from the domain of the Quakers. After much discussion an agreement was reached in the summer of 1676, and a line of division was drawn through the province as follows: Beginning at the southern point of land on the east side of Little Egg Harbor, and running north of northwest to a point on the river Delaware in the latitude of forty-one degrees and forty minutes. The territory lying east of this line remained to Sir George as sole proprietor, and was named EAST JERSEY; while that portion lying between the line and the Delaware was called WEST JERSEY, and passed under the exclusive control of Penn and his associates as assignees of Byllinge.

Early in the following March the Quaker proprietors completed and published a body of laws under the singular title of CONCESSIONS. But the name was significant, for everything was conceded to the people. This first simple code enacted by the Friends in America rivaled the charter of Connecticut in the liberality and purity of its principles. The authors of the instrument accompanied its publication with a general letter addressed to the Quakers of England, recommending the province and inviting immigration.

The invitation was not in vain. Before the end of the year a colony of more than four hundred Friends arrived in the Delaware, and found homes in West Jersey. Only one circumstance clouded the prospects of the new commonwealth of peace. The agent of Andros, governor of New York, was stationed at New Castle, on the western bank of the Delaware, to command the entrance to the river. The Quaker ships were obliged to pay customs before proceeding to their destination. A powerful remonstrance was drawn up by the Friends and sent to England. For once the duke of York listened to reason and agreed to submit his cause to the courts; and for once a decision was rendered in accordance with right and justice. The eminent jurist Sir William Jones decided that the duke had no legal right to collect duties and taxes in the country of the Delaware. All claims to the territory and government of West Jersey were accordingly withdrawn; and the Quaker colonists were left in the enjoyment of independence. The heirs of Sir George Carteret were quick to see that the same decision would free their half of the province from the jurisdiction of Andros. An effort was accordingly made by the proprietors of East Jersey to secure a deed of release from the duke of York. The petition was favorably entertained, the deed issued and the whole territory between the Hudson and the Delaware freed from foreign authority.

In November of 1681, Jennings, the deputy-governor of West Jersey, convened the first general assembly of the province. The men

who had so worried the aristocracy of England by wearing their hats in the presence of great men, and by saying Thee and Thou, now met together to make their own laws. The code was brief and simple. The doctrines of the CONCESSIONS were reaffirmed. Men of all races and of all religions were declared to be equal before the law. No superiority was conceded to rank or title, to wealth or royal birth. Imprisonment for debt was forbidden. The sale of ardent spirits to the Red men was prohibited. Taxes should be voted by the representatives of the people. The lands of the Indians should be acquired by honorable purchase. Finally, a criminal-unless a murderer, a traitor or a thief-might be pardoned by the person against whom the offence was committed.

In 1682, William Penn and eleven other Friends purchased of the heirs of Carteret the province of East Jersey. Robert Barclay, an eminent Quaker of Aberdeen, in Scotland, and author of the book called Barclay's Apology, was appointed governor for life. The whole of New Jersey was now under the authority of the Friends. The administration of Barclay, which continued until his death, in 1690, was chiefly noted for a large immigration of Scotch Quakers who left the governor's native country to find freedom in East Jersey. The persecuted Presbyterians of Scotland came to the province in still greater numbers.

On the accession of James II., in 1685, the American colonies from Maine to Delaware were consolidated, and Edmund Andros appointed royal governor. His first year in America was spent in establishing his authority at Boston, Providence and Hartford. Not until 1688 were New York and the two Jerseys brought under his jurisdiction. The short reign of King James was already at an end before Andros could succeed in setting up a despotism on the ruin of colonial liberty. When the news came of the abdication and flight of the English monarch, the governor of New England could do nothing but surrender to the indignant people whom he had wronged and insulted. His arrest and imprisonment was the signal for the restoration of popular government in all the colonies over which he had ruled.

But the condition of New Jersey was deplorable. It was almost impossible to tell to whom the jurisdiction of the territory rightfully belonged. So far as the eastern province was concerned, the representatives of Carteret claimed it; the governor of New York claimed it; Penn and his associates claimed it. As to the western province, the heirs of Byllinge claimed it; Lucas, Laurie and Penn claimed it; the governor of New York claimed it. Over all these pretensions stood the paramount claim of the English king. From 1689 to 1692 there was no settled form of government in the territory; and for ten years thereafter the colony was

vexed and distracted with the presence of more rulers than any one province could accommodate.

At last self-interest solved the problem. The proprietors came to see that a peaceable possession of the soil of the Jerseys was worth more than the uncertain honors of government. A proposition was accordingly made that all the claimants should surrender their rights of civil jurisdiction to the English Crown, retaining only the ownership of the soil. The measure was successfully carried out; and in April of 1702, all proprietary claims being waived in favor of the sovereign, the territory between the Hudson and the Delaware became a royal province.

