THE history of New Jersey begins with the founding of Elizabethtown, in 1664. As early as 1618, a trading-station had been established at Bergen; but forty years passed before permanent dwellings were built in that neighborhood.

2. The territory of New Jersey was included in the grant made to the duke of York. In 1664 that portion of the province lying between the Hudson and the Delaware, extending as far north as forty-one degrees and forty minutes, was assigned to Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. Just after the conquest, a company of Puritans received a grant of land on Newark Bay. The Indian titles were purchased; in the following October a village was begun and named Elizabethtown.

3. In August of 1665 Philip Carteret arrived as governor. Elizabethtown was made the capital of the colony; Newark was founded; flourishing hamlets appeared on the shores of the bay as far south as Sandy Hook. In honor of Sir George Carteret, who had been governor of the Isle of Jersey, his American domain was named New Jersey. In 1668 the first assembly convened at Elizabethtown. The representatives were Puritans, and the laws of New England were repeated in the legislation of the colony.

4. After the conquest of New York by the Dutch, and the restoration of the province to England, the duke of York received from the king a second patent for the country between the Connecticut and the Delaware. At the same time he confirmed his former grant of New Jersey to Berkeley and Carteret. But soon afterwards Sir Edmund Andros was appointed royal governor of the whole country. Carteret defended his claim against Andros; but Berkeley sold his interest in New Jersey to John Fenwick, to be held in trust for Edward Byllinge, who after a time made an assignment of his property to Gawen Laurie, Nicholas Lucas, and William Penn.

5. These men were Quakers. Here, then, was an opportunity to establish an asylum for the persecuted Friends. Penn and his associates applied to Sir George Carteret for a division of the province. It was accordingly agreed to divide New Jersey so that Carteret's district should be separated from that of the Quakers. The line of division was drawn from the southern point of land on the east side of Little Egg Harbor to a point on the Delaware in the latitude of forty-one degrees and forty minutes. The territory lying east of this line remained to Sir George as sole proprietor, and was named East Jersey; while that portion lying between the line and the Delaware was called West Jersey, and passed under the control of Penn.

6. Early in the following March the Quaker proprietors published a code of laws called The Concessions. The constitution rivaled the charter of Connecticut in the liberality of its principles. The authors of the instrument then addressed the Quakers of England, recommending the province and inviting immigration. Before the end of the year a colony of more than four hundred Friends found homes in West Jersey. An effort was now made by the proprietors of East Jersey to secure a deed of release from the duke of York. The petition was granted, and the whole territory was freed from foreign authority.

7. In November of 1681 Jennings, the deputy-governor of West Jersey, convened the first general assembly. The Quakers now met together to make their own laws. The Concessions were reaffirmed. Men of all races and religions were declared to be equal. Imprisonment for debt was forbidden. The sale of ardent spirits to the Red men was prohibited. Taxes should be voted by the representatives of the people. The lands of the Indians should be acquired by purchase. Finally, a criminal might be pardoned by the person against whom the offense was committed.

8. In 1682 William Penn and eleven other Friends purchased the province of East Jersey. The whole of New Jersey was now held by the Friends. In 1685 James II. appointed Edmund Andros royal governor of the colonies from Maine to Delaware. In 1688 the Jerseys were brought under his jurisdiction. When the news came of the abdication of the English monarch, Andros could do nothing but surrender to the indignant people.

9. But the condition of New Jersey was deplorable. It was almost impossible to tell to whom the territory rightfully belonged. Finally, in April of 1702, all proprietary claims being waived in favor of the king, the territory between the Hudson and the Delaware became a royal province.

10. New Jersey was now attached to the government of Lord Cornbury of New York. But each province retained its own legislative assembly and a distinct organization. This method of government continued for thirty-six years, and was then ended by the action of the people. In 1728 the representatives of New Jersey sent a petition to George II., praying for a separation of the two colonies. Ten years later the effort was renewed and brought to a successful issue. New Jersey was made independent, and Lewis Morris received a commission as royal governor of the province.

11. The Quakers were greatly encouraged with the success of their colonies in New Jersey. For more than a quarter of a century they had been buffeted with persecutions. But imprisonment and exile had not abated their zeal. The benevolent spirit of Penn urged him to find for his people an asylum in the New World. In June of 1680 he appealed to King Charles for the privilege of founding a Quaker commonwealth in America.

