Writs had been issued by James II. against the charters both of East and West Jersey, and the whole province was placed under the jurisdiction of Andros, governor of New York. The Revolution terminated the authority of Andros; and from June, 1689, to August, 1693, New Jersey had no regular government whatever, both the east and west portions being broken up into factions, headed by different proprietaries, which kept the country in a very unsettled state. At length the proprietaries, threatened by parliament, and finding no means of settling their contending claims, as well as a great falling off in their profits, agreed to surrender their authority to the crown; and in the first year of Queen Anne’s reign, New Jersey became a royal province, the claims of private property being in every case respected. On the surrender of the proprietary claims to government, the two Jerseys were united in one province, and the government conferred on Edward Hyde, Lord Cornbury, of whom we shall hear more anon. The commission and instructions to Lord Cornbury formed the constitution of New Jersey. The legislative power was vested in the governor with the consent of the royal council and representatives of the people; the elective franchise required a property qualification; all laws were subject to a veto of the governor and the crown. The governor, with consent of his council, instituted courts of law and appointed their officers; the people had no part in the justiciary. Liberty of conscience was granted to all but Catholics; and favour was invoked for the Church of England.[14] Two of the royal instructions deserve notice: First, “great inconveniences,” says the queen, “may arise by the liberty of printing in our province of New Jersey; therefore, no book, pamphlet, or other matter whatsoever may be printed without a licence.” Secondly, the “traffic in merchantable negroes” was especially enjoined. A change was come over the administration of New Jersey since the days when honest Thomas Olive, the governor of West Jersey, had been satisfied with a salary of £20 a year, and had administered justice as a magistrate, sitting on the stump of a tree in his field. New Jersey was now a royal united province, and a kinsman of the queen was its ruler; but the change was not palatable to the sturdy quaker and puritan spirit of the colony. The history of Lord Cornbury’s administration was that of continual contention with the assemblies. But through all this, as we shall find was the case in New York, a more vigorous spirit of liberty awoke in the province.