The History of the Thirteen Colonies of North America 1497-1763 Part 8

It is evident that as late as 1740 the position of governor was one of lucrative importance; in that year George Clarke, junior, offered the Duke of Newcastle 1000 if he would appoint Mr Clarke, senior, governor, instead of lieutenant-governor as he then was. But this must have been almost the last case that the post was financially desirable, for it was clearly the reverse between 1743 and 1753, when George Clinton was governor. He himself writes, "The Govern^t of New York will not be near so valuable to Gov^r Clinton as it has been to his predecessors.--The Province of New Jersey having always till now been united with New York, and under the same government, and the salary paid by New Jersey has always been 1000 besides other considerable advantages, so that the making New Jersey a separate and distinct govern^t makes New York at least 1000 a year less in value to Gov^r Clinton than it was to his predecessors."[186] There were, however, other reasons which in the near future would make the financial position of the Governor still more precarious, and Clinton could hardly be expected to foresee that the advantages gained over the French during his lifetime would in later years be one of the main causes of entire independence of official governors sent from England.

FOOTNOTES:

[166] Seeley, _Growth of British Policy_ (1897), vol. ii. p. 25.

[167] Seeley, _Growth of British Policy_ (1897), vol. ii. p. 25.

[168] Quoted by Fitchett, _Fights for the Flag_ (1900), p. 3.

[169] _Description and First Settlement of New Netherland_ (_1888_).

[170] _The Representation of New Netherland_ (ed. 1849).

[171] _Doc.u.ments relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York_ (1877).

[172] _Calendar of State Papers_, Colonial, 1661-1668, p. 227.

[173] _Doc.u.ments relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York_ (1858).

[174] Doyle, _Cambridge Modern History_ (1905), vii. p. 41.

[175] _Calendar of State Papers_, Colonial, 1661-1668, p. 337.

[176] _Ibid._, p. 606.

[177] _Calendar of State Papers_, Colonial, 1669-1674, p. 111.

[178] _Calendar of State Papers_, Colonial, 1669-1674, p. 525.

[179] Hazard, _Historical Collections_ (1792).

[180] _Calendar of State Papers_, Colonial, 1689-1692, p. 209.

[181] _A Letter from a Gentleman of the City of New York_ (1698).

[182] _Calendar of State Papers_, Colonial, 1696-1697, p. 5.

[183] He was also governor of Ma.s.sachusetts, and died in 1729.

[184] _A Brief Narrative of the Case and Tryal of John Peter Zengler_, etc. (1738).

[185] _Doc.u.ment relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York_ (1855).

[186] _Doc.u.ments relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York_ (1855).

CHAPTER VII

THE QUAKER SETTLEMENTS AND GEORGIA

There are few examples in history of the possessions of an ardent Roman Catholic pa.s.sing quietly and amicably into the hands of members of the Society of Friends, but the Quaker colonies stand pre-eminent as one instance of this exceptional circ.u.mstance. The Quakers were probably the most persecuted of all religious sects in North America, and yet by the irony of fate, one of the most thriving settlements owed its origin to them; its capital Philadelphia became the most important town of the Thirteen Colonies, and for one hundred and seventeen years was regarded as the commercial, political, and social capital of the bickering and jarring states. In the history of these Quaker settlements the disunited character of the colonies is peculiarly apparent, and in no colony or group of colonies is it better exemplified than in those of New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

The high-handed action of Charles II. in claiming Dutch territory and granting it to his brother James, Duke of York, has already been noticed. As soon as his claim had been authenticated by the victory of Richard Nicolls, the Duke lavishly granted to Sir George Carteret and Lord Berkeley the land from the Hudson to the Delaware, and it was renamed East and West New Jersey. From the very first the settlers hated the Proprietors for being p.r.o.nounced absentees endeavouring to exercise control over those who had already purchased the t.i.tles to their lands, and demanding an unearned increment in a most repellent form. For three years Philip Carteret, the Governor, did not call a representative a.s.sembly, and at last when he did so, imagining the spirit of the colonists to be broken, he met with a point-blank refusal from two of the towns. The colony was, in fact, in a state of mutiny. It was all very well for those in authority to refrain from claiming quit rents for five years, but this was only a sop to the settlers, who were angered by the demand that all patents of lands must be obtained from the Proprietors. The colonists therefore broke into open revolt; set up their own representative and deposed Carteret. The rebellion was soon crushed by the Proprietors, but with this state of affairs within, New Jersey was not in a condition to resist the attack of the Dutch from without, and in 1673 the old owners took possession.

