatory strain by which the administration of their domestic government was honorably distinguished from that which afterwards unhappily prevailed among their neighbours in New England. But the soil around New Plymouth was so meagre, and the supplies received by the ))lanters from Europe were so scanty and infrequent, that in the tenth year of their colonial existence their numbers did not exceed three hundred.' Their exertions, nevertheless, were productive of consequences most happy and interesting. They held up to the view of the oppressed Puritans in the parent state a retreat to which persecuted virtue might retire, and where only the enduring virtue which persecution had failed to conquer seemed capable of obtaining a permanent establishment. At the expense of the noblest sacrifices and most undaunted efforts, this handful of men laid the foundation of civilized an J Christian society in New England. A few years after their arrival at New Plymouth, a messenger was despatched to this colony by the governor of the Dutch plantation on Hudson's River, witii letters congratulating the English on their prosperous and commendable enterprise, tendering the good-will and friendly services of the Dutch, and proposing a commercial intercourse between the two settlements. The governor and council of Plymouth returned a courteous answer, expressing their grateful remembrance of the hospitality which they had received in the native country of the Dutch, and a willing acceptance of the proffered friend- ship.2 Nothing farther ensued from this overture than a series of small com- mercial deahngs, and an occasional interchange of similar civilities, which, but a few years after, gave place to the most inveterate jealousy, and a continual reciprocation of complaint and menace between the Dutch and English colonists. Various attempts had latterly been made to emulate the successful estab- lishment of New Plymouth ; but they had all failed, in consequence of tlic neglect or inability of their promoters to emulate the virtues from which tlie success of this colonial enterprise was derived. In the year 1622, a rival colony was planted in New England by one Weston, and a troop of disor- derly adventurers, who, in spite of the friendly .a^istance of the settlers at New Plymouth, speedily sunk into a state of such misery and degradation, that several of them v/ere reduced to become servants to the Indians ; some perished by hunger ; others betook themselves to robbery, and by theit depredations involved both themselves and the colonists of New Plymouth in hostilities with the natives ; and the rest were glad to find their way back 10 Europe. In the following year, an attempt was made on a larger scale, under the patronage of the Grand Council of Plymouth, which bestowed on Captain Gorges, the leader of the expedition, the title of governor-general of New England, with an ample endowment of arbitrary power, and on a ' Neal. Chalmers. See Note V., at the end of the voliimn. » ColUctioiu of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Noal. CHAP. I] OBNOXIOITB MEASURES OF LAUD. 149 clergyman who accompanied him the office of bishop and superintendent of all churches in this quarter of America. But the condition of New England was very ill suited to the entertainment of such functionaries, and the intro- duction of such institutions ; and the governor and bishop, deseriuig their charge, made haste to return to a region more adapted to the culture of civil and ecclesiastical dignity. Of their followers, some retired to Virginia, and others returned to England.^ At a later period [1626], a similar undertaking, conducted by Captain Wollaston, was attended with a repetition of the same disastrous issue. The followers of Wollaston first taught the savage inhabitants of this part of America the use of firearms, — a lesson which ere long tho colonists of New England had abundant reason to de- plore.' All these unsuccessful plantations were attempted on land more fertile, and in situations more commodious, than the settlers at New Ply- mouth enjoyed. The scene of their brief and unprosperous existence w»« the coast of Massachusetts Bay, where, a few years later, a colony, which was formed after the model and principles of the society at New Plymouth, and whose origin now claims our attention, afforded the second example of a successful establishment in New England. The reign of Charles the First was destined to produce the consummation and the retribution of royal and ecclesiastical tyranny. Charles committed the government of the English church to men who penly professed the most arbitrary principles, and whose sentiments far more inclined them to nronaote an approximation to the rites and practices of the church of Rome than to mediate an agreement among the professors of the Protestant faith. Abbot, the archbishop of Canterbury, being restrained by the liberality of his principles and the mildness of his temper from lending his instrumen- tality to the views of the court, was treated with harshness, and, at length, finally suspended from his office [1627], of which the functions were com- mitted to a board of prelates, of whom the most eminent was Laud, who afterwards succeeded to the primacy. From this period, both in the civil and ecclesiastical administration of the realm, a system of deliberate- and in- solent invasion of every right most valued by freemen and most revered by Protestants was puisued with a stubborn pride, folly, and cruelty, that at length exhausted the patience of the English people. To the historian of England the political abuses that distinguished this period will probably ap- pear the most interesting features in its history ; and, doubtless, they con- ' The moBt important act of Captain Gorges's administration, that has been transmitted to us, is one which afibrds an explanation of a passage in Hudibras, where the New Englanders are accused of hanging an innocent, but bedrid, weaver, instead of a guilty, but useful, cobbler : — " That sinners may supply the place Of suffering saints is a plain case. Our brethren of New England use Choice malefactors to excuse. And hang the guiltless in their stead, % Of whom the churches have less need, — As lately happened. In a town There lived a cobbler," &c. Hudibras. Some of Gorges's people had committed depredations on the Indians, who insisted that the ringleader should be put to death. Gorges satisfied and deceived them by hanging up either a dying man or a deaa body. Hutchinson. Butler's witty malice, studious to defame the Puri- laiiH, liuB rescued from oblivion an act, of which the whole merit or demerit is exclusively due to his own party. Morrell, the clergyman who accompanied Gorges, notwithstanding his dis- appointment, conceived a very favorable opinion of New England, which he expressed in an elegant Latin poem descriptive of the country. Collections of the MasaachustUa Historical Society. ^ Keal. Uidniixun (2d edit.). 160 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK II. fn i •' I tributed at least as powerfully as any otlier cause to the production of the ensuing scene of civil rage and warfare. But, as it was the ecclesiastical administration that mainly conduced to the peopling of America, it is this branch of the English history that chiefly merits our altention, in investigating the sources of the colonization of New England. Not only were the ancient ceremonial observances, wliich long oppression had rendered so obnoxious, exactpd with additional rigor from the increasing numbers of the Puritans, but .iv. \.)u n ue oflensive rites were added to the ecclesiastical canons, .'v desi«i, vr-ems to have been formed of enabling the church of England to vio witii the Romish see in splendid pageantry, elaborate ceremonial, and temporal power. Laud, indeed, boasted that he had refused the offer of a cardinal's hat from Rome ; but the offer was justly considered a more significant circumstance than the refusal ; and, having already assumed to himself the papal title of His Holiness, which he substituted in place of His Grace, liis tituhr u)ie .\i>uiv have been lowered instead of elevated by the Romish promotion which he rejected. The i om- munion table was converted into an altar, and all persons were commanded to bow to it on entering the church. [1G27.] All the week-day lectures, and all afternoon sermons on Sunday, were abolished ; and, instead of them, games and sports were permitted to all the people, ^^ excepting known re- cusants,^^ who were thus, with matchless absurdity, penally debarred from practices which they regarded with the utmost detestation. Every minister was commanded, under pain of deprivation of his benefice, to read i from the pulpit a royal proclamation recommendatory of games and sports on Sunday. This ordinance, like all the other novehies, was productive of the greater dissatisfaction, from tlie extent to which Puritan sentiments had penetrated into the church, and the number of Puritan ministers witliin the establishment whom habit had taught to fluctuate between the fulfilment ;^id the evasion of the ancient obnoxious canons, and trained partially to submit, without at all reconciling to the burden. Nothing could be more ill-timed than an aggravation of the load under which these men were laboring ; it reduced many to despair, inflamed others with vindictive resentment, and deprived the church of a numerous body of her most zealous an^ most popular ministers. Nor were these the only measures of the day that were calculated to excite discontents within as well as without the pale of the ecclesiastical establishment. Three fourths of the English clergy were Calvinists ; yet Laud and the ruling prelates, who were Arminians, caused a royal edict to be issued against the promulgation of the Calvinistic tenets ; and while the Arminian pulpits resounded with the sharpest invectives against these tenets, a single sentence tliat could be construed into their defence exposed the preacher to the undefined and arbitrary penalty at- tached to contempt of the king's authority. In the reign of Elizabeth, the Churchmen wore eager to shift from them- selves upon the courts of common law as great a portion as they could of the odium of administering the ecclesiastic.il statutes^ But Laud and his associates, inaccessible to fear, remorse, or shame, courted a monopoly of the function and repute of persecution ; and in the Court of High Commis- sion exercised such arbitrary power, and committed such enormous cruelty, as procured to this odious tribunal the name of the Protestant Inquisition. Fines, imprisonment, banishment, the pillory, were the most lenient of the punishments inflicted by ihu judges who presided in it. Its viciiins were CHAP. I] TYRANNICAL CIVIL POLICY OF CHAJiLtS 1. 151 ireciuently condemned to have their flesh torn from their bodies by the lash ofilio executioner, their nostrils slit, and their ears cut ofi"; and in this con- dition uore exhibited to the people as monuments of what was termed the lichteoiis justice of their sovereign and the holy zeal of the prelates. Of ilie ext( t to which this tyrannical policy was carried some notion may bt; formed Uom the accounts that have been transmitted to us of the proceed- iiiK^ within the diocese of Norwich alone. In the articles of impeachment subsequently exhibited against Bishop Wren, it is affirmed, that, during liis nossession of that diocese, which lasted only for two years and a half, fifty laiiiisters were ejected from their pulpits for not complying with the pre- scribed innovations, and lluee thousand of the laity were compelled to abandon the kingdom.^ , . . , ...,,• r . ., , ^ (jonsonant with the ecclesiastical was the civil policy ot Charles s gov- ernment. Parliamentary taxation was superseded by royal imposts; the tenure of judicial office was altered from the good behaviour of the judges to the arbitrary pleasure of the kuig ; every organ of liberty was suspended or perverted ; and the kingdom at length subjected to the exclusive domin- ion of a stern and uncontrolled prerogative. Insult was employed, as if purposely to stimulate the sensibility which injuries might not have suf- ficiently awakened. A clergyman having alleged, in a sermon which he preached before the court, that bib Majesty's simple requisition of money from his subjects obliged them to comply with it " under pain of eternal damnation," Charles at first coldly remarked that he owed the man no thanks for giving the king his due ; but when the discourse attracted a censure of the House of Commons, its author was forthwith accounted a proper object of royal favor, and promoted, first to a valuable benefice, and afterwards to a bishopric .^ A system of such diffusive and exasperating insolence and violence, employed by the government against a numerous and increasing body of the people, needed only sufficient duration to provoke from general rage a vindictive retribution, the more to be dreaded from the patience with which the heavy arrear of injury had been endured and permitted to accu- mulate. Bui before this tyrannical system had time to mature the growing discontents, and to produce extremities so perilous to the moderation and humanity of all who were to abide them, it was destined to inspire efforts of nobler energy and purer virtue ; much good was to be educed from the scene of evil and disorder ; and great and happy consequences were yet to be engendered by the steady and beneficent dominion of Providence over the malevolent and irregular passions of men. The severities exercised on the Puritans in England, and the gradual extinction of their fondly cherished hopes of a mitigation of ecclesiastical rigor, had for some time directed their thoughts to that distant territory in which their brethren at Ne Plymouth had achieved a secure establishment and attained the enjoymeiu of civil and religious liberty. In the last year of James's reign [1625], a few Non-conformist families removed to New England and took possession of a corner of INIassachusetts Bay ; but being disappointed in the hope they had entertained of the accession of a sufficient number of associates to secnire the formation of a permanent settlement, they were on the point of returning to Britain, when they receiveo the agreeable intelligence of the approach of a numerous reinforcement. \\ hite, a Non-conformist minister at Dorch ester, conceived the pr oject of^_;]f^ 1 Neal. *^Sander8oir8 Life of Charles the First. Rush worth's Hint. VuUect, 162 HISTORY OP NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK n settloinent on the shore of Afassachusetts Bay ; and by his zeal and activity lie succeeded in forming an association of a number of the gentry in his Mcighbourhood who chorishetl Puritan opinions, for the purpose of conduct, ing ii colony to that region. The views and sentiments that actuated the leaders of this enterprise were committed to writing, and circulated amone their friends under the title of General Consideratiorui for the Plantation of J^ew England. The authors of this remarkable proclamation began by alluding to the progress of the Jesuit establisliments in South America ; and expatiated on the duty and advantage of counteracting the influence of these institutions by the introduction of a purer system of Christianity into that quarter of the world. They observed that all the other churches of Kurope had been brought imder desolation ; that the same fate seemed to impend over the church of England ; and that it miglit reasonably be supposed that the Deity had provided the unoccupied territory of America as a land of refuge for those of his people yet inhabiting the scene of approaching convulsion, whom he purposed to snatch from its dangerous vortex. England, they re- marked, grew weary of her inhabitants ; insomuch that man, the most precious of all creatures, was there reckoned more vile and base than tlie earth he trod on ; and children and friends (if unwealthy) were accounted a burdensome incumbrance, instead of being prized and relished as the choicest of earthly blessings. A taste for expensive living, they added, prevailed so strongly among their countrymen, and the means of indulging it had become so exclusively the object of men's desires, that all arts and trades were tainted by sorclid maxims and dishonest practices ; and the English seminaries of learning abounded with so many spectacles and temp- tations of dissolute irregularity, that vice was there more effectually com- municated by example than knowledge and virtue were imparted by precept. " The whole earth," they declared, "is the Lord's garden, and he hath given it to the sons of Adam to be tilled and improved by them. Why, then, should any stand starving here for places of habitation, and in tin; mean time suffer whole countries, as profitable for the use of man, to lie waste without any improvement ? " They concluded by adverting to the situation of the colony of New Plymouth, and strongly urged the duty of supporting the infant church which had there been so happily planted. Actuated by such views, these magnanimous projectors purchased from the Council of Plymouth all the territory extending in length from three miles north of the River Merrimac to three miles south of Charles River, and in breadth from the Atlantic to the Southern Ocean. [1628.] Their measures were as vigorous as their designs were elevated. As the precur- sors of the main body of emigrants whom it was intended to transport, a small troop of planters and servants were despatched under John Endicott, one of the leading projectors, who, arriving safely in Massachusetts, were cordially greeted and kindly assisted by the colonists of New Plymouth, and laid the foundations of a town, which they denominated Salem, from a Hebrew word that signifies peace.^ [1628.] ' Mather. Ncal. An earlier writer than these has described Endicott as " a fit instrument to begi I this wilderness work; of courage bold, undaunted, yet socialde, and of a cheerful spirit, lovine, or oustere, as occasion served " Johnson's Wondtr-ieorking Providence in j\ein England.^ (l.ondon, 1654.) This contemporary historian of the first emigrations from Britain to New England represents their lenders as " gentlemen of good estate and reputation, de- KceiitimifN or cuiiiiucliuns of noble families i having large means, and great yearly revenue, suffii-ient in all reason to content ; wanting nothing of a worldly nature which could contribute to the oleaaurcs, the prospects, or the splendor of life." CIIAP. I] CHARTER or MASSACHUSETTS BAY. 163 Hut all the ardor and enthusiasm of these adventurers could not blind iliem to the perception of their inability to maintain effectual possession of the extensive territory that was ceded to them, without the participation ol ,„ore opulent coadjutors in the enterprise ; of whom, chiefly by the uiflu- (iice and activity of White, they were enabled to procure a sufficient num- ber in London, among the commercial men who openly professed, or secretly favored, the tenets ot the Puritans. These auxiliaries brought an accession of prudent forecast, as well as of pecuniary resources, to the conduct of tlie design ; and justly doubting the expediency of founding a colony on the liisis of a grant from a company of patentees, who might, indeed, convey a ridit of property in the soil, but could not confer municipal jurisdiction, or the privilege of governing the society which it was proposed to establish, ,liey persuaded their associates to unite with them in an application to the crown for a royal charter. The readiness with which this application was granted [4th March, 1629], and the liberal tenor of the charter which was obtained, are perfectly unac- countable, except on the supposition that the king and his counsellors were willing, at this season, even at the expense of some concessions to the Puritars to disencumber the realm, in which they were preparing to intro- duce the ecclesiastical innovations to which we have already adverted, of a body of men from whom the most unbending opposition to the new meas- ures might be expected ; a politic design which appears sufficiently credi- ble- although, at a subsequent period, Charles and his ministers resorted to an opposite line of policy, when they were sensible of the reflective influ- ence exercised on the Puritan body in England by the spread and predom- inance of their tenets in America. It seems impossible, on any other sup- position, to account for the remarkable facts, that, at the very time vvhen tills monarch was sanctioning the exercise of despotic authority m Virgmia, he extended to a colony of Puritans a constitution containing all the immu- nities of which the Virginians were divested ; and that, well aware of the purpose of the applicants to escape from the constitutions of the church of Eneland, he granted them a charter containing ample commendation ot the religious ends they had in view, without the imposition of a smgle ordmance respecting the system of their church government, or the forms and ceremo- nies of their worship. Nay, so completely did he surrender the maxims ot his colonial policy to the demands ot^the projectors of a Puritan settlement, that, although he had recently declared, in a public proclamation, that a mercantile company was utterly unfit to administer the affairs of a remote colony ; yet, on the present occasion, he scrupled not, m compliance with the wishes of the mercantile portion of the adventurers, to commit the su- preme direction of the colony, which was to be planted in the province ot Massachusetts Bay, to a corporation consisting chiefly of merchants resi- dent in London. a *u •„ The new adventurers were incorporated as a body po4itic ; and tneir rieht to the territory which they had purchased from the Council of Ply- mouth being confirmed by the king, they were empowered to dispose ot the soil, and to govern the people who should settle upon it. Among other patentees specially named in this charter were feir Henry Kosewell, one of the earliest promoters of the design; Sir Richard Saltonstall, the descendant of an ancient family in Northamptonshire ; Isaac .Johnson, son- in-law of the Earl of Lincoln ; John Ven, a distinguished citizen of Lon- VOL. I. 20 II 'I 1 154 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. ["OOKli, don, and commemorated by Clarendon, as leading the city after him in seditious remonstrances ; and Samuel Vassal,^ who was afterwards member of parliament for London, and had already signalized himself by a strenu- ous opposition to the arbitrary collection of tonnage and poundage. The first governor of the compnny and the first members of a council of assist- ants were named by the king ; the right of electing their successors was vested in the freemen of the corporation. The executive power was com- niitted to the governor and council ; the legislative, to the body of freemen, who were empowered to enact statutes and ordinances for the good of the community, not inconsistent with the laws of England. The adventurers obtained the same temporary exemption that had been granted to tlie Vir- ginian company from duties on goods exported or imported ; and it was declared, that, notwithstanding their migration to America, they and their descendants should be entitled to all the rights of home-born subjects of England." The meaning of this charter, with respect to the ecclesiastical rights of the colonists of Massachusetts, has been made the subject of much contro- versial discussion. By the Puritans and the Puritan writers of that age, it was sincerely believed, and confidently maintained, that the intendment of the charter was to bestow on the colonists unrestricted liberty to regulate their ecclesiastical estate by the dictates of their own judgments and con- sciences.' The grantors were fully aware, and the grantees had neither the wish nor the power to conceal, that the object of the intending emigrants was to make a peaceable secession from a church which they could no longer conscientiously adhere to, and to estabhsh for themselves, at Massa- chusetts Bay, an ecclesiastical constitution similar to that which was already created and supported without objection at New Plymouth. A silent ac- quiescence in such designs was all that could reasonably be expected from the king and his ministers ; and when this emphatic silence, on a point which could not but be intimately present to the thoughts of both parties, is coupled with the king's ready departure, on the same occasion, from all the arbi- trary principles which he was preparing to enforce in every other branch of his domestic and colonial administration, it seems to follow, by inevitable inference, that Charles was at this time not unwiUing to make a partial sacrifice of authority, in order to rid himself of those Puritan petitioners ; and that the interpretation which they gave to their charter was perfectly correct. And yet writers have not been wanting, wiiom enmity to tJie Puri- tans has induced to explain this charter in a manner totally repugnant to every rule of legal or equitable construction. It is a maxim of iMiglish la^, and the dictate of common sense and universal equity, that, in all cases where the import of- a compact is doubtful, the bias of presumptive con- struction ought to incline against the pretensions of that party whose oflice ' From the monument erected to the memory of tliis man by his great-grandson at Hostoii, it appears that he was the son of the gallant John Vassa^, wlio, in 1589, at his own CXpiillSI', equipped and commnnded two ships of war against the Spanish Armada. The son, exerting gainst foreigii invasion, >ourt of Star Chnnibcr. iipensation for ]m losses, and resolved that his personal sufferings should be further considered. "But the rage of the times, " fiiys his enilaph, " and the neglect of proper application since, have left to his family only tho lionorof that vote and resolution." Dodsley s Annual Register, 17GG. liimscif as strenuously against domestic tyranny as the father had done ngai was deprived of his liberty and of the greater part of his fortune by the Co Tlie Long Parliament voted him upwards of £ 10,000, as a compensati « Mather. ('Id edit.). * Maitjer. Neal. HMUAihison'B ColtectioH of Mansachusetts Papers. Hazard. Oldmixoii Neal IS'cttl's W'ttorij of the Puritans. CHAP. I] CHARTER OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY. 155 ard. Oldmixon ;t was to speak, and who had the power to clear every ambiguity away. Tn defiance of this rule, those writers have insisted that the silence oi tlie rharter respecting the ecclesiastical state of the colony iniphed the anposi- , on on the colonists of everv particular ordinance and institution ol tlie Zrch of England. The most eminent writer of this party has taken occa- 1 on from hence to reproach the colonists of Massachusetts Bay with having id the foundations of their church establishment in fraud. " Without re- lard " says this distinguished author, " to the sentiments of that monarch, mAev the sanction of whose authority they settled in America, and Ironi vhom they derived right to act as a body politic, and m contempt ol the Lws of England, with which the charter required that none of their acts or ordinances should be inconsistent, they adopted in their infant church that form of policy which has since been distinguished by the name ol Inde- ' endent." He accounts for the pretermission in the charter of a particular vhich was unquestionably uppermost in the minds of both parties, by re- marking, that "the king seems not to have foreseen, nor to have suspected, the secret intentions of those who projected the measure" ; and he explains the conduct of the colonists, by pronouncing that they were " animated with a spirit of innovation in civil policy as well as in rehgion." ] But surely no impartial inquirer will ever esteem it a reproach to the Puritans, driven by ' e secution from their native land, that they did not cross the Atlantic Ocean and settle in a desert for the purpose, or with the mtention, of cultivating a more perfect conformity with the principles and policy of their oppressor The provision in their charter, that the laws to be enacted by them should not be repugnant to the jurisprudence of England, could never be under- stood to enjoin any thing 'farther than a general conformity with the legisla- tion of the parent state, suitable to the acknowledged dependence of the colony on the main trunk of the British dominions. The unsuspectmg igno- rance, too, that is imputed to the king and his counsellors, appears quite in- credible, when we consider that the example of New Plymouth, where a hare exemption from express restrictions had been followed by the estabhsh- ment of an Independent church, was fresh in their recollection ; that they were avowed and notorious Puritans who now applied for permission to re- pair to the land where that constitution was established ; and above all, that, n their application to the king, they expressly desired leave to withdraw in peace from the bosom of a church to whose ordmances they confessed that Ihey could not conscientiously conform.^ Whether the king and Laud were or were not aware of the intentions of the puritans, they must surely be re- garded as the best judges of the extent of concession which they themselves intended to convey ; and by their acquiescence in the constitution which the planters of Massachusetts Bay forthwith established, they ratified a prac- tical interpretation of the charter in conformity with the views of the Pun- tans, and confessed that this proceeding imported no violation either ol gen- eral law or particular paction. When they afterwards became sensible tha the progress of Puritan establishments in New England mcreased the ferment which their own measures were creating in the parent state, they mterposed to check the intercourse between the two countries ; but yet tacitly ac- knowledged that the intolerant system which they pursued m England was excluded by understood compact from the colonial territory. goon after the power of the ad venturers to establish a colon y wa s rendered ~ I Robertaon'B History of America, B. x. • ' Mutiier. 166 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK II. complete by the royal charter [1st May, 1629], they equipped and de- spatched five ships for New England, containing three hundred and fifty emigrants, chiefly zealous Puritans, accompanied by some eminent Non- conformist ministers. The regrets which an eternal farewell to their native land was calculated to inspire, the distressing inconvenience of a long voyage to persons unaccustomed to the sea, and the formidable scene of toil and danger that confronted them in the barbarous land where so many preceding emigrants had found an untimely grave, seem to have vanished entirely from the minds of these men, supported by the worth and dignity of the design which they were combined to accomplish. Their hearts were knit to each other by community of generous purpose ; and they experi- enced none of those jealousies which invariably spring up in confederacies for ends merely selfish, among persons unequally qualified to promote the object of their association. Behind them, indeed, was the land of their lathers ; ^ but it had long ceased to wear towards them a benign or paternal countenance ; and in forsaking it they fled from the prisons and scaffolds to which Christians and patriots were daily consigned. Before them lay a vast and dreary wilderness ; but they hoped to irradiate its gloom by kindhng and preserving there the sacred fire of religion and liberty, which regal and pontifical tyranny was striving to extinguish in the shrines of England, whence they carried its embers.^ They confidently believed that the re- ligious and political tenets which had languished under a protracted perse- ciUion in Europe would now, at length, shine forth in their full lustra in America. Establishing an asylum where the professors of these doctrines in'ght a» aii lines find shelter, they justly expected to derive continual ac- cessions to tiie vigor of their own principles from the fresh arrival of suc- ceedine" emigrants, willing, like them, to transplant their uprooted patriotic affection :•? a soil where it might flourish in alliance with the cultivation and enjoyment of truth and liberty. They did not postpone the practice of piety till the couf!" jion of their voyage ; but, occupied continually with the exer- cises if devotion, they caused the ocean which they traversed to resound with unwonted acclaim of praise and thanksgiving to its Creator. The sea- men, catching their spirit, readily joined in all their religious exercises and ordinances, and expressed tlieir belief that they had practised the first volun- tary sea-fasts that had ever been performed in the world. After a pros- perous voyage, tlie emigrants had the satisfaction of reuniting themselves to their friends already established at Salem under John Endicott, who had been appointed ueputy-governorfof the colony.' [June 24, 1629.] To the assemi age of men thus collected the formation of a church ap- peared the most interesting of all their concerns, and it occupied, accord- mgly, their earliest and earnest deliberation. They had been advised to ■ Francis Hi(win8on, one of the most able, devout, and popular minister* in England, was a passenger in iTiis fleet. When he perceived that he was taking his last look of the Fnglisih coast, he summoned his rhildren and the other passengers to the deck of the veisel, and said to them, " We will not say, as the separatists were wont to say at their leaving of England, ' Farewell, Babylon ' Farewell, Rome I ' But we will say. Farewell, dear England ! Farewell, the church of («od in England, and all Christian fiicnds there ! We-separate not from the cluirrh of England, but from its corruptions. We ^o to practise the positive part of church reformn tion, and propagate th«? gospel in America.' * Even the pious George Herbert, though devotedly attached lo royolty and the church of England, thus expressed himself at this period in \m TtmpU of Soured Poenu : — " Religion stands a-tiptoe in our land, Ready to pass to the American strand." 9 ' 'ather. Seal. z-Viax' s .Yod Sng: and ifii-graphif. Walton's FJfc cf ^arheii. :i':,m^ CHAP. I] CHURCH AT SALEM. 167 rliscuss and settle, before their departure from England, the form of church government which was to be established in the colony ; but, neglectmg this Hvice they had proceeded no farther tiian to express their general assent n the 'principle, that the reformation of the church . as to be attempted ac- cording to the written word of God. They now applied to their brethren at Npvv Plymouth, and desired to be acquainted with the grounds of the con- Lit-uion which was there adopted ; and, having heard these fully explained, :,,(j devoted some time to a diligent comparison of the model with the war- nnts of Scripture which were cited in its vindication, and earnestly be- ousht the enlightening aid of that Being who alone can teach his creatures how to worship him in an acceptable manner, they declared their entire ap- nrobation of the sister church, and closely copied her structure in the coin- osition of their own. [Aug. 6, 1629.] They united together m religious ocietv by a covenant, in which, after a solemn dedication of themselves to ive in the fear of God, and practise a strict conformity to his will, so lar as he should be pleased to reveal it to them, they engaged to each other to cultivate watchfulness and tenderness in their mutual intercourse ; to repress ipalousies, suspicions, and secret emotions of spleen ; and, m all cases ol Jffence, to suffer, forbear, and forgive, after the example of their divme pattern. They promised in the congregation to restrain the indulgence ot ? vain-glorious forwardness to display their gifts ; and m their intercourse, whether with sister churches or with the mass of mankmd, to study a con- versation remote from offence and from every appearance of evil. Ihey eneaeed, by a dutiful obedience to all who should be set over them in church ofcommonwealth, to encourage them to a fahhful discharge of their func- tions; and they expressed their resolution to approve themselves, m their articular callings, the stewards and servants of God ; shunmng idleness as he bane of every community, and dealing hardly or oppressively with none of the human race. The system of ecclesiastical policy and discipline which they adopted was that which distinguished the chivrches of the Independen s, and which we have already had occasion to consider. The form of public worship which they instituted rejected a liturgy and every superfluous cere- Tnony, and was adapted to the 'strictest standard of Calvinistic simphcity They elected a pastor, a teacher, and an elder, whom they consecrated to their respective offices by imposition of the hands of the brethren All who were on that occasion admitted members of the church signified their assent to a confession of faith digested by their teachers, and gave an ac- count of the foundation of their own hopes as Christians ; and it was estab- hshed as an ordinance, that no person should thereafter be Pf'^'tted to sub- scribe the covenant, or be received into communion with the church, until he had satisfied the elders with respect to the soundness of his faith a;icl the •""TLlonstitutionrof which we have now beheld an abstract, and especially the cov^jnant or social engagement so fraught with ?entiments ot exalted piety and genuine benevolence, has excited the derision of some writers S refuse to regard the speculative liberality which it indicates m any Jer point of viel than as contrasted with the practical -tolerance whd the framers of it soon after displayed. But however agreeable th^ aspect may be to eyes that watch for tlie follies and frailties of the wise and rt it is not the only light in which th e tj-ajisacti on we hav-e now considered will ~" ~ > Mather. Neal. 168 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK n. present itself to humane and liberal minds. Philosophy admits that the human soul is enlarged and ennobled by the mere purpose of excellence ; and religion has pronounced that even those designs which men are not able or worthy to accomplish may beneficially affect the minds that have sincerely entertained them. The error of the inhabitants of Salem was a universal trait and feature of the era to which they belonged ; the virtues they demonstrated were peculiar to themselves and their Puritan brethren. In the ecclesiastical constitution which they established, and the senti- ments and purposes which they declaratively interwove with it, they ren- dered a sincere and laidable homage to the rights of conscience and the requirements of piety ; and these principles, no doubt, exercised a bene- ficial influence on the practice, which, unhappily, they did not entirely con- trol. The influence of principles that tend to the restraint of human fe- rocity and intolerance is frequently invisible to mortal eyes, because it is productive chiefly of negative consequences ; and when great provocation or alarm has prompted the professors of those principles to violate the rela- tive restraint, they will be judged with little candor, if charity neglect to supply the imperfection of that knowledge to which we are limited by the narrow and partial range of our view, and to suggest the secret and difRciih forbearance which may have preceded the visible action which we condemn or deplore. In tlie very first instance of intolerant proceeding whh which the adversaries of the Puritans have reproached this American cominunity, the influence of genuine piety in mitigating human impatience was striknigly apparent. It is a notable fact, that, although these emigrants were collected from a body of men embracing such diversity of opinion respecting church government and the rites of worship as then prevailed among the Puritans of England, and though they had landed in America without havirig pre- viously ascertained how far they were likely to agree on this very point, for the sake of which they incurred banishment from their native country, the constitution which was copied from the church of New Plymouth gave satis- faction to almost every individual among them. Two brothers, however, of the name of Brown, one a lawyer, and the other a merchant, both of them men of note and among the number of the original patentees, dissented from this constitution, and arguing, with great absurdity, that all who adhered to it would infallibly become Anabaptists, endeavoured to procure converts to their opinion, and to establish a sep- arate congregation, on a model more approximated to the forms of the church of England. The defectiveness of their argument was supplied by the vehemence of their clamor ; and they obtained a favorable audience from a few persons who regarded with unfriendly eye the discipline which the provincial church was disposed to exercise upon offenders against the rules of morality. Endicott, the governor, called those men, together vyitli the ministers, before a general assembly of the people, who, after hearing botn parties, repeated their approbation of the system that had been established ; and, as the two brothers still persisted in their attempts to creater a schism in the church, and even endeavoured to excite a mutiny against the govern- ment, they were declared unfit to remain in the colony, and compelled to reembark'and depart in the vessels in which they had accompanied tlic other emigrants in the voyage from En gland.^ Theif departure restored "i" MatherT" Nonirijn theTrretiirn to England, thoy preferred a cornphiint ngainst thocnlo- nista o»oppre««ve deraoanour lo ihemgolvcs and enmity to the church or tnguina. The totai CHAP- M INTOLERANCE OF THE SETTLERS. 169 K.rmonv 10 the colonists, who were endeavourmg to complete their settle- ment and extend their occupation of the country, when they were mter- Tnted bv the approach of winter, and the ravages of disease, which quickly Iporived them of nearly one half of their number, but produced no other 'hanse on their minds thai to cause the sentiments of hope and fear to con- Jvse more steadily to the Author of their existence. Notwithstanding the censure with which some writers have commented „n tlie banishment of the two individuals whose case we have remarked, L iustice of the proceeding must commend itself to the sentiments ot all Lartial men ; nor would it have been necessary to advert to the charge o intolerance to which the colonists have been exposed, if their conduct nd never given juster occasion to it. But, unfortunately, a great proportion nf the Puritans at this period were deeply infected with the prevalent error of their age,i and regarded as impossible the peaceable coexistence ol dil- .rent sects in the same community, — a notion strongly confirmed, it not nrisinallv suggested to them, by the treatment which they received from their Hversaries. If it was reasonably incumbent on men, who were themselves the victims of persecution, to abstain from what their own experience had Pelingly shown them to be hateful and odious, it was natural that these nen, flying to deserts for the sake of particular practices and opm.ons, tould desire and expect to see the objects of their pamful sacrifice flourish nnmolested and undisputed in the scene of their retirement. The suffermgs hevhad endured from their adversaries they considered as the legitimate consequence of the pernicious errors that these adversaries had imbibed ; and they customarily regarded their opponents as the enemies of their per- ons, as well as persecutors of their tenets. The activity of government in suDDort of a system of rehgious doctrines they were far from condemning i„ the abstract. They admitted the propriety of such interposition, and condemned it only when it seemed to them erroneously directed. Even when oppressed themselves, they exclaimed against mdiscrimmate tolera- tion They contradicted so far their own principles ; and mamtamed that hunian beings might and ought to punish what God alone could correct and iter. Some of them, it is true, had already anticipated the sentiments by which at a later period the Independents were generally characterized, and which induced them to reject all connection between church and state, and disallow the competence of interposing magisterial authority to sustain one church or to suppress or d':courage another. , , ,, r .1 1 „:.*, fint very opposite sentiments prevailed among the bulk of the colonists of Massachusetts, who came to America fresh fro m the mfluence of perse- .lU^;:^ which their complaint experienced (Chdmer^;) singly confirms j|l« °f "'°" ^'''^^ Tk^,r.vi: :s»"r§;f ,lfa r.,xr^^^^^^^^ Anoth..r;in a work published in 1W5, thus ^^F^*^^ »"™ it thlm ofit I can ra"her^8tand have liberty of conscience, and that .t >^I«''•«««";'"" t° ''''^»^*7"^ ^ '„.^^^^^^^ „, I ,i.L roolv tr, this. It 18 an astonishment that the brains ot men sliouia do paruwieu insmh irnpious'ignorance." Kelkaap's History nf jY«c Iiamp:>htre. 160 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK II. cution and had not, like their brethren at New Plymouth, the advantage of an intermediate residence in a land where (to a certam extent, at least') a peaceful coexistence of different sects was demonstrated to be not merely practicable, but signally promotive of the most excellent graces of Christian character. Much might be urged, and will doubtless suggest itself to every liberal mind, in extenuation of their error, of which tlie bitter leaven con- tinued long to disturb their peace and felicity. But indulgence must not be confounded with approval ; and the considerations which may be allowed to mitigate our censure of the intolerant spirit which these people displayed can never entitle this spirit to the commendation of virtue. It was sharpened by the copious infusions which the colony received of the feelings excited in England by the increased severity of persecution, from which the victims began to fly in increasing numbers to America. The British empire in America underwent, about this period, some vicis- situdes, which in after years affected materially the prosperity both of New England and of the other colonial establishments in the same quarter of the world. The war which the king so wantonly declared against France in 1627, and which produced only disgrace and disaster to his arms in Europe, was a'ttended with events of a very different complexion in America. Sir David Kirk, having obtained a commission to attack the American domin- ions of France, invaded Canada in the summer of 1628 ; and so successful was the enterprise, tliat in July, 1629, Quebec was reduced to sui:rende, to the arms of England. Thus was the capital of New France subdiied by the English, about one hundred and thirty years before they achieved its final conquest by the swofd of Wolfe. But the important tidings had not been received in Europe when peace was reestablished between France and England ; and Charles, by the subsequent treaty of St. Germain, not only restored this valuable acquisition to France, but expressed the cession m terms of such extensive application, as undeniably inferred a recognition of the French, and a surrender of the British claims to the province of Nova Scotia.^ This arrangement portended vexation and injury to the settlements of the English ; and the sequel of our narrative will demonstrate how fully the sinister port ent was accomplished. " > It was not till the year 1619 (the year preceding ihe departure of the Plymouth gettlers from Leyden), that the ganauinary perseeuLon of the Arrainians, to which 1 have already alluded, occurred in Hollanaf. , ,, „ n e .v\ * Clmmvlmn's Voyage. Oldmixon. Chalmers. "It is remarkable " says Professor Kal„,, "that the French were doubtful whether they should reclaim Canada from the English, or leave it to them. Many were of opinion that it was better to keep the people in I rancc, ami employ them in all sorts of manufactures, which would oblige the other European powers who had colonies in America to bring their raw goods to French ports, and take French manafaf tures in return " But the prevalent opinion was, that the reclamation and retention ot tanada would promote the navaf power of France, and was necessary to counterbalance the rising colonial empire of England. Kalni's Travels in Jforth America. [BOOK II I CHAP, n.] TRANSFER OF THE MASSACHUSETTS CHARTER. 161 advantage of , at least') a )e not merely s of Christian tself to every r leaven con- 3 must not be be allowed to displayed can /as sharpened slings excited ;h the victims 1, some vicis- both of New quarter of the ist France in ns in Europe, tmerica. Sir erican doniin- so successful to surrender ie subdiied bv y achieved its idings had not 3n France and main, not only the cession in recognition of vince of Nova ;he settlements rate how fully Plymouth settlers ih I have already B ProfoBBor Kalni, m the English, or pie in France, ami ipoan powers w!i» s French manufar- stcntion of Canada balance the rising CHAPTER II. ThP Charter Government transferred from England to MaasachuscttB. — NumerouB Emigra- tion — Foundation of Boston. — Hardships endured by the new Settlers. — Disfranchise- ment of Dissenters in the Colony. — Influence of the provincial Clergy. — John Cotton and 1 18 Colleagues and Successors. — Williams's Schism — he founds Providence. — Represent- n'tive AssMubly estiiblished in Massachusetts. — Arrival >f Hugh Peters— and Henry Van«, who is elected Governor. — Foundation of Connecticut — and New Haven. —War witli ttie Pequod Indians. — Severities exercised by the victorious Colonists. — Disturbances r rented by Mrs. Hutchinson. — Colonization of Rhode Island — and of New Hampshire and Mdine —Jealousy and fluctuating Conduct of the King. — Measures adopted ajjai-jst the Liberties of Massachusetts — interrupted by the Civil Wars. — State of New England — population — Laws — Manners. The directors of the New England Company in Britain now exerted the utmost diligence to reinforce the colony they had founded with a numerous body of additional settlers. [1629.] Their designs were promoted by the lisror and intolerance of Laud's administration, which progressively multiply- in2 die hardships imposed on all Englishmen who scrupled entire conformity to his ecclesiastical ordinances, proporiionably diminished, in their estima- tion, the danger and hardships attending a removal to America.^ Many peopie began to treat with the company for a settlement in New England ; iind several of those new adventurers were persons of distinguished family and opulent estate. But foreseeing the misrule inseparable from the resi- dence of the legislative authority in Britain, they demanded, as a previous condition of their emigration, that the chartered rights and all the powers of government should be transferred to New England, and exercised withm the territory of the colony. The directors of the company, who had in- curred a considerable expense, with little prospect of speedy remuneration, were willing to secure the settlement of so many wealthy and respectable colonists in their domains, even at the expense of the surrender that was demanded from them ; but, doubting its legality, they thought proper to con- sult lawyers of eminence on the subject. Unaccountable as it must appear to every person in the slightest degree conversant with legal considerations, the lawyers who were consuUed delivered an opinion favorable to the wishes of the emigrants ; and accordingly it was determined, by general consent, " that the charter should be transferred, and the (government be settled m New England.'' [29th Aug., 1629.] To the existing members of the corporation who sliould still remain in Britain was reserved a share in the trade, stock, and profits of the company, for the term of seven years.i By this transaction, — one of the most singular that is recorded m the history of a civilized people, — were the municipal rights and liberties of the in- habitants of New England established on a firm and respectable basis. When we consider the means by which this was acconipHshed, we find ourselves beset with doubts and difficuUies, of which the only rational solu- tion that presents itself is the supposition we have already adopted, that the king was at this time exceedingly desirous to rid the realm of the Puritans, and had unequivocally signified to them, that, if they would withdraw to some other part of lii^ dominions, and employ then- energie.? in subduing the deserts of America, instead of disturbing his operations in England, they Mather. HuwhiissOu. VOL. I. 21 102 HISTORY OF NOUTH AMERICA. [BOOK 11 should have pemiission to arrange the structure, civil and ecclesiastical, of their provincial commonwealth, according to their own discretion. An English corporation, appointed by its charter to reside in London, resolved itself, by its own act, into an American corporation, and transferred its residence to Massachusetts ; and this was openly transacted by men whose principles rendered them peculiarly obnoxious to their rulers, and under the eyes of a prince no less vigilant to mark, than prompt to repress, every encroachment on the limits of his prerogative. So far was Charles from entertaining the slightest dissatisfaction at this proceeding, or from desiring, at the present period of his reign, to obstruct the removal of the Puritans to New England, that about two years after this signal change was carried into effect, when a complaint of arbitrary and illegal measures was preferred against the colony by a Roman Catholic who had been banished from it, and who was supported by Sir Ferdinando Gorges, — the king, after a de- liberate examination of the case in the privy council, issued a proclamation not only justifying but conmiending the whole conduct of the provincial government, reprobating the prevalent reports that he "had no good opin- ion of that plantation," and engaging not only to maintain the privileges of its inhabitants, but to supply whatever else might contribute to their farther comfort and prosperity.^ • • i i From the terms of this document (of which no notice is taken by the writers inimical to the Puritans), and from the whole complexion of the king's conduct towards the founders of this seillement, it would appear, that, whatever designs he might secretly cherish of adding the subjugation of New England, at a future period, to tliat of his British and Virginian dominions, his policy at the present time was, to persuade the leaders of the Puritans, that, if they would peaceably abandon the contest for their principles in England, they were ut liberty to embody and enjoy them in whatever insti- tutions they might think fit to estabhsh in America. And yet some writers^ — whom it is impossible to tax with ignorance, as they had access (o all the existing materials of information, — whom it might justly be reckoned presumptuous to charge with defect of discernment, -— and whom it may, perhaps, appear uncharitable to reproach with malignity towards the Puri- tans — have not scrupled to accuse the founders of this colony of purr^uins; their purposes by a policy not less impudent than fraudful, and by acts of disobedience little short of rebellion. The colonists themselves, notwith- standing all the facilities which the king presented to them, and the unwonted liberality and consideration with which he showed himself willing to grace their departure from Britain, were so fully persuaded of his roc'ed enmity to their principles, and so little able to reconcile his present demeanour with his favorite policy, that they openly declared they had been conducted by Providence to a land of rest, through ways which they were contented to admire without comprehending ; and that they could asqribe the blessings tliey obtained to nothing else than the special interposition of that Being who orders all the steps of his people, and holds the hearts of kings, as of all in his hands. It is, in'^eed, o strange coincidence, that this arbitrary men prince, at the very time when he was oppressing the royalists in Virsmia, should have been cherishing the principles of liberty among the Puiiians mi New England. Having achieved this important innovati on in the structure of their politi- ftevti. * Chalmers. Robcnson. CHAP. H] ACTIVE EMIGRATION. 163 nl svstem, the adventurers proceeded with equal prudence and vigor to Irute the uherior designs wVich they had undertalien. By a general court Tasslbly, John Winthrop was appointed governor, and Thomas Dudley Lu y-Kovcrnor ; eighteen counsellors, or assistants, were also chosen ; and tCs! functionaries, together with the whole body of freemen residing in \lw Endand, were vested all the corporate rights of the company. So :, t ve was the spirit of emigration, that, in the course of the ensmng year r30l, above fifteen hundred settlers, among whom were several wealthy nd hieh-born persons, both men and women, who expressed their deter- mina ion to follow truth and liberty into a desert, ratlier than to enjoy all The pleasures of the world under the dominion of superstition and slavery, et sail from Britain aboard a fleet of seventeen ships for New England. Tnlv 6.1 Among them there came Nathaniel Rogers (and his family , a w/yma^ of Ipswich, in Suffolk ; the lineal descendant of that excellen RoSrs, who, burned at Smithfield under Mary's reign, attained the highest me in English martyrology. On their arrival at Salem, many of them e e so displeased with its local circumstances, that they explored the ountry in qiest of more agreeable stations ; and, setthng m various places ound the adjacent bay, according to their particular predilections laid the Cdation of Boston, Charlestown, Dorchester, Roxbury, and other soce- Stiich have sine; expanded into considerable towns. I" each of these sett ements, a church was established on the same model with that of Salem. T L conce'rnment, together with the care of providing for their subsistence du irs winter, afforded ample occupation to the emigrants for several months eriheir arrival. The approach of winter was attended with a repeUtion those trials and distresses, through the ordeal of which every band of Eu opean settlers in New England was long fated to pass. Afflic ed with S scarcity, which all the generous contributions o(the other setUemems „ the province could but slightly alleviate, - attacked with various d tem- ps the consequence of hunger, cold, and the P^^^l'^^^^^f °^/ f 1""^ 1 mte uncongenial to constitutions formed in Europe, -and lodged for he moTpart in booths and tent« that afforded but imperfect protection from the we her, -great numbers of the new colonists were speedily earned to the Tve " Many," says Cotton Mather, " merely took New flngland m their Sy to heaven. " But the noble determination of spirit which had impelled hem to emigrate preserved all its force ; the survivors endured their calami- iesNv^Jhlshaken fortitude ; and the dying expressed a grateful exultation n the consciousness of having promoted and beheld the foundation of a Cliristian church in this desolate and benighted quarter of he earth. Ihe conti uance of deadly disease enforced the devout supplications of the colo- nists : and its cessation, which they recognized as the answer to their payers, excited their pio'u. gratitude. This calarnity was ^f dlyremo^'ed l\Iu they were alarmed by the udings of a conspiracy of tl^e ne#boun^^^ Indians for their destruction. The colonists, instead of relying on their patent from the British cro^vn, had, on their first arrival, fairly purchased from the Indians all the tracts of land which tb^y proposed to occupy ; and In the hour of their perU, both they and the f-thless vendors who menace^^ them reaped the friit of their compliance or collision ^^^^hthe designs of Eternal Justice. The hostility of the savages was interrupted by a pe ti- iential distemper, that broke out among them, ^jd with rapid desolation . , •: .1 rri,:^ j:„t"-r«~»r \»«>s Mather. CHAP II.] REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT. 169 The colony of Massachusetts continued meanwhile to advance in stability and prosperity, and to extend its settlements ; and this year [1634] an im- portant and beneficial change took place in its municipal constitution. The mortality that had prevailed among the Indians vacated a great many stations formerly occupied by their tribes ; and as most of these were advantageously situated, the colonists took possession of them with an eagerness and latitude of appropriation that dispersed their settlements widely over the face of the country. This necessarily led to the introduction of representative govern- ment ; and, accordingly, at the period of convoking the General Court, the freemen, instead of personally attending it, which was the literal prescription of the provincial charter, elected deputies from their several di'-tricts, whom they authorized to appear in their name and act in their behalf. Without demur or objection from any quarter, the pretensions of the persons thus elected were recognized ; and the popular representatives thenceforward considered themselves, in conjunction with the governor and council of as- sistants, as the supreme legislative assembly of the province. The abstract wisdom of this innovation is undeniable ; and, in defence of its legitimacy, it was forcibly urged that the colonists did no more than construct an im- proved and necessary access to the enjoyment of an advantage already be- longing to them, and prevent their assemblies from becoming either too numerous to transact business, or inadequate to represent the general interest and administer the general will. The number of freemen was greatly aug- mented since the date of the charter ; many resided it, . distance from tlie places where the general courts or assemblies of the freemen were held ; personal attendance had become inconvenient ; and, in such circumstances, litde if any blame can attach to the colonists for effecting with their own hands the improvement that was necessary to preserve their existing rights, instead of applying to the government of England, wmdi was steadily pur- suing the plan of subverting the organs of liberty in the mother country, and had already begun to exhibit an ahered countenance towards the colonial community. In consequence of this important measure, the colony advanced heyond the state of a mercantile society or corporation, and acquired by its own act the condition of a commonwealth endowed with political liberty. The representatives of the people, having established themselves in their office, asserted its appropriate privileges by decreeing that no leggl ordi- nance should be framed within the province, no tax imposed, and no public officer appointed, in future, except by the provincial legislature.^ The increasing violence and injustice of the royal government, in Britain cooperated so forcibly with the tidings that were circulated of the prosperity of Massachusetts, — and the simple frame of ecclesiastical policy that was established in the colony presented a prospect so desirable, and (by the comparison which it invited) exposed the gorgeous hierarchy and recent superstitious innovations in the ceremonies of the English church to so much additional odium, — that the flow of emigration rather enlarged than sub- sided, and crowds of new settlers continued to flock to New England. Among the passengers in a fleet of twenty vessels that arrived in the ensu- ing year [1635] were two persons who afterwards made a distinguished figure in a more conspicuous scene. One of these was Hugh Peters, tho celebrated chaplain and counsellor of Oliver Cromwell ; and the other was VAne, whose father. Sir H enry Vane the elder, enjoyed the dignity of a ' HutchinBon. Clialtners. VOL. I. 32 170 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK II, privy counsellor at the English court, and afterwards filled the office of prin- cipal secretary of state. Peters, who united an active and enterprising genius with the warmest devotion to the interests of religion and liberty, became minister of Salem, where he not only discharged his sacred func- tions with zeal and advantage, but suggested new hints of profitable industry to the planters, and recommended his wise counsels by his own successful example. His labors were blessed with a produce not less honorable tlian enduring. The spirit which he fostered has continued to prevail with un- abated vigor ; and nearly two centuries after his death, the piety, good morals, and industry, by which Sal^m has always been characterized, were ascribed with just and grateful commemoration to the eflfects of Peters's residence there. He remained in New England till the year 1641, when, at the request of the colonists, he went to transact some business for them in the mother country, from which he was fated never to return. But his race remained in the land thus highly indebted to his virtue ; and the name of Winthrop, one of the most honored in New England, was acquired and transmitted by his daughter. Vane, afterwards Sir Henry Vane the younger, had been for some time restrained from indulging his wish to reside in New England by the pro- hibition of his father, who was at length induced to waive his objections by the interference of the king. The Puritan principles which Vane had im- bibed, and to which he had already sacrificed his collegiate rank > in the university of Oxford, were distasteful alike to his father and his king ; and while the one dreaded the effect of his intercourse with the Puritans of Massachusetts, the other feared tlie influence of his example in England. A young man of patiician family, animated with such ardent devotion to the cause of pure religion and liberty, that, relinquishing the most brilliant pros- pects in Britain, he chose to inhabit an infant colony which as yet afibrded little more than a bare subsistence to its inhabitants, was received in New England with the fondest regard and admiration. He was then little more than twenty-four years of age. His youth, which seemed to magnify the sacrifice he made, increased no less the impression which his manners and appearance were calculated to produce. The fixed, thoughtful composure of his aspect and demeanour stamped a serious grace and somewhat (ac- cording^to our conceptions) of angelic grandeur on the bloom of manliood ; his countenance disclosed the surface of a character not less resolute than profound, and of which the energy was not extinguished, but concentrated into a sublime and solemn calm. He possessed a prompt and clear discern- ment of the characters and purposes of other men, and a wonderful mastery of his own spirit. Clarendon ascribes to him "a quick conception and ready, sharp, and weighty expression, an unusual aspect, a vultum clausum, which, though no man could guess what he intended, yet made men think there was something in him extraordinary ; and his whole life made good that imagination." He has been charged with a wild enthusiasm^ by some who have remarked the intensity with which he pursued purposes which to them appeared worthless and ignoble ; and with hypocrisy by others, who have contrasted the vigor of his resolution with the calmness of his manners. ' One ingenious writer apeaka more respectfully of Vane's enthukiasm ; declaring that " it seems never to have precipitated liim into mjudicious measures, but to have added new powers to his natural snaaclty." " He mistook," continues the writer, " his docp penetration for a pro- nhetin snirit, and jhe light of his Ernius for divine irradiation." I see no proof that he enter- tained iiie tirst of these notion?, and no mistake in the second. CHAP. II.] SETTLEMENT OF CONNECTICUT. 171 But a juster consideration, perhaps, may suggest that it was the habitual energy of his determination that repressed every sympton of vehement iiupetuosity, and uiduced an equality of manner that scarcely appeared to exceed the pitch of a grave, deliberate constancy. So much did his mind predominate over his senses, that, although constitutionally timid,* and keenly susceptible of impressions of pain, yet his whole life was one con- tinued course of great and darmg enterprise ; and when, amidst the wreck of his foi tunes and the treachery of his associates, death was presented to him in tlie appalling form of a bloody execution, he prepared for it with a heroic and smiling intrepidity, and encountered it with tranquil and dignified resignation. The man who could so command himself was formed to ac- quire ascendency over the minds of others. He was instantly admitted a freeman of Massachusetts ; and extending his claims to respect by the ad- dress and ability which he displayed in conducting business, was elected governor in the year subsequent to his arrival [1636], by unanimous choice, and with the highest expectations of a happy and advantageous administra- tion. These expectations were disappointed. Vane, not finding in the political aftairs of the colonists a wide enough field for the excursion of his active spirit, embarked its energy in their theological discussions ; and, unfortunately, connecting himself with a party who had conceived singularly clear and profound views of Christian doctrine, but associated them with some dangerous errors, and discredited them by a wild extravagance of be- haviour, he very soon witnessed the abridgment of his usefulness and the decline of his popularity.^ The incessant flow of emigration to Massachusetts, causing the inhabit- ants of some of the towns to feel thetnselves straitened for room, suggested the formation of additional settlements. A project of founding a new colony on the banks of the River Connecticut was now embraced by Hooker, one of the ministers of Boston, and a hundred of the members of his congre- gation. After enduring extreme hardship, and encountering the usual diffi- culties that attended llie foundation of civihzed society in this quarter of America, with the usual display of Puritan fortitude and resolution, they succeeded in establishing a plantation, which gradually enlarged into the flourishing State of Connecticut. Some Dutch settlers from New York, who took prior possession of a post in this country, were compelled to surrender it to the British colonists, who, moreover, obtained shortly after from Lord Brooke and Lord Say and Seal an assignation to a district which these noblemen had acquired in the same quarter, with the intention of flying from royal tyranny to America.^ Hooker and his comrades relied for a ~^ee Note VI., at the end of the volume. ' America Painted to the Life, by Ferdinando Gorges. There is a copy of this work in the Rcdcross-street Library of London. Neal. Hutchinson. Dwight's Travels in JV««) England and JVetfl York. Upham's Life of Sir Henry Vane, in Sparks's American Biography. New England has now repaid Vane's noble devotion by the oest (Mr. Upham's^ memoir of that greiit man that has ever been given to the world. Vane was accompanied to America by Lord Leiffh, son of the Earl of Marlborough, who had conceived a curiosity to behold the New England settlements. ' Lord Brooke and Lord Say and Seal so far pursued their design as to send an agent to take possession of their territory, and build a fort. Happily for America, the sentiments and habits that rendered them unfit members of a society where complete civil liberty and perfect simplicity of manners were esteemed requisite to the general happiness, prevented these nolileraen from carrying their project into execution. They proposed to establish an order of nobility and hereditary magistracy in America ; and consumed so much time in arguing this important point with the other settlers who were to be associated with them, that at length tiieir ardor Tor emigration subsided, and nearer and more iiilciesting prospects opened to tncir activity in England. Chalmers. 172 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK II. while on a commission which they procured from the government of Massa- chusetts for the administration of justice in their new settlement ; but subse- quently ascertaining that their territory was beyond the jurisdiction of the magistrates from whom the commission was derived, they combined them- selves by a voluntary association into a body politic, constructed on the model of the colonial society from which they had separated. They con- tinued in this condition till the Restoration, when they obtained a charter for themselves from King Charles the Second. That this secession from the colony of Massachusetts was occasioned by lack of room in a province yet imperfectly peopled has appeared so improbable to some writers, that they have thought it necessary to assign another cause, and have found none so credible or satisfactory as the jealousy which they conclude that Hooker must inevitably have entertained towards Cotton, whose patriarchal authority had attained such a height in Massachusetts, that even a formidable civil broil was quelled by one of his pacific discourses. But envy was not a passion congenial to the breast of Hooker, or likely to be generated by the character or influence of Cotton. The notion of a redundant population was the more readily conceived at this period from the unwillingness of the settlers to penetrate far into the interior of the country, and thus deprive themselves of an easy communication with the coast. Another reason, in- deed, appears to have suggested the formation of the new settlement ; but it was a reason that argued not dissension, but community of feelitig and design between the planters who remained in Massachusetts and those who removed to Connecticut. By the establishment of this advanced station, a barrier, it was hoped, would be erected against the vexatious incursions of the Pequod Indians.^ Nor is it unlikely that some of the seceders to the new settlement were actuated by a restless spirit, which had expected loo much from external change, and which vainly urged a farther pursuit of tliat spring of contentment which must arise in the minds of those who would enjoy it. In the immediate neighbourhood of this new settlement another plantation was formed, about two years after [1638], by a numerous band of emi- grants who arrived from England under the guidance of Theophilus Eaton, a man of large fortune, and John Davenport, an eminent Puritan minister. Averse to erect the social institutions which they projected upon founda- tions previously laid by other hands, these adventurers declined to settle in Massachusetts, which already presented the scene of a thriving and well compacted community ; and smit with the attractions of a vacant territory skirting the large and commodious sound to the southwest of Connecticut River, they purchased from its Indian owners all the land that lies between that stream and the line which now separates New England from New York. Repairing to the shores of this sound, they built, first the town of New Haven, which gave its name to the whole colony, and then the towns of Guilford, Milford, Stamford, and Branford. After some time they crossed the soimd, and planted various settlements in Long Island ; in all places where they came, erecting churches on the model of the Independents. • Mather. Hutchinson. Trumbull. It appears from Mather's UreSf that Cotton and Hooker were knit together in the firmest bonds of Christian friendship and cordial esteem. Yet these 1, who forsook houses, lands, and country for the sake of the gospel, are described by Ur. lertson as " rival competitors in the contest for fame and power " ! This is the only light men, Robertson as " rival competitors in the contest lor lame and no , _ in which many eminent and even reverend writers are capable of regarding the labors of the patriot, trie suiiii, afitl ihc sfige. it is not uneoniinon for inen, in attf-iitpting to pnifit "'■*; c ..sr- Bcter of others, unconsciously to transcribe their own. CIIAP. H ] THE PEQUOD WAR. 173 When we observe the injustice and cruelty exercised by the government of Britain, thus contributing to cover the earth with cities and to plant religion and liberty in the savage deserts of America, we recognize the overruling providence of that Being who can render even the insolence of tyrants who usurp his attributes conducive to his honor. Having no royal patent, nor iiiiy other title to their lands than the vendition of the natives, and not being included within the boundaries of any provincial jurisdiction established by Hritish authority, the planters of New Haven united in a compact of volun- tary association of the same nature and for the same ends with that which the founders of Connecticut had embraced ; and in this condition they re- mained till the Restoration, when New Haven and Connecticut were united together by a charter of King Charles the Second.' "^Wlien the plantation of Connecticut was first projected, hopes were entertained that it might conduce to overawe the hostility of the Indians ; but it produced a perfectly opposite effect. The tribes of Indians in the ininiedmte vicinitv of Massachusetts Bay were comparatively feeble and unwarlike ; but the colonies of Providence and Connecticut were planted in the midst of powerful and martial hordes. Among these, the most con- siderable were the Narragansets, who inhabited the shores of the bay which bears their name ; and the Pequods, v/ho occupied the territory which stretches from the River Pequod** to the banks of the Connecticut. The Pequods were a numerous tribe, and renowned for their prowess and ferocity. They entertained, from the first, a jealous hatred of the European colo- nists, and for some time past had harassed them with unprovoked attacks, and excited their abhorrence and indignation hy the monstrous outrages to which they subjected their captives. Unoffending men, women, and chil- dren, who fell into their hands, were scalped and sent back to their friends, or nut to death with every circumstance of torture and indignity, — - while the assassins, with diabolical glee and derision, challenged them to invoke the (iod of the Christians, and put to the proof his power to save them. The extension of the English settlements excited anew the fury of the savages, and produced a repetition of injuries, which Vane, the governor of Massa- chusetts, determined at length to retahate and punish by offensive operations. Receiving intelligence of a serious attack by the Pequods on the Connecticut settlers [1637], he summoned all the New England communities to assemble and despatch the strongest force they could contribute to the defence of their countrymen and of the common cause of European colonization. The Pequods, aware of the impending danger, were not negligent of prudent precautions, as well as active endeavours to repel it. To this end, they sought a reconciliation wi th the Narragansets, their hereditary enemies and ' Neat. The colonists of Massachusetts were very desirous that Davenport and his associ- alP8 should settle among them. But "it had been an observation of Mr. Davenports, that, whenever a reformation had been effected in any part of the world, it had rested where it had been left by the reformers. It could not be advanced another step. He was now eni- liHrked in a design of forming a civil and religious constitution as near as possible to Scripture precept and example. The principal gentlemen who had followed him to America had the same views. In laying the foundaUon of a new colony, there was a fair probability that they inielit accommodate all matters of church and commonwealth to their own feelings and scnti- iruinouii. in me nisiory oi every greai puuni- i^iv/m., .^-.a.--- — r > • -2 Z' -ji -,, the operation, among the leading reformers, of a narrow, selfish, arrogant spirit, timidly or ambiuously contending for finality and opposed to ulterior progress. • The TKanins X it€ X tiam^s. 174 H^TORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK II. rivals in power ; proposing that on both sides the remembrance of ancient quarrels and animosities should be buried, or at least suspended ; and urging the Nurragansets for once to co6perate cordially with them against a com- mon foe, whose progressive encroachments threatened to confound them both in one common destruction. But the Narragansets had long cherished a fierce and deep-rooted hatred against the Pequods ; and, less moved by a distant prospect of danger to themselves, than by the hope of an instant gratification of their implacable revenge, they rejected the proposals of ac- commodation, and determined to assist the English in the prosecution of the war.' Enraged, but not dismayed, by this disappointment, the Pequods hastened, by the vigor of their operations, to anticipate the junction of the allied pro- vincial forces ; and the Connecticut troops, while as yet they had received but a small part of the succour which their friends had engaged to afibrd them, found it n( cessary to advance against the enemy. The "Pequod war- riors, amounting in number to more than fifteen hundred, commanded by Sassacus, their principal sachem, occupied two fortified stations, against one of which Captain Mason and the Connecticut militia, consisting only of ninety men, attended by a troop of Indian allies, directed their attaci(. The approach of Mason was quickened by the information he obtained, that the enemy, deceived by a seemingly retrograde movement of the pfovincial force, had abandoned themselves to the conviction that the English dared not encounter them, and were celebrating with festive revel and premature triumph the supposed evacuation of theur country. About daybreak, while wrapped in deep slumber and supine security, they were approached by the colonists ; and the surprise would have been complete, if an alarm had not been communicated by the barking of a dog. The war-whoop was instantly sounded, and they flew to their arms. The English troops rushed on to the attack ; and wliile some of them fired on the Indians through the palisades, others forced their way by the entrances into the fort, and, setting fire to the huts, which were covered with reeds, involved their enemies in the confusion and horror of a general conflagration. The Pequods, notwithstanding the disadvantage of their predicament, behaved with great intrepidity ; but, after a stout and obstinate resistance, they were defeated, with the slaughter of at least five hundred of their tribe. Msmy of the women and children perished in the flames ; and the warriors, endeavouring to escape, were slain by the colonists, or, falling into the hands of the Indian allies of the English, who surrounded the fort at a distance, were reserved for a more cruel fate. Soon after this action, Captain Stoughton having arrived with the auxiliary troops from Massachusetts, it was resolved to pursue the victory. Several engagements took place, which terminated unfavorably for the Pequods ; and in a short time they sustained another general defeat, which put an end to tho war. A few only of this once powerful nation survived, who, aban- doning their country to the victorious Europeans, dispersed themselves among the neighbom-ing tribes, and lost their existence as a separate people. Sas- sacus had been an object of superstitious terror to the Narragansets, who at first endeavoured to dissuade the colonists from risking a personal encounter with him, by the assurance that his life was charmed and his person invul- nerable. After the destruction of his people, and when he fled for refuge to a distant tribe, the Narragansets passing, by natural progres s, from terror ' ""Mather. Neul. TnimbuII. CHAP n ] TREATMENT OF THE INDIANS. 175 to cruelty, solicited and prevailed with his hosts to cut off his head.* Thus terminated a struggle, more important from its consequences than from the numbers of the combatants or the celebrity of their names. On its issue there had been staked no less than the question, whether Christianity and livilization, or paganism and barbarity, should prevail in New England. This first military enterprise of the colonists was conducted with vigor and ability, and impressed the Indian race with a high opinion of their steadfast courage and superior skill. Their victory, it must be confessed, was sullied by cruelties, which it is easy to account for and extenuate, but painful to recollect. The Massachusetts militia, previously to their march, exerted no small diligence in purging their ranks of all persons whose religious senti- ments did not fully correspond with the general standard of faith and ortho- doxy.^ It had been happy, if they could have j)urged their own bosoms of the vindictive feelings which the outrages of their savage foes were but too well fitted to inspire. Some of the prisoners were tortured by the Indian allies, whose cruelties we can hardly doubt that the EngHsh might have pre- vented ; a considerable number were sold as slaves in Bermudas ,3 and the rest were reduced to servitude in the New England settlements. In aggra- vation of the reproach which these proceedings undoubtedly merit, it has been urged, but with very little reason, that the Pequods.were entitled to the treatment of an independent people gallantly striving to defend their property, their rights, and their freedom. But, in truth, the Pequods were the aggressors in an uniust quarrel, and were fighting all along in support of unprovoked and ferocious purposes of extermination. The colonists had conducted themselves with undeviating justice, civility, and Christian benev- olence towards the Indians. They treated fairly with them for the ceded territories; assisted them by counsel and help in their diseases and their agriculture ; and labored to communicate to them the blessings of religion. They disallowed all acquisitions of territory from the Indians, but such as underwent the scrutiny and received the sanction of the colonial magistracy ; and they offered a participation of all the rights and privileges of their com- monwealth to every Indian who would embrace the faith of a Christian and the manners of a civilized human being. In return for these demonstrations of good-will, they experienced the most exasperating outrage and barbarity, directed against all that they reverenced or loved ; and were forcibly im- pressed with the conviction, that they must either extirpate those saiiguinary idolaters, or leave themselves and their wives, children, and Christian kin- dred exposed to a far more horrid exterminati on.* Even in the course of ' Mather. Ncal. Hutchinson. Trumhuir The destruction of the bravo Pequods, though provoked by their own aggressive hostility, was lamented about one hundred and fifty years after iiy an American divine and poet : — " Indulge, my native land ! indulge the tear That steals impassioned o'er a nation's doom ; To mo each twig from Adam's stock is near, And sorrows fall upon an Indian's tomb." — Dwight. « Regimental chaplains accompanied the New England forces in their campaigns ; and in circumstances of doubt or danger, the chaplain was invited to pray for divine direction and assistance. When a commander-in-chief vfHi appointed, his truncheon was delivered to him by one of the clergy. Trumbull. „ . „ , , i. r .u 3 A similar punishment was inflicted, some years after, in England, on a number ot the royalists who were implicated in Penruddock's insurrection. Hume. .... « The colonists considered themselves in some degree accessory to the crimes which they failed to prevent by neglect of any of the means warranted by strict justice. Belknap cites tho fniuJin.- -njrv in n MS .Tmirysal of Events in JVeto Eneland, some years posterior to this The In the follow^nV^cnir^in a*Ms\ JwrKafo/ZriJCTite in JVew Emland, some' years posterior to this prriod. " The house of John Kcniston was burned, and he killed, at Greenla land. 176 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. they made propositions of lenity to the savages, on t delivering up the murderers of the English ; but their [DOCK II. the condition of their 'delivering up the murderers of tlie English ; but their offers were uniformly rejected ; and the people who thus avouched the murders as national acts invited the avengers of blood to visit them with national pun- ishments. , i i j- • . The mutual hostilities of civilized nations, waged by dispassionate mer- cenaries, and directed by leaders more eager for fame than prompted by animosity or personal apprehension, may be conducted on the principles ol' a splenclid game. But such hostilities as those which the New England colonists were compelled to wage with the hordes of savage assassins who attacked them will always display human passions in their naked horror and ferocity. The permission (for we must suppose tliat they could have pre- vented it) of the barbarity of their savage allies appears the least excusable feature in their conduct. And yet, in considering it, we must add to our allowance for passion inflamed by enormous provocation a reasonable regard to the danger and inexpediency of checking that mutual enmity of the sav- ao-es which prevented a combination that might have proved fatal to all tiio European settlements. The reduction of their captives to servitude was unquestionably an illaudable measure ; but one for which it would not bo easy to suggest a substitute. The captive Pequods were treated wilh all Dossible kindness, and regarded rather as indented servants than slaves. It must be acknowledged, at least, that the colonists observed a magnanimous consistency in their international policy, and gave the Indians the protection of the same stern principles of justice of which they had taught them to feel the vindictive energy. They not only tendered a participation of their own privileges and territory to all civilized and converted Indians ; but, having ascertained the stations which the savages most highly valued, and the range of territory that seemed necessary to their comfort and happiness, they prohibited and annulled every transaction by which these domains might bn added to the European acquisitions. A short time after the termination ot the Pequod war, an Indian having been wantonly killed by some vagabond Englishmen, the murderers were solemnly tried and executed for the crime; and the Indians beheld with astonishment the blood of three men deliberately shed by their own countrymen for the slaughter of one stranger. The sense of justice, cooperating with the repute of valor, secured to the English set- tlements a long rest from war.' „ i . While the military force of Massachusetts was thus externally employed, the provincial commonwealtli was shaken by intestine dissension, generated by theological controversy, and inflamed by the gall of bitterness of unruly tongues. [1637.] It was the custom at that time in Boston, that the mem- bers of every congregation should assemble in weekly meetings to reconsider the sermons of the preceding Sunday ; to discuss the doctrinal instructions they had heard ; to revive the impressions that had beer, produced by their eJabbatical exercises ; and extend the sacred influence of the Sabbaili throughout the week. Anne Hutchinson, the wife of one of the most re- spectable inhabitants of the colony, a lady of masculine spirit, subtle, am- bitious, and enthusiastic, submitted with impatience to the restriction by which women at these meetings were debarred from the privilege of joinine the debates ; and conceiving that she was authorized to exercise her di- HI dmni are Simon, Andrew, and Peter. Those three we had in prison, and should have kiUcil J%e gintd Lord liar dan us:" Hisiury of AeK"- "smpsktre. > Mather Neal. Hutchinson. [BOOK II I tHA»' " ] MUd. llUTCllIMtON. 177 should liave killed ,l,i(lic nowurs by llio pn'ct'pl of Si-ripture wlilili enjoins Ihe elder women to tiitcli ihc yovnger., she cslublislied sepiinilc fonuile iisstMnblauies, in wliich her /(«al aiiJ talent soon procured her a ninnorous anil aihniring audience. Tiiese ivomen, who had partaken the strupslea and jierils of the male colonists, had ,l,,o caught no small portion of the various hues of their spirit ; and as many !'l' llieni had been accustomed to a life more replete with external elegance Hid variety of interest and employment than the state of the colony could ,|mi)ly, they experienced a restless craving for something to animate and en- ';i!ro their fac-'lties, anil judged nothing fitter for this purpose tliun an imita- "iim of those exercises for the promotion of the great conunon cause, which (Lined to minister so much comfort and support to the spirits of the men. Mrs. Hutchinson, their leader, gained by her devout behaviour the cordial ,sicem of John Cotton, whose charity never failed to recognize in every liiinaii being the sUghtest trace of those graces which he continually and mdenlly longed to behold ; and towards him she entertained^ and professed ;„r some time a very high veneration. The friendship of Vane and some i)tliors had a less favorable influence on her mind ; und their admiring praise of the depth and vigor of her genius seems to have clevat^»il, in her estinui- lioii, the gifts of intellect above the graces of character. She acquired tlie tide of The JVonsMc/i, which the ingenuity of her admirers derived from an liiiagranimatical transposition of the letters of her name ; and gave to her iWiuile assemblies the title oi frossipings, — a term, at that time, of respect- able import, but which tlie scandalous repute of female congregation and debate has since consigned to contempt and ridicule. Doing amiss what the Scriptures plainly forbade her to do at all, she constituted herself not only a dictator of orthodoxy, but a censor of the spiritual condition and value of all the ministers and inhabitants of the province. Her canons of doctrini' uerc received by her associates as the unerring standard of truth ; and a defamatory persecution was industriously waged against all who accounted ihom unsound, uncertain, or uninleUigible. A scrutiny was uistituted into ihe ciiaracters of all the provincial clergy and laity ; and of those wno re- fused to receive the doctrinal testimony of the conclave, few found it easy u) encounter the test of a censorious inquisition stimulated by female petu- linre and controversial rancor. In the assemblies which were held by the followers of Mrs. Hutchinson, there was nourished and trained a keen, routentious spirit, and unbridled license of tongue, of which the influence was speedily felt in the serious disturbance, first of domestic happiness, and then of the public peace. The maiions of Boston were transformed into a synod of slanderous praters, whose inquisitorial deliberations and audacious decrees instilled their venom into the innermost recesses of society ; and the spirits of a great majority of the citizens being in that combustible state in which a feeble spark will suflice to kindle a formidable conflagration, the whole colony was inflamed and distracted by the incontinence of female pleen and presumplion.' • at u i The tenets embraced and inculcated by the faction of vyhich Mrs. Hutch- inson was the leader were denounced by their adversaries as constituting the heresy of Antinomianisni, — a charge, which, when preferred by the \^orld at large, indicates no more than thej-ci)roach w^hich the gospel, from "' "When the minds of "men are ful^orT<•formii^gTpiri^ and predisposed to tlio distemper- \Micli arc engendered by such fulness, a little matter sometimes occasions rather than causes liangerous symptoms to appear." VOL. I Sir James Mackintosh. 23 178 HISTORY OF NOilTlI AMi:iUCA. [I^OOK II, p. f i •! l!;|.^ \ I 4 •» its first promulgation, has been fated to sustain, and when advanced by Christians against each other generally implies nothmg else than the conclu- sion which the accusers logically deduce from certain articles of doctnne, hut which the holders of these articles reject and disallow. ?^othing can be more perfectly free and gratuitous than the tender of heavenly grace nuhe -osoel • nor any thing more powerfully operative than the influence which The faithful acceptance of this grace is calculated to exercise. Mrs. Hutch- inson and her adherents contended more earnestly for the Ireedom than for the constraining influence of divine grace ; and, with female eagerness and polemical impetuosity, were prompt and swift to brand with terms ol heretical and contemptuous designation every inhabitant ot the colony ami especially every minister, whose views did not entirely coincide with their own The cjctrines which they taught, and the censures which they pro- nounced, were received with avidity and delight by a considerable paiiy; and, proportionally provoking the displeasure of others, excited the most violent dissensions throughout the whole colony. Cotton endeavoured to moderate the heats that arose, by representing to the parties that their strile was preiudicial to the great purpose in which he firmly believed the minds of both were united, — the exalting and honoring of divine grace ; the on (said he) seeking to advance the grace of God wtthm us xn the work of sane- tification, the other seeking to advance the grace of God without m in tk work of justification. But the strife was not to be stayed ; his endeavours to pacify and reconcile only attracted upon himself the fulmination of a cen- sure of timorous and purblind incapacity from the assembly of he women; and, as even this insult was not able to provoke him to declare himself iMitirelv opposed to them, he incurred a temporary abatement ot his popu- larity with the majority of the colonists. Some of the tenets promu gated bv the sectaries he reverenced as the legitimate fruit of profound and per- spicuous meditation of the Scriptures ; but he viewed with grief and amaze- ment the fierce and arrogant spirit with which they were maintained, and the wild and dangerous errors with which they were associated. The controversy raged with a violence very unfavorable to the discern- ment and recognition of truth, Mrs. Hutchinson and her adherents, both male and female, firmly persuaded of the superior soundness and purity ol their system of doctrine, forgot to consider how fiir the opposition which it encountered might be traced to the obscurity and imperfection with whuh they themselves received and proclaimed it ; — a consideration vvhich no human being is entitled to disregard, and which is peculiarly fitted to em- bellish superior attainments, and promote their efficacy by uniting them mt the amiable graces of candor and humility. The princip es they discarded from their creed laid hold of their spirits ; and while they contended for the sovereignty of divine grace in communicating truth, they assailed their adversaries'with an acrimony and invective that might well seem to imply that i.uth was easily and exclusively attainable by the mere will and en- deavour of men. The most enlightened and consistent Christian will eve be the most ready to acknowledge that he knows nothing yet as he ovghl (o know, and may have more cause than in this life he can ever discover to blush for the defectiveness of a testimony, which, exhibited with more clear- ness and consistency, might have fo-- i a readier and more entire accein- ance with mankind, but no such ronsuu-niuunn ^li^gvs.c^i tm .m... - mitigate the vehemence, or soften the asperity, of those busy, bold, ami cr i ,&4f CHAP. 11 ] MRS. HUTCHINSON. 179 ocmntuous spirits : nor did it ever occur to them that the doctrines they P;rc2^d wotSd be'discredited by association ^vith the venom of untamed, SaSr trgues. It is asserted' that the heat of their tempers gradually ommunfcated itself to the understandings of Mrs. Hulchmson and her 'T and that -in addition to their original tenets, that believers are per- S; unked with the spirit of God, that commands to .ork out salva^^on 'Slur and trembling n^i^ly only to those who are ""der a covenant of rks, and that sanctification is not the proper evidence of Christian eon it on L- they adopted that dangerous and erroneous notion of the Quakers, h t the spirit of God communicates with the minds of believers mdepend- ntlvof the written word; and, in consistency with this, received many evelations of future events announced to them by Mrs Hutchinson, as uaUy i" allible with the prophecies of Scripture. But the accounts trans- £l of such theological dissensions are always obscured by the cloud of "temporary passion^ prejudice, and error ; hasty effusions o irritated zeal re 3akenVir deliberate sentiments ; and the excesses of the zealo s of apa^lyheld up as Uie standard by which the whole body may fairly be '"Tomf ministers, who espoused Mrs. Hutchinson's opinions, began to pro- .llrthemf om the pulpit with such opprobrious invectives agamst all by on he^ vere rejected, as at length brought the dissensions to a crisis ; i Vane being accounted the confederate and protector of Mrs. Hutch- i l"is contLance in office, or privation of it at the approaching annual c i'on was the first test by ;hich the parties were to try w.th which o E resided the power of imposing silence on the other So rnuch U- ror and mutual jealousy had now been instilled into the minds of the opTe, that the utmost efforts of the sober and hurnane barely sufficed to ev n the election from being disgracefully signalized by a gener » not S the exertions of Vane's partisans failed to obtam his reappointment md bv a ereat maiority of votes, Winthrop was chosen governor. [May, "637 { Vane neiertheless, still' remained in Massachusetts, professing his Sgness to Undertake even the humblest function in the ^^--^^^^^^^^^^^^ monwealth composed of the undoubted people of God ; and the ^oilowers f Mrs HutclTnson, regarding his deprivation of office as a dangerous blow SseTves ceased no't to dor fo^^ ns thev had exerted for the propagation of their religious tenets. Ihe gov n!rwas loudly and insWgfy., vilified, and Wi"throp o^^^^^^^^^ md affronted. At length the prevailing party resolved to cut up this source ; fcontentbn by the robots; an'd a general synod «[ ^he jhurches of t^^^^^^^^^ ny having been assembled, the doctrines recently broached ^^ ex e condemned i erroneous and heretical. As this proceeding '.^''^^^^J^yJ^J^''^^^^^ professors of these doctrines to assert them_^^^th_lnc^ea3e^^ „mong thorn .ccnis undnn mbly .nmuf.st ; and >;'«'™have issued from a society, which, ,ho„, with the fundamental tenet of ti^ ^»''J«'^^, J ^'^ JntUcr plural Tegulartiy of female with tiirlher resembhmco to the Cluakers ''i ,,remhi..fr. Captain Underhill, one of Mrs. ""'"''""f " " *° "^of'^onduct. Much scandal Monstrous h,nKth,nnd co,r.bined with .1 »''« f °f ^^^ '"^^d ^^^^^ hi« was occasioned by his p.d.licly affir.nmg thatT.o 'l"//^«„«'^,^Ji^Jfi";^^^ his patroness; cvcrlastinc safety while he was sinok.ng a pipe. Ho wa« ^an's-^"^^ "'^.j;} „f Lpocrisy, and, a few vear^ after, returned to oston, where he rn-^do a P»^'« ^"^^J^^^^^^^ Sutcf inson^s n,l,!ltcrv. nnd d.dusion. Belkuap's History of J^fW HanipsAtM.^ Anotner oi inrs ^ lollower; was a woman named' Mary Dyer, vv -o reurcd lu rvruni. loland, v, her_ - . •lucn-iy became a Quaker. Winthrop's Journal (Savage 8 edition). 180 HISTORY OF iXORTU AMEllICA. [BOOK II m%M thiacltv the leaders of the party were summoned before the General Court. mTs Hutchinson rebuked her judges for their wicked persecution of truth rnmiared herself to the prophet Daniel cast into the den of lions, un.l •lUemnted to complete the shnilitudc by exercising what she beheved to be ; le eift of prophecy, and predicting that her exile would be attended with e ruin of her adversaries and all their posterity.^ To this punishment, nevertheless, she was condemned, together with her brother, Wheelwright, who was a clergyman, and had been the chief pulp.t-charnpion of her doc- trines • and some of the inferior members of the faction, partly or. account of the 'violence with which they still proclaimed their theological tenets, and partly for the seditious insolence with which they had treated the new gov- ernor, were fined and disfranchised. In consequence of tliese proceednigs, Vane quitted the colony and returned to England, " leavmg a caveat, says Cotton Mather, " that all good men are not fit for government. From the unpleasing contemplation of tJiese religious dissensions, we turn to the more agreeable survey of some of the consequences winch attended their issue. A considerable number of persons, dissatisfied with the pohcy and conduct of the synod and the General Court of Massachusetts, volun- tarily forsook the colony; some of these umted themselves with Roger Williams and his friends at Providence ; and being soon after abandoned by Mrs. Hutchinson, they fell under the guidance of that mehorated spinti which Williams now began to display. By a transaction with the Indians, these associated exiles acquiredtlie property of a fertile island m Narraganset Bay, whrctXined the name of Rhode Island.^ Williams remained among then, upwards of forty yeai's, respected as the father and director of the colony, of which he was several times elected governor. In the year 1643, he made a iourney to England, and, aided by the interest of Sir Henry Vane, obtained and conveyed to his feUow-colonists a parliamentary charter, by which I evi- dence and Rhode Island were politically united till the Restoration. Others of the exiles, under the guidance of Wheelwright, betook themselves to th e ~TTf;;r^;;;^^;i^l.lion was signally punished. The ruin she ,.rndicted as the conscout-ncc of llcr prcsunim on wus K^^ j^^^^^^^ Ishind ; but not hk.ng tlial '^'.aaon roLverrL o? tt DuXettlen.cnts, where Bhe ond all her family wore mur, HoredZtr Indians. Before she quitted MassnrhuscUs, «he published a d.Bclamat.on „l ^mn ,7tlo erroneous tenets ^vhich were imputed to her ; but maintained (in the face of tl,.. Tare evince to the contrary) that «he hall never entertained them. This was consider. ^ZTTi\\lZiZ<,Uon. Per...ps it might rather have warranted the inference, ha 1 o viimmamvioent spirit whid. had laid hold of her had departed or «"l'«'J«J. ?"; .i" ^^ ,': no Innpm rocognizcd tf.c opinions, which, through its medium, formerly presented them^ch.. '"=''MatT.ef Neaf. Ilutehinson. Milton dilTered from Mather in his estimate of Vaiu's canacilv. His fine sonnet to him begins thus : — ; > ■' u Vane, young in years, but m sajie counsels old, Than whom a better senator ne'er held The liclrn of Homo." And ends thus : — " Therefore on thy right hand Rolicion lentiR, And reckons thee in chief her olclest son." - Ihe price paid to the Indians was fifty fathoms of white beads, ten coats, and twenty sho.s Ch.hi icrs » When a fourth part of a township of the common size was sold by one Lngh.h- „ n ' r n.-thcr [or a wheellJrrow, it will be Lily believed that it was "^ «*;; 'Xn^wor h u. aUrigineK. To the Indians, without an English purchaser, the land was often uorll llmti m"d to the colonist, its value was created by .is labor.' Uwieht s Travels. -'A Ul de Is laid, the seUlers, i. March, 1(08, subscribeil tht; following civil comna.^t : - ' W , Slot _'are und..rwritten, do hereby solemK^•Jn the^ lo iH:or:r J;:.s c;^i!:;;';h: s.:;^Km;'a;.di:^;.r;f Lo;d;:and ^;; aini^-penict a„d a..,. luto laws given in iiis holy word ' • Pitkin's History of Micnca. CHAP. II] CHARLES CHAUNCY. 181 ions, we turn stimato of Vane's northeast parts of New England, and, being joined by associates who were allured by the prospects of rich fisheries and an advantageous beaver trade, they gradually formed and peopled the provinces of New Hampshire and Maine. These provinces had been respectively purchased from the Council of Plymouth by Mason and Gorges, who made sundry ineffectual attempts to colonize their acquisitions with advantage to themselves. Mason and Gorges were actuated by views widely different from those which prevailed in general among the colonists of New England ; they wished to become the pioprietaries or hereditary chiefs of vast manors and seigniories, and to es- tablish in America the very institutions from which emigrants to America were generally seeking to escape. They found it impracticable to obtain a revenue from the settlers in New Hampshire and Maine, or to^ establish among them a form of government suited to their own views. These set- tlers, composed partly of adventurers from England, and partly of exiles and voluntary emigrants from Massachusetts, framed for themselves separate governments, to which for a few years they yielded a precarious obedience ; nil, wearied with internal disputes and divisions, they besought the protec- tion of the General Court of Massachusetts, and obtained leave to be in- cluded within the pale of its jurisdiction.' A schism, akin to that which Mrs. Hutchinson created in Massachusetts, was fomented at Plymouth by one Samuel Gorton ; but his career in this place was cut short by a conviction for swindling. He removed from Ply- mouth to Rhode Island, where he excited such disturbance, that, even in this community, where unlimited toleration was professed, he was sentenced to be flogged and banished. Repairing to the plantation of Providence, he ' nearly involved the people of this settlement in a war with the Indians ; but at length, in compliance with the entreaty of Roger Williams, the gov- ernment of Massachusetts laid hold of him and some of his adherents, and, after subjecting them to a temporary imprisonment, obliged them to depart thecountry.2 [1638.] The population of Massachusetts, impaired by the various drams from this territory which we have noticed, was recruited in the following year by the arrival of a fleet of twenty ships conveying three thousand emigrants from England. Of these the most eminent and memorable person was Charles Chaimcy, an English clergyman, and one of the greatest scholars and theo- logians of his age. Flying from the persecution which his own generous but pa'ssionate temper provoked from the bigotry of Laud, he devoted himself, with the most admirable zeal, patience, industry, and success, to the minis- try of the gospel, and the tuition of youth, in his adopted country. So animating and impressive was the Christian example he sustained, that the church with which he connected himself celebrated, on a day of thanksgiving to God, the privilege by which they were distinguished in obtaining the society and converse of such a man. Resigning wealth; ease, and distinc- tion, he cheerfully entertained a lot of penury, toil, and obscurity ; and at the age of fourscore, resisted all solicitations to repose, and expressed an earnest desire to die in his pulpit._ Thejame year wituessed_the founda- ' Noal. Hutchinson. !:Jiillivn;r8 Historyl^Maini^ Belknnp. The province of Maine was thus ilonominaKHl in honor of the British queon, with whom Charles the First received as a dowry the revonucs of a French province of the same name. Sullivan. Sullivan has been represented to me as an inteilisient man ; but ho is certainly not a perspicuous historian. ' Oorges's Jimrrini pnlnlrd to the Life. Norj. Gorton went to England, and, durmg_ tho civil wars, occasioned some trouble to the col iiy nv his comolaints of tiie had undergone. UOriOll Wl^lll I" i/llKMlim, .■•■", "—■•■^•■•" !)y his complaints of tiie Ireuliueiit which he ?l I i| 182 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK II. tion of an establishment calculated to improve and preserve the moral con- dition of the people. This was Harvard College (which has subsequently expanded into I^rvard University), at Cambridge, in Massachusetts, the first seminary of learning erected in North America. So highly prized were the advantages of knowledge and the influence of education by these generous parents of American society, that in the year 1636, while the colony, in addition to the feebleness and suffering of its infant condition, was struggling with the calamity of the Pequod War, the General Court at Boston appropriated four hundred pounds to the erection of a college or academy. "For a like spirit, under like circumstances," says the presi- dent and historian of this institution, " history will be searched in vain." The bequest of an emigrant clergyman, who appointed his whole fortune to be applied to the same design, enabled them in the present year to enrich their country with an establishment whose operation has proved as beneficial to their posterity, as its institution, at this early period of their history, is honorable to themselves. In the year 1642, the degree of Bachelor of Arts was conferred by Harvard College on nine young men, the first persons who ever received collegiate honors, the growth of North America.^ The national growth of the New England societies was now to be left to depend on their own resources ; and the impulse which had been communi- cated to it by the stream of emigration from the parent state was for ^ while to cease. For some time past, the policy of the English government in relation to these settlements had savored of fear, aversion, and undecided purpose ; various demonstrations were made of arbitrary design and tyran- nical encroachment ; but, nut being steadily prosecuted, they served merely to keep the colonists united by a sense of common danger, and to f ndear the institutions of liberty by tlie destruction with which they were ineffectually menaced. The king, in reviewing his first proceedings towards the emigrants, seems to have doubted pretty early the soundness of that policy which had prompted so wide a departure from the general principles of his adminis- tration ; the experience of every year tended to enhance his doubts ; and he wavered some time in irresolute perplexity between his original wish to evacuate England of the Puritans, and his apprehensions of the dangerous and increasing influence which their triumphant establishment in America was visibly exerting. The success of his politic devices appeared for a short time to answer all his expectations ; and he seemed likely to prevail over the Puritans by the demonstration of a hollow good-will or lenity, sus- pended on the condition of their abandoning the realm. A considerable portion of the embers of Puritan and patriotic feeling had been removed from England, and consigned to deserts, where as yet no colony had been able to survive ; but they had neither languishe d nor perished ; and, on the • Mather. NcaT Hutchinson. Wintlirop's Journal (Savage's edition), (iuincy's Histnrti of Uiirrard Vnirersity. For some time the college possessed but n scantj; collection of books. The eftbrts of the mnnagprs to nccumulntc a library were aided by considerable donations of books made to them by that groat and pious ecclesiastic, Archbishop Usher ; by the celclimlcd JVon-conformist minister, Richard Baxter ; the great Whig lawyer and partisan, Sergeant Miiy- nard ; and that distinguished warrior and philosopher. Sir Kenelm Digby. This last mentioned benefactor to a Puritan library was himself a Roman Catholic. It is an interesting fact, and serves to dignify and embellish the relationship between the two countries, that many of tin most illustrious men whom England has ever produced contributed to lay the foundation of civilized society in America.' The enumeration of the patentees in the Virginian charters includes almost every distinguished individual in England at the time. The people of New Enffland have nlwavs retaiiiecy of the king. He was formed to hate and dread alike the growth of r-^' ior.s and political freedom ; but fated to render the highest' service to tl. . jects of his aversion by an ill- directed and unavaihng hostility. In the year 1637, he granted a commis- sion to Sir Ferdinando Gorges, appointing him governor-general of New England, and issued a proclamation prohibiting all persons from tra porting themselves, or others, to that country, without a special permission under the great seal, — which, it was added, would be granted to none wiio could 184 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK H not produce credible certificates of their having taken the oaths of supremacy and allegiance, and of their having fully conformed to the ritual and ordi- nances of the church of England. But the critical state of affairs in Britain prevented the adoption of measures requisite to give effect to Gorges 's com- mission ; and the irresistible impatience of the oppressed Puritans and vota- ries of liberty to escape from the increasing heat of persecution, or the approach of civil war, completely defeated the restrictions imposed on their emigration. We hav.^ seen, that, in the year 1638, a numerous transporta- tion of additional emigrants took place. But before the close of that year llie king gave way to a singleness and obstinate directness of purpose whicli now alone was wanting to assure and accelerate his ruin ; and after a lone; course of wavering policy and unsuccessful experiment, he adopted a meas- ure, which, unfortunately for himself, was effectual. Learning that another fleet was preparing to sail for New England with a band of emigrants, among whom were some of the most eminent leaders of the patriots and Puritans, he caused an order of council to be issued for its detention ; and the injunction being promptly enforced, the intended voyage was prevented. On board this fleet tiiere appear to have been, among other distinguished individuals, Hazlerig, Hampden, Pym, and Oliver Cromwell,' — men to whom, but a few years after, Charles was fain to tender the highest offices in his realm, and whom his blind injustice now detained to averiee the tyranny by which so many of their friends had been driven away. Various j)roclamalions were issued the same year for the prevention of emigration to New England, which, accordingly, from this time was for many years dis- continued.^ These measures inflamed to the highest pitch the discontent that had long rankled in the minds of a great body of the people. Even tlie hospitality of rude deserts, it was declared, was denied to the oppressed inhabitants of England ; and men were constrained to inquire if the evils which could not be evaded might not be repelled, and, since retreat was impracticable, if resistance might not be availing. By promoting emigration at lirst, the king opened a vein which it was impossible to close, without in- curring considerable danger ; and the increased severity of his administration augmented the flow of evil humors at the very time when he thus imprudently J That nmiipden and'Cromwell worn on hoard tliis fleet, or that they even intended to re- pair to Ainorica, has heen doubted, but i think without good reason, llume (contrary to his own intention) lias ratlier eonfirnied tlian removed the doubt, by tlie manner in which he lias refi'rrod to a passage in Hutchinson, the meaning of which he has evidently misunderslond. Kut Dr. Mather, who preceded Hutchinson, expressly names all the individuals mentioned in tli(' text ns having prepared for their voyage, and been arrested by the order of coniKil. Olduiixon recites the grant of laud in America in favor of //«?nH(/€rt and others, whidi tli(> •■migrants were nroceeding to occupy. Mather's statement is confirmed by Neal, Chircndoii, Bates, and Diitt.iule. The strong mind of Cromwell apftears long to have retained the bins it had once received towards emigration, and the favorable opimon of the wilonists of New Ki)g!ane the I'ountrv." ii'Akv.<>.<.'.'9. Jhnrrirmi Hianrun!::-. * Mather. Neal. Hutchinson. Oldmixon. 'Chalmers. Hazard. CHAP. II] SURRENDER OF THE CHARTER REQUIRED. 185 (Iqirived them of their accustomed vent. The previous emigration had , Ircady drained the Puritan body of a great number of those of its members whose milder tempers and meeker strain of piety rendered them more de- sirous than the generality of their brethren to decline a contest with their sovereign ; the' present restrictions forcibly retained in the realm men of more daring spirit and trained in experience of enmity to his person and op- posilion to his measures. ^ He now at last succeeded in stripping his subjects (if every protection that the law could extend to their rights ; and was des-. tiiiL'd soon to experience how completely he had divested them of every re- j'raint that the law could impose on the vindictive retribution of their wrongs. From this period till the assembling of the Long Parliament, he pursued a short and headlong career of disgrace and disaster ; while a gross infatuation veiled from his eyes tlie gulf of destruction to which his steps were ad- vancing. In pursuance of the policy which the king at length determined openly iind vigorously to employ, a requisition was transmitted by the privy council to the governor and General Court of Massachusetts, commanding thoni to deliver up their patent, to be conveyed by the first ship that should sail for I'ngland, in order that it might abide the issue of the process of quo war- mnlo that was depending against the colony. To this requisition the Gen- oral Court [September, 1638] returned for answer a humble and earnest petition that the colonists might be suffered to plead in their own behalf before they were condemned. They declared that they had transported their families to America, and embarked their fortunes in the colonial pro- ject, in reliance on his Majesty's license and encouragement ; that they had never willingly or knowingly offended him, and now humbly deprecated his wrath, and solicited to be heard with their patent in their hands. If it were forcibly withdrav/n from them, they protested that they must either return 10 England or seek the hospitality of more distant regions. But they prayed that they might "be suflered to live in the wilderness," where they had till wow found a resting-place ; and might experience in their exile some of that favor from the ruler of their native land which they had largely experienced f.om the Lord and Judge of all the Earth. They retained possession of t!:eir patent while they waited an answer to this petition, which, happily for their liberties, they were destined never to receive. The insurrections which «oon after broke out in Scotland directed the whole attention of the king to matters which more nearly concerned him ; and the long gathering storm, v.hich was now visibly preparing to burst upon him from every corner of his iloininions, engaged him to contract as far as possible the sphere of hostility ill which he found himself involved.^ The benefit of his altered views was I'xperienced by the Virginians, in the abolition of the despotism to which he had previously subjected them ; and by the inhabitants of New England, m ihe cessation of his attempts to supersede by a similar despotism the liberal iiistitiitions which they had hitherto enjoyed. He would doubtless now ' The rnnimenceincnt of resistnnco in Scotland originiilcd with sonic individuals of that I'lunlry who had purchased n tract of territory in New England, and made preparation to ii.iiisport thomselvcs thitlinr, but were prevented (it does not appear how) from carrying their 'Isiiin into execution. Tliey had obtained from the aasemblj' of Massachusetts an assurance I I'llic free exnrriso of their Presbyterian form of church government. Matlier. ' lliitc^hinson Chalmers. This year (K!:??*) was distinguished by nn earlhqualvo in New I'n'ilimd, which extended through ail the settleiiipnts, and shook the ships in Boston harbour ml llu< neiglihoiiriii J^f-'o Knglatii. • JOSS, -vn H yo,tnnn hiindr.'.l and twy ^ "PP*: ;, V''Pu"V' l,o;.el admonished to take hood of /,>/,« carriage. Jos.as PlaiBtowe for stealing «'">• 5^^««'" „f ,,,,,„ f„,,„ .!„, indiuiiH, is ordered to r-fm ihem eight baskets, to be fined /'^e pounds, and iiereaftcr to be called bv the name of Josias, and not Mr., as formerly ho used to be. uutcn- 190 IIIRTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK II of spinning whloh tlio younp women were reckoned capable of producip);. iiiul onlbrced by fines tbe prodnction of the requisite qnuntities. Usury w,,, forbidden ; and the prohibition was not confined to the interest of nionry, but extended to the hire of hiboring cattle and implements of husbandrv, Persons deserting the English settlements, and living in heathen license and profanity, were punished by fine and imprisonment. A male child ahovp Kixteon years of age, accused by his parents of rebellion against thcni and general misconduct, incurred (conformably with the Mosaic code) the doom of capital punishment ; and any person courting a maid, without the sanction of her parents, w.i^ fined and imprisoned. Yet the parental audiority u^s not left unregulatoi.. All parents were commanded to instruct and cate- cliize their children and servants, whom the selectmen or overseers were directed to remove from their authority and commit to fitter iiands, if tin parents or masters were found deficient in this duty ; and children were al- lowed to seek redress from the magistrate, if they were arbitrarily restrained from marriage. The celebration of the nuptial ceremony was confined tn the magistrate, or such other persons as the General Court might authorize to [)erform it. The provincial law of tenures was exceedingly simple and concise. The charter had conveyed the territory to the company and lis assigns ; and by an early law of the province, it was provided, " that five years' quiet possession shall be deemed a sufficient title." Instead of prn- cliiiming or intending that the deficiencies of the provincial code should be supplied by the common or statute law of England, it was announced, that, in cases where redress of wrongs or remedy of inconvenience was not prn- vided by the ordinances or customary practice of the province, reroiirsc should be had to the pages of holy writ.^ Like the tribes of Israel, the colonists of New England had forsaken their native land after a long and severe persecution, and journeyed into a wilder- ness for the sake of reUgion. Like the Israelites, they compared thernsehe? to a vine brought out of Egypt, and planted by the Lord in a land from iimon. Few obtninod the title of Mr. in the colony ; still fewer thiit of Esquire. Goodman ami ),vi(J< >• 'iscerniblo' in some of these laws was tempered by a patrinrclml mild- ness of adminiii' a'-o',. Many instances of this occur in Mather s Uves of the Gnrrnwrs "i .Xnr Kntrland. 'h.v . rwv, Ho permitted to notice as a spociuKm. Governor Wintlirop, Ijiiij urged to proKf-cuti (1 punish a man who pillaged his magazine of firewood in wiiilcr, di- clared he wouiii f oon cure him of that malpractice ; and, accordingly, sending for the dilin- quent, he told hun, "You have n largo iiimily, and I have a large magazine of wood ; cni- as often to it as you please, and take as much of it as you need to make your dwclli comfijrtable." — " And now," he added, turning to his friends, " I defy him to steal 111} tin w'od again." Graham's Sketch of Vermont. ' Mridvment of the Ordinances of M'ew England, apiul Neal. Hutchinson. Tru Josselyn.'Burnaby's Tror«/« in, ?mmr«. Chalmers. Winthrop's JournaZ. Holmes's. of the Blue Uurs of Connecticut, in the Khnde Island Farmers' and Afanufactwe.rs .A cniiii' ill" [BOOK II I (HAP «"■] NF.w ENOKAND Hini';^ wiTi: ".•::i: parliament. 191 of producini;, s. Usury u',13 rest of nionpv. of hiisbiindrv. ben license and ilo child aliovo jainst them and ;ode) the doom 3Ut the sanctinii 1 authority was truct and catp. overseers were sr iiands, if ihi' lildren were jil. rarily restrained vas confined in might authorize igly simple and ompany and its ded, " that five Instead of pro- code should be nnounced, that, ce was not pm- vines, recourse d forsaken their ;d into a wilder- ared thernsclve« in a land from jiro. Goodman and irvices, ratlier tiiim iM and scrupiilosiiv the laws ; and ns*ii- id of wearing Inn; iciations were after- trates, being (iuil,: ■oportion as tlip f^u- lotion frpquenily in- :■" .■ irii, 10 tho'dis- Mi^. !t it* ril:'!ed of Att\. i! • , '■■ ■'■ incd Diit'ijles, 6'' . ■miiri/ d great difBrulty in wasting his fiilil- hinson. Trumbull. '.. HolincHs .'Irmunt lufacturf.rs' Jmimil r a patriarchal niiW- of the Giirrriwrs nf lor Winthrop, ticiiij vood in winter, (li- nding for thr dclin- sine of wood ; conn luko your dwelling liin to steal ni) lin' ,|iicli the heathen were cast forth. I'liey endeavoured to cherish a resoni- l,la„(e of condition, so honorable and so fraught with itiriteincnts to piety, hv cultivatitig a conformity between their hiws and « iistoms and those which ai^tinguishcd the uncient people of (Jod. Hence arose some of thr peculi- iritii's which wo have observed in their legislative code ; and hence arose ilso the practice of commencing their sabbatical observances on Saturday rvening. Tho same predilection for Jewish customs begot, or at least pro- moted, among them the habit of bestowing significant names on children, of uiioiii the first three that were baptized in Boston church received the namc'^ „f Joy, Recompense, and Pity. This custom seems to have obtained the .neatest prevalence in the town of Dorchester, which long continued to be remarkable for sucL n.iines as Faith, Hope, Charity, Deliverance, Depend- ence, Prc^i rvcd, CoiiNsnt, Prudence, Patience, Thankfid, Hate-evil, Hold- last, and o'hers of a similar character.' CHAPTER III N..W F.nehind embraces the Cause of the Parlinmont. — Federal Union between the New Knulaiid StatcH. —Provincial Coinage of Money. — Disputes ocrasioned by the Dinfranrhisu- ,,',e,,t of Dissenters in Mnssachusctts. — Impeachment and Trial of Governor Winthrop. — Arliitmry Proceedings against the Dissenters. — Attempts to convert and "Y'l'Z" »"«""- liuns _ Ciinractcr and Labors of Eliot and Mayhew.- Indian Diblo printed in Massaciiu- ,ellH - Eir..ets of the Missionary Labor. - A Synod of tho New England Churches. - Dis- „„„. between Massachusetts and tho Long Parliament. — The Colony foils the I'.irliam. nt Land is favored by Cromwell. — The Protector's Administration beneficial to New Lng- lin.l -Ho conquers Acadia. — His Propositions to tho Inhabitants of Massncliu»,etts — .Itrlined by them. — Persecution of tho Anabaptists in Massachusetts. — Conduct and Mil- IVrinirs of the Quakers. — The Restoration. — Address of Massachusetts to Charles tho S,,,ond. -Alarm of the Colonists — their Declaration of Rights. — The Kings Message to .Mnswuhusfitts— how far complied with. — Royal Charter of Incorporation to Rhode Island and Providence — and to Connecticut and New Haven. The coincidence between the principles of the New England colonists and those of the prevailing party in the Long Parliament [1G41] was ce- mented by the consciousness, that with the success of this party was identi- fied the security of the provincial institutions from the dangers that had so recently menaced them. As soon as the colonists were informed of the eonvocation of that famous assembly, they despatched Hugh Peters and two other persons to promote their interests in the parent state. 1 he mission ,,0 d more fortunate for New England than for her ambassadors. By an ordinance of the House of Commons ^ in the following year, the mhabitams of all the various plantations of New England were exempted from payment of any duties, either upon goods carried thither, or upon goods imported by them into the mother country, " until the House shall make further order therein to the contrary." The colonists, in return, cordially embraced the cause of their benefactors ; and when the civil wars broke out m England [1G42], they published a decree expressive of their approbation of the measures of parliament, and denoun cing capital punishment against all per- ' llislorii of the British Dominions in .Imtrica. . , . .• „p tm„,„ » Tiic reasons assigned by tho House for this ordinance arc, that tho plantations of New Ensinnd are likely to conduce to tho propagation of the gospel, and already have, oy ino bIpKsiriff of tho Almighty, had good und prosperous success, tcithout any public charge to ma stnte."^ 1 192 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK II. sons who should disturb the peace of the commonwealth by endeavourmg to raiTe a party for the king of England, or by d.scr.mmatmg between he kmg a^d the parliament, which pursued (it was declared the rue interests of t e Sk as well as itB own. Happily for themselves, the colomsts were unable to signalize their predilection by more active interference in the contest; nnd with a prudent regard to their commercial interests, they gave free Ses^ into their harbours to trading vessels from the ports m possession of e Svalists. They had likewise the good sense to decline an invitation they eceivld to deput'e John Cotton, and others of their ministers, to attend, !,s provincial delegates, the celebrated Assembly of Divines convoked at ^^'e™^^^^^^ by the privileges that were conferred on tl^e.-n, they pursued the cultivation of their soil with unremitting ardor; and their wealth and opulatlon rapidly increased. From the continent they began to extend hJ^r occupation to the adjacent islands ; and one planter, m part.cidar, hav- g obtained a grant of Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, and the Ehzabe, iinds, laid the foundation there of settlements that afterwards proved hiohlv serviceable to the conversion and civilization of tlie Indians. But a co'itcLporaueous attempt which they made to extend, if not their settle- ments, at least their principles, in another quarter of the continent, was at- ended with unfortunate results. The colonists of Virgima were ii^ general stanch royalist. ; and, with little concern for the substance of religion, pro- fesed a stvong attachment to the forms and institutions of the churcn of England. Yef, as we have seen, they received, even as early as the reign of James, an accession to their numbers, composed of persons who ha.i imbibed Puritan sentiments, and were fugitives from ecc esiastical perse- cution in Britain. A deputation from this class of the Virgmian planters had been lately sent to Boston to represent their destitution of proper minis- "rs, and soli/it a supply of pastors from the New England churches. In (onpliance with this request, three clergymen were selected to repair as ,nis. onaries to Virginia, and furnished with recommendatory letters ft-om the gorenlor of Massachus'etts to Sir William Berkeley. [1642.] On their arrival in Virginia, tliey began to preach in various parts ot the country, and th'^ people flocked to hear Uiem with an eagerness that might have been product ve of important consequences. But the Piu;itan principles, as we L the political sintiments, of die colonists of New England were too much ihe objects of aversion to Sir William Berkeley, to admit of his pa rona?. hein- afforded to an enterprise intended and adapted to propagate their m- iucnce among hk own people. So far from conriply.ng with the desire of is brother governor, he issued a proclamation, by which all persons .ho Lll not conform to the ceremonial of the church of England were con,- nianded straightway to depart from Virginia. The preachers accord.ns:!;. ;:;:;med to l. EWanC • and thus was laid the foundatron o a jca^^^^^^^^^ ^vl.ich long subsisted between the tuo oldest provmces cf North An ni .1. The disappointment occasioned by this fruitless attempt to es al.i.sh ., iVicndh- connection with the sister colony of Virginia was counterbalancod iu the'foUowinp year [1G43] by an hnportant eveia '"/l^'^/.^f ^ff "' I New En.,land settlements ; - the formation of a league by which they Nvci knit together in a federal union that greatly augmented their security a pLwer. The Narragansct Indians had by this ti me reflected ntjmsurejm -J jjyn;j,i„^„n jsj^^i. Hazard, CHAP. Ill ] THE NEW ENGLAND CONFEDERACY. 193 the policy of their conduct towards the Pequods ; and the hatred which they formerly cherished against this tribe, being extinguished in the destruction of its objects, was succeeded by an angry jealousy of those strangers who obviously derived the chief and only lasting advantage which the conflict lad yielded. They saw the territories of their ancient rivals occupied by 1 much more formidable neighbour ; and mistaking their own inability to im- prove their condition for the effect of fraud and injustice on the part of the colonists, who were rapidly surpassing them in number, wealth, and power, thev began to complain that the plunder of the Pequods had not been fairly divided, and concerted measures with some of the neighbouring tribes for ■1 .reneral insurrection of the Indians against the English. Their designs had ad'vanced but a little way towards maturity, when they were detected, m consequence of an emergent quarrel with another tribe, which they pursued with an imprudent indulgence of that inordinate appetite for present revenge which seemed fated to disconcert and defeat their political views. The colonists, from the groundless murmurs they found themselves exposed to, md which proved only the rooted dislike of the savages, were sensible of their own danger, without yet being aware of its extent, or feeling themselves ". thorized to anticipate by defensive hostility some more certain indication of it ; when, fortunately, they were invited to act as mediators between two contending tribes. The Narragansets, having conceived some disgust against a neiehbouring chief, employed an assassin to kill him ; and, faihng in this attempt, plunged into a war, with the declared intention of exterminating the whole of his tribe. This tribe, who were at peace wiUi the English, implored the protection of the Massachusetts government, which agreed to interpose in their behalf. The Narragansets, apprized of this transaction, recollecting the terrible punishment inflicted on the Pequods, and conscious that they themselves justlv merited a similar visitation, were struck with dis- may, and, throwing down their arms, acceded to a treaty of peace oictated to 'them by the Eughsh. When their knmediate apprehensions subsided, tliey showed so little regard to the performance of tlieir paction, that it was not till the colonists made a demonstration of readiness to employ force that they sullenly fulfilled it. Alarmed by such indications of fickleness, dislike, and furious passion, and ascertaining by dint of inquiry the design that had been recently pro- posed and entertained of a general conspiracy of the Indians, — the authori- ties of Massachusetts conceived the defensive project of providmg, by a mutual concert of the colonies, for the common danger whrh they might expect to encounter at no distant day, when the savages, instructed by ex- perience, would sacrifice their private feuds to combined hostility against a race of strangers whose progressive advancement seemed to minister occa- sion of increasing and incurable jealousy to the whole Indian race. Having composed, for this purpose, a plan which was framed m imitation ot the i)ond of union between the Dutch provinces, and which readily suggested itself to some leading personages among the colonists who had resided witli the Brownist congregation in Holland, they communicated it to the neigh- bouring setUements of New Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven, bv which it was cordially embraced. These four colonies, accordingly, entered into a league of perpetual confederacy, offensive and defensive. [^'«y M' 1643.] The instrument of confederation between them announced that their respective inhabitanis had all come into these paris vj America wiin j/tc some VOL. 1. 25 * 194 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK II. errand and aim, to advance the Christian religion, and enjoy the liberty of their consciences with purity and peace. It was stipulated, that the con- federates should thenceforth be distinguished by the title of The United Colonies of New England ; that each province should remain a separate and distinct municipal association, and retain independent jurisdiction within its own territory ; that in every war, offensive or defensive, each of tlie confederates should furnish its quota of men, money, and provisions, at a rate to be fixed from time to time in proportion to the population of the respective communities ; that a council, composed of two commissionerg from each province, should be annually convoked and empowered to delib- erate and decide on all points of common concern to the confederacy ; and that every resolve, sanctioned by the approbation of six of the commis- sioners, should be binding on all the associated provinces. Every province renounced the right of protecting fugitive debtors or criminals from the legal process of the particular community which they might have wronged and deserted. The State of Rhode Island, which was not included in this con- federacy, petitioned a few years after to be admitted into it ; but her request was refused, except on the condition, which she declined, of merging lier separate existence in an incorporation with the colony of New Plymoutli, Thus excluded from the benefit of the federal union, and in a maqner disso- ciated from the other States, the inhabitants of Rhode Island and Provi- dence endeavoured to promote their separate security by conciliating the friendship of the Indians ; and the humane and courteous policy which this purpose taught them to pursue proved remarkably successful.^ The colonists have been reproached with arrogating the prerogative of sovereignty in this transaction, — which, doubtless, wears all the features of a direct approach to political independence. Yet it was a measure that could hardly be avoided by a people surrounded with enemies, and aban- doned to their own guidance and resources, in a territory many thousand miles distant from the seat of the government that claimed supreme dominion over them. Of a community so situated every progressive step in social advancement, whether consisting in the enlargement of its numbers or the concentration of its resources, or otherwise tending to increase its power and promote its security, was a step towards national independence. Nothint; but some curiously politic system, or such a series of events as might have kept the various settlements continually disunited in mutual jealousy and consequent weakness, could have secured their protracted existence as a dependent progeny of England. But whatever effects the transaction which we have remarked may have silently produced on the course of American sentiment and opinion, and however likely it may now appear to have planted tlie seminal idea of independence in the minds of the colonists, it was regarded neither by themselves nor by their English rulers as indicating pretensions unsuitable to their condition. Even after the Restoration, the commissioners of the federal union were repeatedly noticed and recognized in the letters and official instruments of Charles the Second ; and the leas^iie itself, with some alterations, subsisted till very near the era of the British Revolution. A few years after its establishment, the principal object which engaged its deliberations and exertions was the religious instruction of tlie Indians, — an object which was pursued in cooperation with the society in- s(>fi;*pf{ \\\' pf)fliaf»^,f>ri} |»i Ri'jfojrj (fjj. nrona"'3t!n'' the ""nsMol in New Enc'snd. •"inrrriise Mathers AVu» England Troubles- Weal. Hutcliiiwon. Pitkin's Histury. ' liutciiiuiiun. CHAP. Ill] COINAGE OF MONEY BY MASSACHUSETTS. 195 itkin's History. While the colonists were thus employed in devising measures calculated to guard, confinri, and mature their institutions, the parliament enacted an ordinance of which the principle menaced those institutions with an entire overthrow. [1643.] It appointed the Earl of Warwick governor-in-chief, and lord high admiral of all the British colonies, with a council of five peers and twelve commoners to assist him ; it empowered him, in conjunction with his associates, to investigate the actual condition of the colonies; to require the production of their patents and records, and the personal attendance and testimony of any of their inhabitants ; to remove governors and other provin- cial magistrates ; to replace them by proper successors ; and to delegate to these new functionaries as much of the power conferred on himself as he should think proper. This ordinance, which created an authority that might have new-modelled all the provincial governments, and abrogated all their charters, was not sufFered to remain wholly inoperative. To some of the colonial commonwealths the parliamentary council extended protection, and even granted new patents. ^ Happily for Massachusetts, either the peculiar favor and indulgence of which she was deemed worthy, or the absorbing interest of the great struggle with which England was shaken, prevented any interference with her institutions, until a period when her provincial assem- bly was able, as we shall see, to employ defensive measures that eluded the undesirable interposition without disputing the formidable authority of the parliamentary council. Various disputes had arisen of late years between the inhabitants of New England and the French settlers in Acadia or Nova Scotia. These differ- ences were now [1644] adjusted by a treaty between a commissioner for the king of France on the one part, and John Endicott, governor of JSTeto England, and the rest of the magistrates there, on the other.** The colonists had already debarred themselves from recognizing the king as a distinct au- thority from the parliament ; and they probably found it difficult to explain to the other contracting parties to what denomination of sovereign power they owned allegiance. This state of things, as it engendered practices, so it may have secretly fostered sentiments, that savored of independence. A practice strongly denoting pretension to sovereign authority was adopted a few years after,^ when the increasing trade of the colonists with the West Indies, and the quantity of Spanish bullion that was conveyed through this channel into New England, induced the provincial authorities to erect a mint for the coinage of silver money at Boston. The coin was stamped with the name of New England on the one side ; of Massachusetts, as the principal settlement, on the other ; and with a tree, as the symbol of national vigor and increase. Maryland was the only other colony that ever presumed to coin money ; and, indeed, this prerogative has been always regarded as the peculiar attribute of sovereignty. " But it must be considered," says one of the New England historians, " that at this time there was no king in Israel." In the distracted state of the mother country, it might well be judged unsafe to send bullion there to be coined ; and from the uncertainty respecting the form of government which would finally arise out of the civil wars, it might reasonably be apprehended that an impress received during their continuance would not long retain its currency. The practice gave no umbrage what- ever to t he En glish government. |t received the tacit allowance of the par- Chalmers. The people of Maine solicited the protection 9. ■■i . m Journals of the House of Lords. of tho coimoil in 16.'J1. Hazard. ' Hutchinson. In 1652. 196 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK II lianient, of Cromwell, and even of Charles the Second, during twenty years of his reign. 1 The separation of the two branches of the legislature of Massachusetts naturally gave rise to some disputes respecting the boundaries of jurisdiction in a constitution not yet matured by practice. But what precedent could not supply, the influence of the provincial clergy was able to acconipli&li. 1 1G44.] By common consent, all the ministers were summoned to attend the session of the assembly, and the points at issue being submitted to them, their decision was honored with immediate and universal acquiescence.- But in the following year [1645], a dispute more violent in its nature, and less creditable and satisfactory in its result, was occasioned in this common- wealth by the intolerance which we have already noted in its original insti- tutions. With the growing prosperity and importance of the provincial so- ciety, the value of its political franchises was felt to be proportionably aug- mented ; and the increasing opulence and respectability of the dissenters seemed to aggravate the hardship of the disfranchisement to which they were subjected. Some of these persons, having proceeded with violence to as- sume the privileges from which they were excluded by law, and disturbed an election by their interference, were punished by Winthrop, the deputy- governor, who vigorously resisted and defeated their pretensions. They complained of this treatment to the General Court by a petition couched iii very strong language, demanding leave to impeach the deputy-governor be- fore the whole body of his fellow-citizens, and to submit to the same tribunal the consideration of tlieir general sufferings, as well as of the particular severities they had experienced from Winthrop. The grievances under which they labored were enumerated in the petition, which contained a forcible remonstrance against the injustice of depriving them of tlie rights of iVeemen, because tliey could not conscientiously unite with the congrega- tional churches, or when they solicited admission into them were arbitrarily rejected by the ministers. They contended that either the full rights of citizenship should be communicated to them, or that they should no longer be required to obey laws to which they had not given assent, to contribute to the maintenance of ministers from whose labors they derived no advan- tage, or to pay taxes imposed by an assembly in which they were not repre- sented. The court was so far moved by the petition, or by the respecta- bility of its promoters, that Winthrop was commanded to defend hini- .self publicly, before the magistrates, from tlie charges which it advanced against him. On the day appointed for his trial, he descended from his official seat on the bench, he being one of the magistrates, and, placing himself at the bar in presence of a numerous assemblage of the inhabitants, he addressed hiui- .self to explain and vindicate his conduct. Having clearly proved that the proceedings for which he was impeached were sanctioned by law, and that ilie sole object of them was to maintain the existing institutions, by the I'xercise of the authority confided to him for this purpose, he concluded an excellent harangue in the following terms : — " Though 1 be justified before men, yet it may be, the Lord hath seen so much amiss in my administration as calls me to be humbled ; and, indeed, for me to have been thus charged by men is a matter of humiliation, whereof I desire to make a right use be- fuiiicr spit in lior face, she is to be a.^hamea. fore the Lord. Ti- ll Miriam'i: * Hutchiruun. I'sid CHAP. Ill] IMPEACHMENT AND DEFENCE OF WINTHROP. 197 ived no advan- Tlien desiring leave to propose some considerations by which he hoped to rectify the opinions of the people on the nature of government : « The questions, he observed, "that have troubled the country have been about ,lie authority of die magistracy and the liberty of the people. It is you who have called us unto this office ; but being thus called, we have our authority from God. Magistracy is the ordinance of God, and it hath the image of God stamped upon it ; and the contempt of it has been vindicated by God with terrible examples of his vengeance. I entreat you to consider, that, wten you choose magistrates, you take them from among yourselves men subject unto like passions with yourselves. If you see our infirmities re- flect on your own, and you will not be so severe censlirers of ours The covenant between us and you is the oath you have exacted of us, which is to this purpose, that we shall govern you and judge your causes according to God slates and the particular statutes of the land, according to our bett skill. As or our skill, you must run the hazard of it ; and if there be an error only therein, and not in the will, it becomes you to bear it. Nor would I have you to mistake in the point of your own liberty. There is a libertv of corrupt nature, which is affected both by men and beasts, to do what they list. 1 his liberty is inconsistent with authority ; impatient of all re- straint (by this liberty sumus omnes deteriores), 't is the grand enemy of truth and peace, and all the ordinances of God are bent against it " But there is civd, a moral, a federal Hberty, which is the proper end and object of authority ; it is a hberty for that only which is just and good. For this hberty you are to stand with the hazard of your very hves ; and whatsoever crosses it is not authority, but a distemper thereof. This liberty is main- tained in a way of subjection to authority ; and the authority set over you will, m all admmistrations for your good, be quietly submitted unto by all but such as have a disposition to shake off the yoke, and lose their true lib- erty by their murmuring at the honor and power of authority." The circumstances in which this address was delivered recall the most uneresting scenes of Greek and Roman story, while in the wisdom, piety, and dignity that it breathes, it resembles the magnanimous vindication of a judge ol Israel. Winthrop was not only acquitted by the judicial sentence ot the court and the approving voice of the public, but recommended so strongly to the esteem of his fellow-citizens by this and all the other indi- cations of his character, that he was chosen governor of Massachusetts every year after as long as he lived.^ [1646.] His accusers incurred a pro- portional degree of public displeasure; their petition was rejected, and several ot the chief promoters of it were severely reprimanded, and adjudged to make open acknowledgment of their fault in seeking to subvert the funda- mental lavys of the colony. Refusing to acknowledge that they had acted amiss, aiul still persisting in their clamor for an alteration of the law, with very indiscreet threats of complaining to theparliament, they were punished Tl'illi'i,,? H.HrJ/^""'^''"''"''' ^'T ^v"T ?'"'¥') continually exem7lTfi^dlh71,;;^ihird- / ,„w •/', ; I i "TJ ""T *'"'?'' ""^ "f '** "*'*'■' '/ «' *« '^'•''"^A lightness, 't is to he con- tmvcd; tfit he thr^tgh madness, 't is to he pitied ; if through malice, 't Is to be forgiven. Ono m "s!r vf "' ''''" ''"• '""? '"»"'«!«;r'' """^'»' i"-^vill townnk IiIb porson, atlenfth wrote to SovP nnr 7*'r""J'".« o?yoursolf hath overcome me." At his t'hird election to the office tfZZ^'l. i?".';''"'^''' '" «si'««'-l' toli'B fellowoitizens, that he had hitherto accepted with V«Zc^i,' i ''T-'"' ';y,^^'"ch tl'oy had acknowledsed his services, and could no Zf. LT,T "■ ''VT", "^ •'""'•• '".""^ '^'"''' "*" '"« '"^' •i" '« «»id «« have expressed ■r •, i, L, " T'T ".'"..''r' r""? *r '»f '«?:«"'-'^- "*-- •-'^'''th, in 1649, wrt. deeply and uni- alike iS 'S:;ld in"place " "' '"' '^ "''" "" '""""■ "*" "'^ '"^'''^^ ""^ '^' ^"* 198 HISTOIU OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK II. N' _ } with fine or imprisonment. Most of them were known or believed to in- cline to the ecclesiastical form of presbytery ; and as this peculiar constitu- tion was also affected by the prevailing party in the English House of Com- mons the menace of a complaint to parliament excited general anger and alarm'. A deputation of the malcontents having made preparation to sail for England, and given significant hints of the changes they hoped to procure by their machinations in the parent state, some of tliem were placed under arrest, and their papers were seized and examined. Among these papers were found petitions to Lord Warwick, urging a forfeiture of the provincial charter, the introduction of a Presbyterian establishment, and of the whole code of English jurisprudence, into the provincial institutions, together witli various other innovations, which were represented as at once accordant witli legislatorial wisdom and justice, and conducive to the important object of securing and enlarging the sovereign authority of the parliament over the colony. The discovery of the intolerance contemplated by these persons served to exasperate the intolerance which they themselves were experienc- ing from the society of which they formed but an insignificant fraction. The contents of their papers excited so much resentment, that not a voice was raised against the iniquity of the process by which the documents had been intercepted ; and the alarm was increased by the manifest impossibility of preventing designs so dangerous from being still pursued. The ardor of the public sentiment, as well as the peculiar nature of the subject that ex- cited it, introduced this all-prevalent topic into the pulpit ; and even John Cotton was so far heated and transported by the contagion of passionate zeal, as to declare, in a sermon, " that, if any one should carry writings or complaints against the people of God in this country to England, he would, doubtless, find himself in the predicament of Jonah in the vessel." This was a prediction to which a long voyage was not unlikely to give at least a seeming fulfilment. In effect, a short time after, certain deputies from the petitioners, having embarked for England, were overtaken by a violent storm; whereupon, the sailors, recollecting the prediction that had gone abroad, and, happily, considering the papers, and not the bearers of them, as the offend- ing part of the shipment, insisted so vehemently on casting all obnoxious writings overboard, that the deputies were obliged to commit their creden- tials to the waves. Yet, when they arrived in England, they did not fail to prosecute their mission ; but the attention of the parliamentary leaders at that time being deeply engaged with more important matters, and "Winslow and Hugh Peters, on behalf of the colony, actively laboring to traverse the designs of the applicants, they obtained litde attention and no redress. * From the painful survey of intolerance and contentious zeal for the forms of religion, it is pleasing to turn to the substantial fruits of Christian sentiment displayed in those memorable exertions for the conversion of the Indians, that originated in the same year that witnessed so much dispute and ani- mosity. [1G46.] The circumstances that promoted the emigrations to New Engia'nd had operated with especial force on the ministers of the Puritans ; and so many ol these spiritual directors had accompanied the other settlers, that, among a people who derived less enjoyment from the exercises of piety, the numbers of the clergy would have been reckoned exceedingly burden- some, and very much dlsproportioned to the wants of the laity. This cn- lumstance was highly favorable to the promotion of religious h abits among ~~" » Mather. Nfol. llulchinson. Chulmers. ClIAP. Ill] JOHN ELIOT. 199 as the offend- ihe colonists, as well as to the extension of their settlements, in the planta- tion of which the cooperation of a minister was accounted indispensable. It contributed also to suggest and facilitate missionary labor among the neighbouring heathens, to whom the colonists had associated themselves by superadding the ties of a common country to those of a common nature. Wiiile the people at large were progressively extending their industry, and subduing by culture the rudeness of desert nature, the ministers of religion with earnest zeal aspired to an extension of their peculiar sphere of useful- ness ; and at a very early period entertained designs of redeeming to the lioiuinion of piety and civility the neglected wastes of human life and char- acter that lay stretched in savage ignorance and idolatry around them. John Kliot, one of the ministers of Roxbury, a man whose large soul glowed with the intensest flame of holy charity, was deeply penetrated with a sense of this duty, and for some time had been laboriously qualifying himself to over- come the preliminary difficulty by which its performance was obstructed. He had now by diligent study attained such acquaintance with the Indian language as enabled him not only to speak it with fluency, but to facilitate the acquisition of it to others, by the construction and publication of a system of Indian Grammar. Having completed his preparatory inquiries, he began, iuthe close of this year [October, 1G46], a scene of pious labor which has been traced with great interest and accuracy by the ecclesiastical historians of New England, and still more minutely, we may believe, in that eternal record where alone the actions of men obtain their just, their final, and ever- lasting proportions. It is a remarkable feature in his long and arduous ca- reer, that the spirit and energy by which he was supported never incurred the slightest abatement, but, on the contrary, manifested a steady and con- tinual increase. He confidently relied on its unfailing endurance ; and always referring it to divine infusion, felt assured of its derivation from a fountain incapable of being wasted by the most liberal communication. Every thing he saw or knew occurred to him in a religious aspect ; every faculty, and every acquisition that he derived from the employment of his faculties, was received by him as a ray imparted to his soul from that supreme source of sentiment and intelligence which was the object of his earnest contemplation and continual desire. As he was one of the holiest, so was he also one of the happiest and most beloved of men. When he felt himself disabled from preaching by the infirmities of old age, he proposed to his parishioners of Roxbury to resign his ministerial salary ; but these good people unanimously declared that they would willingly pay the stipend, for the advantage and honor of having him reside among them. His example, indeed, was the most valuable part of his ministry among Christians ; his life, during many years, being a continual and manifest effusion of soul in devotion to God and charity to mankind. The mild, persuasive address of Eliot soon gained him a favorable audi- ence from many of the Indians ; ^ and having successfully represented to them the expediency of an entire departure from their savage habits of life, lie obtained from the General Court a suitable tract of land adjoining to the settlement of Concord, in Massachusetts, where a number of Indian families began, under his counsel, to erect fixed habitations for themselves, and where they eagerly received his instructions, both spiritual and secular. It was not long before a violent opposition to these innovations was excited by the ' See Note Vll., at tlie end of the volume. s;l 1,1 If 200 III.STOUV OF KOUTH AMl-RICA. [BOOK II, powwows, or Indian priests, who threatened death, and other inflictions of the vengeance of tlieir idols, on all who should emhrace Christianity. The menaces and artifices of these persons caused several of the seeming; prose- iytes to draw back, but induced others to separate themselves entirely from the society and converse of the main body of their countrymen, and court ihe advantage of a closer association with that superior race of men who showed themselves so generously willing to diffuse and communicate? the ca- j)acity and benefits of their own improved condition. A considerable mjm- l)er of Indians resorted to the land allotted to them by the provincial gov- ernnient, and exchanged their wild and barbarous habits for the modes of civilized life and industry. Eliot was continually amotig them, instructing, iminiating, and directing them. They felt his superior wisdom, and saw him continually and serenely happy ; and there was nothing in his exterior con- dition that indicated sources of enjoyment from which they were necessarily debarred. On the contrarj^, it was obvious, that of every article of merely selfish comfort he was wilhng to divest himself, in order to communicate to them a share of what he esteemed the only true riches of an immortal being. The women in the new settlement learned to spin ; the men to dig and u\\ the ground ; and the children were instructed in the English language, and taught to read and write, or, as the Indians expressed themselves, to get news from paper, and mark their thoughts on it. As the numbers of domesticated Indians increased, they built a town by the side of Charles River, which they called JSTatick ; and they desireil Kliot to frame a system of municipal government for tliem. He directed their attention to the counsel that Jethro gave to Moses ; and, in conformity with it, they elected for themselves rulers of hundreds, of fifties, and ol tens. The provincial government also established a tribunal, which, without as- suming jurisdiction o'/er them, tendered the assistance of its judicial medi- ation to all who might be willing to refer to it the adjustment of their more (lifHcult or important controversies. In endeavouring to extend their mis- sionary influence among the surrounding tribes, Eliot and the associates of his labors (men hke-minded with himself) encountered a variety of success;, corresponding to the visible varieties'of human character, and the invisible predeterminations of the divine will. Many persons expressed the utmost abhorrence and contempt of Christianity ; some made a hollow profession of willingness to learn, and even of conviction, — with the view, as it after- wards proved, of obtaining the tools and other articles of value that were furnished to every Indian who proposed to embrace the habits of civilized life. In spite of great discouragement, the missionaries persisted ; and the difficulties that at first mocked their efforts seeming at length to vanish under an influence at once mysterious and irresistible, their labors were crowned with astonishing success. The character and habits of the lay colonists pro- moted the efficacy of these pious exertions, in a manner which will be forci- bly appreciated by all who have examined the history and progress of mis- sions. Simple in their manners, devout, moral, and industrious in their conduct and demeanour, they enforced the lessons of the missionaries by flemonstrating their practicability and beneficial effects, and exhibited a model of life, which, in point of refinement, was not too elevated for Indian imitation. While Eliot and an increasing company of associates were thus em})Ioyed in tilt? province of Massachusetts, Thomas Mayhew, a man who combined :HAP. ni ] MISSIONARY LABORS AMONG THE INDIANS. 