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receiving a fifth of the produce of all silver and gold mines. Accordingly a number of forms were proposed and discussed, but were severally rejected, as admitting too much by words or by implication, until, at last, the following extraordinary one was adopted, as the shortest, simplest, and safest that they could suggest: "Forasmuch, as Charles II. is undoubtedly king of Great Britain, and all other his Majesty's territories and dominions, thereunto belonging, and hath been some time since lawfully proclaimed and crowned accordingly; we therefore, do, as in duty we are bound, own and acknowledge him to be our sovereign Lord and King; and do, therefore, hereby proclaim and declare his sacred Majesty, Charles II., to be lawful king of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, and all other the territories thereunto belonging. God save the King."

It is observable that his Majesty is here described as king of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, and all other the territories thereunto belonging, which term is satisfied by the Orkneys and Channel Islands; but no mention is made of America, Massachusetts, or the words colonies or plantations. Brief and cold, however, as this declaration was, it was adopted with great repugnance, and the day passed in ominous gloom. An order of the Court was issued at the same time, and posted up in various parts of Boston, forbidding all disorderly behavior on the occasion, declaring that no person might expect indulgence for the breach of any law, and, “in a particular manner, that no man should presume to drink his Majesty's health, which he has in an especial manner forbidden."

CHAPTER VIII.

The King appoints a Council for the Colonies-Their Advice-Connecticut and Rhode Island send Agents, who obtain for them Charters containing full Powers of Self-government-Navigation Laws-They fall heavily on Virginia, and alarm all the Provincials-The General Court publishes a Declaration of Rights-Their Reasoning as to the Origin of their Title to the Country-They send Agents to England-Instruction given to them, and Letters of Introduction to Noblemen of Low Church or Dissenting principles-They meet with a favorable Reception, and return with a Letter from the King requiring certain Changes in their Laws and Modes of Procedure-An affected Show of Compliance-Dissipation of Churchmen, of Baptists, and especially of Quakers-Severe Treatment of latter--A Commission of Inquiry issues to Colonel Nichols and others-Their Instructions-General Court orders the Charter to be put into a Place of Concealment-Prepares to receive the Commissioners.

THE Convention Parliament had scarcely adjourned, when Charles II. performed the promise he had made at parting, and endeavored to carry into effect the various acts of a foreign and domestic nature they had made. He established, in December, 1660, a council for the general superintendence of the colonies, and enforcing the laws of trade. Had he always acted upon their suggestions, he would have saved his own reputation, and spared himself and his successors many vexations and annoyances. They urged him "to agree with such as have any property in his plantations, and take the same into his own hands, in order to prevent the granting any for the future." Sir William Berkeley, the old and loyal Governor of Virginia, repeated the same recommendation, most truly foretelling "that those patents in the next age will be found more advantageous to the crown than is perceptible in this."

Notwithstanding this judicious advice, and the pending difficulties and controversies, he at once made two of the most extraordinary grants, of a pure, unmixed, and unrestrained democracy, that were ever issued by any monarch. The constitution of Massachusetts, it was well known, was an usurpation-the application of a local charter, by a company in London, for the purposes of civil government in America; but these were bonâ fide concessions, no deception was practiced, no information with

held. Republicanism was asked, and obtained. Connecticut and Rhode Island having favors to seek, were more prompt in proclaiming the king than Massachusetts, and at once sent delegates to congratulate him on his restoration, and to solicit charters. On their arrival in England they were introduced to some Low Churchmen, of rank and influence, in whom they found most active partisans. Men whose lives are chiefly spent in making professions, are seldom able to find sufficient time to practice what they so loudly extol. Their sectarian sympathy was stronger than their loyalty, and the interest of the king and the nation were transferred, by hypocritical politicians, into the hands of crafty republicans. The charters they obtained for the delegates, vested in the propriety of freemen of Connecticut and Rhode Island the right of admitting new associates, and of choosing annually from among themselves a governor, magistrates, and representatives, with power of legislative and judicial authority. No appellative jurisdiction, and no negative on the laws, were reserved to the crown any more than in Massachusetts and Maryland. They were, to all intents and purposes, entitled to self-government; so much so, indeed, that these same royal patents remained the basis of their polity long after they became independent states. Even the oath of allegiance was not required of them. The usual clause, stipulating that their laws should be conformable to those of England, was modified, or rendered nugatory by an extraordinary reference "to the constitution of the place, and the nature of the people." It granted universal toleration to all mankind, without limitation to Christian sects.

