The Lords Proprietors
They were powerful gentlemen in tlieir
day and time and it was because of their
service to Charles II that they were given
such vast domains in the new- world.
I F you own a house or a store, or
I possess a farm in Carolina, if you
I go hack far enough in dcraigning
your title, you will find that your land
wa' once owned by the True and
Absolute Lords Proprietors of Car¬
olina. who obtained tlieir title from
hi' .Majesty King Charles II of Eng¬
land.
In the pages of Scott's WoMock
wc read the romance of that unhappy
Prince as he lay secreted within its
castle walls in hiding from his round¬
head pursuers. In the quaint diary of
Samuel Pepys we read of his recall to
his native land, his people and the
throne of his fathers. In Scott’s Pen-
eril of the Peak, we get quite a por¬
trait of Charles when he reigned as
King of England, and it- dominions
beyond the seas.
A Grateful Monarch
The royal Charles was an easy¬
going and a pleasure-loving monarch,
hut he had one excellent hiininn qual¬
ity-gratitude. Therefore in 1663 he
conveyed to eight of his Lords the em¬
pire of Carolina — an empire named
after the royal grantor — stretching
South from Virginia to Florida,
embracing all of Xortli and South
Carolina, all of Tennessee, and most
of (ieorgia, Alabama and Mississip¬
pi: to say nothing of the unknown
ami uncharted wastes lying between
the Mississippi River and the shores
of the Pacific. Let’s sec who these
men were, and just what they had
done to cause King Charles to make
them so princely a gift:
1. GEORGE MONK, created by
Charles as.Duko of Albemarle. Master
of the King’s Horse and Captain-Gen¬
eral of his armed forces. To Monk
more than to any other man Charles
owed his throne. When Oliver Crom¬
well. man of iron, Lord Protector of
Englnnd died, the reins of power
slipjied from the feoblo hands of his
son and were seized by Monk, General
in i be Roundhead army. He won the
army to the cause of the King, and
the restoration of Charles to his
throne followed. Albemarle Sound
is named in his honor.
By R. C. LAWRENCE
EDWARD HYDE, Earl of
Clarendon, Lord High Chancellor of
England. Clarendon was the counsel¬
lor and the comforter of the King dur¬
ing his long exile, and was the great¬
est of the political forces moving for
his restoration. He was the foremost
statesman of his day, and soon be¬
came even more closely allied with the
royal house, for the Duke of York
(afterwards King James II) married
his daughter Anna. By this marriage
Clarendon became the grandfather of
two English queens: Mary and Anne.
Hyde County is named in his honor.
3. WILLIAM, LORD CRAVEN :
In his zeal for the royal cause, Craven
had spent a considerable fortune in
the royal service and in seeking the
restoration of Charles. Craven County
is named in his honor.
4. JOHN, LORD BERKELEY:
Ixnig a loyal adherent, as true when
Charles was a penniless exile, as after
his return to the throne of empire.
Berkeley Parish in South Carolina
was named in his honor.
5. ANTHONY COOPER, Lord
Ashley, Counsellor of the Exchequer:
Created by Charles Earl of Shaftes¬
bury. One of the twelve Commission¬
ers sent to invite Charles back to
England ami to his throne. The
Cooper and Ashley rivers in South
Carolina perpetuate his memory.
(i. SIR GEORGE CARTERET,
vice chamberlain of the household.
While Governor of the Island of Jer¬
sey he defended his post with gal¬
lantry against the Roundhead army
and refused to surrender until so
A JEFFERSON STANDARD
POLICY
Isa Declaration of Independence
for the Family
ordered by Charles himself. Carteret
County was named for him.
7. SIR WILLIAM BERKELEY:
A - Governor of Virginia, he kept that
Colony so loyal to the royal cause that
it became a h aven for English royal¬
ists fleeing from the wrath of Crom¬
well.
8. SIR JOHN COLLETON: Vet¬
eran soldier of the King in whose
behalf he expended a large fortune.
When Charles went into exile, lie
emigrated to the Bnrbadoes and held
those islands loyal to the Stuart cause.
Colleton County, South Carolina,
boors his name.
It is therefore seen that the royal
Charles had cause indeed to confer a
princely empire upon thoso who had
restored him to the seat of power in
the house of his fathers.
The Constitution
In framing the Constitution of the
Colony thus granted, I dare say
Charles had little, if any, part. No
doubt it was the work of the Secretary
of State, hut whoever its author, he
took for a model the county Palatine
of Durham. King William, for the
security of the Scottish border, creat¬
ed this Palatinate, over which lie
placed an executive upon whom he
conferred many of the attributes of
sovereignty. The Palatine exercised
supreme power within his own bor¬
ders. lie appointed the Judges, and
write and indictments ran in his name,
lie exercised jurisdiction at law. in
equity, and in admiralty, lie had his
own mint and his own coinage. He
raised and directed his own army. He
had the power to pardon — even mur¬
der, treason, and other high crimes.
These powers were conferred upon
the Lords Proprietors of Carolina,
with certain important exceptions
which contain the essence of funda¬
mental democratic principles: Thus,
l he laws were to be enacted for the
Colony “by and with the approbation
of the freemen. All laws were to be
•consonant with reason’ ” (here is the
germ of the 14th amendment). The
(Continued on page fourteen)