27. On the death of Charles VI. of Austria, in 1740, there were two claimants to the crown of the empire—Maria Theresa, daughter of the late emperor, and Charles Albert of Bavaria. Each claimant had his party and his army; war followed; and nearly all the nations of Europe were swept into the conflict. England and France were arrayed against each other. The contest that ensued is generally known as the War of the Austrian Succession, but in American history is called King George's War, for George II. was now king of England. In America the only important event of the war was the capture of Louisburg, on Cape Breton Island.

28. In 1748 a treaty of peace was concluded at Aix-la-Chapelle, a town of western Germany. Nothing was gained but a restoration of conquests. Not a single boundary line was settled by the treaty. The real war between France and England for supremacy in the West was yet to be fought.

29. The history of Massachusetts has now been traced through a period of one hundred and thirty years. A few words on the Character of the Puritans may be added. They were a vigorous and hardy people, firm-set in the principles of honesty and virtue. They were sober, industrious, frugal; resolute, zealous, and steadfast. They esteemed truth more than riches. Loving home and native land, they left both for the sake of freedom; and finding freedom, they cherished it with the devotion of martyrs. Despised and hated, they rose above their revilers. In the school of evil fortune they gained the discipline of patience. They were the children of adversity and the fathers of renown.

30. The gaze of the Puritan was turned ever to posterity. He believed in the future. For his children he toiled and sacrificed. The system of free schools is the monument of his love. The printing-press is his memorial. Almshouses and asylums are the tokens of his care for the unfortunate. He was the earliest champion of civil rights, and the builder of the Union.

31. In matters of religion, the fathers of New England were sometimes intolerant and superstitious. Their religious faith was gloomy. Human life was deemed a sad, a miserable journey. To be mistaken was to sin. To fail in trifling ceremonies was reckoned a crime. In the shadow of such belief the people became austere and melancholy. They set up a cold and severe form of worship. Dissenters themselves, they could not tolerate the dissent of others. To punish error seemed to the Pilgrims right and necessary. But Puritanism contained within itself the power to correct its own abuses. The evils of the system may well be forgotten in the glory of its achievements. Without the Puritans, America would have been a delusion and liberty only a name.

CHAPTER XIV.

4. In 1628 the population of Manhattan numbered two hundred and seventy. The settlers engaged in the fur-trade. In 1629 the West India Company framed a Charter of Privileges, under which a class of proprietors, called patroons, were authorized to colonize the country. The conditions were that each patroon should purchase his lands of the Indians; and that he should establish a colony of not less than fifty persons. Five estates were immediately laid out. Three of them were on the Hudson; the fourth, on Staten Island; and the fifth, in the southern half of Delaware.

5. In April of 1633 Wouter van Twiller became Governor. Three months previously the Dutch erected a block-house at Hartford. In October an armed vessel from Plymouth sailed up the Connecticut, and defied the Dutch commander. The English proceeded up stream to the mouth of the Farmington, where they built Fort Windsor. Two years later, by the building of Saybrook, at the mouth of the Connecticut, they obtained control of the river above and below the Dutch fort.

6. In 1626 Gustavus Adolphus, the Protestant king of Sweden, formed the design of establishing settlements in America. But before his plans could be carried into effect, he was killed in battle. In 1632, the Swedish minister took up the work which his master had left unfinished; and, after four years, the enterprise was brought to a successful issue.

7. Late in 1637 a company of Swedes and Finns left the harbor of Stockholm, and in the following February arrived in Delaware Bay. The name of New Sweden was given to the territory. On the left bank of a small tributary of the Brandywine, a spot was chosen for the settlement. The immigrants soon provided themselves with houses. The creek and the fort were both named Christiana, in honor of the maiden queen of Sweden. In a short time the banks of the bay and river were dotted with pleasant hamlets.

8. The authorities of New Amsterdam were jealous of the Swedish colony. Sir William Kieft, who had succeeded Van Twiller, warned the settlers of their intrusion on Dutch territory. But the Swedes went on enlarging their borders.

