them without astonishment, nor with honor suffer the House to sit any longer;" and he accordingly dissolved it. In 1741, Clarke, again endeavoring 1741. to bring the Assembly to his views, took occasion to charge upon them a settled purpose or desire of independence, a charge which the Assembly denied, and no doubt correctly, for, however tenacious the colonists were of what they held to be their just rights and privileges, there is no probability whatever that at that time there was any idea of a formal severing the connection with the mother country. Clarke at last yielded to the necessity of the case, and accepted such grants as the Assembly chose to make.

In this year, a delusion, not so famous as the Salem witchcraft, but, in proportion, quite as sanguinary, 1741. occurred in New York, commonly known as the "Negro Plot." The frequent occurrence of fires, most of which were evidently caused by design, first excited the jealousy and suspicion of the citizens. Terrified by danger which lurked unseen in the midst of them, they listened with eager credulity to the declaration of some abandoned females, that the negroes had combined to burn the city, and make one of their number governor. Many were arrested and committed to prison. Other witnesses, not more respectable than the first, came forward; other negroes were accused, and even several white men were designated as concerned in the plot.

When the time of trial arrived, so strong was the prejudice against the unhappy black men, that every lawyer

in the city volunteered against them, and Chief Justice Delancey exerted the influence of his high station against them. Ignorant and unassisted, nearly all who were tried were condemned. Fourteen were burned, eighteen were hung, and seventy-one were transported. Of the whites two were convicted, and suffered death.

All apprehension of danger having subsided, many began to doubt whether there was really any plot at all. None of the witnesses were persons of credit; their stories were extravagant, and often contradictory; and the project was such as none but fools or madmen would form. The two white men were respectable; one had received a liberal education, but he was a Roman Catholic, and the prejudice against these was too violent to permit the free exercise of reason. Some of the accused were doubtless guilty of setting fire to the city; but the proof of the alleged plot was not sufficiently clear to justify these judicial murders, which disgrace the annals of New York.

1743.

In 1743, George Clinton, a younger son of the Earl of Lincoln, was sent over as governor of the colony. One of his earliest measures confirmed the favorable accounts which had preceded him, of his talents and liberality. To show his willingness to repose confidence in the people, he assented to a bill limiting the duration of the present and all succeeding Assemblies. The House manifested its gratitude by adopting the measures he recommended for the defence of the province against the French, who were then at war with England. In

1745.

1699.

was approved by the Governor, forming the third frame of government in Pennsylvania. Penn, however, to whom was reserved the power of disapproval, never sanctioned this act. A bill for raising £300, professedly for the relief of the distressed Indians beyond Albany, but really in compliance with the demand of the governor of New York, to aid in the prosecution of the war, was passed by the same legislature. In 1699, after fifteen years' absence, Penn again set sail for America, accompanied by his family, with an intention of spending the remainder of his life in Pennsylvania. Considerable difference of opinion existed between himself and the legislature; more particularly on the subject of negro slavery, and the frauds and abuses that disgraced the character of the colonists in their traffic with the Indians. With the view of providing a remedy for both these evils, Penn presented to the Assembly three bills which he had himself prepared; the first, for regulating the morals and marriages of the negroes; the second, for regulating the trials and punishments of the negroes; and the third, for preventing abuses and frauds upon the Indians. The Assembly nega1700. tived the first and last of these bills, acceding only to that which related to the trial and punishment of their slaves. Though disappointed of the more extensive influence, which, as a political legislator, he had hoped to exercise, he was yet able, by his powerful influence among the Quakers, to introduce into their discipline regulations and practices relative to the pur

poses of the rejected bills, the spirit of which, at least, was thus forcibly recommended to general imitation.

Perplexed with many and serious difficulties, Penn made up his mind to return to England; but before 1701. doing so he pressed upon the colonists to establish a constitution. The old frame of government was formally given up, and the one which Penn prepared and presented to the Assembly was accepted. It confirmed to them, in conformity with that of 1696, the right of originating bills, which, by the charters preceding that date, had been the right of the Gover nor alone, and of mending or rejecting those which might be laid before them. To the Governor it gave the right of rejecting bills passed by the Assembly, of appointing his own Council, and of exercising the whole executive power. Liberty of conscience was specially secured as before; and the qualification of voters was fixed at a freehold of fifty acres, or about $166 in personal property.

Directly after the "Charter of Privileges," as the new frame was called, was accepted, Penn returned to England, leaving the management of his private estates and the direction of Indian affairs in the hands of James Logan, who was for many years colonial secretary and member of the Council. Scarcely had Penn arrived there, when the disputes between the province and the territories broke forth with greater bitterness than ever; and in the following year, the separate legislature of Delaware was permanently established at Newcastle.

1702.

reported to have declared that it would require more courage than he possessed to venture upon that step.

On the death of the widow of Penn, the sovereignty and territorial rights of the province were reunited 1734. in the three sons of Penn: neither of them, however, possessed their father's ability or had even a moiety of his popularity. Logan administered the government for two years as president of the Council, until the arrival of George Thomas, in 1738, as deputy governor. The Quakers were not more than a third of the population, yet as they possessed the most wealth and were more united, they kept the control of the Assembly. In 1740 a dispute arose as to questions of measures of defence, fortifications, etc., and though the As

1740.

1742.

sembly voted £4000 for the king's use, they imposed upon Thomas the disposing of it: true to their principles they would not openly vote money to carry on war. About this date commenced that warm controversy between the proprietaries and the Assembly, the latter claiming that the former were bound to provide for the defence of the province inasmuch as they received a revenue from it in the way of quit rents, etc.; the proprietaries and the Board of Trade, on the other hand, emphatically denying any such view of the matter. Thomas having given up the struggle with the Assembly, he was succeeded in the office of deputy governor by 1746. James Hamilton, a man of decided ability and zeal for the cause of the proprietaries.

1690.