201 (lie gentlest manners witli the most ardent and enthusiastic spirit, together with a few coadjutors, diligently prosecuted the same design in Marth- 's Vineyard, Nantucket, and the Elizabeth Islands, and the territory compre- hended in the Plyjuoulh patent. Abasing themselves that they might elevate their species and promote the divine glory, and counting their work their waf '. they labored with their own hands among tliose Indians whom they pers> ' J to forsake savage habits ; and zealously employing ail the influ- ence they acquired to the communication of moral and spiritual improve- ment, they beheld their exertions rewarded by the happiest results. The ( haracter and manners of Mayhew were singularly calculated to excite the tenderness, no less than the veneration, of the objects of his benevolence. His address derived a penetrating interest from that earnest concern and high and holy value which he manifestly entertained for every member of the family of mankind. Many years after his death, the Indians could not hear his name mentioned without shedding tears and betraying transports of grateful emotion. Both Eliot and Mayhew found great advantage in the p,actice of selecting the most docile and ingenious of their Indian pupils, and by especial attention to their instruction, qualifying them to act as school- masters among their countrymen. To a zeal that seemed to increase by exercise they added insurmountable patience and admirable prudence ; and steadily fixing their view on the glory of the Most High, and declaring, that, whether outwardly successful or not in promoting it, they felt themselves blessed and happy in pursuing it, — they found its influence sufficient to light them through Uie darkness of every perplexity and peril, and finally conduct them to a degree of success and victory unparalleled', perhaps, since that era when the miraculous endowments of the apostolic ministry caused multi- tudes to be converted in a day. They were not hasty in urging the Indians to embrace improved institutions ; they desired rather to lead them insensibly forward, — more especially in the establishment of religious ordinances. Those practices, indeed, which they accounted likely to commend them- selves by their obviously beneficial efiects to the natural understanding of men, they were not restrained from recommending to their early adoption ; and trial by jury very soon superseded the savage modes of determining right or ascertaining guilt, and contributed to improve and refine the sense of equity. In the dress and mode of cohabitation of the savages they also introduced, at an early period, alterations calculated to form and develope a sentiment of modesty, of which the Indians were found to be grossly and universally deficient. But all those practices which are, or ought to be, ex- clusively the fruits of renewed nature and divine light, they desired to teach entirely by example, and by diligently radicating and cultivating in the minds of their flocks the principles out of which alone such visible fruits of piety can lastingly and beneficially grow. It was not till the year 1660, that the first Indian church was founded by Eliot and his fellow-laborers in Massa- chusetts. There were at that time no fewer than ten settlements within the province, occupied by Indians comparatively civilized. Eliot had occasionally translated and printed various approved theological fiissertations for the use of the Indians ; and at length, in the year 1664, the Bible was printed, for the first time, in one of the native languages of the New World, at Cambridge, in Massachusetts.' This, indeed, was not ac- ' 1 havo sicii a ropy EnglandT^ShepheTd'a Clear Sunshine of the (gospel upan the Indians. Eliot's and Mayhew's Letters. Mayhew's Indian Converts. Whitfield s Discimry of the present State of the Indians. Of these, and of various other works on the same subject, copies exist, partly in the Rcdcross-street Library of London, and partly m the Advocate's Library of Edinburgh. Baxter's Life. Mother. Neal. Hutchinson. Pcirccs History of Harvard University. The Lidiaii tribes within the Connecticut territory proved rfimarkably indocile. Some individuals were converted ; but no Indian church was ever B,illi(!red in this State. Trumbull. « Neal. 204 IIISTOKY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK II so tnanifostly resided with Massachusetts, that the other confederates had nothing to onpose to it but an appeal to those principles of equity which one of their own number had already set the example of disregarding. Hapi)ily for them, and for herself, their ally, though liable to bo betrayed into error by resentment and partiality, was not intoxicated with conscious power. They presented a remonstrance to the (Jeneral Court of Massa- t iiusetts, desiring it " seriously to consider whether such proceedings agree with the law of love, and the tenor of the articles of confederation." On receiving this remonstrance, the government of Massachusetts, superior to the moan slmmo of acknowledging a fault, consented to suspend the obnox- ious ordinance.' [1650.] But Massachusetts, in the following year [1051], was engaged m contro- versy with a power more formidable to her than she ^yas to her confeder- ates, and much less accessible to sentiments of moderation and forbearance. The Long Parliament, having now established its authority in England, was determined to exact an explicit recognition of it from all the foreign depen- dencies of the state, and even to introduce such recognition into the charters and oflicial stylo and procedure of subordinate communities. A mandaic was accordingly transmitted to the governor and assembly of Massachusetts, requiring them to send their charter to London ; to accept n new patent from the keepers of the liberties of England ; and to express in all puhlic writs and judicial proceedings the dependence of the provincial authorities on those existing depositaries of supreme power in the parent state. This connnand excited the utmost alarm in the colony ; nor could all the attach- ment of the people to the cause of the parliament^ reconcile them to a sur- render of the title under which their settlements and institutions had been formed, and which had never obstructed their obedience to the authoriiies that now proposed to revoke it. The parliament, indeed, had no more ri^ht to supersede the original patent of the colony, than to require the city of London, or any of the ot her corporations of England, to submit their ' HiiH-liiiison. (.•h'aFrniTS'. Anolhor disniitc, which orciirrcul iibi.ut three yeiirs nftci^hctwrnn Mnswirhnsotls iind the otiier confi-dftrntod .StiitoH, is rchitt-a with grcnt minuteness, and I think with no Hiniill injustice iind piirtiiility, by the respectahkt historian of Connecticut. In Kw;),,! (lis. ovcry was supposed to liiive l>eeii iiiiido of ii conspiracy between Stiiyvesant, the governor of the Uijtrli colony nfterwards called New York, and tlie Indians, for the externiinatioii oi il,o F-ndi-'h The evi'dence of this sanguinary project (which Stuyvesnnt indignantly disclaimcih was iudtfcd sutttcient, and tho resolution bf a general war embraced by all the commissions of the union except those of Mussachusetts. The (Jeneral Court of this province reckonc( the t.roof inconclusive, and were fortified in this opinion by the judgment of their clergy, which they consented to abido by. To all tho remonstrances of their allies thoy answered, that no articles of confederation should induce them to undertake an oflensive war which tliev con- sidered unjust, and in which th(!y could not expect the advantage of divine favor, riie liislo- rian of Connecticut, not content with rejirobatinj; this infringement of the articles of imion, indignantly censures tho scruples of Massaciiusetts as insincere. Trumbull. But, in trutii, t lo evid.iic! «'f the Dutch plot labored under very serious defects, which were much more nmlly weighed by the peoi)le of Massachusetts than by the inhabitants of Connecticut and New Haven, exasperated by frequent disputes with the Dutch, and exposed by their local situation to the greatest danger 'from Dutch hostilities. In the beginning of tho fidlowing century, the biiuation of the provinces was so fiir reversed, that Massachusetts was compelled to sohcit the aid of Connecticut in a war with the Indians; and, on this occasion, Connecticut, remote from tho scene of action, at first refused her aid, unon scruples (which she afterwards nsr.rfaino.l to be groundless) respecting the justice of tho cause to which her support was desirid.- Truinbnll. , ~ »t w^ i i i i r « Though attached to the cause of tlie parliament, the people of New Lngland liad so I;t forgotten their own wrongs, an'«"■ ' ihaf, in forsalcing her sl.ores, they left behind tfiem an authority capable of obstrucUng or.l.- feating the objects of their migration. . . • u t i - r«»f«n Fin,tln. » This year, Ma..m,hus,:tt5 l^-t i?= ^minr.r.t prr.-.cher and patriBrch, John Cotton. Findin|t himself dying, ho sent for the magistrates and ministers of the colony, and, with much solem- nity and tenderness, bade them farewell for a while. * Chalmers. CHAP, in-] PROJECTS FOR REMOVAL. 207 nia, we have re- mts of this settlement he earnestly longed to impart a dignity of civil con- dition corresponding to the elevation which he believed them to enjoy in the I'lvor of the great Sovereign of the universe. The reasons for which they I'lad declined his offer of a settlement in Ireland, however likely to obtain 1,1s acquiescence, were still more calculated to enlarge his regard for a neople who were actuated by such generous considerations. When his arms had achieved the conquest of Jamaica, he conceived the project of trans- planting the colonists of Massachusetts to that island [1655] ; and, with this view, he represented to them, that, by estabhshing themselves and their iirinc'iples in the West Indies, thev would carry the sword of the gospel into llie very heart of the territories of popery, and that consequently they ought to deem themselves as strongly invited to this ulterior removal, as they had been to their original migration. He endeavoured to incite theiri to embrace this project by assurances of the countenance and support which he would extend to them, and of the amplest delegation of the powers of government in their new settlement, as well as by descanting on the rich productior.=i of the torrid zone, with which their industry would be rewarded ; and vvith these considerations he blended an appeal to their conscience, in pressing them to fulfil, in Iheir own favor, the promise of the Almighty to make his people the head, and not the tail.^ He not only urged these views upon the agents •md correspondents of the colonists in England, but despatched one of his own confidential offiters to Massachusetts to solicit their compliance with his proposal. But the colonists were exceedingly averse to abandon a country where they found themselves happy and in possession of a sphere of mcreas- incr usefulness and virtue ; and the proposal was the more unacceptable to them from the unfavorable reports they received of the climate of Jamaica. The (General Court, accordingly, returned an address, declining, m the name of their fellow-citizens, to embrace the protector's offer [1656], and withal heseeching his Highness not to impute their refusal to indifference to his service, or an ungrateful disregard of his concern for their welfare.^ Thus, happily for themselves, were the colonists, on two several occasions, de- terred from acceding to tlie proposals of Cromwell for the advancenient of their welfare and dignity. Had they removed to Ireland, they would have incurred in the sequel a diminution both of happiness and liberty ; had they proceeded to Jamaica, they would have been exposed, amidst the preva- lence of negro slavery, to circumstances highly unfavorable to piety and virtue. In the mind of Cromwell, a vehement ardor was singularly com- bined with the most profound and deliberate sagacity ; and enthusiastic senti- ments were not unfrequently blended with politic considerations, m propor- tions which it is little likely that he himself was aware of, or that any remote ppectator of his actions can accurately adjust. It is obvious, on the one hand, that his propositions to the colonists were connected with the securer establishment of his own dominion in Ireland and the preservation ot his conquest in the West Indies. But it is equally certain, on the other hand, that the colo nists incurred neither his displeasure, nor even abatement ot ~i~ilc alludnd, I suppose, to Dontcrononiy xxyjii., 13. «„„„„ .„ „ « Ilutcliinson. Cfinlmors. Hazard. A similar answer was returned by New Haven to a .inuh applicaUon from the protector. Trumbull. There were not wanting some wild spmt« nmong tll^^olonists, who reUed Cromwell's proposals^ The notonous y2"„'''wl ?o som2 the insurrection of the Fiftk Monarchy Mm in England after h« Restoration was for some .... » « .•' .1 ..;!--i ...:rn fo unite in a Bcneme time an innabitam or -nitni, nms jirrvniit-a rrMf? ■ j ■ ■■ W " .u i,..— , „»/! mtar ..f rmi!?r..tion to the West Indies. But the design was discouraged by the clergy, and inter cppted by the magistrates. Oldmixon. 208 III3T0RY OF KORTH AMERICA. [BOOK a. hi, rordlal reeard, by thus refusing to promote schemes on which he was srondv bent. Nay, so powerfully had they captivated his steady heart that hey retS his (i^or, even while their intolerance d.scredued the .ude- pSent principles which he and they united m professing ; and rione of the ?onSits against them, with which he was long assailed by the Anabaptists nnd Quakers, whose conduct and treatment in the colony we are now to consider, could ever deprive the people of the place they had gained m the ^'m°co'onis^s^'had been of late years involved occasionally in hostilities ^vilil some of the Indian tribes, and in disputes with the I utch, by wjose machinations they suspected thai the Indians were prompted to attack them. But these events were productive of greater alarm than injury ; and by far the most serious troubles with which the colonists were mfested arose from religious dissensions. Of all the instances of persecution that deform the history of New England,. the most censurable m its principle, Uiough hap- nilv also the least inhuman in the severity to which it mounted, was the reatment inflicted on the Anabaptists by the government of Massachusetts The first apparition of these sectaries in die province occurred in the year 1G51 when, to the great astonishment and concern of the commumty, seven or eight persons, of whom the leader was one Obad.ah Holmes professed the Bapust tenets, and separated from the congregation to which they had ureviously belonged, protesting that they could no biiger take counse or par ake divine ordinances, with unbaptized men, as Uiey pronounced all the other inhabitants of the province to be. The peculiar doctnne which thus unexpectedly sprung up was at that time regarded with extreme aversion and jealousy, on account olf the horrible enormities wherewith the first pofessors if it in t'ermany had associated its repute ;> and no sooner did Hobnes and his fiiends establish a Baptist conventicle in Massachusetts, than complaints of their conduct, as a scandalous and intolerable nuisance, came pouring into the General Court from all quarters of the colony. • , . , From the tenor of these complaints, it is manifest that the minds of the colonists were strongly impressed with the recollection of the icentK)us sen- timents and infamous practices by wliich the wretched Boccold and his in- sane followers at Munster had sullied and discredited the Baptist tenets; and that the bare profession of these tenets was calculated to awaken sus- picions of the grossest immorality of conduct. Holmes was accused of having dishonored the Almighty, not only by dividing his people and resisting: his ordinance, but by the commission of profligate impuriUes, and the gross indecency with which, it was alleged, the rite distinctive of h.s sect was udmiuistored. It is admitted by the provmcial historians, ^I'^t no sufficient evidence was adduced in support of these latter charges. The Court re- fused to hearken to the plea of liberty of conscience in behalf of Holmes and his followers, but, in the first instance, exerted its authority no iartier against their persons, than to adjudge that th.7 should desist from t .r unchristian separation ; and they were permitted to retire, having first, ho«- over, nubliclv declared that they were determmed to pursue the dictates ot their conscience, and to obey Cod rather than man. borne time after, ibey were apprehended on a Sunday, while attemlmg the mini stry ot one U ark^- 'TA^^u^^ot't^on'^lii^lW'tf Charltstlu Fifth. Theprimitive Anabaptists l.nvc Loon nt lutjons of human st'Dtiment and opinion. CHAP- I" ] THE BAPTISTS. 209 a Baptist, from Rhode Island, who had come to propagate his tenets in Massachusetts. The constables who took them into custody carried them to one of the Congregational churches, where Clarke put on his hat as soon as the clergyman began to pray. Clarke, Holmes, and another were sen- tenced to pay small fines, or to be flogged ; and thirty lashes were actually nflicted on Holmes, who resolutely persisted in choosing a punishment that \vould enable him to evince the constancy with which he could suffer for the richts of conscience and the defence of what he conceived to be truth. A law was at the same time passed, subjecting to banishment from the colony every person who should openly condemn or oppose the baptism of infants, —who should attempt to seduce others from the practice or approbation of infant baptism, — or ostentatiously depart from a church when that rite was administered, — " or deny the ordinance of the magistracy, or their lawful i/Wii or authority to make icar.''^ ' ^From these last words, it seems that the Baptists (naturally, or at least naturally accounted, inimical to the authority of their oppressors) either held, (ir were reputed to hold, along with the proper tenets from whence they derived their denomination, principles opposed to the acknowledgment of madsterial power and authority. In addition to this, we are assured by Cotton Mather, that it was the practice of the Baptists, in order to multiply their partisans, and manifest their contempt for the ecclesiastical institutions of the colonists, to admit the fellowship of all persons whom the established churches in New England had excommunicated for licentiousness of con- duct and even to appoint such persons administrators of the sacramental rites. Yet, even with these and other extenuating considerations, it is im- possible to acquit the government of Massachusetts of having violated in this instance the rights of conscience, and molested men for the fidelity with which they adhered to what they firmly believed to be the will of God, in relation to a matter purely ecclesiastical.^ The greediness with which every collateral charge against the Baptists was received in the colony, and the passionate impatience with which their claim of toleration was rejected, forcibly indicate the illiberality and delusion by which their persecutors were governed ; and may suggest to the Christian philosopher a train of reflec- tions, no less instructive than interesting, on the self-deceit by which men ( ommonly infer the honesty of their convictions, and the rectitude of their proceedings, from that resentful perturbation which far more truly indicates a latent consciousness of injustice and inconsistency. It is mortifying to behold such tares spring up in a field already so richly productive of missionary exertion and" other fruits of genuine and exalted piety. The severities that were employed proved in the sequel incom- petent to restrain the spread of the Baptist tenets ; though for the present the professors of these doctrines appear to have either desisted from holding separate assemblies, or to have retired from Massachusetts. Some of them repaired to England, and complained to Cromwell of the persecution the y ' Mather. Neal. , ■ l ' The Bantistg who were exilrd fnun Massarhiisetts wore allowed to settle in the colony nf Plymouth (Hutchinson), — whence it may bo inferred that they did not in reality profess (iLStKey were supposed hv thi: people of Miissachusetts to do) principles adverse to civil mb- iirdinfition. This charge "ajcuinst them probably oria;inaled in the extravagance of a few of ilicirown number, and the impatience and injustice of their adverwiries. The government of MassachusettM was by no means inquisitorial in its intolerance. Dun- 8ter, the first president of Harvard CoUeae, was deprived of this office, not for entertamvng. i/ul iur rufuslng to dewst from lettrhing, the BaptJBt toncU which he imd ciniiraeed. Teirca VOL. I, 27 R 210 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK II, had undersone ; but, instead of espousing their sentunent, he rejected their suDDSioCand applauded the conduct of the provincial authorities.^ The treatment which the Quakers experienced in Massachusetts was much more severe, but certainly much more justly provoked. It is difficult for ,Ts in the calm and rational deportment of the Quakers of the present age, o recoenize the successors of those wild enthusiasts who first appeared in he North of England, about the year 1644, and received from the derision of the world the title which they afterwards adopted as their sectarian de- nomination. In the mind of George Fox, the collector of this sect and the founder of its system of faith, there existed a singular mixture of ChnsUan sentiment and doctrinal truth with a deep shade of error and delusion. Profoundly pious and contemplaUve, but constitutionally visionary and hypo- chondriacal, he at first suspected that the peculiarities of his mental impres- sions might be derived from some malady which human science or friendly suggestion could remove ; and an old clergyman, to whom he applied or counsel, advised him to attempt a cure of what was spiritual m his disorder by singing psalms, and of what was bodily by smoking tobacco. Fox re- iected both parts of the prescription, as unsuitable to his condition, because disagreeable to his taste ; and being now convinced that others were inca- pable of understanding his case, he took it entirely into his own hands, an Resolved to study, chlrish, and cultivate the vague, mysterious motions of his spirit, -in short, to follow the impulse of his restless humor as far as it would ead him. Unsuspicious of morbid mfluence, or of the deceit fulness of his own imagination, he yielded implicit credence to every suggestion of his mind, mistook every impulse for inspiration, and was grven up in an amazing degree to delusions, which, by prayer to the Almighty he nngh Tve been enabled to overcome and dispe . Yet the powerfd hold ^vh.ch the Scriptures had already taken of his mmd, and the strong determ.imtion towards solid and genuine piety which his spirit thence derived, prevente him from personally wandering into the same monstrous extravagance which the conduct of many of his associates and disciples too soon disclosed. In his Journal (one of the most curious and interesting productions of the hu- man mind), he has faithfully related the influence which his tenets produced on the sentiments and conduct both of himself and his foUovyers. Th>s singular record displays, in many parts, a wonderful depth of thought and keenness of penetration, together with numberless examples of that delusion, bv which its author mistook a strong perception of wrong and disorder m human nature and civil society for a supernatura vocation and power to rec- tifv whatever he deemed ami.s. He relates with deliberate approbation va- riou8 instances of contempt of decency and order in his own conduct, and of insane and disgusting outrage in that of his followers ; and though h reprobates the freSzy of some whom he denominates Ranters, it is not easy to discriminate between the extravagance which he sanctions and tha which he condemns. Amidst much darkness, there glimmers a bright and beaij- tiful ray of religious truth ; many passages of Scripture are iflustratcd with happy sagacity! and labors of zeal and piety, of courage and integrity, are recorded, that would do honor to the ministry of an inspired apostle. Ihat his personal character was elevated and excellent in an unusual degree ap- pears from the impression it produced on the minds of all who approacl ed Kim. Penn and Barclay, inparticda^^ ' Uutciiinaon. * Fox's Journal. fiiAP. in.] THE QUAKERS. 211 ,,idcd talents and accomplishments of the first order, regarded Fox with the 'warmest love and veneration.^ He was, perhaps, the only founder of any lilieious sect or order, in whom no lust of power, no lurking sentiment of ' Ifish or ambitious aspiration, was ever discovered. It was this man who first embraced and promulgated those tenets which 1 1\ e subsisted ever since as the distinctive principles of Quaker doctrine, Ithat the Holy Spirit, instead of operating (as the generality of Christians I elieve it in all ordinary cases to do) by insensible control of the bent and exercise of our faculties, acts by direct and cognizable impulse on the spirit nf man ; that its influence, instead of being obtained in requital or accom- naiiiment of believing prayer to God, is procured by an introversion of the 'litellectual eye upon the mind, where it already resides, and in the stillness ,k1 watchful attention of which the hidden spark will blaze into a clear in- ward light and sensible flame ; and that the Holy Spirit, instead of simply nening the minds of men to understand the Scriptures and receive their ' . _. A A^ao r^r^r,■•ratT inctriiptinn indfinfindp.ntiv of the written n testimony, can and does convey instruction independently of the written ^^ord, — and communicate knowledge which is not to be found in the pages „f holy writ. The Quaker regulations with respect to plainness of speech nd apparel, abstinence from music and other amusements, and general sim- plicity of manners, are too well known and too little pertinent to our pur- pose to require that they should here be particularly described. We may, however, with propriety remark, that the precepts injunctive of plainness of mnarel received very early a practical interpretation in some respects contra- lictorv of their own intendment. Forbidden to court an arrogant distinction hv fineness of apparel, he Quakers soon procured to themselves a distmction, diculous indeed, yet of great and mixed importance, by adopting and re- Sns the plainest garb exemplified by the taste ess fashion of one par- u lar age ; and, instead of the modesty of simple attire, challenged the n ral me by ostentatious adherence to a sectarian nmform or livery fh doctrinal errors to which we have alluded have never been renounced by the Quakers, though their practical influence has long smce abated, and, d d, had considerably declined before the end of that century m the mid- e of which they arose. In proportion as they have been cultivated and act c2 regarded, has been the progress of the sect into pestilent heresy opin on, wild delusion of fancy, and outrageous extravagance of conduc Iport on IS they have subsided into mere theoretical speculation, has K the ascendency which real piety or rational and philosophical principle lias obtained over the minds of the Quakers. t'ven in the present day, we behold the evil influence of those erroneous doc fnes, in the frequenlly silent meetings of the Quakers, in the hcense S h they give to wLen to assume the office of teachers m their church an in the rejection of the sacraments so distinctly msUtuted and enjoined "scripture. •'But when the doctrines of Quakerism were first Promulgated, e eff/cts which they produced on many of their votaries ^^r ^^^^^^^^^^^^ influence to which modern history restricts them, ^^^ T^^^^^ {^%^Xnd Tt of a rational and calculating age fmds it easy to conceive. In England at that time, the minds of men were in a state of feverish «g»tajion and ex^^^^^^^^ ment, inflamed with the rage of innovation, strongly ^'"^"/^ .^^f ^/f J'""! sentiment, and yet strongly averse to restraint. The bands t^a^^^^^ l°"g ^^ pressed liberty of sjeechjeingju^^ "^ ' See Note VIII., at the uad of Uio volume. a. 212 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK II. on^erly broached, and many fantastic notions that had been vegetating ,n the Sdcnnie shade of locked bosoms were abruptly brought to hght ; an al Tese were presented to the souls of men roused and whetted by c.v.l war kindled by great alarms or by vast and indeterminate designs, and lat- erW so accustomed to partake or contemplate the most surprising changes, hat with them the distinction between speculation and certainty was con- s derably effaced. The Presbyterians alone, or neany alone, were generally ling to submit to, as well as to impose, restramt on the lawless license ol ' eculation ; and to them the doctrines of Quakerism, from their eariest ; nouncement, were the objects of unmixed disapprobation and even abhoj- nce But to many other persons, this new scheme, opening a wide field 7enthusiastic conjecture, and presenting itself without the restrictive ac- companiment of agreed, exhibited irresistible attractions, and it rapidly absorbed a great variety of human character and feeling. Before many years had elapsed, the numbers of the Quakers were en- larged, and their tenets, without being substantially altered, were moulded ,to a more systematic shape, by such an accession o philosophical votaries, • in he car y ages of thi church, Christianity itself derived from the «re- teiued adoption and real adulteration of its doctrines by the d.sciples of ,he \lexandrian school of Platonic philosophy. But it was the wildest tind most intlmsLstic visionaries of the age, whom Quakerism counted among us ear- ies votaries, and to whom it afforded a sanction and stimulus to the boldest excursions o unregulated thought, and a principle that was adduced to con- secrate the rankest absurdity of conduct. And, accordingly, these sec^- 'xns who have always professed and inculcated the maxims of mv.oable ;;'' -who, not many years after, were accounted a society of phdo- o hfcal deists, seeking to pave the way to a schenie of naiural rehg^on, bv allegorizing the distinguishing articles of the Christian faith, -and who eno'v n general remarkable^or a guarded composure of language, an ' aborate stillness and precision of demeanour, and a peculiar remoteness fom every active efforl to make proselytes to their distinctive tenet., - vTe, in the commencement of their sectarian history, the most impetuous ealo s and inveterate disputers ; and in their eagerness to proselytize the void and to launch tesl'imony from the fountain of oracular truUi, ^vh,ch Ty supposed to reside within their own bosoms, against a regular ministry whicl t'h^-y called a priesthood of Baal, and against the sacraments u Inr ey terried carnal and idolatrous observances, many o them commme 7most revolting blasphemy, indecency, and disorderly outrage.^ Ihe unfavorable impression which these actions created long survived the ex- tinction of the frenzy and folly that produced them. , , „ u wSe, in pursuance of their determination to proselytize the who^ world, some of he Quakers travelled to Rome, in order to illuminate the pope, and oU ei^^^to Constantinople, for the purpose of f"ven.ng the Grand lur. -a arv of them embarked for America and established themselvc m Hhnde llnd, whore persons of every religious (Protestan^H emMnin^ lownll'H %atr Trials. Tim .... ...ppy rr».... ""^ •'".'•"^'^ ' '"V'f „ "^ ' L " d °f he volmmv „„... rncr. So.no particular t.f hi. In-n/.y nro related .n Not.! Vir, al «"° ''j^'J" °'^, ,,, II., livod to roca..t l.i. ern.rH, ....d eve,, write .e,.H.b y .n -l^f^ «:.« II.^ ^'l^^^-^^^^ a* ihio lii.ui incrcnBi.ie ii. reHpfcu.i.iiiiy, i.i.d were yri niagnnni."'-- . ..s-t-Bi- -" lu-Rut. ^ L iHiliraild ««Hod^^^^^^^ man who f.'ud done sueh d.Hserv.co to their cau.e. CHAP, in ] THE QUAKERS. 213 were permitted to settle in peace, and no one gave heed to the sentiments or practices of his neighbours. From hence they soon made their way into the Plymouth territory, where they succeeded in persuading some of its in- liabitants to embrace the doctrine that a sensible experience of inward light and spiritual impression was the meaning and end of Christianity, and the essential characteristic of its votaries, — and to oppose all regulated order, forms, and discipline, whether civil or ecclesiastical, as a vain and judaizing substitution of the kingdom of the flesh for the kingdom of the spirit. On iheir first appearance in Massachusetts [.Tuly, 1656], where two male and six female Quakers arrived from Rhode Island and Barbadoes, they found that the reproach entailed on their sect by the insane extravagance of some of its members in England had preceded their arrival, and that they were regarded with the utmost terror and disUke by the great bulk of the people. They were instantly arrested by the magistrates, and diligently examined for what were considered bodily marks of witchcraft. No such indications having been found, they were sent back to the places whence they came, bv the same vessels that had brought them, and prohibited with threats of severe punishment from ever again returning to the colony. A law was passed at the same time, subjecting every ship-master importing Quakers or Quaker writings to a heavy fine ; adjudging all Quakers who should intrude into the colony to stripes and labor in the house of correction, and all de- fenders of their tenets to fine, imprisonment, or exile. The four associated States adopted this law, and urged the authorities of Rhode Island to cooperate with them in stemming the progress of Quaker opinions ; but the assembly of this settlement wisely replied, that they could not punish any man for declaring his mind with regard to religion • that they were much incommoded by the presence of the Quakers, and the tendency of their doctrines to unsettle the relations of mankind and dissolv e the bonds of society ; but that they found that the Quakers delighted to encounter persecution, speedily sickened of a patient, uncontradicting audience, and had already begun to loathe Rhode Island as a scene in which their talent of heroic endurance was ingloriously buried.^ It is much to be lamented that the counsel insinuated in this good-humored reply was not embraced. The penal enactments resorted to by the other settlements served only to inflame the impatience of the Quaker zealots to carry their ministry into places that seemed to them to stand so greatly in need of it ; and the per- sons " who had been disappointed in their first a ttempt returned almost im- ' Gordon and otiier writers have rcprest-ntcd the letter from Rhode Island to Massachusetts as conveying a dignified rebuke of intolerance, and have quoted a passage to this effect, which thoy have found somewhere else than in the letter itself We shall find, in the sequel, that the forljcarance exerted by the government of that province towards the Quakers did not -ast many years. Roger Williams, who contributed to found the State of Rhode Island, endeavoured, some years after this period, to extirpate the Quaker heresy, by challenging certain of the lenders iif the sect, who had come from England on a mission to their brethren, to hold a public dispu- tation with him on their tenets. They eagerly accepted his challenge ; and their historians assure us, that the disputation, which lasted for several days, ended " in a clear conviction of the envy and prejudice of the old man." Gough and SewcU's History of the Quakers. It is more probable, that, like other public disputations, it ended as it began. Williams never iloubtcd that it had issued in his own favor, nnd signalized his triumph by publishing a book liiiiriiie the incourtcoiis Wile of George Fox tiigeed out of his Burrow; to which Fox promptly replied by a publiriition entitled, J] JVcw England Firebrand quenched, being an Answer to a hjmg, slanderous Book by one Roger Williams, confuting his blasphemous Assertions. Eliot a S'fie England Biography. » Except one of the women, Mary Fisher, who travelled to Adrinnople, and had an inter- view with the Cjrand Vizier, by whom she was received with courteous rcppict. Bishop, the m ■fc t«J '214 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK II mediately to Massachusetts, and, dispersing themselves through the colony, beffan to proclaim their mystical notions, and succeeded m communicating them to some of the inhabitants of Salem. They were soon jomed by Marv Clarke, the wife of a tailor in London, who announced tha she had forsaken her husband and six children in order to convey a message from heaven, which she was commissioned to deliver to New England. Instead of ioinine with the provincial missionaries m attempts to reclaim the neigh- bouring savages from their barbarous superstition and profligate immoralities, or themselves prosecuting separate missions with a like intent, the apostles of Quakerism raised their voices in vilification of every thing that was most hidily approved and revered in the doctrine and practice of the provincial churches. Seized, imprisoned, and flogged,— they were again dismissed with severer threats from the colony, and again they returned by thu first vessels they could procure. The government and a great majority of the colonists were incensed at their stubborn pertinacity, and shocked at the im- pression which they had already produced on some mmds, and which threat- ened to corrupt and subvert a system of piety, whose establishment, fruition, and perpetuation supplied their fondest recollections their noblest enjoy- nientrand most energetic desire. New punishments were introduced into the legislative enactments against the intrusion of Quakers and tlie profes- sion of Quakerism [1657] ; and, in particular , the abscission of an ear was added to the former ineffectual severities. Three male Quaker preachers endured the rigor of this cruel law. , , . . , -i- , But all the exerUons of the provincial authorities proved unavailing, and seemed rather to stimulate the zeal of the obnoxious sectaries to brave tiie dan-er and court the glory of persecution. Swarms of Quakers descended upon the colony ; and, violent and impetuous in provoking persecution, - calm, resolute, and inflexible in sustaming it, — they opposed their power of enduring cruelty to their adversaries' power of mflicting »t ; and not only inuhiplied their converts, but excited a considerable degree of favor and pity in the minds of men, who, detesting the Quaker tenets, yet derived from their own experience a peculiar sympatliy with tlie virtues of heroic patience, constancy, and contempt of danger. When the Quakers were committed to the house of correction, they refused to work; when they incurred pecu- aiary fines, they refused to pay them. In Uie hope of enforcing compliance with its milder requisitions, die court adjudged two of those contumacious persons to be sold as slaves in the West Indies ; but as even this dismal prospect could not move their stubborn resolution, the court, instead of exe- cuting its inhuman threat, reverted to the unavailing device of banishing them beyond its jurisdiction. [1658.] It was by no slight provocations that the Quakers attracted these and additional severities upon themselves. Wen trembled for the faith and morals of their families and their friends, when they heard the blasphemous denunciations that were uttered against the wor- ship of ''a carnal Christ,'' and when they beheld the frantic and indecent outrages that were prompted by the mystical impressions which the Quakers CLuakir inliiU^'^'Eiijeh^d'Ji^ed, obsorves, tliat slie fared bettor among heathens tlian her uSa cBd faSng p^fo«8ing Cf,ri^ He was perhaps not aware that the Turks reg« ^^^1.0 noV^ons a" iiS.iircd. But whether insane or not, sf.e wai. not altogether d.vcste^oi a XSJ regard to'^her own «.fcty.; for " when they asked her what ^.e U.ought o J trophet Mahomet, she nmde a cautious reply, that she •'"^^ '""V""'^,,, .^S dS ^u?ker,displav The first Quakers, instend of following the injunction of our Saviour to his apostles th,.l ...},„„ j ;„ ,.„p ,.itv iljov uhoiild (lee to another, seem to have found strong atlrac- ildiii in" the' prospect of persecution. One of those who were put to death in Massachusttu CIIAI'. Ill ] THE ULAKERS. 217 demeanour expressed unquenchable zeal and courage, and their dying dec- larations breatiied in general a warm and aflerting piety.' Tiiese executions excited much clamor against the government ; many persons were offended by the exhibition of severities against which the estab- lislmient of the colony itself seemed intended to bear a perpetual testimony ; iiri{l many were touched with an indignant compassion for the sufferings of the Quakers, that effaced all recollection of the indignant disgust which the |iriiiciples of these sectaries had previously inspired. The people began to flock in crowds to the prisons, and load the unfortunate Quakers wiili (loinonstrations of kindness and pity. The magistrates at first attempted to combat the censure they had provoked, and published a vindication of their proceedings, for the satisfaction of their fellow-citizens and of their friends ill other countries, who united iu blaming them ; but at length the rising sen- liments of humanity and justice attained such general and forcible preva- lence, as to overpower all opposition. On the trial of Leddra, the last of the sufferers, another Quaker, named Wenlock Clitistison, who had been haiiislied with the assurance of capital punishment in case of his return, came boldly into court with his hat on, and reproached the magistrates for shed- iling innocent blood. He was taken into custody, and soon after brought 10 trial. Summoned to plead to his indictment, he desired to know by what law the court was authorized to put him on the defence of his life. When the last enactment against the Quakers wars cited to him,, he asked, who em- powered the provincial authorities to make that law, and whether it were not repugnant to the jurisprudence of England. The governor answered, with little regard to sense or propriety, that an existing law in England appointed Jesuits to be hanged. But Christison replied, that they did not even accuse him of being a Jesuit, but acknowledged him to be a Quaker, and that there was no law in England that made Quakerism a capital offence. The court, iievertlieless, overruled his plea, and the jury found him guilty. When sen- tence of death was pronounced upon him, he desired his judges to consider nliat they had gained by their cruel proceedings against the Quakers. " For the last man that was put to death," said he, " here are five come in his room ; and if you have power to take my life from me, God can raise up ilie same principle of life in ten of his servants, and send them among you in my room, that you may have torment upon torment." The magnanimous demeanour of this man, who seems to have been greatly superior in under- standing to the bulk of his sectarian associates, produced an impression which could not be withstood. The law now plainly appeared to be unsup- ported by public consent, and the magistrates hastened to interpose between die sentence and its execution. Christison and all the other Quakers who vere m custody were forthwith released and sent beyond the precincts of the colony ; and as it was impossible to prevent them from returning, only the minor punishments of flogging and reiterated exile were employed. Even (ieclart'd, that, as ho was holding the plougli in Yorkshiro, he was directud by a heavenly voice to leave hi>< wife and children, and repair to Barbadoes ; but hearing of the baniEhnient of the (Itiakcrs from New England, and oi the severe piini»hnientB inflicted on persons returning lliere after bunishmcnt, he began to ponder on the probability of his receiving a spiritual direc- lion to proceed thither, and very soon after received it accordingly. Tomkins's and Ken- iI.iU'b Lives, Serrifa, nnd Dyin^'Sayinirs of the, Quuliirs. The woman who was executed was Mary Dyer, who, twenty years before, had been a fol lower of Mrs. Ilutchiniion and « disturber of New England. There is a striking resemblance between the dyiiifr iieliaviour of these Quaker martyrs y»i :l * i, i.iid the sulilinic scciic delineated in 2 Muccubei'K, vi. uud vii, VOL. I. 28 218 IIiaTOllY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK II these penal rijrors were relaxed in nroporl.on as the demeanour o the (^ua Icrs b^eca no more quiet and orderly ; and in tlu, fiv.t year after the reslora- Sof Cmrles the Second, the h.flietion of flogging was suspended by ^ er V^inho king to Governor Endicott' and the other .nag..trates of ,1,.> New KnSmd settlen.ents, re.juiring that no Quakers should thenceforward m'dergo any corporal punislunent in An.er.ca, but, .f charged w.th o l.nces I at were rickouod deserving of such severity they should be remuicd f„, S t^« Enghmd. Happily the moderation of the prov.nc.al government wa, e steady and durable than the policy of the king, who retracted Ins u.ier- position in behalf of the (iuakers in the course ol the foUown.g year. ^ Tirpersecution thus happily dosed was not equally severe ny the Now KnglanJ States ; the Quakers suffered most m Massachusetts and 1 lymoulh, ad comparatively little in Connecticut and Now Haven. It was only „, Massachisetts that the inhun.an law inflicting capUa punishment upon then u^s ever carried into oflect.« At a subsequent period, the laws relating ,o Zahondiluakcrs were so far revived, that Quakers disturbing relig.oi. alfemblies, or violating public decency, were subjected to corporal clmsUse. meat Bu little occasion ever again occurred of executing these sever, le.; 1 e wild excursions of the Quaker spirit having generally ceased and , o Quakers gradually subsiding into a decent and orderly submission to all the Lws except sucfi as related to tlic militia and the support of the clergy, - irthe'r scrupL as to which, the provincial legislature, with reciprocal moderation, consented to indulge them.' , . , • . r Duri g the long period that had now elapsed since the commencement of the cWil war in Britain, the New England provinces experienced a steady and vigorous growth, in respect both of the numbers o their inhabitants an t he eXnt of their t^rritorid occupation. The colonists were surrounde ith abundance of cheap and fertile land, and secured m the enjoyment o ha ecclesiastical estateSvhich was the object of their supreme desire, an of civil and political freedom. They were exempted from the payment of all tixes except for the support of their internal government, which was con- d ctedwith great economy; and they enjoyed the extraordinary pnve.e importing commodities imo England free from the duties which all other i.n,;Xs v^ere constrained to pay. By the favor of Cr omwell, too, the ,on rolnte* tl.at he l.ml «'•«";.';"*[. ^7" „„'aX^^^^ people would leave out Mr oontHininj an intimation tiia " '^ J.ng J^^ J '"■^'^ '^^^X^.d P, Xct him to this oliice as er.ilTcd''' ^:^^r^ oftUX'^Z; in the your l(iG5. leaving behind .,., ""i Sis Uwll\i"nrv:Sme'.l ii Connecticut, wa. embraced by the a..cmbly of .hi. ,. v?nce. l^M^h X!' d udg:.d that "No tbod -^•"¥"«,«ti^jf -'^-^ ^"^ "^ ^""''"' ^^^"■ '••*3 VS::i 'l^^t-Hutc^JrCh^lmr l£i%h.n"^ OUlmixon. .ho entertain. 1 1« iloctrinal and hwtorical Summary l.ri>lincrs. 220 HISTORY OP NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK II. ship without human mixtures, without offence either to God, or man, or our consciences, we, with leave, but not without tears, departed from our coun r kindred and fathers' houses, into this Patmos." they assim. ated their ecession from England to that of " the good old non-conformist Jacob » from Syria ; but dec'Jared that " the providential exception of us thereby from the late wars and temptations of either party we account as a favor from God." They solicited the king to protect their ecclesiastical and civil institutions, protesting that they considered the chief value of the latter to consist in their subservience to the cultivation and enjoyment of religic.i. A similar address was made to parliament ; and letters were written to Lord Manchester, Lord Say and Seal, and other persons of distinction, who were known to be friends of the colony, soliciting their interposition m its behalf. Leverett, the agent for the colony at London, was mstructed, at the same time, to use every effort in order to procure a continuance of the exemption from customs which the colonists had hitherto enjoyed. But he- fore he had time to make any such vain attempt, the parliament had already established the duties of tonnage and poundage over every portion of the era- nire. This disappoimment was softened by a gracious answer which was returned by the king to the provincial address, and was accompanied by an ordeTfor the apprehension of Whalley and Goffe. [1661.1 So prompt a display of good-will and confidence excited general satisfaction ; and a day of thanksgiving was appointed, to acknowledge the favor of Heaven in mov- in- the heart of the king to incline to the desires of the people. With re- gard to Whalley and Goffe, the provincial authorities were greatly perplexed between the obligation of a duly which it was impossible to decline, and their reluctance to betray to a horrible fate two men who had lately been members of a government acknowledged and obeyed by the whole British empire, who had fled to New England as an inviolable sanctuary from royal vengeance, and were recommended to the kindness of the colonists by letters from the most eminent ministers of the Independent persuasion in the parent state. It is generally supposed, and is sufficiently probable, that intimation was privately conveyed to the fugitive regicides of the orders that had been received ; and, although warrants for their apprehension were issued, and by the industry of the royalists a diligent search for their persons was mstituted, they were enabled, by the assistance of their friends, by dexterous evasion from place to place, and by strict seclusion, to end their days m New ^' But" the apprehensions which the colonists had originally entertained of danger to their civil and ecclesiastical institutions were speedily reawakened by intelligence that reached them from England of the industrious malignity which was exerted in circulating the most unfavorable representations of then- conduct, of the countenance that these representations received horn the king, and of the vindi ctive and tyrannical designs against them which gen- " tMiithcf Nci niutchiimon. Chalmers. Small as was the number of royaliHts in M«s- «n.hui it WM too S OB To enable the people to afford permanent shelter to Goffe an uSyBuTnTw Haven there were no royalmts at all ; and even those who disappro c,l . J tie^re" nZn Jthe regicides regarded it^with more "^ ^^wTvfn^ll l^-ncil the error of noble and aeneroiis minds. Lcet, the Bovernor of New Haven, and Ins < o no m, when .mnmoncd by tho%ursucni of Goffo and Whaflev to assist .n the «PP"'hons,on oMi fir rron nn ed ahnndnnel of time in deliberating on the extent of their powers, and then pro- rested^dm" in amatterof such importance, they eould not art without »•'•; "i;« «/"";;; : ..Til, tL ,„v,.li.. mirsners. incensed at this answer, desired the governor to declare at on ^hetiler he owned an.i honored the king ; to win.!, he repi,...l, " '^V.- ..o honor hm ^^J'- we have tender consciences, and wish first to know whether be vv ill own us. i rumuim, CHAP. I" ] MASSACHUSJETTS ASSERTS HER RIGHTS. 221 eral opinion ascribed to the court. It was reported that their commercial intercourse with Virginia and the West India Islands was to be cutoff; that three frigates were preparing to sail from England, in order to facilitate ilie introduction of arbitrary power ; and that this armament was to be ac- companied by a governor-general, whose jurisdiction was to extend over all the North American plantations. Apprehensions of these and other changes at length prevailed so strongly in Massachusetts, as to produce a public measure of very remarkable character. ^ The General Court, having pro- , laimed the necessity of promoting unity of spirit and purpose among the colonists for tlie vindication of their provincial hberties, in consistence with a dutiful recognition of the paramount authority of England, appointed a committee of eight of the most eminent persons in the State to prepare a report, ascertaining the extent of their rights and the limits of their obedi- ence; and shortly after [May, 1661], the Court, in conformity with the re port of the committee, framed and published a series of declaratory resolu- tions expressive of their solemn and deliberate judgment on those important subjects. It was declared that the patent (under God) is the original com- pact and main foundation of the provincial commonwealth, and of its insti- tutions and policy ; that the governor and company are, by the patent, a body politic empowered to confer the rights of freemen ; and that the free- men so constituted have authority to elect annually their governor, assistants, representatives, and all other officers ; that the magistracy, thus composed, hath all requisite power, both legislative and executive, for the government of all the people, whether inhabitants or strangers, without appeal, except against laws repugnant to those of England ; that the provincial government is entided by every means, even by force of arms, to defend itself both by land and sea against all jpersons attempting injury to the province or its in- habitants ; and tliat any imposition injurious to the provincial community, and contrary to its just laws, would be an infringement of the fundamental rights of the people of New England. This firm and distinct assertion of provincial rights was accompanied with a recognition of the duties to which ilie people were engaged by their allegiance, and which, it was declaratorily announced, consisted in preserving the colony as a dependency of the Eng- lish crown, and preventing its subjection to any foreign prince ; in defend- ing, to the utmost of their power, the king's pprson and dominions ; aiid in maintaining the dignity and prosperity of the king and people, by punishing crimes, and by propagating the gospel.^ These proceedings disclose without disguise or ambiguity the alarming suspicions which the colonists entertained of the character and policy of tlieir new sovereign, and the firm determination witli which they clung to the dear-bought rights of which they anticipated an attempt to bereave them. How far they are to be considered as indicating a settled purpose to resist tyrannical aggression by force is a matter of uncertain conjecture. It is not improbable tliat the authors of them hoped, by strongly proclaiming their rights, and suggesting the extremities which an attempt to violate them would legally warrant and might eventually provoke, to deter the king from awak- ening, in the commencement o f his reign, the recollection of a contest which "Hutchinson. Clmhni'rs. During tbo subHistence of Uie Coinmonwoalth in England, J«>hn Kliot, the inisBionary, on one occasion, so far overstepped his proper functions as to publish n little treatise against inonnrchical govc^rnnicnt. The General Court of Massachusetta now deemed it expedient to cite him before them U) answer for this impugnation of regal authority. Kiioi ackiiowiedged Uiut ho hud acted rashly and cuipabJy ; and, desiring forgiveness, ob- tained it. s * 222 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK n. J r . 1 ♦^ k;« fnthpr and which, if once rekindled, even to an had proved ff^^' ^« f'^^^^^^^^^^ c^roversy with an infant colony implied, extent so >•"'« ^''^tsrunequaK by presenting an occasion of revival and. ""^**'- T^ nassiot Sly ^extinguished in England. If such were the exercise ° P^^^^^' -JS the soundness of them was approved by the v.ews °f ^^'^/[X '^'el; tf^^^^^ the provincial authorities, in order to niani- rra duSs5,ordi^^^^^^^^ to the parent state, issued injunctions for the pur- test a dutiiui su^o^"'"" ^ \ Whalley, and pubhcly announced that no suit and «PP'-«*?«"^'f "l^r",^? FiXnd and flying from her tribunals, nTre^'rritS in : X that ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^T^ T^' of the EngHsh crown, the General Court caused the kmg to be soemny ot tl e ^"6"^" .'^'r'; ' . V 1 :„„e and severe en lord. They published, r.t™:l°Vm: : or£ancr°p™ing all dLrdeHy behaviour o„ ,he at tlie same umc, nnrtirular that none should presume to drink huS,;" £3 "wVc^^Mltradded .'he hauf, in ,n especU, his ^^ajesiy s ntai^ ,^ iniuiction the most alien to the sentiments and S?s oVSekfng^'and impS to him on no b^ter grounds than that drink- b S healths va prohibited by the statutes of his colony of Massacliuseus, Thif senseless practice had been offensive, on account of its heathen or.gm to he more sc^pulous of the Puritan planters, who were desirous m all things tHtudy a iLral and exclusive conformity to the revealed will of God, Td nccount'ng nothing unworthy of human regard that afforded occas.on fStt et tt^t t VZs regulSn, yet^lmost all of then, were cSour^haUhe restoration of royal authority should not be signalized by aTri nnnh over any, ev^n the least important, of the provincial constitutions IntXence having arrived soon after of the progress of the complaints that were foXually exhibited to the privy council against the colony and an Tder 'uhe same time being received from the king that deputies should be sent fo thwith^o England to make answer to those complaints, the Court ^mZ imporLt duty to Simon Bradstreet one of h^^^^^^^^ A T^i,« Nnrton one of the ministers of Boston. uecemoer, looi.j Tle/e atn^s "':;■ instmclcd ,o vindicate .he loyaUy and justify .he co„d,« „r Z tnlonv • to discover, if possible, what tvere .he designs which the ^:::A^^^^ sustain^y detention of their persons or other "tSeTf.;m^Te\tor and resolution which the necent conduct of the pro'Jindtlgovrnment displayed, or from the -deration^ sellors bv whom Charles was then surrounded, promoted bjr the intiuen e wS Lord Say and some other eminent persons employed m behalf of the colonv the ageL were received with unexpected favor, and were soon en- abefto return to Boston [1662] with a letter from the king, confirming th^nrovinciTcharter%nd promising to renew it under the great seal, when- the provincial cnarier, h^ ^j .,„„;,„^'- ^he royal letter likewi se announced an .l:- f „i;<.r cltniilfl lift desired ever viJ!3 «"«"'a!!-.;- - -- » Huicliiniion. CImlnitri. CHAP, mi ROYAL LETTER TO MASSACHUSETTS. 223 imnesty for whatever treasons had been committed during the late troubles, ' all persons but those who were attainted by act of parliament, and who had fled, or might hereafter fly, to New England. But it contamed other latters by no means acceptable to the colonists. It required that the Gen- "lal Court should pronounce all the ordinances that had been enacted during the abeyance of royalty invalid, and forthwith revise them and repeal every one that might seem repugnant to the royal authority ; that the oath of alle- sriance should be duly administered to every person ; that justice should be distributed in the king's name ; that all who desired it should be permitted to use the Book of Common Prayer, and to perform their devotions accord- ing to the ceremonial of the church of England ; that, in the choice of the governor and assistants, or counsellors, of the colony, the only qualifications ^0 be regarded should be wisdom and integrity, without any reference to peculiarities of religious faith ; and that all freeholders of competent estates, and not immoral in their lives, should be admitted to vote in the election of officers, civil and military, Vvhatever might be their opinions with respect to forms of church-government. " We cannot be understood," it was added, "hereby to direct or wish that any indulgence should be granted to Qua- kers, whose principles being inconsistent with any kind of government, we have found it necessary, with the advice of our parliament here, to make a sharp law against them, and are well content you do the like there." ^ However reasonable some of the foregoing requisitions may now appear, the greater number of them were highly disagreeable to the persons to whom they were addressed. The colonists considered themselves entitled to main- tain tlie form of polity in church and state, which they had fled to a desert m order to cultivate, without the intrusion and commixture of different princi- ples ; and they regarded with the utmost jealousy the precedent of an inter- ference with their (bndamental constitutions by a prince, who, they were firmly persuaded, was aiming at present to enfeeble the system which he waited only a more convenient season to destroy. To comply with the royal iniunctions, they apprehended, would be to introduce among their children tlie spectacles and corruptions which they had incurred the mightiest sacri- fices in order to withdraw from their eyes ; and to throw open every office in the state to Roman Catholics, Socinians, and every heretic and unbe- liever who might think power worth the purchase of a general declaration that he was (according to his own unexamined interpretation of the term) a Christian. The king, never deserving, was never able to obtain, credit with Ills subjects for good faith or moderation ; he was from the beginnirig of his rei-^n suspected of a predilection for the church of Rome ; and the various efforts which he made to procure a relaxation of the penal laws against the Protestant dissenters in England were jealously and censoriously regarded hy all these dissenters themselves, —with the solitary exce;>tion of the Qua- kers, who considered the other Protestants and the Catholics as nearly on a level with each other, and were made completely the dupes of the artifices by which Charles and his successor endeavoured to introduce the ascendency of the Catholic church under the preliminary guise of universal toleration. Of all th e fequisitions in the royal letter, the only one that was comphed ' Hutchinson. Boikimp. The royal invitation to porsrcnte the duakers was difregnrdecl l,y the government of MaWhu.etts. Whether from Kroatcr deference to the king «• pleasure or from «ome other cause, the government of Rhode Island in the y«%«^^' P»««f„";!.%?f _ outlawry against the diiakers for refusing to bear arms. ColltcHons of the Matsachusttts H%»- ^S iutUAil Sociiiy. 224 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK n. however, that ^^e d^rection^^^^^^^^ ^^.^^ ^^^j^ ^^ ^^^^.^^^ ^^ '7'r:iZiolee^^r^^^^ The treatment which the pro- •'" 1 ntnts experienced from their countrymen, it is pain ul, but neces- irto^elateS ill-humor which some of tiie requisitions provoked ':z uiLt^te,^^^ -^— r; -ir z^'sStith^ tt c fully acknowledged ^^ « .^P^Sd a pres^^^ deliverance, but which still from which the ^^o-yXj^^^^^^ ^^ TpHnce -ho visibly abetted every nnpended over it from "'^ d«s'S"^ increased their unpopularity by warml v ^uSftaf an\reT^^^ -^ ^j^^^' 3on who on the first inofficial intelligence that was received of the k.ng's fes oration had ^effectually counselled his fellow-citizens to proclaim tl. ::;!^rK;rUin - We^^^-tJi^— r^ fSrXtt the^ci; :d T^ ^e^erms of the Sng's letter, they must blame themsTlves for the bloodshed that would ensue. Such language vvas ill calcuE to soothe the popular disquiet, or recommend an ungra- was Ul caicuMiuu lu o i i actuated by the most disinter- cious counsel ; and the depuUe , who ^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^ ested zeal to serve '^'^^^l}^^^ ^^'l{'^!^^^^ the colony, and heard f^^r^tcTittlfnofnU^^ the evils, which t was not m "^«" PP endowed with a robust, philo- "vf finTlLiou. surprUe or repining ; bu. Norton, - » -» » ^ » 1 i ^«iw.n»r. cpns h 1 tv could not behold tne aiterea eyi-h oi ins 7Jro hiscountry^^^ he expressed no resentment, but sunk inlo a veS mouriinc that overspread the province expressed a late but ast. ? remcmrance of his virtue,' and bewailed an ungrateful error, which only "^Tir roi::; T aTlrd Ccelved tl. tidings of the restoratio. of rovaltv whh much real or apparent satisfaction. It was hoped by the hh-h.a tVlat die suspension o^f their charter by the Long Parliament 01 I m^re h n compensate the demerit of having accepted a charter from n thoriiv- and hat their exclusion from the confederacy, of wlicl, Ma .ac S was 1. ad would operate as an additional recommen at.on to rova favor. The restored monarchical government was proclaimed ^v h ler 1 teTn this colony ; and Dr. John Clarke was employed as dopim from the colon ts to carry their dutiful respects to the foot of the throno. LTto elicit, ew charted in their favor, ^rhe envoy conducted his nego- jrJiion with a suppleness of adroit semlity that j^enderedjhe^^^ — ""-Mathe"rrHutchinw.n. 8«c Note X., at the end ol the volume CHAP, ni] RHODE ISLAND CHARTER. ;S@5 dearly bought. He not only vaunted in courtly strains the loyalty of the in- habitants of Rhode Island, of which not the slightest proof could be adduced, but meeting this year the deputies of Massachusetts at court, he publicly challenged them to cite any one demonstration of duty or loyally by their (ODstituents to the present king or his father, from the period of their first establishment in New England.' Yet the inhabitants of Rhode Island had solicited and accepted a patent from the Long Parliament in the commence- Inent of its struggle with Charles the First ; while Massachusetts declined to make a similar recognition, even when the Parliament was at the utmost jieieht of its power and success.^ Clarke succeeded in obtaining, this year'^ 11^2], a charter which assured to the inhabitants of Rlnjde Island and I'rovidence the amplesLenjoyment of religious liberty, and most unlimited concession of mumcipal jurisdiction. Certain of the leading colonists, to- o^ether with all other persons who should in future be admitted freemen of ^e society, were incoroorated by the title of the Governor and Company of the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence. The supreme or legislative pow«r was vefited in an assembly, consisting of the governor, as- sistants, and representatives elected from their own number by the freemen. This assembly was empowered to enact legal ordinances, and establish forms of eovernment and magistracy, with as much conformity to the laws and ' institutions of England as the state of the country and condition of the peo- ple would admit ; to erect courts of justice ; to regulate the manner of ap- pointment to places of trust ; to inflict all lawful punishments ; and to exer- cise the prerogative of pardon. A governor, deputy-governor, and ten as- sistants were to be annually chosen by the assembly ; and the first board of these officers, nominated by the charter, on the suggestion of the provmcial acent, were authorized to commence the work of carrying its provisions mto execution. The governor and company were empowered to transport all merchandise not prohibited by the statutes of the kingdom, on payment of the usual duties ; to exercise martial law, when necessary ; and, upon just causes, to invade and destroy the native Indians or other enemies. Ihe territory, granted to the governor and company and their successors, was described as that part of the dominions of the British crown in New Eng- land, which embraced the islands in Narraganset Bay and the countries and districts adjacent, — which were appointed to be holden of the maiior of East Greenwich in common soccage. The inhabitants and tlieir cluldreu were declared to be entitled to the same immunities which would have ac- crued to them, if they had resi ded or been born within the realm. This is I Mr. Bancroft has, witiTslranginack of courtesy and correctness, reproached mo with \mmintentcd the charge 1 have preferred against Clarke. I am incapable of such dislionesty; and luiccrcly hope that Mr. Bancrofts reproach is, and will continue, on his part, a solitary inmance of deviation from candor and rectitude. With a mixture of pain and admiration, 1 have witnessed the diBpleasure with which some «f the lilerati of Rhode Island have received my strictures on Chfrke. The authorities tlicy have cited prove undeniably that he was a true patriot and excellent man and well deserviiig the reverence of his natural and national posterity. But every person acquainted with his- tory and human nature ought U. know how apt even good men are to be transported beyond the line of honor and integrity, in conducting such negoUations as Uiat which was confided t.> 'The Rliode IsUinders had also presented an address to the rulers of England in 1659, t,b»eochia« favor to themselves as "a poor colony, an outcast people, formerly Ironi our mother nation in the bishops' days, and since from tlic New-English over-zealous colonies. Douglass's .Sttmm«rj/. _ ^ _,. .„ ^^ ..«- Con- necticut VOL. lass B :)ummaru. <. j- l . Ithough the charter was framed in 1662, yet, in conseouence of a dispiUo between ;ut atiu Rhode Island, it was not completed till July, 1663. 29 226 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK II I . .. • » „««f thP creation, by a Briiish patent, of an authority of that the first ms tance of th« «^«^^^^^^^^ i„ Rhode Island. Corpora- ^^''"^rA!/5rnerV constituted within the realm, for the government of tions had b«f .'"^f .^'i^y "LXa body politic was created with specific powers colonial plantations , but now a boay^ ^^^^^^ territory itself, ^:?^^TT"^frt^eMl^L^Z Ltisfaction by the colonist^, .ho The charter was receiveawung ^^^ocratical constitution which T:;;^::Tt^^Xr:^^^^ - pursue the sa^e system of civil a.d fail to sena a aepmy t & g "^ rpj^ ^g^e fortunate m the choice ^uch honor and vi^^^^^^^^^ ^,^ ^ f,,,„ ^^ 1f"T§ l.Spd beLeeT^^^ grandfather and Charles the Fir8t,3en,. that had s"^s>«^«d bemeen m^^ own g j^^^^^^ ^ charter in almost ployed It so suc^^^^f""^' f' \? t Xh was granted to Rhode Island. The every respect ^^e same wUh that wh^^ Connecticut charter the most considerable ^^f ^enjs were^^^^ allegiance and supremacy governor was d.ected to^^^^^^^ 4,a by the cfarterol to the inhabitants, — a »o™iy wi gcrupled to take an oath; and Rhode Island, where "^^^ ,f .f;^a ^f cScience was expressly con- that, by the l/^''^"'!""? wWlf [he S made no express mention of the ceded in its fullest extent, ^^'le the othe^^^^^^ P concerns of religion, and "O <^"^% ^""''°" ^^ ,„„.emacv [1662.1 Bv t« hP Jmnlied in the requ sition of the oath ot supremacy. l*""^-J p) his cSer New Haven was united with Connecticut ; an arrangement who this charter i>iew ndvc unanimous approbation of the people ot ^v' 'T r \ltLouS th^^^^^^^^^^ 'c^esced in it ; and the de- ^'"'L of ie Sian^^^^^^ was indefinite 2nd incorrect. But on the wToH Ive sCmTch atisfaction, that Winthrop, on his return was re- Sid ^irgr^efd approbation by his fellow-cU.zens, and annually chose. > Chalmcra. Hazard. j ^ govcral of the principal inhabit- t At New Haven the repubhcan "Pint wm "?J*'''Kb .11. It was here that Goffe and ants declined to act a« mag.stratos "^^^ '^^J "f- j^J^'^Xn a pwty of Whalley found the secured "^y'"""' «"i^"**^Savenm^^^^^ °f '^e place, preached coming in pursuit of them .t?New Haven, D^^'^^.gf, ^^^j T 4), .. Take counsel, exe* publicfy in favor of the reg.c.des, from the .»"» ^J^ nf he noonday ; hide the outcasts. F"dime^.t ; make thy shadow as the nj^ht '" 'J^ ""j JJ "VJ^ Tee, M^oab ; be thou a coven &ay not him that wandereth Let ■^J"« "";*="if ?/,^^'^^^^^ ,hat' Salem and Now Haven to them from the face of the spoiler. "''7^''„ JV^ J.^.^j L the Puritan and republican wal !::; highlv distinguished among the towns of Now En^'""d by the 1^.^^ J .^^^^ of their fonnde;i., have so lonp ^'n '""^^ * Dwi«1^?s desJr pUon of New Haven, in the com- .ry. and Pnai^ete'rrJt'hTe'nt ^S^on^'the "-^^^^^^ and agreeable picture, tha, "J^l'rrvrctt trS^'rsti^arcrgJcgation of mankind. ^^D^^^^^^ "" MMhcr .elate, that, -^en W-jh-^. P--t^ P"/„, but also declared lliro-: ilorirtrirug^^^^^^^^ J.ra;traw^'of Wimhrop. Bee Note X. ... end of the volume. * Matlier. Chalmeri. Hazard. CHAP. IV.] COMMON INTERESTS OF THE NEW ENGLAND STATES. 227 Phnde Island, a model of government the most perfectly democratic, to- ?pSr S the additional singularity of subordinate political corporations most Sly disconnected by any efficient tie or relation with the organ of prPiln authority. All power, as weU deliberative as active, was vested fthe^eemen of\e Corporation or their delegates ; and the supreme ex- PPute S^^ of the empfre was excluded from every constitutional leans of interposition or control. A conformity to the laws of England raoub, was^enjoined on the provincial legislatures ; and this conformity was conditioned is the tenure by which their privileges were enjoyed , but 1 method of ascertaining or enforcing its observance was provided. At a Spfoeriod, the crown lawyers of England were sensible of the oversight Sich their predecessors had committed ; and proposed that an act of par- ient should be obtained, requiring those colonies to transmit the records Keir domestic ordinanc;s to Britain for the inspecUon and consideration of the king. But this suggestion was never carried mto effect. Connecticut and CHAPTER IV. r • . J M;n;.«<.ra to New England. — Royal Commissioners sent thither. — snecdng the Rujht to Maine and New Ham^hire-^ J^^^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^J and Morala itingand the (^lony.- State "^/f/J'^V" „ ^f m^^^ demanded by the King- iibftrctr^^^^^^^ S People. - Their Charter adjudged to be forfeited. AxruoiiGH New England now [1663] consisted of a variety of distinct £ *r .S* want :frrthtb,«„« could be ?up*^ J--^ r,omher„ colonies, where .he goj^rMrs^w^e^ppomted^th r b^Ae ssd HMTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK U Tjrown or by proprietaries dosely connected with the parent Mate, the Act of Navigation was very imperfectly executed ; and fai New England, where •he governors were elected by the people, it appears, for a considerable ittme, to have been tntirely disobeyed.^ While the commercial system of the English parliament thus tended to «nite the colonies by community of interest and opposition to the parent -slate, the ecclesiastical policy which now prevailed in England was calcu- lated to promote among the colonists the remembrance of the original causes -of secession from her territory, and at once to revive their influence, and recommend the exercise of toleration by sympathy with the victims of wi «pposite principle. Charles the Second had obtained the assistance of the Vkiglish Presbyterians to his restocation by express and solemn promise of •an ecclesiastical oonstttution framed on a compromise between Episcopalian '»rtd Presbyterian princmles ; but by the advice, or at least with the cordial approbation, of Lord Clarendon, he scrupled not to viulate this engagement as soon as he found himself securely established on the tlirone. In conse- quence of the rigorous execution of that shameless act of perfidy, the statute of uniformity, in the close of the preceding year, about two thousand of the English clergy, the most eminent of their order for learning, virtue, and piety, were ejected from the established church ; and, to the astonishment of the prevailing party, sacrificed terapOTal interest to the dictates of con- science. They were afterwards banished to the distance of five miles from every corporation in England ; and many of them died in prison for privately exercising their ministry in contravention of the lafw. WMle the majority of them remained in Britain, to preserve by their instructions the decaying piety of their native land, a considerable ttjiiiber were conducted to New England, there to invigorate American virtue by a fresh example of con- scientious sacrifice, and to form a living and toucliing memorial of the cruelty and injustice of religions intolerance. The merits and tlie Buierings of these men strongly excited the admiration and sympathy of the people of New England ; and tliis year an invitation was despatched to Dr. John Owen, •ne of Uie most eminent scholars and theologians that the world has ever .produced, to accept an ecclesiastical appointment in Massachusetts. Owen declined to avail lumself of this invitation, on account uf the cloud of royal di&pleasure which he perceived to be gatliering against Massachusetts, and ihe measures wiiich iie had reason to believe would ere long be adopted for the subjugation of its civil and religious liberties. Other countries besides America contended for the honor of sheltering this illustrious man from tlie persecution of die ahurch of England, and for the liappiness and advantage expected from his presence, example, and coiui^els ; iW his character was equal to his genius and learning. But he preferred suiTermg In a land of which he fully understood the language, to enjoyment and honor among a people with whom his communication must necessarily have been more restricted. At a later period, when the presidency of Harvard College was offered to him, he consented to embrace this sphere of useful and important duty ; and liaving shipped his effects for New England, was preparing to accom- pany them, when his steps were arrested by an order from Charles, expressly commanding him not to depart from tlie kingdom.^ ■ iS The apprehension which the inhabitants of Massachusetts had entertaincdi ever sinc-fi the Pestorauon. of hostile designs of the English government, Chalmen. *'Mmu. HwriMMPO. CHAP; FVl]: APPOINTMBWT OF COMMISSIONERS FOR NEW ENGLAND. w-hittb hfkd beep confirmed by the reasons assigned by Dr. Owen for n>- fusing the first iwr itation they tendered to him, was strengthened by alt the other intelligeoc© th*y dateined from England. A ^eat number of thfe ejected Non-conformist ministers who had made preparation for emigrating to Massachusetts now decKned to settle in a country on which the extreme of royal yerigeanoe was expected to descend ; and at length the most positive information was received, that Charles had openly avowedi, that, although he wasi willing ta preserve the provincial charter, he was nevertheless deter- mined to institute an inquiry fw the porpose of ascertaining how far the pro"- visions (rf this- charter had been practically observed. It was reported soon after, that the king had associated this object with the design which he cherished of provoking a quarrel with Holland ; and that for this double pur- pose he was preparing to despatch' an expedition for the reduction of th« Dutch settlement of New York, and meant to send along with it a board of ' commissioners empowered to investigate and judge (according to their oww discretion) all complaints and disputes that might exist within New Englar J, and to take every step they might judge necessary for settling the peace a?.Mt security of the country on a sdid foundation. In effect, a commission for these purposes, as well as for the reduction of New York, had already been* issued by the king to Sir Robert Carr, Colonel Nichols, George Cartwright, and Samuel Maverick. This measure, conspiring with the reports that had long prevailed of the projects harboured by the court of England against the liberties of the colonists, was calculated to strike them with dismay. They knew that plausible pretexts were not wanting to justify a censorious view of certain parts of their conduct ; and they were firmly persuaded that the dislike and suspicion with which the king regarded them would never be satisfied by any measure short of the eiiltire abrogatiorh of their institutions. Various controversies had arisen between the different settlements, con- cerning the boundaries of their respective terrilwies ; and loud complaintft \Tere preferred by the representatives of Mason, and by Gorges, and other members of the old Council of Plymouth, of the occupation of districts and the exercise of jurisdiction to which these complainers pretended a prefer- able right. The claim of Mason to New Hampshire, derived from the as*- signment of the Plymouth Council, had never been expressly surrendered ; and Gorges's title to Maine was confirmed and enlarged by a grant from the late king, in the year 1639. As Gorges adhered to the royal cause in thiB' civil wars, the death of the king produced the temporary demise of hrs- patent ; both he and Mason's heirs had long abandoned their projects, in despair of ever prosecuting them to a successful issue. But now the resto- ration of royalty in England presented them with an opportunity of vindi- cating their claims ; and the congregation of inhabitants in the territories promised advantage from such vindication. They had as yet reaped no benefit from the money expended on their acquisitions ; but they now em- brared the prospect, and claimed tlie right of the labors of others, who, in ignorance of their pretensions, had occupied and colonized a vacant soil, and held it by the right of purchase from its native proprietors. In addition to this formidable controversy, many complaints were preferred by royalists, Quakers, and Episcopalians, of abuses in the civil and ecclesiastical adminis- tration of Massachusetts. The investigation and adjustment of these com- nlgitl^* OTl" /»rtrtficr«7tit»oioa wwrof** trio »\t«ir«/»irfcr»l i*«kn0j^na nc*e«fw«a«^. iVxi" ffipk i^f\%rn\ commission. But, doubtless, the main object of concern to the English 230 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK II. court was the suppression or essential modification of institutions founded and administered on principles that had so long warred with monarchy, and so recently prevailed over it. The colonists readily believed the accounts they received from their friends in England of this hostile disposition of Uieir sovereign ; and the proclamation by which they cautioned the enemies of his government not to expect shelter in Massachusetts was intended td remove or appease it. When intelligence was received of the expected visitation from England, the General Court of Massachusetts appointed a day of solemn fast and prayer throughout its jurisdiction, in order to implore the mercy of God under their many distractions and troubles ; and deeming it a point of the highest importance that the patent or charter should be kept " safe and se- cret," they ordered their secretary to bring it into court, and deliver it to four of the members, who were directed to dispose of it in such manner as they should judge most conducive to its secure preservation. Aware of the profane, licentious manners of European sailors and soldiers, and reflecting on the peculiar strictness of the provincial laws, the Court adopted at tlie same time the most prudent precautions for preventing the necessity of either a hazardous enforcement or a pusillanimous suspension of its municipal or- QlI1fl.nC6S On the arrival of the royal armament at Boston in tlie following year [1664], the commissioners exhibited their credentials to the gov^nor and council, and demanded, in the first instance, that a troop of provincial militia should be embodied to accompany the English forces in the invasion of New York. Endicott, the governor, neither relishing the enterprise, nor empowered by the forms of the provincial constitution to levy forces with- out express permission from the General Court, judged it necessary to con- voke this body ; but the commissioners, who had not leisure to await its dehberations, proceeded with the fleet against New York, desiring that the provincial auxiliaries should follow as quickly as possible, Mid signifying to the governor and council that they had much important business to transact with them on their return from New York, and that in the mean time tlie General Court would do well to bestow a fuller consideration than they seemed yet to have done on the letter which the king addressed to Uiem two years before. The vague, mysterious terms of this communication were certainly calculated, and would seem to have been deliberately intended, to increase the disquiet and apprehensions of the colonists. That they pro- duced this impression is manifest from the transactions that ensued in the General Court. On the assembling of this body, it was declared by an immediate and unanimous vote, that they were '' resolved to bear true allegiance to his Majesty, and to adhere to a patent so dearly obtained and so long enjoyed by undoubted right." In compliance with the requisition of the commis- sioners, they equipped a regiment of two hundred men, who were preparing to embark for New York, when intelligence arrived that the place had already surrendered, and that the junction of the English and provincial forces was no longer necessary. The assembly then resumed consideration of the king's letter, which was so emphatically commended to their atten- tion ; and passed a law extending the elective franchise to all the inhabitants of English or provincial birth, paying public rates to a certain amount, and attested by a minister as orthodox in Uieir religious principles and noU rn- 'HiitchiiHoo fi«lknap Sullivnn. Hazard. H:Mi [BOOK II. I CHAP. IV] PETITION OF MA88ACIIU8ETTS TO THE KING. 231 itions founded nonarchy, and I the accounts Qsition of tlieir enemies of his d td remove or visitation from of solemn fast mercy of God a point of tlie " safe and se- d deliver it to luch manner as Aware of the , and reflecting idopted at the essity of either I municipal or- following year 5 governor and ■ovincial militia he invasion of enterprise, nor vy forces with- cessary to con- ire to await its esiring that the id signifying to less to transact mean time the ition than they ed to them two unication were ;ly intended, to That they pro- it ensued in the immediate and legiance to his long enjoyed jf the commis- were preparing the place had and provincial id consideration to their atten- 1 the inhabitants lin amount, and les and not im- moral in their lives, whether within or without the pale of the established hirrh They next proceeded to frame and transmit to the knig a petit-on liongly expressive of their present apprehensions and their habitual senti.- Its They represented at considerable length the dangers and d.lTuut.es Tev liad encountered in founding and rearing their settlenrient ; the explicit confirmation which their privileges had received, both from the re.gmng monarch and his predecessor ; and their own recognition of royal authority, „d willingness to testify their allegiance in every righteous way. 1 hey 'pxcressed their concern at the appointment of four commissioners, one ot vhom (Maverick) was their known and professed enemy, who were vested . ih an indefinite authority, in the exercise of which they were to be guided, ot by the known rules of law, but by their own discretion ; and they de- lared, that even the little experience which already they had obtained of ,he dispositions of these persons was sufficient to assure them that the powers onferred by the commission would be employed to the complete subversion of the provincial constitution. If any advantage was expected from the Losition of new rules and the infringement of their liberties, the design, thev protested, would produce only disappointment to its authors ; for the ountrv was so poor, that it afforded little more than a bare subsistence to Z inhabitants, and the people were so much attached to their institutions, 1 if deprived of them in America, tliey would seek them in new and more distant habitations ; and if they were driven out of their present ter- Htory, it would not be easy to find another race of inhabitants who would be wiling to sojourn in it.» They averred, m a solemn appeal to God,- that hey came not into this wilderness in quest of ternporal grandeur or advan- aee but for the sake of a quiet life ; and concluded in the following strains of earnest anxiety :-" Let our government live, our patent live, our magis- trates live, our laws and liberties live, our religious enjoyments live ; so shall we all yet have farther cause to say from our hearts, Let the king live for Gvcr II Letters suing for favor and friendly mediation were addressed at the same time to several of the English nobility, and particularly to the chmce^or Lord Clarendon. But these applications were unsuccessful, t^larendon was no friend to Puritan establishments ; he had instigated, or at least cor- ,lially abetted, the existing persecution against sectanes ^f ^^/^ /'f "7'- nation in England ; and he was at present too painful y sens ble of iis de- ining credifwith the king, to risk the farther provocation of his displeasure by moving the suit of a people whom the monarch disliked, and opposing a favorite sdieme of royal policy. In a letter to the provincial fvernor he defended the commission as a constitutional exercise of royal POwer and wisdom, and a manifest indication of his Majesty's grace and goodness , and advised the colonists, by a prompt ^"bmissiontcv deprecate the conse- quences of that indignation which their ungrateful damor '""f . f eady ha^ e excited in the breast'of the king. The answer of Charles, Y^'i^h was tr ns- .nitted by Secretary Morrice, to the petition of the General Court, excted less surprise. It reproached this assembly with making unreasonable and groundless complaints ; represented the commission as the only proper means • It ircuriouB to obHcrvo the e«pre«.ion of a similar sentiment by the '"f J|««7/ "^''iflfbar: 252 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK n. of rectifying the provincial disorders ; and affected to conmder the petition as '* the contrivance of a few persons who infuse jealousies into their fellow, wjhjects as if tlieir charter were in danger.'*' No sooner was the cuii(|uest of New York completed,^ than the commis- sioners addrossod themselves to the discharge of their civil functions in New England. One of the first official acts that they had occasion to perform wag the iidjiistinont of a dispute respectmg boundaries, that arose out of the occu- nation uf New York. [1665. J A patent had been granted to the Duke of York, of ail the territory occupied or claimed by the Dutch, including large districts already comprehended in the charter of Connecticut. A contro- versy concerning limits was thus created by the act of the crown, between the State of Connecticut and the new province desienatcd by the patent of the Duke of York. Their boundaries were now adjusted by the commis- sioners in a mannor which appears to have been highly satisfactory to the people of Connecticut, but which entailed a great deal of subsequent dis- pute. Another controversy, in which Connecticut \ma involved, arose out of a claim to part of its territory preferred by the Duke of Hamilton, and other poisons, in virtue of rights that had accnied to themselves or their ancestors as members of the (irand Council of Plymouth. The commia- .sioners, desirous of giving satisfaction to both parties, adjudged the property of the disputed soil to these individual claimants, but declared that the muni- cipal government of the territory appertained to Connecticut. It appears nmnifestly to have been their policy to detach tlie other New England States from the obnoxious province of Massachusetts, and to procure their co- operation (by the example of implicit submission on their own part, and the accumulation of complamts against that province) in the design of curtailing her liberties and altering hor institutions. In the prosecution of this policy they were but partially successful. The people of Connecticut received the commissioners with frigid respect, and plainly showed that they disliked their mission, and regarded the cause of Massachusetts as their own. Nay, so strongly were they impressed with the danger to their liberties from the interposition of such arbitrary power, that some disagreements, which had arisen between Connecticut and New Haven, and hitherto prevented their union in conformity with the recent charter, were entirely composed by the mere tidings of the approach of the commissioners. At Plymouth the com- missioners met with little opposition ; the inhabitants being deterred from expression of their sentiments by a consciousness of their weakness, and being exemj)ted from the apprehensions that prevailed in the provinces ot" greater consideration by a sense of their insignificance. In Rhode Island alone was their insidious policy attended with success. There, the people received them with studious deference and submission ; their inquiries were answered, and their mandates obeyed, without a syllable of objection to the authority from which they emanated ; and during their stay in this settlement they wore enabled to amplify their reports with num- berless complaints of injustice and misgovernment alleged to have been com- mitted in Massachusetts. The inhabitants of Rhode Island, as we have seen, gained their late charter by a display of subservience and devotion to the crow n ; and the liberal institutions which it introduced had not yet had lime to form •••■•• ignoble a tenure ' Huu:hini>r.i. Chaiinor*. a spirit that disdained to hold the enjoyment of liberty by so jre. The freedom thus souriouslv becotten was tainted in its puriously begotten was tainted in its • See Book V., chap. I., po0t. (HAP. Pf] VIEWS iJlf A1/LBGIAN0B IN MASBACHUSETTS. 23$ birth by principles thnt long rendered its existence precarioufl ; and we shall find Uiese colonists, a few years after, abjectly proposing to strip themselves of the rights which they gained so ill, and of which they now showed them- selves unworthy, by their willingness to cooperate in attacking the liberties of Massachusetts. We must not, however, discard from our recollection that Rhode Island was yet but a feeble community, and that the unfavorable sentiments with whicb many of its inhabitants regarded Massachusetts arose from the persecution which their religious tenets had experienced in this province. Their conduct to the commissioners received the warmest appro- bation from Charles, who assured them that he would never be unmindful of the claims they had acquired ort his goodness by a demeanour so replete with loyalty and humility.' In justice to the king, whose word was prover- bially the object of very little reliance, we may observe that he never actu- ally contradicted these professions of favor for Rhode Island ; and in jus- tice to a moral lesson that would be otherwise incomplete, we may here so far transgress the pace of time, as to remark, that, when Charles's successor extended to Rhode Island the same tyrannical system which he introduced into the other New England provinces, and when the people endeavoured to avert the blow by a repetition of the abject pliancy that had formerly availed them, their prostration was disregarded, and their complete subju- l^ation pursued and accomplislied with an insolence that forcibly taught them to detest oppression and despise servility. It was in Massachusetts that the commission was expected to produce its most important effects ; and from the difference between the views and opinions entertained by the English government and by the provincial au- thorities, it was easily foreseen that the proceedings of the commissioners would provoke a keen and resolute opposition. Among other communica- tions, which the commissioners were charged to convey to the colonists, was, that the king considered them to stand in precisely the same relation to him as the inhabitants of Kent or Yorkshire in England. Very different was the opinion which the colonists themselves entertained. They con- sidered, that, having been forced by persecution to depart from the realm of England, and having established themselves by their own unassisted efforts in territories which they purchased from the natural proprietors, they retained no other political connection with their sovereign than what was I reated by their charter, which they regarded as the sole existing compact between the English crown and themselves, and as defining all the particu- lars and limits of their obedience. The acknowledged difference of senti- ment in. religion and politics between them and their ancient rulers, from which their colonial settlement originated, and (he habits of self-government that they had long been enabled to indulge, confirmed these prepossessions, iind tended generally and deeply to impress the conviction, that their primi- tive allegiance, as natives of England and subjects of the British crown, was entirely dissolved and superseded by the stipulations which they had volun- tarily contracted by accepting their charter. Such opinions, though strongly (herishod, it was not prudent distinctly to profess ; but their prevalence is attested by a respectable provincial historian, on the authority of certain manuscript compositions of the leading persons in Massachusetts at this period, which he had an opportunity of perusing. The colonists were not ihe less attached to these notions, from the apprehension that they would ' Hutchinson. ChaJiucn. VOL. I. 30 T* 234 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK U. find as litUe favor in the eyes of the English government as the tenets which had led to the persecution and emigration of their ancestors ; they were, indeed quite repugnant to the principles of the English law, which regards the allegiance of subjects to their sovereign, not as a local or provincial but as a perpetual and indissoluble tie, which distance of place does not sunder, nor lapse of time relax. Forcibly aware of these differences of opinion, of the dangerous collisions which might result from them, and of the disadvan- taee with which they must conduct a discussion with _ persons who sought nothing so much as to find or make them offenders, the colonists awaited, with much anxiety, the return of the commissioners to Boston. The character and disposition of these commissioners mcreased the proba- bility of an unfriendly issue to their debates with the provincial authorities. If conciliation was, as the king professed, the object which he had in view in instituting tli*? commission, he was singularly unfortunate in the selection of the instruments to whom the discharge of its important duUes was con- fided. Nichols, indeed, was a man of honor, good sense, and ability ; but it was mainly for the reduction and subsequent governance of New York that he had been appointed to accompany the expedition ; he remained at that place after its capitulation ; and when he afterwards rejoined his col- leagues, he found himself unable to control their conduct, or repair the breach which they had already occasioned. The other commissioners were utterly destitute of the temper,^ sense, and address which their office de- manded ; and Maverick added to these defects an inveterate hostility to te colony, which had induced him for years to solicit the fiinctions which he now hastened to execute with mahgnant satisfaction. On their return to Boston [April, 1665], the very first communication which they addressed to tlie governor demonstrated the slight respect they entertained for the provincial authorities ; for they required that all the inhabitants of the pro- vince should be assembled to receive and reply to their commumcation ; and when Uie governor desired to know the cause of this requisition, they answered, " that the motion was so reasonable, that he who vyould not at- tend to it was a traitor." Perceiving, however, that this violent language served rather to confirm the suspicions than to shake the resolution ol the provincial magistrates, they condescended for a while to adopt a more con- ciliating tone, and informed the General Cou/t that they h»d favorably rep- resented to the king the promptness with which his commands had been obeyed in the equipment of a provincial regiment ; but it was soon ascer- tained that they had actually transmitted a representation of perfectly oppo- ^' Vlli^^s'li'spicions which the commissioners and the General Court recipro- cally entertained of each other prevented, from the outset, any cordial co- operation between them. The communications of the commissioners dis- play the m ost lofty ideas of their own au jiority ajje presentatives ot the * The'ecn^rewneM of their conduct i« atror.ly illustrated by a cage related at considerable length bvthrpr"vincial historians. They hnALn drinking, ore S«;"rd"y mght, m a ^ aftpr the hour when, by the provincial laws, nil taverns were ordered to be shut A constnD . who warS th^m not to infringe the law, was beaten by them. Uennng that Ma^"". »."«> ronstrie had Telared that A* would not have been deterred bv the.r violence from do n^ dm;rthey'ent'i^^r^^^ from hi.n '^-^'^'"''£1^'^^^^^^^^ king himself, if he had found him drinking in a public h«"w ?ft«r ''^-'n^' "o ™ ^ '^'^^' ,. .i.„f (.,. uJ.U I... iriod for l.iffh treuHon. and actually prevailed to have this injiisliH) (om miticdT The]u"ry"relurn...da;i.€cii.l vcrdirt ; and tho court, conmderiiiu U... Wurag oiiun^.u andinHolcnt, b^'ul not treasonable, irrtictcd only a slight punishment, llutchinson. CHAP. IV.] DISPUTES WITH THE COMMISSIONERS. 236 crown, with a preconceived opinion that there was an indisposition on the part of the General Court to pay due respect to their authority, as well as to the source from which it was derived. The answers of the General Court manifest an anxious desire to avoid a quarrel with the king, and to gratify his Majesty by professions of loyalty and submission, and by every municipal change that seemed likely to meet his wishes, without compro- mising the fundamental principles of their peculiar polity. They expressed, at the same time, a deliberate conviction of having done nothing that merited displeasure or required apology, and a steady determination to abide by the charter. The correspondence gradually degenerated into altercation. At length, the commissionefs demanded from the Court an explicit answer to the°question, if they acknowledged the authority of his Majesty's commis- sion. But the Court desired to be excused from giving any other answer than that they acknowledged the authority of his Majesty's charter, with wliich they were niuch better acquainted. Finding that their object was not to be gained by threats or expostulations, the commissioners attempted a practical assertion of their pretensions ; they granted letters of protection to persons who were prosecuted before the provincial tribunals ; and in a civil suit, which was already determined by the provincial judges, they pro- moted an appeal to themselves from the unsuccessful party, and summoned him and his adversary to plead before them. The General Court perceived that they must now or never make a stand in defence of their authority ; and with a decision which showed the high value they entertained for their privi- leges, and the vigor with which they were prepared to guard them, they publicly proclaimed their disapprobation of this measure, and declared, that, in discharge of their duty to God and the king, and in faithfulness to the trust reposed in them by the king's good subjects in the colony, tliey must protest against the proceedings of the commissioners, and disclaim friendship with all who would countenance or abet them. They accompanied this vigorous demonstration with an offer to compromise the dispute by rejudging the cause themselves in presence of the commissioners ; but this proposition was scornfully rejected, and every effort to establish harmony between these conflicting authorities proved unavailing. Suspending for a time their operations at Boston, the commissioners re- paired to New Hampshire and Maine, and instantly pronouncing sentence in favor of the claims of Mason and Gorges against the jurisdiction of Massa- chusetts, they suppressed tlie existing audiorities, and erected a new system of government in each of those provinces. On their return to Boston, the General Court declared that these measures tended to the disturbance of the public peace, and demanded a conference with the commissioners, which was refused with an asperity of reproach that excluded all farther corre- spondence. Sir Robert Carr even went the length of assuring the General Court that the king's pardon for their manifold treasons during the civil war had been merely conditional and was now forfeited by their evil behivicv, and that the contrivers of their late measures would speedily endure the same punishment which their associates in rebellion had recently experienced in England. The king, having been apprized of these transactions, and assured by the commissioners that it was fruitless for them to prolong a discussion with per- sons who were determined to misconstrue all their words and actions, issued letters, recalling tliese functionaries to England [1666], expressing his satis- I .J n 296 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERIGA; [BOOK il, ■•m fiction with the conduct of all the colonies except Massachusetts, and com. niandine the General Court of this province to send deputies to answer in his presence the charges preferred against their countrymen. But the in, habitants of Massachusetts were aware that in such a controversy they had mi the remotest chance of success, and that it was not by reasonable pleas, or the coeency of argument, that they could hope to pacity the displeasure of their sovereign. Instead of complying with his injunction, the General Court addressed a letter to the secretary of state, in which they hinted real or pretended doubts of the authenticity of the royal mandate, and declared that their cause had already been so plainly and minutely^ unfolded, that the ablest among them would be utterly incapable of rendering it any clearer. At the same time they endeavcired to appease his Majesty by humble ad- dresses expressive of their loyali/ ; and in order to \emon8t ite the sense they attached to these professions, they purchased a ship-load oi masts which they presented to the king ; and learning that his fleet in the West Indies was distressed by want of provisions, they promoted a contribution among themselves, and victualled it at their own expense. Charlet, accepted their presents very graciously ; and a letter under the sign manual having been transmitted to the General Court, declaring that their zeal forjhe royal ser- vice was " taken well by his Majesty," the cloud that had gathered over the colony in this quarter seemed for the present to be dispersed.^ Nevertheless, the design that had been so far disclosed of remodelhng the institutions of New England was by no means abandoned. The report of the commis^ sioners furnished Charles with the very pretexts that were wanting to the accomplishment of his plans; and the measures which he embraced, at a later period, demonstrated that it was not the dutiful professions or liberah- ties of the colonists that would deter him from avaihng himselt ot the advan- tages which he had made such efforts to obtain. But the dreadful affliction of the p/o'TU*, — which broke out with such violence, as m one year to destroy ninety thousand of the inhabitants of London, and to Iransfer fo, a time the seat of government to Oxford, — the great fire of London,'' the wars and intrigues on the comment of Europe, and the rising discontents of the people of Britain, so forcibly engaged the attention of the king, as to suspend for a while the execution of his designs against the institutions of New England. . . . . „ After the departure of the royal commissioners, the provinces ot Wew England enjoyed for some years a quiet and prosperous condition. The onl? disturbance which their internal tranquillity sustained arose Irom the persecu tions, which, in all the States except Rhode Island, continued to be i ATiberareontriblTtion wa» made by tlio people of iyia8.acliui.ette, and transmitted toLon- don. fo relief of the .ufferers by tha fire. ilutohi..«..v Wo have B«eathe.r kindness hon- ondlv repaid [18361, by a Bubscription among the cit. /.«.». of London for rehef of the sul- ?nW by a vost^on Aration at New York. TTio people of New England have alwaj^s oe„ v.norablv di.tin)(.ii.sbod by their charitable particination of the miBfortune* of other romnnin.. Uo« In the ye« 1703, U.er contributed iii.OOt) L the relief of the ,nhab.tant« of N«v.san St ChrLtophen., which ha/ been ravaged by the French. Holmen. In the »ame year h had an onpWtun ity of showing that their hand, were aa ready to repel the danger a« to rnliov he c."«m&.fn.eir friend* The planters of Jnn.aira h,,vin|? boHought the a»«Ht«nre o NewKnKa.ul to repel an i..vtt«on 'that wn. apprehended froiu the French, two rrg.ment Je^. promptly enduldied and desi.nt.hed for .1,^ purpose ^"^T'^'ir'v^tVZZlt two veaw Oldmixon (»! edit.). Viililarv aid wi.h not the onlv benefit which the Went India • romniiKd Vent India two vearg. ».»iammon (wi eon.;. jTumniT <•■<■ "•■" •■"• •■•' .■ - ,. , , nl..„ten. denve.1 from New Kn.land, wl.ich appeHr.^fWquently to '•''V" jmpphed the,„,^., FntlanC iVL. fi.Mh "inHtroction and the defi.nre of the cl^loninta of Carolina, «,me not.re will be found in Book IV , Chup. II., and Book VIII., Chnp, 11., vutt. tHAP.IV.j GEnaSLOM OF ACADIA TO PRANCE. «a7 waged against the Anabaptists, as these sectaries, from time to time, ift- tracted notice by attempting to propagate their tenets. Letters were written ill their behalf to the provincial magistrates . by the most eminent dissenting iiiiiiisteis in England ; but though it was strongly urged by the writers of these letters,' that the severe persecntion which the Anabaptists were then enduring in the parent state should recommend Ihem to the sympathy of the , olonists, and that their conversion was more likely to be accomplished by exempiifj^ng to them the peaceable fruits of righteousness than by attacking their doctrines with, penal inflictions, which could have no other effect than to render them martyrs or hypocrites, the intercessicm, thou^ respectfully received, was completely unavailing. The provincial authorities persisted in believing that they were doing God service by employing the civil power ,vitb which they were invested to guard their territories from the intrusion of what they deemed heresy, and to maintain the purity of those religious principles for the cuhure and preservation of which their settlements were orieinally founded. A considerable nuipber of Anabaptists were fined, im- prisoned, and banished ; and persecution produced its usual effect of eon- firming tlie seitfiments and propagating the tenets which it sought to extirpate, by causing their professors to connect them in their own minds, and to ex- hibit them to others in connection, with suffering for conscience's sake. These proceedings, however, contributed more to stain the character of the colonists than to disturb their tranquillity. Much greater disquiet was created by the intelligence of the cession of Acadia, or, as it was now generally termed, J^ova Scotia, to the French by the treaty of Breda. [1667.] Nothing had contributed more to promote the commerce and security of iVew England than the conquest of that province by Cromwell ; and the in- habitants of Massachusetts, apprized of the extreme solicitude of the French to regain it, and justly regarding such an issue as pre^ant with mischief and danger to themselves, sent agents to England to remonstrate against it. But the influence of France prevailed with tlie British monarch over the in- terest of his people ; and the conduct of Charles on this occasion betrayed as much indifference for the external security of the colonies, as his pre- vious measures had disclosed for their domestic liberties. The French re- gained possession of their ancient settlement ; and both New England and the mother country had afterwards abundant cause to regret the admission of a resdess and ambitious neighbour, who for a long course of time ex- erted her peculiar arts of intrigue to interrupt tlie pursuits and disturb the repose of the British colonists.' The system of government tlwt prevailed in Massachusetts coincided with th sentiments of a great majority of the people ; and even those acts of municipal administration that imposed restraints on civil liberty were rever- enced on account of their manifest design and their supposed efficiency to promote an object which the people held dearer than civil liberty itself. A printing-press had been established at Cambridge for upwards of twenty yeais ; and the General Court had recently appointed two persons to be licensers of the press, and prohibited the publication of any book or other composition that was not sanctioned hy their censorial approbation. The licensers having authorized the publication of Thomas k Kempis's admirable treatise De Imitatione Christi, the Court interposed [1668], and, declaring that " the book was written by a popish minister, an d contained gome thbgs " " ~ ' Neai. ChaiiDMra. i: U 238 HISTORY OP NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK II less safe to be infused among the people," recommended a more diligent revisal to the licensers, and in the meantime suspended the publication. 1„ a constitution less popular, a. measure of this nature would have been re- carded as an outrage upon liberty. But the government of Massachuseits expressed and was supported by the feelings and opmions of the people; and so generally respected was its administration, that the inhabitants of New Hampshire and Maine, rejecting the form of municipal authority which they received from the royal commissioners, again solicited and were re- ceived into the rank of dependencies on its jurisdiction. All traces of the visitation of these commissioners being thus effaced, and the apprehensions excited by their measures forgotten, the affairs of the New England colo- nies continued for several years to gUde on in a course of silent but cheer- ful prosperity.! The Navigation Act, not being aided by the estabhshment of an efficient custom-house, and depending for its execution upon officers annually elected by their own fellow-citizens, was completely disregarded. [1668-1672.] The people enjoyed a commerce practically unrestricted ; a consequent increase of wealth was visible among the merchants and farmers; and habits of industry and economy continuing to prevail with unabated force, the plantations underwent a progressive improvement, and many new settlements arose. i • i /c a From a document preserved in the archives of the colonial olUce ol Lon- don, and published by Chalmers, it appears, that, in the year 1673, New England was estimated to contain one hundred and twenty thousand souls, of whom about sixteen thousand were able to bear arms ; and of the mer- chants and planters there were no fewer than five thousand persons, each of whom was worth £ 3,000.» Three fourths of the wealth and population of the country centred in the territory of Massachusetts and its dependen- cies. The town of Boston alone contained fifteen hundred families. Theft was rare, and beggary unknown in New England. Josselyn, who returned about two years before this period from his second visit to America, com. mends highly the beauty and agreeableness of the towns and villages of Massachusetts and Connecticut, and the substantial structure and interior comfort of all the private dwellings^Durin g this interval of tranquil pros- ""Tl^Tli^^^^iirieeinh^^^^^^ New HampBhire, preBented an address to the General Court of MaBsachuBetts, Bignifying, " that, a though they had articled w.th thm - " ■ ~ - -> had never articled with God and their own conscience! en years to an Quincy's Hi)- for exemption from taxes, yet they had neve. ^„ ...... --_ _ for exemption from gratit.ie," ani that they p- P|*d^;^--'-«,r^^^ lor exemption irom grttiiii.u<=, •»■>" "■"• j , \,'^ T° en .j r<^ll».» annual contribution of sixty pounds sterling to the funds of Harvard College ton, of UarrardJJnivtririly. _ ^ ^ ^^„ ^^ ___, .^ „„„.,^,,i„, „n,l promiiL _^ Prctaro, - " To our beloved brethren anil In tho year 1672, the laws of Connecticut (till then prcBervcd m manu»>:riDt, and pre rated by oral proclai^iation) were collected into a code, printed, and published 1 he Pr, written with ircat solemnity, commences in this manner : - " To our beloved brcthre, Sl'^ours, the inhabitants o'f Connecticut, the General Court of that colony wish grace and noace in our Lord Jcbus." It was ordered that every householder should have a copy of ilie roX and should read it weekly to his family. Trumbull. The legislators of Connecticut 8« to ha\e though .E tho d/ties of a citizen should form part of the earlie^i ''^"n''^'"nnoc*.c';l^by a law of 1G67, three years' voluntary separation of married persons. held t..S.Bsolve iheir matrimonial engagement. '» i^«'^»"8« »!'V "/"^ ^/^KUS from the injunctions of Scripture should have gained admission into the codes of t^colland an of New Fnilnnd,-- two countries long distinguislied above all others by the general and ea ous desire of their people to harmonize their municipal ordinances witii the canons of Scnp- ""S^John Dunton, who visited New England about twelve years after this period, mentions a merchant in Salem worth £30,000. Dunton's Ufe. and Errors. ^ i ,i,„ „„„ Ty!".".-'. o-.™j !/».-.„. Ev-.n At thi« Afirlv neriod. Josselyn has remarked thcprcvv lenco'of t^at inveterate fciit unexplained peculiarity, of tho premature decay of theteeUiol whitn perrons, and especially women, in North America. CHAP. IV.] INDIAN CONSPIRACY. 239 r this period, raenlioM neritv many of the more aged inhabitants of New England closed the career nf a long and eventful life ; and the original race of settlers was now almost entirely extinguished. The annals of this period are filled with accounts of their deaths, — of the virtues by which they contributed to the foundation of the new commonwealth, and of the fondness with which their closing eyes lingered upon its flourishing estate. To our retrospective view, enlarged by the knowledge which history supplies of the impending calamities from which these persons were thus seasonably removed, not the least enviable circurn- stance of their lot appears to have been, that they died in scenes so fraught with serene enjoyment and cheering promise, and bequeathed to their de- scendants at once the bright example of their virtue, and the substantial fruits of it, in a singularly happy and prosperous condition. Yet, so short- siirhted and fallacious are the prospective regards of men, — so strongly are they led by an instinctive and unquenchable propensity to figure and iesire something better than they behold, — and so apt to restrict to the uresent fleeting and disordered scene the suggestions of this secret longing after original and immortal perfection, -^ that many of the fathers of the colony, even coiui>y, — . when, full of days and honor, they beheld their Matter end crowned with peace, could not refrain from lamenting that they had been born too soon to see more than the first faint dawn of New England's glory. Others, with greater enlargement of wisdom and piety, remembered the Scriptural declaration, that the eye is not satisfied with «ectn^; acknowl- edeed that the conceptions of an immortal spirit are incapable of being ade- mmtely filled by any thing short of the vision of its Divme Author, for whose contemplation it was created ; and were contented to drop like leaves into the bosom of their adopted country, and resign to a succeeding race tlie enjoyment and promotion of her glory, in the confidence of their own renovated existence in scenes of more elevated and durable felicity. The state of prosperous repose which New England enjoyed for several years was interrupted by a general conspiracy of the Indian tribes [1674], that produced a war so bloody and formidable as to threaten for some time the utter destruction of all the settlements. This hostile combination was promoted by a young chief whose history reminds us of the exploits ot Opechancanough in Virginia. He was the second son of Massasoit, a pnnce who ruled a powerful tribe inhabiting territories adjacent to the set- tlement -^f Plymouth at the time when the English first gained a footing in the country. The father had entered into an alliance with the colomsts, and, after his death, his two sons expressed an earnest desire to retain and culti- vate their friendship. They even requested of the magisti-ates of Plymouth, as a mark of identification with their allies, that Enghsh names might be given them ; and, in compliance with their desire, the elder received the Same of Alexander, and the younger of Philip. But these expi^ssions of good-will were prompted entirely by the artifice that regulated their schemes of hostility ; and they were both shortly after detected and disappointed in a treacherous attempt to involve the Narragansets in hostilities with the colonists. The haughty spirit of the elder brother w^s overwhelmed by this disgrace. Unable to brook the detection and discomfiture of his pertidy, and perhaps additionally stung by the generous clemency of the colonists, which lent aggravation to his infamy, he abandoned himself to despair, and died of the corrosion of rage and mortification. Philip, after t he_death^t "" » Hutchinson. Chuhueni. Ntiai. U' 240 HISTORY OF NOttTH AMERICA. [BOOK II. his brother, reviewed the alliance between his tribe and the English ; but n^tS was father from his thoughts than the fulfilment of his engagements. Sub le, fierce, artful, and dissembling, yet stern in adventurous purpose and Slentless cruelty, he meditated a universal conspiracy of the Indians for [he extirpation of tlie colonists, and for several years pursued this des^n as secretly and successfully as the numerous difficulues that encompassed him would permit. Next to the growuig power of the European settlers, noihing more keenly provoked his indignation than the progress of their missionary labors ; and, in reality, it was to tliese labors, and some of the consequences they produced, that the colonists were indebted for their preservation from the ruin that would have attended the success of Phdip s machinations. Some of tlie tribes to whom he applied revealed his propositions to the mis- sionaries ; and several Indians w1k> had embraced his schemes were per- suaded by their conveitod brethren to renounce them. The magistrates of Plvmouth frequently remonstrated with him on the dishonor he incurred and Uie dancer he provoked by the perfidious machinations of which irom time to time they obtained informatien ; and by renewed and more solemn en- eaeements tlian before, he endeavoured to disarm their vigilance and allay fheir apprehension. For two or three years before the present period, he pursued his hosule orojects with such successful duplicity as tp elude dis- covery and even suspicion ; and had now succeeded in uniting some of the fiercest and most powerful of Uie Indian tribes m a confederacy to make war on the colonists to the point of extermination. A converted Indian, who was laboring as a missionary among the tribes of his countrymen, having discovered the plot, revealed it to the governor of Plvmouth, and was soon after found dead m a field, under circumstances that left no doubt of assassination. Some neighbouring Indians, suspected of being the perpetrators of this crime, were apprehended, and solemnly tried before a jury consisting half of English and half of Indians, who re- turned a verdict of guilty. At tlieir execution, one of the convicts con- fessed the murder, — declaring, witlial, that its commission had beeri planned and instigated by Philip ; and this crafty chief, alarmed at the perilous dis- closure, now tiirew off the mask, and summoned his confederates to his aid, The States of Massachusetts, Plymouth, and Connecticut took arms for their common defence, — having first employed every means to induce Fhilip to accommodate the quarrel by a friendly treaty. But a bloodless issue was not what Philip desired ; and perceiving that the season of secret conspira- cy was over, he rejected aU negotiation, and commenced a general war [16761 which was carried on with great vigor and various success. 1 hough Philip's own tribe supplied no more tlian five hundred warriors, he had so increased his force by alliances that he was able to bring three thousand men into the field. This formidable host, conducted by a chief who was per- suaded that the war must terminate in the total rum of one or other ot tlie conflictine parties, made exertions of which the Indian^ were hitherto sup- posed incapable. Several battles were fought, and all ♦ )o lury, hayoc, an cruelty which distin.^i sh Indian warfare were cxperu/iced in their fullest exteat by the EnglU^ Wherever the enemy n^^'lled, their route was marked with slaughter and desolation. Massach-.^o w and Plymouth wm tl»e States that suffered principally from the contfr- lu Ihere, especially, the IndMWswere so mingled with the European r.OiOTi ,,h, that there wa^ scarcely a part of the country which was not exposed lu « iUiger, or a luiniiy CHAP. IV.] PHILIP'S WAR. 241 which had not to bewail the loss of a relative or friend. In a woodland scene near the village of Deerfield, in Massachusetts, Captain Lothrop and a party of the provincial troops were suddenly attacked by an Indian force command- ed by Philip himself ; and, unaware that to encounter such an enemy with effect he ought to place his men in phalanx, Lothrop posted them separately behind trees, where he and every one of them, to the number of ninety-three, were presently shot down ; other provincial troops now pressing up with unavailing succour, defeated the Indians and put them to flight. But, more (iiated with their first success than daunted by their final check, these sav- iii'es speedily reappeared before the village and shook the scalps and bloody (rarments of the slaughtered captain and his troop before the eyes of the iiihabitants. Deerfield was shortly after deserted by its harassed settlers, and destroyed by the triumphant Indians. It is a truth not yet sufficiently illustrated, that, in all tlie Indian wars of this period, the savages, from the condition of the country, their own superior acquaintance with it, and their peculiar habits of life and qualities of body and mind, enjoyed advantages which well nigh counterbalanced the superiority of European science. They seemed to unite the instinct and ferocity of the brutal creation with the art and sagacity of rational beings, and were, in single combat and in the con- flict of very small numbers, as superior, as in more numerous encounter they were inferior, to civilized men. Changing their own encampments with facility, and advancing upon thos^ of the colonists with the wary, dexterous secrecy of beasts of prey, with them there was abnost always the spirit and audacity of attack, and with their adversaries the disadvantages of defenre and the consternation produced by surprise ; nor could the colonists obtr.in the means of attacking, in their turn, without following the savages into forests and swamps, where the benefit of their higher martial qualities was lost, and the system of European warfare rendered impracticable. Tlu» savages had long been acquainted with firearms, and were remarkably ex- pert in the use of them. For some time the incursions of the Indians could not be restrained ; and every enterprise or skirmish in which they reaped the slightest credit or advantage increased the number of their allies. But die savage artifice which Philip employed, on one occasion, for the purpose of recruiting his forces, recoiled with merited injury on himself. Repairing with a band of his ad- herents to the territory of a neutral tribe, he caused certain of the people who belonged to it to be surprised and assassinated ; and then, proceeding to the head-quarters of the tribe, he aiTumed that he had seen the murder committed by a party of the Plymouth soldiers. The tribe, in a flame of rage, declared war on the colonists ; but their vindictive sentiments soon took another direction ; for one of the wounded men, having rocovercd his senses, made a shift to crawl to the habitations of his countrymen, and, though mortally injured, was able, before he expired, to disclose the real author of the tragedy. Revoking their former purpose, the tribe thereupon declared war on Philip, and espoused the cause of his enemies. HostilitiPb were protracted till near the close of the following year, when the steady efforts and determined courage of the colonists prevailed ; and, after a series of defeats, and the loss of all his family and chief counsellors, Philip himself was killed by one of his own tribe whom he had offended. [Aug., 1676.] Deprived of its chief abettor, the war was soon terminated by the submis- sion of tbfi Indians, Yet to certain of the tribes the colonists sternlv denied VOL. I. 31 24^ HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK 11 all terms df capitulation, and warned them, before their surrender, that their treachery had been so gross and unprovoked, and the.r outrages so atrocious r„T mZrdonable, Uiat they must abide the issue of judicial arbitrameni. b cXniUytVth this declaration, some of the chiefs were tried and exe- Juted o mider ; and a number of their followers Were transported to the West IndSs, and sold as slaves. Never before had the people o New Eng and been engaged in hostilities so fierce, so bloody, or so desolatmg. Many houses and^ flourishing villages were reduced to ashes ; and in the rourse of the warfare six hundred persons of European birth or descent, ompo^ng t^e flo^ver and strength oi several of the districts erther fell in batTlerwere massacred in their dwellings, or expired beneatli the tortures mfl cted by the savages on their capUves. The military operations of the colonists in these campaigns were thought, and perhaps jusUy^o disclose L°s skill and conduct than had been displayed m the l>equod War. They were, indeed, no longer commanded by the experienced officers who ac- rompanied th^ir ancestors from Europe ; and they Were opposed to an ene- my much more formidable than the Penuods. But the firm, enduring va or Aev manifested was worthy of men whose characters were formed under Sution no less favorable to freedom than virtue, and who fought m de- frnrof all they held dear and valuable. Among otlier officer^ Captam Church of Massachusetts, and Captain Denison, of Connecticut, have been parUcularly celebrated by the provincial historians for their heroic ardor and fort tude. In the commencement of the war, the surprising treachery prac- tUed by the hostile Indians naturally excited apprehensions of the defectmn of the Indian congregations which the missionaries had collected and partly civilted But It one of these people proved unfaithful to the.r bene- '^m' Indian warfare by which New England was desolated during this period was not bounded' by the hostilities of PWip and his confederates. An attack was made at the same time on New Hampshire and Maine, by the tribes that were situated in the vicinity of these settlements. The n- dians complained that they had been defrauded and insulted by -^ome of the English traders in that quarter ',^ but strong suspicions were eniarta.ned that their hostilities were promoted by the French government, nmvreestablishe in Acadia. The invasion" of those territories was distinguished by the usual cuile, ferocity, and cruelty of the savages. Many of the inhabitants were massacred, and others carried into captivity. Promj^t assistance was ren- dered to her allies by Massachusetts ; and after a variety of sharp engage- ments, the Indians sustained a considerable defeat. They were, notw.ih- standing, still able and willing to comlnue the war ; and both their numbers and theiV animosity were increased by a measure which the provincial gov- emment adopted np''"^^ them. It was propo sed to the General Court of I M«tl.Br N ^ Hutchinson. See Note XH., nt the end of the volume. • One of thow compia nt- was occasioned by the brutal act of some English «a.lor» m over- Uno "' '^"I^^"* T"P ". ui<.u jhey observed an infant child, in order to ascertain the tru h ofTZv tl "vKeaTd lh"t^ v^^^^ wL a. natural loavoung Indian as.oa young d... & chfddLVn consequence of the inTmcrsion ; and itsfatJicr who was. highlv re'pectcd-s J5 Cimance; by the Indians, became the inveterate enemy of the En^Ush^ " ^lan! nriinn that excitcd still treater resentment was committed by Major Waldron, oi i^ow mnp Hhe during tlewa ^e had made a treaty of fri.^ndship with a band of [«."; h""dre "• dians' bto^n discov.ering that some of them had served in ^'hilip's army, he laid hold of the. bv r*;™ i^m rd «nt tlicm as prisoners to Boston. Their associates never forgave thi, bre«cl, bjr a stratagem ana seni in ^ j^^^ ^ ^^^^^ „f ih«m. havina surprised the major in his liouwi of cruelty. Ibid. CHAP IV 1 INVASION OF CONNECTICUT BY ANDR08. 24S Massachusetts to invite the Mohawk tribe, who, from time immemorial, had been the enemies of the Eastern Indians, to make a descent on their terri- tories at this juncture. The lawfulness of using such auxiliaries was ques- tioned by some ; but it was deemed a satisfactory answer to the objection, that Abraham confederated with the Amorites for the rescue of his kins- man, Lot, from the hands of 'a common enemy ; ^ and messengers were ac- cordingly despatched to solicit the cooperation of the Mohawks. Litde entreaty was necessary to induce them to comply with the invitation ; and a band of Mohawk warriors quickly marched apinst their hereditary foes. The expedition, however, so far from producmg the slightest benefit, was attended with serious disadvantage to the cause of the colonists. The In- dians who were their proper enemies suffered very little from the Mohawk invasion ; while some powerful tribes, who had been hitherto at peace with the colonists, exasperated by injuries or affronts which thejr received from those invaders, now declared war both against them and their English allies. At last, the intelligence of Philip's overthrow, and the probability of stronger forces being thus enabled to maich against them, inclined the Eastern In- dians to hearken to proposals of peace. The war in this quarter was ter- minated by a treaty favorable to the Indians, to whom the colonists engaged to pay a certain quantity of corn yearly as a quitrent for their lands.' Although the neighbouring province of New York was now a British set- tlement, no assistance was obtained from it by the New England States in iheir long and obstinate conflict with the Indians. On the contrary, a hostile demonstration from that quarter augmented the distress and inquietude of the Indian war. Andros, who was then governor of the newly acquired prov- ince, having claimed for the Duke of York a considerable tract of land which in reality formed part of the Connecticut territory, asserted the de- nied pretension of his master by advancing with an armament against the town and fort of Saybrook, which he summoned to surrender. The inhabit- ants, though at first alarmed to behold the English flag unfurled against them, speedily recovered from their surprise ; and hoisting the same flag on their walk, prepared to defend themselves against the assailants. Andros, who had not anticipated such resolute opposition, hesitated to fire upon the Eng- lish flag ; and learning that Captain Bull, an officer of distbguished bravery and determination, had marched with a party of the Connecticut militia for the defence of the place, judged it expedient to abandon his enterprise and return to New York.' , , * , The cessation of the Indian host;ilities was not attended with a restoration of the happiness and trannnillity which they interrupted. The king had n6w matured the scheme of arbitrary government which he steadily pursued dur- ing the remainder of his inglorious reign ; and the colonists, while yet afflicted with the smart of their recent calamities, were forced to resume their ancient controversies with the crown, which they had vainly hoped were forgotten or abandoned by the English government.* Instead of approbation for the bravery and the manly reliance on their own resources with which they had conducted their military operations, and repelled hostilities partly occasioned by the disregard of tlieir interests exemplified by the mother country m re- storing Acadi a to the French, — they found themsel\^es overwhelmed with ' Frannis the Second, of Franco, hnd th* proclamation by ^vhich he apologizes — » ' W(,»! Htitchinsrjn. Be'.knan. * TnimbuU. ireviously employed the same defensive argument in for Itis ailiance wi'Ji the Turks. "-"' Millot. * Soe Nqte XUl., at the end of tlie volume. 244 HISTORY or NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK n reproaches for a haughty, factious obstmacy in refusing to sohcit assistance 3tlie kinrand a sordid parsimony in the e.juiiHr.ent of their levies, which Z B 'tish^court declared) had caused the war to bo so greatly protracted, ind slio ed them utterly unfit to be longer intrusted with he governu.nt of a counuy in which thei. v. .u,. possessed so large a stake.* Ind.ca- Sons rS/ revival of rv.yal di.oK., and of the resumouon of the king's brmer designs, had occurred betore the conclusion of tlie war With Ph.hp. WWle hostditiis wer.- .dll raging in the province, the government o Massa- clu^etts found it necessary to direct a part of its attenUon to the claims of tason and Gorges with respect to New Hampshire and Maine. In the summer of 1676, Randolph, a messenger despatched by the king, announced oZ General Court Uial a judgment wo.lJ .. , . .ounced by h.s Majesiy n council against their pretensions, unless, within six monhs deput,. . were sent to plead in their behalf; and as letters were received at the sa ne i.me rom the friends of the colonists m England, giving assurance tliat the k.ng wardetermined to fulfil his threat, and that any apparent contumacy or pro- Trastination on the part of the nrovincial government would but accelerate the execution of more formidable designs on vvh.ch the Knghsh court was deliberating, the royal message received immediate attention and Stoughiou and BuLky weri despatched as deputies to represent and support the m- "^S^s^ve 'SrLd claims of the parUes having been submitted to the considLation of the two chief justices of England, the legal mer.ts of the que lion were speedily extricated by their practised mtelhgence from the confused mass of Inconsistent grants in which thej; had been en, sloped. n677.] It was adjudged that municipal jurisdiction in New Hampshire was incapable of being validly conveyed by the Council of Plymouth and there- fore^reverted to the croin in consequence of the dissolution of theCounc.l, with reservation, however, of Mason's claims on the property of the sod,- rreservation which for many years rendered all pronerty in New Hamp- shire insecure, and involved the inhabitants in continual mqu.e ude, d.spu e, and 1 Ugation. As Gorges, in addition to his origmal grant from the Ply- mouU?Corcil, had procured a roval patent for the province of Mame the em re property bothieigniorlal an(I territorial, of this province was adjudge to be Sd h hmi. In consequence of this decision, the jurisdiction of Mas achusetts over New Hampshire ceased ; but " was preserved .„ t e province of Maine by an aifangement with the successful claimant. 1 he kng had been for some time in treaty for .he purchase of Maine, which he deigned to unite with New Hampshire, and to bestow on h.s natural son, tlL 1 uke of Monmouth ; but, straitened ^or money, and expecting no com- eu tor in the purchase, he deferred the completion of the contract, f le Cmment of Massachusetts, aware of this, and urgently solicited by i« fnhabUants of Maine to prevent their territories from being severed from u ur^sd cUon! proposed toV,orges an immediate purchase of his rights, wh.ch he cadilv consented to sell for twelve hundred pounds. This transact)., Jav much offence to the king, who peremptorily insisted Uiat die author.fes of M^msetts should waive their title and relinquish the acquisition to ill but they firmly declined to gratify him b y such com phance^^ndmm. ing's ' "You tor to the doineilio protection." * Ilutchinion. arc poor and yet proud," .aid LordAngleBcy, one of the king', "lini^ '" • ' lel^lk auSuci^of M;wochu«,tU, " and you wi.h lobe independent of the k,n CHAP. IV.] ROYAL GOVERNOR OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 246 ince, and main- taini d that thoir conduct needed no other justification than its conformity to the wishes of the people of Maine. T' ' inhabitants of New Hampshire were no less reluctant to be separated from Massachusetts ; but they were compelled to submit, and to receive a royal governor.' [1677.] One of the first acts of their legislature was to vote a grateful address to Massachusetts, acknowledging the former kind- ness of this colony, and protesting that only the commands of the king now interrupted a connection which it had been their anxious desire to preserve. The government thus forced upon them proved incapable of preserving tranquillity or commanding respect. The attempts that were made to en- force Mason's title to the property of the soil, and to render the inhabitants tributary to him for tlie possessions which thev had purchased from others and improved by their own labor, excited violent ferments, and resulted in a train of vexatious, but indecisive, legal warfare." Cranfield, the governor, after involving himself in controversies and altercations with the planters and their legislative assembly, in which he was continually foiled, transmitted an assurance to the British governmem, " that, while the clergy were allowed to preach, no true allegiance could be found in those parts." He wreaked his vengeance upon some Non-conformist ministers, to whose eloquence he imputed the stiff, unbending spirit of the people, and whose ^oneral denun- ciations against vice he construed into personal reflections on himself and his favorites, by arbitrarily commanding them to administer the sacrament to him according to the liturgy of the church of England, and cornmitting them to prison on receiving the refusal which he expected. His misgovernment at length provoked a few rash individuals, hastily and without concert, to revolt against his authority. The insurrection was suppressed without the slightest difficulty ; and the insurgents, having beon arraigned of high treason, were convicted and condemned to die. But Cranfield, conscious of the unpopularity of his government, had exercised an unfair and illegal control in the selection of the jury, which excited universal indignation ; "and afraid to carry his sentence into effect within the colony, he adopted the strange and unwarrantable proceeding of sending the prisoners to be executed in England. The English government actually sanctioned this irregularity, and were preparing to obey the sentence of a provincial magistrate, and to ex- hibit to the people of England the tragical issue of a trial, with the merits of which they were totally unacquainted, when a pardon was obtained for the unfortijnate persons, by the solicitation of Cranfield himself, who, finding it impracticable to maintain ordei in the province, or to withstand the nu- merous complaints of his injustice and oppression, had solicited his own recall. Shortly after h departure, New Hampshire spontaneously reverted to the jurisdiction of INiassachusetts, and shared her fortunes till the period of the Britis h Revolution.^ ' III tho first comiuisHion that wns issued for the jjovernment of this province, the king en- gaged to continue to tho people their ancient nrivilcge of an assembly, " unless, by incon- vrnience arising therefrom, he or his heirs should see cause to alter the same. Belknap. « The people were sometimes provoked to oppose what they termed swamp law to parch- ment law. An irrpj?ular judgment having been pronounced in favor of Mason, agamst some persona who refused to submit to it, the governor sent a party of BheriflF's officrrs to serve a writ on them while they wore in church. The congregation wns incensed at this proceeding ; a voiing woman knocked down a sheriff's officer with her Bible ; and the conflict becom;ng general, the whole legal army was routed. It was found necessary to abandon the judgment. "s nX'hinson. Chalmers. Belknap. These events, and the particular history of New Hamu«liire at this neriod. are related in considerable detail, with every appearance ol accu U* .^WJ lUSTCJftV OF NORTH AMERICA- [BOOK II ill V .v,„ froi.l.les of ihc Popish Plot began now to engage and per- Although ^h° 7"''^«^'j„°^ 1678]V he was no longer to be diverted U ^'^^To7ul S " M^^^^^ with that celebrated imposture and U>c concern ot "«- ' "J^- . .. , profligate Shaftesbury and its oiher pro- "rrfri "^ght f^ king'^ regret for the privation oAhe "nlnace which hi ha§ meant to bestow on him, yet the presump nous inter- agamst tnc colony w 1 ^^^^^ ^^j service or to pay had incurred by the exaction ol those nnes, as wcu « «. -- ,-.. -,.. nhied them to contribute to the maintenance of the provmcial clergy w£he dangers of irindian war were at tlieir height, some of , he coo- 'racrenf TaV^ ^ rS ab^^^^^^^^^ worship ; and thouehU does not appear that this law was executed, its promulgation was tstlfrel^^^^^^^ pmecution, and alienated the regards of many persons dl oLd Wtherto been friends of the colony. The agents, deputed to de- fpnd he interests of Massachusetts in the controversies respecting New HamisLe and Maine; were detained to answer the complamts of die Q«a- tir-eraX preferred by these sectaries to a government which was .t- iTf 'admEe (ng with far greater rigor upon them the very oohcy wh.ch ,, now en'raged Aem to impute to one of its own provmciaf dependences n« thp most scandalous cruelty and injustice. , • ^ . j She" and more serious imputations contributed, to detam the agents an roS he noVreturned to Kngland and ^P^^^ .^/^"^J^^^^^^^^^^^^^ and vitu'peration. The most just and most ^^^'^^j^^L^^^tde^^^^ that die Navigation Act was entirely disregarded, and a Iree trade pursueo bv the colonUTs with all parts of the world. This was a charge which the Xvindal a^^^^^^^ could Ltlicr deny nor extenuate ; and they anx.usy iressed their constituents to put an end to the occasion of it. Anyjnea "" whfch the king might adopt, either for promoting the future efficacy o. the Wation Acts or for punishing the past neglect which they nad e.pe- r.^nrpd were the more likely to coincide witli the sentiments of the Engl s l. :" le,' ?rom theXest Jhich a. considerable portion o t^e mercant.e [\Jn of their countrymen enjoyed in the n^«»«P« ^^hich it was the ob c of those laws to secure. A petition was presented to the king ano privy oLtTby rnlber of English merchants and manufacturers, compiammg ;? the disregiJJd of the Navigation Acts inJ^wEngknd^^^ priate titli of a valuable work) u aot exprogaiy uioul.o»ea. [BOOK II I cJIAP IV] I'AWS or BNOLAJID DEEMED INOPERATIVE IN AMERICA. 247 jago and per- diverled from j»d tliough the sture, and the its other pro- rivalion of the mptuous inter- lispleasure and might not be I be collected alters, who re- rvico or to pay trsecution they the law which ivincial clergy. me of the colo- jn the land for rocured the re- worship ; and omulgation vvus f many persons deputed to de- •especling New ints of ilie Qua- it which was it- policy which it il dependencies 1 the agents and by a stanch and arbitrary power, ng up and down Med his instruc- abtain within the cordially recip- t of arraignment his charges was, ee trade pursued :harge which the 1 they anxiously t. Any measures e efficacy of tie they had expp- nts of the English )f the mercantile it was the ohject e king and privy irers, complaining and prayingthat It is to thi« BUthor'n >fty (the very inappro- .v,«v midU hereafter be vigorously executed, for the sake of promoting the Smerce of tho pareru Ite, as weU as of preserving her donun.on over " Tolonies. Tlmt a siro..ger impression might be made on the publ t ind the petitioners were sofemnly heard in presence of the pnvy council, 3 i^dufgerwiTti^e amplest lalifude of pleading in support of the.r com- ^-tS!^Ztlt^^:Z. LKVTOl, alarmed by the. meas^c. intimated, by letter t« their ageftts, that - Uiey apprehended th« Nav.g^^^^^^ fZ to be an invasion of the rights, liberties, and properties of the subjects ;f his Maiity in Uie colony ; - they not being represented tn parhamenl Id accoS to the usual^ayings of the learned in the law, the laws o Fndand being\ounded within the four seas, and not reach.ng to An.er.ca S addeTbowever, that, "as his Majesty had signified h.s pleasure that .hSacts shouhi be pbsorved in Massachusetts, they had made provision, tv a laTof the colony, that they should be strictly attended to from time to le aUhough it greaiy discouraged trade, and was a great damage to Im Ests Station.'' These expressions, and the recent provmcal law 'S tliev refer demonstrate the peculiar views which were entertained Tvt Pe5 of M^^^^^ of th'e connection that subsisted between Tot on posses^X^m tlte people of New England, and so obst.na ely StUirTnterests resist the exe'cution of the commercial regu^^^^^^^^^^^ pL the submissive province of Rhode Island, although, about this time, Llmiou o^Lssa?^^^ it took some steus towards a confor^^y^;^ ; Ise regulations, never expressly recognized tiiem till the ^^1^1 JOO'J^^/^ its legislature empomred the governor " to put the Acts of Navigation m "'TheTrovincial agents, aware of the strong interests that prompted tlieir .nnntrvmensti I to overstep the boundaries of th.ir regulated trade fur- Xyremwth correct ^information of the threatening aspect of their £^i Engknd, and assured them that only an ent re compliance w h the Naea^n Acts could shelter them from the impendmg «torm of royal ven- .^2Ttldmmm. These honest representations produced Uie too fre- uen effect of unwelcome truths ; the} diminished the popijar.ty of lie and infected with the subservience that prevaded at the royal couri , a m hey ngctd^ make due allowance for the different -P-^J J J^^ ^^^^^^^ pute wifh England presented to men who beheld face to face her vast estab duty, the deliberate sentiments of their countrymen were so htUe^ pervert^ " i Nettl. Hutchinson. Chalmers. ' I' 248 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK 11. that, when the klrig again intimated his desire of the reappointment of agents in England, the colonists twice again elected the same individuals to their former ofiice, — which, however, these persons could never again be per- suaded to undertake. They carried back with them to America a letter containing the requisitions of the king, of which the most material were, that tho foriniilu of the oath of allegiance should be rendered more explicit, and should be subscribed by every person holding an office of public trust in New England ; that all civil and military commissions should be issued in tlie king's name ; and all laws repugnant to the English commercial statutes abolished. The General Court, eagerly indulging the hope, that, by a com- pliance with these moderate demands, they could appease their sovereign and avert his displeasure, made haste to enact laws in conformity with his requisitions. They trusted that he had now abandoned the designs which they had been taught to apprehend ; and which, in reality, were merely suspended by the influence of the proceedings connected with the Popish Plot, and with the parliamentary bill that was in agitation for excluding the Duke of York from the throne. Although the requisitions which the king transmitted by the hands of Stoughton and Bulkeley were obeyed, he continued to intimate, from time to time, his desire tiiat new agents might be appointed to represent the colo- ny in London ; but partly from the apprehensive jealousy with wliich the colonists regarded such a measure, and partly from the reluctance that pre- vailed among their political leaders to undertake so arduous and delicate an (;m|)loyment, the king's desires on this point were not complied with. The short interval of independence which the colonists were yet permitted to en- joy was very remote from a state of tranquillity. Randolph, who had com- inended himself to the king and his ministers by the adroit and active prosecution of their views, was appointed collector of the customs at Bos- ton ; and a custom-house establishment, which some years before had been erected without opposition in Virginia and Maryland, was now extended to New England. I But it was in Massachusetts that this measure was intended to produce the effects which it was easily foreseen would result from its own nature, as well as from the temper and unpopularity of the person who was appointed to conduct it. The Navigation Acts were evaded in Rhode Island, and openly contemned and violated in Connecticut ; yet these States were permitted to practise such irregularities without reprehension. It was less the execution of the commercial statutes themselves that the king de- sired, than the advantage which would accrue from an attempt to enforce them aiter such long neglect in the obnoxious province of Massachusetts. To this province he confined his attention ; and justly considered that the issue of a contest with it would necessarily involve the fate of all the other settlements in New England. Randolph exercised his functipns with the most offensive rigor, and very soon complained that the stubbornness of the peo[)le defeated all his efforts, and presented insuperable obstacles to the execution of the laws. Almost every suit that he instituted for the recovery of penalties or forfeitures issued in a judicial sentence against himself. He repaired to England in order to lay his com plaints before his employers ' A« n ninnsuri", pnrllv v!><:tht;r hi^ ciutooi-houtK! officer' sr<9 rot^'^ivud ar Clmiiiiurii. aa in other coluniet. CHAP. IV.] PARTIES IN MASSACHUSETTS. — PORTENTS. 249 [1680], and returned invested with more extensive powers, — in the exer- cise of which he was not more successful. He reproached the provincial authorities with injustice and partiality ; while they denied the charge, and taxed him with superfluous, unnecessary, and vexatious litigation. The requisitions and remonstrances which the king continued to address to the General Court, from time to time, were answered by professions of loyalty, and by partial compliances ; but on one point the colonists were determined, either entirely or as long as possible, to evade the royal will ; and though repeatedly directed, they still delayed, to send deputies to Eng- land. The General Court was at this time divided between two parties, who cordially agreed in the esteem and attachment by which they were wedded to their chartered privileges, but differed in opinion as to the extent to which it was expedient to contend for them. Brad street, the governor, at the head of the moderate party, promoted every compliance with the will of the parent state short of a total surrender of the civil and ecclesiastical constitution of Massachusetts. Danforth, the deputy-governor, at the head of another party, obstructed the appointment of deputies, and opposed all submission to the acts of trade ; maintaining that the colonists should adhere to the strict construction of their charter, resist every abridgment of it as a dangerous precedent, no less than an injurious aggression, and, standing firm in defence of their utmost right, commit the event to Divine Providence. These parties conducted their debates with warmth, but without acrimony ; and as the sentiments of one or other alternately prevailed, a greater or lesser degree of compliance with the demands of the king was infused into the undecided policy of the General Court.* The scene of trouble snd misfortune in which the inhabitants of this quar- ter of America had for a series of years been involved could not fail to pro- duce a grave and earnest impression on the minds of men habituated to regard all the events of life in a religious aspect, and contributed to revive among the descendants of the original planters the piety for which New England was at first so highly distinguished. A short time before the com- mencement of their late distresses, a natural phenomenon *• that excited much awe and tribulation at the time, and was long pondered with earnest and solemn remembrance, was visible for several nights successively in the heavens. It was a bright meteor in the form of a spear, of which the point was directed towards the setting sun, — and which, with slow, majestic mo- tion, descended through the upper regions of the air, and gradually disap- peared beneath the horizon. This spjendid phenomenon produced a deep and general impression on the minds of the people ; and the magistrates, without expressly alluding to it, acknowledged and endeavoured to improve its influence by seizing the opportunity to promote a general reformation of manners. Circular letters were transmitted to all the clergy, urging them increased diligence in exemplifying and inculcating the precept.^ of re- to ligion, especially on the young, and instructing tlieir parishioners from house to house. The dupes of science, falsely so called, may deride these im- pressions, and ascribe to ignorant wonder the piety which they enkindled ; hut enlightened philosophy will confess the worth and dignity of that pri^- ' Hutchinwon. Chnlrnors. From a report presented thia year (1680) to the Lords of Triule, il appears that Connecticut tl)en contained twentv-one eliurches, each of which had its min- i^tir, n miiitiii of 2,r>i)0 men ; a very few indented servnnts, and ihirty slaves. Hohnes. * In the Jiiurntd of ,Tohn Evelyn there ore descriptions of tht occurrence of similar phe ■i'Mttrnit in England, in the y;;Uf3 1(MI> arid IGdO. VOL. I. 3:3 260 HWTQRY or NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK II. eiple which .cognto -.-ejy/ig^X "'.fi.Sgl./S^^I S elevates and refines numan la ,r I from connection with lie ?'f ",f ^rmor^allfa^d tSeSr ^^^^ The events of the Indian w„ interests ol raoraiiiy *"'""' „nr>ae„ neath the hand of that ^o/^'^f'S" %";, gguaUy productive of increased as well as.the elements of nature and^^^^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^^ dihgence in tha cultivation "^ P^ ^ J"^^^^^^^^ deficiencies whicli they fieeply lamenting the moral ^-^P^^^^^^^ them, many of experienced m themselves and ^^"^^^ jnJ^^^ of Massachusetts and thi^ ministers, magistrates, ^"'1,, PJ ^^ J^e^tTcon^ if the interrup- Connecti:;uturpnUy besoashttas^rcou^^^^^^^ will ; and by tion of divine favor did n^^/^;^^^" ^^^^^^^^^^^ "^11 habit or licentious prac- P"^r ."'tr"? w f ^d n nSux of co'mLrcial wealth were supposed tice that a state ot war ana an um strongly exhorted to carry a to have produced ^r promoted^ Men were str^^^^^^^^ continual respect to the di^»"« ^f , ^"^^ f f^^'^^ by doing it to the Lord. .ffplrs, and to ^f-^^^-^^^^^'J^''^^^^^ the epidemical vices of the The (;eaeral Court published ^ catalogue oj P j f ^^^^^ tim... in which we find en""^^^f^^' Pf ^\^J 11^^!.'^, excess of finery prid. displayed m the manner "^ ^"^ and cj^m^ ^^^ J^^ K;l:,:idf^t:S Muenung^j ta^rns^^^ ^1;^^^^^ " ''T iut" i'ther Z^^^^ o^Txtpleind remonstrance w. tent of prevalence as to J-^f ^ f ^j) "' ^^^^^ has reprobated instances, the scrupulous piety of 'f.; P\^;'"'^'7gJ^,^d, b language uhichis existing vices, and ^l>\«^^^"V"if t ntire ed in Conform.' with the apt to beget misapprehension if .t be '"^^''P^^^^" .^^^ „„ 'le.s acute general .ions and tone of the world , «" ^ ' f "^^^^^^^ ^ charge of ev Than Chahuers has fallen into the F«^^"^*f^^^^ ^assacStts from tlte very traordinary immorality ^S--\;^e m^^^^^^^^ ^^ ^,,,^ ^^^ t^'^^l^ltU^^ hJ' Xt'LpiraLns' . The stro, i- ir^r tr= ^^':^i1^ rt ^l.. of hypocnn. cant or fanati cal delu sion^^ . — Tjj-^^i7~H^ainton. Trumbull. „■„,•,„„ ^,>„, voustomod to address their l.earer^ « After thi. .Banner the New Lngland miniRterB w' V f ?" orieinnlly a pluntaiion n- » It inccrneth New England always ll^^^^^''\^^l^^^^^^^^^ Lt. .r r. liziouB, not a plantauon of trade Let ";™"^ ^f the people of 'i«w W»'"' nfmeinber thu.; that worldly gu... wu* not ''" ";J^,^"^,,fX.U -, «"<' '''« >- .Id a. thTU.., but relieion. And if any man ainong us l^""*'' '''''f'"'\ "f ' .. iiieainson's Aledim Semt'r. B r.h af on., hath not tlu, spirit of a true N^w-LngTandman. I gg^^^^^^ ^_^^, ^„„ ■.,,„. TeS, apud Belknap. Robert Keayne, a ro on t "J f J f/J'''' ^j^' ^^ „„„ c'-eaHioa Inn.. ti^in 'Massachusetts, and a l.hora( benefaelor Jlfj!';^,-^^"/.:,;;?;;, «„ ,,„,t traders, '.' w«. 1;' [BOOK II fl cjiAP. I v.] WRIT OF QUO WARRANTO THREATENED. mi nena of nature tor, and which ct tliat forcihly lection with the the Indian war, ■ mclemency of contentions with ! the people he- passions of men live of increased manners, icies which they , them, many of assachusetts and r if the interrup- ne will ; and hy r licentious prac- th were supposed lorted to carry a ificatipns of their ng it to the Lord. [lical vices of the ition of children, excess of finery, in due respect to ^h prices, profane ries were directed oflenders in these remonstrance was r attained such ex- srities.i In many tes has reprohated I language wldchis onformiiy with the riter no less acme ng a charge of ex- isetts from llie very lurity of their mora! Lions. The stron? ropensities nihereiit liments of truly re- logs of hypocritical to addrouR thoir licarcrs riginnlly a plantntinn re incroasing ffiit. m ['"'■ people of '.owMg'*' nd iliB V.' --Id a» »'»*'"' jinson'H /:Mixm Smm. rtv, lalt^nt, Biid cowulen- on one occ.wion U'^ow „ .,ost traders, ''wn?,!;' iiierui Court, pabni: i '•' The king had newer lost sight of his purpose of r^-modcUing the constitu- lion of Massachusetts ; although some appearance of moderation had been latterly enforced upon him by the more personal and pressing concern of resisting the attempts of Shaftesbury to reexemplify the deep and darmg nolicv of the Duke of Guise, and control his sovereign by the formation and supremacy of a Protestant league in England. While Shaftesbury and his Jty were able to retain their influence on the public mind by the artifice of the Popish Plot, and to attack the monarchy by the device of the exclu- sion bill, it was probably deemed unsafe to signalize the royal administration bv any public act of extraordinary tyranny in a province so distinguished for zeal in the Protestant cause as Massachusetts. But Charles had now obtained a complete victory over his domestic adversaries [1681] ; and, araons; other excesses of retaliatory violence and arbitrary power by which be hastened to improve his success, he instituted writs of quo warranto aeainst the principal corporations in England, and easily obtained judgments from the courts of law that declared all their liberties and franchises forfeited to the crown. About two years before this period, he deliberated on the possibility of superseding entirely the constitution of Massachusetts without the intermediate recourse of any legal solemnity ; but, on consulting Jones and Winnington, the attorney and solicitor general, he learned that his object could not be securely or effectually attained except by the instrumentality ol a writ of quo warranto, which at that time it was not deemed expedient to employ But now every impediment to the gratification of his wishes was renioved ; and the colonists received such intelligence from their friends m Eneland as pennitted them no longer to doubt that the abrogation ol their charter was finally resolved on and was to be instantly attempted. Randolph, who made numerous vovages between England and America, and had lately affixed a protest on the exchange of Boston against the legitnnacy ol the urovincial government and its official acts, now brought from London a let- ter from the king, dated the 26th of October, 1681, recapitulating all the complaints against the colony, and commanding that deputies should mstanUy be sent to him, not only to answer these complaints, but » with powers to submit to such regulations of government as his Majesty should think tit ; which if the colonists failed to do, it was intimated that a writ of quo war- ranto would be directed against their charter. A new criminatory charge, suggested by the inquisitive hostility ol Ran- dolph, was at the same time preferred against them,— that they coined money within the province, in contempt of the king's prerogative. 1 he General Court, in answer to this sudden arraignment of a practice which bad been permitted so long to prevail without objection, explained in what manner and at what time it originated, and appealed to these circumstances as decisively proving that no contempt of royal authority had been designed ; but withal declared, that, if it were regarded as a trespass on his Majesty s preroeative, they humbly entreated pardon for the offence, and indulgence for the ignorance under which it was committed. Among the other com- plaints that were urged by the king, were the presumptuous purchase ol the province of Maine, which the colonists were again commanded to surren- der, and the disallowance of religious worship except on the model ol the Coneregational churches within the colony. To the first of these they answered by repeating their former apology, and still declmmg what was re - ; — — — n — r, i ; ■ ■-.r lu- -arim-! "»'omm'>n'''a»>nn " duincv's History of Uar- nerd Univer/Uy. rl 262 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK 11 nuired of them ; and to the second, that liberty of worship was now granted ?o an denominations of Christians in Massachusetts. The royal letter con- tained many other charges ; but they were all answered by solemn proteste- ions tSt iither the commands they imported were already fulfilled, or the iTsobedience they imputed had not been committed. An assembly of the General Court having been held for the purpose of electing deputies to represent the province in England, and Stoughton. again declinmg to accept [his office, it was conferred on Dudley and Richards, two of the wealthiest nd most respectable citizens of Massachusetts. But as the plenary powers which the royal letter required that they should be invested with of acced- ing to whotever regulations of government the king might th.nk fit to propose, were nothing else than powers to surrender all the rights of their countrj- nien the Court was careful to grant no such authority, and, on the contrary, plainly expressed in their instructions that the deputies were not to do or consent to any thing that should infringe the liberties bestowed by the char- ter. fast was appointed to be observed throughout the province ; and prayers were addressed to Heaven for the preservation of the charter and the sue- Tess of the deputation. Means less pure, though certainly not unjustifiable were adopted or at least sanctioned, by the provmcial council or board o ass stants, for promoting at the English court the wishes and interests of their runtrymen. Cranfield, the late royal governor of New Hanipshire, pnening to visit Boston at this juncture, suggested to those authont.es rthe provincial deputies should be directed to wait on Lord Hyde and tender tl e sum of two thousand guineas for the private service of he kmg, which he assured them, from the notorious poverty and venality of the court, wo ,ld infallibly procure a suspension of all hostile proceedings Novices .n craf they fell headlong into the snare, and addressed letters to this effect to the deputies, while Cranfield despatched letters at the same time to the kin- whiJh he represented to them as containing the strongest ^ecommen- datfons of their cause to royal favor. But though these men were w.lhng, n a cause where no interests except their own were involved, to sacrifice their monov for their liberty, and to buy their country out of the hands of a ordid and dissolute tyrant, - it was not the will o Providence that the rberties of Massachusetts should be bartered for gold, or that devot.onal r^ynrs associated with such unholy exertions should prevad. fetters soon a r?ved from the deputies, informing their constituents that Cranfield 1^ written a ludicrous account of the aflair to the king and vaunted h.s dev erity in outwitting the people of Boston, whom he described as a crew seditious miscreants and rebels ; and that the publication of the story had rxposed them to the derision of the royal court. ' The American deputies found their sovereign intoxu^ated with the tr umph of his victorious prerogative, impatiem of^alljartherj^ac^^^ . T.. „u.h a dnnrc^^ Randolph oxcitedtlu,Hnu«y and "^'^orren.., of U..MM,lon.t,, I ai (iitioii. Holni«». » IJatchinion. Cimimprt, ras now granted oyal letter con- iOlemn protesta- fulfilled, or the assembly of the ing deputies to ilining to accept jf the wealthiest plenary powers with, of acced- ik fit to propose, )f their country- on the contrary, ere not to do or ped by the char- ;overnment. con followed by tions.' A public 36 ; and prayers rter and the sue- not unjustifiable, mcil or board of and interests of New Hampshire, those authorities Lord Hyde, and •vice of the king, ality of the court, lings. Novices in lers to this effect same time to the ngest recommen- men were willing, olved, to sacrifice of the hands of a evidence that tlie ar that devotional ail. Letters soon hat Cranfield had I vaunted his dex- ibed as a crew of n of the story had :?atcd with the tri- er vacation of his (tiTof th(! colonists, thai r hisnrrival in tliociiy, r it firiitctiins „«_...j...