Documenting the American South Logo
Colonial and State Records of North Carolina
Letter from Anthony Ashley Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbury to Joseph West and the Carolina Governor's Council
Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper, Earl of, 1621-1683
June 20, 1672
Volume 01, Pages 213-214

[B. P. R. O. Shaftesbury Papers. Section IX. Bundle 48. P. 112.]
EARL OF SHAFTESBURY TO JOS. WEST & THE REST OF THE COUNCIL 20 JUNE 1672

To Mr West & ye rest of ye Councell


Exeter House This 20th June 1672

Yor late mannagement of ye affaires of ye Plantation have binn wth soe much prudence that I cannot but returne you my particuler thanks & tell you that whilst you continue to be careful of ye common good of ye place wch is yor owne interest you shall alwayes have me ready to countenance

-------------------- page 214 --------------------
& assist you in it & to study ye good of those men who shall endeavour to signalize themselves that way. To keep to ye rules of or establishment it hath binn necessary for us to take ye government out of Mr West's hands in wch it hath thriven very well to put it into that only Landgraves wch is upon the place But I am very sorry to finde that Sr John Yeamans is not a man soe acceptable to ye whole plantation as I could wish I know how hard it is for jealousys to be removed & factions united when once begunn though amongst men (as it often happens) otherwise discreet & worthy. That therefore this may not prejudice the affaires of or plantation & the animositys that may arise from hence disturb the quiet wch is necessary to an infant settlemt Wee shall endeavour to finde out as soone as we cann a man to be Governor who besides other qualifications fit for that employment may alsoe have this necessary one of being indifferent to ye whole plantation disinterrested from all divisions in it & a man not suspected or disgusted by any of the Planters. This though I have a very great respect for Sr John & noe other exception to him I see will be unavoidable for us to doe to preserve that unity & good understanding in ye Plantation that is necessary In ye meane time I recomend it to yor care (whose prudence & integrity we already have had experience of) to keepe unbiassed to those rules you will finde in or fundamentall Constitutions Temporary Laws & instructions & perticulerly or Deputyes are to remember that they represent or persons & therefore they ought not to deminish or right by makeing themselves but cyphers & submitting too much to ye will of any Governor nay of Sr Peter Colleton himselfe or any of ye Lds. Proprietrs should come upon ye place or deputys ought to maintaine or authority & share in ye government according to ye fundamentall Constituc̄ons wch wee have to that purpose put into their hands Haveing binn soe carefull to balance one anothrs power to prevent ye ingroseing it into any one hand that ye Palatine himselfe & soe his Deputy ye Governor hath but his limitted proportion of it suited to ye dispatch of affaires beyound wch we never intended nor are or Deputys to suffer it to extend This I am sure whilst you keep to those rules we have established the Plantation will thrive & every one in it if it be not his owne faulte be in a prosperous & safe condition. I recommend therefore yor owne good & interest to yor owne care wherein I am sure to stand by you I very much applaud yor faire dealing wth us in respect of or stores & debt This regard to or concernments will encourage us to take all manner of care of you I thinke myselfe particulerly obliged by it & am

Yor very affectionate friend
SHAFTESBURY