USA > South Carolina > The history of South Carolina under the proprietary government, 1670-1719, V.2 > Part 22
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" Gentlemen." continued Governor Johnson. "I am will- ing to consult and advise with you for the Good and Safety of the Province in this Time of imminent Danger as a convention of the people as you first call'd yourselves. Nor do I see in this present Juncture of Affairs any Occa- sion of Formalities in our Proceedings or that I explain by whose Authority I Act in Grants of Commissions or other Public Orders. Mr. Moor's Commission you have given him does not pretend to say it is deriv'd from the King. You have already confess'd I am invested with some authority you do approve of. and that is enough.
" What I insist upon is To be allow'd to Act as Gov- ernor because I am approv'd by the King; I do not apprehend at present there is a Necessity of Acting any- thing but what relates to Military Affairs; and I do believe People will be better satisfi'd and more ready to advance Necessaries, to trust the Public, and to obey my Commands (by Virtue of the King's Authority which I have) if left to their Liberty, than any other Person in this Province and in a short Time we may expect His Majesty's Pleasure will be known.
" If my Reasons have not the Weight with you I expect they should, you ought at least to put it to a Vote; that if a majority be against it I may have that to justify myself to the King and the World who ought to be sat-
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isfi'd that I have done all I can to serve the country, and do my Duty in my Station."
The Convention did not think fit to give any answer to this letter. but continued the government as they had begun. For some reason Sir Hovenden Walker was displeased, and refused to act longer with the revolution- ary party. He retired to his plantation, and Mr. Richard Allein was chosen President of their Council in his stead.
The fortifications were repaired under the supervision of Colonel Rhett; but the work, though costing a great sum of money, was done so slightingly that in a little time it was as much out of repair as ever. The whole country was in arms for more than a fortnight. every day expecting the appearance of the Spanish fleet. which it was known had sailed from Havana. Happily. the Spaniards had determined first to attack Providence, and then to proceed against Carolina; but by the conduct and courage of Captain Woodes Rogers, at that time Governor of the island. they were repulsed, and soon after the greater part of their fleet was lost in a storm,
The Spanish expedition having failed, the man-of-war Flambouryh. commanded by Captain Hildesly. came from Providence, and took up her station at Charles Town : and about the same time his Majesty's ship Phoenix. commanded by Captain Pierce, arrived from a cruise. The arrival of these vessels of war renewed the intrigues of both parties. The commanders were courted by both. They publicly declared for Governor Johnson as the magistrate invested with legal authority. This greatly encouraged Governor Johnson's party; and having the records in his possession, and the clergy refusing to marry withont his license, as the only legal Ordinary in the province. the inconveniences began to be felt. and to cool the people in their support of the popular govern-
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ment. Thus emboldened. Governor Johnson. with the assistance of the commander of the ships of war, made one more attempt to recover his authority. He brought up the ships of war in front of the town, and threatened it with immediate destruction if the people any longer refused obedience to him. But the people having both arms in their hands and forts in their possession, with seventy pieces of cannon mounted on their ramparts and near 500 men beside them, bid defiance to the Governor and his men-of-war. The Governor, seeing, therefore. that the people were neither to be worn by persuasion nor terrified by threats. abandoned the struggle. and the Proprietary Government was at an end.1
1 Proceedings of the People ( Yonge) ; Carroll's Coll., vol. II, 189, 190; Hewatt's Hist. of So. Ca., vol. II, 280-288.
CHAPTER XXX
1720-29
COLONEL JOHN BARNWELL was already on his voyage to England, the envoy of the Convention, to appeal to his Majesty King George for a confirmation of the revolu- tion they had accomplished in the overthrow of the Proprietary Government. Thither Nicholas Trott, now deprived of his various offices, also determined to go to renew his intrigues. Before embarking, Trott wrote to Governor Johnson, informing him of his purpose and proposing that, if he would contribute to his expenses. he would give the Proprietors such a favorable account of his conduct and services as would insure to him the continuance of his office. But the Governor, knowing well Trott's character, and convinced that both the revolt of the people and the subversion of the government were in a great measure to be ascribed to his pernicious policy and secret correspondence with the Secretary of the Pro- prietors, disdainfully rejected his interest and friendship. To this disrespect of the judge Governor Johnson after- wards attributed many of the injurious suspicions the Proprietors entertained of his honor and fidelity. They made no answer to his letters or even informed him whether his conduct during the popular commotions had met with their approbation or disapprobation. Some of them even alleged that he was privy to the designs of the maleon- tents and gave them countenance. 1
