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A SOURCE BOOK 
 
 IN 
 
 AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 TO I7Q7 
 
 COLLECTED AND EDITED 
 
 WILLIS MASON WEST 
 
 SOMETIME PROFESSOR OF HISTORY AND HEAD OF THE 
 DEPARTMENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA 
 
 o^Oio 
 
 ALLYN AND BACON 
 
 iSoston WebJ gork Cfjtcago 
 

 COPYRIGHT, 1913, 
 BY WILLIS MASON WEST. 
 
 JAN KI9I4 
 
 Ncrtoooli ^rcaa 
 
 J. 8. Gushing Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. 
 
 Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 
 
 'CI,A361597 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 Early American history is especially suited for "source 
 work " in secondary schools and undergraduate college classes. 
 After the year 1800, there are too many documents and many 
 of them are too long. The student can get no systematic sur- 
 vey nor any sense of continuity ; and source work is therefore 
 merely illustrative of particular incidents. But, for the early 
 period, it is possible, by careful selection and exclusion, to lay 
 a basis for a fairly connected study. 
 
 To do this, it is necessary to combine in one volume selec- 
 tions which are usually grouped sepai'ately, as " Documents " 
 and as " Readings," — such, for instance, as the Massachusetts 
 charter, on the one hand, and Winthrop's letters to his wife, 
 on the other. Rigid scholarship may object to the inclusion 
 of such different sorts of sources between the same covers. 
 But students cannot be expected to own or use more than one 
 volume of sources in American history ; and the practical edu- 
 cational advantages of the combination seem to me to outweigh 
 all possible objections — besides which, something might be 
 said for the arrangement in itself, for young students, on the 
 side of interest and convenience. 
 
 A number of admirable collections of sources for schools are 
 already in use. And yet, in preparing my American History 
 and Government,^ I found no single volume which contained 
 the different kinds of source material desirable for illustration, 
 while much of the most valuable material was still inaccessible 
 in any collection. Some two-thirds of the selections in the 
 present volume, I believe, have not previously appeared in 
 
 1 Allyn and Bacon. 1913. 
 iii 
 
iv FOREWORD 
 
 Source Books ; and, for many of the customary documents, I 
 have found it desirable to print parts not usually given. Thus, 
 for Gorges' Patent for Maine, instead of reproducing the ter- 
 ritorial grant (which is all that is given in the only Source 
 Book which touches on that document), I have chosen rather 
 to give the portion authorizing a degree of popular self-govern- 
 ment (the reference to the " parliament in ISTew England "). 
 
 In a few cases, documents which might have been expected 
 are not given, because extracts from them are used freely in 
 the American History and Government, to which this is a com- 
 panion volume. The most important cases of this character 
 are noted at appropriate points. In general, in the selection 
 and arrangement of documents, special emphasis has been 
 given to the following topics : (1) the idealistic motives back 
 of American colonization in Virginia as well as in Puritan 
 New England ; (2) the evolution of political institutions in 
 Virginia and in tj'pical Northern colonies, — especially of rep- 
 resentative government and of the town meeting,, and of such 
 details as the use of the ballot; (3) the very imperfect na- 
 ture of democracy, political and social, in colonial America, — 
 so that the student may better appreciate our later growth ; 
 (4) social conditions, — necessarily a rather fragmentary treat- 
 ment ; (o) the evolution of commonwealths out of colonies in 
 the Revolution ; and (6) the breakdown of the Confederation 
 and the making of the Constitution. 
 
 Many typical documents are given entire. Other selections 
 are excerpted carefully. In such cases, omissions are indi- 
 cated, of course, and the substance of the omitted matter is 
 usually indicated in brackets. In the case of a few selections, 
 like those from Winthrop's History, tlie original document has 
 already been published in standard editions with modernized 
 spelling. Such editions have heen followed. The text of all 
 other documents has been reproduced faithfully, except for 
 such departures as are authorized in the American Historical 
 Association's Suggestions for the Printing of Documents ; i.e., 
 regarding the spelling out of abbreviations, and the modern 
 
FOREWORD V 
 
 usage for the consonantal i and v, and the modernizing of 
 punctuation when absolutely needful to prevent ambiguity. 
 Some students may find a slight difficulty at first in the 
 vagaries of seventeenth century orthography. But this diffi- 
 culty is quickly surmounted ; and, apart from the added flavor 
 that comes from the quaintness of the original, and from the 
 consciousness that the copy has been strictly adhered to, there 
 is often a distinct historical advantage in the practice. The 
 falling away in book-culture in the second generation of New 
 England colonization can hardly be suggested so forcibly in 
 any other way as by following the degeneration of spelling by 
 town officials — as in the Watertown records in Number 83. 
 The peculiarities of type in printed documents have been pre- 
 served so far as possible, but here I have taken a greater 
 liberty than in any other matter of this kind. Italics and 
 black-faced type have been introduced freely, to call attention 
 to matter of special importance for instruction. Sometimes 
 this practice has been noted in the respective introductions ; 
 and in other cases there will be little difficulty in deciding 
 which passages owe their prominence of this sort to the editor. 
 I have tried also to add to the teaching value of the book 
 by a free, use of introductions to the various extracts, and 
 by footnotes and addenda, with occasional " Hints for Study." 
 
 WILLIS MASON WEST. 
 WiNDAGO Farm, 
 November, 1913. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 BER 
 
 I. England in the Century of Colonization 
 
 Classes of Englishmen ; by William Harrison ; from Holin- 
 shed's Chronicles (1577) 
 
 A. SOUTHERN COLONIES TO 1660 
 n. Motives for Early Colonization 
 
 2. Sir George Peckham's " True Keport" (1582) of Gilbert's expe- 
 
 dition ; from Richard Hakluyt's Voyages and Discoveries 
 
 of the English Nation 4 
 
 3. Eichard Hakluyt's Discourse on Western Planting (1584) ; 
 
 from the Maine Historical Society Collections ... 4 
 
 4. Michael Drayton's Ode to the Virginian Voyage (1606) . . 7 
 
 5. " Goodspeed to Virginia" (1609); by Robert Gray; from 
 
 Brown's Genesis of the United States .... 7 
 
 6. "Nova Britannia" (1609); anonymous; from Peter Force's 
 
 Historical Tracts 10 
 
 7. The "True and Sincere Declaration" by the London Com- 
 
 pany (1609), with a "Table of such [colonists] as are re- 
 quired" ; from Brown's Genesis of the United States . 12 
 
 8. Marston''s Eastward Hoe ! (1605) 15 
 
 9. Crashaw's "Daily Prayer" for use in Virginia (1609); from 
 
 Force's Historical Tracts 15 
 
 10. Crashaw's "Sermon" before Lord Delaware's Expedition 
 
 (1610) ; from Brown's Genesis of the United States . 16 
 
 11. A letter by Sir Edwin Sandys (1612) to stockholders of the 
 
 London Company ; from Neill's Virginia and Virginiola . 17 
 
 12. The glories of Virginia ; from a letter from Sir Thomas Dale 
 
 (governor in Virginia) to Sir Thomas Smith (head of the 
 London Company), in 1613 ; from the Records of the Vir- 
 ginia Company of London, edited by Susan Kingsbury . 17 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS vii 
 
 13. A defense of the London Company (declared not mercenary) 
 
 by Captain John Smith (161(5) ; from Smith's Generall 
 Historie of Virginia 18 
 
 14. A plea for colonization on patriotic and religious grounds 
 
 (1631), by Captain John Smith; TForA^s .... 18 
 
 III. Virginia (1606-1619), to the Introduction of Self-govern- 
 
 ment 
 
 15. The charter of Sir Humphrey Gilbert (1578) ; from Hakluyt's 
 
 Voyages and Discoveries ....... 20 
 
 16. The Virginia charter of 1606 ; from the Appendix to Stith's 
 
 History of Virginia 23 
 
 17. Instructions by King James to the London Company (Novem- 
 
 ber 20/30, 1606) ; from Hening's Statutes at Large . . 29 
 
 18. Instructions from the Council of the Virginia Company to the 
 
 first Jamestown expedition (December, 1606) ; from Neill's 
 Virginia Company ........ 32 
 
 19. The early settlers and their sufferings : 
 
 a. A "Discourse" by Master George Percy (1607); 
 
 from "Furchas his Pilgrimes" (1625) ... 35 
 
 b. An account of "gentlemen'' in Virginia, by Amos 
 
 Todkill (1608) ; from Smith's T^or^•s ... 36 
 
 20. The Virginia charter of 1609 (with hints for study) ; from the 
 
 Appendix to Stith's History of Virginia .... 37 
 
 21. The Virginia charter of 1612 (the portions relating to a more 
 
 democratic organization of the Company and its powers) ; ib. 44 
 
 22. The danger from Spanish attack : correspondence of Spanish 
 
 and English ambassadors with their respective govern- 
 ments ; from Brown's Genesis of the United States . . 47 
 
 IV. Virginia under the Liberal Company, 1 619- 1624 
 
 23. Rules of the Virginia Company (1619) ; from Force's Historical 
 
 Tracts 51 
 
 24. An "Order" of the Company authorizing temporary self-gov- 
 
 ernment in its plantations (February 2/12, 1619/1620) ; 
 from Susan Kingsbury's Becords of the Virginia Company 
 of London 53 
 
 25. Records of the Assembly of 1619 ; from Wynne and Oilman's 
 
 Colonial Becords of Virginia 53 
 
Vlll TABLE OP^ CONTENTS 
 
 NUMBBR PAGE 
 
 26. The "Declaration" by the Company (drawn by Sandys)-, June 
 
 22/July 2, 1020, justifying the liberal management ; from 
 Susan Kingsbury's liecords of the Virginia Company of 
 London 63 
 
 27. The Ordinance of 1621, — a grant of limited self-government by 
 
 tlie Company to the settlers, with authorization of a repre- 
 sentative Assembly ; from the Appendix to Stith's History 
 of Virginia 70 
 
 28. Attempts by King James to control the elections in the Com- 
 
 pany in favor of the " court party " in 1020 and 1022 ; from 
 Susan Kingsbury's Itccords of the Virginia Company of 
 ]A>ndun .......... 73 
 
 V. Virginia a Royal Province : Struggle to save the Assembly 
 20. Royal Commission to Governor Wyatt and his Council (1024), 
 
 ignoring tlie Assembly ; h\m\ \\i\za,r(i's State Papers . . 80 
 
 30. Royal commission to Governor Yeardley (1025), to like pur- 
 
 pose ; from Hazard's /.%a(e Pfl/jcrs 82 
 
 31. Protests in the Colony : 
 
 a. The Assembly's precautionary "bill of rights," with 
 statement of the principle, "No taxation without 
 representation " (three laws from the session of 
 March, 1024) ; from Ilening's Statutes at Large . 83 
 
 6. Requests from the colony for aid, and, indirectly, for 
 an Assembly : 
 
 1. Letter from the Governor and Council to the 
 
 Special Commission in England (Ai)ril, 
 1620) ; from the Aspinwall I'apers, in Mas- 
 sachusetts Historical Society Collections . 84 
 
 2. Letter from the same to the same (May, 
 
 102()) ; from the Virginia Magazine of 
 History . . . . . . .85 
 
 82. Restoration of the Assembly by royal authority (1029) : 
 
 a. Captain Harvey's "Propositions" (after appointment 
 
 as governor) ; ib 80 
 
 b. The King's answer to the same ; ib 80 
 
 r. Royal instructions to Governor Berkeley (1041) ; ib. 87 
 
 33. Virginian legislation, financial and moral ; from Ilening's Stat- 
 utes at Large 87 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS ix 
 
 VI. Virginia under the Commonwealth 
 
 NirMIIKK PAOK 
 
 34. Terms of settlement between Parliamentary Commissioners and 
 
 the Assembly (1662) ; from Ilening's Statutes at Large . 00 
 
 3.5. Legislation restricting the franchise,. and restoring it to the old 
 
 basis \ ib 92 
 
 VII. Maryland to i66o 
 
 36. Lord Baltimore \s letter to Charles I (1629), describing the hard- 
 
 sliips of the Avalon colony and asking for a grant in " Vir- 
 ginia"; iroiQ. Sch&rVs Jlistorij of Maryland . . . 93 
 
 37. The Maryland charter of 1632 ; from Bacon's Laws of Maryland 94 
 
 38. Jixtracts from the Avalon charter of 1623 (with comparison 
 
 with the Maryland grant) ; from Scharf's History of Mary- 
 land ........... 99 
 
 39. Excursus : Extracts from the Plowden grant of New Albion 
 
 of 16.34, and the Gorges grant of Maine of 1639 (for com- 
 parison with the foregoing, in tracing the development of 
 royal approval of representative institutions in tlie colo- 
 nies) ; the documents from Hazard's tState Papers . . 100 
 
 40. The "Toleration Act" of 1649; from the Maryland Archives . 102 
 
 B. NEW ENGLAND TO i66o 
 
 VIII. An Early Exploration 
 
 41. Captain George Weyn)outh's "Tnie Relation" of his voyage 
 
 in 1605 to the coast of Maine ; from the Massachusetts His- 
 torical Society Collections 106 
 
 IX. The First Source of New England Land Titles 
 
 42. The charter of 1620 for the Plymouth Council (sometimes called 
 
 the Council for New England) ; from Hazard's State Papers 109 
 
 X. Plymouth Colony 
 
 43. Negotiations between the Pilgrims and the Virginia Company 
 
 for the Wincob charter : Cushman's letter explaining the 
 delay ; from Bradford's Plymouth Plantation . . .113 
 
 44. Articles of Partnership between Pilgrims and London mer- 
 
 chants ; ib 114 
 
X TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 NrMBER PAGE 
 
 45. The "farewell letter"' from Pastor Robinson: the Pilgrims a 
 
 "body politic" with power of self-government ; ib. . . 116 
 
 46. The Mayflower Compact; ib. ; with addendum — The Exeter 
 
 Agreement; from Hazard's ^S'^ctie Papers . . . .116 
 
 47. The Peirce charter of June, 1621, from the New England Coun- 
 
 cil ; from the Massachusetts Historical Society Collections 118 
 
 48. Early histoiy and hardships : i 
 
 a. Edward Winslow's letter of December, 1621, to a 
 friend in England ; from Arber's St07'y of the Pil- 
 grim Father's 120 
 
 6. Captain John Smith's account, in 1624 ; Works . 122 
 
 49. The final source of Plymouth land titles : 
 
 a. Bradford's Patent of 1630 ; from Hazard's State 
 
 Papers 124 
 
 b. Bradford's surrender of the .same to the colony ; ib. . 126 
 
 50. Extracts from the "Eundamental Laws" of 1636 ; t6. . . 127 
 
 XI. The Founding of Massachusetts Bay 
 
 51. The Gorges claim : 
 
 a. The charter from the New England Council to Robert 
 
 Gorges (1622) ; from Sir Ferdinando Gorges' 
 
 " Briefe Narration," in Hazard's State Papers . 129 
 
 b. The Gorges expedition of 1623 ; ib., in Massachusetts 
 
 Historical Society Collections 131 
 
 52. The founding of Salem and Charlestown : White's "Relation " 
 
 (1630) ; from Young's Massachusetts Chronicles . . 132 
 
 53. The Massachusetts Company's charter of 1629 ; from the Bec- 
 
 ords of the Governor and Company of 3Iassachusetts Bay, 
 edited by Nathaniel Shurtleff (usually quoted here as the 
 Massachusetts Colonial Becoi'ds) ..... 137 
 
 54. The docket of the above charter, as it was presented for royal 
 
 approval (showing the King's expectation that the charter 
 was to remain in England ; from the Massachusetts His- 
 torical Society Proceedings for 1869-1870 . . . .144 
 
 1 Bradford's Plymouth Plantation, the main source for this topic, is quoted 
 so extensively in the American History and Government that it is not used 
 here iu this connection. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS xi 
 
 NUMBER PAGE 
 
 55. Excursus: discussion of the original intention of tlie grantees 
 
 in tlie Massachusetts charter as to removing to America, 
 with illuminating extracts from the "Charter of the Com- 
 pany of Westminster for the Plantation of Providence 
 Isle"; (the document from the manuscript in British 
 Record Office) 146 
 
 56. Agreement between the Massachusetts Company in England 
 
 and the Rev. Francis Higginson, on his removal to Amer- 
 ica ; from Young's Chronicles of Massachusetts . . 148 
 
 57. Establishment of a subordinate government in the colony 
 
 (April, 1629), by order of the Company in England ; from 
 
 the Massachusetts Colonial Becords ..... 150 
 
 XII. The Colony Becomes Puritan 
 
 58. The decision to transfer the government and charter to the 
 
 colony : 
 
 a. The first official proposal, by Governor Cradock, at a 
 meeting of the Company in London (July 28, 1629) ; 
 from the Massachusetts Colonial Becords . . 153 
 
 h. The Cambridge Agreement ; from Young's Chronicles 
 
 of Massachusetts 154 
 
 c. The final decision by the Company ; from the Colo- 
 nial Becords 156 
 
 59. Decision of Puritan gentlemen to settle in the colony : 
 
 a. John Winthrop's argument for a Puritan colony ; 
 
 from Winthrop's Life and Letters of John Winthrop 157 
 6. Winthrop'sreasonsforhimself coming to America; ih. 159 
 
 c. The decision of John Winthrop, Jr. ; ib. . . . 160 
 
 d. Higginson's "News from New England"; from 
 
 Yonng^s Chronicles of Massachusetts . . . 161 
 
 60. The attitude of the early Puritan colonists toward the Church 
 
 of England : 
 
 a. Winthrop's farewell letter to the Church of England ; 
 
 Life and Letters 162 
 
 b. Captain John Smith's opinion of the Puritans in 1630 
 
 (not Separatists) ; from Smith's Works . . . 164 
 
 61. Political principles of the Puritan leaders (di.strust of democ- 
 
 racy) : illustrated by extracts from Calvin's Institutes . 164 
 
xii TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 NUMBEK PAGE 
 
 62. Early hardships and religious tendencies : 
 
 a. From Winthrop's Histonj of Neto England, 1630-10:11 168 
 h. From Winthrop's letters to his wife ; Life and Letters 171 
 c. From Thomas Dudley's letter to the Countess of Lin- 
 coln (1631) ; from Young's Chronicles of Massa- 
 chusetts 174 
 
 XIII. Development of Democracy 
 
 63. Oligarchic usurpations in 1630-1631 ; from the Col ojiial Records 178 
 
 64. The " Watertown Protest" against taxation without represen- 
 
 tation (the tirst popular movement), in 1632, and the con- 
 sequent resumption by the democracy of some of their 
 rights ; from Winthrop's History of JVew England . . 180 
 
 65. Sample legislation under aristocratic rule, 1630-1633 ; from the 
 
 Colonial Becords 183 
 
 Q6. The beginning of town government, at Dorchester ; from the 
 
 Dorchester liecords 188 
 
 67. The development of representative government : 
 
 a. Winthrop's account ; from his History of New England 189 
 
 b. The official records of the revolutionary General Court 
 
 of 1634 ; from the Colonial liecords . . . 191 
 
 68. Political reaction : the magistrates demand a "negative voice " ; 
 
 from Winthrop's History of JVeio England .... 194 
 
 69. The Puritan government denies free speech in political mat- 
 
 ters ; ib 195 
 
 70. The adoption of the ballot in elections in the General Court ; ih. 196 
 
 71. The first use of the ballot in local elections ; ib. . . . 197 
 
 72. A military commission with power of martial law ; from the 
 
 Cohmial liecords 198 
 
 73. Winthrop's account of various political actions : a " Life Coun- 
 
 cil " ; extension of the ballot by the use of proxies ; restric- 
 tion of "churches" to the organizations recognized by the 
 government ; from Winthrop's History of Neui England . 199 
 
 74. The Wheelwright controversy, with special reference to political 
 
 phases; (7) 199 
 
 75. Political and social conditions in Massachusetts in 1636 : 
 
 a. " Proposals '" of Lords Say and Brooke, with the 
 answers of John Cotton ; from the Appendix to 
 Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts Bay . . 201 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS xiii 
 
 b. Legislation of 1(551 regarding dress of different classes ; 
 
 from the Colonial Records ..... 206 
 
 76. Attack upon tlie charter : 
 
 a. An order in Council in England for its surrender ; 
 
 from Hutchinson's Original Papers . . . 206 
 
 b. The defiant refusal of the Colony ; from Winthrop's 
 
 History of New England 207 • 
 
 77. Democratic discontent with aristocratic privilege in 1039 (Win- 
 
 throp's denial of the right of petition ; the abolition of Life 
 Council ; delay in conceding a written code) ; ib. . . 210 
 
 78. The "Body of Liberties"; from Whitmore's Bibliographical 
 
 Sketch of the Laws of Massachusetts Colony . . . 214 
 
 79. A Puritan view of the rules of fair trade (Cotton's sermon 
 
 upon the conviction of a shopkeeper for exacting exorbi- 
 tant profits) ; from Winthrop's History of Nexo England . 225 
 
 80. The separation of the General Court into two Houses (the first 
 
 two-chambered legislature in America) ; the story from 
 Winthrop's History of Npao England, and the preamble of 
 the act of 1644 from the Colonial Becords .... 226 
 
 81. A town code of school laws (1645) ; from the Dorchester Becords 230 
 
 82. Colonial school laws (1642 and 1647); from the Colonial Becords 233 
 
 83. Representative town records ( Watertown Becords, 1634-1678) 236 
 
 XIV. Massachusetts and Religious Persecution 
 
 84. I'uritan arguments for and against persecution : 
 
 a. From Nathaniel Ward's Simple Cobbler of Agga- 
 
 loamm (1(!47) 246 
 
 b. From Captain Edward Johnson's Wonder-working 
 
 Providence of Sions Saviour in Neto England 
 (1664) 248 
 
 c. The discussion between Saltt)nstall and Cotton (about 
 
 1050) ; from Hutchinson's Original Papers . . 249 
 
 85. Criticism of the Massachusetts way, by a moderate Episcopalian 
 
 and royalist (Lechford's PZainfi 2)^rtZin!7,- 1641) . 262 
 
 86. A Presbyterian demand for the franchise in 1646 (the letter of 
 
 Dr. Robert Child and others to the Governor and 
 General Court) ; from Hutchinson's Original Papers 265 
 
xiv TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 NrMBER PAGE 
 
 87. Trial and punishment of nonconformists for not attending ap- 
 
 proved churches ; from the Colonial Becords . . . 259 
 
 88. Quaker Persecutions : 
 
 a. Edward BiUTOUgh's appeal to King Charles (1660) ; 
 from Burrough's Sad and Great Persecution and 
 Martyrdom of Quakers in New England . . 260 
 
 h. Trial of the Quaker, Wenlock Christison (1661) ; 
 from Besse's Collection of the Sufferings of the 
 People called Quakers 263 
 
 XV. Rhode Island to i66o 
 
 89. The first covenant at Providence (16.36) : a compact in '■^ civil 
 
 things only" ; from the Early Becords of the Town of 
 Providence .......... 267 
 
 90. Roger Williams' argument that rehgious freedom is consonant 
 
 with civil order (the ship illustration) ; from Arnold's His- 
 tory of Bhode Island 268 
 
 91. The Patent for Providence Plantation from the Council of the 
 
 Long Parliament (1644), restricting the government to civil 
 matters ; from the Bhode Island Colonial Becords . . 269 
 
 92. Rhode Island's answer to the demand of Massachusetts (a re- 
 
 fusal to exclude Quakers) ; from the Appendix to Hutch- 
 inson's Massachusetts Bay 270 
 
 XVI. Connecticut before i66o 
 
 93. The Fundamental Ordere of 1639 ; from the Connecticut Colo- 
 
 nial Becords 273 
 
 XVII. The New England Confederation 
 
 94. The constitu^tion (Articles of Confederation) ; from the New 
 
 Haven Colonial Becords 280 
 
 95. The demand of Massachusetts for more weight in the union, 
 
 with the answer of the Congress of the Confederation ; 
 from the Plymouth Colony Becords 285 
 
 96. Nullification by Massachusetts, with the protest of the Con- 
 
 gress of the Confederation ; ib. . . . . . . 287 
 
 C. COLONIAL AMERICA 
 
 XVIII. Liberal Charters 
 
 97. The Connecticut charter of 1662 ; from the Connecticut Colo- 
 
 nial Becords 290 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS XV 
 
 NUMBER PAGE 
 
 98. The Rhode Island charter of 1663 (parts referring especially 
 
 to religious liberty) ; from the Rhode Island Colonial 
 Records 293 
 
 XIX. An English Colonial System 
 
 99. Royal instructions for the " Councill appointed for Forraigne 
 
 Plantations" (1660) ; from 0'Callaghan'sZ)ocM»ie?Us re?a- 
 
 tive to the Colonial History of Xeio York .... 298 
 
 100. The English commercial policy : 
 
 a. The "first" Navigation Act (1660), regarding ship- 
 
 ping and "enumerated" colonial exports, with 
 note from the Act of 1662 explaining that "Eng- 
 lish" ships include colonial ; from Statutes of the 
 Realm 300 
 
 b. The Navigation Act of 1663 (regarding colonial im- 
 
 ports) ; lb 301 
 
 c. The Sugar Act of 1733 ; ib 303 
 
 101. The Duke of York's charter for New York (1664) ; from 
 
 O'Callaghan's Documents relative to Colonial History of 
 New York 305 
 
 102. Penn's grant of Pennsylvania (1680) ; from the Charters and 
 
 Laws of Pennsylvania ....... 307 
 
 103. Penn's grants to the Pennsylvanians : 
 
 a. "Laws agreed upon in England" (1683); fi-om 
 
 YlnzBxdi's Annals of Pennsylvania . . . 311 
 
 b. The "Charter of Privileges" of 1701 ; from Votes 
 
 and Proceedings of the House of Representatives 
 
 of Pennsylvania ....... 314 
 
 104. Berkeley's Report on Virginia in 1671 ; from Hening's Statutes 319 
 
 105. The franchise in Virginia restricted (the Act of 1670) ; ib. . 324 
 
 106. "Bacon's Laws" (the legislation' of the revolutionary Assem- 
 
 bly of 1676) ;ib 325 
 
 107. The proclamation of July, 1676, by Nathaniel Bacon, "Gen- 
 
 erall by Consent of the People" ; from the Massachusetts 
 Historical Society Collections 3"28 
 
 108. Testimony by various county courts showing that democratic 
 
 political discontent was a chief cause of Bacon's Rebel- 
 lion ; tvom the Virr/inia Magazine of History . . . 329 
 
Xvi TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 NUMBER PAGE 
 
 109. The abolition of Bacon's reforms : 
 
 a. The royal order ; from Hening's Statutes at Large . 330 
 
 b. The repeal of "Bacon's Laws" by the Assembly of 
 
 1677 ; lb 331 
 
 110. Self-government in Massachusetts restricted : 
 
 a. Randolph's report to the Lords of Trade ; from 
 
 Hutchinson's Original Papers .... 331 
 
 6. The Massachusetts charter of 1691 ; from Acts and 
 
 Besolves of the Province of Massachusetts Bay . 333 
 
 111. Attempts by England at closer control : 
 
 a. Recommendation of the Board of Trade (1701) that 
 all charter colonies be transformed into royal prov- 
 inces by act of parliament ; from the North Caro- 
 lina Colonial Records 339 
 
 6. The feeling of the colonists (extracts from a pam- 
 phlet by John Wise, minister of Ipswich) . . 342 
 
 c. The action of a Boston town meeting relative to a 
 
 proposed permanent salary for the colonial Gov- 
 ernor ; from the Boston Town Becords . . 343 
 
 d. Connecticut's refusal to obey a royal officer commis- 
 
 sioned to command her militia (a private letter of 
 Governor Fletcher, describing his repulse) ; from 
 the New York Colonial Documents . . . 347 
 
 112. The commission of a royal governor (from George III to Ben- 
 
 ning Wentworth) ; from the New Hampshire Provincial 
 Papers 349 
 
 113. Freedom of speech vindicated : the trial of John Peter Zenger 
 
 for criticising the governor of New York ; from Zenger's 
 Brief Narrative of the Case and Tryall .... 352 
 
 114. Franklin's "Albany Plan" for the union of the colonies un- 
 
 der the crown : 
 a. An account of the motives for the proposal; from 
 
 Fratiklin'' s Works ....... 358 
 
 6. The document ; from New York Colonial Documents 359 
 
 XX. Harsh Phases of Colonial Life 
 
 115. Legal punishments in Virginia : " pillory and ducking stoole " 
 
 in 1662-1748 ; from Hening's Statutes at Large . . 364 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS xvii 
 
 NUiMBEK PAGE 
 
 116. White "servants" (indentured and others) in 1774; from 
 
 "Eddes^ Letters from America ...... 364 
 
 117. Advertisements for runaway servants; newspaper extracts for 
 
 the years 1770-1771, from the New Jersey Archives . . 366 
 
 D. THE REVOLUTION 
 
 XXI. Preliminary Period — 101774 
 
 118. The Sugar Act of 1764 ; from the Statutes of the Bealm . . 369 
 
 119. The Stamp Act of 1765 ; ib 373 
 
 120. Reception of the Stamp Act in America : 
 
 a. Patrick Henry's Resolutions ; from the Journals of 
 
 the House of Burgesses of Virginia . . . 374 
 
 b. A Virginia County Association against the Act; ib. 375 
 
 c. The stamp distributor for Virginia persuaded to re- 
 
 sign (the letter from Governor Fauquier to the 
 Lords of Trade) ; ib 377 
 
 d. Threat of violence against any who should use 
 
 stamped paper ; a notice in the New York Gazette 
 of February 27, 1766 ; reproduced in the New Jer- 
 sey Archives 380 
 
 121. Origin of the Virginia non-importation agreement : 
 
 a. Protest of the Burgesses against the proposal of the 
 
 English government to send Americans to England 
 for trial (May 16, 1769) ; from the Journals of the 
 House of Burgesses 380 
 
 b. The "association" of the ex-Burgesses (May 18, 
 
 1769); ib 383 
 
 122. The origin of the Massachusetts to\vii-committees of corre- 
 
 spondence ; from, the Boston Town Becords . . . 387 
 
 123. The creation of Intercolonial Committees of Correspondence : 
 
 a. Jefferson's later account ; from Jefferson's Writings 390 
 
 b. The action of the Virginia House of Burgesses ; from 
 
 the Journals 391 
 
 c. Letters from other colonies received by the Virginia 
 
 Committee, approving the recommendation ; ib. . 392 
 
 124. Intimidation of the owners of tea ships (a Philadelphia hand- 
 
 bill by "The Committee for Tarring and Feathering") ; 
 from Scharf and Westcott's History of Bhiladelphia . 394 
 
xviii TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 XXII. The Rise of Revolutionary Governments 
 
 KirMBER PA6E 
 
 125. The Virginia Bui'gesses suggest an annual Congress (1774) : 
 
 a. Extract from a letter by a member of the Assembly ; 
 
 from Force's American Archives .... 396 
 
 b. Jefferson's account of the plan for declaring a day of 
 
 prayer and fasting, on receipt by the Burgesses of 
 the news of the Boston Port Bill ; from Jeffers(ni''s 
 Works 397 
 
 c. Resolution of the Burgesses appointing June 1, 1774, 
 
 a day of prayer and fasting ; from the Journals . 398 
 
 d. The consequent dissolution of the Assembly by the 
 
 Governor; ib. 399 
 
 e. The ex-Burgesses suggest an annual Continental Con- 
 
 gress; ib 399 
 
 /. Letters from the Virginia Committee of Correspond- 
 ence to the other colonies, conveying Virginia's 
 suggestion for an annual Congress ; ib. . . 401 
 g. The answer of Rhode Island to Virginia, with the 
 appointment of delegates to the proposed Con- 
 gress ; ib 403 
 
 126. A "call" for the Continental Congress from the Massachu- 
 
 setts Assembly (June 17) 405 
 
 127. A Vii'ginia county (Frederick) suggests a Continental Con- 
 
 gress and a " General Association " of the colonies (June 
 
 8) ; from Force's American Archives .... 406 
 
 128. Virginia issues tlie first call for a provincial convention (to 
 
 elect delegates to the Continental Congress) ; ib. : 
 
 a. Suggestion from the ex-Burgesses, May 30, 1774 . 407 
 
 b. Sample notice of the call by an ex-Burgess to his 
 
 county (a letter from Thomas Mason of June 16) 408 
 
 c. Typical call (June 27) by a county committee for a 
 
 county meeting (Norfolk) to instruct delegates to 
 
 the coming provincial convention .... 409 
 
 129. Typical Instructions by Virginia county meetings : 
 
 a. Westmoreland County 410 
 
 b. George Washington's county (Fairfax) . . . 412 
 
 c. Nansemond County 416 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS xix 
 
 d. York County 417 
 
 e. Middlesex County (disapproval of the Boston Tea 
 
 Party) 417 
 
 130. The First Continental Congress : 
 
 a. The decision upon how the. colonies should vote ; 
 
 from John Adams' "Diary" in his Works . . 418 
 
 b. Adams' impressions of the meeting at its close ; ib. 420 
 
 c. The Declaration of Rights; from Ford's Journals of 
 
 the Continental Congress 421 
 
 d. The Act of Association ; ib 427 
 
 131. Typical resolutions by a Virginia county (Prince William) 
 
 approving the Association of the Continental Congress; 
 from Force's American Archives 432 
 
 132. Virginia county conventions become de facto governments 
 
 (typical action by Fairfax County, organizing a Revolu- 
 tionary militia (January 17, 1775) ; ib 433 
 
 133. The Virginia Provincial Convention becomes a government : 
 
 a., Cumberland County instructs delegates for prepara- 
 tion for war ; ib. . . . . . . . 436 
 
 b. The Second Virginia Convention arms and taxes the 
 
 colony; ib 436 
 
 c. The Third Convention (June, 1775) assumes the 
 
 forms of a government; from Virginia Calendar 
 
 of State Papers 442 
 
 XXIII. Independence 
 
 134. Charlotte County, Virginia, instructs delegates (April 23, 
 
 1776) to the coming Fourth Virginia Convention to favor 
 independence and an independent State constitution ; 
 Force's American Archives 443 
 
 135. The Virginia Convention, May 15, instructs for independence 
 
 and adopts resolutions for a bill of rights and a constitu- 
 tion ; ib 445 
 
 136. The Virginia Bill of Rights ; from Pooi'e's Charters and Con- 
 
 stitutions ... 446 
 
 137. Virginia's Declaration of Independence, June 29, 1776; from 
 
 Jefferson'' s Writings 450 
 
XX TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 numukr paok 
 
 138. Revolutionary State Governmouts : 
 
 a. The recoinmeiulatiou of Congress of May 15, 1770; 
 
 from Ford's Journals of Congresa . . . 452 
 
 b. John Adams' coninient; from John Adams' Letters 
 
 to Abigail Adams 453 
 
 130. The Maryland Convention instructs its delegates in Congress 
 against independence; from Proceediuiis of the Coneen- 
 tions of Maryland 454 
 
 140. Lee's motion for Independence in Congress; from Ford's 
 
 Journals 458 
 
 141. The Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1770; from Ford's 
 
 Journals of i'oiujress ....... 450 
 
 142. Anti-social tendencies of pre-Revolutionary measures : 
 
 a. The effect of closing the courts (Adams' account of his 
 welcome by his horse-jockey client) ; from John 
 
 Adams' Works 403 
 
 . b. A Tory's protest against, mob violence, in a parody 
 on Hamlet's soliloquy ; from Moore's Dianj of the 
 Ameriean J{ecolution ...... 404 
 
 c. Correspondence between a Tory and a Commit- 
 
 tee, showing how the Tory was induced to sign 
 a recantation ; from Niles' Prineiples and Aets of 
 the lierolution 404 
 
 143. An oath of allegiance to a new State (Pennsylvania) : a fac- 
 
 simile, from Scharf and Westcott's Histoi'ij of Philadelphia 400 
 
 144. A Loyalist's pretended "diary" of the year 1780 (written 
 
 in 1778), to show the danger of French conquest; from 
 Idler's Literary History of the Ameriean Perolution . 407 
 
 145. A statement of how the Revolution set free social forces ; from 
 
 David Ramsey's .ffjstorj/ (>/?/it' ^4»i('nf«« Bevolution . 408 
 
 E. CONFEDERATION AND CONSTITUTION 
 
 XXIV. The Articles of Confederation 
 
 140. Debates in the Congress on the Articles ; from John Adams' 
 
 Works 470 
 
 147. The Articles; ivom t\w Bevised Statutes of the United States . 475 
 
TABLJ] OF CONTENTS Xxi 
 
 XXV. The National Domain 
 
 NlTMIlKIt PAOK 
 
 148. Tlio desire for StatehoDcl in the West, and Western self-confi- 
 dence ; a statement by a convention of tlie proposed State 
 
 of Frankland 485 
 
 140. Organization of the Western Territory by Congress : 
 
 «. The Ordinance of 1784; from the Journals of Con- 
 gress 486 
 
 h. The Northwest Ordinance (1787) ; ih. . . .488 
 
 XXVI. Drifting toward Anarchy 
 
 150. Gouverneur Morris to John Jay, on the prospect of a military 
 
 dictator ; from Sparks' Life and Works of Oouvcrneur 
 Morris 497 
 
 151. Shays' Rebellion : 
 
 a. A statement of grievances by Hampshire County ; 
 
 from Minot's History of the Insurrection in Mas- 
 sachusetts 497 
 
 b. Washington's alarm ; letters to Henry Lee and to 
 
 Madison ; from Washington'' s Writings . . 500 
 
 152. A shrewd foreigner's view of the social conflict over the adop- 
 
 tion of a new Constitution (Otto's letter to Vergennes, on 
 the failure of the Annapolis Convention) ; from the Ap- 
 •pendix to BancrofVs History of the Constitution . . 502 
 
 XXVII. Making the Constitution 
 
 153. The call issued by the Annapolis Convention for a Federal 
 
 Convention ; from the Documentary History of the Con- 
 stitution 506 
 
 154. Typical credentials of delegates to the Federal Convention (the 
 
 Georgia credentials) ; from Farrand's liecords of the Fed- 
 eral Convention 510 
 
 155. George Mason's account of the preliminaries at Philadelphia 
 
 (a letter to George Mason, Jr., May 20, 1787) ; ib. . . 612 
 
 156. The " Virginia rian " ; ib 514 
 
 157. George Mason on aristocratic and democratic forces in the 
 
 Convention at its opening (letter to George Mason, Jr., 
 
 June I) ; ib 517 
 
 168. The " New Jersey Plan " ; ib 518 
 
xxii TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 NUMBER TAGB 
 
 169. Hamilton's plan ; from /fa»ii7(o?j's Works .... 521 
 
 160. Character sketches of men of the Convention, by William 
 
 Pierce, a delegate from Georgia; from Farrand's Becords 
 
 of the Federal Convention 522 
 
 161. One day in the Convention, — the critical day's debate on the 
 
 Connecticut Compromise ; ib 532 
 
 XXVIII. Ratifying the Constitution 
 
 162. George Mason's objections to the Constitution ; from Kate 
 
 Mason Rowland's Life of George 3Iaso7i .... 543 
 
 163. Mason's explanation of the preparation of his " Objections " ; 
 
 from Farrand's Secoi-ds of the Federal Convention . . 5-46 
 
 164. A Federalist account of how John Hancock was induced finally 
 
 to support the Constitution in the Massachusetts ratifying 
 convention ; by Stephen Higginson, in Writings of Laco . 547 
 
 165. The Federal Constitution 551 
 
 Index of Sources 576 
 
 Subject Index ........... 680 
 
A SOURCE BOOK IN AMERICAN 
 HISTORY 
 
 I. ENGLAND IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 
 
 1. Classes of Englishmen 
 
 William Harrison, in Holinshed's Chronicle (1577). Cf. No. 75 on like 
 social divisions in early New England ; and see American History and 
 Government, § 65. 
 
 We in England divide our people commonlie into foure 
 sorts, as gentlemen, citizens or burgesses, yeomen, ... or 
 [and] laborers. Of gentlemen the first and cheefe (next the 
 king) be the prince, dukes, marquesses, earls, viscounts; and 
 barons : and these are called gentlemen of the greater sort, or 
 (as our common usage of speech is) lords and noblemen : and 
 next unto them be knights, esquiers, and last of all they that 
 are simplie called gentlemen, . . . Who soever studieth the 
 lawes of the realme, who so abideth in the universitie giving 
 his mind to his booke, or professeth physicke and the liberall 
 sciences, or beside his service in the roome of a capteine in the 
 warres, or good counsell given at home, whereby his common- 
 wealth is benefited, can live without manuell labour, and 
 thereto is able and will beare the port, charge, and countenance 
 of a gentleman, he shall for monie have a cote and armes 
 bestowed upon him by heralds (who in the charter of the same 
 doo of custome pretend antiquitie and service, and manie gaie 
 things) and, thereunto being made so good cheape, be called 
 master, which is the title that men give to esquiers and gentle- 
 men, and reputed for a gentleman ever after. . . . 
 
 1 * 
 
2 ENGLAND IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 
 
 . . . our merchants [are] to be installed, as amongst the 
 citizens (although they often change estate with gentlemen, as 
 gentlemen doo with them, by a mutuall conversion of the one 
 into the other). . . . 
 
 Yeomen are . . . free men, borne English, and [who] may 
 dispend of their owne free land in yearelie revenue, to the 
 summe of f ortie shillings sterling, or six pounds as monie goeth 
 in our times. . . . This sort of people have a certeine pre- 
 heminence, and more estimation than labourers and the com- 
 mon sort of artificers, and commonlie live wealthilie, keepe 
 good houses, and travell to get riches. They are also for the 
 most part farmers to gentlemen ... or at the leastwise arti- 
 ficers, and with grasing, frequenting of markets, and keeping 
 of servants (not idle servants as the gentlemen doo, but such as 
 get both their owne and part of their master's living) do come 
 to great welth, in somuch that manie of them are able and doo 
 buie the lands of unthriftie gentlemen, and often setting their 
 sonnes to the schooles, to the universities, and to the Ins of 
 the court, or otherwise leaving them sufficient lands whereupon 
 thej^may live without labour, doo make them by those means 
 to become gentlemen. These ivere they that in times j^ast made 
 all France afraid. . . . 
 
 The fourth and last sort of people in England are daie 
 labourers, poore husbandmen, and some retailers (which have 
 no free land) copie holders, and all artificers, — as tailers, 
 shomakers, carpenters, brickmakers, masons, etc. As for 
 slaves and bondmen we have none, naie such is the privilege 
 of our countrie by the especiall grace of God, and bountie of 
 our princes, that if anie come hither from other realms, so 
 soone as they set foot on land they become so free of condition 
 as their masters. . . . This fourth and last sort of people 
 therefoT'e have neither voice nor authoritie in the common 
 wealth, but are to be ruled, and not to rule other ; yet they 
 are not altogither neglected, for in cities and corporat townes, 
 for default of yeomen they are faine to make up their inquests 
 [juries] of such maner of people. And in villages they are 
 
CLASSES OF ENGLISHMEN 3 
 
 comnionlie made churchwardens, sidemen, aleconuers, now and 
 then constables, and manie times injoie the name of hed- 
 boroughes. Unto this sort also may our great swarmes of idle 
 serving men be referred, of wliome there runneth a proverbe ; 
 * Young serving men, old beggers,' bicause service is none 
 heritage. ... 
 
A. SOUTHERN COLONIES TO 1660 
 
 II. MOTIVES FOR EARLY ENGLISH COLONI- 
 ZATION 
 
 2. From Sir George Peckham's " True Report " 
 
 Richard Hakluyt's Voyages . . . and Discoveries (1589), III, 167 ff. 
 Peckham was a partner in Gilbert's enterprise. His Beport, a con- 
 siderable pamphlet, was written in 1582. 
 
 ... To conclude, since by Christian dutie we stand bound 
 chiefly to further all such acts as do tend to the encreasing the 
 true flock of Christ by reducing into the right way those lost 
 sheepe which are yet astray : And that we shall therein follow 
 the example of our right vertuous predecessors of renowned 
 memorie, and leave unto our posteritie a divine memoriall of so 
 godly an enterprise : Let us, I say, for the considerations al- 
 ledged, enter into judgement with our selves, whether this 
 action may belong to us or no. . . . Then shal her Majesties 
 dominions be enlarged, her highnesse ancient titles justly con- 
 firmed, all odious idlenesse from this our Realme utterly 
 banished, divers decayed townes repaired, and many poor and 
 needy persons relieved, and estates of such as now live in 
 want shail be embettered, the ignorant and barbarous idolaters 
 taught to know Christ, the innocent defended from their bloodie 
 tyrannical neighbours, the diabolicall custome of sacrificing 
 humane creatures abolished. ... 
 
 3. A Discourse on Western Planting by Richard Hakluyt, 1584 
 
 Maine Historical Society Collections, Second Series, II (1877). 
 
 This pamphlet was written by Hakluyt, an English clergyman and an 
 ardent advocate of American colonization, at Raleigh's request, to influ- 
 ence Queen Elizabeth. It fills 107 pages of the volume of the Maine col- 
 lections. 
 
 4 
 
A DISCOURSE ON WESTERN PLANTING 5 
 
 Chapter I. That this Westerne discoverie will be greately 
 for thinlargemente of the gospell of Christe, whereunto the princes 
 of the Refourmed Relligion are chefely bounde, amongeste whome 
 her Majestie ys principall. 
 
 Nowe the meanes to sende suche as shall labour effectually 
 in this busines ys, by plantinge one or tuoo colonies of our 
 nation upon that fyrnie, where they may remaine in safetie, 
 and firste learne the language of the people nere adjoyninge 
 (the gifte of tongues beinge nowe taken awaye), and by little 
 and little acquainte themselves with their manner, and so with 
 discretion and myldeness distill into their purged myndes 
 the swete and lively liquor of the gospel. Otherwise for 
 preachers to come unto them rashly with oute some suche 
 preparation for their safetie, yt were nothinge els but to 
 ronne to their apparaunte and certaine destruction, as yt hap- 
 pened unto those Spanishe ffryers, that, before any plantinge, 
 withoute strengthe and company, landed in Fflorida, where 
 they were miserablye massacred by the savages. 
 
 Now yf they [Romanists], in their superstition, by means of 
 their plantinge in those partes, have don so greate thinges in 
 so shorte space, what may wee hope for in our true and syncere 
 relligion, proposmg^e unto otirselves in this action not filthie lucre 
 nor vaine ostentation, as they in deede did, but principally the 
 gayninge of the soules of millions of those wretched people, the 
 reducinge of them from darkenes to lighte, from falsehoodde 
 to truthe, from dombe idolls to the lyvinge God, from the depe 
 pitt of hell to the highest heavens. 
 
 And this enterprise the princes of the relligion (amonge 
 whome her Majestie ys principall) oughte the rather to take in 
 hande, because the papistes confirme themselves and drawe 
 
6 MOTIVES FOR EARLY ENGLISH COLONIZATION 
 
 other to theire side, shewinge that they are the true CathoUcke 
 churche because they have bene the onely converters of many 
 millions of infidells to Christianttie. Yea, I myselfe have 
 bene demannded of them, how many infidells have been by us 
 converted ? . . . Yet in very deede I was not able to name 
 any one infidell by them converted. But God, quoth I, hath 
 his tyme for all men, whoe calleth some at the nynthe, and 
 some at the eleventh houer. And if it please him to move the 
 harte of her Majestic to put her helpinge hande to this godly 
 action, she shall finde as willinge subjectes of all sortes as any 
 other prince in all Christendome. 
 
 Chapter V. That this voyadge loill be a greate bridle to the 
 Indies of the Kinge of Spaine . . . 
 
 But the plantinge of tuoo or three stronge fortes upon some 
 goodd havens (whereof there is greate store) betwene Florida 
 and Cape Briton, woulde be a matter in shorte space of greater 
 domage as well to his flete as to his westerne Indies ; for wee 
 shoulde not onely often tymes indannger his flete in the returne 
 thereof, but also in fewe yeres put him in hazarde in loosinge 
 some parte of Nova Hispania. 
 
 Nowe if wee (beinge thereto provoked by Spanishe injuries)^ 
 woulde either joyne with these savages, or sende or give them 
 armor, as the Spaniardes arme our Irishe rebells, wee shoulde 
 trouble the Kinge of Spaine more in those partes, than he hath 
 or can trouble us in Ireland, and holde him at suche a bay as 
 he was never yet helde at.'^ 
 
 1 Sir Philip Sydney urged his countrymen " to check the dangerous and 
 increasing power of Spain and Rome in the New World by planting English 
 protestant settlements there, which will increase until they extend from 
 ocean to ocean." (Brown, First Republic, 1, 2.) 
 
GOODSPEED TO VIRGINIA, 1609 7 
 
 4. Drayton's Ode to the Virginian Voyage 
 
 This poem was written by Michael Drayton in 1606, in honor of the 
 proposed Virginian voyage that founded Jamestown. The complete Ode 
 contains twelve stanzas, as printed in Drayton's Poems in 1619. It is 
 reprinted in full in Bi'own's Genesis of the United States, I, 86-87. 
 
 ***** 
 
 You brave heroique minds, 
 
 Worthy your countries name, 
 
 That honour still pursue, 
 
 Goe, and subdue, 
 
 Whilst loyt'ring hinds 
 
 Lurk here at home with shame. 
 ***** 
 
 And cheerefully at sea, 
 
 Successe you still intice, 
 
 To get the pearle and gold, 
 
 And ours to hold, 
 
 Virginia, 
 
 Earth's only Paradise. 
 * * * * . * 
 
 And in regions farre, 
 
 Such heroes bring yee forth 
 
 As those from whom we came ; 
 
 And plant our name 
 
 Under that starre 
 
 Not knowne unto our north. 
 
 5. Goodspeed to Virginia, 1609 
 
 This pamphlet (by Robert Gray) contains about 9000 words. It was 
 never printed. Extracts are given in Brown's Genesis of the United 
 States, 293 ff. It was written to encourage the reorganization of the 
 Virginia Company in 1609. (Cf. American History and Government, 
 §25.) The first of the extracts below comes from the "Epistle 
 Dedicatory." 
 
 To the Right Noble and Honorable Earles, Barons, and Lords, 
 and to the Right Worship/all Knights, Merchants, and Gentlemen, 
 
8 MOTIVES FOR EARLY ENGLISH COLONIZATION 
 
 Adventurers for the plantation of Virginea, all happie and pros- 
 perous successe, ivliich may either augment your glorie, or increase 
 your ivealth, or purchase your eternitie. 
 
 Time . . . consumes both man and his memorie. It is not 
 brasse nor marble that can perpetuate immortalitie of name 
 upon the earth. [But] A right sure foundation . . . have 
 you (My Lords and the rest of the most Worthie Adventurers 
 for Virginia) laid for the immortalitie of your names and 
 memorie, which, for the advancement of Gods glorie, the re- 
 nowne of his Majestie, and the good of your Countrie, have 
 undertaken so honourable a project, as all posterities shall 
 blesse : and Uphold your names and memories so long as the 
 Sunne and Moone endureth : Whereas they which preferre 
 their money before vertue, their pleasure before honour, and 
 their sensuall securitie before heroicall adventures, shall 
 perish with their money, die with their pleasures, and be buried 
 in everlasting forgetfulnes. . . . 
 
 And therefore we may justly say, as the children of Israel 
 say here to Joshua, we are a great people, and the lande is too 
 narrow for us ; so that whatsoever we have beene, now it be- 
 hooves us to be both prudent and politicke, and not to deride 
 and reject good powers of profitable and gainefull expectation ; 
 bi;t rather to embrace every occasion which hath any probabil- 
 itie in its future hopes : And seeing there is neither preferment 
 nor employment for all within the lists of our Countrey, we 
 might justly be accounted as in former times, both imprudent 
 and improvident, if we will yet sit with our amies foulded on 
 our bosomes, and not rather seeke after such adventers where- 
 by the Glory of God may be advanced, the teritories of our 
 Kingdome inlarged, our people both preferred and employed 
 abroad, our wants supplyed at home. His Majesties customes 
 wonderfully augmented, and the honour and renown of our 
 Nation spread and propagated to the ends of the World. . . . 
 
 The report goeth, that in Virginia the people are savage and 
 incredibly rude, they worship the divell, offer their young 
 children in sacrifice unto him, wander up and downe like beasts, 
 
GOODSPEED TO VIRGINIA, 1609 9 
 
 and in manners and conditions, differ very little from beasts, 
 having no Art, nor science, nor trade, to implcy themselves, or 
 give themselves unto, yet by natnre loving and gentle, and 
 desirous to imbrace a better condition. Oh how happy were 
 that man which could reduce this people from brutishness to 
 civilitie, to religion, to Christianitie, to the saving of their 
 souls. . . . 
 
 Farre be it from the hearts of the English, they should give 
 any cause to the world to say that they sought the wealth of 
 that Countrie above or before the glorie of God, and the propa- 
 gation of his Kingdome. 
 
 Their second objection is [the argument of opponents of 
 colonization] that this age will see no profit of this plantation. 
 Which objection admit it were true, yet it is too brutish, and 
 bewraies their neglect and incurious respect of posteritie : we 
 are not borne like beasts for ourselves, and the time present 
 only. . . . What benefit or comfort should we have enjoyed in 
 things of this world, if ovir forefatliers had not provided better 
 for us, and bin more carefully respective of posteritie than for 
 themselves ? We sow, we set, we build, not so much for our- 
 selves as for posteritie ; . . . They which onely are for them- 
 selves, shall die in themselves, and shall not have a name 
 among posterity ; their rootes shall be dried vip beneath, and 
 above shall their branches bee cut down, their remembrance 
 shall perish from the earth, and they shall have no name in 
 the street. Job xviii ; 16, 17. 
 
 Others object to the continuall charges [assessments] which 
 will prove in their opinion very heavie and burdensome to 
 those that shall undertake the said Plantation. These like 
 the dog in the manger, neither eate hay themselves, neither 
 will they suffer the Oxe that would. They never think any 
 charge too much that may any way increase their owne private 
 estate. They have thousands to bestow about the ingrossing 
 of a commoditie, or upon a morgage, or to take their neighbors 
 house over his head, or to lend upon usurie ; but if it come to 
 a publicke good, they grone under the least burden of charges 
 
10 MOTIVES FOR EARLY ENGLISH COLONIZATION 
 
 that can bee required of them. These men should be used like 
 sponges; they must he squeased, seeing they drink up all, and will 
 yeeld to nothing, though it concerne the connnon good never 
 so greatly. But it is demonstratively prooved in Nova Bri- 
 tannia, that the charges about this Plantation will be nothing, 
 in comparison of the benefit that will grow thereof. And 
 what notable thing I pray j^ou can be brought to passe without 
 charges ? . . . Without question, he that saves his money, where 
 Gods glory is to be advanced, Christian religion propagated 
 and planted, the good of the commonwealth increased, and the 
 glorious reuowne 'of the King inlarged is subject to the curse 
 of Simon Magus, his money and he are in danger to perish together. 
 Let none therefore find delaies, or faine excuses to withhold 
 them from this imployment for Virginia, seeing every opposition 
 against it is an opposition against God, the King, the Church, 
 and the Commonwealth. . . . 
 
 6. Nova Britannia, 1609 
 
 Peter Force's Historical Tractt!, I (Washington, 1836). 
 This tract of some 12,000 words (equivalent to thirty-five pages of this 
 volume) was written in 1009 for the same purpose as No. 5 above. 
 
 So I wish and intreat all well affected subjects, some in their 
 persons, others in their purses, cheerefully to adventure, and 
 joyntly take in hand this high and acceptable worke, tending 
 to advance and spread thekingdome of God, and the knowledge 
 of the trutli, among so many millions of men and women, 
 Savage and blind, that never yet saw the true light shine be- 
 fore their eyes ... as also for the honor of our King, and 
 enlarging of his kingdome, and for pi-eservation and defence of 
 that small number our friends and countrinien already planted, 
 least for want of more supplies we become a scorne to the 
 world, subjecting our former adventures to appai'ent spoile and 
 hazard, and our people (as a prey) to be sackt and puld out of 
 possession, as were the French out of Nova Francia, not many 
 yeares ago ; and, which /n the lest and last respect (yet usuallie 
 
NOVA BRITANNIA, 1609 11 
 
 preferred), for the singular good and benefite that will un- 
 doubtedly arise to this whole nation, and to everie one of us in 
 particular, that will adventure therein. 
 
 It is knowne to the world [reference to attempts of Raleigh 
 and Gilbert] how the present generation, scorning to sit 
 downe by their losses, made newe attempts, not induring to 
 looke on whilst so huge and spacious countries (the fourth 
 part of the world) and the greatest and wealthiest part of all 
 the rest, should remain a wilderness, subject (for the most 
 part) but to wild beasts and fowles of the ay re, and to savage 
 people, which have no Christian nor civill use of any thing; 
 and that the subjects onely of one Prince Christian [Spaniards], 
 which but within the memorie of man began first to creepe 
 upon the face of those Territories, and now by meanes of their 
 remnants settled here and there, do therefore imagine the 
 world to be theirs, shouldring out all other nations, accounting 
 themselves Kings and Commanders, not onely in townes and 
 places where they have planted, but over all other partes of 
 America, which containe sundrie vast and barbarous Regions, 
 many of which (to this day) they never knew, nor did ever 
 setle foote therein : which notwithstanding, if it were yeelded 
 them as due, yet their strength and meanes, farre iuferiour to 
 their aspires, will never stretch to compasse . . . the hundredth 
 part. 
 
 But seeing we so passed by their dwellings, that in seating 
 ourselves, wee sought not to unsettle them, but by Gods mercy, 
 after many stormes, were brought to the Coast of another 
 • countrie, farre distant and remote from their habitations : why 
 should any frowne or envie at it ; or if they doe, why should 
 wee (neglecting so faire an opportunitie) faint or feare to en- 
 large our selves? Where is our force and auncient vigour? 
 Doth our late reputation sleepe in the dust ? No, no, let not 
 the world deceive it selfe ; we still remaine the same, and upon 
 just occasion given, we shall quickly shew it too : 
 
 . . . But wee must beware that . . . that bitter root of 
 greedy gaine be not so settled in our harts, that beeing in a 
 
12 MOTIVES FOR EARLY ENGLISH COLOXIZATIOX 
 
 golden dreame. if it fall not out presently to our expectation, 
 we slinke away with discontent, and draw our purses from the 
 charge. If any shew this affection, I would wish his baseness 
 of minde to be noted. What must be our direction then ? Xo 
 more but this : if thou dost once approve the worke, lay thy 
 hand to it cheerfully, and withdraw it not till thy taske bee 
 done. In all assayes and new supplies of money be not lagge, 
 nor like a dull horse thats alwaies in the lash ; for heere lies 
 the poison of all good attempts, when as men without hailing 
 and pulling, will not be drawne to performance, for by this, 
 others are discouraged, the action lies undone, and the first 
 expence is lost : But are wee to looke for no gaine in the lewe 
 of all adventures ? Yes undoubtedly, there is assured hope of 
 gaine, as I will shew anon in due place; but look it be not 
 chiefe in your thoughts. God, that hath said by Solomon : Cast 
 thy bread upon the tvaters, and after many daies thou shaltjind 
 it : he will give the blessing. 
 
 ... Two things are especially required herein, people to 
 make the plantation, and money to furnish our present pro- 
 visions and shippings now in hand : For the first, wee neede . 
 not doubt, our land abounding with swarmes of idle persons, 
 which having no meanes of labour to releeve their misery, doe 
 likewise swarme in lewd and naughtie practises, so that if we 
 seeke not some waies for their forreine employment, wee must 
 provide shortly more prisons and corrections for their bad 
 conditions, for it fares with populous common weales as with 
 plants and trees that bee too frolicke, which not able to sus- 
 taine and feede their multitude of branches, doe admit an- 
 engrafting of their buds and sciences into some other soile, 
 accounting it a beuefite for preservation of their kind, and a 
 disburdening their stocke of those superfluous twigs that suck 
 away their nourishment. 
 
 7. Statement of the Virginia Company. 1609 
 
 Brown's Genesis of the United States, I, 377 ff. This is one of the 
 pamphlets put forth by the Company to stimulate stock subscription and 
 
STATEMENT OF THE VIRGINIA COMPANY, 1609 13 
 
 emigration. As to the motives set forth in it, and in Nos. 2-6 above, cf. 
 American History and Government^ § 17. 
 
 A True and Sincere Declaration of the Purposes and Ends of 
 the Plantation in Virginia. By xiuthority of the Governor and 
 Councillors, December IJf, 1609} 
 
 ... If all these be yet too weake to confirm the doubtfull, 
 or awake the drousie, then let iis come nearer, and arise from 
 their reasons and affections to their soules and consciences : 
 remember that what was at first but of conveniency, and for 
 Honour is now become a case of necessity and piety : let them 
 consider, that they have promised to adventure and not per- 
 formed it; that they have encouraged and exposed many of 
 Honorable birth, and which is of more consequence 600 of our 
 Bretheren by our common mother the Church, Christians of one 
 Faith and one Baptisme, to a miserable and inevitable death. 
 Let not any man flatter himself, that it concernes not him, for 
 he that forsakes whome he may safely releeve, is as guilty of 
 his death as he that can swim, and forsakes himself by refus- 
 ing, is of his owne. Let every man look inward, and disperse 
 that cloud of avarice, which darkeneth his spiritual sight and 
 he will finde there that when he shall appeare before the 
 Tribunall of Heaven, it shall be questioned him what he hath 
 done ? Hath he fed and clothed the hungry and naked ? It 
 shall be required, what he hath done for the advancement of 
 that Gospell which hath saved him ; and for the releefe of his 
 makers Image, whome he was bound to save : let there be a 
 vertuous emulation betweene us and the Church of Rome, in 
 her owne Glory, and Treasury of Good Workes! And let us 
 turn all our contentions upon the common enemy of the Name 
 of Christ. How farre hath she sent out her Aj)ostles and 
 thorough how glorious dangers? How is it become a marke of 
 Honor to her Faith, to have converted Nations, and an obloquie 
 cast upon us, that we, having the better Vine, should have 
 worse dressers and husbanders of it ? . . . 
 
 1 Nos. 5-7 are taken from the voluminous literature of like character in one 
 year, in order to make more vivid the amount available. 
 
14 MOTIVES FOR EARLY ENGLISH COLOXIZATIOX 
 
 AppE^■^IX. — To render a more particular satisfaction and 
 account. . . . And to avoyde both the scandall and peril of 
 accepting idle and wicked persons; such as shame or fear 
 compels into this action (and such as are the "weedes and rank- 
 nesse of this laud ; who, being the surfet of an able, healthy, 
 and composed body must needes be the poison of one so tender, 
 feeble, and as yet unformed) ; And to divulge and declare to 
 all men, what kinde of persons, as well for their religion and 
 conversations, as Faculties, Arts and Trades, we propose to 
 accept of: — We have thought it convenient to pronounce that 
 for the first provision, we will receive no man that cannot 
 bring or render some good testimony of his religion to God, 
 and civil manners and behaviour to his neighbor with whom 
 he hath lived ; And for the second, we have set downs in a 
 Table annexed, the proportion, and number we will eutertaine 
 in every necessary Arte, upon proofe and assurance that every 
 man shall be able to performs that which he doth undertake, 
 whereby such as are requisite to ns may have knowledge and 
 preparation to offer themselves. And we shall be ready to 
 give honest entertainment and content, and to recompence 
 with extraordinary reward, every fit and industrious person 
 respectively to his Paines and qualitf/. 
 
 The Table of such as are required to This Plantation. 
 
 10. 
 
 Foure honest and learned 2. Salt-uial 
 
 Lei-s. 
 
 Ministers. 
 
 6. Coopers. 
 
 
 Surgeons. 
 
 2. CoUer.'makers for draught. 
 
 Druggists. 
 
 2. Plow-wrights. 
 
 Iron men for the Furnace and 4. Rope-makers. 
 
 Hammer. 
 
 6. Vine-dressers. 
 
 Armorers. 2. 
 
 Presse-makers. 
 
 2. Gun-Founders. 
 
 Joyneis. 6. 
 
 Blacksmiths. 
 
 10. Sawyers. 
 
 Sope-ashe men. 6. 
 
 Carpenters. 
 
 4. Pitch Boylers. 
 
 Ship-wrights. 2. 
 
 Minerall men. 
 
 t>. Gardeners. 
 
 Planters of Sugar-Cane. 2. 
 
 Silke-dressers. 
 
 4. Tiirners. 
 
 Pearle Drillers. 2. 
 
 Bakei-s. 
 
 4. Brickmakers. 
 
 Brewers. 2. 
 
 Tile-makers. 
 
 2. Colliers. 
 
 Fowlers. 10. 
 
 Fishermen. 
 
 4. Stui-geon dressers. 
 
CRASHAWS DAILY PRAYER" 15 
 
 8. Marston's •• Eastward Hoe " 
 
 Marston published this play iu UiOo to caricature the intended 
 Virginian colonization. The name is a survival of the idea that Columbus 
 had found the Kast. In the extract, the mate. Sea Uull, at a tavern 
 meeting, is persuading some young blades to embark for the venture. 
 
 ******* 
 
 .Sfn Gtdl. Come boves. Virginia longs till we share the 
 rest of her . . . 
 
 Spetnlall. Whv. is she inhabited alreadie with any English? 
 
 Sea Gull. A whole eountrie of English is there, men bread 
 of those that were left there in '79 [Kalegh's colony of '87 is 
 meant] ; they have married with the Indians . , . [who] are 
 so in love with them that all the treasure they have they lay 
 at their feete. 
 
 Scape Thrift. But is there such treasure there, Captaine . . . ? 
 
 Sea Gull. I tell thee, golde is more plentifull there then 
 copper is with us ; and for as much redde copper as I can 
 bring, He have thrise the waight in gold. Why, man, all their 
 dripping pans . . . are pure gould ; and all the chaiues with 
 which they chaiue np their streets are massie gold ; all the 
 prisoners they take are fettered in gold ; and for rubies and 
 diamoniis they goe forth on holy day es and gather 'em by the 
 seashore to hang on their childrens coates, and sticke in their 
 children's caps, as commonly as our children wear saffron-gilt 
 brooches. . . . Besides, there wee shall have no more law than 
 consceince, and not too much of eyther. 
 
 ♦ ***#** 
 
 9. Crashaw's "Daily Prayer" 
 
 Force's Historical Tracts, III (1844), page 67. 
 
 The arvlent clerical advocates of expansion, like Hakluyt andCrashaw, 
 resented bitterly such '• jests of prophaiie players" as No. 8 above ; and 
 Crashaw retorted by this pivssage in his form for "A Prayer duly said 
 [at Jamestown] Morning and Evening . . . either by the Captaine of the 
 watch himselfe. or by some one of his principall officers." This form 
 was drawn up in Hi09, before Delaware's expedition, and was incorpo- 
 
16 MOTIVES FOR EARLY ENGLISH COLONIZATION 
 
 rated afterward in Dale's Code of Laws. The prayer would fill some 
 twelve pages of this vokime. 
 
 And whereas we have by undertaking this plantation under- 
 gone the reproofs of a base world, insomuch that many of our 
 oune brethren laugh us to scorne, Lord, we pray thee fortifie 
 us against this temptation. Let . . . Papists and players and 
 such other . . . scum and dregs of the earth, let them mocke 
 such as helpe to build up the wals of Jerusalem, and they that 
 be filthy, let them be filthy still ; and let such swine still 
 wallow in their mire. . . . 
 
 10. Crashaw's Sermon. March 3/13, 1609/10 
 
 Brown's Genesis of (he United States, page 360 ff. 
 
 This sermon was preached before Lord Delaware's Expedition, on the 
 point of departure. The extract below was intended especially to refute 
 such insinuations as those in No. 8. Cf. also the introduction to No. 9. 
 
 Text (Luke 22-32). " But I have pra led for thee that thy faith 
 failenot : therefore lohenthou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.'" 
 
 Oh but those that goe in person are rakte up out of the 
 refuse, and are a number of disordered men, unfit to bring to 
 passe any good action : So indeed say those that lie and slander. 
 But I answer for the generalitie of them that goe, they be such 
 as offer themselves voluntarily . . . and be like (for ought 
 that I see) to those [that] are left behind, — men of all sorts, 
 better and worse. But for manie that go in person, let these 
 objectors know, they be as good as themselves, and it may be, 
 many degrees better, . . . 
 
 This enterprise hath only three enemies. 1. The Divell, 
 2. The Papists, and 3. The Players. [Then, after paying 
 respects to the first two] As for Plaiers : (pardon me, right 
 Honorable and beloved, for wronging this place and your 
 patience with so base a subject) they play with Princes and 
 Potentates, JNIagistrates, and Ministers, nay, with God and 
 Religion, and all holy things : nothing that is good, excellent, 
 or holy can escape them : how then can this action ? But this 
 
GOVERNOR DALE TO LONDON COMPANY, 1613 17 
 
 may suffice, that they are Players. They abuse Virginia, but 
 they are but Players : they disgrace it : true, but they are but 
 Players. . . . The divell hates us, because wee purpose not to 
 suffer Heathens ; and the Pope, because we have vowed to 
 tolerate no Papists. [Cf. Charter of 1609.] So doe the 
 Players, because wee resolve to suffer no Idle persons in 
 Virginea, which course, if it were taken in England, they know 
 they might turn to new occupations. 
 
 11. Sir Edwin Sandys, 1612 
 
 Neill's Virginia and Virgininla (1878), page 44, 
 
 Sandys, then a member of the Council of the London Company, wrote 
 to delinquent stockholders, urging the payment of subscriptions (April 
 8/18, 1612). 
 
 , . . presuming greatly of your affectionate Redines to aid 
 ... so worthy an Enterprise, tending so greatly to the En- 
 largement of the Christian Truth, the Honour of our Nation, 
 and Benefit of the English People. . . . 
 
 12. Governor Dale to the London Company, 1613 
 
 Secords of the Vircjinia Company of London (edited by Susan Kings- 
 bury ; Washington, 1906), II, 399-400. 
 
 Sir Thomas Dale wrote the following exhortation to Sir Thomas Smith, 
 "Treasurer" of the Company, on June 13/23, 1613. This extract was 
 read ten years later in a meeting of the Company. 
 
 Lett me tell you all at home this one thinge, and I pray 
 remember it, — if you give over this Country and loose it, you 
 with your wisedomes will leape such a gugion as our state 
 hath not done the like since they lost the Kingdome of ffraunce : 
 be not gulled with the clamorous reports of base people . . . 
 if the glory of god hath noe power with them, and the con- 
 version of these poore Infidells, yet lett the rich Mammon's 
 desires egge them on to inhabite these Countries. I protest 
 unto you by the faitli of an honest man, the more I range the 
 Country, the more I admire it. I have seene the best Countries 
 in Europe. I protest unto you before the Living God, put 
 
18 MOTIVES FOR EARLY ENGLISH COLONIZATION 
 
 tliem altogether, this Country will be equivalent unto them if 
 it be inhabited with good people. 
 
 [The Records continue, that, when this letter had been read, two 
 members added that they had heard Dale say " that in his judgment out 
 of foure of the best Kingdomes in Europe there could not be picked out 
 soe much good ground as was in Virginia."] 
 
 13. The London Company not Mercenary 
 
 From ("aptain John Smitirs (icnrrall Ilintoric of Virginia (Birmingham 
 edition of tlie Works, 1884, page 5'27). The passage was published in 
 ]()!(!, when Smith was at odds with the Company ; but he defends that 
 body gallantly against unjust charges. 
 
 This deare bought Laud, with so much bloud and cost, hath 
 ouely made some few rich, and all the rest losers [which fate, 
 however, does not deter their efforts, Smith explains] . . . 
 For the Nobilitie and Gentrie, there is scarce any of them ex- 
 pects anything but the prosperitie of the Action [success of 
 the colony] ; and there are some Merchants ... I am confi- 
 dently persuaded, doe take more care and paines, nay, and at 
 their continuall great charge, than they could be hired to for 
 the love of money; so honestly regarding the generall good of 
 this great Worke, they would hold it worse than sacrilege to 
 wrong it but a shillinge. 
 
 14. John Smith's Last Plea for Colonization, 1631 
 Captain John Smith's Works (Birmingham edition), 936, 9(52. 
 
 . . . and what hath ever beene the worke of the best great 
 Princes of the world, but planting of Countries, and civilizing 
 barbarous and inhumane Nations to civility and humanity ; 
 whose eternall actions fils our histories with more honour than 
 those that have wasted and consumed them by warres. 
 
 . . . the Portngals and Spaniards that first began plantations 
 in this unknowne world of America [their "everlasting 
 actions"] will testifie our idlenesse and ingratitude to all 
 posterity, and neglect of our duty and religion we owe our 
 
SMITH'S LAST PLEA FOR COLONIZATION, 1631 19 
 
 God, our King, and Countroy. . . . Having as much power and 
 meanes us others, wliy should English men despaire, and not 
 doe as much as any ? . . . Seeing honour is our lives ambition, 
 and our ambition after death to have an honourable memory of 
 our life ... let us imitate their vertues, to be worthily their 
 successors. 
 
 I speak not this to discourage any with value feares, but 
 could wish every English man to carry alwaies this Motto in 
 his heart, — Why should the brave Spanish Souldiers brag, 
 The Sunne never sets in the Spanish dominions, but ever 
 shineth on one part or other we have conquered for our King : 
 . . . but to animate us to doe the like for ours, who is no way 
 his inferior. 
 
 And truly there is no pleasure comparable to a generous 
 spirit as good iraploiment in noble actions, especially amongst 
 Turks, Heathens, and Infidels ; to see daily new Countries, 
 people, fashions, governments, stratagems ; releeve the op- 
 pressed, comfort his friends, passe miseries, subdue enemies, 
 adventure upon any feazable danger for God and his Country. 
 
 [The fine, idealistic motives of colonization, wliich have been treated 
 in this Division (Nos. 2-14), are touched upon in many other documents. 
 See especially the missionary purpose in No. 26 c, below.] 
 
III. ILLUSTRATIVE OF VIRGINIA HISTORY TO 
 THE INTRODUCTION OF SELF-GOVERNMENT 
 (1606-1619) 
 
 15. The Gilbert and Raleigh Charters 
 
 Queen Elizabeth's charter to Sir Humphrey Gilbert (June, 1578) was 
 first printed in Hakluyt's Voyages . . . and Discoveries of the English 
 Nation (1589). The Goldsmid edition of Ilakluyt gives it, I, 300 ff. 
 After Gilbert's death, Elizabeth reissued the cliarter to Sir Walter 
 Raleigh (1584), with changes only in names and date. The Raleigh 
 grant is easily accessible in Poore's Charters and Constitutions, under 
 the head of North Carolina, or in Thorpe's American Charters and 
 Constitutions. 
 
 The Letters Patents granntcd hy her Maiestie to Sir Hunifrey 
 Gilbert, knight, for the inhabiting and j)lanting of our people in 
 America. 
 
 I. — Elizabeth by the grace of God Queene of England, . . . 
 To all people to whom these presents shall come, greeting. 
 Know ye that ... we ... by these presents ... do give and 
 graunt to our trustie and welbeloved servant Sir Humfrey 
 Gilbert of Compton, in our Countie of Devonshire knight, and 
 to his heires and assignes for ever, free libertie and licence 
 from time to time and at all times for ever hereafter, to dis- 
 cover, . . . remote, heathen and barbarous lands . . . not 
 actually possessed of any Christian prince or people . . . and 
 the same to have, hold, occupie and enjoy to him, his heires 
 and assignes for ever, with all commodities, jurisdictions, and 
 royalties both by sea and land : . . . And wee doe likewise by 
 these presents . . . give full authoritie and power to the saide 
 Sir Humfrey, his heires and assignes, . . . that hee and they 
 . . . shall and may at all and evsry time and times hereafter, 
 have, take, and lead in the same voyages, to travell thither- 
 ward, and to inhabite there ... so many of our subjects as 
 
 20 
 
THE GILBERT AND RALEIGH CHARTERS 21 
 
 shall willingly accompany him . . . with sufficient shipping, 
 and furniture for their transportations, — so that none of the 
 same persons ... be such as hereafter shall be specially re- 
 strained by us, . . . And further, that he, the said Humfrey, 
 his heires and assignes . . . shall have, hold, occupy, and 
 enjoy for ever, all the soyle of all such lands, countries, and 
 territories so to be discovered or possessed as aforesaid, and of 
 all Cities, Townes, and Villages, and places, in the same, with 
 rites, royalties and jurisdictions, as well marine as other, 
 within the sayd lands or countreys . . . with ful power to dis- 
 pose thereof, and of every part thereof, in fee simple or other- 
 wise, according to the order of the laws of England, as nere 
 as the same conveniently may be, paying unto us, for all ser- 
 vices, dueties and deraaunds, the fift part of all the oare of 
 gold and silver, that from time to time, . . . shall be there 
 gotten ; all which lands, countreys, and territories, shall for 
 ever bee holden by the sayd Sir Humfrey, his heires and as- 
 signes of us, our heires and successours by homage, and by the 
 sayd payment of the sayd fift part before reserved onely, for 
 all services. 
 
 II. — And moreover, we doe by those presents . . . give 
 and graunt licence to the sayde Sir Humfrey Gilbert, his heires 
 or assignes . . . that hee and they . . . shall and may from 
 time to time and all times for ever hereafter, for his and their 
 defence, encounter, expulse, repell, and resist, as well by Sea, as 
 by land, and by all other wayes whatsoever, all, and every 
 such person and persons whatsoever, as without the speciall 
 licence and liking of the sayd Sir Humfrey, and of his heires 
 and assignes, shall attempt to inhabite within the sayd 
 countreys, ... or that shall enterprise or attempt at any 
 time hereafter unlawfully to annoy either by Sea or land, the 
 said sir Humfrey, his heires and assignes, or any of them : 
 
 III. — . . . And wee doe graunt to . . . all . . . persons, 
 being of our allegiance, whose names shall be noted or entred 
 in some of our courts of Record, within this our Realme of 
 England, and that with the assent of the said sir Humfrey, 
 
22 ILLUSTRATIVE OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 
 
 his heires or assigiies, shall travel to such lands, . . . and to 
 their heires : that they and every or any of them, . . . shall, and 
 may have, and enjoy all privileges of free denizens and persons 
 native of England, and within our allegiance : any law, custome, 
 or usage to the contrary notwithstanding. 
 
 IV. — And forasmuch as upon the finding out, discovering 
 and' inhabiting of such remote lands, countreys and territories, 
 as aforesayd, it shall be necessarie for the safetie of all men 
 that shall adventure themselves in those journeys and voiages, 
 to determine to live together in Christian peace and civill 
 quietnesse each with other, whereby every one may with more 
 pleasure and profit enjoy that whereunto they shall attaine 
 with great paine and perill : wee, for us, our heires and suc- 
 cessours, are likewise pleased and contented, and by these 
 presents do give and graunt to the sayd sir Humfrey and his 
 heires and assignes for ever, that he and they, and every or 
 any of them, shall and may from time to time for ever here 
 after within the sayd mentioned remote lands and countreys, 
 and in the way by the Seas thither, and from thence, have 
 full and meere power and authoritie to correct, punish, pardon, 
 govern and rule by their, and every or any of their good dis- 
 cretions and pollicies, as well in causes capitall or criminall, as 
 civill, both marine and other, all such our subjects and others, 
 as shall from time to time hereafter adventure themselves in 
 the sayd journeys or voyages ... or that shall at any time 
 hereafter inhabite any such lands, countreys or territories as 
 aforesayd, . . . according to such statutes, lawes and ordi- 
 nances, as shall be by him the said sir Humfrey, his heires 
 and assignes, or every or any of them, devised or established 
 for the better government of the said people as aforesayd : so 
 alwayes that the sayd statutes, lawes, and ordinances may be, 
 as neere as conveniently may, agreeable to the forme of the 
 lawes and pollicy of England : and also, that they be not 
 against the true Christian faith or religion now professed in 
 the church of England, nor in any wise to withdraw any of the 
 subjects or people of those lands or places from the allegiance 
 
FIRST CHARTER FOR COLONIZING VIRGINIA 23 
 
 of us, our beires or successours, as their immediate Soveraignes 
 under God. . . . 
 
 Hints for Study. — 1. Observe that no exact district is granted ; why? 
 
 2. Note the power of the proprietor: (a) to regulate settlement ; (b) to 
 repel invasion ; (c) to administer the government ; (d) to make laws. 
 
 3. Note the guarantee of rights to the settlers ; could it liave been meant 
 to cover the " right to vote," when taken in connection with the rest of the 
 charter? 4. What church is established for the colony? Read and 
 criticise Fiske's amazing misstatement in Old Virginia, I, 31, regarding 
 this charter. 
 
 16. First Charter for Colonizing Virginia; April 10/20,' 1606 
 
 This charter was lirst printed by Stith in his History of Virginia (1747). 
 Stith compiled carefully the four manuscript copies discoverable by him, 
 and his text is usually followed. The text here given is taken from his 
 work (Sabin's Edition, 18(i5). For secondary accounts, see American 
 History and Government, § 22, and references for the same. 
 
 I. — James, by tbe grace of God, King of England, Scotland 
 . . . etc. Whereas our loving and well-disposed Subjects, Sir 
 Thomas Gates, and Sir George Somers, Knights, Richard Hack- 
 luit, Clerk, Prebendary of Westminster, and Edward-Maria Wing- 
 field, Tliomas Hanham, and Ralegh Gilbert, Esqrs., William 
 Parker, and George Popham, Gentlemen, and divers others of our 
 loving Subjects, have been humble Suitors unto us, that We 
 would vouchsafe unto them our Licence to make Habitation, 
 Plantation, and to deduce a Colony of sundry of our People 
 into that Part of America, commonly called Virginia, . . . 
 situate, lying, and being all along the Sea Coasts, between four 
 and thirty Degrees of Northerly Latitude from the Equinoctial 
 Line, and five and forty Degrees of the same Latitude, . . . 
 
 II. — And to that End, and for the more speedy Accomplish- 
 ment of their said intended Plantation and Habitation there, 
 are desirous to divide themselves into two several Colonies and 
 Companies ; The one consisting of certain Knights, Gentlemen, 
 Merchants, and other Adventurers, of our City of Londoyi and 
 
 ^ See explanation of this form on page 44. 
 
24 ILLUSTRATIVE OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 
 
 elsewhere, . . . which do desire to begin their Plantation and 
 Habitation in some fit and convenient Place, between four and 
 thirty and one and forty Degrees of the said Latitude, alongst 
 the Coasts of Virginia and Coasts of America aforesaid ; And 
 the other consisting of sundry Knights, Gentlemen, Merchants, 
 and other Adventurers, of our Cities of Bristol and Exeter, and 
 of our Town of Plimouth, and of other Places, . . . which do 
 desire to begin their Plantation and Habitation in some fit and 
 convenient Place, between eight and thirty Degrees and five 
 and forty Degrees of the said Latitude, . . . 
 
 III. — We, greatly commending and •graciously accepting of 
 their Desires for the Furtherance of so noble a Work, which 
 may, by the Providence of Almighty God, hereafter tend to 
 the Glory of his Divine Majesty, in propagating of Christian 
 Eeligion to such People, as yet live in Darkness and miserable 
 Ignorance of the true Knowledge and Worship of God, and 
 may in time bring the Infidels and Savages living in those 
 Parts to human Civility, and to a settled and quiet Govern- 
 ment ; DO, by these our Letters Patents, graciously accept of, 
 and agree to, their humble and well-intended Desires ; 
 
 IV. — And do therefore, for Us, our Heirs, and Successors, 
 GRANT and agree, that the said Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George 
 Somers, Richard Hackluit, and Edward-Maria Wingjield, Ad- 
 venturers of and for our City of London, and all such others, as 
 are, or shall be, joined unto them of that Colony, shall be called 
 the j^rs^ Colomj ; And they shall and may begin their said first 
 Plantation and Habitation, at any Place upon the said Coast of 
 Virginia or America, where they shall think fit and convenient 
 between the said four-and-thirty and one-and-forty Degrees of 
 the said Latitude; And that they shall have all the Lands, 
 Woods, Soil, Grounds, Havens, Ports, Rivers, Mines, Minerals, 
 Marshes, Waters, Fishings, Commodities, and Hereditaments, 
 whatsoever, from the said first Seat of their Plantation and 
 Habitation by the Space of fifty Miles of English Statute 
 Measure, all along the said Coast of Virginia and America, 
 towards the West and Southwest, as the Coast lyeth, with all 
 
FIRST CHARTER FOR COLONIZING VIRGINIA 25 
 
 the Islands within one hundred Miles directly over against the 
 same Sea Coast ; And also all the Lands, Soil, Grounds, [etc.] 
 . . . from the said Place of their first Plantation and Habi- 
 tation for the space of fifty like English Miles, . . . towards' 
 the East and Northeast, or towards the North, as the Coast 
 lyeth, together with all the Islands within one hundred Miles, 
 directly over against the said Sea Coast ; And also all the 
 Lands, Woods, Soil, Grounds, [etc.] . . . from the same fifty 
 Miles every way on the Sea Coast, directly into the main 
 Land by the Space of one hundred like English Miles ; And 
 shall and may inhabit and remain there ; and shall and may 
 also build and fortify within any the same, for their better 
 Safeguard and Defence, according to their best Discretion, and 
 the Discretion of the Council of that Colony. . . . 
 
 V. — And we do likewise, for Us, our Heirs, and Successors, 
 by these Presents, Grant and agree, that the said Thomas 
 Hanham, and Ralegh Gilbert, William Parker, and George 
 Popham, and all others of the Town of Plimouth in the County 
 of Devon, or elsewhere, which are, or shall be, joined unto them 
 of that Colony, shall be called the second Colony; And that 
 they shall and may begin their said Plantation and Seat of 
 their first Abode and Habitation, at any Place upon the said 
 Coast of Virginia and America, where they shall think fit and 
 convenient, between eight and thirty Degrees of the said Lati- 
 tude, and five and forty Degrees of the same Latitude ; And 
 that they shall have all the Lands [Here follows a passage 
 duplicating the corresponding part of section IV for the other 
 subcompany.] 
 
 VI. — Provided always . . . that the Plantation and Habi- 
 tation of such of the said Colonies as shall last plant themselves, 
 as aforesaid, shall not be made within one hundred like English 
 miles of the other of them that first began to make their Plan- 
 tation, as aforesaid. 
 
 VII. — And we do also ordain, establish, and agree, for Us, 
 our Heirs, and Successors, that each of the said Colonies shall 
 have a Council, which shall govern and order all Matters and 
 
26 ILLUSTRATIVE OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 
 
 Causes, which shall arise, grow, or happen, to or witliin the 
 same several Colonies, according to such Laws, Ordinances, 
 and Instructions, as shall be, in that behalf, given and signed 
 with Our Hand or Sign Manual, and pass under the Privy- 
 Seal of our Realm of England; Each of which Councils 
 shall consist of thirteen Persons, to be ordained, made, and 
 removed, from time to time, according as shall be directed 
 and comprised in the same instructions. [Provision for 
 "seals" for the councils.] 
 
 VIII. — And that also tliere shall be a Council established 
 here in Ewjlwul, which shall, in like Manner, consist of thir- 
 teen Persons, to be, for that Purpose, appointed by Us, our 
 Heirs and Successors, which shall be called our Council of 
 Virginia; And shall, from time to time, have the superior 
 Managing and Direction, only of and for all Matters, that shall 
 or may concern the Government, as well of the said several 
 Colonies, as of and for any other Part or Place within the 
 aforesaid Precincts of four and thirty and five and forty 
 Degrees, abovementioned [Provision for a seal.] 
 
 IX. — [Grant of right to mine for precious metals, yielding 
 to the nu)narch the fifth part of gold and silver and tlie fifteenth 
 part of co])per.] 
 
 X. — [Right to coin money in the colonies.] 
 XT. — Ano we do likewise, for Us, our Heirs, and Successors, 
 by these Presents, give full Power and Authority to the said 
 Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George Somers, Richard JIackluit, 
 Edtuard-Maria Wingfield, Thomas llanhatii, Ralegh Gilbert, 
 William Parker, and George ]\)pham, and to every of them, and 
 to the said several Companies, Plantations, and Colonies, that 
 they, and every of them, shall and may, at all and every time 
 and times hereafter, have, take, and lead in the said Voyage, 
 and for aiul towards the said several Plantations and Colonies, 
 and to travel thitherward, and to abide and inhabit there 
 in every the said Colonies and Plantations, such and so 
 many of our Subjects, as shall willingly accompany them, 
 or any of them, in the said Voyages and Plantations; . . . 
 
FIRST OTTARTER FOR COLONTZTNO VTROTNIA 27 
 
 Pkovided always that none of the said Persons be such as 
 shall hereafter be specially restrained by Us, our Heirs, or 
 Successors. 
 
 XII. — MoKEOVKR, we do, by these Presents, for Us, our ] leirs, 
 and Successors, Give and gkant Licence unto the said Sir 
 Thomas Gates, Sir George Somers, Richard JIacJduit, Edward- 
 Maria WingjU'ld, Thomas Ilanham, Ralegh Gilbert, William 
 Parker, and George Pophatn, and to every of the said Colonies, 
 that they, and every of them, shall and may, from time to time, 
 and at all times for ever hereafter, for their several Defences, 
 encounter, expulse, repel, and resist, as well by Sea as by 
 Land, by all Ways and Means whatsoever, all and every such 
 Person and Persons, as without the especial Licence of the 
 said several Colonics and Plantations, shall attempt to inhabit 
 within the said several Precincts and Limits of the said 
 several ('olonies and Plantations, or any of them, or that 
 shall enterprise or attempt, at any time hereafter, the Hurt, 
 Detriment, or Annoyance, of the said several Colonies or 
 Plantations : 
 
 XIII. — [A peculiarly obscure section, which provides that the f^'overiiing 
 bodies in the colonies may collect tariffs on iinjjorted floods, — 2\ pc'r cent 
 on Knf,disii goods and .5 per cent on foreign goods ;. the proceeds to go to 
 the i)roprietary ('onipanies for 21 years, and afterward to the crown.] 
 
 XLV. — And we do further, by these Presents, for Us, our 
 Heirs, and Successors, (iiVK and grant unto the said Sir Thomas 
 Gall's, Sir George iSomers, Richard Ilacklait, and Edward- M<iria 
 Wingjicld, and to their Associates of the said first Colony and 
 Plantation, and to the said Thomai^ Jlanham, Ralegh Gilbert, 
 Williami Parker, and George Pophavi, and their Associates of 
 the said secoiul Colony and I'lantation, that they, and every 
 of them, by their Deputies, Ministers, and Factors, may trans- 
 port the Goods, Chattels, Armour, Munition, and Furniture, 
 needful to be used by them, for their said Apparel, Food, 
 Defence, or otherwise in Respect of the said Plantations, out 
 of our Kealms of England and Ireland, and all other our 
 
28 ILLUSTRATIVE OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 
 
 Dominions, from time to time, for and during the Time of 
 seven Years, next ensuing the Date hereof, for the better 
 Eelief of the said several Colonies and Plantations, without 
 any Custom, Subsidy, or other Duty, unto Us, our Heirs, or 
 Successors, to be yielded or paid for the same. 
 
 XV. — Also we do, for Us, our Heirs, and Successors, De- 
 clare, by these Presents, tliat all and every the Persons, being 
 our Subjects, which shall dwell and inhabit within every or 
 any of the said several Colonies and Plantations, and every 
 of their children, which shall happen to be born within any 
 of the Limits and Precincts of the said several Colonies and 
 Plantations, shall have and enjoy all Liberties, Franchises, 
 and Immunities, within any of our other Dominions, to all 
 Intents and Purposes, as if they had been abiding and born 
 within this our Realm of England, or any other of our said 
 Dominions.^ 
 
 XVI. — Moreover, our gracious Will and Pleasure is, and 
 we do, by these Presents, for Us, our Heirs', and Successors, 
 declare and set forth, that if any Person or Persons, which 
 shall be of any of the said Colonies and Plantations, or any 
 other, which shall traffick to the said Colonies and I'lantations, 
 or any of them, shall, at any time or times hereafter, trans- 
 port any Wares, Merchandises, or Commodities, out of any 
 our Dominions, with a Pretence to land, sell, or otherwise 
 dispose of the same, within any the Limits and Precincts 
 of any the said Colonies and Plantations, and yet nevertheless, 
 being at Sea, or after he hath landed the same within any of 
 the said Colonies and Plantations, shall carry the same into 
 any other Foreign Country, with a Purpose there to sell or 
 dispose of the same, without the Licence of Us, our Heirs, 
 and Successors, in that Behalf first had and obtained ; That 
 then, all the Goods and Chattels of such Person or Persons 
 so offending and transporting, together with the said Ship or 
 
 1 Observe that this important section of the charter is sandwiched in be- 
 tween two sections which ought not to have been separated. 
 
INSTRUCTIONS ISSUED BY KING JAMES 29 
 
 Vessel wherein such Transportation was made, shall be for- 
 feited to Us, our Heirs, and Successors. 
 
 [Paragraph XVII reserves to the crown the right to disavow any 
 unauthorized violence used by the Companies or their agents toward the 
 subjects of other European countries; so tliat England need not be drawn 
 into war by the colony if the king choose instead to leave it to its fate. 
 The remaining paragraphs have to do mainly with landholding. They 
 provide for a simpler method of transfer than was then common in Eng- 
 land, and provide also that all land should be held as a freehold, not by 
 military service, — " To bp: Holden of Us, our Heirs, and Successors, 
 as of our Manor at East-Greenwich in the County of Kent, in free and 
 common Soccage only, and not in Capite."] 
 
 17. Instructions issued by King James 
 
 Hening's Statutes (1809, 1823), I, 67 ff. 
 
 The following instructions for the guidance of the colonizing companies 
 were issued by King James, November 20/30, 1606, in accordance with 
 power reserved by him in the charter. They do not merit the ridicule 
 which has been heaped upon them. 
 
 [Recital of the grant in preceding charter.] 
 
 Wee, according to the effect and true meaning of the same 
 letters pattents, doe by these presents, . . . establish and 
 ordaine, that our trusty and well beloved Sir William Wade, 
 knight, our Lieutenant of our Tower of London, Sir Thomas 
 Smith, knight. Sir Walter Cope, knight. Sir Gorge Moor, 
 knight. Sir Francis Popeham, knight. Sir Ferdinando Gorges, 
 knight, Sir John Trevor, knight. Sir Henry Montague, knight, 
 recorder of the citty of London, Sir William Rumney, knight, 
 John Dodderidge, Esq., Sollicitor General, Thomas Warr, 
 Esqr., John Eldred of the citty of London, merchant, Thomas 
 James of the citty of Bristol, merchant, and James Bagge of 
 Plymouth, in the county of Devonshire, merchant, shall be our 
 councel for all matters which shall happen in Virginia of any 
 the territories of America, between thirty-four and forty-five 
 degrees from the sequinoctial line northward, and the Islands 
 to the several collonies limited and assigned, and that they 
 shal be called the King's Councel of Virginia, which councel 
 
30 ILLUSTRATIVE OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 
 
 or the most part of them shal have full power and authority, 
 att our pleasure, in our name, and under us, our heires and 
 successors, to give directions to the councels of the several coUonies 
 which shal be within any part of the said country of Virginia 
 and America, within the degrees first above mentioned, with 
 the Islands aforesaid, for the good government of the people 
 to be planted in those parts, and foi- the good ordering and 
 disposing of all causes happening within the same, and the 
 same to be done for the substance thereof, as neer to the com- 
 mon lawes of England, and the equity thereof, as may be, and 
 to passe under our seale, appointed for that councel, which 
 councel, and every or any of them shall, from time to time be 
 increased, altered or changed, and others put in their places, 
 att the nomination of us, our heires and successors, and att our 
 and their will and pleasure ; And the same councel of Virginia, 
 or the more jMrt of them, for the time being shall nominate and 
 appoint the first several councellours of those several councells 
 which are to be appointed for those two several colonies, which 
 are to be made plantations in Virginia . . . according to our 
 said letters pattents in that behalfe made ; And that each of 
 the same councels of the same several colonies shal, by the 
 major part of them, choose one of the same councel, not being 
 the minister of God's word, to be president of the same councel, 
 and to continue in that office by the space of one whole year, 
 unless he shall in the mean time dye or be removed from that 
 office ; and wee doe further hereby establish and ordaine that 
 it shal be lawful for the major part of either of the said coun- 
 cells, upon any just cause, either absence or otherwise, to 
 remove the president or any other of that councel, . . . from 
 being either president or any of that councel, and upon the 
 deathes or removal of any of the presidents or councel, it shal 
 be lawfull for the major part of that councel to elect another 
 in the place of the party soe dying or removed, so alwaies as 
 they shal not be above thirteen of either of the said coun- 
 cellours, and we doe establish and ordaine, that the president 
 shal not continue in his office of presidentship above the space 
 
INSTRUCTIONS ISSUED BY KING JAMES 31 
 
 of one year ; and wee doe specially ordaiue, charge, and re- 
 quire the said presidents and councells, and the ministers of 
 the said several colonies respectively, within their several 
 limits and precincts, that they, with all diligence, care, and 
 respect, doe provide, that the true word and service of God 
 and Christian faith be preached, planted, and used, not only 
 within every of the said several colonies and plantations, but 
 alsoe as mucli as they may amongst the salvadge people which 
 doe or shall adjoine unto them, or border upon them, accord- 
 ing to the doctrine, rights, and religion now professed and 
 established within our realme of England ; . . . and moreover 
 wee doe hereby ordaine and establish for us, our heires and 
 successors, . . . that the offences of tumults, rebellion, con- 
 spiracies, mutiny and seditions in those parts which may be 
 dangerous to the estates there, together with murther, man- 
 slaughter, incest, rapes, and adulteries committed in those 
 parts within the precincts of any the degrees above mentioned 
 (and noe other offences) shal be punished by death, and that 
 without the benefit of the clergy, except in case of man- 
 slaughter, in which clergie is to be allowed; and that the said 
 several presidents and councells . . . shall have full power 
 and authority, to hear and determine all and every the offences 
 aforesaid, within the precinct of their several colonies, in 
 manner and forme following, that is to say, by twelve honest 
 and indifferent persons sworne upon the Evangelists, to be 
 returned by sucli ministers and officers as every of the said 
 presidents and councells, or the most part of them respectively 
 shall assigne, and the twelve persons soe returned and sworne 
 shall, according to the evidence to be given unto them upon 
 oath and according to the truth, in their consciences, either 
 convict or acquit every of the said persons soe to be accused 
 and tried by them, . . . and that every the said presidents and 
 councells, within their several limits and precincts, shall have 
 power and authority by these presents, to hear and determine 
 all and every other wrongs, trespasses, offences, and mis- 
 demeanors whatsoever, other than those before mentioned, 
 
32 ILLUSTRATIVE OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 
 
 upon accusation of any person, and proofe thereof made, by 
 sufficient witnesse upon oath; and that in all those cases the 
 said president and councel . . . shall have power and authority 
 to punish the offender, either by reasonable corporal punish- 
 ment and imprisonment, or else by a convenient fine, awarding 
 damages or other satisfaction to the party grieved, as to the 
 same president and councell shall be thought fitt and con- 
 venient, having regard to the quality of the offence, or state 
 of the cause ; and that alsoe the said president and councel, 
 shall have power and authority, by virtue of these presents, to 
 punish all nuinner of excesse, through drunkeunesse or other- 
 waise, and all idle loytering and vagrant persons, which shall 
 be found within their several limits and precincts, according 
 to their best discretions, and with such convenient punishment, 
 as they or the most part of them shall think fitt ; . . . Alsoe 
 our will and pleasure is, and wee doe hereby establish and 
 ordaine, that the said several collonies and plantations, . . . 
 shall . for the space of five years, next after their first 
 landing upon the said coast of Virginia and America, trade 
 together all in one stocke (or devideably, but in two or three 
 stocks at the most), and bring not only all the fruits of their 
 labours there, but alsoe all such other goods and commodities 
 which shall be brought out of England, or any other place, into 
 the same collonies, into severall magazines or store houses, for 
 that purpose to be made and erected there, and that in such 
 order, manner, and form, as the councel of that collony, or the 
 more part of them, shall sett downe and direct . . . 
 
 18. Instructions by the Council in England to the Expedition 
 to Virginia ; December, 1606 
 
 Printed first in Neill's Virginia Company (18(59) from the manuscript 
 records of the Company at Wasliin,i;ton. Keprinted in full in Brown's 
 Genesis, I, 79 ff. About a third of the paper is given here. 
 
 ******* 
 
 When it shall please God to send you on the coast of 
 Virginia, you shall do your best endeavour to find out a safe 
 
EXPEDITION TO VIRGINIA, DECEMBER, 1606 33 
 
 port in the entrance of sonie navigable river making choice 
 of such a one as runneth farthest into the land, and if you 
 happen to discover divers portable rivers, and amongst them 
 any one that hath two main branches, if the difference be not 
 great, make choice of that which bendest most to the North- 
 West, for that way you shall sooitest Jiiid the other sea. 
 
 When you have made choice of the river on which you mean 
 to settle, be not hasty in landing your victuals and munitions, 
 but first let Captain Newport discover how far that river may 
 be found navigable, that you make election of the strongest, 
 most wholesome and fertile place ; for if you make many re- 
 moves, besides the loss of time, you shall greatly spoil your 
 victuals and your casks, and with great pain transport it in 
 small boats. 
 
 ******* 
 
 When you have discovered [explored] as far up the river 
 as you mean to plant yourselves, and landed your victuals and 
 munitions, to the end that every man may know his charge, 
 you shall do well to divide your six score men into three 
 parts, whereof one party of them you may appoint to fortifie 
 and build, of which your first work must be your store-house 
 for victual ; the other you may imploy in pre})aring your 
 ground and sowing your corn and roots ; [but] ten of these 
 forty you must leave as centinel at the haven's mouth. The 
 other forty you may imploy for two months in discovery of 
 the river above you, and on the country about you, . . . 
 ******* 
 
 In all your passages you must have great care not to offend 
 the naturals, if you can eschew it, and imploy some few of 
 your company to trade with them for corn and all other lasting 
 victuals, if they have any, and this you must do before that 
 they perceive you mean to plant among them ; for not being 
 sure how your own seed corn will prosper the first year, to 
 avoid the danger of famine, use and endeavour to store your- 
 selves of the country corn. 
 
34 ILLUSTRATIVE OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 
 
 And how weary soever your soldiers be, let them never trust 
 the country people with the carriage of their weapons, for if 
 they run from you with your shott, which they only fear, they 
 will easily kill them all with their arrows. And whensoever 
 any of yours shoots before them, be sure that they be chosen 
 out of your best marksmen, for if they see your learners miss 
 what they aim at, they will think the weapon not so terrible, 
 and thereby will be bould to assault you. 
 
 Above all things do not advertize the killing of any of your 
 men, that the country people may know it ; if they perceive 
 that they [you] are but common men, and that with the loss of 
 many of theirs, they may deminish any part of yours, they 
 will make many adventures upon you. If the country be 
 populous, you shall do well also not to let them see or know 
 of your sick men, if you have any, which may also encourage 
 them to many enterprises. You must take especial care that 
 you choose a seat for habitation that shall not be over bur- 
 thened with woods near your town, for all the men you have 
 shall not be able to cleanse twenty acres a year, besides that 
 it may serve for a covert for your enemies round about. 
 
 Keither must you plant in a low or moist place because 
 it will prove unhealthfull. You shall judge of the good air 
 by the people, for some part of that coast where the lands 
 are low have their people blear eyed, and with swollen bellies 
 and legs ; but if the naturals be strong and clean made, it is 
 a true sign of a wholesome soil. 
 
 •?f -}F ^ ^ -JF ^ -if 
 
 It were necessary that all your carpenters and other such 
 like workmen about building do first build your store house 
 and those other rooms of publick and necessary use before 
 any house be set up for any private persons ; yet let them all 
 work together first for the company and then for private 
 
 men. 
 
 ******* 
 
 Lastly and chiefly the way to prosper and achieve good suc- 
 cess is to make yourselves all of one mind for the good of 
 
EXPLORATION AND SUFFERINGS 35 
 
 your country and your own, and to serve and fear God the 
 Giver of all Goodness, for every plantation which our Heavenly 
 Father hath not planted shall be rooted out, 
 
 19. Exploration and Sufferings 
 
 a. Percy' Si Discourse 
 
 "That Honorable Gentleman, Master George Percy," wrote a detailed 
 narrative of the first months in Virginia. The manuscript is lo.st, bnt 
 extended extracts from it (such as would fill some twenty-five pages of 
 this volume) are preserved in the fourth volume of "Purchas his Pil- 
 grimes " (1626). 
 
 . . . The six and twentieth day of Aprill about foure a 
 clocke in the morning, wee descried the Land of Virginia : the 
 same day wee enterd into the Bay of Chesupioc without any 
 let or hinderance ; there wee landed and discovered a little way, 
 but we could find nothing worth the speaking of but faire 
 meddowes and goodly tall Trees, with such Fresh-waters run- 
 ninge through the woods as I was almost ravished at the first 
 sight thereof. 
 
 At night, when wee were going aboard, there came the Sav- 
 ages creeping upon all foure, from the Hills, like Beares, with 
 their Bowes in their mouthes, [and] charged us very desper- 
 ately . . . After they had spent their Arrowes and felt the 
 sharpnesse of our shot, they retired into the Woods with a 
 great noise, and so left us. 
 
 The [28th] day ... we went further into the Bay, and saw 
 a plaine plot of ground where we went on Land ... we saw 
 nothing there but a Cannow, which was made out of the whole 
 tree, which was five and fortie foot long, by the Rule. Upon 
 this plot of ground we got good store of Mussels and Oysters, 
 which lay upon the ground as thicke as stones : wee opened 
 some and found in many of them Pearles. . . . We passed 
 through excellent ground full of Flowers of divers kinds and 
 colours, and as goodly trees as I have scene, as cedar, cipresse, 
 
36 ILLUSTRATIVE OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 
 
 and other kindes. Going a little farther, we came into a little 
 plot full of tine and beautifull strawberries, foure times bigger 
 and better than ours in England. 
 
 ^r ^ * "ff * * * 
 
 [The closing pages are in the main a list of deaths, through 
 August and September.] Our men were destroyed with cruell 
 diseases, as Swellings, Fluxes, Burning fevers, and by warres ; 
 and some departed suddenly, but for the most part they died 
 of meere famine. There were never Englishmen left in a 
 forreigne Countrey in such miserie as wee were . . . Wee 
 watched every three nights, lying on the bare cold ground, 
 what weather soever came ; [and] warded all the next day, 
 which brought our men to bee most feeble wretches. Our feed 
 was but a small can of Barlie sod in Water to five men a day ; 
 our drinke, cold water taken out of the River, which was at a 
 flood verie Salt, at a low tide full of slime and filth, which was 
 the destruction of many of our men. Thus. we lived for the 
 space of five months in this miserable distresse, not having 
 five able men to man our Bulwarkes upon any occasion. If it 
 had not pleased God to have put a terrour in the Savages 
 heartes, we had all perished by those vild and cruell Pagans, 
 being in that weake estate . . . our men night and day groan- 
 ing in every corner of the Fort most pittiful to heare. If there 
 were any conscience in men, it would make their harts to 
 bleede to heare the pittifull raurmurings and outcries of our 
 sick men without reliefe every night and day for the space of 
 sixe weekes, some departing out of the World, many times 
 three or foure in a night, in the morning their bodies trailed 
 out of their Cabines like Dogges to be hurried. 
 
 h. " Gentlemen " in Virginia in 1608 
 
 From an account written probably by Captain Todkill, a rough soldier, 
 and published in Smith's Works (Birmingham edition), 439. 
 
 But 30 of us he [Smith] conducted doune the river some o 
 myles from James toune, to learne to make Clapbord, cut doune 
 
SECOND CHARTER OF VIRGINIA 37 
 
 trees, and lye in the woods. Amongst the rest he had chosen 
 Gabriel Beadle, and John Russell, the onely two gallants of this 
 last Supply, and both proper Gentlemen. Straunge were these 
 pleasures to their conditions ; yet lodging, eating, and drink- 
 ing, working or playing, they [were] but doing as the President 
 did himselfe. All these things were carried so pleasantly as 
 within a weeke they became Masters : making it their delight 
 to heare the trees thunder as they fell ; but the Axes so oft 
 blistered their tender lingers that many times every third 
 blow had a loud othe to droune the eccho ; for remedie of 
 which sinne, the President devised how to have every mans 
 othes numbred, and at night for every othe to have a Cann of 
 water poured doune his sleeve, with which every offender was 
 so washed (himselfe and all) that a man should scarce heare 
 an othe in a weeke. 
 
 By this, let no man thinJce that the President and these Gentle- 
 men sjyent their times as common Wood haggers at felling of trees, 
 or such other like labour, or that they were pressed to it as hire- 
 lings, or common slaves; for what they did, after they were but 
 once a little inured, it seemed . . . onely as a pleasure and recrea- 
 tion : yet 30 or J^O of such voluntary Gentleman would doe more 
 in a day than 100 of the rest that must be prest to it by compul- 
 sion; but twentie good ivorkemen had beene better than them all. 
 
 20. Second Charter of Virginia; May 23 / June 2, 1609 
 
 The text is printed in Stitli's History of Virginia; cf. introduction to 
 No. 10. 
 
 I. — [A recital of the grant of 1606.] 
 
 II. — Now, forasmuch as divers and sundry of our loving 
 Subjects, as well Adventurers, as Planters, of the said first Col- 
 ony, which have already engaged themselves in furthering the 
 Business of the said Colony and Plantation, and do further in- 
 tend, by the Assistance of Almighty God, to prosecute the same 
 to a happy End, have of late been humble Suitors unto Us, that 
 (in Respect of their great Charges and the Adventure of many of 
 
38 ILLUSTRATIVE OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 
 
 their Lives, which they have hazarded in the said Discovery 
 and Plantation of the said Country) We would be pleased to 
 grant them a further Enlargement and Explanation of the 
 said Grant, Privileges, and Liberties, and that such Counsellors, 
 and other Officers, may be appointed amongst them, to manage 
 and direct their affairs, as are willing and ready to adventure with 
 them, as also whose Dwellings are not so far remote from the 
 City of London but that they may, at convenient Times, be ready 
 at Hand to give their Advice and Assistance upon all Oc- 
 casions re(i[uisite. 
 
 III. — We, greatly affecting the effectual Prosecution and 
 happy Success of the said Plantation, and commending their 
 good Desires therein, for their further Encouragement in ac- 
 complishing so excellent a Work, nuich pleasing to God, and 
 profitable to our Kingdom, Do . . . Give, Grant, and Confikm, 
 to our trusty and well-beloved Subjects, Robert, Earl of Salis- 
 buri/ ^ . . . ; And to such, and so many, as they do, or shall 
 hereafter, admit to be joined with them, in Form hereafter in 
 these Presents expressed, whether they go in their Persons, to 
 be Planters there in the said Plantation, or whether they go 
 not, but adventure their Monies, Goods, or Chattels ; That they 
 shall be one Pody or Commonalty perpetual, and shall have per- 
 petual Succession, and one common Seal, to serve for the said 
 Body or Commonalty ; And that they, and their Successors, 
 shall be known, callkp, and in(,;oki*()katku by the Name of, 
 Tlie Treasurer and Company of Adventurers and Planters of the 
 City of London for the first Colony in Virginia: 
 
 1 Here follow the names of (551) persons and 56 gilds. The lists would fill 
 some ten pages. It includes 21 of the. greatest lords in England, i)(5 knights 
 and some DO other country gentlemen, 53 "captains," and a number of 
 "sadlers," "drapers," "grocers," etc., with some professional men and 
 others not classified. Fifty of the incorporators were members of the existing 
 parliament, and fifty more were members of Parliament at one time or an- 
 other. Among the (>5i) incorporators were liobert Cecil (the minister of 
 Elizabeth and of James), the Earl of Southampton (Shakspere's friend), Sir 
 Oliver Cromwell (uncle to the great Oliver), Francis Bacon, Richard Hak- 
 luyt, George (^Jalvert (afterward Lord Baltimore), and Sir Edwin Sandys, 
 soon to be the great Puritan leader in Parlianunit. 
 
SECOND CHARTER OF VIROTNTA 39 
 
 IV. — And that they, and their Successors, shall be, from 
 henceforth, for ever enabled to take, acquikk, and Purchase, 
 by the Name aforesaid (Licence for the same, from Us, our 
 Heirs or Successors, first had and obtained) any Manner of 
 Lands, Tenements, and Hereditaments, Goods, and Chattels, 
 within our Realm of Englmid and Dominion of Wales: 
 
 V. — And that they, and their Successors, shall likewise be 
 enabled, by the Name aforesaid, to tlkad, and uk implkadkd, 
 before any of our Judges or Justices, in any of our Courts, and 
 in any Actions or Suits whatsoever. 
 
 VI. — And we do also . . . give, grant and confirm, unto 
 the said Treasurer and Company, and their Successors, under 
 the Reservations, Limitations, and Declarations, hereafter ex- 
 pressed, all tliose Lands, (Countries, and Territories, situate, 
 lying, and being, in that Part of America called Virginia, from 
 the Point of Land, called Cape or Point Comfort, all along the 
 Sea Coast, to the Northivard two hundred Miles, and from the 
 said Point of Cape Comfort, all along the Sea Coast, to the 
 SoutJnvard two hundred Miles, and all that Space and Circuit 
 of Land, lying from the Sea Coast of the Precinct aforesaid, up 
 into the Land, throughout from Sea to Sea, West and North- 
 west; And also all the Islands lying within one hundred 
 Miles along the Coast of both Seas of the Precinct afore- 
 said ; . • . 
 
 VII. — [Right to dispose of lands.] 
 
 VIII. — And forasmuch, as the good and prosperous Success 
 of the said Plantation cannot but chiefly depend, next under 
 the Blessing of God, and the Support of our Royal Authority, 
 upon the provident and good Direction of the whole Enter- 
 prize by a careful and understanding Council, and that it is 
 not convenient that all the Adventurers shall be so often 
 drawn to meet and assemble, as shall be requisite for them to 
 have Meetings and Conference about the Affairs thereof; 
 Therefore we DO ORDAIN, establish, and confirm, that there 
 shall be perpetually one Council here resident,' according to 
 the Tenour of our former Letters-patents ; Which Council 
 
40 ILLUSTRATIVE OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 
 
 shall have a Seal, for the better Government and Administra- 
 tion of the said Plantation, besides the legal Seal of the Com- 
 pany or Corporation, as in our former Letters-patents is also 
 expressed. 
 
 IX. — [Names of the members of the council appointed,] 
 
 X. — And the said Sir Thomas Smith we do ORDAIN to be 
 Treasurer of the said Company ; which Treasurer shall have 
 Authority to give Order for the Warning of the Council, and 
 summoning the Company, to their Courts and Meetings. 
 
 XI. — And the said Council and Treasurer, or any of them, 
 shall be from henceforth, nominated, chosen, continued, dis- 
 placed, changed, altered, and supplied, as Death, or other 
 several Occasions, shall require, out of the Company of the 
 said Adventurers, by the Voice of the greater Part of the said 
 Company and Adventurers, in their Assembly for that Pur- 
 pose : Provided always, That every Counsellor, so newly 
 elected, shall be presented to the Lord Chancellor of England, 
 or to the Lord High Treasurer of Enr/land, or to the Lord 
 Chamberlain of the Household of Us, our Heirs, and Successors, 
 for the time being, to take his Oath of a Counsellor to Us, our 
 Heirs, and Successors, for the said Company of Adventurers 
 and Colony in Virginia. 
 
 XII. — [Provision for a Deputy Treasurer.] 
 
 XIII. — And further ... we do, by these Presents, Give 
 and Grant full Power and Authority to our said Council, here 
 resident, as well at this present Time, as hereafter from time 
 to time, to nominate, make, constitute, ordain, and confirm, by 
 such Name or Names, Stile or Stiles, as to them shall seem 
 good, And likewise to revoke, discharge, change, and alter, as 
 well all aud singular Governors, Officers, and Ministers, which 
 already have been made, as also which hereafter shall be by 
 them thought fit and needful to be made or used, for the 
 Government of the said Colony and Plantation : ^ 
 
 1 Hannis Taylor (iu his English Constitution, I, 21) , in a passage abounding 
 in blunders, regards this Council as made up of Virginians and exercising 
 local self-government. Unhappily there are other instances of the same error 
 in standard works. 
 
SECOND CHARTER OF VIRGINIA 41 
 
 XIV. — And also to make, ordain, and establish all Manner 
 of Orders, Laws, Directions, Instructions, Forms, and Cere- 
 monies of Government and Magistracy, fit and necessary, for 
 and concerning the Government of the said Colony and Plan- 
 tation ; And the same, at all times hereafter, to abrogate, 
 revoke, or change, not only within the Precincts of the said 
 Colony, but also upon the Seas in going and coming to and 
 from the said Colony, as they, in their good Discretion, shall 
 think to be fittest for the Good of the Adventurers and Inhabit- 
 ants there. 
 
 XV. — [Previous authorities in Virginia supplanted by these 
 new arrangements.] 
 
 XVI. — And we do further, by these Presents, Ordain and 
 establish, that the said Treasurer and Council here resident, 
 and their Successors, or any four of them, being assembled 
 (the Treasurer being one) shall, from time to time, have full 
 Power and Authority, to admit and receive any other Person 
 into their Company, Corporation, and Freedom ; And further, 
 in a General Assembly of the Adventurers, with the Consent 
 of the greater Part, upon good Cause, to disfranchise and put 
 out any Person or Persons, out of the said Freedom or 
 Company. 
 
 XVII. — [Right to minerals, as in First Charter, section IX, 
 paying to the king the fifth part, etc.] 
 
 XVIII. — [Right to transport willing colonists to Virginia.] 
 XIX. — [Certain exemptions from English customs duties, 
 in favor of the Company.] 
 
 XX. — [Grant to the Company and to its officers in Virginia 
 that it may expel unwelcome settlers and outsiders who " en- 
 terprise " destruction, hurt, or annoyance. The language is 
 taken from the First Charter, section XII.] 
 
 XXT. — [Right to levy import duties, as in First Charter.] 
 XXII. — [Rights of settlers. Repeated from First Charter, 
 section XV.] 
 
 XXIII. — And forasmuch, as it shall be necessary for all 
 such our loving Subjects as shall inhabit within the said Pre- 
 
42 ILLUSTRATIVE OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 
 
 cincts of Virginia, aforesaid, to determine to live together, in 
 the Fear and true Worship of Almighty God, Christian Peace, 
 and civil Quietness, each with other, whereby every one may, 
 with more Safety, Pleasure, and Profit, enjoy that whereunto 
 they shall attain with great Pain and Peril ; We ... do give 
 and GRAXT unto the said Treasurer and Company, and their 
 Successors, and to such Governors, Officers, and Ministers, as 
 shall be, by our said Council, constituted and appointed, ac- 
 cording to the Natures and Limits of their Offices and Places 
 respectively, that they shall and may, from time to time for 
 ever hereafter, within the said Precincts of Virginia, or in the 
 way by Sea thither and from thence, have full and absolute 
 Power and Authority, to correct, punish, pardon, govern, and 
 rule, all such the Subjects of Us ... as shall, from time to time, 
 adventure themselves in any Voyage thither, or that shall, at 
 any time hereafter, inhabit in the Precincts and Territories 
 of the said Colony, as aforesaid, according to such orders. 
 Ordinances, Constitutions, Directions, and Instructions, as by 
 our said Council, as aforesaid, shall be established ; And in 
 Defect thereof, in case of Necessity, according to the good 
 Discretions of the said Governor and Officers, respectively, as well 
 in Cases capital and criminal as civil, both marine and other ; So 
 always, as the said Statutes, Ordinances, and Proceedings, as 
 near as conveniently may be, be agreeable to the Laws, Statutes, 
 Government, and Policy of this our Realm of England. 
 
 XXIV. — And we do further . . . grant, declare, and 
 ORDAIN, that such principal Governor, as, from time to time, 
 shall duly and lawfully be authorised and appointed, in Man- 
 ner and Form in these Presents heretofore expressed, shall 
 have full Power and Authority, to use and exercise Martial 
 Law, in Cases of Rebellion or Mutiny, in as large and ample 
 Manner as our Lieutenants in our Counties, within this our 
 Realm of England, have, or ought to have. . . . 
 
 XXV. — [Penalty for trying to evade English revenue laws 
 under color of transporting goods to the colony, as in section 
 XVI of the First Charter.] 
 
SECOND CHARTER OF VIRGINIA 43 
 
 XXVI. — And further our will and pleasure is, that in all 
 questions and doubts that shall arise upon any difficulty 
 of construction or interpretation of anything contained either 
 in this or in our said former letters patents, the same shall be 
 taken and interpreted in most ample and beneficial manner 
 for the said treasurer and company . . . 
 
 XXVII. — [Confirms all privileges granted in the first charter 
 and not herein altered or revoked.] 
 
 XXVIII. — [Provides that anyone who will adventure the 
 necessary money shall be received in full equality as a mem- 
 ber of the Company.] 
 
 XXIX. — And lastly, because the principal Effect which we 
 can desire or expect of this Action, is the Conversion and 
 Eeduction of the People in those Parts unto the true Worship 
 of God and Christian Religion, in which Respect we should be 
 loath that any Person should be permitted to pass that we 
 suspected to affect the superstitions of the Church of Home; 
 We do hereby declare, that it is our Will and Pleasure, 
 that none be permitted to pass in any Voyage, from time 
 to time to be made into the said Country, but such as first 
 shall have taken the Oath of Supremacy; For which Pur- 
 pose, we do, by tliese Presents, give full Power and Au- 
 thority, to the Treasurer for the time being, and any three 
 of the Council, to tender and exhibit the said Oath to all 
 such Persons as shall at any time be sent and employed 
 in the said Voyage. . . . 
 
 [It is a profitable exercise to read some of the sections in a more 
 logical order. Thus the political provisions are seen better if arranged 
 in the following .sequence : XIV, XIII, XV, XXIII, XXIV, XXII. 
 Certainly, too, XXVIII should follow, or be combined with, XVI. The 
 utterly meaningless arrangement of many of these great documents, to- 
 gether with the unpardonable carelessness of the copiers, account partly 
 for their needless length and largely for their obscurity. 
 
 Nova Britannia (No. 6 above) contains also an explanation of the 
 method of "industry in common" and of the proposed method of 
 sharing profits, — all of which was continued ten years more under this 
 charter : — 
 
44 ILLUSTRATIVE OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 
 
 " Wee call those Planters that goe in their persons to dwell 
 there, and those Adventurers that adventure their money and 
 go not in person ; and both doe make the members of one 
 Colonie. We do account twelve pound ten shillings to be a 
 single share adventured. Every ordinary man or woman, if 
 they will goe and dwell there, and every childe above tenne 
 yeares that shall be carried thither to remaine, shall be allowed 
 for each of their persons a single share, as if they had adven- 
 tured twelve pound ten shillings in money. [Extraordinarie 
 men, as Divines, Governors, . . . Knights, Gentlemen, Physi- 
 tions, and such as be men of worth for special services, to be 
 rated higher, — as the Council may value them.] And like- 
 wise, if any that goe to bee planters will lay downe money 
 to the Treasurer, it shall be also registered and their shares 
 inlarged, accordingly, be it for more or lesse. All charges of 
 setling and maintaining the Plantation, and of making supplies, 
 shall be borne in a joint stock of the adventurers for seven 
 yeares after the date of our new enlargement : during which 
 time there shall be no adventure nor goods returned in private 
 from thence, ney their by Master, Marriner, Planter, nor 
 Passenger."] 
 
 21. Third Charter for Virginia. March 12/22,1611/16121 
 
 Fir.st printed in Stitli (cf. introduction to No. 16) ; found also in the 
 collections of I'oore and Thorpe (cf. introduction to No. 15). 
 
 The greater part of this document is given (1) to an enlargement of 
 territory (by inclusion of the Somers islands), (2) to extraordinary rights 
 of jurisdiction to compel fulfilment of contracts and to prevent slander 
 of the Company, and (3) to provisions for lotteries for the Company's 
 support. These parts are omitted. Only those clauses are given here 
 
 1 England in the seventeenth century still used the "Old Style" dates, 
 instead of the " New " or Gregorian Style. The year began March 25, instead 
 of January 1, and all dates between these two (from January 1 to March 25) 
 were then given in the year previous to the one in which our " New Style "' 
 puts them. Moreover, the New Style moved all dates forward ten days. 
 Therefore March 12, 1611, as the charter was dated at the time, means to us 
 March 22, 1012. 
 
THIRD CHARTER FOR VIRGINIA 45 
 
 which bear upon the reorganization of the Company and upon its powers 
 of government. 
 
 VII. — And We do hereby ordain and grant, by these 
 Presents, that the said Treasurer and Company of Adventurers 
 and Planters aforesaid, shall and may, once every Week, or 
 oftener, at their Pleasure, hold and keep a Court and Assembly, 
 for the better Order and Government of the said Plantation, 
 and such things, as shall concern the same ; And that any 
 five Persons of our Council for the said first Colony in Virginia, 
 for the time being, of which Comi)any the Treasurer, or his 
 Deputy, to be always one, and the Number of fifteen others, 
 at the least, of the Generality of the said Company, assembled 
 together in such Manner as is and hath been heretofore used 
 and accustomed, shall be said, taken, held, and reputed to be, 
 and shall be a sufficient Court of the said Company, for the 
 handling, and ordering, and dispathcing [dispatching] of all 
 such casual and particular Occurrences, and accidental Mat- 
 ters, of less Consequence and Weight, as shall, from time to 
 time, happen, touching and concerning the said Plantation : 
 
 VIII. — And that nevertheless, for the handling, ordering, 
 and disposing of Matters and Affairs of greater Weight and 
 Importance, and such, as shall or may, in any Sort, concern 
 the Weal Publick and General Good of the said Company and 
 Plantation, as namely, the Manner of Government from time 
 to time to be used, the Ordering and disposing of the Lands 
 and Possessions, and the Settling and Establishing of a Trad© 
 there, or such like, there shall be held and kept, every Year, 
 upon the last Wednesday, save one, of Hillary Term, Easter, 
 Trinity, and Michaelmas Terms, for ever, one great, general, 
 and solemn Assembly, which four Assemblies shall be stiled 
 and called, T7ie four Great and General Courts of the Council 
 and Company of Adventurers for Virginia ; In all and every 
 of which said Great and General Courts, so assembled . . . 
 the said Treasurer and Company, or the greater Number of 
 them, so assembled, shall and may have full Power and 
 Authority, from time to time, and at all times hereafter, to 
 
46 ILLUSTRATIVE OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 
 
 elect and chuse discreet Persons, to be of our said Council for 
 the said first Colony in Virginia, and to nominate and appoint 
 such officers, as they shall think fit and requisite for the Gov- 
 ernment, Managing, Ordering, and Dispatching of the Affairs 
 of the said Company; And shall likewise have full Power and 
 Authority, to ordain and make such Laws and Ordinances, for 
 the Good and Welfare of the said Plantation, as to them, from 
 time to time, shall be thought requisite and meet : So always, 
 as the same be not contrary to the Laws and Statutes of this 
 our E-ealm of England. . . . 
 
 X. — And we do . . . further grant . . . that the said 
 Treasurer and Company, or the greater Part of them ... so 
 in a full and general Court assembled . . . shall and may . . . 
 admit into their Company . . . any Person or Persons . . . 
 
 XL — And We do further . . . grant . . . that it shall be 
 lawful and free for them . . . out of our Dominions ... to 
 take, lead, carry and traiisport . . . for and toward the said 
 Plantation of our said . . . Colony of Virginia all and so 
 many of our loving Subjects ... as shall willingly accompany 
 them. . . . 
 
 XII. — And We do further . . . grant . . . that the said 
 Treasurer of that Company, or his Deputy ... or any two 
 other of the said Council . . . have full power and authority 
 to minister and give the Oath and Oaths of Supremacy and 
 Allegiance, or either of them, to all and every Person and 
 Persons, which shall at any Time or Times ... go or pass 
 to the said Colony. 
 
 XX. — And further, our Will and Pleasure is, that in all Ques- 
 tions and Doubts, that shall arise, upon any Difficulty of Con- 
 struction or Interpretation of any Thing, contained in these, or 
 any other our former Letters-patents, the same shall be taken 
 and interpreted, in most ample and beneficial Manner for the 
 said Treasurer and Company, and their Successors, and every 
 Member thereof. 
 
 XXI. — And lastly, we do, by these Presents, ratify and 
 CONFIRM unto the said Treasurer and Company, and their 
 
DANGER FROM SPANISH ATTACK 47 
 
 Successors, for ever, all and all Manner of Privileges, Franchises, 
 Liberties, Immunities, Preheniinences, Profits, and Commod- 
 ities, whatsoever, granted unto them in any our former Letters- 
 patents, and not in these Presents revoked, altered, changed, 
 or abridged. 
 
 Hints for Study. — 1. Compare the clauses relating to the oath of 
 supremacy in the second and third charters. (The passage given above 
 contains all such matter found in the third charter.) When the third 
 charter was issued, James had broken with his first parliament, and 
 probably wished to draw the great Catholic lords nearer to himself. 
 
 2. Compare the provisions for the meeting of the whole Company in 
 the second charter with the more specific provisions in the third. 
 
 3. The most important sections are VII and VIII. Observe that no regu- 
 lar meetings of the Council are provided. That body had lost all control- 
 ling power ; it remained merely a preconsidering body, to prepare business 
 for the meetings of the stockholders. Five of the Council, however, had to 
 be of the small quorum necessary forone of the minor " courts" (VII), and, 
 in fact, those minor courts were usualbj little more than Council meetings. 
 
 From the general tenor of this charter and the preceding one, it would 
 seem as though "Planters" from Virginia, if present in London, might 
 attend the "Courts" and vote. But in practice, when this question 
 was raised, it was decided against the visiting Planters (Company Bec- 
 ords, II, 301). Only holders of shares of stock could vote, and, in prac- 
 tice, stock certificates were not issued for emigration to America. 
 
 22. Danger from Spanish Attack (1607-1614) 
 
 The following extracts from the correspondence between Zuniga, the 
 Spanish ambassador at London, and the King of Spain are taken from 
 the documents printed in Brown's Genesis. These letters were usually 
 in cypher. The translations, of course, are in modern English. Cf. 
 American History and Government, § 24. 
 
 a. Zuniga to the King of Spain; London, October 16, 
 
 1607 
 
 Those who urge the colonization of Virginia become every 
 day more eager . . . and before Nativity there will sail from 
 here [London] and from Plymouth five or six ships. It will 
 he serving God and Your Majesty to drive these villains out from 
 there, hanging them. 
 
48 ILLUSTRATIVE, OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 
 
 [In this samo letter, Zuiliga says that he has fouiui a man to inform 
 him of all the secret doings of the Council for Virginia ; and, November 10, 
 he advises that the Spanish '' Windward fleet" be nsetl at ouce to drive 
 out the colonists. The Spanish Council at Madrid reported, however, 
 that the fleet was not in state of preparation.] 
 
 [December 0.] As to Virginia, I hear that three or four 
 other ships will return there. Will i/our Majesty give orders 
 that measures be taken in time [to destroy the settlement] ; 
 because now it will be very easy, and quite difficult afterwards, 
 when they have taken root; and if they are punished in tlie 
 beginning, the result will be that no more will go there. 
 
 [December 22.] It appears that there will be more people 
 there after Nativity than those I have written of. "Wherefore 
 Your JNLajesty will see how necessary it is to act with vigor 
 and hasten the reniedf/. 
 
 [After reading these letters, the Spanish Council made the following 
 record: "The Council says that having informed Your Majesty . . . 
 Your Majesty was pleased to command that there should be prepared 
 whatever was necessary to drive out the people who are in Virginia." 
 This report is indorsed by the King: "Not to let anyone know what 
 is being done." 
 
 Similar matter is found in letters from Zuftiga under date of March 
 28, 1008 ; November 8, lliOS.] 
 
 [March 5, 1609.] The l^aron de Arundel [an English 
 Catholic who had beiMi a candidate for the governorship of 
 Virginia, and Avho now apptireutly wms playing traitor] offers 
 to leave here whenever Your Majesty nuiy command, under 
 pretext of a voyage of discovery, and that in the Cauaries or 
 Porto Ivico he will take on board the i>ersou Your ^Majesty 
 will send, as a man Heeing out of Spain, and will carry him 
 to Virginia, and instruct him as to . . . the parts which the 
 English hold . . . and that soon he will tell Your Majesty 
 b}' what means those people may be driven out without 
 violence.^ [But Zuiliga urges immediate and violent action, 
 since King James is sure to acquiesce aj7er the fact.] Hence 
 
 1 A long report upon the state of Virginia, its geography and resources, by 
 an Irishman in Spanish pay, is given in Brown's Genesia, I, 3it3-391). 
 
DANGER FROM SPANISH ATTACK 49 
 
 Yotir Majesty will command that they be destroyed ivilh the utmost 
 possible promptness. 
 
 [April 12, 1()09. After describing a new English expedition 
 to Virginia, — Lord Delaware's.] Your Majesty will see the 
 great importance of this matter for your Royal Service, and 
 thus, I hoi)e, will give orders to have these insolent people quickly 
 annihilated. 
 
 h. Velasco {Ziordga's Sivcrensor at the English Courts to 
 tJie King of Spain; June 14, 1010 
 
 [After reporting the news of the terrible winter of 1G()9 in 
 Virginia] Thus it looks as if the zeal for this enterprise was 
 cooling off, and it would be easy to make an end of it altogether by 
 sending out a few ships to finish what might be left in that place. 
 
 [Tlie Spanish Council report upon tliis letter to the Kin^, and add: 
 "It appears to the Council that this should be comnuuiicated to the 
 Council of War . . . and that it be asked to state what will be right and 
 proper to do, the supply of ships and whatever else may be needful for 
 that purpose. Y. M. will command what shall be done." This is in- 
 dorsed, with the King's signature, " It is well.'" 
 
 c. Digby {English Ambassador at Madrid) to King 
 James 
 
 [September 22, 1612.] There is nothing so generally spoken 
 of in the Courte as their intent to remove Our plantation from 
 Virginia. And, for myne owne parte, I am of beliefe that the 
 Spaniards will serve us as thei did the Frenchmen in Florida 
 [llil)ault's colony] unless wee undertake the business much 
 more thoroughly and roundely then hitherto wee have donne.^ 
 [November 12, 1(512.] I got a view of his [Zunega's] dis- 
 patch [by bribing some Spanish official, of course]. The chief 
 matters were . . . that there was no cause to apprehend so 
 much danger in Virginia . . . that he held it not unlikely the 
 
 1 For more siu^h exhortation and warning from Digby, see Brown's 
 Genesis, 539, 588, 5!}2-3, 787. 
 
50 ILLUSTRATIVE OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 
 
 Business might sinke of itselfe, since it was maynteyned but by 
 these shifts, which could last but for a yeare or two. . . . 
 
 [For some months after the above, however, Digby sends frequent 
 warnings of a Spanish expedition which he thinks is preparing against 
 Virginia (Brown, Genesis, 603, 609, 623) ; but May 13, 1613, he writes 
 again to James I : ] 
 
 . . . theire resolution is not to stirre therein until they shall 
 be better informed . . . they are yet in a greate hope that the 
 businesse will fall of itselfe. [Cf. other letters to the same 
 effect, May 22, May 26, Aug. 15, in Brown's Genesis, 634, 635, 
 656.] 
 
IV. THE LIBERAL LONDON COMPANY AND SELF- 
 GOVERNMENT IN VIRGINIA (1619-1624) 
 
 23. From the Rules of the Virginia Company in London 
 
 Peter Force's Historical Tracts^ III (Washington, 1844), No. (5. 
 
 These rules, one hundred thirty-two in number, and bulky enough to 
 fill fifty pages of this volume, were adopted by the London Company 
 shortly after it came under Liberal conti-ol, in June, 1619. For the 
 history of the struggle in the Company, cf. a brief statement in American 
 History and Government, § 27. 
 
 XV. — At the great and generall Court, commonly called the 
 Quarter Court, in Easter Terme, all offices of this Company 
 (excepting the Counseil) shall be void : And the Court shall 
 proceede to an election of new Officers, in manner following. 
 
 XVII. — After the choise of a Treasuror, a Deputie shall be 
 chosen ; then the Auditors, and Comitties ; and lastly the 
 Secretarie, Bookekeeper, Husband, and Bedle. 
 
 XVIII. — At the choise of each Officer, the persons nomi- 
 nated for the election, shall withdraw themselves till the party 
 chosen be publiquely so pronounced. And generally no man 
 shall be present in the Court whilst himselfe or his matter 
 passeth the judgement of the Court. 
 
 XX. — It is for weighty reasons thought very expedient, 
 that no man eontinue in the place of Treasurer or Deputie, 
 above three yeares at once. 
 
 XXI. — For the avoiding of divers inconveniences. It is 
 thought fit that all elections of principall Officers in or for^ 
 Virginia as also of the Treasurer and Deputie here, be per- 
 formed by a Ballating box, as in some other Companies. 
 
 1 This means /or, not in; cf. Rule CL 
 51 
 
52 SELF-GOVERNMENT IN VIRGINIA, 1619-1624 
 
 XXVI. — He [the Treasurer] is to propound and put all 
 things to the question which the Court requires, under paine 
 of being immediately put from his Office, if he refuse. In 
 which case the Deputie shall doo it, under the like paine. And 
 if he refuse, then any of the Council there present. 
 
 LXXXIX. — Every man speaking in Court, shall addresse 
 his speech to the Treasuror, or deputie in his absence, as 
 representing the Court : And all private speeches, or directed 
 to particular persons, shall be forborne. 
 
 XCI. — Ko man with his speech shall interrupt the speech 
 of another, before he have finished : Except the Treasurer, or 
 in his absence the Deputie, (with approbation of the Court) see 
 cause to put any to silence, for im pertinency, or other unseemely 
 speaking. 
 
 XCIV. — Whosoever shall attempt by private solicitation to 
 packe the Court to any unjust or unlawfull end, shall, upon 
 complaint, be convented before the Counseil, and, being con- 
 victed, shall be disfranchized. 
 
 CI. — All principal Officers in [for] Virginia, namely the 
 Governour, Lieutenant Governour, Admirall, Marshal, chiefe 
 Justice, and Treasuror, shall be chosen here hy BaUating in 
 a Quarter-Court. 
 
 CII. — The Counseil established in Virginia, and all other 
 Officers there reserved to the choise of the Companie here, 
 shall be chosen in a Quarter-Court by onely erection of hands ; 
 unlesse the Court desire to have it passe hy Balloting. 
 
 [The frequent reference to the ballot in these rules is a sufficient answer 
 to an absurd claim that the English colonies had to learn that device 
 from Holland. Cf. American History and Government, § 77. The use of 
 the ballot is referred to frequently in the Company's Records, in accounts 
 of elections under these rules, as in Records, I, 315, 368, 385, 440, 468, 
 471, 474, 489 ; II, 28, 29, 154, 536, 537.] 
 
FIRST REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY IN AMERICA 53 
 
 24. An Order of the London Company as to Self-government 
 February 2/12, 1619/20 
 
 Becords of the Virginia Company in London (edited by Susan Kings- 
 bury ; Washington, 1906), I, 303, 
 
 This order, to provide for temporary self-government in new colonies 
 under the jurisdiction of the Company, was adopted on the same day that 
 the Company made four grants of land to companies expecting to settle 
 in " Virginia." One of these grants was to John Pierce and his Associ- 
 ates. Pierce was one of the London partners of the Mayflower Pilgrims. 
 The order below may therefore have suggested to the Pilgrims the May- 
 flower Compact (No. 52 below). 
 
 It was ordered by generall Consent that such Captaines or 
 Leaders of Perticulerr Plantacions that shall goe there to 
 inhabite ... in Virginia, shall have liberty, till a forme of 
 Goverraent bee here settled for them, Associatinge unto them 
 divers of the gravest and discreetes of their companies, to 
 make Orders, Ordinances, and Constitucions for the better 
 orderinge and dyrectinge of their Servants and buisines, Pro- 
 vided they be not Repugnant to the Lawes of England. 
 
 25. The First Representative Assembly in America 
 July 30 /August 9, 161 9 
 
 Stith and Hening (Nos. 16, 17), those early and zealous explorers in 
 Virginian records, both believed that no record of this great A.ssembly 
 was extant. George Bancroft, however, found a copy in the London 
 Record Office, in 1856, and published it in the JVew York Historical Society 
 Collections of 1857. A somewhat more critical text was published in 
 1874 by Wynne and Oilman, in their thin volume of Colonial Becords of 
 Virginia. The record was made by John Twine, Clerk of the Assembly. 
 It is printed here almost in full. 
 
 A reporte of the manner of jwoceeding in the General assembly 
 convented at James citty in Virginia, July 30, 1619, consisting oj 
 the Governo'', the Counsell of Estate and two Burgesses elected 
 out of eache Incorporation and Plantation, and being dissolved 
 the 4"" of August next ensuing. 
 
54 SELF-GOVERNMENT IX VIRGINIA, 1619-1624 
 
 First. Sir George Yeardley, Knight, Goveruo' and Captaine 
 general of Virginia, having sente his sumons all over the 
 Country, as well to invite those of the Connsell of Estate that 
 were absente as also for the election of Burgesses, there were 
 chosen and appeared 
 
 For James citti/ 
 
 Captaine William Powell, 
 Ensigne William Spense. 
 
 For Charles citty 
 Samuel Sharpe, 
 Samuel Jordan. 
 
 For Martin Brandon — Capt. 
 John JIartin's Pla'tation 
 Mr. Thomas Davis, 
 Mr. Robert Stacy. 
 
 For Smythes hundred 
 
 Captain Thomas Graves, 
 jSlr. Walter Shelley. 
 
 For 3fartins hundred 
 Islr. John Boys, 
 John Jackson. 
 
 For the citty of Henricus 
 Thomas Dawse, 
 John Polentine. 
 
 For Kiccowatan 
 
 Captaine William Tucker, 
 William Capp. 
 
 For ArgaJl's guiffe 
 Mr. Tawlett, 
 Mr. Gourgaing. 
 
 For Flowerdieu hundred 
 
 Ensigne Rossingham, 
 
 Mr. Jeiferson. 
 For Captain Lawne's plantation 
 
 CaptainChristopherLawne, 
 
 Ensigne Washer. 
 
 For Captaine Warde's 2'>hxntation 
 Captaine Warde, 
 Lieutenant Gibbes. 
 
 The most convenient place we could finde to sitt in was the 
 Quire of the Churche Where Sir George Yeardley, the Govern- 
 our, being sett down in his accustomed place, those of the 
 Counsel of Estate sate nexte him on both handes, excepte onely 
 the Secretary then appointed Speaker, who sate right before 
 him, John Twine, clerke of the General assembly, being placed 
 nexte the Speaker, and Thomas Pierse, the Sergeant, standing 
 at the barre, to be ready for any Service the Assembly should 
 comaund him. But forasmuche as men's affaires doe little 
 prosper where God's service is neglected, all the Burgesses 
 
FIRST REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY IN AMERICA 55 
 
 tooke their places in the Quire till a prayer was said by Mr. 
 Bucke, the Minister, that it would please God to guide and 
 sanctifie all our proceedings to his owne glory and the good of 
 this Plantation. Prayer being ended, to the intente that as 
 we had begun at God Almighty, so we might proceed with 
 awful and due respecte towards the Lieutenant, our most gra- 
 tious and dread Soveraigne, all the Burgesses were intreatted 
 to retyre themselves into the body of the Churche, which being 
 done, before they were fully admitted, they were called in order 
 and by name, and so every man (none staggering at it) tooke 
 the oathe of Supremacy, and then entred the Assembly. . . . 
 
 These obstacles removed, the Speaker, who a long time had 
 bene extreame sickly and therefore not able to passe through 
 long harrangues, delivered in briefe to the whole assembly the 
 occasions of their meeting. Which done, he read unto them 
 the commission for establishing the Counsel] of Estate and 
 the general Assembly, wherein their duties were described to 
 the life. 
 
 Having thus prepared them, he read over unto them the 
 greate Charter, or commission of priviledges, orders and lawes, 
 sent by Sir George Yeardly out of Englande. Which for the 
 more ease of the Committies, having divided into fower books, 
 he read the former two the same forenoon, for expeditious sake, 
 a second time over, and so they were referred to the persuall of 
 twoe Comitties, which did reciprocally consider of either, and 
 accordingly brought in their opinions. But some men may 
 here objecte to what ende we should presume to referre that 
 to the examination of the Comitties which the Counsell and 
 Company in England had already resolved to be perfect, and 
 did expects nothing but our assente thereunto ? To this we 
 answere that we did it not to the ende to correcte or controll any- 
 thing therein contained, but onely in case we should finde ought 
 not perfectly squaring with the state of this Colony, or any lawe 
 which did presse or binde too harde, that we might, by waye of 
 humble petition, seeke to have it redressed, especially because 
 this great Charter is to binde us and our heyers for ever. . . . 
 
