demanded the surrender of the constitution of Rhode Island. The demand was evaded by Governor Clarke and the colonial assembly. But Andros repaired to Newport, dissolved the government, and broke the seal of the colony. Five councilors were appointed to control the affairs of the province, and the commonwealth seemed ruined.

12. But the usurpation was as brief as it was shameful. In the spring of 1689, the news came to Rhode Island that Andros and his officers were prisoners at Boston. On May-day the people rushed to Newport and made a proclamation of their gratitude for the deliverance. An old Quaker, named Henry Bull, more than eighty years of age, was chosen governor. The aged veteran accepted the trust, and spent his last days in restoring the liberties of Rhode Island.

13. Again the little State around the Bay of Narragansett was prosperous. For more than fifty years the peace of the colony was undisturbed. The principles of the illustrious founder became the principles of the commonwealth. The renown of Rhode Island has not been in vastness of territory, in mighty cities or victorious armies, but in devotion to truth, justice, and freedom.

RECAPITULATION.

Williams founds Rhode Island.-Sketch of his life.-The Baptist Church is organized.-Civil government begins.-Character of the institutions.-Massachusetts refuses to recall Williams.-A colony at Portsmouth.-The Jewish commonwealth.-Newport is founded.-The Norse tower.-A democracy is established.-Rhode Island is rejected by the Union.-Williams procures a charter.The Island of Rhode Island secedes.-Is reännexed.-Patriotism of Williams.Charles II. reïssues the charter.-Prosperity of Rhode Island.-Andros overturns the government.-Is overthrown.-Henry Bull is governor.

IN

CHAPTER XXIII.

NEW HAMPSHIRE.

N 1622 the territory between the Merrimac and the Kennebec was granted by the council of Plymouth to Sir Ferdinand Gorges and John Mason. The proprietors made haste to secure their new domain by actual settlements. In the spring of 1623, two small companies of colonists were sent out by Mason and Gorges to people their province. One party of immigrants landed at Little Harbor, near Portsmouth, and began to build a village. The other company proceeded up stream and laid the foundations of Dover. With the exception of Plymouth and Weymouth, Portsmouth and Dover are the oldest towns in New England. But the progress of the settlements was slow; for many years the two villages were only fishing stations.

2. In 1629 the proprietors divided their dominions, Gorges retaining the part north of the Piscataqua, and Mason taking the district between the Piscataqua and the Merrimac. In May of this year, Rev. John Wheelwright visited the Abenaki chieftains, and purchased their claims to the territory held by Mason; but in the following November, Mason's title was confirmed by a second patent; and the name of NEW HAMPSHIRE was given to the province. Very soon Massachusetts began to urge her rights to the district north of the Merrimac.

3. In November of 1635, Mason died, and his widow undertook the government of the province. But after a few years the territory was given up to the servants and dependents of the late proprietor. In this condition of affairs, John Wheelwright, with a small party of friends, repaired to the banks of the Piscataqua and founded the village of Exeter. The little colony was declared a republic, established on the principle of equal rights.

4. On the 14th of April, 1642, New Hampshire was united with Massachusetts. The law restricting the rights of citizenship to church members was not extended over the new province; for the people of Portsmouth and Dover belonged to the Church of England. New Hampshire was the only colony east of the Hudson not originally founded by the Puritans.

5. The union continued in force until 1679. In the mean time, the heirs of Mason had revived the claim of the old proprietor. In 1677 a decision was given by the courts of England that the Masonian claims were invalid as to the civil jurisdiction of New Hampshire, but valid as to the soil. On the 24th of July, 1679, New Hampshire was separated from the jurisdiction of Massachusetts and organized as a distinct royal province. Edward Cranfield was chosen governor.

6. Before his arrival the sawyers and lumbermen of the Piscat aqua convened a general assembly at Portsmouth. A resolution was passed by the representatives that no act, law, or ordinance, should be valid unless made by the assembly and approved by the people. When the king heard of this resolution, he declared it to be both wicked and absurd.