9. In 1640 New Netherland became involved in a war with the Indians. New Amsterdam was soon put in a state of defense, and a company of militia was sent against the savages. On both sides the war degenerated into treachery and murder. Through the mediation of Roger Williams a truce was obtained, but was immediately broken.

10. Soon a party of Mohawks came down the river to enforce their supremacy over the Algonquins in the vicinity of New Amsterdam. The latter begged assistance of the Dutch. Kieft now saw an opportunity for wholesale destruction. A company of soldiers set out from Manhattan, and discovered the camp of the Algonquins. The place was surrounded by night, and nearly a hundred of the poor wretches were killed by those to whom they had appealed for help. When it was known among the tribes that the Dutch, and not the Mohawks, were the authors of this outrage, the war was renewed with fury.

11. In 1643 Captain John Underhill, of Massachusetts, was appointed to command the Dutch forces. He first invaded New Jersey, and brought the Delawares into subjection. A decisive battle was fought on Long Island; and at Greenwich, in western Connecticut, the power of the Indians was finally broken. On the 30th of August, 1645, a treaty was concluded at Fort Amsterdam.

12. In 1647 the West India Company revoked Governor Kieft's commission, and appointed Peter Stuyvesant to succeed him. Kieft embarked for Europe, but perished during the voyage. Peter Stuyvesant entered upon his duties on the 11th of May, 1647, and continued in office for seventeen years. His first care was to conciliate the Indians. So intimate and cordial became the relations between the natives and the Dutch, that they were suspected of making common cause against the English. Massachusetts was alarmed lest such an alliance should be formed. But the policy of Stuyvesant was based on nobler principles.

13. Until now the West India Company had exclusive control of the commerce of New Netherland. In 1648 this monopoly was abolished, and regular export duties were substituted. The benefit of the change was soon apparent in the improvement of the Dutch province.

14. In a letter written to Stuyvesant by the secretary of the company, the prediction was made that the commerce of New Amsterdam would cover every ocean, and the ships of all nations crowd into her harbor. But for many years the growth of the city was slow. The better parts of Manhattan Island were still divided among the farmers. Central Park was a forest of oaks and chestnuts.

15. In 1650 the boundary was fixed between New England and New Netherland. The line extended across Long Island north and south, passing through Oyster Bay, and thence to Greenwich, on the other side of the Sound. From this point northward the dividing line was nearly identical with the present boundary of Connecticut on the west. This treaty was ratified by the colonies, by the West India Company, and by the States-General of Holland.

16. Stuyvesant now determined to subdue the colony of New Sweden. In 1651 an armament left New Amsterdam for the Delaware, and made an unsuccessful expedition. In September of 1655 the old governor again sailed against New Sweden. Before the 25th of the month every fort belonging to the Swedes had been forced to surrender. Honorable terms were granted to all, and in a few days the authority of New Netherland was established. The little State of New Sweden had ceased to exist.

17. While Stuyvesant was absent on his expedition against the Swedes, the Algonquins rose in rebellion. In a fleet of sixty-four canoes, they appeared before New Amsterdam, yelling and discharging arrows, then they went on shore and began to burn and murder. The return of the Dutch from Delaware induced the chiefs to sue for peace, which Stuyvesant granted on better terms than the Indians deserved.

18. In 1663 the town of Kingston was attacked and destroyed by the Indians. Sixty-five of the inhabitants were tomahawked or carried into captivity. To punish this outrage a strong force was sent from New Amsterdam. The Indians fled to the woods; but the Dutch soldiers pursued them to their villages, burned their wigwams, and killed every warrior who could be overtaken. In May of 1664 a treaty of peace was concluded.

19. Governor Stuyvesant had great difficulty in defending his province against the claims of other nations. Discord at home added to his embarrassments. For many years the Dutch had witnessed the growth and prosperity of the English colonies. Boston had outgrown New Amsterdam. The schools of Massachusetts and Connecticut flourished; the academy on Manhattan, after a sickly career of two years, was discontinued. In New Netherland heavy taxes were levied for the support of the poor; New England had no poor. The Dutch attributed their own want of thrift to the mismanagement of the West India Company.