56 SELF-GOVERNMENT IN VIRGINIA, 1619-1624 
 
 After dinner tlie Governor and those that were not of the 
 Comitties sate a seconde time, while the said Comitties were 
 employed in the perusall of those twoe bookes. And whereas 
 the Speaker had propounded fower severall objects for the 
 Assembly to consider on : namely, first, the great charter of 
 orders, lawes, and priviledges; Secondly, which of the instruc- 
 tions given by the Counsel in England to my [Lord De La 
 Warre], Captain Argall, or Sir George Yeardley, might conven- 
 iently putt on the habite of lawes ; Thirdly, what lawes might 
 issue out of the private conceipte of any of the Burgesses, 
 or any other of the Colony ; and lastly, what petitions were fitt 
 to be sente home for England. It pleased the Governour for 
 expedition sake to have the second objecte of the fower to be 
 examined and prepared by himself e and the Non-Comitties. 
 Wherin after having spente some three howers conference, the 
 twoe Committies brought in their opinions concerning the twoe 
 former bookes, (the second of which beginneth at these words 
 of the Charter : And foreasmuche as our intente is to establish 
 one equall and uniforme kinde of government overall Virginia 
 etc.,) which the whole Assembly, because it was late, deffered 
 to treatt of till the next morning. 
 
 Satturday, July 31. — The nexte daye, therefore, out of 
 the opinions of the said Comitties, it was agreed these Petitions 
 ensuing should be framed, to be presented to the Treasurer, 
 Counsel and Company in England. . . . 
 
 These petitions thus concluded on, those twoe Comitties 
 broughte me a reporte what they had observed in the two latter 
 bookes, which was nothing else but that the perfection of them 
 was suche as that they could finde nothing therein subject to 
 exception. . . . 
 
 At the same time, there remaining no farther scruple in the 
 mindes of the Assembly, touching the said great Charter of 
 lawes, orders and priviledges, the Speaker putt the same to the 
 question, and so it had both the general assent and the applause 
 of the whole assembly, who, as they professed themselves in 
 
FIRST REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY IN AMERICA 57 
 
 the first place most subraissivily thankfull to almighty god, 
 therefore so they comraaunded the Speaker to returne (as nowe 
 he doth) their due and humble thankes to the Treasurer, 
 Counsell ami company for so many priviledges and favours, as 
 well in their owne names as in the names of the whole Colony 
 whom they represented. 
 
 This being dispatched we fell once more debating of suche 
 instructions given by the Counsell in England to several 
 Governors as might be converted into lawes, the last whereof 
 was the Establishment of the price of Tobacco, namely, of the 
 best at 3 d and the second at 18 d the pounde, . . . 
 
 Sunday, Aug. 1. — Mr. Shelley, one of the Burgesses, de- 
 ceased. 
 
 MuxDAY, Aug. 2. — . . . , the Committies appointed to 
 consider what instructions are fitt to be converted into lawes, 
 brought in their opinions, and first of some of the general 
 instructions. 
 
 Here begin the lawes drawen out of the In- 
 structions given by his Majesties Counsell 
 of Virginia in England to my lo : la 
 warre [Lord Delaware] Captain Argall 
 and Sir George 
 Yeardley, knight. 
 
 By this present Generall Assembly be it enacted, that no 
 injury or oppression be wrought by the Englishe against the 
 Indians whereby the present peace might be disturbed and 
 antient quarrells might be revived. . . . 
 
 Against Idleness, Gaming, durunkenes, and excesse in ap- 
 parell, the Assembly hath enacted as followeth : 
 
 First, in detestation of Idlenes be it enacted, that if any 
 men be founde to live as an Idler or renagate, though a freed- 
 man, it shalbe lawfull for that Incorporation or Plantation to 
 which he belongeth to appoint him a jVIr [Master] to serve for 
 wages, till he shewe apparant signes of amendment. 
 
58 SELF-GOVERNMENT IN VIRGINIA, 1619-1624 
 
 Agaiust gaming at dice and Gardes be it ordained by this 
 present assembly that the winner or winners shall lose all his 
 or their winninges and both winners and loosers shall forfaicte 
 ten shillings a man, one ten shillings whereof to go to the dis- 
 coverer, and the rest to charitable and pious uses in the In- 
 corporation where the faulte is coniitted. 
 
 Against drunkenness be it also decreed that if any private 
 person be found culpable thereof, for the first time he is to be 
 reprooved privately by the Minister, the second time publiquely, 
 the thirde time to lye in holies 12 howers in the house of the 
 Provost Marshall and to paye his fee, and if he still continue 
 in that vice, to undergo suche severe punishment as the 
 Governor and Counsell of Estate shall thinke fitt to be inflicted 
 on him. [Provision for milder penalty for drunken officials.] 
 
 Against excesse in ajypareU, that every man be cessed in the 
 churche for all publique contributions, if he be unmarried 
 according to his owne apparrell, if he be married according to 
 his owne and his wives, or either of their apparrell. . . . 
 
 Be it enacted by this present assembly that for laying a 
 surer foundation of the conversion of the Indians to Christian 
 Religion, cache towne, citty, Borrough, and particular planta- 
 tion do obtaine unto themselves by just means a certaine 
 number of the natives' children to be educated by them in the 
 true religion and civile course of life — of which children the 
 most towardly boyes in witt and graces of nature to be brought 
 up by them in the first elements of litterature, so to be fitted 
 for the Colledge intended for them, that from thence they may 
 be sente to that worke of conversion. 
 
 As touching the business of planting corne this present 
 Assembly doth ordaine that yeare by yeare all and every 
 householder and householders have in store for every servant 
 he or they shall keep, and also for his or their owne persons, 
 whether they have any Servants or no, one spare barrell of 
 corne, to be delivered out yearly, either upon sale or exchange 
 as need shall require. For the neglecte of which duty he 
 shalbe subjecte to the censure of the Governor and Counsell of 
 
FIRST REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY IN AMERICA 59 
 
 Estate. Provided alwayes that the first yeare of every newe 
 man this lawe shall not be of force. 
 
 About the Plantation of Mulberry trees, be it enacted that 
 every man as he is seatted upon his division, doe for seven years 
 together every yeare plante and maintaine in growte six Mul- 
 berry trees at the least, and as many more as he shall thinke con- 
 veniente and as his virtue and Industry shall move him to plante, 
 and that all suche persons as shall neglecte the yearly planting 
 and maintaining of that small proportion shalbe subjecte to the 
 censure of the Governour and the Counsell of Estate. 
 
 Be it farther enacted as concerning Silke-flaxe, that those 
 men that are upon their division or setled habitation doe this 
 next yeare plante and dresse 100 plantes, which being founde a 
 comedity, may farther be increased. And whosoever do faill 
 in the performance of this shalbe subject to the punishment 
 of the Governour and Counsell of Estate. 
 
 For hempe also both Englishe and Indian, and for Englishe 
 flax and Anniseeds, we do require and enjoine all householders 
 of this Colony that have any of those seeds to make tryal 
 thereofe the nexte season. 
 
 Moreover be it enacted by this present Assembly, that every 
 householder do yearly plante and maintaine ten vines untill 
 they have attained to the art and experience of dressing a 
 Vineyard either by their owne industry or by the Instruction 
 of some Vigneron . . . upon what penalty soever the Gov- 
 ernor and Counsell of Estate shall thinke fitt to impose upon 
 the neglecters of this acte. 
 
 Be it also enacted that all necessary tradesmen, or so many 
 as need shall require, suche as are come over since the depar- 
 ture of Sir Thomas Dale, or that shall hereafter come, shall 
 worke at their trades for any other man, each one being 
 payde according to the quality of his trade and worke, to be 
 estimated, if he shall not be contented, by the Governor and 
 officers of the place where he worketh. 
 
 Be it further ordained by this General Assembly, and we 
 doe by these presents enacte, that all contractes made in Eug- 
 
60 SELF-GOVERNMENT IN VIRGINIA, 1619-1624 
 
 land between the owners of lande and their Tenants and Ser- 
 vantes which they shall sende hither, may be caused to be 
 duely performed, and that the offenders be pnnished as the 
 Governour and C'ounsell of Estate shall thinke just and con- 
 venient. 
 
 Be it established also by this present Assembly that no 
 crafty or advantagious means be suffered to putt in practise 
 for the inticing awaye the Tenants or Servants of any particn- 
 lar plantation from the place where they are seatted. And 
 that it shalbe the duty of the Governor and Counsell of Estate 
 most severely to punishe both the seducers and the seduced, 
 and to returne these latter into their former })laces. . . . 
 
 Tuesday, Aug. 3, 1619. — ... Captaine William Powell 
 presented a Petition to the generall Assembly against one 
 Thomas Garnett, a servant of his, not onely for extreame neg- 
 lect of his business to the great loss and prejudice of the said 
 Captaine, and for openly and impudently abusing his house, 
 . . . but also for falsely accusing him to the Governor both of 
 Drunkenes and Thefte, and besides for bringing all his fellow 
 servants to testify on his side, wherein they justly failled liim. 
 It was thought fitt by the general assembly (the Governour 
 himselfe giving sentence), that he should stand fower dayes 
 with his eares nayled to the Pillory, viz : Wednesday, Aug 4th, 
 and so likewise Thursday, fryday and Satturday next following, 
 and every of those fower dayes should be publiquely whipped. 
 Now, as touching the neglecte of his worke, what satisfaction 
 ought to be made to his Mr. for that is referred to the Governor 
 and Counsell of Estate. 
 
 The same morning the lawes abovewritten, drawen out of the 
 instructions, were read, and one by one thoroughly examined, 
 and then passed once again. . . . 
 
 Wednesday Aug. 4th. — This daye (by reason of extream 
 heat, both paste and likely to ensue, and by that meanes of the 
 alteration of the healthes of diverse of the general Assembly) 
 the Governour, who himselfe also was not well, resolved should 
 
FIRST REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY IN AMERICA 61 
 
 be the last of this iirst session ; so in the morning the 
 Speaker (as he was required by the Assembly) redd over all 
 the lawes and orders that had formerly passed the house, to 
 give the same yett one reviewe more, and to see whether there 
 were any thing to be amended or that might be excepted againste. 
 This being done, the third sorte of lawes which I am nowe coming 
 to sett downe, were read over [and] thoroughly discussed, which 
 together with the former, did now passe the last and finall con- 
 sents of the General Assembly. 
 
 A third sorte of lawes, suclie as may issue out of 
 every man's private conceipte. 
 
 . . . All Ministers in the (/olony shall once a year, namely, 
 in the moneth of Marche, bring to the Secretary of Estate a 
 true account of all Christenings, burials and marriages, upon 
 paine, if they faill, to be censured for their negligence by the 
 Governor and Counsell. . , . 
 
 No man, without leave of the Governor, shall kill any Neatt 
 Cattle whatsoever, young or olde, especially kine . . . upon 
 penalty of forfeiting the value of the beast so killed. 
 
 Whosoever shall take any of his neighbors' boates, oares, or 
 canvas, without leave from the owner, shall be held and es- 
 teemed as a felon, and so proceeded against.* 
 
 All ministers shall duly read divine service, and exercise 
 their ministerial function according to the Ecclesiastical lawes 
 and orders of the churche of Englande, and every Sunday in 
 the afternoon shall Catechize suche as are not yet ripe to come 
 to the Com. And whosoever of them shalbe found negligent 
 or faulty in this kinde shalbe subject to the censure of the 
 Governor and Counsell of Estate. . . . 
 
 For reformation of swearing, every freeman and Master of a 
 family, after thrice admonition [by church wardens], shall give 
 5 s ... to the use of the church . . . and every servant . . . 
 except his Mr discharge the fine, shalbe subject to whipping. 
 
 1 Water was the only means of travcil and trade. To steal a boat was 
 equivalent to horse-stealing in a cow-boy country today. "Felony" was 
 punishable by death. 
 
62 SELF-GOVERNMENT IN VIRGINIA, 1619-1624 
 
 Provided that, the payment of the line notwithstanding, the 
 said servant shall acknowledge his faulte publiquely in the 
 Churche. 
 
 All persons whatsoever upon the Sabaoth daye shall frequeute 
 divine service and sermons both forenoon and afternoon, and 
 all suche as beare arms shall bring their pieces, swordes, poulder 
 and shotte. And every one that shall trangresse this lawe shall 
 forfaicte three shillinges a time to the use of the churche, all 
 lawful and necessary impediments excepted. But if a servant 
 in this case shall wilfully ueglecte his Mr's commande he shall 
 suffer bodily punishmente. 
 
 No maide or woman servant, either now resident in the Col- 
 onie or hereafter to come, shall contract herselfe in marriage 
 without either the consente of her parents, or of her Master or 
 Mistress, or of the magistrat and minister of the place both 
 together. And whatsoever minister shall marry or contracte 
 any suche persons without some of the foresaid consentes shalbe 
 subjecte to the severe censure of the Governor and Counsell of 
 Estate. 
 
 Here ende the laioes. 
 
 . . . Captain Henry Spellman was called to the barre 
 to answere to certaine misdemeanors . . . whereupon the 
 General Assembly, having thoroughly heard and considered 
 his speeches [evidence had been taken and defense put in], 
 did constitute the following order [For exposing the colony to 
 disturbance from the Indians by inciting them to disrespect 
 of the government, Spellman was "degraded of his title of 
 Captaine " and " condemned to performe seven yeares service to 
 the Colony "• as an interpreter to the governor.] 
 
 [Provision that every male in the colony over 16 years of 
 age shall be taxed " one pound of the best tobacco " for pay to 
 the officers of the Assembly.] 
 
 *********** 
 
 Thirdly, the General Assembly doth humbly beseech the 
 • . . Treasurer, Counsell and Company that, albeit it belongeth 
 
THE LONDON COMPANY'S "DECLARATION" 63 
 
 to them onely to allowe or to abrogate any lawes which we shall 
 here make . . . yet that it would please them not to take it in 
 ill parte if these lawes ... do passe currant and be of force till 
 suche time as we may knowe their farther pleasure. . . . 
 
 Their last humble suite is that the said Counsell and Company 
 would be pleased, so soon as they shall find it convenient, to 
 make good their pro7ni'se sett doivne at the co)idusion of their 
 commissio)i for establishing the Counsel of Estate and the General 
 Assembly, namely that they give us power to alloive or to disallowe 
 of their orders of Courts, as his Majesty hath given them 2)oiver 
 to alloive or reject our laiccs. 
 
 In sume, Sir George Yeardley, the Governor, prorogued the 
 said general Assembly till the firste of Marche, which is to 
 fall out this present yeare of 1619 [1620. New Style; cf. note, 
 page 44], and in the mean season dissolved the same. 
 
 26. The London Company's "Declaration," June, 1620 
 
 Peter Force's Historical Tracts (Washington, 1844), III, No. 5. 
 
 Sandys resigned his " Treasurership " at the Court of the Company 
 in May, 1620. The statistics of his report, with an enthusiastic general 
 statement to introduce them, were published soon afterward by the 
 Company as " A Declaration of the State of the Colonie and Affaires in 
 Virginia." Sandys' report is now printed in full in the Records of the 
 Company, edited by Susan Kingsbury (Washington, li)00). 
 
 After the many disasters wherewith it pleased Almighty 
 God to suffer the great Enemy of all good Actions to en- 
 counter and interrupt this noble Action for the planting of 
 Virginia with the Christian Religion and English people, 
 it having pleased him now, contrarily, of his especiall great 
 grace, so to blesse and prosper our late carefull endeavors . . . 
 that [the colony] hath as it ^evQ growne to double that height, 
 strength, plenty, and prosperity which it had in former 
 times. . . . We have thought it now the peculiar duety of 
 our place ... to Summon, as it were, by a kiude of loving 
 invitement, the whole body of the Noble and other worthy 
 Adventurors, as well to the . . . perfecting of this happy 
 
64 SELF-GOVERNMENT IN VIRGINIA, 1619-1624 
 
 worke as to the reaping of the fruit of their great expenses 
 and travailes. 
 
 . . . [And first, to remove the effect of slanders upon Virginia, 
 the Company declares] the Countrey is rich, spacious, and well 
 watered; temperate as for the Climate; very healthfull after 
 men are a little accustomed to it ; abounding with all Gods 
 naturall blessings : The Land replenished with the goodliest 
 Woods in the world, and those full of Deere, and other Beasts 
 of sustenance : The Seas and Rivers (whereof many are ex- 
 ceeding faire and navigable) full of excellent Fish, and of 
 all sorts desireable ; both Water and Land yeelding Fowle in 
 very great store and variety : In Summe, a Countrey too good 
 for ill people ; and wee hope reserved by the providence of God 
 for such as shall apply themselves faithfully to his service 
 and be a strength and honour to our King and Nation. . . . 
 
 The rich Furres, Caviary, and Cordage, which we draw 
 from Russia with so great difficulty, are to be had in Virginia, 
 and the parts adjoining, with ease and plenty. The Masts, 
 Planckes, and Boords, the Pitch and Tarre, the Pot-ashes and 
 Sope-ashes, the Hempe and Flax (being the materials of 
 Linnen) which now we fetch from Norway, Denmarke, Poland, 
 and Germany, are there to be had in abundance and great 
 perfection. The Iron, which hath so wasted our English 
 Woods, ^ that it selfe in short time must decay together with 
 them, is to be had in Virginia (where wasting of Woods is a 
 benefit) for all good conditions answerable to the best in the 
 world. The Wines, Fruite, and Salt of France and Spaine, 
 The Silkes of Persia and Italic, will be found also in Virginia, 
 and in no kinde of worth inferior. Wee omit here a multitude 
 of other naturall Commodities, dispersed up and downe the 
 divers parts of the world : of Woods, Rootes, and Berries, for 
 excellent Dyes : Of Plants and other Drugges, for Physicall 
 service : Of sweet Woods, Oyles, and Gummes, for pleasure 
 and other use : Of Cotton- wooll, and Siigar-Canes : all which 
 
 1 Wood was the fuel then used to smelt iron ore. 
 
THE LONDON COMPANY'S "DECLARATION" 65 
 
 may there also be had in abundance, with an infinity of other 
 more: And will conclude with these three, Corne, Cattle, and 
 Fish, which are the substance of the foode of man. The 
 Graines of our Countrey doe prosper there very well : Of 
 VVheate they have great plenty : But their Maze, being the 
 naturall Graine of that Countrey, doth farre exceede in pleas- 
 antnesse, strength, and fertility. The Cattle which we have 
 transported thither (being now growue neere to five hundred) 
 become much bigger of Body then the breed from which they 
 came: The Horses also more beautiful], and fuller of courage. 
 And such is the extraordinary fertility of that Soyle, that the 
 Does of their Deere yeelde two Fawnes at a birth, and some- 
 times three. The Fishings at Cape Codd, being within those 
 Limits, will in plenty of Fish be equall to those of Neivfound 
 Land, and in goodnesse and greatnesse much superiovir. To 
 conclude, it is a Countrey, which nothing but ignorance can 
 thinke ill of, and which no man but of a corrupt minde and 
 ill purpose can defame. 
 
 Now touching the present estate of our Colony in that Coun- 
 try, Wee have thought it not unfit thus much briefly to de- 
 clare. There have beene sent thither this last yeare, and are 
 now presently in going, twelve hundred persons and upward, 
 as particularly appeareth in the note above [below] specified : 
 and there are neere one thousand more remaining of those 
 that were gone before. Tlie men lateh/ sent, have heene most 
 of them chaise men, borne and bred np to labour and industry. 
 Out of Devonshire, about an hundred men, brought up to Hus- 
 bandry. Out of Warivickshire and Staffo)'dshirc, above one hun- 
 dred and ten; and out of iSussex about forty; all framed to 
 Iron-ivorkes : the rest dispersedly out of divers Shires of the 
 Realme. There have been also sundry persons of good quality, 
 much commended for sufficiency, industry and honesty, provided 
 and sent to take charge and government of those people. The 
 care likewise that hath beene taken by directions. Instructions, 
 Charters, and Commissions to reduce the people and affaires 
 in Virgi)iia into a regular course, hath beene such and so 
 
66 SELF-GOVERNMENT IN VIRGINIA, 1619-1624 
 
 great that the Colony beginneth now to have the face and 
 fashion of an orderly State, and such as is likely to grow and 
 prosper. The people are all divided into severall Burroughs ; 
 each man having the shares of Land due to him set out, to 
 hold and enjoy to him and his Heires. The publique Lands 
 for the Company here, for the Governor there, for the College, 
 and for each particular Burrough, for the Ministers also, and 
 for divers other necessary Officers, are likewise laid out by 
 order, and bounded. The particular Plantations for divers 
 private Societies, are settled in their Seates, being allotted 
 to their content, and each in convenient distance. Tlie rigour 
 of Marti all Laiv, ichercivith before they were governed, is reduced 
 tcitliin the limits 2^i'escribed by his Majesty: and the laudable 
 forme of Justice arid government used in this Realme [/s] es- 
 tablished and, folloived as neere as may be. TJie governour is 
 so restrained to a Counseil joyned with him that hee can doe no 
 ivrong to no man who may not have sjyeedy remedy. . . . 
 
 In summe, they [the colonists] are now so full of alacritie and 
 cheerefulnesse, that, in a late generall Assembly, they have, in 
 the name of the Colony, presented their greatest possible 
 thankes to the Company. . . . 
 
 [After enumerating recent grants] 
 
 These and other like Planters, having priority of time, will 
 have priority also in choise of the Seat of their Plantations. 
 Seeing therefore the onely matter of retribution to the Adven- 
 turors, is by a faire proportion of Land to them and their heires ; 
 namely of one hundred acres for every share of twelve pounds 
 and ten shillings, upon a first division ; and as much more upon 
 a second, the first being peopled ; with fiftie acres for every per- 
 son (to be doubled in like manner) which at their owne charges 
 they shall transport to inhabit in Virginia before the 24th day 
 of June 1625 [therefore, quite after the fashion of modern land 
 companies, intending " adventurers " are urged to invest 
 promptly, before the choice land is all taken]. 
 
THE LONDON COMPANY'S "DECLARATION" 67 
 
 Note of the Shipping, Men, and Provisions sent to 
 Virginia, by the Treasurer and Company in the yeere, 1619. 
 
 a. Ships. 
 
 The Bona Nova of 200, Tun sent in August 1619. with 120 persons. 
 
 The Duty, of 70. Tunne, sent in January l(il9. with 51. persons. 
 
 The Jonatha)i, of 850. Tun, sent in February, 1(519. with 200. persons. 
 
 The Trinll, of 200. Tim, .sent in February, 1(519. with 40. persons, 
 and ()0. Kine. 
 
 The Faulcon, of 150. Tun, sent in Fcsbruary, 1019. with .30. persons, 
 and 52. Kine, and 4. Mares. 
 
 The London Merchant, of .300. Tun, sent in Marcli, 1 (5 1 9. with 200. persons. 
 
 The Swan of Barnstable, of 100. Tun, in March, 1(519. with 71. persons. 
 
 The Bonaventure, of 240. Tun, sent in Aprill, 1020. with 153. persons. 
 
 Besides the.se, sent out by the Treasurer and Company, ther have been 
 sennt outt by particularr adventurers fen- private Phuitdtions. 
 
 The Garland, of 25. Tunne, sent in June, 1(519, for Mr. John Ferrars 
 Plantation, with 45. persons. Who are yet deteyned in the Shimmer 
 Islands. 
 
 A Ship of Bristoll, of 80. Tunne, sent in Septeinb. 1(519. for Mr. Bar- 
 kleys Plantation, with 45. persons. 
 
 Ther are allso two Ships in providingo to be shortlie gone, for about 
 300 Personnes more, to be sent by priyvate Adventurers to Virginia. 
 
 Summe 
 
 Summe of the Persons 1261 
 
 Whereof in eight Ships sett out by the 
 
 Treasurer and Company 871 
 
 [The other .390 came in other vessels, not .sent by the Company.] 
 
 Of these [871], there were sent for Publique and other Pious uses these 
 ensuinge. 
 
 Tenants for the governors Land 080 
 
 Tenants for the Companies Land 130 
 
 Tenants for the C^olledge Land 130 
 
 Tenants for the Mynisters gleab Land 050 
 
 Young Maydens to make wives 090 
 
 Boyes to make Apj)rentises 100 
 
 Servants for the Publique 050 
 
 Men sent to beare up the Charge of bringinge 
 
 upp thirty of the Infidles Children in 
 
 true religion and Civilitie 050 
 
 Summe of the Persons for Publiejue use is 650 [680] 
 
68 SELF-GOVERNMENT IN VIRGINIA, 1619-1624 
 
 b. Commodities. 
 
 The Commodities lohich these people are dyrected principally to 
 apply (next to their owne necessary mayntenance) are these ensuinge. 
 
 Iron, for which are sent 150 persons to sett upp three Iron 
 works ; proofe havinge beene made of the extraordinary good- 
 nes of that Ironn. 
 
 Cordage .... 
 
 Pitch and Tarr, Pott Ashes, and Sope Ashes, — for the 
 makinge whereof the Polackers are returned to their workes. 
 
 Timber of all sorts, with Masts, Plankes and Boordes for 
 provision of Shippinge, etc. ; ther beinge not so good Timber 
 for all uses in any one knowne Countrey whatsoever. And 
 for the ease and encrease of divers of these workes, provision 
 is sent of men and materiales for the settinge upp of Sundry 
 Sawinge Mills. 
 
 SiLKE : for which that Country is exceedinge proper, haveing 
 innumerable store of Mulberie Trees of the best, and some 
 Silke-wormes naturally found upon them [caterpillars ?] pro- 
 ducing excellent Silke : some whereof is to be scene. For the 
 setting lip of which Commoditie, his Majesty hath beene 
 grationslie pleased now the second time (the former haveing 
 miscarried) to bestowe nppon. the Company plenty of Silke- 
 wormes seed of his owne store, being the best. 
 
 Vines : whereof the Countrey yeeldeth naturally greate 
 store, and of sundry sorts : which by Culture wilbe brought 
 to excellent perfection. For the effectinge whereof, divers 
 skillful Viqnerons are sent, with store allso from hence of Vine 
 plantes of the best sort. 
 
 Salt : which workes haveinge been lately suffered to decay, 
 are now ordered to be sett upp in so great plenty, as not onely 
 to serve the Collony for the present ; but as is hoped in short 
 time allso the great Fishinge on those Coastes. 
 
 For the followinge, workinge, and perfectinge of these 
 Commodities, all provisions necessary for the present are sent 
 in good aboundance. As likewise the people that goe, are 
 
THE LONDON COMPANY'S "DECLARATION" 69 
 
 plentifully furnished with Apparell, Beddinge, Victuall for 
 sixe moneths : Implements both for House and labour, Armour, 
 weapons, tooles, and sundry other necessaries. And a supply 
 of Armour, Powder, and many necessary provisions is made 
 for those of the Colonic which were there before ; yet without 
 any prejudice to the former Magazine. 
 
 o. Gifts.' 
 
 Tliere have beene given to the Collonie this yeere, by Devoute 
 Persons, these guifts ensuinge. 
 
 Two Persons, unknowne, have given faire Plate and other 
 rich Ornaments for two Communion Tables ; whereof one for 
 the Colledge, and the other for the Church of Mistress Mary 
 Robinson's foundinge : who in the former yeere by her Will 
 gave 200. pounds towards the foundinge of a Church in Virginia. 
 
 Another unknowne person ^ (together with a goodly letter) 
 hath lately sent to the Treasurer 550. pounds in gold, for the 
 bringing up of Children of the Infidels : first in the Knowledge 
 of God and true Religion ; and next, in fitt Trades whereby 
 honestly to live. 
 
 Master Nicolas Ferrar deceased, hath by his Will given 300. 
 pounds to the College in Virginia, to be paid, when there 
 shall be ten of the Infidels children placed in it. And in the 
 meane time foure and twenty pounds by yeere, to be distrib- 
 uted unto three discreet and Godlie men in the Colony, which 
 shall honestly bring up three of the Infidels children in Chris- 
 tian Religion, and some good course to live by. 
 
 An unnamed person seut to the Treasurer the summe of ten 
 pounds, for advancing the Plantation.^ 
 
 1 This part of the appendix to the Declaration is taken from Sir Edwin 
 Sandys' report in May, and liis wording is followed here {Records, I, 353, 354). 
 It is plain that such gifts were made because the Company had the char- 
 acter of a foreign missionary society. 
 
 2 This person in his letter to the Company signs himself " Dust and Ashes," 
 and, in a later communication, " D.& A." 
 
 2 The entry in the Records of the Company (I, 335) speaks of this gift " for 
 some good uses in Virginia." 
 
 In 1622, " a person not willinge as yet to be knowue " sent £ 25 " to helpe 
 
70 SELF-GOVERNMENT IN VIRGINIA, 1619-1624 
 
 27. The Ordinance of 162 1 for Virginia 
 
 Stith's History of Virginia, App. IV ; Hening's Statutes, I, 110 ff. 
 
 The Becords of the Virginia Assembly of 1619 (see No. 25 above) show 
 that the London Company had given to the settlers a " great charter." No 
 copy of it exists ; but apparently its political features were repeated in 
 this document, issued by the Company July 21:/Aug. 3, 1621, on the ap- 
 pointment of a new governor. This great Ordinance has sometimes been 
 called, mistakenly. The First Charter to the Virginian Colonists. It is 
 the second such charter. Cf. American History and Government, § 30. 
 
 An Ordinance and Constitution of the Treasurer, Council, and 
 Company in England, for a Council of State and General As- 
 sembly. 
 
 I. — To all People, to whom these Presents shall come, be 
 seen, or heard, The Treasurer, Council, and Company of Ad- 
 venturers and Planters for the city of London for the first 
 Colony of Virginia send Greeting. Know ye, that we, the 
 said Treasurer, Council, and Company, taking into our Con- 
 sideration the present State of the said Colony of Virginia, and 
 intending, by the Divine Assistance, to settle such a Form of 
 Government there, as may be to the greatest Benefit and Com- 
 fort of the People, and whereby all Injustice, Grievances, and 
 Oppression may be prevented and kept off as much as possible 
 from the said Colony, have thought fit to make our Entrance, 
 by ordering and establishing such Supreme Councils as may 
 not only be assisting to the Governor for the time being, in the 
 Administration of Justice, and the Executing of other Duties 
 to this Office belonging, but also, by their vigilant Care and 
 and Prudence, may provide as well for a Remedy of all In- 
 conveniences, growing from time to time, as also for the ad- 
 vancing of Increase, Strength, Stability, and Prosperity of the 
 said Colony : 
 
 forward the ' East ludia ' Schools." I cuimt up twelve entries of such gifts in 
 three years' Records. lu 1623 the Company reported that in the past four years 
 there had been contributed " towards the forwardinge of this glorious Worke, 
 . . . presents to the value of fifteen hundred pounds, by zealous and devoute 
 Persons, most of them refusing to be named." 
 
THE ORDINANCE OF 1621 FOR VIRGINIA 71 
 
 II. — We therefore, the said Treasurer, Council, and Com- 
 pany, by Authority directed to us from his Majesty under the 
 Great Seal [section xiii of the Second Charter; p. 40 above], 
 upon Mature Deliberation, do hereby order and declare, that, 
 from hence forward, there shall be Two Supreme Councils in 
 Virginia, for the better Government of the said Colony aforesaid. 
 
 III. — The one of which Councils, to be called The Council 
 OF State (and whose Office shall chiefly be assisting, with their 
 Care, Advice, and Circumspection, to the said Governor) shall 
 be chosen, nominated, placed, and displaced, from time to time, 
 by Us, the said Treasurer, Council, and Company, and our Suc- 
 cessors : Which Council of State shall consist, for the present, 
 only of these persons, as are here inserted, viz. Sir Francis 
 Wi/at, Governor of Virginia, Captain Francis West, Sir George 
 Yeardley, Knight, Sir WUliani Neuce, Knight Marshal of Vir- 
 ginia, Mr. George Sandys, Treasurer, Mr. George Thorpe, Dep- 
 uty of the College, Captain Tliomas Neuce, Deputy for the 
 Compan}^, ]\Ir. Paidet, Mr. Leech, Captain Nathaniel Powel, 
 Mr. Christopher Davison, Secretary, Dr. Pots, Physician to the 
 Company, Mr. Roger Smith, Mr. John Berkeley, Mr. John 
 Rolfe, ]\Ir. Ralph Ilamer, Mr. John Pountis, Mr. Michael Lap- 
 loorth, Mr. i/anoood, Mr. Samuel Macock. Which said Counsel- 
 lors and Council we earnestly pray and desire, and in his Maj- 
 esty's Name strictly charge and command, that (all Factions, Par- 
 tialities, and sinister Respect laid aside) they bend their Care and 
 Endeavours to assist the said Governor ; first and principally, in 
 the Advancement of the Honour and Service of God, and the 
 Enlargement of his Kingdom amongst the Heathen People ; 
 and next, in erecting of the said Colony in due Obedience to 
 his Majesty, and all lawful Authority from his Majesty's Di- 
 rections ; and lastly, in maintaining the said People in Justice 
 and C/?rtsi/cm Conversation amongst themselves, and in Strength 
 and Ability to withstand their Enemies. And this Council to 
 be always, or for the most Part, residing about or near the 
 Governor. 
 
 IV. — The other Council, more generally to be called by the 
 
72 SELF-OOVERNMEXT I>: VIRGINIA. 1619-1624 
 
 Governor once Yearly, and no oftener but for very extraordi- 
 nary and important Occasions, shall consist, for the present, of 
 the said Council of State, and of two Burgesses out of every 
 Town, Hundred, or other particular Plantation, to be respec- 
 tively chosen by the Inhabitants : Which Council shall be called 
 The General Assembly, wherein (as also in the said Council 
 of State) all Matters shall be decided, determined, and ordered, 
 by the greater Part of the Voices then present ; reserving to 
 the Governor always a Negative Yoice. And this General As- 
 sembly shall ha%"e free Power to treat, consult, and conclude, 
 as well of all emergent Occasions concerning the Publick Weal 
 of the said Colony and every Part thereof, as also to make, or- 
 dain, and enact such general Laws and Orders for the Behoof 
 of the said Colony, and the good Government thereof, as shall, 
 from time to time, appear necessary or requisite ; 
 
 V. — Whereas in all other Things, we require the said Gen- 
 eral Assembly, as also the said Council of State, to imitate and 
 follow the Policy of the Form of Government, Laws, Customs, 
 and Manner of Trial, and other Administration of Justice, used 
 in the Eealm of England, as near as may be, even as ourselves, 
 by his ^lajesty's Letters Patent are required. 
 
 VI. — Provided, that no Law or Ordinance, made in the 
 said General Assembly, shall be or continue in Force or Va- 
 lidity, unless the same shall be solemnly ratified and confirmed 
 in a General Quarter Court of the said Company here in Eng- 
 land, and so ratified, be returned to them under our Seal; It 
 being our Intent to afford the like Measure also unto the said 
 Colony, that after the Government of the said Colony shall 
 once have been well framed, and settled accordingly, which is 
 to be done by Us, as by Authority derived from his Majesty, 
 and the same shall have been so by us declared, no Orders of 
 Court afterwards shall bind the said Colony, unless they be 
 ratified in like Planner in the General Assemblies ^ . . . 
 
 1 Such a promise iu the preceding "great charter " is plainly referred to in 
 the "last humble suite " of the Assembly of 1619 ; see p. 63 above. 
 
KOYAL ATTEMPTS TO CONTROL THE COMPANY 73 
 
 28. Royal Attempts to Control the Company. 1620-1622 
 
 Eecordsofthe Vinjinia Compauij, 1 aiul II, uiulor dates given. Tliose 
 Kocoitls wero tirst published in full in li>08 by the Govenunent Printing 
 Office at Washington. For a brief outline of the history, with refer- 
 ences to some otlier source nuuerial, cf. American Ht\'!(onj and Govern- 
 ment, § o'2. 
 
 {!) A Quarter Courte held for ]^irginia at Mr Fcrrars in St 
 Sithes Lane the 17th of Mai/ 16:J0. 
 
 Present — [The list includes 172 names witli the addenda "and many 
 others." The tii-st eight named were Lords ; the next tliirty, Icnights.] 
 
 Uppon request of some of the geuerallytie itt was ordered 
 that frouie hence forth before the Company jiroceed to tlie 
 ohoyee of their Othoers the Chapter or title of election \_i.e., 
 the company's rules regarding elections] shall allwaies be red 
 before. 
 
 Imeadiately after, and before they proceeded in any buisines, 
 one mr Kerkham agent, sent from the King, presented himselfe 
 to the boord luid signified to the Courte that his JNIajestie, 
 \inderstandinge of the Eleccion of their Treasurer, Avhich 
 they intended this day to make choyce of, out of an especiall 
 care and respect hee hath to that Plaiitacion, hath required 
 him to nominate unto them ffower, oiitt of which his pleasure 
 is the Company should make choyce of one to be their Treas- 
 urer; That was, Sir Thomas Smith, Sir Thomas Koe, Mr. 
 Alderman Johnson, and Mr. IVIauvice Abbott, and noe other. 
 
 These buisines beinge thus ordered mr Treasurer accord- 
 inge to the standing Lawes of the Company before tlie give- 
 inge upp of his place proceeded to declare unto this Courte 
 the State of the Colony together with the Supplies of this 
 yeare, and tlie present State of the Treasury, how both hee 
 found itt and now should leave itt. [See No. 26 above.] 
 
 Lastly hee concluded with his respective thanks, first to the 
 Company in generall for their love in cliosiuge him, and then 
 
74 SELF-GOVERNMENT IN VIRGINIA, l'619-1624 
 
 particularly to the Lords for their so frequent presence to 
 the graceinge of the Courte and great assistance in the buisi- 
 nes; to the Officers for their faythfull joyninge with him 
 in the supportinge of his burthen ; and againe to the Courte 
 in generall for their patience in bearringe with his unwillinge 
 errors and other naturall intirinities. So deliveringe upp 
 his Office togeather with the Sealls, hee desyred the Courte 
 to proceed in Eleccion of their Treasurer, accordinge to the 
 message lately receaved from his Majesty : and theruppon 
 withdrew himselfe out of the Courte. 
 
 Uppon which this great and generall Courte found them- 
 selves uppon a deliberate consideracion of the matter att an 
 exceedinge pinch: for if they should not doe as the Kinge 
 had commaunded they might incurre suspicion of defect in 
 poynte of duety, — from which they protested they were and 
 would be free; on the other side, if they should proceed ac- 
 cordinge to the lymitts of that message they suffered a greate 
 breach into their Frevyledge of free Eleccion graunted to 
 them by his jNIajestys letters Fattents, which they held fitt 
 rather to lay downe with all dutie and submission att his 
 Majesties ffeet then to be depryved of their pryveledge. And 
 theruppon perusing the said letters Pattents, after longe 
 arguinge and debatinge, itt was concluded by generall erec- 
 cion of hands, that the eleccion might and should be ad- 
 journed to the next Quarter Courte notwithstanding any order 
 made by the Company to the contrarie. 
 
 Wheruppon forasmuch as itt manyfestly appeared that his 
 Majestic hadd beene much misinformed of the menaginge 
 of their buisines this last yeare, Itt was agreed accordinge 
 to the opynion aforesaide that the day of Eleccon should be 
 putt of till the next generall Courte some six weeks hence 
 in Midsomer Tearme, and till they understood the Kings 
 farther pleasure, And in the intrym they humbly entreated 
 the Right Honorable the Lord of Southampton, Vyscount 
 Doncaster, The Lord Cavendish, the Lord Sheffield, Sir John 
 Davers, Sir Nicholas Tufton, Sir Lawrence Hide, mr Chris- 
 
ROYAL ATTEMPTS TO CONTROL THE COMPANY 75 
 
 topher Brook, mr Gibbes, inr Herbert, mr Keightley, and mr 
 Cranmer to meet uppou ffryday morninge att Southampton 
 house to determine of an humble answere unto his Majesties 
 message and to deliver to him a true informaccon as well of 
 the former as of this latter years governnient of the buisines 
 for Virginia, beseechinge allso that his Majestie would be 
 pleased not to take from them the Pryveledge of their letters 
 Pattents, butt that itt might be in their owne choyce to have 
 free eleccion, 
 
 Uppon which, till his Majesties pleasure were knowne, Sir 
 Edwin Sand3-s, after much and ernest refusall, att length 
 uppon ernest request of the whole Courte hee yeilded to sett 
 down in his former place, yett forbearinge to receave the 
 Seales againe or to putt any thinge to Question ; and all other 
 Officers were likewise continued till the same time. 
 
 (2) A Great and Generall Quarter Coicrte helde in the aftemoone 
 at Mr. Ferrars House. 28th July 1620. 
 
 The Earle of Southampton acquainted this Courte that him- 
 selfe with the rest of the Lords and gentlemen requested ther- 
 unto by the last Quarter Courte had presented their humble 
 desires unto his Majestie for the free eleccon of their Treasurer, 
 wheruuto his Majestie had most gratiously condiscented, sig- 
 nyfyinge unto them that it would be pleasinge to him they 
 made choyce of such a one as might att all times and occasions 
 have free accesse unto his royall personn. And further declar- 
 inge that itt was the mistakinge of the messenger, haveiuge not 
 receaved his message inieadiately from his owne royall mouth, 
 to exclud them from the libertie of choosinge any butt the 
 fower nominated, whom his Majesties intent was indeed to rec- 
 ommend butt not so as to barr the Company from the choyse 
 of any other. 
 
 Wheruppon the wholl Courte rendred to his Majestie all 
 humble thanks and ordered that by writinge itt should be sig- 
 nified unto his Majestie: 
 
76 self-CtOverx:mext ix virgixia. 1019-1624 
 
 Then mr Herbert delivered unto the Company that wheras 
 by some distractions and discentions in the Company the buisi- 
 nes much suffered in the reputaccon and otherwise, they should 
 now think uppon some Person of such worth and authoritie as 
 might give full remedie therunto, which since itt could not be 
 performed by the late Treasurer a man of that greate habilitie 
 and sufficieucie together with his Industrie and integritie as of 
 his ranke ther could not be found any to passe him, there was 
 now lefte noe hope except itt might please some of those Hon- 
 orable personages [Lords] then present to vouchsalfe to accept 
 of the place, who b}' adiccon of Xobilitie might effect that 
 which others by meere habillytie could not doe. 
 
 Which moccon beinge exceediuglie approved, the whole 
 Courte imeadiately with much joy and applause nominated the 
 Earle of Southampton, with much ernestnes beseechiuge his 
 Lordship that for the redeeminge of this Xoble Plantaccon and 
 Company from the ruines that seemed to hange over itt hee 
 would vouchsaffe to accept of the place of Treasurer. 
 
 Which itt pleased him after some finale pause in fine to doe 
 in very noble manner out of the worthie love and atfeccon that 
 hee bare to the Plantaccon. And the Courte in testimoniall of 
 their bounden thankfullnes and of the great honoure and re- 
 spect they ought him. did resolve to surcease the baUatinge box: 
 and without nominaccon of any other, by ereccon of hands, his 
 Lordship was chosen Treasurer and tooke his Oath. Which 
 done, his Lordship desyred the Company that they would all 
 putt on the same myndes with which hee hadd accepted that 
 place. 
 
 (3) At a great and generall Quarter Courte held for Virginia in 
 the Afternoone the 22 of May 1622. 
 
 Imediately after these things were thus ordered, as the Court 
 were proceedinge after their accustomed manner to the eleccon 
 of their Treasurer Deputy and other Officers for this present 
 yeare accordinge to the direccon of his Majesties Letters 
 Patents, mr Alderman Hamersly rose upp and havinge first ex- 
 
ROYAL ATTEMPTS TO CONTROL THE COMPANY 77 
 
 cused his seldorae coinminge to Courts by reason of the Officers 
 negligent warninge of him, he said That himselfe and mr Bell 
 were both coniinaunded by mr Secretary Calvert to deliver a 
 ^[essage in his ^NEajesties name unto this Court, namely to sig- 
 uifie, that although it was not his ^Eajesties desire to infringe 
 their liberty of free elleccon yet it would be pleasing unto him, 
 if they made choise for Treasuror and Deputy any of those 
 gentlemen (commended for their Sufficiency), whose names 
 were mencioned in the paper nowe presented in open Court 
 which were these that followe vizt. [The names of five gentle- 
 men nominated by the King for Treasurer, and tive more for 
 Deputy.] . . . 
 
 ]\[r Bell, beinge also entreated to deliver the Message he had 
 receaved from mr Secretary Calvert, said that he was not pres- 
 ent when mr Secretary Calvert imparted this Message to mr 
 Alderman Hamersley, but that there came' a ^Messenger to him 
 over night to require him to attend mr Secretary Calvert at 
 his Chamber; and beinge there, mr Secretary told him that his 
 ^Majestic commaunded him to siguifie his pleasure that out of 
 his good wishes (for the good of the Company and the Planta- 
 tion) he had recommended to this Court certaine Gentlemen 
 (named in the paper nowe presented) if the Company so 
 thought good : But it was not his meaning to infringe the lib- 
 erty of their free choise ; And beinge desirous to have had his 
 Message in writinge, mr Secretary said it needed not for it was 
 but short. 
 
 Both which ^Messages agreeing in substance, and beinge a 
 full remonstrance of his Majesties well wishing unto the Planta- 
 tion and of his graceous meaninge not to infringe the priviledge of 
 the Companie and liberty of their free eleccon, was receaved with 
 great love and contentment of the whole Court; and therupon 
 proceedinge to the eleccon of their Treasuror (for which onely 
 three by the orders of the Company could stand). It was gen- 
 erally agreed that out of the five formerly proposed by his 
 Majestic for Treasuror, choise should be made of two of them 
 to stand in eleccon with one that the Companie should name : 
 
78 SELF-GOVERNMENT IN VIRGINIA, 1619-1624 
 
 Wherupon tlie former tive beinge severally put to the question, 
 it appeared by ereccon of most hands that mv Clethero and mr 
 Hanford were to stand for it : Then the Companie named the 
 Lord of Southampton ; who beinge all three accordingly ballated, 
 the place fell to the Lord of Southampton by havinge 117 balls, 
 mr Clethero 13 and mr Hanford 7. In like manner out of the 
 tive formerly named by his Majestic for Deputy, by ereccion of 
 most hands, mr Leat and mr Bateman were to stand for it ; unto 
 Avhome the Companie havinge added mr Nicholas ffarrer, they 
 were all three put to the Ballatinge Boxe, and thereupon choise 
 was made of mr Nicholas ffarar by havinge 103, mr Bateman 
 10 : and mr Leate 5. 
 
 Itt beinge moved that there might be some presentaccon of 
 the Companies humble thankfuHnes unto his Majestic in re- 
 spect of the graceous Message formerly delivered, after some 
 deliberaccon had thereuppon, the Court conceaved it fitt to be 
 sett downe in these words (vizt) That the Lord Cavendish the 
 Lord Padgett, the Lord Haughton are humbly requested by 
 the Court to present their most humble thanks to his Majestie 
 for his graceous reiuembrance and good wishes to their affaires 
 out of which he was graceously pleased to recommend certaine 
 persons for Treasurer and Deputy if they so thought litt, but 
 without any infringement of their liberty of free eleccon ; and 
 they were further humbly requested to signify and testifie unto 
 his ISlajestie the great respect and reverence wherewith his 
 message was receaved and howe in conformity thereunto, al- 
 though they had formerly accordinge to their custome in their 
 Braeparative Court nominated the Earle of Southampton for 
 Treasurer, yet out of the persons recommended by his JVIajestie 
 they choose fower who had most voices and put them in elec- 
 con with two nominated by the Company, — upon whom the 
 places were conferred by an unanimous consent of the Com- 
 pany, havinge founde the Plantation to prosper every of these 
 three last yeares more then in ten before, and [more] found to 
 
ROYAL ATTEMPTS TO CONTROL THE COMPxVNY 79 
 
 have bin donn with Ten thousand pounds, then formerly with 
 fower score thousand, . . . 
 
 [The language of the Records, of course, is decorous and courtly ; but 
 the student ought to be able to see a certain grim humor along with the 
 steadfast determination not to permit royal usurpation. The Ferrars' 
 Papers report that, when this last communication was delivered to the 
 King, he "flung away in a furious passion," — not unnaturally. Some 
 of the other episodes in this connection told in those papers are given in 
 AviericADi History and (Tovernment.] 
 
V. A EOYAL PROVINCE 
 
 {Representative Government in Danger) 
 
 29. The Royal Commission of 1624 for the First Royal Governor 
 
 in Virginia 
 
 Hazard's State Papers (1792), I, 180 ff. The first part of the extract 
 here given presents King James' view of recent troubles with the Virginia 
 Company. 
 
 . . . And whereas Wee, out of our zeal and affection to the 
 furthering of the said Plantations, having still a watchfull 
 and carefull eye to the same, and finding the courses taken for 
 the setling thereof, had not taken the good effect which Wee 
 intended and so much desired, did, by our Commission lately 
 graunted to certaine Persons of Qualitie and Trust, cause the 
 state of the said country of Virginia be to examined how it 
 stood, as well in point of livelihood as government ; ... to 
 the end, yf good cause were. Wee might by our royall hand, 
 supply what should be defective. And whereas our Commis- 
 sioners, after much care and paines expended in execution of 
 our said Commissions, did certifie us, that our Subjects and 
 People sent to inhabite there, and to plant themselves in that 
 country, were most of them by God's visitations, sickness of 
 bodie, famine, and by massacres of them by the native savages 
 of the land, dead and deceased, and those that were living of 
 them lived in necessitie and want, and in danger by the Sav- 
 ages : but the Country, for any thing appeared to the said Com- 
 missioners to the contrary, they conceaved to be fruitfull and 
 healthfull after our People had been some time there ; and 
 that if industry were used it would produce divers good and 
 staple Commodities, though in the sixteene years government 
 past, it had yealded fewe or none ; . . . and that yf our first 
 
 80 
 
THE ROYAL COMMISSION OF 1624 81 
 
 graunt herein mentioned, and our most prudent and princely 
 instructions given in the beginning of the Plantation, for the 
 direction of the affaires thereof . . . had bin pursued, much 
 better effect had bin produced than had bin by the alteration 
 thereof, into soe popular [democratic] a course . . . : Whereupon 
 Wee entring into mature and deliberate consideration of the 
 premisses, did, by the advise of the Lords of our Privie Coun- 
 sell, resolve, by altering the Charters of the said Company, as 
 to the point of government wherein the* same might be found 
 defective, to settle such a course as might best secure the 
 safetie of the People there, and cause the said Plantation to 
 flourish, and yet with the preservation of the interest of every 
 Planter or Adventurei', soe far forth as their present interests 
 shall not prejudice the publique Plantations; But because the 
 said Treasurer and Company did not submitt their Charters to 
 be reformed, our proceedings therein were stayed for a tyme, 
 untill, uppon a Quo Warranto ... by due course of Lawe, the 
 said charters were avoyded ; [And whereas the King intends 
 to prepare another charter, and in the interval, by a commis- 
 sion of July 15, 1629, has established a supervising council 
 in England for the Colony (composed of members of the Privy 
 Council), now, according to advice from this council] . . . un- 
 till some other constant . . . course be resolved upon . . . 
 Knowe yee . . . that Wee reposing assured trust and confi- 
 dence in the understanding, care, fidelitie, experience, and 
 circumspection of you, . . . Sir Francis Wyatt, Prancis West, 
 Sir George Yardeley, George Sandys, Roger Smith, Ralph 
 Hamor, John Martin, John Harvy, Samuell Mathews, Abra- 
 ham Perrey, Isaacke Madison, and William Clayborne, have 
 nominated and assigned, and do hereby nomynate and assigne 
 you the said' Sir Francis Wyatt, to bee the present Governor, 
 and you the said Francis West, Sir George Yardeley, and the 
 rest before mentioned, to be our present Couneell of and for 
 the said Colonye and Plantation in Virginia: Giving and 
 granting unto you, and the greater nomber of you, by theis 
 presents respectively, full power and authoritie to performe 
 
82 A ROYAL PROVINCE 
 
 and execute the places, powers, and authorities incident to a 
 Governor and Councell in Virginm, respectively, and to direct 
 and governe, correct and punish our Subjects nowe inhabiting 
 or being, or which hereafter shall inhabite or be in Virginia, 
 or in any the Isles, portes, havens, creaks, or territories thereof, 
 either in tyme of peace or warre, and to order and direct the 
 affaires touching or concerning that Colonie or Plantation in 
 those forraigne partes onely ;^ and [to] doe, execute and performe 
 all and every other matters and things concerning that Plantation, 
 as fullye and amplye as any Governor and Councell resident 
 there, at any tyme loithin the space of five yeares now last imst 
 . . . Nevertheless, our will and pleasure is, that yee proceed 
 thei-ein according to such instructions as yee, or such of you 
 as have bene heretofore of our Councell there, have received, 
 or according to such instructions as you shall hereafter receave 
 from Us, or our Commissioners here. . . . And lastly, our will 
 and pleasure is, that this our commission shall continue in 
 force untill such tyme as Wee by some other writing under 
 our Signett, privie Scale, or greate Seale, shall signify our 
 pleasure to the contrary. . . . 
 
 30. Yeardley's Commission from Charles I, March 4/14, 1624/5 
 
 Hazard's StMe Papers (1792), I, 230-234, This commission, so far 
 as concerns the powers of the governor, followed the commission given 
 in No. 29 above. Cf. A7nerican History and Government, § 34. 
 
 [The King, Charles I,] reposing assured Truste and Confi- 
 dence in the Understanding, Care, Fidelitie, Experience, and 
 Circumspection of you the said Sir George Yardeley, Francis 
 West, John Hervey, George Sandys, John Pott, Roger Smith, 
 Ralph Hamor, Samuell Mattheivs, Abraham Percey, William 
 Clayborne, William Tucker, Jabes Whitaores, Edward Blaney, 
 and William Farrar, have nominated and assigned . . . you the 
 said Sir George Tardeley, to be the present Governour, and you 
 
 1 The English Council, previously named, remained in supreme charge in 
 England. 
 
THE COLONY FAVORS THE POLICY OF COMPANY 83 
 
 the said John Harvey, and the rest before mentioned to be the 
 present Councell of and for the said Collony and Plantation in 
 Virginia, giveing . . . nnto you full Power and authority to 
 performe and execute the Places, Powers, and Authorities 
 incident to a Governour and Councell of Virginia respectively ; 
 and to direct andgoverne, correct and punish our Subjects . . . 
 in Virginia, eyther in tyme of Peace or AVarr ; and to order 
 and direct the Affaires touching or concerneing that Collony or 
 Plantation in those forreigne parts only ; and to execute and 
 performe all and every other Matters and Things concerneing 
 that Plantation, as full)/ and amply as any GovernoHr and Coiin- 
 cell resident there, at ante time tvithin the Space of Fioe Years 
 now last past, had or might performe or execute: . . . 
 
 [^Observe that there is no reference to the Assembly in this document or 
 in the preceding one.] 
 
 31. The Colony favors the Policy of the Company 
 
 a. TJie Assembly enacts a precautionary " Bill of Bights," 
 March, 1624 
 
 Hening's Statutes at Large, being a Collection of the Laws of Virginia^ 
 (1823). Cf. American History and Government, § 34. 
 
 It had become apparent that the King was about to destroy the Com- 
 pany and take over the colony. This Assembly enacted some thirty brief 
 statues. Three are of interest in this connection. 
 
 8. — That the Governor shall not lay any taxes or ympositions 
 upon the colony their lands or comodities other way than by the 
 authority of the General Assembly, to be levyed and ymployed 
 as the said Assembly shall appoyyit} 
 
 9. — The governor shall not withdraw the inhabitants from 
 their private labors to any service of his own upon any colour 
 whatsoever; and in case the publick service require yimploy- 
 ments of many hands before the holding a General Assemblie 
 to give order for the same, in that case the levying of men shall 
 be done by order of the governor and whole body of the coun- 
 
 1 Thi.s law was reenacted in the same words in 1632 and 1042. 
 
84 A ROYAL PROVINCE 
 
 sell, and that in such sorte as to be least burthensome to the 
 people and most free from partiality. 
 
 11. — That no burgesses of the General Assembly shall be 
 arrested during the time of the assembly, a week before and a 
 week after, upon pain of the creditors forfeiture of his debt 
 and such punishment upon the officer as the court shall award. ^ 
 
 b. Requests for Aid {and, indirectly, for an Assembly) 
 
 (1) Letter from Governor and Council to the Special Commission 
 mentioned in No. 29 above. 
 
 Aspinwall Papers, in Massachusetts Historical Society Collections, 
 4th series, IX, 74-81. About a third of the letter is given here. 
 
 Right Honorable, — .... 
 
 Nothing hath bine longe more earnestly desired then the 
 setling of the affaires of the Collony, as well for the govern- 
 ment as other wayes, neither could ther have bine a greater 
 incouragement to the Planter then to understand it to bee his 
 Majesties gratious pleasure that no person of whom they have 
 heretofore justlie complayned should have any hand in the 
 government, either here or their [in Virginia or in England]. 
 And wee humbly desire your Lordshipps to solicitt his Maj- 
 estic (if it bee not alreadie done) for the speedie accomplish- 
 ment thereof, the rather because the Governors necessary 
 occasions require his present retourne [to England]. 
 
 His Majesties gratious assurance that every man shall have 
 his perticuler right preserved and inlarged, with Addicion of 
 reasonable imunities, wilbe a singular meanes of inviting many 
 people hither, and setling themselves here . . . 
 
 Those greate important workes of suppressing the Indians, 
 discoveries by sea and land, and Fortificacion against a forren 
 enemy, that they may be thoroughly and effectually performed, 
 will require no less numbers then Five hundred soldiers, to 
 bee yearely sent over, for Certaine yeares, with a full yeares 
 
 1 This immunity is copied from that of members of tlie English Parliament 
 for some centuries preceding. 
 
THE COLONY DESIRES AN ASSEMBLY 85 
 
 provision of Victuall, aparrell, amies, Munition, tooles, and 
 all necessaries, to which Worthie designes the Collony wilbe 
 alwayes readie to yeald ther best furtherance and assistance, 
 as they have bine very forward since the Massacre, notAvith- 
 standing ther great losse then sustayned. And wee Conceive 
 soe great expence, will have the better successe, if the ordering 
 therof be refered to the Governor and Counsell here residing, 
 with the advise (in speciall Cases) of the Generall Assembly. Both 
 Concerning this, and alother things which may Conduce to the 
 setling of the Plantacion, wee have formerly given your Lord- 
 shipps Advertisement, in the generall Assemblies answere to 
 the ffowre propositions propounded by your Lordshipps to the 
 Commissioners sent hither, and wee doubt not but Sir George 
 Yardly hath given your Lordshipps full information of all 
 things necessary. . . . 
 
 Your Lordshipps very humble Servants, 
 
 Fkancis Wyatt. 
 
 Francis West. 
 
 Raphe Hamor. 
 
 Roger Smith. 
 
 Abraham Persey. 
 
 William Claybourne. 
 James Cittie the 6th. of Aprill, 1626. 
 
 (2) The Same to the Same, May 17, 1626. 
 
 Virginia Magazine of History, II, 50-55. An abstract is printed 
 in the Colonial State Papers. 
 
 But the groundwork of all is, that their bee a sufficient 
 publique stock to goe through with soe greate a worke, which 
 wee cannot compute to bee lesse then £20,000 a yeare, certaine 
 for some yeares ; for by itt must be mainetained the governer 
 and counsell and other officers here, the forrest wonne and 
 stockt with cattle, fortifications raysed, a running armye 
 mainetayned, discoveries made by Sea and land, and all other 
 things requisitt in soe mainefould a business. And because 
 
86 A ROYAL PROVINCE 
 
 [of the difficulty of admiuisteriug such sums wisely from 
 Eugland], wee humbly desire that a good prv>jK>rcioii thereof 
 may bee whoUie att the disposall of the governer, Counsell, 
 and genertiU Assembi^ in Vtr^inia. . . . 
 
 SS. Royal Restoration of the Virginia Assembly. 1629 
 
 a. ffari'Ti/'s Propositions TiHu'hing' J'irginia ^icithaut 
 tfate ; 16^9^ 
 
 MrgiHta JUagasime o/iKsl<»ry, VII, 369. 
 
 For explanation, see Ame-ricau Hisiiyrii ttud Oov^THM^Nf^ § 34. Sir 
 John HarveT had been appoititevl governor a few months befoie, with a 
 
 commission tcMch v^tuie ho metitioH of an -lss«"w*Wy. The extract is 
 Xo. 3 of the seven *■' prv>po<sitions *' sabuiitte^i by him 10 King Charles. 
 
 2. That his Ma[jes]tie wilbe pleased gratiously to extend his 
 favour to the planters, for a new confirmation of their lands 
 and goods by charter under the great seale of England, and 
 therein to authorize the Lorvis to consider what is fitt to be 
 done for the ratifying of the privileges formerly granted, and 
 hoiding of a generai assembly, to be called by the Governor 
 upon necessary occasions, therein to propound laws and onlers 
 for the gvxxl government of the people ; and for that it is most 
 reasonable that his ma[jes]ties subjects should be governed only 
 by such laws as shall have their originall from his ma[jes]ties 
 royall approbation, it be therefore so ordered that those laws, 
 so there made, only stand as propositions, until his ma[jes]tie 
 shalbe pleased, \mder his great seal or privy seal, or by the 
 Lords of his noble privy council, to ratify the same. 
 
 b. Certain^ .Jfisiceirs ihi/ Charles JD to Capt. ffarvey^'s 
 Proposico7ts Tottchin^ I'irginia 
 Tirgima Magasitt^ of liRsJory. VII. S70. 
 
 2. The sett[l]ing of Lauds and goods and privile^s is to be 
 done here, and may be done by calling in the former books and 
 charters at a convenient time. Bnt the governor matt b«f 
 anthorized i^ortly after hhJirM wmiu^ into Virgima to ttdl a 
 
TTTE ASSKMRI.Y KKSTORKD S7 
 
 ^rand as^mbii/ and the)y to .svf doicn an establishment of the 
 Goi'ernment, and oniaine hues and oniers for the good thei-eof, 
 and those to send hither to receive iUlowauee [i.e,, to be rati- 
 fied] ; and such as shall be soe allo-vv<?d to W returned thither 
 under the gi-eat seal and put in execution, the same to bo 
 temporary and chanireable at his ma[jes]ties pleasure, signified 
 under the like great seal. 
 
 [This is the formal rv>storation of the Virginia Assembly. The meet" 
 lug in lt>2^ had Wen with special sanction fivr that iv»rticular occasion.] 
 
 <•. »i.s>Y7M/»7?/ .lufJiorized i» a ChiYrnor's InsfrucHons, 
 
 1641 
 
 Vir^inkx -V<j(/iiJi««r of Historit, II. -SI ff. 
 
 These iustnictious in the matter of the Assembly art- said to have been 
 given in the same form to Wyatt in ItSSO, — the gv>veruor who came Ihv 
 tween Harvey and Berkeley. Por the significance of these i>apers, see 
 AmertaiH History and GiyverHmeHt, §^ S-t-35. 
 
 /nsfTMChaiw to Sir Wm. Berkele^f Knt., Governor of Mr^inia 
 
 ♦ *♦**** 
 
 4. That you and the Councillors as formerly once a year 
 or oftener if urgent occasion shall require. Do summon the 
 Burgesses of all and singler Plantations there, vrhich together 
 with the Governor and Couucill makes the Gnind Assembly, 
 and shall have Power to make Acts and Laws for the Govern- 
 ment of that Plantation, corresjx^ndent, as near as may be. 
 to the Laws of England, in which assembly the Governor 
 is to have a nes^^tive voice, as formerlv. 
 
 33. LegisLition by the Virg^inLi Assembly as to Morals and 
 
 Taxes 
 Hening's Siatntes at Large (1S33). 
 (1) [March, 16e3 4.'\ 
 
 19. — The proclamations for swearing and drunkenness sett 
 out by the governor and counsell ai"e confirmed by this As- 
 
88 A ROYAL PROVINCE 
 
 senibly ; — and it is further ordered that the church-wardens 
 shall be sworne to present them to the commanders of every 
 plantation and that the forfeitures shall be collected by them 
 to be for publique uses. 
 
 33. — That for defraying of such publique debts our troubles 
 have brought upon us. There shall be levied 10 pounds of 
 tobacco upon every male head above sixteen years of adge 
 now living (not including such as arrived since the beginning 
 of July last). 
 
 (2) [October, 1629.'] 
 
 Act VI. — It is further concluded and ordered that every 
 master of a family, and every freeman that is to pay five 
 pounds of tobacco per pol as aforesaid for the defraying of 
 publique charges, shall bring the same unto the Houses of 
 the Burgesses of the plantations within two dayes after 
 notice thereof given unto them. And if any shall faile to 
 bring in the same, it is thought fitt that by virtue of this 
 order the said Burgesses shall have power to levy the same 
 by distresse, upon the goods of the delinquents, and to make 
 sale of the said goods, and to detaine such tobacco which 
 shall be due by this order, and for their ifees in making this 
 distresse, restoring to the owner of the said goods the residue 
 and remainder. And if the burgesses shall make neglecte 
 herein they shall be fined by the governour and Council. 
 
 (3) [February, 1631/2.'] 
 
 Act XI. — Mynisters shall not give themselves to excesse 
 in drinkinge, or riott, spendinge theire tyme idellye by day 
 or night, playinge at dice, cards, or any other unlawfull 
 game ; but at all tymes convenient they shall heare or reade 
 somewhat of the holy scriptures, or shall occupie themselves 
 with some other honest study or exercise, alwayes doinge the 
 thinges which shall apperteyne to honesty, and endeavour 
 to profitt the church of God, alwayes haveinge in mynd that 
 they ought to excell all others in puritie of life, and should 
 be examples to the people to live well and christianlie. 
 
LEGISLATION BY THE VIRGINIA ASSEMBLY 89 
 
 (4) [March, 164S.^ 
 
 Act XXXV. — Be it also enacted and confirmed, for the 
 better observation of the Sabbath, that no person or persons 
 shall take a voyage ^ upon the same, except it be to church, 
 or for other cause of extreme necessitie, upon the penalty of 
 the forfeiture for such offense of twenty pounds of tobacco, 
 being justly convicted for the same. 
 
 (5) [October, 16 44.'] 
 
 Act VIII. — Noe debts made for wines or strong waters 
 shall be pleadable or recoverable in any court of justice.'^ 
 
 1 Travel was mainly by water. To "take a voyage" was equivalent to 
 " make a journey." 
 
 2 This finds its modern parallel in our custom that prevents the collection 
 of gambling debts by legal process. 
 
VI. THE ASSEMBLY DURING THE COMMON- 
 WEALTH 
 
 34. Virginia and the Parliamentary Commissioners, 1652 
 
 Hening's Stahites, I, 363 ff. 
 
 Cf. American History and Government, § 337, for the supremacy of the 
 Assembly during the Commonwealth. 
 
 Articles agreed on and conchaled at James Cittie in Virginia 
 for the surrendering and settling of that plantation under the 
 obedience and government of the Common Wealth of England, by 
 the covimissioners of the Councill of State, by authoritie of the 
 Parliament of England, and by the Grand Assembly of the Gov- 
 ernour, Councill, and Burgesses of that conntrey. 
 
 Fiist. It is agreed and consented that the plantation of 
 Virginia, and all the inhabitants thereof, shall be and remaine 
 in due obedience and subjection to the common wealth of Eng- 
 land, according to the lawes there established, And that this 
 submission and subscription bee acknowledged a voluntary act, 
 not forced nor constrained by a conquest upon the countrey. 
 And that they shall have and enjoy such freedomes and privi- 
 ledges as belong to the free borne people of England, and that 
 the former government by the commissioners and instructions 
 be void and null. 
 
 2dly. — Secondly, that the Grand Assembly, as formerly, 
 shall convene and transact the affairs of Virginia, wherein noth- 
 ing is to be acted or done contrarie to the government of the 
 common wealth of England and the lawes there established. 
 
 Sdly. — That there shall be a full and totall remission and 
 indempnitie of all acts, words, or writings done or spoken 
 against the parliament of England in relation to the same. 
 
 90 
 
THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMISSIONERS, 1052 01 
 
 4thUi. — That Virginia shall have and enjoy the antient 
 bomuls and lyniitts granted by the charters of the former Kings. 
 And that we shall stH'k a new charter from *the parliament 
 to that }iurpose against any that have intrencht npon the rights 
 thereof.' 
 
 othhj. — That all the pattents of land granted under the col- 
 lony seale. by any of the precedent Governours, shall be and 
 renuiine in their full force and strength. 
 
 ?//////. — That the people of Virginia have free trade, as the 
 people of Enghuui do enjoy, to all places and with all nations 
 according to the lawes of that common-wealth, and that Vir- 
 ginia shall enjoy all priviledges equall with any English planta- 
 tions in America. 
 
 Sthhj. — That Virginia shall be free from all taxes, customes, 
 and impositions whatsoever, and none to be imposed on them 
 without the consent of the Grand Assembly, and soe that 
 neither tt'ortes nor castles bee erected or garrisons maintained 
 without their consent. 
 
 lOthhj. — That for the future settlement of the countrey in 
 their due obedience, the engagement shall be tendred to all the 
 inhabitants according to act of parliament nuide to that pur- 
 })ose ; tliat all persons who shall refuse to subscribe the said 
 engagenuMit, shall have a yeai'es time if they please to remove 
 themselves and their estates out of Virginia, and in the mean- 
 time during the said yeare to have equall justice as formerly. 
 
 llthlj/. — That the use of the booke of common prayer shall 
 be permitted for one yeare ensueinge witli reference to the con- 
 sent of the nuijor part of the parishes. Provided that things 
 which relate to kingshipp or that government be not used pub- 
 liquely ; and the continuance of ministers in their places, they 
 not misdemeaning themselves : And the payment of their ac- 
 customed dues and agreements made with them respectively 
 shall be left as they now stand dureing this ensueing yeare. 
 
 1 This article was not ratified bv Parliament. 
 
92 THE ASSEMBLY DURING THE COMMONWEALTH 
 
 IGtldy. — That the comissiouers for the parliament subscrib- 
 ing these articles engage themselves and the honour of the par- 
 liament for the full performance thereof : And that the present 
 Governour and the Councill and the Burgesses do likewise sub- 
 scribe and engage the whole collony on their parts. 
 
 35. The Franchise Restricted and Restored, 1655. 1656 
 
 Hening's Statutes at Large. Cf. American History and Cfovernment, 
 § 103 and note. 
 
 (1) [March, 1654/5.'] 
 
 Act VII. — Be it enacted by this present Grand Assembly 
 . . . That the persons who shall be elected to serve in Assem- 
 bly shall be such and no other then such as are persons of 
 knowne integrity and of good conversation and of the age 
 of one and twenty yeares — That all housekeepers whether 
 ffreeholders, lease holders, or otherwise tenants, shall onely 
 be capeable to elect Burgesses, and none hereby made unca- 
 pable shall give his subscription to elect a Burgesse upon the 
 pennalty of four hundred pounds of tobacco and cask, to be 
 disposed of by the court of each county where such contempt 
 shall be used : Provided that this word housekeepers repeated 
 in this act extend no further than to one person in a ffamily. 
 
 (2) [March, 1655/6.'] 
 
 Act XVI. — Whereas we conceive it something hard and 
 unagreeable to reason that any persons shall pay equall taxes 
 and yet have no votes in elections, Therefore it is enacted 
 by this present Grand Assembly, That soe much of the act for 
 chooseing Burgesses be repealed as excludes freemen from 
 votes, Provided allwaies that they fairly give their votes by 
 subscription and not in a tumultuous way,' . . . 
 
 iThis was reenacted in KioS. Hening, I, 475. But cf. Nos. 105-109 for 
 later developments. 
 
VII. MAEYLAND 
 
 36. Lord Baltimore to King Charles, August 19 '29. 1629 
 
 Scharf's Maryland, I, 44, 45. The letter was written from Avalon (No. 
 38), in Nova Scotia. Only the second half is given here ; the first half 
 defends the writer against certain "slanders" by Protestant enemies. 
 
 Most Gracious and Dread Sovereign : — 
 
 ... So have I met with greater difficultys . . . here, which 
 in this place are no longer to be resisted, but enforce me 
 presently to quitt my residence and to shift to some other 
 w'armer climate of this new world, where the wynter be 
 shorter and less rigorous. For here Your Majesty may please 
 to understand that I have found by too deare bought experience, 
 [what] other men for their private interests always concealed 
 from me, that from the middlest of October to the middlest of 
 May there is a sadd fare of wynter upon all this land ; both 
 sea and land so fi-ozen, for the greater part of the tyme, as they 
 are not penetrable, no plant or vegetable thing appearing out 
 of the earth ; . . . nor fish in the sea, besides the ayre so in- 
 tolerable cold as it is hardly to be endured. By means whereof, 
 and of much salt meate, my house hath been an hospital all 
 this wynter; of 100 persons, 50 sick at a time, myself being 
 one ; and nyne or ten of them dyed. Hereupon I have had 
 strong temptations to leave all proceedings in plantations, and, 
 being much decayed in my strength, to retire myselfe to my 
 former quiett. But my inclination carrying me naturally to 
 these kynd of workes, and not knowing how better [to use] 
 the poore remaynder of my dayes, than ... to further . . . 
 the enlarging your majesty's empire in this part of the world, 
 I am determined to com mitt this place to fisherman (that are 
 able to encounter stormes and hard weather) and to remove 
 myselfe with some 40 persons to your majesty's dominion 
 Virginia; where, if your majesty will please to grant me a 
 
 93 
 
94 >TARYLAXD 
 
 precinct of land with such privileges as the king your father, 
 my gracious master, was pleased to grants me here. I shall 
 endeavor, to the utmost of u\y power, to deserve it. . . . 
 
 37. Charter of Maryland. June 20 30. 1633 
 
 The text in I^tin a.nd Englisli is given in Bacon's Latcii of Marj/land. 
 For exph\iu\tion of events leading to tins grant, see American History 
 and (ri)r(r>iHic«f, § Si*. The document is in Lj^tiu. 
 
 I. — i^'HAKLES, by tiie grace of GOD, of Enghunt SiX)tIaiHl, 
 France, and Ireland, 1»tng. Defender of the Faith, etc. To all 
 to whom these Presents shall come. Gkkktixg. 
 
 [II, III, and tirst part of IV, recite the petition of Cocilius, 
 Baron of Baltimore, the determination of the King to "en- 
 courage the pious and noble purpose." and the grant of land, 
 with confused geographical description.] 
 
 IV. — .\lso Wk do Grant . . . unto the said Baron of BAT^ 
 TIMOKE. his heirs and assigns. . . . the Patkoxagks. and 
 Advowsoxs of all Churches which ^^with the increasing Worship 
 and Religion of CHRIST") within the said Region . . . here- 
 after shall happen to be built, together with Licence and Faculty 
 of erecting jvnd founding Churches, Chapels. ,ind Places of 
 Worship, in convenient and suitable Places, within the Premises, 
 and of causing the same to be dedicated and consecrated 
 according to the Ecclesiastical Laws of our Kingdom of 
 Emihxnd : with* .all. and singular such, and as ample Rights. 
 Jurisdictions, Privileges, Prerogatives. Royalties. Liberties. 
 Immunities, and royal Rights, and temporal Franchises 
 whatsoever, as well by Sea as by Land, within the Region . . . 
 aforesaid, to be had, exercised, used, and enjoyed, as any Bishop 
 of Durham, within the Bishoprick or County Palatine of Dur- 
 ham, in our Kingdom of England, ever heretofore hath had, 
 held, used, or enjoyed, or of Right could or ought to have, 
 hold, use, or enjoy. 
 
 1 This wo^^i " with " should pwporly bo "■aiul ': it begins ;» now grant — 
 t-he/VM(}(i/ lowers of the prv^priotor. 
 
CHARTER OF MARYLAND, JUNE 20/30, 1(332 95 
 
 [V. — 'Ponuvo by Baltinuu'o to be iu freo ami i'oniuu)ii soi'- 
 t'ai,'o, and not in capite, ov bv "Knight's Service/' '' yeilding 
 tliorofovi' to Us . . . two Indian Arrows of those parts every 
 year."" and the fiftli part of gohi and silver ore.] 
 
 VI. — Now, That the aforesaid Region, thns by ns granteil 
 and described, may be eminently distingnished above all other 
 Regions of that Territory, and decorated with more ample Titles, 
 KNOW YE, that \VE . . . have thonght lit that the said 
 Region and Islands be erected into a FRO VINO E, as ont of 
 the plenitnde of onr royal power and prerogative, WE do . . . 
 KUKOT and ixi'OKPOKATE tlio samc into a TROVIXOE, and 
 nominate the same MARYLAND, by which name WE will 
 that it shall from henceforth be called. 
 
 VII. — And forasmuch as \VE have above made and ordained 
 the aforesiud now Baron of BALTIMORE, the true Lokd and 
 Propnetary of the whole Provixce aforesaid, KNOW !"£ there- 
 fore further, that WE ... do grant unto the said now Raron, 
 (in whose Fidelity, Prudence, Justice, and provident Circum- 
 spection of ^lind, WE repose the greatest Confidence) and to 
 his Heirs, for the good and happy Government of the said 
 I'KovixoE, free, full, and absolute Power, by the tenor of these 
 Presents, to Ordain, Make, and Enact LAWS, of what kind 
 soever, according to their sound Discretions, whether relating 
 to the Public State of the said province, or the private Utility 
 of Individuals, of and with the Advice, Assent, and Apin-obation 
 of the Free-j\Ien of the same rRoviNCE, or of the greater Part 
 of them, or of their Delegates or Deputies, whom WE will shall 
 be called togther for the framing of LAWS, when, and as 
 often as Need shall require, by the aforesaid now Haron of 
 BALTIMORE, and his Heirs, and in the Form which shall 
 seem best to him or them, and the same to publish under the 
 Seal of the aforesaid now Raron of BALTIMORE, and his 
 Heirs, and duly to execute the same upon all Persons, for the 
 Time being, within the aforesaid province, and the Limits 
 thereof, or under his or their (Government and Power, in Sailing 
 towanls MARYLAXD, on thence Returning, Outward-bound, 
 
96 ]SL\RYLAND 
 
 either to England, or elsewhere, whether to any other PiU't of 
 Our, or of any foreign Dominions, wlieresoever established, 
 by the Imposition of Fines, Imprisonment, and other Punish- 
 ment whatsoever ; even if it be necessaiy, and the Quality of 
 the Offence require it, by Privation of ^lember, or Life, by 
 him the aforesaid now Haron of BALTIMOHE, and his Heirs, 
 or by his or their Deputy, Lieutenant, Judges, Justices, Mag- 
 istrates, Officers, and ^linisters, to be constituted and appointed 
 according to the Tenor and true Intent of these Presents, and 
 to constitute and ordain Judges, Justices, ^Magistrates, and 
 Officers, of what Kind, for what Cause, and with what Power 
 soever, within that Land, and the Sea of those Parts, and in 
 such Form as to the said now Baron of BALTI}[ORE, or his 
 Heirs, shall seem most fitting : And also to Remit, Release, 
 Pardon, and Abolish, all Crimes and Often ces whatsoever 
 against such liaws, whether before, or after Judgment passed ; 
 and to do all and singular other Things belonging to the Com- 
 pletion of Justice, and to Courts, Praetorian Judicatories, and 
 Tribunals, judicial Forms and Modes of Proceeding, although 
 express Mention thereof in these Presents be not made ; and, 
 by Judges by them delegated, to award Process, hold Pleas, 
 and determine in those Courts, Pra>torian Judicatories, and 
 Tribunals, in all Actions, Suits, Causes, and ^Matters whatso- 
 ever, as well Criminal as Personal, Real and ^lixed, and Pra^ 
 torian : . . . So Nevektheless, that the Laws aforesaid be 
 consonant to Reason and be not repugnant or contrary, but (so 
 far as conveniently n\ay be") agreeable to the Laws, Statutes, 
 Customs and Rights of this Our Kingdom of England. 
 
 VIII. — Axn FoKASAiren as, in the Government of so great 
 a rKovixcE, sudden Accidents may frequently happen, to 
 which it will be necessary to apply a Remedy before the Free- 
 holders of the said Province, their Delegates, or Deputies, can 
 be called together for the framing of Laws ; neither will it be 
 lit that so great a Number of People should immediately, on 
 such emergent Occasion, be called together, WE therefore, 
 for the better Government of so great a pkovixce, ... do 
 
CHARTER OF MARYLAND, JUNE 20/30, 1632 97 
 
 grant . . . that the aforesaid now Baron of BALTIMORE ; 
 and his Heirs, by themselves, or by their Magistrates and 
 Officers, thereunto duly to be constituted as aforesaid, may, 
 and can make and constitute fit and wholesom Ordinances from 
 Time to Time, to be kept and observed within the province 
 aforesaid, as well for the Conservation of the Peace, as for the 
 better Government of the People inhabiting therein, and 
 publickly to notify the same to all Persons whom the same in 
 any wise do or may affect . . . : so that the same Ordinances 
 do not, in any Sort, extend to oblige, bind, change, or take 
 away the Right or Interest of any Person or Persons, of or in 
 Member, Life, Freehold, Goods or Chattels. 
 
 IX, X — [Permission to English subjects to emigrate to 
 Maryland, and X, to enjoy (with their descendants) the rights 
 of Englishmen at home.] 
 
 XI. — [Certain exemptions from export duties, as in earlier 
 charters.] 
 
 XII. — [Authorization for the proprietor or his officers to 
 make war, if needful, upon savages and pirates or other in- 
 vaders.] 
 
 XIII. — [Authorization for martial law, under the usual 
 restrictions.] 
 
 XIV. — [Authority for Baltimore to confer titles of nobility 
 (not such as in England), to incorporate towns, etc.] 
 
 XV-XVI. — [Regulations regarding ports and temporary 
 exemptions from English custom duties.] 
 
 XVII. — Moreover, We will, appoint, and ordain, and by 
 these Presents, for US, our Heirs and Successors, do graiit 
 unto the aforesaid now Baron of BALTI^[ORE, his Heirs 
 and Assigns, that the same Baron of BALTIMORE, his Heirs 
 and Assigns, from Time to Time, for ever, shall have, and en- 
 joy the Taxes and Subsidies payable, or arising within the 
 Ports, Harbours, and other Creeks and Places aforesaid, within 
 the Provixce aforesaid, for Wares bought and sold, and Things 
 there to be laden, or unladen, to be reasonably assessed by 
 them on emergent Occasion, and the People there as aforesaid ; 
 
98 MARYLAND 
 
 to whom WE grant Power by these Presents, for US, our Heirs 
 and Successors, to assess and impose the said Taxes and Sub- 
 sidies there, upon just Cause, and in due Proportion. 
 
 XVIII. — And furthermore . . . , WE ... do give . . . 
 unto the aforesaid now Baron of BALTIMORE, his Heirs 
 and Assigns, full and absolute License, Power, and Authority 
 . . . [to] assign, alien, grant, demise, or enfeoff so many, such, 
 and proportionate Parts and Parcels of the Premises, to any 
 Person or Persons willing to purchase the same, as they shall 
 think convenient, to have and to hold ... in Fee-simple, or 
 Fee-tail, or for Term of Life, Lives, or Years ; to hold of the 
 aforesaid now Baron of BALTIMORE, his Heirs and Assigns, 
 by . . . such . . . Services, Customs and Rents OF THIS 
 KIND, as to the same now Baron of BALTIMORE, his Heirs 
 and Assigns, shall seem fit and agreeable, and not immediately 
 of US . . . [notwithstanding the English law Quia Emptores 
 or other statutes to the contrary]. 
 
 XIX. — We also, . . . do . . . grant Licence to the same 
 Baron of BALTIMORE, and to his Heirs, to erect any Parcels 
 of Land within the Pkovince aforesaid, into Manors, and in 
 every of those Manors, to have and to hold a Court-Baron, and 
 all Things which to a Court-Baron do belong; and to have 
 and to keep View of Frank-Pledge, for the Conservation of the 
 Peace and better Government of those Parts, by themselves 
 and their Stewards, or by the Lords, for the Time being to be 
 deputed, of other of those Manors when they shall be consti- 
 tuted, and in the same to exercise all Things to the View of 
 Frank-Pledge belonging. 
 
 XX. — And further We will, and do . . . grant . . . that 
 we, our heirs and successors, at no time hereafter, will impose 
 any impositions, customs, or other taxations . . . whatever, 
 in or upon the residents ... of the province, for their goods, 
 lands, or tenements ... or in or upon any goods or merchan- 
 dizes within the province or within the ports or harbors of the 
 said province [this declaration to be a sufficient quittance to 
 all English officers]. 
 
COMMENT ON THE AVALON CHARTER OF 1623 99 
 
 XXI. — [Maryland not to be reputed a part of Virginia but 
 to be immediately dependent upon the crown.] 
 
 XXII. — [Baltimore and his heirs to be entitled to the most 
 generous interpretation of any indefinite clause in the charter] 
 '• provided always that no interpretation be made thereof 
 whereby God's holy and true Christian religion, nor the alle- 
 giance due to us . . . may in any wise suffer . . . })rejiidice 
 or diminution." 
 
 38. Comment on the Avalon Charter of 1623 
 
 With the addition of two of its sections, with the necessary changes of 
 names, and with three or four other slight modifications, the Maryland 
 Charter of l()o2 is an exact transcript of the Charter of Avnlon, given in 
 102;) by James I to George Calvert (afterward, the first Lord I^aUiinore). 
 The Avalon Charter has been printed, the editor believes, only in Scharf's 
 Maryland (I, 34 ff.). 
 
 The sections of the two documents correspond np to XVIII. Sections 
 XVIII and XIX of the Maryland Charter (relating to subinfeudation and 
 manorial courts) are not found in the earlier document. Sections XVIII- 
 XX of the Avalon Charter correspond to XX-XXII of the Maryland 
 patent. 
 
 Other changes, aside from names, etc., are : 
 
 1. — (Section IV.) In the granting of advowsons and other ecclesiasti- 
 cal powers, there is no reference in the Avalon Charter to the " ecclesias- 
 tical laws of the kingdom of England." This phrase is added in the Mary- 
 land Charter, since Baltimore has now (1()24) been converted to Catholi- 
 cism, priihahUj as a safeguard. 
 
 2. — Baltimore's tenure in Avalon (§ .5) is to be " in CapUe, by Knight's 
 Service'' [not so, but in free socage, in Maryland], "yielding there- 
 for ... a white hoi-se, so often as we or our successors shall come into the 
 said region," together with the usual " fifth part of gold and silver ore." 
 
 3. — The Avalon Charter does not refer directly to representative gov- 
 ernment. The authorization to Baltimore to publish laws runs, — " with 
 the advice, assent, and approbation of the Freeholders of the .said Province, 
 or the greater part of them," while the Maryland Charter says the assent 
 of "the Free Men of the said Province, or the greater part of them, or 
 their delegates, or deputies'"' ; but the earlier like the later charter leaves 
 it to the proprietor to a.ssemble the people " in such form as to him shall 
 seem best," and this probably looked to a representative gathering. 
 
100 MARYLAND 
 
 4. — (XVII.) The Avalon Charter does not mention the participation 
 of the popular assembly in granting taxes. Given such an assembly, how- 
 ever, and the renunciation by the English government (Section XVIII) 
 of that power, then the possession of the power by the Assembly would 
 inevitably follow. In the Maryland Charter it is expressed. 
 
 The Avalon Charter then, is the first royal patent to give to settlers in 
 America political rights, in addition to the private common-law privileges. 
 It is followed (as to sections VII and VIII) in exact detail by the Heath 
 Charter for Carolina (1629), the Baltimore Charter (1632), and the 
 Plowden Charter for New Albion (1634). ^ 
 
 Of the four grants just mentioned, that of Maryland in 1632 was the 
 only one under which a successful colony was established, but the others 
 help to show that that document was no prodigy. The student may like 
 to notice here one of the rare slips of Dr. Channing {History of the United 
 States, I, 245), when he ascribes the likeness between the charters of 1629, 
 1632, and 1634 to Sir Robert Heath's influence in that of 1629, instead of 
 to the earlier Avalon Charter of 1623. 
 
 39. Excursus: Charters for New Albion and Maine 
 
 The "governing" clauses only are given, — for comparison with cor- 
 responding parts of the Maryland and Avalon grants. 
 
 a. Grajit of Charles I to Edmujul Plowden, Earl Palatine 
 of AlMon, of the Province of J^ew Albiojv in America 
 Hazard's State Papers (Washington, 1792), I, 162 ff. New Albion 
 
 was to lie north of Maryland. No settlement was effected. 
 
 . . . And forasmuch, as We have above made and ordained the before- 
 named Edmund Plowden, Knight, true lord and proprietor of all the 
 province aforesaid. Therefoke further know ye, that We, for Us, our 
 heirs, and successours, to the same Edmund, (of whose fidelity, prudence, 
 justice and providence, and circumspection of mind, we have full confidence) 
 and to his heirs, for the good and happy govei'nment of the said province, 
 [grant power to make, ordain, and establish] whatsoever laws, whether 
 concerning the public estate of the same province, or the private utility 
 of individuals, according to their wise discretions, and with the council, 
 approbation, and assents of the free tenants of the same province, or the 
 
 iJndeed, until the grant of " New York " to James, Duke of York, in 1664, 
 every subsequent royal patent to an individual proprietor contains such pro- 
 vision, whether or not it be an exact and formal copy of the Avalon document. 
 New York was a conquered province settled by Dutch, — which may explain 
 the omission there. 
 
CHARTERS FOR NEW ALBION AND MAINE 101 
 
 major part of them who shall be called together by the aforesaid Edmund 
 Plowden, and his heirs, to make laws when, and as often as there shall 
 be occasion, in such form as to him or them shall seem best. . . . And 
 because, in so large a province it may often happen, that there will be 
 a necessity to provide a remedy in a number of cases, before the free 
 tenants of the said province can be assembled to make laws, nor will it 
 be proper to delay in a case of emergency, until so many people can be 
 called together. Therefore, for the better government of the said prov- 
 ince, we will, and ordain, and by these presents, for Us, our heirs, and 
 successors, grant unto the before-named Edmund Plowden, and to his 
 heirs, that the aforesaid Edmund Plowden, and his heirs, by themselves, 
 or by magistrates and officers in that behalf, to be duly constituted as 
 aforesaid, fit and wholesome ordinations from time to time, shall and 
 may be able to make and constitute, to be kept and preferred within 
 the province aforesaid, as well for keeping the peace as for the better 
 government of the people there living or inhabiting, and to give public ■ 
 notice of them to all persons whom the same doth or may concern ; which 
 said ordinations We will, shall be inviolably observed within the said 
 province, under the penalties in the same expressed. So that the same 
 ordinances be consonant to reason, and be not repugnant nor contrary, 
 but as much agreeable as may be to the laws, statutes, and rights of our 
 kingdoms of England and Ireland. And so as that the same ordinances 
 do not extend themselves to the right or interest of any person or persons, 
 of, or in free tenements, or the taking, distraining, binding, or charging 
 any of their goods or chatties. . . . 
 
 h. Grant of Charles I to Sir Ferclinando Gorges for the 
 Province of Maine, 1639 
 
 Hazard's State Papers (1792), I, 442-455. 
 
 The members of the Plymouth Council surrendered the charter of 1620 
 back to the King in 1634, having first divided the territory among them- 
 selves. The King confirmed Gorges' allotment ("The Province of 
 Maine") and gave him the usual proprietary jurisdiction in a lengthy 
 charter (April 3/13, 1639), from which come the following clauses. 
 
 . , . And wee doe for us, our heirs and successors, give and graunte 
 unto the saide Sir Ferdinando Gorges, his heirs and assignes, power and 
 authoritie, with the assent of the greater parte of the freeholders of the said 
 Province and premisses for the time being, when there shalbe any to be 
 called therunto from time to time, when and as often as shall be requisite, 
 to make and ordeyne and publish lawes, ordinances and constitucons, 
 reasonable, and not repugnant and contrary, but agreable as nere as 
 
102 MARYLAND 
 
 conveniently may bee, to the lawes of England, for the publique good of 
 the said Province and premisses, and of the inhabitants thereof, by im- 
 posing of penalties, imprisonment or other corections, or, if the offence 
 shall requier, by taking away of life or member ; the said lawes and con- 
 stitucons to extend aswell to such as shalbe passing unto or returning 
 from the said Province or premisses as unto the inhabitants or residents 
 of or within the same, and the same to be put into cxecucon by the said 
 Sir Ft-rdinando Georges, his heirs or assignes, or by his or there depputies, 
 lif tenants, judges, otficers or ministers in that behalfe, lawfully authorized; 
 and the same lawes ordinances and constitucons, or any of them, to alter, 
 change, and revoke, or to make voide and to make new, not repugnant 
 nor contrary, but agreable as nere as may bee, to the lawes of England, 
 as the said Sir Ferdinando Georges his heires and assignes, together 
 with the said freeholders, or the greater part of them for the time being, 
 shall from time to time thinke fitt and convenient : . . . 
 
 40. The Maryland Toleration Act of 1649 
 
 Maryland Archives, I, 244 ff. 
 
 For explanation, cf. American History and (rovernment, § 43. 
 
 . . . Forasmuch as in a well governed and Christian Common 
 Wealth, matters concerning Religion and the honor of God 
 ought in the lirst place to bee taken into serious consedera- 
 cion ... Be it therefore ordered and enacted by the Right 
 Honorable Cecilius Lord l>aron of Baltemore, absolute Lord and 
 Proprietary of this Province, with the advise and consent 
 of this Generall Assembly : That whatsoever person or persons 
 within this Province and the Islands thereunto belonging 
 shall from henceforth blaspheme God, — that is, Curse him, — 
 or deny our Saviour Jesus Christ to bee the sonne of God, or 
 shall deny the holy Trinity, the ffather sonne and holy Ghost, 
 or the Godhead of any of the said Tliree persons of the Trinity, 
 or the Unity of the Godhead, or shall use . . . any reproachfull 
 Speeches, . . . concerning the said Holy Trinity, or any of 
 the three persons thereof, shall be punishecl loith death and con- 
 Jiscation of all his or her lands and goods . . . And be it also 
 Enacted . . . That whatsoever person or persons shall from 
 henceforth use . . . any reproaching words or speeches concern- 
 
THE MARYLAND TOLERATION ACT OF 1640 103 
 
 ing the blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of our Saviour, or the 
 Holy Apostles or Evangelists . . . shall in such case for the 
 first offence forfeit . . . the summe of ffive pound sterling . . . 
 but in case such Offender or Oifenders shall not then have 
 goods and chattells sufficient for the satisfyeing of such for- 
 feiture, or that the same bee not otherwise speedily satisfy ed, 
 that then such Olfender or Offenders shalbe publicpiely whipt 
 and bee yniprisoned during the pleasure of the Lord Proprie- 
 tary or . . . chief e Governor of this Province for the time 
 being. And that every such Offender or Offenders for every 
 second offeuce shall forfeit tenne pound sterling or the value 
 thereof to bee levyed as aforesaid, or in case such offender or 
 Offenders shall not then have goods and chattells within this 
 Province sufficient for that purpose then to bee publiquely and 
 severely whipt and imprisoned as before is expressed. And that 
 every person or persons before mentioned offending herein the 
 third time, shall for such third Offence forfeit all his lands 
 and Goods and bee for ever banished and expelled out of this 
 Province. And be it also further Enacted . . . that whatso- 
 ever person or persons shall from henceforth uppon any oc- 
 casion of Offence or otherwise in a reproachful manner or Way 
 declare call or denominate any person or persons whatsoever 
 ... an heritick, Scismatick, Idolator, puritan, Independant, 
 Prespiterian, popish prest, Jesuite, Jesuited papist, Lutheran, 
 Calvenist, Anabaptist, Browuist, Antinomian, Barrowist, Ivonnd- 
 head, Seperatist, or any other name or terme in a reproachfull 
 manner relating to matter of Religion shall for every such 
 Offence forfeit and loose the some or [of] tenne shillings ster- 
 ling or the value thereof, to bee levyed on the goods and chattells 
 of every such Offender and Offenders, the one half thereof to be 
 forfeited and paid unto the person and persons of whom such 
 reproachfull words are or shalbe spoken or uttered, and the other 
 half thereof to the Lord Proprietary and his heires Lords and 
 Proprietaries of this Province. But if such person or persons 
 who shall at any time utter or speake any such reproachfull 
 words or Language shall not have Goods or Chattells sufficient 
 
104 MARYLAND 
 
 and overt within this Province to bee taken to satisfie the pen- 
 alty aforesaid, or that the same bee not otherwise speedily sat- 
 isfyed, that then the person or persons soe offending shalbe 
 publickly whipt, and shall suffer imprisomnt without baile or 
 maiueprise untill hee, shee, or they respectively shall satisfy 
 the party soe offended or grieved by such reproachfull Lan- 
 guage by asking him or her respectively forgivenes publiquely 
 for such his Offence before the Magistrate or cheife Officer or 
 Officers of the towne or place where such Offence shalbe given. 
 And be it further likewise Enacted . . . That every person and 
 persons within this Province that shall at any time hereafter 
 prophane the Sabbath or Lords day, called Sunday, by frequent 
 swearing, drunkennes, or by any uncivill or disorderly recreacon, 
 or by working on that day when absolute necessity doth not 
 require it, shall for every such first offence forfeit 2^ 6^ sterling 
 or the value thereof, and for the second offence 5^ sterling or 
 the value thereof, and for the third offence and soe for every 
 time he shall otfend in like manner afterwards, 10^ sterling 
 or the value thereof. And in case such offender and olfenders 
 shall not have sufficient goods or chattells within this Province 
 to satisfy any of the said Penalties reecsptively hereby imposed 
 . . . That in Every such case the partie soe offending shall for 
 the first and second offence in that kinde be imprisoned till hee 
 or shee shall publickly in open Court before the cheife Com- 
 mander Judge or Magistrate of that County Towne or precinct 
 where such offence shalbe committed acknowledg the Scandall 
 and offence he hath in that respect given against God and the 
 good and civill Governmt of this Province; And for the third 
 offence and for every time after, shall also bee publickly whipt. 
 And whereas the inforceing of the conscience in 7tiatters of Re- 
 ligion hath frequently fallen out to be of dangerous Consequence 
 in those commomoealthes where it hath been practised, And for the 
 more quiett and peaceable governmt of this Province, and the bet- 
 ter to preserve mutuall Love and amity amongst the Inhabitants 
 thereof Be it Therefore also by the Lord Proprietary with the 
 advise and consent of this Assembly Ordeyned and enacted (except 
 
THE MARYLAND TOLERATION ACT OF 1649 105 
 
 as in this present Act is before Declared and sett forth) that noe 
 2)erson or j^ersons ichatsoever ivithin this Province, or the Islands, 
 Parts, Harbors, Creekes, or havens thereunto belonging, prof essi^ig 
 to beleive in Jesus Christ, shall from henceforth bee any waies 
 troubled, 3folested or discountenanced for or in respect of his or 
 her religion nor in the free exercise thereof toithin this Province 
 or the Islands thereunto belonging nor any ivay compelled to the 
 beleife or exercise of any other Religion against his or her consent, 
 soe as they be not unfaithfull to the Lord Proprietary, or molest 
 or consjnre against the civill Oovernment established or to bee estab- 
 lished in this Province under him on his heires. And that all 
 and every person and persons that shall presume Contrary to 
 this Act and the true intent and meaning thereof directly or 
 indirectly either in person or estate wilfully to wrong disturbe 
 trouble or molest any person whatsoever within this Province 
 professing to beleive in Jesus Christ for or in respect of his or 
 her religion, or the free exercise thereof, within this Province 
 . . . that such person or persons soe offending shall be com- 
 pelled to pay trebble damages to the party soe wronged . . . 
 and for every such offence shall also forfeit 20 s. sterling . . . 
 [or, in default of payment, shall make satisfaction by public 
 whipping, and imprisonment during the pleasure of the 
 Governor]. . . . 
 
B. NEW ENGLAND TO 1660 
 
 VIII. AN EARLY EXPLORATION IN MAINE 
 
 41. Weymouth's Voyage, 1605 
 
 From A True Belation of Captain George Waymouth, His Voyage 
 (1605), reprinted in Massachusetts Historical Society Collections, Vol. 
 VIII. Weymouth's voyage was a precursor of the attempt at settlement 
 on the Kennebec in 1607 by one branch of the Virginia Company. 
 
 Upon Tuesday, the 5th day of March, about ten o'clock be- 
 fore noon, we set sail from Ratcliffe, and came to an anchor 
 that tide about two o'clock before Gravesend. . . . 
 
 Friday, the 17th of May, about six o'clock at night, we de- 
 scried the land. ... It appeared a mean high land, as we 
 after found it, being an island of some six miles in compass, 
 but I hope the most- fortunate ever yet discovered. . . . 
 
 This island is woody grown with fir, birch, oak and beech, 
 as far as we saw along the shore ; and so likely to be within. 
 On the verge grow gooseberries, strawberries, wild pease, and 
 wild rose bushes. The water issued forth down the rocky 
 clifEe in many places : and much fowl of divers kinds breed 
 upon the shore and rocks. 
 
 While we were at shore, our men aboard, with a few hooks, 
 got above thirty great cods and haddocks, which gave us a 
 taste of the great i^lenty of fish which we found afterward 
 wheresoever we went upon the coast.' From hence we might 
 discern the main land from the west-south-west to the east- 
 north-east; and a great way (as it then seemed, and we after 
 found it,) up into the main we might discern very high moun- 
 tains, though the main seemed but low land ; . . . 
 
 The profits and fruits which are naturally on these islands 
 are these : 
 
 All along the shore, and some space within, where the wood 
 hindereth not, grow plentifully, raspberries, gooseberries, 
 strawberries, roses, currants, wild vines, angelica. 
 
 106 
 
WEYMOUTH'S VOYAGE, 1605 107 
 
 Within the islands grow wood of sundry sorts, some very 
 great, and all tall, as birch, beech, ash, maple, spruce, cherry 
 tree, yew, oak, very great and good, fir tree, out of which 
 issueth turpentine in so marvellous plenty, and so sweet as 
 our chirurgeon and others affirmed they never saw so good in 
 England. We pulled off much gum, congealed on the outside 
 of the bark, which smelled like frankincense. This would be 
 a great benefit for making tar and pitch. 
 
 We staid the longer in this place, not only because of our 
 good harbor (which is an excellent comfort,) but because every 
 day we did more and more discover the pleasant fruitf ulness ; 
 insomuch as many of our company wished themselves settled 
 here, not expecting any further hopes, or better discovery to 
 be made. 
 
 Here our men found abundance of great muscles among the 
 rocks; and in some of them many small pearls: and in one 
 muscle (which we drew up in our net) was found fourteen 
 pearls, whereof one of pretty bigness and orient ; in another 
 above fifty small pearls : and if we had had a drag, no doubt 
 we had found some of great value, seeing these did certainly 
 shew that here they were bred; the shells all glittering with 
 mother of pearl. . . . 
 
 Our captain had in this small time discovered up a great 
 river, trending alongst into the main about forty miles. The 
 pleasantness whereof, with the safety of harbor for shipping, 
 together with the fertility of ground and other fruits, which 
 were generally by his whole company related, I omit till I re- 
 port of the whole discovery thereinafter performed. . . . 
 
 The next day being Saturday and the first of June, I traded 
 with the savages all the forenoon upon the shore, where were 
 eight-and-twenty of them ; and because our ship rode nigh, we 
 were but five or six ; where for knives, glasses, combs, and 
 other trifles to the value of four or five shillings, we had forty 
 good beavers' skins, otters' skins, sables, and other small skins, 
 which we knew not how to call . . . Here are more good har- 
 bors for ships of all .burthens, than England can afford, and 
 
108 AN EARLY EXPLORATION IN MAINE 
 
 far more secure from all winds and weathers, than any in 
 England, Scotland, France, or Spain. . . . 
 
 As we passed with a gentle wind up with our ship in this 
 river, any man may conceive with what admiration we all con- 
 sented in joy. Many of our company who had been travellers 
 in sundry countries, and in most famous rivers, yet affirmed 
 them not comparable to this they now beheld. Some that 
 were with Sir Walter Raleigh in his voyage to Guiana, in the 
 discovery of the river Orenoque, which echoed fame to the 
 world's ears, gave reasons why it was not to be compared with 
 this, which wanteth the dangers of many shoals, and broken 
 ground, wherewith that was incumbered. Others before that 
 notable river in the West Indies called Rio Grande ; some be- 
 fore the river of Loire, the river Seine, and of Bourdeaux in 
 France ; which although they be great and goodly rivers, yet it 
 is no detraction from them to be accounted inferior to this, 
 which not only yieldeth all the foresaid pleasant profits, but 
 also appeared infallibly to us free from all inconveniences. 
 
 I will not prefer it before our river of Thames, because it is 
 England's richest treasure : . . . 
 
 The excellency of this part of the river, for his good breadth, 
 depth, and fertile bordering ground, did so ravish us all with 
 variety of pleasantness, as we could not tell what to commend, 
 but only admired ; some compared it to the river Severn, (but 
 in a higher degree) and we all concluded (as I verily think we 
 might right) that we should never see the like river in every 
 degree equal, until it pleased God we beheld the same 
 again. . . . 
 
 The temperature of the climate (albeit a very important 
 matter) I had almost passed without mentioning, because it 
 afforded to us no great alteration from our disposition in 
 England ; somewhat hotter up into the main, because it lieth 
 open to the south ; the air so wholesome, as I suppose not any 
 of us found ourselves at any time more healthful, more able to 
 labor, nor with better stomachs to such good fare as we partly 
 brought and partly found . . . 
 
IX. THE FIKST SOURCE OF LAND TITLES IN 
 NEW ENGLAND 
 
 42. Charter of the Plymouth Council 
 
 [Often called The Council for New England] 
 
 November 3/12, 1629 
 
 Hazard's State Papers (Washington, 1702), I, 103-118. 
 
 The " Second Colony " of the Charter of 1006 (No. 16 above) sent out 
 an expedition to the coast of Maine in 1607. This failed ; and the Com- 
 pany made no further efforts until 1620, save for the vain attempt of Sir 
 Ferdinando Gorges, one of the leading members. In March of 1619/20, 
 Gorges and other members petitioned for a reorganization of the Company, 
 and this prayer was granted by the King in this cliarter. This document 
 stands to the " Second Colony " of 1606 (the Plymouth branch) as do the 
 charters of 1609 and 1612 to the "First Colony" (the London branch). 
 
 [The charter begins by reciting the grant of the Virginia 
 Charter of 1606, the grant of 1609 to one branch of the original 
 Company, and the petition of Gorges and others of the Plymouth 
 branch for a similar enlargement and for a monopoly of the 
 northern fisheries.] 
 
 And also for that We have been further given certainly to 
 knowe, that within these late Yeares there hath by God's 
 Visitation raigned a wonderful! Plague, together with many 
 horrible Slaughters, and Murthers, committed amoungst the 
 Savages and bruitish People there heertofore inhabiting, in a 
 Manner to the utter Destruction, Devastacion, and Depopulacion 
 of that whole Territorye . . . whereby We in our Judgment are 
 persuaded and satisfied that the appointed Time is come in 
 which Almighty God in his great Goodness and Bountie 
 towards Us and our People, hath thought fitt and determined 
 that those large and goodly Territory es, deserted as it were by 
 their naturall inhabitants, should be possessed and enjoyed by 
 such of our Subjects and People as heertofore have and here- 
 
 109 
 
110 SOURCE OF LAND TITLES IN NEW ENGLAND 
 
 after shall by his Mercie and Favour, and by his PowerfuU 
 Anne, be directed and conducted thither. In Contemplacion and 
 serious Consideracion whereof, Wee have thougt it fitt according 
 to our Kingly Duty, soe much as in Us lyeth, to second and 
 followe God's sacred Will, rendering reverend Thanks to his 
 Divine Majestic for his gracius favour in laying open and re- 
 vealing the same unto us before any other Christian Prince or 
 State, by which Meanes without Offence, . . . Wee therefore . . . 
 Do . . . grant . . . that all that Circuit, Continent, Precincts, 
 and Liniitts in America, lying and being in Breadth from Fourty 
 Degrees of Northerly Latitude, from the Equinoticall Line, to 
 Fourty-eight Degrees of the said Northerly Latitude, and in 
 Length by all the Breadth aforesaid throughout the Maine Land, 
 from Sea to Sea, . . . shall be the Li mitts ... of the second 
 Collony : And to the End that the said Territoryes may forever 
 hereafter be more particularly and certainly known and dis- 
 tinguished, our Will and Pleasure is, that the same shall from 
 henceforth be nominated, termed, and called by the Name of 
 New-England, in America. . . . And for the better Plantacion, 
 ruling, and governing of the aforesaid New-England in Amer- 
 ica, We . . . ordaine . . . that from henceforth, there shall 
 be . . . in our Towne of Plymouth, in the County of Devon, 
 one Body politicque and corporate, which shall have perpetuall 
 Succession, which shall consist of the Number of fourtie 
 Persons, and no more, which shall be, and shall be called and 
 knowne by the Name of the Council established at Plymouth, in 
 the County of Devon, for the planting, ruling, ordering, and 
 governing of New-England, in America; [The names of the 
 Council. They have power to fill vacancies in their member- 
 ship, and the usual rights of a corporation ; they are to choose a 
 " President," etc. ; and to control trade with New England and 
 the ownership of land.] 
 
 And further . . . Wee . . . grant full Power and Authority 
 to the said Councill . . . [to] nominate, make, constitute, or- 
 daine, and confirme by such Name or Names, Style or Styles, as 
 to them shall seeme Good ; and likewise to revoke, discharge, 
 
CHARTER OF THE PLYMOUTH COUNCIL 111 
 
 change, and alter, as well all and singular, Governors, Officers, 
 and Ministers, which hereafter shall be by them thought fitt 
 and needful to be made or used, as well to attend the Business 
 of the said Company here, as for the Government of the said 
 Collony and Plantation, and also to make ... all Manner of 
 Orders, Laws, Directions, Instructions, Forms, and Ceremonies 
 of Government and Magistracy fitt and necessary for any con- 
 cerning the Government of the said Collony and Plantation, 
 so always as the same be not contrary to the Laws and Stat- 
 utes of this our Realme of England ; and the same att all Times 
 hereafter to abrogate, revoke, or change, not only within the 
 Precincts of the said Collony, but also upon the Seas in going 
 and coming to and from the said Collony, as they in their good 
 Discretions shall thinke to be fittest for the good of the 
 Adventurers and Inhabitants there.* 
 
 [Clauses similar to those in the London Company's charter 
 of 1609 regarding martial law ; the forfeiture of goods fraudu- 
 lently transpoi'ted to a foreign country ; landholding by free 
 socage, etc. ; the right " to take, load, carry, and transport . . . 
 out of our Realmes to New England all such ... of our loveing 
 Subjects ... as shall willingly accompany them " ; exemption 
 from duties on goods exported from England for seven years ; 
 and from all taxes for twenty-one years, except the live per 
 cent customs duty for imports to be reexported ; right to dis- 
 pose of lands.] 
 
 And Wee do also . . . grant to the said Councell . . . that 
 they . . . shall, and lawfully may, . . . for their . . . Defence 
 and Safety, encounter, expulse, repel, and resist by Force 
 of Arms, as well by Sea as by Land, and all Ways and 
 Meanes whatsoever, all such . . . Persons, as without the 
 speciall Licence of the said Councell . . . shall attempt to in- 
 habitt within the said severall Precincts and Limitts of the 
 said Collony and Plantation. And also all . . . such . . . 
 Persons ... as shall enterprize or attempt att any time here- 
 after Destruction, Invasion, Detriment, or Annoyance to the 
 said Collony and Plantation. 
 
112 SOURCE OF LAND TITLES IN NEW ENGLAND 
 
 [A like pi-ovisiou for use of force to prevent traders visiting 
 the territory without the " License and consent of the said 
 Councill . . . first had and obtained in Writing." Authority 
 for two of tlie Council to administer the oaths of allegiance and 
 supremacy (as in the charter of 1612) ; a long passage giving 
 the Councill extraordinary jurisdiction as a safeguard against 
 its being defrauded or libeled (as in the charter of 1612) ; 
 English subjects settling in the colony and their descendants 
 there to have all the rights of Englishmen. None to be per- 
 mitted to go to New England except such as first take the oath 
 of supremacy, — this provision intended to exclude Catholics 
 (wording taken from the charter of 1609 ; not found in 1612) ; 
 etc. etc. etc. — Privileges granted in 1606, and not altered in 
 this charter, are confirmed.] 
 
X. PLYMOUTH PLANTATION 
 
 43. Delays in securing the Wincob Charter 
 Robert Cushman to Pastor Robinson, May 8, i8, 1619 
 
 Bradford's I'iymoiith Plantation (Original Narratives edition), 58, 69. 
 
 Cushman was the agent of the Pilgrims, sent from Holland to secure 
 a charter from the London Company for some district in "Northern 
 Virginia." The negotiations had been going on more than a year when 
 this letter was written. 
 
 . . . Tlie maine hinderance of our proseedings in the Vir- 
 ginia bussines is the dissentions and factions as they terme 
 it among the Counsell and Company of Virginia ; wliich are 
 such as that ever since we came up no busines could by 
 them be dispatched. The occasion of this trouble amongst 
 them is, for that a while since Sir Thomas Smith, rejuning 
 at his many offices and troubls, wished the Company of Vir- 
 ginia to ease him of his office. . . . Wereupon the Company 
 tooke occasion to dismisse him and choose Sir Edwin Sands 
 Treasurer and Goverr of the Company. He having 60 voyces. 
 Sir John Worstenholme 16 voices, and Alderman Johnson 
 24.^ But Sir Thomas Smith when he saw some parte of 
 his honour lost, was very angrie, and raised a faction to 
 cavill and contend aboute the election, and sought to taxe Sir 
 Edwin with many things that might both disgrace him, 
 and allso puj; him by his office of Governour. In which 
 contentions they yet stick and are not fit nor readie to inter- 
 medle in any bussines; and what issue things will come to 
 we are not yet certaine. It is most like Sir Edwin will carrie 
 
 iThe correct vote, according to the Compatiy's Records (I, 212), is 59, 23, 
 and 18 (No. 28 below). This, of course, was the election in April, l(il9, by 
 which the Liberals came into power. Cf. American History and Government, 
 §§ 27, 49 and note. 
 
 113 
 
114 PLYMOUTH PLANTATION 
 
 it, and if he doe, things will goe well ^ in Virginia, if otherwise, 
 they will goe ill enough allways. We hope in some 2 or 3 
 Court days things will settle.^ 
 
 44. Agreement between the Pilgrims in Holland and the Merchant 
 
 Adventurers in London 
 
 July 1/11, 1620 
 
 Bradford's Flymonth Plantation (Original Narratives edition), 66, 67. 
 The following "articles" outline the business partnership by which 
 the Pilgrims secured funds to come to America. 
 
 1. — The adventurers and planters doe agree that every 
 person that goeth, being aged 16 years and upward, be rated at 
 10 £, and ten pounds to be accounted a single share. 
 
 2. — That he that goeth in person, and furnisheth him selfe 
 out with 10 £ either in money or other provissions, be ac- 
 counted as having 20 £> in stock, and in the devission shall 
 receive a double share. 
 
 3. — The persons transported and the adventurers shall con- 
 tinue their joynt stock and partnership togeather the space of 7 
 years (excepte some unexpected impedimente doe cause the 
 whole company to agree otherwise), during which time all 
 profits and benefits that are gott by trade, traffick, trucking, 
 working, fishing, or any other means of any person or persons, 
 remaine still in the commone stock untill the division. 
 
 4. — That at their comming ther, they chose out such a 
 number of fitt persons, as may furnish their ships and boats 
 for fishing upon the sea ; iniploying the rest in their severall 
 faculties upon the land; as building houses, tilling, and 
 
 1 Things did "settle" rapidly. Bradford's narrative continues: " But at 
 last after all these things and their long attendance, they had a Patent granted 
 them and confirmed under the Companies scale [June 9/19, according to 
 Records of the Virginia Company for May 26 and June 9, 1619]. ... By the 
 advice of some of their friends, this pattente was not taken in the name of 
 any of their owne, but in the name of Rev. John Wincob (a religious gentle- 
 man then belonging to the Countess of Lincoline), who intended to goe 
 with them. But God so disposed as he never went, nor they ever made use 
 of this patente, which had cost them so much labour and charge. ..." 
 
BARGAIN WITH LONDON PARTNERS 115 
 
 planting the ground, and niakeing shuch commodities as shall 
 be most usefull for the collonie. 
 
 5. — That at the end of the 7 years, the capitall and profits, 
 — viz. the houses, lands, goods and chatles, — be equally devided 
 betwixte the adventurers and planters ; which done, every 
 man shall be free from other of them of any debt or detrimeute 
 concerning this adventure. 
 
 6. — Whosoever cometh to the colonic herafter, or putteth 
 any into the stock, shall at the ende of the 7 years be alowed 
 proportionably to the time of his so doing. 
 
 7. — He that shall carie his wife and children, or servants, 
 shall be alowed for everie person now aged 16 years and up- 
 ward, a single share in the devision, or if he provid them 
 necessaries, a duble share, or if they be between 10 year old 
 and 16, then 2 of them to be reconed for a person, both in 
 transportation and devision. 
 
 8. — That such children as now goe, and are under the age 
 of ten years, have noe other shar in the devision but 50 acers 
 of unmanured land. 
 
 9. — That such persons as die before the 7 years be expired, 
 their executors to have their parte or sharr at the devison, 
 proportionably to the time of their life in the collonie. 
 
 10. — That all such persons as are of this collonie, are to 
 have their meate, drink, apparell, and all provissions out of 
 the common stock and goods of the said collonie. 
 
 [Bradford adds : "The cheefe and principall differences between these 
 and the former conditions [i.e. articles proposed at first by the Pilgrims] 
 stood in these 2 points ; that the houses and lands improved, espetialy 
 gardens and home lotts, should remain undevided wholly to the planters 
 at the 7 years end [i.e. not go into the common stock of the partnership] 
 21y, that they should have had 2 days in a weeke for their own private 
 imploymente." 
 
 These points are made in a letter of John Robinson, the Pilgrim 
 pastor, to John Carver, the agent in England, dated July 14, 1620 (Brad- 
 ford, 09, 70). 
 
 "Aboute the conditions ... let this spetially be borne in minde ; 
 that the greatest parte of the collonie is like to be imployed constantly, 
 
116 PLYMOUTH PLANTATION 
 
 not upon dressing ther perticiiler [individual] land, and building houses, 
 but upon fishing, trading, etc. So as the land and house will be but a 
 trifell for advantage to the adventurers [London capitalists] ; and yet the 
 devission of it a great discouragemente to the planters [colonists], who 
 would with singular care make it comfortable with borowed houres from 
 their sleep."' 
 
 For the fallacy in this view, of. American History and Government, 
 §§49,62.] 
 
 45. From the Farewell Letter of John Robinson 
 
 Bradford's Plymouth Plantation (Original Narratives edition), 84-86. 
 
 Robinson was the pa.stor of the Separatist congregation at Leyden. 
 This letter was written to that part of the congregation which had just 
 embarked for America, soon to found Plymouth colony. It is not dated. 
 Bradford gives the full text. This extract shows that the charter which 
 the Pilgrims liad secured from the London Company, but which they 
 were never to use (No. 43 note, and American History and Government, 
 § 51 note), had guaranteed them a large measure of self-government. 
 The letter would fill some five pages of this book. 
 
 . . . Lastly, whereas you are become a body politik, using 
 amongst yourselves civill governmente, and are not furnished 
 with any persons of spetiall eminence above the rest, to be 
 chosen by you into office, let your wisdome and godlines ap- 
 pear, not only in chusing shuch persons as do entirely love and 
 will promote the commone good, but also in yeelding unto 
 them all due honour and obedience . . . and this dutie you 
 may the more willingly . . . performe, because you are at 
 least for the present to have onely them for your ordinarie 
 governours which your selves shall make choyse of for that 
 
 worke. 
 
 46. The Mayflower Compact 
 
 November 11/21, 1G20 
 
 Bradford's Plymouth Plantation (Original Narratives edition), 107. 
 The original document is lost. Bradford gives no signatures. How- 
 ever, another copy, in Mourt's Relation, has the signatures, forty-two in 
 number. 
 
 In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are under 
 writen, the loyall subjects of our dread soveraigne Lord, King 
 
THE MAYFLOWER COMPACT 117 
 
 James, by the grace of God, of Great Britaine, Franc, and 
 Ireland king, defender of the faith, etc., haveing undertaken, 
 for the glorie of God, and advancemente of the Christian faith, 
 and honour of our king and countrie, a voyage to plant the 
 first colonie in the Northerne parts of Virginia, doe by these 
 presents solemnly and mutualy in the presence of God, and one 
 of another, covenant and combine our selves togeather into a 
 civill body politick, for our better ordering and preservation 
 and furtherance of the ends aforesaid ; and by vertue hearof 
 to enacte, constitute, and frame such just and equall lawes, 
 ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices, from time to time, 
 as shall be thought most meete and convenient for the generall 
 good of the Colonie, unto which we promise all due submission 
 and obedience. In witnes whereof we have hereunder sub- 
 scribed our names at Cap-Codd the 11. of November, in the 
 year of the raigne of our soveraigne lord, King James, of 
 England, France, and Ireland the eighteenth, and of Scotland 
 the fiftie fourth. Anno : Dom. 1620. 
 
 For a discussion of this document, see American History and Govern- 
 ment, § 51. Here it should be noted that it is not a "constitution" so 
 much as a preliminary " social compact." Nineteen years later, Wheel- 
 wright and his followers (banished from Massachusetts) settled on the 
 New Hampshire coast and adopted an agreement similar to the Mayflower 
 document in occasion and character. Western mining camps have taken 
 like action many times in later days. 
 
 The Wheelwright document follows from Hazard's State Papers, I, 
 463. 
 
 COMBINATION OF SETTLERS AT EXETER 
 
 Whereas it hath pleased the Lord to move the Heart of our dread 
 Sovereign Charles by the Grace of God King etc. to grant Licence and 
 Libertye to sundry of his subjects to plant themselves in the Westerne 
 parts of America. We his loyal Subjects, Brethren of the Church in 
 Exeter, situate and lying upon the River Pascataqua, with other Inhab- 
 itants there, considering with ourselves the holy Will of God and our 
 own Necessity that we should not live without wholesom Lawes and 
 Civil Government among us, of which we are altogether destitute ; do in 
 the name of Christ and in the Sight of God combine ourselves together to 
 
118 PLYMOUTH PLANTATION 
 
 erect and set up among us such Government as shall be to our best dis- 
 cerning agreeable to the Will of God, professing ourselves Subjects to our 
 Sovereign Lord King Charles according to the Libertyes of our English 
 Colony of Massachusetts, and binding ourselves solemnly by the Grace 
 and help of Christ, and in his Name and fear, to submit ourselves to such 
 Godly and Christian Lawes as are established in the realm of England to 
 our best Knowledge, and to all other such Lawes which shall upon good 
 grounds be made and enacted among us according to God, that we may 
 live quietly and peaceably together in all godliness and honesty. Mo. 8. 
 D. 4. 1639, as attests our Hands. 
 
 John Wheelwright [and thirty-four other names]. 
 
 47. The Peirce Charter, June, 1621 
 
 Massachusetts Historical Society Collections, Fourth Series, II, 158 ff. 
 
 Finding themselves within the jurisdiction of the newly reorganized 
 Plymouth Council (or New England Council), the Pilgrims secured from 
 that body the following grant through their London partners. Peirce 
 was intended to act as trustee while the partnership lasted. Cf. American 
 History and Government, § 55, and (for the documents regarding Peirce's 
 later attempt to steal the colony) Arber's Story of the Pilgrim Fathers, 
 259, 260. 
 
 This Indenture made the First Day of June, 1621, Be- 
 twene the President and Counsell of New England of the one 
 partie, And John Peirce Citizen and Clothworker of London 
 and his Associates of the other partie, Witnesseth that whereas 
 the said John Peirce and his Associates have already trans- 
 ported and undertaken to transporte at their cost and chardges 
 themselves and dyvers persons into New England and there 
 to erect and build a Towne and settle dyvers Inhabitantes 
 for the advancement of the generall plantacion of that Country 
 of [New England, Now the sayde President and Counsell, 
 in consideracion thereof and for the furtherance of the said 
 plantacion and incoragement of the said Undertakers, have 
 agreed to graunt, assigne, allott, and appoynt to the said 
 John Peirce and his associates and every of them, his and 
 their heires and assignes, one hundred acres of grown d for 
 every person so to be transported, besides dyvers other pryvi- 
 ledges. Liberties, and commodyties hereafter mencioned. , . . 
 
THE PEIRCE CHARTER, JUNE, 1621 119 
 
 The same land to be taken and chosen by them, their dep- 
 uties or assignes, in any place or places wheresoever not 
 already inhabited by any English. . . . 
 
 And forasmuch as the said John Peirce and his associates 
 intend and have undertaken to build Churches, Schooles, 
 Hospitalls, Toune houses. Bridges, and such like workes of 
 Charytie, As also for the maynteyning of Magistrates and 
 other inferior Officers (In regard whereof and to the end that 
 the said John Peirce and his Associates, his and their heires 
 and assignes, may have where withall to beare and support 
 such like charges), Therefore the said President and Coun- 
 cell aforesaid do graunt unto the said Undertakers, their 
 heires and assignes, Fifteene hundred acres of Land more- 
 over and above the aforesaid proporcion of one hundred the 
 person for every undertaker and Planter, to be imployed upon 
 such publique uses as the said Undertakers and Planters shall 
 thinck fitt. . . . 
 
 And shall also at any tyme within the said terme of Seaven 
 Yeeres upon request unto the said President and Counsell 
 made, graunt unto them (the said John Peirce and his As- 
 sociates, Undertakers, and Planters, their heires and assignes) 
 Letters and Grauntes of Incorporacion by some usuall and 
 fitt name and tytle, luith Liberty to them and their successors 
 from tyme to tyme to make orders, Laives, Ordynaunces, and 
 Constitucions, for the rule, governement, ordering, and directing 
 of all persons to be transported and settled upon the landes hereby 
 graimted, intended to be graicnted, or hereafter to be granted. . . . 
 And in the meane tyme witill such grannt made, It shalbe 
 lawfull for the said John Peirce, his Associates, Undertakers, 
 and Planters, their heires aiid assignes, by consent of the greater 
 part of them, To establish such Laives and ordynaunces as are 
 for their better government, and the same, by such Officer or 
 Officers as they shall by most voyces elect and choose, to put in 
 execucion. 
 
 [The above grant was the first charter issued by the Plymouth Council 
 of 1620 (No. 42 above). It is sometimes said that these patents from 
 
120 PLYMOUTH PLANTATION 
 
 the Council had no legal force, so far as political features were concerned. 
 It is true that such grants had no force, as against the royal government ; 
 but, as long as the royal grant to the Council stood, grants from that 
 body were valid, — certainly valid as against any later claim from that 
 proprietary body. The king's patent of Ui20 authorized the Council to 
 arrange the government of colonies in its New England territories as it 
 pleased. In carrying out this provision for the Pilgrims, the Council saw 
 fit to permit a large share of self-government, — just as the London 
 Company had done, in less degree, for the Vii'ginians. and as Penn was 
 to do for the Pennsylvanians in his famous charter to them in 1701 (No. 
 109 below). As to the overthrow of the validity of the charters to the 
 Pilgrims in 1(534, cf. American History and (rovernnient, § 55 close.] 
 
 48. Early Descriptions of Plymouth ^ 
 
 a. Edward Winslow's Letter {to a friend in Engl and) ■, 
 December 11/21. 1621 
 
 Arber's Stonj of the Pilgrim Fathers, •488-494. (The spelling is 
 modernized in all printed copies.) 
 
 Loving and Old Friend, — 
 
 Although I received no letter from you by this ship, yet 
 forasmuch as I know you expect the performance of my 
 promise, which was, to write unto you truly and faithfully 
 of all things, I have therefore at this time sent unto you ac- 
 cordingly, referring you for further satisfaction to our more 
 large Relations [Winslow's Relations, a considerable volume]. 
 
 You shall understand that in this little time [less than one 
 year] that a few of us have been here, we have built seven 
 dwelling-houses and four for the use of the plantation, and 
 have made preparation for divers others. We set the last 
 spring some twenty acres of Indian corn, and sowed some six 
 acres of barley and pease ; and according to the manner of the 
 Indians, we manured our ground with herrings, or rather 
 shads, which we have in great abundance, and take with great 
 ease at our doors. Our corn did prove well ; and, God be 
 praised, we had a good increase of Indian corn, and our barley 
 
 1 Bradford's longer accounts are omitted here, because they are quoted so 
 
 freely in American History and Gorernment. 
 
EARLY DESCRIPTIONS OF PLYMOUTH 121 
 
 indifferent good, but our pease not worth the gathering, for we 
 feared they were too hite sown. They came up very well, and 
 blossomed ; but the sun parched them in the blossom. . . . 
 
 When it pleaseth God we are settled and fitted for the 
 fishing business and other trading, I doubt not but by the 
 blessing of God the gain will give content to all. in the 
 mean time, that we have gotten we have sent by this ship ; 
 and though it be not much, yet it will witness for us that we 
 have not been idle, considering the smallness of our number 
 all this summer. We hope the merchants will accept of it, 
 and be encouraged to furnish us with things needful for 
 further employment, which will also encourage us to put forth 
 ourselves to the uttermost. 
 
 Now because I expect your coming unto us, with other of 
 our friends, whose company we much desire, I thought good 
 to advertise you of a few things needful. Be careful to have 
 a very good bread-room to put your biscuits in. Let your cask 
 for beer and water be iron-bound, for the first tire, if not more. 
 Let not your meat be dry-salted ; none can better do it than 
 the sailors. Let your meal be so hard trod in your cask that 
 you shall need an adz or hatchet to work it out with. Trust 
 not too much on us for corn at this time, for by reason of this 
 last company that came, depending wholly upon us, we shall 
 have little enough till harvest. Be careful to come by some 
 of your meal to spend by the way ; it will much refresh you. 
 Build your cabins as open as you can, and bring good store of 
 clothes and bedding with you. Bring every man a mussket or 
 fowling-piece. Let your piece be long in the barrel, and fear 
 not the weight of it, for most of our shooting is from stands. 
 Bring juice of lemons, and take it fasting; it is of good use. 
 For hot waters, aniseed water is the best ; but use it sparingly. 
 If you bring anything for comfort in the country, butter or 
 sallet oil, or both is very good. Our Indian corn, even the 
 coarsest, maketh us pleasant meat as rice; therefore spare 
 that, unless to spend by the way. Bring paper and linseed 
 oile for your windows, with cotton yarn for your lamps. Let 
 
122 PLYMOUTH PLANTATION 
 
 your shot be most for big fowls, and bring store of powder 
 and shot. I forbear further to write for the present, hoping 
 to see you by the next return. So I take my leave, commend- 
 ing you to the Lord for a safe conduct unto us, resting in him. 
 
 Your loving friend, 
 
 E. W. 
 
 h. Captain John Smith's Account, 1624 
 Smith's Works (Birmingham edition) ," 782 ff. 
 
 At New-Plimoth there is [1624] about 180 persons, some 
 cattell and goats, but many swine and poidtry ; 32 dwelling 
 houses, whereof 7 were burnt the last winter [1623], and the 
 value of five hundred pounds in other goods ; the Towne is 
 impailed about halfe a mile [in] compasse. In the toune 
 upon a high Mount they have a Fort well built with wood, 
 lime, and stone, where is planted their Ordnance : Also a 
 faire "Watch-tower, partly framed for the Sentinell. The 
 place it seemes is healthfull, for in these last three yeeres 
 [1621—1], notwithstanding their great want of most neces- 
 saries, there hath not one died of the first planters. They 
 have made a saltworke, and with that salt preserve the fish 
 they take ; and this yeare [1624] hath fraughted a ship of 
 180 tunnes. 
 
 The Governour is one Master William Bradford ; 
 
 The most of them live together as one family or household, 
 yet every man followeth his trade and profession both by sea 
 and land, and all for a generall stocke : out of which they 
 have all their maintenance, iintill there be a divident betwixt 
 the Planters and the Adventurers. 
 
 Those Planters are not servants to the Adventurers here, 
 but have onely councells of directions from them, but no in- 
 junctions or command ; and all the masters of families are 
 partners in land or whatsoever, setting their labours against 
 the stocke, till certaine yeeres be expired for the division ; 
 
EARLY DESCRIPTIONS OF PLYMOUTH 123 
 
 they have young men and boies for their Apprentises and 
 servants, and some of them speciall families, as Ship-carpenters, 
 Salt-makers, Fish-masters, yet as servants upon great wages. 
 
 The Adventurers which raised the stocke to begin and 
 supply this Plantation were about 70 : ^ some Gentlemen, some 
 Merchants, some handy-crafts men, some adventuring great 
 summes, some small, as their estates and affection served. 
 The generall stocke already imploied is about 7000 1. ; by 
 reason of which charge and many crosses, many of them 
 would adventure no more : but others that knowes so great 
 a desigue cannot bee effected without both charge, losse, and 
 crosses, are resolved to goe forward with it to their powers ; 
 which deserve no small commendations and encouragement. 
 These [The Adventurers generally] dwell most[ly] about 
 London. They are not a Corporation, but [are] knit together 
 by a voluntary combination in a society without constraint 
 or penalty, aiming to doe good and to plant Religion ; they 
 have a President and Treasurer, every yeere newly chosen 
 by the most voices, who ordereth the affaires of their Courts 
 and meetings, and with the assent of the most of them, under- 
 taketh all ordinary business ; but in more weighty affaires, 
 the assent of the whole Company is required. 
 
 There hath beene a fishing this yeere [1624] upon the 
 Coast about 50. English ships: . . . and though I promise 
 no Mines of gold, yet the warlike Hollanders let us imitate 
 but not hate, whose wealth and strength are good testimonies 
 of their treasury gotten by fishing; and New-England hath 
 yeelded already [up to 1624] by generall computation one 
 
 1 Bradford gives forty-two names, — those still interested in 162(5. (Brad- 
 ford's Letter Book, Massachusetts Historical Society Collections, First Series, 
 III, 48.) In his latest work {Advertisements, etc., 16.'30) Smith implies that 
 the London merchants lost far the greater part of their investment, — " being 
 out of purse six or seven thousand pounds," and accepting in lieu of this the 
 promise of the Planters in 1(527 " to pay them for nine years two hundred 
 pounds yearely, without any other account [settlement]." Smith, no doubt, 
 heard only the merchants' side and exaggerates their loss. Bradford's History 
 shows that the accounts were badly muddled. 
 
124 PLYMOUTH PLANTATION 
 
 hundred thousand pounds at the least. Therefore, honourable 
 and worthy Country men, let not the meannesse of the word 
 fish distaste you, for it will afford as good gold as the Mines 
 of Guiana or Potassie, with lesse hazard and charge, and more 
 certainty and facility. 
 
 49. Final Source of Plymouth Land Titles 
 
 a- Tlze Bradford Charter, January 13/23, 1629/30 
 
 Hazard's State Papers (Washington, 1792), I, 298 ff. 
 Cf. American History and Government, § 56. 
 
 [Recital of grant of New England by James I to the Council 
 for New England in charter of 1620.] 
 
 Now know yee that the said Councell, by Vertue and 
 Authority of his said late Majestie's Letters pattents, and . . . 
 in Consideration that William Bradford and his Associates 
 have for these nine Yeares lived in New-Englande . . . and 
 have there . . . planted a Towne . , . att their owne proper 
 Costs . . . and now seeinge that by the speciall Providence of 
 God and [by] their extraordinary Care and Industry, they 
 have encreased their Plantacion to neere three hundred 
 People . . . Have given . . . and sett over . . . unto the 
 said William Bradford, his Heires, Associates, and Assigns, all 
 that Parte of New England [boundaries of the Colony] 
 
 . . . Alsoe it shalbe lawfull and free for the said William 
 Bradford, his Associats, his Heires and Assignes, att all tymes 
 hereafter, to incorporate by some usuall or fitt Name and Title, 
 him or themselves, or the People there inhabitinge under him 
 or them, with Liberty to them and their Successours, from 
 tyme to tyme to frame and make Orders, Ordinances, and 
 Constitucons, as well for the better Governemente of their 
 Affaires here, and the receaving or admitting any to his or 
 their Society, as alsoe for the better Government of his or 
 their People and Affaires in New Englande, or his and their 
 People att Sea in goeinge thither, or returninge from thence, 
 and the same to putt or cause to be putt in Execucon by such 
 
FINAL SOURCE OF PLYMOUTH LAND TITLE 125 
 
 Officers and Ministers as he and they shall authorise and de- 
 pute ; Provided that the said Lawes and Orders bee not 
 repugnante to the Lawes of Englande, or the Frame of Govern- 
 mente by the said Presidente and Councell here after to be 
 established. . . . And the said Councell doe hereby covenante 
 and declare, that it is their Intente and Meaninge for the good 
 of this Plantacon, that the said William Bradford his Associats, 
 or their Heires or Assignes, shall have and enjoy whatsoever 
 Priveledge or Priveledges of what kinde soever, as are ex- 
 pressed or intended to be graunted by his said late Majestie's 
 Letters-Pattents, and that in as large and ample manner as 
 the said Councell thereby now may or hereafter can graunte 
 (coyninge of Money excepted). . . . And lastly, know yee 
 that wee the said Councell have made and . . . appointed 
 Captaine Myles Standish, or, in his absence, Edward Winslowe, 
 . . . and John Alden, or any of them, to be our true and lawful! 
 Attorney ... in our Name and Stead, to enter into the said 
 Tracte ... of Lande ... or into some parte thereof . . . 
 and in our Names to take possession and seizin thereof, . . . 
 and after such possession and seizin, . . . then ... in our 
 Names to deliver the full and peaceable possession of all . . . 
 the said mencioned . . . premises unto the said William Brad- 
 ford. . . . 
 
 [The Plymouth copy of this grant is indorsed : — 
 
 " The within named John Alden, authorised as Attorney for the 
 within mentioned Counsill, haveing in their name . . . entered into 
 some parte of the within mentioned tracts of Land . . , and in their 
 Names taken possession and seazin thereof, did in the name of the said 
 Counsill, deliver the full and peacable possession and seazin of all . . . 
 the within mentioned . . . premises unto William Bradford, for him, 
 his Heires, Associates, and Assignes. . . . 
 " In Presence of 
 
 James Cudworth 
 
 William Clark 
 
 Nathaniel Mortan, Secretary.^''] 
 
126 PLYMOUTH PLANTATION 
 
 b. Surrender of the Bradford Patent to the Plymouth 
 Freemen, March 2/12, I64O/ I64I 
 
 This document was first printed by Hazard in his State Papers (I, 
 468, 469). The text as given later (1855) in the Plymouth Becords has 
 the same spelling in nearly every case, but is somev?hat more economical 
 of capital letters. The Hazard text is follov^ed here. 
 
 Whereas . . . the said William Bradford and divers others 
 the first Instruments of God in the beginninge of this greate 
 work of Plantacon together with such as the Alorderinge God 
 in his Providence soone added unto them have beene at very 
 greate charges to procure the said lands priveledges and free- 
 domes from all entanglements ... by reason whereof the 
 title to the day of this present remayneth in the said William 
 his heires associats and assignes now for the better setling of 
 the state of the said land aforesaid the said William Bradford 
 and those first Instruments termed and called in sondry orders 
 upon publick Record the Purchasers or Old Comers . . . 
 whereby they are distinguished from other the freemen and 
 Inhabitants of the said Corporation Be it known unto all men 
 therefore by these presents That the said William Bradford 
 for himself his heires together with the said purchasers do 
 onely reserve unto themselves their heires and assignes those 
 three tracts of land . . . together with such other smale per- 
 cells of lands as they or any of them are personally possessed 
 of or interessed in by vertue of any former titles or graants 
 whatsoever and the said William Bradford doth by the free 
 and full consent approbacon and agreement of the said Old 
 Planters or Purchasers together with the likeing approbacon 
 and acceptacon of the other part of the said Corporacon sur- 
 render into the hands of the whole Court consisting of the 
 Preemen of this Corporacon of New-Plymouth all that ther 
 right and title power authorytie priveledges immunities and 
 freedomes graunted in the said Letters Patents by the said 
 Right Honorable Councell for New England reserveing his 
 and their personall Right of Preemen . . . declaring the 
 
FIRST CODE OF LAWS IN AMERICA 127 
 
 Freemen of this present Corporacon together with all such as 
 shall be legally admitted into the same his associates ... In 
 witnes whereof the said William Bradford hath in Publicke 
 Court surrendered the said Letters Patents actually into the 
 hands and power of the said Court bynding himselfe his heires 
 executors administrators and assignes to deliver up whatsoever 
 specialties are in his hands that do or may concerne the same. 
 Memorand. That the said surrender was made by the said 
 William Bradford in publicke Court to Nathaniell Sowther 
 especially authorized by the whole Court to receive the same 
 together with the said Letters Patents in his name and for the 
 use of the whole Body of Freemen. . . . 
 
 50. First Code of Laws in America 
 
 Plymouth " Fundementals/' 1636. 
 
 Hazard's State Papers (Washington, 1792), I, 404-410. 
 
 The following extracts come from a code (much resembling a bill of 
 rights) drawn up for Plymouth Colony in 1(336 by the first representative 
 gathering of that colony. Cf. American History and Government, § 54. 
 
 1. — Wee the associates of the Colony of New-Plymouth, 
 coming hither as free born subjects of the kingdom of England, 
 endowed with all and singular the priveleges belonging to 
 such : Being assembled. 
 
 Do enact, ordain and constitute ; that no act, imposition, law 
 or ordinance be made or imposed on us at present, or to come, 
 but such as shall be enacted by consent of the body of freemen 
 or associates, or their representatives legally assembled ; which 
 is according to the free liberties of the free born people of 
 England. 
 
 2. — And for the well governing this Colony: It is also re- 
 solved and ordered, that there be a free election annually of 
 Governor, Deputy Governor, and assistance, by the vote of 
 the freemen of this corporation . . . 
 
 4. — It is also enacted, that no person in this government 
 shall suffer or be indamaged, in respect of life, limb, liberty. 
 
128 PLYMOUTH PLANTATION 
 
 good name or estate, under color of law, or countenance of 
 authority, but by virtue or equity of some express law of the 
 general court of this Colony, or the good and equitable laws 
 of our Nation, suitable for us, in matters which are of a civil 
 nature (as by the court here hath been accustomed) wherein 
 we have no particular law of our own. And that none shall 
 suffer as aforesaid, without being brought to answer by due 
 course and process of Law. 
 
 5. — And that all cases, whether capital, criminal, or between 
 man and man, be tried by a jury of twelve good and lawful 
 men, according to the commendable custom of England, except 
 where some express law doth refer it to the judgement of some 
 other judge or inferior court where jury is not; in which case 
 also any party aggrieved, may appeal and have trial by a jury. 
 
 And it shall be in the liberty of any person, that is to be 
 tried by a jury to challenge any of the jurors, and if the 
 challenge be found just and reasonable by the bench, it shall 
 be allowed ; and others without just exception shall be im- 
 panelled in their room : And if it be in case of life and death, 
 the prisoner shall have liberty (according to the law of Eng- 
 land) to except against twenty of the jury without giving any 
 reason for the same. 
 
 7. — And it is enacted ; being the privelege of our charter ; 
 that all persons of the age of 21 years, of right understanding 
 and memory, whether excommunicated, condemned or other, 
 having any estate properly theirs to dispose of, shall have 
 full power and liberty to make their reasonable wills and 
 testaments, and other lawful alienations of their lands and 
 estates ; be it only here excepted, That such as are sentenced 
 for Treason ... or other capitall crimes, shall forfeit . . . 
 for the carrying on the charge of government, their personal 
 estate : Their lands and real estate being still at their disposal. 
 
XI. THE FOUNDING OF MASSACHUSETTS 
 
 51. The Gorges Claim to Massachusetts 
 
 a. Charter from the Jfew England Council to Robert 
 Gorges. December 30/ January 9, 1622/3 
 
 Hazard's State Papers (1702), I, 152 ff. Reprinted from ?ir Ferdi- 
 nando Gorges' Briefe Narration of the Originall Undertakings . . . of 
 Plantations into . . . America (1668). Gorges' Briefe Narration is re- 
 printed In full in the Massachusetts Historical Society Collections, Third 
 Series, V, 45-9;]. 
 
 The Gorges Charter is short, and is given ahnost in full below. 
 