12. The petition was heard with favor. On the 5th of March, 1681, a charter was granted by Charles II., and William Penn became the proprietor of Pennsylvania. The vast domain embraced under the new patent was bounded on the east by the Delaware, extended north and south over three degrees of latitude, and westward through five degrees of longitude. The three counties of Delaware were reserved for the duke of York. Within a month from the date of his charter, Penn published a glowing account of his new country, promising freedom of conscience, and inviting emigration. During the summer three shiploads of Quakers left England for the land of promise.

13. During the winter of 1681-82, Penn drew up a constitution for his people. In the mean time, the duke of York had surrendered his claim to the three counties on the Delaware. The whole country on the west bank of the river, from Cape Henlopen to the forty-third degree of latitude, was now transferred to Penn, who, with a large company of emigrants, landed at New Castle on the 27th of October, 1682.

14. William Penn was born on the 14th of October, 1644. He was the oldest son of Sir William Penn of the British navy. At the age of twelve he was sent to the University of Oxford, where he distinguished himself as a student until he was expelled on account of his religion. Afterwards he traveled on the Continent, and then became a student of law at London. For a while he was a soldier, and was then converted to the Quaker faith. His father drove him out of doors, but he was not to be turned from his course. He proclaimed the doctrines of the Friends; was arrested and imprisoned, first in the Tower of London, and afterward at Newgate. Despairing of toleration in England, he cast his gaze across the Atlantic. West Jersey was purchased; Pennsylvania was granted by King Charles; and now Penn himself arrived in America to found a government on the basis of peace.

15. The Quaker governor delivered an affectionate address to the crowd of Swedes, Dutch, and English who came to greet him. His pledges of a liberal government were renewed, and the people were exhorted to sobriety and honesty. Friendly relations were established between the Friends and Red men. A great conference, appointed with the sachems of the neighboring tribes, was held on the banks of the Delaware. Penn declared his brotherly affection for the Indians. Standing before them, clad in the simple garb of the Quakers, he said:—"My Friends: We have met on the broad pathway of good faith. We are all one flesh and blood. Being brethren, no advantage shall be taken on either side. When disputes arise, we will settle them in council. Between us there shall be nothing but openness and love." The chiefs replied: "While the rivers run and the sun shines we will live in peace with the children of William Penn." And the treaty was sacredly kept. The Quaker hat and coat proved to be a better defense than coat-of-mail and musket.

16. In February of 1683 the native chestnuts, walnuts and elms were blazed to indicate the lines of the streets, and Philadelphia was founded. Within a month a general assembly was in session at the new capital. A democratic form of government was adopted. The growth of Philadelphia was astonishing. In 1683 there were only three or four houses. In 1685 the city contained six hundred houses; the schoolmaster had come, and the printing-press had begun its work. In another year Philadelphia had outgrown New York. In August of 1684 Penn took leave of his colony and sailed for England.

17. Nothing occurred to disturb the peace of Pennsylvania until the secession of Delaware in 1691. The three lower counties, which had been united on terms of equality with the six counties of Pennsylvania, became dissatisfied with some acts of the assembly and insisted on a separation. The proprietor gave consent; Delaware withdrew from the union, and received a separate deputy-governor.

18. In December of 1699 Penn visited his American commonwealth, and drew up another constitution, more liberal than the first. But Delaware would not accept the new form of government. In 1702 the assemblies of the two provinces sat apart; and in the following year Delaware and Pennsylvania were finally separated.

19. In July of 1718 the founder of Pennsylvania sank to rest. His estates, vast and valuable, were bequeathed to his three sons, John, Thomas, and Richard. By them, or their deputies, Pennsylvania was governed until the American Revolution. In the year 1779 the claims of the Penn family were purchased by the legislature of Pennsylvania for a hundred and thirty thousand pounds.

20. The colonial history of the State founded by Penn is one of special interest and pleasure. It is a narrative of the victories of peace, and of the triumph of peaceful principles over violence and wrong. It is doubtful whether the history of any other colony in the world is touched with so many traits of innocence and truth. "I will found a free colony for all mankind," were the words of William Penn. How well his work was done shall be told when the bells of his capital city shall ring out the glad notes of American Independence.