B 353678
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1837
SCIENTIA
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LIBRARY
OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
E-PLURIBUS-UNUM -
TUEBOR
SIQUAERIS PENINSULAM AMOENAM
CIRCUMSPICE
ヲクラ
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+
LAWS
OF
NEW HAMPSHIRE
126342
INCLUDING
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE ACTS AND RESOLVES AND THE ROYAL
COMMISSIONS AND INSTRUCTIONS, WITH HISTORICAL
AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES, AND AN APPENDIX.
EDITED BY ALBERT STILLMAN BATCHELLOR.
VOLUME ONE
PROVINCE PERIOD
MANCHESTER, N. H. :
THE JOHN B. CLARKE COMPANY.
1904.
JOINT RESOLUTION RELATING TO THE PRESERVATION AND PUBLI-
CATION OF THE EARLY STATE AND PROVINCIAL RECORDS AND
OTHER STATE PAPERS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
Laws of 1881, Chapter 123, Session Laws, new series, vol. 3, p. 521.
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court Convened:
That His Excellency the Governor be hereby authorized and empowered,
with the advice and consent of the Council, to employ some suitable person—
and fix his compensation, to be paid out of any money in the treasury not
otherwise appropriated-to collect, arrange, transcribe and superintend the
publication of such portions of the early state and provincial records and
other state papers of New Hampshire as the Governor may deem proper;
and that eight hundred copies of each volume of the same be printed by the
state printer, and distributed as follows: namely one copy to each [city
and town in the state, one copy to such of the public libraries in the state
as the Governor may designate]¹ public library in the state, and to each town
in the state having no public library, which shall request the same, and to such
publishers of newspapers requesting the same as keep such open to public use,' fifty
copies to the New Hampshire Historical Society, and the remainder placed
in the custody of the state librarian, who is hereby authorized to exchange
the same for similar publications by other states.
1 The words enclosed in brackets were stricken out of the Joint Resolution of August 4,
1881, by the act of March 20, 1901, Session Laws, new series, vol. 7, part 2, chapter 71, sect. 3, p.
558.
2 By the same act, the words in italics were inserted as a substitute for the words stricken
out, as above stated.
ཀ་
E. L
2
iii
AN AUTHORIZATION OF THE PUBLICATION OF THE FIRST VOLUME
OF PROVINCE LAWS.
BY HON. CHESTER BRADLEY JORDAN, LL. D.,
Governor, 1901, 1902.
Whereas, in the administration of Governor George A. Ramsdell, 1897, 1898,
written authorization was given the Editor of State Papers to prepare and
publish a volume of the province laws of New Hampshire, beginning with
the earliest of such enactments now accessible, and treating them in chron-
ological order, and:-
Whereas, it appears that the written authorization above mentioned cannot
now be found, either in the state archives or in the custody of any state
officer, and:-
Whereas, it is desirable and necessary that such authorization be duly
made a matter of record and preserved in an accessible form in the archives
of the state:-
Now, therefore, this writing witnesseth that I, Chester B. Jordan, Gover-
nor, in accordance with the provisions of the "Joint Resolution relating to
the preservation and publication of portions of the early provincial records
and other state papers of New Hampshire,” approved August 4, 1881, and
by virtue of the authority thereof, do hereby authorize Albert S. Batchellor,
as Editor of State Papers, and on behalf of the state, to collect, arrange,
transcribe, and superintend the publication of the early laws of the people
and province of New Hampshire, the same being treated in chronological
order, including, so far as practicable, the laws of the period of the incorpo-
ration of this province in the Dominion of New England, 1686-1689, and the
period of the so-called second union with Massachusetts Bay.
This authority furthermore relates only to so much of said periods and to
so much of said material as will be found sufficient for one volume.
As incidental to this work, the said Editor of State Papers will cause such
explanatory notes and citations, tables of contents, indexes, introductory
statements, and supplemental papers to be made a part of the volume as,
in his judgment, may be deemed useful and appropriate.
It is also to be understood and intended that this authorization is a substi-
tute for the one supposed and assumed to have been issued by His Excellency
the late Governor George A. Ramsdell in the period of his administration, and
is, therefore, to be regarded as a ratification of the expenses incurred and
the acts done by the Editor of State Papers and the State Printer on behalf
of the state in accordance with the provisions of the then existing laws and
the amendments made thereto prior to and not including the act of March
21, 1901, entitled "An Act in Relation to the Public Printing," and under such
supposed authorization of Governor Ramsdell, not inconsistent with the
tenor of this present instrument, and within the limitations herein and
hereby authorized.
This I deem proper to be done, and I give these directions in accordance
with the provisions of the Joint Resolution of August 4, 1881, herein before
mentioned.
Given under my hand, in triplicate, at Concord this 5th day of April, A. D.
1902.
CHESTER B. JORDAN.
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
FIRST PART.-INTRODUCTORY.
Joint Resolution of the New Hampshire General Court authorizing the
work
Warrant of Chester B. Jordan, Governor, authorizing the prepara-
tion and publication of this volume.
Editor's Introductory Monograph—descriptive of the sources and ante-
cedents of the New Hampshire province law, and of the contents
and purpose of the compilation.
•
(1) The Statute Law as Developed at the Time of the Colonization
of New England
(2) Colonial Beginnings of New England...
Page
iii
iv
V
ix
xiii
XX
xxix
(3) New Hampshire in the First Period, 1623-1641, and the Develop-
ment of Local Self-Government in the Four Towns..
(4) The Compact for Union with Massachusetts Bay and the Rights
and Privileges Conceded to the Towns of New Hampshire..
(5) The Nature and Extent of the Lawmaking Powers with which the
Company and Colony of Massachusetts Bay were Invested........ xxxiii
(6) New Hampshire in the Period of Union with the Massachusetts
Bay-The Systems of Statute Law Constructed and Developed be-
tween 1641 and 1679
(7) The Transition Period
•
(8) Colonial Supervision and Administration in the Home Government
(9) The Cutt Code, 1680, 1681
(10) The Cranfield Code and the Essays of the Lieutenant-Governor
and His Council in Legislation without the Coöperation of the
House of Representatives
(11) The Laws of England and the Compilations in Use in the First
Years of the Province Government, 1679-1686..
(12) The Dominion of New England. The Period of Law Making by a
Council Appointed by the Crown, 1686-1689.
xxxvii
xlii
xlv
xlvi
xlix
lii
lv
(13) New Hampshire without a Province Government, 1689-1690.
(14) The Period of the Second Union of the New Hampshire Towns
with Massachusetts Bay, 1690-1692...
lvi
• •
lvi
(15) The Province Government of New Hampshire Revived and the
Legislative Assembly Restored, 1692..
lvii
(16) The Province Legislature
lvii
(17) Comments on the Tables of Regal Years and Official Succession
(18) Remarks on the Continuation of the Series
lx
1x
•
(19) The Commissions and Instructions Governing the Province Ad-
ministrations and Province Legislation.
1x
Regnal Years of the Kings of England
lxi
Explanation
lxxviii
The Reformation of the Calendar
lxxviii
Calendar of Colonial and Province Governments
lxxix
Catalogue of Manuscript Books and Records in the Public Record Office
in London containing Laws of the Province of New Hampshire lxxxviii
Sketches of the Chief Magistrates of New Hampshire, 1679-1702.
Table of Additions and Corrections
lxxxix
xcviii
SECOND PART-COMMISSIONS, INSTRUCTIONS, AND ACTS.
Cutt Commission
1
Editor's Notes on the Administration of the Province under the Cutt
Commission
1
V
vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Page
"Cutt Code,”—Acts, 1680-1681
9
Editor's Notes on the Laws Enacted under the Cutt Commission.
Statutes under Administration of Richard Waldron, 1681.
Cranfield Commission, 1682....
9
•
46
48
Editor's Notes on the Administration of the Province under the Cran-
field Commission
48
Cranfield Instructions
56
Editor's Notes on the Acts Passed under the Cranfield Commission.
"Cranfield Code," 1682-1684..
58
60
•
Orders of Governor and Council.
Administration of Joseph Dudley, President of New England, 1686.
Dudley Commission, 1685
Editor's Notes on the Administration of the Dominion under the Dud-
ley Commission
Proclamation of Government under a President and Council.
Editor's Notes on the Orders of 1686
77
92
93
93
99
•
100
• •
Orders of President and Council, 1686.
Royal Province of New England.
First Andros Commission, 1686.
102
142
144
Editor's Notes on the Administration of the Dominion under Andros
Commissions
144
Andros Instructions
155
Laws Enacted by Sir Edmund Andros and His Council, 1686-1689.
Editor's Notes on the Laws Enacted under the Andros Commission.
Second Andros Commission, 1688.
182
•
182
226
Andros Instructions
234
Orders in Council, 1686-1689.
244
Editor's Notes on the Orders in Council, 1686-1689.
244
New Hampshire without Province Government.
259
Editor's Notes on Province Affairs in this Period.
The Inter-Charter Period, 1689-1692...
259
267
Editor's Notes on the Second Union with Massachusetts Bay
267
Officers of the Government, 1689-90..
271
Legislation Provisional Government
277
Officers of the Government, 1690-91..
400
Legislation
400
Officers of the Government, 1691-92.
Legislation
•
Officers of the Government, 1692.
472
473
496
Legislation
•
496
Administration under the Commission of Samuel Allen, 1692-99....
Editor's Notes on the Administration of the Province under the Com-
mission of Samuel Allen
499
499
Allen Commission, 1692
501
Instructions to Samuel Allen
508
Partridge Commission, 1696
•
515
Editor's Notes on the Legislation of the Province under the Allen
Commission
518
Acts Passed in the Time of the Allen Commission
524
Administration under the Commission of the Earl of Bellomont,
1699-1702
607
Bellomont Commission, 1697
607
Editor's Notes on the Administration of the Province under the Bello-
mont Commission
607
Bellomont Instructions
621
Editor's Notes on the Acts Passed under the Bellomont Commission..
Full Text of Report of the Attorney-General of England, Edward
Northey, on fifty-nine New Hampshire Acts....
638
644
Acts Passed under the Bellomont Commission
653
List of Acts Passed between October 7, 1692, and July 13, 1702, Con-
firmed by King or Queen in Council
709
List of Acts for same period repealed by King or Queen in Council..
Acts passed July, 1702..
710
711
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
vii
THIRD PART-APPENDIX.
Former Printed Collections, Translations, and Abridgments of the
Statutes of England and Great Britain
.Appendix A, I,
Catalogue of Printed Collections, Translations, and Abridgments of the
Statutes of England and Great Britain..
..Appendix A, II,
Ordinances Adopted for Municipal Regulation or Local Government
Prior to the First Union with Massachusetts Bay ....Appendix B,
Combinations for Local Government in New Hampshire, Charles W.
Tuttle
Appendix C,
.Appendix D,
The Governments of New Hampshire, 1679-1699, J. A. Doyle,
Page
714
726
738
744
•
748
772
780
785
788
790
796
•
Appendix F, IV,
Appendix F, V—1,
803
804
•
Appendix F, V—2,
805
Appendix F, V—3,
805
806
•
806
807
Body of Liberties of Massachusetts Bay, 1641.
Establishment of the Royal Provincial Government of New Hampshire,
1680, Charles W. Tuttle
....Appendix E, I,
Appendix E, II,
Documents Relating to the Establishment of a Province Government,
etc.
.Appendix E, III,
Instructions Concerning Mason's Claim Addressed to the Governor of
Massachusetts Bay
..Appendix F, I,
Cranfield Code in Part. Copy from English archives¹..Appendix F, II,
Copy of the Cranfield Code from Original in New Hampshire Province
and State Records
.Appendix F, III,
A Bill Concerning Plaintiff's and Defendant's Non-Appearance.
A Bill Relating to Confession of Judgment
A Bill for Small Causes
A Bill for Support of Ministry
A Bill for Serving Attachments
Appendix F, V—4,
Coine....Appendix F, V-5,
A Bill for the Value or Price of Fforaigne
A Bill for Raising Money for Support of the Government.²
Appendix F, VI,
The Ancient Printed Copy of the Orders of the Council Governing the
Dominion of New England Temporarily in the Presidency of Jo-
seph Dudley, 1686. 2 James II. Editor's notes ....Appendix G, I,
Eight Pages of Fac-Simile of Original Printed Copy of Orders of the
Council, 1686
An Order Relating to Lands on the Merrimack River and Lake Winni-
pesaukee, Conveyed by Sachem Wanalanset to John Blackwell
and Others, and for Constituting a County to be Called Merrimack.
Appendix G, II,
The Dominion of New England, 1686-1689. Names of the Executive and
Legislative Council
.Appendix H, I,
Commission for Sir Edmund Andros to be Vice-Admiral of New Eng-
land 30 April, 1688. 4 James II..
..Appendix H, II,
Letter of J. K. Lord, June 12, 1903, Relating to the Translation of the
Willoughby-Andros Admiralty Commission.
Unsettled State of the Province. Notes by Chief
Bell
810
811
827
829
830
.Appendix H, III,
Justice Samuel D.
841
843
847
.Appendix I, I
1689-1690, Charles
Appendix I, II,
New Hampshire without Provincial Government,
W. Tuttle
List of Acts Passed in the General Assembly of New Hampshire, 1692-3,
Transmitted [by Mr. Popple] to the Attorney-General, 22 Aug. 1693.
Appendix J, I,
The Illuminated Title-Page of the Volume of Manuscript Laws of the
Province of New Hampshire, Known as the Dudley Collection.
Appendix J, II,
Report of the Lords Commissioners upon the Laws of New Hampshire,
Dudley Transmission
.Appendix J, III—1,
Extracts from the Journal of the Board of Trade Relative to the Laws
of New Hampshire
..Appendix J, III—2,
Order in Council Repealing Thirteen of the Laws of New Hampshire.
Appendix J, IV—1,
of New Hampshire.
Appendix J, IV-2,
Order in Council Confirming Thirteen of the Laws
856
857
859
864
866
867
1 In the notes to this document, Appendix, p. 791, line 8, a reference appears to “Appendix
C, (I)." This is an error in the print and the citation should be to “Appendix F. II.”
2 In the notes to this document. Appendix, p. 807, line 39, the citation to "Appendix C. III,
ante," should be to "Appendix F. III, ante.
1
INTRODUCTION.
THE STATUTE LAW AS DEVELOPED AT THE TIME OF THE
COLONIZATION OF NEW ENGLAND.
The statutory law of England in its later structure
commences with the Magna Charta, which King John
conceded under compulsion at Runnymead in 1215, which
Henry the Third confirmed in 1225, and which Edward the
First sealed with the Great Seal of England at Ghent on the
5th of November, 1297. The authorities generally agree
at this point. The principles embodied in the first Magna
Charta were contested during a long period subsequent to
the date of King John's concession. The confirmations
which are named as those of Henry the Third and Edward
the First were not the only ones that were required and ob-
tained before the Great Charter was universally recognized
in the form and terms in which it became permanent. As a
parliamentary act Magna Charta takes date as of 25 Edward
the First, A. D. 1297.¹ The text of the Magna Charta of
John, 1215, is represented in facsimile in the Statutes of the
Realm, as also are other and later drafts of the instrument.2
These charters take their place within what is called the
“time of legal memory." That term is employed as descrip-
tive of the period in and since the reign of Richard the First,
1189-1199. There is very little extant in authentic form that
is assignable to the first part of this so-called "time of legal
memory," except the charter of John and the other great
charters, with possibly a few isolated statutes. As to these
it may be said on the authority of Sir Matthew Hales that
there was great confusion until in Magna Charta of Henry the
Third, 1225, they obtained a full settlement, and the sub-
stance of them was solemnly enacted by parliament. Impor
tant changes transpired from time to time in the text of the
Great Charter. Repeatedly the confirmations were compul-
sory.4
That there had been more than thirty of these con-
firmations of Magna Charta before the time of Henry the
¹Statutes of the Realm, ed. 1810, vol. 1, p. 114.
"Statutes of the Realm, ed. of 1810, pp. 6, 22, et seq.
'Sir Matthew Hale, History of the Common Law, ed. 1794, p. 5, quoted in
Finlason's Reeve, vol. 1, p. 1, note B.
*Pollock and Maitland, vol. 1, p. 157.
X
INTRODUCTION.
2
Fifth, 1413, is an indication of the practical insecurity of
the rights conceded by the terms of the instrument.¹ The
charter takes its place as the first chapter of the enacted
law. "The first set of laws," remark the authors of the History
of English Law before the Time of Edward the First, "which
in later days usually bears the name of 'statute,' is the Pro-
visions of Merton issued by the king, with the consent of the
prelates and nobles, in 1236." From the reign of Henry the
Third, 1216-1272, no statute roll nor any rolls of parliament
are preserved, and it is not supposed that any such records
were kept. The earliest statute roll now extant began with
the Statute of Gloucester in 1278. The first Parliament
Roll comes from 1290. From the time of the confirmation
of Magna Charta, 9 Henry the Third, 1225, to the time of Ed-
ward the Third, 1327, a considerable number of acts of par-
liament are preserved, but it is from the latter reign that the
statutes exist in a regular series to the present."
4
The system of statutory law which had been embodied in
acts of parliament actually enrolled and accessible at the
time of the first planting of English colonies in New England
was not of remarkable antiquity. From 460 B. C., the date
to which the enactment of the Twelve Tables is assigned,
nearly a thousand years had elapsed before Justinian, in 534
A. D., had consolidated the body of the Roman law into the
Institutes, Pandects, and Code. From the beginning of the
permanent occupation of Britain by the Romans to the
Magna Charta of Henry the Third was a period of almost
twelve hundred years. The Roman law was administered
to a certain extent in England from about A. D. 50 to about
A. D. 450.5 Through the operation, centuries later, of en-
tirely different influences the Roman law, as it survived
in the forms and principles of the civil and canon law subse-
quent to the Norman conquest, was brought into contact
with the government and affairs of the people of England.
It is not now open to question that the influence of Roman
laws was productive of important results upon legal usages,
procedure, and case law. In the then existing environment
it would be inevitable that the learning of those who were
masters of the Roman law would be manifest in the lex
scripta, as the statutes took form in the early stages of their
development into a permanent system. The Saxon suprem-
¹Hume, History of England, vol. 2, 268; Bouvier, Law Dictionary, 14th ed.,
vol. 2, p. 87.
6
"Pollock and Maitland, vol. 1, p. 157; 9 Hen. 3, c. 29, in Ruffhead.
³Id., vol. 1, pp. 158, 159.
*Finlason's Reeve, ed. 1869, vol. 1, p. 1.
'Finlason's Reeve, vol. 1, pp. xxxix, 3, Note B; Amos, Science of Law, p.
380; Hadley, Introduction to Roman Law, 18.
"Pollock and Maitland, History of English Law before the Time of
Edward I, vol. 1, chap. 4; Finlason, Introduction to Reeve's History of Eng-
lish Law, ed. 1869, vol. 1, p. lxxxix; Amos, Science of Law, pp. 9, 10.
INTRODUCTION.
xi
acy as the occasion for the institution of other laws
and the evolution of other customs, which in their order en-
tered into the foundation upon which, in the later period, a
permanent system was established.1 The Norman conquest
also introduced other controlling factors distinct from both
the Roman and Saxon law, related to the establishment and
development of legal institutions and of positive law. All
these laws, whether institutions, codes, charters, royal edicts,
or customs, which are assignable to any time prior to the
reign of Richard the First, and whether of aboriginal Britton-
ish, Roman, Saxon, Danish, or Norman origin, are, however,
according to Sir Matthew Hale, accounted lex non scripta. It
may be noted that the parliament assembled by Leicester in
1265 was the one to which both the knights of the shire and
the representatives of the boroughs were summoned. This is
regarded as the first meeting of the House of Commons.2
While it is conceded that the beginning of a continuous series
of recorded (manuscript) parliamentary laws is assignable to
the reign of Edward the Third, 1327-1377, it was not until
near the close of the reign of Edward the Fourth, 1483, that
the invention of printing, in connection with practical busi-
ness uses, was introduced into England. The permanent and
successful establishment, of mills in England for the manu-
facture of paper is of about the same date as the introduction
of printing as a trade, that is, in the latter part of the fif-
teenth century, although it had previously been prosecuted on
the continent during an indefinite period. The first book
certainly known to have been printed in England bears the
date 1477. Among the considerable number produced in the
next fifteen years was a volume containing the laws of Rich-
ard the Third, 1483-1485,8 printed in French, besides several
other volumes of statutes or compilations both of earlier and
later date than those of Richard the Third. The publication
of the laws of England in printed books, therefore, was ante-
rior to the planting of the English colonies of New England
by less than one hundred and fifty years. Even after 1327,
the date which is regarded as marking the beginning of a
regular series of English parliamentary statutes, there was
much which stood in the way of a general diffusion of knowl-
edge as to the provisions of that body of law. The acts were
"Thorpe's Ancient Laws and Institutes of England from thelberht to
Cnut with English Translations, etc., 2 vols., Public Records Commission,
1840.
4
2Stubbs, Constitutional History of England, vol. 2, 4th ed., sec. 177, p. 96;
Hume's History of England, vol. 2, p. 53.
³Encyc. Brit., vol. 8, p. 413; De Vinne, Invention of Printing, 508.
*Statutes of the Realm, ed. of 1810, Catalogue of Printed Collections, etc.,
constituting Appendix A to the Introduction to that work. The same cata-
logue is reproduced in this volume, post, pp. 726 et seq., and is designated as
Appendix A, II.
xii
INTRODUCTION.
engrossed in Latin or French until the time of Henry the
Seventh, 1485. Pollock and Maitland give a succinct ac-
count of the conflict which continued in England for centu-
ries between the Latin, French, and English languages, re-
sulting in the transition from French to English statutes that
occurred suddenly at the accession of Richard the Third, and
which seems to be contemporaneous with a change in the
method of enrollment. To the very last, 1503, in the time
of Henry the Seventh, the formal parts of the Roll are writ-
ten either in French or in Latin.¹
The first compilation of the charters and statutes which
appeared in print in an adequate English version was that of
1579,2 which is known as Rastall's Collection. It is the first
one which contains the statutes previous to Henry the
Seventh, 1485, translated into English. The production of
this work and its successive revisions down to 1621 may well
be regarded as marking an epoch in the history of the lex
scripta. The statutes in this publication are arranged under
apt titles, and the new statutes from time to time were added.
"The translation contained in this collection appears to have
been executed with superior care and industry." It will be
observed that only forty-two years intervened between the
first and last editions of the English version of Rastall's
work. In the very last part of that period the planting of
Plymouth colony was effected."
"By far the greatest portions of the written or statute laws
of England," says Sir James Palgrave, "consist of the declar-
ation, the reassertion, repetition, or the re-enactment of some
older law or laws, either customary or written, with additions
or modifications. The new building has been raised upon
the old ground-work: the institutions of one age have always
been modeled and formed from those of the preceding, and
their lineal descent has never been interrupted or disturbed."5
¹Pollock and Maitland, vol. 1, pp. 58-65.
'An edition of the charters and several of the statutes bearing date pre-
vious to Edward the Third, was published in book form in an English trans-
lation from the Latin in 1534. In this edition the laws were not arranged
chronologically nor by title.
Statutes of the Realm, vol. 1, p. xxii. See also reprints in this volume,
post, constituting Appendix A, I, and Appendix A, II.
"The present generation is now separated from the period in which the
Pilgrim Fathers were living by about two hundred years, and from their
immigration by about two hundred and eighty years. Mary Allerton, the last
survivor of the Mayflower immigrants, daughter of Isaac Allerton, and wife
of Elder Thomas Cushman, died in 1699. Appleton's Encyc. of Biog., vol.
2, p. 43. Hon. Alfred Russell, in an essay in the Michigan Presbyterian for
April 16, 1903, remarks that his eminent friend, Sidney Bartlett, of the Bos-
ton bar, recently deceased at a great age, in his youth, at his birthplace, Ply-
mouth, Mass., conversed with those who in their youth had conversed with
those who were Pilgrims on the Mayflower. Mr. Bartlett was born Febru-
ary 13, 1799, and died March 6, 1889.
5Sir James Palgrave, English Commonwealth, 1, 6.
INTRODUCTION.
xiii
COLONIAL BEGINNINGS IN NEW ENGLAND.
The situation of the New England colonies was, at the out-
set, in many respects anomalous. This was peculiarly the
case regarding the laws by which they would be governed in
the new country in which they had become established. As
indicated in the historical outline already presented, the laws
of England had assumed a status in which they could be
obtained in books, and the text understood by the average
man of affairs in the earliest colonial period. There were,
however, important and, in some directions, impassible limi-
tations on the applicability of the laws of England to the new
conditions existing and constantly arising in New England.
The reason underlying much of the statute law of the mother
country did not exist in the American colonies. Ratio legis
cessat, cessat lex. The ideas of the colonists with reference to
the functions of the state and the rights of the individual were
radically different from those entertained in the home gov-
ernment and reflected in the statute law of the realm as it
stood in 1620. The wide divergence between the views of
the New England immigrants and the representatives both of
church and state, who were in control of affairs in England
with reference to ecclesiastical concerns and the relations of
church and state, were fundamental and irreconcilable. Ne-
cessarily, also, the principles and methods of ownership, occu-
pancy, and control of lands, forests, and waters in the new
country, which ancient systems and modern statutes had
established in the mother country, were, in important features,
inapplicable in the new country; and radical changes in sys-
tems of law relating to inheritances, ownership, occupation,
and transfer of rights in real estate were inevitable.¹
¹Mr. G. T. Bispham, in an article entitled “Law in America, 1776-1876,”
North American Review, vol. 122, 1876, p. 156, says:
"On the other hand, a still more striking and interesting topic is the con-
sideration of the departures of American law from English principles; and
the cases here presented would be those in which, from circumstances which
it ought to be the task of the student to discover and explain, American
jurisprudence has found the rules of English law unsuited to the conditions
of American life, has therefore repudiated or modified them, and has estab-
lished a set of legal rules which may be termed essentially and properly
American. This latter view of the general subject is one which would, with
the greatest propriety, be considered the most interesting and instructive at
this period of the national existence, when we are occupied in looking for,
pointing out, and discussing those features in the different relations of life
which are often grouped together under the somewhat vague term of Amer-
ican institutions. Both methods, however, of dealing with the general sub-
ject will have to be, to a certain extent, adopted; and in endeavoring to find
out what are the peculiarities of American law which have grown up or
sprung up since our separation from the mother country, and which tend to
give our jurisprudence a national individuality, we shall be compelled to
touch upon some points in which the American has advanced beyond, or
fallen behind, English law in paths which are common to both.
"It is a trite remark, and one which has been made at many different times
and with varying phraseology, that all law is the adaptation of principles
of action to the physical and political conditions of a country, and to its
xiv
INTRODUCTION.
The Council for New England (Plymouth Company), as con-
stituted in 1620, was made independent of the London Com-
pany, with which it had formerly been in co-operation. This
Council for New England was empowered by its charter to
legislate for the new colonies, to be established under its
auspices in America. It could exercise martial law and
maintain a monopoly of trade within the limits of its patent.
The Mayflower company, which effected its New England set-
tlement in 1620, declared a purpose and asserted the right in
the now famous compact of November 11, 1620, to "enact,
constitute, and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances,
acts, constitutions, and officers, from time to time, as shall
be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of
the colony; unto which we promise all due submission and
moral, social, and intellectual growth. All national institutions must bear
the impress of the outward features of nature by which the inhabitants are
surrounded, and their modes of life, to a great extent, determined, and must
also reflect the inward life of a nation and the external associations and in-
ternal consciousness by which that inward life has been moulded.
"If we were to imagine a man placed, in a savage state, in a new country,
and were at liberty to suppose that his individual existence could be suffi-
ciently prolonged to enable him to reach, in his own person, a condition of
civilization and enlightenment, it would seem to be plain that the causes
which control this development and determine its character must be sought
for, in the first place, in the external physical phenomena by which he was
surrounded."
See also Doe, C. J., in Thompson v. Androscoggin Co., 54 N. H., 548; Concord
Mfg. Co. v. Robertson et al., 66 N. H. Reports, pp. 1-30.
The Sources of New Hampshire Law by William Smith, 1, Proceedings of
the New Hampshire Bar Association, p. 682.
Judge Parker (Lecture at Lowell Institute, 1869, cited below) also comments
on the latitude for legislation which the local conditions in the new country
necessarily afforded, and the not altogether obsolete question as to whether
the laws of the mother country accompanied the exercise of her sovereignty
in her American possessions in the early colonial period without special par-
liamentary legislation to that end. He says:
"But there was a restriction upon their legislation, religious as well as civil.
They were to make no laws contrary to the laws of the realm; and the ques-
tion arises, What was the character and what the extent of this restraint?
"We may safely conclude that the meaning of the provision is not that they
are to make no laws different from the common law of England, for much
of that law was entirely inapplicable to their condition, so that they were
under the necessity of making different laws. Laws different from or con-
trary to the laws of feudal tenure could not come within the prohibition. The
same may be said of laws relating to the peerage, and divers other matters
of more common concern.
"So we may be assured that it was not a prohibition to make laws different
from the statutes of England, for it was known that it was to escape from
some of those laws that they emigrated. If they could make no law which
provided for a different form of worship than that which was established in
England,-if they must establish that with all its concomitants, they would
hardly have crossed the Atlantic for the privilege of voluntarily subjugating
themselves by their own acts, to the pains and penalties, and violation of
conscience, to which the acts of others would have subjected them if they
had remained. Moreover, they had no bishops,-could not consecrate any,-
and no one proposed to do that for them when the charter was granted.
Laud would doubtless have been pleased to do them that favor three or four
years afterwards; but their right of legislation, or the restraints upon it, or
the removal of restraints, did not depend upon that.
INTRODUCTION.
XV
It
obedience." The territorial patent from the Council for New
England to Plymouth Colony in America was issued in 1621.¹
The colony charter was not obtained until January, 1630.
This later grant was from the Council for New England.
purported to invest the Colony of Plymouth in New England
with the law-making power. On this point the following
terms are employed:
"Alsoe it shall be 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 successors from
tyme to tyme to frame, and make orders ordinances and con-
stituc❜ons as well for the better governmente of their affairs
here and the receavinge or admittange any to his or their
society, as alsoe for the better governm't of his or their peo-
ple and affaires in New Englande or of his and their people att
sea in goeing thither, or returninge from thence, and the same
to putt in execuc'on or cause to be putt in execuc'on by such
officers and ministers as he and they shall authorise and de-
pute: Provided that the said lawes and orders be not repug-
nante to the lawes of Englande, or the frame of governmente
by the said presidente and councell hereafter to be estab-
lished."2
"The true construction of the clause is that they shall make no laws con-
trary to,-antagonistic to,--in contravention of, the laws of the realm which
extended or should extend over them, as inhabitants of the colony, and
which were to be their paramount law.
"We are thus brought to the question whether any and what laws of the
realm were in force in the colony at the time of the charter and emigration.
Happily we can settle this question by authority. It is agreed that the law of
the conqueror does not extend over the conquered country until the conqueror
pleases to put it in force there. And although we now hold that the title
of the crown to the greater portion of this country was by right of discovery,
it was held by the courts of England, long subsequent to the reign of Charles
I, to be a title by conquest. Chief Justice Holt, in the Court of King's Bench,
in the 4th of Anne, said: "The laws of England do not extend to Virginia,
being a conquered country, their law is what the King pleases.”*, And Black-
stone, lecturing as late as 1756, says, 'Our American plantations are princi-
pally of this latter sort [conquered or ceded countries], being obtained in
the last century, either by right of conquest, and driving out the natives
(with what natural justice I shall not at present inquire), or by treaties.
And, therefore, the common law of England, as such, has no allowance or
authority there.' He adds that they are 'not bound by any acts of Parlia-
ment, unless particularly named.'"+ Lowell Inst. Lecture, pamphlet ed.,
p. 31.
*Salkeld's Reports, vol. i, [2] p. 666.
+ Blackstone's Com., vol. i, p. 108.
¹Bradford, Bradford History, p. 167.
"Plymouth Colony Laws, ed. 1836, pp. 24, 25. The grant of a law-making
power which appears in the charter of 1630 was foreshadowed in the patent
of 1621 to Peirce and others. Baylies, Memoir of Plymouth Colony, vol. 1,
part 1, pp. 185 et seq., edition of 1866, edited by Samuel G. Drake. This his-
tory was first published in 1830, before the recovery of the Bradford manu-
script, but is an excellent authority; full text of the patent of 1621, with
xvi
INTRODUCTION.
Without pausing here to consider the mooted question
whether the Council for New England was vested with au-
thority by its own charter to endow one of its colonial
creations with the law-making power,¹ it is sufficient to re-
mark that the charter of Plymouth Colony of 1629-30 did con-
tain an apparent delegation of such powers. The practical
construction of the grant, by the colonists, was in favor of the
validity of this particular concession.2 Perhaps it cannot be
said, however, that these colonists did not exercise the law-
making power, in the ordinary sense of the term, prior to the
charter of 1629 [O. S.]. Mr. Brigham remarks, in his preface
to the Plymouth Colony Laws, first published by the common-
wealth under his supervision in 1836, that "The first revision
of the laws was in 1636, and this may be regarded the first im-
portant era in their history, or perhaps, with more propriety,
the origin of the legislation of the colony. Previous to this
period there had been but few laws made and still fewer com-
mitted to record."
The code of 1636 was the work of the court, aided by eight
deputies chosen for this special purpose. But later, in 1636,
the functions of the general court were divided. For legisla-
tion the whole body of freemen were to attend, but proxies
were allowed for the election of governor and assistants. In
V1638 the representative system was fully introduced,
although the general court formally reserved the right of re-
vising or repealing the acts of the deputies. Previous to
this, 1635, the Council for New England had been dissolved.
The members of the company had proved themselves totally
unable to appreciate the extent of the enterprise in which they
were engaged, and, furthermore, the surrender of a charter
that was proving such a source of strength to the Puritans
was undoubtedly most acceptable to Charles the First.
3
introduction by Charles Deane, Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 4th Series, vol. 2, pp.
156-163.
The text of the patent of 1621, so far as it relates to the law-making
power, is as follows:
•
·
"And shall also at any tyme within the said term of Seaven Yeers upon
request unto the said President and Counsell máde, graunt unto them the said
John Peirce Letters & Graunt of Incorporacion by some usuall & fitt
name & tytle with Liberty to them and their successors from tyme to make
orders Lawes Ordynaunce & Constituc'ons for the rule governement ordering
& dyrecting of all sons to be transported & settled upon the land. . . And
in the meane tyme untill such graunt made, Yt shall be lawfull for the said
John Peirce by the consent of the greater t of them To establish such
Lawes & ordynaunce as are for their better governm't and the same by such
Officer or Officers as they shall by most voyces elect & choose to put in execu-
c'on. Mass. His. Soc. Col., Fourth Series, vol. 2, p. 161.
•
'Quint, Historical Memoranda of Ancient Dover, p. 423.
"Mr. Brigham's Text, Plymouth Colony Laws.
'Doyle, English Colonies in America, vol. 2, pp. 71, 72.
INTRODUCTION.
xvii
On the 19th of March, 1627-8, a grant of land was obtained
from the Council for New England by John Endicott and
five other gentlemen, extending from three miles south of the
river Charles to three miles north of the Merrimack, and west-
ward to the Pacific ocean.
Mr. Doyle, the author of "English Colonies in America,"
vol. 2, pp. 88, 90, commenting on the events transpiring at this
time, says:
"Of the six grantees, two only, Humphrey and Endicott, play
any part in later New England history. The former had
already been treasurer of the fishing company at Cape Ann,
and he subsequently held office under the Massachusetts com-
pany both in England and in the colony itself.¹ John Endi-
cott at once took a prominent place in the new undertaking,
and to the end of his life he stood in the foremost ranks of
New England statesmen, figuring in every stage as the em-
bodiment of all that was narrowest and sternest in Puri-
tanism.
"For the present this grant did no more than establish a
private partnership. The partners might entertain and ac-
knowledge among themselves political designs, but in the
eyes of the world there was nothing to distinguish their
scheme from those of Gorges or Mason.
"Meanwhile the partners in England were taking steps to
strengthen their legal position. The six original patentees
admitted more persons into their partnership. This change
was accompanied by one still more serious. The promoters of
the colony were no longer content to be a mere private com-
pany for trade. The authority of the crown was to be called
in to make good any flaw which might exist in their territorial
title. In March, 1629-30, a royal charter was obtained, consti-
tuting a legal corporation, under the title of the Governor and
Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England.²
"This corporation was to elect annually a governor, a dep-
uty governor, and eighteen assistants, who were to hold
monthly meetings.
"The appointment of eighteen assistants shows that the
company was to be enlarged considerably beyond its present
numbers. General meetings were to be held four times a
year. The members had power to elect necessary officers, and
to defend their own territory by force against invasion or
attack. The governor and assistants might, if they thought
fit, administer the oaths of allegiance and supremacy to mem-
bers of the company. It is not unlikely that this clause may
have been inserted to meet the difficulty which had lately
arisen in the case of Lord Baltimore, owing to the absence of
any such provision in the Virginia charter.6
¹Mr. Haven in Arch. Am., vol. 3, p. 50.
"The charter is in the Colonial Papers. It is also given in Hazard's Collec-
tion, vol. 1, p. 239; Poore, Charters and Const., 2d ed., pt. 1, p. 932.
Doyle, English Colonies in America, vol. 1, Virginia, etc., p. 277.
xviii
INTRODUCTION.
✓
1
"In anticipation of a future want the grantees resisted the
insertion of any condition which should fix the government of
the company in England. Winthrop explicitly states that the
advisers of the crown had originally imposed such a condi-
tion, but that the patentees succeeded, not without difficulty,
in freeing themselves from it." That fact is a full answer to
those who held that in transferring the government to Amer-
ica the patentees broke faith with the crown."2
1
The charter of 1629-30 provided also for the admission of
new freemen by a majority vote of the company, for the annual
election of officers by the whole body of freemen, and for four
great and general courts each year, to be held by the governor
or deputy-governor and seven or more of the assistants for the
time being.3
The great and general court was granted the right "to
make laws and ordinances for the good and welfare of the
said company, and for the government and ordering of the
said lands and plantation, and the people inhabiting and to
inhabit the same, as to them from time to time shall be
thought meet, so as such laws and ordinances be not con-
trary or repugnant to the laws and statutes of this our Realm
of England."4
It
For a time the powers of the great and general court were
allowed to lie dormant. At the first session, October 19, 1630,
it was ordered "by the general vote of the people and
the erection of hands" that the governor and deputy-
governor, with the assistants, "should have the power of
making laws and choosing officers to execute the same."
was further decided in May, 1631, that the assistants need
not be chosen afresh each year. But by 1634 the freemen,
aroused perhaps by the protests of inhabitants of Watertown
against taxation without representation, had come to feel
that they ought to participate in some effectual way in the
making of all the laws; and at the meeting of the general
court May 13, 1634, there were present, besides the governor,
deputy-governor, and six other assistants, twenty-four dep-
uties, three from each of the eight towns of the colony.5 This
first representative assembly voted that the deputies should
¹This is stated by Winthrop in a pamphlet written in 1644, and published
in an appendix to his life, vol. 2, p. 443.
