There shall be eight Supreme Courts. The oldest proprietor shall be palatine, and each of the proprietors shall hold a great office, viz. the several offices of chancellor, chief justice, constable, admiral, treasurer, high-steward, and chamberlain. The palatine's court shall consist of the palatine and the other seven proprietors. Each of the other proprietors being at the head of a court, shall have six counsellors, and a college of twelve assistants. : The chancellor's assistants shall be called vice-chancel.lors. . The chief justice's assistants shall be called assistants of the bench. The constable's assistants shall be called marshals. urers. The high-steward's assistants shall be called comptrollers. The chamberlain's assistants shall be called vice-chamberlains. Of the forty-two counsellors, in the several courts, the greater number shall be chosen from the nobles, or the sons of proprietors or nobles. There shall be a grand council which shall consist of the palatine, the other seven proprietors, and the fortytwo counsellors, from the courts of the several proprietors. They shall have the power of making war and peace, &c. Every proprietor may have a deputy who shall have the power of his deputator, except in confirming acts of Parliament and nominating nobility. In every precinct there shall be a court, consisting of a steward and seven justices. In every county there shall be a court consisting of a sheriff and four justices, one from each precinct, all of them chosen and commissioned by the palatine's court. No cause of any freeman, civil or criminal, shall be tried in any court, except by a jury of his peers. Juries shall consist of twelve men, of whom it shall be sufficient that a majority are agreed. It shall be a base and infamous thing in any court to plead for money or reward. The Parliament shall meet once every two years. It shall consist of all the proprietors, or their deputies, the Landgraves, the Caziques, and one commoner from each precinct, chosen by the free-holders, in their respective precincts. These four estates shall sit in one room, each man having one vote. The Parliament may be summoned to meet at other times by the palatine's court. No matter shall be proposed in Parliament, that had not been previously prepared, and passed by the grand council. No act shall continue in force longer than to the next biennial meeting of Parliament, unless in the mean time it shall have been ratified by the palatine, and a quorum of the proprietors. While a bill is on its passage before the Parliament, any, proprietor or his deputy, may enter his protest against it, as being contrary to any of the fundamental constitutions of government. In which case, after debate, the four orders, shall retire to the four separate chambers, and if a majority of the four separate estates determine against the bill, it shall not pass. All towns incorporated shall be governed by a mayor, twelve aldermen, and twenty four others who shall form a common council. There shall be a register in every precinct, in which all titles to land, all births, marriages, and deaths, shall be registered. The Church of England being the only orthodox church, no provision by Parliament shall be made for any other church. Every man shall declare himself to be of some religious profession, or church, and as such he shall enter his name with the precinct register, from which it may be struck off by himself, or by order of the society of which he had been a member. No man above the age of seventeen shall have the benefit of the laws, unless his name shall have been recorded as a member of some religious church, or profession. This constitution was signed by the lords proprietors, on the first of March, 1669, and became the constitution of Carolina. This instrument needs no comment; it is sufficient for us that its principles form no part of the Federal Constitution of the United States. The new constitution for Carolina went into operation during the administration of Gov. Sayle, but upon his death the office was claimed by Sir John Yeamans as vicepalatine, being the only Landgrave then residing in Carolina; but the council appointed Joseph West their governor, until they should learn the will of the proprietors. In a short time the proprietors expressed their pleasure by appointing Sir John as governor of the southern country. Thus the colony was formed into two governments, August, 1671. No general staple had as yet appeared in the colony, and as it was the wish and belief of the proprietors, that silk, raisins, (from the multitude of grapes,) capers, wax, almonds, oil and olives, might be encouraged and cultivated here, as in Europe and Turkey, under the same latitudes, they exempted all these articles from duties for the term of seven years; but during this time their culture had not been even introduced. In the year 1680, the king caused fifty families of the persecuted Huguenots, who had fled from France, to be transported gratis, into Carolina, for the express purpose of introducing the culture of the above named articles, according to their custom in France but the want of hands in such a thin population rendered the culture both difficult and expensive; it was therefore abandoned. About this time, a part of the colony at Port Royal, removed to Wando, and Keawah, (Cooper and Ashley Rivers,) for the purpose of raising cattle; this from its local advantages soon became the seat of government for the south colony. In the year 1690, the second colony at Cape-Fear had, by various emigrations to the south, from time to time, wholly abandoned that settlement, with its baren inhospitable soil, to the enjoyments of its native savage. About this time the proprietors listened to the complaints of the colony against the oppressive and tyrannical administration of Gov. Yeamans, and removed him from office. Gov. Drummond died at Albemarle in 1667, and was succeeded by Samuel Stevens. Under both these administrations, the colony flourished. The people, free from taxes, except by consent of assembly, (and free from colonial laws by the assembly, until 1669,) enjoyed liberty of conscience, upon taking the oath of allegiance to the king, and fidelity to the proprietors; they were contented with their bounty lands, and every man's property was secure. During all this period, there was not one clergyman in Albemarle county, nor was there any regular mode of celebrating marriage. At this time the assembly passed the following laws, viz. "1. That no subject shall be sued within five years, for any cause of action that may have arisen out of the county. 2. That no person shall receive a power of attorney to collect any debt that may have been contracted out of the county. 3. That all settlers be exempted from taxes one year. "4. That transient persons who do not belong to the colony, be prohibited from trading with the savages. 5. That all persons be restrained from making any transfer of land within two years. 6. That any two persons being desirous of being married, and presenting themselves before the governor and council, in presence of some of their acquaintance, and declaring their mutual consent, shall be deemed husband and wife." 1 Also a law was passed imposing a duty of thirty pounds of tobacco upon every law-suit, to be applied to defray the expences of the assembly at their several sessions. These laws were approved and ratified by the proprietors. The first precincts in the county of Albemarle, were Currituck, Pasquetank, Perquimons, Chowan, and Tyrrel: the five first were allowed five representatives each; but Tyrrel was restricted to two, until it should possess five hundred taxable inhabitants.* Thus we have entered upon the fundamental principles of the colony of the two Carolinas, and I have been thus particular that they may be correctly understood. I shall leave all remarks to the minds of my readers. This constitution of Carolina proved, as might have been expected, a curse instead of a blessing to that people: factions soon sprang up; discontent, discord, and rebellion stalked abroad, and shook the colony to its foundations. In the violence of these passions they seized one Miller, a violent fellow, and sent him for trial into Virginia, because he was a proprietor, and this in violation of the rights of the charter. Miller was tried and acquitted, yet all this procedure was both repugnant to the interest, as well as These were either white males of sixteen years old, or slaves, either Negro, Mulatto, or Indian, male or female of twelve years old. |