20. On the 12th of March, 1664, the duke of York received from Charles II. a patent for the whole country between the Connecticut and the Delaware. The duke made haste to secure his territory. An English squadron was immediately sent to America. On the 28th of August the fleet anchored before New Amsterdam. Governor Stuyvesant convened the Dutch council, and exhorted them to rouse to action and fight. Some one replied that the West India Company was not worth fighting for. The brave old man was forced to sign the capitulation; and on the 8th of September, 1664, New Netherland ceased to exist.

21. The English flag was hoisted over the fort and town, and the name of New York was substituted for New Amsterdam. The remaining Swedish and Dutch settlements soon capitulated. The supremacy of Great Britain in America was finally established. From Maine to Georgia, every mile of the American coast was under the flag of England.

CHAPTER XV.

3. In 1672 Charles II. was induced by the king of France to begin a war with Holland. The struggle extended to the colonies, and New York was for a short time revolutionized. But the conquest was only a brief military occupation of the country. The civil authority of the Dutch was never reestablished. In 1674 Charles II. was obliged to conclude a treaty of peace. All conquests made during the war were restored. New York reverted to the English government, and the rights of the duke of York were again recognized in the province. Sir Edmund Andros was now appointed governor. On the last day of October the Dutch forces were finally withdrawn, and Andros assumed control of the government.

4. It was a sad sort of government for the people. All the abuses of Lovelace's administration were revived. Taxes were levied without authority of law, and the protests of the people were treated with scorn. A popular legislative assembly was demanded, but the duke of York wrote to Andros that popular assemblies were dangerous to the government, and that he did not see any use for them.

5. In July of 1675 Andros made an unsuccessful effort to extend his authority over Connecticut, and later an equally ineffectual attempt to gain control of New Jersey. The representatives of the people at this latter place declared themselves to be under the protection of the Great Charter, which not even the duke of York could alter or annul. In August of 1682 the "Territories" beyond the Delaware were granted by the Duke of York to William Penn. This little district, first settled by the Swedes, afterwards conquered by the Dutch, then transferred to England, was now finally separated from New York and joined to the new province of Pennsylvania.

6. For thirty years the people had been clamoring for a general assembly. At last the duke of York yielded to the demand. Then, for the first time, the people of the province were permitted to choose their own rulers and to frame their own laws. The new assembly made haste to declare THE PEOPLE to be a part of the government. All freeholders were granted the right of suffrage; trial by jury was established; taxes should not be levied except by the assembly; soldiers should not be quartered on the people; martial law should not exist; no person should be persecuted on account of his religion.

7. In July of 1684 the governors of New York and Virginia were met by the chiefs of the Iroquois at Albany, and the terms of a lasting peace were settled. In 1685 the duke of York became king of England. It was soon found that even a monarch could violate his pledges. King James became the enemy of the government which had been established in his American province. The legislature of New York was dismissed. An odious tax was levied. Printing-presses were forbidden; and the old abuses were revived.

8. When the news of the accession of William of Orange reached New York there was great rejoicing. The people rose in rebellion against deputy-governor Nicholson, who was glad to escape to England. The leader of the insurrection was Captain Jacob Leisler. He was appointed commandant of New York, and afterwards provisional governor. The councilors, who were friends of the deposed Nicholson, left the city and went to Albany. Here the party opposed to Leisler organized a second provisional government. Both factions began to rule in the name of William and Mary, the new sovereigns of England. Such was the condition of affairs at the beginning of King William's War. In the spring of 1690, the authority of Leisler as governor of New York was recognized throughout the province.

9. In March, 1691, Colonel Sloughter arrived, with appointment as governor; and Leisler, on the same day, tendered his submission. He wrote a letter to Sloughter, expressing a desire to surrender the post to the governor. But Sloughter preferred to treat him as a traitor, and had him seized and sent to prison.

10. As soon as the government was organized the prisoner was brought to trial. It was decided that he had been a usurper. Sentence of death was passed on him, but Sloughter hesitated to put the sentence into execution. In this state of affairs the governor was invited to a banquet by the royal councilors; and when heated with drink, the death-warrant was thrust before him for his signature. He succeeded in signing his name to the parchment; and before his drunken revel had passed away, his victim had met his fate. On the 16th of May Leisler was taken from prison and hanged.

