Chapter IV: Part 4

Soon after Governor West was superseded by Sir Richard Kirle, an Irish gentleman, who died six months after his arrival in the country. After his decease, Colonel Robert Quarry was chosen his successor. During the time of his government, a number of pirates put into Charlestown, and purchased provisions with their Spanish gold and silver. Those public robbers, instead of being taken and tried by the laws of England, were treated with great civility and friendship, in violation of the laws of nations. Whether the governor was ignorant of the treaty made with Spain, by which England had withdrawn her former toleration from these plunderers of the Spanish dominions; or whether he was afraid to bring them to trial from the notorious courage of their companions in the West Indies, we have not sufficient authority to affirm; but one thing is certain, that King Charles II. for several years after the restoration, winked at their depredations, and many or them performed such valiant actions as, in a good cause, had justly merited honours and rewards. Even as the case was, Charles, out of mere whim, knighted Henry Morgan, a Welshman, who had plundered Porto Bello and Panama, and carried off large treasures from them. For several years so formidable was this body of plunderers in the West Indies, that they struck a terror into every quarter of the Spanish dominions. Their gold and silver, which they lavishly spent in the colony, ensured to them a kind reception among the Carolineans, who opened their ports to them freely, and furnished them with necessaries. They could purchase the favour of the governor, and the friendship of the people, for what they deemed a trifling consideration. Leaving their gold and silver behind them, for clothes, arms, ammunition and provisions, they embarked in quest of more. However, the proprietors, having intelligence of the encouragement given to pirates by Governor Quarry, dismissed him from the office he held; and, in 1685, Landgrave Joseph Morton was reinstated in the government of the colony.

[Sidenote] Cause of migration from England.

During the reign of King James II. the hardships under which the people of Britain laboured, and the troubles they apprehended, brought much strength to the colonies. The unsuccessful or unfortunate part of mankind are easily induced to emigrate; but the oppressed and persecuted are driven from their country, however closely their affections may cleave to it. Such imprudent attempts were made by this prince against what the nation highly revered, that many Protestants deserted it, preferring the hardships of the first state of colonization abroad, to oppression at home. So far was he from concealing his attachment to the Popish religion, that he gloried in the open profession of it, and took every opportunity of transferring both the legal authority and military command into the hands of such men as were best affected to that religion, and would most readily contribute their assistance towards the accomplishment of his favourite design. The Protestants in general were alarmed, and filled with the most gloomy apprehensions from the bloody and persecuting spirit of the Popish faction. They foresaw the subversion of their religion and liberties, and fled over the Atlantic from the approaching rigours of persecution, being determined to submit to any hardships abroad, rather than to the establishment of Popery in England.

[Sidenote] Cause of migration from France.

The next acquisition America gained, was from the revocation of the edict of Nantz; in consequence of which the flames of persecution broke out in France, and drove many of its best subjects out of that kingdom. These Protestant refugees were beneficial in many respects to England and Holland, and served greatly to promote the trade and manufactures of these nations. Among the other colonies in America which reaped advantage from this impolitic measure of France, Carolina had a large share. Many of the Protestant refugees, having purchased lands from the proprietors, embarked with their families for that colony, and proved some of its best and most industrious inhabitants.

[Sidenote] The European animals increase.

Small was the progress in cultivation which the colonists of Carolina had yet made, and fatal had the heat of the climate and the labours of the field proved to many of them. Yet their cattle increased in an amazing manner, and thrived exceedingly well in their forest. Having little winter, the woods furnished them with both shelter and provisions all the year; neither houses nor attendants were provided for them, but each planter's cattle, distinguished only by his mark, every where grazed with freedom. Hogs still fared better, and increased faster. The woods abounded with acorns, and roots of different kinds, on which they fed and fattened, and were reckoned most excellent food. Stocks of cattle, at this period, were a great object with the planters, for several reasons. Little labour was requisite to raise and render them profitable. The planters were at no trouble in building houses for them, nor at any expence in feeding them. If either cattle or hogs were fed, it must only have been intended to accustom them to keep nigh their owner's abode, or to return under his eye every evening. Besides, a planter fond of hunting might supply his family with game through the year, with which the woods abounded, and save his stock. Horses were also bred in the same manner, and though they degenerated greatly, they multiplied fast. No part of the world could prove more favourable to poultry of all kinds. By the trade of the colony to the West Indies, they had rum and sugar in return for their lumber and provisions; and England supplied them with clothes, arms, ammunition, and utensils for building and cultivation, in exchange for their deer-skins, furs, and naval stores.

[Sidenote] The manner of obtaining turpentine in Carolina.

