The Proprietors, astonished at the discontented and turbulent spirit of the people, yet anxious to prevent the settlement from being deserted and ruined, resolved to try the remedy Landgrave Smith had suggested; and accordingly pitched on Lord Ashley, an ingenious and bright young nobleman, to go to Carolina, and invested him with full powers, after viewing the posture of affairs on the spot, to establish such regulations as he judged most conducive to the peace and welfare of the colony. Lord Ashley, however, having either little inclination to the voyage, or being detained in England by business of greater consequence, John Archdale agreed to embark in his place. Archdale was a man of considerable knowledge and discretion, a Quaker, and a Proprietor; great trust was reposed in him, and much was expected from his negociations.
In the mean time Landgrave Smith having resigned his charge, Daniel Blake was chosen governor, until the pleasure of the Proprietors was known. So great was the antipathy of the English settlers to the French refugees now grown, that they insisted on their total exclusion from a voice in the legislature. For this purpose an address was prepared and signed by a great number of them, and presented to Governor Blake, praying, that the refugees might not only be denied the privilege of sitting as members of the legislative body, but also of a vote at their election, and that the assembly might be composed only of English members, chosen by Englishmen. Their request, however, being contrary to the instructions of the Proprietors, Blake, it is probable, judged beyond his power to grant, and therefore matters relating to them continued in the same unsettled state, until the arrival of Governor Archdale, which happened about the middle of the year 1695.
[Sidenote] Archdales's arrival, and new regulations.
The arrival of this pious man occasioned no small joy among all the settlers, who crowded about him, each expecting some favour or indulgence. Amidst the general joy, private animosities and civil discord seemed for a while to be buried in oblivion. The governor soon found, that three interesting matters demanded his particular attention. The first was, to restore harmony and peace among the colonists themselves; the second, to reconcile them to the jurisdiction and authority of the Proprietors; and the third, to regulate their policy and traffic with the Indian tribes. For these purposes he summoned his council for advice, and the commissions to the different deputies were read. The members appointed were Joseph Blake, Stephen Bull, James Moore, Paul Grimball, Thomas Carey, John Beresford, and William Hawett. All former judges of the courts, officers of the militia, and justices of the peace, were continued in their respective offices. But such was the national antipathy of the English settlers to the poor French refugees, that Archdale found their total exclusion from all concern in legislature was absolutely necessary to the peaceable convocation of the delegates, and therefore issued writs directing them only to Berkley and Colleton counties. Ten members for the one, and ten for the other, all Englishmen, were accordingly chosen by the freemen of the same nation. At their meeting the governor made a seasonable speech to both houses, acquainting them with the design of his appointment, his regard for the colony, and great desire of contributing towards its peace and prosperity. They, in return, presented affectionate addresses to him, and entered on public business with great temper and unanimity. Matters of general moment and concern Governor Archdale, by his extensive powers and great discretion settled to the satisfaction of all, excepting the French refugees. The price of lands and the form of conveyances were fixed by law. Three years rent was remitted to those who held land by grant, and four years to such as held them by survey, without grant. Such lands as had escheated to the Proprietors, were ordered to be let out or sold for their Lordships benefit. It was agreed to take the arrears of quitrents either in money or commodities, as should be most easy and convenient for the planters. Magistrates were appointed, for hearing all causes between the settlers and Indians, and finally determining all differences between them. Public roads were ordered to be made, and water passages cut, for the more easy conveyance of produce to the market. Some former laws were altered, and such new statutes made as were judged requisite for the good government and peace of the colony. In short, public affairs began to put on an agreeable aspect, and to promise fair towards the future progress and welfare of the settlement. But as for the French refugees, all the governor could do for them was, to recommend it to the English freeholders to consider them in the most friendly and compassionate point of light, and to treat them with lenity and moderation.
[Sidenote] Treats Indians with humanity.
