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parte of the freemen of the respective Townes, Cittyes and Places for which they shall bee soe elected or Deputed, shall have a generall meeting or Assembly, then and their to Consult and advise in and about the Affaires and businesse of the said Company; And that the Governour, or . . . Deputy Governour and such of the Assistants and freemen of the said Company as shall be soe Elected or Deputed and bee present att such meeting or Assembly, or the greatest number of them, whereof the Governour or Deputy Governour and Six of the Assistants, at least, to bee Seaven, shall be called the Generall Assembly, and shall have full power and authority to alter and change their dayes and tymes of meeting or General Assemblies for Electing the Governour, Deputy Governour and Assistants or other Officers, or any other Courts, Assemblies or meetings, and to Choose, Nominate and appoint such and soe many other Persons as they shal! thinke fitt and shall bee willing to accept the same, to bee free of the said Company and Body Politique, and them into the same to Admitt and to Elect, and Constitute such Officers as they shall thinke fitt and requisite for the Ordering, mannageing and disposeing of the Affaires of the said Governour and Company and their Successors. And wee doe hereby . . . Ordeine, that once in the yeare namely, the said Second Thursday in May, the Governour, Deputy Governour and Assistants of the said. Company and other Officers of the said Company, or such of them as the said Generall Assembly shall thinke fitt, shall bee, in the said Generall Court and Assembly to bee held from that day or tyme, newly Chosen for the yeare ensuing, by such greater part of the said Company for the tyme being then and there present. . . And Knowe yee further, That Wee . . . Doe

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Graunt . . . unto the said Governor and Company and their Successors, All that parte of our Dominions in Newe England in America bounded on the East by Norrogancett River, comonly called Norrogancett Bay, where the said River falleth into the Sea, and on the North by the lyne of the Massachusetts Plantation, and on the South by the Sea, and in longitude as the lyne of the Massachusetts Colony, runinge from East to West, (that is to say,) from the said Narrogancett Bay on the East to the South Sea on the West parte, with the Islands thereunto adjoyneinge....

No. 17.

First Charter of Carolina

March 24/April 3, 1662/3

THE region later known as Carolina had been included in the original Virginia grant of 1606; but no permanent settlements had been made, and on the revocation of the third Virginia charter, in 1624, the territory became subject to the disposal of the Crown. In 1629, Sir Robert Heath, then attorney-general, received from Charles I. a grant of the region south of Virginia, between 31° and 36° north latitude, under the name of Carolana; but no use was made of the grant, and no further attempt was made to develop the country until the grant of a charter to Clarendon and his associates, in March, 1662/3. An order in council of Aug. 12/22, 1663, declared the Heath patent void for non-user; but claims under it continued to be urged until 1768, when the descendants of Daniel Coxe, of New Jersey, to whom the patent had been transferred in 1696, received from the Crown a grant of 100,000 acres of land in New York in satisfaction of their claim.

REFERENCES.

Text in Statutes at Large of South Carolina (Cooper's ed., 1836), I., 22–31. The Heath grant is in Colonial Records of North Carolina, I., 1-13. For the documentary sources see, beside the Records, Carroll's Historical Collections of South Carolina; Sainsbury's Calendar of State Papers, Colonial, V., VI. On the early history of South Carolina, McCrady's History of South Carolina under the Proprietary Government is of prime importance.

CHARLES THE SECOND, [&c.]. . .

Ist. WHEREAS our right trusty, and right well beloved Cousins and Counsellors, Edward, Earl of Clarendon, our high Chancellor of England, and George, Duke of Albemarle, Master of our horse and Captain General of all our Forces, our right trusty and well beloved William Lord Craven, John Lord Berkley, our right trusty and well beloved Counsellor, Anthony Lord Ashley, Chancellor of our Exchequer, Sir George Carteret, Knt. and Baronet, Vice Chamberlain of our household, and our trusty and well beloved Sir William Berkley, Knt. and Sir John Colleton, Knight and Baronet, . . . have humbly besought leave of us by their industry and charge, to transport and make an ample Colony of our subjects, natives of our Kingdom of England, and elsewhere within our Dominions, unto a certain country hereafter described, in the parts of America not yet cultivated or planted, and only inhabited by some barbarous people, who have no knowledge of Almighty God.

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2d. And whereas the said Edward, Earl of Clarendon [and others] . . . have humbly besought us to . . . grant unto them and their heirs, the said country, with Priviledges and Jurisdictions requisite for the good government and safety thereof: KNOW YE, therefore, that we, favouring the pious and noble purpose of the said Edward Earl of Clarendon . . . [and others] by this our present Charter . . . do Give, Grant and Confirm unto the said Edward Earl of Clarendon . . . [and others] . . . all that territory or tract of ground, scituate, lying and being within our dominions of America, extending from the North end of the Island called Lucke-Island, which lieth in the Southern Virginia Seas, and within six and thirty degres of the Northern Latitude, and to the West as far as the South Seas, and so Southerly as far as the river St. Matthias, which bordereth upon the coast of Florida, and within one and thirty degrees of Northern Latitude, and so west in a direct line as far as the South seas aforesaid. . . .