"The most noteworthy upholder of this view is the late Mr. Oliver, in that
remarkable book, The Puritan Commonwealth, published in 1856. Mr. Oliver
was a Boston lawyer and a zealous churchman. Provoked by the extravagant
and unreasonable praise so often bestowed on the founders of Massachusetts,
he has subjected their actions to a merciless scrutiny, always acute, and
sometimes just, but more often carried out in the spirit of a party advocate.
His work is of no small value to the student of New England history as the
pleading of an advocatus diaboli, and as a counter against the too frequent
adulations of American writers.
³Poore, Charters and Constitutions, 2d ed., part 2, pp. 932-942.
*Poore, Charters and Constitutions, 2d ed., part 1, p. 937.
'See Winthrop's History of New England, ed. by Savage, vol. 1, pp. 152, 153,
and note; Hutchinson, History of Massachusetts, 3d ed., vol. 1, pp. 39, 40.
INTRODUCTION.
xix
1
have all legislative powers of the freemen, "the matter of elec-
tion of magistrates and other officers only excepted, wherein
every freeman is to give his own voice." From this time
the records of the general court show that this body of dep-
uties exercised its powers vigorously and extensively. At
first the deputies were elected for each general court; from
1639 to 1640 they were elected semi-annually, and after 1642
annually. The deputies did not sit as a separate house until
1644, when they were formed into a second chamber as a
direct result of the trouble over the Widow Sherman's pig.¹
As early as 1634 settlers from Plymouth established a mil-
itary post on the Connecticut as an outpost against the
Dutch. Soon after, disaffected inhabitants of Massachusetts
Bay formed settlements at Windsor, Hartford, and Wethers-
field. The freemen of these towns, assembled at Hartford on
the 14th of January, 1639, adopted a written constitution.
It is worthy of note that this document contains none of the
conventional references to a "dread sovereign" or a "gracious
king," nor the slightest allusion to the British or any other
government outside of Connecticut itself, nor does it pre-
scribe any condition of church membership for the right of
suffrage. It is regarded by writers of excellent authority as
the first written constitution by which a government was cre-
ated that is known to history. Although Massachusetts
Bay had previously governed these Connecticut towns by a
commission appointed for that purpose, she now at least
tacitly recognized their right to an independent government.
2
Up to 1640 the settlers of Providence seem to have lived
under little or no government. In 1638 there was an attempt
to establish a sort of church organization. In 1640, trouble
having arisen with the inhabitants of Patuxet, something in
the nature of a constitution was formulated; four arbitrators
were appointed to settle differences existing in the colony;
and provision was made for five selectmen, to be chosen by
the whole body of freemen, to dispose of the lands, to conduct
public affairs, and to admit new members. It is not clear
just how this form of government worked; but certain it is
that Providence was generally considered, from the Puritan
point of view, a "hotbed of anarchy," and in 1644 was refused
admission to the New England confederacy for the alleged
reason that it had no organized government.
3
The province of Maine had been granted to Gorges and
Mason as a part of the grant of 1622, and also as a part of the
¹See valuable introductions to Whitmore's Colonial Laws of Mass., ed. 1889;
Fiske, Beginnings of New England, pp. 105-108; Savage's Winthrop's Hist. of
New England, p. 193.
"Fiske, Beginnings of New England, p. 127. Similar claims are asserted in
behalf of the New Hampshire constitution of 1776. Consider also in this
connection the relations of the several earlier colonial charters as instru-
mentalities in the establishment of governments.
'Doyle, Eng. Col. in Am., vol. 2, pp. 180-184.
XX
INTRODUCTION.
Laconia patent of 1629. It had been mutually understood
that Mason was to hold the land west of the Pascataqua river,
and Gorges the territory lying east of that river. At the dis-
solution of the Council for New England in 1635, and the re-
sulting division of the territory, this previous understanding
between Mason and Gorges was confirmed. There had been
a few scattered fishing settlements along the Maine coast
since 1623, but little or no attempt at an organized govern-
ment. This province was confirmed to Gorges by a charter
from Charles the First in 1639, by which he was given absolute
right to establish such government for the province as seemed
best to him.1 In 1640 Gorges attempted to erect a govern-
ment which appears to have been somewhat of the nature of
a palatinate. It was the development of theories based on Old
World models, exceedingly complex, and in no practical sense
adapted to or workable in the conditions existing in a state,
such as the district or province of Maine was at the time, or
was destined to be in its future progress. Previous to the
time of the union of the New Hampshire towns with Massa-
chusetts Bay in 1641 there was no form of government in
practical operation in the province of Maine except the orders
\ emanating from the proprietors in general administration,
and such local municipal governments as the necessities of
the situation had compelled in the towns of Kittery, York,
and a few other trading and fishing settlements.2
NEW HAMPSHIRE IN THE FIRST PERIOD, 1623-1641, AND THE
DEVELOPMENT OF LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT IN THE
FOUR TOWNS.
The essential differences existing between the towns
of New Hampshire and the towns of Maine
on the
one hand, and those of Plymouth Colony and Massachu-
setts Bay on the other, arose from the presence and
prominence of landed proprietors, actively seeking to control
the planting of settlements and the constitution of govern-
ments for them in the territory north of the Merrimack, and
the absence of such interference and such superior personal
proprietorship in the two Massachusetts colonies. In the
latter "the court," described in the charters, very shortly be-
came a legislature; the magistrates or assistants became a
branch of the legislature; while the house of deputies was
an evolution in or an engraftment upon the system which, so
far as the terms of the instruments indicate the intention of
the English Company of Plymouth, was possibly never contem-
plated by the grantor. The fact that the towns of Maine and
New Hampshire did not federalize themselves, and did not at-
tempt the constitution of legislative bodies such as were
¹Poore, Charters and Constitutions, 2d ed.,/ part 1, pp. 774-783.
"Doyle, Eng. Col. in Am., vol. 2, pp. 216-218; Palfrey, History of New Eng-
land, vol. 1, pp. 524-528.
INTRODUCTION.
xxi
evolved in the other New England colonies, was doubtless
attributable to the obstacles that existed in the proprietor-
ship of Mason and Gorges. Furthermore, there was among
the early inhabitants of Portsmouth and Dover no such mo-
tive for strenuous exercise and advancement of the theories
of self-government as were prevalent in the Plymouth and
Bay colonies. The Pascataqua plants were business ven-
tures. They were under the immediate direction of factors
or superintendents commissioned by the territorial propri-
etor. In the first years of the history of Portsmouth and
Dover the municipal law must be sought in the patents under
which the proprietors had title and exercised dominion, in
the few extant written records of the proceedings of the mer-
chant adventurers, and in the necessity for some enforceable
rules of conduct, presumably devised with normal reference
to the contemporary statutes of the realm of England and
the common law of the mother country,¹ and with due adapta-
tion to the physical, social, and industrial conditions of the
locality. At this time the term "New Hampshire" was un-
known, and was not applied to this domain until the grant of
November 7, 1629. The grant of Mariana² to John Mason, of
March 9, 1621, in respect to the description of the territory to
be included in it, is somewhat ambiguous; but the grant of
the territory of Maine, of date August 10, 1622, contained
descriptions sufficiently explicit for the conveyance of the
lands lying "betwixt the rivers of Merrimack and Sagada-
hock," etc. Under a patent signed by the Council for New
England on the 16th of November, 1622,* David Thomson was
granted six thousand acres of land and one island in New
England. There is nothing extant to show where in New
England this grant of land and the island were located, but
there is evidence of an earlier patent to David Thomson et
als "for a pt of Piscattowa River in New England."5 This
would seem to indicate that he had had this particular section
in mind. Thomson conveyed one fourth part of the island to
three merchants of Plymouth, and agreed to convey in fee
simple the fourth part of the six thousand acres. Therefore,
on the face of the papers, it was as representing himself and
993
6
125 State Papers, 780, et seq., monograph by Joel Parker on “The Origin,
Organization, and Influence of the Towns of New England"; Dillon, Munici-
pal Corporations, vol. 1, ch. 1, §§ 9, 10; 24 State Papers, editor's preface; The
Origin of Municipal Incorporation in England and the U. S., by Amasa M.
Eaton, Proceedings of the American Bar Association, 1902, pp. 292-372.
Charles Levi Woodbury, Capt. John Mason's Patent of Mariana, in Capt.
John Mason, pub. Prince Society, pp. 45-52.
329 State Papers, 23-28.
525 State Papers, 720.
*25 State Papers, 716.
'Id., 735-6. See article by Chas. Deane, "The Indenture of David Thomp-
son," pp. 713-739.
xxii
INTRODUCTION.
the three merchants, and not as the representative of John
Mason or the Laconia company, as Belknap¹ has it, that David
Thomson, a Scotchman, came to the banks of the Pascataqua
in the spring of 1623, and there established a permanent set-
tlement within the present bounds of New Hampshire.2 He
probably remained there until 1626, when he took possession
of an island in Massachusetts Bay which was afterwards con-
firmed to his heirs by the general court.
What property or business connections Thomson had, if
any, with Mason and Gorges does not certainly appear at this
time, and it is not clear what the evidence was upon which
Dr. Belknap relied in asserting that his relations were
with these parties in his operations at Pascataqua. The
grant to the Laconia company did not exist until after the
death of Thomson. His removal from these premises in 1626,
after three years' occupancy, and the subsequent occupation
of them by Mason and his associates in the Laconia company,
might, perhaps, suggest an inference that there was a conflict
in which the title set up by Mason prevailed. It should be
noted that Mr. Jenness remarks that "the Laconians hired
the buildings which had been put up seven years before by
David Thomson at the smaller mouth of the Piscataqua, and
established there, under command of Capt. Walter Neale, a
factory, or entrepôt, as a basis for their magnificent design
upon the New York lakes.”
It is not pertinent to the purpose of this article to intervene
in the controversy between those who, with Dr. Quint, would
set the planting of the colony at Dover Neck at a date about
the same as that of Thomson at Odiorne's point, and those
who, with Mr. Jenness, place the Dover settlement five years
later, in 1628.4
On November 7, 1629, the Council for New England
granted to John Mason a part of the same territory that had
been included in the Mason and Gorges patent of August 10,
1622, namely, from the middle of the Merrimack river to the
Pascataqua; and ten days later to Gorges and Mason, with
such others as they should admit, under the name of the
Province of Laconia, the land west and northwest of the
New Hampshire grant, on the borders of the Iroquois lake
(Lake Champlain).5
The Laconia company was formed immediately after the
failure of the Canada company, with the object of gaining a
¹Belknap, Farmer's ed., p. 4.
2See Appendix, post, pp. 770-772.
³John S. Jenness, Notes on the First Planting of New Hampshire, 25 State
Papers, 661-709.
425 State Papers, 661-709; Quint, Historical Memoranda of Ancient Dover,
pp. 16, et seq.; Tuttle, Hist. Papers, p. 178 and note; same, this volume, p. 773.
529 State Papers, 28-38.
INTRODUCTION.
xxiii
part of the profitable trade with the Indians about the Iro-
quois Lake, which was supposed to be near to or, indeed, to
form the source of the Pascataqua river. Capt. Walter
Neale was put in command of an expedition sent in quest of
the Iroquois country, and in the bark Warwick landed at
Pascataqua in June, 1630. But the venture was a failure.
"The Laconia company simply established two or three trad-
ing posts on the river and at the Shoals, after the manner of
the East India factories, and for a short time carried on the
peltry traffic and the fisheries at a heavy loss, until, at the end
of three years, in bankruptcy and disaster, the company dis-
solved and vanished away.
221
On March 12, 1630, the Council for New England granted to
Edward Hilton and his associates, who had previously laid
the foundation for a successful settlement on Hilton's Point,
a tract of land three miles wide, south of the Pascataqua and
up to the fall of the river. In November, 1631, they also
granted to the Laconia company, which by its grant of 1629
received no land in New Hampshire, a tract of land lying
both sides of the Pascataqua river, but at no point conflict-
ing with the Hilton patent.2
Again, on the 22d of April, 1635, the Council for New Eng-
land granted to John Mason New Hampshire and Masonia,
together with all the rights, powers, etc., which they them-
selves possessed. This was Mason's share at the division of
New England, apportioned a few weeks before the Plymouth
Company surrendered its charter. In this grant was in-
cluded the south half of the Isles of Shoals.
There is in the possession of the Maine Historical Society
a copy of a royal charter bearing date of August 19, 1635,³
which confirms John Mason in the territory finally granted
by the Council for New England April 22, 1635. By this
charter he was accorded rights of government not unlike
those granted in 1639 to Gorges for his province of Maine.
The authenticity of this charter has been seriously ques-
tioned, as no record of it is known to exist in the British
archives. As John Mason died in the following December,
he may have been unable to give personal attention to the
proper recording of his charter. Certainly there is nothing
surprising or improbable in such a grant from Charles to a
loyal subject like John Mason, who had spent many years in
his service; who was a strong supporter of the Church of Eng-
land, and consequently a thorn in the flesh of the Puritans of
Massachusetts Bay.¹
¹Jenness, Isles of Shoals, p. 58.
225 State Papers, 698-705; 29 State Papers, 39-43; Quint, Hist. Memoranda
of Ancient Dover, p. 17.
For a copy of this charter with critical comment, see Tuttle and Dean,
Capt. John Mason (Prince Society), pp. 355-378; also 29 State Papers, 69-85.
4""The last winter Capt. Mason died. He was the chief mover in all attempts
against us, and was to have sent the general governor, and for this end was
xxiv
INTRODUCTION.
The validity of the like charter issued four years later
to Ferdinando Gorges is not questioned. All the reasons
that induced such a grant to Gorges would operate in
favor of a similar one to Mason. The argument against
its validity, that it may have been a forgery executed for
use in the subsequent litigation in which the Mason heirs
were engaged, would have very much greater weight if there
were any evidence that it was ever put to such use.
The copy
comes from the proper custody, that is, the office of the sec-
retary of the province, and bears the certification of Mr. Secre-
tary Chamberlain, one of the earliest incumbents of that
office. The dispersion and suppression of papers which be-
long to the chain of evidence in Mason's title were entirely
possible when those papers were later in the custody of
persons who undoubtedly removed and destroyed the leaves in
the court records in which the judgments in favor of Mason
were entered.¹
A bit of contemporary evidence concerning local opinion as
to the nature and extent of the governmental rights con-
tained in the various patents granted by the Council for New
England may be found in "A Relation Concerning the Estate
of New England," assigned by Jenness to about the year
1636. After mentioning twenty different patents the writer
continues:
"The above menconed Patents are not all of one kinde, for
some are in the nature of Corporacons and have power to
make Lawes, ffor the governinge of their plantacons, others
are but onely assignmn'ts of soe much Land to bee planted
and possessed w'thout power of governm't.
"Of the first sort are onely theis ffower, vizt:
"1. New Plymouth 2. Massachusetts 3. Pascataquack & 4.
Pemaquid.
"The Civill governmn't of the Colonies remaine in the power
of those who are Principall in the Patents of w'ch those w’ch
have authoritie to establish lawes, doe Execute theire Juris-
diction & soe ffar as I could understand, as neere, as may bee
accordinge to the lawes of England, And those whoe have
not that legall power doe governe their servants and Ten-
nants in a Civill way, soe ffar as they are able."2
providing ships; but the Lord, in mercy, taking him. away, all the business
fell on sleep." Winthrop, History of New England, Savage's ed., vol. 1, p.
223. A sequence to the death of John Mason, important in respect to the
possibility of the accomplishment and maintenance of a union of the towns
of New Hampshire with those of Massachusetts Bay, was the fact that the
assertion of the Masonian title was kept in abeyance for many years, in the
widowhood of Capt. Mason's daughter, and until the able and aggressive
grandson, Robert Tufton Mason, attained age and position which enabled
him to procure the severance of the New Hampshire towns from Massachu-
setts Bay, and to compass the erection of a new province largely for the con-
servation of his landed interests.
'Farmer's Belknap, pp. 149, 150, 157.
217 State Papers, 491, 492. It is not clear who was the author of this "Re-
lation." The powers of government in the Laconia patent seem as extensive
INTRODUCTION.
XXV
A question of great interest to the student of early New
Hampshire history, and one which was of some importance in
its bearing on the long litigation conducted by the various
claimants for New Hampshire soil, is that relating to the au-
thenticity of the Wheelwright deed, by which it is claimed
that on the 17th of May, 1629, John Wheelwright purchased
from Passaconaway and other Indian sagamores a large tract
of land in the region of Pascataqua, and in the same territory
which was soon after granted to John Mason by the Council
for New England. Like all deeds from the Indians it en-
countered serious antipathy and prejudice as evidence in de-
termining titles. Governor Andros declared that such deeds
were no better than "the scratch of a bear's paw. Mr.
Charles H. Bell, in his work on John Wheelwright in the
Prince Society publications, has a very careful review of the
evidence bearing upon the question of the authenticity of this
deed, together with its interesting history in its entirety.2
991
The records of the town of Portsmouth were subjected to
a singular treatment in 1652. The local authorities, regard-
ing the greater part of the recorded matter as obsolete or
superfluous, caused some extracts which they supposed might
be of use to be entered in a new book, and the old ones were
either lost or destroyed.3
The Dover records now extant reach back to an earlier
date. It is probable, however, that the earliest records of
that town are also lost, as the oldest official account of any
town meeting in Dover is found in a book entitled "No. 7 old
Book of Records."4
The records of Exeter are in a more complete and satisfac-
tory form. They extend back into the period prior to the
union, with Massachusetts Bay, to which Exeter did not be
come a party until 1643.5
The early records of Hampton are very nearly contempo-
rary with the existence of the town, including the minutes of
a town meeting, probably the first that was holden, as early
as October 31, 1639. Hampton, however, was regarded from
as those in the Pascataquack patent granted somewhat later. While the
writer was right in saying that the patents were "not all of one Kinde” he
was probably not familiar with the exact provisions relating to the powers
of government contained in some of the patents. See also opinion of Mr.
Justice W. S. Ladd, 57 N. H., p. 79.
¹Farmer's Belknap, p. 119; see also Fiske, New France and New England,
1902, p. 238.
2Bell, John Wheelwright, Prince Society pub., pp. 79-142. For another view
of this question see Winthrop's Hist. of N. E., Savage's edition, vol. 1, Appen-
dix H, pp. 486-514; also 1 Province Papers, pp. 56-60, and index.
Farmer's Belknap, p. 28.
“Quint, Ancient Dover, pp. 1, 31.
"Bell, History of Exeter, pp. 43, 435.
c
•
xxvi
INTRODUCTION.
✓
the outset as a Massachusetts town, the act of incorporation
under which it was organized having been granted by the
Bay colony.¹
1
It will be discovered that the material for an accurate
description of the rules and methods of local government
which prevailed in the early Pascataqua settlements is very
meager. Dr. Quint says: "Under Edward Hilton, from 1623
to 1631, there could have been no civil organization. Nor did
Thomas Wiggin, who came in 1631, returned in 1632, and led
hither a reinforcement in the autumn of 1633, bring with it
any power of government. By some historians he has been
absurdly styled 'Governor.' He was merely the agent of an
English land and trading company. That company itself
had no power of civil government. Capt. Wiggin had, indeed,
the power to allot lands to settlers, and formal descriptions of
some of these grants are extant, copied in the next decade.
There is some reason to suppose that William Waldron may
have made the original papers.
"In the autumn of 1637, the people formed a 'Combination'
for government, and Rev. George Burdett was placed at the
head. It has been ridiculously stated that he 'thrust out'
Capt. Wiggin, a man who was never in. The statement is
one of those perversions which a student of early New Hamp-
shire history comes to expect as a matter of course. The
simple fact was that, in the absence of government, the
growing colony found it necessary to organize. An inde-
pendent government continued till a union with Massachu-
setts, 9th Oct., 1641. But an intermediate 'Combination' had
been made 22 Oct., 1640, whose records were in a volume ex-
tant in 1682, to which Gov. Cranfield and the historian Hub-
bard had access. Whether the volume was taken to England
in the Masonian trials, or never emerged from the hiding
place where the people concealed it in those suits, is a mat-
ter of sad conjecture.
"In connection with the above notice of errors, it may be
well enough to allude to two or three others. One is that
Thomas Roberts was never 'Governor' in Dover; he was
President of its court-its court, doubtless, being but little
more than a board of selectmen. More stupid was the ab-
surdity that imposed upon Hubbard a belief that Edward
Colcord was once 'Governor'; he was one of three men ap-
pointed to decide cases 20 shillings in value. Entirely inex-
cusable is the statement in some state publications, as in a
Register now before us, that Dover was incorporated 22
Oct., 1641. Some blunderer took the month and day of the
second Combination and prefixed them to the year of the
union with Massachusetts and called the hybrid result the
✓date of incorporation. Dover never was incorporated.
¹Dow, History of Hampton, vol. 1, p. 15.
INTRODUCTION.
xxvii
"Dover was independent until annexed to Massachusetts
9 Oct. 1641. At the next general court, that of May, 1642,
Savage says that William Walderne appeared from Dover
and sat one day. The general court held sessions in spring
and autumn of each year. Deputies were chosen sometimes
for one session, sometimes for the year.
991
The facts which throw light upon the local government of
the settlements on the lower Pascataqua are very fully mar-
shalled and clearly presented in recent publications which
include The Indenture of David Thomson2 by Charles Deane,
Notes on the First Planting of New Hampshire,3 by John
S. Jenness, Life of John Mason, by Tuttle and Dean, and
Historical Papers, by Charles W. Tuttle, posthumously pub-
lished.5
4
The early settlers of New Hampshire had among their
number no Bradford nor Winthrop to write out their annals,
and to give posterity an account of all the details, great and
small, which related to the inauguration and progress of
their enterprises.
The great majority of the first Englishmen who occupied
New Hampshire soil may be characterized as industrious,
enterprising, and unpretentious farmers, fishermen, and lum-
bermen, who crossed the ocean under commonplace induce-
ments and employment from the proprietors of the land pat-
ent, to prosecute their ordinary vocations. It may be
assumed, also, that they manifested little concern about the
establishment of a state or a church, the conservation of re-
ligious freedom, the propagation of the gospel, or the con-
version of the heathen. If properly classed as churchmen
and royalists, they have left no evidence that they were of a
class that were obtrusive or aggressive in respect to their
religious or political ideas."
6
Government in these settlements, later considerably in-
creased in population, was necessarily to some extent influ-
enced and controlled by the Laconia company and its repre-
sentatives. The agencies of this company were manifest-
ing their principal activity between the years 1630 and 1633.7
¹Dr. A. H. Quint, Historical Memoranda of Ancient Dover, pp. 17, 18.
225 State Papers, 711-739.
825 State Papers, 661-709.
"Volume of the Prince Society publications.
'See also Adams' Annals of Portsmouth, Brewster's Rambles about Ports-
mouth, Albee's History of New Castle, Jenness' History of the Isles of Shoals,
Dow's History of Hampton, Brown's History of Hampton Falls, Bell's His-
tory of Exeter, and Historical Memoranda of Ancient Dover, by Dr. Quint.
Shirley, Early Jurisprudence of New Hamp., pp. 15, 16. John J. Bell,
Address before N. H. Hist. Soc., Proceedings, vol. 2, pp. 182-197. Copp v. Hen-
niker, 55 N. H., p. 186; Perkins v. Scott, 57 N. H., p. 65; Colonial Life in New
Hampshire, J. H. Fassett, 1903; Doyle, English Colonies in America, vol. 2.
The Settlements North of Massachusetts, pp. 201-219.
'Jenness, The Isles of Shoals, pp. 58-69. The statement of Mr. Whiton on
this point, History of New Hampshire, 1834, p. 152, is inaccurate.
xxviii
INTRODUCTION.
The interests of John Mason continued dominant after the
failure of the enterprises of the Laconia company until 1635.
This was the period in which the so-called governorships of
Wiggin at Dover and of Neale and Williams at Pascataqua
intervened. The ordinary forms and methods of town govern-
ment were then in prospect, and later to be made possible by
the death of the proprietor and the immigration of enterpris-
ing and self-reliant people from the neighboring colonies, who
had become acquainted not only with the machinery but with
the advantages of local self-government in towns.¹
Dr. Quint contends that, if Captain Wiggin had author-
ity from the patentees in England to act as governor, these
patentees had themselves no right of government. "Nor,"
he continues, "had the Bristol men whose right these pat-
entees had purchased, any power of government; nor did
Hilton and others, who had sold to the Bristol men their
Dover and Squamscott patent, have. any power of govern-
ment; nor had the 'Council at Plymouth' in England, who
in 1631 gave these patents to Hilton and his associates;
neither had Capt. John Mason, whose grants covered the
same territory, for, as the English courts say in 1677, 'as to
Mr. Mason's right of government within the soil he claimed,
their Lordships, and indeed his own counsel, agreed he had
none; the great Council of Plymouth, under whom he claimed
having no power to transfer government to any.' What-
ever civil power, therefore, Capt. Wiggin possessed was a
clear case of 'squatter sovereignty.' And what there was
was of a very weak kind, never extending to anything very
serious. Wiggin himself was aware how doubtful his
authority was."2
The legal position thus stated was one on which the Puri-
tans were well informed, and a contrary theory, as already
shown, was actually worked out in the Plymouth and Massa-
chusetts Bay colonies. Had Capt. John Mason been per-
mitted to continue the prosecution of his enterprise for a few
years longer, with sufficient financial resources, and with the
active endorsement of the home government, the accomplish-
ment of his idea of a palatinate might have been more prom-
ising than the students of the affairs of that period are now
disposed to admit.
Before passing on in the narrative and without, at this
point, entering further upon a discussion of the validity of Dr.
Quint's position in its legal aspects, it may be remarked that
a very elaborate and conclusive treatment of the right of the
Massachusetts Bay Company and Colony to legislate for them-
selves may be consulted in a lecture by Joel Parker, formerly
¹New Hampshire State Papers, vols. 27, 28, 29, original documents and edi-
tor's prefaces to same volumes, relating to various aspects of the Masonian
title and Masonian controversy.
"Quint's Ancient Dover, p. 423. Opinion by Justice W. S. Ladd, in Perkins v.
Scott, 57 N. H., particularly comments on p. 79.
INTRODUCTION.
xxix
chief justice of New Hampshire, and later Royall professor of
law in Harvard University, delivered at the Lowell Institute
February 9, 1869, on the subject, "The First Charter and the
Early Religious Legislation of Massachusetts.” Of course
the fact is not to be overlooked that the patent of the Ply-
mouth Company to the colony of Massachusetts Bay was re-
inforced by the crown charter of 1628-9.
The next stage in the development of definite schemes of
local self-government in these towns is observed, in the con-
crete, in the adoption of the town system of government
which was then prevalent in New England. The paucity of
town records for this period renders the results of investiga-
tion as to the powers assumed and the methods employed in
these practically independent town governments imperfect
and unsatisfactory. The Exeter records¹ afford glimpses of
ordinances enacted by the people in town meeting, or pro-
mulgated by the magistrates. More important, however, are
the "Combinations for local Government." There is evi-
dence here of a distinct purpose on the part of each of the
three towns of Portsmouth, Dover, and Exeter to adopt a
basis for a permanent government upon the democratic
method. This must certainly be regarded as in the nature
of organic law. A more extended treatment of these in-
struments is to be found in the papers of Mr. Tuttle.2
THE COMPACT FOR UNION WITH MASSACHUSETTS BAY AND
THE RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES CONCEDED TO THE TOWNS
OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
By 1641 all of the New Hampshire towns had made some
provision for local self-government. It will be remembered
that Hampton, from the first, had been claimed by Massa-
chusetts Bay, and that colony continued to exercise jurisdic-
tion over it. But the conditions and prospects of the other
three towns were not encouraging. After the death of John
Mason in 1635 they seem to have been forgotten by the home
government, and political conditions and tendencies in Eng-
land at the time did not promise these obscure colonists much
hope for the future. Massachusetts Bay, from an early date,
had claimed them as within her grant, and as more and
more of the Bay Puritans secured, by purchase, shares in the
Pascataqua and Hilton patents, her claim was regarded with
favor by a party of some strength in all of the towns.³
11 Province Papers, 128-145; Bell's Exeter, pp. 433-447; Appendix B, this
volume, pp. 738-743.
"Tuttle, Historical Papers; id., Appendix C, this volume, pp. 744-747.
325 State Papers, 691, 692.
XXX
INTRODUCTION.
Despite the fact that the course of the towns in adopting
the "Combinations" showed a creditable respect for law, it
was found difficult to preserve order among the people.
This is not surprising when we recall that such adventurers
as Burdett, Larkham, and Underhill were among their
chosen rulers. As the towns were a frontier region, exposed
to the hostilities of the French and Indians, whose most
active spirits were licentious clergymen exiled from Massa-
chusetts Bay, it was a most natural course to seek a political
union, under favorable terms, with the strong contiguous
Puritan colony.¹
In 1639 the inhabitants of Dover petitioned the general
court of Massachusetts to receive them under her jurisdic-
tion; but the proposed conditions of union were unsatisfac-
tory. In June, 1641, the patentees of both the Hilton and
Pascataqua patents transferred to Massachusetts all rights
of jurisdiction and civil government which they themselves
possessed, reserving to themselves the title to the larger part
of the land; and in September following the towns of Ports-
mouth and Dover were formally annexed under an act secur-
ing all rights possessed by the citizens of the Bay colony. A
copy of the concession of June, 1641, and of the act of union,
September, 1641, follow:
1641.
2 June.
The 14th of the 4th Mo, 1641.
Whereas some lords, knights, gentlemen, & others did pur-
chase of Mr. Edward Hilton & of some mrchants of Bristoll
two pattents, the one called Wecohannet, or Hiltons Point,
comonly called or knowne by the name of Dover, or Northam,
the other pattent set forth by the name of the south part of
the ryver of Pascataquack, begining at the sea side, or
neare there abouts, & coming round the said land by the
ryver unto the falls of Quamscot, as may more fully appear
by the said grant: And whereas, also, the inhabitants resid-
ing at sent wthin the limits of both the said grants have of
late & formerly complained of the want of some good gov-
ernm't amongst them, & desired some help in this ticular
fro the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Bay, whereby they
may bee ruled & ordered according unto God, both in church
and comon weale, and for the avoyding of such unsufferable
disorders, whereby God hath bene much dishonored amongst
them: Those gentlemen, whose names are here specified,
George Wyllys, gent, Robt Saltonstall, gent, Willi: Whiting,
Edward Holliock, Thomas Makepeace, partners in the said
'Mr. Jenness and Mr. Tuttle both give the subject of the first union special
attention, and their works contain discussions of the Puritan purposes and
methods in respect to this consummation in distinct contrast with the ordi-
nary presentation of the subject from the Puritan point of view.
INTRODUCTION.
xxxi
pattent, do, in the behalfe of the rest of the patentees, dis-
pose of the land & jurisdiction of the mises as followeth,
being willing to further such a good worke, have hearby for
themselves, & in the name of the rest of the patentees, given
up & set over all that power of jurisdiction, or governm't, of
the said people dweling or abiding wthin the limits of both
the said pattents, unto the govrnm't of the Massachusetts
Bay, by them to bee ruled and ordered in all causes, crim-
inall & civill, as inhabitants dweling wthin the limits of the
Massachusets governm't, & to bee subject to pay in church
and comon weale as the said inhabitants of the Massa-
chusetts Bay do, & no other.
And the freemen of the said two pattents to enjoy the like
liberties as other freemen do within the said Massachusetts
governmt, & that there shall bee a court of justice kept
wthin one of the 2 pattents, wch shall have the same powr
that the Courts of Salem & Ipswich have; provided, alwayes,
& it is hearby declared, that one of the said pattents, that
is to say, that on the south side of the ryver of Pascataquack,
& in the other pattent one third Dt of the land, wth all im-
proved land in the said pattent, to the lords & gentlemen, &
other owners, shalbee & remaine unto them, their heirs &
assignes forever, as their proper right, & as haveing true in-
terest therein, saveing the interest of jurisdiction to the Massa-
chusets.
And the said pattent of Wecohannett shalbee divided, as
formerly is exprest, by indifferent men equally chosen on
both sides, wherby the plantation may bee furthered, & all
occasions of difference avoyded.
And this honored Court of the Massachusets doth hearby
Pmise to be helpfull to the maintenance of the right of the
said patentees, in both the said pattents, in all legall courses,
in any part of their jurisdiction.
Subscribed by the forenamed gentlemen in the sence of
the Generall Court assembled the day afore written.
[Mass. Records, vol. 1, p. 324.]
1641.
2 June.
Whereas the lords & gentellmen patentees of Dover &
other tracts of land upon the ryver of Pascataque have
passed a grant of the same to this Court, to bee forever an-
nexed to this jurisdiction, wth reservation of some t of the
said lands to their owne use, in regard to Ppriety, it is now
ordered, that the sent Govrnor, assistet wth 2 or 3 of the
other matrats, shall give comission to some meete sons to
go to Pascataque, & give notice hearof to the inhabitants
there, & take order for the establishing of government in the
limits of the said patentees, & to receive into this jurisdic-
xxxii
INTRODUCTION.
tion all other inhabitants upon the said river as may & shall
desire to submit themselves thereunto.
[Mass. Records, vol. 1, p. 332.]
1641.
7 October.
Whereas it appeareth that by the extent of the line, (ac-
cording to or patent,) that the ryver of Pascataquack is wthin
the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts, & conference being
had (at severall times) wth the said people, & some deputed
by the Generall Court, for the setteling & establishing of
order in the administration of justice there, it is now ordered,
by the Genrall Court, houlden at Boston, the 9th day of the
8th mo, 1641, & wth the consent of the inhabitants of the
said ryver, as followeth:-
Impr: That from hencefourth the said people inhabiting
there are, & shalbee, accepted & reputed under the govern-
ment of the Massachusets, as the rest of the inhabitants
wthin the said jurisdiction are.
Also, that they shall have the same order, & way of admin-
istration of justice, & way of keeping Courts, as is estab-
lished at Ipswich & Salem.
Also, they shalbee exempted fro all publique charges,
other than those that shall arise for or from among them-
selves, or fro any occation or course that may be taken to
Pcure their owne PP good or benefit.
Also, they shall enjoy all such lawful liberties of fishing,
planting, felling timber, as formerly they have enjoyed in the
said ryver. Mr Symon Bradstreete, Mr Israell Stoughton,
Mr Samu: Symonds, Mr Willi: Tynge, Mr Francis Williams,
& Mr Edward Hilton, or any four of them, whereof Mr Brad-
streete or Mr Stoughton to bee one, these shall have the same
power that the Quarter Courts at Salem & Ipswich have;
/also the inhabitants there are alowed to send two deputies
from the whole ryver to the Court at Boston.
Also Mr Bradstreete, Mr Stoughton, & the rest of the com-
issioners shall have power at the Court at Pascataquack to
appoint two or three to joyne wth Mr Williams & Mr Hilton,
to governe the people, as the magistrates do heare, till the
next Generall Court, or till the Court take further order.
It is further ordered, that untill o[u]r comissionrs shall ar-
rive at Pascataquack, those men who already have authority
by the late combination to governe the people there shall
continue in the same authority & power, to bee determined
at the comeing of the said comissioners, & not before.
[Mass. Records, vol. 1, pp. 342, 343.]
It will be seen from these records that most favorable
terms were granted by the general court of Massachusetts;
INTRODUCTION.
xxxiii
but this body was induced to go further and make an excep-
tion in favor of the New Hampshire towns that must have
been viewed with many misgivings by the strictest sect of the
Puritans. In the acts of the general court for September 27,
1642, the following entry appears:
"It is ordered that all the sent inhabitants of Pascataq
who formerly were free there shall have liberty of freemen
in their several townes to manage all their towne affaires, &
shall each towne send a deputy to the Gen'rall Court, though
they be not at @sent church members."1
And in this way New Hampshire contributed something to
the advancement of civil and religious freedom towards that
state of ample development which was attained under the
later American constitutions.
In 1643 Exeter, upon a second petition to the general court,
the first probably not disclosing the proper spirit of submis-
sion, was admitted under the same terms as the other towns,
with the exception that this town was not to be allowed a
deputy to the general court. "But this was no [unmitigated]
hardship, as the inhabitants could ill afford the expense
which would thereby fall upon them, and their apparent need
of a representative in the legislature was small.”2
At this time Newcastle, although an important settlement,
was still a part of Portsmouth; and that part of the Isles of
Shoals which had early become commercially important was
within the boundaries of the province of Maine.3
THE NATURE AND EXTENT OF THE LAWMAKING POWERS WITH
WHICH THE COMPANY AND COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS
BAY WAS INVESTED.
Among the fundamental facts which underlie the history of
the statute law of New Hampshire these will be recognized
as indisputable; the beginning of an original system of stat-
ute law of local construction in Massachusetts Bay was defi-
nitely marked by the promulgation of the Body of Liberties
in 1641; the union of Portsmouth and Dover (soon to be fol-
lowed by the accession of Exeter) with the Bay Colony was
very nearly contemporary with the appearance of the Body of
Liberties as an experiment in written colonial law for the
ruling and direction of the people of all the towns of the two
united colonies; this union on the part of the New Hamp-
shire towns was with the Puritan state of Massachusetts, and
not with the Pilgrim colony of Plymouth; the system of
statutes which was developed from the Body of Liberties, and
'Mass. Records, vol. 2, p. 29; see also Doyle, English Colonies in America,
vol. 2, pp. 213, 214.
"Bell, History of Exeter, p. 46.
"Jenness, Isles of Shoals, pp. 105, et seq.
