h dreads the moral
power of proprietary cultivators of the soil, so enacted their perpetual
degradation. The leet-men, or tenants holding ten acres of land at a
fixed rent, were not only destitute of political franchises, but were
adscripts to the soil: "Under the jurisdiction of their lord, without
appeal," and it was added: "all children of leet-men shall be leet-men,
and so to all generations."

In 1665, Albemarle had been increased by fresh emigrants from New
England and by a colony of ship-builders from the Bermudas, who lived
contentedly with Stevens as chief magistrate, under a very wise and
simple form of government. A council of twelve, six named by the
proprietaries, and six chosen by the assembly. An assembly, composed of
the governor, the council, and twelve delegates from the freeholders of
the incipient settlements, these formed a government which enjoyed
popular confidence. No interference from abroad was anticipated, for
freedom of religion, and security against taxation, except by the
colonial legislature, were conceded. As their lands were confirmed to
them on their own terms, the colonists were satisfied.

The authentic record of the legislative history of North Carolinia
begins with the autumn of 1666, when the legislators of Albemarle,
ignorant of the scheme which Locke and Shaftesbury were maturing, formed
a few laws, which, however open to objection, were united to the
character and manner of the inhabitants. While freedom struggled in the
hearts of the common people to assert its rights and declare that all
men were equal and ought to be free, scheming nobles sought to enchain
them in one form or another of slavery.

CHAPTER X.

THE FUGITIVE AND HIS CHILD.

"Adieu! adieu! My native shore
Fades o'er the waters blue.
The night winds sigh, the breakers roar,
And shrieks the wild sea-mew."

At the close of a July day in the year of the restoration, a man,
travelling on foot and leading a little girl six years of age, entered
the town of Boston. The few inhabitants on the streets and at their
doors and windows regarded the travellers with amazement and even
suspicion, for both were strangers in this part of the world. It would
be difficult to meet wayfarers of more wretched appearance. He was tall,
muscular and robust, and in the full vigor of life. His age might be
anywhere from thirty-five to forty-five, for while his eye possessed the
fire of youth, there were