 [Recital of the grant of 1620 to the Council of New England] 
 Now know all Men by these Presents, that We the Councell 
 of Neiv- England, for, and in respect of the good and speciall 
 Service done by Sir Ferdinando Gorges, Knight, to the Plan- 
 tation, from the first Attempt thereof unto this present, as 
 also for many other causes us hereunto moving, and likewise 
 for and in Consideration of the Payment of one hundred and 
 sixty pounds of lawfull English Money unto the Hands of 
 our Treasurer, by Robert Gorges, Sonne of the said Sir Ferdi- 
 nando Gorges, Knight, whereof, and of every Part and Parcell 
 whereof, the said Robert Gorges, his Heires, Executors, and 
 Assignes, are for ever acquitted and discharged, by these 
 Presents; have given, granted and confirmed, and by these 
 Presents do give, grant, and confirme, unto the said Robert 
 Gorges, his Heires and Assignes for ever, all that part of the 
 Main Land in New-England aforesaid, commonly called or 
 known by the name of Messachusiack, situate, lying and being 
 upon the North-East side of the Bay called or knowne by the 
 the Name of Mnssachnset, or by what other Name or Names 
 soever it be, or shall be called or knowne, together with all 
 the Shoars and Coasts along the Sea, for ten English Miles, 
 
 129 
 
130 THE FOUNDING OF MASSACHUSETTS 
 
 in a streight line towards the North-East, accounting one 
 thousand, seven hundred and sixty yards to the Mile, and 
 thirty English Miles (after the same rate) unto the Main 
 Land through all the Breadth aforesaid, together with all the 
 Islets and Islands, lying within three Miles of any Part of 
 the said Lands (except such Islands as are formerly granted) : 
 together also with all the Lands, Rivers, Mines and Mineralls, 
 Woods, Quarryes, Marshes, Waters, Lakes, Fishings, Hunt- 
 ings, Fowlings, and Commodities, and Hereditaments what- 
 soever, with all and singular their Appurtenances, together 
 with all Prerogatives, Rights, Jurisdictions and Royalties, and 
 Power of Judicature in all Causes and Matters whatsoever. 
 Criminal, Capital, and Civil, arising, or which may hereafter 
 arise, within the Limits, Bounds, and Precincts aforesaid, 
 to he executed according to the great Charter of England, and 
 such Lawes as shall be hereafter established by Puhlique Author- 
 ity of the State assembled in Parliament in New-England, to be 
 executed and exercised by the said Robert Gorges, his 
 Heires and Assignes, or his or their Deputies, Lieutenants, 
 Judges, Stewards, or other Officers, thereunto by him or them 
 assigned, . . . saving and alwayes reserving unto the said 
 Councell, and their Successours, and to the Court of Parlia- 
 ment hereafter to be in Neio-England aforesaid, and to either 
 of them, power to receive, heare and determine all and singu- 
 lar Appeale and Appeales, of every Person and Persons what- 
 soever, dwelling or inhabiting within the said Territories and 
 Islands, or either or any of them, to the said Robert Gorges 
 granted as aforesaid, of and from all Judgments and Sentences 
 whatsoever given within the said Territories ; . . . 
 
 [Sir Ferdinando Gorges was one of the original patentees of the ' ' North- 
 ern Colony " of 1606. More than any other one man, he was instrumental 
 in keeping that enterprise alive and in finally securing its reorganization 
 as the Council of New England in 1620 (No. 42 above). He continued 
 to be prominent in the meetings and business of that Company until its 
 dissolution in 1634, He drew up a plan of government for all New 
 England, in accordance with which the New England Council appointed 
 
THE GORGES CLAIM TO MASSACHUSETTS 131 
 
 his son Robert "generall Governor." This governor was to be assisted 
 by a " Councill " consisting of heads of any individual colonies established 
 or to be established. The Governor and Council were to make laws with 
 the assent of a central "Parliament" to be chosen from the several 
 colonies. 
 
 Thus Robert Gorges came to America in this double capacity, — 
 patentee of his own small grant on Massachusetts Bay, and General 
 Governor (or "Lieutenant General") of all New England. It was 
 this last position that brought upon him the dislike of Governor Brad- 
 ford of Plymouth, as noted in American History and Government, § 45, 
 note.] 
 
 b. Robert Gorges, Lieutenant General of Jfew England 
 
 (1623) 
 
 From Sir Ferdinando Gorges' " Briefe Narration" (1658), reprinted 
 in Massachusetts Historical Society Collections, Third Series, VI, 74-75. 
 
 My son Cajitain Robert Gorges sent by authority of the Coun- 
 cil for those Affairs, as their Lieutenant General. 
 
 The several complaints made to the council of the abuses 
 committed by several the fishermen, and other interlopers, w^ho 
 without order from them frequented those coasts, tending to 
 the scorn of our nation ... to the overthrow of our trade, and 
 dishonor of the government, — 
 
 For reformation whereof, and to prevent the evils that may- 
 ensue, they were pleased to resolve of the sending some one 
 into those parts as their Lieutenant, to regulate the estate of 
 their affairs and those abuses. Hereupon my son Robert Gorges 
 being newly come out of the Venetian war, was the man they 
 were pleased to pitch upon, being one of the Company, and in- 
 terested in a proportion of the land with the rest of the Paten- 
 tees in the Bay of the Majechewsett, containing ten miles in 
 breadth and thirty miles into the main land; who, between my 
 Lord Gorges and myself, was speedily sent away into the said 
 Bay of Massechewset, where he arrived about the beginning of 
 August following, anno 1623, that being the place he resolved 
 to make his residence, as proper for the public as well as for his 
 
132 THE FOUNDING OF MASSACHUSETTS 
 
 private [affairs] ; where landing his provisions and building his 
 storehouses, he sent to them of New Plymouth (who by his com- 
 mission were authorized to be his assistants) to come unto him, 
 who willingly obeyed his order, and as carefully discharged 
 their duties ; by whose experience he suddenly understood 
 what was to be done with the poor means he had, believing the 
 supplies he expected would follow according to the undertak- 
 ings of divers his familiar friends who had promised as much. 
 But they, hearing how I sped in the House of Parliament, with- 
 drew themselves ; and myself and friends were wholly disabled 
 to do any thing to purpose. The report of these proceedings 
 with us coming to my son's ears, he was advised to return home 
 till better occasion should offer itself unto him. 
 
 62. The Beginning of Salem Colony 
 
 Extracts from the Brief Belation by the Reverend John White, 1630. 
 For explanation of White's connection with the Company, see American 
 History and Government, § 57 and note. 
 
 The ensuing faithful and impartial narration of the first 
 occasions, beginning, and progress of the whole work, is laid 
 before the eyes of all that desire to receive satisfaction, by 
 such as have been privy to the very first conceiving and con- 
 triving of this project of planting this Colony. . . . 
 
 About ten years since, a company of English, part out of 
 the Low Countries, and some out of London and other parts, 
 associating themselves into one body, with an intention to 
 plant in Virginia, in their passage thither being taken short 
 by the wind, in the depth of winter, the whole ground being 
 under snow, were forced with their provisions to land them- 
 selves in New-England, upon a small bay beyond Mattachusets, 
 in the place which they now inhabit, and call by the name of 
 New Plymouth. The ground being covered a foot thick with 
 snow, and they being without shelter, and having amongst 
 them divers women and children, no marvel if they lost some 
 of their company ; it may be wondered how they saved the 
 
THE BEGINNING OF SALEM COLONY 133 
 
 rest. But notwithstanding this sharp encounter at the first, 
 and some miscarriages afterward, yet, conceiving God's provi- 
 dence had directed them unto that place, and finding great 
 charge and difficulty in removing, they resolved to fix them- 
 selves there ; and being assisted by some of their friends in 
 London, having passed over most of the greatest difficulties 
 that usually encounter new planters, they began to subsist at 
 length in a reasonably comfortable manner ; being, notwith- 
 standing, men but of mean and weak estates of themselves ; 
 and after a year's experience or two of the soil and inhabitants, 
 sent home tidings of both, and of their well-being there, which 
 occasioned other men to take knowledge of the place, and to 
 take it into consideration. 
 
 About the year 1623, some western merchants, who had con- 
 tinued a trade of fishing for cod and bartering for furs in those 
 parts for divers years before, conceiving that a Colony planted 
 on the coast might further them in those employments, be- 
 thought themselves how they might bring that project to effect, 
 and communicated their purpose to others, alleging the con- 
 veniency of compassing their project with a small charge, by 
 the opportunity of their fishing trade, in which they accus- 
 tomed to double-man their ships, that, by the help of many 
 hands, they might dispatch their voyage and lade their ship 
 with fish while the fishing season lasted ; which could not be 
 done with a bare sailing company. Now it was conceived that, 
 the fishing being ended, the spare men that were above their 
 necessary sailors, might be left behind with provisions for a 
 year ; and when that ship returned the next year, they might 
 assist them in fishing, as they had done the former year ; and, 
 in the mean time, might employ themselves in building, and 
 planting corn, which, with the provisions of fish, fowl, and 
 venison, that the land yielded, would afford them the chief of 
 their food. This proposition of theirs took so well, that it 
 drew on divers persons to join with them in this project ; the 
 rather because it Avas conceived, that not only their own fisher- 
 men, but the rest of our nation that went thither on the same 
 
134 THE FOUNDING OF MASSACHUSETTS- 
 
 errand, might be much advantaged, not only by fresh victual, 
 which that Colony might spare them in time, but withal, and 
 more, by the benefit of their ministers' labors, which they 
 might enjoy during the fishing season ; whereas otherwise, 
 being usually upon those voyages nine or ten months in the 
 year, they were left all the while without any means of in- 
 struction at all. Compassion towards the fishermen, and 
 partly some expectation of gain, prevailed so far that for the 
 planting of a Colony in New England there was raised a stock 
 of more than £3000, intended to be paid in in five years, but 
 afterwards disbursed in a shorter time. 
 
 How this stock was employed, and by what errors and over- 
 sights it was wasted, is, I confess, not much pertinent to this 
 subject in hand. Notwithstanding, because the knowledge 
 there of may be of use for other mens' direction, let me crave 
 leave, in a short digression, to present unto the reader's view 
 the whole order of the managing of such moneys as were col- 
 lected, with the success and issue of the business undertaken. 
 [Here follows an account of mismanagement and losses, and 
 the failure of the Company.] 
 
 But to return to our former subject, from which we di- 
 gressed. Upon the manifestation of the Western Adventurers' 
 resolution to give oif their work, most part of the land men, 
 being sent for, returned. But a few of the most honest and 
 industrious resolved to stay behind, and to take charge of the 
 cattle sent over the year before; which they performed ac- 
 cordingly. And not liking their seat at Cape Anne, chosen 
 especially for the supposed commodity of fishing, they trans- 
 ported themselves to Nahum-Keike, about four or five leagues 
 distant to the south-west from Cape Anne. 
 
 Some then of the Adventurers, that still continued their 
 ^ desire to set forward the plantation of a Colony there, conceiving 
 that if some more cattle were sent over to those few men left 
 behind, they might not only be a means of the comfortable 
 subsisting of such as were already in the country, but of 
 inviting some others of their friends and acquaintance to come 
 
THE BEGINNING OF SALEM COLONY 135 
 
 over to them, adventured to send over twelve kine and bulls 
 more ; and, conferring casually with some gentlemen of London, 
 moved them to add unto them as many more. By which 
 occasion, the business came to agitation afresh in London, and 
 being at first approved by some and disliked by others, by 
 argument and disputation it grew to be more vulgar ; insomuch 
 that some men showing some good affection to the work, and 
 offering the help of their purses if fit men might be procured 
 to go over, in(|uiry was made whether any would be willing to 
 engage their persons in the voyage, l^y this inquiry it fell 
 out that among others they lighted at last on Master Endecott, 
 a man well known to divers persons of good note, who mani- 
 fested much willingness to accept of the offer as soon as it was 
 tendered; which gave great encouragement to such as were 
 upon the point of resolution to set on this work of erecting a 
 new Colony upon the old foundation. Hereupon divers persons 
 having subscribed for the raising of a reasonable sum of money, 
 a patent was granted with large encouragements every way by 
 his most excellent Majesty. Master Endecott was sent over 
 Governor' assisted with a few men, and arriving in safety 
 there in September, 1628, and uniting his own men with those 
 which were formerly planted in the country into one body, 
 they made up in all not much above fifty or sixty persons. 
 
 His jirosperous journey, and safe arrival of himself and all 
 his company, and good report which he sent back of the country, 
 gave such encouragement to the work, that more adventurers 
 joining with the first undertakers, and all engaging themselves 
 more deeply for the prosecution of the design, they sent over 
 the next year about three hundred persons more, most servants, 
 with a convenient proportion of rotherbeasts, to the number 
 of sixty or seventy, or there about, and some mares and horses ; 
 of which the kine came safe for the most part, but the greater 
 part of the horses died, so that there remained not above 
 twelve or fourteen alive. 
 
 1 White gets the order of events wrong here. Endicott came before the 
 charter was secured. 
 
136 THE FOUNDING OF MASSACHUSETTS 
 
 By this time the often agitation of this affair in sundry 
 parts of the kingdom, the good report of Captain Endecott's 
 goyernmeut, and the increase of the Colony, began to ^yaken 
 the spirits of some persons of competent estates, not formerly 
 engaged. Considering that they liyed either without any 
 useful employment at home, and might be more serviceable in 
 assisting the planting of a Colony in New England, [they] took 
 at last a resolution to unite themselves for the prosecution of 
 that work. And, as it usually falls out, some other of their 
 acquaintance, seeing such men of good estates engaged in 
 the voyages, some for love to their persons, and others upon 
 other respects, united unto them ; which together made up a 
 competent number, (perhaps far less than is reported.") and 
 embarked themselves for a voyage to Xew-Euglaud, where I 
 hope they are long since safely arrived [a reference to John 
 Winthrop's expedition]. 
 
 This is an impartial though brief relation of the occasion of 
 planting of this Colony. The particulars whereof, if they 
 could be entertained, were clear enough to any indifferent 
 judgment, that the suspicious and scandalous reports raised 
 upon these gentlemen and their friends, (as if, under the color 
 of planting a Colony, they intended to raise and erect a sem- 
 inary of faction and separation,) ai'e nothing else but the fruits 
 of jealousy of some distempered mind, or, which is worse, 
 perhaps, savor of a desperate malicious plot of men ill affected 
 to religion, endeavoring, by casting the undertakers into the 
 jealousy of State, to shut them out of those advantages which 
 otherwise they do and might expect from the countenance of 
 authority. Such men would be intreated to forbear that base 
 and unchristian course of traducing innocent persons under 
 these odious names of Sepai-atists and enemies to the Church 
 and State, for fear lest their own tongues fall upon themselves 
 by the justice of His hand who will not fail to clear the inno- 
 cency of the just, and to cast back into the bosom of every 
 slanderer the tilth that he rakes up to throw in other nien's 
 
FIRST CHARTER FOR MASSACHUSETTS BAY 137 
 
 faces. As for men of more indifferent and better tempered 
 minds, they would be seriously advised to beware of entertain- 
 ing and admitting, much more countenancing and crediting 
 such uncharitable persons as discover themselves by their 
 carriage, and that in this particular, to be men ill affected 
 towards the work itself, if not to religion, at which it aims, 
 and consequently unlikely to report any truth of such as 
 undertake it. 
 
 63. The First Charter for Massachusetts Bay- 
 March 4/14, 1628/1629 
 
 The text follows the copy of the charter in the Massachtisetts Colonial 
 Records, I, 3-19. The charter had been printed earlier (17G9) in 
 Hutchinson's Collections of Original Papers, but with a somewhat less 
 faithful text. The document is more than usually verbose, and, if 
 printed in full, it would occupy six times the space given it in this 
 volume. Every grant and provision of any importance, however, is 
 given or summarized in the following pages. 
 
 [Recital of the patent of 1620 to the Council for New Eng- 
 land, and the subsequent grant ^ by the Council, in March, 
 1627/8, to Sir Henry Rose well and others, which grant is by 
 this present charter confirmed.] 
 
 And further know yee, That . . . Wee ... by theis 
 presents doe . . . give and graunt unto the said Sir Henry 
 Rosewell, Sir John Younge, Sir Richard Saltonstall, Thomas 
 Southcott, John Humfrey, John Endecott, Symon Whetcombe, 
 Isaack Johnson, Samuell Aldersey, John Ven, Mathewe 
 Cradock, George Harwood, Increase No well, Richard Pery, 
 
 iThis grant included the territory granted by the New England Council to 
 Gorges in Ki'i;?. Tliis was due, no doubt, to geographical ignorance. Ferdi- 
 nando Gorges (" Briefe Narration," in A/a.ss. Hist. Sue. Coll., Third Series, V, 
 80), after explaining how tlie new Company came to ask for a grant from the 
 New England Council, adds: " to which it pleased the thrice honored Lord of 
 Warwick to write to me [from London], then at Plymouth, to condescend that 
 a Patent might be granted. . . . Whcrevipon I gave my approbation .soyar 
 forth as it might not he prejudicial to iti;/ .so?* liobert Oorges' ititprost.t, rohereof 
 he had a patent." Gorges always felt that the grant to the Massachusetts 
 Bay Company had worked a great injustice to his family. Cf. American 
 Hiatory and Government, §§ 57, note, (iL 
 
138 THE FOUNDING OF MASSACHUSETTS 
 
 Richard Bellingham, iSTatlianiel Wright, Samuell Vassal!, 
 Theophilus Eaton, Thomas Goffe, Thomas Adams, John 
 Browne, Samuell Browne, Thomas Hutchins, William Vassall, 
 William Pinchion, and George Foxcrofte, theire heires and 
 assignes, All that parte of Newe England in America which 
 lyes and extendes betweene a great river there commonlie 
 called Monomack river, alias Merrimack river, and a certen 
 other river there called Charles river, being in the bottome of 
 a certen bay there commonlie called Massachusetts, alias 
 Mattachusetts, alias Massatusetts bay : And also all and sin- 
 guler those landes and hereditaments whatsoever, lyeing 
 within the space of three Englishe myles on the south parte of 
 the saide river called Charles river, or of any or every parte 
 thereof: And also all and singuler the landes and heredita- 
 ments whatsoever lyeing and being withiii the space of three 
 Englishe myles to the southward of the southernmost parte of 
 the said baye called Massachusetts . . . : And also all those 
 landes and hereditaments whatsoever which lye and be within 
 the space of three English myles to the northward of the saide 
 river called Monomack, alias Merrymack, or to the northward 
 of any and every parte thereof, and all landes and heredita- 
 ments whatsoever, lyeing within the lymitts aforesaide, north 
 and south, in latitude and bredth, and in length and longitude, 
 of and within all the bredth aforesaide, throughout the mayne 
 landes there from the Atlantick and westerne sea and ocean on 
 the east parte, to the south sea on the west parte : . . . [with 
 mines and fisheries, ta be held in free soccage, paying one- 
 fifth part of gold and silver ore. Incorporation, "by the name 
 of the Governor and Company of the Mattachusetts Bay in 
 New England," with succession and rights at law common to 
 corporations, and with a seal.] 
 
 And wee doe hereby . . . graunte. That . . . there shalbe 
 one Governor, one Deputy Governor, and eighteene Assistants 
 ... to be from tyme to tyme . . . chosen out of the freemen 
 of the saide Company, for the tyme being, in such manner and 
 forme as hereafter in theis presents is expressed. Which said 
 
FIRST CHARTER FOR MASSACHUSETTS BAY 139 
 
 officers shall applie themselves to take care for the best dis- 
 poseing and ordering of the generall buysines and affaires of 
 . . . the saide landes and premisses . . ., and the plantacion 
 thereof, and the government of the people there. 
 
 [Appointment of Craddock and Gotfe as first Governor and 
 Depnty, and of eighteen of the others named in the opening of 
 the grant as Assistants, " to continue in their offices for such 
 time ... as in these presents is hereafter declared," Governor 
 or Deputy to call meetings of the Company.] And that the 
 said Governor, Deputie Governor, and Assistants . . . shall 
 or maie once every moneth, or oftener at their pleasures, as- 
 semble, and houlde, and keepe a Courte or Assemblie of 
 themselves, for the better ordering and directing of their 
 affaires. [Seven or more Assistants, with the Governor or 
 Deputy Governor, to be a sufficient Court] and that there 
 shall or maie be held . . . upon every last Wednesday in 
 Hillary, Easter, Trinity, and Michas termes respectivelie for 
 ever, one greate, generall, and solemne Assemblie, which foure 
 Generall Assemblies shalbe stiled and called the Foure Greate 
 and Generall Courts of the saide Company : In all and every 
 or any of which saide Greate and Generall Courts soe as- 
 sembled. Wee doe . . . graunte . . . That the Governor, or, 
 in his absence, the Deputie Governor . . . and such of the 
 Assistants and freemen ... as shalbe present, or the greater 
 nomber of them soe assembled, whereof the Governor or 
 Deputie Governor and six of the Assistants, at the least to be 
 seaven, shall have full power and authoritie to choose, nomi- 
 nate, and appointe such and soe many others as they shall 
 thinke fitt, and that shall be willing to accept the same, to be 
 FREE of the said Company and Body, and them into the same 
 to admitt, and to elect and constitute such officers as they shall 
 thinke fitt and requisite for the ordering, mannaging, and 
 dispatching of the affaires of the saide Governor and Company. 
 And to make Lawes and Ordinances for the Good and Welfare 
 of the saide Company and for the government and ordering of 
 the saide Lands and Plantacions, and the People inhabiting 
 
140 THE FOUNDING OF MASSACHUSETTS 
 
 . . . the same . . . soe as such Lawes ... be not contrary 
 or repugnant to the Lawes and Statutes of this our Realm of 
 England. . . . And wee doe . . . ordeyne, That yearely once 
 in the yeare for ever hereafter, namely, the last Wednesday in 
 Easter tearme yearely, the Governor, Deputy Governor, and 
 Assistants . . . and all other officers of the saide Company 
 shalbe, in the Generall Court or Assembly to be held for that 
 day or tyme, newly chosen for the yeare ensueing by such 
 greater parte of the said Company for the tyme being, then 
 and there present, as is aforesaide. 
 
 [Vacancies caused by the death or removal of any officer of 
 the Company may be tilled by new elections. All officers are 
 required to take an oath for the faithful performance of their 
 duties. Permission, in the usual terms, to transport to America 
 English subjects who offer themselves and who are not 
 especially restrained by the King, with the usual guarantee of 
 the rights of Englishmen to such emigrants and their descend- 
 ants, and with the usual long clauses granting certain tariff 
 privileges to the Company.] 
 
 And that the Governor or Deputie Governor ... or either 
 of them, and any two or more of such of the saide Assistants as 
 may be there unto appointed . . . shall and male at all Tj^mes, 
 and from Tyme to Tyme hereafter, have full Power and Au- 
 thority to minister and give the Oathe and Oathes of Supremacie 
 and Allegiance, or either of them, to all and everie Person and 
 Persons which shall at any Tyme . . . pass to the Laudes 
 . . . hereby mencioned. . . . 
 
 And wee doe . . . graunt . . . , That it shall ... be lawf ull 
 to and for the Governor or Deputie Governor and such of the 
 Assistants and Freemen of the said Company ... as shalbe 
 assembled in any of their Generall Courts aforesaide, or in any 
 other Courtes to be specially summoned and assembled for 
 that purpose, or the greater parte of them, (whereof the Gover- 
 nor or Deputie Governor and six of the Assistants, to be alwaies 
 seaven,) from tyme to tyme to make, ordeine, and establishe all 
 manner of wholesome and reasonable orders, lawes, statutes, 
 
FIRST CHARTER FOR MASSACHUSETTS BAY 141 
 
 and ordinances, directions, and instructions not contrarie to the 
 lawes of this our realme of England, aswell for setling of the 
 formes and ceremonies of government and magistracy fitt and 
 necessary for the said plantation and the inhabitants there, and 
 for nameing and stiling of all sortes of officers, both superior 
 and inferior, which they shall finde needefuU for that governe- 
 raent and plantation, and the distinguishing and setting forth 
 of the severall duties, powers, and lymytts of every such office 
 and place, and the formes of such oathes warrantable by the 
 lawes and statutes of this our realme of England as shalbe re- 
 spect! velie ministred unto them, for the execution of the said 
 severall offices and places, as also for the disposing and order- 
 ing of the elections of such of the said officers as shalbe annu- 
 al 1, and of such others as shalbe to suceede in case of death or 
 removeall, and ministring the said oathes to the newe elected 
 officers, and for impositions of lawfull fynes, mulcts, impi-ison- 
 ment, or other lawfull correction, according to the course of 
 other corporations in this our realme of England, and for the 
 directing, ruling, and disposeing of all other matters and things 
 whereby our said people, inhabitants there, maie be soe reli- 
 giously, peaceablie, and civilly governed, as their good life and 
 orderlie conversation maie wynn and incite the natives of [that] 
 country to the knowledg and obedience of the onlie true God 
 and Savior of mankinde, and the Christian fayth, which, in 
 our royall intention and the adventurers free profession, is the 
 principall ende of this plantation. 
 
 And Wee Doe further . . . graunte to the saide . . . 
 Company . . . that it may be lawful [for the Company and 
 its officers] from Tyme to Tyme, and at all Tymes hereafter, 
 for their speciall Defence and Safety, to incounter, expulse, 
 repell, and resist by Force of Armes, as well by Sea as by 
 Lande, and by all fitting Waies and Meanes whatsoevei", all 
 such Persons as shall at any Tyme hereafter attempt or enter- 
 prise the Destruction, Invasion, Detriment, or Annoyance to 
 the saide Plantation . . . [with the usual clause reserving to 
 the English King the privilege of disavowing wrongful acts 
 
142 THE FOUNDING OF MASSACHUSETTS 
 
 by the colony if he prefer to put it out of his allegiance, and 
 ivithout the usual half of the " expulse " clause relating to 
 settlers who " may attempt to inhabit " in the colony without 
 the permission of the Company; provided further that other 
 Englishmen may fish on the coasts of the colony ; and with 
 the usual clause promising the Company the most favorable 
 construction of any disputed clause.] 
 
 [Hints for Study. — 1. — Early New England historians assumed that this 
 charter gave unusual powers. A comparison with the Virginia Company 
 charters of 1G09 and 1612, or with the New England Council charter of 
 1620, shows this assumption wholly false. Students may be asked to find 
 four important powers given to those earlier corporations and not con- 
 tained in this grant (noting the limited authority here in the inflictions of 
 punishment, and the omission of the power to regulate settlement in con- 
 nection with the usual "expulse, repel, etc." clause). The charter is 
 not "very liberal," but very limited. This is more apparent when we 
 notice that all these powers missing in this charter (or vaguely phrased 
 here) reappear in the usual explicit form in the charter granted a few 
 months later to the company for planting Providence Isle (No. 55, 
 below). 
 
 2. — American historians (e. g. JohnFiske, in Beginnings of Neio Eng- 
 land) have often assumed that this charter used loose language as to the 
 oatli of supremacy jji 07-dcr that the Puritans might set up their own form 
 of worship. 'TJie loording, hoioever, is practically identical with that of the 
 Virginia Company charter of 1612 — from lohich unquestionably it was 
 copied, with only the necessary changes of names. (Let students verify 
 this statement.) 
 
 3. — With tlie overthrow of these false assumptions goes another (in 
 great measure) founded upon them, — i.e. that the Puritans intended, 
 when they were securing this charter, to bring it to America and use it as 
 a constitution for a free state. This assumption, however, is worth fur- 
 ther investigation by the student, because it offers so admirable a lesson 
 in historical criticism. 
 
 A single sentence of Governor John Winthrop's has been taken often 
 as sufficient proof tliat the grantees so intended. Indeed (except for the 
 groundless assumptions of 1 and 2 above, and for the equally worthless 
 consideration discussed in 4 below) there is no other evidence.'^ Win- 
 
 1 The very obscure sentence of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, written even later 
 than Winthrop's one sentence, carries a like implication ; but it coutaius 
 
FIRST CHARTER FOR MASSACHUSETTS BAY 143 
 
 throp states that, in drawing up the charter, there was at first a clause 
 which would have fixed the Company in England, "and, with much 
 difficulty, ice got it abscinded." Winthrop is high authority. But this 
 sentence was written fifteen years after the event, and it is interjected 
 hastily, as a parenthesis, in a bitter controversy {Life and Letters, II, 
 p. 443). It could have been only "hearsay" at the best ; since Win- 
 throp did not belong to the Company until some months after the charter 
 was secured (though he seems to have forgotten that for the moment 
 when he says " we "). Such evidence would prove little in a law court, 
 even if there were no evidence on the other side. 
 
 But there is evidence on the other side, — abundant, conclusive, un- 
 impeachable. 
 
 (1) The abstract of the charter (docket) presented to the king by his 
 legal advisors shows with absolute certainty that they and the grantor 
 expected the charter powers to be exercised "here in England" (No. 54 
 below) . 
 
 (2) The official records of the Company, viade at the time, declare 
 explicitly that Governor Cradock's proposal to transfer the charter to 
 America (five months after it was granted) was " conceived by himself." 
 Further, the general tenor of those records for those five intervening 
 months agree wholly with the idea that the Company then had no thought 
 of leaving England (see some extracts, No. 57 below), and they contain, 
 in their fifty odd pages, no single suggestion of the other sort. Most con- 
 clusive of all, the Becords show that even after the surprised Company 
 had come to look with approval upon Cradock's proposal, they could not 
 easily adjust their plans and financial interests to the new movement. 
 (Advanced students will find the proof in the Becords. It is impossible to 
 represent them here in the necessary complete detail to show this. It 
 may be added, however, that Cradock's proposal of July 28 was first 
 debated, then deferred a month for secret consideration ; then debated, 
 in two meetings, by assigned sets of debaters for the two sides of the 
 argument ; then legal advice was sought, with what result, we don't 
 know ; and afterwards many plans were discussed as to how the transfer 
 could be made without "prejudicing" the interests of the majority of 
 the Company 1 . See Nos. 57, 58, for some of the evidence.) 
 
 Of the 110 members of the Company in England, only about one 
 
 such gross errors of chronology about external events that it can carry do 
 weight at all as to motives of his adversaries (Mass. Hist. Society Collec- 
 tions, Third Series, VI, 80). 
 
 1 Curiously, even Osgood, almost infallible in colonial history, refers only 
 to Winthrop's sentence (with justifiable caution, to be sure), without any 
 reference to the contrary evidence iu the Records. 
 
144 THE FOUNDING OF MASSACHUSETTS 
 
 fourth ever came to America. Cradock himself never came, — though he 
 had lands and servants here. Most of the members, who stayed in Eng- 
 land, lost all their investment eventually. Indeed, in the summer of 
 1629, the Company was already in serious financial straits. A special 
 inventory, in the fall, rated the stock at only one third the face value. 
 This condition may have inclined some stockholders to favor Cradock's 
 proposition in July. The funds paid in for stock by "Winthrop and other 
 new members made it possible for old members to draw out (on this re- 
 duced scale). In this sense, the new members " bought " out some of the 
 old ones. 
 
 4. — No place of meeting is suggested in the charter. This probably 
 resulted from the fact that the Company was made up partly of Lon- 
 doners, partly of Dorchester men (from the West of England ; cf. 
 American History and Government^ § 57). All such previous colonizing 
 corporations for America had been designated geographically (probably 
 for convenient descriptions, rather than for limitation) . But the " Council 
 of Plymouth in the County of Devon" had never held a meeting at 
 Plymouth : its records show that all its meetings were held at London. 
 This fact may have helped to make the even more composite Massachu- 
 setts Company wary about having a place of meeting mentioned in their 
 fundamental law. If John Winthrop is right in his statement of fifteen 
 years later (above) that such a limitation was at first put into this document 
 and that "with much difficulty we got it abscinded," then we may be 
 sure that the Company desired that elision, not in order that they might 
 hold meetings in America (as Winthrop afterward assumed), but to 
 prevent their being hampered in England. This view is made practically 
 certain when we observe the clause regarding place of meeting in the 
 charter of the Providence Isle Company (below) . That company certainly 
 never expected to hold its meetings out of England, but it guards against 
 being hampered, not by mere silence, but by express provision that it 
 may meet where it likes.] 
 
 54. Docket of the Massachusetts Charter, 1629 
 
 When the king granted a charter, an exact copy, known as "the 
 King's Bill," was presented to him, with a docket, or abstract, approved 
 by his Attorney-General. This docket was what the king, or his council, 
 read. 
 
 The following docket, now attached to the King's Bill of this charter 
 in the London Record Office, is printed in the Massachusetts Historical 
 Society Proceedings for 1869-1870, pages 172-173. The italics are used 
 in this reproduction to call attention to important matters. 
 
DOCKET OF THE MASSACHUSETTS CHARTER 145 
 
 May it please your most Excellent Majestie. 
 
 Whereas your Majesties most deare and royall father did, 
 by his letteres Patents in the 18th yeare of his raigne, incorpo- 
 rate divers noblemen and others by the name of the Councell 
 for the planting of New England in America and did thereby 
 grant unto them all that part of America which lyeth betweene 
 40 degrees of Northerly latitude and 48 inclusive, — with divers 
 priviledges and immunities. . . . Which said Councell have 
 sithence by theire Charter in March last [1628] granted a 
 part of that Continent to Sir Henrie Rosewell and others, their 
 heires and associates, for ever, with all jurisdiccions, rightes, 
 priviledges, and commodities of the same. 
 
 Tills Bill conteineth your Majesties confirmacion and Grant 
 to the said Sir Henry Rosewell and his partners and their 
 Associates and to their heires and assignes for ever of the said 
 part of New England in. America, with the like tenure in 
 socage and reservacion of the fifth part of gould and silver 
 oare, — Incorporating them also by the name of the Governor 
 and Company of the Mattachusetts Bay in New England in 
 America, — with such clauses for the electing of Governors 
 and Officers here in England for the said Company, and powers 
 to make lawes and Ordinances for setling the Governement and 
 Magistracie of the plantacion there, and with such exempcions 
 from Customes and Imposicions and some [such ?] other priv- 
 illedges as were originallie granted to the Councell aforesaid 
 and are usuaUie allowed to Corporacions in England. 
 
 And is done by direccion from the Lord Keeper upon your 
 Majesties pleasure therein signified to his Lordship by Sir 
 Ralph Freeman. 
 
 (Signed) Ri. Shilton. 
 
146 THE FOUNDING OF MASSACHUSETTS 
 
 55. Excursus: For a Comparative Study of Charters 
 
 Notes upon the Charter for the Company of Westminster for the Plantation 
 of the Island of Providence 
 
 December 4/14, 1630 
 
 This very important charter has neverbeen printed. An abstract in the 
 Colonial State Papers seemed so significant that the editor of this volume 
 secured a complete transcript of the charter from the manuscript in the 
 British Record Office. On that transcript, the notes below are based. 
 
 The colony of Providence Isle vpas of little weight, and the charter of 
 the proprietary Company, accordingly, has received scant attention. That 
 document, however, issued twenty-one months later than that of the 
 Massachusetts Bay Company, is in many ways the culmination of the 
 series of grants to English corporations for colonizing purposes. All the 
 powers granted to proprietaries in earlier charters, including those which 
 were dropped out in the Massachusetts charter, reappear here ; and in 
 some important matters there is much new detail. A study of this doc- 
 ument removes the last possible basis for the claims of the older New 
 England historians that the Massachusetts charter was in any peculiar 
 way adapted to the purpose of a transfer to America. 
 
 1. Puritan manbership. — The incorporators comprise the Earl of 
 Warwick, Lord Say and Sele, Sir Nathaniel Rich, Oliver St. Johns, and 
 John Pym, — all prominent leaders of the Puritan party, more prominent 
 than any Puritans in the Massachusetts Company. 
 
 2. Sectarianism. — The Company is given the "Patronages and Ad- 
 vowsons " of "all" churches and chapells, — without even a restriction 
 as to the customs of the Church of England (such as is found in the 
 Baltimore charter). If this provision had been in the Massachusetts 
 charter, Puritan historians would have found it certain proof of an inten- 
 tion to build a non-conformist state. The passage conferring authority 
 to impose the oath of supremacy is copied from the charters of 1612 and 
 1629. No other sectarian restriction occurs. 
 
 3. Place of meeting. — The Company are to govern themselves and 
 their settlement (as the Virginia Company of 1612 and the Massachusetts 
 Bay Company) in four " General Courts " each year ; but these courts are 
 to be held '■'■in any place or places by themselves to be appointed.''^ (And, 
 again, the Company is authorized to hold its courts " in any place or 
 
A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF CHARTERS 147 
 
 places convenient "). Surely, this disposes of the ancient argument that 
 the omission of a specific place of meeting in the Massachusetts charter 
 suggests an intention to establish some place out of England. 
 
 The facts as to a specific meeting place for a colonizing corporation in 
 England seem to be as follows : 
 
 a. The charter of 1606 establishes two sub-companies, which neces- 
 sarily are designated geographically to distinguish one from the other ; 
 and the charters of 1600, 1612, and 1620 use geographical designations, 
 necessarily, to show to which one of those sub-companies they respec- 
 tively apply. 
 
 b. But the " Plymouth Council" (charter of 1620) did not regard its 
 geographical designation as fixing its place of meeting, or else it found 
 it necessary to ignore the restriction. All its meetings were held, not at 
 Plymouth, but in London. 
 
 c. The Massachusetts Bay Company was made up of two bodies of 
 men, one from the east, one from the west of England. This fact, to- 
 gether with the experience of the Plymouth Council, probably made 
 them unwilling to have a place of meeting fixed in their charter. 
 
 d. The Providence Isle charter carries this development, as suggested 
 above, to its logical conclusion, permitting the Company itself to fix the 
 places for its meetings. But tliis last Company certainly never expected 
 to leave England. So the old argument from the omission of a specific 
 place in the charter of the Massachusetts Company falls to the ground. 
 
 4. Laro making. — In the General Courts the Company is empowered 
 "to ordaine frames of Government, with all things thereto incident; 
 and to make reasonable lawes . . . not being contrarie to the Lawes of 
 this our Realme of England . . . for the Government of the Com- 
 pany . . . and of all Collonyes which shall be planted ... in thei said 
 Islands . . . and to appoint, by such title as they . . . shall thinke good, 
 such . . . offices and officers . . . for such Times and with such powers, 
 as they shall thinke good, both for the Company here within our Realme 
 of England and for the Collonies in the said Islands . . . and the said 
 Offices and Officers ... to alter . . . and displace, and in their places, to 
 appoint others . . . and the said Lawes ... to put into execution." . . . 
 
 5. Admiralty jurisdiction conferred. 
 
 6. Local Government. Power to divide the territory into " Provinces, 
 Counties . . . Hundreds, Mannors," or other units, and to erect and 
 fortify villages, etc., and to grant letters of incorporation to towns and 
 burroughs, " with all Liberties and things unto Corporations requisite and 
 usual within this our Reaime of England" ; and to set up markets; 
 and to constitute and appoint magistrates and all manner of officers for all 
 local units, with fit legislation for them. 
 
148 THE FOUNDING OF MASSACHUSETTS 
 
 7. Power of punishment to extend- to "life and members," with 
 authority to exercise martial law. 
 
 8. Right to settle restricted to those having a license from the 
 Company. 
 
 9. Rights of Englishmen guaranteed to settlers and their posterity. 
 
 10. Company to coin money (not gold or silver). 
 
 11. Repetition of the usual privileges granted in earlier charters, and 
 a " blanket clause " promising the Company " all such Prerogatives," etc., 
 as have ever been granted to any colonizing Company in England. 
 
 56. The Massachusetts Company's Agreement with Mr. 
 Higginson 
 
 Alexander Young's Chronicles of 3fassachusetts (1846) , 209 ff. Young 
 modernized the spelling. On March 19, at a meeting of the Company, it 
 had been decided to try to secure Higginson for the coming voyage. 
 
 A true note of the alloivance that the New-England [3/assa- 
 chusetts Bay"] Company have, by common consent and order of 
 their Court and Council, granted tinto Mr. Francis Higginson, 
 Minister, for his maintenayice in Netc-England, April S, 1629. 
 
 1. '■ — Imprimis, that 30 pounds in money shall be forthwith 
 paid him by the Company's treasurer towards the charges of 
 fitting himself with apparel and other necessaries for his 
 voyage. 
 
 2. — Item, that 10 pounds more shall be paid over by the 
 said treasurer towards the providing of books for present 
 use. 
 
 3. — Item, that he shall have 30 pounds yearly paid him 
 for three years, to begin from the time of his first arrival in 
 New-England, and so to be accounted and paid him at the 
 end of every year. 
 
 4. — Item, that during the said time, the Company shall 
 provide for him and his family necessaries of diet, housing 
 and firewood, and shall be at charges of transporting him into 
 New-England ; and at the end of the said three years, if he 
 shall not like to continue there any longer, to be at the charge 
 of transporting him back for England. 
 
THE MASSACHUSETTS COMPANY'S AGREEMENT 149 
 
 5. — Item, that in convenient time a house shall be built, 
 and certain lands allotted thereunto ; which, during his stay 
 in the country, and continuance in the ministry, shall be for 
 his use ; and after his death or removal, the same to be for 
 succeeding ministers. 
 
 6. — Item, at the expiration of the said three years, a hun- 
 dred acres of land shall be assigned to him and his heirs 
 forever. 
 
 7. — Item, that in case he shall depart this life in that 
 country, the said Company shall take care for his widow 
 during her widowhood and abode in that country and Planta- 
 tion ; and the like for his children whilst they remain upon 
 the said Plantation. 
 
 8. — Item, that the milk of two kine shall be appointed to- 
 wards the charges of diet for him and his family as aforesaid, 
 and half the increase of calves during the said three years ; 
 but the said two kine, and the other half of the increase, to re- 
 turn to the Company at the end of the said three years. 
 
 9. — Item, that he shall have liberty of carrying over bedding, 
 linen, brass, iron, pewter, of his own, for his necessary use dur- 
 ing the said time. 
 
 10. — Item, that if he continue seven years upon the said 
 Plantation, that then a hundred acres of land more shall be 
 allotted him for him and his forever. . . . 
 
 Further,^ though it was not mentioned in the Agreement, 
 but forgotten, Mr. Higginson was promised a man-servant, to 
 take care and look to his things, and to catch him iish and fowl, 
 and provide other things needful, and also two maid-servants, 
 to look to his family. 
 
 1 This item is added by Higginson in his written acceptance of the above 
 terms. 
 
150 THE FOUNDING OF MASSACHUSETTS 
 
 57. First Government in Massachusetts Bay under the Company 
 in England ; April, 1629 
 
 Records of the Gover)ior and Company of 3Iassa<-'hitsetts Bay (1853 ; 
 edited by Nathaniel Shurtleff), 1,361 ff. 
 
 The early records were kept very informally, — more so than would 
 pass with a high school debating society to-day. This particular entry is 
 placed by the editor far out of its chronological order, preserved as it was 
 on a loose sheet of manuscript. Previous to the transfer of the Company 
 to America, the records as printed would fill about one hundred pages of 
 this volume. 
 
 A generall Court, liolden at London, the 30th Day of ApriU, 
 1629, by the Governor and Company of the Mattachusetts 
 Bay in New England. 
 
 Whereas the Kings most excellent Majesty hath bin gra- 
 tiously pleased to erect and establish us, by his lettres pattents, 
 under the great scale of England, to bee a body corporate, en- 
 tytuled the Governor and Company of the Mattachusetts Bay 
 in New England, and therby hath endowed us with many large 
 and ample priviledges and immunities, with power to make 
 good and wholsome lawes, and ordinances for the better main- 
 tenance and support of the said priviledges and for the better 
 and more orderly and regular government, to bee observed in 
 the prosecucion and propagacion of our intended voyages and 
 the plantacion there, authorising us to nominate and appoint 
 and select fitt persons amoungst ourselves for the managing, 
 ordering, and governing of our affaires, both in England and 
 in the places speyed and graunted unto us by vertue of his maj- 
 estys said charter, wee have, in the prosecucion of the said 
 power and authoritie given us . . . thought fitt to settle and 
 establish an absolute government at our plantacion in the said 
 Mattachusetts Bay in New England, which, by the vote and con- 
 sent of a full and ample Court now assembled, is . . . ordered 
 as followeth, viz. : — 
 
 That thirteene of such as shalbe reputed the most wyse, 
 honest, expert, and discreete persons resident upon the said 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT IN MASSACHUSETTS BAY 151 
 
 plantacion, shall from tyrae to tyme, and at all tyme hereafter, 
 have the sole managing and ordering of the government and 
 our affaires there, who, to the best of their judgments, are to 
 endeavor soe to settle the same as may make most to the glory 
 of God, the furtherance and advancement of this hopeful 
 plantacion, the comfort, encouragement, and future beneiitt of 
 us and others, the beginners and prosecutors of this soe laud- 
 able a worke. The said 13 persons soe appointed to bee 
 entytled by the name of the Governor and Councell of Londons 
 Plantacion in the Mattachusetts Bay in New England. 
 
 And having taken into due consideracion the meritt, worth, 
 and good desert of Captain John Endecott, and others lately 
 gone over from hence with purpose to resyde and continue 
 there, wee have, with full consent and authoritie of this 
 Court, and by ereccion of hands, chosen and elected the said 
 Captain John Endecott to the place of present Governor in 
 our said plantacion. 
 
 Also, by the same power, and with the like full and free 
 consent, wee have chosen and elected Mr. Francis Higgeson, 
 Mr. Samuel Skelton, Mr. Francis Bright, Mr. John Browne, 
 Mr. Samuel Browne, Mr. Thomas Graves, and Mr. Samuell 
 Sharpe, these seaven, to bee of the said councell, and doe here- 
 by give power and authoritie to the said Governor and those 
 seaven to make choice of 3 others, such as they, or the greater 
 nomber of them, in their discrecions, shall esteeme and con- 
 ceive most fitt thereunto, to bee also of the said councell. 
 
 And to the end that the former planters there may have noe 
 just occasion of excepcion, as being excluded out of the privi- 
 ledges of the Company, this Court are content, and doe order, 
 by ereccion of hands, that such of the said former planters as 
 are willing to live within the lymitts of our plantacion shalbe 
 enabled, and are hereby authorized, to make choice of 2 such 
 as they shall thinke fitt, to supply and make upp the nomber 
 of 12 of the said councell, one of which 12 is, by the Governor 
 and councell, or the major part of them, to bee chosen Deputie 
 to the Governor for the tyme being. . . . 
 
152 THE FOUNDING OF MASSACHUSETTS 
 
 It is further concluded on and ordered by this Court, that 
 the said Governor, Deputie, and councell, before named, soe 
 chosen and established in their severall places, shall continue 
 and bee confirmed therin for the space of one whole yeare 
 from and after the taking the oath, or untill such time as this 
 Court shall thinke fitt to make choice of any others to succeed 
 in the place or places of them or any of them. . . . 
 
 And it is further agreed on and ordered, that the Governor 
 for the tyme beeing shall have power, and is heereby author- 
 ized, to call courts and meetings in places and at tymes con- 
 venyent, as to his discrecion shall seeme meete, which power 
 is also conferred upon the Deputie in the absence of the said 
 Governor ; and the said Governor or Deputie, togeather with 
 the said councell, being chosen and assembled as aforesaid, 
 and having taken their oaths respectively to their severall 
 places, they, or the greater nomber of them, whereof the 
 Governor or Deputie to bee always one, are authorized by this 
 act, grounded on the power derived from his majesty s charter, 
 to make, ordaine, and establish all manner of wholsome and 
 reasonable lawes, orders, ordinances and constitucions, (soe as 
 the same bee noe way repugnant or contrary to the lawes of 
 the realme of England) for the administring of justice upon 
 malefactors, and inflicting condigne punishment upon all other 
 offendors, and for the furtherance and propagating of the said 
 plantacion, and the more decent and orderly government of the 
 inhabitants resydent there. 
 
 [This establishment of a subordinate government in Massachusetts 
 corresponds to the government in Virginia in 1614, perhaps, — before the 
 Virginia Company granted self-government to the settlement. There is 
 no hint, here, be it noted, that this arrangement was soon to be super- 
 seded by the transfer of the English Company itself to America. Ten 
 meetings are recorded between the one when these orders were taken 
 and the one (next given here) in which that suggestion first appears.] 
 
XII. THE COLONY BECOMES A PURITAN 
 ENTERPRISE 
 
 58. Decision to Transfer the Charter to the Colony 
 
 a. First Official Proposition to Transfer the Charter to 
 
 America 
 
 Records of the Governor and Company of Massachusetts Bay, I, 47-51. 
 
 A Generall Court, holden for the Company of the Mattachnsetts 
 Bay, in Neio England, at Mr. Deputies House, on Tewsday, 
 the 28 of July, 1629. 
 
 Present, Mr. Spurstowe, 
 
 Mr. Matthew Cradock, Mr. Increase Noell, 
 
 Governor, Mr. Symox Whetcombe, 
 
 Mr. Thomas Goff, Deputie, Mr. John Pococke, 
 
 Mr. George Harwood, Mr. Colson, 
 
 Treasurer, Mr. Hutchins, 
 
 Mr. Thomas Adams, Mr. William Pinchon, 
 
 Mr. Nathaniell Wright, Mr. Samuel Vassail, 
 Mr. Theophilus Eaton, Assistants, 
 
 Mr. Richard Perry, Mr. Thomas Hewson, 
 
 Mr. Joseph Bradshawe, Mr. Woodgate, 
 
 Mr. Burnell, Mr. Web, 
 
 Mr. Rivet, Mr. Crane, Generalitie. 
 Mr. Daniel Ballard, 
 
 ... [A long meeting with much business] 
 
 And lastly, Mr. Governor read certain e proposicions con- 
 ceived by himselfe, viz, that for the advancement of the plan- 
 tacion, the inducing and encouraging 2^^^'so)is of loorth and 
 qualitie to transplant themselves and famylyes thether,^ and for 
 
 'No doubt the movement that culminated in b below was already under 
 way. 
 
 153 
 
154 THE COLONY BECOMES A PURITAN ENTERPRISE 
 
 other weighty reasons therein contained, to transfer!' the 
 government of the plantacion to those that shall inhabite 
 there, and not to continue the same in subordinacion to the 
 Company heer, as it now is. This business occasioned some 
 debate ; but by reason of the many great and considerable 
 consequences therupon depending, it was not now resolved 
 upon ; but those present are desired privately and seriously to 
 consider hereof, and to sett down their particular reasons in 
 wryting, pro and contra, and to produce the same at the next 
 Generall Court, where, they being reduced to heads and 
 maturely considered of, the Company may then proceede to a 
 fynall resolucion there [on] ; and in the meane tyme they are 
 desired to carry this businesse secretly, that the same bee not 
 divulged. 
 
 h. The Cambridge Aireement 
 
 Hutchinson's Collection of Original Papers (1769), 25, 26. Cf. 
 Americaii History and Government, §§ 58, 59. 
 
 The True Copy of the Agreement at Cambridge, August 26, 
 
 1629. 
 
 Upon due consideration of the state of the Plantation now 
 in hand for Kew-England, wherein wee whose names are here- 
 unto subscribed, have engaged ourselves, and have weighed 
 the greatnes of the worke in regard of the consequence, God's 
 glory, and the Churches good ; as also in regard of the diffi- 
 cultys and discouragements which in all probabilityes must 
 be forecast upon the execution of this businesse ; Considering 
 withall that this whole adventure grows upon the joynt con- 
 fidence we have in each others fidelity and resolution herein, 
 sp as no man of us would have adventured it without assurance 
 of the rest : Now, for the better encouragement of ourselves 
 and others that shall joyne with us in this action, and to the 
 end that every man may without scruple dispose of his estate 
 and affayres as may best fit his preparation for this voyage ; 
 it is fully and faithfully agreed amongst us, and every of us 
 
DECISION TO TRANSFER THE CHARTER 155 
 
 doth hereby freely and sincerely promise and bind himselfe 
 in the word of a christian and in the presence of God, who 
 is the searcher of all hearts, that we will so really endeavour 
 the prosecution of this worke, as by God's assistance, we will 
 be ready in our persons, and with such of our several familyes 
 as are to go with us, and such provision as we are able con- 
 veniently to furnish ourselves withall, to embarke for the 
 said Plantation by the first of March next, at such port or 
 ports of this land as shall be agreed upon by the Companie, 
 to the end to passe the seas, (under God's protection,) to in- 
 habite and continue in Xew-England : Provided always, that, 
 before the last of September next, the ivhole government, together 
 ivith the j)atent for the said Plantation, be first, by an order 
 of Court, legally transferred and established to remain with ^is 
 and others lohich shall inhabit upon the said Plantation: and 
 provided also, that if any shall be hindered by such just and 
 inevitable lett or other cause, to be allowed by 3 parts of four 
 of these whose names are hereunto subscribed, then such 
 persons, for such tymes and during such letts, to be discharged 
 of this bond. And we do further promise, every one for him- 
 selfe, that shall fayle to be ready through his own default by 
 the day appointed, to pay for every day's default the sum of 
 £3, to the use of the rest of the Companie who shall be ready 
 by the same day and time. 
 
 Eichard Saltonstall, Thomas Sharpe, 
 
 Thomas Dudley, Increase Nowell, 
 
 William Vassall, John Winthrop, 
 
 Nicliolas West, William Pinchon, 
 
 Isaac Johnson, t Kellam Broune, 
 
 John Humfrey, William Colburn. 
 
 [Several of these signers did not come to America.] 
 
156 THE COLONY BECOMES A PURITAN ENTERPRISE 
 
 c. Decision by the Company 
 Hecords of the Governor and Compamj of Massachusetts Bay, I, 49 ff. 
 
 (1) A Generall Court, liolden at Mr. Deputyes House, the 28 
 of August, 1629. 
 
 [Present : 25 Names given.] 
 
 Mr. Deputie acquainted this Court, that the espetiall cause 
 of their meeting was to give answere to divers gentlemen, ^ in- 
 tending to goe into New England, whether or noe the chiefe 
 government of the plantacion, togeather with the pattent, should 
 bee settled in New England, or heere. 
 
 Wherupon it was ordered, that this afternoone Mr. Wright, 
 Mr. Eaton, Mr, Adams, Mr. Spurstowe, and such others as they 
 should thinke fitt to call unto them, whether they were of the 
 Company or not, to consider of arguments against the set- 
 ling of the chiefe government in New England. 
 
 And, on the other syde, Sir Richard Saltonstall, Mr. Johnson, 
 Captain Venn, and such others as they should call unto them, 
 to prepare arguments for the setling of the said government 
 in New England ; and that tomorrow morning, being the 29th 
 of August, at 7 of the clock, both sydes should nieete and 
 conferr and weigh each others arguments, and afterwards, at 9 
 of the clock, (which is the tyme appointed of meeting for a 
 General Court,) to make report therof to the whole Company, 
 who then will determine this business. 
 
 (2) A General Court, at Mr. Deputyes House, the 29th of 
 August, 1629. 
 
 This day the committees which were appointed to meete 
 yesterday in the afternoone to consider of arguments pro and 
 contra touching the setling of the government of the Companyes 
 plantacion in New England, being according to the order of the 
 last Court mett togeather, debated their arguments and reasons 
 
 " See 6 above. 
 
PURITAN GENTLEMEN TO SETTLE IN COLONY 157 
 
 on both sydes ; where were present many of the Assistants and 
 generalitie ; and after a long debate, Mr. Deputie put it to the 
 question, as followeth : 
 
 As many of yow as desire to have the pattent and the govern- 
 ment of the plautacion to bee transferred to New England, soe 
 as it may bee done legally, hold up your hands : Soe many as 
 will not, hold upp your hands. 
 
 Where, by ereccion of hands, it appeared by the generall con- 
 sent of the Company, that the government and pattent should 
 bee setled in New England, and accordingly an order to bee 
 drawne upp. 
 
 [This by no means settled the matter. The question arose as to how to 
 protect the property rights of those stoclcholders who were to remain in 
 England, and several meetings were devoted to consideration of various 
 plans proposed.] 
 
 59. Decision of Puritan Gentlemen to Settle in the Colony ^ 
 
 a. Winthrop's Argument for a Puritan Colony 
 
 Robert Winthrop's Life and Letters of John Witithrop, I, 309 ff. 
 
 This argument is generally ascribed to John Winthrop, and one man- 
 uscript of it at least is said to be in his handwriting. The first printed 
 copy was made by Hutchinson in his CoUectiojis, but from a different 
 manuscript. 
 
 Reasons to be considered for justifieinge the undertakeres of the 
 intended Plantation in New England, and for incouraginge such 
 whose hartes God shall move to joyne with them in it. 
 
 1. — It will be a service to the Church of great consequence 
 to carry the Gospell into those parts of the world, to helpe on 
 the coram inge of the fuUnesse of the Gentiles, and to raise a 
 Bulworke against the Kingdome of Ante Christ which the 
 Jesuites labour to reare up in those parts. 
 
 2. — All other churches of Europe are brought to desolation, 
 and our sinnes, for which the Lord beginnes allreaddy to frowne 
 
 ' The first document under this number should logically be a repetition of 
 the Cambridge Agreement, above. 
 
158 THE COLONY BECOMES A PURITAN ENTERPRISE 
 
 upon us and to eutte us short, doe threatne evill 'times to be 
 coinminge upon us, and whoe knowes but that God hath pro- 
 vided this place to be a refuge for many whonie he nieanes 
 to save out of the generall callamity ; and seeinge the Church 
 hath noe place lefte to flie into but the wildernesse, what better 
 worke can there be, then to goe and provide tabernacles and 
 foode for her against she conies thither : 
 
 3. — Tin's Land cirowes loeary of her Lihahitants, soe as man, 
 tvJioe is the most prethus of all creatures, is here more vile and 
 base then the earth ice treade upon, and of less prise among us 
 then an horse or a sheej^e : masters are forced by authority to 
 entertaine servants, parents to maiuetaine there oune children, 
 all tounes complaine of the burthen of theirs poore, though we 
 have taken up many unnessisarie yea unlawfull trades to maiue- 
 taine them, and we use the authoritie of the Law to hinder the 
 increase of our people, as by urginge the Statute against Cot- 
 tages, and inmates; and thus it is come to passe, that children, 
 servants, and neighboures, especially if they be poore, are 
 corapted the greatest burthens, which if thinges weare right 
 would be the cheifest earthly blessinges. 
 
 4. — The whole earth is the Lords garden and he hath given 
 it to the Sonnes of men with a general Commission : Gen : 1 : 
 28 : " Increace and multiplie, and replenish the earth and sub- 
 due it," which was againe renewed to Noah : the end is double 
 and naturall, that man might enjoy the fruits of the earth, and 
 God might have his due glory from the creature : why then 
 should we stand striving here for places of habitation, etc. 
 (many men spending as much labour and coste to recover or 
 keepe sometimes an acre or tuoe of Land, as would procure 
 them many and as good or better iu another Countrie) and in the 
 meane time suffer a whole Continent as fruitfull and convenient 
 for the use of man to lie waste without any improvement? 
 
 5. — We are groune to that height of Intemperance in all 
 excesse of Riott, as noe mans estate allmost will suffice to keepe 
 saile with his aecpialls : and he whoe failes herein, must live 
 in scorne and contemi)t. Hence it comes that all artes and 
 
PURITAN GENTLEMEN TO SETTLE IN COLONY 159 
 
 Trades are carried in that deceiptfull and unrighteous course 
 as it is allmost impossible for a good and upright man to 
 mainetayne his charge and live comfortablie in any of them. 
 
 6, — The ffountaines of Learning and Religion are soe cor- 
 rupted as (besides the unsupportable charge of there education) 
 most children (even the best witts and of fairest hopes) are per- 
 verted, corrupted, and utterlie overthroune by the multitude of 
 evill examples and the licentious government of those semi- 
 naries,where men straine at knatts and swallowe camells, use all 
 severity for mainetaynance of cappes and other accomplyments, 
 but suffer all rulRanlike fashions and disorder in manners 
 [morals] to passe uncontrolled. 
 
 b. Winthrop's Argumeiit for Corning Himself to America 
 
 John Winthrop sent the following "Considerations" relating to him- 
 self to various friends for their advice. Life and Letters, I, 327. 
 
 Particular Considerations in the case of J : W : 
 
 1 : It is come to that issue as (in all probabilitye) the well- 
 fare of the Plantation dependes upon his goeinge, for divers 
 of the Chiefe Undertakers (upon whom the reste depende) 
 will not goe without him. 
 
 2 : He acknowledges a satisfactorye callinge, outwarde from 
 those of the Plantation, inwardly by the inclination of his 
 oun hearte to the worke, and bothe approved by godly and 
 juditious Devines (whereof some have the first interest in 
 him), and there is in this the like mediate call from the Kinge, 
 which was to his former imployment. 
 
 3: Though his means be sufficient for a comfortable sub- 
 sistence in a private condition heere, yet the one halfe of them 
 being disposed to his 3: elder sonnes, who are now of age, 
 he cannot live in the same place and callinge with that which 
 remains; his charge being still as great as before, when his 
 means were double: and so if he should i-efuse this oppor- 
 tunitye, that talent which God hath bestowed upon him for 
 publike service, were like to be buried. 
 
160 THE COLONY BECOMES A PURITAN ENTERPRISE 
 
 4 : His wife and suche of his children, as are come to years 
 of discreation, are voluntarylye disposed to the same Course. 
 
 5: Most of his friends (upon the former considerations) 
 doe consent to his change. 
 
 c. Decision of John Winthrop, Jr. 
 John Winthrop, Jr., to his Father 
 Winthrop's Life and Letters of John Winthrop, I, 306-307. 
 
 Sir, — My humble duty remembered to you and my 
 mother. . . . 
 
 For the business of New England, I can say no other thing 
 but that I believe confidently, that the whole disposition 
 thereof is of the Lord, who disposeth all alterations, by his 
 blessed will, to his own glory and the good of his; and, 
 therefore, do assure myself, that all things shall work together 
 for the best therein. And for myself, I have seen so much 
 of the vanity of the world, that I esteem no more of the 
 diversities of countries, than as so many inns, whereof the 
 traveller that hath lodged in the best, or in the ^orst, findeth 
 no difference, when he cometh to his journey's end; and I shall 
 call that my country, where I may most glorify God, and 
 enjoy the presence of my dearest friends. Therefore herein 
 I submit myself to God's will and yours, and, with your leave, 
 do dedicate myself (laying by all desire of other employments 
 whatsoever) to the service of God and the Company herein, 
 with the whole endeavors, both of body and mind. 
 
 The CONCLUSIOiSrS, which you sent down, I showed to my 
 uncle and aunt, who liked them well. I think they are un- 
 answerable ; and it cannot but be a prosperous action, which 
 is so well allowed by the judgments of God's prophets, under- 
 taken by so religious and wise worthies of Israel, and indented 
 to God's glory in so special a service. 
 
 . . . So, desiring your prayers and blessing, I commend you 
 
 to the Almighty's protection, and rest Your obedient son, 
 
 John Winthkop. 
 London, August 21, 1629. 
 
PURITAN GENTLEMEN TO SETTLE IN COLONY 161 
 
 d. JYews from Jfew England, 1629 
 
 Higginson's Belation is the name under which his New-England'' s 
 Plantation is commonly quoted. Apparently he sent back the manuscript 
 in the early fall (September, presumably) of 1629, some four months 
 after his arrival. The little book was printed in London in 1630, but be- 
 fore that time it (together with earlier letters) had had much influence in 
 leading to the main Puritan migration. The selections below are taken 
 from Young's Chronicles of Massach^lsetts, where the spelling is 
 modernized. 
 
 ******* 
 
 The fertility of the soil is to be admired at, as appeareth in 
 the abundance of grass that groweth everywhere, both very 
 thick, very long, and very high in divers places. But it 
 groweth very wildly, with a great stalk, and a broad and 
 ranker blade, because it hath never been eaten with cattle, 
 nor mowed with a scythe, and seldom trampled on by foot. 
 It is scarce to be believed how our kine and goats, horses and 
 hogs do thrive and prosper here, and like well of this country. 
 
 In our Plantation we have already a quart of milk for a 
 penny. But the abundant increase of corn proves this country 
 to be a wonderment. Thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, are prdinary 
 here. Yea, Joseph's increase in Egypt is outstripped here 
 with us. Our planters hope to have more than a hundredfold 
 this year. And all this while I am within compass; what 
 will you say of two hundred fold, and upwards ? It is almost 
 incredible what great gain some of our English planters have 
 had by our Indian corn. Credible persons have assured me, 
 and the party himself avouched the truth of it to me, that of 
 the setting of thirteen gallons of corn he hath had increase of 
 it fifty-two hogsheads, evei*y hogshead holding seven bushels 
 of London measure, and every bushel was by him sold and 
 trusted to the Indians for so much beaver as was worth eighteen 
 shillings ; and so of this thirteen gallons of corn, which was 
 worth six shillings eight pence, he made about 327 pounds of 
 it the year following, as by reckoning will appear ; where you 
 may see how God blesseth husbandry in this land. There is 
 
162 THE COLONY BECOMES A PURITAN ENTERPRISE 
 
 not such great and plentiful ears of corn I suppose any where 
 else to be found but in this country, being also of variety of 
 colors, as red, blue, and yellow, etc. ; and of one corn there 
 springeth four or five hundred. I have sent you many ears of 
 divers colors, that you might see the truth of it. 
 
 Little children here, by setting of corn, may earn much 
 more than their own maintenance. 
 
 The temper of the air of New-England is one special thing 
 that commends this place. Experience doth manifest that 
 there is hardly a more healthful place to be found in the 
 world that agreeth better with our English bodies. INIany 
 that have been weak and sickly in Old England, by coming 
 hither have been thoroughly healed, and grown healthful and 
 strong. For here is an extraordinary clear and dry air. that 
 is of a most healing nature to all such as are of cold, melan- 
 choly, phlegniatic, rheumatic temper of body . . . and therefore 
 I think it is wise course for all cold complexions to come to 
 take physic in New-England ; for a sup of New-England's air 
 is better than a whole draught of Old England's ale. 
 
 60. Early Attitude of the Puritan Colony to the Church of 
 England 
 
 It is certain that the Puritans did not expect, at first, to separate so far 
 and so definitely from the Churcli of England as they very soon did sepa- 
 rate. On this, ci. American History and Governinent, ^ 82, and observe 
 also, besides a and b below, passages in No. 52, close, and No. 62 c, close. 
 
 a. Winthrop's Farewell Letter to the Churcli of England 
 April 7/17, 16:50 
 
 Hutchinson's 3Iassachusetts Bay, Appendix I (1769). About two 
 thirds the letter is here reproduced. Winthrop is supposed to be the au- 
 thor. 
 
 THE HUMBLE REQUEST of his Majesties Loyall Subjects, 
 the Govenxour and the Company late gone for New England; for 
 the obtaining of their Prayers, and the Reniovall of Suspicions 
 and Misconstructions of their Intentions. 
 
EARLY ATTITUDE OF THE PURITAN COLONY 163 
 
 . . . And howsoever your Charitie may have met with some 
 Occasion of Discouragement through the Misreport of our In- 
 tentions, or through the Disaffection or Indiscretion of some of 
 us, or rather amongst us : for we are not of those who dreame 
 of Perfection in this Worhi ; yet wee desire you woukl be pleased 
 to take Notice of the Principals and Body of our Company, as 
 those who esteeme it our honour to call the Church of England, 
 from whence wee rise, our deare Mother ; and cannot part from 
 our native Countrie, where she specially resideth, without much 
 Sadness of Heart, and many Tears in our Eyes, ever acknowledg- 
 ing that such Hope and Part as we have obtained in the com- 
 mon Salvation, we have received in her Bosome, and suckt it 
 from her Breasts : wee leave it not therefore as loathing that 
 milk wherewith we were nourished there, but blessing God for 
 the Parentage and Education, [and] as Members of the same 
 Body, [we] shall alwaies rejoice in her Good, and unfeignedly 
 grieve for any Sorrow shall ever betide her, and while we have 
 Breath, sincerely desire and indeavour the Continuance and 
 Abundance of her Welfare, with the Inlargement of her Bounds 
 in the Kingdome of Christ Jesus. 
 
 Be pleased therefore. Reverend Fathers aiid Brethren, to 
 helpe forward the Worke now in Hand ; which if it prosper, you 
 shall be the more glorious. [A fervent request for prayers.] . . . 
 
 What Goodness you shall extend to us in this or any other 
 Christian Kindnesse, wee, yovr Brethren in Christ Jesus, shall 
 labor to repay . . . promising, so farre as God shall enable us, 
 to give him no Best on your Behalfes, wishing our Heads and 
 Hearts may be Fountains of Teai's for your everlasting Wel- 
 fare, when we shall bee in our poor Cottages in the Wildernesse 
 . . . And so commending you to the Grace of God in Christ, 
 wee shall ever rest, 
 
 Your assured Friends and Brethren, 
 
 From Yarmouth, aboard 
 the Arabella, April 7, 1630. 
 
 John Wiyithi'op, Gov. [and six other signatures]. 
 
164 THE COLONY BECOMES A PURITAN ENTERPRISE 
 
 h. Opinion of Captain John Smith, 16 SO 
 
 Smith's TT'orAs (Birmingham edition), 926, 958. 
 
 The following passages come from the introduction to Smith's "Path- 
 way to the Inexperienced," his last pamphlet, written in 1631, to sup- 
 port the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Smith wrote at the home of a 
 brother of John Winthrop's first wife, and seems to have been well ac- 
 quainted with the Puritan leaders. 
 
 Pardon me if I offend in loving that [which] I have cherished 
 truly ,by the losse of my prime fortunes, meanes, and youth. If 
 it over-glad me to see Industry her selfe adventure now to make 
 use of my aged ende [a] vours, ?io^ J^ swc/i (//iope) as rumour 
 doth report, a many of discontented Brounists, Anabajjtists, 
 Pajjists, Puritans, Separatists, and such factious Humorists: for 
 no such they wiU sujfer among them, if knoivne, as viany of the 
 chief e of them {John Winthrop etc.) have assured mee; and the 
 much conferences I have had icith many of them, doth confidently 
 perswade me to ivrite thus much in their behalfe. . . . 
 
 They have . . . God's true Religion (they say) taught 
 amongst themselves, the Sabbath day observed, the common 
 Prayer (as I understand) and Sermons performed, and diligent 
 catechising . . . and commendable good orders to bring those 
 people [natives] with whom they have to deale . . . into a 
 Christian conversation . . . which done, in time, . . . may 
 grow a good addition to the Church of England. 
 
 [Smith evidently had some doubts on the matter, as his parenthetical 
 expressions show. But he had confidence enough to dedicate this booklet 
 to the two Archbishops of Canterbury and York.^ 
 
 61. Political Principles of the Puritans 
 
 From John Calvin's Institutes (1559 ; translation of 1813, III, 
 517-551). 
 
 a. [Attempt to justify a union of church and state'] 
 
 III. — Nor let anyone think it strange that I refer to human 
 polity the due maintenance of religion ... I do not allow 
 
POLITICAL PRINCIPLES OF THE PURITANS 165 
 
 men to make laws respecting religion and the worship of God 
 . . . though I approve of civil government which provides 
 that the true religion, . . . contained in the law of God, be 
 not violated and pointed. 
 
 h. Wf the parts of govermneiit and tlie supremacy of 
 magistrates'} 
 
 These are three. The Magistrate, who is the guardian and 
 conservator of the laws : The Laws, according to which he 
 governs : The People, who are governed by the laws, and obey 
 the magistrate. . . . 
 
 IV. — The Lord hath not only testified that the function of 
 magistrates has his approbation and acceptance, but hath 
 eminently commended it to us, by dignifying it with the most 
 honourable titles. . . . This is just as if it had been affirmed, 
 that the authority possessed by kings and other governors over 
 all things upon earth is not a consequence of the perverseness 
 of men, but of the providence and holy ordinance of God. . . . 
 
 VII. — Those who are not restrained by so many testimonies 
 of Scripture, but still dare to stigmatize this sacred ministry 
 [magistrates] as a thing incompatible with religion and Chris- 
 tian piety, do they not offer an insult to God himself, who 
 cannot but be involved in the reproach cast upon his ministry ? 
 And in fact they do not reject magistrates, but they reject God, 
 "that he should not reign over them." . . . 
 
 VIII. — And for private men, who have no authority to de- 
 liberate on the regulation of any public affairs, it would surely be 
 a vain occupation to dispute which would be the best form of 
 government in the place where they live. . . . Indeed if these 
 three forms of government, which are stated by philosophers 
 [Monarchy, Aristocracy, and Democracy], be considered in 
 themselves, I shall by no means deny, that either aristocracy 
 or a mixture of aristocracy and democracy far excell all 
 others ; and that indeed not of itself, but because it very 
 
166 THE COLONY BECOMES A PURITAN ENTERPRISE 
 
 rarely happens that kings i-egulate themselves so that their 
 will is never at variance with justice and rectitude; or in the 
 next place, that they are indued with such penetration and 
 prudence, as in all cases to discover what is best. The vice 
 or imperfection of men therefore renders it safer and more 
 tolerable for the government to be in the hands of many, that 
 they may afford each other mutual assistance and admonition, 
 and that if any one arrogate to himself more than is right, 
 the many may act as censors and masters to restrain his 
 ambition. . . . But if those, to whom the will of God has as- 
 signed another form of government, transfer this to themselves 
 so as to be tempted to desire a revolution, the very thought will 
 be not only foolish and useless, but altogether criminal. . . . 
 
 XIV. — From the magistracy we next proceed to the laws, 
 which are the strong nerves of civil polity, or, according to 
 an appellation which Cicero has borrowed from Plato, the 
 souls of states, without which magistracy cannot subsist. 
 
 XXII. — The first duty of subjects towards their magistrates 
 is to entertain the most honourable sentiments of their func- 
 tion, which they know to be a jurisdiction delegated to them from 
 God, and on that account to esteem and reverence them as 
 God's ministers and vicegerents. For there are some persons 
 to be found, who shew themselves very obedient to their 
 magistrates, and have not the least wish that there were no 
 magistrates for them to obey, because they know them to be 
 so necessary to the public good ; but who, nevertheless, con- 
 sider the magistrates themselves as no other than necessary 
 evils. But something more than this is required of us by 
 Peter, when he commands us to *' honour the king;" and by 
 Solomon when he says, " Fear thou the Lord and the King : " 
 for Peter, under the term honour, comprehends a sincere and 
 candid esteem ; and Solomon, by connecting the king with 
 the Lord, attributes to him a kind of sacred veneration and 
 dignity. . . . The obedience which is rendered to princes and 
 
POLITICAL PRINCIPLES OF THE PURITANS 167 
 
 magistrates is rendered to God, from whom they have received 
 their authority. 
 
 XXIII. — Hence follows another duty : that, with minds 
 disposed to honour and reverence magistrates, subjects approve 
 their obedience to them, in submitting to their edicts, in paying 
 taxes, in discharging public duties and bearing burdens which 
 relate to the common defence, and in fulfilling all their other 
 commands. . . . For, as it is impossible to resist the magistrate 
 without, at the same time, resisting God himself, though an un- 
 armed magistrate may seem to be despised with impunity, yet 
 God is armed to inflict exemplary vengeance on the contempt 
 offered to himself. Under this obedience I also include the 
 moderation which private persons ought to prescribe to them- 
 selves in relation to public affair's, that they do not, without 
 being called upon, intermeddle with affairs of state, or rashly 
 intrude themselves into the office of magistrates, or undertake 
 any thing of a public nature. If there be anything in the 
 public administration which requires to be corrected, let them 
 not raise any tumults, or take the business into their own 
 hands, which ought to be all bound in this respect, but let 
 them refer it to the cognizance of the magistrate, who is alone 
 authorized to regulate the concerns of the public. 
 
 XXV. — But, if we direct our attention to the word of God, 
 it will carry us much further; even to submit to the govern- 
 ment, not only of those princes who discharge their duty to 
 us with becoming integrity and fidelity, but of all who possess 
 the sovereignty, even though they perform none of the duties of 
 their function. For though the Lord testifies that the magis- 
 trate is an eminent gift of his liberality to preserve the safety 
 of men, and prescribes to magistrates themselves the extent 
 of their duty ; yet he, at the same time, declares, that what- 
 ever be their characters, they have their government only from 
 him ; that those who govern for the public good are true 
 specimens and mirrors of his beneficence ; and that those who 
 
168 THE COLONY BECOMES A PURITAN ENTERPRISE 
 
 rule in an unjust and tyrannical manner are raised up by him 
 to punish the iniquity of the people ; that all equally possess 
 that sacred majesty which he hath invested with legitimate 
 authority. . . . 
 
 XXIX. — But it will be said, that rulers owe mutual 
 duties to their subjects. That I have already confessed. But 
 he who infers from this that obedience ought to be rendered to 
 none but just rulers, is a very bad reasoner. For husbands owe 
 mutual duties to their wives, and parents to their children. 
 Now, if husbands and parents violate their obligations, if 
 parents conduct themselves with discouraging severity and 
 fastidious moroseness towards their children, whom they 
 are forbidden to provoke to wrath : if husbands despise and 
 vex their wives, whom they are commanded to love and to 
 spare as the weaker vessels ; does it follow that children 
 should be less obedient to their parents; or wives to their 
 husbands ? They are still subject, even to those who are 
 wicked and unkind. . . . 
 
 XXXII. — But in the obedience which we have shewn to 
 be due to the authority of governors, it is always necessary 
 to make one exception, and that is entitled to our first atten- 
 tion, that it do not seduce us from obedience to him, to whose 
 will the desires of all kings ought to be subject, to whose 
 decrees all their commands ought to yield, to whose majesty 
 all their scepters ought to submit. . . . 
 
 62. Early Hardships and Religious Matters, 1630-1631 
 
 a. Extracts from Winthrop's "" History of J^ew England^' 
 
 John Winthrop, leader of the great Puritan migration of 1630, while 
 on board ship, began a "Journal," which gradually merged into a great 
 contemporary " History." The work was printed first in 1790. A better 
 edition appeared in 1853; and, that edition having long been "out of 
 print," the work was reedited by Dr. James K. Hosmer in 1907 
 ("Original Narratives" Series). The spelling and punctuation have 
 been modernized in all these editions. 
 
EARLY HARDSHIPS AND RELIGIOUS MATTERS 169 
 
 (1) [The Voyage.] 
 
 April 6, 1630. [Eight days on board, but still delayed at 
 Yarmouth in the English Channel] . . . 
 
 Our captain called over our landmen, and tried them at their 
 muskets, and such as were good shot among them were enrolled 
 to serve in the ship, if occasion should be. 
 
 The lady Arbella^ and the gentlewomen, and ]\tr. Johnson 
 and some others went on shore to refresh themselves. . . . 
 
 Thursday, 8. . . . The wind continued N. [blank] with fair 
 weather, and after noon it calmed, and we still saw those eight 
 ships to stand towards us ; having more wind than we, they 
 came up apace, so as our captain and the masters of our con- 
 sorts were more occasioned to think they might be Dunkirkers,^ 
 (for we were told at Yarmouth, that there were ten sail of 
 them waiting for us ;) whereupon we all prepared to fight with 
 them, and took down some cabins which were in the way of 
 our ordnance, and out of every ship were thrown such bed 
 matters as were subject to take fire, and we heaved out our 
 long boats, and put up our waste cloths, and drew forth our 
 men, and armed them with muskets and other weapons, and 
 instruments for fireworks ; and for an experiment our captain 
 shot a ball of wild-fire fastened to an arrow out of a cross-bow, 
 which burnt in the water a good time. The lady Arbella and 
 the other women and children were removed into the lower 
 deck, that they might be out of dangei*. All things being 
 thus fitted, we went to prayer upon the upper deck. It was 
 much to see how cheerful and comfortable all the company 
 appeared ; not a woman or child that showed fear, though all 
 did apprehend the danger to have been great, if things had 
 proved as might well be expected, for there had been eight 
 against four, and the least of the enemy's ships were reported 
 
 1 Observe the setting off of this "lady" from the women of the gentry 
 families. A like sequence occurs below. Hawthorne's Grandfather's Chair 
 has acquainted all young people with the story of Lady Arbella. 
 
 2 Dunkirk was held by Spain, with whom England was still practically at 
 war. Ships from Dunkirk preyed upon English commerce in the Channel. 
 
170 THE COLONY BECOMES A PURITAN ENTERPRISE 
 
 to carry thirty brass pieces ; but our trust was in the Lord of 
 Hosts ; and the courage of our captain, and his care and dili- 
 gence, did much encourage us. [The fleet prove to be friends.] 
 
 Saturday, 10. . . . This day two young men, falling at odds 
 and fighting, contrary to the orders which we ^ had published 
 and set up in the ship, were adjudged to walk upon the deck 
 till night with their hands bound behind them, which accord- 
 ingly was executed ; and another man, for using contemptuous 
 speeches in our ^ presence, was laid in bolts till he submitted 
 himself, and promised open confession of his offence. 
 
 Lord's day, [May] 2. The tempest continued all the day, 
 with the wind W. and by N., and the sea raged and tossed us 
 exceedingly ; yet, through God's mercy, we were very com- 
 fortable, and few or none sick, but had opportunity to keep 
 the Sabbath, and Mr. Phillips preached twice that day. . . . 
 
 Friday, 21. ... A servant of one of our company had bar- 
 gained with a child to sell him a box worth 3d. for three 
 biscuit a day all the voyage, and had received about forty . . . 
 We caused his hands to be tied up to a bar, and hanged a 
 basket, with stones, about his neck, and so he stood for two 
 hours. 
 
 (2) \_Early Religious Practices.'] 
 
 July 27. We, of the congregation [at Boston] kept a fast, 
 and chose Mr. Wilson our teacher,^ and Mr. Nowell an elder, 
 .... We used imposition of hands, but with this protestation 
 by all, that it was only as a sign of election and confirmation, 
 not of any intent that Mr. Wilson should renounce his ministry 
 that he received in England.^ 
 
 1 Winthrop uses the official plural, for the dignity of his office. The first 
 person was soon discarded for the third. 
 
 2 Two ministers, a teacher and a pastor, were custooiary. The differences 
 in duties were not very important. 
 
 8 But cf. the entry for November 22, 1632, when no such protestation is 
 made: "A fast was held by the congregation of Boston, and Mr. Wilson 
 
 (formerly their teacher) was chosen pastor and Oliver a ruling elder ; and 
 
 both ivere ordained by imposition of hands." This illustrates the gradual 
 tendency to separate from the Church of England. 
 
EARLY HARDSHIPS AND RELIGIOUS MATTERS 171 
 
 [1631. April 12.J 
 
 At a court holden at Boston, (upon information to the 
 governour that they of Salem had called Mr. Williams to the 
 office of a teacher), a letter was written from the court to Mr. 
 Endecott to this effect : That whereas Mr. Williams had refused 
 to join with the congregation at Boston, because they would 
 not make a public declaration of their repentance for having 
 communion with the churches of England while they lived 
 there ; and, besides, had declared his opinion, that the magis- 
 trate might not punish the breach of the Sabbath, nor any 
 other offence, as it was a breach of the first table ; therefore, 
 they marvelled they would choose him without advising with 
 the council ; and withal desiring him [Endicott] that they 
 would forbear to proceed till they had conferred about it. . . . 
 
 h. Winthrop's Letters 
 
 John Winthrop from New England to his Wife, 
 September 9/19, 1630 
 
 Winthrop's Life and Letters of John Winthrop^ 11, 48-49 and 53-55. 
 
 My Dear Wife, — The blessing of God all-sufficient be 
 upon thee and all my dear ones with thee forever. 
 
 I praise the good Lord, though we see much mortality, sick- 
 ness and trouble, yet (such is his mercy) myself and children, 
 with most of my family, are y^t living, and in health, and enjoy 
 prosperity enough, if the affliction of our brethren did not hold 
 under the comfort of it. The lady Arbella is dead, and good 
 Mr. Higginson, my servant, old Waters of Neyland, and many 
 others. Thus the Lord is pleased to humble us : yet he mixes 
 so many haercies with his corrections, as we are persuaded he 
 will not cast us off, but, in his due time, will do us good, accord- 
 ing to the measure of our afflictions. He stays but till he hath 
 purged our corruptions, and healed the hardness and error of our 
 hearts, and stripped us of our vain confidence in this arm of flesh, 
 that he may have us rely wholly upon himself. 
 
172 THE COLONY BECOMES A PURITAN ENTERPRISE 
 
 The French ship, so long expected, ;uul given for lost, is now 
 come safe to us, about a fortnight since, having been twelve weeks 
 at sea; and yet her passengers (being but few) all safe and •well 
 but one, and her goats but six living of eighteen. So as now 
 we are somewhat refreshed with such goods and provisions as 
 she brought, though much thereof hath received damage by 
 wet. I praise God, we have nuiny occasions of comfort here, 
 and do hope, that our days of affliction will soon have an end^ 
 and that the Lord will do us more good in the end than we 
 could have expected, that will abundantly recompense for all 
 the trouble we have endured. Yet we may not look for great 
 things here. It is enough that we shall have heaven, though 
 we should pass through hell to it. "We here enjoy God and 
 Jesus Christ. Is not this enough ? What would we have more ? 
 I thank God, I like so well to be here, as I do not repent my 
 coming ; and if I were to come again, I would not have altered 
 my course, though I had foreseen all these afflictions. I never 
 fared better in my life, never slept better, never had more con- 
 tent of mind, which conies merely of the Lord's good hand ; for 
 we have not the like means of these comforts here which we 
 had in England. I^ut the Lord, is all-sufficient, blessed be 
 his holy name. If he please, he can still uphold us in this 
 estate ; but, if he shall see good to make us partakers with 
 others in more affliction, his will be done. He is our God, and 
 may dispose of us as he sees good. 
 
 I am sorry to part with thee so soon, seeing we meet so sel- 
 dom, and my much business hath made me too oft forget ^Mon- 
 days and Fridays. I long for the time, when I may see thy 
 sweet face again, and the faces of my dear children. But I 
 must break otf, and desire thee to commend me kindly to all 
 my good friends, and excuse my not writing at this time. If God 
 please once to settle me, I shall make amends. . . . The 
 good Lord bless thee and all our children and family. So I 
 kiss my sweet wife and my dear children, and rest 
 Thy faithful husband, 
 
 do. WiNTUKOe. 
 
EARLY HARDSHIPS AND RELIGIOUS MATTERS 173 
 
 T would have written to Maplestead, if I had time. Thou 
 must excuse lue, and ren^ember me kindly to them all. 
 
 This is the third letter I have written to thee from New Eng- 
 land. 
 
 [November 29/December 9, 1630.] 
 
 . . . Thou shalt \inderstand by this, how it is with us 
 since I wrote last, (for this is the third or fourth letter I have 
 written to thee since I came hither,) that thou mayest see the 
 goodness of the Lord towards me, that, when so many have 
 died and so many yet languish, myself and my children are yet 
 living and in health. Yet I have lost twelve of my family,^ 
 viz. Waters and his wife, and two of his children : Mr. (lager and 
 his man: Smith of Buxall and his wife and two children: the 
 wife of Taylor of Haverill and their child : my son H. makes 
 the twelve. And, besides many other of less note, as Jeff. Rug- 
 gle of Sudbury, and divers others of that town, (about twenty,) 
 the Lord hath stripped us of some principal persons, Mr. John- 
 son and his lady, Mr. Kossiter, JNLrs. Phillips, and others un- 
 known to thee. We conceive, that this disease grew from ill 
 diet at sea, and proved infectious. I write not this to discourage 
 thee but to warn thee and others to provide well for the sea, and, 
 by God's help, the passage will be safe and easy, how long 
 soever. Be careful (I entreat thee) to observe the directions in 
 my former letters ; and I trust that that God, who hath so gra- 
 ciously preserved and blessed'us hitherto, will bring us to see the 
 faces of each other with abundance of joy. My dear wife, we 
 are here in a paradise. Though we have not beef and mutton 
 etc., yet (God be praised) we want them not ; our Indian corn 
 answers for all. Yet here is fowl and fish in great plenty. I 
 will here break off, because I ho])e to receive letters from thee 
 soon, and to have opportunity of writing more largely. I will 
 say nothing of my love to thee, and of my longing desires 
 towards thee. Thou knowest my heart. Neither can I men- 
 
 iThis is an old use of the word family, to include Winthrop's many depend- 
 ents, even married servants. 
 
174 THE COLONY BECOMES A PURITAN ENTERPRISE 
 
 tion salutations to my good friends, other than in general. In 
 my next, I hope to supply all. Now the Lord, our good God, 
 be with thee and all my children and company with thee. Grace 
 and peace be with you all. So I kiss my sweet wife and all my 
 dear children, and bless you in the Lord. Farewell. 
 
 Thy faithful husband, Jo. Winthrop. 
 
 c. Tlioinas Dudley to the Countess of Lincoln 
 March, 16 SI 
 Force's Historical Tracts (1038), II, No. 4. 
 
 To the righte honourable, my very good Lady, 
 the L(id>i Brydget, Countesse of Lincoln 
 
 Your letters (which are not common or cheape) following 
 mee hether into New-England, and bringeing with them re- 
 newed testimonies of the accustomed favours you honoured 
 me with in the old, have drawne from mee this narrative ret- 
 ribucion (wliich in respect of your proper interest in some 
 persons of great note amongst us) ^ was the thankf ullest present 
 I had to send over the seas. Therefore I humblie iutreat your 
 honour this bee accepted as payment from him, who neither 
 hath nor is any more than your honours old thankful servant, 
 
 Thomas Dudley. 
 Boston in New England, 
 
 March 12th 1630 [March 22, 1631]. 
 
 [A narrative of the beginnings of the colony, through the 
 sending of Higginson's company in the spring of 1629.] 
 
 Theis by their too large comendacions of the country . . . 
 invited us soe strongly to goe on that Mr. Wenthropp of 
 Soffolke (who is well knowne in his owne country and well 
 approved heere for his pyety, liberality, wisdome, and gravity) 
 comeing into us, wee came to such resolution that in April, 
 1630, wee sett sail from Old England with 4 good shipps. 
 And in May following, 8 more followed, 2 haveing gone be- 
 
 1 The Lady Arbella was of the house of Lincoln. 
 
EARLY HARDSHIPS AND RELIGIOUS MATTERS 175 
 
 fore in February and March, and 2 more following in June 
 and August besides another set out by a private merchant. 
 Theis 17 Shipps arrived all safe . . . but made a long, a 
 troublesome, and a costly voyage. . . . Our four shipps which 
 set out in Aprill arrived here in June and July, wheere we 
 found the colony in a sadd and unexpected condicion ; above 
 80 of them beeing dead the winter before and many of those 
 alive, weake and sicke ; all the corne and bread amongst then; 
 all hardly sufficient to feed them a fortnight, insoemuch that 
 the remainder of 180 servants wee had the 2 years before sent 
 over, comeing to us for victualls to sustaine them, wee found 
 ourselves wholly unable to feed them . . . whereupon necessity 
 enforced us, to our extreme loss, to give them all libertie, who 
 had cost us about 10 or 20 pounds a person furnishing and 
 sending over. But bearing theis things as we might, wee be- 
 ganne to consult of the place of our sitting downe: for Salem, 
 where wee landed, pleased us not. [They decide upon six new 
 settlements, besides the already established Salem and Charles- 
 town.] This dispersion troubled some of us ; but helpe it wee 
 could not, wanting ability to remove to any place fit to build a 
 towne upon, and the time too short to deliberate longer, least 
 the winter should surprise us before we had builded our 
 houses. . . . So, ceasing to consult further for that time, they 
 who had health to labour fell to building, wherein many were 
 interrupted with sicknes, and many dyed weekely, yea almost 
 dayley. . . . Insomuch that the shipps being now uppon 
 their returne . . . there was, as I take it, not much less than 
 an hundred (some think many more) partly out of dislike of 
 our government which restrained and punished their excesses, 
 and partly through fear of famine (not seeinge other means 
 than by their labour to feed themselves), which returned back 
 againe. And glad were wee so to bee ridd of them. Others 
 also, afterwards hearing of men of their owue disposition 
 which were planted at Piscataway, went from us to them ; 
 whereby though our numbers were lessened, yet wee accounted 
 ourselves nothing weakened by their removall. 
 
176 THE COLONY BECOMES A PURITAN ENTERPRISE 
 
 Before the departure of the shipps, wee contracted with 
 Mr. Peirce, Mr. [Master] of the Lyon ... to returne to us 
 with speed with fresh supplies of victualls. . . . 
 
 The shipps beeinge gone, victualls wastinge, and mortality 
 increasinge, wee held diverse fasts in our severall congrega- 
 tions, but the Lord would not yet bee depricated [A long list 
 of deaths] And of the people who came over with us . . . 
 [from Aprill to December] there dyed by estimacion about 
 200 at the least. . . . 
 
 If any come hether to plant for worldly ends, that canne 
 live well at home, hee comits an errour of which hee will soon 
 repent him. But if for spirittuall, and that noe particular 
 obstacle hinder his removeall, he may tinde here what may 
 well content him : viz., materialls to build, fewell to burn, 
 ground to plant, seas and rivers to ffish in, a pure ayer to 
 breath in, good water to drinke till wine or beare canne be 
 made, — which, toegether with the cowes, hoggs, and goates 
 brought hether allready, may suffice for food ; for as for foule 
 and venison, they are dainties here as well as in England. 
 Ffor cloaths and beddinge they must bringe them with them, 
 till time and industry produce them here. In a word, wee 
 yett enjoy little to bee envyed, but endure much to bee pytyed 
 in the sicknes and mortalitye of our people. And I do the 
 more willingly use this open and plaine dealinge, least other 
 men should fall short of their expectations when they come 
 hether, as wee to our great prejudice did, by means of letters 
 sent us from hence into England, wherein honest men, out of 
 a desire to draw over others to them, wrote somewhat hyper- 
 bolically of many things here. If any godly men out of reli- 
 gious ends will come over to helpe us ... I thinke they can- 
 not dispose of themselves or their estates more to Gods glory 
 . . . but they must not bee of the poorer sort yett for diverse 
 yeares. Ffor we have found by experience that they have 
 hindered, not furthered the worke. And for profaine and 
 deboshed persons, their oversight in comeinge hether is 
 wondered at, where they shall finde nothing to content them. 
 
EARLY HARDSHIPS AND RELIGIOUS MATTERS 177 
 
 If there bee any endued with grace and furnished with meanes 
 to feed themselves and theirs for 18 months, and to build and 
 plant, — lett them come into our Macedonia to helpe us. 
 
 [Record of disasters ; the return of the Lyon] . . . Also, to 
 increase the heape of our sorrous, wee received advertisement 
 by letters from our friends in England and by the reports of 
 those who came hether in this shipp to abide with us . . . 
 that those who went discontentedly from us last yeare, out of 
 their evill affections towards us, have raised many false and 
 scandelous reports against us, affirminge us to be Brounists in 
 religion and ill affected to our state at home, and that theis 
 vile reports have wonne creditt with some who formerly wished 
 us well. But wee doe desire, and cannot but hope, that wise 
 and impartiall men will at length consider that such malcon- 
 tents have ever pursued this manner of casting dirt to make 
 others seeme as fowle as themselves, and that our godly 
 friends to whom wee have ben knowne will not easily believe 
 that wee are soe soon turned from the profession wee soe long 
 have made in our native Country. And for our further 
 clearing, I truely affirme that I know noe one person who 
 came over with us the last yeare to bee altered in his judgment 
 and affection eyther in ecclesiasticall or civill respects since 
 our comeinge hether ; but wee doe continue to i)ray day ley for 
 our soveraigne lord the Kinge, the Queene, the Prince, the 
 royal blood, the counsaile, arid the whole state, as dutye bindes 
 us to doe and reason persuades others to believe. For how 
 ungodly and unthankfull should wee be if wee should not 
 thus doe . . . Lett our friends therefore give no creditt to 
 such malicious aspersions, but bee more ready to answer for 
 us than wee heare they have bene. Wee are not like those 
 which have dispensation to lye. . . . 
 
XIII. DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRACY, 1630-1644 
 
 63. The Oligarchic Usurpation 
 
 liecords of the (foi^ernor and Company of JIdssachusetts Bay, 1 (under 
 dates given) . Cf. Introduction to No. 57. 
 
 (1) [The First Court of Assistants, CJiarlestoicn, August 23/ 
 
 September i', 1630.^ 
 
 ... It was ordered that the Governor and Depnty Governor, 
 for the tyme being, shall alwaies be justiees of the peaoe, and 
 that Sir Rich : Saltonstall, IMr. Johnson, Mr. Endicott, and 
 Mr. Ludlowe shalbe justices of the peace for the present tyme, 
 in all things to have like power that justices of the peace hath 
 in ICngland for reforniacion of abuses and punishing of 
 offenders ; and that any justice of the peace may imprison an 
 offender, bixt not inflict any corporall punishment without the 
 presence and consent of some one of the Assistants.^ 
 
 (2) [October 19/29, 1630.1 
 
 A General Court, holden att Boston. 
 [The first General Court in America.] 
 
 Present, The Governor [Winthrop'] Capt. Endicott 
 
 Deputy Governor [Dudleif'] Mr. Nowell 
 
 Sir Richard Saltonstall JNIu. Pinchon 
 
 jNIk. Ludlowe Mk. Hradstreete 
 
 [all magistrates] 
 
 For establishinge of the government. It was proi)Ounded 
 if it were not the best course that the ffreemen should have 
 the power of chuseing Assistants, when there are to be chosen, 
 
 1 Had the Assistants loijal riirlit, under tlie charter, to appoint siioh officers 
 and di'line thoir powers? It is worthy of note, that. Nov. ."WDec. 9, Ki.'iO, Sir 
 Kieliard Saltonstall was " fyned V£ for whipping "J severall persons without 
 the presence of another Assistant, contrary to an act of Court formerly made." 
 
 178 
 
THE OLIGARCHIC USURPATION 179 
 
 and the Assistants from amongst themselves to chuse a 
 Governor and Deputy (iovernor, whoe with the Assistants 
 should have the power of makeing lawes and chuseing officers 
 to execute the same. Tins was fully assented unto by the 
 generall vote of the people and ereccion of hands. 
 
 [Two charter provisions are here violated. The Italicized clause was 
 further explained the next May by another unconstitutional decree of the 
 Assistants making themselves life-officers, unless removed for cause 
 ((4) below). 
 
 There were present, (jualified to vote, the eight magistrates named 
 above, and certainly not more than one or two other "freemen," — 
 probably no one except the Assista)Us. The "people" referred to in the 
 final sentence were probably the 109 men who came to this Court to ask 
 to be a<lmitted " freemen." Ap{)arently they were asked, in turn, 
 whether they would agree to this new law ; and (not knowing the charter 
 rights of freemen, anyway) they consented. Even so, they were not 
 admitted until May of the next year. Cf. American History and 
 Government, § (12.] 
 
 (3) [March 8/18, 1630/31.] 
 
 Att a Court \of Assistants] att Waterton 
 
 . . . Further, (in regard the number of Assistants are but 
 fewe ; and some of them goeing for England,) it was therefore 
 ordered that whensoever tlie number of Assistants resident 
 within the lymitts of this jurisdiccion shalbe fewer than 9, 
 it shalbe lawful! for the major parte of them to keepe a Court, 
 and whatsoever orders or acts they make shalbe as legall and 
 authenti(\all as if there were the full number of 7 or more. . . . 
 
 [Queries : What charter provision did this law " violate " ? Why did 
 not the government instead increase the number of Assistants toward the 
 number prescribed in the charter ?] 
 
 (4) [May 18/28, 1631.] 
 
 A General Court, holden att Boston 
 
 [Old governor and deputy reelected.] 
 
 For explanacion of an order made the last (xenerall Court . . . 
 it was ordered nowe, with full consent of all the commons 
 
180 DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRACY 
 
 then present, that once iti every yeare, att least, a Generall 
 Court shalbe holden ; att which Coi;rt it shalbe lawfiill for 
 the commons to propound any . . . persons whom they shall 
 desire to be chosen Assistants [provision for voting on such 
 new nominations by "poll," — vive-voce]. The like course 
 [«9/ voting'] to be holden ivhen they, the said commons, shall see 
 cause for any defect or misbehavior to remove any one or more 
 of the Assistants. And, to the end the body of the commons 
 jnay be preserved of honest and good men, it was likewise 
 ordered . . . that, for time to come, noe man shalbe admitted 
 to the freedome of this body polliticke but such as are mem- 
 bers of some of the churches within the lymitts of the 
 same. . . . 
 
 [The italicized clause in the above entry is the one which indirectly 
 established a life-tenure for Assistants, contrary to the charter provision 
 for annual reelection of all such officers. The " commons " were to be 
 permitted to suggest and choose new Assistants (since the charter-number 
 of eighteen was far from full), but, once elected, the Assistant held until 
 deposed for cause. 
 
 At this same court, 110 freemen were elected, including those who 
 had so applied in the preceding October. Whether this admission was 
 before or after the legislation given above is wholly uncertain from the 
 Records; but the natural inference is that the applicants were asked to 
 assent to these changes also as a prerequisite to admission. After this 
 meeting, voters are always referred to as "freemen." The words 
 "people" and "commons" used in these records of October, 1().S0, and 
 May, 1631, refer, presumably, to people not yet admitted to the political 
 corporation.] 
 
 64. The First " Popular " Movement — Watertown Protest, 1632 
 
 Winthrop's History of New England (under dates given). 
 
 Cf. introductory statements to No. 62 a above. 
 
 Winthrop's bias for aristocratic organization in politics and in industry 
 appears always in most naive unconsciousness ;i but his fine candor and 
 magnanimity make his book as attractive as it is valuable. 
 
 '^Qi. American Hlstoj'y and Government, ^ 62, 64, 77, note, etc., for several 
 illustrative quotations not given in this volume. 
 
THE FIRST "POPULAR" MOVEMENT 181 
 
 [Kovembei- 23, 1631.] The congregation at Watertown 
 (whereof Mr. George Phillips was pastor) had chosen one 
 Richard Brown for their elder, before named, who, persisting 
 in his opinion of the truth of the Romish church, and main- 
 taining other errors withal, and being a man of a veiy violent 
 spirit, the court wrote a letter to the congregation, directed 
 to the pastor and brethren, to advise them to take into con- 
 sideration, whether Mr. Brown were fit to be continued their 
 elder or not; to which, after some weeks, they returned 
 answer to this effect : That if we Avould take the pains to 
 prove such things as were objected against him, they would 
 endeavour to redress them. 
 
 [The dissensions in the Watertown church soon led to a more active 
 interference by the government of the colony. The party of the elder 
 and pastor plainly resented this interference. There may be some con- 
 nection between that fact and the following famous "remonstrance" 
 in the matter of taxation. ] 
 
 [1631/2. February 17.] The governour and assistants called 
 before them, at Boston, divers of Watertown ; the pastor and 
 .elder by letter, and the others by warrant. The occasion was, 
 for that a warrant being sent to Watertown for levying of £8, 
 part of a rate of £60, ordered for the fortifying of the new 
 town, the pastor and elder, et^c, assembled the people and de- 
 livered their opinions, that it was not safe to pay moneys after 
 that sort, for fear of bringing themselves and posterity into 
 bondage. Being come before the governour and council, after 
 much debate, they acknowledged their fault, confessing freely, 
 that they were in an error, and made a retractation and submis- 
 sion under their hands, and were enjoined to read it in the 
 assembly the next Lord's day. The ground of their error was, 
 for that they took this government to be no other but as of a 
 mayor and aldermen, who have not power to make laws or raise 
 taxations without the people ; but understanding that this 
 government was rather in the nature of a parliament, and that 
 no assistant could be chosen but by the freemen, who had 
 
182 DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRACY 
 
 power likewise to remove the assistants and put in others, and 
 therefore at every general court (which was to be held once 
 every year) they had free liberty to consider and propound 
 anything concerning the same, and to declare their grievances, 
 without being subject to question, or, etc., they were fully sat- 
 isfied ; and so their submission was accepted, and their offence 
 pardoned. 
 
 [Winthrop was overconfident. The Watertown men must soon have 
 recovered from the browbeating he had given them. May 1, Winthrop 
 called together the Assistants informally at his house, and warned them 
 " that he had heard the people intended at the next court to desire that 
 the Assistants might be chosen anew every year, and that the governor 
 might be chosen by the whole court, and not by the Assistants only. Upon 
 this, Mr. Lndlow grew into apaxsion, and said that then we should have no 
 government, but there \oould he an interim loherein every man might do 
 lohat he pleased.'''' The others, however, did not anticipate quite such 
 deplorable results, and wisely concluded to submit. The results appear 
 in the following entry.] 
 
 [May 8, 16iS2.] A general court at Boston. "Whereas it was 
 (at our first coming) agreed, that the freemen should choose 
 the assistants, and they the governour, the whole court agreed 
 now, that the governour and assistants should all be new chosen 
 every year by the general court, (the governour to be always 
 chosen out of the assistants ;) and accordingly the old gov- 
 ernour, John Winthrop, was chosen ; accordiugly all the rest as 
 before, and Mr. Humfrey and Mr. Coddington also, because 
 they were daily expected. . . . 
 
 ... A proposition was made by the people that every company 
 of trained men might choose their own captain and officers ; 
 but the governor giving them reasons to the contrary, they 
 were satisfied without it. 
 
 Every town chose two men to be at the next court, to advise 
 with the governour and assistants about the raising of a public 
 stock, so as what they should agree upon should bind all, etc. 
 
 [The facts about this meeting of the General Court are given even 
 more briefly in the Records, but in agreement with these statements of 
 
LEGISLATION AND ADMINISTRATION 183 
 
 Winthrop. The Becords omit, naturally, all reference to the preceding 
 action at Watertown, which explains these reforms. The freemen had 
 now recovered the right to choose all magistrates annually, together with 
 some direct local control over taxation ; but the law-making power was 
 still retained, unconstitutionally, by the Assistants.] 
 
 65. Legislation and Administration by the " Assistants," 1630-1633 
 
 Becords of Governor and Company of Massachiisetts Bay, I (under 
 dates given). 
 
 These extracts show the moral and economic ideas of the ruling cla.ss. 
 The extracts are all taken from records of the Courts of Assistants, 
 meeting at Charlestown or Boston. 
 
 (1) lAagast 23 /September 2, 1630. The first ''court" after 
 
 the arrival of Winthroj).] 
 
 ... It was ordered that carpenters, joyners, l)rickelayers, 
 sawers, and thatcliers shall not take above 2 s. a day, nor any 
 man shall give more, under paine of X s. . . . 
 
 (2) \_Septemher 28 /October 8, 1630.'] 
 
 ... It is ordered that labourers \_i.e., unskilled] shall not 
 take above 12 d. a day for their worke, and not above <6d. and 
 meats and drinke, under paine of X s. . . . 
 
 (3) [November 30 /December fo, 1630.'] 
 
 ... It is ordered that John Baker shalbe whipped for 
 shooteiug att fowle on the Sabbath da}^, etc. 
 
 [No law had been made regarding such an offense. This is an in- 
 stance of an ex post facto law, made by the magistrates in imposing 
 sentence.] 
 
 (4) [3rarch 1/11, 1630/1631.] 
 
 •. . . It is ordered that Mr. Aleworth, Mr. Weaver, Mr. 
 Plastowe, Mr. Shuter, Cobbett, and Wormewood shalbe sent 
 into England by the shipp Lyon, or soe many of them as the 
 ship can carry, the rest to be sent thither by the 1th of May 
 
184 DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRACY 
 
 nexte, if there be opportunitie of shipping, if not, by the nexte 
 shipp that returnes for England, as persons unmeete to inhabit 
 here; and that Sir Christopher Gardner and Mr. Wright 
 shalbe sent as prisoners into England by the shipp Lyon, nowe 
 returneing thither. 
 
 [The two last named had been " tried " after a fashion. For the others, 
 apparently, there was not even a form of trial, with or without a jury. 
 The banishment was executive, not judicial.] 
 
 (5) [March 22 /April 1, 1630/ 1631. '\ 
 
 ... It is ordered, (that whereas the wages of carpenters, 
 joyners, and other artificers and workemen, were by order of 
 Court restrayned to particular sommes) [wages] shall nowe be 
 lefte free and att libertie as men shall reasonably agree. 
 
 Further, it is ordered, that every toune within this pattent 
 shall, before the 5th of Aprill nexte, take espetiall care that 
 every person within their toune, (except magisti-ates and 
 .ministers,) as well servants as others, [be] furnished with good 
 and sufficient armes allowable by the captain or other officers, 
 those that want and are of abilitie to buy them themselves, 
 others that are unable to have them provided by the toune, for 
 the present, and after to receive satisfacion for that they dis- 
 burse when they shalbe able. 
 
 It is likewise ordered that all persons whatsoever that have 
 cards, dice, or [gaming] tables in their howses, shall make away 
 with them before the nexte Court. . . 
 
 (6) \_May 3/13, 1631.'] 
 
 It is ordered, that John Legge, servant to Mr. Humfry, 
 shalbe severely whipped this day att Boston, and afterwards, 
 soe soone as conveniently may be, att Salem, for strikeing 
 Richard Wright, when hee came to give him correccion for 
 idleness in his maisters worke. 
 
 [Apparently Wright (who was not even the " master" of Legge) had 
 struck first (that being the usual meaning of "give correction"); but a 
 servant must not strike back.] 
 
LEGISLATION AND ADMINISTRATION 185 
 
 (7) [June 14/24, 1631.'] 
 
 It is ordered, that Phillip Ratliffe shalbe whipped, have his 
 eares cutt of, fyned 40 £, and banished out of the lymitts of 
 this jurisdiccion, for uttering mallitious and scandulous speeches 
 against the government and the church of Salem, etc., as ap- 
 peareth by a particular thereof, proved upon oath. 
 
 [Apparently no jury trial was permitted in this case (or in several 
 other equally serious cases noted in the early Becords). For the definite 
 establishment of the jury, see No. 67 ft, below. It was already in use, 
 however, in capital trials. (Cf. American History and Government, 
 § 80.) The extracts from the Massachusetts Records regarding those 
 early cases are too long to give here.] 
 
 (8) \_July 26/ August 5, 1531.'] 
 
 ... It is ordered, that Josias Plaistowe shall (for stealing 
 4 basketts of corne from the Indians) returne them 8 basketts 
 againe, be ffined V£, and hereafter to be called by the name 
 of Josias, and not Mr., as formerly hee used to be ; and that 
 William Buck land and Thomas Andre we shalbe whipped for 
 being accessary to the same offence. 
 
 [These two men were servants of Plaistowe. Cf. American History 
 and Government, § 65, on the exemption of gentlemen from corporal 
 punishment ; and also No. 78, note 43, below.] 
 
 (9) [July 2/12, 1633.] 
 
 ... It is ordered, that it shalbe lawfull for any man to 
 kill any swine that comes into his corne : the party that ownes 
 the swine is to have them, being kild, and allowe recompence 
 for the damage they doe, etc. . . . 
 
 (10) [September 3/13, 1633.] 
 
 Eoberte Coles is ffined X£, and enjoyned to stand with a 
 white sheete of paper on his back, wherein a drunkard shalbe 
 written in greate letteres, and to stand therewith soe longe 
 as the Court thinks meete, for abuseing himselfe shamefully 
 with drinke. 
 
186 DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRACY 
 
 [Cowles did not reform. A Court of March 4/14, 1633/34, passed the 
 following sentence upon him: — 
 
 " It is ordered, that Roberte Coles, for drunkeness by him committed att 
 Rocksbury, shalbe disfranchized, weare about his necke, and soe to hange 
 upon his outward garment, a D, made of redd cloath, and sett upon 
 white ; to contynue this for a yeare, and not to leave it of att any tyme 
 when hee comes amongst company, under the penalty of XI s for the 
 first offence, and V"£ the second, and after to be punished by the Court 
 as they thinke meete ; also, hee is to weare the D outwards, and is en- 
 joyned to appeare att the nexte Generall Court, and to contj^nue there till 
 the Court be ended." 
 
 Cowles seems to have been one of the early democratic agitators. The 
 Records show that he was one of the deputies chosen in May, 1632, to 
 help assess taxes. Possibly he had made himself obnoxious in such 
 fashion to these aristocratic judges.] 
 
 (11) \_October 1/11, 1633.'] 
 
 It is ordered, that maister carpenters, sawers, masons, 
 clapboard-ryvers, brickelayers, tylars, joyners, wheelwrights, 
 mowers, etc., shall not take above 2 s. a day, findeing themselves 
 dyett, and not above 14 d. a day if they have dyett found them, 
 under the penalty of V s., both to giver and receaver, for every 
 day that there is more given and receaved. Also, that all 
 other inferior workemen of the said occupacions shall have 
 such wages as the constable of the said place, and 2 other 
 inhabitants, that hee shall chuse, shall appoynet. 
 
 Also, it is agreed, that the best sorte of labourers shall not 
 take above 18 d. a day if they dyett themselves, and not above 
 8 d. a day if they have dyett found them, under the aforesaid 
 penalty, both to giver and receaver. 
 
 Likewise, that the wages of inferior labourers shalbe referd 
 to the constable and 2 other, as aforesaid. 
 
 Maister taylours shall not take above 12d. a day, and the 
 inferior sorte not above 8d. if they be dyeted, under the afore- 
 said penalty ; and for all other worke they doe att home 
 proporcionably, and soe for other worke that shalbe done . . . 
 by any other artificer. 
 
LEGISLATION AND ADMINISTRATION 187 
 
 Further, it is ordered, that all workeraen shall worke the 
 whole day, alloweing convenient tyme for foode and rest. 
 This order to take place the 12th of this present moneth. 
 [The " whole day " was from sun-rise to sun-set.] 
 
 It is further ordered, thatnoe person, howse houlder or other, 
 shall spend his time idlely or unproffitably, under paine of 
 such punishment as the Court shall thinke meete to inflicte ; 
 and for this end it is ordered, that the constable of every 
 place shall use spetiall care and deligence to take knowledge 
 of offenders in this kinde, espetially of common coasters, 
 unprofittable fowlers, and tobacco takers, and to present the 
 same to the 2 nexte Assistants, whoe shall have power to 
 heare and determine the cause, or, if the matter be of im- 
 portance, to transferr it to the Court. 
 
 [The following entries from Winthrop's HUtory show the desperate 
 feeling of the servants and the attitude of the gentry class at this time : — 
 
 "August G, 1033. Two men servants to one Moodye, of Roxbusy, re- 
 turning in a boat from the windmill, struck upon the oyster bank. They 
 went out to gather oysters, and, not making fast their boat, when the 
 flood came, it floated away, and they were both drowned, although they 
 might have waded out on either side ; but it was an evident judgment of 
 God upon them, for they were /wicked persons. One of them, a little 
 before, being reproved for his lewdness, and put in mind of hell, 
 answered, that if hell were ten times hotter, he had rather be there 
 than he w^ould serve his master, etc. The occasion was, because he had 
 bound himself for divers years, and saw that, if he had been at liberty, 
 he might have had greater wages, though otherwise his master used him 
 very well. 
 
 " November, 1633. . . . The .scarcity of workmen had caused them 
 to raise their wages to an excessive rate, so as a carpenter would have 
 three shillings the day, a laborer two shillings and sixpence, etc. ; and 
 accordingly those who had commodities to sell advanced their prices 
 sometime double to that they cost in England, so as it grew to a general 
 complaint, which the court, taking knowledge of, as also of some further 
 evils, which were springing out of the excessive rate of wages, they made 
 an order, that carpenters, masons, etc., should take but two shillings the 
 day, and laborers but eighteen pence, and that no commodity should be 
 sold at above four pence in the sliilling more than it cost for ready 
 
188 DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRACY 
 
 money in England ; oil, wine, etc., and cheese (in regard of the hazard 
 of bringing, etc.,) excepted. . . ." 
 
 Winthrop, no doubt, put the cart before the hor.se. The increased 
 cost of all European goods, due to high freights, necessitated higher 
 wages ; but Winthrop resents any attempt of the laborers to ask more 
 than their old European wages.] 
 
 66. The Beginning of Town Government in Massachusetts, 1633 
 
 Dorchester Town Eecords, p. 3. 
 
 For some three years after the great migration of 1630, the eight 
 Massachusetts " towns " wore governed wholly by the central colonial 
 authority, — the courts of Assistants aud the General Courts, — and by 
 officers appointed by this central authority. The entry below marks the 
 beginning of local self-government. The Dorchester Becords, it is true, 
 contain notice of four earlier meetings to regulate pasturage or the divi- 
 sion of town lands (cf. one such Boston meeting later ; No. 73 ft) ; but 
 here we have a formal assumption of government by periodic toxon meet- 
 ings and " select men.'''' The next town to act in a like way was Water- 
 town (cf. No. 83, opening). Later (cf. No. 78, law 06), the central gov- 
 ernment accepted this establishment of local government, giving it the 
 sanction of law. On the history of this movement, see American History 
 and Government, §§ 71-74. 
 
 An agreement made by the whole consent and vote of the 
 Plantation made Mooneday 8th of October, IGo.'i 
 
 Inprimus it is ordered that for the generall good and well 
 ordering of the affayres of the Plantation their shall be every 
 Mooneday before the Court by eight of the Clocke in the morn- 
 ing, and presently upon the beating of the drum, a generall 
 meeting of the inhabitants of the Plantation att the meeteing 
 house, there to settle (and sett downe) such orders as may tend 
 to the generall good as aforesayd ; and every man to be bound 
 thereby without gaynesaying or resistance. It is also agreed 
 that there shall be twelve men selected out of the Company 
 that may or the greatest part of them meete as aforesayd to 
 determine as aforesayd, yet so as it is desired that the most of 
 the Plantation will keepe the meeteing constantly and all that 
 are there although none of the Twelve shall have a free voyce 
 as any of the 12 and that the greate[r] vote both of the 12 and 
 
REPRESENTATIVE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT 189 
 
 the other shall be of force and efficasy as aforesayd. And it 
 is likewise ordered that all things concluded as aforesayd shall 
 stand m force and be obe^'ed untill the next monthely meeteing 
 and afterwardes if it be not contradicted and other wise ordered 
 upon the sayd monthley meete[ing] by the greatest parts of 
 those that are present as aforesayd. 
 
 67. Representative Central Government Established, 1634 
 a. Winthro])' s Account 
 
 Winthrop's History of New England, under dates given. Cf. Intro- 
 duction to No. 64 for Wintlirop's bias. 
 
 For tlie outline of the whole story, cf. American History and Govern- 
 ment, § 64. 
 
 [April 1, 1634.] . . . Notice being sent out of the general 
 court to be held the 14th day of the third month, called May, 
 the freemen deputed two of each town to meet and consider of 
 such matters as they were to take order in at the same general 
 court ; who, having met, desired a sight of the patent, and, con- 
 ceiving thereby that all their laws should be made at the 
 general court, repaired to the governour to advise with him 
 about it, and about the abrogating of some orders formerly 
 made, as for killing of swine in corn,* etc.. He told them, 
 that, when the patent was granted, the number of freemen was 
 supposed to be (as in like corporations) so few, as they might 
 well join in making laws ; but now they were grown to so great 
 a body, as it was not possible for them to make or execute laws, 
 but they must choose others for that purpose : and that howso- 
 ever it would be necessary hereafter to have a select company 
 to intend that work, yet for the present they were not furnished 
 with a sufficient number of men qualified for such a business ; 
 neither could the commonwealth bear the loss of time of so 
 many as must intend it. Yet this they might do at present, 
 viz., they might, at the general court, make an order, that, once 
 in the year, a certain number should be appointed (upon sum- 
 
 iCf. No. 65 (9). 
 
190 DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRACY 
 
 mons from the govern our) to revise all laws, etc., and to reform 
 what they found amiss therein ; but not to make any new laws, 
 but prefer their grievances to the court of assistants ; and that 
 no assessment should be laid upon the country without the 
 consent of such a committee, nor any lands disposed of. . . . 
 
 [May 14.] At the general court, Mr. Cotton preached, and 
 delivered this doctrine, that a magistrate ought not to be turned 
 into the condition of a private man without just cause, and to 
 be publicly convict, no more than the magistrates may not turn 
 a private man out of his freehold, etc., without like public trial, 
 etc. This falling in question in the court, and the opinion of 
 the rest of the ministers being asked, it was referred to further 
 consideration. 
 
 The court chose anew governour, viz., Thomas Dudley,^ Esq., 
 the former deputy ; and Mr. Ludlow was chosen deputy ; and 
 John Haines, Esq., an assistant, and all the rest of the assist- 
 ants chosen again. 
 
 At this court it was ordered, that four general courts should 
 be kept every year, and that the whole body of the freemen 
 should be present only at the court of election of magistrates, 
 etc., and that, at the other three, every town should send 
 their deputies, who should assist in making laws, disposing 
 lands, etc. Many good orders were made by this court. It held 
 three days, and all things were carried very peaceably, not- 
 withstanding that some of the assistants were questioned by 
 the freemen for some errors in their government, and some fines 
 imposed, but remitted again before the court broke up. The 
 court was kept in the meeting house at Boston, and the new 
 governour and the assistants were together entertained at the 
 house of the old governour, as before. 
 
 1 A marginal note in the manuscript, in Winthrop's handwriting, adds 
 " chosen by papers." Tliis election of Winthrop's rival, by a secret ballot, 
 was the democratic answer to Cotton's argument above. 
 
REPRESENTATIVE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT 191 
 
 h. The Colony Records 
 
 (1) \_An Attempt of the Oligarchic Government to hold the Alle- 
 
 giance of all Inhabitants by an Oath.^ 
 
 The Oath for all Inhabitants prescribed at a Court of 
 Assistants at Boston, April 1/11, 1634, 
 
 I doe heare sweare, and call God to witnes, that, being 
 nowe an inhabitant within the lymitts of this jurisdiccion of 
 the Massachusetts, I doe acknowledge myselfe lawfully subject 
 to the aucthoritie and goverment there established and doe 
 accordingly submitt my person, family, and estate, to be pro- 
 tected, ordered, and governed by the lawes and constitucions 
 thereof, and doe faithfully promise to be from time to time 
 obedient and conformeable thereunto, and to the aucthoritie of 
 the Governor, and alt other the magistrates there, and their 
 successors, and to all such lawes, orders, sentences, and de- 
 crees, as nowe are or hereafter shalbe lawfully made, decreed, 
 and published by them or their successors. And I will alwayes 
 indeavor (as in duty I am bound) to advance the peace and 
 wellfaire of this body pollitique, and I will (to my best power 
 and meanes) seeke to devert and j^revent ivhatsoever may tende 
 to the mine or damage thereof, or of the Governor, Deputy 
 Goveryior, or Assistants, or any of them or their successors, and 
 loill give sp)eedy notice to theyn, or some of them, of any sedicion, 
 violence, treacherie, or other hurte or evill ivhich I shall knoice, 
 heare, or vehemently susj^ect to be plotted or intended against 
 them or any of them, or against the said Commonwealth or 
 goverment established. Soe helpe mee God. 
 
 (2) \_The Revolutionai-y General Court of May 14/24, 1634.'] 
 
 This court opens with a list of those present, giving, after the names 
 of the Assistants, twenty-four other names written in different cohimns, 
 before the usual word Genernlitie. These twenty-four seem to have 
 come, by threes, from each of the eight towns. It is quite certain that 
 they were "deputies" sent for the purpose by the towns. Cf. American 
 History and Government, § 64. 
 
192 DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRACY 
 
 Oath of Freemen 
 
 I (A. B.), being, by Gods providence, an inhabitant and 
 ffreeman within the jurisdiccion of this comraonweale, doe 
 freely acknowledge my selfe to be subject to the goverment 
 there of, and therefore doe heere sweare, by the greate and 
 dreadfull name of the everlyveing God, that I wilbe true and 
 faithfull to the same, and will accordingly yeilde assistance 
 and support thereunto, with my person and estate, as in equity 
 I am bound, and will also truely indeavor to mainetaine and 
 preserve all the libertyes and previlidges thereof, submitting my 
 selfe to the wholesome lawes and orders made and established 
 by the same ; and further, that I will not plott nor practise 
 any evill against it, nor consent to any that shall soe doe, but 
 will timely discover and reveale the same to lawful aucthority 
 nowe here established, for the speedy preventing thereof. 
 Moreover, I doe solemnely bynde myselfe, in the sight of God, 
 that ivhen I shalbe called to give my voice touching any such 
 matter of this state, ivhereiyi ffreemen are to deale, I ivill give my 
 vote and suffrage, as I shall judge in myne oune conscience may 
 best conduce arid tend to the publiqae loeale of the body, loithout 
 respect ofjyersons, or favor of any man. Soe helpe mee God, in 
 the Lord Jesus Christ.^ 
 
 Further, it is agreed, that none but the Generall Court hath 
 power to chuse and admitt ffreemen. 
 
 That none but the Generall Court hath power to make and 
 establishe lawes, nor to elect and appoynct officers, as Governor, 
 Deputy Governor, Assistants, Tresurer, Secretary, Captain, 
 Leiuetenants, Ensignes, or any of like moment, or to remove 
 such upon misdemeanor, as also to sett out the dutyes and powers 
 of the said officers. 
 
 That none but the Generall Court hath power to rayse mon- 
 eyes and taxes, and to dispose of lands, viz. to give and con- 
 firme proprietyes. 
 
 1 For the significance of the difference between this oath and that in (1) 
 above, cf. American History and Government, § 64. 
 
REPRESENTATIVE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT 193 
 
 Thomas Dudley, Esq. was chosen Governor for this yeare 
 nexte ensueing, and till a newe be chosen, and did, in presence 
 of the Court, take an oath to his said place belonginge. . . . 
 
 It is agreed, that there shalbe ten pounds ffine sett upon the 
 Court of Assistants, and Mr. May he we, for breach of an order 
 of Court against imployeing Indeans to shoote with peeces, the 
 one halfeto be payde by Mr. Pinchou and Mr. Mayhewe, offend- 
 ing therein, the other halfe by the Court of Assistants then in 
 being, who gave leave thereunto. 
 
 It was further ordered, that the constable of every plan- 
 tacion shall, upon process receaved from the Secretary, give 
 timely notice to the ffremen of the plantacion where hee dwells 
 to send soe many of their said members as the process shall 
 direct, to attend upon publique service ; and it is agreed that 
 no tryall shall passe upon any, for life or banishment, but by a 
 jury soe summoned, or by the Generall Courte. 
 
 It is likewise ordered that there shalbe foure Generall Courts 
 held yearely, to be summoned by the Governor, for the tyme 
 being, and not to be dissolved without the consent of the major 
 parte of the Court. 
 
 It loas further ordered that it shalbe lawfuH for the ffremen of 
 every plantacion to chuse two or three of each towne before every 
 Generall Court, to conferre of and prepare such publique busines 
 as by them shalbe thought fitt to consider of att the nexte Generall 
 Court, and that such persons as shalbe hereafter soe deputed by the 
 ffreemen of [the'] severaU plantacions, to deale in their behalfe, in 
 the publique affayres of the coynmonicealth, shall have the full power 
 and voyces of all the said ffreemen, deryved to them for the make- 
 ing and establishing oflawes, graunting of lands, etc., and to deale 
 in all other affaires of the commomvealth wherein the ffreemen 
 have to doe, the matter of election of magistrates and other officers 
 onely, excepted, wherein every freeman is to gyve his owne voyce} 
 
 1 This enactment is tlie formal establishment of representative government 
 in the colony, — in accordance with the character of this Court which so de- 
 creed. Cf. Introduction, above, to this No. 67 b. ("2). 
 
194 DEVELOPMENT, OF DEMOCRACY 
 
 All former orders concerneing swine are repealed. And it is 
 agreed that every towne shall have liberty to make such orders 
 aboute swine as they shall judge best for themselves, and that 
 if the swine of one towne shall come within the the lymitts of 
 another, the owners thereof shalbe lyeable to the orders of that 
 towne where their swine soe trespasseth. . . . 
 
 68. Reaction : The Aristocratic Veto 
 
 Winthrop's History of Neio England. 
 
 [September 4, 1634.] The general court began at Newtown, 
 and continued a week, and then was adjourned fourteen days. 
 Many things were there agitated. . . . But the main business, 
 which spent the most time, and caused the adjourning of the 
 court, was about the removal of Newtown [to Connecticut] .... 
 
 Upon these and other arguments the court being divided, it 
 was put to vote ; and, of the deputies, fifteen were for their 
 departure, and ten against it. The governour and two assist- 
 ants were for it, and the deputy and all the rest ^ of the assist- 
 ants were against it, (except the secretary, who gave no vote ;) 
 whereupon no record was entered, because there were not six 
 assistants in the vote,^ as the patent requires. Upon this 
 grew a great difference between the governour and assistants, 
 and the deputies. They would not yield the assistants a 
 negative voice, and the others (considering how dangerous it 
 might be to the commonwealth, if they should not keep that 
 strength to balance the greater number of the deputies) thought 
 it safe to stand upon it. So, when they could proceed no 
 farther, the whole court agreed to keep a day of humiliation 
 to seek the Lord, which accordingly was done, in all the con- 
 gregations, the 18th day of this month ; and the 24th the court 
 met again. Before they began, Mr. Cotton preached, (being 
 desired by all the court, upon Mr. Hooker's instant excuse of 
 his unfitness for that occasion). He took his text out of Hag. 
 
 1 Not more than four, so the vote stood probably 18 for, and 15 against. 
 But the new claim of the Assistants tliat at least six magistrates must be 
 "in the vote" (i.e. vote yes) prevents action. 
 
RIGHT OF FREE SPEECH DENIED 195 
 
 ii, 4, etc., out of which he laid down the nature or strength 
 (as he- termed it) of the magistracy, ministry, and people, 
 viz., — the strength of the magistracy to be their authority ; 
 of the people, their liberty ; and of the ministry, their purity ; 
 and showed how all of these had a negative voice, etc., and 
 that yet the ultimate resolution, etc., ought to be in the whole 
 body of the people, etc., with answer to all objections, and a 
 declaration of the people's duty and right to maintain their 
 true liberties against any unjust violence, etc., which gave 
 great satisfaction to the company. And it pleased the Lord 
 so to assist him, and to bless his own ordinance, that the 
 affairs of the court went on cheerfully ; and although all were 
 not satisfied about the negative voice to be left to the magis- 
 trates, yet no man moved aught about it, and the congregation 
 of Kewtown came and accepted of such enlargement as had 
 formerly been offered them by Boston and Watertown ; and 
 so the fear of their removal to Connecticut was removed. . . . 
 At this court were many laws made against tobacco, and im- 
 modest fashions, and costly apparel,^ etc., as appears by the 
 Records : and £600 raised towards fortifications and other 
 charges. . . . 
 
 69. Right of Free Speech Denied 
 
 Winthrop's History of New England. 
 
 March 4, 1634 [1635] ... At this court, one of the deputies 
 was questioned for denying the magistracy among us, affirming 
 that the power of the governour was but ministerial, etc. He 
 had also much opposed the magistrates, and slighted them, 
 
 1 It is refreshing to see that the gentle Puritan women were not to be con- 
 trolled in the matter. In 1G38, four years later, Winthrop has the following 
 item : 
 
 "The court, taking into consideration the great disorder general through 
 the country in costliness of apparel, and following new fashions, sent for the 
 elders of the churches, and conferred with them about it, and laid it upon 
 thom, as belonging to them, to redress it, by urging it upon the consciences of 
 their people, which they promised to do. But little was done about it ; for 
 divers of the elders' wives, etc., were in some measure partners in this general 
 disorder." 
 
196 DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRACY 
 
 and used many weak arguments against the negative voice, as 
 himself acknowledged upon record. He was adjudged by all 
 the court to be disabled for three years from bearing any 
 public office. . . . 
 
 [This was Israel Stoughton, deputy from Dorchester (see No. 70, below) . 
 Afterward Stoughton was an officer in Cromwell's original regiment of 
 Ironsides. 
 
 Winthrop wrote a pamphlet in favor of the negative voice ; but for 
 this he was not called to account. ] 
 
 70. Formal Adoption of the Ballot in Elections in the General 
 
 Court 
 
 Winthrop's History of Neio England. For the one earlier instance, 
 of. No. 67 a and note. 
 
 [May 6/16, 1635.] A general court was held at Newtown, 
 where John Haynes, Esq., was chosen governour, Richard 
 Bellingham, Esq., deputy governour, and Mr. Hough and Mr. 
 Dummer chosen assistants to the former; and Mr. Ludlow, 
 the late deputy, left out of the magistracy. The reason was, 
 partly, because the people would exercise their absolute power, 
 etc., and partly upon some speeches of the deputy, who pro- 
 tested against the election of the governour as void, for that 
 the deputies of the several towns had agreed upon the election 
 before they came, etc.^ But this was generally discussed, and 
 the election adjudged good. 
 
 Mr. Endecott was also left out, and called into question 
 about the defacing the cross in the ensign. . . . 
 
 The governour and deputy were elected by papers, wherein 
 their names were written ; but the assistants were chosen by 
 papers, without names, viz. the governour propounded one to 
 the people ; then they all went out, and came in at one door, 
 and every man delivered a paper into a hat. Such as gave 
 their vote for the party named, gave in a paper with some 
 figures or scroll in it ; others gave in a blank. 
 
 iCf. Ludlow's extreme fear of democracy in No. 64, above. 
 
SECRET BALLOT IN A LOCAL ELECTION 197 
 
 A petition was preferred by many of Dorchester, etc., for 
 releasing the sentence against Mr. Stoughton the last general 
 •court ; but it was rejected, and the sentence affirmed by the 
 country to be just. . . . 
 
 71. Secret Ballot in a Local Election, because of Democratic and 
 Aristocratic Jealousies 
 
 Winthrop's History of New Enyland. 
 
 The use of the ballot noted in No. 70 was not the first in New England. 
 An earlier instance in the General Court of the year before has been 
 noted (No. 67 a, note), and the following extract shows an instance of its 
 use in a town election, along with other interesting political data. On 
 the matter of the ballot, cf. American History and Government, § 77. 
 
 December 11, 1634. This day after the lecture,^ the in- 
 habitants of Boston met to choose seven men who should 
 divide the town lands among them. They chose by papers, 
 and, in their choice, left out Mr. Winthrop, Coddington, and 
 other of the chief men ; only they chose one of the elders and 
 a deacon, and the rest of the inferior sort, and Mr. Winthrop 
 had the greater number before one of them by a voice or two. 
 This they did, as fearing that the richer men would give the 
 poorer sort no great proportions of land, but would rather 
 leave a great part at liberty for new comers and for common, 
 which Mr. Winthrop had oft persuaded them unto, as best 
 for the town, etc. Mr. Cotton and divers others were offended 
 at this choice, because they declined the magistrates ; and Mr. 
 Winthrop refused to be one upon such an election as was 
 carried by a voice or two, telling them, that though, for his 
 part, he did not apprehend any personal injury, nor did doubt 
 of their good affection towards him, yet he was much grieved 
 that Boston should be the first who should shake off their 
 magistrates, especially Mr. Coddington, who had been always 
 
 iThe mid-week (Thursday) religious service, then held in the morning, 
 of which our Thursday evening " prayer meetings " are a survival. Boston 
 had no town government, as yet, with regular town meetings; but the gather- 
 ing for this religious purpose was utilized for a special governmental purpose. 
 
19S DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRACY 
 
 so forwai'd for their enlargemeut : adding further reasou of 
 declining this choice, to bk'»t out so bad a precedent. Where- 
 upon, at the motion of Mr. Cotton, who showed them, that it- 
 was the Lord's order among the Israelites to have all such 
 businesses committed to the elders, and that it had been nearer 
 the rule to have chosen some of each sort. etc.. they all agreed 
 to go to a new election, which was referred to the next lecture 
 day.i 
 
 72. Martial Law 
 
 Becords of the Governor aiul CompiiHjf of JIassachusetts Bay. 
 
 Att a Generali Court hohlen at XeiceToicne, March llthy 
 1634 iMaixh ^1, io'JJ.] 
 
 It is ordered, that the present Governor. Deputy Governor, 
 John Winthrop, John Humfry, John Haynes, John Endicott, 
 William Coddington. William Pinchon. Increase Xowell, 
 Eichard Bellingham. Esquire, and Simon Birdstreete, or the 
 major parte of them, whoe are deputed by this Court to 
 dispose of all millitary atfaires whatsoever, shall have full 
 power and aucthority to see all former lawes concerneing all 
 military men and muuiciou executed, and also shall have full 
 power to ordeyne or remove all millitary officers, and to make 
 and tender to them an oathe suteable to tiieir places, to 
 dispose of all company es. to make orders for them, and to 
 make and tender to them a suteable oatli, and to see that 
 strickt dissipline and traineings be observed, and to command 
 them forth upon any oocacion they thinke meete, to make 
 either offensive or defensive warr, as also to doe whatsi^^ver 
 may be further behoofefull, for the good of this plantacion, 
 in case of any warr that may befall us. and also that the 
 aforesaid commissioners, or the major parte of them, shall 
 have power to imprison or contine any that they shall judge to 
 be enemyes to the commonwealth, and such as will not come 
 
 ' The aristocratic protest won ; at the second election, the nsual iientleiuen 
 were placed upon the committee. 
 
TirE WHEELWRIGHT CONTROVERSY 199 
 
 under coiumaiul dv rostraintr, as (hey slialbe roiiuiriHl, it shalbe 
 lawfull for the said commissioners to putt such persons to 
 death. This order to continue till the end of the next 
 Generall Court. 
 
 [At tlio next Court (May, 1();>5 ; the same to wliicli Wiiitlirop refers 
 m No. 70, above), this coimnitteo witli its authority was eontiuvied for 
 one year, though this power was wholly unauthorized by the charter. Tlie 
 reason was a desire to be prepared to resist a " General Governor " frt)ui 
 England. Cf. American Ilistdri/ and Govern men t, § 01.] 
 
 73. Life Council; Proxies; "Approved" Churches 
 
 Winthrop's [lister;/ of .\V»' Knglaml. 
 
 April 7, 1 (;.")(). .\t a i;-(Mieral court it was ordered that a 
 certain number of the magistrates should be chosen for life 
 (the reason was, for that it was showed from the word of God, 
 etc., that the principal magistrates ought to be for life).' . . . 
 It was likewise ordered . . . that, in regard of the scarcity of 
 vitiuils, the remote towns should send their votes by proxy to 
 the court of elections,- and that no church . . . should be 
 allowed . . . that was gathered without consent of the 
 churches and magistrates.' 
 
 74. The Wheelwright Controversy (Political Aspects) 
 
 Winthrop's History of Xew England. 
 
 May 17, 1637. Our court of elections was at Newtown. 
 So soon as the court was set, being about one of the clock, a 
 petition was preferred by those of Boston. The governour 
 would have read it, but the deputy said it was out of order; 
 it was a court for elections, and those must first be despatched, 
 
 1 The imiuediate occasion was tho desire to satisfy Lord Say and I;oi(i 
 Brooke. Ct. No. 75, below. 
 
 -Tins provision for " pro.\ies," or written ballots (as the men of that day 
 used the term "proxy " often), was soon extended to all towns at all annual 
 eleetiotis. 
 
 * The regulation roganliiii; clmrciK's was needful to supplement the re- 
 striction of the franchise to ciuirch nieiubers (No. (kJ (4)). 
 
200 DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRACY 
 
 and then their petitions should be heard. Divers others also 
 opposed that course, as an ill precedent, etc. ; and the petition, 
 being about pretence of liberty, etc., (though intended chiefly 
 for revoking the sentence given against Mr. Wheelwright,) 
 would have spent all the day in debate, etc. ; but yet the 
 governour and those of that party would not proceed to elec- 
 tion, except the petition was read. Much time was already 
 spent about this debate, and the people crying out for election, 
 it was moved by the deputy, that the people should divide 
 themselves, and the greater number must carry it. And so it 
 was done, and the greater number by many were for election. 
 But the governour [Vane] and that side kept their place still, 
 and would not proceed. Whereupon the deputy [Winthrop] 
 told him, that, if he would not go to election, he and the rest 
 of that side would proceed. Upon that, he came from his 
 company, and they went to election ; and Mr. Winthrop was 
 chosen governour, Mr. Dudley deputy, and Mr. Endecott of 
 the standing council ; and Mr. Israel Stoughton and Mr. 
 Richard Saltonstall were called in to be assistants ; and Mr. 
 Vane, Mr. Coddington, and Mr. Dummer, (being all of that 
 faction,) were left quite out. 
 
 There was great danger of a tumult that day ; for those of 
 that side grew into fierce speeches, and some laid hands on 
 others; but seeing themselves too weak, they grew quiet. 
 They expected a great advantage that day, because the remote 
 towns were allowed to come in by proxy ; but it fell out, that 
 there were enough beside. But if it had been otherwise, they 
 must have put in their deputies, as other towns had done, for 
 all matters beside elections. Boston, having deferred to 
 choose deputies till the election was passed, went home that 
 night, and the next morning they sent Mr. Vane, the late 
 governour, and Mr. Coddington, and Mr. Hoffe, for their 
 deputies; hut the court, being grieved at it, found a means to 
 send them home again, for that tivo of the freemen of Boston^ had 
 
 1 Presumably Winthrop and Cotton, who had stayed at Newtown for the 
 Court. 
 
POLITICAL CONDITIONS IN NEW ENGLAND 201 
 
 not notice of the election. So tliey went all home, and the next 
 morning they returned the same gentleman again upon a new 
 choice ; and the court 7wt finding hoiv they might reject them, 
 they were admitted. . . . 
 
 75. Political and Social Conditions in New England before 1660 
 
 a. Correspondence between Cotton and Certain English 
 Lords, 16 3 G 
 
 Thomas Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts Bay (1709), App. II. 
 
 In 1636, certain Puritan lords in England sent to John Cotton in Mas- 
 sachusetts a series of conditions upon which they might come to live in 
 the colony. Cotton prepared the answers, with " such leading men as 
 [he] thought meete to consult." 
 
 CERTAIN Proposals made by LORD 8 AY, LORD 
 BROOKE, and other Persons of quality, as conditiona of their 
 removing to NEW-ENGLAND, tvith the ansivers thereto. 
 
 Demand 1. That the Commonwealth should consist of two 
 distinct ranks of men, — whereof the one should be (for them 
 and their heirs) gentlemen of the country ; the other (for them 
 and their heirs) freeholders. 
 
 Answer. Two distinct ranks we willingly acknowledge, from 
 the light of nature and scripture ; the one of them called Princes 
 or Nobles, or Elders (amongst whom gentlemen have their place) ; 
 the other, the people. Hereditary dignity or honours we will- 
 ingly allow to the former, unless by the scandalous and base 
 conversation of any of them, they become degenerate. Heredi- 
 tary liberty, or estate of freemen, we willingly allow to the 
 other, unless they also, by some unworthy and slavish carriage, 
 do disfranchize themselves. 
 
 Dem. 2. That in these gentlemen and freeholders, assembled 
 together, the chief power of the Commonwealth shall be placed, 
 both for making and repealing laws. 
 
 Ans. So it is with us. 
 
 Dem. 3. That each of these tivo ranks should, in all public as- 
 semblies, have a negative voice, so as without a mutuall consent 
 nothing should be established. 
 
202 DEVELOPINIENT OF DEMOCRACY 
 
 Ans. So it is agreed among us. 
 
 Dem. Jf. That the first rank (consisting of gentlemen) should 
 have power, for them and their heirs, to come to the parliaments 
 or public assemblies, and there to give their free votes 2:>erson- 
 alli/; the second rank {o( freelu>lders) should liave the same 
 power for them and their heirs of meeting and voting, bi(t b}f 
 their deputies. 
 
 Ans. Thus far this demand is practiced among us. The 
 freemen meet and vote by their deputies ; the other rank give 
 their votes personally, only witli this difference, there be no 
 more of the gentlemen that give their votes personally but such 
 as ai'e chosen to places of office, either governors, deputy gov- 
 ernors, councellors, or assistants. All gentlemen in England 
 have not that honour to meet and vote personally in parliament, 
 much less all their heirs. But of this more fully, in aw answer 
 to the ninth and tenth demand. 
 
 Dem. 5. That for facilitating and dispatch of business, and 
 other reasons, the genth>men and freeholders should sit and hold 
 their meetings in two distinct houses. 
 
 Ans. We ivillingly approve the motion, onh/ as f/et it is not so 
 practiced among us, but in. time, the variety and discrepanci/ of 
 sinidrif occurrences will put them upon a necessiti/ of sitti)ig apart. 
 ******* 
 
 Dem. S. [_The governor to be chosen froni " gentlemen.- -"l 
 
 Ans. We necer practice othericisef chusing the goi'ernor either 
 out of the assistants, which is our ordinary course, or out of a^y- 
 prored knoion gentlemen, as this year, Mr. Vane. 
 
 Dem. 9. That for the present, the Right Honorable the Lord 
 Viscount Say and Scale, the Lord Brooke, avIio have already 
 been at great disbursements for the public works in Xew-Eng- 
 land, and such other gentlemen of approved sincerity and 
 worth, as they, before their personal remove, shall take into 
 their number, should be admitted for them and their heirs, 
 gentlemen of the country. But for the future, none shall be 
 admitted into this rank but by the consent of both houses. 
 
 Ans. The great disbursements of these noble personages and 
 
POLITICAL CONDITIONS IN NEW ENGLAND 203 
 
 worthy gentlemen wc tliankfully acknowledge, because the safety 
 and presiMice of our brethren at (U)unei;ti('ut is no small blessing 
 and comfort to us. Hut, though that charge had never been 
 disbursed, the worth of the honorable persons nanunl is so well 
 known to all, and our need of such supi)orts and guides is so 
 sensible to ourselves, that we do not doubt the country would 
 thankfully accept it, as a singular favor from (rod and from 
 them, if he should bow their hearts to come into this wilderness 
 and help us. As for accepting them and their heirs into the 
 number of gentlemen of the country, the custom of this country 
 is, and readily would be, to receive and acknowledge, not only 
 all such eminent persons as themselves and the gentleman they 
 speake of, but others of meaner estate, so be it is of some em- 
 inency, to be for them and their heirs, gentlemen of the country. 
 Only, thus standeth our case. Though we receive them with 
 honor and allow them pre-eminence and accomodations accord- 
 ing to their condition, yet we do not, ordinarily, call them forth 
 to the power of election, or administration of magistracy, until 
 they be received as members into some of our churches, a priv- 
 elege, which we doubt not religious gentlemen will willingly 
 desire (as David did in l*sal. xxvii. 4) and christian churches 
 will as readily im})art to such desirable ])ersons. llerctlitary 
 honors both nature and scripture dotli acknowledge (Eccles. x. 
 17.) but hereditary authority and power standeth only by the 
 civil laws of some commonwealths, and yet even amongst them, 
 the authority and power of the father is nowhere communicated, 
 together with his honors, unto all his posterity. Where God 
 blesseth any branch of any noble or generous family, with a 
 spirit and gifts fit for government, it would be a taking of 
 God's name in vain to put such a talent under a bushel, and a 
 sin against the honor of m<agistracy to neglect such in our 
 public elections. But if God should not delight to furnish 
 some of their posterity with gifts fit for magistracy, we would 
 expose them rather to reproach and prejudice, and the common- 
 wealth with them, than exalt them to honor, if we should call 
 them forth, when God doth not, to public authority. . . . 
 
