rotestants, and they set the tone that prevails in East
Jersey to this day. Their strict discipline and their uncompromising
thrift may now seem narrow and harsh; but it made them what they were;
and it has left a legacy of order and prosperity under which alien
religions and races are eager to seek protection. In its foundation the
Quakers may claim a share.

The new King, James II, was inclined to reassume jurisdiction and extend
the power of the Governor of New York over East Jersey in spite of his
grant to Sir George Carteret. In fact, he desired to put New England,
New York, and New Jersey under one strong government centered at New
York, to abolish their charters, to extinguish popular government, and
to make them all mere royal dependencies in pursuance of his general
policy of establishing an absolute monarchy and a papal church in
England.

The curse of East Jersey's existence was to be always an appendage of
New York, or to be threatened with that condition. The inhabitants now
had to enter their vessels and pay duties at New York. Writs were issued
by order of the King putting both the Jerseys and all New England under
the New York Governor. Step by step the plans for amalgamation and
despotism moved on successfully, when suddenly the English Revolution
of 1688 put an end to the whole magnificent scheme, drove the King into
exile, and placed William of Orange on the throne.

The proprietaries of both Jerseys reassumed their former authority. But
the New York Assembly attempted to exercise control over East Jersey and
to levy duties on its exports. The two provinces were soon on the eve of
a little war. For twelve or fifteen years East Jersey was in disorder,
with seditious meetings, mob rule, judges and sheriffs attacked while
performing their duty, the proprietors claiming quitrents from the
people, the people resisting, and the British Privy Council threatening
a suit to take the province from the proprietors and make a Crown
colony of it. The period is known in the history of this colony as "The
Revolution." Under the threat of the Privy Council to take over the
province, the proprietors of both East and West Jersey surrendered their
rights of political government, retaining their ownership of land and
quitrents, and the two Jerseys were united under one government in 1702.
Its subsequent history demands another chapter.

Chapter XI. The United Jerseys

The Quaker colonists grouped round Burlingto