The Treaty of Westminster in 1674 restored English rule, and the Duke of York claimed that all previous t.i.tles were annulled by the Conquest. The new arrangement now made was, that the Duke reserved to himself the left bank of the Delaware; Carteret was granted a tract of land on the southern bank of the Hudson; while Berkeley's share was no longer existent, for he had sold his rights to two Quakers, John Fenwick and "Edward Byllinge, of Westminster, gent, in whom the t.i.tle thereunto then was."[187] Fenwick appears to have been a man of energy, for he endeavoured to form a settlement on the right bank of the Delaware, which was strenuously opposed by Sir Edmund Andros, as representative for the Duke of York. Fenwick, however, won in the end, and established the colony of Salem. About the same time Edward Byllinge transferred any rights he might possess to William Penn, the world-famed Quaker. He with others of the Society of Friends began to colonise on the Delaware, and their plans were still further encouraged in 1680 by a grant from the Duke of York including the new colony of Salem. As a balance to this gift to the Quakers, James, in the following year, increased the territories of the Carteret family and restored the government to Philip Carteret, who found, on his return, that his old methods were no longer possible; the proprietary power had already been considerably weakened, and the settlers had learnt to manage their own affairs. Sir George Carteret, recognising that his rights, privileges, and perquisites were practically nil, very sensibly sold this valueless property to William Penn, Gawen Laurie, and other Quakers. With that extraordinary desire for the construction of fantastic const.i.tutions, the new Proprietors at first attempted to foist upon the settlers a scheme of government which was so elaborate that it was useless and unworkable. In a very short time they found that they were obliged to fall back upon the more simple system of a governor, council, and representative a.s.sembly.

The results of this action on the part of Carteret and Penn were on the whole satisfactory. It so happened that some of the new Proprietors were Scotsmen, and they stimulated emigration from the North, and New Jersey was all the better for a strong infusion of the vigorous Scottish race.

The action, too, had the effect of bringing East and West New Jersey into closer contact, and so paved the way for union. In 1692 another step was taken in this direction, for the Proprietors of both colonies appointed Andrew Hamilton as joint-governor. There were, however, many difficulties to be overcome before union was possible. In the first place there were unending disputes with New York about the levying of duties; while secondly, the Proprietors' rights had now become so complicated by frequent sale and transfer that matters were in dire confusion; besides these very rights appeared to the settlers themselves as injurious to the welfare of the colony. They looked for political privileges for themselves, which would, according to the Proprietors, clash with their interests. To grant to the settlers rights which were on the surface merely political, appeared, and indeed would be, the abnegation of all proprietary territorial claims. The man who might have done so much for the union of the New Jerseys had unfortunately transferred his affections elsewhere. Penn, filled with schemes of pure philanthropy, had left his first settlement to look after itself and had brought all his energies to bear upon his new venture in Pennsylvania.

Even without Penn's a.s.sistance the union of the two Jerseys was bound to come. In 1701 it was pointed out by the Colonial Office of that day, that "by several letters, memorials, and other papers, as well from the inhabitants as Proprietors of both these provinces, that they are at present in confusion and anarchy; and that it is much to be apprehended lest by the heats of the parties that are amongst them, they should fall into such violences as may endanger the lives of many persons and destroy the colony."[188] It seemed obvious to those in London that some form of union was necessary to save the colony from this fate, and so New Jersey from the River Hudson to the River Delaware became a united province when the Proprietors surrendered all their political and territorial rights in 1702. For a short time New Jersey with New York suffered under the scandalous administration of the brainless and profligate Lord Cornbury, but his evil work was to a certain extent remedied by Governor Robert Hunter, who proved himself an able colonial administrator.