Turpentine is the gum in a liquid state of that species of the pine tree called Pitch-pine, extracted by incision and the heat of the sun, while the tree is growing. The common manner of obtaining it is as follows: about the first of January the persons employed in making turpentine begin to cut boxes in the trees, a little above the ground, and make them large or small in proportion to the size of the tree; the box of a large tree will hold two English quarts, of a middling tree one, and of a small one a pint. About the middle of March, when the weather becomes warm, they begin to bleed, which is done by cutting about an inch into the sap of the tree with a joiner's hatchet; these channels made in the green standing tree, are framed so as to meet in a point where the boxes are made to receive the gum; then the bark is peeled off that side of the tree which is exposed to the sun, that the heat may extract the turpentine. After bleeding, if rain should happen to fall, it not only condenses the sap, but also contracts the orifices of the vessels that discharge the gum, and therefore the trees must be bled afresh. About fourteen days after bleeding the boxes will be full of turpentine, and must be emptied into a barrel. When the boxes are full, an able hand will fill two barrels in a day. A thousand trees will yield at every gathering about two barrels and a half of turpentine, and it may be gathered once every fourteen days, till the frost comes, which chills the sap, and obliges the labourer to apply to some other employment, until the next season for boxing shall approach. The oil of turpentine is obtained by distillation; and rosin is the remainder of the turpentine, after the oil is distilled from it.

[Sidenote] And of making tar and pitch.

From the same pine trees tar and pitch are also made, but by a different mode of operation. "For extracting tar they prepare a circular floor of clay, declining a little towards the centre, from which there is laid a pipe of wood, extending almost horizontally two feet without the circumference, and so let into the ground, that its upper side may be level with the floor: at the outer end of this pipe they dig a hole large enough to hold the barrels of tar, which, when forced out of the wood, naturally runs to the centre of the floor as the lowest part, and from thence along the pipe into the barrels. Matters being thus prepared, they raise upon the clay floor a large pile of dry pine-wood split in pieces, and inclose the whole pile with a wall of earth, leaving only a little hole in the top, where the fire is to be kindled; when that is done, and the inclosed wood begins to burn, the whole is stopped up with earth, that there may be no flame, but only heat sufficient to force the tar out of the wood, and make it run down to the floor. They temper the heat as they think proper, by thrusting a stick through the wall of earth, and letting the air in at as many places as they judge necessary. As to Pitch, it is nothing more than the solid part of the tar separated from the liquid by boiling."

As Carolina abounds with this kind of pine trees, vast quantities of pitch, tar, and turpentine might have been made in it. At this early period the settlers, having little strength to fell the thick forest and clear the lands for cultivating grain, naturally applied themselves to such articles as were in demand in England, and for procuring which moderate labour was requisite. Lumber was a bulky article, and required a number of ships to export it. Naval stores were more valuable and less bulky, at the same time that the labour necessary to obtain them was easier, and more adapted to European constitutions. The province as yet could supply Britain with a very inconsiderable quantity of naval stores; but by encouraging the planters in preparing them, the expence of its vast importations from the Baltic might have been in some measure saved to the nation.

[Sidenote] A difference with the civil officers.

Though Governor Morton was possessed of a considerable share of wisdom, and was connected with several respectable families in the colony, yet so inconsistent were his instructions from England, with the prevailing views and interests of the people, that he was unable, without great trouble, to execute the duties of his trust. He was a man of a sober and religious temper of mind, and had married Mr. Blake's sister, lately arrived from England, by which alliance it was hoped the hands of government would be strengthened, and a check given to the more licentious and irregular party of the people. His council was composed of John Boone, Maurice Mathews, John Godfrey, Andrew Percival, Arthur Middleton, and James Moore, _&c._; some of whom differed widely from him in opinion with respect to public measures, and claimed greater indulgences for the people than he had authority to grant. Hence two parties arose in the colony: one in support of the prerogative and authority of the proprietors, the other in defence of the liberties of the people. The former contended, that the laws and regulations received from England respecting government ought to be strictly and implicitly observed: the latter kept in view their local circumstances, and maintained, that the freemen of the colony were under obligations to observe them only so far as they were consistent with the interest of individuals and the prosperity of the settlement. In this situation of affairs, no governor could long support his power among a number of bold adventurers, who improved every hour for advancing their interest, and could bear no restraints which had the least tendency to defeat their favourite views and designs: for whenever he attempted to interpose his feeble authority, they insulted his person and complained of his administration, till he was removed from his office.

[Sidenote] James Colleton made governor.

The proprietors also finding it prudent to change their governor so soon as he became obnoxious to the people, James Colleton at this time was appointed to supersede Joseph Morton. He was a brother to Sir Peter Colleton, one of the proprietors, but was possessed neither of his address nor abilities for the management of public affairs. He left Barbadoes and retired to Carolina, where he built an excellent house on Cooper River, in hopes of settling in that country, and long enjoying, by the influence of his brother, the emoluments of his office in tranquillity and happiness. To give him the greater weight, he was created a landgrave of the colony, to which dignity forty-eight thousand acres of land were unalienably annexed: but to his mortification he soon found, that the proprietary government had acquired but little firmness and stability, and, by his imprudence and rigour, fell into still greater disrespect and contempt.

[Sidenote] A.D. 1687.