11. In 1696 New York was invaded by the French. But they were soon driven back by the English and Iroquois. Before a second invasion could be undertaken, King William's War was ended. In 1697 the Irish earl of Bellomont became governor. His administration was the happiest in the history of the colony. Massachusetts and New Hampshire were under his jurisdiction, but Connecticut and Rhode Island remained independent.

12. To Bellomont's administration belongs the story of Captain William Kidd, the pirate. A vessel was fitted out by a company of distinguished Englishmen to protect the commerce of Great Britain and to punish piracy. Governor Bellomont was one of the proprietors, and Kidd received a commission as captain. The ship sailed from England before Bellomont's departure for New York. Soon the news came that Kidd himself had turned pirate and become the terror of the seas. For two years he continued his career, then appeared publicly in the streets of Boston, was seized, sent to England, tried, convicted, and hanged.

13. In May of 1702 Bellomont was superseded by Lord Cornbury. A month previously the proprietors of New Jersey had surrendered their province to the English Crown. All obstacles being thus removed, the two colonies were formally united in one government under Cornbury. For thirty-six years the two provinces continued under the jurisdiction of a single governor.

14. In 1732, New York was troubled with a dispute about the freedom of the press. The liberal party of the province held that a public journal might criticise the acts of the administration. The aristocratic party opposed such liberty as dangerous to good government. Zenger, an editor who published criticisms on the governor, was seized and put in prison. Great excitement ensued. The people praised their champion. Andrew Hamilton, a lawyer of Philadelphia, went to New York to defend Zenger, who was brought to trial in July of 1735. The cause was heard, and the jury brought in a verdict of acquittal. The aldermen of New York, in order to testify their appreciation of Hamilton's services, made him a present of an elegant gold box, and the people were enthusiastic over their victory.

15. In the year 1741 occurred what is known as the Negro Plot. Negroes constituted a large fraction of the people. Several fires occurred, and the slaves were suspected of having kindled them; now they became feared and hated. A rumor was started that the negroes had made a plot to burn the city, and set up one of their own number as governor. The reward of freedom was offered to any slave who would reveal the plot. Many witnesses rushed forward; the jails were filled with the accused; and more than thirty of the miserable creatures, with hardly the form of a trial, were convicted and then hanged or burned to death. Others were transported and sold as slaves in foreign lands. As soon as the excitement had subsided, it came to be doubted whether the whole affair had not been the result of terror and fanaticism. The verdict of after times has been that there was no plot at all.

16. Such is the history of the little colony planted on Manhattan Island. A hundred and thirty years had passed since the first feeble settlements were made; the valley of the Hudson was filled with farms and villages. The Walloons of Flanders and the Puritans of New England had blended into one people. Discord and contention had only resulted in colonial liberty. There were other struggles through which the sons of New York had to pass before they gained their freedom. But the oldest and greatest of the Middle Colonies had entered upon a glorious career, and the foundations of an Empire State were laid.

CHAPTER XVI.

2. In October of 1635 a colony of sixty persons from Boston settled at Hartford, Windsor, and Wethersfield. Earlier in the same year the younger Winthrop, son of the governor of Massachusetts, arrived in New England. Under his direction a fort was built at the mouth of the Connecticut. Such was the founding of Saybrook, named in honor of Lord Say-and-Seal and Lord Brooke.

3. To the early annals of Connecticut belongs the sad story of the Pequod War. The country west of the Thames was more thickly peopled with savages than any other portion of New England. The warlike Pequods were able to muster seven hundred warriors. The whole force of the English did not amount to two hundred men. But the superior numbers of the savages were more than balanced by the courage and weapons of the English. In the year 1633 the crew of a trading-vessel were murdered on the banks of the Connecticut. An Indian embassy went to Boston to apologize; a treaty was made, and the Pequods acknowledged the king of England. But soon they began to violate the treaty. Outrages were committed, and war began in earnest.