L
xxxiv
INTRODUCTION.
which had resulted in 1679 from thirty-eight years of legisla-
tion, was valid law as well for New Hampshire as for Massa-
chusetts Bay; there was no requirement for the transmission
of those statutes for revision by the home government, and no
evidence has appeared that they were even specifically re-
pealed by the king in council or by act of parliament; they
represented, therefore, the will of the people whose representa-
tives gave them enactment, more fully, fairly, and certainly
than any subsequent colonial legislation which was subjected
to the veto power of crown governors and the revision of the
home government; the laws enacted in the period between
1641 and 1679 were necessarily the foundation of much of the
positive law subsequently enacted or re-enacted, and the sub-
stance of a large part of the common or unwritten law which
was recognized by the people and continued to be an efficient
legal element in colonial jurisprudence, both in New Hamp-
shire and Massachusetts, however difficult it may be at the
present time exactly to identify and measure it. It is also
a historical fact of primary importance in the consideration of
the validity of the statute law of Massachusetts Bay, enacted
in the first period, that the right of the colony to exercise the
powers of legislation in the manner, for the purpose, and to
the extent that such powers were exercised has been repeat-
edly but never successfully challenged.¹ The argument in sup-
port of the validity of the powers exercised by the colony of
Massachusetts Bay in the period between the grant of the first
charter and its abrogation has not been presented with more
cogency and conclusiveness than that which characterizes the
review of the question by Joel Parker in his lecture at the
Lowell Institute, before cited, on "The First Charter and the
Early Religious Legislation of Massachusetts." While the
completeness and accuracy of Judge Parker's examination of
the subject at once deter others from an attempt to bring new
and original considerations to bear on the points at issue, and
render such an essay on the lines which he pursued almost or
quite superfluous, the employment of extracts from his
monograph may serve to outline the direction of his reasoning,
and to recall this eminent authority as the best modern repos-
itory of the Puritan defense of the early Puritan legislation.
"Whatever rights the charter purported to grant," says
Judge Parker, "vested lawfully in the grantees.
"The title to unoccupied lands belonging to Great Britain,
whether acquired by conquest or discovery, was vested in the
crown. The right to grant corporate franchises was one of
the prerogatives of the king. And the right to institute and
to provide for the institution of colonial governments, whether
by charter, proprietary grant, or commission, was likewise one
¹Chalmers, Annals, 1780; Oliver, Puritan Commonwealth, 1856; Emancipa-
tion of Massachusetts, Brooks Adams, 1887.
INTRODUCTION.
XXXV
of the prerogatives. Parliament had then nothing to do with
the organization or government of colonies.
"The confirmation, therefore, in the charter, of the grant of
the lands from the Council of Plymouth (which derived title
from the grant of James I., and which could grant the lands,
but could not grant nor assign powers of government), with a
new grant, in form, of the same lands, gave to the grantees a
title in socage; substantially a fee-simple, except that there
was to be a rendition of one-fifth of the gold and silver ores.
The grant of corporate powers, in the usual form of grants to
private corporations, conferred upon them all the ordinary
rights of a private corporation, under which they could dispose
of their lands, and transact all business in which the company
had a private interest. And the grant of any powers of
colonial government, embraced in the charter, was valid and
effective to the extent of the powers which were granted,
whatever those powers might be; the whole, as against the cor-
poration, being subject to forfeiture for sufficient cause.
"The grant and confirmation of the lands, and the grant of
mere corporate powers for private purposes, were private
rights, which vested in the grantees; and which the King
could not divest, except upon some forfeiture regularly en-
forced. Upon such forfeiture, the corporation would be dis-
solved, and all of the lands belonging to it would revert, in
the nature of an escheat. But this would not affect valid
grants previously made by it.
"The grant of power to institute a colonial government,
being a grant not for private but for public purposes, may
have a different consideration. Whether by reason of its con-
nection with the grant of the lands and of ordinary corporate
powers, it partook so far of the nature of a private right that
it could not be altered, modified, or revoked, except on for-
feiture, enforced by process; or whether this part of the grant
had such a public character that the powers of government
were held subject to alteration and amendment, is hardly
open to discussion. (At the present day it is held that munici-
pal corporations, being for public uses and purposes, have no
vested private rights in the powers and privileges granted to
them, but that they may be changed at the pleasure of the gov-
ernment. That principle seems to be equally applicable to
a grant of colonial powers of government; and the better opin-
ion would seem to be that it was within the legitimate prerog-
ative of the king, at that day, to modify, and even to revoke,
the powers of that character which had been granted by the
crown, substituting others appropriate for the purpose.¹
¹If this distinction between public and private corporations, well settled at
the present time, was not then recognized, it is not because there has been a
change of principle since the period; but because the principles which gov-
ern these two descriptions of corporate rights were not then well developed;
C
xxxvi
INTRODUCTION.
"If the king had assumed to revoke the powers of govern-
ment granted by the charter, without substitution, or if he
had imposed any other form of government, by which the es-
sential features of that which was constituted under the char-
ter would have been abrogated, it might have been an arbi-
trary exercise of power, justifying any revolutionary resist-
ance which the colony could have made. But the crown,
under the then existing laws of England, must have possessed
legally such power over the colony as the legislature may
exercise over municipal corporations at the present day. The
charter, so far as the powers of government were concerned,
could not be treated as a private contract.
"The charter was originally the only authority for the gov
ernment of the territory embraced in it. The Council at Ply-
mouth, in the County of Devon, never attempted to exercise
powers of government over the colony of Massachusetts; and
there was no compact or agreement to form a government.
The grantees professed, in all they did, to act under the char-
ter, and, as they contended, according to the charter.
"We are to look to the terms of the charter, therefore, and
to a sound construction of its provisions, to ascertain what
rights of legislation, religious or otherwise, were possessed by
the grantees.
"The charter bears date March 4 1628 [29].
"From a careful examination of it, I have no hesitation in
maintaining five propositions in relation to it.
1. "The charter is not, and was not, intended to be an act
for the incorporation of a trading or merchants' company
merely. But it was a grant which contemplated the settle-
ment of a colony, with power in the incorporated company to
govern that colony.
* * *
2. "The charter authorized the establishment of the gov-
ernment of the colony within the limits of the territory to be
governed, as was done by the vote to transfer the charter and
government.
3.
* * *
"The charter gave ample powers of legislation and of
government for the plantation, or colony, including power to
legislate on religious subjects, in the manner in which the
grantees and their associates claimed and exercised the legis-
lative power.
*
*
4. "The charter authorized the exclusion of all persons
whom the grantees and their associates should see fit to ex-
clude from settlement in the colony; and the exclusion of
those already settled, by banishment as a punishment for
offences.
* *
and hence the claim of the crown to power over both public and private
rights, and the claims of the colonists under their charter, without any dis-
tinction between the two. When a right application is made of this princi-
ple to the colonial history, it will show that the complaints of the colonists
of infringement of their charters were not all well founded.
INTRODUCTION.
xxxvii
"They were the owners of the soil; and, in the absence of
conditions or limitations, the owner of such a title has an ex-
clusive right of possession. They were the grantees of a char-
ter of incorporation; and such grantees, unless there is some
special provision or circumstance controlling them, may de-
termine who shall be admitted to a participation in their cor-
porate rights.
* *
*
5. "The charter authorized the creation and erection of
courts of judicature to hear, try, and determine causes, and to
render final judgments and cause execution to be done, with-
out any appeal to the courts of England, or any supervisory
power of such courts."1
off * *
NEW HAMPSHIRE IN THE PERIOD OF UNION WITH THE
MASSACHUSETTS BAY—THE SYSTEMS OF STATUTE LAW
CONSTRUCTED AND DEVELOPED BETWEEN 1641 AND 1679.
An epoch has now been reached in which for thirty-eight
years the statutes of Massachusetts Bay were those of New
Hampshire. This may be regarded as the second period of
the statutory, as well as political, history of New Hamp-
shire.
It was not New Hampshire alone, although a closer
political relation was in every way desirable for the inhab-
itants of the Pascataqua towns, that was benefited by the
union with Massachusetts. This fact is disclosed in the will-
ingness of the general court to admit to the right of suffrage
inhabitants of the New Hampshire towns, otherwise qual-
ified, who were not church members. During this period
New Hampshire was favored with strong leaders who made
themselves felt in the united government. Major Richard
Waldron, who represented Dover from 1656 until the estab-
lishment of the province, was for seven years speaker of the
house of deputies. John J. Bell, in an address before the
New Hampshire Historical Society some years ago, says of
the men of New Hampshire at this time: "As we look back
we cannot but be struck with the fact that their leaders
would have been eminent in any community. . . . They not
only have greatly modified the character of New England
town governments, but have contributed no less than Massa-
chusetts herself to make New England's fame and char-
acter."2
. . .
During this period there was no obstruction or discourage-
ment of Puritan migration into these frontier towns where
before, for the greater part, the people had been satisfied with
thinking for themselves on questions of theology without man-
ifesting any special disposition to exclude those of different
ecclesiastical notions from their midst. In a few instances
the magistrates of New Hampshire towns employed harsh
measures towards the Quakers, such as were customary in
¹Lowell Inst. lecture, pamphlet ed., pp. 8, 10, 11, 30, 39, 42.
'Proceedings, N. H. His. Soc., vol. 2, p. 191.
xxxviii
INTRODUCTION.
the Puritan colony.¹ It will be borne in mind that the same
laws were in force in the two colonies.
The first code of laws of Massachusetts Bay was adopted
in 1641, at about the time of the union with Portsmouth and
Dover. It is probable that the governor and council had
previously exercised a considerable degree of latitude in de-
claring and enforcing rules of conduct; and when, in 1635, the
deputies took an active part in the government they were
anxious for a definite code. "But," says Palfrey, “it was
several years before this object, diligently pursued by the
freemen, was accomplished. The magistrates and ministers,
who did not favor it, knew how to interpose embarrassments
and delays." Two reasons which influenced the magistrates
and some of the elders "not to be very forward in this mat-
ter" were, first, "such laws would be fittest for us which
should arise pro re nata upon occasions"; and, secondly, "to
raise up laws by practice and custom had been no transgres-
sion" of the charter. At length the matter was referred to
Rev. John Cotton and Rev. Nathaniel Ward, each of whom
prepared and presented a code. The one drafted by John
Cotton was never accepted either by the freemen or by the
general court; but, as it was published in London in 1641
under a false title and frequently reprinted, it has long en-
joyed an undeserved reputation as the Massachusetts Body
of Liberties of 1641.
3
The code drawn by the Rev. Nathaniel Ward, possibly
amended by the towns or by the general court, was approved
in 1641, and is the foundation of the legislation of Massachu-
setts. A manuscript copy of these laws was found by the
late Francis C. Gray in the Athenæum library, and first pub-
lished in 1843 in a volume of the Collections of the Massachu-
setts Historical Society.4
No code of laws can be final, and, of course, statutes were
passed each year, until a general revision was found necessary.
A new compilation was made with care, several years being
spent upon the work, and put in print in 1649. This is known
as the Revision of 1649, or the First Printed Book of Laws.5
It was almost certainly a book of about fifty-six pages, con-
taining the Body of Liberties of 1641, very nearly entire, and
such other statutes passed before May, 1649, as were of a
¹Dover Records, December 22, 1662. Ancient Superstitions as reflected in
the Early New England Laws, address before the Grafton and Coös Bar
Association by Erastus P. Jewell of Laconia, 1899, manuscript unpublished.
Ferguson, Essays in American History, The Quakers in New England, 1894.
2Palfrey, His. of N. E., vol. 1, p. 442.
'Savage's Winthrop's History of New England, vol. 1, pp. 388, 389.
*Mass. Hist. Soc. Col., First Series, vol. 5. Post, Appendix D, pp. 748-771.
"The first printing press in New England was established at Cambridge in
1638.
INTRODUCTION.
xxxix
permanent nature. It was issued in an edition of six hun-
dred copies. It is a singular fact that not one copy of this
book is now known to be in existence. A supplement ap-
peared in 1650, referred to in the revision of 1660 as the Sec-
ond Book of the Law; and very likely other supplements were
issued between 1650 and 1660, the date of the next revision.¹
The committee, in preparing the revision of 1660, included
some acts not previously passed by the general court; and
presumably it also marks the limitation of many previous acts.
On May 22, 1661, an act was passed providing for the annual
printing of the session laws, as we now term them.
As early as 1664 a movement was under way for another
revision, and at the May session, 1665, the Royal Commis-
sioners presented twenty-six changes which they desired to
have made in the "Book of the General Laws and Liberties
of 1660." Their principal objects were to have substituted
for all expressions recognizing the supremacy of the com-
monwealth an acknowledgment of the royal authority; to
procure a recognition of the Church of England; and to re-
move the long-standing limitation of citizenship to church
members. An examination of the revision of 1672 shows
that only one or two points were conceded by the general
court, and that the recognition of His Majesty's supremacy
appears in one clause, while the superiority, or at least the
sufficiency, of the local authority was asserted in a score.
The right of strangers to become citizens was nominally con-
ceded, but on conditions that furnished the minimum of privi-
lege to all but church members. This revision of 1672 was in
no sense a new code, but was published because of the lack
of law books. In it were included such changes as had been
made from time to time.
Another attempt was made to revise the laws after 1672,
and would doubtless have succeeded before the beginning
of the presidency of Joseph Dudley in 1686, had not the magis-
trates and deputies failed to agree as to the part relating to
the general court. The question was whether the charter
provided for a negative in any branch of the general court,
that is, whether it allowed a convention of the whole court,
wherein all the magistrates might be of one opinion, and yet
be overpowered by the numerical superiority of the deputies.
In 1652 it had been voted that when the houses differed in
any case of judication, whether civil or criminal, such case
should be determined by the major part of the whole court.
But this method of forcing an agreement was very disagree-
able to the magistrates who, contending against it in 1672,
reluctantly yielded the point at last, though their powers
were thereby greatly curtailed. But in 1686 they were more
persistent, and by a prolonged contest prevented the comple-
"The Charlemagne Tower Collection of Colonial Laws, pp. 62-64.
xl
INTRODUCTION.
tion of a new edition of the laws, and this, too, even after a
part of the type for the volume had been set.¹
In the Plymouth Colony there were compilations of the
laws in manuscript, made in 1636 and 1658. But in 1671
"a complete digest of all the laws then in force" was per-
fected. This was the first edition of the Plymouth Colony
laws that was printed.2 It is from this edition that the Cutt
criminal code of New Hampshire was adapted almost ver-
batim.
The foundation of these early colonial laws was necessarily
in a large measure in the Statutes of the Realm, which, as
already shown, had grown into a system comprehending a
great variety of subjects and exigencies for which statutory
provisions had been required and enacted.
The charters, also, should be kept in view by those who
investigate the beginnings and progress of law-making in
the colonies. While the limitations upon legislation imposed
by the charters were sometimes ignored or circumvented, it
would be unsafe to assume that they were not regarded and
followed, with reference to most of the purposes and objects of
legislation, as the organic law.
It is also necessary in any attempt to identify the sources
of the law by which the people of the Puritan colonies were
governed, either under positive statutes, current decisions of
their own courts, or unrecorded usages, to take into account
the fact that they recognized the word of God, as declared
in the Holy Scriptures, as a guide, as an authority, as a law
in temporal as well as spiritual affairs. This is certainly
true of the earlier Pilgrim and Puritan immigrants in Ply-
mouth Colony and Massachusetts Bay. The Body of Liber-
ties of the Massachusetts Bay colony and the General Laws
of Plymouth Colony contain provisions and declarations
which were undoubtedly intended to give the magistrates
the right to have recourse to the Scriptures in the adminis-
tration of the judicial department of the colonial govern-
ments. This is, perhaps, more specifically indicated in the
Plymouth laws than in the Body of Liberties of 1641.3 The
relaxation of the strictness of Puritan ideas on this subject,
which the history of the colonies discloses, is well marked
in their successive revisions and compilations of laws.*
For the history of the various editions of Mass. laws prior to 1686, see
Whitmore, Colonial Laws of Mass., ed. 1889, pp. 1-28 and 71-117.
"Plymouth Colony Laws, ed. 1836, pp. viii, ix.
³Body of Liberties, art. 1, p. 752, and art. 65, p. 759, post, Appendix to this
volume; Plymouth Colony Laws, edited by William Brigham, 1836, pp. 241,
243, 244.
*From a New Hampshire point of view Dr. Belknap reviews the first union
with Massachusetts in chapters 4, 5, and 6 of his history. In his chapter 3 he
discusses the principles of New England Puritans. The Political Annals
of the American Colonies, by George Chalmers, an Englishman and royal-
INTRODUCTION.
xli
Surrounded, as these colonists were, by tribes of savages,
upon whose continued friendship they could not rely for any
considerable length of time, and with colonization progressing
along the St. Lawrence by people of a nation which was the
hereditary enemy of the mother country, a military spirit and
military habit were developed in New England which charac-
terized the people in successive generations, and which was
reflected in their laws.1
The revolution in England which resulted in the Common-
wealth and Protectorate, 1649-1660, afforded the colonists a
respite from the autocratic policy of the Stuarts. It was an
opportunity which was much more advantageous to them at
this particular stage of the development and application of
their ideas of self-government than any similar period of
non-interference could have been after they had become in-
trenched in their political positions, and had secured the
advantage of largely increased population and resources, as
well as a military power and prestige not to be despised.
The inauguration and maintenance of a New England con-
federacy, which began in 1643 and continued for more than a
generation, was a source of strength and political education,
and an augury of future governmental possibilities which has
large meaning in the constitutional history of the people of
these colonies.2
In 1679, upon this foreground of colonial history, events,
elsewhere reviewed in these pages, culminated in the dis-
ist, published in 1780, appeared about the same time as the first edition of
the work of Dr. Belknap. The comments of the latter on certain portions
of the Annals are contained in the preface to Farmer's edition of Belknap,
p. ix. Prominent among the critics of the New England Puritans are Mr.
Oliver in his Puritan Commonwealth, 1856, elsewhere mentioned, and
Brooks Adams in his Emancipation of Massachusetts, 1887. Mr. Jenness
and Mr. Tuttle, whose works are frequently cited in this volume, may be
regarded as, in a sense, the principal representatives of the anti-Puritan
school of historians, who have treated the subject in modern times with par-
ticular reference to the relations of colonial New Hampshire to the dominant
Puritan element in the early New England governments.
¹Potter, Military History of N. H., part 1; the Editor's Historical and Bibli-
ographical Notes on the Mil. His. of N. H. in The History of the Seventeenth
Regiment, ch. 28; id., pamphlet; Penhallow, Hist. of Indian Wars in New
England, in N. H. His. Soc. Col., vol. 1, pp. 14-133; Mather, Relations of
Troubles Which Have Happened in New England Because of Indians, 1614-
1675; Farmer's Belknap's Hist. of New Hamp., chaps. 5, 10, 12, 14, 19, 20, and
22; Pike's Journal, 3 Collectons of N. H. Historical Society, 40; Parkman's
histories, especially Pioneers of New France, Frontenac and New France
under Louis XIV, Half Century of Conflict, and Montcalm and Wolfe; Fiske,
New France and New England, 1902; History of the Indian Wars in New
England to 1677, by William Hubbard, ed. by Rev. Samuel G. Drake, 1865.
"Doyle, The Eng. Col. in Am., vol. 3, pp. 229-237; Palfrey, Hist. of New Eng-
land, vol. 2, chaps. 1, 2, 6, and see list of commissioners, vol. 2, pp. 635, 636,
and vol. 3, 599-601; Fiske, Beginnings of New England, pp. 153-198; Plans for
the Union of the British Colonies of North America, 1643-1776, by Frederick
D. Stone, published in Carson's History of the Celebration of Hundredth An-
niversary of the Promulgation of the Constitution of the U. S., vol. 2, pp.
439-503.
d
xlii
INTRODUCTION.
association of the New Hampshire towns from the Massa-
chusetts Bay colony, and their establishment as a royal prov-
ince. The causes which led to this result have been analyzed
by the historians of New Hampshire and New England, and
are clearly defined in these authorities. The beginnings of
New Hampshire as a separate province were accompanied by
grants of powers of legislation, and a full investiture with
the responsibilities of a separate government, subject to the
regulative and restrictive control of the mother country.¹
THE TRANSITION PERIOD.
1
The royal edict in 1679, separating the New Hampshire
towns from the union with Massachusetts, which had contin-
ued thirty-eight years, marked the beginning of the end of
an era. The New England commonwealths, which had been
developed at this time to such proportions and on such lines
of political progress as the student of colonial history observes
at this period, were attracting the jealous attention of the
Stuart ministries on account of their manifest tendencies
towards independence. In respect to their municipal rights
and privileges they were so strongly intrenched in the New
England town system that they were there practicably im-
pregnable. There was not the same security, however, for
the federalized governments which had been developed on
the basis of charters granted by the crown, or crown corpo-
rations created for the purpose of colonizing America.
Various causes had been in operation to convince the home
government of the necessity for radical measures to counter-
act or control that policy of home rule which was manifest in
the Puritan colonies, and which presaged such an ultimate
assertion of colonial rights as might be destructive of the
sovereignty of the mother country.
As the erection of a province government for New Hamp-
shire in 1679 marks the beginning of a transition period, so
the grant of a new charter to Massachusetts Bay and Ply-
mouth Colony, united as Massachusetts in 1691, and the
restoration of a province government to New Hampshire,
one of the same group of events, deliminate the later boundary
of this period. The establishment of the province of New
Hampshire in 1679, the abrogation of the charter of Massa-
chusetts Bay in 1684, the abolition of colonial assemblies in
five New England colonies, and the temporary establishment
of the Dominion of New England in the three years of 1686-7,
1687-8, and 1688-9 are the most conspicuous milestones in the
"This epoch in New Hampshire has been treated, among others, by Mr.
Doyle and Mr. Tuttle, and their chapters on the causes which operated in
the establishment of a separate province government are given in full in
this volume, Appendix E, pp. 770-785.
INTRODUCTION.
xliii
·
final progress of the autocratic policy of the Stuart govern-
ments towards the New England colonies to an extreme that
could be reached but not maintained.
With the abdication of James the Second in 1688 the pre-
posterous governmental scheme that had been erected for the
people of New England, and against the protests of the great
majority of them, collapsed at once upon the removal of the
exterior supports upon which its existence depended.
There was in these years a strong and determined party in
New Hampshire acting in opposition to Robert Tufton Mason,
and his royalist and anti-Puritan adherents. Mason was the
able, resourceful, and indefatigable successor in the legal con-
trol and active management of the property and rights of the
first proprietor.
In Massachusetts a similar party had maintained a steady
opposition to the local loyalist leaders, among whom Edward
Randolph was the most consistent, the most active, and the
most dangerous.¹
1
Mr. Doyle has pointedly characterized the policy of sep-
arating the New Hampshire towns from Massachusetts, and
reorganizing them into a feeble province on the most exposed
frontier of New England. "The settlers were exasperated, and
with justice, at their severance from Massachusetts. They
may have had no special sympathy with that colony. But
no position could be more wretched than that of a little, iso-
lated, and independent settlement, in the middle of a line of
frontier constantly threatened by savages. The very nature
of the attack made matters worse. If the danger had been
that of invasion and permanent occupation, then the interests
of Massachusetts and New Hampshire would have been iden-
tical, and the weaker colony would have been sure of help.
But the war which France was waging was not, as yet at
least, a war of conquest. It was a war of partial and local
destruction. The more efficient was the defense along the
frontier of Massachusetts, the more certain was it that the
tide of invasion would hurl itself against the one undefended
district. We may well believe that the petition for a system
of joint defense under a general governor came from those
inhabitants of New Hampshire who were, from past associ-
ation, hostile to Massachusetts, and yet felt the helplessness
of their own colony, isolated under a proprietor."2
The project of reunion was thwarted by the interested
efforts of Mr. Mason. His motives and purpose were personal.
The efforts of Randolph, his coadjutor, though induced, per-
haps, by different considerations, were directed to the same
"Tuttle's Historical Papers; Andros Papers, 3 vols., published by the
Prince Society.
"Doyle, English Colonies in America, vol. 3, p. 329; id., post, Appendix E,
II, p. 780.
xliv
INTRODUCTION.
end. Both based their appeals to the crown upon the urgent
necessity of curtailing the ominously increasing political
power of Massachusetts Bay.
The Earl of Bellomont, in his correspondence with the
Lords Commissioners of Trade and Plantations a few years
later, thus describes the policy of Mason and the coterie that
had purchased the Masonian title after the death of Robert
Tufton Mason in 1688:
"And for a conclusion I humbly and earnestly recommend
the vacating of Colonel Allen's pretension to New Hamp-
shire, and all other claim derived from Mason which .
an abomination and a mystery of iniquity."
... are
The reaction from the extreme measures which took form
and effect in the commission, instructions, and administra-
tion of Governor Andros failed to restore the New England
colonies to the independent status to which they had attained
prior to 1679. Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Maine,
united as Massachusetts by the new charter of 1691, regained
the right of representation for the towns in the general court,
a limited law-making power, and the autonomy of the towns
as the primary units of government. But they were required
to submit to the provision in the new charter for the appoint-
ment of a governor by the crown, instead of being suffered to
elect their own chief magistrate according to the custom
which had been previously established. Several other points
in the readjustment of the relations of the home govern-
ment with the government of the colonies were important
and are familiar to those who have reviewed the course of
events in this period. Not the least noteworthy of these pro-
visions were the regulation of the right of appeal from the
judgments of the colonial courts, and the explicit require-·
ments relative to the transmission of colonial laws for review
by the privy council.
The settlement of this new system of colonial administra-
tion, which was introduced in New Hampshire in 1679 and
restored here in 1692, and in which Massachusetts finally ac-
quiesced in 1691-92, was very nearly in point of time midway
between the immigration of the Pilgrims in 1620 and the com-
mencement of the War for Independence in 1775. An era
in colonial affairs was concluded in 1692. Then a new book
was opened in the account between Britain and her Amer-
ican plantations. The specifications on the part of New
Hampshire to cover the first ten years of the last half of the
colonial period are deducible from the records and collateral
authorities which relate to the administration of government
in the province under the commissions of Samuel Allen and
12 Province Papers, 355; id., Palfrey, History of New England, vol. 4, p. 217.
INTRODUCTION.
xlv
the Earl of Bellomont. The final summary was drawn by
Thomas Jefferson in 1776.¹
In this province the enquiry as to whether William and
Mary, their ministers and parliaments, had fairly met the obli-
gations that were imposed upon them, as the responsible
heads of a constitutional monarchy, in the then existing rela-
tions with their colonies, brings in issue the character and fit-
ness of the royal governors and their deputies and lieutenants,
the sufficiency of the measures employed and means provided
for the protection and defense of these outposts of English
enterprise and racial extension, the consideration that was
accorded the province laws submitted for confirmation or
rejection, the bestowal of the governorship upon Mr. Allen
and Mr. Usher, under circumstances in which they stood as
contestants with the people in respect to ownership of the
principal part of the lands lying within the boundaries of the
province, and the restriction of the trade of the province to
the home market in England or to designated provinces under
the provisions of the navigation acts.2
It is not difficult to trace serious causes of disaffection ex-
isting in the first years (1692-1702) of the restored province
government, and persistent to the culmination of the aggre-
gate of discontent in the revolution of 1775.
COLONIAL
SUPERVISION AND
ADMINISTRATION
HOME GOVERNMENT.
IN THE
The entire management of colonial affairs until after the
revolution of 1688 was in the control of the king and the privy
council. As early as 1636,3 however, there seems to have
been a committee or board variously referred to as Commis-
sioners of Plantations, Lords Commissioners of Plantations4
or Committee for Foreign Plantations,5 whose especial duty it
was to give counsel in colonial matters. A special Commis-
sion for Plantations was appointed on November 24, 1643, by
the Long Parliament; and again under date of March 2,
1650, appears the following:
"Order of the Council of State. The whole Council, or any
five of them to be appointed a Committee for Trade and Plan-
tations." Soon after the restoration, December 1, 1660,
¹Poore, Charters and Constitutions, ed. 1878, part 1, pp. 3-5; Hill, Liberty
Documents, 1901, pp. 183-187.
2A compilation of the acts of parliament which related to the government
and affairs of the American colonies, with appropriate comments, is a desid-
eratum in the literature of the jurisprudence of the colonial period.
'Calendar of State Papers, (Colonial), 1574-1674, § 176.
*Id., § 193.
5Id., § 338.
"Calendar of State Papers (Colonial), 1574-1660, p. 324.
'Id., p. 335.
xlvi
INTRODUCTION.
Charles the Second appointed a Council for Foreign Planta-
tions, composed of thirty-five members from the privy council,
the nobility, gentry, and merchants.¹ The duties of this
council, like those of its predecessors, were only advisory;
but they were instructed to inform themselves of the state
of the plantations and their governments, to write to all the
governors and patentees, requiring a report of their affairs,
of the nature of the laws, number of men, fortifications, etc.
"To adopt means for rendering those dominions and England
mutually helpful. . . . To inquire into the government of the
colonies of foreign states, and apply what is good and prac-
ticable to the English plantations. To call experienced mer-
chants, planters, seamen, etc., to their assistance." It was
also their duty to provide orthodox ministers for the planta-
tions, and to consider how the natives and slaves might be
made ready for baptism in the Christian faith." "The pro-
ceedings of this commission are fully recorded, and reveal an
astonishing activity in colonial questions, indicating the new
place which these affairs occupied in English policy."3
Early in 16754 Charles the Second dissolved the Council of
Trade and Plantations, doubtless another name for the Coun-
cil for Foreign Plantations; and on March 12, 1675, all busi-
ness relating to the colonies was committed to a committee
of the privy council. Five members were to constitute a
quorum. They were to hold weekly meetings and report
from time to time to the king.5 This committee exercised
about the same authority as the Council of thirty-five had
done; but in 1696, after the House of Commons had come to
take a more prominent part in industrial and colonial ques-
tions, a Board of Trade was appointed to promote trade and
to inspect and improve the plantations. This board, after
nearly a century, developed into the Colonial Department.”
6
THE CUTT CODE, 1680, 1681.
No better evidence exists of the inapplicability and inad-
equacy of the laws of England in their entirety, when em-
ployed without modification in practical experiments in gov-
¹Calendar of State Papers (Colonial), 1661-1668, p. viii.
'Id., 1574-1660, pp. 492, 493.
Woodward, The Expansion of the British Empire, 1899, p. 138.
*Calendar of State Papers (Colonial), 1675-1676, § 429.
Id., §§ 460-464.
"Doyle, English Colonies in America, vol. 3, p. 323.
'In the notes which accompany the documents and acts contained in the
principal text of this work, and in the Appendix, it is quite possible that
the terms descriptive of these several boards, commissions, and committees
may have been inaccurately applied as regards the time of one or more of
those organizations. Such an occasional anachronism will hardly be mis-
leading, as the date will indicate correctly the particular official body
to which allusion is made.
INTRODUCTION.
xlvii
ernment in the new world, than the unyielding insistence of
the colonial legislatures in the exercise of the law-making
power for their own constituencies. The president, council,
and deputies, constituting the general assembly of the prov-
ince of New Hampshire, immediately upon their assumption of
office, addressed themselves to this task of providing the peo-
ple of the province with a body of laws adapted to local neces-
sities, and at length produced what is commonly known as the
"Cutt Code." Its provisions were necessarily drawn with ref-
erence to the experience of the members of the general assem-
bly in dealing with colonial conditions in the period that had
intervened since the New Hampshire towns, fifty years pre-
viously, had built up local governments for themselves. Un-
doubtedly these legislators had in anxious consideration, also,
in devising and adapting the provisions of their laws, the
Masonian claim and all the possibilities that were involved in
its reassertion against the property and people of New Hamp-
shire.
In the past the opinion seems to have been quite gener-
ally entertained that the body of laws known as the "Cutt
Code" was taken in its entirety, or for the greater part, from
the laws of Massachusetts Bay colony. Reference is made
in notes which appear later in this volume (post, p. 10) to the
statement of Mr. A. H. Hoyt in his "Notes, Historical and
Bibliographical, on the Laws of New Hampshire," to the
effect that that portion of the Cutt laws which relates to
crimes is copied in substance from the laws of Plymouth
Colony and not from those of Massachusetts Bay. This asser-
tion is verified by a comparison of. these two series of laws.
The sources of the civil part of the "Cutt Code" are not so
certainly ascertainable. Several sections were undoubtedly
transcribed from the contemporaneously existing laws of
Massachusetts Bay. Other articles are quite dissimilar from
the corresponding ones in the Bay colony laws, while others
still which appear in the "Cutt Code" are not found in the
laws for that period of either Massachusetts or Plymouth.
It appears in the narrative of proceedings in the province
of New Hampshire which was transmitted to the home gov
ernment in 1681 (17 State Papers, 555-59, abstract, post, p.
786), that the writer made this assertion: "They [the assem-
bly in the time of Cutt] have made a law to confirm the laws
of Massachusetts colony and the title to lands derived from
that authority."
The basis for this statement is doubtless to be found in the
"Cutt Code," article [1], post, p. 23, and article [14], post, p.
28. It will be observed that the article relating to the con-
firmation of town grants, etc., had peculiar reference to New
Hampshire affairs, and that it was well calculated to excite
the most serious antagonism of the representatives of the
xlviii
INTRODUCTION.
Masonian interests. A similar provision reappears in stat-
utes enacted in the time of Partridge, chapter 19, pp. 693,
695, 696, post; notes relative to same acts, post, pp. 649, 650.
The provision for the continuance of the pre-existing laws,
so far as they were necessary to provide for exigencies that
might not have been contemplated in the enactments of the
new code, was not an extraordinary or unusual act of colonial
legislation. Orders issued in the time of the presidency of
Joseph Dudley and of the governorship of Sir Edmund An-
dros, post, p. 249, are directed apparently to the same purpose.
Referring to this body of laws known as the "Cutt Code,"
Secretary Chamberlain, in a letter to Mr. Blathwayt of date
May 14, 1681, remarks as follows: "The whole system in gen-
eral being collected mostly out of the Massachusetts laws."
Although this statement is somewhat qualified, it is suf-
ficiently broad to have been the possible origin of the opin-
ion that was long current as to the origin of this particular
series of New Hampshire laws. In the same communication
Mr. Chamberlain continues: "Surely it could not well stand
with the mind and pleasure of His Majesty that we here
should cast off obedience to their [Massachusetts Bay's]
jurisdiction and voluntarily submit to, and yoke ourselves
so inseperably to their laws."
No further remarks need be made on the subject in this
connection, except to call attention to the fact that the laws
of these three colonies, which were in operation at the time
when the first body of New Hampshire laws had been
enacted, are now conveniently accessible; and the student
of comparative jurisprudence who is desirous of pursuing the
subject further will find the material ample for his inves-
tigations.¹
The events that led up to the establishment of the province
government, and the interests that were active in the accom-
plishment of this result, are prominent features of the his-
torical setting in which the first province government and
the first body of province laws are placed.²
The importance of this epoch in the statutory history of
the province has rendered recourse to the contemporary au-
thorities, and the more recent critical treatment of the sub-
ject, appropriate to the present work in connection with the
presentation of this Code, and, indeed, indispensable.
The auxiliary articles which are found in the appendix,
and the notes which accompany the principal text of the
¹See General Laws and Liberties of Massachusetts, 1672, in Whitmore's
Colonial Laws, ed. 1887; General Laws and Liberties of New Plymouth, 1671,
in Brigham's Plymouth Colony Laws, 1836; Cutt Code, this volume, post,
pp. 9-47.
"Doyle, English Colonies in America, vol. 3, p. 294.
INTRODUCTION.
xlix
laws of the time of the Cutt and Waldron administration, will
afford the reader immediate access to the approved author-
ities, or citation to them.¹
THE CRANFIELD CODE AND THE ESSAYS OF THE LIEUTENANT-
GOVERNOR AND HIS COUNCIL IN LEGISLATION WITHOUT
THE CO-OPERATION OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
This period was brief, but replete in important events. It
marks a striking transition from the conservative policy of
the Cutt and Waldron administration to the offensive and
arrogant misgovernment of Cranfield, Barefoote, and Mason.
As regards the laws of the province it was apparently as-
sumed to be incumbent on the general assembly to formu-
late and adopt a new code. Such a body of laws was
speedily adopted by the two new houses of the assembly, and
approved by the lieutenant-governor. It now transpires from
an inspection of the contemporary correspondence of himself
and his secretary with the home government that both of these
officials were intriguing for the disallowance of these laws, to
the enactment of which they had ostensibly given cordial ap-
probation. Early in this administration the lieutenant-gov-
ernor became pecuniarily interested (and it is not impossible
that he was a partner from the beginning) in the Masonian
claim, and a co-operating agent in its enforcement against the
people over whom he was the appointed chief magistrate, and
over whose interests he should have been a disinterested and
impartial guardian. His attitude, however, soon became
notorious. His cynical frankness left no room for doubt as
to his relations with Mason. His assembly broke with him
before the end of the first year, and refused to grant him any
revenues or even to assemble for any purpose, either at his
request or upon his command. His conduct disclosed no
tact, no disinterested purpose, and no regard for the propri-
eties of his position. A selfish and mercenary spirit was the
principal characteristic of his policy. The body of laws\
which was enacted in the first year of his administration is
commonly known as the "Cranfield Code." Upon the refusal
of the house of representatives to co-operate with him in legis-
lation for any purpose (except in a single instance, upon the
urgent initiative of the home government, when the passage
of an act against pirates was secured) he construed his com-
mission as giving himself and his council authority to legis-
late without the concurrence of a house of representatives.
The events of this administration have proven unusually at-
tractive to the historians of the colonial period, and their
treatment of this part of it is voluminous and exhaustive.
The acts of the time of Cranfield and his deputy, Walter
'Principal text of this volume, post, pp. 1-47; Appendix E, post, pp. 770-785.
1
INTRODUCTION.
Barefoote, are given in full in the text. An unusual number
of duplicates, or different renditions, of the "Cranfield Code"
have been preserved in manuscript through the industry of
the lieutenant-governor and his secretary in making their
contemporary transmissions, according to the requirements
of the commission, to the home government. These have
been presented in such manner as to identify each copy, as
far as practicable, in point of time and in its proper relation
to contemporary events. Other papers which serve to add
to a correct understanding of this particular chapter of the
province legislation are presented in the appendix.¹
1
Original manuscript copies of what we now describe as
the "Cutt Code" and the "Cranfield Code" have survived from
the time of their enactment in the archives of the province
and state of New Hampshire. There is evidence, however,
that the most accomplished jurists of the state a hundred
years ago were not aware of their existence. In a collection
of extracts from the writings of Chief Justice Jeremiah
Smith, edited by his son, Jeremiah Smith, now a professor in
the Harvard Law School, and published in 1879, in the vol-
ume known as Smith's Decisions, the editor remarks as fol-
lows in a marginal note:
"In a . . . charge to the grand jury, Judge Smith ex-
pressly stated that he had never been able to find the codes
of law enacted by the New Hampshire Assembly in 1679-80
and in 1682."2
As stated in the notes accompanying the acts of the time
of Cutt and Cranfield, no definite evidence has been dis-
covered in the English archives to determine whether the
laws known as the "Cutt Code" and the "Cranfield Code"
were formally disallowed by the king in council. That ques-
tion still remains unsettled.