204 DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRACY 
 
 [Iq Cotton's personal letter to Lord Say and Sele and Lord Brooke 
 (Hutchinson's Massachusetts Bay (1705), App. Ill), a fuller statement as 
 to some features of Massachusetts practice and theory is given. The 
 English lords evidently objected to the restriction of citizenship to church 
 members. They wanted less of theocracy and more of aristocracy. Cot- 
 ton defends the middle course of the colony as follows : 
 
 . . . "Your Lordships advertisement touching the civill state of this 
 colony, as they doe breath forth your singular wisdome, and faithfulness, 
 and tender care of the peace, so wee have noe reason to misinterprite, 
 or undervalue your Lordships eyther directions or intentions therein. 
 I know noe man under heaven (Ispeake in Gods feare without flattery) 
 whose counsell I should rather depend upon, for the wise administration 
 of a civill state according to God, than upon your Lordship, and such 
 confidence have I (not in you) but in the Lords presence in Christ with 
 you, that I should never feare to betrust a greater commonwealth than this 
 (as much as in us lyeth) under such a perpetiui dictaturCl as your Lordship 
 should prescribe. For I nothing doubt, but that eytlier your Lordship 
 would prescibe all things according to the rule, or be willing to examine 
 againe, and againe, all things according to it. . . . It is very suitable to 
 Gods all-suflficient wisdome, and to the fulnes and perfection of Holy Scrip- 
 tures, not only to prescribe perfect rules for the right ordering of a private 
 mans soule to everlasting blessednes with himselfe, but also for the right 
 ordering of a mans family, yea, of the commonwealth too, so farre as both 
 of them are subordinate to spiritual ends, and yet avoide both the churches 
 usurpation upon civill jurisdictions . . . and the commonwealths inva- 
 sion upon ecclesiasticall administrations . . . Gods institutions (such as 
 the government of church and of commonwealth may be) may be close 
 and compact, and coordinate one with another, and yet not confounded. 
 God hath so framed the state of church government and ordinances, that 
 they may be compatible to any common-wealth, though never so much 
 disordered in his frame. But yet when a commonwealth hath liberty to 
 mould his owne frame ... I conceyve the scripture hath given full direc- 
 tion for the right ordering of the same. . . . Mr. Hooker doth often quote 
 a saying out of Mr. Cartwright (though I have not read it in him) that 
 noe man fashioneth his house to his hangings, but his hangings to his 
 house. It is better that the commonwealth be fashioned to the setting 
 forth of Gods house, which is his church : than to accommodate the 
 church frame to the civill state. Democracy, I do not conceyve that ever 
 God did ordeyne as a fitt government eytlier for church or commonwealth. 
 If the people be governors, who shall be governed ? As for monarchy, 
 and aristocracy, they are both of them clearely approoved, and directed in 
 scripture, yet so as referreth the soveraigntie to himselfe, and setteth up 
 
POLITICAL CONDITIONS IN NEW ENGLAND 205 
 
 Theocracy in both, as the best forme of government in the commonwealth 
 as well as in the church. 
 
 " The law, which your Lordship instanceth in [that none shall be chosen 
 to magistracy among us but a church member] was made and enacted 
 before I came into the country ; but I have hitherto wanted sufficient 
 light to plead against it. . . . Your Lordship's feare that this will bring 
 in papal excommunication, is just, and pious : but let your Lordship be 
 pleased againe to consider whether the consequence be necessary. . . . 
 
 " When your Lordship doubteth that this corse will draw all things 
 under the determination of the church . . . (seeing the church is to de- 
 termine who shall be members, and none but a member may have to doe 
 in the government of a commonwealth) be pleased (I pray you) to con- 
 ceyve, that magistrates are neyther chosen to office in the church. . . . 
 Nor neede your Lordship feare (which yet I speake with submission to 
 your Lordships better judgment) that this corse will lay such a founda- 
 tion, as nothing but a mere democracy can be built upon it. Bodine con- 
 fesseth, that though it be status popularis, where a people choose their 
 owne governors, yet the government is not a democracy, if it be admin- 
 istered, not by the people, but by the governors, whether one (for then 
 it is a monarchy, though elective) or by many, for then (as you know) 
 it is aristocracy. . . . Mean while two of the principall of [the require- 
 ments of the Lords], the generall cort hath already condescended unto. 
 L In establishing a standing councell, who, during their lives, should 
 assist the governor in managing the chiefest affayres of this little state. 
 They have chosen, for the present, onely two (Mr. Winthrope and Mr. 
 Dudley) nor willing to choose more, till they see what further better 
 choyse the Lord will send over to them, that so they may keep an open 
 doore for such desireable gentlemen as your Lordship mentioneth. 2. 
 They have graunted the governor and assistants a negative voyce, and 
 reserved to the freemen the like liberty also." . . .] 
 
 b. Social Legislation, October 14, 1651 
 
 Records of Massachusetts Colony, IV, Pt. I, pages 60-61. 
 
 . . . ** though we acknowledge it to be a matter of much 
 difficultie, in regard of the blindnes of mens mindes and the 
 stubbornes of their willes, to sett downe exact rules to confine 
 all sorts of persons, yett wee cannot but account it our duty 
 ... to declare our utter detestation . . . that men or weomen 
 of meane condition should take uppon them the garbe of 
 
206 DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRACY 
 
 gentlemen, by weaving gold or silver lace or buttons, or points 
 at their knees, or to walk in great bootes, or weomen of the 
 same rancke to weare silke or tiffany hoodes or scarfes, which 
 though allowable to persons of greater estates or more liberall 
 education, yett we cannot but judge it intollerable in persons 
 of such like condition : it is therefore ordered by this Courts 
 . . . that no person . . . whose visible estates . . . shall not 
 exceed . . . two hundred pounds, shall weare any gold or 
 silver lace [etc.] uppon the penaltie of tenn shillings for 
 every such offence, and every such delinquent to be presented 
 by the graund jury,'' [with long and detailed provisions for 
 enforcement]. 
 
 76. Some Relations with England. 1638 
 a. .Iftavk upon the Massaclui setts Chai'ter 
 
 Thomas Hutchinson's Collection of Original Papers (17G9), 105-106. 
 
 This is the last of several demands for the return of the charter be- 
 tween the years 1034 and 163S. Winthrop refers to it as "a very strict 
 order.'' For the reasons why the colony •' thought it safe '' to disregard 
 the order, and for the earlier history, cf. American History and Govern- 
 ment, § 61. 
 
 A Coppie of a Letter sent b>i the appointment of the Lords of 
 the Council to J/r. Winthrop, for the Patent of this Planta- 
 tion to be sent to them. 
 
 At Whitehall April 4th 1638. Present, 
 
 Lord Archbishop of Canterbury Earle of Holland 
 
 Lord Keeper Lord Cottington 
 
 Lord Treasurer jNIr. Treasurer 
 
 Lord Privy Scale Mr. Controuler 
 
 Earle ^Marshall Mr. Secretary Cooke 
 
 Earle of Dorset Mr. Secretary Windebank 
 
 This day the Lords Commissioners for foreign Plantations, 
 taking into consideration that the petitions and complaints of 
 his jNIajestys subjects, planters and traders in New-England, 
 grow more frequent than heretofore for want of a settled and 
 
SOME RELATIONS WITH ENGLAND, 1G3S 207 
 
 orderly government in those parts, and calling to mind that 
 they had formerly given order about two or three years since 
 to Mr. Cradock a member of tliat plantation, to cause the 
 grant or letters patent of that plantation (alleadged by him to 
 be there remaining in the hands of ]\Ir. Winthrop) to be sent 
 over hither, and that notwithstanding the same, the said 
 letters patent were not as yet brought over : And their Lord- 
 ships being now informed by Mr. Attorney General that a Quo 
 Warranto had been by him brought according to former order 
 against the said patent, and the same was proceeded to judg- 
 ment against so many as had appeared, and that they which 
 had not appeared, were outlawed. 
 
 Their lordships well approving of Mr. Attorney's care and 
 proceeding therein did now resolve and order, that Mr. 
 Meawtis, clerk of the council attendant upon the said com- 
 missioners for foreign jjlantations, should in a letter from 
 himselfe to Mr. ^Vintllrop inclose and convey this order unto 
 him. And their Lordships hereby in his Majesty s name, and 
 according to his express will and pleasure, strictly require and 
 enjoine the said Winthrop or any other in whose power and 
 custody the said letters patent are, that they fail not to 
 transmit the sxiid patent hither by the returne of the ship in 
 which the order is conveyed to them, it being resolved that in 
 case of any further neglect or contempt by them shewed 
 therein, their lordships will cause a strict course to be taken 
 against them, and will move his Majesty to reassume into his 
 hands the whole plantation, 
 
 b. The Refusal of the Colony 
 
 Hutchinson's Massachusetts Bay (1705)* App. V. See introductory 
 matter to a, above. 
 
 An Addresse of the General Court 
 To the Right Honourable the Lords Commissioners for foreigne 
 
 Plantations [September 6/16, 1638'] 
 The humble Petition of the Inhabitants of the Massachusets 
 
 in New England, of the Generall Court there assembled, 
 
208 DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRACY 
 
 the Gth day of September, in the 14tli yeare of the Reigiie 
 of our Soveraigue Lord King CHARLES. 
 
 Whereas it hath pleased your Lordships, by order of the 
 4th of April last, to require our patent to be sent unto you, 
 wee do hereby humbly and sincerely professe, that wee are 
 ready to yield all due obedience to our soveraigne Lord, the 
 King's majesty, and to your Lordships under him, and in this 
 minde wee left our native countrie, and according thereunto, 
 hath been our practice ever since, so as wee are much grieved, 
 that your Lordships should call in our patent, there being no 
 cause knowne to us, nor any delinquency or fault of ours 
 expressed in the order sent to us for that purpose, our govern- 
 ment being according to his Majestyes grant, and wee not 
 answerable for any defects in other plantations, etc. 
 
 This is what his jNIajesties subjects here doe believe and 
 professe, and thereupon wee are all humble suitors to your 
 Lordships, that you will be pleased to take into further con- 
 sideration our condition, and to atfoord us the liberty of 
 subjects, that we ma}^ know what is layd to our charge ; and 
 have leaive and time to answer for ourselves before we be 
 condemned as a people unworthy of his jNIajesties favour or 
 protection ; as for the quo warranto mentioned in the said 
 order, wee doe assure your Lordships wee were never called 
 to answer to it, and if wee had, wee doubt not but wee have 
 a sufficient plea to put in. 
 
 It is not unknowne to j'our Lordships, that we came into 
 these remote parts with his ]\[ajesties licence and encourage- 
 ment, under his great scale of England, and in the confidence 
 wee had of that assurance, Avee have transported our families 
 and estates, and here have wee built and planted, to the great 
 enlargement and securing of his Majesties dominions in these 
 parts, so as if our patent should now be taken from us, we 
 shall be looked on as runnigadoes and outlawed, and shall be 
 enforced, either to remove to some other place, or to returne 
 into our native country againe ; either of which will put us 
 
SOME RELATIONS WITH ENGLAND, 1638 209 
 
 to unsupportable extremities, and these evils (among others) 
 will necessarily follow : (1.) Many thousand souls will be 
 exposed to mine, being layd open to the injuries of all men. 
 (2.) If wee be forced to desert this place, the rest of the 
 plantations (being too weake to subsist alone) will, for the 
 most part, dissolve and goe with us, and then will this whole 
 country fall into the hands of the French or Dutch, who 
 would speedily imbrace such an opportunity. (3.) If we 
 should loose all our labour and costs, and be deprived of those 
 liberties which his Majesty hath granted us, and nothing 
 layd to our charge, nor any fayling to be found in us in point 
 of allegiance (which all our countrymen doe take notice of 
 and will justify our faithfulness in this behalf e) it will dis- 
 courage all men heereafter from the like undertakings upon 
 confidence of his Majestyes royal grant. Lastly, if our patent 
 be takoi from us {whereby wee suppose wee may clayme interest 
 in his J fajestyes favour and i^rotection) the common jwojyle here 
 ivill conseive that his Majesty hath cast them off", and that, heereby, 
 they are freed from their allegiance and subjection, and, thereupon, 
 loill be ready to conj'ederate themselves under a new government, Jor 
 their necessary safety and subsistance, which toill be of dangerous 
 example to other plantations, and perillous to ourselves of incurring 
 his Majestyes displeasure, ivhich wee would by all means avoyd} 
 
 Upon these considerations wee are bold to renew our humble 
 supplications to your Lordships, that wee may be suffered to 
 live here in this wilderness, and that this poore plantation, 
 which hath found more favour from God than many others, 
 may not finde lesse favour from your Lordships [so] that our 
 liberties should be restreyned, when others are enlarged, that 
 the doore should be kept shutt unto us, while it stands open 
 to all other plantations, that men of ability should be debarred 
 from us, while they give incouragement to other colonies. 
 
 ' Observe the plain threat, cloaked in this lanf);uage, that the colony would 
 rebel rather than surrender its charter. The real leaders of revolt would 
 have been, not " the common people," but Winthrop and his friends, who 
 drew up this paper. 
 
210 DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRACY 
 
 77. Democratic Discontent, 1639 
 
 (Winthrop's Denial of the Right of Petition ; Abolition of the Life 
 Council ; Delay in the Written Code) 
 
 Winthrop's History of New England. 
 
 May 22, 1639. The court of elections was: at which time 
 there was a small eclipse of the sun. Mr. Winthrop was 
 chosen governour again, though some laboring had been, by 
 some of the elders and others, to have changed, not out of any 
 dislike of him (for they all loved and esteemed him), but out 
 of their fear lest it might make way for having a governour for 
 life, which some had propounded as most agreeable to God's 
 institution and the practice of all well-ordered states. But 
 neither the governour nor any other attempted the thing; though 
 some jealousies arose, which were increased by two occasions. 
 The first was, there being want of assistants, the governour 
 and other magistrates thought fit (in the warrant for the court) 
 to propound three, amongst which Mr. Downing, the govern- 
 our' s brother-in-law, was one, which they conceived to be done 
 to strengthen his party, and therefore, though he were known 
 to be a very able man, etc., and one who had done many good 
 offices for the country for these ten years, yet the people would 
 not choose him. Another occasion of their jealousy was, the 
 court, finding the number of deputies to be much increased by 
 the addition of new plantations, thought fit, for the ease both 
 of the country and the court, to reduce all towns to two depu- 
 ties. This occasioned some to fear, that the magistrates in- 
 tended to make themselves stronger, and the deputies weaker, 
 and so, in time, to bring all power into the hands of the magis- 
 trates ; so as the people in some towns were much displeased 
 with their deputies for yielding to such an order. Whereupon, 
 at the next session, it was propounded to have the number of 
 deputies, restored ; and allegations were made, that it was an 
 infringement of their liberty ; so as, after much debate, and 
 such reasons given for diminishing the number of deputies, 
 
DEMOCRATIC DISCONTENT, 1639 211 
 
 and clearly proved that their liberty consisted not in the num- 
 ber, but in the thing, divers of the deputies, who came with 
 intent to reverse the last order, were, by force of reason, 
 brought to uphold it ; so that, when it was put to the vote, the 
 last order for two deputies only was confirmed. Yet, the next 
 day, a petition was brought to the court from the freemen of 
 Roxbury, to have the third deputy restored. Whereupon the 
 reasons of the court's proceedings were set down in writing, 
 and all objections answered, and sent to such towns as were 
 unsatisfied with this advice, that, if any could take away those 
 reasons, or bring us better for what they did desire, we should 
 be ready, at the next court, to repeal the said order. 
 
 The hands of some of the elders (learned and godly men) 
 were to this petition, though suddenly drawn in, and without 
 due consideration. For the lawfulness of it may well be ques- 
 tioned : for when the people have chosen men to be their rulers, 
 and to make their laws, and bound themselves by oath to sub- 
 mit thereto, now to combine together (a lesser part of them) in 
 a public petition to have any order repealed, which is not re- 
 pugnant to the law of God, savors of resisting an ordinance of 
 God; for the people, having deputed others, have no power 
 to make or alter laws, but are to be subject ; and if any such 
 order seem unlawful or inconvenient, they were better prefer 
 some reasons, etc., to the court, with manifestation of their 
 desire to move them to a review, than peremptorily to petition 
 to have it repealed, which amounts to a plain reproof of those 
 whom God hath set over them, and putting dishonor upon 
 them, against the tenor of the fifth commandment. 
 
 There fell out at this court another occasion of increasing 
 the people's jealousy of their magistrates, viz. : One of the 
 elders, being present with those of his church, when they 
 were to prepare their votes for the election, declared his judg- 
 ment, that a governour ought to be for his life, alleging for his 
 authority the practice of all the best commonwealths in Europe, 
 and especially that of Israel by God's own ordinance. But 
 this was opposed by some other of the elders with much zeal. 
 
212 DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRACY 
 
 and so notice was taken of it by the people, not as a matter of 
 dispute, but as if there had been some plot to put it in practice. 
 
 June 9, 1639 . . . The people had long desired a body of 
 laws, and thought their condition very unsafe, while so much 
 power rested in the discretion of magistrates. Divers attempts 
 had been made at former courts, and the matter referred to some 
 of the magistrates and some of the elders ; but still it came to 
 no effect ; for, being committed to the care of many, whatsoever 
 was done by some, was still disliked or neglected by others. 
 . . . Two great reasons there were, which caused most of the 
 magistrates and some of the elders not to be very forward in 
 this matter. One was, want of sufficient experience of the 
 nature and disposition of the people, considered with the con- 
 dition of the country and other circumstances, which made them 
 conceive, that such laws would be fittest for us, which should 
 arise pro re nata upon occasions, etc., and so the laws of Eng- 
 land and other states grew (and therefore the fundamental 
 laws of England are called customs, consuetudines). 2. For 
 that it would professedly transgress the limits of our charter, 
 which provide, we shall make no laws repugnant to the laws 
 of England, and that we were assured we must do. But to 
 raise up laws by practice and custom had been no transgression ; 
 as in our church discipline, and in matters of marriage, to make 
 a law, that marriages should not be solemnized by ministers, 
 is repugnant to the laws of England : but to bring it to a cus- 
 tom by practice for the magistrates to perform it, is no law 
 made repugnant, etc. At length (to satisfy the people) it pro- 
 ceeded . . } 
 
 November, 1639. Some of the freemen, without the consent 
 of the magistrates or governour, had chosen Mr. Nathaniel Ward 
 to preach at this court, pretending that it was a part of their lib- 
 erty. The governour (whose right indeed it is, for till the court 
 be assembled the freemen are but private persons) would not strive 
 about it, for though it did not belong to them, yet if they would 
 
 1 For a brief history of this proceeding, cf. American History and Govern- 
 ment, § 81. The code was established iu 1(541. See No. 78, below. 
 
DEMOCRATIC DISCONTENT, 1639 213 
 
 have it, there was reason to yield it to them. ... In his sermon 
 he delivered many useful things, but in a moral and political 
 discourse, grounding his propositions much upon the old Roman 
 and Grecian governments, which sure is an error, for if religion 
 and the word of God makes men wiser than their neighbors, 
 and these times have the advantage of all that have gone before 
 us in experience and observation, it is probable that by all 
 these helps, we may better frame rules of government for our- 
 selves than to receive others upon the bare authority of the 
 wisdom, justice, etc. of those heathen commonwealths. Among 
 other things, he advised the people to keep all their magistrates 
 in an equal rank, and not give more honor or power to one than 
 to another, which is easier to advise than to prove, seeing it is 
 against the practice of Israel (where some were rulers of thou- 
 sands, and some but of tens) and of all nations known or re- 
 corded. Another advice he gave, that magistrates should not 
 give private advice, and take knowledge of any man's cause 
 before it came to public hearing. This was debated after in 
 the general court, where some of the deputies moved to have 
 it ordered. [Successfully resisted by the magistrates.] 
 
 [Wood's sermon shows that he regarded himself as put forward to cham- 
 pion democratic doctrine : cf. Cotton's sermons for the magistrates, noted 
 in former entries. An entry of Wiiithrop's, dated May 10, 1643, shows a 
 continuance of this democratic purpose. 
 
 "Our court of elections was held, when Mr. Ezekiel Rogers, pastor of 
 the church in Rowley, preached. He was called to it by a company of 
 freemen, whereof the most were deputies chosen for the court. . . . Mr. 
 Rogers, hearing that exception was taken to this call, as unwarrantable, 
 wrote to the governour for advice, etc., who returned him answer : That 
 he did account his calling not to be sufficient, yet the magistrates were 
 not minded to strive with the deputies about it, but seeing it was noised 
 in the country, and the people would expect him, and that he had advised 
 with the magistrates about it, he wished him to go on. In his sermon 
 he described how the man ought to be qualified whom they should choose 
 for their governour, yet dissuaded them earnestly from choosing the 
 same man twice together, and expressed his dislike of that with such 
 vehemency as gave offence. But when it came to trial, the former 
 governour, Mr. Winthrop, was chosen again."] 
 
214 DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRACY 
 
 78. The Body of Liberties. 1641 
 
 Whitmoi'c's Bibliograp^iical Slictch of the Laios of the Massachusetts 
 Colotiy gives the text in facsimile. 
 
 For the history and signiticauce, see American History and Govern- 
 ment, § 81. Cf. also No. 77, above. The starred numbers each contain 
 some important advance upon English custom or law of the day, and 
 italic type is usod to call attention to provisions that especially justify 
 the name, Body of Liberties. 
 
 A Coppie of the Liberticti of the Masmehusets Collonie in 
 New England 
 
 The free fruition of such liberties, Immunities, and prive- 
 ledges, as humanitie, Civilitie, and Christianitie call for as 
 due to every man in his place and proportion, without im- 
 peachment and Infringement, hath ever bene and ever ivill be 
 the tranquillitie and Stabilitie of Churches and Comnionwealths. 
 And the deniall or deprivall thereof, the disturbance if not the 
 mine of both. . . . 
 
 Wee doe therefore this day religiously and unanimously 
 decree and contirme these following Rites, liberties, and prive- 
 ledges concerneing our Churches and Civill State, to be 
 respectively impartiallie and inviolably enjoyed and observed 
 throughout our Jurisdiction for ever. 
 
 1. No mans life shall be taken away, no mans honour or 
 good name shall be stayned, no mans person shall be arested, 
 restrayned, banished, dismembred, nor any wayes punished, 
 no man shall be deprived of his wife or children, no mans 
 goods or estaite shall be taken away from him, nor any way 
 indammaged under Coulor of law, or Countenance of Authoritie, 
 iinlesse it be bi/ vertue or eijuitie of some ex2)resse laic of the 
 Country tvarranting the same, established by a generall Court 
 and sujficiently published, or, in case of the defect of a lau' in 
 any partecular case, by the word of god. And in Capitall cases, 
 or in cases concerning dismembring or banishment, according 
 to that word to be Judged by the Generall Court. 
 
 *2. Every person within this Jurisdiction, whether Inhabit- 
 
THE BODY OF LIBERTIES, 1641 215 
 
 ant or forreiuer shall enjoy the same justice and law, that is 
 generall for the plantation, which we constitnte and execute 
 one towards another, without partialitie or delay. 
 
 5. No man shall be compelled to any publique worke or 
 service nnlesse the presse be grounded upon some act of the 
 generall Court, and [he] have reasonable allowance therefore. 
 
 8. No mans Cattell or good of what kinde soever shall be 
 pressed or taken for any pid)lique use or service, unlesse it be 
 by warrant grounded upon some act of the generall Court, nor 
 without such reasonable prices and hire as the ordinarie rates 
 of the Countrie do afford. . . . 
 
 *9, No monopolies shall be granted or allowed amongst us, 
 but of such new Inventions that are protitable to the Countrie, 
 and that for a short time. 
 
 *10. All our lands and heritages shall be free from all fines 
 and licences upon Alienations, and from all hariotts, wardships, 
 Liveries, Primerseisens, yeare day and wast, Escheates, and for- 
 feitures, upon the deaths of parents, or Ancestors, be they 
 naturall, casuall, or Juditiall. 
 
 *11. All persons which are of the age of 21 yeares, and of 
 right understanding and mearaories, whether [even if] excommu- 
 nicate or coyirJemned shall have full power and libertie to make 
 there wills and testaments, and other lawfull alienations of 
 theire lands and estates. 
 
 12. Every man ivhether Inhabitant or forreiner, free or not 
 free shall have libertie to come to any pubUqne Court, CounceU or 
 Towne meeting, and either by speech or writeing to move any 
 laiofidl, seasonable, and materiall question, or to present any 
 necessary motion, complaint, petition, Bill or information, tvhereof 
 that meeting hath pro])er cognizance, so it be done in. convenient 
 time, due order, and respective manner. 
 
216 DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRACY 
 
 16. Every Inhabitant that is an howse holder shall have 
 free fishing and fowling in any great ponds and Bayes, Coves 
 and Rivers, so farre as the sea ebbes and flowes within the 
 presincts of the towne where they dwell, unless the free men 
 of the same Towne or the Generall Court have otherwise ap- 
 propriated them, provided that this shall not be extended to 
 give leave to any man to come upon others proprietie without 
 there leave. 
 
 *17. Every man of or within this Jurisdiction shall have free 
 libertie, not with standing any Civill power, to remove both 
 himselfe and his familie at their pleasure out of the same, 
 provided there be no legall impediment to the contrarie. 
 
 Rites Rules and Liberties concerning Juditiall proceedings 
 
 18. No mans person shall be restrained or imprisoned by any 
 Authority what so ever, before the law hath sentenced him thereto, 
 if he can put in sufficient securitie, bayle, or mainprise, for 
 his appearance, and good behaviour in the meane time, unlesse 
 it be in Crimes Capitall, and Contempts in open Court, and in 
 such cases where some expresse act of Court doth allow it. 
 
 19. If in'a generall Court any miscariage shall be amongst the 
 Assistants when they are by themselves that may deserve an 
 Admonition or fine under 20 sh, it shall be examined and sen- 
 tenced amongst themselves. If amongst the Deputies when 
 they are by themselves. It shall be examined and sentenced 
 amongst themselves, If it be when the whole Court is togeather, 
 it shall be judged by the whole Court, and not severallie as 
 before.^ 
 
 ******* 
 
 *25. No Summons pleading Judgement, or any kinde of proceeding in 
 Court or course of Justice shall be abated, arested, or reversed, upon any 
 kinde of cercumstantiall errors or mistakes, if the person and cause be 
 rightly understood and intended by the Court. 
 
 ******* 
 
 1 This law shows that in 1641 the two orders of the Assembly had come to 
 sit by themselves frequently. For the final separation, see No. 80. 
 
THE BODY OP LIBERTIES, 1641 217 
 
 29. In all Actions at law it shall be the libertie of the plan- 
 tife and defendant by mutual consent to choose whether they 
 will be tryed by the Bench or by a Jurie, unlesse it be where 
 the law upon just reason hath otherwise determined. The 
 like libertie shall be granted to all persons in Criminall cases. 
 
 30. It shall be in the libertie both of plantife and defendant, 
 and likewise every delinquent (to be judged by a Jurie) to chal- 
 lenge any of the Jurors. And if his challenge be found just 
 and reasonable by the Bench/ or the rest of the Jurie, as the 
 challenger shall choose, it shall be allowed him. . . . 
 
 34. If any man shall be proved and Judged a commen Bar- 
 rator vexing others with unjust frequent and endlesse suites, 
 It shall be in the power of Courts both to denie him the benefit 
 of the law, and to punish him for his Barratry. 
 
 36. It shall be in the libertie of every man . . . sentenced in any 
 cause in any Inferior Court, to make their Api^eale to the Court of Assist- 
 ants, provided they tender their appeale and put in securitie to prosecute 
 it before the Court be ended wherein they were condemned, and within 
 six dayes next ensuing put in good securitie before some Assistant to sat- 
 isfie what his Adversarie shall redover against him ; And if the cause be 
 of a Criminall nature, for his good behaviour and appearance. And 
 everie man shall have libertie to complaine to the Generall Court of any 
 Injustice done him in any Court of Assistants or other. 
 
 40. No Conveyance, Deede, or promise what so ever shall be 
 of validitie, If it be gotten by Illegal violence, imprisonment, 
 threatenings, or any kinde of forcible compulsion called Dures. 
 
 41. Everie man that is to Answere for any Criminall cause, 
 whether he be in prison or under bayle, his cause shall be heard 
 and determined at the next Court that hath proper Cognizance 
 thereof, And [i.e., if it] may be done without prejudice of Jus- 
 tice. 
 
 iThe "peremptory challenge" of the Plymouth Code does not appear here. 
 
218 DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRACY 
 
 42. No man shall be twise sentenced by Civill Justice for 
 one and the same Crime, offence, or Trespasse. 
 
 43. No man shall be beaten with above 40 stripes, nor shall 
 any true gentleman, nor any man equall to a gentleman be pun- 
 ished with whipping,^ unles his crime be very shameful!, and 
 his course of life vitious and profligate. 
 
 *44. No man condemned to dye shall be put to death within 
 fower dayes next after his condemnation, unles the Court see 
 spetiall cause to the contrary, or in case of martiall law ; nor 
 shall the body of any man so put to death be unburied 12 
 howers, unlesse it be in case of Anatomic. 
 
 45. No man shall be forced b}^ Torture to confesse any Crime 
 against himself e nor any other unlesse it be in some Capitall 
 case where he is first f ullie convicted by cleare and suffitient evi- 
 dence to be guilty, After which, if the cause be of that nature 
 That it is very apparent there be other conspiratours, or con- 
 federates with him, Then he may be tortured, yet not with such 
 Tortures as be Barbarous and inhumane. 
 
 46. For bodilie punishments we allow amongst us none that 
 are inhumane. Barbarous, or cruell.^ 
 
 47. No man shall be put to death without the testimony of 
 two or three witnesses, or that which is equivalent there unto. 
 
 49. No free man shall be compelled to serve upon Juries above 
 two Courts in a yeare, except grand Jurie men, Avho shall hould 
 two Courts together at the least. 
 
 * 50. All Jurors shall be chosen continuallie by the freemen of 
 the Towne where they dwell. 
 
 54. When so ever anything is to be put to vote, any sentence 
 to be pronounced, or any other matter to be proposed, or read 
 
 iCf. No. 65 (8). 
 
 2 These terms are relative. Winthrop describes, after this date, the cruel 
 flogging of a woman for a matter of opinion, and says that she had her tongne 
 pnt in " a cleft stick " for half an hour, for " abusing " the magistrates who 
 punished her. 
 
THE BODY OF LIBERTIES, 1641 219 
 
 in any Court or Assembly, If the president or moderator thereof 
 shall refuse to performe it, the Major parte of the members of 
 that Court or Assembly shall have power to appoint any other 
 meete man of them to do it, And, if there be just cause, tojjunish 
 him that should and would not.^ 
 
 57. When so ever any person shall come to any very suddaine 
 untimely and unnaturall death. Some Assistant, or the Con- 
 stables of that Towne shall forthwith summon a Jury of twelve 
 free men to inquire of the cause and manner of their death, and 
 shall present a true verdict thereof to some neere Assistant, or 
 the next Court to be helde for that Towne upon their oath.^ 
 
 Liberties more peculiarlie concerning the free men 
 
 68. Civill Authorie hath power and libertie to see the peace, 
 ordinances and Rules of Christ observed in every church ac- 
 cording to his word, so it be done in a Civil! and not in an Ec- 
 clesiastical way. 
 
 ******* 
 
 60. No church censure shall degrade or depose any man 
 from any Civill dignitie, office, or Authoritie he shall have in 
 the Commonwealth. 
 
 62. Any Shire or Towne shall have libertie to choose their 
 Deputies whom and where they please for the General Court, 
 So be it they be free men, and have taken there oath of fealtie, 
 and [be] Inhabiting in this Jurisdiction. 
 
 * * * * * * * ' 
 
 66. The Freeman of everie Township shall have power 
 to make such by laws and constitutions as may concerne the 
 
 1 This is a protest against the occasional arbitrary action of the Massachu- 
 setts governor in past years. Both Winthrop and Vane had been guilty of re- 
 fusing to put motions to the General Court. 
 
 2 The coroner's jury had existed by custom in the colony from the first. 
 
220 DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRACY 
 
 wellfare of their Towne. provided they be not of a Criminall, 
 but onely of a prudeutiall nature. And that their penalties 
 exceede not 20 sh. for one otfenee. And that they be not re- 
 pugnant to the publique hiws and orders of the Couutrie. 
 And if any Inhabitant shall neglect or refuse to observe them, 
 they shall have power to levy the appointed penalties by 
 distressed 
 
 68. It is the libertie of the freemen to choose such deputies 
 for the Greuerall Court out of themselves, either in their owne 
 Townes or elsewhere as they judge htest. And because we 
 cannot forsee what varietie and weight of occasions may fall 
 into future consideration, and what counsells "we may stand 
 in neede of, we decree : That the Deputies (to atteude the 
 Generall Court in the behalfe of the Couutrie) shall not any 
 time be stated or inacted, but from Court to Court, or at the most 
 but for one yeare, — that the Countrie may have an Annuall 
 libertie to do in that case what is most behoofefuU for the 
 best welfaire thereof. 
 
 69. No Generall Court shall be desolved or adjourned without the 
 consent of the Major parte thereof- 
 
 70. All Freemen called to give any advise, vote, verdict, or 
 sentence iu any Court, Counsell, or Civill Assembly, shall have 
 full freedome to doe it according to their true Judgements 
 and Consciences, So it be done orderly and inofensively for 
 the manner. 
 
 74. The freemen of every Towne or Towneship, shall have 
 full power to choose yearly or for lesse time out of themselves 
 a convenient number of titt men to order the planting or 
 prudentiall occasions of that Towne, according to Instructions 
 
 iThis recognized existing local practice. Cf. No. 66. 
 
 2 This democratic advance had been taken two years earlier in Connecticnt. 
 Cf. No. i»3. 
 
THE BODY OF LIBERTIES, 16-il 221 
 
 given them in writeiug. Provided nothing be done by them 
 contrary to the publique hiws and orders of the Countrie, 
 provided also the number of such select persons be not above 
 nine.* 
 
 Liberties of Woemen 
 
 * 79. If any man at his death shall not leave his wife a 
 competent portion of his estaite. upon just complaint made 
 to the Generall Court, she shall be relieved. 
 
 *80. Everie marryed woeman shall be free from bodilie 
 correction or stripes by her husband, unlesse it be in his owne 
 defence upon her assalt. If there be any just cause of correc- 
 tion complaint sliall be made to Authoritie assembled in some 
 Court, from which onely she shall receive it. 
 
 Liberties of Children 
 
 81. "When parents dye intestate, the Elder sonne shall have 
 a doble portion of his whole estate reall and personal 1, unlesse 
 the Generall Court upon just cause alleadged shall Judge 
 otherwise. 
 
 82. "When parents dye intestate, having noe heires males 
 of their bodies, their Daughters shall inherit as Copartners, 
 unles the Generall Court upon just reason shall judge other- 
 wise. 
 
 83. If any parents shall wilfullie and unreasonably deny 
 auy childe timely or convenient mariage. or shall exercise any 
 unnaturall severitie towards them, Such children shall have 
 free libertie to complain to Authoritie for redresse. 
 
 84. Xo Orphan dureing their minoritie which was not com- 
 mitted to tuition or service by the parents in their life time, 
 shall afterwards be absolutely disposed of by any kindred, 
 friend. Executor, Towneship, or Church, nor by themselves, 
 without the consent of some Court, wherein two Assistants 
 at least shall be present. 
 
 '.\otnal practice disregarded this liniitatiou to nine, and also the attempt 
 to restrict the "select men" and the voters to " freemen.'' 74 should have 
 followed 6«3. 
 
222 DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRACY 
 
 Liberties of Servants 
 
 87. If any man smite out the eye or tooth of his man servant, 
 or maid servant, or otherwise mayme or much disfigure him, 
 unlesse it be by meere casualtie, he shall let them goe free from 
 his service.^ And shall have such further recompense as the 
 Court shall allow him. 
 
 88. Servants that have served deligentlie and faithfully to 
 the benefitt of their maisters seaven yeares, shall not be sent 
 away emptie. And if any have bene unfaithfuU, negligent or 
 unprofitable in their service, notwithstanding the good usage 
 of their maisters, they shall not be dismissed till they have 
 made satisfaction according to the Judgement of Authoritie. 
 
 Liberties of Forreiners and Strangers 
 
 ******* 
 
 91. There shall never be any bond slaverie villinage or Cap- 
 tivitie amongst us,^ unles it be lawfull Captives taken in just 
 warres, and such strangers as willingly selle themselves or are 
 sold to us. And these shall have all the liberties and Christian 
 usages which the law of god established in Israeli concerning 
 such persons doeth morally require. This exempts none from 
 servitude who shall be Judged thereto by Authoritie. 
 
 Off [o/] (he Bruite Creature 
 
 92. No man shall exercise any Tirranny or Crueltie towards 
 any bruite Creature which are usuallie kept for mans use. 
 
 * 93. If any man shall have occasion to leade or drive Cattel 
 from place to place that is far of. So that they be weary, or 
 hungry, or fall sick, or lambe, It shall be lawful to rest or 
 refresh them, for a competent time, in any open place that is 
 not Corne, meadow, or inclosed for some peculiar use. 
 
 1 This with the first half of the next law is based upon the Jewish law. 
 
 2 This noble provision soon became a dead letter. 
 
THE BODY OF LIBERTIES, 1641 
 
 223 
 
 94. Capitall Laws 
 
 Dut. 13. 6. 10 ^^ ^^^y ^^^°^ after legall conviction shall have 
 Dut. 17. 2. or worship any other god, but the lord god, he 
 Ex. 22. 20 shall be put to death. 
 
 Ex. 22. 18. ^^ ^"^ ^^^^^^ °^" woeman be a witch, (that is 
 
 Lev. 20. 27. ^^ath or consulteth with a familiar spirit,) They 
 Dut. 18. 10. shall be put to death. 
 
 If an}^ person shall Blaspheme the name of 
 
 god, the father, Sonne or Holie ghost, with di- 
 
 Lev. 24. 15. 16 rect, expresse, presumptuous or high handed 
 
 blashemie, or shall curse god in the like manner, 
 
 he shall be put to death. 
 
 If any person comitt any wilfull murther, 
 Ex. 21. 12. which is manslaughter, comitted upon premedi- 
 Numb. .3.5. 13. tated mallice, hatred, or Crueltie, not in a mans 
 necessarie and just defence, nor by meere casu- 
 altie against his will, he shall be put to death, 
 
 14. .30. 31. 
 
 Numb. 25. 20. If any person slayeth an other suddainely, in 
 ^1- liis anger or Crueltie of passion, he shall be put 
 
 Lev. 24. 17. to death. 
 
 6 
 
 Ex. 21. 14. 
 
 If any person shall slay an other through guile, 
 either by poysoning or other such divelish prac- 
 tice, he shall be put to death. 
 
224 DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRACY 
 
 10 
 
 Ex. 21. 10. 
 
 Dut. 19. 16. 
 
 If any man stealetli a man or maukinde, he 
 shall surely be put to death. 
 
 11 
 
 If any man rise up by false witnes, wittingly 
 18 Vq ^^^^^ '^^ purpose to take awa}' any man's life, he 
 shall be put to death. 
 
 12 
 
 If any man shall conspire and attempt any invasion, insur- 
 rection, or publique rebellion against our commonwealth, or 
 shall indeavour to surprize any Towue or Townes, fort or forts 
 therein, or shall treacherously and perfediouslie attempt the 
 alteration and subversion of our frame of politie or Government 
 fundamentallie, he shall be put to death. 
 
 95. ^-1 declaration of the Liberties the Lord Jesus hath given 
 to the Churches 
 
 1. All the people of god within this Jiiriselictiou who are not in a church 
 way, and be orthodox in Judgement, and not scandalous in life, shall have 
 full libertie to gather themselves into a Church Estaite. Provided they 
 doe it in a Christian way, with due observation of the rules of Christ re- 
 vealed in his word. 
 
 2. Every Church hath full libertie to exercise all the ordinances of god, 
 according to the rules of Scripture. 
 
 3. Every Church hath free libertie of Election and ordination of all 
 their officers from time to time, provided they be able, pious and orthodox. 
 
 4. Every Church hath free libertie of Admission, Recommendation, 
 Dismission, and Expulsion, or deposall of their officers, and members, 
 upon due cause, with free exercise of the Discipline and Censure of Christ 
 according to the rules of his word. 
 
 10. Wee allowe private meetings for edification in religion amongst 
 Christians of all sortes of people. So it be without just offence both for 
 number, time, place, and other cercumstances. 
 
 ******* 
 
 98. Lastly because our dutie and desire is to do nothing suddainlie 
 which fundamentally concerue us, we decree that these rites and liberties, 
 
A PURITAN VIEW OF TRADE 225 
 
 shall be Audably read and deliberately weighed at every Generall Ce)urt, 
 that shall be held, within three yeares next insueing, And such of them 
 as shall not be altered or repealed they shall stand so ratified, That no 
 man shall infringe them without due punishment. 
 
 And if any Generall Court within these next thre yeares shall faile or 
 forget to reade and consider them as abovesaid. The Governor and 
 Deputie Governor for the time being, and every Assistant present at such 
 Courts shall forfeite 20 sh. a man, and everie Deputie 10 sh. a man for 
 each neglect, which sliall be paid out of their proper estate, and not by 
 the Country or the Townes wliich choose them. And when so ever there 
 shall arise any question in any Court amonge tlie Assistants and A.ssoci- 
 ates thereof about the explanation of these Kites and liberties. The 
 Generall Court onely shall have power to interprett them. 
 
 79. A Puritan View of Trade 
 
 Winthrop's History of New England. 
 
 November, 1G39. At a general court holden at Boston, a 
 great complaint was made of the oppression used in the country 
 in sale of foreign commodities; and Mr. Robert Keaine, who 
 kept a shop in Boston, was notoriously above others observed 
 and complained of; and, being convented, he was charged with 
 many particulars ; in some, for taking above sixpence in the 
 shilling profit ; in some, eight pence ; and, in some small 
 things, above two for one ; and being hereof convict, (as ap- 
 pears by the records,) he was fined £ 200, wliieh came thus to 
 pass : The deputies considered, apart, of his fine, and set it at 
 £ 200 ; the magistrates agreed but to £ 100. So, the court 
 being divided, at length it was agreed, that his fine sliould be 
 £ 200, but he should pay but £ 100, and the other should be 
 respited to the further consideration of the next general court. 
 By this means the magistrates and deputies were brought to 
 an accord, which otherwise had not been likely, and so much 
 trouble might have grown, and the offender escaped censure. 
 For the cry of the country was so great against oppression. 
 
 And sure the course was very evil, especial circumstances 
 considered: 1. He being an ancient professor of the gospel: 
 
226 DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRACY 
 
 2. A man of eminent parts ... 4. Having come over for 
 consciences sake . . . 
 
 These things gave occasion to 'My. Cotton, in his public 
 exercise the next lecture day, to lay open the error of . . . 
 false principles, and to give some rules of direction in the 
 case. 
 
 Some false principles were these : — 
 
 1. That a man might sell as dear as he can, and buy as 
 cheap as he can. 
 
 2. If a man lose by casualty of sea, etc., in some of his 
 commodities, he may raise the price of the rest. 
 
 3. That he may sell as he bought, though he paid too dear, 
 etc., and though the commodity be fallen, etc. 
 
 4. That, as a man may take the advantage of his own skill 
 or ability, so he may of another's ignorance or necessity. 
 
 5. Where one gives time for payment, he is to take like 
 recompense of one as of another. 
 
 The rules for trading were these : — 
 
 1. A man may not sell above the current price, i. e., such a 
 price as is usual in the time and place, and as another (who 
 knows the worth of the commodity) would give for it, if he 
 had occasion to use it . . . 
 
 2. When a man loseth in his commodity for want of skill, 
 ... he must look at it as his own fault or cross, and therefore 
 must not lay it upon another. 
 
 3. Where a man loseth by casualty of sea, ... it is a loss 
 cast upon himself by providence, and he may not ease himself 
 of it by casting it upon another ; for so a man should seem to 
 provide against all providences, that he should never lose ; but 
 where there is a scarcity of the commodity, there men may 
 raise their price ; for now it is a hand of God upon the com- 
 modity, and not the person. 
 
 80. The Separation of the Legislature into Two Houses 
 
 "NViiUhrop's History of Xeio England. Cf. American History and 
 Government, §§ 69, 70. 
 
FIRST TWO-HOUSE LEGISLATURE 227 
 
 June 4, 1642. ... At the same general court there fell out 
 a great business upon a very small occasion. Anno 1636, there 
 was a stray sow in Boston, which was brought to Captain 
 Keayne: he had it cried divers times, and divers came to see 
 it, but none made claim to it for near a year. He kept it in 
 his yard with a sow of his own. Afterwards one Sherman's 
 wife, having lost such a sow, laid claim to it, but came not to 
 see it, till Captain Keayne had killed his own sow. After 
 being showed the stray sow, and finding it to have other 
 marks than she had claimed her sow by, she gave out that he 
 had killed her sow. The noise hereof being spread about the 
 town, the matter was brought before the elders of the church 
 as a case of offence ; many witnesses were examined, and Cap- 
 tain Keayne was cleared. [The case was then brought before 
 the county court], — when, upon a full hearing, Capt. Keayne 
 was again cleared, and the jury gave him £ 3 for his costs. 
 [Keayne then recovers £ 20 damages for slander.] Story 
 [friend of " Sherman's wife '' ^], upon this, searcheth town and 
 country to find matter against Captain Keayne . . . and got 
 one of his witnesses to come into Salem court and to confess 
 there that he had foresworn himself [in the former trial] ; and 
 upon this he petitions in Sherman's name to this general court 
 to have the cause heard again ; which was granted, and the 
 best part of seven days were spent in examining witnesses 
 and debating of the [case]. And yet it was not determined; 
 for there being nine magistrates and thirty deputies, no sen- 
 tence could by law pass without the greater number of both, 
 which neither [side] had ; for there were for the plaintiff two 
 magistrates and fifteen deputies, and for the defendant 
 [Keayne] seven magistrates and eight deputies. . . . 
 
 There was great expectation in tlie countr}'^, by occasion of 
 Story's clamours against him, that the cause would have passed 
 against the captain, but falling out otherwise, gave occasion to 
 many to speak unreverently of the court, especially of the 
 
 1 To give the prefix Mrs. (Mistress) to this poor woman would be wholly 
 out of keeping with the usage of that day. 
 
22S DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRACY 
 
 inaj^irtt.rat.os, uiul tho ro[)oi't went., Ui;it. thoir uogalivo voico had 
 himlorecl t,ho courso of justice, and that tlioso magistrates must 
 be put out, that tlie ]>()\\-(n' of the negative voico might bo 
 taken away. 
 
 Junol2, 1()13. . . . The sow hiisiiit'ss not, bi>ing yet digested 
 in the count.ry [even Hellingliain, ex-govtM-nor, urging a new 
 trial without a, negative voice I'or th(> luagist rates. — NViutlirop 
 gives over thn'(> pages here to a i'evi(>\v of the controversy. 
 Then foHows :J 
 
 The sow business had stuirtt>(l anothiM- question ;ibont, tihe 
 magistrates' ncgiiiive vot.e in the general court.. The (h'puties 
 generally were vi'ry (>a,rnest to have it taken away ; whereupon 
 t)ne of the magistrates [Winthrop "'J wrote a small treatise, 
 wherein he laid down the original of it. from the patent, ami 
 the establishing of it by ordi^-of the giuieral court, in 1()."M, show- 
 ing thereby how it was fundamental to our govi'rnnicnt, which, 
 if it were taken away, "wouhl be a mere democracy. He showed 
 also the necessity and usefidness of it by many arguments 
 from scripture, reason, and ciunmon practice, etc. \'et this 
 wouhl not satisfy, but the deputies and common people would 
 have it taken away ; and yet it was apparent (as some of 
 t.lu> (U'putics themselves confessed) tlu^ more did not. under- 
 stand it. An answer also was written (by one of the nuigis- 
 trates as was conceived) to the said treatise, )ind(M-t.aking to 
 avoid all the a.r;;inucnts both from tlu^ patent, and from the 
 order, ete. This tlu> deputies ma.d(s great use t)f in this court, 
 supposing they had now enough to carry the cause clearly with 
 them, so as tlu>y i)resst>d earnest l_v to havi' it. presently deter- 
 mined. r>ut. the magistrates told them the matter was of great 
 conctMMimcnt., even to the very fi'ame of our govt>rnmeiit. ; it had 
 been establisheil ui)on scu'ious considtatiou and consent of all 
 the elders; it had been (H)nt.inued without any inconvenience 
 or apparent mischief these fourteen years; therefore it would 
 not be sa.fe nor of good rt'port to alter on such a sudden, anil 
 without the advice of the elders: olft>ring withal, that if upon 
 sui'h a.dvicc anil consideration it should appear to be in(H)nven- 
 
FIRST TWO nolJSK I.K(;iSI.ATm{,IO 229 
 
 ient, or not, vv;u-i;i,iit,(Ml by Uir piiitMit, ;ui(l \.\u'. s;i,i(l ordc^r, (;!,(;., 
 t,li(iy .slioiihl l)(i r<:;i,(ly lo j<iiii wit,h Mkmii in bikiiit; il, aw;iy. Upon 
 ilKiso, [)r()p()sit,i()iis tlicy W(!r(! Hlilhid, jukI ho iui or(l(!r was (li"i,vvii 
 up to this flTcct,, that il. wa,H (Ic.si !■(!(! tli;i,t (wcvy iiiciiil(i!i- of tlid 
 court would take advice, (^tc,., and that it shouhl he no olTcncM! 
 for any, oitJi(!r publicly or ])rivat(!ly, to (h^clare tlunr opinion in 
 the case, soit were mod(!stly, etc., and th;i,t tlx; (ddcrs should be 
 desired to f^ive their advice before the ntixt nuietin;^ <d' this court. 
 It was the luaj^istrates' only care to f^ain tinn;, that so the j)(!0- 
 I)le's lieat might be abated, for tlusn they knew th<!y would h(!ar 
 reason, and that the advic(! of the elders mij^dit Ix; inter- 
 ])Ose<l ; . . . 
 
 . . . One of the eldei's [VVinthroj) hinis(df] also wrote a 
 small tr(!atise wluirein he handl<!d the (piestion, laying' down 
 the sevei'al forms of gov(!rnment, both simph-, a,nd niixt, 
 and the true form of our govern niciit, and the unavoidable 
 change into a democracy if the negative voice were taken 
 away. . . . 
 
 March, 1011. ... At the; same court in tins first month, 
 upon the motion of the deputies, it was ord(!r(Ml that tlu; court 
 H]u)uld be divid(!d in their (consultations, the magistrates by 
 thems(;lves and the de[)uti(!S by tluMiiselves. Wha,t the one- 
 agreed ufjon, tlusy shoidd scmd to tin; other; and if botli 
 agreed, th(!ii to p;i,ss, et,(^ This orchir (hitciMiiincd the grisat 
 contention ;d)out the ncgativii voi(;(!. 
 
 ['I'h(! JiccordH of the. (iovcrnor <i,nd (Jovipany of Maamr.huHcMs Bay 
 (11, W T)!)) f,MV(! Uiis !u;t, wliich (islabliHlu'd Uic, flrHl two-cliaiiilx^rcd 
 It'f^iHliiliiro in Aiiicricji (An Act, of llio (Joii(!r;ill (Jourl, at, HoHt.Dii, March 
 7/17, Kill). TIk; pniainbU; contaiiiH an iiilorrHl.iii^' rcftirciiico l,o Kiif^liHh 
 I)r(;C(;(l(!iit : — 
 
 " Koran much a8 after loiij< cxpcriciiicc wco find divt^rH incoiiv(!tii<!iic(!H 
 in tlio mannor of our proceodiiig in (^mrlH, by Maj^iHlraten and deputies 
 Hiting together, and accounting it wiwlomc to follow the laudable prac- 
 tice of other HtatcH who have layd ground works for government and 
 order in the iHsuing of buHiiiewof great,<!Ht and biglicHt consofpience, . . ." 
 
 See also an inUircHtiiig propiiecy of tin; cbaiige to two llouweH in (Jot,ton'H 
 letter, No. 75 «, above.] 
 
230 DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRACY 
 
 81. A Town Code of School Law 
 
 Dorchestn' Toicn licvords, 54-57. Cf. American Histort/ and Govern- 
 ment, § 12;>. 
 
 Upon a generall and hiicfi(U warnimj of all the Inhabitants the 
 14th of the 1st moneth IGJfO these rules and orders following 
 presented to the Towne Concerning the Schoole of Dorchester are 
 Conjirmed hy the major parte of the Inhabitants then present. 
 
 First, It is ordered tliat three able, and suffieieut men of 
 the rUiutation shalbe Chosen to bee wardens or overseers of 
 the Selioole above mentioned who shall have the Charge 
 oversight and ordering thereof and of all things Concerneing 
 the same in such manner as is hereafter expressed and%ihall 
 Continue in their office and place for Terme of their lives 
 respectively, nnlesse by reason of any of them removing his 
 habitation out of the Towne, or for any other weightie reason 
 the Inhabitants shall see cause to Elect or Chuse others in 
 their roome in which cases and upon the death of any of the 
 sayd wardens the Inhabitants shall make a new Election 
 and choice of others. 
 
 And j\Ir. Ilaward, Deacon Wiswall, JNIr. Atherton are elected 
 to bee the first wardens or overseers. 
 
 Secondly, the said ^^''ardens shall have full power to dis- 
 pose of the Schoole stock. . . . 
 
 Thirdly, the sayd Wardens shall take care, and doe there 
 utmost and best endeavor that the sayd Schoole may from 
 tyme to tyme bee supplied with an able and sufficient Schoole- 
 master who nevertheless is not to be admitted into the place 
 of Schoolemaster without the Generall consent of the Inhabit- 
 ants or the major parte of them. . . . 
 
 Fivethly, the sayd wardens shall from tyme to tyme see 
 that the Schoole howse bee kept in good, and sufficient re- 
 payre, the Charge of which reparacion shalbe defrayed and 
 payd out of such rents, Issues and profitts of the Schoole 
 stock, if there be sufficient, or else of such rents as shall 
 arise and grow in time of the vacancy of the Schoolemaster — 
 
A TOWN CODE OF SCHOOL LAW 231 
 
 if there bee any such and in defect of such vacancy the war- 
 dens shall repayre to the 7 men of the Towne for the tyme 
 beeing who shall have power to taxe the Towne with such 
 sonime, or sommes as shalbe requisite for the repay ring of 
 the Schoole howse as aforesayd. 
 
 Sixthly, the sayd Wardens shall take Care that every yeere 
 at or before the end of the 9th moneth their bee brought to 
 the iSchoolehowse 12 sufficient Cart, or wayne loads of wood 
 for fewell, to be for the use of the Schoole master and the 
 Schollers in winter the Cost and Chargs of which sayd wood 
 to bee borne by the Schollers for the tyme beeing who 
 shalbe taxed for the purjjose at the discretion of the sayd 
 Wardens. 
 
 Lastly, the sayd Wardens shall take care that the Schoole- 
 master for the tyme beeing doe faythfully performe his dutye 
 in his place, as schoolmasters ought to doe, as well in other 
 things as in these in which are hereafter expressed, viz. 
 
 First, that the Schoolemaster shall diligently attend his 
 Schoole and doe his utmost indeavor for Benefitting his 
 Schollers according to his best discretion without unneces- 
 saryly absenting himself to the prejudice of his scliollcrs, 
 and hindering there learning. 
 
 21y, that from the beginning of the first moneth [March] untill 
 the end of the 7th he shall every day begin to teach at seaven of 
 the Clock in the morning and dismisse his schollers at fyve 
 in the afternoone. And for. the other five moneths that is 
 from the beginning of the 8th moneth untill the end of the 
 12th moneth he shall every day begin at 8th of the Clock in 
 the morning and [end] at 4 in the afternoone. 
 
 Sly, every day in the yeare the usual tyme of dismissing 
 at noone shall be at 11 and to beginn agayne at one except 
 that 
 
 41y, every second day in the weeke he shall call his schol- 
 lers togeither betweene 12 and one of the Clock to examin 
 them what they have learned on the saboath day preceding 
 at which tyme also he shall take notice of any misdemeanor 
 
232 DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRACY 
 
 01- disorder that any of his skollers shall have Committed 
 on the saboath to the end that at somme convenient tyme due 
 Admonition and Correction may bee admistred by him ac- 
 cording as the nature, and qualitie of the offence shall require 
 at which sayd examination any of the elders or other Inhabit- 
 ants that please may bee present to behold his religious care 
 herein and to give there Countenance, and approbation of the 
 same. 
 
 51y, hee shall equally and impartially receive and instruct 
 such as shalbe sent and Comitted to him for that end whither 
 their parents bee poore or rich not refusing any who have 
 Right and Interest in the Schoole. 
 
 Gly, such as shalbe Comitted to him he shall diligently 
 instruct as they shalbe able to learne both in humane learning, 
 and good literature and likewise in poynt of good manners, 
 and dutifull behaviour towards all specially their superiors as 
 they shall have ocasion to bee in their presence whether by 
 meeting them in the streete or otherwise. 
 
 71y, every 6 day of the weeke at 2 of the Clock in the after- 
 noone hee shall Chatechise his schollers in the principles of 
 Christian religion either in somme Chatechism which the War- 
 dens shall provide and present, or in defect thereof in some 
 other. 
 
 Sly, And because all mans indeavors without the blessing 
 of God must needs bee fruitlesse and unsucessfull theirfore It 
 is to be a cheif pai"t of the schoolemasters religious care to 
 Commend his schollers and his labours amongst them unto 
 God by prayer, morning and evening, taking Care that his 
 schollers doe reverendly attend during the same. 
 
 91y, And because the Rodd of Correction is an ordinance of 
 God necessary sometymes to bee dispeuced unto Children but 
 such as may easily be abused by overmuch severity and rigour 
 on the one hand, or by overmuch indulgence and lenitye on the 
 other. It is therefere ordered and agreed that the schoolemaster 
 for the tyme beeing shall have full power to minister Correction 
 to all or any of his schollers without respect of persons accord- 
 
COLONIAL SCHOOL LAWS 233 
 
 ing as the nature and qualitie of the offence shall require, whereto 
 all his schollers must bee duely subject and no parent or other 
 of the Inhabitants shall hinder or goe about to hinder the 
 master therein. Neverthelesse if any parent or others shall 
 think their is just cause of Coinplaynt agaynst the master for 
 to much severity, such shall have liberty freindly and lovingly 
 to expostulate with the master about the same, and if they shall 
 not attayne to satisfaction the matter is then to bee referred to 
 the wardens who shall impartially judge betwixt the master 
 and such Com[)laynants. And if it shall appeare to them that 
 any parent shall make causelesse Coraplaynts agaynst the 
 master in tliis behalf and shall persist and Continue so doeing 
 in such case the wardens shall have power to discharge the 
 master of the care and Charge of the Children of such 
 parents. . . . 
 
 And because it is difficult if not Impossible to give particular 
 rules that shall reach all cases which may fall out, therefore 
 for a Conclusion It is ordered, and agreed, in Generall, that 
 where particular rules are wanting there It shalbe a parte of the 
 office and dutye of the Wardens to order and dispose of all 
 things that Concerne the schoole, in such sort as in their wise- 
 dom and discretion they shall Judge most Conducible for the 
 glory of God, and the trayning up of the Children of the Towne 
 in religion, learning and Civilitie, and these orders to be Con- 
 tinued till the major parte of the Towne shall see cause to 
 alter any parte thereof.^ 
 
 82. Colonial School Laws 
 
 a. Compulsory Education, 16 4^ 
 
 Becords of the Governor and Company of Massachusetts Bay, II, 6-7. 
 
 [A General Court, May, 1642.]2 
 
 This Court, taking into consideration the great neglect of 
 
 1 Cf. also some of the entries in the extracts from the Watertown Records, 
 No. 8.3, below. 
 
 2 The heading is missing (by mutilation) from the Records. 
 
234 DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRACY 
 
 many parents and masters in training up their children in learn- 
 ing and Labor and other impl[o]yments which may be proffitable 
 to the common wealth, do hereupon order and decree, that in 
 every towne the chosen men appointed for managing the pruden- 
 tiall affayers of tlie same sliall henceforth stand charged with the 
 care of the redresse of this evill (so as they shalbee sufficiently 
 punished by fines for the neglect thereof, upon presentment of 
 the grand jury or other information or complaint in any Court 
 . . .) And for this end they . . . shall have power to take 
 account from time to time of all parents and masters, and of 
 their children, concerning their calling and impl[o]yment of 
 their children, especially of their ability to read and understand 
 the principles of religion and the capitall lawes of this country, 
 and to impose fines upon such as shall refuse to render such 
 accounts to them . . . and they shall have power, with consent 
 of any Court ... to put forth [as] apprentices the children 
 of such as they shall [find] not to be able and fitt to imploy 
 and bring them up. . . . 
 
 [Connecticut copied this law in 1642, and New Haven in 
 1644. Tlie Connecticut preamble, like the one above, empha- 
 sizes the civic motive : " For as much as the good education 
 of children is of singular behoof and benefit to any com- 
 monwealth ... it is therefore ordered," etc. Connecticut, 
 too, was more specific as to the exact penalty for delinquent 
 parents, — providing fines for the first two offenses, but the 
 removal and- apprenticing of the children for continued de- 
 linquency. 
 
 The Massachusetts law closed with a lengthy provision for 
 elementary industrial training, the select men to provide materi- 
 als and see that " children sett to keep cattle be set to some 
 other imployment withall, as spinning . . . knitting, weaving 
 tape, etc." 
 
 Plainly, this law of 1642 assumed that each town had a 
 school. The next law (6 below) expressly provides such 
 schools.] 
 
COLONIAL SCHOOL LAWS 235 
 
 b. A State System of Schools 
 Records of Governor and Company of Massachusetts Baij, II, 203 
 
 Att a Sesion of the Genendl Court, the S7th of the 8th Month, 
 1647, at Boston 
 
 ... It being one cheife project of that ould deluder, Satan, 
 to keepe men from the knowledge of the Scriptures, as in 
 former times by keeping them in an unknowne tongue, so in 
 these latter times by persuading from the use of tongues (that 
 so at least the true sence and meaning of the originall might 
 be clouded by false glosses of saint-seming deceivers), — that 
 learning may not be buried in the grave of our fathers in the 
 church and commonwealth, the Lord assisting our endeavors, — 
 
 It is therefore ordered . . . that every towtieship in this juris- 
 diction, after the Lord hath increased them to the number of 
 50 householders, shall then forthwith appoint one within their 
 towne to teach all such children as shall resort to him to write 
 and reade, — whose wages shall be paid either by the parents 
 or masters of such children, or by the inhabitants in generall, 
 by way of supply [tax], as the major part of those that order 
 the prudentialls of the towne shall appoint : provided, those 
 that send their children be not oppressed by paying much 
 more than they can have them taught for in other townes. 
 And it is further ordered, that where any towne shall increase 
 to the number of 100 families or househoulders, they shall set 
 up a grammer schoole, the mr. thereof being able to instruct 
 youth so farr as they may be fited for the university, provided 
 that if any towne neglect the performance hereof above one 
 yeare, that such towne shall pay 5 pounds to the next schoole, 
 till they shall performe this order. 
 
 [The punctuation of this noble sentence has been somewliat classified 
 here by the use of parentheses, dashes, and colons for the commas of the 
 original. On this legislation, cf. American History and Government, 
 §123. The "university" was Harvard, which had been founded in 
 1636. The greater part of this law was adopted two years later in 
 Connecticut.] 
 
230 DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRACY 
 
 83. Representative Town Records 
 
 (Extracts from the Wateiioivn liecords for the years 
 1(334-1078) 
 
 Watertown was the second town to set up town government. (Cf. (1), 
 below, with No. 72, above.) The complete records of these years Ui34- 
 1G78 would fill 2')0 pages of this volume. Note the greater illiteracy 
 from about 1050 on, and cf. American History and Government, § 122. 
 
 (1) August 23, 1634. Agreed by the consent of the Free- 
 men, that there shall be Chosen three persons to be [for] the 
 ordering of the civill affaires in the Towne [One of them to 
 serve as "Towne Clark'']; and [he] shall keep the Records 
 and Acts of the Towne. The three chosen are . . . 
 
 (2) — ember 13.* Agreed, by the Consent of the Freemen 
 that Robert Seeley and Abram Browne shall measure and lay 
 &ut all the Letts that are granted. 
 
 Agreed that no man shall fell or cutt down any timber trees 
 upon the Common, without the consent of Robert Seeley and 
 Abram Browne, and otherwise to pay to the Towne for every 
 tree o.s\ 
 
 (3) January 3, 1635. Agreed that no man being foreigner 
 . . . coming out of England or some other Plantation, shall 
 have liberty to sett dowue amongst us, unless he ^first have the 
 Consent of the Freemen of the Towne. 
 
 (4) Feb. 21, 1635. Agreed by the freemen that whosoever 
 hath a Lott in a generall Inclosure shall fence it with the rest 
 according to proportion, and if he shall refuse, the Lott shall 
 returne to the Towne againe. . . . 
 
 Agreed, that the towne Clark shall have six pense for every 
 Lott of land that he shall Inroll in the towne Booke and bring 
 the Party a note under his hand of the situation of it.^ 
 
 (5) August 22, 1635. Agreed that whosoever being an In- 
 habitant in the Towne shall receive any person, or family upon 
 
 'This was a fee for a very indefinite description of title : of. (8), below, 
 and note. 
 
REPRESENTATIVE TOWN RECORDS 237 
 
 their propriety that may prove chargeable to the Towne shall 
 maintaine the said persons at their owne charges, to save the 
 Towne harnieles. 
 
 (6) September 23, 1635. Agreed that (whereas there is a 
 dayly abuse in felling of Timber upon the Common) whosoever 
 shall offend in felling any Trees without leave, shall pay for 
 every Tree cut downe without order, 20 shillings to the use of 
 the Towne. 
 
 (7) November 14, 1635. . . . Agreed that John Warrin and 
 Abram Browne shall lay out all the Highwaies, and to see that 
 they be sufficiently repaired. 
 
 (8) — ember 30. 1635. Agreed by the Consent of the Freemen 
 that these 11 freemen shall order all the Civill Affaires for the 
 Towne for this yeare following, and to divide the Lauds. ^ . . . 
 
 1 The descriptions of such divisions of lands were exceeding vngue, — il- 
 lustrated by the followiuj;- entry from the ffccon/sof the Town of Plymouth, — 
 rather clearer than the averai:;e hut selected here because of its brevity : — 
 
 " Ordered to be Recorded pr. Thomas Southworth : 
 haveinj; order att a TowncmeetinK held the second day of January l(»(i() for 
 the hounding of ten acrees of land graunted to Henjamine Eaton lying above 
 the lands that was formerly George Clarkes and betwixt ffrancis Billingtons 
 lott and the lotts that were John Cookes ; have layed it out on the westward 
 side of the swamp called Hradfords Marsh and on the south side and east end 
 of the said land liave bounded it with a swamp wood tree standing att or in the 
 swamp: from thence the line extends nearest southwest and by west to a Red 
 oake tree marked and standing on the westward side of the Topp of a hill ; and 
 on the north side and east end next to the swamp with a young walnutt sap- 
 ling, and from the said walnut the line extends nearest southwest and by west 
 unto a forked Red oake sapling; bounded Aprill nth l()t)7 pr Will: Crow." 
 
 The following entry of a " deed " from the EarUj Records of the Town of 
 Providence illustrates the worst cases of land titles: — 
 
 " Be it knowne unto all men by these presences that I, wissawyatnake, an 
 Ingen about the age of 2:5 yeares ould, now dwilling at Sekescute ner pro- 
 vidiiu', have barganed and sould unto thomas Clemenes of providinc one 
 medow Containing about 8 Akors mor or lese, a broke at each End and a hille 
 on the weaste sid of it and wcnasbetuckit river on the other sidof it and have 
 sould unto him the free use of the river allso, to which bargen I the sayd 
 Ingen do hearby bine me my hayrs Exctors adminstratrs and asignes to 
 parfforme the bargon unto Thomas Clemenes his hayrs and asignes and I 
 the aforesaid Ingen doe here, by bind me my silfe my hayrs Exctors admin- 
 stratrs and asigns uppon the ffortner of our silvcs forfite unto thomas 
 
238 DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRACY 
 
 (9) [1636] January 29. Ordered, that there shalbe 8 dayes 
 appointed every yeare for the repayring of the Highwaies and 
 every man that is Souldier or watchman to come at his ap- 
 pointed time with a wheelbarrow, mattock, spade or shovle, 
 and for default hereof to pay for every day 5 shillings to the 
 Towne, and a Cart for every day to pay 19 shillings. 
 
 (10) Aprill 23, 1638. Ordered that those Freemen of the 
 Congregation shall build and dwell upon their Lotts at the 
 Towne plott, and not to alienate them by selling or exchanging 
 them to any forrainer, but to Freemen of the Congregation, It 
 being our reall intent to sitt down there close togither, and 
 therefore these Lotts were granted to those Freemen that in- 
 habited most remote from the meeting-house and dwell most 
 scattered, . . . 
 
 (11) 1639. D. 31, (Mo. lO.y Ordered that if any of the 
 Freemen be absent from any Publick Towne meeting at the 
 time appointed sufficient warning being formerly given, he 
 shall forfett for every time to the Towne 2 shillings, 6 d. 
 
 Ordered by the Freemen that the men deputed for to order 
 the Civill affaires shall not make any order without consent of 
 7 of those Freemen chosen. 
 
 (12) D. 21, (M. 2.) 1640. Ordered that if any Person shall 
 suffer his Dog to come to the Meeting upon the Lords day he 
 shall forfett for every time 1 s. 
 
 (13) D. 29, (M. 10.) 1640. Ordered that all those Inhabit- 
 ants that have beene by Common Consent or vote taken in 
 amongst its, or have had Dividents granted to them shalbe accepted 
 for Townesmen, and no others. 
 
 (14) D. 21, (M. 7.) 1641. Ordered that George Munnings 
 
 Clemenes and to his liayrs Exstors adminstrators and asignes if I the sayd 
 Ingen be not the right honer of the above sayd midowe and do herby warante 
 to thomis Clemenes the fall of it agaynst all Engens and men what ever 
 under witten this 9th day of January 1654 in the presents of Joshua 
 ffoot" " the mark X of 
 
 " the marke H of henry wis.sowyamake " 
 
 ffowler " 
 
 1 Tenth month (December), thirty-first day. 
 
REPRESENTATIVE TOWN RECORDS 239 
 
 is appointed to looke to the Meetinghouse, and to be free from 
 Rates [in return for service]. 
 
 (15) D. 5, (M. o.) 1642. Ordered that Hugh Mason, Thomas 
 Hastings, and John Shearman are appointed to set up a suffi- 
 cient fence about the Burying Place with a 5-foot pale and 2 
 railes well nailed by the 15 of the 2 moneth, and the Towne 
 to pay them for it. 
 
 (16) D. 6, (M. 5) 1642. Ordered that there shalbe a new In- 
 voice taken of Mens Estates to make the Rates ^ by for this 
 yeare. Also that all Lands granted by the Towne shalbe 
 rated this yeare. 
 
 Ordered that Land broken up shall pay 
 
 the Acre, 
 
 2 Ih 
 
 10s 
 
 
 Land inclosed not broken 
 
 up the Acre, 
 
 
 10s 
 
 
 The further Plaine shall 
 
 pay upon the 
 
 
 
 
 Acre, 
 
 
 
 5s 
 
 
 The dividents, the remote meddows and 
 
 
 
 
 the hither Plaine, 
 
 
 
 10s 
 
 
 The land in lieu of the Towne Plott the 
 
 
 
 
 Acre, 
 
 
 
 Is 
 
 
 The Farmes shall pay upon the Acre, 
 
 
 
 6d 
 
 The home meddows shall 
 
 pay the Acre, 
 
 1 lb 
 
 10s 
 
 
 Ordered that Mares, Steeres, and Cowes are rated at 
 
 5 lb 
 
 
 
 Heifers, 2 year old, at 
 
 
 3 lb 
 
 
 
 Calves, 1 year old, at 
 
 
 1 lb 
 
 10s 
 
 
 Calves, under a year, at 
 
 
 1 lb 
 
 
 
 Goats, at 
 
 
 
 10s 
 
 
 Sheep, at 
 
 
 2 lb 
 
 
 
 Hogs, a year old, at 
 
 
 lib 
 
 
 
 Pigs, 3 months old, at 
 
 
 
 6s 
 
 8cl 
 
 Colts, at 
 
 
 
 17s 
 
 6tl 
 
 Lambs, at 
 
 
 
 5s 
 
 
 Kids, at 
 
 
 
 2s 
 
 Sd 
 
 (17) D. 20, (M. 10) 1642. Ordered that there shalbe a Rate 
 made of 100 lb for to discharge these Debts following : 
 
 Imprimis to Thomas Hastings for charges to the Poore 
 and building the house for John Kettle 17 lb 
 
 1 This English term for local taxes was used in the early colonies. 
 
240 DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRACY 
 
 Item, to John Siinson 10s 
 
 Item, for feucing the Burying place 6 lb 10s 
 
 Item, formerly due to the Officers 30 lb 
 
 Item, for the CapituU Laws 10s 
 
 Item, for the Court Orders, 3 M 1642 lis Sd 
 
 Item, to John Knolls pastor for 1 quarter 10 lb 
 
 Item, to George Phillips pastor for half yeare due 
 Jan. 1 33 lb (js 8d 
 
 (18) D. 15, (I\I. 6.) 1613. Ordered that John Shearman 
 shall keepe weights and measures according to the Order of 
 the Court for the Townes use and also to take up lost goods. 
 
 (19) [N"ov. 15, 1617]. Lieu. Mason complayninge that he 
 was burdened with the service of the Towne ; the Towne did 
 Release him : and chose Isaac Steearnes in his steade, to be 
 one of the Seaven men. 
 
 (20) At A Generall Towne Meeting, the 17 (7) 1649. 
 Granted to the IVIinistry — 160 pounds — for this present year 
 beginning the 24th of June last : to be gathered by Rate, and 
 to be paied the one halfe the first weeke of December next, 
 and the other halfe the first of march Following 
 
 agreed that there shall be a Rate of 90 pounds made for to 
 pay Robert Saltonstall : and to Build a Schoole-house : and to 
 Build a gallery in the INIeetinghouse and to pay other debts 
 the Towne oweth. . . . 
 
 John Sherman is apointed to procuere the Schoole house 
 Built : and to have it built 22 foot long and 14 foot wide and 
 9 foot betwene Joynts — also to git a penn of one aker of 
 ground fenced in with 4 Railes for the lodging a heard in the 
 woods : and to procuer a small house for lodging the heards- 
 raan : and to be done in such a place as Deacon Child and 
 himself sliall thinke best, towards Sudbury Bounds 
 
 (21) the 7d. — 10 mo 1649 . . . 
 
 agreed that John Sherman Shall wright a letter, in the Townes 
 name, unto David JNIeehell of Stamfourth to Certify to him the 
 Townes desier of him to Come and keepe School in the towne 
 
 (22) At aMeeteing of the Select men at Sargeng [Seargeut] 
 Beeres the 10 December 1652. 
 
REPRESENTATIVE TOWN RECORDS 241 
 
 Agreed by the towne, with the Consent of John Sherman 
 that Willyam Barsham shall prise all the Carpenters worke 
 aboute the scoolehoiise and the Towne shall make payment 
 akcording to his award. 
 
 Memorandum There is 22 pounds towards it payd alredy. 
 
 (23) December 22, 1652 . . . 
 
 ]\[r. Norcros is to keepe ascoole upon the same pay and tlie 
 same building as he had the last yeeare. 
 
 James Cjittler and John Traine are Chosen Survayers for 
 high wayes for this yeare. 
 
 (24) At a jSIeeteiug of the Select men the 8 (9) 1653. . . . 
 Ordered that the Cunstable Thomas underwood shall reserve 
 
 in his hand of the Towne Rate 13 bushells 
 
 o n . lerman t r ^^ Indian Corne and 3 booshells of peaze for 
 
 present a plot of the \.-: i. at\ i- v i 
 
 great dividents the Thomas philpot and Deliver him every weeke 
 
 22/9/1653 one peck of Corne and every month one peck 
 
 of peaze. 
 
 [These commodities had been paid into the town treasury (as taxes), 
 and were to be reserved by the "treasurer" (then, the Constable) for 
 this case of " poor relief." Wages and salaries also were commonly paid 
 in commodities (at legal rates) in New England. Thus, — 
 
 Att a Tovvnemeeting held att the meeting house att PJymnuth the 
 * day of July 16(37 ; It was agreed and concluded as followeth, viz : 
 
 " That the sume of fifty pounds shalbee alowed to Mr. Colton [the min- 
 ister] for this present yeare and his wood To be raised by way of Rate to 
 be payed in such as god gives, ever onely to he minded that a considerable 
 parte of it shalbee payed in the best pay ; and William Clarke and William 
 Crow are appointed by the Towne to take notice of what is payed and 
 brought in unto him and to keep an account therof. Joseph howland and 
 ffrancis Combe are agreed with by the Towne to find the wood for this 
 yeare for the sume of eight pounds." 
 
 The difficulty was to get "good pay." It is recorded in the accounts 
 of Harvard that one student, afterward president of the college, paid 
 his tuition with "an old cow," which, good or bad, had to be accepted 
 at a fixed rate for coins. ] 
 
 At aMeeting of the Select men 
 the 13 / 10 / 1653 
 
 (25) Samuel Banj amine was presented before us for Idelnes 
 
242 DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRACY 
 
 By Ml'. Norcros which Did two evidently apeare by his ragged 
 Clothes and Divers Debts apearing. but upon his promise of 
 amendment hee was released unto the next yeare. 
 
 (26) At apublick Towne meeting the 14 (8) 1654 
 Ordered by the Inhabetance that there should be anew meet- 
 ing house builded 
 
 Ordered that the place where it shall stand shall be in som 
 Convenient place betwene Sargant Brits ende fence and John 
 Bisko his rayles. 
 
 Ordered that there shall be rayseil by rate upon the inhabe- 
 tance one hundred and hfty pounds this yeare for to begin the 
 Avork withall 
 
 Ordered that Cambridg meeting house shall be our pattern 
 in all poynts 
 
 Ordered the Select men shall have power to agree with John 
 Sherman or any other person to performe tha foresaid work. 
 
 Ordered that the speaces [specie] in which workmen that Doe 
 undertake it shall be payed in shall bee one 3d parte wheate, 
 and the rest in rye, pease, Indecorne, and Cattell. 
 
 The Select men with the help of willyam Barsham have 
 agreed with John Sherman to Build ameeting house Like unto 
 Cambridg in all poynts, the Cornish and fane Excepted, and 
 to have it finished by the Last of September in 1656; and hee 
 is to receive of the Towne 400 pountis with the Seates of the 
 old meeting house ; which some [sum] is to be payd at 3 sev- 
 eral payments, as by artickls of Agreemeut under hand and 
 scale Dooth appeare more fully. 
 
 (27) Att a meeting of the 7 men Nov. 19. (56) 
 
 These are to Shew, that Elizabeth Braibrok widow of ^Yater- 
 towne in the County of Middlesex, hath putt her daughter 
 (with the approbation of the select men) into the hands of 
 Simont Tomson and his wife of Ipswich in the County of Essex, 
 rope maker, to be as an apprentice, untill she come to the age 
 of eighteene 3'eares, in which time the said Sarah is to serve 
 them in all lawfull comands, and the said Simont is to teach 
 her to reade the Englishe Tongue and to instruct her in the 
 
REPRESENTATIVE TOWN RECORDS 243 
 
 knowleg of god and his wayes, and to provide for the said 
 Sarah, holesome meate and drink, with convenient cloathing as 
 the. seasons doe require and he the said Simont dotli ingage 
 himselfe and wife, to give the said Sarah at the end of her 
 tearme, a good cow, and an ewe sheep with convenient Cloath- 
 ing, and if the said Sarah dye within one yeare before her age 
 pfixed, that then the said cow and sheep, shall goe to some of 
 the children of the said Elizabeth Brabrok. 
 
 This agreement was signed and confirmed by there markes 
 of each partie and witnessed as appears in two severall wright- 
 ings by Joshua Edmonds 
 and in presence of the seaven men 
 or the greatest part of them. 
 Ephraim Child in the behalfe of the rest. 
 
 (28) At a meeting of the select men at Isaak Sternes his House 
 
 January the 18th 1669 
 It was agreed that the select men shall take their turnes 
 every man his Day to site upon the gallary to looke to the 
 youths that they may prevent miscarigis in the time of publike 
 exercises on the Lords Days and also that the two Constables 
 shalbe desired to take their turnes to site ther also. 
 
 (29) At a meeting at Leift Beeri's march 3d 1670. 
 
 Ther comeing a complaints to us the selectmen concerneing 
 the poverty of Edward Sandersons famelley : that they had 
 not wherwith to mainetaine themselves and childeren either with 
 suply of provision or emplyment to earne any and considering 
 that it would be the charge of the towne to provide for the 
 wholl fameley which will be hard to doe this yeer : and not 
 knoweing how to suply them with provision: we considereing 
 if we shoulde suply them and could doe it, yet it would not 
 tend to the good of the childeren for their good eaducation and 
 bringeing up soe as they may be usefull in the common weall 
 or them selves to live comfortablly and usefuly in time to come. 
 We have therfore a greed to put out two of his childeren in to 
 sume honist famelleys wher they may be eaducated and brought 
 up in the knowlidge of God and sum honist calling or 
 
244 DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRACY 
 
 labor. And therfor we doe order that Thomas Fleg and John 
 Bigulah shall have power to binde them prentises with sume 
 honist people with the consent of their perants if it may be 
 hade, and if the perants shall oppose them, to use the helpe of 
 the Magistrate: in the name and with the consent of the 
 select men, Thomas Hastings. 
 
 (30) A ametting of the selectmen at Corparall bonds 
 the 27th of march 1677 
 
 Agreed with lef tenant shearmon to ceep an inglish scoole 
 this year and to begin the (9th) of eaprill at the scoole house 
 and the town to alow him twenty pounds in the town Reat 
 that shall be raized in this yeare (77) and if the said leftenant 
 dezireth to lay down his imployment at the years end then he 
 shall give the town a quartur of ayears warning, and if the 
 town dezyreth to chang ther scoole master thay shall give the 
 like warning. The select men agree allsoo that the said scoole 
 shall be cept from the f urst of may to the last of august, 8 owers 
 in the day, to witt, to begin at seven in the morning, and not 
 to break up untill five at night, noone time acsepted ; and from 
 the last of august untill the last of octobur 6 ouers in the day, 
 soo allsoo in the munths of march and Eaprill and the 4 wint- 
 tur munths to begin at tenn of the clock in the morning and 
 continnue untill 2 a clock in the afternoone. 
 
 (31) At ametting of the select men at the house of gregory 
 
 coock : 
 this (7th) of Janiwary 1678 : 
 
 The select men sent anoote to leftenant Shearmon and allso 
 anoote to Mr goddard to signify to them thay had agreed with 
 another man to ceep the scoole when thear year was oute, and 
 that thay did thearby give them acpiartur of ayears warning 
 according to the ordur uppon the town Booke. 
 
 The select men agreed with mr Richard Norcros to ceep the 
 Scoole at the Scoole house for the year foloing and to begin the 
 9th of Eaprill 1679, and to teach both Lattin and inglish Scol- 
 
REPRESENTATIVE TOWN RECORDS 245 
 
 lurs, so many as shall Be sent unto him from the in habitants 
 once aweck to teach them thear catticise : only in the munths 
 of may, June, July and august he is to teach only lattin scollurs 
 and wi'itturs and them at his owne house and thear to afford 
 them all needfull help, and the other 8 munths at the scoole- 
 house both lattin and inglish scollurs, for which the select men 
 agree that he shall have twenty pounds out of the town Eeat 
 to be mead for the yeare 1(379, and the town at the Jenarall 
 town metting to meak thear anuall Choyse for time to cum : 
 this agreement Consented unto by Mr Richard norcros as wit- 
 nis his hand. . . . 
 
XIV. MASSACHUSETTS AND PERSECUTION 
 
 As long as she was permitted to do so, Massachusetts secured religious 
 uniformity by expelling or persecuting intruders who dissented from the 
 established order. This was the practice and theory of all states in that 
 day except Holland. Some individuals had advanced further, however, 
 both in England and America (cf. American History and Government, 
 § 84, close, for illustrations) ; and religious freedom was the fundamental 
 principle in the Rhode Island " experiment " (No. 90, below). 
 
 84. Puritan Arguments for and against Persecution 
 
 a The Simple Cobbler of Agaivanv, 1647 
 
 Nathaniel Ward, minister of Ipswich (Agawam), was one of the few 
 of the Massachusetts clergy with democratic leanings. He had been 
 helpful in drafting the democratic Body of Liberties (No. 78). But 
 like that other democratic minister, Thomas Hooker (No. 93), Ward was 
 a strict theocrat. His Simple Cobbler of Aggaioamm was published in 
 London in 1047. 
 
 . . . First, such as have given or taken any unfriendly 
 reports of us New-English, should doe well to recollect them- 
 selves. Wee have beene reputed a Colluvies of wild Opinion- 
 ists, swarmed into a remote wildernes to find elbow-roome for 
 our phanatick Doctrines and practises : I trust our diligence 
 past, and constant sedulity against such persons and courses, 
 will plead better things for us. I dare take upon me, to bee 
 the Herauld of New-England so farre, as to proclaime to the 
 world, in the name of our Colony, that all Familists, Antino- 
 mians, Anabaptists, and other Enthusiasts shall have free 
 Liberty to keepe away from us, and such as will come to be gone 
 as fast as they can, the sooner the better. 
 
 Secondly, I dare averre, that God doth no where in his word 
 tolerate Christian States to give Tolerations to such adversaries 
 
 246 
 
NATHANIEL WARD 247 
 
 of his Truth, if they have power in their hands to su[)presse 
 them. ... 
 
 Not to tolerate things meerly indifferent to weak consciences, 
 argues a conscience too strong : pressed uniformity in these, 
 causes much disunity: To tolerate more then indiffereuts, is not 
 to deale indifferently with God : He that doth it, takes his 
 Scepter out of his hand, and bids him stand by. . . . 
 
 Concerning Tolerations I may further assert. 
 
 That Persecution of true Religion, and Toleration of false, 
 are the Jannes and Jdinbres to the Kingdome of Christ, 
 lohereqfthe last is farre the worst. . . . 
 
 Frederick Duke of Saxon, spake not one foote beyond the 
 mark when he said. He had rather the Earth should swallow 
 him up quick, then he should give a toleration to any opinion 
 against any truth of God. 
 
 He that is willing to tolerate any Religion, or discrepant way 
 of Religion, besides his own, unlesse it be in matters meerly 
 indifferent, either doubts of his own, or is not sincere in it. 
 
 He that is willing to tolerate any unsound Opinion, that his 
 own may also be tolerated, though never so sound, will for a 
 need hang Gods Bible at the Devills girdle. 
 
 Every Toleration of false Religions or Opinions hath as many 
 Errours and sins in it as all the false Religions and Opinions it 
 tolerats, and one sound one more. 
 
 That State that will give Liberty of Conscience in matters of 
 Religion, must give Liberty of Conscience and Conversation in 
 their Morall Laws, or else the Fiddle will be out of tune, and 
 some of the strings crack. 
 
 Experience will teach Churches and Christians, that it is farre 
 better to live in a State united, though a little Corrupt, then in a 
 State, ivhereof some Part is incorrupt, and. all the rest divided. 
 
 . . . There is talk of an universall Toleration. I would talke 
 •as loud as I could against it, did I know what more apt and 
 reasonable Sacrifice England could offer to God for his late 
 performing all his heavenly Truths then an universall Tolera- 
 tion of all hellish Errors, or how they shall make an universall 
 
248 MASSACHUSETTS AND PERSECUTION 
 
 Reformation, but by making Christs Academy the Divills 
 University, where any man may commence [graduate] Heretique 
 per saltiim; where he that is Jilius Diabolicas, or simpliciter 
 pessimus, may have his grace to goe to Hell cum Publico 
 Privilegio; and carry as many after him, as he can. . . . 
 
 It is said. Though a man have light enough himselfe to see 
 the Truth, yet if he hath not enough to enlighten others, he is 
 bound to tolerate them, I will engage my self, that all the 
 Devills in Britanie shall sell themselves to their shirts, to pur- 
 chase a Lease of this Position for three of their Lives, under 
 the Scale of the Parliament. 
 
 It is said, That Men ought to have Liberty of their Conscience, 
 and that it is persecution to debarre them of it : I can rather 
 stand amazed then reply to this : it is an astonishment to 
 think that the braines of men should be parboyl'd in such im- 
 pious ignorance ; Let all the wits under the Heavens lay their 
 heads together and finde an Assertion worse then this (one 
 excepted) I will petition to be chosen the universall Ideot of 
 the world. . . . 
 
 The true English of all this their false Latine is nothing but 
 a generall Toleration of all Opinions. . . , 
 
 b. Froin tJie Wonder-ivorhin^ Providence of Sions Sa- 
 viour in Jfew England {Booh HI, Chapter V) 
 
 This quaint history was printed in London in 1654, anonymously. 
 The original manuscript has never been discovered. Tradition ascribes 
 the authorship to Captain Edward Johnson, one of the companions of 
 Winthrop in the migration of 1630. 
 
 . . . and in the year 1648 they [the laws] were printed, 
 and now are to be seen of all men, to the end that none may 
 plead ignorance, and that all who intend to transport them- 
 selves hither, may know this is no place of licentious liberty, 
 nor will this people suffer any to trample down this Vineyard 
 of the Lord, but with diligent execution will cut off from the 
 city of the Lord the wicked doers, and if any man ca:i shew 
 wherein any of them derogate from the Word of God, very 
 
SALTONSTALL AND COTTON 249 
 
 willingly will they accept thereof, and amend their imper- 
 fections (the Lord assisting) but let not any ill-affected persons 
 find fault with them, because they suit not with their own 
 humour, or because they meddle with matters of Religion, 
 for it is no wrong to any man, that a people who have spent 
 their estates, many of them, and ventured their lives for to 
 keep faith and a pure conscience, to use all means that the 
 Word of God allows for maintenance and continuance of the 
 same, especially [when] they have taken up a desolate Wilderness 
 to be their habitation, and not deluded any by keeping their 
 profession in huggermug, but print and proclaim to all the way 
 and course they intend, God willing, to walk in ; [and] if any 
 will yet notwithstanding seek to justle them out of their own 
 right, let them not wonder if they meet with all the opposition 
 a people put to their greatest straits can make ; . . . but . . . 
 it seems unreasonable, and savours too much of hypocricie, 
 that any people should pray unto the Lord for the speedy 
 accomplishment of his Word in the overthrow of Antichrist, 
 and in the mean time become a Patron to sinful opinions and 
 damnable errors that oppose the truths of Christ. . . . 
 
 c. Discussion between Saltonstall and Cotton {ahout 
 1650) 
 
 Hutchinson's Collection of Original Papers (1769), 401-406. 
 
 Saltonstall was the chief founder of Watertown, and one of the signers 
 of the Cambridge Agreement (No. 58 h). Like his town, he was inclined 
 to democracy in politics and to " Separation " in religion. This letter 
 to the Boston pastors was written from England (to which he had re- 
 turned in 1631) about 1650. Both letters are without dates. 
 
 (1) Sir Richard Saltonstall to Mr. Cotton and Mr. Wilson 
 
 Reverend and deare friends, whom I unfaynedly love and 
 respect : 
 
 It doth not a little grieve my spirit to heare what sadd 
 things are reported dayly of your tyranny and presecutions in 
 New-England, — as that youfyne, whip, and imprison men for their 
 
250 MASSACHUSETTS AND PERSECUTION 
 
 consciences. First, you compell such to come into your assem- 
 blyes as you know will not joyne with you in your worship, and 
 when they shew their dislike thereof or witnes against it, 
 then you styrre up your magistrates to punish them for such 
 (as you conceyve) their publicke affronts. Truely, friends, 
 this your practice of compelling any in matters of worship to 
 doe that whereof they are not fully persuaded, is to make 
 them sin ; for soe the apostle (Rom. 14 and 23.) tells us ; and 
 many are made hypocrites thereby, conforming in their outward 
 man for feare of punishment. We pray for you and wish you 
 prosperitie every way, [and] hoped the Lord would have given 
 you so much light and love there that you might have been 
 eyes to God's people here, and not to practice those courses in 
 a wildernes which you went so farre to prevent. These rigid 
 wayes have layed you very lowe in the hearts of the saynts. 
 I doe assure you I have heard them pray in the publique 
 assemblies that the Lord would give you meeke and humble 
 spirits, not to stryve soe much for uniformity as [instead] to 
 keepe the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. 
 
 When I was in Holland about the beginning of our warres, 
 I remember some christians there, that then had serious 
 thoughts of planting in New-England, desired me to write to 
 the governor thereof to know if those that differ from you 
 in opinion, yet houlding the same foundation in i*eligion (as 
 Anabaptists, Seekers, Antiuomians, and the like), might be 
 permitted to live among you ; to which I received this short 
 answer from your then governour Mr. Dudley; God forbid (sa,id 
 he) our love for the truth should be growne soe could that we should 
 tolerate errours: and when (for satisfaction of myself and others) 
 I desired to know your grounds, he referred me to the books 
 written here between the Presbyterians and Independents ; — 
 which if that had been sufficient, I needed not have sent soe 
 farre to understand the reasons of your practice. I hope you 
 do not assume to yourselves infallibilitie of judgment, when 
 the most learned of the Apostles confesseth he knew but in 
 parte and sawe but darkely as through a glass ; for God is 
 
SALTONSTALL AND COTTON 251 
 
 light, and no further than he doth illuminate us can we see, be 
 our partes and learning never soe great. Oh that all those 
 who are brethren, though yet they cannot thinke and speake 
 the same things might be of one accord in the Lord. Now 
 the God of patience and consolation grant you to be thus 
 mynded towards one another, after the example of Jesus 
 Christ our blessed Savyor, in whose everlasting amies of pro- 
 tection hee leaves you who will never leave to be 
 Your truly and much affectionate 
 friend in the nearest union, 
 
 Ric. Saltonstall. 
 
 For my reverend and worthyly much esteemed friends Mr. Cotton and 
 Mr. Wilson, preachers to the church which is at Boston in New-England, 
 give this. 
 
 (2) Mr. Cotton's Answer to Sir Richard Saltonstall 
 
 . . . You thinke to compell all men in matter of worship is 
 to make men sinne (according to Rom. 14. 23.). If the worship 
 be lawfull in itselfe, the magistrate compelling him to come to 
 it corapelleth him not to sinne, but the sinne is in his loill that 
 needs to be compelled to a christian duty. Josiah compelled all 
 Israel, or (which is all one) made to serve the Lord their God, 
 2 Chron. 34. 33. yet his act herein was not blamed but recorded 
 amongst his virtuous actions. For a governour to suffer any 
 within his gates to prophane the sabbath, is a sinne against the 
 4th commandment, both in the private householder and in the 
 magistrate ; and if he requires them to present themselves 
 before the Lord, the magistrate sinneth not, nor doth the 
 subject sinne so great a sinne as if he did refraine to come. . . . 
 
 But (say you) it doth but make men hypocrites to compell 
 men to conforme the outward man for feare of punishment. 
 If it did so, yet better to be hypocrites than prophane persons. 
 Hypocrites give God part of his due, the outward man, but the 
 prophane person giveth God neither outward nor inward 
 man. . . . 
 
 What you wrote out of Holland to our then governor Mr. 
 
252 MASSACHUSETTS AND PERSECUTION 
 
 Dudley, in behalfe of Anabaptists, Antinomians, Seekers, and 
 the like, it seeuieth, mett with a short answer from him, but 
 zealous ; for zieal will not beare such mixtures as coldnesse or 
 lukewarmenesse will. Revel. 2. 2. 14. 15. 20. 
 
 85. Criticism by a Moderate Episcopalian and Monarchist 
 
 Lechford's " Plaine Dealing" (1641), reprinted in Massachusetts His- 
 torical Society Collections, Third Series, III, 55 ff. 
 
 Tliomas Lechford was in New England from 1637 to 1641. His point 
 of view is not seriously unfriendly. 
 
 . . . And I doe not this, God knoweth, as delighting to lay 
 open the infirmities of these well-af£ected men, many of them 
 my friends, — but that it is necessary, at this time, for the whole 
 Church of God, and themselves, as I take it. Besides, many of 
 the things are not infirmities, but such as I am bound to protest 
 against ; yet I acknowledge there are some wise men among 
 them who would help to mend things, if they were able. . . . 
 And I think that wiser men then they, going into a wildernesse 
 to set up another strange government differing from the settled 
 government here, might have falae into greater errors then 
 they have done. 
 
 ******* 
 
 [After describing the method of organizing a church.] And 
 the generall Court will not allow of any Church otherwise 
 gathered. 
 
 Some Ministers have there heretofore, as I have heard, dis- 
 claimed the power of their Ministry, received in England, but 
 others among them have not. Generally, for the most part, 
 they hold the Pastors and Teachers offices to be distinct ; the 
 Teacher to minister a word of knowledg, the Pastor a word of 
 wisdome, but some hold them all one ; as in the Church of Water- 
 towne, there are two Pastors, neither will that Church send 
 any messengers to any other Church-gathering or ordination.^ 
 
 1 The Watertown church had strong Separatist tendencies (of. No. 64). 
 Hence, in j)art, its democratic inclination. 
 
LECHFORD'S " PLAINE DEALING" 253 
 
 . . . Now the most of the persons at New-England are not 
 admitted of their Church, and therefore are not Freemen, and 
 when they come to be tryed there, be it for life or limb, name 
 or estate, or whatsoever, they must bee tryed and judged too 
 by those of the Church, who are in a sort their adversaries : 
 how equall that hath been or may be, some by experience doe 
 know, others may judge. 
 
 Profane swearing, drunkennesse, and beggers, are but rare 
 in the compasse of this Patent, through the circumspection of 
 the Magistrates, and the providence of God hitherto, the poore 
 there living by their labours and great wages, proportionably, 
 better then the rich by their stocks, which without exceeding 
 great care, quickly waste. . . . 
 
 But the people begin to complain [that] they are ruled like 
 slaves, and in short time shall have their children for the most 
 part remain unbaptized : and so have little more privilege than 
 Heathens, unlesse the discipline be amended. . . . 
 
 Whe7i I teas to come away, one of the chief est in the Country 
 wished me to deliver him a note of what things I misUked in the 
 Country, which I did, thus : 
 
 I doubt, 
 
 1. Whether so much time should be spent in the publique 
 Ordinances, on the Sabbath day, because that thereby some 
 necessary duties of the Sabbath must be needs be hindered, 
 as visitation of the sick, and poore, and family. 
 
 2. Whether matters of offence should be publiquely handled, 
 either before the whole Church, or strangers. 
 
 3. Whether so much time should be spent in particular 
 catechizing those that are admitted to the communion of the 
 Church, either men or women ; or that they should make long 
 speeches ; or when they come publiquely to be admitted, any 
 should speak contradictorily, or in recommendation of any, 
 unlesse before the Elders, upon just occasion. 
 
 4. Whether the censures of the Church should be ordered, 
 in publique, before all the Church, or strangers, other tlien the 
 denunciation of the censures, and pronunciation of the solutions. 
 
254 MASSACHUSETTS AND PERSECUTION 
 
 5. Whether any of our Nation, that is not extremely ig- 
 norant or scandalous, should bee kept from the Communion, 
 or his children from Baptisme . . . 
 
 10. That the civill government is not so equally adminis- 
 tered, nor can be, divers orders or bylaws considered. 
 
 11. That unlesse these things be wisely and in time pre- 
 vented, many of your usefuUest men will remove and scatter 
 from you. 
 
 Certain Quaeres about Church government, planting Churches, 
 
 and some other Experiments. 
 
 ******* 
 
 32. Whether or no to maintain a desired purity or perfec- 
 tion in the Magistracie, by electioij of the people, these good 
 men of New-England, are not forced to be too strict in receiv- 
 ing the brethren, and to run a course tending to heathenisme ? 
 
 33. Whether have not piopidar elections of chiefe Magis- 
 trates beene, and are they not, very dangerous to States and 
 Kingdomes ? Are there not some great mysteries of State 
 and government? Is it possible, convenient, or necessary, for 
 all men to attain to the knowledge of those mysteries, or to 
 have the like measure of knowledge, faith, mercifulnesse, wis- 
 dome, courage, magnanimity, patience ? Whence are Kings 
 denominated, but from their skill and knowledge to rule ? 
 whereto they are even born and educated, and by long expe- 
 rience, and faithfull Counsellors enabled, and the grace and 
 blessing of God upon all ? Doe not the wise, good, ancient, 
 and renowned Laws of England attribute much, yea, very 
 much trust and confidence to the King, as to the head and 
 suprearae Governour, though much be also in the rest of the 
 great body, heart and hands, and feete, to counsell, maintain, 
 and preserve the whole, but especially the Head ? 
 
 34. Hence what government for an Englishman but an he- 
 reditary, successive. King, the son of Nobles, well counselled 
 and assisted ? 
 
PRESBYTERIANS AND THE FRANCHISE 255 
 
 I thank God, now I understand by experience, that there is 
 no such government for Englishmen, or any Nation, as a 
 Monarchy ; nor for Christians, as by a lawfull Ministrie, un- 
 der godly Diocesan Bishops. . . . 
 
 86. A Presbyterian Demand for the Franchise, 1646 
 
 Hntchinson's Collection of OrUiinal Papers (1769), 188-194. Less than 
 half the document is given here. 1 
 
 To the worshipful the Governor, the Deputy Governor, and 
 the rest of the Assistants of the Massachusets Bay in ISTew 
 England, together with the Deputyes of the Generall Court 
 now assembled at Boston. 
 
 The Remonstrance and humble Petition of us whose names 
 are underwritten, in behalfe of ourselves and divers others 
 within this jurisdiction, humbly sheweth. 
 
 That we cannot but with all thankfulness acknowledge your 
 indefategable paines, continuall care, and constant vigilancy, 
 which, by the blessing of the Almighty, hath procured unto 
 this wilderness the much desired fruits of peace and plenty . . . 
 And further, that you whom the Lord hath placed at the 
 helm . . . are best able to foresee the clouds which hang 
 over our heads . . . Notwithstanding, those who are under decks 
 . . . viaj/ perceive those leaks tvhich will inevitahly sink this weake 
 and ill compacted vessell, if not by your wisdoms prevented . . . 
 Not to trouble you . . . with many words, we shall briefly 
 referre them to their heads . . . 
 
 1. Whereas this place hath been planted by the incourage- 
 ment, next under God, of letters patents given and granted 
 by his Majesty of England to the inhabitants thereof, with 
 many privileges and immunities, viz., . . . Notwithstanding, we 
 cannot, according to our judgments, discerne a setled forme 
 of government according to the lawes of England, which may 
 seeme strange to our countrymen, yea to the whole world, 
 especially considering we are English. Neither do we under- 
 stand and percey ve our owne lawes or libertyes, or any body of 
 
256 MASSACHUSETTS AND PERSECUTION 
 
 lawes here so established, as that thereby there may be a sure 
 and comfortable enjoyment of our lives, libertyes, and estates, 
 according to our due and naturall rights, as free borne subjects 
 of the English nation. By which, many inconveniences flow 
 into plantations, Viz. jealousies of introducing arbitrary govern- 
 ment, which manny are prone to beleeve, construing the pro- 
 crastination of such setled lawes to proceed from an overgreedy 
 spirit of arbitrary power (which it may be is their weaknes) 
 such proceedings being detestable to our English nation, and 
 to all good men, and at present the chief cause of the intes- 
 tine warre in our deare country.^ Further, it gives cause to 
 many to thinke themselves hardly dealt with, others too much 
 favored, and the scale of justice too much bowed and unequally 
 balanced. From whence also proceedeth feares and jealousies 
 of illegall committments, unjust imprisonments, taxes, rates, 
 customes, levyes of ungrounded and undoing assessments, 
 unjustifiable presses, undue fynes, unmeasurable expences and 
 charges, of unconceyvable dangers through a negative or 
 destructive vote unduly placed, and not well regulated, — in a 
 word, of a non-certainty of all things we enjoy, whether lives, 
 liberties, or estate; and also of undue oaths, being subject to 
 exposition, according to the will of him or them that gives 
 them, and not according to a due and unbowed rule of law . . . 
 
 Wherefore our humble desire and request is, that you would 
 be pleased to consider of our present condition and upon what 
 foundation we stand, and unanimously concurr to establish the 
 fundamentall and wholesome lawes of our native country, and 
 such others as are no wayes repugnant to them, unto which all 
 of us are most accustomed ; and we suppose them best agree- 
 able to our English tempers, and yourselves obliged thereunto 
 by the generall charter and your oathes of allegiance. . . . 
 
 2. Whereas there are many thousands in these plantations, of 
 the English nation, freeborne, quiett and peaceable men, righteous 
 in their dealings, fonoard with hand, heart and purse, to advance 
 the publick good, knowne friends to the honorable and victorious 
 
 1 The Civil War in England between King and Parliament. 
 
PRESBYTERIANS AND THE FRANCHISE 257 
 
 Houses of Parliament, lovers of their nation, etc. who are debarred 
 from all civill imployments (without any just cause that we 
 know) not being permitted to bear the least office (though it 
 cannot be denied but some are well qualifyed) no not so much 
 as to have any vote in choosing magistrates, captains or other 
 civill and military officers ; notwithstanding they have here 
 expended their youth, borne the burthen of the day, wasted 
 much of their estates for the subsistence of these poore 
 plantations, paid all assessments, taxes, rates, at least equall, 
 if not exceeding others, yea when the late warre was denounced 
 against the Narrowganset Indians, without their consent, their 
 goods were seized on for the service, themselves and servants 
 especially forced and impressed^to serve in that warre, to the 
 hazarding of all things most dear and near unto them, whence 
 issue forth many great inconveniences, secret discontents, 
 murmurings, rents in the plantations, discouragements in 
 their callings, unsettlednes in their minds, strife, contention, 
 and the Lord only knows to what a flame in time it may 
 kindle; also jealousies of too much unwarranted power and 
 dominion on the one side, and of perpetual slavry and bondage 
 on the other, and, which is intollerable, even by those who 
 ought to love and respect them as brethren. 
 
 We therefore desire that civill liberty and freedom be forthwith 
 granted to all truely English, equall to the rest of their countrymen, 
 as in all plantations is accustomed to be done, and as all freeborne 
 enjoy in our native country (we hoping here in some things to 
 enjoy greater liberties than elsewhere, counting it no small losse 
 of liberty to be as it were banished from our native home, and 
 enforced to lay our bones in a strange wildernes) without im- 
 posing any oathes or covenant on them, . , . Further, that 
 none of the English nation, who at this time are too forward to 
 be gone, and very backward to come hither, be banished, unles 
 they break the known lawes of England in so high a measure, 
 as to deserve so high a punishment; and that those few that 
 come over may settle here without having two magistrates 
 hands, which sometimes not being possible to obtain, hath pro- 
 
258 MASSACHUSETTS AND PERSECUTION 
 
 cured a kind of bauishuient to some, who might have been serv- 
 iceable to this place, as they have been to the state of England, 
 etc. And we likewise desire that no greater punishments be 
 inflicted upon offenders than are allowed and sett by the laws 
 of our native country. 
 
 3. Whereas there are diverse sober, righteous and godly men, 
 eminent for knowledge and other gracious gifts of the holy 
 spirit, no wayes scandalous in their lives and conversation, mem- 
 bers of the church of England (in all ages famous for piety and 
 learning) not dissenting from the latest and best reformation 
 of England, Scotland, etc. yet they and their posterity are de- 
 teined from the seales of the covenant of free grace, because, 
 as it is supposed, they will not take these churches covenants, 
 for which as yet they see no light in Gods word ; neither can 
 they clearly perceive what they are, every church having their 
 covenant differing from anothers, at least in words. . . . 
 
 We therefore humbly intreat you, in whose hands it is to 
 help and whose" judicious eyes discern these great inconven- 
 iences, for the glory of God and the comfort of your brethren 
 and countrymen, to give liberty to the members of the church 
 of England, not scandalous in their lives and conversations 
 (as members of these churches) to be taken into your congrega- 
 tion and to enjoy with you all those liberties and ordinances 
 Christ hath purchased for them. . . . ^ 
 
 These things being granted ... we hope to see the now 
 contemned ordinances of God highly prized ... To conclude, 
 all businesses in church and commonwealth (which for many 
 years have seemed to go backward . . .) successfully thriving 
 
 Subscribed 
 Robert Child "^ £and six others]. 
 
 1 The Church of England at this time was Presbyterian. 
 
 2 In the reply of the General Court, Dr. Child is referred to as "a Padaan 
 Doctor (as he is reputed), lately come into the country, who hath not so much 
 as tasted of their grievances, nor like to doe, being a bachelor and only a so- 
 journer, who never payd a penny to any publick charge, though (of his owne 
 good will) he hath done something for publick use." 
 
COMPULSORY CHURCH ATTENDANCE 259 
 
 87. Punishment for not Attending "Approved" Churches, 1666 
 
 Thomas Hutchinson's Collection of Original Papers (1769), 399-400. 
 Hutchinson adds in a note that the three persons here condemned were 
 Baptists who were trying to set up a church in Boston. 
 
 At a county court lield at Cambridge, on adjournment, 
 Aprill 17. 1666. 
 
 Thomas Goold, Thomas Osburne and John George being 
 presented by tiie grand jury of this county for absenting 
 themselves from the publick worship of God on the Lords 
 dayes for one whole yeare now past, alledged respectively 
 as followeth, viz. 
 
 Thomas Osburne answered, that the reason of his non- 
 attendance was, that the Lord hath discovered unto him from 
 his word and spirit of truth that the society, wherewith he 
 is now in communion, is more agreeable to the will of God : 
 asserted that they were a church and attended the worship 
 of God together, and do judge themselves bound so to do, the 
 ground whereof he said he gave in the general court. 
 
 Thomas Goold answered, that as for coming to publique 
 worship they did meet in publique worship according to the 
 rule of Christ, the grounds whereof they had given to the 
 court of assistants : asserted that they were a publique meet- 
 ing, according to the order of Christ Jesus gathered together. 
 
 John George answered, that he did attend the publique 
 meetings on the Lord's dayes where he was a member ; as- 
 serted that they were a church according to the order of Christ 
 in the gospell, and with them he walked and held communion 
 in the publique worship of God on the Lord's dayes. 
 
 Whereas at the general court in October last, and at the 
 court of assistants in September last endeavours were used 
 for their conviction [and that] the order of the generall court 
 declaring the said Goold and company to be no orderly church 
 assembly and that they stand convicted of high presumption 
 against the Lord and his holy appoyntments was openly read 
 to them and is on file with the records of this court : — 
 
260 MASSACHUSETTS AND PERSECUTION 
 
 The court sentenced the said Thomas Goold, Thomas Osburne, 
 and John George, for their absenting themselves from the 
 publique worship of God on the Lords dayes, to pay foure 
 pounds fine, each of them, to the county order. And whereas 
 by their owne confessions they stand convicted of persisting 
 in their schismaticall assembling themselves together, to the 
 great dishonour of God and our profession of his holy name, 
 contrary to the act of the generall court of October last 
 prohibiting them therein on penalty of imprisonment, this 
 court doth order their giving bond respectively in 20^. each 
 of them, for their appearance to answer their contempt at the 
 next court of assistants. 
 
 The abovenamed Thomas Goold, John George, and Thomas 
 Osburne made their appeale to the next court of assistants, 
 and refusing to put in security according to law were com- 
 mitted to prison. 
 
 88. Quaker Persecutions 
 
 a. Edward Burroit^i's Appeal to Charles II 
 
 Edward Burrough's Declaration of the Sad and Great Persecution 
 and Martyrdom of Quakers in New England (London, 1660), 17-20. 
 All italics in this extract are in the original. 
 
 ... 2. TWELVE Strangers in that Country, but free-born 
 of this Nation, receibctJ tincntu tJ^rce SMfjtppt'ngg, the most of 
 them being with a Whip of three Cords, with Knots at the ends, 
 and laid on with as much strength as they could be by the 
 Arm of their Executioner, the stripes amounting to Tlwee 
 himdred and seventy. 
 
 3. Eighteen Inhabitants of the Country, being free-born 
 English, received ttoEntg tlfxtt 5M{)ippinc[!3, the stripes amounting 
 to ttoa {)untir£:ti anti fiftg. 
 
 4. Sixty four Imprisonments of the Lords People, for their 
 obedience to his WTil, amounting to Ji&e l}unlircti ant) nmcteen 
 tDCcks, much of it being ve7'y cold weather, and the Inhabitants 
 kept in Prison in harvest time, which was very much to their 
 
QUAKER PERSECUTIONS 261 
 
 losse ; besides in;iny more Imprisoned, of which time we can- 
 not give a just account. 
 
 5. Two beaten with Pitc|)ctJ 5^opf3, the blows amounting to 
 an l^unlircti tfjirtg nine, by which one of them was brought near 
 unto death, much of his body being beat Ui^c unta a jcllo, and 
 one of their own Doctors, a Member of their Church, wlio saw 
 him, said. It ivould be a Miracle if ever he recovered, he expecting 
 the flesh should rot off the bones; who afterwards was banislied 
 upon pain of death. Tliere are many Witnesses of this tliere, 
 
 6. Also, an Innocent man, an Inhabitant of Boston, they 
 bani3l)cti from his Wife and Chiklren, and put to seek a hab- 
 itation in the Winter ; and in case he returned again, he was 
 to be kept Prisoner during his life : and for returning again, 
 he was put in Prison, and hath been now a Prisoner above a 
 year. 
 
 7. Twenty five ISanisljmcnts, upon the penalties of being 
 tobipt, or having tfjcir lEars cut ; or brantictJ in ti)£ f^antJ, if they 
 returned. 
 
 8. Fines laid upon the Inhabitants for meeting together, 
 and edifying one another, as the Saints ever did ; and for 
 refusing to Sirear, it being contrary to Christ's Command, 
 amounting to about a STfjousanti pounb, besides what they have 
 done since, that we have not heard of; many Families, in 
 which there are many Children, are almost ruined, by these 
 unmerciful proceedings. 
 
 9. Five kept Fifteen dayes (in all) without food, and FifUj 
 eight dayes shut up close by the Jaylor, and had none that he 
 knew of ; and from some of them he stopt up the windows, 
 hindring them from convenient air. 
 
 10. One laid lStz\<, ant) ^^eelg in Irons for sixteen hours. 
 
 11. One berg tjceplo burnt in the right hand with the letter H. 
 after he had been whipt with above Thirti/ strijyes. 
 
 12. One chained the most part of Twenty dayes to a Logg 
 of wood in an open Prison in the Winter-time. 
 
 13. Five Appeals to England, denied at Boston. 
 
 14. Three JjatJ tf)eir rtgl)t ISars cut bu tbe ^angman in tf)e 
 
262 MASSACHUSETTS AND PERSECUTION 
 
 prison, the Door being barred, and not a Friend suffered to be 
 present while it was doing, though some much desired it. 
 
 15. One of the Inhabitants of SaJeni, who since is banished 
 upon pain of Death, had one half of his House aiid Land seized 
 on lohile he ivas in Prison, a month before he knew of it. 
 
 16. At a General Court in Boston, the}' made an Order, 
 Cfjat tljosc tnf}0 liati not lubrrricuitljal to nnsiurr tljf iFinrs tijat mxt 
 lailJ upon H)cm (for their Consciences) sljoulli be solli for 3i3ontJ= 
 mm, anil Bont^toomcn to Barbados, Virginia, or auu of tl)c English 
 plantations. 
 
 17. Eighteen of the people of God were at several times 
 banished upon pai'it of iScatf), six of them were their own In- 
 habitants, two of which being very aged people, and well 
 known among their Neighbours to be of honest Conversations, 
 being Banished from their Houses and Families, and put upon 
 Travelling and other hardships, soon ended their dayes ; whose 
 Death we can do no lesse than charge upon the Rulers of 
 Boston, they being the occasion of it. 
 
 18. Also three of the Servants of the Lord tijcn put to 
 IBratl), all of them for obedience to the Truth, in the Testimony 
 of it against the w'icked Rulers and Laws at Boston. 
 
 19. And since they have banished four more, upon pain of 
 Death; and twenty four of the Inhabitants of Salem, were 
 presented, and more Fines called for, and their Goods seized 
 on, to the value of Forty pounds, for meeting together in the 
 fear of God, and some for refusing to swear. 
 
 These things (0 King) from time to time have we patiently 
 suffered, and not for the trangression of any Just or Righteous 
 Law, either pertaining to the Worship of God, or the Civil 
 Government of England, but simply and barely for our Con- 
 sciences to God, of which we can more at large give Thee 
 (or whom thou mayest order) a full Account (if Thou wilt let 
 us have admission to Thee, wlio are Banished 2ipon pain, of 
 Death, and have had oxer Ears cut, who are, some of us, in 
 England attending upon Thee) both of the Causes of our 
 Sufferings, and the Manner of their disorderly and illegal Pro- 
 
QUAKER PERSECUTION 263 
 
 ceeding against us ; who begun iui'tlj Cmmoticstg, went on in 
 3nl}umanttu and (Cvurlty, and were not satisfied until tljco Ijali 
 tijc Blooti of Ujvcc of tljc liflartgrg of JESUS : Revenge fo'r all 
 which we do not seek, but lay them before Thee, considering 
 Thou hast been well acquainted with Sufferings, and so mayest 
 the better consider them that suffer, and mayest for the future 
 restrain the Violence of these Rulers of New-England, having 
 Power in Thy hands ; they being but the Children of the 
 Family, of which Thou art Chief Ruler ; Who have in divers 
 of their Proceedings forfeited tl}ctr Patent; as upon a strict 
 Inquiry in many particulars will appear. 
 
 And this, King, we are assured of, that in time to come it 
 will not repent Thee, if by a Close Rebuke Thou stoppest the 
 Blaotu Procrrliings of these ISlootio ^rvscnitovs ; for in so doing, 
 Thou wilt engage the hearts of many honest People unto 
 Thee, both there and here ; and for such Works of Mercy, the 
 Blessing is obtained, and shewing it, is the way to prosper. . . . 
 
 b. A Quaker Trial at Boston, 1661 ^ 
 
 Joseph Besse's Collection of the Sufferings of the People called Quakers 
 (1753), II, 222-223. Italics as in tlie original. 
 
 AxNO 1661. At the said next General-Court, WenlocTc Chris- 
 tison was again brought to the Bar. 
 
 The Governour asked him, What he had to say for himself, why 
 he should not die ? 
 
 Wenloclc. I have done nothing worthy of Death ; if I had, 
 I refuse not to die. 
 
 Governour. Thou art come in among us in Rebellion, ivhich is 
 as the Sin of Witchcraft, and ought to be punished. 
 
 Wenlock. I came not in among you in Rebellion, but in Obe- 
 dience to the God of Heaven ; not in Contempt to any of you, 
 but in Love to your Souls and Bodies ; and that you shall know 
 one Day, when you and all Men must give an Account of your 
 
 1 This document belongs chronologically in the next general division (C), 
 below ; but it is most conveniently presented here. 
 
264 MASSACHUSETTS AND PERSECUTION 
 
 Deeds done in the Body. Take heed, for you cannot escape 
 the righteous Judgments of God. 
 
 Major-General Adderton. You 2nonounce Woes and Judg- 
 ments, and those that are gone before yon proyiounced Woes and 
 Judgments ; hut the Judgments of the Lord God are not come ujyon 
 lis yet. 
 
 We^docJc. Be not proud, neither let your Spirits be lifted up ; 
 God doth but wait till the Measure of your Iniquity be filled 
 up, and that you have seen your ungodly Race, then will the 
 Wrath of God come upon you to the uttermost ; And as for 
 thy part, it hangs over thy Head, and is near to be poured 
 down upon thee, and shall come as a Thief in the Night sud- 
 denly, v/hen thou thinkest not of it. By what Law will ye 
 put me to Death ? 
 
 Court. We have a Law, and by our Law you are to die. 
 
 Wenlock. So said the Jews of Christ, We have a Law, and 
 by our Law he ought to die. Who empowered you to make 
 that Law ? 
 
 Court. We have a Patent, and are Patentees; judge whether 
 loe have not Power to make Laws ? 
 
 Wenlock. How ! Have you Power to make Laws repugnant 
 to the Laws of England? 
 
 Governour. Nay. 
 
 Wenlock. Then you are gone beyond your Bounds, and have 
 forfeited your Patent, and this is more than you can answer. 
 Are you Subjects to the King, yea, or nay ? 
 
 Secretary Rawson. What will you infer from that 9 what Good 
 will that do you ? 
 
 Wenlock. If you are, say so; for in your Petition to the 
 King, you desire that he will protect you, and that you may be 
 worthy to kneel among his loyal Subjects. 
 
 Court. Yes. 
 
 Wenlock. So am I, and for any thing I know, am as good as 
 you, if not better ; for if the King did but know your Hearts, 
 as God knows them, he would see, that your Hearts are as 
 rotten towards him, as they are towards God. Therefore see- 
 
QUAKER PERSECUTION 265 
 
 ing that you and I are Subjects to the King, I demand to be 
 tried by the Laws of my own Nation. 
 
 Court. You shall be tried by a Bench and a Jury. 
 
 Wenlock. That is not the Law, but the Manner of it ; for if 
 you will be as good as your word, you must set me at Liberty, 
 for I never heard or read of any Law that was in England to 
 hang Quakers. 
 
 Governour. There is a Laiv to hang Jesuits. 
 
 Wenlock. If vou put me to Death, it is not because I go under 
 the name of a Jesuit, but a Quaker, therefore I do appeal to the 
 Laws of my own Nation. 
 
 Court. You are in our Hand, and have broken our Laws, and 
 we will try you. 
 
 Wenlock. Your Will is your Law, and what you have Power 
 to do, that you will do : And seeing that the Jury must go 
 forth on my Life, this I have to say to you in the Fear of the 
 Living God : Jury, take heed what you do, for you swear by 
 the Living God, That you will true Trial make, and just Verdict 
 give, according to the Evidence. Jury, look for your Evidence : 
 What have I done to deserve Death ? Keep your Hands out 
 of innocent Blood. 
 
 A Juryman. It is good Counsel. 
 
 The Jury went out, but having received their Lesson, soon 
 returned, and brought in their Verdict Gxdlty. 
 
 Wenlock. I deny all Guilt, for my Conscience is clear in 
 the Sight of God. 
 
 Governour. Tlie Jury hath condemned thee. 
 
 Wenlock. The Lord doth justify me; who art thou that con- 
 demnest ? 
 
 Then the Court proceeded to vote as to the Sentence of 
 Death, to which several of them, viz. Richard Mussel and 
 others, would not consent, the Innocence and Stedfastness of 
 the Man having prevailed upon them in his Favour. There 
 happened also a Circumstance during this Trial, which could 
 not but affect Men of any Tenderness or Consideration, which 
 was, that a Letter was sent to the Court from Edward Wharton, 
 
266 AL\SSACHUSETTS AND PERSECUTION 
 
 signifying, That whereas they had banished him on pain of Death, 
 yet he ivas at Home in his own House in Salem, and therefore 
 proposing, TJiat they woidd take off their wicked Sentence from 
 him, that he might go about Jiis Occasions out of their Jurisdiction. 
 This Circumstance, however affecting to others, did only en- 
 rage Endicot the Governour, who was very much displeased, 
 and iu much Anger cried out, / could Jind in my Heart to go 
 Home. 
 
 Wodock. It were better for thee to be at Home than here, 
 for thou art about a bloody piece of Work. 
 
 Governour. You that will not consent, record it. I thank 
 God, I am not afraid to give Judgment. Wenlock Christison, 
 ^hearken to your Sentence: Yoic must return u)ito the Place from 
 ichence you came, and from thence to the Place of Execution, aiid 
 there you must be hanged ^lntil -you be dead, dead, dead, upon the 
 ISth Bay 0/ June, being the Fifth-day of the Week. 
 
 Wenlock. The Will of the Lord be done : In whose Will I 
 came amongst you, and in his Counsel I stand, feeling his 
 Eternal Power, that will uphold me unto the last Gasp, I do 
 not question it. Known be it unto you all, That if you have 
 Power to take my Life from me, my Soul shall enter into 
 Everlasting Rest and Peace with God, where you yourselves 
 shall never come: And if you have Power to take my Life 
 from me, the which I do question, I believe you shall never 
 more take Quakers Lives from them : Note my Words. Do 
 not think to weary out the Living God by taking away the 
 Lives of his Servants : What do 3'ou gain by it ? For the 
 last IMan you put to Death; here are fve come in his Room. 
 And if you have Power to take my Life from me, God can 
 raise up the same Principle of Life in ten of his Servants, and 
 send them among you in ray Room, that you may have Tor- 
 ment upon Torment, which is your Portion : For there is no 
 Peace to the Wicked, saith my God. 
 
 Governour. Take him awai/. . . . 
 
XV. RHODE ISLAND TO 1660 
 89. A Compact in Civil Things Only, 1336 (?) 
 
 Early Beconh of the Town of Providence (1802), 1. 
 
 These Becords were printed from the original manuscript records. In 
 1800, a manuscript " transcript " had been made of those records (without 
 attempt to preserve the original spelling, and with various errors) ; and 
 this transcript was followed in the first printed copy of this compact in 
 the lihode Island Colony Jiecords (1878), I, It. 
 
 The following entry was not dated. Apparently it was a paper pre- 
 sented by Williams and the first settlers to a second body of comers, 
 probably in 1636. 
 
 We whose names are hereunder, desirous to inhabitt in the 
 
 towne of providence, do promise to subject ourselves in active 
 
 and passive obedience to all such orders or agreements as shall 
 
 be made for publick good of our body, in an orderly way, by 
 
 the major consent of the present Inhabitants, maisters of 
 
 families, Incorporated together into a towne fellowship, and 
 
 others whome they shall admitt unto them, 
 
 only in civill things. 
 
 Richard Scott Thomas Angell X tnark 
 
 TiT-iT '"v'^ii n Thomas Harris 
 
 William X Reynolds 
 
 ffrancis weekes X mark 
 Benedict Arnold 
 Josua winsor 
 William Wickenden 
 
 Abad browne 
 
 John Warner [a character, 
 
 probably a " mark," follows.] 
 Edwarde Cope 
 George Rickard . John X ffeild 
 
 [In many ways this " compact " recalls the Mayflower Compact 
 (No. 46) ; but the notable thing here is that obedience is promised in 
 civil things only. "Civil" is used in contradistinction with " ecclesi- 
 
 267 
 
268 RHODE ISLAND TO 1660 
 
 astical." Obedience is promised in matters that pertain to the state, not 
 in those pertaining to the church. This was the primary force of the 
 word "civil." Observe it in the same sense in the documents that 
 follow.] 
 
 90. Religious Freedom Consonant with Civil Order 
 
 Arnold's History of Bhode Island, I, 254, 255. 
 
 The town of Providence had been disturbed by tumults, and some of 
 the inhabitants reasoned loosely that their platform of freedom of con- 
 science forbade them to punish the transgressors. Williams then wrote 
 the following letter to the town, defining in a masterly way the limits of 
 civil and religious freedom. This is a good point at which to review No. 84, 
 with the Introduction thereto. 
 
 There goes many a ship to sea, with many hundred souls 
 in one ship, whose weal and woe is common ; and [this] is 
 a true picture of a commonwealth. ... It hath fallen out 
 sometimes that both Papists and Protestants, Jews and Turks, 
 may be embarked in one ship ; upon which supposal I affirm 
 that all the liberty of conscience, that ever I pleaded for, turns 
 upon these two hinges: that none of the Papists, Protestants 
 Jews, or Turks, be forced to come to the ship's prayers or 
 worship, nor compelled from their own particular prayers or 
 worship, if they practice any. I further add that I never 
 denied that, notwithstanding this liberty, the commander of 
 the ship ought to command the ship's course, yea, and also 
 command that justice, peace, and sobriety be kept and prac- 
 tised, both among the seamen and all the passengers. If any 
 of the seamen refuse to perform their service, or passengers 
 to pay their freight ; if any refuse to help, in person or purse, 
 toward the common charges or defence ; if any refuse to obey 
 the common laws and orders of the ship, concerning their 
 common peace or preservation ; if any shall mutiny and rise 
 up against their . . . officers; if any should preach or write 
 that there ought to be no commanders or officers because all 
 are equal in Christ ... I say I never denied but in such cases, 
 whatever is pretended, the commander or commanders may 
 
PATENT OF PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS 269 
 
 judge, resist, compel, and punish such trangressors, according 
 to their . . . merits.^ 
 
 91. Patent of Providence Plantations, March 14/24, 1643/1644 
 
 Bhode Island Colonial Becords, I, 123-146. 
 
 The Long Parliament, at the opening of its war against Charles I, created 
 a council for colonial affairs. That body, upon petition from Williams 
 and his friends, issued the following grant. Section I (about a page of this 
 type) recites these facts. Practically all the rest of the document is given 
 here. The important consideration is the repetition of the woi-d "civil." 
 (See note on page 2(57, above.) 
 
 And whereas divers well affected and industrious English 
 Inhabitants, of the Towns of Providence, Portsmouth, and New- 
 port in the tract aforesaid, have adventured to make a nearer 
 neighborhood and Society with the great Body of the Narragan- 
 sets, which may in Time by the blessing of God upon their 
 Endeavours, lay a sure Foundation of Happiness to all America. 
 And have also purchased, and are purchasing of and amongst the 
 said Natives, some other Places, which may be convenient both 
 for Plantations, and also for building of Ships, Supply of Pipe 
 Staves and other Merchandize. And whereas the said English, 
 have represented their Desire to the said Earl, and Commis- 
 sioners, to have their hopeful Beginnings approved and confirmed, 
 by granting unto them a Free Charter of Civil Incorporation and 
 Government ; that they may order and govern their Plantation 
 in such a Manner as to maintain Justice and peace, both among 
 themselves, and towards all Men with whom they shall have 
 to do. In due Consideration of the said Premises, the said 
 Robert Earl of Warwick, Governor in Chief, and Lord High 
 Admiral of the said Plantations, and the greater Number of 
 the said Commissioners, whose Names and Seals are here 
 underwritten and subjoined, out of a Desire to encourage the 
 good Beginnings of the said Planters, Do, by the Authority of 
 
 1 The editor cannot resist the desire to add that rarely in all history has so 
 fiHidamentai, and at the same time so revolutionary, a truth been stated so 
 simply and iucontrovertibly. 
 
270 RHODE ISLAND TO 1660 
 
 the aforesaid Ordinance of the Lords and Commons, give, 
 grant, and confirm, to the aforesaid Inhabitants of the Towns 
 of Providence, Portsmouth, and Newport, a free and absolute 
 Charter of Incorporation, to be known by the Name of the 
 Incorporation of Providence Plantations, in the Narraganset- 
 Bay, in New England. — Together with full Power and 
 Authority to rule themselves, and such others as shall here- 
 after inhabit within any Part of the said Tract of land, by 
 such a Form of Civil Government, as by voluntary consent of 
 all, or the greater Part of thera, they shall find most suitable 
 to their Estate and Condition ; and, for that End, to make 
 and ordain such Civil Laws and Constitutions, and to inflict 
 such punishments upon Transgressors, and for Execution there- 
 of, so to place, and displace Officers of Justice, as they, or the 
 greatest Part of them, shall by free Consent agree unto. 
 Provided nevertheless, that the said Laws, Constitutions, and 
 Punishments, for the Civil Government of the said Plantations, 
 be conformable to the Laws of England, so far as the Nature 
 and Constitution of the place will admit. And always 
 reserving to the said Earl, and Commissioners, and their 
 Successors, Power and Authority for to dispose the general 
 Government of that, as it stands in Relation to the rest of the 
 Plantations in America as they shall conceive from Time to 
 Time, most conducing to the general Good of the said 
 Plantations, the Honour of his Majesty, and the Service of the 
 State. . . . 
 
 92. Rhode Island and the Quakers, 1657 
 
 Hutchinson's Massachusetts Bay (1765), App. XI. 
 
 Massachusetts had complained and threatened because Quakers, received 
 in Rhode Island, swarmed thence into her territory . 
 
 The Government of Rhode Island to the Government of 
 Massachusetts. 
 
 Much honoured Gentlemen, 
 Please you to understand, that there hath come to our view a 
 
RHODE ISLAND AND THE QUAKERS 271 
 
 letter subscribed by the honour'd gentlemen commissioners of 
 the united coloneys, the contents whereof are a request concern- 
 ing certayne people caled quakers, come among us lately, etc. 
 
 Our desires are, in all things possible, to pursue after and 
 keepe fayre and loving correspondence and entercourse with 
 all the colloneys, and with all our countreymen in New-Eng- 
 land ; and to that purpose we have endeavoured (and shall still 
 endeavour) to answere the desires and requests from all parts of 
 the countrey, coming unto us, in all just and equall returnes, 
 to which end the coloney have made seasonable provision to 
 preserve a just and equal entercourse between the coloneys 
 and us, by giving justice to any that demand it among us and 
 by returning such as make escapes from you, or from the other 
 coloneys, being such as fly from the hands of justice, for mat- 
 ters of crime done or committed amongst you, etc. And as con- 
 cerning these quakers (so caled) which are now among us, we 
 have no Imo among iis whereby to punish any for only declaring 
 by words, etc. their mindes and understandings concerning the 
 things and loays of God, as to salvation and an eternal condition. 
 And loe, moreover, Jinde that in those places xohere these people 
 aforesaid, in this coloney, are most of all suffered to declare them- 
 selves freely, and are only oposed by arguments in discourse, there 
 they least of all desire to come, and we are informed that they he- 
 gin to loath this place, for that they are not oi^posed by the civill 
 authority, but loith all patience and meekyies are suffered to say 
 over their pretended revelations and admonitions, nor are they like 
 or able to gain many here to their way ; and surely loe find that 
 they delight to be j^ersecuted by civill powers, and ivhen they are 
 soe, they are like to gain more adherents by the conseyte of their pa- 
 tient sufferings, than by consent to their pernicious sayings. And 
 yet we conceive, that their doctrines trend to very absolute cut- 
 ting downe and overturning relations and civill government 
 among men, if generally received. But as to the dammage that 
 may in likelyhood accrue to the neighbour colloneys by their be- 
 ing here entertained, we conceive it will not prove so dangerous 
 (as else it might) in regard of the course taken by you to send 
 
272 RHODE ISLAND TO 1660 
 
 them away out of the countrey, as they come among you. But, 
 however, at present, we judge it requisitt (and doe intend) to 
 commend the consideration of their extravagent outgoings unto 
 the generall assembly of our coloney in March next, where we 
 hope there will be such order taken, as may, in all honest and 
 contientious manner, prevent the bad effects of their doctrines 
 and endeavours ; and soe, in all courtious and loving respects, 
 and with desire of all honest and fayre commerce with you, and 
 the rest of our honoured and beloved countreymen, we rest 
 Yours in all loving respects to serve you, 
 
 * Benedict Arnold, Pres. 
 
 From Providence, at the court William Baulton, 
 
 of trials, held for the colo- Randall Howldon, 
 
 ney, Oct. 13th, 1657. Arthur Fenner, 
 
 William Feild, 
 
 To the much honoured, the Generall Court, sitting at Boston, 
 the Colloney of Massachusitts. 
 
XVI. CONNECTICUT BEFORE 1660 
 
 93. The Fundamental Orders of 1639 
 
 January 14/24, 1348/9 
 
 Connecticut Colonial Eecords, I, 20-25. 
 
 Cf. American History and Government, §§ 87-89, for the history and 
 significance of this "first written constitution Icnown to history that 
 created a government." The document is printed here in full. 
 
 Eorastnuch as it hath pleased the Allmighty God by the wise 
 disposition of his divyne providence so to Order and dispose of 
 things that we the Inhabitants and Residents of Windsor, Harte- 
 ford and Wethersfield are now cohabiting and dwelling in and 
 uppon the River of Conectecotte and the Lands thereunto ad- 
 joyneing; And well knowing where a people are gathered to- 
 gatlier the word of God requires that to mayntayne the peace 
 and union of such a people there should be an orderly and de- 
 cent Goverment established according to God, to order and 
 dispose of the affayres of the people at all seasons as occation 
 shall require; doe therefore assotiate and conjoyne our selves 
 to be as one Publike State or Commonwelth ; and doe, for our 
 selves and our Successors and such as shall be adjoyned to us 
 att any tyme hereafter, enter into Combination and Confedera- 
 tion togather, to mayntayne and presearve the liberty and 
 purity of the gqspell of our Lord Jesus which we now professe, 
 as also the disciplyne of the Churches, which according to the 
 truth of the said gospell is now practised amongst us ; As also 
 in our Civell Affaires to be guided and governed according to 
 such Lawes, Rules, Orders and decrees as shall be made, or- 
 dered and decreed, as followeth : — 
 
 1. It is Ordered, sentenced and deci-eed, that there shall be 
 yerely two generall Assemblies or Courts, the on [^one'] the second 
 thursday in Aprill, the other the second thursday in September, 
 
 273 
 
274 CONNECTICUT BEFORE 1660 
 
 following; the first shall be called the Courte of Election, 
 wherein shall be yeroly Chosen from tyme to tyrae soe many 
 Magestrats and other publike Officers as shall be found requi- 
 sitte : Whereof one to be chosen Governour for the yeare en- 
 sueing and nntill another be chosen, and noe other Magestrate 
 to be chosen for more than one yeare ; provided allwayes there 
 be sixe chosen besids the Governour ; which being chosen and 
 sworne according to an Oath recorded for that purpose shall 
 have power to administer justice according to the Lawes here 
 established, and for want thereof according to the rule of the 
 word of God ; which choise shall be made by all that are ad- 
 mitted freemen and have taken the Oath of Fidellity, and doe 
 cohabitte within this Jurisdiction, (having beene admitted 
 Inhabitants by the major part of the Towne wherein they live,) 
 or the major parte of such as shall be then present. 
 
 2. It is Ordered, sentensed and decreed, that the Election of 
 the aforesaid Magestrats shall be on this manner : every person 
 present and quallified for choyse shall bring in (to the persons 
 deputed to receave them) one single paper with the name of 
 him written in yt whom he desires to have Governour, and he 
 that hath the greatest number of papers shall be Governor for 
 that yeare. And the rest of the Magestrats or publike Officers 
 to be chosen in this manner : The Secretary for the tyme being 
 shall first read the names of all that are to be put to choise and 
 then shall severally nominate them distinctly, and every one 
 that would have the person nominated to be chosen shall bring 
 in one single paper written uppon, "and he that would not have 
 him chosen shall bring in a blanke: and every one that hath 
 more written papers then blanks shall be a Magistrat for that 
 yeare ; which papers shall be receaved and told by one or more 
 that shall be then chosen by the court and sworne to be fayth- 
 full therein ; but in case there should not be sixe chosen as 
 aforesaid, besids the Governor, out of those which are nomi- 
 nated, then he or they which have the most written papers shall 
 be a Magestrate or Magestrats for the ensueing yeare, to make 
 up the foresaid number. 
 
THE FUNDAMENTAL ORDERS OF 1639 275 
 
 3. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed, that the Secretary 
 shall not nominate any person, nor sliall any person be chosen 
 newly into the Magestracy which was not propownded in some 
 General! Courte before, to be nominated the next Election; and 
 to that end yt shall be lawfull for ech of the Townes aforesaid 
 by their deputyes to nominate any two whom they conceave 
 fitte to be put to Election ; and the Courte may ad so many 
 more as they judge requisitt. 
 
 4. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed that noe person be 
 chosen Governor above once in two yeares, and that the Gov- 
 ernor be alwayes a member of some approved congregation, and 
 formerly of the Magestracy within this Jurisdiction ; and all 
 the Magestrats Freemen of this Commonwelth : and that 
 no Magestrate or other publike officer shall execute any parte 
 of his or their Office before they are severally sworne, which 
 shall be done in the face of the Courte if they be present, and 
 in case of absence by some deputed for that purpose. 
 
 5. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed, that to the afore- 
 said Courte of Election the severall Townes shall send their 
 deputyes, and when the Elections are ended they may proceed 
 in any publike searvice as at other Courts. Also the Generall 
 Courte in September shall be for makeing of lawes, and any 
 other publike occation, which conserns the good of the 
 Commonwelth. 
 
 6. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed, that the Governor 
 shall, ether by himselfe or by the secretary, send out summons 
 to the Constables of every Towne for the cauleing of these 
 two standing Courts, on [one] month at lest before their 
 severall tymes : And also if the Governor and the gretest 
 I)arte of the Magestrats see cause uppon any spetiall occation 
 to call a generall Courte, they may give order to the secretary 
 see to doe within fowerteene dayes warneing; and if urgent 
 necessity so require, uppon a shorter notice, giveing sufficient 
 grownds for yt to the deputyes when they meete, or els be 
 questioned for the same; And if the Governor and [mo/o/-] 
 parte of Magestrats shall ether neglect or refuse to call the 
 
276 CONNECTICUT BEFORE 1660 
 
 two Generall standing Courts or ether of them, as also at 
 other tymes when the occations of the Conimonwelth require, 
 the Freemen thereof, or the Major parte of them, shall peti- 
 tion to them soe to doe : if then yt be ether denyed or neglected 
 the said Freemen or the Major parte of them shall have 
 power to give order to the Constables of the severall Townes 
 to doe the same, and so may meete togather, and chuse to 
 themselves a Moderator, and may proceed to do any Acte of 
 power, which any other Generall Courte may. 
 
 7. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed that after there are 
 warrants given out for any of the said Generall Courts, the 
 Constable or Constables of ech Towne shall forthwith give 
 notice distinctly to the inhabitants of the same, in some 
 Publike Assembly or by goeing or sending from howse to 
 howse, that at a place and tyme by him or them lymited and 
 sett, they meet and assemble them selves togather to elect 
 and chuse certen deputyes to be at the General Courte then 
 following to agitate the af ayres of the commonwelth ; which 
 said Deputyes shall be chosen by all that are admitted In- 
 habitants in the severall Townes and have taken the oath of 
 fidellity; provided that non be chosen a Deputy for any 
 Generall Courte which is not a Freeman of this Commonwelth. 
 
 The foresaid deputyes shall be chosen in manner following : 
 every person that is present and quallified as before expressed, 
 shall bring the names of such, written in severall papers as 
 they desire to have chosen for that Imployment, and these 3 
 or 4, more or lesse, being the number agreed on to be chosen 
 for that tyrae, that have greatest number of papers written 
 for them shall be deputyes for that Courte ; whose names 
 shall be endorsed on the backe side of the warrant and re- 
 turned into the Courte, with the Constable or Constables hand 
 unto the same. 
 
 8. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed, that Wyndsor, 
 Hartford and Wethersfield shall have power, ech Towne, to 
 send fower of their freemen as their deputyes to every Gen- 
 erall Courte ; and whatsoever other Townes shall be hereafter 
 
THE FUNDAMENTAL ORDERS OF 1639 277 
 
 added to this Jurisdiction, they shall send so many deputyes 
 as the Coui'te shall judge meete, a resonable proportion to the 
 number of Freemen that are in the said Townes being to be 
 attended therein; which deputyes shall have the power of 
 the whole Towne to give their voats and alowance to all such 
 lawes and orders as may be for the publike good, and unto 
 which the said Townes are to be bownd. 
 
 9. It is ordered and decreed, that the deputyes thus chosen 
 shall have power and liberty to appojnit a tyme and a place 
 of meeting togather before any Generall Courte to advise and 
 consult of all such things as may concerne the good of the 
 publike, as also to examine their owne Elections, whether 
 according to the order, and if they or the gretest parte of them 
 find any election to be illegall they may seclud such for [the] 
 present from their meeting, and returne the same and their 
 resons to the Courte ; and if yt prove true, the Courte may 
 fyne the party or partyes so intruding and the Towne, if they 
 see cause, and give out a warrant to goe to a newe election 
 in a legall way, either in parte or in whole. Also the said 
 deputyes shall have power to fyne any that shall be disorderly 
 at their meetings, or for not comraing in due tyme or place 
 according to appoyntraent; and they may returne the said 
 fynes into the Courte if yt be refused to be paid, and the 
 Tresurer to take notice of yt, and to estreete or levy the same 
 as he doth other fynes. 
 