The tract of land to which Penn had transferred his philanthropic schemes lay to the south of the river Delaware. It had been taken from the Swedes and at one time had been granted to Maryland, but up to the year 1681 it had remained unoccupied. The Quaker Penn, a man of high social position, friend and favourite of James II., readily accepted this piece of territory in liquidation of a debt of 16,000 owed to him by the Crown. The agreement now drawn up between Penn and the Duke of York was remarkable for its utter indifference to all const.i.tutional forms. Penn was appointed Proprietor, but his powers were to a certain extent limited; on all legislative matters the Crown reserved the right of veto, and in all financial affairs the newly formed colony was to be regarded as an integral portion of the realm; while, as a further hold over revenue, an accredited agent of the colony was to reside in England and was to explain any infraction of the revenue laws.

Pennsylvania, as first conceived by the Proprietor, was not a colony for one sect only. He offered no particular inducements to Quakers rather than to others. The early emigrants were a veritable olla podrida, and consisted of English Quakers, Scottish and Irish Presbyterians, German Mennonites, and French Huguenots. It was not long, however, before the Quaker element distinctly preponderated, with two obvious results. In the first place one of the strongest tenets of Quakerism was a horror of war and bloodshed, which belief was steadily upheld by the Pennsylvanians and proved in later years most baneful to the colony when the French began their aggressions. The second result was just as good as the first had been bad. The Quakers taught and believed the equality of all men before G.o.d; to them there was no distinction between settler and savage, and unlike some of the colonists in the Puritan group, offered the best of treatment to the Red Indians.

In the autumn of 1681, William Penn dispatched four commissioners to found the colony that was in later years to become so famous. William Crispen, Nathaniel Allen, John Bezar and William Heage were chosen by the Proprietor to select a site on the Delaware; Crispen, Penn's kinsman, died on the voyage, but the other three faithfully carried out their orders and selected a spot where the river "is most navigable, high dry and healthy; that is where most ships can ride, of deepest draught of water, if possible to load or unload at the bank or key (_sic_) side without boating or lightering of it."[189] Thomas Howe had been appointed surveyor-general and at once proceeded to lay out the city of Philadelphia upon a modification of the plans of Penn and covering a surface area of about 1200 to 1300 acres. William Penn stands alone as the founder of a great city of which he was justly proud, and in 1683 he was able to write, "Philadelphia: the expectation of those who are concerned in this province is at last laid out, to the great content of those here who are anyways interested therein. The situation is a neck of land and lieth between two navigable rivers, Delaware and Sculkill, whereby it hath two fronts upon the water, each a mile, and two from river to river."[190]

Penn was quick to foresee a prosperous future for his colony, but he nearly ruined it at the outset by drawing up a well-intentioned but somewhat c.u.mbersome const.i.tution. There were to be two elective chambers: the Upper or council, consisting of 72 members, and the Lower, which was at first to contain 200, and later 500 members. This const.i.tution, however, was impossible to manage; the Lower a.s.sembly was obviously far too large and proved superfluous; while the Upper was found to be too bulky for a Cabinet or executive government; for these reasons a few months after its conception it was radically altered. The pruning-knife was called into use and the 72 of the Upper chamber were cut down to 18; at the same time the absurd number of 200 was reduced to 26, and the right of initiating legislation was taken from the representatives. But Penn was not yet satisfied and undertook still further alterations in 1686, when he appointed five Commissioners of State, three of whom were to be a quorum, and to whom the right of veto in all legislative affairs was granted. This scheme was almost as bad as his first const.i.tution, for it gave excessive powers to three or four men; fortunately for the colony it was not perpetuated.

Early in its history troubles came upon Pennsylvania, which had been founded "with the pious wish and desire that its inhabitants might dwell together in brotherly love and unity."[191] The flight of James II. was the first serious blow to Penn's colonial prosperity; it may be that he was one of the few men who sincerely and deeply regretted the fall of the last male Stuart ruler of England, for in James' misfortune Penn also suffered for a time, and his plans as a colony promoter received a severe check. At the same time Pennsylvania was torn by internal quarrels concerning what were called the "Territories" or Delaware. This district, on the south bank of the Delaware River, had been transferred from the administration of New York and placed under that of Pennsylvania. The dispute that arose had for its cause the appointment of magistrates, and it was only settled by a compromise in which Delaware was for the future to have its own executive, but there was only to be one elective chamber for the whole province. Still worse days came to Pennsylvania when the colony was included in the commission to the pirate-loving Benjamin Fletcher. As in New York, so in the Quaker settlement he proved himself arbitrary in conduct, brutal and unwise in action, immoral and corrupt in his private life. The only comfort to the Pennsylvanian settlers during his rule was that they won their right to initiate legislation.