It is not open to question, however, that the laws enacted
by the general assembly by authority of the Cutt commis-
sion were to remain in force until the king's pleasure in re-
spect to them might be announced, after their submission to
and examination in the privy council. If, therefore, it is not
shown that such laws were changed or disallowed by the king
in council, it must be admitted, by virtue of the royal edict
declared in that commission, that they were to be considered
as remaining in operation until the king's pleasure should be
made known to the contrary. (Cutt commission, post, p. 6.)
The next question will be as to their repeal or amendment by
'Principal text of this volume, post, pp. 48-92; Appendix F, post, pp. 788-809.
"Decisions of the Superior and Supreme Courts of New Hampshire, from
1802-1809, and from 1813-1816, Selected from the Manuscript Reports of the
Late Jeremiah Smith, Chief Justice of Those Courts, with Extracts from
Judge Smith's Manuscript Treatise on Probate Law, and from His Other
Legal Manuscripts, p. 529, note 2.
INTRODUCTION.
li
subsequent legislation in the general assembly of the prov-
ince; and, finally, in the absence of sufficient evidence of such
repeal, or any amendment, a question would arise involving
the presumption of repeal by lapse of time and disuse. The
legal effect of an apparently general disregard of these partic-
ular laws in the time of the later administrations is pre-
sented for consideration. There is evidence that they had, at
a date not long subsequent to that of their passage, become
obsolete, if, indeed, they had not been generally and correctly
supposed by contemporaries to have been positively disal-
lowed by the king, the record of the fact being now lost or
buried in the ancient archives of state. (Note preliminary
to the laws enacted under the commission of Samuel Allen,
post, p. 518.) It may be remarked that the theory of implied
repeal of statutes by disuse does not receive much encour-
agement in the authorities. (Dwarris on Statutes, ed. 1871,
p. 154.) Under the Cranfield commission (post, p. 50), while
the language to the point is not quite as explicit as it is in
the Cutt commission, it is evidently the expressed intention
that the laws passed by the lieutenant-governor, with the
advice and consent of the council and assembly, were to con-
tinue until disallowed by the king in council. Pending the
consideration of the laws passed in the first part of the gov-
ernment of Lieutenant-Governor Cranfield, and by him trans-
mitted to the home government, it would seem that the
opinion which he entertained was contrary to the one above
ventured. He plainly suggested that the laws which he had
passed ought to be disallowed. He says, "Meantime I gov-
ern them by the laws of England." (Post, p. 58.) The impli-
cation here seems to be that he did not regard the acts, which
he himself had approved and sealed, as valid and operative
until approved by the king. In the instructions accompany-
ing the Andros commission, 1686, (post, p. 157) it is stated
that "all laws, statutes, and ordinances within our territory
and dominion of New England shall continue and be in full
force and vigor, so far forth as they do not in anywise contra-
dict, impeach, or derogate from our commission, orders, and
instructions, until such time as, with the advice and consent
of the council, you [the governor] shall pass other laws for
the good government of our said territory and dominion,
which you are to do with all convenient speed." This is
assuredly evidence of a recognition of the laws previously
enacted in the colonial legislatures of New England as still
valid. The commission and instructions to Governor Andros
have always been regarded, from the New England point of
view, as an arbitrary and far-reaching encroachment upon the
rights of local self-government established here by the colo-
nists, and which they had successfully maintained from the
lii
INTRODUCTION,
period of the first settlements down to 1679. Yet the con-
cession in the instructions allowing the "laws to continue in
force till others should be made," and the article in the com-
mission which directed that the governor and council should
enact “laws and statutes and ordinances . . . as near as con-
veniently may be agreeable to the laws, statutes, and ordi-
nances of this our Kingdom of England," are certainly of a
conservative character, and, considered apart from other and
admittedly obnoxious provisions of the Andros commissions,
they do not sustain the extreme arguments that have been ad-
vanced to the effect that the laws in force in the time of the
inauguration of the Andros government were summarily re-
pealed by royal edict, or by any act of the legislative council
of the Andros government. Article 10 of the Andros instruc-
tions and Article 14 of the Cutt Code, it will be observed, are
very similar in terms and legal effect.
THE LAWS OF ENGLAND AND THE COMPILATIONS IN USE IN
THE FIRST YEARS OF THE PROVINCE GOVERNMENT, 1679-
1686.
It appears from the New Hampshire correspondence pre-
served in the English archives that a copy of some edition of
the statutes of England was in the custody of the province
government as early as May 14, 1681, when Mr. Secretary
Chamberlain employs these words in a letter to the Lords of
Trade and Plantations: "the King having sent a great Vol-
ume of Laws copiously and accurately done to their hands."
Mr. Chamberlain's argument was that, inasmuch as this
book of laws was available to the officials of the province,
the formulation and enactment of other and local laws for
the province was entirely unnecessary. Lieutenant-Gover-
nor Cranfield, in a letter of October 22, 1682, referring to the
administration of the oaths of office to his councillors, says
that "wanting the Statute Booke could not Subscribe ye
Test, which was don the next meeting." The inference from
this statement must be that a "Booke" was produced on the
occasion which is referred to as the "next meeting." It will
doubtless be found advantageous to identify the particular
edition or editions of the English statutes employed by those
who had to do with the compilation of the earliest codes of
New Hampshire province law, or which were certainly
accessible to them. Among the collections of statutes which
had been published in the years recently prior to the estab-
lishment of the Cutt presidency in 1679, were the two de-
scribed as follows:
(1) A collection of all the statutes now in use by F. Pulton
with a continuation of the statutes
First... and . . . Charles the Second
.
of Charles the
to the last ad-
INTRODUCTION.
liii
journment of parliament April the 11th, 1670. As also, a
necessary table or Kalendar to the whole work . . . by F.
Manby, B. L., pp. 1537.
Assigns of J. Bell and C. Barker; London, 1670, fol.
(British Museum Catalogue, 506, n. 1.)¹
(2) The Statutes at Large in paragraphs from Magna
Charta until this time (27 Charles II) carefully examined by
the Rolls of Parliament with the titles of such statutes as
are expired, repealed, altered or out of use. Together with
the heads of Pulton's or Rastall's abridgments on the margin,
and the addition of above five hundred new references from
other books of law and a new table. By J. Keble, B. L., p.
1472.
Assigns of J. Bell and C. Barker; London, 1676, fol.
(British Museum Catalogue, p. 506, n. 2.)¹
9.
The special importance of these two editions is that the
first seems to have been in actual custody and use by the Cutt
administration in this province, 1 Province Papers, 383; and
the other was the edition used in the home government in the
preparation of the commission and instructions to Lieutenant-
Governor Cranfield. By comparing the above citations,
p. 383, lines 5, 6, and 7, with Pulton's Collection, edited
by Manby, 1670, copy in the British Museum, it will be
noted that in that collection (i. e., Manby's Pulton) the
marginal citation or annotations to chapt. 29, p. 4, where
the text of the act of 9 Henry III is printed, the marginal
annotations to the act afford the proof, due allowance
being made for wrong punctuation and other clerical errors
in the American manuscript and printed copy of the
Cutt code, that the writer of the paragraphs appearing in
the last part of page 382 and at the top of page 383, 1 Province
Papers, must have had the text of Manby's Pulton before
him. It was undoubtedly Manby's Pulton (ed. 1670) that Mr.
Chamberlain referred to as the "Great Volume" of the laws
of England that was in the possession of the Cutt government
in the province of New Hampshire, 1679 to 1681. (Letter,
Richard Chamberlain to Wm. Blathwayt, May 14, 1681.)
This is the earliest printed book that can be regarded, on
our present information, as having ever belonged to a state
library of the province of New Hampshire. Passing on in
the text of 1 Province Papers, it will be observed on page
444, at a point which appears to be at the conclusion of the
text of Lt. Gov. Cranfield's instructions, prepared in England,
of course, by the officials of the home government, that quo-
tation is made from the act of 16 Charles I, Statute Book, p.
1108, section 5; "Be it likewise declared, etc." There is con-
clusive internal evidence that Keble's edition, 1676 (and not
¹See also this volume, post, Appendix A, II, pp. 726-736.
▼
INTRODUCTION.
Manby's Pulton), was the one from which this extract was
made from the "Statute Book" by the officers of the colonial
department of the home government in England in the
spring of 1682. The language quoted appears on p. 1108 of
Keble's ed., 1676. Furthermore, the citations to ch. 29, 9
Henry III, Keble's ed., p. 4 (1676), are more numerous than the
corresponding citations to the same act in Manby's Pulton
(1670), p. 4. This fact also identifies the edition of 1676 as
the one from which quotation was made for the text found on
p. 444, 1 Prov. Papers. In addition to the foregoing evidence
of identification is the fact that the citation, 16 Charles I, is
an error which appears in and is peculiar to Keble's ed. It
should have been named as 17 Charles I. As the error which
appears in Keble's edition, 1676, is repeated in the tran-
scripts, 1 Prov. Papers, 444, an additional proof is afforded
that the home government, in 1682, in its Cranfield corre-
spondence, was using Keble's ed. of the Statutes at Large,
while the same considerations also tend directly to the con-
clusion that the Cutt government, in the formulation of the
Cutt code, and Secretary Chamberlain in his correspondence
in 1680, were making use of the Manby's Pulton edition of the
Statutes, 1670, and that this edition was the one in posses-
sion of the province government in the period of 1679 to 1681.
It is presumable, moreover, that the same volume continued
to be the most important printed book in the province library,
if not the only one, for an indefinite time in that part of the
colonial period, unless, as is quite possible, a copy of Keble's
edition was added by transmission from England in 1682,
accompanying the instructions to Lieutenant-Governor Cran-
field.
If, as indicated by the title lines, post, p. 57, a compilation
containing the passage as quoted from the Statute Book,
p. 1108, section 5, was forwarded with the instructions to
Lieutenant-Governor Cranfield, that volume was undoubt-
edly a copy of Keble's edition of 1676. While it seems that
there is little room for mistake in these conclusions, it is not
disputable that a question may be raised as to why the edi-
tion of 1676 should not have been the one in use in our prov-
ince in 1679 and 1680 instead of the edition of 1670; and why a
later edition than that of 1676 should not have been in evi-
dence in the preparation of the instructions to Cranfield in
1682. These are suggestive questions, but not of superior
importance unless the answers should impair the validity of
our conclusions as to the identity of the editions used re-
spectively by the Cutt government in 1679 and 1680, and by
the officers of the home government in 1682, for the purpose
already considered in this monograph. There may have
been at that time a longer period actually intervening be-
INTRODUCTION.
lv
tween the date assigned to the book on the title page and the
date of its actual issuance from the hands of the publishers
than would be expected in bringing out similar works in
these days. These considerations, however, may be post-
poned at this time for further historical investigation, as they
are not essential to the inquiries as to which edition of the
statutes of England was the subject of reference on pp. 383
and 444, Province Papers, vol. 1.
It is to be regretted that the identical copies of these com-
pilations, Manby's edition of 1670 and Keble's edition of
1676, could not have been preserved in the archives of the
province, and thence transmitted to the present library of the
state.¹ 1
THE DOMINION OF NEW ENGLAND. THE PERIOD OF LAW-
MAKING BY A COUNCIL APPOINTED BY THE CROWN, 1686-
1689.
The remarkable experience of the people of New Hamp-
shire in the four years of the co-operative administration of
Cranfield and Mason served to reconcile them to almost any
prospective or possible change of government. The colonies
of New Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, Connecticut, and
Rhode Island might well regard with dismay the prospect of
an extension of such a system and such methods over a con-
solidated New England as Lieutenant-Governor Cranfield
had represented and exploited in New Hampshire. In the
events which followed the inauguration of the government
of the Dominion of New England, under the preliminary
administration of the Dudley presidency and council, and the
permanent administration of Sir Edmund Andros, the peo-
ple of New Hampshire encountered and experienced condi-
tions in favorable contrast with those which obtained from
1682-1686; while the people of the other colonies had the
nearer perspective which their own experience in colonial self-
government had afforded. The relations of this province to
the government of New England are necessarily involved
with those of the other colonies, and are not easily differen-
tiated from the complex politics of that important transi-
tional period. The record is extended in that part of the text
of this work which is devoted to the Dominion of New Eng-
land, with a view to a complete presentation of the legisla-
tion of the period, to be read in connection with the commis-
sions and instructions issued to those to whom the govern-
ment was committed. Original documents are included in
this collection which have not heretofore appeared in Amer-
¹An original copy of Keble's edition has been recently procured for the
state library at Concord, and efforts are being made to add an original copy
of Manby's edition of 1670.
lvi
INTRODUCTION.
ican publications.¹ The material for this part of the work
has been sought in the archives at Washington, Philadelphia,
and London,2 and in all the states which, in their early colo-
nial status, were included in the Dominion of New England.
NEW HAMPSHIRE WITHOUT A PROVINCE GOVERNMENT, 1689-
1690.
This brief but historically interesting interval is specially
noteworthy in one particular, if in no others. It illustrates
the adaptability of the New Hampshire system of town gov-
ernment, as then developed, in meeting the strain of serious
emergencies in government. At this time a revolution was
in progress in the mother country, and another in the Domin-
ion of New England. All external governmental functions
had ceased to be operative in relation to these towns.
Years of experience in the exercise of local powers and meth-
ods, however, had made the people of these towns intelligent
and self-reliant masters both of practical and theoretical
civics. An interesting product of this exigency was the plan
of confederation which was formulated by the leading men
of the towns, but which failed through the refusal of a con-
trolling party in the town of Hampton to ratify it. The in-
strument indicates the views of representative men of the
four towns on various practical questions in statecraft.
document is a comparatively recent discovery. The notes of
Judge Bell and the monograph of Mr. Tuttle, which consti-
tute Appendix I, reflect the results of careful, critical, and
competent investigation of this unique but somewhat obscure
period in the political history of the province, the article of
Mr. Tuttle being directed more specifically to the form of
government proposed in the articles of confederation, and
to the history of the ancient document which, it appears, had
been preserved for some two hundred years in the papers.
of his family.³
The
THE PERIOD OF THE SECOND UNION OF THE NEW HAMPSHIRE
TOWNS WITH MASSACHUSETTS BAY, 1690-1692.
Without the contribution which the Massachusetts
archives afford for the statutory history of the province of
New Hampshire, a hiatus of more than two years would have
existed in the otherwise continuous record of legislative en-
actments actually operative here under successive govern-
ments. The problem of selection, from a large mass of rec-
ords, of that which was pertinent to a collection of statutes,
resolves, and orders for this province was one of no little
¹Post, pp. 93, 146, 155, 644, 830, 859.
"Principal text of this volume, post, pp. 98-258; Appendix H, post, pp. 829-842.
'Principal text of this volume, post, pp. 259-266; Appendix I, post, pp. 843-847.
INTRODUCTION.
lvii
difficulty. The rules of inclusion and exclusion adopted and
applied in the compilation are stated and explained in the
notes which precede the abstracts for the so-called inter-
charter period. The necessity for the presentation of exten-
sive transcripts from these records is emphasized by the fact
that the Whitmore compilations of Massachusetts Bay stat-
utes, which were published in 1887 and 1889, contained
nothing later than 1684, the year of the abrogation of the
first Massachusetts Bay charter, while the Goodell series of
the Province Laws of Massachusetts begins with the acts of
the general court upon the inauguration of a government
in 1692, which included both Massachusetts Bay and Ply-
mouth Colony under the second charter. It will be observed
that the entire period between the termination of the Andros
administration in April, 1689, and the beginning of that of
Sir William Phipps in 1692, is included in this work.¹
1
The legislation of the general court of Massachusetts Bay
in the period which intervened between the termination of
the Andros government in the spring of 1689 and the begin-
ning of that inaugurated in the spring of 1692, under the
charter of 1691, was somewhat tentative, and none of the
acts, resolves, or orders of those three inter charter years are
to be found in the form of engrossed acts in the archives of
the commonwealth.
THE PROVINCE GOVERNMENT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE REVIVED
AND THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY RESTORED, 1692.
The extended notes relating to the governments adminis-
tered from 1692 to 1699 under the commission of Samuel
Allen, and from 1699 to 1702 under the commission of the
Earl of Bellomont, and the statutes enacted by the general
assembly in that period, render superfluous a further elabo-
ration of the same subject in this introductory statement.
The most logical as well as the most convenient point of
division between the material to be employed in this volume
and that intended to be incorporated in the next in order in
the series is at the termination of the government under the
Bellomont commission, and the beginning of that under the
last commission to Joseph Dudley.2
THE PROVINCE LEGISLATURE.
At the time of the establishment of the province of New
Hampshire the conflict between the people of the Massachu-
setts Bay colony and the home government was well advanced,
involving the issue whether the existing charter government
should be retained, or something more in conformity with the
'Principal text of this volume, post, pp. 267-498.
'Principal text of this volume, post, pp. 499-709; Appendix J, post, pp. 856,
857.
Iviii
INTRODUCTION.
present policy of the king substituted. The form of govern-
ment prescribed in 1679 for New Hampshire cannot, in the
light of the events of the succeeding ten years, be regarded as
fairly indicating, if, indeed, it even suggested what was to
be the nature or extent of the repressive measures in contem-
plation by the Stuarts in the event of a general change of the
forms and principles of colonial government in the other New
England plantations. In the government established by the
✓ Cutt commission two legislative branches are recognized, the
members of one appointed by the crown, and the members
of the other elected by the people. This legislative body,
which from the beginning of the province is styled the gen-
eral assembly, was authorized to enact laws, the house of
deputies proceeding with the advice and consent of the presi-
dent and council. (Post, p. 6.) The Cranfield commission had
a similar provision, but in terms somewhat more explicit and
somewhat more in detail. It was stated in the legislative
article that the lieutenant-governor, with the advice and con-
sent of the council and assembly, should have power to make
laws, etc. (Post, p. 50.) One noteworthy difference between
the Cutt commission and the Cranfield commission, at the
point under consideration, is that, in the first, predom-
inance in the law-making body is apparently, if not intention-
ally, given to the deputies, while in the second, or Cranfield
commission, the order is reversed, the council and deputies
being subordinated to the lieutenant-governor.
The popular branch of the assembly is not recognized by
the commissions for the Dominion of New England, 1686-1689.
That element in the legislative history of the colonies is the
subject of special comment in the notes, pp. 93, 100, 144, and
182 of this volume. The annual election of deputies in the
time of the Cutt government was provided for by Article 44
of the Cutt Code. (Post, p. 37.) The annual meeting of the
general assembly was in like manner fixed for the first Tues-
day of March. The veto power and the right to dissolve the
general assembly were first committed to a New Hampshire
governor in specific terms by the Cranfield commission. (Post,
p. 51.) The same powers reappear in the Allen commission
(post, p. 504) and in the Bellomont commission (post, p. 614).
In the earlier commissions there is some confusion in the em-
ployment of the term "general assembly," and some uncer-
\tainty as to its application. This will be observed in a com-
parison of the use of the term in the Cutt commission, the
Cranfield commission, and in the enacting clauses of the act
of 1692, which is chapter 1, p. 524, post, and the act which is
chapter 2, p. 526, post. Finally, however, it is evident that the
relations of the governor, council, and representatives, as parts
or branches of the legislative body, were made certain and
INTRODUCTION.
lix
became fixed in the time of Bellomont and Partridge.' The
first act of that administration (post, p. 653) contains the for-
mula,-"enacted by his Excellency the Governor, Council, and
Representatives, convened in General Assembly." Some au\
thorities make a distinction between laws and acts, assigning
one of these terms to the original enactments of a colonial
legislature, and the other to those only which may have been
confirmed by the king in council. This distinction has not
been followed in this work, as the uncertainty which still
exists as to whether certain of the earlier laws were confirmed,
disallowed, or ignored renders the attempt to apply it in many
instances impracticable. The methods provided in determin-
ing the limits of time occupied by each consecutive general
assembly, and assigning to each its proper number in regular
chronological order, are explained in notes to the later text
of this volume. (Post, pp. 9, 523.)
The constituencies of the first province legislative were, in
regard to the extent of the population, even after a lapse of
seventy-six years from the time of the first settlement, still of
very limited proportions. Article 9 of the Cutt Code (post,
p. 25) restricted the franchise in the election of deputies to
electors who were qualified in all the following particulars,
viz.: by being Englishmen and Protestants; by having taken
the oath of allegiance to His Majesty; by having been duly ad-
mitted to the liberty of being freemen of the province (the class
legally termed freemen in New Hampshire not being limited
by church membership); by being twenty-four years of age,
not vicious of life but honest and of good conversation; and
by possessing £24 of ratable estate. It is stated by Mr. Tut-
tle, Historical Papers, p. 186 (this volume, post, p. 776), that
the population of the province at this time was only about
4,000. (See also Dow's History of Hampton, p. 99.) Mr. Ban-
croft estimates the population of New Hampshire in 1688 as
6,000. 1 History U. S., ed. 1883, p. 608. It is a valuable fea-
ture of the surviving records that presents the full text of the
order of the president and council of February 16, 1679-80,
designating the persons in each of the four towns authorized
to vote for deputies to be members of the first general assem-
bly. This list appears in this volume, post, pp. 13, 14, 15.
The term "general court," which is now the official desig-
nation of the state legislature of New Hampshire, is a colonial
survival, derived, as is the same term employed in the Massa-
chusetts constitution, from the terminology of the first legis-
latures of the colonial period. The origin of that term must
be sought in the history of other English institutions as well
"The Colonial Origins of New England Senates," by F. L. Riley, is the
title of an instructive paper, appearing in Series 14, Johns Hopkins University
Studies in Historical and Political Science. 2d pamphlet edition, part devoted
specially to New Hampshire, pp. 40-53.
lx
INTRODUCTION.
as colonial legislatures. The term "general assembly," as
descriptive of the legislative body in this province, is correctly
applied only in the period from 1679 to 1775. The general
assembly ended with the province government.
THE TABLES OF REGNAL YEARS AND OF OFFICIAL SUC-
CESSION.
The tables which precede the principal text of the commis-
sions and statutes are included in the compilation, in order to
obviate, as far as practicable, the inconvenience of frequent
resort to works of reference by those who have occasion
to use a volume of this character for the identification
of the dates intended by the mention of regnal years against
the text of the English and colonial statutes. It is assumed,
also, that a like useful purpose would be subserved in placing
the tables of regnal succession, and the years covered by each
colonial administration, in equally accessible place and ar-
rangement for reference in the introductory divisions of the
volume.
THE CONTINUATION OF THE SFRIES.
The material for a second volume of the laws of the prov-
ince, intended to be arranged and presented on a plan similar
to that adopted for this volume, has been collected, and con-
siderable progress already made in putting it in orderly form
for printing and publication.
THE COMMISSIONS AND INSTRUCTIONS GOVERNING THE PROV-
INCE ADMINISTRATIONS AND PROVINCE LEGISLATION.
Inasmuch as the commissions and instructions which were
from time to time issued for the direction of the governors of
the province are to be regarded, until revoked or modified, as
the organic law governing the exercise of all the powers of
executive, legislative, and judicial administration, more
space than is usually assigned to that class of colonial docu-
ments, in the recent compilations of province laws by other
states, has been devoted to them in this work. The assem-
bling of these documents for each administration has been
as complete as possible in all cases wherein the student
might be expected otherwise to find difficulty in consulting
them. The exceptions include such documents as the first
and second colonial charters of Massachusetts, which can
readily be consulted in a number of works published by the
commonwealth of Massachusetts and the federal government,
and which have been widely circulated.
INTRODUCTION.
lxi
REGNAL YEARS OF THE KINGS OF ENGLAND.
(From the Dictionary of English History, Page 648.)
"The importance of extreme accuracy," says Sir H. Nicolas
(from whose valuable Chronology of History the subjoined
table is taken), "respecting the regnal years of the Kings of
England, is at once shown by the fact that, in most instances,
after the reign of Henry II, no other date of a year occurs,
either in public or private documents, than the year of the
reign of the existing monarch, and that an error respecting
the exact day from which the regnal year is calculated may
produce a mistake of one entire year in reducing such a date
to the year of the Incarnation. Every year of a king's reign
is in two years of our Lord, except (which has never yet hap-
pened in England) in the case of an accession on the 1st of
January. The first year of the reign of our late sovereign
[William the Fourth] commenced on the 26th of June, 1830,
and terminated on the 25th of June, 1831. If, therefore, the
beginning of that reign be erroneously calculated-for ex-
ample, from the 28th instead of from the 26th of June, 1830-
every document dated on the 26th and 27th of June, 1 Wil-
liam IV., would be assigned to the year 1831 instead of the
year 1830, and a similar mistake would occur on each of those
days in every year of that reign. The effect of an error of
even a few days, much more of one entire year in the date of
events, must be evident, and a correct table of the regnal
years of the Kings of England is consequently a sine quâ non
to the historical student.
"In using this table, it is necessary to observe that it is cal-
culated according to the common and historical year-viz.,
from the 1st of January-but as the civil, ecclesiastical, and
legal year for a long period began on the 25th of March, all
dates between the 1st of January and the 25th of March
belong, according to the civil computation, to the year
before the historical year. For example, from the 1st of Jan-
uary to the 25th of March, in the first year of the reign of
William the Conqueror, was in the civil year 1066 instead of
1067. For the same reason, Edward III.'s reign is sometimes
said to have begun on the 25th of January, 1326, instead of
the 25th of January, 1327; Henry V.'s on the 21st of March,
1412, instead of the 21st of March, 1413; Edward IV.'s on the
4th of March, 1460, instead of the 4th of March, 1461; and the
same remark, mutatis mutandis, applies to the commencement
of the reigns of Edward VI., James I., Charles II., James II.,
William and Mary, and Queen Anne accordingly, whether the
historical or civil year be alluded to."
lxii
INTRODUCTION.
THE NORMANS.
WILLIAM THE Conqueror.
1
2
** **
25 Dec. 1066
25 Dec.
1073
25 Dec. 1080
8
15
24
1067
24
1074
24
66 1081
25
1067
25
1074
25
1081
9
16
24
1068
24
1075
24
،،
1082
25
1068
3
10
24
1069
25
25
1075
17
24
1076
225
25
1082
24
1083
4
225
25
1069
25
1076
25
1083
11
18
2+
1070
24
1077
24
1084
5
225
25
1070
12
24
1071
25
1071
25
6
13
24
1072
** P*
25
1077
25
1084
19
24
1078
24
1085
1078
25
1085
20
24
1079
24
1086
7
25
25
1072
25 6،
1079
25
1086
14
21
24
1073
24
1080
9 Sept. 1087
WILLIAM THE SECOND.
1
26 Sept. 1087
6
26 Sept. 1092
10
26 Sept. 1096
25
1088
25
1093
25
1097
26
1088
26
1093
2
7
11
25
1089
25
1094
2396
26
1097
25
1098
3
295
26
1089
26
1094
26
1098
8
12
25
""
1090
25
1095
25
1099
26
1090
26
1095
26
1099
4
9
13
25
1091
25
1096
2 Aug. 1100
5
25
26
1091
25
1092
HENRY THE FIRST.
1
5 Aug. 1100
8
5 Aug. 1107
15
5 Aug. 1114
4
1101
4
66 1108
4
1115
2
4
54
1101
9
1102
54
5
1108
5
1115
16
4
1109
4
1116
3
He cr
1102
10
4
1103
51
1109
17
1110
54
1116
1117
4
54
1103
1110
11
18
4
(6
1104
4
1111
牛奶
​5
1117
4
1118
5
54
1104
12
4
1105
54
1111
19
4
1112
54
1118
1119
1105
1112
5
1119
6
13
20
4
1106
4
1113
4 66
1120
5 ،، 1106
5
1113
7
4
،
14
21
1107
4
1114
54
1120
1121
INTRODUCTION.
Ixiii
HENRY THE FIRST.
22
5 Aug. 1121
27
5 Aug. 1126
32
5 Aug. 1131
4
1122
4
1127
4
1132
5
،
1122
5
1127
5
1132
23
28
33
4
1123
4
1128
1133
5
1123
24
29
4
1124
25
54
::
1124
30
1125
54
うま
​1128
34
1129
54
1133
4
66
1134
5
1129
35
1130
544
1134
1135
26
54
1125
5
1130
5
1135
31
36
1126
4
1131
1 Dec.
1135
STEPHEN.
26 Dec. 1135
26 Dec. 1142
26 Dec.
1149
1
8
15
25
1136
25
,
1143
25
1150
26
1136
26
1143
26
1150
2
9
16
3
4
5
6
2 OR ON 22
225
25
1137
25
1144
25
1151
26
1137
10
25
1138
295
26
1144
26
1151
17
25
1145
25
1152
26
1138
26 66
1145
26
1152
11
18
25
1139
25
1146
25
1153
26
1139
26
1146
26
1153
12
19
25
64
1140
25
1147
25
Oct. 1154
26
1140
13
1141
2165
1147
1148
26
1141
26
1148
7
14
25 (6 1142
25
1149
THE PLANTAGENETS.
HENRY THE Second.
19 Dec. 1154
19 Dec. 1161
1
19 Dec.
1168
8
18
15
1155
18
1162
18
1169
19
1155
19
2
1162
19
1169
9
18
16
1156
18
66
1163
18
1170
19
1156
19
3
1163
19
1170
10
18
17
1157
18
1164
18
1171
19
1157
4
11
18
1158
18
19
5
1158
19
12
18
1159
19
1159
6
19
13
18
1160
18
00.00 000 00
19
1164
19
1171
18
1165
18
1172
1165
19
1172
19
18 ..
1166
18
1173
1166
19
1173
20
1167
18
1174
19
1160
7
14
18
1161
1998
1167
19
64
1174
21
1168
18
1175
Ixiv
INTRODUCTION.
HENRY THE SECOND.
19 Dec. 1175
22
19 Dec. 1180
27
19 Dec. 1185
18
1176
32
18
1181
18
1186
19
1176
19
23
1181
28
19
18
1177
33
1186
18
..
1182
18
""
1187
19
،
1177
19
24
1182
29
19
1187
18
1178
34
18
1183
18
1188
19
1178
25
19
1183
30
19
18
1179
18
35
1188
1184
6 July
1189
19
1179
26
19
18
31
1184
1180
18
1185
RICHARD THE FIRST.
1
3 Sept. 1189
5
3 Sept. 1193
9
3 Sept.
1197
2
1190
2
1194
2
1198
2
32
::
1190
6
1191
32
1194
3
1198
10
2
1195
6 April
1199
3
32
"
1191
-7
2
1192
32
* *
1195
1196
4
82
3
1192
8
1193
32
1196
1197
毒
​JOHN.
1
27 May 1199
7
19 May 1205
13
12 May
1211
17
1200
10
1206
2
1212
18
1200
2
8
2
1201
===
11
1206
3
1212
14
30
"
1207
22
1213
GO
3
6.
1201
31
1207
23
1213
ون
9
15
22
1202
14
1208
7
66
1214
C
23
1202
15
•
4
10
14
1203
56
1208
8
1214
16
1209
27
6
1215
15
1203
7
، ،
1209
5
11
17
2 June 1204
26
1210
88888
28
1215
18
1216
3
1204
6
27
1210
19
1216
12
18 May 1205
18
11
1211
19 Oct.
1216
HENRY THE THIRD.
28 Oct. 1216
28 Oct. 1220
1
28 Oct. 1224
5
9
27
1217
27
1221
27
1225
28
1217
28
2.
CO
6
27
1218
295065
1221
28
1225
10
27
1222
27
1226
28
1218
3
7
27
1219
28
1219
4
8
27
1220
XA XA
،،
28
1222
28
1226
11
27
1223
27
1227
28
1223
28
1227
12
27
པ༷
، ،
1224
27
1228
INTRODUCTION.
lx v
HENRY THE THIRD.
28 Oct. 1228
28 Oct 1243
28 Oct.
1258
13
28
43
27 66 1229
27
1244
27
"
1259
14
228
1229
28
1244
29
44
27
""
1230
27
، ،
1245
228
"
1259
27 66
1260
28
1230
28
1245
15
30
45
27
66
1231
27
1246
2828
1260
27
"
1261
28
1231
28
1246
28
1261
16
31
46
27
1232
27
1247
27
1262
17
18
NN NN
28
1232
28
، ،
1247
28
32
47
27
1233
27
1248
27
28
1233
28
1248
33
48
27
1234
27
1249
28
1234
19
34
27
1235
20
228
1235
35
27
1236
22 22
28
1249
ON ON O
1262
،
1263
28
1263
27
1264
28
1264
49
27
1250
27
1265
28
1250
50
27
1251
21
22
2828
28828
1236
36
27
1237
22
28 ((
1251
51
27
1252
1237
37
1238
28
1238
23
38
27
66
1239
2225
228
28
1252
52
27
1253
225
2228
22278
28
1265
27
1266
28
1266
27
1267
1267
1268
1253
28
1268
53
27
*
1254
27
1269
28
1239
28
1254
28
1269
24
39
54
27
،،
1240
28
1240
25
40
27
1241
28
1241
26
41
27
1242
N ON ON
27
1255
28
1255
55
27
1256
28
1256
56
27
1257
N ON AN
27
1270
28
1270
27
- 1271
28
27
1271
1272
28
27
27
::
1242
28
1257
57 28 66 1272
42
1243
27
1258
16 Nov. 1272
EDWARD THE FIRST.
20 Nov. 1272
20 Nov. 1277
1
6
11
19
1273
19
1278
20
1273
2
7
19
1274
19
20
، ،
1274
'3
8
19
1275
20 20
1278
2220
20 Nov. 1282
19.
1283
1283
12
،،
1279
19
1284
1279
13
19
، ،
1280
19
20
،
1275
20
6
1280
4
9
14
19
1276
19
1281
19
20 20
66
1284
1285
،
1285
1286
20
1276
20
1281
5
10
15
.19
،، 1277
19
،
1282,
20
20
1286
19
1287
lxvi
INTRODUCTION.
EDWARD THE FIRST.
20 Nov. 1287
20 Nov. 1294
16
20 Nov. 1301
23
30
19
1288
19 66
1295
19
1302
17
20
18
19
20
20
20
،،
1288
24
19
1829
1829
25
1290
20
20
20
1295
20
1302
31
19
1296
19
1303
20
،
1296
20
1303
32
19
1297
19
1304
20
1290
20
1297
20
1304
19
26
33
19
1291
19
1298
19
เ
1305
20
،
1291
20
27
19
1292
20
1292
21
28
19
1293
290
20
20
1298
34
19
1299
20
20
1305
19
1306
20
""
1299
20
1306
35
19
1300
7 July 1307
22
20
20
1263
20
1300
29
19 66 1294
19
1301
EDWARD The Second.
1
8 July 1807
8
8 July 1314
15
8 July 1321
7
1308
7
1315
7
1322
2
87
8
66 1308
9
7
.
1309
~∞
8
1315
16
7
པ
1316
87
1322
7
1323
3
4
5
6
87
87
87
87
1309
10
1310
87
، ،
1316
8
1323
17
66
1317
7
1324
1310
11
1311
27
8
1317
18
7
1318
27
8
1324
7
1325
1311
12
66
1312
87
1318
8
1325
19
7
1319
7
1326
(6
1312
13
1313
87
1319
8
1326
20
7
1320
20 Jan.
1327
7 9/9
8
"
1313
8
1320
14
7
1314
7,
1321
EDWARD THE THIRD.
25 Jan. 1327
25 Jan. 1332
25 Jan.
1337
1
6
24
· 1328
245
11
1333
24
1338
2
3
** 32 3
25
1328
25
7
24
1329
25
، ،
1329
8
24
1330
22 22
1333
12
24
1334
25
1334
13
24
1335
25
1330
4
9
24 46
1331
5
25
25
1331
10
24
1332
225
27265
25
66
1335
14
24
1336
44
1336
15
24
1337
24 125
225
225
25
1338
1339
... 1339.
24
1340
25
1340
24
1341
1341
24
1342
INTRODUCTION.
lxvii
EDWARD THE THIRD.
1.6
17
18
19
20
** ** ** ** **
25 Jan. 1342
25 Jan. 1354
28
40
24
"
1343
24 "
1355
25
1343
25
1355
29
41
24
1344
24
1356
25
1344
25
1356
25
30
42
** ** *
24
1345
24
1357
24
25 Jan. 1366
24
1367
25
1367
24
1368
1368
1369
25
1345
25
66
1357
25
64
1369
31
43
24
1346
24
1358
24
•
· 1370
25
1346
25
1358
32
44
24
1347
24
1359
21
225
25
1347
33
24
1348
25
25
1359
45
24
1360
225
25
1370
24
1371
25
1371
24
1372
25
1348
25
،
1360
25
1372
22
34
46
24
1349
24
.6
1361
24
،
1373
25
1349
23
35
24
1350
25
1350
24
36
24
1351
25
1351
25
37
24
1352
25 "
1352
26
38
24
66
1353
25
1353
25
27
39
24 "
1354
24
** ** ** ** **
25
1361
25
1373
47
24
1362
24
1374
1362
25
1374
48
24
1363
24
1375
25
1363
25
، ،
1375
49
21
1364
24
1376
25
66
1364
25
1376
50
24
1365
24
1377
1365
25
1377
51
1366
21 June 1377
RICHARD THE SECOND.
1
21
2
21
3
4
5
21
22 22 22 27 27
22 June 1377
22 June 1385
22 June 1393
9
17
1378
21
1386
21
1394
1878
22
1386
10
18
1379
1379
11
21
1380
21
22
1380
12
21
1381
21
22
1381
13
1382
2 22 22 22
66
1387
21
1387
19
1388
22 22
1394
1395
(6
1395
21
1396
1388
22
1396
20
1389
21
1389
21
21
1390
2 22
، ،
1397
1397
21
6.
1398
6
7
22 22 22
1382
14
21
46
1383
،
1383
15
21
1384
21
1384
16
21
1385
22223
27 22
1390
22
21
،6
1391
2223
1398
21
1399
22
1391
22
1399
23
1392
29 Sept. 1399
1392
21
1393
lxviii
INTRODUCTION.
HENRY THE Fourth.
.1
2
,3
4
82 22 22 22
30 Sept. 1399
6
30 Sept. 1404
11
30 Sept. 1409
29
1400
29
1405
29
46
1410
30
1400
30
1405
30
1410
7
12
29
1401
29
1406
29
1411
30
1401
30
1406
30
1411
8
13
29
1402
29
1407
29
1412
30
1402
30
1407
30
،،
1412
9
14
29
1403
29
1408
20 Mar.
1413
30
1403
30
1408
5
10
29
..
