CH. XIII.] EXTORTIONS OF ROYAL GOVERNORS. reduced the price of their staple, tobacco, saddled with the additional burden of supporting a body of English soldiers, forbidden even to set up a printing press, the Virginians had to bear their trials as best they might, in hope that a day of redress would sooner or later arrive. 1680. 119 led them to solicit the enforcement of a year's cessation from the planting of tobacco: the Assembly could but refer it to "the pleasure of the king,” and in the mean time the exasperated sufferers proceeded to cut up the tobacco plants. These outrages, dictated by despair, led to several executions, and laws were passed for their future suppression. After thus conducting his administration for three years, he was glad to surrender his patent and take in its place a pension of about $2,400. 1684. For a number of years subsequent the government of Virginia resembled much that of the mother country in the reckless profligacy and rapacity of those in authority. The grant of the colony to Arlington and Culpepper has been In 1684, Lord Howard, of Effingham, already mentioned. The latter noble- succeeded Culpepper as governor. He man had obtained the cession of quite surpassed his predecessor his partner's share in 1680, and in extorting money. New fees had been invested besides with the of were multiplied, and, in 1687, a court fice of governor for life, as the succes- of chancery was established, of which sor of Berkeley. The spirit of sordid the governor declared himself the sole avarice which had infected the English judge. Despotism was rapidly attaincourt had alone dictated the request of ing its climax. A frigate was stationed these privileges, and in the same spirit to enforce the stricter observation of was the administration of Culpepper the navigation laws, and an additional conducted. Compelled to repair with excise duty in England on the import reluctance from the delights of the of tobacco still further discouraged court to the government of a distant trade. The conduct of the governor province, his only indemnification was towards the Assembly became more to make the best use of the period of and more arbitrary, until scarcely the his banishment. He carried out with shadow of popular liberty was left. him a general amnesty for the recent Such was the condition of affairs in political offences, and an act for increas- Virginia at the accession of the last of ing the royal revenue by additional du- the Stuarts. Alarming symptoms of ties. He obtained a salary of $8,000, insubordination having appeared, not double that of Berkeley's, and still fur- only among the body of the people, ther contrived to swell his emoluments, but even in the Assembly itself, who and to satisfy his greediness, by means presumed to question the veto of the of perquisites and peculations. The governor, that body, by order of the pinch began to be severely felt even arbitrary monarch, was summarily disby the most ardent loyalists, and symp- solved. But the same spirit that was toms of opposition arose in the Assembly about to hurl James II. from the Engitself. The misery of the planters had | lish throne was now fully awakened such a determination to maintain its privileges, that the governor, counting upon the royal support, determined, after a brief experience of its temper, to dissolve it upon his own authority; upon which they deputed Ludwell, formerly conspicuous among the most influential loyalists, to proceed to England and complain of his conduct.. 1664. Philip Calvert, as before stated, (p. 83), had become firmly established in the government of Maryland in 1660. For some years subsequent to this everything went on prosperously and harmoniously. The settlements gradually extended, and the prospect of increase in wealth and population was bright and cheering. Lord Baltimore endeavored to establish his claim to jurisdiction even to the banks of the Delaware; but he found the officers of the Duke of York quite as unwilling to yield to him in this, as the Dutch had been when they were in possession of New Netherland. As in Virginia, the cultivation of tobacco was the principal staple; a great impulse was given to its increase by the introduction of slave labor, and a proportionable discouragement was the result of the navigation act, which cut off a valuable revenue to the 1671. colony from the impost on tobacco exported in Dutch vessels. Following the example of Virginia, a tax of two shillings per hogshead was laid upon all tobacco exported, one half of which went to defray colonial expenses, the other half was a personal revenue to the proprietary. 