A promise of the renewal of the good days of the past appeared when Penn succeeded in 1694 in regaining his proprietary rights, now somewhat shorn of their former privileges. The Proprietor immediately set about the restoration of his colony's prosperity, but excellent as his work was, Pennsylvania was still more fortunate in having amongst its members Gabriel Thomas, one of the brightest colonial authors of that period. He has not only left some writings of particular merit, but his name has been handed down to posterity as one who laboured hard for seventeen years to build up, firmly and strongly, the Quaker settlements in the West. Such work was necessarily slow, and Penn, when he again visited his colony, must have been much grieved with its moral condition if Lewis Morris, Governor of New Jersey, wrote the truth. "Pennsylvania is settled by People of all Languages and Religions in Europe, but the people called Quakers are the most numerous of anyone persuasion ... the Church of England gains ground in that Country, and most of the Quakers that came off with Mr Keith are come over to it: the Youth of that country are like those in the neighbouring Provinces very Debaucht and ignorant."[192]

A long series of disputes with the other colonies began in 1701, which intensified the danger already only too obvious, caused by the disunion of the American states and left them the more open to French attack. In addition to their antipathy to war, the Pennsylvanians now pleaded poverty as an excuse for refusing to a.s.sist in contributing funds towards the restoration of the fortifications of New York. Penn's common sense forced him to advocate the contribution, but all his eloquence was wasted upon his settlers, and he pleaded and remonstrated in vain. A fresh dispute followed, again arising from the government of Delaware.

Since the last quarrel the a.s.sembly had met alternately at Newcastle and Philadelphia. The people of Pennsylvania, as members of the more important state, demanded that in the future any legislation pa.s.sed at Newcastle should be ratified and confirmed at Philadelphia. This was naturally intolerable to the weaker side, and the outcome of the dispute was the granting of a new charter and the complete separation of Delaware in 1703.

The last official act of William Penn was the incorporation of his beloved city of Philadelphia, which had steadily increased in size and population. A contemporary in 1710, possibly Daniel Defoe, has left on record a description of the town which gives some idea of its character and importance. Philadelphia "is a n.o.ble, large and populous city, standing on as much ground as our English City of Bristol.... It is built square in Form of a Chess-Board with each Front facing one of the Rivers. There are several Streets near two Mile long, as wide as Holborn, and better built, after the English Manner. The chief are Broad Street, King-street, High-street, tho' there are several other handsome Streets that take their Names from the Productions of the Country: as Mulberry, Walnut, Beech, Sa.s.safras, Cedar, Vine, Ash and Chestnut Streets.... The Number of the Inhabitants is generally suppos'd to be upwards of 15,000 besides Slaves.... And if I were oblig'd to live out of my native Country, I should not be long puzzled in finding a Place of Retirement, which should be Philadelphia. There the oppress'd in Fortune or Principles may find a happy Asylum, and drop quietly to their Graves without Fear or Want."[193] Such was the happy city within thirty years of its foundation, and as a political centre it remained supreme until after the American War of Independence.

Penn retired from the colony in 1701, but continued to take the keenest interest in all that went on. At one time he remonstrated with the a.s.sembly for attacking his secretary and staunch supporter, James Logan, who acted as the Proprietor's agent during his long years of absence. As long as Penn lived he was able to exercise some control, but when he died in 1718 he left to his heirs a proprietary claim over a colony torn in pieces by disputes and factions. The brothers John and Thomas Penn were never popular, and up to the resignation of their claims in 1759 there were continual quarrels, sometimes over the Governor's salary, and sometimes because the Proprietors, who possessed three-fourths of the province, refused to allow the taxation of their lands for military operations against the French.