1 Hewatt's Hast. of No. Ca., vol. 1. 288.
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It seems to have been the fortune of the Carolina em- bassies to arrive in England in times of unusual excite- ment. Boone, fifteen years before, had reached London in the midst of the struggle over the "Occasional Con- formity " bill, and could secure little attention to the affairs of Carolina while the interests of the Proprietors and of the government were absorbed in the election which followed. It now happened that Barnwell and Trott arrived just as the great South Sea bubble craze had begun. In both instances the affairs of Carolina were involved in the excitement.
King George. at the time, was in Hanover engrossed in negotiations in regard to continental affairs, and the administration of his British dominions was left in the hands of the Lords Justices. 1
While Great Britain was leaving the Carolinians to defend themselves, and the province. the extreme southern outpost of her American dominions, as best they might from the hostile inroads of the Spaniards and the cruel massacre of the Indians, and permitting the pirates to prey upon the legitimate and growing commerce of her own colony, and actually to blockade the harbor of Charles Town, curiously enough the mere shadow of a trade allowed by the court of Madrid to the Spanish coasts in America was enough to arouse the cupidity of the whole English nation. The King of Spain had granted permission that a single British ship under 500 tons should make one annual voyage to certain British fac- tories which he allowed to be settled there. Upon this small and precarious foundation was erected the famous South Sea scheme. The rice of Carolina, already esteemed the best in the world 2 and which had now begun to afford
1 Smollett's Hist. of England, vol. II, 385.
2 Colonial Records of No. Ca., vol. II, 124.
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a substantial article of steady commerce, was not thought of when, in 1711, a monopoly of the trade to the Spanish coasts in America was sanctioned by Royal charter and by act of Parliament as a means of improving the public credit and providing for the payment of the government's floating debts. English merchants were not slow in swal- lowing the gilded bait. The fancied Eldorado dazzled even their discerning eyes. The exploits of Drake were quoted. and the dreams of Raleigh renewed. The spirit spread throughout the whole nation, and many who scarcely knew whereabout America lay felt. neverthe- less, quite certain of its being strewed with gold and gems.1 From this beginning the stock of the South Sea Company had. without any real intrinsic value, become a part of the financial system of the government, and had advanced to a very great figure. The policy of gradually paying off the national debt by incorporating it with the stock of flourishing companies was in high favor, and in 1717 an act was passed permitting the Proprietors of cer- tain short annuities to subscribe the residue of the terms in the South Sea stock. In 1719 the project was con- ceived of enormously enlarging its scope. The Directors proposed to provide a sinking fund for paying off the national debt. This was accepted by the government, and a bill was passed in 1720 for carrying out this wild scheme. The famous Mississippi scheme of Law, the pro- totype of this, based, however, upon a somewhat stronger foundation, that of the exclusive trade to Louisiana which France could control, had, in the preceding year, pro- duced a wild enthusiasm of speculation which had reached and spread through England. Upon an absurd report that Gibraltar and Port Mahon would be exchanged for
1 Hist. of England (Mahon), vol. II. 4; England in the Eighteenth Century (Lecky). vol. I, 216, 348.
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some place in Peru by which the English trade to the South Sea would be protected and enlarged, the stock rose to 1000 for 100. Exchange Alley was filled with a strange concourse of statesmen and clergymen. churchmen and dis- senters. Whigs and Tories, lawyers. tradesmen. and even multitudes of women. All other professions and employ- ments were utterly neglected, and the people's attention wholly engrossed by this and other chimerical schemes which were known by the denomination of "bubbles." New companies started up every day. Some of the com- panies hawked about were for the most extravagant ob- jects. "Wrecks to be fished for on the Irish Coast." "Insurance for Horses and Other Cattle " ( £2.000,000). "Insurance for Losses by Servants." "To make Salt Water Fresh." " For building Hospitals for Bastard Chil- dren," "For building Ships against Pirates." "For ex- tracting Silver from Lead," "For the Transmuting of Quicksilver into a Malleable and Fine Metal." "For mak- ing Iron with Pit Coal," " For importing a Large Number of Jackasses from Spain." " For a Wheel for a Perpetual Motion," " For an Undertaking which shall in Due Time be revealed."1 One proposed company, which immedi- ately affects this history, is not mentioned in the books from which the above instances are taken, and that was a company to purchase Carolina.
