broken over his head, in public, before the city hall; and himself rendered incapable of wearing a sword, and of serving his majesty for the future, in any public trust.”* The old maxim, that, grace was dispensed by the mere look of a king, was respected on this occasion. The Dutch commanders, in their triumph, imitated the moderation and prudence of Nicholls; and assuring the citizens of their rights and possessions, gratified the Dutch colonists, and left the English cause of complaint, only against their pusillanimous commander. Like moderation being tendered to the other districts of the province, on condition of sending deputies, to swear allegiance to the States-General, induced the whole to submit.† The Dutch dominion was restored more suddenly than it had been overthrown, and the name of New Netherlands was once more revived-but was not destined to long endurance.

Great consternation prevailed in the adjoining English colonies. The government of Connecticut, with apparent simplicity, that ludicrously contrasts with the ordinary astutia of her people, sent a deputation to the Dutch admirals, to remonstrate against their usurpation of dominion, over the territory of England, and the property of her subjects; to desire them to explain the meaning of their conduct, and their further intentions, and to warn them, that the united colonies of New England, entrusted with the defence of their sovereign dominions, in America, would be faithful to their trust. The Dutch commanders, as they well might, expressed surprise at the terms of this message, but declared, that commissioned by their country, to assail her enemies, whilst they applauded the fidelity of the English, to their sovereign, they would imitate the good example, and endeavour to prove equally faithful to the States-General. Active preparations for war, were, forthwith, made by Connecticut, and the confederate colonies; but, as each party stood on the defensive, only a few insignificant skirmishes took place, before winter suspended military operations. Early in the following spring, the controversy was terminated, without further bloodshed, by the treaty of peace, concluded at London, and the restoration of New York, to the English.‡

X. Doubts had been raised, as to the validity of the Duke of York's title, because granted whilst the Dutch were in full and peaceful possession of the country; and which, though originally good, seemed to have been impaired by the subsequent conquest. The Duke deemed it prudent to remedy this defect, and to signalize the resumption of his proprietary functions, by a new patent. Another cause, however, may have contributed to this measure.— He probably, supposed, that it would afford him an opportunity of dispensing with his grant, to Berkeley and Carteret. It was pretended, that the Dutch conquest, had extinguished the proprietary rights, and that the country had been acquired, de novo, to the crown. A new charter recited the former grant, and confirmed to him the whole which that had covered. The misfortune, and evident incapacity of Lovelace, precluded his re-appointment to the office of governor, which was conferred on Edmund Andross, who disgraced his superior talents, by the unprincipled zeal and activity, with which he devoted them to the arbitrary designs of his master.

In him, and his council, were vested all the functions of government, legislative and executive, and their power was extended over New Jersey. It seems, however, that the Duke wanted either resolution or authority, to effectuate his iniquitous intentions; for, on the application of Sir George Carteret, he promised the renewal of his charter, which, after some delay and hesitation, he performed. Previous to this second grant, it would seem, that

*Smith's New York.

+ July, 1673.

28th February, 1674.

Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, had agreed upon a partition of the province, since the country described therein, was bounded, on the southwest, by a line drawn from Barnagat Creek to the Rancocus. But, though he finally consented to restore New Jersey, he endeavoured to evade the full performance of his engagement, pretending to have reserved certain rights of sovereignty over it, which Andross seized every opportunity of asserting.

XI. In the commencement of the year 1675, Philip Carteret returned to New Jersey, and resumed the government of the settlements, in the eastern part of the province. The inhabitants, who had experienced the rigours of conquest, and the arbitrary rule of Andross, readily received him; and as he postponed the payment of their quit rents, to a future day, and published a new set of "concessions," by Sir George Carteret, a peaceable subordination was once more established in the colony. These new "concessions," however, restricted the broad grant of political freedom, originally framed, by giving to the governor and council, the power of naturalization, the right to approve such ministers as might be chosen by the several corporations, and to establish their maintenance; granting liberty, however, to all persons, to keep and maintain what preachers they pleased. They authorized the governor, also, to appoint the times and places of meeting of the General Assembly, and to adjourn them at pleasure, and to separate the counsellors and delegates into two chambers.*

*

XII. Yet, the only disquiet, during several years, arose from the efforts of Andross, from time to time, to enforce the unjust pretensions of the Duke. Governor Carteret, in hope of procuring to his people, a share of the advantages, which the neighbouring colony derived from her commerce, attempted to establish a direct trade between England and New Jersey. But Andross earnestly opposed this proper measure, as one injurious to New York; and by confiscating vessels engaged in such trade, extinguished the New Jersey commercial enterprise in its infancy. In addition to this outrage, he endeavoured, by various exactions, to render the colonists tributary to his government; and even had the insolence, by a force despatched to Elizabethtown, to arrest governor Carteret, and convey him prisoner to New York. When complaints of these proceedings were made to the Duke, he evinced the same indecision and duplicity, that had characterized all his recent conduct. He could not, he said, consent to depart from a prerogative which had always belonged to him; yet, he directed the relaxation of its exercise, as a matter of favour to his friend, Sir George Carteret. But the province had now been divided into two proprietary jurisdictions; and it was in the western. part, where Carteret had ceased to have an interest, that the Duke most exercised his prerogative. The circumstances which attended this partition, are not the least interesting of the provincial history of the state.

