I 
The Discoveries a/^d Settlements Book I. 
with thofe who will purchafe itj and that while they do this 
they lhall live well, clothe themfelves in Englijh Stuffsi 
and pay for them honeftly ; but if they are deprived of 
this Trade, the Profits of which enable them to pay for 
Englijh Cloathing, they mull endeavour to make ufe of 
their own Wool, and fupply themfelves as Well as they 
can. If this Ihould be prohibited, they affirm, they muft 
abfolutely go naked. 
. This perhaps is ftraining the Matter a little beyond the 
Truth ; but beyond all Doubt this Colony is very ufeful to 
Great Britain^ and in Conjun6lion with the other Bread 
Colonies^ as they are called, the foie Source of our foreign 
Sugar Trade, as in a few Words may be ffiewn. The Sugar 
Ifiands muft depend for their Subfiftance, either upon the 
Britijh Ifiands or upon thefe Colonies ; fince it is very cer- 
tain, that if they were to draw all their Maintenance from 
hence, granting that to be poflible, it would make La- 
bour in thofe Ifiands fo dear that no Sugar at all could be 
exported. On the other hand, if the People of NewTork 
fhould be forced to fet up Manufadlures of their own, 
this would employ fo many Hands as muft neceffarily 
raife the Price of Provifions, and this confequently would 
have, in a great meafure, the fame bad Effedf in making 
Labour dear in the Ifiands. It is therefore the Bufinefs of 
Great Britain to take care of both, and not to fide haftily 
with either. 
But it is more efpecially our Bufinefs to prevent fetting 
up Manufadlures in the Plantations on the Continent j 
becaufe this would injure the Trade between us and them, 
leflTen the Shipping employed therein, decreafe the Num- 
ber of our Seamen, and detach thofe Colonies, in a great 
meafure, from their Mother Country ; which, as they are 
Evils not to be borne, fo too much Diligence cannot be 
nfed to avoid them. As things ftand at prefent, there is 
not a Colony in America which makes a better Figure than 
New Tork^ or where the People feem to have a greater 
Spirit of Induftry, or more hearty Aftedlion to the Britijh 
Nation ; and it is univerfally agreed, that the City of New 
Tork is, in point of good Government and Politenefs, at 
leaft equal, if not fuperior, to any thing we polTefs in that 
Part of the World : And as for the Inhabitants of the In- 
land Part of the Colony, they are our beft Defence againft 
the French^ and are every Day gaining upon them in point 
of Trade with the Indians \ which are certainly Circum- 
ftances that deferve the utmoft Confideration, and ought 
above all others, to recommend this Plantation to the 
Protedlion and Favour of the Britijh Government ; 
which no doubt they will always meet with while they 
continue, as they have hitherto done, to ftudy by every 
Method to deferve it. 
9. The Countries now called the Jerfcys, or, with 
greater Propriety, the Eaji and Wejljerfeys, come next in 
our Way. Thefe fell under the Dominion of the Crown 
of Great Britain by Conqueft, at the fame time with, and 
as making a Part of. Nova Belgia ; and if to this Right 
acquired by War, or rather vindicated by it, for I conceive 
that the Dominion of this Country, which was all that we 
gained by the War, we had a very juft Title to before ; 
if, I fay, there was any thing wanting to fill up the 
Meafure of our Claim, it was certainly made up by the 
Peace, fince an Equivalent was then given to the Dutch j 
fo that both Nations had very good Reafon to be content. 
In order, however, to obtain a juft and clear Notion of 
the Hiftory and Condition of this Tra6t of Country, it 
is necelTary to obferve, that even the Dutch were not the 
original Inhabitants of it: The feveral Voyages that had 
been made for the planting of Virginia^ made thefe Coafts 
very well known to Multitudes of Englijh Seamen, and 
thefe being difperfed into different Parts of the World, 
carried the News of thefe rich and pleafant Lands in 
America along with them wherefoever they went, which 
infpired Strangers with ftrong Defires of occupying what 
we feemed to have abandoned, or the fettling of which 
was beyond our Strength, at leaft at that Time. 
The firft Europeans that fettled here were the Swedes^ 
who had three Towns in this Province, Chrijiina, called by 
the Indians^ Andaftaka^ Eljinbourg^ and Gottembourg. 