 10. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed, that every Generall 
 Courte, except such as through neglecte of the Governor and 
 the greatest parte of Magestrats the Freemen themselves doe 
 call, shall consist of the Governor, or some one chosen to 
 moderate the Court, and 4 other Magestrats at lest, with the 
 major parte of the deputyes of the severall Townes legally 
 chosen; and in case the Freemen or major parte of them, 
 through neglect or refusall of the Governor and major parte 
 of the magestrats, shall call a Courte, it shall consist of the 
 major parte of Freemen that are present or their deputyes, 
 with a Moderator chosen by them : In which said Generall 
 
278 CONNECTICUT BEFORE 1660 
 
 Courts shall consist the supreme power of the Common- 
 welth, and they only shall have power to make lawes or 
 repeale them, to graunt levyes, to admitt of Freemen, dispose 
 of lands undisposed of, to severall Townes or persons, and 
 also shall have power to call ether Courte or Magestrate or 
 any other person whatsoever into question for any misdemean- 
 our, and may for just causes displace or deale otherwise 
 according to the nature of the offence ; and also may deale 
 in any other matter that concerns the good of this common- 
 welth, exeepte election of Magestrats, which shall be done by 
 the whole boddy of Freemen. 
 
 In which Courte the Governour or Moderator shall have power 
 to order the Courte, to give liberty of spech, and silence un- 
 ceasonable and disorderly speakeiugs, to put all things to 
 voate, and in case the vote be equall to have the casting voice. 
 But non of these Courts shall be adjorned or dissolved without 
 the consent of the major parte of the Court. 
 
 11. It is ordered, sentenced and decreed, that when any 
 Generall Courte uppon the occations of the Commonwelth have 
 agreed uppon any summe or sommes of mony to be levyed uppon 
 the severall Townes within this Jurisdiction, that a Committee 
 be chosen to sett out and appoynt what shall be the proportion 
 of every Towne to pay of the said levy, provided the Com- 
 mittees be made up of an equall number out of each Towne. 
 
 [Hints for Study. — 1 . — This was a great democratic constitution, — the 
 first that ever " created a state." As a whole, it is an innovation ; but very 
 few passages in it, taken by themselves, are new. The great bulk of the 
 Orders came from Massachusetts' practice of the preceding five years 
 (1634-1638), and most of it came, indeed, from express statutes of the 
 older colony. Its peculiar democracy consisted In (1) selecting all the 
 democratic features of the Massachusetts government (leaving out all the 
 more aristocratic features), and (2) in addjwg' a very few other democratic 
 features, some of which these men had striven for in vain in Massachusetts. 
 
 a. For instances of selection : 
 
 (Article 1.) Massachusetts, during most of her history, had had "two 
 General Courts," the Spring Court being a "Courte of Election," in 
 which all magistrates were chosen for one year only. 
 
THE FUNDAMENTAL ORDERS OF 1639 279 
 
 (Articles 1, 2, 7, 9.) All the details of the elections of governor, magis- 
 trates, and town deputies, come from Massachusetts' practice in the years 
 1635-1638, as did also the provision for preliminary caucusing by the 
 deputies with control over their separate meetings. 
 
 Articles 5 and 10 may be compared with the democratic legislation of 
 Massachusetts in 1634 (No. 67 h (2), above). 
 
 Many minor resemblances will occur to the advanced student familiar 
 with Massachusetts history. 
 
 b. Provisions which the democrats had wanted, but failed to se- 
 cure, in Massachusetts : ineligibility of the governor for immediate 
 reelection (Article 4), and the method of nomination (Article 3; adopted 
 also in Massachusetts two years later). 
 
 c. Democratic innovations: (1) making the sessions of the legislature 
 independent of the will of the executive (Articles 6 and 10). Mas.sachu- 
 setts had made the General Court master of its own adjournment but 
 not of its meetings. Both the provisions were adopted by the Long 
 Parliament in England two years later. (2) Leaving the franchise to be 
 determined practically by the towns. 
 
 2. — Connecticut did not reject theocracy. Cf. the preamble and the 
 eligibility provision for the governorship. In practice, too, the colony 
 maintained a close union of Church and State. The restriction of the 
 franchise to church members was rejected, not because it was theocratic, 
 but because it was undemocratic] 
 
XVII. THE NEW ENGLAND CONFEDERATION 
 94. The Constitution 
 
 The text is printed in the New Haven Colonial Becords and in the 
 Plymouth Colony Records (IX). For the liistory of the formation of the 
 Confederation, see American History and Government, §§ 90, 91. 
 
 ARTICLES 
 
 OF 
 
 Confederation betwixt the Plantations under the Gov- 
 ernment OF THE Massachusetts, the Plantations under 
 THE Government of Plimouth, the Plantations under 
 the Government of Gonnectecut, and the Government 
 OF New Haven, with the Plantations in Combination 
 
 THEREWITH. 
 
 Whereas we all came into these parts of America, with one 
 and the same end and ayme, namely, to advance the Kingdome 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to enjoy the liberties of the Gospel, 
 in purity with peace ; and whereas in our settling (by a wise 
 providence of God) we are further dispersed upon the Sea-Coast, 
 and Rivers, then was at first intended, so that we cannot (accord- 
 ing to our desire) with convenience communicate in one Gov- 
 ernment, and Jurisdiction ; and whereas we live encompassed 
 with people of severall Nations, and strange languages, which 
 hereafter may prove injurious to us, and our posterity : And 
 forasmuch as the Natives have formerly committed sundry in- 
 solencies and outrages upon severall Plantations of the English, 
 and have of late combined against us. And seeing by reason 
 of the sad distractions in England, which they have heard of, 
 and by which they know we are hindred both from that humble 
 
 280 
 
THE COXSTITUTIOX 281 
 
 way of seeking advice, and reaping those comfortable fruits of 
 protection which, at other times, we might well expect: we 
 therefore doe conceive it our boiinden duty, without delay, to 
 enter into a present Consotiation amongst our selves, for 
 mutuall help and strength in all our future concernments, that, 
 as in Xation. and Religion, so, in other respects, we be, and 
 continue. One, according to the tenour and true meaning of the 
 ensuing Articles. 
 
 I. Wherefore it is fully Agreed and Concluded by and be- 
 tween the parties, or Jurisdictions above named, and they doe 
 joyntly and severally by these presents agree and conclude. 
 That they all be, and henceforth be called by the name of, The 
 dated Colonies of Xeic-England. 
 
 II. The said United Colonies for themselves, and their pos- 
 terties doe joyntly and severally hereby enter into a firm and 
 perpetuall league of friendship and amity, for offence and de- 
 fence, mutuall advice and succour, upon all just occasions, both 
 for preserving and propagating the truth, and liberties of the 
 Gospel, and for their own mutuall safety, and wellfare. 
 
 III. It is further agreed. That the Plantations which at 
 present are, or hereafter shall be settled within the limits of 
 the Massachusets, shall be forever under the Government of 
 the ^assachusets. And shall have peculiar Jurisdiction 
 amongst themselves, as an intire body ; and that PUmouth, 
 Connecticut, and Xeic-Haven, shall each of them, in all respects, 
 have the like peculiar Jurisdiction, and Government within 
 their limits. . . . 
 
 IV. It is also by these Confederates agreed, That the charge 
 of all just Wars, whether offensive, or defensive, upon what 
 part or Member of this Confederation soever they fall, shall 
 both in men, provisions, and all other disbursements, be born 
 by all the parts of this Confederation, in different proportions, 
 according to their different abilities, in manner following, 
 namely, That the Commissioners for each Jurisdiction, from 
 time to time, as there shall be occasion, bring a true account 
 and number of all the Males in each Plantation, or any way 
 
282 THE NEW ENGLAND CONFEDERATION 
 
 belonging to, or under their severall Jurisdictions, of what 
 quality, or condition soever they be, from sixteen years old, 
 to threescore, being inhabitants there. And that according 
 to the different numbers, which from time to time shall be 
 found in each Jurisdiction, upon a true, and just account, the 
 service of men, and all charges of the war, be born by the 
 poll : Each Jurisdiction, or Plantation, being left to their own 
 just course, and custome, of rating themselves, and people, 
 according to their different estates, with due respect to their 
 qualities and exemptions among themselves, though the Con- 
 federation take no notice of any such priviledge. And that, 
 according to the different charge of each Jurisdiction, and 
 Plantation, the whole advantage of the War (if it please God 
 so to blesse their endeavours) whether it be in Lands, Goods, 
 or persons, shall be proportionably divided among the said 
 Confederates. 
 
 V. It is further agreed, That if any of these Jurisdictions, 
 or any Plantation under, or in Combination with them, be 
 invaded by any enemy whomsoever, upon notice, and request 
 of any three Magistrates of that Jurisdiction so invaded. 
 The rest of the Confederates, without any further meeting or 
 expostulation, shall forthwith send ayde to the Confederate in 
 danger, but in different proportion, namely the Massachusets 
 one hundred men sufficiently armed, and provided for such a 
 service, and journey. And each of the rest five and forty 
 men, so armed and provided, or any lesse number, if lesse be 
 required, according to this proportion. . . . But none of the 
 Jurisdictions to exceed these numbers, till by a meeting of the 
 Commissioners ... a greater ayde appear necessary. . . . 
 
 VI. It is also agreed. That for the managing and con- 
 cluding of all affaires proper to, and concerning the whole 
 Confederation, two Commissioners shall be chosen by, and out 
 of the foure Jurisdictions, namely two for the Massachusets, 
 two for Plwiouth, two for Connecticut, and two for New-haven, 
 being all in Church-fellowship with us, which shall bring full 
 power from their severall generall Courts respectively, to 
 
THE CONSTITUTION 283 
 
 hear, examine, weigh, and determine all affaires of war, or 
 peace, leagues, aydes, charges, and numbers of men for war, 
 division of spoyles, or whatsoever is gotten by conquest, re- 
 ceiving of more confederates, or Plantations into Combination 
 with any of these Confederates, and all things of like nature, 
 which are the proper concomitants, or consequences of such a 
 Confederation, for amity, offence, and defence, not intermedling 
 with the Government or any of the Jurisdictions, which by 
 the third Article, is preserved entirely to themselves. But if 
 these eight Commissioners when they meet, shall not all agree, 
 yet it is concluded, That any six of the eight agreeing, shall 
 have power to settle and determine the businesse in question. 
 But if six doe not agree, that then such Propositions, with their 
 Reasons, so far as they have been debated, be sent, and referred 
 to the foure Generall Courts, viz. The Massachusetts, Plymouth, 
 Connectecut, and New-haven. ... It is further agreed. That 
 these eight Commissioners shall meet once every year, besides 
 extraordinary meetings, according to the fifth Article to con- 
 sider, treat, and conclude of all affaires belonging to this 
 Confederation, which meeting shall ever be the first Thursday 
 in Sej7tember. [Provision for meeting at the several capital 
 cities in rotation.] 
 
 VII. It is further agreed, That at each meeting of these 
 eight Commissioners, whether ordinary or extraordinary ; they 
 all, or any six of them agreeing as before, may choose their 
 President out of themselves . . . [to secure] a comely carrying 
 on of all proceedings in the present meeting. But he shall be 
 invested with no such power or respect, as by which, he shall 
 hinder the propounding or progresse of any businesse, or any 
 way cast the scales, otherwise then in the precedent Article is 
 agreed. 
 
 VIII. It is also agreed, That the Commissioners for this 
 Confederation hereafter at their meetings, whether ordinary or 
 extraordinary, as they may have Commission or opportunity, 
 doe endeavour to frame and establish Agreements and Orders 
 in generall cases of a civil nature, wherein all the Plantations 
 
2S4 THE NEW ENGL.\XD TONFEDERATION 
 
 are interested, for preserving peace amongst thomselvos, ami 
 preventing (as mnch as may be) all oecajsions of war, or diffor- 
 enoes with others, as about the free and speedy passage of 
 Justice in each Jurisdiction, to all the Confederates equally, 
 as to their own, receiving those that remove from one PUuita- 
 tion to another, without due Certificates, how all the Jurisdic- 
 tions may carry it towards the Indiana, that they neither 
 grow insolent, nor be injured without due satisfaction, least 
 A\'ar break in upon the Confederates, thi'ough such miscarriages. 
 It is also agreed. That if any Servant run away from his 
 IMaster, into any other of these Confederated Jurisdictions, 
 That in such case, upon the Certificate of one ^fagistrate in 
 the Jurisdiction, out of which the said Servant fled, or upon 
 other due proof, the said Servant shall be delivered either to 
 his ^faster, or any other that pursues, and brings such Certifi- 
 cate, or proof. And that upon the escape of any Prisoner 
 whatsoever, or fugitive, for any Criminall Cause, whether 
 breaking Prison, or getting from the Officer, or otherwise 
 escaping, upon the Certificate of two ^[agistrates of the Juris- 
 diction out of which the escape is made, that he was a prisoner 
 or such an otYcudor, at the time of the escape, the Magistrates 
 of that Jurisdiction where for the present the said prisoner or 
 fugitive abideth, sliall forthwith grant such a Warrant as the 
 case will bear, for the apprehending of any such person, and 
 the delivery of him into the hand of the person who pursueth 
 him. . . . 
 
 [IX. Xo one of the confederates to engage in any (offensive) 
 war, without the vote of the commissioners, " as in the sixth 
 Article is provided."] 
 
 XI. It is further agreed. That if any of the Confederates 
 shall hereafter break any of these presents Articles, or be any 
 other way injurious to any one of the other Jurisdictions, such 
 breach of Agreement, or injury, shallie duly considered and 
 ordered by the Commissioners for the other Jurisdictions, that 
 both peace, and this present Confederation, may be intirely 
 preserved without violation. 
 
MASSACHUSETTS DEMANDS MORE WEIGHT 285 
 
 Lastly, this perpetiiall Confederation, and the sevcrall 
 Articles and Agreements thereof, being read and seriously 
 considered, [statement of subscription by authority of the 
 respective confederate governments.] 
 
 95. Massachusetts Demands More Weight 
 
 Plymouth Colony Records, I, 1()-17, 118-120, 12(>-128. 
 
 (1) At a meetinge of the Coitimissioncni for the united Colonies 
 in New England at Hartford thejift of September 1644 
 
 . . . The Commissioners for the Massachusetts mooved that 
 a due order might be attended in the subscriptions of the 
 Acts and determinacions of this and any future meetings of 
 the Commissioners for tlie united (/olonies, and expressed not 
 onely their owne apprehensions but the judgment of their 
 gene rail Court, That by the Articles of Confederacion the first 
 place did of Right belong to the Massachusetts, as being first 
 named and so the other Colonies in like order. Which being 
 taken into consideracion, and the Articles of Confederacion 
 read. It appeared evidently to the Comissioners that no such 
 priviledge had beene ever . , . graunted ... by the Comis- 
 sioners for the Jurisdicions in either of their former meetings, 
 and yet the first subscription was made in the presence of the 
 generall Court of the Massachusetts. And to prevent future 
 inconvenience upon this occation, they thought fitt to declare 
 that this Commission is free and may not receive any thing 
 (not expresly agreed in the Articles) as imposed by any 
 generall Court; yet out of their respects to the Government 
 of the Massachusetts they did xoillingly graunt that their 
 Comissioners [those of Massachusetts] should first subscribe 
 after the President in this and all fnture meetings, and the 
 Comissioners for the other Colonies in such order as they are 
 named in the Articles ; viz., Plymouth, Conectacutt, and New 
 Haven. 
 
286 THE NEW ENGLAND CONFEDERATION 
 
 (2) At a Meting of the Commissioners of the United colonyes 
 of New England: held at New Plymouth the 7% 7% 1648 
 . . . the Comissioners for the Matathusetts presented to 
 the Comissioners of the other Colonyes a writeing from a 
 Comitee of theire Geuerall Courte desiering that a dew 
 Consideracion may bee had thereof, in answer to the Severall 
 pticulers. The wrighting is as Followeth. . . . 
 
 " Wheareas in Cace sixe of the Comissioners shall not agree the Cause 
 is to be refered to the fouer Generall Courtes, and by theire Joynte 
 agrements to be determined, etc., — to be considered if it were not more 
 expedient to bee determined upon the agrement of any three of them. . . . 
 
 " Wheareas by the .6. Article each of the Colonyes is to have two 
 Comissioners, and the Colony of the Matathusetts beares almost five for 
 one in the proportion of Charge with any one of the rest, they desier to 
 have one Comissioner more ; or otherwise they shall be content that any 
 other of the Colonyes shall have the same priviledg to have three 
 Comissioners to the other twoe, if such Colonyes will beare the Licke 
 proporcion of Chardg with the Matathusetts. ..." 
 
 The Comissioners having perused and with dew Respect 
 Considered the former proposicions. . . . 
 
 In caces proper to the Comissioners wheareas by the sixth 
 article, if sixe Agree not, the proposicions with the Reasons 
 are to be Refered to the Fower Generall Courts : the Comis- 
 sioners aproveiug the Mocion made by the Comity of the 
 Masachusets doe recomend it to the Fower Generall Courts 
 that, if any . . . three of the saide Courts agree ... of any 
 such proposicion, it shall passe and bee accoumpted as the 
 Conclusion of the united Colonyes, as it should have passed as 
 ane act of the Comissioners if sixe of them had consented : 
 For the 5th, sixth and seventh proposicions presented from 
 the Comissioners of the Masachusetts, Importeing a reall 
 Chang in the tearmes and Covenants of Confideration, — as noe 
 alteracion Can bee made without the Consent of all and each 
 of the Generall Courts, soe the Comissioners Feare that any of 
 the Alteracions mencioned w^ould prove dangerous and Incon- 
 venient to all or som of the Colonyes. The tacken [taking] 
 
NULLIFICATION BY MASSACHUSETTS 287 
 
 of the Number of malles they hope need not bee frequent; 
 Nor, as it hath been Caryed by the Comissioners, inconvenient. 
 In point of the seventh proposicion they Conscaive there is a 
 rnistack : the Lardge trade of the Masachusets, besides theire 
 Numbers, afford many advantages in Eeference to estates 
 wliich the otlier Colonyes wante ; but (it is from the Free 
 grace of god that all and each have what they have) they 
 diser [them] to bee thainkefull. 
 
 96. Nullification by Massachusetts 
 
 Plymouth Colony Becords, X, 74-76. Cf. American History and 
 Oovernment, § 93. The following extracts from a declaration of the 
 Massachusetts General Court put an end to the attempt of the otlier 
 three colonies in the New England Confederation to force Massachusetts 
 to join in a war against New Netherlands. 
 
 The question projyounded by the General Cotirt of the Massa- 
 chusetts [June 2/12, 1653^. 
 
 . . . Whether the Comissioners of the united Collonies have 
 power by articles of agreement to determine the Justice of an 
 offencive or vindictive warr and to engage the Collonies therin ; 
 
 The Answare of the Committies to the question, — first more 
 particularly from the Articles : 
 
 The whole power of Government and Jurisdiction is in the 
 3d and sixt Articles refered to every Collonie whoe sawe not 
 meet to divest themselves of theire authoritie to Invest the 
 Comissioners with any part therof being altogether unsafe and 
 unnessesary to attaine the end of the Confeaderation ; 
 
 The 9. and 10th Articles constituteth the Comissioners 
 Judges of the Justice of a defencive warr 
 
 The 4th and 5th settle Rules for Leagues, Aides, and num- 
 ber in a defencive warr, and devisions of spoiles ; but noe 
 where provide for the determination of the Justice of an 
 offencive warr, which therfore is refered wholy to the Deter- 
 mination of the Supreame Power of the severall Confeaderate 
 Jurisdictions, whoe would have otherwise provided in the case. 
 
288 THE NEW ENGLAND CONFEDERATION 
 
 The sixt Article, which att first view seemes to Inable the 
 Comissioners, will evidently evince the Contrary. For, the 
 Confederation being betwixt the CoUonies, the 4th, and lift, 9, 
 and 10th Articles provid Rules in severall Cases according to 
 which the Confeaderates have bound themselves to Acte ; 
 And the sixt Article onely orders and appoints whoe and in 
 what mannor the said Rules and agreements should bee exe- 
 cuted viz. by Comissioners Improved to acte in cases 
 specif [y]ed and regulated, — for theire number, mannor of 
 proceeding, times and places of meeting, in the sixt and 
 seaventh Articles ; And that by nessesitie ; because the 
 supreame power of the severall Jurisdictions Could not as- 
 semble, they were enforced to Substitute deligates to order 
 such things as were of present and urgent Nessesitie, or meerly 
 prudenciall or polliticall or of Inferior nature, and that ac- 
 cording to themselves [the Rules] prescribed by the Con- 
 feaderates. But such things [as] require the Choise Actes of 
 Authoritie; or [are] in theire nature of Morrall Consideration 
 and may admite of more time of Deliberation (as an offencive 
 warr). The Wisdome of the Countrivers of the Confederacy 
 did not Judg meete to Refere to Comissioners, and therfore 
 [they] have not provided any Rules in such cases in these 
 Consernments as they did in all cases of an Inferior nature ; 
 
 More Generally : ^ The Comissioners of the united Collonies 
 are not, soe fare as wee can deserne. Invested with power to 
 Conclude an offencive warr to engage the Collonies to which 
 they belonge to put the same in execution further then they 
 are enabled by Comission or Instructions under the scale of 
 theire Collonie; much lesse can it stand with the Jurisdiction 
 and Right of Government reserved to ever[y] Collonie for six 
 Comissioners of the other Collonies to put forth any Acte of 
 power in a vindictive warr wherby they shall comaund the 
 Collonie decenting to assist them in the same ; neither can it 
 
 1 This paragraph begins the second half of the argument, — based not on 
 the particular Articles of Confederation, but upon the nature of such federal 
 government in general. 
 
NULLIFICATION BY MASSACHUSETTS 289 
 
 bee the meaning of the severall Collonies whoe are soe tender 
 of theire power in Governing theire owne that they should 
 put theire power out of theire owne hands in the most waighty 
 points (A bondage hardly to bee borne by the most Subjective 
 people), And cannot bee conceived soe free a people as the 
 united Collonies should submite unto ; 
 
 It can bee noe lesse then a contradiction to afEeirme the 
 Supreame power (which wee take to bee the Generall Courts 
 of every Jurisdiction) can bee comaunded by others : an ab- 
 surcUtie in iwlUcye, that an Intire Government and Jurisdic- 
 tion should prostitute itself e to the Comaund of Strangers ; a 
 Scandall in Religion, that a generall court of Christians should 
 bee oblidged to acte and engage upon the faith of six Delligates 
 against theire Consience ; — all which must bee admited in 
 case wee acknowlidg ourselves bound to undertake an offencive 
 warr upon the bare determination of the Comissioners, whoe 
 can not nor ever did challenge Authoritie over us, or expecte 
 Subjection from us . . . 
 
 [Observe that the Massachusetts government did flatly nullify a decree 
 of the federal congress of. the United Colonies. However, it tried to 
 justify itself, not by an avowal of its power, but by a constitutional argu- 
 ment. Massachusetts claimed first that the sixth article (which made the 
 vote of six commissioners binding upon the whole confederation) could 
 apply only to such matters as have been plainly referred to the Commis- 
 sioners by other parts of the Constitution ; and second, that the authority 
 claimed by the federal Congress was inconsistent with the fundamental 
 idea of a confederation, even as it had been understood by the other 
 confederates. 
 
 John Fiske says that this argument begins "the development of con- 
 stitutional law, in the American sense," — as an attempt to interpret a 
 written constitution. The whole debate makes an interesting prelude to 
 the later arguments of the nullifiers and secessionists in the nineteenth 
 century.] 
 
C. COLONIAL AMERICA, 1660-1760 
 
 The documents selected for this period are much more isolated than 
 those given above for the earlier colonial period. It is usually impos- 
 sible in a class to do more than use a few illustrative sources for this 
 long and difficult period ; and some documents which might be expected 
 are omitted because of the extracts given from them in the American 
 History and Government. 
 
 XVIII. LIBERAL CHARTERS, 1662, 1663 ^ 
 
 97. The Connecticut Charter 
 
 April 23 / May 3, 1662 
 
 Connecticut Colonial Becords, II, 3-11. 
 
 The complete document \vou.ld fill some ten pages of this volume. Parts 
 of it are plainly copied from the Massachusetts Bay charter of 1629. In- 
 deed the whole document has the form of 'a charter to a proprietary 
 " Company" This company, however, was a " Corporation upon the 
 place,'''' not a corporation in England managing a distant property. It 
 was the first such corporation to receive a grant from the crown. 
 
 The parts of the charter here given are selected to show (1) the powers 
 of self-government and (2) the inclusion of New Haven. The charter 
 was adopted as the State Constitution in 1776, and continued in force, 
 with very slight change, until 1818. 
 
 Charles tijE Seconti, [»&c.] "Whereas . . . Severall Lands, . . . 
 and Plantations have byn . . . setled in that parte of . . . 
 America called New England, and thereby the Trade . . . 
 there hath byn of late yeares much increased, And whereas. 
 We have byn informed by the humble Petition of our Trusty 
 and welbeloved John Winthrop [and eighteen others], being 
 
 1 For the conditions under which a despotic king granted these amazingly 
 liberal charters, of. American History and Government. 
 
 290 
 
THE CONNECTICUT CHARTER 291 
 
 Persons Principally interested in our Colony ... of Conecti- 
 cutt in New England, that the same Colony . . . was pur- 
 chased and obteyned for greate and valuable considerations, and 
 thereby become a considerable enlargment and addition of our 
 Dominions and interest there, — Now Knowyee, that in Consid- 
 eration thereof, and in regard the said Colony is remote from 
 other the English Plantations in the Places aforesaid, And to 
 the end the Affaires and Busines which shall from tyme to tyme 
 happen or arise concerning the same may bee duely Ordered 
 and managed, Wee . . . Doe Ordeine, Constitute and Declare 
 That they, tlie said John Winthrop [and others] and all such 
 others as now are or hereafter shall bee Admitted and made free of the 
 Company and Society of our Collony of Conecticut in America, shall 
 . . . bee one Body Corporate and Pollitique in fact and name, 
 by the Name of Governoiir and Company of the English Collony 
 of Conecticut in Neiv England in America ; . . . And further, 
 wee . . . Doe Declare and appoint, that for the better ordering 
 and manageing of the affairs and businesse of the said Company 
 and their Successors, there shall be one Governour, one Deputy 
 Governour, and Twelve Assistants, to bee from tyme to tyme 
 Constituted, Elected and Chosen out of the Freemen of the said 
 Company for the tyme being, in such manner and forme as here- 
 after in these presents is expressed. And . . . Wee doe . . . Consti- 
 tute and appoint the aforesaid John Winthrop to bee the first and 
 present Governour of the said Company ; [appointment of Dep- 
 uty Governor and Assistants] ; to continue in the said severall 
 Offices respectively untill the second Thursday which shall bee 
 in the Moneth of October now next comeing. And further, wee 
 . . . Doe Ordaine and Graunt that the Governour . . . for the 
 tyme being, or, in his absence . . . the Deputy Governour . . . 
 . . . shall and may . . . upon all occasions give Order for the 
 assembling of the said Company ... to Consult and advice of 
 the businesse and Affaires of the said Company, And that for 
 ever hereafter. Twice in every yeare, (That is to say,) on every 
 second Thursday in October and on every second Thursday in 
 May, or oftener, in Case it shall be requisite. The Assistants 
 
292 LIBERAL CHARTERS, 1662, 1663 
 
 aud freemen of the said Company, or such of them (not exceed- 
 ing twee Persons from each phace, Towne or Citty) whoe shall bee 
 from tyme to tyme thereunto Elected or Deputed by the major 
 parte of the freemen of the respective Townes . . . shall 
 have a generall meeting or Assembly, then and their to Con- 
 sult and advise in and about the Affaires and businesse of the 
 said Company ; And that the Goveruour, or . . . Deputy 
 Governour . . . , and such of the Assistants and freemen of 
 the said Company as shall be soe Elected or Deputed and bee 
 present att such meeting or Assembly, or the greatest number of 
 them (whereof the Governour or Deputy Governour and Six of 
 tlie Assistants, at least, to bee Seaven) shall be called the Generall 
 Assembly, and shall have full power andauthority to alter and change their 
 dayes and tymes of meeting or General Assemblies for Electing the Gov- 
 ernour Deputy Governour and Assistants or other Officers, or any other 
 Courts, Assemblies or meetings, and to Choose, Nominate and appoint 
 such and soe many other Persons as they shall thinkefitt and shall bee 
 willing to accept the same, to bee free of the said Company and Body 
 Politique, and them into the same to Admitt and to Elect, and Constitute 
 such Officers as they shall thinke fit t and requisite for the Ordering, man- 
 nageing, and disposeing of the Affaires of the said Governour and 
 Company and their Successors. And wee doe hereby . . . Establish 
 and Ordeine. that once in the yeare . . . , namely, the said Second 
 Thursday in May, the Governour. Deputy Governour and Assistants 
 of the said Company and other Officers of the said Company, or such 
 of them as the said Generall Assembly shall thinke fitt. shall bee, in 
 the said Generall Court and Assembly to bee held from that day or 
 tyme, newly Chosen for the yeare ensuing, by such greater part of the 
 said Company for the tyme being then and there present. . . . And 
 wee doe further '. . . Graiuit that it . . . shall . . . bee lawfuU 
 [for any General Assembly,] to Erect and make . . . Judica- 
 tories for the heareing and Determining of all Actions . . . And 
 alsoe from tyme to tyme to Make, Ordaine, and Establish All mannner 
 of wholesome and reasonable Lawes, Satutes, Ordinances . . . and 
 Instructions, not contrary to the lawes of this Realme of England . . . 
 which they shall find needfuU for the Government . . . of the said 
 
THE RHODE ISLAND CHARTER 293 
 
 Colony. . . And Knowe yee further, That Wee . . . Doe give, 
 Grauiit ami Confirme unto the said Governor and Company 
 and their Successors, All that parte of our Dominions in New 
 England in America bounded on the East by Norrogancett 
 River, conionly called Norrogancett Bay, where the said River 
 falleth into the Sea, and on the North by the lyne of the Mas- 
 sachusetts Plantation, and on the South by the Sea, and in 
 longitude as the lyne of the Massachusetts Colony, runinge 
 from East to West, (that is to say,) from the said Norrogan- 
 cett Bay on the East to the South Sea on the West. . . . 
 
 98. The Rhode Island Charter 
 July 8/18, 1663 
 Rhode Island Colonial liecords, II, 3-20. 
 
 John Clarke, an agent for the colony, presented a petition for a charter 
 to Charles II in January, KKJl. 
 
 . . . Whereas we have been informed ... on behalf of 
 Benjamine Arnold, William Brenton [here follow twelve 
 names] and the rest of the purchasers and ffree inhabitants 
 of our island, called 3l\l)ot)c=Il0lanti, and the rest of the colonic 
 of Providence Plantations, in the Narragansett Bay, in New- 
 England, in America, that they, pursueing, with peaceable and 
 loyall mindes, their sober, serious and religious intentions, of 
 godlie edifieing themselves, and one another, in the holie 
 Christian ffaith and worshipp a.s they ivere perswaded : togother 
 with the gaineing over and conversione of the poore ignorant 
 Indian natives, in those partes of America, to the sincere ])ro- 
 fessione and obedienc of the same ffaith and worship, did, not 
 onlie by the consent and good encouragement of our royall 
 progenitors, transport themselves out of this kingdome of Eng- 
 land into America, but alsoe, since their arrivall there, after 
 their first settlement amongst other our subjects in those parts, 
 ffor the avoideing of discorde, and those manie evills which 
 were likely to ensue upon some of those oure subjects not beinge 
 able to beare, in these remote partes, theire different appre- 
 
294 LIBERAL CHARTERS, 1662, 1663 
 
 hensiones in religious concernments, and in pursueance of the 
 afforesayd ends, did once againe leave theire desireable stationes 
 and habitationes, and with excessive labor and travell, hazard 
 and charge, did transplant themselves into the middest of the 
 Indian natives, who, as wee are infformed, are the most potent 
 princes and people of all that country ; where, by the good 
 Providence of God, from whome the Plantationes have taken 
 their name, upon theire labour and Industrie, they have not 
 onlie byn preserved to admiration, but have increased and 
 prospered, and are seized and possessed, by purchase and con- 
 sent of the said natives, to their ffull content, of such lands, 
 islands, rivers, harbours and roades, as are verie convenient, 
 both for plantationes and alsoe for buildinge of shipps, suplye 
 of pype-staves, and other merchandize ; and which lyes verie 
 commodious, in manie respects, for commerce, and to accomo- 
 date oure southern plantationes, and may much advance the 
 trade of this oure realme, and greatlie enlarge the territories 
 thereof; they haveinge, by neare neighbourhoode to and 
 friendlie societie with the greate bodie of the Narragansett 
 Indians, given them encouragement, of theire owne accorde, to 
 subject themselves, theire people and landes, unto us ; whereby, 
 as is hoped, there may, in due tyme, by the blessing of God 
 upon theire endeavours, bee layd a sure ffouiulation of happi- 
 nesse to all America: "Enli tof}crra0, in theire humble addresse, they 
 haveffreely declared, that it is much on their hearts (if they may be 
 permitted), to hold forth a livelie experiment, that a most flourishing 
 civill state may stand and best bee maintained, and that among our 
 English subjects, with a full libertie in religious concemements ; and 
 that true pietye rightly grounded upon gospell principles, will give the 
 best and greatest security to sovereignetye, and will lay in the hearts 
 of men the strongest obligations to true loyaltie : 'Ka^ knoSii gcf, 
 that wee beinge willinge to encourage the hopefull undertakeinge of 
 oure sayd loyall and loveinge subjects, and to secure them in the free 
 exercise and enjoyment of all theire civill and religious rights, apper- 
 taining to them, as our loveing subjects ; and to preserve unto them 
 that libertye, in the true Christian ffaith and worshipp of God, which 
 
THE RHODE ISLAND CHARTER 295 
 
 they have sought with soe much travaill, and with peaceable myndes, 
 and loyall subjectione to our roy all progenitors and ourselves, to enjoy e ; 
 and because some of the people and inhabitants of the same colonie 
 cannot, in theire private opinions, conforme to the publique exercise of 
 religion, according to the litturgy, formes and ceremonyes of the Church 
 of England, or take or subscribe the oaths and articles made and estab- 
 lished in that behalf e; and for that the same, by reason of the remote 
 distances of those places, will (as wee hope) bee noe breach of the 
 unitie and unifformitie established in this nation : . . . doe hereby . . . 
 declare. That our royall will and pleasure is, that noe person within 
 the sayd colonye, at any tyme hereafter, shall bee any wise molested, 
 punished, disquieted, or called in question, for any differences in opinione 
 in matters of religion, and [i.e., if he] doe not actually disturb the 
 civill peace of our sayd colony ; but that all and everye person and 
 persons may, from tyme to tyme, and at all tymes hereafter, freelye 
 andfullye have andenjoye his and theire owne judgments and consciences, 
 in matters of religious concernments, throughout the tract of lande 
 hereafter mentioned ; they behaving themselves peaceablie and quietlie, 
 and not useing this libertie to lycentiousnesse and profanenesse, nor to 
 the civill injurye or outward disturbeance of others ; any lawe, statute, 
 or clause, therein contayned, or to bee contayned, usage or custome of 
 this realme, to the contrary hereof, in any wise, notwithstanding. And 
 that they may bee in the better capacity to defend themselves, 
 in theire just rights and libertyes . . . irce . . . doe ordeyne, 
 . . . That they, the sayd William Brenton . . . [and others] 
 and all such others as now are, or hereafter shall bee admitted 
 and made ffree of the company and societie of our collonie of 
 Providence Plantations, in the Narragansett Bay, in New-Eng- 
 land, shall bee, from tyme to tyme, and forever hereafter, a 
 bodie corporate and politique, ... by the name of STfje (Sflfafr= 
 n0ur nnti Campano of tlje lEngltsl) CoUonic of El)ati£=l0lanti nub 
 ^rofaitimre plantations, m iSeto^lSnglanti, in ^mrrica. . . . SntJ 
 furtf}£r, wee . . . doe declare . . . that . , . there shall bee 
 one Governour, one Deputie-Governour and ten Assistants, to 
 bee from tyme to tyme, constituted, elected and chosen, out of 
 the freemen of the sayd Company, for the tyme beinge, in such 
 
296 LIBERAL CHARTERS, 1662, 1663 
 
 manner and fforme as is hereafter in these presents expressed. 
 . . . [First set of magistrates named, to continue until the next 
 Court.] ^nH furtl}cr, wee . . . doe ordeyne . . . that the Gover- 
 nor of the sayd Company, for the tyme being, or, in his absence, 
 by occassion of sicknesse, or otherwise, by his leave and per- 
 mission, the Deputy-Governor, ffor the tyme being, shall and 
 may, ffrom tyme to tyme, upon all occassions, give order ffor 
 the assemblinge of the sayd Company, and callinge theni to- 
 gether, to consult and advise of the businesse and affaires of 
 the sayd Company, ^nti ti^at forever hereafter, twice in every 
 year, that is to say, on every first Wednesday in the moneth 
 of May, and on every last Wednesday in October, or oftener, 
 in case it shall bee requisite, the Assistants, and such of the 
 ffreemen of the Company, not exceedinge six persons ffor New- 
 port, ffoure persons ffor each of the respective townes of Provi- 
 dence, Portsmouth and AVarwicke, and two persons for each other 
 place, towne or city, whoe shall bee, from tyme to tyme, there- 
 unto elected or deputed by the majour parte of the ffremen of 
 the respective townes or places . . . shall have a generall 
 meetinge, or Assembly then and there to . . . determine . . . 
 the affaires and businesse of the said Company and Plantations. 
 ^ntJ £urtl)cr, wee doe . . . give and graunt unto the sayd Gov- 
 ernour and Company of the English collony of 1^I)0i)E=]l0lantl 
 ant) ^rotitiencE plantations, in New-England, in America, and 
 theire successours, that the Governour, or, in his absence, or, 
 by his permission, the Deputy-Governour of the sayd Company, 
 for the tyme beinge, the Assistants, and such of the ffreemen of 
 the sayd Company as shall bee soe as aforesayd elected or de- 
 puted, or soe many of them as shall bee present att such meetinge 
 or assemblye, as afforesayde, shall bee called the Generall Assem- 
 bly e; and that they, or the greatest parte of them present 
 (whereof the Governour or Deputy-Governour, and sixe of the 
 Assistants, at least to bee seven) shall have . . . ffull power 
 [and] authority, ffrom tyme to tyme, and at all tymes here- 
 after, to apoynt, alter and change, such dayes, tymes and places 
 of meetinge and Generall Assemblye, as theye shall thinke 
 
THE RHODE ISLAND CHARTER 297 
 
 fRtt ; ^nli fitrtf):r [other powers of the Assembly, as in the Con- 
 necticut Charter] . . . wee doe . . . establish and ordeyne, 
 that yearelie, once in the yeare, forever hereafter, namely, the 
 aforesayd Wednesday in May, and at the towne of Newport, or 
 elsewhere, if urgent occasion doe require, the Governour, Dep- 
 uty-CiOvernour and Assistants of the sayd Company, and other 
 officers of the sayd Company, or such of them as the Generall 
 Assemblye shall thinke ffitt, shall bee, in the sayd Generall 
 Court or Assembly to bee held from that daye or tyme, newly 
 chosen for the year ensueing, by such greater part of the sayd 
 Company, for the tyme beinge, as shall bee then and there 
 present . . . 
 
 [Provisions for temporary government ; for prevention of 
 Indian troubles in relation to other colonies ; for boundaries, 
 etc] ^ntJ furt|)cr, our will and pleasure is, that in all matters 
 of publique controversy which may fall out betweene our 
 CoUony of Providence Plantations, and the rest of our 
 Collonies in New-England, itt shall and may bee lawful to 
 and for the Governour and Company of the sayd Collony of 
 Providence Plantations to make their appeals therein to us, 
 our heirs and successours, for redresse in such cases, within 
 this our realme of England:^ and that itt shall be laAvfull to 
 and for the inhabitants of the sayd Collony of Providence 
 Plantations, without let or molestation, to passe and repasse with 
 freedome, into and through the rest of the English Collonies, 
 upon their lawfull and civill occasions, and to converse, and 
 hold commerce and trade, with such of the inhabitants of our 
 other English Collonies as shall bee willing to admitt them there- 
 unto, they behaveing themselves peaceably among them; any 
 act, clause or sentence, in any of the sayd Collonies provided, 
 or that shall bee provided, to the contrary in anywise 
 notwithstanding. . . . 
 
 1 Observe, this is not an appeal from the colonial court by an ind'ivvJual. 
 The clause has reference to the troubles, then recent, between Rhode Island 
 and Massachusetts — the latter having threatened to exclude Rhode Island 
 commerce. 
 
XIX. AN ENGLISH COLONIAL SYSTEiM 
 
 99. Instructions for the Councill oppointed for Forraigne 
 Plantations (1660) by Charles II 
 
 O'Callaghan's Documents relative to the Colonial History of Neio 
 York (1853), III, 34-36. 
 
 For the significance of this first permanent "Colonial Department," 
 cf. American History and Government-, § 95. 
 
 1. You shall infonue yourselves by the best wayes aud meanes 
 you can of the state and condicion of all Forraigne Plantac[i]ons, 
 and by what co[m] missions or authorities they are and have 
 bene governed and disposed of ; and are to procure either from 
 such persons as have any graunts thereof from the Croun, or 
 from the records themselves, the copies of all such commissions 
 or graunts, to be transcribed and registered in a booke pro- 
 vided for that purpose, that you may be the better able to 
 understand judge and administer such affaires, as by your 
 commission and instruccions are intrusted to your care and 
 management. 
 
 2. You shall forthwith write letters to evrie of our Governors 
 for the time being of all our English Plantacions and to evrie 
 such person or persons who by any Letters Pattents from us 
 or any of our predcesors doe claime or exercise a right of 
 governement in any of the said plantacions in which letteres 
 you are to informe them of our gratious care and provision in 
 their behalfe both in erecting a General Councill of Trade 
 wherein their concernments are mingled and provided for with 
 the rest of our dominions and especially of this particular 
 Councell which is applyed only to the inspeccion care and con- 
 duct of Forraigne Plantacions. 
 
 3. You are in the said letters to require the said Governors 
 and persons above mesioned, to send unto you in writeing with 
 the advise of the Councell of evrie of the said plantacions 
 
 298 
 
A COLONIAL DEPARTMENT 299 
 
 respectively, perticuler and exact accoinpt of the state of their 
 affaires ; of the nature and constitucoin of their lawes and 
 governement and in what rnodell and frame they move and are 
 disposed ; what numbers of men ; what fortifications and other 
 strengths and defences are upon the place, and how furnished 
 and provided for. 
 
 4. You are to order and settle such a continuall correspond- 
 encie that you may be able, as often as you are required there- 
 unto, to give up to us an accompt of the Government of each 
 Colonic ; of their complaints, their wants, their abundance ; 
 of their severall growths and commodities; of every shipp 
 trading there and its ladeing and whither consigned ; and what 
 the proceeds of that place have beene in the late yeares ; that 
 thereby the intrinsick value and the true condicion of each 
 part and of the whole may be thoroughly understood ; whereby 
 a more steady judgement and ballance may be made for the 
 better ordering and disposing of trade and of the proceede and 
 improvements of the Flantacions ; that soe each place within 
 it selfe, and all of them being collected into one viewe and 
 management here, may be regulated and ordered upon common 
 and equall ground and principles. 
 
 5. You are to applie your selves to all prudentiall meanes for 
 the rendering those dominions usefuU to England and England 
 helpfull to them, and for the bringing the severall Colonies 
 and Flantacions, within themselves, into a more certaine civill 
 and uniforme goverenment and for the better ordering and dis- 
 tributeing of publique justice among them. 
 
 6. You are to enquire diligently into the severall governments 
 and Councells of Colonies Flantacions and distant Dominions, 
 belonging to other Princes or States, and to examine by what 
 conduct and poUicies they governe or benefit them ; and you 
 are to consult and provide that if such councells be good 
 wholsome and practiceable, they may be applied to the use of our 
 Flantacions ; or if they tend or were designed to the prejudice 
 or disadvantage thereof or of any of our subjects or of trade or 
 commerce, how they may be ballanced or turned back upon them. 
 
300 AN ENGLISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 
 
 11. You are lastly required and impowered to advise order 
 settle and dispose of all matters relating to the good governra* 
 improvement and management of our Forraine Plantacons or 
 any of them, with your utmost skill direccon and prudence. 
 And in all cases wherein you shall judge that further powers 
 and assistants shall be necessary, you are to addresse your 
 selves to us [or] our Privy Councill for our further pleasure 
 resolucon and direccon s therein. 
 
 100. The Commercial Policy 
 
 a. '"First" ^ Jfavigation Act, 1660 
 
 Statutes of the Realm, V, 246-250. The act is known as 12 Car. II, 
 c. 18. The text would fill some ten pages of this volume. For history 
 and references upon this and subsequent navigation acts, cf . American 
 History and Government, §§ 96, 116. 
 
 An Act for the Encourageing and increasing of Shipping and 
 
 Navigation. 
 
 [1.] For the increase of Shiping and incouragement of the 
 Navigation of this Nation, (wherin, under the good providence 
 and protection of God, the Wealth, Safety, and Strength of 
 this Kingdome is soe much concerned), Bee it Enacted by the 
 Kings most Excellent Majesty and by the Lords and Commons 
 in this present Parliament assembled and the Authoritie therof, 
 that from and after [December 1, 1660], and from thence for- 
 ward, noe Goods or Commodities whatsoever shall be Imported 
 into or Exported out of any Lands, Islelands, Plantations, 
 or Territories to his Majesty belonging or in his possession 
 or which may hereafter belong unto or be in the possession of 
 His Majesty His Heires and Successors, in Asia, Africa, or 
 America, in any other Ship or Ships, Vessell or Vessells what- 
 
 1 The first part of this act is copied almost word for word from an act of 
 the Long Parliament in 1651. That act, however, was not enforced. It ap- 
 plied only to shipping. The Act of 1660 added the "enumerating" clause 
 (XVIII). 
 
THE COMMERCIAL POLICY 301 
 
 soev^er, but in such Ships or Vessels as doe truely and without 
 fraude belong onely to the people of England or Ireland, 
 Dominion of Wales, or Towne of Berwicke upon Tweede, or 
 are of the built of, and belonging to any of the said Lands, Is- 
 lands, Plantations, or Territories . . . and whereof the Master 
 and three fourthes of the Marriners at least are English,^ under 
 the penalty of the Forfeiture [of Vessell and Cargo] . . . 
 
 [III. In like words, limits the commerce of England herself 
 to the same shipping.] 
 
 [XVIII.] And it is further Enacted . . . That from and 
 after . . . [April 1, 1661] . . . noe Sugars, Tobaccho, Cotton- 
 Wool, Indicoes, Ginger, Fustick, or other dyeing wood, of the 
 Growth, Production, or Manufacture of any English Plan- 
 tations in America, Asia or Africa shall be shiped, carryed, 
 conveyed, or transported from any of the said English Plan- 
 tations to any Land, Island, Territory, Dominion, Port, or 
 place whatsoever, other than to such other English Plantations 
 as doe belong to His Majesty His Heires and Successors, or 
 to the Kingdome of England or Ireland or Principallity of 
 Wales or Towne of Berwicke upon Tweede . . . under penalty 
 of forfeiture [as before] . . . 
 
 b. Second J^avigation Act, 1663 
 
 Statutes of the Bealm, V, 449-452 (15 Car. II, c. 7). 
 
 The act of 1660 had (1) "protected" English and colonial shipping by 
 shutting out all other shipping from the English and colonial trade ; and 
 (2) it had "enumerated" a few semi-tropical products which 'colonies 
 could export only to England. This act of 1663 provides that all European 
 imports to the colonies must be obtained through England. 
 
 1 Question having arisen in regard to the definition of English-built ships 
 and English mariners, these terms were defined in section V of the Act of 16(52 
 (14 Car. II, c. 11). The portion of the section relating to mariners follows : 
 " And whereas it is required by the said Act that in sundry cases the Master 
 and three fourths of the Mariners are to be English, it is to be understood 
 that any of His Majesties Subjects of England, Ireland, and His Plantations 
 are to bee accounted English, and no others. . . ." — Statutes of the Realm, 
 V, 395. 
 
302 AN ENGLISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 
 
 An Act for the Encouragement of Trade. 
 
 [IV.] Axo in reguard His Magesties Plantations beyond 
 the Seas are inhabited and peopled by His Subjects of this 
 His Kiugdome of England, For the maintaining a greater 
 correspondence and kinduesse betweeue them and keepeing 
 them in a tirnier dependance upon it, and rendring them yet 
 more beneiiciall and advantagious unto it in the farther Im- 
 ployment and Encrease of English Shipping and Seamen, vent 
 of English Woollen and other ^Manufactures and Commodities, 
 rendring the Navigation to and from the same more safe and 
 cheape, and makeing this Kiugdome a Staple not onely of the 
 Commodities of those Plantations but alsoe of the Commodities 
 of other Countryes and Places for the supplying of them, and 
 it being the usage of other Nations to keepe their Plantation 
 Trade to themselves. Be it enacted, and it is hereby enacted, 
 That from and after [March 25, 1G(>4], noe Commoditie of the 
 Gro'.vth, Production, or Manufacture, of Europe, shall be 
 imported into any Land, Island, Plantation, Colony, Territorv, 
 or Place, to His Majestie belonging, or which shall [belong 
 hereafter] unto, or be in the Possession of His ^Majestic His 
 Heires and Successors, in Asia, Africa, or America, (Tangier 
 onely excepted) but what shall be bona fide and without 
 fraude laden and shipped in England. Wales, [and] the Towne 
 of Berwicke upon Tweede, and in English built Shipping, . , . 
 and whereof the Master and three Fourthes of the Marriners 
 at lea^t ai-e English, and which shall be carryed directly 
 thence to the said Lands. Islands. Plantations. Colonyes. Terri- 
 tories, or Places, and from noe other place or places what- 
 soever. Any Law, Statute, or Usage, to the contrary notwith- 
 standing, under the Penaltie [of forfeiture of vessel and 
 cargo]. . . 
 
 [Y.] Provided .olwayes . . . That it shall and may bo 
 lawfxill to shipp and lade in such Shipps, and soe navigated 
 as in the foregoeing Clause is sett downe and expressed, in 
 anij part of Europe, Salt for the Fisheries of New England 
 
THE COMMERCIAL POLICY 303 
 
 and Xew found laud, aud to sliipp and lade in the INIedera's 
 Wiues of the Growth thereof, aud to shipp and lade in the 
 AVesterue Islands or Azores Wines of the Growth of the said 
 Islands, and to shipp [or] take in Servants or Horses in Scot- 
 laud or Ireland, aud to shipp or lade iu Scotland all sorts of 
 Victuall of the Growth of Production of Scotland, and to shipp 
 or lade iu Ireland all sortes of Victuall of the Growth or Pro- 
 duction of Ireland, aud the same to transport into any of the 
 said Lauds, Islands, Plantations, Oolouyes, Territories, or 
 Places, Any thing in the foregoeiug Clause to the contrary in 
 any wise notwithstanding. 
 
 [The extension of the navigation policy after 1090 to restrict American 
 manufactures, with some additions to tlie "enumerated aiticles'' in the 
 First Xavi<;-ation Act, is not illustrated in this volume. For this, with 
 quotations from the laws, see American Ilistonj and Government, § 11(5. 
 But the following law (c) of the later period has so unique a significance 
 that it is here inserted, out of its chronological order. Cf. American 
 Histonj and (rovernment, § 11(3, note at close.] 
 
 c. Sii£a7- Act of 1733. May 17/27, 1733 
 
 Pickering's Statutes at Large, XVI, 374-379(6 Geo. II, c. 13). (Italics 
 only as in the original.) 
 
 An act for the better securing and encot(raiji)Hj the trade of 
 his 3fajesty's sngar colonies in America. 
 
 WHEREAS the loeJfare and prosperity of your Majesty^ s sugar 
 colonies iu America are of the greatest consequence and importance 
 to the trade, Jiavigation and strength of this kingdom : and whereas 
 the planters of the said sugar colonies have of late years fallen under 
 such great discouragements, that they are unable to improve or 
 carry on the sugar trade upon an equal footing ivith the foreign 
 sugar colonies, without some advantage and relief be given to 
 them from Great Britain : for remedy whereof ... be it 
 enacted . . . , That from and after [December 25, 1733], there 
 shall be raised, levied, collected aud paid, unto and for the use 
 of his ]\Iajesty . . . , upon all rum or spirits of the produce or 
 manufacture of any of the colonies or plantations in America, 
 
304 AN ENGLISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 
 
 not in the possession or under the dominion of his Majesty 
 . . . , which at any time or times within or during the contin- 
 uance of this act, shall be imported or brought into any of the 
 colonies or plantations in Amei'ica, which now are or hereafter 
 may be in the possession or under the dominion of his Majesty 
 . . . , the sum of nine pence, money of Great Britain . . . , 
 for every gallon thereof, and after that rate for any greater or 
 lesser quantity : and upon all molasses or syrups of such foreign 
 produce or manufacture as aforesaid, which shall be imported 
 or brought into any of the said colonies or plantations of or be- 
 longing to his Majesty, the sum of six pence of like money for 
 every gallon thereof . . . and upon all sugars and paneles of 
 such foreign growth, produce, or manufacture as aforesaid, which 
 shall be imported into any of the said colonies or plantations of 
 or belonging to his Majesty, a duty after the rate of five shil- 
 lings of like money, for every hundred weight Avoirdupoize. . . . 
 
 [Sections II-VIII make provision for enforcing the act and 
 for extending its provisions to Ireland.] 
 
 IX. And it is hereby further enacted . ■ . , That in case any 
 sugar or paneles of the growth, produce or manufacture of any 
 of the colonies or plantations belonging to or in the possession 
 of his Majesty . • . , which shall have been imported into 
 Great Britain after the twenty -fourth day of Jane one thousand 
 seven hundred and thirty-three, shall at any time within one 
 year after the importation thereof, be again exported out of 
 Great Britain, and that due proof be first made, by certificate 
 from the proper officers, of the due entry and payment of the 
 subsidies or duties charged or payable upon the importation 
 thereof, together with the oath of the merchant or his agent 
 importing and exporting the same, or in case such merchant or 
 agent shall be one of the people called Quakers, by his solemn 
 affirmation to the truth thereof, and that all other requisites 
 shall be performed that are by law to be performed in cases 
 where any of the said subsidies or duties are to be paid by any 
 former statute, all the residue and remainder of the subsidy or 
 duty, by any former act or acts of parliament granted and 
 
A PROPRIETARY CHARTER 305 
 
 charged on such sugar or paneles as aforesaid, shall without 
 any delay or reward be repaid to such merchant or merchants, 
 who do export the same, within one month after demand 
 thereof.^ 
 
 [X. Rebate and bounty in England upon sugar refined from 
 brown sugar imported from English colonies.] 
 
 101. The Duke of York's Charter for New York, March 12/22, 
 
 1663 4 
 
 O'Callaghau's Documents relating to the Colonial Ilistonj of New 
 York; II, 21)5-298. 
 
 This grant was made some months before the English were in actual 
 possession of tlie territory. After the loss and recapture of tlie Province 
 in 1()7.">-1()74, a second grant was issued by Charles II, practically identical 
 with this one of 10()4. 
 
 CHARLES the Second, . . . [etc.] . . . Know ye that we 
 ... by these presents for us Our heirs and Successors Do Give 
 and Grant unto our Dearest Brother James Duke of York his 
 Heirs and Assigns All that part of the maine Land of New 
 England ^ . . . [detailed bounds, the Duke to pay yearly forty 
 beaver skins, " when they shall be demanded, or within ninety 
 days after"]. And We do further . . . Grant unto our said 
 Dearest Brother James Duke of York his Heirs, [etc] full and 
 absolute power and authority to correct, punish, pardon, govern 
 and rule all such the subjects of us Our Heirs and Successoi"s 
 who may from time to time adventure themselves into any 
 the parts or places aforesaid or that shall or do at any time 
 hereafter inhabit within the same, according to such Laws, Orders, 
 Ordinances, Directions and Instruments as by our said Dearest 
 
 1 Tlie sugar from the English colonies also paid duties on admission into 
 English ports (lower than these here prescribed ior foreiffn sugars) ; but such 
 duties were to be rebated, according to this section IX, upon ree.vportation. 
 
 2 The name " New England " still applied to all English America north of 
 Delaware Bay. 
 
306 AN ENGLISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 
 
 Brother or his Assigns shall be established, And in defect thereof, 
 in cases of necessity, according to the good discretions of his 
 Deputies, Commissioners, Officers or Assigns respectively, as 
 well in all causes and matters Capital and Criminal as civil 
 both marine and others. So always as the said Statutes Or- 
 dinances and proceedings be not contrary to but as near as 
 conveniently may be agreeable to the Laws, Statutes and Gov- 
 ernment of this Our Realm of England And saving and reserv- 
 ing to us our Heirs and Successors the receiving, hearing and 
 determining of the Appeal and Appeals of all or any Person or 
 Persons of in or belonging to the territories or Islands aforesaid 
 in or touching any Judgment or Sentence to be there made or 
 given ^ And further that it shall and may be lawful to and 
 for our said Dearest Brother his Heirs and Assigns by these 
 presents from time to time to nominate, make, constitute, ordain 
 and confirm by such name or names stile or stiles as to him or 
 them shall seem good and likewise to revoke, discharge, change 
 and alter as well all and singular Governors, Officers and Minis- 
 ters which hereafter shall be by him or them thought fit and 
 needful to be made or used within the aforesaid parts and 
 Islands And also to make, ordain and establish all manner of 
 Orders, Laws, directions, instructions, forms and Ceremonies 
 of Government and Magistracy fit and necessary for and Con- 
 cerning the Government of the territories and Islands afore- 
 said, so always as the same be not contrary to the laws and 
 statutes of this Our Realm of England but as near as may be 
 agreeable thereunto . . . And We do further . . . Grant . . . 
 That it shall and may be lawful to and for the said James 
 Duke of York his heirs and Assigns in his or their discretions 
 from time to time to admit such and so many Person and 
 Persons to trade and traffic unto and within the Territories 
 and Islands aforesaid and into every or any part and parcel 
 thereof and to have possess and enjoy any Lands or Heredita- 
 
 1 This was the first charter provision for appeal from a colonial court to 
 England. The question had arisen just before in connection with the New 
 England colonies. Cf. American History and Government, § 99. 
 
PENN'S GRANT OF PENNSYLVANIA 307 
 
 ments in the parts and places aforesaid, as they shall think fit, 
 according to the Laws, Orders, Constitutions and Ordinances 
 by Our said Brother his Heirs, Deputies, Commissioners and 
 Assigns from time to time to be made and established . . . 
 and under such conditions, reservations, and agreements as 
 Our said Brother his Heirs or Assigns shall set down, order, 
 direct and appoint, and not otherwise. . . . 
 
 [Observe the absence of any provision for participation by tlie settlers 
 in lawmaking. The charter does not even contain the usual guarantee 
 of the "rights of Englishmen," though the provision for appeals to Eng- 
 lish courts v?ould secure such rights indirectly. Cf. American History 
 and Government, § 109.] 
 
 102. Penn's Grant of Pennsylvania, March 4/14, 1680/88 
 
 Charters and Laws of Pennsylvania (Harrisburg, 1879), 81-90. 
 
 Penn made the first draft of this charter from Baltimore's Maryland 
 Charter of 1()32, but the Attorney-General inserted several clauses which 
 increased the authority of the English government, cf . American History 
 and Government., § 110. 
 
 CHARLES THE SECOND [etc.]. . . . Whereas our Trustie 
 and well beloved Subject, William Penn, Esquire, sonn and 
 heire of Sir William Penn, deceased, out of a commendable 
 desire to enlarge our English Empire, and promote such usefull 
 comodities as may bee of benefitt to us and our Dominions, as 
 alsoe to reduce the Savage Natives by gentle and just manners 
 to the love of civill Societie and Christian Religion hath 
 humbley besought leave of us to transport an ample colonie 
 unto a certaine Countrey hereinafter described in the partes 
 of America not yet cultivated and planted. And hath like- 
 wise humbley besought our Royall Majestic to give, grant, 
 and confirm all the said Countrey with certaine priviledges 
 and Jurisdiccons requisite for the good Government and 
 safetie of the said Countrey and Colonie, to him and his heirs 
 forever. Knowe yee, therefore, that wee favouring the petition 
 and good purpose of the said William Penn, and haveing 
 
308 AN ENGLISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 
 
 regard to the memorie and meritts of his Late father ... by 
 this Our present Charter, for us, Our heires and successors, 
 Doe give and grant unto the said William Penn, his heires 
 and assignes All that Tract or parte of land in America, [the 
 long and indefinite bounding clause follows.] . . . and him 
 the said William Penn, his heires and Assignes, Wee do, by this 
 our Royall Charter . . . make, . . . the true and absolute 
 Proprietaries of the Countrey aforesaid. Saving unto us . . . 
 the Sovreignity of the aforesaid Countrey ... To bee 
 holden of us, our heires and Successors, Kings of Eng- 
 land, as of our Castle of Windsor, in our County of Berks, 
 in free and common socage by fealty only for all services, and 
 not in Capite or by Knights services, Yeelding and paying 
 therefore . . . two beaver Skins to bee delivered att our said 
 Castle of Windsor, on the first day of Januarie, in every yeare ; 
 and also the fifth parte of all Gokl and Silver Oare, which 
 shall from time to time happen to be found within the Limitts 
 aforesaid, cleare of all Charges, and . . . wee doe hereby 
 erect the aforesaid Countrey and Islands, into a Province and 
 Seigniorie, and doe call itt Pensilvania . . . , And forasmuch 
 as wee have hereby made and ordeyned the aforesaid William 
 Penn, his heires and assignes, the true and absolute Proprietaries 
 of all the Lands and Dominions aforesaid. Know yee there- 
 fore, that wee reposing speciall trust and Confidence in the 
 fidelitie, wisdome, Justice, and provident circumspeccon of 
 the said William Penn . . . , Doe grant free, full and absolute 
 power, by vertue of these presents to him and his heires, and 
 to his and their Deputies, and Lieutenants, for the good and 
 happy government of the said Countrey, to ordeyne, make. 
 Enact, and under his and their Scales to publish, any Lawes 
 whatsoever, for the raising money for the publick use of the 
 said province, or for any other End apperteyning either unto the 
 publick state, peace, or safety of the said Countrey, or unto 
 the private utility of perticular persons, according unto their 
 best discretions, bij and tclth the advice, assent, and approhacon 
 of the freemen of the said Countrei], or the greater parte of them, 
 
PENN'S GRANT OF PENNSYLVANIA 309 
 
 or of their Deleijates or Deputies, whom for the Enacting of the 
 said Laives, token, and os often as need shall require, Wee loill, 
 that the said William Penn, and his heires, shall assemble in such 
 sort and forme as to him and them shall seeme best, and the 
 same Lawes duely to execute unto, and upon all people within 
 the said Countrey and liinitts thereof; And wee doe like- 
 wise give and grant unto the said William Penn, and his 
 heires, and to his and their Deputies and Lieutenants, such 
 power and authoritie to appoint and establish any Judges, 
 and Justices, Magistrates and Officers whatsoever, for what 
 Causes soever, for the probates of will and for the granting of 
 Administracons within the precincts aforesaid, and with what 
 power soever, and in such forme as to the said William Penn, 
 or his heires, shall seeme most convenient. Alsoe, to remitt, 
 release, pardon and abolish, whether before Judgement or 
 after, all Crimes and Offences whatsoever, comitted within the 
 said Countrey, against the said Lawes, Treason and wilfull 
 and malicious Murder onely excepted ; and in those Cases, to 
 Grant Reprieves untill Our pleasure may bee knowne thereon, 
 and to doe all and every other thing and things which unto 
 the compleate establishment of Justice unto Courts and 
 Tribunals, formes of Judicature and manner of proceedings 
 doe belong, altho' in these presents expresse mencon bee 
 not made thereof ; . . . Provided, Nevertheles, that the said 
 Lawes bee consonant to reason, and bee not repugnant or 
 contrarie, but as neare as conveniently may bee agreeable to 
 the Lawes, Statutes and rights of this our Kingdome of Eng- 
 land, And Saveing and reserving to us. Our heirs and Successors, 
 the receiving, heareing, and determining of the Appeale and 
 Appeales, of all or any person or persons, of, in or belonging to 
 the Territories aforesaid, or touching any Judgement to bee 
 there made or given . . . [In emergencies, the proprietor or 
 his representatives may make ordinances without the consent 
 of the freemen ; the same to be agreeable to the laws of 
 England with limitation as in the Maryland Charter.] And 
 our further will and pleasure is, that the Lawes for regulateing 
 
310 AN ENGLISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 
 
 and governing of Propertie, within the said Province, as well 
 for the descent and enjoyment of lands, as likewise for the 
 enjoyment and succession of goods and Chattells, and likewise 
 as to felonies, shall be and continue the same as shall bee for 
 the time being, by the general course of the Law in our 
 Kingdome of England, untill the said Lawes shall be altered 
 by the said William Penn, his heires or assignes, and by the 
 freemen of the said Province, their Delegates or Deputies, or 
 the greater part of them. And to the End the said William 
 Penn, or heires, . . . may not att any time hereafter, by inis- 
 construcon of the powers aforesaid, through inadvertiencie or 
 designe, depart from that faith and due allegiance which . . . 
 they always owe unto us. Our heires and successors, ... by 
 force or colour of any lawes hereafter to bee made in the 
 said Province, . . . Our further will and pleasure is, that a 
 transcript or Dujylicate of all lawes ivhich shall bee soe as aforesaid, 
 made and published loilhin the said proiyince, shall within five 
 yeares after the makeing thereof, he transmitted and delivered to 
 the privy Councell, for the time being, of ms, our heires and 
 successors; And if any of the said Lawes within the space of 
 six months, after that they shall be soe transmitted and de- 
 livered, bee declared by us, our heires or successors, in our or 
 their privy Councell, inconsistent with the sovereignety or 
 lawfull prerogative of us, our heirs or successors, or contrary 
 to the faith and allegiance due by [^o] the legall Government 
 of this realme, from the said William Penn, or his heires or 
 of the Planters and Inhabitants of the said province; and that 
 thereupon any of the said Lawes shall bee adjudged and de- 
 clared to bee void by us, our heirs or successors, under our 
 or their Privy Scale, that then, and from thenceforth such Lawes 
 concerning which such Judgeinent and declaracon shall be made, 
 shall become voyd, otherwise the said lawes soe transmitted, 
 shall remaine and stand in full force according to the true 
 intent and meaneing thereof.^ . . . 
 
 [Grant of right to export products of the province into any 
 iThis was the first jjrovisiou for a direct English veto upon colonial laws. 
 
PENN'S GRANTS TO THE PENNSYLVANIANS 311 
 
 English port, " and not into any other country whatsoeve," 
 with a clause insisting upon obedience to " the Acts of Navi- 
 gation."] And Wee doe further appoint and ordaine . . . That 
 he the said William penn, his heires and assignes, may from 
 time to time forever, have and enjoy the Customes and Sub- 
 sidies in the ports, harbours and other Creeks, and places 
 aforesaid, within the province aforesaid, payable or due for 
 merchandizes and wares, there to be Laded and unladed, the 
 said Customes and Subsidies to be reasonably assessed, upon 
 any occasion by themselves, and the people there as aforesaid, 
 to be assembled to whom wee Give power, by these presents 
 for us, our heires and Successors, upon just cause, and in a due 
 proporcon, to assesse and impose the same, Saveing unto us, our 
 heires and Successors, such imposicons and customes as by Act 
 of parliament are and shall be appointed. And further . . . "Wee 
 doe . . . grant . . . That Wee, our heeres and Successors shall 
 att no time hereafter sett or make, or cause to be sett, any 
 imposition, custome or other taxacon, rate or contribucon 
 whatsoever, in and upon the dwellers and inhabitants of the 
 aforesaid province, for their Lands, tenements, goods or chattels, 
 within the said province, or in and upon any goods or mer- 
 chandize within the said province, or to be laden or unladen 
 within the ports or harbours of the said province, unles the same 
 be with the consent of the proprietary, or chief e Governor and 
 assembly, or by Act of parliament in England. ^ . . . . 
 
 103. Penn's Grants to the Pennsylvanians 
 
 a. "Laws Agreed upon in England," 1683 
 
 Hazard's Annals of Pennsylvania, 568-574. Penn gave a formal 
 charter to the settlers in 1(583, prefaced by the following "laws" which 
 constitute a bill of rights and which were to be altered only by the con- 
 sent of six sevenths of the legislature. The charter of 1683 was replaced 
 
 1 All italics are by the editor. The Pennsylvania charter distinctly 
 recognized the right of Parliament to tax the colonists. These clauses, with 
 those regarding appeals and the royal veto, were added to Penn's draft by 
 the King's Attorney-General. 
 
312 AN ENGLISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 
 
 by that of 1701 (see b, below) ; but these " Lawes " were a separate 
 instrument of government, and remained in force. 
 
 III. That all elections of members or representatives of 
 the people ... of the province ... to serve in the provin- 
 cial council or general assembly, to be held within the said 
 province, shall be free and voluntary, and that the elector that 
 shall receive any reward or gift, in meat, drink, moneys, or 
 otherwise, shall forfeit his right to elect ; and such person as 
 shall directly or indirectly give, promise, or bestow such 
 reward as aforesaid, to be elected, shall forfeit his election, 
 and be thereby incapable to serve as aforesaid : and the pro- 
 vincial council and general assembly shall be the sole judges 
 of the regularity or irregularity of the elections of their own 
 respective members. 
 
 ly. That no money or goods shall be raised upon, or paid 
 by any of the people of this province, by way of public tax, 
 custom, or contribution, but by a law for that purpose made, 
 and whosoever shall levy, collect, or pay any money or. goods 
 contrary thereto, shall be held a public enemy to the province, 
 and a betrayer of the liberties of the people thereof. 
 
 V. That all courts shall be open, and justice shall neither 
 be sold, denied, or delayed. 
 
 VII. That all pleadings, processes, and records in court, 
 shall be short, and in English, and in an ordinary and plain 
 character, that they may be understood, and justice speedily 
 administered. 
 
 VIII. That all trials shall be by twelve men, and as near 
 as may be, peers or equals, and of the neighbourhood, and 
 men without just exception. In cases of life, there shall be 
 first twenty-four returned by the sheriffs for a grand inquest, 
 of whom twelve at least shall find the complaint to be true, 
 and then the twelve men or peers, to be likewise returned by 
 
TEXXS GRANTS TO THE PENXSYLVAXIANS 313 
 
 the sheritf. shall luwo the final jiulgiuour. But reasonable 
 ohalleuges shall be always admitted against the said twelve 
 men. or any of them. 
 
 IX. That all fees in all oases shall be moderate, and set- 
 tled by the pi-oviucial eouncil and general assembly, and be 
 hung up in a table in every respective court, and -whosoever 
 shall be convicted of taking more, shall }>ay twofold, and be 
 dismissed his employment, one moiety of which shall go to 
 the party wrouged. 
 
 X. That all prisons shall be workhouses for felons, va- 
 grants, and loose and idle persons, whereof one shall be in 
 every county. 
 
 XL That all persons shall be bailable by suthcient sure- 
 ties, unless for capital offences, where the proof is evident, or 
 the presumption is great. 
 
 XXL That all persons wrongfully imprisoned or prose- 
 cuted at law. shall have double damages against the informer 
 or proseontor. 
 
 XIII. That all prisons shall be free as to fees. food, and 
 lodging. 
 
 XIV. That all lands and goods shall be liable to pay 
 debts, except where there is legal issue, and then all the goods. 
 and one-third of the land only. 
 
 XV. That all wills in "writing, attested by two witnesses, 
 shall be of the same force as to lands as other conveyances, 
 being legally proved within forty days, either within or with- 
 out the said province. 
 
 XVI. That seven years quiet possession shall give an un- 
 questionable right, except in cases of infants, lunatics, married 
 women, or persons beyond the seas. 
 
 XXVIII. That all children within this province, of the 
 age of twelve years, shall be taught some useful trade or 
 skill, to the end none may be idle, but the poor may work to 
 live, and the rich, if they l>ecome poor, may not want. 
 
314 AN ENGLISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 
 
 XXIX. That servants be not kept longer than their time, 
 and such as are careful be both justly and kindly used in 
 their service, and put in fitting equipage at the expiration 
 thereof, according to custom. 
 
 ******* 
 
 h- Penn's Charter of Privileges to Pennsj/lvania. October 
 2S/Xovei)iher 8, 1701 
 
 Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives of Pennsyl- 
 vania, I, pt. 11, i-iii. 
 
 A brief statement of the political conditions in the colony previous to 
 this grant will be found in American History and Govern ment, § 1 10. After 
 a long absence in England, Penn returned to the colony in December, 
 1009, to find turmoil and confusion. After a few months, it became clear 
 that Penn must again go back to England promptly to save his pro- 
 prietary rights from attacks there ; but before he left, he granted, and 
 the Assembly accepted, this noble charter, which remained the constitu- 
 tion of the colony until 177(), and which the more con-servative patriots 
 of that Revolutionary day wished to have continued still longer as the 
 constitution of the independent State. 
 
 Italics are as in the original. The editor has used black jfa/ics sparingly 
 to call attention to especially important passages. 
 
 [Recital of grant of charter of 1G81 to Penn, the liberal 
 " frame of government " established by Penn in 1683, the 
 later distractions, and Penn's promise either to restore the 
 "frame'' of 1G83 or to grant a new one "better adapted 
 to . . . the present circumstances."] 
 
 KNOW YE THEREFORE, That for the further Well-being 
 and good Government of the said Province, and Terri- 
 tories; and in Pursuance of the Rights and Powers before- 
 mentioned, I the said William Penn do declare, grant and 
 confirm, unto all the Freemen, Planters, and Adventurers, 
 and other Inhabitants of this Province and Territories, these 
 following Liberties, Franchises and Privileges, so far as in 
 me lieth, to be held, enjoyed, and kept, by the Freemen, 
 Planters and Adventurers, and other Inhabitants of and in 
 the said Province, and Territories thereunto annexed, for ever. 
 
PENN'S GRANTS TO THE PENNSYLVANIANS 315 
 
 BECAUSE no People can be truly happy, tho' under the 
 greatest Enjoyment of civil Liberties, if abridged of the Free- 
 dom of their Consciences, as to their Religious Profession and 
 Worship : And Almighty God being the only Lord of Con- 
 science, Father of Lights and Spirits ; and the Author as well 
 as Object of all divine Knowledge, Faith and Worsliip, 
 who only doth enlighten the Minds, and persuade and 
 convince the Understandings of People, I do hereby grant 
 and declare. That no Person or Persons, inhabiting in this 
 Province or Territories, who shall confess and acknowledge 
 One almighty God, the Creator, Upholder and Ruler of the 
 World, . . . shall be in any Case molested or prejudiced, in 
 his or their Person or Estate, because of his or their con- 
 scientious Perswasion or Practice, nor be compelled to fre- 
 quent or maintain any religious AVorship, Place, or Ministry, 
 contrary to his or their Mind, or to do or suffer any other Act 
 or Thing, contrary to their religious Perswasion.^ 
 
 AND that all Persons who also profess to believe in Jesus 
 Christ, the Saviour of the World, shall be capable (notwith- 
 standing their other Perswasion s and Practices in Point of 
 Conscience and Religion) to serve this Government in any 
 Capacity, both legislatively and executively, he or they sol- 
 emnly promising, when lawfully required, Allegiance to the 
 King as Sovereign, and Fidelity to the Proprietary and 
 Governor, . . . 
 
 II. 
 
 FOR the well governing of this Province and Territories, 
 there shall be an Assembly yearly chosen by the Freemen 
 thereof, to consist of Four Persons out of each County, of 
 most Note for Virtue, Wisdom, and Ability (or of a greater 
 Number at any Time, as the Governor and Assembly shall 
 agree) upon the first Day of October for ever ; and shall sit 
 
 iTliis grant was also in the " Laws Agreed upon in England," XXXV. 
 
316 AN ENGLISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 
 
 on the fourteenth Day of the same Month at Philadelphia, 
 unless the Governor and Council for the Time being, shall 
 see Cause to appoint another Place within the said Province 
 or Territories : AVhich Assembly shall have Power to chuse 
 a Speaker and other their Officers; and shall be judges of the 
 Qualifications and Elections of their own Members ; sit upon 
 their own Adjournments; appoint Committees; prepare Bills, 
 in order to pass into Laws ; impeach Criminals, and redress 
 Grievances; and shall have all other Powers and Privileges 
 of an Assembly, according to the Rights of the Freeborn 
 Subjects of England, and as is usual in any of the King's 
 Plantations in America. 
 
 AND if any County or Counties, shall refuse or neglect to 
 chuse their respective Representatives as aforesaid, or if chosen, 
 do not meet to serve in Assembly, those who are so chosen and 
 met, shall have the full Power of an Assembly, in as ample 
 Manner as if all the Representatives had been chosen and met, 
 provided they are not less than Two Thirds of the whole Num- 
 ber that ought to meet. 
 
 AND that the Qualifications of Electors and Elected, and all 
 other Matters and Things relating to Elections of Representa- 
 tives to serve in Assen^blies, tho' not herein particularly ex- 
 pressed, shall be and remain as by a Law of this Government, 
 made at Newcastle in the Year One Thousand Seven Hundred, 
 intituled. An Act to ascertain the Number of Members of Assem- 
 bly, and to regulate the Elections} 
 
 III. 
 
 THAT the Freemen in each respective County, at the Time 
 and Place of Meeting for Electing their Representatives to serve 
 in Assembly, may, as often as there shall be Occasion, chuse 
 a double Number of Persons to present to the Governor for 
 Sheriffs and Coroners, to serve for Three Years, if so long they 
 
 iThat act decreed that, in order to vote, a man must own "fifty acres of 
 land, . . . twelve acres thereof , or more, cleared and Improved; or be other- 
 wise worth fifty pounds lawful money " above all indebtedness. 
 
PENN'S GRANTS TO THE PENNSYLVANIANS 317 
 
 behave themselves well ; out of which respective Elections and 
 Presentments, the Governor shall nominate and coramissionate 
 one for each of the said Offices, the third Day after such Present- 
 ment, or else the first named in such Presentment, for each 
 Office as aforesaid, shall stand and serve in that Office for the 
 Time before respectively limited ; and in case of Death or De- 
 fault, such Vacancies shall be supplied by the Governor, to serve 
 to the End of the said Term. 
 
 PROVIDED ALWAYS, That if the said Freemen shall, at any 
 Time, neglect, or decline to chuse a Person or Persons for either 
 or both the aforesaid Offices, then and in such Case, the Persons 
 that are or shall be in the respective Offices of Sheriffs or Cor- 
 oners, at the Time of Election, shall remain therein, until 
 they shall be removed by another Election as aforesaid. 
 
 AND that the Justices of the respective Counties, shall or 
 may nominate and present to the Governor three Persons, to 
 serve for Clerk of the Peace for the said County when there is 
 a vacancy, one of which the Governor shall commissionate 
 within ten Days after such Presentment, or else the first nomi- 
 nated, shall serve in the said Office during good Behaviour. 
 
 IV. 
 
 [Style and manner of recording laws.] 
 
 V. 
 
 THAT all Criminals shall have the same Privileges of Wit- 
 nesses and Council as their Prosecutors. 
 
 VI. 
 
 THAT no Person or Persons shall, or may, at any Time here- 
 after, be obliged to answer any Complaint, Matter or Thing 
 whatsoever relating to Pi-operty, before the Governor and Coun- 
 cil, or in any other Place, but in ordinary Course of Justice, 
 unless Appeals thereunto shall be hereafter by Law appointed. 
 
318 AN ENGLISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 
 
 VIL 
 
 [Ordinaries and Taverns to be licensed by the Governor, on 
 recommendation of the Justices of the counties concerned,, — 
 with power to suppress for misbehaviour.] 
 
 YIII. 
 
 IF any Person, through Temptation or Melancholy, shall 
 destroy himself, his Estate, real and personal, shall, notwith- 
 standing, descend to his "Wife and Children, or Relations, as if 
 he had died a natural Death ; ^ and if any Person shall be de- 
 stroyed or killed by Casualty or Accident, there shall be no 
 Forfeiture to the Governor by Reason thereof. 
 
 AND no (Act, Law or Ordinance whatsoever shall, at any 
 Time hereafter, be made or done, to alter, change or diminish 
 the Form or Effect of this Charter, or of any Part or Clause 
 therein, contrary to the true Intent and Meaning thereof, 
 without the Consent of the Governor for the Time being, and Six 
 Parts of Seven of the Assembly met.'- 
 
 BUT because the Happiness of Mankind depends so much 
 upon the Enjoying of Liberty of their Consciences as aforesaid, 
 I do hereby solemnly declare, promise and grant, for me, my 
 Heirs and assigns, That the first Article of this Charter relat- 
 ing to Liberty of Conscince, and every Part and Clause therein, 
 according to the true Intent and Meaning thereof, shall be kej^t 
 and remain, xoithout any Alteration, inviolahly for ever."^ 
 
 [Provision for separation of the Delaware " Territories " 
 under their own legislature, if they so desire.] 
 
 1 By the law of England, the property of a suicide, like that of a man con- 
 victed of a felony, escheated to the crown. The other half of this same para- 
 graph abolished another ancient legal cruelty. 
 
 - This provision (adopted also from the "Laws Agreed upon in England ") 
 is the first attempt in a constitution to establish a regular method of amend- 
 ment. The attempt to exclude a portion of the document from amendment, 
 so common for long afterward, begins here also (next paragraph). 
 
BERKELEY'S REPORT ON VIRGINIA, 1671 319 
 
 NOTWITHSTANDING which Separation of the Province 
 and Territories, in Respect of Legislation, I do hereby promise, 
 grant and declare, That the Inhabitant^ of both Province and 
 Territories, shall separately enjoy all other Liberties, Privi- 
 leges and Benefits, granted jointly to them in this Charter, 
 any Law, Usage or Custom of this Government heretofore 
 made and practised, or any Law made and passed by the 
 General Assembly, to the contrary hereof notwithstanding. 
 
 104. Berkeley's Report on Virginia, 1671 
 Hening's Statutes, II, 511-517. 
 
 lu 1670 the Colonial Board (No. 99, above) sent out questions, which, 
 with the answers of Governor Berkeley for Virginia (1071), are given be- 
 low. Other colonies sent like reports. 
 
 1. What councils, assemblies, and courts of judicature are 
 within your government, and of what nature and kind ? 
 
 Ansicer. There is a governor and sixteen counsellors, who 
 have from his sacred majestie, a commission of Oyer cmd Ter- 
 miner, who judge and determine all causes that are above 
 fifteen pound sterling ; for what is under, there are particular 
 courts in every county, which are twenty in number. Everj/ 
 year, at least the assembly is called, before whom lye appeals, 
 and this assembly is composed of two burgesses out of every 
 county. These lay the necessary taxes, as the necessity of 
 the war with the Indians, or their exigencies require. 
 
 [2. Courts of admiralty.] 
 
 3. Where the legislative and executive powers of your 
 government are seated ? 
 
 Ansiver. In the governor, councel and assembly, and officers 
 substituted by them. 
 
 4. What statute laws and ordinances are now ... in force ? 
 Ansicer. The secretary of this country every year sends to 
 
 the lord chancellor, or one of the principal secretaries, what 
 laws are yearly made ; which for the most part concern only 
 our own private exigencies ; for, contrary to the laws of England, 
 
320 AN ENGLISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 
 
 we never did, nor dare make any, only this, that no sale of 
 land is good and legal, unless within three months after the 
 conveyance it be recorded in the general court, or county 
 courts. 
 
 5. What number of horse and foot are within your govern- 
 ment, and whether they be trained bands or standing forces ? 
 
 Answer. All our freemen are bound to be trained every 
 month in their particular counties, which we suppose, and do 
 not much mistake in the calculation, are near eight thousand 
 horse : there are more, but it is too chargeable for poor people, 
 as wee are, to exercise them. 
 
 6. (Castles and forts.) 
 
 7. What number of privitiers do frequent your coasts . . . 
 the number of their men, and guns, and names of their com- 
 manders ? 
 
 Answer. None to our knowledge, since the late Dutch war, 
 
 8. What is the strength of your bordering neighbors, be 
 they Indians or others . . . ? 
 
 Ansrver. We have no Europeans seated nearer to us than 
 St. Christophers or Mexico, that we know of, except some few 
 ffrench that are beyond l^ew England. The Indians, our 
 neighbours, are absolutely subjected, so that there is no fear of 
 them ^ . . . 
 
 9. (Arms, amunition, and stores . . . "sent you upon his 
 majestys account ? '") 
 
 Ansiver. . . . His majesty in the time of the Dutch warr, sent 
 us thirty great guns, most of which were lost in the ship that 
 brought them. [No others sent ; some bought by the colony.] 
 
 10. What monies have been paid ... by his majesty, or 
 levied within your government for and towards the buying of 
 armes or making or maintaining of any ffortifications or castles, 
 and how have the said monies been expended ? 
 
 Answer. Besides those guns I mentioned, we never had any 
 monies of his majesty towards the buying of ammunition or 
 
 1 Five years later came an Indian uprising in which at least 300 colonists 
 lost their lives. 
 
BERKELEY'S REPORT ON VIRGINIA, 1671 321 
 
 building of fforts. What monies can be spared out of the 
 publick revenue, we yearly lay out in ammunition. 
 
 11. What are the boundaries and contents of the land, 
 within your government ? 
 
 Answer. As for the boundaries of our land, it was once 
 great, ten degrees in latitude, but now it has pleased his 
 majesty to confine us to halfe a degree. Knowingly, I speak 
 this. Pray God it may be for his majesty's service, but I 
 much fear the contrary.^ 
 
 12. What commodities are there of the production, growth 
 and manufacture of your plantation ; and particularly, what 
 materials are there already growing, or may be produced for 
 shipping in the same ? 
 
 Answe): Commodities of the growth of our country, we 
 never had any but tobacco, which in this yet is considerable, 
 that it yields his majesty a great revenue ; but of late, we have 
 begun to make silk, and so many mulberry trees are planted, 
 and planting, that if we had skilfull men from Naples or 
 Sicily to teach us the art of making it perfectly, in less than 
 half an age, we should make as much silk in an year as Eng- 
 land did yearly expend three score years since ; but now we 
 hear it is grown to a greater excess, and more common and 
 vulgar usage. Now, for shipping, we have admirable masts 
 and very good oaks ; but for iron ore I dare not say there is 
 sufficient to keep one iron mill going for seven years. 
 
 13. Whether salt-petre is or may be produced within your 
 plantation, and if so, at what rate may it be delivered in England ? 
 
 Answe7\ Salt-petre, we know of none in the country. 
 
 14. What rivers, harbours or roads are there in or about 
 your plantation and government, and of what depth and 
 soundings are they ? 
 
 Anstcer. Rivers, we have four, as I named before, all able, 
 safely and severally to bear an harbour a thousand ships of the 
 greatest burthen. 
 
 1 As governor of Virginia, Berkeley is disposed to side with the colony 
 against the English policy. Cf. 19, note, below. 
 
322 AN ENGLISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 
 
 15. What number of planters, servants and slaves ; and how- 
 many parishes are there in your plantation ? 
 
 Answer. We suppose, and 1 am very sure we do not much 
 miscount, that there is in Virginia above forty thousand 
 persons, men, women and children, and of which there are two 
 thousand black slaves, six thousand christian servants, for a 
 short time ; the rest are born in the country or have come in to 
 settle and seat, in bettering their condition in a growing 
 country. 
 
 16. What number of English, Scots, or Irish have for these 
 seven years past came yearly to plant . . . wathin your 
 government ; as also what blacks or slaves have been brought 
 in ... ? 
 
 Ansiver. Yearly we suppose there comes in, of servants, 
 about fifteen hundred, of which most are English, few Scotch, 
 and fewer Irish, and not above two or three ships of Negroes 
 in seven years. ^ 
 
 17. [Mortality? The answer expresses inability to give 
 exact figures, from lack of a " register office," but insists upon 
 improvements in health of new immigrants as compared with 
 earlier times.] 
 
 18. What number of ships to trade yearly to and from your 
 plantations, and of what burthen are they ? 
 
 Answer. English ships, near eighty, come out of England 
 and Ireland every year for tobacco ; few Xew England ketches ; 
 but of our own we never had yet more than two at one time, and those 
 not more than twenty tons burthen. 
 
 19. What obstructions do you find to the improvement of 
 trade and navigation . . . ? 
 
 Answer. Mighty and destructive, by that severe act of parliament 
 which excludes us the having any commerce with any nation in Europe 
 but our own.^ [Navigation Acts of 1660, 1663] . . . Besides 
 this, we cannot procure any skillfull men for our now hopefull 
 
 lEven as negroes were packed, the slaver of that time rarely carried a hun- 
 dred slaves. 
 
 2 Italicized by the editor. Cf. 11, above, and the note- 
 
BERKELEY'S REPORT ON VIRGINIA, 1671 323 
 
 commodity, silk ; for it is not lawf all for us to carry a pipe- 
 stave or a barrel of corn to any place in Europe out of the 
 king's dominions.^ If this were for his majesty's service or 
 the good of his subjects, we should not repine, whatever our 
 sufferings . . . but on my soul, it is the contrary for both. 
 And this is the cause why no small or great vessels are built 
 here ; "^ for we are most obedient to all laws, whilst the New 
 England-men break through, and trade to any place that their 
 interests lead them. 
 
 20. What advantages ... do you observe that may be 
 gained to your trade or navigation ".' 
 
 Ansiver. None, unless we had liberty to transport our pipe 
 staves, timber and corn to other places besides the king's 
 dominions. 
 
 21. What rates and duties are charged and payable upon 
 any goods exported out of your plantation, whither of your 
 own growth or manufacture, or otherwise, as also upon goods 
 imported ? 
 
 A7iswer. No goods, either exported or imported, pay any the 
 least duties here, only two shillings the hogshead on tobacco 
 exported, which is to defray all public charges ; and this year 
 Ave could not get an account of more than fifteen thousand 
 hogsheads, out of which the king allows rae a thousand yearly, 
 with which I must maintain the part of my place, and one 
 hundred intervening charges that cannot be put to public 
 account. And I can knowingly affirm, that there is no gov- 
 ernment of ten years settlement, but has thrice as much al- 
 lowed him. But I am supported by my hopes, that his gracious 
 majesty will one day consider me. 
 
 22. What revenues doe or may arise to his majesty within 
 your government, and of what nature is it ; by whom is the 
 
 1 This is a gross overstatement on Berkeley's part. Cf . Amencan History 
 and Government, § 96. It is notable, however, that even a courtier, like 
 Berkeley, as a colonial governor, takes the point of view of his province 
 against English policy. Cf. ib., § 118. 
 
 2 Then why no Virginia ships before 1660? 
 
324 AN ENGLISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 
 
 same collected, and how answered and accounted to his maj- 
 esty ? 
 
 Answer. There is no revenue arising to his majesty but out 
 of the quit-rents ; and this he hath given away to a deserving 
 servant, Col. Henry Xorwood. 
 
 23. What course is taken about the instructing the people, 
 within your government in the christian religion . . . ? 
 
 Ansicer. The same course that is taken in England out of 
 towns ; every man according to his ability instructing his 
 children. We have fforty eight parishes, and our ministers 
 are well paid, and by my consent should be better if they 
 ivould pray oftener and preach less. But of all other commodi- 
 ties, so of this, the worst are sent us, and we had few that we 
 could boast of, since the persicution in CromweU's tiranny drove 
 divers worthy men hither. But, I thank God, there are no free 
 schools nor printlnrf, and I hope we shall not have these hundred 
 years ; for learning has brought disobedience, and heresy, and 
 sects into the world, and printing has divulged them, and libels 
 against the best government. God keep us from both ! 
 
 105. The Franchise in Virginia again Restricted^ 
 
 Hening's Statutes at Large. 
 
 For the general reaction of this period, American History and Govern- 
 ment, §§ 103, 104. 
 
 [October, 1670.] 
 
 Act III. Whereas the usuall way of chuseing burgesses by 
 the votes of all persons who, haveing served their tyme, are 
 ifreemen of this country, who, haveing little interest in the 
 country, doe oftner make tumults at the election to the dis- 
 turbance of his majesties peace, then by their discretions in 
 their votes provide for the conservasion thereof, by makeing 
 choyse of persons fitly qualifyed for the discharge of soe 
 greate a trust. And whereas the lawes of England grant a voyce in 
 
 1 Cf. No. 35, above. 
 
"BACON'S LAWS," IN VIRGINIA 325 
 
 such election only to such as by their estates real or personall have 
 interest enough to tye them to the endeavour of the publique good; 
 
 It is hereby enacted, that none but tfreehoklers and honse- 
 keepers who only are answerable to the publique for the 
 levies shall hereafter have a voice in the election of any bur- 
 gesses in this country ; and that the election be at the court 
 house. 
 
 ["Bacon's Assembly"' of \(uQ repealed this I'estriction and restored 
 free manhood franchise ; but that act fell with the other attempted re- 
 forms of that year ; Nos. 106, 109, below.] 
 
 106. *' Bacon's Laws." in Virginia (Political Discontent) 
 
 Hening's Statutes at Large. II, 341-305. 
 Cf. American History and Government, § 105. 
 
 At a Grand Assemblie Holden at James Citie the fifth day of 
 June, 1676. 
 
 Act I. [An act for carrying on a warre against the barbarous 
 Indians.] 
 
 [Nearly ten pages. Declares war ; Provides an army of 1000 
 men; decrees that captives shall be made slaves; appoints 
 Bacon " genii, and commander in cheife."] 
 
 Act II. [Prohibits trade with Indians.] 
 
 Act III. [Reserves to the colony as a whole any deserted 
 Indian lands.] 
 
 Act IV. [To suppress tumults.] 
 
 ActV. [Sheriffs.] 
 
 "Whereas divers complaints have been made throughout the 
 country of the abuses ... of divers offices . . . Bee it en- 
 acted by the governour, councell, a)id bxrgesses of this grand as- 
 sembly, and by the authority of the same, that noe person what- 
 soever within this country shall exercise, hold, and enjoy the 
 office of sherriffe or under-sherriffe more than one year succes- 
 sively. [Penalty, 20.000 pounds of tobacco] . . . And bee it 
 further enacted . . . that noe person or persons whatsoever 
 shall hold or enjoy two of these offices hereafter named at one 
 
326 AN EXGLIStt COLONIAL SYSTEM 
 
 and the same time . . . viz. . . . slierriffs, clerke of courte, 
 surveyor, and escheator. . . . [Threeyears residence necessary 
 for eligibility to any office. . . . Provision, in much detail, 
 against sheriffs or other officers exacting more than the legal 
 fees.] 
 
 Act VI. [Vestries.] 
 
 Whereas the long continuance of vestries ... is presented as 
 a greivance, Bee it enacted . . . that it shall and may be law- 
 full . . . for the freeholders and freemen of every parish . , . 
 by the majoritie of votes to elect . . . certaine freeholders or 
 substantiall householders to the number of twelve . . . which 
 said twelve shall be . . . the vestrie of the parish . . . and 
 such election to be made . . . once in every three yeares. 
 
 Act VII [Suffrage.] 
 
 Bee it enacted . . . that the act of assembly [1770 ; see No. 105] 
 . . . which forbids freemen to have votes in the election of ' 
 burgesses be repealed, and that they be admitted, together 
 with freeholders and householders, to vote as formerly in such 
 elections. 
 
 Act VIII. [To add representatives to the Board of County 
 Justices, except for judicial purposes.] 
 
 TF^ftereas the justices of the county courts . . . have accustom- 
 marily sett ... a rate or assessment upon the people of their 
 counties . . . and whereas it hath been suspected . . . that 
 under colour thereof many sums have bin raised . . . for the 
 interest of particular persons. . . . Bee it enacted . . . that some 
 of the discreetest and ableest of the inhabitants of each county, 
 equal in number to the number of justices ... be yearly chosen 
 • • • [^V pai'ishes] by majoritie of votes of householders, ffree- 
 holders, and ffreemen . . . which said representatives, together 
 with the justices . . . are to meet at the usual place . . . and 
 are hereby authorized and impowered to have eqi]al votes with 
 them, the said justices, in laying county assessments and of [in] 
 making wholesome by-lawes for the good of their counties. 
 
 IX, X, XI. [Forms of procedure in collecting levies and ad- 
 ministering estates.] 
 
"BACON'S LAWS," IN VIRGINIA 327 
 
 XII. [Abolition of exemptions from taxation.] 
 
 For the greater ease of the country . . . Bee it enacted that 
 the 5oth act of the printed laws [code of 1662], soe far as it 
 relates to the honorable councill of state and ministers, bee 
 . . . repealed, and that for the future the persons of the coun- 
 cill and all others of their families be liable to pay levies . . . 
 and that the person of every minister bee exempted, . . . but 
 all other tithable persons in his familie shall be liable to pay 
 levies. . . . 
 
 XIII. [Permitting wolf-bounties.] 
 
 XIY. [Regarding trespass by " unrulie horses " " within 
 another person's enclosure."] 
 
 XV. [Forbids exportation of corn until next session of the 
 assembly.] 
 
 XVI. [For temperance reform.] 
 
 Whereas it is most apparently found that the many ordi- 
 naries [taverns] in severall parts of the country are very preju- 
 diciall. . . Bee it therefore enacted . . . that no ordinaries, 
 ale houses, or other tipling houses whatsoever ... be kept 
 in any part of the country [except " at James Citty " and " at 
 the two great ferries " of Yorke river] ; Provided . . . that 
 [these exceptions] be admitted . . . to sell . . . mare's meate, 
 horse-meate, beer, and syder, but no other strong drinke what- 
 soever. . . . [Penalty of 1000 pounds tobacco for selling " any 
 sorte of drinke or liquor " or for ** being drunke . . . in his 
 . . , house.'* ^ 
 
 XVII. XVIII. [Special Acts, relating to James City and 
 two counties.] 
 
 Act XIX. [_Gene7-al Pardon and Oblivion.^ 
 
 Act XX. [Disabling Lt. Col. Edward Hill and Lieut. John 
 Stith. from bearing any office, civil or military, because these 
 men had "bin the greatest instruments ... of raiseing, pro- 
 moteing, and stirring up the late differences and misunderstand- 
 ings . . . between the honorable governour and his majesties 
 good and loyal subjects," Beacon's party.] 
 
328 AN ENGLISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 
 
 107. Bacon's Proclamation, July 30, 1676 
 
 Massachusetts Historical Society Collections, Fourth Series, IX, 
 184-187, 
 
 The closing paragraphs (here given) follow some two pages of specific 
 charges of inisgovernment against Governor Berkeley and certain of " his 
 wicked and pernicious counsellors, confederates, aides and associates 
 against the Comonality." 
 
 TJie Dedaracion of the People 
 
 . . . And we doe further demand that the said Sir William 
 Berkeley with all the persons in this list be forthwith delivered 
 up or surrender themselves within fower days after the notice 
 hereof, Or otherwise we declare as followeth. 
 
 That in whatsoever place, howse, or ship, any of the said 
 persons shall reside, be hidd, or protected, we declaire the 
 owners, Masters or inhabitants of said places, to be con- 
 federates and trayters to the people ; and the estates of them as 
 alsoe of all the aforesaid persons to be confiscated, and this we 
 the Commons of Virginia, doe declare, desiering a firme union 
 amongst ourselves that we may joyntly and with one accord 
 defend ourselves against the common Enimy, and lett not the 
 faults of the guilty be the reproach of the inocent, or the faults 
 or crimes of the oppressors devide and separate us who have 
 suffered by theire oppressions. 
 
 These are therefore in his majesties name to command you 
 forthwith to seize the persons above mencioned as Trayters to 
 the King and Country and them to bring to Midle plantacon, 
 and there to secure them untill further order, and in case of 
 opposicion, if you want any further assistance you are forth- 
 with to demand itt in the name of the people in all the Coun- 
 ties of Virginia. 
 
 Nath. Bacon. 
 
 Genii by Consent of the people. 
 
CAUSES OF BACON'S REBELLION 329 
 
 108. Testimony of Political Discontent as a Cause of Bacon's 
 Rebellion 
 
 Vinjitiia Historical Magazint-, II, lGO-173, '289-292. 
 
 When Bacon's Rebellion luid been crushed, royal commissioners ar- 
 rived in the colony, with instructions to inform themselves " of all 
 grievances.'' The commissioners met the inhabitants at various County 
 Courts, and took down their complaints in writing. These complaints 
 show some of the real causes of Bacon's Rebellion. Of course, to these 
 royal commissioners the people as a rule would say little of infringements 
 upon political liberty (because commissioners from Charles II could not 
 be expected to have any sympathy with such complaints), and they 
 loouhl say much about misgovernment and economic oppression. The 
 following extracts from the commissioners' records are selected to show 
 that complaints regarding political oppression did find voice, even under 
 such conditions. These entries might be greatly extended. 
 
 (1) Gloster County 
 
 4. That severall grievances being presented to the June 
 Assembly [1676] upon which many good Lawes were consented 
 to by that Assembly [No. 106] . . . they Beg those good and 
 wholesome Lawes may be confirmed. 
 
 (2) Lower Norfolk County 
 
 5. Request for Liberty to Transport their Tobacco to any 
 of his majesties Plantations without paying the Impost pay- 
 able by Act of Parliament. [This request the commissioners 
 declare ''wholly mutinous."] 
 
 (3) Sxirry County 
 
 1. That the last Assembly continued many yeares . . . 
 
 10. That it has been the custome of County Courts att the 
 laying of the levy to withdraw into a private Roome, — by 
 which meanes the poore people, not knowing for what they 
 paid, did admire how their taxes could be so high. 
 
 12. That, contrary to the lawes of England and this Country, 
 high sheriffs have usually continued two years, and under 
 
330 AN ENGLISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 
 
 sheriffs 3 or 4 years together : wee humbly pray that for the 
 future no person may continue sheriffe above one yeare. 
 
 14. That we have not had liberty to choose vestrymen: 
 wee humbly desire tliat the wholle parish may have a free 
 election. 
 
 15. That since his most gracious Majesty hath been most 
 mercifully pleased to pardon our late disloyalty, wee most 
 earnestly and humbly pray that this present grand assembly 
 would make an Act of Oblivion, — that no person may be 
 injured by the provoking names of Rebell, Traitor and Rogue. 
 
 (4) Northam2^ton County 
 
 2. That we may have Liberty grannted iis to choose a new 
 vestery, and that every three years a new vestery may be 
 chosen. 
 
 6. That it may be grauuted us to make a free choyse of six 
 housekeepers without Interposing of any Ruling Magistratre 
 [to sit with the Justices of the County as a Board to assess 
 taxes], to prevent oppressions ... as we humbly suspect . . . 
 to have Received heretofore. 
 
 15. That no Sheriff may officiate two years together. 
 
 (5) Isle of Wight 
 
 14. We desire wee may have libertie to chuse our Vestries 
 once in three yeares, and that their may noe member of the 
 Court [County Justices] be therein. 
 
 109. Abolition of Bacon's Reforms for Virginia 
 
 a. The King's Orders 
 
 Additional instructions [from King Charles //] for our trusty and 
 well beloved Sir William Berkeley, Knt. our governor of our colony 
 of Virginia, November 13, 1676 
 
 Hening's Statutes, II, 42-1 ff. 
 
 ******* 
 
REPEAL OF POPULAR REFORMS 331 
 
 2. You shall take care that the members of the assembly be 
 elected only by Jfreeholders, as being more agreeable to the 
 custome of England, to which you are as nigh as conveniently 
 you can to conforme yourselfe. 
 
 G. You shall declare voyd and null all the proceedings of 
 the late assembly . . . [ " Bacon's Assembly "]. 
 
 b. Repeal by the Assembly, February, 1676/1677 
 Hening's Statutes at Large, II, 380. 
 
 Whereas Nathaniell Bacon ... in the month of June, 1676 
 . . . did enter James Citty in a rebellious manner with a con- 
 siderable number of armed men . . . environing and beseigeing 
 the governour and councell and burgesses . . . threatening 
 them with sudden death if they would not grant his unreason- 
 able, unlawfull, rebellious and treasonable demands, and by 
 his threats and . . . violence did obteine to himselfe whatso- 
 ever he soe . . . demanded; And whereas the kings most 
 excellent majestic by his gratious proclamation . . . hath long 
 since declared all the proceedings of the said assembly to be 
 voyd in law : Bee it therefore enacted by this present grand 
 assembly and the authority thereof, and it is liereby enacted, that 
 all acts, orders, and proceedings of the said grand assembly be 
 repealed and made null and voyd. 
 
 110. Self-government in Massachusetts Decreased 
 
 a. Randolph's Report, 1676 
 
 Hutchinson's Collection of Original Papers (1769), 477 ff. 
 
 Randolph had been sent to the colonies as a "commissioner" by the 
 Lords of Trade. 
 
332 AN ENGLISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 
 
 Second Enquiry. What lawes and ordinances are now in 
 force there derogatory or contrary to those of England, and 
 what oath is prescribed by the government ? 
 
 The lawes and ordinances made in that colony are no longer 
 observed than as they stand with their convenience. The 
 magistrates not so strictly minding the letter of tlie law when 
 their publick interest is concerned, in all cases more regarding 
 the quality and affection of the persons to their government 
 than the nature of their offence. They see no evill in a churcli 
 member, and therefore it is very difficult to get any sentence 
 or verdict against him, tho' in the smallest matters. 
 
 No law is in force or esteeme there but such as are made by 
 the generall court, and therefore it is accounted a breach of 
 their privileges and a betraying of the liberties of their com- 
 monwealth to urge the observation of the lawes of England or 
 his Majesties commands. 
 
 TJie lawes most derogatory and contradictory to those of England. 
 
 All persons of the age of 21 years, being excommunicate or 
 condemned, have liberty to make wills and dispose of lands 
 and estates. 
 
 In capital cases, dismembering or banishment; where no 
 law is made by the generall court, or in case of defect of a law 
 in any particular case, the offender to be tryed by the word of 
 God and judged by the generall court. 
 
 Ministers are ordained by the people and no injunction to be 
 put upon any church officer or member, in point of doctrine, 
 worship or discipline, whether for substance or circumstance, 
 besides the institution of the Lord. 
 
 Whoever shall observe christmasse day or the like festivity, 
 by forbearing to labour, feasting or other way shall pay 5s. 
 and whosoever shall not resort to their meeting upon the 
 Lord's day and such days of fasting and Thanksgiving as shall 
 be appointed by authority, shall pay bs. no days commanded 
 by the lawes of England to be observed or regarded. 
 
 No person shall be impressed or compelled to serve in any 
 
RANDOLPH'S REPORT 333 
 
 wars but such as shall be enterprized by that commonwealth, 
 by the consent of a generall court, or by authority derived 
 from them. 
 
 No person whatsoever shall joine any persons in marriage 
 but a magistrate, it being an honorable ordinance and therefore 
 should be accordingly sollemnized. 
 
 All strangers professing the true christian religion that 
 shall fly to them for succour from the tyranny or oppression 
 of their persecutors, or for any necessary or compulsory cause, 
 tliey shall be entertained and protected amongst them accord- 
 ing to that power and prudence God shall give them. By 
 whicih law Whalley and Gosse and other traytors were kindly 
 receaved and entertained by Mr. Godkins and other magistrates. 
 
 Whosoever shall be in the possession of any land 5 years, 
 altho' the grant of said land was to another, and the possessor 
 have nothing to shew for the alienation thereof but his 
 possession, the possessor shall have the land confirraed to him. 
 
 No oath shall be urged or required to be taken by any 
 person but such oath as the generall court hath considered 
 allowed and required. 
 
 The oaths of allegiance and supremacy are neither taken by 
 the magistrates nor required to be taken by the inhabitants, 
 only an oath of fidelity to the government is imposed upon all 
 persons as well strangers as inhabitants, upon the penalty of 
 5 I. for every week they shall refuse the said oath. 
 
 b. Second, Charter of Massachusetts, October 7 / 17, 1691 
 
 Acts and Resolves of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, I, 1-20. 
 
 The stubborn persistence of Massachusetts in resisting all regulation 
 from England finally involved all New England in the despotic rule of 
 Andros. On the overthrow of Andros (on the flight of James II and the 
 accession of William III), Connecticut and Rhode Island continued 
 their former charter governments ; but the Massachusetts Charter of 
 1029 had been declared void by the English courts and had been formally 
 surrendered. The best Massachusetts could now do was to secure a 
 much more limited instrument. For a fuller history, cf. American 
 History and Government, § 97. 
 
334 AN ENGLISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 
 
 [Recital of the creation of the Plymouth Council in 1620, 
 of the grant by that Council to the Massachusetts Bay Com- 
 pany in 1G28, of the royal charter of 1629, and of the vacating 
 of that charter in 1684.] 
 
 '^nti TOtctEas severall persons employed as Agents in behalfe 
 of Our said Collony of the Massachusetts Bay in New England 
 have made their humble application unto Us that Wee would 
 be graciously pleased by Our Royall Charter to Incorporate 
 Our Subjects in Our said Colony and to grant and confirme 
 unto them such powers priviledges and Franchises . . . and 
 Wee being graciously pleased to gratifie Our said Subjects. 
 And alsoe to the end Our good Subjects within Our Collony 
 of New Plymouth in New England aforesaid may be brought 
 under such a forme of Government as may put them in 
 a better Condition of defence . . . 
 
 . . . Witt doe by these presents for Us Our Heirs and 
 Successors Will and Ordeyne that the Territories and Collonyes 
 comonly called or known by the Names of the Collony of 
 the Massachusetts Bay, and Collony of New Plymouth, the 
 Province of Main, the Territorie called Accadia or Nova 
 Scotia, and all that Tract of Land lying betweene the said 
 Territories of Nova Scotia and the said Province of Main 
 be Erected United and Incorporated . . . into one reall Prov- 
 ince by the Name of Our Province of the Massachusetts l^ay 
 in New Englaud And . . . [grant of territory] . . . 
 
 ProtiitJetJ . . . that all and every such Lands Tenements 
 and Hereditaments and all other estates which any person 
 or persons or Bodyes Politique or Corporate (Townes, Villages, 
 Colledges, or Schooles) doe hold and enjoy or ought to hold 
 and enjoy within the bounds aforesaid by or under any Grant 
 or estate duely made or granted by any Generall Court 
 formerly held or by vertue of the Letters Patents herein 
 before recited or by any other lawfull Right or Title whatso- 
 ever shall be by . . . [them] . . . for ever hereafter held 
 and enjoyed according to the purport and • Intent of such 
 respective Grant. . . . And wee doe further . . . Estab- 
 
MASSACHUSETTS CHARTER OF 1691 335 
 
 lish and ordeyne that . . . there shall be one Governour, 
 One Leiutenant or Deputy Governour, and One Secretary of 
 Our said Province or Territory, to be from time to time 
 appointed and Commissionated by Us . . . and Eight and 
 Twenty Assistants or Councillors to be advising and assisting 
 to the Governour . . . for the time being as by these presents 
 is hereafter directed and appointed, which said Councillors 
 or Assistants are to be Constituted, Elected, and Chosen in 
 such forme and manner as hereafter in these presents is 
 expressed. [Appointment of first set of officers, the Assistants 
 to continue until the last Wednesday in May, 1693.] 
 
 •Ilntj ©iir Will and Pleasure is that the Governour . . . shall 
 have Authority from time to time at his discretion to assemble 
 and call together the Councillors or Assistants . . . and that 
 the said Governour with the said Assistants or Councillors or 
 Seaven of them at the least shall and may from time to time 
 hold and keep a Councill for the ordering and directing the 
 Affaires of Our said Province "SlnlJ jFrntber Wee Will . . . that 
 there shall ... be convened ... by the Governour . . . upon 
 every last Wednesday in the Moneth of May every yeare for 
 ever and at all such other times as the Governour . . . shall 
 think fitt and appoint a great and Generall Court of Assembly 
 Which . . . shall consist of the Governour and Councill or 
 Assistants . . . and of such Freeholders ... as shall be from 
 time to time elected or deputed by the Major parte of the 
 Freeholders and other Inhabitants of the respective Townes 
 or Places who shall be present at such Elections ... To which 
 Great and Generall Court . . . Wee doe hereby . . . grant 
 full power and authority from time to time to direct . . . what 
 Numbet each County Towne and Place shall Elect and Depute 
 to serve for and represent them respectively . . . ^probiliEli 
 alwayes that noe Freeholder or other Person shall have a 
 Vote in the Election of Members . . . who at the time of such 
 Election shall not have an estate of Freehold in Land wWiin 
 Our said Province or Territory to the value of Forty Shillings 
 lier Annum at the least, or other estate to the value of Forty 
 
336 AN ENGLISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 
 
 pounds Sterling . . . and that the Governour for the time being 
 shall have full power and Authority from time to time as he shall 
 Judge necessary to adjourne Prorogue and dissolve all Great and 
 Generall Courts . . . And . . . Wee doe . . . Ordeyne that 
 yearly once in every yeare . . . the aforesaid Number of Eight 
 and Twenty Councillors or Assistants shall be by the Generall 
 Court . . . newly chosen . . . [Four at least of the Assistants to 
 come from the former Plymouth Colony and three from Maine. 
 The General Court may remove Assistants from office, and may 
 also fill vacancies caused by removal or death.] And Wee 
 doe further Grant and Ordeyne that it shall and may be law- 
 full for the said Governour with the advice and consent of 
 the Councill or Assistants from time to time to nominate and 
 appoint Judges, Commissioners of Oyer and Terminer, Sheriffs, 
 Provosts, Marshalls, Justices of the Peace, and other Officers 
 to Our Councill and Courts of Justice belonging, ProfaitiEti 
 alwayes that noe such Nomination or Appointment of Officers 
 be made without notice first given or summons issued out 
 seaven dayes before such Nomination or. Appointment unto 
 such of the said Councillors or Assistants as shall be at that 
 time resideing within Our said Province . . . and for the 
 greater Ease and Encouragement of Our Loveing Subjects In- 
 habiting our said Province . . . and of such as shall come to 
 Inhabit there Wee doe . . . Ordaine that for ever hereafter 
 there shall he a liberty of Conscience alloived in the Worshipp of 
 God to all Christians (Except Papists) Inhabiting . . . within 
 our said Province . . . [Courts for the trial of both civil and 
 criminal cases may be established by the General Court, reserv- 
 ing to the governor ajid assistants matters of probate and 
 administration.] 'SntJ inficreag Wee judge it necessary that all 
 our Subjects should have liberty to Appeale tons ... in Cases 
 that may deserve the same Wee doe . . . Ordaine that incase 
 either party shall not rest satisfied with the Judgement or 
 Sentence of any Judicatories or Courts within our said Province 
 ... in any Personall Action tvherein the matter in difference 
 doth exceed the value of three hundred Pounds Sterling that then 
 
MASSACHUSETTS CHARTER OF 1691 337 
 
 he or they may appeale to jis . . . in our . . . Privy Council 
 Provided stKh Appeale be inade within Fourteen dayes after the 
 Sentence or Judgement given and that before such Apipeal be 
 allowed Security be given by the party or parties appealing in the 
 value of the matter in Difference to pay or Answer the Debt or 
 Damages for the ivhich Judgement or Serdencc is given With such 
 Costs and Damages as shall be Awarded by tis . . . incase the 
 Judgement or Sentence be affirmed [provided that no execution 
 • shall be stayed by reason of such appeal.] ^nti we doe further 
 . , . grant to the said Governor and the great and Generall 
 Court . . . full power and Authority from time to time to 
 make ... all manner of wholesome and reasonable Orders 
 Laws Statutes and Ordinances Directions and Instructions 
 either with penalties or without (soe as the same be not repug- 
 nant or contrary to the Lawes of this our Kealme of England) 
 as they shall Judge to be for the good and welfare of our said 
 Province. . . . And for the Government and Ordering thereof 
 and of the People Inhabiting or who shall Inhabit the same 
 and for the necessary support and Defence of the Government 
 thereof [and also] full power and Authority to name and settle 
 Annually all Civill Officers within the said Province (such 
 Officers Excepted the Election and Constitution of whome wee 
 have by these presents reserved to us . . . or to the Governor) 
 . . . and to Settforth the severall Duties Powers and Lymitts 
 of every such Officer . . . and the forms of such Oathes not 
 repugnant to the Lawes and Statutes of this our Real me of 
 England as shall be respectively Administred unto them for 
 the Execution of their severall Offices and places. And alsoe to 
 impose Fines, mulcts, Imprisonments, and other Punishments ; 
 And to Impose and leavy proportionable and reasonable As- 
 sessments, Rates, and Taxes, upon the Estates and Persons of 
 all and every the Proprietors and Inhabitants of our said Prov- 
 ince . . . ^fobiliEli alwaies . . . that in the frameing and 
 passing of all such Orders . . . and in all Elections and Acts 
 of Government whatsoever to be passed made or done by the 
 said Generall Court . . . or in CouncilL^^e (governor . . . shall 
 
338 AN ENGLISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 
 
 have the Negative voice, and that without his consent or Approbation 
 signified and declared in Writeing, no such Orders . . . Elections 
 or other Acts of Government . . . shall be of any Force effect or 
 validity . . . ^nti wee doe . . . Ordaine that the said Orders 
 Laws Statutes and Ordiuances be by the first opportunity after 
 the makeing thereof sent or Transmitted unto us . . . under 
 the Piiblique Seale to be appointed by us for Our . . . appro- 
 bation or Disallowance And that incase all or any of them shall, 
 at any time within the spiace of three yeares next after the same, 
 shall have been presented, to us . . . in Our . . . Privy Councill, 
 be disallowed and rejected and soe signified by us . . . unto the 
 Governor for the time being then s^ich . . . of them as shall be 
 soe disalloimd . . . shall thenceforth cease and determine and 
 become utterly void and of 7ione effect. [Laws not disallowed 
 within the three years, to remain in force until repealed by 
 the General Court. Grants of land by the General Court, 
 within the limits of the former colonies of Massachusetts Bay 
 and New Plymouth, and the Province of Maine, excepting the 
 region north and east of the Sagadahoc, to be valid without 
 further royal approval. The governor to direct the defense of 
 the province, and to exercise martial laiv in case of necessity'] 
 Pr0lailictJ alwayes . . . That the said Governour shall not at 
 any time hereafter by vertue of any power hereby granted or 
 hereafter to be granted to him Transport any of the Inhabitants 
 of Our said Province ... or oblige them to march out of the 
 Limitts of the same without their Free and voluntary consent 
 or the Consent of the Great and Generall Court . . . nor grant 
 Commissions for exercising the Law Martiall upon any the Inhab- 
 itants of Our said Province . . . without the Advice and Consent 
 of the Councill or Assistants of the same . . . [In case of the 
 death, removal or absence of the governor, the lieutenant-gov- 
 ernor may take his place ; failing both governor and lieutenant- 
 governor, the council, or the major part of them, are to act.] 
 ^robitiet alwaies . . . that nothing herein shall extend or be 
 taken to . . . allow the Exercise of any Admirall Court Juris- 
 diction Power or Authority but that the same be and is hereby 
 
ATTEMPTS AT CLOSER CONTROL 339 
 
 reserved to Us . . . and shall from time to time be . . . exercised 
 by vertue of Commissions to be issued under the Great Seale 
 of England or under the Seale of the High Admirall or the 
 Commissioners for executing the Office of High Admirall of 
 England. . . . ^ntJ lagtljj for the better provideing and furn- 
 ishing of Masts for Our Roy all Navy Wee doe hereby reserve 
 to Us . . . all Trees of the Diameter of Twenty Four Inches 
 and upwards of Twelve Inches from the ground growing upon 
 any soyle or Tract of Land within Our said Province . . . not 
 heretofore granted to any private persons. 
 
 111. Attempts by England at Closer Control after 1700 
 
 For an outline of these natural and long-continued attempts, see American 
 History and Government, §§ 117, 118. The first attempt, barely avoided 
 and only by accident, is given under «, below ; h represents American 
 feeling toward such encroachments ; and c illustrates the activity of a 
 New England town meeting in this field of general politics. 
 
 a. Recormnendation from the Board of Trade to make 
 all the Colonies into Royal Provinces. March 26/ Apr. 
 5, 1701 
 
 North Carolina Colonial Eecords, I, 5.35. 
 
 To the King's most Excellent Majestie. 
 May it please, etc. 
 
 Having formerly on severall occasions humbly represented 
 to your Majesty the state of the Government under Proprietors 
 and Charters in America ; and perceiving the irregularities of 
 these Governments dayly to increase, to the prejudice of Trade 
 and of your Majesties other Plantations in America, as well as 
 of your Majesties revenue arising from the Customes here, we 
 find ourselves obliged at present humbly to represent to your 
 Majesty ; 
 
 That those Colonies in general have no ways answered the 
 chief design for which such large Tracts of Land and such 
 Priviledges and Immunities were granted by the Crown. 
 
340 AN ENGLISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 
 
 That they have not conformed themselves to the severall 
 acts of Parliament for regulating Trade and Navigation, to 
 which they ought to pay the same obedience, and submit to 
 the same Restrictions as the other Plantations, which are 
 subject to your Majesties immediate Government ; on the 
 contrary in most of these Proprieties and Charter Govern- 
 ments, the Governours have not applyed themselves to your 
 Majesty for your approbation, nor have taken the Oaths re- 
 quired by the acts of Trade, both which Qualifications are 
 made necessary by the late Act for preventing frauds and 
 regulating abuses in the Plantation Trade. 
 
 That they have assumed to themselves a power to make 
 Laws contrary and repugnant to the Laws of England, and 
 directly prejudicial to Trade, some of them having refused to 
 send hither such Laws as they had enacted, and others having 
 sent them but very imperfectly. 
 
 That diverse of them have denyed appeals to your Majesty 
 in Councill, by which not only the Inhabitants of those Col- 
 onies but others your Majesties subjects are deprived of that 
 benefit, enjoyed in the Plantations, under your Majesties im- 
 mediate Government, and the parties agrieved are left with- 
 out remedy from the arbitrary and Illegal proceedings of their 
 Courts. 
 
 That these Colonies continue to be the refuge and retreat 
 of Pirates and Illegal Traders, and the receptacle of Goods 
 imported thither from foreign parts contrary to Law : In 
 return of which Commodities those of the growth of these 
 Colonies are likewise contrary to Law exported to Foreign 
 parts ; All which is likewise much incouraged by their not 
 admitting appeals as aforesaide. 
 
 That by raising and lowering their coin from time to time, 
 to their particular advantage, and to the prejudice of other 
 Colonies, By exempting their Inhabitants from Duties and 
 Customes to which the other Colonies are subject, and by 
 Harbouring of Servants and fugitives, these Governments 
 tend greatly to the undermining the Trade and Welfare of the 
 
ATTEMPTS AT CLOSER CONTROL 341 
 
 other Plantations, and seduce and draw away the People 
 thereof; By which Diminution of Hands the rest of the 
 Colonies more beneficial to England do very much suffer. 
 
 That these Independent Colonies do turn the Course of 
 Trade to the Promoting and proprogating woolen and other 
 Manufactures proper to England, instead of applying their 
 thoughts and Endeavours to the production of such commod- 
 ities as are fit to be encouraged in these parts according to 
 the true design and intention of such settlements. 
 
 That they do not in general take any due care for their own 
 defence and security against an Enemy, either in Building 
 Forts or providing their Inhabitants with sufficient Armes 
 and Amunition, in case they should be attacked, which is 
 every day more and more to be apprehended, considering how 
 the French power encreases in those parts. 
 
 That this cheifly arises from the ill use they make of the 
 powers entrusted to them by their Charters, and the Independ- 
 ency which they pretend to, and that each Government is 
 obliged only to defend its self without any consideration had 
 of their Neighbours, or of the general preservation of the whole. 
 
 That many of them have not a regular militia and some 
 (particularly the Colonies of East and West New Jersey) are 
 no otherwise at present than in a state of Anarchy and 
 confusion. 
 
 And hecmise the care of these and other great mischiefs in your 
 Majesties Plantations and Colonies aforesaid, and the introduc- 
 ing such an administration of Government and Jit regulation of 
 Trade as may put them into a better State of Security and make 
 them duly subservient and usefull to England, does every day 
 become more and more necessary, and that your Majesties fre- 
 quent Commands to them have not met with due comply ance : 
 We humbly conceive it may be expedient that the Charters of the 
 secerall Projyrietors and others intitling them to absolute Govern- 
 ment be reassunied to the Crown and these Colonies put into the 
 same State and dep>endency as those of your Majesties other 
 Plantations, without prejudice to any man'' s particular property 
 
342 AN ENGLISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 
 
 and freehold. Which being no otherwise so ivell to be effected 
 as bij the Legislative jjoiver of this Kingdome. 
 
 Wee humbly submit the same to your Majesties Royal 
 consideration. 
 
 b. John Wise upon Englishmen and Tyramiy 
 
 This extract comes from a pamphlet by John Wise, minister at 
 Ipswich, and a leader (and sufferer) against arbitrary taxation by 
 Andros twenty years earlier, and is in the nature of a warning that the 
 American English will not submit to political aggression. 
 
 Englishmen hate an arbitrary power (politically considered) 
 as they hate the devil. . . . And though many of their in- 
 cautelous princes have endeavored to null all their charter 
 rights and immunities, and agrandize themselves in the servile 
 state of the subjects, by setting up their own seperate will, 
 for the great standard of government over the nation, yet 
 they have all along paid dear for their attempts, both in the 
 ruin of the nation, and in interrupting the increase of their 
 own grandeur, and their foreign settlements and conquests. 
 
 Had the late reigns, before the accession of the great 
 William and Mary, to the throne of England, but taken the 
 measures of them, and [of] her present majesty,^ in depressing 
 vice, and advancing the union and wealth, and encouraging the 
 prowice and bravery of the nation, they might by this time 
 have been capable to have given laws to any monarch on 
 earth ; but spending their time in the pursuit of an absolute 
 monarcl)y (contrary to the temper of the nation, and the an- 
 cient constitution of the government) through all the 
 meanders of state craft : It has apparently kept back the 
 glory, and dampt all the most noble affairs of the nation. 
 And when under the midwifry of Machiavilan art, and cunning 
 of a daring prince, this Monster, tyranny, and arbitrary 
 government, was at last just born, upon the holding up of a 
 finger ! or upon the least signal given, OK the whole nation 
 goes upon this HYDRA.^ 
 
 1 Queen Anne. ^ \ reference to the expulsion of James II. 
 
TOWN MEETING ACTIVITY 
 
 343 
 
 The very name of an arbitrary government is ready to put 
 an Englishman's blood into a fermentation ; but when it really 
 comes, and shakes its whip over their ears, and tells them it 
 is their master, it makes them stark mad. 
 
 c. Boston's Action Belatiue to the Proposed Permanent 
 Salary for the Governor in 1729 
 
 Boston Toicn Records (for dates given). 
 
 The full records of the meeting are given, that the student may see 
 hov? great matters of state were mingled with trivial and local business. 
 The attempt of England to secure a fixed salary for the Governor of 
 Massachusetts would, if successful, have made that officer wholly inde- 
 pendent of popular control. Cf. American History and Government, 
 § 118, for the whole story. 
 
 At a Meeting of the Freeholders and Other Inhabitants of 
 the Town of Boston Duly Qualified being Regulerly Assembled 
 in a Publick Town meeting at the Town House Tuesday May 
 the 6th 1729 — 
 
 After Prayer by the Eevd mr Thomas Prince [and after] 
 Elisha Cooke Esq"^ Chose [n] Moderator for this Meeting. 
 
 Sundry Petitions Read Vizt 
 
 About a place for the Grainery 
 
 About m. [Mr.] Peleg Wiswalls Sallary 
 
 About m. Edward Mills Sallary 
 
 m. Samuel Oakes Petition 
 
 m. Jera [Jeremiah] Condys Petition 
 
 The Selectmens Report of Sundry things left to them 
 
 Voted to Chuse 4 Representatives 
 
 The Number of Voters were - - 192 
 
 Elisha Cooke Esqr 188 
 
 m. Thomas Gushing - 190 
 
 m. Ezekll Lewis - 190 
 
 m. Samll Welles - 184 
 
 Chose [n] Representatives 
 
344 AN ENGLISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 
 
 Voted To Chase a Couiittee to Prepare Instructions for 
 the Representatives for their Acting at the General Court at 
 their Approching Session, And to Lay them befor the Meeting 
 in the Afternoon — 
 
 Voted: That John Alford Esqr niesrs Henry Bering 
 and Nathll Cunningham be the Said Committee — 
 
 On the Petition of Sundry Inhabitants about the Situatian 
 of the Grainery 
 
 Voted That mr Moderator and the Selectmen borJoyned with 
 the Coiuittee appointed for Building the Grainery, Be desired 
 to View the Place, And make Return of their Opinion thereof 
 to the Meeting after Dinner this Day — 
 
 mr John Jeffers Excus'd ] ^, . 
 
 ™, T»r i!c i_ -n. ,, Chosen Assessors. 
 
 mr Thomas Monat liixcusdj 
 
 Edward Maycomb - Sworn | 
 
 John Spooner - - Sworn i Clerks of the Market. 
 
 Nathanll Cobbit - Sworn | 
 
 Post Meridiem. 
 Voted That the Grainery be Erected and Set up Rainging 
 with the Line of the Burying place on the Coiiion fronting 
 Eastward, The Said Building to be not Less then [than] forty 
 feet distant from the [South] Corner of the Brick wall of the 
 Burying place — 
 
 mr James Pemberton-Pay^l . 
 
 T -t-^r , c I Assessors, 
 
 mr James \\ atson - SwornJ 
 
 In as much as the Gramer School at the Korth End of the 
 Town of which mr Peleg Wiswall is the Master is much In- 
 creaced in the Number of the Schollers, and that no Usher is 
 alowed to assist him in his School : 
 
 Voted That there be an Additian of Forty Pounds to the 
 Said mr Wiswalls Salary — 
 
 Samll Oakes Petition Read and Dismist — 
 
 1 Paid a fine for refusing to serve. 
 
TOWN MEETING ACTIVITY 345 
 
 In Answer to Mr. Edward Mills His Petitian. Voted That 
 there be an Addition of Twenty Pounds to the Said Mr. Edward 
 Mills Sallary — 
 
 Upon A Motion made by Elisha Cook Esquire That the 
 Dividing Line between the Towns Land in the Occupation of 
 Mr. Nathaniel Williams and His Land on the East Side in 
 School Street is for want of due Care become Crucked, intrench- 
 ing both upon the One and the Others Land, That therefore 
 they would Direct and Imp[o]wer the Selectmen to Rectifie 
 that line as to them Seems Just and Equitable — And Further 
 That they would be pleased to Accomodate him with about 
 two feet of the Front of his Land next Mr. Williams on Such 
 Terms as the Selectmen Shall Agree for with the Said 
 Mr. Cooke — 
 
 Read and Voted That it be left with the Selectmen to Act 
 therein as they Judge Meet — 
 
 On the Petition of Mr. Jeramiah Condy for Addition to his 
 Salary. 
 
 Voted that the Consideration of Said Petition be Referred 
 for further Consideration to the Next Town Meeting, and 
 That in the mean time Nathaniel Green John Alford Esquires 
 and Mr. Thomas Cushing Junior are desired to Inspect the 
 Several Wrighting Schools within this Town at Such Time as 
 they Shall think Avisable for the year Currant, And that they 
 do in an Espesial Manner Vizit Mr. Condys School and Report 
 to the Town at their Meeting the Ability and Industry of the 
 Said Mr. Condy and the Proficiency of the Schollers under 
 His Tuition — 
 
 The Comittee this day chosen and Appointed to Prepare 
 Instructions for the Representatives, for their Acting at the 
 General Court at their Approching Session And to Lay [them] 
 before the Meeting in the afternoon — Return as Follows : Viz. 
 
 To Elisha Cooke Esquire, Messrs. Thomas Cushing, Ezekiel 
 Lewis and Samuel Welles : — 
 
346 AN ENGLISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 
 
 Gentlemen — 
 
 Your known Loyalty to His Present Majesty King George, 
 and Sincear Atachment to the Succession in the Illustrious 
 House of Hannover, Y'our Hearty Love to this Y^our native 
 Country, Y^our Singuler Value for the Liberty and Propperty 
 of this People, your CheerfuU and LTna[ni]mous Concurrance 
 to promote our Best Intrist, And your Approved Integrity 
 in those Publick Stations wherein you have bin Employed, 
 Have fixed the Eyes of this Town on and Determined their 
 Choice of you as Propper Persons to Represent them in 
 the Xext General Assembly Wherin they Expect That you 
 behave your Selves with your Wonted Zeal and Courage in 
 Prossecuting those good Designes which may tend to the 
 Peace and wellfair of these His Majestys Good Subjects, and 
 Secui-e those Rights and Priviledges which by the Royal 
 Charter we have a Just claim to, and as Englishmen do of 
 Right appertain to us. And agreable there unto we Recomend 
 unto you in an Especial Manner — 
 
 That you Endeavor to Maintain all our Civil Rights and 
 Propertys against any Incrochments upon them. 
 
 That you Continue to Pay a due Regard to His Excellency 
 Oar Governor, and that you Endeftvor that He may have an 
 Honourable Support, Bat we desire at the Same time That 
 you use your utmost Endeavor That the Honourable House 
 of Representatives may not be by any means Prevailed upon 
 or brought into the Fixing a Certain Sallary for any Cei-tain 
 time. But that they may Improve their usual freedom in 
 granting their jNIoney from time to time, as they Shall Judg 
 the Province to be able, and in Such a manner as they Shall 
 think most for the Benefit and advantage thereof, And if 
 your Pay Should be diverted you may Depend on all the 
 Justice Imaginable from this Town whom you Represent: — 
 
 JoHX Alford "I 
 
 Hexry Derixg [ Coiiiittee 
 
 Nathll Cuningham 
 
COLONIAL RESISTANCE 347 
 
 The Foregoing Return of the C-oimuittee was Presended[ted] 
 Read Sundry times and Voted Approved. 
 
 The Report of the Selectmen upon Several Votes of the Town 
 at their IMeeting the 10th of March, 1728 : were Read and Con- 
 sidered Viz., 
 
 The Selectmen liave A-'iewed the IVIarsh at the Bottom of the 
 Common, and not tiuding any Material use that can be made of 
 it at the present, and Considering the Present Circumstances of 
 the Town Are of Opinion it is best to ly in the Condition it now 
 is. 
 
 Read and the Report Accepted — . . . 
 
 As to the I'roposals About Rennet Street — It is thought 
 Convenient to be Paved if the Town thinke it Convenient to 
 Raise Money for the Doing it at this Meeting. 
 
 Read and Refer'd for further consideration to the Next March 
 Meeting. . . . 
 
 d- Connecticut refuses to obey a Royal Officer appointed 
 to command her Militia against French and Indians 
 in 1693 
 
 Neio York Colonial Documents, IV, 71. 
 
 King William III appointed Fletcher governor of the royal province of 
 New York, and commissioned him to command the militia also of Con- 
 necticut, the neighboring charter colony, in the war usually known as 
 King William's War. The device was eminently wise, as a military meas- 
 ure ; but it was stubbornly resisted by Connecticut. The historians of 
 that colony delight to tell a legend that when the governor arrived and 
 tried to have his commission read by his secretary to the militia (drawn 
 up in arms to repel rather than to receive him), Captain Wadsworth 
 drowned the reading by commanding drums to beat ; three times this 
 was repeated ; and tlie last time Wadsworth added, " If you try again, 
 I'll make daylight shine through you." The following document gives 
 what is probably a more accurate statement, — but one which shows 
 equally well that Connecticut had her way. For the general conflict of 
 which this was one incident between crown and colonies, cf. American 
 History and Government, §§ 117, 118. 
 
348 AN ENGLISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 
 
 Governor Fletcher of New Yoi'k to 3Ir. Southwell 
 
 Counecticute in Kew England 
 Octoer 30th '93. 
 Sir: 
 
 I have been in this Collony 20 dayes laboreing to perswade 
 astubborne people to theire dewty. I Publis'd their Majesties 
 [William and Mary] Commission in theire General Court att 
 Hartford. Assured them I had noe pretentions to their civell 
 adminestration. But the mallitia being lodged in the Crowne 
 ... I came with commission under the greate seale to take 
 that . . . charge. They refused all obedienc. Have sepperated 
 not only from the Church, But Crowne of England ; and allowe 
 of noe appeale from theire Courts, nor the Lawes of England 
 to have any force amongst them. Some of the iviseest have 
 sakle *' Wee are not j^erniitted to vote for any members of Parh'amt, 
 and therefore [are] not lyahle to theire lawes.^' [Expresses mili- 
 tary dangers due to refusal.] 
 
 I never sawe the like people. ... I could not force obedience 
 haveing noe Company but a few servants and two friends ; nor 
 did I think it the King's service to carry on the contest to 
 Blonde, tho they threaten to draw mine for urging my Masters 
 right ... I have just now a letter from a sure f reinde acquaint- 
 ing mee the mobb have a designe upon my life. I must not 
 goe out of the way, tho' very thinly attended. . . . 
 
 [The following November 10, Fletcher wrote from New York to the 
 Committee on the Colonies urging tiiat the Connecticut Charter be pro- 
 ceeded against under a writ of quo warranto, with a view of uniting that 
 colony with New York. The same letter describes in detail the serious 
 perils from French and Indians. One paragraph should be quoted: "Our 
 hardships grow upon us. Canada . . . hath received seven hundred men 
 and stores of Warr from France this last Summer. Our Indians falter 
 . . . These small Colonies . . . are [as} much divided in theire interest 
 and affection as Christian and Turk. . . ."] 
 
COMMISSION OF A ROYAL GOVERNOR 349 
 
 112. Commission of a Royal Governor 
 
 New Hampshire Provincial Papers, VI, 908 (edited by N. Benton). 
 
 This commission, in compact form, describes tlie government of a royal 
 colony just before the Revolution. The omissions (indicated by . . .) 
 are mainly tautological phrases. 
 
 George the Third, by the grace of God of Great Britain, 
 France, and Ireland, King . . . 
 
 To our Trusty and well beloved Benning Wentworth Esquire, 
 Greeting : Know you, that Wee, reposing especial Trust and 
 Confidence in the Prudence, Courage, and Loyalty of you 
 Benning Wentworth, of our Especial grace, certain Knowledge, 
 and meer motion. Have thought fit to constitute and appoint 
 you ... to be our Governour and Commander-in-Chief of our 
 Province of New Hampshire . . . with all . . . the authoritys 
 hereby granted you . . . during our will and Pleasure : 
 
 And We do hereby require . . . you to , . . execute all things 
 . . . that shall belong vtnto your said Command . . . according 
 to the several Powers . . . granted . . . you by this Present 
 Commission ... or by such further powers, Instructions, and 
 Authorities as shall at any time be granted or appointed you 
 under our . . , sign manual . . . and according to such reason- 
 able Laws and Statutes as now are in force or hereafter shall 
 be made and agreed upon by you with the advice and consent 
 of our Council and the Assembly of our said Province. . . . 
 
 And wee do hereby give . . . you full Power . . . to suspend 
 any of the members of our said Council from sitting, Voting, 
 and assisting therein, if you shall find just cause for so doing : 
 and if it shall at any time happen that by the Death or Depar- 
 ture out of our said Province, suspension of any of our said 
 Councillors, or otherwise, there shall be a Vacancy in our said 
 Council (any three whereof we do hereby appoint to be a Quo- 
 rum), our Will and Pleasure is that you signify the same to us 
 by the first opportunity, that we may . . . appoint others in 
 their stead ; but that our affairs at that Distance may not suffer 
 
350 AN ENGLISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 
 
 for want of a due number of Councillors, if ever it shall happen 
 that there shall be less than seven of them residing in our said 
 Province, Wee do hereby give . . . iinto you . . . full Power 
 . . . to choose as many Persons out of the Principal Freeholders, 
 Inhabitants thereof, as will make up the full Number of our 
 said Council to be seven, and no more . . . 
 
 And wee do hereby give . . . you full Power . . . with the 
 advice and consent of our said Council from time to time, as 
 need shall require, to summon and call General Assemblys of 
 the said Freeholders and Planters within your Government, in 
 manner and form according to the usage of our Province of 
 New Hampshire : 
 
 Wee do hereby Declare that the Persons so elected and 
 qualified shall be called and Deemed the General Assembly of 
 our said Province . . . and that you . . . with the consent of 
 our said Council and Assembly, or the major part of them 
 respectively, shall have full Power ... to make. Constitute, 
 and ordain Laws, Statutes, and Ordinances, for the Publick 
 Peace, Welfare, and good Government of our said Province 
 . . . and for the Benefit of us our Heirs and Successors, — 
 which said Laws . . . are not to be repugnant, but, as near as 
 may be, agreeable to the laws ... of this our Kingdom of 
 Great Britain. 
 
 Provided that all such Statutes and Ordinances, of whatever 
 nature and Duration soever, be, within three months . . . 
 after the making thereof, transmitted unto us . . . for our 
 approbation or Disallowance [as also Duplicates of the same 
 by the next conveyance] ; and in case any or all of the said 
 Laws . . . , not before confirmed by us, shall at any time be 
 disallowed . . . and so signified by us our Heirs or Successors 
 . . , unto you , . . or to the Commander-in-Chief of our said 
 Province for the time being, then such and so many of the said 
 Laws . . . shall from thence cease. Determine, and become 
 utterly void . . . 
 
 And to the end that nothing may be passed or done by our 
 said Council or Assembly to the Prejudice of us, our Heirs 
 
COMMISSION OF A ROYAL GOVERNOR 351 
 
 and Successors, We will and ordain that you . . . shall have 
 ... a negative Voice in the making and Passing of all Laws 
 and Statutes and ordinances . . . and you shall and may . . . 
 from time to time, as you shall judge it necessary, adjourn, Pro- 
 rogue, and Dissolve all General Assemblies as aforesaid 
 
 And We do hereby authorize . . . you to constitute . . . 
 Judges, and, in cases requisite. Commissioners of Oyer and 
 Terminer, Justices of the Peace, and other necessary officers 
 ... in our said Province for the better administration of 
 Justice and putting the Laws in execution . . . 
 
 And W8 do hereby give . . . you full Power . . . where 
 you shall see cause, or shall Judge any offenders ... fit 
 objects for our mercy, to Pardon all such . . , offenders, and 
 to remit all . . . fines and forfeitures, Treason and WillfuU 
 murder only excepted ... in which cases you shall likewise 
 have Power, upon extraordinary occasions, to grant reprieves 
 . . . until . . . our royal Pleasure may be known . . . 
 
 And We do hereby give . . . unto you . . . , by yourself or 
 by your Captains ... by you to be authorized, full Power 
 ... to Levy, arm, muster, command, and Employ all persons 
 whatsoever residing within our said Province . . . for the re- 
 sisting and withstanding of all enemies, Pyrates, and rebels 
 . . . and to transport such forces to any of our Plantations in 
 America, if necessity shall require, for the Defence of the 
 same . . . and to Execute martial Law in time of Invasion, or 
 other times when by Law it may be executed, and to do and 
 execute every other thing . . . which to our Commander-in- 
 Chief doth or ought of right to belong . . . 
 
 And We do hereby command all officers . . . civil and mili- 
 tary, and all other Inhabitants ... to be obedient aiding and 
 assisting unto you, the said Penning Wentworth, in the 
 Execution of this our Commission . . . and in case of your 
 Death, or absence out of our Province, unto such person as 
 shall be appointed by us to be our Lieutenant Governor . . . 
 to whom we do therefore by these Presents give and grant all 
 and singular the Powers and authorities aforesaid [and, if no 
 
352 AN ENGLISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 
 
 Lieutenant Governor has been named, then] the Eldest 
 Councillor, whose Name is first placed in our Instructions to 
 you . . . shall take upon him the administration of the 
 government and Execute our said Commission . . . and the 
 several Powers therein contained. 
 
 113. Free Speech Vindicated 
 {Trial of John Peter Zenger, 1735.) 
 
 Zenger, m 1738, published a " Brief Narrative of the Case andTryall," 
 somewhat in the form of a modern •' Report," though he speaks in the 
 first person. In 1735 the governor of New York removed the chief 
 justice of the colony for personal reasons. Zenger, in his Weekly Journal, 
 vigorously criticized this and other despotic actions of the governor. He 
 was prosecuted for criminal libel ; and the new chief justice showed a 
 determination to secure a conviction, trying to limit the jury to deciding 
 only whether Zenger was responsible for the publication, and reserving 
 to himself the decision whether the words were punishable. This was 
 the custom in English courts of the day in government prosecutions. 
 
 Italics and black-faced type are as in the original. 
 