On the 4th of June, 1720, Maurice Ashley wrote a letter to a lady, whose name is not given, but which from intrinsic evidence. as well as from the fact that it was found among the Shaftesbury papers, was doubt- less addressed to Lady Shaftesbury, the widow of the third Earl, invoking her intercession with Lord Stan-
1 Hist. of England (Mahon), vol. II, 16. 17 : England in the Eigh- teenth Century (Lecky), vol. 1, 349, 350 ; Smollett's Hist. of England, vol. II, 400.
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hope and others to forbear the opposition of the Royal Government to a plan for the sale of Carolina by the Proprietors to a company to be formed. The letter is illustrative of the times.1 It is dated London, June 4. 1720 : -
"The day your Ladyship went to Beachworth." wrote Ashley, "I was at Kensington to wait upon you; intending at the same time to inform you that we have had a Proposall made to us with respect to Carolina of so much advantage to the Proprietors that my single share may amount to Thirty Thousand Pound. The Terms of Agreement your Ladys'p will find indorsed. They are drawn into Form and already signed by Lady Granville for her son by Lord Carteret; by Mr Bertie Guardian to the Duke of Beaufort, by Mr Danton 2 and myself. I expect opposition from some of the Min- istry. And since it has been rumour'd abroad that the Proprietors were upon some project of this sort I have had a message from Secre- tary Craggs to know upon what terms we would part with our inter- est in the Province.3 Before this was thus rumoured abroad they took no notice of us imagining to distress and make us part with it for little or Nothing to them. Then would all the advantage be their own either by disposing of the Province by Subscription or by giving it up to the South Sea for ten times as much as they would allow the Proprietors whose Familys raised this Province to England. There's no doubt of our succeeding in case the Court favours us or but lets us alone. I have no reason to question your Ladys'p's inter- esting yourself in this matter if it were only a concern of mine; but I think it must needs be of inore weight with those you apply to in case your Lady's'p can speak of it as a concern of your son and his family. and to enable your Lady's'p to treat it as such I do assure you I will give any Security that it shall be so if we can obtain what may be worth securing. I begg your Ladys'p therefore that since we have a prospect of obtaining something soe considerable you
1 Colonial Records of No. Ca., vol. II. 381.
2 Danson.
3 Upon the collapse of the South Sea bubble, it was ascertained that Secretary Crages had been one of those to whom fictitious stock had been issued to facilitate the passing of the bill. He died upon the day of the exposure. Smollett's Hist. of England, vol. II, 407 ; Mahon's Hist. of England, vol. II, 29, 30.
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would be pleased to interceed with L' Stanhope and others for their favour upon this occasion to my Nevew and his Family.1 And I propose to your Lady's'p whether it would not be proper to acquaint Judge Eyre with the thing and desire his assistance in it. Your L'd'sp may observe the advantage likely to be made by the Gentle" concerned in the Bahama Islands: and who have only a Lease from us [who?] are the Prop". The Carolinas are a foundation for a much greater thing. and are of ten times the value : And no man has a just title to anything it the Proprietors have not a Title to Caro- lina. We make no secret of our being in Treaty for Carolina, but we mention no particulars," etc.
What particular influence Lady Shaftesbury possessed is not known, but it was evidently considered important. as Mr. Ashley. her brother-in-law, applies to her in this letter not only to influence the ministers of the govern- ment in regard to Carolina, but to secure for Danson, in Ashley's name, a thousand pounds in the next subscrip- tion into the South Sea ..
The paper enclosed in this letter shows that the pro- posals were for the sale of the province in consideration of £250,000 : of which, however, £20,000 were to abate in case a charter could not be procured. The Proprie- tors reserved the right to subscribe into the joint-stock company one-fourth part of the whole, and they were to be allowed eight of the managers.
