acted by the
rich unoccupied lands. After the restoration of Charles, however, the
energies of the British nation, no longer devoted to internal quarrels,
turned into the fields of foreign and colonial adventure. Charles
readily bestowed upon his followers vast tracts of an uncultivated
wilderness which he had never seen; and Monk, duke of Albemarle, the
Earl of Clarendon, Lords Berkeley and Ashley, Sir George Carteret, and a
few others, were created absolute lords of the new province of
Carolina. (1663.) Great exertions were then made to attract settlers;
immunity from prosecution for debt was secured to them for five years,
and, at the same time, a liberal Constitution was granted, with a
popular House of Assembly. The proprietors, anxious to perfect the work
of colonization, prevailed upon the celebrated Locke to draw up a system
of government for the new state, which, however excellent in theory,
proved practically a signal failure.[359] The principal characteristic
of the scheme was the establishment of an aristocracy with fantastic
titles of nobility,[360] who met with the deputies in a Parliament,
where, however, the council solely possessed the power of proposing new
laws. The whole colonial body was subject to the Court of Proprietors in
England, which was presided over by a chief called the Palatine,[361]
possessing nearly supreme power. The sturdy colonists neglected, or
deferred for future consideration, every portion of this new
Constitution that appeared unsuitable to their condition, alleging that
its provisions were in violation of the promises that had induced them
to adopt the country.

Carolina for a long time progressed but slowly. The colonists had no
fixed religion,[362] and their general morals and industry were very
indifferent. They drew largely upon the resources of the proprietors
without giving any return, and when at length that supply was stopped,
they resorted to every idle and iniquitous mode of raising funds. They
hunted the Indians, and sold them as slaves to the West Indies, and
their sea-ports became the resort of pirates. These atrocious and
ruinous pursuits soon reduced them to a state of miserable poverty, and
the baneful influence of a series of profligate governors completed the
mischief. One of these, named Sette Sothel,[363] was especially
conspicuous for rapacity and injustice. (1683.) His misrule at length
goaded the people into insurrection; they seized him, and were about t