About the year 1687, having called an assembly of the representatives, he proposed to make some new regulations respecting the government of the colony. Having examined the fundamental constitutions, and finding the people disposed to make many objections to them, he thought proper to nominate a committee, to consider wherein they were improper or defective, and to make such alterations and amendments in them as they judged might be conducive to the welfare of the country. This committee consisted of the Governor, Paul Grimball, the secretary, William Dunlop, Bernard Schinking, Thomas Smith, John Far, and Joseph Blake. Accordingly, by these men a new code of laws was framed, consisting of many articles different from the former, which they called _Standing Laws_, and transmitted to England for the approbation of the proprietors. These standing laws, however, the proprietors rejected, and insisted on the observance of the fundamental constitutions; and all the while the people treated both with equal indifference and neglect.

[Sidenote] His difference with the house of assembly.

At this early period a dissatisfaction with the proprietary government appeared, and began to gain ground among the people. A dispute having arisen between the governor and the house of assembly about the tenures of lands and the payment of quitrents, Landgrave Colleton determined to exert his authority, in compelling the people to pay up their arrears of quitrents, which, though very trifling and inconsiderable, were burdensome, as not one acre out of a thousand of these lands for which quitrents were demanded yielded them any profit. For this purpose, he wrote to the proprietors, requesting them to appoint such deputies as he knew to be most favourably disposed towards their government, and would most readily assist him in the execution of his office. Hence the interest of the proprietors and that of the people were placed in opposite scales, and the more rigorously the governor exerted his authority, the more turbulent and seditious the people became. At last they proceeded to avowed usurpation: they issued writs in their own name, and held assemblies in opposition to the governor and the authority of the proprietors. Letters from England, containing deputations to persons obnoxious to the people, they seized and suppressed, and appointed other men better affected to the popular cause. Paul Grimball, the secretary of the province, they imprisoned, and forcibly took possession of the public records. The militia act they refused to settle, because recommended by the governor, even though their own security depended on it. In short, the little community was turned into a scene of confusion, and every man acted as he thought proper, without any regard to legal authority, and in contempt of the governor and other officers of the proprietors.

Landgrave Colleton, mortified at the loss of power, and alarmed at the bold and seditious spirit of the people, was not a little perplexed what step to take in order to recal them to the obedience of legal authority. Gentle means he perceived would be vain and ineffectual. One expedient was suggested, which he and his council flattered themselves might be productive of the desired effect, and induce the people through fear to return to his standard, and stand by the person who alone had authority to punish mutiny and sedition, which was to proclaim the martial law, and try to maintain by force of arms the proprietary jurisdiction. Accordingly, without letting the people into his secret design, he caused the militia to be drawn up, as if some danger had threatened the country, and publicly proclaimed the martial law at their head. His design, however, did not long remain a secret, and, when discovered, served only to exasperate the more. The members of the assembly met, and taking this measure under their deliberation, resolved, that it was an encroachment upon their liberties, and an unwarrantable exertion of power, at a time when the colony was in no danger from any foreign enemy. The governor, however, insisted on the articles of war, and tried to carry the martial law into execution; but the disaffection was too general to admit of such a remedy. In the year 1690, at a meeting of the representatives, a bill was brought in and passed, for disabling Landgrave James Colleton from holding any office, or exercising any authority, civil or military, within the province: nay, so outrageous were they against him, that nothing less than banishment could appease them, and therefore gave notice to him, that, in a limited time, he must depart from the country.

[Sidenote] Seth Sothell chosen governor.
[Sidenote] His oppression and expulsion.

During these public commotions Seth Sothell, pretending to be a proprietor by virtue of some regulations lately made in England, usurped the government of the colony. At first the people seemed disposed to acknowledge his authority, while the current of their enmity ran against Landgrave Colleton; and as he had stood forth as an active and leading man in opposition to that governor, and ratified the law for his exclusion and banishment: but afterwards, finding him to be void of every principle of honour and honesty, they persecuted him also with deserved and implacable enmity. Such was the insatiable avarice of this usurper that his popularity was of short duration. Every restraint of common justice and equity was trampled upon by him; and oppression, such as usually attends the exaltation of vulgar and ambitious scramblers for power, extended her rod of iron over the distracted colony. The fair traders from Barbadoes and Bermuda were seized as pirates by order of this popular governor, and confined until such fees as he was pleased to exact were paid him: bribes from felons and traitors were accepted to savour their escape from the hands of justice: plantations were forcibly taken possession of, upon pretences the most frivolous and unjust, and planters were compelled to give bonds for large sums of money, to procure from him liberty to remain in posession of their property. These, and many more acts of the like atrocious nature, did this rapacious governor commit, during the short time of his administration, to increase his fees as governor and proprietor. At length the people, weary of his grievous impositions and extortions, agreed to take him by force, and ship him off for England. Then, to his other ill qualities he added meanness of spirit, and humbly begged of them liberty to remain in the country, promising to submit his conduct to the trial of the assembly at their first meeting. When the assembly met, thirteen different charges were brought against him, and all supported by the strongest evidence: upon which, being found guilty, they compelled him to abjure the government and country for ever. An account of his infamous and wicked conduct was drawn up and sent to the proprietors, which filled them with astonishment and indignation. He was ordered to England, to answer the accusations brought against him before the palatine's court, and, in case of refusal, was given to understand it would be taken as a further evidence and confirmation of his guilt. The law for disabling Landgrave James Colleton from holding any authority civil or military in Carolina, was repealed, and strict orders were sent out to the grand council, to support the power and prerogative of the proprietors. To compose the minds of the people, they declared their detestation of such unwarrantable and wanton oppression, and protested that no governor should ever be permitted to grow rich on their ruins; enjoining them, at the same time, to return to the obedience of their magistrates, and subjection to legal authority.