Their Settlements were chiefly on the South-fide of the 
River towards Penfylvania j oppofite to which there is a 
Placcj to this Day called Fort Elfinhourg \ but the Swedes 
made very little of their Plantation, and the Dutch^ al- 
ways ind.uftrious for their own Advantage, worked them 
fo far out of it, that Bergen, the Northern Part of the 
New Jerfey, was almoft entirely new planted by Hollanders^ 
King Charles II. gave this Tradt, in his Grant of Nova 
Belgia, to the Duke of Tork but the Englijh never made 
any Settlement in it till feveral Years after they were in 
the Poffefiion of that Province, and had mightily extended 
their Plantations. 
The Duke of Tork having invefted this Province, by 
the Name of Nova Caneria, in John Lord Berkeley and 
Sir George Carteret ^ they, or their Afiignees, agreed to 
divide it into two Parts, denominated EaJl and Wejt New 
Jerfeys, which remained two diftindl Proprieties and Go- 
vernments for many Years afterwards, as will be fhewn : 
EaJi New Jerfey, or that Part of it which borders on New 
Tork, fell to Sir George Carteret j whofe Family being of 
the Ifie of Jerfey, this Province on that Account took its 
Name from thence. Weji New Jerfey.^ that Part of it 
which borders on Penfylvania, fell to the Lord Berkeley ^ 
This whole Province, containing the two Jerfeys^ is thus 
bounded •, it has the main Ocean on the South-eaft, the 
River de la War on the Weft, Hudfon^s River on the Eaft, 
and the main Land on the North •, it lies between 39 and 
40 Degrees North Latitude ; extends itfelf in Length on 
the Sea Coafts, and along HudfoAs River, one hundred and 
twenty Miles, and is almoft as broad as long where it is 
broadeft. We muft now take fome Notice of the Pro- 
vince as it was under the Divifion of Eaji and WeJi, and 
was divided into two Proprieties ; of thefe, the largeft 
and moft inhabited, was Eaji Jerfey, which extended 
Eaftward and Northward all along the Sea Coaft and 
HudfoFs River, from Little Egg Harbour to that Part of 
HudfoAs River which is 41 Degrees North Latitude; 
and Southward and Weft ward was divided from Weji 
Jerfey by a Line of Partition from Egg Harbour, or Cref- 
wick River, Stony River, and the South Branch of Raritan 
River : It extends in Length along Hudfon^s River, and 
on the Coafts, 100 Miles : In Breadth it is very unequal. It is 
divided into Counties, for which there was little Occafion, 
as Bergen County, EJfex County, Middlefex on the North- 
fide of Raritan River, and Monmouth County on the 
South. According to fome Writers, Wefi Jerfey is di- 
vided from the other by a Line from North to South ; 
contains the like Number of Counties, viz. Burlington, 
Gloucejier, Salem, and Cape May. 
Thefe two Provinces are in the Hands of different Pro- 
prietors, who made many Aflignments of their Rights, 
which would take up too much Room to enter into the 
Detail of here, and therefore we fiiall content ourfelves wdth 
obferving, that the Proprietors both of the Eaji and W eli 
Jerfeys, on the 2 2d oi April 1702, put them into the Hands 
of Queen Anne, and they have been ever fince governed 
by the royal Authority, having a Governor, Council, and 
Affembly ; which Governor has Power of appointing a 
Deputy. We muft alfo remark, that fometimes this Go- 
vernment has been granted by a feparate CommilTion to the 
fame Perfon intrufted with that of New Tork ; but at pre- 
fent they are in different Hands. The chief Towns in the 
Jerfeys are Perth Amboy, the Capital of the County of 
Middlefex, and of all Eaf Jerfey, pleafantly fituated at 
the Mouth of Raritan River, and, had it been built ac- 
cording to the intended Model, would have been one of 
the fineft Tov/ns in North America ; but Planters have not 
reforted to it, as was expe( 5 ted ; notwithftanding it is fo 
commodioufiy fituated for Trade, that Ships of three 
hundred Tons may come up in one Tide, and lie before 
the Merchants Doors : But the Town of Elizabeth, 
fituate to the North of it, flourifhes much more, and may 
ftill be deemed the moft confiderable Town •, in the County 
of Bergen, the Capital of the County of the fame Name ; 
Elizabeth Town, Capital of the County of EJfex, and 
formerly of Middlefex ; Middleton, Shrewjbury, and Fre- 
hold, in the County of Monmouth ; Burlington or Brid- 
lington, the Capital of the County of Burlington, and of all 
Weji Jerfey: This Town is fituate 40 Degrees 40 Minutes 
of North Latitude, on an Ifland in the Middle of the River 
de la War, to the Northward of Philadelphia in Penfylva- 
j nia. 
