CHAPTER XIII.

NEW JERSEY AS A SEPARATE PROVINCE.

Division into East and West New Jersey

The Society of Friends.

On the final transfer of New Netherlands to England, Berkely and Carteret again entered into possession of New Jersey. Berkely sold his half of the province to a few individuals of the Society of Friends, who desired to establish a refuge there from the persecution to which the Society was exposed throughout all Europe, as well as in New England. The following year a large company set sail for this asylum, and landing at a pleasant spot on the Delaware, called it Salem. The control of that part of the province sold by Berkely, soon afterward fell into the hands of William Penn, and two other members of the Society of Friends. They desired a division of the province, in order to establish a government. This was readily effected. Their portion received the name of West New Jersey, and that of Carteret, East New Jersey. A constitution was then sent out by the proprietaries, called the "Concessions," which granted civil and religious liberty. The rights of the natives were protected, and orphans, who should be needy, were to be educated by the State.

In 1677, several hundred Friends arrived from England. Lands were purchased of the Indians, and religious meetings were held in peace, at Burlington, their first settlement. The Indian chiefs were rejoiced at the prospect of permanent peace, and declared their intention of living like brothers with the English.

The whole province purchased by William Penn and other Friends.

Andros, governor of New York, afterward governor-general of New England, continued, on behalf of the Duke of York, to claim New Jersey as a part of his territory, and exacted customs of the ships ascending the Delaware. The question was referred for settlement in England, where a formal recognition of independence was procured. The Duke of York after this relinquished all claim to the territory.

The settlement of the State rapidly progressed. In 1681, the first representative assembly was held, and the government framed on the basis of humanity. The sale of ardent spirits to the Indians was prohibited.

In the mean time, William Penn, with eleven others of the 1682 Society of Friends, purchased East New Jersey of the heirs of Carteret. On the organization of their government, Robert Barclay, one of the Society, known al o as an eminent writer, was appointed governor for life, of whom George Bancroft says, "a man whose soul breathed enthusiasm and love," and "whose merits as chief proprietary are attested by his wise selection of deputies, and by the peace and happiness of the colony."

This part of the State, heretofore peopled chiefly by Puritans from New England, now became the asylum of Scottish Presbyterians, driven from their own country by the violence of persecution. Both parts of the State were blessed with peace and abundance. The education of children was not neglected, and in a few years a system of free schools was established.

On the accession of James II to the throne, he attempted to deprive New Jersey of its chartered privileges, in entire disregard of the engagements he had made while Duke of York. A series of collisions was the consequence, until the proprietaries, at the commencement of the reign of Queen

New Jersey becomes a royal province.

Anne, weary of continued disputes, resigned their rights to the crown. The queen united East and West New Jersey 1702 in one province under the government of her cousin, Lord Cornbury, whom she had also appointed governor of New York. His administration, in both these provinces, was rendered unpopular by his encroachments on the rights of the people, which the colonial legislatures were ever ready to resist.

The queen, considering that inconvenience might arise by allowing liberty of the press, prohibited the printing of any book, pamphlet or other matters, without a license.

After this, New York and New Jersey continued united under the same governor, each province however having a separate assembly, until 1738, when, on a petition of the inhabitants, a separate governor was appointed. The population of New Jersey at this time, amounted to about forty thousand.

CHAPTER XIV.

NEW YORK. (Continued from New Netherlands.)

Arbitrary government of Andros.

On the re-conquest of New Netherlands by the English, the country was again conveyed to the Duke of York. He appointed Edmund Andros governor, who renewed the abso- 1674 lute authority of the proprietary. Trade was prohibited without the permission of the Duke of York, and duties were established on exports and imports. No representative government had been allowed, and the legality of customs assessed in this way was denied. The Duke of York was earnestly entreated to grant to the people a share in the government, and in 1683, perceiving unequivocal symptoms of discontent with the arbitrary course that had been pursued, he yielded, and appointed Thomas Dongan governor, with instructions to call an assembly of the representatives of the people.

In the fall of the same year, the representatives met and established for themselves a "Charter of Liberties." But this state of things was of short duration. On the acces sion of James II to the throne, in 1685, he not only retracted the liberties which he himself had conceded, but imposed additional taxes. He also forbade the existence of a printingpress in the colony.

In 1678, the province contained about twenty thousand inhabitants; the island of New York, perhaps about three thousand. Those were days of primitive simplicity; luxury

Iroquois or Five Nations.

was unknown, wagons were used instead of carriages, and the inhabitants had to depend on home-made cloth for their wearing apparel. They were hospitable and ready to relieve the poor. The professions of religion were very various. About fifteen vessels traded yearly to the port, bringing English manufactures, and carrying, in return, the productions of the soil, chiefly wheat, lumber and tobacco, as well as some furs procured from the Indians.

The attention of Dongan was necessarily turned towards Indian affairs. The five nations, dwelling within the present limits of the State of New York, the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagos, Cayugas and Senecas, had formed a strong confederacy, and had attained a greater degree of power than any other North American tribes. They had extended their conquests from the St. Lawrence to Virginia, and had subjugated the Eries and the Hurons, the Miamis and the Illinois, having become more formidable, by receiving fire-arms from the Dutch, and incorporating their enemies among themselves. Hostilities had for a long series of years existed between the Iroquois or Five Nations, and the French in Canada. The territory of the Indians had been invaded, but the Canadians had been driven back, and the destruction of the French settlements was afterward contemplated by the natives.

The friendship of the Mohawks for the Dutch, had served as some protection against encroachments from Canada; and the struggle with the French increased the desire of the Iroquois for a treaty with the English. Deputies from the Five 1684 Nations met the governors of New York and Virginia, at Albany, and a treaty of peace and friendship was made in the summer of 1684.

In 1688, the colonies of New York and New Jersey, as