Hitherto this little community has been a scene of continual contention and misery. The fundamental constitutions, which the proprietors thought the most excellent form of government upon earth, have been little regarded. The governors have been either ill qualified for their office, or the instructions given them have been unacceptable to the people. The inhabitants, far from living in friendship and harmony among themselves, have also been seditious and ungovernable. Indeed, while the proprietary government shall continue to be thus weak and unstable, its authority will be little respected; while the encouragement given to civil officers and magistrates is trifling and inconsiderable; men of judgment and ability will not throw away their time and pains for supporting the honour and authority of others, which might be otherwise employed to purposes more advantageous to themselves. The titles of Landgraves and Cassiques will not compensate for the loss of such time and labour, especially when they come only joined with large tracts of land which, for want of hands, must lie uncultivated. The money arising from quitrents and the sale of lands was inconsiderable, hard to be collected, and by no means adequate to the support of government. The proprietors were unwilling to involve their English estates for the improvement of American property; hence their government was feeble and ill supported in Carolina, and there is reason to fear it will become more so, in proportion as the colonists shall become richer and more independent, and the country shall advance to a more populous and better cultivated state.

CHAP. III.

[Sidenote] A revolution in England.

During the reign of the infatuated King James II. the English nation, oppressed by a Popish faction, and apprehensive about their civil and religious liberties, were ripe for a revolt; and, upon his abdication, William Prince of Orange accepted of the English crown, on such terms as the Parliament thought proper to offer it. Though history can furnish few examples of a daughter conspiring with subjects to exclude her father from the throne, and then accepting of a crown from his head; yet, by this Revolution the long-contested boundaries between the prerogative of the king and the rights and liberties of the people, were more clearly marked and determined than they had been in any former period, to the great relief and happiness of the nation. This event is distinguished in the annals of England as the era of freedom; and it must be confessed, that the change has been productive of many important and happy consequences.

As nothing tends more to the increase of industry and commerce than religious toleration, and great freedom to scrupulous consciences, soon after the Revolution an act passed in parliament, for exempting his majesty's Protestant subjects from the penalties of certain laws, under which they had formerly suffered great severities. King William and his council, at that juncture, wisely judged, that such a law might be of excellent use in removing the complaints of many of his good subjects, and uniting their minds in interest and affection. Though the variances of Whigs and Tories may have sometimes obstructed the salutary effects of this law, yet it must be acknowledged to have answered many wise and valuable purposes to the nation.

[Sidenote] The French refugees meet with encouragement.

In the history of England, nothing is found to redound more to the honour of the people than their signal and uncommon acts of generosity and humanity. Even in the reign of King James large collections had been made for the distressed French refugees. After King William's accession to the throne, the parliament voted fifteen thousand pounds sterling to be distributed among persons of quality, and all such as through age or infirmities were unable to support themselves or families. To artificers and manufacturers encouragement was offered in England and Ireland, who have contributed not a little to the improvement of the silk and linen manufactures of these kingdoms. To husbandmen and merchants agreeable prospects were opened in the British colonies. In 1690, King William sent a large body of these people to Virginia. Lands were allotted them on the banks of St. James's river, which by their diligence and industry they soon improved into excellent estates. Others purchased lands from the proprietors of Carolina, transported themselves and families to that quarter, and settled a colony on Santee river. Others, who were merchants and mechanics, took up their residence in Charlestown, and followed their different occupations. At this period these new settlers were a great acquisition to Carolina. They had taken the oath of allegiance to the king, and promised fidelity to the proprietors. They were disposed to look on the colonists, whom they had joined, in the favourable light of brethren and fellow-adventurers, and though they understood not the English language, yet they were desirous of living in peace and harmony with their neighbours, and willing to stand forth on all occasions of danger with them for the common safety and defence.

[Sidenote] Philip Ludwell appointed governor.