-j 4L. .....A ./• :__:_! C-ionftl" or n.liroi-cn tn nrhilrArv nower at nOIDS. ■•••• — !ri.-.i tts tiic tvat VI t?rtTivii?:T:r i»i.'**'**j •-*. »..-»-."- — j . ' Hutchinson. Chalmers. I 256 HISTORY or NOllTH AMERICA. [BOOK II. These presages were verified by the conduct of tbe new sovereign. Soon after hTs accession to the throne, he appointed, by special commission a pro- v^onu governrnem Massachusetts, New Hampshire Maine, and New P Zouth, to be administered by a president and council selected from the ^haEnt of Massachusetts, whose functions were merely executive, and were to endure till the establishment of a fixed and pernjanent system. The functionaries thus appointed were directed to concede hbery of con- science to all persons, but to bestow pecu ar encouragement on the votar.es of tL church of Engknd ; to determine all smts ongmatmg withm he cole V but to admit appeals from their sentences to the kmg ; and to dofraj he expenses of tlJir government by levying the taxes previously imposed, This commission was appointed to be produced before the Genera Court •i Bosrn?not as still c^onsidered a body administeru.g legal authority, bm t a convocation of individuals of the greatest influence and consideration ,n the province. In answer to the communication of its contents, the Court votedTMay, 1686] a unanimous resolution, in which they protested that t . [nl ab.tants^of Massachusetts were deprived of the rights of ffeem^n by t , V !em of government which had been announced to them, and tha it dee, y «ned\oth those who imroduced and those who were subjected to iho operaUon of this system to reflect how far it was safe to pursue it U Esres, they declared, that, if the nevly appointed olBcers sj^oud think oper to exercise their functions, though they could never regard them as vested N.Si constitutional power, they would denriean themselves notw.th- sundlng, as loyal subjects, and humbly make their addresses to God, and ill due time to their. prince, for relief. ^^ „ t u j • i The president nanied in the commission was Dudley, who had previously been onTof the deputies of the province to 1 nghmd, and whose condu.t iustified in some degree, the jealousy with which the colonists ever regarded 1 per ^ns to whom^ they were constrained to intrust that important office 'rhe^patriotic virtue of this man, without being utterly dissolved, vas relaxed bv the bTams of regal splendor ; and he had not been able to look on the poiai and show of arislocratical institutions with philosophic composure or unSi ing eyes. Despairing of his ability at once to serve and grat. y h. ' CO mt y, he applied hiinself with more success to cultivate Ins own interest a^he English court ; and in pursuing this crooked policy he seems to ha^ flittered himself with the hope that the Interest of his fellow-cit.zens m,gh. e more efi-ectually promoted by his own advancement to ofiicial premi- ence among them, than by the exclusion which he would mcur, in commo,, with themselves, b; a stricter adherence to the lino of integrity. Though he accepted tl^ commission, and persuaded the other persons who were asso- caTed wih him to imitate his example, he continued to demonslra^e ;. fiendlv regard to the rights of the people, and to the mumcipal institutions Xh tiLy so highly valued. Not' only was immediate change in the pro- ' rial magistracy avoided, but the commissioners, ,n deference to he pubh. feeling T^smitted a memorial to the English court aflirming that a .el^ ^;d "sembl/of the representatives of the P-pl^-- -?- ^ "-^ sarv and ought in their opinion to be estaph.shed without dolay. Ihi.^ Serate co'nduct, howevJr, ga^. little satisfaction to -y of [ yar ; whom they desired to please. The people were mdignant o behold a Tern which\vas erectei onthe niins of, their liberty admmistered^ by a.^^ own fellow-<;rti2iens, and atmve aii by me man wuom u.c> .= •• ; - CHAP, v.] ANDR03, CAPTAIN-GENEKAL. 267 pointed to resist its introduction among them ; and nothing but the appre- hension of seeing him replaced by Kirke, whose massacres in England seemed gloomily to foretell the treatment of America, prevented an open expression of their displeasure. The conduct of the commissioners was no less unsatisfactory both to the abettors of arbitrary government in England, ,nd to the creatures and associates of Randolph within the province, who were eager to pay court to the king by prostrating beneath his power every obstacle to the execution of his will. Complaints were soon transmitted by ihese persons to the English ministers, charging the commissioners with conniving at wonted practices by which the trade laws were evaded, coun- tenancing ancient prmciples of civil and ecclesiastical policy, and evincing, in general, but a lukewarm affection to the king's service.' In addition to these causes of dissatisfaction with the commissioners, the king was incited to proceed to the completion of his plans by the imper- lection of the temporary arrangement to which he had resorted. It was found that the provincial acts of taxation were ready to expire ; and the commissioners, being devoid of legislative authority, had no power to renew mem. They employed this consideration to support their suggestion of a representative assembly ; but it determined the king to enlarge the arbitrary authority of his provincial officers, and at the same time to establish a per- inanenl administration for New England. He consulted the crown lawyers, and in particular Sir William Jones, the attorney-general, respecting the extent of his powers ; and they pronounced, as their official opinion, "that, notwithstanding the forfeiture of the charter of Massachusetts, its inhabitants continued English subjects, invested with English liberties, and consequently that the king could no more grant a commission to levy money on them, without their consent in an assembly, than they could discharge themselves from their allegiance " ; a truth, of which the discovery implies no extraor- dinary legal knowledge or acuteness, but of which this open declaration bespeaks more honesty than we might have expected from persons selected by the monarch from a society of lawyers, which, in that age, could supply such instruments as Jeffries and Scroggs. We must recollect, however, that lawyers, though professionally partial to the authority which nominally and theoretically constitutes the source and mainspring of the system which they administer, cherish also, in their strong predilection for those forms and precedents that practically constitute the>x own influence and the peculiar mystery of their science, a principle that frequently protects liberty and be- friends substantial justice. But James was too much enamoured of arbitrary power to be deterred from the indulgence of it by any obstacle inferior to invincible necessity ; and accordingly, without paying the slightest regard to an opinion supported only by the ptns of lawyers, he determined to establish a complete tyranny in New England, by combining \Jie whole legislative and executive authority in the persons of a governor and council to be named by himself. Kirko had been found too useful, as an instrument of terror in England, to be spared to America. Rut Sir Edi.iund Andros, who had signalized his devotion to arbitrary power in the government of New York, was now appointed caplam- ceneral and vice-admiral of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, New riymouth, and certain dependent territories, during the pleasure of the kiiig. . He was empowered, with consent of a board of counsello r s, to make ordi- :l II ■ Neul. Hutchinson. Chalmera. VOL I. %*o 258 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [ROOK II nances for the colonies, not inconsistent with the laws of England, and which were to be submitted to the king for his approbation or dissent, and to im- pose taxes for the support of government. He was directed to govern the neonle in conformity with the tenor of his commission, of a separate letter of instructions with which he was at the same time furnished, and of the laws which were then in force or might be afterwards enacted. Ihe gov ernor and council were also constituted a court of record ; and Irom their decisions an appeal was competent to the king. Ihe greater part of the instructions that were communicated to Andros are of a nature that would do honor to the patriotism of the king, if the praise of this virtue were due to a barren desire to promote the welfare of his people, accompanied will, the most effectual exertions to strip them of every security by which their welfare might be guarded. r . ♦ v . , Andros was directed to promote no persons to offices of trust, but colo- nists of fair character and competent estate, and to displace none without sufficient cause ; to respect and administer the existing laws ol the country, in so far as they were not inconsistent with his commission or instructions ; to dispose of the crown lands at moderate quitrents ; " to take away or to harm no man's life, member, freehold, or goods, but by established laws ot the country, not repugnant to those of the realm " ; to d.sciphne and am, the inhabitants for the defence of the country, but not to obstruc t their at- tention to their own private business and necessary affairs ; to encourage freedom of commerce by restraining engrossers ; to check the excessive severity of masters to their servants, and to punish with death tho slayers of Indians or negroes ; to allow no printing-press to exist ; and to grant uni- versal toleration in religion, but special encouragement to the church ol Eneland. Except the restraint of printing (which, though enjoined, appears not to have been carried into effect), there is not one of these instructions that expresses a spirit of despotism ; and yet the whole system was silent y pervaded by that spirit ; for as there were no securities provided for t e accomphshmentof the king's benevolent directions, so there were no checks established to restrain the abuse of the powers with which the governor was intrusted. The king was willing that his subjects should be happy, but not that they should be free, or entitled to pursue a scheme of happiness inde- pendent of his instruction and control ; and this conjunction of a desire to promote human welfare, with an aversion to the means most likely o secnre t, suggests the explanation, perhaps the apology, of an error to which des- ^tidovereigns are inveterately liable. Trained in habits of indulgence of their own vvill, and in sentiments of respect for its force and efficacy, they learn to consider it as what not only ought to be, but must bo, irresistible ; and feel no less secure of ability to make men happy without their own co- operation, than of the right to balk the natural desire of mankind to be the providers and guardians of their proper welfare. The possession of abs ■ fute power renders self-denial the highest effort of virtue ; and the absolute monarch, who should demonstrate a just regard to the rights of his fello.- creatures, would deserve to be honored as one of the most magnanimous f human beings. Furnished with the instructions which we have seen tor thj . mitigation of his arbitrary power, and attended by a few cornpames of • diers for its support, Andros arrived m Boston [December, 168G1 , and pre .«n.in^ bimonlf as the substitutc for the dreaded and detested Kirke, M commencing his administration with many gracious expressions ol guod-vM.i, CHAP, v.] SURRENDER OF RHODE ISLAND CHARTER. 269 he was received more favorably than might have been expected. But his popularity was shortlived. Instead of conforming to his instructions, he copied and even exceeded the arbitrary behaviour of his master in England, and committed the most tyrannical violeiire and oppressive exactions. » Dudley, the late president, and several of his colleagues, were associated as counsellors of the new administration, — which was thus loaded, in the beginning of its career, with the weight of their unpopularity, and in the end involved them in deeper odium and disgrace. It was the purpose of James to consolidate the force of all the British colonics in one general government ; and Rhode Island and Connecticut were now to experience that their destiny was involved in that of Massa- chiisetis. The inhabitants of Rhode Island, on learning the accession of ilie kiiie, instantly transmitted an address congratulating him on his eleva- tion, acknowledging themselves his loyal subiects, and begging his protec- , of their chartered rights. Yet the humility of their supplications could tion not protect them from the consequences of the plans he had embraced for the general government of New England. Articles of high misdemeanour were exhibited against them before the Lords of the Committee of Colonies, charging them with breaches of their charter, aiM with opposition to the Acts of Navigation ; and before the close of the year 1685, they received notice of the institution of a process of nt in England. Hutobinson s Massaehusttis Papm. ' Uutcliiiisuu. Ciiainierii. CH.'VP. v.] WAR WITH FRANCE. — CONQUEST OF ACADIA. 267 IS in progress in might be restored, it could not be resumed. Intelligence having arrived of the settlement of England, and of the investiture of William and Mary with tlie crown, these sovereigns were proclaimed in the colony with sincere ffratulation and extraordinary solemnity. [May 29, 1689.] A letter was soon after addressed by the king and queen to the Colony of JUassachusetts, expressing the royal sanction and ratification of the late transactions of the people, and authorizing the present magistrates to retain provisionally the administration of the provincial government, till their Majesties, with the assistance of the privy council, should establish it on a basis more perma- nent and satisfactory. An order was communicated, at the same time, to send Andros and the other prisoners to England, that they might answer the charges preferred against them. Additional agents were deputed by the colony to join Mather, who still continued in England, and, in concurrence with him, to prosecute the charges against Andros, and, above all, to solicit the restoration of the charter.* But before the colonists were able to ascertain if their favorite desire was to be promoted by the English Revolution, they felt the evil effects of this great event, in the consequences of the war that ensued between Eng- land and France. The rupture between the two parent states quickly ex- tended itself to their possessions in America ; and the colonies of New England and New York were now involved in bloody and desolating warfare with the forces of the French in Canada and their Indian auxiliaries and aUies. The hostilities that were directed against New York belong to an- other branch of this history. In concert with them, various attacks were made by numerous bands of the Indians, in the conclusion of the present year, on the settlements and forts in New Hampshire and Maine ; and prov- ing successful in some instances, they were productive of the most horrid extremities of savage cruelty. Aware that these depredations originated in Canada and Acadia, the General Court of Massachusetts prepared, during the winter, an expedition against both Port Royal and Quebec. The con- duct of it was intrusted to Sir William Phips, who, on the dissolution of the late arbitrary government, returned to New England, in the hope of being able to render some service to his countrymen. Eight small vessels, with seven or eight hundred men, sailed under his command, in the following spring [April, 1690], and, with little opposition, took possession of Port Royal and of the whole province of Acadia ; and, within a month after its departure, the fleet returned loaded with plunder enough to defray the whole expense of the expedition. But Count Frontignac, the governor of Canada, retorted by sharp and harassing attacks on the remote settlements of New England ; and, stimulating the activity of liis Indian allies, kept the frontiers in a state of incessant alarm by their predatory incursions. In letters to King William the General Court of Massachusetts had for- cibly represented the importance of the conquest of Canada, and urgently solicited his aid in an expedition for that purpose ; but he was too much occupied in Europe to extend his exertions to America ; and the provincial government determined to prosecute the enterprise without his assistance. New York and Connecticut engaged to furnish a body of men who were to march overland to attack Montreal, while the troops of Massachusetts should repair by sea to Quebec. The fleet destined for this expedition consisted of nearly forty vessels, the largest of which carried forty-fo ur guns ; and the ' Neal. Hutchinson. i m 268 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK II. if number of troops on board amounted to two thousand. [Aug. 9, 1690.] The command of this armament was intrusted to Sir William Phips, who, in the conduct of the enterprise, demonstrated his usual courage, and every other military qualification except that which experience alone can confer, and without which, in warfare with a civilized enemy, all the rest commonly prove unavailing. The troops of Connecticut and New York, retarded by defective arrangements, and disappointed of the assistance of the friendly Indians who had engaged to furnish them with canoes for crossing the rivers they had to pass, were compelled to retire without attacking Montreal ; and, in consequence, the whole force of Canada was concentrated to resist the attack of Phips. His armament arrived before Quebec so late in the season [October], that only an immediate assault could have enabled him to carry the place ; but by unskilful delay the opportunity of making such an attempt with advantage was irretrievably lost. The English v/ere worsted in various sharp encoi nters, and finally compelled to make a precipitate retreat ; and the fleet, alter sustaining great flamage in its homeward voyage, returned to Boston. [November 13.] Such was the unfortunate issue of an enterprise which involved Massachusetts in an enormous expense, and cost the lives of at least a thousand of her people. The French had so strongly foreboded its success, that they ascribed its discomfiture to the immediate interposition of Heaven, in confounding the devices of the enemy, and depriving them of common sense ; and under this impression, the citizens of Quebec established an annual procession in commemoration of their deliverance. That the con- duct of Phips, however, was no way obnoxious to censure may be safely inferred from the fact that a result so disastrous brought no reproach upon him, and deprived him in no degree of the favor of his courjtrymen. And yet the disappointment, in addition to the mortification which it inflicted, was attended with very injurious consequences. The General Court of Massachusetts had not even anticipated the possi- bility of miscarriage, and confidently expected to derive, from the success of tl ". expedition, the same reimbursement of expenses which their former enterprise had afforded. " During the absence of the forces," says Cotton Mather, with an expression too whimsical for a matter of so much solemnity, " the wheel of prayer for thein in New England had been kept continually going round" ; and this attempt to reinforce the expedition by spiritual co- operation was pursued in conjunction with an entire neglect of provisions applicable to an unsuccessful result. The»returning army, finding the gov- ernment unprepared to satisfy their claims, were on the point of mutinying for their pay ; and it was found necessary to issue bills of credit, which the troops consented to accept in place of money. The colony was now in a very depressed and sufFermg state. Hoping to improve (as they expressed themselves) the calamities which they were unable to evade, the provincial magistrates endeavoured to promote the increase of piety and the reformation of manners ; and pressed upon the ministers and the people the duty of strongly resisting that worldliness of mind which the necessity of contending violently for temporal interests is apt to engender. The attacks of the In- dians on the eastern frontiers were attended with a degree of success and barbarity that diffused general terror ; and the colonists in this quarter vvere yielding to anticipations of a speedy expulsion from their setdements, when, all at once, the savages, of their own accord, proposed a peace of six months, which was accepted by the provincial govenument with great willingness ■,1 ciivp. v.] cHiCAMiin i;i tjie court in the case of andros. 269 and devout graiitude. As it was clearly ascertained that the hostilities of ihe Indians were continually fostered 1 y the intrigues, and rendered the more formidable by the counsel and assistance, of the French authorities in Cana- aa the people of New England began to regard tlie conauest of that jprov- itic'e as indispensable to their safety and tranquillity. With the hope of pre- vailing on the king to sanction and embrace this enterprise, as well as for the purpose of aiding the other deputies in the no less interesting application for the restoration of tlie provincial charter, Sir William Phips, soon after his return from Quebec, by desire of his countrymen, repaired to England.* In the discharge ol the duties of their mission [1691], the deputies em- ployed every effort that patriotic zeal could prompt, and honorable policy admit, to obtain satisfaction to their constituents, by the punishment of their oppressors, and the restitution of their charter. But in both these objects llieir endeavours were unsuccessful ; and the failure was generally (whether justly or not) ascribed to the unbending integrity with which Mather and Phips rejected every art and intrigue that seemed inconsistent with the honor of their country. It was soon discovered that the king and his ministers were averse to an inquiry into the conduct of Andros and Randolph, and not less so to the restoration of the ancient charter of the colony. The conduct of the British court on this occasion presents a confused and disgustmg picture of intrigue and duplicity. The deputies were beset by a multitude of im- portmiate counsellors, and real or pretended partisans ;— some doubtless indiscreet, and some perhaps insincere. They were persuaded by certain of their advisers to present to the privy council the charges against Andros unsiVncd, and assured by others that in so doing they had cut the throat of their country. When they attended to present their charges, they were an- ticipated by Andros and Randolph, who came prepared with a charge against the colonists of resistance to the authority of the parent state, and rebellious deposition of their legitimate governor. Sir John Somers, the lawyer em- ployed by the deputies, consented that they should abandon the situation of accusers and stand on the defensive ; and he tendered the unsigned charges as an answer to the accusations of Andros and Randolph. The counci hesitated to receive a plea presented in the name of a whole people, and required that some individuals should appear and personally avouch it. " Who was it," said the Lord President, " that imprisoned Sir Edmund and the rest .? You say it was the country, and that they rose as one man. Bui that is nobody. Let us see the persons who will make it their own The deputies thereupon offered to sign the charges, and to under case take the amplest personal responsibility for the acts of their countrymen. But they were deterred from this proceeding by the remonstrances of Sir John Somers, who insisted (for reasons that have never been satisfactorily explained) on persisting in the course in which they had begun. Some oi the counsellors protested against the injustice and chicanery of encountering the complaint of a whole nation with objections so narrow and technical. " Is not it plain," they urged, " that the revolution in Massachusetts was carried on exactly in the same manner as the revolution in England .? Who seized and imprisoned Chancellor Jeffries .? Who secured the garrison ot^ Hull ? These were the acts of tlie people, and not of private individuals. This difference of opinion on a point of form seems to have been the object which the ministry studied to pro mote. Without determmmg the point, the • Naal. Hutchinson. Gulden's History of the Five Indian Jfaiions qf Canada. ; 570 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK n. I ■ 1. ' council interrupted the discussion by a resolution that the whole matter should be referred to the king ; and his Majesty soon after signified his pleasure that the complaints of both parties snould be dismissed.' [1691.1 Thus terminated the impeachment of Andros, in a manner very ill calculated to impress the people of Massachusetts with respect for the justice of the British government. They soon after had the mortification of seeing him add reward to impunity, and honored with the appointment of governor of Virginia and Maryland. They had previously seen Dudley, whom they arrested and sent to England with Andros, appointed chief justice of New York, where ho condemned to death the unfortunate Leisler, who excited the first revolutionary movement in that colony in favor of King WilliarD." The deputies, finding that the House of Commons, though at first dis- posed to annul the judicial decree against the charter of Massachusetts, had been persuaded, by the arguments of Somers and other lawyers who pos- sessed seats in the house, to depart from this purpose, and that the king was resolved not to restore the old charter, employed every effort to obtain at least a restitution of the privileges it conferred. But William and his ministers, though restrained from unitating the tyrannical measures of the former reign, were eager and determined to avail themselves of whatever acquisitions these measures might have gained to the royal prerogative ; and finding that the crown had acquired a specious legal pretext to exercise much greater authority over the colony than was reserved in its original constitu- tion, they scrupled not to take advantage of this pretext, without regard to the tyrannical cast of the policy by which it had been obtained. The res- toration of their ancient privilege of electing their own municipal officers was ardently desired by the colonists, and demanded by the deputies with a warmth which the king would probably have resented as disrespectful to himself, if he had not felt himself bound to excuse the irritation provoked by his own injustice. In vain did Archbishop Tillotson urge him not to withhold from the people of Massachusetts the full measure of those privi- leges, which, even under the arbitrary sway of Charles the First, had been conceded to them. He adhered inflexibly to his determination of retaining, as far as possible, every advantage, however surreptitiously acquired, that fortune had put into his hands ; and at length a new charter was framed on principles that widely departed from the primeval constitution of the colony, and transferred to the crown many valuable privileges that originally belonged to the people. [October 7, 1691.] By this charter the territories of Massachusetts, Plymouth, and Maine, together with the conquered province of Acadia, or Nova Scotia, were united together under one jurisdiction, — an arrangement that was by no means satisfactory to the parties included in it ; for Plymouth, which ear- nestly solicited a separate establishment, was forcibly annexed to Massachu- setts ; and New Hampshire, which as earnestly pe'itioned to be included in this annexation, was made a separate province.^ The appointment of the ' Neat. Hutchinson. • Randolph was not gent back to America. He received, however, an appointment in the We8t Indiof), where he died, retaining, it is gaid, his dislike of the people of New England tn tlio last. Eliot's Bioi'mphical Dictionary of jV'cir England. Craofield, the tyrant of New Hampxhiro, was appointed collector of customs at Barbadoes. He repented of his condurt in New England, ana endeavoured to atone for it by sliowins all the kindness in his power tn the New England traders who resorted to Barbadoes. Belknap. * The union, so much desired by the people of Mnssacliuxelts and New Hampshire, wa* overruled by the interest, and for the convenience, of Samuel Allen, a merchant m London, CHAP, v.] NEW CHARTER OF MASSACHUSETTS. 271 eovcrnor, deputy-governor, secretary, and all the ofRccrg of tlio admiraltv, was reserved to the crown. Twenty-eight counsellors were directed to oe rliosen by the house of assembly, and presented to the governor for his ap- probation. Tlie governor was empowered to convoke, adjourn, prorogue, and dissolve the assembly at pleasure ; to nominate, exclusively, all military orticers, and (with consent of the council) all the judges and other officers of the law. To the governor was reserved a negative on the laws and acts of the general assembly and council ; and all laws enacted by these bodies and anp'ovcd by the governor were to be transmitted to England for the royal approbation ; and if disallowed within the space of three years, they were to become absolutely void. Liberty of conscience and of divine worship, which had not been mentioned in the old charier, was, by the present one, expressly assured to all j)erson3 except Roman Catholics.^ The innovations thus introduced into their ancient municipal constitution i 1691] excited much discontent in the minds of the people of Massachu- setts ; the more especially because the enlargement of royal authority was not attended with a proportional communication of the royal protection. At the very time when the king thus extended the limits ol his prerogative at the expense of popular liberty, he found himself constrained, by the urgency of his affairs in Europe, to refuse the assistance which the people besought from him to repel the hostilities of the Indians and of the I rench forces in Canada. The situation of the provinces of Connecticut and Rhode Island, which were permitted to reassume all their ancient privileges, rendered the injustice with which Massachusetts was treated more flagrant and irritating. Though legal technicalities might be thought by lawyers and special pleaders to warrant the advantageous distinction which those States enjoyed, a con- clusion so illiberal was utterly repugnant to the enlarged views of justice and equity which ought to regulate the policy of a legislator. Only mistake on the one side, or artifice on the other, could be supposed to have procured to Connecticut and Rhode Island an advantage that made the treatment of Massachusetts more invidious ; and a dangerous lesson was taught to the colonial communities, when they were thus given to understand that it was their own vigilant dexterity and successful intrigue, or the blunders of the parent state, that they were to rely on as the safeguards of their rights. The injustice of tlie policy now applied to Massachusetts was rendered still more glaringly apparent by the very different treatment obtained by the powerful corporation of the city of London, whose charter, though annulled with the same legal formality, and on grounds as plausible, as the ancient charter of Massacliusetts, was restored by a legislative act immediately after the Revolution. Nor was any real political advantage obtained by the Eng- lish government from its violation of just and equitable principles. The to whom Mason's heirs had sold thoir claim to~the soil of New Hampshire. He was ap- pointed the first governor of tho province ; and emploving his authority m vexatious, but un- sunessful, attempts to extract pecuniary profit from his purchased claim, rendered himscJI ( xtrpmely odious to the people. Belknap. He was superseded in the office of governor by Lord Bellamont, in 161>8. a ., m. . ^ muher, Ufe of Sir IViliMm Phips. Neal. Hutchinson. Belknap. Bancroft. "Innt rhnrter effected in Massachusetts as perfect and thorough a revolution as ever was produced bv a similar act in any state or nation. It changed not only the form of the government and the rplalions of power among the people, but also the enUre foundation and objects ot the government. By making freehold and property, instead of church-membership, the qualihca- tion of the right of electing and being elected to office, religion became no longer the end and object of the civil government." Quincy's HiHory of Harvard UniversUy iTi.s change wiw for a while diseiiised by the coincidence between the sentiments of the first boards ot new magistrates and the ancient system of municipal polity. 272 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK H. power that was wrested from the colonists, and appropriated by the crown, was quite inadequate to the formation of an efficient royal parly in the prov- ince The usurped prerogative of nominating the governor and other offi. cers'was regarded as a badge of dependence, instead of forming a bond of union The popular assemblies retained sufficient influence over the gov- ernors to curb them in the administration of an illiberal policy, and suf- ficient power to restrain them from making any serious mroad on the consti- tution. It is a remarkable fact, that the dissensions between the two coun- tries, which eventuaUy terminated in the dissolution of the British empire in America, were not a little promoted by the pernicious counsels and errone- ous information conveyed to the English ministry by the governors of those provinces in which the appointment to that office was exercised by the king. Aware of the dissatisfaction with which the new charter was regarded, the ministe.a of WiUiam judged it prudent to waive m tne outset the full exer- cise of the invidious prerogative, and desired the provmcial deputies to name the person whom they considered most likely to be acceptable to their countrymen as governor of Massachusetts ; and the deputies having united in recommending Sir William Phips, the appointment to this office was be- stowed on him accordingly. This act of courtesy was attended with a de- eree of success in mollifying the ill-humor of the people, that attests the high estimation in which Phips was held by his countrymen ; for on his arrival at Boston [May, 1692], though some discontent was betrayed, and several of the members of the General Court warmly insisted that the new charter should be absolutely rejected,^ yet the great body of the people re- ceived him with acclamations ; and a majority of the General Court resolved that the charter should be heariily accepted, and appointed a day of thanks- giving for the safe arrival of their worthy governor and of Increase MaUier, whose services they acknowledged with grateful commemoration. Ihe new governor hastened to approve himself worthy of the favorable regard thus expressed for him. Having convoked the General Court of the province, he addressed the members in a short, characteristic speech, recommending to them the composition of a code of good laws with all the expedition they could exprt. " Gentlemen," soid he, " you may make yourselves as easy as you will for ever. Consider what may have a tendency to your welfare; and you may be sure that whatever bills you oflfer to me, consistent with the honor and interest of the crown, I '11 pass them readily. I do but seek opportunities to serve you. Had it not been for the sake of this thing, 1 had never accepted of this office. And whenever you have settled such a body of good laws, that no person coming after me may make you un- easy, I shall desire not one day longer to continue in the government. His conduct seems in general to have corresponded with these professions. And yet, the administration of Sir William Phips was neither long no. prosperous. Though he might give his sanction as governor to popular laws. It was not in his power to prevent jhem from being rescinded by jhe crown ; ' Mather and the other deputies, when they found Tt impossible to obtain an alteration of the new Charter, proposed at^fir«t 'to reject it altogether, and to institute a Fo^e^'/o' ^J?. h^ vaiWitv of thelurfiment pronounce.^ on the quo warranto. They were deterred from th, S^ceeS by IK iolemn a Juran.e of Treby, s'cmen,, and the two -^-^J-^:^^^^^'}^1 \Ylo\t and Pollexfon), that, if the judgment were reversed, a new ^nojtarranjo ^""JJ ^«,~ and inevitably followed by a sentence exempt from all BJ°"M'»/ ^/'='."*'"«l,,jF,S TCt persons assured the deputies, that the colonists, by erecting ludicatones, «°^^' '"^"8 " h' "^ if reprewsntatives, and incorporating cf -es, had forfeited their charter, which gave no iM-nc lion io such acm of autiiorily. HuietiKiiton. * WtXhn, Uft of Phipi. Neal. Hutchinson. chap; V-] ADMINISTRATION' OP SIR WILLIAM I*HIPS. 3^ and this fate soon befell a law that was passed by the proviriclal assembly, declaring the colonists exempt from all taxes but such as should be imposed by their own representatives, and asserting their right to share all the privi- leges of Magna Charta. He found the province involved in a distressing ,var with the French and Indians, and in the still more formidable calamity of that delusion which has been termed the JVew England witchcraft. When the Indians were informed of the elevation of Sir William Phips to the office of governor of Massachusetts, they were Struck with amazement at the for- tunes of the man whose humble origin they perfectly well knew, and with whom they had familiarly associated but a few years before in the obscurity of his prirnitive condition. Impressed with a high opinion of his courage and resolution, and a superstitious dread of that fortune that seemed destined 10 surmount every obstacle and prerail over every disadvantage, they would willingly have niade peace with him and his countrymen, but were induced to continue the war by the artifices and intrigues of the French. A few months after his arrival, the governor, at the head of a small army, marched to Pemmaquid, on the Merrimack River, and there caused to be erected a fort of considerable strength, and calculated by its situation to form a power- ful barrier to the province, and to overawe the neighbouring tribes of In- dians, and interrupt their mutual communication. The beneficial effect of this operation was experienced in the following year [1693], when the Indians seut ambassadors to the fort at Pemmaquid, and there concluded with English commissioners a treaty of peace, by which they renouncfed for ever the interests of the French, and pledged themselves to perpetual amity with the inhabitants of New England. > The colonists, who had suffered severely from the recent depredations of these savages,** and were sliM laboring under the burdens entailed on them by former wars, were not slow to embrace the first overtures of peace ; and yet they mur- mured with great discontent a^d ill-humor at the measure to which they were principally indebted for the deliverance they had so ardently desired. The expense of building the fort, and of maintaining its garrison and stores, occa- sioned an addition to the existing taxes, which provoked their impatience. The party who had opposed submission to the new charter eagerly promoted every complaint against the conduct of a system which they regarded with rooted aversion ; and labored so successfully on this occasion to vilify the person and government of Sir William Phips in the eyes of his counUy- men, that his popularity sustained a shock from which it never afterwards entirely recovered. The people were easily persuaded to regard the in- crea se of taxation as the eff ect of the recent abi-idgment of their political ' Neal. Hiitchingon. ~ ~~ " ' The situation of the people 6f New Hampshire, in particular, had becom* bo irksome and (langmug, that at one time they entertaineil the purpose of abandoning the province. BelFiiap. Wheii Adam Smith declared that " nothing can be more contemptible than nn Indian war m North America," ho alluded to a period much later than this, and in which the proportion betwcon the norabers of the savage and civilized races had undergone a great alteration. Even then, the observntion was just only in so fur as respected apprehensions of conquest ; for no hosulities were ever more fraught with cruelty, misery, and horror, than those of the North American Indians. When Chalmers pronounced the Indians " a fim that has never proved dangeroup, except to the efleminute, the factious, and the cowardly," he was transported into ihis iiriustice by the desire of lowering the reputation of the people of New Hampshire, — a portion of the American population who seem to have provoked in a peculiar degree hid. fiplcen and malevolence. New Hampshire has been mere justly characterized by an American nutorian as "a nursery of stern horoisin ; producing men of firmness and valor, who can traverse mountointi and ,n," saysDugald Stewart, "their muscular system seems to possess a greater degree of that mobility by which the principle of sympathetic imi- 276 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK n. I to prove beyond a doubt that the disorder was no natural ailment ; while, in truth, they denoted nothing else than the extraordinary terror of the unhappy patients, who augmented the malignity of their disease by the darkness and horror of the source to which they traced it. Every cas« of nervous de- rangement WIS now referred to this source, and every morbid affection of the spirits and fancy diverted into the most dangerous channel. Accusations of particular individuals easily suggested themselves to the disordered minds of the sufferers, and were eagerly preferred by themselves and their relatives, in the hope of obtaining deliverance from the calamity by the punishment of its guilty authors. These charges, however unsupported by proof, and however remote from probability, alighted with fatal influence wherever they fell. The supernat- ural intimation, by which they were supposed to be dictated, supplied and excluded all ordinary proof ; and when a patient, under the dominion of nervous affections, or in the intervals of epileptic paroxysms, declared that he had seen the apparition of a particular individual occasioning his suffer- ings, no consideration of previously unblemished character could screen the accused from a trial, which, if the patient persisted in the charge, invariably terminated in a conviction. The charges were frequently admitted without any other proof, for tlie very reason for which they should have been abso- lutely rejected by human tribunals, — that their truth was judged incapable of ordinary proof, or of being kno^vn to any but the accuser and thcf accused. So general and inveterate was the belief in the reality of the supposed witch- craft, that no one dared openly to gainsay it, whatever might really be his opinion on the subj( ct ; and the innocent victims of the charges were con- strained to argue on the assumption, that the apparitions of themselves, de- scribed by their accusers, had actually been seen, — and reduced to plead that their semblance was assumed by an evil spirit that sought to screen his proper instruments, and divert the public indignation upon unoffending per- sons. It was maintained, however, by Stoughton, the deputy -governor of Massachusetts, most gratuitously, but, u-.happily, to the conviction of the public, that an evil spirit could sustain only the appearance of such persons as had given up their bodies to him and devoted themselves to his service. The semblance*of legal proof, besides, was very soon added to the force of those charges ; and seeming to put tlieir truth past doubt in some cases, was thought to confirm it in all. Some of the accused, terrified by their danger, sought safety in avowing their guilt, recanting their supposed .impi- ety, and denouncing others as their tempters and associates. In order to beget favor and verify their recantation, they now declared themselves the victims of the witchcraft they had formerly practised, counterfeited the ner- vous affections of their own accusers, and imputed their sufferings to ihe ven geance of their ancient accomplices. These artifices and the general delusion were promoted by the' conduct of the magistrates, who, with a monstrous inversion of equity and sound sense, offered impunity to all who would confess the imputed crime and be- tray their associates, while they inflexibly doomed to death every accused })erson who maintained his innocence. Thus one accusation produced a multitude of others, — the accused becoming accusers and witnesses, and hastening to escape from danger by fastening the^gui^lt^ onjother^ereons. 'P)i,(, f,fs« .r..i most namerouf of th" iiiinnKitRd victims of witchcraA New Knglnnd were yom« women, It is not improbable, that, in gome cases, the ("•»">' mn l)id Bymptoma were complicated with the mytterious phenomena of Bomnambuliiin. mnp. v.] THE WITCHCRAFT DELUSION. 277 l^rora Salem, where its mam fury was exerted, die evil spread over the '?f ?r;T°^^T'f "'^''^ ' ^^ ''^«''«^«' " was able to penetrate, k effectually subverted the happmess and security of life. The sword of the law vvas wrested from dbe hand of dispassionate justice, and committed to ,l,e grasp orthe wdde^t fear and fury, while the shield of the law was denied to the unfortunate objects ofth.se headlong and dangerous passions. Alarrn and terror pervaded a ranks of society. The first Ind the favorite ohjecS of arraignment were jll-favored old wdmen, whose dismal aspect exdtine horror and aversion instead of tenderness and compassion wrreikoneS a proof of their guilt, and seemed to designate the appropriate agems of mys- terious and unearthly wickedness. But the sphere of accusation wa pro- gresslvely enlarged to such a degree, that at length neither age nor sex neitlier ignorance nor irinocence neither l^ning^nor piety, ndther tIZI tation nor office, could afford the slightest safe^ard against a charS witchcraft. Even irrational creatures were not exempted from this fatal charge ; and a dog, belonging to a person accused of witchcraft, was hanged as the accomphce of a crime which the poor brute was alike incapabKf confessmg,^deny,ng, or comprehending. tJnder the dominion of terror! Si mutual confidence was destroyed, and the kindest feelings of human naLre were trampled under foot. The nearest relations became each other"s^! cusers ; and one unhappy man, in particular, was condemned and executed on the testimony of his wife and daughter, who impeached him merely with the view of preserving iJiemselves. Many respectable persons fled from the colony ; others, maintaining their innocence, were capitally convicted, arid died with a serene courage and piety, that affected, but could not disabuse the spectators. ""uoc. The accounts that have been preserved of the trials of these unfortunate persons pesent a most revoltmg and humiliating picture of frenzy, folly, and .njustice. Iti support of the charge of witchcraft agamst some of the pris- oners, the court permitted testimony to be given of losses and mishaps that had be alien the accusers or their cattle (even as long as twenty years before (he trial), after some rneeting or some disagreement b. : sen them and the prisoners. Against others it was deposed, that they had performed greater leats of strength, and walked from one place to another in a shorter space of time, than the accusers ludged possible without diaboHcal assistance. But the mam article of prpof was the spectral apparitions of the persons of the pretended witches to the eyes of their supposed victims during the paroxysms ot their malady. The accusers sometimes declared that they could not see the prisoners at the bar of the court ; which was construed into a proof of itie immediate exertion of Satanic influence in rendering the persons of the ciilprits invisible to those who were to testify against them. The bodies of the prisoners were commonly examined for the discovery of what were termed vvitch-marics ; and as the examiners did not know what they were seeking for, and yet earnestly desired ^o find it, every little puncture or dis- coloration of the skm was easily ?)r]iov,d to be the impress of infernal touch. n general, the accusers fell into fiti, complained of violent uneasiness, at lie sight of the prisoners. On the itvc. of Burroughs, a clergyman of the iighest respectability, some of the witnesses being affectod in this manner, tne judges replied to his protestations of innocence, by askir- If he would venture to deny that these persons were then laboring under the malignant .nSuencc ox the powers of hell. He answered that he did not deny it, but ^8 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK II. i j; , • J u •„» ontr onnrpm with it. " If vou Were not a friend of r d :i V' ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ liS; '' he .oul/not exert himself in this manner to prevent these persons from speaking against you. When a Soner n hs defence uttered any thing that seemed to move the audience ?nWs favor, some of the accusers were ready to exclaim that they saw the devi stand ng by afld putting the words in his mouth ; and every feelmg of human itv was chased away by such absurd and frantic exclamations. While onfof the convicts, at the foot of the scaffold, was addressing a last assur- ance of hU innocence to the spectators, the executioner sat by him smoW tobacco ; and some of the smoke having been wafted by the wind into the eves of thT dying man, the accusers thereupon set up a shout of bruta Sph, a^d exclaimed, " See how the devil wraps him m smoke ! " It cTnnot be doubted that frayd and mahgnity had a share m inciting these prosecutions^ that was practically avowed in the courts of justice, that in cases of witchcraft, accusation was equivalent to conviction, presen ed the most subUe and powerful allurements to the indulgence of natural ferocity and the gratification of fantastic terror and suspicion ; and there is but too much rea on to believe, that rapacity, malice, and revenge were not vainly h^vUed to seize this opportunity of satiating their appetites m confiscation and bloodshed So slrong meanwhile was the popular delusion that even ?he detection of manifest pirjury, on one of the trials, proved insufficient to weaken the credit of the most unsupported accusation Sir William Ph.ps he governor, Stoughton, the lieutenant-governor, and the most learned an erSinlnt persons, both among the clergy and laity of the province, partook Td promoted the general infSuaUon. Nothing but an outrageous zeal agamst wi?chcraTseemed capable of assuring cny individual of the safety of his hfe ; ind temptations, that but too frequently overpowered human courage and virtue amse from the conviction impressed on every person that there re- mSne'd no other^lternative than that of becoming the oppressor or the op- messed The afflicted (as the accusers were termed) and their witnesses Jnd partisans began to form a numerous and united party m every commu- Sy wS none dared to oppose, and which none who once joined or sup- porter could forsake with impunity. A magistrate, who for a while took inactive part in examining and committing the supposed delinquents, begm- nhiSto suspect that the charges originated in some .fatal mistake, showed an incUnS to discourage them, and straightway found that he had drawn the ZKerous imputation on himself. A constable, who had apprehended many of tU accused, was smitten with a similar suspicion, and hastily de- dared tha he would meddle in this matter no farther. Reflecting with alarm on the danger he had provoked, he attempted to fly the country, but was over- °aken in hii flight by the vengeance of the accusers ; and, havmg been brought back to Salem, was tried for witchcraft, convicted, and executed. Some person, whom the instinct of self-preservation had induced to accuse the. Friends or kinsfolk, touched with remorse, confessed the crime they had been S of and retr'acted their testimonv. They were convicted of relapse into witchcraft, and died the victims of their returning virtue. It ksr he very excess of the evil brought about its cure. About fifteen months hid elapsJd since it first broke forth ; and so far from being ex • wished or abated, it was growing every day more formidable. Of tvvent eight persons capitally convicted, nmeleeu uad been baiiguu, b»u v.v, .or CHAP, v.] THE WITCHCRAFT DELUSION. 279 refusing to plead, was pressed to death ; — the only instance in which this engine of legal barbarity was ever employed in North America. The num- ber of the accusers and pardoned witnesses multiplied with alarming rapidity. The sons of Governor Bradsteet, and other individuals of eminent station and character, had fled from a charge belied by tJie whole tenor of their lives. A hundred and fifty persons were in prison on the same charge, and im- peachments of no less than two hundred others had been presented to the magistrates. Men began to ask where this would end. The constancy and piety with which the unfortunate victims encountered their fate produced an impression on the minds of the people, which, though counterbalanced at the time by the testimony of the pardoned witnesses, gained strength from the reflection that these witnesses purchased their lives by their testimony, while the persons against whom they had borne evidence sealed their own testi- mony with their blood. It was happy, perhaps, for the country, that, while the minds of the peo- ple were awakening to reflections thus reasonable and humane, some of the accusers carried the audacity of their arraignment to such a pitch, as to prefer charges of witchcraft against Lady Phips, the governor's wife, and against certain of the nearest relatives of Dr. Increase Mather, the most pious minister and popular citizen of Massachusetts. This circumstance at once opened the eyes of Sir "William Phips and Dr. Mather ; so far, at least, as to induce a strong suspicion that many of the late proceedings which they had countenanced were rash and indefensible. They felt that they had dealt with others in a manner very different from that in which they were now reduced to desire that others should deal with them. A kindred senti- ment beginning also to prevail in the public mind encouraged the resolute exertion by which a citizen of Boston succeeded in stemming the fury of these terrible proscriptions. Having been charged with witchcraft by some persons at Andover, he anticipated an arrest, by promptly arresting his ac- cusers for defamation, and preferring on oath against them a claim of damages to the amount of a thousand pounds. The eftect of this vigorous conduct surpassed his most sanguine expectations. It seemed as if a spell that had been cast over the people of Andover was dissolved by one bold touch ; the frenzy subsided in a moment, and witchcraft was heard of in that town no more. The impression was quickly diffused throughout the province ; and the influence of it appeared at the very next assize that was held for the trial of witchcraft, when, of fifty prisoners who were tried on such evi- dence as was formerly deemed sufficient, the accusers could obtain the con- viction of no more than three, who were instantly reprieved by the governor. These acquittals were doubtless in part produced by a change which the public opinion underwent as to the sufficiency of what was denominated spec- tral evidence of witchcraft. An assembly of the most eminent divines of the province, convoked for the purpose by the governor [June 15th, 1693], after solemn consideration, pronounced and promulgated as their deliberate judgment, " That the ap- paritions of persons afflicting others was no proof of their being witches," and that it was by no means inconsistent with Scripture or reason that the devil should assume the shape of a good man, or even cause the real aspect of that man to produce impressions of pain on the bodies of persons be- witched. The ministers, nevertheless, united in strongly recommending to the government the rigorous prosecution of all persons still accused of witcU 280 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK 11. craft. But the judgment they pronounced respecting the validity of the customary evidence rendered it almost impossible to procure a iudicial con- viction ; and produced, at the same time, so complete a revolution in the public mind respecting the late executions, that charges of witchcraft were found to exfcite no other sentiments than deep disgust, and angry suspicion of the parties who preferred them. The dark cloud that had overcast the peace and happiness of the colony vanished entirely away, — and universal shame and remorse succeeded to the frenzy that previously prevailed. Even those who continued to beheve in the reaUty of the diabohcal mfluence of which the accusers had complained, were satisfied that most, if not all, of the unfortunate convicts were unjustly condemned, and that their accusers, in charging them, were deluded by the same infernal agency by which their sufferings were occasioned. Many of the witnesses now came forward and published the most solemn recantations of the testimony they formerly gave, both against themselves and others ; apologizing for their perjury, by a protestation, of which all were constrained to admit the force, that no other means of saving tlieir lives had been left to them. These testimonies were not able to shake the opinion which was still retained by a considerable party botJi among the late accusers and the public at large, that the recent maladv was caused in part by real witchcraft, whether the real culprits had yet be'en detected or not. This opinion was supported in learned treatises by Dr. Mather and other eminent divines. But it was found impo^'ble ever after to reiterate prosecutions that excited such painful remembrances, and liad been rendered instrumental to so much barbarity and injustice. Sir William Phips, soon after he reprieved the three persons last convicted, gave order that all who were in custody on charges of witchcraft should be released ; and, with prevenient dread of the dissensions that might arise from retributory proceedings against the accusers and their witnesses, he pro- claimed a general pardon to all persons for any participation imputable to them in the recent prosecutions. The surviving sufferers front those perse- cutions, however, and the relatives of those who had perished, were enabled to enjoy whatever consolation they could derive from the sympathy of their countrymen and the earnest regret of their persecutors. The House of Assembly appointed a general fast and solemn supplica- tion, " that God would pardon all the errors of his servants and people in a late tragedy raised among us by Satan and his instruments." Sewell, one of the judges who had presided on die trials at Salem, stood up in his place in church ^on this occasion," and implored the prayers of the people that the errors which he bad committed might not be visited by the judgments of an avenging God on his country, his family, or himself. Many of the jurymen subscribed and published a declaration lamenting and condemning the delu- sion to which they had yielded, and acknowledging that they had brought the reproach of wrongful bloodshed on their native land. Paris, the clergy- man who instituted the first prosecutions and promoted all the rest, found himself exposed to a resentment not loud or violent, but fixed and deep ; and was at length generally shunned byjiis fe llow-citizens, and entii ely for- Looks dark an ignorance, as frenzy wild." — Savage. » When Stoiigliton, tlie dofity-governor and chief justice, was informed of this, lie ob- served for himself, that when he sat in judgment he, hud the fear of (lod heforc hiH eyes, nnd gave his opinion according to the best of liis understanding; nnd^ although it might appcnr afterwards that he hud btrnu \u etror, jet ho saw no ricctasity o. » jjUyhc acknowsoftgrnen. of it.' Hutchinson. OHAP. v.] THE WITCHCRAFT DELUSION. 2ai jaken by bis congregation. He appears, throughout the whole prooeedings, to have acteci with perfect sincerity, but to have been transported by a vio- lent temper, and a strong conviction of the rightfulness of the ends he pur- sueH. uito the adoption of means for their attainment, inconsistent with honor, justice, or humanity. While the delusion lasted, his violence was applauded as zeal in a righteous cause, and little heed was given to accusations of arti- fice and partiality in conducting what was believed to be a controversy with the devil. But when it appeared that all these efforts had in reality been directed to the shedding of mnocent blood, his popularity gave place to in- curable odium and disgust. [1694.] Perceiving, too late, how dreadfully he had erred, he hastened to make a public profession of repentance, and solemnly begged forgiveness of God and man. But as the people declared their fixed resolution never more to attend the ministry of an individual who had been the instrument of misery and ruin to so many of their countrymen, he was obliged to resign his charge and depart from Salem.i Thus terminated a scene of fury and delusion that justly excited the :stonishment ol the civilized world, and exhibited a fearful picture of the weakness of human nature in the sudden transformation of a people re- nowned over all the earth for piety and virtue into the slaves or associates the terrified dupes or helpless prey, of a band of ferocious lunatics and assassins. Among the various evil consequences that resulted from the pre- ceding events, not the least important was the effect they produced on the minds of the Indian tribes, who began to conceive a very unfavorable opin- ion of a people that could inflict such barbarities on their own countrymen, and of a icligion that seemed to instigate its professors to their mutual de- struction. Thijs impression was the more disadvantageous to the colonists, as there had existed for some time a competition between their missionaries and the priests of the French settlements, for the conversion of the Indians,'* who invariably embraced the political interests of that nation whose religious instructors were most popular among them. The French did not fail to im- prove to their own advantage the odious spectacle that the late frenzy of the people of New England had exhibited ; and to this end they labored with such diligence and success, that in the following year, when Sir William Phips paid a visit to the tribes with whom he had concluded the treaty of Peinmaquid, and endeavoured to unite thera in a solid and lasting friendship with his own people, he found them more firmly wedded than ever to the interests of the French, and prepossessed with sentimen ts unfavorable in the ' Mather, Ufeg SirWiUiamPhivs. Increase Mather's Cases of Conscience concerning Eml Spirits. Neal. Hutchinson Calefs fVonders of the Invisible World. Oldmixon. "1 finA hcse entries in the MS. Diary of Judge Sewell : « Went to Salem, where, in the meeting- house, the persons accused of witchcraft were examined ; a very great assembly. 'T was awful to see how the afflicted persons were agitated.' But in the margin is written, in a tremulous hand, probablv on a subsenuent review, the lamenting Latin interjection, F«, ivr, CL e1^\ ^v ''.'?' 'T Wynne, " that this frenzy contributed to work off th^ ill- mmorsofthe New England people, -to dissipate their bigotry, -and to bring them to a more tree use of their reason. ^ j' b • It was a very corrupted edition of Christianity that the French priests unfolded to the In- dians - a system that harmonized too well with the passions and sentiments which genuine S?" '^ "1°". .'"'""/'y condemns. By rites and devices, material and yet mysterious, it brought some porUon of the sn.ntuul doctrine of Christianity within the range of the coarse capaci y of the Indians, and fliciJitnted the transition from their ancient and peculiar mode of ^upOTtition and idolatry ; while, by stigmatizing their enemies as heretics, it afforded additional Zlr^.h I ".i- '**""•'"' ^1 '"•■■■•"*' '■'"•^' "n*! '■'■"''••.V. The French priests who ministered amonRst the Indians were Jesuits; and tl.eif- muxim, that it was unnecessary to keep faith with heretics, proved but too congenial to the savage ethics of their piinib. VOL. I. 36 " X* 282 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK II. i hiehest deeree to the formation of friendly relations with the English To fnroposUion of renewing the treaty of peace tliey readdy agreed ; but all he Tg^ency which he exerted to induce them to desist from he.r corre- nonEe with the French proved unava.hng. They refVoed to l.s en lo r missionaries who accomuanied him ; havmg learned from the French kLs o believe that the- 4glish were heretics, and enemies to the tru. ie Sn of Clirist. Some of them, with blunt smcer^y, acquainted 1 h.ps that s nee they had received the instructions of the 1 rench, witchcraft had OS 'a perceptible existence among their tribes and that they desired not o recall its presence by familiar intercourse with a people among whom ,t was refuted Vo prevail still more extensively than it Ld ever yet done with '''Thel-rwlre not wanting signs foreboding the renewal of war between the Jnists and the Indians, ^which f^^^or^^^^X^-^^TiZ :^s^3i:r^^;^Z:i;^d i;;; S. support of the ^n^cailonat Pemmaquid, combining with the resentments and enmities which the prose- cutes for witchcraft gave rise to, produced a party m the province who Eed on every occasion to thwart the measures and vilify the character of the governor Finding tlieir exertions in Massachusetts .nsufTicient to SepHve^Tm of the esteem^hich a great majority of the people entertained forTm, h^s political enemies transmitted articles of impeachment against hi to England, and petitioned the king and council for his recdl and pun- isllent King William having declared that he would hear and judge t^ie conToversy himself, an order was communicated to the governor to meet h. accusers b the ropl presence at Whitehall ; in compliance with winch, PWps et sail for England [November, 1694], carrymg with h.m an address of the a sembly expressive of the strongest attachment to his person and beseech-ing thai the province might not be deprived of the services of so able and meritorious an officer. On his appearance at court, his accusers vanished,ld their charges were dismissed; and having rendered a satis- fy account of his administration, he was preparing to return o ,.,0 ernment, when a malignant fever put an end to his life. [February, 10J5,j AsTsoder, Phips, if not preeminently skilful, was active and brave; as a dvirrZ he wL upright magnanimous, and disinterested. It was re- ml ked of him, as of^AWstides, that, with a constaiit and generous under- b Taring o his fortune, he was never visibly elated by any mark of honor or coSnce that he received from his countrymen ; nor could aU his success and advancement ever make him ashamed to recall the humbleness of his original condhion. In the midst of a fleet that was conveying an armament St commanded on a military expedition, ^^^ f -sed^l^^^^^^ vounc soldiers and sailors who were standmg on the deck ol his vessel, and, Sr to a particular spot on the shore, said, " Young nien, 1 was uoo ^3 that I kept sheep a few vears ago j-you see to what advancement AlmS t God Ims brought me ; do you, then, learn to fear God and act up- diS f- and Yo 1 also may rise as I have done." His natural temper was somewhat hasw and impetus ; and the occasional ebulhtions of tins n ■ ^ ' Ncul. CHAP, v.] WAR WITH THE FRENCH AND INDIANS. 283 with the other causes which we have remarked, to attaint the lustre of his reputation.' On the departure of Sir William Phips, the supreme authority m Massa- chusetts devolved on Stoughton, the lieutenant-governor [1G95J, who con- tinued to exercise it during the three following years ; the king being so much engrossed with his wars- and negotiations on the continent of Europe,' that it was not till after the peace of Ryswick that he found leisure even to nominate a siiccessor to Phips. During this period, the colony was much disturbed by internal dissension, and harassed by the dangers and calamities of war. The passions bequeathed by the prosecutions for witchcraft (which Stoughton had zealously promoted) continued long to divide and agitate the people ; and the political factions which sprung up during the administration of Phips prevailed with increased virulence after his departure. The mutual animosities of the colonists attained such a height, that they seemed to be on the point of kindling a civil war ; and the operations of the provincial government were cramped and obstructed at the very time when the utmost exertions of vigor and unanimity were requisite to encounter the hostile enterprises of the French and the Indians. [June, 1G95.] Incited by their French allies, the Indians recommenced the war with all tlie suddenness and fury of their military operations. Wherever surprise or superior num- bers enabled them to prevail over parties of the colonists, or detached plantations, their victory was signalized by the extremities of barbarous cru- elty.*^ The colony of Acadia, or Nova Scotia, once more reverted to the dominion of France. It had been annexed, as we have seen, to the jurisdic- tion of Massachusetts, and governed hitherto by officers deputed from the seat of the superior authority at Boston. But Port Royal (or Annapolis, 1^ it was afterwards termed) having been now recaptured by a French arma- ment, the whole settlement revolted, and reannexed itself to the French em- pire, — a change that was ratified by the subsequent treaty of Ryswick. A much more serious loss was sustained by Massachusetts in the follow- ing year, when, in consequence of a combined assault by the French and Indians, the fort erected by Sir William Phips at Pemmaquid was com- pelled to surrender to their arms, and was levelled with the ground. [1696.] ' Mather, Ufe of Sir fVilliam Phips. Neal. Constnntine, son of Sir William Phips, becoine Lord Chancellor of Ireland ; and his descendants have since enjoyed the titles of Eurl of Mul- gravo and Marquis of Normanby in Britain. • Numerous cases are related by the provincial historians of the torture and slavery inflicted by the Indians on their captives, and of the desperate efforts of many of the colonists to defend tliemsclvcB and their families, or to escape from the hands of their savaee enemies. Wherever the Indians could penetrate, war was carried into the bosom of every family. The case of a Mrs. Dunstan, of Haverhill, in Massachusetts, is remarkable. She was made prisoner by a narty of twelve Indians, and, with the infant of which she had been deliverea but a week before, and the nurse who attended lier, forced to accompany them on foot into the woods. Her infant's head was dashed to pieces on a tree before her eyes ; and she and the nurso, after fatiguing marches in the deptn of winter, were lodged in an Indian hut, a hundred and fifty miles from thoir homo. Here they were informed that they were to be made slaves for life, but were first to be conducted to a distant settlement, where they would be stripped, scourged, and forced to run the gantlet, naked, between two files of the whole tribe to wnich their captors belonged. This intelligence determined Mrs. Dunstan to make an attempt that would issue either in her liberation or her death. Early in the morning, having awaked her nufBC, and a young man who was their fellow-prisoner, she got possession of an axe, and, with the assistance of her two companions, dcspatcned no fewer than ten Indians in their sleep. The other two awoke and escaped. Mrs. Dunstan returned in safety with her companions to Haverhill, and was rewarded for her intrepidity by the legislature of Massachusetts. — Dwiglit's Traveh. Whatever other cruelties the Indians might exercise on the bodies of their captives, it is ob- seFvable thai they never .ittcmptcd to violate the chastity of women. They showed a strong aversion to negroes, and generally killed them whenever they fell into their hands. Belknap. 284 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK II '-^ Chubb, the cominander of this fort, at first replied to the summons of the invulers that he teould not surrender tt, even though the sea were covered M French vessels, and the land u>ith Indian allies of France -Bui the ..auitulation to which he finally acceded was extorted from h.m bv the terror of his garrison, to whom the French commander announced, that, in case of a successful assault, they would be abandoned to the rage of his Indian auxiliaries. This severe and unexpected blow spread equal surprise and .onstemation ; and the alarming consciousness of the danger, imparted by the loss of a barrier of such consequence, rebuked in the strongest manner tlie factious discontent that had murmured at the expense of maintaining it. These appreli nsions were but too well justified by the increased ravages of [ndian warfare, and the increased insolence and fury with which a triumph 80 signal inspired the Indian tribes. Stoughton and his council exerted the utmost promptitude and vigor to repair or retaliate the disaster, and de- snatched forces to attack the enemy both by land and sea ; but miscarriage attended both these expeditions ; and, at the close of the year, the provin- cial troops had been unublo, by the slightest advantage, to check the assaults of the enemy, or to cheer the drooping spirits of their countrymen. In the following y ear [ 1 697 M , the province, after being severely harassed by the inroads of the Indians, was alarmed by the intelligence of a lormidable invasion which the French wore preparing, with a view to its entire subju- Kaiion. The commander of a French squadron which was cruising on the northern coasts of America had concerted with Count Frontignac, the gov- ernor of Canada, a joint attack by sea and land, with the whole united force of the French and Indians, on the colony of Massachusetts ; and little doubt was entertained of the conquest of this people, and the complete destruction of their settlements. On the first intelligence of this design, all the daunt eJs and determined spirit of New England seemed again to awake • and, fac- tious animosities being swallowed up by more generous passion, the people vied with each other in zealous cooperation with the energetic measures by vhich Stoughton prepared to repel the threatened assault. He caused the torts around Boston to be repaired, the whole militia of the province to be embodied and trained with the strictest discifiline, and every other precaution conducive to an effectual defence to be promptly employed. In order to ascertain, and, if possible, anticipate, the operations of the enemy by land, he despatched a considerable force to scour the eastern frontiers of the province : and these troops, encountering a detachment of the Indians, pro- ceeding to ioin the French invaders, overthrew and dispp«ed it, after a short engagement. This check, though in itself of little irnpoi,u;uo, so deranged the plans of the governor of Canada as to induce him t:. d-j..- ^.e invasion of Massachusetts by land till the following year •. ai i the 5rc;.ch admiral, finding his fleet weakened by a storm, and apprized of the vigorous prepar- ations for his reception, judged it prudent, in like manner, to abandon the proiecicd naval attack. During the whole of this protracted contest. Con- neciic>n and Rhode Island, though exempted from territorial ravage shared in the h-;rcMts of war. Connecticut, in particular, was distinguished by the momi'Mxiu and liberality of the^ccourejvhich^he extended to th e vvarfiirc --ri;iT»;;-a;;.;ro"f thl^iri^^W. died, this year, fi.ll of day. nnd honor, the v«norable ^mon Bradl.=.t, he !a.t M.rvivor of the original planter., -for many years governor of Mr«« • «.ttg — a. d torrnod hv his countrymen the NeHtor of New England He died n his ninelv- fiilif ' .,.nr «™.Iv Zirin« to be at rc«t, - insomuch (myn Cotton Mather) that .t .eemod a, if death were oonfeViod upon him, instead of life being taken i.ou. luia. CHAP V ] TIIF.ATY OF I^EACK KARI, OF nELLAMONT GOVKUNOR 28d „| lier friends, both in ihe easioru parts of New England and on the frontier* of Now Vork.' In tho coniniencenient of the following year [1098], inteUigence reached America of the treaty of Ityswick, by uhi( h peace was reesliibhshed be- nveen Britain and France. By this treaty it was agreed that the two con- iracting powers sliould mutually restore to each other all conquests that had l,een made during the war, and that commissioners should be appointed to investigate and determine the extent and limits of the adjacent territories of both nionarchs in America. The evil consequences of thus leaving tho hoimdarios of growing settlements unascertained were sensibly experienced at no distant date. Count I'rontignac, on receiving notice of this treaty, acquainted the chiefs of ihe Indian tribes, whose martial cooperation he had obtained, that he , niild no lon^n-jr assist or countenance tlieir hostilities a^inst the English, r d adv'sed them to deliver up their captives, and make peace on the best terms il.oy could obtain. The government of iVIassachusetts, to wliich their pacific overtures were addressed, sent two commissioners to Penobscot to meet their principal sachems, who endeavoured to apologize for their unpro- voked hostilities by ascribing them to the artifice and instigation of the French Jesuits. They expressed, at the same time, the highest esteem, and even a filial regard, for Count Fronlignac, and an earnest desire, that, in case of iiuy future war between the French and English, the Indians might be per- iniited to observe a neutrality between the belligerent parties. After some conferences, a new treaty was concluded with them, in which they consented to acknowledge a more unqualified dependence on the crown of England ihan they had ever before admitted. On the settlement of his affairs in Europe, the British king found leisure to direct some portion of his attention to America, and nominate a successor to the^ office that had been vacant since the death of Sir William Phips. The Earl of Bellamont was appointed governor of New York, Massachu- setts, and New Hampshire. [May, 1698.] The office of deputy-governor nf tlie two latter States was bestowed by this nobleman on Stoughton, whose recent services and disinterested patriotism effaced the jealousy with which at one time he was regarded by his countrymen, for having accepted a seat in the legislative council of New England during the arbitrary sway of Sir Edmund Andros.** Having pursued the separate history of the New England States up to this period, we shall now leave these interesting settlements in the enjoyment (unhappily, too short-lived) of a peace, whereof a long train of previous warfare and distresses had taught the inhabitants fully to apj)reciaie the value. They were now more united than ever among themselves, and enriched with an ample stock of experience of both good and evil. When Lord Bellamont visited Massachusetts in the following year [1699], the recent heats and a nimosities had entirely subsided ; he found the inh abitants generally dis- ' JJ"'!;®'- Neal. History of the British Uimimiovs in Jforth America. Trumbull. Holmes. Mather. Neal. Hutchiimon. Belknap. Stoughton died in the year 1702. As the colonial agent m Encland, he had tendered advice that proved unacceptable to his countrymen ; ae a member of the frand council of Andros, he had occupied a post which they regarded with aversion ; and as licuK'nant-governor, he had promoted the odious prosecutions for witchcraft, let hi8 repute for honest and disintereated patriotism finally prevailed over all the obstructions of these untoward circumstances ; and a bright reversion of honor attended the close of his life. "Instead of children," says Hutchinson, " he saw before his death a coUefc reared at his ex- , , ,„, .., .jni-JgFrrjB noti, (tiiu vtm uuusuiii a graicsui ronicmoraocc, 01 niB name to lucooeding ages." 286 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK II. nosed to harmony and tranquillity, and he contributed to cherish this dispo- Sn W a policy replete with wisdom, integrity, and moderat.on. The • . » ;h.t so siJallv distinguished the original settlers of New England was :r seen "sS Sth aming their descendants with a lustre less azzling, bulwith an influence in some respects more amiable, refined, and humane, XTof:'e tZt^£^ conduced to the restoration of harmony and he revival of ^iety among this people, was the publication of var.ous hSorles 'of the New England settlements, written with a spirit and fideluy we rcalcurated to commend to the minds of the colonists the just results of he rnSal experience. The subject was deeply interesting ; and, happily, he trea^^ent of'it was undertaken by writers -ho- pnncipa^ was to render this interest subservient to the promotion of p.ety and virtue. "riioud New England might be considered as yet ma state of pol.t,ca infancy h had passed through a great variety of fortune. It was the adopted ooS' of many of the mo'st excellent men of the age m which its coloni- zation be?a^, and the native land of others ^yho inherited the character of theranceio s, and transmitted it in unimpaired vigor and with added re- their ^"cesiors exhibited an effort of more resolute and Te prishg vSan theoriginal migration of the Puritans to this distant and deSe region ; nor have the annals of colonization ever supplied another ins ance of the foundation of a commonwealth, and its advancement ZZh a period of weakness and danger to strength and security, in whic h.?inciDal actors have left behind them a reputation more illustrious an su' ied?togetLe? ^^h fewer memorials calculated to pervert the moral sen "or awaken the regret of mankind. The relation of their acbevements h'd a powerful tendency to animate hope and perseverance m brave and viruour enterprise. They could not, indeed, boast, as the founders of the Sement of Pennsylvania have done, that, open y professing non-res.stance of hUiries, and faithfully adhering to that profession they had so fully mer^S and obtained the divine protection by an exclusive dependence on ka^ to disarm the ferocity of barbarians, and conduct the estabhshment of thp'r commonwealth without violence and bloodshed. But if they were hvotd in nTme^ous wars, it was the singular and honorable charactensUc of ttm all, that they were invariably the offspring of self-defence agamst the unprroked malevolence of their adversaries, and that not one of them .as un Sen from motives of conquest or plunder. Though they considered nhcse wars B necessary and justifiable, they sincerely deplored them;;"; mo e han once, the most distressing doubts were expressed, at the clos hiR labors by tho following order "' '''" *'""T' , , ""i„„u^hont upon iis, to take due notice » Whnren« It hns befln thouftht nccegsary, and a duly ""''"r"J, "P "„|o'of tbiB iiirisdiclion ^i,i..h mnv remain to nostoritv, and ihnt thn Rev. Mr. Wimam nuoimr^^ ^^ ^^^ ^.^ r^^^^^ to ■rompiloa history ofthm nature, .he ^-'''•' «';'" ;^^'" "T;";;;;S fi'i'l.v into CHAP, v.] CHARACTER OF THE EARLY SETTLERS. 287 tribes with as rnuch good faith and justice as they could have shown to a powerful and civilized people,^ and were incited by the manifest inferiority of those savage neighbours to no other acts than a series of the most Hiagnanimous and laudable endeavours to instruct their ignorance and im- prove their condition. If they fell short of the colonists of Pennsylvania in the exhibition of Christian meekness, they unquestionably excelled them in extent and activity of Christian exertion. The Quakers succeeded in con- ciliating the Indians ; the Puritans endeavoured to civilize them. The chief, if not the only fault, with which impartial history must ever reproach the conduct of these people, is the religious intolerance that they cherished, and the persecution, which, on too nj.:ny occasions, it prompted them to inflict. Happily for their own character, the provocation which in some instances they received from the objects of their severity tended greatly to extenuate the blame ; and happily, no less, for the legitimate in- fluence of their character on the minds of their posterity, the fault itself, notwithstanding every extenuation, stood so manifestly opposed to the very principles with which their own fame was for ever associated, that it was impossible for a wr'ter of common integrity, not involved in the" immediate heat of controversy, to render a just tribute to their excellence, without find- ing himself obliged to remark and condemn this signal departure from it. The histories that were now published were the compositions of the friends, associates, and successors of the original colonists. Written with an energy of just encomium that elevated every man's ideas of his ancestors and his country, and of the duties which arose from these natural or patriotic rela- tions, these works excited universally a generous sympathy with the charac- ters and sentiments of the fathers of New England. The writers, neverthe- less, were too conscientious and too enlightened to confound the virtues with the defects of the character they described ; and while they dwelt apologet- ically on the causes by which persecution had been provoked, they lamented the infirmity that (under any degree of provocation) had betrayed good men into conduct so oppressive and unchristian. Even Cotton Mather, the most encomiastic of the historians of New England, and who cherished very strong prejudices against the Quakers and other persecuted sectaries, has express- ed still stronger disapprobation of the severities they encountered from the ohjects of his encomium. These representations could not fail to produce a beneficial effect on the people of New England. They saw that the glory of their native land was associated with principles that could never coalesce ' Not only was all the territory occupied by the colonists fairly purchased from its Indian owners, but, in some parts of the country, the lands were subject to quitrents to the Indians, "which." says Belknnp, in 1784, "are annually paid to thoir posterity." A great English writer hfts represented an Indian chief as moralizing on the policy and pretensions of the European colonists in the following strains : — "Others pretend to have purchased a right of rcsldunco and tyranny ; but surely tlio insolence of such bargains is more offensive than the avowed and open dominion of force." Dr. Johnson's Idler. The Indians, indeed, were no strangers to such sentiments. Beholding with ignorant wonder and helpless envy the aug- mented value which the lands they had sold derived from the industry and skill of the pur- cliasers, they very readily admittca the belief that they had been defrauded in the origmal vendition. But abundant evidence has been preserved by (he New England historians, that the prices paid by the colonists, so far from being lower, were in general much higher than the just viilue of the land. I lun sorry to observe some modern (even American) writers indulge a spirit of perverse paradox in palliating and even defending the conduct of the Indians at the expense of the first race of British colonists, who in reality treated the Indians with an equity wliich succeeding gK-liiratio.r.s w.-.ssl-d d« Iset'er liSjera'ly *•-> imiiate thnn rnpti"«s!y fo dpprprinfp Th? nrv,- his* torinn of already recorded times ouglit diligently to guard at once against the force of prejudice and tiio eflects of novelty. 288 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK II. •„.«ioranrP • and that every instance of persecution with vmh or sanction .ntde^nce and iha J^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ principles, and which thejr *""«^^f^"^'^;;^'„"'J,g^^^^^^ In- an impeachment of ti.e. co^^^^^^ ^„d ,he highest respect TttTiMu oTE -^^^^^ were forcibly admonished by the er. ;:;ttrach they Had Me- -us^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ T^Z^IZr^^T:^ Llof the people of Ne. Vn^nnvas no loneer perverted bv intolerance or disgraced by persecu- ttl and L hfluence li Christianity, in mitigating emnity ai.d promoting SneTs and indulgence, derived a freer scope from the growmg conviction K the principles of the gospel were utterly^.rreconcilable with violence and severFty • and that, revealing to every man his own mfirm. y much more cLarlY than tlM of any other human being, they were equally adverse lo cieariy man umt j rondemnalion of others. Cotton Mather, who retrtd rdXro oTfhe^^^^^^^^^^^^ first colonists, lived to witness the success of hi monitory representations m the chanty and hberahty of the.r '^'New'^Engknd, having been colonized by men not less eminent for learn- in. than P^y, ^vas distinguished at an early period by the labors of her ing tnan pieiy, '^" . & . , lUgrature to the nurture of rel*gious sen- Tthelr rearrs, and to which the writers were prompted, in some measure at least bvth^ conviction they entertained that their countrymen had been honored with the signal favor and especial guidance and direction o D.yme Providence This conviction, wliile it naturally betrayed these wntersinto The fault of prolixity, enforced by the strongest sanctions the accuracy and fideUv of their narritions. Recording what they considered the p cuhar dSL of aid with a people peculiarly his own, they presumed not to d,s- Se tl e infirmUres of their coimtrymen ; nor did they desire to magnify the Se^acebthe infusion of human virtue bevond the divme patience m e^durinf human frailty and imperfection. Nay, the errors and fadings of the fllust^ OU3 men whose lives ttiey related gave additional weight to die im- presln wSch abovealUhe^^ ,agfl : - " In this capital city of Bo^t"" tj o "« \^j^ "X^""^,, ,he offices of neighbourhood .unions, who live so lovingly and P«^„«f j^7J"SjSe r^^^^^ to all tho bigots of uniformity, for ono another in such a manner, as may g';°.« **'."'';'^i'-„„ ^ ' be with tie tranquillity of and show them how cons.stent a vane ty «f '^«^ . '" jg*^ "^.eTutVn for conscientiou, di«4nt, arrival of Andros) ; am the ^^f l^'r'^^"l'"V: 'X k"Siho„se was built at Boston in >f Uie Jacobin* of France." CHAP, v.] EARLY HISTORIES OF NEW ENGLAND. 289 iVew England was an extraordinary work of Heaven ; that the counsel and the virtue by which it was conducted and achieved were not of human origin ; aiid that tlie glory of God was displayed no less in imparting the strength and wisdom than in controlling the weakness and perversity of the insUu- ments which he condescended to employ.* The most considerable of these historical works, and one of the most interesting performances that the literature of New England has ever pro- duced, is the Magnalia Christi ^mericana^ or History of New England, by Cotton Mather. Of this work, the arrangement is exceedingly faulty ; and its vast bulk must continue to render its exterior increasingly repulsive to modern readers. The continuity of the narrative is frequently broken by the introduction of long discourses, epistles, and theological reflections and dissertations ; biography is intermixed with history ; and events of local or temporary interest are related with tedious superfluity of detail. It is not so properly a single or continuous historical narration, as a collection of separate works illustrative of the various scenes of New England history, under the heads of Remarkable Providences, Remarkable Trials^ and num- berless other subdivisions. A plentiful intermixture of puns, anagrams, and other barbarous conceits, exemplifies a peculiarity (the offspring partly of bad taste and partly of superstition) which was very prevalent among tho prose-writers, and especially the theologians, of that age. Notwithstanding these defects, the work will amply repay the labor of every reader. The biographical portions, in particular, possess the highest excellence, and are superior in dignity and interest to the compositions of Plutarch. Cotton Mather was the author of a great many other works,^ some of which have been highly popular and eminently useful. One of them bears the title of Essays to do Good, and contains a lively and forcible representation (con- veyed with more brevity than the author usually exemplifies) of the oppor- tunities which every rank and every relation of human life may present to a devout mind, of promoting the glory of God and the good of mankind. Dr. Franklin, in the latter years of his active and useful life, declared that all the good he had ever done to his country or his fellow-creatures must be ascribed to the impression produced on his mind by perusing that little work in his youth.-* It is curio us to find an infidel philosopher thus ascribe his ' "If we look on the dark side, the human side, of this work, th^re^ ia^ch of human weakness and imperfection hath appeared in all that hath heen done by man, as was ac- knowledged by our fathers before us. Neither was New England ever without some fatherly chastisements from God ; showing that he is not fond of the formalities of any people upon earth, but expects the realities of practical godliness according to our profession and engage- ment unto hun." Iligginson's .^ -• amy, Henry, and Whiston. — Holmes ' Belknap. Smollett'ii Hiainry of Enfland. ' Hittory'of tht Brilisk Dominiona inJVbrtA America 4 Pnliliad. OmitUmm^tia 292 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK H. hardy sober, intelligent, enterprising, and educated men to recruit and im- prove every successive settlement that has offered its resources to industry and virtue. The severe restraint of licentious intercourse, the facility of acquiring property and maintaining a family, and the prevalence of industri- ous and frugal habits among all classes of people combmed wjUi happy efR. cacy to render marriages both frequent and prolific in New England. Boston, the capital of Massachusetts, and during many years the largest city in North America, appears to have contained a population of more than 10,000 per- sons at the close of this century. In the year 1720, its inhabitants amounted to 20,000. Every inhabitant of the province was required by law to keep a stock of arms and ammunition in his house ; and all males above sixteen years of age were enrolled in the militia, which was assembled for exercise four times a year.^ „ , , u j i » .u- The whole territory of New England was comprehended at this pencil in four jurisdictions, — Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. To Massachusetts there were annexed the settlements of New Plymouth and Maine, and to Connecticut that of New Haven. The territories of these governments were divided mto constituted districts called townships, each of which was represented by one or two deputies (according to the number of freeholders) in the assembly of the State to which it be- longed Besides this elective franchise, the freeholders of each township enioved the right of appointing the municipal officers denominated select- men, by whom the domestic government of the township was exercised. The qualification of a freeholder in Massachusetts was declared by its char- ter to be an estate of the value of forty shillings per annum, or the possession of personal property to the amount of fifty pounds ; communion with tlie Congregational churches having ceased to be requisite to the enjoyment oi political privileges. In the other States of New England, the qualification was nearly the same as in Massachusetts. The expenses of government were defrayed originally by temporary assessments, to which every man was rated according to the value of his whole property ; but since the year 1645, excises, imposts, and poll taxes were in use. The judicial procedure m tiie provincial courts was conducted with great expedition, cheapness, and suii- plicity. In all trials by jury in New England, whether of civil or criminal causes, the juries were not, as in Britain, nominated by the slienffs, but elected by the inhabitants ; and these elections were conducted with the strictest precautions for preventing the intrusion of partiality or corruption.- Massachusetts and New Hampshire — the one enjoying a chartered, the other an unchartered municipal constitution — were the only two provinces of New England in which the superior officers of the domestic government were appointed by the crown, and from the tribunals of which an appeal was admitted to the king in council. As New Hampshire was too incon- sriderable to support Uie substance as well as the title of a separate govern- ment, it was the practice at this period, and for some time alter, to appoint the same person to be governor of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. In Connecticut and Rhode Island, all the officers of government (exceptmi? the members of the Court of Admiralty) were elected by the inhabitants; and so resolutely was this highly valued privilege defended, that, when King William appointed Fletcher, the governor of New York, to comm andjiie » 'UiMorp ^ tkt British Vominioru in North America. VVyuiw'- UMoty of British .fmcnta, CHAP, v.] POLITICAL CONDITION AND SENTIMENTS. 293 it»lory of British .Imttita. Connecticut militia, the province refused to acknowledge his authority.! It was not provided by the cliarters of these States that their laws should be subject to the negative, or the judgments of their tribunals to the review, of the king. But the validity of their laws was declared to depend on a very uncertain criterion, — a conformity, as close as circumstances would admit, to tlie jurisprudence of England." So perfectly democratic were the con- stitutions ot Connecticut and Rhode Island, that in neither of them was the governor suffered to withhold his formal sanction from the resolutions of the assembly. The spirit of liberty was not suppressed in Massachusetts by the encroachments of royal prerogative on the ancient privileges of the people but was vigorously exerted through the remaining and important organ of the provincial assembly. All the patronage that was vested in the royal governor was never able to create more than a very inconsiderable royalist party in this State. The functionaries whom he or whom the crown appointed de- pended on the popular assembly for the emoluments of their offices ; and ahhough the most strenuous efforts and the most formidable threats were employed by the British ministers to free the governor himself from the same dependence, they were never able to prevail with the assembly to annex a fixed salary to his office. The people and the popular authorities of Mas- sachusetts were always ready to sot an example to the other colonies of a determined resistance to the encroachments of royal prerogative. In all the provinces of North America, and especially in those of New Kngland, there existed at this period, and for a long time afterwards, a mix- ture of very opposite sentiments towards Great Britain. As the posterity of Knghshnien, the colonists cherished a warm attachment to a land which they habitually termed the Mother Country or Home,^ and to a people whom, though contemporaries with themselves, they regarded as holding an ances- tral relation to them. As Americans, their liberty and happiness, and even their national existence, were associated with the idea of escape from royal persecution in Britain ; and the jealous and unfriendly sentiments engendered hy this consideration were preserved, more particularly in Massachusetts, by the unjust abridgment of the privileges which she had originally enjoyed, and which still subsisted unimpaired in Connecticut and Rhode Island; and were maintained in every one of the provinces by the oppressive commercial pol- icy which Great Britain pursued towards them, and of which their increas- ing resources rendered them increasingly sensible and p roportionally impa- ' Wynne. Trumbull. Book V., Cflmp. II., post. " ' « There were no prescribed or customary means of nsccrtaining this conformity ; these folates not being obliged, like Massachusetts, to transmit tiicir laws to England. On a com- plaint from an inhabitunt of Connecticut, aggrieved by the operation of a particular law, it was declared by the king in council, » that their law, concerning dividing land-inheritance of an intestate, was contrary to the law of England, and void " ; but the colony paid no regard to tins declaration. Iltstory of the British Dominions in A'urth America. . ^7>' ll^y? j'^^ one indestructible mark of their origin, and their kindly remembrance of It, m tlie British names which they extended to American i>lacps. When New London, in tonnecticut, was founded in the year 1648, the assembly of the province assigned its name bv an act commencing with the following preamble : — " Whereas it hath been the commendable practice of the inhabitants of all the colonies of these parts, that, as this country hath its de- nomination from our dear native country of England, and thence is called New England, m the planters, in their first settling of most new plantations, have given names to these plan, ations of some cities and towns in England, thereby intending to keep up and leave to pos- lerity the memorial of several places of note there," «&c., " this court, considering that there Tr Ti?" " '" ""^ **'" **'*' '^"'''"•es been named in memory of the city of London," &c. "Gertua enim nromi.-sit Apollo Ambiguam telluro nova Salamina futuram." — Horace. 294 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK II. tient. The loyalty of Connecticut and Rhode Island was in no degree promoted by the preservation of their ancient charters, — an advantage which they well knew had been yielded to them with the utmost reluctance by the British government, and of which numerous attempts to divest iheni by act of parliament were made by King William and his immediate suc- cessors. Even the new charter of Massachusetts was not exempted from such attacks ; and the defensive spirit that was thus excited and kept alive by the aggressive policy of Britain contributed, no doubt, to influence, in a material degree, t\»e subsequent destinies of America. In return for the articles which they required from Europe, and of which the English merchants monopolized the supply, the inhabitants of NewEng- land could offer no staple commodity which might not be obtained more cheaply in Europe by their customers. They possessed, indeed, good mines of iron and copper, which might have been wrought with advantage ; but the manufacture of these metals in the colonies was obstructed by the dearness of labor ; and till the year 1750, the export of American iron, even to the mother country, was restrained by heavy duties. The prmcipal com- modities exported from New England were the produce and refuse of her forests, or, as it was commonly termed, lumber, and the produce of her cod- fishery. In the beginning of the eighteenth century, the annual imports into these provinces from Britain were estimated by Neal at £100,000. The exports by the English merchants consisted of a hunted thousand quintals (the quintal weighing one hundred and twelve pounds) of dried codfish, which were sold in Europe for JE 80,000, and of three thousand tons of naval stores. To the other American plantations, and to the West Indies, New England sent lumber, fish, and other provisions, valued at f 50,000 annually, An extensive manufacture of linen cloth was established about this time in New England ; — an advantage for which this country was indebted to the migration of many thousands of Irish Presbyterians to her shores about the beginning of the eighteenth century. Ship-building was from an early period carried on to a considerable extent at Boston and other seaport towns. It was the practice of some merchants to freight their vessels, as soon as they were built, with cargoes of colonial produce, and to sell the vessels in the ports where the cargoes were disposed of. The manufacture of tar was pro- moted for some time in New Hampshire by an ordinance of the assembly of this province in the beginning of the eighteenth century, which allowed the inhabitants to pay their taxes in tar rated at twenty shillings per barrel. A great part of the trade of the other American colonies was conducted by the shipping of New England. For many years both before and after the present era, specie was so scarce in this quarter of America, that paper money formed almost exclusively the circulating medium in use among the inhabitants. Bills, or notes, were circulated for sums as low as haif-a- crown.* <.,, . 1111 The progress of population in the district of Maine was remarkably slow. For many years after its first colonization, the greater number of the emi- grants to this region were not husbandmen, but traders and fishermen,— a description of persons qualified neither by their views nor their habits to pro- mote the culture and population of a desert. The soil of a great part of Maine was erroneously supposed, by the first European colonists, to be un- grateful to tillage, and incapablejof y ielding a su flicic nt supply of bi'ead tn > Neal. Bt'lknap. WynneT Rnyiial. Douglaw. Winterbotham. CHAP, v.] STATE OF RELIGION. 296 This notion produced the deficiency which it presupposed ; 13 It was to the increase and prosperity of the inhabitants/it till thn nc^rinrl nP r ko«s into them; and if he calls fur more drink than the officer thinks m ni8 julj- CIIAF. v.] SOCIETY AND MANNERS. 297 his lie opinion, they rendered every vicious and profligate excess alike danger- ous and discreditable to the perpetrator. We are assured by a well informed writer, that at this period there was not a single beggar in the whole prov- ince ; and a person of unquestioned veracity, who resided in it for seven years, relates, that during all that period he never heard a profane oath, nor witnessed an instance of inebriety.' Labor was so valuable, land so cheap, and the elective franchise so widely extended, that every industrious man light acquire a stake in the soil, and a voice in the civil administration of is country. The general diffusion of education caused the national advan- tages, which were vigorously improved, to be justly appreciated ; and a steady and ardent patriotism knit the hearts of the people to each other tind to their country. The condition of society in New England, the circumstances and habits of the people, tended to form among their leading men a character more solid than brilliant: — not (as some have imagined) to discourage the culti- vation or exercise of talent, but to repress its idle display, and train it to its legitimate and respectable end, of giving efficacy to wisdom, prudence, and virtue. Yet this state of society was by no means incompatible either with politeness of manners or with innocent hilarity. Lord Bellamont was agreeably surprised with the graceful and courteous behaviour of the gentle- men and clergy of Connecticut, and confessed that he found the manners and address which he had thought peculiar to feudal nobility in a land where this aristocratical distinction was unknown.^ From Dunton's account of his residence in Boston in 1686, it appears that the inhabitants of Massachu- setts were at that time distinguished in a very high degree by their cheerful vivacity, their hospitality, and a courtesy the more estimable that it was in- dicative of genuine benevolence.^ From the circumstances of the country, it is impossible to suppose that the manners of its inhabitants could exhibit that perfection of exterior polish and factitious elegance generated in old societies by leisure, wealth, and the necessity of refining the means of pro- curing social distinction. But if (as has been finely suggested by an inge- nious American, in reference to a later period in his country), "in the equal intercourse of all classes, the higher had some degree of polish rubbed off, the humbler were gainers by what the others lost"; and while the absence of unsuitable pretensions and mean competitions banished the most copious source of vulgarity, the diffusion of literary taste and of liberal piety sup- plied an influence amply sufficient to soften and ennoble human manners. Elegance may consist with great plainness of external circumstances ; nay, in proportion as it is unaided by exterior trapping and decoration, its origin seems the more pure and exalted, and its excellence the more genuine and durable. It was a remark of the great Prince of Conde, that the New Tes- tament displayed the most perfect model of a kind and graceful politeness that he had ever met with. Good manners consist in conducting ourselves iiicnt he can soberly bear nwny, he countermands it, and appoints the proportion, beyond wliich he cannot get one drop." Josselyn's Voyage. In 16!t4, the selectmen of the several lowiis in Massachusetts were ordered to bans up in every alehouse lists of all re/>Mt«rf tipplers and drunkards within their districts; and aleliouse-kecpors were forbidden to supply liquor to any person whose name was thus posted. Holmes. The magistrates of some of the towns of Scotland exercised similar acts of authority. An instance occurred in the town of Rulher- gleii in 1668. lire's History of liutherglen. ' Neul. Trumbull. * Trumbull. Dwieht's Travels. ' Dunton's U/e and Errors. Dunton, who was familiar with the tables of the rich in Lon- don, was yet Rtruck with the plenty and elegance of the entertainments he witnessed in Boston. VOL. I. 38 298 HISTORY OF NOETU AMERICA. [BOOK II. towards every person with a demeanour graciously expressive of the rela- tion which he holds to ourselves and others. Christianity at once allords the iustest, the most endearing, and most enlarged view ol the relations of huiiian beings to each other, and enforces by the strongest sanctions the du- ties and courtesies which these relations infer. Men devoted to the service of God like the first generations of tlie inhabitants of New Lngland, carried throuehout their lives an elevated strain of sentiment and purpose, which must have communicated some portion of its own grace and dignity to tlieir manners. ,. , • ■ i In the historical and statistical accounts of the various provinces' we con- tinually meet with instances of the beneficial influence exercised by superior minds on the virtue, industry, and happiness of particular districts and infant settlements. In no country has the ascendency of talent been greater, or been more advantageously exerted. The dangers ol Indian invasion were encountered and repelled ; the dejection and tmudity produced by them surmounted ; Uie feuds and contentions peculiarly incident to newly iormed societies of men, collected from d Jerent countries, and varying in race, habits, and opinions, were composed ;. the temptations to slothful and degeii- erate modes of living, resisted ; the self-denial requisite to the endowineni of institutions for preaching the gospel and the education o youth, reso- Uitelv practised. In founding and conducting to maturity the new seitie- ments that progressively arose, men of talent and virtue enjoyed a sphere of noble employment. They taught both by action and example. 1 hey distinguished themselves from the rest of mankind by excelling them in their common pursuits, and exercising a manifest superiority of understanding on the ordinary subjects of human reflection and consideration. Ihey exem- plified a species of dignity at once the most substantial and the most gen- erallv attainable ; which depends not on opportunities of performing remark- able deeds, but consists in discharging the ordinary duties of life with a generous elevation of sentiment and view. They read their history in the approving eyes, and improving manners and condition, of a free and happy people. Mankind have a greater aptitude to copy characters than to yield obedience to precepts ; and virtue is much more efTectually recommended to their imitation and esteem by the exhibition of zeal than by the force of argument. Let the votaries of glory remember, that, if a life thus spent c.r- cumscribe the diffusion ol the patriot's name, it extends the influence of his character and sentiments to distant generations ; and that, if posthumous fame be any thing more than a brilliant illusion, it is such distinction as this from which the surest and most lasting satisfaction will be derived. The esteem of the community was considered so valuable a part ol ihe emoluments of public office, that the salaries of all municipal officers, except those who were appointed by the crown, were, if not scanty, yet exceed- inelv moderate. In Connecticut, where the public expenditure, without being sordidly or unjustly abridged, was contracted to the greatest exact- ness of thrift, it was remarked, that the whole annual expense of its public institutions (about £ 800) did not amount to the salary of a royal governor. The slender emoluments of public offices, and the tenure of popular pleas- ure by which they were held, tended very much to exempt them from the pretensions of unworthy candidates, and those who were invested with them • See, in particular, the Histories of Trumbull and Belknnp, and the Travels oCUmgK parsim. » Trumbull. CHAP, v.] REWARDS OF PUBLIC SKRVICE— SLAVERY. 299 o Travels of Dwight, from calumny and envy. Virtue and ability were fairly appreciated ; and we frequently lind the same individuals reelected lor a long series of years to the same oflices,' and in some instances succeeded by their sons, when inheritance of merit recommended inheritance of dignity. In more than one of the settlements, the first codes of law were tlie composition of single persons ; the people desiring an eminent citizen to compose for them a body of laws, and then legislating unanimously in conformity with his sug- gestions. The estimation and the disinterestedness of public services were not unfrequently attested by legislative appropriations of public money to defray the funeral charges of men who for many years had enjoyed the highest oflicial dignities. The public respect for distinguished patriots, though not perpetuated by titles of nobility, was preserved in the recol- lection of their actions, and stimulated, instead of relaxing, the ardor of their descendants. The virtue of remarkable benefactors of their country was more diffusively beneficial from their never being disjoined from the main trunk of the community by titular distinctions. Remaining incorpo- rated with the general order of citizens, their merit more visibly reflected honor upon it, than if they had been advanced to an imaginary eminence, tending to engender in themselves or their descendants contempt for the mass of tlieir countrymen. The most lasting, if not the most effectually pernicious, evil with which New England has been afflicted, was the institution of slavery, which con- tinued till a late period to pollute all its provinces, and lingered the latest, though to a very slight extent, in the province of New Hampshire.'' The practice, as we have seen, originated in the supposed necessity created by Lidian hostilities ; but, once introduced, it was banefully calculated to per- petuate itself, and to derive accessions from various other sources. For some time, indeed, this was successfully resisted ; and instances have been recorded of judicial interposition to confine the mischief within its original limits. In the year 1645, a negro, fraudfully brought from Africa, and en- slaved within the New England territory, was liberated by the magistrates and sent back to his native country.^ No law expressly authorizing slavery was ever enacted by any of the New England States ; and such was the ' In the year 1634, the people of MossachuHetts having elected a particular individual tu the office 01 governor, in place of Winthrop, who had previously enjoyed this dignity, their conduct was censured by John Cotton, wlio, in a sermon prench»'d before the General Court, maintained thai a magistrate ought not to be reduced to the condition of a private individual, without some cause of complaint publicly established against him. This curious proposition was discussed by the Court, and " referred for fiirther consideration." Winthrop's ./«»(/•»«//. Strikingly applicable to the early magistrates of New England is the following description, by a groat German writer, of the regents or judges of I.^rael. "They were not only simple in. their manners, moderate in their desires, and free from avarice and ambition, but noble and nioenanimous men, who felt that whatever they did for their country was above all reward, and could not bo recompensed ; who desired merely to promote the public good, and who' chose rather to deserve well of their country than to be enriched by its wealth. This exalted patriotism was partly of a religious character; and these regents always conducted themselves aa the officers of God." Jahn's History of the Hebreie Commonweiiltli. * Tiic a.ssembly of this province, as early as the reign of George the First, passed a law, enacting, that, " if any man smite out the eye or tooth of his man or maid servant, or other- wise maim or disfigure them, he shall let him or her go free from his service, and shall allow such farther recompense as the Court of Quarter Sessions shall adjudge"; and that, "if any person kill his Indian or negro servant, he shall be punished with death." The slaves in this province are said to have been treated in nil respects like white servants. Warden's United States. By an act of the legislature of Rhode Island, in the year 1704, all nraroes and Indians were prohibited from being abroad after nine o'clock of the evening. Culleeliims of the Rhode h!ana Historical Societi/. Yet Rhode Island writers eagerly vaunt the superior fquity r>f the treatsncnt experienced by the Indir.sis from their countrymen. ' Belknap. 300 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK II. influence of religious and moral feeling in all these States, that, even while there was no law prohibiting the continuance of slavery, it never succeed- ed in gaining any considerable prevalence. To this end the qualities and produce of the soil cooperated with the moral sentiments of the people, who were not exposed to the same temptations to the employment oi slave labor that presented themselves in the Southern provinces of America. Bv the early laws of Connecticut, man-stealing was declared a capital crime. In the year 1703, the assembly of Massachusetts imposed a duty of four pounds on every negro imported into the province ; and nme years after, passed an act prohibiting the importation of any more Indian servants or slaves.! In Massachusetts,, the slaves never exceeded the hltieth part of the whole population ; in Connecticut and Rhode Island, when slaves were most numerous (about the middle of the eighteenth century), the proportion was nearly the same ; and in the territory that afterwards received the name of Vermont, when the number of inhabitants amounted to nine thousand, there were only sixteen persons in a state of slavery .^ 'Ihe cnielties and vices that slavery tends to produce were repressed at once by so great a preponderance of the sound over the unhealthy part of the body politic, and by the moral circumstances to which this preponderance was owing. The majority of the inhabitants were decidedly hostile to slavery ; and mi- merous remonstrances were addressed to the British government against the encouragement she afforded to it by supporting the slave-trade. When North America attained independence, the New England States adopted measures, which, in the course of a few years, eflected the abolition of this vile institution.' ' ' Mue IjiwB of Connecticut. Holmes. " In the early part of the eighteenth century Judge Sewell ofXv-tngland, came forward an a zealons advocate for the negroes. He addreBsed a nTemorial to the legislature, which he entitled The Sellng of Josej,h, and m winch he plead- cdthdr else both as a lawyer and a Christian. This memorial produced an effect upon manrb^'t particularly upon tliose of hi. own religious persuasion." Clarkson s History oj tk MolUion of the SUtte Trade. „ . . . « Warden Winterbotham's .'Imerica. Uwigtit. .... . r 3 ThTreTsastranire I hope not a disingenuous, indistinctness in the statements of some xvritlr resnectin?th^ Winterbotham, w-r.tmg ,n 1795 asserts Zt the^o^are ifo "lavef in Masichusetts. If he meant that a law had been nassed M Eounced and was gradually extinguishing slavery, he was right; but the literal sense of lus words ircontrad3by Warden's TaM^, which dfemonstrate that fifteen years after (he law rtvehav"ng produce.^ ^ ««vera thousand slaves in Massaohuset s^ DwiS relates his travels, in the end of the oiBhteenth and beginning of the nmeteenth ccn urv through every part of New England, witfiout giving us tT.e slightest reason to sup- pose t^atsucfbcSs ,w slave, existed in any one of its provinces, except when he stops to Scfcnd the legisla ufe of Connecticut from an imputation on the manner in which her share of the aboli ion of slavery had been conducted. It was actually conducted in a style the mosVtcSSrregardXl o/the iniquitous interests of the whites, and disdainfully negligent of triustriLw the negroes. Warden himself says, in one page, that " shwery no longer rxU in l^rw EngLd,^' even while, in another, he admits and seeks to palliate the occur. '•insfaire/XZJtraVto^eTail'rn?^^^^^^^ Obstinate and „ro..rac,ed are its eonso.uen- tial Tvr HatredTontempt, ani ill-usage of the negro race liaye long continued, m New i^an^andE'ofthe fiorth American communites, to survive the abolition of negro daSv within their limito. See Note XXXVIII., at the end of Vol. II. BOOK III. MARYLAND. • 1 1 Cliarter of Maryland obtained from Charles the First by Lord Baltimore. — Condition of the Roman Catholics in England. — Emi^ation of Roman Catholics to the Province. — Friendly Treaty with the Indians. — Generosity of Lord Baltimore. — Opposition and Intriaues of Clayborne. — First Assembly of Maryland, — Representative Government establisned. — Early Introduction of Negro Slavery. — An Indian War. — Clayborne's Rebellion. — Re- ligious Toleration established in the Colony. — Separate Establishment of the House of Burgesses. — Clayborne declares for Cromwell — and usurps the Administration. — Tolera- tion abolished. — Distractions of the Colony — terminated by the Restoration. — Establish- ment of a provincial Mint. — Happy State of the Colony. — Naturalization Acts. — Death of the first Proprietary. — Wise Government of his Son and Successor. — Law against im- porting Felons. — Establishment of the Church of England suggested. — Dismemberment of the Delaware Territory from Maryland. — Arbitrary Projects of James the Second. — Rumor of a Popish Plot. — A Protestant Association is formed — and usurps the Adminis- tration. — The Proprietary Government suspended by King William. — Establishment of the Church of England, and PersecMtion of the Catholics. — State of the Province. — Man- ners.— Laws. From the history of Massachusetts, and of the other New England States, which were the offspring of its colonization, our inquiry is row transferred to the origin and early progress of a colony which arose from the plantation of Virginia. In relating the history of this province, we had occasion to no- tice, among other circumstances that disquieted its inhabitants during the administration of Sir John Harvey, the arbitrary grants, obtained by certain courtiers from the crown, of large tracts of territory situated within its chartered limits. The most remarkable of these was the grant of Maryland to Lord Baltimore. Sir George Calvert, afterwards Lord Baltimore, was secretary of state to King James the First, and one of. the original members of the Virginian Company. Conceiving a high opinion of tiie value of landed property in America, and foreseeing the improvement it must derive from the progress of colonization, he employed his political influence to secure an endowment of it to himself and his family. He was a strenuous asserter of the suprem- acy of that authority from the exercise of which he expected his own enrich- ment ; and when a bill was introduced into the House of Commons for ren- dering the Newfoundland fishery free to all British subjects [1620], he opposed it, on the plea that the American territory, having been acquired by conquest, was subject exclusively to the control of the royal prerogative. The first grant that he succeeded in obtaining was of a district in Newfound- land which he named Avalon [1622], and where, at a considerable expense, he formed the settlement of Ferryland ; * but finding his expectations disap- > His colonial policy is thus contrasted by an old writer with that of Chief Justice Pophani, the promoter of the first attempts to colonize New England: "Judge Popham and Sir George Tnlvert agreed not more unanimously in the public design of planting, than they differed in the private way of it ; the first was for extirpating heathens, the second for converting them. Ho sent away the lewdest, this the soberest people ; the one was for present profit, the other for a reasonable expectation ; the first set up a common stcck, out of vvhich the people nhmli be nrovided by nronnrtions : the second left every one to provide for himself" Llovd « State IVor&ies. ■ 302 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK III. pointed by the soil and climate of this inhospitable region, he paid a visit to Vircinia, for the purpose of ascertaining if some part of its territorial re- sources might not be rendered more subservient to his advantage. [1628.] But he had now embraced and professed the tenets of the Church of Rome ; and the officers of the Virginian government, whether from jealousy of his territorial views, or from a conscientious regard to their own duty, com- pelled him after a short stay to abandon the province, by msistmg on their right to administer to him the oath of supremacy.^ This proceeding, how- ever, had no other effect than to prompt him to consummate his purpose, and pursue the very encroachment which it is probable that the Virginians apprehended. His visit to the province inspired him with a predilection for its soil and climate ; and the treatment he received Irom the provincial authorities, if it did not originally suggest, at least confirmed, his design of procuring a grant that would render him independent of their jurisdiction. Observing that the Virginians had not yet formed any settlements to the northward of the river Potomac, he resolved to apply far a royal donative of territory in tliat quarter ; and easily prevaded with Charles the h irst to bestow on him the investiture he "solicited. With the intention of promoting the aggrandizement of his own family he combined the more generous pro- ject of founding a new commonwealth, and colonizing it with the persecuted votaries of the church of Rome. But the design to which he had paved the way by an act of injustice he was not permitted himself to accomplish. His proiect, which was interrupted by his death, just when every preparation was made for carrying it into effect, was resumed by his son and successor, Cecilius, Lord Baltimore [June, 1632], in whose favor the king completed the charter that had been destined for his father.^ r^. , , ,. If the charter which shortly before was obtained from Charles by the Puritan colonists of Massachusetts may be regarded as the exercise of poli- cy the investiture which he now bestowed on Lord Baltimore was not less manifestly the expression of favor. This nobleman, like his father, was a Roman Catholic ; and his avowed purpose was to people his territory with colonists of the same persuasion, and erect an asylum m North America for the Catholic faith. By the charter which he received, it vvas declared that the grantee was actuated by a laudable zeal for extending the Christian religion and the territory of the British Empire ; and the district assigned to him and his heirs and successors was described as " that region bounded by a line drawn from Watkins's Point of Chesapeake Bay ; thence to that part of the estuary of Delaware en the north which lies under the fortieth decree, where New England is terminated; thence in a right line, by the degree aforesaid, to the meridian of the fountain of Potomac ; thence follow- ing its course by the farther bank to its confluence." In compliment to the queen, the province thus bestowed on a nobleman of the same faith with her Maiesty was denominated Maryland ; and in compliment, perhaps, to her Majesty's creed, the endowment w as accompanied with immunities more "• The formula of the oath of supremacy then in use (prescribed by Stnt. 1 Eliis., cap. 1, § lit) declared the king governor of all' his dominions and .-..untries, " aa well in all spiritual or • Hea'aaUca S or causes a. temporal." Lord Ballimpre, though an Englishman by b.rtli, w^s a p^er of Iceland, and doubtle'ss knew that Pope Urban the Eighth had but a few )^a« Zle Sesaed a bull to the Irish Catl.olics, charging them "rather to lose th«';l'veMha fn -ake that wicked and pesUlent oath of supromacv, whereby the ,re*'?j;.l''°oSi church was wrested from the hand of tho vicar of Ood Almighty. Leland a History «/ • Chalmen. Bozman's History of Maryland. BOOK in.] CHART55R C. .MARYLAND. 303 ample than any of the other colonial establishments possessed. The new province was declared to be separated from Virginia, and no longer subor- dinate to any other colony, but immediately subject to the crown of England, and dependent thereon for ever. Lord Baltimore was created the absolute proprietary of it ; saving the allegiance and sovereign dominion due to the crown. He was empowered, with the assent of the freemen or their dele- gates, whom he was required to assemble for this purpose, to make laws for the province, not repugnant to the jurisprudence of England ; and the acts of the assembly he was authorized to execute. For the population of the new colony, Hcense was given to all his Majesty's subjects to transport them- selves thither ; and the emigrants and their posterity were declared to be liegemen of the king and his successors, and entitled to the same liberties as native-born Englishmen. The proprietary was authorized, with the consent of the people, to impose all just and proper subsidies, which were declared to pertain to himself for ever ; and it was covenanted on the part of the king, that neither he nor his successors should at any time impose, or cause to be imposed, any tallages on the colonists, or on their goods, tenements, or commodities. Thus was conferred on Maryland, in perpetuity, the same fiscal benefit which had been granted to other colonies for a term of years. The territory was erected into a palatinate ; and the proprietary was invested with the same royal rights which were enjoyed by the palatine Bishop of Durham ; and authorized to appoint provincial officers, to repel invasions, and to suppress rebellions. The advowsons of all churches, which, should be established in conformity with the ecclesiastical constitutions of England, were granted to him. The charter finally provided, that, if any doubt should ever arise concerning its true meaning, the interpretation most favorable to the proprietary should always be adopted ; excluding, however, any con- siniction derogatory to the Christian religion, or to the allegiance due to the crown.' Though the sovereignty of the crown was thus reserved over the prov- ince, and a conformity enjoined between its legislation and the jurisprudence of England, no means were provided for the exercise of the royal dominion or the ascertainment of the stipulated conformity. The charter contained no definition of the method or occasions of royal interference in the muni- cipal administration, and no obligation on the proprietary to transmit the acts of assembly for confirmation or annulment by the king. In erecting the province into a palatinate, and vesting the hereditary government of it in the family of Lord Baltimore, the king exercised the highest attributes of the prerogative of a feudal sovereign. A similar trait of feudal prerogative ap- pears in the perpetual exemption from royal taxation which was assured to the colonists by the charter, and which, at a later period, gave rise to much intricate and elaborate controversy. It was maintained, when this provision became the subject of critical comment, that it ought not to be construed to import an exemption from parliamentary taxation, since the king could not be supposed to mtend to abridge the jurisdiction of the parliament, or to re- nounce a privilege that was not his own ; ^ and that, even if such construc- tion had been intended, the immunity was illegal, and incapable of restrain- ' Laws of Maryland. Hazard. ' Yet, at an ailer period, it was considered by English lawyers that an erclusion of parlia- mentary taxation, whether efToctually constituted, would be at least imported by such a clause ; and. in the Pennsylvania charter, when an exemption from customs was conceded, it waa qooiiScd by an express reserratioD of the authority of the English parliament. 304 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK HI. ine the functions of the British legislature. In addition to the general reasoning that was employed to demonstrate this illegality, reference was made to the authority of a pai liaraentary transacUon related by bir Ldward Coke who, in a debate on the royal prerogative m the year 1620, assured the Ccmmons Uiat a dispensation from subsidies, granted to certain individ- uals within the realm in the reign of Henry the Seventh, had been subse- fluently repealed by act of parliament. But even if this authority could be reinforced by supposing that every act of parliament which introduced a particular ordinance was also declaratory of the general law m all similar cases, the application of it to the charter of Maryland might, nevertheless, very fairly be questioned. Colonies, at the time of which we treat, were regarded entirely as dependencies on the monarchical branch ol the govern- ment ; the rule of their governance was the royal prerogative, except where this authority was specially limited or excluded by the terms of a royal char- ter • and the same power that gave a political being to the colony was con- sidered adequate to determine the political privileges of its inhabitants. The colonists of Maryland undoubtedly conceived that their charter bestowed on them an exemption from all taxes but such as should be imposed by their own provincial assembly ; for it discharged them for ever from the taxation of the only other organ of power that was deemed competent to exercise this authority over them. Not the least remarkable peculiarity of this char- ter is that it affords the first example of the dismemberment of an established colony, and the creation of a new one within its original limits, by the mere *^ L°ord BaWmore having thus obtained the charter of Maryland, hastened to execute the design of colonizing the new province, of which he appointed his brother, Leonard Calvert, to be governor. Of a ready resort of inhabit- ants to his domain, and especially of persons, who, like himseli, professed the faith of the Church of Rome, the state of England at that perod encour- aeed a reasonable expectation. The Roman Cathohc inhabitants of this kingdom had been for many years the objects of increasmg dread and an- tipathy to all other classes of their fellow-subjects, and had experienced from the English government a progressive severity of persecution. All the in- dulgence which the first proceedings of Queen Elizabeth seemed to betoken to them was defeated by the sentence of excommunication and deposition fulminated against herself by the head of the Catholic church, and by the repeated attempts of some of her own subjects, who were votaries of this church, to effectuate the Papal sentence by revolt and assassination ; and, notwithstanding the generous ardor displayed by the more respectable portion of the Enghsh Catholics, in defending her agamst the Armada of Spam, which was expected to restore the preeminence of their church, the progress of her reign was distinguished by the enactment ol a series of vindictive and rigorous llws against a faith which was believed by her Protestant subjects to menace her with unappeasable hatred and continual danger. Iho acces- sion of the House of Stuart to the English throne produced no less djsap- pointment to the Catholics than to the Puritans of England. The favor which the Catholics expected from the birth and the character of James he First was intercepted by the necessity of his situation ; while the hopes that the Puritans derived from his early education and habits were frustrated by the flattery J their Protestant adversaries, and his unexpected display ot rancor and aversion toward themselves. In th^; parUcu.ar KaatoPV ew [BOOK III. 1 to the general ty, reference was [1 by Sir Edward !ar 1620, assured ;o certain individ- had been subse- uthority could be lich introduced a law in all similar ght, nevertheless, ch we treat, were jch of the govern- ive, except where ns of a royal char- e colony was con- i inhabitants. The larter bestowed on imposed by Uieir • from the taxation petent to exercise liarity of this char- [)t of an established limits, by the mere Maryland, hastened svhich he appointed y resort of inhabit- himself, professed that per'od encour- inhabitants of this sing dread and an- d experienced from jtion. All the in- seemed to betoken tion and deposition church, and by the ere votaries of this assassination ; and, I respectable portion Armada of Spain, ?.hurch, the progress ies of vindictive and Protestant subjects anger. The acces- luced no less disap- ngland. The favor iracter of James the while the hopes that s were frustrated by expected display of ular hi3«ory of New BOOK UI] CONDITION OF THE ENGLISH CATHOLICS. 306 England, we have had occasion to consider the treatment which the Puritans experienced from this prince. To the application which he received from the Catholics on his accession to the crown, his answet was, that he reck- oned himself obliged to support the system which he found established in the kingdom ; and, though he was compelled to maintain and even enlarge the code of legal severity to which they were subjected, he frequently inter- posed to mitigate tlie actual infliction of its rigor, by the exercise of his royal prerogative. The tenets of the Puritans and the Catholics could hardly differ more widely than the conduct which ensued on the disappointment of their re- spective expectations. The Catholics, whose hopes had been the most cliimerical, and who plainly perceived the indulgence which the king enter- tained, and would willingly have demonstrated more unreservedly to them, were at first transported with indignation, and stimulated to revenge ; while the Puritans, whose hopes had been more reasonable, and whose expe- rience of the actual regards of their sovereign was more fraught with sub- stantial disappointment, expressed much less resentment than regret. It was long before the Puritans were provoked to resistance and civil war ; and emigration was the earliest remedial measure to which the more zealous of their number had recourse. The sentiments that were at first excited in the zealots of the Catholic persuasion were of a very different complexion ; and one of the earliest measures which they embraced was the atrocious contrivance of the Gunpowder Plot, The detection of that horrid enter- prise, though it was unable to extinguish the king's partiality to the Catholics, rendered this sentiment much less available than it might o^erwise have proved for the relief of their suffermgs. New statutes of persecution were enacted by the parliament against the Catholics ; and new disabilities, re- straints, penalties, and forfeitures were inflicted on the whole Catholic body, for an action which truly indicated only the extravagant zeal and criminal rage of a few of its most intemperate members. The assassination of Henry the Fourth, of France, which occurred not long afterwards, increased the antijiathy of all classes of English Protestants against the Ca.tholics, and, leading James to believe that nothing short of an entire devotion to the church of Rome could enable him securely to associate with its vota.rles, prompted him, from an increased apprehension of personal danger.to employ more than once his roypl proclamations to quicken, instead of restraining, the execution of the penal laws. And although the deliberate sentiments both c'' this monarch and his successor were averse .to the infliction of the extreme of legal rigor on the Catholics, yet to discerning eyes the advantage of this circumstance was more than counterbalanced by the increasing influ- ence of the Puritans in the English House of Commons, and the increasmg nropaga'ion of Puritan sentiments in the minds of the English people. Thus exposed to molestation from the existing authorities in Englaiid, and apprehending still greater sevejity from the predominance of a party gradu- ally advancing in strength and hardening in sternness of spirit, many of the Catholics were led to meditate a retreat from the scene of persecution to some vacant corner in the British dominions. The most liberal and moderate of the metnbers pf the Romish church were the most forward to embrace this purpose, and of such consisted the first emigrants to Lord Baltimore's territory. Sensible of the inveterate odium that their persuasiori had incurred in England, both from the criminal enterprises pf unworthy votaries, and vol; I. 39 z? ' ■' ' 306 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK III. from the bisotry of intolerant adversaries, ihey purposed, perhaps, to redeem its reputation, and to teach a lesson of wisdom and charity both to Catholics and Protestants, by conducting their colonial settlement on principles dia- metrically opposite to the illiberal maxims and practices with which the church of Rome was reproached, and by rendering Maryland a scene of greater liberty of conscience than was enjoyed m any other quarter of the world Whether in the commencement of their enterprise they distinctly conceived this generous design or not, they are entitled to the higher praise of halting practically realized it. . j j , The first band of emigrants, consisting of about two hundred gentlemen of considerable rank and fortune, professing the Roman Catholic faith, with a number of inferior adherents, in a vessel called The Ark and the Dove, sailed from England, under the command of Lepnard Calvert, in IMovember, 1632 ; and, after a prosperous voyage, reached the coast of Maryland, near the mouth of the river Potomac, in the beginning of the following year. 1 1633 1 The governor, as soon as he landed, erected a cross on the shore, and took possession of the country for our Saviour and for our sovereign lord the king of England. Aware that the first settlers of Virginia had given umbrage to the Indians by occupying their territory without demanding their permission, he determined to imhate the wiser and juster policy that was pursued by the colonists of New England, and to unite the new with the ancient race of inhabitants by the ties of equity, good-will, and mutiial advan- taee. The Indian chief, to whom he addressed his proposition ol occupyme a portion of the country, answered at first with a sullen affectation of indif- ference, —the result, most probably, of aversion to the measure and of con- scious inability to resist it, — that he would not bid the English go, neither would he bid them stay, but that he left them to their own discretion. The liberality and courtesy, however, of the governor's demeanour succeeded at length in conciliating the Indian's regard so powerfully, that he not only estabhshed a friendly league between the colonists and his own people, but persuaded the other neighbouring tribes to accede to the treaty, and warmly declared, / love the English so mell, that, if they should go about to kill me, if I had so much breath as to speak, I would command my people not to revenge my death ; for I know they would not do such a thing, except it were through my own fault. Having purchased the rights of the aborigines at a price which gave them perfect satisfaction, the colonists obtained pos- session of a large district, including an Indian town, which they forthwith occupied, and distinguished by the name of St. Mary's. It was not till theirnumbers had undergone a considerable increase, that they judged it necessary to frame a code of laws and establish their political constitution. 'i'hey lived for some time in a social union, resembling the domestic regi- men of a patriarchal family ; and confined their attention to the providing .)f food and habitations for themselves and the associates by whom they ex- pected to be reinforced. The lands which were ceded to them yielded a ready increase, because they had already undergone the discipline of Indian tillage ; ' and this circumstance, as well as the proximity of yirginia, which now afforded an abundant supply of the necessaries of life, enabled the colonists of Maryland to escape the ravages of that calamity which had afflicted the infancy, and nearly proved fatal to the existence, of every one of the other settlements of the English in America. So luxuriant were '"'They found fut pasture and good, and^the land was wide, and quiet, and peaceable; for inev of Ham tiad dwelt there of old." ' ^' IChron. iv 40. BOOK III.] OPPOSITION OF VIRGINIA. 307 t, and peaceable ; for their crops, that, within two years after their arrival in the province, they exported ten thousand bushels of Indian corn to New England, for the pur- chase of salted fish and other provisions. The tidings of their safe and conn- fortable establishment, conspiring with the uneasiness experienced by the Roman Catholics in England, induced considerable numbers of the profes- sors of this faith to follow the original emigrants to Maryland ; and no efforts of wisdom or generosity were spared by Lord Baltimore to promote the population and the happiness of the colony. The transportation of people and of necessary stores and provisions, during the first two years, cost him upwards of forty thousand pounds. To every emigrant he assigned fifty acres of land in absolute fee ; and with a liberality unparalleled in that age, he united a general recognition of Christianity as the established faith of the land, with an exclusion of the political predonnnance or superiority of any one particular sect or denomination of Christians. This wise administration soon converted a desolate wilderness into a flourishing commonwealth, en- livened by industry and adorned by civilization. It is a proof at once of the success cf his policy, and of the prosperity and happiness of the colo- nists, that, a very few years after the first occupation of the province, they granted to their proprietary a large subsidy of tobacco, in grateful acknowl- edgment of his liberality and beneficence.* Similar tributes continued, from time to time, to attest the merit of the proprietary and the attachment of the people. The wisdom and virtue by which the colonization of the new province was signalized could not atone for the arbitrary encroachment by which its terri- tory had been wrested from the jurisdiction of Virginia ; and while it is im- possible not to regret the troubles which this circumstance engendered, there is something not altogether dissatisfactory to the moral eye in beholding the evil fruits of usurpation. Such lessons are most agreeable, when the requital which they exhibit is confined to the immediate perpetrfitors of wrong ; but they are not the less salutary, when the admonition they convey is derived from punishment extended to the remote accessories, who have consented to avail themselves of the injustice of the actual or principal delinquents. The king had commanded Sir John Harvey, the governor of Virginia, to render assistance and encouragement to Lord Baltimore in establishing himself and his associates in Maryland. But though the governor and his eouncil de- clared their readiness, in humble submission to his Majesty's will, to maintain a good correspondence with their unwelcome neighbours, they determined at the same time to defend the rights of the prior settlement. The planters of Virginia presented a petition against the charter of Lord Baltimore ; and hoth parties were admitted to discuss their contradictory pretensions before the privy council. [July, 1633.] After vainly endeavouring to promote an amicable adjustment, the council decreed that Lord Baltimore should retain his charter, and the petitioners their remedy at law, — a remedy which probably had no existence, and for which the Virginians never thought it worth while to inquire. For the prevention of farther differences, it was enjoined by the council that free and mutual commerce should be permitted between the two colonies ; that neither should harbour fugitives from the other, nor commit any act that might provoke a war with the natives ; and that each should on all occasions assist and befriend the other in a manner becoming fellow-subjects of the same empire. ' Oidmixon. Chnimers. Bozman. 308 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK HI. But althoueh the Virginian planters were thus compelled to withdraw their ODDOsition, and the Virginian government to recognize the independence of Maryland, the establislmient of this colony encountered an obstinate resist- ance from interests far less entitled to respect ; and Uio validity of Lord Baltimore's grant was disputed with much violence and pertinacity by a nrior, but less legitimate, intruder. This competitor was William Clayborne, a member of Sir John Harvey's council, and secretary of the province of Virginia ; and the friendship between Harvey and this individual may per- haps account for a singularity in the conduct of that tyranmc^al governor, and explain why, on one occasion at least, he was disposed to delend the inter- ests of the Virginian planters in opposition to the arbitrary policy of the kiujr. \bout a year before tlie date of Lord Baltimore's charter, the kmg granted to Clayborne a license under the sign manual to traflic in those parts of America not comprehended in any preceding patent of exchjsive trade; and in corroboration of this" license, Harvey superadded to it _ a commission in similar terms under the seal of his own autliority. Tho object of Clayborne and his associates was, to monopolize the trade ot the Chesapeake; to which end they had established a small trading settlement in the isle of Kent, which is situated in the very centre of Maryland, and which Clayborne now persisted in claiming as lus own, and refused to subject to the newly erected lurisdiclion. The unreasonableness of a plea, wh.ch engrafted a territorial grant upon a mere commercial license, did not prevent the government of Virginia from countenancing Clayborne, who, encouraged by the approbation thus afforded to his pretensions, scrupled not to support them by acts of prodigate intrigue and even sangubary violence. He mfuaed a spirit of in- Lbordination into the inhabitants of the isle of Kent, and scattered jeal- ousies among the Indian tribes, some of whom he w^as able to persuade that Uie new settlers were Spaniards and enemies to the Virgmians. Lord Balti- more, now perceiving the necessity of a vigorous effort m defence of his rights, commanded the governor to vindicate the proymcial jurisdiction, and maintain an entire subordination within its limits. L^ept., 1634. j lill this emergency, the colony had subsisted without the formal establishment of municipal instiluUons ; but the same occasion that now called forth the powers of government tended also to develope Us o gamzation. Accord- ingly, in the commencement of the foUowing year [Feb., 1635], was con- vened the first popular assembly of Maryland, consisttng of the whole body of the freemen, by which various regulations were framed for the mainte- nance of good order in the province. One of the statutes of this assembly ordained that all perpetrators of murder and other folomes should incur the same punishments that were appointed for such offences by the laws ot Eng- land ; an enactment, which, besides its general utility, was necessary to pave the way to the judicial proceedings that were contemplated against Clay- borne.' This individual, still persisting in his outrages, was mdicted soon after for murder, piracy, and sedition. Finding that thpse who had encour- aged his pretensions left him unaided to defend his crunes, he fled from jenal inquisition, and his estate was confiscated. Against this adjudication lie appealed to the king, and petitioned at the same U«ie for the renewal o hifi license and the grant of an independent territofy adjoining to tie islo ot Kent. By tl>e assistance of powerful friends and the 4c?.tetrty ol his repre- sentations, he very nearly obtained a complete tri«i«pfe.«wr his antagonists, and eventually prevailed so far a& to uivolvu L,Oid, Baiumorc and die co*- f, BOOK III] LEGtISLATIVE CODE. 309 nists of Maryland in a controversy thai was not terminated for several years At length the Lords Commissioners of the Colonies, to whom the matter was referred, pronounced a final sentence, dismissing Clayborne's appeal, and adjudging that the whole territory belonged to Lord Baltimore, and that no plantation or trade with the Indians, unsanctioned by his permission, could be lawfully established within the limits of his patent. Thus divested of every semblance of legal title, Clayborne exchanged his hopes of victory for schemes of revenge ; and watching with considerate hate every oppor- tunity of hostile intrigue that the situation of the colony might present to him, he was unfortunately enabled, at an after period, to wreak the ven- geance of disappointed rapacity upon his successful competitor.^ The colony meanwhile continued to thrive, and the numbers of its inhab- itants to be augmented by copious emigration from England. With the m- crease of the people and the extension of the settlements to a gr3ater dis- tance from St. Mary's, the necessity of a legislative code became apparent ; and Lord Baltimore, having composed a body of laws for the province, transmitted them to his brother, with directions to propose them to the as- sembly of the freemen. The second assembly of Maryland was in conse- quence convoked by the governor, with the expectation, doubtless, of an immediate ratification of the suggestions of the proprietary. [Jan., 1637.] But the colonists, along with a sincere attachment to Lord Baltimore, enter- tained a just and liberal conception of their own political rights ; and while they made an ample provision for the support of his government, they re- fused to accept his legislative propositions. It was in vain that the governor urged upon them that the provisions of this code were confessedly salutary and judicious, and that it was the wish of the proprietary that the propo- sition of all laws should originate with himself, and that they should restrict their legislative functions to the acceptance or rejection of his suggestions. This was an arrangement which they were determined not to admit. In place of Lord Baltimore's code, they prepared a collection of ordinances for themselves. The province was divided into baronies and manors. Various regulations were enacted for securing popular liberty, for ascertain- ing the tides to landed property, and for regulating the course of intestate succession. A law was passed for the support of the proprietary govern- ment ; and an act of attainder against Clayborne. In almost all the laws, where prices were stated or payments prescribed, tobacco, and not money, was assumed as the measure of value. The first colonists of Maryland de- voted themselves as eagerly as the Virginians did at first to the cultivation of this valuable commodity. With indiscriminate desire to enlarge their contributions to the market, and obtain a price for the whole produce of their fields, they refused to accede to the regulations by which the planters of Virginia improved the quality by diminishing the quantity of their supply ; and this dissension was productive of much ill-humor and jealousy between the two colonies, and tended to keep alive the original disgust which the establishment of Maryland had inspired in Virginia. The third assembly of Maryland, convoked two years afterwards [Feb., 1639], was rendered memorable by the introduction of a representative body into the provincial constitution. The population of the province had derived so large an increase from recent emigrations, that it was impossible for all the freeholders to continue longer to exercise the righ t of legislation by per- "" ' Oldinixon. Chalmers. Hazard. Bozman. 310 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK 111. sonal attendance. An ordinance was consequently established for the elec- tion of representatives, and the modification of the house of assembly. It was now ordained, that the persons, elected in pursuance of writs issued, should be termed burgesses, and should supply the place of the freemen who chose them in the same manner as the representatives of the people in the parliament of England ; and in conjunction with a smaller body, convoked by the special nomination of the proprietary, together with the governor and secretary, should constitute the General Assembly. But though the election of representatives was thus introduced for the convenience of the people, they were not restricted to this mode of exercising their legislatorial rights ; for, by n very singular provision, it was ordained that all freemen declining; to vote at the election of burgesses should be entitled to assume a personal share in the deliberations of the assembly. The several branches of the legislature were appointed to meet in the same chamber ; and all acts as- sented to by the united body were to be deemed of the same force as if the proprietary and every one of the freemen had been personally present. It was not long before the people were sensible of the advantage that the demo- cratic part of the constitution would derive from the separate establishment of its appropriate organ ; but, although this innovation was suggested by tlic burgesses very shortly afterwards, the form of convocation that was now adopted continued to be retained by the legislature of ^laryland till the year 1650. Various acts were passed in this assembly for the security of liberty, and the administration of justice, according to the laws and customs of Eng- land. All the inhabitants were required to take the oath of allegiance to the king ; the prerogatives of the proprietary were distinctly recognized ; and the great charter of England was declared to be the measure of the liberties of the colonists. To obviate the inconveniences that were apprehended from the almost exclusive attention of the people to the cuUivation of tobacco, it was judged expedient to enjoin tlie planting of corn by law. A tax was im- posed for the supply of a revenue to the jiroprietary. But notwithstanding this indication ol prosperity, and the introduction of representative govern- ment, that the colonists were not yet either numerous or wealthy may be inferred from the imposition of a general assessment to erect a water-mill for the use of the province. Slavery seems to have been established in INIary- land from its earliest colonization ; for an act of this assembly describes ~Chalniers. ^nU,Boo\s. I., Chap. II. 312 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOO^ IIL strong sense of the rights of men is no way incompntihlc witlj a just impres- sion of tiieir duties. The wise and friendly policy which the governor pur- sued towards the Indians had hitherto preset /ed a peace wliich proved highly beneficial to the colony in its infant state. But, unfortunately, the intrigues of Clayborne had inlected the minds of these savages with a jeal- ous suspicion, which was nourished by the visibly increasing strength ol the colony, and which the immoderate avidity of some of the planters tended to extend and inflame. The rapid multiplication of the stranger race sccnied to threaten the extinction of the aboriginal inhabitants ; and the augmented value, which the territory they sold to the colonists had subsequently derived from the industry and skill of its new nroprietors, easily suggested to their envy and ignorance the angry surmise that they had been defrauded in the original vendition. This injurious suspicion was confirmed by the conduct of various individuals among the planters, who, without the authority of gov- ernment, procured additional grants of land from the Indians,, for considera- tions which were grossly inadequate, and which, upon reflection, inspired the (lefraiided vendors with anger and discontent.* '1 hese causes at length pro- duced the calamity which the governor had earnestly labored to avert. An Indian war broke out in the beginning of the year 1642, and continued for two years after to administer its accustomed evils, without the occurrence of any decisive issue, or the attainment of any considerable advantage by either party. Peace having been with some difficulty reestablished [1644], the provincial assembly enacted laws for the prevention of the more ob- vious causes of complaint and animosity. All acquisitions of land from the aborigines, without the consent of the proprietary, were pro'nouncec' deroga- tory no less to his dignity and rights than to the safety of the conii..anity, and therefore void and illegal. It wjis declared a capital felony to kidnap or .sell any friendly Indians ; and a high misdemeanour to supph them with spirituous liquors, or with arms or ammunition. Partly by these regulations, hut chiefly by the humane and prudent demeanour of the officers who con- ducted the proprietary government, the peace that was now concluded be- tween the colonists and the Indians subsisted, without interruption, for a considerable space of time.** But the province was not long permitted to enjoy the restoration of its tranquillity. Scarcely was the Indian war concluded, when the intrigues of Clayborne exploded in mischiefs of far greater magnitude and more lasting ' Similar causes of offence undoubtedly begot or promoted miiny of tlie wars between the Indians and the other oolonics. " Such things," snys the historian of New Hampshire, " were indeed disallowed by the government, and would always have been punished, if the Indians had mode complaint ; but they knew only the law of retaliation, and when an injury was in- flicted, it was never forgotten till revenged." The fraud, or supposed fraud, of an individual might, at the distaneo of many years from its perpetration, involve the whole colony to which he belonged in an Indian war. lielknap. "The Indians," says a pious, accurate, and impartial writer, "need not much provocalinn to begin a war wilh the whiile people : a trifling occurrence is readily laid hold of as a .fufliciont They frequently first determine upon war, and iJien wait a <-onvenient opportunity to find reasons (or it. Sometimes they liuvo sold districts of land for the puriinse oi disputing the transaction and finding in the dispute a desired occasion of war." Loskiel's History of pretence. T to find n the trans the, Mmarinn Missions. " Unprincipled and avaricious traders sometimes resided among the Indians ; and, that tlicy niigiit tne more easily cheat them, first filled the savages drunk, and tlien took all manner of advantage of them in the course of traffic. When the Indian recovers from his fit of drtmkcn- ness, and finds himself robbed of his treasures, for procuring which he liad, perhaps, hunted a whole year, he is filled with fury, and spurns every check upon his vengeance." Hewit's IlisUny of South Carolina and Georgia. DOOK 111] ACT CONCERNING RELIGION. 