New Jersey was now attached to the government of Lord Cornbury of New York. The union of the two colonies, however, extended only to the office of chief magistrate; each province retained its own legislative assembly and a distinct territorial organization. This method of government continued for thirty-six years, and was then terminated by the action of the people. In 1728 the representatives of New Jersey sent a petition to George II., praying for a separation of the two colonies; but the application was at first refused. Ten years later the petition was renewed, and through the influence of Lewis Morris brought to a successful issue. New Jersey was made independent, and Morris himself received a commission as first royal governor of the separated province.

The people of New Jersey were but little disturbed by the successive Indian wars. The native tribes on this part of the American coast were weak and timid. Had it not been for the cruelties of Kieft and the wrongs of other governors of New York, the peace of the middle colonies would never have been broken. The province of New Jersey is specially interesting as being the point where the civilization of New England met and blended with the civilization of the South. Here the institutions, manners and laws of the Pilgrims were first modified by contact with the less rigid habits and opinions of the people who came with Gosnold and Smith. The dividing line between East and West Jersey is also the dividing line between the austere Puritans of Massachusetts and the chivalrous cavaliers of Virginia. Happily, along this dividing line the men of peace, the followers of Penn and Barclay, came and dwelt as if to subdue ill-will and make a UNION possible.

CHAPTER XXV.

PENNSYLVANIA.

THE Quakers were greatly encouraged with the success of their col

onies in West New Jersey. The prospect of establishing on the banks of the Delaware a free State, founded on the principle of universal brotherhood, kindled a new enthusiasm in the mind of William Penn. For more than a quarter of a century the Friends had been buffeted with shameful persecutions. Imprisonment, exile and proscription had been their constant portion, but had not sufficed to abate their zeal or to quench their hopes of the future. The lofty purpose and philanthropic spirit of Penn urged him to find for his afflicted people an asylum of rest. In June of 1680 he went boldly to King Charles, and petitioned for a grant of territory and the privilege of founding a Quaker commonwealth in the New World.

The petition was seconded by powerful friends in Parliament. Lords North and Halifax and the earl of Sunderland favored the proposition, and the duke of York remembered a pledge of assistance which he had given to Penn's father. On the 5th of March, 1681, a charter was granted; the great seal of England, with the signature of Charles II., was affixed; and William Penn became the proprietor of PENNSYLVANIA. The vast domain embraced under the new patent was bounded on the east by the river Delaware, extended north and south over three degrees of latitude, and westward through five degrees of longitude. Only the three counties comprising the present State of Delaware were reserved for the duke of York.

In consideration of this grant, Penn relinquished a claim of sixteen thousand pounds sterling which the British government owed to his father's estate. He declared that his objects were to found a free commonwealth without respect to the color, race or religion of the inhabitants; to subdue the natives with no other weapons than love and justice; to establish a refuge for the people of his own faith; and to enlarge the borders of the British empire. One of the first acts of the great proprietor was to address a letter to the Swedes who might be included within

the limits of his province, telling them to be of good cheer, to keep their homes, make their own laws and fear no oppression.

Within a month from the date of his charter, Penn published to the English nation a glowing account of his new country beyond the Delaware, praising the beauty of the scenery and salubrity of the climate, promising freedom of conscience and equal rights, and inviting emigration. There was an immediate and hearty response. In the course of the summer three shiploads of Quaker emigrants left England for the land of promise. William Markham, agent of the proprietor, came as leader of the company and deputy-governor of the province. He was instructed by Penn to rule in accordance with law, to deal justly with all men, and especially to make a league of friendship with the Indians. In October of the same year the anxious proprietor sent a letter directly to the natives of the territory, assuring them of his honest purposes and brotherly affection.

The next care of Penn was to draw up a frame of government for his province. Herein was his great temptation. He had almost exhausted his father's estate in aiding the persecuted Quakers. A stated revenue would be very necessary in conducting his administration. His proprietary rights under the charter were so ample that he might easily reserve for himself large prerogatives and great emoluments in the government. He had before him the option of being a consistent, honest Quaker or a politic, wealthy governor. He chose like a man; right triumphed over riches. The constitution which he framed was liberal almost to a fault; and the people were allowed to adopt or reject it as they might deem proper.

In the mean time, the duke of York had been induced to surrender his claim to the three reserved counties on the Delaware. The whole country on the western bank of the bay and river, from the open ocean below Cape Henlopen to the forty-third degree of north latitude, was now under the dominion of Penn. The summer of 1682 was spent in further preparation. The proprietor wrote a touching letter of farewell to the Friends in England; gathered a large company of emigrants; embarked for America; and on the 27th of October landed at New Castle, where the people were waiting to receive him.

WILLIAM PENN, the founder of Philadelphia, was born on the 14th of October, 1644. He was the oldest son of Vice-Admiral Sir William Penn of the British navy. At the age of twelve he was sent to the University of Oxford, where he distinguished himself as a student until he was expelled on account of his religious opinions. Afterward he traveled on the Continent; was again a student at Saumur; returned to