About the same time Philip Ludwell, a gentleman from Virginia, being appointed governor of Carolina, arrived in the province. Sir Nathaniel Johnson, who had been general of the Leeward Islands in the reign of King James, being created a Cassique of Carolina, after the Revolution retired to that country, and took his seat as a member of the council. The proprietors having found the fundamental constitutions disagreeable to the people, and ineffectual for the purposes of government, repealed all their former laws and regulations, excepting those called Agrarian Laws, and sent out a new plan of government to Mr. Ludwell, consisting of forty-three articles of instruction, for the better management of their colony. The inhabitants, who had been long in a confused and turbulent stare, were enjoined to obedience and submission. Liberty was granted to the representatives of the people to frame such laws as they judged necessary to the public welfare and tranquillity, which were to continue in force for two years, but no longer, unless they were in the mean time ratified and confirmed by the palatine and three more proprietors. Lands for the cassiques and landgraves were ordered to be marked out in square plats, and freedom was granted them to chuse their situation. Hitherto the planters remained utter strangers to the value and fertility of the low lands, the swamps were therefore carefully avoided, and large tracts of the higher lands, which were esteemed more precious, were surveyed, and marked out for estates by the provincial nobility.

[Sidenote] Harsh treatment of the colonists to the refugees.

Governor Ludwell, who was a man of great humanity, and considerable knowledge and experience in provincial affairs, by those large estates which were allowed the leading men, and the many indulgences he was authorized to grant to others, had the good fortune to allay the ferment among the people, and reconcile them to the proprietors. But this domestic tranquility was of short duration. New sources of discontent broke out from a different quarter. He had instructions to allow the French colony settled in Craven county, the same privileges and liberties with the English colonists. Several of the refugees being possessed of considerable property in France, had sold it, and brought the money with them to England. Having purchased large tracts of land with this money, they sat down in more advantageous circumstances than the poorer part of English emigrants. Some of them, who had gone to the northern provinces, hearing of the kind treatment and great encouragement their brethren had received in Carolina, came to southward and joined their countrymen. Having clergymen of their own persuasion, for whom they entertained the highest respect and veneration, they were disposed to encourage them as much as their narrow circumstances would admit. Governor Ludwell received the wandering foreigners with great civility, and was not a little solicitous to provide them with settlements equal to their expectations. While these refugees were entering on the hard task of clearing and cultivating spots of land, encouraging and relieving each other as much as was in their power, the English Settlers began to revive the odious distinctions and rooted antipathies of the two nations, and to consider them as aliens and foreigners, entitled by law to none of the privileges and advantages of natural-born subjects. The governor had instructions to allow them six representatives in assembly; this the Englishmen considered as contrary to the laws of the land, and beyond the power of the proprietors, who were subject to the laws, to grant. Instead of considering these persecuted strangers in the enlarged light of brethren descended from the same common parent, and entitled to the free blessings of Providence; instead of taking compassion on men who had sought an asylum from oppression in their country, whom they were bound to welcome to it by every tie of humanity and interest; they began to execute the laws of England respecting aliens in their utmost rigour against them. Their haughty spirit could not brook the thoughts of sitting in assembly with the rivals of the English nation for power and dominion, and of receiving laws from Frenchmen, the favourers of a system of slavery and absolute government. In this unfavourable light they were held forth to the people, to the great prejudice of the refugees; which sentiments, however narrow and improper, served to excite no small jealousies and apprehensions in their minds, with respect to these unhappy foreigners.

Hard as this treatment was, this violent party did not stop here. They insisted, that the laws of England allowed no foreigners to purchase lands in any part of the empire under her supreme jurisdiction, and that no authority but the house of commons in Britain could incorporate aliens into their community, and make them partakers of the rights and privileges of natural-born Englishmen; that they ought to have been naturalized by parliament before they obtained grants of lands from the proprietors; that the marriages performed by their clergymen, not being ordained by a bishop, were unlawful; and that the children begotten in those marriage could be considered in law in no other light as bastards. In short, they averred, that aliens were not only denied a seat in parliament, but also a voice in all elections of members to serve in it; and that they could neither be returned on any jury, nor sworn for the trial of issues between subject and subject.

The refugees, alarmed at these proceedings, and discouraged at the prospects of being deprived of all the rights and liberties of British subjects, began to suspect that the opposition of England would fall heavier upon them than that of France from which they had fled. Dejected at the thoughts of labouring they knew not for whom, if their children could not reap the fruits of their labours, or if their estates should escheat to the proprietors at their decease, they could consider themselves only as deceived and imposed upon by false promises and prospects. After holding several consultations among themselves about their deplorable circumstances, they agreed to state their case before the proprietors, and beg their advice. In answer to which the Proprietors instructed Governor Ludwell to inform them, that they would enquire what does in law qualify an alien born for the enjoyment of the rights and privileges of English subjects, and in due time let them know; that, for their part, they would take no advantages of the present grievous circumstances of the refugees; that their lands should descend to such persons as they thought proper to bequeath them; that the children of such as had been married in the same way were not deemed bastards in England, nor could they be considered as such in Carolina, where such unlimited toleration was allowed to all men by their charter. Though this served in some measure to compose the minds of the refugees, yet while the people harboured prejudices against them the relief was only partial; and, at the next election of members to serve in assembly, Craven county, in which they lived, was not allowed a single representative.

