his mixed body of Quakers, other
dissenters, and some Papists, twenty-four proprietors in all, the Duke
of York reconfirmed by special patent their right to East Jersey. Under
their urging a few Scotch Covenanters began to arrive and seem to have
first established themselves at Perth Amboy, which they named from
the Scottish Earl of Perth and an Indian word meaning "point." This
settlement they expected to become a great commercial port rivaling New
York. Curiously enough, Robert Barclay, the first governor appointed,
was not only a Scotchman but also a Quaker, and a theologian whose
"Apology for the True Christian Divinity" (1678) is regarded to this day
as the best statement of the original Quaker doctrine. He remained in
England, however, and the deputies whom he sent out to rule the colony
had a troublous time of it.

That Quakers should establish a refuge for Presbyterians seems at first
peculiar, but it was in accord with their general philanthropic plan to
help the oppressed and suffering, to rescue prisoners and exiles, and
especially to ameliorate the horrible condition of people confined in
the English dungeons and prisons. Many vivid pictures of how the Scotch
Covenanters were hunted down like wild beasts may be found in English
histories and novels. When their lives were spared they often met a
fate worse than death in the loathsome dungeons into which thousands of
Quakers of that time were also thrust. A large part of William Penn's
life as a courtier was spent in rescuing prisoners, exiles, and
condemned persons of all sorts, and not merely those of his own faith.
So the undertaking to make of Jersey two colonies, one a refuge for
Quakers and the other a refuge for Covenanters, was natural enough, and
it was a very broad-minded plan for that age.

In 1683, a few years after the Quaker control of East Jersey began, a
new and fiercer persecution of the Covenanters was started in the old
country, and shortly afterwards Monmouth's insurrection in England broke
out and was followed by a most bloody proscription and punishment. The
greatest efforts were made to induce those still untouched to fly for
refuge to East Jersey; but, strange to say, comparatively few of them
came. It is another proof of the sturdiness and devotion which has
filled so many pages of history and romance with their praise that as
a class the Covenanters remained at home to establish their faith with
torture, martyrdom, and death.

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