thirty degrees of Northern Latitude, and so west in a 1 6 6 3 direct line as far as the South Seas aforesaid." 1664 The patentees who thus became proprietors and sov- The Carolina ereigns, for it might almost be said that neither the rights Patentees of the crown nor the liberties of the people were withheld, were "our right trusty and right well beloved cousins and counsellors," the earl of Clarendon, the duke of Albemarle, William, Lord Craven, John, Lord Berkeley, and his younger brother Sir William Berkeley, then the governor of Virginia, Sir John Colleton, Sir George Carteret, and Lord Anthony Ashley Cooper, now better known as the earl of Shaftesbury. Edward Hyde had been a confidential counselor of Faithful Charles I. and the chief adviser of his son while the latter Royalists was in exile. In 1660, he became lord chancellor of England and prime minister of Charles II. In 1661, he became the first earl of Clarendon-a royal reward for fidelity. Lord Berkeley had been another faithful follower of the prince in exile. William Berkeley had held Virginia firm in loyalty to the house of Stuart while, for his treason to the commonwealth, General Monk had been created duke of Albe- Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon marle. The head and hand of the Carolina patentees was Anthony Ashley Cooper, the chancellor of the exchequer. The names of the king and his precious eight may be found upon the Carolina map today. 1663 The proprietors soon authorized Sir William Berkeley Albemarle to institute local government in the North Carolina September 8, region which took the name of Albemarle. These plantations were chiefly northeast of the river Chowan and, as the mouth of that river is north of the thirty-sixth parallel, they were not included in the Carolina patent. In 1664, William Drummond was appointed governor and an Albemarle assembly was instituted. This assem 1 6 6 4 bly, probably the first in Carolina and often called the 1 6 6 5 "grand assembly," met late in 1664 or early in 1665. Clarendon January 11, 1664-65 The Second 10, 1665 In the summer of 1663, the proprietors offered certain "declarations and proposals" to planters who would settle in their territory. These "proposals" as well as the "concessions" of the seventh of January, 1665, were very liberal and especially democratic for the seventeenth century. The "concessions" contemplated the division of the province into eight counties, each to be named for one of the proprietors; the country from the Cape Fear to the Saint Johns River was called the county of Clarendon. Then several Barbados planters bought from the Indians a tract of land thirty-two miles square, up the Cape Fear River. John Yeamans, one of the planters, was knighted and made governor of this second Carolina colony. Yeamans led several hundred settlers from Barbados and began a town on the south bank of the river. By 1666, the plantation had a population of eight hundred. In the following year, most of the colonists abandoned the town. The Carolina charter of 1663 was granted before the formal forfeiture of the Carolana patent to Sir Robert Heath. After the annulling of that grant, the Carolina June 30-July proprietors obtained another patent that crowded further both the Virginians and the Spanish. The new charter granted the territory from "the degrees of twenty-nine inclusive northern latitude" to a certain to a certain "streight westerly line which lies within or about the degrees of thirty-six, and thirty minutes northern latitude, and so west in a direct line as far as the South-seas." The Carolina With the soil went the sovereignty, limited by a mild allegiance to the crown. There were other differences between the grant of 1663 and that of 1665, but not enough to change the fact that the Carolina palatinate differed from that of Maryland chiefly in the number of proprietors. The favored eight might establish cities and counties, baronies and manors, and confer orders of nobility, provided they were unlike those used in England. They might levy war upon their enemies. and do the several things therein implied. The patent 1 6 6 5 contained a remarkable provision in favor of those who could not "conform to the public exercise of religion according to the liturgy, form, and ceremonies of the Church of England." Such persons were to enjoy freedom of conscience, "they behaving themselves peaceably, and not using this Colleton Clarendon C Geartwood for only foto Autographs of the Lords Proprietors of Carolina liberty to licentiousness, nor to the civil injury or outward disturbance of others." The way was clear for philosophy or fancy and Locke's "Grand Model" was constructed. Lord Ashley could, with equal ease, flatter a crowd or John Locke court a king. He had the wisdom early to appreciate John Locke and became his patron and intimate friend. Locke became Ashley's political adherent and able helper. Careful student as he was of Bacon's analysis of nature and Descartes's analysis of thought, Locke adopted from tradition or framed in fancy notions which, by their absurdity, amaze as often as they fail to excite a smile. |