CHAPTER XIII.

THE QUAKER COLONIES.

First settlement of New Jersey (1)—Quakers' settlement of West New Jersey (2)—transfer of East New Jersey (3)—the New Fersey charters threatened (4)—state of the colony at the revolution (5)-the Jerseys united under the Crown (6)—William Penn (7) settlement of Pennsylvania (8) — troubles in the colony (9)-general condition (10).

1. First settlement of New Jersey.-In the history of New England we have already met with the sect of Quakers, or Friends. The first members of that sect were wild and noisy fanatics, but before long men of good family and education joined them, and under such leaders the Quakers took an important part in the colonization of America. The greatest and most prominent of these men was William Penn, the founder of Pennyslvania. But, before that colony was settled, another had come into being, not consisting wholly of Quakers, but numbering many of them among its inhabitants. That State was New Jersey. As we have already seen, the Duke of York, as soon as he came into possession of New Netherlands, sold about one-twelfth of it, that is to say, some seven thousand square miles, to Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. Although this only formed a small part of his whole territory, it was in value scarcely inferior to all the rest put together. For it included nearly the whole seaboard of about a hundred and twenty miles in length, and consequently it was the best place for fresh colonists. Moreover the greater part of it was almost uninhabited, and the proprietors could sell or let the land in parcels, while in the

rest of New Netherlands there were Dutch and Swedes, who claimed the soil as their own, and often refused any payment to the proprietors. This territory was also well protected from the Indians, on the south-west by the river Delaware, on the west by the inhabited districts of New Netherlands, and on the north by Connecticut. Moreover, unlike most of the colonies, it had a fixed boundary to the west, and thus the settlers were kept from straggling, and held together in towns and villages. When Nicholls, the Governor of New York, discovered all this, thinking that his master had done unwisely to part with the land, he tried to set aside the sale, but in vain. The new colony was called New Jersey, in honour of Carteret, who had bravely defended Jersey against the parliamentary forces in the great rebellion. The govern

ment was to consist, like those of the other colonies, of a Governor, Council, and Representatives. No taxes were to be imposed except by consent of this government. The proprietors retained the right of annulling any law, and of appointing colonial officers. All religious sects were to enjoy liberty of worship, and equal political rights. At the time of the purchase, New Jersey was almost uninhabited. A few Dutch and Swedes had settled in the country, and a few New England Puritans, who had been driven out of Massachusetts, among them some of Mrs. Hutchinson's followers, had sought a refuge there, and had been allowed by the Dutch to form settlements. Several of these had obtained a right to the soil by purchase from the Indians. In 1665, Philip Carteret, a nephew of Sir George, was sent out as Governor. He founded a town, called, after Lady Carteret, Elizabethtown. A number of colonists came in from New England. In 1668, the first Assembly was held at Elizabethtown, and some of the laws passed show that the colonists were influenced by the ideas and habits of New England. In 1670 a dispute arose between the proprietors and the settlers.

The latter

The former claimed quit-rents for the land. refused to pay, pleading that, by buying the ground from the Indians, they had got full ownership of it, and that, if they allowed the proprietors' claim, they would be paying twice over. The dispute led to an insurrection. In 1672 the people drove out Philip Carteret and the other government officers, and chose as Governor, James Carteret, a kinsman of Sir George, who had nevertheless taken the side of the settlers. Two years later the Dutch, as we have seen, got back for a short time all that had been taken from them by the English. But in New Jersey, as in New York, the short period of Dutch occupation made no special change.

2. Quakers' settlement of West New Jersey. When by the treaty of 1674 the Dutch settlements were finally given up to the English, the King granted them by a fresh deed to the Duke of York. This grant took in the lands which the Duke had sold to Berkeley and Carteret. They contended that their right still held good, and the Duke granted their claim. Nevertheless, he afterwards asserted a right of levying certain duties in New Jersey, which led him into several disputes, both with the proprietors and the settlers. In 1674, Lord Berkeley, being dissatisfied with the results of his colony, and with his ill-treatment, as it must have seemed to him, at the hands of the Duke of York and the colonists, sold his right in the land to two Quakers, Fenwick and Bylling. Soon after, Bylling, in consequence of a dispute with Fenwick, sold his share to three other Quakers, of whom William Penn was one. They, wishing to set up a separate colony, persuaded Sir George Carteret to divide the territory with them. This he did, and for some time it formed two separate States, East and West New Jersey, the former belonging to Carteret, the latter to the Quakers. The eastern division contained about four thousand settlers. The western was much more scantily inhabited, and so was fitter for the purpose of its

proprietors. Their object was to found a colony which might be a refuge for the Quakers, as New England had been for the Puritans. They drew up a constitution for their new State. Except in two points, it was like the earlier constitution framed by Carteret and Berkeley. The Council was not to be appointed by the proprietors, but chosen by the Assembly, and to prevent disturbances at elections the voting for representatives was to be by ballot. In 1677, four hundred Quakers emigrated to West New Jersey. In 1681, a dispute arose between the proprietors and the Duke of York. Andros, who was then Governor of New York, tried to levy an import duty in New Jersey; Penn and his colleagues resisted. They pleaded that they had bought the land from Lord Berkeley; that they had thereby acquired his rights; that one of these rights was that the colony should be subject to no laws, but those of its own making and those of England, and that therefore a law imposed by Andros could not bind them. They represented that to tax the settlers without their consent would be infringing their rights as Englishmen, and that they would never have braved the perils of a distant voyage and a new country, unless with a hope of having those rights enlarged rather than lessened. The English Judges before whom the question came decided in favour of New Jersey.

3. Transfer of East New Jersey.--Meanwhile East Jersey had undergone a complete change. In 1679, Sir George Carteret died; his affairs were in such a bad state that it was needful to sell his property for the benefit of his creditors. The Quakers, satisfied with the success of their settlement in West Jersey, decided to make a like attempt in the eastern colony. Accordingly, Penn and eleven others purchased it from Carteret's representatives. But as East, unlike West, Jersey had already a large number of settlers, the new proprietors did not attempt to make it wholly a

Quaker settlement. They associated with them a number of Scotchmen, and the colony was soon filled with Scotch emigrants. The government was like that of the western colony, except that the Council consisted of the proprietors and their deputies. The more important officers were to be appointed by the Governor and Council. All Christians were eligible for public offices, and no man was to be molested in any way for his religion.

4. The New Jersey Charters threatened.-James II.'s scheme for making one great State out of the northern colonies took in both the Jerseys. To carry it into execution, in 1686, writs of Quo warranto were issued against both governments. The professed grounds were some charges of smuggling brought against the inhabitants. The proprietors of East Jersey yielded their patent on condition that the King should not meddle with their private rights over the land. West Jersey would probably have been forced to do likewise, but, before the surrender of the eastern colony could take effect, James had ceased to reign.

5. State of the Colony at the Revolution.-The Revolution brought no change in the constitution of either of the colonies. By 1700, the number of settlers in East Jersey was about twelve thousand and in West Jersey about eight thousand. The inhabitants were prosperous, though not wealthy. Like Virginia, the country was abundantly supplied with rivers, and water carriage was easy; but the settlers did not live in scattered plantations like the Virginians. There were some twelve towns, of which Burlington and Elizabethtown were the largest, each containing between two and three hundred houses. From the first the country seems to have been almost deserted by the Indians, and by 1700 there were not more than two hundred in both colonies. Their small number was not due to any cruelty on the part of the settlers. On the other hand, the two races seem to have been perfectly