FOR THE BETTER SECURITY OF THE PROPRIETIES OF ALL THE INHABITANTS. First. They are not to impose nor suffer to be imposed, any tax, custom, subsidy, tallage, assessment, or any other duty whatsoever upon any colour or pretence, upon the said Province and inhabitants thereof, other than what shall be imposed by the authority and consent of the General Assembly, and then only in manner as aforesaid. II. They are to take care, that lands quietly held, planted and possessed seven years, after its being duly survey'd by the Surveyor General, or his order, shall not be subject to any review, resurvey or alteration of bounders, on what pretence soever by any of us, or by any officer or minister under us. III. They are to take care, that no man, if his cattle stray, range or graze on any ground within the said Province, not actually appropriated or set out to particular persons, shall be lyable to pay any trespass for the same, to us, our heirs or executors: Provided, that custom of commons be not thereby pretended to, nor any person hindered from taking up, and appropriating any lands so grazed upon: And that no person doth purposely suffer his cattle to graze on such lands. AND THAT THE PLANTING OF THE SAID PROVINCE MAY BE THE MORE SPEEDILY PROMOTED. [The five sections under this heading state the different amounts of land granted to the various classes of persons who shall settle in the province prior to January, 1667/8.] V. . . . Provided always, That no person arriving in the said Province, with purpose to settle (they being subjects or naturalized as aforesaid) be denied a grant of such proportions of land as at the time of their arrival there are due to themselves or servants, by concession from us as aforesaid; but have full licence to take up and settle the same, in such order and manner as is granted or prescrib'd .. AND THAT THE LANDS MAY BE THE MORE REGULARLY LAID OUT AND ALL PERSONS THE BETTER ASCERTAIN'D OF THEIR TITLE AND POSSESSION. [Sections I. and II. prescribe the size and division of lots, and the method of recording grants; land so granted to be held in free and common soccage, paying yearly to the proprietors a quit-rent of one-half penny per acre.] III. ITEM. We do also grant convenient proportions of land for highways and for streets, not exceeding one hundred foot in breadth in cities, towns and vilages, &c. and for churches, forts, wharfs, kays, harbours and for publick houses; and to each parish for the use of their ministers two hundred acres, in such places as the General Assembly shall appoint. IV. ITEM. The Governor is to take notice, that all such lands laid out for the uses and purposes aforesaid, in the next preceding article, shall be free and exempt from all rents, taxes and other charges and duties whatsoever, payable to us, our heirs or assigns. V. ITEM. That in laying out lands for cities, towns, vilages, boroughs, or other hamblets, the said lands be divided into seven parts; one seventh part whereof to be by lot laid out for us, and the rest divided to such as shall be willing to build thereon, they paying after the rate of one penny or half-penny per acre (according to the value of the land) yearly to us, as for their other lands as aforesaid; which said lands in cities, towns, &c. is to be assured to each possessor by the same way and instrument as is before mentioned. VI. ITEM. That all rules relating to the building of each street, or quantity of ground to be allotted to each house within the said respective cities, boroughs and towns, be wholly left by act as aforesaid, to the wisdom and discretion of the General Assembly. VII. ITEM. That the inhabitants of the said Province have free passage thro' or by any seas, bounds, creeks, rivers or rivelets, &c. in the said Province, thro' or by which they must necessarily pass to come from the main ocean to any part of the Province aforesaid. VIII. Lastly. It shall be lawful for the representatives of the Freeholders, to make any address to the Lords touching the Gov ernor and Council, or any of them, or concerning any grievances whatsoever, or for any other thing they shall desire, without the consent of the Governor and Council, or any of them. . . . No. 32. Second Charter of Carolina. June 30/July 10, 1665 ALTHOUGH the Heath grant of 1629 had been declared void by an order in council, it had not been judicially annulled; and it was, apparently, to quiet the title to the province, as well as to enlarge the boundaries, that the second Carolina charter was obtained. With the exception of the definition of boundaries, given in the extract following, the provisions of the two charters are similar. The proprietary government under the charter continued, with many vicissitudes, until 1719, when it was overthrown; but the proprietors maintained their ownership until 1729, when the title of seven-eighths of the colony was purchased by the Crown. The proprietor of the remaining oneeighth, Lord Carteret, exchanged his portion in 1743 for a narrow strip of land between 35° 34′ north latitude and the southern boundary of Virginia, which he retained until the Revolution. During most of the proprietary period the northern and southern colonies enjoyed separate governments, although the province was held as a unit; but with the purchase of the proprietary title by the Crown, in 1729, North and South Carolina became separate royal provinces, and so continued until the adoption of State constitutions in 1776. REFERENCES. Text in Statutes at Large of South Carolina (Cooper's ed., 1836), I., 31-40. For general references, see under No. 26, ante. ... ... CHARLES the Second, . . . [&c.] . WHEREAS, by our Letters Patents, bearing date the twenty-fourth day of March, in the fifteenth year of our reign, We were graciously pleased to grant unto our right trusty and right well-beloved Cousin and Counsellor Edward Earl of Clarendon, our High Chancellor of England . . . [and others] . . . all that province, territory, or tract of ground, called Carolina, situate, lying and being within our dominions of America; extending from the north end of the island called Luke-Island, which lieth in the Southern Virginia seas, and within thirty-six degrees of north latitude; and to the west, as far as the South-Seas; and so respectively as far as the river of Matthias, which bordereth upon the coast of Florida, and within thirty-one degrees of north latitude; and so west, in a direct line, as far as the South-Seas aforesaid. 