FRANKLIN'S MISSION TO LONDON.

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in the institutions of the state which he founded; and his memory will be cherished by a grateful people to the remotest ages.

The legislatures and governors of Pennsylvania, acting on the principles of their founder, acquired by equitable pur

chases from the Indians a most extensive and unembarrassed territory, which was rapidly filled with settlers. The only subject of disquiet in the colony, for many years, was a dispute between the governors and assembly, on the question of exempting lands of the proprietary from general taxation, a claim which the people resisted as unjust. After many disputes on this subject, the assembly deputed the celebrated Benjamin Franklin, as an agent to London, to petition the king for redress. The subject was brought before the privy council, and finally adjusted by a compromise; Franklin, as agent, entering into engagements that the taxes should be assessed in a fair and equitable manner; and the governor assenting to the bill for levying them.

After the commencement of the revolutionary war, a new constitution was adopted by the people, which excluded the proprietor from all share in the government. His claim to quit-rents was afterwards purchased for 570,000 dollars.

Pennsylvania, which, excepting Georgia, was the last of the colonies settled, had a more rapid increase than any of her competitors in wealth and population. In 1775, she possessed a population of 372,208 inhabitants, collected and raised in less than a century.

CHAPTER XVIII.

COLONISATION OF NORTH CAROLINA.

THE unsuccessful attempts of the French, under admiral Coligny, to form permanent settlements on the coast of Carolina, have already been noticed. Those which were made under Elizabeth, by Raleigh and Gilbert, have been comprised in the history of Virginia, of which colony Carolina was then considered a part. But for the removal of the settlers into Virginia, Carolina would have been the first permanent English colony in America.

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COLONISATION OF NORTH CAROLINA.

It was not till the year 1630, that Sir Robert Heath, attorney general of Charles I., obtained a patent for the region south of Virginia, bounded north by the 36th degree of north latitude, and extending to Louisiana. This immense territory was named Carolina. Heath's patent led to no settlements, however, and was consequently declared void.

Between the years 1640 and 1650, a considerable number of persons, suffering from religious intolerance in Virginia, fled beyond her limits; and, without a grant from any quarter, settled that portion of North Carolina which lies north of Albemarle Sound. They found a mild climate and a fertile soil; and, as their cattle and swine procured their own subsistence in the woods and multiplied rapidly, they were able to live in comparative ease and abundance. They acknowledged no sovereign, and obeyed no laws, but such as resulted from their own sense of right and wrong. Several families from Massachusetts settled soon after near Cape Fear, but their lands and fisheries proving unproductive, they were under the necessity of obtaining relief from their parent colony.

The final settlement of Carolina originated with Lord Clarendon, and other courtiers of Charles II. On their application for a charter, he granted them, in 1663, all the lands lying between the 31st and 36th degrees of north latitude, and extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The charter granted the usual power to make laws, with the approbation of the freemen of the colony; and reserved to the crown the right of sovereignty. Religious freedom was also specially provided for.

The proprietors, by virtue of this charter, claimed all the lands of Carolina, and jurisdiction over all who had settled on them. The settlers in Albemarle, being placed under the superintendence of Sir William Berkeley, goveror of Virginia, he visited the colony, confirmed the land titles, appointed civil officers, authorised the calling of a general assembly, and, when these arrangements were completed, intrusted the government to Mr. Drummond.

The inhabitants of Albemarle were not satisfied with the new order of things. They petitioned to hold their lands on the same tenure as lands were held in Virginia; and, not receiving a favourable answer, they broke out in insurrection, and remained in open revolt for nearly two years;

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but they returned to their allegiance on receiving assurance that their petition was granted, and that Samuel Stephens, who, in 1667, had been appointed governor, would give them lands in Albemarle, on the same terms as the lands were usually granted in Virginia. A constitution was at the same time fixed, providing for the annual election of a legislature, the appointment of the governor and half the council by the proprietors, and the right of the assembly to regulate taxation. In 1669, governor Stephens convoked the first assembly under this constitution.

It was in the same year that the Earl of Shaftesbury, being commissioned to prepare the fundamental constitutions of Carolina, employed, for that purpose, the celebrated John Locke, His system, however, was found to be totally inapplicable to the purposes for which it was designed. It was ultimately abrogated by consent of the legislature.

Meantime some settlers near Cape Fear were formed into a separate county, with the name of Clarendon, under the direction of Sir John Yeamans, as commander in chief. North Carolina was, in fact, divided into two distinct colonies, Albemarle and Clarendon, with a governor to each; but this arrangement was not of long duration.