313 cti: malignity. The activity of this entorprising and vindictive spirit had been rhcd hitherto by tlio deference which he affected to the nleasiire of the hivated his interest so successfully, that, in the the king the appointment of treasurer of Vir- But the civil wars which now broke out in Knglaiid, leaving IJritisli court, at 1642, he re ar giiua for life.' hill) no longer any thing to hope from royal patronage, he made no scruple to declare himself a partisan of the popular cause, and to espouse the lor- tiiiics of a party f'\im whose predominance he expected the gratification at once of his aihoition and his revenge. In conjunction with his former asso- ciates in the isle of Kent, and aided !)y the contagious ferment of the times, lio kindled a rebellion in Maryland in the beginning of the year ini.'). Calvert, destitute of forces suitable to this emergency, was constrained to lake shelte' in Virginia ; and the vacant government was instantly Jippro- piiatcd by t'le insurgents, and exercised with a violence characteristic ol the ascendency of an unpopular and unprincipled faction. Notwithstanding the most vigorous exertions of the governor, seconded by the well-affected part of the community, the revolt was not suppressed till the autumn of the fol- lowing year. [August, 1646.] The afflictions of that calamitous period are indicated by a statute of the assembly, which recites ''that the province has l,.cn wasted by a miserable dissension and unhappy war, which has been closed by the joyful restitution of a blessed peace." To promote the gen- eral tranquillity and confidence, an act of pardon and oblivion was passed, from the benefits of which only a few leading agitators were excepted ; and nil suits were f^isallowed for wrongs perpetrated dining the revolt. But the additional tributes which it was found necessary to exact from the people were consequences of the insurrection that did not so soon pass away ; and three years afterwards [1649], a temporary impost often shillings on every liinulrcd-weight of tobacco exported in Dutch vessels was granted to the proprietary, — the one half of which was expressly appropriated to the liqui- dation of expenses incurred for tlio recovery and defence of the province, — while the other was declared to be conferred on him for the purpose of enabling him the better to provide for the public safety in time to come.^ In die assembly by which the imposition of this tribute was decreed, a magnanimous attempt was made to preserve the peace of the colony, by extinguishing within its limits one of the most fertile sources of human strife and animosity. It had been proclaimed from the very beginning by the • proprietary, that religious toleration should constitute one of the fundamental principles of the social union over which he presided ; and the assembly of the province, composed chiefly of Roman Catholics, now proceeded, by a memorable Jict concerning Religion, to interweave this noble princi|)le into its legislative constitutions. The statute commenced with a preamble, de- claring that the enforcement of the conscience had been of dangerous conse- (juenct in those countries wherein it had been practised ; and ordained, that, thereafter, no persons professing to believe in Jesus Christ should be mo- lested on account of their faith, or denied the free exercise of their particular modes of worship ; that persons molesting any individual, on account of his religious tenets or ecclesiastical practices, should pay treble damages to the party aggrieved, and twenty shillings to the proprietary ; that those who should reproach their neighbours with opprobrious names or epithets, infer- ring religious distinctions, should forfeit ten shillings to the pe rsons so in- '^Ilaxard. ' Preface to Bacon's Ijnes. Ch.-ilmcrs. VOL. I. 40 AA 314 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK III, suited ; that any one speaking reproachfully against the blessed Virgin or the apostles should forfeit five pounds ; and that blasphemy against God bhould be punished with death.^ By the enactment of this statute, the Catholic planters of Maryland procured to their adopted country the dis- tineuished praise of being the first of the American States in which tolera- tion was established by law ;'' and graced their peculiar faith wuh the sig- nal and unwonted merit of protecting those rights of conscience which no other Christian association in the world was yet sufficiently humane and en- lightened to recognize. It is a striking and instructive spectacle, to behold at this period the Puritans persecuting their Protestant brethi n in New England; the Protestant Episcopalians inflicting similar rigor and injustice on the Puritans in Virginia ; and the Catholics, against Nvhorn all the others were combined, forming in Maryland a sanctuary where Christians of every denomination might worship, yet none might oppress, and vvhere even Prot- estants sought refuge from Protestant intolerance. If the dangers to which the Maryland Catholics must have felt themselves exposed, trom the dis- favor with which they were regarded by the other colonial communities in their vicinity, and from the ascendency which their most zealous adver- saries, the Presbyterians, were acquiring in the councils oi the parent state, may be supposed -to account in some degree for their cultivation of a prin- ciple of which they manifestly needed the protection, the surmise will de- tract very little from the merit of the authors of this excellent law. The disposition of mankind towards moderation has ever needed adventitious support ; and Christian sentiment is not depreciated by the supposition that deems it capable of deriving an accession to its purity from the experience of persecution. It is by divine grace alone that the fire of persecution thus sometimes tends to refine virtue and consume the dross incident even to this celestial principle in its coexistence with human frailty ; and the progress of our history will abundantly demonstrate, that, without such overruling a-ency, the commission of injustice naturally tends to its onvti reproduction, and that the experience of it engenders a much stronger disposition to re- taliate its severities than to sympathize with hs victims. It had been happy for the credit of the Protestants, whose hostility perhaps promoted die moderation of the Catholics of Maryland, if they had imitated the virtue thus elicited by apprehension of their own violence and injustice. But, unor- tunatelv, a great proportion even of those fugitives who were constrained to seek shelter among the Catholics from the persecutions of their own Prot- . estant brethren carried with them into exile the same intolerance ol which they had themselves already been the victims ; and the Presbyterians and other dissenters, whonow_bcgaiUo fl ock in considerable numbers froln^lr^ i Rhode'llfand was at this time the only one of the Protestant Bcftlements in «hi.h tl,c nrinrinle of Sntion was r.Tn,;ni/.od ; an/nvon there Roman Cathol.rs were excluded from f.ar"icrpati«V^i tl"e polilieal rights that were enjoyed hy the rest of the connnun. y . %''.^ I'rutbn thus early established in Maryland is one of the most remarkable Mm the no, Irn h sturv of the^Catholic ehurch. if this ehurrh (w nch obtained en,p.,ral power oL Sore nnvo^lhcr, and had been aecnstomed to excreisc it dur.n|? « peno.! when .t w.s universa Iv .rfciated vhku fierce, vindictive spirit) supplied the first Cbr.sl.an porscntors ^iralts^.rpl^ tlu^^f^^^^^ professors and practitioners of toleration " One is asto.nsluMi says I RTerU n ///»<«ryV JImericn, Bof.k V.), " to llnd a Hpun.sh monk "f l-^'Xtr'"' :Zurl amon, the rst ad^,<^tes against persecu..n.md in e^ N" No 10 ^hoSteen^^iy is entitled to Veproich another with intoleran.e 'rh,s -f;- ■"f-J- jeet |.irre^ived the most admirable illustration from Mr. Ilallam in his ConmuUonul //«• jee lory of England BOOK HI] ACTS FOR THE SECURITY OF POLITICAL FREEDOM. 3^5 ginia to Maryland,' gradually formed a Protestant confederacy against the interests of the original settlers ; and, with ingratitude still more odious than their injustice, projected the abrogation not only of the Catholic worship, but of every part of that system of toleration under whose sheltering hospitality they were enabled to conspire its downfall. But though the Catholics were thus ill requited by their Protestant guests, it would be a mistake to suppose that the calamities that subsequently desolated the province were produced by the toleration which her assembly now established, or that the Catholics were really losers by this act of justice and liberality. From the disposition of tlie prevailing party in England, and the state of the other colonial settle- ments, the catastrophe that befell the liberties of the Maryland Cathohcs could not possibly have been evaded ; and if tlie virtue they now displayed was unable to avert their fate, it exempted them at least from the reproach of deserving it ; it ridoubled the guilt and scandal incurred by their adver- saries, and achieved for themselves a reputation more lasting and honorable than political triumph or temporal elevation. From the establishment of religious liberty [1650], the assembly of Mary- land extended its attention to the security of political freedom : and in the following year the constitution of this provinc? received that structure, which, with some short interruptions, it continued to retain for more than a century after. So early as the year 1642, the burgesses who were then elected members of the existing assembly expre;.sed a desire " that they might be separated, and sit by themselves, and have a negative." Their proposition was disallowed at that time ; but now, in conformity with it, a statute was enacted, ordaining that members called to the assembly by special writ of the proprietary should form the upper house, whilu chose who were chosen by their fellow-colonists should form the lower house ; and that all bills approved by the two branches of the legislature and ratified by the governor should be acknowledged and obeyed as the laws of the province. An act of recognition of the rights of Lord Baltimore was passed in the same ses- sion. The assembly declared itself bound by the laws both of God and man to acknowledge his just title by virtue of the grant of the late King Charles of England ; it accepted his authority, and obliged its constituerits and their posterity for ever 10 defend him and his heirs in his seigniorial privileges and preeminences, so far as they should not infringe the just lib- erties of the fr ae-born subjects of England ; and it besought him to accept this act, as a testimony to himself and his posterity of its fidelity and thank- fulness for the manifold benefits which the colony had derived from him. Blending a due regard to the rights of the people with a just gratitude to the proprietary, the assembly at the same time enacted a law prohibiting the imposition of taxes without the consent of the freemen, and declaring in its preamble, " that, as the proprietary's strength doth consist in the affections of his people, so on them he doth rely for his supplies, not doubting of their duty and assistance on all just occasions." ^ In prosecution of its patriotic labors, the assembly framed laws for the relief of the poor, and the encour- agement of agriculture and commerce ; ^ and a short gleam of tranquil pros- perity preceded the calamities which tlie province was fated again to experi- ence from the evil genius of Clayborne and the mischievous interference of the parent state. * t-. 1 j i i The parliament, having now established its su premacy in England, had 1 niHmiicon WvniuT Pitkin. * Lam. ' Ibid- nl m HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOR HI. leisure to extend its views beyond the Atlantic ; and if the people of Vir- cinia were exposed by their political sentiments to a coUision with this for- midable power, the inhabitants of Maryland were not less obnoxious to its bicotrv from their rehgious tenets. This latter province was not denounced bv the parliamentary ordinance of 1650 as in a state of rebellion, like Vir- einia • but it was comprehended in that part of the ordmance which declared That the plantations were, and of right ought to be, dependent on England, and subject to her laws. In prosecution of the object and purpose ol this ordinance, certain commissioners, of whom Clayborne was one, were ap- pointed to reduce and govern the colonies within the Bay ol Chesapeake, r September, 1651]. In Virginia, where resistance was attempted, the exist. inc administration was instantly suppressed : but as the proprietary of Mary, land professed his willingness to acknowledge the parliamentary jurisdiction, the commissioiiers were compelled (in conformity witHf their instructions) to respect his rights [1652] ; and he was suffered to rule the province, though as a dependent functionary of the keepers of the liberties of -^ngland.i But Clayborne was not to be thus deterred from availing hunsell ot an oppor- tunity so favorable to the gratification of his malignity ; and, unfortunately, his designs were favored by the distractions in Kngland that preceded the elevation of Cromwell to the protectorate, and by the disunion which began to prevail in the province from the pretensions oi the I rotcstant. exiles who had recently united themselves to its population. Ever the ally of the strongest party, Clayborne hastened to espouse the fortunes ot Cromwell [1653], whose triumph he easily foresaw ; and inflamed the dissensions of the prov- ince, by encouraging the Protestants to combine the pursuit of their om ascendency with the recognition of the protectoral government, llie con- tentions of the two parties were at length exasperated to the extremity of civil war • and after various skirmishes, which were fought with alternate success, the Catholics and the other partisans of the proprietary were de- feated in a decisive engagement [1654], the governor deposed, and the admini.^tration usurped by Clayborne and his associates. Mthouf'h the victorious party did not consider themselves warranted ex- pressly to'^deny the title of the proprietary, they made haste to signalize their triumph by abolishing his institutions. Fuller and Preston, \v-liom Clayborne appointed I .lulv] commissioners for directing the affairs of Mary and under his Highness the Lord Protector, convoked a provincial assembly [Octo- ber] • and some of the persons who were elected burgesses having rokised to serve in a capacity which they deemed inconsistent with their obligations to Lord Baltimore,^' the legislative power was the more exclusively appro- priated by the partisans of innovation. The assembly having, as a prehmi- nary mca'sure, passed an act of recognition of CromwelVs just title and au- thority, proceeded to frame an ordinance concerning religion, which dero- cnted not less signally from the credit of the Protestant cause than from the justice and liberality of the Protecior'sadministration.'' % tins oicbniuKo '"* lUrnu-^l'rtfncr. Tliurlow'.* Slate Papers " » Baron's -rVc/jr*. » Chiilim.rs. * C'o W..1I -m at lon.t ol,n..xiouB to th.' .•hnrgo of Inning suflor...! t u, fr.nn.p , o 1ms jnv nmt of h?ProU.«tnnt <•.....« to be .ignar.'/.ul by tbfi ext n.t.on of u tol..n,t.on . stal.lish.,! U 1 , n Cat . .Ii.«. Tbnt bo inrito.l, or even upprov.ul, tl.is pro«-e.l.ns .. bv no n.cnns n^ • tm In t ■ roronlH of tb. provin.e, tb.To is ., b-U.-r fr^.... Imn to hs<..nun..s.o.M>rs .l,>™g b m .to b..HV ibrnmolvo. about rdipion, but to ...ttl.. tb. .-.v.l Rovornnu-nt tliabno^^ YH nlvriing to Ibo govornor nnd roum-il of Virginin, he rrprombcd tbern wnb nn,mt hnvin..yv;n'!=o«nten>.n,e nnd m.pport to tbe Cntbobc ...terrst ;n Mary Inn.l _H«';k. .l" - twtorVoi much more distinguished by Ib-j vigor ul hi* conauct man l!.c pt.-r»pic«.t; ol ... *'■-«- i i BOOK III.] OVERTHROW OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. ai7 it was declared that no persons professing the doctrines of the Romish church could be protected in the province by the laws of England formerly estab- lished and yet unrepealed, or by the protector^l government ; and that such as professed faith in God by Jesus Christ, though dissenting from the doc- trine and discipline generally established in the British dominions, should not be restrained from the exercise of their religion ; " provided such liberty be not extended to popery or prelacy ; or to such as, under the profession of Christianity, practise hcentiousness." ' Thus the Roman Catholics were deprived of the protection of law in the commonwealth which their own, in- dustry and virtue had reared, and by those Protestants to who.m their charity had given a country and a home. This unworthy triumph was hailed by the zealots against popery in London, where a book was pubUshed soon alter under the title of Babyloix's Fall in Maryland. But the Catholics were not the only parties who experienced the severity of the new government. All die Protestant Dissenters were exposed more or less to persecution ; and a number of Quakers, having resorted some time after to the province, and begun to preach against judicial oaths and military pursuits, were denounced l)y the government as heretical vagabonds, and underwent the punishment of tloe;ging and . imprisonment.'' As Lord Baltimore's right to the proprietariship of the province was MJU outwardly recognized, the commissioneis, either deeming it requisite to the formality of their proceedings, or more pi'^bably studying to embroil liim will) the Protector, demanded his assent to the changes which were tlays, in- troduced. But he firmly refused to sanction either the deposition of, lus governor, or any one of the recent measures of the coministsionersaBdi their adiierent? ; and declared in particular, with respect to the free exercise of religious worship, that he never wpyld assent to the repesl of a law which protected the most sacred rights of mankind- The commissioners, with.ex- [Messious of surprise either hypocritical or ridiculous, coinplflined of his.Cioa- tuinacy to Cromwell, to whom they continued from time to time to tra,iwnit tliemost elaborate representations of the tyranny, 6i^o.<»>j/, and royalist pc-odi- lections of Lord Bahimore, and the expediency of depriving him of .ihe |Hoprietariship of the province.^ [1655.] But all tl^ir representations .were ineffectual. Lord Baltinjore was allowed by Cromwell to retain, at ieast nominally, the rights which he was practically debarred from enjoying ;, and the commissioners remained in the province to exercise, .the tyranny .and bigotry of which they falsely accused him. Their conduct, as intemperate a.s their counsels, disturbed the peace of the colony, and rendered their, owp power insecure. The people, lately so tranquil and happy, were now a >prey to all those disorders wliich never fail to result from religions persecution embittered by the triumph of party in civil contention. Inthis situation. an insurrection was easily raised by .losias Fendal, a restless and. profligate .ad- venturer, destined by his intrigues to become the Clayborne of the J(iext generation, and who now sought occasion to indulge his iwtural tiurbulence liiclion; and liis correspondents wore sometimes unable to discover the meaning of his let- ter. In one of his communications to the Mary land commisgion^re, )v«;fio(l liini r^pfijiiapd- ing tlicm for Imviiig misunderstood his former directions. Clialmiers. Hazard. Ke.gcftpi^, nil many occasions, to have studied an ambiguity of language, that left him free to apprSVe or ilinapprove the moaeurcu of his olllcers, according to the succt^ss that might attend them. ' ' Ijivs. , ^ Chalmers. ' Langfi)rd'8 Ii(futation of a Scnndajn Clinlmers. tiazard. The only copy library of Ms ; QJ^^sera. ■^ v;namicnt. ot Langford's tract that I havojeyer me<;witn vvaa l|(,|(i0 AA 318 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK III, under pretence of supporting the rights of the proprietary and the original constitution of the province. [1656.] This insurrection was productive of very unhappy consequences to the colony. It induced Lord Baltimore to repose an ill-grounded confidence in Fendal ; and its suppression was at- tended with increased severities on the part of the commissioners, and ad- ditional exactions from the people.^ • .u- w . , The affairs of the colony remained for two years longer in thisllistracted condition ; when at length the commissioners, disgusted with the disorders which they had produced, but were unable to compose, and finding all dieir efforts unavailing to procure the abrogation of Lord Baltimore s tide, to which they ascribed the unappeasable discontent of a great part oi the popu- lation, surrendered .the municipal administration into the hands of Fendal, who had been appointed governor by the proprietary. [1658. J But this measure, so far from restoring the public quiet, contributed to aggravate the mischiefs which infested the province, by giving scope to the machinations of that unprincipled agitator, whose habitual restlessness and impetuosity had been mistaken for attachment to the proprietary systeni. No sooner had he convoked an assembly [Februaiy, 1659], than with unblushing treachery he surrendered into the hands of the burgesses the trust which Lord Baltimore had committed to him, and accepted from them a new commission as gov ernor : and the burgesses, at his instigation, dissolved the upper house and assumed to themselves the whole legislative power of the state. I endal and his associates were probably encouraged to pursue this lawless course by the distractions of the Enghsh commonwealth that followed the .death of the Protector. Their administration, which was chiefly distinguished by the imposition of heavy taxes, and a bitter persecution of the Quakers ^as hap- pily soon terminated by the restoration of Charles the Second [1660] ; when Philip Calvert, producing a commission to himself from the proprietary, and a letter from the king commanding all his officers and other subjects m Maryland to assist in the reestablishment of Lord Baltimore s jurisdiction, found his authority universally recognized and peaceably obeyed. 1< endal was now tried for high treason, and found guilty ; but the clemency of the proprietary prevailed over his resentment ; and he granted the convict a par- don, qualified by the imposition of a moderate fine, and a declaration of his perpetual incapacity of public trust. This lenity was very ill-requited by its worthless object, who was reserved by farther intrigues and treachery to disturb at an after period the repose of the province. [1661 .] His accom- plices, upon a timely submission, were pardoned without even undergoing a Trial. The recent usurpations were passed over in prudent silence, and buried in a generous oblivion ; toleration was forthwith restored ; and the inhabitants of Maryland once more experienced the blessings of a mild gov- ernment and internal tranquillity." Happily for mankind, amidst the contemions of political factions and the revolutions of government, there generally subsists, in every community, an under-current of peaceful and industrious life, which pursues its course undisturbed by the tempests that agitate and deform the upper region o. society. Notwithstanding the disorders to which Maryland was so long a prey, the province had continued to increase in population, industry, and weahh ; and at the epoch of the Restoration it contained about twelve thousand inhabitants.' The reestablishm ent of a humane government and ' Luot. Chalmera. ' Ibid. ' ChoSmcn. BOOK III] ' GENERAL PROSPERITY. — ALSOP'S ACCOUNT. 319 issioners, and ad- eeneral subordination, however, had manifestly the effect of quickening the march of prosperity ; for, about five years after the present epoch, we find tlie population increased to sixteen thousand persons. At this latter period, the number of ships trading from England and other parts of the British dominions to Maryland was computed at one hundred.^ So great was the demand for labor in the colony, and so liberal its reward, that even the intro- duction n8 between ihii Engilsh onded by the friendly demonstrations of tho Indian allies of the province, restored peace with the hostile tribe by a treaty, which was confirmed by act of assembly. [May, 1666.] The fidelity of the Indian allies was rewarded by settling on them and their descendants an extensive and valuable terri- tory, which, being assured to them on various occasions by successive acts of the legislature, continued in their possession for near a century after. All the Indian tribes within the limits of the province now declared themselves subject to the proprietary government ; and in testimony of their subjection, the inferior chiefs or princes, on the death of their principal sachem, refused to acknowledge the sway of his successor, till this pretender's claim to tho dignity was sanctioned by Governor Calvert. The removal of the Dutch from Cape Henlopen induced many of those planters to unite themselves to the colony of Maryland, into which they were readily admitted ; and, in the year 16G6, the Maryland assembly enacted, in favor of them and of certain French Protestant refugees, the first law ever framed by any pro- vincial legislatuie for the naturalization of aliens. Many similar laws were enacted in every subsequent session, till the British Revolution ; and, during the intervening period, great numbers of foreigners transported themselves to this province, and became completely incorporated with its other inliab- itants.* The principal, if not the only, inconvenience, of which the people of Maryland were sensible at this time, was that which they shared with all the other colonies, and which was inflicted by the parliamentary Acts of Navigation. In Virginia, where the pressure of these restrictions was sooner and more severely experienced, an attempt was made to enhance the price of the staple commodity, by a temporary restraint of the cultivation of to- bacco ; but as Maryland refused to embrace this measure, its efficacy was defeated, and the former animosity of the Virginians against the inhabitants of the neighbouring province unhappily revived. To this animosity we must ascribe the various complaints against the colonists of Maryland which Virginia from time to time addressed to the king ; all of which, on examination, proved entirely groundless.** As the inconvenience arising from the Navigation Laws began to be more sensibly experienced in Mary- land, the policy that had been ineffectually suggested by Virginia was more favorably regarded ; and at length a prohibitory act, suspending the growth of tobacco, was passed in the present year by the assembly ; but the dissent of the proprietary and governor, who apprehended that it might prove injurious to the poorer class of planters, as well as detrimental to the royal customs, prevented this regulation from being carried into effect.' Tl>e popularity of Lord Baltimore and his son incurred no abatement fron- their opposition to this project of the assembly. Tliough averse to impose any direct restraint on the cultivation of tobacco, they willingly promoted every plan that was suggested by the provincial legislature for the encourage- ment of other branches of industry ; and their efforts to alleviate t^^p public inconvenience were justly appreciated, as well as actively seconded, by a ' Bacon's Lateg. Oldmixon. Chalmers. ' One of these complaints, which the proprietary was summoned to answer, was for making partial treaties with the Indians, and contenting himself with exempting the Maryland terri- tory from their hostilities, without stipulating the same advantage for the province of Virginia. The Committoo of Plantations, to which the complaint was referred, on examining t)i« treaties of hoth partie.s, reported to the king that Maryland had included Virginia in alt her treaties, but that Virginia had demonstrated no such concern for Maryland. Chairaers. * Bacon's Laws. Chalmers. VOL. I. 41 322 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK III, lion, M"^'''"'' T "^r '?rS suoerlntendenceof its generous proprie- and to J»l'"<'"'=j8!, '"i^ P^f f^f ™^,", d,e assembfy impced a duly T- "jIllllLf leS on ever/hogshead'of tobacco exported ; the oii ;:f!feoIrt feTand » ^tnt^c/'di^Sfr Hf ^ Ur^S ;::^;l?;°;r^^"r:c"ofrfur"t ;i.e -«.% .em.ed the. or.. Htk;:' ataS^^^'CTtiie prS?ha.„. lived to ,o» lUe^lCyanf honorable fU^^^^^^^ SO much wisdom and virtue, died, n tne lony i""»| J- rifiTfi 1 It was hu crowned with venerable age an ^^^^^^^^^^^ W^^ ^^J- {^ constant maxim, ^h.ch he studiously m^^^^^^^^ 1 ^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^^^ u that by concord ^..^'^^^ . *^° 3 J'^ /Xrious kin|doms have declined nation ; but that V d'^^^^^" "^^^g^^^^"/^^^^^^^^^ theltate of tk> province and fallen into nothing." Some pt>f [Jfj^"^ P^^^^ ;„ ^he same year by a at the period of his death occur ma lette^^^^^^ Archblhop V clergyman of the church ^^'^"S^^d, res'd^^^^^ uieje ^^^ i Canterbury. Maryland, 'J^^X^^PP^Su^nd^^^^^^^^^^ The Catholics, ties, and contained upwards of twen y ^^ou^a"^ ^^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ says this writer, provided for the'r pmsts ana v* ^^,j^ their ministers ; but no care was take to ^^t jb^^^ Pj ^^^ Kpiscooal church. There were b^t tin ee or four m^^^^^^ establishment for of England m Maryland , «"d from the want | i^rable condition, them, the colony, he dec ^es had f^^n nto a m^^^^^^ dep ^ ^^^, -having become a F^'-'^^^lS evil he suggests an endowment of rlJAlnZdjt'fp^^^^j^^ of the spiritual f ^f^ /^^^^^^^'^^i',!,"^ \^;^u^^^^ of distant hope tends to irxlhfsiu'of^^^^^^^^^^ ..nweariedcarepftlj^Bproprietary and hev^^^^ ^,^^ i,„.,easc and improve- the inhabiunts in the «"J''y'^fj"l^[ should dt^St to record the exprcwions of popular gral- mcnt of their estates," &c. ""♦°[y„^'^,'^n,„„'X^^ to wisdom and virtue. ■''thfpcTr:rr7w:s7-^^ ''- •'"^"""'°" "' ''''"^' tilavee." » Bacon's Lair-t. ,pnrpspntation is as incredible as the stntcmcnt » Chalmers. Yco, apud ^^^'^'•"^"•^^'^'^'rnrc pfrstan* Association of Maryland of ihatw«. published about twelve XP"? 'J "^J fi^, 'J^^y ^ '^ . .• "^ :-,!- rtj. i/\nf*intf to nlunucr. ihottti %viiOrii nj«y arc prcjitiitng Ot .«..a."o i^- i BOOK III] TRANSPORTATION OF FELONS TO MARYLAND. 323 to embellish and illustrate the one are able to deform and obscure the other. The Protestant part of the population of Maryland was less distinguished by that Christian zeal which leads men to impose sacrifices on tliemselves, than by that ecclesiastical zeal which prompts them to impose burdens on others ; they were probably less wealthy, from having been more recently established in the province, than the Catholics ; and the erection of their churches was farther retarded by the state of dispersion in which the inhab- itants generally lived. The Protestant Episcopal pastors, like the clergy of every other order, depended on the professors of their own particular tenets for support ; and it is not easy to discern the soundness of the argu- meni that assigns the liberality of other sectarians to clergymen of their own persuasion, as a reason for loading them with the additional burden of sup- porting the ministers of the church of England, — or the existing incompe- tenc)^ of these ministers to control the immoralities of their people, as a rea- son for endowing them with a provision that would render them independent of the discharge of their duty. This logic, however, was quite satisfactory to the primate of England, who eagerly undertook to reform the r.orals of the people of Maryland, by obtaining a legal establishment and wealthy endowment to a Protestant Episcopal church in the province. The deceased proprietary was succeeded by his son Charles, Lord Balti- more, who had governed the province for fourteen years with a high repu- tation for virtue and ability. With the religious tenets, he inherited the tolerant principles of his father ; and one of the first acts of his adminis- iration was to confirm the remarkable law of 1649, which established an absolute political equality among all denominations of Christians. Havii^ convoked an assembly, where he presided in person, he performed, with their assistance, what has often been recommended to other legislatures, but rarely executed by any, — a diligent revision of all the existing laws ; re- pealing those that vvere judged superfluous or inexpedient, confirming the salutary, and explaining the obscure.' In this assembly, an attempt was made 10 stem the progress of an evil with which the colony was afflicted, by a regulation more wisely, perhaps, than competently opposed to the policy of the mother country. The morals of the colonists were endangered in a much greater degree by the transportation of felons to Maryland, than by the want of a legislative endowment to the clergy of the Protestant Episco- pal church. To the common law of I'^.ngland this punishment of trans- portation was quite unknown ; though in some cases it permitted' a felon who preferred exile to death to abjure the realm. It was a statute of Elizabeth which first inflicted banishment on dangerous rogues ; and it was James the First, who, without any regard to this law, but in the plfenitude of his royal prerogative, introduced the practice of transporting felons to Vir- ginia. He was indebted for the suggestion to Chief Justice Popham, who, being a proprietor of colonial territory, as well as a judge, conceived the ' Low*. No liumnn society is stationary in its condition ; but the changes to which ail arc inevitably subject are less rapid and obvious -n old than in young communities. Tho pecu- liarly progressive state of society in America was calculated to suggest to the Americans that \viae principle vvhich their revolt from Britain afforded them an opportunity of interweaving into their municipal constitutions, and in conformity with v^iicli provision is made for peri- odical revisions and corrections of their systems of law and government, in order to adapt them more perfectly to the altered and actual condition of the community. The Americans, in this as in many other respects, have taught by example a grand and useful lesson to man- kind. They have placed the science of politics on the same footing with other sciences, by opening it to ifflprovements derived from experience and the discoveries of successive ages IIIBTORY or NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK IH. «;«.t nf rpnderine the administration of justice subservient to his private project of rendmng tne ^^.^^^^ ^^J^ ^, ^^^^ .^ part.cular to antici- eolonies was ^^-^^^^^^^Z. ::^^ countenance ^^ ^^e^^'S'f ^"'^' IJ^'J^^ the crime of Quakerism? \^hf ^ffectofiTpr: :" SSgTeSTo the people of Maryland, that a liwwa now framed by their assembly against t\>c importation of convicts r„roTl^:Pvince3and^fterwar^^^^^^^^ f.^::eT7Z'i:^J:^o:Ti :L^ to « measure ot- u/Bruish regarded it aHt once disgraceful to the provmce, and subversive of those Snro;\he superio j/of^ w^^^^^^^^^ ;;^t^jt:^o::z^sz Sl^ShuS M^r.'::':^^^^^^^ in^ported into Maryland ^Tt'l'Tondurn 'of the legislative session, the proprietary having an- , k;c TntPntion of visiting England, the assembly, m acknowledgment rrmanySgnTbenefrw^^^^ h'e had rendered to the people, and as a i:!:ro?ri;fove and -^^^^^z:^^ Z^A . a"d the oL^rfence of his own,'together with the remembrance of Wsltlier's merits, might have been expected to recommend the system of proprietarrgovernment to the lasting approbation of the colon.sts Th>s speSo magistracy, however, was destined to enjoy but a transient popu- £itv in ASa. iuicd by congruity to no snmlar ms Uution, and sur- Xded trno kindred order of persons in the provmc.al commun.t.es ,t Zd wholly unsheltered from envy, a «o»'^«'Virr'"th. J^toS' Sander; and its objectionable features were exhibited n the most off n- ?^c St when, in the progress of succession, exclusive dignity became the nortion of ^esp cable, or the instrument of un ust and odious men^ These SeratiSTmus be acknowledged, afford no explanation of the sudden SecUrvvS Lord Baltimore's popularity was doomed to undergo; and we must seek e sewherc for the causes of that revolution of public opm.on 'ci::ed"en1re roVcSi",ret^^^^^^^^^^^ a largerand composea enMr.-iy ui V gratitude. But the to eration which his rhretSetSalratl^^^^^^^^^^ disced 'had « to the provinciaUerntory a_m^.lutude^^ -M:,.iaV-SU,. lf..M.f-Mnnv po^^^ no communitv of w»« on.l '"""'"''5', ";." ^TI"^^^ ^yere p.rtlv composed of The crew« otiho&r,i '^^i'^ZTtSrVklztryoy^^ the reign of Charles the 8ec- convicte, pardoned on rondiiion 'fj'lf'^^'"^^^^ number of those sectane*, Ae olTkc TMonioTuh, were tmn-ported a. felon, to Amenc ^ ^^^^ ^^ » 13. 14 Charic* II., Cup. I. ,. , » ifi76. Can. 18. -• HiMory of tht British Uumtinuni m .imzrisa. BOOK lU.l CUAaGES AGAINST LORD BALTIMORE. 326 boih French and English. The liberal principles of the proprietary were not able to disarm the French Protestants of their enmity against a laith as- sociated in their previous experience with perfidy and persecution ; and the Knglish Trotestants, impressed with the opinion which their friends in the pother country deduced from the policy of the king, regarded toleration but as a cloak under which Catholic bigotry disguised the most dangerous de- signs. These unhappy impressions were confirmed by the alarms and in- trigues of which the ensuing period of English history was abundantly pro- lific, and which invariably extended their influence to the minds of the people of Maryland, where a mixture of opinions unknown in any other of the provinces gave a peculiar interest to the conflict of the same opinions that was carried on in the parent state. On his arrival in England [1677], Lord Baltimore was assailed with complaints, preferred against him to the Committee of Plantations by the colony of Virginia and the prelates of England. The accusations of Vir- ginia, which related to provincial boundaries and Indian treaties, were easily repelled ; but the controversy with the prelates was not so satisfacto- rily adjusted. Compton, Bishop of London, to whom the primate had im- parted his ecclesiastical project for the colony, represented to the com- mittee that true religion was deplorably neglected in Maryland; that, while Roman Catholic priests were enriched there with valuable possessions, the Protestant ministers of the church of England were utterly destitute of sup- port ; and that heresy and immorality had consequently overspread the province. Lord Baltimore, in justification of himself and of the provincial legislature, exhibited the act of 1649, together with the recent confirmation of it, which assured freedom and protection to every society of Christians, but allowed special privileges to none. He stated that four ministers of the church of England were 'n possession of plantations which afforded them a decent subsistence ; but that, from the variety of religious opinions prevalent in the assembly, it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to induce this body to consent to a law that should oblige any religious society to maintain other ministers than its own. Satisfactory as this answer ought to have been, the impartial policy which it disclosed obtained httle or rather no approbation. The committee declared that thev thought fit there should be a public maintenance assigned to the church of England, and that the pro- prietary ought to propose some means of supporting a competent number of her clergy. The king's ministers at the same time signified to him the royal pleasure that immorality should be discouraged, and laws for the repression of vice enacted and punctually executed in Maryland.* This last injunction, to which its authors probably attached very little meaning or importance, was the only one that received any attention from the provincial government. A law was framed by the assembly [1678j, enjoining a reverential observance of Sunday ; ^ and after the return of the proprietary [1681j, new regulations were adopted for the speedier prose- cution of offences, and the stricter definition of punishments. As the more rigorous enforcement of the Navigation Act began now to occasion an in- creased depreciation of the staple produce of the colony, numerous attempts ' Chalmers. ' "Yes, far beyond the high-heaved western wave, Amid Columbiu's wildernesses vast, The words which God in thunder from the Mount Of Sinai spake are iieard, and are obeyed." — Grabame's Saibath. BB 326 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK HI. were made by the proprietary and assembly, during the two following years, to counteract or diminish this inconvenience, by giving additional encour- acement and a new direction to the provincial industry and commerce. I aws were framed for promoting tillaRC and raising provis.r.ns for exporta- tion • for restraining the export of leather and hides, and otherwise encour- Line the labor of tanners and shoemakers; and for rearing manulactures of Imen and woollen cloth. Thus early did the legislature endeavour to iutroduce manufactures into the province; but the attempt was premature ; and though domestic industry was able to supply some articles for domestic uses, it was found impracticable even at a much later period to render Maryland a manufacturing country. For the encouragement ot trade, van- ous ports were established, where merchants were emomed to reside, and commercial dealings to be carried on, and where alf trading vessels were required to unlade the commodities of Europe, and take on board the pro- ductions of the province. But from the situation of the country, abouudmg with navigable rivers, and from the great variety of ports that were erected in conformity with the wishes of the planters, every one of whom desired to have a port on his own plantation, this regulation was attended with very little effect. It was now that there occurred the last instance of the expres- sion of that reciprocal regar.l which had reflected so much honor on the pro- nrietary and the people. By a vote of the assembly, in the yeai 1682, this body, '' to demonstrate its gratitude, duty, and affection to the proprietary, ' desired his acceptance of a liberal subsidy, -a testimony of esteem to winch he returned a courteous acknowledgment, though he declined to approprmte the contribution, on account of the straitened circumstances of the colony ' But amidst all this seeming cordiality, and the mutual endeavours of the nroprietary and the assembly to promote the public welfare, there lurked nthe province a secret heartburning and discontent pregnant vvith uture quarrel and convulsion. The fiction of the Popish Plot extended its bane- ful influence to Maryland, and was employed there by some profligate po iti- ciansas the instru.aent of designs similar to those which it engendered or from which it originated in England. The insurrections that had been pro- yoked by the oppression of the Covenanters in Scotland ; the disconten s in England ; the disputes with regard to the proposed exclusion of the Duke of York from the throne ; the continued disagreement between tlie king and parliament, — all, transmitted through the magnifying and uncertain medmm of rumor to a country so remote from the means of accurate mfoirnation seemed to forebode a renewal of the distractions of the preceding reign. A general ferment was excited in men's minds ; and in the strong expectation That prevailed of some great change, parties and individuals prepared with anxiety to defend their interests, or intrigued with eagerness for the enlarge- ment of their advantages. The absence of the proprietary from the prov- ince, during his visit to England, probably served to promote the inaelnna- tions of the factious, which, however, received a seasonable check from his return. Feudal, who had raised insurrection against the administration ol Cromwell, and afterwards betrayed and resisted the government ot the pro- prietary, now availed himself of ihe lenity he had experienced to reexcite commotions in Maryland. He seems to have had no other purpose tha to scramble for property and power amidst the confusion which he exp c d to ensue ; and he encouraged his partisans with the assurance, that, during in > Ijiina. BOOK III] PRETENSIONS OF WILLIAM PENN. 327 Ac approaching civil wars of England, they might easily possess themselves of whatever plantations they pleased to appropriate. IJut Lord Haltiinore, partly by a steady application of the laws, and partly by the influence of the tidings which were received of the king's triumph over his opponents at the dissolution of the Oxford Parlianient, was able as yet to preserve, even without a struggle, the tranquillity of the province. Feudal was tried for his seditious practices in the year 1681 ; and though the provincial laws an- nexed the penalty of doath to the offence of which he was convicted, he was now only fined, and banished from Maryland for ever. But unfortunately his influence was not banished with his person ; and one of his associates, John Coodo, who was tried along with him, but acquitted, remained be- hind to renovate at a fitter season those dark intrigues which were dissi- pated for the present by the last ray of good fortune that attended the pro- prietary's administration. A few others of the less guilty associates of Fendal and Coodo were convicted of sedition, and punished bj fine.' The last years of Lord Baltimore's administration were embittered by the retribution of that injustice in which the establishment of his hereditary ju- ,'isdiction began ; and the wrong inflicted half a century before on Virginia was now avenged by the disruption of a considerable portion of the territory that had been allotted to Maryland. If the historian of this transaction were permitted to adapt the particulars of it to his own conceptions of moral consistency, he would ascribe the requital of the Maryland usurpation to other instrumentality than that of the venerable patriarch of Pennsylvania. Such, nevertheless, was the mode of this occurrence ; and as the founder of American toleration committed the encroachment on Virginia, so another illustrious friend of truth, justice, and liberty promoted the retributory par- tition of Maryland. On the arrival of William Penn in America, a confer- ence took place between him and Lord Baltimore (two of the most pru- dent and virtuous persons that have ever ruled over mankind) with the pur- pose of effecting an amicable adjustment of the boundaries of ♦^iiir respec- tive territorial grants. Penn was received by Lord Baltimore with dignified respect and courtesy ; and perhaps that eminent person entertained some degree of corresponding regard for a legislator whose institutions had long aflbrdcd a peaceful asylum to persecuted Quakers. The pretensions of the parties, however, were so completely inconsistent with each other, that it proved impossible to adjust them in a manner satisfactory to both. Penn was authorized to appropriate, among other districts, the whole of the pen- insula lying between the Bays of Chesapeake and Delaware, which formed a considerable portion of the territory included within the charter of Mary- land, and part of which had been colonized by Dutch and Swedish set- tlers before the commonwealth of Maryland existed. Lord Baltimore's was certainly the juster and more legitrraate claim ; but Penn was encouraged to persist in his counter pretension by the declaration of the Committee of Plantations, that it had never been intended to grant to Lord Baltimore any territory except such as at the time was inhabited by savages alone, and that the tract which he now "claimed, having been planted by Christians anterior to his grant, was therefore excluded from its intendment, though it might be embraced by its literal construction. The controversy between these two distingiushed men was conducted with a greater conformity to the general principles of human nature than it is pleasing to record. While ' Chalmers. 328 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA [BOOK in. the conflicting claims were yet unsettled, Penn atteropted to appropriate the dUnuted district : and as Lord Baltimore insisted that the mhabitants should Pther acknowledee the jurisdiction of Maryland or abandon their dwellings, uroclamations were issued by each of the contending parUes, asserting his Swn exclusive tide, and condemnation of the proceedings of his opponent. But the pretensions of Penn, whether sanctioned by the principles of equity or not, were supported by an influence of much greater practical efficacy m reeulating extent of dominion and territorial limits. Aware of his superior interest at the English court, he complained of his antagonist to the king and the Duke of York, and prevailed in obtaming a decree of the privy council, adjudging that the litigated region should be divided into two equal parts, one of which was appropriated to himself and the other to Lord Baltimore. This adjudication wa^ carried into effect [168,-.- 1685] ; and the territory which now composes the State of Delaware was thus dismembered from the provincial limits of Maryland. ^ t. j , j u- Meanwhile, the late proceedings against B endal and his associates minis- tered occasion of fresh complaints in England agamst Lord Bahimore or partiality to Roman Catholics. It was in vain for him to represent that the laws of his province gave equal encouragement to persons of every Chris- Uan denomination, without dispensing peculiar favor to any ; thatm order to conform his administration to the principles of the constitution, he had always endeavoured to distribute the offices of government as equal y as possible among Protestants and Catholics ; and that, to allay the jealousy W which the Protestants were disqmeted, he had latterly suff*ered them to engross nearly the whole command of the militia, and to assume the custody of the arms and miUtary stores of die province. I rom the record of I en- dal's trial, he showed that the proceedings against this mdividual had been perfecdyfair, — nay, so indulgent, that the culprit, impudently protesting aeainst being tried by Catholics, obtained a jury composed entirely of Prot- estants. Notwithstanding the satisfactoriness of this explanation, the min- isters of the kin^, less desirous of doing justice to others than of shifting the dangerous imputation of Popery from themselves, commanded that all the offices of government should in future be committed exclusively to the hands of Protestants, and thus meanly sanctioned the unjust suspicions under which the proprietary government wrs already laboring. It was less easy for Lord Baltimore to defend himself against another charge which was now preferred against him, and which, having some foundation m truth, involved him in considerable perplexity. He was accused of obstructing the custom- house officers in the collection of the duties imposed by the Navigation Acts : and it did certainly appear, that, biased perhaps by the desire of alleviating as far as possible the pressure of the commercial restrictions, he had construed them in some points in a manner too favorable to the freedom and wishes of the colonists. While he cr.deavoured unsuccessfully to main- tain the legitimacy of his conduct, he charged the collectors of the customs with wilfully disturbing the commerce and peace of the colony by wanton interference and groundless complaint. It seems probable that this recrimi- nation was well founded, and that the reven.re officers, provoked to find that the unpopularity of their duties prev&iied over the^r^pect they conceived ' ' nhalmorg c Twk^V Ufe of Penn. Mr, (rinrksonV ncrount of this dispute is vory de- hie than err«iiiei.u». inn conimvcrsj urt^rrrii .-... ^.....i...^..^ .i.. --■ - *rUier illuitrated in tlio hiBtory of Fonnsylvania, putt, Boo* VII., Chap. I. BOOK III] PROFESSIONS OP REGARD BY JAMES II. SSB due to their station, had labored to convert their own private disagreements: with individuals into the occasion of national dispute ; for when, shortly after, a new surveyor-general of the customs in Maryland was appointed, he had ihe honesty to report that the colonists had been greatly misrepresented with regard to their opposition to the Trade Laws. [1685.] The proprietary, however, incurred a severe rebuke from the king for his erroneous construc- tion of the law. Charles expressed indignant surprise thai his service should be obstructed and his officers discouraged by Lord Baltimore, whom he upbraided with the many royal favors conferred on his family, and even threatened with the visitation of a writ of qtw warranto.^ It seems never to have occurred to the English government, nor did Lord Baltimore presume to urge, that the king, in pretending right to exact imposts in Maryland, violated the most express provisions of the royal charter, and claimed to himself what truly belonged to the proprietary. On the accession of James the Second to the throne of his brother [1685], he transmitted to the colonies a proclamation of this event, which was published in Maryland with partial, but lively and unaffected, demon- strations of joy. The Committee of Plantations had taken so much pains, during the preceding reign, to obtain accurate information of the affairs of the colonies and the temper of their inhabitants, that k .vas perfectly well known how deeply they were affected by reports from England, and how much provincial disturbance the prospect of confusion in the mother country was apt to engender. When the invasions of Monmouth and Argyle were de- feated [June] , the king conveyed accounts of these occurrences to the pro- prietary of Maryland ; assigning, as the object of this communication, the prevention of any false rumors which might be propagated among his people in that distant province of the empire, by the malicious insinuations of ill- disposed meii. He informed Lord Baltimore, at the same time, in strains of exultation, that the parliament had cheerfully granted to the crown an aid, to be levied by a new tax on the importation of sugars and tobacco, — which, however, he remarked, inferred no new burden on the inhabitants of Maryland, who possessed a high place in his interest and regard, since the imposition was not laid on the planters, but on the retailers and con- sumers. '^ But the impost could not be disarmed of its injurious efficiency by such royal logic and barren good-will ; and both in Virginia and in Maryland it operated to straiten the circumstances and cool the loyalty of the people. As the other impediments of commerce were aggravated in Maryland by the continued prevalence of a scarcity of money, an attempt was now made to remedy this evil by a law " for the advancement of coins." [1686.] French crowns, pieces of eight, and rix dollars were appointed to be received in all payments at six shillings each ; all other coins, at an ad vance of threepence in the shilling ; and the sixpences and shillings of New England, according to their denominations, as sterling.*"* This law first gave rise in Maryland to the peculiarity of provincial currency, in contra distinction to sterling money. At the same time that the king undertook to subvert the political lonstiut- tion of England, he determined to overthrow the proprietary governments of the colonies. The existence of such independent jurisdictions, he de- clared, embarrassed him, in conducting both his domestic and colonial gov- ernment ; and it was requisite no less to his interest than his dignity, to ' CImtiiiuni. VOL. I. Stale Papers, iti. 42 Ibid. ^ iMtOS. BB 330 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK III. reduce them to more immediate subjection to the crown. Alarmed by the reduce tp^m lo m purpose, the proprietary of Maryland agam ZSTo En"ghnd'^a^^^^^^^^ ^epLented to' tlfe inflexible despot that the ity to lusrer^gn ttl^ S: ll^ nor his fatl.r ha/ committed a siSe act wWch colld infer the forfeiture of a patent which they had dearly nurchased in adding, at their own risk and expense, a large and flounsb.ng Srov nee t'oThe BriSh empire. These remonstrances were disregarded by province to ine oi ' / ^ received orders to issue a writ of qw itraSWats LorS^^^^^^^^ [1687.] . The writ was issued TccoTdtgly; but from the dilatory pace of the requisite legal procedure, and he important events that soon after diverted the monarch's attention o nearer concerns, no judgment upon it was ever i^ronounced.' Thus, Nvith Stess and inparialtvranny, which even the predilections of the b.got wire unable to control, James, contemning a ike the wishes oltlie Puritans of Mas achusetts and of the Catholics of Maryland, involved both m the Lf^Xtglhing system of oppression ^^^^^^^^^.J''^^^^^ singular friendship, which, in this monarch and William 1 enn, seemeU to unUe the two extV^mes of human natnre, might have suspended for a while r destri^tion of the institutions of P-nsy-„.,-th.s co^^^^^^^^^^^ xvould have infallibly followed m due time; and the royal regards mat ?enn si ared with Judge Jeffries and Colonel Kirke would have secured him no S her advantage%han that of being, perhaps the last of the Amen- an oroD ietaries that was sacrificed. Fortunately for the mtcrests of man- kbd' bigotry inV^^^ by the exercise of tyranny, at length obtained as- cendency over the king's mind ; and, depriving the bigot ot the adherents o the yrant, involved'even Jeffries in disgrace, and cons ramed even the prelates^of England to seek protection m ^^e pnnc.ples of^ lib^ The birth of a son to James the Second [1688J, wlicn was regaraea with mingled skepticism and disappointment by his En.i.sn subje.cs, an TontrSd to ha ten the British Revolution, was no sooner commun. ated Wthe proprietary (who was still in England) to his ofticers in Maryland, than it produced a general expression of satisfaction throughout the prov- nce Tthc assembly, which was convoked on this occasion a law ..s oassod appointing an annual commemoration of the happy event.^ If this Proceeding seeni to indicate the prevalence of a feeling that may be sup- Tosed peSilhr to the Catholics, other parts of the conduct of the same as- sembly'be^rayed with more authentic semblance the existence of those jeal- ou?ie with which the Protestants were infecte.l, ^yhIch the mean injusti e :r lierte king's ministers had sanctioned, and which tl- unfort«^^^^ sence of Lord Baltimore now contributed to promote. Ihe burgcsse t first dennirred to take the oath of fidelity to the P7-7J^-d af e ur > oxhibited to the deputy-governors a remonstrance against certain pretended gri^v nces, w '^^ disclosed nothing else than the lU-humor and a nrn. of the mrties complaining ; for the articles were all so vague and so fr.vo- bu am if tr'ie? ported only such petty and easily remediable violations of hiw nd us^ e tha/ it is impossible tS peruse them -f^^V^^^^ the promoters of complaint either industriously sought a ^^«";« "^ | ^ ; nr bid already found ine which the y were ba ckwaij^ to avo^^^_Jjje_rc^ » Chalmiri. ■ Law». BOOK III] FORMATION OF A PROTESTANT ASSOCIATION. 331 monstrance, however, received a courteous and obliging answer from the deputy-governors ; and, as its authors were not yet transported by passion beyond the control of reason and common sense, they returned thanks for this issue,* and the flame of jealousy and discontent, from the want of any thing which it could presently lay hold of, subsided as abruptly as it had arisen. But the embers remained, and waited only a more suitable juncture to show what a conflagration they were capable of producing. The spirit of party in the province, excited and preserved by religious differences, in an age in which to differ was to dislike and suspect, had been hitherto moderated by the liberal spirit of the laws and the prudent administration of the proprietary. But no sooner were the tidings of the revolution in England conveyed to the province, than those latent heats, aroused by fresh aliment, burst forth in a blaze of insurrectionary violence ; and the agitators who had long been sowing discontent in the minds of their fellow- citizens, now prepared to reap a plentiful harvest in the season of public disorder. When the deputy-governors of Maryland were first informed of the inva- sion of England by the Prince of Orange [January, 1689], they judged it expedient to take measures for preserving the tranquillity of the province, where as yet none could foresee, and none had been informed, of the extra- ordinary issue to which that memorable enterprise was to be conducted. They collected the public arms that were dispersed in the different counties, and imprisoned several persons who were accused of attempts to excite dis- turbance. But their purposes were completely frustrated by the rumor of a vopish plot^ which suddenly and rapidly disseminated the alarming intelli- gence, that the deputy-governors and the Catholics had formed a league with the Indians for the massacre of all the Protestants in the province. Con- fusion, rage, and terror instantly laid hold of the minds of almost all the Protestant colonists ; and every exertion that was made to demonstrate the folly and absurdity of the report proved ineffectual. Like the kindred fic- tion in England, the tale was corroborated by various unhappily contingent circumstances, that tended wonderfully to support the general delusion. Though Lord Baltimore received orders to proclaim William and Mary, u! ich he readily promised and prepared to obey, yet some cross accident o; treacherous machination intercepted the relative commands which he punctually transmitted to his deputies ; and they still awaited official orders respecting this important transaction, long after the corresponding procla- mation was published in Virginia. It happened unfortunately, too, that the time had now arrived when it was usual to repeat the annual confirmation of the existing treaty of peace with the Indians. These occurrences, distorted by the arts of the factious aind the credulity of the timid, increased the pre- vailing panic, and accelerated the explosion it had threatened to produce. A Protestant Jlssociation was formed [April, 1689] by John Coode, who had already illustrated his genius for sedition as the accomplice of Fendal ; and soon gaining strength from the accession of numerous votaries, took arms under this worthless leader for the defence of the Protestant faith and the vindication of the royal title of William and Mary. A declaration or manifesto was published by the associators, replete with charges against tlu! proprietary, that reflect the utmost dishonor on their own cause. The re proaches of tyranny and wickedness, of murder, tortiu-e, and pillage,'^ with ' "If thu Papists," sayi lluiiu-, " havo Bometinics muintuined that no faith was to ko k fi 332 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. •L800K lU. Which Lord BaUhnore is loa^^^^'-^Lt^^^^^^^^ f .^Tf t:'::Zl^'^cZ o"r?roTouTcon.plaints exhibited to the itation of the P"J»1'^ S"^;J" -^^^^-^^^y of the associators to establish by deputy-governors, bu by ll»e uUer inam y ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^j^^^. evidence any one of their charge , even when i^^ V ^.^^ ty of the provincial government we^^^ m ^.e ov^ n nan^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^^ _ impudence and absurdity, the affronts °^"^^"y ^^ ^^ the province by house officers were now /«;;f ^^ as '"J^^^^^^^^^^ ^^ J ^^^^ J Lord Baltimore, -- who if ^^^^^^^^ J^/^f ^J^i grievance inflicted on his been induced to do so V/J'" ent snte A charge of this description, work ol ^'»''«' ™"°,;" J ,, 1,0 ,,as able nolwiUistandrng lo excite and cd m ihe popular feelings, «mtn lie >"* . j ^^^^ Ualtimore direct will, such energy °"<'/"ff"J- ,/„7J,^fs „f ihe associators ; but endeavoured at first '« °Pf/^^yiX tcvS"rumors against themsdv.s a, the CaUiohcs were afraid '» ^^ ^//'p^*, ,a^ showed no easerness by taking artm, and as *? w^""^*^ f ' ^^ ,„ j^H^er up, the ptovia- to support a faUing authority, *7 ""» °";7P°„„n,„ent, by capitulation, m t'^'^P^rizedT^e ttnsrcCtsS to express his-approba- „'„':\l?uS;''Sat,thori.edthe.eade«„f,h^^^^^^^^^^^ name the power they had "'="l™=„^^'"""'';i,,i^^^^^ with this com- •"•= l™'£rrd^tro"fUToS«aLTconti,,ued forttoee yeais S;rhr£yG'?^o;es.aSr:'r:* to escape entirely the visi. S aXwhlh loaded this nobleman with a heavy -P^-J,;^^™ ™;f. rwrrvan a^of councU of the political administration of the province, o Xc^i SirFdmund Andros was it the same time appointed governor bj- U e king ^ [1692 1 The unmerited advancement of this man was not s» ;!SS;^iu..aaversarie. see. aUoto have thought that no truth ought to he to. of idolaterH ! " : r.l!f!l?:':!; .. l .„„« not how U happened, but «o it wa«, t'-t jn King Willinn,'.;.^^ r^sSTiasivr z?^ir;':.r;;:r^^^ u ; Jexp.s«.y ae.isaatcd. BOOK HI] REVIEW OF THE PROPRIETARY ADMIIHSTRATION. 333 discreditable to the Br'ilish court than the unjust deposition of the proprietaiy. Lord Baltimore, !:s.ving exercised his power with a liberal respect for the freedom of other men's consciences, now parted with it from a noble re- gard to the sanctity of his own. Andros, who had previously gained eleva- tion by his active subserviency to a Cathohc despot, now purchased its continuance by rendering himself instrumental to Protestant intolerance. In tliis manner fell the proprietary government of Mar^^land, after a dura- tion of fifty-six years, during which it was conducted with unexampled mildness, and with a regard to the liberty and welfare of the people, de- serving a very different requital from that which we have had the pain of reviewing. The slight notice which the policy of Lord Baltimore has received from the philosophic encomiasts of liberal institutions attests tho capricious distribution of fame, and has probably been occasioned by dislike of his religious tenets, which, it was feared, would share the commendation bestowed on their votary. It was apprehended, perhaps, that the charge of intolerance, so strongly preferred by Protestants and philosophers against Catholic potentates and the Romish Church, would be weakened by the praise of a toleration which Catholics estabhshed and Protestants overthrew. ]8ut, in truth, every deduction that is made by the most uncharitable of their adversaries from the liberality of Catholics in general, and every imputation that is more or less justly throwTi on the ordinary influence of their tenets in contracting the mind, ought to magnify the merit of Lord Baltimore's in- stitutions, and enhance the praise by illustrating the rarity of his virtue. One of tho most respectable features of the proprietary administration was tiro constant regard that was shown to justice, and to the exercise and cuhivation of benevolence, in all transactions and intercourse with the Indians. But though this colony was more successful than the New England States (who conducted themselves no less unexceptionably towards the Indians) m avoiding war with its savage neighbours, yet we have seen that it was not always able to avert this extremity. In Maryland as well as in New Eng- land, doubtless, the pacific endeavours of the colonists were counteracted, not only by the natural ferocity of the Indians, but by the hostilities of other Europeans, by which that ferocity was, from time to tbne, enkindled and developed. \ et the Quakers of Pennsylvania, who were exposed to the same disadvantage, escaped its evil consequences, and were never at- tacked by the Indians. Relying implicitly and exclusively on the protection of Heaven, they renounced every act or indication of self-defence that could awaken the contentiousness of human nature, or excite apprehensive jeal- ousy, by ostentation of the power to injure. But tlie Puritan and Catholic colonists of New England and Maryland, while they professed and exercised good-will to the Indians, adopted the hostile precaution of demonstrating their readiness and ability to repel violence. They displayed arms and erected forts, and thus provoked the suspicion they expressed, and Invited the injury they anticipated. Before toleration was defended by Locke, it was practically establisheti by Lord Baltimore ; and in the attempts which both of these eminent per- sons made to construct the frame of a wise and liberal government in Amer- ica, it must be acknowledged that the Protestant philosopher was greatly excelled by the Catholic nobleman.' The constitutions of William Penn ' At a social entertainment, where Sir Imao Nevrton, John Lod(e,.BBd William Penitiiiftfy- penAil to nicf't tos^etber^ the convcrsEiion turned on the Gotnpojfstivs «*ft*U«»i** of th%5'*o?{!?¥i ments of Carolina and Pennsylvania. Locke ingenuously yielded the palm to Penn (Clerk 334 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK 111. have been the theme of general panegyric ; but of those who have com- mended th^m, how few have been found to celebrate or even acknowledge Srprior establishment of similar institutions by Lord Baltimore ! i As- similated in their maxims of government, these two proprietaries were assim- UaTed in their political fortunes ; both having witnessed an eclipse of their opularity in America, and both being dispossessed of their governments by kine William. Penn, indeed, was restored a few years after : but Lord Ba uLore's deprivation continued during his life. On his death, m 1716, Ws successor, being a Protestant, was restored to the enjoyment of propn- etary powers. These powers, however, had in the interim sustained some abatement from an act o( the English parliament,^ Nvhich applied not only to this but to all the other feudatory principalities in North America, and rendered the royal sanction necessary to confirm the nomination of the pro- ^'iranLETafter his appointment to the office of governor. Sir Edmund Andros repaired to Maryland, where he convoked an assembly, m which the tkle of William and Mary was recognized by a legislative enactment, and in which ar. attempt was made to divest the proprietary of the port-duties that were settled on his family in the year 1661. The assembly now made a tender of the produce of this tax to the kmg, alleging, that, although the provision was g'unted in general terms to the proprietary, the real mtention o{ the legislature iiad been to confer it merely as a trust for the uses of the public. The king, however, declined to accept the offer, or sanction the assembly's construction of the grant ; Sir John Somers, to whom the legitimacy of the proposition was referred, havmg pronounced as his opinion thit the duty truly belonged to Lord Baltimore, and was intended for his ONvn use, and that it would be of dangerous consequence to admit parol proo of ieeislative intention, contradictory of the plain meaning of the words of enacted law. The ingratitude which was thus manifested towards the pro- nrietarv met with a just retribution from the administration of Andros, who, [hough he subsequently approved himself a good governor m \ irg.nia, exer- cised much severity and rapacity in Maryland. Not the least offensive par of his conduct was, that he protected Comie^gams t the complaints he had .on g life o/ T^li^^OT^^idX^iTd doubtloBS h^^^Ti^lJcd it to Lord Baltimore. But I'ciln's repu- ■on 8 Life (j/ rmn), miu " OimUprH have felt in promot ng it, and the willingness of hahimore: and to this, |>orl.ap, f,»yi«„;^,",rl the coLiunitics of which they were the scondants of these chiefs at the perioi minor ; yet his ei Winterbotliam. The embraced the cause of Bntain ; yet uie legisiuiuru u most liberal manner for the loss of their proper y. Brissot s ^ «««• . . 'From one English poet the two propricturirs have received an equal tribute of praise .- » Laws formed to harmonize contrarious creeds, And heal the wounds through which a nation bleeds ; Laws mild, impartial, tolerant, nml fixed, A bond of union for a people mixed : Such as good Calvert framed for Baltimore, ^ -TV f Jl nJo'nffX' c3.^enrTd fro^ t he ^fnmunities of which they were the «,endanu «f /Je^J^-^, ^^^^ r" olm^^ The proprietary of Maryland was .hen a . iP:a«^-»n.wnrP confiscated, and no indemnification could ever be obtained, wSSam m drendant"?Venn.nfteru long series of quarrels with the people, Sacedtrc cause of Britain ; yet the legi.laturoof Pennsylvania indemnified them m the ... ■ i* .1 _ I »i* *i.Aii nx also paid the duties ihcrc, under the penalty ot^a Union in 1707 reuduitsd Uui reiuiction void, m so .ar forfeii 58 n! ;;d t- Scotland, 1 cargo. The DOOK HI.] OPPRESSION OF THE CATHOLICS. 336 tribute of praise :- provoked, and enabled this profligate hypocrite a little longer to protract the period of his nnpunity. But Coode's fortunes soon became more appropri- ate to his deserts. Finding himself neglected by Colonel Nicholson, the lieutenant and successor of Andros, he began to practise against the royal government the same treacherous intrigues that he had employed with suc- cess against the proprietary administration. Inferior in talent to Bacon, the disturber of Virgmia, and far inferior in sincerity to Leisler, the contempora- ry agitator of New York, Coode was chiefly indebted for his success to the implicit reliance which he placed on the influence of panic and the extent of popular credulity. He had an unbounded confidence in the power of copi- ous and persevering calumny, and endeavoured to impress it as a maxim on his disciples in sedition, that, " if plenty of mud be thrown, some of it must infallibly stick." In 1695, this president of the Protestant Association of Maryland was indicted for treason and blasphemy ; and, justly apprehendino- tliat he would be treated with less lenity under the Protestant, than he for- merly experienced under the Catholic administration, he declined to stand a trial, and fled from the province which he had contributed so signally to dishonor.^ The suspension of the proprietary government was accompanied with a notable departure from the principles on which its administration was pre- viously conducted. The political equality of religious sects was disallowed, and the toleration that had been extended to every form of Christian worship was abolished. The Church of England was declared to be the established ecclesiastical constitution of the state ; and an act passed in the year 1692 having divided the several counties into parishes, a legal maintenance was assigned to a minister of this communion in every one of these parishes, consisting of a glebe, and an annual tribute of forty pounds of tobacco from every Christian male, and every male or female negro above sixteen years of age. The appointment of the ministers was vested in the governor, and the management of parochial afi'airs in vestries elected by the Protestant in- habitants. For the instruction of the people, free schools and public libra- ries were established by law in all the parish«js ; and an ample collection of books was presented to the libraries, as a commencement of their literary stock, by tlie Bishop of London. This design was originally suggested by Dr. Thomas Bray, an English clergyman, who djstinguished himself by the zeal and activity with which he labored to extend the doctrine and authority of the church of England, both in this, and the other North American colo- nies. But notwithstanding all these encouragements to the cultivation of knowledge, and the rapid increase of her wealth and population, it was not till after her separation from the parent state, that any considerable academy or college was formed in Maryland. All Protestant Dissenters were admit- ted to partake the full benefit of the act of toleration passed in the com- mencpment of William and Mary's reign by tlie English parliament. But this grace was strictly withheld from the Roman Catholics ; and the Protes- tants, who thus enacted toleration to themselves, witli the most impudent injustice and unchristian cruelty denied it to the men by whose toleration theyhad b een permitted to gai n an establishment in the province. Sanc- ' Oldmixon. Chalmers. Among other usprcssions that Coode's indictment )aid to his charge, as constituting the offence of blasphemy, he was accused of having said » that there WM no religion but what wn« in Tully's Offices." To make these words the more intelligible, the indictment illustrated them by this innuendo, "that they were spoken of one Tullv, a Ro- man orator meaning." ^ dS6 HISTORY or NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK m. tionpd bv the authority, and instructed by die example of the British gov eZent the leSture of Maryland proceeded, bv the most tyrannical per- rcSonhe CathoUcs, to confirm and disgrace tfic Protestant ascendency Not only were these unfortunate victims of a consc.ent.ous belief, wh.c fhe acSons of their opponents contributed addiUonaUy to forufy, excluded tmdl participation In political privileges, but they were debarred from the ex^cbe of th^r peculiai form of worship, and from the advantages of edu- cation By an act of the provincial assembly, passed in the yeari704,and renewed in the year 1714, it was ordained that any Catholic priest, attempt- SHo convert a^Protestant, should be .punished with fine and injpnsonment ; Sid that the celebration of mass, or the education of youth by a Pap.st, Sould be punished by transmission of tlie offending priest or teacher to Sandfthat he might there undergo the penalues winch the Lnghsh stat- utes attached to such conduct. Transported by their eagerness to deprive SrCathoHcs of liberty, the Protestants of Maryland seem not to have per- ceived that tWs last measure tended to subvert tlieir own pretens.on to bdependent legislation. They maintahied that the statutes of the Lnghsh nSment did not extend, by the mere operation of their own mtrms.c au- ZhvX Maryland ; and in conformity with this notion, we find an act of Ssemblv in S year 1706, giving to certain Enghsh acts of parliament he focTof aw within the provLe.' But it was manifestlv inconsistent with such pretended independence to declare any of the coU.sts amenable to Se necXr iurisprudence of England, for actions committed m the province wd^notWshabl by the provincial laws. Tliough laws thus unjust and J^nressivo were framed, it was found impossible to carry them into co... l^te execuUon Shortly after the act of 1704 was passed, the assembly fudged it expedient to suspend its enforcement so far as to admu of Catholie Ssts performing their functions in private houses ; and the act of 1714 S^s suspended in\ similar manner, in consequence of an express mandate "" ^\Tr'l'Sh^Hc\'ofXy^^^^ under the pretence of vices which none exemplified more forcibly than their persecutors, deprived of those TvileSrwhich, for niOL-e than half a century, they had exercised with KmMed iustice and moderation. In addition to the ot er odious features 7tho tr7a?m^en they experienced, there was a shameful violatK>n o national faith in uSng Protestant persecution to follow them mto the asylum from rseverity' which they had^een encouraged to seek and with labomus lirtue had established. Sensible of this injustice, or rather, perhaps, vviHing toTdut theciic^ whom they had determined not to tderate at haine, To expatriate to Maryland, the British government continued from time to Le t^o set bomids to the exercise of that provincial bigotry whic^ its own example had prompted and its own authority still maintained. Irom th S more unji^t and perfidious treatment which the Cathohcs of Maryland beheS their brethren In Ireland undergo from Great Bntain they might - rive at least the consolation of perceiving that they themselves wore not delivered up to the utmost extremity of Protestant tyranny and intolerance. Before the overthrow of the Catholic church m Maryland, its clerE-' d signalized diemselves by some attempts to convert the Indians to tlieU^^^^^^ tian faith ; but their endeavours have been represented as bemg neither j- i'lus nor successful. Eager to provml^on the_^age8jojece.ve^ --Ts^Meii'Vrilsl^yofE^i^^iiliir-A^^ of the Assc^ly r,f Maryland Jr»n im io 1715- BOOK HI] CIVIL AND DOMESTIC STATE OF MARYLAND. S37 nialities, before they were impressed with the substance of Christian faith, they are said to have administered the rite of baptism to persons who under- stood It so httle, that they considered their acceptance of it as a favor they conferred on the missionaries in return for the presents they received from them, and used to threaten to renounce their baptism unless these presents were repeated.' But if the Catholics of Maryland were chargeable with a superstiuous forwardness to administer this rite, some of their Protestant fellow-colonists betrayed sentiments far more inexcusable, li tlieir deter- mination to withhold it. An act of assembly, passed in the year 1716, recounts that many people refused to permit their slaves to be baptized, in consequence of an apprehension that baptism would entitle them to their freedom ; and accordingly, to overcome their reluctance, ordains that no negro receivmg the holy sacrament of baptism should derive therefrom any right or claim to be made free.^ It was the peculiar unhappiness of the lot of the Maryland Protestants, that they were surrounded at the same time by Catholics, whom they were incited to persecute, and by slaves, whom they were enabled to oppress ; and it was not till some time after the Revolution of 1688, that they began to show more genuine fruits of the tenets they professed, than the persecution of those who 'differed from them in religious opinion.' At the close of the seventeenth century, the population of Maryland amounted to ihirty thousand persons ; and whether from superiority of soil, or industry, or from the absence of laws restrictive of cultivation, this province is said to have exported at least as much tobacco as the older and more populous province of Virginia. At a later period, a law was passed, prohibiting the cultivation on any estate of a greater quantity than six thou- sand plants of tobacco for every taxable individual upon the estate. Mary- land was the first of the provinces in which the right of private property was from the beginning recognized in its fullest extent ; and community of possessions had never even a temporary establishment. This peculiarity, it is probable, contributed to promote the peculiar industry by which the people of Maryland have been distinguished. In the year 1699, Annapolis was substituted for St. Mary's, as the capital of the province ; and all roads leadmg thither were ordered to be marked by notches cut on the trees grow ing on either hand : but the same causes that prevented the growth of towns in Virginia also repressed their rise in Maryland. There were few mer- chants or shopkeepers who were not also planters ; and it was the custom for every man to maintain on his nlantation a store for supplying the usual accommodations of shops to his family, servants, and slaves.* Living dis- persed over the province, and remote from each other, the effects of their comparative solitude are said to have been generally visible in the physi- ognomy, manners, and apparel of the planters ; their aspect expressing less cheerful frankness, their demeanour less vivacity, their dress less attention to neatness, and their whole exterior less urbanity^ than were found in those coldiues where cities engendered and diffused the graceful quality to which they have given a name. But even those who have reproached them with this defect have not failed to recognize a more respectable characteristic of their situation, in that hospitality by which they were universally distinguish ' Neal'g .Vein England. " ~~~ "~' ! nM *^'** Maryland AnsenMy^from 1692 to 1715. » OidmixoD. •Uldmixon. HuUtry of tha British DonUniona in Jlmmta. 43 ' Oldmixon. VOL. c(; 838 HISTORY or NORTH AMERICA. [BOOH Ul. «H 1 At a later period, the to>vns of Maryland seemed to acquire a sudden • Jnl^ of increase ■ and Baltimore, in particular, has grown with a ra- Kt^trlnedTve^^^ the United States! In none of the provmces have SfeC of a wise or illiberal system of government bee^ more pla.ny ap. nnrPnt than in Maryland. For nearly a century after the Bntish Revolution, STrLrn in reS- ' ' "ved a source of animosity, and was made ^Z^^(^-oi,^^\ionn^ all dut period, not one considerable tne apoiogy lui , nrovince. \V tliin a few years after the ^rr/f t^S «^d universS IZZ., in the train of imerican inde- nend^nce, ?he varieties of doctrinal opinion among the people served but Kustrate religious charity ; numerous colleges and academies were found- Id aid 'he ame peopb among whom persecution had lingered longest S« distinguished^ for a remarkable de-"^ of courteous kindness, liberal '''^^^'s^^::^^^,^^ govenunent, the ^^tureef .hp nrovince consisted of three branches ; after its revival, ol four: the S^o? etrrv theTvTrnor, the council, and the burgesses. The proprietary, rsFdTs a Vrge domain 'cultivated by himself, enjoyed a qmtren of two Sui steriing yearly for every hundred acres of appropriated land. Tins ts in'^reased'at^n 'after period to four shilmgs in s-e d« and an Tn tC ecompe^se of popular gratitude, and persist m their original moder- aSon a^idlTbSy. tL salaries of the governor and deputy^ovenior auon ana "o^™*"^' , ^ ^^ exported tobacco, decreed to them r^Sv^y Sr appo lenl'^o officc,Ld proportioned .o .to pop.. tari^v Tto coinoil oonsislod of twelve persons, appointed by the propr,. el^v' and, during the abeyance of his political nghts by the royal go,e„. or^'^;ad. of whim received, during the session of the assembbr, an allo«. or , eacli 01 ""»"' . ! » ^ f ,obacco daily from the province. tII tuTe^5■tXS or'^burgesses consisted of four member, fro. S o?*e IntLs, and two from the capital •, the daily '^^-_^'^[^^ ii^rtLTr^visreoi^rtxrt^^^^^^^^^ eSly assumed the privilege o renovating their °»" l>°iy. "u ,4"SS i£i:iorfr^.rc»?-^^^^ oreviouslv resided three years m the colony. ^_. inhabiUnta of Maryland." Ibid. • Warden'a AuoutU of the United States. » History of Iks BrUish Dominitms in .America. * Jltti vj Jissems!y,jrum tv" "^ . . BOOK III] CIVIL AND DOMESTIC STATE OF MARYLAND. 339 The situation of slaves and of indented servants appears to have been very much the same in Maryland as in Virginia. Any white woman, whether a servant or free, becoming pregnant from the embrace of a negro, whether a slave or free, was punished with a servitude of seven years ; and the children of " tliose unnatural and inordinate connexions " (as they were (pmied by law) were doomed to servitude till they should attam the age of thirty-one. A white man begetting a child by a negress was subjected to the same penalty as a white woman committing the corresponding offence.' Thus pride produced in Maryland regulations, less extensive, indeed, in their range, but not less rigid in their operation, than those which piety had established in New England. An indented servant, at the expiration of his dependence, was entitled to demand an ample allowance of various useful commodities from his master, some of which he was prohibited, under a penalty, from selling for twelve months after his emancipation." A tax was imposed on the importation of servants from Ireland, " to prevent the im- porting too great a number of Irish Papists into this province." ^ To obstruct the evasion of provincial debts or other obligations, by flight to England, or to the other A merican States, all persons preparing to leave the colony were required to give public intimation of their departure, and obtain a formal passport from the municipal authorities.* An act was passed in the year 169S, bestowing a large tract of land in Dorchester county on two Indian kings, who, with their subjects, were to hold it as a fief from the proprietary, and to pay for it a yearly rent of one bear-skin. In common with the other colonies, Maryland was much infested by wolves; and so late as the year 1715, a previous act was renewed, offering " the sum of three hundred pounds of tobacco " as a reward for every wolf's head that should be brought by any colonist or Indian to a justice of the peace." An act proposing a similar recompense had been passed in Virgmia, but was repealed in the year 1666. Acts of the Atatmbly,frvm 1692 to 1715. * Ibid. * Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. BOOK IV w NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA. CHAPTER I. earlr AtUmpUof the Spmiardi and the French to colonize thia Territory. -Finrt Ch«rter of CMolina panted by (?harle. the Second to Lord Clarendon and o her.. -Forn.at.on of Al. bemaHeXttlemont in North Carolina. - Settlement of A.hloy R.vcr .n South Carolma. - Second Charter of the whole United ProTince. - Proceeding, at Alben.arle. - 1 he Propn- S. enact ho Fundamental Con.titutions of Carolina. - Expedu.on of Ln..granl» to South Carolina^ John Locke created a Landgrave. - Hoatiitica w.th the 8pn„.ard8 .n H,^,d, - «id with the Indians. - UiBg.iitH brtween the Propnetanea and the ColoniBtj. - Alk.n. of North Carolina. - Culi.appcr'a Insurrection. - He .a tried in Lnglaad - and acquilied. _ Di/c "rd among U.e CoUists. - Solhora tyrannical AdminnUaUon. - He la dop(«K!d. We have beheld New England colonized by Puritans exiled by royal aiid episcopal tyranny ; Virginia replenished by cavalier and episcopal fugitives from republican triumph and Puritan ascendency ; and Maryland loundedby Catholics retiring from Protestant intolerance. By a smgular couicidence, the settlement whose history we are now to investigate ongmally seemed to have been destined to complete this series of reciprocal persecution ; and if the first colonists who were planted in it had been able to maintain tlieir establishment, Carolina would have been peopled by Huguenots flying from Catholic bigotry.' . , . .... This territory has been contested by a variety of pretensions and distin- guished at successive periods by a variety of names. The claim of Eng- land to the first discovery of it was disputed by the Spaniards, who main- tained that Cabot never advanced so ftr to the south, and that it had been yet unvisited by any European, when Ponce de Leon, the Spanish governor of Porto Rico, arrived on its shores [1512], in the course of a voyage he wa« making in quest of a land which was reported to contain a brook or foun- tain endowed with the miraculous power of restoring the bloom and vigor of youth to age and decrepitude." Believing that he had here attained the fa- vored region, he hastened to take possession, in his sovereign's name, of so rare and valuable an acquisition. He bestowed on it the name of l^lorida, either on account of the vernal beauty that adorned Us surface, or because he (iiscovered it on the Sunday before Easter, which the Spaniards call Pascm de Flores ; but, though he chilled his aged frame by bathing in every stream that he could find, he had the mortification of returning an older instead ol a younger man to Porto Rico. A few years afterwards, another Spanish 001- rer, who was sent to inspect more minutely the territory supposed to have been thus newly discovered, performed an exploit too congenial with the ' At a .ubsequcnt period ."the descendants of ona of the moat illuatrious people of antinuity were induced to seek a refu'w in America from Turkish opprc.«.on. In the latter part o^the Shteenth century, Sir WilP.am Duncan, an eminent Eiisl.ah I.hy«c.an,conce.ved Ine project of founding a Grecian colony in North America, and actualfy tran.ported, for this purposo, «everal hundred Greeks to Kast Florida. Gait's UUers from the I'fvant. » An account of a fountain in Ethiopia endowed with similar efficacy (mamfe.tly l.ttlccrcd. ited by the relator) occurs in Book III. of the History of Herodotu*. CHAP. I] COLIONrS ATIEMPTS AT COLONIZATION. 341 ^nirettly litil« crcd- contemporary achievements of his countrymen, in kidnapping a number of the natives, whom ho carried away into bondage. Some researches for gold and silver, undertaken shortly after by succeeding adventurers of the game nation, having terminated unsuccessfully, the Spaniards seemed to have renounced the intention of any immediate settlement m this region, and left it U) repose under the shadow of the name they had bestowed, and to remem- ber its titular owners by their cupidity and injustice. The whole of its coast was subsequently [1523-1525] explored with considerable accuracy by Verazzan, an Italian navigator, employed in the service of the French, and whom Francis the First • had commissioned to attempt the discovery of new territories in America for the benefit of his crown. But the colonial projects of the French were suspended during the remainder of this reign, by the wars and intrigues which were conducted with such eager and obstinate rivalry between Francis and the Emperor Charles the Fifth." During succeeding reigns, they were impeded by still more fatal obstructions ; and all the benefit that France might have derived from the territory explored by Verazzan and neglected by the Spaniards was postponed to the indulgence of royal and papal bigotry m a war of extermi- nation against the Huguenots. The advantages, however, thus disregarded by the I rench court, were not overlooked by the objects of its persecution ; and in process of time, the project of appropriating a part of that territory tl a retreat for French Protestants was embraced by one of tlieir leaders, the renowned Admiral Coligni. [1562.] Two vessels which he equipped for thi^_ purpose were accordingly despatched with a band of Protestant emi- grants to America, who landed at the mouth of Albemarle River, and in honor of their sovereign (Charles the Ninth), gave the country the name of Carolina, — a name which the Enghsh first obliterated and finally restored. Though the French colonists had only to announce themselves as strangers to the faith and the race of the Spaniards, in order to obtain a friendly re- ception from the Indians, thijy suffered so many privations ia their new set- tlement, from the inability of the admiral to furnish them with adequate supplies, that, after a short residence in America, they were compelled to return to France. A treacherous pacification having been negotiated, meanwhile, between the French court and the Protestants, Coligni employed the interval of re- pose, and the unwonted favor which the king affected to entertain for him, in providing a refuge for his party from that tempest, which, though unhappi- ly for himself he did not clearly foresee, yet his sagacity and experience enabled him partially to anticipate. Three ships, furnished by the king, and freighted with another detachment of Huguenots, were again despatched to Carolina [1564], and followed soon after by a more numerous fleet with additional settlers and a copious supply of arms and provisions. The as- ' The kings of Spain and Portugal remonstrated against the projects of Francis as a direct npugnation of ecclesiastical authoritv. To this remonstrance the French monarch is said to have pleasantly replied, "I should be «lad to see the clause in Adam's will, which makes itment their exclusive inheritance. RnvnnI Raynal. impugnation of ecc tohavo pleasantly ^ , ^^ that contment their exclusive inheritance. .»nj..ai. ' ^ ^jIp' demonstration was made by Francis, in the year 1540, of an intention to colo- nize a different quarter of America, by the letters patent which ho then granted to Jacques Qiiartier for the establishment of a colony in Canada. But the French made no permanent settlement even there till the reign of Henry the Fourth. Escarbot's History ofj^eto France. ChamplHJn's Voyage. In the commission to Quartier, the territory in described as " possessed by savnges living without the knowledge of God or the use of reason." Yet Pope Paul the Third had previously by a solemn decree pronounced the American Indians to be rational creBtureo, possessing tho nature and entitled i 1 to the rights of men. CC 342 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK IV. 1 ;„i, thn Icinff of France thus vouchsafed to the Huguenots reminds ^Thel^lar ^^^^^^^^^ Charles the First prornoted, in the follow- ne ccnturyTthe depiture of the Puritans from England. Ihe French monS was a httle more liberal than the English, m the aui which he TaS but he was infinitely more perfidious and cruel m the design which heTcretly entertained. Befriended by tlie Indians and vigorously apply- in/Semselves to the cultivation of their territory, the colonists had begun o^en^oyti^ prospect of a permanent and happy establ^hment m Carolma, when they were suddenly attacked by a force despatched against then, by The kin- of Spain. The commander of the Spamsh troops, having first in- duced them uf surrender as Frenchmen, put them all to the sword as here- tics announcing, by a placard erected at the place of execution that lb,s butcherna"^nj cie^i on them not as subjects of France, but asfollomrsoj iXr Nearly a thousand French Protestants were the victims of this ma sac re ; and only one soldier escaped to carry tidings to France, .h.ch c Sy does not oblige us to beheve communicated any surprise to the proSors of the league of Bayonne and the massacre of fet. Bartholomew, ffiugh he colony had been'pianted with the approbation of the French court and peace subsisted at the time between iVance and Spain the as- S and extirpation of the colonists produced no demonstration of resent- ment f?om Ue^>ench government, and would have been totally unavenged Sis world if De Gorgues, a French nobleman incensed at such hemofc insolence and barbarity, had not determined to vindicate the claims of justice Lnd the honor of his country. Having fitted out three ships a. his own ex- pense ri567], he set sail for Carolina, where the Spamards, m careless se- curUy, possessed the fort and settlement which they had acquired by he mu cfer of his countrymen. He easily obtained the cooperation of he Sbourine Indians, and with their assistance overpowered and pu to the sword all the Spaniards who resisted his enterprise, and hanged all whom rmade prisoners on the nearest trees ; erecting, in his turn, a placard whiSi announced that this execution was inflicted on them not asSpo.mards iT as murderers and robbers. Having thus accomplished his purposed venerance, he returned to France ; first razing the fort to the ground and de- Itroving e ery trace of the settlement, which neither frenchmen nor Sp n- Sds were destined ever again to occupy.^ Rehg.ous dissensions excted a much greater degree of mutual hatred and of public confusion in I ranee toi^Englnnd, and were proportionally unfavorable to I reiich colomza- tn Canada, which was the first permanent occupation of the 1' rench u, America was 'not colonized till six years after Henry the lourlh had issued %C"SuU'yea^^ destruction of the French colony founded by Colli th^re L planted, within the sanie territoriaUunUs, m_th^^ i quarter, however, retained ti.e.r -..retonHions to 'J^ ° "'yj •^^.^f^'^^^c^^^^^^^^ found ho hud inrur-cd tenon, having .om-J « '^, ^C:. .^^^^ 'S havi r^g bo^^ P«"nission of the KngM. the scrioiiH di.ple.isure of the y^"' IV/.'^'ivrrS Voltaire is n istaken in BUuposuis tlwt government. V.dta.re'« A/fe of Ia,uu llu: ''"*'^|f " '„^;™„ of the country wfi.'re she had &,e daughter of th.s adventurer, who aftervvard« »>«^»'^e "< " »» " « ^°" inhere were none been \.L in a prison, received her «aHy ejJ.-canon m C^^^^^ hi,„Helf and li.. fiunily. Mimnrts tt Lettres de MairUrmn. Vu de .M, Mamtenoi. Oy V/Uiit:,iii, iiitiu "-" I" 1 — — - — -— j r- CHAP. I] GRANT OF CAROLINA TO CLARENDON AND OTHERS. 343 Roanoke, the first settlement established by Raleigh, of whose enterprises we have remarked the progress and the fate in the early history of Vir- ginia. There was an analogy between the fortunes of their colonial enter- prises, as well as between the personal destinies of the two illustrious adven- turers ; and, transient as it proved, it was still the most lasting trace of his exertions witnessed by Raleigh, that the name of the country was changed by the English from Carolina to Virginia, — a name of which we have al- ready traced the final application and peculiar history.' Even the subse- quent and more durable colonial appropriations of the English did not extend to this territory, till the year 1622, when a few planters and their families, flying from the hostilities of the Indians in Virginia and New England, sought refuge within its limits, and are said to have acted the part of Chris- tian missionaries in their new settlement with some promising appearance of success. They suffered extreme hardship from scarcity of provisions, and were preserved from penshing by tlie generous contributions of the people of Massachusetts, whose assistance they implored. An attempt was made to assume a jurisdiction over them by Sir Robert Heath, attorney- general to Charles the First, who obtained from his master a patent of the whole of this region by the name of Caroiana. But as he neglected to ex- ecute the powers conferred on him, the patent was afterwards declared to be vacated by his failure to perform the conditions on which it was granted.'"* Much collision and contestation between claimants and occupiers of colonial territory would have been prevented, if the principle of this adjudication had been more generally extended and more steadily enforced. The country which so many unsuccessful attempts had been made to col- onize was finally indebted for its cultivation to a project formed by certain courtiers of Cb^irles the Second for their own aggrandizement, but which they were pleased to ascribe to a generous desire of propagating the bless- ings of religion and civility in a barbarous land. An application, couched in these terms [1663], having been presented to the king by eight of the most eminent persons whose fidelity he had experienced in his exile, or whose treachery had contributed to his restoration, easily procured for them a grant of that extensive region, situated on the Atlantic Ocean, between the thirty-sixth degree of north latitude and the river Saint Matheo. This ter- ritory was accordingly declared an English province, by the name of Car- olina, and conferred on the Lord Chancellor Clarendon, Monk, Duke of Albemarle, Lord Craven, Lord Berkeley, Lord Ashley (afterwards Earl of Shaftesbury), Sir George Carteret, Sir John Colleton, and Sir William Berkeley, the brother of Lord Berkeley, and already introduced to our acquaintance as governor of Virginia , icho (as the charter set forth) , being ' The denominntion, which, in honor of himself, he conferred on a projected town (soo ante, Book I., Chap. L), was revived and bestowed upon an actiinl city, more than two liun- drcd j'ears after; when, by an ordinance of tlie legislature of Nortli Carolina, the name of Raleigh was given to the seat of government of this province. * Coxc'a Description of Carolfaia. Iliitciiinson. Oldmixon. Chahnors. Heath liad pre- viously sold his patent to the Earl of Arundel and Surrey, who made expensive preparations for founding a colonv, but was diverted from his design by a domestic calamity. Dnniol Coxe, a physician in London, who, at the close of the seventeenth century, became an exten- sive purchaser of proprietary rights in North America, contrived, among other acquisitions, to obtain an assignation to Sir Ilchert Heath's patent; and nuiintained, with the approbation itf King William's ministers, that this patent was still a valid and subsisting title, in so far ns it embraced territory occupied by the Spaniards, and not included in any posterior English pa- tent. His son (author of the besrriptwn) rcsiimi'd his father's claims, and made various un- successful attempts to colonize tho territory which ho persisted in denominating Carolatiu Coxo. 344 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK IV. excited toith a laudable and pious zeal for the propagation of the gospel, have begged a certain country in the parts of America not yet cultivated and planted, and only inhabited by some barbarous people who have no knowledge of God. The territory was bestowed on these personages, and their heirs and assigns, as absolute lords proprietaries for ever, saving the sovereign allegiance due to die crown ; and they were invested with as ample privileges and jurisdiction within their American palatinate, as the Bishop of Durham enjoyed within his diocese. This charter, composed by the parties themselves who received it, seems to have been copied from the prior charter of Maryland, — the most liberal in the communication of privileges and authority that had ever been granted by an English monarch. A meeting of all the proprietaries who were in England was held soon after, for the purpose of concerting the best means of carrymg the purpo- ses of their charter into effect ; when a joint stock was formed by general contribution for transporting emigrants and defraying other preliminary ex- penses. At the desire of the New England settlers, who already inhabited the province, and had stationed themselves in the vicinity of Cape Fear, the proprietaries published, at the same time, a document entitled Proposals to all that will plant in Carolina. They proclaimed that all persons in- habiting the vicinity of Charles River to the southward of Cape Fear, and consenting to take the oath of allegiance to the king, and to recognize the -proprietary government, should be entitled to continue the possfession they ha/rssumed and to fortify their settlements ; that the planters should pre- s«^ar .0 the proprietaries a list of thirteen persons, in ordqr that they might select from them a governor and council of six, to exercise authority for ibr."e years ; that an assembly, composed of the governor, council, and del- egates of the freemen, should be convoked as soon as the circumstances of fhe colony would admit, with power to make laws, of which the validity W3'- to depend on their congruity with the jurisprudence of England and Uie approbation of the proprietaries ; that all the colonists should enjoy the most perfect religious freedom ; that every freeman arriving m the province during the next five years should obtain a hundred acres of land for himself and fifty for a servant, — paying only a halfpenny of rent for every acre ; and that the same exemption from customs, which was conferred on the pro- prietaries by the royal charter, should be extended to all classes of the in- habitants.^ Such was the original compact between the rulers and the m- habitaviis of Carolina ; and assuredly it must strike every reflecting nmul with sui. rise, to behold a regular system of civil and religious freedom thus established as the basis of the provincial institutions by the same statesmen, who, in the parent country, had framed the intolerant act of uniformity, and were executing its provisions with the most relentless rigor. While they silenced such teachers as John Owen, and filled the prisons of England with such victims as Baxter, Bunyan, and Alleine, they tendered freedom and encouragement to every variety of opinion in Carolina ; thus forcibly impeaching the wisdom and good laith of their domestic administration by the avowal which their colonial policy manifestly implies, that diversities of opinion and worship may peaceably coexist in the same society, and that implicit toleration is the surest political means of making a commonwoaltli flourish and endearing a country to its inhabitants. It is hum, hating to ob- serve a man like Lord Clarendon adopt, in co"'^of'n«t)^fiLJ'!iJ'l'l^'^^ _ ^ oiHniixon. Chalinera. CHAP. I] SETTLEMENT AT ALBEMARLE. 345 est as a proprietor of colonial territory, the principles which his eminent faculties and enlarged experience were insufficient to induce him, as an English statesman, to embrace. Besides the emigrants from New England who were seated at Cape Fear, there was another small body of inhabitants already established in a different quarter of the proprietary domains. In the history of Virginia, we have seen, that, as early as the year 1609, Captain Smith judged it expedient, for political reasons, to remove a portion of the Virginian colonists to a dis- tance from the main body at Jamestown. With this view he despatched a small party to form a plantation at Nansemond, on the southern frontier of Virginia, where, notwithstanding the formidable obstructions that they en- countered from the hostility of the natives, they succeeded in maintaining and extending their settlement. As the Indians. receded from the vicinity of these intruders, the planters naturally followed their tracks, — extending tiieir plantations into the bosom of the wilderness ; and as their numbers increased and the most eligible situations were occupied, they traversed the forests in quest of others, till they reached the streams which, instead of discharging their waters into the Chesapeake, pursued a southeastern course to the ocean. Their numbers are said to have been augmented, and their progress impelled, by the intolerant laws that were enacted in Virginia against sectarians of every denomination. At the epoch of the Carolina charter of 1663, a small plantation, formed in this manner, had existed for some years within its specified territorial boundaries on the northeastern shores of a river formerly called the Chowan, but which now received the name of Albemarle, in compliment to the title by which General Monk's services were rewarded. Notwithstanding the assertion of an intelligent historian of North Caro- lina, there is no reason to believe that the planters of Albemarle were com- posed entirely or even generally of exiles for conscience's sake ; yet that a number of conscientious men had mingled with them may be inferred from the fact that they purchased their lands at an equitable price from the abo- riginal inhabitants. Remote from the seat of the Virginian government, they paid little regard to its authority, and for some time had lived without any ascertainable rule ; when at length the governor of Virginia assumed, in a new capacity, a stricter and more legitimate superintendence of their aflairs. In September, 1663, Sir William Berkeley was empowered by the other proprietaries to nominate a president and a council of six persons, with authority to govern tliis little community according to the prescriptions of the royal charter ; to confirm existing possessions ; to grant lands to new planters ; and, with the consent of the delegates of the freemnn, to frame laws which were to be transmitted for the consideration of the proprietaries. Berkeley was desired to visit the colony, and to employ skilful persons to explore its b&ys, rivers, and shores ; a duty which he performed in the fol- lowing year. Having confirmed existing possessions, and made sundry new grants of land, in conformity with his instructions, he appointed Drummond, a man of prudence and ability, the first governor of his fellow-colonists, and then returned to Virginia, leaving the people to follow their various pursuits in peace. [1664.] The colonists for some time continued perfectly satisfied with an arrangement that seemed rather to secure than impair the advantages of their former condition ; but as the day approached when the payment of quitrents was to commence, they began to manifest impatience of the VOL. I. 44 346 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK IV. TodTaTe ftiorv- ^^^^^^^ the proprietaries, desiring that the people of AlLmar e n,ight hold their possessions on the same terms that were en- wfdrthe inhabitants of Virginia. The proprietaries, who ^e exceed- i^^l^^litous to pron.^^^^^^^^^ every measure that '^'Shtdi courage the re^^^^ to confer grants of I^nd'tXtSuf^^^^^^^^ a^%Tnrthemselyes. NotwitLnding he aposS ica vieS^^^^^^^^^ the^roprietaries had professed, they ma e not the slkhtest attempt to provide for the spiritual mstruct.on of the colonists tKnve? on of the^ Indians ; and the little commonwealth for a series of years was conducted without even a semblance of rehgious worship. i Thpnronriemries, after this endeavour to rear and organize the settlement of AlLSdTeed their chief regard to the finer region that extends 01 Aioemarie, uuc Havine: caused a survey to be made of tl l.T^yT':^el'^:^^^ theyTespatched from Virginia, for the t;^^jsci;tain^^^ s^^i br:Z:'7i^:t:t:7:f^^^^ fi^r, along the banks of the nver cTarles in the district which was now denominated the county of Claren- don Seveal of the planters of Barbadoes, dissatisfied with their exisin.g don. several ui I f , _^,^p .Ug chiefs of a less numerous community, condition, and ^^^"•'"S.^'^^,^^^.^; '^',f « ^ region, and now submitted a had for some time Vp^f^y^ ^rprietarls f 1664] ; and though their first ie poi^rs of a diltinct and independent corporation, were deemed inadmis- ^ble^he^r a phcation, on the whole, received so --»^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ determined them to undertake the migration. In iurlherance ol a project sraereeable to their wishes, the proprietaries bestowed on John \eamans, a reSectabL planter of Barbadoes, and the son of a man who had lost h,s if:"r«Lervice during the civil war^^^^^^^^^ in-chief of Clarendon county, stretching from Cape 1^ ear c tiie river ftamt Mati^eo and obtained for him, at the same time the title oi a baronet, Ta? Iv hi're "onmense of the loyalty of his family, and partly in order to give St to h?s official authority, and some appearance of splendor to the pro- weigni lo " ^ "'"^ -J '.^gg -, rj^i ga„,e powers were now conferred, vmcial establishment, t*'''"-' 3^,^„-|„,;/ ' those which had conleiUcd the and the same constuut.on -^«^)P«^^^ '^^ *^^,;,,,, directed to " make ':^:^i^^V^^ of New KnglL," wheL the i^oprietaries every ^'""3 «^^> ^vnected very copious emigrations to Carolina. I his :rec :1 tre^'c re^^^^^^^^^^^^^ fheir'discernmjnt than to their inte.n, wa obviously derived from the intolerance which yet preyailed to some Txtent in Ne V England, and the effects of which were thus distinctly reco - nfze and deliberately anticipated b^ men who themselves unreservedly pursued the same illiberal principle fn the parent state. A resolution wa pursuea trii. same ^', , ^oprietaries that the commission of Sman.1 d o prev'^t I applnSlont of another governor fcr a .w L t rent thich was^roiected in a district to the so^hw-d of Cap 1 main, and which acquired soon after the na,Tie_of CarJe'ret^_JL^hM^^ — ■ 1 Ohalroers. WiUianiiipn. CHAP. I] SECOND CHARTER OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 347 which the proprietaries were thus pursuing, in the establishment of a variety of separate and independent communities in Carolina, each of which had its own distinct assembly, customs, and laws, supplied them in the sequel with abundance of trouble and embarrassment, and contributed to the prolonged feebleness and disunion by which the English settlements in this province were unhappily distinguished. Meanwhile, however, their proceedings ob- tained the approbation of the king, who presented them with twelve piece? of ordnance, which were conveyed to Charles River along with a collection of military stores.^ Having now obtained a minute acquaintance with the whole coast of Car- olina, and discovered, at both extremities of their territory, large tracts of land of which the acquisition seemed to them highly desirable, the proprie- taries easily procured from their sovereign a gift of these additional domains. A second charter, tvhich was consequently issued in their favor [June, 1665], recited and confirmed the former grant, and gave renewed assurance and commendation of " the pious and noble purpose " under which these insatiable courtiers judged it decent to cloak their ambition or rapacity. It granted to the same patentees " that province situated within the king's do- minions in America, extending northeastward to Carahtuke Inlet, and thence in a straight line to Wyonoke, which lies under the thirty-sixth degree and thirtieth minute of north latitude, southwestward to the twenty-ninth de- gree ; and from the ocean to the South Seas." The patentees or proprie- taries were endowed with all the rights, jurisdictions, and royalties which the Bishop of Durham ever possessed, and were to hold the territory as a feudal dependence of the manor of East Greenwich, paying a rent of twenty marks, and one fourth of all the gold and silver that might be found within it. All persons, except those who should be specially forbidden, were allowed to transport themselves to Carolina ; and the colonists and their posterity were declared to be denizens of England, and entitled to be considered as the same people, and to enjoy the same privileges, as those dv^relling within the realm. They were empowered to trade in all commodities which were not prohibited by the statutes of England ; and to convey the produc- tions of the province into England, Scotland, or Ireland, on payment of the same duties as other subjects. And they were exempted, for seven years, from the payment of customs, on the importation, into anv of the dominions of die crown, of wines and other enumerated articles of colonial produce. The proprietaries were authorized to mnke laws fov the province- with the consent of the freemen or their delegates, under *ne general condition that their legislation should be reasonable, and asbiuiilated with as much confor- mity as possible to the jurisprudence of England. They were permitted to erect ports for the convenience of connnerce, and to appropriate all im- posts decreed by the assembly. The) < re authorized to create an order of nobility, by conferrins titles of honor, differing, however, in style, from the titles bestowec bv vi British nonarch. Carolina was declared inde- pendent of every cihtr province, aid subject immediately to the crown ; and the inhabitants .vr^. -; exempted from all liability to judicial suit or process in any other part of his Majesty's dominions, except the realm of England. The proprietaries were empowered to grant indulgences to such colonists as might be prevented by conscientious scrujiles from conforming to the churcli of England ; to the end that all jicrsons might have liberty to follow * Ilcvvil. Cliulincrs. 348 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA.' [BOOK IV. their own iudgraents and consciences in religious concerns, provided they disturbed not the civil order and peace of the province.* Such is the tenor of the last of the Carolina charters, which conferred on the erantees a territory of vast extent, and rights which it is not easy to dis- ?rLTna"e from royalt/. By a strange anomaly, the king, in divesting himself, as k were of a pL of his^dominions, in behalf of a junto of his ministers, ostentotioi^sly recommended to them a system of ecclesiastical policy d.a- meSly opposite to the intolerance, which, at this verj. time, and by the Counsels of this very iunto, characterised his own domestic administration.' As cLendon till h^eld the' office of Lord Chancellor, this charter, as well as the former, in favor of himself and his colleagues, was sealed by h.s own hands and when we consider how liberally it endowed the propnetanes with privileges, at the expense of the prerogative of the crown, i seems he Cs siirpriJng that he should not have suggested a similar objection to the charte s^w^^^^^ Connecticut and Rhode Island obtained while the great seal was n his keeping. The arbitrary commission for Massachusetts, which we have seen him defend, shows that he entertaifled no general design of abridging the royal prerogative in the British colonies. Animated by this fresh acquisition, the proprietaries exerted themselves, for several yeaVs, to pr.)mote the resort of inhabitants to their domains from Scotland, Ireland, the West Indies, and the northern colonies of America; but notwithstanding all their endeavours, the province partly from the unherhiness of its climate, but chiefly from the state of dispersion in which "he planters chose to live, advanced but slowly in population and strength In the autumn of the present year, the emigrants from Barbadoes conducted by Sir John Yeamans, arrived at their place of destination on the southern bank of the river of Capo Fear, where they corroborate.' their formal title frJm ^he proprietaries by an equitable purchase o the territory fi^m the neThbouring Indians. While they were employed in the first rude toi s re- qusite to tl^ir establishment in the wilderness which they had undertaken ?L 'ubdue their leader ruled them with the mildness of a parent, and cuhi- ^ated the good-will of the aborigines so successfully, that for some years they were enabled to prosecute their labors without danger or distrac ion. Afthe planters opened the forest to obtain space for the operations of til- itethev necessarily prepared timber for the uses of the cooper and Se , 4ich^^^^^^^^ to the insular colony whence they had em,. grated ; a commencement of commerce, which, however feeble, served to cherish their hopes and encourage their industry. ,, • • • The inhabitants of Albemarle continued, meanwhile to pursue their origi- nal employments in peace, and from the cultivation of tobacco and liid.an cornXaCd the materials of an inconsiderable traffic with the merchant- vc elf o New England. About two pars after the acquisition of their lexond charter [Ocf., 1667], the proprfetar.es nmou.ieA Sa-uel h. eve., a man whose parts and virtue were judged equal to the trust, to succeed Dr" mmond as governor of Albemarle ; and at the sn.no^ time heslowod oftir settle,n|t a constitution, ^vhichjnuljtjeenja.thfull)^^^^ -rf^'^nnlMory of Cardina. Willi»!«-»n. ...,,,-,i,i,.„i ;„ 1766. whpn G«>or,?c the . A remarkable oount«rpart of ''"^ X:;:*'**^";';,,^,'^/^^, ^ l.m Cath..l' .ub- Ch dirt l^l^t similar iroatmant J •»•« Socin.an d,...dent, of Poland. > Phulmerg, Williamson. CHAP. I] CONSTITUTION OF ALBEMARLE. 349 would doubtless have promoted the content stnd prosperity of the people. Stevens was directed to conduct his administration in conformity with the advice of a council of twelve, of which he himself was to appoint one half, and the other six were to be elected by the assembly. This was an ap- proach to a prmciple disallowed entirely in Virginia and Maryland, but exemplified still more perfectly in the New England States, and' by which the democratical branch of the government was admitted to a share in com- posing and controlling that body which in the. colonial constitutions formed equally the senatorial or aristocratical branch of the legislature, the privy council of the supreme magistrate, and the judicial court of appeals. The assembly was to be composed of the governor, the council, and a number of delegates, annually chosen by the freeholders. The legislature, in which democratic interests were admitted thus strongly to preponderate, was in- vested not only with the power of making laws, but with a considerable share of the executive authority ; with the right of convoking and adjourning itself of appointing municipal officers, and of nominating and inducting ministers to ecclesiastical benefices. Various regulations provided for the security n >)iioli:>... >i.»„ ll.. :„i._i.:. .r .<> . °^ ^ .■ otiier orth American StnU-s. In Connecticut, accordinir"to tlio representation of DrYMorso^ •h/ ^ • • • F , „ -^ - II been Biithorilativnly pr(t the m- certainnientofthe precise extent of thia conformity in every case was committed to the ditcre< lion of the judges. Smith's JVeio For&. ' Chahiters. Williamson. » It is so represented in the fir«t edition of OJdmixon's work, which was published in 1708. But It was aflerwards inserted in the collection, published in 171!), by Dcs Maisoaux, of (h« snonymouB compositions e Fundamental Constitutions, was neither composed nor ap- proved by Locke,* and by which it was provided, that, whenever the country should be sufficiently peopled and planted, the provincial parliament should enact regulations for the building of churches and the public maintenance of divines, to be employed in the exercise of religion, according to the canons of the church of England ; " which, being the only true and ortho- doxy and the national religion of all the king's dominions, is so also of Car- olina ; and therefore it alone shall be allowed to receive public maintenance by grant of parliament." Finally, it was declared that these Fundamental Constitutions, consisting of one hundred and twenty articles, and forming a vast labyrinth of perplexing regulations (intended rather than calculated to secure an apt intertexture of all the parts in the general frame), should be the sacred and unalterable form and rule of government of Carolina for ever. Thus, by the labor and genius of European philosophers and politicians, the most cumbrous, operose, and illiberal system of government ever engender- ed by theory or practice was composed for a country, which, under the guidance of sounder sense and manlier spirit in her own native population, has since been renowned over all the earth for the simplicity, efficacy, and generosity of her municipal institutions and policy. The faults and absurdities of the foregoing system are at once so nii- merous and so palpably manifest, that to particularize them would be tedi- ous and superfluous toil. It may be reinark^ed,jn^ general, thatjhe^how » "TWb article was not drawn «p W'Mr7i:^kc;butTngcrted by some of the chief oHhe uroprietoni, against his judgment ; as Hi lie presented a copy '^ jio^e Constitufitv Locke himself informed one of his ffinnda to whom ns." Locke's Work$ (folio edit.), Vol. III., p. 676. CHAP. I] THE FUNDAMENTAL CONSTITUTIONS. 356 of it, in collecting inafpri»l« nhab.tants of Carolina. Wes m order to secure the receoti^n nl .hi *^^^ sacrificed their own But while the proprietaries of Si^a conff'^?''^ of. their constitutions. resign the comfSrts and luxur es 7^^! i "? P'^"^^'^ °" themselves to pated their non-residence^^b^providil tr tLr^- ''■'" ^^jl'^fately antici- unctions, they expected that aKar"lolon!nf--T°"!. ^'"'^'^''g^ ^^ »heir aborious tobacco-planters should at once r^L ""^tf"''^"' woodsmen and l-abits of life, enchain their KbertJes abrir^ th"'-' '^^'' "^"^--^ «"d their morphose themselves into a newTdW of bl?,"''^ ^ and nearly meta- lating dignity on persons whom even thp I" ^ ' ^"^ *^ '^^^ ^^ «ecumu- not induce to live in theVountrv Jt •. ?T'"' °^ T '^ dignity could greater folly or injustice in pro J'tin? a irS '° ''^ "\"^^^^ '^''' ^^» weening concern wts admitted^ ^therulersanflsS'" ^^T^«»eh over- posed m the people, for their resnectivp fnfl 7 ^"eh gross indifference sup- expected to sacrL; their liberranr^^^^^^ ' T''^^'^ ^^e multitude we?e advantages of certain conspicuouT station Ih-'I^'.k" "•?"' *" ^"^^"^« ^^e reserved judged unworthv of Sir n ' 7 '""^ *^°'^ ^""^ ^^om they were •he head'of'the antrCal iV^' nTnlT^^^ ^'^^^>"^' -' l"s pen to propagate the siisn.VJnnl , Z ^ S and ; and Locke assisted with of the desijns'^^f the CathofcsS^^^ ^'^T ^l""^'"''^ '^ ^"^ertaln ! we compare the constituSons of aLytnd rd"r ^^ r "'' ^'''^''''' "^'^ ■tate to prefer the labors of the Tn nlZ i • i ^"""o '"a, we cannot hes- tant philosopher and politicLn and to n.^Ti *° i^°^" ^^ ^''e Protes- of mankind were far^mo e wi^e v and otTlf^' '^'' '^' ^''' '"^erests 'jaunted capacity of Lord SiLrP .LT''y P'?"'°*"^ ^^ *he P'ain, elevated and comp^rehensi e m nTa^d'of Sh.f^ I' ""1''^- ^^^°" «^ ^'^^^'^ and experienced genius. ' Shaftesbury's vigorous, sagacious, -neScir^^^^^^^^ satisfied with the Fundo t'?y ; and, as a prelim nary steDTpli^?''''^ '^^^ '"'^ ♦^«'«et without •heir ability to promo e the tmltn ? • "^ themselves to the utmost of province. TheK^of AlbernT ' '°- ^^.f'ld"!""^! inhabitants to the [Jan., 1670], andtelu^'lr^:^'^^^^^^ '" ''? °^- «^ P«'«^- ^^ iwe.ve aivusaiiu pounas expended on the 356 HISTORY or NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK IV. equipment of a fleet, which set sail in the beginning of the following year with a considerable troop of emigrants. This expedition, which was des- tined to found a colony at Port Royal, was conducted by Colonel William Sayle, an officer of considerable experience in military service and com- mand, who received the appointment of governor of that part of the coast 'lying southwestward of Cape Carteret. As these emigrants consisted chiefly of Dissenters, it is probable that religious freedom was the object they had principally in view ; and that they were not acquainted ^yith the special ar- ticle of the Constitutions by which the security of this important blessing was endangered. Indeed, at a subsequent period, the colonists indignantly complained that the Fundamental Constitutions had been interpolated, and some of their original provisions disingenuously warped to the prejudice of civil and religious liberty. ' Sayle was accompanied by Joseph West, a man who for upwards of twenty years bore the chief sway in Carolina, and was now intrusted with the management of the commercial affairs of the proprietaries, on whom the colonists continued for some time to depend exclusively for their foreign supplies. When the new settlers arrived at their place of destination, they pre- pared with more good faith than good sense to erect the structure of the political system to which they were required to conform ; but, to their great surprise, the first glance at their actual situation convinced them that this design was impracticable ; and that the offices which were appointed to be established were no less unsuitable to the numbers than to the occupations of the people. A wide scene of rough toil lay before them, and it was ob- vious that for many years a pressing demand for laborers must be expe- rienced ; a state of things totally incompatible with the avocations of official dignitaries and the pompous idleness of an order of nobility. Neither landgraves nor caciques had yet been appointed by the proprietaries ; and to have peopled even the subordinate institutions would have b6en to em- ploy all the inhabitants of the cojony in performing a dramatic pageant, in- stead of providing the means of subsistence. Yet, although the colonists found themselves constrained at once to declare tliat it was impoanblt to execute the grand model, they steadily persisted in their adherence to it, and expressed their determination to come as nigh to it as possible. Writs were therefore issued, requiring the freeholders to elect five persons, who, witli five others chosen by the proprietaries, were to form the grand council as- sociated with the governor in the administration of the executive power. A parliament, composed of these functionaries, and of twenty delegates, chosen by the same electors, was invested with legislative authority. So great were the difficulties attending the commencement of their new scene of life, that, only a few months after their arrival in Carolina [1670], the colonists were relieved from the extremity of distress by a supply of provis- ions seasonably transmitted to them by the proprietaries. Along with this supply, there were forwarded to the governor twenty-three articles of in- struction, called temporary agrarian laws, relative to the distribution of land, together with the plan of a magnificent town, which he was desired to build with all convenient speed, and to denominate Charles-Town, in honor of the king. To encointige the resort of settlers to Port Royal, one hundred and fifty acres of land were allotted to every emigrant, at a small quitrent, and clothes and provisions were distributed from th e stores oS the propric - CHAP, I] OLD CHARLESTOWN FOUNDED. 367 'SZTT^nZl'^^'Cr^'"'''" "i™f™=- The friend], .0 .he native caei, l^X L^P rformed ^r'"''?'' "^•'"'""J T^^"' e»«bfol.. The Duke of Albemnr 1, ° • T^^^ '^ ""'''sned •» wa, succeeded inX d%„ky „fTati„eri2S''r" *° ™"T °/""= >"='"• »ards John Locke was created a SLL- ""^ ' ""' *""')' =f«r- .nd the same dignity was besrowedrfnT '"/^"ISP™^'' "' W» ^""ccs ; Carteret, a relative o" one of the n?l,^ •^°''". ^S°T°'' »"'' ™ J»™»' some elation in the .^ nd of 1 A„S„ •;"'■ ^"J^^ " ""J' »"""' fanciful distinction of an order of 3^ r'"" '" '""r!' """' "''"» «*= continued to enjoy even a nominal "Sent t'TT"" ,'°'° '"'' ""^"T' members ; and that when he w« „„Jn j r ' °''u" ^"^^^ ""* »"« of its ford, and a fugitiVe fmm End „d Ki, J"™- *" Jl""''. '«^'' "f »"- and regarded Is a chS of the nennle T„ P T^'^'i^ ^^ " ""^ "^ '"'"«. .0 behSld this eminent philoso„Cld,rl°;"''\,^"' " '' '''»=6'''^='''lo distinction to himself {^^£11 whZ^ h Tf''' "l" '""Pt a titular and introduce the deg;adlng%SS'rf" ^olrrXlTlr Feamans in the government of the plantation around Cape Fearri6711 judged U expedient to extend his cLmand to the new settlement Th; wplUnow' "T^^^ ^l^ '^' •"'^"°'- «f ^he country big now perfeltlv LrT"' '^7"S^^h« ^^^"''ate surveys which Uiey had undLCe t£ planters from Clarendon on the north, and from Port Royal on the so'uth Sere wo t -/T"^ '"^ i''""'' ^" '^' — -"^ banks^f Ashley River • wh chTecame't^^^^^^^ T ^^^^^ [he foundation of OZrf a/rzSn,' wnicn Decame, lor some time, the capital of the southern settlements TiJ ESnT' "'^^Th"^' -!^*^ the pSicy that charac erized thrp;evS s rved nf h^'""'!^'-'^ '■'^^'"''y ''^«'*' ""^''^ '^'^y appointed to beob dmfntte Ih ^ ' '"f '""* '"'':T'^ of inhabitants, the government could be heT aw en^.!?; "T''{ ''f.'^' Fundamental Constitutions. One of quitv and' IT^ P':"'^?^«".d humane, enjoined the colonists to practise equuy and courtesy m their intercourse with the Indians ; to afford then, ' Oldmison liafflson HUiaty of ihe'BrUish Dominions in America. Hewit. Ci.aJmeni. Wif ^66 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK IV. prompt and ample redress of any wrongs they might happen to sustain ; and on no pretence whatever to enslave or send any of them out of the country. Unfortunately, the object of this regula'ion was very soon defeated by the intrigues of the Spaniards ; and the other temporary laws received little attention or respect from the colonists, who were by no means disposed to acquiesce in such arbitrary and irregular government ; and who very justly thought, that, if the establishment of permanent laws was obstructed by the circumstances of their present Condition, the temporary arrangements by which such laws were to be supplied ought to originate with Uiemselves, to whom alone the exact nature of the controlling circumstances was practi- cally known.' The proprietaries were more successful in their efforts to attract addi- tional emigrants to the settlement on Ashley River than in their experi- ments in the science of legislation. To the Puritans, persecuted in Eng- land by the existing laws, and ridiculed and insulted by the Cavaliers, they offered a secure asylum and ample grants of land in Carolina, on condition of their transporting themselves and their families to this province. Even the most bigoted churchmen in the king's council are said to have cooperated with much eagerness to promote this scheme ; considering severe labor a wholesome remedy for ei^husiasm, and enthusiasm a fit stimulus and auxil- iary to novel and hazardous undertakings ; and judging it expedient to di- minish, by every means, the farther extension of Puritan sentiments and practices in Massachusetts. And although it was to this favorite scene that the major and the most zealous portion of the Puritan emigrants still resort- ed, yet a considerable number were tempted, by the flattering offers of the proprietaries, to try their fortunes in Carolina. Unfortunately for the repose and prosperity of the province, the invitations and encouragements to emi- grate thither were tendered indiscriminately to men of the most distordant characters and principles. Rakes and gamblers, who had wasted their sub- stance in riot and debauchery, and Cavaliers who had been ruined by the civil wars, were sent to associate with moody, discontented Puritans, and to enter on a scene of life in which only severe labor and the strictest temper- ance and frugality could save them from perishing with hunger. To the im- poverished officers and other unfortunate adherents of the royalist party, for whom no recompense was provided in England, the proprietaries and the other ministers of the king offered estates in Carolina [1671], which many of them were fain to embrace as a refuge from beggary. A society, composed of these Cavaliers, who ascribed their ruin to die Puritans, and of Puritan emigrants, who imputed their exile to the Cavaliers, could not reasonably be expected to exist long in harmony or tranquillity ; and the feuds and distractions, that afterwards sprung up from the seeds of division thus unseasonably imported into the infant commonwealth, inflicted a merited retribution on the proprietaries for the reckless ambition they indulged, and the absurdity of the policy they pursued. The dangers and hardships, in- deed, whh which the emigrants found themselves encompassed on their arri- val in the province, contributed for a time to repress the growth of civil and religious dissension ; but, on the other hand, the same circumstances tended to develope the mischievous consequences of sending men, whose habits were already inveterately depraved, to a scene where only vigorous virtue could maintain a secure and pro sperous establishment. Accordingly, it ' Hcwit. Chalmers. [BOOK IV. I CHAP. I] HOSTILE INTRIGUES OF THE SPANIARDS. » to sustain ; and It of the country, defeated by the fs received little • means disposed i who very justly )bstructed by the arrangements by til themselves, to nces was practi- to attract addi- in their experi- ■secuted in Eng- 3 Cavaliers, they ina, on condition province. Even have cooperated ; severe labor a raulus and aiixij- expedient to di- I sentiments and vorite scene that rants still resort- ing offers of the ly for the repose igements to emi- most discordant vasted their sub- in ruined by the Puritans, and to strictest temper- ;er. To the im- ! royalist party, iroprietaries and 1 [1671], which ry. A society, lie Puritans, and iliers, could not [uillity ; and the leeds of division flicted a merited 3y indulged, and d hardships, in- ed on their arri- )vvth of civil and instances tended n, whose habits ' vigorous virtue Accordingly, it person ,h„„W be per„e7iTbaEr^X"'' "" ""'' '"" "" appellation of Florida was now r-i^^^^^^^^^ • }^F'''''y 'o which the ness. The host le opeTat oL of the"^'^ -'T "' rF'^ comprehensive- pretensions would harZC warranted^ rrfn' ""^''f'^ -^'^ °^'S'"°' of a treaty bv which thnJnr^tl ' S^^ pursued m manifest violation ahvavs possess in (1,11 rLh, If ' • "" ^'"S "' '^reat Brilain should Amerioa, which he in^L s„b 'ecTthe/held an'J It^^^ or any part of evISVid'r.hesI"'-"? '• '"'' "-""insb-.TL'^coZ same Sv Te ll,? If f ,.■""?' '"'"' '^""^'"'^ ""'' """>>"'=<'• By the p»^p!^°^Krrei.erK^ mw0Mm nKnn« r -7 '^"* emissaries among the settlers at Ashley River To dL'r7t let rSs td ny '^te V'^^ h"""^^^^' '"^^^^ ^^ sla ion nf ! )^' u^ '"^'Ses, that these deluded Indians, at th^ "n! vS experiS^lk" *"r'^"^- ^"' '"J"^^"'^^ ^^^>^ had 'themselves hem a^nd vvhof ri 5 "™' ^° ^''*""P«*^ « ^^^« ^^'^o had never injured eTi annonnnn'H' ^ '^' ^^F««« instructionf o tneir rulers, announced a desire to cultivate friendly relations with them S60 HISTORY or NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK IV. and endurance which human nature with all its wants and weaknesses is still capable of exemplifying. Except a very few negroes, imported bv Yeamans and his followers from Barbadoes, there were no other laborers but Europeans in the colony ; the brute creation could not replace or even partake human labor, till the ground was disencumbered of wood ; and the unassisted arm of man alone had to encounter the hardship of clearing a for est, whose stubborn strength and thickness seemed to bid defiance to his most strenuous efforts. The toil of felling the large and lofty trees by which they were surrounded, was performed by the colonists under the dis- solving heat of a climate to which their bodies were unaccustomed, and amidst the dread of barbarous enemies, whose stealthy approaches and ab- rupt assaults they could not otherwise repel, than by keeping a part of their own number under arms, to protect the remainder who were struggling with the forest, or cultivating the spaces that had been cleared. The provisions obtained by dint of such hardships were frequently devoured or destroyed by their enemies ; and the recompense of a whole year's toil was defeated in one night by the dexterous celerity of Indian depredation. The burden of these distresses was augmented by the feebleness, helplessness and ill-humor of a great part of the recently arrived emigrants, and by the mistakes and disappomtments arising from ignorance of the peculiar culture and produce appropriate to the soil of Carolina, to which European grain and tillage proved unsuitable. So much discontent and insubdrdination was produced by this scene of varied annoyance and calamity, that it was with the utmost difficulty that the governor could prevent the people from abandoning the settlement. An insurrection was even excited by Culpep- per, one of the provincial officers ; but it was easily suppressed by the gov- ernor ; and the guilty were either mildly punished or humanely forgiven in consideration of the misery to which their violence was imputed. While Yeamans was exerting himself to compose these disorders, the Spanish gar- rison at Augustine, learning their occurrence from some fugitive servants of the colonists, judged this a proper opportunity to strike a decisive blow • and accordingly despatched an invading party, who, advanced as far as the island of St. Helena, with the purpose of dislodging or destroying the in- habitants of Ashley River. But either the courage of the invaders was disproportioned to their animosity, or they had overrated the divisions among the English colonists ; for, being joined by only one traitor named Fitzpat- rick, and finding that Yeamans was not only prepared to receive them, but had sent Colonel Godfrey with a party of fifty volunteers to attack them m St. Helena, they did not wait the encounter, but, evacuating the island, retreated to their quarters at Augustine. The more formidable hostilities of the Indians were quelled for a time, partly by the conciliatory address of Yeamans, but chiefly by a war which broke out between two of their own principal tribes, the Westoes and the Seranas, and was carried on with such destructive fury, that in the end it proved the ruin of them both.^ During the administration of Sir John Yeamans [1673], the colony re- ceived an addition to its strength from the Dutch settlement of Nova Belgia, or New Netheriands, which had been conquered by Colonel Nichols and annexed to the English empire. Charies the Second bestowed it on his brother James, who changed its name to New York ; and by the prudence and mildness of the first governor w hom he appointed, the inhabitants were ' Hewiti ~ ~ CHAP. I] DISSATISFACTION OF THE PROPRIETARIES. 361 altered situaUon, and many of tC h„H r ^"'j\d.scontente^ with their .0 some other rngion ; wS 1 0^0 'f^r^'''"'^!*'' !-"""''^" ""^ ^«"^°^'"g anticipating their desgn and ever oTt/? .°^ understanding ov their own 'provincial teUory, prevaSed with Ti h P'°'"°'' "•""'S'"^*'""" ^" direct their course thither, a^nd^dLpatchrd t^o v;^1^ °^^"' ^° number of Dutch families to Sle'town Rt^n^^^ " general of the colony, was directPH.n „= • i ^^P'^" Bull, the surveyor- Ashley River for the^ rccomSion .'T!," '«"^^°"^he southwest side of ing drawn lots for hdr p^est 7 Vol ^ ''u ^"*'^^ emigrants, hav- ment, which was called jSuestov^' T rlsVr "^!' 7 i^""''f ""■'^'- to Carolina produced an abundant LvnV F^V^^^ort of Dutch seiiiers having surmounted amaJnrhardshrnT hvT'?'''"°- *° '^' P'°^'"^« ? ^^^ successful establishmerTwch thev TttainL "'j; ^'i"""" '"? '"^"^^^^ '^e men in ancient Belgia , at a later nerioH . ? i "'t'^ '"'^"'^ '^•^''- ^°""try. The inhabitants of^Jamestou'n St en^th fi^"^"" '• "" '° *^" ^^^^'''^" '^^''^' for their growing number be^an .^^^^^ ^rl"^ «s precincts too narrow .ill the ojinal sftt^^^^^^^^^ the province, signmeL 1 provisions and ^ sTore^t^^Tthrsll"^ ^"^^J^ ^°"- than once its deliverance from the brink of d^^Lh.^^ settlement owed more was not proportioned to thriiberali v nf .h • "' ^"^ ^^^''" P«^'«"«« pectations they formed of speedy Shli f ^'""'encement ; in the ex- omitted to consider some of the^mo tmnn^^^^^^^^ -"^ ^'""'"^"^ 'f^''^^ ^^ey dilion of the persons for whom tW T7 so fr^r'"''' "r'. '" *^/ ^°"- regardless of the injustice and imnr7rl«n '°. V'^^^ F^vided ; and quite off great numbers ThXless 2\tt? '"'!^ ^^'"*^ '^''^ ^'^ ^"'"^^ onl/ encumber, disturb anrjisot^^^^^^^ Tmor^ ^^T,"^"V'^^ '^^"'^ community, they were exclusivplv ^^^^ 1 ^ "'^'^"' members of the of their own pecuZy sacS^hfrh t'^ ^' ^^^^^ ^"'^ '^' ^''^'^^'^ .ion that the coloni L^haTno ca ' whJ. 'r ^""^ to warrant the convic of .he year 1673 a dpht n? ^^atever of complaint. Before the end cited fresh supplies, without beijrihip to ^l,' 1^ ^u ^^ *'°'°""^' «°"- disbursements were likrever to h'' r^- ^ -^ '^°-'' '■ ^''* """ ^''^ '""^"''^ ity of the hardships hey unde went th"v ' «"^.'" «"f ^"g to the sever- sinuated reproach^ The ZnrS- ^ complamed of neglect, and in- gusted with this result aJXl !?• ' '''''''*'"?'^ P''^^^'^^^ «"d dis- the Dutch war rendPrpd ,hl- disappointment, in concurrence whh freauent t^^ -th the colony much less lately emigrated from New VorT If' ^°/"^°"r«Sf the settlers who had prom^ised a^n annu Tne nl74V 1 S;thl?P'''''1 T'^f ^"PP^^' «"'! siderhowthe debt was to £ liiddnti/ ^ ' \''"'^ ^^^ P'^^^^''^ ^o con- they declared, to make no mVrT'3 ' ''"".\they were now determined, '4LustberbXt''th"^^^^^^^^ a' omAVi d b7a tmbe^o'f ^^^^^^^^^ -- -^ other usefuTpK. Pg!]i!g_'^y a number of pej;sons_whowprP acquainted with the cul' VOL. 1. 46 Hewit. EE 362 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK IV. ture of them ; but they refused an application for a stock of cattle, ob- serving that they wished to encourago planters rather than graziers ; and they strongly recommended the cultivation of tobacco, till more beneficial staples could bo introduced. Mutual jealousy and dissatisfaction began now to arise between the proprietaries and the colonists, and embittered the whole of their future intercourse. But a useful lesson was conveyed to the colonists by the circumstances which thus diminished their reliance on foreign support and enforced their dependence on their own unassisted exertions. Ihe proprietaries ascribed the unproductiveness of the colony and the poverty of its inhabitants to the misrule of Sir John Yeauians who, in the commencement of this year, was forced by ill health to resign his command, and try to 'repair his constitution in Barbodoes, where he soon found a grave. The factions and confusion in which the colony was shortly after involved have rendered the annals of this period extremely perplexing and inconsistent, — obscuring, with an almost impenetrable cloud, the real characters of men and the connection of events. Yet, amidst con- flicting testimonies, it seems reasonable to believe tliat the charges of the proprietaries against Sir John Yeamans were unjust, and either the effusions of spleen and disappointment, or (more probably) the artful suggestion of an apology for the main body of the colonists, with whom it was not convenient for them to quarrel irreconcilably. The only offence of Yeamans appears to have been his eagerness to procure ample supplies from the proprietaries to the colonists ; a policy, which, while the proprietaries were determined to discourage, they were naturally disposed to ascribe to his own misconduct. When he abdicated his office, the couricil again appointed Joseph West his successor ; and on this occasion the palatine thought proper to confirm the popular choice, with many compliments to the object of it, which, however gratuitous at the time, were eventually justified by the prudence and success of his administration.' The early annals of Carolina are chiefly interesting as illustrative of a state of society not likely ever again to occur in the world, From the affairs of the southern plantation, we must now transfer our attention for a while to the northern setdement of Albemarle. Instructions, similar to those which had been communicated to Sayle, in the year 1670, were addressed to Stevens, the governor of Albemarle, at tne same period ; but a system, replete with innovations so unfavorable to the interests of free- dom, was received with disgust and even derision by the people, who were no more disposed to execute the plan of the Fundamental Constitutions than the proprietaries had been to invite their assistance in its composition. The promulgation of this instrument produced no other effect than to awak- en the most inveterate jealousy of the designs of the proprietaries ; till, in process of time, it was reported and believed, that they entertained the f)roject of partitioning the province, and bestowing Albemarle on Sir Wil- iam Berkeley as his share of the whole. This apprehension, though per- fectly groundless, prevailed so strongly, that at length the assembly of Albemarle [1675] presented a remonstrance to the proprietaries against a measure which they declared to be at once injurious to individuals and degrading to the country. Although the remonstrance was answered in «'«"« .noted sentiments' and praftiS as hosl to .7 w' °^ "'' ^•^'^u^^''^' P'°' ol' the proprietaries was reuuenamVn n '".^"^^^rd'nation, as the policy ol- the northern province for a . Tip 'V '^* * >'" *'»« P«'-'od, the l^story and contradiction^lat it is imnossihTo^'""' 'V"'"'^^'^ '" '"^^ ^°"^"«io" cult to unravel its intricacy or Cat it "■'"•''' ,1^ '"«r^«»'""6> a"d cli/li- niost accurate of its historians l, 1 'u? !"V'"'S'^'*''- ^^'halmers, the sources of informaficlrtrr aifytl^^'LZJ'V^^*^'^ ^'^'^^^^ '^ '^'^ best the nature and order of the n Lh^«I n ^ f other writers respecting practicable to account for e.n ff? '''?"''.' ^^Z ^'''^ '^"""^ ^^ utterly inn lleeper confusion, fvl be rco.n ett^' ^^'^'^ ^'''^ been involved i^n the aptr;:Vstne tn7i=r-: th^ ;:;: '''-"'''' -^ ^'^-^■•'^' ^^-"-^ and having been acqui ted ,uL . Fovince, was accused of sedition justice Ae ^s^t:s^T':e;2^rs'r^^^ «"^ '- plain to the proprietaries of the tLunpTl^ m order to com- the governor, died soon after • and ZT.T u ^^t ""•^"''Sone. Stevens, to replace him, until orE ^Sld h^ ^'^ ^ T/" "'l"'"" °^ ^^"^^^ .nan,Uer a short attempt rcSctfh/^?'-''* ^'■°"' *^"S'"°^ ' but this with the scene of fooS furious 1 "^^'"'"'^.^'•f^'""' ^vas so disgusted volved, that he abandoned trcdonv h '"7^"'' .^' '^"""^ himself in- [1676], vvhither he was aton,paSVv Ff r "J^ ^"'"''"^^ to England dress and abilities had raised m to Sf. ^- •^"■'^ ' P"'"'^" ^^^ose^ ad- bly, and who was deputed to eLZn . F''^ of speaker of the assem- ation of their people!^ it proKrL, " P'^'^'f'^^ the actual situ- Eastchurch, applted him gleCr 'f A?h "''T"^ " ^Tl'^^' °P'"'°" °'' treatment that Aliller hadTec^eived Ls owed ofr ' '"^ ^'^^PP^oving the office of provincial secretarr to whio?} nf I Si ?" ? " ^o^^Pensation the tion of his proprietary fVmc ions Th! .S^l^ftesbury added a deputa- pointed Miller, at tlJsame Z; t^ « commissioners of the customs ap- rovince. The pro m^^^^^^^ ^^'''- f °"''^°'' °'" ^^ese duties in tin, designs had been ^pS ^m- th4'7ilT'^ dissatisntction how little their functionaries. ThWrS In fied h-t h''°"' T^arded by the provincial to the southward of AlbeSe SonS T' '° ^''''' .^^"^^'"ents formed lablished with the soXrn colony Burfh' ^T"^""'«^tion by land es- the governor and council of AlbZ;,.lp i ' ''''''"! ^'^ obstructed by I)- llie whole of the trade with the neLhh" ^""fT"^ '° themselves near- liended that the extension nfi "^'S' louring Indians, and justly appre- traffic into';ht\:r"Ve'prprLtr^^^^^^^ ''^"^ ^'v« P-«''ble success to alter the channeorafSn trade o'^^^^^^^^ ""' -"^ ^'"^•■ to promote a direct intercourse wiUt Sin np^ace of Ih "''"'""'' '"'^ of commerc al dealine to wh'ioh th^ ^'"f'"> '" pjacc ol the narrow system New England setSn ° Thl r. 1 7"'' T'""^'^ themselves with the the inteHor of the pro" inco and hrf ''' ^T-^'^' 5"Sland, penetrating into obtained a monopoirof the „ ol'/e o^A^h '^ f °^^'°. T'y "»«"'« ^"°^' ters to a traffic win Jh they prefer 'd on tl'^.^'V -"^ 'i-'^'^"^*^^ ^^e plan: to the superior emolume ft of more ^xte dT'^/ ''" '"^^^ '"' ^""P"'''^' was hoped by the oronrint-nries h^? .'„'' ™ _ ^T^^^ transactions. It . , -""^ ^"•^^^"'^"P^i^'ynt aiteraiionm thescparticu- 3G4 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK IV. lars would result from the instructions which they now communicated to Kastchurch and Miller. These officers departed to take uossession of their respective appointments ; hut Kastchurch, enticed hy the prospect of a wealthy marriage in the West Indies, deemed it prudent to remain there till his object was accomplished, and despatched his companion with di> rections to ddminister the government of Albemarle till he himself should arrive.' As chief magistrate and collector of the royal customs, Miller [July, 1677] was received with a hollow civility and affected consideration, of which he became the dupe and the victim. Unaware or regardless of the aversion to his authority that prevailed with a considerable party among the planters, he at once proclaimed designs and commenced innovations tlint gave offence and alarm to them all. The settlement, of which he now as- sumed the governance, consisted merely of a few insignificant plantations dispersed along the northeastern bank of the river Albemarle, and divided into four districts. The planters were yet but an inconsiderable body; the tithableSj under which description were comprehended all persons from sixteen to sixty years of age, amounting only to fourteen hundred ; of whom one third was composed of Indians, negroes, and women. Kxclusive of the cattle and Indian corn, eight hundred thousand pounds of tobacco was the annual produce of their labor, and formed the basis of an inconsidera- ble commerce, which was monopolized by the traders from New England, who enjoyed unbounded influence in the province. Remote from society, and destitute of the means of education, the planters were remarkable for igno- rance and credulity, and were implicitly directed by the counsels of those traders, who regarded with the utmost jealousy the commercial designs whirh Miller was instructed by the proprietaries to pursue. Unsupported by any effectual force, and possessing neither the reputation of emment ability nor the advantage of popularity, this man commenced his work of reformation with a headlong and impetuous zeal that provoked universal disgust. He was reproached, and perhaps justly, with some arbitrary exertions of power ; but the rock on which his authority finally split was an attempt to promote a more direct trade with Britain and with the other colonies," in order to destroy the monopoly enjoyed by the traders of New England, whom the proprietaries regarded as insidious rivals, and pernicious associates of the people of Carolina. On the arrest of a New England trader who was ac- cused of smuggling, an insurrection^ broke forth among the settlers of Pasquetanke [December, 1677], one of the districts of Albemarle ; and the flame spread through the whole colony. The insurgents were conducted by Culpepper, who had formerly excited commotions in the settlement of Ashley River, and whose experience in such enterprises seems to have formed his sole recommendation to the regards of his present associates. As the government possessed no force capable of withstanding them, they ' Chalmers. Williamson. * Virginia, from her situation, miglit have absorbed the whole of this traffic, of whii'h slip then enjoyed only a very inconsiderable portion. But so narrow were the conuneroinl virwii by which she wns governed, that two years after this period sJie passed an act prohibiting •' tho importation of tobacco from Carolina ; as it had been found very prejudicial." lyiirs pf Viifinia. In the year 1681, the governor of Virginia, writing to tho English Committee of Colonies, declares that " Carolina (I mean the north part of it) always was, and is, tiic sink nf America, the refuge of our renegadocs, and, till in better order, dangerous to us." Stoft Pttpf,r$, afmd Chalmers. * This insurrection, it will be remarked, broke out but a few months after the suppression of Racon's rnbellion in ViT'inia- Rut no connection hna been truced botwccn these tw» events. CHAf. I.J INSURRECTION UNDER CULPEPPER o^^ Sou l»mlod officers, convoked a pa li'amom ?„fll J ■" "T" "' J"""'"' T iraumcd to ooDosc .l,!^r, ^wPf ' ■"'""' P""»llmenl! on all who i: SpiiiSorgovo 2. A " rr.::\^^^^^^ "-^ '"'''""'^ -f „„accora|,anicd Cy a maoifesto iho ioZi r ■" "TP'" °' » ■•"•■"" .iitacmient conduct of ,|,e insurgents demonstrated how IM. of „.ljf for assistance to the goverSrVirlt h ."'."^'''f''""^- .^"'ff'"'* farce sufficient for his ^urp^osrc'ould'^bfrLmt;^*'"' "' ""'"'"'" '•^'^°- ' ,aenl 1 his unlbrtutiato president, and the other officeT who had I.T complaints of their own^Sftferini and Izt^- •=•"■" »^ ,"•» -ation with Ifth^ proprietaries cou,jtr^:;„Z'dr ^^Wgir ZTZ formity with their own notions of rlo-ht W ,.r„o .i ^ ' " " *'**"' taler 'party that would double" havetLle7„ifh.heT''R'r° •,"'?" hesitated to e„,broil themselves irrecoEably ^ , ,Le Tolonfs," XiTt? E?f^:i"fh-ig-^£3!ES^^ sal of the popular cause in England placed him at vaWancrwUrsoTof strument in the nrov ncp nnH thnt M;ii„» u- • "ecoming a useful in- ofTbe^^llil .h T°'. "' '"'"5 "' ™"'="<" -"i"""" eir authority, and ■ Chalmers. Wimammt. ^ ■BE* 366 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK IV. .iience of which, the report of the committee impeached him not only of embezzlement of the customs, but of having promoted a rebellion in the province. It was in vain for him to acknowledge the facts laid to his charce and beg for mercy, or at least that his trial might take place in Carolina' where the offences had been commilted ; his powerful accusers were deter' mined to wreak the uttermost vengeance on so daring an opponent of legit- imate authority ; and, in copformiiy with a statute of Henry the Eighth which enacted that foreign treasons might be judged and punished in Ene' land, he was brought to trial in the Court of King's Bench, on an indictment of high treason committed without the realm. There is no departure from justice in requiring a colonial governor, or other public officer delegated by the parent state, to answer before her domestic tribunals for betraying the trust or perverting the power which he derived from her appointment But Culpepper had not been an officer of the British government ; and however consonant with the statute law of Henry the Eighth, it was plainly repugnant to the spirit of the English common law, as well as to the prin- ciples of equity, to compel him to take his trial at such a distance from all to whom his conduct and character were known, and in a community to which the witnesses on both sides must be strangers, and where conflict- ing testimony could not be properly balanced. It must be confessed however, that, from the actual state of the province, the British government was reduced to the alternative of either trymg him in England, or not trying him at all. His destruction at first appeared inevitable ; for the judges pronounced, that to take up arms against the proprietary government was treason against the king ; and the amplest evidence was produced of every circumstance requisite to substantiate the charge. But Shaftesbury, who was then at the zenith of his popularity, appearing in behalf of the prisoner, and representing, contrary to the most undoubted facts, that there had never been any regular government in Albemarle, and that its disorders were mere feuds betweeen the planters, which at worst could amount to no higher of- fence than a riot, easily prevailed with the jury to return a verdict of ac- quittal. » [1680.] This Avas the last transaction by which Shaftesbury sig- nalized his participation in the government or affairs of Carolina. His attention, thenceforward, was absorbed by the deep and daring cabals that preceded his exile ; and, about three years afterwards, having ruined or dishonored every party with which he had been connected, he was obliged to fly from England, and implore the hospitality and protection of the Dutch, whom he had formerly exhorted the English parliament to extirpate from the face of the earth. The ruin of this ablest of the proprietaries extended its influence to the fortunes of the most distinguished of the landgraves. Locke had been so intimately connected with Shaftesbury, that he deemed it pni- dent to retire from England at the same time ; but so remote was he from any accession to the guilt of his patron, that, when William Penn afterwards prevailed on James the Second to consent to the pardon and recall of Locke, the philosopher refused to accept a pardon, declaring that he had done nothing that required it." Meanwhile, the palatine, and the majority of the proprietaries, reduced to their former perplexity by the acquittal of Culpepper, pursued a tempo- rizing policy, that degraded their own authority, and cherished the factions and ferments of the colony. Fluctuating between their resentments and ■ LtfeoflMcke. Clurkson's Lift of Penn. . D <. CHAP. 1} TEMPORIZING POLICY OF THE PROPRIETARIES. 3^7 their apprehensions, they alternately threatened the insurgents and re- proached the.r own partisans. The inevitable consequence of this polic^ was to exasperate st.U farther all parties in the colony against each oTi Without attaching any to the propri'etaries, who very soon Sovered Sat h was no longer in their power either to overawe their mutinous subiectsbv vigor, or to cone ate them bv lenitv rifisi '*"\'""""°".s suDiects by hfless attempt to vindicat^tELSJl'Io ityf^^^^^^^^^^^ adopted the humbler purpose of accommodating aiiSensons Ind the strain of their government in future to whateve? degree of obeSLnce the colonists might be disposed to yield them Having o!.„v,i- u "" ^"'^"^^ '"^ administration at the h^ad of wS t^ p&„r£f;y'a: pS7 they announced immediately after, their intention to send o^ S r^rmanent governor Seth Sothel, who had purchased Lord Clarendon's shar^Tf the province and whose interest and authority they hoped would effectuallv conduce to the restoration of order and tranquillity. ^ But these measur^ were productive only of additional disappointment.^ Little regard TasS to the rule of Harvey by men who were already apprized thaThis govern- Slrn? hi '''^"- " '^°" ^"'■^"°" ' ^"•^ ^he proprietaries, along S the tidings of his inefficiency, received intelligence of the can ure of^nth!S on his voyage by the Algerines. Undfsmayed by so ^y di appoint ments, the proprietaries, now resolutely embracing a mild and Lcommodl ing policy, pursued it with commendable perseverance ; and Henry wSkin son, a man from whose prudence more happy results were expected wa, appointed governor of the whole of that porUon of Carolina sSngfr7m Virginia to the river Pamlico, and five miles beyond it. The most e^^^^^^^^ mg disorders, lo the governor and council they recommended in ner- su sive language the promotion and exemplification of forbearance and L- dulgence; and, ,n compliance with their desire, an act of ow'vlon was passed by the assen .ly of Albemarle in favor of the late insurgems on condition of their restoring the money of which they had plundered' the provincial treasury. But it was found easier to inculcate the virtue of mod! Se"dit.tdXt."'° '^' "^T' ^'^^"S, than on XsTwho had mflicted It , and the late insurgents, who were still the stronger, or at least rfT"tX7rJSrt"°H'"'°"'"^* °"'y ^'^"^^'"-^ t'he'crditb^' 01 an act which they felt to be quite unnecessary to their security, but ac- nTbliSfce'ToTnl"^^^^ T"'?^,l T^^^^^' ^^'^h triumphant insoin'e h St rk to nrT'/"^ punish the party which had so far mistaken IS fi A ^ °^^.'' ^°™' °^ P''"*^^" «"d indulgence to them. They '- heltln'^rri"'"^^^^^ opponent!, who were forced S :Zt ."""^V ^"^f"^' a"d w'th whom every trace of justice and freedom took a long leave of the unhappy settlement. •' 1 he miserable scene of violence and anarchy that ensued was not abridged f SctilJl n?r^'"" ""■ ^'^'""'•'^ '" ^"^ ^-^Sree meliorated, by the arrival of bethel as go^^rnor, m the year 1G83. The character, at once odious and despicable, ol th^ unprincipled man disclosed itself in th^ very ouSet of his lomnn^pJ f 1 ^°"^''^'-"ed m the late disorders ; to establish a court, d e^of wrnn^ ^''°«t ^Pectable and impartial of the inhabitants, for the re: -.j_..r.„. .,. ,n^ .,u=tuii,3 u, coilecung the royal revenue and executing I 568 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [ROOK IV. the Acts of Navigation, — he declined to comply with any of tliese man- dates ; and, seeking only his own immediate enrichment, disregarded equal- ly the happiness of the people, the interest of his colleagues, and the deep stake which he himself possessed in the lasting welfare of the colony. Newly escaped from captivity on the coast of Barbary, he was ao far froni acquiring an increase of humanity or a stronger sense of equity from the experience of hardship and injustice, that he seemed to have adopted the policy of his late captors as the model of his own government ; nor have the annals of colonial oppression recorded a name that deserves to be transmitted to posterity with greater infamy than his. Rapacity, cruelty and fraud, formed the prominent traits of his official conduct, which, aiter afflictbg the <;olony for a period of five years, finally 3xhausted the patience of all parties, and produced at least one good effect, in uniting the divided people by a sense of common suffering and danger. Driven to despair the inhabitants universally took arms against his government in 1688, and having deposed and imprisoned him, were preparing to send him to Eng- land for trial, when, descending to the most abject supplications, he entreat- ed to be judged rather by the provincial assembly, whose sentence he declared himself willing to abide. If the colonists, in granting this request arrogated a power that did not constitutionally belong to them, they exercised it with a moderation that reflects honor on themselves, and aggravates the guilt of their tyrannical governor. The assembly declared him gpilty of ail the crimes laid to h^s charge, and sentenced him to a year's banishment and perpetual exclusion from office. When the proprietaries received intelli- gence of these transactions, they deemed it proper to signify some disap- Erobation of the irregular justice of the colonists ; but they expressed a live- j concern for their sufferings, and great astonishment and indignation at the eonduct of Sothel. They summoned him still to answer for his crimes be- fore the palatine's court in England ; and they protested, that, if their people would render a dutiful obedience to legal authority, no governor should in fiiture be suffered to enrich himself with their spoils.' Such was the con- dition to which North Carolina was reduced at the epoch of the British Revolution. ' Williamson. Chalmers. Hewit. Ilewit haa related tliese proc«edin|(s against Sothel w having occurred in South Carolina. Nor is this thu only error with which he is charge- able. He perpetually combines events that are totally unconnected. His notation of date« is extremely scanty, and sornet.mes very inaccurate. While he abstains from the difficult tuk of relating the history of North Carolina, he selects the most interesting features of iti •anals, and transfers them to the history of the southern province. His errors, though hardly honest, were probably not the fruit of deliberate misrepresentation. Almost all the prior his- torians of America have been betrayed into similar inaccuracies with respect to the province! of Carolina. Even that laborious aiid generally accurate writer, Jedediah Moise, has been ao fiur misled by defective materials as to assert (^Amtritan Gazelleer) that the first pennanent ■ettle:^ent in North Carolina was formed by certain German refugees in 1710. CHAP. II.] ADMINISTRATION OF WEST. 369 Affairs of South Carolina. CHAPTER II. nairs oi aoatti Carolina — Iii/1!.