2d. Now know ye, that we, at the humble request of the said grantees, in the aforesaid letters patents named, and as a further mark of our especial favour towards them, we are graciously pleased to enlarge our said grant unto them, according to the bounds and limits hereafter specified, and in favour to the pious and noble purpose of the said Edward, Earl of Clarendon, George, Duke of Albemarle, William, Earl of Craven, John, Lord Berkley, Anthony, Lord Ashley, Sir George Carteret, Sir John Colleton, and Sir William Berkley, their heirs and assigns, all that Province, territory, or tract of ground, scituate, lying and being within our dominions of America aforesaid, extending north and eastward as far as the north end of Charahake river or gulet, upon a streight westerly line to Wyonoake Creek, which lies within or about the degrees of thirty-six, and thirty minutes northern latitude, and so west in a direct line as far as the South-seas; and South and Westward as far as the degrees of twenty-nine inclusive northern latitude, and so west in a direct line, as far as the South Seas; together with all and singular ports, harbours, bays, rivers, and islets, belonging unto the Province or territory aforesaid : . . . 4th. And that the Province or territory hereby granted and described, may be dignified with as large Titles and Priviledges as any other parts of our Dominions and territories in that region, Know ye, that we . . . have thought fit to annex the same tract of ground and territory, unto the same province of Carolina; and out of the fullness of our royal power and prerogative, we do for us, our heirs and successors, annex and unite the same to the said Province of Carolina. No. 33. Fundamental Constitutions of March 1/11, 1669/70 IN January, 1664/5, the proprietors of Carolina executed certain " concessions and agreements" for the government of the colony. In 1669 these were followed by the Fundamental Constitutions, a general frame of government, drawn up by John Locke, then private secretary to Lord Ashley. The first draft of the Fundamental Constitutions, dated July 21/31, 1669, and containing 81 articles, was superseded March 1/11, 1669/70, by a second, in 120 articles. A third set, also in 120 articles, was issued Jan. 12/22, 1681/2; a fourth, in 121 articles, Aug. 17/27, 1682; and a fifth and last, reduced to 41 articles, April 11/21, 1698. The Fundamental Constitutions were early seen to be ill-adapted to the conditions of the colony, and were never adopted by the freemen; but they were never formally abandoned by the proprietors, and remained nominally in force until the revolution of 1719. For fifty years the attempts to give effect to them formed an important ground of dispute between the proprietors and the colonists. The second form of the Fundamental Constitutions, the one generally cited, is given here. The "rules of precedency," appended to the body of the document, and a few articles of minor importance, are omitted. REFERENCES. - Text in Locke's Works (ed. 1823), X., 175–199. On the historical importance of the Constitutions, see especially McCrady's South Carolina under the Proprietary Government. Our sovereign lord the king having, out of his royal grace and bounty, granted unto us the province of Carolina, with all the royalties, properties, jurisdictions, and privileges, of a county palatine, as large and ample as the county palatine of Durham, with other great privileges, for the better settlement of the government of the said place, and establishing the interest of the lords proprietors with equality, and without confusion; and that the government of this province may be made most agreeable to the monarchy under which we live, and of which this province is a part; and that we may avoid erecting a numerous democracy: we, the lords and proprietors of the province aforesaid, have agreed to this following form of government, to be perpetually established amongst us, unto which we do oblige ourselves, our heirs, and successors, in the most binding ways that can be devised. I. The eldest of the lords proprietors shall be palatine; and, upon the decease of the palatine, the eldest of the seven surviving proprietors shall always succeed him. II. There shall be seven other chief offices erected, viz. the admiral's, chamberlain's, chancellor's, constable's, chief justice's, high steward's, and treasurer's; which places shall be enjoyed by none but the lords proprietors, to be assigned at first by lot; and upon the vacancy of any one of the seven great offices by death, or otherwise, the eldest proprietor shall have his choice of the said place. III. The whole province shall be divided into counties; each county shall consist of eight signiories, eight baronies, and four precincts; each precinct shall consist of six colonies. IV. Each signiory, barony, and colony, shall consist of twelve |