18 History of Methodism 



to be chosen by the assembly, and six to be appointed 

 by himself. The assembly was composed of the gov- 

 ernor, the council, and twelve delegates chosen annu- 

 ally by the freeholders, and was invested with power 

 not only to make the laws, but also with a large portion 

 of the executive authority, with the right of appoint- 

 ing officers, and presenting to churches the proprie- 

 taries, thus transferring to the infant colony the right 

 of "patronage and advowson of all the churches " with 

 which they were invested by the charter. (Chalmers.) 



In August, 1663, several gentlemen of Barbadoes 

 proposed to establish a colony south of the Cape Fear, 

 and receiving from the proprietaries the greatest en- 

 couragement, and in particular the pledge of " freedom 

 and liberty of conscience in all religious or spiritual 

 things, and to be kept inviolable," they fitted out a 

 vessel under the conduct of Hilton, an able navigator 

 (the same that gave name to Hilton Head in the neigh- 

 borhood of Beaufort), to explore the country. 



In January, 1665, Sir John Yeamans was appointed 

 governor of the territory then called Clarendon, 

 stretching from the Cape Fear to the Saint Matheo 

 (Saint Johns in Florida), and in the autumn of the 

 same year, conducting a band of emigrants from Bar- 

 badoes, began to lay the foundations of a new settle- 

 ment near that of the New Englanders. The same 

 constitution was established, and the same powers 

 conferred on this colony as those which had made 

 Albemarle happy. 



In good truth it may be said that in Carolina " the 

 child of ecclesiastical oppression was swathed in inde- 

 pendence," since three separate and distinct colonies 

 were established upon the broad foundation of a regu- 

 lar system of freedom of every kind, which it was 