 [The Attorney General's complaint, as Zenger reports, char- 
 acterized him as " a seditious person and a frequent Printer and 
 Publisher of false news and seditious Libels, and charged specifi- 
 cally that he] " did falsely, seditiously, and scandalously print 
 and publish ... a certain false, malicious, seditious, scandalous 
 Libel . . . concerning His Excellency the Governour . . . [in 
 which publication he represented a former inhabitant explaining 
 that he had left the colony, as he doubts not others will, because, 
 among other reasons] They . . . think . . , that their LIBER- 
 TIES and PROPERTIES are precarious, and that SLAVERY 
 is likely to be intailed on them and their Posterity if some past 
 Things be not amended . . , (meaning, the past Proceedings of 
 his Excellency the Governor ...)... [and] WE . . . SEE 
 MENS DEEDS DESTROYED, JUDGES ARBITRARILY 
 DISPLACED, NEW COURTS ERECTED WITHOUT 
 CONSENT OF THE LEGISLATURE. . . . 
 
FREE SPEECH VINDICATED 353 
 
 " Who then [can^ call any Thing his own, or enjoy any Liberty 
 . . . longer than those in the Administration . . . ivill condescend 
 
 to let them ? " 
 
 [This publication, the Attorney General charges, was] to the 
 great disturbance of the T:*eace of the . . . Province ... to the 
 Great Scandal of Our said Lord the King, of His Excellency 
 the Governor [etc] ; whereupon the said Attorney General of 
 Our said Lord the King, for Our said Lord the King, prays 
 . . . the due Process of the Law against him the said John 
 Peter Zenger ... in the Premises, 
 
 [The Report continues :] 
 
 To this Information the Defendant has pleaded Not Guilty, 
 and we are ready to prove it. . . . 
 
 Then Mr. Hamilton,^ who at the Request of some of my 
 Friends, was so kind as to come from Philadelphia to assist me 
 on the Tryal, spoke. 
 
 Mr. Hamilton, " May it please your Honour ; I am concerned 
 in this Cause on the Part of Mr. Zenger the Defendant. The 
 Information against my Client was sent me, a few days before 
 I left Home, with some Instructions to let me know how far I 
 might rely upon the Truth of those Parts of the Papers set 
 forth in the Information, and which are said to be libellous 
 ... I cannot think it proper for me (without doing Violence 
 to my own Principles) to deny the Publication of a Complaint, 
 which I think is the Right of every free-born Subject to make, 
 when the Matters so published can be supported with Truth ; 
 and therefore I'll save Mr. Attorney the Trouble of Examining 
 his Witnesses to that Point ; and I do (for my Client) confess, 
 that he both printed and published the two News Papers set 
 foi-th in the Information, and I hope in so doing he has com- 
 mitted no Crime. . . ." 
 
 Mr. Attorney, ..." The Case before the Court is, whether 
 Mr. Zenger is guilty of Libelling his Excellency the Governor 
 of New- York, and indeed the wljole administration of the Gov- 
 
 1 James Hamiltou, au aged Pennsylvania lawyer. 
 
354 AN ENGLISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 
 
 ernment ? Mr. Hamilion has confessed the Printing and Pub- 
 lishing, and I think nothing is plainer, than that the Words in 
 the Information are scandalous, and tend to Sedition, and to disquiet 
 the Minds of the People of this Province. And if such Papers are 
 not Libels, I think it may be said, there can be no such Thing 
 as a Libel." 
 
 Mr. Hamilton, " May it please your Honour ; I cannot agree 
 with Mr. Attorney : For tho' I freely acknowledge, that there 
 are such Things as Libels, yet I must insist at the same Time, 
 that what my Client is charged with, is not a Libel ; and I 
 observed just now, that Mr. Attorney in defining a Libel, made 
 use of the Words scandalous, seditious, and tend to disquiet the Peo- 
 ple ; but (whether with Design or not I will not say) he omitted 
 the Word /atee." 
 
 Mr. Attorney, I think I did not omit the Word false: But it 
 has been said already, that it may be a Libel, notwithstanding 
 it may be true. 
 
 Mr. Hamilton, In this I must still differ with Mr. Attorney ; 
 for I depend upon it, we are to be tried upon this Information 
 now before the Court and Jury, and to which we have pleaded 
 Not Guilty, and by it we are charged with printing and publish- 
 ing, a certain false, malicious, seditious and scandalous Libel. This 
 Word false must have some Meaning, or else how came it 
 there? . . . 
 
 Mr. Ch. Justice, You cannot be admitted, Mr. Hamilton, to give 
 the Truth of a Libel in Evidence. A Libel is not to be justi- 
 fied; for it is nevertheless a Libel that [i.e. tho'] it is true. 
 
 Mr. Hamilton, I am sorry the court has so soon resolved upon 
 that Piece of Law ; I expected first to have been heard to that 
 Point. I have not in all my Reading met with an Authority 
 that says, we cannot be admitted to give the Truth in 
 Evidence, upon an Information for a Libel. 
 
 Ml'. Ch. Justice, The Law is clear. That you cannot justify a 
 Libel. . . . 
 
 Mr. Hamilton, I thank your Honour. Then, Gentlemen of the 
 Jury, it is to you we must now appeal, for Witnesses, to the 
 
FREE SPEECH VINDICATED 355 
 
 Truth of the Facts we have offered, and are denied the Liberty 
 to prove ; and let it not seem strange, that I apply my self to 
 you in this Manner, I am warranted so to do both by Law and 
 Reason. The Last supposes you to be summones, out of the 
 Neighbourhood ivhere the Fact is alledged to be committed ; and 
 the Reason of your being taken out of the Neighbourhood is, 
 because you are supposed to have the best Knoioledge of the Fact 
 that is to be tried. And were you to find a Verdict against my 
 Client, you must take upon you to say, the Papers referred to 
 in the Information, and which we acknowledge we printed and 
 published, Kve false, scandalous and seditious; but of this I can 
 have no Apprehension. You are Citizens of New- York; you 
 are really what the Law supposes you to be, honest and lawful 
 Men; and, according to my Brief, the Facts which we offer to 
 prove were not committed in a Corner ; they are notoriously 
 known to be true ; and therefore in your Justice lies our Safety. 
 And as we are denied the Liberty of giving Evidence, to prove 
 the Truth of what we have published, I will beg Leave to lay 
 it down as a standing Rule in such Cases, That the suppressing 
 of Evidence ought always to be taken for the strongest Evidence; 
 and I hope it will have that Weight with you. . . . 
 
 ... It is true in Times past it was a Crime to speak Truth, 
 and in that terrible Court of Star-Chamber, many worthy and 
 brave Men suffred for so doing ; and yet even in that Court, 
 and in those bad Times, a great and good Man durst say, what 
 I hope will not be taken amiss of me to say in this Place, to 
 wit, the Practice of Informations for Libels is a Sivoirl in the 
 Hands of a ivicked king and [of] an arrand Coward to cut down 
 and destroy the innocent ; the one cannot, because of his high 
 station, and the other dares not, because of his Want of Courage, 
 revenge himself in another Manner. 
 
 Mr. Attorney, Pray Mr. Hamilton, have a Care what you 
 say, don't go too far neither, I don't like those Liberties. 
 
 Mr. Hamilton, Sure, INIr. Attorney, you won't make any 
 Applications ; all Men agree that we are governed by the best 
 of Kings, and I cannot see the Meaning of Mr. Attorney's 
 
356 AN ENGLISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 
 
 Caution. . . . May it please Your Honouv, I was saying, That, 
 notwithstanding all the Duty and Reverence claimed by INIr. 
 Attorney to INIen in Authority, they are not exempt from 
 observing the Rules of common Justice, either in their private 
 or publii'k Capacities ; the Laws of our Mother Country know 
 no Exception. . . . 
 
 I hope to be pardon'd, Sir, for my Zeal upon this Occasion : 
 It is an old and wise Caution, That ichen our Xeighbour's House 
 is on Fire, We ought to take Care of our own. For tho', blessed 
 be God, I live in a Government where Liberty is well under- 
 stood, and freely enjoy'd; yet Experience has shewn us all 
 (I'm sure it has to me) that a bad Precedent in one Govern- 
 ment, is soon set up for an Authority in another; and therefore 
 I cannot but think it n\ine, and every Honest Man's Duty, 
 that (while we pay all due Obedience to Men in Authority) 
 we ought at the same Time to be upon our Guard against 
 Power [i.e., arbitrary power], wherever we apprehend that it 
 may effect Ourselves or our Fellow-Subjects. 
 
 I am tndy very unequal to such an Undertaking on many 
 Accounts. And you see I labour under the Weight of many 
 Years, and am born down with great Infirmities of Body ; yet 
 Old and Weak as I am, I should think it my Duty, if required, 
 to go to the utmost Part of the land, where my Service cou'd 
 be of any Use in assisting to quench the flame of Prosecutions 
 upon Informations, set on Foot by the Government, to deprive 
 a People of the Right of Ren\onstrating (and complaining 
 too) of the arbitrary Attempts of Men in Power. j\Ien who 
 injure and oppress the People under their Administration 
 provoke them to cry out and complain ; and then make that 
 very Complaint the foundation for new Oppressions and Pros- 
 ecutions. . . . But to conclude ; the Question before the Court 
 and you, Gentlemen of the Jury, is not of small nor private 
 Concern, it is not the Cause of a poor Printer, nor of Xeiv- 
 York alone, which you are now trying ; No ! It may in its 
 Consequence, affect every Freeman that lives under a British 
 Government on the jNIain of America. It is the best Cause. 
 
FREE SPEECH VINDICATED 357 
 
 It is the Cause of Liberty ; and I make no Doubt but your 
 upright Conduct, this Day, will not only entitle you to the 
 Love and Esteem of your Fellow-Citizens ; but every Man, 
 who prefers Freedom to a Life of Slavery, will bless and 
 honour You, as Men who have baffled the Attempt of Tyranny ; 
 and by an impartial and uncorru])t Verdict, have laid a noble 
 Foundation for securing to ourselves, our Posterity, and our 
 Neighbours, That to which Nature and the Laws of our 
 Country have given us a Right, — the Liberty — both of ex- 
 posing and opposing arbitrary Power (in these Parts of the 
 World, at least) by speaking and writing Truth. . . . 
 
 Mr. Cli. Just. Gentlemen of the Jury. The great pains 
 Mr. Hamilton has taken, to shew how little Regard Juries are 
 to Pay to the Opinion of the Judges ; and his insisting so 
 much upon the Conduct of some Judges in Tryals of this 
 kind ; is done, no doubt, with a Design that you should take 
 but very little Notice of what I may say upon this Occasion. 
 I shall therefore only observe to you that, as the Facts or 
 Words in the Information are confessed : The only Thing that 
 can come in Question before you is, Whether the Words, as 
 set forth in the Information, make a Libel. And that is a 
 Matter of Law, no doubt, and which you may leave to the 
 Court. But I shall trouble you no further with any Thing 
 more of my own, but read to you the Words of a learned and 
 upright Judge in a Case of the like Nature. 
 
 To say that corrupt Officers are appointed to administer 
 Affair's, is certainly a Reflection on the Government. If People 
 should not be called to account for possessing the People with an 
 ill Opinion of the Government, no Government can subsist. For 
 it is necessary for all Governments that the People should have a 
 good Opinion of it. . . . 
 
 [Zenger adds] 
 
 The Jury withdrew, and in a small Time returned, and being 
 asked by the Clerk, Whether they were agreed of their 
 Verdict, and whether John Peter Zenger was guilty of Printing 
 and Publishing the Libels in the Information mentioned? 
 
358 AN ENGLISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 
 
 They answered by Thomas Hunt, their Foreman, Not Guilty. 
 Upon which there were three Huzzas in the Hall which was 
 crowded with People, and the next Day I was discharged from 
 my Imprisonment. 
 
 114. Franklin's "Albany Plan," July lo, 1754^ 
 
 On the eve of the French and Indian War, in June 19, 1754, there met 
 at Albany, on the call of the Lords of Trade, a colonial congress to agree 
 upon measures of defense. Seven colonies were represented, — New 
 Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Penn- 
 sylvania, and Maryland, — none south of the Potomac. Massachusetts 
 had authorized her commissioners to "enter into articles of union and 
 confederation" with the other colonies "as well in time of peace as 
 of war." On the sixth day of the session, the Congress voted unani- 
 mously that a union of all the colonies was "absolutely necessary 
 for their security." A committee, representing each of the colonies 
 present, was created to consider various plans, and, after almost daily 
 discussions, a general plan was accepted on July 9. Franklin was 
 appointed to draft the detailed plan, — and, the next day, a form sub- 
 mitted by him was adopted. Franklin afterward said of the result: " the 
 Fate of this Plan was singular . . . The Crown disapproved it, as having 
 too much Weight in the Democratic Part of the Constitution ; and every 
 Assembly, as having allowed too much to Prerogative. So it was totally 
 rejected." 
 
 The text of a number of other plans for colonial federation, between 
 1696 and 1754, are collected in No. 14 of the American History Leaflets. 
 
 a. Motives 
 
 The following extract is part of the " introduction" to the Plan afterward 
 drawn up by Franklin and printed in his Works (Smyth edition. III, 203- 
 204). 
 
 The commissioners from a number of the northern colonies, 
 being met at Albany, and considering the difficulties that have 
 always attended the most necessary general measures for the 
 common defence, or for the annoyance of the enemy, when 
 they were to be carried through the several particular Assem- 
 blies of all the colonies ; some Assemblies being before at 
 
 1 The " New Style " chronology was adopted by England in 1752. 
 
FRANKLIN'S "ALBANY PLAN," 1754 359 
 
 variance with their governors or councils, and the several 
 branches of the government not on terms of doing business 
 with each other : others taking the opportunity, when their 
 concurrence is wanted, to push for favorite laws, powers, or 
 points, that they think could not at other times be obtained, 
 and so creating disputes and quarrels ; one Assembly waiting 
 to see what another will do, being afraid of doing more than 
 its share, or desirous of doing less, or refusing to do anything 
 because its country is not at present so much exposed as 
 others, or because another will reap more immediate advan- 
 tage; from one or other of which causes, the Assemblies of 
 six out of seven colonies applied to, had granted no assistance 
 to Virginia when lately invaded by the French, though pur- 
 posely convened, and the importance of the occasion earnestly 
 urged upon them ; — considering moreover, that one principal 
 encouragement to the French, in invading and insulting the 
 British American dominions, was their knowledge of our dis- 
 united state, and of our weakness arising from such want of 
 union ; and that from hence different colonies were, at dif- 
 ferent times, extremely harassed, and put to great expense 
 both of blood and treasure, who would have remained in 
 peace, if the enemy had had cause to fear the drawing on 
 themselves the resentment and power of the whole ; — the 
 said commissioners, considering also the present encroach- 
 ments of the French, and the mischievous consequences that 
 may be expected from them, if not opposed with our [united] 
 force, came to an unanimous resolution ; That a union of the 
 colonies is absolutely necessary for their preservation. 
 
 b. The Plan 
 
 BroadheacV s Documents relative to the Colonial History of New York, 
 VI, 589-59L 
 
 Plan of a projjosed Union of the several Colonies of Massa- 
 chusetts Bay, Neio Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New 
 YorJc, New Jerseys, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North 
 
360 AN ENGLISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 
 
 Carolina, and South Carolina,^ for their mutual defence and 
 security, and for extending the British Settlements in North 
 America. 
 
 That humble application be made for an Act of the Parlia- 
 ment of Great Brittain, by virtue of which, one General 
 Government may be formed in America, including all the 
 said Colonies, within and under which Government each 
 Colony may retain its present Constitution, except in the 
 particulars wherein a [change~\ may be directed by the said 
 Act, as hereafter follows. 
 
 That the said General Government be administered by a 
 president General, to be appointed and supported by the 
 Crown, and a grand Council to he chosen by the representatives 
 of the people of the severall Colonies, \_met'] in their respective 
 Assemblies.^ 
 
 [Provision for election of first grand council, of forty-eight 
 members, — Massachusetts and Virginia to have seven each, 
 Pennsylvania six, Connecticut five. New York, Maryland, 
 
 1 Georgia was not included. Franklin seems originally to have contem- 
 plated a union of the northern colonies only. 
 
 2 In Franklin's comments upon the sections of this plan (Works, Smyth edi- 
 tion, III, 208 ff.), he adds to this section: "... it being proposed hy the gentle- 
 men of the Council of New York ... to alter the plan in this particular, 
 and to give the governors and council of the several provinces a share in the 
 choice of the grand council [or at least a veto upon the selections], it was 
 said, . . . 
 
 " That it is essential to English liberty, that the subject should not be 
 taxed but by his own consent, or the consent of his elected representatives. 
 
 "That taxes to be laid and levied by this proposed constitution will be 
 proposed and agreed to by the representatives of the people, if the plan in 
 this particular be preserved. 
 
 " But if the proposed alteration should take place, it seemed as if matters 
 may be so managed as that the crown shall finally have the appointment, not 
 only of the president-general, but of a majority of the grand Council. . . . 
 
 "And so the people in all the colonies would in effect be taxed by their 
 governors. 
 
 [Some three pages more of like argument.] 
 
 " Upon the whole the commissioners were of opinion that the choice was 
 most properly placed in the representatives of the people." 
 
FRANKLIN'S "ALBANY PLAN," 1754 361 
 
 North Carolina, and South Carolina each four, Xew Jersey 
 three, New Hampshire and Rhode Island each tivo.'] 
 
 Who shall meet for the present time at the City of Phila- 
 delphia in Pennsylvania, being called by the President 
 General as soon as conveniently may be after his appoint- 
 ment. 
 
 That there shall be a New Election of the Members of the 
 Grand Council every three years, and on the death or resigna- 
 tion of any Member, his place should be supplyed by a new- 
 choice at the next sitting of the Assembly of the Colony he 
 represented. 
 
 That after the first three years, when the proportion of 
 money arising out of each Colony to the General Treasury 
 can be known, the number of Members to be chosen, for each 
 Colony shall from time to time in all ensuing Elections be 
 regulated by that proportion (yet so as that the Number to 
 be chosen by any one province be not more than seven nor 
 less than two). 
 
 That the Grand Council shall meet once in every year, and 
 oftener if occasion require, at such time and place as they 
 shall adjourn to at the last preceding meeting, or as they shall 
 be called to meet at by the President General, on any emer- 
 gency, he having first obtained in writing the consent of seven 
 of the Members to such call, and sent due and timely notice 
 to the whole. 
 
 That the Grand Council have power to chuse their speaker, 
 and shall neither be dissolved prorogued, nor continue sitting longer 
 than six weeks at one time without their own consent,^ or the special 
 command of the Crown. 
 
 That the Members of the Grand Council shal be allowed for 
 their service ten shillings sterling per diem, during their Ses- 
 
 1 Franklin's comment was (see note above): "Governors have sometimes 
 wantonly exercised the power of . . . continuing the sessions of Assemblies, 
 merely to harass the members and compel a compliance ; and sometimes dis- 
 solve them on slight disgusts." This provision may have been suggested to 
 Franklin by the fact that in his own colony the legislative sittings were 
 independent of the governor's will (No. 103, b, above). 
 
362 AN ENGLISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 
 
 sions or [a>)d] Journey to and from the place of Meeting; 
 twenty miles to be reckoned a days Journey. 
 
 That the Assent of the President General he requisite to all Acts of 
 the Grand Council, and that it be his Office and duty to cause 
 them to be carried into execution. 
 
 That the President General with the advice of the Grand 
 Council, hold or direct all Indian Treaties in which the general 
 interest of the Colonys may be concerned ; and make peace or 
 declare War with Indian Nations. That they make such Laws 
 as they judge necessary for the regulating all Indian Trade, 
 That they make all purchases from Indians for the Crown, of 
 lands not [now] within the bounds of particular Colonies, or 
 that shall not be within their bounds when some of them are 
 reduced to more convenient dimensions. That they make new 
 settlements on such purchases by granting Lands, [in the 
 King's name] reserving a Quit rent to the Crown, for the use 
 of the General Treasuiy. 
 
 That they make Laws for regulating and governing such new 
 settlements, till the Crown shall think fit to form them into 
 particular Governments. 
 
 That they raise and pay Soldiers, and build Forts for the 
 defence of any of the Colonies, and equip vessels of Force to 
 guard the Coasts and protect the Trade on the Ocean, Lakes, or 
 great Rivers ; but they shall not impress men in any Colonies 
 without the consent of its Legislature. That for these purposes 
 they have power to make Laws and lay and' Levy such general 
 duties, imposts or taxes, as to them shall appear most equal 
 and just, considering the ability and other circumstances of 
 the Inhabitants in the several Colonies, and such as may be 
 collected with the least inconvenience to the people, rather 
 discouraging luxury, than loading Industry with unnecessary 
 burthens. — That they might appoint a General Treasurer and 
 a particidar Treasurer in each Government when necessary, 
 and from time to time may order the sums in the Treasuries 
 of each Government, into the General Treasury, or draw on 
 them for special payments as they find most convenient ; yet 
 
FRANKLIN'S "ALBANY PLAN," 1754 363 
 
 no money to issue but by joint orders of the President General 
 and Grand Council, except where sums have been appropriated 
 to particular purposes, and the President General is previously 
 impowered by an Act to draw for such sums. 
 
 That the General accounts shall be yearly settled and re- 
 ported to the several Assemblies. 
 
 That a Quorum of the Grand Council impowered to act with 
 the Px-esident General, do consist of twenty five Members, 
 among whom there shall be one or more from a majority of 
 the Colonies. That the laws made by them for the purposes 
 aforesaid, shall not be repugnant, but as near as may be agree- 
 able to the Laws of England, and shall be transmitted to the 
 King in Council for approbation, as soon as may be after their 
 passing, and if not disapproved within three years after pres- 
 entation to remain in Force. 
 
 That in case of the death of the President General, the 
 Speaker of the Grand Council for the time being shall suc- 
 ceed, and be vested with the same powers and authority, to 
 continue until the King's pleasure be known. 
 
 [Commissions, military and civil, for officers acting under this 
 constitution, to be issued jointly by President-General and 
 Grand Council.] — That the particular Military as well as Civil 
 establishments in each Colony remain in their present State 
 this General constitution notwithstanding. And that on sudden 
 emergencies any Colony may defend itself, and lay the accounts 
 of expence, thence arisen, before the President General and 
 Grand Council, who may allow and order payment of the same 
 if judged reasonable. 
 
 [Ill 1789 Franklin wrote, with good reason, that the adoption of the 
 Albany Plan would have probably delayed the separation of the colonies 
 from England, "perhaps during another century." There would have 
 been a central legislature to vote supplies and prepare defense against 
 Indians and French, and the British reasons for the Stamp Act would 
 not have existed.] 
 
XX. HARSH PHASES OF COLONIAL SOCIETY » 
 
 115. Legal Punishment in Virginia, 1662- 1748 
 
 Hening's Statutes, II, 75. The following statute was enacted in March, 
 1662. It was reenacted, in similar words, in 1705 and in 1748 (ib. 
 367^68 and 507-508), and was in force at the opening of the Revolution. 
 
 Whereas many offences are punishable by the laws of 
 England and of this country with, corporall punishments, for 
 executeing whereof noe such provision bath been made as the 
 said laws doe require ; Be it therefore enacted, that, in every 
 county, the court cause to be sett up a pillory, a pair of stocks, 
 and a whipping post, neere the courthouse, and a ducking- 
 stoole in such a place as they shall think convenient . . . 
 And the courts not causeing the said pillory and whipping post, 
 stocks and ducking stoole to be erected within six months, 
 after the date of this act shall be fined five thousand pounds 
 of tobacco to the use of the publique. 
 
 116. White Servants in 1774 
 
 William Eddes, Letters from America. 
 
 These Letters, written in 1774, were printed in London in 1792. 
 Eddes was a customs official at Annapolis. 
 
 Persons in a state of servitude are under four distinct de- 
 nominations: negroes, who are the entire property of their 
 respective owners : convicts, who are transported from the 
 mother country for a limited term : indented servants, who are 
 engaged for five years previous to their leaving England; 
 and free-willers, who are supposed, from their situation, 
 to possess superior advantages. . . . 
 
 Persons convicted of felony, and in consequence transported 
 to this continent, if they are able to pay the expence of passage, 
 are free to pursue their fortune agreeably to their inclinations 
 or abilities. Few, however, have means to avail themselves of 
 
 ^Cf. American History and Government, §§ 120-124. 
 364 
 
WHITE SERVANTS IN 1774 365 
 
 this advantage. These unhappy beings are, generally, con- 
 signed to an agent, who classes them suitably to their real 
 or supposed qualifications ; advertises them for sale, and 
 disposes of them, for seven years, to planters, to mechanics, 
 and to such as choose to retain them for domestic service. 
 
 The generality of the inhabitants in this province are very 
 little acquainted with those fallacious pretences, by which 
 numbers are continually induced to embark for this continent. 
 On the contrary, they too generally conceive an opinion that 
 the difference is merely nominal between the indented ser- 
 vant and the convicted felon: nor will they readily believe 
 thai people, who had the least experience in life, and whose 
 characters were unexceptionable, would abandon their friends 
 and families, and their ancient connexions, for a servile ^t- 
 uation, in a remote appendage to the British Empire. From 
 this persuasion they rather consider the convict as the more 
 profitable servant, his term being for seven, the latter only 
 for five years ; and, I am sorry to observe, that there are but 
 few instances wherein they experience different treatment. 
 Negroes being a property for life, the death of slaves, in the 
 prime of youth or strength, is a material loss to the proprietor ; 
 they are, therefore, almost in every instance, under more 
 comfortable circumstances than the miserable European, over 
 whom the rigid planter exercises an inflexible severity. 
 They [white servants] are strained to the utmost to perform 
 their allotted labour. . . . 
 
 The situation of the free-wilier is, in almost every instance 
 more to be lamented than either that of the convict or the 
 indented servant ; the deception which is practised on those 
 of this description being attended with circumstances of greater 
 duplicity and cruelty. . . . They are told, that their services 
 will be eagerly solicited, in proportion to their abilities; that their 
 reward will be adequate to the hazard they encounter by court- 
 ing fortune in a distant region ; and that the parties with whom 
 
366 HARSH PHASES OF COLONIAL SOCIETY 
 
 they engage will readily advance the sum agreed on for their 
 passage ; which, being averaged at about nine pounds sterling, 
 they will speedily be enabled to repay, and to enjoy, in a state 
 of liberty, a comparative situation of ease and affluence. . . . 
 It is, therefore, an article of agreement with these deluded 
 victims, that if they are not successful in obtaining situations, 
 on their own terms, within a certain number of days after their 
 arrival in the country, they are then to be sold, in order to 
 defray the charges of passage. . . . 
 
 117. Runaway Servants and Apprentices 
 
 From "Newspaper Extracts," 1770-1771, in Xeio Jersey Archives, 
 First Series, XXVII. The editor of this volume is responsible for the 
 italics. 
 
 Trenton Goal, December 28, 1769. 
 This is to give notice, there was committed to my custody, 
 by William Clayton, Esq., as a runaway apprentice on the 
 24th day of October last, Thomas Sandamax. This is to in- 
 form his master or sheriff that he run away from, that they 
 come and pay charges and take him away, or he icill be sold to 
 pay cost and charges, on Saturday the 20th day of January, 
 
 1770, by me 
 
 Peter Hankixsox, Goaler. 
 
 — The Pennsylvania Journal, No. 1413, January 4i 1770. 
 
 Three Pounds Reward 
 
 Run-away on Friday the 12th Inst, from the Subscriber at 
 Hunterdon County, in New-Jersey, an Apprentice, named 
 David Cox, about Twenty Years of Age, a Carpenter and 
 Joiner by Trade, but its likely he may pass for a Mill- Wright, 
 as he has two Brothers of that Trade, that works near Albany. 
 He is about 5 Feet 10 Inches high, large boned, knock kneed, 
 of a dark Complexion, down Look, black Eyes, black Hair, 
 and wears it tied. Had on when he went away, a grey coloured 
 Coat and Jacket, pretty much worn, with Horn Buttons on 
 
RUNAWAY SERVANTS AND APPRENTICES 367 
 
 them, new Leather Breeches, with black Horn Buttons, Russia 
 Shirt, black Yarn Stockings, new Shoes, also a rusty Castor 
 Hat, wears it cocked : It is also suspected he has stole his 
 Indentures, and will very likely show them for a Pass, as he 
 is near of Age. Whoever apprehends said Apprentice, and 
 secures hiui in any Goal, so that his Master may have Notice 
 thereof, shall have the above Reward, paid by me. 
 
 James Taylor. 
 N. B. Perhaps he may change his Cloaths, that he may 
 not be discovered. 
 
 — Tlie N. T. Gazette, or Weekly Post Boy, iVb. I412, January 
 22, 1770. 
 
 New Jersey, November 24, 1769. 
 Run-away the 22d September, from the Subscriber, living in 
 Monmouth County, in the Township of Shrewsbury, in the 
 Province of East New-Jersey ; an indented Servant ]\Ian, 
 named Walter Clark, horn in the Jerseys, about Twenty-four 
 Y^'ears of Age, a Black-Smith by trade, and understands farming 
 Business; he is about six Feet high, has black curled Hair, 
 and keeps his Mouth much open : He took several Suits of 
 Apparel with him, all of a brownish Colour, some Broad Cloth, 
 and some thin Stuff ; also one striped double-breasted Jacket. 
 W^hoever takes up the above said Servant and delivers him to 
 me the Subscriber, shall have Three Pounds Reward, and 
 reasonable Charges paid, by me. 
 
 Benjamin Jackson. 
 
 — T7ie N. Y. Journal or General Advertiser, No. I412, 
 January 25, 1770. 
 
 Run away from the subscriber, living near Morris-Town, in 
 New-Jersey, on Christmas-day last, a servant man, named 
 Thomas Clay, a Cooper by trade, near 50 years of age, about 5 
 feet 10 inches high, brown curled hair, will drink to excess, 
 and then is noisy, likes to sing songs ; had on, when he went 
 away, a blue great coat, and jacket of the same, leather 
 
368 HARSH PHASES OF COLONIAL SOCIETY 
 
 breeches, and felt hat. Whoever takes up and secures said 
 servant, so that his master may have him again, shall have 
 Three Pounds Reward, and reasonable charges, ])aid by 
 
 Daniel Gerard, junior. 
 
 — Petmsi/lvania Gazette, No. 214-6, February 8, 1770. 
 
 Burlington, December 3, 1770. 
 Tliis Day was committed to the Goal of this City, a certain 
 Thomas Gearn, upon suspicion of being a runaway Servant; he 
 says that he belongs to William Withers, living in Cecil 
 County, Alaryland, and that he left his said JNlaster about 14 or 
 15 Weeks ago. Said Servant is about 20 Years of Age, and 
 says when he left his Master he had an Iron Collar on his Neck, 
 but soon got it off. Whoever owns the said Thomas Gearn, is 
 desired to come or send ; pay Charges immediately, and take 
 him away. — Ephraim Phillips, Goaler. 
 
 Gloucester County Goal, September 12, 1771. 
 Taken up on suspicion, as a runaway servant and now con- 
 lined here, a young man about 5 feet 6 inches high, marked 
 Avitli the small-pox, has on a blue coat, homespun shirt, and 
 check trousers, says his name is Hugh M'C^age, and that he 
 belongs to one William or John Miller, living near Lancaster. 
 His master, if any he has, is desired to fetch him away, and 
 pay charges ; otherwise he will be sold out in 3 weeks from the 
 date hereof. 
 
 Richard Johnson, Goaler. 
 
 — Pennsylvania Gazette, Sept. 12, 1771. 
 
 [These advertisements all relate to }Miite men. Like entries continue 
 through the early llevolutionary days, often in the same column with 
 flaming expressions of the spirit of political liberty, in a manner some- 
 what amazing to a modern reader. This one volume of newspaper 
 extracts for the years 1770-1771, has seventy-seven such advertisements 
 of run-away White servants for New Jersey alone, — many times as 
 many as there were for runaway Negroes.] 
 
D. THE REVOLUTION 
 
 XXI. PRELIMINARY PERIOD — TO 1774 
 
 On the history and subdivisions of this period, cf. American History 
 and Governjncnt, §§ 12(i-144. Many documents which might be expected 
 for tlie Revolution are omitted in this volume because of the short 
 quotations from them in Amcrica7i History and Government. 
 
 * 118. Sugar Act of 1764 
 
 Pickering's Statutes at Large, XXVI, 33-52 (4 Geo. Ill, c. 15). On 
 the bearing of this and the Stamp Act (following) upon the Revolution, 
 cf. American History and Government, §§ 131, 132. 
 
 An act for granting certain dnties in the Pritish colonies and 
 plantationH in America; for continuing, amending, and making 
 perpetual, an act passed in the sixth year of the reign of his late 
 Majesty King George the Second, (intituled, An act for the 
 better securing and encouraging the trade of his Majesty's 
 sugar colonies in America ;) for applying the produce of such 
 duties, and of the duties to arise by virtue of the said act, totvards 
 defraying the expences of defending, protecting, and securing the 
 said colonies and p)lantations ; . . . and for altering and disallow- 
 ing several drawbacks on exports from this kingdom, and more effec- 
 tually jireventing the clandestine conveyance of goods to and from 
 the said colonies and plantations, and improving and securing 
 the trade betiveen the same and Great Britain. 
 
 WHEREAS it is expedient that neto provisions and regulations 
 should be established for improving the revenue of this Kingdom, 
 and for extending and securing the navigation and commerce 
 between Great Britain and your Majesty's dominions in America, 
 ichich, by the peace, have been so hai^pily enlarged: and whereas 
 it is just and necessary, that a revenue be raised, in your Maj- 
 
 369 
 
370 PRELIMINARY PERIOD — TO 1774 
 
 esty^s said dominions in America, for defraying the expences of 
 defending, jjrotecting, and securing the same ... be it enacted 
 . . . , That from and after [September 29, 1764], there shall 
 be raised, levied, collected, and paid, unto his Majesty . . . , 
 for and upon all white or clayed sugars of the produce or 
 manufacture of any colony or plantation in America, not under 
 the dominion of his Majesty . . . ; for and upon indico, and 
 coffee of foreign produce or manufacture ; for and upon all 
 wines (except French wine ; ) for and upon all wrought silks, 
 bengals, and stuffs, mixed with silk or herba, of the manufac- 
 ture of Persia, China, or East India, and all callico painted, 
 died, printed, or stained there ; and for and upon all foreign 
 linen cloth called Cnmbrick and French Lawns, which «hall be 
 imported or brought into any colony or plantation in America 
 . . . under the dominion of his Majesty . . . , the several 
 rates and duties following ; that it to say. 
 
 For every hundred weight avoirdupois of such foreign 
 white or clayed sugars, one pound two shillings, over and 
 above all other duties imposed by any former act of parlia- 
 ment. . . . 
 
 For every hundred weight avoirdupois of such foreign coffee, 
 which shall be imported from any place except Great Britain, 
 two pounds, nineteen shillings, and nine pence. 
 
 For every ton of wine of the growth of the Madeiras, or of 
 any other island or place from whence such wine may be law- 
 fully imported . • . , the sum of seven pounds. 
 
 For every ton of Portugal, Spanish, or any other wine (ex- 
 cept French wine) imported from Great Britian, the sum of ten 
 shillings. 
 
 For every pound weight avoirdupois of wrought silks, ben- 
 gals, and stuffs, mixed with silk or herba, of the maiuifacture 
 of Persia, China, or East India, imported from Great Britain, 
 two shillings. 
 
 For every piece of callico painted, dyed, printed, or stained, 
 in Persia, China, or East India, imported from Great Britain, 
 two shillings and six pence. 
 
SUGAR ACT OF 1764 371 
 
 For every piece of foreign linen cloth, called Cambrick, im- 
 ported from Great Britain, three shillings. . . . 
 
 II. And it is hereby further enacted . . . That from and 
 after [September 29, 17G4] there shall also be raised, levied, 
 collected, and paid, unto his Majesty . . . , for and upon all 
 coffee and pimento of the growth and produce of any British 
 colony or plantation in America, which shall be there laden 
 on board any British ship or vessel, to be carried out from 
 thence or any other place whatsoever, except Great Britain, the 
 several rates and duties following ; that is to say, 
 
 III. For every hundred weight avoirdupois of such British 
 coffee, seven shillings. 
 
 For every pound weight avoirdupois of such British pimento, 
 one half penny. . . . 
 
 [IV, V, VI. The Sugar Act of 1733 (No. 100 c) to continue 
 in force perpetually with a decrease of one half in the rate 
 upon imports from British colonies.] 
 
 ******* 
 
 XI. And it is further enacted . . . That all the monies 
 which . . . shall arise by the several rates . . . herein . . . 
 granted . . . shall be paid into the receipt of his Majesty's 
 Exchequer, and shall be entered separate and apart from all other 
 monies paid or payable to his Majesty . . . : and shall be there 
 reserved, to be, from time to time, disposed of by parliament, to- 
 wards defraying the necessary expences of defending, protecting, 
 and securing, the British colonies and plantations in America. 
 ******* 
 
 XVIII. And be it further enacted . . . , That from and 
 after . . . [September 29, 1764] . . . , no rum or spirits of 
 the produce or manufacture of any of the colonies or plantations 
 in Ame7-ica, not in the possession or under the dominion of his 
 Majesty . . . , shall be imported or brought into any of the col- 
 onies or plantations in America which now are, or hereafter may 
 be, in the possession or under the dominion of his Majesty . . . 
 upon forfeiture of all such rum or spirits, together with the 
 
372 PRELIMINARY PERIOD — TO 1774 
 
 ship or vessel in which the same shall be imported, with the 
 tackle, apparel, and furniture thereof; to be seized by any 
 officer or officers of his Majesty's customs, and prosecuted in 
 such manner and form as herein is after expressed ; any law, 
 custom, or usage, to the contrary notwithstanding. 
 
 ******* 
 
 XXVII. And it is hereby further enacted . . . , That from 
 and after . . . [September 29, 1764] . . . , all coffee, pimento, 
 cocoa nuts, whale fins, raw silk, hides, and skins, pot and pearl 
 ashes, of the growth, production, or manufacture, of any 
 British colony or j^lantation in America, shall be imported 
 directly from thence into this kingdom, or some other British 
 colony or plantation. 
 
 [XXVIII Adds iron and lumber of all sorts to the "enumer- 
 ated " list of articles to be exported by the colonies only to 
 Great Britain.] 
 
 [Most of the omitted sections of this long act have to do with providing 
 a costly but efficient machinery of bonds, inspectors, etc., to enforce the 
 navigation laws. The stringent section, XXXV, designed to prevent any 
 trade whatever with the French West Indies is added] 
 
 XXXV. And, in order to prevent any illicit trade or com- 
 merce between his Majesty's subjects in America, and the 
 subjects of the crown of France in the islands of Saint Pierre 
 and Miqueloyi, it is hereby further enacted . . . , That from 
 and after [September 29, 1764], if any British ship or vessel 
 shall he found standing into, or coming o\it from, either of those 
 islands, or hovering or at anchor within tivo leagues of the coasts 
 thereof, or shall be discovered to have taken any goods or mer- 
 chandizes on board at either of them, or to have been there 
 for that purpose ; such ship or vessel, and all the goods so 
 taken on board there, shall be forfeited and lost, and shall and 
 may be seized and prosecuted by any officer of his Majesty's 
 customs ; and the master or other person having the charge of 
 such ship or vessel, and every person concerned in taking any 
 such goods on board, shall forfeit treble the value thereof. 
 
STAMP ACT 373 
 
 119. Stamp Act 
 
 March 22, 1765 
 Pickering's Statutes at Large, XXVI, 179-204 (5 Geo. Ill, c. 12). 
 
 An act for granting and applying certain stamjy duties, and 
 other duties, in the British colonies and plantations in America, 
 towards further defraying the expences of defending, protecting, 
 and securing the same; . . . 
 
 WHEREAS . . . it is just and necessary, that provision he 
 made for raising a further revenue within your Majesty's 
 dominions in America, toivards defraying the . . . expences [of 
 the colonies] ... be it enacted . . . , That from and after 
 the first day of November, one tliousand seven hundred and 
 sixty five, there shall be raised, levied, collected, and paid 
 unto his Majesty, his heirs, and successors, throughout the 
 colonies and plantations in America . . . 
 
 For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or 
 piece of paper, on which shall be ingrossed, written or printed, 
 any declaration, plea, replication, rejoinder, demurrer, or other 
 pleading, or any copy thereof, in any court of law within the 
 British colonies and plantations in America, a stamp duty of 
 three pence. 
 
 [Fifty-five paragraphs follow, each imposing a duty (varying 
 from a penny to several pounds) for different legal or govern- 
 mental papers, or upon the sale of certain articles, or upon 
 pamphlets, with many pages of provisions for the enforcement 
 of the law.] 
 
 LIV. And be it further enacted . . . , That all the monies 
 which shall arise by the several rates and duties hereby 
 granted (except the necessary charges of raising, collecting, 
 recovering, answering, paying, and accounting for the same, 
 and the necessary charges from time to time incurred in rela- 
 tion to this act, and the execution thereof) shall be paid into 
 the receipt of his Majesty's exchequer, and shall be entered 
 separate and apart from all other monies, and shall be there 
 
374 PRELIMINARY PERIOD — TO 1774 
 
 reserved to be from time to time disposed of by parliament, 
 towards further defraying the necessary expences of defending, pro- 
 tecting, and securing, the said colonies and plantations. 
 
 120. Reception of the Stamp Act in America 
 
 a. Patrich Henry's Resohdions, May J7, 1765 
 
 Journals of the Virginia Honse of Burgesses, 1761-1765, Ixvi-lxvii. 
 
 The text below gives the resolutions as approved in committee of 
 the whole, May 27. The last two failed to pass the House, May 28 ; 
 and May 20 the last of the others was expunsred from the record. The 
 full text was published by newspapei-s, however, and it was generally 
 supposed that Virginia had approved them all as here given. 
 
 WJie7'eas, The Honorable House of Commons, in England, 
 have of late drawn into question how far the General Assembly 
 of this colony hath power to enact laws for laying of taxes 
 and imposing duties payable by the people of this, his ^laj- 
 esty's most ancient colony ; for settling and ascertaining the 
 same to all future times, the House of Burgesses of this 
 present General Assembly have come to the following resolves. 
 
 Besolved, That the first adventurers, settlers of this his 
 ^lajesty's colony and dominion of Vircii)iia, brought with 
 them and transmitted to their posterity, and all other his 
 ]\[ajesty's subjects, since inhabiting in this his Majesty's 
 colony, all the privileges and immunities that have at any 
 time been held, enjoyed, and possessed by the people of Great 
 Britain. 
 
 Hesolved, That by two royal charters, granted by King 
 James the First, the colony aforesaid are declared and entitled 
 to all privileges, and immunities of natural born subjects, to 
 all intents and purposes as if they had been abiding and born 
 within the realm of England. 
 
 Jiesolved, That his Majesty's liege people of this ancient 
 colony have enjoyed the right of being thus governed by their 
 own Assembly in the article of taxes and internal police, 
 
PATRICK HENRYS RESOLUTIONS 375 
 
 and that the same have never been forfeited, or any other 
 way yiekled up, but have been constantly recognized by the 
 King and people of Great Britain. 
 
 Resolved, Therefore, that the General Assembly of this 
 colony, together with his Majesty or his substitutes, have, in 
 their representative capacity, the only exclusive right and 
 power to lay taxes and imposts upon the inhabitants of this 
 colony ; and that every attempt to vest such power in any 
 other person or persons whatever than the General Assembly 
 aforesaid, is illegal, unconstitutional, and unjust, and has a 
 manifest tendency to destroy British as well as American 
 liberty. 
 
 Resolved, That his Majesty's liege people, the inhabitants 
 of this colony, are not bound to yield obedience to any law 
 or ordinance whatever, designed to impose any taxation what- 
 soever upon the Ml, other than the laws or ordinances of the 
 General Assembly aforesaid. 
 
 Resolved, That any person who shall, by speaking or writing, 
 assert or maintain that any person or persons, other than the 
 General Assembly of this colony, have any right or power 
 to impose or lay any taxation on the people here, shall be 
 deemed an enemy to his Majesty's colony. 
 
 [The sixth and seventh resolutions point to forcible resistance, not 
 merely to protest. This is the peculiarity which marks off tiiis document 
 from many others of the time. A few months later, that tone was 
 common. Cf. b, below.] 
 
 b. .An Association against the Stamp Act in a Vir- 
 ginia County, 1766 
 
 Journals of the House of Burgesses, 1761-1765, Ixxii. These Tieso- 
 lutions were drawn by Richard Henry Lee. 
 
 [County] resolutions passed at Leedstoum, on the 27th day of 
 February 17G6: 
 
 . . . We, who subscribe this jiaper, have associated, and do 
 bind ourselves to each other, to God, and to our country, by 
 the firmest ties that religion and virtue can frame, most 
 
376 PRELIMINARY PERIOD — TO 1774 
 
 sacredly and punctually to stand by, and with our lives and 
 fortunes, to support, maintain, and defend each other in the 
 observance and execution of these following articles. . . . 
 
 TJiinily. As the Stamp Act does absoluteh' direct the 
 property of the people to be taken from them without their 
 consent expressed by their representatives, and as in many 
 cases it deprives the British American subject of his right to 
 trial by jury ; we do determine, at every hazard, and, paying 
 no regard to danger or to death, tve will exert every faculty, to 
 prevent the execution of the said Stamp Act in any instance 
 whatsoever within this Colony. And every abandoned wretch, 
 who shall be so lost to virtue and public good, as wickedly to 
 contribute to the introduction or lixture of the Stamp Act in 
 this Colony, by using stampt paper, or by anj' other means, 
 we will, with the utmost expedition, convince all such profli- 
 gates that immediate danger shall attend their prostitute 
 purpose. 
 
 Fourthly. That the last article may most surely and effec- 
 tually be executed, we engage to each other, that whenever it 
 shall be known to any of this association, that any person is so 
 conducting himself as to favor the introduction of the Stamp 
 Act, that immediate notice shall be given to as many of the 
 association as possible ; and that every individual so informed, 
 shall, with expedition, repair to a place of meeting to be 
 appointed as near the scene of action as may be. . . . 
 
 SixthJi/. If any attempt shall be made on the liberty or 
 property of any associator for any action or thing to be done 
 in consequence of this engagement, we do most solemnly bind 
 ourselves by the sacred eugagenients above entered into, at the 
 utmost risk of our lives and fortunes, to restore such associate 
 to his liberty, and to protect him in the enjoyment of his 
 property. . . . 
 
 [One hundred and fifteen names are signed, — among them, 
 a Washington and six Lees. J 
 
A STAMP DISTRIBUTOR 377 
 
 c, Hesi^nafiofi of Sf(U)ip Di.'^frihufo?' in J'ii'o'ijiia. 176o 
 {Letter of the Governor to the Lords of I'rade) 
 
 Journals of the House of Burgesses, 176:2-1765, Ixviii-lxxi. 
 
 WlLLIAMSlU'KG NoV. 3d 1705. 
 
 My Lords, 
 
 The present unhappy state of this Colony, will, to my great 
 concern, oblige me to trouble Your Lordships with a long and 
 very disagreeable letter. We were for some time in almost 
 daily expectations of the arrival of Colonel fiercer with the 
 Stamps for the use of this Colony, and rumours were industri- 
 ously thrown out that at the time of the General Court parties 
 would come down from most parts of the country to seize on 
 and destroy all Stamped Papers. . . . 
 
 Very unluckily. Colonel Mercer arrived at the time this town 
 was the fullest of Strangers. On Wednesday the 30th October 
 he came up to town. 1 then thought proper to go to the 
 Coffee house . . . that I might be an eye witness of what did 
 really pass, and not receive it by relation from others. The 
 mercantile people Avere all assembled as usual. The first word 
 I heard was " One and all '' ; upon which, as at a word agreed 
 on before between themselves, they all quitted the place to 
 find Colonel ]\[ercer at his Father's lodgings where it Avas known 
 he was. This concourse of people I should call a mob, did I 
 not know that it ica^ chieiJy if )wt altogether composed of gentlemen 
 ofproperti/ in the Colony, some of theiu at the head of their re- 
 spective Counties, and the merchants of the countri/, whether Eng- 
 lish, Scotch or Virginian ; for few absented themselves. They 
 met Colonel ]\rercer on the way, just at the Capitol : there they 
 stopped and demanded of him an answer whether he would 
 resign or act in this office as Distributor of the Stamps. He 
 said it was an affair of great moment to him ; he must consult 
 his friends; and promised to give them an answer at 10 o'clock 
 on Friday morning at that place. This did not satisfy them ; 
 and they folloAved him to the Coffee house, in the porch of 
 which I had seated myself with many of the Council and the 
 
378 PRELIMINARY PERIOD — TO 1774 
 
 Speaker, who had posted himself between the crowd and my- 
 self. We all received him with the greatest marks of welcome ; 
 with which, if one may be allowed to judge by their counte- 
 nances, they [the " mob "] were not well pleased, tho' they re- 
 mained quiet and were silent. Now and then a voice was 
 heard from the crowd that Friday was too late ; the Act would 
 take place, they would have an answer tomorrow. Several 
 messages were brought to Mr. Mercer by the leading men of the 
 crowd, to whom he constantly answered he had already given an 
 answer and he would have no other extorted from him. After 
 some little time a cry was heard, " let us rush in.'' Upon this 
 we that were at the top of the [steps], knowing the advantage 
 our situation gave us to repell those who should attempt to mount 
 them, advanced to the edge of the Steps, of which number I was 
 one. I immediately heard a cry, " See the Governor, take care 
 of him." Those who before were pushing up the steps, immedi- 
 ately fell back, and left a small space between me and them. 
 If your Lordships will not accuse me of vanity I would say 
 that I believe this to be partly owing to the respect they bore 
 to my character and partly to the love .they bore to my person. 
 After much entreaty of some of his friends, Mr. Mercer was, 
 against his own inclination, prevailed upon to promise them an 
 answer at the Capitol the next evening at five. The crowd did 
 not yet disperse ; it was growing dark, and I did not think it 
 safe to have to leave Mr. Mercer behind me, so I again advanced 
 to the edge of the steps and said aloud I believed no man there 
 would do me any hurt, and turned to Mr. Mercer and told him 
 if he would walk with me through the people I believed I 
 could conduct him safe to my house; and we accordingly 
 walked side by side through the thickest of the people, who 
 did not molest us, tho' there was some little murmurs. By me 
 thus taking him under my protection, I believe I saved him 
 from being insulted at least. When we got home we had much 
 discourse on the subject. . . . He left me that night in a state 
 of uncertainty what part he should act. 
 
 Accordingly Mr. Mercer appeared at the Capitol at 5, as he 
 
A STAMP DISTRIBUTOR 379 
 
 had promised. The number of people assembled there was 
 much increased, by messengers having been sent into the 
 neighborhood for that purpose. Colonel Mercer then read to 
 them the answer which is printed in the Supplement of the 
 Gazette, of which I enclose your Lordships a copy, to which I 
 beg leave to refer.^ . . . 
 
 [Mercer offered to resign his commission to the governor — 
 who refused to accept the resignation.] If I accepted the resig- 
 nation, I must appoint another, and I was w^ell convinced I 
 could not find one to accept of it, in those circumstances, 
 which would render the office cheap. Besides if I left Mr. 
 Mercer in possession of the place he would be always ready to 
 distribute the Stamped papers, whenever peoples eyes should 
 be opened and they should come to their senses, so as to receive 
 them. . . . 
 
 Francis Fauquier. 
 
 Colonel Mercer has informed me that he proposes to apply 
 to the Commanders of His Majesty's ships of War, to take the 
 Stamped Papers on board their ships for His Majesty's service : 
 it being the place of the greatest if not the only security for 
 them : for I am convinced, as well as himself, that it would be 
 extremely dangerous to attempt to land them during the present 
 fermented state of the Colony. If these Gentlemen should 
 refuse to take charge of them, and Mr. Mercer should apply 
 to me, I will do my duty to His Majesty and save them from 
 being destroyed, to the best of my power, tho' I can by no 
 means answer for the success of my endeavors. . . . 
 
 I am with the greatest respect and esteem, my Lords 
 Your Lordships most obedient 
 and devoted Servant. 
 
 Francis Fauquier. 
 
 1 Mercer promised not to act unless first he should have secured permission 
 from the Virginia Assembly. He was then borne in triumph to his lodgings 
 by the joyful "mob." 
 
380 PRELIMINARY PERIOD— TO 1774 
 
 d. Terrorizing the Respecters of the Law in Jfew Jersey 
 
 The New York Gazette or Weekly Post Boy, February 27, 1766 ; re- 
 produced in Neio Jersey Archives, First Series, XXV, 38. 
 
 A large Gallows was erected iu Elizabeth-Town last Week, 
 with a Rope ready fixed thereto; and the Inhabitants there 
 vow and declare that the first Person that either distributes 
 and [or] takes out [?'.e., uses] Stamped Paper, shall be hung 
 thereon without Judge or Jury. 
 
 121. Origin of the Virginia Non-importation Agreement 
 
 a. Protest of the Burgesses against the Proposal of the English 
 Government to send Americans, accused of Treason, to England 
 for Trial. 
 
 Journals of the House of Burgesses, 1766-1769, 212-218. 
 
 Tuesday, the 16th of May. 9 Geo. III. 1769. 
 
 . . . The Order of the Day being read, for the House to re- 
 solve itself into a Committee of the whole House, to consider 
 of the present State of the Colony ; 
 
 Ordered, That . . . one other Statute made in the Thirty- 
 fifth Year of the same King's Reign [Henry VIII], entituled, 
 An Act for the Trial of Treasons committed out of the King's 
 Dominions, be referred to the said Comnaittee. 
 
 Then the House resolved itself into the said Committee. 
 
 Mv. Speal-er left the Chair. 
 
 Mr. Blair took the Chair of the Committee. 
 
 Mr. Speaker resumed the Chair. 
 
 Mr. Blair reported, from the Committee, that they had come 
 to several Resolutions ; which he read in his Place, and after- 
 wards delivered in at the Clerk's Table, where the same were 
 read, and are as followeth, viz. 
 
 [Resolutions I and II repeat familiar clauses as to right of 
 
THE VIRGINIA BURGESSES 381 
 
 taxation only by the Virginia Assembly, and as to right of 
 petition for redress of grievances.] 
 
 [Ill] Resolved, That it is the Opinion of this committee, that 
 all Trials for Treason, Misprison of Treason, or for any Felony 
 or Crime whatsoever, committed and done in this his Majesty's 
 said Colony and Dominion, by any Person or Persons residing 
 therein, ought of Right to be had, and conducted in and before 
 his Majesty's Courts, held within the said Colony, according 
 to the fixed and known Course of Proceeding ; and that the 
 seizing any Person or Persons, residing in this Colony, sus- 
 pected of any Crime whatsoever, committed therein, and send- 
 ing such Person, or Persons, to Places beyond the Sea, to be 
 tried, is highly Derogatory of the Rights of British Subjects ; 
 as thereby the inestimable Privilege of being tried by a J^lry 
 from a Vicinage as well as the Liberty of summoning and pro- 
 ducing Witnesses on such Trial, will be taken away from the 
 Party accused. . . . 
 
 [A fourth resolution declared the purpose of memorializing 
 King George upon the matter of the third resolution.] 
 
 The said Resolutions being severally read a second Time ; 
 
 Resolved, Nemine Contradicente, 
 
 That this House doth agree with the Committee in the said 
 Resolutions. 
 
 Resolved, That this House will. To-morrow, resolve itself into 
 a Committee of the whole House, to consider further of the 
 present State of the Colony. 
 
 Ordered, That the Speaker of this House do transmit without 
 Delay, to the Speakers of the several Houses of Assembly, on this 
 Continent, a Copy of the Resolutions now agreed to by this House, 
 requesting their Concurrence therein. 
 
 Ordered, That a Committee be appointed to draw up an Ad- 
 dress, to be presented to his Majesty, upon the fourth Resolu- 
 tion of the Committee of the whole House, this Day reported, 
 and agreed to by the House. 
 
382 PRELIMINARY PERIOD — TO 1774 
 
 # * * * * * * 
 
 Wednesday, the 17th of May. 9 Geo. III. 1769. 
 
 Ordered, That the Resolutions of the Committee of the whole 
 House, Yesterday reported to the House, and by them agreed 
 to, be printed in the Virginia Gazette. 
 
 ******* 
 
 [Mr. Blair, previously appointed to draft an address to the 
 King, read the address, as follows.] 
 
 When we consider, that by the established Laws and Consti- 
 tution of this Colony, the most ample Provision is made for 
 apprehending and punishing all those who shall dare to engage 
 in any treasonable Practices against your INIajesty, or disturb 
 the Tranquility of Government, we cannot, without Horror, 
 think of the new, unusual, and permit us, with all Humility,. 
 to add, unconstitutional and illegal Mode, recommended to your 
 JNIajesty, of seizing and carrying beyond the Sea, the Inhabit- 
 ants of America, suspected of any Crime ; and of trying such 
 Persons in any other Manner than by the ancient and long es- 
 tablished Course of Proceeding: For how truly deplorable 
 must be the Case of a wretched American, who, having incurred 
 the Displeasure of any one in Power, is dragged from his nar 
 tive Home, and his dearest domestick Connections, thrown 
 into Prison, not to await his Trial before a Court, Jury, or 
 Judges, from a Knowledge of whom he is encouraged to hope 
 for speedy Justice ; but to exchange his Imprisonment in his 
 own Country, for Fetters amongst Strangers ? Conveyed to a 
 distant Land, where no Friend, no Relation, will alleviate his 
 Distresses, or minister to his Necessities ; and where no AVit- 
 ness can be found to testify his Innocence ; shunned by the 
 reputable and honest, and consigned to the Society and Con- 
 verse of the wretched and the abandoned ; he can only pray 
 that he may soon end his Misery with his Life. . . . 
 
 The said Address being read a second Time ; 
 
VIRGINIA NON-IMPORTATION ASSOCIATION 383 
 
 Resolved, Xemine Contradicente, 
 
 That the House doth agree with the Committee, in the said 
 Address, to be presented to his Majesty. 
 
 Ordered, That ISIr. SjK'aker do transmit the said Address to 
 the Agent for this Colony, with Directions to cause the same 
 to be presented to his Most Excellent INIajesty ; and afterwards 
 to be printed and published in the English Papers. 
 
 A Message from the Governor, by INLr. Waltlioe : 
 
 " Mr. Speaker, the Governor commands the immediate At- 
 tendance of your House in the Council Chamber." 
 
 Accordingly, Mr. Speaker, with the House, went up to attend 
 the Governor in the Council Chamber ; where his Excellency 
 was pleased to say to them : 
 
 " Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the House of Burgesses, 
 I have heard of your Eesolves and augur ill of their Effect: 
 You have made it my Duty to dissolve you ; and you are dis- 
 solved accordingly." 
 
 b. Association of the Ex-Bur^esses, May 18, 1769 
 
 Journals of House of Burgesses, 1766-1769, xxxix ff. 
 
 "The late representatives of the people" then judging it necessary 
 that some action should be taken to relieve their " distressed situation, 
 and for preserving the true and essential interests of the Colony, resolved 
 upon a meeting" and at once repaired to the house of Mr. Anthony Hay, 
 when it was proposed that such matters as demanded attention might be 
 considered. This body, according to adjournment, met next day and 
 continued its session. The minutes of both meetings, not being included 
 in the regular Journals of the House of Burgesses, were ordered by the 
 Burgesses to be printed, as follows. 
 
 Williamsburg 
 
 Wednesday, the 17th May. 1769. 
 
 About 12 o'clock his Excellency the Governor was pleased, 
 
 by his Messenger, to command the Attendance of the House 
 
 of Burgesses in the Council Chamber, whereupon, in Obedience 
 
384 PRELIMINARY PERIOD — TO 1774 
 
 to his Lordship's Command, the House, with their Speaker, 
 immediately waited upon his Excellency, when he thought fit 
 to dissolve the General Assembly. 
 
 The late Representatives of the People then judging it 
 necessary that some Measures should be taken in their dis- 
 tressed Situation, for preserving the true and essential Inter- 
 ests of the Colony, resolved upon a Meeting for that very 
 salutary Purpose, and therefore, immediately, Avith the great- 
 est Order and Decorum, repaired to the House of Mr. Anthony 
 Hay in this City, where being assembled, it was first proposed, 
 for the more decent and regular Discussion of such jNIatters as 
 might be taken into Consideration, that a Moderator should be 
 appointed, and, on the Question being put, Pej^ton Randolph, 
 Esq ; late Sjyeaker of the House of Burgesses, was unanimously 
 elected'. 
 
 The true state of the Colony, being then opened and fully 
 explained, and it being proposed that a regular Association 
 should be formed, a Committee was appointed to prepare the 
 necessary and most proper Regulations for that Purpose, and 
 they were ordered to make their Report to the General Meet- 
 ing the next Day at 10 o'clock. 
 
 Thursday. May 18. 
 
 At a farther Meeting, according to Adjournment, the Com- 
 mittee appointed Yesterday, made their Report, which being 
 read, seriously considered and approved, was signed by a 
 great Kumber of the Principal Gentlemen of the Colony then 
 present, and is as follows : 
 
 We his Majesty's most dutiful Subjects, the late Represen- 
 tatives of all the Freeholders of the Colony of Virginia, avow- 
 ing our inviolable and unshaken Fidelity and Loyalty to our 
 most gracious Sovereign, our Affection for all our Fellow 
 Subjects of Great Britain protesting against every Act or 
 Thing which may have the most distant Tendancy to inter- 
 rupt, or in any wise disturb his Majesty's Peace, and the 
 good Order of his Government in this Colony, which we are 
 resolved, at the Risque of our Lives and Fortune, to maintain 
 
VIRGINIA NON-IMPORTATION ASSOCIATION 385 
 
 and defend ; bnt at the same Time, being deeply affected with 
 the Grievances and Distresses with which his Majesty's Ameri- 
 can Subjects are oppressed, and dreading the Evils which 
 threaten the ruin of ourselves and our posterity, by reducing 
 us from a free and happy People, to a wretched and miserable 
 State of Slavery ; and having taken into our most serious 
 Consideration the present State of the Trade of this Colony, 
 and of the American Commerce in general, observe with 
 Anxiety, that the Debt due Great Britain for Goods imported 
 from thence is very great, and that the ]\Ieans of paying this 
 Debt, in the present Situation of Affairs, are likely to become 
 more and more precarious ; that the Difficulties, under which 
 we now labour, are owing to Restrictions, Prohibitions, and ill 
 advised Regulations in several late Acts of Parliament of 
 Great Britain ; in particular, that the late unconstitutional Act, 
 imposing Duties on Tea, Paper, Glass, etc., for the sole Pur- 
 pose of raising a Revenue in America, is injurious to Property, 
 and destructive to Liberty, hath a necessary Tendency to pre- 
 vent the Payment of the Debt due from this Colony to Great 
 Britain, and is, of Consequence, ruinous to Trade; that, not- 
 withstanding the many earnest Applications already made, 
 there is little reason to expect a Redress of those Grievances : 
 Therefore, in Justice to ourselves and our Posterity, as well as 
 to the Traders of Great Britain concerned in the American 
 Commerce, we, the Subscribers, have voluntarily and unani- 
 mously entered into the following Resolutions, in Hopes that 
 our Example will induce the good People of this Colony to be 
 frugal in the Use and Consumption of British Manufactures, 
 and that the Merchants and Manufacturers of Great Britain 
 may, from Motives of Interest, Friendship, and Justice, be 
 engaged to exert themselves to obtain for us a Redress of 
 those Grievances, under wliich the Trade and Inhabitants of 
 America at present labour: We do therefore most earnestly 
 recommend this our Association to the serious inhabitants of 
 this Colony, in Hopes, that they will very readily and cordially 
 accede thereto. 
 
386 PRELIMINARY PERIOD — TO 1774 
 
 First, It is UlSrANIMOUSLY agreed on and resolved 
 this 18th day of May, 1769, that the Subscribers, as well 
 by their own Example, as all other legal Ways and Means 
 in their Power, will promote and encourage Industry and 
 Frugality, and discourage all Manner of Luxury and Ex- 
 travagance. 
 
 Secondly, That tiiey will not at any Time hereafter, directly 
 or indirectly import, or cause to be imported, any Manner of 
 Goods, Merchandise, or Manufactures, which are, or shall 
 thereafter be taxed by Act of Parliament, for the Purpose of 
 raising a Revenue in America (except Paper, not exceeding 
 Eight Shillings Sterling per Reem, and except such Articles 
 only, as Orders have been already sent for) nor purchase any 
 such after the First Day of September next, of any Person 
 whatsoever, but that they will always consider such Taxa- 
 tion, in every Respect, as an absolute Prohibition, and in 
 all future Orders, direct their Correspondents to ship them 
 no Goods whatever, taxed as aforesaid, except as is above 
 excepted. . . } 
 
 [Present 
 
 89 members.] 
 
 The business being finished, the following TOASTS were 
 drank, and Gentlemen retired. 
 
 The KING, 
 
 The QUEEN and ROYAL FAMILY, 
 
 His Excellency Lord BOTETOURT [the Governor], and 
 Prosperity to VIRGINIA. 
 
 The speedy and lasting Union between Great Britain and 
 her Colonies. 
 
 The constitutional British Liberty in America, and all true 
 Patriots, the Supporters thereof. . . . 
 
 1 George Washington and George Mason (as their preserved letters show) had 
 been in correspondence regarding such a non-importation agreement for some 
 weeks. Mason drew the resolutions; Washington was to have presented 
 them to the Assembly. Now he did so (in person or by deputy) to the informal 
 meeting at Mr. Hay's. See Washington's Writings, first edition, II, 263; and 
 Mason's Life and Correspondence, I, 136 ff. 
 
MASSACHUSETTS TOWN-COMMITTEES 387 
 
 122. The Origin of Massachusetts Town-Committees of Corre- 
 spondence, 1772 
 
 Boston Town Records, 1770-1777 {Report of the Record Commissioners, 
 1887), pp. 90-93. 
 
 A Boston town meeting of October 28 had been concerned with the 
 report that " Stipends are aflSxed by order of the Crown to the offices of 
 the Judges of Superior Court." This action had been taken by the 
 British government to render the judges independent of the Assembly 
 and of public opinion in Massachusetts. The meeting had voted that " a 
 decent . . . Application" be made to the governor asking for infor- 
 mation as to the truth of the report. The Governor's refusal appears 
 in the first part of the document. This crisis, and the refusal of Governor 
 Hutchinson (below) to permit the Assembly to meet, brought about the 
 organization of committees of correspondence. Cf. American History 
 and Government., § 140. 
 
 Fryday October 30, 10 O'Clock Before Noon, Met according 
 to Adjournment. 
 
 The Committee to present the Governor an Address Reported 
 the following answer Avhich his Excellency delivered to them in 
 Writing — Viz — 
 
 Gentlemen 
 
 It is by no means proper for me to lay before the 
 Inhabitants of any Town whatsoever in consequence of their 
 Votes and Proceedings in a Town Meeting any part of my 
 Correspondence as Governor of this Province or to acquaint 
 them whether I have or have not received any advice relating 
 to the public Affairs of the Government. This reason alone if 
 your Address to me had been in other respects unexceptionable, 
 would have been sufficient to restrain me from complying with 
 your desire — 
 
 I shall always be ready to gratify the Inhabitants of the 
 Town of Boston upon every regular Application to me on 
 business of public concernment to the Town as far as I shall 
 have it in my power consistent with fidelity to the trust which 
 his Majesty has reposed in me — 
 
 T. HUTCHJNSON. 
 
388 PRELIMINARY PERIOD — TO 1774 
 
 The aforegoing answer, having been considered — It was 
 moved and the Question put — Whether application shall be 
 now made to his Excellency by the Town that he would be 
 pleased to permit the General Assembly to meet at the time to 
 which they stand prorogued, which passed in the Affermative 
 Nem Con. — It was then Voted, that 
 
 • The Honorable James Otis, Esq. 
 
 Mr. Samuel Adams 
 The Honorable Thomas Gushing, Esq. 
 be a Committee to prepare a Petition to his Excellency for the 
 purpose aforesaid — 
 
 The Petition of a number of the Inhabitants — " That 
 another public School may be Established at the South part 
 of the Town," was read, and after debate had thereon — the 
 Question was put — Whether the Consideration of the same 
 shall be referred to March jMeeting — Passed in the affermative. 
 
 The Committee appointed by the Town at a late Meeting to 
 consider what was proper to be done to prevent the ruin of 
 Beacon Hill, were desired to make Report as soon as may be. 
 
 Voted, that the Town Clerk be directed to lay the Original 
 Grant of Beacon Hill before the Town at their adjournment. 
 
 Upon a Motion made — Voted, that the Selectmen be added 
 to the Committee relative to Beacon Hill — 
 
 The Committee chosen to prepare a Petition to the Governor, 
 relative to the Meeting of the General Court — Reported the 
 following Draft — Viz — 
 
 The Petition of the Freeholders and other Inhabitants of 
 the Town of Boston legally Assembled by Adjournment in 
 Eaneuil Hall on Fryday 30 of October 1772 — 
 
 Humbly Sheweth — 
 
 That your Petitioners are still greatly alarmed at the Report 
 which has been prevalent of late Viz. That Stipends are 
 affixed to the Offices of the Judges of the Superior Court of 
 Judicature of this Province by Order of the Crown for their 
 support — 
 
 Such an Establishment is contrary not only to the plain and 
 
 1 
 
MASSACHUSETTS TOWN COMMITTEES 389 
 
 obvious sense of the Charter of this Province but also some of 
 the fundamental Principles of the Common Law, to the benefit 
 of which all P)ritish Subjects, wherever dispersed throughout 
 the British Empire, are indubitably entitled — . . . 
 
 It is therefore their earnest and humble request that your 
 Excellency would be pleased to allow the General Assembly 
 to meet at the time to which they now stand prorogued ; in 
 order that in that Constitutional Body, with whom it is to 
 enquire into Grievances and Redress them, the Joint Wisdom 
 of the Province may be employed, in deliberating and deter- 
 mining on a matter so important and alarming — 
 
 The Town having considered the foregoing Draft of a Peti- 
 tion to Governor Hutchinson — It was Voted, that the same 
 be accepted, Nem. Con. Also Voted, that [seven names] be a 
 Committee to present the Petition to his Excellency — 
 
 Voted, that this Meeting be Adjourned to Monday next 3. 
 O'clock P.M. 
 
 Monday November 2d 3. O'Clock P.M. Met According to 
 Adjournment. 
 
 The Committee appointed to present a Petition To his Ex- 
 cellency the Governor of this Province, Reported and laid 
 before the Town the following Reply which his Excellency 
 had been pleased to deliver them in writing — ^ Viz. [A firm 
 claim that the town-meeting was meddling with matters that 
 were beyond its province, and a refusal to call the Assembly.] 
 
 The foregoing Reply having been read several times and 
 duly considered ; it was moved and the Question accordingly 
 put Whether the same be satisfactory to the Town; which 
 passed in the Negative Nem. Con. And thereupon — 
 
 Resolved as the Opinion of the Inhabitants of this Town 
 that they have ever had, and ought to have, a right to Petition 
 the King or his Representatives for the Redress of such 
 Grievances as the}' feel or for preventing of such as they have 
 reason to apprehend, and to communicate their Sentiment to 
 other Towns. 
 
 It was then moved by Mr. Samuel Adams, That a Committee of 
 
390 PRELIMINARY PERIOD — TO 1774 
 
 Correspondence be appointed to consist of twenty-one Persons — 
 to state the Rights of the Colonists and of this Province in par- 
 ticular, as Men, as Christians, and as Subjects ; to communicate 
 and publish the same to the several Towns in this Province and to 
 the World as the sense of this Town, with the Infringements and 
 Violations thereof that have been, or from time to time may be 
 made — Also requesting of each Town a free communication of 
 their Sentiments on this Subject — And the Question being ac- 
 cordingly put — Passed in the Affermative. Nem. Con. — Also 
 Voted, that [a list headed with the names of Samuel Adams, 
 James Otis, and Joseph Warren] be and hereby are appointed 
 a Committee for the purpose aforesaid, and that they be desired 
 to Report to the Town as soon as may be — . . 
 Then the ]Nreeting was dissolved. 
 
 123. Creation of Standing Intercolonial Committees of Corre- 
 spondence, 1773 
 
 This was the most important step in America between the Stamp Act 
 Congress and the First Continental Congress. Cf. American History 
 and Government, § 140. 
 
 a. Jefferson's Accnunt of the Origin of tJie Movement 
 {icritten at a Later Date) 
 
 Ford's Writings of Jefferson, I, 7, 8. 
 
 Not thinking our old and leading members up to the point 
 of forwardness and zeal which the times required, Mr. Henry, 
 Richard Henry Lee, Francis L. Lee, Mr. Carr and myself 
 agreed to meet in the evening in a private room of the Raleigh, 
 to consult on the state of things. There may have been a 
 member or two more whom I do not recollect. We were all 
 sensible that the most urgent of all measures was that of com- 
 ing to an understanding with all the other colonies, to consider 
 the l^ritish claims as a common cause to all, and to produce a 
 unity of action ; and for this purpose that a committee of cor- 
 respondence in each colony would be the best instrument for 
 intercommunication ; and that their first measure would prolv 
 
VIRGINIA: INTERCOLONIAL COMMITTEES 391 
 
 ably be, to propose a meeting of deputies from every colony, 
 at some central place, who should be charged with the direc- 
 tion of the measures which should be taken by all. We 
 therefore drew up the resolutions. The consulting members 
 proposed to me to move them, but I urged that it should be 
 done by Mr. Carr, my friend and brother in law, then a mem- 
 ber, to whom I wished an opportunity should be given of 
 making known to the house his great worth and talents. It 
 was so agreed ; he moved them. They were agreed to nem. 
 con., and a committee of correspondence appointed, of whom 
 Peyton Randolph, the Speaker, was chairman. 
 
 h. The ArfioTi of the Virginia Burgesses 
 Journals of the House of Burgesses, 1775-1776, 26-28. 
 Friday, the 12th of IMarch, 13 Geo. III. 1773. 
 
 ******* 
 
 The House resolved itself into a Committee of the whole 
 House, upon the State of the Colony. 
 
 Mr. Speaker left the chair. 
 
 Mr. Bland took the Chair of the Committee. 
 
 Mr. Speaker resumed the Chair. 
 
 Mr. Bland reported from the Committee, that they had 
 directed him to make the following Report to the House, viz.^ 
 
 Whereas, the minds of his Majesty's faithful Subjects in 
 this Colony have been disturbed, by various Rumours and 
 Reports of proceedings tending to deprive them of their 
 ancient, legal and constitutional Rights. 
 
 And icJiereaa, the affairs of this Colony are frequently con- 
 nected with those of Great Britain, as well as of the neigh- 
 boring Colonies, which renders a Communication of Sentiments 
 necessary ; in Order therefore to remove the Uneasiness, and 
 to quiet the minds of the People, as well as for the other good 
 purposes above mentioned : 
 
 ^ Only the result of the action of the Committee of the Whole goes on 
 record. Cf. No. 121. 
 
392 PRELIMINARY PERIOD— TO 1774 
 
 Be it resolved, that a standing Committee of Correspoudeuce 
 and inquiry be appointed, to consist of eleven Persons, to wit, 
 the Honourable Pet/ton Handolph, Esquire, Bohert Carter 
 XicJiolas, liichard Bland, ]\(chan1 Ihnny Lee. Benjamin 
 Harrison, Edmund Pendleton, Patrick Henry, Dudley Digges, 
 Dabnei/ Carr, ArcJiibaM Canj, and Tliomas Jefferson, Esquires. 
 any six of whom to be a Committee, whose business it shall be 
 to obtain the most early and authentic intelligence of all such 
 Acts and Resolutions of the British Parliament, or proceedings of 
 Administration, as may relate to or affect the British Colonies in 
 America, and to keep up and maintain a Correspondence and Com- 
 munication with our Sister Colonies, respecting these important 
 Considerations ; and the result of such their proceedings, from 
 Time to Time, to lay before this House. 
 
 Jicsolved, that it be an iustruotion to the said Committee, 
 that they do, without delay, inform themselves particularly of 
 the principles and Authority, on which was constituted a 
 Court of Inquiry, said to have been lately held in Khode 
 Island, with Powers to transmit Persons, accused of Offences 
 committed in America, to places beyond the Seas, to be 
 tried. 
 
 The said Pesolutions, being severally road a second Time, 
 were upon the Question severally put thereupon agreed to by 
 the House, nemine contradicente. 
 
 Resolved, that the Speaker of this House do transmit to the 
 Speakers of the different Assemblys of the British Colonies, on the 
 Continent, Copies of the said Resolutions, and desire that they wUl 
 lay them before their respective Assemblies ; and request them to 
 appoint some Person or Persons, of their respective Bodies, to 
 communicate, from Time to Time, with the said Committee. 
 
 c. Lcffn's jrcni'CiJ Inj fJw J'ir^inia Cofurfiitfer of Corj'C- 
 spo7i dcii ce, 17 7 S 
 
 Journals of the House of Burgesses of Virginia. I77S-1767, 47— "iO. 
 
 * * * « * « 4f 
 
COMMITTEES OF CORRESPONDENCE 393 
 
 (1) Khode Island. 
 
 New Port, May latli, 1773. 
 SIR: 
 
 I had the Pleasure of receiving your Favour of the 19th of 
 JNIareh with the Resolves of the House of Burgesses of Virginia; 
 which with the Letter from 3awr Committee of Correspondence 
 I laid before the House of Deputies of this Colony at their 
 meeting the last Week. 
 
 The House thoroughly convinced that a firm Union of the 
 Colonies is absolutely necessary' for the Preservation of their 
 ancient, legal and constitutional Rights, and that the ISIeasures 
 proposed by your House of Burgesses will greatly promote so 
 desirable an End, came, Xemine contradicente, into the Resolu- 
 tions of which I have the honor now to enclose you a Copy. 
 
 I am desired to inform you that the Committee apointed by 
 our House of Deputies, will, as soon as possible, transmit to 
 the Committee of Correspondence of Virginia, the best Accounts 
 they shall be able to obtain, respecting the Court of Inquiry 
 lately held in this Colony. 
 
 I am with great Respect, your most obedient Servant, 
 
 Metcalf Bowler [Speaker]. 
 [The Resolves inclosed, as follows.] 
 ;^[ay 7th 1773. In the House of Deputies. 
 
 Besolved that a standing Committee of Correspondence and 
 Lujidri/ be appointed to consist of seven Persons, to wit the 
 honorable Stephen Hopliins, Esquire, Metcalf Bowler, Moses 
 Brown, John Cole, William Bradford, Henry Ward, and Henry 
 Merchant Esquires, and four of whom to be a Committee, whose 
 Business it shall be to obtain the most early and authentick 
 Intelligence of all such Acts and Resolutions of the British 
 Parliament or Proceedings of Administration as may relate to 
 or affect the British Colonies in America, and to keep up and 
 maintain a Correspondence with our Sister Colonies respecting 
 these important Considerations ; and the Result of such their 
 Proceedings from Time to Time to lay before this House. 
 
 Voted Per Order J. Lyndon, Clerk. 
 
394 PRELIMINARY PERIOD — TO 1774 
 
 The above written is a true Copy of a Vote of the House of 
 Deputies of Lower House of Assembly of the Colony of Rhode 
 Island. 
 
 ******* 
 May 7th 1773, In the House of Deputies. 
 Resolved, that the Speaker of this House be requested to 
 write to the Speaker of the House of Burgesses in Virginia, and 
 to all other Speakers of Assemblies in North America, inform- 
 ing them of the Proceedings of this House relating to the 
 Preservation of the Rights of the Colonies. 
 
 Voted Per Order J. Lyndon, Clerk. 
 ******* 
 (2) From a Massachusetts Legislative Committee. 
 
 Province of Massachusetts Bay, June 3d., 1773. 
 Sir: 
 
 The very judicious and important Resolves entered into by 
 the House of Burgesses of his Majesty's most ancient Colony 
 of Virginia on the 12th March last, together with your obliging 
 Letter inclosing the same, have been laid before the house of 
 Representatives of this Province. 
 
 The Wisdom of the Measures proposed in those Resolves, and 
 the great and good Effects that may reasonably be expected to 
 flow from them, not only to the Colonies but the Parent State, 
 were so obvious, that the House immediately adopted them; 
 and appointed a Committee to keep up and maintain a free 
 Communication with Virginia and the Rest of the Sister 
 Colonies. 
 
 ******* 
 [Similar replies from other colonies,] 
 
 124. Tea Riots 
 
 From a Philadelphia Handbill to the Delaware Pilots, September, 
 1773, given in Scharf and Westcott's History of Philadelphia, I, 286. 
 
 . , . We need not point out to you the steps you ought to 
 take if the tea-ship falls in your way. You cannot be at a loss 
 
TEA RIOTS 395 
 
 how to prevent, or if that cannot be done, how to give the 
 merchants of the city timely notice of her arrival. But this 
 you may depend upon, that whatever pilot brings her into the 
 river, such pilot will be marked for his treason. . . . Like Cain, 
 he will be hung ofut as a spectacle to the nations, and be for- 
 ever recorded as the damned traitorous pilot who brought up the 
 tea-ship. . . . 
 (Signed) The Committee for Tarring and Feathering. 
 
 [Another broadside was addressed as a warning to Captain Ayers of 
 the expected tea-ship. "What think you, Captain, of a Halter round 
 your Neck, ten gallons of liquid Tar decanted on your Pate, with the 
 feathers of a doxen wild Geese lain over that, to enliven your appear- 
 ance?" 
 
 All this activity preceded the Boston " Tea-Party." The Philadelphia 
 ship, however, did not arrive until some weeks after she was expected — 
 on Christmas Day at Gloucester Point, near the city. The Captain was 
 escorted to the city, where a mass meeting of 8000 people persuaded him 
 to sail at once for England, without breaking cargo.] 
 
XXII. RISE OF REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENTS 
 
 The colonies between 1768 and 1773 had each organized, more or less 
 perfectly, local committees — town or county — to enforce non-importa- 
 tion agreements, and these committees often acted as '-committees of 
 correspondence " to organize the province as a unit for action. Then in 
 1773 the Intercolonial Committees (No. 123) gave the germ of a stand- 
 ing continental union. 
 
 "The next step toward revolutionary government was to develop 
 from the local committees the Provincial Congresses in individual colonies, 
 and from the intercolonial committees of the continent a Continental 
 Congress. These things developed in the summer and fall of 1774, as the 
 result of three events ; (i) the attempt of the ministry to force taxed tea 
 down the throats of the colonists [see § 121 for colonial resistance]; (2) 
 the rather animated protest of the Boston Tea Party; and (3) the 
 punishment of Boston by the Port Bill." (American History and Govern- 
 ment, § 141. Cf. remainder of the same section for additional explanation.) 
 
 The documents for this period are very numerous, and many of the 
 most valuable are not suitable for condensation and are too long for in- 
 sertion here. It has seemed well to draw primarily upon one colony ; 
 and Virginia has been selected, partly because of her leadership, partly 
 because her documents excel in form. 
 
 125. The Virginia Burgesses suggest an Annual Continental Congress 
 
 A detailed account is given in American History and Governmetit, 
 §141. 
 
 a. Ejotract from a Letter hy a Member of the Assemhly to 
 a London Friend 
 
 Force's American Archives, Fourth Series, I, 340. The Assembly had 
 met May 6. Veiy little business had been transacted when the news of 
 the Boston Port Bill arrived ; but Virginia had been in high good humor 
 with her governor, and the Burgesses had appointed May 30 for a great 
 state ball, in honor of the governor's wife, the Lady Countess of Dunmore, 
 just arrived from England. 
 
 396 
 
VIRGINIA SUGGESTS ANNUAL CONGRESSES 397 
 
 Williamsburg, May 20, 1774. 
 
 Infinite astonishment, and equal resentment, has seized every 
 one here on account of the war sent to Boston. It is the univer- 
 sal determination to stop the exportation of tobacco, pitch, tar, 
 lumber, etc., and to stop all importation from Britain while 
 this act of hostility continues. We every day expect an express 
 from Boston, and it appears to me incontestabl[y] certain, that 
 the above measures will be universally adopted. We see with 
 concern, that this plan will be most extensively hurtful to our 
 fellow-subjects in Britain; nor would we have adopted it, if 
 Heaven had left us any other way to secure our liberty, and pre- 
 vent the total ruin of ourselves and our posterity to endless 
 ages. A wicked Ministry must answer for all the consequences. 
 I hope the wise and good on your side will pity and forgive us. 
 The House is now pushing on the public business for which we 
 were called here at this time ; but before we depart, our measures 
 will be settled and agreed on. The plan proposed is extensive ; 
 it is wise, and I hope, under God, it will not fail of success. 
 America possesses virtue unknown and unfelt by the abom- 
 inable sons of corruption who planned this weak and wicked 
 enterprise. 
 
 b. Thorn IS Jejf arson's Account of the Feeling aroused hy 
 J^'ews of the Port Bill, and of the Action taken Thereon 
 
 Works, Washington edition, I, 6, 7. The Autobiography in which 
 this passage occurs was composed many years after the event. 
 
 The lead in the House . . . being no longer left to the 
 old members, Mr. Henry, R. H. Lee, Fr. L. Lee, three or four 
 other members whom I do not recollect, and myself, agreeing 
 that we must boldly take an unequivocal stand in the line with 
 Massachusetts, determined to meet and consult on proper meas- 
 ures . . . We were under conviction of the necessity of arous- 
 ing our people . . . and thought that . . . a day of general fast- 
 ing and prayer woiild be most likely to . . . alarm their atten- 
 tion. No example of such a solemnity had existed since . . . 
 
398 REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENTS 
 
 our distresses in the war of of '55, since which a new generation 
 had grown up. With the help, therefore, of Rushworth [His- 
 torical Collections'], whom we rummaged over for the revolution- 
 ary precedents and forms of the Puritans of that day [England, 
 in the Seventeenth century], we cooked up a resolution, some- 
 what modernizing the phrases, for appointing the first day of 
 June, on which the Port Bill was to commence, as a day of fast- 
 ing, humiliation, and prayer. ... To give greater emphasis 
 to our proposition, we agreed to wait the next morning on Mr- 
 Nicholas, whose grave and religious character was more in uni- 
 son with the tone of our resolution, and to solicit him to move 
 it . . . He moved it the same day . . . and it passed without 
 opposition [c, below.] 
 
 c. Resolution of the Burgesses 
 
 Journals of the House of Burgesses, 1773-1776, 123-136. 
 
 Tuesday, the 24th of May. 14 Cxeo. III. 1774. 
 
 ******* 
 
 This House, being deeply impressed with apprehension of 
 the great dangers, to be derived to british America, from the 
 hostile Invasion of the City of Boston, in our Sister Colony of 
 Massachusetts bay, whose commerce and harbour are, on the 
 first Day of June next, to be stopped by an Armed force, deem 
 it highly necessary that the said first day of June be set apart, 
 by the Members of this House, as a day of Fasting, Humiliation, 
 and Prayer, devoutly to implore the divine interposition for 
 averting the heavy Calamity which threatens destruction to our 
 Civil Rights, and the Evils of civil War ; to give us one heart 
 and one Mind firmly to oppose, by all just and proper means, 
 every injury to American Rights ; and that the Minds of his 
 Majesty and his Parliament, may be inspired from above with 
 Wisdom, Moderation, and Justice, to remove from the loyal 
 People of America all cause of danger from a continued pursuit 
 of Measures pregnant with their ruin. 
 
VIRGINIA SUGGESTS ANNUAL CONGRESSES 399 
 
 d, Dtssolutwn 
 
 Thursday, the 26th of May. 14 Geo. III. 1774. 
 
 The Order of the Day being read ; 
 
 Mr. Speaker laid before the House the Letters from the 
 Speakers of the lower Houses of Assembly of the british 
 Colonies in America, with other Papers, upon the subject 
 matter, which were referred to the standing Committee of 
 Correspondence and Inquiry. 
 
 And the said Letters and Papers were read. 
 
 Resolved, that the said Letters and Papers be taken into 
 Consideration upon this Day Sevenight. . . . 
 
 A Message from the Governor by Mr. Blair: 
 
 " ]VIr. Speaker : the Governor commands this House to attend 
 his Excellency immediately, in the Council Chamber." 
 
 Accordingly Mr. Spieaker with the House, went up to attend 
 his Excellency in the Council Chamber, where his Excellency 
 was pleased to say to them. 
 
 " Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen of the House of Burgesses, 
 
 "I have in my hand a Paper published by Order of your 
 House, conceived in such Terms as reflect highly upon his 
 Majesty and the Parliament of Great Britain; which makes 
 it necessary for me to dissolve you; and you are dissolved 
 accordingly." 
 
 e, Virginia Ex-hurgesses propose an Annual Continen- 
 tal Congress 
 
 Journals of the Hotise of Burgesses, 1773-1776, xiii, xiv. 
 This is the first such proposal by any body of men so nearly approach- 
 ing a "government." 
 
 . . . an Association signed by eighty nine members of the 
 House of Burgesses, in session in the old Raleigh Tavern in 
 Williamsburg, on May 27th, 177 4: 
 
 We his Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the late 
 
400 REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENTS 
 
 representatives of tlie good people of this country, having 
 been deprived by the sudden interposition of the executive 
 part of this government from giving our countrymen the 
 advice we wished to convey to them in a legislative capacity, 
 find ourselves nnder the hard necessity of adopting this, the 
 only method we have left, of pointing out to our countrymen 
 such measures as in our opinion are best fitted to secure our 
 dearest rights and liberty from destruction, by the heavy 
 hand of power now lifted against North America : With much 
 grief we find that our dutiful applications to Great Britain 
 for security of our ancient and constitutional rights, have 
 been not only disregarded, but that a determined system is 
 formed and pressed for reducing the inhabitants of British 
 America to slavery by subjecting them to the payment 
 of taxes imposed without the consent of the people or 
 their representatives ; and that in pursuit of this system, 
 we find an act of the British parliament, lately passed, for 
 stopping the harbour and commerce of the town of Boston, in 
 our sister colony of 3fassat'husetts Bay, until the people there 
 submit to the payment of such unconstitutional taxes, and 
 which act most violently and arbitrarily deprives them of 
 their property, in wharfs erected by private persons, at their 
 own great and proper expense, which act is, in our opinion, 
 a most dangerous attempt to destroy the constitutional liberty 
 and rights of all North America. It is further our opinion, 
 that as Tea, on its importation into America, is charged with 
 a duty imposed by parliament for the purpose of raising a 
 revenue, without the consent of the people, it ought not to 
 be used by any person who wishes well to the constitutional 
 rights and liberty of British America. And ichereas the India 
 Company have ungenerously attempted the ruin of America 
 by sending many ships loaded with tea into the colonies, 
 thereby intending to fix a precedent in favor of arbitrary 
 taxation, we deem it highly proper, and do accordingly rec- 
 ommend it strongly to our countrymen, not to purchase or use 
 any kind of East India commodity whatsoever, except salt- 
 
VIRGINIA SUGGESTS ANNUAL CONGRESSES 401 
 
 petre and spices, until the grievances of America are redressed. 
 We are further clearly of opinion, that an attack, made on 
 one of our sister colonies to compel submission to arbitrary- 
 taxes, is an attack made on all British America, and threatens 
 ruin to the rights of all, unless the united wisdom of the 
 whole be applied. And for this purpose it is recommended to 
 the Committee of Correspondence, that they communicate, with 
 their several corresponding committees, on the expediency of 
 appointing deputies from the several colonies of British America, 
 to meet in general congress, at such place annually as shall be 
 thought most convenient; there to deliberate on those general 
 measures which the united interests of America may from time 
 to time require.^ 
 
 /. Letters from the Virginia Coimnittee of Correspond- 
 ence, according to direction above 
 
 Journals of the House of Burgesses, 1773-1776, 138. 
 At a Committee of Correspondence held in Williamsburg on 
 Saturday the 28th May, 1774. 
 
 Present 
 The honorable Peyton Randolph, Esquire 
 Robert G. NicJioIas, Richard Bland, 
 Edmund Pendleton, Benjamin Harrison, 
 Richard Henry Lee, Dudley Diyges 
 and Thomas Jefferson, Esquires. 
 Ordered, that Letters be prepared to the several Committees 
 of Correspondence requesting their Sentiments on the Appoint- 
 ments of Deputies from the several Colonies to meet annually 
 in general Congress. ... A Letter was accordingly prepared 
 to the Committee of Correspondence for 3faryland, which being 
 read and approved of the Committee is as follows : 
 
 1 A letter from Richard Henry I^ee to Samuel Warren (June 23) states that 
 he had intended to present such a resolution in the Assembly, but, on advice 
 of friends, waited for the completion of important business, — and then came 
 the dissolution. Washington went from this mooting, over which he had 
 presided, to dine with Lord and Lady Dunmore. The tone of Virginia inter- 
 course with the governor remains suave for some time. 
 
402 REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENTS 
 
 Williamsburg, May 28tli 1774. 
 Gentlemen. 
 
 The inclosed Papers will explain to you our present political 
 State here, with respect to the unhappy Dispute with our 
 Mother Country. The Propriety of appointing Deputies from 
 the several Colonies of British America to meet annually in 
 general Congress, appears to be a Measure extremely impor- 
 tant and extensively useful, as it tends so effectually to obtain 
 the united Wisdom of the Whole, in every Case of General 
 Concern. We are desired to obtain your Sentiments on this 
 Subject which you will be pleased to furnish us with. Being 
 very desirous of communicating to you the Opinion and Con- 
 duct of the late Representatives on the present Posture of 
 American Affairs as quickly as possible we beg Leave to refer 
 you to a future Letter on these Subjects. 
 
 We are, with great Respect, 
 
 Your most obedient Servants, 
 
 Peyton Randolph. 
 
 Robert C. Nicholas. 
 
 Dudley Digges. 
 
 To the Committee of Correspondence for Maryland. 
 
 Also Letters of the same Import, to the Committe of Corre- 
 spondence for Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachuset's Bay, 
 Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, [Delaware], North 
 Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. 
 
 Ordered, that the said Letters be sent by this Day's Post. 
 
 [On the arrival of these letters in Maryland, a Baltimore town 
 meeting (May 31) called a Provincial Assembly, to appoint 
 delegates to the proposed Continental Congress. Other 
 counties took like action ; and (June 22, before the time 
 set for the Virginia Convention), the Maryland Convention met 
 and named representatives. Two days earlier still, action had 
 been taken in Rhode Island, after receipt of the Virginia 
 suggestion, as appears below.] 
 
VIRGINIA SUGGESTS ANNUAL CONGRESSES 403 
 
 Answer to Virginia froin the Rhode Island Assembly 
 [with Appointment of Delegates] 
 Journals of the House of Burgesses, 1773-1776, 152-153. 
 
 New Port June 20. 1774. 
 Sir, 
 
 Agreeable to the Directions of the General Assembly I have the 
 honor to inclose you a Copy of certain Resolutions entered into by 
 tliem respecting the very alarming Situation of the Colonies. 
 
 I have also to inform yo^i that upon this Occasion the Assembly 
 have adjourned to tlie fourth Monday in August next. 
 I am tvith very great Regard, 
 
 Sir, your most humble Servant. 
 
 Metcalf Bowler. 
 
 Speaker. 
 Resolutions inclosed. 
 
 At the general Assembly of the Governor and Company of 
 the English colony of Rhode Island and Providence Planta- 
 tions in Neiv England in America begun and holden by Adjourn- 
 ment at Newp)ort within and for the said Colony on the second 
 Monday in June in the Year of our LORD one thousand seven 
 hundred and seventy four and fourteenth of the Reign of his 
 most sacred Majesty George the third by the grace of GOD 
 king of Great Britain etc. 
 
 This Assembly taking into the most serious Consideration sev- 
 eral Acts of the British Parliament for levying Taxes upon 
 his Majesty's Subjects in America without their Consent, and 
 particularly an Act lately passed for blocking up the Port of 
 Boston, which Act even upon the Supposition that the People 
 of Boston had justly deserved Punishment, is scarcely to be 
 parallelled in History for the Severity of the Vengeance ex- 
 ecuted upon them ; and also considering to what a deplorable 
 State this and the other Colonies are reduced, when by an Act 
 of Parliament in which the Subjects in America have not 
 a single Voice, and without being heard, they may be divested 
 of Property and deprived of Liberty, do upon mature Deliber- 
 ation, resolve 
 
404 REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENTS 
 
 Tliat it is the Opinion of this Assembly that a firm and 
 inviolable Union of all the Colonies in Counsels and Measures 
 is absolutely necessary for the preservation of their Rights 
 and Liberties ; and that for that purpose, a Convention of the 
 Representatives from all the Colonies ought to be holden in 
 some suitable Place, as soon as may be, in Order to consult 
 upon proper Measures to obtain a Repeal of the said Act, and 
 to establish the Rights and Liberties of the Colonies upon a 
 just and solid Foundation. 
 
 That the honorable Stephen Hopkins and the honorable Sam- 
 uel Ward Esquires be and they are hereby appointed by this 
 Assembly to represent the People of this Colony in a general 
 Congress of Representatives from the other Colonies at such 
 Time and place as shall be agreed upon by the major part of 
 the Committees appointed or to be appointed by the Colonies in 
 general. 
 
 Tliat they consult and advise with the Representatives of the 
 other Colonies who shall meet in such Congress upon a loyal 
 and dutiful Petition and Remonstrance to be presented to his 
 Majesty as the united Voice of his faithful Subjects in America 
 setting forth the grievances they labour under, and praying 
 his gracious Interposition for their Relief: And that in Case a 
 major part of the Representatives of all the Colonies shall agree 
 upon such Petition and Remonstrance they be empowered to 
 sign the same on behalf of this Colony. 
 
 That they also consult upon all such reasonable and lawful 
 Measures as may be expedient for the Colonies, in an united 
 Manner to persue in Order to procure a Redress of their Griev- 
 ances, and to ascertain and establish their Rights and Liberties. 
 
 That they also endeavor ^o Procure a regular annual Conven- 
 tion of Representatives from all the Colonies to consider of 
 Proper Means for the preservation of the Rights and Liberties 
 of the Colonies. . . } 
 
 (Witnessed) Henry Ward, Secfy. 
 
 1 The resolutions so reported on June 20 to the Virginia committee, had 
 been adopted on the 15th. Rhode Island, therefore, was the first colony to ap- 
 
OTHER CALLS FOR A CONGRESS 405 
 
 126. Another •• Call " for the Continental Congress 
 
 June 17, 1774, the Massachusetts House of Representatives, under the 
 lead of Samuel Adams (and after a carefully planned, secret campaign), 
 adopted the following resolutions. 
 
 That a meetiug of committees from the several colonies on 
 this continent is highly expedient and necessary, to consult 
 upon the present state of the colonies, and the miseries to 
 which they are and must be reduced by the operation of certain 
 acts of Parliament respecting America, and to deliberate and 
 determine upon wise and proper measures, to be by them recom- 
 mended to all the colonies, for the recovery and establishment 
 of their just rights and liberties, civil and religious, and the 
 restoration of union and harmony between Great Britain and 
 the colonies, most ardently desired by all good men : Therefore, 
 resolved, that the Hon. James Bowdoin, Esq., the Hon. 
 Thomas Gushing, Esq., Mr. Samuel Adams, John Adams and 
 Eobert Treat Paine, Esqrs., be, and they are hereby appointed 
 a committee on the part of this province, for the purposes 
 aforesaid, any three of whom to be a quorum, to meet such 
 committees or delegates from the other colonies as have been 
 or may be appointed, either by their respective houses of 
 burgesses or representatives, or by convention, or by the com- 
 mittees of correspondence appointed by the respective houses 
 of assembly, in the city of Philadelphia, or any other place that 
 shall be judged most suitable by the committee, on the 1st 
 day of September next; and that the speaker of the house be 
 directed, in a letter to the speakers of the houses of burgesses 
 or representatives in the several colonies, to inform them of 
 the substance of these resolves. 
 
 [This is often referred to as " the call " for the Continental Congress. 
 It was the first action by a colonial legislature in regular session. It did 
 not, however, have " legal " validity under the Charter to which the men 
 of Massachusetts constantly appealed. That charter (1691) required the 
 
 point delegates. The resolutions, of course, are given also in the Rhode Island 
 Colonial Records. 
 
406 REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENTS 
 
 assent of the upper House and the approval of the governor for every 
 resolution and every appointment ; and these elements, of course, were 
 lacking. The dramatic story of Sam Adams' plot is well told in many 
 places, — notably in Dr. Hosmer's Samuel Adams.'\ 
 
 127. A Virginia County Suggests a Continental Congress and a 
 General Association 
 
 Force, American Archives, Fourth Series, I, 392-393. 
 
 At a Meeting of the Freeholders and other Inhabitants of 
 the County of Frederick, in Virginia . . . the 8th day of June, 
 1774 [to consider the Boston Port Bill]. 
 
 The Reverend Charles M. Thurston, Moderator. 
 
 A Committee of the following gentlemen, viz: the Reverend 
 Charles M. Thurston, Isaac Zane, George Rootes, Angus 
 McDonald, Alexander White, George Johnston, and Samuel 
 Beall, 3d, were appointed to draw up Resolves suitable to the 
 same occasion, who, withdrawing for a short time, returned 
 with the following votes, viz : 
 
 Voted, 1st. That we will always cheerfully pay due sub- 
 mission to such Acts of Government as his Majesty has a 
 right by law to exercise over his subjects, as Sovereign of the 
 British Dominions, and to such only. 
 
 2d. That it is the inherent right of British subjects to be 
 governed and taxed by Representatives chosen by themselves 
 only ; and that every Act of the British Parliament respecting 
 the internal policy of North America, is a daring and uncon- 
 stitutional invasion of our said rights and privileges. 
 
 3d. That the Act of Parliament above mentioned is not only 
 in itself repugnant to the fundamental law of natural justice, 
 in condemning persons for a supjiosed crime unheard, but also 
 a despotic exertion of unconstitutional power, calculated to enslave 
 a free and loyal people. 
 
 4th. That the enforcing the execution of the said Act of Parlia- 
 ment by a military power, will have a necessary tendency to raise a 
 civil war, thereby dissolving that union which has so long happily sub- 
 sisted between the mother country and her Colonies ; . . . 
 
VIRGINIA'S FIRST PROVINCIAL CONVENTION 407 
 
 5th. It is the unanimous opinion of this meeting, that a 
 joint resolution of all the Colonies to stop all importations 
 from Great Britain, and exportations to it, till the said Act 
 shall be repealed, will prove the salvation of North America 
 and her liberties. . . . 
 
 7th. That it is the opinion of this meeting that Committees 
 ought to be appointed for the purpose of effecting a general Asso- 
 ciation, that the same measures may be pursued through the whole 
 Continent. That the Committees ought to correspond with each 
 other, and to meet at such places and times as shall be agreed on, in 
 order to form such General Association, and that when the same 
 shall be formed and agreed on by the several Committees, we will 
 strictly adhere thereto ; and till the general sense of the Continent 
 shall be known, we do pledge ourselves to each other and our coun- 
 try, that we will inviolably adhere to the votes of this day. 
 
 8th. Tliat Charles M. Thurston, Isaac Zane, Angus Mc- 
 Donald, Samuel Beall, 3d, Alexander White, and George Rootes, 
 be appointed a Committee for the purposes aforesaid ; and that 
 they or any three of them, are hereby fully empowered to act. 
 
 Which being read, were unanimously assented to and sub- 
 scribed. 
 
 [This meeting makes no reference to the action of the ex-Burf?esses at 
 Williamsburg some ten days before, but probably it originated from that 
 action.] 
 
 128. The First Call for a Provincial Convention (Virginia) 
 
 a. Suggestion frnjYi the Ex-Burgesses {May 30, 177 Jf) 
 
 Force, American Archives^^ Fourth Series, I, p. •S-')]. 
 
 The ex-Burgesses, many of them, remained in Williamsburg to attend 
 the state ball on the oOth and for the day of prayer, June 1 (cf. No. 122 c). 
 On the day after the call for a Continental Congress (May 29), letters 
 arrived from committees of correspondence in the northern colonies, as 
 below noted ; and the following day, twenty -five of the ex-Burgesses called 
 a meeting of the whole number for August 1, as below. That meeting 
 was expanded into a true representative convention by modifications in 
 
408 REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENTS 
 
 the plan indicated in b and c below. Force does not indicate the source 
 of the following statement ; but presumably it was printed by order of 
 the meeting in the Williamsburg papers. Such proceedings were ordered 
 printed in almost every case by the various county meetings ; but the 
 clause referring to printing is usually omitted in these extracts. 
 
 . . . Immediately upon receipt of these letters the Honorable 
 Peyton Randolph, Esquire, moderator of the Committee of the 
 late House of Representatives, thought it proper to convene all 
 the members that were then in town ; who on considering those 
 important papers [suggesting the need of uniform action in the 
 various colonies], came to a resolution to call together several 
 other members near this city, to whom notice could be given. 
 [Twenty-five of them met next day, Monday, May 30, at ten 
 o'clock, when] it was unanimously agreed to refer the further 
 consideration of this matter to the Jirst day of August next; at 
 which time it is expected there will be a very general attend- 
 ance of the late members of the House. . . . 
 
 [This notice is referred to in a letter of June 23 by Kichard Henry Lee 
 to Samuel Adams as follows, after describing the meeting of the ex-Bur- 
 gesses on May 27— No. 125, e.] . . . " Most of the members, myself among 
 the rest, had left Williamsburg before your message from Boston arrived. 
 Twenty-five of them, however, were a.ssembled to consider that message, 
 and they determined to invite a general meeting of the whole body on the 
 first of August." (Force, Fourth Series, I, 44(3.) 
 
 [Presumably the committee of correspondence sent out a circular letter 
 to the various counties. The editor of this volume has not been able 
 to find any such letter, but some of the documents just following assume 
 such action. After June 1, the remaining ex-Burgesses at Williamsburg 
 departed home, in order to arouse their respective counties to appoint 
 delegates for the August convention.] 
 
 I. Sample Kotice to a Virginia County by an Ex-Burgess 
 
 Force, American Archives, Fourth Series, I, 418. Thomas Mason 
 writes from Williamsburg on June 16, portraying the situation, through 
 several pages. Only the close of the letter is given here. 
 
 If the governour should be restrained by the instructions of 
 a wicked Minister from relieving the distresses of the Colony 
 
VIRGINIA'S FIRST PROVINCIAL CONVENTION 409 
 
 by calling an Assembly, immediately, and writs should not be 
 issued for that purpose before the 1st day of July, I advise 
 the freeholders of each county in the Colony to convene 
 themselves and choose two of the most able and discreet of 
 their inhabitants to accompany and assist their late Repre- 
 sentatives at the meeting at Williamsburg, on the 1st of 
 August ; and let the whole Colony unanimously support what- 
 ever may be there resolved upon. 
 
 [Lord Dunmore did issue writs that same day for a new Assembly, to 
 meet August 11. No doubt he hoped this would induce the Virginia 
 counties not to appoint delegates to the meeting called for August 1. 
 Such a purpose was suspected and defeated. (See below, § 129, a). 
 
 Some counties sent only their ex-burgesses to the August Convention ; 
 some elected new burgesses for the Assembly called for August 11, but 
 instructed them to attend tiie Convention also on the 1st ; and some (as 
 Mason suggested) sent not only their "burgesses," but also certain ad- 
 ditional deputies.] 
 
 c. Sample Call for a County Meeting to give Instructions 
 for the August Convention 
 
 Force, American Archives, Fourth Series, I, 451. 
 
 At a meeting of the Commiltee of Correspondence for Norfolk 
 . . . held at the Court House, on Monday, the S7th day of June, 
 1774. Present [six* names']. 
 
 Voted That the Freeholders and Inhabitants of the County 
 and Borough of Norfolk be earnestly requested to attend at 
 the Court House of the said County on Wednesday, the 6th 
 day of July next, at ten o'clock in the forenoon, that the late 
 Burgesses may collect their sentiments previous to the meet- 
 ing appointed to be held at Williamsburg, on the 1st day of 
 August next. 
 
 William Davis, Clerk. 
 
 As late Burgesses for Norfolk ... we heartily concur . . . 
 with the Committee of Correspondence, and propose to attend 
 at the time appointed. [Signatures of the ex-burgesses for the 
 County.] 
 
410 REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENTS 
 
 [The meeting was held at the appointed time (Force, IV, 1, 518), and 
 adopted ten resolutions — directing "our late Burgesses" to attend the 
 Williamsburg Convention on August 1 ; to try to secure a " general asso- 
 ciation " there for the Colony of Virginia, " against all importations and 
 exportations (medicines excepted) to and from Great Britain" ; to try to 
 extend such association against every part of the colonies which should re- 
 fuse to accept the measure ; and to secure the appointment in each County 
 of Virginia of a Committee "of respectable men ... to prevent any 
 breach of such . . . Association as may be adopted."] 
 
 129. Typical Virginia County Instructions to Delegates to the 
 First Provincial Convention 
 
 Force has preserved records of meetings in thirty-one Virginia counties, 
 to appoint and instruct delegates to the Provincial Convention called 
 for the 1st of August. Many of these sets of instructions rank as great 
 state papers, quite equal in logic, rhetoric, and statesmanship to the docu- 
 ments put forth by the Continental Congress three months later at 
 Philadelphia. The Fairfax County resolutions, which are given in about 
 a third part below, seem to have been in exceptional degree the model 
 for the resolutions adopted by the August Convention, which, in turn, 
 with the same Fairfax document, must have been before the com- 
 mittees of the Continental Congress which drew up the famous documents 
 issued by that body. 
 
 Brief extracts from a few other Virginia county resolutions follow 
 the main document (a), to show the drift of feeling in certain plain 
 matters. When the exact location in Force is omitted, to save space, 
 it can readily be found from the index to that work. 
 
 Virginia Counties appoint Delegates to the First Vir- 
 ginia Convention 
 
 a. Westmoreland County ( Virginia) Resolutions 
 
 Force, American Archives, Fourth Series, I, 437, 438. 
 
 At a respectable Meeting of the Freeholders and other Inhabit- 
 ants of the County of Westmoreland, assembled on due notice, 
 at the Court House of the said County, on Wednesday, the 
 22d of June, 1774. 
 
 [The Reverend Mr. Thomas Smith, having been appointed 
 
VIRGINIA'S FIRST PROVINCIAL CONVENTION 411 
 
 Moderator^, Several papers containing the Proceedings of the 
 late House of Burgesses of this Colony, and the subsequent 
 determinations of the late Representatives after the House was 
 dissolved, together with extracts of several Resolves of the 
 Provinces of Massachusetts Bay, Maryland, etc., being read, the 
 meeting proceeded seriously to consider the present dangerous 
 and truly alarming crisis, when ruin is threatened to the ancient 
 constitutional rights of North America, and came to the follow- 
 ing: Resolves : 
 
 7th. This meeting do heartily concur with the late Representa- 
 tive body of this country, to disuse tea, and not purchase any other 
 commodity of the East Indies, except saltpetre, until the grievances 
 of America are redressed. (Cf. No. 125 e, above.) 
 
 8tli. We do most heartily concur in these preceding Resolves, 
 and will, to the utmost of our power, take care that they are 
 carried into execution ; and that we will regard every man as 
 infamous who now agree [s] to, and shall hereafter make a breach 
 of all or any of them ; subject however to such future altera- 
 tions as shall be judged expedient, at a general meeting of 
 Deputies from the several parts of this Colony, or a general 
 Congress of all the Colonies. 
 
 9th. We do appoint Richard Henry Lee, and Richard Lee, 
 Esquires, the late Representatives of this county, to attend the 
 general meeting of Deputies from all the counties [August i ] ; and 
 we desire that they do exert their best abilities to get these, our 
 earnest desires for the security of public liberty, assented to. 
 
 loth. And as it may happen that the Assembly now called to 
 meet on the nth of August, may be prorogued to a future day, and 
 many of the Deputies appointed to meet on the ist of August, 
 trusting to the certainty of meeting in Assembly on the nth may 
 fail to attend on the first, by which means decisive injury may 
 arise to the common cause of liberty, by the general sense of the 
 country not being early known at this dangerous crisis of American 
 freedom, we do, therefore, direct that our Deputies now chosen fail 
 
412 REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENTS 
 
 not to attend at Williamsburg, on the said ist of August ; and it 
 is our earnest wish that the Deputies from other counties be 
 directed to do the same, for the reasons above assigned. 
 
 [Other counties responded to this wish. Thus, seven days later, a "re- 
 spectable meeting of Freeholders? and Freemen of the County of Rich- 
 mond," called to choose and instruct delegates to the August Convention, 
 did so with the following caution : 
 
 " 8th. This meeting do appoint Robert Wormeley Carter and Francis 
 L. Lee, gentlemen, as their Deputies for the purposes afore said ; and 
 they do request them that they fail not to attend in Williamsburg on the 
 said finst day of August, and do not trust to meeting in Assembly on the 
 11th ... as it is in the powerof Government either to prorogue the Assem- 
 bly to a future day, or dissolve the same, — by which means the sense 
 of this Colony may not be known." (Force, IV, 1, 492, 493.) ] 
 
 b. Fairfax County {Virginia) Resolutions 
 Force, American Archives^ Fourth Series, I, 597-602. 
 
 At a General Meeting of the Freeholders and other Inhabit- 
 ants of the County of Fairfax, at the Court House in the 
 Town of Alexandria, on Monday, the 18th day of July, 1774. 
 
 George Washington, Esquire, Chairman, and 
 
 Robert Harrison, Gentleman, Clerk. 
 
 Resolved, That this Colony and Dominion of Virginia can- 
 not be considered as a conquered country, and, if it was, that 
 the present inhabitants are the descendants, not of the con- 
 quered, but of the conquerors. That the same was not settled 
 at the national expense of England, but at the private expense 
 of the adventurers, our ancestors . . . [and] that our ances- 
 tors . . . brought with them, even if the same had not been con- 
 firmed by Charters, the civil Constitution and form of Govern- 
 ment of the country they came from, and were by the laws of 
 nature and Nations entitled to all its privileges, immunities, and 
 advantages, which have descended to us, their posterity . . . 
 
 Resolved, That the most important and valuable part of the 
 British Constitution, upon which its very existence depends, 
 is the fundamental principle of the people's being governed by 
 
GEORGE WASHINGTON'S COUNTY 413 
 
 no laws to which they have not given their consent by Repre- 
 sentatives freely chosen by themselves, who are affected by the 
 laws they enact equally with their constituents, to whom they are 
 accountable and whose burthens they share. 
 
 [The colonies " are not, and from their situation, cannot be, 
 represented in the British Parliament " ; and therefore " legis- 
 lative power here can, of right, be exercised only by our Pro- 
 vincial Assemblies, or Parliaments, subject to the assent or 
 negative of the P>ritish crown . . . " ; but it is recognized as 
 reasonable that the British Parliament should, in j^ntcfice, 
 regulate trade " for the general good of that great body politick 
 of which we are a part, although in some degree repugnant to 
 the principles of the Constitution," but only when such power 
 is exercised " with wisdom and moderation."] 
 
 Resolved, That the claim lately assumed and exercised by 
 the British Parliament, for making all such laws as they think 
 fit to govern the people of these Colonies, and to extort from 
 us our money without our consent, is not only diametrically 
 contrary to the first princii:)les of the Constitution and the 
 original compacts by which we are dependent upon the British 
 Crown and Government, but is totally incompatible with the 
 privileges of a free people and the natural rights of mankind, 
 will render our own Legislatures merely nominal and nugatory, 
 and is calculated to reduce us from a state of freedom and 
 happiness to slavery and misery. 
 
 Resolved, That taxation and representation are in their 
 nature inseparable ; that the right of withholding, or of giving 
 and granting their own money, is the only effectual security 
 to a free people against the encroachments of despotism and 
 tyranny; and that whenever they yield the one, they must 
 quickly fall a prey to the other. 
 
 Resolved, That the powers over the people of America, now 
 claimed by the British House of Commons, — in whose election 
 we have no share ; in whose determinations we have no influence ; 
 whose information must be always defective, and often false ; who 
 in many instances may have a separate, and in some an opposite 
 
414 REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENTS 
 
 interest to ours ; and who are removed from those impressions of 
 tenderness and compassion, arising from personal intercourse and 
 connection, which soften the rigours of the most despotick Govern- 
 ment, must, if continued, establish the most grievous and 
 intolerable species of tyranny and oppression that ever was 
 inflicted upon mankind. 
 
 Resolved, That it is our greatest wish and inclination, as 
 well as interest, to continue our connection with, and depend- 
 ence upon, the British Government ; but though we are its 
 subjects, we will use every means which Heaven hath given 
 us to prevent our becoming its slaves. 
 
 * * * * . * * * 
 
 Resolved, That the several Acts of Parliament for raising a 
 revenue upon the people of America without their consent; 
 the erecting new and dangerous jurisdictions here [the " special 
 commissions "] ; the taking away our trials by jury ; the 
 ordering persons, on criminal accusations, to be tried in another 
 country than that in which the fact is charged to have been 
 committed; the Act inflicting Ministerial vengeance upon the 
 town of Boston ; the two Bills lately brought into Parliament 
 for abrogating the charter of Massachusetts Bay, and for the 
 protection and encouragement of murderers in the said Province,^ 
 are part of the above-mentioned iniquitous system . . . 
 
 ******* 
 
 Resolved, That nothing will so much contribute to defeat 
 the pernicious designs of the common enemies of Great Britain 
 and her Colonies, as a firm union of the latter, who ought to 
 regard every act of violence or oppression inflicted upon any 
 one of them, as aimed at all ; and to effect, this desirable pur- 
 pose, that a Congress should be appointed, to consist of Deputies 
 from all the Colonies, to concert a general and uniform plan for 
 
 1 This tinal clause refers to a provision withdrawing from trial in colonial 
 courts any servants of the government accused of violence in the performance 
 of duty. The list of offending statutes is repeated, somewhat less impressively 
 but more specifically, in the Continental Congress's Declaration (130 c). 
 
GEORGE WASHINGTON'S COUNTY 415 
 
 the defence and preservation of our common rights, and continuing 
 the connection and dependence of the said Colonies upon 
 Great Britain, under a just, lenient, permanent, and constitu- 
 tional form of Government. 
 
 Resolved, That ... all manner of luxury and extravagance 
 ought immediately to be laid aside, as totally inconsistent with 
 the threatening and gloomy prospect before us; that it is the 
 indispensable duty of all the gentlemen and men of fortune 
 to set examples of temperance, fortitude, frugality, and in- 
 dustry . . . [and] that great care and attention should be had 
 to the cultivation of flax, cotton, and other materials for manu- 
 factures ; and we recommend it to such of the inhabitants as 
 have large stocks of sheep, to sell to their neighbors at a 
 moderate price, as the most certain means of speedily increasing 
 our breed of sheep and quantity of wool.^ 
 
 [Some pages of resolves as to non-importation with much of 
 the detail afterward copied by the Continental Congress — 
 especially the following provisions : — 
 
 " That the merchants and vendors of goods ought not to take 
 advantage of our present distress, but continue to sell the goods 
 and merchandise which they now have, or which may be 
 shipped to them before the 1st of September next [when non- 
 importation was recommended to begin], at the same rates 
 and prices they have been accustomed to do within one year 
 past; and that if any person shall sell such goods on any 
 
 ^Upon this passage was based the Sixth Article of the Virginia Associa- 
 tion, recommended August 1, by the Convention as follows: — 
 
 "6th. We will endeavor to improve our breed of sheep, and increase their 
 number to the utmost extent; and to this end, we will be as sparing as we 
 conveniently can, in killing sheep, especially those of the most profitable 
 kind ; and if we should at any time be overstocked, or can conveniently 
 spare any, we will dispose of them to our neighbors, especially the poorer 
 sort of people, on moderate terms." 
 
 In time, this passage was copied even more closely in the Association of 
 the Continental Congress at Philadelphia (No. 130 d). 
 
416 REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENTS 
 
 other terms . . . that no inhabitant of this colony should, at 
 any time forever thereafter, deal with him, his agent, factor, 
 or storekeeper, for any commodity whatsoever "; with provisions 
 for depositing goods of later shippings with the committees of 
 their counties, i.e., as adopted by the Continental Congress ; 
 resolutions against importing slaves, and against exporting 
 lumber to the West Indies, and, after November 1, 1775 
 (unless redress of grievances should come), against all exports 
 to Great Britain. " And ... as the people will thereby be 
 disabled from paying their debts, that no judgments should be 
 rendered by the Courts . . . for any debt, after imformation 
 of the said measures being determined upon." ] 
 
 Resolved, That George Washington, Esquire, and Charles Broad- 
 water, Gentleman, lately elected our Representatives to serve in the 
 General Assembly, attend the Convention at Williamsburg, on the 
 first day of August next, and present these Resolves as the sense of 
 the people of this county upon measures proper to be taken in the 
 present alarming and dangerous situation of America. 
 
 Resolved, That George Washington Esquire, [and 24 others] be a 
 Committee for this county ; that they, or a majority of them, on any 
 emergency, have power to call a general meeting, and to concert and 
 adopt such measures as may be thought most expedient and necessary. 
 
 Resolved, That a copy of these Proceedings be transmitted to the 
 Printer at Williamsburg, to be published. 
 
 [It is possible to find in these instructions by Fairfax County to its 
 delegates to Williamsburg almost every provision of the " Associa- 
 tion" adopted three months later by the Continental Congress at 
 Philadelphia. For a very large part of the two documents, the 
 language is almost identical. Much alike as many such papers of 
 the time were, it is impossible to read these two together without 
 being convinced that the committee which framed the Association at 
 Philadelphia had a copy of the Fairfax instructions before them.] 
 
 c. J^ansemond County {July ID 
 
 [10] Resolved that very kind of luxury, dissipation, and ex- 
 travagance, ought to be banished from amongst us. . . . 
 
VIRGINIA COUNTY MEETINGS 417 
 
 [12] Kesolved That the African [Negro] trade is injurious to 
 this Colony, obstructs the population of it by freemen, prevents 
 manufactures and useful emigrants from Europe from settling 
 amongst us and occasions an annual increase of the balance of 
 trade against the colony.^ 
 
 [14] Resolved that to be clothed in manufactures fabricated 
 in this Colony ought to be considered as a badge and distinc- 
 tion of respect and true patriotism. 
 
 d. York County {July 18) 
 
 [Instructions to delegates for the August Convention, after 
 urging appointment of Virginia delegates to a ''General Congress 
 of America," continue : — ] 
 
 " That these Representatives be instructed to form a Dec- 
 laration of American Rights [a page of suggestions follows]. 
 
 [That imports be stopped at once, and that exports be regu- 
 lated by the General Congi-ess when it comes.] 
 
 " That industry and frugality be adopted, in their largest extent, 
 throughout this Colony ; and that horse-racing, and every species 
 of expensive amusement, be laid aside, as unsuitable to the situa- 
 tion of the country, and unbecoming men who feel for its distress." 
 
 e. Middlesex County {July 15) 
 [This county alone takes a royalist tone.] 
 
 Besolved, That we do not approve of the conduct of the people of Bos- 
 ton in destroying the tea . . . and notwithstanding the tax on tea must 
 be esteemed a violent infringement of one of the fundamental privileges . . . 
 yet we apprehend violence cannot justify violence. ... A desistance from 
 the consumption of tea, and a confidence in the virtue of our countrymen, 
 whose sense of the spirit of the law will no doubt induce a total disuse of 
 it, are much more eligible means, and more probably will work a repeal 
 of the Act, than disorders, outrages, and tumults. 
 
 1 This resolution is found in identical words in the resolutions of Caro- 
 line County (Virginia), July 14, 1774 ; and the sentiment, in more varied forms, 
 appears often in the county meetings. Thus Hanover (Patrick Henry's 
 county) declared : " The African trade for slaves we consider most dangerfms 
 to virtue and the welfare of this country. We therefore most earnestly wish 
 to see it totally discouraged." 
 
418 REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENTS 
 
 130. The First Continental Congress 
 
 a. Method of Jotiiig. etc. 
 John Adams' " Diary" {Works, II, 365 ff.)- 
 
 [Sept.] 5. Monday. At ten the delegates all met at the City 
 Tavern, and walked to the Carpenters' Hall, where they took a 
 view of the room, and of the chamber where is an excellent li- 
 brary; there is also a long entry where gentlemen ma}' walk, and 
 a convenient chamber opposite to the library. The general cr}^ 
 was, that this was a good room, and the question was put, 
 whether we were satisfied with this room ? and it passed in the 
 affirmative. A very few were for the negative, and they were 
 chiefly from Pennsylvania and New York. Then ^Nlr. Lynch 
 arose, and said there was a gentleman present who had pre- 
 sided with great dignity over a very respectable society, greatly 
 to the advantage of America, and he therefore proposed that 
 the Honorable Peyton Rfindolph, Esquire, one of the delegates 
 from Virginia, and the late Speaker of their House of Bur- 
 gesses, should be appointed Chairman, and he doubted not it 
 would be unanimous. 
 
 The question was put, and he was unanimously chosen. 
 
 ;Mr. l\andoli)h then took the chair, and the commissions of 
 the delegates were all produced and read. 
 
 Then jSIr. Lynch proposed that Mr. Charles Thomson, a gentle- 
 man of family, fortune, and character in this city, should be 
 appointed Secretary, which Avas accordingly done without op- 
 position, though Mr. Duane and Mr. Jay discovered at first an 
 inclination to seek further. 
 
 ^Ir. Duane then moved that a committee should be appointed 
 to prepare regulations for this Congress. Several gentle- 
 men objected. 
 
 I then arose and asked leave of the President to request of 
 the gentleman from New York an explanation, and that he 
 would point out some particular regulations which he had in his 
 mind. He mentioned particularly the method of voting, 
 
THE FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS 419 
 
 whether it should be by Colonies, or by the poll, or b}^ in- 
 terests. 
 
 Mr. Henry then rose, and said this was the first General 
 Congress which had ever happened ; that no former Congress 
 could be a precedent ; that we should have occasion for more 
 general congresses, and therefore that a precedent ought to be 
 established now ; that it would be great injustice if a little 
 Colony should have the same weight in the councils of America 
 as a great one, and therefore he was for a committee. 
 
 j\Iajor Sullivan [from New Hampshire] observed that a little 
 Colony had its all at stake as well as a great one. . . . 
 
 Mr. Henry. Government is dissolved. Fleets and armies 
 and the present state of things show that government is dis- 
 solved. ^\'here are your landmarks, your boundaries of Col- 
 onies ? We are in a state of nature, sir. . . . 
 
 The distinctions between Virginians, Penns3'lvanians, New 
 Yorkers, and New Englanders, are no more. 1 am not a Vir- 
 ginian, but an American. 
 
 Slaves are to be thrown out of the question, and if the free- 
 men can be represented according to their numbers, I am 
 satisfied. 
 
 Mr. Lynch. I differ in one point from the gentleman from 
 Virginia, that is, in thinking that numbers only ought to 
 determine the weight of Colonies. I think that property ought 
 to be considered, and that it ouglit to be a compound of num- 
 bers and property that should determine the weight of the 
 Colonies. ' 
 
 I think it cannot be now settled. 
 
 ******* 
 
 Mr. Lee. But one reason . . . prevails with me [for favoring 
 one vote to each colony] . . , that we are not at this time pro- 
 vided with proper materials [to assign proper proportions] . . . 
 
 Mr. Gadsen. I can't see any way of voting but by Colonies. 
 
 1 Mr. Lynch was from South Carolina. This position here taken as to 
 " numbers and property " was taken thirteen years later by South Camlina 
 delegates in the Convention which framed our present Constitution. 
 
420 REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENTS 
 
 Mr. Pendleton. If the committee should find themselves 
 unable to ascertain the weight of the Colonies, by their num- 
 bers and property, they will report this, and this will lay the 
 foundation for the Congress to take some other steps to pro- 
 cure evidence of numbers and property at some future time. 
 
 Mr. Henry. I agree that authentic accounts cannot be had, 
 if by authenticity is meant attestations of officers of the 
 Crown. 
 
 I go upon the supposition that government is at an end. 
 All distinctions are thrown clown. All America is thrown 
 into one mass. We must aim at the minutiae of rectitude. 
 ******* 
 
 The argument that the delegates lacked information (such as a census 
 would have provided) to arrange a proper apportionment of votes to 
 different colonies prevailed. October 10, the Connecticut delegates 
 wrote to the governor of their colony : " The mode of voting . . . was 
 first resolved upon ; which was that each colony should have one voice ; 
 but, as this was objected to as unequal, an entry was made in the journals 
 to prevent its being drawn into precedent in future. " 
 
 b. John Adams' Impressions toward the Close 
 
 Diary, as above. 
 
 [Oct.] 10. Monday. The deliberations of the Congress are 
 spun out to an immeasurable length. There is so much wit, 
 sense, learning, acuteness, subtlety, eloquence, etc., among fifty 
 gentlemen, each of whom has been habituated to lead and guide 
 in his own Province, that an immensity of time is spent un- 
 necessarily. 
 
 ******* 
 
 24. Monday. In Congress, nibbling and quibbling as usual. 
 There is no greater mortification than to sit with half a dozen 
 wits, deliberating upon a petition, address, or memorial. These 
 great wits, these subtle critics, these refined geniuses, these 
 learned lawyers, these wise statesmen, are so fond of showing 
 their parts and powers, as to make their consultations very 
 tedious. Young Ned Eutledge is a perfect Bob-o-Lincoln, — 
 
THE FIRST CONTINE]NTAL CONGRESS 421 
 
 a swallow, a sparrow, a peacock ; exr-essively vain, excessively- 
 weak, and excessively variable and unsteady; jejune, inane, 
 and puerile. Mr. Dickinson is very modest, delicate, and timid. 
 Spent the evening at home. Colonel Dyer, Judge Sherman, 
 and Colonel Floyd came in, and spent the evening with Mr. 
 [Samuel] Adams and me. Mr. Mifflin and General Lee came in. 
 Lee's head is running upon his new plan of a battalion. . . . 
 
 26. AVednesday. Dined at home. This day the Congress 
 finished. Spent the evening together at the City Tavern ; all 
 the Congress, and several gentlemen of the town. . . . 
 
 28. Friday. Took our departure, in a very great rain, from 
 the happy, the peaceful, the elegant, the hospitable, and polite 
 city of Philadelphia. It is not very likely that I shall ever see 
 this part of the world again, but I shall ever retain a most 
 grateful, pleasing sense of the many civilities I have received 
 in it, and shall think myself happy to have an opportunity of 
 returning them. 
 
 [Delegates from eleven colonies to the First Continental Congress as- 
 sembled at Philadelphia, September 6, 1774. Delegates from North Caro- 
 lina appeared on the 14th. Georgia was not represented. For elections 
 and credentials, cf. Ameiican Ilistin'ij and Government, § 141.] 
 
 c. Declaration of Rights 
 
 Journals of the Continental Congress (Ford edition), 1, 63ff. A com- 
 mittee, appointed on September 7, reported on the 22d. The report was 
 taken up October 12, and adopted October 14. 
 
 Whereas, since the close of the last war, the British parlia- 
 ment, claiming a power, of right, to bind the people of Amei'ica 
 by statutes in all cases whatsoever, hath, in some acts, expressly 
 imposed taxes on them, and in others, under various pretences, 
 but in fact for the purpose of raising a revenue, hath imposed 
 rates and duties payable in these colonies, established a board of 
 commissioners, with unconstitutional powers, and extended the 
 jurisdiction of courts of admiralty, not only for collecting the said 
 duties, but for the trial of causes merely arising within the body 
 of a county. 
 
422 REVOLUTIOXAKY COVERXMEXTS 
 
 And whereas, iu cousecjueuoe of other statutes, judges, who 
 before heki only estates at will in their of&ees, have been made 
 dependant on the crown alone for their salaries, and standing 
 armies kept in times of peace : And whereas it has lately been 
 resolved in parliament, that bv force of a statute, made in the 
 thirty-lifth year of the reign of King Henry the Eighth, colonists 
 may be transported to England, and tried there upon accusations 
 for treasons and misprisions, or concealments of treasons com- 
 mitted in the colonies, and by a late statute, such trials have been 
 directed in cases therein mentioned : 
 
 And whereas, in the last session of parliament, three statxites 
 were made ; one entitled, •• An act to discontinue, in such manner 
 and for such time as are therein mentioned, the landing and dis- 
 charging, hiding, or shipping of goods, wares and merchandize, 
 at the town, and within the harbour of Boston, in the province 
 of Massachusetts- Bay in Xorth-America; " another entitled, '• An 
 act for the better regulating the government of the province of 
 Massachusetts-Bay in X'ew England ; " and another entitled. '• An 
 act for the impartial administration of justice, in the cases of 
 persons questioned for any act done by them iu the execution of 
 the law, or for the suppression of riots and tumults, in the prov- 
 ince of the Massachusetts-Bay in New England ; " and another 
 statute was then made, '• for making more effectual provision 
 for the government of the province of Quebec, etc." All which 
 statutes are impolitic, unjust, and cruel, as well as unconstitu- 
 tional, and most dangerous and destructive of American rights : 
 
 And whereas, assemblies have been frequently dissolved, 
 contrary to the rights of the people, when they attempted to 
 deliberate on grievances ; and their dutiful, humble, loyal, and 
 reasonable petitions to the crown for redress, have been re- 
 peatedly treated with contempt, by his Majesty's ministers of 
 state : 
 
 The good people of the several colonies of Xew-Hampshire. 
 Massachusetts-Bay, Rhode-Island and ProWdence Plantations. 
 Connecticut. New-York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvaui.a, Newcastle. 
 Kent, and Sussex on Delaware. Marvlaud, Virginia, North- 
 
THE FlIiST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS 423 
 
 Carolina, and S()uth-C\ivolina, justly alarmed at those arbitrary 
 proceedings of parliament and administration, have severally 
 elected, constituted, and appointeil de[)uties to meet, and sit in 
 general Congress, in the city of Philadel[)hia, in order to obtain 
 such establishment, as that their religion, laws, and liberties, 
 may not be subverted : Whereupon the deputies so appointed 
 being now assembled, in a full and free representation of these 
 colonies, taking into their most serious consideration, the best 
 means of attaining the ends aforesaid, do, in the first })lace, as 
 Englishmen, their ancestors in like cases have usually done, for 
 asserting and vindicating their rights and liberties, DECLARE, 
 
 That the inhabitants of the English colonies in North-Anuu*- 
 ica, by the immutable laws of nature, the princii)les of the 
 English constitution, and the several charters or compacts, 
 have the following RIGHTS : 
 
 Resolved, N. C. 1). 1. That they are entitled to life, liberty 
 and property : and they have never ceded to any foreign power 
 whatever, a right to dispose of either without their consent. 
 
 Besolved, N. C. D. 2. That our ancestors, who first settled 
 these colonies, Avere at the time of their emigration from the 
 mother country, entitled to all the rights, liberties, and immu- 
 nities of free and natural-born subjects, within the realm of 
 England. 
 
 Jiesolred, X. C. D. o. That by such emigration they by no 
 means forfeited, surrendered, or lost any of those rights, but 
 that they were, and their descendants now are, entitled to the 
 exercise and enjoyment of all such of them, as their local and 
 other circumstances enable them to exercise and enjoy. 
 
 Resolved, 4. That the foundation of English liberty, and of 
 all free government, is a right in the people to participate in 
 their legislative council : and as the English colonists are not 
 represented, and from their local and other circumstances, can- 
 not properly be represented in the liritish parliament, they are 
 entitled to a free and exclusive power of legislation in their 
 several provincial legislatures, where their right of represen- 
 tation can alone be preserved, in all cases of taxation and in- 
 
424 REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENTS 
 
 ternal polity, subject only to the negative of their sovereign, 
 in such manner as has been heretofore used and accustomed : 
 Bnt, from the necessity of the case, and a regard to the mutual 
 interest of both countries, we cheerfully consent to the operation 
 of such acts of the British parliament, as are, bona Jide, re- 
 strained to the regulation of our external commerce, for the 
 purpose of securing the commercial advantages of the whole 
 empire to the mother country, and the commercial benefits of 
 its respective members ; excluding every idea of taxation 
 internal or external, for raising a revenue on the subjects, in 
 America, without their consent. 
 
 Eesolved, X. C. D. o. That the respective colonies are en- 
 titled to the common law of England, and more especially to 
 the great and inestimable privilege of being tried by their peers 
 of the vicinage, according to the course of that law. 
 
 Resolved, G. That they are entitled to the benetit of such of 
 the English statutes, as existed at the time of their colonization ; 
 and which they have, by experience, respectively found to be 
 applicable to their several local and other circumstances. 
 
 Resolved, N. C. D. 7. That these, his majesty's colonies, 
 are likewise entitled to all the immunities and privileges granted 
 and contirmed to them by royal charters, or secured by their 
 several codes of provincial laws. 
 
 Resolved, jV. C. D. 8. That they have a right peaceably to 
 assemble, consider of their grievances, and petition the king; 
 and that all prosecutions, prohibitory proclamations, and com- 
 mitments for the same, are illegal. 
 
 Resolved, X. C. D. 9. That the keeping a standing army 
 in these colonies, in times of peace, without the consent of the 
 legislature of that colony, in which such army is kept, is against 
 law. 
 
 Resolved, X. C. D. 10. It is indispensably necessary to good 
 government, and rendered essential by the English constitution, 
 that the constituent branches of the legislature be independent 
 of each other ; that, therefore, the exercise of legislative power 
 in several colonies by a council appointed, during pleasure, by 
 
THE FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS 425 
 
 the cvown, is unconstitutional, dangerous and destructive to 
 the freedom of American legishxtion. 
 
 All and each of which the aforesaid deputies, in behalf of them- 
 selves, and their constituents, do claim, demand, and insist on, 
 as their indubitable rights and liberties ; which cannot be le- 
 gally taken from them, altered or abridged by any power what- 
 ever, without their own consent, by their representatives in their 
 several provincial legislatures. 
 
 In the course of our inquiry, we hnd many infringements 
 and violations of the foregoing rights, which, from an ardent 
 desire that harmony and mutual intercourse of affection and 
 interest may be restored, we pass over for the present, and pro- 
 ceed to state such acts and measures as have been adopted since 
 the last war, which demonstrate a system formed to enslave 
 America. 
 
 Resolved, N. C. D. That the following acts of parliament are 
 infringements and violations of the rights of the colonists ; and 
 that the repeal of theni is essentially necessary, in order to re- 
 store harmony between Great-Britain and the American colo- 
 nies, viz. 
 
 The several acts of 4 Geo. III. ch. 15. and ch. 34. — 5 Geo. 
 III. ch. 25.-6 Geo. III. ch. 52.-7 Geo. III. ch. 41. and ch. 
 46. — 8 Geo. III. ch. 22. which impose duties for the purpose 
 of raising a revenue in America, extend the power of the ad- 
 miralty courts beyond their ancient limits, deprive the Amer- 
 ican subject of trial by jury, authorise the judges certificate to 
 indemnify the prosecutor from damages, that he might other- 
 wise be liable to, requiring oppressive security from a claimant 
 of ships and goods seized, before he shall be allowed to defend 
 his property, are subversive of American rights. 
 
 Also 12 Geo. III. ch. 24. intituled, " An act for the better se- 
 curing his majesty's dockyards, magazines, ships, ammunition, 
 and stores, " which declares a new offence in America, and de- 
 prives the American subject of a constitutional trial by jury 
 of the vicinage, by authorising tlie trial of any person, charged 
 with the committing any offence described in the said act, out 
 
426 REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENTS 
 
 of the realm, to be indicted and tried for the same in any shire 
 or county within the realm. 
 
 Also the three acts passed in the last session of parliament, 
 for stopping the port and blocking up the harbour of Boston, 
 for altering the charter and government of Massachusetts-Bay, 
 and that which is entitled, " An act for the better administra- 
 tion of justice, etc. " 
 
 Also the act passed in the same session for establishing the 
 Roman Catholic religion, in the province of Quebec, abolishing, 
 the equitable system of English laws, and erecting a tyranny 
 there, to the great danger, (from so total a dissimilarity of re- 
 ligion, law and government) of the neighbouring British colonies, 
 by the assistance of whose blood and treasure the said country 
 was conquered from France. 
 
 Also the act passed in the same session, for the better pro- 
 viding suitable quarters for officers and soldiers in his majesty's 
 service, in Xorth-America. 
 
 Also, that the keeping a standing army in several of these 
 colonies, in time of peace, without the consent of the legislature 
 of that colony in which such army is kept, is against law. 
 
 To these grievous acts and measiires, Americans cannot sub- 
 mit, but in hopes their fellow subjects in Great-Britain will, by 
 a revision of them, restore us to that state, in which both coun- 
 tries found happiness and prosperity, we have for the present, 
 only resolved to pursue the following peaceable measures : 1. 
 To enter into a non-importation, non-consumption, and non-ex- 
 portation agreement or association. 2. To prepare an address 
 to the people of Great-Britain, and a memorial to the inhabit- 
 ants of British America : and 3. To prepare a loyal address to 
 his majesty, agreeable to resolutions already entered into, 
 
 [This "Declaration'' confines itself almost -wholly, it will be observed, 
 to " concrete '' English rights, which had been infringed by recent acts 
 of government. There is little suggestion of the more general principles 
 soon to appear, first in the Virginia bill of rights and then in the Declara- 
 tion of Independence. Advanced students will find in John Adams' Works 
 (II, 373 ff. ) an autobiographical extract, composed in IS04, giving Adams' 
 recollections of the drawing up of the Declaration.] 
 
THE FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS 427 
 
 cl. The Association 
 
 (October 20, 1774) 
 
 Journals of Congress (Ford edition), I, 75 ff. For conflict between 
 this plan and Galloway's inoderate proposal, cf. Americaji History and 
 Government, 141. The wording of much of the plan, and the efficient ma- 
 cldnery for putting it in operation ( F^leventh Article) , were common property 
 by this time. In particular, cf . No. 129 6, above, and comment at close. 
 
 WE, his inajesty's most loyal subjects, the delegates of the 
 several colonies of New-Hainpshire, Massachusetts-Bay, Rhode- 
 Island, Connecticut, New- York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, 
 the three lower counties of Newcastle, Kent and Sussex on 
 Delaware,^ Maryland, Virginia, North-Carolina, and South- 
 Carolina, deputed to represent them in a continental Congress, 
 held in the city of Philadelphia, on the fifth day of September, 
 1774, avowing our allegiance to his majesty, our affection and 
 regard for our fellow-subjects in Great Britain and elsewhere, 
 affected with the deepest anxiety, and most alarming appre- 
 hensions, at those grievances and distresses with which his 
 majesty's American subjects are oppressed; and having taken 
 under our most serious deliberation the state of the whole 
 continent, find, that the present unhappy situation of our 
 affairs is occasioned by a ruinous system of colony administra- 
 tion, adopted by the British ministry about the year 1763, 
 evidently calculated for inslaving these colonies, and, with 
 them, the British Empire. In prosecution of which system^ 
 various acts of parliament have been passed, for raising a 
 revenue in America, for depriving the American subjects, in 
 many instances, of the constitutional trial by jury, exposing 
 their lives to danger, by directing a new and illegal trial be- 
 yond the seas, for crimes alleged to have been committed in 
 America : And in prosecution of the same system, several late, 
 cruel, and oppressive acts have been passed, respecting the 
 town of Boston and the Massachusetts-Bay, and also an act 
 
 iThis was the " style " of the three " counties " soon to form the state of 
 Delaware. 
 
428 REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENTS 
 
 for extending the province of Quebec, so as to border on the 
 western frontiers of these colonies, establishing an arbitrary 
 government therein, and discouraging the settlement of British 
 subjects in that wide extended country ; tluis, by the intluence 
 of civil principles and ancient prejudices, to dispose the in- 
 habitants to act with hostility against the free Protestant 
 colonies, whenever a wicked ministry shall chuse so to direct 
 them. 
 
 To obtain redress of these grievances, which threaten de- 
 struction to the lives, liberty, and property of his majesty's 
 subjects, in Xorth-Anierica, we are of opinion, that a non- 
 imi)ortation, non-consumption, and non-exportation agreement, 
 faithfully adhered to, will prove the most speedy, effectual, 
 and peaceable measure : And, therefore, we do, for ourselves, 
 and the inhabitiuits of the several colonies, whom we represent, 
 firmly agree and associate, under the sacred ties of virtue, 
 honour and love of our country, as follows : 
 
 First, That from and after the first day of December next, 
 we will not import, into British America, from Great-Britain 
 or Ireland, any goods, wares, or merchandize whatsoever, or 
 from any other place, any such goods, wares, or merchandize, 
 as shall have been exported from Great-Britain or Ireland ; 
 nor will we, after that day, import any East-India tea from 
 any part of the world ; nor any molasses, syrups, paneles, 
 cotfee, or pimento, from the British plantations or from 
 Dominica; nor wines from ^ladeira, or the Western Islands; 
 nor foreign indigo. 
 
 Second, We will neither import nor purchase, any slave 
 imported after the first day of December next; after which 
 time, we will wholly discontinue the slave trade, and will 
 neither be concerned in it ourselves, nor will we hire our 
 vessels, nor sell our commodities or manufactures to those 
 who are concerned in it. 
 