*

Leaming and Spicer's Col.

+ Douglas ii. 272. S. Smith 68, 77. Chalmers, 616, 618. Smith's N. Y. 45. Grahame's Col. Hist.

CHAPTER III.

From the Division of the Province, into East and West Jersey, to the Purchase of East Jersey, by Quakers.

I. Motives of the Quakers for Emigration.-II. Sale of Lord Berkeley, to Byllinge and Fenwicke.-III. Assignment of West Jersey to William Penn, and others in Trust, for the Creditors of Byllinge.-IV. "Concessions," or Constitution of West Jersey.-V. Measures of the Proprietaries to promote Colonization.-VI. Commissioners appointed to Administer the Government of West Jersey-their Proceedings.-VII. Increase of Emigrants-Success of their Efforts.—VIII. Death of Sir George Carteret-Successful Efforts of the Colonists, to procure Relief, from the Jurisdiction of New York.-IX. Extraordinary Pretensions of Byllinge.-X. Resisted by the Proprietaries, in General Assembly-Samuel Jennings elected Governor-Proceeds to England, as Deputy of the Assembly-The Right of Government, purchased by Doctor Daniel Coxe, and subsequently transferred to the West Jersey Society.-XII. Meeting of the First Assembly-Proceedings.-XIII. Modification of the Law, relating to Religious Faith.-XIV. Death of Carteret-his Disposition of East Jersey.-XV. Troubles at the Close of the Administration of Philip Carteret.-XVI. Review of the Policy of the Proprietary Governments.-XVII. Comparison between the Laws of East and West Jersey.

I. Soon after the restoration of Charles II., the Quakers became objects of suspicion and dread, to his government, from a mistaken supposition, that, like the Fifth Monarchy men, or Millenarians, they held themselves entitled to overthrow, even by force, every temporal authority, which obstructed the advent of their cherished spiritual dominion. This suspicion was increased by the insurrection of the Millenarians, in the first year of the restored monarchy; and the refusal of the Quakers to give assurance of fidelity to the king, by taking the oath of allegiance. In consequence of this error, they were assailed with a rigour and reality of persecution, which hitherto they had never experienced, in England. They were, first, included with the Millenarians, in a royal proclamation, forbidding either, to assemble under pretence of worship, elsewhere, than in the parochial churches; but were soon afterwards, distinguished by the provisions of an act of parliament, that applied exclusively to themselves. This statute enacted, that all Quakers refusing to take the oath of allegiance, and assembling to the number of five persons, above sixteen years of age, should, for the first and second offences, incur the penalty of fine, and imprisonment; and for the third, should either abjure the realm, or be transported beyond it. Nay, so cordial was the dislike entertained by the court, against them, that, instead of using their complaints as cause of quarrel, with the obnoxious province of Massachusetts, the enmity in this province against the Quakers, was sustained: and the authorities there, were invited to a repetition of the severities, which had been, at one time, prohibited. "We cannot be understood," said the king's letter of 1662, after urging general toleration, "hereby, to direct or wish, that any indulgence should be granted to Quakers, whose principles, being inconsistent with any kind of government, we have found it necessary, with the advice of our parliament here, to make a sharp law against them; and are well content, that you do the like, there."

These unfavourable and erroneous sentiments, it is true, were shortly after exchanged by the king, for a more just estimate of Quaker principles. But, the alteration in his sentiments, produced no relaxation of the legal

severities to which the Quakers were subjected; and was attended with no other consequence, than a familiar and apparently confidential intercourse, between him, and some of their more eminent leaders, together with many expressions of regard and good will, on his part, which he was unwilling or unable to substantiate. In the persecution, now commenced against all classes of dissenters, the Quakers were exposed to a more than equal share of severity, from the unbending zeal, with which they refused to conform, even in appearance, to any one of the obnoxious requisitions, and the eagerness with which they seized every opportunity of manifesting their forbidden practices, and signifying their peculiar gifts of patient suffering, and untiring perseverance. In every part of England, they were harassed with fine and imprisonment, and great numbers were transported to Barbadoes, and to the American settlements;* where, they formed a valuable addition to the English population, and quickly discovered, that their persecutors, in expelling them from their native land, had, unconsciously, contributed to ameliorate their condition. Instead of the wild enthusiasts who had rushed with headlong zeal to New England, in quest of persecution, there was now introduced into America, a numerous body, of wiser and milder, professors of Quakerism, whose views were confined to the enjoyment of that liberty of worship, for the sake of which, they had been driven into exile.