[Sidenote] The manner of obtaining lands.

From the first settlement of the colony, the common method of obtaining lands in it was by purchase, either from the Proprietors themselves, or from officers commissioned by them, who disposed of them agreeable to their directions. Twenty pounds sterling for a thousand acres of land, and more or less, in proportion to the quantity, was commonly demanded, although the proprietors might accept of any acknowledgment they thought proper. The emigrants having obtained warrants, had liberty to go in search of vacant ground, and to pitch upon such spots as they judged most valuable and convenient. This was surveyed, and marked out to them, according to the extent of their purchase, and plats and grants were signed, registered and delivered to them, reserving one shilling quitrent for every hundred acres, to be paid annually to the Proprietors. Such persons as could not advance the sum demanded by way of purchase, obtained lands on condition of paying one penny annual-rent for every acre to the landlords. The former, however, was the common method of obtaining landed estates in Carolina, and the tenure was a freehold. The refugees having purchased their estates, and meeting with such harsh treatment from the colonists, were greatly discouraged, and apprehensive, notwithstanding the fair promises of the Proprietors, they had escaped one abyss of misery only to plunge themselves deeper into another.

[Sidenote] Juries chosen by ballot.

The manner of impannelling juries in Carolina being remarkably fair and equitable, justly claims our particular notice. Juries here are not returned by sheriffs, whose ingenuity and integrity are well known, particularly in England; but according to an article in the fundamental constitutions. The names of all the freemen in the colony being taken down on small pieces of parchment of equal size, they are put into a ballot-box, which is shaken on purpose to mix them, and out of which twenty-four names are drawn, at every precinct court before it rises, by the first boy under ten year of age that appears; which names are put into another box, and twelve out of the twenty-four are drawn by another boy under the same age, and summoned to appear at the next meeting of court; which persons are the jury, provided no exceptions are taken against any of them. If any of them are challenged by the prisoner, the boy continues drawing other names till the jury be full. In this mild and fair manner prisoners are tried, which allows them every chance for life humanity can suggest or require: for after the most careful examination of witnesses, and the fullest debate on both sides from the bar, the jury have instructions about the evidences given, and the point of law which is to guide them in their decision, from the bench; and are shut up in a room, where they must remain until they agree, and return their unanimous verdict, guilty or not guilty.

[Sidenote] Pirates favored by the colonists.

Notwithstanding the excellence of this form of trial, it must be confessed that justice has not always had its free course, nor been administered with impartiality by the officers and judges appointed by the proprietors for this purpose. Pirates, for instance, are a body of men whom all civilized nations are bound in honour and justice to crush; yet, instead of this, by bribery and corruption they often found favour with the provincial juries, and by this means escaped the hands of justice. About this time forty men arrived in a privateer called the Royal Jamaica, who had been engaged in a course of piracy, and brought into the country treasures of Spanish gold and silver. These men were allowed to enter into recognizance for their peaceable and good behaviour for one year, with securities, till the governor should hear whether the proprietors would grant them a general indemnity. At another time a vessel was shipwrecked on the coast, the crew of which openly and boldly confessed, they had been in the Red sea plundering the dominions of the Great Mogul. The gentleness of government towards those public robbers, and the civility and friendship with which they were treated by the people, were evidences of the licentious spirit which prevailed in the colony. For although all men ought to be tender of the lives of their fellow-creatures, and permit ten guilty persons to escape rather than one innocent man should suffer; yet, to bring pirates to justice is a duty which both national honour and the common welfare of society necessarily require. For if we allow such public robbers to escape with impunity, it may be attended with serious and fatal consequences; it may prove the occasion of war and bloodshed to nations in general, to the prejudice of navigation, and the destruction of many innocent lives, which might have been prevented by proper and legal punishments. The Proprietors were disposed to consider piracy in this dangerous light, and therefore instructed Governor Ludwell to change the form of electing juries, and required that all pirates should be tried and punished by the laws of England made for the suppression of piracy. Before such instructions reached Carolina, the pirates, by their money and freedom of intercourse with the people, had so ingratiated themselves into the public favour, that it was become no easy matter to bring them to trial, and dangerous to punish them as they deserved. The courts of law became scenes of altercation, discord, and confusion. Bold and seditious speeches were made from the bar, in contempt of the Proprietors and their government. Since no pardons could be obtained but such as they had authorised the governor to grant, the assembly took the matter under deliberation, and fell into hot debates among themselves about a bill of indemnity. When they found the governor disposed to refute his assent to such a bill, they made a law impowering magistrates and judges to put in force the _habeas corpus_ act made in England. Hence it happened, that several of those pirates escaped, purchased lands from the colonists, and took up their residence in the country. While money flowed into the colony in this channel, the authority of government was a barrier too feeble to stem the fide, and prevent such illegal practices. At length the proprietors, to gratify the people, granted an indemnity to all the pirates, excepting those who had been plundering the Great Mogul, most of whom also found means of making their escape out of the country.