„ «r „ fromlreland — Scotland — and F^^"j~'i?''*'«=« o'' kidnapping Indians V ■ ■ tion of French Protestants L r*^-"*^' ~J^'™t«« «ntertainT"n th^ r„ln7 r"^"°' Progress of Disconten "n the ^T^'""— D'sputes created by the NavS^^""!™'^"- of the Proprietaries to re" tore &der"^-^®*''''1^ "«"'P« t^e LverrimeT ^n^'^'-" Intolerant Measnrero^ffhTj^oSS^-sla^ote^^^^^ which'ui'rg^^etj;;^;^]^ province of Carolina, dency in 1674 we have already remX^ •' 5°'^ elevation to its presi' prosperity than fell to the To^^X telSf^? A^' T^'^^ «h«'« °f ernor has been celebrated for h;<: V.!. °^°' Albemarle. This eov- the state of the province over which hTfr^ ^'1°"' ^"^ "moderation ; ^and exercise of these oualities. sloS^ svnfototf f^""''* T^^^ «^0P« ^o the like began to manifest themselvos beS Z D" ""!"'^ J"'^°"^:^ «"d dis- the one hand, who were the niost n, ml! ^'^^enters and Puritans, on Cavaliers and Episcopalians,Tn hrSrwEr '" ?' ^°1°">'' ^^^ ^^e prietanes m the distribution if land nnH nf' ''J°.T''« ^^vored by the pro- and although the firmness L prudence ,/ W^^^^^^^ Power and eiiolum^nt ; those parties from ripening into S and .nV"- "^^"'^^ '^^ ^'''^'>'^ ^^ power to eradicate the evil, or to re tSnJ^ confusion, it was beyond his posed of the leading Caval ^rs from tll^? u'"^ ^?""^'^' ^^'^^ was com! contempt The Cavalier pa fyw™ reTnS^d'f^Tj ^"'^ '"^^^^^^^ ^^ debauched habits and brokVn Vracte «nH r^ . ^ *^'' P^'^^"^ ^^o™ province, not for a cure but a sheler of their v""' ^^. '°u"^"^*^'^ ^^ the austere manners of the Puritans whh 1 m rT?.' '"^ ^^° '^^^'^^^ 'be tertained for their political prfnc Is Th ' f"^'^'-^' '^' ^*^^'«»-« ««" nding that it was ^n their pS^To shock an7T'^ *? *^^ P""^^"^' behaviour opposed to their own, affected an oZr '"r '^^"^ ^^ ^ ^°^'^ cense. Each party, considering iirmnn 'T^ °^ Sa/ and jovial li- emulously exaggeraiid the dis^c ve fit '' V^^ '^'' °^"« P""C'Ples, our; and an osTentatious comSrentT^^^^^ °1-'k r^oP^'ate demean! countenance and encoura^Z^nt ? • ' '" ^^'''^ ^^^ ''"'"ig Party gave •0 the prevalence of iS'rand the^:"'-- '"^^'^"^ very^unfa^orS^ tanes, whose imprudence hTdoecasioneff'tr" ^ '^'•'^'^- ^^' P'^P"-' sufferers from them, and found anZ^-rpfrf'" "^'""^l?"'' ^^^''^ ^^-^ ^rst ment of the large advances which th. I !i "", ""^^^'^'ng to obtain repay- colonists, who had undertaSlo nT ft "^'^'n^'" '^^ «"^«lement. The pounds a year, allottertoXtth^PYpr^^ small salary of one hundred ischarge even this obligation ind £ "°'-' P'-^.^'^d "»«ble or unwilling to April, ,1677, to assign fo hTm' he loirrfT /^-""^ " "^^^^^^X' '" debts in Carolina, in recomnlse of F^ • °^'^". '"^''^^handises and expenditure. MeanwhileThe ponulatfon 172"" ""^- ^^'"^bursement of his - able accessions from the conffi r^l . ^/ ^'"^JT^ '"^^^•^^'^ <^0"«ider- vo. ,: -" ^^'"'"S '^ S^-^^ t^« proprietaries, and-hc^iing,^!^^^;^ 370 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK IV. divert the tide of emigration from Massachusetts, ordered two small ves- sels to be provided, at his own expense, for the conveyance of a band of foreign Protestants to Carolina, who proposed to add wine, oil, and silk to the other produce of the territory ; and he granted to the colonists an exemption for a limited time from the payment of taxes on these commodi- ties, in spite of a remonstrance from the commissioners 6f customs, who insisted that England would be ruined and depopulated if the colonies were rendered a more desirable residence. Although the nevy colonists were not able to enrich the province with the valuable commodities which they had hoped to introduce, they preserved their settlement in it, and formed a useful and respectable addition to its population. The proprietaries having learned that the agreeable district called Oyster Point, formed by the con- fluence of the rivers Ashley and Cooper, enjoyed greater conveniences than the station which the first settlers had chosen, encouraged the incli- nation of the people, who began to remove thither about this time ; and there, in 1680, was laid the foundation of the modern Charleston, a city, which, in the next century, was noted for the elegance of its streets, the extent of its commerce, and the refinement of its society. It was forthwith declared the seaport and the metropolis of South Carolina. For some time it proved extremely unhealthful ; insomuch that from the month of June till October the courts of justice were annually shut ; and during that interval no public business was transacted, and the principal inhabitants re- tired to a distance from the pestilential vapors with which the atmosphere was tainted. The inconvenience at length was found to be so great, that measures were taken for exploring and appropriating another metropolitan situation more friendly to heahh. But happily (in consequence, it has been supposed, of the purification of the noxious vapor by the smoke of nu- merous culinary fires) the climate underwent a gradual change, which has progressively diminished the insalubrity of Charleston.* The lapse of time, moreover, contributed to render the place less unhealthy to its inhabitants, by attempering their constitutions to the pecuhar qualities of its climate. Notwithstanding the earnest desire of the proprietaries that the colonists should cultivate the good-will of the Indians, a war that proved very detri- mental to the settlement broke out, in the year 1680, with a powerful tribe that inhabited the southern frontier. The war seems to have originated partly from the insolence with which some idle and licentious planters be- haved to the Indians, and partly from the depredations of straggling parties of Indians, who, being accustomed to the practice of killing whatever ani- mals they found at large, accounted the planters' hogs, turkeys, and geese lawful game, and freely preyed upon them. The planters as freely made use of their arms in defence of their property ; and several Indians having been killed, the vengeance of their kindred tribe burst forth abruptly in general hostilities, which for some time threatened the most serious conse- quences to the colony. So divided were the colonists among iheniselves, that the governor found it difficult to unite them in measures requisite even for their common safety, or to persuade any one to undertake an effort that did not promise to be attended with advantage immediately and exclusively his own. Conforming his policy to the selfish strain of their character, he offered a price for every Indian who should be taken prisoner and brought to Charleston ; and obtained the requisite funds by disposing of the captives ' i^Oldmison. Hewit. Chalmers. CHAP, ir.] SALE OF INDIANS INTO SLAVERY. to the traders who frequented tho « i . ^^' the West Indies. ThH; eVts tS 7^ "r° '°^^ '^^"^ ^°^ ^'^^es in enterprises so agreeable to^he temper^and hilt /° "'"'u P''^^^' «"d o? ers, that the war was carried on3. " i '' °^ ^ number of the plant- ment to dictate a treaty of !"« whh tK'.' '"' '°°" ^"'''b'^d the govern- s.nn| that this pacification Cd Ue on ??• /^^^^ P^oprietarfes, de- [1681], appointed commissioners who w.." ''""^ and ^q^'^able basis ture controversies between the conllnHin? ^'?'P°^«red to decide all fu- the tnbes within four hundrfd miCof ChaK''' ' '"^ ^''^'''^^ »h«t all protection. But the practices thThad beenttrtd" 'T. ""^^^^ '^^'•- «P«^'«I too firmly established to be thus ZJ'^ '" '^°^"«ed during the war were nists found it a more profitable a wpI^ "'"''''''' •'^- ^^'"^ °^ '^^ ^oU^' traffic m the persons of^t Indians thn'l'^T '"^rr^^^^^P^^-"^^^ ground ; and not only the DrincinTLV if-? ''^^'' ^^^ fo'-ests or till the ment, fomented the spirft o^^ Sri tt o-^'-'l ^"' '^' "^^^'"^ ^^ goverS! and promoted their mutu.l waS for tt P'^^^'^^^^ /mong the savage tribes ketable stock of slaves, iy7uXinetf."'^-'' ^'^ ^"^^^S'"S their Ln mar! was m vain that the governor and "^/^^•r'°""''^ '^^"^ their captors, ft system of intrigue and^erfidy that bv d;'^ T''T^^ '" justification o this and prompting them to expend thdrfor^-"^ the attention of the tribe the most effectual security trthe coLra.a ns^th "-'^ ^°'?'''^^' '^ ^^orded mamty sanctioned the purchase of prroLrs who t'^f^f^' '• ^"^ '^'' hu- put to death The proprietaries w^erTbv no mp» "^ °?'/^'^^ ^^"^^ been sons ; and, firmly persuaded that Twas a sord^drhl'f r''^"^ -^"^ '^''^ ''^^ not a generous concern for the puwfc safetv ll/''' ^or Private gain, and unhallowed and ignoble, they ceased not n^' f"S«"dered a policy so for .ts entire abandonment. But thpl h '''V« ^he strongest injunctins vjailing; and it was not 11 afte the .h"""'"^ interference was 4g una t at they were able to proL e the elc[S '''^'T'''''' ^"^ "^«"«"es atlength utterly prohibit: this proflTgara„d dtri \Y ^o regulate, and tmuance was attended with consequeLeA Ji? '"'^^"L-P'^^''^^' Its con- •njunous. The traders who carr ed thr^«n '"^'^^^tely and lastingly ported rum in exchange for th7m and\!! ^'^ -'"' l^'' ^^^^ Indies im- excess ,n this beveragi depraved rh- destructive habit of indulging to many of the colonists^ A d^ and tZTr "rr*^ ''^^""'^ '^' induft?|of and the victims of their in^^fti efv^ch thet' ""'r^'™'^ ^'^"^^" '^«™ fle.to allay ; and at a subsequen^nrriod rl . T F^ "^ J^'"^ ^^«^« ^^'^s una- but-on on the posterity of threvhoT,d t. .'.'"' 't"''^ ^ ^«^«^« retri- ' GovV '"^W"' '^'""'^ of their f^rodty I " '^'' '"'^'°^^ °^ ^^eir wrongs follovvin7year [7682?- then' T'"''"'"' '' Charleston, in the close of the which the late lar had shown 0'^:""' '"'^'^^ ^'' establishing a^nili?a Jevast forest that surrounded the ca"^^^^^^^^^ drunkenness and profanitv an? ItL. P^^' °" ^^^'y «'de ; for repressing people, who were^generafc d" -.^^e ^^'th ^''"""^'"f ^^« "'-^'-'lity^f h^ Shortly after this legislativl V .« w-t '^'"? of religious instruction, -re of the proprietarL by supnortini tbl n' '".•'' H^ T''"^'^ ^he displeas- "nd by curbing, the excLef oht te^'' ""f ''"'"^ Indian ca^^^^^^ proprietary party, was removed from Sr''"'"'' ^1^° "vere accounted the !i— ^U^olony^was collided b^^^S.^^^^l^Ji^ ^ov- of Carolina. Oldtpixon. Hew It C(ia]rQec9 372 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK IV. who had been recently created a landgrave of Carolina. This was the commencement of a course of rapid succession of governors and of all the other public officers in the colony ; a system arising partly from unex- pected casualties, and partly from unstable policy, and which produced its never-failing consequences, in the enfeeblement and degradation of the gov- ernment, and the promotion of party spirit and cabals. But however much the policy of the proprietaries might fluctuate in other respects, it continued long to be steadily and strenuously directed to the increase of population. At the desire of several wealthy persons, who proposed to emigrate to the province, they once more revised their Fundamental Constitutions, which, at the time of their first publication, were declared unalterable ; now again promulgating a similar declaration of their future inviolability. The object of the present alterations was to relax somewhat in favor of popular liberty the rigor of the original constitutions ; but it is the less necessary to par- ticularize them, as they were never acknowledged or accepted by the peo- ple of Carolina, who were more jealous of the power assumed to introduce such changes, than gratiCed with the particular advantages immediately ten- dered to their acceptance. i • . The alterations, notwithstanding, proving satisfactory to the parties who had solicited them, one Ferguson shortly after conducted to the province an emigration from Ireland, which soon mingled with the mass of the provincial inhabitants. Lord Cardross (afterwards Earl of Buchan), a Scot^sh noble- man, also led out a colony from his native country i (then groaning under the barbarous administration of the Duke of Lauderdale), which settled on Port Royal Island, and, in pursuance of some agreement or under- standing with the proprietaries, claimed for itself coordinate authority with the governor and grand council of Charleston. This claim, however, was disaUowed by the provincial government ; and the new occupants of Port Royal having been compelled to acknowledge submission, Lord Cardross, whether disappointed with this result, or satisfied with what he had already accomplished, forsook the colony and returned to Britain. Ihe settlers whom he left behind were some time after dislodged from their advan- tageous situation by a force despatched against them by the Spaniards at Augustine, whom they had wantonly provoked by inciting the Indians to make an irruption into the Spanish territory. But the most valuable addi- tion to its population, which the colony now received, was supplied by the emigration of a considerable number of pious and respectable Dissenters from Somersetshire in England. This band of emigrants was conducted by Humphrev Blake, the brother and heir of the renowned Admiral Ulake, under whom" he had served for some time in the English navy, and by whom he was cashiered for deficiency of talent and spirit as a naval officer. Though constitutionally disqualified to excel as a warrior, Humphrey Blake was a worthy, conscientious, and liberal man ; and willingly devoted the moderate fortune bequeathed to him by his disinterested brother to facili- tate the retirement of a number of Dissenters, with whom he was connected, from the persecutions tho y endured in England , andjhe_greater^alamities "T-onHT^^^^'^iiidiMnVrt^ of a transaction wliicli oociirred in tlw preceding year, and which i« Thus Sled by Hume : -" The Pre»byU.r.ans (of Scolland) alarmed with Kuch ymnny, from Sich no man could deem himself safe, bcgnn to think of feav.nj? the co.mUy , iKLoJ their ««ent. were nonX to England in order to tr««t w.th the propne™ C • olin. for a aettlemenl in lh«t colony. Any condition Beemed preferable to their living m \^^ n.!!tive country, xvhich, by the prevaleocv of persecution apd violence, WM become as inse- cure to then) w 9 den of robberu, ' CHAP. II.] DISCORDS IN SOUTH CAROLINA. 373 they apprehended from the nmhoKio « • - , throne, l^everal othS persons S-r'''°" °^ ^^'' ^"'^^ °^ ^ork to the joined the expedition; Slvft «"^. ^P^^ -b^^ant strengthen the hands of the PuWtan or Lk "^'"^ ?^"'^" contributed to counteract the influence of cifcumstanc.r ? ^'"1/" '^^ ^°'"">^' «nd to manners of the planters. Fro^threxer !- ' r'''"^^^" '° '^' ^^^'^^'^' and conduion of England at the prTsem nerioH t^^ the proprietaries, and the lina would have received a much larJpr « ' "-^ '' ^'"'" ^""^t that Caro- recent colonization of Penns^vanii S noTor^" /°. ''^ '"^^^'^«"^^' ''' ^^e erally attractive to mankind. 'rheliberah?v 7w\f 'V'^'^"™ "'^^^ S^"- the friendly sentiments with which he JnHJnn ^;"'«"\ Venn's institutions, pacific demeanour, the greater salubrifv ^"'^'^"^'•^'"rned his courteous and superior adaptatio.; of it's so" to the Ll itaL'^of R -^^""^^'^-'^' -d recommended this province to the prefere^^^^^ British grain, stronglv tudes resorted to it, both from ESnTand ^r'^.. "'' ' '"'^ ^"^^ ^^'^ as soon enabled it to outstrin th^iA , ^^^^^ states of Eurone wealth and in population ?^ '^' ''^^'' ^^"'^•^^"t of Carolina both^f^ seijTa'^i:'^ C^;^^^^^^^^ V°hict :?'' f ^r--' ^^--on as- tions for the remedy of sundrv In 'n • Promulgated a variety of regula- ments are liable in [heir LTan^y ""Cm T ifw T!"'"" ^" ^°''"'^» -"'- raising the value of foreign coins we Zv dntth ^'' "^ ^"^^^ed for currency of Carolina, which subsequenTl7inc,LH' °"^'" °^ '^" ^"'"^^^'^ In imitation of the early policy of thi. "^ an extreme depreciation. cutions for foreign debtsVerelspVntd ™S^^^ P-- approvmg a policy which had forSv obt^li fh^^'^^""'"'''"'' "°^ dis- escence, interposed to annul this orX^r ? ?'^.*^^'': °^" express acqui- to the king's honor, since it ob tructd ^V^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^Wnt provincial parliament had no power rfrairr °^ •?"''''.' ^"^ '^ai the jurisprudence of England ; and the more spnlr! '° '"?0"sistent with the ure, they commanded that^veVpubTc officer uL.'".'"'^'^' '^''' ^'^P'^^^" noxious proposition should be cashiered A nith ^'"^ '"PP°"^^ ^^e ob- t«'een the proprietaries and their people tose from rh ''"'' "^-^'^P"^^ '^^■ parliament was constituted. The provhirp i??v. ^ ""'""^^ '" ^^'^'^h this vided into the three counties of BerkeTevc''^" f-'Tl '''"^' ''^' ^i- forrnerly called Clarendon), and Colletmf' Tl!"" ^'"'^^^^'"S ^he district that, of the twenty members of whom the In J I P^°P"f a^ies directed, composed, ten should be elected by7ac of t^t °"'^ ^^^ and Colleton ; the third being recLnednL^'° -''•"' °^ ^''^'^'y merit a share of parliamentar^ representation ^V^f'^'^'l P°P"^°"« to the metropolis, was the only one of the coZ- ^^u^'^' ""^''^ '°"'^'"ed machinery and accommodation of a coun^von . ^''^. ""'J^' P^^^^^^^d the ernment having appointed the election t"^. t"' ' '"^ '^^ provincial gov- habitants of Berkdey combined trni .i^''"" '^ ^^'^"-^^^^ the^n- voting at all, and themse?v^s returned^ hrV'^ P'°P^" ^^ C°"«ton from insisted that this advantage was Sue to their o' '^''"^^ "?^"^^^^^- '^^^Y people, - a circumstancf whLh at least ennK?Ti"P'"°^"^ '" ""'"bar of tension it suggested. ^"^^^^^ ^^^m to indulge the pre- ■^^S£^-S^&^:;P^-p^!S^^^:^'^^'-^ of d,eir ,-„3,r„e. maanrfMe Caro/z^r /"v,. fe..^''«.'"l«'-«-. Warden's Poi.;;ia/^^^-^,7:r-T77r— y^ c„, /■j7f^.,rff« ana tuiet^t, Vol. II. ' -"«.- ^ l ennsyiva 374 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK IV. tions, they expressed the strongest displeasure, and commanded that the parhament should be immediately dissolved, and never again assembled in so irregular a manner. But their commands were unavailing ; and the unjust encroachment of the Berkeley planters, after maintaining its ground for some lime, obtained the countenance and assent of the proprietaries themselves, and continued to prevail, till, at a later period, its abettors were compelled to yield to the indignant and unanimous complaint of the people whom they had presumed to disfranchise. The proprietaries, meanwhile, we.s exceedingly offended at the reiterated disobedience of their deputies, and in a remonstrance which they addressed to the governor and council, re- minded them, in language which at least expresses good intention, "that the power of magistracy is put into your hands for the good of the people, who ought not to be turned into prey, as we doubt hath been too much practised." It was remarked that the dealers in Indian slaves were the keenest opponents of the claim of Colleton county to share in the exercise of the elective franchise; — a coincidence forcibly demonstrating that the indulgence of selfishness and tyranny in any one relation or department of conduct tends entirely to pervert or extinguish in men's minds the sense of what is due to their fellows. Although the proprietaries at times express- ed themselves, as on diis last occasion, with vigor and wisdom, they seern to have been quite incapacitated, by ignorance or irresolution, from con- ceiving or pursuing a consistent scheme of policy. It was found that some of the counsellors, and even the commissioners that were appointed to watch over the interests of the Indians, encouraged the traffic in Indian slaves ; and though Moreton was able to remove these delinquents from office, they succeeded in rendering his own situation so disagreeable to him, that he was constrained to resign his command, which was immediately con- ferred by the council on West, who suffered the people to continue the practice of inveigling and kidnapping the Indians without restraint. The proprietaries then intrusted the government to Sir Richard Kyrle, an Irish- man, who died soon after his arrival in the province. West, thereupon [1684], was again chosen interim governor by the council, whose ap- pointment, on this occasion, received the acquiescence of the proprietaries. But he was shortly after superseded by Colonel Quarry, who himself re- tained the office only till the following year, when, in consequence of the countenance he was found to have given to piracy, he, in his turn, was dismissed [1685], and Joseph Moreton reinstated in the government.' The American seas had been long infested by a race of daring ad- venturers, privateers in time of war, pirates in time of peace, whose martial exploits, and successful depredations on the rich colonies and commerce of Spain, enabled them to conciliate the regard or purchase the connivance of many of the inhabitants of the British colo nies, and even of the anthoii- ' Ofdinixon. Hewlt Chalmers. FromliTdmixoirs Lists, it nppears that Colont-l Quarry Held oflUnnl situations under the crown in several of the provinces ot the same time. In the vear 1703, ho presented to the Lords of Trade a memorial on the state of the Amcriran colonies, which is preserved among the Hiirhian Colleetian, in the British Musriini. The main object of this memorial ia to recommend an alteration of the colonial constitutions, fnr the promotion of the power of the crown in the several States, and facilitating the gnncriil ilc- R>nre of the territorial claims and possessions of England in America. Quarry expresses dislike and disapprobation of everv colony in proportion to the freedom of its nnmicipai con- stitution, and dwells with emphatic malignity on "the robbery and villany of the rulers of Connecticut." He undertakes to prove that the charter of Pennsylvania conferred no nowers of government. He eulogizes Lord Cornliury, the tyrannical governor of New York, and stfonglj recomniends his appointmont to the command of Pennsylvania. CHAP. II.] DEALINGS WITH THE BUCCANEERS. 376 age ; aid he even Jamed ,t ^° 'hen. his p'atS Henry Morgan a Vel«hn.an, w^ ^undSXn^^^^^^^^ "'. t'"' ""'"^^^' acquired a prodigious booty by his achievemlt^ °p?" '""^ Panama, and the king to the favorable regards of I. uT f ^^^ recommended by it no less easy than advant^g ts o lltTva^^/- ^^^^^ ^^"^ the people of Carolina, who^ wU inl o 'enld th ''"'''^ connection with supphes of provisions to guests whTiv^Kl ^^^''P?'^^ and furnished the colony. The treaty befween End nd anJ T""' '^t S^'^'^" ^P"'^^ '" the increasingly lawless^haracter Ke llvl*^"'" u i^^^' '""^^'^^^ ^^ith to withdraw his protection from them tlT'''' ^^^ *='"^^^ *« king to maintain, and even extend T.;!-T ' ^^^^ '^•'"^'n^ed, nevertheless thorities of Carolina Tirg^vtnor'T'""'''- ^'"^^^^ P'^"'«rs and au^ cipal inhabitants, degraded tEve; to a^ffi'^'T ''^^"'r ' «"^ ^^^^ P""" by abetting the crimes of Ses and ^mi f ''"^' 1^'^'^'"' °^ "'unkind, acquisitions. The propriLa Ls Ci Im^ ^^"''^.''''"S their nefariou disgraceful to the province, and coSve of '1^''^ '^''"l' P^«^^'^^« «« tic.pated in them / and the r orders backed hv '"?""'''. ^^ ''^ ""^^ par- prevailed so far as to restrain the colonistffrnL • Pf f l^^^^^ion from the king, had entertained of sharing in he entern s^?? '"^IF""^ I" ^^<^y^nation they piratical associates. But tLy obSdvnersisTpl^ ''' u'- ^ains of their course with these adventurers, _SHiffl-T '" '^"' ^^°"'«d ^nter- desire of sudden wealth and he relth of f^nll^' ""? '^''^ '^^ '"^^^^ious cctributed to the formation o? 1 ab£ pe nici^^"'.'"^ '^^'"'^^^ P'^^^"^^' more particularly injurious to thp nml^ 1^^'^"'^'°"^. '^ every community, bu of thefe habits c'ontinued longt T fsce iiib e" Tl "^ ""'^"^?- t'^- itants of Carolina. The kins at Ipn^th ", u ^ "?^""^''' °^ 'he inhab- allies, and sensible how nuSf 'the t lade of his"n'^ ^\^' ^"'"P^^'"^^ °^ his piratical ravages, transmitted to the o ony, TpHl'te r /"J^^^ ^ pirates," which the proprietaries rpn.,;.w 1. 1 " ^r ' ^^' ^ ^^^ against lish, and their execuLe^Sr; s r c" ;1 'eXe'" tU^'.^^' ^"'.P^ injunction was readily complied with • but th^ pvU, 7k ''^ P^".°^ ^^is ate, that the law, instead of being carried tl I f"^ ^'^°'"^ '° '"^^^er- e.en by its promulgators. It w s^not t"^ thr^^ '' T' T"^y ^'^'^^ed ceiVed an effectual check from .n ^v *'j!.*hree years after, that the evil re- patched under Sir Robert HoTme fof tsln^ ' ''T-'"'' ?^^°"^ ^- Indies. Of this expedition the rrooret«r;.l'^Pf'-°" °^ ^^'^'^^ '" '^e West or and council of cLrleston, LrrSmmend?^^ ^^ '^' govern- siontothe authority, and cooperation xrTfi? ^-^"^ ^ P'^^^P^ ^ubmis- their mandates being now sin- p^ K r ' ^"^erprise, of Holmes ; and opposition, those c^LacIfu 'T.i!!- ^ ' '^"'•^ f ^^'^"* *« ^^^^eoie all forgnately, only a t^^p'^ra':^ ?n7emS x"^^'"^' ^ ^"'"P'^^^' ^^ough, un- oliSufttVdblTc^nr^ed ^^"""^ ''' P^^^ «^ S^-h Car- from its connectionTith hTptaTe Thl "S^ 'I^^T'""'!" '^^ '^'' ^^«"^ted always regarded the southern^se t'emenTs of tS^'F "^ rt ^K^I^Sf ^ine had dishke ; they suspected and not S? F"§l"h ^^"h jealousy and Port Royalfnflam'eS 1^ dian g nsTtrer"'n^'\^ ^T^^ P^""^^" «* ^^^^ii^^LP!^^ ' Hewit '"Salmersr" "^ 376 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK IV. After threatening for some time to avenge themselves by hostilities, they invaded the southern frontiers of the province, and laid waste the settle- ments of Port Royal. The Carolinians, finding themselves unable to de- fend a widely extended frontier, resolved to carry their arms into the heart of their enemy's territory ; and deeming themselves authorized by the tenor of the provincial charter to levy war on their neighbours, tliey made prepa- rations for an expedition against St. Augustine. [1686.] But the proprie- taries, informed of this project, hastened to withstand it by their remon- charter which was relied on by the colonists to justify their projected invasion meant no more (they maintained) than a pursuit in heat of victory, and never could authorize a deliberate prosecution of war against the king of Spain's subjects within his own territories. " We ourselves," they protest- ed, " claim no such power ; nor can any man believe that the dependencies of England can have liberty to make war upon the king's allies, without his knowledge or consent." They signified, at the same time, their dissent from a law which had been passed for raising men and money for the pro- jected expedition against the Spaniards ; and the colonists, either convinced by their reasonings, or disabled from collecting the necessary supplies, abandoned the enterprise, licarning this result, the proprietaries congratu- lated the governor and council on their timely retraction of a purpose, which, had it been carried into effect, they declared, would have exposed its authors to capital punishment. They instructed them to address o civil letter to the governor of St. Augustine, desiring to know by what authority he had acted in com ^ the late hostilities ; and in the mean time to put the province in a pob^jre of defence.' From this period, mutual suspi- cion and animosity rarely ceased to prevail between the Spanish and English colonists in Florida and Carolina. When the governor and council received intelligence of the death of Charles the Second, they proclaimed his successor with expressions of loyalty and joy, probably the effusions of mere levity and love of change, but which gave so much satisfaction to James, that he communicated to them, in return, the assurance of his favor and protection. His sincerity herein was on a par with their own ; for he already meditated the revoca- tion of the colonial charter, and the annihilation of all their privileges. He was prevented, indeed, from completing these intentions, and his reign was productive of events that proved highly advantageous to the colony. Many of his English subjects, apprehending danger from his arbitrary principles and his adherence to the church of Rome, sought beyond the Atlantic Ocean a retreat from his more direct and immediate sway ; being deter- mined rather to endure the severest hardships abroad, than to witness the establishment of popery and tyranny in England. The population of America, recruited by these emigrations, derived even a larger accession from the persecution of the Protestants in France, that followed the revo- cation, in 1685, of the edict of Nantes. Above half a million of her most useful and industrious citizens, expelled from France, carried with them into England, Holland, and other European states the arts and manufactures to which their own native land chiefly owed her enric hment. .Tames, af- I Chalmeii. CMAP II.] RESISTANCE TO THE NAVIGATION ACTS. 377 most' friendly assistance to [h^is^tSVi^^^^^ '''V '1 '^"^«^ ^''° his dominions ; and besides tLse who esta M T'^'f ^^''^ ,«°"Sht shelter in considerable numbers were enabl .n f ^"^^"^''«d, ti'emselves in England, settlen^ents in America k;fa,l'U'n7°ri''''"l'.^^^^ ^° '^' ^'"i"^^'' dreaded his designs, purchased 'est. ^^^^a"^"'^ """' ^'^ ^"""'3^' «"d who and retreated to ti,e ame d sta„t redon I'"'''"'. ^'"^' ^'^''- «^" •"«"-/' thus reaped advantage from the onnl • ""^^ '''", °^^*''* ^°'°"'«« ^'^'^h apprehensions entertaledrEndanT Cnrnr '""f '^ '." *^''""^« «"d the people. A number of the fS r 'futp^ "' °''-"T'* u^" «^q"i«ition of lands from the proprietaries who werf pv '" P""f "''•■' ^'^'"S P"rch.sed emigration to their tLtSs embarLT T. T- 'i'" ^"''''^ ^« encoun.ge and made a valuable addTton to its IndustTv '^'"' ^'""^'"^ ^°^ ^^^'^ '^«'°"y' Although the colonists Td as betide It t^T'^' '"^' P.«P"'^'i«n.^ their territory, and still found E !fl^ . ■ "' ' r°S''ess in cultivating abridged by t'he obs.rJctio„rj- tt LesraLl'St "^' /'.^'^ ""'"^^" were now beginning to surmount thJTrH ^"J^f /^^^ges of disease, they their situation. 'Aeir cattr r.n ^'^^"'t'es and disadvamages of found sufficient sheher and abu'ndanTZf ' l"'"*'' • 'f ^^^^ "°^ attendance, ed to an amazing degree The ntnt ??' '"/^^ "'°°'^^' «"d increas' and sugar, in re^Sr their lumtrrn "^^ '^' ^''' I"^'«« f°^ rum them with clothes, arm ,7m„ udtJo! l^T'TV ^'d.,^'^"g>«"d supplied tion, in exchange for therdrr' ?1"^^^^ for b,iidi„g and cultiva- merce, inconsiderable as it was rp'.Hv ' ^ "'""' '''''''' '^^'' ^°'"- collector of the customs was e 'taSd at??, '^ T"'' '"^"^^" ' «"^ « cession of James to the throne THp nr. • p'l^''^'^^^?'!' s""" after the ac- officers to show a becomin ° fonva^L^ ?^^ '""T'"^ ^^^'^ Pr°^'""«''al duty on tobacco transpS to oXer nl • ''"""^ '^^ "°"^^''°" «f ^^e sun!ed to trade withouT rega d 'f the ActroV^N '" ""'"^ t^' '^'' ^''■ the proprietaries enjoyed in thpn^v fif "^ Navigation. But, although province, and sLmTdrindeeftrentosTthl ' h t^' '"^^^?^ ""^'" ^^e they had long been sensil of\he prSa tSi' ^"'T "^ S°^«'-""^«"t, mandates that were opposed to the ?pnS '"^'^^'^"cy ^^ every one of their The injunction wS we have iT^" IZ '"'""''"' °^, '^' P^°P'«- openly and argumentative7v disnuted hv ^ '"* T"- "°* °"^>^ ^'°^^*«d' ^ut judges and magistrates who iSed thaltl/v '°^°""'' """^ Z*!-^ P^^^^"^'^^ eration of the Navigat on Ac s bv rhlf ^ r^'u ^-^^n^Pt^^ ^om the op- «,^am,^ t.A/cA, theySv inform J .1 T ""^ ''^'. provincial charter, - kk an act ofW^iat^XtTno^^^^^^^^ %IT'^^ that key posterior in date to the Navigation Art Xi - J ^^'^ ''^^'^'' ^^^^ the dispensing power of thJTnZ . i'/ ""^^ '" ^^^'^ '" ^^"^^^^ <'°'- il.e verv doctrine wh c h he for 3 r u "'"S^^S^'^st the king himself Illegal and dangerou as a nlea tvnl ' ^'T ^^ '""'"P'''"S ^o establish. acpear, it will be ound in prooortioi '"^ "''"^ ^"- *""' "^^^ '' ^''' «'gh^ from being destitute of JLS?^°S "'/" "^'""T ''' ^^^^^ " '« ^^^7 'ar pie. It was the charte IT h^tllj ^^^•^."^^"••al reason or legal princi- ritory to the Brit h emo re InH '? P''''^"''?^"^ «""^^ed »''« Provincial ter- -— 2__j^^j™l»^pn^^^nd^t^ the execution and validity of this of he governments of Europe; and aLd hTmfr ';r ^ " Profit by the folly and madness vmues and hiesair.s. thoy wantonly contemn"- '' -^ongen^^l cl.me an a.jlua, to iho*e VOL. I. 40 378 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK IV. charter alone that Great Britain could refer for legal evidence of the connec- tion between herself and the provincial population. The planters, possess- ing the power of transferring their residence and labor to any region where they might please to setde, and the benefit of their allegiance to any sove- reign wiiose stipulations in their favor might appear satisfactory to them, had, on the faith of this charter, and of its due fulfilment in all points, formed and reared, at a great expense, their present settlement ; and in all the courts of Great Britain the charter was undoubtedly held a valid paction in so far as it imposed obligations on them. There appears, then, nothing unjust or inequitable in the claim of these persons, that a charier wiiich formed their original paction and bond of union with the mother country, on the f; 'th of which their allegiance was pledged and their settlement cre- ated, and which was, on all hands, acknowledged to be strictly valid in so far as it imposed obligations upon them, should be held no less sacred in respect of the privileges which it conceded to them. While it enjoyed a legal subsistence, it was entitled to claim an entire and equal operation ; and if it were to be set aside, the grantees should have been loft at li'.i- erty to attach themselves to some other dominion, if they could not ariaHj^i; with Britain new terms of a prorogated connection with her. Yet must it be acknowledged, that the legal comjjetence, if not the natural equity, of this plea is not a little abated by the consideration, that it was disclaimed by the proprietaries, and preferred exclusively by the resident provincial popu- lation. The proprietaries vainly disputed the reasonableness of the provin- cial plea, and as vainly prohibited the continuance of the relative practices. Neither awed by their authority, nqr convinced by their reasonings, nor yet deterred by the frequent seizures of their own vessels and merchandise, the colonists continued to defend the legitiniacy and persist in the practice of trading wheresoever and in whatsoever commodities they pleased. While the proprietaries were struggling with the difficulties of this contro- versy, they received a new and more painful addition to their embarrass- ments, from the alarming intelligence, that the king, having adopted the res- olution of annihilating all proprietary governments, had directed a writ of quo warranto to be issued against the patent of Carolina. Thus, neither their submission to every royal mandate, nor their readiness to assist, witli their feeble power, the collection of the royal revenue and the execution of the Acts of Navigation, could protect the chartered rights of the proprietaries from the injustice of the king. Yet prudentially bending beneath the vio- lence which they were unable to resist, they eluded the force of an attack which proved fatal to the charter of Massachuse' r d by proposing a treaty iorthe surrender of the', patent, they gained s> t. ,; ay as left tliern in possession of it at the period of the British R ' h'^tion. Governor Moreton, after his second appointment Ll68bJ to the presi- dency of the colony was permitted to retain it little more than a year. Though endowed with a considerable share of sense and ability, and con- nected with some respectable provincial families, he found his instructions (r."\ F.ntfland so inconsistent with the prevailing views and general interests of \h'^. i>eople, that it was difficult to perform the duties of his office at ail, Bfid uP:.os?li=!e to discharge them satisfactorily. He was a man of sober awi it]!;;ious disposition ; and being married to the sister of Blake, it was hoped by the friends of piety and good morals that his authority would ^ • Hewit. Chalmers, State Pvprrt^ ibid. CHAP. II.] COLLETON APPOINTED GOVERNOR ^^ bo strengthened by this alliance nn.l nn «fl- .* i . , . more licentious and disorclerlHon ol ^,fi^r' f ^^^ "nposed on the the council entertained very d tFo en vL ""''' ^*"'/ "'""''•/ "^ the governor with respect to^ !lur„V;;^ '''"'""^"? ^^°'" ^''"«« of and incessantly claimed much greater ^ I P"""/'"^-'"' a' ''" ''^■-''^"t 'popu- governor could long inaLain hTs au lo "tv ov.r '" ' ^"•p"'^^!«"«««> "o restless adventurers, averse to all re"S . ':°'"'."""'0' of bold and occasion of advancing their mvn in teres ' ? 'T' '" ""P''^^'"S ^^ery control their inclinations by tl lexec se o I U ' f 'T'^'" ^'' «"^'"P'«'' »° Lis person, and aspersed hi conduc till tl v "' ''T^'f? '^['^ '"^"^'^^ deprived of his functions. The 1; Heta rie /ndinrth" M '" *'"""S »^'"^ come obnoxious to a considerable mrVv „ i^ ^""^ Moreton was be- with their usual feeble poic^tosSLpT^'*''. ^'^^^P'"' "°^ '^^^^^ved, tegrity had provoked ; and havintncr J-"V° !^^«""'"y vvhich his inl I686J, they Appointed 'as is stcefsor JanS IT^^^^ ^T ^^"S-^ their own number, and on whose at acl'meMo^."' ' ^''■'^'^'."'' ^' °"« ^^ thought themselve's entitled to elf cX o,-^f^^ Proprietary interest the^ was expected, would add to thrLsideration of h '"^ '",^ connections, ft lend him the greater vveieht he wn, pl„t ^ i ' ''^'^'"^ '''S"'^^ 5 and to the appropriafe endowS'o ^r leS tl.^^^^^^^^^^^^ °^ i\' ^j''°">^' "'"^ opinion was entertained bv bis rnn^tl" . r l-""^ ^""^^^ °^ '«"d- A high but either it was ve y' [l-fo^unded or *" ^'' ^""^ ««"^« ^d address ; possession by the 7onfb b.^ a 'd . %"^^^ lolved. To his grearmort fir-ation h '" ''^f ^'' ^"""^ ^'""^^•f '"- proprietary govenfmrnt Kf c^ veVhttlTsSitT '^ ^"^''^^ ^''^^ ^^^^ declining in the respect of ifs l,\Zn,. ii- ^^^^"^> ' and was contmua ly was insufficient lo nccomDlisr L M ""'''"■'"> "''" '''^ »'"''<>"'y provincial officer, for 3 in,^,i, „TJ- Tr ""^ ''''"°" »" "'« <«l>" .nd the rigorous execSn of | T lopulf i1Tv'°^ P^P''^'"-'. soon e,„broiled hi™ wi,h a numeroTp'a" ^ oAeTn ,r' 'iv/"^ ol the mumcipa const tiitinn Pn.r.„,^c„J r "'^ • "'*^ P'?nteis. llie form vesting the plrliamrn whh the rh^oin! ? ' ^^r.ety of jurisdictions and in- afford?d per%tuaT scopfand temDtatLftn"''f ''1 ■^°'- '^'' S""^"^ ^«""^il' of factions sprung up! a'^^^ra« '"'.7"« 5 «"d a diversity monad by Colleton rNovember iSl ^i. P"''.''"'".^"? ''^vrng been sun> expressed their disapprobTt^i' of thl' FunS^'-^'^I^.^^^'^' "^'"^^^'"^ "P^"'/ ' He wit. -^ — 380 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK IT. political compact, deliberately composed the frame of a new and very different scheme of government, which they denominated tlie standing laws of Car- olina, and transmitted to England for the consideration of the proprietaries. The reception of such a communication might have been easily foreseen. The proprietaries hesitated not a moment to reject those audacious innova- tions, and to command an instant and unreserved submission to the Funda- mental Constitutions thus irreverently handled. But men who had espoused such resolute policy were not to be deterred from the prosecution of their purpose by a consequence so obvious as the displeasure of the proprieta- ries ; and a majority of the assembly still positively refused to acknowledge the authority of the Fundamental Constitutions. The refractory members were then expelled from the house by the governor ; whereupon, after an open protest against the validity of any laws that might be enacted m their absence by a minority of the commons, they retired mto the country, and diligently endeavoured to instil their own principles and discontents into the minds of their fellow-colonists. So successful were their exertions for this purpose, that, when a nev/ parliament was convoked, the undisguised and unanimous purpose of the members was to thwart and contradict the gov- ernor in whatsoever proceedings he might embrace, recommend, or be supposed to approve. To this line of policy they adhered with the most inflexible pertinacity ; they even refused to frame a militia act, though the safety of the province, endangered by the Spaniards and their Indian allies, seemed urgently to demand this measure ; and, in fine, to make sure of giv- ing sanction to nothing that could possibly be agreeable to the governor, they flaUy declined to pass any laws at all. A dispute m which they en- gaged with him about the payment of quitrents aflbrded them an additional opportunity of indulging their spleen and increasing their popularity. Colle- ton urgently pressed for payment of the arrears of the quitrents due to the proprietaries by the colonists, which, though inconsiderable in amount, were reckoned extremely burdensome, inasmuch as not one acre among a thousand for which quitrents were demanded yielded as yet any profit to the pos- sessors. [1G87]. Finding it impossible to accomplish an object so unpopu- lar, without the active cooperation of the other provincial officers, he wrote to the proprietaries, requesting them to appoint as deputies certaui persons whom he knew to be favorably disposed towards their authority, and from whom he expected to receive a cordial support in the execution of his offi- cial duty. Apprized of this measure, the adverse party scrupled no violence or injustice to defeat or counteract it. Letters from England, suspected to contain deputations to persons obnoxious to the people, they seized and suppressed ; and themselves presumed to nominate other individuals better aflected to the popular cause. Advancing ii' this lawless course, the leaders of the popular party ventured to issue writs in their own names [1688], and convoked assemblies in opposition to the governor, and in utter disregard ol the sovereignty of the proprietaries. They imprisoned the secretary of tlio province, and took forcible possession of the public records ; and witliout apprarinir to have any fixed or definite object in view, effected a complelp practical'^subversion "of legitimate nuthority. Only a bold and determined usurper was wanting to possess himself of the power, which thoy seemed more eager to suspend or overthrow, than resolutely or i)ermanently to ap- propriate ; and a personage altogether fitted to take advantage of the oi)por- tniity did not fail shortly after to present hinij'uif. Amidst this scene ot CHAP II.] MARTIAL LAW PROCLAIMED. 381 confusion, the tidings of the birth of « r» • r «r i colony, and celebrated by a^mL^T ""^ ^'^'' ''''^^^^^^ congratulation ; and yet so nnml • ^ appearances of sympathy and sorbed were the coloS s vvith tTfr^^ T' '^^'' ^^^Pressions, or so ab- of all changes beyond h ir itnt^^^^^^ ''^Y^^ ^^ ^«S--^^^^« the revolution in England tho^h Tli ? ,1^^^'^' ^^^^ ^^^ intelligence of no emotion whatever^ and Wn^ao^t/^^^^^^ '^' r^^'' ^^^"*' '^^'^^^^ the most -echanicaUeguladly a^^ndifcT ''''''''"'' t»«««J -"h ala^dty'trS ^^^rrT?""^ '^ ^ ^^-^^^ and himself with a variety of schemes forC' .11 ^^\P«°1^^^' ^^i"!/ perplexed legal autl^ority. His'own^ondue lad ^|r torn \V'' r^^^'f" °^ attracted censure from the quarter on wh^rh h! • ^ blameless, and even nance and protection. Amonf other^r ^ 1 T^'-P'"^ '"""^ ^""^ ««""»«- trayed, he had imposed ararLrm^^filS'""!.' '"^^ which he was be- ^sler, for preaching, yhatheTcSf/n^IiT ^"""^''"^ P°""^^ °" « "'i"- etaries remitted the fine not on «"^ ci sedtttous sermon ; and the propri- but of the exorbitance ^f Us amount T? '^' «"T^'*>^ °^ "« '"fl^^^'on^ whether by imprudent pa ti Ins or insidio^ ?' ^"n"^ '"jested to him martial law, and thereby approp^trto Z ^^'' '"^ P^^^^^'"^ power to punish mutiny anrsediUon L.Z f " ''''^"''? '"^ """'"i'^'l reducing the people t^ subordinS let a^"^^ professnig to apprehend an invasion of th^ inl' I J Purpose, though lished a proclam'ation announcing le prevalencrorlll "'""'.'^ P"^" -ag every one of the inhabitants^o appear Tn arms for hi 7^ '"^ 'T^ province. However Jpp-itlmafo u ^^ . ^ '"'^ ^"^ defence of the Ihe charter, this r^eLure wastjorudTt'- T^''""^ ^'^^> ^^« P-'^^'^'ons of nists, d,us LummoneTto a^s w^e S 1 e^^ ^he colo- against the governor hlmsel?d^an aea nstT "'!? '^'1!'" ^^^■'" ^««P<^»s ton's policy was easilv nenlfrn^L ^ f supposed public enemy. Cdle- of the prov^inci^ legi fatS e h Tvln^ snonJ! ''"'f ^^'^'^^l^- ^^^ "^^^ers a short deliberation, tha^tL pernor tvh""^^ '''''"^'!^' ^'^^^"^^' 'f'^' daring encroachment on thelrCtLs and «n'''"' '""'^"u? '^^^ ""^^^ « power at a time when the ToTonv wl^ '^^ ^'^''' P^^Pri" and, in the double capTckv of rnn"^^^'''T? ^'"^^""" ''^ <^'harles/on, Pion of popular riglus Snst nrnnTf '"'""^ °^ -'^^ P'"*^^'"^'« ^"^ « ^J'"'"- -ionj^Lpremfth?^; fZor^a'T^'^V^"^^ ^^ Oldmixon. Hwit. Chalmers.' * Hewit. Chalmers. 382 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK IV. eager acclaim of a numerous party, he succeeded without difficulty in pre- vailing over the opposition of the governor and the more respectable inhab- itants, and in possessing himself of the reins of government, which had long waited and invited the grasp of some vigorous hai.d. With a specious show of respect to petitions which had been suggested by himself, he con- sented to convene a parliament ; and, amidst the confusion and distraction to which the province was a prey, found it easy to procure the election of members who were ready to sanction by their votes whatever measures he might propose to them. Colleton was, in this assembly, impeached of high crimes and misdemeanours, and by their sentence not only adjudged incapable of ever again holding office in the government, but banished from the province. Other persons, who were accused of having abetted his misconduct, were si lyected to line, imprisonment, or exile. Having now- gained firm possession of the supreme authority, and, under pretence of grat- ifying the resentments of the people, enriched himself by forfeitures, and dis- encumbered himself of rival candidates for office, Sothel exercised his power with a despotic energy and indiscriminate insolence, that effectually rebuked and punished the folly of those wiio permitted him to obtain it, and soon united the southern colony against iiim in the same unanimous hatred which he had provoked in the sister settlement of North Carolina. He is said to have trampled under foot every restraint of justice and equity, and to have ruled the colonists with a violence of undisguised tyranny, of which the en- durance, even for the short period of two years, appears altogether surpris- ing. The replenishment of his coffers was the sole object of his govern- ment ; and his financial operations were varied only by varieties of fraud and rapine. The fair traders from Barbadoes and Bermuda were seized by his orders, upon false accusations of piracy, and compelled to purchase their ransom from imprisonment by enormous fines ; bribes were accepted from real felons to favor their escape from justice ; and the property of unoffend- ing individuals was seized and confiscated on the most groundless and ty- rannical pretences. The proprietaries, hearing with astonishment of these outrageous proceedings, transmitted letters of recall to Sothel [1692], and threatened, in case of his disobedience, to procure a mandamus from the king to compel his appearance in England ; and their orders being now cor- dially seconded by the desire of the people, the usurper was constrained to vacate his functions and abandon the province. He retired, however, no farther than to North Carolina, where he died in the year 1694.' The revolution of the British government excited very little attention in either of the provincial communities of Carolina, which were too remotely connected with the higher institutions of the empire to be sensibly affected by the changes they underwent. It was from the proprietaries alone that they could expect the interposition of a superior power to arrest or repair the misrule, contention, and other afflictions, that had so long composed the chief part of the history both of the northern and the southern settle- ments. In the hope of accomplishing this desirable object, the proprieta- ries, on the deposition of Sothel, intrusted the government of the whole of their domains to Colonel Philij) Ludwell, a person totally unconnected with the province and the factions tliat prevailed in it, and who had been deputed by his countrymen in Virginia to present to the English government their complaints against Lord Effingham.' The proprietaries directed their new i HewTtT~ChBlmeriir^iliriims^^ ^HookTl., Cimp. iii., ante. CHAP. II.] JEALOUSY IN REGARD TO THE HUGUENOTS. 383 Chu|j. in., anU. u. themselves ,he ^^'s.Jh^ISMPT^J.'^ZZT.'r''''' f'°^" der and restore happiness Hp ,^a. •' ^ • . calculated to preserve or- who had been gove^Sof the WaTdT^T'^-'^^'u®''- ^^^'^^^''^ J-h"«on, who, having not embraced the deignS^ T'''^"^ ^^'^n, and a cacique of the province and a member of fh' °^?'' T' ^PPo^nted was a man of sense and humanity and nLf ! ''°"".'''^- ^"^^^«"' ^vhr of colonial affairs, commenlird KralSS Tf ''''''' T^"-- general satislaclion, and seemed tn h^f ^ , * "tanner that gave and distractions of the provT„cTaIcomm»nL«P'''K^ '"^>^"^ ^he ferments was of short duration ; rmrndro7meThnH k' '^'' ^T'^'^S appearance lently agitated to reW at Tee in oT« Jf /^'" '''^ ^°"S ^"d too vio- stance which truly betSkLed the i--- '^ composure ; and a circum- ince proved the i^medfate oeeto-^^^^^^^ ^' ''^ P-- In the year 1690, a great number of FrLo^P P"^^''' discontents. in England, whenci a large portTon of th" '■°'''''"' ^'''^^' '°«^ •'^^e penseof the British goverfmeT to the .nP 'T,."°^^^^"^' ^' ^^e el- were less indigent, purchased ?nds n SourclT'^'r' u^'^'^'^ ^^o already remarked a previous m eration of «oi^ / v "^ ^^° "^^'^^^ we have having transported 'hemselveT fnd the^p f IT °^ '^'7- ^^""t'-y^en) , and, a valuable aLssion to the numeric ^^ and respectability of its people Th« p^"Sin as well as to the industry of allegiance to the l^h^rand Pr^^fsed 'fiXrt ''f ^''^ ^'^ ''^''^ ^^e oath were disposed to regard the coEslhn-l^ - '- proprietaries, and pect of brethren and fellow-cit'zens Rnt V^^^ J?'"«^, '" ^^e friendly as- were very far from regardh^l th^ir n. ' ""'^'PP'^^^' '^^'^ older colonists fidence and good-will ThenunTh-^r ff °'''''' ^"^ reciprocal con- wealth which fome of hem t ere rtuted°' «^^«"S«r«^ and the superior ousy, and national antipatS^ n the m nds of Z7''vT^'''l^ ^"^^'>«'- well, in compliance wiOi the instruXns of t ^^''- *" ' .'"*^ ^'^^^ ^"d" admit the refugees to a narfirinl.^^ • ., u f °P"etaries, proposed to of the other planters, the Kish arn^? ^" ^^.^"'^hises and' immunities, in this measu're, and^L^olt^ ^"oseTh: ^tttioT "TTe' '^ '7^'^ It was contrary to the laws of England 2/fu r v.^^^1 '"''"^^^ *hat tence of the proprietaries who Setwetttnl''' V^°"^ '^' ^"'"P^" power but that of the Encrlirh paTltnPnt -" .^ ^^'''^ '^'^' ' ^"^ ^''^^ "» billiy of ahens to purclmsf land Sin th^ "^''P'"'" ^''^'l *''« ^^S«' '"^- them into the nat onal cTmZii v W i TP""^' ^^ ^""'^ incorporate and privileges of nal^Er Sig i"shmen %TevT''''''' °' ^-'^ ''^hts the marriages of the refugees perfonnpnT .'i, i ^ ^"^^^ maintained that .hem, were unlawful, as IS/relelltdV''' • ''^^'"'" ^"^° accompanied episcopal ordination -and for t^ 1 J^ '"'"'sters not consecrated by brook ^the thoug t of shl' in tl''"'' '^'^ ^'S'''^. '^'' '^^Y could no^ English nation, o of rece l"L laws frn^F ""T^^^ ""l'^ '^' ^'^^^^ "^ ^^e of slavery and'arbitrarrgo^rnmrnt ^''^"^'>"^«"' ^^e pupils of a system pi-dX^is^?rxss°:^ ;5r f^ird^fio^ a^nsripK r= inHppic;.,. p, u'rections. Ihe proprietaries returned a concilintorv but • ""''''' '" ^^'^ application of the refugees, who continued'' in a 384 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK IV. state of anxious solicitude and entire privaUon of civil rights for several vears after • ' when, at length, their mild and patient demeanour overcame fhe antipathy of their former adversaries, who then cordially sanctioned the nietensions they had so stoutly resisted, and passed a law of naturalization fn favor of the aliens, without being disturbed by any scruples about invading the functions of the British parliament. Meanwhile the dispute that had. arisen on th.s subject spread a great deal of irritation through the province wWch was increased by the arrival of a crew of pirates, whom Ludwell caused to be apprehended and brought to trial for their crimes. 1 he peo- nle exclaimed against the severity of this proceeding, and interested tliem- selves so effectually in behalf of the pirates, who, previous to their appre- hension, had spent a great deal of money very freely m the province, that on their trials they were all acquitted, and the government was even com- pelled to indemnify them for the expenses and molestation .they ^^d >n. burred It was not till more than twenty years after this period that Car- olina was finally delivered from the resort of pirates, larther dispu es now a ose between the government and the people about the arrears of the quit- Jents that were due to the proprietaries, who at length becoming impatient of this untoward issue of Ludwell's admimslration, and suspecting hnn of bending too readily to the popular will, deprived him of his office, and con- ferred it, together with the dignity of landgrave, upon Thomas Smith, a wealthy planter, and a prudent, upright, and popular man. I was in the midst of these disputes, and with the hope of appeasing them, that the proprietaries surrendered to the general dislike of the people T^Fundamental Constitutions, which had been originally declared sacre and changeless, but which an experience of twenty-three years had proved to be utterly absurd and impracticable. [1693.] Apprized of the incurab e aversion wilh which this instrument was now regarded by all classes of the colonists, and despairing of ever establishing a sohd or respected frame of ^overnm^nt among them without making some considerable sacrifice to S inclinations, Uie proprietaries with this view embraced and pubhshe Se fdlowing resolution : " That, as the people have declared they woul ^ther be governed by the powers granted by the charter, w.thom regard lo the Fundamental Constitutions, \i will be for their quiet, and the protec- Lon of the well-disposed, to grant their request." =» Thus expired the po- Udcal system devised by John Locke. Its fate was unregretted by any par- V for i bad neither procured respect to the government, nor afiorded Lp^^ess to the people. What is still more singular, it seems to hav Terished uiheeded •, its abolition exciting no emotion whatever, and no E even noticed in any public act or order withm the province Ih,: conv^ocalions that were formerly termed parliaments were now called as- sembUes^^ and this was all the visible change that took place, ho per- ecUv inappropriate and inapplicable had these celebrated ConsUtut.ons been tion whirh it provoked. SmoUntt. ,,,.,,. *.Xrrhdale.%)ldmixon. Cl.almcr.. Hew.t. W.ll.amBon. , ^.„.^^^„ » Chalmew. Williamson .trikin-lv ox^mnlifv the ot)8ervation of a« em- * -J-iiu oi>.;ratir.n and latc of Locke R "J^"^^'" "V „j ruv. „,:„pinlM ot' liberty n"d 1 -r "«»« iBcnt American Btatesman, that "a man may defend the principles ot \mnj * CHAP. II.] ARCHDALE APPOINTED GOVERNOR. 385 This important measure, which had been deferred till the Constitutions r^'tnS" """'" practically abrogated hy their own inefficiency fa. ed to produce any sensible effect in tranquillizing or conciliating the ml habitants of Carohna. Governor Smith, though he exerted himself with a zeal and prudence that have not been impeached by any party, to pfo- mote the peace and prosperity of the settlements intrusted to llis cale, found h.8 endeavours so fruitless, and his situation so irksome, that he was con- strained to sohcit his own dismission from the proprietaries [1694], whom he strongly urged, as the only means of restoring order and tranqui lity, to depute as governor one of their own number, invested with plenary poier ,0 hear and finally determine on the spot the complaints and controversies hy which the province was distracted. The short administration of S nevertheless, was signalized by an occurrence that produced lasting and extensive effects on the prosperity of Carolina. A vessel from Mada- gascar, on her homeward voyage to Britain, happening to touch at Charles- ton, the captain, in acknowledgment of the hospitable civUities which he received from Smith, presented him with a bag of seed-rice, which (he said) he had seen growing in Eastern countries, wheje it was deemed exceliem food, and yielded a prodigious increase. The governor divided it between several of his friends, who agreed to attempt the experiment of its culture • and planting their parcels m different soils, found the result to exceed their most sanguine expectations. From this casual occurrence Carolina derived her staple commodity, the chief support of her people, and the mam source of her opulence.* The proprietaries, disappointed in so many attempts to obtain a satisfac- tory administration of their authority in tlie province, determined the more readily o adopt the suggestion of Smith. Their first choice for this pur- pose fell upon Lord AsBley, grandson of the notorious Shaftesbury, and af- terwards author of The Characteristics. It was supposed that his talents (of which the repute far exceeded the reality), his agreeable manners, and elevated rank, would promote the efficacy of his endeavours for the pacifi- cation of the colony. Happily, however, for all parties, his Lordship, either having httle inclination for the voyage, or being detained, as he alleged, by the state of his private affairs m England, declined the appointment; which was then conferred on a far more estimable person, John Archdale, another of the proprietaries a Quaker, and a man of great prudence and sagacity, united with admirable patience and command of temper. Accepting the office, he was invested with authority so absolute and extensive, that the pro- prietaries thought fit to record in his commission [August, 16961, that such powers were not to be claimed, in virtue of this precedent by future govern- Archdale proved himself worthy of the distinguished trust that was re- posed in bmi. He arrived first in South Carolina, where he formed a new council of sensible and moderate men ; and in a short time, by remitting some arrears of rent, and by other conciliatory measures, aided by a firm- ness and mild composure that were neither to be disturbed nor overcome, he prevailed so far in appeasing the public discontents, as to feel encour- aged to call a meetmg of the representative assembly. _^n^ddres3^f gr ateful thanks voted by this b ody to the proprietaries ■ ArchdaJe. Oidmixoa. Hewit. ■ 386 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK IV. rthe first expression of such sentiments ever uttered in Carolina) attests he wisdom and benignity of Archdale's admmistrat.on and Justifies the opinbn thTt, notwithstlmding the inflammable matenals of wh.ch the proy.n- cfal soc ety was composed, only a good domestic government had been firto wLing to render the colony flourishmg and happy. Moreton, Ludwell, and Smith were, unquestionably, meritorious governors ; but they had been denied the power that was requisite to give efficacy to the,r wisdom, and could never grant the slightest indulgence to the people w.th- Tu Sming the dangerous liberty of transgressmg their own commissions or abTd'ng thi tedious fntervention of correspondence with England. 1 houg Archda?e was a Quaker, and therefore opposed to military operations and it sheddbgof blood, yet he adapted his pubHc policy to the sentiments of the people whom he had undertaken to govern ; ^"^ considering that a small colony, surrounded by savage enemies, and exposed to the attacks of The Spania ds, should maintain a constant state of defensive preparation, he promoted a riilitia law [1695], which, however, exempted all persons holding the same religious principles with h mself from bearing arms.^ Wh.le he tlms adopted measures ^for insuring safety, he was far from neglecting Vhe humane^r means of preserving peace ; and for this purpose exerted himself so successfully, by the exercise of courtesy and liberality, to culti- vaTe the gord-wUl botii'of^^ civilized and savage neighbours of the prov- [nee thaUhe Spaniards at St. Augustine expressed for the first .me a .les.re r maintain friendly relations with the English; and various tribes of In- dlnTHted their alliance, and placed themselves under the protection of trgovernm^^ of Carolina! The Indians around Cape Fear m particular whoTdZg pursued the practice of plundering shipwrecked vessels « and murdering thefr crews, renounced this inhumanity, and demonstrated the fevorableMge of their disposition by mitigating, with charitable relief, trenumeros disasters by which the navigation o? that coast was thenira- happTS^^^ Yet how inferior the worldly renown of Archdale, the insEenf of so much good, to the more cherished fame o^^^^^^^^ less e^^ cient and far less disinterested contemporary and fellow-sectary, William ^7n North Carolina, the administration of Archdale Avas attended with equal success and conducted with greater facility from the cooperation o ^number of Quakers whojnhabit^^ TTh^fbU^^^iii^h^bT^^ ^£Z at Arehdale enjoyed with the colonists. " Ana wnnreas me _ ^ ^ that Arrhdale enjoyed with the colonists. ^'" ""y'j-j^' ^^^not bear arms, and be died Uuakers, who, upon a oonsc.entious P"'«''P'° ?J^'^^^^^^^^ oause in all other civil ^J^i:^;::^^^^ ^SS^r. 'onac.nd,,... I governor, John Archdarlo, 1 18 principle of religion on4y cused." Archdalc'8 Prrface. Williamson. •v.,v.., , '"y S,Xt'inV"BeTt theVciroro onactfid.tlint all such, whom the present governor, John Archd«^o^ h«r arms on a conwsientious nrinciole of religion on4y, eh ., shall judge that they refuse to btar lall, by a cerlificnto fron% him, be ex- sed." Archdalc'8 Prr/Vice. Williamson. ^. i-ieg ^hen (after his return senled by the frequency of shipwreck llie plunder of a wreck by the colonists iSde!::d7r:mTe;;h7;;.Wua of North America, L from the. inhabitants _o.j,.e pai.t indeed, from the other colonisU of North ^'^^'l'''^^'"ZtoycdTm^^^^ rtate.ik which this inhumanity obtained «« '«"8 «»^,,nKment'^of "a ciliU of sober «^lAAlo of the eiehtcenth century. Pope represents ".'e enricjime u (too -'a. origioating in two rich shipwreckn uu m WOb « x>«ur,a.S. his quarter, and with CHAP. II.] ARCIIDALES SUCCESSFUL ADMINISTRATION. ggy whom he eryoyed a large share of personal or sectarian influence. The esteem m which he was he d bj. all ranks of men may be inferred from the elauon with winch the historian of North Carolina has recorded, as a cjrcumstance redounding to the honor of this province, that Archdal^ pur- chased an estate at Albemarle, and gave one of his daughters in mar ia^to a planter at Pasquetanke. But it was not his design t remain Sr n Carolina than was necessary for the adjustment of §L ex Zgconlver- sies ; and having accomplished this object to an extent that surnasserthe ?.lfTT/-^u f ''•''' i' '''*"^"^d »° England in the close o^f he year 1696, loaded vvith the grateful benedictions of a people to whoL peace and prosperity he had been so highly instrumental.^ The only portion of Ae inhabitants to whom he was unable to give complete sa^SaSon vvere the French refugees against vvhom the jealous antipathy of the EnX^^^^^^^^^^^ had no yet subsided. But while he soothed Uie public jealousy by de clmmg to advocate the political enfranchisement of the reLees, he Awak- ened pubhc generosity by an impressive recommendation of^tlSe unfortu- nate s rangers to the hosp.tahty and compassion of his countrymen ; and "o vtuef S tendtT '' recommended a patient perseveL" 'in tho : vir ues that tend to disarm human enmity, and by the actual exercise of which they were enabled shortly after to i;ercome the ave s onTand ^ven conciliate the friendly regards, of their fellow-colonists. i It was m this j^ear that a regular administration of the ordinances of religion was first introduced into South Carolina, by the assistance of thl colonists of New England. Intelligence of the d^stLte sLH he proy! mce in his respect, seconded by the earnest applications of some pious individuals among the planters, had induced the New Englanders, iHhe preceding year, to form an association at Dorchester, in ^^assachusetts which was designed to be removed to Carolina, "to encourage the settle S'' tZ '' '"^*'^' P''^"?"''"" °^ '•^^'S'"" >" the southern plan a- tions. The persons thus associated, having placed at their head a distin- guished minister of the New England churches, arrived in the beginning of his year ,n feouth Carolina, which now for the first time was honored by the celebration of the rite of the Lord's supper. Proceeding to a snot onthe northeast bank of Ashley River, about eighteen riesfronVchaiC ton, the pious emigrants founded there a settlement, to which, in commemo- ration of the place they had left, they gave the name of Dorchester. Among other extraordinary privileges, there was granted to Archdale the power of nominating his successor; and in the exercise of this power he propagated the benefit of his own administration, by delegating the office of governor to Joseph Blake (nephew of the English admiral), a man of probity, prudence, and moderation, acceptable to the people and a pro- prietary of the province. Blake governed the colony wisely and happil/for rf "°u a[ ^T ^?''' ^^""'"^y ^''"'^^ his elevation to office, the?e^vas hv r F? r ?r^'u "''' '",^' ""/ fundamental constitutions subscribed L nil K f: ^^' '^^ ^^'"''^ P''^t'"«' «"^ hy the other proprietaries in hi? niU Ta T^' ^''''T^.^ °' recognized by the provincid nssem- bly. Bla ke^exerted^the mo^t laudable^endeavours to promote the religious t -.-re. — rs .^s,., ,„e jjviiuoimi provaiica over Uw (iuakur. S88 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK IV. instruction of the people, and to facilitate the exercise of divine worship to ail denominations of Christian professors. In the year 1698, he had the satisfaction to see John Cotton, a son of tho celebrated minister of Boston, remove from Plymouth, in New England, to Charleston, in South Carolina, where he gathered a church, and enjoyed a short, but happy and success- ful, ministry. Though Blake was himself a Dissenter, yet, from regard to the wishes and the spiritual interests of the Episcopalian portion of the in- habitants of Charleston, he caused a bill to be introduced mto the assembly for settling a perpetual provision of one hundred and fiftjr pounds a year, with a house and other advantages, on the Episcopal minister of that city. Marshall, the person who then enjoyed this pastoral function, had gained uni- versal esteem by his piety and prudence ; and the Dissenters in the house of assembly acquiescing in the measure, from regard to this individual, the bill was passed into a law.^ [1698.] Those who may be disposed to think tliat tlie Dissenters acted amiss, and stretched their liberality beyond the proper limits of this virtue, in promoting the national establishment of a church from which they had themselves conscientiously withdrawn, may regard the persecution they soon after sustained from the Episcopal party as a merited retribution for their practical negation of dissenting principles. Those who judge more leniently an error which there is little reason to suppose will be ever frequent in the world, must regret and condemn the ungrateful return which the Dissenters experienced from a party for whose advantage they had incurred so considerable a sacrifice. With the administration of Blake, who died in the year 1700, ended the short interval of tranquillity which originated with the government of Archdalc. Under the rule of his immediate successors, James Moore and Sir Nathaniel Johnson, the colony was harassed with Indian wars, involved in a heavy debt by an ill-conducted and fruitless expedition against the Span- iards at St. Augustine, and agitated by religious disputes engendered by a series of persecutmg laws against the Dissenters. Henceforward the propri- etary government continued (with the exception of one returning gleam of success and popularity, which it derived from the administration of Charles Craven, in 1712) to afflict the province with a vile and pernicious misrule, and to fluctuate between the aversion and contempt of its subjects, till they were relieved by its dissolution in the year 1729, when the chartered inter- ests were sold to the crown. The first Indian war by which this period was signalized broke out in the year 1703, and was occasioned by the influence of the Spaniards over the tribes that inhabited the region of Apalachia. llesenting with cruel and disproportioned rage the affronts which these savages were instigated by the Spaniards to commit. Governor Moore determined by one vigorous efTort to break their power, and by a sanguinary example to impress on all the Indian race a dread of tho English name. At the head of a strong detach- ment of the provincial militia, reinforced by a troop of Indian allies, he marched into the hostile settlements; defeated the enemy with a loss of eight hundred of their number, who were either killed or taken prisoners ; laid waste all the Indian towns between the rivers Alatamaba and Savannah; and reduced the whole district of Apalachia to submission. To improve bis conquest, he transported fourteen hundred of the Apalachian Indians to the territory which was afterwards dcnomhiated Georgia, where jJi>ey^wcrc '* Uidiuixun. VVyiuie. Iluvvil. CtdUOuasythexsssac^smsHaiafkaiSsticiy. HoSraes, ariati S;i."i' cig. IiO'nicS. CHAF.II] NEGLECT OF RELIGION AND EDUCATION. qqq C^o£^ *° ^'''^^ '" ^ '^^^^ °^ dependence on the government of South When the proprietaries of Carolina first embraced the project of a colo- nial plantation, they solemnly declared, and caused it to be recorded t U,e.r charte-s, that they were moved to embrace this great design by zea" for the diffusion of the Christian faith, and especially for its DronaLtion among the Indian tribes of America. Yet a geLral ^v Lion LK of f ,n'n;«rrnn'?w'^ P'''"j"^^^ *° '" '«« ^« ^" article of the F^- daniental Constitutions, and which they fraudfully or insolently nullified bv another article adjected to the same instrument by themselves constituted the whole amount of their ecclesiastical operations d^uring the firs't ?orty years of the proprietary government. They never made the slightest attemnt to execute their pretended purpose of communicating instructK the nSs and this important field of Christian labor was quite unoccupied tHl the be- T^L h^ ' -^ ;'''"'^ """'"'>> ^^^^" ^ ^^^ missionaries were sent to Car- olina by the society incorporated in England for the propagation of the gos- pel m foreign countries. No cognizable fruits or vestlges^f the labors of these missionaries have ever been mentioned. Prior to this enterprise, the only European instructions that the Indians received, under the auspices of the proprietary government, were communicated by a French dancine- master, who setUed in Craven county, and acquired a large estate by teaching the savages to dance and play on the flute.^ At the close of the seventeenth century, there were only three edifices for divine worship erected withb the southern province : pertaining re- spectiyely to an Episcopal a Presbyterian, and a Quaker congregation; and all of them situated withm the walls of Charleston. In no other quartet of the province were there either temples of public worship or schools for education, rhe first attempts that were made to supply these defects pro- ceeded not from the proprietaries, but from Tennison, Archbishop of Can- terbury, Compton, Bishop of London, Thomas Bray, an active n^nister of the church of England, and the society established in England for the prop- agation of the gospel ; but as, in most of these attempts, the paramount object was plainly to multiply adherents to the established church of the narent state, they were the less successful among a people, of whom many had personally experienced the persecution of this church, and more enter- tamed a hereditary dislike to it. In the year 1707, the society for propa- gation of the gospel maintained six Episcopal ministers in South Carolina, and had sent two thousand volumes of books to be distributed gratuilously among the people. In the northern province, which was thinly peopled by colonists professing a great diversity of religious opinions, no visible insti- tution ot divme government was yet established, no religious worship rec ognized the providence of the Deity or besought his grace, and human life commencpd and concluded without any solemnity expressive of its celestial ong.n and immortal renovation. An act was passed by the assembly of this province, m the year 1702, imposing an assessment of thirty pounds per An- num on every precinct, for the maintenance of a minister ; and in 1705 and 1706, the first two religious edifices of North Carolina were erected. In --y^^JLLl^J_!!^l_P^Z^"^ " ^^'^^ divided by an act o f its domestic legisla- firl 1nundJnn''7nf "'1T>- "u'^i^ ^" "'^ y*" ^^O'^' Charleston was attacked at once by .na'ZJ^T"Ll".lP!'!'''?!!''"-,! ^^^°^ despair sat on every countenance. —-..!_!.....„„.„..,, „„,g ijiougiijuj aoandoning tne couiUry." Holmes. GG 390 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK IV ture into nine parishes ; in each of which a parochial vestry was established, and a ministerial stipend provided. This northern province had for many years received from the proprietaries the appellation of the county of Jllht. marie in Carolina, and was sometimes, but not always, included in the commission of the governor of the southern settlement. It now cpme to be termed North Carolina ; and at the dissolution of the proprietary govern- ment, was made a separate province with a distinct jurisdiction.' After having for a long period disregarded entirely the ecclesiastical con- cerns of Carolina, the proprietaries, in the beginning of the eighteenth cen- tury, turned their attention to this subject with a spirit that caused the ces- sation of their previous indifference to be greatly lamented ; and made a first and last attempt to signalize their boasted zeal for Christianity, by the demonstration of a temper and the adoption of measures the most insolent, unchristian, and tyrannical. The office of palatine had now devolved on Lord Granville, who entertained the utmost aversion and contempt for Dis- senters of all descriptions, and who had already signalized his bigotry to the church of England by the vehement zeal with which he supported in parliament the bill against occasional conformity.^ His accession to the dignity of palatine presented him with an opportunity of indulging his fa- vorite sentiments in the regulation of the ecclesiastical polity of Carolina. Contemning the remonstrances and overruling the opposition of Archdale, he eagerly laid hold of so fair an occasion of exerting his bigotry ; aud in Moore and Johnson, on whom he successively bestowed the government of the province, he found able and willing instruments of the execution of his arbitrary designs. These men, notwithstanding the great numerical su- periority of the Dissenters, by a series of illegal and violent proceedings, ac- quired for themselves and a party of the Episcopalian persuasion a complete ascendency over the provincial assemblies, which they exercised in the for- mation of laws for the advancement of the church of England, and the depression of every other model of Christianity. After various preparatory measures, which, under the impudent pretence of promoting the glory of God, effectually banished every trace of peace and good-will from a numer- ous society of his rational creatures, the Episcopal faction at length, in the year 1704, enacted two laws, by one of which Dissenters were deprived of all civil rights, and by the other an arbitrary court of high commission (a name of evil import to Englishmen) was erected for the trial of ecclesiastical causes and the preservation of religious uniformity in Carolina. At the time when these laws were framed, not only the most wealthy and respectable inhabit- ants, but at least two thirds of the whole population of the province, were Dissenters. ^ ^ , • ■ • The English Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, on receiving in- telligence of the latter of those ordinances, declared their resolution to send no more missionaries to Carolina till it should be repealed. Both the edicts, however, having been ratified by the proprietaries, and the complaints of the Dissenters treated with derision, tliese oppressed and insulted men were advised by the merchants of London, who traded to the province, to seek redress of their grievances from the supreme power of the realm. A petition for this purpose was accordingly presented to the House of Lords, who ' ' Olflmixon. Hewit. Williamson. Holmes. , , . r jr. * Thig was a bill imposing severe jienalties on any person, who, having conformed so far to tho churcii of Eiiniand as lo uiititic liiui to faoid a municipal office, should v\'ti aiier attend 5 diraenting place of worship. CHAP. II.] LAWS AGAINST DISSENTERS DECLARED NULL. dai B province, were Iff conformed so far M iid vvvr ttitor attend s were struck with surprise and indignation at the tyrannical insolence of tjiose despotic proprietaries and their provincial officers; and forthwith voted an address to Queen Anne, praying lier royal repeal of the obnoxious laws, and recommending that the authors of them should bo brought to con- dign punishment. The Commissioners of Trade, to whom the matter was relerred by tlie queen, reported, " Uiat the making such laws was an abuse of tlie powers granted by the charter, and inferred a forfeiture of the same" ; subjoining their advice that judicial steps should be adopted for having the forleiture legally ascertained, and the government of the province resumed by the crown.' The queen, thereupon, issued an order, declaring the laws complained of null and void, and promised to institute a process o*" quo war- ranto against the provincial charter ; but tliis promise was never hilfilled." It was alleged that the forfeiture of the cliarter was obstructed by legal difficulties arisnig from the nonage of some of the proprietaries, who could not justly be held responsible for the acts of the rest ; — as if the inabiUty of these hereditary rulers of mankind to afford protection to their subjects had not itself furnished the strongest reason why they should be dispossessed of the power of exacting obedience from them. While incessant attempts were made by the British government to bereave the New England States of the charters by which popular liberty was guarded, this fair and legitimate occasion was neglected, of emancipating the people of Carolina from a patent which had confessedly been made subservient to the most odious op- pression and intolerance ; and even after the proprietaries had publicly de- clared (as they were soon after constrained to do) that it was not in their power to defend the province against the Indians, by whose attacks it was menaced, the proprietary government was sufiered to endure until it sunk under its own weakness and incapacity. It was in the year 1706, that the intolerant policy of Lord Granville received this signal check ; and from that period, the Dissenters were permitted to enjoy, not indeed the equality which they had originally been encouraged to expect, but a simple tolera- tion. In the following year, an act of assembly was passed in South Car- olina for the^ establishment of religious worship according to the forms of the church of England. By this act the province was divided into ten par- ishes ; and provision was made for building a church in each parish, and for tiie endowment of its minister. The churches were soon after built, and supplied with ministers by the English Society for the Propagation of the Gospel.^ The progress of population, if not the most certain, is one of the most interesting tests of the prosperity of a commonwealth ; but it is a test not easily applicable to societies subject, like all the American States, to a con- tinual, but irregular, influx and efflux of people. The population of North Carolina appears to have sustained a considerable check from the troubles and confusions that attended Culpepper's insurrection and Sothel's tyranny ; insomuch that, in the year 1694, the list of taxable hihabitants was found to contain only seven hundred and eighty-seven names, — about half the num- ber that the colon y h ad possessed at the c ommencement of Miller's admin- ' This report, among otiier signatures, has that of Prior, the poet, who was one of tlic Com- miBsioners of Trade at the time. ' Oldmixon. Ilewit. Preparatory to their address to the queen, the House of Lords passed a resolution containing these remaritablo expressions : — that the law for enforcing ronformity I/) the church of England in Carolina " is an encouragement to atheism and irreligion, de -•— - ir..:..., .,,1,, iPiiti- iCf tiir lum Biiu utjpoptiiation oi tiic province. Humphrey's Historical Account of the Society for propagating the Gospel. 392 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK It. tstration.' Frequent emigrations were mndc from the northern to the south- ern province ; " and we may conchuio that the dinunulion of inhabitants, ascertained in 1694, was occasioned, partly at least, in this manner, — since, prior to the your 1708, only two persons (a Turk for murder, and an old woman for witchcraft) perished on the scaflbld in North Carolina,^ — a fact, w^iich, considering the violent convulsions that the province had undergone, appears highly creditable to the humanity of the people. In the beginning of the eighteenth century. North Carolina received an accession to its in- habitants, first from a number of French refugees, who removed to it from Virginia ; and afterwards from a troop of (Jermans, who, many years before, were expelled from their homes by the desolation of the palatinate, and had since experienced a great variety of wretchedness and exile.'' In the year 1710, its whole population amounted to six thousand persons ; ^ but of these not two thousand were taxables. There was no court-house in North Car- olina before the year 1722 ; the asseniblies and general courts till then be- ing convened in private dwelling-houses. Debts and rents were generally paid in hides, tallow, furs, or other productions of the country. In the year 1705, it was appointed by law that marriages should be celebrated by the ministers of religion ; but magistrates were permitted to perform this function in parishes unprovided with ministers. The executive power within the province was feeble and inefficient ; prtly in consequence of the state of dispersion in which the bulk of the mhabitants lived, and partly from the corrupt dispositions or despicable characters of many of the exec- utive officers.* In the year 1709, Cary, the collector of the proprietary quitrents, resolving to appropriate, or at least refusing to account for, the produce of his collections, found it easy, with the aid of a few idle and dis- solute partisans, to maintain himself in a state of resistance to the proprie- tary government, and suspend the operations of justice. The people, though they neither approved nor abetted his fraudulent and rebellious con- duct, made no opposition to it ; and the governor, unable to reduce him to obedience, applied for assistance to Virginia, where some regular troops were quartered at the time. On the approach of a small party of these forces, Cary fled the colony, and his partisans dispersed.' The population of South Carolina, in the year 1700, is said to have amounted to no more than five thousand five hundred persons,^ — a com- putation probably short of the truth. For several years after the first col- onization of the territory, there were very few negro slaves in Carolina ; but the demand for them was increased by the increasing cultivation of rice, which was reckoned too unhealthy and laborious for European constitu- tions ;' and the slave-ships of Great Britain promoted the demand by the readiness with which they anticipated and supplied it. At the close of the seventeentli century, Charleston was alread y a flour ishing city, containing • Williamsun. * LawsoiTrZ/wfon/'of Carolina. » Wifiiamson. * Ibid. » Warden. In the year 1717, the taxubles amounted to two thousand. Williamson. • In 1701, Porter indicted a man for calling him " a cheating rogue." The defendant jusli- fied the words, and, proving that they were properly applied, was acquitted, and bIIowk] his cost* from the prosecutor. Yet a few years after, I'orter wa« appointed a proprietary dfiniity and member of council. Williamson. In 1726, Burrington, who had previously held liie office of governor, and afterwards held it again, was indicted for defamation, in saying of the existing governor, Sir Richard Evcrard, that " he was no more fit for a governor than Sancho Panza, and for riotously threatening to scalp " his d — d thick skull." lb. Two years after, the grand jury prttent Sir Richard, the gotemor, for having with his tane twice or thrice struck Oo^rse Ajlnn. lli; • Williainson. • Warden. * llewit. ClIAP. II ] CIVIL AND DOMESTIC STATE OF CAROLINA. 8dS geveral handsome edifices, a public library, and a population of tliree thousand souls.* No printing press was established in Carolina till thirty years alter ; and tdl then the provincial laws were promulgated by oral proclamation. r o / There prevailed in this province, from the period when the Fundamental Constitutions vyero enacted, a method of empanelline juries, which micht have been copied with advantage both by the other colonies and the parent state. 1 he names of all persons qualified to servo as jurymen were put mto a ballot-box, from which a child drew out as many as were requisite to omi four severa juries ; and these having been put into a second ballot- box, another child drew forth the names that were to compose end. re- spective petty jury. In the beginning of the eighteenth century, this vahi- able regulation was abolished by the palatine ; but the remonstrances of the people, aided by the zea ous interposition of the agent at the court of Lon- don or the Nevy Kngland States, compelled him soon after to restore it.» When the difficulties attending the establishment of the first settlers in Carolina were in some degree overcome, the fertility of the soil, the cheap- „ess ol lood, and the agreeableness and general salubrity of the climate artorded a powerful encouragement to national increase. Families of ten and twelve children were frequently seen in the houses of the colonists at the close ot the seventeenth century ; ^ and though some parts of both the provinces were for a time infected with severe epidemical diseases, and others still continue to be unfavorable to health at particular seasons, yet the statistical accounts and the registers of mortality sufficientlif demonstrate that the climate of the whole region is in the main conducive to the preser- vation as well as to the production of life. The salubrity of these, as well as of the other provinces of North America, has been greatly promoted by the progress of industry in opening the woods, draining the marshes, and confining the streams within definite channels. Yet the influence of cultiva- tion has not been uniformly favorable to health in the Carolinas ; and much of the disease with which these regions are aflflicted at certain seasons is ascribed to the periodical inundations which the culture of the rice lands requires.* During the infant state of the colony, the proprietaries sold the land at twenty shillings for every hundred acres, and sixpence of quitrent. They raised the price in the year 1694 to thirty shillings ; and in 1711, to forty shillings for every hundred acres, and one shilling of quitrent.* Lawson u ho travelled through Carolina in the year 1700, celebrates the courtesy and hospitality of the planters ; but represents an aversion to labor, and a negligent contentment with immediate gratification, as qualities very prev- alent among them. Fruit, he says, was so plentiful that the hogs were fed with peaches. « The Carolinians have always been characterized by a strong predilection for the sports of the field. The disposition that was evinced, at an early period of the history of these provinces, to treat in- solven t debtors with extreme indulgence, has continued ever s ince to be a |Oldmixon ~ » Oldmixon (aTidiiy ' Oldmixon. vvaruon. IJr. Willminson has dcmonstriifcd tlint Ihn immediate eflects of the extirpation 01 wood in Caroina have always been unfriondiy to health, from the exposure to the gun of a I ,.?,';! ■'■•"''' ''"•'^ covered with vegetable produce in a state of dccavf ' WiJhauison. ' ..,*. ''".V"*?"; ^'■'■'''^'•'o spo'i*** ,'" nearly the same terms of the fertility of Carolina. Blomo Biaitts that the nrnvim-iv in 1(>>U> «ni>i.i:>.e/rt MUssf de la Peau. One instance may, however, be cited of the ordination of a negro as a priMt of the church of England, by Keppel, Bishop, of Exeter, in 1765. Mnual Register for rHxi. It mijht movo our surprise (if any inconsistency in an American slave-owner were justly surprising) to find Roman Catholics in Aniierica deny the entire rational capacity of men whom the supposed infallible church of Rome has consecrated as bishops and canonized as saints. • Oldmixon. Hewit. Williamson. s Archdale. ♦ Oldmixon. The materials of this statement seem to havo been obtained from Archdale. ' LnuM of Carolina. I have not been able to learn either the prooise date or nnv other oarticularg of the ad- luinwuulioii ol" Major Tynte, who, in tiio' beginning of the eighteenth century, was for a short lime governor of South Carolina. King, the English poet fwho died in 1712), celebrated 896 HISTORY or NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK IV. or four of his neighbours to view it, for the purpose of insuring further inquiry in case of any suspicious^appearance. Tynte in «ome Latin stanzas, whiih he afterwards rendered into the following English vT^ •^" ■ ■" « Tynte was the man who first from Britain's shore Palladian arts to Carolina bore ; His tuneful harp attending Muses strung, And Phojbus' skill inspired the lays he sung. Strong towers and palaces their rise began, And listening stones to sacred fabrics ran ; Just laws were taught, and curious arts of peace. And trade's brisk current flowed with wealth s increase. On such foundations learned Athens rose ; So Dido's thong did Carthage first inclose ; So Rome was taught old empires to subdue, _ As Tynte creates and governs now tlie new.' Uowing English ver> BOOK V. NEW YORK. CHAPTER I. Hndson'8 Voyage of Discovery. -First Settlement of the Dutch at Albany.- The Piovinoa granted by the States General to the West India Company of HollandL-lThe 0010^001^ nm extend their Set lements into Connecticut. - Disputes with the New England Colonts -Delaware first colonized by the Swedes. -War ^between the Dutch and IndiaS."^ Farther D.sputos with New England -Designs of Charles the Second. - Alarm a^Eii, prtions of the Dutch Governor. - The Province granted by Charter to the Dukoof York 1 mvaded by an English Fleet - surrenders. - Wise Government of Colonel Nichols. -Hoi- land cedes New York to England- recaptures it- finally cedes it again. -New Charter granted to the Duke of York. - Arbitrary Government of iVndros. -Biscoptent of tt" cS- onists. - The Duke consents to give New York a Free Constitution. New York is distinguished from the other American commonwealths whose history we have already considered, both by the race of the Euro- pean settlers who first resorted to it, and by the mode of its annexation to the dominion of Britain. In all the other provinces, the first colonists were Englishmen ; and the several occupations of American territory, and corre^ spending extensions of the British empire, were the enterprises of Engli^ subjects, impelled by the spirit of commercial adventure, inflamed with re- ligious zeal, or allured by ambitious expectation. The people of England derived, m all these instances, an increase of their commercial resources, and the crown an enlargement of its dominion, from the acts of private in- dividuals, sanctioned no doubt by the approbation of public authority, but unaided by the treasure or troops of the nation. But the territory of New York was originally colonized, not from England, but from Holland ; >nd the incorporation of it with the rest of the British dominions was accom- plished, not by settlement, but by conquest,— -not by the enterprise of in- dividuals, but by the forces of the state. It is a singularity still more worthy of remark, and illustrative of the slender influence of human views and purposes in the preadjustment and connection of events, that this mili- tary conquest proved the means of establishing a colony of Quakers in America ; and the sword of Charles the Second, in conquering an appanage for his bigot brother, prepared a tranquil establishment, in New .Jersey and Pennsylvania, for the votaries of peace, toleration, and pliilanthropy. The pretensions of the Dutch to this territory were certainly, from the first, more consistent with natural justice than with the commonly received law of nations, and the privilege which this law attaches to priority of discovery. For if, on the one hand, the voyage of Cabot, and his general and cursory survey of the North American continent, preceded by more than a century the occurrence from which the Dutch occupation originated, ihjre seems, on the other hand, a monstrous disregard of the general rights of mankind, in maintaining that a privilege, so precariously constituted, could lubsBt 80 long unexercised, and that a navigator, by equally approachhia mui America, in a vain and erroneous search of a p^futage to tke I Purchaa. Charlevoix, Hiitory oJJfeva Fianct. OWmixon. h'i History of /" CImo. U., anU tummary. 'imith'i History of Aew York. CHAP. I.] DUTCH WEST INDIA COMPANY. 399 'a Virginia. Douglaw'i take any notice of Argal's hostile encroachment ; and it is even asserted by some writers, that, in answer to a complaint by the British court of their intrusion into America, they denied that the settlement was established by their authority, and represented it as the private enterprise of a few obscure individuals. Ihe same writers have alleged, that the Dutch, while they disavovved every pretension that could infringe on the claims of England, besought the English monarch to permit a few trading-houses to be erected within hts territories on Hudson's River ; and that a permission to this ex- tent was actually obtained. Whatever truth or falsehood there may be in these statements, it is certain, that, in the year after Argal's invasion [16151 a nevf governor, Jacob Elkin, having arrived at the fort with an additional complement of setUers, the claim of the English to the stipulated depend- ence was forthwith defied, and the payment of tribute successfully resisted. For the better security of their resumed independence of English domi- nation, the Dutch colonists now erected a second fort on the southwest point of Long Island ; and afterwards built two others at Good Hope on Connecticut River, and at Nassau, on the east side of Delaware Bay They continued for a series of years, in unmolested tranquillity, to mature their settlement, increase their numbers, and, by the exercise of their pecu- liar national virtues of patience and industry, to subdue the first difficulties and hardships incident to an infant colony. ^ The States of Holland, finding their commerce enlarge with the duration of pohlical freedom and the enjoyment of peace, and observing that their people were successful m preserving the footing they had gained on Hud- son's River, began to entertain the design of improving this settlement, and rendering it the basis of more extended colonization in America. With this purpose was combined the scheme of their celebrated West India Company, wh-ch was established in the year 1620, and to which, m pur- suance of their favorite policy of colonizing by means of exclusive compa- nies, It was determined to commit the administration of New Netherlands. They watched with a jealous eye the proceedings of the English Puritan ex- iles at L^den,2 and viewed with alarm their projected migration to the banks of Hudson's River. Unable or unwilling to obstruct the design by an opposition which would have involved an immediate collision with the pretensions of Britain, they defeated it by bribing tlte Dutch captain, with whom the emigrants sailed,^ to convey them so far to the northward, that their plantation was eventually formed in the territory of Massachusetts. This fraudful proceeding of the Dutch, though it prevented a rival settlement from hemg established on Hudson's River, discredited their own title to this territory, and proportionally ratified the claim of Great Britain, which, in the same year, was again distinctly asserted and exercised by the publication of Kmg James's patent in favor of the Grand Council of Plymouth. The Plymouth patent, however, which was declared void in the following year [November, 1621] by the English House of Commons, and surrendered a few years after by the patentees, seemed as little entitled to respect abroad as to favor at home ; for, even if its disregard of the Dutch occupation should not be supposed to infringe the law of nations, it unquestionablv '!!!"iil_'^ re proach by appropriating territories where the French, in virtue 'Oldmixon. Sthh. Wvnne. Smith. |„ the year 1624, the exports from New Nether- ifivfln hiinHr«.i ^M«,»> gkins, estimated at 27,150 - Wynne. lands were " four thousand beavers' and seven" hundred '^ttVrs guilders." Hazard. ' See uuok ii.> Chap. I., am«. ' Mather. Neal. Hutchinson. Uldmuoo 400 HISTORY or NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK V. of previous charters from their sovereign, had already ertablished the settlements of Acadia and Canada, ^^he nullity of ^he P»/™°"V'?"'' i/i this last particular, was taciUy acknowledged by Charles the First, m 1630 when, by the Ueaty of St. Germain, he restored the French provmces S his aims had conquered in the preceding year. Whether the States of HoUand considered the patent equally unavadmg agamst their pretensions, or not, they made a grant of the country which was now called New Netherlands to their West India Company, m the very year m which the Enelish House of Commons protested against a similar patent ot the same territory by their own monarch [1621], as inconsistent with Uje general riehts of their countrymen and Uie true interests of tiade. It the States General, or their subjects on the banks of Hudson's River, Avere acqijainted with this parhamentary transaction, they made more account of the bene6t that mieht accrue from it to their territorial claim, than of the rebuke it conveyed to their commercial policy. Under the management of the West India Company, the new settlement was soon both consohdated and ex- tended. The city of New Amsterdam, afterwards called New York, was built on York Island, then known by the name of Manhattan ; and at the distance of a hundred and fifty miles higher up die Hudson, were laid the foundations of the city of Albany.* , , , -n. , u j , The precise extent of territory claimed by the Dutch, as comprehended within tLir colony of New Netherlands, has been differently represented ^en by their own writers, of whom some have explicitly deckled that it embraced aU the country lying between Virgmia and Canada. Whatever writs titular extent, wlilch was probably unknown to the planters them- selves, they hastened to eularge their appropriation far be^jond their im- media e use ; and, by intrusion into the Connecticut and Delaware err.. tories, laid the foundaUon of their subsequent disputes with the colonists of New England. While these powerful neighbours as yet possessed no other establishment but the small settlement of Plymouth, to which the artifice of the Dutch had consigned the English emigrants from Leyden, he pro- vincial authorities at New Amsterdam attempted to cultiva e a friendly, or at Last a commercial, correspondence with the EngUsh colony ; and for this purpose despatched their secretary, Razier, with a congratulatory coinnuini- S to tl^ governor of Plymouth. [1627.] The English, from whose memory the f.aud that deprived them of a settlement on the river Hudson hTd not banished the recollection of Dutch hospitably at Leyden received wl much courtesy the felicitations of their successful rivals on tne cour- 3us struggle they had maintained with the d.fficulues of theur situation ;« Td a^ somfyears had vet to elapse before Massachusetts became popu- bus, and before the English establishments in Connect.cu were for«ned> the Dutch colonists were enabled to Hatter themselves with the hope that to stratagem would, not be resented, nor their settlement disturbed They vSrav^arrof die reluctance of their government to exhibit publicly a tit^ dwiatorto the pretensic.^ of Britain, and endeavoured to counteract Oie cSSt which this policy might impose on their future acquisitions by the ZXrSieir immediate occupation. Their fi'«\^«"»7«»V:nZS aDParently, without any equiuble remuneration to the Indian proprietors of r Stand hence! perhaps, arose those dissensions vvuh the I«d.ns which afterwards produced^ groat_deal^iL^^^'i'i**—i^^^ "n ^"iJ^ E^S ColUcions of the Mas,acAusm HiMUnUMi SpcWy CHAP. 1] ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS IN CONNECTICUT. 401 extended their appropriations to Connecticut and Delaware, they were careful to facilitate their admission by purchasing the territory from its savage owners. ^ If their pohcy really was (as we may reasonably suppose, though we cannot positively affirm) to supply a defective, or at Jeast non- apparent title, by largeness and priority of appropriation, it was completely disappointed by the result ; and when New England and Maryland began to be filled with inhabitants, the Dutch had the mortification of discovering that the early and immoderate extent of their occupation only served to bring their claims the sooner into collision with the pretensions of neigh- bours more powerful than they ; and to direct a severer scrutiny into a title which they were unable to produce, which their detected stratagem had contributed to discredit, and which the length of their possession was yet unable to supply. These disagreeable results were not experienced till af- ter the lapse of several years of uninterrupted peace ; and during the ad- ministration of Wouter Van Twiller [1629], who arrived at Fort Amster- dam as the first governor appointed by the West India Company, the Putch colonists enjoyed a state of calm and monotonous ease, undisturbed by the commercial delirium that prevailed for several years in their parent state, and dissipated so many fortunes in the rumous and ridiculous specula- tions of the tulip trade. This period affords no materials for history, and it served but indifferently to prepare the colonists for their impending con- tentions with men whose frames and spirits had been braced by the disci- pline of those severe trials that befell the first planters of New England.** It was near the close of Van Twiller's administration, that the English colonists extended their settlements beyond the boundaries of Massachu- setts into the territory of Connecticut [1636] ; an intrusion which the Dutch governor resented no farther than by causing his commissary. Van Curlet, to intimate a harmless protest against it. He was succeeded in the following year by Will'am Kieit [1637], a man of enterprise and ability, but choleric and imperious in temper, unfortunate in conduct, and more fitted to encounter with spirit than to stem with prudence '.he sea of troubles that began on all sides to invade the possessions of the Dutch. These colo- nists now experienced a total change in the complexion of their fortune ; and their history for many subsequent years is little else than a chronicle of their struggles and contentions with the English, the Swedes, and the In- dians. Kieft's administration commenced [1638], as his predecessor's had concluded, with a protest against the advancing settlements of Connecticut and New Haven, accompanied by a prohibition of the trade which the Eng- lish conducted in the neighbourhood of the fort of Good Hope. His reputation for ability, and the sharpness of his remonstrance, excited at first some alarm among the English inhabitants of Connecticut, who had orig- inally made t?ieir advances into this territory in equal ignorance of the prox- imity and tlie pretensions of the Dutch ; but soon suspecting that their im- perious rival had no title to the country from which he pnoposed to ex- clude them, and encouraged by promises of assistance from the other New England Stales, they disregarded his remonstrance, and not only retained their settlements, but, two years after [1640], compelled the Dutch garri- son to evacuate the fort at Good Hope, and appropriated the adjacent plan- tation to themselves. This aggression, though passively endured, was loudly ■ Smith, ttvrital SocMiy. VftT. 51 See Note XVII., at the end of the volume. IIH 40^ HISTOHY Of NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK V. lamented by the Dutch,' who, notwithstanding the increase of their numbars, and the spirit of their govenior, displayed a helplessness in their conten- tions with the English, which, if partly occasioned by the enervating influ- ence of a long space of tranquillity, seems also to have been promoted by secret distrust of the validity of their claim to the territories they had most recently occupied. It is certain, at least, that the Dutch' were not always so forbearing ; and an encroachment which their title enabled them more conscientiously to resist, was soon after repelled by Kieft, with a prac- tical vigor and success very remote from the general strain of his conduct and fortune. Lord Stirling, who had obtained a grant of Long Island from the Plymouth Company, transferred a portion of it to certain of the inhab- itants of New England, who removed to their new acquisition in the year 1639, and, unmolested by the Dutch, whose settlements were confined to the opposite quarter, these New Englanders peaceably inhabited the eastern part of the island. Receiving a considerable accession to their numbers, they ventured to take possession of the western quarter ; but from this sta- tion they were promptly dislodged by Kieft, who drove them back to the other end of the island, where they built the town of Southampton [1642], and subsisted as a dependency of Connecticut, till they were united to the State of New York, on the fall of the Dutch dominion in North America.* Kieft, in the same year, equipped two sloops, which he despatched on an expedition against a body of English, who, advancing beyond ^he first settlements of their countrymen in Maryland, had penetrated mio Dela- ^vare,— a territory which was claimed by the Dutch, but had, neverthe- less, been included in the charter obtained by Lord Baltimore from Charles the First. As the number of these emigrants from Maryland was mconsid- erable, and they were quite unprepared to defend their possession against this unexpected attack, they were easily dislodged by the forces of Kieft. But there still remained in another quarter of Delaware a different race of settlers, who, without any legal claim to the soil which they occupied, possessed a force that proved of more avail to them than the formal title of the English. This was a colony of Swedes, of whose transplantation to North America very few particulars have been recorded. Their migratorj' enterprise was suggested in the year 1626, when Gustavus Adolphus, king ^f Sweden, having received a flattering description of the country adjacent to the Dutch settlement of New Netheriands, issued a proclamation exhort- ing his subjects to associate for the establishment of an American colony. In conformity with the royal counsel, a large sum of money was collected by voluntary contribution ; and a number of Swedes and Fins emigrated, in the year 1627, to America. They first landed at Cape Henlopen, at the entrance of Delaware Bay, and were so much charmed with its aspect that they gave it the name of Paradise Point. Some time after, they pur- « The Dutch preserved, for a series of years, a minute and formal record of the gf'cvances which they laid to the charge of the En(?ll«h colonisU. The insignificance of many of th«o romplainte^nd the homeliness of the subject matter of others contrast Bom.whut ud.crouj wiof the pompousness of the titles and the bitter gravity of the style. This «"«.''>«' ^^r""!; cle, forminK *»«« «"'««"» «"«* "^"V ""Signified annals of "New York, is preserved in Hmrds ^oS^xon. Smith. Chalmei.. Trumbull's C«m»«hV«/. The histories of these event, by Oldm"/or., Smith, and Chalmers, are exceedingly conf.sed, and .'"^'lieSn.^ she'd by IHieir chronology, in particular, is remarkably careless. Trumbull 8 always distinguished by d^^ccury XTta'Iements; not less distinguished bv his partiality. Ilere. for example h« relstsfl wiUi -reat fidelity nil the offences of the Dutch, but passes over in total silence every charge of^^thia people against tlie English. CHAP. I] SWEDISH SETTLEMENT IN DELAWARE. 403 chased from the native inhabitants all the land between that cape and the Falls of Delaware ; and maintaining little intercourse with the parent state from which i .ey were dissevered, but addicting themselves exclusively to jgricultural pursuits, they possessed their colonial acquisition without chal- lenge or interruption, till Kieft assumed the government of New Nether- lands. » [1642.] Several of the Swedish colonists were scalped and killed, and in some instances their children were stolen from them, by the Indians. Yet commonly the two races lived on friendly terms together, and no gen- eral war ever arose between them. The Indians sometimes attended the religious assemblies of the Swedes ; but with so litde edification, that they expressed their amazement at the ill-breeding of the orator who could exer- cise tlie auditory patience of his tribe with such lengthened harangues with- out repaying their civility by a distribution of brandy. One of the earliest of Kieft's political measures was the intimation of a formal protest against the intrusion of the Swedes, to whom he earnestly recommended the pro- priety of their instant departure from a territory which he assured them that Ills countrymen had purchased with their blood. But as the Dutch dis- covered no inclination to purchase it over again at the same expense, the Swedes, unawed by this governor's power, paid no regard to his remon- strances. A war, as it has been called, subsisted between the two com- munities for several years ; but, though attended with a cordial reciproca- tion of rancor and much flourish of verbal valor, it was unproductive of bloodshed. Longing to destroy, but afraid to attack each other, they cherished their quarrel with an inveterate malice which might have been dissipated by a prompt appeal to the decision of more manly hostilities. It seemed to be the object of both parties rather to forewarn their enemy of danger by menace, than to overcome him by active force. At the treaty of Stockholm, in 1640, Sweden and Holland forbore to make any allusion to colonial disputes or American territory ; ^ and the two colonies being left to adjust their pretensions between themselves, their animosities subsided hito an unfriendly peace.' Even this faint color of good neighbourhood did not subsist for many years. Meanwhile, numberless causes of dispute were continually arising be- tween New Netherlands and the colonies of Connecticut and New Haven ; and tlie English, who had formerly been the objects of complaint, now be- came the complainers. They charged the Dutch with disturbing, kidnap- ping, and plundering the English traders ; with enticing servants to rob and desert their masters ; and with selling arms and ammunition to the Indians. The unfriendly relations that subsisted between the Dutch themselves and ' The Swedish govorniucni appears to have made some attempt to obtain a recognition of 119 riiht to the territory. An application to this efi'ect was addressed by Oxenstiern, the Swedish ambassador, to the court of England ; but though the Swedes alleged that the appli- cation was sticcessfiii, and the legitimacy of their occupation admitted, no proof of this aver- ment was ever produced. Not less imnrobable was a pretence they seem to have urged, of havinepurchased the claim of the Dutch. Samuel Smith's History o/ JVeio Jersey. This is a work of extreme rarity, and has been confounded by some writers with Smith's History of wVeie York. It contains much curious matter ; but, as a composition, is tasteless, confused, and uninteresting. ' Smith. Holmes. Professor K^lm's Travelt in J^orth America. Douglass. Chalmers. Chalmers unfortunately seems to relax his usual attention to accuracy, when he considers his topics insignificant ; and from this defect, as well as the peculiariti^is of his style, it is some- times difficult to discover his meaning, or reconcile his apparent inconsistency in different pas- sages. Douglass's Summary, which is replete with prejudice and partiality when it treats of the New England States, is verjr frequently inaccurate when it travels beyond them. ' Trumbuii roprosonts the t»utch and Swediiiii governortt, in iwa, as " uniting in a crafty design " to exclude an inhabitant of New Haven from trading at Delaware. 404 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK V, Uie Indians would render this last charge against them extremely improbable, if it wore not notorious that their countrymen in Europe have, on various occasions, manufactured and sold to their enemies the cannon-balls which ihey perfectly well know were to be fired back into tlieir own towns. To all those complaints the English could obtain no other answer from Kieft but haughty reproaches and angry recriminations ; and it wns partly from apprehension ol his designs, though chiefly, no doubt, for uieir own seou- rity against Indian hostility, that the New England colonies were induced to form tlie scheme of the federal union, which they carried into efl'eci in the year 1643.' That the complaints of the English against Kieft were by no means unfounded may be inferred from the lact, that the succeeding governor of New Netherlands, though warmly attached to the cause of his countrymen, declined to make any answer to those charges, and desired tliat he might not be held responsible for them. And yet, notwithstanding their mutual disagreements, the Dutch and English colonists never suffered themselves to neglect entirely either the forms of courtesy, or the more sub- stantial offices of humanity. Kieft, perhaps with more politeness than sin- cerity, congratulated the United Colonies on the league they had formed ; and whep, in the course of the same year [1643], he applied to New Haven for assistance against the Indians, with whom he was engaged in a bloody and dangerous war, the government of that cplony, though pre- cluded by the federal union, as well as by doubts of the justice \ of the Dutch cause, from embarking separatelj^ in hostilities, tendered the amplest contribution they could afford of provisions for men and catUe to supply the scarcity created by the Indian devastations. So unwarlike were the Dutch colonists in general, that they found it necessary to hire the services of Captam Underbill, who had been banished from Boston as one of the as- sociates of Mrs. Hutchinson," and who, at the head of a mixed troop of English and Dutch followers, opposed tlie Indians with a skill and bravery that proved fatal to great numbers of them, both in Long Island and on the main land, and was regarded as the deliverer of New Netherlands from en- tire destruction. Notwithstanding the need he had thus experienced of English assistance, and the benefit he derived from it, Kieft persisted, iluring the rest of his life, in exchanging with the colonies of Connecticut and New Haven, not only the sharpest remonstrances and vituperations, but menaces of vengeance and war, which, happily for hirnself, he had as little ability as they had inclination to execute. He continued all this lime to be involved in hostilities with the Indians, between whom and the Dutch there was fought [1646], towards the conclusion of his administra.- tion, a great and general battle on Strickland's Plain, where, after an obstinate conflict, and great slaughter on both sides, the Dutch with much difficulty kept the field, while the Indians withdrew unpursued.' Kieft was succeeded, in the following year [1647], by the last of the Dutch governors of New Netherlands. This Avas Peter Stuyvesant, a brave old officer, and one of those magnanimous spirits by which the le- ' See Book II., Chap. III., ante. " See Book II., Chap. II., ante. » Trumbull. Belknap. Ycl the greater number of the writers of American history (copy- ing each other'a statements without examination) have asserted that the Dutch were never once involved in a quarrel with the Indians. One old writer, indeed, whose work is very M-arco, hai Mated that the Dutch were continually hnrBssrd and cndan^rcd by the Indians. Uritf Dueriptum ofJftw York, formerly called AVw Ntlherlands, by Daniel Denton. In Sum- !i.-^l Smith's Hii^.'try of J^$u? Jtnsy, rsfercnec is made to some bloody contoR!" between ihe Dutch iwd iBtdiBDi. ' ~ ave, on various CHAP. I.] MUTUAL JEALOUSIES OF THE DUTCH AND ENGLISH. 4^5 publican service of Holland was in that age remarkably adorned. By his justice, prudence, and vigor, he succeeded in restoring peace xvith the In- dians, and preserving it uninterrupted during the whole of his administra- tion. His arrival was honored by an address of congratulation from the commissioners o the United Colonies of New England, accompanied with r 'ZZl '^n' ''r^r ''°" °^ '^' •"i""^^ ^hey had sustained from Ins predecessor One of the most serious of these injuries was the fre- quent seizure and confiscation of English trading-vessels on the pietence of miiaction ot the custom-house regulations of New Netherlands, which the Dutch, with insolent injustice, refused to promulgate, and yet rigidly en- forced, fetuyvesant, though he declined to justify some of the acts of his predecessor returned, as might have been expected, a counter claim of redress for iJie wrongs of New Netherlands, and in particular demanded a restoration of the territories of Connecticut and New Haven. This was a hopeless demand ; and Stuyvesant, soon perceiving that the state of his mle and of his force would barely suffice to prevent farther invasion of the Dutch pretensions, was too prudent to insist on it. After various negotia- 'nf' 'tS T r Vn^/^ .''oncluded [1650] between the commissioners the United English Colonics and the governor of New Netherlands, by w iich the settlements of the respective nations in Long Island were mutu- ally secured to them, and a boundary ascertained between the Dutch < 3] ; nor could all the instances of her confederates prevail with this State to join witli them in a war against the Dutch.' Judging their own forces alone in- adequate to such an enterprise, the otlier colonies applied for assistance to Oliver Cromwell [1654], who was then engaged m the two years' war with Holland which the Long Parliament had begun, and who promptly complied with their request by despatching a squadron to undertake, in conjunction with the colonial troops, an invasion of New Netherlands. But the expedition was intercepted by intelligence of the peace negotiated be- tween the Protector and the States General ; and his squadron having forti- fied the spirits of the English colonists by demonstrating to them and their adversary the readiness and determination of a powerful government to assist them, proceeded still farther to augment their security by he conquest of the French province of Acadia.** It is remarkable that the treaty of peace, which was executed at this time between England and Holland, con- tained no express allusion to the claims or possessions of either in North America ; but as it was stipulated that war should cease and peace and friendship prevail between all the dominions and possessions of the two commonwealths in all parts of the world, and as the English expedition against New Netherlands was thereupon countermanded, the validity of the Dutch claim to this territory was manifesdy implied and practically ac- knowledged. , oi 11- It was in the Delaware territory that Stuyvesant exerted Ins most vigor- ous and successful efforts to defend the claims of his countrymen against the encroachments of the New England colonists and the Swedes. As tlie war between the Dutch and the Swedes during Kieft's administration had in some respects resembled a peace, so the peace that ensued bon; no little resemblance to a war. To check the encroachments which the Swedish settlers were continually attempting, Stuyvesant erected a fort at a place then called New Amstel, and afterwards Newcastle. This proceed- ine gave umbrage to the Swedes, who expressed their displeasure m a pro- test, which, with Uie usual fate of such instrumental ity m these provincial « ^nte. Book II., Chap. III. • Oldmixon. Chalmers. Trumbull.^ Smith ^ ^ ^ U'Kik i>iucc, both on ihis occ.-ision aiitl afierwarM=, Uf=twccn th English coloniea, is preserved in Hazard's Collections. The whole voluminous correspondenpc that ffovemors of the Huttli and CHAP. I] CONQUEST OF THE SWEDES IN DELAWARE. 407 , even after tlio le procurement ts of Connecti- and fear, gavu litual fraud ami le character of nswered by re- Dutch in Am. ns to tlie valuo r of Aniboyna 1st the English )3urdity of tlieir ley were trans- boy na shows as 1 prejudice and iiusetts the evi- )8] ; nor could te to join with forces alone in- for assistance to two years' war 1 who promptly to undertake, in etherlands. But :e negotiated he- ron liavin[^ forti- o them and their ernment to assist he conquest of It the treaty of lid Holland, con- f either in North e and peace and ions of the two nglish expedition we vahdity of the d practically ac- A his most vigor- rymen against the )wedes. As the dminisl ration had ensued bore no ments which the jrected a fort at a . This proceed- pleasure in a pro- n these provincial 8 correspondeiK^c that tors of uie Dutch and controversies, was totally disregarded. About a year afterwards [1G54], Uisiiigh, the Swedish governor, repaired with un armed vessel to the Dutch fort, and, obtaining admission into it by a stratagem somewhat discreditable to his own honor, as well as to the vigilance of its defenders,' easily over- powered the garrison, and expelled them with violence, but without blood- shed, not only from their strong-hold, but from the confines of Delaware. During the short time that the fortress remained in his possession, it re- ceived tlie name of Christina, in compliment to the queen of Sweden. Stuyvesant was not of a disposition to submit tamely to such an outrage, or to content himself with a simple recapture of the fort. He determined to invade and subdue the whole Swedish colony. Destitute of a force sufficient for this enterprise, and fully occupied at the time with a contro- versy more dangerous to his government, as well as more interesting to his honor, he was constrained to apply for reinforcement to the West India Company. This corporation, however, was then laboring under great em- barrassments ; in so much that it was only by a friendly contribution of the city of Amsterdam, that its administrators were enabled to supply Siuyve- santwith a small body of troops. Thus reinforced, he marched into Dela- ware [1655], where the Swedes had employed their leisure in erecting another fort, as if they intended to defend their pretensions to the last extremity. But tlieir resolution in facing danger was not equal to their au- dacity in provoking it ; and no sooner did they perceive tliat these military demonstrations failed to answer their true object of deterring ihe enemy from approaching, and that they were now attacked in earnest by a warrior whose hostilities were not confined to stratagems and protests, than they peaceably surrendered the forts, together with the whole of -their settle- ments, to the forces of Stuyvesant. The conquest of Delaware was thus accomplished without bloodshed ; — a circumstance the more extraordinary, as it certainly did not arise from ab- sence of the passions from which this fatal extremity might be expected to ensue; for many of the Swedes regarded the Dutch with such sincerity of detestation, tlrnt they determined to return to Europe, and to abandon a country which they had styled a paradise, rather than to submit to a union with the colony of New Netherlands. To this humiliation, however, the rest were reduced, and the settlement for some years continued to be ruled in peace by a lieutenant-governor appointed by Stuyvesant." Thus, unas- sisted by the parent state, fell the only colony that Sweden ever founded. The historian would have little pretension to humanity, who would deride a bloodless adjustment of national disputes. But in timorous hostilities, a new feature ol opprobrium is added to the deplorable aspect of w-ar. When we recollect that these Swedes either had been the subjects of the heroic Gustavus Adolphus, or were the immediate descendants of his subjects, and when we see them provoke a war by fraud and outrage, and then decline the conflict by tamely submitting to the object of their insult and hatred, it must be acknowledged that they have enlarged the catalogue of those nations ' " Risingh, under the disguise of friendship, came before the works, fired two salutes and landed thirty men, who wore entertained by the commandant as friends ; but he had no sooner discovered tho weakness of the garrison, than he mad«» himself master of it, seizing also upon all the ammunition, houses, and other eft'ects of the West Indian Company, and compel- ling several of the people to swear allegiance to Christina, queen of Sweden." Smith. ' Chalmers. Smith. A visit to Delaware and New Jersey, about a hundred years after, drew from a learned Swede a sigh of patriotic regret for the indiflerenco of his countrymen •0 the preservation oi " the uncst and beat pfovuitx ia all North AiuencE." jsxoijn s ^tUccis, 408 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK V. whose spirit has degenerated in their colonial settlements. The Dutch themselves have been generally obnoxious to this reproach ; and their con- duct in New Netherlands will never be cited as an exception to its ap- plication All their colonies were the offspring of mere thirst for commer- cial gain ; no liberal institutions arose there to nourish generous sentiment or exercise manly virtue ; and the exclusive pursuit of the same objects which eneaeed them to extend their dominions engendered habits and tastes corruptive of the energy that was requisite to their defence and preservation. The valor of Stuyvesant ' rebuked, without animating, the sluggish spirit of his fellow-colonists, whom his example could never teach either to repel iniustice with spirit or to endure it with dignity. Yet Holland was now m the meridian of her fame ; and this was the age of Tromp and Ue Ruyter. The attention which had been awakened in the niother country to the state of the colony of New Netherlands was sustained by the pros- perous result of her recent interposition, and farther manifested itself in the following year [1656], by an ordinance which was enacted by the West India Company and the burgomasters of Amsterdam, and approved by the States General of Holland . It was decreed by this ordinance, that the col- onists of New Netherlands should be ruled in future by a governor nominat- ed by the municipal authorities of Amsterdam, and by burgomasters and a town council elected by the provincial people; the council thereafter enjoying the power of filling up all vacancies m its own body. llys con- stitution differed very little from the actual frame of government already established in New Netherlands ; and the attention of the mother country beginning soon to relax, with the decline of the colony's prosperity no farther attempt was made to accomplish the projected alteration, fhe West India Company transmitted about this time to Stuyvesant a ratifica- tion, which they had procured from the States General, of his treaty, m 1650, with the commissioners of the United English Colonies ; and the Dutch governor gave notice of this circumstance to the commissioners, m a letter replete with Christian benevolence and piety, and proposing to them that a friendly league and sincere good-will might thenceforward unite the colonies of England and Holland. But the English were averse to be- lieve the sincerity of a man whom they had recently accused of pbttmg their destruction with the Indians •, and, beginning to regard the Dutch occupation as altogether lawless and intrusive, they were determined not to sanction it by any new recognition. The commissioners answered the governor's communication with austere civility ; recommending the continu- ance of peace, but declining either to ratify the former treaty or to execute a new one.-« They had for some time past indulged the hope that the Eng- lish government would unite with them in regarding the Dutch settlers m America as mere intruders, wl-o could derive no claim of forbearance nom the peace with Holland, and whom it would be no less just than expedient to expel or subdue. [1659.] Their friends_injaigland_^ucceed^^^ ■ I This Mllant veteran did not full to attract a portion of that idle rumor and ubsurrl cxn|;ger- K order to dc A them more cruelly by the .«nd« of the »"i"« J7;;"'ji ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ he cover th_c deficiency of bin countrymen's nnlitary ardor. 1 ho fal)lo ol the silver itg reiuleu ity liiomo. » CotUctiotu o/tkt ^'eu) York Historical Society. * Trumbull. CHAP. I] FEEBLE POLICY OF THE DUTCH COMPANY. 409 pressing these views upon Richard Cromwell, who, during his short enjoy- ment ol" the protectorate, addressed instructions to his commanders for an invasion of New Netherlands, and wrote letters to the provincial assemblies in America, desiring the cooperation of their forces in the enterprise.^ But his speedy deposition spared him the actual guilt of attacking an un- oft'ending people, whom his father had plainly regarded as comprehended in his treaty of peace with Holland. Smyvesant had already made attempts to improve his conquest of the Swedes by extending the Dutch settlements in Delaware [1660] ; and equitable as well as brave, he caused the lands which he appropriated to be fairly purchased from the Indians. But his success in this quarter was now drawing to a close. Feudal, the governor of Maryland, claimed the territory occupied by the Dutch and Swedes, as included within Lord Bahimore's patent ; and finding that Stuyvesant was determined to retain possession of the land and defend the supposed title of his country , he pro- cured a remonstrance to be transmitted in the name of Lord Baltimore to the States General and the West India Company of Holland, who, with an inversion of their usual policy, publicly denied the pretensions of the English, but at the same time transmitted private orders to Stuyvesant to avoid hostilities, if they should seem likely to ensue, by retiring beyond Lord Baltimore's alleged frontier. This injunction was obeyed, though not to the extent of an entire evacuation of Delaware, when Charles Cal- vert a few years after assumed the government of Maryland.^ Stuyvesant deplored the feeble policy of those whose mandates it was his duty to obey; and sensible of the total discredit to which the Dutch title would be exposed by thus practically avowing that its efficacy depended on the forbearance of the English, he earnestly solicited that a formiil copy of the grant by the States General to the West India Company might be transmitted to New Netherlands, for the purpose of enabling him to assert, with proper form and dignity, the interests he was intrusted to defend. But his solicitations proved ineffectual. The States General were now more anxious than ever to avoid a rupture with England ; and the West India Company, either espousing their policy, or controlled by their orders, refused to exhibit a title which they feared that Stuyvesant might so employ as inevitably to provoke that extremity. Perhaps they expected that his prudence would be enforced by the consciousness of a defective title ; and such was at least the ef/ect that their policy actually produced. Stuyvesant, willing by any honorable means to propitiate *he English, and hoping to obtain a recognition of the title which he was unable to produce, sent an embassy to Sir William Berkeley, the governor of Virginia, to propose a treaty of mutual trade between this colony and New Netherlands, and an aUiance against the Indian enemies of both. Berkeley received the ambassadors with much courtesy, and despatched Sir Henry Moody to New Netherlands, with the articles of a commercial treaty ; but he cautiously forbore every expression that might seem either to acknowledge, or even imply, assent to the territorial pretensions of the Dutch.'' Tlie revolutionary rulers whose dominion in England was terminated by the Restoration had been regarded with continual uneasiness and apprehen- sion by the inhabitants of New Netherlands. The Long Parliament liad in Europe ; Cromwell had once been on tho attacked their countrymen ' Tliurloe's Collection. VOL. I. 52 Sco antey Book III > Chalmora. II Smith. 410 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK V. point of subduing tljeir own colonial settlement in America ; and only the deposition of his successor again snatched them from a repetition of the same danger. Of the government of Charles the Second they were dis- posed to entertain more favorable hopes, which might, perhaps, derive some support from the well known fact, that their especial rivals, the inhab- itants of New England, were as much dishked by the king as tliey had been favorably regarded by the Protector. Accordingly, when the pursuers of Goffe and Whalley, baffled in their attempts to discover the retreat of these fugitive regicides in New England, besought Stuyvesant to deny them his protection in New Netherlands [1661], he readily seized the opportu- nity of ingratiating himself and his people with the English court, by un- dertaking to give instant notice of the arrival of any of the regicides within his jurisdiction, and to prohibit all vessels from transporting them beyond the reach of their pursuers.' But this policy, which, it must be acknowl- edged, was no honorable feature of his administration, proved quite una- vaiUng ; and every hope tliat the Dutch might have entertained, of an ame- lioration of their prospects, was speedily dissipated by intelligence of the designs entertained by the king of England. Charles, though he had re- ceived, during his exile, more friendship and civility from the Dutch than from any other foreign power, ever regarded tliis people with enmity and aversion ; and he was the more disposed, at present, to enibrace any measure that might humble the ruling jparty in Holland, by the interest, he felt in a weaker faction, at the head of which was his nephew, llie young Prince of Orange, whom ho desired to see reinstated in the office of Stadt- holder, which his ancestors had possessed; — an office which the ruling party had pledged themselves to Cromwell never again to bestow on the Orange family. These sentiments were promoted by the interest and uro-ency of the Duke of York [1663], who had placed himself at tlie head of a new African Company,*^ of which the expected commerce was cir- lumscribed by the more successful traffic of the Dutch. In imitation of the other courtiers, the duke, moreover, had cast his eyes on the American territory, which his brother was now distributing with a liberal hand ; and, accordingly, in addition to the other means which he employed to produce a quarrel with the Dutch, he solicited a grant of their North American plantations, on the specious pretence that they were usurped from the terri- tory properly belonging to Britain.^ The influence of these motives on the mind of the king was doubtless aided by the desire to strike a blow that would lend weight to the arbitrary commission which he was preparing to despatch to New England, and teach the Puritan colonists there that it was in the power of their sovereign to punish and subdue his enemies in America. The rumor of the king's intentions reached America before it was gen- erally prevalent in Europe, owing to the vi gilance and activity of the nu- ' Trumbull. It was iipturiuiiH, at the time, that (ioii'e and Whalley were shcltored within the territory of New Haven, where the local authorities and the inhiibitanU, no fur from us- Histiiiff, hod, with vory little diBguise, obstructed and defeated the atteniptB to apprehend tii«ni. Thi» conduct of a people peculiarly diatinguished by their enmity to the Dutch had probably home weight in inducing Stuyvesant to pledge himself lo a lino of conduct which would have compromised the honor and independence of his country. * ThiB company was formed with a view of extending and engrossmg the slave trade. Under the patronage of the Duke of York, it treated every commercial rival with a violence and injustice worthy of the purpose of iu institution. In return for the BpeoiiU favor it re- ceived from the Knglish government, it lent it« aid lo harass the colonies by promoting a rim.d ovepntinn nC ijin Aria I'.F Navigation. Oldniixon. '^» Sir John DaJrymple's Memoin. Hume's EngUind. Chalmer* CHAP. I] HOSTILE DESIGNS OF CHARLES II. 411 merous friends of the English colonists, who collected and conveyed intel- ligence of the designs of the court. When the conjunction of the royal commission of inquiry with the expedition against New Netherlands was communicated to the inhabitants of New England, the first article of intelli- Tence appeared to them much more unwelcome than the other was satisfac- tory. In Massachusetts, particularly, the language and measures of the General Court plainly indicated a strong apprehension that the military, no less than the civil, department of the expedition was intended agamst the liberties of the English colonists.* Stuyvesant, whose anxious eye ex- plored the darkening horizon of his country's fortune, descried these symp- toms of dissatisfaction in the New England settlements, and in the dimness of anguish and perplexity conceived from them the desperate and chimerical project of gaining the alliance, or at least securing the neutrality, of his an- cient enemies. With this view he undertook a voyage to Massachusetts, where he was entertained by the governor and magistrates with much state and solemnity .'■* Former rivalship was forgotten in the season of common danger, or remembered only to enhance the respect with which Endicott and Stuyvesant recognized, each in the other, an aged, brave, and honorable champion of his country's cause. Perhaps some traces of the eflfect of this conference may be discerned in the slowness with which Massachusetts obeyed the requisition of the royal commanders to raise a body of men in aid of the invasion of New Netherlands. But it was impossible that Stuy- vesant's negotiation could succeed, or his proposals, even to the extent of neutrality, be admitted. Notwithstanding this disappointment, he repaired subsequently to Connecticut, where he was engaged in vainly attempting to bring a similar negotiation to a more successful issue, when the tidings of the approach of the British fleet recalled him to the immediate defence of his province.^ The British monarch, who was unable to assign a just cause of war with Holland, after trying in vain to provoke the resentment of the States General by insulting memorials and groundless complaints,^ determined to embrace the pretext that had been suggested to him of his right to the province of New Netherlands ; expecting, with good reason, that the assertion of this pretended right would supply the cause of quarrel which he was industriously seeking. In pursuance of this policy, a charter from the British crown was issued in favor of the Duke of York [March, 1664], containing a grant of the whole region extending from the western banks of the Connecticut to the eastern shore of the Delaware, together with the adjacency of Long Island ; and conferring upon the duke all the powers of government, civil and military, within these ample boundaries. This grant disregarded alike the existing possession of the Dutch, and tlie recent charter of Connecti- cut, which, whether from ignorance, or from carelessness in the definition of boundaries, it tacitly but entirely superseded. No sooner did the Duke of York obtain the object of his solicitation, than, without waiting to gain actual possession of the soil, he ventured to exeri:'ie his proprietary powers in their fullest extent, by assigning to Lord Berkeley and Sir George Car- teret all that portion of the territory which afterwards received the name of New Jersey. But, as it was manifest that the title of the duke himself, equally with that of his assignees, would require to be supported by a mili- tary force, an armament was prepared for this purpose , with so m e attention '^YcVantc, Book II., ChapTlV^ » Joeselyn, a'Trumbull. « Hume. 412 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK V. to secrecy, — a precaution, which, if it proved ineffectual, was likewise unnecessary ; as the States of Holland reckoned it impossible that the Brit- ish king would attack their possessions without the formality of a previous declaration of war, and were unwilling to provoke his injustice by seeming to expect it. So little, indeed, was the hostile expedition against New Netherlands credited in Europe, that, but a few months before it sailed, a vessel arrived at the colony from Holland, bringing an addition to its pop- ulation and a large supply of implements of husbandry. Stuyvesant ear- nestly pressed upon the West India Company the alarming intelligence which he had received ; but the only defensive step to which they were moved by his urgency was, to send him now, when it was too late, the original grant from the States General, which, at the period when it might have availed him, he had solicited in vain. The command of the English troops that were embarked for this expedi- tion, and the government of the province against which it was directed, were intrusted to Colonel Nichols, who had studied the art of war under Marshal Turenne, and who, with Carr, Cartwright, and Maverick, also held a commission to visit the colonies of New England, and investigate and de- termine, according to their discretion, all disputes and controversies within the various provincial jurisdictions. After touching at Boston, where an armed force was ordered to be raised and sent to join the royal army, the fleet advanced to Hudson's River, aiid took its station before the capital of New Netherlands. The requisition of a subsidiary force from Botton was so tardily obeyed, that the enterprise was concluded before the Massa- chusetts troops were ready to march ; but [August, 1664], on the commu- nication of a similar mandate to Connecticut, Governor Winthrop, vyilh sev- eral of the principal inhabitants of this province, repaired immediately to the English armament, and joined the standard of their king.* The veteran governor of New Netherlands, and the pupil of Turenne, were, according to military notions, enemies worthy of each other ; though doubtless not even military morality can regard Nichols as worthily employed in executing the lawless rapacity and insolent ambition of a tyrant on a peaceful, industrious, and blameless community. But the two commanders were very unequally supported. Stuyvesant had vigorously exerted himself to put the city in the best posture of defence ; but he found it impracticable to awaken martial spirit in the unwarlike bosoms of its people. It must, in- deed, be confessed, in favor of these unfortunate Dutchmen, that the superi- or artillery and disciplined forces of the enemy forbade every hope of suc- cessful resistance. Their inhabitance of the country had been too short to attach them to it by patriotic sentiments ; and their sluggish dispositions and ignoble habits rendered them totally unsusceptible of the impressions which their governor derived from the prospect of a contest, where the harvest of glory seemed to him to be proportioned to the hopelessness of victory. They felt themselves unjustly attacked ; and their resentment of this injury was so strong, that many of them wm-c determined not to become the sub- jects of a tyrannical usurper : but it was not strong enough to overcome the rational conviction, that safety and independence were the only woi thy objects of battle, and that, where independence could not be gained by fighting, safety should not be risked by it. To add unnecessary combat to unavoidable subjugation appeared to them a driftless and fool-hardy waste ' 5 Smith. Chaimore. Truiisbtill. CHAP. I] NOBLE SPIRIT OF 8TUYVESANT. 413 of life : and if they must surrender the image they had created of their native Holland in the wilderness, they would rather resign it entire to the pollution of hostile occupation than defaced and mutilated by the cannon of the en- emy. They were willing to become exiles with their wives and children, or laborers for them ; to encounter, in short, every evil that hope could allevi- ate or virtue subdue. But to expose their kindred, their city, and them- selves to the certainty of capture by storm, and the extremity of military fury, seemed to them an inversion of all the dictates of prudence and virtue. Widely different were the sentiments, the views, and even the deter- minations of Stuyvesant ; and for several days his undaunted spirit upheld the honor and prolonged the dominion of his country, notwithstanding the desertion of her unwarlike children, and the impending violence of a stronger foe. On the arrival of the English armament, he sent a deputation to its commander, consisting of one of the ministers of New Amsterdam, one of the city counsellors, and two other inhabitants, with a courteous letter, desiring to know the reason and purpose of this hostile demonstration. Nich- ols answered, with equal politeness, that he was commanded by his royal master to take possession of the British territory which had been usurped by the Dutch, whom, though nearly allied to him, the king could not, con- sistently with his honor, allow to invade and occupy the dominions of his crown : that he must therefore now demand the instant surrender of the place ; that the king, being tender of the effusion of Christian blood, had authorized him to offer security of life, liberty, and estate to all who would readily submit to this requisition ; but that such as should oppose his Majesty's gracious intentions must prepare to abide the severest extremities of war. Governor Winthrop, who was connected by acquaintance and mu- tual esteem with Stuyvesant and the principal citizens of the Dutch colony, seconded the communication of Nichols by a letter, in which he strongly urged the prudence of doing soon what must unavoidably be done at last. Stuyvesant, on receiving the summons of the English commander, was sensible of no other consideration than the insolent injustice with which his country was treated ; and still earnestly hoping that her honor would be pre- served unblemished, even though her dominion should be overthrown, he invited the burgomasters and council of the city to attend him, and vainly labored to instil a portion of his own spirit into the phlegmatic members of this municipal body. They coolly desired to see the letters he had received from the enemy ; but, as he judged, with good reason, that the easy terms of surrender that were proffered would not contribute to animate their ardor or further his own martial designs, he declined to gratify them in this partic- ular ; and simply assured them that the English had declared their purpose of depriving Holland of her dominion, and themselves of their independence. Suspectine; the truth, they became more importunate in their first request ; whereupon the governor, in a transport of indignation, tore the letters in pieces, and scattered them on the ground ; while the burghers, in amazement and dismay, protested against his conduct, and all the consequences that might attend it. But Stuyvesant 's courage needed not the aid of sympathetic bravery; and inore incensed to see his country's honor disregarded than appalled to find himself its only defender, he determined to try the effect of an appeal to the justice and generosity of a gallant enemy ; and to express in his reply to the summons of tlie tingiisn coiriniandcf , not what he painfully saw, bui what II* M HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK V. he maenanimously wished, to be the sentiments of his fel ow-citizens. He exhSedo a deputation sent to him by Nichols the ongmal grant of the Staes General and his own commission from the West India Company ; and in a firm and manly letter maintained that a province thus formally m- corporated with the Dutch dominion could not, consistently with the law of nations, be attacked whUe peace subsisted between England and the repub- He He represented the long possession of the territory which his country. men had enjoyed, and the ratification which the Dutch clami received from Ss treaty with the English provincial authorities in the year 1650 ; and he protested that it was impossible that the king of England could have de- Latched this hostile armament, in the knowledge of these facts, or wou d hesitate to countermand it, if they were submitted to his consideration, lo spare the effusion of blood, he proposed a treaty for a provisional arrange^ i^ent, suspended on the issue of a reference to the two parent states ; and to the denunciauons of military havoc, in the event of a refusal to surrender, he returned this calm and undaunted reply :-" As touching the threats in your conclusion, we have nothing to answer, only that we f^jr nothing, but what God (who is as just as merciful) shall lay upon us ; a 1 things be- ing in his gracious disposal : and we may as well be preserved by him with smaU forces as by a groat army ; which makes us to wish you aU happ- ness and prosperity, and recommend you to his protection. But this simulation of force and confidence was unava.hng ; and Stuyvesant^ found it far more easy to refute the pretensions than to resist the arms of his op- ponent. Even after the English had begun to invest the place, and occupied a position which announced immediate attack and inevitable capture, he still clunrr to the hope that his fellow-citizens would not surrender the rights of their^country till they had defended them with valor and shed the blood of the invaders. But Nichols, who was informed how little the Dutch troops and colonists partook the martial ardor of their governor, caused a procla- raation,! repeating his original offers, to be circulated through the country and introduced into the town ; a measure which so completely disarmed the spirit of the besieged, and extinguished the authority of Stuyvesant, that this brave and somewhat headstrong old man, after one more fruitless attempt to obtain a provisional treaty, was at length obliged to capitulate for surrender, in order to prevent the people from giving up the place without the formality of capitulation. [August 27, 1664.] . . , , , t* » u By the treaty which ensued, it was provided that the Dutch garrison should march out with all the accustomed honors of war, and that the States General and West India Company should preserve their ammunition and public stores, and be allowed the space of six months for transporting thern to Holland ; that the inhabitants should have liberty either to sell their estates, and return to Holland, or to retain them and reside in the settlement; that all who chose to remain should enjoy their ancient customs with respect to inheritance of property, liberty of conscience in «^*^ «f ^^^'^^J. ."^f;"' and perpetual exemption from military service. AH l^"tchmen, either con- tinuing in the province, or afterwards resorting to it, were to bo allowed a feo trade with Holland ; a privilege, which, as it wa^quite_mcons^en^^ .'/..- .V ii_.:.i. rr„ .»,„ «..,„j;-l, .Pttloni in Dolawarc it was fi«p(!Cial!y reprcscntoa uiui u iould b«';ntono;ablechange for thorn to return from « republican to a ^onarciueai govrm- ment. 8. Smith'i Aeu> Jersey. CHAP. I.] CAPITULATION 01' NEW AMSTERDAM. 4U Navigation Act, neither Nichols nor even the king could legally confer, and which accordingly was withdrawn very soon after. As a concession to the inflexible obstinacy of the old governor, it was most superfluously provided, that, if at any time thereafter the king of England and the States General shftuld unite in desiring that the province be redelivered to its former owners,^ their commands should be promptly obeyed. These, and various other articles, of additional advantage to the Dutch, forming perhaps the most favorable terms that a capitulating city ever obtained, were satisfactory to every one except the fearless, stubborn veteran to whose solitary valor and pertinacity they were in no small degree a tribute ; and it was not till two days after they had been signed by the commissioners on both sides, that Stuyvesant, still erect amidst his forlorn circumstances, could be persuaded to ratify them. Yet the Dutch West India Company, whose blunders and imbecility promoted the fall of a dominion which they were unworthy to ad- minister, had the mean ingratitude to express dissatisfaction with the conduct of this magnanimous man. The conquest of the capital, which now re- ceived the name of New York (a name also extended to the whole pro- vincial territory), was followed by the surrender of Albany, and the general submission of the province, with its subordinate settlement of Dutch and Swedes in Delaware. The government of Britain was acknowledged over the whole region in the beginning of October, 1664.'* Thus, by an act of the most flagrant injustice and insolent usurpation, was overthrown the Dutch dominion in North America, after it had subsisted for more than half a century, and had absorbed the feebler colonial settle- ments of Sweden. It is impossible for a moment to suppose that the king of England was prompted to undertake this enterprise by an honest convic- tion of his right to the territory ; and that he was actuated by no concern for the interest of his other colonies was proved (if such proof were wanting) by his subsequent conduct with regard to Acadia. This region, to which the English had as fair a claim as to New York,' was conquered from its French occupiers by the fair and legitimate hostilities of Cromwell ; and yet the earnest entreaties of the New England colonies could not prevent the king from restoring it to France, a neighbour much more dangerous than Holland to his subjects. But Acadia was not, like New Netherlands, a set- tlement of Protestant republicans, but of the subjects of a brother despot, to whom Charles became a pensioner, and to whom he scrupled not to sell as much of the honor of England as was capable of being bartered by his hands. His object, in so far as it embraced the English colonies, was rather to intimidate them than to promote their advantage. Yet eventually it was tliey who derived the chief benefit from the acquisition of New York ; and this, as well as every other conquest of American territory achieved by Great Britain, only tended to undo the bands by which she retained her ' According to Hume, it would appear that this improbable condition did actually occur ; for he states, that, on the complaint of Holland, the Kin^ disavowed the expedition, and im- prisoned the admiral. But he iiaa confounded the invasion of New York with the expedition against Goree, which took place two years before, and which Charles, after despatching, affected to disavow. ' Oidmixon. Smith. Chalmers. Trumbull. Hutchinson. ' It was included in the claim derived from Cabot's voyage, and had been made the subje* t of various grants by James the First and Charles the First, to the Plymouth Council in the first instance, and afterwards to Lord Stirling. This nobleman was the king's secretary ot stat« in Scotland ; and seeing the English courtiers obtaining grants of American territory, he ap plied for a share of this advantage ; and Acadia, under the name of Nova Scotia, was granted to him (very irregularly) by a patsnt under the groat sea! of Scothnd. 416 HISTORY or NORTH AMERICA. rBOOK V. cofonies in a state of dependence. As they ceased to receive molestation or alarm from the neighbourhood of rival settlements, their strength and their jealousy converged against the power and pretensions ot the parent ^Tolonel Nichols, who was appointed the first British governor of New York — Derhaps with the humane view of persuadmg his master to refrain from 'burdening or irritating the people by fiscal impositions, - studiously depreciated the actual condition of the settlement m his letters to the Duke of York. But all the early writers and travellers unite m describing the Dutch colonial metropolis as a handsome, well-built town ; and Josselyn declares that the meanest house in it was worth a hundred pounds. ^ In- deed, the various provisions that were introduced into the articles o surren- der, for preserving the comforts of the inhabitants undiminished, attest the orderly and plentiful estate which these colonists had attained, as well as ex- plain the causes of their unwarlike spirit. If the manners of the Dutch col- onists corresponded with those of their countrymen m the pa^enl state they were probably superior in refinement to the manners which the English colonists could derive from similar imitation. Sir William Temple ^vas surprised to find in Holland that he was expected not to spit upon the floors of gentlemen's houses." Of the colonists who had latterly resorted to the province, some were persons who had enjoyed considerable affluence and respectability in their native country, and who imported with then,, and dis- placed in their houses, costly services of famdy plate, and well-selected pro- Suctions of the Dutch school of painting.:* No account has been preserved of the total population of the province and its dependencies ; but the me- tropolis, at this time, contained about three thousand persons. More than half of this number chose to continue in the place, after Us annexation to the Briush empire ; the rest abandoned a settlement which was no longer to retain its Dutch aspect or name ; and th^ir habitations were soon occu- pied by a supply of emigrants, partly from Britain, but chiefly from New Leland. The Duke of York, in order to allure the New England planters to setUe in his province, pubUshed what he termed conditions for plantations by which (among other provisions) it was declared that the inhabitants of every township should elect their own minister of religion, and determine his emoluments by private agreement between themselves and him. Among the Dutch who remained at New York was the venerable Stuyvesant, who still adhered to the wreck of the institutions and community oyer which he had presided, and to the scenes that reminded him of the exploits of his old age. Here, for a few years more, he prolonged the empire of Dutch man- ners and the respect of the Dutch name, till, full of days and honor, he breathed his last amidst the tears of his r^-i.ntrymen. His descendants in- herited his worth and popularity, and in the followmg century were frequently elected into the magistracy of New York." . trasted Bketch of Duteh and English colonial '"«""«";. '^•""J" J", "j^^^^ ^d tha'r «r fiSJ'Sh an Englinlf planter -P'^yB to incr^a^c thcjhe.^^^^^^^^^^^ try and the gourcea of his revenue are proferably devoted ^X * ""S^,"*" B„wbS ,nent of his house and the refinement of his domestic accommodaUons. BolmgbroKe s //c count of Demerara. _ . . ,j, p^^,^ „f ^^^ ^ few years after, published .. - »..-.,».# 4^ * I ibund this rnscuictiitm ori a n'-; |,V Chalmers, together with a consideration of the 'nt«'^'^"'^«L*,'H'^'- Smi\h. ■» Oldmixon. Smith. CHAP. I] ADMINISTRATION OF NICHOLS. 417 One of the earliest transactions in which Nichols was engaged [December, 1664] bore reference not to his authority as provincial governor, but to the functions which he shared with the other commissioners of the English mon- arch ; in conjunction with whom he had now to ascertain and determine the boundaries of New York and Connecticut. The claims of the latter of these provinces in Long Island were disallowed, and the whole of this insular region was annexed to the new British jurisdiction ; but in the ar- rangement of the boundaries on the main land, so little disposition was en- tertained to take advantage of the erroneous designation in the Duke of York's charter, — so ignorant also of the localities of the country were the commissioners, — and so much inclined, at the same time, to gratify the people of Connecticut, in order to detach them from the interest of Massa- chusetts,— that Connecticut undoubtedly received an allotment of territory far more liberal than equitable. At a subsequent period it was found neces- sary to make a more equitable adjustment of the limits of Connecticut and New York ; which, however, was not accomplished without violent dispute and altercation between the two provincial governments.^ Leaving the other commissioners to proceed to the executior of their functions in New England, Nichols betook himself to the discharge [1665] of his own peculiar duty in the province which he was deputed to govern. The Duke of York had made an ample delegation of authority to his lieu- tenant, and the prudence and humanity of Nichols rendered his administra- tion creditable to the proprietary and acceptable to the people. To confirm the acquisition that his arms had gained, and to assimilate, as far as possible, the difierent races of inhabitants of die province, Nichols judged it expedi- ent to establish among them all a uniform frame of civil polity ; and with a prudent conformity to the instituuons already established by the Dutch, he formed a court of assizes, composed of the governor, the council, and the justices of the peace, which was invested with every branch of authority, leg- islative and executive, within the colony. The only liberal institution that he was permitted to introduce was trial by jury ; and to this admirable check on judicial iniquity all suits and controversies were subjected. He encouraged the colonists to make purchases of land from the natives ; and these purchases he confirmed by charters from himself, in which he reserved to the proprietary a quitrent of a penny an acre. A dispute which occur- red among the mhabitants of Long Island suggested to him a salutary regu- lation which continued long to obtain in the province. The dispute arose out of some conflicting Indian grants ; and to prevent a recurrence of such disagreements, as well as of the more fatal dissensions which were apt to spring from these transactions with the natives, it was ordained that hence- forward no purchase from the Indians should be valid, unless the vendition were authorized by a license from the governor, and executed in his pres- ence. The formidable number and martial spirit of the natives rendered it necessary to treat them with unimpeachable justice ; and to prevent their frequent sales of the same land to different persons (a practice in which they had been encouraged by the conflicting pretensions and occupations of the Dutch, Swedes, and English), it was judged expedient that the bargains should be signalized by some memorable solemnity. The friendly relations now established between the European colonists of this province and the powerful confederacy of Indian tribes distinguished by the title of The Five Siiiiih. Chouucr^. VOL. I. 53 418 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA [BOOK V. J u- k ,«:il nftprwnrds demand a considerable share of our at- Mions, and ^^^h-^^;;^"^,^^^^ .vhich subsisted between the Dutch '"JZdilnTdrnrthe'go'vlm^^^^^^ of 'stuyvesant, whose prudence thus be and Indians auriii, ui^ b ,„i..„v,u nnnortun tv to his successor.' necessary by the rocon eha go of emp e "»=^^ ;^;^^j ,„ ,^^ ,0 i"'ro'l"ce.prao,ucal p*auonof , e^,p ^^^y^^^^^^^ ^^.^^ ^ ^^^ „r„de„ce of hnstad. In^ ■'™<'"= "■" i""""-^ "'"'^'' ""^ Duke of York, there occur s"»' Jnublless exerc sed in its compos - New England settlers m LongI«l^"d doubtless e ^^ j lion. Any person ^foje sixteen years of ag^^^ ^^^ ^^.^ ^^^^^^ (except in defence of his own hie) j^a^^ ^^^^^^^ ^ , n^other and not ^^'^^'-r^'^^V./^^^^y ,S^ was forbidden ; and forni- adjudged to suffer ff'\Jj^^^^^^^^^^ imprisonment, according cation was punrshcd % -«-^^^^^ tS; barbarous stat'e of medical scienc^e 'V^'' ;?rc. wasfndicatid by an ordinance prohibiting all surgeons, physi- and P'•«^f^7^.^'"T^^c; "Resuming to exercise or put forUi any act con- rians, and midwives from P;f"S „ unsubdued state of na- trary to the known ^PP-^^ r.^ e^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^,^,^„ ^, ^^.^,^^^ •"7 'PfT'hnd S Thrcirof N w York, which had enjoyed extensive privi- in Long Island, inecuyoi i k. now incorporated and placed under leges under the old governmntva^^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^P^^^^ ^^ .^^ the administration .«f/ J^i'^Uv to link the provincial institutions ;vith nomenclature serving «J.^'^'""^" ^ ^j^- i^^ ,ets Sf power that was reserved ''Th ^ cS'o7 tsSes waT the im Sn of taxe^ ; and this it was soon to the Court ot Assizes was u ^ -.gencies of the war which Charles called to exercise in order ^° '^^^Vf ^,^J f '"^i^h Holland. But even ihe the Second had f^f )7-^f;,t t e "^^^^^^^^^ ^^«'^ "«-^^ ^^ ^ ^«"^"- most ungracious acts of ^'^;^'° f '^^'f , forget he had been their conquer- iating demeanour that ^'^^"^^^^J'^.J^";^^^^^^ displayed and or, and by the r/^''^ '°" ^e Jdilf bcm ed for the public advantage. An the personal sacrifices ^^^^^^^^^Xh anrSish plantations in Long Island, , a-embly of deputies from hDu^^^^^^^ ^^ ^,,^^^ J,^^^^^^^ which he ^"'"^"f^^ IXf c^^^^^^^ to transmit an address to the Duke took the opportunity oi their .