marle Sound, placed them under Drummond, a prudent and popular governor A party of planters from Barbadoes, induced to remove to this congenial climate were settled on Cape Fear river, near the New Englanders, and ruled by Sir John Yeamans, one of their own number. A few shipbuilders were also obtained from the Bermudas.

In 1665, the proprietors, still in high favor with Charles, obtained a new patent with much larger privileges. Their territory was now, without regard to Spanish claims, extended to the Pacific, while they were empowered to create titles and orders of nobility. This appears to have been preparatory to the formation of what was intended to be a monument of human wisdom-a constitution for the new colony. It was undertaken by Shaftesbury, the ablest statesman of the age, who employed upon it Locke, the illustrious philosopher; and its object was to transport into the New World the varied ranks and aristocratic establishments of Europe. Two orders of nobility were to be instituted, the higher of landgraves or earls, the lower of caciques or barons. The territory was to be divided into counties, each containing 480,000 acres, with one landgrave and two caciques, a number never to be increased nor diminished. There was also to be lords of manors, entitled, like the nobles, to hold courts, and exercise judicial functions. Those possessing 50 acres were to be freeholders; but the tenants held no political franchise, and could never attain any higher rank. All the estates were to sit in one chamber. The proprietary were always to continue eight in number, to possess the whole judicial power, and have the supreme direction of all the tribunals. One was to take cognizance of ceremonies and pedigrees, of fashions and sports. But it is needless to enter into further details of a constitution which never did nor could have any practical existence. It must remain a striking proof how unfit the ablest men are to legislate for a society with whose condition and circumstances they are not intimately acquainted.

Nothing could exceed the surprise of the colonists when this elaborate sysem was transmitted to them, with an urgent call for its immediate adoption. Albemarle, the chief settlement, could scarcely number 1,400 working hands; now then was it to furnish its landgraves, its caciques, its barons? The proprietors, on a representation of this state of affairs, were obliged to own that their magnificent system could not yet be carried into full execution; but they required its introduction so far as circumstances allowed, and its completion to be kept constantly in view. Meanwhile, a series of temporary laws were established, until the inhabitants should be ripe for the fundamental constitutions. They had formed, however, a simple code adapted to their circumstances, which they preferred to one by which the popular privileges were materially abridged; and its abrogation for a merely provisional system would have taken away everything stable and permanent in their political position. As Miller, who acted as administrator and collector of the revenue, had not given them satisfaction, they rose in a body, imprisoned him and most of the council, seized the public funds, appointed magistrates and judges, called a parliament, and in short took into their hands all the functions of government. Culpepper, the ringleader, came to England to plead their cause, a step which certainly does not seem to indicate consciousness of guilt; but he was arrested and brought to trial for high treason. Shaftesbury, by his eloquence and popular influence, procured his acquittal, pleading that there had been no regular government in Albemarle, so that these disorders could only be considered as feuds among the severa' planters.

The proprietors found themselves in an embarrassing situation, unwilling to yield to the colonists and renounce their darling constitutions, yet neither desirous nor very able to reduce them by force. They resolved, therefore, to

send out as governor Seth Sothel, one of their own body, who had previously purchased Lord Clarendon's share, and whose territorial rights would, they hoped, command respect. According to Chalmers, the annals of delegated authority include no name so infamous as that of this new administrator; a remark which is probably too strong, for he had to deal with persons not easily pleased. It would appear, however, that his sole object was to advance his fortune, at the expense both of the colonists and of his fellow-proprietors. The former soon practised the lesson which they had already learned. They deposed him, seized his person, and were about to send him to England to answer to the owners for the charges brought against him. Sothel preferred to abide the judgment of the assembly themselves; a circumstance which, joined to the sentence, seems to indicate that his conduct was not extremely atrocious. After finding all the accusations proven, they merely banished him from the colony for a single year, and declared him incapable of ever again holding the office of governor. The proprietors, though troubled at these stretches of power, yet owning the complaints to be just, and having been themselves wronged, sanctioned the proceedings, and nominated Philip Ludwell as their representative.

Meantime they were bestowing a more special attention to the southern colony. In 1670, they sent out a considerable number of settlers under William Sayle, who was named governor. He died soon after, and his place was supplied by Sir John Yeamans, once a Barbadoes planter, who had acquired a good reputation in his command at Cape Fear. He was speedily accused, however, of sordid proceedings, in carrying on all the little trade of the colony for his own advantage. Affairs were in many respects unsatisfactory. The proprietors, like other similar bodies, already discovered that the colony, instead of a mine of wealth, was a constant drain; they had expended upon it upward of £18,000, without any return, but, on the contrary, had to encounter new demands. They were therefore not unwilling to remove Yeamans in order to make room for West, a favorite of the settlers. During his residence of eight years, he enjoyed a popularity rare among transatlantic rulers. The colony flourished; for beside emigrants sent over by the proprietors, a considerable tide flowed in from various quarters. The poor cavaliers, considering it to have been founded upon their own principles, sought it as a place where they might retrieve their fortunes. A number of Dutch in New York, dissatisfied with their transference to British rule, thought, it scarcely appears for what reason, that they would be more at ease in this new settlement; and some of their countrymen from Europe were induced to follow. The revocation of the edict of Nantz, and the persecution of the protestants by Louis XIV. during his bigoted dotage, drove out a large body of most respectable emigrants. A small party proceeded from Ireland, and another from Scotland under Lord Cardross; but the latter was unfortunate, being nearly all destroyed by the Indians. This influx was considered to afford an inducement for the erection of a city. One was early founded on a high ground, above Ashley River, named Charleston; but afterward another spot, called Oyster Point, at the junction of that stream with the Cooper, was considered so much more eligible, that the site was changed. The choice was happy; and it has since become the chief emporium of the southern states.

