AN ACCOUNT OF THE WHOLE TRADE AND SHIPPING OF THE ISLAND OF NEWFOUNDLAND FOR THE YEAR-1799, TAKEN FROM THE CUSTOM-HOUSE BOOKS. Imports. Number of vessels Shipping. Number of tons Number of men Hundred weight of bread and flour Barrels of beef and pork Hundred weight of butter and cheese. Hundred weight of Muscovado sugar. 1,726 NUMBER OF THE BRITISH SUBJECTS, MEN, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN, IN THE COLONIES OF NORTH-AMERICA, TAKEN FROM MILITIA ROLLS, POLL TAXES, BILLS OF MORTALITY, RETURNS FROM GOVERNORS AND OTHER AUTHENTIC AUTHORITIES. FROM THE LONDON MAGAZINE, FOR MAY, 1755. THE colonies of Halifax and Lunenburgh Massachusetts-Bay Rhode-Island and Providence 5,000 30,000 220,000 A BILL FOR BETTER REGULATING OF CHARTER AND PROPRIETARY GOVERNMENTS IN AMERICA, AND FOR THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF THE TRADE OF THIS KINGDOM AND OF HIS MAJESTY'S PLANTATIONS. WHEREAS, by virtue of several Charters and Letters Patents, under the Great Seal of England, passed and granted by his Majesty's royal predecessors, the several colonies, provinces, and plantations of the MassachusettsBay, Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Carolina, and the Bahama or Lucay Islands, in America, have been granted unto several persons, whereby the grantees are not only made proprietors of the soil and lands comprehended in the said places, but lords and governors thereof; and have such large and unlimited powers, as have given them a pretence to assume absolute government and authority over his Majesty's subjects: And whereas the severing of such power and authority from the Crown, and placing the same in the hands of the subjects, hath, by experience, been found prejudical to the trade of this kingdom, and to the welfare and security of his Majesty's subjects in these, as well as in the other plantations in America, and to his Majesty's revenue arising from the customs, as well by reason of the disability of the proprietors to defend and protect his Majesty's subjects under the government, in case of any attempt of the Indians, or other enemy, as by the many irregularities committed by the governors of the said proprietary governments, as by others in authority under them there : Be it therefore enacted by the King's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, That the King's Majesty, his heirs, and successors, shall from the of have the sole power and authority of governing the said plantations and colonies, and every of them, and of appointing the governors, counsellors, judges, justices of the peace, and of all other officers for the administration and execution of justice there, and of pardoning offences there; the said power and authority to be for ever united to the Imperial Crown of these realms, any grants, usages, or other matter or thing to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding. Provided always, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to extend any ways to alter, or take away, diminish or abridge the right or title which any person, persons, or bodies politic or corporate have, or lawfully may have or claim to any lands, tenements or hereditaments, or any other matter or thing (the authority and powers aforementioned only excepted) by virtue of the said grants, or any other charter or letters patents, or by virtue of any right or title derived from or under such grants, charters, or letters patents, by any mean, assignments, or conveyances, or otherwise how soever. Provided also, That all such laws, made in the said respective plantations, which are now in force there, and have been confirmed and approved of by his Majesty's predecessors, or by his Majesty, or shall be hereafter confirmed by his Majesty, his heirs and successors, shall be of the same force and effect, as they would have been, if this act had not been made: And that all laws, hereafter to be made by the general assemblies of the said respective plantations, shall be made with consent of the respective governors thereof, to be appointed by his Majesty, his heirs, and successors, subject to the confirmation or disallowance of his Majesty, his heirs, and successors, and that appeals shall be allowed to his Majesty, his heirs, and successors, from the judgments, decrees, and sentence to be given and made in the courts of the said respective plantations, as appeals are allowed and used in other his Majesty's plantations; and law, statute, or usage, contrary hereunto, in any wise notwithstanding. DEDICATIONS TO THE REV. JOHN ELIOT'S INDIAN VERSION OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT. [Printed at Cambridge, N. E. by Samuel Green and Marmaduke Johnson. 1663.] [The following dedications to the translation of the old and new testament in the Indian language, by the celebrated ELIOT, are great curiosities. Such were annexed only to the few copies sent to England and are of course the very scarce appendages of a very scarce book. Of six copies of the Indian bible, which I have seen, no one possessed these dedications. The following were taken from a mutilated copy, used in a barber's shop for waste paper. From this intended destruction they were eagerly snatched, by the hand which writes this, as truly valuable relicks.] To the High and Mighty Prince, Charles the Second, by the Grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c. The Commissioners of the United Colonies in New-England, wish increase of all happiness, &c. IF Most Dread Sovereign, our weak apprehensions have not misled us, this Work will be no unacceptable Present to Your Ma jesty, as having a greater Interest therein, than we believe is generally understood: which (upon this Occasion) we conceive it our Duty to declare. The people of these four Colonies (Confederate for Mutual Defence, in the time of the late Distractions of our dear Native Country) Your Majesties natural born Subjects, by the Favour and Grant of Your Royal Father and Grandfather of Famous Memory, put themselves upon this great and hazardous Undertaking, of Planting themselves at their own Charge in these remote ends of the Earth, that without offence or provocation to our dear Brethren and Countrymen, we might enjoy that liberty to Worship God, which our own Conscience informed us, was not onely our Right, but Duty: As also that we might (if it so pleased God) be instrumental to spread the light of the Gospel, the knowledge of the Son of God our Saviour, to the poor barbarous Heathen, which by His late Majesty, in some of our Patents, is declared to be His principal aim. These honest and pious Intentions, have, through the grace and goodness of God and our Kings, been seconded with proportionable success: for, omitting the Immunities indulged us by Your Highness Royal Predecessors, we have been greatly incouraged by Your Majesties gracious expressions of Favour and Approbation signified, unto the Address made by the principal of our Colonies, to which the rest do most cordially Subscribe, though wanting the like seasonable opportunity, they have been (till now) deprived of the means to Congratulate Your Majesties happy Restitution, after Your long suffering, which we implore may yet be graciously accepted, that we may be equal partakers of Your Royal Favour and Moderation; which hath been so Illustrious that (to admiration) the animosities and different Perswasions of men have been so soon Composed, and so much cause of hope, that (unless the sins of the Nation prevent) a blessed Calm will succeed the late horrid Confusions of Church and State. And shall not we (Dread Sovereign) your Subjects of these Colonies, of the same Faith and Belief in all Points of Doctrine with our Countrymen, and the other Reformed Churches, (though perhaps not alike perswaded in some matters of Order, which in outward respects hath been unhappy for |