1404
29 ،،
1109
HENRY THE FIFTH.
1
2
2222
22220
21 Mar. 1413
21 Mar. 1417
21 Mar. 1421
5
9
20
"C 1414
20
1418
20
1422
21
1414
6
1415
220
21
1418
10
21 Aug. 1422
1419
31
1422
3
4
22222
223
21
1415
7
20
1416
2220
21
1419
66
1420
21
1416
21
1420
8
20
1417
20 66
1421
HENRY THE SIXTH.
1
1 Sept. 1422
11
1 Sept. 1432
21
31 Aug. 1423
31 Aug. 1433
1 Sept. 1442
31 Aug. 1443
2
1 Sept. 1423
12
1 Sept. 1433
22
1 Sept. 1443
31 Aug. 1424
31 Aug. 1434
31 Aug. 1444
3
1 Sept. 1424
13
1 Sept. 1434
23
1 Sept. 1444
31 Aug. 1425
31 Aug. 1435
31 Aug. 1445
4
1 Sept. 1425
14
1 Sept. 1435
24
1 Sept. 1445
31 Aug. 1426
31 Aug. 1436
31 Aug. 1446
5
1 Sept. 1426
15
1 Sept. 1436
31 Aug. 1427
25
1 Sept. 1446
31 Aug. 1437
31 Aug. 1447
6 1 Sept. 1427
16
1 Sept. 1437
26
1 Sept. 1447
31 Aug. 1428
31 Aug. 1438
31 Aug. 1448
7
1 Sept. 1428
31 Aug. 1429
17
1 Sept. 1438
27
31 Aug. 1439
8
1 Sept. 1429
18
1 Sept. 1439
31 Aug. 1430
31 Aug. 1440
9
1 Sept. 1430
19
31 Aug. 1431,
1 Sept. 1440
31 Aug. 1441
10
1 Sept. 1431
20
31 Aug. 1432
1 Sept. 1441
31 Aug. 1442
1 Sept. 1448
31 Aug. 1449
28 1 Sept. 1449
31 Aug. 1450
29 .1 Sept. 1450
31 Aug. 1451
30 1 Sept. 1451
31 Aug 1452
.
INTRODUCTION.
lxix
HENRY THE SIXTH.
31
1 Sept. 1452
31 Aug. 1453
34 1 Sept. 1455
31 Aug. 1456
37
1
Sept. 1458
31 Aug. 1459
32
1
Sept.
1453 .
35
1 Sept. 1456
38
1 Sept. 1459
31 Aug. 1454
31 Aug. 1457
31 Aug. 1460
33 1 Sept. 1454
36
31 Aug. 1455
1 Sept. 1457
31 Aug. 1458
39
1
Sept. 1460
4 Mar. 1461
EDWARD THE FOURTH.
4 Mar. 1461
4 Mar. 1469
4 Mar. 1477
1
9
17
3
66 1462
3
1470
3
44
1478
66
1462
4
1470
2
10
18
3
1463
3
1471
43
1478
1479
1463
3
11
3
1464
43
1471
1479
19
1472
3 66
1480
4
+8
4
1464
4
1472
12
20
3
66
1465
3
པ
1473
43
1480
1481
4
1465
5
13
3
1466
43
4
1473
4
1481
21
3
1474
3
1482
4
1466
6
14
3
1467
43
1474
22
1475
43
1482
46
1483
7
43
1467
4
1475
4
1483
15
23
1468
3
66
1476
9 Apr. 1483
4
1468
"
1476
8
16
3
1469
3
1477
EDWARD THE FIFTH.
1
9 April 1483
1
25 June 1483
RICHARD THE THIRD.
26 June 1483
1
2
25 (6 1484
26 June 1484
25
1485
26 June 1485
3
22 Aug. 1485
1
2
3
4
THE TUDORS.
HENRY THE SEVENTH.
21
21
22 22
222222
222223
22 Aug. 1485
5
22 Aug. 1489
9
1486
21
1490
21
1486
6
21
1487
22222
1490
10
21
1491
22 22
22 Aug. 1493
1494
1494
21
1495
1487
7
1488
66
21
1488
1489
8
21
22 22
1491
11
21
1492
1492
12
པ
1493
22 22
،
21
•
66
1495
1496
1496
21
66
1497
lxx
INTRODUCTION.
HENRY THE Seventh.
13
22 Aug. 1497
17
22 Aug. 150.1
21
22 Aug. 1505
21
1498
21
1502
21 66 1506
22
1498
22
1502
22
14
18
22
21
15
16
2 22 22
"
1499
21
1499
19
21
1500
1500
2 22 2
1503
: :
1506
21
1507
66
1503
23
21
1504
21
2222
1507
1508
22
1504
22
1508
20
24
21
1501
21
1505
21 Apr. 1509
HENRY THE EIGHTH.
1
22 Apr. 1509
14
22 Apr. 1522
27
22 Apr. 1535
21
1510
21
"
1523
21
1536
2
3
2222
2222
1510
15
21
1511
21
1511
16
21
1512
21
22222
22222
1523
28
، ،
1524
1521
29
1525
21
4
5
6
22222
2722
2222
1512
17
21
..
1513
1513
18
21
1514
21
1514
19
21
1515
21
7
222
1515
20
21
1516
8
9
10
11
12
21
13
21
223
2226
22226
22 22 22
22
1516
21
21
1517
272
2222
22222
22222
222
22
1525
30
21
1526
21
1526
31
1527
21
1527
32
1528
21
1528
33
21
1529
21
1529
34
21
1530
1517
22
1530
22
35
21
1518
21
1531
1518
23
21
1519
21
22222
1531
36
1532
1519
24
1520
“
1520
25.
1521
22 22
1532
37
21
1533
222
2222
22222
22222
2222
226
22222
222
22 22
22
1536
21
1537
1537
1538
1538
1539
1539
1540
1540
1541
22
1541
1542
21
::
1542
1548
22
، ،
1543
21
1544
1544
21
1545
1545
21
1546
،،
1533
22
•
1546
38
21
1534
28 Jan. 1547
1521
22
1534
26
21
1522
21
1535
EDWARD THE SIXTH.
1
2
3
AN ON OK
28 Jan. 1547
27 ""
28 Jan. 1550
4
1548
27
28 "
27
1548
28
5
1549
28
(
1549
6
27
66
1550
IN AN ON
27 Jan. 1553
7
1551
6 July 1553
1551
27 66
1552
28
1552
27
1553
INTRODUCTION.
lxxi
3
MARY.
5
6 July 1553
1554
2
6 July 1554
24
، ،
1554
PHILIP ANd Mary.
(The marriage took place 25 July, 1554.)
1
25 July 1554
3
25 July 1556
24
،
1555
24
،
1557
5
25 July 1558
17 Nov. 1558
2
275
25
24
::
1556
25
1557
4
1556
24 ،،
1558
ELIZABETH.
17 Nov. 1558
17 Nov. 1573
1
17 Nov. 1588
16
16
31
66
1559
16
،،
1574
16
64 1589
17
1559
17
1574
17
1589
2
17
16
،
32
1560
16
1575
16
1590
17
1560
17
3
1575
17
،
1590
18
33
16
1561
16
'1576
16
1591
17
1561
17
1576
17
1591
4
19
34
16
1562
16
1577
16
66
1592
17
1562
17
1577
17
5
1592
20
35
16
1563
16
པ
1578
16
1593
17
1563
17
، ،
1578
17
1593
6
21
16
36
1564
16
1579
16
1594
17
1564
17
، ،
1579
17
7
1591
22
37
16
པ
1565
16
، ،
1580
16
1595
17
1565
17
8
1580
17
1595
23
38
16
1566
16
1581
16
1596
17
1566
17
، ،
9
1581
17
1596
24
39
16
1567
16
1582
16
1597
17
1567
17
10
1582
17
1597
25
16
1568
16
1583
40
16 ...
1598
1
17
1568
17
،
1583
11
17
1598
26
41
16
1569
16
1584
16
1599
12 17
، ،
1569
17
1584
17
1599
27
42
16
1570
16
1585
16
1600
17
1570
13
28
16
1571
104
17
1585
17
1600
43
16
1586
16
1601
17
1571
17
1586
14
17
1601
29
16
44
1572
16
1587
16
(6 1602
17
1572
17
15
1587
17
1602
90
45
16
1573
16
1588
24 Mar. 1603
lxxii
INTRODUCTION.
THE STUARTS.
JAMES THE FIRST.
24 Mar. 1603
24 Mar. 1611
24 Mar. 1619
1
9
17
23
66
1601
23 66
1612
23
،
1620
24
1604
24
1612
24
1620
2
10
18
23
66
1605
23
1613
23
،،
1621
24
*
1605
3
11
244
، ،
1613
24
6،
1621
19
23
1606
23
، ،
1614
23
، ،
1622
24
،،
1606
24
1614
4
12
20
23
1607
23
1615
2x
24
1622
23
1623
5
6
7
8
** Hop # #
24
1607
24
1615
13
21
23
1608
23
1616
24
1608
24
1616
14
22
23
1609
23
، ،
1617
24
1609
24
1617
15
23
23
66
1610
23
1618
27
HR HR IN
24
1623
23
66
1624
24
1624
23 66
1625
24
1625
1625
24
1610
24
1618
16
23
1611
23
، ،
1619
CHARLES THE FIRST.
1
2
3
NN NN NN
27 Mar. 1625
27 Mar. 1633
27 Mar. 1641
9
17
26
1626
26
1634
26
1642
1626
10
،،
1627
228
27
1634
18
26
1635
2226
27
1642
6،
1643
27
1627
27
1635
27
1643
11
19
26
1628
26
1636
26
1644
27
1628
27
،،
1636
27
1644
4
12
20
26
1629
26
، ،
1637
26
1645
LO
5
225
27
1629
13
26
1630
27
1630
6
14
26
1631
223
223
27
1637
27
1645
21
26
1638
26
"
1646
27
1638
27
، ،
1646
22
26
1639
26
1647
27
1631
(<
27
1639
27
1647
7
15
23
26
1632
26
1640
26
، ،
1648
27 (4.
1632
27
1640
27
1648
8
16
24
26
1633
26
1641
30 Jan. 1649
The Council of State
and Government by
Parliament
The Protectorate of
Oliver Cromwell ..
THE COMMONWEALTH.
began in 1649, ended in 1653, and lasted four years.
began in 1653, ended in 1658, and lasted five years.
INTRODUCTION.
lxxiii
The Protectorate of
Richard Cromwell
The Council of State
and Government by
Parliament..
•
THE COMMONWEALTH.
began in 1658, ended in 1659, and lasted seven months.
resumed in 1659, ended in 1660, and lasted thirteen
months.
THE STUARTS RESTORED.
CHARLES THE SECOND.
30 Jan.
1649)
30 Jan. 1662
1
14
29
1650
27
29
1663
3288
30 Jan. 1675
29
1676
2
3
20
3220
30
66
1650
30
1663
30
15
1676
29
1651
28
29
1664
29
1677
1651
30
1664
30
16
1677
29
29
1652
29
1665
29
1678
4
5
6
7
8
22 32 32 32 32
30
1652
17
29
1653
30
1653
18
29
1654
22 22
30
1665
30
1678
30
29
1666
29
1679
30
1666
31
29
1667
30
1654
1
19
29 66
1655
30 66
1655
20
29
30
29
1656
1656
30
21
"
1657
30
1657
9
22
29
1658
30
1658
30
10
23
11
12
2 82 82
29
1659
30
1659
30
24
29
1660
30
1660
25
29
1661
32 82 82 28 28 22 82
30
1667
32
29
، ،
1668
29
38888
2898
30
1679
29
1680
30
1680
1681
30
1668
33
29
1669
1669
34
29
1670
30 "6
1670
35
29 "
1671
22 88 888
30
เ
1681
29
1682
30
1682
29
1683
30
1683
29
1684
1671
30
36
1684
29
1672
29
1685
1672
30
37
168/5
29
1673
6 Feb. 1685
30
""
1673
29
"
1674
30
1661
30
1674
13
26
29
1662
29
1675
JAMES THE SECOND.
6 Feb. 1685
6 Feb.
1687
1
3
5 .66
1686
5
1688
6
2
5
1686
1687
6
1688
4
11 Dec. 1688
1 The bracket, enclosing the years from 1619 to 1660, both inclusive, marks the period in
which the Stuart dynasty was, for the time being, supplanted by the Commonwealth.
The English chronologists sometimes ignore the Commonwealth in the tabulation of the
regnal years. The Commonwealth, however, was a fact. It will be understood, therefore,
that in the time intervening between the execution of Charles I. and the restoration of
Charles II., the reign of the latter was nominal and not actual.
f
lxxiv
INTRODUCTION.
THE REVOLUTION—1688.
WILLIAM AND MARY.
13 Feb. 1689
13 Feb. 1694
28 Dec.
1697
1
6
10
12
เ
1690
27 Dec. 1694
27
1698
13
، ،
1690
28
66
1698
ଚା
༡
11
12
1691
27.
، ،
1699
WILLIAM THE THIRD.
13 Feb. 1691
28 Dec. 1694
28 Dec. 1699
7
12
12
1692
27
1695
27
1700
13
1692
28
1695
28
1700
4
8
13
12
1693
27
C
1696
27
1701
13
1693
5
9
12
1694
~86
28
1696
28
1701
14
27
1697
8 Mar. 1702
ANNE.
8 Mar. 1702
8 Mar. 1707
8 Mar. 1712
1
6
11
7
1703
7
1708
7
1713
2
87
1703
7
1704
87
6
1708
12
7
1709
∞z
8
1713
7
1714
3
-∞
8
1704
8
7
، ،
1705
87
3
1709
8
، ،
1714
13
7
66
1710
1 Aug. 1714
97
8
1705
9
་
1706
∞-
8
1710
7
1711
5
87
1706
8
1711
10
7
1707
7
1712
THE HANOVERIANS.
GEORGE THE FIRST.
1
1 Aug. 1714
6
1 Aug. 1719
11
1 Aug. 1724
31 July 1715
31 July 1720
31 July 1725
2
1 Aug. 1715
7
1 Aug. 1720
12
1 Aug. 1725
31 July 1716
31 July 1721
31 July 1726
3
1 Aug. 1716
8
1 Aug. 1721
13
1 Aug. 1726
31 July 1717
31 July 1722
11 June 1727
4
1 Aug. 1717
9
1 Aug. 1722
31 July 1718
$1 July 1723
5
1 Aug. 1718
10
1 Aug. 1723
✔
31 July 1719
31 July 1724
GEORGE THE SECOND.
11 June 1727
11 June 1730
1
4
7
10
، ، 1728
10
1731
2
==
11
1728
5
10
1729
==
11
،،
10
66
1731
1732
8
11
1729
11
،،
1732
.3
6
9
"
10
1730
10
1733
EA EA EA
11 June 1738
10
1734
11
66
1734
10
،،
1735
11
1735
10
1736
INTRODUCTION.
lxxv
GEORGE THE SECOND.
11 June 1736
10
11 June 1745
19
11 June 1754
10
1737
28
10 ،، 1746
10
،، 1755
11
11
===
1737
11
1746
11
،
20
1755
10
1738
29
10
64
1747
10
66
1756
11
1738
11
12
1747
11
21
1756
10
، ،
30
1739
10
، ،
1748
10
66
1757
13 11
1739
11
، ،
1748
11
10
145
22
31
1740
10
1749
===
1757
10
66
1758
14
==
11
1740
23
10
1741
==
11
، ،
1749
11
1758
32
10
66 1750
10
1759
11
1741
11
،،
15
1750
11
، ،
24
1759
10
1742
33
10
1751
10
(6
1760
16
==
11
1742
25 11
10
1743
17
==
11
1743
11
26
10
1744
==
=90
1751
11
،
1760
34
10
،،
1752
25 Oct.
1760
1752
10
1753
11
، ،
1744
18
11
، ،
1753
27
10
1745
10
1754
GEORGE THE THIRD.
1
25
25
Oct. 1760
25
Oct. 1771
12
25 Oct,
1782
24 ،، 1761
24
23
1772
24
{{
1783
•
25
1761
25
2
1772
25
،،
13
1783
24
1762
24
24
1773
24
،
1784
3
225
25
1762
،
25
1773
25
،
14
1784
24
1763
25
24
1774
24
،،
1785
25
،،
1763
25
،
4
1774
25
64
15
1785
24
، ،
1764
26
24
1775
24
،
1786
25
1764
25
5
1775
25
16
1786
24
27
1765
24
1776
21
،،
1787
6
25
25
เ
1765
2.5
6 C
1776
25
17
1787
24
1766
28
24
1777
24 ،،
1788
25
(C
1766
7
18
24
6، 1767
225
1777
25
1788
29
24
1778
24
1789
8
L
25
،
1767
66
25
1778
25
19
24
1768
30
1789
24
1779
24 66
1790
25
1768
9
20
24
1769
25
25
1779
25
1790
31
24
1780
24 CC
1791
10
25
11
22 22
25
1769
21
24
1770
25
25
، ،
1780
32
24
1781
པ༷་
1770
25
1781
22
24 ،
1771
33
24
1782
25
225
25
،
1791
24
1792
25
1792
24
1793
1
lxxvi
INTRODUCTION.
GEORGE THE THIRD.
25 Oct.
1793
25
Oct. 1802
25 Oct. 1811
34
43
52
24
، ،
1794
24
1803
24
፡፡
1812
35
25
25
،،
1794
25
1803
25
1812
44
53
24
6
1795
24
، ،
180+
24
པ
1813
25
1795
25
1804
25
1813
36
45
54
24
1796
24
1805
24
1814
37
LOT
25
66
1796
25
1805
46
55
24
1797
24
66
1806
325
25
1814
24
1815
25
1797
25
، ،
1806
25
، ،
1815
38
47
56
24
، ،
1798
24
1807
24
1816
25
1798
25
، ،
1807
25
1816
39
48
57
24
1799
24
1808
24
1817
25
1799
25
1808
25
1817
40
49
58
24
1800
24
، ،
1809
24
1818
25
1800
25
1809
41
50
59
24
1801
21
"
1810
25
25
1818
24
،،
1819
25
1801
25
،،
1810
25
1819
42
51
60
24
، ،
1802
24
1811
29 Jan. 1820
GEORGE THE FOURTH.
1
2
29
3
28
29
4
28
2* 22 22 220
29 Jan. 1820
29 Jan. 1824
5
9
28
1821
29
1821
6
28
1822
66
1822
29
7
"
1823
1823
8
1824
∞ 28 28 28
28
1825
20
29 Jan. 1828
28
66
1829
29
1825
29
1829
10
1826
28
1830
1826
29
1830
11
1827
26 June 1830
29
،،
1827
، ،
1828
WILLIAM THE FOURTH.
26 June 1830
26 June 1833
26 June 1836
1
4
7
25
"
1831
25
1834
20
1837
2
3
2265
21565
1831
LO
5
،،
1832
25
26
1834
25
، ،
1835.
1832
26
،،
6
1833
25
1835
1836
VICTORIA.
20 June 1837
20 June 1839
20 June
1841
1
3
19
1838
2
20
20 "6 1838
4
19
1839
19
12 200
LO
5
19
6،
1840
19
،،
1842
1840
20
1842
6
1841
19
1843
INTRODUCTION.
lxxvii
VICTORIA.
20 June 1843
20 June 1863
20
June
7
June 1883
27
47
19
1844
19
، ،
1864
19
1884
8
20
20
1844
28
19
1845
20
20
1864
20
1884
48
19
པ
1865
19
1885
20
เ
1845
20
1865
20
1885
9
29
49
19
1846
19
1866
19
، ،
1886
20
1846
20
،
1866
10
30
50
19
1847
19
1867
220
20
،
1886
19
1887
20
1847
20
1867
11
20
1887
31
51
19
1848
19
1868
19
"
1888
20
1848
20
1868
12
32
52
19
1849
19
1869
20
6
1849
20
1869
20
13
33
53
19
، ،
1850
19
1870
19
22 22
20
1888
19
1889
،،
1889
1890
20
1850
20
14
1870
20
1890
34
54
19
1851
19
،
1871
19
1891
15
19
16
19
20 20
1851
20
1871
35
55
1852
19
""
1872
220
20
1891
19
، ،
1892
66
1852
20
1872
20
1892
36
56
1853
19
1873
19
1893
20
1853
17
37
19
1854
20
1854
18
38
19
1855
19
20
20
20
1873
20
1893
57
19
1874
19
1894
20
1874
20
1894
58
1875
19
1895
20
1855
20
19
1875
20
1895
39
59
19
1856
19
، ،
1876
19
1896
20
20
1856
20
، ،
1876
40
60
19
1857
19
1877
20
20
1896
19
1897
20
21
1857
20
1877
41
61
19
"
1858
19
1878
20
، ،
22
1858
20
1878
20
42
62
22 2
20
1897
20
،،
1898
1898
19
1859
19
6،
1879
19
1899
20
1859
23
20
1879
20
1899
43
63
19
1860
19
1880
19
1900
20
1860
20
24
1880
20
1900
44
64
19
(6
1861
19
1881
22 Jan. 1901
20
25
1861
45
19
، ،
1862
20
20
1881
19
1882
20
1862
20
1882
26
46
19
1863
19
1883
EDWARD THE SEVENTH.
22 Jan. 1901
1
2
21
1902
21
222
22 Jan. 1902
22 Jan.
3
1903
d
21
6 ،
1903
1904
lxxviii
INTRODUCTION.
EXPLANATION.
"That the reign of King John commenced on Ascension day, May 27, 1199,
and that his regnal years were computed from Ascension day to Ascension
day, is proved by the Close, Fine, and Patent Rolls in the Tower."
In the 3rd, 5th, 8th, 11th, 14th, and 16th years of John, several days of the
month of May, in two succeeding years of our Lord, occurred in the same
year of that King's reign; thus:
Anno 3 Ascension day 1201 ( 3 May) to Ascension day 1202 (22 May)
5
8
11
1203 (15 May) to
1206 (11 May) to
1204 ( 2 June)
1207 (30 May)
1209 ( 7 May) to
1210 (26 May)
1212 ( 3 May) to
< 6
1213 (22 May)
1214 ( 8 May) to
1215 (27 May)
14
16
Consequently every day from the 4th to the 22nd of May, 1201, and from
the 4th to the 22nd of May, 1202, both inclusive, occurred in the first year of
King John, and no document dated from the 4th to the 22nd of May, 1 John,
can be assigned with certainty to the right year of our Lord; and in a simi-
lar manner with respect to certain days in the other years above mentioned."
Nicolas, Chronology of History, pp. 308, 346.
THE REFORMATION OF THE CALENDAR.
(From the Dictionary of English History, Page 218.)
The reformation of the calendar (1751) was in great part
due to the efforts of Lord Chesterfield. The "Old Style,'
which was now eleven days in error, had long since been
abandoned by most civilized nations. England, however,
with Russia and Sweden, still clung to the antiquated sys-
tem. "It was not," wrote Chesterfield, "very honourable for
England to remain in a gross and avowed error, especially in
such company." Accordingly, having paved the way to his
measure by some letters to the World, Chesterfield drew up
the scheme in concert with Lord Macclesfield and Bradley,
the astronomer. The bill successfully passed both houses of
parliament. It ordained that the year 1752 should begin on
the 1st of January instead of the 25th of March, and that the
3d of the month of September should be called the 14th, so
as to lose the eleven days. Further, such changes should be
introduced as would make the solar year and the lunar year
coincide. In the matter of payments, it was enacted that
these should not be altered, and that the 5th of April, the
5th of July, the 10th of October, and the 5th of January
should still continue to be the days on which the dividends of
the public funds became due. This change met with a good
deal of ignorant opposition. The common opposition elec-
tion cry was, "Give us back our eleven days."
''
INTRODUCTION.
lxxix
A TABLE OF ENGLISH REGNAL YEARS ACCOMPANIED BY A CORRE-
SPONDING CHRONOLOGICAL PRESENTATION OF THE SUCCESSION
OF CHIEF MAGISTRATES FOR NEW HAMPSHIRE IN THE COLONIAL
AND PROVINCE PERIOD, 1620-1775.
James the First.
Governor Plymouth
Colony.
Governor Mass.
Bay Colony.
18
24 Mar. 1620 Plymouth Colony
23
1621 established, 1620
John Carver.
24
19
23
1621
1622
FIRST PERIOD OF LOCAL Self-GoverNMENT OF THE NEW HAMPSHIRE TOWNS
WITHOUT PROVINCE ORGANIZATION OR PROVINCE GOVERNMENT.
PERIOD OF THE FIRST SETTLEMENT.
THE
John Carver
James the First.
1623-1641.
Governor Plymouth
Colony.
Governor Mass.
Bay Colony.
24 Mar.
20
23
1623
at Portsmouth
1622 First Settlements William Bradford
and Dover.
24
1623
21
23
1624
22.
24
1624
23
1625
24
1625
23
27
1625
Charles the First.
27 Mar. 1625
1
William Bradford
26
1626
27
33
1626
2
26
""
1627
27
1627
3
26
1628
27
66
4
26
(6
5
6
22 22
27
26
1628 First settlement
1629 Mass. Bay at
Salem.
1629
1630
First charter,
granted to Mass. Bay
Colony 162.
27
، ،
1630
John Winthrop.
26
66
1631
27
1631
'7
26
1632
8
9
10
NO NO N
27
26
.
པ
1632
1633
،،
27
1633
Edward Winslow
،،
26
1634
27
، ،
1634
Thomas Prince
Thomas Dudley
26
، ،
1635
66
27
1635
11
William Bradford John Haynes
26
1636
+
lxxx
INTRODUCTION.
Charles the First.
27 Mar. 1636
12
Edward Winslow
26
1637
Governor Plymouth
Colony,
Governor Mass. Bay
Colony.
Henry Vane
27
،
1637 First settlements
13
William Bradford
26
1638
Hampton and
Exeter.
John Winthrop
27
، ،
1638
14
Thomas Prince
26
1639
27
15
26
1639 Hampton incor-
1640 porated by Mass.
William Bradford
Bay.
27
16
26
1640
1641
Thomas Dudley
Charles the First.
27 Mar. 1641
17
26
1642
Portsmouth and
Dover consent to
union with Mass.
Bay.
PERIOD OF THE FIRST UNION OF THE NEW HAMPSHIRE TOWNS AND MASSA-
CHUSETTS BAY COLONY.
1641-1679.
Governor Plymouth Governor Mass. Bay
Colony.
Colony.
William Bradford Richard Bellingham
27
1642
18
26
"
1643
John Winthrop
27
1643 Exeter consents
19
،،
، ،
26
، ،
1644
to union with
Mass. Bay.
27
20
21
22
23
24
NQ NO NG NG NO
1644
Edward Winslow
John Endicott
26
27
26
27
26
1645
، ،
1645
William Bradford
، ،
1646
Thomas Dudley
،،
1646
، ،
6،
، ،
1647
John Winthrop
27
،، 1647
، ،
66
26
،
1648
،،
27
Jan. 1649
30 Jan.
Charles the Second.
Jan. 1649
1648
، ،
John Endicott
Thomas Dudley
John Endicott
، ،
،،
،،
30
1
29
30
2
3
4
** ** ** **
པ
6 ،
1650
/
1650
29 ، ، 1651
30
1651
،،
،،
29
،،
1652
30
29
1652
1653
30
1653
5
29
6
7
2 82 82
6،
1654
30
29
30
،،
1654
6
،
1655
1655
29 66
1656
، ،
، ،
Richard Bellingham
(4
John Endicott
INTRODUCTION.
lxxxi
3
Charles the Second.
Governor Plymouth
30 Jan. 1656
8
William Bradford
Governor Mass. Bay
Colony.
John Endicott
29
1657
30
،
1657
9
Thomas Prince
66
29
1658
30
،،
1658
10
، ،
،،
29
1659
30
1659
11
،
6،
66
29
1660
30
1660
12
66
،،
29
، ،
1661
13
30
320
::
29 66
1661 Isles of Shoals in-
corporated by
1662
1662
Mass. Bay under
name of Appledore.
66
14
30
29
، ،
، ،
1663
1
30
1663
15
،
، ،
،،
29
35
1664
30
،،
1664
16
29
1665
30
1665
17
66
:
18
2 32
29
1666
Richard Bellingham
، ،
30
1666
Thomas Prince
،،
29
1667
30
1667
19
29
1668
30
، ،
1668
20
35
29
، ،
1669
21
22
23
24
29
30
25
29
*2 82 AR * 82
30
1669
،،
29
30
29
1670
،،
1670
، ،
،،
1671
30
، ،
1671
29
1672
30
،
1672
C4
66
، ،
1673
،،
1673
Josiah Winslow
John Leverett
66
1674
30
، ،
1674
،،
26
29
، ،
1675
30
1675
،
27
29
، ،
1676
30
1676
28
،،
29
1677
30
،
1677
29
، ،
29
1678
30
،،
1678
6
29
1679
L
30
lxxxii
INTRODUCTION.
PERIOD OF THE FIRST SEPARATE PROVINCE GOVERNMENT.
1679-1686.
Charles the Second.
President of New Deputy President. Actual Adminis-
Hampshire.
trator.
30 Jan. 1679
31
29
1680
John Cutt Richard Waldron, Sr.
John Cutt
30
1680
32
، ،
،،
، ،
29 "
1681
33
3298
30
16811
،،
64
29
1682
Richard Waldron, Sr.²
Lieutenant Governor.
Deputy.
30
34
29
35
36
** 32 **
1682
،،
1683
Edward Cranfield Walter Barefoote Edward Cranfield
30
1683
، ،
66
29
པ
1684
30
1684
66
، ،
29
1685
30
1685
37
6 Feb.
1685
First Charter of Mass.
Bay abrogated June
18, 1684.
Edward Cranfield
James the Second.
6 Feb. 1685
1
5
1686
،
Walter Barefoote,
from May 15, 1685³
PERIOD OF GOVERNMENT UNDER THE DOMINION OF NEW ENGLAND.
James the Second.
1686–1689.
Dominion of New England,
President.
6 Feb. 1686
2
5
1687
Joseph Dudley+
Governor.
6 ،،
1687
3
Sir Edmund Andros
5
1688
6
1688
66
4
11 Dec.
1688
Interregnum from the deposition of James II, December 11, 1688, to the
accession of William and Mary, February 13, 1689.
1Soon after the separation of Massachusetts and New Hampshire in 1679, a large part of
the inhabitants of the Isles of Shoals left Hog island and Smutty Nose island, which were
within the boundaries of the province of Maine, and crossed over to Star island on the
New Hampshire side. This may have been a movement to escape the high taxes levied by
or under the authority of the Mass. Bay government. [Jenness, Isles of Shoals, pp.
105, 106.]
2John Cutt died March 27, 1681, and the deputy president, Richard Waldron, Sr., served
as president until the publication of the commission of Lieutenant-Governor Edward
Cranfield, Oct. 4, 1682.
Edward Cranfield left the province May 15, 1685 [Province Papers of New IIampshire,
Vol. 1, p. 585] and the deputy-governor, Walter Barefoote, served as governor until super-
seded May 25, 1686, by Governor Joseph Dudley as president of New England.
4 President Dudley assumed office May 25, 1686, and it is presumed that Deputy Lieutenant-
Governor Barefoote administered his office in New Hampshire until this date.
INTRODUCTION.
lxxxiii
SECOND PERIOD OF LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT OF THE NEW HAMPSHIRE
TOWNS, WITHOUT PROVINCE ORGANIZATION OR PRovince GovERNMENT.
William and Mary.
1689-1690.
1
13 Feb. 1689 New Hampshire without a crown governor, without local
12 66
1690 S union of towns and without union with any other colony.
PERIOD OF THE SECOND UNION OF THE NEW HAMPSHIRE TOWNS AND
MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY.
169
1690-1692.
William and Mary.
Governor of Mass. Bay and
New Hampshire.
13 Feb. 1690
2
Simon Bradstreet
12
1691
13
1691 Second charter
3
12
1692 to Massachusetts.
PERIOD OF THE PROVINCE AS FINALLY ESTABLISHED UNDER A PERMANENT
GOVERNMENT.
William and Mary.
1692-1775.
Governor.
Lieutenant- Actual Adminis-
Governor.
trator.
13 Feb. 1692
4
Samuel Allen
John Usher
John Usher
12
1693
13
5
12
1693 New Castle
1694 incorporated.
66
(6
13
، 6
6
1694 Kingston in-
66
•
27 Dec. 1694 corporated.
William the Third.
-
Governor.
28 Dec. 1694
7
Samuel Allen
Lieutenant-
Governor.
John Usher
Actual Adminis-
trator.
John Usher
27
6، 1695
28
1695
..
8
27
1696
28
1696
9
27
1697
28
66
1697
10
27
1698
11
2006
28
1698
66
27
1699 Earl of Bellomont
28
1699
12
27
، ،
1700
John Hinckes
William Partridge¹ Samuel Allen
William Partridge
Samuel Allen
Earl of Bellomont
William Partridge
1The right of William Partridge to serve as lieutenant-governor was disputed by
John Usher but finally recognized by the Earl of Bellomont.
،،
lxxxiv
INTRODUCTION.
2223
William the Third.
1701
Governor.
Lieutenant-
Governor.
Actual Adminis-
trator.
Earl of Bellomont. William Partridge. William Partridge
Governorship
28 Dec. 1700
13
27
28
1701
14
8 Mar. 1702
vacant.¹ 1
Anne.
}
8 Mar.
1702
1
7
1703 Joseph Dudley
،
Joseph Dudley
2
148
1703
7
1704
6،
66
John Usher
من
67
8
1704
66
7
1705
4
~es
8
1705
،،
55
6،
7
1706
က
1706
5
،،
،
،،
7
، ،
1707
6
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1707
،،
((
:
، ،
، ،
7
، ،
1708
8
7
-100
7
8
87
པ
،،
པ
،،
1708
1709
1709
1710
66
65
،
66
9
7
10
11
12
x1
8
1710
1711
،
87
'
1711
،،
6،
1712
17
8
1712
7
1713
001-
8
1713
، ،
' '
1714
1714
8
18
1 Aug. 1714
George the First.
1
1 Aug. 1714
،،
31 July 1715
2
1 Aug. 1715
، ،
66
،،
}
،،
، ،
66
، ،
،،
،
31 July 1716
3 1 Aug. 1716
31 July 1717
4 1 Aug. 1717
31 July 1718
George Vaughan George Vaughan
Samuel Shute
""
John Wentworth
،
Samuel Shute
،
1 Governor Bellomont died March 5, 1701, and his successor, Joseph Dudley, was inau-
gurated July 13, 1702. William Partridge, lieutenant-governor under the Earl of Bellomont,
meanwhile administering the government, presumably in accordance with the commis-
sion and instructions previously issued to the Earl of Bellomont.
INTRODUCTION.
lxxxv
George the First.
Governor.
Lieutenant-
Governor.
Actual Adminis-
trator.
5
1 Aug.
1718
31 July
Samuel Shute
1719
John Wentworth
Samuel Shute
6
1
Aug.
1719
"
31 July
1720
7
1 Aug.
1720
، ،
31 July
1721
8 31 July
1 Aug.
1721
1722
9
1 Aug.
1722
، ،
، ،
31 July
1723
10
1 Aug.
1723
66
31 July
John Wentworth
1724
11
1 Aug.
1724
، ،
66
เ
(
31 July
1725
12
1 Aug.
1725
،
66
68
31 July
1726
13
1 Aug.
1726
"
11 June 1727
George the Second.
11 June
1727
1
، ،
2
11
10
eo
3
11
4
190
ER #8 #9
1728
1728
William Burnet
(
،،
1729
1729
10
1730
66°
11
1730
Jonathan Belcher
،،
10
1731
11
1731
LO
5
David Dunbar
Jonathan Belcher
، ،
10
1732
11
6
10
7
11
8
9
FA EA EA EA
1732
، ،
1738
11
1733
،،
10
1734
1734
،،
10
(6
1735
11
(6
10
1735
1736
،
11
. 1736
..
(
10
10
1737
11
1737
10
1738
11
lxxxvi
INTRODUCTION.
George the Second.
Governor.
Lieutenant-
Governor.
11 June
1738
12
Jonathan Belcher
David Dunbar
Actual Adminis-
trator.
Jonathan Belcher
10
1739
13
11
14
11
15
#8 #9 ==
11
، ،
1739
"
،،
10
،
1740
1740
6،
،
10
1741
1741
10 ،
1742
Benning Wentworth¹
Benning Wentworth
11
، ،
1742
16
66
10
1743
11
*
1743
17
، ،
، ،
10
1744
11
18
11
19
#9 #9
1744
66
10
1745
، ،
1745
6،
،
10
1746
11
،
1746
20
،
6،
46
10
1747
21
==
11
"
1747
، ،
10
(C
1748
11
1748
22
10
66
1749
،،
{
11
1749
23
،،
10
1750
11
1750
24
10
ઃઃ
1751
11
1751
25
10
1752
11
1752
26
66
،،
10
1753
11
66
1753
27
،،
10
1754
11
1754
28
6،
66
(6
10
1755
11
1755
29
(C
10
1756
30
31
== ==
11 ፡፡
،،
10
1756
1757
ઃઃ
11 ، ،
10
1757
،
،،
1758
11
،
32
10
،،
1758
1759
،،
،،
((
،،
1 From this date New Hampshire and Massachusetts had separate governorships.
INTRODUCTION.
lxxxvii
* ካ
George the Second.
Governor.
Lieutenant-
Governor.
Actual Adminis-
trator.
11 June
1759
33
10
1760
Benning Wentworth
Benning Wentworth
11 ،،
1760
34
66
25 Oct.
1760
George the Third.
25 Oct.
1760
1
،
24 6،
1761
25
1761
2
24
1762
John Temple¹
3
25
25
1762
24
1763
25
1763
4
24
1764
25
1764
5
24
66
1765
25
1765
6
.!
24
1766
25
1766
7
John Wentworth
John Wentworth
24
1767
25
1767
со
8
24
1768
25
، ،
1768
9
24
1769
10
225
25
1769
،
24
1770
25 6،
1770
11
66
(C
66
24
1771
25
1771
12
،،
"
24
1772
25
<<
1772
13
،
24
1773
25
1773
14
،،
،،
24
1774
25
،
15
24
..
1774
1775
66
1 As the records show no official act of Lieutenant-Governor Temple, the length of his ser-
vice under this commission is uncertain.
lxxxviii
INTRODUCTION.