^^"S^^S^'' j j sovereignty according to of York, acknowledgmg their dependence on Ins s v g y ^^ ^ ,^^ his patent ; engaging to ^ff ^/l \ £•' '"^'j Sng that their declara- evef laws might be -"'^f ^^ .^^ Jj -^ "J^ /s J ^^^^^ them and their tion might be preserved and «f ^"^"^^° ^^V^^^he performance of their du- posterity, if they should ever ^'^PS^i^JLt^r^ to Nichols ty." Yet one portion of these people had bu^recc y ^^^ ^^^^^^^ as the conquering leader of the troops .^* ^J^^^'f "^^^^^^^ England. had as recently been severed from he ^f^^'/;^ ^^oLnd [lC66]^vhic^ The intelligence of «he /ecjaraton o jar^ w t^^ L^^^^^ j^.^ ^^^^^ was communicated by the I^rd <-''^"*^^?,"°' ^l^S preparing an ex- was accompanied with the_ass«rance that the liutcii were , , & -n-gJind^rCMiii^^r'Cdde^^^ ",|f''7''l''^«'fh,f d' whlTin a letter to the Duke of York, * It wa. probably to ^^^'^^^l^^^^^^^'ti ZT^^^^^ -"«» acknowledge » CdUUiont of the JVew York Ilulorual iMifty. CHAP. I.] ADMINISTRATION OF NICHOLS. 419 ^jtb. rhalracrs pedition for the recovery of their American colony, and that De Ruyter had received orders to sail immediately for New York.' Nichols exerted liiuiself, with his usual firmness and activity, to resist the assault of so for- midable an invader ; and though it proved eventually, that either the chan- cellor's information was erroneous, or that the expedition was suspended by De Ruyter's more important avocations in Europe, the expense that attend- ed the preparations for his reception, together with the other consequences of the war, inflicted much inconvenience and distress on the province. As the people were destitute of shipping, their trade, which had been carried on by Dutch vessels, was completely suspended ; no supplies were obtained from England to alleviate this calamity ; and in addition to other concomi- tant burdens of war, a general rate or tax was imposed on the estates of the inhabitants by the Court of Assizes. There was reason to apprehend that the product of this tax would be insufficient, and the preparations consequently inadequate to repel the expected invasion. In this extremity, the govern- or, without pressing the people for farther contributions to defeat an enter- r.rise which many of them must have contemplated with secret good-will, generously advanced his own money and interposed his private credit to supply the public exigencies. Happily for the province, which Nichols, with the aid of the neighbouring English colonies, would have defended to the last extremity, neither the States General, nor the Dutch West India Company, made any attempt to repossess themselves of New York during this war ; and at the peace of Breda it was ceded to P^ngland [July, 16G7] in exchange for her colony of Surinam, which had been conquered by the Dutch. This exchange was no otherwise expressed, than by a general stipu- lation in the treaty that each of the two nations should retain what its arms had acquired since hostilities began.** The Dutch had no reason to regret the transaction ; for it was impossible that they could long have preserved New York against the incroasing strength and rivalry of the colonies of New England, Maryland, and Virginia. It was by this treaty that Acadia was ceded to France, which had acted as the ally of Holland during the war, and was the only party that reaped advantage from it. England saw her character sullied by the injustice of her hostilities ; the glory of her arms obscured by a signal disgrace at Chatham ; the conquest formerly achieved for her by Cromwell surrendered [1667] ; and every one of the purposes ihat induced her monarch to provoke the quarrel disappointed. The security which the British dominion in New York derived from the treaty of Breda tended with seasonable occurrence to supply the loss of the services of Colonel Nichols, who, finding the pecuniary btirdens of the war pressing too heavily on his own private fortune, was forced, in the be- 2;inning of this year, to resign a command which had proved not less hon- orable to himself than satisfactory and advantageous to the people over whom it was exercised. The king expressed his sense of the meritorious conduct of Nichols, by a present of two hundred pounds ; and this brave and modest loyalist was more gratified with the expression of royal favor and remem- brance, than disappointed by the meanness and inadequacy of the remunera- ti on. He wa s long remembered with respect and kindness by a people whom ' Humo says that De Riiyter actually committod hostilities on Long Island before the dec laration of war, in revenge of the capture of New York. But De Ruytor was not accustomed so inadequately to avenge the wrongs of his country ; and Hume has been misled by an erro- neous account, or by inaccurate recollection, of a more serious and successful attack on New York by the Dutch about seven years after tiiia noriod^and in the course of a subseiuent war. ' Smith. Chalmora. Douglass. 420 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK V. . V. i c A i,««iil*. nnH divided ; and whom, notwithstanding; that he was he h»^;«J^J>°;,^^^^^^^^^^^ indopondonce, he left friendly, constrained to depmo inein ^ successfnl exertions, together ^lluhe'atr peacVrand^^^^^^^ recognition by Holland of the Bnt- Miommion devolved on his successor, Colonel Lovelace, a man of quiet ipe nd Jdem^^^^ -hich in tranquil nmes so well supplied he absence of vigor and' capacity, that the colony, during the greater part osk years that composed the period of his presidency, enjoyed a noisn- ot six y^-^" ";"' ; ^ , o-osneritv ;' and the most memorable occurrence Ih^t ^^Tzld ralnTntsStVthe unfortunate event that brought it to '' m-'socond war with Holland [1672], which the king undertook in sub- servience To U,e ambition of Louis tlie Fourteenth, was calculated no loss o i' h"re the Uade of New York, than to disturb the ha.-mony ot is mixed ZCrand alienate the regards of the original colonists from their ex- tin, rtd^rs The false and frivolous reasons assigned by the Lnghsh coijrt fmtliis profligate war rendered it more offensive to every Dutchman by r\^ :r«ulr to iniurv • and the gallant achievements of De I uyter, that Sed theUmiXn 'and applause even of his enemies, must have awak- pnla hi the mosTphlegmatic bosoms of the Dutch colonists some sympathy whh he RloTamldanger of their country, and a reluctance to the dest.ny r associS them with her enemies. The intel igence of the Drke of York' recent profession of the Catholic faith contributed to increase the.r Y orK s receiu piuiv „_„„„:ipfi ,o far w th a considerable number ot discontent, which at length prevailea so •""'"', . j j them that thev determined to abandon New York, ana eiiner rtuirn lo Holland or seek another colonial establishment m the new world. Hap- •1 ?.r RHtirAmer ca, they were retained within her territory by the ad- 5;L of fh pro.^^^^^^^^ who engaged them to direct theircourso foward Uils province, where, rehiote from foreign war, and surmountm^ •arSts by LLt industry, they formed a settlement that recompensed t^Lm oithe habitations they had forsaken.^ If more of their countryrnen n oLtedasimila. retreat from New York, their purpose was suspended by Kent which occurred the same year, and invited thein o e.nbrac(, a more Jmrfyit deliverance from the irksomeness of their «'^"«^'°"- , ^^ ?" !n.Sn had been despatched from Holland, under the command of B.nkes Tl vertfen, to attack^he shipping and harass the commerce of the Knghsh colon Is and having performed tl^s service with some effect on the Virgm- ian coast', they were induced to attempt a more important enterprise l)j- reSce oYthe negligent security of the governor of New \ork. Re- n«2fwUh secrecy and expedition to this ancient possession of their conn-, V ulv 6731 t^ the good fortune to arrive at the metropolis while lLS wafal'a^Sance, an^l the command was ad^n.stered by CoW r^lS^cli; Zi vJas reversed the scene that had been presented^w . . F cm h.« monument i" AmpthiU church, Bedfr^dshue^ Bttrbadoe*. Samue! Hmithn H>story of Jfete Jersty. i Sec aMty Book IV., Chap. I. CHAP. I] REC0NQUE8T OF NEW YORK BY THE DUTCH. 421 IVew York was invaded by Nichols. The English inhnbitnnts prepared to aeleiul Uicmscivcs, and oirt-red their services to Manning ; but ho ob- siriicted their efforts, rejected their aid, and, on the first intelligence of the enemy's n|)proach, struck his flag before their vessels were even in sight. As tiie Dutch lleet advanced, his garrison could not forbear to demonstrate their readiness to fight ; but, in a transport of fe«., ho forbade a gun to be fired on pain of death, and surrendered the place unconditionally to the in- vaders.' The moderation of the conquerors, however, showed them wor- tlur of their success ; and, hastening to assure all the citizens of the security of private rights and possessions, they inspired the Dutch colonists with trimiiph, and left the English no cause of resentment but against their pu- sillanimous commander. The same moderation being proffered to the other districts of the province,^ on condition of their sending deputies to swear allegiance to the States General, the inclinations of one party and the fears of the other induced the whole to submit; the Dutch dominion was restored with a suddenness that exceeded the circumstances of its overthrow ; and the name of New Netherlands once more was applied to the province.''' But neither the tritmiph of the one party, nor the mortification of the other, was destined to have a long endurance. Great was the perturbation that these events excited in the adjoining col- onies of the English. The government of Connecticut, with amazing ab- surdity, sent a message to the Dutch admirals, remonstrating against their usurpation of dominion over the territory of England and the property of her subjects ; desiring them to explain the meaning of their conduct and their further intentions ; and warning them that the United Colonies of New England were intrusted with the defence of their sovereign's empire in America, and would be faithful to their trust. To this ridiculous applica- tion the Dutch commanders returned a soldier-like answer, expressing their just surprise at the terms of it, and declaring that they were commissioned by their country to endamage the power and possessions of her enemies by sea and land ; and that, while they applauded the fidelity of the English colonies to their sovereign, they would emulously conform to an example so deserving of imitation, and endeavour to approve themselves not less zealous and faithful in the service of the States General. Active prepara- tions for war ensued forthwith in Connecticut and the other confederated colonies ; but as each party stood on the defensive, awaiting the onset of the other, only a few insignificant skirmishes had taken place, when the ar- rival of winter suspended military operations. Early in the following spring [1674], the controversy was terminated, without farther blood-shed, by the intelligence of the treaty of peace concluded at London, and of the resto- ration of New York to tlie English by virtue of a general stipulation, that ' Manning, after all this extraordinary and unaocountablo conduct, had the impudenie to repair to England ; wlionce he returned, or was sent back, when tlie province was ajj'un given up by the Dutch in tlie following vear. He was then tried by court-martial on a charge oi" treachery and cowardice, expresseif in the strongest and most revolting terms. Confessing this fharge to be well founded, he received a sentence almost as extraordinary as his conduct : — "That, though he deserved death, yet because ho had since the surrender been in England, and sun the king and the ihikr, it was adjudged that his sword should bo broke over his head in p'lbiic, before the city hall, and himself rendered incapable of wearinaj ' sword, and of serving his Majesty for the future in any public trust." Smith. The benefit of the old maxim, re- fpecteii on this oocasi^ej?°"q"y^jf„' P[fiJS conventional arrangement, cured the sion of It to England by » P^^f j^J^^'^^^^i^j^^^iee of England's original .c- " -ir^Ta'nv'of the D^^^^^^^ b-"^-' apprehensive of mclesta- quisition. Many oi tne yw. » government whose temporary tion, or at least despairing of Javorfr^^^^ a gov ^ ^^^ ^^^^^ V "^r:'JTo1oVorthei: iirm^^ "^^^^^^^^^ --^-^^^ ^^^-"- induced to loUow ineir lorui p ^^ promote their na ; ^ and this dispersion of ^^^ Pj^^^^^^^'Xest New York of a distinc- friendly commixture ^^'^^ the Enghsh and t ^ ^^^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^'^ Duke of YorU,.uiui.standin^ ^1^^ t^:i^^^a t^ 2 the validity of his original P?^^"J' ^;^^rpo"session of the country, and the Dutch government was >" P^^^^^^^^'.^P^d^o have been vacated by tl>e which, even though ong'naly valid, yet seemed to n ^^ ^^^.^^ intervening conquest, ^^ought .t prude^ t^^^ „ew charter' This the resumption of his P^^^^J^Ju^^iJ^bt ningVune 29, 1674], ve- land, with the ^^^^-^^ ^^ ^::\^:l ^,tut S' "erm'ssion ; arithough it a P«7"j/^^^j;; ^tlol^^^^^^^ fro'm England, it subjected allowed the colonists to >"n^o" ^ ^^^^ elsewhere prescribed by them to payment of the f 'J^/jf^Xrity of this charter, the duke con- same extraordinary powers and pr.vi eges tha ^'^ .„^f"„ ^ greatness of proprietaries of Maryland -^ Caro If Bu^^^^^^^ S^olicitous to bis connection and h.s P••o«Pe?;^/he .^ke probaoiy share the dignities and immunit.e ^^ich were coveted oy^ prietaries ; and while as counts palatine ^^^y -ssumed a sty^eo ? I the administration of their governmems h^^ S^.l^'S evident inca^- his territory m the name o\ the King, xuc n<'= _ ^ r „„„nrnnr pactiy ::1\1h ; -s reiV-tment to the offic^governor. of CHAP. I] ARBITRARY ADMINISTRATION OF ANDROS. 4^ U«, Book IV., Chap. i. which was conferred on Edmund Andros [July 1, 1674], a man who disgraced superior talents by the unprincipled zeal and activity with which he rendered them subservient to the arbitrary designs of a tyrant.^ This officer, whose subsequent conduct in New England has already introduced him to our acquaintance, now commenced that career in America which has gained him so conspicuous a place in her annals for twenty years after the present period. He was commanded to respect private rights and possessions, while he received the surrender of the province and its public property from th(i Dutch, and to distribute justice in the king's name ac- cording to the forms observed by his predecessors. But in order to raise a revenue and defray the expenses of government, a great variety of rates were at tlie same time imposed by the sole authority of the duke ; and an Englishman, nanied Dyer, was appointed the collector of these odious and unconstitutional impositions.^ The duke, in his instructions to Andros, recommended to him the exer- cise of gentleness and humanity ; but his selection of this officer to admin- ister the arbitrary policy which he now began to pursue towards the colo- nists gave more reason to suppose that the admonition was necessary than that it would prove efFectual ; and, accordingly, the new governor had not been long in the province [1675J, when, besides embroiling himself with the neighbouring government of Connecticut, he vcited the murmurs and remonstrances of the magistrates, the clergy, and»a great majority of the people who were subjected to his command. The pressure of the arbi- trary rates suggesting especially to the inhabitants of Long Island the bene6t of a representative assembly, they began at length to broach this proposition as a matter of constitutional right ; but these first aspirations of liberty were checked by Andros with a vigor and decision for which he received the thanks of his master. A Dutch clergyman, named Renslaer, who was rec- ommended by the duke to the patronage of Andros, proved unacceptable to the people, and was punished by the magistrates of Albany for some il- legal and offensive language. The governor interfered, with his usual ener- gy, iftthe dispute, and, having first loaded with Insult a popular clergyman, whom Renslaer considered his rival, adjudged all the magistrates to find bail to answer Renslaer's complaints, to the extent of five thousand pounds each ; and threw Leisler, one of thnir number, into prison for refusing to comply. But finding that in this proceeding he had stretched his authority farther than he could support it, he was compelled to recede, barely in time to prevent a tumult thai might have dissolved the government. Apparently somewhat daunted with his defeat, he conducted himself with greater regard to prudence, and was enabled for a while to enjoy a quiet administration ; but the seeds of popular discontent had been sown, and a strong desire for more liberal institutions took silent yet vigorous root in the colony. This disposition, which the contagious vicinity of liberty in New England doubtless tended to keep alive, was fomented by a measure to which the governor resorted, in order to supply the inadequate returns from ih^ provincial rates, —the practice of soliciting pecuniary benevolences from the various com- munities and townships within his jurisdiction. [1676.] This poJcy, the badge of bad hmcs, as a colonial historian has termed it, sometimes ef- ' See Note XVIII., at the end of the volume. ' Scott's Model of the Qovemment of East JVew Jersey. The charter is here recited at length. Of this curious work (which will deiiinnd farther notice in Book VI.) I have seen copies in iiie library of Gottingen, and in the Advocates' Library of Edinburgh. Smith. Chuhuen 424 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK V. fectuallv befriends those rights which it attacks uidirecUy, and yet affects to recoS In the close of the following year [l677],>ndros was compelled lo pay a visit to England in order to obtain farther instructions adapted to tlip npw scene that was about to open.^ , , . , • , , The rates imposed by the Duki^of York, and which constituted the rev- enue he derived from the province, had been limited to the duration of three vears ; and as the allotted period was on the point of expiring, the interest both of the government and the people Avas fixed on the issue to which this emergency lould lead. The people anxiously hoped that the financial d.ffi. culties by which the government was embarrassed would induce their pro- pr etary to consent to^he desires they had expressed [1677], and to seek L improvement of his revenue from the estabhshment of a representative assembly. But the duke regarded this measure with aversion ; and thought ?hat he made a sufficient sacrifice to the advantage of the colonists by simply proclaiming that the former rates should contim^e for three years longer. 11678 1 When Andros returned to his government with this unwelcome edict the province resounded with murmurs of disappointment ; and when a new edict, in the following year [1679], announced an mcrease of che tax on the importation of liquors, the pubhc indignation was expressed so warmly, and so many complaints were transinitted to England, that the duke, n much surprise, recalled his governor to give account of an administration thaT plainly appeared U> be universally odious. [1680.] This prince was deterStliaf his subjects should be enslaved, and at the same t.rtie quite wilTngthat they should be happy ; and seemg no incompa.bihty between Those circumstLes, he supposed the more readily that Andros might have perpetrated some enormities for which the exigence of his official pos.t.on S' uld not furnish an apology, and therefore called h.m home to ascertain f he had really so discredited legitimate tyranny. The mquiry, as might he expected, terminated in the acquittal of the governor, who easily demon- strSted that he had committed no breach of trust ; that he had merely ex- erted a spirit suitable to the arbitrary system confided to his conduct, and enforced his master's commands with the rigor that was necessary to carry such obnoxious mandates into execution. But certain circumstances which occurred in the colony, during the absence of Andros, determined the duke to forbear for the present to reemploy so unpopular an officer, or to risk ns own authority in a farther struggle with the current of popular will, till las hand should be strengthened by the hold of a sceptre. Dver, the collector of the revenue, continued for some time after his ap- pointment to execute his official functions with great odium, but little oppo- sition. Latterly, however, the people had begun to question the legitimacy no le s than the^ liberality of a system of taxation originating with the duke alone and when they learned that their doubts were sanctioned by t e opTnLns of the most eminent lawyers in Eng and, their indignation broke forth with a violence that nearly hurried them mlo the commission of injus- lice still more reprehensible than the wrongs they comp ained ol. Ihey accused I>yer of high treason, for having collected taxes without the author- ity of law ; and the local magistrates, seconding the popular rage, appointed a special court to try him on this absurd and unwarrantable dmrge. 1 was pretended, that, although he had not committed any one of tlie off nee specified i n the English statute oi;tmisons^y et it was lawful to sub jectjuni "" "^ ' Bmiiii. Chaimere. CHAP. I] A LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY GRANTED. 425 to the penalties of this statute, on the ancient and exploded charge of en- croaching power ; — one of those vague and unintelligible accusations which it was the express purpose of the statute to abolish. But reason and humanity regained their sway in the short interval between the impeachment and the tnal ; and when the prisoner demanded to know whence his judges derived their functions, and if they did not act as servants and delegates of the same prince whose commission he had himself obeyed, — the court m- lerposed to suspend farther prosecution of the affair within the colony, and ordered the prisoner to be sent with an accuser to England. [1681 1 He was of course liberated immediately after his arrival ; and no accuser ven- tured to appear agamst him. But if the arraignment was any thing more than a bold, inconsiderate expression of popular displeasure and impatience, it accomplished the farthest purposes of its promoters ; and to their spirited, though irregular measures. New York was indebted for the overthrow of an odious despotism and her first experience of systematic hberty. While the duke regarded with astonishment the violent proceedings by which his offi- cer had nearly perished as a traitor, and was banished from the colony with- out a voice being raised in his favor, he was assailed with expressions of the same sentiments that had produced this violence, in a more constitutional, and therefore, perhaps, more unwelcome shape. The governor's council, the Court of Assizes, and the corporation of the city of New York united with the whole body of the inhabitants in soliciting the duke to extend to the people a share of the legislative authority ; and while their conduct enabled him to interpret these eidresses into a virtual declaration that they would no longer continue to pay taxes without possessing a representative assembly, he was informed by his confidential advisers that the laws of England would support them in this pretension. Overcome by the combined force of all these circumstances, and not yet advanced to the height whence he was afterwards enabled to regard the suggestions of legal obstructions with con- tempt, the duke first paused in his arbitrary career, and then gave a reluc- tant and ungracious assent to the demands of the colonists. Directions were sent to the deputy-governor, on whom the administration devolved in the absence of Andros, " to keep things quiet at New York in the mean lime"; and shortly after [February, 1682], it was intimated to him that the duke would condescend to grant the boon which the people desired, on condition of their raising enough of money for the support of government, and of the principal inhabitants assuring him by a written engagement that this should be done. In fine, after wavering a little longer between fear and aversion, the duke gave notice of his fixed determination to establish in New York the same frame of government that the other English colonies enjoyed, and particularly a representative assembly. The governor whom he nominat- ed to conduct the new administration was Colonel Dongan, afterwards Earl of Limerick, a man of probity, moderation, and conciliating mannera, and, though a professed Roman Catholic, which perhaps was his chief passport to the duke's favor, yet in the main acceptable, and justly so, to a people who regarded the Catholic faith with suspicion and dislike. The instruc- tions that were given to Dongan required him to convoke an assembly, which was to consist of a council of ten nominated by the proprietory, and of a house of representatives, not exceeding eighteen, elected by the free- holders. Like the other provincial legislatures, this body was empowered to maKR Inwa for f ho r^nlonictc imrlpi. fV»o nnnf^ifi'^n r\f «y%.»f.-.«ry.J«.r t^ *Un ~«.. VOL. I. 54 jj 426 (jaHlSTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK V. , • • J „« «f fhn Pmnire and of dependence on the assent or dissent ? Ta f, r conauered people for nearly twenty years, and governed by the Sary win oX DSke'of York a/d his deputies, were elevated m the aib liary will o , ^ j ^^„ i^it and vigor ; and, by a singular scale of P^*'^'^*;^^'"'^^"^^^^ at the very time when their old ri- :rt^c"ioS"of N^ deprive/of it. Nothing could he nt'e acceptable to them than this interesting change ; and the ardent grat,- Tde of their acknowledgments expressed niuch more justly the.r rel.sh of he benefit tlian the merit of their nominal benefactor.^ ,-•,»• i- i '~J!r^a7r^^s:cV:SZTcl:L i„ .he ear ./^ ; ftom »hich, n from a Sim ar communication by the munic.pahty of New York to the Boa d of Tri a^ew years after/some 'fi%r':y2':^'SZ^Z't IrP^c':, *ch con.i,.d Jwenty^- -^ ' ^^rVr^t peltry procured from the /"^ ?ns, ana y ^^^ g^^^^ jnany. 1 he duKe niaimameu a ^l"^, , . rp^ ^e were about twenty -T-s,;iur~^/iWorv«/-•«« ^J. Tj^ But the principles of which they adopted • was J^P ^^^ ^^^ ° ,^^^^ than ^e mi'ght ex- Iheir confederacy display far •V**^^ P^^'^y/^^^^^ ^j^ embraced the Ro- pect from the -^^^f^^^lt^^rt^^^^^ '^'^ P^°P'^ '^ man principle, ?VlcIL After ever/ conquest of an enemy, when other nations with themselves After eve y 1 ^^ ^^ ^^^^^.^^^ riiey had indulged their ^^^^"^.^^^^'".^i^rcaptives ; and frequently with their policy in the adoption f^^J^flS most^Sguishe sachems and so much advantage, ^^at several of he^ most am g ^^^^ .^^ ^^^^ commanders were derived from ^«"r ^?^^ ^^^l ,nd dignity were separate repv,blican constitution, in wlncboffic^^^^ ^g^ Y^^^^^ claimed only by ^S^' P>^°^"/«^,^"^ blS^l h^ee tribes, bearing re- of public esteem; and ^^^^^^.^^^e^^^ of, the Tortoise, rt:!' nVtb -W"1 noti^^^^^^^^^^^ or civilized, that has greater beauty. Such was the efticacy «f ^^f ^^n tlie statue ofVe fhe grace and symmetry oVi^'rrP fist^imeb; ie American Apelles, Apollo Belvidere was beheld ^^^^^f^^^J '."^ ^e^^^^^^^^^ and exclaW, Benjamin West, he started «5 ^e "nexpe^^^^ g .^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ u li'ow like it is to y7"^\^^°^\^^^^ V the usual In- nations, and especially *«,^i^™'' ^^^ ^titude in the endurance dian qualities of attachment to hberty, stubborn or . ^^^ of pain - ;J;j;,Xrto "iS^^^^^^^^^ inwar->.and%y a ence of craft ^"^ ^fj^jf T '°, "^erance, resolution, and active intrepidity. more than usual degree «' ,P®f ™^ «L^ Charlevoix, that they advance It was universally reported of jl^^^^^^^^yL^S; ^Almost all the tribes like fo.es, attack hke Uons and r^^^-[^^^^^^^^^^ though not in- adjacent to this people, and even rnany at a grea J Jion of its elided in the confederacy, yielding to the orce or ui j '~^~0;^f^^^>^:^^^^^^^^ thymic'.. nl Spartans; as ti.ey did « In this peculiarity .nosl o(^ the Ip^'^.^^J^^Tf^^eech. Plnuuch's YA/c of Lycurgus re- ,lso in their studiou. "tlt.vat.on of c"";^^'-"*^.;; J ,,,•,„«», ■ the Five Nations. wbittwvan authority' lu a Roman dictator. Coidcn. ciiap. If] THE FIVE INDIAN NATIONS. 429 course of judicious policy and victorious enterprise, had completely suc- ceeded in causing the federal character and sentiments to prevail over the peculiarities ot their separate national subdivisions. In the year 1677, the confederacy possessed two thousand on« hundred and fifty fightine men. Both the French and the English writers, who have treated of the character or affairs of this people, agree in describing them as at once the most judi- cious and pontic of the native powers, and the most fierce and formidable of the native inhabitants of America.' There was only wanting to their fame that literary celebration which they obtained too soon from the neigh- bourhood of a race of civilized men, who were destined to eclipse, and finally extinguish, their greatness. They have received, in particular, from the pen of an accomplished writer, Cadwallader Golden, one of the gov- ernors of New York, the same historic illustration which his own barbarian ancestors derived from the writings of C»sar and Tacitus When the French settled in Canada, in the beginning of this century, ihey found the Five Nations engaged in a bloody war with the powerful tribe of Mtrondacks ; in which, after having been themselves so severely pr-ssed that they were driven from their possessions round Montreal, and forced to seek an asylum on the southeast coast of Lake Ontario, the Five Nations had succeeded m gaining a decided advantage, and in turn constrained their enemies to abandon their lands situated above the Three Rivers, and fly for safety behind the strait where Quebec was built. The tide of suc- cess, however, was suddenly turned by the arrival of Champlain, who con- ducted the French colony, and who naturally joined the AdirondaCks, be- cause he settled on their lands. The conduct, the htavety, and especially the firearms, of these new allies of the enemy proved an overmatch for the skill and intrepidity of the Five Nations, who were defeated in several battles, and reduced to great distress. It was at this critical juncture that the first Dutch ship arrived in Hudson's River with the colonists who es- tablished themselves at Albany. The Five Nations, procuring from these neighbours a supply of that species of arms which had occasioned the supe- rionty of their enemies, revived the war with such impetuosity and success, that the nation of the Adirondacks was alnr.ost entirely destroyed [1684], and the French too late discovered that they had espoused the fortunes of the weaker people." Hence originated the mu tual dread and enmity that ' La Potherio'8 HUtory of J^wtk Jmerien. Colden. Smith. Wentworth Greenhalph'g ]«^rna}^pud Chalmers. Gait's Life of We»t. Charlevoix's 7V«r«/* in North Amtkca. Though I have dwelt at gome length on the charactei oF the Five Nations, I should accouat It a mere waste of words to particularize the names or discriminate the policy of all the vari- oui Indian tribes with whom the North American colonists were from time to time connected by friendly or hostile relations. In general, the distinctions between them ■were few and inoonsiderablc ; and the revolutions of their condition and policy (as Milton remarked of the annals of barbarians) not more interesting than the kindred vicissitudes of a commonwealth of crows. « -To amuse the French, the Five Nations, at one time, made a proposal Of peace, to which the French heartily inclining, requested them to receive a deputation of Jesuits, whose ex- ertions, they expected, would sincerely conciliate the friendship of the savages. The Five .Nations readily agreed, and desired to see the priests immediately; but tho instant they got hold of them, they marched to attack the Indian allies of the French, and taking the priestK Willi thoin as hostages, to enforce tho neutrality of their countrymen, gave the Adirondacks a signal defeat. Colden. fhe tribes opposed to the Five Nations in this war are called tho Ihirom and Algonquins by Charlevoix, who acknowledges that the war was provoked bv the trenchery and imustice of the allies of his countrymen. The Five Nations are often ermed by French writers the Iroquois, anA by tho English writers the Mohateks ; though thu latt was merely the distinctive name of one of tho confederated tribes. Loikiel reraarkB »ery justly, jhat " the numbers of the Indians have been often overrated, owing to tho differ oat na.v.es given to one nation." History of ikt Maracian tdissions in Jrarih Mf^-triea, 4dO HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK \. 4wU i_ -c „«v. nnrl tVip ronfeclcrated Indians and en- long subsisted between the French ^"d ^^e conlec ^^^^^^^^^^ ^^ tailed so many -^l^'^'^'f^H^H ^ie count y than their savage enemies, climate and less acquainted wuh ^"^ ^"^^^^ ^„,t expeditions. A party attempted vainly to l-^*:;^^ * '^'g'/'r^^^^^^ the governor of CaSada, despatched m the winter ^f ^f^^^^^^^^ g^^ng wastes of snow, and, after to attack the Five Nations, 1?«^J^^''. ^ ^ ^l^owing where they were, at the enduring extreme misery, ^"'^f ' ^^^^J 1 a D^chman of consideration, village of Schenectady, near Albany, ^'^^^ \. h, exhausted, famished, nam^dCorlear,> h^^ recently fo«n^^^^^^^ Jembled rather a crew of helples; and stupefied with .^^^^ *"^„^^""^^' d ^ould have fallen an easy prey to a suppliants than an invading ^'''^J';"? ™i°es ;„ the village, if Corlear, band of Indians who were X "leSe appe mnce, had not employed n^oved with -^•"Pf «\°S,:USrthrinIns, JS^rsuade' them to spare their both influence and artifice J^'^^ ^^^^^ ^^eir own people against a more unfortunate enemies, "V.^^^^XaJar^^^^ he pretended to have re- formidable attack in ^different quarter, o^^ v^^^^^^ ^^^ ^.^ ^^^^^ ceived intelligence When the Indans , ere g,^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ men brought refreshments to ^^« ;^r^'^;^^^^ were enabled to return .n with provisions and other conaforts byj^'<;h ^n y .^ .^ ^^^ ^^^^^^ safety to Canada, ^'^VlZS^h^^. ^tead of aggravating by con'- of men to mitigate ^yk'ndness and chanty^ ^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ tention and ^^^o.iy,^^ej^^^^^ of humanity. 1 he * rencn guvci t- i^ ngyoient stratagem but their kindness, aid the Indians never ^^^^^^^f .^^f J""7f er a long prevalence of mutual hatred and warfare c?nVnued unabated^ A ^& F^^ severe but indecisive host.ht^s boA prt^^^^ though not exhausted of^";^^^'^^;^^ endured ever since'without any r^nXSfnte^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^ Colonel Dongan was appointed ^°I5fX^S Z^iubsistedbet^^^^^ ^^ only confused and uncertam^^^^^^^^^^^ ^j,j,„,3 ,,a friend- who assert that the Dutch ^^^5 ^ J;°" • j' ^j^eir stalemeiits entirely from ship with the Indians, seem ^J^^/Jj^^^^'^^^^ U> have mistaken ^r an indi- thir own conjectures of wha was l^^^^nL readiness of .he Dutch to cation o particular f °f ^-w " the "d. ^.m ^^ ^^^ ^.^^^ ,v.s people ^vere traffic with friend or foe. ^^'^^J y'^'ign, '__ though with what particular engaged in a bloody war with the^I^^^^^^^^ t^ ^^^ ^^^^ S,„ ^ ,, tribes there are no nieans of «^certaining^ neighbours of which administration they enjoyed a peace ^ When clnll Niclols assumed the the benefit descended to he Enghs^^^^^ Whe ^^ government of New York, I e entercQ J productive of no Nations ; which, however, "VnircomrnercS intercourse, in which the farther connection than an extensive comrnerc.a^i ^^^. ^^^ ^^^^^. Indians supplied }»>« .^ngl'^l; wuh P^^^^y^^^J^^^^^ ,^ ,oyed against them- lion, of the use of which, as \?"Sf ^^;7^7[f -^ proved, unfortunately, re- selv'es, the colonists ^v ere entirely «"d;;;^ '^^^^^ct fidelity, but always gardless. The Indians adhered o the treaty w ^^^^^^^j^^^ ,f .ere- evinced a jealouspridejnjnin^^ --rH^i:ir;=;;:i^;^dI^^^ of re.pea the gov-emoT of New iork with II. .| J- .cr^., =^ w-'lh which they were acquainted. CoWen. CHAP. II.] MISSIONARY LABORS OF THE JESUITS. 431 •" T hpfrT u i° '" '."dependent people ; and, in particular, when any of the.r forces had occasion to pass near the English^forts, th^y ex- pected to be saluted w.th military honors. In the mean time the French 2"hos ilftironh ' ':r' ^^f^^ ^^^^^^^'^'^^ °f ^J^-^- deliverance Tom i„t the fvef St rl°™ ^^^y «^^«"d«d their settlement along the river fet. Lawrence, and, m the year 1672, built Fort Frontienac on Its northwest bank where, devolving from the p renUake of On ario „ commences Its rapid and majestic course. With a policy proport oned tothe vigor of their advances, they filled the Indian settlemLtswhh mis- sionaries, whose active and successful exertions multiplied converTs to^he faith and allies to the interest of their countrymen ^""^eris to tne The praying Indians, as the French termed their converts, were either neutral, or, rnore frequently, their auxiliaries in war. The Jesiirs preached not to their Indian auditors the doctrines that most deeply wound t^e pride human nature, nor a system of pure, austere morality, which the conCt of the great mass of us nominal votaries practically disowns and disgraces They required of their converts but a superficial^lmnge, - the aTption of one form of superstu.on in place of another ; i and thly' captivated C senses and impressed their imaginations by a ceremonial at once picturesque and mysterious. Yet as, from the weaknes- and imperfection of man,^an admixture of error ,s inseparable from the purest system of Christian doc- trine, so, from the overruling goodness of God, a ray of truth is found to per- vade even the most corrupted. And the instructions of the Jesuits, fS-om which the lineaments of Christianity, though disfigured by meretricious ad- ditament, were by no means obliterated, may have contributed, in some in- stances, to form the divme image in the minds of the Indians ; and the seed of heavenly truth unchoked by the tares of human error, may in some places have yielded a holy and happy increase." The moral and domestic precepts contained m the Scriptures were frequently communicated with success, and advantage ; and various congregations of Indian converts were persuaded by the Jesuits to build villages in Canada in the style exemplified by the French colonists ; to adopt European husbandry, and to renounce spirituous hquors.3 The visible separation of the Catholic priests from the general family of mankind, by renunciation of conjugal and parental ties, gave an awful sacredness to their character, and a strong prevailing power to their addresses In the discharge of what they conceived their duty, iheir courage and perseverance were equalled only by their address and activity. 1 hey had already compassed sea and land to make proselytes ; ' There is preserved in Neal's JVew England a specimen of the French Missionary Cote- r «m contaming a tissue of most absurd and childish fictions gravely propounded as tL«^' ces of Christian doctrme. The following anecdote is related by ColLn. ''About the tS Se FZtZ"o fi.n'rC-'^r of Ryswick, Therouet, a noted InLn sachem, dfed a Montreal 1 he trench §avc hiin Christian burial in a pompous manner ; the priest that attended him at « death having declared that he died a true Chr*istian. For (said the priest wWle I expKed iJr/'" ^\TT ""^ °"' ^"^i^l^r- ^»'°"' t''" Je^s ""<=ified. he cried dut, ' O, had Y been Z'ni '^""'^ ^T /«r "««d his death, and brought away 'their scalps ! ' " "Some of the wZhp;;^-T-l^°''"-fl' «''°"V^"y y^^ afterwards. " having been baptised by Romish orieste! » A nlh!^„r r'^i";-' '^^'''^ "'"^ considered merely as'additions to their Indian ffnery." roimVrvmfn nnVi t^r r"'"'^^, "^^ ^^"^ *''''"''" •"""""« themselves missionaries to their Mun^men ; and several of them fell martyrs to their zeal, which had prompted them to at-' 2 Jo?fT •"'"" ""^ 'I'^V^'' ^"^'"•e^ "f their own. These martyrs'^ diel with the usual 2mtt wS r- ' •"'V'^y superadded to it a mildness and cl/arity of demeanour and Mnument, which their murderers regarded with surprise, and ascribed to some magical influ- ence exercised upon them by the rito of baptism, tharlevoix's TravtU. ^ Ineir strict adherence to this difHrnh rnnunnlntinn i»ss », eiier in the year 1749. Kalm'g Trare/*. >l c u if. a.uinst the French, they adopted h.m as h faithful to \he na lo > 1 € H „ .^ ^„. with such industry, resolution, and brother, and electc. hmi a |"^»^"™-^ ; themselves to recommend their insinuation did iho *^rench Jesmts exe t ,^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^ faith and the mte rests of "'^'f^P^^^'V. ^ -y officers and sol- French laity a so and ej«-f ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Te English^in conciliating the diery, succeeded better than ^'^^ 6«"^'^j; J^,, ^.^.„, ^oductive of more polite- good graces of the savages. *^«"^ ^ j^J ^ .^ ^,,h even the displeasure ness and accommodation/ ^^""^K'^^^'T^^^^ of ini. kh was less which the French sonietnnes excited by co« J.^^^^ ^ galling than the affronts wlj^^^^^^^^^^ th'e English wL best fct^otSwit^^^^^^^^^^^^^ vivacity of tiieFrenc^^^^^^^^^^ of America, whicl., rnXfXy/ceprsomeNew^^^^^^^ ^^ frGlty::r d^n^er^^^^^^^^ bymemorable exertion. ''^/J'o^lTDoI.tn'' who ^vas not encumbered, like his official predecessors, Colonel l^o"f "'. XhTfunctions of government, nor involved m collis- with a monopoly °f »" J^^^^^"? 'Tleisure for a considerate .urvey of the ions with popular discontent, had l^^ure lor ^nd very soon discov- state of his countrymen's relations ^'^^ Ae Man , and y^^^ ^^^^^^ ered that the peace ^^f '^ ^^^J^ J^heTfo^^^^^^^^ colonists, by enabling them »°^^^fJ^X^^^^ consequences to some wide extent of <=°"S'^;.^^^,„f.1^^^^^^^^ to them\ll. The Five of the colonies of B"»«'"' ?"^3or^^^^ a pretext for its gratifica- Nauons, inflamed with martial ,^f ° ' f .^ JJ^"^i,e(I from various quarters tionm the recollecUon of msults they had receiv^^^ southward, and in the season of ihe.r adverse f°'',V;'"^^Slui the borders of clroli- conquered the whole country from ^^ ^iss'ss^ppi^^ na ^exterminating numerous ^nbes a^^^^^^^^^ ^^J^^^^ . Many of the Indian albss of ^ ''^S'"'^/r ' „ J,„ compelled to take arras, and 'these colonies themselves we e Jequ«m») ^^7^^^ j ^^,,, both in defence of ^^.^^^f 'f ^v ^ "vo^^^^^^^^ h^ir invade^rs Lived the allies incensed and alienated by d»^covi.r ng ^^^ ^^^^ -A curious inBtanccot the compla.«a,.re of ths j,eoplo « r.m ^J ^^^^^ ^ count of a tribe of «»\'^«\«^5\XIC ml conference Chwlevoix boaftH that the French aWaya appearing stark "»»'«'*«' ^^^""'""'/gSee^^^^ in rendering thohiselves agreeable to are tfce on\y European peope ^f? J*'*;^:" '"d « l'"" «'f'"» Senonville, the governor of «.o Indian/; and yet he tum«e f h«» F^^^^^^ S^^ofJi^^^a^d^ppei^riiig alwaya good-humorod. • Los.... CHAP. II] TREATY WITH THE FIVE NATIONS. j^ of peace, embraJng all the EneL e t l.l!'' ^a'TV ^-'^"h '"'^'Y them. Harchets, co^respon iinrTo the „,?!? fl''^l' "!• f'^""'' ''''^ were solemnly buried in L g cfund • and thf Z, f ,^^^ ^n.hsh colonies, ,he acknovvle^iged supreme head on^eEtir and ^^ '' w.re suspended along the frontiers of th^K • Ha"T.P°"fe*^^'"«^y' Vox this ireaty the Five Nations Ion. continue? tnT' *' ^"" •^"''°"^-' respect ; and'their fidelity to hs enlamnents wn ^"'"""f.f^^^ «" '"^'«J«ble renewal of hostilities between them and thpirn' T"''''^ P'T"^"^ ^y ^ It was at this time that the me chTu^of Ne^^ S fi^fT'' '^' J""^"^^" great lakes to the westward, honinrto nfrfl J; ? • ^ u "^^^"^"••ed on the he French were pursuing wthrcVnrEnTr"^-" '•' ^"^''H^' ^'^'^h endeavoured to guard from inva^on by urenoJl^^^ ^^'"^ '^^'^ K„glish,and by Lry artifice tStetTETtroit tlr^^^^^^^^^^ the French colonists from navl^gThrLVeV^trbX^e^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Nations, and, consequently, as ho apprehended, to England Bu In n swer h.s application he was admonished that' it was p eposterou; o ex" pect that France would command her subjects to desi t ffom a "ucra^v; commerce, for the benefit of their rivals ; and he was di ec^ed rather bv acts hberahty and courtesy to encourage the Indians to retain thelaS rence to England, and to mduce all the tribes, from regard ?o their own ■nterest, to trade w.th the English in preference to the Sh observh^^ jnthal such prudence as might prevent offence to European nefeour'sf far were these views frorn being accomplished, thatVrom tl^sthie there commenced a series of disputes between the two rations, which fo the greater port of a century engaged them in continual wars and hoS intrigues that threatened the destruction of their colonial settlements, cost thetJes of many of the European colonists, and wasted the blood and promoted the !?th"r Zuiity"' ""^"'""''' '"^""^ "^« "^- --'-d S^ *e vortex On the death of Charles the Second [1685], the Duke of Ybrk ascend- ed his brother's throne ; and the province of which he had been the proprie. tyy devolved with all its dependencies, on the British crown. tKodL of New York received with improvident exultation the account of thdr proprietary's advancement to royalty, and proclaimed him as their monarch with he liveliest demonstrations of attachment and respect TWiad been for sonrie t.nje past soliciting with much eagerness a formal S of he constitution tha' was now practically established among theni fand the duke had promised > gratify them in this particular, and acfually proceeded 30 far as to sign a patent in conformity with their wishes, whi?h at his Z.Z V^" throne, required only some trivial solemnity to render omplete and irrevocable. But James, though he could not pretend to for g^wasjVDt^slmmedjovb of England, thiew /;"S*^""' , mnreded. In the second year of his reign he mvested liongan ^v'"' " "^ . • ^^xes ; and commanding consent of a council, to ^"'^^V ^Ti^A Thoueh he now appointed Andros him to suffer «« P'-»»'^"^-P';"V".'X;, iSd [J^^ 16B6], he paused to administer the govermnent ot New ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ awlVile before ^e -tu.^^^^^^^^^^^ , ^, dros to gov- m New York. But te people r additional token of their medium of the press. j. j j^^j^g^ by habit to ""^r th iSen:r t^nt d osUion^o::^ with rigor^ a syste. regard with inditlerence, ;"»" "^ J ji ly the remainder of his adminis- of arbitrary government ; j?'*' ''f e^^'^J^^ j ^,3 ^^t discreditable to his tration, though less f^^« "^^e to his p^^^^^^^^^^ character, and continued to disclose «^^^f l"^J„7^^^^ Though hifnself a to the public weal which .ts ""^^^ '^^^^„^/S^^^^^ Roman Catholic, he beheld with a^arrn and res^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^ of the French priests into the 'f^^rf^elourt of France to command him his bigoted master was P'^"""'^^^// ';;' '7/ "he Catholic church, he con- to delist from thus obstructing the progress o f^^^^^.^^ ^f ^i^ Jesuits tinued nevertheless to w« n^h^ ^n^^^^^^^^^^ ,„d to their friendshin 'T.VXrh 6e sti Unssted'that the French should not treat U with the English, lie s""' ,/..,,. u:„ ^^iy[xy and ntervention ; but the Indian aUies of New York w bout h's^F^^^^^^ ^^^ j^ the French court again en^P^ed '^^ mflu^nc^^^^^ pretension. The Five consequently received of --^j;, ;& ,0 heTd the Assistance of his forces Nations, however, ««^7«tnolLv Their untutored sagacity had long per- than the suggestions of b'« pobcy . 1 heir un ^^^. j^ ^^.^^.^^ ^^^^^,^ ceived, what the mmisters of ^^e court o.^ng j^ ^^^ themselves to discern, that the «;;tensive projects of t ancebot,^^^ ^^^^^,^^ .^ with «ub "gallon, and portended a serious^..^^^^^^ B^ ^^^^ ^^^ the diminution of their ^^^^^f ^^ Ji^' f^.^^^^^^^^^^ The treaty, that excluded arated them from the rival s.^^tle^n^^t of Canada^ 1 ne u^ ^^^^^ the Five Nations from hostile «\P«^;°"!,;^^,tu;e to Xnd with less dis- allied to the other English ^olo".es, gave them hMs^ire .^^^^^ ^y traction to their nearer interests ; and <^".d'"6 '~/f^o^^^^^ French, they Ih^ suoplies -bich their nuinerouse^^^^^^^ [Se'^Lrwhich 4 had of late pretended a right to eonsiaer u ^ ■ ^jth this view, were entitled to chastise and '^«^\«\'/"^' 1" JJte/ed in ^ attacked all theC«»adian ^^^d^^ J^J^^'" •'j^yX Jthey w re at war. The rr3,^£'^ti^i^ct7t:rsi:^^^ CHAP. 11.1 NEW VORK ANNEXED TO NEW ENGLAND. ^ ,e|U.la.io„, „„d .l,elr ScTSn, IZ'n" '° """ <^.<'?'"«'r' ""eir W air aS^ ".3S ol^tv" ".al"' hi' J"'" ""T^ "■"^'=''"'- ^hey practised on the aincere &,'„ Z teliTi J'' ''""""'i' '"^ceMly Sddrcss .0 conclude with Wm a Irea/rofUS "'?'' "^F '"^ "?^ ""^ .680] by whiol. U „aa ^HpuJcd'tf nlr^'^^id^^ral^ to Indian tribes at war with tho nthoi. a- j .■'''"""'" 6'**^ assistance .he French .„.h„n.iea i clt^ '^^n.^W^K ii^reraeTr/S^e;': deavours to chastise by force or Hpha„nK k„ • . .^'""'" ^'gor /neir en- .ho preferred the EngLh aSnc^: to' tS; 'l^^S^l^lZ:^ '° n : f r/ K^°T ^'^ *"' ^^""''•y »° ^he erring policy This master and to abandon her alhes to the hostility, and her barrier to the vidattn of an insidious and enterprising rival. He could not, indeed divest him' sel of the interest he had conceived in the fortunes o the FVeNationT and seized every opportunity of imparting to them advice no ess prudeni than humane, respecting the conduct of their enterprises and the r^atmen of their prisoners. But his mability to fulfil former engagements and afford additional aid greatly detracted from the efficacy of hi! Counsel ThoZt the remonstrances of Dongan enabled the ministers of James o discovef in the following year [1687] that the treaty of neutrality for America was nrejudicial to the interests of England, it was impossible to prevent The S wiS ^n^ ' '" ''' ^'°- ^' ^'^ -- ^-' that impoliLTa^nfe! But the king had no intention of relinquishing his empire in America- and his mind, though strongly tinctured with bigotry, was not tofaUyTre' spective of political views ; though he seems ra?ely%o have miSd these considerations together. As his bigotry had prompted h^m T deliver up t.t Th-° ^*'^f '-^"^h, his policy now suggested the measure of com? pactmg all his northern colonies under one frame of government for thSr more effectual defence. To this design, assuredly, he wa3 a least as strongly prompted by the desire of facilitating the eJircise of his own pre rogative m the colonies, as by concern for the safety of their inhabitanTs ^As Je scheme he had formed incuded New York, and as he thought the todo his province now sufficiently prepared to abide the extremity of hifS he indulged the more readily the sentiments of displeasure that Doneanlad excited by obstructing the French Jesuits, which was a thLe of Snual SZ a"." 'd- T' '^ ^TA ^''' ^°'"--'- °f this Lrito ou frpl^ir FH "^j^'"f '''?!^ V"^°y«' ^"'"'"^"d to deliver up his S t. .h A -^ ^'!-^-"' ^^^'''^^ *^^Q^ 5 «"d New York not only re- P. 1 t^^^°"»"•°^.«f 'ts ancient tj^rant, but beheld its existence as a E FnJ;'nV"'7'f '''""^ ""'T^ '" "^ annexation to the government of New England. Andros remained at Boston as the metropolis of his iuris- diction, committmg the domestic administration of New York to Nicholson, i ''^"'^"«";-f ^«7°r ; and though, by the vigor of his remonstrances ana nis reoutation for abilnv ho r.«rv>r,«n„j »u_ t? i . . ♦ . .. _ - _!.«._ J .... ..viin/cticQ iiic r luiicii lo suspeoa some 406 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK V. lury ana lenuny „ponle of New York, deprived of their liberties, and dZflT^^ l\?aS^: N^lTEngl nd,'feU themselves additionally a^rieved Z the policy which compelled them to stand aloof and behold SS of aUies whom^ they had engaged to assist together with their own ■ m^t mnorJant interests, suspended on the issue of a contest m which they ^e noruffered to take a share ; while, at the same time their country. Ten in he eastern part of New England were harassed^by a dangerous San war ascribed on strong reasons to tlie intrigues of the French.^ But, Sotji deserted by the Enghsh, the Five Nations maintamed the struggle wUh an enei^gy that promised the preservation of their independence and, Mlv w hYsuccess that excited hopes even of the subjugation of their cSd adversaries. Undertaking an expedition against Montreal they con- Sed tlieir march with such rapidity and secrecy as to surprise the I ranch in^Sost unguarded security. [July, 1688.] The suddenness and fury of heir attlckCved irresistible. They sacked the town, wasted the neigh- bouringpWitSuons, put a thousand of the French to the sword, and earned away a nSer of prisoners whom they burned alive ; retummg to the.r ?^ ^^AvWvT thP loss of onlv three of their own number. It was now that rdi saXttage Iri sing froiJ L neutrality of the English was most sensibly fdt b the cruelties with which the Indians stained the triumphs they oh- dned and Z^Tlh^ inauence of a humane ally might have contributed o im.derate,« and also m the inability of the savages to improve their v.c- oririnto lasUng conquest. They strained every nerve, indeed, to follow UP the r advantage, and, shortly after the sack of Montreal, were enabled to oScupTthe fort It Lake Ontario, which the garrison m a panic abandoned ^o them ; and being now reinforced by the desertion of numerous Indian aUils S the French, they reduced the remaining possessions of this people in Canadrto a state of the utmost terror and distress. Nothing could have saved the French from total destruction, but the ignorance which aisabled the Indians from laying siege effectually to fortified places; and it was ^Lfest to every inSligent observer that' a singe vigorous act of interpo- Sn by Uie English colonist, would have sufficed to terminate for ever tlie riv dry of France and England in this quarter of the world.^ In the midst of a contest which the French and the Indians thus pro- longed by ^decisive hostilities, a scene of civil war and revolution was gradually evolved at New York. [1689.] A deep and increasing d.safiec- Uon to the government prevailed there among all ranks of men ; and ns the eeneal discontents of late had been plainly gathering to a head, some violent SrwarSully anticipated ; and 'perhaps was suspended by d.vjns .n sentiment arising from the different aspects in which the state o public a^rpJ^sen^S>elf_to_di fferent minds. To the^r^Uhj^andjh^- le frequently, and not bUd- CHAP, n.] GENERAL DISAFFECTION IN NEW YORK. 457 len ; and as the cerning the privation of liberty and the political degradation of the prov- ince appeared with justice the only public grievances which they had oc casion tc oeplore, or were interested to remove. But an outrageous dread o( popery had invaaed the minds of the lower classes of people, and not only aimmished real and substantial evils in their esteem, but Nearly extin- guished common sense in their understandings and common justice in their sentimen^ The king's well known bigotry, his attempts to introduce die Romish faith and churcn mtb England, and the protection which he extended to the operations of the French Jesuits among the Indians, had inculcated this additional apprehension on their irritated minds ; and the servile apos- tasy of some of the officers of government at New York, who endeavoured to court royal favor by professing to adopt the king's religious faith, ap- peared strongly to confirm it Some angry feelings that had been excited in the commencement of Colonel Dongan's administration were now sud- denly reawakened fronri slumber, to augment and diversify the prevailing ferments. At that period, notwithstanding the exertions of a former eov- ernor to adjust the boundaries of properly in Long Island, a variety of dis- putes on this subject prevailed m the same quarter between different indi- yiduals and different townships ; and on Dongan had devolved the thank- less office of adjusting these controversies by judgments, which could hardly fail to engender some enmity against himself^ In such cases it too com- monly happens that the arbitrator, seeking to gratify both parties, disappoints them both, and IS taxed on all sides with partiality ; or that, studying only to administer strict justice, he excites extreme discontent in those whom his award both deprives of the property they had hoped to keep or gain, and stigmatizes as unjust or unreasonable in their pretensions. Most n.en pos- sess sufficient mgenuity to supply them with plausible reasons for impifting the disappointment of their expectations to the dishonesty of those who obstruct or withhold them ; and defeated litigants have in all ages been noted for the vehemence and acrimony of their spleen. A great many persons who accounted themselves wronged by Dongan's decrees made no scruple to impute their disappointments to the darkness and obliquity of his popwA understanding. They conceived a violent jealousy of popish designs, which the recollection of their fancied wrongs preserved unimpaired either by the lapse of time or by the moderate and equitable strain of Dongan s admmistration. The rancorous sentiments harboured by these persons were revived and inflamed by recent events and appearances • the apostasy of some of the public officers confirmed their apprehensions of popery ; and the painful stroke intlicted by the establishment of civil tyran- ny was chiefly felt by them as aggravating the smart of a former and totally different injury. This class of persons esteemed popery the most terrible feature m the aspect of the times, and their own disappointments the most signal exemplifications of popish wickiidness ; and considered these as by far the fittest considerations to unite the general resentment and justify its vindictive reaction. While the minds of men were thus agitated by common discontent, but restrained from cordial union by difference of opinion and variety of apprehension, the public expectation was still farther aroused by intelli- gence from Europe of the invasion of England by the Prince of Orange, and by sympathy with the swelling scene which was in progress in the parent state. Yet no commotion had arisen, xvhen the important tidings ar- KK 438 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK V. ,.ed of the acce.io„ "f^Tjlet'^r tr^hiltSft ,689], and ° ll-^VoT Kvir con^^^^^^^^^^^ ^-f^'l^ V'^' '»" government of Andros. fY™, "I;. , , Loducine an cxp osion of popu ar "!'f "rff The^^e'rct *t^ ata"uthSs of Ne» U had n^tLu Violence, it the conauci ui i hesitation to comply mih, the gen- cated an intention to resist, or '^^ 1?!^* f J^f ^'^^^^^^^^ and his eral revolution of the ^.^^^^ J^'^daiming^^^^^ and Mary, but de- council, not only r«f»^'"^if'°VaX^^^^^^^^^^^ Boston, commanding, ^vith spatched a letter to 9°^^Xte release o^ Andros, and the chastisemont haughty menace, the ^^jf ^^^^^^^^^^^ to put him in confinement. of the insurrechonary rabble 7° 'j P'^'VV^^ ^^ £^ Revokition, the more Notwithstanding ^^s demonstration of oppo^tion to tn^^^^ perceived that their prudent and considerate ,V'''Xle of^the rest of the empire, and were iocal government must ollow '^e [ate^^J^^^^^^^^^^^^ of Nicholson and his disposed calmly to await the ^P^"^^"^".^,;^"^^^^^^^ or help from Britain council to Wilfiam and Maj^ o h^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^f^^^ ..^y of the people, to reduces them. But the •"JP;"^"^;. . j^j, with the terrors of popery, and especially of those who '^ ere panic s^^^^^J^ " ^ ^^^ apprehension could not aWde tins '^f^hl^. Niclo son and his associates in office.^ of some notable stroke o^ J^f M'^^"' '^' j ° 'lil ^ man of eager, headlong This party found a ch>.f - Ja^b ^^^^J^J^^^^^ ^.^^^ I,, J^ temper, endowed wi h much pieoeian i , ^^^^^^ .jj_^^,^^^_ shall..v capacity ; whose blazing ^^^l apmst PW. ^j^^ _ vuent ).y Andros, seeni^d to .^^^'f^J^ '"'^/^^/Irov nee. He had already tion to the political and ^e 'S^^V^^^X™?,;^,^/;^ p^^ customs for somi co.L.mitted the first act of '•^^^^"".tJ^L was a Papist, and that there was ;..ported goods, aUeg-g jhat t^e coUector - ^apist^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ i,o iegiumate government m "^e *^o»o"/- ' ' • invasion, and summoned pretJations for defending the city against a foreign •^;^^»° ; ^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^^ |. trained bands ^^ f^^^ ^^..^^^^^ 1680]; and rapists were preparing to '"^"^^'^'^^ '." ,? ^..„- .j bands, instantly marched Leisler, who commanded a <^^r^rUJ'^Vr^f^^^^ «f th^ fort. if the violence and „|,pre«,o„ ol jj'«"^ " he fort ^hUh thev l-e had not forced ihera.lo ''kV'",., ant oSr whom he king and qnecn ready to deUver np to »/ ''™'2 ' fi°S ha.T.e «™ "o. joined b, might depute to commmd . t. '^^^f '^j^^'^^^ ^^^^^ , ,„,,,e„ger .0 CHAP. U] LEISLER'8 USURPATION. 439 cut, persuaded the revolutionary leaders in these colonies to countenance his enterprise. But a report arising that an English fleet was approaching to assist the insurgents, their c luse was forthwith embraced by all classes of people m New York ; and Nicholson, app ehensive of sharing the treatment of Andros, fled to England. Unfortunately for Leisler, the command, which priority of resistance and the favor of the lower classes enabled him to ac- quire, his natural temper equally prompted him to retain, though surround- ed by men who dreaded his precipitancy and reluctantly submitted to his elevation. Ihese new associates had influence enough to cause a second proclamation to be issued, in which the unworthy censure on Dongan was omitted, and no stipulation whatever inserted as to jhe creed of the royal officer to whom the fort would be surrendered. It had been happy for all parties, if the jealousy of Leisler's rivals ha.l been satisfaed with this wise and moderate control over his measures Buc Courtlandt, the mayor of the city. Colonel Bayard, Major Schuyler, and several other persons of consideration, unable to brook the ascendency of a man whose birth and parts were inferior to their own, retired to Alba- ny, and, seizing the fort there, declared that they held it for King Williaii and disclaimed all connection with Leisler. Each party now professed ad- herence to the same sovereign, and denounced the other as rebels to his authority. Leisler, though intrusted by the militia with the sole command of the province, judged it prudent to associate some respectable citizens with himself in the- administration of his perilous functions. Having for- tified his own power by the appointment of a committee of safety at New York, he despatched his son-in-law, Milbourn, against the adverse faction at Albany. Courtlandt and his associates, burning with resentment, yet averse to shed blood in such a quarrel, were relieved from their perplexity by a hostile irruption of French and Indians [1690], which, by the desola- tion it inflicted on the surrounding country, either rendered their post untena- ble, or induced them to sacrifice their pretensions, for the purpose of ena- bling their countrymen to unite all the force of the province against the common enemy. Abandoning the fort to ^heir rival, they took refuge in the neighbouring colonies ; while Leisler, with rashly triumphant revenge, con- fiscated their estates. To add strength and reputation to his party, he sum- moned a convention of deputies from all the towns and districts to which his influence extended ; and this assembly, in which two deputies from Connecticut were admitted to assist as advisers, published various regula- tions for the temporary government of the province. But these legislative ordinances, and especially the financial impositions, were disputed by a pow- erful party among the colonists, whose indignation against Leisler was con- lined with difficulty to insults and menaces ; and many of the EngHsh in- liabitants of Long Island, wh=le they expressed a reluctant submission to his applied to Connecticut, and solicited this province to .^1 i_ i- !i r • I' .• 1 authority, privately annex their insular settlements to its jurisdiction. ^ In this unhappy state of division and animosity the colonists of New York remained nearly two years, notwithstanding a revolution, which, by elevating the Stadtholdor of Holland to the English throne, had promised to unite them together more firmly than ever. Happily, the quarrel exhib- ited no symptoms of national antipathy between the Dutch and English, who, without discrim ination of races, embraced respectively the party to ' Srjiith, Hutchin>nn. Tniinluill Phnlmnra ~ 440 HISTORY OF NORTH AMEEICA. [BOOK V. which their particular sentiments attached them ; and though a great deal of ra-'e and malignity was engendered between the two factions, no blood was slied by either while their controversy lasted. But, unfortunately, the miseries of foreign war and hostile invasion were soon added to Uie calam- ity of internal discord. The condition of. the French m Canada was sud- denly raised from the depth of adversity by the arrival of a strong rein- forcement from the parent state, under the command ol a skiliul ana en> terprising officer, the old Count de Frontignac, who now assun^ed the gov- ernment of the French settlements, and quickly gave an altered coniplexion to the affairs of his countrymen. He set on foot a treaty with the Five Nations, and succeeded, meanwhile, in obtaining a suspension of their hos- tilities. War had already been declared between France and England; and the dissensions among the inhabitants of New York seeming to invite an attack upon this province, he undertook to revive the drooping spirits of his people by improving the tempting opportunity of success. A numerous troop of French and Indians was accordingly collected, and despatched in the depth of winter against New York. 3y a strange coincidence, which seemed to have been decreed for the purpose of branding the trench name in America with the blackest ingratitude and inhumanity, this party, hke their predecessors in 1665, after wandering for twenty-two days through deserts rendered trackless by snow, approached the village of fechenecta- dv, so travel-tainted, hunger-bitten, and benumbed with cold, that they oro- tfosed to surrender themselves to the inhabitants as prisoners of war. ieb- ruarv 1690.1 But, arriving at a late hour on an inclement night, and learn- ine from the messengers whom they had sent forward to tender their sub- mission, that the inhabitants were all in bed, without even the precaution of a public watch, they exchanged the design of imploring mercy to themselves for a plan of nocturnal attack and massacre of the defenceless people to whose charity their own countrymen had once been so highly indebted. This ungrateful and sanguinary purpose was executed with barbarous alac- rity • and the scene which ensued must be acknowledged to afford one of the most loathsome and detestable pictures that have ever been exhibited of human cruelty and ferocity, inflamed by the dire and maddening conta- gion of frantic example. Dividing themselves invo a number of parties, they set fire to the village in various places, and attacked the inhabitants with fatal advantage, when, alarmed by the conflagration, they endeavoured to escape from their burning houses. The exhausted strength of the h rencli seemed to revive with the blaze of destruction, and their spirits to catch a fiery energy, and wild, ferocious glee, from the animated horror of the Fxene. Net only were all Uie male inhabitants they could reach put to death, but pregnant women were ripped up, and their unborn infants dashed against tlie walls of the houses. But either the delay occasioned by this elaborate barbarity, or the more merciful haste of the flames to announce the calamity to those who might still fly from the assassins, enabled many of the inhab- itants to escape. The bloodthirsty efibrts of the assailants were also some- what impeded by a careful discrimination which they judged it expedient to exercise. Though umnindful of benefits, they were not regardless of policy; and of a number of Mohawk Indians who were residing m the village, not one sustained an injury. Sixty persons perished in the massacre, and twenty- fteven were taken prisoners. Of the fugitives who escaped half naked, • ■ • ' !!rh a storm of snow to Albanv, twenty-five lost the ^kU 1-^ •u-»: n«r trtKr\*ir CHAP. 11] SCHEME FOR THE INVASION OF CANADA. 441 use of their limbs from the intensity of the frost. The French, having to- tally destroyed bchenectady retired loaded with plunder from a place where .t Will probably be thought that even the celebrated contemporary atroci! ues of their countrymen m the Palatinate had been equalled, if not exceeded. ^tp nf N T i ®J^^"^«*«dy excited general consternation in the prov nee of New York. Forces were quickly raised to repel or retort the hostility of the French ; and on the application of Leisler^he province of ^^^'ZTl'V'TF'^''''''^''''''''' ^•««'^- ItwaXunddifficuhto ^TfL^ ITJ^T"^ '""JT ^'''''^y ''''^ ^"'«« ^ho had once de- 'nil ; but they declared that no artifices of the French should ever prevail with them to adopt the quarrel or espouse the interest of an ancient enemy against an ancient fnend. As the province of Massachusetts was severely harassed at the same Ume by Indian hostilities instigated and aided ly Count l-rontignac, a scheme was projected between the New England states «f New York for a general invasion of Canada.^ An expedition, commanded by Sir William Ph.pps, sailed from Boston against Quebec • and the united forces of Connecticut and New York, under the command of Genera Winthrop, ivere to march against Montreal. But Leisler's son- m-lavv, Milbourn, who acted as commissary-general, had made such im- perfect provision for the expedition, that, partly from this defect, and partly trom the inability of the Indians to supply as many canoes as they were ex- pected ic furnish for crossing the rivers and lakes, the general was oblieed to convoke a council of war, and, in conformity with the unanimous opinion of his officers, to order a retreat. [Sept., 1690.] The expedition against Quebec was equally unsuccessful. Leisler, transported with rage whin he jvas informed of the retreat, caused Winthrop to be arrested ; but was instantly compelled by universal indignation to release him. Infatuated and reiidered giddy by his dangerous elevation, this man began to display the unbuckled spirit that precedes and portends a fall. The government of Connecticut, incensed at the affront by which he revenged the fruit of his kinsman s incapacity on the ablest officer and most respected inhabitant of iheir provmce, signified in very sharp terms their astonishment and displeas- ure at his presumption, and warned him that his own predicament demanded more than ordinary prudence and circumspection, and that he stood in urgent need of friends.^ Leisler, indeed, had reason to tremble. King William at first received his messenger with the most flattering encouragement, and admitted him to tlie honor ol kissing his hand, in testimony of his satisfaction with the conduct of affairs at New York. But Nicholson, on his arrival in England, found means to gam the ear of the king, and instil into his mind a prejudice, of which the attainment of royalty rendered it extremely susceptible, against the insurgents both of Boston and New V-,k. William returned thanks, indeed, to the people of l^ew York, by Le..'.r's messenger, for their fidel- ity ; but in none of hss romraunications with either Boston ur New York did lie recognize the g-v i.ucis whom the people had appointed ; and he demonstrated to the mhahuf^nts of both those places how very lightly he re- garded their complaint^ .itrainst Andros and Nicholson, by subsequently pro- moting these men to the government of others of the American provinces He would, doub tless, have continued to keep New York and Massachusetts ' Me, Book II., Ch«p. V. •Smith. Trumbull. " ■- VOL. 1. Sewe't, MS. Die.rv. anud HolmAg, 56 442 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK V • J 4 ^r,^ nnlitical frame ; but plainly foreseeing that he must grant united under ^"« P^^ //^^V.hat he might hope to evade a similar con- a <=h?'^^«'^^\^;7;rk which had never yet possessed thiS advantage, he '''''°",«d to relepLtTon which both desired, and in August 1689, com- consented to the sepaiauuu nrovince to Co onel Sloughter. In nmted the separate S^^^J^ ^l^^^.^ sUuaS>n of his mastl's affair consequence however of Aeemb^^^^^^ ^.^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^^ in England, Slo^S^^/ d^^^"^^";^ ""l^ till Leisler and his partisans had his ^PP^'"^'"^"^ tMa ch 19, 1691] and ^^ ^^^ ^^^^^.^^^ .^ enoyed power so ^o^S^vvTerrexcLdingly afraid, to re^ Leisler with so much odmm that they vveeexc^e ,j^ ^.^^^6^ ^^.^ seems to have hoped to ^hej^^'/;'^' ^^^ authority, ^2X^0^^^^^^^^^ Colonel Sloughter to himself no otherwise noti^e'J |^;«" "7 the language of folly and fury, that he deliver up the fort, he ^^Jf^'^' " J.'^t^^^^^^^^ under the king's own would not surrender It, unle^ "^^^^^^^^X^Z, unfortunately, possible to hand, were exhibited. S"^* . ^ '^'° „ ^"j^^ain • and he only sealed his fate T'Tl'Xt d^TpZ andluti ird hirrmies witl. a fegal pretext ,o by this sally oi despair, dim ^^ ^^^^^^ "an "?Lrtt°~'s L"";^! no7v readny.ope„e/.„ aU4e "? ,.• ,lm LelTorl enemies hastened to prefer agamst h,m ; and a|. °^ n ^il'^r^ullishter having thus established his authority in tiie province, or. A Si'n^ff »""' I ? roval eovernors and their councils, bin regulatu^ns es abhsbed^^^^^^^ %^ .__ ,„^ even the lav\s enacieu uy n v v . . ^ j^ j ceased to be pretext, that, h-mgj>ecn v.da^^^^^^^^^^^ ,^ ,.^ ,,. bindmg on the P?°Pl^-,^;.;;X convocation of a representative assembly sence of a provincial cliarter, V^^^^^J^^^^^''".,,^ q, ,\^e mere grace of the proceeded H'", SU d^^^^^^^^^^^^^ "" '^' ""''''''' king, a remarkable law dcclarativeiy amuug birthright of the colo- ertils of Englishmen formed « P^^^^Xd ^rS Leisler and nists ; but this law was afterwards f7""^f ^^^^^^^^^ Dudlev, whom Milbourn were now brought to trial, for high treaso^^^ ^^^. ,^^ ^^^^ the king had r«^-^ly,,!PP"t oft e^^^^^^^ -"^« r^-^"^'«" ^" previously been expelled from otticc at « s ^ ^^^^^^ ^^ ;vhich the prisoners owed ^l^^;^^^^.^"^//^;;^^"^ JlZ a candid appecia- cupied by an e-P«-/^j^/^"^^^^^^^^^^ expected. Denlig the tion of the conduct of the accusea was i r eonvirted, competency of the tnbuf -^ reft, g to pkad,^t^^^^^^^ and received sentence of death. Ane^go;ej , ^^^.^_ horn inflicting the doom of traUors T J^^-^^^^.Pr o7l is so ereign ; and, habitants, had /irst cecUred t^-f ^^^^ ^ o tbe Vnglish ministers, de- shortly after the trial [Mav, 691], ^\^°'^ /^^ "V^^^^ ^^^^ad be disposed s.rine them to direct him in wlut manner the^convjct.^sncn^^^^^^^^ ^^| ^^^.^ of: "but he had hardly taken ti.w step, wnen mc renvr.,-. .-- CIIAP. 11 ] RENEWAL OF THE TREATY WITH THE FIVE NATIONS. 443 enemies induced him to alter his purpose, and issue the warrant of death, which was instantly carried into execution. > The adherents of Leisler and Milbourn, who had been much enraged at the sentence, were confounded witli terror and astonishment when they beheld its fatal result, and began to tiy in such numbers from the province, that it was judged expedient to pass in haste an act of general amnesty. Leisler's son complained to the king of the execution of his fathgr and the confiscation of his property ; and the privy council, pronouncing, that, although the trial and execution were legal, it was advisable, under the peculiar circumstances of the case, to re- store the forfeited estate, this was all the grace that could for some time be obtained. But a compensation more honorable and satisfactory was awarded soon after ; and, during the reign of the same king, the English parliament decreed a reversal of the provincial attainder. The passions, which Leis- ler's administration excited in one party, and which his execution com- iniinicated to the other, continued long to distract the public councils, and embitter the social intercourse of the inhabitants of New York.^ The most respectable circumstance of Sloughter's short administration was a conference which he held with the chiefs of the Five Nations, who admitted that they had hearkened to the enticing overtures of the French, and so far relaxed their hostile purposes against this people, as to entertain propositions for a lasting peace with them ; but now they willingly con- sented to brighten, as they termed it, their ancient belt of friendship, and to renew a league, offensive and defensive, with the English " We remem- ber," they declared, " the deceit and treachery of the French ; the belt they have sent us is poison ; we spew it out of our mouths ; and are re- solved to make war with them as long as we live." On his return from this conference, a sudden death put a period to Sloughter's administration.^ [July, ";91.] To confirm the Indians in the purposes they now professed, and to ani- mate by exercising their hostility against the French, Major Schuyler, who had acquired extraordinary influence with the Five Nations by his courage, good sense, and friendly attention to their interests, undertook, in the close of this year, an expedition against Montreal at the head of a considerable body of provincial and Indian forces. Though the invaders were finally compelled to retreat, the French sustained great loss in several encoun- ters, and the spirit and animosity of the Five Nations vi^ere whetted to such a pitch, that, even when their allies retired, they continued during the win- ter to harass the enemy with incessant attacks. Count Frontignac, whose sprightly manners and energetic character supported the spirits of his coun- trymen under every reverse, was so provoked with what he deemed the ingratitu de o f the Five Na tions for the forbearance shown to them at Sche- ' " When no other measures could prevail with the governor, tradition informs us that a sumptuous feaut wras prepared, to which Colonel Sloughter was invited. When hia Excel- lim y's reason was drowned in his cups, the entreaties of the company prevailed on him to sit;!! the denth-warrunt, and before he recovered his senses the prisoners were executed." Smith. At their execution, Leisler and Milbourn confessed their errors, ascribing them to ignorance, jealous fear, rashness, and passion, and evinced great courage, composure, and piety. •' I hope these eyes shall see our Lord Jesus in heaven," were the words of Leisler tth"n the executioner bound a handkerchief round his face. Bancroil. ' Smith. Chalmers. ' Golden. Smith. Of the language in which the Indians, when pressed by the Frencn, ap- ulii'd for lielp to the governors of New York, tho follovviru', nmonj; other specinions, has wen preserved by these writtrs. " We speak to you now in tfio name of the Five Nations, ami come to you howling. This is the reason why wo howl, — that the governor of Can- ada encroaches oil our IriiitiB.'' &,c. 444 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK V. * A that besides encouraeing his own Indian allies to burn their pris- re^ a'lWthe h -^^^^ ^^ ^ ^-^^ still more Jreadlul two Mo- hawk warders who fell into his hands. [1692 ] In vam tlie t rench pnosts LmonS^d against Uiis sentence, and urged h.m not to bnng so louU ^^nnth« Christian name ; the count declared that every other consuiera- .tarn on ^e t^^^"f '^" "^ "^^ and defence of his people, and that he SdTt LX rSr l^emert'aln the i>elief that they -#t pra^.e t^^^ extreme of cruelty on the French wiUiout risk of requital. If he lad been merely alated by politic considerations, without being stimulated by re- merely aciuaieu y j> perceived, from the conduct of all the Indian Sin Xif I r:iKcVother, tbit the fear of retaliation had no effi- triDes m uieir "*•; . ,u j^ barbarous pracUces, which he now TdLroottrsa" ioT " far TSis example was enable of doing The oS findUig that their humane intercession was unavailing, repaired to the Prisoners and labored to persuade them to embrace the Christian faith, as rnrenaratioD for the dreadful fate which men calling themselves Chrmmns wereTepared to inflict on them ; but their instructions were rejected ^v.,h were preparea |" ' prisoners resolved to dignify by In- rrse^teT a^ d^^^^^^^^ IndL death they were doomed to un- i S^ before the execution, some Frenchman less mhuman than hisTovernor, threw a knife into the prison, - and one of the Mohawks de- his governor, uucv cnrvivor col ect ne; his soul, and e?4pr3ssing fS «r ToTefltrl'Xtad oL'S^n.a„y Fre„ch.en .„ ier,, ,1,. same pansT vhich he was now himself prepard lo euiu. • Ante, Book I!., Chap. V. LL 446 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK V. to exercise the dignified functions of supreme and impartial merits, was " Vorlunately for New York, tlie indiscretion of her governor was prevent- ed from being so detrimental as it Height otherw.se have proved o her I„. ^ «„ Wuerests by U,e confidence he reposed m Major Schuyler, whose dian uueresis, oy ui« •- , n-eserve the affections and sustain t ho .eighty .nfluence -- -P^^^ ,^^^^^^^^^ indeed, was rendered by spirit of the Jive ^^«**°°^; X" ,,• . ^^^ Frontignac, even while occu- the prov ncal g^^^XfJ^^^j^'^^En^^^^^ by his vigor and activity P"'^ fl't otle^f sevVr"elflV ' Stir'red by this intelligence, Fletch/r to mflict on them a severe "le j demanded if any of them assembled the ^'^'\^l/^^^^^^^^ the French. ^The men were willing to march "^^f "'^J^^^^^^^^ u Qne and all." Their threw up their hats m '^>« f '^ ^"^1^7; u^^^^^^^^ the Indians ; and though It P'T^^^^ "" . f promptitude to lend them assistance, that they regardedasademonstratmn 01 prompt ^^ ,^ ""''l ntrfhlr "a^i wa's too&^ marked, nevertheless, tliai J^^ . ^^ , j^-i^ ^y,^ ^hoie power of succour tdl It had beoo";« ""^^^^^^^^^^^^^ efforts to maintain the France m America was ^°r^,f "/^^'^^^ ^jth partial and divided opera- Tbefnationd one) took no share in the^.ost^^^^^^^^^^ at al • ^^^^ ^^^^^ 0ufnttd\7eilT^^^^^^^^^ rnin^uccouTng the Indians ; though it was to li.s services in this last par- fcular that he owed what little popularity he enjoyed m the provmce. A Sfant to Sie church of England, he labored incessantlrto introduce a model bigot to "^«, ."r^""^*^" °;/;^^^ virk and naturally encountered much resist- of her ««;«b>'«''™«f*"^T/o;p^gite predilections of the Dutch and other ance to this projec from ^^e oPPO^^^e pr ^^^^^^^ .^ procuring a bill Presbyterianinhabitants. At lensui ms ci or assembly of parishes : but when «» <><'""^' J | j ,g,, , pro,iso that the governor d>e privilege of fecUng ihu ^^ '^'"'''''»„,-, ? „„d eoUating the beam- L'r" ,ra™:„ tnT:7 2: wtive-1 b/t.,e assetnbly^ The ^o,. S ; exas;r.e"a. their opposition, called the -™ber' be ore h™^^^^^^^^^ positively denied^ mu^ leil 7^^ J^.^^^ ^^^^^ have but a S°r:tX It^P^ power o^he .ov^rn^^.^rfet^::. take all upon X?"- ""^ K » Y;'2rr„f ,„rHou?e of Lords or appc, .1 .«». „r Nnur Vnrk. * Golden. Smith. CHAP. II.] TEMPER OF FLETCHER'S ADMINISTRATION. 447 great charge to the country. Ten shillings a day is a large allowance, and you punctually exact it. You have been always forward enough to pull down the lees of other mimstors in the government. Why did not you think >t expedient to correct your own to a more moderate allowance ^ " The ,nenibt-is of assembly endured the ebullitions of his violence and spleen with invincible patience ; but not the less firmly did they withstand his pretensions. In the following year [1694], their disputes were so frequent that all public business was mierrupted ; and the governor, with policy more splenetic than deliberate, announced his intention of convoking the assembly no more. But though his own emoluments were secured by an act that established the pub- lic revenue for a series of years, the necessity of raising farther supplies to make presents to the Indians, and the arrival of a body of troops from Uriiain, obliged him to depart from his purpose. He was directed also by the king to lay before the assembly an assignment which his Majesty had framed ot the quotas » to be respectively contributed by the colonies for I the maintenance of a force against the French. The assembly could not be persuaded to pay the slightest attention to this royal proposition But they made a liberal grant of money for the support of the troops that had arrived, and added a present to the governor ; who now perceiving that the people of rSew York, though endowed with a spirit over which his insolence and passion could obtain no triumph, might yet be rendered subservient to his avarice, ceased to harass himself and them by farther pressing obnoxious schemes, and cultivated a good understanding with the assembly during the remainder of his administration. In the prosecution of this altered policy lie was more successful than some other royal governors of the American provinces, whose remarkable unpopularity during many years of honest and praiseworthy exertion has excited surprise in those who have not examined with sufficient minuteness the whole of their official career. Like Fletcher, those officers were at first disposed to regard the provincial inhabitants as an inferior people, and commenced their administration with insolent, dom- ineering carriage, and arbitrary pretensions ; like him, they learned wisdom from experience ; but before the lesson was taught, the opportunityof profit- ably applying it had been lost ; the people had ceased to be as tractable as in former days ; and the spirit of liberty, thoroughly exercised, had be- come prone to suspect encroachment, and prompt to repel as well as firm in resisting it. Their administration was embarrassed by the total want of pub- lic confidence, which, having once deservedly forfeited it, they found that even a coniplete change of measures was insufficient to regain. From igno- rance or disregard of such considerations as these, it has been supposed, and plausibly maintained by many writers, that the executive government of the American provinces was obstructed by the factious obstinacy of a per- verse and unreasonable people ; when, in truth, the governors were but reaping what themselves and their predecessors had sown, and struggling with the just suspicions that their original misconduct had created. Tn all the provinces where either regal power was not circumscribed by cnarters, or where (as in Massachusetts) the nomination of the chief executive officer was by charter reserved to the crown, such were, not unfrequently, the pro- ' The list of the respective quotas was as follows : — Pennsylvania £ 80 Rhode Island and Providence Massachusetto 350 Connecticut Maryland 160 New York Virginia S40 This assignment wu durogarded by every one of the colonies. £48 lao 900 IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // <« ^ ,«* 1.0 I.I 1.25 Ki 12.2 |45 Hi Ui Hi ^ yo 112.0 III 1.8 U ill 1.6 <^ 7] /2 / '/ HiotDgraphic Sciences Corporation 33 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14S80 (716) 872-4S03 \ (v 9> -^ ^^ ^ l/j 448 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK V. ceedines of the British governors, and the compexion of their adm,ni3tra- ZTmd Britain, it must be confessed, by delegating authority to.uch men 'and abetting such policy, took infinite pains tonounsh and educate the TpS of liberty in those of her colonial dependences, where it seemed least ^''^^Cremtder'^^^^^^^ - -t distinguished by any domestic Tcurrrence that deserves to be particularly commemorated 1 he waXtweTn ^e French and the Five Nations sometimes languished l^r the Tddre^s of Frontignac's negotiations, and was oftener kindled into addit.ona toy and havoc by his enterprise and activity. Neither age nor sickness could chJl 3fe aXr o7 this commander's spirit, or impair the resources of h.s caPacUy. On the direshold of his o^vn fate,i and supported m a hUer, he flew to every point of attack or defence, to animate the courage of his sol- fth^ir'StS 4^-^ ,t it^TotsTt: J? iaspiredwidjam^uale^d^^^^^^^^^ Cct, i:s^ptpare?S;rcaaorand physical ifbits for -h extremes of su&r S! endured a great deal more pain than they inflicted. [1696.] C^ r A * A^.n.JtaA n( nil its e^ridon except a sachem in extreme om age, whoZ«ld~»J^o?rp!!lati«n ; b^., seated wiO.. dl .he Brmness WHO Deirayea no »>» v p i^ • ujg caoitol, saluted his civilized com- •«:lCattd drr^tu^dr^^^^^^ ^^' ^very ba„d ^B i^ta^dy litedTwiund hi. time-stricken frame ; and while French and SirSs were plunged into his body, he contemptuously advised h.s Indian Kn»^?J^^f, / \ u;^ ^^^^l^ f^^^ ;„ order tliat their French allies Indian enemieis ratoer to Durn imn wmt mo, !««„«, ni»rhans " might learn, ftom his example, how to suffer like men. ^eve^ Perhaps Ji Charlevoix, " ^asa man treated with more cruelty , nor ever did any ^dure it with superiormagMn^^ competition took RI^^^J^^^^", J^ J^Stge^^^^^^^^^ «M''^ c*rtmn which peoolc <^°"W'"2 Jf^'^ofeX account than that the Indian., greatly excel lod horrid tre|«dv thai ensued » »''""J'J^ ?*••„"", .„.norta of laUihter by the fitntaBtic variety of ^h--™l-'^«>"^!!SL*^'«"^^!fc?h o dir;C to hav*e beenVon^pted to this bnn:,,. Thfi French soldiers appear to have been prompted to this brut;,l. rdferJcUy Their clman^^^ object was to create .ireconc,l«bIc^..n. lty\T:"r:fe7en«f^^^^ Jl^ ^^STf^: N&r CoW^r But it was after- nfity between a trtTni n_evrly alHed to h.m^ ITJ.I'uLL the imitation of savage practice,, U,r 1 me rnre iiuuuim. ^«.-~-- which Indian principle confined it ^hich Indian principle confined It. . ^„_ .Uw all their oriMnera. A great many re- > Neither thS French nor th^ I"^•7^•';7,^ 'and 1 hKcEn it was remarked that mained to^be "changed a the end of the w«^,^^^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ .^ . j . .„....„„„ ,. „--_.ged «ttho-J°f 'he war; a^^^^^ all the Indians returned with '''""^tX *'J *inTuc"F^^^^^ difiicult, and in some utterly impoemble, to «n«Iuce r '^"^ •"""", - rj.^; ^^ jo \nctem H'e the Indian, and embraced their httbits, to return to civ'Hjfd me^ „:„i",„Tn,«n. Civilization STSnIiian. and embraced tl.eir h«biu. to return to cmu.ea^^ ^.^ probability that the 1"^ r"™ »f« *J«8«X,Woi^^^^^^^ The English frnplies a virtuous conflict, »»^l>"\™ " "^Tr frS who had been token prisoners bv the found it no less difficult to prevail ^'^^ ^Xn tmc A^ith them, to return to New York; French Indians, and ived for «"y «°"«^/ f^'Jln'^e^t^r plenly?th^^ the common inhabit. " though no people enjoy more libert;^, and ''"J" f *";!! /u^ ,J^; i„dians wa« no less ran; in .nt. of Nsw York do;- Golden, v he e«orci»e of mercy by "'e^o'";;; „«„„p.i thev in- ita occurrence than singular in its elTecu. ,. .u .: . .„i.nm ihpv nMMrved they in- CHAP, n.] LORD BELLAMONT APPOINTED GOVERNOR. 449 The governor of New York from time to time encouraged the Five Na. tions to persevere in the coatest, by endeavouring to negotiate alliances be- tween them and other tribes, and by sending them valuable presents of am* munition, and of the European commodities which they principally esteemed; and their communications to him fluctuated between grateful acknowledg' ments of these occasional supplies, and angry complaints that he foucht all Ins battles by the hands of the Indians. Indeed, except repelling some in- significant attacks of the French on the frontiers of the province, the English governor took no actual share in the war, and left the most important in- terests of his countrymen to be defended against the efforts of a skilful and mveterate foe, by the unaided valor of their Indian allies. The peace of Byswick [September, 1697], which interrupted the hostilities of the French and English, threatened at first to be attended with fata! consequences to those allies to whose exertions the English were so highly indebted ; and if lletcher had been permitted to continue longer in the government of New York, this result, no less dangerous than dishonorable to his country- men, would most probably have ensued. A considerable part of the forces of Count Frontignac had been employed hitherto in warlike operations agamst Massachusetts and New Hampshire, in conjunction with the numer- ous Indian confederates of the French in that quarter. But the peace of Ryswick, of which he now received intelligence, enabled him to concen- trate his whole disposable force against the only foe that remained to him • and refusing to consider the Five Nations as identified with the English, he prepared to invade them with such an army as they never before had to cope mth, and overwhelm them with a vengeance which they seemed incapable of resisting. ^ But Fletcher was now very seasonably succeeded by the Earl of Bella- mont [April, 1698] in the government of New York and Massachusetts ; and this new governor, who wa^ well endowed with both resolution and ca- pacity, perceiving the danger and injustice of suffering the French to exe- cute their design, promptly interposed to counteract it. He not only furnished the Five Nations with an ample supply of ammunition and military stores, but notified to Count Frontignac, that, if the French should pre- sume to attack them, he would march with the whole forces of his province to their aid. The count thereupon abandoned his enterprise, and complained to his sovereign (Louis the Fourteenth) of the interruption it had received ; while Lord Bellamont, in like manner, apprized King William of the step he had taken. The two monarchs commanded their respective delegates to lend assistance to each other, and exert a spirit of accommodation in mak- ing the peace effectual to both nations, and to leave all disputes concerning the dependency of the Indian tribes to the determination of commissioners --^Z'!''f_j^*'*^ na med in pursuanc e of the treaty of Ryswick. Shortly dulgcd a degree of tenderness very remote from the stoicism which they commonly affected; and when obliged to surrender them, confessed the pain of the sacrifice by unwonted effusioni « tears. Ssee a description of the restoration of some of these prisoners in Dodsley's Annual Ktgisterfor 176.5. The celebrated Mrs. Grant of Lnggan, even while enjoying andf ndorning. in mature age, the refined happiness of civilized society and literary dlstincHon, confeisod, ilrat, from her aMidental intercourse in early youth with the Mohawk Indians, she had imbibed an attBchment flir these savages, and even for their mode of life, which no after circumstan- ces had been able to counteract. So many English prisoners have remained and married in the Indian settlements (sayi jToiegjor Kalm), and so many French traders have spontaneously united themselves to the Indians, thaj ihe^" Indian blood in Canada is very much mixed with European blood, and n Jfcst part ui iac andians now living (1749) owe liidit origia to Jiiurope." VOL. 1. 57 LL 460 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK V. after the reception of these mandates, a peace was concluded between the tWh andX Five Nations ; but not till English msolenco and French address had nearly detached these tribes entirely from the allmnce they had so steadily maintained, by leading them to believe that the Eng^^h .nterposed iaS concerns for no other reason than that they accourted them the.r vassals The French endeavoured to take advantage of the.r lU-humor by pJess ng them to admit an establishment of Jesuits into their settlements But ES the Indians at first entertained the proposition, and listened with their usSavity and politeness to the enticing harangue of a Jesuit who was de- Dut^d to support it,» their habitual sentiments soon prevailed over atran- Et dTscontem, and they declared their determination to adhere to the Eng- bh and to rec;i.;e, instead of the French priests, a mission of Protestant pas ors which Lord Bellamont engaged to introduce among them.'^ ^ Some Ses that prevailed, and some disorders that were apprehended at New York, had prompted King William to bestow the governmen of this province on Lord Bellamont, whom he justly deemed peculiarly well quali- fied by the influence of his elevated rank, added to the firmness and integ- rkv of hs character, to correct the one and compose the other Fletcher, Xhl p eceding governor, had proved a very unfaithful steward of the public reveSue'and gratified his avarice and his partialities by unjust and exorbitant appropr arions and grants of land. Lord Bellamont, after investigating the pHSs of Fletcher's administration, openly denounced him as a qorrupt S profliga e magistrate ; and not only caused judicial proceedings to be fnstitSed against Wm and the favorites whom he had enriched with a share rrpubfic spoils, but at one time proposed to send h.m as a prisoner to undergo^ a criminal trial in England. The expense and difficulty of procur- 1 what would be deemed requisite evidence by a judical tribunal together wfth other obstructions which commonly impede the success of schemes for Tccori^hing the exposure or compelling the restitution of official pillage rendered those purposes and proceedings abortive. r . . AnSempt tS correct another abuse proved at first extremely unfortunate andwas attended with remarkable circumstances in its progress, and ira port- ent r onsequences in England. The late war gave rise to a great deal o pr va3g, which in mtny instances degenerated into piracy ; and the ev.I wrincSd by the readiness with which James the Second, in his exile, Zted commissions for naval service to adventurers adhering or professing arerence, to his cause, and who preposterously hoped that these commis- "b^s would entitle their maritime robberies to be regarded as acts of legu.- maL warfare From New York, in particular, many piratical ciuisers were known toba^e sailed ; and, indeed, there was strong reason to suspect that rSher's hunger for gold had been too voracious to scruple the acceptance of it from Aelands o? those robbers as the price of his connivance at the.r depreSS Lord Bellamont, whom Uie king with especial urgency direct^ X adopt he most vigorous measures for the extirpation of this system (wh?ch he^d ead?d the more from its subservienc_e^the mtr^gues ofjhe Hoinph^~y*i aUtor'Ual Account of the Hoculy for ,ropagaimg IM u«p«. CHAP. II.] CAPTAIN KIDD. ^1 exiled monarch), was advised by some imprudent or disingenuous counsel- lor to ,nv.te the assistance of one Kidd, who was represented to hTm as a '^ZfJT' •""? '""''Tip «"^ acquainted with the persons an™ the .aunts of the pirates Kidd, being in England at the time, was introduced to Lord Bellamont by the person who so characterized him, and reS offered to undertake the suppression and apprehension of the pira"es if the a last sailing trigate of thirty guns. The earl laid the proposal before the king, who was fully disposed to embrace any feasible plan for extirpat ne piracy : but some difficulties having been started by the admiral^' the Theme was dropped ; end, unfortunately for the reputation of all paSs a privSe adventure to be conducted by Kidd against the pirates was^ suSsted b'te stead, and finally embraced. The king himself was concernK he ent^ pr.se, and had a tenth share of its eventual profits reserved to him ; and Se LordChancenor (Somers) the Duke of Shrewsbury, the Earls of Romney and Oxford, Sir Edmund Harrison, and various other persons of disdncTo7 were associated in the adventure as partners with their sovereign Sd re' ceived an ordinary commission from the crown as a privatee?, with pecTal directions from the royal and noble owners of his vessel to attack IhepS and to hold himself directly responsible to Lord Bellamont. eXS on this importent enterprise, with so much illustrious character intrusted tf hs keeping, Kidd reached New York long before the arrivalof LorTBe^ lamont, whose assumption of his government did not take place till more than uvo years after his nomination. No sooner had this n...ieman landed at New York, than he learned, with the deepest confusion and resentment, that by his patronage of Kidd he had been accessory to an enormous aggravatioJ Wn and'of 7nt H" ^'^"f ^^ ^"^P""' ^^ "«" '' '^ ^^e dishonor of Ws king and of all the distinguished per-ons associated in the privateering adven- ture ; and that Kidd had already rendered himself more infamous and for- midable than any other pirate that infested the seas, by the extent of his dep- redations and his reckless disregard of human life. £ord Bellamont exerted fLTr "^'^"J V^'r^'l^'' "^^^PPy ^^^°^ •' «"d having fortunately sue- ed hims^P/! l"^'"^ Y^ '' ^"''°", t^^^^^J' ^here the pirate rashly sup- posed himself unknown, he wrote to the secretary of statj, desiring that a warrant might be sent for transmitting this daring offender to England, where Jeady considerable interest was excited in the public mind by the'trdings of the freebooter's desperate enterprises, and by vague rumors of the as- sistance he had derived from the first personages in the realm. A ship of war was instantly despatched to convey the prisoner to London, and repel tlSf^V ''' r-^' ^' ""'^^ ^.^;.^ '•^^^"^ ^ '^"^' ""fortunately the vessel was disabled on her passage, and obliged to return to port. A strong suspicion now arose of collusion between Kidd and the royal ministers, who, it was supposed, were determined at all hazards to screen him, lest m his own defence he should discover their infamous confederacy. Ih^ susp|j.on vvas inflamed by the artifices of the Tory party, opposed to King William s government, who vehemently pressed a motion in the ttouse ot Commons, that all persons concerned 'in Kidd's adventure might be dismissed from public employment. Though their motion was rejected, they prevailed with the house to have Kidd examined at the bafc-when at length the ejiert.ons of the ministers and of Lord Bellamont to vindicate "- "»aract6« i«u suecccdcd m bringing him to England ; and though dia- thoir /« 462 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK -9. appointed at first in their hope of obtaining any valuable disclosures from him, yet, either honestly suspecting what tliey professed to believe, or hoping that he wcoid be induced to become an instrument of their purposes (which be discovered more inchnation than abiUty to do), they endeavoured to have his uial deferred, and prevailed with the house to call him again to its bar, e/en after an address had been voted to the crown demanding that he should be remitted forthwith to an English jury. Kidd was brought to trial at the Old Bailey in the year 1701, and, totally failing eitlier to crimmate the min- isters or to defend himself, was convicted, with several of bis accomplices, of piracy and murder, and soon after underwent the just punishment of his crimes. The passionate violence of the Tory faction in England prevented this matter from proving as injurious as, more moderately handled, it would, and perhaps ought to, have been to Lord Bellamoni and the Whig ministers of the king. Kidd's conduct previous to his employment as a privateer had been in reality such that a proper investigation of it should have exposed him to punishment, instead of recommending him to an important command. A charge derived from this gross and culpable neglect, and directed against all who had been concerned in procuring Kidd's commission, was introduced into the articles of impeachment preferred soon after by the Commons against Lord Somers. The character and conduct of the Earl of Bellamont were severely arrcugned in d)is charge ; though his recent death at New York prevented him from being included m the impeachment. But the managers of the prosecution associatmg the charge of culpable neglect with otfter weightier imputations which they were unable to prove, and involving them- selves (purposely perhaps) in a dispute with the House of Lords, the im- peachment ended in an acquittal, witliout producing a trial.' The most formidable disorders that threatened the government and com- munity of New York were portended by tlie increasing animosity of two powerful factions, consisting of the friends and the enemies of the unfor- tunate Leisler. The son of this man, incapable of forgetting or forgiving the tragical fate of his parent, had l^red incessantly for the reestablish- ment of his character ; having obtained, by the assistance of the province of Massachusetts (where the enemies of Leisler, and especially Dudley, who had condemned him, were the objects of general aversion), an act of parliament to reverse the attainder of his father, and now proceeding, with every likelihood of success, to urge a claim for retribution of his family's sufferings and losses, he elevated the spirits of his partisans in New York by the hope of a triumph so humiliating to their adversaries. The mutual animosity of the two lactions was excited to such a degree by the occur- rence and the prospect of fresh opportunities of its indulgence, that the conduct of public business began to be seriously obstructed by their intrigues and collisions ; and in the very first assembly that Lord Bellamont convoked at New York, — except a unanimous address of thanks to him for his speech, on the state of the province, — there was scarcely a single measure pro- posed, in which the members of assembly found it possible to agree. The character and manners of Lord Bellamont were happily adapted to compose these dissensions ; a task, which, perhaps, if his administration had proved more durable, he would have wisely attempted and successfully accomplish- ed ; but, unfortunately, the circumstances in which he found himself placed, on his firH arrival at New York, and the hne of conduci which he w as CHAP, n.] FACTIONS IN NEW YORK. 45d :!:^r''H?;Tsrdti^:^^^^^^^ ^^ -««- than to .Itlgate the that profligite governorTenS^ aggravated by the discovery of self fo evSy persoHho Tad hlld^^^^^^^ ^ ^"''IV ^"* ^'^^^''^^^ it^ guished by/n/share of L bti^tVXtd"^ Ind a'sTn th" 'T ''''''" comprehended the principal adversarL of ?p;l' ^/u-'" **"' « «ss were of this party were^addiSonX rev^veH ^J:? .t • '"^ 'l'' ?"*>'' *^^ «P'"»» the prosject of victoriou ZrLaov V. J^^^."" "r^""' augmented by land'eveWlIy prevai.:d soTrZ^a Icur^^S " ^ 'ft'T' '" ^^S" of state to Lord Bellamont fFebruarv I7nm ""^^'^'.'^^ ^Y the secretaiy from - a gracious sense of the fa hS servfcl's'S"?^-' '^'l^^' ^'^J^^^^' the son's claims of indemnification mthtT f^ suffenngs," desired that sembly of New York X oo„er wL ^^*^! general as- assembly, of which a great maSnZ • °^^^' l^'!^' '^''^ "^^^'-e the Leisler,^d.an a resolutirwaTr £ :^^^^^^^^^ '^' ^T^' ^i y-'"? pounds to be levied on the pro^^llVZ'SoO "" °' °"^ ^'°"^'^'^ Liord Dellamont had now obtainpH n nnr^^^r.t cumstances and condition ySYorkPdL''*^"''';''"'' ^'!,'^ *^ "^- ance he had suffered from the nLtl^Il / -^ resentment and disturb- his sovereign's honor wer^soLeXwnr^^^^ ^' °^^'" «»'* to have suiided BuUhrinlT:L w^^^^ ^"PP°««d cessor of Bellamont, was prepossessed ^1^?^ f I '"""^ ^^^^^ '"^■ accounted partisans of ?LScTrfFnlnd/rr' ^^^?"««, they were pate a favorable change ^thS Sat on; & Jh ^^'^^^^ '''''^^ '° «"*'*^'- party, at the head of which wT/NanZth?? . ^^""^''^ ^^''^ ' ^^"^ ^his above all, to Lord Cornbury, on whose favor their hopes of victory and veni !!!^ll?^!:^r!^^ friends had procured to be enacted in 1 69 f Bellamont at Boston Xnfen tho LnZJ* ""'•"'' "'"e'' *'!'""« »''« »''««'"'=« "^ Lord England, refused "von theJ^lSLrTe^^''^^'"°'' '" e°n^«™ity with instructiona from mixon rSd rH t ^ t1. sJiglitest relief or assistance to these unhappy adventurers Old- S Sjamation- 4Sn- '°^"' «"^""r *""^''" ^°''' ""-^ New Sand had Holmes," '' '"'''''^^^'^S »'' «:urrosponaonce wiih.or assistaDcc to, the Scottish colony. 454 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK V. to curb their own adversaries, and winch subjected to the pains of treason ^very person endeavouring, by force of arms, or olhermse, to M the neace, welfare, and quiet of tlie king's government. 1 hough the attorney- ceneral of New York delivered \n writing his solemn op.mon that the ad- §resse contained nothing criminal or illegal, Nanfan, findmg the solictor. Kenera differently minded, urged on the prosecution ; and, after a trial more fair nerhaps than in such a state of public feeling could have been reason- bly rxpecTed Bayard was dragged to the brink of the pit f-h he himsetf had dug^or others, by a verdict of guilty and sentence of death. | [March, 1702 1 Aldermai ftutchins was shortly after tried, and convicted on a similar charge. But here the adversaries of Uie prisoners were induced to Zse Though the law on which the charges were founded was illiberal and unjust, it had been framed by the prisoners themselves and their party, and niver yet repealed ; and though the convictions proceeded on a some- what strained application of it, they were procured by no signal or undoubt- Id departure fSm the ordinary principles of judica procedure m the ad- minSion of penal law. The prosecutors, therefore, had not incurred Tuch guilt as to confound altogether their sense and humanity, or impenoijsly S them to complete what they had begun and destroy the.r victims while Slev were vet in their power. Happily for themselves and for the province, heyco^it dtorepLethe prisoners till the king's pleasure should be sc^ertainad. But IcJig before this reference to the crown c^^^^^^^^ dished. Lord Cornbury arrived at New York [May 3, 1702 J . and not ony caused the attainders of Bayard and Hutchins to be reversed, but openly rearing himself the head of their party, conducted his administration with such vToLce and partiality, that the chief justice (who was dismissed rem hU office), and several other considerable persons of the opposite faction, '-^::r^:Tht:C^^^^^ O^^^^ CWendon, possersed not one of the qualities by which.his distinguished ancestor was KctLized, except an .aggeration of his zeal for the ch-ch of Lng an^ and his intolerance of all other ecclesiastical associations. The rest ol Lord Cornbury's character vvould have disgraced more estimable qualities; and seems to\ave formed a composition, no less odious than despicable, of ra- nacUv and prodigality, voluptuousness and inhumanity, the loftiest arrogance L^the mersTchica'ne. Vhether from real difference •" sentiment or from a nSr which in those days was not uncommon, -while h.s father adl^redCThe cause of James the Second, the son supported the preten- sions of Khg WiUiam, and was one of the first officers vyhodeseiied wi h h.s I OOP o join the enterprise which produced the British Revolution ; and baviSg now dissipated his substance in riot and debauchery, and bein o Jlged to fly from his creditors in England, he obtained by one of t le as acts of his roval patron's administration, the government of New York as a reward of lib serVices. This appointment was confirmed by h.s kinswoman, Q^n Inne, S added to_it Sfeg^rnmentonV^^ .. :..J - ^r !«.« aa «rnU na fiu*.t. Howell. 'Oldmiion Smith. HovoeW's State Trmls CHAP. 11] ADMINISTRATION OF LORD CORNBURY. 465 been recently surrendered by its proprietaries to the cro^vn. The adminis- tration of Lord Cornbury ,s chiefly remarkable for the production of an efiec not less remote from h.s own intentions than from the expectations " ini!.n/rr'7 ™'ShV^««r«b'y suggest; for it was during his per! nicous and illiberal sway that the dissensions which we have seen carried to such a height u. New York came to be, if not entirely suppressed, yet greatly mitigated and reduced. This desirable end, which was rather ob structed than advanced by the only respectable governor sent to New York since the Revolution, was now promoted by the administration of a succes- sor who surpassed even Andros m his bad preeminence, and rendered him- self more universally detested than any other officer to whom the .government of this province was ever intrusted. For some time after his arrival in the colony, the majority of the assembly, composed, by his influence, of the faction which had recently smarted under the insolence and ascendency of a triumphant rival, adhered with unscrupulous zeal to him as its leader and pro- lector ; and even after the intolerance he began to exert against the Pres- byteriaiis, and every otlier religious society, except the Protestant Episcopa- lians, had alienated many of his first political adherents, he found their iSss nearly compensated by the increased attachment of those who now regard- ed him as their ecclesiastical ally. ° Though the great mass of the inhabitants, including the principal families jn die province, were Presbyterians, he refused to permit the ministers of this persuasion to preach without special license from himself, — which implied that they officiated, not by legal or natural right, but by precarious iace and indulgence. On one occasion, finding that in a township in Long Island there were a kw Episcopalians intermixed with the Presbyterians! who formed the majority of the inhabitants, and had built a parsonage for their minister, he fraudulently contrived to get possession of the house, and then delivered it up to the Episcopal party. Learning, some time after, thattwo Presbyterian ministers from Virginia had preached to a congregation in New York without his license, he threw them both into prison, and after- wards brought them to trial for a misdemeanour ; but although the iudge who presided at the trial exhorted the jury to return a special verdict, m or- der that the legal rule on this subject might be finally ascertained, the iury had too much sense and honesty to intrust the liberties of their country to other keeping than their own, and without hesitation acquitted the prisoners. In every quarter of the province, the governor oflfered his assistance to the Episcopalians in usurping possession of the ecclesiastical edifices that other sects had erected, and, to the disgrace of some of the zealots for Episcopa- cy, this offer was in various instances accepted, and produced the most scandalous scenes of riot, injustice, and confusion. But, happily for the unfortunate people who were exposed to the mischief of Lord Cornbury's administration, his conduct in other departments of government soon weak- ened his influence with all parties, and gradually deprived him of the power of instigaUng any portion of the community to harass or oppress the rest. It was discovered, that, not content with the liberal grants of money which the assembly bestowed on him for his private use, he had embezzled large sums appropriated to the construction of public works and the defence of the province ; and that, unable to subsist on his legitimate emoluments, even with the addition of official pillage, he had contracted debts to every tradesman whr» urnnlfl ianA Kio^ ^^^A'.* 2-.J _:i , i i /? - i .i. i-. 466 EUATORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK V. by the terror of his power or the privilege of his station, which exempted hitn from arrest. Even after this discovery was made, he contrived to havo some more of tlie pubHc money intrusted to his hands, by alarming the as- sembly with pretended intelligence of an approaching invasion ; and tho supply thus extorted was employed with as httie fidelity as he liad observed on prior occasions. In vain the assembly proposed to establish a board of auditors to contro? the public expenditure and account for it to themselves ; and with as little success did they transmit a reraonatrance against the general conduct of the governor to the queen. Their application to her Majesty produced no other effect than some private instructions, which were said to have been com- municated to Lord Cornbury ; their proposition to control the public dis- bursements was disallowed ; and when they insisted on a scrutiny of the governor's accounts, he warned them, in an angry speech, not to provoke him to exert " certain powers" which the queen had committed to him, and advised them to let him hear less about the rights of the house, as the house had no rights but what the grace and good pleasure of her Majesty permitted it to enjoy. By such declarations, and a line of conduct closely conformed to them, he succeeded in ahenating all his adherents, and finally in uniting all classes of the people in one common interest of opposition to himself. When he dissolved an assembly for its fidelity to the public interests, he found his influence no longer able to aflect the composition of the assembly by which it was succeeded. It was, perhaps, fortunate for the colonists that they were compelled to endure Lord Cornbury's misgovernment for a num- ber of years [ 1702 - 1708], and till the lessons which it was well calculated to teach them were deeply impressed on their minds. The governor had leisure to repeat the expedient of dissolving intractable assemblies, and the mortification of finding every succeeding one more stubborn than its prede- cessor ; till at last he convoked assemblies which absolutely refused to vote the smallest supply for the public service, except on condition that the gov- ernor should previously account for all his past receipts and disbursements of money, and (which was impossible) should refund all the sums he had em- bezzled, — preferring even an extremity so inconvenient to themselves, to the continuance of this corrupt and profligate administration. The disso- lute habits and ignoble tastes and manners of the man completed and em- bittered the disgust with which he was now universally regarded ; and when he aflfronted public decency by rambling abroad in the dress of a woman, the people beheld with indignation and shame the representative of their sovereign and the ruler of their country. The inhabitants of New York were now invited, by a painful but salutary experience, to reflect on and deplore the folly and mischief of those dissen- «ions that had once enabled such a wretch to enjoy influence among them, and successfully to incite them to harass and maltreat each other, that he might the more securely pillage and oppress them all. His administration forcibly taught them the important lesson, that divisions, among themselves were profitable only to the person who ought to be the object of their con- stitutional jealousy, — the royal governor ; and that union among themselves, founded on a sense of common interest, and maintained by the exercise of mutual good-will and forbearance, was essential alike to their tranquillity and independence. This lesson was not addressed to them in vain ; and though kindled were not entirely extinguished for many CHAP. II.] CIVIL AND DOMESTIC STATE OF NEW YORK, w years, they never again reached the height which they had attained at the commencement of Lord Cornbury's administration. This worthless per- sonage contmued for a number 6f years to remind the people by his pVes- T^u[!V ""^P ^T'^^' '^^y ^•^"^^'^ f'-""' his administration, even after ihey had obtained a deliverance from its burden. In the year 1708, Queen Anne was at last compelled by the reiterated and unanimous complaints of New York and of New Jersey (where he was equally odious) to supersede h.s commission and appoint Lord Lovelace his successor ; and no%ooner was he deprived of command, than his creditors threw him into the same prison where he had formerly confined the victims of his tyranny. Thus dograded from office by his public crimes, and deprived of liberty by bis rrrlphHn'th' •*'?''°"f J^' ^h'« kinsman of his queen remained a prisoner for debt m the province he had governed, till the death of his father, by ele- vating h.ra to the peerage, and investing him with the dignity of an hereditary legislator of Great Britain entitled him to his liberation^ He then returnS to Kurope, where he died in the year 1723.» Both before and after the British Revolution, the province of New York received large additions to the number of its inhabitants from all the various sources of emigration which were generated by oppression, poverty, and dis- content ,n the kingdoms of Europe. The pdor found here a cou^iry where their industry was highly valued, and all freemen enjoyed equal rights, — where, instead of being compelled to vie with each other for the boon of ill-rewarded employn»ent,=' their services were eagerly courted by the rich, and abor conducted them with certainty to ease and independence. Among ihe later accessions of people were a number of Protestant refugees from France and of Presbyterians from Ireland.'' The metropolis of the prov- ince, which m the year 1G78 contained about three thousand four hundred inhabitants, was found to contain nearly double that number in 1696 ; and the port, which at a former period owned no more than three ships and eight sloops, possessed in the last-mentioned year forty ships, sixty-two sloops, and an equal number of boats.= The shipping of New York was promofed not merely by the increase of its inhabitants, but by the advantages of its sit- uation, which enableji it to conduct nearly the whole foreign trade of Con- necucut and New Jersey.^ The total population of the province amounted, m 1701, to about thirty thousand persons.' Many of the first English col- onists who repaired to this province, after the conquest of it from the Dutch, remained but a short time in it, and sought a refuge in New Jersey from Uie hostile inroads of the French and their Indian allies. At the end of the seventeenth century, the people consisted of various races, — English, bcotch, Irish, French, and chiefly Dutch ; the great majority being Presby- terians and Independents. The Dutch congregations continued at this time, ru^f J r ' ^° acknowledge subjection to the ecclesiastical authorities ot Holland, from whom their ministers, in general, derived their ordination Jr f '"I'l!: • ""^""^ ''•^'** ^"''f^ ^'"»»'««"" w.4«iWw7TJris work, Whkih I Jmve frequently ITrll' .if" """"yp?"" publication in quarto. It contains more ample and precise infor- r^lnl .r.l. ^5!r.P*"'l-^u" "^ri^yn"?. »nd, like it, brings down the history an5 state of the work, to the middle of the eighteenth century. It is more of a statistical than a historical • Bioaraphin Brilanniea. ' See Note XX., at the end of the volume. New^York. 'ihfd '^' ''''** *'">"»»"'l palatines, flying from persecution in Germany, seUled in • Chalmors. « Smith. 7 Holmes. ^01" i- 58 MM 468 HISTORY or NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK V. to sacred functions. The Scotch Presbyterians, after repeatedly sohcuing a charter incorporating their congregation, and being continuuUy disap- pointed by the interest and opposition of the Episcopal party, executed, in the beginning of the eighteenth century, a grant of their meeting-house and of the cround attached to it to the general assembly ol the church ol Scot- land. The Episcopalians, though the least numerous class, enjoyed a char- ter of incorporation from the provincial assembly ; and the nnnislcr of tiieir church in New York had a salary of one hundred pounds a year, collected by a tax on all the inhabiltmis of the city. For this privdege they were indebted to the exertions of Governor Fletcher ; and they were elated by it to sufh a degree of presumption, as to maintain that the province was subject to the ecclesiastical dominion of the church of England, and that tlieirs was Iht reliftion of the state, — a pretension Uiat excited much jealousy ainong all the Dissenters, and was passionately disputed by them. When the Episcopal clergy became more numerous, they accounted themselves subject iinmedi- ately to the Bishop of London, who maintained a commissary at iNew York. They made an attempt at an after period to engross the privilege oi solem- nizing all marriages in the province, but found themselves unable to carry this pretension into efiect. Though all law proceedings m the provincial courts were conducted in English, and an English free school was estab- lished in 1702, the Dutch language continued long to prevail among a con- siderable portion of the people. For many years public worship was^cele- brated in ]:>utch in some of the churches ; and in several counties |he sheriffs often found it difficult to collect as many persons acquainted with Eng ish as were necessary to compose the juries in the courts of law. 1 he English that was generally spoken was much corrupted by intermixture ot Uie two *"m ^s^ubsistence of the Dutch language was less advantageous to the province than the permanence of Dutch manners, attested by the sobriety of deportment, and the peculiar attention to domestic cleanliness, order, and economy, by which the descendants of the original colonists of INew \ork were long distinguished, and which their example commumcated, in no slight decree, to the other races of European setUers with whom they \yere latterly associated. A printing-press was established at New \ork, in the year 1693, by a printer flying from the strange occurrence of Quaker tyranny and persecution in Pennsylvania ; and a library was founded under the gov- ernment of Lord Bellamont in the year 1700. But the schools in this province were inconsideiable^nj^lthough jiejvealthier fami lies obtained "r8mithrTbe"EngliBh; Fremh, and Irish coloni.tV seem to havo arquire.l pretty eurlv a iiniforra character. The stronger nationality and more rigid inantien. of flie Scotch aided bvftcqucnt"c^eLion8 of their countrymen from Scotland, pre»crved t her national pecnlmr. .« lon,e? unirnSc^ unaltmd." Bays 6wight, " the character which they Shtwirthem. They are industrious, frugal, orderly, patient of hardship, persevermR, nttaXd to government, reverential to roliaioS, generalfy moral and often pious At the Srae t'me tl!ey are frequently unwarrantubYy selfcompluM-nt, rigid in »»""'«!'??•«'»'""«'""; bendiniTrn the^r opinions, acquestered, avari/ious, ready to unchurch tho*e who differ from thnm and to sav. Doulitless we are the people." Dwight a Travels. , .• ■ K when fntemarriages and the co.nmon influence of free institutions and nationilns- JationXn have produced uniformity of characteramong all the ^^^f^^;^,;-;,!; -•';', '^ the peculiar pedigre^ of many particular districts will be preserved bv their names In one county of N^w York, almost every place bears the name of an risf. saint, city county, or Inountain \ neighbouring district, originally i.lanted by New EnglnndcTs, is divided into SeTand .Tttlements faring the n^esot^Unanimity, Frugality, Sobriety, Enterprse LTd the like 7d wight) It maP be hoped that the rccolfection of such names as these h«t will impreMac"rrJpondingbiJon U.i sentimonU and character of the inhabitants of the region. CHAP. II.] CIVIL AND DOMESTIC STATE OF NEW YORK. 459 valtialile instructors for their children among the numerous Trotostant refu- gees from France, the great bulk of the people were strangers even to the first rudiments of science and cultivation, till the era of the American Rev- olution.' If Britain had pursued a wiser policy towards this and her other Ameri- can proymces, she might have obtained from their resources a considerable diminution, if rot an entire removal, of the burden of her poor-laws. But various circumstances contributed to disguise or diminish the attractions by which the colonial territories invited the resort of the industrious poor. The pract:.-,e of transporting felons to America brought this country into disrepute with many whose information was not sufficiently exact to acquaint them witli the insignificant amount of the evil, and the great preponderance of the advantages by which it was counterbalanced. The historian of New York has ascribed to this cause the dearness of labor, and the increased importation of slaves which began to take place in the beginning of the eighteenth century. Another obstruction to the colonization of tliis prov- ince by the free poor arose from the practices of many of the governors, who, in order to promote the royal interest in the assembly, were permitted to make large grants of land to their partisans and dependents, by whom it was agam farmed out at exorbitant rates to the cultivators, or retained in a vacant and unproductive state in the hope of a future rise in it.s value from the general progress of culture and population." The provincial oigans of government in New York were the governor, the council, and the assembly. The governor, appointed by the king, was commander-in-chief by sea and land, and received from the provincial rev- enue a salary of about one thousand five hundred pounds, together with per- quisites amounting to as much more. The counsellors were appointed by the crown, but might be suspended by the governor. They received no salaries, and acted as a privy council to the governor, besides performing the same legislative and judicial functions as the English House of Lords. The niembers of assembly (elected by freeholders possessing lands or tenements improved to the value of forty pounds 3) had a daily stipend for their attend- ance ; and to thein, in conjunction with the council and the governor, was committed the privilege of enacting the provincial laws, which were required to be analogous to the jurisprudence of England. The laws were commu- nicated to the English privy council within three months after their enact- ment, and might, at any time after ^ be annulled by the king. The governor was empowered to prorogue or dissolve assemblies at his pleasure ; to ap- point judges ; to collate to all vacant ecclesiastical benefices ; and, with the advice of the council, to make grants of land, to be held of the crown by soccage tenure.^ Besides subordinate courts of law, there was a supreme court at New York, of which the chief justice received a salary of three hundred pounds a year. From its judgments an appeal was competent, in causes involving more than one hundred pounds, to the governor and council, and in causes where more than three hundred pounds was at stake, to the ' Oldmixon. Smith, fhomas'a History of Panting. Winterbotham. Warden. Gram's Memoirs of an Jlmerican Lady, &c. Mrs. Grant's descriptions of American manners ore, in general, entirely fanciful and erroneous. ' Smith. " The governors were, many of them, laAd-jobbers, bent on making their fortunes; and being invested with power to do th'is, they either engrossed for tiiemselves, or patented Hway to their particular favorites, n very great proportion 'of the whole province." Winter- botiiam. uSWa Of .riccff xOTK JftrHi luSl io 1713. 460 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK V. king and the privy council of England. Much uncertainty prevailed in the administration of civil justice, from ignorance and difference of opinion as to the extent to which English statutes and decisions should be admitted to operate as rules or precedents.^ ... By a law passed in 1700 for the purpose of checking the missions of the Jesuits among the Indians, it was decreed that every Jesuit, or other Catholic priest, coming voluntarily into the province, should be subjected to perpetual imprisonment, and, in case of escape and recapture, to the punishment of death. Slaves (by a law passed in 1702), except when assembled for labor, were forbidden to meet together in greater number tlian three, — a regulation which proved insufficient to prevent a formidable insurrection of these unfortunate persons in the year 1712. Masters were enjoined by law to baptize their slaves, and encouraged to do so by a pro- vision that their baptism should not entitle them to freedom. Indeed, manumission of slaves was discouraged by a heavy fine. Slaves were dis- nualified from bearing testimony in criminal cases against any but slaves ; d no negro, Indian, or mulatto, even though free, could acquire the prop- y of houses or lands. Any negro or Indian, conspiring the death of a white man, was capitally punished. Even though baptized, slaves were not considered to be properly comprehended in the denomination of Christians ; for by an act passed in 1702, and confirmed in 1708, there was offered a reward of twenty shillings to every Christian, and half that sum to fevery Indian or slave, killing a wolf in the provincial territory. In some of the colonial settlements of the Dutch (particularly at the Cape of Good Hope), the treatment of their slaves has been distinguished by the most barbarous cruelty. But milder manners and less Inhuman laws prevailed at New York, where extreme severity was inflicted only at second hand, by selling unruly and troublesome negroes to the planters of Jamaica. Various laws were made from time lo time against selling ardent spirits to the Indians. The extortions of usurers were repressed by an act passed in 1717, restricting the lawful interest of money to six per cent. This was repealed in the fol- lowing year, when the exaction of eight^ygr cent, was pe rmitted." — - . Smith. > Smith Laws o/JW»f York from 1691 to 1718. BOOK VI. NEW JERSEY. ^jLltel^TiLTedVLKjri^^^^^^^ Carteret. -- Liberal Fra^e of -Arrival of the first Governor'^Ld SetuTrs ftorPnrin^^^^ '^n*^ '"'""'* '*» ^''^ J«"«y- in the Colony. --Renovation of tl^TitK N«W«, * '^V"^'*'**?'?''' ""•* Disturbance, of York. -Situation of the Quakers nEnirknHl?^"^^^^ »"ke. ince to Quakers-Partition of the ProviSttt.T. ?h^ of Berke/ey's Share of the Prov- Quakers from England to West Jersey !L En J^^r^Z *'^«" """^ Carteret. - Emigration of strnnce of the Quaker8-caLa?h/|Tw„r ? ''"^"A?'^'''*^"''® °f York.-Remon^ First Assembly of West Je«ey-iTheKr"'^^°'\°*^^iS^ i^'^^'y '» b« recosnized.^ appointed «ovUor.--EmSon thTm^Sl^ Jersey -Robert fiarclay- ifecond against the Proprietary 60^^^- dlnSf K T^'^^^?"' °^ James the Slate ofl^e Proprietary V.overnment™Turr1^«r„fh p^' -^ Revolu^on. - Inefficient -and Reunion of East and Wes^Jcrsefl ron«.?Lt« ^7 VJ''''SL^?'«?^ ''^ *•»« ^'"^^ -Administration of Lord Cornbury "lute & K Co? "ny '^^'""'^ Government. Of all the national societies in which mankind have ever been ..mt«H tliere .s none (except the fallen conunonn-ealth of IsS ' whicrcl boatl America. AJinost all these provincial setUeraents have been founded bv men whose prevailing motives were zeal for the advancement 7retious truth, for the security of pohtical freedom, or for tha enlarSment o? Z resources and renown of their country ; aid all have beenTSd for a considerable share of their early population to the sheU^ S they af- forded from evil or ecclesiastical tyranny. The successfoj ShSnt tlZlT "V^-"' '' ' Srand and mteresting monument of hurneneSr and fortitude ; for it was not accomplished without a cenerorand herS Tdfbl iicU°of nt'T T'' °' ^™ naturf aJr I'tZ! Sv Jersev Sed^ danger, and distress. The colonists of :lil r !X' ' .T ^^^"" proximity and friendly relation to older olonial settlements and from other advantageous peculiaJiUes nThe^ S^„ t.on, were exempted from much of ibe hardship which elsewlire atLS ■n so many instances, the foundation of civilised society in Nonh America metcraTmu^^^^^^^^^ 'T^'f^ ^ 5"^* P^°P°^^°° ^^^^'^ to tlSs terriory, vere such as must be acknowledged to reflect the highest honor on tlieir enterprise, and to ennoble the origin of New Jersey. ' by die' Cr^.f \Y*'''' l^'' «PP«»ation belongs was first appropriated. t)nheJ^.lVofjv^ settlements an account has already beea given in .0 tmciVrrmffan'c? bitT^fS^^ Egypt, the opinbrsLul. havofi^tsoTunru^^^^^^^^ '^"' of the Jewish emigrant. ftSm one of the tribes of !=rne! ThU o ?„i^m- t • ' ^^^ *"^T '"*'"'"'' ^"^ ♦'•^ offspring of "ot without its u^, ifitenld to abate t&ni 'f T^T^ ^^ ^'^ '*''""« F«»'«'>i'it'e«) was oftho possession of an esDorialdp^^iVb^^^^^^^ pnde somatimea engendered by a belief Knglani divines and wL^mTn.ntnfr '^f. ^'^'"^Jf"'- . H was early adopted by the New ^lLv,gZdTXLdTtlZTuZ\r^^ ""^^ TT'."^ ""«* ability, in a treatise by one embraced by &„ p'J„ S^A.'^!?^' T^ ^"""^^ ''r'J^ '^""'^ '» *«« afterward* guished wrLrs. 8e" irrolaton^oil' "^ »"??»"«♦' ^y him, and by many other di»ti» -<• '-'--• '- ° ,!!.'2,!r."'i"" '° """ <="^'?»'» «"bject, the Appendix to Stowe's translatiot of Jahn's Hutinrt, «, uu* 462 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK y\. . , . , „r Mp.v York. It was included in the province to which this toXvelfn -^^^^^ Netherlands, and had received a ew Dutch C'^SwedLh settlers at the period of the conquest of the Dutch colony r ♦^^ Fndish Preparatory to this enterprise, as we have already seen, Xrlesihe Second g^^^^^^ a charter of African territory [20th Mavch, ?6641 including the whole of the Dutch occupation to h.s brother James, Duke of York; and as the king, in conformity with h.s pretension to an Antecedent rTgh, which the intrusion of the Dutch could neither extinguish nor suspend thought himself entitled to bestow h.s grant before the territory Ts actS reduced to his dominion, the duke, m like manner, regarded h,s Tvestiture as completed by the charter, and proceeded to exercise t. e powers irconferred on him, without waiting till he Ld attained actual possession of hrsoil His charter, though much less ample m its endowments than the char es" which were previously granted to the proprietaries of Maryland and Sina resembled these in conferring the province, and the powers of ?ove nminnn the proprietary and " his assigns.- Various instances both L the Sry of the Carolinas and of New Jersey, demonstrate that m LformUy wUh this expression, the proprietaries regarded their functions less ara trSInas an absolute property, subject to every act of ownership, ^d n pa Jrcular to mortgage and alienation ; and, accordingly, tne sove- ::fgntyP large provinJ^ft^^^^^^^^^^^ ffifbilrT:^^^^^^^^ Revolution that the Mity Kee transactions was disputed ; but, although the mjnistersot Warn AeSd maintained that they were inconsistent with the law of England, which recoSii^^d an hereditary but not a commerc.al transmission of office Id nower^hT point was never authoritatively determined. Ihe evil m Access of 't me, produced its own remedy. The succession and multiph- En of prrr e?aries occasioned so much inconvenience to themselves, that sooneH? later, they were glad to bargain with the crovwi for a sur- that, soo""°V^\; 2 . /nations'", and both in Carolina and m New Jersey, Ihfe^^^cis^'Tf ttTotr^^^^^^^^^ materially contributed to abridge the ntVrL tarpC'TJ LTeTfTroprietaiy rights and functions was af- foJed bv the Duke of York, in his cinveyance to Lord Berkeley and S.r George fclrteret of a portioi of the territory comP-h^dfin the ^^^^^^^^ rhnrter which he had recently procured for himself. If he had deterred charter ^1"^" "^ nau j , ^^ j ^ possession of the country, Ho;7ar"S; di^iiniUon of .bis portion migh, bo calcula.cd .o aUccL .ne ... BOOK VI.] SALE TO BERKELEY AND CARTEHeT. ^^ ,Vas misunderstood by the "eK But ntT'^'^'^ "' completely as it Nichols did not scruple to assert that .h^n '"^^^""^ P"'"'^^' <^°^«"^1 and Carteret were induced to Ike the nu^rr" ^H^^'' t^ ^''^'^^y successful candidate for tL pSent whl^ the Duklf v'f l''"^ '^ """ that he revenged his disappoiLent by ins tati^ftLl . .• ^^'•"''^' '"^ quisition which he was aware would grLtneTeda ^L '''/° '!? T duke's domain. Be this as ir mnv tvl / "^P'^^^'ate the remamder of the ve:, lUtle creditable to ei htTthe Lw-"'''k°" '^'' ^"^"^^' «« '» ^«« tl,e'sequel disadvantageous to thel boT "^' '"^'^^^ '" ^*' P^^^^^ i« adjacent to New England 'lyTns we ward .f T n'''!^?''.'^"* i^^^* °f ^^"^ Jeast, south ^r^Aest^yll,^^^^^^^ on on die north by the forty-first decree and for Hp h l" ' f ^ , V^'f "^^re ; coa^pliment to Carteret, who hadSnded the i LT^^^^^^ ^''''''^•'- J" Long Parliament in the civil war thTduL Ul \? ^^'u- ^ "gainst the aa.ne%f Nova-C«sarea, or Ne rj^rsev 1h h^^^^^^ on th.s region the evjry right and privileg;, and^U t^^^oC'ofc^^^^^ whicirhr self possessed under his charter from the crown f '"'"^"^' ''^'''^ ^^ ^'m- Havmg obtained, in this manner, the sovereignty of New J^rsev th« first care of the proprietaries was to invite the report of inhabitants ^i the province ; and their exertions for this purpose, though pursued whhmorl eagerness than perseverance, disclosed some share of polEal saSv T those colonial territories which present to adventurers^o Xrfn? nro^nec^ of sudden enrichment, and which must owe their cultivation ?o the steadv^ terpj-ise and industry of permanent settlers, the strongest attractions are suT phed by hbeial provisions for the security of the civil and relidrs S^^^^^ mankind. The recent h storv of Npw Vnaio„^ u„a a '*^"S'o"s ngms ot attractions address themS 1^1 ngly to^^^^^^^^^^ ad that their operation IS so forcible as to overpower the tempS even of superior climate and soil. That the useful lesson thusTftCded to Ihe tlT 1 't"'f '"'' "^' disregarded by the courtiers of ChaVles he Second has already appeared from some parts of the history of Carolina and .s still more plainly manifested by the first measures hatVere pir ued by the proprietaries of New Jersey. They hastened to composirdZwish a system of institutions for the government of the province : and affhet object was to exh.bu a political fabric that should appear generaUy desirabl and advantageous, they succeeded in framing a project wh.\.h Sed a verv avorable reception, and would have better deserved it,T he proprietaries colpeliolT^?^^^^^^^ " ^"^^'"^ P°P"'«^'«^- '' --' indeerrsfng Dmpeution which these proprietary governments engendered ' in which sovereigns and legislators Jound it^ their mterest to vie with eich other in «cc«.ion to the de8«n of dS?ln^,h„fr'«"f'^*'''l"''^ ?"'*•''''>' '»'"' Carteret of any ortbe navy, public money wiU.out" legaT wn/rani. 11^^:^""""""" ^' "*"*"«' "' ''^'"*"'"'^ m> HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK VL the uroduction of models of liberty, and m tendenng^to the acceptance of theiSects the most effectual securities against arbitrary power. What- ever doubts may be entertained of the dignity 6f their motives or the sinceritv of their professions, and even supposing (as we reasonably may) rat thL professions were mere expedients to obtain a temporary popu- aritv, and quite • uncomiected with enlarged or liberal views of pohcy and lovernment, the measures which the various proprietaries actually adopted L pursuance of their purposes proved highly beneficial to tlie provinces of Nor^h America, and cherished in the minds of the colonists a warm attach. mertoToUtical freedom, and an habitual conviction of their right to it. ThJ^iLtrument which was now published by Berkeley and Carteret gave assuT^nce to all persons who might seUle m New Jersey, that the province Tould be ruled only by laws enacted by an assembly in which the people werrrepresented, and tb which the power of making peace or war, together wUh m7ny other important privileges, was confided. In particular, it was o onSly stipulated by the proprietaries, " for the better security of tlie ESs innhe said province,' that they are not to impose, nor «#r io k Impoud, any tax, custL, subsidy, taUage, assessment, or any other duty St oever, upon any color or pretence, upon the said province and m- haSSl thereof, other than what shall be imposed by the authority and conseTof the general assembly." By anodier clause, of equal importauce, Uwas provided, that " no person, at any time, shall be any ways molested, puSid, disqu eted, or called into question, fpr any difference in opinion or See n matters of religious concermnent, who does not actually disturb Zm peace of the province ; but all and every suoh^person and persons ZyTi^ time to Ume, ana at all times, freely and fuUy, have and enjoy hb Jnd their judgments and consciences in matters o(T^h&on, they be- •hTviSrtl^emJves'peaceably and quietly, and not using tbs l^rty to hcen- tiousLs, nor to the civil injury or outward disturbance of others ; any law, sZte, or clause, contained, or to be contained, usage or custom, of the r^tlm of Englani to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding." TbTimport^rthese expressions could not be misunderstood; and as tW were promulgated wiJhout censure or disallowance from any quarter, ,t ^^be adSS that the colonization of this province was undertaken on rLurwKJe, whicli the setUers were entitled to credit, of ^.r being coni- ;jeSy e^mpted from the iurisdiction of the English P-^«--^ ^^^f J £e imposiuon of taxes and the regulaUon of eccles.asUcal affairs. The ad- ^nis™ ation of the executive power, together with the prerogative of afiinn- ngor rejecting the statutes of the provincial assembly, w^ ;;«f '^ed ^ !»'« ^opriiiles. ^To all persons resorting to New .Jersey with he intenUon S setUine in it there were tendered allotments of land, proportioned to the earl neso their arrival in the province, and to the numbers of their m- den^d servants and sIcw^b ; and for these allotments they were required to afa quUrent o? a halfpenny per acre after the year 1670, and to maintain ^e able-bodied male servant for every hundred acres m their posse^.on Ts the quiirents were deemed the private estate of the proprietaries, .t was dackred that all public ex ocnses should be defrayed by generd contr.. Son Suc^^^^^^^ political constitution of New Jersey. New pro visions were added to it from time to Ume, by ^f "X^^^P^^^/X" S: and the vfhole code was denominated by the people The Law of the ton cessions, and regarded by them as their great cliaiiter, ana as pC3»e«i% » BOOK VI.] CARTERET ASSUMES THE GOVERNMENT 465 X;rr„1r4:ai;i„t^^^^ ^- „ot bemg subject dence and equity of Phinn Sri? K '°" '^^l suggested by the pru- by the proprietaries, and w^ho withont „ T '^^ ^^^^ governor appointed to respect the rights of the aLTSl „r{-'^'''''''ri ^'■°'" ^^ conslituents propel- to obtain their acquiescence b t^^T'!'^^'^' province, judged it their titles to the severS dTtS v£ ^te^tcttd'^^Th^ ^^^^ ries had the wisdom to approve this nnlir.\r « I ^^''^"P'ed. The propneta- the rule, that all lands shJuTd be P XsJ'f o"m T", T'' f ^^'i ««tablished Nic?o?s,ThralltLtI;L^^^^^^^^^ by Colonel lion of the whole terr torv rrSplpH K ,?" ,. °^^°''^' ^^'^ administra- quainted with the dukerasSem t, ^ ^"^ ^"''J'"^ ^'"'^ >'«t ""««- the design of colonizing the dTtrict ?h. 'k t^ '"^- ^^"^^^*' ^' ^^'^^^ granted licenses to various person to ^^l "^ ."'^"''^^', ""^ *° '^^' ^^^ original inhabitants of Ne v Jersev Tht ^"''f,'''' °^J""^ ^^"^ ^^^ «b. formed in the eastern par of the ^t'^rZr l ""'"• '°'""'^'P^ "'^^« ^P^edily Island, who laid the foSndat^on ol' vilT.& ""^r"'•' "*^'^«^ from Long away and Nichols, S el^ertated ff^: n'"' W?°dbridge, and Piscat? stowed on it the nLe of Albania in rZ °P'- '"" f '^' ^^S'^"' be- enjoyed by his master. Lt hisTon., ^?™"^7?^^^\°" ^^ one of the titles ofVe du/e's possessions treooK^^^^^^^^^^ action which passed it to its new nrnn.^1. ^^ ^ intelligence of the trans- already pursued gave r Le to diirf rplT' r' '"? '^' '"^^^"''^^ ^^^ h«d between the settlers whose estSshment f^h I!^ '^' ^''^P'''^^ °^ ^^^ «°i^ taries who subsequentl/cTaiS S^!n '''^ ^f^T '"^ ""^ ^^^ ProP"«- of the province ?or itaThalf fc^^^^^^^^^ ^'^ P-e remonstrance to the Duke of Ynrt S\l ."^^^ addressed an earnest statistical divisions, and of SisjS from h;'"^^"'''^/^ ^>^ ™"'^'P'y'"S tinguished above a I the re t by trferdl^ of •t''''"i ^^r^'" " P^^''°" '^'«- of its rivers, and the richness of n ^ n. ^i "'/«' './^e .nmodiousness to revoke a grant so pr^Tc al to L nT • '. '"^ 't^' ^'' "^^^^ ^^e duke tually ensuel, that th^^lt^^^^^^^ fat ac vacant territory would disannnmt ti,«:. ^ • <-arteret to colonize a them in expenses frl whfch tlv 7 •^''P^^'^t.ons of profit, a^d involve gather any LneficiaT fruh Tl^« ^ '""''^^ P"^^""'>^ ^«"W hope to some impfesslofoT he Id of he' dukf " hi "r"^ ^^ '^^^ P^° '-^^ induce him to revoke the erant ^\lht I . ^''^'"''J' '"'' insufficient to VOL. I. sf "'■ ^- ^""^'^ ^''"»'»«»- " I I 466 HISTORY or NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK VI. ^.s.rs and privations which ^ed ^o -^^^^\^t^iS:;:^„^ ,„ost of the other A^^^"^"; P^^^n part^cd^^ considered a circun. of <^«'«7^^^i°J!l:^„t^,TdurTng the^infancy of their settlement ;,though, stance "^ "^/-^'V?™ less favorably regarded by them, as having con. in process of time, it was less »»vora«»y h / j^ ^^^^ ^g.^^^^^ tributed to prevent the rise °f'\^°"jX^_'^S^^^L the other colonists still more effectual encouragement to ^eir ^rad^^^ transporting the arts and of North America, they ^"J^y^^. tje adva^t^e oi tra P 6 ^^^^^ habits of industry from a .f °^5^4 «"°^^^\^^^^^ the fresh bosom of a were carried to a high I!>^^h f ;™Provem^^^^^ fertile and unoccupied region, which affor^^^^^^^^^ mo ^^ ^^^^ F ^^^ and more ""'^^^^"^^^^^^^{..e^arded by a g^^^^^ soil; and their friendly grain were speedily and amply rewarded ^ ^^^.^ j^^^^^ .^ ^^_ relations with ^he Indians enabled tliemw p ^^^^^ .^ peltry with disturbed tranquillity, and to ^dd to them a oe inhabited. Their the roving tribes by whom ^^e "^hbo^r.n^^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^ connection with the sister colony ot i>ew i o ^ ^^ ^^^j benefit of the alliance ^h.ch subsisted be ween tbs^^^^^^^^ confederacy confederacy of the Five Nations ; and as ^h^ ^"""^^^'^J^^.^^, its inhabitants extended to all the tribes in the ^'^^">^y P^^'^' ^^^^ war. Recommend- enjoyed the fehcity of an ^f '•^^^rP^'Jf^/^^^^";^^^^^^ other advantpg^s, ed by the salubrity of '^.^^'^^.^^f'^" '^V''° 'wL Too/ considered a very it will not appear surpnsmg J/ ^^^e^^^^^^^^^ ^^^, ^,j J^ desirable residence, and that its attractions w settlements ob- with higher commendation than any ot Uie omer ^u Gained. _ , . , ,i^ u, „g of an ample revenue from The proprietaries, stil ^'^^ "P/^* Sons 't^ circulate^he intelligence their province, were not wanting 'Yx^IacI and occasionally despatched of its advantages both m Europe and An^eric^^^^^^^^ X F^^ ^^^ from England vessels freighted ^^^Jf'^^^V^ But the numbers and supply the wants ^f.J^'^^P^t of heir hopes was fated to period to which they looked for ^^^^"/"^^^^^^ the prov Semonstrate the fallacy of them '..'^"f jl'y^Xl f arrival of the i„ce had hitherto P-^^^f ^JlT va?^^^^^^ coUence. [March, day when the payment of q">f'^e"\« libute excited general disgust among 1670.] The first demand of «h's t"bute «^^^^^^^ 5 inability to comply the colonists, who expressed ."™7«,."f '"'"S^t Sers, who had occu- with it. A party among them, >"f^"^"S^f,f„^fNTcioTs refused to acknowl- pied their lands under ^he.authority of Colonel mchos^^ .^^^^ ^^.^^^ ;,dge the title of the propr^tanes ; »J^' '" °PP°X°„" i ^as easier for the ,l,ey had obtained for ^hemseves from the nd.an^^^^^^ ^^ governor to demonstrate the 'llegahty of he^^ P^^^^ ma ntained an inef- xvith the people to abandon then,. * °^ *1^° 5;^p\73t„rier; till at length the fectual stfuggle to enforce the l^l-T^/^^^^^^fJ^jS L found it impossible popular discontent broke forO^^ ^,„g,,„d, stripped of h to withstand, xle was cumpcnc „„r.forrPf1 nn a natural son of hir taction,, »hicl, the colon,s.s for.h«.* ^^J^^^ ,^™,,i„„, „„„ ab.,. George Carteret [November, 'f f ' '•^ "J"™,;" ,„ ,Ke proprietarie., « « ,ed. DUa^po m,ns as H^» -I7, 'J";? ^."f^" ,Lr giverLr. or.to W; ','r.:™;.ac"e ht'iruieitation "from which he had been expeUe.. .» BOOK VI.] FRAUDULENT VIEWS OF THE DUKE OF YORK. j^j Lw Jersey varoncerorlre^^^^^^^^ ?T'"^ *° ^'^^ *^°"^'"'°" ^^ H^jSt The Dutch, as we Zle alreadv 1^^ 5-r'"''i °^ ^'^ Netherlands.? sition, which wLs restored lo Great Ltlh .h "°' >°"S//tain their acqui- But the reestablishmentof thenronS^^^^ [»674.] ritory had been preS Iv d vfn^i '^ 7 governments into which the ter- formaHty, and wL ^t atomnthpr •t''^^' ^° ^^^"'^^ ««™« additional which th^se jurisdiculsTr^orS 1,^^^^^^^^^^ To"'°h" °/ t i'^ ^^ been suggested of the validitv nf thl ^ created. Some doubts had a ready Duke ofYork a a tLe whJn he Du^^^^^^ ±'''''' ^^'^^-^« granted to th^ and unchallenged possession of he ^ountrv a'Th"' '"^^^"^ a peaceable knowledge the fofce of this ob ection S 'r J^'^j";^ ^^ jenity (of which the ira- BOOK VI.] THE QUAKERS. teresting por- 469 experienced so raueh "ddhion,! T/" " '™' '','?''. ""= R«'0"tion, ,he,. iiient, partly occasioned W ih. aL„ 1 'evoiuuon. J his severe treat- and ma'gistLes en.erl'^it he 1^^: rof' he o"t^'""" "T"' part provoked by the frpn7v „nT; -? , Quakers, was also n Lsors of these doctrLes thought n"^""? ^^^"^h many of the pro- creed of their advSes r"^ro K' ''^""^'T '^'^ ^^"^^"'Pt ^^^ th« the supreme power was lodged t o'T'"'" ^^ ''^^''>^' '" ^^^°«« ^ands obnoxious by\he progress Sch /l?pir^"^f f"^^'"^^ additionally soldiers of the Commonwealth and h.' "^ "?l^" '"^""^ ^^« ^«^^r«" interposed to preventTbTdv of 'th ", .' 'T?'' 'V'^.''^'^^^ George Fox forces who were marchbf to suonrP^r'^' ^'°™ •'^'"'"S the parliamentary Cheshire. They Refused to .ui^'^/ ? insurrection of the royalists 'm were imprisoned by he maJIratef f ' 'I' ^^''''r °^ ^^'^''^ ^^ho peace, or eyen to^restrain t1 e n .?r«f ^«f ^^nds and disturbers of the Jlaces began to insuHlTLttr&l^rer^^^^^^^^^ ^'° '^ -->' onlJ^JjSthr^liSS^^Ilfr '° ^^-r^'^-tionof a^^^^ but eLouraged t fern to exuect ^V^^^^'^P'f '"'^"t of another prediction, situation. Ck fssued a rodain o^ and fajorable change in\heir own the peaceable mS of o7^^^^^ ^^''^''' disturbance to a deLnstration re%:Ltfeo wh r^heVha^^^^^^^^^^^^^ procure from h:s predecessors in authority. The^hooes insnirpH h ./° altered treatment were confirmed at the Restoridon Tn iT" uT *^"' pon. Gougi, and sfwell. CromPwer™.lt J^?,?^^ not employ hi« sword in aid of his Snnce. He was interrupted, when nVes^di .Tin nLnl.Ti " ^'A^' ^■'' "*^ ^"'-^'^^'^ ''='«f''va- I'e had a message from L Lord to t'^.c Pro fc^r'^ .i^"" 'i' '7," ^T^"' ^^'"' "•^'■''•""•^^d 'h-t l-r stark nakedlnto a chnrr.l. v^h^JIH !.,„„ l'"'- ^^.'?- . A"i^'« ''eheld a female Quaker en- .-r stark nakedTnto a hurchwh e fe ^S^d whh the toleration of their worship, and dili- Rcntly improving the au vantages of their new lot» many of these exi es at- laincd, in a few years, to a plentiful and prosperous estate ; and so hir did they cairy their willingness to reconcile their peculiar principles with the existing ilistitutions and usages of the countries m which their lot vvas cast, that, innmny instances, they united a profession of Quakerism with the pur- chase and employment of negro slaves. Perhaps the deceitfulness ol the human heart was never more strikingly exhibited than m this monstrous as- sociation of the character of exiles for conscience's sake and the profession of universal meekness and philanthropy, with the condition of slave-owners and the exercise of tyrannical power, let m process of time much good was educed from this evil ; and the inconsistency of one goneration d Quakers enabled their successors to exhibit to the world an example of d.s- interested regard for the rights of human nature, and an honest sacrifice to the requirements of piety and justice. The principles of Quakerism contmued meanvvhile to propagate them- selves in Britain to an extent that more than supplied the losses occasioned by the banishment of so many of their professors. Almost all the odier Christian sects had sustained a decay of piety and reputation, from the share they had taken in the passionate disputes, the furious struggles, the dark intrigues, and vindictive severities that attended the evil wars ; and wlule the Quakers were distinguished by exemption from this reproach, they were not less advantageously distinguished by a rigorous persecution, of which they were the objects, and which enabled them to disp ay, in a remarkable degree, the pri.nitive graces of Christian character. It was now that their cause was espoused and their tenets were defended by writers who yielded to none of their contemporaries in learning, eloquence, or ingenuity, and who have never been equalled, «^^:'«^»PP^««^»'^,^' ^7"/, r'^^'Snt'od scholars of the QuiJcer persuasion. The doctrines that had h.thc' flonlod loosely through the sectarian society were coUccted and reduced to in «- derly system ; the discipline necessary to preserve from anarc' v^ «:nd re- strain the fantastic sallies which the genuine principle of Quakerism i peculiarly apt to suggest,* was explained and inculcated ; and '" the nud t of a persecution which drove many of the Presbyterians of Scotland to despair and rebollion, the Quakers began to add to the^r zeal^andj-esolution " ' Robprt B ^rH^ .,^C"^f the Mologyf'^ the quukers and of a treatise on The March,, of ,he Rant7rs has d"v' >rK.ps, mo, Tthan" any other writer ofhi. persuHH.on to rcmler Qnnk.r. frteKawfrs, nas u«j easy tiii he tiad obeyed iiic divine ca», as nt. cuui.-i> -« BOOK VI.] SALE TO FENWICK AND OYLLINGE. 473 that mild gravity of address and tranm.il nroprioty „f thought and rondu.t by wliirli thoy are now ahnost univer.sally cfmractomed ^ Vet was It long before the wild and enti.isiastic spirit uhieh had distin- gmshed the me o the soc.e.y was banished ..urely from its bosom ; and while .t contnuM-d to exert „s inHuence, a considerable diversity of senti- ment and language prevaded a.nong the Uu.kers.' This diversity Mas amn.fest, an.ong other .nstanees, in the sentiments that were entertained with regard to the duty ol eonfronting persecution. While all the Quakers reckoned > unlawlu to forsake their sectarian observances on a re on ol the proh.b.t.on of the.r oppressors, there were many who esteemed no less a dereliction of duty to abandon their country for the sake ,1' a peaceful enjoyment of those observances in another land. Considfrin" Uimkensm as « revival of primitive Christianity, and themselves appointed to repeat ».,. orlunc. ol tde first Christians, and to g.in the victo y ove a carnal world by evincing the fortitude- of martyrs, they associated the sacces. of the.r .ause vv.th the infliction and endurance of persecution ; and doem<.l 1 he retreating f^rom a scene where this evil impended over them to one wnerc they might be exempted from it equivalen! to the desertion of the con est 11. which the j.revalence of truth or of error was to be decided. Ihe toleration of their principles seemed to be less the object of their desire than the victorious spread of them ; and the success of Quakerism in iMig and they reckoned incomplete without the downfall of the established hierarchy.-' But there were otliers of more moderate temper and more en- hghtened piety, who, willing fully to sustain the character of the primitive Christians, justly deemed this character no way inconsistent with that conduct which was expressly prescribed to the objects of their imitation, in the divine direction, that, when persecuted in one city, they should flee to another. Disturbed m their religious apsemblies, harassed and impoverished by fines and imprisonments, and withal continually exposed to a violent removal from their native land, as the consequence of a line of conduct which they held it their duty to pursue, — they were led to meditate the advantage of a vol- untary expatriation with their families and their subitance, and naturally cast tiicir eyes on that transatlantic realm, which, notwithstanding the severities once inflicted on their brethren in some of its provinces, had always pre- sented an asylum to the victims of persecution. Their regards were farther directed to this quarter by the number of their fellow-sectaries who were now established in several of the North American States, and the freedom, comlort, and tranquillity which they were reported ther» to enjoy.^ Such vvas the situation of the Quakers at the time when Lord Berkeley, alarr.icc' by the insubordination of the planters of New .Jersey, and dissat- isfied with a possession which seemed likely to realize the forebodings of Colonel Nichols, offered his share of the province for sale. He soon re- ceived the proposal of a price that was satisfactory from two English Quakers, nainedJ_WickaiidByllin^ 1674, in accord- ' See Note XXII., tit the end of the volunie! ~ — nJnll'Jn^''"''* /f^''"? "^ !'"' ^"J'"'"'' '»1«^« '» presotvcd 011 nccount of a debate wiiich took pace in one o( th.j .l.ur.-hes of L-.mlon between ,m English l.ishop and a party of these wilder m.ir'' •;^,^"«'?^«';"""' "'•'" willnigly accepted the bishop's rash challenge to a public dis- n wl ■ ,. 1" f«'«»t«^v«SHhorl, and soon degenerated into a reciprocation of sciurifous abuse, in winch the b.sl.op findmff himself by no means a match for his opponents, took to flight T,:Z''yT''r '" fl'" "!'!'" ^^ " '""'' "*■ ^""''«'-«. vociferating at his heels, » The hirefing nietn ! the hireling flieth ! = ' 6 ' Gough and Se well's llislory of the Qimliers. Neal's Uislory of the Puriianf, VOL. I. 60 ' NN* 474 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK VI. ance with their desire, conveyed the subject of the purchase to the first- mentioned of these persons in trust for himself and the other. l?envvick anoears to have been unworthy of the confidence imphed m this arrange- ment A dispute soon arose between ByUinge and him with regard to their respective proportions of interest in the territory ; and, to avoid the scandal of a lawsuit, the two parties agreed to submit their pretensions to the judg- ment of William Penn, who now began to occupy a conspicuous place among the leaders and champions of the Quaker society. Penn found it easier to appreciate the merits of the case than to terminate the controver- sy • for, after he had pronounced an award in favor of Bylhnge, it required the utmost exertion of his address and authority to induce lenwick to comply with it. Yielding at length to the solemn and earnest remonstrances of Penn, Fenwick consemed to abandon his unjust plea ; and in the year 1675, with his wife and family and a small troop of Quaker associates, he set sail from England, and established himself in the vyesteni part of New Jersey. But Byllinge was now no longer in a condition to profit by the adjustment of the dispute. He had sustained such losses^ m trade, that it iecame necessary for him to divest himself of the whole of his remam.ng properly for the indemnification of his creditors ; and as the most valuable Sart of this property consisted of his New Jersey purchase, he was natu- rally led to desire that its administration should be confided to the same em- inent person whose good offices had recently contributed to ascertain and preserve it. William Penn, after some deliberation, agreed to undertake This duty, and, in conjunction with Gawen Laurie and Nicholas Lucas, two of the creditors of Byllinge, assumed the direction of their constituents share of New Jersey. , , . . .^^ . The first care of Penn and his associates was to obtain a partition ot the provincial territory between themselves «ind Sir George Carteret; and as all parties wf.re sensible of the disadvantage of a jomt property, the division was accomplished without difficulty. The eastern part of the province was assigned to Carteret, under the name of Last New Jersey ; the western, to Byllinge's assignees, who named their moiety West New Jersey. The administrators of the western territory then proceeded to divide it into a hundred lots, or proprieties ; ten of which they assigned to Fenwick, and the remaining ninety they proposed to sell for the bcnetit of the creditors of Byllinge. Their next and more important concern was to frame a political constitution for the future inhabitants of the prov nee, which was promulgated under the title of concesmns, or terms of grant and agreement, to be mutually embraced by the vendors and purchasers of the territory. This instrument adopted the provisions formerly enacted by Berkeley and Carteret for the exemption of the colonists from all taxes but such as their oun provincial assemblies should impose on them, and tor the security of religious freedom ; the clause by which this latter provis^n was introduced being prefaced by a general declaration, "that no men, no number of men, upon earth, have power to rule over men s consciences n religious matters." It was appointed that the people should meet annually to choose one honest man, for each propriety, to sit in the provincial as- sembly ; that "these elections be not determined by the comnion and con- Led way of cries and voices, but by putting balls into balloting boxe to be provided for that purpose, for the prevention of all partiality, and Nvhere- by every man may freely choose according to his own judgment and honest fiOOK VI.] CONSTITUTION OP WEST JERSEY. 476 intention ; and that every member of assembly should be allowed a shil- ling a day during the session, ^Uhat thereby he may be known to be the mvant of the people.'' That the representatives of the people should receive wages or salary from their constituents was a principle adopted from the beginning m almost every one of the North American States ; and, assuredly, never in the world were constituencies more adequately repre- seated or more faithfully served. Every male colonist, it was announced, sliould enjoy the capacity of electing and being elected to sit in these assemblies, which were vested with the power to make, alter, and repeal laws, and to nominate, from time to time, a committee of assistants to carry the existing laws mto execution. It was declared, that no man, except by the verdict of a jury, should be arrested, confined, or deprived of life, lib- erty, or estate. Imprisonment for debt was disallowed ; and a bankrupt, after surrendering his estate to his creditors, was to be free from theii claims, and entitled again to exert his industry for behoof of himself and f ^ , . '? ,^" °"*''"^ °^ ^^^ composition that forms the first essay of Quaker legislation, and entitles its authors to no mean share in the honor of planting civil and religious liberty in America. "There " said lenn and his colleagues, in allusion to this' fruit of their labors, «\ve lay a foundation for after ages to understand their liberty as men and Chris- tians, that they may not be brought in bondage but by their own consent ; Jor we put the power m the people."