It might have been expected, that these adventurers, who were all embarked on the same design, would be animated by one spirit, and zealous above all things to maintain harmony and peace among themselves; they had all the same hardships to encounter, the same enemies to fear, and the same cause, the prosperity of the settlement, to promote. In such circumstances, the governor had good reason to hope, that one common desire of safety, and principle of love and friendship, would pervade the whole colony; yet nothing is more certain than that the contrary effect took place. The most numerous party in the country were dissenters, of various denominations, from the established church of England; which body of men, whatever high pretensions they may affect to superior sanctity of manners, have not always been found the most peaceable members of society. A number of cavaliers having received grants from the proprietors, had now brought over their families and effects, and joined the Puritans in Carolina. The latter were looked upon by the proprietors with a partial eye, as men of honour, loyalty and fidelity, and met with great indulgence and encouragement; by which means they thrust themselves into offices of trust and authority. The Puritans, on the other hand, viewed them with the eye of envy and jealousy, and having suffered from them in England, could not bear to see the smallest share of power committed to them in Carolina. Hence the seeds of strife and division, which had been imported into the colony, began to spring forth, and, as if brought to a warmer and more fertile soil, to grow so rank as to promise little peace and happiness to the young settlement. No common dangers or difficulties could blot out of their memories the prejudices and animosities contracted in England: the odious terms of distinction were revived and propagated among the people, and while one party were attached to the church of England, the other, who had fled from the rigour of ecclesiastical power, were jealous above all things of religious liberties, and could bear no encroachment on them. The governor found that matters of religion were tender points, and therefore wisely avoided all deliberations about them, chusing rather to leave every man to his free choice, than propose an establishment of any kind, which he saw would occasion trouble and division among the people.