ABSTRACT OF CITATIONS TO BOOKS, RECORDS, AND MANUSCRIPTS
RELATING TO THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PROVINCE OF NEW
HAMPSHIRE NOW DEPOSITED IN THE PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
IN LONDON.¹
BOARD OF TRADE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
1 1691-1694 Original Papers. Gov'r Allen
2 1741-1747
3 1747-1757
4 1757-1759
CC
5 1760-1769
5a 1764
L't Gov'r Usher
(A) (1-56) Gov'r Belcher
Gor'r Wentworth
(B.) (1-58) Gov'r Benning Wentworth
(C) (1-17)
(D)
Grants of Land (see D. No. 34)
6 1768-1778 Original Papers (E) Gov'r Wentworth
8 1741-1758 Entry Book (A)
9 1760-1768
10 1769-1775
(B)
(C)
11 1705-1755 Abstracts of Letters
12 1710-1719 Minutes of Council & Assembly
13 1720-1727
of Council-
14 1728-1729
and Assembly
15 1742-1746
16 1746-1760
17 1761-1768
(C
of Council
66
and Assembly
18 1772-1774
19 1702 Laws (inclosure, 23 July 1702)
20 Undated Printed 1718 Acts & Laws with letter of Belcher 23 Jan. 1741)
21 Temp W'm 3 (Printed 1761) Acts & Laws
22
Anne
Temporary Acts & Laws printed in 1761.
BOARD OF TRADE ACTS, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
Dates.
1703-1714
1715-1741
1742-1757
Old No. New No.
282
283
1
2
281
285
4
1758-1762
(1-53)
286
5
1762-1766
(54-133)
287
6
1767-1770
(134-172)
288
1771-1774
(173-246)
289
1767-1770
(187 and duplicates)
Q3 H2O CO 2 ∞
8
Board of TRADE, NEW ENGLAND.
5 1689 to 1691 Original Papers (With Enclosures of earlier date) Sir Ed-
mund Andros (1686 to 1689); Council
(1689).
6 1691 to 1693
7 1693 to 1695
8 1693 to 1698
9 1698 to 1699
3
10 1699 to 1700
66
11 1700 to 1702
Governor Sir William Phipps (1691).
(C
(A and B) Lieutenant-Governor,
William Stoughton, William Partridge;
Governor, the Earl of Bellomont.
(C, D, E,) Governor, the Earl of Bellomont;
Lieutenant-Governor, Samuel Allen;
Lieutenant-Governor, William Stoughton.
(F, G,) Governor, the Earl of Bellomont
(H, I, K, L,) (With Enclosures of earlier
date.) Lieutenant-Governor, William
Stoughton'; Governor, Joseph Dudley.
(M, N, O, P,) Governor, Joseph Dudley
(Q, R,)
12 1702 to 1705
،
13 1705 to 1708
14 1708 to 1713
14a 1712 to 1717
c،
(S, T,)
(V)
،،
Governor, Samuel Shute.
<<
66
See also 23 State Papers, which contains an elaborate index to all the papers in the English
archives which relate to the province of New Hampshire.
2 Died, July 7, 1701.
INTRODUCTION.
lxxxix
15 1718 to 1720 Original Papers (W) Governor, Samuel Shute.
66
16 1720 to 1723
17 1723 to 1727
18 1727 to 1729
(6
19 1730
،،
20 1730 to 1731
66
21 1730 to 1731
22 1731 to 1732
23 1732 to 1733
24 1731 to 1734
25 1733 to 1735
26 1734 to 1735
27 1735 to 1737
28 1737 to 1738
29 1738 to 1740
230 1740 to 1741
(X)
"C
(Y) Nos. to 89
Lieutenant-Governor, William Dummer.
(Z) Nos. 1 to 82. Lieutenant-Governor, Wil-
liam Dummer; Governor, William Bur-
net¹ (19 July 1728); Lieutenant-Gover-
nor, William Dummer.
(Z) Nos. 83 to 144. Lieutenant-Governor,
William Dummer; Governor, Jonathan
Belcher (10 August 1730).
(Z) Nos. 145 to 192. Governor.
Jonathan Belcher.
(Z) Nos. 193 to 264.
Aa. Nos.
Aa. Nos.
Bb. Nos.
Bb. Nos.
Bb. Nos.
1 to 46.
47 to 107.
1 to 54.
55 to 119.
120 to 159.
1 to
54 to
66
66
"
Cc. Nos.
53.
66
Cc. Nos.
93.
Dd. Nos.
1 to
56.
Ee.
Nos.
1 to
40.
37 1698 to 1700
38 1700 to 1701
34a1687 to 1760 Drafts of Letters.
35 1692 to 1695 Entry Book.
36 1696 to 1698
(6
<<
66
39 1701 to 1703
40 1703 to 1705
41 1705 to 1708
42 1708 to 1715
66
66
43 1715 to 1716
44 1716 to 1727
I.
ÅÅÅÅEGEH
B.
H.
45 1727 to 1731
K.
246 1731 to 1741
66
L.
47 1704 to 1708 Abstracts of Letters.
48 1695 to 1699 Minutes of Assembly.
49 1695 to 1700
50 1701 to 1706
51 1706 to 1709
66
of Council.
66
and Assembly
(6
66
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF THE GOVERNORS OF
THE PROVINCE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE AND OF
THE OTHER GOVERNMENTS OF WHICH NEW
HAMPSHIRE WAS A PART, 1679-1702.
JOHN CUTT.
John Cutt, the first president of the council for New Hamp-
shire upon the establishment of the province government,
1679, in company with two brothers, Richard and Robert, came
to America before 1646. John Cutt was a merchant, mill-
owner, and farmer, and acquired a large fortune, at the time
of his death being rated as perhaps the wealthiest man in the
province. In 1679 he was appointed by Charles the Second
president of the province and accepted the office much against
his will. Both the president and council were well affected
towards Massachusetts, and accepted office under the new
¹ Died, Sept. 5, 1729.
2 After this date, see Massachusetts.
g
50
XC
INTRODUCTION.
charter or commission to prevent the control of affairs falling
into unfriendly hands. John Cutt died March 27, 1681, after a
long and successful life, highly respected and honored by all
who had known him. About a century later his descendants
added an s to the name to conform to that of the English
branch of the family, and this change has been preserved.¹
RICHARD WALDRON.
Richard Waldron (Waldern) was born in England, and bap-
tized January 6, 1616. He came to America in 1635, and after
a stay of two years returned to England, where he was mar-
ried. He purchased land on Dover Neck. About 1640 he es-
tablished his home at Cocheco lower falls, where he built
the first sawmill, and engaged in trade with the Indians, thus
laying the foundation of the settlement destined to become the
city of Dover. He was successful in his business enterprises,
and soon became a leader in the colony, his name appearing
on the "Combination" dated October 22, 1640, next after that
of the minister, Mr. Larkham.
Mr. Waldron was repeatedly elected selectman, treasurer,
commissioner for the decision of small cases, associate jus-
tice of the county court, and a deputy to the general court at
Boston in 1654, and every year after 1656, except 1664 and
1678, until the establishment of the separate province in 1679,
and was seven times speaker of the house of representatives
of the Bay Colony.
He was a captain in 1653, and in 1675 major and commander
of the militia of Norfolk county. He also had a command in
King Philip's war. Major Waldron was a resolute man, and
seems to have been little affected by sentiment when dealing
with the savages and enforcing the laws.
He was a strong supporter of the Massachusetts govern-
ment. Upon the establishment of the provincial government
he was made a councillor and deputy president. After the
death of President Cutt, March 27, 1681, he acted as president
until the arrival of Lieutenant-Governor Cranfield in October,
1682. Under Cranfield's administration he was for a time a
member of the council. Mason, in attempting to compel the
inhabitants to take out leases from him, made an example of
Major Waldron, but was unable to procure the enforcement of
the judgments and decrees of the court.
The Indians had never forgotten the way in which Major
Waldron executed an order from the Massachusetts govern-
ment to arrest and send to Boston some southern Indian
refugees, and on the night of June 27, 1689, killed him in his
'Farmer and Moore, Historical Collections, vol. 3, p. 84. See also Col. N. H.
His. Soc., vol. 8, pp. 308-311; Appleton's Cyclopedia of Am. Biog.; Belknap,
Barstow, and Palfrey; Plumer Biographies, mss., N. H. Hist. Soc., vol. 1, p.
388.
INTRODUCTION.
xci
own house, with savage torture, and taunts expressing their
satisfaction in the opportunity thus to cancel their account
with him.
Major Waldron "was much respected and eminently useful,
having sustained divers important offices civil and military
and approved his courage and fidelity in the most hazardous
enterprises."1
Major Waldron had many of the characteristics of the Puri-
tan. A man of strong, unyielding character, he was well fitted
for a frontier life. His descendants have continued to act an
honorable part in the history of New Hampshire.2
EDWARD CRANFIELD.
Edward Cranfield died in England in 1704. In 1682 he pur-
chased one fifth of the annual income from the Mason posses-
sions in New Hampshire, and received a commission as lieu-
tenant-governor with the powers of governor. He came to
America with the undisguised purpose to make money out of
the people. His government was arbitrary from the first, and
when unable to use the deputies to accomplish his purpose he
resorted to a tax without their consent. Fiske says: "Within
three years an arrogant and thieving ruler, Edward Cranfield,
had goaded New Hampshire to acts of insurrection."3
1685 he needed a change "for his health," and was made a col-
lector at Barbadoes. "Cranfield was a mere political free-
booter, and went to his task in the spirit of a Roman proconsul
in the worst days of the Republic, of an Indian official in the
worst days of the Company."4
WALTER BAREFOOTE.
By
Walter Barefoote was in New Hampshire as early as 1664.
Dr. Quint speaks of him as "a man famous in New Hampshire
annals as counsellor, deputy-governor, and rogue."5 Certain-
ly he was the willing tool of Randolph, Mason, and Cranfield.
By Randolph Barefoote was appointed deputy-collector of the
king's customs, and was fined for setting up His Majesty's
office of customs without leave from the president and council,
and for insolence in court. This was soon after the establish-
ment of the new government.
He was a member of the coun-
cil under Cranfield, captain of the fort, judge, and deputy-
'Farmer's Belknap, p. 90.
See also Col. N. H. His. Soc., vol. 8, pp. 332-341; Palfrey, Doyle, and Bar-
stow; note by John R. Ham, 21 N. H. State Papers, 252; Plumer Biographies,
mss., N. H. Hist. Soc., vol. 1, p. 447.
Fiske, The Beginnings of New England, p. 259.
*Doyle, The English Colonies in America, vol. 3, p. 226. See also Belknap's
and Barstow's histories and Appleton's Cyclopedia of Amer. Biog.; Plumer
Biographies, mss., N. H. Hist. Soc., vol. 1, p. 535.
"Quint, Hist. Memoranda of Ancient Dover, p. 402.
*
xcii
INTRODUCTION.
governor, and acted as governor after the withdrawal of Cran-
field to Barbadoes. Under the presidency of Joseph Dudley,
1686-1687, Barefoote was made a judge for New Hampshire.¹
Three Quakers having been brought before Richard Wal-
dron on December 22, 1662, he issued an order commanding
the constables to "make them fast to the cart's tail, and draw-
ing the cart through their several towns, to whip them upon
their naked backs not exceeding ten stripes apiece on each of
them in each town.”
"In Dover, Hampton and Salisbury this disgraceful order
was executed, but in the last named town Walter Barefoote
performed almost the only praiseworthy act that stands to his
credit in history, by taking these persecuted females from the
constable, under the pretence of delivering them to the con-
stables of Newbury, and securing them from further cruelty by
sending them out of the province."2
JOSEPH DUDLEY.
Joseph Dudley was born at Roxbury, Mass., September 23,
1647, and died April 2, 1720. He was graduated from Harvard
in 1665, and for a time took up the study of theology. He was
made a magistrate and deputy in 1673, and was a commission-
er for the New England confederacy from 1677 to 1681. When
he found there was no hope of making secure the old charter
he accepted the situation, and was made chief magistrate of
the new government. In 1685 he was made president of New
England by James the Second; in 1686, a councillor in the
Andros government; in 1687, chief justice of the supreme
court; and in 1689 was arrested with Sir Edmund Andros and
others and confined for a time in Boston. He was well re-
ceived in England, and made chief justice of New York, 1690-
1693. He again went to England, was made deputy-governor
of the Isle of Wight, and elected to the house of commons in
1701. He came back to Massachusetts again in 1702 as cap-
tain-general and governor of Massachusetts and New Hamp-
shire, holding office nominally, at least, until 1716.
Palfrey says of Colonel Dudley: "At all events, he had no
purpose to be true and useful. He meant to get power, and
all that power brings with it, and with gay arrogance placed
his unimportant self above the rights and welfare of the com-
munity, which with honest affection had empowered him to do
it grievous harm."³
'Palfrey, History of New England, vol. 3, p. 495 n.
2Col. N. H. His. Soc., vol. 2, p. 45. See also Belknap's and Barstow's his-
tories of N. H.; Plumer Biographies, mss., N. H. Hist. Soc., vol. 1, p. 447.
'Palfrey, His. of New England, vol. 4, p. 342. See also Doyle, and especially
Hutchinson, Hist. of Mass., vol. 2, pp. 193, 194; Plumer Biographies, mss.,
N. H. Hist. Soc., vol. 2, p. 39.
:
INTRODUCTION.
xciii
This characterization of Governor Dudley is from the Massa-
chusets point of view. In New Hampshire affairs he was a
sturdy friend of the party of the people. He co-operated with
them discreetly but effectively in counteracting the plans of
the Allen proprietary, and on several occasions his ad-
ministration was accorded formal and genuine endorsement
by the representatives of the people in the general assembly.
SIR EDMUND ANDROS.
Sir Edmund Andros was born December 6, 1637, and was
buried February 27, 1714. He was brought up as a page in
the royal family, and during their exile served in the army of
Prince Henry of Nassau. In 1666 he was made major of a
regiment of foot and sent to America. In 1672 he returned
to England. He had been "commander of the forces in Bar-
badoes," and had obtained the reputation of being skilled in
American affairs. In 1674 he was appointed by the Duke of
York governor of his possessions in America. He arrived in
New York November 1, 1674. He skillfully managed to keep
peace with the Indians, strongly asserted the rights of his
patron, and went to England in 1677 for a short stay, return-
ing the following summer. In 1680 some charges of dishon-
esty were made against him, and he was summoned to Eng-
land. He was able to clear his record and retain the royal
favor.
In 1686 he was appointed by James the Second governor of
the Dominion of New England, and two years later New York
and the Jerseys were added, making him governor of all the
English colonies north of Delaware and Pennsylvania. In
April, 1689, the opposition in Massachusetts developed into
open rebellion, and Governor Andros, with many others, was
imprisoned. In February, 1690, he was sent to England for
trial by command of the home government. He was, however,
not held for trial, as the charges against him were not sup-
ported. In 1692 he was again sent to America as governor of
Virginia, where, during the next six years, by his connection
with the founding of William and Mary College, his interest
in agriculture and the general prosperity of the colony, and his
care in preserving and registering public documents he proved
himself to be an administrator of very different character and
purposes from what the Massachusetts Puritans of 1689 were
disposed to consider him. He returned to England in 1698,
and was made governor of Guernsey in 1704, an office which
he held for two years.
Mr. Whitmore, editor of the Andros Tracts, says that Sir
Edmund Andros "has received less than justice from Massa-
chusetts historians." During his administration no person
was executed for a political offense, no one was fined or im-
xciv
INTRODUCTION.
prisoned for non-conformity; the taxes "arbitrarily levied"
were exactly the same as the general court under the old char-
ter had voted each year for nearly half a century, and there
is nothing to show that Andros profited by or was responsible
for the excessive fees. "We fail, therefore, to see any evi-
dence that Andros was cruel, rapacious, or dishonest; we know
of no charge affecting his morality, and we find a hasty temper
the most palpable fault to be imputed to him."1
Doyle, in his English Colonies in America, says of Andros:
"His dispatches are the work of a dull, formal, and somewhat
ill-tempered disciplinarian, administering a fixed system with
rigid obedience and mechanical, fidelity to orders. The evi-
dence of his enemies, stripped of rhetorical commonplace,
comes to the same thing.”2
Fiske says of him: "He was the dull and dogged English offi-
cer, such as one often meets, honest enough and faithful to
his master, neither cruel nor rapacious, but coarse in fiber and
wanting in tact."
When compared with the rule of James at home the govern-
ment of Andros can hardly be called despotic.4
SIMON BRADSTREET.
Simon Bradstreet was born in England in 1603, and died in
Massachusetts March 27, 1697. He was educated at Cam-
bridge University (England), and came to America as assistant
judge in 1630. In 1653 he opposed the war with the Dutch of
New York. He was a commissioner for the New England con-
federacy, and in 1660 went to England as agent of the colony
to extend their greeting to Charles II on his restoration.
From 1630 until elected governor in 1679 he was an assistant.
From 1679 to 1686, and again from 1689 to 1692, he was gov-
ernor of Massachusetts, and under the new charter was the
first councillor. "He lived to complete his ninety-fifth year.
The general court voted to contribute a hundred pounds
towards the expenses of his burial, in consideration of his long
and extraordinary service. . . A man hardly equal to the
most difficult occasions, but patriotic, faithful, honest, and
laborious, and always esteemed and trusted."5
It will be noted that he was governor in the period of the
second union of New Hampshire with Massachusetts Bay.
'Prince Society, vol. 5; Andros Tracts, vol. 1, p. xxvii.
'Doyle, History of the English Colonies in America, vol. 3, p. 184.
'Fiske, Beginnings of New England, p. 267.
*Authorities consulted, Whitmore's memoir in Andros Tracts, Appleton's
Cyc. Am. Biog., and histories of Palfrey, Doyle, Fiske, Belknap, and Hutchin-
son; Plumer's Biographies, mss., N. H. Hist. Soc., vol. 1, p. 599.
"Palfrey, Hist. of New England vol. 4, p. 65. See also Appleton's Cyclo-
pedia of Am. Biog.; Hutchinson Hist. of Mass., and Doyle; Plumer's Biogra-
phies, mss., N. H. Hist. Soc., vol. 1, p. 506.
INTRODUCTION.
XCV
SAMUEL ALLEN.
Samuel Allen was born in England in 1636 and died in New
Hampshire in 1705. He had been a London merchant, and in
1691 purchased from the heirs of John Mason their claim to
the territories of the province of New Hampshire. In 1692 a
commission was issued to him as governor, and his son-in-law,
John Usher of Boston, was made lieutenant-governor. Allen
was entirely unsuccessful in prosecuting his claims against
those who had settled and long occupied the lands covered
by his patent. He came to New Hampshire in 1698, and acted
as governor for a short time until the arrival of the Earl of
Bellomont in 1699. He seems to have been very persistent in
his efforts to enforce his title. After repeated defeats and ap-
peals, in 1704 he was ready to make favorable terms with the
colony, but died before the arrangement was completed. Bel-
knap says that he was "represented as a gentleman of no
remarkable abilities, and of a solitary rather than a social
disposition; but mild, obliging and charitable. His character
while he was a merchant in London was fair and upright, and
his domestic deportment amiable and exemplary."¹
JOHN USHER.
John Usher was born at Boston April 27, 1648, and died at
Medford, Massachusetts, September 1, 1726. He was a suc-
cessful tradesman in Boston, a member of the council of Gov-
ernor Andros, and treasurer of the dominion. In 1677 he
acted as agent for Massachusetts in England in purchasing
from Gorges his title to the district of Maine. For his second
wife he married a daughter of Samuel Allen, and when the
latter purchased Mason's claim in 1691 he appointed his son-
in-law lieutenant-governor, an office which the latter exercised
with much opposition until 1697. After that he went to Eng-
land to represent Allen in his suit to recover possession of the
disputed territory, and to attend to his interests with the home
government. Again he received the appointment of lieuten-
ant-governor, this time taking office under Governor Joseph
Dudley in 1702. Usher was not in favor with the home gov-
ernment after the death of Queen Anne, and was superseded
in office by George Vaughan in 1715.²
JOHN HINCKES.
John Hinckes is supposed to have been of English birth, and
to have come to New Hampshire about 1672. "He was prob-
¹Farmer's Belknap, p. 163; see also Appleton's Cyclopedia of Am. Biog.;
Barstow, Palfrey, and Doyle; Plumer's Biographies, mss., N. H. Hist. Soc., vol.
vol. 1, p. 551.
'Appleton's Cyclopedia of Am. Biog.; Farmer's Belknap, Barstow's his-
tory; Palfrey and Doyle; Plumer's Biographies, mss., N. H. Hist. Soc., vol.
2, p. 79.
xcvi
INTRODUCTION.
ably a merchant, and possessed considerable ability, though
not much firmness of principle." In 1683 he was chosen a
member of Governor Cranfield's council, and was an assistant
to Chancellor Mason. He was a member of the council for
New England with President Dudley in 1686, and of that of
Governor Andros, 1686-1689. He was a member of the New
Hampshire council under the Allen commission in 1692. Не
acted as president of the council in the absence of the gov-
ernor and lieutenant-governor in an interim between the first
term of Mr. Usher and that of Mr. Partridge. In 1699 he was
appointed chief justice of the superior court, and held that
office until 1704. It is said that he left the province about
this time, but how long this absence continued, and what the
occasion of it was, is not definitely ascertained. Little is
known of his later life. He appears to have been in the prov-
ince at times, and is said to have died in Newcastle in 1734.
Belknap says of him that he "was a man who could change
with the times."
WILLIAM PARTRIDGE.
William Partridge was born in 1654, and died at Newbury,
Mass., January 3, 1729. Belknap says: "Partridge was a na-
tive of Portsmouth, a shipwright, of an extraordinary mechan-
ical genius, of a public turn of mind, and a popular man."
He was treasurer of the province in 1692 and from 1693 to 1697
was a judge of the supreme court. He was made lieutenant-
governor in 1697, and with some interruptions continued in
the office until 1702. He then removed to Massachusetts,
where he spent the remainder of his life. The Earl of Bello-
mont in his dispatches charged Partridge with exporting ship
timber to Portugal, and otherwise criticised him as an admin-
istrator, but admitted that he had not violated any law.3
EARL OF BELLOMONT.
Richard Coote, Earl of Bellomont, was born in 1636, and died
in New York in 1701. His father was raised to the Irish peer-
age as Baron Coote by Charles II. in recognition of his loyalty.
Richard Coote was a member of parliament in 1688 and one of
the first adherents of the Prince of Orange, who made him Earl
of Bellomont in 1689. He was also made treasurer and re-
ceiver-general to Queen Mary. In 1697 he was appointed gov-
ernor of New York, and soon after of the Jerseys, Massachu-
setts, and New Hampshire. He came to America in 1698 and
to New Hampshire in 1699. One reason for the choice of the
Earl of Bellomont was that he might suppress the piracy
¹Bell, Bench and Bar of N. H., pp. 9, 10; Farmer's Belknap, p. 152; Col.
N. H. Hist. Soc., vol. 8, pp. 360-364.
"Farmer's Belknap, p. 152.
³Province Papers, 347-354, 357. See also Bell, Bench and Bar of N. H., p. 3;
Plumer's Biographies, mss., N. H. Hist. Soc., vol. 2, p. 103.
INTRODUCTION.
xcvii
which had become such a menace to trade in American waters.
He was responsible for the appointment as ship master of
Captain Kidd, who himself turned pirate. The Earl's vigor
in suppressing illegal trade in New York made him unpop-
ular there, but in Boston and New Hampshire he immediately
won the respect and confidence of the people. Macaulay says
of him that he was a man "of eminently fair character, up-
right, courageous and independent."¹
'See Appleton's Cyc. of Am. Biog.; Hutchinson's Hist. of Mass., vol. 2, espe-
cially pp. 106-110; Palfrey, Doyle, and Belknap; Plumer's Biographies, mss.,
N. H. Hist. Soc., vol. 1, p. 525.
ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS.
•
Page x, line 21, instead of the figures “460,” read the figures “450.”
Page xvii, last line, end of the line, for superior numeral "6" read, "3."
Page xxi, line 18, after the word "conditions," insert the word "to."
Page xxiii, line 31, instead of the word "confirms" read the words following,
viz.: "purports to confirm.”
Page xxiv, add to note 1 the following, viz.: "3 Province Papers, 297, 298,
299."
Page xxvii, add to note 6 the following, viz.: "The Remains of Nathaniel
Appleton Haven, edited by George Ticknor, 1827, oration delivered at Ports-
mouth, May 21, 1823, two hundred years from the landing of the first settlers,
P. 8."
Page xxvii, note 6, line 4, end of the line, for period (.) substitute a
comma (,) in punctuation.
Page xxx, line 21, after the word "securing," insert the words following,
viz.: "to them."
Page xxxiv, line 5, instead of the word "even" read the word "ever."
Page xxxvii, line 29, after "Dover" insert the words "nearly every year."
Page xxxvii, note 1, at the end of the line add the following, viz.: “See
also Peter Oliver's Puritan Commonwealth, Reviewed by John Wingate Thorn-
ton, 1857."
Page xxxvii, line 40, instead of the words, "During this period," read the
words following, viz.: "At the same time.”
Page xxxviii, add in note 5 the following, viz.: "(N. S. 1639.)”
Page xl, note 1, add the following, viz.: "For latest notes by Mr. Whitmore
see his Colonial Laws of Massachusetts, edition of 1890, and his abridgment
of his work of the same date (1890) containing certain additions to the notes
as presented in the publications of 1887 and 1889."
Page xlviii, note 1, add at the end of the note the following words, viz.:
"Compare also, Laws of Connecticut, Reprint of the Original Edition of 1673,
with Prefatory Note, by G. Brinley, Hartford, privately printed, 1865."
Page 1, note 2, add the following, viz.: "See also statement of Salma Hale.
Judicial History of New Hampshire before the Revolution, Monthly Law
Reporter, October, 1855; Id. reprint, 3 Grafton and Coos Bar Association Pro-
ceedings, 64."
Page liii, at the end of line 12, add the letter "p" so that the reading shall
be “pp.”
Page liii, lines 26 and 27, strike out the words following, viz.: "The mar-
ginal annotations to the act."
Page lv, line 32, instead of the figures "1682-1686," read the following, viz..
"1682 to 1686."
Page lix, line 10, for the word "laws," read the word "acts."
Page lix, line 19, for the words "seventy-six" read the following, viz.:
"fifty-six."
Page lix, line 34, after the figures "608," insert the following, viz.: "Dr.
Edwin D. Sanborn in his history of New Hampshire, 1875, p. 302, estimates
the population of the four New Hampshire towns as one thousand in 1641."
Page lix, note 1, line 3 of note, for "2d" read "Id.”
Page lxii, line 13, instead of the word "any," read the word "an."
Page lxvi, under Edward the First, regnal years 17 and 18, date should read
"1289" instead of "1829."
Page lxviii, the 10th year of the reign of Henry V should read 21 Mar.
1422-31 Aug. 1422.
Page 46, 7th line of prefatory note, for the word "addressed" read "ad-
dresses."
xcviii
ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS.
xcix
་
Page 53, line 10, insert after the word "Cattles," the word in brackets,
"Castles," thus, [Castles].
Page 82, line 13, of the body of the order designated as chapter 6, after
the word "Cul[ler]" add to the part in brackets the words "to be," so that
the sequence of the words in that connection shall be as follows: "Cul[ler to
be]" appointed, etc.
Page 102, insert at the end of the 6th line of the prefatory note which is
enclosed in brackets the words "office of the."
Page 118, chapter 21, in note the number printed should be "57" instead of
"53."
Page 144, for corrections of names in the list of councillors printed on this
page, see page 829, Appendix H. I.
Pages 144, 830, for "Van Cortland" read "Van Cortlandt."
Page 148, last paragraph of the editor's note, first line of the paragraph,
instead of the words "the historical review of this period and the comments
on the Andros," read the words following, viz., “A historical review of this
period and comments on the Andros."
In the same paragraph, after the name "United States," instead of the
words "vol. 1, ch. xviii, p. 590, under the title of the Revolution of 1688," sub-
stitute the following, viz., "vol. 1, chaps, xvii and xviii, pp. 574-601," under
the titles, "Consolidation of the Northern Colonies" and "The Revolution of
1688."
Page 175, in title, middle of the page, "The King's Letter," etc., insert before
the word "England" the word in brackets following, viz.: "[New.]"
Page 182, in the last paragraph but one, beginning "No acts are published,"
etc., insert between the words "No" and "acts" the name "Andros," so that
the reading shall be "No Andros acts," etc.
Page 211, for the word "such," in the 6th line of the prefatory note which
is in brackets, substitute the word "suit."
Page 639, line 13, instead of the words "council and assembly" read "gen-
eral assembly."
Page 641, line 41, instead of the words "Council and assembly" read "gen-
eral assembly."
Page 642, line 15, instead of the words "Council and Assembly" read "gen-
eral assembly."
Page 644, line 15 should read "Commissioners" instead of "Committee."
Page 648, line 27 should read "There was a publication of several of the
English colonies."
Page 649, line 55 should read "acts having been passed by the general
assembly of the province between.”
Page 660, chapter 4, line 9, instead of "Moody v. De meritt” read “Mooney
v. Demerrit."
Page 695, lines 6 and 7 of note in brackets, the words following are to be
regarded as stricken out, viz., "Special minutes from the journal of the
Board of Trade, with reference to this act, in the Appendix."
Page 722, in note 1, in the margin of the page add the following words in
brackets, thus: "[Statutes of the Realm, ed. of 1810-1828, vol. 1].”
Page 771, line 14, for "maimed" read "married."
The citations in the following enumerated marginal notes, in which the
work cited is named as "New Hampshire Provincial Papers," were intended
by Mr. Doyle to refer to the provincial papers in the Collections of the New
Hampshire Historical Society, vol. 8, and not to either volume of the State
Series of Province Papers, viz:
Page 781, note 1.
Page 782, note 3, note 4, note 7, note 9.
Page 791, lines 8 and 9, instead of the title "Appendix C (I)," substitute
the word, letter, and Roman numeral as follows: "Appendix F. II."
Page 807, line 29 of the note in brackets, instead of the words "Council and
assembly," substitute the term "general assembly."
Page 807, line 39 of the note in brackets, instead of the title "Appendix C,
III." substitute the word, letter, and Roman numeral as follows: "Appen-
dix F. III."
Page 829, line 13 in the list of councillors, opposite the names of John
Hinckes, for the dates "1686-1688," substitute the dates "1686-1689."
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
[THE ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN CUTT, PRESIDENT OF THE
PROVINCE, JANUARY 21, 1679-80, TO MARCH 27, 1681,
BEING IN THE THIRTY FIRST, THIRTY SECOND, AND THIRTY
THIRD YEARS OF CHARLES II.]
THE COM'ISSION CONSTITUTING A PRESIDENT & COUNCEL FOR
THE PROVINCE OF NEW-HAMPSHIRE IN NEW-ENGLAND.
[Council Book 4, p. 1.]
[This commission passed the Great Seal, September 18, 1679. It was form-
ally received January 1, 1679-80. This copy is from N. H. Council Records,
vol. 4, p. 1. The President and Councilors named took their oaths of office
under it January 21, 1679-80 (XIX, State Papers, 655). By this commission
the province was established as a separate government in New England, and
certain powers and duties were prescribed for those having to do with its
administration, legislation, and judicial functions. An important feature
of this and succeeding commissions was the provision for the recognition
and protection of the interests of those claiming lands within the province
under the Masonian Patent. The instrument is in a certain sense a charter,
and was intended to be the organic law of the province. Its provisions
lacked, however, the most important essential of chartered rights and con-
stitutional guaranties in that it was temporary, and its continuance de-
pended upon considerations over which the people of the province had but
little influence. It was, in fact, superceded by a new commission to Edward
Cranfield dated May 9, 1682. President Cutt died in March, 1681, and
Richard Waldron, who had been named as Deputy President, (XIX, State
Papers, 655), succeeded to the office of President, and continued in the
government under the Cutt commission as Deputy President until he gave
place to Lieutenant-Governor Cranfield October 4, 1682, (XIX, State Papers,
687). The Cutt commission has been printed in N. H. Laws, edition of 1771;
8, Collections N. H. Historical Society, 1; I, Province Papers, 373; Charters
and Constitutions of the United States, ed. 2, 1878, by Ben: Perley Poore,
vol. 2, p. 1275. For narratives and discussions of events connected with the
establishment of this government, see all the principal histories of New
England; Belknap's New Hampshire, Farmer's ed., ch. 7; p. 90; Life of John
Mason, by Charles W. Tuttle and J. W. Dean, 1887; History of Exeter, by
Charles H. Bell, 1888; History of Hampton, by Joseph Dow, 1893; Dover
Enquirer series of Historical Articles; Rambles about Portsmouth, by
Charles W. Brewster, 2 vols.; Annals of Portsmouth, by Nathaniel Adams,
1825; Isles of Shoals, by John S. Jenness; History of New Castle, by John
Albee, 1885; authorities cited under titles Portsmouth, Dover, Hampton,
Exeter, New Castle, and Isles of Shoals in N. H. State Papers, vols. XXIV
and XXV; Documents in I, N. H. Province Papers passim; XVII, N. H. State
Papers, 473, (Transcripts from Ancient Documents in the English Archives);
XXV, N. H. State Papers, articles in the appendix; The Establishment of
the Royal Provincial Government of New Hampshire, by Charles W. Tuttle,
1, Proceedings of N. H. Historical Society, 1880, p. 339.]
