religious persecution. New Jersey was settled about 1664; Pennsylvania in 1684. The latter colony consisted of Quakers, who made their settlement under the direction of the celebrated and kind-hearted William Penn. Delaware was first settled by a company of Swedes and Finns, in

1627.

North Carolina was settled by persons who fled from religious intolerance in Virginia, between 1640 and 1650. In South Carolina, the first permanent settlement was made at Port Royal, under governor Teagle, in 1670. Georgia was settled in 1732 by poor emigrants sent thither by an association of benevolent persons in England.

Thirteen colonies were thus established in North America. These consisted of 1. Massachusetts, which now included the Plymouth colony; 2. Connecticut; 3. New Hampshire; 4. Rhode Island; 5. New York; 6. New Jersey; 7. Pennsylvania; 8. Delaware; 9. Maryland; 10. Virginia; 11. North Carolina; 12. South Carolina; 13. Georgia.

These were the thirteen colonies that declared war against England, in 1776. It will be recollected that Maine was attached to Massachusetts. Vermont was never a colony; the territory was claimed both by New Hampshire and New York; the people fought against the British in the war, but did not join the confederation.

CHAPTER XLVII.

General Remarks on Colonies, &c.

Ir appears to have been the practice of commercial nations, in very early times, to send out companies of their people to settle in distant countries. As these settlements require protection, they receive it of the mother country, and, in return, allow that country to exercise government over them. These settlements, often remote and always dependent, are denominated colonies.

The great inducement to found and encourage colonies, has been, that they promoted trade and commerce, and thereby increased the wealth of the nation to whom they belonged. Carthage, established a century before Rome, was at first but a colony of Phœnicia. It afterwards became independent, and was long the most powerful state in Africa. It established numerous colonies, particularly along the coast of Spain, and from these derived a large share of its prosperity.

Greece, also, had a number of colonies, but her commerce, as well as her settlements, were chiefly confined within the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Rome was never a commercial power, for she chose rather to thrive by conquest than trade. She had, therefore, no commercial settlements which could properly be called colonies.

After the Roman Empire fell into the hands of the Northmen-about the year 450-for many centuries commerce did not flourish, and the whole world long remained in the darkness of ignorance and poverty. During the middle ages, the Euro

sequent period. These charters prescribed the mutual rights of the colonists and the crown: usually extending to the former the English laws, and empowering the crown to rule over the people and exercise its authority through a governor and council of his own appointment.

It is true, indeed, that different colonies were differently situated in respect to the government of Great Britain; some having more privileges than others. Some of them were indeed mere provinces, and having no charter, or their charters being taken away, were completely subject to the government of England; while others had a right by their charters to elect representatives among themselves, who should constitute an assembly, which, in conjunction with the governor and council appointed by the king, could make laws for the colony, not incompatible with those of England. here see the beginning of that form of government established by the colonies when they became independent states.

We

Hitherto, we must remark that the thirteen colonies were dependents of Great Britain; and most of them were deprived of some privileges which belonged to Englishmen, by the very terms and conditions of their charters. The colonists were, from the beginning, and of necessity, but little more than slaves, so far as their political condition was concerned.

But even the hard conditions of these charters were often violated by the home government, and tyranny was added to injustice. This, doubtless, arose more from the position of the colonies than from any intrinsic tyranny in the government. In the first place, colonies are always regarded as instituted for the benefit of the mother country, rather than for the colonists themselves; and it is apt to be an habitual train of thought, that they are to be managed with an exclusive or primary reference to the good of the mother country.

Beside, colonies demand large expenditures for their government and protection, and it is deemed right that they should be made to pay liberally for these: they are also distant, and if they suffer grievances it is difficult for those who are entrenched in power, to be reached by remonstrance or petition. Add to this, that it is usually for the interest of the agents of the government to misrepresent the people they govern, so that they may extort power from their employers and plunder the people by authority.

Under these circumstances, it is not strange that the people of the colonies suffered greatly from the oppressions of the home government. They however flourished. Their numbers increased, as well by natural progress as by emigration. A large portion of those who first emigrated were well educated, and these laid the foundation for general education. The lands became the property of those who cultivated them; and thus a deep interest in promoting the real prosperity of the country was established in the numerous owners of the soil.

The oppressions of the British government had been submitted to by feeble colonists, when they could not help themselves; but they had at length become strong, and began to feel that by union they could resist with effect. At last, roused by new encroachments on their rights, they threw off their allegiance, and on the 4th of July, 1776, declared themselves free, sovereign, and independent.