4. In this state of affairs the Pequods attempted to induce the Narragansetts and the Mohegans to join in a war against the English. But Roger Williams, now in Rhode Island, used his endeavors to thwart the alliance. Embarking alone in a canoe, he crossed the bay to the house of Canonicus, king of the Narragansetts. There he found the ambassadors of the Pequods. For three days and nights, at the peril of his life, he pleaded with Canonicus to reject the proposals of the hostile tribe. At last his efforts were successful, and the Narragansetts voted to remain at peace. The Mohegans also rejected the proposed alliance. In the mean time, repeated acts of violence had aroused the colony. On the 1st of May the towns of Connecticut declared war. Sixty volunteers were put under command of Captain John Mason, of Hartford. Seventy Mohegans joined the expedition; and Sir Henry Vane sent Captain Underhill with twenty soldiers from Boston.

5. The descent from Hartford to Saybrook occupied one day. On the 20th of the month the expedition passed the mouth of the Thames; here was the principal seat of the Pequod nation. When the savages saw the squadron go by they set up shouts of exultation, and persuaded themselves that the English were afraid to hazard battle. The fleet proceeded quietly into Narragansett Bay. Here the troops landed and began their march into the country of the Pequods.

6. On the 25th of May the troops came within hearing of the Pequod fort. The warriors spent the night in uproar and jubilee. At two o'clock in the morning the English soldiers rose from their places of concealment and rushed forward to the fort. A dog ran howling among the wigwams, and the warriors sprang to arms. The English leaped over the puny palisades and began the work of death. "Burn them!" shouted Mason, seizing a flaming mat, and running among the cabins; and in a few minutes the wigwams were a sheet of flame. The English and Mohegans hastily withdrew.

7. The savages ran round and round like wild beasts in a burning circus. If one of the wretched creatures burst through the flames it was only to meet certain death. The destruction was complete. Only seven warriors escaped; seven others were made prisoners. Six hundred men, women, and children perished, nearly all being burned to death. The remnants of the Pequods were pursued into the swamps west of Saybrook. Every wigwam was burned and every field laid waste. Two hundred fugitives were hunted to death or captivity. The prisoners were distributed as servants among the Narragansetts, or sold as slaves.

8. In the pursuit of the Pequods, the English became acquainted with the coast west of the mouth of the Connecticut. Here some men of Boston tarried over winter, built cabins, and founded New Haven. In June of 1639 the men of New Haven held a convention in a barn, and adopted the Bible for a constitution. The government was called the House of Wisdom, and none but church members were admitted to citizenship.

9. In 1643 Connecticut became a member of the Union of New England. New Haven was also admitted; and in the next year Saybrook was annexed to Connecticut. In 1650 Governor Stuyvesant met the commissioners of the province at Hartford, and established the western boundary.

10. On the restoration of monarchy in England, Connecticut recognized King Charles as rightful sovereign. The younger Winthrop was sent as ambassador to London to procure a royal patent for the colony. He bore with him a charter which had been prepared by the authorities of Hartford. Lord Say-and-Seal and the earl of Manchester lent their influence to induce the king to sign it. Winthrop showed him a ring which Charles I. had given to Winthrop's grandfather; and the token so moved the monarch's feelings that in a careless moment he signed the colonial charter—the most liberal and ample ever granted by an English king.

11. When Winthrop returned to Connecticut he was chosen governor of the colony, and continued in office for fourteen years. The civil institutions of the province were the best in New England. Peace reigned. During King Philip's War, Connecticut was saved from invasion. Not a hamlet was burned, not a life lost within her borders.

12. In October of 1687 Andros, now governor of all New England, made his famous visit to Hartford. On the day of his arrival he invaded the assembly while in session, seized the book of minutes, and wrote Finis at the bottom of the page. He then demanded the surrender of the colonial charter. Governor Treat pleaded earnestly for the preservation of the document. Andros was inexorable. The shades of evening fell. How Joseph Wadsworth carried away and concealed the precious parchment has been told in the history of Massachusetts. When the government of Andros was overthrown, Connecticut, with the other New England colonies, regained her liberty.