2
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
Charles the Second &c. To all to whom these pr'sents shall
come Greeting Whereas Our Colony of the Massachusetts, al's
Mattachusetts Bay in New-England in America, have taken
upon themselves to exercise a Government & Jurisdiction, over
the Inhabitants & Planters in the Towns of Portsmouth, Hamp-
ton, Dover Excester, & all other the Towns & lands in the
Province of New-Hampshire, lying & extending from three
miles northward of Merrimack River, or any part thereof unto
the Province of Maine, not having any legall right or authority
so to do: Which said Jurisdiction & all further exercise thereof,
we have thought fit by the advice of Our Privy Councell to
inhibit & restrain for the future; And do hereby inhibit and
restrain the same. And whereas the Government of that part
of the said Province of New-Hampshire, so limited & bounded
as afores'd hath not yet bin granted unto any person or persons
whatsoever but the same still remains & is under Our im'edi-
ate care & protection; To the end therefore that Our loving
Subjects the planters and Inhabitants within the limits afore-
said, may be protected and defended in their respective rights,
liberties & properties, & that due & impartiall Justice may be
duly administred in all cases civill & criminall; & that all pos-
sible care may be taken for the quiet and orderly Government
of the same: now know ye, that We by & with the advice of
Our Privy Councell, have thought fit to erect & constitute & by
these pr'sents for us our heirs & success'rs do erect authorize
& appoint a Præsident & Councell, to take care of the said
Tract of land called The Province of New-Hampshire, & of the
Planters & Inhabitants thereof; & to Order, rule & Govern the
same according to such methods & regulations, as are herein
after specified & declared. And for the better execution of
Our Royall pleasure in this behalf, We do hereby nominate &
appoint Our Trusty & well beloved Subject John Cutt of Ports-
mouth Esqr to be the first Præsident of the said Councell, &
to continue in the said office for the space of one whole year
next ensuing the date of these 'sents & so long after, untill
we Our heirs or successors, shall nominate & appoint some
other person to succeed him in the same. And we likewise
nominate & appoint Our trusty & well beloved subjects Rich:
Martin Esq'r, William Vaughan Esq'r, & Tho: Daniel Esq'r,
all of Portsmouth afores'd John Gilman of Exceter afores'd
Esq'r, Christoph'r Hussey of Hampton afores'd Esq'r, & Rich:
Walden of Dov'r afores'd Esq'r to be of the Councell within the
said Province of New-Hampshire: And we do hereby authorize
and appoint, the said Præsident & Councell, to nominate &
make choice of three other Persons out of the severall parts of
the afores'd Province, whom they shall judg to be most fitly
qualified to be of the said Councell, & to swear them into the
same: And that the said Jo: Cutt, & every succeeding Præsi-
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
3
dent of the said Councell, shall nominate & appoint any one of
the members of the same Councell for the time being, to be his
Deputy, & to Dr'side in his absence. And that the said Praesi-
dent, or his Deputy, & any five of the said Cou'cell shall be a
Quorum. And Our express will & pleasure is, That no person
shall be admitted to sit, or have a vote in the said Councell,
untill he have taken the oath of allegeance & supremacy, & the
oath herein after mentoned for the Due & impartiall execut❜on
of Justice, & the faithful discharge of the trust in them
reposed. Which Oaths We do hereby authorize & direct the
said Ric: Martin W: Vaughan T Daniel; Jo: Gilman Christ:
Hussey R: Walden; or any three of them first to administer to
the said Jo: Cutt the Present Praesident, & the said Jo: Cutt
having taken the said Oaths, We do will, authorize & require
him the said Praes: for the time being, to administ'r the same
from time to time to all & every other the members of the said
Councell. And We do hereby will, require & com'and the said
Jo: Cutt R: M: &c & every of them, to whom this Our pleasure
shall be made known, That, all excuses whatsoever set aside,
they fail not to assemble & meet together at the s'd Town of
Portsmo' in the Prov: of New Hampsh: afores'd within the
space of 20 days, next after the arrivall of this Our Com'ission
at Portsmo' aforesaid; & there to cause this Our Com'ission,
or Letters Patents, to be read before them, or as many of them
as shall be there assembled; & having duly first taken the said
Oaths; to proceed to choose, nominate & appoint such Officers
& serv'ts as they shall think fit & necessary for their service:
And also to appoint such other time & place for their future
meeting, as they or the major part of them (whereof the Praes:
or his deputy to be one) shall think fit & agreeable. And Our
Will & pleasure is, That Our said Councell shall from time to
time have & use such Seal only, for the sealing of their Acts,
Orders & proceedings, as shall be sent unto them by Us, Our
heirs & successors, for that purpose. And we do by these
Pr'ts, for Us Our heirs & successors, constitute, establish,
declare & appoint Our said Praes: & Councell the Praes: &
Councell & their successors for the time being, to be a constant
& setled Court of records for the administrac'on of Justice to
all Our subjects inhabiting within the limits aforesaid, in all
causes, as well civill as criminall; & that the Praes: & any 5 of
the Councell for the time being shall have full power & author-
ity, to hold pleas in all causes from time to time, as well in
pleas of the Crown as in matters relating to the conservation
of the peace, & punishment of offenders, as in civill suits &
actions between partie & partie; or between Us & any of Our
subjects there; whether the same do concern the realty, &
relate to a right of freehold, & inheritance; or whether the same
do concern the personalty, & relate to some matter of debt,
4
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
contract, damage, or other personal injury; & also in all mixt
actions, w'ch may concern both realty & personalty and
therein after due & orderly proceeding, & deliberate hearing
on both sides, to give Judgm't, to award execuc'on, as well in
criminall, as in civill causes as aforesaid: so always, that the
forms of proceeding in such cases, & the Judgm't thereupon
to be given, be as consonant, & agreeable to the Laws & Stat-
utes of this Our Realm of Eng'd, as the Pr'sent state & con-
dic'on of Our subjects inhabiting within the limits aforesaid,
& the circumstances of the place will admit. And the Praes:
& Councell for the time being, & every one of them respectively,
before they be admitted to their severall & respective offices &
charges, shall also take this Oath following. You shall swear,
well and truly to administer Justice to all his Maj'ties good
subjects, inhabiting within the Province of New-Hampsh:
under this Government: & also duly & faithfully to discharge
& execute the Trust in you reposed, according to the best of
your knowledg; you shall spare no person for favour or affec-
tion; nor any person grieve for hatred or ill will. So help you
God. Notwithstanding it is Our will & pleasure, & so we do
hereby expressly declare, that it shall & may be lawfull from
time to time, to & for all & every person & persons, who shall
think himself or themselves aggrieved by any sentence, Judg-
m't or Decree pronounced, given or made (as aforesaid) in,
about or concerning the title of any land, or other reall estate
or in any personall Action, or suit above the value of 50 1 and
not under, to appeal from such Judgm't sentence, & Decree
unto Us, Our heirs & successors, & Our & their Privie Councell:
But with and under this caution & limitac'on; That the Appel-
lant shall first enter into, & give good security, to pay full costs,
in case no relief shall be obtained upon such Appeal. And
Our further will & pleasure is & so we do hereby declare; That
in all criminall cases, where the punishm't to be inflicted upon
the offenders, shall extend to loss of life or limb (the case of
willfull murder only excepted) the 'ty convicted shall either
be sent over into this Our Kingdom of Engl'd, with a true state
of his case & conviction; or execuc'on shall be respited untill
the case shall be here represented unto Us, Our heirs & suc-
cessors, in Our & their Privie Councell, and Orders sent, &
returned therein. And for the better defence and security of
all Our loving subjects within the Province of New-Hampsh:
and the bounds & limits aforesaid, Our further will & pleasure
is, and hereby We do authorize, require & com'and the said
Praes: & Councell for the time being, in Our name & under the
seal by Us appointed to be used, to issue forth & give Com'is-
sions from time to time, to such Pson & persons, whom they
shall judg shall be best qualified for regulation & discipline of
the militia of Our said Province; & for the arraying & muster-
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
5
LO
ing the Inhabitants thereof, & instructing them how to bear
and use their arms; & that care be taken, that such good dis-
cipline shall be observed, as by the said Councell shall be
pr'scribed; & that if any invasions shall at any time be made, or
other destruction, detriment, or an'oyance made or done by
Indians, or others upon or unto Our good subjects inhabiting
within the said Prov: of New H: We do by these pr'sents, for
Us Our heirs & successors, declare, Ordaine & grant, that it
shall & may be lawfull to & for Our said Subjects, so com'is-
sionated by Our said Councell from time to time, & at all times
for their speciall defence & safety, to encounter, expell, repell,
& resist by force of arms, & all other fitting ways & means
whatsoever, all & every such person & persons, as shall at any
time hereafter attempt or enterprise destruction invasion
detriment or an’oyance of any of Our said loving subjects, or
their plantations or estates: And above all things We do by
these pr❜sents will, & require & comand Our said Councell to
take all possible care for the discountenancing of vice, &
incouraging of vertue & good living; that by such examples
the infidel may be invited, & desire to partake of the Christian
Religion, & for the greater ease & satisfacc'on of o'r s'd loving
subjects in matters of Religion We do hereby require & com-
'and, that liberty of conscience shall be allowed unto all prot-
estants; & that such especially as shall be conformable to the
rites of the Church of Engl'd, shall be particularly counte-
nanced & incouraged. And further We do by these pr’sents,
for Us, Our heirs & successors, give & grant unto the said
Councell & their successors for the time being, full & free lib-
erty, power, and authority, to hear & determine all emergen-
cies, relating to the peace & good Government of Our subjects
within the s'd Prov: & also to sum'on & convene any person or
persons before them and punish contempts: & to cause the
Oath of Allegeance to be administred to all & every person &
persons, who shall be admitted to any Office, freedom, or pre-
ferment; & likewise with what convenient speed they can, to
cause proclamac'on to issue out & be made in Our name to the
Inhabitants of the Prov: of New Hampsh: thereby signifying
that We have taken them into Our im'ediate Governm't &
gracious protection: & letting them further know, that We
have written to the Gov'rnour & Councell of the Massachusetts
bay, to recall all such Com'issions as have been granted for
exercising any Jurisdiction in the parts aforesaid and that We
have inhibited & restrained them for the future, from exercis-
ing any further authority or Jurisdiction over them. And fur-
ther, that the s'd Inhabitants within the said Prov: of N: Hamp:
& limits aforesaid, do & shall from henceforth repair for Justice
& redress unto them the said Pres: & Councell, whom We have
constituted & appointed to be a standing court for administra-
6
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
c'on of Justice as aforesaid, & intrusted them with the care of
their quiet & orderly Government and therefore requiring that
they give obedience unto them. And Our will & pleasure is,
that these, with such other generall intimations be given unto
the people, as by the said Pres: & Councell shall be thought
necessary. And for supporting the charge of the Government.
of the said Prov: of N: Hamp: Our Will & pleasure is, & We do
by these pr'sents authorize & require the said Pres: & Coun-
cell, to continue such taxes & impositions, as have bin, & are
now laid & imposed upon the Inhabitants thereof; & that they
levy & distribute, or cause the same to be levyed & distributed
to those ends, in the best & most equall man'er they can untill
a generall Assembly of the s'd Prov: shall be called, & other
methods for that purpose agreed upon. To which end Our
Will & pleasure is and We do by these pr'ts authorize, require,
& com'and the said Praes: & Councell that they within 3
months after they have bin sworn (as aforesaid) do & shall
issue forth Sum'ons under the Seal by Us appointed to be used
in the nature of writs for the calling of a Generall Assembly
of the said Prov: using & observing there such rules & methods.
(as to the persons who are to chuse their Deputies, & the time
& place of meeting) as they shall judg most convenient. At
the 1st meeting of which Gen'l Assembly We do hereby will,
authorize & require the Praes: of the said Councell, to mind
them in the generall, what is to be intimated in the proclama-
c'on aforesaid: That he recom'end unto them the making of
such Acts, Laws & Ordinances, as may most tend to the estab-
lishing them in obedience to Our authority; their own pr'serva-
tion in peace & good Governm't & defence against their ene-
mies; & that they do consider of the fittest ways for the raising
of taxes, & in such proportion, as may be fit for the support of
the Governm't And our will & pleasure is, & we do hereby
declare, ordain, & grant, That all & every such Acts, Laws &
Ordinances, as shall from time to time be made in & by such
generall Assembly or Assemblies, as shall be first approved &
allowed by the Praes: & Councell for the time being, & there-
upon shall stand & be in force, untill the pleasure of Us Our
heirs & successors shall be known, whether the same Laws &
Ordinances shall receive any change, or confirmation; or be
totally disalowed & discharged. And therefore Our Will &
pleasure is, That the Praes: & Councell do & shall from time to
time, transmit & send over unto Us Our heirs & successors &
Our & their Privie Councell for the time being all & every such
Acts, Laws & Ordinances, by the first ship that shall sail hence
for Engl❜d after their making. Also Our will & pleasure is, &
We do hereby direct & appoint, that if the said Praes: of the
Councell shall happen to dye; that then from & after the death
of the said Praes: the Deputy shall succeed him in the office of
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
7
Praes: & shall & may nominate & choose any one of the s'd
Councell to be his Deputy, to preside in his absence; & the said
Deputy so succeeding shall continue in the said office of Praes:
untill Our further will & pleasure be known therein & we shal
think fit to nominate & appoint some other person. And if
any of the members of the said Councell shall happen to die,
Our will and pleasure is, & we do hereby direct & appoint the
remainder of the Councell to elect some other person to be a
member of the said Councell for the time; & to send over the
name of such person so chosen, & the names of two more, whom
they shall judg fitly qualified for the s'd preferment; that We
Our heirs & successors may nominate & appoint, which of the
three shall be the member in the place of such member so
dying, And We do hereby declare, That We Our heirs & succes-
sors, shall & will observe & continue this method of grace &
favour towards Our loving subjects in convening them in their
Assembly, in such man'er & form as is herein before menc'oned
& specified; unless by inconvenience arising from thence; We
Our heirs or successors, shall see cause to alter the same.
And whereas *the inhabitants of the saide province of new
hamshire have many of them bin long in posesion of Severall
quantityes of lands & are saide to have maide Considerable
Improvments theire upon having noe other title for the same
then what hath bin derived from the Goverment of the maci-
thusets baye: in vertue of theire Imaginary line w'ch titell as
it hath by the opinion of our Judges in England bin alltogether
set aside soe the agents from the saide Colony have Conse-
quently disowned any righte either in the soyle or goverment
thereof; from the three mile line aforesaide: & it appearing
unto us that the ansestors of Roberd Mason esquire obtained
grants from our great Councill of plimoth for the tract of land
aforesaide: & wheare at very greate expence upon the same
untill molested & finally driven oute which hath occasioned a
lasting Complainte for Justice by the saide Roberd Mason ever
Since our restoration: how ever to prevent in this case any
unresonable demands w'ch mighte be made by the Saide
Roberd Mason for the righte he Clameth in the Saide soyle
wee have obliged the saide Roberd Mason under his hand &
Seale to declare that he will demande nothing for the time
paste untill the twenty fourth of June laste paste nor molest
any in their posesions for the time to come: but will [make out
titles] to them & theire ayres for ever provided they will paye
unto him upon a faire agrement in leiu of all other Rents Six
pence in the pound according to the Just and trew yearly
valew: of all houses builte by them & of all lands whether
*This commission is composed of parts of two entirely different manu-
scripts. Here the break occurs from the first to the second, the latter being
apparently a far less accurate copy. Ed.
8
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
gardens orchards arribell or pasture w'ch have been Improved
by them wich he will agree Shall be bounded out unto eviry of
the partyes Conserned & that the residue may remaine unto
himselfe: to be disposed of for his best advanetadge-
But not with standing this overture from the Saide Robert
Mason w'ch Semeth to be faire unto us any of the Inhabitants
of the saide province of new hamshire Shall refuse to agree
w'th the Agents of the saide Roberd Mason upon the terms
aforesaide our will & pleasure is that the president & Counsill
of new hamshire aforesaide for the time being Shall have
power & are hereby Impowered to Interpose & reconsile all
Differances [if they] can That Shall or maye arise betweene
the saide Roberd Mason & the Saide Inhabitants but if they
cannot then we doe hereby: Commande & requier the saide
president & Counsill to send into England such Casses fairely
& Imparsialy stated to gether w'th theire one opinions upon
such Cases that we our ayres & Sucsessors by & with the
advice of our & there privy Counsill maye determin therein
according to equity, and lastly our will & pleasure is that the
saide president & Counsill for the time being doe prepare &
send into England such [rules] & methods for theire one pro-
sedings as maye best suite with the Constitution of the saide
province of new-hamshire
And for the better establishing of Our authority theire and
the goverment thereof that wee and our privi Councill maye
examin & allter or aprove the same in witness whereof we have
Caused these our letters to be made pattens witness our self
at wesminster the 18th of September In the one and thirtieth
yeare of our Reigne
Peripsom Regem Barker-
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
9
FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY.*
[t First Session Held at Portsmouth, March 16, 1679-80, 32
Charles II.]
·
[This body of laws, the first that emanated from the President, Council-
ors, and assembly of the Province of New Hampshire, is quite frequently
referred to as "The Cutt Code." The royal commission, under which Presi-
dent Cutt and his Councilors organized the province government, required
that all acts, laws, and ordinances should be transmitted to the King and
Privy Council by the first ship that departs after their making. (See text of
the commission, ante). The laws enacted under the authority and by the
methods stated in the commission were to stand until changes or confirma-
tions should be made by royal authority. The earlier authorities agree that
these laws were disallowed in their entirety by the home government:—
Political Annals of the Present United Colonies, by Chalmers, London,
1780, p. 492; Holmes's Annals of New England, 1829, vol. 1, p. 395; New
Hampshire Law-Its Sources, Farmer and Moore's Hist. and Misc. Collec-
tions, Concord, 1824, vol. 3, p. 201; Historical and Bibliographical Notes on
the Laws of New Hampshire, by Albert H. Hoyt; Proceedings of the Ameri-
can Antiquarian Society, 1876, p. 93. (Same article in separate pamphlet,
pp. 7). Mr. Chalmers states, p. 492 of his work, that "the laws which they [the
President and Council] submitted in conformity to their constitution, were
disapproved of by the lords of the committee of plantations, in December,
1681, 'both as to stile and matter,' because they were considered ‘as unequal,
incongruous and absurd.'” Mr. John M. Shirley, on the other hand, in his
address on the early jurisprudence of New Hampshire, Proceedings of
the New Hampshire Historical Society, 1883, vol. 1, p. 287, et seq., vigorously
questions the importance and sufficiency of the authorities relied upon by
Mr. Chalmers, the fairness of his argument, and the validity of his conclu-
sions. The original records are not explicit, and the question is now
important only from the historical point of view. As to the contemporary
understanding of the matter, however, it is a most significant fact that
Governor Joseph Dudley, on July 23, 1702, responding to a request to make
return of transcripts of all the laws in force in New Hampshire at that
time, ignored the Cutt enactments, and included nothing of earlier date than
1692.
Dr. Belknap, in the preface to the second edition of his History of New
Hampshire, reviews and criticises that part of Chalmers's work, then
*It is assumed in the numbering of the successive general assemblies that
the general assembly provided for by the article in the body of laws relat-
ing to courts, to meet on the first Tuesday of March in each year, would
be one newly chosen by the towns. Whether that was the construction of
the law which was affirmed by the usage of the people may be an unsettled
question. The local records in the four towns do not yield conclusive evi-
dence upon this point. If there were no annual elections of assemblymen
after they were chosen for the first assembly, the fact might give effect to
the theory that there was but one assembly in the entire time of the admin-
istrations of Cutt and Waldron. It is said, both by Belknap and Adams,
(Annals of Portsmouth), that a dissolution of an assembly had been unknown
in the province prior to the time of Cranfield. Whether there was one or
whether there were three assemblies in the time of Cutt and Waldron, it will
not be misleading, as respects the history of the period, if, with this explana-
tion, for purposes of convenience in arranging and grouping the laws, the
assemblies of 1679-80, 1680-1, and 1681-2, are numbered first, second, and
third. After this period there will be little possibility of error as to the
identity of the successive general assemblies. See section 44 post.
†The record names Portsmouth as the place of sitting for the first session.
The place is assumed to be at Portsmouth, but an interrogation point is
inserted when the record does not establish the fact. The provisions of
the body of laws which follows, from the first title to the section No. 16
relating to constables, are given in the manuscript as under the above date.
10
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
recently published, which relates to this province. The laws passed in the
time of Cutt and Waldron and Mr. Chalmers's comments upon them receive-
special attention in Dr. Belknap's review.
A transcript of the copy of the laws which remains in the office of the
secretary of state is published in the Collections of the New Hampshire His-
torical Society, vol. 8, pp. 9-35. Another transcript of the same copy is
published in Province Papers, vol. 1, pp. 382-408.
The text here given is transcribed from the only copy in the English
archives so far as now ascertained.
The President and Council, Oct. 12, 1680, appointed Richard Martyn, Samuel
Dudley, Seaborn Cotton and Elias Stileman, a committee to draw up all the
laws made by the assembly, as near as may be, according to the laws of
England, and to "sute w'th the Constitution of this province." XIX, State-
Papers, 671.
“It has been stated by different writers," says Mr. Hoyt, Notes, above
cited, p. 6, "that this code was borrowed from the laws of Massachusetts Bay..
This is an error, for, in fact, the entire criminal code, with the exception of
a few sections and some slight verbal differences, was taken from the laws
of the colony of New Plymouth."
It is not possible to determine with accuracy as to the number and dates-
of the sessions of the general assembly in the time of the administrations.
of Cutt and Waldron. The journals of the President and Council which
remain accessible are not complete in legislative details, and apparently
do not cover the sessions of the assembly by a separate record. Such as-
they are they may be found reproduced in vol. XIX of the State Papers.
They note occasionally the fact that the assembly is in session, and some--
times include acts and legislative orders with the transactions of the Presi--
dent and Council as an executive body, as a court, and as a part of the
legislative body. There is no distinct journal of these assemblies now
known to be in existence. The body of laws known as the Cutt Code must:
have been in process of construction from the date of the first session,
March 16, 1679-80, to some time late in the spring of 1681.
At the section on constables, (No. 16), the memorandum on the copy
indicates that the proposed laws were, on Oct. 12, 1680, still before the
assembly, and that considerable progress had then been made. This is
the date of the record of the appointment of the committee "for draw-
up all the laws made by this Assembly." There is subsequently, from.
December, 1680, to July 6, 1681, a hiatus in this journal record as given in
the state publication. It appears, however, in a memorandum on the copy
of these laws sent to England, that the proceedings of the President and
Council were understood to be reported from January 1, 1679, to May 16,
1681. A letter of the President and Council, dated May 7, 1681, refers to
the paper then transmitted, and which has been used as the basis of the
text of the laws following, as a "View of our Laws," and as "Acts, Orders,
and Entries," which show all that is noteworthy for the history of the
time. Colonial Entry Book, 67, p. 11. At the end of the copy of the
laws, article 56, which relates to the order for publication, May 6, 1681,.
is named as the date for publishment to the four towns. The letter of
transmission to the home government, as above stated, was of date May
7, 1681. The Minutes of the Committee of Lords for Trade and Plantations,
an extract from which is printed in these pages, post, mention September
20, 1681, as the date on which acknowledgment of receipt of a copy of
these laws was made in the English records. The recommendation for
their repeal was entered up as of date December 21, 1681. At the same
time there was a suggestion made in favor of sending over a governor "to
settle the country." This was followed by the designation of Edward Cran--
field for this office in the ensuing spring. The paragraph titles enclosed
in brackets in the following body of laws are those given in the earliest
copy in the New Hampshire records, Council Book 4, and they are inserted
for the convenience of the reader, the English text which is here used
not having those titles.]
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
11
#1
[CHAPTER 1.]
THE GENERAL LAWS AND LIBERTIES OF THE PROV-
INCE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE; MADE BY THE GEN-
ERAL ASSEMBLY IN PORTSMOUTH THE 16TH DAY
OF MARCH 1679: AND APPROVED BY THE PRESI-
DENT AND COUNCEL.
FFORASMUCH as it hath pleased our Soveraign Lord the
King, out of His Princely Grace and ffavour, to take us the
Inhabitants of New Hampshire into His immediate Govern-
ment & protection: The which as we are ever bound to
acknowledg with great thankfulness; so we have great reason
to hope & beleeve, that His Ma'ty will still continue to coun-
tenance & incourage us with the injoyment of such Liberties
immunities & properties, as belong to freeborn English Sub-
jects: And whereas His Ma'ty hath bin pleased by his Letts
Patents sent to us, to confer such power upon the General
Assembly, as to make Laws & Ordinances best suiting with
the good Government & quiet setlement of His Ma'ts Sub-
jects within this Province.
*It is therefore Ordered & enacted by this General Assembly
and the Authority thereof; That Justice and Right be equally
& impartially administred unto all, not sold, denied (or cause-
lessly deferred) unto any. Stat. 9 Hen: 3. c. 29.
Stat. 9 Hen: 3. c. 29. Stat. 2. Edw:
3. c. 8. Stat. 5. Edw: 3. c. 9. Stat. 14 Edw: 3. c. 28. ↑ Stat.
Edw: 3. c. 3. Stat: 11 Rich. 2. c. 10. Stat. 17 Car. 1. c. 10.
*In_the_original in the English archives, from which the copy is made,
the following memorandum appears in the margin against this paragraph:-
"No need of it ther: for: disallow'd"
[AN ACT MADE FOR THE CALLING A GENERAL ASSEMBLY.]
[This is not an act of the assembly but an order of the Governor and
Council preliminary to the calling of an assembly. It is found in this form
in the “Journal of Proceedings from 1 January, 1679-80 to 5 May 1681," in
the MS. in the English archives. This particular act is under date of 16
February 1679-80. See also XIX State Papers, p. 658.]
We the President & Councel of His Ma'ts Province of New-Hampshire,
being required by our Commission to call a Gen Assembly of the said Prov-
ince; and it being left to us to judg & determine, what persons shal chuse
their Deputies for the Assembly; Do hereby Order & declare in His Ma'ts
name; That the persons hereafter named in the severall Towns shal meet
together on the ffirst day of March next by nine in the morning: and having
first each of them taken the Oath of Allegiance (if they have not taken it
already) which Oath is to be administred by the Member or Members of the
said Councel there residing) chuse from among themselves by the major
vote given in writing, not exceeding the number of three persons. Which
persons so chosen are to appear at Portsmouth on the 16th day of March
following, by nine a clock, there to attend His Ma'ts service for the con-
cerns of the said Province of New Hampshire. Provided that we do not
intend, that what is now done be precedential for the future: and that it
12
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
CAPITAL LAWS.
[IDOLLITRY]
1. *IT IS Enacted by this Assembly and the Authority
thereof: That if any person, having had the knowledg of the
true God, openly & manifestly have, or worship any other God
but the Lord God; He shal be put to death. Exed. 22. 20
Deut. 13. 6 & 10.
[BLASSPHEMY]
2. †Iff any person within this Province professing the true
God, shal wittingly & willingly presume to blaspheme the
Holy name of God, ffather Son, or Holy Ghost, with direct,
express, presumptuous or high-handed blasphemy; either by
wilful or obstinate denying the true God, or his creation or
government of the world; or shal curse God, ffather, Son, or
Holy Ghost; SUCH person shal be put to death. Levit. 24.
15, 16.
[TREASON]
3 TREASON against the person of our Soveraign the
King, State and Commonwealth of England; SHAL be pun-
ished with death.
[PUBLIQUE REBELLION]
4 §Iff any man conspire & attempt any Invasion or insurrec-
tion, or public rebellion against this His Ma'ts Province;
or shal endeavor to surprize any Town or Towns, ffort or fforts
therein; or shal treacherously and perfidiously attempt the
alteration & subversion of the fundamental frame of this
*In margin, "Sett asid:"
In margin, "set asid:"
In Margin, "Provid: for set aside.”
§In margin, "provided for."
shal extend no farther then to the calling of this first Assembly, that they
being convened, may, as His Ma'ts Lrs Patents direct, make such Laws &
constitutions in this and other respects, as may best conduce to the weal
of the whole.
AND we do further Order; That the Constable or Constables in the several
Towns, shall publish this Writ, & warn all the persons concern'd to attend
their duties, as is above express'd and make a true return, under their hands,
of the names of the persons so chosen.
FFURTHER it is Ordered by this Councel; That no man shal vote for
Deputys but such as are menc'oned in this List; upon penalty of paying a
ffive pound fine; & that no man put in but one vote for one man; & that
they do not cut quite thro the names they write in their papers.
Also that those of the Councel in Portsmouth, Dover, Hampton & Exceter,
see their respective meetings in the several Towns where they live, regulated
in all the pr'misses according to the Councel's true intent therein.
The List of the names follows.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
13
Government according to His Ma'ts Constitution by His
Letters Patents; Every such person shal be put to death, or
otherwise greevously punished.
[WILFUL MURTH'R]
5 Iff any person shal commit Wilful murder, by killing
man, woma', or child, upon pr'meditated malice hatred or cru-
elty; not in a way of necessary & just defence, nor by casualty
against his wil; He shal be put to death.
6 Iff any person slayeth another person suddenly in his
anger & cruelty of passion; He shal be put to death.
7 Iff any person shal slay another through guile; either by
poisoning, or other such Divelish practices; He shal be put to
death.
[WITCHCRAFT.]
8 Iff any Christian, so called, be a Witch; that is, hath, or
consulteth w'th a ffamiliar Spirit; He or they shal be put to
death.
[BEASTIALLITY]
9. Iff any person lye with a beast, or brute creature by carnal
copulation; THEY shal surely be put to death; And the beast
shal be slayn and buried & not eaten.
[BUGGERY]
10 Iff any man lye with mankind as he lyes with a woman;
both of them have committed abomination; They both shal
surely be put to death: unless one party were forced, or were
under ffourteen years of age. And all other Sodomitical filthi-
ness shal be severely punished according to the nature of it.
PORTSMOUTH.
John Cutt Esqr. Presid't. Richard Martyn Esqr. William Vaughan Esqr.
Thomas Daniel Esqr. Elias Stileman Esqr. Samuel Whidon. Anthony Ellins.
William Cotton. John Whidon. John Jackson, not appeari'g. John ffletcher.
Richard Jackson. John Partridg. Reuben Hull. John ffabes. Mr Joshua
Moody. John Pickering. Thomas Jackson. George Bromhall. Peter Glan-
field. George Lavers. John Tucker. John Shepway. William Herle. John
Cotton. John Hunkyn. John Moses. Henry Berk, not appear: Joseph
Walker. Tobias Lear, not appear: Sergeant Sloper. Sergeant Sherborn.
Sergeant Brewster. William Seavey Sen Mark Hunkin, not appear:
Richard Shortridg. Robert Purrington. Henry Savage, not appear: John
Dennet. John Westbrook. Philip Lewis. John Johnson. Mathias Haynes
not app: Samuel Haynes. Deacon Haynes, not app: L't Walter Neal Leonard
Weekes. Nathaniel ffryer. John ffoss. George Jefferies not app: John
Lewis. Samuel Wentworth. Thomas Seavy. John Sewer. Samuel Kaies.
William Ham. Thomas Harvey. Obadiah Morse. John Clark, not appearing
William Lucks. Thomas Parker. James Leech. John ffabes Skip: not app:
John Hinks. Robert Elliot. Henry Sherborn. George Wallis. James Rendle.
Ensign Drake. John Odiorne. Antony Bracket.
14
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
[FALS WITTNESS]
11 Iff any person rise up by ffalse witness, wittingly & of
purpose to take away a man's life; He shal be put to death.
[MAN STEALING.]
12 Iff any man steal mankind; He shal be put to death; or
otherwise greevously punished.
[CHILL'N CURSING THEIR PARENTS]
13 Iff any Child or Children above Sixteen years old, and of
competent understanding, shall smite, or curse their natural
father or mother; He or they shal be put to death: unless it can
be sufficiently testified, that the Parents have bin very
unchristianly negligent in the education of such Children; or
so provoked them by extreme & cruel correction, that they
have bin forced thereunto, to preserve themselves from death
or maiming.
[A REBELLIOUS SON]
[*If any man have a rebellious or stubborne son of sufficient years
and understanding, viz: 16 years of age or upwards, w'ch shall not
obey the voyce of his father or the voyce of his mother, that when
they have chastened him will not hearken unto them, then shall his
*In the American copy there is an article numbered 14, under the title,
“A Rebellious Son,” which is omitted in the English copy. It is inserted in
italics, but in the order given in the American record.
HAMPTON.
Mr Seaborn Cotton. Nathaniel Batchelor. John Brown Sen. Nathaniel
Boulter Sen. Moses Cox. Timothy Hilliard. John Knowls Sen. Thomas
Lovet. Thomas Marston Ensign More Samuel Sherborn Antony Stanniel.
Robert Smith. John Smith, cooper. John Smith, Tail'r. John Clifford Sen.
John Clifford Jun. Henry Dow. Godfrey Dearborn. Thomas Dearborn.
Henry Dearborn. Abraham Drake Sen. Gershom Elkins. William ffuller.
William ffifield Sen. Benjamin ffifield. Henry Green. Isaac Godfrey. Edward
Gove, Morice Hobs Sen. Serg't William Marston. Joseph Moulton. Isaac
Marston. Henry Moulton. John Moulton. John Maryan. Thomas Nudd.
Abraham Perkins. Isaac Perkins. not app: ffrancis Page. Thomas ffilbrook.
Henry Roby. John Redman Sen. John Sanborn. William Sanborn Sen.
Thomas Sleeper. Joshua Shaw. Benjamin Shaw, not ap: Antony Taylour.
Daniel Tilton. Andrew Wiggins. Thomas Wiggins. not ap: Nathaniel
Wyer Thomas Ward. not appear: Thomas Webster. Joseph Smith. Samuel
Dalton Esqr.
EXETER.
Mr Samuel Dudley. Capt'n John Gilman Esqr. Robert Wadleigh. Moses
Gilman Sen. Jonathan Robinson. John ffolson Jun. Robert Smart Sen.
Kinsman Hall. Ralph Hall. Humphry Wilson. Edward Gilman. Samuel
Levet. Edward Smith. Mr Scammon. Moses Levet. Daniel Gilman. Jonathan
Thing. Peter ffolson. Capt'n Tipping. Edward Hilton
}
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
15
father and his mother, being his natural parents, bring him before
the Magistrates assembled in court, and testifie unto them that
theire son is rebellious and stubborne, and will not obey their voyce
and chastizem't but lives in sundry notorious crimes, such son
-shall be put to death, or otherwise severely punished.]
[RAPE.]
14 Iff any man shal ravish a Maid or woman (by commit-
ting carnal copulation with her,) that is above Ten years of
age; Or if she were under Ten years of age, tho her wil was
gained by him; He shal be punished with death; or some other
greevous punishment, as the fact may be circumstanced.
[WILFULL BURNING]
15 WHOSOEVER shal wilfully or on purpose burn any
House, Ship, or Bark, or any other vessel of considerable
value, SUCH person shal be put to death; or otherwise greev-
-ously punished, as the Case & circumstances may require.
CRIMINAL LAWS.
1 IT IS Ordered by the Assembly and the Authority
thereof; That w't person soever is to answer any Criminal
offence, whether they be in prison, or under bail; His Case shal
be heard & determined at the next Court that has proper cog-
nisance thereof.
[ADULTERY]
2 IT IS Enacted by this Assembly, &c. That whosoever shal
commit Adultery with a married woman, or one betrothed to
another man; BOTH of them shal be severely punished by
DOVER.
Maj'r Rich: Waldron Esqr. Job Clement Esqr. John Dam, Sen. John
Hall Sen. *Thomas Austin. *Humphry Varney. *James Newt Sen. *James
Newt Jun. Thomas Whitehouse. John Hall Jun. Joseph Canney. Thomas
Roberts. *L't Pontfret Philip Cromwel. John Tuttle. John Roberts Sen.
Joseph Beard. Thomas Chesley. Philip Chesley Jun. John ffoss. Henry
Hobs. Benjamin Heard. John Ham. *Richard Oates. Edward Wentworth.
L❜t Peter Coffin. John Heard Sen. Robert Evans. William Horn. John
Church. John Evans. John Gerish. *John Wingate Rich: Waldron Jun.
Joseph Hall. Henry Langston. Richard Carter. John Dam Jun. William
ffurber Sen. L't Antony Nutter. William Shuckford. John Woodman.
Stephen Jones. *Robert Burnham. James Huckins. James Smith. Benjamin
Mathews. John Bickford Sen. John Hill. John Alt. John Rand. Thomas
Edgerly. William Perkins. Charles Adams. John Meader Sen. *Joseph
Smith. *James Bonker. John Davis Sen. Nicholas ffollet. not app: Mr
Pike. *William ffollet.
Note that all the above named have taken the oaths except these crossed
[starred], viz: the Oath of Allegiance
16
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
whipping two several times, not exceeding fforty lashes: viz:
once while the Court is sitting, at which they were convicted of
the ffact; and the second time, as the Court shal Order: And
likewise shal wear two Capital letters [AD] cut out in cloth,
and sewed on their uppermost garments, on their arm, or back.
And if at any time they shal be found without the said letters
so worn, whilst in this Government; to be forthwith taken, &
publicly whipp'd; and so from time to time, as often as they
are found not to wear them.
[FORNECATION]
3 IT IS Ordered by this Assembly & the Authority thereof;
THAT if any man commit ffornication with any single woman;
THEY shal be punished, either by injoining marriage, or fine,
or corporal punishment, or any of these, as the Judges of the
Court, that hath cognisance of the Case, shal appoint. And if
any commit carnal copulation after contract, before mariage;
THEY shal be amerced each of them ffifty shillings, and be
imprisoned, if the Court see reason. And if any cannot, or wil
not pay the ffine; then to be punished by whipping.
AND for the more discountenancing this prevailing Sin,
The Assembly HATH further determined; THAT such as
transgress in any of these ways, and shal be thereof convicted
in public Court; THEIR fines shal be paid in mony.
4
[BURGLARY]
FFORASMUCH as many persons of late years have bin,
and are apt to be injurious to the lives and goods of others,
notwithstanding all Laws & means to prevent the same: It is
therefore Ordered by this Assembly and the Authority
thereof; THAT if any person shal commit Burglary, by break-
ing up any dwelling House, or Warehouse; or shal forcibly
rob any person in the High way, or fields; Such offenders shal
for the first offence, be branded on the Right hand with the
letter [B]; And if he shal offend in the like kind a Second time,
he shal be branded on the other hand, and be severely whipp'd:
And if either were committed on the Lords day, his brand to
be set on the fforehead. And if he shal fal into the like offence
the third time; He shal be put to death, as being incorrigible;
or otherwise greevously punished, as the Court shal determine.
[FFELLONY]
5 AND whosoever shal steal, or attempt to steal any Ship,
Bark, or Vessel of burthen, or any public ammunition; Shal be
severely punished, according to the nature of such ffact: Pro-
vided it extend not to life, or limb.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
17
6 THAT if any Stranger or Inhabitant of this Province,
shal be legally convict of Stealing or purloining any Horses,
chattels, mony, or other goods of any kind; He shal be pun-
ished, by restoring threefold to the party wronged; & a fine, or
corporal punishment, as the Court, or three of the Councel shal
determine. Provided, if such Sentence were not given by the
Court, it shal be at the liberty of the Delinquent to appeal to
the next Court, putting in due caution, there to appear, &
abide the Trial.
[COUNCILLS POW'R IN CRIMINALLS]
7 THAT Any one of the Councel may hear & determine
such smaller Thefts & pilferings, as exceed not the damage,
or fine of fforty shillings; or penalty of Stocking, or Whipping,
not exceeding Ten stripes; or only legal admonition, as he shai
see cause; Saving liberty of Appeal to the Delinquent, as
aforesaid.
[SWEARING CURSING]
8 IT IS Ordered by this Assembly and the Authority
thereof; If any person within this Province, shal Swear rashly
or vainly by the Holy Name of God, or other Oaths; He shal
forfeit to the common Treasury for every such Offence, Ten
shillings: And it shal be in the power of any Member of the
Councel, by Warrant to the Constable, to call such persons
before him, and upon legal and sufficient proof, to sentence
such Offender, & to give order to levy the ffine, And if such
person be not able, or shal refuse to pay the said ffine; He shal
be committed to the Stocks, there to continue for a time not
exceeding three hours, nor less then one hour. And if any
person shal swear more Oaths then one at a time, before they
remove out of the room or company, where he so swear, He
shal then pay Twenty shillings.
The like penalty shal be inflicted for prophane & wicked
Cursings of any person or creature; And for multiplying the
same, as is appointed for prophane swearing. And in case
any person so offending by multiplying Oaths or cursing, shal
not pay his or their ffine forthwith; They shal be whipp'd, or
committed to prison, til they shal pay the same, at the dis-
crec'on of the Court, or Judges that shal have cognisance
thereof.
[PHAINING THE LORDS DAY]
UPON Information of sundry abuses & misdemeanors
com'itted by divers persons on the Lords Day; IT IS therefore
ORDERED; AND Enacted by this General Assembly; That
what person soever within this Governm't shal prophane the
2
18
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
Lords-day, by doing unnecessary servile work or travel; or by
sports or recreations; or by being at Ordinarys in time of
Public worship; SUCH person or persons shal forfeit Ten shil-
lings, or be whipp'd, for every such offence. And if it appear,
that the sin was proudly or presumptuously, & with a high
hand committed against the known Command of the Blessed
God, Such person, therein despising & reproaching the Lord,
shal be severely punished at the Judgment of the Court.
[CONTEMPT OF GODS WORD OR MINISTERS]
10 FFORASMUCH as the open contempt of God's word, &
the Messengers thereof, is the desolating sin of Church &
State, IT IS therefore ENACTED, That if any Christian, so
called, in this Province, shal speak contemptuously of the Holy
Scriptures, or of the Holy Penmen thereof; SUCH person or
persons shal be punished by fine, or corporal punishment, as
the Court shal see reaso'; so as it extend not to life or limb: OR
shal behave himself contemptuously towards the Word of God
preached, or any Minister thereof called, & faithfully dispens-
ing the same in any Congregation; either by manifest inter-
rupti'g him in his ministerial dispensations; or falsly or
peremptorily charging him with teaching error, to the dispar-
agement & hinderance of the work of Christ in his hands; or
manifestly & contemptuously reproach the ways, churches,
or Ordinances of Christ; being duly convicted thereof; He or
they shal for the first transgression be amerced Twenty shil-
lings to the Provinces use; or be set in the Stocks, not exceed-
ing four hours. BUT if he or they go on to transgress in the
same kind; Then to be amerced forty shillings, or be whipp'd
for every such transgression.
[FORCABLE DETAINING POSSESSION]
11 IT IS Ordered, &c. That where a Judgment is given in
any Court for any person, on house or lands, upon the Trial of
the Title thereof, or other just cause, if the person against
whom the Judgment is given, doth either forcibly detain pos-
session thereof, either against the Officer impowered to serv
execuc❜on thereon, or otherwise; or after execuc'on serv'd enter
upon it again, & so retain possession by force; He shal be
accounted a high offender against the Laws, and a breaker of
the Public peace. Therefore speedily to redress such Criminal
offence, Every one of the Councel is impowered, & by his place
has power to give Warrant & command to the Marshal, Officer,
& other men, whom he thinks meet to be imployed in the Case,
or business; the Marshal, or other Officer requiring aid greater
or lesser, as need requires, to suppress the force, & give posses-
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
19
sion to the owner; and to imprison such as do appear to be
delinquents; and their aiders & abettors to be forthcomeing at
the next Court, that did give the Judgment in the Case, there to
make their answer: and whom the Court doth find Guilty, to
set such fine or other punishment upon them, as the merit of
their several Cases shal require.