West was succeeded, in 1682, by Moreton, and the latter, in 1686, by Colleton, a brother of one of the proprietors, and endowed with the rank of landgrave. Under these governors, the spirit of faction, which had in some degree slumbered, broke forth with extreme violence. An obstinate dispute was waged between the three counties of Berkeley, Craven, and Colleton, respecting the number of members that should be sent from each to the assembly: that body also proposed two acts which can not be applauded, with a view to relieve the scarcity of

money. It was the purpose of the one to raise the value of the coin, and of the other to suspend the payment of foreign debts. The first was carried, whence arose the depreciation of the Carolina currency, which afterward became extreme. The other was rejected by the proprietors with reprobation. This was not well brooked by the assembly, who began to contest the legality of the fundamental constitutions, and to demand their original charter. Discontents ran so high, that the people, in 1687, elected an assembly, expressly to resist whatever the governor should propose; and, in 1690, they passed an act banishing him from the province. Amid this ferment, appeared Seth Sothel, the rejected of North Carolina; and such was the influence of party, that he found no difficulty in occupying the place of his unpopular predecessor, and in calling a parliament, which sanctioned all his proceedings. The proprietors were beyond measure astonished to hear of such a person setting up against them as a leader supported by the people. They sent out the strictest orders for his immediate recall, appointing in his place Philip Ludwell, with instructions, however, to examine and report as to any real grievances. The chief complaint was found to be against "the fundamental constitutions ;" and as there appeared no serious prospect of carrying into execution that famous code, it was, in 1693, finally abrogated. Caciques, landgraves, and barons were swept away, and the labors of Shaftesbury and Locke were given to the winds. It may be observed that James II., on his usual despotic principle, had prepared a quo warranto against the charter; but the proprietors, opening a treaty for its surrender, on condition of replacing the funds expended on it, spun out the affair till that monarch became no longer an object of dread.

These arrangements did not fully secure tranquillity; and a new source of dissension was afforded by the numerous body of French protestant refugees. Most of the original settlers, zealously attached to the church of England, viewed with aversion both their religious and national peculiarities, and refused to admit them to the rights of citizenship. At this treatment they were justly indignant; and disputes rose so high, that the proprietors sent out one of their own body, John Archdale, a quaker, with full power to investigate and redress grievances. He conducted himself with great prudence, and, though he could not procure for the new comers all the desired privileges, succeeded in greatly allaying their discontent. After remaining a year, he left as his successor Joseph Blake, who steadily pursued the same system, by which, in a few years, the parties were reconciled, and the French admitted to all the rights of citizens. Blake died in 1700, and was succeeded by Moore, who, two years after, sought to distinguish himself by the capture of the French capital of St. Augustine. He himself, with the main force, proceeded by sea, while Colonel Daniel, with a party of militia and Indians, marched by land. The latter arrived first, and took possession of the town, obliging the enemy to retreat into the castle; but the governor considered that post so strong, as to render it necessary to send to Jamaica for more artillery. On the appearance, however, of two Spanish ships, he was seized with a panic alleged to be groundless, and precipitately raising the siege, returned by land to Carolina. This repulse was not only very mortifying, but entailed on the colony a heavy debt, which it could ill bear.

In 1706, the Spaniards endeavored to retaliate, and, aided by their French allies, equipped a considerable armament. Their admiral, Le Feboure, with five ships-of-war, forthwith summoned the capital; but the governor, Sir Nathaniel Johnson, who had, with great spirit, though inadequate means, prepared for defence, sent an indignant defiance. The invader, whose main land force had not yet arrived, imprudently sent on shore a small detachment, which was immediately attacked and cut off. This success inspired such courage, that Captain Rhett, with six small vessels, sailed against the enemy, who struck with

alarm, immediately retired. Soon after, an additional armament appeared, ard a body of troops were landed; but the English, flushed with victory, attacked them with such resolution, that both they and their ships were captured.

war;

to avenge.

After some years of repose, the colony was involved in all the horrors of Indian the origin of which is difficult to trace, though the settlers throw the whole blame upon the natives. It is manifest that they waged it with deep treachery and ferocity, and yet there seems room to suspect that they had heavy wrongs The first burst was from the Tuscaroras, on the frontier of North Carolina, whose attack against the settlements on the Roanoke was made with the usual secrecy and rapidity, and above a hundred perished before measures of defence could be adopted. This was all that could be done till aid was procured from South Carolina, whence Captain Barnwell, with 600 militia and 360 Indians, penetrated the intervening wilderness, defeated the enemy, and pursuing them to their main fortress, obliged them to surrender. They soon after migrated northward, and formed a union with the Five Nations.

A more formidable struggle awaited South Carolina. The Indians on its

border had long been united with the colonists in alliance and common hostility to the Spaniards. When the treaty of Utrecht had terminated the European war with the latter people, the natives soon announced that they had dined with the governor of Florida, and washed his face-a sure pledge of alliance The colonists, who did not suspect that the enmity was to be transferred to them, allege that it was fomented by their old enemies; but the charge seems scarcely supported by any overt act. Certain it is, that the Yemassees, Creeks, Cherokees, and all the tribes from Cape Fear to the shores of the gulf, amounting to 6,000 men, became united in one grand confederacy to exterminate the English name. Their preparations were enveloped as usual in profound secrecy; and, even on the previous evening, when some suspicious circumstances were noticed, they gave the most friendly explanation. In the morning the work of blood commenced in the vicinity of Port Royal, where about ninety of the planters perished; but the people of the place, happily finding a vessel in the harbor