^ The publication of this instrument, which its authors accompanied with a special recommendation of the relative territory to the members of their own religious fraternity, produced an immediate display of that diversity of sentiment which had recently been manifested in the Quaker society. Of these sectaries, many prepared with alacrity to embrace the proposals of the trustees, and expressed the most exaggerated expectations of the free- dom, prosperity, and happy repose that awaited them in the new settle- ment ; while others regarded with jealousy, and even stoutly opposed, a secession which they considered pusillanimous and discreditable. To mod- erate tiie expectations of the one, and to appease the jealousy of the other ot these parties, Penn and his colleagues addressed a circular letter to the members of their society, in which they solemnly cautioned them against leaving their country from a timid reluctance to bear testimony to their principles, from an impatient, unsettled temper, or from any other motive mterior to a deliberate conviction that the Lord of all the earth providen- tially opened their way to New .Jersey, and sanctioned their removal thither, lliey were admonished to remember, that, although Quaker principles were clienshed and cultivated in the province, only Quaker safeguards could be interposed or relied on for their preservation ; and, in particular, that the religious toleration which was to be established must exclusively depend lor Its continuance on the aid of that Being to whose will they believed It agreeable, and must never be defended by force or violence against the arm ol an oppressor. To this admonitory letter there was annexed ^ De- fcnphon of West Mw Jersey, for the information of intending colonists, m which some trivial exaggerations that had been reported of the good qualities of the soil and climate were corrected, —but, in the main, a most inviting representation of the region was conveyed. This publication was COTainJyjwUntended to reprps? the ardor oj" Quaker einlgration ; neither ' S. Smith. Chalinors. Chtkson' fMemoirsqjrPenn. "* 476 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK VI. had it any such effect. Numerous purchases of colonial estates were made by Quakers in various parts of England ; and m the course o. the vear IGn/upwards of four hundred emigrants of this persuasion transported memselve to West New Jersey. Many of these were persons of affluent e taTeTwho carried with them their children and sei-vants ; and along vv. h tl Im were sent a board of conmiissioners, appomted by Penn and h.s col- eaTues to make partition of the lands, and engage the acquiescence and fSshin of the Indians. While the ship that earned out the first do- achmem of these emigrants lay in the Thames, on the poin of sa.lmg, u happened that Charles' the Second was passing by m Ins pleasure-bar^e. Observinga number of Quakers on board, the king caiue abngs.de the vesse and inquired whither they uoie bound. Informed of their dest.na- lion, he askedV they were all Quakers ; and, being answered in the affir.na- tive invoked a blessing upon them and departed. On their arrival in America, the emigrants very soon discovered that the danger of an arbitrary encroachment on their r.ghts and libut.es had not been suggested to them in vain. A ndros summoned them to acknou ledge the overlignty of his master, the Duke of \ork ; affirming tha h.s own ffe won d be^endangered, if he should venture to recognize their mde- pendence without an express order from that prince. When they remon- strated against this usurpation, Andros cut short the controversy by point- nf to his word ; and as this was an argument which the Quakers were .n- c?p cilatedZm'retorting, they submitted for the present to h.s v.oe„ce and acknowledged themselves and their territory subject to the Uuke ot York dll he Lue of an application for redress, which they transnu ted to Eng and^^ They were compelled for some time to endure the hardships LSble from the occupation of a desert land. But these hardships v;e.e urmounted by industry and patience ; and their fi^^^st settlement, to wh.rb hey gave tl7 name o^f Burlington, soon exhibited a thriving appearance nnd irreplenished with inhabitants by successive arriva s of additional Quiker eSan^s from the parent state. [1678.] It was observed m th.s astnos^oTthe other infant settlements in America, that the success o nd'iS colonists was in general proportio.ied to teor.g.nahu^^^^^^^^^^ their condition, and the degree of reliance which they pUcea on liie re source of t2 own unassisted industry. Many who emigrated as servants we e more prosperous than others who imported a considerable substance donrwith R em^ Inured to personal toil, they derived such ample gains fl^t as peTdily enabled them to rise above a state of servitude and cXat'e land on their own account ; while the others, subsisting too !on o he t^p^^^^^ stock, and relying too far upon the ured labor o . noor were not unfrequently themselves reduced to penury. Ihe fir x 'T^:,= nfthP colonists to procure themselves a livelihood were lacihtated rvXe f i ndir s stn e ^of the Indians; hut a hostile attack was soon tlLatened byThese savages, who, in consequence ot a dangerous ep.de..ic tint broke out a^'ong them, accused their neighbours of having treacherously ttd iTm the small-pox. The danger, however, was averted by the .n • sold ^'^'\'''i . If 1 3^gu,ea his countrymen that their forclatheb rixi»y BOOK VI.] PRETENSIONS OF THE DUKE OF YORK. 477 Sir George Carteret, the proprietary of East Jersey, died in 1679 • hav,ng derived so l.ttle benefit from his American territorV, that he found ,t necessary to convey it by testamentary bequest to trustees who were in- structed to d.spose of it for the advantage of his creditors The exemption u-h.ch this district was permuted to enjoy from the dominion of the Duke of York increased the discontent with which the inhabitants of the neidi- bonrmg region of West Jersey endured an authority from which their right to be exempted was equal y clear. They had never ceased to importune ,hc duke for a redress of this grievance ; and were at length provoked to additional warmth of complaint and urgency of solicitation by a tax, which Andros, m the exercise ol his master's pretended sovereignty, attached to the importation of European merchandise into West Jersey. Wearied with die continual importunity of these suitors, rather than moved with a sense of honor or equity, the unjust prince consented to refer the matter of their complaint to certain commissioners, by whom it was finally remitted to the juridical opinion of Sir William Jones. [1680.] The remonstrance pre- sented in beha f of the colonists of West Jersey, on this occasion, was prepared by William Penn, George Hutchinson, and several other co- adjuors, chiefly of the Quaker persuasion, and breathes a firm, undaunted spin of liberty, worthy of the founders of a North American common- wealth. Thus, then," they msisted, after a narrative of the titles hir which the territory had been transmitted to them, " we come to buy thdt moiety which belonged to Lord Berkeley, for a valuable consideration ; and in the conveyance he made us powers of government are expressly granted ; for that only could have induced us to buy it ; and the reason is plain, because to all prudent men the government of any place is more in- viting than the soil. For what is good land without good laws > the better, the worse. And if we could not assure people of an easy and free and safe government, both with respect to their spiritual and worldly property, -that IS, an uninterrupted liberty of conscience, and an inviolable pos- session of their civil rights and freedoms, by a just and wise government, -a mere wilderness would be no encouragement; for it were a madness to leave a tree, good, and improved country, to plant in a wilderness, and there adventure many thousands of pounds to give an absolute tide to an- other person to tax us at will and pleasure." Having adverted to the argu- ment in support of the duke's usurped authority, they continued : — '' Natural nght and human prudence oppose such doctrine all the world over ; for what IS It but to say, that people, free by law under their prince at home, are at his mercy m the plantations abroad > And why ? because he is a conqueror tliere ; but still at the hazard of the lives of his own people, and at the cost and charge of die public. We could say more, but choose to let it drop. But our case is better yet ; for the king's grant to the Duke of t^ork IS plainly restrictive to the laws and government of England. Now the constitution and government of England, as we humbly conceive, are so lar from countenancing any such authority, that it is made a fundamental m our constitution, that the king of England cannot justly take his sub- jects goods without their consent. This needs no more to be pioved ihan a principle ; it is an homeborn rierht. ^pohrnA tn Kp law u.- AUrpva otof- SmTthi I I 478 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK VI utes " " To dve up this," they added, " the power of making laws, is t. utes. Au e,iv^ *^ » . ;„ ooll nr nthpr resign, ourselves to the will of chnnge U,e f '""Xfitof ' rorundar Sr, we buy Bolhing of the n'^If-nS .he irt „" an S;=dis.Sed eolonmng ; and .hat, as Enilish- ™e„ 'w Ano tmSon but rather expectation of some increase, of those freedomrand prlvileg.. Enjoyed in our own ■="-7: '^''^f /ato,'""-; " ,^ ^ . ° , . .Ug j„5 sentium, the law oi nations , ana it ^'" \1Z ^iUa ^t to con^vert them to Christianity, to expel instead would be an ill argumeni lu cunvci fountrv he theirs of mirchasine them out of those countries. It, then, tne couniry oe treiis, k is not th? duke's ; he cannot sell it; then what have we bought:" ' To conclude this point, we humbly say that we have not lost any part of our Syby easing our country ; for we leave not c>ur>ing nor our ^Lernment by quitting our soil ; but we transplant to a place given by the Sr W Z'^^e o^-L^geTci:: -ITn^d that latilude bounded by these vmtAt for the eood of the adctnturer and planter. ,..,,. In a sub equent pi. of their pleading,' they remark that "there ,s no end of this Twer! for since L are by As precedent assessed wuhom anv law and thereby excluded our English right of comtnon assent to taxes, Se "'ThrrrtrlpCrn".!;^ f™» U ;obe,ter,bu. fro^ gooj rS T^Ms sort of coud e. has destroyed I^X'T^l^^^TJ^t "p^^pl^'s^riefcr^ ered, we'-ruX V"> 'f *era cat, he, in ,l,ei, people s jeaiousieb ^ introduce an unhmited govern- SrthanToth^o xacran^^^^ tax from Enghsh planters, and ^continue it after so many repeated complaints ; and on the contrary, .f iLre can be any thing so happy to the duke's present affairs, as the oppor- rlio^:^iLd''-=iuSe-^^^^^^^^^^^ large, il Uie ^rown si u ,' g • ; j, ^ourt, and to the coimsel- L^'sTfleZkfof^ork, it vas^^^^^^^^^^ with the most triumphant success, ^ T?/e commtsioners o'whom the case was referred were constrame u, nronounce tS judgment in conformity with the opinion of Jones, ' hat, L the erant to Birkeley and Carteret U reserved no profit or junsd.c .on the leS"v of tlie taxes could not be defended." In compliance with this iSii^, the duke without farther objection resigned all his cOaims on West Jersey [August, 1680], and in the amplest terms confirmed lb a - signment oFthis p^rovince to 'its new propi;ietaj^ies^ An^^^""^ •nrichcfl with «ome display of legal ^^n^'^* K^;, f P^*-^™ nf S^ ^^ g'v'n tory. It i8 remarkable t Imt Chalmers han it T|"a l\nn concurred in the presentation of .n ^abridged and very .•nadeq""';? I'Z "t m V bo fa riy p ^sumcd that he assisted in its com- Uie pleaSing is undcn.able and • ««>^« "'"X " „^'',„y ^ of his modern biographers have in- nosition. But that he was the sole nuthoi ot it, as sonu. "'^'1^, .^^^ ^^^ the silirhtest rcsem- iinuated. is rendered extremely improbauic by ..^ ^'^V ''•.•"• " Mrcc is discoverable to any of hi. acknowledged producLon. BOOK VI.] FIRST ASSEMBLY OF WEST JEKSEY. 479 of this concession extended with equal and manifest application to East fT/frtir? r °°" ' n ' ' ''"'^'' ''^'^'^ '" ^«^°^ ^ the representatives f Z^Zr'J °'^' ^"?'''- [September, 1680.] Thus the whole of ^exv Jersey was promoted at once from the condition of a conquered country to the rank of a free and independent province, and rendered in poll ical theory the adjunct, mstead of the mere dependency, of the British empire The povyerful and spirited pleading, by which this benefit was gained, derives additional interest from recollection of the conflict then sub! sisting in England between the advocates of liberty and the abettors of arbitrary power It would not be easy to point out, in any of the polit- ical writings or harangues of which that period was abundantly prolific, a more manly and intrepid exertion for the preservation of liberty than we be- hold in this first successful defence of the rights of New Jersey. One of the most remarkable features of the plea which the colonists maintained was the unqualified and deliberate assertion, that no tax could be iustly imposed on them without their own consent and the authority of their owj provincial assembly The report of the commissioners in their favor" and the relief that followed, were virtual concessions in favor of this prin- cip e, which m an after age was destined to obtain a more signal triumph m the national independence of North America. West Jersey now filled apace with inhabitants by the accession of nu- merous settlers, of whom a great proportion still continued to be Quakers. Byliinge, who received from his fellow-proprietaries the appointment of governor, not finding it convenient to leave England, granted a deputation of his functions to bamuel Jennings, by whom the first representative as- sembly of West Jersey was convoked. [Nov., 1681.] In this assembly there was enacted a code of Fundamental Constitutions, together with vari- ous laws for the protection of property and the punishment of crimes. By the I- undamental Constitutions, the assembly was empowered to ap- pomt and displace all persons holding offices of trust in the province ; and the governor was restrained from proclaiming war, or contracting any en- gagement obligatory on the State, without the assembly's concurrence, and ^ora withholding his assent to any of its ordinances. Assemblies were to be annually convoked ; and no assembly was to have pgwer to impose a tax which should endure longer than a year. Of the laws that were en- acted on this occasion, the most remarkable feature is a provision, that in all criminal cases, except treason, murder, and theft, the person aggrieved should have power to pardon the offender, whether before or after con- demnation, — a provision of very questionable expediency, but probably intended to prevent the Christian requirement of forgiveness of injuries from being evacuated, as in most countries is practically done, by the supposed municipal duty which engages a man to avenge, in his capacity of a citizen, the wrong which as a Christian he is commanded to forgive. It was ordained (with departure equally wise and just from the practice in the parent state) that the landed property of every inhabitant should be re- sponsible for his debts ; marriages were appointed to be solemnized by justices oi the peace ; for the prevention of disputes with the Indians, the sale ot spirituous liquors to them was strictly prohibited ; and for the en- couragement of poor but industrious laborers, who obtained the means of emigrating from Europe by indenting t hemselves as servants to more ■•a. SuiiiJj. Froud. Chalmers, SMe Papers, apud eundem 480 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK VI. uu.r «l=,ntPrs every such servant was authorized to claim from his ""'tr^fte eipirvTf his indenture, a set of implements of husbandry, " m n ar iclS of Spparel, and ten bushels of corn. To obstruct the resort n? worthless and vicious persons to the province, a law was framed, re- a urr^ every new settler, under pain of a pecuniary fine, to give saUsfactory 'LoTonrm^les cS sotr life. Vrom.this period till the person 01 Didui government, the provmcial assembly contin- ueTto be annX co^^^^^^^^ It did not'alwafs confine itself to the exer- pUp if the ample powers with which it was constitutionally endowed ; for when BvllinKe soon^after proposed to deprive Jennings, the deputy-governor, Jf his oCfthe assembly interposed to prevent this measure ; declaring that Jenler^aie satisfaction to the people, and desiring him to retain h.s sif uat on^ The rule and ordinary practice of the constitution however, was ^ha the council of assistants loShe governor were nominated by the as- ei; ; Sthe proprietaries appointed the governor ; and he, with the consent of the proprietaries, named his own deputy. ,^. Ininltra ton in East Jersey was embittered by a renewa of the disputes rraHL rendered hL^ fiigitive ^^J^J^^:;^ ]Z^ IntrTalfordtordt^^ ^ P^' materias 01 Qis€o r . ^^^^^^ benefit which it conferred, t^To partes sS^^^^^^ t'o debate^vith extreme virulence and perU- nacitvw^hether this instrument or the proprietary concessions nl664shoud f l-aXrJ n, the basis of the provincial institutions. Disgusted with these be regarded as the *?»?•« °;\7P ^^^ utely to derive either emolu- Lee for sale to the highest bidder ; and, closing with the proposals of Wu- •^^ ;^.n^^eKdusive of the inhabitants of certain remote and scattered ; ^Tlfo^h Pen'n" "is became ^'^^Vr^-'^V' ^t^:Tn{^Z^^^^^^^^ He^hS concerns fnd wUh tho«e of West Jer^y w- Ijencc^^^^^^^ ^.^ .^^^^^^^ „, now uc»tuircd lor niinscii tiic p.--' ' j--- divcrted his attention from New Jersey. BOOK VI.] DOMESTIC STATE OF EAST JERSEY. 481 land, and Lord Drummond of G.lston, the secretary of state for that kine- dom.' In favor of these twenty-four proprietaries the Duke of York exe- cuted his third and last grant of East Jersey ; on receiving which, ?hey an pointed a council or committee of thei/ o^vn number^o whom all he unctions of the proprietary power were intrusted. [March, 1682.1 To facilitate the exercise of their dominion, they obtained from Charles the Second a royal letter, addressed to the existing governor council 7nd in habitants of the province, unfolding the title^rhe ^ ^^^^^^^^^^^ rs iti^oii^^^^^^^^^^^^^ -' -^"^^ «" persons^oVir obei:i: tar.es), the inhabitants, by a diligent improvement of the^ ocS advEs" had genenly attained a flourishing and prosperous estate. C g eatej number of them were emigrant/ from New England, or the descendams of New England men; and their laws and manne^rs, in some particulars dis closed traces of this ongm. The punishment of death was^enounced by law against children striking or cursing their parents. Adulterers were sub^ jected to flogging or banishment. Fornicadon was i)unMed, at the dis- cretion of the magistrate, by marriage, fine, or flogging. Nigl twalkinj or revelling abroad after nine o'clock of the evening, Sposed the oSer^ to a discreuonary pumsliment. A thief, for his first offence, was aSed to restore three-fold the value of what he had stolen ; in case of friquent repetition of gu.lt, he might be capitally punished, or reduced to slavery There was no law for the public support of religion ; but every tovSp mam tamed a church and minister. - The people," said the firs^t govern^ eputed to them by their Quaker sovereigns, "are generally a soberTpro- fessing people, wise m their generation, courteous in their behaviour Cd respectful to us ,n office." So happily exempt were they from the most ord.nary and forcble temptation to violence and dishonestyf that, accorXg to the same testimony, there was not an industrious man aiong hem i^^ .^^"^ hands could not assure him a state of decent competence, Z V n of ease and plenty.^ If we might rely implicitly on the^pinion of thi observer, we should impute the dissensions that had previously occurred m he province to the folly and mismanagement of Carteret and his a so aes m the goyermnent. But there is reason to believe that the blame those dissensions was more equally divided between the people and their rulers. A headstrong and turbulent disposition appears to have prevailed ^ong some classes, at least, of the inhabitants ; various riots and^d'Itu b- TZ" Tn ["''^ '"?" ""^^^'^^ "^^ government ; and the utmost exer- tionsot Quaker prudenre_ andpatience were required to compose them. JZo^»lt^!?A™.-*';^°,,*:f..r-°"'="f •'»', "■»•>. •'•j |'"« I')^ r™ .WmX^ VOL. I. 61 00 4P? mSTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK VI. A hw enacted about four years after this period, reprobates the frequent occun'encrof quarrels and cf.allengos, and interdicts the nihab.tants from wearine swords, pistols, or daggers.' tj u .f «„. i r Amon^ the new proprietaries of East Jersey was Robert Barclay of [THe a Scottish gentleman, who had been converted to Quakerism, and, m dX'ce of his adopted principles, had pid^hshed a series of works that eained the applause'and admiration of all Europe. Esteemed by scholars S philosopKers for the extent of his learning and the commandmg force peietrating subtlety of his judgment, he was endeared to the members 7hi religious^fraternity by the liveliness of lus zeal, the purity of his char- cter and the services rendered by his pen to their cause. 1 hesc services on^i'sted rather of the literary celebration which he gave to the Quaker loc rines than of any deeper impression of their influence upon mankind. ' of iTwr ngs in g/neral are much more calculated pleasingly to entertam niu dazzTe the understanding, than to produce solid conviction, or sink into 7e hear ? To the king and the Duke of York he was recommended not OSS by his distinguished fame and his happy gemus and address, than by Se pHnciplcs of passive obedience professed by that sect of which he as Considered a leader ; and with both the royal brothers, as well as with eveSo the most distinguished of their favorites and mimsters, he main- 3 t?e most friendly and ^miliar intercourse. Inexplicable as such a oalUion of uncongenial characters may appear, it seems at least as str,n;5e mo al phenomenon to behold Barclay and Penn, the votaries of universal "tolmUon a d philanthropy, voluntarily associating m their labors for the - ucaS ^ happiness of an infant community such mstruments as Lord iSh and^ther Ibettors of royal tyranny and ecclesiastical persecution in ^ BvThe'urianimous choice of his colleagues, Robert Barclay was appoint- ed the firs governor of East Jersey under die new proprietary admm.stra- lion r Tu y, 1C83.1 So high wa/ the refute which he enjoyed, and so n^ch advantage w s anticipated from his ^superintendence of the colony, hat his commission bestowed the office on him for life; and vyhde it dis- uSised wXhis personal residence,'^ authorized him to nominate his own dep- ^r Bu the e^xpectations which produced or attended h.s elevation were d sann^in ted by the result ; his government (like that of Sir Henry Vane in MSusetts( was brief and iltfated, and calculated rather to lower than ,o advance S illustrious reputation. The most signal and beneficial event oKs presidency was the elnigration of a considerabe number of h.s coim- ^vmen^the Scofel,^ jLey,-a measure, which, however congenial ^^ay applS to tl e circumstances of that oppressed and persecuted peo- lo theT were not persuaded to adopt but by dint of ""'^Vq 'Trwlr! njortunity For, ahhough a vast majority of thf.people of Scotland wee Sfc with the Episcopal establishment which their king had forced ortS, an great numbers were enduring the utmost rigors of tyranny rhek resistance to it, it was found no easy matter to persuade them to .^ek belief from their sufferings h. a distant and perpetual exile fiom their native land.^ In addition to the motives iojnn^v^^njM±^ -rsTsiidThT— 7— "-'1^- I^^^^^ ?^^tirrepl-dV„d"cricd hU family 3 Oldniixon is mistaken m asserting V'^» f ^^ 'jLHersev Soon aAcr his appointment, S. Smith's Hiaiory. ,, . ^ ^r gcotligh emigrants con- * llowbeit, wo have seen {anle, Book IV., t-imp. 11.; u """h C i BOOK VI.] INCITEMENTS TO EMIGRATION. 483 ottish emigranu con- severities exorcised by Lord Perth nnH tKo «fi i • • ed to supply, the influenrp nf n i j P^''" ^^'^^ ministers contribut cessfullylfp o7ed in prevauL^ vTt 7th"^ "'^''' ^'""■'^*' ^"'^^^^^ "'^^ «"^- in East Jersey ; and S'uhe l^n H" , ' ^"""^1^^" ^° ^^^^P^ «" a^/l"'" Barclay's natU col y of A^et^ ^' ' f °^ '"^'S'"""''' ^'"^% ^0". the pui-pose of rendSg the Wh' '''''" ''^^"" 'Tf"""'^- ^^^84.] For state of the colonlrte Lrv an^th^^^ ZT ^'r^^^Y ^^.^^-"^^^d with the citing them to remove thheT it wa nrnfn '. u '? '"^^'^"^ «"«' «nd of in- lish I historical and s a Sal aJconn 3 '. ^ '*'' Proprietaries to pub- which tiie prevailing obiec ion, TnZ' ' "' T"'\^ Preliminary treatise in resource eJinbiterraro e fe ^raSf hS ^' '°T^^'^^' «"^ ^^'''^ were generally dispose^r regard i f that m ;vhich the Scotch avowed authorship V this perfinrp n'T undertaking the entire or knowing, that, as a Quaker ^hif I^' f fi"^ ^'' P^'^^^^ly deterred by of which werelLde on'rJn.io T 'I '^- ^^P"'^'" objections, some wit!) the bulk of hircoulvmfn L "n '''''u °"'' ^^"''^ «"d little favor himself with all^ions toTl e TxTslin^ '' ^^ unwillingness to entangle have characterizeTL a m tner SacC'^r""' f 'f^ '^^ '^^"''^ ^^^^^^^ , and to Lord Perth and Xrs of h in ^ • "'^ *° "' "^" conscience tually at the time ad^ninS e Sg „ LoZd 2 "1^"^' V" "^ ^^■ banishment to the plantations on eve y person whTd' "l" \^7 '"^'"'^".S dence when required, against the freT/en^eTs^of loL^^^^f ^° ^'^^ •^^'- Balv:r;'hirs^^^^^^^^^^ -^ pubhshe ;tf..^^^^^^^ of assistance ; and, indeedTe inen nuk 'f T^'^r' '^'* ^' contributed some not wholly\he'compl;bn ofT^^^^^^ ^'XfV'T '' T production^t)f a Scottish ffentlpmnn P„ ^ vvas published as the he title of TheMn^^lnfTT^' *'°'S^ ?*'°* °^ Pitlochie, and bore rmrin^'S-lf Frl tr^^ «//Ae Province 0/ k./ JVe^ few men flourish best furnished wi^ 1 T •°"' '"«"'• civil state, where a kn!t of S""'"'^ J"'"'' '"^ ^^•^^''°" ^« ^^^^ ^^^'^'^o" good and the Uk ng m of large countries presents a natural remedy as^ainst covetousnes ^d,^^!!^^ e,foug\ Jhho^I wronro; tract toNew Jereey!"^' '*"^'^**'"'*'"' ^''"'""''^'^ '''°'« t''"^" whom Quakers desired to^at: 484 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. 1 [BOOK VI. iniurv to his neighbour." The heads of ancient families were exhorted to cmbraQe this opportunity of cheaply endowing their younger sons with a more liberal provision in America than the laws and usages ol bcoiland en- abled th-m to bestow at home.' In reply to an objection which had been urced iiiat a province governed by Quakers must be left unprovided of the means of military defence, it was stated that several of the proprietaries and many of the inhabitants did not belong to the Quaker persuasion, and that J'ast Jersey already possessed a militia of 600 men. The argument de- rived from the severities inflicted by the British government on the Presby- terians is handled in a very courtly style. " You see it is now judged the interest of the government altogether to suppress the 1 resbyterian piinci- i)les • and that, in order thereto, the whole force and bensd of the law ol this kingdom are levelled at the effectual bearing them down ; that the rigorous Duttincr these laws in execution hath in a great part ruined many of tliese, who irotwithstanding thereof find themselves in conscience. obliged to retain these principles ; while, on the other hand, Episcopacy is by the same laws supported alid protected. I would gladly know what other rational mcdiuin can b" proposed, in these circumstances, than either to comply with the government, by going what length is required by lavv, in conforming; or to retreat, where by law a toleration is by his Majesty allowed. Such arctreal doth at present offer itself in America, and is nowhere else to be found in his Maksti's dominions^' What an encomium on America, at the expense, of every other portion of the British empire ! The work contains a minute account of the climate, soil, institutions, and existing settlements of Last .Tersey, and an elaborate panegyric on its advantages in all these particu- lars As a farther recommendation of the province to the iavor ot the Scotch, Barclay [1G85], displacing a deputy whom he had appointed, of his own religion's persuasion, conferred this office on Lord Neil Campbell, uncle of the Marquis of Argyle, who repaired to East Jersey, and re- mained there for some time as its lieutenant-governor. The efforts of Barclay and his colleagues were crowned with success. A jrreat many inhabitants of Scotland emigrated to East Jersey, and enriched \merican society with a valuable accession of virtue refined by adversity, and of piety invigorated by persecution. The more wealthy of the bcot- lish emigrants were noted for the accompaniment of a numerous retinue oi servants Imd dependents ; and, in some instances, they incurred the expense <,f transporting whole families of poor laborers, whom they established on tiieir lands for a term of years, and endowed with a competent stock ; re- ceiving in return one half of the agricultural produce. _ But Tames the Second now ascended the British throne ; and practically inverting the magnanimous sentiment that has been ascribed to a I'rench monarch, he deemed it unnecessary for a king of England to respect the engagements of the Duke of York ; nor could all his seeming friendship "MtVlH^rtliiT^vT*^' was reaarded or not, it is certiiiii, tlmt, both before and nfter Uie prcs- , Mt no iod rUnv "a dels of titled families, both it, Knjjlund and Scotland, resorted to Aiuen- : ::, &e ^r" ^diSuishod republican heroes and palrloU have sprung from the transplanted "'."sU\'''''w« ....n.lil.oiirhnn(l nt I. rniiiig wiUi iloDon u.irc:aT iiic -.x-mn-!, .f! 3 ever, finally reached New Jersey. H. Smith. !.nndon. His family, how- 1 [BOOK VI. BOOK VI.] SURRENDER OF THE EAST JERSEY PATENT. 485 for Barclay, together wuh all the influence of Lord Perth and the other courtier propr.etancs, deter him fro.n including New Jersey in the de 1 which he had ormed of annulling the charters and constitutions of the S" loan CO onies [1686J. A real or fictitious charge of smuggling was preferred to the hnghsh court against the mhabitants of%he Jerstys ; and the minTs- ters of James, readily seizing this handle, without farther^iremony caused yymso( quo warranto to be issued against both East and West New^erscv oTlt';? nvl n- «"°'-"^y-S«"«^«l to prosecute 'them with the utmost stretch of legal expedition ; ass^n.ng, as the explanation or apology of their con- due , he necessity of checking the pretended abuses '^ in a country which ought o be more dependent on his Majesty." Alarmed at this demons ra tion the proprietaries of East Jersey presented a ren,onst n to tl e ktg, n. which they remmded h.m that they had not received the grant of the province as a benevolence, but had acquired it by purchase, and were en! couraged to do so by the assurances of protection wluch they received from himseit ; they declared that they had already sent thither several hundreds o? people n-om Scotland ; and that they were willing to correct whatever might be found amiss in the conduct of aifairs within the province, and particular- ly. If It would be satisfactory to his Majesty, would now require their provin- fl I'fT^r^ \^T '^ru""'" regulations against smuggling that were es- tablished at iNew 1 ork. They entreated, that, if any change should be made -n ho condition of their province, it might be confined to a union of East and West Jersey in one jurisdiction, to bo ruled by a governor whom the king might select from the body of proprietaries. [1687.] But James was inexorable ; and to their remonstrance returned no other answer than that he had determined to unite the Jerseys with New York and the New En-^^»'y.-f,'^" ;;!;';""' '^ uroduced an abandonment of the pretensions of New Yoik.« [June, 1G'.)7.] 'At length the disagreements between the various propriclanes and tlK.Mr re- pective adherents attained such a height, and w^ere productive of so umeh clibin and confusion, that it was sometimes difTicult if not impossible for he people to ascertain in which of two or more r^al pretenders to author- ty the legal administration was truly vested.^ Numerous complaints' o lie itonvenience occasioned by this state of matters [1700] were ad- d es rby he inhabitants of the Jerseys to the British court ; and the pro- pietarts^hemselves, finding that their seigniorial functions ended only to d tu b the harmony of the provincial community and to obstruct their own emoluments as owners of the soil, hearkened wdhngly to an overture froin 11^0 English ministers for,-, surrender of their powers of government to the crown [Anril, 1702.] This surrender was finally arranged and accoiu- £ ed in the commencement of the reign of Queen Anne, -ho straig mv.y reunited East and West Jersey into one province, and committed he go^- ernment of it, as well as of New York, to her kinsman, Edward Hyde, ^^Tt^comiSion and instructions which this nobleman received, on his departure foin England, present an abstract of the political state of New Jersey from the resumption of its charter till the termination of its conn c o Lwit the British einpire. The provincial government was appointed lo consist of a .ovnrnoJ and Uvelve counsellors nominated by the crown , ure by tho threat of an oxpons.ve suit w.h » '« "^ont of rS ^''^ ^"'&i^±r!!r:::^rrSt.i;oi:rs:d\:*i.^^^^ rcfU^rtoackliowfedge that these poweri ever h-gally belonguU lo thorn. BOOK VI. ] CONSTITUTION OF NEW JERSEY. 487 nnd of a house of nssemblv, ronsistinn; of twenty-four members elected by the people. J he sessions of this assembly were hold nlternutely in Kust and in West Jersey. No persons were canable of voting for representatives in the assembly, but colonists po4«sessing a hundred acres of land, or personal prop- erty to the value of fifty pounds ; and none were eligible, but colonists pos- sessmg a thousand acres of land, or personal property worth five hundred pounds. Ihe laws enacted by the council and asseuibly were subject to the negative ol the governor ; but if approved by him, they were to be; im- mediately transmitted to England, there to be finally affirmed or disallowed by the crown. Iho governor was empowered to suspend any of the mem- bers ol council from their functions, and to supply vacancies in their num- ber ; and, with consent of this body, to constitute courts of law, to appoint all civil and niililary officers, and to employ the forces of the province in hostilities against public enemies. To the assembly there was conununi- cated the royal desire, that it should im|)ose taxes suflicient to afford a com- petent salary to the governor, to defray the salaries of its own members and of the members ol council, and to stij)port all the other provincial establish- ments and expenditure ; tlie prescribed style of nil money bills being, tiiat the sums contained in them were granted to the crown, with the humble desire of the assembly that they might be applied for the benefit of the province ; and all moneys so raised were to be paid into the hands of the receiver of the province, till the royal pleasure should be signified with re- gard to their actual distribution. 1 he former proprietaries of New Jersey were confirmed in their rights to the estates and quitrents which they had previously enjoyed ; and none but they and their agents and surveyors were permitted to purchase lands from the Indians. Liberty of conscience was assured to all men, except Papists. Quakers were declared to be eligi- ble to every municipal office ; and their affirmation was accented in lieu of the customary oaths. The governor was invested with the right of presen- tation to all ecclesiastical benefices. lie was required to extend particular favor and patronage to all ministers of religion in connection with the church of England, and to "take especial care that God Almighty be devoutly and duly served." It will excite more regret than surprise, to see combined with, and almost in immediate sequence to, this disjday of royal zeal for the interests of religion' and the honor of God, a requisition to the governor, that, in promoting trade, he should especially countenance and encourage the Royal African Company of England, — a mercantile association that had been formed for the piratical purpose of kidnapping or purchasing negroes in Africa, and selling them as slaves in the American and West Indian plantations. It was declared to be the intention of her Majesty " to recommend unto the said company that the said province may have a con- stant and sufficient supply of merchantable negroes at moderate rates " ; and the governor was required to compel the planters duly to fulfil what- ever engagements they might contract with the company. He was fartlier directed to cause a law to be framed for restraining inhuman severity to slaves, and attaching a capital punishment to the wilful murder of them ; and to take every means in his power to promote the conversion of these unfortunate persons to the Christian faith. Jill printing was prohibited in the province without a license from the governor. In all lawsuits where the sum in dependence exceeded a hundred pounds, an appeal was admitted ' See iS'otu XXIV., ut liie end of the volume. 488 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK VI. from the provincial courts to the governor and council ; and when it ex- ceeded two hundred pounds, a fartlier appeal was competent to the privy council of England.* . , • o The instructions to Lord Cornbury contam reiterated protestations of the queen's sincere desire to promote peace, good-will, and contentment among her American subjects ; but this desire accorded as ill with the dis- position and qualifications of the individual to whom she remitted its accom- plishment, as her professed anxiety to mitigate the evils of slavery did with her actual endeavour to diffuse this mischievous institution more widely in her dominions. Of the character and poUcy of Lord Cornbury we have already seen a specimen in the history of New York. If the people of New Jersey had less reason to complain of him, it was only because his avocations at New York compelled him generally to delegate his functions in the other province to a deputy ; and because the votaries of his favorite institution, the church of England, were too few in New Jersey, and per- haps too honest and unambitious, to afford him the materials ol a faction whose instrumentality he might have employed in oppressing and plundering the rest of the community. His distinguished name and rank, his near relationship to the queen, and the advantage he derived from appearing as the substitute of a government which had become universally unpopular, gave him at first an influence with the people of New Jersey, which a man of greater virtue might have rendered conducive to their felicity, and i man of greater ability might have improved to the subjugation of their spirit and the diminution of their liberty. But all the illusions that attended his outset among them were speedily dispelled by acquaintance with his charac- ter and experience of his administration. From the period of Ins appoint- ment till the recall of his commission, the history of New Jersey exhibits little else than a detail of the controversies, now long forgotten, m which he involved himself with the provincial assemblies ; and a display of the spirit and resolution with which these assembhes resisted his arbitrary vio- lence, condemned his partial distribution of justice, and exposed his fraudu- lent misapplication of the public money. To none of the inhabitants was his administration more oppressive than to the Quakers, who were harassed with numerous prosecutions for refusing, in conformity with their religious tenets, to assemble at the musters of the provincial militia. Though he was unable to place himself at the head of a parly in this province, he pre- vailed, partly by bribery and partly by intimidation, on some of the provin- cial counsellors to subscribe an address to himself, commencing in these terms : — "Your Lordship has not one virtue or more, but a complete accomplishment of all perfections," — and expressing the most loyal abhor- rence of the factious stubboifnness of their fellow-colonists. This ridiculous production, which he termed The Humble Address of the Lieutenant- Governor and Council of New Jersey, proved satisfactory to the British government, and enabled him for some years to defy the hatred of tlie colo- ny. But at length, after repeated complaints, the queen was compelled to sacrifice him to the universal indignation he had provoked ; but not till he had very effectually, though most unintentionally, contributed, by a whole- some discipline, to awaken and fortify a vigorous and vigilant spirit of liberty in two of the colonies which were most immediately subjected to the influ- ence of the crown. He .vas superseded, in 1708, by Lord Lovelac e, who — — J srSn7itlK BOOK VI.] CIVIL AND DOMESTIC STATE OF NEW JERSEY. 489 testations of was at the same time appointed his successor in the government of Ne\r York.i The attractions which the neighbouring province of Pennsylvania pre- sented to the Enghsh Quakers, and the cessation which the British RevokK tion produced of the severities that had expelled so many Protestant Dissent- ers from both England and Scotland, prevented the popiJlation of New Jersey from advancmg with the rapidity which its increase at one period seemed to betoken. Yet, at the close of the seventeenth century, the province is said to have contained twenty thousand inhabitants, of whom twelve thousand be- longed to East, and eight thousand to West Jersey .^ It is more probable that the total population amounted to about fifteen thousand persons. Of these, a great majority were Quakers, Presbyterians, and Anabaptists. The militia of East Jersey amounted, at this period, to 1,400 men. There wen.^ two ministers of the church of England in the province ; but their followers were not sufficiently numerous and wealthy to provide ecclesiastical edifices.' 'Hew Jersey is said to have witnessed an unusually long subsistence of vari- eties of national character among its inhabitants. Patriotic attachment and mutual convenience had generally induced the emigrants from different coun- tries to settle in distinct societies ; a circumstance which promoted among them the preservation of their peculiar national manners and customs. Kalm, the traveller, has preserved a very agreeable picture of the rural life and domestic habits of his countrymen, the early Swedish colonists of New Jersey and Delaware. They are said to have been less tenacious of their national peculiarities than the Dutch, and to have copied. very early the manners of the English. Notwithstanding some symptoms of a turbulent and refractory disposition which were evinced by a portion of the East Jer- sey population during the subsistence of the proprietary government, a much more reasonable and moderate temper seems to have generally character- ized the people of both parts of the united province ; whereof a strong tes- timony is afforded in the harmony which attended their union by the act of the crown in 1702, and which even the mischievous agency of such a pro- moter of discord as Lord Cornbury was unable to disturb. Though sep- arated from each other by differences of religious denomination, the inhab- itants of the eastern and western territories were assimilated by the habits of industry and frugality peculiar alike to the national character of the Scotch and to the sCiCtarian usages of the Quakers ; and the prevalence of these habits, doubtless, contributed to maintain concord and tranquillity among the several races of people. Yet they were always distinguished by the steadi- ness and ardor of their attachment to liberty, and a promptitude to asseit those generous principles which had been interwoven with the earliest ele- ments of political society in New Jersey. It is disagreeable to remember that this manly appreciation of their own rights was not always accompanied with a proportionate consideration of the rights of others. Negro slavery was established in New Jersey ; though at what precise period or by what class of the planters it was first introduced, we have not now the means of ' S. Soiitli. " I confess," says Oldinixon, in the second edition of his worlj, " it gives me a groat ileal of pain, in writing this liistory, to see what sort of governors I meet with in llic plnnt.itions.'.' ' Warden's ostiniato of the population is much lower. Ho says, that, until the pence of Utrecht, in 17i;5, New Jersey never possessed more than 16,000 inliabitants. Hut ids account of this province displays great negligence and inaccuracy. Holmes reports the population iu hiivr. amounted to 15,000 in the year IVOI. ' Oldmi.xon. VOL. I. 62 490 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK VI. ascertaininc. In spite of the royal patronage which we have beheld tins baneful system receive, it never attained more than a very msigmficant prev- alence throuehout the territory. Even the Quakers in this provmce, as well •IS in Pennsylvania, became proprietors of slaves ; but their treatment of Ihem was generally distinguished by a relenting tenderness and humanity ; -nd so early as the year 1696, the leading members of the Quaker socieiy of New Jersey united with their brethren in Pennsylvania m recommending (though ineffectually) to their fellow-sectaries to desist from the employment or at least from the forther importation of slaves. This interesting subject will demand more particular consideration in the history of 1 ennsylvania. New Jersey, at the close of the seventeenth century, had been for some time in possession of an increasing trade ; but of the extent of it. cornmerce at this rJeriod no accurate esUmate can be fbn.^ Ihe expom horn he Portnsa , and the uanary isies.- iJiuiuu, >*......- ^ r V, T » provin^ce; was published in 1686, remarks, that the town of B"rlmgU)n even hen gave promise of becoming a place ol considerable trade. Ihe state- ness of the public edifices, and the comfort and elegancy of the private duellings that composed this town, are highly commended by a writer whose account of the province was published about ten years later Umn the.work of Blome. It possessed already a thriving manufacture of linen and wool- bn cloth.^ This manufacture, which was also introduced at an early period iato Pennsylvania, so soon aroused the jealousy of the parent state, that in the year 1699 an act of ,.arliament was passed proli.bu.ng the exportation o woo and woollen manufactures from the American colonies, under a pend- ly of five hundred pounds for each violation of the law, m addition to the forfeiture of the offending ship and cargo.* • j .u • i, v. . t is alleged by some writers, that, till a very late period, the inhabitants of New Jersey betrayed a general neglect of education, together u.ih a oarse indifference to all improvement in the arts of life, and particularly in tiieTr system of agricultural labor. This reproach has been applied more e ^c al lyT^ the descendants of the Dutch settlers Yet the college of Princeton was founded so early as the year 1738 ; the people have always enjoyed a high reputation for piety, industry, economy, and good morals; and no coloi^al community, ev'en in iXorth America, has witnessed a wider SusL, Pmong all classes of its inhabitants, of the comforts and conveni- ences of life. » It has been noted as a singular peculiarity m the.r manners, that women in this province engrossed for a long time a considerable share in e practice of the'medical art, and, except in cases of great d.Oicuhy nd importance, were the only physician^wlKmijhejnlmbimnt^^ '""a^Bb-n^ ?rTJoS.^t'romas, who wa« fan.ir.nr wi.h .he ^^^^^^\;^,^;^^i,Z:, BOOK VI.] CIVIL AND DOMESTIC STATE 01 NEW JERSEY. 491 This usage reminds us of that romantic system of manners, during the prev- alence ot which the softness of female service was so often blended with the ministrations of medical science by the high-born damsels who graced the age ot chivalry. ° It was a fortunate circumstance for the inhabitants of New Jersey, that the conterminous Indian tribes were inconsiderable in number, and almost always willing to cultivate iriendly relations with the Europeans. The grav- ity, simplicity, and courtesy of Quaker manners were particularly agreeable to those savages. Samuel Smith, the historian of this province, has pre- served an account of a visit paid by an aged Indian king to the inhabitants of Burlington, m the year 1682. Being attacked during the visit with a mor- tal distemper, the old man sent for the heir of his authority, and delivered to him a charge replete with prudent and reasonable maxims. Thomas Budd, a Quaker, and one of the proprietaries of the province, was present on this solemn occasion, and " took the opportunity to remark that there was a great God who created all things ; that he gave man an understanding of what was good and bad ; and after this life reicarded the good with bles- sings, and the bad according to their doings. The king answered. It is very true ; it is so ; there are two ways, a broad and a strait way ; there are two paths, a broad and a strait path ; the worst and the greatest number go in the broad ; the best and fewest in the strait path. This king, dyin^^ soon afterwards, was attended to his grave, in the Quakers' burial-place in Burlington, with their national solemniti'-s, by the Indians, and with tokens of respect by many of the Enghsh setvlers."^ In the year 1695, the governor's salary in East Jersey was one liundred and fifty pounds ; in West Jersey, two hundred pounds. From the year 1702, when the two provinces were united and surrendered to the crown, till the year 1738, the government of New Jersey was always committed to the same individual who enjoyed the corresponding authority at New York ; and during that period the salary attached to the office of governor in New Jersey was six hundred pounds.*^ tended the elective franchise in New Jersey to women. The N^^^e^^women, however, showed themse yes worthy of the respect of their countrymen, by generally declining to avail tiiemselyes of this preposterous proof of it. Yet, according to the statement of Harriet Mar- tineau in her work entitled Society inAmmca, a number of New Jersey women actually at- tended elections and gave their votes. The law that invited such absurdity was repealed a few years after its enactment. " I do not believe," says Dr. Dwiglit, " that a single woman, bond or free, ever appeared at an e ection in New England since the colonization of the coun- try. It would be as much as her character was worth." ' Oldmixon. S. Smith. 2 g gnjjtl,. BOOK VII. PENNSYLVANIA AND DELAWARE CHAPTER I. Birth and C'laracter of William Pcnn.— He solicits a Grant of American Territory from Charles the Second. — Cliarter of Pennsylvania. —Object and Meaning of the Clauses pe- culiar to this Charter. — English and American Oninions thereon. — 1 enn s Policy to ncoiile hid Territories. — Emigration of tluakers to the Provmce. — Letter from 1 enn to the In. Duko of York to Penn — who sails for America- his lovful Reception there. -ISumerous Emigrations to the Province. — First Legislative Assembly. —Pennsylvania and Delaware united —Controversy with Lord Baltimore. — Treaty with the Lidiuns. — Second Assem- bly_new Frame of Government adopted. — Pluludeli.hia tounded. — 1 omi s Return lo England — and Fmewell to his People. William Penn, so renowned as a patriarch and champion of the Qua- kers, and a founder of civilized society in North America, was the $or. of that naval commander, who, under the protectorate of Cromwell, enlarged the British dominions by the conquest of Jamaica. [October 14, 1644.] This was the first colony that England acquired by her arms, rsewlork was the next : for Acadia, though conquered in the interim by CromweH's forces, did not then become an English settlement, and was surrendered by Charles the Second, soon after his restoration. It is another example of the strange concatenation of human aflairs, that the second instance of tlie acquisition of a colony by the British arms should have been the means ol introducing the son of the first conqueror as a Quaker colonist and a preacher of peace in America. „ , . , , , , , ^ c His father, who attained the dignity of knighthood and the rank ot an admiral, was the descendant of a respectable English family. Devoting him- self to the naval service of his country in the commencement of the civil wars, he espoused the cause of the parliament, and subsequently adhered to the fortunes of Cromwell. From a humble station in the service of these authorities, he was p.-omoted to a dignified and important command ; and m the war with Holland, he cooperated in the achievements and partook ilie renown of the illustrious Admiral Blake. He gained the esteem of the 1 ro- tector, and retained it till the failure of the expedition which he conducted a-'ainst St. Domingo. It is asserted very confidently by some historians, and oarticidarly by all the Quaker writers, that this disaster was occasioned by tlie fault of Venables, who commanded the land forces, and could not fairly be attributed to Admiral Penn : but Cromwell, who understood military afiai'rs better than these writers can be supposed to have done, was so far from acquitting the admiral of blame, that he imprisoned him m the i ower, and never afterwards intrusted him with any public employ.' Ihis cu'- cumstance, perhaps, contributed to the favor which he enjoyed at court alter the Restoration ; when he scrupled not to accept title and employment trom a governnieiil liiat sngmatiz cd tiic srivi et- m uHKn t.e >.«^ ^}u\...u..i, ^^ ~ ~ ' Lord Clarendon a Life, llolmeg. CHAP. I.] WILLIAM PENN. 493 mmand ; and in gaged, by the insults u heaped on the memory of Blake.i It is alleged of l,„n by Bishop Burnet, that he earned the friendship of the Duke of Yoik w.th whom he commanded at sea in the Dutch war of 1665, by dcxterouslv' ouabuig th.s pnnce to avoid a renewed action with the encmy^ fleet, wi h- outhavag seemed to dechne it. Other writers, and especially thos^ who profess the tenets or patronize the fame of his son, have affirmed that the .dmii-a owed his favor with the king and the duke to no other recommenda! TA W.l ^Hn r n""'"' ^"^"/ '"'^ "^'^"'^^- H« ^^«s impeached, in 166S, by the House of Commons, for embezzling prize money but, fiim some unexplained circumstance, the impeachment was permitted to drop.^ The favor which he enjoyed at court, whatever might be the source of it, was so considerable, as to aulhonze the most ambitious hopes of the ad- vancement of his son, and proportionally to embitter lus disappoimment at beholding the young man embrace a profession of faith which not only ex- cluded lis votaries from offic.a dignity, but exposed them to the severity of penal law the displeasure of churchmen, and the derision of courtiers. The younger Penn s predilection for Die Quakers, first excited by the discourses cf one of their itinerant preachers, was manifested at the early age of six- teen, with so much warmth and impetuosity, as to occasion his expulsion nom the University of Oxford. His faUier endeavoured to prevail with him 10 abandon principles and manners so ill calculated to promote his worldly graiideur j and, finding arguments ineffectual, resorted to blows, and even banished fum from his house, with no better success. Along with the pe ciiliarities of Quakerism, the young convert had received the first profound impression w iich he ever experienced of the truth and importance of Chris- tianity ; and both were for ever uiseparably blended together in his mind he treatment he underwent from his father tended to confirm his belief tliat Quakerism was a revival, of that pure and primitive Christianity which was fated to occasion the division of households and the dissolution of the strongest ties of natural affection. At last, the admiral devised a metliod of sapping the principles which he could not overthrow ; and, for this pur- pose, sent his son to travel, with some young men of quality, in France^ then the gayest and most licentious country of Europe. This device, which reflects little credit on the parental concern by which it was prompted, was attended with apparent success. Quakerism and Christianity were checked alike, for a time, m the mind of Penn, who returned to his gratified father with the maimers of an elegant gentleman and the sentiments of a man of pleasure. Cut,Jwvjngj;epjwed^_thc year 16 6^, to Ireland, in order- to ' In alluding to tlie J.istory and character of his father, William Penn is divided bctwoon a naurnl elation at his republican honors, and an unwillingness to have Iiim considered an aeso- .latc of rcpubl.oons and antagonist of royalty. "From a lieutenant," says the son, "he tssml througn all the ennnent offices of sea employment, and arrived to that of generalabout he thirtieth year of his age; in a time full of tlio biggest sea actions that anyl.istory inen- ons; and when neither bribes nor all.an.o, flivor nor allSction, but ability only, could promote." I! adds however,- "He was engaged both under the parliament and king; but not ns an actorin the domestic troubles; his compass always steering him to eye a national concern, nd no Hitestme wars. II.s service, tlicrcfijre, being wholFy foreign, lie may be truly said t.l T! ,'."«^°""jry. ;«"'" than either of these interests, so far as they were distinct from each i' Jn ^ ""'"'■y "S P"l^>s>jhania. Oldmixon (2d edition) thus characterizes thv »J. iniral : — 1 was a strong Independent, and so continued till the Restoration ; when, finding IS" ri Iftle oVyoI-*^' "'""■ '""'"' '" ""^ ^""''■^ ""'' ^' P""^^ "'^'' ^'"« ' Howell's Slate Trials. ' To reconcile this well authentic ated conduct of the admiral with the interest which ftua- I ler writers have displayed in defence of his reputation, it is neceiffeary to remember that fc« PP 494 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK VII. inspect an estate that belonged to his family in this country, it was here again Kte to meet with the same itinerant preacher ^v^o had exerc.sed so much fluence o^ him six years before, at Oxford. H.s former designation o hd was now reproduced with deeper conviction and increased zeal and enorKy ; and speedily elicited from him a public, solemn and resolute pro- Sn of his espousal of the principles and practices of the Quakers In ab were his father's instances once more repeated, and the emporal dig- nWes which eemed only to wait his acceptance pressed ^vJth fond and pa- "hedc earnestness on his regard. It was even m vain that the admiral, despairs of farther concession, restricted his solicitation to such a slender aespaiing o m. ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^ uncover his fr/in th ;; sencVof ?h: kin the Duke of York, and his parents. Penn's eve was now elevated to the contemplation o objects so glorious and ex- ahed as to eclipse the lustre of earthly grarideur and dissipate the illusions of temporal distbction; and his resolution (hardened by an early experience of mXonment, and other legal severities) was wound up to such a pitch of fi mX anHntensity, that he refused to lay even a single gram of incense on wharhe deemed aLuihallowed altar of human arrogance and vanity. He now devoted all the large resources of his capacity to the defence and prop- Son of the Quaker tenets, and sacrificed his temporal ease and tnjoy- me?to the niustration of the Quaker virtues, -wUh a success tha^ has Sd for him a renown more brilliant and extended than the amb'tibu o his fler ever ventured to hope, or the utmost favor of h.s sovereign could '"it TuK be easy to figure a more interesting career than that which is exhbUed in the greater portion of his subsequent life. He travelled over many part ofESrope, and even extended his personal labors to America ; Lnd Everywhere, from the courts of Germa^ pr nces to the encampments of Indbn savages, we find him overcoming evil by good, and disarming human vblencelnd ferocity by gentleness, patience, and piety In his ex- terior appearance and address, were combined, m an unusual deg ee, a ven- erable dEy and gravity of aspect, with a frank, cheerful simphcity of man- ner and a Xle of language fraught with plainness, vigor and good-humor. His' face wa a very uncommon one, and its lineaments, though by no means fine werlfar from unpleasing, and were rendered by tlie.r peculiarity more deeply and lastingly imprlssive. With the general corpulence which h"s frame aUaTned as he advanced in years, his face underwent a propo - tiona enLrgement of its dimensions ; and while his eye expressed consi - erate thought and strength of undej;^nding,jhe_ann>luud^an^^ I'roud. Clarkson. . . ,_, <-.i,„ „„„n» mnvftrt was not at first entirely appears tliat It must be unexceptionable considered, also, that the demeanour of the young convert was not at b7e"^'tto,d;nixon-saccountofPennsexpu^^^^^^^^^^ account ot renn s expuisiun n"— ^-"-•-, — rr i;irfir;r;;"p=ofQ7akeri^^^^ " He was k student at Christ Church, 6xon., ^'»'«n ^n " J^.^^ Sbo custom of ancient tlipir heads." Oldmixon (2(1 edition). i„j o„fl., M,ith thn wishes of hij '"^Lr. is no account of Winian^Pennhav.ng ever com^^^^^^^^ „^„^„ father aa to enter into the army Vet 1 nave seen "" ""P^- ^.F _, ,^„ „„„ „p iwfintv-lwn of his descendant at Stoke^in BuckingUdBisnirc, rcprcscru.ns x,».., « „ ■Uired in complete armor. CHAP. I.] WILLIAM PENN. 495 of the rest of his features seemed to indicate an habitual tranquillity of soirit A mmd so con emplat.ve, and a life so active, -such a mhctu e of S: ness and reso ufon, of patience and energy, of industry and genius, of Toff; piety and profound sagacty, - have rarlly been exemplified in the records of human character. The most pious and the most voluminous he was a^o 01 Quakerism , and, at the same time, next to George Fox, the most in- defatigab e muKster that the Quakers of Britain have ever possesseTH; contrived to exh.bu at once the active and passive virtues su table to a champton and a confessor of Quakerism ; and the same prisons hat wit! "fht ^n r Tk '"^T^ ^'' '^' "^^'' °f his brethren were^lso he cene of h.s most elaborate hterary efforts for their instruction. AmonVo'her Quaker pecuhar.taes, h.s writings are distinguished by a tedious prJlixty yet not much more so than the productions of the most celebrated contem- porary authors of different religious persuasion. They abound w'thn^- merous passages replete al.ke with the finest eloquence and the mos" fore ble reasoning, engagmg benevolence and fervenJ piety. He wT deeply uifected with the doctrinal errors of the Quakers ; yet more deeX iSed with the spirit of divine truth than many who profess to hold it devoid of such appendages ; and, notwithstanding the tendency of these doctrinal er- rors to lead men who have thoroughly embraced them int^Lntic and in decent excesses, there were none of the Quaker leaders who contrTbuted more signally than Penn to the establishment of a system of orderly dUct pline throughout the sectarian society. This was a work of such difficu ty and so repugnant to the sentiments of many who regarded discipline as Tn hat all the mfluence of Penn's character and address, and all thf weight htZl^ ?"\^" ^'^"'^rf ^ ^"^^""Ss, were requisit'e, and indeed hZ ly sufficed, to its successful accomplishment. Except George Fox, no tier individual has ever enjoyed so much authority in this society, or so fully sustained the character of a patriarch of the Quakers. Tho^ugh hi^ pnnciples excluded him from the official dignities which his father had cov! eted lor fiim, they did not prevent him from attaining a high degree of favor and consideration both with Charies the Second and his successor ; .vhich 3X0'^''"' "'"^°'' of his power, for the relief of persecuted mem- rs of the Quaker society. Whatever were the services of the admiral, !lt'H"'h V '^'y^^''.'f ^'^ «^t^"ded to his son ; nor was its efficacy impaired by his. visible influence over a numerous body of men, whose avowed renunciation of the rights of resistance and self-defence could not lail to conciliate the regards of arbitrary princes. 1 rhere exists, in all mankind, a propensity to unbounded admiration, aris- ing Irom an indistinct glimpse and faint remaining trace of that image of nifm. e majesty and purity with which their existence connects them, and winch their nature once enjoyed a closer conformity than it has been e to retain. We may consider either as the expression of this propen- y, or the apology for indulging it, that eagerness to claim the praise ot faultless perfection for the objects of our esteem, which perhaps truly indicates a secret consciousness that it is only to excellence above the reach of humamty that our admiration can" ever be justly due. This error ha3 _been exemplified in a jvery remark able deg ree by the biographers of ' Proud. Clarkson's Ufe of Pcnn7 ~ ' 496 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK VII. Penn and the historians of his transactions and institution? in America. The unmixed and unmerited encomium, which his character and labors have received, originated, no doubt, with the writers of his own rehg.ous nersuasion.; but, so far from being confined to them, it has been even exag- cerated by writers of a totally diflerent class, and whose seeming irapartiali- Fy has contributed, in a remarkable degree, to fortify and propagate the illusion. The Quakers have always enjoyed, with some infidel philoso- phers,» a reputation which no other professors of Christianity have been permitted to share ; partly because they were accounted the fnends of un- limited toleration, and partly from an erroneous rdea that their Christian name was but a thin mystical covering, which veiled the pure and simple light of reason and philosophy from eyes yet too gross to receive it. llelus- ing to define their doctrinal tenets by a creed, and having already evacuated by alleKorical interpretation some of the plainest precepts of the gospel, the Quakers were expected by their philosophical panegyrists to pave the way for a total dissolution of Christianity, by gradually allegorizing the whole of the Scriptures. By the united efforts of these several tributaries to his fame, William Penn has been presented to the worid as a character nearly, if not entirely, faultless ; as the author of institutions not less admirable for their wisdoin than their originality, and not less amply than instantaneously productive of the gratitude and happiness of mankmd.^ How exaggerated .s [his picture of the merit and the effects of his institutions will appear but too dearly from the following pages. That the dazzling light with which his character has been invested was sulhed with the specks of moHal im- perfection is also a truth which it is more easy than agreeable to demon- slrate. But excellence, the more credibly it is represented, is the more ef- fectually recommended to imitation and esteem; and those who maybe conscious of such infirmities as William Penn betrayed receive an impor- tant lesson, when they are taught that these imperfections neither mev.tably obstruct, nor satisfactorily apologize for, deficiency of even the most cxem- ^'^'J^tlTcommencement of his very controversial career, Penn treated his opponents with an arrogance of disdain, and a coarseness and scurnlity of vituperation, strangely inconsistent with the mildness of mp.ners enjoined by the canons of Quakerism, and even with xommon decency and propriety. li redounds to his credit that he corrected this fault, and graced his wisdom with an address replete with courtesy and kindness. But another change that occurred in his disposition presents him in an aspect which it is ess pleasing to contemplate. Recommended to Charies the Second and ih. monarch's successir by a hereditarvjclaim of regard, by the principles of ■- , . „„ ^.h^ TrVoltii^it^lMdmrt. Ravnal, Mirnboau, and Brissot. Hume, m his Ihstory, of France. , - . , r,f^? ThoribS v!whi,rPom,"on tl,i, occasion co,ul««cm.d 1» ou.plo, »«. borromd Qtutkern lual CiVJt jovna rmt, iviiu tu3=rTciT;« .. .\- ■= ' 3 Jfaiud Trvth needs no Shifi CHAP. I.] WILLIAM PENN. 497 passive obedience,— which, as a Quaker, he professed, and as a writer contributed widely to d' ",eminate, — and by the uillingness with which he and lus lellow-sectanes alo .e, of ail the Biiiisli Protcslai.ts, recognized the des- potic prerogative affected by tlie crown,\.f suspending die ordinances of the legislature, — he was admitted to a degree of favor and intimacy with those perfidious and tyrannical princes, which laid a dangerous snare for the integ- rity ol his character and the rectitude of his conduct. It was natural that he and Ins riend.-, op])ressed by the severe intolerance of parliamentary legislation, slipuld regard with more favor the arbitrary power which was sometmies interposed for their relief, than the constitutional authority which was uniformly directed to dieir mtleslation. But the other Protestant Dis- senters in general beheld with di:.g.!si and suspicion the boon of a temporary mitigation ot egal rigor, whicji implied a power in the ;rown subversive of every bulwark of British liberty. As the political agent of his society, cultivating the friendship of a tyrant, and seeking a shelter under his pre- rogative Irom the existing huvs„Penn occupied a situation regulated by no established maxims of duty, or ascertained principles ;> and becoming gradually lamiharized with arbitrary power, he scrupled not to beseech its interposition m behalf of his own private concernments, and to employ, for the enlargement of his American territory, at the expense of the prior right of Lord Baltimore, the same authority which he had accustomed himself to respect as an engine of public good and religious toleration. Dazzled, rather than corrupted, by royal favor and confidence, he beheld nothing in the character of the British princes that reproved his friendship with tliem, or prevented it from becoming even more intimate and confidential, at a period when their tyrannical designs were already fully developed, their perfidy unmasked to every other eye, and the hands from which he solicited favors were imbrued with the blood of men whom he had loved as friends, and reverenced as the most estimable and illustrious characters in England. While as yet the struggle between the popular leaders and the abettors of arbitrary power had not issued in the triumph of royal prerogative, Penn seemed to participate in the sentiments that were cherished by the friends of liberty. He addressed his supplications, for repeal of the penal laws against Dissenters, to the House of Commons ; he attached himself to Algernon Sydney, and endeavoured to promote his election in a competi- tion with a court candidate for the borough of Guildford ;^ and we have seen how he cooperated in the magnanimous vindication of the rights of West Jersey against the encroachments of the Duke of York. But when the cause of liberty seemed for ever to have sunk beneath the victorious ascendency of royal prerogative, he applied to the crown for that relief from the rigor of ecclesiastical law, which he had already practically avowed to be legally derivable from the parliament alone ; he beheld his friend Sydney perish on a scaffold, the victim of patriotic virtue, without any interruption of cordiality between himself and the court ; and when James the Second committed a far greater outrage on the rights of Magda- len College of Oxford than the encroachment he had attempted on the lib- ertic s of New Jersey, Penn's^dvice to the academic authorities was to ' That Penn did not acknowledge the snme duties, as a politician^ which he prescribed to himsell (13 a Quaker, appears from his witlidrawinj; from a state warrant that was issued fw his imprisonrnent on a political charge by Kinj;Wil!iam,(Proud) — an evasion which ho n.-vo* stooped to, when he wiia persecuted for iiis religions practices. * Clarksnn, VOL. I. 63 bdW pp 498 HISTORY OF NORTH AMIUUCA. [DOOK VII. appease the kinr; by apologies for their past comhict, whirl., at the same time he acknowledged to have been not only bhunch^ss, but upright and commendable. I Nay, as if to render the change ol his disposition still more signally conspicuous, he concurred with the other proprietaries of Fast Jersey in tamely surrendering the liberties of (Ins {.Tovihce to the same prince, against whom, when supported by the spirit of better times, he had so strenuously defended the freedom of its sister colony. 1 enn was vol- untarily present at the execution of Mrs. Gaunt, an aged lady, renowned for her piety and charity, who was burnt alive for having given shelter to a person in distress, whom she knew not at the time to have been a fugitive from the rebel army of the Duke of Monmouth; and at the execution of Alderman Cornish, who was hanged before the door of his own house, for a pretended trei,^on, of which nobody believed him to be guilty The only sentiment that he is reported to have expressed in relation to these atrocities was, that " the king was greally to be intredhv the evil counsels that hurried him into so much effusion of blood.' •« When it is considered that, after all this, Penn's eyes were not opened \to the real character of James, and that, on the contrary, his friendship with the barbarous tyrant continued to subsist, and even to increase, till the very last, -it seems by no means surprising that his contemporaries should have generally regarded him as a secret abettor of all the monarch's designs for the reestabhshmcnt of the church of Rome in Britain and the destruction of British liberty It was, perhaps, fortunate for his fame that the public displeasure vented itself in this injustice ; the detection of which has contributed to shel er h.rn oven from the milder but more merited censure of an infatuated se f-com- placence and credulity, inspired by the flattering idea that he would ulti- mately render the royal authority entirely subservient to the accomplishment of his own religious and philanthropic views. ,, , r v.- 5 The character of William Penn has not escaped the charge of ambition, — a charge which admits of such variety of signification, that perhaps no human being was ever entirely exempt from it. If restriction to ends merely selfish constitute the depravity of ambition, a nobler and more generous range may be allowed to make ambition virtue. Assuredly, Penn wa neither conscious nor susceptible of that vile and vulgar aspiration that courts a personal distinction and superiority obtained by the depression and spoliation of mankind. Of the wish to derive a reflected lustre from the happiness and improvement which others might owe to him, 't 's ne.thei so easy nor so desirable to absolve him. Nor, perhaps, was he wholly insensi- ble to the influence of a temptation which this refined ambition is very ap to beget, — the desire of enlarging and |,erp^ua^tingjb^uthority^whicli - . p|..lk„„n Hbid" ^See Note XXVII., at th« end of the volume. . He'pTlUhed a book in favor of tho kin.'s attempts to -'f f^ '^HntoX « r. '•'ttn'tS bit v^Jy pSl >vritcr, .ho boldly essays to beat d.vv„ all P-;;^-:^ t,, generous virtue, 1ms characterized him as " a man of groat «»«pt»? f ..^':',''«'„'!;"„:';^i:i='„„ , more ;;.^;r^^qual dissimulation; "f e;t;:;me"^t Jo^^^ei^T^^anu^ SSf ""' b.t.on; aAd 'of an address in proportion to^alljhese C[->'^«-.„,'^™J;y'Juh^ to favorable are liie nuntiraents exprcsscu l-y t^x. 1 jatiKHn s e , the character of Penn, CHAP. I.] PENN SOLICITS A GRANT OF TERRITORY. 499 such benefits might cijntmue to be conferred by himself and his posterity. It has been al eged of more than one benefactor of the liun.an rice, that, confident of their good intentions, and habituated to power, they liave coveted the possession of it somewhat too eagerly, as a peruliaily efficient instrurnent of human welOire. But it is time to proceed from these prefa- tory obsorvations on the character of this distinguished person, to a con- sideration of that portion of his Hfe which is identified with the history ol Delaware and tlie rise of Pennsylvania. The circumstances by which the attention of Penn was first directed to the colonization of .North America have already been unfolded in the early annals of New Jersey While he was engaged with Jiis Quaker associates in administering the New Jersey government, he received such information of he fertility and resources of the country situated to the westward of the Delaware, as inspired him with the desire of acrp.iring a separate estate in this quarter [June 1680.] For this purpose, he presented a petition to Charles the Second, stating Ins relationship to the deceased admiral, and his claim for a debt mcurred by the crown to his father, at the time when Shaftesbury s memorable device was adopted, of shutting the exchequer ; soliciting, on these accounts, a grant of land to the northward of Maryland, and westward of the Delaware ; and representing, that, by his interest with the Quakers, he should be able to colonize the province, which might, in time, not only yield a revenue sufficient to extinguish his claims on the crown, but enlarge the British empire, augment its trade, and promote the glory ol Ood by the civihzation and conversion of the Indian tribes.^ This petition was referred to the Duke of York and Lord Baltimore, that they might report how far its object was compatible with their prior investitures. Both signified their acquiescence in Penn's demand, provided his patent should be so worded as to preclude any encroachment on their territories • and the Duke of York added his recommendation of the petition to the ftivor of the crown. Successful thus far, Penn transcribed from the charter of Maryland the sketch of a patent in his own favor [November, 1680] ; but the attorney-general, Jones, to whose opinion it was remitted, pro- nounced that certain of the clauses were "not agreeable to the laws here, though they are in Lord Baltimore's patent," and signified, in particular, that the exemption from British taxation, which Penn desired for his col- ony, was utterly illegal. Compton, Bishop of London, at the same time, nnderstanding that Penn, in soliciting his patent, described himself as the head of the English Quakers, interposed in the relative proceedings, for tlie protection (as he declared) of the interests of the church of England. [January, 1681.] After some discussion of the points that had thus arisen, the Committee of Plantations desired Chief-Justice North, a person of considerable eminence, both as a statesman and a lawyer, to undertake the revision of the patent, and to secure, by proper clauses, the reservation of royal prerogative and parliamentary jurisdiction. With his assistance, there was prepared an instrument which received the royal confirmation, and afterwards a-jquired much celebrity as the charter of Pennsylvania." [ March, 1681.] ^ ' In a letter to a friend, about the same time, he declares his purpose in tlie ncquisition of American territory to have been " so to serve tlie truth and people of the Lord, that an example may be set to the nations " ; adding, " there may be room there, though not here, for such an holy experiment." Proud. i 6 i ' Oidraixon. Proud. Cimlmers. Diilwyn (see Note XXVI.) apud Winterbotham. Both 500 HISTORY OF NORTH AMF.RICA. [B(X)K VII. Bv this cliartcr, which profcssod to ho prantod in ronsidcrntion of « the merits of the father and the good purposes of the son, there was eon- ferred on William Penn, and his iicirs and assigns, that v«^t region honndod on the east by the river Dehuvare ; extending westward five dealers of h)n£'itnde; stretching to the north from twelve miles northward ol New- rastlefin the Delaware territory) to the forty-third degree ot latitude ; limited on the south by a circle of tw.c habpt, c't rcRio mciiiorabilo nonion nuUoDii, AiKtior aurtoris in nnmc tcmpiis sui ; Q,!!! fi!!t iUustri nroavnniin stcininato nntiis, Scd virtulc maais nobilis ipse sun." . . - i -^ Dtu Yumii. o » Makin 8 Descriptio Pennstjlvaniai. CHAP. I] CHARTER OF PENNSYLVANIA. 601 laden or un adcn in the Imhouvs of il,o colony ; and those duties were grantiHl lo 1 omi, uitli ro,seiv;.iion, however, to tlie crown of such customs us then were, or in lulurc niighl bo, imposed by uct of parliament. I'enn was rc.pnrod JO appoint an agent lo reside in or near London, to answer for any breaeii ol the trade laws which he or his people niigiit connnit ; and in case such misde.neanonr, ho was to make satisfaction within a ycnir ; in default 01 \yhich, the king was to appropriate the government of the province, and rotani »t till duo satisfaction were made. The proprietary was required not to maintain correspondence with any prince or state at war, nor to rni.ke war against any prince or stale in amity, with England. By an article ol the charter, which, perhaps, a strict adherence to his ,)rinciples should liayo induced hiin to disclaim, he was empowered " to levy, muster, and train all sorts of men ; to pursue and vamjuish enemies ; to take and put t leni to death by the laws of war ; and to do cveny thing which belongeth to the ofiicc of captain-general in an army." He was farther empowered to alienate the soil to the colonists, who were authorized to hold their lands under his grants, notwithstanding the Kuglish statute prohibiting such suh- mleudations. Assurance was given by the king, for himself andiiis succes- sors, " that no custom or other contribution shall be levied on the inhabitants or their estates, unless hy the consent, of the proprietary, or governor and assembly, or by act of parliament in England." It was stipulated (in com- pliance with the suggestion of Bishop Complon), thai, if any of the inhab- itants, to the number of twenty, should signify their desire to the Bishop of London to have an Episcopal ministei' established among them, the pastor appointed for them by this dignitary should be allowed to reside and per- form his functions without hindrance or molestation. In case of the emer- gence of doubt with regard to the construction properly applicable to any part of the charter, it was declared that an interpretation the most favor- able to the proprietary should always be admitted ; with the exclusion, however, of any supposition that might derogate from the allegiance due to the crown.' Such is tlie substance of a charter on which was established the fabric of the Pennsylvanian government and laws, so renowned for their wisdom, mildness, equity, and liberality. The cautious stipulations for guarding and ascertaining the British ascendency, by which this charter was dis- tinguished froin all preceding patents, were manifestly the offspring of the disputes in which the royal court had been for some time engaged with the colony of ISrassachusetts. The provincial government of Massachusetts had deemed the Acts of Navigation inoperative within its jurisdiction, till they were legalized by its own ordinance. But direct and steady obedience to them in Pennsylvania was enforced by the stipulated penalty of the forfeit- ure of the charter. Laws had been passed in Massachusetts for a domestic coinage of money, and other objects, which were deemed inconsistent w ith the prerogative of the sovereign state. For the prevention of sitnilar abuse, or at least the correction of it, before inveterate prevalence shoultl createjiabits of independence, it was required that all the laws of the new • Proiul. Chiilmers. "It is romarknble," says Dr7Fnuiklin7in~liis~//;*-i .. nf !'l"r ••p->urin nrtA ,-., t-' ■ COO J * popular rights. 502 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK VII. province should be regularly transmitted to England for the royal approba- tion or dissent. To obviate the difficulty that was experienced by the Kng- hsh .roverninent in conducting its disputes with the people of Massaclui- setts^who could never be induced to accredit an agent at the court without much reluctance and long delay, it was required that a standing agen' for Pennsylvania should reside in London, and be held responsible lor the pro- ceedings of his colonial constituents. But the most remarkable provision, by which this charter was distinguished from all the other American patents, was that which expressly reserved a power of taxation to the British par- liament. . , , ,.jy, . . . Of tlie import of this much agitated clause very diflerent opinions were entertained, from the first, by the lawyers and statesmen of Lngland, and the politicians of Pennsylvania. In England, while it was denied that the novel introduction of the clause into the charter of this province afforded to any of the other colonies an argument against their liability to parliamentary taxation, —it was, with more appearance of reason, maintained that its ac tual insertion in the present charter precluded even the possibility of an honest pretension to such immunity on the part of the Pennsylvanians. Of the very opposite ideas that were entertained on this subject by the colo- nists an account was rendered about a century afterwards by Dr. 1 rankh.i, in his celebrated examination, as an agent of his countrymen, at the bar of the British House of Commons. Being asked how the Pennsylvanians could reconcile a pretence to be exempted from taxation with the express words of a clause reserving to parliament the privilege of imposing this burden upon them, he answered,-" They understand it tlnis:— By the same charter,' and otherwise, they are entitled to all the privileges and liberties of Eng- lishmen. They find in the great charters and in the petition and declaration of rights, that one of the privileges of English subjects is, that they are not taxed but by their common consent ; they have, therefore, relied upon it, from the first settlement of the province, that the parliament never would nor could, by color of that clause in tlie charter, tax them till it had qualified itself to exercise such right by admitting representatives rom the people to be taxed." ^ That this reasoning was not (as some have su-4sted) the mere production of Eranklin's own ingenuity, nor even the inuuediate growth of the era of American independence, but that it express- ed the opinion of the earhest race of the Pennsylvanian settlers, is a point susceptible of the clearest demonstration. , r • • • From the official correspondence between the royal functionaries in America and the court of London, it appears, that, before the 1 ennsylva- nians had existed as a people for seventeen years, the English ministry were apprized of the general prevalence of these sentiments among tlicni; and in the work of a contemporary historian of this province, who derived his acquaintance with it from the communications of Penn himseli, the rig it of the colonists to elect representatives to the British parliament is distinctly asserted.-' It was only in the year preceding the date of the Pennsylvanian charter, that Penn, in reclaiming forjhe colonists of New Jersey the pnvi- " ■ Tl.is is a mis tM^~Tim"lVnnsyrvaninn r.ha'rtcVdiircrs from all tho otiiprs in not eo.nuui- nicat ngan ox^r S^«^ uranro to tho colonist, of tho rigl.ts and character of Englishmen, f o r asorn^r thii^omission i. said by (^hahnnrs to ^^--'^ ^'^^-^ ''^^ ^t^^/lZ^^ ^c^^^t prrnnrml the charter, deemed such declarations superfluous, and their import sulhcuntly in terred by genc'ral law. » Mininirs, &,t., nf Frnnhtin. ' See Note XXVIll , at tlie end of the volume. CHAP. I.] PRELIMINARY TERMS TO SETTLERS. 603 lege of imposing taxes on themselves, had protested that no reasonable men would emigrate from England to a country where this advantage was not to be enjoyed ; and as the argument which he maintained on that occa- sion was founded entirely on general principles, and on what he regarded as the constitutional rights inseparable from the character of British sub- jects, without reference to any peculiarities in the charter of New Jersey, It is highly improbable that he beheved the clauses pecuhar to his ovvn charter to admit of an interpretation that would have placed his favorite province beyond the pale of the British constitution, and deterred reasona- ble men from resorting to it. We must either believe him to have enter- tained the same opinion that prevailed on this point among the colonists of his territory or adopt the illiberal supposition of a historian' who charges him vvith making concessions, in treating with the crown, which he ne?er intended to substantiate m practice. Possessed of this charter, to which the king gave additional authority by a royal letter commanding all intending planters in the new province to render due submission to the proprietary, Penn directed his attention to the interesting concern of attracting inhabitants to his vacant territory. To this end, he published a description of the soil ana resources of the prov- ince, together with admonitions to those who were inclined to undertake its cultivation, and a statement of the conditions on which he was willing to deal with them. 1 he admonitions are almost precisely the same with those which lie previously addressed to the intending emigrants to West Jersey • and enjom all persons, deliberating with regard to their removal, to have especial respect to the will of God, — to balance present inconvenience with luture ease and plenty, —and to obtain the consent of their near relations in order that natural affections might be preserved, and a friendly and prohtabie correspondence between the two countries maintained. It was intimated to all who were disposed to become planters, that a hundred acres of land would be sold at the price of forty shillings, together vvith a perpet- ual quitrent of a shilling. It was required, that, in disencumbering the ground of wood, there should be reserved one acre of trees for every five acres cleared ; and an especial recommendation was given to preserve oak and mulberry trees for the construction of ships and the manufocture ol silk. It was declared that no planter would be permitted to overreach or otherwise injure the Indians, or even to avenge, at his own hands, any wrong he might receive from them ; but that, in case of disputes between the two races, the adjustment of them should, in every instance, be referred to twelve arbitrators, selected equally from the Europeans and the Indians, ihe requisition of quitrents, in addition to the payment of a price, which proved ultimately so fertile a source of discord between the proprietary lamily and the colonists, was the only feature in this scheme that appeared objectionable to the religious fraternity of which Penn was a member ; but ins influence with these sectaries was so great, and his description of the province so inviting, as more than to outweigh this disagreeable and unex- pected condition. Numci-ous applications for land were speedily made by persons, chiefly of the Quaker persuasion, in Eondon, Liverpool, and especially in Bristol, where o ne trading assocjat^mn alon e became the purchasers of Twenty thou- ' Chalmers, wiio in s.ipport of his qsl^oi,, r.^m.'irks that not <>r,e of the luws and ci.m. sututions oriartcd by Pcn.i or under hi« auspices, was ever eubraittcd, according to the renui- BUion of tlie charter, to the English court. 604 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK vir. sand acres of the territory, and prepared for embarking in various branches of commerce which had relation to their acquisition. The prospect thus afforded, of an early replenishment of his province, invited the immediate attention of Penn to the form and fabric of its political constitution ; in the composition of which there could be room for little other labor than the exercise of a judicious selection from the numerous theoretical models which had employed the pens and exhausted the invention of contemporary writers, and from the various practical institutions by which the several proprietaries of American provinces had vied with each other for the ap- probation of mankind and the attraction of inhabitants to their vacant do- mains. In undertaking an employment so congenial to his disposition as the work of legislation, Penn seems to have been impressed with equal con- fidence in the ^resources of his capacity and the rectitude of his intentions, and touched at the same time with a generous sense of the value of those interests that were involved in his performance, and the expanse of liberty and happiness that might result from it. " As my understanding and nicH- nations," he declared, " have been much directed to observe and reprove mischiefs in government, so it is now put into my power to settle one. For the matters of libertv and privilege, / purpose that ivhich is cxtraonhmiry, and leave myself and successors no power of doing mischief, that the will of one man may not hinder the good of a whole country." The liberal mstitutions that arose shortly after in Pennsylvania, and the happiness of which they were so largely productive, attested the sincerity and rewarded the virtue of this magnanimous design ; while the partial disappointment which it sustained, and particularly the mischief and dissension that arose from the degree of power that was actually reserved to the proprietary and his successors, forcibly exemplified the infirmity of human purpose, and the fallacy incident to all human expectations. As several of the purchasers of land, in their eagerness to commence the new settlement, were prepared to embark before Penn had yet com- pleted his legislatorial composition, it was necessary that they should be previously acquainted with the general scope, at least, of a work so deeply affecting their interests. A rough sketch of its principal features was ac- cordingly prepared and mutually signed by the proprietary and those adven- turers, who, being now assured of unlimited toleration,' and satisfied with the model of the political constitutions, no longer hesitated to bid adieu to a scene of tyranny, contention, and persecution, and sot sail, in quest of freedom and repose, for Pennsylvania. [May, 1G81.] Three vessels from London and Bristol carried out these first Pennsylvanian settlers, and along with them Colonel William Markhatn, the kinsman and secretary ot I enn, who appointed him deputy-governor; and certain commissioners v ho were appointed to confer with the Indians respecting the purchase of their lands, and to endeavour to form with them a league of perpetual peace. 1 hese commissioners were solemnly enjoined to treat the Indians with candor*, jus- tice, and humanity, and were intrusted with a letter from Penn to them, accompanied by suitable presents. The proprietary V, letter si gnified to the '^TrdoUnpTsli^tlVoi^rtiil'wis.ioin of Ponn, 1.11^ niorfly "fronrtho jund bv L-rd rter InTnTof'Pcnn'8 leUerelhe"Dutciriind Swedish inhabitants of Dolnwaro are thus (Ic- ocribed : — " They are a plain, strong, industrious people ; who have made no great progress in culture; desiring rather to have enough, than plenty or traffic. As thfiy are miople prmier and strong of body, so they have fine children, and almost every house full »'»"''■ \^^ Dutch had one and the Swedes three meeting-houses for divine worship in the Delaware ter- ritory ibid. » JltUe, Book v., Chap. I. CHAP. I.] FlfeST ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 511 ier from a nu- merous emigration of Gdrman Quakers, who had been converted to this form of faith by the preaching of Penn and his associates, and whose well- timed removal from, their native land enabled them to escape from the des- olation of the Palatinate. The exemplary piety and virtue by which these German colonists were distinguished in America formed an agreeable sequel to the happy intervention of Providence by which they were thus seasonably snatched from the rage of a tyrant and the impending ruin of their native country. There arrived likewise at the same time, or shortly after, a num- ber of emigrants from Holland, a country in which Penn had already preach- ed and propagated his doctrines.^ Seeing his neople thus gathering in numerous and increasing confluence around him, Penn hastened to bind them together by a practical application of the social compact which he had devised. Having distributed his terri- tory into six counties, he summoned, at a place which received the name of Chester, the first provincial parliament, consisting of seventy-two delegates. [December, 1682.] Here, according to the frame that ha^' been concerted in England, the freemen should have attended in their own persons. But both the sherifFs in their returns, and the inhabitants in petitions which they presented to the proprietary, affirmed that the fewness of the people, their inexperience in legislation, and the engrossing urgency of their domes- tic concerns, rendered it inexpedient for them to exercise their political privileges ; and expressed their desire that the deputies they had chosen might serve both for the council and the assembly, in the proportions of three iiom every county for the council, and nine from every county for the as- sembly. From the circumstances of the people, the session of this first provincial parliament was necessarily short ; but it was distinguished by measures of considerable importance. The proprietary having expressed his approbation of the suggestions that were conveyed to him, an act of settle- ment was framed, introducing a corresponding and permanent change into the provincial constitution. With this and a few other modifications, the municipal scheme that had previously been announced was solemnly recog- nized and accepted. An act of union was passed, annexing the Delawcre territorj^to the province of Pennsylvania ; and the rank of naturalized Brit- ish subjects was conferred on the Dutch, the Swedes, and all other foreign- ers within the boundaries of the province and territory. This arrangement, which, at the time, was both the effect and the cause of mutual harmony, unfortunately contained within itself the seeds of future dissension and dis- content : for Penn held the Delaware territory, not by a grant from the crown, but by an assignation from the Duke of York ; and when the effica- cy of such a title to convey municipal authority came to be questioned, the people reprobated with resentful blame the wanton rashness, as they deemed it, of erecting tlie system of their civil rights and liberties on a foundation so precarious. All the laws that had been concerted in England, together with nineteen others, were adopted and enacted by the assembly, which, in three days, closed a session no less remarkable for the extent and im- portance of its labors, than for the mutual confidence, good-will, and general harmony that prevailed among men so diversified by variety of race, habit, and religious opinion. All united in expressing gratitude and attachment to the proprietary ; the Swedes, in particular, deputing one of their number ' " In this [1682] and the two next succeeding years, arrived ships, with passengei Bottlora, froTT! London, Bristol- Ireland- Wales- Ghoshire- Lancashir6- Holland- (.i^rnnany, to tho number of about fiAy soil." Proud. jers or ftnv, &c.. 512 IlISTOKY OF NORTH AMLUICA.* [BOOK vn. to assure him that they would love, serve, and obey him with all they had, and that this was the best day they had ever seen.^ Amone the many praiseworthy features ol the code of laws that was thus enacted for Pennsylvania and Delaware, we have already remarked the par- ticular wisdom of the provision for educating every native-horn colonist to some useful trade or employment. But the pomts on which this code most iustly claims the praise of original excellence and enlightened huinaniiy are its provisions for the administration of penal law. Nor was th(>rc any Doint on which its regulations have been more efTicacious, or more produc- tive of lasting and extensive benefit to mankind. It was reserved lor Quaker wisdom to discover, and for Quaker patience and benevolence to demon- strate, that, in the treatment of criminals, justice and mercy were not in- consistent virtues, nor policy and humanity incompatible objects of pursuil. Only two capital crimes, treason and murder, were recognized by tlielcnn- sylvanian code ; and, in all other cases, the reformation of the criminal \vus esteemed a duty not less imperative than the punishment of liJS ollence. lo this end, it was ordained that all prisons should be workhouses, ^^\mo offenders might bo reclaimed, by discipline and instruction, to habits of ni- dustrv and morahty, and political benefit educed from the performance of Christian duty. The institutions that resulted from this benevolent enter- prise in legislation have reflected honor on Pennsylvania, and diflused their advantagesextensivcly in America and Europe.^ Notw.thstandmg the .st.ict injunctions in the royal charter, neither the code of laws which was now es- tablished, nor the alteration and enlargement which it subsequently uiuior- went, was ever submitted to royal revision. , . xr i i No sooner was the assembly adjourned, than Penn hastened to Maryland to vindicate that part of its proceedings which was necessarily oflensive to Lord. Baltimore, and, if possible, negotiate with this nobleman an ami- cable adjustment of their respective territorial pretensions. But be seems, from the beginning, to have been aware that such a termination o the d.s- pute was not to be expected; and, notwithstanding the grateful and ap- proving sentiments with which he must necessarily have contemplated Lord Baltimore's tolerant policy, and the protection which the Quakers had ex- perienced from it in Maryland, he plainly regarded him with a prejudice and suspicion not very creditable to his own candor and moderation ; find- ing matter of evil surmise even in the demonstrations ol lonor and respect which he received from his brother proprietary.-* Lord Baltimore relied on the priority and distJnctncss^nns_ow^^ " i ¥lfe'"^2d^^vf Src^^ently carried, in practical application, the nystan of prison S" ov CO nmunitiVi L. I,.!^n'cul,ivatcd will, admirat.le goni..., benevolence and s m , .. divisive principle, the nun.0 of vice, misery, nn.l soc.ul anarchy or urbitrary gov trntncnt, may !L Ldered a principle of union, the nurse of virtue, '»r'I''"-«','^"f «"X J , ^'.avs "I n.c. » In nn account of their conference, which Penn tnmsnntted to Lngknd, ho says, i^n.e. the proprietary of Maryland, attended suitably to !..» . haractcr, vvno luur. t!.r oca.-n, n, ..„ sivjlitics, to show mc the greatness of his power. 1 roud. CHAP. I.] CONTBOVERSY WITH LORD BALTIMORE. 613 And more indistinct grant, on a plea which wvls suggested to him by the Committee of Plantations in England, — that it had never been huended 10 confer on Lord Baltimore any other territory but such as was inhabited by savages only, at die date of his charter ; and that tlie language of his charter was tl>erefore inconsistent with its intendment, in so far as it seemed to authorize his claim to any part of the region previously colonized by the Swedes or the Dutch. Each of the competitors tenaciously adhered to his interest in property, which, with more or less reason, he considered his own ; and neither could suggest any mode of adjustment, save a total relin- quishment of the other's pretensions. To avoid the necessity of recurring again to this disagreeable controversy, we may here so far anticipate the pace of events as to remark, that it was protracted for some years without the slightest approach to mutual accommodation ; that King Charles, to whom both parties complained, vainly endeavoured to prevail with the one or the other to yield ; and that James the Second, soon after his accession to the throne, caused an act of council to be issued for terminating the dis- pute by dividing the subject-matter of it equally between them. By this ar- rangement, which had more of equitable show than of substantial justice, Penn obtained the whole of the Swedish and Dutch settlements, and, in effect, preserved all that he or the Duke of York had ever been in posses- sion of. These districts, annexed to his original acquisition, received the name of the Three Lower Counties, or the Territories of Delaware, in con- tradistinction to the remainder of the united domain, which was termed the Three Upper Counties, or Province of Penflsylvania.^ This busy year was not yet to close without an important and memora- ble scene, in which the character of Penn appears in a very different light from that which his controversy with Lord Baltimore reflects on it. The commissioners who accompanied the first detachment of emigrants had, in compliance with the proprietary's instructions, negotiated a treaty with the neighbouring Indian tribes, for the purchase of the lands which the colo- nists were to occupy, and for the assurance of perpetual friendship and peace between the two races of people. The time appointed for tlie ratification of this treaty now arrived ; and, at a spot where subsequently arose Ken- sington, one of the suburbs of Philadelphia; tlie Indian sachems, at the head of their assembled warriors, awaited m arms the approach of a Quaker deputation. To this scene William Penn repaired, at the head of an un- armed train of his sectarian associates, carrying various articles of merchan- dise, which, on their approach to the sachems, were spread on the ground. Distinguished from his followers by no other external badge than a saah of blue silk, and holding in his hand a roll of parchment that contained the confirmation of the treaty, Penn exchanged salutations with the Indians, and, taking his station under an elm-tree,^ addressed them with the assist ance of an interpreter. He assured them that the G reat Spirit, who cre- • Proud. GImlmera ~ " * This troe was long regarded with universal respect. During the war of independence, Lieutenant-Colonel Simcoe, who commanded a British force stationed at Kensington, when his soldiers were cutting down all the trees around them for firewood, placed a sentinel under Pcnn's elm to guard it from injury, — a singular tribute from a man who was engaged in vio- lating the very principles of equity and peace of which the object of his consideration woe re- spected as a memorial, and probably intended as a gratefbl compliment to the American Qua- kers, for supporting British tyranny against the liberties of their country. In 1810, the tree was blowj down ; and a large portion of it was then conveyed to the seat of the representative of iaz ronn faiiy at Stoke, near Wtuilttut, iu J^tigituiti, wiiere, tu IbJJo, i saw it in a sum of Munplete preMrvation. VOL. I. 65 514 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK VII ated all men, and beheld the thoughts of every heart, knew that ho and his people sincerely desired to live in friendship and a perpetual commerce of good offices with the Indians. It was not the custom of his friends, ho* said to use hostile weapons against their fellow-creatures, and fortius reason they came to the conference unarmed. Their intention was not to do iniury, and so provoke the Great Spirit, but to do good ; and in this and every uansaction with their Indian neighbours, to consider the advan- tage of both races of people as inseparable, and to proceed with all open- ness, brotherhood, and love. Having read, from the parchment record, the conditions of the purchase, and the articles of compact, by which it was aercod that all disputes between the colonists and the Indians should be ad- Justed by arbitrators mutually chosen, ho delivered to the sachems the stipu- lated price,' and farther desired their acceptance, as a friendly gift, of the additional articles of merchandise that were spread before them. He then invited them to consider the land which he had purchased as still common to the two races, and freely to use its resources whenever t»iey might have occasion for them.'-' He added, " that he would not do as the Marylandm did, that is, call them children or brothers only ; for often parents were^apt to whip their children too severely, and brothers sometimes would differ ; neither would he compare the friendship between him and them to a chain, for the rain might sometimes rust it, or a tree might fall and break it ; but he should consider them as the same flesh and blood with the Chnstxum and the same as if one man's body were to be divided into two parts. He concluded by presentihg the parchment to the sachems, and requesting, that, for the information of their posterity, they would cause it to be careful- ly preserved for three generations. The Indians cordially acceded to these propositions, and solemnly pledged themselves to live m love with William Penn and his children as long as the sun and moon should endure. Thus was conducted a treaty of which Voltaire has remarked, with more sarcasm than truth or propriety, that it was the only one between the Chris- tians and the Indians that was not ratified by an oath, and that never was broken. Assuredly, no ceremonial altogether resembling the legal formula of a Christian oath was employed by either of the contracting parties ; but it is not easy to distinguish the solemn appeal that vvas made to the omnis- cience and vindictive justice of a Supreme Being from the substantial in- terposition of a sacramental pledge ; nor would it be easy to cite another treaty between the Europeans and the Indians m which such a pledge was expressed with more or even with equal distinctness and formality. In one respect, indeed, the forbearance of Penn on this occasion to advert to Christianity otherwise than as a mere nominative distinction may have con- tributed to the cordiality with which his propositions were received. He sedulously forbore every allusion to distinctive peculiarities or offensive truths ; and in addresshig n^enwhomjie consider ed as benighted heathens, -T-Wh^Hi^s-^ri^T^iiiiiii^^^^ been recorded. P«""' *r:it"«Ji'I, i''/«erveX ing year to some friend, in England, rcpreBente .t as drur; ""^ "''''«:" "^^''^n^^f^'^U" nam« of wiw that outwits them (the Indians) in any treaty about a thing they undersuna. **TT|,e «ime liberality was shown by the colonist, of New E"gl;"f '^''«'^'J„«,,«„«„'7|^ ^ Dr. Dwight,"the Indians were alwavs considered as having a r^ht to dwell and to within the lands which they had «o!d.'^ Travels m JVeio England, &c. ! SirnThi.'iZt to^^l^Ss^in England, he sayscf the In.dians:^ These V^r^V^'^J^Z CHAP. I] PENN'8 TREATY WITH THE INDIAN8. 515 n the Chris- he descended to adopt their religious nomenclature, and more than insin- uated that the Great Spirit of the Indians and the Tnio God of the Chris- tians were not different, but the same. But a much more respectable pecu- liarity of (Quakerism than abstinence from oaths formed the most remarkable feature in this treaty with the Indians, and mainly contributed to insure its durability, tew instances have been recorded of greater magnanimity than was evinced in the explicit declaration of a race of civilized men surrounded by a nation of warlike barbarians, that they renounced all the advantage of superior military skill, and even disclaimed the employment of every weapon of violence for the defence of their lives or the redress of their wrongs ; trusting the safety of their persons and possessions against human ferocity and cupidity to the dominion of God over the hearts of his rational creatures, and relying on his willingness to signalize this do- minion in the protection of all who would exclusively rely on it. The singular exemplification of Christian character in this respect, by the I ennsylvanian Quakers, was attended with an exemption no less singular from those contentions and calamities which Indian neighbourhood entailed on every other description of European colonists. The intentional injury of a Quaker by an Indian is an event almost, if not altogether, unknown in Pennsylvanian, and very rare in all American history. The probity of deal- ing, and courtesy of deportment, by which the Quakers generally endeav- oured to maintain this good understanding, were aided by the distinctions of dress and manners by which the members of their society were visibly segregated from other men, and thus exempted, as a peculiar or separate tribe, from responsibility for the actions, or concern in the quarrels, of their countrymen. The inhabitants of many of the other colonies were no less distinguished than the Quakers for the justice and good faith that charac- terized their transactions with the Indians ; and the Catholic inhabitants of Maryland are said, in addition, to have graced these estimable qualities with the most conciliating demeanour. Yet none were able to obtain an en- tire exemption from Indian hostility, or to refrain from retaliatory warfare. The people of Maryland were sometimes involved in the indiscriminate rage with which certain of the Indian tribes pursued the hostilities they had commenced against the colonists of Virginia. But whatever animosity the Indians might conceive against the European neighbours of the Pennsylva- nians, or even against Pennsylvanian colonists who did not belong to the Quaker society, they never failed to discriminate the followers of Penn, or children of Onas ^ (which was the denomination they gave to the Qua- kers), as persons whom it was impossible for them to include within the pale of legitimate warfare. The friendship that was created by Penn's treaty between the province and the Indians, refreslied by successive acts of courtesy and humanity, endured for about sixty years, and was never seriously interrupted till near the close of the political supremacy of the Quakers in Pennsylvania. No feature in the manners of the Quakers contributed more efficiently to guard relirtd for the night, when a youns, .._ , „ „ „„,. down beside him. Penn was much shocked ; but, unwiMrng^to "offend by reiectina an' in- tended comphment, he '— -•=" -"'• '-'- ■ " ^ . ... ■>. J. ? woman, the sachem's daughter, approaching his bed, lay shocked; but, unwilling to offend by rejecting an in- pliment, he lay still without taking any notice of her, till she thought proper to return to her own couch. A New England patriarch, in such circumstances, would probably have excited the enmity of the whole Indian tribd by his expressions of displeasure and rep- ...n.'t:, 5« '"" •r.„ir,n {ongue, si-nifies a pes. It came to be the Indi.in appoiiation of t|ii' gOTcrnore of PenoBylvania, as Corltar was of the governors of New York. Prow^. %*' 616 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK VII. them against Indian ferocity, than their rigid abstinence not merely from the use, but even from the possession, of offensive weapons,' enforced by their conviction of the sufficiency of divine aid, and their respect to the Scriptural threat, that all who take the sword shall perish by it. It was a different feature of Christian character that was exhibited by the Puritan colonists of New England in their intercourse with the Indians. They felt less indulgence for the frailty of the savages, than concern for their spiritual blindness, and abhorrence of their idolatrous superstition ; they displayed less meekness of wisdom than the Quakers, but more of active zeal and missionary ardor. The Puritans were most concerned to promote the re- ligious interests of the Indians ; the Quakers, to gain tlieir good-will. The Puritans converted a number of their heathen neighbours ; the Quakers conciliated them all. It was unfortunate for the colonists of New England, that, asserting the lawfulness of defensive war, they were surrounded by numerous bold and warlike tribes, stimulated to acts of aggression, at first by their own ferocity and jealousy, and latterly by the intrigues of the French. It was a happy contingency for the planters of Pennsylvania, thai the Indian tribes around them were inconsiderable in number, and eiilier belonged to the confederacy or were subject to the influence of the Five jsrations,^ who were themselves in alliance with the sister colony of New York. Nothing can be more exaggerated or inapplicable than the encomrtiirs which numerous writers have bestowed on this celebrated transaction be- tween Penn and the Indians. They have, with unhappy partiality, selected as the chief, and frequently the sole, object of commendation, the sup- posed originality of the design of buying the land from the savages, in- stead of appropriating it by fraud or force, — which last they represent as the only methods of acquisition that had been employed by the predecessors of Penn in the colonization of Nortli America.^ This is at once to reproach all the other founders of civilized society in North America witli injustice and usurpation ; to compliment the Indians with the gratuitous supposition that only bare justice on tha part of the colonists was requisite to the pres- ervation of |)eace between the two races ; and to ascribe to Penn a merit which assuredly did not belong to him, and which he himself (though by no means deficient in self-complacency) has expressly disclaimed. The ex- ample of that equitable consideration of tlie rights of the native owners of the soil, which has been supposed to have originated with him, was first exhibited by the planters of New Eng land, wh ose de eds of conve yance ' Herodotus (Book IV.) rolatns t? u Scvthiun tribe, called the Argippaean*, that » No man offers violcnre to this people ; for tlioy are accounted sacred, and tiav» no wiirhkt wmpon amon.l' Penn's tnmty wtilrh I have seen w that which claims Mr. UtU- mya (See Note ^i^VL, at ijip cud of tlw volu'oe) <«»f it» awibof CHAP. I] SECOND ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA. m suc- li claims Mr. Dill- from the Indians were earlier by half a century than his ; and was cessively repeated by the planters of Maryland, Carolina, New York, and New Jersey, before the province of Pennsylvania had a name. Penn was introduced to an acquaintance with American colonization by succeeding to the management of New Jersey, in which Berkeley and Carteret had already established this equitable practice ; and his own conformity to it in Penn- sylvania was expressly recommended to him by Bishop Compton (whose in- terference we have remarked in the composition of the charter) , and was publicly ascribed by himself to the counsels of that prelate. i The continual arrival of vessels, transporting settlers to the colony from all parts of the British dominions, afforded frequent occasion to Penn for the exercise of the agreeable labor of surveying his territories, and appro- priating to the purchasers their resi>ective allotments of land, [1683.] One of these allotments, consisting of a thousand acres, was a gift from the proprietary to his friend, George Fox, and formed the only landed estate which this venerable founder of Quakerism ever possessed.** The greater number of the emigrants still continued to be Quakers, with the acldilion of some other Dissenters, withdrawing from the severities of persecution and the contagion of European vices ; and their behaviour in the < olony corresponding with the noble motives that conducted them o it,^ the do- mains of Penn exhibited a happy and animated scene of active industry, devotional exercise, and thankful enjoyment of civil and religious liberty . It appeared, however, that some worthless persons had already intruded them- selves among the more respectable settlers ; and three men, who were now brought to trial and convicted of coining adulterated money, gave oc- casion to the first practical display of the mildness of Pennsylvanian justice. Shortly before this judicial proceeding, the second convocation of the legislative assembly of Pennsylvania and Delaware had taken place. [March, 1683.] In this assembly some new laws were passed, and certain anom- alies in legislation were broached. It was proposed that all young men should be compelled by law to marry before a certain age ; and that no in- habitant of the province should be permitted to have more than two suits of clothes, one for summer and the other for winter ; but these propositions were, very properly, rejected. More wisdom vas displayed in an ordinance which abrogated the common law with regard to the descent of lands, and enacted, that, in the succession of children to a father dying intestate, the eldest son should have no farther preference than a double share. How- ever consonant it might be to feudal principles to bestow the fief undimin- ished upon the son who was first able to defend it, this policy was mani- festly unsuitable to colonists, who, liaving a vast wilderness to cultivate, were in prudence obliged to multiply the incentives to exertion by an ex- tensive diffusion of interest and property in the soil. An impost upon goods imported and exported was voted to the proprietary,' who acknovvl- ' In a letter from Penn to the Lords oHlie Coniniittoj of Trade and Plantations in England (in ItidH), ho declares, that "I have followed the Bishop of Loudon's counaei, hv ':">!;-.-, and not taking away, the natives' land." Proud. Tlii^ letter is also printed by Chalmers. Mr. Clarkson refers to it as containing Peiin's statement of his controversy with Lord Balti- more, but has not thought that the credit of Penn would be advanced by its republication. It consists chiefly of an elaborate attempt to vindicate iiis own pretensions to the Delawaro territory, and to interest the Lords of Trade to support them against Lord Baltimore's clainw. Hence, perhaps, the readiness ho evinces to compliment tiie Bishop of London. • Fox dispo.sed of this estate by his will. But he never was in Pennsylvania. ' See Note XXIX., at the end of the volume. * This seems to refute the allegation of Dr. Franklin, in his Ilislorkal, Review of the Con- RR dl8 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK VII. edged the kindness of the assembly, but wisely and liberally remitted the proposed burden on the province and the traders who resorted to it. But the most important business transacted in this session was an alteration in the constitution of the State, which, unquestionably, from whatever cause, underwent in its infancy a fluctuation almost, if not altogether, unexampled in the history of the other colonial establishments. William Penn having demanded of the members of council and assembly, " whether they desired to preserve his first charter, or to obtain a new one," they unanimously adopted the latter part of the alternat've ; and with the assistance of a com- mittee of these bodies, a new frame or charter was forthwith prepared. The chief purpose of this transaction seems to have been to legalize (ac- cording to Penn's ideas) the alteration introduced by the act of settlement passed by the prior assembly. It was accordingly now provided, by a charter emanating from the proprietary, that the provincial council should consist of eighteen persons, three from each county, and the assembly of thirty-six, by whom, in conjunction with the governor, all laws were to be made and public affairs conducted. But still no laws could be proposed in the assembly, except such as had been considered and prepared by ihe gov- ernor and council. The only change in the distribution of power that was produced by this new charter was, that the governor, with his treble vote, necessarily possessed more control in a council of eighteen, than by the original frame he could have enjoyed in a council of seventy-two mem- bers. The interests of freedom were, however, promoted by a grant, to all the inhabitants of the province, of unlimited liberty to hunt in uninclosod lands and to fish in all waters, " that they may be accommodated with such food and sustenance as God in his providence hath freely afforded " ; ' and ahens were encouraged by a provision, that, in case of their dying without having been previously naturalized, their lands should, nevertheless, de- scend to their heirs. The new charter was thankfully accepted by the representatives of the people, who closed their second assembly with ex- pressions of undiminished attachment to the proprietary. This assembly was held at the infant city of Philadelphia. Soon after his arrival in the province, Penn had selected a commodiaus situation, between the rivers Schuylkill and Delaware, for the erection of the metrop- olis of Pennsylvania ; and, having regulated the model of the future city by a map,'-^ he bestowed on it a name expressive of that brotherly love which he hoped would ever characterize its inhabitants. Many of the streets he distinguished by appellations descriptive of the peculiar ibrest- trees that were cut down to make room for them, and which still continue to commemorate the sylvan original of the place. The progress of the buildings of Philadelphia was a favorite object of his care, and advanced with such rapidity, that, in less than a year from its commencement, the in- MUution of Pennsylvania, tlint "Perm prevailed with Jiis first colonists to snbniit to liis quit- rt^nts, by holding out the delusive hope that they would supersede all public impoBilioiis for the support of government " • Tins spocilication of til hn cliasu. Snngiiinar Yet, at a later perioi I of the leeitimaU' objects of limiting and fishing was probably intend caranee ol t^uaker sanction of the pastime of the chase 7 d, v.i to obviate the app< sports have alwavs been deemed utterly repugnant to (luaki'rism . n Pennsylvanian (luaker was celebrated for possessing the only pack of hounds existing at the time in North America. Cobbett's Yrnr's Residence in the Vnittd Slates. * In the Connertinn nf the History of the Old and j\ew Testament, by Dean Pridcaux. there IS a plan or model of the citv of ancient Babylon. " Much according to this model," says the dt-an, « hiuh William Wnm, the Qusker, laid out the grf-sind i'r.r h;~ city of Phibidclplna, in Pennsylvania ; and were it all built according to that design, it would be the fairest and beat city in all America, and not much behind any othsr in the whole world." CHAP. I] PENN'S RETURN TO ENGLAND. 519 habitants of a hundred substantial houses beheld [1684] from these struct- ures of civilized life the caves whose rude shelter they had so recently occupied ; and/ in the course of the following year the population of the city amounted to two thousand five hundred persons. * The remainder of the time spent by the proprietary, in his first visit to his colony, was employed in conducting his controversy with liord Balti- more ; in extending his treaties with the Indian trjbes, to whom his presents from time to time amounted in value to several thousand pounds ; in acting as a niinister among the Quaker colonists, and arranging the frame of their sectarian practice and discipline ; and in impelling and directing the progress of his favorite city of Philadelphia. He saw his religious society and principles established in a land where they were likely to take a firm and vigorous root and expand with unbounded freedom ; and institutions rising around him that promised to illustrate his name with a lasting and honor- able renown. In fine, he beheld the people who acknowledged his su- premacy happy and prosperous, and seemed himself to enjoy his transatlan- tic retirement.^ The only subjects of trouble or disappointment, which his colonial project had yet produced, were, his dispute with Lord Baltimore, and the failure of his efforts to guard the Indians from that destructive vice which the vicinity of Europeans has always contributed to diffuse among them. A law was passed against supplying those savages with spirituous liquors ; but the practice had been introduced by the colonists of Delaware long before Penn's arrival, and his attempts to suppress it proved inef- fectual. The Europeans acknowledged the cruelty and injustice of this traffic, and the Indians confessed their experience of its baneful effects; but neither could be persuaded to desist from it. It was attended with the additional evil of confirming the Indians in their roving habits of life and distaste for the discipline of civilization ; as the peltry they acquired in hunting was the only commodity they were able to exchange with the colo- nists for rum and brandy.^ The more valuable possessions and advantages by which the colonists were distinguished were either lightly esteemed by the Indians, or reckoned unworthy of the constant toil thai was required to procure them. In answer to the advice of the Europeans, that they should betake themselves to a life of regular industry, one of the Indians begged to hear some satisfactory reason why he should labor hard all his days to make his children idle all theirs.* In the midst of a scene of felicity as unmixed, perhaps, as any socii.-ty of human beings ever exhibited, Penn resolved upon returning to 'England, in order to fortify, by personal solicitation, the interest which he possessed at the English court, and which he was desirous to employ in furtherance of his suit with Lord Baltimore, as well as for the relief of a number of his Quaker brethren wh o were suffering in the parent state from an increased ' Oldmixon. Proud. Chalmers. Clarkson. • In a letter to a friend in Engalnd, he says, " O, how sweet is the quiet of these part.s, free from the anxious and troublesome solicitations, hurries, and perplexities of icoful Europe ; and God will thin her; the day hastens upon her." Proud. ' " An Indian," says Charlevoix, " who lias onco tasted brandy, never after applies himself to fishing or agriculture. Ho thinks only of amassing furs in order to purchase the means of intoxication." * Oldmixon. Proud. S. Smith. " Th'.- Indians have a sovereign contempt for whatever is not necessary-, — that is, for the very thing's vviiich we hold in the greatest estimation." Charle- voix. This 18 too broad an assertion. Proud, the Quaker, in one pa);e compliirients the Indians *!>r tliPir Ptoir;)! indifference to all (ir-ery whatever; and in the very next cundumns their childish partiality for finery of apparel. 620 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK VII. Strictness in the execution of the penal hiws against Nonconformists.' In preparation for this measure, he intrusted the administration of his propri- etary functions to the provincial council, of which he appointed Thomas Lloyd, a Quaker, to be president, and Irs own kinsman, Markham, to be secretary ; and committed the distribution of justice, in conformity with the existing laws, to Nicholas Moore and four other planters, whom he constituted the provincial judges. [June, 1684.] On the eve of his de- parture, and having already embarked, he addressed to Lloyd, and others, of his more intimate associates, a valedictory letter, which he desired them to communicate to all his friends in Pennsylvania and Delaware. " Dear friends," he declared, " my love and my life is to you and with you ; and no water can quench it, nor distance wear it out or bring it to an end. 1 have been with you, cared over you, and served you with unfeigned love ; and you are beloved of me and dear to me beyond utterance. I bless you in the name and power of the Lord ; and may God bless you with his righteousness, peace, and plenty, all the land over. O, that you would eye him in all, through all, and above all the works of your hands ! " After ad- monishing those to whom he committed the office of magistracy to consider it as a sacred function and heavenly trust, he apostrophized his favorite city with this votive benediction : — "And thou, Philadelphia, the virgin settle- ment of this province, named before thou wert born, what love, what care, what service, and what travail has there been to bring thee forth, and pre- serve thee from such as would abuse and defile thee ! O, that thou mayest be kept from the evil that would overwhelm thee ! that, faithful to the God of thy mercies in the life of righteousness, thou mayest be preserved to the end ! My soul prays to God for thee, that thou mayest stand in the day of trial, that thy children may be blest of the Lord, and thy people saved by his power. JNIy love to thee has been great, and the remembrance of thee affects mine heart and mine eyes. The God of eternal strength keep and preserve thee to his glory and thy peace ! " " So, dear friends," he thus concluded, " my love again salutes you all, wishing that grace, mercy, and peace, with all temporal blessings, may abound richly among you : — So says, so prays, your friend and lover in the truth, William P enn." At the period of the proprietary's departure from the province, Phila- delphia already contained three hundred houses, and the population of Penn- sylvania amounted altogether to six thousand souls.^ Of the increase which the population of the Delaware territory had undergone no memorial has been preserved. ' The unfortunate consequences that attended Penn's withdrawment at this perigd from the quiet of America, to plunge again into the goUritations of woful Europe, have ronderrd the cause of this step a suojectof some importance. Oldmixon, who derived his information from Penn himself, says, that he was dctenninrd, much against his will, to return, hy tidings of the persecution of the Quakers and other Dissenters in England ; and that " he knew he had an interest in the court of England, and was willitis to enip.oy it for the safety, ease, and wel- fare of his friends." But Proud, who is by fiir the best authority on points of early I'cnn- sylvanian history, declares that " the dispute between him and the Lord Baltimore before- im-ntioned was vh t mainly occasioned Penn's return to England." In a letter written shortly after his arri\ai in England, Penn says that "ho had seen t ho king and the Duke uf York. They and their nobles had been very kind to him, and ho hoped the Lord would make way for him in their hearts to serve his suffering people, as also hit own interest as it related to his American conccrna." Clarkson. • Oldmixon. Proud. CIIAP. II.] PENNS FAVOR AT THE COURT OF JAMES II. 521 CHAPTER II. Venn's Fuvor at the Court of James tlie Second. — Dissensions among the Colonists — their Disagreement with Penn about his Quitrents. — He appoints five Commissioners of Suite. — Humor of an Indian Conspiracy. — Penn dissatisfied with his Commigsioners — appoints liiackwell Deputy-Governor. — Arbitrary Conduct of Blaekwell.— Displeasure of the Assembly. — Dissension between the People of Delaware and Pennsylvania. — Dela- ware obtains a separate Executive Government. — George Keith's Schism in Pennsyl- vania. — Penn deprived of his Authority by King William. — Fletcher appointed Governor. — Penn's Authority restored. — Third Frame of Government. — Quaker Accession to War. — Penn's second Visit to his Colony. — Sentiments and Conduct of the Quakers relative; to Negro Slavery. — Renewal of the Disputes between Delaware and Pennsylvania.— Fnurth and last Frame of Government. — Penn returns to England. — Union of Pennsylviiniii and Delaware dissolved. — Complaints of the Assembly against Penn. — Misconduct of Govern or Evans. — He is superseded by Gookin. — Penn's Remonstrance Pennsylvania and Delaware at the Close of the Seventeenth Century to his People. — State of Bidding adieu to the peaceful scene of his infant commonwealth, Penn transferred his presence and activity to the very dissimilar theatre of the court of England. [1685.] Here the interest which he possessed was soon increased to such a degree, by the advancement of his patron and his father's friend, the Duke of York, to the throne, that, in the hope of em- ploying it to his own advantage and to the general promotion of religious liberty,* he abandoned all thoughts of returning to America, and continued to reside in the neighbourhood, and even to employ himself in the service of the court, as long as James the Second was permitted to wear the crown ; — a policy, which, in the sequel, proved extremely prejudicial to his reputation in England and to his interest in America. The first fruit of his enhanced influence at court was the adjudication that terminated his controversy witli Lord Baltimore and secured to him the most valuable portion of the Delaware territory. '^ Fruits of a more liberal description illustrated his successful efforts to procure a suspension of the legal severi- ties to which the members of his own religious society were exposed, and for the discontinuance of which he had the satisfaction of presentmg an address of thanks to the king i:oin all the Quakers in England.^ ' The address of the Quakers of England to James the Second, on his accession to the throne, wils conceived in these brief and simple terms : " We are come to testify our sorrow for the death of our good friend Charles, and our joy for thy being made our governor. We are told thou art not of the persuasion of the church of England, no more than we ; where- fore we hope thou wilt grant us the same liberty which thou allowest to thyself, which doing, we wish ilico all manner of happiness." And yet these Quakers perfectly well knew that the prince whom they thus addressed was, at the time, and had for several years before been, wiiging n savage persecution against the people of Scotland for their dissent from a church from which he himself still more widely dissented. ' This adjudication was not so distinct as to prevent much subsequent dispute respecting the p-eciso boundaries between Delaware anil Maryland, which continuea to distract the inhabitants on the borders of these provinces, till it was adjusted in 1750, by a decree pro- nounced in Chancery by Lord Htu-dwicke. Chalmers. Vesey's Reports. This decree was not finally executed till the year 1762, when " the inhabitants on, the Pennsylvanian side, near the boundary, agreed to employ two ingenious English mathematicians, after their return from the Capo of Good Hope (where they had been to observe the transit of Venus in 1761), finally to settle or make out the same; which was accordingly performed by tlicm ; and itone pillitrs erected, to render the same more durably conspicuous. ' Proud. Nothing was more common, for a long time, in the American provinces, than disputes arising from niicrrtain boundaries. A dispute of this nature between the townships of Lyme and New London, in New England, during the seventeenth century, was decided by a solemn pugilistic combat between four champions chosen by the inhabitants of the two places. Dvvight's Travels. ' Proud. The civic company o? cooks in London followed the example of the Quakers in •I... tiiC i^ijtfw .>r H''* •^j' vqL. 66 nF ; - 1.- address (publlKhsd in tile Londu RR 11 622 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK VII. This year was signalized by an attempt, that originated with the annual meeting of the Quaker society at Burlington, in New Jersey, to counnu- nicate the knowledge (such knowledge as the teachers themselves possessed) of Christian truth to the Indians. These savages readily acceded to the conferences that were proposed to them, and listened with their usual gravity and decorum to the first body of missionaries who, in professing to obey the divine command to teach and baptize all nations, ever ventured to teach that baptism was not an ordinance of Christian appointment. Of the particular communications between the Quaker teachers and the Indians no account has been preserved ; but the result, as reported by a Quaker his- torian, was, that the Indians in general acknowledged at the time that what they heard was very wise, weighty, and true, — and never afterwards thought farther about it.' The first successful attempts to evangelize the Indian in- habitants of New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania were not made till towards the middle of the following century, when this work was under- taken by the celebrated David Brainerd, of New England, and by certain Moravians who had emigrated from Germany. Indian converts to Chris- tianity have been gained in America by Catholics, Puritans, and Moravians-, out no instance has beeii recorded of the religious conversion of an Indian by Quakers. Meanwhile, the emigration from England to Pennsylvania continued to flow with undiminished cuiT' it ; the stimulus, that had been previousl) afiorded by the rigors of ecclesiastical law, being amply supplied by the disUke and suspicion with which the king's civil policy was regarded,— by tlie accounts which were circulated of the prosperity enjoyed by the col- onists of this province, — and by the common belief that Penn's interest with the king would protect its liberties from the general wreck in vvhicli royal tyranny had involved the constitutions of the other American colo- nies.*' But this increase in the numbers of his colonists was now the sole satisfaction that they were to aftbrd to the proprietary ; and his connection with them henceforward was clouded by disappointment, and embittered by mutual dispute. It was but a few months after his departure from the province, that a spirit of discord began to manifest itself among the planters. Moore, the chief justice, and Robinson, the clerk of the provincial court, neither of whom belonged to the Quaker society, had rendered themselves disagreeable to the leading persons of this persuasion in the colony. The first was impeached by the assembly of high crimes and misdemeanours,— and for refusing to answer the charge was suspended from his functions by the council ; while a very disproportioned censure was passed on the other, who, for what v,as deemed contemptuous behaviour in answering the ques- tions of the assembly, was not only deprived of his liberty, but voted "a public enemy to the province and territories." Of the charges against Moore not a trace has been preserved ; but it is manifest that Penn consid- ered them frivolous or unfounded. In vain he wrotn to the authors of these measures,^ entreating them to moderate their tempers, ami fo rbear iblcs the AlinigliiN ercnt gustos may as well he !■■■ manna, furced, m Gazftle) in which they protested that this act of power " i which suited every man's palate ; and that men's diffcrcni their different apprehensions about religi' ii." ' Proud. , , ,w , » In 1685. the number of inhabitants of Pennsylvania was seven tliousaju T,Vurden. » «» For the love of God, me, and the poor country," he says in one of these t'ers, " bo not 80 giitcrnmenthh, so noisy and open in ywr dissiiitisfactions. Some folks Ir,- hmtmg m government itself." Proud. CHAP. II.] PENN'S LETTER OF COMPLAINT. 623 i I from the indulgence of animosities so discreditable to the colony ; to value themselves a little less, and to honor other men a little more. The as- sembly answered by professions of the highest reverence for himself, ac- companied by entreaties (unfortunately ineffectual) that he would return to live among his people ; but declared withal that they thought fit " to humble that corrupt and aspiring minister of state, Nicholas Moore." The correspondence between the proprietary and this body, as well as the council, assumed in its progress an increasingly unfriendly complexion. To other causes of displeasure were added reports of the increased con- sumption of spirituous liquors among the colonists, — the intemperance which they propagated among the Indians thus recoiling upon themselves ; and complaints of various abuses and extortions committed by the officers whom Penn had appointed to conduct the sales of his land. But nothing else mortified him so keenly as the difficulty he experienced in obtaining payment of his quitrents, and the reluctance that was shown to comply with, or even bestow any attention on, his applications for the arrears of this revenue. The people in general had rather submitted to than approved the imposition of quitrents ; and, though prospering in their circumstances, and conscious of the expenses that the proprietary had incurred for their advantage, they were as yet only beginning to reap the first fruits of the far greater expenses incurred by themselves in purchasing their possessions from him, and in transporting themselves and their families, servants, and substance to the province. Much labor and expense was yet wanting to render more than a small portion of their lands productive of advantage to them ; and the summons now addressed to them to pay quitrents for the whole, and for this purpose to surrender the first earnings of their own hazard, hardship, and toil, to be expended by their proprietary in a distant country, was a measure ill qualified to obtain their favorable regard, and which the very munificence of the proprietary, that rendered it the more urgently necessary on his part, had by no means prepared them to expect. Penn had hoped that the council to whom he delegated his proprietary functions would have spared him the humiliating necessity of descending to a personal solicitation jf quitrents from his people. But, so far were the council from demonstrating such regard for his delicacy or his interest, that they would give him no assistance whatever in the prosecution of his unpopular demand, and even forbore to take any notice of the remonstrances which he addressed to them on the neglect of their duty. [1685.] Aston- ished and indignant to find himself treated in a manner which he deemed so unjust and unmerited, Penn was provoked to reproach his people in a letter which forms a melancholy contrast to the beautiful valediction with which he had taken his leave of them, scarcely two years before. [1686.] He complained that the provincial council neglected and slighted his communications ; that the labor which he religiously consecrated to his people's good was neither valued nor understood by them ; and that their conduct in other respects was so unwarrantable, as to have put it in his power more than once to annul the charter he had bestowed on them, if he had been disposed to take advantage of their ungrateful folly. He de- clared that he was suffering much embarrassment by the failure of the remit- tances he had expected from America, and that this w^as one of the causes of his detention in England. His quitrents, he insisted, ought then to amount, at the very least, to five hundred pounds a year ; but he could not obtani I I 624 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK VII. a penny of this income. " God is my witness," he protested, " I lie not. I am above six thousand pounds out of pocicct more than ever I saw by the province ; and you may throw in my pains, cares, and hazard of life, and leaving of my family and friends to serve them." If this statement be perfectly accurate, we are to believe that he had already sold a million acres of land in the province, and devoted twenty thousand pounds (the stipulated price corresponding to sales of that extent) to the public service, besides the additional expenditure which he mentions ol six thousand pouncis. The proprietary's remonstrance, which was more especially addressed to the provincial council, having proved as unavailing as his preceding appli- cations, Penn determined to withdraw from that body the management of his interests and the administration of the executive power, which he had committed to it on his departure from the province. Expecting more ac- ivity from fewer ministers, and more aflection to his service from other men, he resolved to confine the executive power to five persons ; and, in order to mark his sense of the injurious treatment of an individual who pes- sessed iiis friendship and esteem, he hesitated not to appoint Nicholas Moore one of the officers by whom this important Junction was to be exer- cised To Lloyd, the former president of the council, and three other Quakers, in conjunction with Moore, he granted, accordingly, a warrant or deputation investing them with the administration oi the proprietary authori- ty under the title of commissioners of state. [December, 1686.] lie com- inanded them, in the very first assembly that should be holden after their instalment in office, to abrogate, in the proprietary's name, every law that had been enacted during his absence. He required them heedfully to note and check any tendency to disorder, dispute, or collision of powers between the several organs of government, and, for this purpose, to permit no parleying or open conference between the council and the assembly, but to confine the one to the exercise of its privilege of proposing laws, and the other to a simple expression of assent or negation. He charged them to act with vigor in repressing vices, without respect of persons or persua- sions, — adding, " Let not foolish pity rob justice of its due, and the people of proper examples. I know what malice and prejudice say ; but they move me not. I know how to allow for new colonies, though other? uo not " He advised them, before ever letting their spirits mto any ajfatr to lift up their thoughts to the Almighty Being who is never far from any o\ his creatures, and to beseech from this only source of intelligence and virtue the communication of a good understanding and a temperate spirit. He recommended to them a diligent care of the proprietary's interest, and a watchful attention to the preservation of their own dignity. " 1 beseech you " he said, " draw not several ways ; have no cabals apart, nor re- serves from one another ; treat with a mutual simplicity, an entire confi- dence in one another ; and if at any time you mistake, or misapprehend, or dissent from one another, let not that appear to the people : show your virtues, but conceal your infirmities ; this will make you awful and reverent with the people." " Love, forgive, help, and serve one another, he con- tinued ; " and let the people learn by your example, as well as by your power, the happy hfe of concord."' ^ ^ ""'•nP^ti^ST^In^ ioucr to thMC coinmissionpniVsomo time after, he tolls them : — '' J''^y '''"* live near to (iod will live far from the.nseiveH ; and, from the sense they have of h.s nearness 'j^? __"..... h— o lowoninlon of ih-msi^l VPS ; and out of that low and humble frame of gjnt Uirtfiat'i'rue chaVily gr^ws". O, that the people of my province felt this gracious quai- CHAP. II.] RUMORED CONSPIRACY OF THE INDIANS. 626 Tho new arrang«5ment proved more conducive, than miglit reasonably be supposed to the peace of tlie province, which appears for some time to have sustained no other interruption than what arose from the rumor of a conspiracy of the Indians for a general massacre of the colonists. [1687.] In the midst of the consternation which this re})ort excited, Caleb Puscy, a Quaker, volunteered to repair to the spot where the conspirators were said to have assembled in preparation for their bloody enterprise, — pro- vided five other persons deputed by the council would consent to accom- pany him, and to appear, as he purposed to do, unarmed before the In- dians. [1688.] Never was the dignity and utility of moral courage more signally displayed ; nor ever was this virtue more happily contrasted with that moral cowardice, which, united (as it frequently is) with animal spirit and personal bravery, would, on such an emergency, have inspired counsels equally dangerous and cruel. On the arrival of Pusey and his magnani- mous associates at the spot to which they were directed, they found only an Indian prince with a small retinue engaged in their ordinary occupa- tions. The prince, to whom they related the cause of their visit, informed the deputies that the Indians were indeed disappointed to find that the price of a recent occupation of land was not yet ful'v paid to them ; but that, having perfect confidence in the integrity of the ii-nglish, they were by no means impatient : he protested that the story of the projected massacre was a wicked fabrication, and that some Indian women who had contributed to give it currency deserved to be burned alive. One of the deputies having reminded the prince that the Indians and tlie English were the creatures of the same God, and equally the objects of his impartial benev- olence, which he manifested by sending dew from heaven alike on tlieir lands, and urged that the two races ought therefore to love one another, — the prince replied, " What you have said is true ; and as God has given you corn, I would advise you to get it in, for we intend you no harm." This amicable assurance, repeated by the deputies to their friends, delivered the province from an apprehension that had spread general dismay. But Penn was far from deriving the satisfaction which he had expected from his commissioners of state ; and his letters continued to repeat, though in a milder tone than before, his complaints of the detention of his quitrents, the neglect of his communications, and the disregard of his services. " / believe I may say,^^ was his expression at this period, " I am one of the unhappiest proprietaries with one of the best peop/c."* From the numer- ous apologies contained in these letters for his continued residence in Eng- land, and his protestations that he found attendance at court as burdensome and disagreeable as the state of a slave in Turkey, it would seem that the people of Pennsylvania regarded his absence from them with much dissat- isfaction. At length, Lloyd and some of the other Quaker commissioners' desiring that he would release them from their functions, Penn conceived that some farther change was necessary in the form of the provincial gov- ernment ; and, having determined to commit his authority and his interests to the more active management of a single individual invested with the ity abounding in thcin ! My work would then be done, nnd their praise and my joy un- speakably abound. Wherefore, in the name and fear of God, let all old sores be forgotten as well as forgiven." Ibid. ' " It is none of tho endcaringcat considerations," he adds in the same letter, " that I have not had tho present of a skin, or a pound of tobacco, since I came over." frond. Yet Penn- condomn^d tli^ nue of tobacco- and vninlv endeavoured to norsuadA the Quakers to renounofl it. Clarkson. 526 HISTORY or NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK VII. rank of deputy-governor^ he selected for this purpose Captain John Black- well, one of Cromwell's officers, who had married the daughter of (Jen- era! Lambert, and was residing at this time in New Enc;land.^ The conso quences of this appointment were, effectually, the reverse in all respects of those which had resulted from the preceding one ; but, unfortunUely, they were much more disagreeabl i.-i ;.i ,;:rious. Blackwell was highly esteemed by Penn, and ho probably escrtoit himself more diligently than his predecessors in the executive aiuliouty had done to vindicate the pat- rimonial interest of the proprietary ; but he provoked the indignation and disgust of the people by arbitrary and illiberal conduct. " Rule the meek meekly," was the instruction of Penn to him ; " and thosn that will not be ruled, rule with authority." But meekness was no part of the disposition of Blackwell ; and violence and intrigue were tli^ -W-'^ engines t)f his policy.^ He commenced his administration by endeavouring, not without effect, to sow discord among the planters, and to overawe the timid by a display of power. But he had mistaken the real character of tlic people over whom he presided ; and was taught, by the issue of an obstinate strug- gle, that the profession of Quaker meekness and submission is by no moans inconsistent with the exertion of inflexible firmness and determination. Find- ing that White, the individual who had given most displeasure to Penn, by urging the impeachment of Moore, was chosen a delegate to the assem- bly, he resolved to debar him from attendance there ; and for this purpose caused him to be thrown into prison on the most frivolous pretences. A writ of habeas corpus was procured in behalf of White ; but the execution of it was long impeded by the devices of Blackwell. Other practices, no less iniquitous and tyrannical, were employed by him for disabling men whom he disliked or suspected from performing the func- tions of members of the provincial council. To give the assembly time to cool, after the commission of these outrages, he deferred the convocation of it as long as possible, and at last opened its session with a speech con- ceived in the most haughty and imperious strain. [March, 1689.] His predecessors in authority had not considered it expedient to comply witii the proprietary's desire of abrogating all the laws enacted in his absence ; but this measure was now announced by the deputy-governor with an inso- • lence that would have discredited a more acceptable communication. The first act of the assembly was a remonstrance against his arbitrary conduct ; and the utmost that his influence could accomplish with some of the mem- bers of this body was to prevail wi»h them to absent themselves from its sittings. This miserable device had no other effect than to provoke the as- sembly to declare that the secession of those members was a treacherous desertion of the public service. They voted, at the same time, a series of resolutions, importing " that the proprietary's absence, as it may be to his disappointment, so it is extremely to the people's prejudice ; that, as to the project of abrogating all the laws, he has no right so to do, because every law is in force that has not been declared void by the king ; that, even with the consent of the freemen, the proprietary ca n make no laws^ ■ Penn appears to hnvo been deceived on this occasion by a repute of which Blnrkwell proved to be totally undeserving. He apologized to the people of Pennsylvanm for the un- happy consequences that reaultod from his iiiisplnced confidence, by stating that he hud acted for the best, and had not selected Blackwell till he found it impossible to prevail with any ftuiikcrto accent the office of dcputy-jrovernor ; yet, he added withal, ''I must say, I Fear this peevishness" to Bome friends (Uiiakers) has not arisen out of the dusl without occasioa. Proud. CHAP. 11] CONDUCT OF PENN AT THE REVOLUTION. 627 bind the province, except in the way prescribed by the charter ; and that, as it is desirable, so it is also to bo hoped, that no laws of any other make will be innposed upon the people." After a vain struggle with an opposi- {ion thus he thought proper sequester himself from public view, and to ' Proud. Modern Universal History. Franklin's Historical Review of the Constitution of Pmnsijlvania. Chalmers. * Proiid. Clmltiiers. ' In a letter, written by him to hia friends in Pennsylvania in January, 1680, he says, " Great rnvohitions have been of late in this land of your nativity, and where they may pc- lioti the Lord knows." He adds, that " to improve my interest with King James for tender conscionccs " had been the main cause of his detention so long in England. Proud. From a letter of Leisler, who at this period acquired much cckbritj' at Now York {ante. Book V., Chap. H), to Bishop Burnet, it appcnrs tiiat he accounted Pennsylvania one of the strong- holds of the Jacobites in America, and that a considerable number of this party were then retiring from the other provinces to Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Chalmers, Smollett as- serts that Penn was an accomplice in Lord Preston's plot for the restoration of King James, -'tsniinr Cimrges sguinst i enn liavc- boon pruicrrcd by tho hisioriaDs Burnet and Ralph. 628 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK VII Jive in a state of concealment. Ills panie was occasionally inserted in the «>roclan»Htions for the apprehension of suspected persons, issued from time tune hy the Kn^lish iuinisters ; who were, however, too deeply en- ed in liiore pressing and important affairs, to have leisure as yet to attend io'tho concerns of his Pounsylvaniaii sc)vereif5nty. During this retif i ment, bis repose was invaded very disagreeably by tidings of factiwus dispmeg and dissensions among his people, and particularly by the rupture that took ■^lace between Pennsylvania and Delaware, and separated from e!»h other two connnunities, for the conjunction of which he had labored with a zeal that outstripped his usual equity and moderation. The increasing strength and importance of Pennsylvania had gradually excited ihe jealousy of the people of Delaware, who beheld with impatience their own more ancient sottlem'uit verging into comparative insignificance, as the mere fraction of a younger but more thriving community. The mem- bers deputed to the provincial council at Philadelphia from Delaware com- plained that they were deprived of a just share m the direction of public affairs, and attempted by n)trigue to counterbalance tlje preponderance of ihoir Pennsylvanian associates. Privately assembling, without the usual for- mality of an ollicial summons, in the council-room, tliey assumed plenary possession of the executive functions vested in the whole body, and Issued warrants for displacing a number of public officers, and appointing others to fill their places. [September, 1690.] This transaction was almost i.istamy declared illegal and void by a council more regularly convoked ; but the waters of strife had now broke forth, and could no longer be stayed. Penn, alarmed at these dissensions, sought to mediate between the parties, and desired them to make choice of any one of the three forms of execuiive administration which tliey had already successively tried. He was willing, be said, to invest the executive power either in the council, or in five com- wissioners, or in a deputy-governor ; and their choice would be deterrriined by the recollection of which of these they had found the most impartial in the distribution oS municipal functions and emoluments. [January, 1601.] The Pennsylvanians at once declared themselves in favor of a depiity- goveroor ; and, anticipating the proprietary's approbation of their wishes, desired Lloyd to undertake the duties of this office. The Delaware coun- sellors, on the contrary, protested against this choice, and declared their own preference of a board of commissioners. They refused to submit to ihe government of Lloyd, and, withdrawing from the council, returned to Dela- ware, where their countrymen were easily induced to approve and sup])ort their secession. In vain Lloyd endeav'oured, by the most liberal and gen- erous offers to the Delaware colonists, to prevail with them to submit to an administration which he had reluctantlj- assumed, in compliance with the urgent and unanimous desire of the Pennsylvanians ; they rejected ail Ins overtures, and, countenanced by Colonel Markham, declared that they were determined to have an executive government for themselves distinct from the institutions of Pennsylvania. Stung with vexation and disappointment at this result, Penn was at first inclined to impute the blame of it to L'oyd ; but soon ascertaining how perfectly disinterested and vvell-meaniu^ 'ne conduct of this worthy man had been, he transferred his censure to .hA Delaware counsellors, and bitterly reproached them with selfish ambition and ingrati- tude. Hoping, however, by gratifying them in their present desire, to prevent the' rupture from extending any farther, he granted separate coniinis- CHAP. 11] SCHISM UNDER GEORGE KEITH. 629 sions for the executive government of Pennsylvania and Delaware to Lloyd and Marklmm ; the lunclions of legislation still remaining united in a council and assembly common to the two settlements. [April, ir.91.1 Bv the friendly cooperation of Lloyd and Markham, this anomalous machinery of governrnent vvas conducted with much greater harmony and success than the peculiarities of its structure, and the causes from wliich they arose, seemed at fust to portend.' ^ The following year L1C92] was signalized in a manner still more dis- creditable to the province and offensive to the proprietary, by a violent dissension among the Quakers of Pennsylvania. This affair has been repre- sented, by the party that proved weakest in the struggle, as a purely eccle- siastical quarrel, wherein their adversaries, worsted in spiritual, had recourse to carnal weapons ; and by the stronger, as a poRical effervescence, which the power ol the tnagistrate was firoperly employed to compose. The dis- turbance originated with George Keith, a native of Aberdeen, in Scotland, a man remarkably distmgmshed by the vigor and subtlety of his apprehen- sion, by an insatiable appetite for controversy, a copious eloquence, a vc- hement .amper, extreme sincerity, and entire deficiency of candor To his religious associates he was recommended by his numerous writings in delence of their tenets, and more particularly endeared as the champion of their quarrel with the churches, ministers, and magistrates of New England — a country, which, by a numerous body of the Quakers, was long regarded with a feeling to which it is difficult to give any other name than that of vin- dictive dislike He had travelled in that country as a Quaker preacher • and, having sharpened by personal controversy with the people a previous resentment of their well remembered persecution of his spiritual kinsmen he accumulated against them a hoard of animosity, which all the prolixity of his publications was incapable of exhausting. With an animated strain of invective and vituperation, which was reckoned very savory by the Quakers as long as it was directed against their adversaries,** he condemned the government of New England for the severities inflicted by it heretofore upon enthusiasts, with whose extravagance, as well as whose sufferings, it appeared that he himself was too much inclined to sympathize. Even those Quakers, who were imbued with the moderate spirit which of late had been gaining on their society, and allaying the frenzy that produced such deplora- ble results in New England,^ were flattered by publications which artfully turned the shame of Quakerism into its glory, and added the lionors of martyrdom to the other evidences of its claim to the character of a revival of primitive Christianity. The favor and esteem of his fellow-sectaries had recommended Keith first to the appointment of surveyor-general of East Jersey, and more re- cently to the presidency over the Quaker seminary of education estab- '---^r^^""^ ^^'P^'^- ^""Q"^ '•g^^ convicti on, from an inveterate habit of 'Proud. Clarkson. Pcnn exprefwed no disapprobatiiirrwhatever of the conduct of Murk- MM.';."!'!; .1°" f' '"•''''"'' !;•'''*'"?' ^'"" I''"' ^"'^ "'« proprietary's confidence and esteem n W 1 r,f,„ irTiT r^^ P^'^'l!'!'*' ".'""y •>« inferred, tf.at the real purpose of Markham, in placing himself at the head of the factious counsellors of Delaware, was to retain over then. KU^inHuence propitious to the authority of the proprietary. 0,.„?" " '■|?'ro8pect of his clinracter, however, after they themselves became his adversaries, the ihrni I fT'^'^f '''f ?V' YT "^.^'^hism with them, and even in his treatment of Uie people of New England, he had "had too much life in argument," had "exhibited an T^??'^\- '"'"■'P', "." '"'^^'"'■y ^''"*'''y obtained by him over his opponents," and altogether —.._....