News of these negotiations had already reached Caro- lina. Letters came that the Lords Proprietors had sold their charter to three Quakers, who proposed to divide the country into shares which were to be stock-jobbed
1 Though by a most curious coincidence Lord Stanhope died upon the same day as his co-secretary Crages, and died from overexcitement in debate in the House of Lords upon these troubles, his character was so high, his disinterestedness in money matters so well known, that in the South Sea transactions, and even during the highest popular fury. he stood clear-not merely of any charge. but even of any suspicion of the public. Mahon's Hist. of England, vol. II, 28.
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in Exchange Alley. This report greatly increased the indignation of the people of the colony. They were shocked at the idea of their being bought and sold as part of the South Sea stock. Their anger could not be composed. It had been the custom to urge, in extenua- tion of the rights and privileges of the Proprietors. that. though they were the fellow-subjects of the colonists, "some of them were men of best quality in England and on that score ought to have a Deference shown between them." But that argument was now no longer available when their Lordships might be Quakers and - perhaps the meanest of the people."1 Fortunately for the people of Carolina. the "bubble" burst just at this time and the proposed sale fell through, so that Lady Shaftesbury had no opportunity of exerting the influence her brother-in- law seemed to suppose her to possess.
Messrs. Boone and Barnwell, the agents of the new gov- ernment of South Carolina, procured a hearing before the Lords Justices Regents in Council, in the absence of his Majesty the King, upon which their Excellencies very readily came to the conclusion that the Lords Proprietors had forfeited their charter, and thereupon they ordered the Attorney General to take out a scire facias against it. None was, however, issued. nor any further legal pro- ceedings taken.2 There really was no ground for such a proceeding. The Proprietors had done nothing to forfeit their charter, unless, indeed, any legislation by them with- out " the advice assent and approbation of the Freemen " of the colony was such a forfeiture. They had neglected and misgoverned the province ; but their charter had most recklessly given them power to govern as they saw fit. provided only that their laws were not in conflict with
1 Proceedings of the People ; Carroll's Coll., vol. II, 190.
2 Coll. Hist. Soc. of So. Ca., vol. 1, 172.
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those of Great Britain, and were enacted with the consent of the freemen of the province. This latter safeguard had been utterly disregarded by the Proprietors from the very inception of the colony. The Fundamental Constitutions had been imposed as far as they could be, and altered again and again without the assent of the Commons. True, the people had refused to recognize that body of laws. but the Proprietors had done all in their power to enforce them. The two grounds upon which they were now said to have violated the charter were : (1) the repeal of certain acts which had been assented to by their deputies ; and (2) the change in the number of the Council. They had fre- quently before this exercised the right of altering the laws of the colony without the action of the Commons. not only in regard to the Fundamental Constitutions, but in that most important matter upon which all laws must depend. - the election of the Commons. Of their mere will. they had, from time to time, dictated how many rep- resentatives should constitute the Commons House, and where the election should be held. They were now insist- ing that all the elections should be held at Charles Town, and had set aside the acts passed by the Assembly elected under the act of 1716, and dissolved that body because elected at polls in the parishes instead of in the town. In 1683 they had dissolved the Assembly, because elected at Charles Town and not at Charles Town and London as they had ordered. If, then, the repeal of the acts of 1716-17 was a violation of the charter, such violation had been continuously repeated in the fifty years of the prov- ince. The other ground is still more questionable. The only authority for the number of the Council was the Fun- damental Constitutions, and the instructions first given to Governor Sayle and continued to the other Governors in succession. There was nothing in the charter which
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regulated the number, unless, indeed again. it was that this matter should also have been submitted to the ap- proval and consent of the Commons.