It is a noticeable fact that the two last colonies of the famous Thirteen were founded on philanthropic bases. The excellent William Penn established Pennsylvania as a home of toleration and peace; and the last of the original states, Georgia, was founded, upon motives that were highly creditable to their originator. The colony of Georgia owed its existence to James Oglethorpe, who, after serving a short time in the army, became a Member of Parliament and was placed upon a Parliamentary Committee to inquire into the state of the prisons, at that time conducted on barbarous lines. What he then learnt led Oglethorpe to propose the formation of a colony where men might honestly work and better their position instead of pining away in the horrible debtors'

gaols. In addition to this, as he said, "Christianity will be extended by the execution of this design; since the good discipline established by the Society will reform the manners of these miserable objects."[194]

There is, too, in his account of the advantages of the colony, a hint as to the possible pecuniary gain of the individual and of the nation, for "when hereafter it shall be well-peopled and rightly cultivated, England may be supplied from thence with raw Silk, Wine, Oil, Dyes, Drugs, and many other materials for manufactures, which she is obliged to purchase from Southern countries."[195] Tempted by these proposals, the Government readily fell in with his scheme and granted to Oglethorpe and his a.s.sociates, including the famous Thomas Coram, a tract of land to the south of the Savannah River and north of the Spanish settlements in Florida, and here the debtors' colony was to serve as a barrier and rampart against Spanish aggression. The Corporation was called "The Trustees for the colonisation of Georgia," and was given full powers of administration for twenty-six years, at the expiration of which all privileges were to pa.s.s to the Crown.

In the autumn of 1732, James Oglethorpe embarked with 114 settlers; they were unsatisfactory colonists, for the men who had so hopelessly failed in England had not that grit and st.u.r.dy endurance necessary for founders of new homes in the West. The colony, however, started well, for Oglethorpe immediately won the goodwill of the natives, and made a wise selection of a site for the first settlement about twenty miles from the mouth of the Savannah River. The town itself was guarded on the water side by high banks, while impenetrable swamps on the land side served as sufficient barrier to any warlike incursions that might be attempted. Besides these advantages, Oglethorpe had also made friendly overtures to the neighbouring colonies, and in 1733 was able to say with satisfaction that "if the colony is attacked it may be relieved by sea from Port Royal, or the Bahamas; and the militia of South Carolina is ready to support it, by land."[196] Oglethorpe's satisfaction must have been very short-lived. From the very first the colonists grumbled, quarrelled, and disputed, and their resident minister, the Reverend Samuel Quincy, gives a horrible but exaggerated account of the colony in 1735. "Affairs here are but in an ill-condition, through the discouragements attending the settlement.... The magistrate, to whom the government of the colony was left, proves a most insolent and tyrannical fellow. Several just complaints have been sent home against him, which do not meet with a proper regard, and this has made people very uneasie.... In short, Georgia, which was seemingly intended to be the asylum of the distressed, unless things are greatly altered, is likely to be itself a mere scene of distress.... Notwithstanding the place has been settled nigh three years, I believe, I may venture to say there is not one family which can subsist without further a.s.sistance."[197]

Affairs though gloomy were scarcely as black as Quincy depicted them, for in the next few years there was every sign of progress. Already in 1734 there had been a large increase of population by the immigration of Salzburg Germans under their pastor Martin Bolzius, who had fled from the persecution of their Prince Bishop. Two years later the colony had grown sufficiently to found a second settlement, Frederica, seventy miles south of the Savannah, at the mouth of the Alatamaha River; and a party of Highlanders about the same time founded New Inverness. Trade also began to increase and a definite commercial station was established at Augusta.

In the same year as the foundation of Frederica, John Wesley, accompanied by his brother Charles, came out as chaplain to the Georgian flock. He was in residence for a year and nine months, during which period he seems to have quarrelled with many of the inhabitants and particularly with the Moravians, and proved himself both indiscreet and ill-tempered. He himself records in his _Journal_ that he was told by one man, "I will never hear you any more. And all the people are of my mind. For we won't hear ourselves abused. Besides, they say, they are Protestants. But as for you, they can't tell what Religion you are of.