1676. Lord Baltimore's wise and prudent measures had rendered Maryland more successful to the proprietary, than any other of the American colonies. In his old age he obtained a handsome return for his heavy outlays. At his death the province had ten counties, with about 16,000 inhabit ants, the largest part of whom were Protestants. This fact led to the addressing of a letter, by the Rev. Mr. Yeo of Patuxent, to the Archbishop of Canterbury, complaining as well of the low state of morals in the colony, as of the fact that the clergy of the Church of England had no settled incomes like their Virginia brethren; consequently their position was neither so respectable, nor so well calculated to effect good, as it ought to be. When, after Lord Baltimore's death, his successor repaired to England, earnest attempts were made by the Bishop of London-under whose jurisdiction the colonies were placed— to induce Lord Baltimore to provide maintenance for the Church of England clergy, a claim which he was enabled with some difficulty to resist. The popular feeling of the time was, however, so unfavorable to Roman Catholics, both in England and in the colony itself, that an order was sent out by Charles II. to confine the possession of office to Protestants alone, a stretch of authority evidently unauthorized by the terms of the charter granted to his father, which exempted the proprietary 1678. CH. XIV.] PROGRESS OF MARYLAND. from any control on the part of the crown. This requisition of the king met with little attention in Maryland. It was while Lord Baltimore was in England that a Protestant excitement was raised in the colony against the proprietary on the ground of his being a Papist. Fendal, the former governor, took the lead in this matter, he being experienced in managing in times of civil commotion. The proprietary, however, hastened his return, and soon succeeded in putting an end to 1681. the insurrection. Fendal was arrested, tried, found guilty of sedition, and banished. Although James II. was an avowed, as Charles II. was a secret, Romanist, yet his accession was by no means favorable to the Roman Catholic pro 121 prietary of Maryland. On the contrary, he was disposed to favor the 1685. Quaker William Penn, far more, and in the disputes about the boundaries, Lord Baltimore was compelled to yield to his neighbor's claims. Even the charter of Maryland, like other charters at the time, was not safe; and despite Lord Baltimore's remonstrances and appeals, a writ of Quo Warranto was issued against it. He hastened to England to de- 1688. fend his rights, but before the question was settled, the abandonment of the throne by James II. placed this and all other matters of the kind on an entirely new footing. We shall see, as we proceed, the effect of the political changes in England upon the American colonies. CAROLINAS. Measures Heath's patent in 1630-Settlements about 1660 - The proprietaries -- Provisions of the charter adopted towards the settlers - Albemarle · Clarendon Second charter - George Fox's preaching - The "Grand Model" of John Locke Outline of its plan-Emigrants under Sayle - Spanish intrigues - Discontents — Emigration under Yeamans's governorship - Proprietaries dissatisfied - Increase in population North Carolina affairs Disturbances for some years - Seth Sothel's career-The buccaneers -Favored by the Carolinians-James II. and the Quo Warranto-Further troubles in South Carolina Sothel again Progress of North and South Carolina. THE disastrous results of the attempts | a settlement on the coast. The efforts on the part of the French to found a colony on the shores of Florida have already been narrated. Spain had Spain had never relinquished her title to that region, yet she had made no progress in colonization beyond here and there VOL. I.-18 made by Raleigh and Gilbert had been called Carolana, does not appear to have led to any settlement. Heath's patent was subsequently declared void, the conditions on which it was granted not having been fulfilled. Different points, however, in this fertile region, were, during the following fifteen or twenty years, occupied by bands of emigrants. Certain persons, suffering from religious difficulties in Virginia, fled beyond her limits and occupied a portion of the country on the banks of the Chowan, north of Albemarle Sound. A small party of adventurers from New England settled near the mouth of Cape Fear River, about 1660; but as the land was not found to be productive, and the neighboring Indians were not well disposed, the greater part of the emigrants soon after returned home; to the honor of Massachusetts it must be stated, that contributions were forwarded, in 1667, to the relief of those who remained, and who had fallen into great distress. 1660. 