In 1670, William Sayle, being sent out by the proprietors of North Carolina, settled at Port Royal; and, in the following year, being dissatisfied, he formed another settlement on the banks of the Cooper and Ashley rivers, which, in honour of the king, was called Charlestown. This ultimately led to the establishment of a separate colony, which was called South Carolina. Sir John Yeamans was, soon after, made governor of this new colony. Clarendon and Albemarle were united, and formed the original foundation of the present state of North Carolina.

The settlers of this northern colony were scattered along the coast, the sounds, and rivers. Their progress was slow, and in 1702, the population was no more than 6000. Their prosperity was hindered by some disadvantages of local situation; but still more by civil dissensions.

In 1677, the dissatisfaction of the colonists with the measures of the deputy governor led to an open insurrection, headed by one Culpepper, who imprisoned the proprietary officers; seized the royal revenue; and, in fact, exercised all the powers of an independent government. After two years of successful revolt, the insurgents, apprehending an

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CULPEPPER'S INSURRECTION.

invasion from Virginia, sent Culpepper and Holden to England to offer submission, on condition of having their past proceedings ratified. But Culpepper was seized, and tried for high treason. The influence of Lord Shaftesbury saved him from conviction; and the proprietaries sent out Seth Sothel, to restore order in the colony. His administration was utterly corrupt and tyrannical; and the inhabitants, after six years' endurance of his oppression, seized him, in order to send him to England for trial; but, at his request, he was detained and tried by the assembly, who banished him from the colony. He was succeeded by Philip Ludwell. After this event, we find few transactions, of much interest, in the colony, excepting the arrival of some German settlers at Roanoke, in 1710, until the year 1712, when the Tuscarora and Coree Indians, alarmed at the increase of the white population, formed a conspiracy for destroying the colony by a general massacre. Twelve hundred warriors united in this plot, and agreed to commence their attack on the same night. When the time came, they severally entered the houses of the planters; asked for provisions; and, affecting to be displeased with them, murdered men, women, and children, without distinction or mercy. Their measures were taken with such secresy and despatch, that no alarm was spread until each house was the scene of a murderous tragedy. At Roanoke, one hundred and thirtyseven of the settlers were massacred. A few escaped to the other settlements; and they were placed in a posture of defence until assistance should arrive from South Carolina.

Colonel Barnwell, of South Carolina, was sent, with 600 militia, and 366 Indians, to their relief. After marching through a wilderness of 200 miles, he arrived at the encampment of the Indians, attacked and defeated them, killing 300 of their number, and taking 100 prisoners. The survivors sued for peace. Hostilities were soon after again renewed, and the Indians suffered another terrible defeat from a party under Colonel James Moore. Disheartened by these repeated disasters, the Tuscaroras abandoned their ancient haunts, and migrating to the north, united themselves with the Five Nations, constituting the sixth of that famous confederacy.

After South Carolina was settled, that colony and North Carolina had remained distinct, so far as to have separate governors and assemblies; but they have remained under

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the same proprietors. In 1729, seven of the proprietors sold their rights, and they were completely separated. This measure promoted the peace, security, and happiness of both colonies. The last of the proprietary governors of North Carolina was Sir Richard Everhard. The first royal governor was George Barrington.

The population of North Carolina increased but slowly for the first hundred years. About the middle of the eighteenth eentury, it was ascertained that the lands of the interior were far more fertile than those on the coast. From this time emigrants, chiefly from Pennsylvania, poured into that region in great numbers, and the lands were speedily brought into a state of high cultivation. In 1775, the population of the colony was estimated at a quarter of a million.

CHAPTER XIX.

COLONISATION OF SOUTH CAROLINA.

THE reader is already apprised of the intimate connection between the history of this province and that of North Carolina. They were, for a long period, under the same proprietors; but, in all other respects, they remained from their first settlement distinct.

The first effective settlement, by Governor Sayle, was made at Port Royal, in 1670. He was accompanied by Joseph West, 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 long depended for their foreign supplies. The settlers brought with them the famous constitution prepared by John Locke; but on arriving at their destination, they found it to be more applicable to an old and populous, than a new and unsettled country. The order of nobles, which it permitted, would have compromised their dignity by hard labour on the soil, to which every man in the colony seemed destined. The colonists resolved, however, as they could not 'execute the grand model,' 'that they would come as nigh to it as possible.' They accordingly elected a council and delegates; and invested them with legislative and executive powers.

M