They never heard of such a religion before. They do not know what to make of it. And then, your private behaviour--all the quarrels that have been here since you came, have been long of you. Indeed there is neither man nor woman in the Town, who minds a word you say. And so you may preach long enough; but n.o.body will come to hear you."[198] Wesley seems to have allowed his own personal feelings to enter into his religious life. He desired to marry a young woman of his congregation, Sophia Hankey by name, but she preferred to marry a Mr Williamson. Thereupon, apparently without any other reason than his own personal feelings, Wesley excluded Mrs Williamson from communion. Her husband very naturally regarded this as a slur upon his wife's character and brought an action against Wesley, who was forbidden to leave the colony while the question was pending. He records in his _Journal_ for December 2nd what then took place. "In the Afternoon the Magistrates publish'd an Order requiring all the Officers and Centinels, to prevent my going out of the Province; and forbidding any person to a.s.sist me so to do. Being now only a Prisoner at large, in a Place, where I knew by experience every Day would give fresh opportunity, to procure Evidence of words I never said, and actions I never did; I saw clearly the Hour was come for leaving the Place: And as soon as Evening Prayers were over, about Eight o'clock, the tide then serving, I shook off the dust of my Feet, and left Georgia, after having preach'd the Gospel there (not as I ought but as I was able) one Year and nearly Nine Months."[199] In regarding Wesley's action at this time, it is to be remembered that he was a self-confident, impulsive young enthusiast, lacking knowledge of human nature, and also that he had not pa.s.sed through those years of struggle and earnest work which in later times made him a man of tact and forbearance.

Meantime a serious danger threatened the colony. In 1736, the Spaniards, who had long viewed Georgia with suspicion, made an armed reconnaissance, but nothing could be done, for there was at that time no war between the two countries in Europe. It was not until 1739 that Walpole was forced by popular demand to declare war against Spain, an act which he regarded with disgust as contrary to all his principles and desires. Georgia was in a particularly exposed position with regard to Spanish aggression, and Oglethorpe decided to take the offensive as a defensive measure and carry the war into the enemy's country. Reading the signs of the times and knowing what was hatching in Europe, the English Governor collected a force of about 600 volunteers and boldly marched for Florida in October 1738. He had been partly led to this action by the fact that news had been brought that the Spanish troops had been increased in St Augustine, and that the civil inhabitants had been turned out of their houses to give quarters to the royal forces.

Oglethorpe's move was an unsatisfactory one, not through want of bravery on his part, but rather because he was a poor judge of men and his soldiers were wanting in the spirit of loyalty; some had even concerted a plot with the Spanish, while others had actually deserted to the enemy. Nothing daunted, Oglethorpe spent the summer of 1739 securing the alliance of most of the neighbouring Indian tribes, and when war was formally declared against Spain the Georgian Governor was in a better position for whatever fate might have in store.

The home authorities ordered Oglethorpe to attack St Augustine, but before he could do so the Spaniards struck the first blow. Some fifty miles south of the town of Frederica, the Governor had thought it advisable to erect a military station on Amelia Island. This was the first natural object of Spanish attack, but their success was limited to the murder of two invalids. Oglethorpe, on the other hand, was more fortunate in capturing a Spanish outpost, which tempted him to risk an attack on St Augustine itself. He set out in March 1740, with a land force of about 2000 men, composed of Georgian militia and Indian allies; being supported at sea by four King's ships and a small schooner from South Carolina. This latter was practically the only help from the members of the richer colony, the generosity of which was of a very limited character; they ought really to have a.s.sisted Oglethorpe as well as they were able, for their danger from the Spaniards was almost as extreme as that of Georgia. Ill-supported as he was, the Governor captured three small fortresses, but soon found that the seizure of the capital of Florida was beyond his slender resources. The few Carolina troops deserted; his own men were struck down by fever; and his Indian allies left him in disgust because he tried to restrain their natural ferocity. In June, having realised that his attempt was hopeless, he retreated. His work, however, was not entirely unsuccessful, for although he had failed to do what he had intended, he succeeded in staving off from Georgia any serious Spanish attack for the next two years.