13. "I give these books for the founding of a college in this colony." Such were the words of ten ministers who, in 1700, assembled at Branford, New Haven. Each of them, as he uttered the words, deposited a few volumes on the table where they were sitting; such was the founding of Yale College. In 1702 the school was opened at Saybrook, where it continued for fifteen years, and was then removed to New Haven. One of the most liberal patrons of the college was Elihu Yale, from whom the institution took its name. Common schools already existed in almost every village of Connecticut.

14. The half century preceding the French and Indian war was a time of prosperity in the western parts of New England. Connecticut was especially favored. Peace reigned throughout her borders. The farmer reaped his fields in cheerfulness and hope. The mechanic made glad his dusty shop with anecdote and song. The merchant feared no tariff, the villager no taxes. Want was unknown, and pauperism unheard of. With fewer dark pages in her history, Connecticut had all the lofty purposes and noble virtues of Massachusetts.

15. In June of 1636 the exiled Roger Williams left the country of the Wampanoags, and passed down the Seekonk to Narragansett River. With his five companions he landed on the western bank, purchased the soil of the Narragansetts, and laid the foundations of Providence. Other exiles joined the company. New farms were laid out and new houses built. Here, at last, was found at Providence Plantation a refuge for all the persecuted.

16. The leader of the new colony was a native of Wales; born in 1606; liberally educated at Cambridge. He had been the friend of Milton, and was a great hater of ceremonies. He had been exiled to Massachusetts, and was now exiled by Massachusetts. He brought to the banks of the Narragansett the great doctrines of religious liberty and the equal rights of men.

17. The beginning of civil government in Rhode Island was equally simple. Williams was the natural ruler of the little province, but he reserved for himself no wealth, no privilege. The lands, purchased from Canonicus, were freely distributed among the colonists. Only two small fields were kept by the founder for himself. All the powers of the government were intrusted to the people. A simple agreement was made by the settlers that in matters not affecting the conscience they would yield obedience to such rules as the majority might make for the public good. In questions of religion the conscience should be to every man a guide.

18. The new government stood the test of experience. Providence Plantation had peace and quiet. It was found that all religious sects could live together in harmony. Miantonomah, chief of the Narragansetts, loved Roger Williams as a brother. It was his friendship that enabled Williams to notify Massachusetts of the Pequod conspiracy, and to defeat the plans of the hostile nation. This good deed induced his friends at Salem to make an effort to recall him from banishment; but his enemies prevented his return.

19. In 1639 a settlement was made at Portsmouth, in the northern part of the island, and at the same time a party of colonists removed to the southwestern part of the island, and laid the foundations of Newport. In sight of this last-named settlement stood the old stone tower, a monument built by the Norsemen. In March of 1641 a public meeting was convened; the citizens came together on terms of equality, and the task of framing a constitution was undertaken. In three days the instrument was completed. The government was declared to be a "Democracie." The supreme authority was lodged with the freemen of the island. The vote of the majority should always rule. No one should be distressed on account of religious doctrine. The little republic was named the Plantation of Rhode Island.

20. In 1643 Providence and Rhode Island were refused admission into the Union of New England. Soon afterward Roger Williams was sent to London to procure a charter for the new colonies. On the 14th of March in the following year the patent was granted, and Rhode Island became an independent commonwealth. With but few and brief interruptions it enjoyed peace and prosperity. The principles of the illustrious founder became the principles of the commonwealth. The renown of Rhode Island has not been in vastness of territory, in mighty cities, or in victorious armies, but in devotion to truth, justice, and freedom.

21. In 1622 the territory between the Merrimac and the Kennebec was granted by the council of Plymouth to Sir Ferdinand Gorges and John Mason. The proprietors made haste to secure their new domain by actual settlements. In the spring of 1623 two small companies of colonists were sent out by Mason and Gorges to people their province. One party of immigrants landed at Little Harbor, near Portsmouth, and began to build a village. The other company proceeded up stream and laid the foundations of Dover. With the exception of Plymouth and Weymouth, Portsmouth and Dover are the oldest towns in New England. But the progress of the settlements was slow; for many years the two villages were only fishing stations. In 1629 the name of New Hampshire was given to the province. Very soon Massachusetts began to urge her rights to the district north of the Merrimac.