But the Royal Government was now watching these Proprietary Governments with great jealousy, and seeking opportunities of resuming control and setting them aside. The Lords Justices. in the absence of the King, who had himself lent a favorable ear to the petitions of the people of Carolina presented by Mr. Boone, hastened, therefore, to avail themselves of this uprising of the people, which the Proprietors had been unable to suppress. as requiring the intervention of Royal authority. On September 13, 1720, an Order of Council was made referring it to the Attorney General to prepare a commission and instructions for the appointment of a Royal Governor for South Caro- lina ; and on the 20th, another order was made appoint- ing General Sir Francis Nicholson as such Governor. and giving him his instructions for the government of the colony. This government was, however, merely provi- sionary, and, as such, it was to last for ten years ; for there was no little difficulty in settling the rights of the Proprietors to the soil, though the government of the province had been taken from them. and this ultimately had to be done by purchase under an act of Parliament. The history of the administration of the Provisional Gov- ernment pertains to that of the Royal Government and will be considered hereafter.
The old disputes as to the title to the original shares of the Earl of Clarendon and of Sir William Berkeley were difficulties in the way of a settlement of the property rights of the Proprietors. Mr. Chief Justice Trott had gone to England, and it is at least a coincidence. if noth- ing more, that. upon his arrival there, the famous suit was vigorously pressed by his cousin, Nicholas Trott of Lon-
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don, and his wife, together with her sister, Elizabeth Moore. the other daughter of Thomas Amy, against Mary Danson, the daughter of John Archdale, and her hus- band, John Danson. In this suit, the plaintiffs not only set up their title to the share of Sir William Berkeley, but also asked for an accounting of the sums due Thomas Amy for advances made and expenses incurred by him in promoting the settlement of the province.
The Board of Proprietors. it will be remembered, had repudiated their deeds to Amy, and had refused to recog- nize the titles of Trott and his wife to either share they claimed under that person. The one-eighth share of Sir William Berkeley. as it has appeared. had been purchased in 1682 from Ludwell and his wife, who had been the widow of Sir William, by four of the Proprietors : to wit. the then Duke of Albemarle, the then Lord Carteret, the Earl of Craven, and Sir Peter Colleton, who in the purchase had made use of Thomas Amy as their trustee, to whom the conveyance was made. Disregarding the fact that the legal title to this share was, therefore. in Amy, as trustee, the four Proprietors had, in 1705. sold the share to John Archdale, who, in 1708, had conveyed it to John Danson. his son-in-law. The legal title to the share doubtless remained outstanding in the heirs at law of Thomas Amy. The Board of Proprietors had, also, undertaken to escheat the one-eighth share originally of the Earl of Clarendon, as Sothell, who had purchased it. had died in North Carolina without, as it was supposed, leaving an heir at law or a will. and had. in 1697, granted it to Amy, whom they appointed to be one of the eight hereditary Lords Proprietors. In 1700 Amy had assigned this share as a marriage portion with his daughter to Nicholas Trott of London. Subsequently it appeared. however, that James Bertie had found heirs
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at law of Sothell and had purchased their title. Upon this, the Board of Proprietors failed to support their escheat and declined to recognize Amy or Trott under their grant.
Trott's claim to the Berkeley share, it must be borne in mind, was that while it was true that Amy, from whom his wife had inherited in part. as an heir at law. had held the share only in trust for those who had pur- chased it, he. Amy, had not only rendered valuable ser- vices to the Proprietors in procuring immigrants to the colony, but had actually expended considerable sums of money in their behalf. The money thus advanced, with allowance for his time and service, the court had found amounted. with interest, to the sum of £2538 118., which. under the well-established doctrine in equity, should be reimbursed to Amy's heirs at law before they should be called upon to part with the legal title. To this it was answered that the purchase of the share from Ludwell had been a personal matter between the four Proprietors and himself as individuals. and not as the board, and in which neither the Earl of Shaftesbury nor his successor in that interest, Maurice Ashley, were in any way interested ; nor were the heirs of Sothell or their assignee. James Bertie. The question between Trott and Bertie was one of fact: Were the persons from whom Bertie had pur- 'chased heirs at law of Sothell? If so, the escheat of the Proprietors was clearly void, and Amy had taken nothing under their grant which he could convey to Trott. The case was a hard one for Amy and those standing in his interests ; for he had, doubtless, rendered the services and advanced the money. This was the view taken by Lord Chancellor Macclesfield, who held that Amy had acted for the benefit of all the Proprietors, and that each share should bear its proportion of the advances made by Amy :
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