7. In November of 1682, Cranfield dismissed the popular assembly. The excitement ran high. At Exeter the sheriff was beaten with clubs. The farmers' wives met the tax-gatherers with pailfulls of hot water. At the village of Hampton, Cranfield's deputy was led out of town with a rope around his neck. Cranfield, unable to collect his rents and vexed out of his wits, wrote to England begging for the privilege of going home.

8. An effort was now made to restore New Hampshire to Massachusetts; but before this could be done the charter of the latter province had been taken away and Edmund Andros appointed governor of New England. The colonies north of the Merrimac quietly yielded to his authority. But when he was imprisoned by the citizens of Boston, the people of the northern towns also rose in rebellion. In 1690 New Hampshire was again annexed to Massachusetts. In August of 1692, this action was annulled, and the two provinces were a second time separated, against the protests of the people. In 1698 New

Hampshire was attached to the government of the earl of Bellomont. Afterward, for a period of forty-two years, the province was under the authority of Massachusetts. Not until 1741 was a final separation effected between the colonies north and south of the Merrimac.

9. Meanwhile, the heirs of Mason had sold to Samuel Allen, of London, their title to New Hampshire. His son-in-law, named Usher, was appointed deputy governor. The new proprietor made an effort to enforce his claim, but was everywhere resisted. For many years the history of New Hampshire contains little else than a record of strifes and lawsuits. Finally, in 1715, the heirs of Allen abandoned their claim in despair. A few years afterward one of the Masons discovered that the deed which his ancestor had made to Allen was defective. The original Masonian patent was accordingly revived. In the final adjustment of this long-standing difficulty, the colonial authorities allowed the validity of the old patent as to the unoccupied portions of the territory, and the Masons surrendered their claims to all the rest.

10. Of all the colonies, New Hampshire suffered most from the Indian wars. Her settlements were constantly exposed to savage invasion. During King Philip's War the suffering along the frontier was very great. In the wars of William, Anne, and George, the province was visited with devastation and ruin. But in the intervals of peace the spirits of the people revived, and the hardy settlers returned to their wasted farms. Out of these conflicts and trials came that sturdy race of pioneers who bore such a heroic part in the contests of after years.

RECAPITULATION.

New Hampshire is colonized by Gorges and Mason.-The province is divided.-Wheelwright purchases the Indian title.-Mason's patent is confirmed. He dies.-Difficulties ensue.-Exeter is founded.-New Hampshire is united with Massachusetts.-The Masonian claim is decided.-The two provinces are separated.-Cranfield appointed governor.-A general assembly is convened. The royal officers are resisted.-Andros assumes the government.New Hampshire and Massachusetts are united.-Governed by Bellomont.-Finally separated.-The Masonian claim again.-How decided.-Suffering of the colony in the Indian wars.-Character of the people.

MINOR MIDDLE COLONIES.

THE

CHAPTER XXIV.

NEW JERSEY.

HE history of New Jersey begins with the founding of Elizabethtown, in 1664. As early as 1618, a trading-station had been established at Bergen; but forty years passed before permanent dwellings were built in that neighborhood. In 1623 Fort Nassau was erected on the Delaware; but after a few months, May and his companions abandoned the place and returned to New Amsterdam.

2. The territory of New Jersey was included in the grant made to the duke of York. In 1664 that portion of the province lying between the Hudson and the Delaware, extending as far north as forty-one degrees and forty minutes, was assigned to Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. These noblemen adhered to the king's cause during the civil war in England, and were now rewarded with the gift of New Jersey. Just after the conquest, a company of Puritans made application to Governor Nicolls, and received a grant of land on Newark Bay. The Indian titles were purchased; in the following October a village was begun and named Elizabethtown.

3. In August of 1665, Philip Carteret arrived as governor. He was violently opposed by Nicolls, but could not be prevented from taking possession of the new settlements. Elizabethtown was made the capital of the colony; Newark was founded; flourishing hamlets appeared on the shores of the bay as far south as Sandy Hook. In honor of Sir George Carteret, who had been governor of the Isle of Jersey, his American domain was named NEW JERSEY.