22. On the 14th of April, 1642, New Hampshire was united with Massachusetts. The law restricting the rights of citizenship to church members was not extended over the new province, for the people of Portsmouth and Dover belonged to the Church of England. New Hampshire was the only colony east of the Hudson not originally founded by the Puritans. The union continued in force until 1679, when New Hampshire was separated from the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, and organized as a distinct royal province. Edward Cranfield was chosen governor.

23. Before his arrival the sawyers and lumbermen of the Piscataqua convened a general assembly at Portsmouth. A resolution was passed by the representatives that no act, law, or ordinance should be valid unless made by the assembly and approved by the people. When the king heard of this resolution he declared it to be both wicked and absurd.

24. Of all the colonies, New Hampshire suffered most from the Indian wars. Her settlements were constantly exposed to savage invasion. During King Philip's War the suffering along the frontier was very great. In the wars of William, Anne, and George the province was visited with devastation and ruin. But in the intervals of peace the spirits of the people revived, and the hardy settlers returned to their wasted farms. Out of these conflicts and trials came that sturdy race of pioneers who bore such a heroic part in the contests of after years.

CHAPTER XVII.

4. After the conquest of New York by the Dutch, and the restoration of the province to England, the duke of York received from the king a second patent for the country between the Connecticut and the Delaware. At the same time he confirmed his former grant of New Jersey to Berkeley and Carteret. But soon afterwards Sir Edmund Andros was appointed royal governor of the whole country. Carteret defended his claim against Andros; but Berkeley sold his interest in New Jersey to John Fenwick, to be held in trust for Edward Byllinge, who after a time made an assignment of his property to Gawen Laurie, Nicholas Lucas, and William Penn.

5. These men were Quakers. Here, then, was an opportunity to establish an asylum for the persecuted Friends. Penn and his associates applied to Sir George Carteret for a division of the province. It was accordingly agreed to divide New Jersey so that Carteret's district should be separated from that of the Quakers. The line of division was drawn from the southern point of land on the east side of Little Egg Harbor to a point on the Delaware in the latitude of forty-one degrees and forty minutes. The territory lying east of this line remained to Sir George as sole proprietor, and was named East Jersey; while that portion lying between the line and the Delaware was called West Jersey, and passed under the control of Penn.

6. Early in the following March the Quaker proprietors published a code of laws called The Concessions. The constitution rivaled the charter of Connecticut in the liberality of its principles. The authors of the instrument then addressed the Quakers of England, recommending the province and inviting immigration. Before the end of the year a colony of more than four hundred Friends found homes in West Jersey. An effort was now made by the proprietors of East Jersey to secure a deed of release from the duke of York. The petition was granted, and the whole territory was freed from foreign authority.

7. In November of 1681 Jennings, the deputy-governor of West Jersey, convened the first general assembly. The Quakers now met together to make their own laws. The Concessions were reaffirmed. Men of all races and religions were declared to be equal. Imprisonment for debt was forbidden. The sale of ardent spirits to the Red men was prohibited. Taxes should be voted by the representatives of the people. The lands of the Indians should be acquired by purchase. Finally, a criminal might be pardoned by the person against whom the offense was committed.

8. In 1682 William Penn and eleven other Friends purchased the province of East Jersey. The whole of New Jersey was now held by the Friends. In 1685 James II. appointed Edmund Andros royal governor of the colonies from Maine to Delaware. In 1688 the Jerseys were brought under his jurisdiction. When the news came of the abdication of the English monarch, Andros could do nothing but surrender to the indignant people.

9. But the condition of New Jersey was deplorable. It was almost impossible to tell to whom the territory rightfully belonged. Finally, in April of 1702, all proprietary claims being waived in favor of the king, the territory between the Hudson and the Delaware became a royal province.

10. New Jersey was now attached to the government of Lord Cornbury of New York. But each province retained its own legislative assembly and a distinct organization. This method of government continued for thirty-six years, and was then ended by the action of the people. In 1728 the representatives of New Jersey sent a petition to George II., praying for a separation of the two colonies. Ten years later the effort was renewed and brought to a successful issue. New Jersey was made independent, and Lewis Morris received a commission as royal governor of the province.