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heavily taxed as the rich, but unless he was a landholder CHAP. he had no vote.

XII.

The profligate Charles gave Virginia to two of his 1678. favorites-Arlington and Culpepper; the latter soon after purchased the claim of the former. The king appointed Culpepper governor for life. He came authorized to heal differences between the people and the government, but he used 1680. the power for his own interest alone; he valued Virginia only in proportion to the money his rapacity could extort; even the soldiers, sent to maintain his authority, he defrauded of their wages. When he had secured to himself the highest possible revenue, he sailed for England. The condition of the Virginians was wretched in the extreme; the rewards of their industry went to their rapacious rulers, and they, goaded to desperation, were on the point of rebellion.

Rumors of these discontents reached England, and the truant governor reluctantly left his pleasures to visit his domain. Having the authority of the king, Culpepper 1682. caused several men of influence to be hanged as traitors. The people who owned farms in the territory, given him by royal grant, he now compelled to lose their estates, or compromise by paying money. Charles had now another favorite to provide for; Culpepper was removed, and 1684. Effingham appointed. This change was even for the worse; Effingham was more needy and more avaricious.

On the accession of James II. what is known in history as Monmouth's Rebellion occurred. After its sup- 1685. pression, multitudes of those implicated in it were sent to Virginia and Maryland to be sold as servants for a term of ten years. Many of these were men of education and of good families. The House of Burgesses, to their honor be it said, declared these poor men free, though the cruel James had forbidden the exercise of such lenity.

So little were the claims of humanity respected at this time in the West of England, that it was a common occur

XII.

CHAP. rence to kidnap persons of the poorer sort, and send them to the colonies to be sold as servants for a term of years. 1685. These were principally brought to Virginia and Maryland, as there the planters required many laborers. The trade was profitable, more so than the African slave trade.

1688.

After the accession of William and Mary an effort was made to establish a college in Virginia, "to educate a domestic succession of Church of England ministers," as well as to teach the children of the Indians. The celebrated Robert Boyle made a large donation, and the king gave, in addition to three other grants, outstanding quit-rents, valued at about £2,000. Such was the foundation of the 1691. college of William and Mary.

The Rev. James Blair, said to be the first commissary sent to the colonies by the Bishop of London, "to supply the office and jurisdiction of the bishop in the out-places of the diocese,” was its president for fifty years.

Though William was thus moderately liberal, he was by no means the representative of the true feeling of his ministry; they even looked upon this pittance as uncalled for. Blair, the pious and energetic Scotchman, once urged upon Seymour, the attorney-general, the importance of establishing schools to educate ministers of the gospel. "Consider, sir," said he, "that the people of Virginia have souls to save." He was answered by a profane imprecation upon their souls, and told to "make tobacco." This pithy rebuff indicated the spirit and general policy of the home government; it valued the colonies only as a source of wealth.

For many years voluntary emigration to Virginia almost ceased. There were no inducements, no encouragement to industry, all commerce was restricted. The planters were at the mercy of the English trader; he alone was permitted to buy their tobacco and to sell them merchandise. The whole province was given over to the tender

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mercies of royal favorites and extortioners, while the CHAP. printing-press, that dread of tyrants, was still forbidden. How dearly did loyal Virginia pay for the honor of being 1685. named the "Old Dominion!"

R

The struggles of the people of Virginia under Bacon and others, had an effect on the people of Maryland. At the death of Lord Baltimore, his son and heir assumed the 1675. government, and ruled with justice till another revolution in England brought a change. The deputy-governor hesi- 1688. tated to acknowledge William and Mary. This was seized upon by some restless spirits to excite discontent in the minds of the people. Among other absurd stories, it was said that the Catholics, who were few in number, were about to invite the Indians to aid them in massacring the Protestants. At this time the Jesuits had excited the Indians of New England and Canada against the New England colonies. This gave a shadow of probability to the charge. Under the lead of some persons, who professed to be very zealous Protestants, the deputy-governor was seized, and a convention called, which deposed Lord Baltimore, and proclaimed the people the true sovereign. Two years after, 1691. King William, taking them at their word, unjustly deprived Lord Baltimore of his property, and made the colony a royal province. The people now suffered the penalty for ill treating their benevolent proprietary. The king placed over them a royal governor; changed their laws for the worse; established the Church of England, and taxed them to maintain it; did not promote education, but prohibited printing; discouraged their domestic manufactures; and finally disfranchised the Catholics, who had laid the foundation of the colony sixty years before. The rights of Lord Baltimore were afterward restored to his infant child, and the original form of government was 1716. established. No colony experienced so many vicissitudes as Maryland.

CHAPTER XIII.

COLONIZATION OF NEW YORK.

Hudson's Discoveries.-Indian Traffic.-Fort on the Isle of Manhattan.Walloons the first Settlers.-Peter Minuits.-The Patroons.-Van Twiller Governor; his Misrule.-Succeeded by Kieft.-Difficulties with the Indians.-They seek Protection; their Massacre.-Peace concluded. Stuyvesant Governor.-The Swedish Settlement on the Delaware.-Pavonia.-Threatening Rumors.-New Netherland surrendered to England.-New Jersey sold by the Duke of York.-The Influence of the Dutch.

XIII.

CHAP. WHEN there were high hopes of discovering a north-west passage to India, Henry Hudson was sent in search of it 1609. by a company of London merchants. He was unsuccessful; yet his enthusiasm was not diminished by his failure. He requested to be again sent on the same errand, but the merchants were unwilling to incur further expense. He then applied to the Dutch East India Company; the directors of which, at Amsterdam, furnished him with a ship, the HalfMoon, with liberty to exercise his own judgment in the prosecution of the enterprise. He first sailed to the north-east, away beyond the Capes of Norway, as far as the ice would permit. He saw that an effort in that direction would be fruitless. He turned to the west, crossed the Atlantic, and coasted along the continent till he found himself opposite the Capes of Virginia; then turning to the north he entered "a great bay with rivers," since known as the Delaware; still further north he passed through a narrow channel, and found himself in a beautiful bay. Here he

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remained some days. The natives, "clothed in mantles CHAP. of feathers and robes of fur," visited his ship. Their astonishment was great; they thought it was the canoe 1609. of the Great Spirit, and the white faces, so unlike themselves, were his servants. Hudson explored the bay, and noticed a large stream flowing from the north; this, thought he, leads to the Eastern Seas. That stream, called by some of the native tribes the Cahohatatea, or River of Mountains, and by others the Shatemuc, he explored for one hundred and fifty miles; it did not lead to the Eastern Seas, yet that river has immortalized the name of Henry Hudson.

What a change has come over the "River of Mountains" since he threaded his way up its stream two hundred and fifty years ago! It has become the highway to the great inland seas of a continent, upon whose bosoms float the fruits of the industry of millions; and the island at its mouth the heart of a nation's commerce, whose every throb is felt throughout that nation's length and breadth. From the highest church-steeple,1 on this Isle of Manhattan, the eye takes in a horizon containing a population 1861. two-fifths as great as that of the thirteen colonies at the time of the Declaration of Independence. There are other changes which the philanthropist loves to contemplate. Here are seen the humanizing influences of Christianity, of civilization, of intelligence, and of industry, embodied in institutions of learning, of science, and of benevolence, that pour forth their charities and blessings, not alone for this land but for others.

The coincidence is striking, that, nearly at the same time, the representatives of three nations were penetrating the wilderness and approaching each other. Champlain, on behalf of France, was exploring the northern part of New York; John Smith, one of the pioneers of English

Trinity.