In this community there subsisted a constant struggle between the people and the officers of the Proprietors: the former claimed great exemptions and indulgences, on account of their indigent and dangerous circumstances; the latter were anxious to discharge the duties of their trust, and to comply with the instructions of their superiors. When quitrents were demanded some refused payment, others had nothing to offer. When actions were brought against all those who were in arrears, the poor planters murmured and complained among themselves, and were discontented at the terms of holding their lands, though, comparatively speaking, easy and advantageous. It was impossible for any governor to please both parties. The fees also of their courts and sheriffs were such, that, in all actions of small value, they exceeded the debt to be recovered by them. To remedy this inconvenience, the assembly made a law for empowering justices of the peace to hear, and finally to determine, all causes of forty shillings sterling value and under. This was equally agreeable to the people, as it was otherwise to the officers of justice. At length, to humour the planters, the governor proposed to the assembly, to consider of a new form of a deed for holding lands, by which he encroached on the prerogative of the proprietors, who had referred to themselves the sole power of judging in such a case, incurred their displeasure, and was soon after removed from the government.

[Sidenote] Thomas Smith appointed governor.

To find another man equally well qualified for the trust, was a matter at this time of no small difficulty to the Proprietors. Thomas Smith was a man possessed of considerable property, much esteemed by the people for his wisdom and sobriety; such a person they deemed would be the most proper to succeed Ludwell, as he would naturally be both zealous and active in promoting the prosperity and peace of the settlement. Accordingly a patent was sent out to him creating him a landgrave, and, together with it, a commission investing him with the government of the colony. Mr. Ludwell returned to Virginia, happily relieved from a troublesome office, and Landgrave Smith, under all possible advantages, entered on it. He was previously acquainted with the state of the colony, and with the tempers and complexions of the leading men in it. He knew that the interest of the Proprietors, and the prosperity of the settlement were inseparably connected. He was disposed to allow the people, struggling under many hardships, every indulgence consistent with the duties of his trust. No stranger could have been appointed to the government that could boast of being in circumstances equally favourable and advantageous.

[Sidenote] The planting of rice introduced.

About this time a fortunate accident happened, which occasioned the introduction of rice into Carolina, a commodity which was afterwards found very suitable to the climate and soil of the country. A brigantine from the island of Madagascar touching at that place in her way to Britain, came to anchor off Sullivan's island. There Landgrave Smith, upon an invitation from the captain, paid him a visit, and received from him a present of a bag of seed rice, which he said he had seen growing in eastern countries, where it was deemed excellent food, and produced an incredible increase. The governor divided his bag of rice between Stephen Bull, Joseph Woodward, and some other friends, who agreed to make the experiment, and planted their small parcels in different soils. Upon trial they found it answered their highest expectations. Some years afterwards, Mr. Du Bois, treasurer to the East-India Company, sent a bag of seed rice to Carolina, which, it is supposed, gave rise to the distinction of red and white rice, which are both cultivated in that country. Several years, however, elapsed, before the planters found out the art of beating and cleaning it to perfection, and that the lowest and richest lands were best adapted to the nature of the grain; yet, from this period, the colonists persevered in planting it, and every year brought them greater encouragement. From this small beginning did the staple commodity of Carolina take its rife, which soon became the chief support of the colony, and its great source of opulence. Besides provisions for man and beast, as rice employs a number of hands in trade, it became also a source of naval strength to the nation, and of course more beneficial to it, than foreign mines of silver and gold. From the success attending this inconsiderable beginning, projectors of new schemes for improvement may draw some useful lessons, especially where lands are good, and the climate favourable to vegetation.

[Sidenote] Occasions a necessity for employing negroes.

With the introduction of rice planting into this country, and the fixing upon it as its staple commodity, the necessity of employing Africans for the purpose of cultivation was doubled. So laborious is the task of raising, beating, and cleaning this article, that though it had been possible to obtain European servants in numbers sufficient for attacking the thick forest and clearing grounds for the purpose, thousands and ten thousands must have perished in the arduous attempt. The utter inaptitude of Europeans for the labour requisite in such a climate and soil, is obvious to every one possessed of the smallest degree of knowledge respecting the country; white servants would have exhausted their strength in clearing a spot of land for digging their own graves, and every rice plantation would have served no other purpose than a burying ground to its European cultivators. The low lands of Carolina, which are unquestionably the richest grounds in the country, must long have remained a wilderness, had not Africans, whose natural constitutions were suited to the clime and work, been employed in cultivating this useful article of food and commerce.

[Sidenote] Perpetual slavery repugnant to the principles of humanity
and Christianity.

