Instantly he chose this "divine elm" as the council chamber of Transylvania.

Under its leafage he read the constitution of the new colony.

It would be too great a stretch of fancy to call it a democratic document, for it was not that, except in deft phrases.

Power was certainly declared to be vested in the people; but the substance of power remained in the hands of the Proprietors.
Terms for land grants were generous enough in the beginning, although Henderson made the fatal mistake of demanding quitrents--one of the causes of dissatisfaction which had led to the Regulators' rising in North Carolina.

In September he augmented this error by more than doubling the price of land, adding a fee of eight shillings for surveying, and reserving to the Proprietors one-half of all gold, silver, lead, and sulphur found on the land.