 Third, As a non-consumption agreement, strictly adhered to, 
 will be an effectual security for the observation of the non- 
 importation, we. as above, solemnly agree and associate, that 
 
THE FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS 429 
 
 from this day, we will not purcliase or use any tea, imported on 
 account of the East-India company, or any on which a duty 
 hath been or shall be paid; and from and after the first day 
 of March next, we will not purchase or use any East-India 
 tea whatever ; nor will we, nor shall any person for or under 
 us, purchase or use any of those goods, wares, or merchan- 
 dize, we have agreed not to import, which we shall know, or 
 have cause to suspect, were imported after the first day of 
 December, except such as come under the rules and directions 
 of the tenth article hereafter mentioned. 
 
 Fourth, The earnest desire we have not to injure our fellow- 
 subjects in Great-Britain, Ireland, or the West-Indies, induces 
 us to sus})eiul a non-exportation, until the teiith day of Sep- 
 tember, 1775 ; at Avhich time, if the said acts and parts of acts 
 of the British parliament herein after mentioned, are not 
 repealed, we will not directly or indirectly, export any mer- 
 chandizfe or commodity whatsoever to Great-Britain, Ireland, 
 or the West-Indies, except rice to Europe. 
 
 Fifth, SAch as are merchants, and use the British and Irish 
 trade, will give orders, as soon as possible, to their factors, 
 agents and correspondents, in Great-Britain and Ireland, not 
 to ship any goods to them, on any pretence whatsoever, as 
 they cannot be received in America; and if any merchant, 
 residing in Great-Britain or Ireland, shall directly or indirectly 
 ship any goods, wares or mercharudize, for America, in order 
 to break the said non-importation agreement, or in any manner 
 contravene the same, on such unworthy conduct being well 
 attested, it ought to be made public; and, on the same being 
 so done, we will not, from thenceforth, have any commercial 
 connexion with such merchant. 
 
 Sixth, That such as are owners of vessels will give positive 
 orders to their captains, or masters, not to receive on board 
 their vessels any goods prohibited by the said non-importation 
 agreement, on pain of immediate dismission from their service. 
 
 Seventh, We will use our utmost endeavours to improve the 
 breed of sheep, and increase their number to the greatest 
 
430 KKVOLUTIONAKY CU>VB]RNMENTS 
 
 exltMit ; and to that ond, wo will kill tlioin as seldom as may be. 
 especially those of the most profitable kind; nor will we 
 export aiiy to the West-Indies or elsewhere; and those of us, 
 who are or may become overstocked with, or can conveniently 
 spare any sheep, will dispose of them to our neighbours, 
 especially to the poorer sort, on moderate terms. 
 
 Eighth. \N"e will, in our several stations, encourage frugality, 
 tvconomy, ami industry, and promote agriculture, arts and the 
 manufactures of this country, especially that of wool ; and 
 will discountenance and discourage every species of extrava- 
 gance and dissipation, especially all horse-racing, and all kinds 
 of gaming, cock lighting, exhibitions of shews, plays, and 
 other expensive diversions and eutertaiunuMits ; and on the 
 death of any relation or friend, none of us, or any of our 
 families, will go into any further mourning-vlress than a black 
 crape or ribbon on the arm or hat, for gentlemen, and a black 
 ribbon and necklace for ladies, .and we will discontinue the 
 giving of gloves and scarves at funerals. 
 
 Ninth, Such as are venders of goods or merchandize will 
 not take .advantage of the scai'city of goods tliat m.ay be 
 occasioned by this association, but will sell the same at the 
 rates we have been respectively accustomed to do, for twelve 
 mouths last past. — And if any vender of goods or merchan- 
 dize shall sell such goods on higher terms, or shall, in any 
 manner, or by any device whatsoever, violate or depart from 
 this agreenuMit, no person ought, nor will any of us deal with 
 any such person, or his or her factor or agent, at any time 
 thereafter, for any commodity whatever. 
 
 Tenth, In case any merchant, trader, or other person, shall 
 import any goods or merchandize, after the first day of Decem- 
 ber, and before the first d.ay of February next, the same ought 
 forthwith, at the election of the owner, to be either re-shipped 
 or delivered up to the committee of the county or town, 
 wherein they shall bo imported, to be stored at the risque of 
 the importer, until the non-importation agreenuMit shall cease, 
 or be sold under the dirertiou of the committee aforesaid; 
 
TllIO FIUST CONTINKNTAL (^()N(5R10SS 431 
 
 and in tlie last-nuMiiionotl case, the owner or owners of sucli 
 goods shall be reimbursed out of the sales, the first cost and 
 charges, the profit, if any, to be ai)i)lied towards relieving and 
 employing such poor inhabitants of the town of Boston, as are 
 immediate sufferers by the l>oston port-bill ; and a particular 
 account of all goods so returned, stored, or sold, to be inserted 
 in the public jiapers ; and if any goods or nierchanciizes shall 
 be imported after the said first day of February, the same 
 ought forthwith to be sent back again, without breaking any 
 of the pac^kagc^ thereof. 
 
 Eleventh, That a committee be chosen in every county, city, 
 and town, by those who are (pialified to vote for representa- 
 tives in the legislature, whose business it shall be attentively 
 to observe the conduct of all persons touching this association; 
 and when it shall 1k^ made to a})pear, to the satisfaction of a 
 majority of any such committee, that any person within the 
 limits of their appoint, ment has violated this association, that 
 such majority do forthwith cause the truth of the case to be pub- 
 lished in the gazette ; to the end, that all such foes to the rights 
 of British-America may be publicly known, and universally 
 contemned as the enemies of American liberty ; and thenceforth 
 we respectively will break off all dealings with him or her. 
 
 Twelfth, That the conuuittee of correspondence, in the 
 respective colonies, do freipiently inspect the entries of their 
 custom-houses, and inform each other, from time to time, of the 
 true state thereof, and of every other material circumstance 
 that may occur relative to this association. 
 
 Thirteenth, That all manufactures of this country be sold at 
 reasonable prices, so that no undue advantage be taken of a 
 future scarcity of goods. 
 
 Fourteenth, And we do further agree and resolve, that we 
 will have no trade, commerce, dealings or intercourse whatso- 
 ever, with any colony or province, in North-America, which 
 shall not accede to, or which shall hereafter violate this asso- 
 ciation, but will hold them as unworthy of the rights of free- 
 men, and as inimical to the liberties of their country. 
 
432 REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENTS 
 
 And we do solemnly bind ourselves and our constituents, 
 under the ties aforesaid, to adhere to this association, until 
 such parts of the several acts of parliament, passed since the 
 close of the last war, as impose or continue duties on tea, wine, 
 molasses, syrups, paneles, coffee, sugar, pimento, indigo, for- 
 eign paper, glass, and painters colours, imported into America, 
 and extend the powers of the admiralty courts beyond their 
 ancient limits, deprive the American subject of trial by 
 jury, authorise the judge's certificate to indemnify the prose- 
 cutor from damages, that he might otherwise be liable to, 
 from a trial by his peers, require oppressive security from a 
 claimant of ships or goods seized, before he shall be allowed 
 to defend his property, are repealed. — And until that part of 
 the act of the 12. G. 3. ch. 24. entitled, " An act for the better 
 securing his majesty's dock-yards, magazines, ships, ammuni- 
 tion, and stores," by which any persons charged with commit- 
 ting any of the offences therein described, in America, may be 
 tried in any shire or county within the realm, is repealed — 
 and until the four acts, passed the last session of parliament, 
 viz. that for stopping the port and blocking up the harbour 
 of Boston — that for altering the charter and government of 
 the Massachusetts-Bay — and that which is entitled, "An act 
 for the better administration of justice, etc." — and that "For 
 extending the limits of Quebec, etc." are repealed. And we 
 recommend it to the pi'ovincial conventions, and to the com- 
 mittees in the respective colonies, to establish such farther 
 regulations as they may think proper, for carrying into execu- 
 tion this association. 
 
 131. Prince William County (Virginia) Committee, Approval of 
 the Association 
 
 Force, American Archives, Fourth Series, I, 1034. 
 
 In consequence of the eleventh Resolution of the Continental 
 Congress, the Freeholders of the County of Prince William, be- 
 ing convened at the house of William Reno on Monday, the 
 
CONVENTIONS BECOME GOVERNMENTS 433 
 
 9th day of December, 1774, proceeded to elect the following 
 gentlemen as a Committee for the said County: [25 names]. 
 
 [Notice of the organization of the Committee by election of its 
 chairman and clerk — and then a series of six resolutions 
 adopted by it. Four of them are given below.] 
 
 Resolved, That the thanks of the Committee are due to the 
 Depiities of this Colony, for their wise, firm, and patriotick 
 conduct in the late Continental Congress. 
 
 Resolved, That whenever there appears . . . cause to suspect 
 that any Merchant ... of this County has violated the 
 Association ... by raising the price of his Goods, such 
 Trader be called upon to show his day-books and invoices, to 
 clear up such suspicion ; and that, in case of refusal, he be 
 deemed guilty . . . and subject to the penalties in such case 
 provided. . . . 
 
 Resolved, That all publick Balls and Entertainments be 
 discountenanced in this county from this time, as contrary to 
 the sentiments of the Continental Congress. . . . 
 
 Resolved, That no person in this County ought to purchase 
 more Goods in one year than he has been accustomed to do . . . 
 that the poor . . . may not be distressed by wealthy designing 
 men. 
 
 By order — Evan Williams, Clerk. 
 
 132. Virginia County "Conventions" become De Facto 
 Governments 
 
 Force, American Archives, Fourth Series, I, 1145. 
 
 For the occasion for the " second conventions " in tlie various colonies in 
 the winter of 1774-5, cf. American History and Government, § 143. 
 
 The Virginia Convention of August 1-6, 1774, had appointed delegates 
 to the Continental Congress to be held in September at Philadelphia, and 
 adjourned after authorizing its chairman to call another convention when 
 necessary. It was only an informal conference. 
 
 In December, a Second Maryland Convention virtually became a de facto 
 government, arming the province for defense against England. This 
 example was followed promptly in single coM?t^tes in Virginia, — first in 
 George Washington's County. 
 
434 REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENTS 
 
 \_Extracts from the Proceedings of the Committee of Fairfax 
 County, on the 17th of January 1775.'\ 
 
 George Washington, Esquire, Chairman, 
 Robert H. Harrison, Clerk : 
 
 Resolved, That the defenceless state of this County renders 
 it indispensably neccessary that a quantity of Ammunition 
 should be immediately provided ; and as the same will be for 
 the common benefit, protection, and defence of the inhabitants 
 thereof, it is but just and reasonable that the expenses incurred 
 in procuring the same should be defrayed by a general and 
 equal contribution. It is therefore recommended that the sum 
 of three Shillings per poll, for the purpose aforesaid, be paid 
 by and for every tithable person in this County, to the 
 Sheriff, or such other Collector as may be appointed, who is to 
 render the same to this Committee, with a list of the names 
 of such persons as shall refuse to pay the same, if any such 
 there be. 
 
 Resolved, That this Committee do concur in opinion with the 
 Provincial Committee of the Province of Maryland, that a 
 well regulated Militia, composed of gentlemen freeholders, and 
 other freemen, is the natural strength and only stable security 
 of a free Government, and that such Militia will relieve our 
 mother country from any expense in our protection and de- 
 fence, will obviate the pretence of a necessity for taxing us on 
 that account, and render it unnecessary to keep Standing 
 Armies among us — ever dangerous to liberty ; and therefore 
 it is recommended to such of the inhabitants of this County as 
 are from sixteen to fifty years of age, to form themselves into 
 Companies of sixty-eight men; to choose a Captain, two 
 Lieutenants, an Ensign, four Sergeants, four Corporals, and 
 one Drummer, for each Company ; that they provide them- 
 selves with good Firelocks, and use their utmost endeavours to 
 make themselves masters of the Military Exercise, published 
 by order of his Majesty in 1764, and recommended by the 
 Provincial Congress of the Massachusetts Bay, on the 29th 
 of October last. 
 
CONVENTIONS BECOME GOVERNMENTS 435 
 
 133. Virginia Provincial Conventions become Governments 
 
 (March-July, 17'75) 
 
 a. County Instructions to Delegates 
 
 Force, American Archives, Fourth Series, II, 3. 
 
 Instructions from the Freeholders of Cumberland County- 
 Virginia. 
 To John Mayo and William Fleming, Gentlemen [Delegates of 
 
 Cumberland County to the Second Virginia Convention, 
 
 to be held in March, 1775.] 
 We, the Freeholders of Cumberland County, having elected 
 you to represent us in a Provincial Convention,^ to be held in 
 the Town of Richmond, on Monday, the 20th of this instant, 
 and being convinced that the safety and happiness of British 
 America depend upon the unanimity, firmness and joint efforts 
 of all the Colonies, we expect you will, on your parts, let your 
 measures be as much for the common safety as the peculiar 
 interests of this Colony will permit, and that you, in par- 
 ticular, comply with the recommendation of the Continental 
 Congress, in appointing Delegates to meet in the City of 
 Philadelphia, in May next. 
 
 The means of Constitutional legislation in this Colony being now 
 interrupted, and entirely precarious, and being convinced that some 
 rule is necessary for speedily putting the Colony in a state of defence, 
 we, in an especial manner, recommend this matter to your considera- 
 tion in Convention ; and you may depend that any general tax, by 
 that body imposed, for such purposes, will be cheerfully submitted 
 to, and paid by the inhabitants of this County.^ 
 
 iThis conveution had finally been called in January by Peyton Randolph, 
 chairman of the preceding convention, according to authorization by body. 
 Cf. introduction to No. 137, above. The work of the Convention is given in 
 No. 139. 
 
 2 0b,serve the authorization to raise money by taxation, — a special pre- 
 rogative of government. 
 
436 REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENTS 
 
 b. The Second Virginia Convention (March 20-27 , 
 1775) arms the Colony for War 
 
 Force, American Archives, Fourth Series, II, 165-172. 
 
 At a Convention of Delegates for the Counties and Corpo- 
 rations in the Colony of Virginia, at the Town of Richmond, 
 in the County of Henrico, on Monday, the 20th of March, 1775. 
 [Present: 120 names.] . . . 
 
 ******* 
 
 The Honourable Peyton Randolph, Esquire, was unanimously 
 elected President of this Convention, and Mr. John Tazeivell, 
 Clerk thereof. 
 
 The President then recommended it to the Convention to 
 proceed in the deliberation and discussion of the several 
 important matters which should come before them, with that 
 prudence, decency, and order which had distinguished their 
 conduct on all former occasions ; and laid before the Con- 
 vention the proceedings of the Continental Congress. . . . 
 
 Resolved, That this Convention will observe, in their debates, 
 the same rules and orders as are established in the House of 
 Burgesses in this Colony. 
 
 Adjourned till to-morrow 10 o'clock. 
 
 March 21. . . . Resolved unanimously, That this Convention 
 doth entirely and cordially approve the Proceedings and Resolutions 
 of the American Continental Congress [the "First Continental Con- 
 gress"], and that they consider this whole Continent as under the 
 highest obligations to that very respectable body, for the wisdom of 
 their counsels, and their unremitted endeavours to maintain and pre- 
 serve inviolate the just rights and liberties of His Majesty's dutiful 
 and loyal subjects in America. 
 
 Resolved uyianimously. That the warmest thanks of this Con- 
 vention, and all the inhabitants of this Colony, whom they 
 represent, are particularly due, and that this just tribute of 
 applause be presented, to the Honourable Peyton Randoph, 
 Esquire, Richard Henry Lee, George Washington, Patrick 
 
CONVENTIONS BECOME GOVERNMENTS 437 
 
 Henry, Junior, Richard Bland, Benjamin Harrison, and Edmund 
 Pendleton, Esquires, the worthy Delegates deputed by a former 
 Convention to represent this Colony in General Congress, for 
 their cheerful undertaking, and faithful discharge of the very 
 important trust reposed in them. 
 
 Adjourned till to-morrow 10 o'clock. 
 
 March 22. . . . Resolved, That a well regulated Militia, 
 composed of Gentlemen and Yeomen, is the natural strength, and 
 only security of a free Government ; that such a Militia in this 
 Colony would for ever render it unnecessary for the Mother 
 Country to keep among us, for the purpose of our defence, any 
 Standing Army of mercenary forces, always subversive of the 
 quiet, and dangerous to the liberties of the people, and would 
 obviate the pretext of taxing us for their support. 
 
 That the establishment of such a Militia is at this time 
 peculiarly necessary, by the state of our laws for the protection 
 and defence of the Country, some of which have already ex- 
 pired, and others will shortly do so; and that the known re- 
 missness of Government, in calling us together in a legislative 
 capacity renders it too insecure, in this time of danger and dis- 
 tress to rely, that opportunity will be given of renewing them 
 in General Assembly, or making any provision to secure our 
 inestimable rights and liberties from those farther violations 
 with which they are threatened. 
 
 Resolved therefore, That this Colony be immediately put into 
 a posture of defence ; and that Patrick Henry, Richard Henry 
 Lee, Robert Carter Nicholas, Benjamin Harrison, Lemuel Rid- 
 dick, George Washington, Adam Stephen, Andrew Lewis, 
 William Christian, Edmund Pendleton, Thomas Jefferson, and 
 Isaac Zane, Esquires, be a Committee to prepare a plan for the 
 embodying, arming, and disciplining such a number of men as 
 may be sufficient for that purpose. 
 
 Adjourned till to-morrow 10 o'clock. . . . 
 
 Saturday, March 25, 1775. . . . Resolved, As the opinion 
 of this Convention, that, on account of the unhappy disputes 
 between Great Britain and the Colonies, and the unsettled state 
 
438 REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENTS 
 
 of this Country, the lawyers, suitors, and witnesses ought not 
 to attend the prosecution or defence of civil suits at the next 
 General Court ; and it is recommended to the several Courts of 
 Justice not to proceed to the hearing or determination of suits 
 on their dockets, except attachments ; nor to give judgments 
 but in the case of Sheriffs or other collectors for Money or 
 Tobacco received by them ; in other cases, where such judgment 
 shall be voluntarily confessed; or upon such amicable proceed- 
 ings as may become necessary for the settlement, division, or 
 distribution of estates. And, during this suspension of the 
 administration of justice, it is earnestly recommended to the 
 people to observe a peaceable and orderly behaviour; to all 
 creditors to be as indulgent to their debtors as may be ; to all 
 debtors to pay as far as they are able ; and where differences 
 may arise which cannot be adjusted between the parties, that 
 they refer the decision thereof to judicious neighbours, and 
 abide by their determination. 
 
 The Convention then took into their consideration, according 
 to the order of yesterday, the plan for embodying, arming an?l 
 disciplining the Militia ; which, being read, and amended, was 
 unanimously agreed to, as follows : 
 
 The committee are further of opinion that, as from the expira- 
 tion of the above-mentioned latter laws, and various other causes, 
 the legal and necessary disciplining the Militia has been much 
 neglected, and a proper provision of Arms and Ammunition has 
 not been made, to the evident danger of the community in case 
 of invasion or insurrection, it be recommended to the inhabitants 
 of the several Counties of this Colony that they form one or more 
 volunteer Companies of Infantry and Troops of Horse, in each County, 
 and to be in constant training and readiness to act on any emer- 
 gency. 
 
 ******* 
 
 That, in order to make a further and more ample provision of 
 Amunition, it be recommended to the Committees of the several 
 
CONVENTIONS BECOME GOVERNMENTS 439 
 
 Counties, that they collect from their Constituents, in such manner 
 as shall be most agreeable to them, so much money as will be suf- 
 ficient to purchase half a pound of Gunpowder, one pound of Lead, 
 necessary Flints and Cartridge Paper, and dispose thereof, when 
 procured, in such place or places of safety as they may think best; 
 and it is earnestly recommended to each individual to pay such 
 proportion of the money necessary for these purposes as by the 
 respective Committees shall be judged requisite. 
 
 That as it may happen that some Counties, from their situa- 
 tion, may not be apprized of the most certain and speedy 
 method of procuring the articles before-mentioned, one General 
 Committee should be appointed, whose business it should be 
 to procure, for such Counties as may make application to them, 
 such articles, and so much thereof as the moneys wherewith 
 they shall furnish the said Committee with purchase, after 
 deducting the charges of transportation, and other necessary 
 expenses. 
 
 Resolved, That Robert Carter jSTicholas, Thomas Xelson, and 
 Thomas W^hitiug, Esquires, or any two of them, be a Committee 
 for the purpose afore-mentioned. 
 
 . . . Resolved, That Robert Garter Nicholas, Richard Bland, 
 James Mercer, Edmund Pendleton, Archibald Cary, Charles 
 Carter of Stafford, Benjamin Harrison, Richard Henry Lee, 
 Josias Clapham, George Washington, Patrick Henry, James 
 Holt, and Thomas Newton, Esquires, be a Committee to prepare 
 a plan for the encouragement of Arts and Manufactures in 
 this Colony. 
 
 The Convention then proceeded to the election of Delegates by 
 ballot, to represent this Colony in General Congress, to be held 
 at the City of Philadelphia, on the loth day of May next; when 
 the Honourable Peyton Randolph, Esquire, George Washington, 
 Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, Edmund Pendleton, Benjamin 
 Harrison, and Richard Bland, Esquires, were chosen for that 
 purpose. 
 
 Resolved, That Robert Carter Nicholas, Esquire, be desired to lay 
 before the Convention, on Monday next, an account of the Money 
 
440 REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENTS 
 
 received from the several Counties and Corporations in this Colony, 
 for the use of the Delegates sent to represent this Colony in 
 General Congress. 
 
 Adjourned till jNIonday, 10 o'clock. 
 
 March 27 . . . Resolved unanimously, That from and after 
 the first day of May next, no person or persons whatever 
 ought to use, in his or their families, unless in case of neces- 
 sity, and on no account to sell to butchers, or kill for market, 
 any Sheep under four years old ; and where there is necessity 
 for using any mutton in his, her, or their families, it is rec- 
 ommended to kill such only as are least profitable to be kept. 
 
 Resolved nnanimously, That the setting up and promoting 
 Woollen, Cotton, and Linen Manufactures ought to be en- 
 couraged in as many different branches as possible, especially 
 Coating, Flannel, Blankets, Rugs, or Coverlids, Hosiery, and 
 coarse Cloths, both broad and narrow. 
 
 Resolved unammously, As Salt is a daily and indispensable 
 necessary of life, and the making of it amongst ourselves must 
 be deemed a valuable acquisition, it is therefore recommended 
 that the utmost endeavours be used to establish Salt Works, 
 and that proper encouragement be given to ]\Ir. James Tait, 
 who hath made proposals, and offered a scheme to the publick, 
 for so desirable a purpose. 
 
 Resolved unanimously, That Saltpetre and Sulphur, being articles 
 of great and necessary use, the making, collecting, and refining 
 them to the utmost extent, be recommended, the Convention being 
 of opinion that it may be done to great advantage. 
 
 Resolved unanimously, That the making of Gunpowder be rec- 
 ommended. 
 
 Resolved unanimously. That the manufacturing of iron into Nails 
 and Wire, and other necessary articles, be recommended. 
 
 Resolved unammously, That the making of Steel ought to be 
 largely encouraged, as there will be a g^eat demand for this 
 article. 
 
CONVENTIONS BECOME GOVERNMENTS 441 
 
 Eesolved ^inanimmisl)/, That the iDaking of different kinds 
 of Paper ought to be encouraged; and as the success of this 
 branch depends on a supply of old Linen and W^oollen Rags, 
 the inhabitants of this Colony are desired, in their respective 
 families, to preserve these articles. 
 
 Eesolved unanimously, That whereas Wool Combs, Cotton 
 and Wool Cards, Hemp and Flax Heckles, have been for some 
 time made to advantage in some of the neighbouring Colonies, 
 and are necessary for carrying on Linen and Woollen Manu- 
 factures, the establishing such Manufactures be recommended. 
 
 Eesolved tmanimouslt/, That the erecting Fulling Mills and 
 mills for breaking, swingling, and softening Hemp and Flax, 
 and also the making Grindstones be recommended. 
 
 Eesolved unanimoush/, That the brewing ]\Lalt Liquors in this 
 Colony would tend to render the consumption of foreign 
 Liquors less necessary. It is therefore recommended that 
 proper attention be given to the cultivation of Hops and 
 Barley. 
 
 Eesolved unanimo^isly, That it be recommended to all the 
 inhabitants of this Colony, that they use, as the Convention 
 engageth to do, our own Manufactures, and those of other 
 Colonies, in preference to all others. 
 
 ******* 
 
 The Members of the Convention then, in order to encourage 
 Mr. James Tail, who is about to erect Salt Works, undertook, 
 for their respective Counties, to pay the sum of Ten Pounds 
 to Eobert Carter NicJiolas, Esquire, for the use of the said 
 James Tail, on or before the 10th day of May next. 
 
 ******* 
 
 Resolved, That this Convention doth consider the delegation of 
 its members as now at an end ; and that it is recommended to the 
 People of this Colony to choose Delegates to represent them in 
 Convention for one year, as soon as they conveniently can. 
 
 Peyton Randolph, President. 
 
 John Tazewell, Clerk of the Convention. 
 
442 REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENTS 
 
 c. [The Third Mrginia Convention, pursuant to the call in the closing 
 recommendation of the Second, met July 17, 1775, and adopted the forms 
 of a legislative body, giving bills three readings, etc. The first resolution 
 read . . . 
 
 " That this Convention will observe, in their debates and proceedings, 
 the same Rules and Orders as are established in the House of Burgesses 
 of this Colony." Cf. with the corresponding Resolution of the Second 
 Convention above ; note signiticance of the two additional words. That 
 significance is brought oii| clearly in the postscript of a letter from George 
 Mason to a friend, August 22: 
 
 "P. S. Every ordinance goes thro' all the Formalities of a Bill in the 
 House of Burgesses, has three Readings, etc. before it is passed, and in 
 every respect wears the Face of Law, — Resolves, as recommendations, 
 being no longer trusted to.*. . ." (Virginia Calendar of State Papei-s, I, 
 26i).) 
 
 Thus the Third Convention was a "government '' in style as well as 
 in fact. It held two busy sessions; and, in January, 1770, though its 
 "year" was not up, it adjourned, to give place to a new Convention 
 freshly instructed from the people.] 
 
XXIII. INDEPENDENCE 
 
 Cf. Amei'ican IIist(^ry and Govprnment (§§ 146-150) for additional 
 comment and narrative, and suggestions as to bibliography, on each of 
 the follo^Ying numbers, 134-139. Many short extracts are there given 
 from documents which, on that account, are not reproduced here, — 
 notably from Paine's Common Sense. 
 
 134. Virginia County Instructions for Independence, April 23, 1776 
 
 Force, America7i Archives, Fourth Series, V, 1034-1035. 
 
 The following instructions from a county meeting of Charlotte County, 
 Virginia, to delegates for the next Virginia Convention [to meet May 6] 
 show that that body was at least partially authorized to take its momentous 
 action of adopting a State constitution and of instructing the Virginia del- 
 egates at Philadelphia to move for independence. Note that the King, 
 to whom all earlier documents had professed loyalty, is here coupled with 
 the ministry and parliament. Other counties gave similar instruction. 
 Cf. Force, V, 1046. 
 
 To Paid Carrimjton, and Thomas Read, Esq's. : 
 
 Gentlemen : When we consider the despotick plan adopted by 
 the King, Ministry and Parliament of Great Britain, insidiously 
 pursued for these twelve years past, to enslave America; when 
 we consider that they have turned a deaf ear to the repeated 
 petitions and remonstrances of this and our sister Colonies, 
 and that they have been equally inattentive to the rights of 
 freemen and the British Constitution ; and when we consider 
 that they have for some time been endeavouring to enforce 
 their arbitrary mandates by lire and sword, and likewise 
 encouraging, by every means in their power, our savage neigh- 
 bours, and our more savage domesticks, to spill the blood 
 of our wives and children ; and to crown the whole, the}^ have 
 added insult to their injustice and cruelty, by repeatedly pre- 
 tending to hold out the olive branch of peace in such a way as 
 teacheth us that they are determined to persist in their hellish 
 
 443 
 
444 INDEPENDENCE 
 
 designs, and that nothing is intended for us but the most 
 abject slavery. . . . 
 
 Therefore despairing of any redress of our grievances from the 
 King and Parliament of Great Britain, and all hopes of a recon- 
 ciliation between her and the United Colonies being now at an 
 end, and being concious that their treatment has been such as 
 loyal subjects did not deserve, and to which as freemen, we are 
 determined not to submit ; by the unanimous approbation and 
 direction of the whole freeholders, and all the other inhabitants 
 of this County, we advise and instruct you, cheerfully to concur 
 and give your best assistance in our Convention, to push to the 
 utmost a war offensive and defensive until you are certified that 
 such proposals of peace are made to our General Congress as shall 
 by them be judged just and friendly. And because the advan- 
 tages of a trade will better enable us to pay the taxes, and procure 
 the necessaries for carrying on a war, and in our present cir- 
 cumstances this cannot be had without a Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence ; therefore, if no such proposals of peace shall be 
 made, we judge it to be a dictate of the first law of nature, to 
 continue to oppose every attempt on our lives and properties ; 
 and we give it you in charge, to use your best endeavours 
 that the Delegates which are sent to the General Congress be in- 
 structed immediately to cast off the British yoke, and to enter into 
 a commercial alliance with any nation or nations friendly to 
 our cause. And as King George the Third of Great Britain 
 etc., has manifested deliberate enmity tow9,rds us, and under 
 the character of a parent persists in behaving as a tyrant, that 
 they, in our behalf renounce allegiance to him for ever ; and 
 that, taking God of Heaven to be our King, and depending upon 
 His protection and assistance, they plan out that form of Govern- 
 ment which may the more effectually secure to us the enjoyment 
 of our civil and religious rights and privileges, to the latest poster- 
 ity. . . . 
 
 Ordered, That the above Resolves be published in the Vir- 
 ginian Gazette. 
 
 By order: William Jameson, Clerk. 
 
VIRGINIA INSTRUCTIONS 445 
 
 135. Instructions for Independence in the Virginia Convention (and 
 Resolutions for an Independent State Government), May 15, 1776 ^ 
 
 Force, American Archives, Fourth Series, VI, 401-462. 
 
 The Fourth Virginia Convention met May 6, elected on the recommenda- 
 tion of the preceding Convention (see No, 133 c, close). On the 9th the 
 Convention voted to go next day into Committee of the Whole to con- 
 sider the state of the colony (whioli meant to take up the matter of 
 independence and a State government). Military needs, however, delayed 
 the consideration until the 14th. On that day and the loth, the questions 
 were debated, and, on the 15th, the Committee rose and reported to tlie 
 Convention the resolutions below, which were unanimously adopted. For 
 a more detailed story, see American History and Government, § 148 ; but 
 it should be seen here clearly that the Convention instructed its delegates 
 in the Continental Congress to secure a general declaration of Independ- 
 ence for all the colonies, and that, at the same time, it began the work of a 
 permanent independent constitution for Virginia. 
 
 [The first half of the document is a preamble stating the 
 grievances of the colonies.]. . . In this state of extreme 
 clanger, we have no alternative left but an abject submission 
 to the will of those overbearing tyrants or a total separation 
 from the crown and government of Great Britain, uniting and 
 exerting the strength of all America for defence, and forming 
 alliances with foreign powers for commerce and aid in war : 
 Wherefore, appealing to the Searcher of Hearts for the sin- 
 cerity of former declarations expressing our desire to preserve 
 the connection with that nation, and that we are driven from 
 that inclination by their wicked councils and the eternal laws 
 of self-preservation ; 
 
 Resolved, unanimously. That the delegates appointed to 
 represent this colony in General Congress be instructed to 
 propose to that respectable body to declare the United Col- 
 onies free and independent States, absolved from all allegiance 
 
 1 For the recommendation of Congress, on this same day, regarding setting 
 up State governments, of. American History and Government, § 148. (For 
 earlier recommendations as to temporary governments, of. ib.) This action, 
 of course, was not known in Virginia when this Convention took action regard- 
 ing independence and a permanent State constitution. 
 
446 INDEPENDENCE 
 
 to or dependence upon the Crown or parliament of Great 
 Britain ; and that they give the assent of this colony to such 
 declaration, and to whatever measures may be thought proper 
 and necessary by the Congress for forming foreign alliances 
 and a confederation of the colonies, at such time, and in such 
 manner, as to them shall seem best : Provided that the power 
 of forming government for, and the regulation of, the inter- 
 nal concerns of each colony, be left to the respective colonial 
 legislatures. 
 
 Resolved unanimously, That a committee be appointed to 
 prepare a Declakatiox of Rights and such a plan of govern- 
 ment as will be most likely to maintain peace and order in 
 this colony, and secure substantial and equal liberty to the 
 people. 
 
 136. The Virginia Bill of Rights, June 12. 1776 
 
 Poore. Charters and Constittaions. II, 1908-1909. Cf. Xo. 135 for 
 history. This bill of rights was reported by a committee to the Virginia 
 Convention on May 27, and adopted unanimously on June 12. It was 
 the model, often followed closely, for similar bills in other states. See 
 comment at close. 
 
 A declaration of rights made by the representatives of the good 
 people of Virginia, assembled in full and free convention ; ichich 
 rights do pertain to them and their posterity, as the basis and 
 foundation of government. 
 
 Section 1. That all men are by nature equally free and 
 independent, and have certain inherent rights, of which, when 
 they enter into a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, 
 deprive or divest their posterity ; namely, the enjoyment of 
 life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing 
 property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety. 
 
 Section 2. That all power is vested in, and consequently 
 derived from, the people ; that magistrates are their trustees 
 and servants, and at all times amenable to them. 
 
 Section 3. That government is, or ought to be, instituted 
 for the common benefit, protection, and security of the people. 
 
VIRGINIA BILL OF RIGHTS, JUNE 12, 1776 447 
 
 nation, or community ; of all the various modes and forms of 
 government, that is best which is capable of producing the 
 greatest degree of happiness and safety, and is most effectually 
 secured against the danger of maladministration ; and that, 
 when any government shall be found inadequate or contrary 
 to these purposes, a majority of the community ha,th an in- 
 dubitable, inalienable, and indefeasible right to reform, alter, 
 or abolish it in such manner as shall be judged most condu- 
 cive to the public weal. 
 
 Section 4. That no man, or set of men, are entitled to ex- 
 clusive or separate emoluments or privileges from the commu- 
 nity, but in consideration of public services ; which, not being 
 descendible, neither ought the offices of magistrate, legislator, 
 or judge to be hereditary. 
 
 Section 5. That the legislative and executive powers of 
 the State should be separate and distinct from the judiciary; 
 and that the members of the two first may be restrained from 
 oppression, by feeling and participating in the burdens of the 
 people, they should, at fixed periods, be reduced to a private 
 station, return into that body from Avhich they were originally 
 taken, and the vacancies be supplied by frequent, certain, and 
 regular elections, in which all, or any part of the former mem- 
 bers to be again eligible, or ineligible, as the laws shall direct. 
 
 Section 6. That elections of members to serve as represen- 
 tatives of the people, in assembly, ought to be free ; and that 
 all men, having sufficient evidence of permanent common in- 
 terest with, and attachment to, the community, have the right 
 of suffrage, and cannot be taxed or deprived of their property 
 for public uses, without their own consent, or that of their rep- 
 resentatives so elected, nor bound by any law to which they 
 have not, in like manner, assented, for the public good.^ 
 
 iThe sixth article seems to have been designed by George Mason, who 
 drew it, as an argument for extending the franchise to heads of families. 
 Mason drew also a plan for the frame of f/overnmeiit, which the convention 
 in the main adopted on June 21). In this plan he proposed to "extend" the 
 franchise to leaseholders with seven-year terms, and to any "housekeeper" 
 
448 INDEPENDENCE 
 
 Section 7. That all power of suspending laws, or the exe- 
 cution of laws, by any authority, without consent of the repre- 
 sentatives of the people, is injurious to their rights, and ought 
 •not to be exercised. 
 
 Section 8. That in all capital or criminal prosecutions a 
 man hath a right to demand the cause and nature of his accu- 
 sation, to be confronted with the accusers and witnesses, to call 
 for evidence in his favor, and to a speedy trial by an impartial 
 jury of twelve men of his vicinage, without whose unanimous 
 consent he cannot be found guilty ; nor can he be compelled to 
 give evidence agaist himself; that no man be deprived of his 
 liberty, except by the law of the land or the judgment of his peers. 
 
 Section 9. That excessive bail ouglit not to be required, 
 nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments 
 inflicted. 
 
 Section 10. That general warrants, whereby an officer or 
 messenger may be commanded to seartdi suspected places with- 
 out evidence of a fact committed, or to seize any person or 
 persons not named, or whose offence is not particularly de- 
 
 who was also the father of three children (Article V of Mason's Plan ; printed 
 in full in Kate Mason Rowland's Life and Correspondence of Georye Mason, 
 I, 444 ff.)- The convention, however, left the franchise as " now established 
 by law" — on a freehold basis {American History and Governviotf, ^§ 105, 
 107). Mason, in his plan, suggested graded landed qualifications for holding 
 office : £500 freehold to act as a member of his proposed electoral college to 
 choose state senators; £1000 freehold to sit in the lower House ; £2000 freehold 
 to sit in the upper House. 
 
 It is often said that Mason proposed a £1000-freehold qualification for the 
 franchise. The language of Section III of his " plan," taken by itself, would so 
 indicate. But the clauses III and IV are very loosely worded and punctuated ; 
 and, when they are read in conjunction with Section V, the only possible con- 
 clusion is the one stated above. In proposing so liberal a franchise, however, 
 Mason stood alone in Virginia in his day. Even Jefferson's plan for a Vir- 
 ginia constitution called for "a freehold of l of an acre of land in a town, or 
 25 acres in the country" (Works, Ford edition, II, 7 ff.). 
 
 Eleven years later at the Philadelphia convention. Mason used the same 
 language as in the Virginia bill of rights, in opposing a real-estate qualification 
 for the national franchise ; hut he still advocated a landed qualification for 
 membership in even the lower House of Congress. 
 
t 
 VIRGINIA BILL OF RIGHTS, JUNE 12, 1776 449 
 
 scribed and supported by evidence, are grievous and oppressive, 
 and ought not to be granted. 
 
 Section 11. That in controversies respecting property, and 
 in suits between man and man, the ancient trial by jury is pref- 
 erable to any other, and ought to be held sacred. 
 
 Section 12. That the freedom of the press is one of the 
 great bulwarks of liberty, and can never be restrained but by 
 despotic governments. 
 
 Section 13. That a well-regulated militia, composed of the 
 body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and 
 safe defence of a free State ; that standing armies, in time of 
 peace, should be avoided, as dangerous to liberty ; and that in 
 all cases the military should be under strict subordination to, 
 and governed by, the civil power. 
 
 Section 14. That the people have a right to uniform gov- 
 ernment ; and, therefore, that no government separate from, or 
 independent of the government of Virginia, ought to be erected 
 or established within the limits thereof. 
 
 Section 15. That no free government, or the blessings of 
 liberty, can be preserved to any people, but by a firm adher- 
 ence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue, 
 and by frequent recurrence to fundamental principles. 
 
 Section 16. That religion, or the duty which we owe to 
 our Creator, and the manner of discharging it, can be directed 
 only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence ; and 
 therefore all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of 
 religion, according to the dictates of conscience ; and that it is 
 the mutual duty of all to practise Christian forbearance, love 
 and charity towards each other. 
 
 [The failure of historians to give due credit to this bill of 
 rights is remarkable. I call attention to two illustrations. 
 
 (1) Cushing's Transition from Provincial to Commonwealth 
 Government in Massachusetts (Columbia University Studies, VII, 
 1896) states incorrectly (p. 246, note 1) that the constitution 
 of Virginia contained no preamble (cf. No. 137 below) : and. 
 
« 
 450 INDEPENDENCE 
 
 on page 247 and notes, it quotes precedents from the Maryland 
 bill of rights instead of from the Virginia document from 
 which the Maryland statement was taken; while page 248, 
 in referring to •• others [than Massachusetts that] realized 
 keenly the vital importance of a clear and abiding statement 
 of the immunities and privileges of man in civil society,"' adds 
 the note : '• A Declaration of Eights was- adopted by Delaware, 
 ^faryland. New Hampshire (1784), North Carolina, Pennsyl- 
 vania, Vermont, and Virginia "' ( I ) The order of statement 
 is ingeniously misleading. All the others named drew mainly 
 from the one named last. 
 
 (2) ^Merriam's History of American Political Theories (1902) 
 contains several such misleading statements. On page 49, to 
 illustrate the fact that some State constitutions (as well as the 
 Declaration of Independence) asserted the doctrine of '• inalien- 
 able rights,'' including " life, liberty, and the pursuit of happi- 
 ness," reference is made in detail to the New Hampshire bill 
 of rights (eight years later than the Declaration), but not 
 at all to the Virginia bill of rights, which preceded the 
 Continental Declaration. So, too, especially on page 153, a 
 footnote is inserted expressly to show how the idea of '• fre- 
 quent recurrence to fundamental principles " was often ex- 
 pressed in Eevolutionary State constitutions, as follows : 
 " :\[assachusetts (1780), Art. 18 : Pensylvania (1776), Art. 14 ; 
 New Hampshire, Art. 38 ; North Carolina, Art. 21 ; Vermont, 
 Art. 16." "Would it not have been well to recognize in such 
 a list the State in whose constitution the phrase was first 
 used ?] 
 
 137. The First Declaration of Independence by a State 
 
 Preamble to the J'irginia Constitution, Jims 29, 1776 
 
 The Virginia constitution, adopted on June 29, 1776, consisted of 
 three parts : (1) a declaration of independence ; (2) the bill of rights ; 
 (3) the frame of government. The original intention (No. 135, close) 
 had been to include the last two only, and to leave the declaration of 
 independence to Congress. But on June 24, when the convention had 
 
THE VIRGINIA DECLARATION 451 
 
 nearly completed its consideration of the constitution, it received from 
 Jefferson a draft of a constitution prefaced by a declaration of independ- 
 ence. Of the adoption of this preface, Jeffei-son wrote in 1S25 : 
 
 ''I was then at Philadelphia . . . knowing that the Convention of 
 Virginia was eng;\ged in forming a plan of government, I turned Tuy 
 mind to the s;iuie subject, and drew a sketch ... of a Constitution with 
 a preamble, which I sent to Mr. Pendleton, president of the Convention 
 . . . He informed me . . . that he received it on the day on which the 
 Committee of tlie Whole had reported to the House the plan they had 
 agreed to ; and that it had been so long in hand, so disputed inch by 
 inch . . . that they wei-e worried with the contentions it had produced, 
 and could not, from mere lassitude, have been induced to open the instru- 
 ment again ; but that, being pleased with the Pi-eamble to mine, they 
 adopted it in the House, by way of amendment to the report of the 
 committee [June 20] ; and thus my Preamble was tacked to the work of 
 Ceorge Mason, . . . The Preamble teas prior in compi'sition to the 
 Declaration [of July 4]." i 
 
 "Whereas George Guelf. king of Great l^ritaiu . . . and 
 heretofore entrusted with the exercise of the kingly office in 
 this government [Virginia], hath endeavored to pervert the 
 same into a detestable aud insupportable tyranny : 
 
 by putting his negative on laws the most wholesome 
 
 aud necessary for the public good ; 
 by . . . [21 iudictments follow — similar to the 
 
 charges in the Declaration soon after adopted 
 at Philadelphia] by which several acts of 
 mis-rule the said George Guelf lias forfeited the 
 kingly office, and has rendered it necessary for the 
 preservation of the people that he should be im- 
 mediately deposed from the same. . . . 
 Be it therefore enacted by the authority of the people that 
 
 1 Jefferson's plan was indorsed. •' ... It is proposed that this bill, after 
 correction by the Convention, shall be referretl by them to the people, to be 
 assembled in their respective counties: and that the sntTrages of two-thirds 
 the counties shall be necessary to establish it." Jefferson always contended 
 that the Virginia constitution, since it was not so submitted to popular 
 ratitication, was not a '" fundamental law," but was subject to repeal, like 
 auy other statute, by ordinary legislative action. Cf. American Histori/ and 
 Goi'ernment, § 152. 
 
452 INDEPENDENCE 
 
 the said George Guelf be, and he hereby is deposed from the 
 kingly office within this government, and absolutely divested 
 of all its rights, powers, and prerogatives: and that he and 
 his descendants, and all persons acting by or through him, and 
 all other persons whatsoever, shall be and forever remain 
 incapable of the same : and that the said office shall henceforth 
 cease, and never more either in name or substance be re- 
 established within this colony. 
 
 138. Revolutionary State Governments 
 
 a. Rccoimnendation of Congress, May 15, 1776 
 Journals of Congress (Ford edition), V, 357 ff. 
 
 IN CONGRESS, May 15, 1776. 
 
 WJiereas, his Britanic majesty, in conjunction with the lords 
 and commons of Great Britain, has, by a late act of parliament, 
 excluded the inhabitants of these united colonies from the 
 protection of his crown — And whereas no answer whatever 
 to the humble petitions of the colonies for redress of griev- 
 ances and reconciliation with Great Britain, has been, or is 
 likely to be given, but the whole force of that kingdom, aided 
 by foreign mercenaries, is to be exerted for the destruction 
 of the good people of these colonies — and whereas it appears 
 absolutely irreconcilable to reason and good conscience, for 
 the people of these colonies NOW to take the oaths and 
 affirmations necessary for the support of any government 
 under the crown of Great Britain; and it is necessary that the 
 exercise of every kind of authority under the said crown should be 
 totally suppressed, and all the powers of government exerted under 
 the authority of the people of the colonies, for the preservation of 
 internal peace, virtue, and good order, as well as for the 
 defence of their lives, liberties and properties, against the 
 hostile invasions and cruel depredations of their enemies — 
 Therefore, 
 
PRELIMINARIES IN CONGRESS 453 
 
 Resolved. That it be recommended to the respective assemblies, 
 and conventions, of the united colonies, where no government suffi- 
 cient to the exigencies of their affairs has been heretofore established, 
 to adopt such government as shall, in the opinion of the representa- 
 tives of the people, best conduce to the happiness and safety of their 
 constituents in particular, and America in general. 
 
 b. JoJui Adams Comment upon the Bearing of that Ac- 
 tion (a above) upon Independence 
 
 Letters of John Adams to His Wife, I, 109-111. Adams had been 
 the special champion of the action finally recommended by Congress as 
 above. On the following Sunday, he wrote as follows of that memorable 
 action, and of the earlier action in South Carolina in adopting a tempo- 
 rary government of its own. 
 
 John Adams to Abigail Ada7ns 
 
 Philadelphia, May 17, 1776. 
 
 I have this morning heard ]\Ir. Duffield, upon the signs of 
 the times. . . . He concluded, that the course of events 
 indicated strongly the design of Providence, that we should 
 be separated from Great Britain, etc. . . . 
 
 Is it not a saying of Moses, " who am I, that I should go in 
 and out before this great people?" When I consider the 
 great events which are passed, and those greater which are 
 rapidly advancing, and that I may have been instrumental 
 in touching some springs, and turning some small wheels, 
 which have had and will have such effects, I feel an awe upon 
 my mind, which is not easily described. Great Britain has 
 at last driven America to the last step, a complete separation 
 from her ; a total absolute independence, not only of her 
 Parliament, but of her crown, for such is the amoimt of the 
 resolve of the loth. Confederation among ou7'selves, or alliances 
 ivith foreign nations, are not necessary to a X)erfect separation 
 from Britain. That is effected by extinguishing all authority 
 under the croion, Parliament, and nation, as the resolution for 
 instituting governments has done, to all intents and purposes. 
 
454 INDEPENDENCE 
 
 Confederation will be necessary for our internal concord, and 
 alliances may be so for our external defence. 
 
 I have reasons to believe that no colony, ichich shall assume a 
 government under the people, ivill give it up. There is something 
 very unnatural and odious in a government a thousand leagues 
 off. A whole government of our own choice, managed by 
 persons whom we love, revere, and can confide in, has charms 
 in it, for which men will fight. Two young gentlemen from 
 South Carolina in this city, who were in Charlestown when 
 their new constitution was promulgated, and when their new 
 Governor and Council and Assembly walked out in procession, 
 attended by the guards, company of cadets, light horse, etc., 
 told me, that they were beheld by the people with transports 
 and tears of joy. The people gazed at them with a kind of 
 rapture. They both told me, that the reflection, that these 
 were gentlemen whom they all loved, esteemed and revered, 
 gentlemen of their own choice, whom they could trust, and 
 whom they could displace, if any of them should behave 
 amiss, affected them so, that they could not help crying. 
 They say, their people icill never give up this government. . . . 
 
 139. Instructions by " State " Conventions against Independence 
 (January-May, 1776) 
 
 Proceedings of (he Conventions of Maryland in 1774, 1775, and 1776, 
 pages 82-84, 140-142, 176. 
 
 Similar instructions were given in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. 
 (1) In Convention, January 12th, 
 
 To the honorable Matthew Tilgham, Esq., Thomas Jefferson, 
 jr., Robert Goldsborough, William Paca, Samuel Chase, Thomas 
 Stone, Robert Alexander, and John Rogers, Esquires. 
 
 The convention taking into their most serious consideration 
 the present state of the unhappy dispute between Great Britain 
 and the united colonies, think it proper to deliver you their 
 sentiments, and to instruct you in certain points, relative to 
 vour conduct in congress, as representatives of this province. 
 
INSTRUCTIONS AGAINST INDEPENDENCE 455 
 
 The experience we and our ancestors have had of the mild- 
 ness and equity of the English constitution, under which we 
 have grown up to and enjoyed a state of felicity, not exceeded 
 among any people we know of, until the grounds of the present 
 controversy were laid by the ministry and parliament of Great 
 Britain, has most strongly endeared to us that form of govern- 
 ment from whence these blessings have been derived, and makes 
 us ardently wish for a reconciliation with the mother country, 
 upon terms that may insure to these colonies an equal and per- 
 manent freedom. 
 
 To this constitution we are attached, not merely by habit, but 
 by principle, being in our judgments persuaded [that] it is of 
 all known systems best calculated to secure the liberty of the 
 subject, to guard against despotism on the one hand, and licen- 
 tiousness on the other. 
 
 Impressed with these sentiments, we warmly recommend to 
 you, to keep constantly in your view the avowed end and pur- 
 pose for which these colonies originally associated, — the redress 
 of American grievances and [thel securing the rights of the 
 colonists. 
 
 We further instruct you, that you do not without the previous 
 knowledge and approbation of the convention of this province, assent 
 to any proposition to declare these colonies independent of the crown 
 of Great Britain, nor to any proposition for making or entering into 
 alliance with any foreign power, nor to any union or confederation of 
 these colonies, which may necessarily lead to a separation from 
 the mother country, unless in your judgments of any four of 
 you, or of a mnjority of the whole of you, if all shall be then 
 attending in congress, it shall be thought absolutely necessary 
 for the i)reservation of the liberties of the united colonies ; and 
 should a majority of the colonies in congress, against such your judg- 
 ment, resolve to declare these colonies independent of the crown of 
 Great Britain, or to make or enter into alliance with any foreign power, 
 or into any union or confederation of these colonies, which may neces- 
 
456 INDEPENDENCE 
 
 sarily lead to a separation from the mother country, then we instruct 
 you immediately to call the convention of this province, and repair there- 
 to with such proposition and resolve, and lay the same before the said 
 convention, for their consideration, and this convention will not hold 
 this province bound by such majority in congress, until the representa- 
 tive body of the province in convention assent thereto. 
 
 Desirous as weave of peace with Great Britain upon safe and 
 honourable terms, we wish you nevertheless, and instruct you 
 to join with the other colonies in such' military operations as 
 may be judged proper and necessary for the common defence, 
 until such a peace can be happily obtained. 
 
 [May 15, came tjie recommendation of Con,2;ress for extintniishing all 
 authority under the British crown and the setting up of state governments 
 (No. 138a above), and also the instructions of the Virginia Convention 
 for Independence and Confederation. The response in Maryland was 
 merely a repetition of her previous instructions, in the passage given be- 
 low. Note the jealous disposition to deny authority to Congress and to 
 resent the wording of its recommendations.] 
 
 (2) Tuesday, May 21, 1776 
 
 ******* 
 
 The convention took into their consideration the report from 
 the committee appointed to report on the resolution of congress 
 of the 15th instant, and thereupon came to the following 
 resolutions. 
 
 Resolved unanimously, That the people of this province have 
 the sole and exclusive right of regulating the internal govern- 
 ment and police of this province. 
 
 ******* 
 
 Resolved unanimously, That this province has hitherto exerted 
 itself, and will upon all occasions continue to exert itself, with 
 cheerfulness and alacrity, in the common cause, agreeable to the 
 faith pledged in the union of the colonies : and (/' it shall appear 
 to this jvovince necessary to enter into a further compact for the 
 preservation of the constitutional rights of America, this prov- 
 ince will enter into such further engagement for that purpose. 
 
INSTRUCTIONS AGAINST INDEPENDENCE 457 
 
 Resolved iinanimously, That this convention, by a resolution 
 of the 15th day of this instant, hatli made sufficient provision 
 to prevent a necessity for any person witliin this province now 
 taking tlie oaths for the support of government under the crown 
 of Great Britain, and that it is the opinion of this convention, 
 that it is not necessary that the exercise of every kind of authority 
 under the said crown should be now totally suppressed in this prov- 
 ince, and all the powers of government exerted under the 
 authority of the people. 
 
 Resolved unayiimously , That as this convention is firmly per- 
 suaded that a re-union with Great Britain on constitutional 
 principles would most effectually secure the rights and liberties, 
 and increase the strength and promote the happiness of the 
 whole empire, objects which this province hath ever had in 
 view, the said deputies are bound and directed to govern themselves by 
 the instructions given to them by this convention in its session of 
 December ' last, in the same manner as if the said instructions were 
 particularly repeated. 
 
 [These instructions continued in force until revoked on Jujie 
 28 as follows :] 
 
 (3) Resolved unanimously, That the instructions given by the 
 convention of December last (and renewed by the convention in 
 May) to the deputies of this colony in Congress be recalled, and 
 the restrictions therein contained removed ; and that the dep- 
 uties of this colony attending in Congress ... be authorized 
 and empowered to concur with the of^er^ united colonies, or a 
 majority of them, in declaring the united colonies free and inde- 
 pendent states, in forming such further compact and confedera- 
 tion between them, in nuiking foreign alliances, and in adopting 
 such other measures as shall be judged necessary for securing 
 
 iThe action of January 12 in (1) above belonged to the session beginning in 
 December. 
 
 2 Is the following word " united " then, in this place, part of a propernouu, 
 or merely an adjective? 
 
458 INDEPENDENCE 
 
 the liberties of America ; and this colony will hold itself bound ^ 
 by the resolutions of a majority of the united colonies in the 
 premises : provided the sole and exclusive right of regulating 
 the internal government and police of this colony be reserved 
 to the people thereof. 
 
 140. Motion in Congress for Independence 
 
 Journals of Congress, V, 425. In obedience to the instructions from 
 the Virginia Convention, Kichard Henry Lee, on June 7, moved in Con- 
 gress the following resolutions. After delays, to permit certain dele- 
 gates to secure permission for their colonial assemblies, the resolution 
 was finally adopted July 2, by the vote of all colonies but New York. For 
 further detail, cf. American History and Government, § 150. 
 
 That these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free 
 and independent States ; that they are absolved from all 
 allegiance to the British Crown ; and that all political connec- 
 tion between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought 
 to be, totally dissolved. 
 
 That it is expedient forthwith to take the most effectual 
 measures for forming foreign alliances. 
 
 That a plan of confederation be prepared and transmitted to 
 the respective colonies for their consideration. 
 
 141. The Continental Declaration of Independence 
 
 While the debate w^as proceeding on Lee's resolutions (No. 140), to save 
 time, in case those resolutions should be adopted. Congress appointed a 
 committee (Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger 
 Sherman, and R. R. Livingston) to draft a full " Declaration of Independ- 
 ence." Jefferson, the member from the colony which had moved the 
 resolution,^ was naturally made chairman and drew the document, which 
 with slight modification was presented to Congress on June 28. After the 
 adoption of the resolutions on July 2, this formal Declaration was taken 
 
 1 Would that colony have felt itself "bound " before it gave them instruc- 
 tions, if Congress had acted on these matters? Cf. American History and 
 Government, § 187, for a discussion of this and allied points. 
 
 2 Lee was about to return to Virginia, and so was not placed on the com- 
 mittee. 
 
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 459 
 
 up by Congress, considered on the 2d, 3d, and 4th of July, and passed. 
 August 2, a copy, engrossed on parchment, was signed by the members of 
 Congress there present. Other signatures were added later until all 
 thirteen States were represented. The following capitalization, paragraph- 
 ing, and punctuation follow the original parchment. 
 
 I2sr Congress, July 4, 1776 
 
 The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United 
 
 States of America 
 
 S2E!)cn in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary 
 for one people to dissolve the political bands which have con- 
 nected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the 
 earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of 
 Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to 
 the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the 
 causes which impel them to the separation. — We hold these 
 truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that 
 they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable 
 Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of 
 Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are 
 instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the 
 consent of the governed. — That whenever any Form of 
 Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the 
 Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute 
 new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and 
 organizing its powers in such forms, as to them shall seem 
 most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, 
 indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should 
 not be changed for light and transient causes ; and accordingly 
 all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to 
 suffer, while evils are sulferable, than to right themselves 
 by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. 
 But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing 
 invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them 
 under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, 
 to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards 
 
460 INDEPENDENCE 
 
 for their future security. — Such has been the patient suf- 
 ferance of these Colonies ; and such is now the necessity 
 which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Govern- 
 ment. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a 
 history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct 
 object the establishment ofi an absolute Tyranny over these 
 States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world. 
 
 — He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and 
 necessary for the public good. — He has forbidden his Governors 
 to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless 
 suspended in their operation till his Assent should be ob- 
 tained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to 
 attend to them. — He has refused to pass other Laws for 
 the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those 
 people would relinquish the right of Representation in the 
 Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to 
 tyrants only. — He has called together legislative bodies at 
 places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the deposi- 
 tory of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fa- 
 tiguing them into compliance with his measures. — He has 
 dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing 
 with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the 
 people. — He has refused for a long time, after such dissolu- 
 tions, to cause others to be elected ; whereby the Legislative 
 Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the 
 People at large for their exercise ; the State remaining in 
 the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from 
 without, and convulsions within. — He has endeavoured to 
 prevent the population of these States ; for that purpose 
 obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners ; 
 refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, 
 and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands. 
 
 — He has obstructed the Administi-ation of Justice, by re- 
 fusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary 
 Powers. — He has made Judges dependent on his will 
 alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and 
 
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 461 
 
 payment of their salaries. — He has erected a multitude of 
 New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass 
 our People, and eat out their substance. — He has kept 
 among us, in times of peace. Standing Armies without the 
 Consent of our legislature. — He has affected to render 
 the Military independent of and superior to the Civil 
 Power. — He has combined with others to subject us. to a 
 jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged 
 by our laws; giving his Assent to their acts of pretended 
 legislation : — For quartering large bodies of armed troops 
 among us : — For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from 
 Punishment for any Murders which they should commit on 
 the Inhabitants of these States : — For cutting off our Trade 
 with all parts of the world: — For imposing taxes on us 
 without our Consent: — For depriving us in many cases, of 
 the benefits of Trial by Jury: — For transporting us beyond 
 Seas to be tried for pretended offence: — For abolishing the 
 free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, 
 establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging 
 it Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit 
 instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these 
 Colonies : — For taking away our Charters, abolishing our 
 most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms 
 of our Governments: — For suspending our own Legislature, 
 and declaring themselves invested with Power to legislate 
 for us in all cases whatsoever. — He has abdicated Gov- 
 ernment here, by declaring us out of his Protection and 
 waging War against us. — He has plundered our seas, 
 ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives 
 of our people. — He is at this time transporting large armies 
 of foreign mercenaries to compleat the works of death, 
 desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances 
 of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most bar- 
 barous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized 
 nation. — He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken 
 Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Coun- 
 
462 INDEPENDENCE 
 
 try, to become the executioners of their frieuds and Brethren, 
 or to fall themselves by their Hands. — He has excited 
 domestic insurrections amongst us. and has endeavoured to 
 bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian 
 Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished 
 destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions. In every 
 stage. of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress 
 in the most humble terms : Our repeated Petitions have 
 been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose 
 character is thus marked b}- every act which may define a 
 Tj'rant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. Xor have 
 "We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. 
 "We have warned them from time to time of attempts by 
 their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction 
 over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of 
 our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to 
 their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjureti 
 them by the ties of common kindred to disavow these 
 usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connec- 
 tions and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the 
 voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, 
 acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, 
 and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies 
 in War. in Peace Friends. — 
 
 tHr, tlicrcforr, the Representatives of the tmitcti States of 
 amrrica, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the 
 Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our in- 
 tentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good 
 People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, 
 That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be. 
 ihcc anil Cnlifprntifnt .States; that they are Absolved from 
 all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political 
 connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is 
 and ought to be totally dissolved: and that as Free and 
 IxDEPEXDEXT SxATES, they havc full Power to levy War, 
 conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and 
 
ANTI-SOCIAL FORCES 463 
 
 to do all other Acts and Things which Ixdepexdext 
 States may of right do. — And for the support of this Dec- 
 laration, with a firm reliance on the x^otection of divine 
 Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, 
 our Fortunes and our sacred Honor, 
 
 JOHX HANCOCK. 
 
 [Signatures of the other representatives of the thirteen 
 States.] 
 
 142. Anti-Social Tendencies of the Pre-Revolutionary Measures 
 
 a. Closing of the Couj'ts 
 
 From " Passages from an Autobiography" in John Adams' Works (II, 
 420-421). 
 
 The passage illustrates one of the forces that drove many of the respect- 
 able classes into Tory ranks. 
 
 ******* 
 
 An event of the most trifling nature in appearance, and fit 
 only to excite laughter in other times, struck me into a pro- 
 found reverie, if not a fit of melancholy. I met a man who 
 had sometimes been my client, and sometimes I had been 
 against him. He, though a common horse-jocky, was some- 
 times in the right, and I had commonly been successful in his 
 favor in our courts of law. He was always in the law, and 
 had been sued in many actions at almost every court. As 
 soon as he saw me, he came up to me, and his first salutation 
 to me was, " Oh ! Mr. Adams, what great things have you and 
 your colleagues done for us ! We can never be grateful enough 
 to you. There are no courts of justice now in this Province 
 and I hope there never will be another." Is this the object 
 for which I have been contending ? said I to myself, for I 
 rode along without any answer to this wretch. Are these 
 the sentiments of such people, and how many of them are 
 there in the countiy? Half the nation, for what I know; 
 for half the nation are debtors, if not more, and these have 
 
464 INDEPENDENCE 
 
 been, in all countries, the sentiments of debtors. If the 
 power of the country should get into such hands, and there is 
 great danger that it will, to what purpose have we sacrificed 
 our time, health and every thing else ? Surely we must guard 
 against this spirit and these principles, or we shall repent of 
 all our conduct. However, the good sense and integrity of the 
 majority of the great body of the people came into my thoughts, 
 for my relief, and the last resource was after all in a good 
 Providence. 
 
 b. Mob Violence, to enforce the "Association" 
 
 From an anonymous parody, expressing the loyalist's dilemma, in 
 Moore's Diary of the American JRevolution, I, 169. 
 
 To sign, or not to sign ! — That is the question: 
 
 Whether 'twere better for an honest man 
 
 To sign — and so be safe ; or to resolve, 
 
 Betide what will, against 'associations' 
 
 And, by retreating, shun them. To fly — I reck 
 
 Not where — and by that flight to 'scape 
 
 Feathers and tar, and thousand other ills 
 
 That Loyalty is heir to. 'Tis a consummation 
 
 Devoutly to be wished. To fly — to want — 
 
 To want — perchance to starve ! Ay there's the rub ! 
 
 c. Correspondence between a Tory and a Committee 
 
 Niles' Principles and Acts of the Bevohition, 260-261. 
 
 I acknowledge to have wrote a piece, and did not sign it, since 
 said to be an extract of a letter from Kent county, on Delaware, 
 published in Humphreys' Ledger, No. 3. It was not dated from 
 any place, and is some altered from the original. I folded it 
 up and directed the same to J, F. and Sons. I had no inten- 
 tion to have it published ; and further, I let them know the 
 author thought best it should not be published; nor did I 
 
COERCION BY COMMITTEES 465 
 
 think they would. — I am sincerely sorry I ever wrote it, as 
 also for its being published, and hope I shall be excused for 
 this, my first breach in this way, and I intend it shall be 
 the last. 
 
 K. H. 
 To the committee of correspondence for Kent county, on Dela- 
 ware. May 2d, 1775. 
 
 Sir. — The president of the committee of correspondence, by 
 and with the advice of such other of the members of that com- 
 mittee as he was able to collect and consult, this day laid be- 
 fore the committee of inspection for this county, your letter 
 wherein you confess yourself to be the author of the Kentish 
 letter (commonly so called) published in 3d No. of Humphreys' 
 Ledger. 
 
 The committee took the same into consideration, and have 
 unanimously resolved that it is unsatisfactory, and you are 
 requested to attend the committee at their next meeting on 
 Tuesday the 9th inst. at French Battell's, in Dover and render 
 such satisfaction to the committee, as will enable them to clear 
 the good people of this county from the aspertions of that let- 
 ter, and justify them in the eyes of the public. 
 Signed by order of the committee. 
 To R. H. 
 
 Gentlemen. — With sorrow and contrition for my weak- 
 ness and folly, I confess myself the author of the letter, from 
 which an extract was published in the 3d No. of Humphreys' 
 Ledger, said to be from Kent county, on Delaware ; but at the 
 same time to declare it was published without my consent, 
 and not without some alterations. 
 
 I am now convinced that the political sentiments therein 
 contained, were founded on the grossest error; more especially 
 that malignant insinuation, that " if the king's standard were 
 now erected, nine out of ten would repair to it," could not 
 have been suggested, but from the deepest infatuation. True 
 
466 INDEPENDENCE 
 
 indeed it is, the people of this county have ever shewn a 
 zealous attachment to his majesty's person and government, 
 and whenever he raised his standard in a just cause, were 
 ready to flock to it : but let the severe account I now render to 
 an injured people, witness to the world, that none are more 
 ready to oppose tyranny or to be first in the cause of liberty, 
 than the inhabitants of Kent county. 
 
 Conscious that I can render no satisfaction adequate to the 
 injury I have done my country, I can only beg the forgiveness 
 of my countrymen, upon those principles of humanity, which 
 may induce them to consider the frailty of human nature — 
 and I do profess and promise, that I will never again oppose 
 those laudable measures, necessarily adopted by my country- 
 men, for the preservation of American freedom : but will co- 
 operate with them to the utmost of my abilities, in their 
 virtuous struggle for liberty (so far as is consistent with my 
 religious principles). R. H. 
 
 Resolved unanimously, that the committee do think the 
 above recantation fully satisfactory. 
 
 THO'S. NIXON, Jr. Clerk. 
 May 9th, 1775. 
 
 143. An Oath of Allegiance to a New State, 1777 
 A facsimile from Scharf and Westcott's History of Philadelphia, I, 338. 
 
 o 
 
 •on o 
 
 ^ hath voluntai4ty taken airo fublcribed the Oath »p-Af- © w 
 
 «H ilnna^^an. of Allegiance and Fidelity, as direAed by an ^ i^ 
 
 ^ o AO. of GenCTal AffembJy of Pennfylvania, paflTed the o r^ 
 
 o 1 3th day of June, yi. D. ^l&ly Witnefs my hand % 
 
 % and feal, the^^^^day of Jj^yy A. 1^:^^^ 
 
 •z 
 
 9 
 
 o (is.; 
 
 © tJ w ^^rT'o o tf o c o © c ooeoootsoooootj tJ'o ocuooooooeo 
 
 PRINTED BY JOWTI DUNLAr. 
 
DREAD OF FRENCH CONQUEST 467 
 
 144. A Loyalist's Suggestion of the Danger to American Liberty 
 in the French Alliance, 1779 
 
 Tyler's Literary History of the Revolution, II, 75-76. The extracts 
 come from a keen pamphlet by a Tory, with the style of a " diary " of the 
 year 1789 — ten years later than the publication, to intimate what would 
 then be the condition in America under French rule. 
 
 Boston, November 10, 1789. — His Excellency, Count Tyran, 
 has this day published, by avithority from his majesty, a proc- 
 lamation for the suppresion of heresy and establishment of the 
 inquisition in this town, which has already begun its functions 
 in many other places of the continent under his majesty's 
 dominion. 
 
 The use of the Bible in the vulgar tongue is strictly 
 prohibited, on pain of being punished by discretion of the 
 inquisition. 
 
 November 11. — The Catholic religion is not only outwardly 
 professed, but has made the utmost progress among all ranks 
 of people here, owing, in a great measure, to the unwearied 
 labors of the Dominican and Franciscan friars, who omit no 
 opportunity of scattering the seeds of religion, and converting 
 the wives and daughters of heretics. We hear that the build- 
 ing formerly called the Old South Meeting, is fitting up for a 
 cathedral, and that several other old meeting-houses are soon 
 to be repaired for convents. 
 
 November 12. — This day being Sunday, the famous Samuel 
 Adams read his recantation of heresy, after which he was 
 present at mass, and we hear he will soon receive priest's orders 
 to qualify him for a member of the American Sorbonne. . . . 
 
 The king has been pleased to order that five thousand of the 
 inhabitants of Massachusetts Bay should be drafted to supply 
 his garrisons in the West Indies ; the officers for them are 
 already arrived from France. 
 
 ******* 
 
 New York, November 15. — The edict for prohibiting the 
 use of the English language, and establishing that of the French 
 
468 INDEPENDENCE 
 
 in all law proceedings, will take place on the 20tli instant. At 
 the same time, the ordinance for abolishing trials by juries, 
 and introducing the imperial law, will begin to take effect. . , . 
 
 November 17. — A criminal of importance, who has been 
 long imprisoned in the New Bastille, was this day privately 
 beheaded. He commanded the American forces against Great 
 Britain for a considerable time, but was confined by order of 
 the government on suspicion of possessing a dangerous influ- 
 ence in a country newly conquered, and not thoroughly set- 
 tled.^ . . . 
 
 The king has been pleased to parcel out a great part of the 
 lands in America to noblemen of distinction, who will grant 
 them again to the peasantry upon leases at will, with the 
 reservation of proper rents and services. 
 
 His majesty has been graciously pleased to order that none 
 of the natives of America shall keep any firearms in their 
 possession, upon pain of being sentenced to the galleys. . . . 
 
 November 22. — We hear from Williamsburg, in Virginia, 
 that some commotions took place there when the new capita- 
 tion tax was first executed. But the regiment of Bretagne, 
 being stationed in that neighborhood, speedily suppressed 
 them by firing upon the populace, and killing fifty on the spot. 
 It is hoped that this example will prevent any future insurrec- 
 tion in that part of the country. 
 
 November 23. — His majesty has directed his viceroy to send 
 five hundred sons of the principal inhabitants of America, to be 
 educated in France, where the utmost care will be taken to 
 imbue them with a regard for the Catholic faith, and a due 
 sense of subordination to government. 
 
 145. How the Revolution set free Social Forces 
 
 David Ramsey's History of the American Revolution (1789), II, 315 ff. 
 Dr. Ramsey was a citizen of South Carolina. 
 
 When the war began, the Americans were a mass of hus- 
 
 1 The student will see that Washington is here designated. 
 
NEW SOCIAL FORCES 469 
 
 bandmen, merchants, mechanics, and fishermen ; but the 
 necessities of the country gave a sju-ing to the active powers of 
 the inhabitants, and set them on thinking, speaking, and 
 acting, in a line far beyond that to which they had been 
 accustomed. The difference between nations is not so much 
 owing to nature, as to education and circumstances. While 
 the Americans were guided by the leading strings of the 
 mother country, they had no scope nor encouragement for 
 exertion. All the departments of government were established 
 and executed fo7- them, but not by them. In the years 1775 
 and 1776, the country, being suddenly thrown into a situation 
 that needed the abilities of all its sons, these generally took 
 their places, each according to the bent of his inclination. As 
 they severally pursued their objects with ardor, a vast expansion 
 of the human mind speedily folloived. This displayed itself in 
 a variety of ways. It was found that the talents for great 
 stations did not differ in kind, but only in degree, from those 
 which were necessary for the proper discharge of the ordinary 
 business of civil society. . . . 
 
E. CONFEDERATION AND CONSTITUTION 
 
 XXIV. THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION 
 
 146. Debates in the Continental Congress on the Articles of 
 Confederation 
 
 John Adams (Works, II, 492-502) preserved fairly full notes upon 
 part of the discussion on the Articles. The parts dealing with western 
 lands, with basis of taxation, and with the equality of the States in 
 Congress are reproduced here. The form is rather fragmentary ; and, in 
 some cases, allusions are made which it would take too long to explain 
 here. But the .student can at least get the general drift and the align- 
 ment of the States on the opposing sides. 
 
 In Committee of the ^^llole 
 
 1776. July 25. Article 14 of tlie confederation. Terms in 
 this Article equivocal and indefinite.^ 
 
 Jefferson. The limits of the Southern Colonies are fixed. 
 Moves an amendment, that all purchases of lands, not within 
 the boundaries of any Colony, shall be made by Congress of 
 the Indians in a great Council. 
 
 Sherman seconds the motion. 
 
 Chase [^Maryland]. The intention of this Article is very 
 obvious and plain. The Article appears to me to be right and 
 the amendment wrong. It is the intention of some gentlemen 
 to limit the boundaries of particular States. No Colony has a 
 right to go to the South Sea ; they never had ; they can't have. 
 It would not be safe to the rest. It would be destructive to 
 her sisters and to herself. 
 
 1 The draft then read : " No purchases of lands hereafter to be made of 
 the Indians, by Congress or private persons, before the limits of the Colonies 
 are ascertained, to be valid." The purpose was to prevent Virginia and 
 other large States from selling their western lands for their private protit. 
 This was part of the " Small-State " plan, and was not adopted. 
 
 470 
 
FORMING THE CONFEDERATION 471 
 
 Article 15. Jefferson. "What are reasonable limits ? 
 What security have we, that the Congress will not curtail the 
 present settlements of the States ? 1 have no doubt that the 
 Colonies Avill limit themselves. 
 
 Wilson. Every gentleman has heard much of claims to the 
 South Sea. They are extravagant. The grants were made 
 npon mistakes. They were ignorant of the Geography. They 
 thought the South Sea within one hundred miles of the 
 Atlantic Ocean. It was not conceived that they extended 
 three thousand miles. Lord Camden considers the claims to 
 the South Sea, as what never can be reduced to practice. 
 Pennsylvania has no right to interfere in those claims, but 
 she has a right to say, that she will not confederate unless 
 those claims are cut off. I wish the Colonies themselves would 
 cut off those claims. . , . 
 
 July 30. Article 17. " In determining questions, each 
 Colony shall have one vote." 
 
 Dr. Franklin. Let the smaller Colonies give equal money 
 and men, and then have an equal vote. But if they have an 
 equal vote without bearing equal burthens, a confederation 
 upon such iniquitous principles will never last long. 
 
 Dr. Withe rspoon [New Jersey]. We all agree that there 
 must and shall be a confederation for this war. . . . The 
 greatest danger we have, is of disunion among ourselves. Is 
 it not plausible that the small States will be oppressed by the 
 great ones ? The Spartans and the Helotes. The Komans 
 and their dependents. Every Colony is a distinct person. . . . 
 
 Clark. We must apply for pardons if we don't confederate. 
 
 Wilson. Vse should settle upon some plan of representation. 
 
 Wilson. If the war continues two years, each soul will 
 have forty dollars to pay of the public debt. It will be the 
 greatest encouragement to continue slave-keeping and to in- 
 crease it, that can be, to exem])t them from the numbers which 
 are to vote and pay. Slaves are taxables in the Southern 
 
472 THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION 
 
 Colonies. It will be partial and i;nequal. Some Colonies 
 have as many black as white ; these will not pay more than 
 half what they ought.^ Slaves prevent freemen from culti- 
 vating a country. It is attended with many inconveniences. 
 
 Lynch [South Carolina]. If it is debated, whether their 
 slaves are their property, there is an end of the confederation. 
 Our slaves being our property, why should they be taxed more 
 than the land, sheep, cattle, horses, etc. ? 
 
 Freemen cannot be got to work in our Colonies ; it is not in 
 the ability or inclination of freemen to do the work that the 
 negroes do. Carolina has taxed their negroes ; so have other 
 Colonies their lands. 
 
 Dr. FranMin. Slaves rather weaken than strengthen the 
 State, and there is therefore some difference between them 
 and sheep ; sheep will never make any insurrections. 
 
 Rutledge. I shall be happy to get rid of the idea of slavery. 
 The slaves do not signify property ; the old and young cannot 
 work. The property of some Colonies is to be taxed, in others, 
 not. The Eastern Colonies will become the carriers for the 
 Southern ; they will obtain wealth for which they will not be 
 taxed. 
 
 August 1. Hooper. North Carolina is a striking exception 
 to the general rule that was laid down yesterday, that the 
 riches of a country are in proportion to the numbers of in- 
 habitants. A gentleman of three or four hundred negroes 
 don't raise more corn than feeds them. A laborer can't be 
 hired for less than twenty-four pounds a year in Massachusetts 
 Bay. The net profit of a negro is not more than five or six 
 pounds per annum. I wish to see the day that slaves are not 
 necessary. Whites and negroes cannot work together. 
 Negroes are goods and chattels are property. A negro works 
 under the impulse of fear, has no care of his master's interest.^ 
 
 1 The plan then was that the colonies should contribute money in propor- 
 tion to their white population. This was afterward amended. See Articles. 
 
 2 Mr. Chase's amendment (to count slaves in apportioning representatives 
 in Congress) was lost. Seven States, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode 
 
FORMING THE CONFEDERATION 473 
 
 Tlie Consideration of the Seventeenth Article resumed 
 
 Article 17. Dr. Franklin moves that votes should be in 
 proportion to numbers. Mr. 3fiddleton moves that the vote 
 should be according to v/hat they pay. 
 
 Sherman thinks we ought not to vote according to numbers. 
 We are representatives of States, not individuals. States of 
 Holland. The consent of every one is necessary. Three 
 Colonies would govern the whole, but would not have a 
 majority of sti-ength to carry those votes into execution. 
 The vote should be taken two ways ; call the Colonies, and call 
 the individuals, and have a majority of both.^ 
 
 Dr. B((fih. Abbe Raynal has attributed the ruin of the 
 United Provinces [Netherlands] to three causes. The principal 
 one is, that the consent of every State is necessary ; the other, 
 that the members are obliged to consult their constituents 
 upon all occasions. "We lose an equal representation ; we 
 represent the people. It will tend to keep up colonial dis- 
 tinctions. We are now a new nation. ... If we vote by 
 numbers, liberty will be always safe. Massachusetts is con- 
 tiguous to two small Colonies, Rhode Island and New 
 Hampshire ; Pennsylvania is near New Jersey and Delaware ; 
 Virginia is between Maryland and North Carolina. . . . 
 Montesquieu pronounces the confederation of Lycia the best 
 that ever was made ; the cities had different weights in the 
 scale. ... I would not have it understood that I am pleading 
 the cause of Pennsylvania ; when I entered that door, I con- 
 sidered myself a citizen of America. 
 
 ******* 
 
 G. Hopkins [Rhode Island]. A momentous question; many 
 difficulties on each side ; four larger, five lesser, four stand 
 
 Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania voted against 
 it. Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina voted for it. 
 Georgia was divided. 
 
 1 A suggestion almost of a two-house Congress, similar to the " Connecti- 
 cut Compromise " adopted for our present Constitution. 
 
474 THE CONFEDERATION 
 
 indifferent. Virginia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland, 
 make more than half the people. 
 
 ... It can't be expected that nine Colonies will give way 
 to be governed by fonr. The safety of the whole depends upon 
 the distinctions of Colonies. 
 
 Dr. FrauMin. I hear many- ingenious arguments to persuade 
 us that an unecpial representation is a very good thing. If we 
 had been born and bred under an unequal representation, we 
 might bear it ; but to set out with an unequal representation 
 is unreasonable. It is said the great Colonies will swallow up 
 the less. Scotland said the same thing at the union. 
 
 August 2. " Limiting the bounds of States, which by char- 
 ter, &c. extend to the South Sea." 
 
 Sherman thinks the bounds ought to be settled. A majority 
 of States have no claim to the South Sea. Moves this amend- 
 ment to be substituted in place of this clause, and also instead 
 of the fifteenth article ; — *' No lands to be separated from any 
 State, which are already settled, or become private property." 
 
 Chase [Maryland] denies that any Colony has a right to go 
 to the South Sea. 
 
 Harrison [Virginia]. How came Maryland by its land, but 
 by its charter ? By its charter, Virginia owns to the South 
 Sea. Gentlemen shall not pare away the Colony of Virginia. 
 Rhode Island has more generosity than to wish the Massa- 
 chusetts pared away. Delaware does not wish to pare away 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 Huntington. Admit there is danger from Virginia, does it 
 follow that Congress has a right to limit her bounds ? The 
 consequence is, not to enter into confederation. . . . 
 
 Stone [Maryland] ... Is it meant that Virginia shall sell 
 these lands for their own emolument ? All the Colonies have 
 defended these lands against the King of Britain, and at the 
 expense of all. Does Virginia intend to establish quit 
 rents? . . . 
 
ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION 475 
 
 Jefferson. I protest against the right of Congress to decide 
 upon the right of Virginia. Virginia has released all claims 
 to the land settled by Maryland, &c. 
 
 [Tliis clause, as to liinitin<j; the western claims, was stricken out in 
 committee. Tlie subsequent liistory of the struggle is well known, ter- 
 minating in the acts of cession of claims to the western territory. For 
 details, cf. Am('rica)i History and iiovernmcnt, §§ 17i)-180. 
 
 Jefferson's Notes on this same debate {Juurnals of Congress, VI, 1104, 
 — from a MS. of Jefferson's) contain the following additional item : 
 " John Adams advocated voting in proportion to numbers. He said that 
 we stand here as representatives of the people ; that in some States the 
 people are many, in others they are few . . . that the individuality of 
 the colonies is a mere sound. ... It has been said we are independent 
 individuals making a bargain together : the question is not what we are now, 
 but what we ought to be when our bargain shall be made. 'I'he Confederacy 
 IS TO MAKE us ONE individual only ; it is to form us, like separate parcels 
 of metal, into one common mass. . . ." i] 
 
 147. Articles of Confederation. 
 
 November 1,5, 1777 
 March 2, 1781 
 
 Text from Revised Statutes of 1878. For history, cf. A77iericnn History 
 and Government, §§ 17!), 180-188 ff. The editor has used black-faced type 
 to indicate a fevv passages especially important for study. 
 
 The Articles were adopted by Congress, and recommended to the 
 States, November 1.5, 1777. The delegates from the several States signed 
 as follows : New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and 
 Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, 
 and South Carolina, July 9, 1778 ; North Carolina, July 21, 1778 ; Georgia, 
 July 24, 1778; New Jersey, Nov. 26, 1778 ; Delaware, May 5, 1779 ; Mary- 
 land, March 1, 1781. Congress met under the Articles, March 2, 1781. 
 
 To all to whom these Presents shall come, we the undersigned 
 Delegates of the States affixed to our Names send greeting 
 
 Whereas the Delegates of the United States of America in 
 Congress assembled did on the fifteenth day of November in 
 
 1 Did Adams then think that, before the new Articles should have been 
 ac(Uipted, the states were constitationally one nation or thirteen? Cf. Ameri- 
 can History and Government, § 187 and notes. 
 
476 THE CONFEDERATION 
 
 the year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Seven- 
 ty-seven, and in the Second Year of the Independence of Amer- 
 ica, agree to certain articles of Confederation and perpetual 
 Union between the States of Newhampshire, Massachusetts- 
 bay, Rhodeisland and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, 
 New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, 
 Virginia, North-Carolina, South-Carolina and Georgia in the 
 Words following, viz. 
 
 Articles of Confederation and j)erpetual Union betiveen the 
 States of Newliamshire, Massachusetts-bay, Rhodeisland and 
 Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, 
 Pennsylvania, Ddavmre, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, 
 South Carolina, and Georgia. 
 
 Article I. — The stile of this Confederacy shall be, " The 
 United States of America." 
 
 Art. II. — Each State retains its sovereignty, freedom, and inde- 
 pendence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by 
 this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Con- 
 gress assembled. 
 
 Art. III. — The said States hereby severally enter into a 
 firm league of friendship with each other, for their common defence, 
 the security of their liberties, and their mutual and general wel- 
 fare, binding themselves to assist each other against all force 
 offered to, or attacks made upon them, or any of them, on ac- 
 count of religion, sovereignty, trade, or any other pretence what- 
 ever. 
 
 Art. IV. — The better to secure and perpetuate mutual friend- 
 ship and intercourse among the people of the States in this 
 Union, the free inhabitants of each of these states, paupers, vaga- 
 bonds, and fugitives from justice excepted, shall be entitled to 
 all privileges and immunities of free citizens in the several States; 
 and the people of each State shall have free ingress and egress 
 to and from any other State, and shall enjoy therein all the 
 privileges of trade and commerce subject to the same duties, 
 impositions, and restrictions as the inhabitants thereof respec- 
 
ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION 477 
 
 tively ; provided that such restrictions shall not extend so far 
 as to prevent the removal of property imported into any State 
 to any other State of which the owner is an inhabitant : pro- 
 vided also that no imposition, duties, or restriction shall be 
 laid by any State on the property of the United States, or either 
 of them. 
 
 If any person guilty of, or charged with treason, felony, or other 
 high misdemeanor in any State, shall flee from justice, and be found 
 in any of the United States, he shall upon demand of the Governor or 
 Executive power of the State from which he fled, be delivered up and 
 removed to the State having jurisdiction of his offence. 
 
 Full faith and credit shall be given in each of these States to the 
 records, acts, and judicial proceedings of the courts and magistrates 
 of every other State. 
 
 Article V. — For the more convenient management of the 
 general interest of the United States, delegates shall be an- 
 nually appointed in such manner as the legislature of each State 
 shall direct, to meet in Congress on the first Monday in Novem- 
 ber, in every year, with a power reserved to each State, to recall 
 its delegates, or any of them, at any time within the year, and 
 to send others in their stead, for the remainder of the year. 
 
 No State shall be represented in Congress by less than two, 
 nor by more than seven members; and no person shall be 
 capable of being a delegate for more than three years in any 
 term of six years ; nor shall any person, being a delegate, be 
 capable of holding any office under the United States, for 
 which he, or another for his benefit, receives any salary, fees 
 or emolument of any kind. 
 
 Each State shall maintain its own delegates in a meeting of the 
 States, and while they act as members of the committee of the 
 States. 
 
 In determining questions in the United States, in Congress 
 assembled, each State shall have one vote. 
 
 Freedom of speech and debate in Congress shall not be impeached 
 or questioned in any court, or place out of Congress, and the members 
 of Congress shall be protected in their persons from arrests and im- 
 
478 THE CONFEDERATION 
 
 prisonments, during the time of their going to and from, and attend- 
 ance on Congress, except for treason, felony, or breach of the peace. 
 
 Article VI. No State without the consent of the United States in 
 Congress assembled, shall send any embassy to, or receive any 
 embassy from, or enter into any conference, agreement, alliance or 
 treaty with any king, prince or state; nor shall any person holding 
 any office of profit or trust under the United States, or any of them, 
 accept of any present, emolument, office or title of any kind whatever 
 from any king, prince or foreign state ; nor shall the United States 
 in Congress assembled, or any of them, grant any title of nobility. 
 
 No two or more States shall enter into any treaty, confedera- 
 tion or alliance whatever between them, without the consent of 
 the United States in Congress assembled, specifying accu- 
 rately the purposes for which the same is to be entered into, 
 and how long it shall continue. 
 
 No state shall lay any imposts or duties, which nuiy interfere 
 with any stipulations in treaties entered into by the United 
 States, in Congress assembled, with any king, prince, or state, 
 in pursuance of any treaties already proposed by ('ongress to 
 the courts of France and Spain. 
 
 No vessel of war shall be kept up in time of peace by any 
 State, except such number only as shall be deemed necessary 
 by the United States, in Congress assembled, for the defence of 
 sucli State or its trade, nor shall any body of forces be kept up 
 by any State in time of peace, except such number only as, in 
 the judgment of the United States, in Congress assembled, shall 
 be deemed requisite to garrison the forts necessary for the de- 
 fence of such State ; but every State shall always keep up a 
 well-regulated and disciplined militia, sufficiently armed and 
 accoutred, and shall provide and constantly have ready for use 
 in public stores a due number of field-pieces and tents, and a 
 proper quantity of arms, ammunition, and camp equipage. 
 
 No State shall engage in any war without the consent of the 
 United States, in Congress assembled, unless such State be 
 actually invaded by enemies, or shall have received certain ad- 
 vice of a resolution being formed by some nation of Indians to 
 invade such State, and the danger is so imminent as not to ad- 
 
ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION 479 
 
 mit of a delay till the United States, in Congress assembled, 
 can be consulted ; nor shall any State grant commissions to any 
 ships or vessels of war, nor letters of marque or reprisal, except 
 it be after a declaration of war by the United States, in Con- 
 gress assembled, and then only against the kingdom or state, 
 and the subjects thereof, against which war has been so de- 
 clared, and under such regulations as shall be established by 
 the United States, in Congress assembled, unless such State 
 be infested by pirates, in which case vessels of war may be 
 fitted out for that occasion, and kept so long as the danger 
 shall continue, or until the United States, in Congress assem- 
 bled, shall determine otherwise. 
 
 Art. VII. — When land forces are raised by any State for 
 the common defence, all officers of or under the rank of Colonel 
 shall be appointed by the Legislature of each State respectively 
 by whom such forces shall be raised, or in such manner as such 
 State shall direct, and all vacancies shall be filled up by the 
 States which first made the appointment. 
 
 Art. VIII. — All charges of war, and all other expenses 
 that shall be incurred for the common defence or federal wel- 
 fare, and allowed by the United States in Congress assembled, 
 shall be defi;ayed out of a common treasury, which shall be 
 supplied by the several States, in proportion to the value of all 
 land within each State, granted to or surveyed for any person, 
 as such land and the buildings and improvements thereon shall 
 be estimated according to such mode as the United States 
 in Congress assembled, shall from time to time direct and 
 appoint. 
 
 The taxes for paying that proportion shall be laid and levied 
 by the authority and direction of the Legislatures of the several 
 States within the time agreed upon by the United States in 
 Congress assembled. 
 
 Article IX.^ — The United States in Congress assembled, 
 shall have the sole and exclusive right and power of determin- 
 ing on peace and war, except in the cases mentioned in the 
 
 ^ .Siiiuiiiarize briefly the eiiunieratioii of powers in this Article. 
 
4S0 THE COXFEDERATIOX 
 
 sixth article — of sending and receiving ambassadors — enter- 
 ing into treaties and alliances, provided that no treaty of 
 commerce shall be made whereby the legislative power of the 
 respective States shall be restrained from imposing such imposts 
 and duties on foreigners, as their own people are subjected to, 
 or from prohibiting the exportation or importation of any 
 species of goods or commodities whatsoever — of establishing 
 rules for deciding in all cases, what captures on land or water 
 shall be legal, and in what manner prizes taken by land or 
 naval forces in the service of the United States shall be divided 
 or appropriated — of granting letters of marque and reprisal 
 in times of peace — appointing courts for the trial of piracies 
 and felonies committed on the high seas and establishing courts 
 for receiving and determining finally appeals in all cases of 
 captures, provided that no member of Congress shall be ap- 
 pointed a judge of any of the said courts. 
 
 The United States in Congress assembled shall also be the 
 last resort on appeal in all disputes and diifereuces now sub- 
 sisting or that hereafter may arise between two or more States 
 concerning boundary, jurisdiction or any other cause whatever ; 
 which authority shall always be exercised in the manner fol- 
 lowing. [A long passage as to method of constituting com- 
 missioners to decide such contests.] 
 
 The United States in Congress assembled shall also have the 
 sole and exclusive right and power of regulating the alloy and 
 value of coin struck by their o^^'ll authority, or by that of the 
 respective States — fixing the standard of weights and measures 
 throughout the United States — regulating the trade and man- 
 aging all affairs with the Indians, not members of any of the 
 States, provided that the legislative right of any State within 
 its own limits be not infringed or violated — establishing and 
 regulating post-offices from one State to another, throughout 
 all the United States, and exacting such postage on the papers 
 passing thro' the same as may be requisite to defray the ex- 
 penses of the said office — appointing all officers of the land 
 forces, in the ser\dce of the United States, excepting regimental 
 
ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION 481 
 
 officers — appointing all the officers of the naval forces, and 
 commissioning all officers whatever in the service of the United 
 States — making rnles for the government and regulation of 
 the said laud and naval forces, and directing their operations. 
 
 The United States in Congress assembled shall have au- 
 thority to appoint a committee, to sit in the recess of Congress, 
 to be denomiuated '' a Committee of the States," and to consist 
 of one delegate from each State ; and to appoint such other 
 committees and civil officers as may be necessary for manage- 
 iug the general affairs of the United States under their direc- 
 tion — to appoint one of their number to preside, provided that 
 no person be allowed to serve in the office of president more 
 than one year in any term of three years ; to ascertain the 
 necessary sums of money to be raised for the service of the 
 United States, and to appropriate and apply the same for de- 
 fraying the public expenses — to borrow money, or emit bills 
 on the credit of the United States, transmitting every half 
 year to the respective States an account of the sums of money 
 so borrowed or emitted, — to build and equip a navy — to agree 
 upon the number of land forces, and to make requisitions from 
 each State for its quota, in proportion to the number of white 
 inhabitants in such State ; which requisition shall be binding ; and 
 thereupon the Legislature of each State shall appoint the regi- 
 mental officers, raise the men, and clothe, arm, and equip them 
 in a soldier-like manner, at the expense of the United States ; 
 and the officers and men so clothed, armed, and equipped shall 
 march to the place appointed, and within the time agreed on 
 by the United States, in Congress assembled; but if the United 
 States, in Congress assembled, shall, on consideration of cir- 
 cumstances, judge proper that any State should not raise men, 
 or should raise a smaller number than its quota, and that any 
 other State should raise a greater number of men than the 
 quota thereof, such extra number shall be raised, officered, 
 clothed, armed, and equipped in the same manner as the quota 
 of such State, unless the Legislature of such State shall judge 
 that such extra number cannot be safely spared out of the 
 
482 THE CONFEDERATION 
 
 same, in which case they shall raise, officer, clothe, arm, and 
 equip as many of such extra number as they judge can be 
 safely spared, and the officers and men so clothed, armed, and 
 equipped shall march to the place appointed, and within the 
 time agreed on by the United States, in Congress assembled. 
 
 The United States, in Congress assembled, shall never en- 
 gage in a war, nor grant letters of marque and reprisal in time 
 of peace, nor enter into any treaties or alliances, nor coin 
 money, nor regulate the value thereof, nor ascertain the sums 
 and expenses necessary for the defence and welfare of the 
 United States, or any of them, nor emit bills, nor borrow money 
 on the credit of the United States, nor appropriate money, nor 
 agree upon the number of vessels of war to be built- or pur- 
 chased, or the number of laud or sea forces to be raised, nor 
 appoint a commander-in-chief of the army or navy, unless nine 
 States assent to the same ; nor shall a (question on any other 
 point, except for adjourning from day to day, be determined, 
 unless by the votes of a majority of the United States, in Con- 
 gress assembled. 
 
 The Congress of the United States shall have power to ad- 
 journ to any time Avithin the year, and to any place within the 
 United States, so that no period of adjournment be for a longer 
 duration than the space of six months, and shall publish the 
 journal of their proceedings monthly, except §uch parts thereof 
 relating to treaties, alliances, or military operations as in their 
 judgment require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the dele- 
 gates of each State, on any question shall be entered on the 
 journal, when it is desired by any delegate ; and the delegates 
 of a State, or any of them, at his or their request shall be 
 furnished with a transcript of the said journal, except such 
 parts as are above excepted, to lay before the Legislatures of 
 several States. 
 
 Article X. — The committee of the States, or any nine of 
 them, shall be authorized to execute, in the recess of Congress, 
 such of the powers of Congress as the United States in Con- 
 gress assembled, by the consent of nine States, shall from 
 
ARTICLES OJ^ CONFEDERATION 483 
 
 time to time tliink expedient to vest them witli ; provided that 
 no power be delegated to the said committee, for the exercise 
 of which, by the articles of confederation, the voice of nine 
 States in the Congress of the United States assembled is 
 re(iuisite. 
 
 Article XI. — Canada acceding to this confederation, and 
 joining in the measures of the United States, shall be admitted 
 into, and entitled to all the advantages of this Union : but no 
 other colony shall be admitted into the same, unless such ad- 
 mission be agreed to by nine States. 
 
 Article XII. — All bills of credit emitted, monies bor- 
 rowed and debts contracted by, or under the authority of 
 Congress, before the assembling of the United States, in pur- 
 suance of the present confederation, shall be deemed and 
 considered as a charge against the United States, for payment 
 and satisfacticm whereof the said United States, and the public 
 faith are liereby solemnly pledged. 
 
 Article XIII. — Every State shall abide by the determinations of 
 the United States in Congress assembled, on all questions which 
 by this confederation are submitted to them. And the articles of 
 this confederation shall be inviolably observed by every State, and 
 the Union shall be perpetual ; nor shall any alteration at any 
 time hereafter be made in any of them ; unless such alteration be 
 agreed to in a Congress of the United States, and be afterwards 
 confirmed by the Legislatures of every State. 
 
 And whereas it hath })leased the Great Governor of the 
 World to incline the hearts of the Legislatures we respectively 
 represent in (Jongress, to approve of, and to aul-horiz*; us to 
 latify the said articles of confederation and perpetual union. 
 Know ye that we the undersigned delegates, by virtue of the 
 ])ower and authority to us given for that purjjose, do by these 
 j)resents, in the name and in behalf of our respective con- 
 stituents, fully and entirely ratify and confirm each and every 
 of the said articles of confederation and perpetual union, and 
 all and singular the matters and things therein contained. 
 
484 THE CONFEDERATION 
 
 And we do further solemnly plight and engage the faith of our 
 respective constituents, that they shall abide by the determinations 
 of the United States, in Congress assembled, on all questions which 
 by the said Confederation are submitted to them; and that the 
 Articles thereof shall be inviolably observed by the States we re- 
 spectively represent, and that the Union shall be perpetual. 
 
 In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands in Con- 
 gress. Done at Philadelphia in the State of Pennsylvania 
 the ninth day of July in the year of our Lord one thousand 
 seven hundred and seventy-eight, and in the third year of 
 the independence of America. 
 [The signatures follow. Cf. introduction, on p. 475, for 
 the dates.] 
 
XXV. THE NATIONAL DOMAIN 
 
 148. Desire for Statehood ; Self-confidence of the West 
 
 Early in 1784, North Carolina ceded her western territory (afterward 
 Tennessee) to Congress, giving that body two years in which to accept. 
 The Westerners, already bitterly dissatisfied, now complained loudly that 
 the mother State had cast them off ; they would not wait two years, 
 in anarchy, for possible action by the dilatory Congress ; they would 
 take their fate at once into their own hands. Accordingly, the three 
 counties of eastern Tennessee (the outgrowth of the Watauga settlement, 
 num'bering now some 10,000 souls) established themselves for a time as 
 the State of Frankland (" Land of the Freemen "). 
 
 The militia had been organized by territorial units, each "company" 
 from one group of hamlets, or " stations." Each " company " now chose 
 delegates to a central convention. This " preliminary " convention rec- 
 ommended the people to choose another "constitutional convention," ^ 
 with full powers to set up a government, August 23, 1784, this second 
 convention, composed of forty delegates with John Sevier as president, 
 resolved on immediate statehood, and put forth an interesting address 
 to justify that action. The following passage from that address illustrates 
 the wild hopes of the West as to immediate development. (Cf. also 
 American History and Government, §§ 173-175.) 
 
 " If we should be so happy as to have a separate government, 
 vast numbers from different quarters, with a little encourage- 
 ment from the public, would fill up our frontier ; which would 
 strengthen us, improve agriculture, perfect manufactures, en- 
 courage literature and everything truly laudable. The seat 
 of government being among ourselves would evidently tend, 
 not only to keep a circulating medium in gold and silver 
 among us,^ but would draw it from many individuals living in 
 
 1 These quoted phrases are the modern terms, of course. The Frauk- 
 laiiders called both meetings merely conventions. 
 
 2 This was a matter of supreme moment. The first legislature of the new 
 State found it necessary to fix a "currency in kind," as legal-tender, in 
 which all business transactions should be carried on, and all government 
 
 485 
 
486 THE NATIONAL DOMAIN 
 
 other Stales, who chiiin large quantities of laud that would 
 lie withiu the bounds of the new State." 
 
 [A constitution was adopted by yet a third convention, and government 
 instituted under it. North Carolina, however, repealed her cession before 
 Congress had accepted it, and reasserted her authority over '• Frankland,'' 
 not without long and bitter conflict.] 
 
 149. Organization by Congress 
 
 a. A Plan for a TcDiporary Govcrmnent of the Western 
 Territory. April 23, ITSJf 
 
 Journals of Congress (1801 edition). IX, 109-110. ' * 
 
 This act is usually known as Jefferson's Territorial Ordinance of 1784. 
 For history, cf. American History and Government, § 181. It is given 
 here mainly for comparison with the Ordinance of 1787 (No. 1-496), and. 
 by most students, it can be read to best advantage after a sttidy of that 
 document. 
 
 " Resolved that so much of the territory ceded or to be ceded by in- 
 dividual states to the United States [the rest of this paragraph provides 
 for division into two tiers of states, bounded by alternate parallels of 
 latitude, with some rather obscure provisions for fragmentary pieces of 
 territory on the north and east, cf. American History and Government, 
 §181.]" 
 
 '• That the settlers on any territory so purchased, and offered for sale, 
 shall, either on their own petition or order of Congress. I'eceive authority 
 from them, with appointments of time and place, for their free males of 
 full age within the limits of their state to meet together, for the purpose 
 of establishing a temporary government, to adopt the constitution and 
 laws of any one of the original states ; so that such laws nevertheless 
 shall be subject to alteration by their ordinary legislature ; and to erect, 
 subject to a like alteration, counties, townships, or other divisions, for 
 the election of members for their legislature. 
 
 "That when any such state shall have acquired -20,000 free inhabitants, 
 on giving due proof thereof to Congress, they shall receive from them 
 authority, with appointments of time and place, to call a convention of 
 
 salaries paid. A pound of sugar was to pass for one shilling ; a fox or raccoon 
 skin for two sliillings : a gallon of peach brandy for three shillings : and 
 an otter or a deer skin for six shillings. Easterners, even Benjamin Franklin, 
 indulged in much laughter at this "money which could not be 20unterfeited," 
 forgetting how their own fathers had used similar currency. 
 
ORDINANCE OF 1784 487 
 
 representatives to establish a permanent constitution and government for 
 themselves. Provided that both the temporary and permanent govern- 
 ments be establisted on these principles as their basis : 
 
 " 1st. That they shall for ever remain a part of this confederacy of the 
 United States of America. 
 
 "2d. That they shall be subject to the articles of confederation in all 
 those cases in which the original states shall be so subject, and to all the 
 acts and ordinances of the United States in Congress assembled, conform- 
 able thereto. 
 
 "3d. That they in no case shall interfere with the primary disposal 
 of the soil by the United States in Congi-ess assembled, nor with the 
 ordinances and regulations which Congress may find necessary, for secur- 
 ing the title in such soil to the bona fide purchasers. 
 
 "4th. That they shall be subject to pay a part of the federal debts 
 contracted or to be contracted, to be apportioned on them by Congi'ess, 
 according to the same common rule and measure by which apportion- 
 ments thereof shall be made on the other states. 
 
 " 5th. That no tax shall be imposed on lands, the projierty of the 
 United States. 
 
 "6th. That their respective governments shall be republican. 
 
 " 7th. That the lands of non-resident proprietors shall, in no case, be 
 taxed higher than those of residents within any new state, before the 
 admission thereof to a vote by its delegates in Congress. 
 
 " That whensoever any of the said states shall have, of free inhabitants, 
 as many as shall then be in any one the least numerous of the thirteen 
 original states, such state shall be admitted by its delegates into the 
 Congress of the United States, on an equal footing with the said original 
 states; provided the consent of so many states in Congress is first ob- 
 tained as may at the time be competent to such admission. (And in 
 order to adapt the said articles of confederation to the state of Congi-ess 
 when its numbers shall be thus increased, it shall be proposed to the 
 legislatures of the states, originally parties thereto, to require the assent 
 of two-thirds of the United Stales in Congress assembled, in all those 
 cases wherein by the said articles, the a.ssent of nine states is now re- 
 quired, which being agi-eed to by them, shall be binding on the new 
 states.) Until such admission by their delegates into Congress, any of 
 the said states after the establishment of their temporary government 
 shall have authority to keep a member in Congress, with a right of 
 debating but not of voting. 
 
 " That measures not inconsistent with the principles of the confedera- 
 tion, and necessary for the preservation of peace and good order among 
 the settlers in any of the said new States, until they shall assume a tern- 
 
488 THE NATIONAL DOMAIN 
 
 porary government as aforesaid, may from time to time, li^- taken by the 
 United States in Conjjress assembled. i 
 
 '• That the pi-eoeding articles shall be formed into a chaner of compact 
 . . . [provision for pi-omulgation] and shall stand as fundamental consti- 
 tutions between the thirteen original States and each of the seven\l States 
 now newly described, unalterable . . . but by the joint consent of the 
 United States in Congress assembled and of the particular State within 
 which such alteration is proposed to be made." 
 
 h. The Xorthwest Ordimmee KJuhj 13, 1787) 
 
 Journals of Conffress (ISOl edition''. XII. 5S ft". 
 
 For history of this document, cf. American History and Gorernment, 
 § 182. The documents relating to the acquisition of a •■ Public Domain "' 
 are quoted so extensively in that work that they are omitted in this collec- 
 tion. Cf., however, No. liG above for discussions in Congress. 
 
 An Ordinance for the government of the territory of the United 
 States Xorthicest of the River Ohio 
 
 Be it ordained by the United States in Congress Assembled 
 that the said territory for the purposes of temporary govern- 
 ment be one district, subject however to be divided into two 
 districts as future circumstances may in the opinion of Con- 
 gress make it expedient. 
 
 Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, that the estates 
 both of resident and non resident proprietors in the said terri- 
 tory dying intestate shall descend to and be distributed among 
 their children and the descendants of a deceased child in equal 
 parts ; the descendants of a deceased child or grandchild ro take 
 the share of their deceased parent in equal parts among them; 
 and where there shall be no children or descendants then in equal 
 parts to the next of kin in equal degree ; and among collaterals 
 the children of a deceased brother or sister of the intestate shall 
 
 1 This paragraph was added by amendment (proposed by Mr. Gerry) at the 
 last moment. A more stringent proposition was lost. — viz.: "'That itntil 
 such time as the settlers sliall have adopte«i the constitution and laws of 
 some one of the original states . . . the settlers shall be ruled by magistrates 
 to be apiHiintevi by the Uniteii States in Congress assemble^l. and under snch 
 laws and regulations as the United States, in Congress assemble«,i, shall direct." 
 
NORTHWEST ORDINANCE, 17S7 489 
 
 have in equal parts among them their deceased parent's share 
 and there shall in no case be a distinction between kindred of 
 the whole and half blood; saving in all cases to the widow of 
 the intestate her third \)avt of the real estate for life, and one 
 third part of the personal estate : and this law relative to de- 
 scents and dower shall remain in full force until altered by the 
 legislature of the district. And until the governor and judges 
 shall adopt laws as herein after mentioned, estates in the said 
 territory may be devised or bequeathed by wills in writing 
 signed and sealed by him or her in whom the estate may be, be- 
 ing of full age, and attested by three witnesses, and real estates 
 may be conveyed by lease and release or bargain and sale, signed, 
 sealed and delivered by the person being of full age in whom 
 the estate may be, and attested by two witnesses, provided such 
 wills be duly proved and such conveyances be acknowledged 
 or the excution there of duly proved, and be recorded within 
 one year after proper magistrates, courts and registers shall be 
 appointed for that purpose ; and personal property may be trans- 
 ferred by delivery saving however to the french and Canadian 
 inhabitants and other settlers of the Kaskaskies, Saint Vincents 
 and the neighbouring villages, who have hereto fore professed 
 themselves citizens of Virginia, their laws and customs now in 
 force among them, relative to the descent and conveyance of 
 property. 
 
 He it ordained by the authority aforesaid, that there shall be 
 appointed, from time to time, by Congress, a governor, whose 
 commission shall continue in force for the term of three years, 
 unless sooner revoked by Congress ; he shall reside in the dis- 
 trict, and have a freehold estate therein in 1000 acres of land, 
 while in the exercise of his office. 
 
 There shall be appointed, from time to time, by Congress, 
 a secretary, whose commission shall continue in force for four 
 years unless sooner revoked ; he shall reside in the district, 
 and have a freehold estate therein in 500 acres of land, while in 
 the exercise of his office ; it shall be his duty to keep and pre- 
 serve the acts and laws passed by the legislature, and the public 
 
490 THE NATIONAL DOMAIN 
 
 records of the district, and the proceedings of the governor in 
 his Executive department ; and transmit authentic copies of 
 such acts and proceedings, every six months, to the Secretary 
 of Congress : There shall also be appointed a court to consist of 
 three judges, any two of whom to form a court, who shall have 
 a common law jurisdiction, and reside in the district, and have 
 each therein a freehold estate in 500 acres of land while in the 
 exercise of their offices ; and their commissions shall continue 
 in force during good behavior. 
 
 The governor and judges, or a majority of them, shall adopt 
 and publish in the district such laws of the original States, 
 criminal and civil, as may be necessary and best suited to the 
 circumstances of the district, and report them to Congress 
 from time to time : which laws shall be in force in the district 
 until the organization of the General Assembly therein, unless 
 disapproved of by Congress ; but, afterwards, the legislature 
 shall have authority to alter them as they shall think fit. 
 
 The governor, for the time being, shall be commander-in- 
 chief of the militia, appoint and commission all officers in the 
 same below the rank of general officers ; all general officers 
 shall be appointed and commissioned by Congress. 
 
 Previous to the organization of the General Assembly, the 
 governor shall appoint such magistrates and other civil officers, 
 in each county or township, as he shall find necessary for the 
 preservation of the peace and good order in the same. After 
 the General Assembly shall be organized, the powers and 
 duties of the magistrates and other civil officers shall be 
 regulated and defined by the said Assembly ; but all . . . civil 
 officers not herein otherwise directed shall during the con- 
 tinuance of this temporary government be appointed by the 
 governor. 
 
 For the prevention of crimes and injuries the laws to be 
 adopted or made shall have force in all parts of the district ; 
 and for the execution of process criminal and civil, the gov- 
 ernor shall make proper divisions thereof, and he shall proceed 
 from time to time as circumstances may require to lay out the 
 
NORTHWEST ORDINANCE, 1787 491 
 
 parts of the District in which the indian titles shall have been 
 extinguished into counties and townships subject however to 
 such alterations as may thereafter be made by the legislature. 
 
 So soon as there shall be five thousand free male inhabitants 
 of full age in the district, upon giving proof thereof to the 
 governor, they shall receive authority with time and place to 
 elect representatives from their counties or townships to repre- 
 sent them in the general Assembly, provided that for every five 
 hundred free male inhabitants there shall be one representa- 
 tive ; and so on progressively with the number of free male 
 inhabitants shall the right of representation encrease until the 
 number of representatives shall amount to twenty five, after 
 which the number and proportion of representatives shall be 
 regulated by the legislature ; provided that no person be eligi- 
 ble or qualified to act as a representative unless he shall have 
 been a citizen of one of the United' States three years and be 
 a resident in the district or unless he shall have resided in the 
 district three years, and in either case shall likewise hold in 
 his own right in fee simple two hundred acres of land within 
 the same ; provided also that a freehold in fifty acres of land 
 in the district having been a citizen of one of the states and 
 being resident in the district, or the like freehold and two 
 years residence in the district shall be necessary to qualify a 
 man as an elector of a representative. 
 
 The representatives thus elected shall serve for the term of 
 two years, and in case of the death of a representative or 
 removal from office, the governor shall issue a writ to the 
 county or township for which he was a member, to elect 
 another in his stead to serve for the residue of the term. 
 
 The general Assembly or legislature shall consist of the 
 governor, legislative council and a house of representatives. 
 The legislative council shall consist of five members to con- 
 tinue in Office five years unless sooner removed by Congress, 
 any three of whom to be a quorum and the members of the 
 council shall be nominated and appointed in the following 
 manner, to wit : As soon as representatives shall be elected. 
 
492 THE NATIONAL DOMAIN 
 
 the governor shall appoint a time and place for them to meet 
 together; and, when met, they shall nominate ten persons, 
 residents in the district, and each possessed of a freehold in 
 500 acres of land, and return their names to Congress ; five of 
 whom Congress shall appoint and commission to serve as 
 aforesaid ; and, whenever a vacancy shall happen in the 
 council, by death or removal from office, the house of repre- 
 sentatives shall nominate two persons, qualified as aforesaid, 
 for each vacancy, and return their names to Congress ; one of 
 whom Congress shall appoint and commission for the residue 
 of the term. And every five years, four months at least be- 
 fore the expiration of the time of service of the members of 
 council, the said house shall nominate ten persons, qualified as 
 aforesaid, and return their names to Congress ; five of whom 
 Congress shall appoint and commission to serve as members of 
 the council five years, unless sooner removed. And the 
 governor, legislative council, and house of representatives, 
 shall have authority to make laws in all cases, for the good 
 government of the district, not repugnant to the principles 
 and articles in this ordinance established and declared. And 
 all bills, having passed by a majority in the house, and by a 
 majority in the council, shall be referred to the governor for 
 his assent; but no bill, or legislative act whatever, shall be of 
 any force without his assent. The governor shall have power 
 to convene, prorogue, and dissolve the General Assembly, 
 when, in his opinion, it shall be expedient. 
 
 The governor, judges, legislative council, secretary, and 
 such other officers as Congress shall appoint in the district, 
 shall take an oath or affirmation of fidelity and of office ; the 
 governor before the President of Congress, and all other officers 
 before the governor. As soon as a legislature shall be formed 
 in the district, the council and house assembled in one room, 
 shall have authority, by joint ballot, to elect a delegate to 
 Congress, who shall have a seat in Congress, with a right of 
 debating but not of voting during this temporary government. 
 
 And, for extending the fundamental principles of civil and 
 
NORTHWEST ORDINANCE, 1787 493 
 
 religious liberty, tchich form the basis lohereon these republics, 
 their laws and constitutions are erected; to fix and establish 
 those principles as the basis of all laws, constitutions, and govern- 
 ments, ivhich forever hereafter shall be fonmed in the said 
 territory : to provide also for the establishment of States, and 
 permanent Government therein, and for their admission to a 
 Share in the federal Councils on an equal footing with the 
 original States, at as early periods as may be consistent with the 
 general interest — 
 
 It is hereby Ordained and declared by the authority afore- 
 said, That the following Articles shall be considered as Arti- 
 cles of compact between the Original States and the People 
 and States in the said territory, and forever remain unalterable, 
 unless by common consent, to ivit. 
 
 Article the First. ISTo Person demeaning himself in a peace- 
 able and orderly manner shall ever be molested on account of 
 his mode of worship or religious sentiments in the said terri- 
 tory- 
 Article the Second. The Inhabitants of the said territory 
 shall always be entitled to the benefits of the writ of Habeas 
 Corpus, and of the trial by jury ; of a proportionate repre- 
 sentation of the people in the legislature, and of judicial pro- 
 ceedings according to the course of the common law; all 
 Persons shall be bailable unless for capital offences, where 
 the proof shall be evident, or the presumption great ; all fines 
 shall be moderate, and no cruel or unusual punishments shall 
 be inflicted ; no man shall be deprived of his liberty or prop- 
 erty but by the judgment of his Peers, or the law of the land ; 
 and should the Public exigencies make it necessary for the 
 common preservation to take any person's property, or to 
 demand his particular Services, full compensation shall be 
 made for the same, — and in the just preservation of rights and 
 property it is understood and declared, that no law ought ever 
 to be made, or have force in the said territory, that shall in 
 any manner whatever interfere with or affect private Contracts 
 or. engagements, bona fide and without fraud previously formed. 
 
494 THE NATIONAL DOMAIN 
 
 Article the Third. Religion, Morality and knowledge being 
 necessary to good Government and the happiness of mankind, 
 Schools and the means of education shall forever be encour- 
 aged. The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards 
 the Indians ; their lands and property shall never be taken 
 from them without their consent ; and in their property, rights 
 and liberty, they never shall be invaded or disturbed, unless 
 in just and lawful wars authorized by Congress; but laws 
 founded in justice and humanit^^ shall from time to time be 
 made, for preventing wrongs being done to them, and for 
 preserving peace and friendship with them — 
 
 Article the Fourth. The said Territory, and the States 
 which may be formed therein, shall forever remain a part of 
 this Confederacy . . . subject to the Articles of Confederation, 
 and to such alterations therein as shall be constitutionally 
 made ; and to all the acts and ordinances of the United States 
 in Congress assembled, comformable thereto. The inhabitants 
 and settlers in the said territory shall be subject to pay a 
 part of the federal debts contracted or to be contracted, and 
 a proportional part of the expenses of government, to be ap- 
 portioned on them by Congress according to the same common 
 rule and measure by which apportionments thereof shall be 
 made on the other States ; and the taxes, for paying their 
 proportion, shall be laid and levied by the authority and direc- 
 tion of the legislatures of the district or districts, or new States, 
 as in the original States within the time agreed upon by the 
 United States in Congress assembled. The legislatures of 
 those districts or new States shall never interfere with the pri- 
 mary disposal of the soil by the United States in Congress as- 
 sembled, nor with any regulations Congress may find necessary 
 for securing the title in such soil to the bona fide purchasers. 
 No tax shall be imposed on lands the property of the United 
 States ; and, in no case, shall non-resident proprietors be taxed 
 higher than residents. The navigable waters leading into the 
 Mississippi and St. Lawrence, and the carrying places between 
 the same, shall be common highways, and forever free, as well 
 
NORTHWEST ORDINANCE, 1787 495 
 
 to the inhabitants of the said territory as to the citizens of the 
 United States, and those of any other States that may be ad- 
 mitted into the Confederacy, without any tax, impost, or duty, 
 therefor. 
 
 Article the Fifth. There shall be formed in the said territory,\ 
 not less than three nor more than five States ; and the bound- 
 aries of the States, as soon as Virginia shall alter her act of 
 cession, and consent to the same, shall become fixed and es- 
 tablished as follows, to wit : The Western State in the said 
 territory, shall be bounded by the Mississippi, the Ohio, and 
 Wabash rivers ; a direct line drawn from the Wabash and Post 
 St. Vincent's, due North, to the territorial line between the 
 United States and Canada ; and, by the said territorial line, 
 to the Lake of the Woods and Mississippi. The middle State 
 shall be bounded by the said direct line, the Wabash from Post 
 Vincent's, to the Ohio ; by the Ohio, by a direct line, drawn 
 due North from the mouth of the Great Miami, to the said 
 territorial line, and by the said territorial line. The Eastern 
 State shall be bounded by the last mentioned direct line, the 
 Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the said territorial line : Provided 
 however, and it is further understood and declared, that the 
 boundaries of these three States shall be subject so far to be 
 altered, that, if Congress shall hereafter find it expedient, 
 they shall have authority to form one or two States in that 
 part of the said territory which lies North of an East and West 
 line drawn through the Southerly bend or extreme of lake 
 Michigan. And, whenever any of the said States shall have 
 60,000 free inhabitants therein, such State shall be admitted, 
 by its delegates, into the Congress of the United States, on an 
 equal footing with the original States in all respects whatever, 
 and shall be at liberty to form a permanent constitution and 
 State government: Provided, the constitution and government, 
 so to be formed, shall be republican, and in conformity to the 
 principles contained in these articles ; and, so far as it can be 
 consistent with the general interest of the confederacy, such 
 admission shall be allowed at an earlier period, and when thei*e 
 
496 THE NATIONAL DOMAIN 
 
 may be a less number of free inhabitants in the State than 
 60,000. 
 
 Article the Sixth. TJiere shall be neither slavery nor involun- 
 tary servitude in the said territory, othericise than in the punish- 
 ment of crimes, whereof the ixirty shall haoe been duly convicted: 
 Provided, always. That any person escaping into the same, from 
 ichom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any one of the orig- 
 inal States, such fugitive may be laivfully reclaimed and conveyed 
 to the 2jerson claiming his or her labor or service as aforesaid. 
 
 Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the resolutions 
 of the 23(1 of April, 1784, relative to the subject of this ordi- 
 nance, be, and the same are hereby, repealed and declared null 
 and void.^ 
 
 Done by the United States, in Congress assembled, the 13th 
 day of July, in the year of our Lord 1787, and of their 
 sovereignty and independence the twelfth. 
 
 [The great Sixth Article has rendered this Ordinance immortal. This 
 anti-slavery provision, however, has been spoken of sometimes in terms 
 more rhetorical than exact. Senator Hoar, in a centennial memorial 
 oration at Marietta, in 1888, said : "Here was the first human govern- 
 ment under which absolute civil and religious liberty has always pre- 
 vailed. . . . Here no slave was ever born, or dwelt." The student may 
 compare American History and Government. § 333, close. But Daniel 
 Webster was the historian rather than merely the orator when he said : 
 " I doubt whether one single law of any lawgiver, ancient or modern, has 
 produced effects of more distinct, marked, and lasting character, than the 
 Ordinance of 1787." 
 
 August 7, 1789, the First Congress under the Constitution passed a 
 Confirmatory Act, reenacting the Northwest Ordinance, with the provi- 
 sion that the appointments therein referred to Congress should be made 
 by the President, subject to confirmation by the Senate.] 
 
 1 For this earlier ordinance, of. No. 149a. 
 
XXVI. DRIFTING TOWARD ANARCHY 
 
 150. Danger (or Hope) of a Military Dictator (1783) 
 
 Gouverneur Morris to John Jay 
 
 Life and Works of Morris (Sparks' edition), I, 249. If this letter is 
 taken in conjunction witli the army plots, it would seem that Morris was 
 not averse to a military revolution as a step toward aristocratic rule. 
 
 Philadelphia, January 1, 1783. 
 . . . The army have swords in their hands. Yo\i Jcnow enough 
 of the history of mankind to knoiv much more than I have said, — 
 and possibly much more than they themselves yet think of. 
 I will add, however, that / a^n glad to see things in this pres- 
 ent train. Depend on it ; good will arise from the situation to 
 which we are hastening. . . . Although I think it probable that 
 much of convulsion will ensue, yet it must terminate in giving 
 to government that power without which government is but a 
 name. 
 
 151. Shays' Rebellion 
 
 a. A temperate statement of real grievances leading to 
 the " Rebellion " 
 
 Minot's History of the Insurrection in Massachusetts, pages 34-37. 
 
 The following "schedule of grievances" was adopted by a mass 
 convention of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, in 1786. For the 
 general narrative, cf. American History and Government, § 188-192. 
 
 At a meeting of the delegates from. Jifty towns in the county 
 of Hampshire, in convention held at Hatfield, in said county, 
 on Tuesday, the 22d day of August instant [1786], and con- 
 tinued by adjournments until the twenty fifth, etc. Voted, 
 that this meeting is constitutional. 
 
 497 
 
498 DRIFTING TOWARD ANARCHY 
 
 The convention from a thorough conviction of great uneasi- 
 ness, subsisting among the people of tliis county and Common- 
 wealth, then went into an inquiry for the cause; and, upon 
 mature consideration, deliberation, and debate, were of opinion, 
 that many grievances and nnnecessanj burdens now lying npon 
 the people, are the source of that discontent so evidently discover- 
 able throughout this Commonwealth. Among which the follow- 
 ing articles were voted as such, viz. 
 
 1st. The existence of the Senate} 
 
 2d. T7ie jyesent 7node of represeyitation. 
 
 3d. The officers of government not being annually depend- 
 ent on the representatives of the people, in General Court 
 assembled, for their salaries. 
 
 4th. All the civil officers of government, not being annually 
 elected by the Representatives of the people, in General Court 
 assembled. 
 
 5th. The existence of the Courts of Common Pleas, and 
 General Sessions of the Peace. 
 
 6th. Tlie Fee Table as it now stands. 
 
 7th. The present mode of appropriating the impost and 
 excise. 
 
 8th. Tlie unreasonable grants made to some of the officers of 
 government. 
 
 9th. The supplementary aid. 
 10th. The present mode of paying the governmental se- 
 curities. 
 
 11th. The present mode adopted for the payment and 
 speedy collection of the last tax. 
 
 12th. The p)r&sent mode of taxation, as it operates unequally 
 between the polls and estates, and between landed and mercantile 
 interests. 
 
 13th. TJie present method of practice of the attornies at laiv. 
 14th. Tlie loant of a stifficient medium of trade, to remedy 
 the mischiefs arising from the scarcity of money. 
 
 1 Which was so constituted as to represent wealth rather than men, cf. 
 American History and Government, § 154 and note. 
 
SHAYS' REBELLION 499 
 
 15th. The General Court sitting in the town of Boston. 
 
 16th. The present embarrassments on the press. 
 
 17th. The neglect of the settlement of important matters 
 depending between the Commonwealth and Congress, relating 
 to -monies and averages. 
 
 18th. Voted, This convention recommend to the several 
 towns in this country that they instruct their Representatives, 
 to use their influence in the next General Court, to have 
 emitted a hank of paper money, subject to a depreciation ; making 
 it a tender in cdl paymeyits, equal to silver and gold, to be issued 
 in order to call in the Commonwealth's securities. 
 
 19th. Voted, That lohereas several of the above articles of 
 grievances arise from defects in. the constitution ; therefore a 
 revision of the same ought to take place. 
 
 20th. Voted, That it be recommended by this convention 
 to the several towns in this county, that they petition the 
 Governour to call the General Court immediately together, in 
 order that the other grievances complained of, may, by the 
 legislature, be redressed. 
 
 2 1 St. Voted, That this convention recommend it to the inhabi- 
 tants of this county, that they abstain from all mobs and unlawful 
 assemblies, until a constitutional method of redress can be obtained. 
 
 22d. Voted, That Mr. Caleb West be desired to transmit a 
 copy of the proceedings of this convention to the convention 
 of the County of Worcester. 
 
 23d. Voted, That the chairman of the convention be desired 
 to transmit a copy of the proceedings of this convention to the 
 county of Berkshire. 
 
 24th. Voted, That the chairman of this convention be directed 
 to notify a county convention, upon any motion made to him 
 for that purpose, if he judge the reasons offered be sufficient, 
 giving such notice together with the reasons therefor, in the 
 publick papers of this county. 
 
 25th. Voted, That a copy of the proceedings of this convention 
 be sent to the press in Springfield for publication. 
 
500 DRIFTING TOWARD ANARCHY 
 
 h- Washington's Alarm 
 
 (1) George Washington to Henry Lee. 
 
 Washington's Writings (Ford edition), XI, 76-78. Lee was a Virginia 
 delegate in the Continental Congress. Washington's letter is in reply to 
 one received from I.ee. 
 
 Mount Vernon, October 31, 1786. 
 
 . . . The picture which you have exhibited ... of the commo- 
 tions and temper of numerous bodies in the eastern States, are 
 equally to be lamented and deprecated. They exhibit a mel- 
 ancholy proof of what our transatlantic foe has predicted; and of 
 another thing perhaps, which is still more to be regretted, and is 
 yet more unaccountable, that mankind, when left to themselves, are 
 unfit for their own government. I am mortified beyoiid expres- 
 sion when I view the clouds that have spread over the brightest 
 morn that ever dawned upon any country. In a word, I am 
 lost in amazement when I behold what intrigue, the interested, 
 views of desperate characters, ignorance, and jealously of the 
 minor part, are capable of effecting, as a scourge on the major 
 part of our fellow citizens of the Union ; for it is hardly to be 
 supposed, that the great body of the people, though they will 
 not act, can be so shortsighted or enveloped in darkness, as 
 not to see rays of a distant sun through all this mist of intox- 
 ication and folly. 
 
 You talk, my good Sir, of employing influence to appease the 
 present tumults in Massachusetts. I know not where that in- 
 fluence is to be found, or, if attainable, that it would be a proper 
 remedy for the disorders. Influence is no government. Let us 
 have one by which our lives, liberties, and properties will be 
 secured, or let us know the worst at once. Under these im- 
 pressions, my humble opinion is, that there is a call for de- 
 cision. Know precisely what the insurgents aim at. If they 
 have real grievances, redress them if possible ; or acknowledge 
 the justice of them, and your inability to do it in the present 
 moment. If they have not, employ the force of government 
 against them at once. If this is inadequate, all will be con- 
 
SHAYS' REBELLION 501 
 
 viuced, that the superstructure is bad, or wants support. To 
 be more exposed in the eyes of the world, and more contemptible 
 than we already are, is hardly possible. To delay one or the 
 other of these, is to exasperate ... or to give confidence, and 
 will add to their numbers ; for, like snow-balls, such bodies 
 increase by every moment unless there is something in the 
 way to obstruct and crumble them before the weight is too 
 great and irresistible. . . . 
 
 (2) George Washington, to James Madison. 
 
 Writings (Ford edition), XI, 80, 81. Note especially the extracts 
 quoted from General Lincoln, in command against the rebels. 
 
 November 5, 1786. 
 
 I thank you for the communications in your letter of the 1st 
 instant. . . . Fain would I hope that the great and most im- 
 portant of all subjects, the federal government, may be considered 
 with . . . calm and deliberate attention. . . . No morn ever 
 dawned more favorably than ours did ; and no day was ever 
 more clouded than the present. Wisdom and good examples 
 are necessary at this time to rescue the political machine from 
 the impending storm. Virginia has now an opportunity to set 
 the latter, and has enough of the former, I hope, to take the 
 lead in promoting this great and arduous work. Without an 
 alteration in our political creed, the superstructure we have 
 been seven years in raising, at the expense of so much treas- 
 ure and blood, must fall. We are fast verging to anarchy 
 and confusion. 
 
 ... a letter which I have received from General Knox, who 
 had just returned from Massachusetts, whither he had been 
 sent by Congress consequent of the commotions in that State, 
 is replete with melancholy accounts of the temper and designs 
 of a considerable part of that people. Among other things he 
 says : 
 
 " Their creed is, that the property of the United States has been protected 
 from the confiscation of Britain by the joint exertions of all ; and therefore 
 ought to be the common projierty of all ; and he that attempts opposi- 
 
502 DRIFTING TOWARD ANARCHY 
 
 tion to this creed, is an enemy to equity and justice, and ought to be swept 
 from off the face of the earth." Again : " They are determined to anni- 
 hilate all debts, public and private, and have agrarian laws, which are 
 easily effected by the means of unfunded paper money, which shall be a 
 tender in all cases whatever." He adds : " The number of these people 
 amount in Massachusetts to about one fifth part of several populous coun- 
 ties, and to them may be collected people of similar sentiments from the 
 States of Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Hampshire, so as to consti- 
 tute a body of about twelve or fifteen thousand desperate and unprincipled 
 men. They are chiefly of the young and active part of the community." 
 
 How melancholy is the reflection, that in so short a space we 
 should have made such large strides towards fulfilling the pre- 
 dictions of our transatlantic foes ! " Leave them to them- 
 selves, and their government will soon dissolve." Will not the 
 wise and good strive hard to avert this evil ? Or will their su- 
 pineness suffer ignorance, and the arts of self interested, design- 
 ing, disaffected, and desperate characters, to involve this great 
 country in wretchedness and contempt ? What stronger evi- 
 dence can be given of the want of energy in our government, 
 than these disorders ? If there is not power in it to check them, 
 what security has a man for life, liberty, or property ? To you 
 I am sure I need not add aught on this subject. The conse- 
 quences of a lax or inefficient government are too obvious to be 
 dwelt upon. Thirteen sovereignties pulling against each other, 
 and all tugging at the federal head, will soon bring ruin on 
 the whole ; whereas a liberal and energetic constitution, well 
 guarded and closely watched to prevent encroachments, might 
 restore us to that degree of respectability and consequence to 
 which we had a fair claim. ... 
 
 152. A Shrewd Foreign Observer's View of the Social Conflict over 
 the Adoption of a New Constitution 
 
 Louis Guillaunie Otto to Vergennes^ 
 
 George Bancroft's History of the Constitution (1882), II, Appendix, 
 399 ff. 
 
 lOtto was the French minister to the United States; Vergennes was the 
 French minister in charge of foreign affairs at Paris. 
 
THE SOCIAL CONFLICT 503 
 
 Philadelphia, October 10, 1786. 
 
 [The letter first describes the failure of the Annapolis 
 Convention.] 
 
 The people are not ignorant that the natural consequences 
 of an increase of power in the government would be a regular 
 collection of taxes, a strict administration of justice, extraor- 
 dinary duties on imports, rigorous executions against debtors — 
 in short, a marked preponderance of rich men and of large proprietors. 
 
 It is, however, for the interest of the people to guard as 
 much as possible the absolute freedom granted them in a time 
 when no other law was known but necessity, and when an 
 English army, as it were, laid the foundations of the political 
 constitution. 
 
 In those stormy times it was necessary to agree that all power 
 ought to emanate only from the people; that everything was 
 subject to its supreme will, and that the magistrates were 
 only its servants. 
 
 Although there are no nobles in America, there is a class 
 of men denominated " gentlemen," who, by reason of their 
 wealth, their talents, their education, their families, or the 
 offices they hold, aspire to a pre-eminence which the people refuse to 
 grant them; and, although many of these men have betrayed 
 the interests of their order to gain popularity, there reigns 
 among them a connection so much the more intimate as they almost 
 all of them dread the efforts of the people to despoil them of their 
 possessions, and, moreover, they are creditors, and therefore in- 
 terested in strengthening the government, and watching over 
 the execution of the laws. . . . 
 
 The majority of them being merchants, it is for their in- 
 terest to establish the credit of the United States in Europe 
 on a solid foundation by the exact payment of debts, and to 
 grant to congress powers extensive enough to compel the 
 people to contribute .for this purpose. The attempt, my lord, 
 has been vain, by pamphlets and other publications, to spread 
 notions of justice and integrity, and to deprive the people of 
 a freedom which they have so misused. By proposing a new 
 
504 DRIFTING TOWARD ANARCHY 
 
 organization of the federal government all minds would have 
 been revolted ; circumstances ruinous to the commerce of 
 America have happily arisen to furnish the reformers with a 
 pretext for introducing innovations. 
 
 They represented to the people that the American name 
 had become opprobrious among all the nations of Europe ; that 
 the flag of the United States was everywhere exposed to 
 insults and annoyance. . . . 
 
 [Otto continues at length to represent that the gentry sought to secure 
 a stronger government by inflaming tlie common people against foreign 
 powers. He then declares that it was never intended that the Annapolis 
 convention should do anything ; that it was only one step in a " plot " 
 to secure a more unfettered convention.] 
 
 The measures were so well taken that at the end of September 
 no more than five states were represented at Annapolis, and 
 the commissioners from the northern states tarried several 
 days at New York, in order to retard their arrival. 
 
 The states which assembled, after having waited nearly three 
 weeks, separated under the pretext that they were not in suffi- 
 cient numbers to enter on business, and, to justify this dissolu- 
 tion, they addressed to the different legislatures and to congress 
 a report, the translation of which I have the honor to enclose 
 to you [i.e., the paper reproduced in No. 153]. 
 
 In this paper the commissioners employ an infinity of cir- 
 cumlocutions and ambiguous phrases to show to their constit- 
 uents the impossibility of taking into consideration a general 
 plan of commerce and the powers pertaining thereto, without 
 at the same time touching upon other objects closely connected 
 with the prosperity and national importance of the United 
 States. 
 
 Without enumerating these objects, the commissioners en- 
 large upon the present crisis of public affairs, upon the dangers 
 to which the confederation is exposed, upon the want of credit 
 of the United States abroad, and upon the necessity of uniting, 
 under a single point of view, the interests of all the states. 
 
 They close by proposing, for the month of May next, a new 
 
THE SOCIAL CONFLICT 505 
 
 assembly of commissioners, instructed to deliberate not only 
 upon a general plan of commerce, but upon other matters which 
 may concern the harmony and welfare of the states, and upon 
 the means of rendering the federal government adequate to the 
 exigencies of the union. 
 
 In spite of the obscurity of this document, you will perceive, 
 my lord, that the commissioners were unwilling to take into 
 consideration the grievances of commerce, which are of exceed- 
 ing interest for the people, without at the same time perfecting 
 the fundamental constitution of congress. 
 
XXVII. MAKING THE CONSTITUTION 
 
 153. Call issued by the Annapolis Convention 
 
 Documentary History of the Constitution, I, 1-6. For a narrative of 
 the circumstances, cf. American History and Government, § 199. 
 
 Sundry of the States having in Consequence of a Resohition 
 and Circular Letter from the State of Virginia appointed Com- 
 missioners to meet at such time and Place as should be agreed 
 upon by them the said Commissioners, to take into Consideration 
 the Trade and Commerce of the United States etc: — the Com- 
 missioners of Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and 
 New York, met at the City of Annapolis on the 11th of Sep- 
 tember 1786, but did not think it advisable to proceed on the 
 Business of their Mission. They therefore broke up after mak- 
 ing a Report to the States by which they had been appointed 
 and transmitting to Congress a Copy thereof which is as follows. 
 
 To the Honorable the Legislatures of Virginia, Delaware, 
 Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. 
 
 The Commissioners from the said States respectively Assem- 
 bled at the City of Annapolis, humbly beg leave to Report : 
 
 That, pursuant to their several Appointments, they met at 
 Annapolis in the State of Maryland, on the eleventh day of 
 September Instant, and, having proceeded to a communication 
 of their Powers, they found that the States of New York, 
 Pennsylvania and Virginia had, in substance, and nearly in 
 the same terms, authorized their respective Commissioners "to 
 meet such Commissioners as were or might be appointed by the 
 other States in the Union, at such time and Place as should be 
 agreed upon by the said Commissioners, to take into Consid- 
 eration the trade and Commerce of the United States, to con- 
 sider how far an uniform System in their commercial intercourse 
 and regulations might be necessary to their common interest 
 
 506 
 
THE ANNAPOLIS CALL 507 
 
 and permanent harmony, and to report, to the several States, 
 such an Act relative to this great Object, as when ^manimously 
 ratified by them, would enable the United States in Congress 
 Assembled effectually to provide for the same." 
 
 That the State of Delaware had given similar Powers to their 
 Commissioners, with this difference only, that the Act to be 
 framed in virtue of those Powers, is required to be reported 
 "to the United States in Congress Assembled to be agreed to 
 by them and Confirmed by the Legislatures of every State." 
 
 That the State of Kew Jersey has enlarged the Ol)ject of their 
 Appointment, empowering their Commissioners, "to consider 
 how far an uniform System in their Commercial Regulations, 
 and other important matters, might be necessary to the common 
 interest and permanent harmony of the several States;" and 
 to "report such an Act on the Subject, as when ratified by 
 them " would " enable the United States in Congress Assembled 
 effectu^ally to provide /o?* the exigencies of the Union/' 
 
 That appointments of Commissioners have also been made 
 by the States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode 
 Island and North Carolina, none of whom have however 
 attended, but that no information has been received by your 
 Commissioners of any Appointment having been made by the 
 States of Connecticut, Maryland, South-Carolina or Georgia. 
 
 That the express terms of the Powers to your Commis- 
 sioners supposing a Deputation from all the States, and hav- 
 ing for Object the trade artd Commerce of the United States, 
 your Commissioners did not conceive it adviseable to proceed 
 on the business of their Mission, under the Circumstance of 
 so partial and defective a Representation. 
 
 Deeply impressed however with the magnitude and impor- 
 tance of the Object confided to them on this Occasion, your 
 Commissioners cannot forbear to indulge an expression of 
 their earnest and unanimous wish that speedy measures may 
 be taken to effect a general meeting of the States in a future 
 Convention, for the same, and such other Purposes, as the 
 situation of Public Affairs may be found to require. 
 
508 MAKING THE CONSTITUTION^ 
 
 If in expressing this wish, or in intimating any other 
 Sentiment, your Commissioners should, seem to exceed the 
 strict bounds of their Appointment, they entertain a full 
 Confidence that a Conduct dictated by an anxiety for the 
 welfare of the United States, will not fail to receive an 
 indulgent Construction. 
 
 In this persuasion, your Commissioners submit an Opinion, 
 that the Idea of extending the Powers of their Deputies to 
 other Objects than those of Commerce, which has been 
 adopted by the State of New Jersey, was an improvement on 
 the original Plan, and will deserve to be incorporated into that 
 of a future Convention. They are the more naturally led to 
 which Conclusion, as in the course of the Reflections on the 
 Subject, they have been induced to think, that the Power of 
 regulating Trade, is of such comprehensive extent, and will 
 enter so far into the General System of the Foederal Govern- 
 ment, that to give it efficacy, and to obviate questions and 
 doubts concerning its precise nature and limits, may require a 
 corresponding adjustment of other Parts of the Foederal 
 System. 
 
 That there are important defects in the System of the 
 Foederal Government, is acknowleged by the Acts of those 
 States which have concurred in the present Meeting. That 
 the defects, upon a closer examination may be found greater 
 and more numerous than even these Acts imply, is at least so 
 far probable from the embarrassments which characterize the 
 present state of our National Affairs, foreign and domestic, as 
 may reasonably be supposed to merit a deliberate and candid 
 discussion, in some mode, which will unite the Sentiments and 
 Councils of all the States. In the choice of the mode, your 
 Commissioners are of Opinion that a Convention of Deputies 
 from the different States, for the special and sole purpose of 
 entering into this investigation and digesting a Plan for sup- 
 plying such defects as may be discovered to exist, will be 
 entitled to a preference, from Considerations which will occur 
 without being particularized. 
 
THE ANNAPOLIS CALL 509 
 
 Your Commissioners decline an enumeration of those 
 National Circumstances on which their Opinion respecting the 
 Propriety of a future Convention with more enlarged Powers 
 is founded ; as it would be an useless intrusion of facts and 
 Observations, most of which have been frequently the Subject 
 of Public Discussion, and none of which can have escaped the 
 penetration of those to whom they would in this instance be 
 addressed. They are however of a nature so serious as, in the 
 View of your Commissioners, to render the situation of the 
 United States delicate and critical, calling for an exertion of 
 the united Virtue and Wisdom of all the Members of the 
 Confederacy. 
 
 Under this Impression Your Commissioners, with the most 
 respectful deference, beg leave to suggest their unanimous con- 
 viction that it may essentially tend to advance the interests of the 
 Union, if the States by whom they have been respectively delegated 
 would themselves concur, and use their endeavours to procure the con- 
 currence of the other States, in the Appointment of Commissioners 
 to meet at Philadelphia on the second Monday in May next, to take 
 into Consideration the situation of the United States, to devise such 
 further Provisions as shall appear to them necessary to render the 
 Constitution of the Foederal Government adequate to the exigencies of 
 the Union ; and to report such an Act for that purpose to the United 
 States in Congress Assembled, as when " agreed to by them and 
 afterwards confirmed by the Legislatures of every State " will ef- 
 fectually provide for the same. 
 
 Though your Commissioners could not with propriety address 
 these Observations and Sentiments to any but the States they 
 have the honor to Represent, they have nevertheless concluded, 
 from motives of respect, to transmit Copies of this Report, to 
 the United States in Congress Assembled, and to the Executives 
 of the other States. 
 
 By Order of the Commissioners 
 John Dickinson, Chairman 
 Dated at Annapolis 
 
 September 14th 1786. 
 
510 MAKING THE CONSTITUTION 
 
 154. Appointment of Delegates : Credentials (Georgia) 
 
 Becords of the Federal Convention (Farrand). Ill, 576-577. 
 
 Georgia is here selected for illustration, because of the emphasis upon 
 the sovereignty of the State in the forms used. 
 
 GEORGIA 
 
 By the Honorable George Mathews Esquire, Captain 
 General, Governor and Commander in Chief, in and over 
 the said State aforesaid. 
 To all to whom these Presents shall come Greeting. 
 
 Know Ye that John Milton Esquire, who hath certified 
 the annexed Copy of an Ordinance intitled " An Ordinance 
 for the appointment of Deputies from this State for the purpose 
 of revising the Foederal Constitution" — is Secretary of the 
 said State in whose Office the Archives of the same are deposited. 
 Therefore all due faith. Credit and Authority are and ought 
 to be had and given the same. 
 
 In Testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and 
 caused the Great Seal of the said State to be put and affixed 
 at Augusta, this Twenty fourth day of April in the Year of 
 our Lord One thousand seven hundred and eighty seven and 
 of our Sovereignty and Independence the Eleventh. 
 