„... nirnseii -' in a very ciiravagant manner." i'roud. Anit^ Book II., Chap. III. VOL. I. 67 88 530 HISTORY OF NORTH tVMERICA. [BOOK vn. controversy, or from ambilious desire to gain a still higher eminence among the Quakers than he had already attained, he began at length to utter cen- sures of various abuses and corruptions which appeared to him to have depraved the system of Quakerism in Pennsylvania. He complained that there wag a great deal too much slackness in the execution of (Quaker dis. cipline, and that very loose and erroneous doctrine was taught by many of the Quaker preachers. He insisted, that, as the infliction and even the vio- lent resistance of e;'il was incompatible with Christian meekness and broth- erly love, no Quaker ought to be concerned in " the compqlling part of gov- ernment," and much less to retain negroes in a state of slavery. His cen- sures had in some respects a substantial reality, and in others at least a rea- sonable show, of just application, that rendered them only the more irritating to the minds of those whom he disturbed without being able to convert. Supported by a respectable company of adherents, and particularly in some of his views by the German emigrants, who from the first had protested against negro slavery as a monstrous practical departure from pure Chris- tianity, Keith encountered the opposition which his new doctrines received from the majority of the Quakers, with as much unbridled vehemence as he had displayed in his previous contests with their common enemies. Im- petuous, uncharitable, and immoderate, his address savored more of attack than of instruction ; he seemed never to distinguish between dissent and hostility, nor between men and their failings. • , ^ , A regular trial of strength ensued between the two parties m the Quaker society [April, 1692] ; and the adversaries of Keith, finding themselves sup- norted by a numerical majority, published a declaration or testimony of de- nial against him. In this curious production they expressed their deep regret of " the tedious exercise and vexatious perplexity" which their late friend, George Keith, had brought upon them. " With mourning and lamentation do we say,— How is this mighty man fallen ! — How is his shield cast away ! — How shall it be told in Gath ! —Will not the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph ? " They proceeded to accuse him of utter- ing against them " such unsavory words and abusive language, as a person of common civility would loathe" ; and in particular of having audaciously declared to them on various occasions, " and upon small provocations, it any," that they were fools, ignorant heathens, silly sonls, rotten ranters, and J\lu"-<'letonians, " with other names of that infamous strain ; thereby, to our grief, foaming out his own shame." They charged him with slander- ing Quakerism, by affirming that it was too often a cloak of heresy and hy- ™ pocrisy, and that more diabolical doctrine passed current among the Qua- kers than among any other description of Protestant professors. As the r-limax of his contumacy, they alleged, that, when they had tenderly dealt with him for his irreverent language and disorderly behaviour, he insultmgly answered, that he trampled their judgment under his feet as dirt ;i and that he had since established a separate congregajlion, whose proceedings_ron- "Tl'liT^ very wor(KVlongl)of.>ro nHdrcsm-d by William Perm to an Ln^M.s li inngistrate who WOH in the act of committing hi.n to Ne.wgnto for rdusing lo tako an oath, had l..>«n h.tlierto .•urrcnt and roH,.e..ted among the Unakcrs, aa iniportms; m, more thr.n a n.agna.Mmaus rontempt or decent disdain. Uoweve, lefi.ient in meekness and ''"•'''''^v, lluy vvere certamly m irl. I.-8H so than a great deal of the eontemporarv langtiage that was ex.hanjted between man> o tho (Inakcr writen, and their adversaries. 6n.- Hn^g, who had been a U"aker havmg al.out ,hiH time qnnrrolled with and deserte.l the -H""nn so..M..y n.a.n amed w^ wnrl'are that tended more .II.m lu.iliy to provoke; the in Hi. -.nt-n t- i.!...«.. Je ... . n mankind. I have seen an address to H-mg, from his original assoeial.s, in which the) greeted him with numerous abuaivu ullusioiiB lo tiie uiwavoriiiess ol Ins immo rarj CHAP. II.] SCHISM UNDER GEORGE KEITH. 631 lore irritating e to convert, larly in some lad protested pure Chris- ines received emence as he lemies. Im- ore of attaclc I dissent and II the Quaker miselves sup- Hmony of de- ;d their deep ich their late mourning and - How is his the daughters him of utter- !, as a person g audaciously ovocations, if n ranters, and ; thereby, to with slander- erosy and hy- long the Qua- 5ors. As the tenderly dealt , he insultingly irt ; ' and that breedings ron- li iMiigiMtriilc, who liad l)<'«n liilliorto iniinoiiK rontcmpt re rcrtainly inurli hctwcfii miiny of kor, Imving nhout vviili it a littirnry the pdifiration of , in which the)" 10 dered the religious repute of the Quakers " a scorn to the profane and the song oi the drunkard." Keith, who had now collected around him a numerous concourse of par- tisans, ivhoni he styled Christian quakers, while he bestowed on all the rest of the Quaker society the opprobrious title of apostates, promptly replied to this deck ration by an address which contained a defence of himself and his princip es, and an illustration of the various acts of apostasy wherewith he reproached his adversaries. This publication presented so ludicrous a contrast between the sectarian professions and the magisterial conduct of the rulers of Pennsylvania, that these Quaker politicians were transported by the perusal of it beyond the restraint of their favorite virtue, and fully con- vinced that what had been hitherto regarded as a mere ecclesiastical dis- pute ought forthwith to be resented as a political quarrel. They declared, that, though a tender meekness should undoubtedly characterize their noiice of offences committed against them in their capacity of Quakers, yet a magisterial sternness was no less incumbent upon them, in the visitation of offences that tended to " lessen the lawful authority of the magistracy in the view of the baser sort of the people.'' Keith, the author of the address, and Bradford, the printer of it, were both (after an examination which the other magistrates refused to share with their Quaker brethren) committed to prison ; Bradford's printing-press was seized ; and iioth Keith and he were denounced, by proclamation, as seditious persons, and enemies of the royal authority in Pennsylvania. Bradford, who relied on the protection of P:nglisli constitutional law, compelled his prosecutors to bring hira to trial for the of- fences they laid to his charge ; but though he was acquitted by the verdict of a jury, he incurred great pecuniary loss, and found himself so much op- pressed by the dislike of a powerful party, that he was compelled to remove his printing establishment from Pennsylvania. Keith was arraigned shortly after, along with Francis Budd, another Qua- ker, for having, in a little work which was their joint production, defamed a Quaker magistrate, by describing him as too high and imperious in icorldly courts. They were found guilty, and ontenced to pava f:ne of five pounds.* Retiring soon after to England, Keith published an account of the whole proceedings against him, in a pamphlet which he entitled " JVe?c England Spirit of Persecution transmitted to Pennsylvania, and the pretended Quaker found persecuting the true Quaker. '' So extensive was hi:, influence, both in England and America, that for some time it was doubted whether he and his friends, or the party opposed to them, would succeed in eclipsing the others, and securing to themselves the exclusive possession of the Quaker name. But the career of Keith, as a Quaker, was suddenly abridged, and his influence in the society completely overthrown, by a consequence which neither he nor his opponents had anticipated at the commencement of their disputes. In the course of his labors in that wide field of controversy which the attacks of his various adversaries in Pennsylvania and New England spread before him, Keith succeeded (to his own satisfaction at |past) in refuting all the peculiar tenets that had ever been common to himself and the Quakers ; and, scorning to conceal the desertion of his original opinions, he hesitated not to declare himself a convert from the Quaker society to the church of England. This secession was a dcath- ' Pciin, writing to a friend in Amorina, Jix^tiiies tliul (lit! report of this triui iind excitnd much diswiist in Enghind, and iiidiircd mmiy porsons to cxcliiiin iigainsl Iho fituusa of Q,uaUcr» to odiniiiister muniripal uiitliuiity. I'roud. 532 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK VII. I t^ blow to the influence of that party which had hitherto espoused his senti- ments ; and which, henceforward, either gradually coalescing with a more powerful majority, or peaceably submitting to a sentence of expulsion, con- tributed alike to the ascendency of principles which originally it proposed to subvert. When Keith finally declared himself the antagonist of Quaker- ism, he encountered the controversial hostility of William Penn ; but till then the treatment which he experienced in Pennsylvania was a source of the utmost regret and disapprobation to the proprietary.^^ The government that arose from the revolution in England, having now completed the arrangements that were necessary for its secure establishment at home, had leisure to extend its cares to the colonial communities at the extremity of the empire. [1693,] In the annals of the other American settlements we have seen instances of the avidity with which King William and his ministers endeavoured to appropriate to the crown the nomination of tlie provincial governors. The situation of the proprietary of Pennsylvania, together with various circumstances in the recent history of this province, presented a favorable opportunity of repealing the same policy ; and, indeed, furnished a much more decent pretext for it than had been deemed suflicient to warrant an invasion of the rights of the proprietary of Maryland. Penn was generally suspected by the Enghsh people of adherence to the interests of his ".ncient patron, James the Second ; and, in consequence of a charge that was preierred against him of accession to a treasonable conspiracy in favoi- of the evilori tyrant, he had absconded from judicial inquiry, and was liviiig in coTiceakn. nt.2 In Pennsylvania, the laws had been administered in the name of the banished king, long after the government of ^yiniam and Mary was zjcDgnized in the other colonies ; and the dissensions which Keith's schism had excited were magnified into the semblance of disorders inconsistent vith ihe honor of the British crown. Fortified with such prcT texts for 'be '•o^al interposition. King William issued a warrant, depriving Penn of all authority in America, and investing the government of his terri- tories in Colonel Fletcher, who was likewise appointed governor of New York. Penn, regarding this proceeding as a tyrannical usurpation of his rights, adopted the strange defensive precaution of writing to Fletcher, be- seeching him, on the score of private friendship, to refuse compliance with the king's commands ; but no regard was paid to this foolish solicitation. and the government was quietly surrendered to Fletcher, who appointed, first Lloyd, and afterwards JNIarkham, to act as his deputy. [April, 1693.] In the commissio.. to Fletcher no notice was taken of the charter of Pennsylvania ; and the main object of his policy was to obtain a recognition of the unqualified dependence of the province on the crown. This involved ~> G Thomas's Histon/ of Pevnsiilranitt. Proud. Cliirkson's History of the Molilimx nf Hit mavr-tmilfi. ThoiTuis's Hii-lon, oJ'Printins in America. Proud's account of tliosc procMriingi. ncars rvideiit marks of nartiality. It i.s aiiiusifjg to ol)serve his grudge ngninirt Keith ami Uad- ford, for having described a writing which th.7 puldishcd, ns the employment of thuir hours of bondage in tkr. prison to which professed Quakers liad committed thoin. George Keitli, after his recantation of Quakerism and espousal of tiK) doctrines of the church of Kiigland, was sent l)ack again as a missionary to America, by the Lnglish t^oeioty for the Projiagation of the (lospel ; and, in his labors to convert the Indians, is said to have been nmch niore HUccessfiii than any of Ihe votaries of his former tenets. OkiiiiiAon. « The author of li.e charge from which Penn withdrew himself was the notorious riiller, who was afterwards rotidi'mncd to llie pillory, for the detected (or at least pretended) (alye- hood of th'' charges whicli he had preftirred against other distinguished pwsons. Ihe siispi ciov.. cnti-'-uincdofPcnn wf.rrB- nrtt related \h Ivuhii's l^furftis i?i _Vf*r?A .'iai^Tfc^, ' Proud. S^imilar instunres of Quaker assent to ihi! substance and d'ssent from the style of addrfi ii occur in the transactions of the assembly of Mew Jersey. S. i^mith. CHAP. II.J SECOND VISIT OF PEx\N TO HIS DOMAIN. 637 s time in a course of tranquillity, interrupted at length by an- event which had been now too Ion? deferred to be capable of producing the beneficial conse- quences which at one time were fondly expected to ensue from it, — the re- turn of the proprietary to his American dominions. [1698, 1699.] On this second occasion, accompanied by his family, and professing his intention to spend the remainder of his life in Pennsylvania, his arrival was hailed with general, if not universal satisfaction, — of which the only visible abate- ment was created by the first visitation of that dreadful epidemic, the yellow fever (since so fatally prevalent), at Philadelphia.' Some young men, hav- ing ventured, in opposition to the commands of the magistrates, to salute the proprietary on his arrival with a discharge of artillery, performed this operation so awkwardly, as to occasion severe injury to themselves ; which was regarded by the Quakers as a providential rebuke of a tribute so un- suitable to a member of their fraternity. The very first transactions that took place between Penn and his provincial assembly were but ill calcu- lated to promote their mutual satisfaction. In the history of some of the other settlements (and particularly of Carolina and New York), we have remarked that the American seas were at this time infested by pirates, whose prodigal expenditure of money in every place where they found shel- ter and entertainment, and whose readiness to assist in evading the obnoxious Acts of Navigation, recommended them too successfully to the countenance of many of the North American colonists. Pennsylvania did not escape this reproach, which Penn had already communicated in letters to the as- sembly, -— who readily enacted laws against the practices imputed to their fellow-citizens, but at the same time issued proclamations declaring in the strongest terms that the imputations were unfounded. This disagreeable subject was resumed immediately after the arrival of Penn ; and though the assembly still complained of the injustice of the reproach, it was found necessary to expel from it one of its own members, the son-in-law of Colonel Markham, who was suspected of participating, or at least counte- nancing, piracy. Still more productive of discord were the frequent de- mands of pecuniary contributions for the support of a military establishment at New York, which Penn was compelled by the British government to address to his assembly ; and which were answered only by complaints of the hardship of these exactions, and protestations of the inability of the province to comply with them.^ But the most remarkable disagreement that occurred between Penn and the assembly arose from the measures which he now suggested for improving the treatment of negro slaves, and cor- recting abuses that prevailed in the intercourse between the colonists and the Indians. It was impossible that the flagrant evils of slavery, and the especial re- pugnance of such an inhuman institution to Christian morality, which Baxter, Tryon, and other writers had already pressed upon the attention of the Protestant inhabitants of Christendom, could escape the moral sense of ' Tlmnuis Story, an eminent preacher among the Quakers, and afterwards recorder of Philadelphia, thus describes the impression produced by the prevalence of this epidemic : — "(jrcat \Mi\H the majesty and hana of the Lord; great was the fear that fell upon all flesh : I saw no lull y or airy countenance, nor heard any vain jesting to move men to langhter ; nor extravagant feasting to excite above measure the lusts of the Hesh ; but every fiieo gathered paleness, and many hearts were humbled, and countenances fallen and .iin'k, as such that waited every moment to be summoned to tln^ bar." Proud. How dillerent this from Thu- cyi' slavery), wan tired at aiid wounded in open day by one of the planters of the island. Chalkeley'e Journal. CHAP. II.] EFFORTS IN FAVOR OF SLAVES AND INDIANS. 539 t^^eli^rih'f '° them from Germany. If it was natural for the Quakers for them tn nvniH !,. "^.ag^^s and temporal enrichment, it was not easy m n f^om .'LtevBr?nP7h"""^^ contracting at least a practical estrange^ mem irom ..idtever m their principles savored only of unnroductive Jlf itdu planters, might have derived from human infirmitv ilipv wprp «tin trirnrincioles •"'H^'"'^"i-^°f'^^^' ^" '-'"^^^ ^^e te'o'rS pSy of heir principles ; and accordingly, in compliance with the suggestion of the adooTedld ^^^^'f°". declaratory of the unlawfulness orsavTryw^s Ss^of Penns^vlv nlf V^' '^^ ^f- ^' '^'^ «""-' ^-^-S of the^QTa! Kers ot 1 ennsylvania. 1 he effect of this deliberate homage to eternal iruth Strnurnhp; nf r P r^'" '^'^ f ?*"' °^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^Ifice ; and the in- creasing number of the slaves, together with the diversities of charirtPr among the colonists (to which we have already adverted) rendered the emancipation of the negroes increasingly improbable. In the yea 1696 the annual meeting of the Pennsylvanian Quakers repeated theTr firm!.' St';e"f.ain 7 '" U T f"""' ^^"'^"''•"^ '^ '^' ibers of the'r ciety to refiam from all farther importations of negro slaves • but no othpr immediate effect resulted from this measure than an inTeae'd concern for the welfare of the negroes, who in some instances were admkted to attend divine worship in the same meeting-houses with Uieir Quake™ masters On h.s second arrival in America [June, 1700], Penn veTy soon ner ceived, that, from the varieties of character among his provSalvassT and the inevitable tendency of absolute power to corruption rndab"se the negro savery of Pennsylvania exhibited in too many '^^nstances the s'ame odious features that characterized this barbarous institution noth^ placed' He was additionally mortified with the discovery of numerous frauds a .d abuses coinmmod by the colonists in their traffic with the Indians Wh the view of providing a remedy for both these evils, he presented to the assembly three bills which he had himself prepared :'the fimX legdati,? t ITnd '"' '"^rriages of the negroes ; the second, for 'regu lalng f uaJ. and punishments ot the negroes ; and the third, for preventing abuses and frauds m the intercourse between the colonists and the Indians^ The ssembly instantly negatived the first and last of these bills ; accedin. onlv to that which related to the trial and punishment of their s aves No at coun IS transmitted of any discussion or debate on the b lis which were rejected; and, indeed it is probable that the assembly, rthrinstance were glad to confine themselves to the ancient formula of slply anp S or rejecting the legislative overtures presented to them. But^t^islis e ted conject^jrally, T suppose) by one of the biographers of Penn, tha tie feel- ings of the proprietary received a conmhive shock on the occasion In proposing the bills, he had indeed been unanimously supported^ by his council, which consisted entirelv of Onpkpr= • H,* ^Ju./^. '1^^ f'^ - - '- ^ — a.-!.. . ..(!, .... Mau seen tnciw UC- » " ThouKl. Pennsylvania boagU her peaceful plain7~ — Vet tl.orc la blood her petty tyrants reign." — Gregory 640 HISTORY OF NORTJI AMERICA. [BOOK VII, cisively rejected by an assembly, of which a groat majority consisted of pcTsons of the same religious persuasion. Tiiough disappointerl of the more extensive influence which as a pohiical legishitor he had hoped to ex- ercise, he was yet able, in his ecclesiastical ministry among the Quakers to introduce into their discipline regulations and practices relative to the purposes of the rejected bills, the spirit of which, at least, was, by the ex- ample of this powerful sect, forcibly recommended to general imitation. Monthly meetings were appointed among the (Quakers, for the religious and moral education of their negro slaves [1703] ; and regular conferences were established with the Indians, for the purpose of communicating to then) whatever instruction they would consent to accept. Perm finally obtained leave, or at least assumed the power, to make a treaty wiih the Indians, by which they acknowledged theniselves subjects of the British crown and amenable to the pr'^vincial laws ; and by which certain regula- tions were franried for preventing the frauds to which they were exposed in their commercial dealings with the white population. Thus was preserved in the Quaker society a principle, which, about seventy years after, obtained the signal triumph of procuring emancipation to all the negroes in America belonging to Quakers ; and thus, mean- while, was cherished in the general body of the inhabitants of Pennsylva- nia such a sense of the unalienable rights and indissoluble obligations of humanity, as obtained for enslaved negroes in this province a treatment fnr kinder and * more ecpiitable than they enjoyed in any other part of North America, except the States of New Englaild.' Notwithstanding the encour- agement afforded by the British government to the importation of negroes into all the American settlements, the slaves in Pennsylvania never formed more than a very insignificant fraction of the whole population of the prov- ince. Slavery subsisted longer in Delaware ; and the slaves in this settle- ment, though not : umerous, were rather more so than in the larger province of Pennsylvania.* In addition to the other disagreeable impressions of which his second visit to America was productive, Penn had now the mortification of wit- nessing a revival of the jealousies between Delaware and Pennsylvanin, and of experiencing the inefficacy of all his efforts to promote a cordial union between the inhabitants of these countries. As a remedy for their mutual dissatisfaction, he proposed a change in the frame of governmem ; but the adjustment of this comp act tended rather to inflame than to allay the existing ' Proud. Clarkson's Abolition of the Slare-trade. CinrkevnVLife ,:f Perm. Wint^rbothnin. Wnrdon. In the course of his ministerial labors at this time, Penn visited his Quaker brethren in Maryland, and was received in a friendly manner by his ancient adversary, Lord Baltimore, who with his lady nccompanied him to a (iuaker meeting. Ponn regretted, for I ho sake of K\t noble companions, that the fervor of the meeting had subsided before their entrance ; and Lady Baltimore declared herself disappointed of the diversion she had expected, lie had also van ous interviews with the Indians, who listened to him willingly as long as he confined him self to general allusions to religion. Butwhrn ho desired, on one occasion, to direct theii minds to the search of an internal manifestatio i of the Kedcemer of the human race, his in tion of many members of Christianized communities on whom tlic doctrine has been incul catrd from their infancy. To Ponn himself the Indians very readily paid a degree of respect which they refused to extend to nis religious tenets. Many of them believed liim a being of higher order than the rest of mankind ; "nor could they for a long timo credit the news of his death, not believina him subject to the accidenla of nature.' Planner s yuw of the Policy of Great lirilaiii, &c. CHAP. II.] FOt'RTH FRAME OF GOVERNMENT. 541 animosities. He endeavoured to defer the extremity to which their disputes manifestly tended, by varions acts of conciliation towards the weaker am more irntah^ party, and particularly by convoking at Newcastle, the me- tropoiis of I>elaware, another assembly, which was held in the close of the present year [1700]. But although he succeeded, after much adroit exe!-! tion, in obtaining from this assembly a .subsidy for the support of his gov- TZT' f "'"''%'"'"« P'-«g'-««s in arranging with them tHe terms of a new ch. ter or frame of government, -the mutual jealousies between the two e tlements were displayed with such unreserve, that, in almost every de- bate, the Delaware representatives suggested and supported precisely the reverse of whatever was proposed or approved by the Pennsylvanians. The subsidy a, counted to £ 2 000, of which £ 1,573 was the proportion imposed upon Pennsylvania, and the remainder upon Delaware. It was unwise llnTl . T '"^ :"^•^^h's people to the acceptance of a new social compact, at a time when they were so much heated by mutual irritation, and when the union between the two settlements was evidently so precari- tTi'n l!v A-. • P'^'^^'f • "°^ '""S after for taxing him with converting the public distractions to his own advantage, and practising devices for the enlargement of his power, while the minds of hii people were too much occupied with their mutual dissensions to perceive the drift of his proceed- ings. But Perin had now determined again to leave America [17011, and return to England ; and while he naturally desired to have tlw frame of the provincial government finally established before his departure, his recent experience had doubtless impressed on him the conviction, that an exten- sion ol his own magisterial prerogative would render the constitution more instrumental to the welfare of the people, and afford a freer scope to the promotion of views and the exertion of influence impartially directed to the general advantage. In the last assembly which he convoked before his departure [September, 1/01 J, he had occasion to exert all his authority and address, in order to prevent the representatives of Delaware and Pennsylvania from coming to an open rupture, and also to guard his own interests in the sale and lease of vacant lands from an attempt of the legislative body to assume a control over them. Various laws were passed ; of which the nost remarkable were those for the establishment of a post-oflice, for the punishment of the •vices ot scolding and drunkenness, for restraining the practice of drinking healths, and for the destruction of wolves. [October, 1701.] But the most important transaction on this occasion was the establishment of the new charter or frame of government, which Penn finally tendered to the assem- bly, and prevailed with a great majority of the members to accept, and even thankfully acknowledge. By this instrument, it was provided fin conforniity with the municipal compact of 1696) that a legislative assembly should be annually elected by the freemen, and should consist of four per- sons from each county, or of a greater number, if the eovemor and assembly should so determine ; that the assembly should nominate its own officers, and decide with exclusive jurisdiction all questions relating to the qualifi- cations and elections of its members ; that it should prepare legislatorial bills, impeach criminals, and redress grievances ; and possess all the other powers and privileges of a representative assembly^ accordant witli ths rights of the ireeborn subjects of England, and the customs observed in the > IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 !f «* la === 1^ 1^ 12.2 1.1 t-^l^ == IIR 11= 1.25 II 1.4 1.6 M. II ^ 4, _ *vl y O 7] // / I Photographic Sciences Corporation 33 WEST MAIN STREtT WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 872-4503 iV 1 ^^\ 6"^ % 642 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK VII. British plantations in America. The governor was empowered to con- voke, prorogue, and dissolve the provincial legislature ; to nominate his council ; to discharge singly the whole executive functions of government • and to share the legislative functions, by affirming or rejecting the bills of the assembly. The Pennsylvanian council differed from all the other provincial councils in this respect, that it did not form a distinct branch of the legis- lature, but was considered as a court of assistants to the acting governor, and a check on his authority, — rather a privy council than a senatorial Dody. It was declared that liberty of conscience was the inviolable right of the colonists ; that Christians of every denomination should be qualified to occupy the offices of government ; and that no act or ordinance should ever be made to alter or diminish the form or effect of the charter, with- out the consent of the governor, and six parts in seven of the assembly. But as it was now plainly foreseen that the representatives of the province and those of the territories would not long continue to unite in legislation, it was provided that they should be allowed to separate within three years from the date of the charter, and should enjoy the same privileges when separated as when united. In exercise of the new authority thus vested in himself, Penn nominated a council of state^ to consult with and assist the governor or his deputy, and to administer his functions in case of his death or absence. The office of deputy-governor ^ he bestowed on Colonpl Andrew Hamilton, who had formerly been governor of New Jersey. One of the latest acts which Penn performed before his final departure from America, the incorporation, by charter, of the city of Philadelpliia, has been justly charged with great illiberalitjr ; though, according to the apology which his friends have suggested for it, the blame must be divided between himself and others. By this charter he nominated the first mayor, recorder, aldermen, and common councilmen of the city ; and, among other privileges and franchises, empowered them to elect their successors in office, and even to increase their own number according to their own dis- cretion. The city lands were granted to them, under the title of the Mayor and Commonalty of the City of Philadelphia ; but the commonalty had no share in the government or estate of tlie city ; the civic functionaries be- ing self-elective, and not accountable to their fellow-citizens in any respect. It has been asserted, that this municipal constitution, which was copied from the charter of the town of Bristol, in England, was conceded by Penn to the desires of certain of his colonists who were natives of that place ; and it is admitted that the functionaries whom he himself appointed were men of talent and integrity. But the possession of power, divested of control and responsibility, produced its usual effect on this corporate society; and the abuses engendered by its administration were, from a very early period, a theme of continual discontent and complaint to the inhabitants of the city and the provincial assembly. Having concluded these transactions, and once more renewed the engagements of peace and good-will with the Indians, Penn addressed to his people a farewell couched in friendly and benevolent terms, but far less tender and affectionate than his former valediction ; and, embarking with his family, returned to Eng- land.« [October 3 1, 1701.] » No mention ii made of the ni^nl confirmation of this appointment, which is expressly re- ferred to in the appointment of Lvnns, the 8iicr<«':si>r of Hamilton. Br an act of parliament, already noticed in the hintnry nf !VT>!rv!and^ H ^vns re'^uisite now that s\\ ths s^tin** "ovi^rnors :n the proprietary jiiriHdintion »lionld lie approved by tne king. » Proud. Winterbothnm. Dillwyn, npud eundem. Clarkion. CHAP, II.] PENNS FINAL RETURN TO ENGLAND. 643 The only reason that Penn assigned to the colonists for this second de- parture was the intelligence he had received of a project of the English court to abolish all the proprietary jurisdictions in North America, and the expediency of his own appearance in England to oppose a scheme so derogatory to his interest ; but as he found, on his arrival in this country, that the measure had been abandoned, and yet never again returned to America, it seems very unlikely that this was the sole or even the main reason for his conduct. The disagreements between himself and his col- onists had rendered their intercourse far less satisfactory than he could have desired, and had mduced hini to supply the inadequacy of his own personal influence by a large addition to his political power ; and from the numer- ous demands of the British government for contributions in aid of military purposes, it was manifest that this power must be frequently exerted for tlie attainment of objects, which, as a professor of Quakerism, he could pursue with more decency and more firmness by the intervention of a dep- uty than by his own personal agency. The disagreeable tidings that pursued him from America must have increased his aversion to return thither ; and the favor he enjoyed with Queen Anne, on her accession to the throne [January, 1702], perhaps reawakened the views and hopes that had led him once before to prefer the courtly shades of Kensington to the wild woods of Pennsylvania. His attendance at court, however, was soon interrupted by the perplexity and embarrassment of his private affairs (arising from the fraud of his steward), which compelled him to mortgage his American territory ; and the same cause, uniting with increased dissen- sions between him and the colonists, induced him subsequently to treat with the British government for a sale of his proprietary functions.* The com- pletion of the bargain, however, was suspended by his sickness, and in- tercepted by his death, which transmitted the proprietary government to his descendants, by whom it was enjoyed till the period of the American Revolution. Penn had scarcely quitted America when the disputes between the province and the territories broke forth with greater bitterness than before. The Delaware representatives protested against the charter; and, refusing to sit in the same assembly with the Pennsylvanians, chose a separate place of meeting for themselves in Philadelphia. After continuing for some time to indulge their jealous humor, and to enjoy whatever satisfaction they could derive from separate legislation, they were persuaded by the suc- cessor of Hamilton, Governor Evans (who was much more agreeable to them than to the people of Pennsylvania), to demonstrate a more reasonable temp er [1703'^], and to propose a reunion with the Pennsyl vania assembly. • He demanded as the price of this surrender twenty thousand poundi, but agreed to accoDt twelve thousand pounds. r i e « i»» * This year (if we may believe the representation of Colonel Quarry) was remarkably pro- ductive of crime in Pennsylvania. In Quarry's Memorinl to tht Lords of Trade, it is stated that the iail of Philadelphia was then crowdetl with felons, and that justice was greatly ob- structed by the refusal of Quaker judges, jurymen, and witnesses to take an oath; insomuch, that at a recent sessions, where many guilty persons were indicted, only one murderer was convicted, and " all Quakers and others for rapes and less crimes were discharired." Quarry's Memorial, in the British Museum. ' From the Joumai of Thomas Chalkeley, the Quaker, it appears that some of his fellow- sectaries in 1 ennsylvonia were not exempt from occasional lapses into very immoral and dis orderly conduct. " It is worthy of commendation," ho reports. " 'hat ~" ., j' . - .-- -.-•' ~: "" -..««..«.., ..V I <.:pui u. -imi our governor, Thoriihs L.loyd, sometimes, in the evening, before he went to rest, usea to go m person to public houses, sr.« ofue.' iiie people no found there to their own houses, liii ai tength ho was instrumentai to promote better order, and did in a great measure suppress vice and immorality in the city." 1544 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOOK VII. But this body, provoked and disgusted at the refractory spirit which the Delaware representatives had already displayed, now refused to entertain their overtures of reconciliation. The breach thus became irreparable • and in the following year [1704] the separate legislature of Delaware was permanently established at Newcastle. In addition to the tidings of these prolonged disagreements and final rupture between the two setdenients, JPenn was harassed by complaints against the government of Evans, whose exertions to promote a militia, though they rendered him popular in Dela- ware, made him odious in Pennsylvania. Deriding the pacific scruples of the Quakers, Evans falsely proclaimed the approach of a hostile invasion, and invited all who wer? willing to defend their liberty and property to take arms against the enemy. A few individuals, and, among these, four Qua- kers, duped by this stratagem, flew to arms, and prepared to repel the threatened attack. But the chief effect of the proclamation was to cause many persons to bury their plate and money, and to fly from their homes ; and the detection of the falsehood was followed by an impeachment of the governor, and of Logan, the secretary of the province, who, though inno- cent of accession to the fraud, made himself suspected by endeavouring to palliate the guilt of it. Penn, however, supported these accused officers, and thereby increased the displeasure that was gathering among his people against himself. He was now little disposed to consider with indulgence the conduct of the inhabitants of Pennsylvania ; who, no longer engrossed with the interest of the discussions they had maintained with the people of Delaware, but perhaps animated by the temper which such discussions commonly imply or produce, began widi very dissatisfied spirit narrowly to inquire into the whole course of tlieir proprietary's policy with respect to themselves. The assembly of Pennsylvania not only assailed him with repeated de- mands, that the quitrents, which he deemed his own private estate, should be appropriated to the support of the provincial government,* but trans- mitted to him a remonstrance, entitled Heads of Complaint, in which they alleged that it was by his artifices that the constitution of the province had been subjected to so many successive alterations ; that he had violated his original compact by the recent enlargement of his authority so far beyond the limits within which he at first engaged to confine it ; and that he had received large sums of money, during his last visit to the province, in return for benefits which he promised to procure, but had never yet obtained, for the people from the English government. They censured the original an- nexation of Delaware to Pennsylvania ; reminding him that his title to the government of Delaware, not having been founded on a royal grant, was from the first extremely precarious ; and lamenting with great grief that the privileges granted to the Pennsylvanians by his first charters were exposod to perish with the baseless fabric of the Delaware institutions wherewith he had associated them. Numerous extortions of his officers were at the ■ " Pcnn's first purchnacR of land from the Indians," says Belknap, " were mnde at his own (ixpense ; and ihe goods delivered on these occasions went by the name of prfsents. In course of time, when a treaty and a purchase went on together, tho governor and his siiccos sors made the speeches, and the assembly were at tho expense of the presents. When one paid the cost, and the other enjoyed the profit, u subject of altercation arose between the pro- prietary and the popular interests, which other causes contributed to incr«aso and inflsme." American Biography. From the work of Proud it appears, that, lon^ before Penn's death, th» payments which the Indians were continually receiving were deriKodfrom assessinonts in- poficd by iba piovinciai aaB.e lipase Ihc- lolimviiig intimation from the king :—" America is not annexed to the realm, nor within the lurisdiction of parliament ; you have, tlierefore, no right to interfere." Colo- nial Tracts tn Harvard Library, opud Holmes. APP. I] STATE AND PROSPECTS OF THE COLONIES. 657 quently evaded those obnoxious regulations ; and many persons still main- tamed that the parliament had no right to impose them. This opinion contin- lied to prevail,' and would have been more generally and openly asserted, il the colonists had been less overawed by the power of England, or had received encouragement from the crown. But the English ministers were now always (by a necessity of the constitution) possessed of a command- ing majority m parliament, and found it easier and safer to act through the instP-m-iitahty of this organ, than through a prerogative employed on a variety of distant provincial assemblies. The Revolution of 1688 establish- ed firmly the supreme authority of the parliament, and consequently the submission of America to its legislative control. No taxation of the colo- nies was practically attempted by the parliament, except what arose from the regulation of commerce ; but an abstract right of indefinite taxation was repeatedly proclaimed, and a power was assumed to alter the Ameri- can charters, or at least to modify the constitutions which these charters had created. There was one point, indeed, in which the relation of the col- onies to the royal prerogative appeared still to be acknowledged. It was not to the House of Lords, or to any of the ordinary tribunals of Eng- land, that appeals were preferred from the judgments of American courts, but to the king in council ; and it was the same organ that enjoyed the privilege of modifying and rescinding the provincial laws which were deemed repugnant to English jurisprudence.^ Yielding not lo conviction, but to necessity, — overawed by the strength of Britam,— and embarrassed by the dangerous vicinity of the French in Canada, — the colonists submitted to the power of parliament, and rendered to It even that degree of voluntary acknowledgment which may be inferred from numerous petitions for the redress of grievances.^ Yet the submission actually obtained was yielded with undisguised reluctance ; and the pre- tensions, in conformity with which that submission might be still farther extended, were regarded with the most jealous apprehension. So early as the year 1696, a pamphlet was published in England, recommending the parliamentary imposition of a domestic tax on one of the colonies. Thi«! suggestion was instantly and vigorously impugned by two responsory pamphlets, in which the right of taxing the colonies was expressly denied to a parliament in which they were not represented.* There were various particulars in the supremacy exercised and the pol- icy pursued by the parent state, that were offensive to the colonists, and regarded by them as humiliating badges of dependence. The royal pre- rogative exerted in the nomination of certai n of the provincial governors not i f'^'i M^'^c "?!"* °'"<^°'?ne' N'clioUon, cited in Note XXVIII., at the end of the volume. r„.. . "i?^""- n repeatedly pronounced that it was within the competency of the English th^LoL ^"^ ^ uu *" f?"** " V''^.f ''"'"""' '='"'^«* '"'« America; but he remarked that ?is.ro7;j5jSr'f ' •'^^^'' "^ '"^^'^'^"•^ ^'"^ p-p-'^ «'«•'- - '"» i»Pti)!l['l^" "'"^ '!""'"'', •"""^.^^""•thy and powerful, and found that the parliament was pro- jecting to usurp their domestic taxation, they rtfrained from sending petitions to it, and ore- sen ef them pnTy to the kin^;-see FrankliVs fVorks;-and at length boldly revived '^ibe sovTL'".'""'!!',!^"^^ 't- '""^•' rt •""' "'" ^'"S' ''"■''^' ''"•1 '=°'""»°n« collectively, is their sovereign and that the kmg, with their respective assemblies, is their only legislator." Ibid. Ihus the Americans, in contending for their independence, finally took tlieir stand on a prin- ciple originally introduced by despotic princes, and intended to secure the subjection of the colonies to arbitrary government and royal prerogative. A*^ ^'"■^?"''' "'"'"Ky "f thtUniled Stales. " The pamphlets against taxation (said Lord Cam- X'l'^'l ,h ^ '" '""■ '^°"^? "' ^°';'^*' ^i*'*'^ *^*'^) •••='■ """=•> •■ead, and no answer was given to them, no censure passed upon them ; nor were ,nen startled at the doctrine." Ihid. UU* 658 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [APP. I. only created discontcut in the provinces which were thus debarred from a privilege enjoyed by the inhabitants of the other States, but excited in those others a continual apprehension of being levelled in this respect with the condition of their neighbours. The manner, too, in which this roval prerogative was frequently administered, tended to render it additionally disagreeable. It was no less the interest than the duty of the parent state, that the provincial viceroys whom she appointed should be men whose talents and characters were fitted to communicate impressions of the dig- nity of her supreme dominion and the benevolence of her superintending care. Yet the general practice of the English ministers was to com- mit the royal governments to needy dependents, whose chief aim was to repair a shattered fortune, and to recommend themselves to their patrons by a headlong zeal for the assertion of every real or pretended prerogative of the crown. ^ In thus partially straining and illiberally exerting her power, the parent state pursued towards the colonies a policy at once un- just, offensive, and inefficient. It would perhaps have been more politic to have usurped the appointment of all the provincial governors, and to have bestowed these offices on men of splendid rank and fortune, salaried by the crown, and capable of maintaining in the provinces the appearance of a court. The transportation of felons to America was also a practice of the British government, which the lapse of time and the multiplication of negro slaves rendered increasingly offensive to the colonists. We have seen the assem- bly of Maryland, as early as the year 1676, endeavour to obstruct the stream of vicious and perilous example which was thus directed by the parent state among the laboring classes of her colonial subjects. The as- sembly of Pennsylvania made an attempt to discourage the importation of convicts into its territory by imposing a duty of five pounds on every convict that should be imported. But it was not till a later period that the practice excited general disapprobation in America. So pressing in most places was the demand for laborers, thst't their moral character, and the terms on which they were obtained, were considerations to which the planters had not leisure to attend. Nay, in some instances, felons were not the only involuntary emigrants from England whose labor they appropriated. It became at one time a common practice for captains of vessels to entice ignorant persons, by flattering promises of wealth and preferment, to accom- pany them to America, where they had no sooner arrived, than they were sold as bondsmen to defray the cost of their passage and entertainment. So early as the year 1686, an order of council** was issued for the pre- vention of this practice. In process of time, all the provincial governments, and ail the wealthy inhabitants of the provinces (especially of those in which negro slaves were most numerous), united in petitioning the British gov- ' Sir William Keith's History of Virginia. Williamson's JVor/A Carolina. We have al- ready seen nhundant confirmation of the testimony of these writers in the histories of Vir- ginia, New York, and New Jersey. See the observations on the general efleot of the Enslish Revolution on the American colonies, at the close of the history of Virginia, Book I., Chap. III., ante. * This ('oRumont is preserved in the British Museum. The system of inveigling and kidnapping was not confined to England. It was carried on to a great extent in Suabia and other German cantons by Dutch factors, whom Raynal asserts to have been hired by the Brit- ish government. But that this charge was unjust in some instances, and probably in ell, may be collected from a curious and interesting article in the Annmil Hrgister for 1764. Young persons of blighted reputation or feeble understanding were sometimes conveyed by their friends to the American plantations, in order to bury memorials of family disgrace. Benjamin, the eldest son of the poet Waller, appeiiring deficient in capacity, waa disiniieriied by his father ard Mnt to New Jersey. Jo[\n»»n'% Lift of Wtdltr. APP. I] STATE AND PROSPECTS OF THE COLONIES. 6m ons were not ernment to discontinue the practice of sending felons to America ; ^ but rfieir complaints of this evil, as well as of the continued importation of ad- ditional negro slaves, were entirely disregarded. " Very early," says an American writer, " it had been the fashion to suppose, that the colonists, by emigrating, had lost a portion of their dignity, and that at best they should be regarded only as an inferior order of Englishmen, whose duty it was to labor for the dory and advancement of the nation." ^ Qne consequence that resulted from this arbitrary and degrading treatment was the existence e SJ'PS^ '§"o'"a"?e or illiberal prejudice with regard to the social condition ot North America, in the minds of all classes of people in England.^ Though persons connected with the colonies, by commerce or otherwise, might entertain juster notions of their condition, it is certain that till a very late period these territories were commonly regarded in England as wild, inhospitable deserts, infested by savages and beasts of prey, and cultivated only. by criminals or by enslaved negroes and kidnapped Europe- ans. Though Bishop Berkeley prophesied a destiny of unequalled glory to this region, m his Verses on the Prospect of planting Arts and Literature in America, and though Thomson celebrated the happiness of the colonies, and their instrumentalness to the grandeur of the British empire," the encomiastic strains of these writers were more than counterbalanced by the sarcastic and opprobrious imputations which were circulated by other and more pop- alar authors.^ The conquest of Louisburg from the French, in 1745, ' An American patriot humorously proposed that a reciprocal transportation of American rattleBnakes to England should in equity be indulged to the colonists. Franklin's Memoirs. * Burk s History of Virginia. * » Preface to Smith's JVe» York. See Note XXXIV., at the end of the volume. * " Lo ! swarming o'er the new-discovered world Gay colonies extend ; the calm retreat Of undeserved distress . . . Bound by social freedom, firm they rise ; OfBritain's empire the support and strength." — Thomson. * Smollett alludes to the colonies of North America in the following strain : — " I%e galleys of France abound with abbfis ; and many templars may be found in our .American vlantatiotJ:' Count Fathom. Among the bad company assembled at Bath, the same wri, snumerates " planters, ne^ro drivers, and hucksters from our American plantations." Humphrey Clinker. " Our people, ' he adds, " have a strange itch to colonize America, when the uncultivated parts of our own island might be settled to greater advantage." Ibid. Fielding sends his hero, Jonathan Wild, to fortify his vice and viflany in Virginia ; and in various other allusions to the colonies, always represents them as the suitable refuge of deserved distress. In Reed'f farce. The Register Office, a miserable Irishman is exhibited as on the point of being trepamied to America, to bo there sold as a slave. A similar scene is depicted in Goldsmith's Kicor ofWakifietd, where an unfortunate man of letters is nearly kidnapped by an insidious offer of being appointed " Secretary to an embassy from the Synod of Pennsylvania to the Chicka- saw Indians." Even in this author's poem. The Traveller, where the expulsion of an English peasant and his family from their homo is represented as an ordinary consequence of the. pride and luxury of English landlords, the exiles are supposed to find a tenfold addition to their woes in North America. Nay, this strain seems not yet to have ceased ; and the grief of " heart-sick exiles " in America has been deplored by Sir Walter Scott in the nineteenth centu- ry. Alluding to the wild, melancholy song of Scottish Highlanders, this great bard observes,— " I thought how sad would be that sound On Susquehannah's swampy ground, Kentucky's wood-encumbered hri;ko, And wild Ontario's boundless laKP. Where heart-sick exiles in the strui' Recalled fair Scotland's hills again.' — .tfrnrmioti. Since the time when Waller and Marvell eulogized the tranquil retreat of Bermudas, I am not aware that any other British poets but Thomson, Mrs. Barbauld, Campbell, and Lord Byron, have celebrated the happy scenes and circumstances of American life. There is m. . of pathos than of animation in tne strain in which my revered and amiable kinsman, the late author of The Sabbath, has, in that delightful poem, depicted the feelings of Scottish soUlers in America. Emigrants may entertain, not propeHy a regretful, but a"fbnd, and even melan- oholy, remembrance of their nativ« land, amid circumstances fbr happier than that land could mbrd them. " . 660 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [APP. 1. an enterprise originally projected by the genius, and maimy accomplished by the vigor, of the government of Massachusetts, —was the circumstance that first prepared the people of England to receive more just impressions of the dignity and importance of the American provinces. But no particular of the treatment which the colonists experienced from England, during the early part of their connection with her, was so generally offensive to them as the restrictions she imposed upon their trade and in- dustry. This system not only disgusted them by its injustice, but seems in some instances to have perverted their sentiments and infected their coun- sels with a correspondmg strain of selfish illiberality. In some of the com- mercial ordinances that were framed by the colonists, we may discern i.lie reflection of that narrow and grasping spirit that pervaded the policy of the parent state, — a defensive or vindictive reaction of the illiberal principles to whose operation they were themselves exposed. An act of the assem- bly of Virginia, in 16S0, imposed a duty on all tobacco exported from, and on all emigrants imported into, the colony in vessels not belonging to Virginian owners. By an ordinance of Massachusetts, a tonnage duty was imposed on all ships casting anchor in any port within its jurisdiction, excepting vessels owned by inhabitants of the State. A similar duty was imposed by the assembly of Rhode Island, in the year 1704, on all vessels not wholly owned by inhabitants of this colony. In 1709, the legislature of New York imposed a tonnage duty on every vessel of which one half did not belong to citizens of this State. By a law of Maryland, in 1715, the duties imposed on the importation of negroes, servants, and liquors were declared not to extend to cargoes imported in vessels whose owners were all residents in the colony. The legislature of the same province had eleven years before prohibited the collection of cebts due to English bankrupts, till security were given that the claims of provincial creditors on the bankrupt's estate should first be wholly discharged. V Even the Penn- sylvanians, who in this respect professed a more liberal consideration of the claims of foreign creditors than any of the other provincial communities, enacted a law for securing priority of payment from the estates of bank- rupts to the inhabitants of their own province. Among other apologies for this policy with regard to the recovery of debts (which obtained a general prevalence throughout the colonies), it has been urged, with unquestioned and perhaps unquestionable accuracy, that the planters were commonly treated with great illiberality by the merchants to whom they consigned their produce in England, — who took advantage of their necessities, while the sales of provincial produce were in suspense, to lend them money at exorbitant interest, and on the security of their mortgaged plantations.^ Almost all the American planters and merchants were continually in debt to their English correspondents ; and so partial was the parent state to their in- terests, that in the year 1768 she prohibited the province of Massachu- setts from adopting the bankrupt law of England, lest its operation should be perverted to the injury of English creditors of American debtors. In 1701, the assembly of South Carolina imposed a duty of three farthings a skin on hides exported by the colonists in their own ships, but double this amount if th e exports were loaded in English vessels,' — a distinction 'In the history of Maryland we have already seen the first inatanceor~n law disabling all •ettlers from enjoying provincial offices till by residence for a term of yeara they might be sup- pofed to _have contracted provinciallmbits. views, and notions. * Sec Nolo XXXV., Al tile vud of liio voruino. » In the year 1718, an act of the assembly of Sduth Carolina imposed ■ heavy duty on APP. r.] STATE AND PROSPECTS OF THE COLONIES. ^gj Lo„"do?„nhLr.l,'''"« Y"'""" "•""*' new and standing council a, eLence ThL °^?'- '"'^ '""""'" documents and articles of official in In the year 17 14 ^Z \ S«^ernors were appointed by the people. fervS nform^^^^^^ correspondence with our office, and we are InlJllt Ki- ?• °^ "^^^ '' ''^'"S m these governments ; they not beine under any obligation to return authentic copies of their laws to the crown fo? SreZZ d,sallowance or to give J account of thJr ;rSL;in;^- There was a considerable variety in the civil and political constitutions of the several provinces at the commencement of the^ightLth cenTrv In Maryland and Pennsylvania, the property of the soil and th^ SS' tration of the executive p'ower belonged tS o2^ or morrpropri tables Tl^^^ was also the situation of the Carolines and New Jersey,^ dlf he su^rende t^^A P|;°P^'«^«'-y.J""«dictions ; when the soil belonged to the proprieta- «tv of Ihe ^dlTf " P°T- ''':^' ^'•°""- '" MasLhusetts, Z^prZ erty of the soil was vested m the people and their representatives and YorrSThe'^Tr ^7.----d b/the crown. In VirgirindNew lork, both the soil and the executive authority belonged to the crown In Connecticut and Rhode Island, both the soil and ever? functbn of government were vested in the corporation of the freemenTf th^ coTonv Jht/h'th ""'"°"' promoted frequent disputes respecting bounlarier in which the crown was supposed, and not without reason, to favor the claim" of those States wherein its prerogative was greatest and tl e qu treitL enlaS he Tl-T'-""- ^"*. '^''l '""'''''^^ ^ "•^^^ beneficial inflCSice ulon the colonists, m prompting them to canvass and discuss the merits of VOL. I. tl 562 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [APP. I. animating circulation of political sentiment and opinion. All the provinces were nearly on the same footing in respect of the structure of that im- portant organ of liberty, their representative assemblies. No encouragement was ever afforded by the British government to the cultivation of science or literature in the American provinces, except in the solitary instance of a donation by William and Mary, in aid of the college which took its name from them in Virginia.* The policy of the parent state in this respect was thus delineated by one of the royal govern- ors, in the beginning of the eighteenth century: — "As to the college erected in Virginia, and other designs of the like nature which have been proposed for the encouragement of learning, it is only to be observed in general, that, although great advantages may accrue to the mother state both from the labor and luxury of its plantations, yet they will probably be mistaken, who imagine that the advancement of literature and the improve- ment of arts and sciences in our American colonies can be of any service to the British state." ^ We have already beheld the instructions that were communicated to the royal governors by the British court, both prior and subsequent to the Revolution of 1688, to restrain the exercise of printing within their jurisdictions. Many laws were framed in New England, after that event, for enlarging the literary privileges and honors of Harvard Col- lege ; but they were all abolished by the British government.^ The first printing-press employed in North America was established in Massachusetts, in the year 1638. It was not till half a century later that printing commenced in any other part of British America. In 1686, a printing-press was established in Pennsylvania ; in 1 693, at New York ; in 1709, in Connecticut; in 1726, in Maryland ; in 1729, in Virginia ; and in 1730, in South Carolina. Previous to the year 1740, more printing was performed in Massachusetts than in all the other colonies together. From 1760 till the commencement of the Revolutionary War, the quantities of printing executed in Boston and Philadelphia were nearly the same. The first North American newspaper was published at Boston, by Campbell, a Scotchman, the provincial postmaster, in 1704. The second made its appearance in the same city in 1719 ; and in the same year, the third was published in Philadelphia. In 1725, New York, for the first time, published a newspaper ; in 1732, Rhode Island obtained the same advantage ; and after this period similar journals were gradually introduced into the other colonies.* The press, in America, was nowhere entirely free from legal restraint till about the year 1755. In 1723, James Franklin (brother of Dr. Ben- jamin Franklin) was prohibited by the governor and council of Massachu- setts from publishing The JSTew England Courant^ without previously sub- mitting its contents to -the revision of the secretary of the province ; and in 1754, one Fowle was imprisoned by the House of Assembly of the ' Dartmouth College, in New Hampshire, which was founded in the year 1769, received, indeed, some patronage From the British monarch, Gcorzc the Third. But the object of royal patronace, on this occasion, was not the improvement of the colonists, but the instruction of the Indiana. ' Sir William Keith's History of Virginia. I have termed Keith a royal governor. He was, it is true, the governor of a proprietary settlement, Pennsylvania. But the appointment of all these governors was now controlled l)y the necessity of royal approbation ; and Keith's nomination, in constquence of William Pcnn's mental incapacity at the time, proceeded al- together from th« crown. ■ Holmes. ♦ John l^untOR iti the pros'^ctus f>f the 'oiimal which he be"an to 'jublish at London in 1G96, states that there were then but eisht newspapers published in England. None wera published in Scotland till after the accession of William and Mary. ment to the APP. I.] STATE AND PROSPECTS OF THE COLONIES. 5^3 same province, on suspicion of having printed a pamphlet containlne can- TlTthl'T'"' "" T' "'''"^''' °^ '^^ gaveJnme^nt. After thi Jear /icnhrlir' no officer appointed in Massachusetts to exercise a par- ticular control over the press ; but prior to that period, the impnmatur The fi stT..r '"'"'^'^. T "I'^^y °f '^' New^End'and pubhcat ons es ablfshcd'lv t^'f "T"'^ ^^ ^u""^^ ^"^•^""^y •" ^^''^ America was esiaDiisJied by act of parliament m the year 1710 ' n.otTT'^ ^vhere labor was so dear, and proprietors of land were so nu- me ous, as ,n North America, might, not unreasonably, be supposed pecu- Llv Whl V^'. ^'""'"'^ f,*^ ^"^"f"' «"d -°-"^-«l sy^fem ofTis- bandry While the dearness of labor restrained expensive cultivation, the mems toln^TT "^ f- °"""^^'^ °^ ^'"^ ^"^^^^^ -^ multipli dTn'cite- ments to mdustry and improvement. But the influence of these causes was wUh whIcL thp' 'h', ''""P""' '"^ "^""^^"^^ °f '-^1' -d the vast or s enoM.h ro ^ff AU-' '°""i^ ■'''' ^^'^''S'-own. Every man possessed land enough to aftord him a sufficient subsistence by the simplest and coarsest agricultural process ; and a great deal of industry was absorbed in the op e auon of disencumbering the ground of wood. Rotation of crops and the art of manuring obtained little regard from farmers whom the woodman's axe supplied with continual accessions of fresh and fertile soil to replace he portions that had been fatigued by culture. Although every one of the settlements already possessed numerous substantial edifices of brick and stone, yet, from the dearness of labor and the abundance of wood, the grea er number of du'ell.ng-houses were everywhere constructed of this ma^ terial,— a practice which was prolonged till a very late period by the erro- neous notion that wooden houses contributed a better defence than stone buildings against the humidity of the atmosphere.^ In every state of society we may discern the operation of a levellinc principle which restricts or counteracts the beneficial influence of favorable circumstances, and mitigates or countervails the pressure of circumstances unfavorable to human happiness and prosperity. Density of population and the convergence of wealth and authority in a few hands promote the divis- ion, the neatness, and the mechanical perfection of labor. Where wealth and population, on the contrary, are dispersed, and equality of rights pre- vads, the dearness of labor and the scarcity and independence of laborers obstruct the division ol employments; every man is constrained to dis- pense as far as possible \yith hired service, and, doing almost every thing lor himself, to do much in a coarse find inferior style. The mechan- ical workmanship is less perfect ; but a superior development of intelli- gence characterizes the workman. In old and crowded societies, where aristocratical institutions prevail, hired labor produces the most ele-ant commodities, the finest and amplest provision of conveniences to the em- ployers of the laboring classes ; in thinly peopled and improving com- munities, devoid of aristocratical institutions, it produces most advanlag.. o the laborers themselves ; and of course in the latter, the general des- ' tmation of mankind to labor is a circumstance more propitious to human happiness than m the former. But in crowded and aristocratical slates, the elegance which the wealthy and privileged classes are enabled to enjoy liwnjh^rojwnjeisiire and the cheapness and perfection of hired labor, de- • lanlali Tl^».n_.'_ £».•-. /• .» ■ .. ; T — : ^'oiiections 11/ t/te MassU' ehusfUn Historical Siir.ielif. J SZ" '\nm^^?tT'*- Tr^%^ i^ '■'""^' t'"^ «"«' «'■'"« countrymen, in his JVo/« im HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [APP.I, scends by imitation to the laborers themselves, and tends to refine iho accommodations of their comparatively meagre estate ; while in communi- ties tiiinly peopled and unacquainted with aristocratical distinctions, the rich have less leisure for the cultivation of refinement, and the poor are straneers to that dependence which begets imitation. Where labor is cheap, and la- borers consequently much dependent on their employers, only neatness and economy can enable them to enjoy comfort ; social progression is slow ; the laborer is more likely to succeed in embellishing his actual condition than in rising beyond it ; and refinement of habits and manners, aided by the strong influence of imitation, is generally proportioned to advancement of condition. Where labor is dear, and dependence and aristocratical distinc- tions are unknown, a great deal of coarse comfort may consist with neglect of neatness and economy ; the very richness of the rewards of labor sup- plies a strong temptation to indolence and sensuality, which frequently over- powers the attractive hope of advancement ; and from the absence at once of models consecrated by public homage, and of a disciplined spirit of imi- tation, enlargement of estate is often greatly disproportioned to the polish and improvement of manners, tastes, and accommodations. Inelegant ease and slovenly plenty are said to have characterized the manners and circum- stances of a considerable portion of the colonists of North America, and especially of the Middle and Southern States. This reproach has doubt-, less been exaggerated ; and even those who must be esteemed its unexcep- tionable supporters nave acknowledged the restriction which it derived from the influence of Puritan, Quaker, and latterly of Methodist and Moravian manners. The cultivation of the spirit and principles of Christianity is the most certain and the purest process tliat can be employed for the refinement of human tastes, manners, and habits. It is religion alone, which, teaching mankind duly to appreciate the dignity and felicity of their lot, preserves them from that worst of all evils, the abuse of blessings, causes the senti- ment of liberty to impart elevation without arrogance, and the possession of firealth to refine without relaxing the springs of exertion. America has owed to Europe not only a race of civilised men, but a breed of domestic animals. Oxen, horses, and sheep were introduced by the English, French, Dutch, and Swedes into their respective settlements. Bees were imported by the English. The Indians, who had never seen these insects before, gave them the name of English flies ; and used to say to each other, when a swarm of bees appeared in the woods, " Brothers, it is time for us to decamp, for the white people are coming."' Every one of the provinces beheld the Indian tribes, by which it was surrbunded, melt away more or less rapidly under the influence of a civil- ized neighbourhood.^ In none of the provinces (with the exception, per- haps, of South Carolina) were w ars undertaken against that unfortunate race » Knim. Morso, Art. KeiUmky. Oldmixon a.<)8crt8 (2d edit.) that America had neither rats nor mice till the nrrival of the European vessels. In the year 1701, a few camels were im- ported into Virginia in certain vcs,«cls from Guinea; but the attempt tp rear a breed of these animals in the colony proved iinsucccssfUI. OlJmixon. Wynne. • " So the red Indian, by Ontario's side, Nursed hardy on the brindled panther's hide, As fades his swarthy race, with anguish sees The white man's cottaj^n rise beneath the troet. He leaves the shelter of his native wood, He leaves the murmur of Ohio's flood, isrH AnA Cp hsdignjsn? sn? Where never fi^ot has trod the fallen leaf. Ho bends his course where twilight reigns subUm* Oer (brest? sjl?nt sincfl tbe bjrth of tiro*,"— Leydt* APP. I.] STATE AND PROSPECTS OF THE COLONIES. 665 for the sake of conquest ; yet none of the colonies whose history we have h her o traced, except New Jersey and Pennsylvania, were abi^ to avo^d a ogether a contest, of which the issue was always unfavorable to the ji n Jh w-.K P"" ""'• '^' °"^y I""°'''"*=« °f which the soil had been occu- p^d without a previous purchase from the Indians ; and in South Caroli- na alone had the treatment which these savages experienced from an Fng- inS CS S? ^'•""J^nt been justly chargeable wifh defect of forbearancl nnlv H r^' -^ hostile aggressions of the Indians were provoked not on y by the.r own jealousy of the rapid progress of the colonial settlements, CO nn^^tl"''"?' ,^'rh they sustainecT from particular individuals among the colonists, and winch their political maxims and habits taught them to avenge nL J n ly ^''"'^^^lf T^t '^^'^'"""ity to which those individuals were re! puted to belong. The back settlements of all the provinces, on account of the r remoteness from the seats of justice, were nalurally resorted to by the most worthless and disorderly classes of the emigrant population, -by fugitive felons and idle vagabonds, whose behaviour to their savage neigh^ in."tn on "?^"'7y« ^°'"«'de with the precepts of natural equity.^ ScoL ing to complain of such wrongs, and unaccustomed to a limited or discrim- inative revenge, the Indians were too frequently incited by those private quarrels to general hostilities, which invariably terminated in thdr own d s! comfiture and destruction. But the friendship of the colonists commonly proved no less fatal than their hostihties to the Indians. The taste fd^ spirituous liquors, which they communicated, was indulged by the savages with an avidity that amounted to frenzy ; and the European diseases whS they imported both from pecuharities in the physical' constitution of he Indians and from the unskilful treatment occasioned by their inexperience ot such maladies, were productive of a havoc among the tribes that far SuTt f '^" PJ^'r "^'^T^" ^°^^"''^ A vitiated and debilitated habit of body spread through the people of every tribe in proportion to the closeness and duration of their intercourse with Europeans. The ne- cuhar mortahty which the small-pox occasioned among the Indians has been ascribed by some writers to their practice of anointing themselves with bear s grease, ,n order to repel the attacks of noxious insects in summer, and to exclude the extreme cold of winter, - which is supposed to have repressed the cutaneous eruption requisite to a favorable issue of the dis- emper. (^uided, in this instance, by their own sensations, the Indians an- tjcipated he Europeans in the use of the cold regimen in small-pox; and the mortality that the disorder produced among them was at first erroneously ascribed to this practice.' Even the acquired relish for superior comforts and finer luxuries, which might have been expected to lead the Indians to more civihzed modes of life, was productive of an opposite effect, and tended to confirm them in savage pursuits ; as those luxuries were now gen- erally tendered to them in exchange for the peltry which they procured bv hunting. Almost all the Indian tribes were engaged in wars with each otHer ; and all were eager to obtain the new instruments of destruction which the superior science of the Europeans had created. Wielding this improved machinery of death with the same rage and fury that characterized their pie- vious warfare ^ylth ess efTicaclous weapons, their mutual hostilities were rendered additionally destructive by the communication of an invention, whi ch, among civil ized rations, has shortened the duration and Himini^hpd ' Kalm. ?7 566 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [APP. 1. «lie carnage of war. But as tlie intercourse of mankind with each other must always ho mutually beneficial or mutually injurious, the Europeans themselves incurred the most serious disadvantage from their association with the In- dians. Besides the misery and desolation produced by the sanguinary hos- tilities of the savage tribes, the fraud, the vice, injustice, and hazard incident to the Indian trade depraved the manners and debased the disposition and character of almost all the colonists who engaged in it. Europe received the vilest of human diseases from America, and in return communicated the small-pox. How a civilized people may commingle with, or even in- habit tlie vicinity of, savage tribes, without mutual corruption and the de- clension and final extinction .f the weaker race, is a problem which has hitherto eluded human solution. At the close of the seventeenth century, the Indian tribes of New England could still muster ten thousand fighting men ; ^ those of New York, one thousand ; and those of Virginia, five hundred. There were six thousand Indians altogether in Pemisylvania ; four thousand in North Carolina ; prob- ably as many in South Carolina ; three thousand in Maryland ; and only two hundred in New Jersey. ** The danger which the European colonists must have incurred, during the infancy of thoir settlements, from a coalition between their negro slaves and the Indians, was obviated by the violent dislike and antipathy which long prevailed between these two degenerate races. The gentle and ef- feminate Indians of South America were regarded from the first with scorn and disdain by the negro slaves of the Spaniards ; and the freer and hardier Indians of North America demonstrated the fiercest aversion and contempt fot^ th e negroes imported into the settleme nts of the English. ^ ' Wlion Connecticut wus first settled, there were computed to be twenty thousand Indians witliin Its boundttnos alone. Trumbull. In Gookin's Historical Collecliona of the Indians in -Wio £rt^/«7irf some illustration is aftbrded of the rapid decline which these tribes sustained during the short interval between the settlement of the New England Slates and the year 1G74. The Pequods were reduced from four thousand to three hundred warriors ; the Nor- raganscta, from 'hree thousand to one thousand ; the Pawtuckets, from three thousand to two hundred and fifty ; the Massachusetts (who have given their name to the principal State in New England), from three thousand to three hundred ; and the Pawkunnakuts, n tribe which had formerly numbered three thousand warriors, was almost entirely extinct. Collec- tions of the Massachusetts Uislorical Society. * Oldmixon. Warden. The most accurate, I believe, and certainly the most interesting, picture of Indian manners that exists in the English language is contoined in that adniirabfe production of learning and genius, Southey's Hislunj of Brazil. Much curious information respecting the '■•-* — — ' ' '' ■' » >• ■ • Albert Gallotir . ;, , - ., - .„, . Transactions of the Ameriam Antiquarian Society. ^ Soon after the middle of the eighteenth century, interniarri.d^cs began to take plam between the negroes and the declining remnant of the Indian communities in Massachuse' i and " the mixed race increased in numbers, and improved in temperance and indust Collections of tlie Massachusetts Historical Society. About thirty years after, the historian of the Moravian missions relates that " the negroes and Indi.ins intermarry without any scruple." Loskiel. " As for the usurnation of territory from the natives by the American States," snys one of the most distinguished organs of literary, moral, and political criticism in England, "be must be a feeble moralis. who regards that as an evil ; the same principle upon which that usurpation is condenine.' would lead to the nonsensical opinions of the Brahmins, thai agriculture is an unrighteous f.^np' ^viT|p,nt, because worms must sometimes be cut by the ploughshare and the spade. li '" '.o^ .^rder of nature that beasts should give place to man, and among men the savage to the - r ii.;.. .'; nn > nowhere has this order been carried into effect with so little violence as in 'Sntih / ■ lenua. Sir Thomas More admits it to bo a ju.stifiablo cause of war, even in Utopia, if i pople, who have territory to spare, will not cede it to those who ore in want of room." quarterly Review. See Wisdom of Solomon , xli., 3, 7. respecting the history and language of the Indians lias recently been given to the world in in's Syniijms of the Indian Tribes," &c., published in the second volume of thi' NOTES TO THE FIRST VOLUME. NOTE I. Page 36. Thi important instruction, both moral and political, which may bo derived from a considernt.on of the origin of the slave-trade, is forcibly depicted by tliat distin- gumhed phdanthropist (Ti^omas Clarkson) whose virtue pfomotedfanS who^ gonus has recorded, the abolition of this detestable traffic. It is a remarkable fact, that he pious and benevolent Las Cnsas, actuated by an earnest desire to emancipate the feeble natives of South America from the bondage of the Spanish colonists, was the first person who proposed to the government of Spain the im- portation of negroes from Africa to America. His proposition was rejected by Cardinal Ximenes, who considered it unlawful to consign innocent people to slavery at all, and was, moreover, struck with the moral inconsistency of deliver- Jng the inhabitants of one country from a state of misery, by transferring it to the inimbitants of another. "After the death of Cardinal Ximenes, the Emperor Charles he Fifth encouraged the slave-trade. In 1517, he granted a patent to 1 o' .h's r'emish favorites, containing an exclusive right of importing four housand Africans into America. But he lived long enough to repent of what he had thus inconsiderately done. For in the year 1542, he maoe a code of laws for the better protection of the unfortunate Indians in his foreign dominions ; and he stopped the progress of African slavery by an order that all slaves in his American islands should be made free." This order was subsequently defeated by his own retirement into a monastery ; but " it shows he had been ignorant of What he was doing, when he gave his sanction to this cruel trade. It shows, when legislators give one set of men an undue power over another, how quickly they abuse It ; or he never would have found himself obliged, in the short space of twenty-five years, to undo that which he had countenanced as a great state measu e And while it confirms the former lesson to statesmen, of watching the beginnings or principles of things, in their political movements, it should teach them never to persist in the support of evils, through the false shame of being obhged to confess that they had once given them' their sanction ; nor to delay the cure of them, because, politically speaking, neither this nor that is the proper season ; but to do them away instantly, as there can be only one fit or proper time in the eye of religion, namely, on the conviction of their existence." — Clarkson s History of the Abolition of the Slave-trade. Louis the Thirteenth of France was at first staggered by the same scruples ol conscience that prevailed with the Emperor Charles, and could not be per- suaded to authorize the slave-trade till he was induced to believe that he would promote the religious conversion of the negroes by suffering them to be trans- ported to the colonies. — Ibid. o j o 568 NOTES. NOTE II. Page 59. Captain Smith was so obnoxious to the leading patentees, that, even if he had remained in the colony, it is highly improbable that they would ever again have intrusted him with official authority. They neither rewarded nor relmployed him after his return to England. They were bent on deriving immediate sup- plies of gold or rich merchandise fiom Virginia; and ascribed their disappoint- ment in a great measure to his having restricted his views to the establishment of a solid and respectable frame of provincial society. This is apparent from many passages of his writings, and particularly from his letter to the patentees while he held the presidency. An honester but absurder reason, that prompted sonie ol them to oppose his pretensions to office, was, that certain fortune-tellers had predicted that he would be unlucky; a prediction that sometimes contributes to Its own fulfilment. In various parts of his history, Smith applies himself to refute their unreason- able charges, and account for the disappointment of their expectations. For this purpose he has drawn a parallel between the circumstances of the Spanish and the ±.nglish colonists of America. " It was the Spaniards' good hap," he ob- serves, " to happen in those parts where were infinite numbers of people, who had manured the ground with that providence it afforded victuals at all times And time had brought them to that perfection, that they had the use of gold and silver, and the most of such commodities as those countries afforded : so that what the Spaniards got was chiefly the spoil and pillage of those country people and not the labors of their own hands. But had these fruitful countries been as &ivage, as barbarous, as ill peopled, as little planted, labored, and manured, as Virginia, their proper labors, it is likely, would have produced as small profit as ours. And had Virgmia been peopled, planted, manured, and adorned with such store of precious jewels and rich commodities as were the Indies ; then had we not gotten and done as much as, by their examples, might be expected from us, the world might then have traduced us and our merits, and have made shame and infamy our recompense and reward." Were we to confine our attention to the superficial import of this isolated pas- sage. It would be difhcult not to suppose that this excellent pei-son was deterred less by want of inclination than by lack of opportunity from imitating the robberies and cruelties of the Spanish adventurers. But the general strain of his book, as well as the more credible evidence supplied by the whole scope and tenor of his hie, would fully refute the unjust supposition. That he was unacquainted with the enormities committed by the Spaniards in Mexico and Peru may be collected ironi the praises he bestows on their exploits, and from his appealing to the glorv of these exploits as an incentive that should stimulate the ardor of the English io the exercise of laborious virtue, and the prosecution of humble but honest emolu- ment 'n North America. Thus nobly we find him expressing ihe sentiments of a mind which the condition of humanity did not exempt from being deceived, but which piety preserved from gross depravation or perversion : — " Who can desire more content, that hath small means, or but only his merit, to advance his fortunes, han to tread and plant that ground he hath purchased by the hazard of his life ? it he have but the tas.e of virtue and magnanimity, what to such a mind can be more pleasant than planting and building a foundation for his posterity, ^ot from he rude earth by God's blessing and his own industry, without prejudice^to any > If he have any grain of faith or zeal in religion, what can he do less hurtful to any, or more agreeable to God, than to seek to convert those poor savages to know Christ and humanity, whose labors with discretion will triple thy charge and pains ? What so truly suits with honor and honesty as the discovering things unknown, erecting towns, peopling c-mtries, informing the iffnorant. refnrminrr tl,ina« un- jual, teaciiing virtue; and gaining to our mother country a kingdom to attend her; NOTES. 569 ven if he had 3r again have r reemployed nmediate sup- ir disappoint- establishment pparent from the patentees hut prompted fortune-tellers es contributes leir unreason- ms. For this ! Spanish and hap," he ob- people, who at all times, of gold and •ded: so that untry people, ountries been nd manured, s small profit adorned with !s ; then, had cpected from made shame isolated pas- was deterred the robberies ' his book, as tf nor of his uainted with be collected to the glory e English in uncst emolu- Uiments of a leceived, but 10 can desire his fortunes, I of his life ? mind can be ty, got from lice to any ? ss hurtful to ges to know i and pains ? fs unknown, £T ihin"H un-! attend her ; finding employment for those that are idle because they know not what to do: so far Jrom wrongmg any, as to cause posterity to remember thee, and, remember- ing thee, ever to honor that remembrance with praise .? " It is probably such ex- pressions as these that have led certain writers to charge Smith with enthusiasm,— a term by which some persons denote every elevation of view and tone that re- hgion imparts, — and by which many others designate every quality and senti- ment above the pitch of their own nature. Smith proceeds as follows : — " Then who would live at home idly, or think m himself any worth to live, only to eat, drink, and sleep, and so die ; or con- suming that carelessly his friends got worthily, or using that miserably that main- tained virtue honestly ; or, being descended nobly, pine, with :b.e vain vaunt of great kindred, in penury; or, to maintain a silly show of bravery, toil on; il.y heart, soul, and time basely, by shifts, tricks, cards, and dice ; or, by'relating news ot other men s actions, shark here and there for a dimier or supper," &c., though thou seest what honors and rewards the world yet hath for them that will seek them and worthily deserve them .? " He adds, shortly after, " It would be a history of a large volume, to recite the adventures of the Spaniards and Portugals, their affronts and defeats, their dangers and miseries, which, with such incompar- able honor and constant resolutici, so far beyond belief, they have attempted and endured, in their discoveries and plantations, as may well condemn us of too much imbecility, sloth, and negligence. Yet the authors of these new inventions were held as ridiculous for a long time, as now are others that but seek to imitate their unparalleled virtues." I should contend neither wisely nor honestly for the fame of Captain Smith, were I to represent him as a faultless character, perfectly divested of the imper- fections of humanity. The sufferings of others were able to provoke him to an intemperance, at least of language, which none of his own trials and provocations ever elicited, and with which none of his actions ever corresponded. Indi^^nant at the cruel massacre of the Virginian colonists in 1622, long af\er he had lef\ them, he pronounced in haste and anger that the colony could not be preserved without subduing or expelling the Indians, and punishing their perfidious cruelty, as the Spaniards had punished "the treacherous and rebellious infidels" in South America. These expressions afford a farther proof of the very imperfect ac- quaintance he had with the real circumstances that attended the subjugation of South America by the Spaniards, " Notwithstanding such a stern and invincible resolution as Captain Smith displayed," says an intelligent historian of Virginia, " there was seldom seen a milder and more tender heart than his was." Stith. Smith expatiates at great length, and with much spirit and ability, on the ad- vantages of colonial establishments in America ; and propounds a variety of in- ducements to embark in them, appropriate to the various classes of society in England. Colonies he characterizes as schools for perpetuating the hardy virtues on which the safety of every state depends. He ascribes the fall of Rome and the subjugation of Constantinople to the indolence and covetousness of the rich, who not only passed their own lives in slothful indulgence, but retained the poor in factious idleness, by neglecting to engage them in safe and useful employment ; and strongly urges the wealthy capitalists of England to provide for their own se- curity, by facilitating every foreign vent to the energies of active and indigent men. He enlarges on the pleasures incident to a planter's life, and illustrates his description by the testimony of his own experience. " I have not been so ill- bred," he declares, " but I have tasted of plenty and pleasure, as well as want and misery. And lest any should think the toif might be insupportable, I assure myself there are who delight extremely in vain pleasure, that take much more pains in England to enjoy it than I should do there to gain wealth sufficient ; and yet 1 tiiink they should not iiavc half such sweet content." To gentlemen he pm- poses, among other inducements, the pleasures of fishing, fowling, and hunting, to VOL. I. 72 vv 570 NOTES. an unbounded extent ; and to laborers, the blessings of a vacant soil, of unequalled cheapness and unsurpassed fertility. He promises no mines to tempt sordid ava- rice, nor conquests to allure profligate ambition ; but the advantages of a temper- ate clime and of a secure and exhaustless subsistence, — the wealth that agriculture may extract from the land, and fisheries from the sea. " Therefore," he con- cludes, " honorable and worthy countrymen, let not the meanness of the word fish distaste you ; for it will afford as good' gold as the mines of Guiana or Potosi, with less hazard and charge, and more certainty and facility." I have given but a mere outline of Smith's exposition of this subject. The de- tails with which he has filled it up are highly interesting and well deserving of perusal. I think there can be no doubt that he has treated the subject of coloni- zation with more both of the practical skill of a politician and the profound sagaci- ty of a philosopher, than Lord Bacon has siiuwn in either or l)oth of his produc- tions, the Essay on Plantations, and tlie Considerations touching the Plantation in Ireland. The name of Smith has not yet gathered all its fame. The lustre it once pos- sessed is somewhat obscured by time, and by the circumstances that left America so long to depend on England for the sentiments and opinions that literature pre- serves or produces, and consequently led her to rate her eminent men rather by the importance of their achievements in the scale of British than of American history. But Smith's renown will break forth again, and once more be commen- surate with his desert. It will grow with the growth of men and letters in Amer- ica ; and whole nations of its admirers have yet to be born. As the stream be- comes more illustrious, the springs will be reckoned more interesting. Smith Wc.„ born in the year 1579, and died on the 21st of June 1631. NOTE III. Page 62. Robertson's credit as a historian is not a little impeached by the strange in- accuracy of his account of Sir Thomas Dale's administration. He not only im- putes to the Company the composition and introduction of the arbitrary code trans- mitted by Sir Thomas Smith, but unfolds at length the (imaginary) reasons that prevailed with them to adopt a measure so harsh and sanguinary ; though of this measure itself they are expressly acquitted by Stith, the only authority on the sub- ject that exists, and the very authority to whom Robertson himself refers. Among the other reasons which he assigns is the advice of Lord Bacon, which he unhesi- tatingly charges this eminent person with having communicated, and the Compa- ny with having approved. In support of an accusation so distinct and so remark- able, he refers merely to a passage in Lord Bacon's Essay on Plantations. It would be well for the fame of Bacon, if all the charges witli which his character is loaded were supported only by such evidence. For supposing (which is doubtful) tliat this essay was published before the collection of Sir Thomas Smith's system of martial law, and supposing it to have been read by the compiler of that system, it is surely more than doubtful if the passage alluded to would yet support Dr. Robertson's imputation. It merely recommends that a provincial government should " have commission to exercise martial laws, with some limitation" ; a pow- er inseparable from such, and indeed from every system of government. The twenty-fourth section of King James's second charter to the Company liad already invested the provincial governors with " full power and authority to use and ex- ercise martial law, in cases of mutiny or rebellion " ; and the preceding section of the same charter authorizes them, " in case of necessity," to rule, correct, and punish, according to their own " good discretions." No' blame can attach to the faai'tj aulliorizulion of an extraordinary power, reserved' in every society, for ex. NOTES. ^«j traordinary occasions What alone seems deserving of blame is Sir Thomas Smith 8 violent and illegal substitution of the most sanguinary code of martial law that was ever framed, in the room of the original constitution, and for the or- dinary govemnrient of the colony; and Dr. Robertson's very hasty and unfounded imputation of this measure to the act of the council and the advice of Lord Bacon. It had been well, if the council had paid more attention to the maxim of this great man, that Those who plant colonies must be endued with great patience." NOTE IV. Page 118. An illustration of this remark may perhaps be derived from the apologetic the- cry philosophical slave-owntrs have introduced into the world, — that the negroes are a separate and inferior race of men ; a notion by which the degradation that human beings mflict on their fellows, in reducing them to the level of the brute creation, IS charged upon God, whose word assures us that he created man after his own image, and that he fashioned all souls alike. Interest and pride harden the heart; a deceived heart perverts the understanding, and men are easily per. suaded to consider those as brutes whom they deem it convenient to treat as such. Ihe best refutation of this theory that I have ever seen is the production of an American writer. It occurs in Dr. S. Smith's interesting Essay on the Causes of the Variety of Figure and Complexion in the Human Species. See, also, on the same subject, Clarkson's Researches, Antediluvian, Patriarchal, &c. in his Notes on Virginia, Mr. Jefferson has contended for the natural inferiority of negroes to white men. But I was assured by the Abbd Gregoire (formerly Hishop of BIois), that Jefferson, in a private letter to him, confessed that he ha*d seen cause to alter this opinion. Anthony Benezet, the Quaker, himself a very ingenious and accomplished man, who had conversed extensively with negroes in America, and undertaken the education of a great number of them, pronounced, as the result of his experience, that this race is perfectly equal to the whites in all the endowments of nature ; the prevalence of an opposite opinion he ascribed partly to the debasing effect of slavery on the minds of the negroes, and partly to the mfluence of ignorance, pride, and cruelty on those white men, who, pluming themselves on a wide separation from the negroes, are incompetent to form a sound judgment on the capacities of this race. Vaux's Life of Benezet. Man (alas!) seems to be the only creature capable of provoking from his fellow-man such cruelty as the blacks have experienced from the whites. Most of the advocates or apologists of slaveiy maintain that enslaved negroes are generally contented with their lot, — a statement, which, if correct, might well be cited in proof of the corrupting effect of slavery on ordinary minds. Who re- gards otherwise than with pity and contempt the depraved longings of the emanci- pated Israelites for a return to the ignominy of Egyptian bondage ? The con- tentment of a slave in his degraded estate proves that the iron has entered into las soul. "If thou mayest be free," says an inspired Apostle, "use it rather." A distinguished American writer, whom I respect so highly as to be unwilling to name him, on the present occasion, has so far misused i.:" ndmirable inge^.-ty as to maintain that slavery may prove a blessing to the country in which it exists, and elevate human character by affording opportunity to the masters of generous self-control, and to the slaves of grateful recognition of the indulgent forbearance of their masters. To be consistent (an impossibility to a North American advo- cate of slavery), tins accomplished writer should demand an alteration of thf Lord s prayer, and, instead of the petition, " Lead us not into temptation, but de- liver us from evil," propose as our orison, " Let us fall into temptulion, that wc may deliver oureolves from evil." 572 NOTES. Many Americans, while they cling to the vile institution of negro slavery (as- serting, with horrible sophistrj-, the sacredness of a man's pretension to an artificial right of property in the violent privation of another man's natural right of property in his own liberty;, are eager to impute its existence, or at least its extent, among them, to the policy and conduct of the British government, in encouragirg the slave-trade, and disregarding the remonstrances against it that were addressed to them by certain of the American provinces. But they urge this apologetic plea a great deal too far. Britain could not force her colonial offspring to become slave-holders, though she might (and did) facilitate their acquisition of slaves " Every man," says the word of God, " is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed." By far the greater part of the remonstrances unsuc- cessfully addressed to the British government were the suggestions of men who themselves possessed abundance of slaves, and who were desirous of preventing others from rivalling them in wealth, and from endangering the stability of slavery, by additional importations of negroes unaccustomed to the yoke. I have heard many slave-owners vehemently profess a sincere desire to discover some practicable plan of abolishing slavery ; but almost invariably found that they required the impracticability of repairing long and enormous injustice with- out any atoning sacrifice or reparatory expense. NOTE V. Page 148. , Chalmers and Robertson have ascribed the slow increase of the colonists of New Plymouth to " the unsocial character of their religious confederacy." As the charge of entertaining antisocial principles was preferred against the first Christians by men who plumed themselves on exercising hospitality to the gods of all nations, it is necessary to ascertain the precise meaning of this imputation against the American colonists, if we would know whether it be praise or blame that it involves. Whether, in a truly blameworthy acceptation, the charge of unsocial principles most properly belongs to these people or to their adversaries may be collected from the statements they have respectively made of the terms on which they were willing to hold a companionable intercourse with their fellow- men. Winslow, who was for some time governor of New Plymouth, in his ac- count of the colony, declares that the faith of the people was in all respects the same with that of the reformed churches of Europe, from which they differed only in their opinion of church government, wherein they pursued a more thorough reformation. They disclaimed, however, any uncharitable separation from those with whom they differed on this point, and freely admitted the mem- bers of every reformed church to communion with them. " We ever placed," he continues, " a large difference between those that grounded their practice on the word of God, though differing from us in the exposition and understanding of it, and those that hated such reformers and reformation, and went on in anti^ christian opposition to it and persecution of it. It is true, we profess and desire to practise a separation from the world and the works of the world ; and as the churches of Christ are all saints by calling, so we desire to see the grace of God shining forth (at least seemingly, leaving secret things to God) in all whom we admit into church-fellowship with us, and to keep off such as openly wallow in the mire of their sins, that neither the holy things of God nor the communion of saints may be leavened or polluted thereby." He adds, that none of the settlers who were admitted into the church of New Plymouth were encouraged, or even permitted, to insert in the declaration of their faith a renunciation of the church of England, or of any other reformed establishment. Mather. It does not ap- pear to me that these sentimetiis warrant the charge of unstjcial principles in any NOTES, 673 sense which a Chr.st.an will feci himself at all concerned to disclaim. Whether ♦.he advcrsanes of these men were distinguished for principles more honorably ZlwTr^""'".'"*'-^ charitable may be gathered 'from a passage in HoS Famthar Letters where this defender of royalty and episcopacy thus expresses the senuments of h.s party respecting religio^us dVerenc'es be'twe'en manki';^! • I ra her p.ty than hate a Turk or infidel ; for they are of the same metal and bear the same stamp as I do, though the inscriptions differ. If I hate any, it is those sch.smat.cs that puzzle the sweet peace of our chumh ; so that I could be content to see an Anabaptist go to hell on a Brownist's back." The ecclesiastical policy of the monarchs and prelates of England tendered a premium to the production of such sentiments. Howel's fervor for the church party did not survive the power of this party to reward him. After the fall of the English church and monarchy, he became the defender and panegyrist of the adminis. Ifrtnl^T^l'' though like Waller and Dryden, he returned in the train of fortune, when she returned to his original friends. NOTE VI. Page 171. The introduction of this feature into the portrait of Sir Henry Vane rests entirely on the authority of Burnet and Kennet (followed by Hum%,who sjS ^Z.T7' Jt?^'^^' ^^° ^"r ^^"^ personally, bestows the highest pK on his imperturbable serenity and presence of mind ; and, with the sympathy of a kindred spirit, describes the resolute magnanimity with which at his trial he sealed h.s own fate by scorning to plead, like Lambert, for his life, and gallantly pleading for the dy.ng liberties of his country. At his execution, when lome of his friends expressed resentment of the injuries that were heaped upon him,— 1 u Ik '? ^^\ ""^'^^ ^J^"" f^^ ''^^P *° "^^^ ^ Poof creature like his Saviour ♦ I bless the Lord I am so far from being affrighted at death, that I find it rather shrink from mo than I from it. Ten thousand deaths for me, before I will defile the cha.st.ty and purity of my conscience ; nor would I for ten thousand worlds part with the peace and satisfaction I have now in my heart." Perhaps the deev piety and constant negation of all merit in himself, by which the heroism of Vane was softened and ennobled, may have suggested to minds unacquainted with these principles the imputation of constitutional timidity. At all events, thi» cloud, whether naturally attendant on his character or artificially raised by the envious breath of his detractors, has, from the admirable vigor of hia mind and the unquestioned courage of his demeanour, served rather to embellish than to obscure the lustre of his fame. Hugh Peters, like Sir Henry Vane, has been charged with defect of courage; Bishop Burnet, in particular, reproaches him with cowardice at his execution. ' 'u"f j-^'- '^'^.^f«th ^«« dignified by a courage such as Burnet never knew* and which distinguished h.m even among the regicides. After his fcllow-suffeno-i Cook, had been quartered before his face, the executioner approached him, and, rubb.ng his bloody hands, said, " Come, Mr. Peters, how do you like this work > " I eters answered, "I thank God I am not terrified at it ; vou may do your woret." {shortly before he died, addressing a friend who attended him, he said, "Return straightway to New England, and trust God there." Prefixed to a posthumous work of Peters, entitled A dying JPather's last Legacy to his DmsMcr, is a poetical tribute to the author, thus concluding : —» ' "Yet his last breathings shall, like inceine hurted On sanred altars, so perfume the world, Th«t the next will admire, and. out of doiibt,^^ Kevere that torchlight which this ago put out,'*' 574 NOTES. NOTE VII. Page 199. The accounts of the first conversations which the missionaries held with various tribes of these heathens abound with curious questions and observations that proceeded from the Indians in relation to the tidings that were brought to their ears. One man asked, Whether Englishmen were ever s^'^ «^ Lo»do" -^ Re^esentation i«^ T«n„ yl f ''^''«'"«"'' ^'herein, pretending to report some Remarkable Judg. mrnts upon thetr Persecutors, they inserted the following passage : -- » John Norti ch.ef pnest at Boston, by the immediate power of the Lord, tas smi ten ; and^s th'e handTf thf jZ" '^ *'^ 'T'^' '^'"^ ""^^^ J"^^ J^^g^-^' he'cinfess^' the hand of the Lord was upon h.m, and so he died." Mather. The Romish ^Dle ; wir/T '^\^'t' «f Luther, Calvin, Bucer, and Beza, are hardly mo^ TrS Zif P ^' T"^*^' ''^i P'-«^«"'"Ption, than some of these Quaker inter- ELont ^r'^^'"^''- The-r auth rs, Hke many other pe«on" involved in SZTSTf V'""u''P^^'' '^ persecution for religion's sake, mistook an ar- ;?"^?f?'/",^^",'f ^'^ "'hi! they esteemed divine truth for a complete subjection 01 mmd to the divme will, and an entire identification of their views and pur- poses with It; practically regardless of their own remaining infirmity, and for- geUing,that,whilewecontmuetobe clothed with humanity, we know only in part and can see but darkly Enlargement of view is always attended with increase' Of Charity ; and the culUvation of our charity at once refines and enlarges our NOTE XI. Page 226. WiNTHROP the younger was in the bloom of manhood, accomplished 4)y Jeam- ing and travel, and the heir of a large estate, when he readily joined with his father in promoting and accompanying an expedition of emigrants to New England Ihey were indeed, as Dryden said of Ormond and Ossory, "a father and a son only worthy of each other." Cotton Mather has preserved a letter written by Winthrop the elder to his son, while the one was governor of Massachusetts, and he other of Connecticut. I shall be excused for transcribing some part of an epis- tie so beautiful in itself and so strikingly characteristic of the fathers of I^ew t^ngland. "You are the chief of two families. I had by your mother three fions and three daughters ; and I had with her a large portion of outward estate. Ihese are now all gone ; mother gone ; brethren and sisters gone : you only are m to see the vanity of these temporal things, and learn wisdom thereby which Eh • \?r^ use to you, through the Lord's blessing, than all that inheritance rilw .T'f n r"" \f ''"^^ .y°" •■ ^"'^ ^""^ ^^'<=^' t^'^ "^^y st«y and quiet your heart, that God is able to give you more than this; and that it being spent in the furtherance of his work, which has here prospered so well through his power Mherto, you and yours may certainly expect a liberal portion in the prosperity and blessing thereof hereafter; and the rather, because it was not forced from you by a father s power, but freely resigned by yourself, out of a loving and filial respec^ unto me, and your own readiness unto the work itself. From whence, as o fi..cn tnriic occasion to bless the Lord for you, so do I also commend you and yours to his fatherly blessing, for a plentiful reward to be rendered unto you. •580 NOTES. And doubt not, my dear son, but let your faith be built upon hiH promise and fuithfulnoss, that, an he hath carried you hitherto llirough nriuny perils, and pro- vided hborally for you, so ho will do for the time to come, und will never fail you nor forsnko you. My son, the Lord knows how dear thou art to me, and that my care has been more for thee than for myself. But I know thy prosperity do- pcndH not on my care, nor on thine own, but on the blessing of our Heaven'y Father : neither doth it on the things of this world, but on the light of Uod's coun- tenance througii the merit and mediation of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is that only which can give us peace of conscience with contentation ; which can as well make our lives happy and comfortable in a mean estate as in a great abundance. But if you weigh things aright, and sum up all the turnings of diviiK) providence together, you shall find great advantage. The Lord hath brought us to a good land, a land where we enjoy outward peace and liberty, and above all the bless- ings of the gospel, without the burden of impositions in matters of religion. Manv thousands there are who would give great estates to enjoy our condition. Labor, tlierefore, my good son, to increase our thankfulness to Clod- for all his mercies to thee, especially for that ho hath revealed his everlasting good-will to thee in Jesus Christ, and joined thee to the visible body of his church in the fellowship of his people, and hath saved thee in all thy travels abroad from being infccteil with the vices of those countries where thou hast been (a mercy vouchsafed but unto few young gentlemen travellers). Let him have the honor of it who kept thee. He it was who gave thee favor in the eyes of all with whom thou hadst to do, bo»h by sea and land ; he it is who hath given thee a gift in under- standing and art ; and he it is who hath provided thee a blessing in marriage, a comfortable help, and many sweet children. And therefore I would have you to love him again and serve him, and trust him for the time to come." Winthrop the elder not only performed actions worthy to be written, but pro- duced writings worthy to be read. Yet his Journal, or History, as it has been termed in the late edition by Mr. Savage, is very inferior in spirit and interest to his Letters. Winthrop the younger was one of the greatest philosophers of his age, the associate of Robert Boyle and Bishop Wilkins in projecting and found- ing the Royal Society of London, and the correspondent of Tycho Brahe, Gali- leo, Kepler, Milton, Lord Napier, Sir Isaac Newton, Sir Henry Wotton, and vari- ous othen of the most distinguished characters in Europe. NOTE XII. Page 242. Among many interesting and romantic adventures related by Mather, Neal, Hutchinson, Dwight, and other New England writers, as having occurred during Philip's War, there is one incident which excited much wonder and speculation at the time, and has since derived an increase of interest from the explanation which it received after the death of the individual principally concerned in it. In 1675, the town of Hadley was alarmed by the sudden approach of a body of Indians during the time of public worship, and the people were thrown into a confusion that betokened an unresisted massacre. Suddenly a grave, elderly person ap- peared in the midst of them. Whence he came, or who he was, nobody could tell. In his mien and dress he differed from the rest of the people. He not only en- couraged them to defend themselves, but, putting himself at their head, rallied, instrucied, and led them on to encounter the enemy, who were defeated and put to flight. As suddenly, the deliverer of Hadley disappeared ; and the people were left in a state of perplexity and amazement, and utterly unable to account for this singular plicnomenon. After his death, it was known to have been Goffe, the reg- icide, who dwelt somewhere in the neighbourhood, but in such deep sequestration NOTEi. 581 that none except those who were intrusted with the secret were ever able to make the remotest approach to a discovery of hU retreat. Whaliey resided with him • and they had some years before Ix^en joined by another of the regicides, Colonel Ihxwell. I hey frequently changed their place of abc^de, and gave the name of hbenf.xer to ev.-ry snot that afforded them sheher. They had many friends both m England and ,n the New England States, with some of whom they maintained acloso corrospondence. They obtained constant and exact intelligci,cc of every thmg that passed u. England, and were unwilling to resign all hopes of deliver- ance. Iheir expectations were suspended on the fuliilment of the prophecies of Scripture which they earnestly studied. They had no doubt that the execution of the late king s judges was the slaying of the witnesses, in the Apocalypse, and were greatly disappointed when the year 1666 elapsed without ,my remarkable event ; but still flattered themselves with the notion of some error in the common- ly received chronology The strict inquisition that was made for them by the roya commissioners and others renders their concealment in a country so thinly peopled, and where every stranger was the object of immediate and curious notice, ruly surprising. It appears that they were befriended and much esteemed for their piety by persons who regarded the great action in which they had partici- pated with unqualified disapprobation. Hutchinson. NOTE XIII. Page 243. '^T/^^^''^^"^^■ u"*^ suspicion with which the New England States were regarded by the English court had not slumbered in the interim may be inferred from the following passages extracted from the Journal of John Evelyn, the nu- thorof Sylva,yvhj, m the reign of Charles the Second, was one of the Commis- sioners of Trade and Plantations. " 26 May, 1671. What we the commission- ers most insisted on was, to know the condition of New England, which appearing to bo very independent as to their regard to Old England or his Majesty, rich and strong as they now were, there were great debates in what stylo to write to them : lor the condition of that colony was such that they were able to contest with all other plantations about them, and there was fear of their breaking from all de- pendence on this nation ; his Majesty therefore commended this affair more ex- P'if- u^.V ' ?°T^ ""^ °""' '^°""'''' ^^""^ ''"•■ sending them a menacing letter, which those who better understood the peevish and touchy humor of that colony were utterly against." » 6th June. We understood they were a people almost on the brink of renouncing any dependence on the crown." " 3d August The matter »n debate was, whether we should send a deputy to New England, requiring them of Massachusetts to restore such to their limits and respective possessions as had petitioned the council ; this to be the open commission only, but in truth with secret instructions to inform us of the condition of those colonies, and whether they were of such power as to be able to resist his Majesty, and declare for themselves as independent of the crown, which we were told, and which of late years made them refractory." " 12th February, 1672. We also deliberated on some ht person to go as commissioner to inspect their actions in New England, and Irom time to time report how that people stood affected." NOTE XIV. Page 290. ^ A GOOD history of Harvard University, by its librarian, Benjamin Peirce, has been recently {jivcii io ihu world, in the collegiate establishment, says this author, WW * NOTES. " the 8ubstantial properties of the English universities were retained, while their pompous and imposing ceremonies were in a great measure excluded." — " Th' first Commefwement took place on the second Tuesday of August, 1642 Unon thjs novel and auspicious occaaion, the venerable fathers of the land the -overnor magistrates, and m.mstera from all parts, with others in great numbers, re°paireTto Cambridge, and at ended with delight, to refined displays of Euix>p;a„Cninff on a spot which but just before was the abode of savages." - " In looking over S hst of early benefactions to the College, we are amusid when we read of^a mm.ber nLi. ^H ^'^""^f**^ ^y «"« '"«"' «* q"«"tity of cotton cloth worth nine sh IHnl presented by another, a pewter Bagon worth ten shilUngs by a third, a fruit-dis" a .ugar-spoon, a silver-tipped jug, one great salt, one small tr^ncher-silt, by others and of presents or legacies amounting severally to five shillings, nine shillings ol^ pound, two pounds, &c., all faithfully recorded, with the names of thdr Se^tllc sSntn «7 r" ^r ^ ""'" 'f """*'°" "''^"«« ""y ^'^P°««»'°" >^« ™«y have to smile into a feeling of respect and even of admiration ! What, in fact, were these humble benefactions ? They were contributions from the ^ res a^gusta dolT' from pu,us, virtuous, enlightened penury, to the noblest of all causes, tlfo advancemLn oT education, fhe donations were small, for the people were poor; they leave ^ doubt as to the motives which actuated the dono^ ; 'they remind u^ of the offering from 'everyone whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom h sspiruSo willing, to the work of the tabernacle of thi congregndon ' ; and,7ike the ^Z's tWn'js'tH ' '''P'V^ ^-' ^°/ the object! wLh would have done gre Je hings, had the means been more abundant." How much nobler these humble Eutno "af """'^T"^ ^r''°"^ °^''Sot or robber princes to the colleges o tion of t^hTc^lT' ^ H 7r' ^'"""''"' '^^'^ ^°' ^ ^^"S a period after the founda- r 1 ?■ r°t' ^"d,^.«^o'-« '"any other institutions had sprung up to divide the attention of the public, this 'school of the prophets' should Jve experN sunoorroftj"'"'' ^^'^^^ of sufficient magnitude' to supersede the carfand Twho^ i community at large. Its long dependence on the whole people, nL. t ?v. • *^' cherished With parental fondness, tended to secure and per petuate their affection for the College, and even for learning itself; and to E circumstance may probably be traced, in some degree, that geneml imeS A^ll^^ ''7"^ '?^?''- fS^^^''^' «™tury, the College was enriched by many liberal donat^ns from individuals in Britain, as well as in America. The most nombTo a memj;: f ^'"f '^""^ ""f ^^'^ "°'^^^"' ^"^'''^^r of the Bank of Engtnd! a Slv nanTd ?Mr '' m^ "" ^'-^"^fP^^on among the English Dissentefs, and a family named Hollis (Dissenters likewise , distinguished through succe^ivo generations for mercantile industry and opulence, and for the most 1^'Z untiring and judicious philanthropy. Peirce has preserved an intereSrac: count of these and other friends and patrons of this venemble instimJio^ Z SloSl the Holhses m particular, with une.xaggeratod encomium, that hey fornied -ono of the most extraordinary families that Providence ever raiser un for the benefit of the human race." Such were the great mei4nnrofX ain Son. '^ """"" ^'""^'''^'^ '^ " "Sc for fashionable and arisrcmtico; 2 Since the foregoing note was written, I have had the pleasure of reading a far ampler and superior history of Harvard University, by ils excellent and a^ccom plished president, Josiah Quincy. If every thi,^g clse^hat has been written aZt America should perislj, that work would secure to New Enr^land a globus a^.d ^t^ia^:. !^^^^l^ -.- P-^-^ a seatV learning Z^ ! -1- «, „ — a^.„ „, xxa.vaiil Ljiivcrsiiy,_ana never did a noble institution NOTV&. ed, whilo their detl." — "Tho ,1643. Upon ,tho governor, >rs, repaired to apean learning oking over the id of a number I nine shillings ► a fruit-dish, u lit, by others ; 3 shillings, one heir respective e may have to ct, were these a domi ' ; from Ivanccment of they leave no jf the oflering lis spirit made the widow's done greater these humble le colleges of 3r the foundu- : up to divide have experi' the care and ivhole people, lire and per- ; and to this leral interest been distin- mnny liberal most notable of England, issenters, and h successive •St generous, tercsting ac- Jtitution ; re- m, that they cr raised, up S of Britain, )cmticul dis- ■cading a far and accom- written about glorious and ng so honor- e institution 583 church and^tMo Massachusetts from an entire and punctilious intertexture of Lc. nation, i! • '■^^'••";":'" «f municipal government to civil affairs and STn Npw F 7 T'T ''"^ "t'^^^^^S' ""'^ ^'^'"•'•«bly fills up an important chamnio!!nr?^ "? ^'-'T* !°" ^^ ^"^ «^ ^^e ablest and most generous Inst^^n country's mdependence, President Quincy has given additional If Ch AmeHca""'"""'" "' Runnymedo and dear to the liberty and iitoratu'o NOTE XV. Page 331, i^y^^ folloY'"g fnay serve as a specimen of these articles of complaint, and of ^m^r-r 5"^- "T'^^' -'l^^- ^' "° ^^^« ««" be repealed but by the^, sembly ,t is desired to know if the proprietary intended to annul a clause in the ?o annuMhf ? '"^"'"^ ^° '""T ^Z ^"^"'^''- " ^^"^ Proprietary does not intend to annul the clause mentioned, without art act of repeal." "V. The attornev- general oppresses the people." Ansu,er. "If such proceedings have been prac- rn/" . v"; 'p°P'" ''°'''"'' '^'^ «^""^^^'' ^'^^ '« "°t countenanced by govern- iT^nt. VI. Certain pereons, under a pretended authority from some militia officers, have pressed provisions in time of peace." Answer. " We know of no such offenders ; but, when informed of them, we shall proceed a^^ainst them ac^ cording to law and matter of fact." "VII. The late adjournmentTf the pro- 3' "a '" ''•' \f i ^T^^^ ''\ J^""'^'^ '« ^ '^""^ "'^^ incommodious to7e people. Ansioer. " At the request of the lower house, they will adjourn he provincial court by proclamation." Chalmers. Why Chalmei, who is generaUy displeased even with the most reasonable and moderate friends of American liberty, should term this ebullition of ill-temper and nonsense « a spirited repS- sen ation of grievances," I am at a loss to discover. But perhaps no oiher writer has ever combmed such elaborate research of facts with such temerity ot "r'on and such glaring inconsistency of sentiment, as the Political Annak of this writer display The inhabitants of America, though little beholden to his respect for their rights or their character, owe the most important elucidation ot their history to his mdustrious researches. Some of the particulars of his own early history may perhaps account for the peculiarities of his American politics. A Scotsman by birth, he had emigrated to Maryland, and was settled at Baltimore as a lawyer, when the Revolutionary contest (in which he adhered o the royal cause) blasted all his prospects, and compelled him. to take refuge Ml England, waere his unfortunate loyalty and distinguished attainments proourld him a respectable appointment from the Board of Trade. The first (and onlv^ volume of his Annals, a work intended to be the apology of his party was Srfjt^'' ^'\';'Ptt* ''^^'°y"^ ^""^^ ^«"'d yet prevail in'lm^errca Though too honorable wilfully to misrepresent facts, his mind was too much warped oy prejudice to regard and appreciate them fairly. His labors were discontinued ThZJhl f"'° "" party to which they were devoted had evidently perished, wr^fnn ^ ^^ '''•'" °^,T°7'«'" Vowades all his pages, he is at times unable to restrain an expression of indignant contempt at particular instances of the con- duct of the kings and ministers whose general policy he labors to vindicate NOTE XVI. Pago 351. !! tixmwt •I lilt; That a cift will blind the disnprnmonf words sven of tne just, is an assurance conveyed to us by qnerring wisdom, i^d Wise, uiiu j;Crvcri the 584 NOTES. confirmed by examples among which even the name of Locke must be en- wththl 1 s'hS r""^ ^ Tf- ''l"^'"e ^^«" ^h« '^^f^rence and admiration With which Shaftesbury graced his other bounties to Locke, no blindness coS well be gre,ater than that which veiled the eyes and perverted the sentiments of the philosopher with respect to the conduct and character of his patron In Ws memoirs of this profligate politician, not less fickle in his friendship^ San furious .n his enmit.es, and who alternately inflamed and betrayed ever^ facdon in T state, Locke holds him up as a mirror of worth and patrioti7m jTeclarina that, m a mild yet resolute constancy, he was equalled by few anT Exceeded bJ none; and that, while liberty endures, his glory' will mock the assaXof envv rlahn^irT f . *T": ^ .^['^ ^^'^« ""^P'-^^''^^^^ ^^e selfish ambitbn Snd elaborate fraud and duplicity with which Monk endeavoured to the \^st to obtab for himsdf the vacant dignity of Cromwell, he is totally insensible t^ any othe feature ban the ability of the more successful mancBuvres by wh^h Shaftes bury outwitted the less dexterous knave, and at length forced ™to concu wVc^ sSt^ ?' ^^•'^♦r'-- Locke has vaunted the profound sagfcit^wih which Shaftesbury could penetrate the character and acquire a mastery over ^uJ^rT ^" • ""^^'•^^"'^'"g «f «very person he conversed with. For L own h. nfl?"' '\"'rr? '° "''S"^ '"'"^^•^ ^" '^' performance as exempHfyi^g the influence which he has ascribed to the object of his panegyric. When ^^ casion required it, Shaftesbury could assume 1 virtue to whicf his talent lenra degree of efficacy that commanded universal admiration. When he was L pointed to preside in the Court of Chancery, he was unacquainted with kw and had grown gray in the practice of fraud and intrigue, vlt, in the disclame " the functions of this office, he is acknowledged to have combined the gS of fheTir '5' '"''?'? ^^ ^"•'^ ' «"^ the^tisfaction that was derifcd from the legal soundness of his decrees was surpassed only by the respect that wa^ entertained for the lofty impartiality of his ^'udicial condL I seS indeed siirprising that the two most ambitious politicians that have ever appe'ared 1^ ^X^ v^lf' i"^^ "".'^ Shaftesbury-, should have distinguished themselves so jute^ in'atuToreq^uit"^'^"^ '''' ^'^^' ''^' ^^'"^ '^^ ^'^ ^--- o^ nutT"v.? °^^' T'^"" °*" ??"5*^«"ce bestowed by Shaftesbury on Locke, he cm- Mred as the feebleness of the young man's constitution gave him cause to apprehend the extinction of his family. Locke, undismayed by th? nTe and is cfe a,td^h"'?,•^^^"'"^'•"^^«'^ ^""^ ^« coLlne^n tt ol et of X'li'^S'; Tr ^ wtZ.f ''' ''"'-''''''''■ ^"^^^ ^/^''^^xed Shaftesbuiy was able to infect Locke with all his own real or pretended suspicions of the Catholics; and, even when the philosopher could no eJrain ^TpMhTr^ '^^ 17u"7 ""^ intolerance of the Protestants, he expressed hS regret that they should be found capable of " such popish practices "Not less unjust and absurd was Lonl Russell's declaration, fhat ma'^^Sc ring nicifin coo b ood was so hke a practice of the Papists, that he could not butlbhor it and i ^ r? r° ■ f ' '■r^'"'^' '^''' P«'^«"'"g ^°« « popish trick. When Locke undertook to legislate for Carolina, he produced ecclesiastical co. Sons no^ more and political regulations far less, faVomble to human liberty and haZness M^JylanT "^ ^""^ ''^" P''^"^"^'>^ ^^^'^^''^^^^^ ^^ ^ Cathiic legiE in ^n^lIZZ:;:t-.^::^^t::.^^:' '"'^' mendship with Shaftesbury, It IS strange that we should be obliged to prefer the testimony of an unprinci- NOTES. e must be en- and admiration jlindness could s sentiments of patron. In his ps than furious y faction in the m ; declaring, d exceeded by ssaults of envy ambition and 3 l^t to obtain le to any other which Shaftcs- bim to concur sagacity with mastery over For liis own s exemplifying c. When oc- s talent lent a 1 he was ap- with law, and 3 discharge of the genius of derived from spect that was seems, indeed, appeared in themselves so 3 functions of iocke, he em- anxiously de- Wm cause to the nice and the object of id afterwards larriage, who icke, prefixed or pretended I not refrain ixpresscd his " Not less men in cool bhor it ; and When Locke stitutions not d happiness, legislator in Shaftesbury, m 'jnpi'inci- 585 ^ArL^Zf- 1 l°L ""u VP'-'ght philosopher. Yet Dryden's character of inrl T f i!" ""^o"l>tedlythe.iustest and most masterly representation of Shaftes- ;, I&l,- ,u ^''^ •^^^" 5'?'^"^''^ ^y ^^''^"^ «' <■««• So '""ch more powerful 13 affection than enmity m deluding the fancy and seducing the judgment! NOTE XVII. Page 401. M.w^VnT- "^^T^""^ f '«"'f have sometimes been deified by their successors. inilL ^Ith '". ,P",^^P^' ^h« e"'y commonwealth whose founders have been as- ^eninns ^n/?'"!- ^'"'" '^' '"'"^ ^""*^'"- ^' ^' ^P^^^^^le to read tho in- genious and diverting romance entitled Knickerbocker's History of New York hi iVnlf t J f • '''*'"^^°'.^"™°' ^"^ '"'"''"^"^ ^^^ fo"nd another subject than in.t hT ^ '^I'J'P'' ^"^ ^•'■'""^ °^ *^« ancestors of his national family. It Z,?,nL.- !'"''"' u^uP^'""*.'^"' *° *'^""^^t *''«to"cal recollections with ludi. itTs dlZTrT-^ ''"V^" ^'Tl °^ ^^'- ^^^'"g h«« d'^"^ "'h- t ..- a,!. ^ r- PJ l^ were Mi of ™U, and „ad„osa."-He wa3 I^arrW tefo^'tli^^o;.''".^,;!;:^ 688 NOTES. said ho to me, ' Wherefore did you work there ? ' I said, ' In obedience to the Lord's commandment,' lie said it was a false spirit : and said he, ' Where are your sureties ? ' I said, the Lord was my security." Accordingly, h\a perse- cution was consummated by a commitment to Newgate. " Now, let all sober people judge whether I did this thing out of envy against either priest or people. Yea, farther I say, the Lord lay it not to their charge who have said that I did it in malice, devilishness, and envy," &c. &c. This singular narrative is re- published in Howell's State Trials. NOTE XXII. Page 473. Of this diversity the following instance may serve as a specimen. When the statute against the Quakers began to be generally enforced, George Bishop, a man of some eminence among them, remonstrated against it in these terms: " To the king and both houses of parliament. Thus saiih the Lord, Meddle not with my people because of their conscience to me, and banish them not out of the nation because of their conscience ; for, if you do, I will send my plagues among you, and you shall know that I am the Lord.- Written in obedience to the Lord, by his servant, G. Bishop." Gough and Sewell. Very different was the remonstrance which William Penn addressed on the same subject to the king of Poland, in whose dominions a severe persecution was instituted against the Quakers. " Give us poor Christians," said he, " leave to expostulate with thee. Suppose we are tares, as the true wheat hath always been called ; yet pluck us not up for Christ's sake, who saith. Let the tares and the wheat grow up until the harvest, that is, until the end of the world. Let God have his due as well as Caesar. The judgment of conscience belongeth unto him, and mistakes about religion are known to him alone." Clarkson's Life of Penn. NOTE XXIII. Page 482. It is not difficult to understand how a friendly intercourse originated between the leading persons among the Quakers and Charles the Second and his brother. The Quakers desired to avail thetrselves of the authority of the king for the es- tablishment of a general toleration, and for their own especial defence against the enmity and dislike of their numerous adversaries. The king and his brother regarded with satisfaction the principles of non-resistance professed by these sectaries, and found in them the only class of Protestants who could be rendered instrumental to the design of reestablishing the faith and sway of the church of Rome by the preparatory measure of a general toleration. But how the friendly relation thus created between the royal brothers and such men as Penn and Barclay should have continued to subsist uninterrupted by all the tyranny and treachery which the reigns of these princes disclosed is a difficulty which their contemporaries were unable to solve in any other manner than by reckoning the Quakers conscious votaries, instead of deluded instruments, of bigotry and arbitrary power. The more modern and juster, as well as more charitable, censure is, that they were the dupes of kingly courtesy, craft, and dissimulation. They hoped to make an instrument of the king ; while he per- mitted them to flatter themselves with this hope, that ho might avail himself of their instrumentality for the accomplishment of his own designs. Perhaps, since the days when the prophets of Israel were divinely commissioned to rebuke their olTeuding monuichs, no king was ever addressed in terms of more NOTES. 589 llr'^r'i"?'"''"!-'''"^^".^"''''''^ ^^'•^'^y h^« employed in concluding the dedica- "who ran .n .v ! n '""^J" '^^ ^°'^'^' ^« '^'^^ ^he monarch remember, iJil ^^ so expenmcntally testify of God's providence and goodness; neithe^ cnders Slv° ™ '' T "^"7 ^'"'^ P^°P'^' «« '"^"y ^^»« Christians": whch thing renders thy government more honorable, and thyself more considerable, than thi accession of many nations filled with slavish and superstitious sou^ Thou hast tosted of prosperity and adversity; thou knowest what it is to be banS thv native country and to be overruled, as well as to rule and sit upon the throne and GoS'andTaT i/ aT 't .r"" '' '"°" ^°" ^'^^^^"l '"^^ SppL'sor 7s bot^ o .into Z. T A -5:^, 'u^'^u ^^'^ warnings and advertisements, thou dost not tun. unto the Lord with all thy heart, but forget him who remembered thee in ZIZ ^Sa'tron^'^Yef Ch?rf *° ''"T '"^'./"'^ "T^^ ^"'^'y' ^'^^ -» b^th/co; demnation. Yet, Charles gave himself up to lust and vanity without apprehend- f"Lh ^^^'^^T ^'"f «"y diminution of the regards of his Quaker friendsfand ?he falsehood and cruelty that stained the conduct of both Charles and James rende ed flwT. f ^!^ '" " ' *""" /"^^P^ '^^ ^^'^^^^' ""'i the Quakers. The tortures in- flicted, by the orders and m the presence of James himself, on the Sc^Si Cove- nanters must have been perfectly well known to Barclay. But pe haps Ws fpw nfl ' ""^«rtunate victims of bigotry themselves displayed. There were clvTnf I'r' ''^°' r'" '" '^' '^^'' ^^ ^heir own afflictions, did not bequeaTh a dying testimony to their countrymen against the sin of toUratina the blaLhemaus 'Z? '^'X^^^^^'''- S,«« 'The Clold of Witnesses, W oodr! JshS^'^Z other works illustrative of that period. 'y, anu Of the cajolery that was practised by King James upon the Quakers I think M r^', nry77-'"'p" "^r'^l^ ^''^y unintlntionallyfby Mr. Glarkson, in hb nS 1?^ • ' l*'"" ^'""- ^^ ^^^ y^^"" ^^®®' ^'Ihert Latey, an eminent Quaker ?m' YtJ^'^'' ^'""T"'^ I'y P*^"" '^ *his prince, thanked him for his Dec laratton of Indulgence in favor of Quakers and other Dissentere ; adding an ex- pression of his hope that, as the king had remembered the Quakers in their distress, so God m.ght remember him in his distress. Some time after, when James, expelled from England, was endeavouring to make head against his ad- versanes in Ireland, he sent a message to Latey, confessing that the Revolution had approved him so far a prophet, inasmuch as the king had actually fallen into distress But Latey was not satisfied with this partial testimony, and reminded i.?«Tr'n '''"J'f ''fe had been saved at the battle of the Boyne, the i^-flipAeca that had been addressed to him was entirely fulfilled. f f 9 The Quakers, notwithstanding Pope's imputation of slyims to them, have displayed amazing creduhtym their intercourse with every tyrant who has thought It worth his while to caress them. Since the death of James the Second of *.ngland, no prince has game i a greater share of their good graces than the late Enriperor Alexander of Russia, who, during his visit to England, accompanied a distinguished philanthropist of this persuasion to a Quaker meeting, and actually convinced some of the leading members of the society that he himself was L heart a (.Quaker. NOTE XXIV. Pago 487. "The truth is," said the accomplished grandfather of Queen Anne, "theii IS naturally that absence of the chief elements of Christian religion, charitv --•— -v' j'-?'^^* a»a u.umciiy compassion, in me very policy and institution ot princes and sovereign states, that, as we have long found the civil obligations XX 590 KWes. of alliance and maiTiage to be but trivial circumstances of formality tow«r,l= me.^ pnvate, subordinate and subservient fLSlt^to convelnc^S "he L^ est of kingdoms, rather than duties requisite to the purchase of the kinSdn^ r" nrces /"'l;^?'-«f-«««d hathstirrld up and applfed the peopl in ^^^^^^^ pnnces thought it necessary to plant religion, to Jhe destruction of prinSiUes c^:e':drrsr ''"^^ ""^'°" ''^^ »^- ^•^-^^^^ unnecess:;;?tord' NOTE XXV. Page 490. Sir^Joh%Irr.tH '5' ^^i""' ""^ 'i'' P'*'*^'"? "**'« ^'^^ (^^^''«h '« dedicated to »ir John Moore and Sir Thomas Lane, aldermen of London, and two of the principal proprietaries of West Jersey), was a Quaker, and 2e friend of Penn ?f P nlliXat^VSf'^ '^""•^'? •'^ corrSpondi'ng hisIoVofte^rovre' L i!k -^ ?n ^^^^ *"" '" ^"t'ng he declares to have been to inform SaUeSenTo?^ ^T" '^ '^' ''PP"^""^^^ ^^'^'^^^ ^« them, by Jhose cX rlnmiT ^ exchanging a state of ilUrewarded toil, or of beggarly and bur- densome dependence, for a condition at once more useful, honorable! prosperou and happy. " Now, reader," he thus concludes, " having no more to add of anv 3dVn7?i?"'H ' ' t"^^ *^^« '" C»'"«^ ' «"d whetLr thou stlyest in Eng- Kh .h n'i 'fu*^' ^I^^'^^' «f goest to Pennsylvania, West, or East JeSef NOTE XXVI. Page 496. Wiufam^P^J!;*"^]"?"*'*'''^ •''^ sensitiveness of the Quakers to the reputation of iiKio7h7.Uy ^ 7"^^ ^"°r- .When Winterbotham undertook the com. SlT«^^ rSr<^ ; ^'^Sraphical, Commercial, ana Philosophical View of ^Amencan Untied States, he was encouraged to pursue his labore by the assur- Je« TriTJ^'^'tTr''' '' ^'^'^^ were obtained from E^^th Qu,- hfm'.« r • ^^^*'"^«« ^,»"ch he consulted on the subject of Pennsylvania gave rrnirirtlS ''"'^'^^ ''Tl!^^l^ ^•"^''"^•''"■^ »hat hid occurred between Ae ODin^n ,?nflvn ^S^Tfu '^"^ ^'' ^"'''^^'' ^*''«"'«»«' ^"^ ^^^'^^^ W"" to form an ??.erstolaTnai' ? J' '^"'^^ *^7^"" ""^ ^° ^»^« moderation of both parties i«,l !1T . I ^A ^^ ^'^ '*^''°""^ •'^ Pennsylvania was accordingly written in a rtram calculated to convey this impression. Unfortunately for hL, this de u^rtT^Tt^S'^'" "'^' r 'T'y '""^ publication and deliVcr; to tl volv^d wTnterSL^"^ T '"'^''''^'y ^'*'^'"^^ '^^' subscriptions; a step that in- JS f then a nri^l^T '." m" '"°'' f """^. ^"'barrassment. The unfortinate au- ^««nt r f ^ '", N^g^te for seditious expressions of which he is now fyn ^f Wdth^r^ T i"^^ .been innocent) ap'plied to the late WillLm S iy^fl_V*'T.'r»'*^*'^"d' throwmg himself on the humanity of this vnn.n.Wn !««,, ««p,orea rag powerful intercession with the membera of his religious" fiuiter^ NOTES. rmality towards for conscience' tate itself, were any melancholy d to be directed )n against those eligion itself as y and the inter- the kingdom of 3, in whom only •f principalities, jssary." Lord 691 is dedicated to ind two of the Hend of Penn, of the province been to inform by those colb- Jgarly and bur- lie, prosperous, ! to add of any ftayest in Eng- >r East Jersey, art (in God) in i reputation of published, and rtook the com- phical View of i by the assur- English Quft- isylvania gave I between the im to form an r both parties. / written in a im, this came elivery to the a step that in- ti fortunate au- ch he is now William Dill- thi$ vnnprahin ligious frater- rtity By his advice, Wintc fbotham consented to camiel the objectionable nortlon betrayed with regard to the character of Penn and his colonists. The QuaS ^ect7frirdTnd fulfil 5?"^'"' '' °"^« "'^^ ^'^^ solicitation of thetrX' dote was ekt^Sfo r^t 'i^" ^S^S^"*^P^ ^ith Winterbotham. This anec- aote was related to me by Mr. Dillwyn himself. The composition which this excellent person thus contributed to Wimerbotham's publica3 s chamcterized by h.s usual mildness and indulgence. Without denying the existLcTof unha« jyd.ssens.ons .n Pennsylvania,1.e suggests reasons for fuppo?nftEa^hevS ^nlln J? "!"'"" '"'^apprehension, and were neither vioten n°or lasS X apologet.cal ve.n pervades the whole piece, of which the only fault is that ^uV like the generality of Quaker productions) it is a great deal toVshort £ DuT 71ZIL""%" '/ ^r •''Tl' ^"^ ^"^ -^^-^'^ mucrattention o the Wsto^ of America. He has been celebrated (along with his fritend and coadiutor in e5^ ertmns to promote human liberty and happmess. Robert Grahame of WhiteWH NOTE XXVII. Page 498. «n? AM ' B.JRNET relates, that Penn, in alluding to the executions of M)^. Gaunt and Alderman Cornish, which he had attended as a spectator, said that "Te king was greatly to be pitied I " and endeavoured to palliate his guiU by ascrib a^ his participation in these and other atrocities to the influence thS Jeffries had a^ ttkLTn,^'"f • Unfortunately for the credit of this misembe apofo^, he king was not under the influence of Jeffries when he ordered and witnessed the &llVu TT.V^ Covenanters in Scotland; and the disgrareTnto l^dh Jeffries fell short y before the Revolution, for refusing to gratify the king bv nro- fessing the Catholic fa th, and pretending to keep . coLr ^This^conscleni L^tS fIn?J K-^' • ^°""r"' '^r^ ^^^ voluntary and how limited the ki^W,^ SI f^ ?? S-^'™ ''■"'y ^^- ^' '" ^«'«»^ '" the diary of Henrf, L^ Clarendon, that Jeffnes expressed his uneasiness to this noWeman at the ktac^ To'wTatVR T^ °^'"°'^'"^^T•^ ^♦'^^ J^«««« -«« imprisoneS in L IIZa ^h\^«^°l"J°"' ^l assured Tutehin (one of his victims, who came te For the credit of Penn's humanity, it may be proper to observe, that Mma common, in that age, for persons of the highest respectabilhy («„d, amS iJhe^ for noblemen and Iad.es of rank, in thiir coaches) to attend eXecSn , S NOTEXXVm. Page 502. eSL^p'' ^'';?°^'°J:'' ?",f ^i^e agent of the mwn both before and after the Si- ♦ ^ ^uT'''''^^^'^ °^^^ successively in many of the colonies, and was acQuainted with tho ^nnHitjA^ of u..5~ ~ii :- _ i^^^.- ."^ .. #. .. - i. . . leou «u —■— -—!—-!".. oi Tn..m au, m a rciwr lo mo uoara oi "ifaae, in 1698, observes, th&t « A great many people ofdi the tohnies,eBpeenAtf in ihoto 6y2 NOTES. under proprietaries, think that no law of England ought to bo binding on them without their own consent ; for they foolishly say, that they have no representa- tives sent. from ihcinselves to the parliament of England ; and they look upon all laws made in England, that put any restraint upon them, to bo great hardships." State Papers, apud Chalmers. It was probably, in reference to the reports of Colonel Nicholson, that the Lords of Trade, writing to Lord Bellamont in the year 1701, caution him to watch and curb " the humor that prevails so much in proprietary and charter governments," — adding, that " the independency they now thimf. after is so notorious, that it has been thought fit those considerations, together with other objections against these colonics, should be laid before the parliament." Belknap. In the mtroduction to the historical work of Oldmixon (who boasts of the assistance and information he received from William Penn) we find this remarka- ble passage : — " The Portuguese have so true a notion of the advantage of such colonies, that, to encourage them, they admit the citizens of Goa to send deputies to sit in the assembly of the Cortes. And if it were asked, why our colonies have not their representatives, who could presently give a satisfactory answer > " In the year 1809, during the struggle which the Spaniards were maintaining against the usurpation of the Emperor Napoleon, a proposal was broached in the Spanish councils that " the colonies be represented as an integral part of the empire " in the organs of authority within the parent state. This idea was subse- quently realized to a certain extent, when the Spanish Cortes was convoked. Napier's History of the War in the Peninsula. An extension of the right of electing members of parliament to a part of the realm which had not been previously represented there occurred in the thirty- fifth year of the reign of Henry the Eighth. The inhabitants of the county palatine and city of Chester complained, in a petition to the king, " that, for want of knighta and burgesses in the court of parliament, they sustained manifold damages, not only in their lands, goods, and bodies, but in the civil and politic governance and maintenance of the commonwealth of their said county ; and Uiat, while they had been always bound by the acts and statutes of the said court of parliament, the same as other counties, cities, and boroughs, that had knights and burgesses in the said court, they had often been touched and grieved witli acts and statutes, made within the said court, as well derogatory unto the most ancient jurisdictions, liberties, and privileges of the said county palatine, as prejudicial unto the commonwealth, quietness, and peace of his Majesty's sub- jects." They proposed, as a remedy, " that it would please bis Highness, that it be enacted, with the assent of the lords spiritual and temporal, and the commons in parliament assembled, that, from the end of the session, the county palatine shall have two knights for the said county, and likewise two citizens to be burgesses for the city of Chester." The con^plaint was thought just and reasonable, and the petitioners were admitted to send representatives to parliament. Various instances of similar proceedings occurred in the reigns of this mon- arch's successors, — Edward the Sixth, Mary, and Elizabeth ; the latter of whom created twenty-four new boro' .ghs in England. In the reign of Edward the Sixth, a writ was directed to the inhabitants of Calais, requiring the return of a member of parliament for that town. NOTE XXIX. Page 517. In the year 1684, there was published, by one of these emigrants. The Planter's Sn0»^h #A h' r tiivtt NOTES. 693 •The l^v?. T '^? productions of the early colonists of New England, m/n n».ln r ^""'' '•^''^"''"g »« ^^^^ "^w habilalions," says this writer " I approl^nd (measur.nB your sentiments by my own) to have been, - ' ^ his law whh Sdol "^ ^'""T^^' ''''I' ^^^-^^ ^« '"'g'" ^""^hip God and obey clbeTed w h^S m^'n "^ '""'^^ dictates of the divine principle, unen- So Uic r..af> „n ? ^ errors occasioned by the fierce invasiins of tradition, ^ 11 o^ rrJ' covetous or ambitious cruelty. ' nrnvp t.A "^^ '"'^''^ ^*"'''' "^ °" "^ ^^""g'" ^lysian shore, commence or im-' vTxalions and" ZZl"' ' rT w "'^'' "^ "'^•'^ ""'°«'' ^ °^ «'^-« outward caes, o7;prdS^".i;^rdlti^^^^^^ -^^^^ -^^-^ -^^ ^-- ^•^^ ^-^^ mL^'^n ^Y' "^ j"'' ''^ .1^'"^ to little Zoar, from the ungodly company of a more populous and magnificent dwelling, we might avoid belg Sd wfth ho sight of infectious as well as odious eAamples,%f horrid sweaiScTiil^^^^ cZS^dwiif "''"{•' "-'---f' ^"'^ "" ^'"^« -' iTchei^f contrary' rd"jiieTiJitr:^taToi„r„"atr ^^^^p^ ''' ^^'^-'^^ ^^---'^ ^« -"' more^'fhriTiri' and'^Ztrb'^'^'P'""'"^ ^'T °"" '"" '" ^^^^'^^^ *« ^^"'^^r them .inT.-h K^ .V , '^^"^f. bearers, so we here, in peace and secure retirement t^re mth?Z/ ^'T'T "^ ^"^' ""^ '" '^« '"P ^^ ^^^ •'^^^t adulter edna-' tru'sSST '%^r''! -mprovehis talent, and bring forth more plen- " 5tl And Wl ^ r."- ^°^' ""f P"^^^« ^^^'^^^^ °^ ''>« ^hole creation. ^ caZ fi^W, nr ^' ' "" "i''^''' ''t''""*°' ^y °"' •^"'y '^««trine, and the practi- cat teachings of our exemplary abstemious lives, transacted n all humiiil^ obnety plainness, self-denial, virtue, and honesty we might gain upon toTj of Pol f P°r ^"""^ r^' ^^^"^^^d '•'^""'1 «bout us (and commonrin way of con ompt and reproach, called heathens), and bring them not only to a sTatJ count' t£if\"rb T"" ' ^f^ '""'"'f^ "^"''^ ^-" ♦« « --« saSactoiy at "Ssotbnf\T 1 ^ f°"^ Spaniards, we had gained the mines of Potosi." andt fnl nnf ' '''''" '''"S"'' "7 ^'''^^'^ "^''^ ^^ose that brought you hither; k>u nev^' "^nfl ^°" ^""'T ^^'^ ^«c«'"Pli«hthem, you obtain the end of you; ZuTh' 7 business therefore, here in Uiis new land, is not so much to build houses and establish factories, and promote trade and manufactures tZt mav L o'eTiT trmiloriVr ^'"^ '""r^ r '''''' ^"^ P>-« -« -^ to be negle t^dT attrntc:tr=f fS 1=:°" -^^« ^^ ^"^-^- -^-^ ^^^- ^- -? Such says Proud the historian of this province, were the views and motives of tte'. td bo h lifJ'' ^^"'r ^"^•'^' Pennsylvania. " But all things'ave t leTr Sons i,,t d; "^ •'"%^"''-^'?'P''''''^'^^" ^' ^'"^"^'' states and particular persons, must die :Jinis ab ongtne pendet. Yet folly often shortens their dura- .on, as wisdom and^ virtue prolong their more happy existence." IbTd TWs Wh. T°" f|"'"^\"« of the celebrated mkxim of the Jewish Eabbf Jochonan Hassandalar, who lived under the reign of the Emperor Adrian - thaJ every commonwealth formed in the fear of God flourishethT?or y^tu" is the li?e and bond of society, while vice ruins and dissolves it. Tie Planter's NOTE XXX. Page 547. for?hi's^de'Sf!n°"^ ""1^''^ ^""" "?"''"""^ *° ""g^^ ^^' ^ ""'"ber of years be- lore nis aeatn an inifirpstinnr ni^Mi'-p i° criv — k-t'I ci- u ^ , •' , . account of the yellow fever at Philadelphia, in 1699, 1 have already poticed , who VOL,. I. 7I» J, ' . XX 594 NOTE8. arriving from America in 1713, paid a visit to all that remained of his veneroblo friend. '♦ Ho was then," snys Story, " under tho lanr.cntttbie cficcto of an apo- plectic fit which ho had hnd some time before ; for hia memory was almost quite lost, and tho use of his understanding suspended, so that he was not so cunversa- bio as formerly, and yet as near the truth, in the lovo of it, as before ; wlierein appeared tho great mercy and favor of God, who looks not as man looks. For though to some this accident might look like judgment, and no doubt his enemies so accounted it, yet it will bear quite another interpretation, if it be considered how littlo time of rest ho over had from tho importunities of the affairs of others, to the great hurt of his own, and suspension of all his enjoyments, till this hapl pened to him, by which ho was rendered incapable of all business, and yet sen- sible of the enjoyment of truth as at any timo in all his life. When I went to tho house, I thought myself strong enough to seo him in that condition ; but when I entered tho room, and perceived the great defect of his expressions irom want of memory, it greatly bowed my spirit under a consideration of the uncertainty of all human qualifications, and what the finest of men are soon reduced to by a dis- order of tho organs of that body with which the soul is connected and acts during this present mode of being. When these are but a little obstructed in their various functions, a man of the clearest parts and finest expression becomes scarcely intelligible. Nevertheless, no insanity or lunacy at all appeared "in his actions ; and his mind was in an innocent state, as appeared by his very loving deportment to all that came near him. And that he had still a good sense of truth is plain by some very clear sentences he spoke in the life and power of truth in an evening meeting we had together there, wherein wo were greatly comfort- ed ; so that 1 was ready to think this was a sort of sequestration of him from all the concerns of this life, which so much oppressed him, not in judgment, but in mercy, that he might have rest, and not be oppressed thereby to tho end." Clarkson. Yet some writers have asserted, that, at this very time, Penn was engaged with the Jacobites in concerting plots in behalf of the Pretender. This allegation appeared the more plausible, as proceeding from the State Papers (pub- lished by Macpherson) of Nairne, an under secretary at the Pretender's court ; although the statements in these papers are founded entirely on the reports sent to France by two obscure Jacobite spies in England. William Penn lingered in this condition till the 30th of July, 1718, when he closed his long and laborious life. This event, though for many years expected, was deeply bewailed in Pennsylvania; and the worth of Penn honorably com- memorated by the tardy gratitude of his people. Proud. NOTE XXXI. Page 551. " The British nation, renowned through every age, never gained by all her conquests, even when her arms subdued France and thundered at the gates of Paris, such a valuable acquisition as her settlements in North America. To law- less power, to faction, and to party rage, these spreading colonies owed their firmest establishment. When the mother country was in tho most deplorable situation, when the axe was laid to the root of the constitution, and all the fair blossoms of civil liberty were destroyed, — even then, from the bare trunk, despoiled of all its honors, shot forth these branches, as from a stock where na- tive vigor was still kept alive." Wynne, Introduction. A few such animated sentences as these, together with a compilation of sta- tistical details from the numerous publications* respecting America that issued from the English press shortly prior to the War of Independence, constitute the wnolc merit of the first part of vVyuue'a History. This writer is distinguished NOTES. U voncrablo of an apo- almost quite io coiivursa" •o ; wlierein looks. For his enemies considered ■s of others, ill this hap> md yet sen- went to the but when I om want of certainty of to by a dis- d and acts bstructed in on becomes ared in his very loving Dd sense of wer of truth tly comfort- im from all Jgment, but > the end." , Penn was ider. This 'apcrs (pub- ler's court; torts sent to 3, when he s expected, •rably com- 695 by all her be gates of , To law- owed their deplorable all the fair are trunk, where na- tion of sta- that issued istituto the stinguished above every other historian willi whose works I am acquainted, for the depth of his 'gnoranco and the he.ght of his presumption, for the monstrous inaccuracy of h.s statements and the folly and absurdity of his speculations. Amnnr. „ Vu- wh.r!l.r' '""r Y blunders, ho describes the delusion of the New England witchcraft as one of the causes that led to the concession of the charter of Con- n^thn ni, m"'''"*''*^'^'P''"''^'"""^°^^°"'' A"'«"«'^ to Ihe enforcement Fnll^r li"""' "^'""'' ?'rn'«" by James the Second; and ho congratulates Lngland on the conquest of Canada, as an event that excluded the interposition ot 1 ranco in the approaching struggle with the North American colonies. But the charter of Connecticut was granted more than thirty years before the occur- rDlen"!, rn nnl f'^P'^^?.'^^ ^^.'''^S produced it; James the Second excited the susnonrn^ X.t f^ *"' Subjects, not by enforcing, but by unconstitutionally suspending, the penal laws against Dissenters ; and the conquest of Canada not only accelerated the Revolutionary War, but insured the participation of France ,n It against England. lie represents Colonel Dongan as having been governor of Massachusetts; and relates (with superfluous regret) that William Penn died in ^iT"'»v, ' '" ^"■''r'?' °^ ")"'' ridiculous superiority and condescension, he de- clares the purpose of his work to have been the reconciliation of England and her colonies, by dissipating that mutual ignorance in which he supposes their disputes to have onginated. Dark mdeed must have been the ignorance that exceeded his own The same remarks do not apply (or if so, far less forcibly) to the second part of Wynne a History -y,h^ch, whether from greater attention or from access to better materials, displays so much of accuracy and good sense, that it is not easy to believe the whole work to have been the composition of the same author NOTE XXXII. Page 553. "It is remarkable," says a distinguished modern statesman and philosopher, how exactly the history of the Carthaginian monopoly resembles that of the Euro- peaii nations who have colonized America. At first, the distant settlement could admit of no immediate restraints, but demanded all the encouragement and protec- tion of the parent state ; and the gains of its commerce were neither sufficiently alluring to the Carthaginian merchant from their own magnitude, nor necessary to him fronri the difficulty of finding employment for his capital in other direc- tions. At this period, the colony was left to itself, and was allowed to manage Its own affairs in its own way, under the superintendence and care of Carthage, which protected it from foreign invasion, but neglected its commerce. In this favorable predicament, it soon grew into importance ; some of the Carthaginian merchants most probably found their way thither, or promoted the colonial specu- lations by loans ; at any rate, by furnishing a ready demand for the rude produce, in this stage of its progress, then, we find the colony trade lef\ free ; for the first of the two treaties, prohibiting all the Roman ships of war to approach within a certain distance of the coast, allows the trading-vessels free access to all the harbours both of the continent and the colonies. This intercourse is even encouraged with the port of Carthage, by a clause freeing the vessels entering from almost all import duties. The treaty includes the Roman and Carthaginian allies ; by which were probably meant their colonies, as well as the friendly powers; and the clause, which expressly includes the colony of Sicily, gives the Komans all the privileges in that island which the Carthaginians themselves en- joyed. At this period, it is probable that the commerce of Rome excited no ieal- ousy, and the wealth of thp onlnnma ijhIo o.. — : — . -i.i u _ j— _j -/• .i.. "* -t itary prowess of the former seems to have given rise to the negotiation. me NOTES. '^ Some time afterwards, another treaty, conceived in a different spirit and formed exactly upon the principles of the mercantile system, was concluded be- tween those celebrated rival powers. The restrictions upon the navigation of the Roman sliips of war are here extended and enforced ; the freedom of entry into the port of Carthage is continued, and into the ports of Sicily also ; the Komans grant- jng to the Carthaginians like privileges at Rome. But the Romans are debarred from plundering, trading, or settling (u singular conjunction) upon the coast of Af- rica Propria, which was peopled by Carthaginian colonies, and furnished large supplies of provisions and money to the city. The same restriction is extended to Sardinia ; and trading-vessels are only permitted to enter the harbours of that colony for the space of five days, to refit, if driven thither by stress of weather A singular clause is inserted, to which close analogies may be traced in the modern questions of neutral rights and contraband of war ; — if any Roman troops shall receive stores from a Carthaginian port, or a port in the provincial territories of the state, they are bound not to turn them against eitlier the republic or her allies. '^ " The substance of this very singular document will suggest various reflections to my readers. I shall only observe, that we find in it the principles of the mod- ern colonial system clearly unfolding themselves ; and that we have eveiy reason to regret the scantiness of our knowledge of the Carthaginian story, which, in so far as relates to the commerce of that people, breaks off here, and leaves us no trace of the farther restrictions most probably imposed by succeeding statesmen upon the growing trade of the colonies." Brougham's Inquiry into tlie Colonial Policy of the European Powers. NOTE XXXIII. Page 555. Thk most admirable and interesting of the Britisli settlements in North Ameri- ca, and in an especial degree the provinces of New England, owed their socia. formation and earliest domestic guardianship to men devoted to the cultivation of piety, virtue, and all ennobling and humanizing knowledge. Such national parent- age inevitably tended to the nurture and propagation of democratical spirit and authority ; a circumstance which must be propitious or unhappy to America (and consequently to all the world) in proportion to the preservation and spread, or the neglect and restricted operation, of the principles from which it originated. As democracy, in alliance with religion, morality, and liberal education, may be the greatest political blessing that human societies can receive ; so, united witli impi- ety, profligacy, and ignorance, it must exert an instrumentality at once injurious to the true interests and disgusting to the sound judgment and good taste of mankind. From the example of various national societies, both ancient and mod- ern, m which the principles of aristocracy have prevailed, it has been too rashly deduced, that the mass of mankind, in all numerous and civilized communities, must necessarily be corrupt, gross, ignorant, and depraved. It remains for America (and God grant it be her happy destiny) to teach a difl'ercnt and nobler lesson to the world. The recent institutions of infant schools, which have so won- derfully contributed to render the imitative disposition of children subservient to their moral and intellectual advancement, and the improvements in charitable practice illustrated in the writings of Tuckcrman and Channing of Massachusetts, if diligently and generally prosecuted, appear sufllcient to intercept the growth, or extinguish the prevalence, in social life, of the worst evils of poverty and of all the debasing principles of artificial aristocracy. The condition of the poorer classes of society, demanding that their education should commence at an nee. which, among tiie wealthier classes, is generally reckoned unsusceptible of culture, NOTES. jnt spirit, and cjoncluded be- vigation of tho entry into the Romans grant- i are debarred e coast of Af- rnished large n is extended •bours of that s of weather, traced in the ' any Roman he provincial r the republic >us reflections s of the mod- every reason , which, in so : leaves us no ng statesmen I t/ie Colonial 697 ^orth Ameri. d their socia. ;ultivation of tional parent- ;al spirit and imerica (and pread, or the ^inated. As , may be the ;d willi impi- nee injurious ood taste of :nt and mod- }n too rashly lommunities, remains for and nobler lavc so won- jbscrvient to in charitable issachusctts, the growth, ty and of all the poorer at an asc, e of culture, nnif r ?dmmi8tored to large numbers of them together, was lone ac- counted unpropmous to the diffusion of knowledge among them. But thTLts of benevolence has recently discovered, in these very circumstances, a priS Cd tSt'ihisT''' °^>'^^,^ffi«««y --> the best effects of education.' It^may^te S?„Il ?."T in alliance Avith the true interests of democracy will dis- dXhe advlZW"' !!' g°^T'^""' '' '""^^ ««^^ *han a democratlcal one to comnlntl ^ rendering the acquisition of the elements of education legally uZft IvZ-^'"'''^ ■'^\^^'' ""^ '^^ commonwealth. "Knowledge," said the SS » u^^'^"'""^'""' ^" ^'''^''' ^ddr«^« to congress as president ?f 'the United The mea^nr^. 17'^ '^''""^''^ '^^ '"?""'* ^^'^' °^ P"''"^ happiness. In one in which Tn.T fT g«^«rn'^ent receive their impressions so immediately from Uie sense ot the community as m oui-s, it is proportionabiv essential." NOTE XXXIV. Page 559. piottn?n?h T^^'^T """." ^''''^'"^ •" America, in the beginning of the eighteenth century, by a discussion that took place in parliament with regard A U-JPV- ^''"^ employment of felons in the royal dock-yards of England. HrTwL nJl r'P"'" T' ^'""^'f ^y *''« "°"'^ of Commons, but rejected by the Thi. wn!. ' ^' f "^'"g t« d'scredit his Majesty's service in the dock-yards. Sniw ''^'"'"""^"^ '^".^^'th just displeasure by an American journalist, of whos.,- lucubrations some specimens have been preserved in Smith's Histon, of New \ZZ- ^ """!,•"" ¥«"y ^ P«^sP"rt to tho advantages of an establishrucnt in America, says this writer, the number of criminals is multiplied in Sngland ; and the misery of the industrious poor is aggravated by the discredit attad.cd to \h' only certain means of improving their condition. He maintains that this policv IS at once mischievous and insulting to tho colonial settlements; and that it 'voul'd be much less injurious, and not more unjust, to burden them with the support of a^l the decrepit or lunatic paupers in England. " There are thousands of honest men he continues, "laboring m Europe at fourpencc a day, starving in spile of all their eflorts, a dead weight t^ tho respectivo oarishcs to which thoy belong : who without any other qualifications than common sense, health, and strengU. might accumulate estates among us, as many have done already. These, and not the felons, are the men that should be sent over for the better peopling the NOTE XXXV. Page 560. From the time when one of tho earliest assemblies of North Carolina prohibited he inhabitants of that provmce from accepting commissions to sue for debts duo to foreigners, down to the present day, the North Americans have been charged with ( efic.ency of strict and honorable justice in their commercial policy, es- pecially with regard to the interests of creditors and payment of debts. To a certain extent, tho reproach is doubtless well founded. But those who have endeavoured to account for it, by supposing that the commercial morality of the Arnencans was tainted hj.ti.p. !ra\id^ inci-.tcmt k>>e Indian tr.ade, have assigned neither the mos honorab.'e -lin,- ,rl>c masf.-unpr,. ;an.i .Satis!Uotory explanation,— which may be derived, I. think,. partly f^-om tlio circliniStan^Ts mentioned in the ext and pailly from tue popnlan ^pyr(;rj,;- rind IcoOsieqiJcr.t. Was of American ," ,. .- ''*', ^^My "f y^-^iy propicarp .K;bl5)rs,.ur Hi least more akin k. the condition of debtors than of creditors j and hence, when tlie majority rules, the 698 NOTES. interests of creditors are rather reluctantly protected than cordially aided by the laws. In an aristocracy, where legislation is in the hands of a few, and these few are more akin to the class of creditors than of debtors, the pervading policy of commercial law is precisely the reverse. Men are always much more prone to prescribe than to practise wisdom and virtue. When the many rule, they legia- late mainly for themselves, and are governed chiefly by considerations of wlf- mterest, which are often illiberal and short-sighted. When the few rule, then men are legislating for others ; and however self-interested the legislators may be they are willmg enough to acquire a cheap credit by imposing on their fellow* citizens the most strictly upright and honorable regulations. It is then that the sentiments of creditors give the tone to commercial legislation, and that the duties of debtors are most strictly unfolded and enforced by law. In human society evil IS often overruled to the production of good, and good perverted to the pro' ducUon of evil. The condition of the inhabitants of North America is eminently fraught with good ; and only the controlling and purifying influence of strong Christian principle can exempt them from a proportional share of those abuses that constitute the guilt and the penalty of benefits irreligiously enjoyed. BUS OP TOtUHS I. I Jided by the id these few ig policy of )re prone to , they legis- ions of self- V rule, then ors may be, heir fellow, len that the It the duties lan society, to the pro- s eminently e of strong dose abuses d.