1665. Soon after the Restoration, a body of noblemen of the highest rank, the Earl of Clarendon, Monk, Duke of Albemarle, Lords Berkeley, Craven, and Ashley, Sir George Cartaret, Sir John Colleton, and Sir William Berkeley, governor of Virginia, "excited," as they declared, "by a laudable and pious zeal for the propagation 1663. of the Gospel, 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." Charles II. readily granted their petition, and erected out of the territory south of the Chesapeake the new province of CAROLINA, embracing the region from Albemarle Sound, southward to the River St. John's, and westward to the Pacific. The charter empowered the eight joint proprietaries, named above, to enact and publish any laws which they should judge necessary, with the assent, advice, and approbation of the freemen of the colony; to erect courts of judicature, and appoint civil judges, magistrates, and officers; to erect forts, castles, cities, and towns; to make war, and, in cases of necessity, to exercise martial law; to build harbors, make ports, and enjoy customs and subsidies, imposed with the consent of the freemen, on goods loaded and unloaded. the provisions of this charter deserves particular notice. The king authorized the proprietaries to allow the inhabitants of the province such indulgences and dispensations in religious affairs, as they, in their discretion, should think proper and reasonable: and no person, to whom such liberty should be granted, was to be molested, punished, or called in question, for any differences in speculative opinions with respect to religion, provided he disturbed not the civil order and peace of the community. One of The first object of the proprietaries naturally was to conciliate the settlers from New England and Virginia, who were already on the ground. Very liberal terms were offered to the former of these, such as a hundred acres of land to each free settler, liberty of conscience, a distinct and recognized share in the government, etc.; but for reasons just now stated the colony at CH. XIV.] 1664. SETTLEMENTS AT ALBEMARLE AND CLARENDON. Cape Fear did not prove successful, and fresh emigrants from New England were not attracted to the new province. Towards the Virginia settlers on the Sound, which, with the surrounding district, now received the name of Albemarle, and who were supposed by the proprietaries to be "a more facile people" than the New Englanders, Berkeley, upon whom the jurisdiction had been conferred, was instructed to be somewhat less liberal in his concessions. But to a body, many of whom had fled malcontent from Virginia, and with whose temper he was well acquainted, he judged it expedient to behave with caution. Making therefore the tenure of land as easy as possible, and appointing as governor the popular William Drummond, the same who afterwards shared and suffered death in Bacon's rebellion, he made no attempt at further interference in the concerns of the settlers. We are sorry to say that the noble proprietaries made no provision for the spiritual interests of the colonists, or for the conversion of the Indians, although the spread of the Gospel had been one of their professed objects in asking a grant of the territory. Some planters from Barbadoes, having examined the coast of Carolina, entered into an agreement with the proprietaries to remove to the neighborhood of Cape Fear River, near the neglected settlement of the New Englanders. Sir John Yeamans, one of their number, was appointed 1665. governor of the new district, which received the name of Clarendon. He was especially directed to "make 123 things easy to the people of New Eng land, from which the greatest emigrations were expected;" an instruction which he carried out so wisely, as soon to incorporate the remains of the old settlement. He also opened a profitable trade in boards and shingles with the island whence he had emigrated, and arranged the general affairs of the little colony with great prudence and a fair measure of success. The proprietaries of Carolina, on further acquaintance with the geography of that region, were desirous of making still larger additions to their territory. ritory. Accordingly, in June, 1665, they obtained a second charter which extended the limits of Carolina both northwardly and southwardly; and by an additional grant in 1667, the Bahama Islands were also con- 1667. veyed to the same proprietaries. Accessions from Virginia and New England continued to be made to the settlement at Albemarle; and under Stevens, who succeeded Drummond as governor, the first laws were enacted by an Assembly com- 1669. posed of the governor and council, with twelve delegates chosen by the settlers. A few years afterwards, the proprietaries, by a solemn grant, confirmed the settlers in the possession of their lands, and gave them the right to nominate six councillors in addition to the six named by the proprietaries. About the same date, the famous George Fox, the founder of the Quaker sect, visited the settlement at Albemarle, and by his preaching and efforts, he gave a strong impulse to Quakerism in that vicinity. |