 Geo : (Seal) Mathews. 
 By his Honor's Command 
 
 J. Milton Secy 
 An Ordinance for the appointment of Deputies from this 
 State for the purpose of revising the Foederal Constitution. 
 
 Be It Ordained by the Eepresentatives of the Freemen 
 of the State of Georgia in General Assembly met and by 
 the Authority of the same, that William Few, Abra- 
 ham Baldwin, William Pierce, George Walton, Wil- 
 liam HousTouN and Nathaniel Pendleton Esquires, 
 Be, and they are hereby appointed Commissioners, who, or 
 any two or more of them are hereby authorized as Deputies 
 from this State to meet such deputies as may be appointed 
 
CREDENTIALS OF DELEGATES 511 
 
 and authorized by other States to assemble in Convention 
 at Philadelphia and to join with them in devising and 
 discussing all such Alterations and farther Provisions as 
 may be necessary to render the Federal Constitution adequate 
 to the exigencies of the Union, and in reporting such an Act 
 for that purpose to the United States in Congress Assembled 
 as when agreed to by them, and duly confirmed by the several 
 States will effectually provide for the same. In case of the 
 death of any of the said Deputies, or of their declining their 
 appointments, the Executive are hereby authorized to supply 
 such Vacancies. 
 
 By Order of the House 
 
 (signed) WM GIBBONS Speaker. 
 Augusta the 10th February 1787. 
 
 Georgia. 
 
 Secretary's Office 
 
 The above is a true Copy from the Original Ordinance de- 
 posited in my Office. 
 
 Augusta 1 
 24 April 1787. 1 '^- ^I^^^'^^^' Secretary. 
 
 Hie Stojte of Georgia by the grace of God free, Sovereign and 
 Independent 
 
 To the Honorable William Pierce, Esquire. 
 
 Whereas you, the said William Pierce, are in and by an 
 Ordinance of the General Assembly of our said State Nomi- 
 nated and Appointed a Deputy to represent the same in a Con- 
 vention of the United States to be assembled at Philadelphia, 
 for the Purposes of devising and discussing such Alterations 
 and farther Provisions as may be necessary to render the 
 Foederal Constitution adequate to the exigencies of the 
 Union. 
 
 You are therefore hereby Commissioned to proceed on the 
 duties required of you in virtue of the said Ordinance 
 
512 MAKING THE CONSTITUTION 
 
 Witness our trusty and well beloved George Matheivs Es- 
 quire, our^ Captain General, Governor, and Commander in 
 Chief, under his hand and our Great Seal at Augusta this 
 Seventeenth day of April in the Year of our Lord one thousand 
 seven hundred and eighty seven and of our Sovereignty and 
 Independence the Eleventh.^ 
 
 Geo : Mathews (Seal) 
 By His Honor's Command. 
 J. Milton. Secy. 
 
 [Like commissions for the other delegates.] 
 
 155. George Mason on the Preliminaries at Philadelphia 
 
 George Mason to George Mason, Jr. 
 
 Becords of the Federal Convention (Farrand), III, 22-24. 
 
 Philadelphia, May 20th, 1787. 
 
 . . . Upon our arrival here on Thursday evening, seventeenth 
 May, I found only the States of Virginia and Pennsylvania 
 fully represented; and there are at this time only five — New 
 York, the two Carolinas, and the two before mentioned. All 
 the States, Rhode Island excepted, have made their appoint- 
 ments ; but the members drop in slowly ; some of the deputies 
 from the Eastern States are here, but none of them have yet a 
 sufficient representation, and it will probably be several days 
 before the Convention will be authorized to proceed to business. 
 The expectations and hopes of all the Union centre in this 
 Convention. God grant that we may be able to concert effect- 
 ual means of preserving our country from the evils which 
 threaten us. 
 
 1 This was an old royal form, now used by the State instead of by the 
 King. 
 
 2 Some States dated : " in the year of the Sovereignty and Independence of 
 the United States the Eleventh." Others were even more specific than Georgia ; 
 as, " in the Eleventh year of the Independence of the Delaware State " ; or, as 
 in New York, — " the Eleventh year of the Independence of the Said State." 
 
PRELIMINARIES AT PHILADELPHIA 513 
 
 The Virginia deputies (who are all here) meet and confer 
 together two or tliree hours every day, in order to form a 
 proper correspondence of sentiments; and for form's sake, to 
 see what new deputies are arrived, and to grow into some 
 acquaintance with each other, we regularly meet every day at 
 three o'clock. These and some occasional conversations with 
 the deputies of different States and with some of the general 
 officers of the late army (who are here upon a general meet- 
 ing of the Cincinnati), are the only opportunities I have 
 hitherto had of forming any opinion upon the great subject of 
 our mission, and, consequently, a very imperfect and indecisive 
 one. Yet, upon the great principles of it, I have reason to 
 hope there will be greater unanimity and less opposition, 
 except from the little States, than was at first apprehended. 
 The most prevalent idea in the principal States seems to be a 
 total alteration of the present federal system, and substituting 
 a great national council or parliament, consisting of two 
 branches of the legislature, founded upon the principles of 
 equal proportionate representation, with full legislative powers 
 upon all the subjects of the Union; and an executive: and to 
 make the several State legislatures subordinate to the national, 
 by giving the latter the power of a negative upon all such laws 
 as they shall judge contrary to the interest of the federal 
 Union . . . and what is a very extraordinary phenomenon, 
 we are likely to find the republicans, on this occasion, 
 issue from the Southern and Middle States, and the anti- 
 republicans from the Eastern ; however extraordinary this 
 may at first seem, it may, I think be accounted for from a 
 very common and natural impulse of the human mind. Men 
 disappointed in expectations too hastily and sanguinely formed, 
 tired and disgusted with the unexpected evils they have 
 experienced, and anxious to remove them as far as possible, 
 are very apt to run into the opposite extreme ; and the people 
 of the Eastern States, setting out with more republican prin- 
 ciples, have consequently been more disappointed than we 
 have been. . . . 
 
514 MAKING THE CONSTITUTION 
 
 156. The Virginia Plan 
 
 Becords of the Federal Convention (Farrand), I, 20-22, for May 29. 
 For history of the plan, cf. American History and Government, § 202. On 
 the opening day of the Philadelphia Convention for business Mr. Ran- 
 dolph, after a brilliant speech, introduced the following resolutions in be- 
 half of the Virginia delegation. 
 
 1. Resolved thattlie articles of Confederation ought to be so 
 corrected and enlarged as to accomplish the objects proposed by 
 their institution ; namely, " common defence, security of liberty 
 and general welfare." 
 
 2. Resd. therefore that the rights of suffrage in the National 
 Legislature ought to be proportioned to the Quotas of contribu- 
 tion, or to the number of free inhabitants, as the one or the 
 other rule may seem best in different cases. 
 
 3. Resd. that the National Legislature ought to consist of 
 two branches. 
 
 4. Resd. that the members of the first branch of the National 
 Legislature ought to be elected by the people of the several States 
 
 every for the term of ; to be of the age of years 
 
 at least; to receive liberal stipends by which they may be com- 
 pensated for the devotion of their time to public service ; to be 
 ineligible to any office established by a particular State, or un- 
 der the authority of the United States, except those peculiarly 
 belonging to the functions of the first branch, during the term 
 
 of service, and for the space of after its expiration ; to be 
 
 incapable of re-election for the space of after the expira- 
 tion of their term of service, and to be subject to recall. 
 
 5. Resold, that the members of the second branch of the 
 National Legislature ought to be elected by those of the 
 first, out of a proper number of persons nominated by the in- 
 dividual Legislatures, to be of the age of years at least ; 
 
 to hold their offices for a term sufficient to ensure their inde- 
 pendency ; to receive liberal stipends, by which they may be 
 compensated for the devotion of their time to public service; 
 and to be ineligible to any office established by a particular 
 
THE VIRGINIA PLAN 515 
 
 State, or under the authority of the United States, except those 
 peculiarly belonging to the functions of the second branch, 
 
 during the term of service, and for the space of after the 
 
 expiration thereof. 
 
 6. Resolved that each branch ought to possess the right of 
 originating Acts ; that the National Legislature ought to be 
 irapowered to enjoy the Legislative Rights vested in Congress 
 by the Confederation and moreover to legislate in all cases to 
 vi^hich the separate states are incompetent, or in which the 
 harmony of the United States may be interrupted by the ex- 
 ercise of individual Legislation ; to negative all laws passed by 
 the several States, contravening in the opinion of the National 
 Legislature the articles of Union ; and to call forth the force 
 of the Union against any member of the Union failing to ful- 
 fill its duty under the articles thereof. 
 
 7. Resd. that a National Executive be instituted ; to be 
 
 chosen by the National Legislatui-e for the term of years, 
 
 to receive punctually at stated times, a fixed compensation 
 for the services rendered, in which no increase or diminution 
 shall be made so as to affect the Magistracy existing at the 
 time of increase or dimunition, and to be ineligible a second 
 time ; and that besides a general authority to execute the 
 National laws, it ought to enjoy the Executive rights vested in 
 Congress by the Confederation. 
 
 8. Resd. that the Executive and a convenient number of 
 the National Judiciary, ought to compose a council of revision 
 with authority to examine every act of the National Legisla- 
 ture before it shall operate, and every act of a particular Legis- 
 lature before a Negative thereon shall be final ; and that the 
 dissent of the said Council shall amount to a rejection, unless 
 the Act of the National Legislature be again passed, or that 
 
 of a particular Legislature be again negatived by of the 
 
 members of each branch. 
 
 9. Resd. that a National Judiciary be established to con- 
 sist of one or more supreme tribunals, and of inferior tribunals 
 to be chosen by the National Legislature, to hold their offices 
 
516 MAKING THE CONSTITUTION 
 
 during good behaviour ; and to receive punctually at stated times 
 fixed compensation for their services, in which no increase or 
 diminution shall be made so as to affect the persons actually 
 in office at the time of such increase or diminution that the 
 jurisdiction of the inferior tribunals shall be to hear and de- 
 termine in the first instance, and of the supreme tribunal to 
 hear and determine in the dernier resort, all piracies and felo- 
 nies of the high seas, captures from an enemy ; cases in which 
 foreigners or citizens of other States applying to such jurisdic- 
 tion may be interested, or which respect the collection of the 
 National revenue ; impeachments of any National officers, and 
 questions which may involve the national peace and harmony. 
 
 10. Resolvd. that provision ought to be made for the ad- 
 mission of States lawfully arising within the limits of the 
 United States, whether from a voluntary junction of Govern- 
 ment and Territory or otherwise, with the consent of a number 
 of voices in the National legislature less than the whole. 
 
 11. Resd. that a Republican Government and the territory 
 of each State, except in the instance of a voluntary junction 
 of Government and territory, ought to be guaranteed by the 
 United States to each State. 
 
 12. Resd. that provision ought to be made for the continu- 
 ance of Congress and their authorities and privileges, until a 
 given day after the reform of the articles of Union shall be 
 adopted, and for the completion of all their engagements. 
 
 13. Resd. that provision ought to be made for the amend- 
 ment of the Articles of Union whensoever it shall seem neces- 
 sary ; and that the assent of the National Legislature ought 
 not to be required thereto. 
 
 14. Resd. that the Legislative Executive and Judiciary 
 powers within the several States ought to be bound by oath 
 to support the articles of Union. 
 
 15. Resd. that the amendments which shall be offered to 
 the Confederation by the Convention, ought at a proper time, 
 or times, after the approbation of Congress to be submitted to 
 an assembly or assemblies of Representatives, recommended by 
 
GEORGE MASON'S ACCOUNT 517 
 
 the several Legislatures to be expressly chosen by the people 
 to consider and decide thereon. 
 
 157. George Mason on the Convention and its Aristocratic Ten- 
 dencies (June, 1787) 
 
 George Mason to George Mason, Jr. 
 
 Becords of the Federal Convention (Farrand), III, 32-33 
 
 Philadelphia, June 1, 1787. 
 
 . . . Virginia has had the honor of presenting the outlines 
 of the plan upon which the convention is proceeding ; but so 
 slowly that it is impossible to judge when the business will be 
 finished, most probably not before August — festina lente 
 may very well be called our motto. When I first came here, 
 judging from casual conversations with gentlemen from the different 
 States, I was very apprehensive that, soured and disgusted with the 
 unexpected evils we had experienced from the democratic principles of 
 our governments, we should be apt to run into the opposite extreme 
 and in endeavoring to steer too far from Scylla, we might he drawn 
 into the vortex of Charybdis, of which I still think there is some 
 danger,^ though I have the pleasure to find in the convention, 
 many men of fine republican principles. America has cer- 
 tainly, upon this occasion, drawn forth her first characters ; 
 there are upon this Convention many gentlemen of the most 
 respectable abilities, and so far as I can discover, of the purest 
 intentions. The eyes of the United States are turned upon 
 this assembly, and their expectations raised to a very anxious 
 degree. . . . 
 
 All communications of the proceedings are forbidden during 
 the sitting of the Convention ; this I think was a necessary 
 precaution to prevent misrepresentations or mistakes ; there 
 being a material difference between the appearance of a subject 
 in its first crude and undigested shape, and after it shall have 
 been properly matured and arranged. 
 
 1 Later, Mason became again convinced there was much such danger. 
 Cf. No. 161 below. 
 
518 MAKING THE CONSTITUTION 
 
 158. The New Jersey Plan 
 
 Records of the Federal Convention (Farrand), I, 242-245 (for June 
 15^. The Convention, in committee of tlie whole, in two weeks of de- 
 bate, had adopted nineteen resolutions based upon the fifteen in the 
 Virginia Plan above. Action upon this report of the committee of the 
 whole was then interrupted by the presentation of the following plan on 
 which the " Small States" had now agreed. 
 
 3Ir. Patterson [New Jersey] laid before the Convention the 
 plan which he said several of the deputations wished to be 
 substituted in place of that proposed by Mr. Randolph. After 
 some little discussion of the most proper mode of giving it a 
 fair deliberation it was agreed that it should be referred to a 
 Committee of the Whole, and that in order to place the two 
 plans in due comparison, the other should be recommitted. 
 At the earnest desire of Mr. Lansing [New Jersey], and some 
 other gentlemen, it was also agreed that the Convention should 
 not go into Committee of the whole on the subject till tomorrow, 
 by which delay the friends of the plan proposed by Mr. 
 Patterson wd. be better prepared to explain and support it, and 
 all would have an opportunity of taking copies. — 
 
 The propositions from N. Jersey moved by Mr. Patterson 
 were in the words following. 
 
 1. Resd. that the articles of Confederation ought to be so re- 
 vised, corrected and enlarged as to render the federal Consti- 
 tution adequate to the exigencies of Government, and the pres- 
 ervation of the Union. 
 
 2. Resd. that in addition to the powers vested in the U. States 
 in Congress, by the present existing articles of Confederation, 
 they be authorized to pass acts for raising a revenue, by levy- 
 ing a duty or duties on all goods and merchandizes of foreign 
 growth or manufacture, imported into any part of the U. States, 
 by Stamps on paper, vellum or parchment, and by a postage on 
 all letters or packages passing through the general post-Office, 
 to be applied to such federal purposes as they shall deem proper 
 and expedient ; to make rules and regulations for the collection 
 thereof ; and the same from time to time to alter and amend in 
 
THE NEW JERSEY PLAN 519 
 
 such manner as they shall think proper : to pass Acts for the reg- 
 ulation of trade and commerce as well with foreign nations as 
 with each other : provided that all punishments, lines, forfeitures 
 and penalties, to be incurred for contravening such acts rules and 
 regulations shall be adjudged by the Common law judiciarys of 
 the State in which any offence contrary to the true intent and 
 meaning of such Acts rules and regulations shall have been com- 
 mitted or perpetrated, with liberty of commencing in the first in- 
 stance all suits and prosecutions for that purpose in the supe- 
 rior Common law Judiciary in such State, subject nevertheless, 
 for the correction of all errors, both in law and fact in rendering 
 judgment, to an appeal to the Judiciary to the U. States. 
 
 3. Resd. that whenever requisitions shall be necessary, in- 
 stead of the rule for making requisitions mentioned in the arti- 
 cles of Confederation, the United States in Congs. be authorized 
 to make such requisitions in proportion to the whole number of 
 white and other free citizens and inhabitants of every age sex and 
 condition including those bound to servitude for a term of years 
 and three fifths of all other persons not comprehended in the fore- 
 going description, except Indians not paying taxes ; that if such 
 requisitions be not complied with, in the time specified therein, 
 to direct the collection thereof in the nou complying States and 
 for that purpose to devise and pass acts directing and authoriz- 
 ing the same ; provided that none of the powers hereby vested 
 in the U. States in Congs. shall be exercised without the con- 
 sent of at least States, and in that proportion, if the 
 
 number of Confederated States should hereafter be increased 
 or diminished. 
 
 4. Resd. that the U. States in Congs. be authorized to elect 
 
 a federal Executive to consist of persons, to continue in 
 
 office for the term of years, to receive punctually at stated 
 
 times a fixed compensation for their services, in which no in- 
 crease or diminution, shall be made so as to affect the persons 
 composing the Executive at the time of such increase or dimi- 
 nution, to be paid out of the federal treasury ; to be incapable 
 of holding any other office or appointment during their time 
 
520 MAKING THE CONSTITUTION 
 
 of service and for years thereafter; to be ineligible 
 
 a second time, and removeable by Congs. on application 
 by a majority of the Executives of the several States ; that the 
 Executives besides their general authority to execute the fed- 
 eral acts ought to appoint all federal officers not otherwise pro- 
 vided for, and to direct all military operations ; provided that 
 none of the persons composing the federal Executive shall on 
 any occasion take command of any troops, so as personally to 
 conduct any enterprise as General, or in other capacity. 
 
 5. Eesd. that a federal judiciary be established to consist 
 of a supreme Tribunal the Judges of which to be appointed by 
 the Executive, and to hold their offices during good behaviour, 
 to receive punctually at stated times a fixed compensation for 
 their services in which no increase or diminution shall be made, 
 so as to affect the persons actually in office at the time of such 
 increase or diminution ; that the Judiciary so established shall 
 have authority to hear and determine in the first instance on all 
 impeachments of federal officers, and by way of appeal, in the dernier 
 resort, in all cases touching the rights of Ambassadors, in all cases of 
 captures from an enemy, in all cases of piracies and felonies on the 
 high seas, in all cases in which foreigners may be interested, in the 
 construction of any treaty or treaties, or which may arise on any of 
 the Acts for regulation of trade, or the collection of the federal Rev- 
 enue: that none of the Judiciary shall during the time they 
 remain in Office be capable of receiving or holding any other 
 
 office or appointment during their time of service, or for 
 
 thereafter. 
 
 6. Resd. that all Acts of the U. States in Congs. made by virtue 
 and in pursuance of the powers hereby and by the articles of confed- 
 eration vested in them, and all Treaties made and ratified under 
 the authority of the U. States shall be the supreme law of the 
 respective States so far forth as those Acts or Treaties shall relate 
 to the said States or their Citizens, and that the Judiciary of the 
 several States shall be bound thereby in their decisions, any thing 
 in the respective laws of the individual States to the contrary 
 notwithstanding ; and that if any State or any body of men in 
 
HAMILTON'S PLAN 521 
 
 any State shall oppose or prevent the carrying into execution 
 such acts or treaties, the federal Executive shall be authorized 
 to call forth the power of the Confederated States, or so much 
 thereof as may be necessary to enforce and compel an obedi- 
 ence to such Acts or an Observance of such Treaties. 
 
 7. Resd. that provision be made for the admission of new 
 States into the Union. 
 
 8. Resd. the rule for naturalization ought to be the same in 
 every State. 
 
 9. Resd. that a Citizen of one State committing an offence 
 in another State of the Union, shall be deemed guilty of the 
 same offence as if it had been committed by a Citizen of the 
 State in which the Offence was committed. 
 
 Adjourned 
 
 159. Hamilton's Plan 
 
 On June 18, Hamilton occupied nearly the whole session with an argu- 
 ment for a government stronger and more centralized even than tlie 
 Virginia Plan — to meet the advocates of the New Jersey Plan by taking 
 high gi'ound. During this address he presented his own Plan (not what 
 he thought attainable, but desirable). The paper given below (from 
 Hamilton's Works, Federalist edition, I, 401 ff.) seems to have been pre- 
 pared to assist the delivery of this address, as a sort of brief. The ad- 
 dress itself is reported by Madison {Journal, for June 18) much more at 
 length, but with many of the same phrases. The student would do well 
 to compare the two. Copious extracts from that speech, and from other 
 words of Hamilton in the Convention, are quoted in American History 
 and Government, § 200. 
 
 All communities divide themselves into the few and the 
 many. The first are the rich and well-born ; the other, the mass 
 of the people. . . . The people are turbulent and changing; 
 they seldom judge or determine right. Give therefore to the 
 first class [the few] a distinct permanent share in the govern- 
 ment. They will check the unsteadiness of the second ; and, 
 as they cannot receive any advantage by a change, they there- 
 fore will ever maintain good government. . . . Nothing but a 
 permanent body can check the imprudence of democracy. 
 
522 MAKING THE CONSTITUTION 
 
 Their turbulent and uncontrollable disposition requires 
 checks. . . . 
 
 It is admitted that you cannot have a good Executive upon 
 a democratic plan. See the excellency of the British Executive. 
 He is placed above temptation. He can have no distinct in- 
 terests from the public welfare. Nothing short of such an 
 executive can be efficient. . . . Let one body of the Legislature be 
 constituted during good behavior or life. Let one Executive be 
 appointed who dares execute his powers. It may be asked : 
 Is this a republican system ? It is strictly so, as long as they 
 remain elective. And let me observe that an Executive is 
 less dangerous to the liberties of the people when in oflRce 
 during life, than for seven years. . . . Let electors be appointed 
 in each of the States to elect the Legislature, to consist of two 
 branches ; and I would give them [the national legislature] 
 the unlimited power of passing all laws, ivithout exception. The 
 Assembly to be elected for three years by the people in dis- 
 tricts. The Senate to be elected by electors to be chosen for 
 that purpose by the people, and to remain in office during life. 
 The Executive to have the power of negativing all laws; to make 
 war and peace, with their [Senate's] advice, but to have sole 
 direction of all military operations, and to send ambassadors, 
 and appoint all military officers ; and to pardon all offenders, 
 treason excepted, unless by advice of the Senate . . . Supreme 
 judicial officers to be appointed by the Executive and the Senate. 
 
 The Legislature to appoint courts in each State, so as to 
 make the State governments unnecessary to it. All state laws 
 which contravene the general laws to be absolutely void. An 
 officer to be appointed in each State to have a negative on all 
 State laivs. . . . 
 
 160. Character Sketches of Delegates by William Pierce 
 
 Becords of the Federal Convention^ III, 87 ff. 
 
 Pierce was a delesjate from Georgia. It is not known just when he 
 composed these sketches. 
 
MEN OF THE CONVENTION 523 
 
 From New Hampshire. 
 
 Mr. Langdon is a man of considerable fortune. . . . 
 From Massachusetts. 
 
 Rufus King, Natl. Gorliam, Gerry and Jno. [Caleb] Strong 
 Esquires. 
 
 Mr. King is a Man much distinguished for his eloquence 
 and great parliamentary talents. He was educated in Massa- 
 chusetts and is said to have good classical as well as legal 
 knowledge. He has served for three years in the Congress of 
 the United States with great and deserved applause, and is at 
 this time high in the confidence and approbation of his 
 Countrymen. This Gentleman is about thirty three years of 
 age, about five feet ten Inches high, well formed, an handsome 
 face, with a strong expressive Eye, and a sweet high toned 
 voice. In his public speaking there is something peculiarly 
 strong and rich in his expression, clear, and convincing in his 
 arguments, rapid and irresistible at times in his eloquence but 
 he is not always equal. His action is natural, swimming and 
 graceful, but there is a rudeness of manner sometimes accom- 
 panying it. But take him tout en semble, he may with pro- 
 priety be ranked among the Luminaries of the present Age. 
 
 Mr. Gorham is a Merchant in Boston. . . . 
 
 Mr. Gerry's character is marked for integrity and persever- 
 ance. He is a hesitating and laborious speaker ; — possesses a 
 great degree of confidence and goes extensively into all sub- 
 jects that he speaks on, without respect to elegance or flower 
 of diction. He is connected and sometimes clear in his argu- 
 ments, conceives well, and cherishes as his virtue, a love for 
 his Country. Mr. Gerry is very much of a Gentleman in his 
 principles and manners ; — he has been engaged in the mer- 
 cantile line and is a Man of property. He is about 37 years of age. 
 
 From Connecticut. 
 Saml. Johnson, Roger Sherman, and W. [Oliver] Elsworth 
 Esquires. 
 
524 MAKING THE CONSTITUTION 
 
 Mr. Sherman exhibits the oddest shaped charactet* I ever 
 remember to have met with. He is awkward, un-winniiig, and 
 unaccountably strange in his manner. But in his train of 
 thinking there is something regular, deep and comprehensive ; 
 yet the oddity of his address, the vulgarisms that accompany 
 his public speaking, and that strange New England cant that 
 runs through his public as well as his private speaking make 
 everything that is connected with him grotesque and laugh- 
 able ; — and yet he deserves infinite praise, — no Man has a 
 better Heart or a clearer Head. If he cannot embellish he 
 can furnish thoughts that are wise and useful. He is an able 
 politician and extremely artful in accomplishing any particular 
 object ; — and it is remarked that he seldom fails. I am told 
 he sits on the bench in Connecticut, and is very correct in the 
 discharge of his Judicial functions. In the early part of his 
 life he was a Shoe-maker ; — but despising the lowness of his 
 condition, he turned Almanack maker, and so progressed up- 
 wards to a Judge. He has been several years a Member of 
 Congress, and discharged the duties of his Office with honor 
 and credit to himself, and advantage to the State he repre- 
 sented. He is about 60. 
 
 Mr. Elsworth is a Judge of the Supreme Court in Connec- 
 ticut ; — he is a Gentleman of a clear, deep, and copious imder- 
 standing; eloquent, and connected in public debate; and 
 always attentive to his duty. He is very happy in a reply, 
 and choice in selecting such parts of his adversary's argu- 
 ments as he finds make the strongest impressions, — in order 
 to take off the force of them, so as to admit the power of his 
 own. Mr. Elsworth is about 37 years of age, a Man much 
 respected for his integrity, and venerated for his abilities. 
 From New York. 
 
 Alexander Hamilton, [Robert] Yates, and W. [John] 
 Lansing Esquires. 
 
 Colo. Hamilton is deservedly celebrated for his talents. 
 He is a practitioner of the Law, and reputed to be a finished 
 Scholar. To a clear and strong judgment he unites the orna- 
 
MEN OF THE CONVENTION 525 
 
 ments of fancy, and whilst he is able, convincing, and engag- 
 ing in his eloquence the Heart and Head sympathize in 
 approving him. Yet there is something too feeble in his 
 voice to be equal to the strains of oratory ; — it is my opinion 
 that he is rather a convincing Speaker, that [than] a blazing 
 Orator. Colo. Hamilton requires time to think, — he enquires 
 into every part of his subject with the searchings of phyloso- 
 phy, and when he comes forward he comes highly charged 
 with interesting matter. There is no skimming over the surface 
 of a subject with him, he must sink to the bottom to see 
 Avhat foundation it rests on. — His language is not always 
 equal, sometimes didactic like Bolingbroke's at others light 
 and tripping like Stern's. His eloquence is not so defusive as 
 to trifle with the senses, but he rambles just enough to strike 
 and keep up the attention. He is about 33 years old, of 
 small stature, and lean. His manners are tinctured with 
 stiffness, and sometimes with a degree of vanity that is highly 
 disagreeable. 
 
 Mr. Yates is said to be an able Judge. He is a Man of 
 great legal abilities, but not distinguished as an Orator. Some 
 of his Enemies say he is an anti-federal Man, but I discovered 
 no such disposition in him. He is about 45 years old, and 
 enjoys a great share of health. 
 
 Mr. Lansing is a practicing Attorney at Albany, and Mayor 
 of that Corporation. He has a hesitation in his speech, that 
 will prevent his being an Orator of any eminence ; — his legal 
 knowledge I am told is not extensive, nor his education a 
 good one. He is however a Man of good sense, plain in his 
 manners, and sincere in his friendships. He is about 32 years 
 of age. 
 
 From New Jersey. 
 
 Wm. Livingston, David Brearly, Wm. Patterson, and Jonn. 
 Dayton, Esquires. 
 
 Governor Livingston is confessedly a Man of the first rate 
 talents, but he appears to me rather to indulge a sportiveness 
 of wit, than a strength of thinking. He is however equal to 
 
526 MAKING THE CONSTITUTION 
 
 anything, from the extensiveness of his education and genius. 
 His writings teem with satyr and a neatness of style. But 
 he is no Orator_, and seems little acquainted with the guiles of 
 policy. He is about 60 years old, and remarkably healthy. 
 
 Mr. Brearly is a man of good, rather than of brilliant parts. 
 He is a Judge of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, and is 
 very much in the esteem of the people. As an Orator he has 
 little to boast of, but as a Man he has every virtue to recom- 
 mend him. Mr. Brearly is about 40 years of age. 
 
 M. Patterson is one of those kind of Men whose powers 
 break in upon you, and create wonder and astonishment. He 
 is a Man of great modesty, with looks that bespeak talents 
 of no great extent, — but he is a Classic, a Lawyer, and an 
 Orator ; — and of a disposition so favorable to his advance- 
 ment that every one seemed ready to exalt him with their 
 praises. He is very happy in the choice of time and manner 
 of engaging in a debate, and never speaks but when he under- 
 stands his subject well. This Gentleman is about 34 years 
 of age, of a very low stature. 
 
 Capt. Dayton is a young Gentleman of talents, with am- 
 bition to exert them. He possesses a good education, and 
 some reading; he speaks well, and seems desirous of improv- 
 ing himself in Oratory. There is an impetuosity in his temper 
 that is injurious to him; but there is an honest rectitude 
 about him that makes him a valuable Member of Society, and 
 secures to him the esteem of all good Men. He is about 30 
 years old, served with me as a Brother Aid to General Sulli- 
 van in the Western expedition of '79. 
 
 From Pennsylvania. 
 
 Benja. Franklin, Thos. Mifflin, Robt. Morris, Geo. Clymer, 
 Thomas Fitzsimmons, Jared Ingersol, James Wilson, Gov- 
 erneur Morris. 
 
 Dr. Franklin is well known to be the greatest phylosopher 
 of the present age ; — all the operations of nature he seems to 
 understand, — the very heavens obey him, and the Clouds 
 yield up their Lightning to be imprisoned in his rod. But 
 
MEN OF THE CONVENTION 527 
 
 what claim he has to the politician posterity must determine. 
 It is certain that he does not shine much in public Council, — 
 he is no Speaker, nor does he seem to let politics engage his 
 attention. He is, however, a most extraordinary Man, and 
 tells a story in a style more engaging that anything I ever 
 heard. Let his Biographer finish his character. He is 82 
 years old, and possesses an activity of mind equal to a youth 
 of 25 years of age. 
 
 ^ TV Tf ^ -7? Tf tP 
 
 Robert Morris is a merchant of great eminence and wealth ; 
 an able Financier, and a worthy Patriot. He has an under- 
 standing equal to any public object, and possesses an energy 
 of mind that few Men can boast of. Although he is not 
 learned, yet he is as great as those who are. I am told that 
 when he speaks in the Assembly of Pennsylvania, that he 
 bears down all before him. What could have been his reason 
 for not Speaking in the Convention I know not, — but he never 
 spoke on any point. This Gentleman is about 50 years of 
 
 Mr. Fitzsimmons is a Merchant of considerable talents. 
 
 Mr. Ingersol is a very able Attorney, and possesses a clear 
 legal understanding. He is well educated in the Classic's 
 and is a Man of very extensive reading. Mr. Ingersol speaks 
 well, and comprehends his subject fully. There is a modesty 
 in his character that keeps him back. He is about 36 years 
 old. 
 
 Mr. Wilson ranks among the foremost in legal and political 
 knowledge. He has joined to a fine genius all that can set 
 him off and show him to advantage. He is well acquainted 
 with Man, and understands all the passions that influence him. 
 
 Government seems to have been his peculiar Study, all the 
 political institutions of the World he knows in detail, and 
 can trace the causes and effects of every revolution from the 
 earliest stages of the Greecian commonwealth down to the 
 
528 MAKING THE CONSTITUTION 
 
 present time. No man is more clear, copious, and compre- 
 hensive than Mr. Wilson, yet he is no great Orator. He draws 
 the attention not by the charm of his eloquence, but by the 
 force of his reasoning. He is about 45 years old. 
 
 Mr. Governeur Morris is one of those Genius's in whom every 
 species of talents combine to render him conspicuous and flour- 
 ishing in public debate : — He winds through all the mazes of 
 rhetoric, and throws around him such a glare that he charms, 
 captivates, and leads away the senses of all who hear him. 
 With an infinite streach of fancy he brings to view things when 
 he is engaged in deep argument, that render all the labor of 
 reasoning easy and pleasing. But with all these powers he is 
 fickle and inconstant, — never pursuing one train of thinking, — 
 nor ever regular. He has gone through a very extensive course 
 of reading, and is acquainted with all the sciences. No Man 
 has more wit, — nor can any one engage the attention more 
 than Mr. Morris. He was bred to the Law, but I am told he 
 disliked the profession, and turned merchant. He is engaged 
 in some great mercantile matters with his namesake Mr. Eobt 
 Morris. This Gentleman is about 38 years old, he has been 
 unfortunate in losing one of his Legs, and getting all the flesh 
 taken off his right arm by a scald, when a youth. 
 From Delaware. 
 
 John Dickinson, Gunning Bedford, Geo : E-ichd. Bassett, and 
 Jacob Broom Esquires. 
 
 Mr. Dickinson has been famed through all America, for his 
 Farmers Letters ; he is a Scholar, and said to be a Man of very 
 extensive information. When I saw him in the Convention I 
 was induced to pay the greatest attention to him whenever he 
 spoke. I had often heard that he was a great Orator, but I 
 found him an indifferent Speaker. With an affected air of 
 wisdom he labors to produce a trifle, — his language is irreg- 
 ular and incorrect, — his flourishes (for he sometimes attempts 
 them), are like expiring flames, they just shew themselves and 
 go out; — no traces of them are left on the mind to chear or 
 animate it. He is, however, a good writer and will ever be 
 
MEN OF THE CONVENTION 529 
 
 considered, one of the most important characters in the United 
 States. He is about 55 years old, and was bred a Quaker. 
 
 Mr. Bedford was educated for the Bar, and in his profession 
 I am told has merit. He is a bold and nervous Speaker, and 
 has a very commanding and striking manner; — but he is 
 warm and inpetuous in his temper, and precipitate in his judg- 
 ment. [Cf. No. 161.] Mr. Bedford is about 32 years old, and 
 very corpulant. 
 
 ******* 
 
 From Maryland. 
 
 Luther Martin, Jas. McHenry, Daniel of St. Thomas, Jenifer, 
 and Daniel Carrol Esquires. 
 
 Mr. Martin was educated for the Bar, and is Attorney gen- 
 eral for the State of Maryland. This Gentleman possesses a 
 good deal of information, but he has a very bad delivery, and 
 so extremely prolix, that he never speaks without tiring the 
 patience of all who hear him. He is about 34 years of age. 
 
 Mr. Jenifer is a Gentleman of fortune. . . . 
 
 Mr. Carroll is a Man of large fortune. ... 
 From Virginia. 
 
 Genl. Geo : Washington, Geo : Wythe, Geo : Mason, Jas. 
 Maddison junr. Jno. Blair, Edmd. Randolph, and James Mc.Lurg. 
 
 ****** * 
 
 Mr. Mason is a Gentleman of a remarkable strong powers, 
 and possesses a clear and copious understanding. He is able 
 and convincing in debate, steady and firm in his principles, 
 and undoubtedly one of the best politicians in America. Mr. 
 Mason is about 60 years old, with a fine strong constitution. 
 
 Mr. Maddison is a character who has long been in public 
 life ; and what is very remarkable every Person seems to 
 acknowledge his greatness. He blends together the profound 
 politician, with the Scholar. In the management of every 
 great question he evidently took the lead in the Convention, 
 and tho' he cannot be called an Orator, he is a most agreable, 
 eloquent, and convincing Speaker. From a spirit of industry 
 
530 MAKING THE CONSTITUTION 
 
 and application which he possesses in a most eminent degree, 
 he always comes forward the best informed Man of any point 
 in debate. The affairs of the United States, he perhaps, has 
 the most correct knowledge of, of any Man in the Union. He 
 has been twice a Member of Congress, and was always thought 
 one of the ablest Members that ever sat in that Council. Mr. 
 Maddison is about 37 years of age, a Gentleman of great mod- 
 esty, — with a remarkable sweet temper. He is easy and un- 
 reserved among his acquaintances, and has a most agreable 
 style of conversation. 
 
 Mr. Blair is one of the most respectable Men in Virginia 
 both on account of his Family as well as his fortune. . . . 
 
 Mr. Randolph is Governor of Virginia, — a young Gentle- 
 man in whom unite all the accomplishments of the Scholar, 
 and the States-man. He came forward with the postulata or 
 first principles, on which the Convention acted, and he sup- 
 ported them with a force of eloquence and reasoning that did 
 him great honor. He has a most harmonious voice, a fine 
 person and striking manners. Mr. Randolph is about 32 years 
 of age. 
 
 North Carolina. 
 
 Wm. Blount, Richd. Dobbs Spaight, Hugh Williamson, Wm. 
 Davey, and Jno. [Alexander] Martin Esquires. 
 
 Mr. Blount is a character strongly marked for integrity and 
 honor. He has been twice a Member of Congress, and in that 
 office discharged his duty with ability and faithfulness. He 
 is no Speaker, nor does he possess any of those talents that 
 make Men shine ; — he is plain, honest, and sincere. Mr. Blount 
 is about 36 years of age. 
 
 Mr. Spaight is a worthy Man, of some abilities, and fortune. 
 Without possessing a Genius to render him brilliant, he is able 
 to discharge any public trust that his Country may repose in 
 him. He is about 31 years of age. . . . 
 
MEN OF THE CONVENTION 531 
 
 South Carolina. 
 
 Jno. Rutledge, Clis. Cotesworth Pinckney, Charles Pinckney, 
 and Pierce Butler Esquires. 
 
 Mr. Rutledge is one of those characters who was highly 
 mounted at the commencement of the late revolution; his 
 reputation in the first Congress gave him a distinguished rank 
 among the American Worthies. He was bred to the Law, and 
 now acts as one of the Chancellors of South Carolina. This 
 Gentleman is much famed in his own State as an Orator, but 
 in my opinion he is too rapid in his public speaking to be 
 denominated an agreeable Orator. He is undoubtedly a man 
 of abilities, and a Gentleman of distinction and fortune. Mr. 
 Rutledge was once Governor of South Carolina. He is about 
 48 years of age. 
 
 Mr. Chas. Cotesworth Pinckney is a Gentleman of Family 
 and fortune. . . . 
 
 Mr. Charles Pinckney is a young Gentleman of most prom- 
 ising talents. He is, altho only 24 years of age, in possession 
 of a very great variety of knowledge. Government, Law, His- 
 tory, and Philosophy are his favorite studies, but he is inti- 
 mately acquainted with many species of polite learning. . . . 
 
 For Georgia. 
 
 Wm. Few, Abraham Baldwin, Wm. Pierce, and Wm. Hous- 
 toun Esqrs. 
 
 Mr. Few possesses a strong natural Genius, and from appli- 
 cation has acquired some knowledge of legal matters ; and he 
 practices at the bar of Georgia, and speaks tolerably well in 
 the Legislature. He has been twice a Member of Congress, 
 and served in that capacity with fidelity to his State, and honor 
 to himself. Mr. Few is about 35 years of age. 
 
 Mr. Baldwin is a Gentleman of superior abilities, and joins 
 in a public debate with great art and eloquence. Having laid 
 the foundation of a compleat classical education at Harvard 
 College, he pursues every other study with ease. He is well 
 
532 MAKING THE CONSTITUTION 
 
 acquainted with Books and Characters, and has an accomodat- 
 ing turn of mind, which enables him to gain the confidence of 
 Men, and to understand them. He is a practicing Attorney 
 in Georgia, and has been twice a Member of Congress. Mr. 
 Baldwin is about 38 years of age. 
 
 Mr. Houstoun is an Attorney at Law. . . . He is a Gentle- 
 man of Family, and was educated in England. As to his legal 
 or political knowledge, he has very little to boast of. Nature 
 seems to have done more for his corporeal than mental powers. 
 His person is striking. , . 
 
 161. One Day in the Philadelphia Convention 
 
 Madison's Journal. The day chosen was the closinji day of debate 
 on the " Connecticut Compromise " proposition, when the Convention 
 came near disruption. For the narrative, cf. American History and 
 Governmejit, § 203. 
 
 Saturday, June 30th 
 
 In Convention, — Mr. Brearly [New Jersey]^ moved that 
 the President write to the Executive of New Hampshire, in- 
 forming it that the btisiness depending before the Convention 
 was of such a nature as to require the immediate attandance 
 of the Deputies of that State. In support of his motion, he 
 observed that the difficulties of the subject, and the diversity 
 of opinions called for all the assistance we could possibly 
 obtain. (It was well understood that the object was to add 
 New Hampshire to the number of States opposed to the 
 doctrine of proportional representation, which it was presumed, 
 from her relative size, she must be adverse to.) 
 
 Mr. PATTERsoisr [New Jersey] seconded the motion. 
 
 Mr. RuTLEDGE [South Carolina] could see neither the 
 necessity nor propriety of such a measure. They are not 
 unapprized of the meeting, and can attend if they choose. 
 
 1 Observe the motion was a " small-State " move, opposed by the " large 
 States " in debate as in vote. 
 
THE PHILADELPHIA CONVENTION 533 
 
 Rhode Island might as well be urged to appoint and send 
 deputies. Are we to suspend the business until the Deputies 
 arrive ? If we proceed, he hoped all the great points would 
 be adjusted before the letter could produce its effect. 
 
 Mr. King [Massachusetts] said he had written more than 
 once as a private correspondent, and the answer gave him 
 every reason to expect that State would be represented very 
 shortly, if it should be so at all. Circumstances of a personal 
 nature had hitherto prevented it. A letter could have no 
 effect. 
 
 Mr. Wilson [Pennsylvania] wished to know, whether it 
 would be consistent with rule or reason of secrecy, to com- 
 municate to New Hampshire that the business was of such a 
 nature as the motion described. It would spread a great alarm. 
 Besides he doubted the propriety of soliciting any State on 
 the subject, the meeting being merely voluntary. 
 
 On motion of Mr. Bkearly. 
 
 New York, New Jersey, aye — 2; Massachusetts, Connect- 
 icut, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, no — 5 ; 
 Maryland divided ; Pennsylvania, Delaware, Georgia, not on 
 the floor. 
 
 The motion of Mr. Ellsworth being resumed, for al- 
 lowing each State an equal vote in the second branch, — ^ 
 
 Mr. Wilson did not expect such a motion after the es- 
 tablishment of the contrary principle in the first branch ; and 
 considering the reasons which would oppose it, even if an 
 equal vote had been allowed in the first branch. The gentle- 
 man from Connecticut (Mr. Ellsworth) had pronounced, 
 that if the motion should not be acceded to, of all the States 
 north of Pennsylvania one only would agree to any General 
 Government. He entertained more^ favourable hopes of Con- 
 necticut and of the other Northern States. He hoped the 
 alarms exceeded their cause, and that they would not abandon 
 
 iThis motion liacl been made the day before. The Convention had pre- 
 vionsly agreed that voting in the "first branch" should be in proportion to 
 population. 
 
534 MAKING THE CONSTITUTION 
 
 a country to which they were bound by so many strong and 
 endearing ties. But should the deplored event happen, it 
 would neither stagger his sentiments nor his duty. If the 
 minority of the people of America refuse to coalesce ivith the 
 majority on just and prop)er principles; if a separation must 
 take pilace, it could never happen on better grounds. The votes 
 of yesterday against the just principle of representation were 
 as twenty-two to ninety of the people of America. Taking 
 the opinions to be the same on this point, and he was sure, 
 if there was any room for change, it could not be on the side 
 of the majority, the question will be, shall less than one-fourth 
 of the United States withdraw themselves from the Union, or 
 shall more than three-fourths renounce the inherent, indisput- 
 able and unalienable rights of men, in favor of the artificial 
 system of States ? If issue must be joined, it was on this 
 point he would choose to join it. The gentleman from Con- 
 necticut, in supposing that the preponderance secured to the 
 majority in the first branch had removed the objections to an 
 equality of votes in the second branch for the security of the 
 minority, narrowed the case extremely. Such an equality will 
 enable the minority to control, in all cases whatsoever, the 
 sentiments and interests of the majority. Seven States will 
 control six : seven States, according to the estimates that had 
 been used, composed twenty-four ninetieths of the Avhole 
 people. It would be in the power, then, of less than one-third 
 to overrule two-thirds, whenever a question should happen to 
 divide the States in that manner. . . . 
 
 Mr. Ellsworth. The capital objection of Mr. Wilson, " that 
 the minority will rule the majority," is not true. The power is 
 given to the few to save them from being destroyed by the many. If 
 an equality of votes had been given to them in both branches, 
 the objection might have weight. Is it a novel thing that the 
 few should have a check on the many ? Is it not the case in 
 the British Constitution, the wisdom of which so many gentle- 
 men have united in applauding ? Have not the House of 
 Lords, who form so small a proportion of the nation, a negative 
 
THE PHILADELPHIA CONVENTION 535 
 
 on the laws, as a necessary defence of their peculiar rights 
 against the encroachments of the Commons ? No instance of 
 a confederacy has existed in which an equality of voices has 
 not been exercised by the members of it. We are running from 
 one extreme to another. We are razing the foundations of the 
 building, when we need only repair the roof. No salutary 
 measure has been lost for want of a majority of the States 
 to favor it. If security be all that the great States wish for, 
 the first branch secures them. The danger of combinations 
 among them is not imaginary. Although no particular abuses 
 could be foreseen by him the possibility of them would be suf- 
 ficient to alarm him. But he could easily conceive cases in 
 which they might result from such combinations. Suppose, 
 that, in pursuance of some commercial treaty or arrangement, 
 three or four free ports and no more were to be established, 
 would not combinations be formed in favor of Boston, Philadel- 
 phia, and some port of the Chesapeake ? A like concert might 
 be formed in the appointment of the great offices. He appealed 
 again to the obligations of the Federal compact [Articles of Confeder- 
 ation] in force, and which had been entered into with so much solem- 
 nity; persuading himself that some regard would still be paid to the 
 plighted faith under which each State, small as well as great, held an 
 equal right of suffrage in the general councils. His remarks were 
 not the result of partial or local views. The State he repre- 
 sented (Connecticut) held a middle rank. 
 
 Mr. Madison did justice to the able and close reasoning of 
 Mr. Ellsworth, but must observe that it did not always 
 accord with itself. On another occasion, the large States were 
 described by him as the aristocratic States, ready to oppress 
 the small. Now the small are the House of Lords, requiring 
 a negative to defend them against the more numerous Com- 
 mons. Mr, Ellsworth had also erred in saying that no in- 
 stance had existed in wliich confederated states had not retained 
 to themselves a perfect equality of suffrage. Passing over the 
 German system, in which the King of Prussia has nine voices, 
 he reminded Mr. Ellsworth of the Lycian confederacy, 
 
536 MAKING THE CONSTITUTION 
 
 in which the component members had votes proportioned to 
 their importance, and which Montesquieu recommends as the 
 fittest model for that form of government. Had the fact been 
 as stated by Mr. Ellsworth, it would have been of little 
 avail to him, or rather would have strengthened the arguments 
 against him ; the history and fate of the several confederacies, 
 modern as well as ancient, demonstrating some radical vice in 
 their structure. In reply to the appeal of Mr. Ellsworth 
 to the faith plighted in the existing federal compact, he re- 
 marked, that the party claiming from others an adherence to a 
 common engagement, ought at least to be guiltless itself of a 
 violation. Of all the States, however, Connecticut was perhaps 
 least able to urge this plea. Besides the various omissions to 
 perform the stipulated acts, from which no State was free, the 
 Legislature of that State had, by a pretty recent vote, positively 
 refused to pass a law for complying with the requisitions of 
 Congress, and transmitted a copy of the vote to Congress.^ It 
 was urged, he said, continually, that an equality of votes in the 
 second branch was not only necessary to secure the small, but 
 would be perfectly safe to the large ones ; whose majority in the 
 first branch was an effectual bulwark. But notwithstanding 
 this apparent defence, the majority of States might still injure 
 the majority of the people. . . . He admitted that every pe- 
 culiar interest, whether in any class of citizens or any descrip- 
 tion of States, ought to be secured as far as possible. Wher- 
 ever there is danger of attack, there ought to be given a con- 
 stitutional power of defence. But he contended that the States 
 were divided into different interests, not by their difference of size, 
 but other circumstances ; the most material of which resulted 
 partly from climate, but principally from the effects of their hav- 
 ing or not having slaves. These two causes concurred in forming 
 the great division of interests in the United States. It did not lie 
 between the large and small States. It lay between the Northern 
 and Southern. . . . 
 
 Mr. Ellsworth assured the House, that, whatever might be 
 
 1 This begins the rather unhappy " personalities " of the debate. 
 
THE PHILADELPHIA CONVENTION 537 
 
 thought of the Representatives of Connecticut, the State was 
 entirely Federal in her disposition. He appealed to her great 
 exertions during the war, in supplying both men and money. 
 The muster-rolls ivould show she had more troops in the field than 
 Virginia} If she had been delinquent, it had been from in- 
 ability, and not more so than other States. 
 
 Mr. Sherman. Mb. Madison animadverted on the delin- 
 quency of the States, when his object required him to prove 
 that the constitution of Congress was faulty. Congress is not 
 to blame for the faults of the States. Their measures have 
 been right, and the only thing wanting has been a further 
 power in Congress to render them effectual. 
 
 Mr. Davie [North Carolina] was much embarrassed, and 
 wished for explanations. The Report of the Committee [of 
 the Whole], allowing the Legislatures to choose the Senate, and 
 establishing a proportional representation in it, seemed to be 
 impracticable. There will, according to this rule, be ninety 
 members in the outset, and the number will increase as new 
 States are added. It was impossible that so numerous a body 
 could possess the activity and other qualities required in it. 
 Were he to vote on the comparative merits of the Report, as it 
 stood, and the amendment, he should be constrained to prefer 
 the latter. . . . Under this view of the subject, he could not 
 vote for any plan for the Senate yet proposed. He thought 
 that, in general, there were extremes on both sides. We ivere 
 partly federal, partly national, in our union; and he did not see 
 why the Government might not in some respects operate on 
 the States, in others on the people. 
 
 Mr. Wilson admitted the question concerning the number 
 of Senators to be embarrassing. If the smallest States be 
 allowed one, and the others in proportion, the Senate will 
 certainly be too numerous. He looked forward to the time 
 when the smallest States will contain a hundred thousand 
 souls at least. Let there be then one Senator in each, for 
 every hundred thousand souls, and let the States not having 
 
 1 Cf . note above. 
 
538 MAKING THE CONSTITUTION 
 
 that number of inhabitants be allowed one. He was willing 
 himself to submit to this temporary concession to the small 
 States ; and, threw out the idea as a ground of compromise. . . . 
 Doctor Franklin. The diversity of opinions tvirns on two 
 points. If a proportional representation takes place, the 
 small States contend that their liberties will be in danger. If 
 an equality of votes is to be put in its place, the large States 
 say their money will be in danger. When a broad table is to 
 be made, and the edges of planks do not fit, the artist takes a 
 little from both, and makes a good joint. In like manner, 
 here, both sides must part from some of their demands, in 
 order that they may join in some accommodating proposition. 
 He had prepared one which he would read, that it might lie 
 on the table for consideration. The proposition was in the 
 words following : 
 
 "That the Legislatures of the several States shall choose and send an 
 equal number of delegates, namely . . . , who are to compose the second 
 branch of the General Legislature. 
 
 "That in all cases or questions wherein the sovereignty of individual 
 States may be affected, or whereby their authority over their own citizens 
 may be diminished, or the authority of the General Government within 
 the several States augmented, each State shall have equal suffrage. 
 
 " That in the appointment of all civil officers of the General Govern- 
 ment, in the election of whom the second branch may by the constitution 
 have part, each State shall have equal suffrage. 
 
 "That in fixing the salaries of such officers, and in all allowances for 
 public services, and generally in all appropriations and disposition of 
 money to be drawn out of the general Treasury ; and in all laws for sup- 
 plying that Treasury, the Delegates of the several States shall have suf- 
 frage in proportion to the sums which their respective States do actually 
 contribute to the Treasury." 
 
 Where a ship had many owners, this was the rule of deciding 
 on her expedition. He had been one of the ministers from 
 this country to France during the joint war, and would have 
 been very glad if allowed to vote in distributing the money to 
 carry it on. 
 
 Mr. King observed, that the simple question was, whether 
 
THE PHILADELPHIA CONVENTION 539 
 
 each State should have an equal vote in the second branch; 
 that it must be apparent to those gentlemen who liked neither 
 the motion for this quality, nor the Report as it stood, that 
 the Report was as susceptible of melioration as the motion ; 
 that a reform would be nugatory and nominal only, if we should 
 make another Congress of the proposed Senate ; that if the 
 adherence to an equality of votes was fixed and unalterable, 
 there could not be less obstinacy on the other side ; and that 
 we were in fact cut asunder already, and it was in vain to shut our 
 eyes against it. That he was, however, filled with astonishment, 
 that, if we were convinced that every mam in America was 
 secured in all his rights, we should be ready to sacrifice this 
 substantial good to the phantom of State sovereignty. That 
 his feelings were more harrowed and his fears more agitated 
 for his country than he could express ; that he conceived this 
 to be the last opportunity of providing for its liberty and hap- 
 piness : that he could not, therefore, but repeat his amazement, 
 that when a just government, founded on a fair representation 
 of the People of America, was within our reach, we should re- 
 nounce the blessing, from an attachment to the ideal freedom 
 and importance of States. That should this wonderful illusion 
 continue to prevail, his mind was prepared for any event, rather 
 than sit down under a Government founded on a vicious prin- 
 ciple of representation, and which must be as short-lived as it 
 would be unjust. He might prevail on himself to accede to 
 some such expedient as had been hinted by Mr. Wilsot ; but 
 he never could listen to an equality of votes, as proposed in the motion. 
 Mr. Dayton. When assertion is given for proof, and terror sub- 
 stituted for argument, he presumed they would have no effect, however 
 eloquently spoken. It should have been shown that the evils we 
 have experienced have proceeded from the equality now ob- 
 jected to ; and that the seeds of dissolution for the State Gov- 
 ernments are not sown in the General Government. He con- 
 sidered the system on the table [Virginia Plan] as a novelty, 
 an amphibious monster ; and was persuaded that it never would 
 be received by the people. 
 
540 MAKING THE CONSTITUTION 
 
 Mr. Martin [Maryland] would never confederate, if it could not 
 be done on just principles [_i.e., giving small States equal voice in 
 at least one House]. 
 
 Mr. Madison would acquiesce in the concession hinted by 
 Mr. Wilson, on condition that a due independence should 
 be given to the Senate. The plan in its present shape makes 
 the Senate absolutely dependent on the States. The Senate, 
 therefore, is only another edition of Congress. He knew the 
 faults of that body, and had used a bold language against it. 
 Still he would preserve the State rights as carefully as the 
 trial by jury. 
 
 Mr. Bedford [Delaware] contended, that there was no 
 middle way between a perfect consolidation, and a mere 
 confederacy of the States. The first is out of the question ; 
 and in the latter they must continue, if not perfectly, yet 
 equally, sovereign. If political societies possess ambition, 
 avarice, and all the other passions which render them formi- 
 dable to each other, ought we not to view them in this light 
 here ? Will not the same motives operate in America as 
 elsewhere ? If any gentleman doubts it, let him look at 
 the votes. Have they not been dictated by interest, by am- 
 bition ? Are not the large States evidently seeking to aggrandize 
 themselves at the expense of the small? They think, no doubt, 
 that they have right on their side, but interest has blinded 
 their eyes. Look at Georgia. Though a small State at 
 present, she is actuated by the prospect of soon being a great 
 one. South Carolina is actuated both by present interest, and 
 future prospects. She hopes, too, to see the other States cut 
 down to her own dimensions. North Carolina has the same 
 motives of present and future interest. Virginia follows. 
 Maryland is not on that side of the question. Pennsylvania 
 has a direct and future interest. Massachusetts has a decided 
 and palpable interest in the part she takes. . . . The three 
 large States have a common interest to bind them together in commerce. 
 But whether a combination, as we supposed, shall take place 
 among them, in either case the small States must be ruined. 
 
THE PHILADELPHIA CONVENTION 541 
 
 We must, like Solon, make such a government as the people 
 will approve. Will the smaller States ever agree to the 
 proposed degradation of them ? It is not true that the people 
 will not agree to enlarge the powers of the present Con- 
 gress. The language of the people has been, that Congress 
 ought to have the power of collecting an impost, and of 
 coercing the States where it may be necessary. On the first 
 point they have been explicit, and, in a manner, unanimous 
 in their declarations. And must they not agree to this, and 
 similar measures, if they ever mean to discharge their engage- 
 ments ? The little States are willing to observe their engage- 
 ments, but will meet the large ones on no ground but that of the 
 Confederation. We have been told, with dictatorial air, this is the 
 last moment for a fair trial in favor of a good government. It will 
 be the last, indeed, if the propositions reported from the Committee go 
 forth to the people. He was under no apprehensions. The large 
 States dare not dissolve the Confederation. If they do, the small 
 ones will find some foreign ally, of more honour and good faith, 
 who tvill take them by the hand, and do them justice. He did not 
 mean, by this, to intimidate or alarm. It was a natural con- 
 sequence, which ought to be avoided by enlarging the Federal 
 powers, not annihilating the Federal system. This is what the 
 people expect. All agree in the necessity of a more efficient 
 government, and why not make such an one as they desire ? 
 
 Mr. Ellsworth. Under a National Government, he should 
 participate in the national security, as remarked by Mr. King ; 
 but that was all. What he wanted was domestic happiness. 
 The National Government could not descend to the local 
 objects on which this depended. It could only embrace objects 
 of a general nature. He turned his eyes, therefore, for the 
 preservation of his rights, to the State Governments. From 
 these alone he could derive the greatest happiness he expects 
 in this life. His happiness depends on their existence, as much 
 as a new-born infant on its mother for nourishment. If this 
 reasoning was not satisfactory, he had nothing to add that could 
 be so. 
 
542 MAKING THE CONSTITUTION 
 
 Mr. King was for preserving the States in a subordinate de- 
 gree, and as far as they could be necessary for the purposes 
 stated by Mr. Ellsworth. He did not think a full answer 
 had been given to .those who apprehended a dangerous encroach- 
 ment on their jurisdictions. . . . He could not sit down with- 
 out taking some notice of the language of the honorable gentle- 
 man from Delaware (Mr. Bedford). It was not he [King] 
 that had uttered a dictatorial language. This intemperance 
 had marked the honorable gentleman himself. It was not he 
 [King] who, with a vehemence unprecedented in that House, 
 had declared himself ready to turn his hopes from our com- 
 mon country, and court the protection of some foreign hand. 
 This, too, was the language of the honorable member himself. 
 He was grieved that such an expression had dropped from 
 his lips. The gentleman could only excuse it to himself on 
 the score of passion. For himself, whatever might be his dis- 
 tress, he would never court relief from a foreign power. 
 
 Adjourned. 
 
 [The vote, taken on the opening of the next session, is recorded as 
 follows : 
 
 " In Convention, — On the question for allowing each State one vote in 
 the second branch, as moved by Mr. Ellsworth, it was lost, by an 
 equal division of votes, — Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, 
 Maryland, aye — 5; Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Car- 
 olina, South Carolina, no — 5; Georgia, divided (Mr. Baldwin aye, Mr. 
 Houston, no)." 
 
 This was a tie, intentionally made so by the Georgia delegate who voted 
 last. For this and for the final victory of the " Compromise, " cf. Ameri- 
 can History and Government, § 203. J 
 
XXVIIL RATIFYING THE COKSTITUTION"* 
 
 162. George Mason's Objections to the Constitution, 1787 
 
 Kate Mason Rowland's Life of George Mason (1892), II, 387-390. 
 
 Mason had been one of the most enthusiastic of the Philadelphia Con- 
 vention in its early stages, writing to his son, after S, few weeks, that he 
 would "bury my bones in Philadelphia" rather than injure the business 
 by leaving prematurely, though his private affairs were pressing. But he 
 was more democratic than the Convention, and, before its close, he came 
 to look upon the results with suspicion. He refused to sign the completed 
 constitution, and afterward he opposed its ratification in Virginia. Mason 
 was the chief author of the Virginia Bill of Rights of 1776 (No. 136 
 above). Cf. also No. 163. 
 
 There is no Declaration of Rights, and, the laws of the 
 general government being paramount to the laws and constitu- 
 tion of the several States, the Declaration of Kights in the 
 separate States are no security. Nor are the people secured 
 even in the enjoyment of the benefit of the common law. 
 
 In the House of Representatives there is not the substance 
 but the shadow only of representation ; which can never 
 produce proper information in the legislature, or inspire 
 confidence in the people ; the laws will therefore be generally 
 made by men little concerned in, and unacquainted with their 
 effects and consequences. 
 
 The Senate have the power of altering all money bills, and 
 of originating appropriations of money, and the salaries of 
 the officers of their own appointment, in conjunction with the 
 president of the United States, although they are not the 
 representatives of the people or amenable to them. 
 
 1 The Federalist side is presented in books which should be accessible in 
 reference libraries, much more fully than can possibly be reproduced here. 
 Space is given for only three documents which indicate something of the 
 opposition. 
 
 543 
 
544 RATIFYING THE CONSTITUTION 
 
 These with their other great powers (viz. : their power in the 
 appointment of ambassadors and all public officers ; in making 
 treaties, and in trying all impeachments ; their influence upon 
 and connection with the supreme Executive from these 
 causes ; their duration of office and their being a constantly \ 
 existing body, almost continually sitting ; joined with their 
 being one complete branch of the legislature) will destroy any 
 balance in the government, and enable them to accomplish 
 what usurpations they please upon the rights and liberties 
 of the people. 
 
 The Judiciary of the United States is so constructed and 
 extended, as to absorb and destroy the judiciaries of the 
 several States ; thereby rendering law as tedious, intricate and 
 expensive, and justice as unattainable, by a great part of the 
 community, as in England, and enabling the rich to oppress 
 and ruin the poor. 
 
 The President of the United States has no Constitutional 
 Council, a thing unknown in any safe and regular government. 
 He will therefore be unsupported by proper information and 
 advice, and will generally be directed by minions and favor- 
 ites ; or he will become a tool to the Senate — or a Council 
 of State will grow out of the principal officers of the great 
 departments ; the worst and most dangerous of all ingredients 
 for such a Council in a free country. From this fatal defect 
 has arisen the improper power of the Senate in the appoint- 
 ment of public officers, and the alarming dependence and 
 connection between that branch of the legislature and the 
 supreme Executive. 
 
 Hence also sprung that unnecessary officer the Vice-Presi- 
 dent, who for want of other employment is made president 
 of the Senate, thereby dangerously blending the executive 
 and legislative powers, besides always giving to some one of 
 the States an unnecessaiy and unjust preeminence over the 
 others. 
 
 The President of the United States has the unrestrained 
 power of granting pardons for treason, which may be some- 
 
GEORGE MASON'S OBJECTIONS 545 
 
 times exercised to screen from punishment those whom he 
 had secretly instigated to commit the crime, and thereby 
 prevent a discovery of his own guilt. 
 
 By declaring all treaties supreme laws of the land, the Ex- 
 ecutive and the Senate have, in many cases, an exclusive power 
 of legislation ; which might have been avoided by proper dis- 
 tinctions with respect to treaties, and requiring the assent of 
 the House of Representatives, where it could be done with 
 safety. 
 
 By requiring only a majority to make all commercial and 
 navigation laws, the five Southern States, whose produce and 
 circumstancesare totally different from that of the eight North- 
 ern and Eastern States, may be ruined, for such rigid and pre- 
 mature regulations may be made as will enable the merchants 
 of the Northern and Eastern States not only to demand an ex- 
 horbitant freight, but to monopolize the purchase of the com- 
 modities at their own price, for many years, to the great injury 
 of the landed interest, and impoverishment of the people ; and 
 the danger is the greater as the gain on one side will be in pro- 
 portion to the loss on the other. Whereas requiring two- 
 thirds of the members present in both Houses would have 
 produced mutual moderation, promoted the general interest, 
 and removed an insuperable objection to the adoption of this 
 government. 
 
 Under their own construction of the general clause, at the end of 
 the enumerated powers,'^ the Congress may grant monopolies in 
 trade and commerce, constitute new crimes, inflict unusual and 
 severe punishments, and extend their powers as far as they 
 shall think proper; so that the State legislatures have no se- 
 curity for the powers now presumed to remain to them, or the 
 people for their rights. 
 
 TJiere is no declaration of any Jcind, for jireserviyig the liberty 
 of the press, or the trial by jury in civil causes; nor against the 
 danger of standing armies in time of peace. 
 
 1 " Necessary and proper." Mason almost alone saw the possibilities of 
 change in this clause. Cf . No. 1G4 below. 
 
546 RATIFYING THE CONSTITUTION 
 
 The State legislatures are restrained from laying export 
 duties on their own produce. 
 
 Both the general legislature and the State legislature are ex- 
 pressly prohibited making ex post facto laws ; though there 
 never was nor can be a legislature but must and will make such 
 laws, when necessity and the public safety require them ; which 
 will hereafter be a breach of all the constitutions in the Union, 
 and afford precedents for other innovations. 
 
 This government will set out a moderate aristocracy : it is at 
 present impossible to foresee whether it will, in its operation, 
 produce a monarchy, or a corrupt, tyrannical aristocracy; it 
 will most probably vibrate some years between the two, and 
 then terminate in the one or the other. 
 
 The general legislature is restrained from prohibiting the 
 further importation of slaves for twenty odd years; though 
 such importations render the United States weaker, more 
 vulnerable, and less capable of defence. 
 
 163. Mason's Explanation of the Preparation of his "Objections" 
 (and Accusation of "Railroading" through the Plan of the 
 Majority) 
 
 George Mason to Thomas Jefferson \in France'] 
 
 Becords of the Federal Convention, III, .304-305. 
 
 Virginia, Gdnston Hall, May 26, 1788. 
 
 I make no Doubt that You have long ago received Copys of 
 the new Constitution. . . . Upon the most mature considera- 
 tion I was capable of, and from Motives of sincere Patriotism, 
 I was under the Necessity of refusing my Signature, as one 
 of the Virginia Delegates ; and drew up some general Objec- 
 tions; which I intended to offer, by way of Protest; but 
 was discouraged from doing so, by the precipitate and in- 
 temperate, not to say indecent, Manner, in which the Business 
 was conducted during the last week of the Convention, 
 after the Patrons of this New Plan formed they had a 
 
GEORGE MASON'S OBJECTIONS 547 
 
 decided Majority in their Favour : which was obtained by a 
 Compromise between the Eastern and the two Southern States, 
 to permit the latter to continue the Importation of Slaves for 
 twenty odd years ; a more favorite Object with them than the 
 Liberty and Happiness of the People. 
 
 164. An Unfriendly Account of Hancock's Support of the Consti- 
 tution in the Massachusetts Ratifying Convention of 1788 
 
 Writings ofLaco, VII, 23 ff. (a series of ' ' Letters " published by Stephen 
 Higginson and other Federalists, in 1789, to defeat Hancock in his candi- 
 dacy for reelection to the governorship). Higginson was a Boston mer- 
 chant, and a leading Federalist. The "plan" he refers to as placed in 
 Hancock's hands, favored the adoption of the Constitution with a list of 
 amendments to be adopted later by the new government. 
 
 There are men in every free society, who have not a common 
 interest with the community at large ; and who rely wholly 
 on the popular affection in their favour, to give them promotion 
 and support in publick life. . . . Without abilities to make 
 them really useful in publick life, and devoid of principles or 
 merits that can command respect, they have no dependence 
 but upon popular attention to bring them into view; and, 
 having been long attentive to the popular pulse, and always 
 acquainted with the darling object with the multitude for the 
 time, they rarely fail to touch the right string, and to make, 
 the people subserve their own selfish and private views . . . 
 There cannot be found within the compass of our memory, an 
 instance, so strongly verifying the preceding observation, as 
 that of Mr. H. and his adhering dependents. . . . 
 
 . . . The course of his conduct from his reassuming the 
 chair, to the meeting of our State Convention, for considering 
 and adopting the new form of government for the Union, was 
 nothing more than a renewed exhibition of the same levities, 
 and a uniform preference of his own private interest, to that 
 of the public. 
 
 A scene now opens upon us, very interesting and important : 
 — The objects which [were] then presented for our considera- 
 
548 RATIFYING THE CONSTITUTION 
 
 tion, were so novel, and of such magnitude, as deservedly 
 engrossed the feelings and the attention of every man. No 
 one could remain mute and indifferent, while the question 
 as to the New Constitution was pending; and every one, 
 who felt no other bias than a regard to the safety and hap- 
 piness of our country, . . . was most anxiously solicitous 
 for its adoption. But the popular demagogues, and those 
 [who] were very much embarrassed in their affairs, united to 
 oppose it with all their might ; and they laboured incessantly, 
 night and day, to alarm the simple and credulous, by insinu- 
 ating, that, however specious its appearance, and that of its 
 advocates, tyranny and vassalage would result from its prin- 
 ciples. The former of those descriptions were conscious, that 
 a stable and efficient government would deprive them of all 
 future importance, or support from the publick ; and the latter 
 of them knew, that nothing but weakness and convulsions in 
 government could screen them from payment of their debts. 
 How far Mr. H. was influenced by either, or both of those 
 motives, it is not easy to determine ; but no one, who recol- 
 lects his general habits, who knows his situation and views, 
 and was acquainted with the open conversation and conduct of 
 his cabinet counsellors, can have a doubt of his being opposed 
 to it. We all know, that Mr. Quondam, and Mr. Changeling, 
 ■ as well as the once venerable old Patriot [Samuel Adams], who, 
 by a notable defection, has lately thrown himself into the 
 arms of Mr. H. in violation of every principle; and for the 
 paltry privilege of shai-ing in his -smiles, has, at the eve of 
 life, cast an indelible stain over his former reputation — it is 
 well known, I say, that these men do not dare to speak in 
 publick a language opposite to that of their patron ; and it is 
 equally notorious, that they were open in their opposition to 
 the Constitution — They even went so far as to vilify its com- 
 pilers, that they might thence draw an argument to support 
 their suggestions of its containing the seeds of latent tyranny 
 and oppression. They endeavoured by every possible mean in 
 their power, to create a popular clamour against the Constitu- 
 
A FEDERALIST VIEW 549 
 
 tion; but they failed in their attempt; and Mr. H. and his 
 friends were obliged, upon their own principles to grow more 
 cautious in their opposition. The good sense of the Mechanicks 
 of Boston had produced some manly and spirited resolutions, 
 which effectually checked Mr. H. and his followers in their 
 opposition to the Constitution ; and eventually occasioned four 
 votes in its favour, which otherwise would have been most 
 certainly against it. Had those resolutions not made their 
 appearance, Mr. H. and three others of our Delegates would 
 have been in the negative ; but it was thought necessary by 
 them, after they had appeared, to vote in favour of it. Having 
 settled this point, the next "thing was to do it with a good 
 grace, and to profit as much by it as they could ; and Mr. H. 
 accordingly intimated to the advocates for the adoption, that 
 he would appear in its favour, if they would make it worth 
 his while. This intimation was given through a common 
 friend, who assured the friends of the Constitution, that 
 nothing more would be required on the part of Mi-. H. than a 
 promise to support him in the chair at the next election. This 
 promise, though a bitter pill, was agreed to be given ; for such 
 was the state of things, that they were very much afraid to 
 decide upon the question, whilst he was opposed to it. The 
 famous conciliatory proposition of Mr. H. as it was called, was 
 then prepared by the advocates, and adopted by him ; but the 
 truth is, he never was consulted about it, nor knew its contents, 
 before it was handed to him to bring forward in Convention. 
 At the appointed time, Mr. H. with all the parade of an 
 Arbiter of States, came out with the motion, not only in the 
 words, but the very original paper that was given him ; and, 
 with a confidence astonishing to all who were in the secret, he 
 called it his own, and said it was the result of his own reflec- 
 tions on the subject, in the short intervals of ease which he 
 had enjoyed, during a most painful disorder. In this pompous 
 and farcical manner did he make that famous proposition, 
 upon which he and his adherents have arrogated so much ; 
 but neither he nor they have any other merit in the case, than 
 
550 RATIFYING THE CONSTITUTION 
 
 an attempt to deceive both parties can fairly entitle them. 
 For, at the very time he was buoying up the hopes of the 
 advocates, he was assuring the opposers of the Constitution, 
 by his emissaries, that he was really adverse to it ; and upon 
 the strictest scrutiny we cannot find that any one vote was 
 gained by his being ostensibly in favour of it. The votes of 
 the Old Patriot, and Mr. Changeling, and Mr. Joyce, jun. we 
 know were determined in its favour by the resolutions of the 
 Mechanicks ; but the votes of many others, who used implicitly 
 to follow Mr. H. were in the negative, which were counted 
 upon by the friends of the Constitution, as being certain on 
 their side. This is a strong confirmation that Mr. H. was 
 then playing a game, which these people well understood ; 
 and indeed they, some of them, explicitly declared it at the 
 time. His subsequent conduct, in regard to amendments, is a 
 clear proof also, that by appearing in its favour in Convention, 
 he did not mean to support it; and that he was not serious 
 when he' declared his proposition to be only conciliatory, and 
 not to remedy any defects existing in his mind in the consti- 
 tution as reported, which he explicitly declared at the time 
 was the case. 
 
THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 551 
 
 165. The Federal Constitution 
 
 Eecommended by the Philadelphia Convention to the States, Septem- 
 ber 17, 1787 ; ratified by the ninth State, June 21, 1788 ; in effect, April 
 30, 1789 (American History and Government, §§210, 212). The text is 
 that authorized by the Department of State and printed in the Revised 
 Statutes (1878), except for the footnote references and the brackets used 
 in a few instances to inclose portions of the document no longer effective, 
 and for the omission of numbers for the paragraphs. Interpolated ex- 
 planatory matter is in 'the same type as this paragraph, and is placed 
 within marks of parenthesis. 
 
 We the People ^ of the United States, in Order to form a more 
 perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquil- 
 lity, provide for the common defence, promote the general 
 Welfare,^ and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves 
 and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution. 
 for the United States of America. 
 
 ARTICLE I 
 
 Section 1. All legislative Powers herein granted shall be 
 vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist 
 of a Senate and House of Representatives. 
 
 Section 2. The House of Representatives shall be composed 
 of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the 
 several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the 
 Qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous 
 Branch of the State Legislature.^ 
 
 No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have at- 
 tained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years 
 a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, 
 be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen. 
 
 Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among 
 the several States which may be included within this Union, 
 
 1 Cf . Am.erican History and Government, § 211. 
 
 2 lb'*., § 204 a. 
 
 8 Modified by the Fifteenth Amendment ; and cf . American History and 
 Government, § 209. 
 
552 THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 
 
 according to their respective numbers [which shall be deter- 
 mined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, includ- 
 ing those bound to Service for a Term of Years], and exclud- 
 ing Indians not taxed, [three fifths of all other Persons].^ 
 The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years 
 after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, 
 and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Man- 
 ner as they shall by Law direct.^ The number of Representa- 
 tives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand,^ but each 
 State shall have at Least one Representative ; [and until such 
 enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall 
 be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island 
 and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five. New- York 
 six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Mary- 
 land six, Virginia ten. North Carolina five, South Carolina five, 
 and Georgia three]. 
 
 When vacancies happen in the Representation from any 
 State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of 
 Election to fill such Vacancies. 
 
 The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and 
 other Officers ; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment, 
 
 Section 3. The Senate of the United States shall be com- 
 posed of two Senators from each State, chosen [by the Legis- 
 lature thereof] ,^ for six Years ; and each Senator shall have 
 one Vote. 
 
 [Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence 
 of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may 
 be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first 
 Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of 
 
 1 The abolition of slavery has rendered obsolete the clauses within brack- 
 ets in this paragraph. 
 
 2 Cf . American History and Government, § 205 b. The first census was 
 taken in 1790, the second year of the new government, and one has been taken 
 in the closing year of each decade since. 
 
 3 The First Congress made the number 33,000. It is now (1911) 193,284. 
 * Superseded by the Seventeenth Amendment. 
 
THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 553 
 
 the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of 
 the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year], so that 
 one third may be chosen every second Year ; ^ and if Vacancies 
 happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the 
 Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make tem- 
 porary Appointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature, 
 which shall then fill such Vacancies. 
 
 No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to 
 the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the 
 United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabit- 
 ant of that State for which he shall be chosen. 
 
 The Vice President of the United States shall be President 
 of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they ^ be equally 
 divided. 
 
 The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a Presi- 
 dent pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or 
 when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United 
 States. 
 
 The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeach- 
 ments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath 
 or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is 
 tried, the Chief Justice shall preside : And no Person shall be 
 convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Mem- 
 bers present. 
 
 Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further 
 than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and 
 enjoy any Office of honor. Trust, or Profit under the United 
 States : but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable 
 and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment, and Punishment, 
 according to Law. 
 
 Section 4. The Times, Places, and Manner of holding Elec- 
 tions for Senators and Representatives shall be prescribed in 
 
 1 Precedents for this principle of " partial renewals " were found in several 
 State Constitutions. 
 
 2 What is the antecedent ? 
 
554 THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 
 
 each State by the Legislature thereof ; but the Congress may 
 at auy time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as 
 to the Places of chusing Senators.^ 
 
 The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, 
 and such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, 
 unless they shall by Law appoint a different Day. 
 
 Section 5. Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, 
 Returns, and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Major- 
 ity of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business ; but a 
 smaller Number may adjourn from day to day, and may be 
 authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, in 
 such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House may 
 provide. 
 
 Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, 
 punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the 
 Concurrence of two thirds, expel a member. 
 
 Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from 
 time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in 
 their Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the 
 Members of either House on any question shall, at the Desire 
 of one fifth of those Present, be entered on the Journal. 
 
 Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without 
 the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, 
 nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses 
 shall be sitting. 
 
 Section 6. The Senators and Representatives shall receive 
 a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, 
 
 1 A law of 1872 requires all Representatives to be chosen on " the Tuesday 
 next after the first Monday in November " in each even-numbered year; and 
 a law of 1871 had already ordered that all such elections should be by ballot. 
 An Act of 1866 provided a uniform method of electing Senators : the legisla- 
 tion of each state (in which such an election is to be made) to vote first in 
 separate Houses, and, if no one candidate received a majority in each House, 
 then thereafter in joint session, taking at least one ballot daily until some 
 candidate received a majority, or until the legislative session came to an end 
 without an election. Forty-seven years later (1913), this law was superseded 
 by the Seventeenth Amendment. 
 
THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 555 
 
 and paid out of the Treasury of the United States.^ They shall 
 in all Cases, except Treason, Felony, and Breach of the Peace, 
 be privileged from Arrest du.ring their Attendance of the Ses- 
 sion of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning 
 from the same ; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, 
 they shall not be questioned in any other Place. 
 
 iSTo Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for 
 which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the 
 Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, 
 or the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased during 
 such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United 
 States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continu- 
 ance in Office.^ 
 
 Section 7. All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in 
 the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or 
 concur with Amendments as on other Bills. 
 
 Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representa- 
 tives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be pre- 
 sented to the President of the United States ; If he approve he 
 shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections, 
 to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall 
 enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to 
 reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that 
 House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together 
 with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall like- 
 wise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that 
 House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes 
 of both Houses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and 
 the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall 
 be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any 
 Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days 
 (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, 
 
 1 How does this compare with the rule of the Articles of Confederation? 
 
 2 This paragraph, designed to prevent corruption by direct use of the exec- 
 utive patronage, was vehemently opposed by Hamilton and Gouverneur Morris. 
 See also a similar clause in Articles of Confederation. 
 
556 THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 
 
 the Same shall be a law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, 
 unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, 
 in which Case it shall not be a Law.^ 
 
 Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence 
 of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary 
 (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to 
 the President of the United States ; and before the Same shall 
 take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by 
 him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House 
 of Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations pre- 
 scribed in the Case of a Bill. 
 
 1 The first veto provision iu a State Constitution (New York, 1777) ran as 
 follows : — 
 
 " Section III. And whereas laws inconsistent with the spirit of this consti- 
 tution, or with the public good, may be hastily and unadvisedly passed : Be it 
 ordained that the governor tor the time being, the chancellor, and the judges 
 of the supreme court, or any two of them together with the governor, shall be 
 and hereby are constituted a council to revise all bills about to be passed into 
 laws by the legislature. . . . [Provision for veto procedure and reconsidera- 
 tion in language essentially the same as iu Massachusetts provision given 
 below.] 
 
 " And in order to prevent unnecessary delays, be it further ordained that 
 if any bill shall not be returned by the council within ten days after it shall 
 have been presented, the same shall be a law, unless the Legislature shall, by 
 their adjournment, render a return of the said bill within ten days impracti- 
 cable ; in which case the bill shall be returned on the first day of the Legisla- 
 ture after the expiration of the ten days." 
 
 The Veto Provision in the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780 ran : — 
 
 " Article IL No bill or resolve of the senate or house of representatives 
 shall become a law, and have force as such, until it shall have been laid before 
 the governor for his revisal; and if he, upon such revision, approve thereof, 
 he shall signify his approbation by signing the same. But if he have any 
 objection to the passing of such bill or resolve, he shall return the same, to- 
 gether with his objections thereto, in writing, to the senate or house of repre- 
 sentatives, in whatsoever the same shall have originated, who shall enter the 
 objections sent down by the governor, at large, on their records, and proceed 
 to reconsider the said bill or resolve; but if after such reconsideration, two- 
 thirds of the said senate or house of repi-esentatives shall, notwithstanding 
 the oTjjections, agree to pass the same, it shall, together with the objections, 
 be sent to the other branch of the legislature, when it shall also be reconsid- 
 ered, and if approved by two-thirds of the members present, shall have the 
 force of law ; but in all such cases, the vote of both houses shall be determined 
 
THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 557 
 
 Section 8. The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect 
 Taxes, Duties, Imposts, and Excises, to pay the Debts and pro- 
 vide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United 
 States ; ^ but all Duties, Imposts, and Excises shall be uniform 
 throughout the United States ; 
 
 To borrow Money on the Credit of the United States ; 
 
 To regulate Commerce with foreign I^ations, and among the 
 several States, and with the Indian Tribes ; 
 
 To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, ^ and 
 
 by yeas and nays ; and the names of the persons votmg for or against the said 
 bill or resolve shall be entered upon the public records of the Commonwealth. 
 
 " And in order to prevent unnecessary delays, if any bill or resolve shall not 
 be returned by the governor within five days after it shall have been presented, 
 the same shall have the force of law." 
 
 The Virginia Plan recommended essentially the New York method. The 
 Massachusetts delegates at Philadelphia, however, contended strenuously for 
 the plan in use in their State, and finally carried their point. The "pocket- 
 veto " clause (the last provision of the text above) was original in the Federal 
 Constitution. 
 
 1 Observe punctuation and paragraphing ; and see for comment American 
 History and Government, § 204 a. 
 
 -Citizenship, in practice, comes by birth or by admission by a court of 
 record under authority of a law of Congress. Two classes of people are citi- 
 zens by birth : (1) according to the Fourteenth Amendment, all who are born 
 within the limits of the United States (except children of official representa- 
 tives of foreign states, of a foreign army occupying part of our territory) ; 
 (2) according to a law of Congress, all who are born of parents who are Amer- 
 ican citizens but who were temporarily residing abroad. No one not included 
 in one of the above classes can become a citizen except by (1) a special Act 
 of Congress, or (2) by admission by a court of record under authority of the 
 general law passed by Congress. That law has varied from time to time (cf. 
 index, for some of the more important variations) ; but the usual period of 
 residence required for an alien, previous to admission, has been five years, — 
 which is also the present requirement (1913). The present law (passed in 1900) 
 requires also a two years' previous "notice of intention," and excludes all 
 who cannot " speak " English (unless homesteaders), all polygamists, and all 
 who disbelieve in "organized government." Some States, however, permit 
 aliens to vote after receiving their "first papers," — i.e., after making the 
 preliminary "declaration of intention," before a clerk of court. The final 
 admission rests with a judge, — who may make his examination of the appli- 
 cant rigid or a mere matter of form. The power has been sometimes abused 
 for political purposes, both in excluding and in admitting unfit aliens. 
 
558 THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 
 
 uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout 
 the United States ; 
 
 To coin Money, regulate the Vahie thereof, and of foreign 
 Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures ; 
 
 To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Secu- 
 rities and current Coin of the United States ; 
 
 To establish Post Offices and post Roads ; 
 
 To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by 
 securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the ex- 
 clusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries ; 
 
 To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court ; 
 
 To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on 
 the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations ; 
 
 To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and 
 make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water ; 
 
 To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money 
 to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years ; 
 
 To pi-ovide and maintain a Navy ; 
 
 To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the 
 land and naval Forces ; 
 
 To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws 
 of the Union, suppress Insurrections and rebel Invasions ; 
 
 To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the 
 Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed 
 in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States 
 respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority 
 of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed 
 by Congress ; 
 
 To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, 
 over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by 
 Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, 
 become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and 
 to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the 
 Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the same 
 shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock- 
 Yards, and other needful Buildings; — And 
 
THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 559 
 
 To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper ^ for 
 carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other 
 Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the 
 United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof. 
 
 Sectioist 9. [The Migration or Importation of such Persons 
 as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, 
 shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one 
 thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be 
 imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for 
 each Person.] 
 
 The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be 
 suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the 
 public Safety may require it. 
 
 No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed. 
 
 No Capitation, or other direct,^ Tax shall be laid, unless in 
 Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before di- 
 rected to be taken. 
 
 No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any 
 State. 
 
 No Preference shall be given by any Eegulation of Commerce 
 or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another : 
 nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to 
 enter, clear, or pay Duties in another.^ 
 
 No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Conse- 
 quence of Appropriations made by Law ; and a regular State- 
 ment and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all 
 public Money shall be published from time to time. 
 
 No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: 
 And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under 
 them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any 
 
 iFor commeut and reference, see American History and Government, 
 §§ 204 b, 222, 280 6. Cf. also with enumeration of powers in Articles of 
 Confederation. 
 
 2 Modified, so far as " direct" income taxes are concerned, by the Sixteenth 
 Amendment. 
 
 « With what clause iu Section 8 might this paragraph have been combined ? 
 
560 THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 
 
 present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, 
 from any King, Prince, or foreign State. 
 
 Section 10. No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, 
 or Confederation ; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal ; coin 
 Money ; emit Bills of Credit ; make any Thing but gold and 
 silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts ; pass any Bill of 
 Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation 
 of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility. 
 
 No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any 
 Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be 
 absolutely necessary for executing its inspection Laws : and 
 the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State 
 on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of 
 the United States ; and all such Laws shall be subject to the 
 Revision and Controul of the Congress. 
 
 No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any 
 Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of 
 Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another 
 State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless 
 actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not 
 admit of delay. ^ 
 
 (Exercise on Article One. — Are the names in Section 1 new in American 
 history ? Can Congress constitutionally provide for woman suffrage by 
 law ? If a Senator from your State were to die to-morrow, how would his 
 place be filled ? Would it have been filled differently, if it had happened 
 at any other time during the year ? How long would the new Senator keep 
 his seat? (The same questions as to a Representative.) How many 
 Representatives has your State ? When did it last gain or lose one ? 
 How many has the largest State in the Union (cf. World Almanac) ? 
 How many has the smallest State ? Do you need a World Almanac to 
 answer the last question ? Under what possible conditions can the pre- 
 siding olBcer of the Senate vote even when there is no tie ? With what 
 provision in Section 9 is the last paragraph of Section 3 logically connected ? 
 
 1 Additional prohibitions upon the States are contained in the Thirteenth, 
 Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, just as certain additional prohibitions 
 upon Congress are contained in Amendments 1-8. Compare with Section 10 
 the summary of prohibitions upon the State in the Articles of Confederation. 
 
THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 561 
 
 If a Representative utters plain treason on the floor of the House, can he 
 be punished? How? Commit to memory Sections. Make two questions 
 upon naturalization and citizenship, based upon the note on page 556. 
 Write appropriate headings for each section; e.g., for Section 8, " Powers 
 of Congi'ess.") 
 
 ARTICLE II 
 
 Section 1. The executive Power shall be vested in a Presi- 
 dent of the United States of America. He shall hold his 
 Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the 
 Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows 
 
 Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature 
 thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole 
 Number of Senators and Eepresentatives to which the State 
 may be entitled in the Congress : but no Senator or Represen- 
 tative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under 
 the United States, shall be appointed an Elector. 
 
 [The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote 
 by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be 
 , an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they 
 shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Num- 
 ber of Votes for each ; which List they shall sign and certify, 
 and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the 
 United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The 
 President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate 
 and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and 
 the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the 
 greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Num- 
 ber be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed ; 
 and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and 
 have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representa- 
 tives shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for Presi- 
 dent; and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five 
 highest on the List the said House shall in like Manner chuse 
 the President. But in chusing the President, the Votes shall be 
 taken by States, the Representation from each State having 
 one Vote ; A quorum for this Purpose shall consist of a Member 
 
562 THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 
 
 or Members from two thirds of the States, and a Majority of 
 all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, 
 after the Choice of the President, the Person having the great- 
 est Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. 
 But if there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, 
 the Senate shall chuse from them by Ballot the Vice Presi- 
 dent.] 1 
 
 The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Elec- 
 tors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which 
 Day shall be the same throughout the United States. 
 
 No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the 
 United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, 
 shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any 
 Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to 
 the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resi- 
 dent within the United States. 
 
 In Case of the Removal of the President fi-om Office, or of 
 his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers 
 and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the 
 Vice President, and the Congress may by Law provide for the 
 Case of Removal, Death, Resignation, or Inability, both of the 
 President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then 
 act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until 
 the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.'^ 
 
 The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, 
 
 1 Superseded by Twelfth Amendment, which might have been substituted 
 for this paragraph in the body of the document. 
 
 2 In 17!)2, Congress provided that the president pro tern of the Senate should 
 be next in succession, and after him the Speaker of the House. In 1886 (Jan. 
 19), this undesirable law was supplanted by a new one, placing the succession 
 (after the Vice President) in the following order : Secretary of State, Secretary 
 of the Treasury, Secretary of War, Attorney-General, Postmaster-General, 
 Secretary of the Navy, Secretary of the Interior. Cannot the student see on 
 what ground these officers are named in this order? Cf. American History 
 and Government, § 215 and note. This provides securely against any interreg- 
 num, and (what is almost as important) against a transfer by accident to an 
 opposite political party. 
 
THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 563 
 
 a Compensation, which shall neither be encreased nor dimin- 
 ished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, 
 and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolu- 
 ment from the United States, or any of them.^ 
 
 Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take 
 the following Oath or Affirmation: — 
 
 "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully exe- 
 cute the Office of President of the United States, and will to 
 the best of my Ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Con- 
 stitution of the United States." 
 
 Sectio]?^ 2. The President shall be Commander in Chief of 
 the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of 
 the several States, when called into the actual Service of the 
 United States ; he may reqviire the Opinion, in writing, of the 
 principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon 
 any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices,^ 
 and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for 
 Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeach- 
 ment. • 
 
 He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent 
 of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Sen- 
 ators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with 
 the Advice and Consent of the Senate,^ shall appoint Ambassa- 
 dors, other public Ministers and Constds, Judges of the supreme 
 Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose 
 Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which 
 shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law 
 
 1 What is the antecedent of " them " ? The salary of George Washington 
 was fixed by the First Congress at ,U;25,000. This amount remained unchanged 
 until 1871, when it was made $^50,000. In 1909, the salary was raised to 
 $75,000. Large allowances are made also, in these latter days, for expenses of 
 various sorts, — one item of $25,000 for instance, for traveling expenses,— 
 which is the reason the salary is commonly referred to as $100,000. 
 
 2 For the development of the "Cabinet," cf. American History and Govern- 
 ment, §215. 
 
 ^ lb., § 214, for different views, at the beginning of the government, as to 
 this clause, and for the settlement in practice. 
 
564 THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 
 
 vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think 
 proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the 
 Heads of Departments. 
 
 The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that 
 may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Com- 
 missions which shall expire at the End of their next Session. 
 
 Section 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress 
 Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their 
 Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and 
 expedient ; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both 
 Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between 
 them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may ad- 
 journ them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall 
 receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers ; he shall take 
 Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commis- 
 sion all the Officers of the United States. 
 
 Section 4. The President, Vice President, and all civil 
 Officers of the United States shall be removed from office on 
 Impeachment for, and conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other 
 high Crimes and Misdemeanours. 
 
 ARTICLE III 
 
 Section 1. The judicial Power of the United States, shall 
 be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as 
 the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. 
 The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall 
 hold their Offices during good Behavior, and shall, at stated 
 Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which shall 
 not be diminished during their Continuance in Office. 
 
 Section 2. The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in 
 Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of 
 the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, 
 under their Authority ; — to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, 
 other public Ministers and Consuls ; — to all Cases of admiralty 
 and maritime Jurisdiction ; — to Controversies to which the 
 United States shall be a Party ; — to Controversies between 
 
THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 565 
 
 two or more States ; — between a State and Citizens or another 
 State; ^ — between Citizens of different States, — between Citi- 
 zens of the same State claiming lands under Grants of different 
 States, — and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and 
 foreign States, Citizens or Subjects. 
 
 In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers 
 and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the 
 supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the 
 other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have 
 appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Pact, with such Ex- 
 ceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall 
 make. 
 
 The trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, 
 shall be by Jury ; and such Trial shall be held in the State 
 where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when 
 not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such 
 Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed. 
 
 Section 3. Treason against the United States, shall consist 
 only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their 
 Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be 
 convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Wit- 
 nesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court. 
 
 The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment 
 of Treason, but no attainder of Treason shall work Corruption 
 of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person 
 attainted.^ 
 
 (On the appellate jurisdiction, cf. American History and Government, 
 §§ 207 a and 217. Section 25 of the Judiciary Act of 1789, still in force, 
 defines that jurisdiction as follows: 
 
 '■'■And be it further enacted, That a final judgment or decree in any 
 suit, in the highest court of law or equity of a State in which a decision 
 
 1 Limited by the Eleventh Amendment to cases begun by a State as plaintiff. 
 Cf. American History and Government, § 218. 
 
 2 The last three paragraphs of this section might have been included ad- 
 vantageously in a " bill of rights." What preceding paragraphs might have 
 been so disposed of? 
 
566 THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 
 
 in the suit could be had, when is drawn in question the validity of a 
 treaty or statute of, or an authority exercised under, the United States, 
 and the decision is against their validity; or when is drawn in question 
 the validity of a statute of, or an authority exercised under, any State, on 
 the ground of their being repugnant to the Constitution, treaties, or laws 
 of the United States, and the decision is in favor of such their validity ; 
 or when is drawn in question the construction of any clause of the Con- 
 stitution, or of a treaty, or statute of, or commission held under, the 
 United States, and the decision is against the title, right, privilege, or 
 exemption, especially set up or claimed . . . under such clause of the 
 said Constitution, treaty, statute, or commission, may be re-examined, 
 and revised or affirmed in the Supreme Court of the United States upon 
 a writ of error ..." 
 
 On the establishment of "inferior courts," cf. American History and 
 Government, § 217. Such courts at present (1913) are from the bottom 
 up: — 
 
 1. District Courts. Over ninety in 1911 ; the law of 1789 provided for 
 thirteen. 
 
 2. Circuit Courts. Nine, each three justices. The first law, 1789, 
 provided three circuit courts, but no special circuit judges ; a circuit court 
 then consisted of a justice of the Supreme Court " or circuit " and one or 
 more judges of district courts included within the circuit. This remained 
 the rule with a brief attempt at change in 1801, as described in § 240, until 
 1866, when separate circuit justices were provided. 
 
 3. Circuit Courts of Appeals. One for each of the nine circuits, com- 
 posed of a justice of the Supreme Court and of other Federal judges — 
 not less than three in all, and not including any justice from whose deci- 
 sion the appeal is taken. This order of courts was" instituted in 1891, to 
 relieve the Supreme Court which was then hopelessly overburdened with 
 appeals from lower courts. In most cases, now, the decision of the circuit 
 court of appeals is final. 
 
 4. The Supreme Court. One Chief Justice and eight Associate 
 Justices. Its business now is confined very largely to those supremely 
 important matters specified in the Constitution and in the law of 1789 
 quoted above. 
 
 There are also three special courts, somewhat outside this system : (1) 
 the Federal Court of Claims, to determine money claims against the 
 United States, established in 1855 ; (2) Coin-t of Customs Appeals, 
 established in 1909 ; and (3) the Commerce Court, created in 1910, to 
 revise the work of the Interstate Commerce Commission.) 
 
THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 567 
 
 ARTICLE IV 
 
 Section 1. Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each 
 State to the public Acts, Kecords, and judicial Proceeding of 
 every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws 
 prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Pro- 
 ceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof. 
 
 Section 2. The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to 
 all Privileges and immunities of Citizens in the several States.^ 
 
 A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or 
 other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in an- 
 other State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the 
 State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to 
 the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime. 
 
 [No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under 
 the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence 
 of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such 
 Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on claim of the 
 Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due.]^ 
 
 Section 3. New States may be admitted by the Congress 
 into this Union ; but no new State shall be formed or erected 
 within the Jurisdiction 'of any other State ; nor any State be 
 formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of 
 States, without the consent of the Legislatures of the States 
 concerned as well as of the Congress. 
 
 The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all 
 needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or 
 other Property belonging to' the United States; and nothing 
 in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any 
 Claims of the United States, or of any particular State. 
 
 Section 4. The United States shall guarantee to every 
 State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and 
 
 1 Extended by Fourteenth Amendment. 
 
 2 Superseded by Thirteenth Amendment so far as it relates to slaves. 
 
 8 On the significance of this language as to Territory, cf. American History 
 and Government, § 260 c. 
 
568 THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 
 
 shall protect each of them against Invasion ; and on Applica- 
 tion of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legisla- 
 ture cannot be convened) against domestic Violence. 
 
 ARTICLE VI 
 
 The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall 
 deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Consti- 
 tution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds 
 of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing 
 Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all In- 
 tents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified 
 by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by 
 Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other 
 Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress ; Pro- 
 vided [that no Amendment which may be made prior to the 
 Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Man- 
 ner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of 
 the first Article ; and] that no State, without its Consent, shall 
 be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate. 
 
 ARTICLE VI 
 
 All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before 
 the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the 
 United States under this Constitution, as under the Confedera- 
 tion. 
 
 This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which 
 shall be made in Pursuance thereof ; and all Treaties made, 
 or which shall be made, imder the Authority of the United 
 States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land ; and the Judges 
 
 1 Article V, as far as to the bi-ackets, should be committed to memory. 
 Note the four varieties of amendment provided. Only one has ever been 
 used (1913). Congress has always proposed, and State legislatures ratified. 
 On the amending clause in general, cf . index to American History and Gov- 
 ernment. 
 
THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 569 
 
 in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Con- 
 stitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.^ 
 The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the 
 Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive 
 and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the 
 several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to sup- 
 port this Constitution ; but no religious Test shall ever be 
 required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under 
 
 the United States. 
 
 ARTICLE VII 
 
 The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be 
 sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between 
 the States so ratifying the Same. 
 
 (Exercise. — Write headings for each Article in the Constitution. Re- 
 state Sections 1 and 2 of Article IV in form appropriate for insertion 
 in Section 10 of Article I. Cf. with corresponding provisions in the 
 Articles of Confederation and in the Constitution of the New England 
 Confederation. Can you restate Sections 3 and 4 so as to fit them for 
 insertion under any preceding Article ? Observe that Articles I, II, III, 
 and V give the framework. Article VII, highly important at the time, 
 had but temporary significance.) 
 
 AMENDMENTS 
 
 Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of 
 religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ; or abridging 
 the freedom of speech, or of the press ; or the right of the 
 people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government 
 for a redress of grievances. 
 
 [ii] 
 A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of 
 a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, 
 shall not be infringed. 
 
 ^On the history of this clause, cf. § 207 a. 
 
 2 Originally, the first twelve amendments were not numbered iu the official 
 manuscripts. 
 
570 THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 
 
 [iii] 
 
 No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, 
 without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a 
 manner to be prescribed by Law. 
 
 [iv] 
 
 The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, 
 papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, 
 shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon 
 probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and partic- 
 ularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or 
 things to be seized. 
 
 [V] 
 
 No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise 
 infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of 
 a Grand Jury except in cases arising in the land or naval 
 forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of war 
 or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the 
 same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb ; nor 
 shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against 
 himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without 
 due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for 
 public use, without just compensation. 
 
 [vi] 
 
 In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right 
 to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State 
 and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, 
 which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, 
 and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation ; 
 to be confronted with the witnesses against him ; to have 
 compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and 
 to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence. 
 
THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 571 
 
 [vii] 
 
 In suits at common law, where the value in controversy 
 shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be 
 preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re- 
 examined in any Court of the United States, than according to 
 the rules of the common law. 
 
 [viii] 
 
 Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines 
 imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 
 
 [ix] 
 
 The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall 
 not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the 
 people. 
 
 The powers not delegated to the United States by the Consti- 
 tution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the 
 States respectively or to the people. 
 
 [xi]2 
 
 The Judicial power of the United States shall not be con- 
 strued to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or 
 prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of 
 another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State. 
 
 [xii]3 
 
 The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote 
 by ballot for President and Vice President, one of whom, at 
 
 1 These first ten amendments were in force after November 3, 1791. Cf. 
 comment in Amorican History and Government, § 21fi. They are usually 
 referred to as the Bill of Rights. It is a suggestive exercise to rewrite the 
 " bill of rights," incorporating all those features of that character which are 
 included in the body of the Constitution. 
 
 2 Proclaimed to be in force January 8, 1798. For the history, of. lb-, § 217. 
 8 Proclaimed in force September 2.5, 1804. Cf. lb., § 241. 
 
572 THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 
 
 least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with them- 
 selves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as 
 President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice 
 President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons 
 voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice 
 President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they 
 shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the 
 government of the United States, directed to the President of 
 the Senate ; — The President of the Senate shall, in the pres- 
 ence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the 
 certificates and the votes shall then be counted; — The person 
 having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the 
 President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of 
 Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then 
 from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding 
 three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of 
 Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the Presi- 
 dent. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken 
 by States, the representation from each State having one vote ; 
 a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members 
 from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States 
 shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Represen- 
 tatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice 
 shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next 
 following, then the Vice President shall act as President, as in 
 the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the 
 President. — The person having the greatest number of votes 
 as Vice President, shall be the Vice President, if such number 
 be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and 
 if no person have a majority, then from the two highest num- 
 bers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice President; a 
 quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole 
 number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall 
 be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineli- 
 gible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice 
 President of the United States. 
 
THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 573 
 
 [xiii] 1 
 
 Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, ex- 
 cept as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have 
 been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or 
 any place subject to their jurisdiction. 
 
 Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article 
 by appropriate legislation. 
 
 [xiv] ^ 
 
 Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United 
 States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of 
 the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No 
 State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the 
 privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States: nor 
 shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, 
 without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its 
 jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. 
 
 Section 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among 
 the several States according to their respective numbers, 
 counting the whole number of persons in each State, exclud- 
 ing Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any 
 election for the choice of electors for President and Vice 
 President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, 
 the Executive and Judicial offices of a State, or the members 
 of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabit- 
 ants of such State, being twenty one years of age, and citizens 
 of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for partici- 
 pation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation 
 therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number 
 of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male 
 citizens twenty one years of age in such State. 
 
 Section 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative 
 in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or 
 
 1 Proclaimed in force December 18, 1865. On Amendments Thirteen to 
 Fifteen inclusive, of. Ih., §§:577, 385 ff. 
 
 2 Proclaimed in force July 28, 1868. 
 
574 THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 
 
 hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or 
 under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a 
 member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or 
 as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or 
 judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the 
 United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion 
 against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies there- 
 of. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, 
 remove such disability. 
 
 Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United 
 States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for pay- 
 ment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing 
 insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither 
 the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt 
 or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against 
 the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of 
 any slave ; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be 
 held illegal and void. 
 
 Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by 
 appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. 
 
 [XV] ^ 
 
 Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote 
 shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any 
 State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servi- 
 tude. 
 
 Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this 
 article by appropriate legislation. 
 
 [xvi] 2 
 
 The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on 
 incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment 
 among the States, and without regard to any census or enumera- 
 tion. 
 
 1 Proclaimed in force March 30, 1870. 
 
 2 Ratified in 1913, while these pages were at press. 
 
THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 575 
 
 [xvii] 1 
 
 The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two 
 Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof for six 
 years ; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in 
 each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of 
 the most numerous branch of the State Legislatures. 
 
 When vacancies happen in the representation of any State 
 in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue 
 writs of election to fill vacancies : Provided, that the Legislature 
 of any State may empower the executive thereof to make 
 temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by 
 election as the legislature may direct. 
 
 This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the 
 election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid 
 as a part of the Constitution. 
 
 1 Ratified in 1913, while these pages were at press. 
 
INDEX OF SOURCES 
 
 The Writings of statesmen or the Records of a colony are sometimes 
 indexed twice, — once by title, under the name of the subject, and once 
 by the name of the editor. The latter is done, however, only in cases 
 where it is customary to quote the work with the editor's name, as with 
 Hening's Statutes. Authors' and editors' names, when standing first, are 
 in heavy-faced type. Titles, even when the work is indexed by title 
 rather than by editor, are in italics. Each entry closes with a list of the 
 selections in this volume which are based upon it. In many cases the in- 
 troduction to the first number in each such list contains additional biblio- 
 graphical material, when it seems worth while to present such material 
 anywhere. 
 
 Adams, John, The Works of (Boston ; 
 10 vols. ; edited by Charles Francis 
 Adams). Nos. 130 a, b, c, 146. 
 
 Adams, John, Letters of, addressed to 
 h i.^ Wife (Boston ; 2 vols.) . No. 138 b. 
 
 Arber, Edward (editor), The Story 
 of the Pilgrim Fathers (London). 
 No. 48 a. 
 
 Arnold, Samuel Greene, History 
 of Rhode Island (Providence ; 2 
 vols.). No. 90. 
 
 " Aspinwall Papers," the, in Massa- 
 chusetts Historical Society Collec- 
 tions, 4th series, IX. No. 31 6. 
 
 Bacon (editor), The Laws of Mary- 
 land. See Maryland. 
 
 Bancroft, George, History of the 
 Constitution (New York, 2 vols.). 
 No. 162. 
 
 Besse, Joseph, A Collection of the 
 Sufferings of the People called 
 Quakers (London; 17.53). No. 88. 
 
 Boston Town Records (Report of the 
 Record Commissioners for 1887). 
 No. 122. 
 
 Bradford, William, Plymouth Plan- 
 tation ("Original Narratives" edi- 
 tion). Nos. 43, 44, 45. 
 
 British Record Office, The manuscript 
 Charter of the Company of West- 
 minster for the Plantation of Provi- 
 dence Isle. No. 55. 
 
 Brown, Alexander, The First Re- 
 public in America (Houghton). No. 
 3, note. 
 
 Genesis of the United States 
 
 (Houghton; 2 vols.). Nos. 4, 5, 
 7, 10, 18, 22. 
 
 Burroughs, Edward. A Declaration 
 of the Sad and Great Persecution 
 and Martyrdom of Quakers in 
 New England (London; 1660). No. 
 88 6. 
 
 Caleyidar of State Papers, Colonial 
 Series, 1574-1660 (W. Noel Sains- 
 bury, editor). No. 55. 
 
 Calvin, John, Institutes (the transla- 
 tion of 1813, London). No. 61. 
 
 Congress, Journals of the Continental 
 (Ford edition). Nos. 130 c, d, 138 a, 
 140, 141. 
 
 576 
 
INDEX OF SOURCES 
 
 577 
 
 lb. (Philadelphia edition, 1801). No. 
 
 148, a, b. 
 Connecticut, Colonial Records of 
 
 (Hartford; 15 vols.). Nos. 93, 97. 
 
 Documentary History of the Consti- 
 tution (Wa.shingtou ; Goverument 
 Printing Office; 4 vols.). No. 153. 
 
 Dorchester Toion Records (edited by 
 the Boston Record Conunissioners). 
 Nos. 6«, 81. 
 
 Drayton, Michael, Poems (London : 
 1619). No. 4. 
 
 Eddes, ■William, Letters from Amer- 
 ica (London ; 1792). No. 116. 
 
 Federal Convention, The Records of 
 the (edited by Farrand). 3 vols. 
 Nos. 155, 156, 157, 158, 160, 163. 
 
 Force, Peter (editor), American 
 Archives, Fourth Series (Washing- 
 ton ; 6 vols.). Nos. 125 a, 127, 128 
 a, b, c, 129 a, b, c, d, e, 131, 132 a, b, 
 134, 135. 
 
 Historical Tracts (Washington; 
 
 1836 ; 4 vols.) . Nos. 6, 9, 23, 26, 62 c. 
 
 Franklin, Benjamin, The Works of 
 (Smyth edition ; Putnam's ; 10 vols.) . 
 No. 114 a. 
 
 " Goodspeed to Virginia" (in Brown's 
 Genesis of the United States). No. 
 5. 
 
 Gorges, Sir Ferdinando, "Briefe 
 Narration," Massachusetts Histor- 
 ical Society Collections, 3d series, 
 VI. Nos. 51 a, 53 note. 
 
 Hakluyt, Richard, Voyages . . . 
 and Discoveries of the English Ela- 
 tion (published in 1589; quoted here 
 from the Goldschmid edition). Nos. 
 2, 15. 
 
 A Discourse on Western Plant- 
 ing (republished in the Maine His- 
 torical Society Collections, 2d series, 
 II). No. 3. 
 
 Hamilton, Alexander, The Works of 
 (Federalist edition ; Putnam's ; 12 
 vols.). No. 159. 
 
 Hazard, Ebenezer (editor). Histor- 
 ical Collections of State Papers. 
 (Commonly quoted as Hazard's State 
 Papers. Washington, 1792; 2 vols.). 
 Nos. 29, 30, 39 a, b, 42, 46 addendum, 
 51 a. 
 
 Hazard, Samuel (editor) ; Annals 
 of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia). 
 No. 103. 
 
 Hening, William W. (editor). Stat- 
 utes at Large, being a Collection of 
 the Laivs of Virginia. (Richmond, 
 1823; 13 vols.) Nos. 17, 31, 33, 34, 
 35, 105, 106, 109. 
 
 Higginson, Francis, " Relation of 
 New England's Plantation" (1629; 
 reprinted in Young's Chronicles of 
 3fassachusetts Bay). No. 59 d. 
 
 Holinshed, Raphael, Chronicles of 
 England, Scotland, and Ireland 
 (London; 1577). No. 1. 
 
 Hutchinson, Thomas (editor) , Col- 
 lection of Original Papers (pub- 
 lished as a third volume, in the 
 nature of an appendix, of his History 
 of Massachusetts Bay). Nos. 53, 
 .58 fo, 59 a, 76 a, 86, 110. 
 
 History of Massachusetts Bay 
 
 (London; 1769). Nos. 60 a, 75, 76 b, 
 92. 
 
 Jefferson, Thomas, The Writings of 
 (Ford edition; Putnams; 10 vols.). 
 Nos. 123 a, 136 addendum. 
 
 Jefferson, Thomas, The Works of 
 (Washington edition ; 9 vols.). No. 
 125 b. 
 
 Johnson, Captain Edward, The 
 Wonder-working Providence of 
 Sions Saviour in Neio England 
 (London; 1654). No. 54 6. 
 
 Kingsbury, Susan (editor), Records 
 of the Virginia Company of Lon- 
 
578 
 
 INDEX OF SOURCES 
 
 don (Washington, 1906). See Vir- 
 ginia. 
 
 Lechford, Thomas, Plaine Dealing 
 (1(341 ; republished in Massachusetts 
 Historical Society Collections). No. 
 85. 
 
 Madison, James, Journal of the 
 Philadelphia Conveiition (also in 
 Farrand's Records of the Federal 
 Convention). Nos. 159, 161. 
 
 Marston, John, Eastward Hoe ! 
 (Loudon; 1605). No. 8. 
 
 Maryknid, Proceedings of the Conven- 
 tions of (Baltimore). No. 139. 
 
 Mason, George, Life and Correspon- 
 dence of (by Kate Mason Rowland ; 
 2 vols.). Nos. 121 note, 136 adden- 
 dum, 162. 
 
 Massachusetts, Colonial Records of 
 (Boston ; 7 vols. ; edited by Nathan- 
 iel Shurtleff). Nos. 53, 57, 58 o, c, 
 65, 72, 75 b, 80 addendum, 82. 
 
 Massachusetts, Historical Society Col- 
 lections. Nos. 31 h, 41, 47, 53, 85, 107. 
 
 Massachusetts Bay, Acts and Re- 
 solves of the Province of (Boston ; 
 7 vols.) 110 b. 
 
 Minot, George Richards, History 
 of the Insurrections in Masgachn- 
 setts in the Year MDCCLXXXVI 
 (Worcester; 1788). No. 151 6. 
 
 Moore, Frank (editor). Diary of the 
 American Revolution (Scribner's ; 
 2 vols.). No. 142 6. 
 
 Morris, Gouverneur, Life and Writ- 
 ings of (Sparks' edition; 3 vols.). 
 No. 150. 
 
 Neill, Edward D., The Virginia Com- 
 pany (Albany, N. Y. ; 1869). No. 18. 
 
 Virginia and Virginiola (Albany, 
 
 N. Y. ; 1878). No. 11. 
 
 New Hampshire, Provincial Papers 
 of (Concord ; by a series of editors). 
 No. 110. 
 
 New Haven, Colonial Records of 
 (Hartford, 2 vols.). No. 94. 
 
 Neio Jersey Archives, First Series, 
 Vols. XXV and XXVII ("News- 
 paper Extracts" for 1769-1770 and 
 1770-1771). Nos. 117, 120 d. 
 
 Neio York, Documents relative to the 
 Colordal History of (by a series 
 of editors). Nos. 99, 101, 111 d, 
 114 6. 
 
 Niles, Hezekiah, Principles and Acts 
 of the Revolution in America 
 (Baltimore; 1822). No. 142 c. 
 
 North Carolina, Colonial Records of 
 (Raleigh ; 10 vols. ; edited by W. L. 
 Saunders). No. Ill a. 
 
 Nova Britannia (London; 1609; re- 
 published in Force's HistoHcal 
 Tracts). Nos. 6, 20. 
 
 Peckham, Sir George, True Report 
 [of Gilbert's Voyage], (1582; repub- 
 lished in Hakluyt's Voyages). 
 No. 2. 
 
 Pennsylvania, Charters and Laws of 
 (Harrisburg ; 1879) . No. 102. 
 
 Plymouth Colony, Records of (Bos- 
 ton ; 12 vols.) . Nos. 94, 95, 96. 
 
 Poore, Benjamin Parley (editor). 
 Charters and Constitutions (Wash- 
 ington ; Government Printing 
 Office). No. 15. 
 
 Purchas, Samuel, Purchas his Pil- 
 grimes (1625; London ; 4 vols.). No. 
 19 a. 
 
 Ramsey, David, History of the 
 American Revolution (1789; 2 
 vols.). No. 145. 
 
 Rhode Island, Colonial Records of 
 (Providence; 10 vols.). Nos. 91, 
 98. 
 
 Rowland, Kate Mason, Life and 
 Correspondence of George Mason 
 (New York; 2 vols.). See George 
 Mason. 
 
INDEX OF SOURCES 
 
 579 
 
 Scharf, J. Thomas, History of 
 Maryland (Pliiladelphia ; 3 vols.). 
 Nos. 36, 38. 
 
 Scharf and Westcott, History 
 
 of Philadelphia (Philadelphia; 3 
 
 vols.). Nos. 124, 143. 
 Smith, Captain John, Complete Works 
 
 of (Birmingham edition). Nos. 13, 
 
 14, 48 b, rn'b. 
 
 Statutes at Large, from Magna Carta 
 to 1869 (Cambridge, 110 vols. ; com- 
 monly quoted, from the editor, as 
 Pickering's Statutes). Nos. 100 c, 
 118, 119. 
 
 Stlth, William, History of Virginia, 
 (1747; edited by Sabin and re- 
 printed in 1865). Nos. 16, 20, 21. 
 
 Thorpe, Francis (editor), American 
 Charters and Constitutions (Wash- 
 ington ; Government Printing OtHce ; 
 7 vols.). No. -15. 
 
 Tyler, Moses Colt, Literary History 
 of the American Revolution (Put- 
 nam's; 2 vols.). 144. 
 
 United States, Revised Statutes of 
 (1878). No. 147. 
 
 Virginia, Calendar of State Papers of 
 (Richmond; 11 vols.). No. 133. 
 
 Virginia, Colonial Records of (edited 
 by Wynne and Gilman). No. 25. 
 
 Virginia, Journals of the House of 
 Burgesses of (Putnam's; 10 vols.). 
 Nos." 120 a, h. c, 123 b, 125 c, d, e, f. 
 
 Virginia Company of London, Rec- 
 ords of the (Washington; 1906; 2 
 
 vols.; edited by Susan Kingsbury). 
 Nos. 12, 24, 26 28. 
 
 Virginia Magazine of History and 
 Biography (Richmond). Nos. 31 b, 
 37 o, b, c, 108. 
 
 Ward, Nathaniel, The Simple Cob- 
 bler of Agguwamm (London; 1647). 
 No. 84 a. 
 
 Washington, George. The Writings of 
 (Washington edition). Nos. 121 b, 
 151 b. 
 
 Watertown, Records of the Town of. 
 No. 83. 
 
 White, John, Brief Relation (1630; 
 reprinted in Young's Chronicles). 
 No. 56. 
 
 Whitmore, W. H., Bibliographical 
 Sketch of the Laws of the Massachu- 
 setts Colony (Boston). No. 78. 
 
 Winthrop, John, History of New 
 England ("Original Narratives" 
 edition). Nos. 62, 64, 67, 68, 69, 70, 
 71, 73, 74, 77, 79, 80. 
 
 Winthrop, John, Life and Letters of 
 (Boston ; 2 vols. ; edited by Robert 
 C. Winthrop). Nos. 59 «, b, c, 62 b. 
 
 Writings of Lace (a series of letters 
 from Federalists attacking John 
 Hancock in the campaign of 1789) . 
 No. 164. 
 
 Young, Alexander (editor) , Chroni- 
 cles of Massachusetts (Boston ; 1846). 
 Nos. 56, 59 d. 
 
 Zenger, John Peter, Brief Narra- 
 tive of the Case mid Tryall of John 
 Peter Zenger (New York; 1738). 
 No. 113. 
 
SUBJECT INDEX 
 
 The references are to the numbers of selections, not to pages. 
 
 Adams, John, account of debates in 
 Continental Congress, 130a ; impres- 
 sions of First Continental Congress, 
 130 b ; on resolution of Congress of 
 May 15, 1776, for State governments 
 138 b ; on first independent govern- 
 ment in South Carolina, ib. ; on anti- 
 social tendencies of pre-Revt)lution- 
 ary measures (the horse-jockey 
 client), 142. 
 
 Aggawamm, the Simple Cobbler 
 of, see Ward. 
 
 Albany Plan, the, for union of col- 
 onies, 114 a and h. 
 
 Albion, Charter of the Province 
 of (1()34), representative feature, 39. 
 
 Annapolis Convention, the, re- 
 garded as part of an aristocratic 
 plot, 152; its call for the Federal 
 Convention, 153. 
 
 Avalon, Baltimore's colony of, 36 ; 
 charter the first royal grant recog- 
 nizing popular government, 38, 39. 
 
 Bacon, Nathaniel, Rebellion, 106- 
 109; "Bacon's laws," 106; Bacon's 
 Proclamation, 107 ; causes of rebel- 
 lion, 108; reforms of, abolished, 109. 
 
 Ballot, used by London Company in 
 England, 23, 28 (2), 28 (3) ; used in 
 Massachusetts first, 67 «, note ; 
 adopted legally for general elections 
 in Massachusetts General Court, 70 ; 
 used for secrecy in a Boston town 
 election, 71 ; develops from " prox- 
 ies," 73. 
 
 Baltimore, First Lord, the, letter 
 from Avalon to Charles I, 36. 
 
 Berkeley, Sir William, Commission 
 of 1641 authorizing the Assembly, 
 32 a ; report of 1671 on conditions in 
 Virginia, 104. See Bacon. 
 
 Bill of Rights, the first, in Virginia 
 (June, 1776), 1:3(3. 
 
 "Body of Liberties," the (of Mas- 
 sachusetts), 77, 78. 
 
 Boston Port Bill, effect in Virginia, 
 125. 
 
 Boston town meeting', and colonial 
 politics. 111 c; 122. 
 
 Bradford, William, charter from 
 New England Council, 49; surrender 
 
 . of charter to colonists, 50. 
 
 Cambridge Agreement, the, 58 6. 
 
 Charter colonies, recommendation 
 of Board of Trade to abolish. 111 a. 
 
 Charters, Royal to Proprietors ; Gil- 
 bert's, of 1578 (and Raleigh's of 
 1584) , 15 ; Baltimore's for Maryland, 
 37 ; for Avalon, 38 ; for New Albion 
 and Maine, 39; Duke of York's for 
 New York, 101 ; Penn's for Penn.syl- 
 vania, 102. Royal to proprietary 
 corporations in England : First Vir- 
 ginia Charter (to London and Plym- 
 outh branches of a colonizing com- 
 pany) , 16 ; Second Charter, 20 : Third 
 Charter, 21 ; to New England Coun- 
 cil (1620) , 42 ; to Massachusetts Bay 
 Company, 53 ; to Company of West- 
 minster for Providence Isle, 55. 
 Royal to ^^corporations iipon the 
 place" : parliamentary to Williams 
 in 1648, 91 ; Connecticut Charter of 
 1662, 97; Rhode Island (1663), 98; 
 
 580 
 
SUBJECT INDEX 
 
 The references are to the numbers of selections. 
 
 581 
 
 Massachusetts (Ifiitl), 110. From 
 proprietary corporations or propri- 
 etors to settlers : Virgiuia Company 
 of Loudon to Virginians, 25, 27; to 
 intending Pilgrim settlers (Wincob 
 charter), 43, 45 ; New England Coun- 
 cil to Pierce for Plymouth, 47 ; to 
 Bradford, 49; to Robert Gorges as 
 proprietor in Massachusetts, 51 ; 
 Fenn's grants to Pennsylvanians — 
 Laws agreed upon in England, 103 a ; 
 Charter of 1701, 103 b. 
 
 Child, Robert, demand for the fran- 
 chise in Massachusetts for Presby- 
 terians, 8(3. 
 
 Christison, Wenlock, trial as a 
 Quaker, 88 b. 
 
 Colonial Department (English), 
 established, 99. 
 
 Colonization, hardships, of Balti- 
 more in Avalon, 30; at Jamestown, 
 19; in Massachusetts Bay, 62 a, b, c. 
 
 Committees of Correspondence 
 (Revolutionary) , towns in Massachu- 
 setts, 122; intercolonial — Jeffer- 
 son's account of creation, 123 ; reso- 
 lution of Virginia, Burgesses for, 
 123 b ; correspondence of, 123 c ; and 
 regarding call for Continental Con- 
 gress, 125/. 
 
 Confederation, New England, 94, 95, 
 9<); Franklin's " Albany Plan," 114; 
 Continental Congress, 125 ff. : de- 
 bates in Congress regarding charac- 
 ter of, 14<) ; the Articles, 147 ; anar- 
 chy under, 150, 151. 
 
 Connecticut, Fundamental Orders, 
 93 ; charter, 97 ; refusal to accept a 
 royal commander of militia. 111 d. 
 
 Connecticut Compromise, in the 
 
 Federal Convention, Ifil. 
 
 Constitution, the Federal, Annap- 
 olis Convention, 152; (!all for Phila- 
 delphia Convention, 15.3; credentials 
 of delegates, 154 ; George Mason on 
 preliminaries and on aristocratic 
 forces in, 155, 157 ; Virginia Plan, 
 
 15(); New Jersey Plan, 158; Hamil- 
 ton's Plan, 159; the critical day's 
 debate on the Connecticut Compro- 
 mise, 161 ; ratification, 162 ff. ; docu- 
 ment and amendments, 165. 
 
 Continental Congress, the First, 
 proposed by Virginia ex-Burgesses, 
 125 e; Rhode Island appoints dele- 
 gates, 125/; "called" by Massa- 
 chusetts, 126 ; suggested also by Vir- 
 ginia county, 127 ; method of voting 
 decided, 130 a; Adams' impressions 
 of, 130 b ; Declaration of Rights, 130 
 c; aud the Association, 130 d. 
 
 Cotton, Rev. John, denounces de- 
 mocracy, 67 «, 71, 75 (addendum); 
 letter to English lords on Massachu- 
 setts conditions, 75; on rules of fair 
 trade, 79 ; against toleration, 84 c. 
 
 Crashaw, "Daily Prayer," for use 
 in Virginia, 9; sermon before Dela- 
 ware's expedition (on players), 10. 
 
 Cushman, Robert, to Pastor Robin- 
 son, 43. 
 
 Dale, Sir Thomas, to London Com- 
 pany, on glories of Virginia, 12. 
 
 Dates, New Style and Old, 21. 
 
 Democracy, decried by Puritan 
 leaders: Calvin, 61; Cotton and 
 Winthrop, 67 a, 71, 75 (addendum), 
 77, 80 ; and sumj^tuary legislation 
 in Massachusetts, 75 b ; denounced 
 by Hamilton in Federal Convention, 
 159; establishes government by 
 town meeting, 66. 
 
 Dorchester, school code, 81. 
 
 Drayton, Ode to the Virginian 
 Voyage, 4. 
 
 Ducking stool, the, 115. 
 
 Dudley, Thomas, to Countess of 
 Lincoln on first winter in Massachu- 
 setts, 62 c. 
 
 " East-ward Hoe ! ", 8. 
 Exeter, " Combination of Settlers ' 
 at, 46 (addendum). 
 
582 
 
 SUBJECT INDEX 
 
 The references are to the numbers of selections. 
 
 Fairfax County (Virginia), resolu- 
 tions for First Continental Congress, 
 129 b ; for Revolutionary militia, 132. 
 
 Fauquier, Francis (Governor of 
 Virginia), to Lords of Trade, on 
 resignation of Mercer, Stamp Dis- 
 tributor, 120 c. 
 
 Fletcher (Governor of New York), 
 and Connecticut militia. 111 d. 
 
 Franchise, in Virginia, 35, 105, 107, 
 109; in Massachusetts, denied to 
 Presbyterians, 86. 
 
 Frankland, State of, 148. 
 
 Franklin, Benjamin, Albany plan 
 of, 114 a and 6 ; characterized in 
 Federal Convention by Pierce, 160. 
 
 Free speech, denied in Massachu- 
 setts in 1635, 69, 77; vindicated in 
 New York in Zenger trial, 113. 
 
 French Alliance, the Conservatives' 
 fear of, 144. 
 
 " Gentlemen," in 16th century Eng- 
 land, 1 ; in early Virginia, 19 h ; in 
 colonial Massachusetts, 75 a and h. 
 
 Georgia, credentials of delegates to 
 
 Federal Convention, 154. 
 Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, charter, 15. 
 
 " Goodspeed to Virginia," on 
 motives for colonization, 5. 
 
 Gorges, Sir Ferdinando, and grant 
 of Massachusetts, 39 b ; and reor- 
 ganization of Plymouth Council, 42 ; 
 " Briefe Narration " of, 51 a, 53 
 note. 
 
 Gorges, Robert, grant from Plym- 
 outh Council (representative fea- 
 tures), 51 a, 53 note. 
 
 Hakluyt, Rev. Richard, on motives 
 for colonization, 3. 
 
 Hamilton, Alexander, plan for the 
 Constitution (denunciation of de- 
 mocracy), 159; character sketch of, 
 in Federal Convention, 160. 
 
 Hamilton, James, and the Zenger 
 trial, 113. 
 
 Hancock, John, and inducement to 
 favor the Constitution, 164. 
 
 Harvey, Sir John, " Propositions 
 for Virginia," suggesting restora- 
 tion of the Assembly, 32 a. 
 
 Henry, Patrick, Stamp Act Reso- 
 lutions, 120 a ; creation of Commit- 
 tees of Correspondence, 123 a ; and 
 call for First Continental Congress, 
 125 6; in debates in Congress ("I 
 am not a Virginian "), 130 a. 
 
 Higginson, Rev. Francis, Agree- 
 ment with Massachusetts Company, 
 56; Relation, 59 d. 
 
 Higginson, Stephen, on John Han- 
 cock and ratification of Constitu- 
 tion, 164. 
 
 Hutchinson, Thomas, and Boston 
 town meeting, 122. 
 
 Indentured servants, see White 
 servants. 
 
 Independence, Virginia county in- 
 structions for, 134; Virginia Con- 
 vention, instructions for, 135; 
 Virginia Declaration of, 137; Con- 
 gressional resolutions for independ- 
 ent State governments, 138 a and b 
 State instructions against, 139 
 Lee's motion for in Congress, 140 
 the Declaration, 140; sets free social 
 forces, 145. 
 
 Industry in common, in early Vir- 
 ginia, 17, 18; in Plymouth, 44. 
 
 James I, instructions to Jamestown 
 expedition, 17; attempts to control 
 elections in London Company, 28. 
 
 Jefferson, Thomas, proposition for 
 the franchise in first Virginia con- 
 stitution, 136 (addendum) ; and 
 Virginia declaration of independ- 
 ence, 137 ; and Declaration of July 
 4, 141; and Ordinance of 1784, 
 148 a. 
 
 Keayne, Captain Robert, and ex- 
 orbitant trading profits, 79; and 
 
SUBJECT INDEX 
 
 583 
 
 The reffvences arc to th 
 
 the "sow business" in Massactiu- 
 setts, 80. 
 
 Laborers, in England, 1; in Massa- 
 chusetts and wage legislation, 65; 
 condition of White servants in 1774, 
 116, 117. 
 
 Laws, of Virginia in 1619, 25 ; Plym- 
 outh code of 1636, 50; of early 
 Massachusetts, 65; sumptuary dis- 
 crimination against classes below 
 the gentry, 75; the "Body of Liber- 
 ties," 78; later Virginian, 105, 106; 
 late colonial, regarding White serv- 
 ants, 117. 
 
 Lee, Richard Henry, and county 
 resolutions against Stamp Act, 
 
 120 h ; and creation of Committees 
 of Correspondence, 123 a; and call 
 for First Continental Congress, 125 6 ; 
 and Westmoreland County resolu- 
 tions, 129 a ; and motion for inde- 
 pendence, 140. 
 
 Local Government, see Town meet- 
 ing. 
 
 London Company, see Virginia 
 Company. 
 
 Loyalists (in Revolution), parody 
 "to sign or not to sign," 142 h; 
 correspondence with a committee 
 of safety, 143; pretended diary to 
 show danger in French alliance, 
 144. See Mob violence. 
 
 Maine, grant of to Gorges (repre- 
 sentative government), 39 h. 
 
 Maryland, early, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40; 
 Second Provincial Convention of, a 
 government, 132 (introduction) ; in- 
 structions against independence, 
 139. 
 
 Mason, George, and Virginia non- 
 importation agreement of 1769, 
 
 121 h, note; declares the Third Vir- 
 ginia Convention a government, 
 133 c; and Virginia Bill of Rights, 
 136 (addendum) ; on democratic and 
 aristocratic forces in the Federal 
 
 e numbers of selections. 
 
 Convention, 155, 157; objections to 
 signing the Constitution, 162, 163. 
 
 Massachusetts, to 1660,41 ff. ; early 
 beginnings at Salem, 52; charter of 
 1629,53; docket of charter, 54; ques- 
 tion of transfer of charter to Amer- 
 ica, 55 (and addendum) ; decision to 
 transfer the charter, 58 ; decision of 
 Puritan gentlemen to remove to 
 Massachusetts, 59; early hardships 
 and religious matters, 62 ; oligarchic 
 usurpations, 63 ; Watertown protest 
 and some democratic gains, 64 ; aris- 
 tocratic legislation, 65; beginning of 
 town government, 66; establishment 
 of representative government, 67 ; 
 religious controversies, 74; social 
 conditions, 75; danger of English 
 interference, 76 ; demand for written 
 laws, 77 ; social conditions as shovra 
 in town legislation, 83 ; and religious 
 per.secution, 84, 85, 86, 88; English 
 relations after 1660, 100 ; charter of 
 1691, 110 h; in the Revolution, 122 
 ff. (See Table of Omtents.) 
 
 Mayflower Compact, the, 46. 
 
 Mercer, Colonel, induced to resign 
 as Stamp Distributor, 120 c. 
 
 Ministers in Virginia, not to " give 
 themselves to excesse of drinking," 
 33. 
 
 Mob violence, pre-Revolutionary, 
 120 c, d, 124 ; after Declaration of 
 Independence, 142 o, h, c. 
 
 Morris, Gouverneur, on the hope for 
 a military dictator, 150; character 
 sketch in Federal Convention, 160. 
 
 Navigation Acts, 100 a,b,c; 118. 
 
 NeviT England Confederation, con- 
 stitution, 94; Massachusetts de- 
 mands more weight in, 95; nullifica- 
 tion by Massachusetts, 96. 
 
 New England Council, 42. See 
 Phfmonth Council. 
 
 New Hampshire, commission of 
 royal governor of, 112. 
 
584 
 
 SUBJECT INDEX 
 
 The references are to the numbers of selections. 
 
 New Jersey, advertisements for run- 
 away (White) servants, 117. 
 
 New Jersey Plan, in Federal Con- 
 vention, 158. 
 
 " New Style," in dates, 21, note. 
 New York, charter to Duke of York, 
 101. 
 
 North Sea passage, to be sought 
 for by tirst Virginia expedition, 18. 
 Northwest Ordinance, the, 149 h. 
 
 Nullification, in New England Con- 
 federation, 96. 
 
 " Old Style," dates, 21, note. 
 Ordinance of 1621, for Virginia, 27. 
 Ordinance of 1784, for organizing 
 the National Domain, 149 a. 
 
 Ordinance of 1789, for the North- 
 west, 149 b. 
 
 Otto, Louis Guillaume, to Ver- 
 gennes, on Annapolis Convention as 
 a plot of the aristocratic classes, 152. 
 
 Parody, a Tory's, on Hamlet's solilo- 
 quy, 142 6. 
 
 Peirce, John, charter for Plymouth, 
 47. 
 
 Penn, William, grant of Pennsyl- 
 vania, 102; grants to the settlers, 
 103 « and h. 
 
 Percy, Master George, "Dis- 
 course," on first weeks in James- 
 town, 19 a. 
 
 Pierce, William, character sketches 
 by, of men of the Federal Conven- 
 tion, 160. 
 
 Pillory, the, 115. 
 
 Plymouth Council, a branch of the 
 first Virginia Company, 16 (section 
 v) ; reorganized by charter of 1620, 
 42; grants, to the Pilgrims, 47, 49; 
 to Gorges, for Massachusetts, 51. 
 
 Plymouth Plantation, delay in 
 securing Wincob charter, 43; arti- 
 
 cles of partnership with London 
 merchants, 44; a "body politic" 
 before sailing, 45 ; Mayflower Com- 
 pact, 46; the Peirce charter, 47; 
 early history, 48 a and 6 ; the Brad- 
 ford charter, 49; surrender of the 
 same to the colony, 50 ; first code of 
 laws, 50. 
 
 Presbyterians, excluded from the 
 franchise in early Massachusetts, 86. 
 
 Providence Isle, charter to Com- 
 pany of Westminster for plantation 
 of, 55. 
 
 Puritans (Massachusetts), political 
 principles of, 61 ; not Separatists, 52, 
 60, 62. 
 
 Quakers, persecution in Massachu- 
 setts, 88; and Rhode Island, 92. 
 
 Randolph, Edmund, Report of 1676 
 on Massachusetts, 110. 
 
 Religious freedom, toleration in 
 Maryland, 40; persecution in Massa- 
 chusetts, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88; freedom 
 in Rhode Island, 89, 90, 91, 92; in 
 Pennsylvania, 103. 
 
 Representative government, first 
 representative assembly (Virginia), 
 25 ; preserved in Virginia against 
 James and Charles, 29, 30, 31, 32; 
 first royal authorization of (Mary- 
 land charter), 37 ; also in charters 
 for Avalon and Maine, 38, 39; in 
 Gorges grant of 1623, 51 ; established 
 in Massachusetts, 61-67. 
 
 Revolution, the, pre-Revolutionary 
 agitation, 114-124; rise of Revolu- 
 tionary governments, 125-133; Inde- 
 pendence, 134-144; social forces set 
 free by, 145. 
 
 Rhode Island, religious freedom, 
 8i»-92. 
 
 Robinson, Pastor John, on the 
 terms of partnership between Pil- 
 grims and London merchants, 44, 
 note ; farewell letter, 45. 
 
SUBJECT INDEX 
 
 The references are to (he nuinhevH of selections. 
 
 585 
 
 Rogers, Rev. Ezekiel, champion of 
 democracy in Early Massachusetts, 
 77 (addendum). 
 
 Sabbath in Virginia, no traveling 
 ou, 33 (4). 
 
 Salem, White's Relation of the be- 
 ginuing of, 52. 
 
 Saltonstall, Richard, signer of 
 Cambridge Agreement, 58 h ; letter 
 urging religious freedom, 84 c. 
 
 Sandys, Sir Ed^win, letter to stock- 
 holders of London Company, 11 ; and 
 the Company's Declaration of 1620, 
 26 ; and interference of King James 
 against reelection, 28 (1) ; and Plym- 
 outh Colony, 43. 
 
 Schools, in Massachusetts : Dorches- 
 ter regulations, 81 ; compulsory edu- 
 cation, 82 a ; State system, 82 6. In 
 Virginia (Berkeley's Report), 104. 
 
 Selectmen, first established at Dor- 
 chester, 66. 
 "Servants," see White servants. 
 
 Shays' Rebellion, Hampshire 
 County Grievances, 151 a ; and 
 Washington's alarm, 151 b. 
 
 Smith, Captain John, on the Lon- 
 don Company (not mercenary), 13; 
 last plea fur colonization (for Mas- 
 sachusetts), 14; ou "gentlemen" in 
 Virginia, 11) b ; on Plymouth in 
 1624, 48 b ; Massachusetts Puritans 
 not Separatists, 60 b. 
 
 Spain, and English colonization, 
 3 (ch. v.), 5, 6; danger of Spanish 
 attack on Jamestown, 22. 
 
 Stamp Act, the, 119; reception in 
 America : Henry's resolutions, 
 120 a ; Virginia county resolutions 
 against, 120 b ; Virginia Stamp Dis- 
 tributor induced to resign, 120 c ; 
 mob violence, 120 d. 
 
 Stoughton. Israel, disfranchised 
 for criticizing Massachusetts gov- 
 ernment, 6'.). 
 
 Sugar Act, of 1733, 100 c; of 1764, 
 118. 
 
 Sydney, Sir Philip, on American 
 colonization, 3, note. 
 
 Tea riots, 124. 
 
 ToAvn meeting, establishment at 
 Dorchester, 66, and at Watertown, 
 83; use of ballot in, 73 b ; recog- 
 nized in "Body of Liberties," 78; 
 typical records of from Watertown 
 (illustrating New England society), 
 83; at Boston, political activity in 
 affairs of the province. 111 c, and 
 pre-Revolutionary (town commit- 
 tees of correspondence), 122. 
 
 Two-House legislature, evolution 
 of in Massachusetts, 68, 69, 80. 
 
 Virginia, motives for colonization, 
 patriotic and religious, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 
 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14; ridiculed (East- 
 loard Hoe), 8; praised by Dale, 12; 
 classes of colonists, 7; "gentle- 
 men " in, 19 b ; under King and 
 Company, 16-19; Charter of 1609 
 (under the Company), 20; Charter 
 of 1612, 21; danger from Spain, 22; 
 under the liberal London Company 
 (which see), 23-28; first Represen- 
 tative Assembly, 25 ; a royal prov- 
 ince, 29-33; royal commissions 
 ignoring Assembly, 29, 30; Assem- 
 bly's declaration, " No taxation 
 without representation," 31 o; pro- 
 tests in favor of Assembly, 31 b ; 
 restoration of Assembly, 32; legis- 
 lation, moral and financial, 33: 
 under the Commonwealth, 34-35; 
 franchise, 35, 105, 10(5, 109; under 
 the second Stuarts — Bacon's Rebel- 
 lion and suppression of reforms, 
 105-109; in pre-Revolutionary agi- 
 tation, 121 ff . ; non-importation 
 agreement, 121 a and b ; originates 
 intercolonial Committees, 123 a 
 and b; suggests Continental Con- 
 gress, 125 a, b, c, d, e, f, g; calls 
 
586 
 
 SUBJECT INDEX 
 
 The references are to the numbers of selections. 
 
 provincial convention, 128 a and h; 
 county meetings — instructions to 
 delegates to provincial convention, 
 128 c, 129 a, b, c, d, e; county ap- 
 proval of Continental Congress' 
 Associations, 131 ; county conven- 
 tions become governments (Fairfax 
 County), 132, 133 a; Second Pro- 
 vincial Convention a government 
 de facto, 133 b ; Tbird Convention 
 (July, 1775), a government in form 
 also, 133 c; Cbarlotte County in- 
 structions for independence, 134 ; 
 Convention instructs delegates in 
 Continental Congress to move for 
 independence, 135 ; resolves upon an 
 independent State constitution, ib.; 
 Bill of Rights, 136; State declara- 
 tion of independence, 137. 
 
 Virginia Company, the, pampblets 
 in favor of, 5, 6; "True and Sin- 
 cere Declaration" of, 7; Smith's 
 vindication of, 13; charter of KJOH, 
 15; instructions from King James, 
 17 ; instructions from the Council in 
 England, 18; charter of 1(309, 20; 
 charter of 1612, 21 ; rules adopted 
 by the liberal management in 1619, 
 23; "Order" recognizing right of 
 settlers to share in government, 24 ; 
 first charter to settlers (noticed in 
 records of Assembly), 25; " Declara- 
 tion" of 1620, 26; Ordinance of 
 1621, 27 ; struggle with the King for 
 right of free election, 28. 
 
 Virginia Plan, the, in Federal Con- 
 vention, 156. 
 
 Ward, Rev. Nathaniel, argument 
 against religious toleration, 84. 
 
 Washington, George, and Vir- 
 ginia's non-importation association 
 of 1769, 121 b, note ; and Fairfax 
 County resolutions of 1774, 129 6; 
 and Fairfax County organization of 
 Revolutionary militia, 132; and 
 Shays' Rebellion, 151 b. 
 
 Watertown Protest, the, 64. 
 
 Waterto-wn Records, extracts 
 from, illustrating social conditions, 
 83. 
 
 Western territory, debates on in 
 Continental Congress, 146; desire 
 for Statehood, 148; Ordinance of 
 1784, 149 a ; Northwest Ordinance, 
 149 b. 
 
 Weymouth, Captain George, rec- 
 ord of voyage to Maine, 41. 
 
 Wheel'wright, Rev. John, and 
 petition for free speech, 74. 
 
 White, Rev. John, account of begin- 
 nings of Massachusetts, 52. 
 
 White "servants," corporal pun- 
 ishment, 65; classified (in 1774), 
 116; advertisements for runaways 
 (1769, 1774), 117. 
 
 Williams, Roger, on religious free- 
 dom, 90. 
 
 Winslow, Edward, letter to friend 
 in England on the beginnings of 
 Plymouth, 48 a. 
 
 Winthrop, John, signer of Cam- 
 bridge Agreement, 58 b ; argument 
 for making Massachusetts a Puritan 
 settlement, .59 ; reasons for coming 
 to America, 59 b ; farewell letter to 
 the Church of England, 60 a; on 
 early hardships in the colony, 62 a 
 and b ; decries democracy, 64, 67, 
 71, 73, 77; denies free speech, 69; 
 denies right of petition, 77. 
 
 Winthrop, John, Jr., decision to 
 come to Massachusetts, 59 c. 
 
 Wise, Rev. John, on Englishmen's 
 dislike for arbitrary government, 
 111 b. 
 
 Written laws, demand for in Massa- 
 chusetts, 77. 
 
 Yeardley, Sir George, and Vir- 
 ginia Representative Assembly, 25. 
 Yeomen, English, in 16th century, 1. 
 
 Zenger, John Peter, and free 
 speech, 113. 
 
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