whole line of coast. It had been granted even before the news of the conquest arrived, and it may be presumed that a pecuniary consideration was given, though nothing transpired on that subject. Chagrined beyond measure, he addressed to the duke a long letter, complaining that he had unguardedly parted with the most valuable portion of his patent, leaving New York almost without a territory. Not choosing to accuse the proprietors of having deceived his grace, he throws the blame on a Captain Scot, who he declares was born to work mischief. The grantees, it is urged, should be made to accept a tract of 100,000 acres on the Delaware, which, by an expenditure of £20,000, might yield profit, not to themselves perhaps, but to their children's children. The duke, however, honourably determined to adhere to his engagement,

THE proprietors, in order to invite settlers, granted franchises of some importance. One was an Assembly, half at least of the members of which were to be representatives, and without whose consent no tax could be imposed. The owners reserved to themselves the veto and judicial appointments; but they permitted full freedom of religious worship. Carteret went out as governor, and in compliment to him the colony was called New Jersey. The profit of the proprietors was to arise solely from a quit-rent of 1d. an acre, to be levied only at the end of five years. All went on smoothly till that term arrived, when the settlers, being called upon for payment, showed very little disposition to comply. They urged, that they had purchased their lands from the Indians, and it was extremely hard, after advancing a price, to be required to give a rent also. Discontents rose so high, that Carteret was obliged to leave the colony, and a natural son of his own was elected in his room. Soon afterwards, the country was conquered by the Dutch; and on its restoration next year, the people peaceably received back their old governor, who gratified them by postponing to a later period the demand for quit-rents, and by other concessions. The proprietors, however, were considerably annoyed by the rulers of New York, who, claiming rights of jurisdiction and taxation, particularly sought to prevent any trade, unless through the medium of their capital.

QUAKER AND PRESBYTERIAN SETTLERS.

M

283 James does not seem to have been disposed to sanction any actual breach of the original contract; and Jones, the chief-justice, reported on the most essential points in favour of the settlers. The local power, however, of the greater colony, wielded by the impetuous Andros, was successfully exerted to harass them in various modes. EANTIME, as late as 1674, Lord Berkeley, disappointed in the hopes with which he had embarked in the undertaking, sold half his territory for £1000 to a party of Quakers, among whom the chief were Byllinge, Fenwick, and William Penn. In arranging with Carteret, who still retained his share, it was found most convenient to divide the province into two parts; these were called East and West Jersey—the latter being assigned to the new owners. But the duke, whose concurrence was required in the transaction, took the opportunity of reasserting his dominion over that portion, which was subjected to the arbitrary rule and taxation of New York. Jones, however, decided that, there having been no reservation of such claims in the original grant, they could not be now legally enforced. Hence, in 1680, the province was delivered in full right to the proprietors, whose object was to render the place an asylum for the persecuted Quakers, a considerable number of whom were soon assembled. It became necessary to gratify them by a constitution, based on principles of liberty and even of equality; and they made pretensions to the election of their own governor.

N 1682, Carteret, finding little satisfaction in his possession of New Jersey, sold all his rights to another body of twellve Quakers, Penn being again one. The new owners, with a view to extend their influence, added to their number twelve more of different professions-the principal of whom was the Duke of Perth, a nobleman of great power in Scotland His object was to offer an asylum to the Presbyterians of that country, under the iniquitous persecutions to which they were exposed. Hunted like wild beasts from place to place, it was justly thought that many would gladly accept a home in the New World. A con

siderable number were accordingly conveyed thither, and they formed a laborious, useful, and respectable class of settlers.

OTHING, however, could secure them against the determination formed by James to subvert the rights of all the colonies, and establish in them a completely despotic administration. Andros, without any express authority, began to exercise both jurisdiction and taxation; and as these were strenuously resisted-the juries re

fusing to convict under them-complaints were sent home of their insubordination. The duke hereupon, forgetting all his former pledges, ordered, in April, 1686, that writs of quo warranto should be entered against both East and West Jersey, "which ought to be more dependent on his majesty." The proprietors, having in vain attempted to deprecate this measure, at length deemed it expedient to surrender their patent, only soliciting a grant securing their title to the soil; but, before the transaction could be completed, it was interrupted by the Revolution, which left them in the possession of all their claims. They acted on them so feebly, however, that the country is represented as remaining nearly in a state of anarchy till 1702, when they were induced to surrender all their political powers to the crown. The two Jerseys were then re united, and were governed from that time as a royal colony.

ILLIAM PENN was one of the most illustrious characters of modern times. Born to rank and distinction, son of an admiral who had attained celebrity under Cromwell by the conquest of Jamaica, he embraced at college the persecuted cause of the Quakers, and devoted himself to it throughout his whole life. Refusing to retract or compromise his views, he was expelled from his father's house, becoming amenable to all the rigours then enforced against eccentric modes of religious worship and teaching. He indulged at first in certain extravagances; but ripening years, combined with extensive study, and travel over a great part of Europe, enlarged his mind, and while retaining the same devoted attachment to what was valuable in his system, he' purified it from its principal errors. His steady course of Christian kindness gained for him the general esteem of the public, and ulti

mately led to a reconciliation with his parent, who bequeathed to him the whole of his property.

MONG the tenets of this school, which Penn at all times advocated with the utmost zeal, was that of complete liberty in religious opinion and worship. It became, indeed, a leading object of his life to render himself a shield not only to his own people, but to all who on this ground were exposed to suffering and persecution. Unable as yet fully to accomplish his end in the Old World, he conceived the plan of providing for them, in the new continent, an asylum similar to that of their pilgrim ancestors. By founding there a state open to the votaries of every faith, he might, he hoped, fulfil this benevolent purpose, and at the same time secure for himself a degree of importance and wealth. He possessed, in virtue of his father's services, a claim on government, estimated at £16,000; but after a long delay, amid the exigencies of the court, he could not without difficulty have rendered it effective in any shape, except for one favourable circumstance. He enjoyed the favour both of Charles II. and James II., and was always a welcome guest at Whitehall. This intercourse with princes whose character was so unlike his own, excited in that age a feeling of surprise which we can scarcely avoid sharing. The most injurious surmises arose-he was represented as a Papist, and even a Jesuit. He seems, however, to have clearly proved, that he never concurred in any of the illegal measures of those rulers, but employed his influence almost solely with the view of obtaining protection for those numerous sufferers in whom he took so deep an interest. Had his object been money, he must have encountered many obstacles in obtaining it from the dilapidated treasury of Charles. It was much easier to get the royal assent respecting a desert region beyond the Atlantic, whence no immediate benefit was derived. His petition, presented in June, 1680, was referred to the agents of the Duke of York and Lord Baltimore, who declared it to be unobjectionable, provided the rights of these individuals were, preserved inviolate. Penn, therefore, submitted the draft of a charter, which, after being revised by Chief Justice North and the Bishop of London, was passed under the seal-royal. It granted to him the tract in America extending northwards from the 40th to the 43d degree of latitude, and five degrees of longitude westward, from a boundary-line drawn twelve miles from Newcastle on the Delaware. Nearly the same privileges