So much may be said for the necessity of employing Africans in the cultivation of rice; but great is the difference between employing negroes in clearing and improving those rich plains, and that miserable state of hardship and slavery to which they are there devoted, and which has been tolerated and established by the law of the land. If we view this race, first ranging over the hills of Africa, equally free and independent as other rude nations on earth, and from thence inveigled by frauds or compelled by force, and then consigned over to a state of endless slavery, we must confess the change is great and deplorable, especially to an impartial and disinterested eye. Without them, it is acknowledged, slow must have been the progress of cultivation in Carolina; but, from such a confederation, what man will presume to vindicate the policy of keeping those rational creatures in perpetual exile and slavery. Nature had given them an equal right to liberty as to life, and the general law of self-preservation was equally concerned for the preservation of both. We would be glad then to know, upon what principle of equity and justice the English traders found their right to deprive the freeborn inhabitants of Africa of their natural liberty and native country; or on what grounds the planter afterwards founds his right to their service during life, and that of all their posterity, to the latest generation. Can the particular laws of any country supersede the general laws of nature? Can the local circumstances of any province upon earth be pled in excuse for such a violent trade, and for such endless slavery in consequence of it? Besides, has not this trade a tendency to encourage war and plunder among the natives of Africa? to set one tribe against another, to catch and trepan their neighbours, on purpose to barter them for European trinkets to the factories? Nor is the traffic confined to the captives of war alone, who have been subjected to slavery by many nations; for so ardently do they covet the pernicious liquors and trifling commodities carried to them from Europe, that, without scruple, they will part with their nearest relations, their wives and children not excepted, to procure them. Thus civilized nations, by such a traffic, have made barbarians more barbarous, and tempted them to commit the most cruel and unnatural actions.

Nothing can be more evident, than that such a trade is tolerated and carried on in violation of the grand rule of equity prescribed to Christians. For example, let us suppose the people of Africa had discovered an island, such as Newfoundland, in a climate too cool for the natives of that continent to cultivate, and that the inhabitants of the north of Europe were alone adapted to the work. In consequence of this discovery, were they to sail to Britain with a cargo of their gold dust, and stir up one county to wage war with another for the sake of captives were they to tempt the father to dispose of his son, the mother of her daughter, the husband of his wife, and the nearest friends, first to steal and kidnap, and then barter each other, for Africa's golden idol: we may with justice put the question, Ye inhabitants of England, what would ye think of such a traffic? We will readily own, there are few nations upon earth more fond of gold dust than you, or have gone farther lengths in the commercial way to procure it; yet, fond as ye are of this favourite metal, we must do so much justice to your humanity as to believe, that your nation would resound with complaints against a traffic so unjust and cruel. Yet certainly the African's natural right to pursue it is equally well grounded as that of the European. What principle of Christianity can you then plead in its vindication? Your superior power, avarice, and craft, the African acknowledges to his sad experience; but he complains of being made absolute property, such as cattle, goods and chattels, and subject to be seized, levied upon, and tossed from hand to hand for the payment of commercial debts, by the laws of your realm, to which he never owed any subjection or obedience. He complains of the means used to bring him into such grievous and deplorable circumstances, as unfair and iniquitous. He complains, that his utmost labour and industry for any limited time will not be accepted by the master he serves, as a compensation for the expence of his purchase, and that he and all his generation must remain slaves for ever, without hope of redemption or deliverance. And, without doubt, hard is his case, and well grounded are his complaints. Indeed the planter's concern only commences with the arrival of these slaves, and his contract made with the merchant, who, under the colour and authority of the laws, brought them into the country where he lives. For the purchase he makes he has also the sanction and countenance of law, which is in some measure a justification of his conduct. On provincial regulations, with respect to the subsequent management and treatment of negroes, we shall afterwards take occasion to make some remarks. At present we shall only add, that in no instance can it be said to be a more plain and lamentable truth, that the love of money is the root of all evil, than when it urges men to trade in the bodies and souls of their fellow-creatures.

[Sidenote] Foreign colonies encouraged from views of commercial
advantage.

During the period of the usurpation in England, when the great councils of the nation were under the direction of men of mean birth and little education, the considerations of mercantile profit became connected with those of dominion and the higher springs of government. After the conquest of Jamaica, it was resolved, that the nation should make a commercial profit of every colony that had been, or should be, planted in the western world. At the Restoration the same turn in politics was also adopted, and the parliament which brought about that great event made a law, by which it was enacted, that no sugar, cotton, wool, indigo, ginger, fustic, or other dying wood, of the growth of any English plantation in Asia, Africa, or America, should be transported to any other place than to some English plantation, or to England, Ireland, Wales, and Berwick upon Tweed, upon pain of forfeiture of ship and goods; that, for every vessel sailing from England, Ireland, Wales, and Berwick upon Tweed, bond shall be given, with security of one or two thousand pounds sterling, money of Great Britain, that if she load any of the said commodities at such plantations, she shall bring them to some port of these English dominions. And for every vessel coming to the said plantations the governor shall, before she be permitted to load, take such bond as aforesaid, that she shall carry such commodities to England, Ireland, Wales, or Berwick upon Tweed. This laid the foundation of what was afterwards called _enumerated commodities_; and to these already mentioned, rice, hemp, copper ore, beaver skins, and naval stores, were afterwards added, and, with some exceptions, subjected to the same restraint.