It is no wonder the joy of the Provincials knew no bounds. The grant exceeded their fondest and most ardent hopes. In Rhode Island the inhabitants were assembled "for its solemn reception." The Charter was read in the audience and view of all the inhabitants, and the letters with his Majesty's royal stamp and the broad-seal, with much beseeming gravity, were held up on high, and presented to the "perfect view of the people." So completely had the king denuded himself of all power, that in a subsequent reign, when the Rhode Islanders claimed the protection and interference of the sovereign against the oppressions of their own legislature, arising from frauds practiced on them in a depreciated currency, that monarch replied, under the advice of the Crown officers, that he could afford them no redress, since his

misadvised predecessor had relinquished all jurisdiction. At this period, therefore, New England consisted of several little independent republics.

While vast concessions were thus made on the one hand, most extensive restrictions were imposed on the other, by extending and remodeling the laws of trade. So much indeed was added to the outline sketched by the Long Parliament, and so novel, as well as important, were many of the provisions of this celebrated act (12th Charles II., c. 18), that it seems to have attracted to itself a name that more properly belongs to several, and has ever been known as the Navigation Law. The avowed motives for this restrictive legislation, were thus set forth : 66 That as the plantations beyond seas are inhabited and peopled by subjects of England, they may be kept in a firmer dependence upon it, and rendered yet more beneficial and advantageous in the further employment and increase of English shipping and seamen, as well as in the vent of woolen and other manufactures and commodities, and in making England a staple not only of the productions of those plantations, but also of those of other countries, and places for supplying them, and it being the usage of other nations to keep the trade of the plantations to themselves."

Colonial industry at that period furnished many articles for exportation, but these were of two kinds. Some were raised in quantities in America only, and would not compete with British productions in the market of the mother country: these were enumerated, and it was declared that none of them, that is, no sugar, tobacco, ginger, indigo, cotton, fustic, and dyeing woods, shall be transported to any other country than those belonging to the Crown of England, under penalty of forfeiture; and as new articles of industry of this class grew up in America, they were added to the list. But such other commodities as the English merchant might not find convenient to buy, the Provincials might ship to foreign markets, and the further off the better, because they would thus interfere less with the trade which was carried on in England. The colonists were therefore confined to ports south of Finisterre. Soon after the act of navigation was extended, and additional restraints imposed, by prohibiting the importation of any European commodities into the colonies but what was laden in England in vessels navigated and manned according to law. Effectual provision was also made for exacting the

penalties to which the transgressors were subjected. By these successive regulations, the plan of securing to England a monopoly of the commerce with her colonies, and of closing every other channel into which it might be diverted, was perfected and reduced into a complete system.

These acts filled the Provincials with consternation and anger, and by calling into question the right of the Imperial Legislature to pass them, materially extended the disaffection which neglect, the constant changes in the government of the mother country, and the spread of democratic principles had of late so much engendered. They fell with peculiar weight upon Virginia, on account of the nature of her productions, and were felt to be an ungrateful return for her tried loyalty and affection. Great Britain never afterward thoroughly regained her affections; as soon as they went into operation, that colony remonstrated against them as a grievance, and petitioned earnestly for relief. But the commercial ideas of Charles and his ministers coincided so perfectly with those of Parliament, that instead of listening with a favorable ear to their application, they labored assiduously to carry the acts into strict execution. For this purpose the most positive instructions were issued to the governor, forts were built on the banks of the principal rivers, and small vessels appointed to cruise on the coast.

The Virginians seeing no prospect of obtaining exemption, sought relief in evasion, and found means, notwithstanding the vigilance with which they were watched, of carrying on a considerable clandestine trade with foreigners, particularly with the Dutch settled on the Hudson River. Every day something occurred to revive and nourish discontent. As it is with extreme difficulty that commerce can be turned into a new channel, tobacco, the staple of the colony, sunk prodigiously in value when they were compelled to send it all to one market. It was some time before England could furnish them regularly full assortments of those necessary articles, without which the industry of the country could not be sustained or properly secured. The sense of wrong the people of Massachusetts entertained on the subject of their revenue laws, was absorbed in the interest felt in the preservation of their Charter, or mitigated by their predetermination to resist them if able, otherwise "to protract or evade," according to the advice of their elders. Having received a more

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