3d. And furthermore, the Patronage and Advowsons of all the Churches and Chapels, which as Christian Religion shall increase within the Country . . . shall happen hereafter to be erected, together with license and power to build and found Churches, Chappels and Oratories, in convenient and fit places, within the said bounds and limits, and to cause them to be dedicated and consecrated according to the Ecclesiastical laws of our Kingdom of England, together with all and singular the like, and as ample Rights, Jurisdictions, Priviledges, Prerogatives, Royalties, Liberties, Immunities and Franchises of what kind soever, within the Countries, Isles, Islets, and Limits aforesaid.

4th. To have, use, exercise and enjoy, and in as ample manner as any Bishop of Durham in our Kingdom of England, ever heretofore have held, used or enjoyed, or of right ought or could have, use, or enjoy. And them, the said Edward Earl of Clarendon . . . [and others] . . . their heirs and assigns, We do by these Presents. . . constitute, the true and Absolute Lords Proprietors of the Country aforesaid, and of all other the premises; saving always the faith, allegiance and sovereign dominion due to us . . . for the same, and saving also the right, title, and interest of all and every our subjects of the English nation, which are now planted within the limits and bounds aforesaid, (if any

. . for the same,

be), . . yielding and paying yearly to us the yearly rent of twenty marks of lawful money of England and also the fourth part of all gold or silver ore, which, within the limits aforesaid, shall from time to time happen to be found.

5th. And that the country, thus by us granted and described, may be dignified by us with as large Titles and Priviledges as any other part of our Dominions and territories in that region, Know ye, that we . . . do . . . erect, incorporate and ordain the same into a Province, and call it the Province of Carolina. [The proprietors may make laws with the assent of the freemen.]

6th. [The proprietors may make ordinances;] so as such Ordinances be reasonable, and not repugnant or contrary, but as near as may be, agreeable to the laws and statutes of this our Kingdom of England, and so as the same ordinances do not extend to the binding, charging, or taking away of the right or interest of any person or persons, in their freehold, goods or chattels whatsoever.

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9th. Provided nevertheless, by these presents . . do give and grant unto the said Edward Earl of Clarendon . . . [and others] . . . . full and free license, liberty, and authority, at any time or times, from and after the feast of St. Michael the Arch-Angel [1667]. . . as well to import, and bring into any of our Dominions from the said Province of Carolina, or any part thereof, the several goods and commodities, hereinafter mentioned, that is to say, silks, wines, currants, raisins, capers, wax, almonds, oyl, and olives, without paying or answering to us any custom, import, or other duty, for and in respect thereof for and during the term and space of seven years, to commence and be accompted, from and after the first importation of four tons of any the said goods, in any one bottom, ship or vessel from the said Province, into any of our Dominions; as also to export and carry out of any of our Dominions, into the said Province of Carolina, custom free, all sorts of tools which shall be usefull or necessary for the planters there, in the accommodation and improvement of the premises, any thing before, in these presents contained, or any law, act, statute, prohibition, or other matter . . . to the contrary, in any wise notwithstanding.

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18th. And because it may happen that some of the people and inhabitants of the said Province, cannot in their private opinions, conform to the publick exercise of religion, according to the liturgy form and ceremonies of the Church of England, or take and subscribe the oath and articles, made and established in that behalf, and for that the same, by reason of the remote distances of these places, will, we hope, be no breach of the unity and uniformity established in this nation; said Edward, Earl of Clarendon

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free license, liberty and authority, by such legal ways and means as they shall think fit, to give and grant unto such person or persons, inhabiting and being within the said Province, or any part thereof, who really in their judgments, and for conscience sake, cannot or shall not conform to the said liturgy and ceremonies, and take and subscribe the oaths and articles aforesaid, or any of them, such indulgencies and dispensations in that behalf, for and during such time and times, and with such limitations and restrictions as they . . . shall in their discretion think fit and reasonable; and with this express proviso, and limitation also,, that such person and persons, to whom such indulgencies and dispensations shall be granted as aforesaid, do and shall, from time to time declare and continue, all fidelity, loyalty and obedience to us, our heirs and successors, and be subject and obedient to all other the laws, ordinances, and constitutions of the said Province, in all matters whatsoever, as well ecclesiastical as civil, and do not in any wise disturb the peace and safety thereof, or scandalize or reproach the said liturgy, forms, and ceremonies, or any thing relating thereunto, or any person or persons whatsoever, for or in respect of his or their use or exercise thereof, or his or their obedience and conformity, thereunto.

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IN January, 1661, John Clarke, sometime agent for Rhode Island in Eng land, presented a petition for a royal charter for that colony. The prompt

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