In several of the American provinces, as in the island of Barbadoes, they experienced full toleration, and friendly reception from the governments, and inhabitants; and, even in those provinces, where they were still objects of suspicion and severity, they rendered their principles less unpopular, by demonstrating with what useful industry, and peaceful virtue, they might be combined. Contented with the toleration of their worship, and diligently improving the advantages of their new lot, many of the exiles obtained, in a few years, to plentiful and prosperous estates: and so willing were they to reconcile their tenets, with existing institutions of the countries, in which they were established, that they united in the purchase and employment of negro slaves. Perhaps, the deceitfulness of the human heart, was never more strikingly exhibited, than in this monstrous association of the characters of exiles, for conscience sake, and the principles of universal peace and philanthropy, with the condition of slave owners and the exercise of arbitrary power. Yet, in process of time, much good was educed from this evil; and the inconsistency of one generation of Quakers, enabled their successors, to exhibit to the world, a memorable example of disinterested regard, for the rights of human nature, and a magnanimous sacrifice to the requirements of piety and justice.t

The principles of the sect continued, meanwhile, to propagate themselves, in Britain, to an extent, that more than supplied the losses occasioned by the banishment of their professors. Almost all the other sects had suffered an abatement of piety and reputation, from the furious disputes, and vindictive struggles, that attended the civil wars; and while the Quakers were exempted from this reproach, they were no less advantageously distinguished, by a severity of persecution, which enabled them to display, in an eminent degree, the primitive graces of Christian character. It was, now, that their cause was espoused, and their doctrines defended, by writers, who yielded to none of their contemporaries, in learning, eloquence, or ingenuity, and who have not been equalled, nor even approached, by any succeeding Quaker authors. The doctrines that had floated, loosely, through the

In one vessel alone, which was despatched from England, in March, 1664, sixty Quaker convicts, were shipped, for America.-Williamson's North Carolina, i. 82. t Grahame's Col. Hist.

E

Quaker society, were collected and reduced to an orderly system; the discipline necessary to preserve from anarchy, and restrain the fantastic sallies, which the genuine principle of Quakerism, is peculiarly apt to beget, was explained and enforced ;* and in the midst of a persecution that drove many of the Presbyterians of Scotland to despair and rebellion, the Quakers began to add to their zeal and resolution, that mildness of address and tranquil propriety of thought, by which they are universally characterized. Yet, it was long before the wild and enthusiastic spirit, which had distinguished the rise of the society, was banished entirely from its bosom; and while it continued, a considerable diversity of sentiment and language, prevailed among the brethren. This diversity was manifest, particularly, in the sentiments entertained relative to the duty of confronting persecution. While all considered it unlawful to forsake their ordinances, on account of the prohibition of their oppressors, many held it, a dereliction of duty, to abandon their country, for the sake of their enjoyment in a foreign land. Consider. ing Quakerism as a revival of primitive Christianity, and themselves as fated to repeat the fortunes of the first Christians, and to gain the victory over the world, by evincing the fortitude of martyrs, they had associated the success of their cause with the infliction and endurance of persecution, and deemed retreat, to be flight from the contest between truth and error. The promulgation, rather than the toleration, of their principles, seemed their great object; and their success was incomplete, without the downfall of the established hierarchy. But others of more moderate temper, though willing to sustain the character of the primitive Christian, believed it not inconsistent with the exercise of that liberty, expressly given to the apostles, when persecuted in one city, to flee to another. Disturbed in their religious assemblies, harassed and impoverished by fines and imprisonments, and withal, continually exposed to violent removal from their native land, they were led to meditate the advantages of voluntary expatriation with their families and substance; and, naturally, to cast their eyes on that country, which, notwithstanding the severities once inflicted on their brethren, in some of its provinces, had always presented an asylum to the victims of persecution. Their regards were further directed to this quarter, by the number of their fellow sectaries, who were now established in several of the North American states, and the freedom, comfort, and tranquillity, which they were there enabled to enjoy.†

II. Such was the situation of the Quakers when Lord Berkeley, alarmed by the insubordination of the planters of New Jersey, and dissatisfied with the pecuniary prospects of his adventure in colonization, offered his share of his province for sale. He soon received the offer of a price, that was satisfactory, from two English Quakers, John Fenwicke and Edward Byllinge; and on the 18th March, 1673, in consideration of one thousand pounds, conveyed his interest in the province, to the first, in trust for the other. A dispute arising between these parties, respecting their proportions of interest; to avoid the scandal of a law suit, it was submitted to William Penn, who now held a conspicuous place in the society of Friends. With some difficulty, he succeeded in making an award satisfactory to both parties. Fenwicke, in 1675, sailed from London, for the new purchase, in the ship Grif

* See Appendix, C.

t Gough and Sewell's History of the Quakers, vol. i. chap. 2, 4, 6, 7 and 8, vol. ii. chap. 4. Neal's History of the Puritans, vol. iv. Grahame's Col. Hist. From the last work I have drawn, principally, the preceding view of the Quaker motives for emigration. It has, however, suffered such modification, in my hands, as to render me responsible for it.