No man could entertain more benevolent sentiments, with respect to the ignorant heathen savages, than Governor Archdale; his compassion for them was probably one of the weighty motives which induced him to undertake the voyage to this country. To protect them against insults, and establish a fair trade and friendly intercourse with them, were regulations which both humanity required and sound policy dictated. But such was the rapacious spirit of individuals, that it could be curbed by no authority. Many advantages were taken of the ignorance of Indians in the way of traffic. The liberty of seizing their persons, and selling them for slaves to the West-India planters, the colonists could not be prevailed on entirely to resign, without much reluctance. At this time a war raged between two Indian nations, the one living in the British, the other in the Spanish territories. The Yamassees, a powerful tribe in Carolina, having made an incursion into Florida, took a number of Indians prisoners, whom they brought to Charlestown for sale to the provincial traders to Jamaica and Barbadoes. Governor Archdale no sooner heard of their arrival, than he ordered the Spanish Indians to be brought to him, and finding that they had been instructed in the rites and principles of the Catholic religion, he could not help considering it as an atrocious crime to sell Christians of any denomination. To maintain a good understanding between the two provinces, he sent the prisoners to Augustine, and along with them the Yamassee warriors, to treat of peace with the Indians of Florida. The Spanish governor wrote a letter to Mr. Archdale, thanking him for his humanity, and expressing a desire to live on terms of friendship and peace with the Carolineans. In consequence of which, Governor Archdale issued orders to all Indians in the British interest, to forbear molesting those under the jurisdiction of Spain. The two kings being at that time confederates, the like orders were issued at St. Augustine, and in a short time they were attended with beneficial effects. Such wise steps served not only to prevent slaughter and misery among these savages themselves, but an English vessel being accidentally shipwrecked on the coast of Florida, the Indians did the crew no harm, but, on the contrary, conducted them safe to Augustine, where the commandant furnished them with provisions, and sent them to the English settlements.
Nor did Governor Archdale confine his views to the establishment of a good correspondence with the Indian nations on the south of this settlement, but extended them also to those on the north side of it. Stephen Bull, a member of the council and an Indian trader, at his request entered into a treaty of friendship with the Indians living on the coast of North Carolina. This proved also favourable for some adventurers from New England, who were soon after the conclusion of the treaty shipwrecked on that coast. These emigrants got all safe to land, but finding themselves surrounded by barbarians, expected nothing but instant death. However, to defend themselves in the best manner they could, they encamped in a body on the shore, and threw up an entrenchment around them. There they remained until their small stock of provisions was almost exhausted. The Indians, by making signs of friendship, frequently invited them to quit their camp; but they were afraid to trust them, until hunger urged them to run the hazard at all events. After they came out, the Indians received them with great civility, and not only furnished them with provisions, but also permitted some of them peaceably to travel over land to Charlestown, to acquaint the governor with their misfortune. Upon which a vessel was sent to North Carolina, which brought them to Cooper river, on the north side of which lands were allotted them for their accommodation and they formed that settlement afterwards known by the name of Christ's-church parish.
About the same time, two Indians of different tribes being intoxicated with liquor, a vice which they learned from the English settlers, quarrelled at Charlestown, and the one murdered the other. Among these barbarians, not to avenge the death of a friend is considered as pusillanimous, and whenever death ensues, drunkenness, accident, or even self-defence, are in their eyes no extenuation of the crime. The relations of the deceased, hearing of his death, immediately came to Charlestown, and demanded satisfaction. Governor Archdale, who had confined the murderer, being desirous to save his life, offered them a compensation; but they refused it, and insisted on blood for blood and death for death, according to the law of retaliation. To prevent the quarrel spreading wider among them, he was obliged to deliver the prisoner up to punishment and death. While they were conducting him to the place of execution, his king, coming up to him, enjoined him, since he must die, to stand and die like a man; adding, at the same time, that he had often warned him of the danger of rum, and now he must lose his life for neglecting his counsel. When he had advanced to the stake to which he was to be fastened, he desired that they would not bind him, promising not to stir a foot from the spot; and accordingly he did not, but with astounding resolution braved the terrors of death, and fell a sacrifice to justice, the frequent wages of blind drunkenness and mad excess.
[Sidenote] The Proprietors shamefully neglected agriculture.
It may now be thought a matter of surprise by some men, especially by such as know the advantages of agriculture, that the Proprietors of Carolina, who were men of knowledge, and zealous for the interest and improvement of the colony, paid so little regard to the only thing upon which the subsistence of the inhabitants and the success of the settlement depended. Instead of framing codes of laws, and modelling the government of the country on principles of speculation, in which men are always in danger of error, especially when living in a different climate, far remote from the country they mean to govern; had they established a plantation in it for the particular purpose of making experiments, to find out what productions were most suitable to the soil and climate; this would have been of more real use than all the visionary laws they ever framed. The first planters were men of little knowledge or substance, many of them utter strangers to the arts of agriculture; and those who had been accustomed to husbandry in Europe, followed the same rules, and planted the same grain in Carolina, as they had formerly done in England; which were by no means adapted to the climate. They moved on in the old line, exhausted their strength in fruitless efforts, without presuming to imagine, that different articles of produce, and a deviation from the eastern modes of cultivation, could be beneficial. Hence the planters, though they had lands on the easiest terms, remained poor; and the fault was occasioned more by their ignorance and inexperience than by the climate or soil. It was the business of the Proprietors to have directed their views to such productions as were best suited to the nature of their lands, and most likely to reward their toil; and not to have left a matter of such importance to chance, or the ingenuity of poor labourers. Agriculture was certainly an object of the highest consequence to the settlers, and of course also to the Proprietors of the country.