[CONSPIRICIE AGAINST THIS PROVINCE &C:]
12 IT IS Ordered, &c THAT whosoever shal disturb or
undermine the Peace of this Province, or Inhabitants thereof,
by plotting with others, or by his own tumultuous & offensive
cariage; traducing, quarrelling, challenging, or assaulting, or
any other way tending to public disturbance, in what place
soever it shal be done; or shal defame any Court of Justice, or
any of His Ma'ts Councel, or Judges of any Court in this
Province, in respect of any Act or Sentence therein pass'd;
Every such Offender, upon due proof made, shal by the Coun-
cel be punished by fine, imprisonment, binding to the Peace, or
Good behavior, according to the quality & measure of the
offence or disturbance, to them seeming just & equal. AND
such as beat, hurt, or strike any other person, shal be liable to
pay unto the party hurt, or stricken, together with such fine to
the Province, as on considerac'on of the party smiting, or
being smitten, and with what instrument, danger, more or less,
provocac❜on, &c. shal be judged just & reasonable, according to
the nature of the offence.
[FORGERY OF DEEDS]
13 IT IS Ordered, &c. THAT if any person shal forge any
Deed or conveya'ce, Testament, bond, bil, releas, acquittances,
L'rs of Attorny, or any writing, to the injury of another,
to the prevention of equity & justice; He shal pay the party
aggreeved double damages, & be fined so much himself to the
Provinces use. AND if he cannot pay it; to be publicly
whipp'd, & to be burnt with a Roman [F] in the forehead.
[DEFACING RECORDS THE PENALTY]
14 BE IT also Enacted; That if any Notary, or Keeper of
public Records or writings, shal wilfully imbezil or make away
any such Record or writing of concernment com'itted to his
keeping & trust; or shal on purpose falsify, or deface them, by
razing out, adding to them, or otherwise; SUCH corrupt Officer
shal lose his Office, be disfranchised, & burnt in the face, or
fined, according to the circumstances of the ffact.
20
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
[NONE TO ENDEVOR TO CORRUPT THE OFFICER ON PENLTY]
15 AND if any person shal endeavor to corrupt any Officer,
that keeps such public Records, or papers of concernment, to
procure him to deface, corrupt, alter, or imbezil any of them;
HE shal be severely punished by fine, imprisonment, or cor-
poral punishment, as the matter may be circumstanced.
[LYING]
16 IT IS Enacted by this Assembly, &c. THAT what person
soever, being Sixteen years of age, shal wittingly or willingly
make, or publish any Lye, which may be tending to the damage
or hurt of any particular person, or with an intent to deceiv or
abuse the People with false news or reports; THEY shal be
fined for every such offence, Ten shillings: And if the party
cannot, or will not pay the fine; THEN he shal sit in the Stocks
so long as the Court shal think meet: and if the Offender shal
come to any one of the Councel, & own his offence, it shal be in
the power of any one of the Councel, aforesaid, to execute the
Law upon him, where he liveth, & spare his appearance at the
Court. BUT in case where the Lye is greatly pernicious to the
Common wealth it shal be more severely punished, according
to the nature of it.
[BURNING FENCES]
17 IT IS Enacted by this Assembly, &c. THAT if any
person shal wilfully and on purpose burn down another mans
fence; HE shal make good the damage to the party wronged,
and be amerced forty shillings; and bound to the Good behav-
ior, if the Court see meet.
[BREAKING DOWNE FENCES]
18 IT IS further Ordered, &c. THAT any person, that shal
wilfully & on purpose break down another mans fence, gate,
or bridg, to the annoiance, either of a particular person, or a
neighborhood; HE shal make up such fence, gate or bridg at
his own charge, pay the damage thereby sustained; and be
amerced according to the nature of the offence; Saving the
right of him, that pulls up a fence set on his land without his
approbation.
[DEFACEING LANDMARKS]
19 AND whosoever shal pluck up, remove, or deface any
Land-mark or bounds between party & party, that have bin,
or shal be orderly set up, by persons thereunto appointed; He
or they shal be fined from Twenty shillings to ffive pounds,
as the Offence may be circumstanced.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
21
[UNLAWFULL GAMING IN PUBLIQUE HOUSES]
20 IT IS Enacted by this Assembly, &c. THAT no Inn-
holder, or Public-house keeper, shal suffer any unlawful
games, or any kind of gaming, in or about his house, for mony
or mony's worth, liquors, wine, beer, or the like; On fforfeiture
of forty shillings, to be paid by the Master or Keeper of such
house; And Ten shillings by each gamester for every such
Offence.
[GAMES WHERIN IS LOTTERY FORBIDEN]
21 BE IT also Enacted; THAT no person in the Province,
shal play at cards, dice, cross & pile, or any such unlawful
game, wherein there is lottery, at any private house, or els-
where in this Province; ON penalty of Ten shillings fine, to be
paid by every one that so plays; And Twenty shillings by the
Master, or head of a ffamily, that shal know of, or suffer any
such gaming in his house, or where he hath command.
[DRUNKENNESS]
22 FFORASMUCH as it is observed, that the sin of Drunk-
enness doth greatly abound, to the dishonouring of God, im-
poverishing of such as fall into it, and greef of such as are sober
minded; ffor prevention of that growing & prevailing Evil;
IT IS Enacted by this Assembly and the Authority thereof,
That whatsoever persons shal be found drunk at any time, in
any Tavern, Ordinary, Ale-house, or elswhere in this Province,
& be legally convicted thereof; HE or they shal for the first
offence be fined ffive shillings, to the use of the Province; ffor
the Second offence Ten shillings: And if he or they wil not,
or cannot the fine; Then to be set in the Stocks, not exceed-
ing two hours: And for the third transgression, to be bound
to the Good behavior. AND if he shal transgress a ffourth
time; To pay ffive pounds, or be publicly whipp'd; and so
from time to time as often as they shal be found transgressors
in that kind.
BY [Drunkenness] is to be understood, One that lisps or
falters in his speech by reason of over much drink; or that
staggers in his going; or that vomits by reason of excessive
drinking; or that cannot by reason thereof follow his calling.
[FIREING WOODS]
23 WHEREAS many have sustained great damage by
indiscreet and untimely ffiring of the Woods; IT IS Ordered,
That none shal fire the Woods at any time, but between the
ffirst of March, and the latter end of April. AND if any shal
22
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
unnecessarily fire the Woods; or, not observing this Order,
damnify any, He shal make good the damage, and be fined Ten
shillings; or be set in the Stocks.
[COUN'LL POW'R IN CRIMINʼLLS]
[24] IT IS hereby Enacted; THAT it shal be in the power
of any Member of the Councel, to hear & determine all Crim-
inal Cases, where the ffine doth not exceed fforty shillings;
or the punishment Ten stripes, or committing to the Stocks:
Allways allowing liberty to the Delinquent, of an Appeal to
the next Court for Trials of Actions within the Province.
AND further, in Cases doubtful or difficult, it shal be in the
power of the Judg, before whom the person is convicted, to
bind them over to the next Court of this Province; or to com-
mit to prison, as the ffact may deserv: allowing also for
entring Judgments, & filing evidences Thirty pence.
[PRISON KEEPER'S CHARGE]
[25] IT IS Ordered by this Assembly and the Authority
thereof; That no prison-keeper within this Province, Shal
suffer any person to go without the precincts of the prison,
that is delivered to him for debt, by vertue of any Execuc❜on.
AND it is further Ordered; That the houses & yards of the
said Keepers, shal be allowed & accounted the precincts of
the said prisons: And that it shal be lawful for any Officer
within this Province, if he have occasion, to carry the prisoner
to the nearest prison in the province: And that if any prison-
keeper shal suffer any such prisoners to go without the pre-
cincts of the said prisons; They shal be liable to satisfy the
whole debt, for which the said prisoner was imprisoned.
AND the said Keepers fees shal be ffive shillings for turning
the key; to be paid by the party imprisoned before he be set at
liberty.
[MARSHALLS]
[26] IT IS Ordered by this Assembly and the Authority
thereof; That it shal be lawful for either of the Marshals in
this Province, to levy Execuc'ons, & serv Attachments &
Warrants in any part of the said Province; And that their fees
for serving Attachments within their own Towns, shal be
Two shillings for every Attachment; to be paid by them that
imploy them, before they shal be compelled to serv it, And
Two shillings a Warrant for Warrants servd upon Criminal
offenders.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
23
1
[JUDGM'T &
EXECUTION TO STAND GOOD THAT WERE
BEFORE THE LATE CHANGE]
[27] IT IS Ordered by this General Assembly & the
Authority thereof; That all Judgments & execuc'ons granted
in any Civil or Criminal Cases, by former Courts of Justice
within this Province, or the County Court of Norfolk, to any
of our Inhabitants within this Province; SHAL be held as
good and valid, for & against any person, as when they were
granted by the Court at the time of the Trial.
[GENERAL LAWS.]
[TOWNSHIPS &C CONFIRMED]
[1.] TO prevent contention & controversy, that may arise
amongst us by reason of the late change of Government; IT
IS Ordered by this Assembly and the Authority thereof;
THAT all Lands, Townships, Town-grants, with all other
grants, lying within the limits of this Province; and all other
rights and properties; SHAL stand good, & are hereby con-
firmed to the Towns and persons concerned, in the same state
& condic❜on, as they did before this late Alteration.
[CONTROVERSIES OF LANDS TO BE TRYED BY A JURY]
[2] AND it is further Ordered; That if any difference or
controversy shal hereafter arise amongst us, about the titles
of land within this Province; It shal not be finally deter-
mined, but by a Jury of Twelv able men, chosen by the ffree-
men of each Town, according to Law & custom, &c. sworn at
the Quarter Court, which shal take cognisance of the Case.
[CONTRACTS TO BE P'D IN SPECIA]
[3] FFOR preventing Deceit in Trade, that all men may be
upon a certainty in matters of contracts & bargains; IT IS
Ordered by this General Assembly and the Authority thereof;
THAT all contracts agreements and covenants for any species
whatsoever, shal be paid in same species bargained for; Any
Law, usage, or custom to the contrary notwithstanding.
[HORSES]
[4.] IT IS Ordered by this Assembly and the Authority
thereof; THAT (for the preventing of damage done by horses
within this Province, by reason of them going unfettered upon
our lands & pastures without fence) No horse or horse-kind
24
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
whatsoever shal be suffered to go upon any of our lands with-
out fence within this Province, from the first day of May, unto
the first of October, without a sufficient pair of iron fetters
on his feet, or a clog equivalent; Upon the penalty, that every
owner of any such horse, or horse-kind, (that shal be taken
doing damage, or within any mans corn-field, meadows, or
inclosures,) shal pay ffive shillings in mony, besides all
damage to the party impounding them: And if they be
found doing damage without the Town brand, to which they
belong; The owners of them shal pay Ten shillings in mony.
AND it is likewise Ordered; THAT every Town within this
Province, Shal have a distinct Brand-mark, which they shal
brand their horses withall, that shall go on the Commons
frome time to time
IT IS Ordered by this Assembly & the Authority thereof;
THAT the Brand-marks (menc'oned in the Law, Title Horses)
to brand horses with, Shal be as followeth.
ffor the Town of Portsmouth P.
ffor the Town of Hampton H.
ffor the Town of Dover D.
ffor the Town of Exceter E.
IT IS further Ordered; THAT no Horse or horse-kind shal
be suffered to go upon any of our Lands & pastures without
fence within this Province, that is known to be unruly, with-
out the approbation of the Select-men (or the major part of
them) of the several Towns; UNDER the penalty of every
owner of such horse's paying Ten shillings in mony to the
party, that so find them contrary to this Order; or lose his said
horse so taken.
[TIME & PLACE FOR KEEPING COURTS]
[5] FFOR the better administration of Justice; IT IS
Ordered by this Assembly and the Authority thereof; THAT
these Courts following, shal be annually kept within this
Province. 1t. A General Assembly to meet at Portsmouth
the first Tuesday in March, to make & constitute such Laws.
and Ordinances, as may best conduce to the good Government
of this His Ma'ts Province; As also with the President &
Councel to hear & determine all Actions of Appeal from
inferior Courts, whether of a Civil, or a Criminal nature. 2.
ALSO there shal be Three other Courts held (at time & place
hereafter menc'oned) by the President & Councel, or any Six
of the Councel, whereof the President or his Deputy to be
one; together with a Jury of Twely honest men, chosen &
called as the Law directs, for such as desire to be tried by a
Jury. Every of which Courts shal have ful power to hear &
determine all Cases Civil & Criminal; allowing only liberty
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
25
of Appeal (from such Sentence or Judgment, as shal be
pass'd in the said Court or Courts) to the President & Councel,
together with the General Assembly, as above said. Provided
such Appellant give bond to prosecute according to Law.
The time & place for holding such Courts, shal be as fol-
loweth.
At Dover the ffirst Tuesday in June.
At Hampton the ffirst Tuesday in September.
At Portsmouth the ffirst Tuesday in December.
[ALL TRYALLS BY JURY]
[6] IT IS further Enacted; THAT all Trials, whether
Capital, or Criminal, or between man & man, both respecting
maritime affairs, as wel as others, be tried by a Jury of Twelv
good & lawful men, according to the commendable custom of
England: Except the Parties concerned do refer it to the
Bench; or some express Law doth refer it to their Judgment
& Trial, or to the Trial of some other Court, where Jury is not;
In which case any party aggreeved may appeal, and shal have
Trial by a Jury. AND it shal be at the liberty of both Plaintif
& Defend't for any Delinquent, that is to be tried by a Jury,
to challenge any of the Jury: and if the challenge be found
just & reasonable by the Bench, it shal be allowed him, &
others without just exception shal be impanelled in their
And if it be in case of life & death, the Prisoner shal
have liberty to except against Six or eight of the Jury, with-
out giving any reason for his exceptions.
room.
[CONSTABLES TO CLEARE THEIRE RATE IN THEIR YEARE]
[7.] FFOR the better clearing of the arrears in the hands
of the Constables, IT IS Ordered, THAT if any Constable shal
fail to clear up his Rates within his year, He shal be liable to
have his estate distrained by Warrant from the Treasurers,
directed to the Marshal or Marshals within this Province:
And for all Rates for the ministry, & other Town Rates the
Select-men shal direct the Warrants to the Constable next
chosen, to distrain upon the estates of such Constables, as
shal fail of their duties therein.
[FREEMEN]
[8] IT IS Ordered by this Assembly and the Authority
thereof; THAT all English men, being Protestants, that are
settled Inhabitants & ffreeholders in any Town of this Prov-
ince, of the age of Twenty four years, not vitious in life, but
of honest & good conversation, and such as have Twenty
26
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
pounds ratable estate, without heads of persons: Having
also taken the Oath of Allegiance to His Ma'ty and no
others, shall be admitted to the liberty of being ffreemen of
this Province, and to give their votes for the choice of
Deputies for the General Assembly, Constables, Select-men,
Jurors, & other Officers, and concerning the Town where they
dwell. PROVIDED this Order give no liberty to any person
or persons to vote in the disposition or distribution of any
lands, timbers or other proprieties in the Town, but such as
have real right thereto: And if any difference arise about
the said right of voting, it shal be judged & determined by the
President & Councel, together with the General Assembly of
this Province.
[9]
[MARRIAGE &C:]
AS THE Ordinance of Mariage is honourable amongst
all, so should it be accordingly solemnized. IT IS therefore
Ordered by this Assembly and the Authority thereof; That
any Member of the Councel shal have liberty to join any
persons together in Mariage.
AND for prevention of unlawful Mariages; IT IS Ordered,
THAT no person shal be joined in Mariage, before the inten-
tion of the parties proceeding therein, have bin three times
published at some public Meeting, in the Town where the
parties or either of them do ordinarily reside; or be set up in
writing upon some posts of their Meeting-house dore in public
view, there to stand, so as it may be easily read, by the space
of ffourteen days.
[MAKEING RATES]
[10] THAT there may be a just & equal way of raising
means for defraying the public charge, both in Church, &
Civil affairs, whereof every person doth, or may receiv the
benefit; THEIR persons, or estates shal be assessed or rated,
as followeth. VIZ: To a single Rate of a penny in the pound
every male person above the age of Sixteen years, is valued
at Eighteen pound: And all land within fence, and meadow,
or marish mowable, shall be at ffive shillings per acre: All
pasture land without fence, Rate-free: All oxen at four years
old & upward, at Three pound steers, cows & heifers at three
years old, at forty shillings: Steers & heifers of two year old,
at Twenty five shillings: yearlings at Ten shillings: Hores
and mares at three years old & upwards, at Twenty shil-
lings: Sheep above one year old, at five shillings: Swine at
one year old, Ten shillings: And all other estate whatsoever,
in the hands of whom it is at the time when it shal be taken,
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
27
shal be rated at some equal proportion, by the Select-men of
each Town, with great care, that particular persons be not
wronged: And all Ships, Ketches, Barks Boats, and all other
vessels whatsoever, shal be ratable: As also all Dwelling
houses, Warehouses, Wharfs, Mills; And all Handicraft men;
as Carpenters, Masons, Joiners, Shoomakers, Tailours, Tan-
ners, Curriers, Butchers, Bakers, or any other Artificers,
Victuallers, Merchants, & Inn-keepers, Shal be rated by Esti-
mation. And if any persons be greeved at their being over
rated, They shal have liberty to complain to the next Quarter
Court, which shal give them all just relief.
[SELECTMEN TAKE ACCOUNTS.]
[11] *[ffor the more Eaquall & Imshall Valluing of houses
& ships & other Estates of m'rchts traders handycraft w'ch must
nessesaryly be Rated by estymatyon Bee It Inacted by this assem-
bly & the authority Thereof that the select men of the severall
Townes shall forthwith take an acco't of all such Estates with the
Vallue thereof according to theire ordinary way of Rating a List
of w'ch Estates so Taken & vallued Shall be Trancmitted to a com-
'ittee of 4 men chosen by this assembly out of dover Portsmo' Hamp-
ton & Exetor together with 2 of the coun'll w'ch com'ittee shall
examine & compare S'd List & bring sd: Estates to an Eaquall
valluation having Respect to the places where they Lie that no
Towne or son be burthened beyond proportion w'ch act of s'd
comittee in the Valluation of s'd Estates shall stand as a Rule
according to w'ch Rates & assessm'ts shall be made for the future
the sons chosen for this com'ittee are Rich'd Walderne Esqr
Elias Stileman Esqr Mr Ro: Elliot mr Antho: Nutter mr Ralph
Hall mr Edw: Gove & the time of meeting the 2d tuesday of aprill
in Portsmo']
[A LIST OF MALES AND ESTATES TO BE TAKEN]
[12] [It is ordered by this Gen'll assembly that warr'ts be
forthwith Ishued out to the select men of the severall Townes w'thin
this province that they doe forthwith Take a List of all the male
Psons of 16 yeares old & upward in theire Respective Townes
w'th the Valliation of all theire Estates according to such Rules
as are past this court, & all sons that are to be Rated by estymacon
& make Returne thereof to the com'ittee appointed for that affaire
at or before the 2d tuesday in Aprill next]
*This section numbered [11] is not found in the English copy but is
inserted in the order given it in the American record.
†This section [12] does not appear in the English copy or not in the order
here given, but compare this with No. 49, part 1, which is in the English
copy but in the last part of the MS.
28
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
[W'T TO HAVE FOR KILLING A WOOLF]
[13] IT IS Ordered by this Assembly and the Authority
thereof; That every person within this Province, that shal
after the date hereof Kill any Wolf w'th in this Province, Shal
forthwith carry the head of every such Wolf unto the Con-
stable of the same Town; who shal bury, or deface the same
by cutting off the ears. And the said Constable shal give the
said party a Certificate, attested under his hand, of the day of
the receit thereof; and the said party procuring such Certifi-
cate, shal be allowed by the Treasurer of the Province for
every Wolf so kill'd, fforty shillings out of the next Rate made
for the Province. BUT if the party be an Indian, that kill'd
the Wolf, He shal be allowed but Ten shillings; and the said
Indian shal make proof, that he kill'd the said Wolf within
the said Province.
[THE FORM'R LAWS WE WERE RULED BY TO STAND TILL
OTHERS MADE]
[14] FFOR a present settlement of matters in Civil & Crim-
inal proceedings, and Directions to Courts, Judges, & all other
Officers; IT IS Ordered; that those Laws, by which we have
formerly bin directed & governed, Shal be a rule to us in all
Judicial proceedings, so far as they wil suit w'th our Constitu
tions, & be not repugnant to the Laws of England, until such
Acts & Ordinances, as have bin, or shal be made by this
Assembly, & approv'd by the Hon'ble President & Councel,
may be drawn up, & legally published.
THE like Laws shal be a rule to all the Select-men in each
Town, for the management of all their prudential affairs,
according to the laudable customs hitherto used.
[A PROVINCE RATE TO BE MADE FORTHW’TH]
[15] *[ffor defraying of the publique charge of the province
It is ordered by this assembly & the authoryty thereof that a Rate
be made of 1 1-2 d in the pound upon all sons & Estates the
Presid't & coun'll ministers & Elders of Churches Excepted) In
this province according to the valluation made by this assembly &
that the select men in the severall townes doe forthwith forme
the duty of theire places in the making such Rates & comitting them
to the Respective constables to be Imediately collected & the same
to be trancemitted to the Treas'r of the Province―This Rate is to
be p'd In the speatiaes at the prizes following Vizt
*This section [15] is not in terms in the English copy. It is inserted from
the American record. There is a marginal note on the above section as
follows: "Not to be transcribed as a law." This probably accounts for the
fact that this particular section does not appear in the copy transmitted to
the home government. Compare Nos. 50 and 51 post.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
29
M'rble boards at any mills in piscattaqua Riv'r at the usiall place
of delivery at 30s P m
m'rble w't oake pipe staves at some convenient Landing place
where the constable shall apoint at 31 P m:
R: o: p: staves supra:-at 30s m:
R: o: hhd: ditto P supra-at 25s P m.
Indian corne-at 3s bush'll
wheate-at 5s
malt at 48
fish at price curr't
bush'll
And whosoever shall pay theire Rates in money shall be abated
1-3 t
[ACTS OF THE ASSEMBLY IN PORTSMOUTH OCT. 11,
1680-81.]
[CONSTABLES TO CLEARE THEIR RATES W'THIN THE YEARE
ON PENALTY]
[16] *IT IS Enacted by this Assembly and the Authority
thereof; THAT whereas the Constables of the several Towns
are injoined to clear their Rates, on penalty of making good
the same out of their own estates;
[PENALTY FOR REFUSING TO PAY RATES]
[17] IT IS therefore Ordered; THAT if any person or
persons within this Province ratable, shal refuse to pay his
Rate or Rates or discover any estate to the Constable, The
Constable shal have power to seise his person, & carry him
to the next prison, there to remain, til he pay his said Rates,
or give good security so to do.
[MARSHALS TO LEVY ALL FINES ON PENALTY]
[18] IT IS further Ordered; That every Marshal within
this Province, Shal diligently & faithfully collect & levy all
such ffines & sum's of mony of every person, for which he shal
have Warrant, or Execuc'on, signed by the Treasurer, or other
Authority constituted by His Ma'ty in this Province: And
'the said sum's so levied, he shal with all convenient speed
deliver to the said Treasurer, or party, or Attorney, that
obtained the Judgment, or Execuc'on. And the said Marshal
*In the margin of the English copy, against this paragraph, appears the
date:-"October 11th," which is all the record affords to indicate the time
of the passage of this and succeeding acts. Nos. 16 and 17 constitute but one
section.
30
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
shall make return of all such Warrants or Execuc'ons, with
what he has done by vertue thereof, under his hand, at the
next Quarter Court or Sessions in the Province after the receit
thereof, unto the Treasurer, Secretary or Clark, that granted
the same; to be by him kept. And if the Execuc'on or War-
rant be not fully satisfied the said Secretary, Clark or Treas-
urer may grant Execuc'on for the remainder.
[MARSHALS FEES.]
[19] AND it is hereby Ordered, THAT the Marshal's ffees
shal be, as follows. FFÖR all Execuc'ons & Warrants levied
by them, under ffive pound; ffive shillings: ffor all Execuc'ons
not exceeding Ten pound; Twelv pence in the pound: ffor all
Execuc'ons above Ten pound, & not exceeding fforty pound;
Ten shillings for the Ten pound, & six pence in the pound for
every pound more: And for all Execuc'ons above forty pound,
& not exceeding one hundred pound; The abovesaid fees for
the fforty pound, & three pence in the pound for every pound
above fforty: and one penny in the pound for every pound
above one hundred, out of the estate of the person, upon whom
the Execuc'on is served, over and above besides the Execuc'on.
And in all cases, where the abovesaid ffees for levying Exe-
cution, or ffines, wil not answer the Marshal's travel, & other
necessary charge; HE shal have power to demand Six pence
per mile; & upon refusal & non-payment, to levy the same,
together with his other ffees.
[20]
[MARSHALS MAY CALL FOR ASSISTANCE.]
AND whereas the said Marshals have oftentimes
need of assistance in the execution of their Office, IT IS there-
fore Ordered; THAT the Marshal or Constable within this
Province, shal, & have liberty to charge any person to assist
him in the execution of his Office, if he sees need: And who-
soever shal neglect or refuse to assist them, when thereunto
required; The party so refusing (complaint being made unto
any Member or Members of the Councel, or Court,) shal pay
such a fine in mony unto the Treasurer of the Province, as the
Judg, or Court that hath cognisance thereof, shal determine
according to the nature of the Offence.
[WHERE MARSHALLS SHALL MAKE DEMANDS]
[21] AND in all cases of ffines, & assessments to be levied,
and upon Execuc'on in Civil Actions; THE Marshal, or Con-
stable shal make demand at the place of the parties usual
abode, if it be known; and of the party, if he be there to be
found; if not, the Marshal, or Constable so imployed, shall
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
31
leav at the said house his demand of the sum' & species to be
paid by vertue of the said Execuc'on, Rate, or Warrant for
ffine, attested under his hand; and upon refusal or non-pay-
ment accordingly; The Officer or Marshal shal have power,
(calling assistance, if they see cause) to break open (the dore
of) any house, chest, or place, where he shal have notice that
any goods lyable to such levy or execuc'on shal be: And if he
be to take the person, he may do the like, if upon demand he
shal refuse to surrender himself. And whatsoever charges
the Officer shal necessarily be put unto, upon any such occa-
sion; He shal have power to levy the same, as he doth a debt,
fine, rate, or execuc'on.
AND where the Officer shal levy any such goods upon Exe-
cuc'on, that cannot be conveyed to the place, where the party
dwells, for whom such Excuc'on shal be levyed; if they be to
be there delivered, without considerable charge; He shal levy
the said charge also with the Execuc'on. AND in no case
shal any Officer be put to seek out any man, or estate, further
then his place of abode: But if the party wil not discover his
estate; The Officer may take his person.
AND if any Officer shal do injury to any by colour of his
Office, in this or any other case; HE shal be liable (upon com-
plaint of the party wrongd by Action or Informac'on) to
make ful Restitution. AND no marshal or Constable shal in
any case make a Deputy.
[FINES TO BE PAID FORTHW’TH]
[22] IT IS further Ordered; THAT when any Delinquents
are fined, to the Province, they shal forthwith pay their fines
to the Province in mony, or that which is equivalent; or give
good security to the Treasurer for the same; or their persons
shal be secured til they do it.
[NEER RELATIONS NOT TO VOTE]
[23] FFOR preventing all occasions of partiality in Courts
of Justice, and avoiding of jealousies; IT IS Ordered, That
in all Civil Cases between party and party, where the Judges
or Jurors are nearly related to either pty; as the relation of
ffather & Son, either by nature, or mariage; Brother &
Brother; Uncle & Nephew; Landlord & Tenant; That Judg,
or Juror so related, shal not vote, or give Sentence in any case,
wherein his relations are the parties concerned.
[NONE TO BE IMPRISONED BEFORE THE LAW HAVE SEN-
TENCED HIM]
[24] BE IT further Enacted; That no man's person shal
be restrained or imprisoned by any Authority whatsoever,
32
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
before the Law hath sentenced him thereunto, if he can &
wil put in sufficient security, bail or mainprise, for his appear-
ance & good behavior in the mean time; unless it be in Crimes
Capital, or Contempt in open Court, but in such case, where
some express Act of Court doth allow it.
[LEAGALL NOTICE TO BE GIVEN TO THE TIES ATACHED]
[25] AND it is further Ordered; THAT in all Attachments
of goods and chattels, Land or hereditaments, Notice by the
Officer shal be given to the party against whom the Suit is
commenced; either by reading the Attachm't to him, or leav-
ing a Summons, or copy of the Attachment under the hand
of the Officer, at his house, or place of usual abode; Or els the
Case shal not proceed. But if the party be out of the Prov-
ince, & not like to return before the Court held; The Case shal
proceed to Trial; but Judgment shal not be entred, until a
month after: And Execuc'on shal not be granted, until the
Plaint hath given security to respond, if the Defend't shal
reverse the Judgm't within the space of a year.
[THE FREEMEN OF EACH TOWNES TO CHUSE THEIRE OFFICERS
& MAKE ORDERS FOR THEIR TOWNES PENALTY FOR NOT
OBSERVING TOWN ACTS]
[26.] WHEREAS particular Towns have many things,
which concern only themselves, and the ordering their own
affairs, and disposing of business in y'r own Towns; IT IS
therefore Ordered; That the ffreemen of every Town shal have
power, to chuse their own particular Officers; as Constables,
Grand-jurors, and Jury for Trials, Surveyors for the High-
ways, & the like, annually, or otherwise, as need requires:
And to make such Laws & Constitutions, as may concern the
welfare of their Towns: Provided they be not of a Criminal,
but of a prudential nature: And that the penalty exceed not
Twenty shillings for one offence: And that they be not repug-
nant to the public Laws & orders of this Province: And if
any Inhabitant shal neglect or refuse to observ them, They
shal have power to levy the appointed penalty by distress.
And if any man shal behave himself offensively at any Town
meeting, the rest then present shal have power, to sentence.
him for such offence: So as the penalty exceed not Twenty
shillings.
[27]
[PRUDENTIAL OFFICERS.]
*AND the ffreemen of every Town have power, to
chuse yearly, or for less time, a convenient number of fit men
*In the American copy 26 and 27 are combined in one section.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
33
to order the prudential affairs of their Town. Provided
nothing be done by them contrary to the Laws & Orders of
this Province, and that their number do not exceed Seven,
for one Town. And the Select-men in every Town shal take
care from time to time, to order & dispose of all single persons
& inmates within their Towns, to service or otherwise. And
if any person be greeved at any such Order or disposal; They
have liberty to appeal to the next Court of this Province, that
by Law hath proper cognizance thereof.
[NONE TO CAST OUT BALLAST INTO THE RIVER.]
[28] IT IS further Ordered; That no Ship, or other Vessel;
shal cast out any ballast in the channel, or other place incon-
venient, in any harbour or River within this Province; upon
the penalty of Ten pound.
[OF W'T AGE TO MAKE A VALID ACT—OF W'T AGE TO CHUSE
GUARDIANS]
[29] IT IS Ordered by this General Assembly & the
Authority thereof; That no person in this Province, shal have
power to pass away Lands, hereditaments, or other estates;
or make any legal or valid Act; or be capable of suing, or
being sued in any of the Courts, in his or her own person,
until they attain unto the age of Twenty one years: But any
orphan may chuse their Guardian, to act for them, at the age
of ffourteen years, to secure or defend their estates during
their minority. Also, That all Parents & Masters shal have
power in all Civil Cases, to prosecute & defend the right of
their Children or servants during the time of their nonage.
AND in all Criminal Cases, every person, yonger as wel as
elder, shal be liable to answer in their own persons, for any
misdemeanor charged upon them; And may also inform
against any other person to any Court, Member of the Coun-
cel, or Grand-Juryman within this Province.
[ANY MEMBER OF THE COUNCILL OR CLARK TO GRANT ATTACH-
M'TS THE NATURE OF ATTACHMENTS AND HOW TO BE
SERVED]
[30] *AND it is further Ordered; That it shal be in the
power of any Member of the Councel, or any Clark of the
Writs, allowed of by any of our Quarter Courts, to grant
Sum'ons, & Attachments in all Civil proceedings.
IT IS also Ordered; That all Summons or Attachments
shal be served Six days inclusively before the Court held,
*Nos. 30 and 31 constitute but one section in the English copy.
1
3
34
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
where the Case is to be tried. And the cause or ground of the
Action, shal in the said process be breefly declared, and in
what capacity the Plaint sues; whether in his own name or
as Attorney, Assignee, Guardian, Exett'r Adm'nstr, Agent,
or such like: or in defect thereof, if exception be taken before
the partys join issue, it shal be accounted a legal bar, and the
Plaint shal be liable to pay costs. But no circumstantial
error in a Summons or Attachment, where the party & Case
intended may be rationally understood, shal be taken as a
sufficient ground for a Nonsuit.
[PLANT: OR DEFEND'T NOT APEARING TO BE NONSUITED]
[31] And if either Plaint or Deft do make default of
appearing, having bin three times distinctly called by the
Marshal, or other Officer appointed by the Court so to call;
The Plaint shal be Nonsuited, & be liable to pay the Deft
costs.
[THE DEFEND'T NOT APEARING THE SECURITY OR GOODS
ATTACHED TO STAND]
[32] IT IS Enacted by the General Assembly and the
Authority thereof; THAT if the Deft fail of his appearance,
and it appear by the process, that goods were attached, or
surety or sureties bound for his appearance, after such surety
three times called; The Action shal proceed to Trial: And if
Judgment be granted for the Plaint, execuc'on shal issue
forth against the Deft; and the surety, or goods attached,
shal stand good for one month after Judgment. But if the
Execuc'on be not extended within one month after Judgment,
the goods attached, or sureties bound shal be released.
[NO OFFICER TO BAILE ANY W'THOUT GOOD SURETY]
[33] AND that no person may loose, or be defrauded of
his just debt; IT IS Ordered; That no Marshal, Constable, or
other Officer, shal bail any person by him attached, without
sufficient surety; viz: one (or more) that is a setled Inhabitant
within this Province; and that has a visible estate; to be
responsible according to the bonds required.
[JUDGM'T TO BE ACCKNOWLEDGED BEFORE 2 OF THE COUN'LL
&C]
[34] IT IS further Enacted, &c. That any person that
is attached to our Quarter Courts, and desirous to prevent
further charge; shal have liberty, upon notice given to the
Plaint, or his Attorny, to appear before Two of the Members
of the Councel, and the Clark, or Recorder of any Quarter
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
35
Court within this Province, and acknowledg a Judgment,
which shal stand good & valid in Law: Provided, that the
goods attached, or surety bound, shal not be released, til one
month after the acknowledgment of such Judgment: unless
the creditor give under his hand, that he is satisfied. AND
for such persons as live out of the Province, the acknowledg-
ment of a Judgment shal not free them, unless they produce
sufficient Surety, that is a settled Inhabitant within the limits
of this Province, to engage with him or them in the acknowl-
edgme❜t of the Judgment; and the Execuc'on to stand good
against the Surety for a ful month after.
[PSONS SUMONED NOT APEARING-THE PENALTY]
[35] BE IT further Enacted; That if any persons sum-
moned to answer any Presentment, or for any ffact or mis-
demeanor, do not appear at the time appointed; He or they
shal be proceeded against for contempt; except it appear they
have bin prevented by the hand of God.
[PLANT: MAY W'THDRAW HIS ACTION]
{
[36] *IT IS also Enacted; That it shal be at the liberty of
the Plaint, to withdraw his Action at any time before the
Judg, or Jury have given in their Verdict in the Case; in
which case he shal pay ful costs to the Deft.
[NONE TO PRETEND GREAT DAMAGES TO VEX HIS ADVERSARY],
[37] AND that no person in his Suit or Plaint against
another, shal falsely pretend great damages or debts, to vex
or discredit his Adversary. And if it appear to the Court,
that any plaintif hath wittingly wrong'd the Deft in vexatious
suits or complaints; He shal pay the Deft double costs, and
be fined to the Province forty shilings, or more, according to
the demerit of his ffact.
[ACTIONS MAY BE REVEIWED]
[38] IT IS further Enacted; THAT it shal be at the liberty
of any person, to review any Suit or Action, wherein he has
bin Plaint or Deft in any Court within this Province. But if
any party be twice cast, upon a Review, and shal stil persist
in a cours of Law; if he be cast a third time; His case shal be
adjudged vexatious, & he shal pay double costs, & such ffine
as the Court shal award, not exceeding ffive pound.
*Nos. 36 and 37 constitute but one section in the English copy.
1
ふ
​36
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
[INKEEPERS TO SELL NO STRONG DRINK TO CHILD'N OR
SERVANTS]
[39] BE IT also Enacted; THAT no Ordinary (or Inn)
keeper, suffer any servants or children under family Govern-
ment, to buy, or sit drinking any liquor, wine, or other drink
in their houses, or where they have to do; or to spend their
time there, without the leav of their Parents or Masters,
unless it be in case of necessity; on pain of Ten shillings for-
feiture for every offence: the one half to the informer, & the
other to the poor of the Town.
[A SON BEING 3 MO'S IN TOWNE SHALL BE AN INHABITANT
EXCEPT]
[40] LIKEWISE it is further Ordered; THAT if any per-
son come into any Town within this Province, and be there
received & entertained three months; if such person fal sick
or lame; He shal be releeved by the Town, where he was so
long entertained. But if the Constable of that Town, or any
of the Select-men, have given warning to such person within
the space of three months, that the Town wil not admit of
them; If such person shal stand in need of releef, the Town
shal supply his necessity; until the President and Councel
can dispose of them, as to them shal seem most just & equal.
[PSONS SENT FROM OTHER TOWNES THEY ARE SENT FROM
TO PAY THE CHARGE]
[41] IT IS also Ordered; THAT if any children, or elder
persons shal be sent or come from one Town to another, to
School, or to nurs, or otherwise to be educated; or to a Physi-
tian, or Surgeon, to be cured or healed; if such shal stand in
need of relief, They shal be releeved at the charge of the
Town, from whence they came, or do belong; and not by the
Town, to which they are sent. AND in case they be sent
from any Town without this Province, the taker, nurs, physi-
tian, or surgeon, to whom they are sent, shal take good secur-
ity to save the Town & Province chargless, or shal be respon-
sible themselves for such as need releef.
[PRESID❜T OR DEPUTY TO HAVE CASTING VOTE]
[42] IT IS further Ordered; THAT the President, or in
his absence, his Deputy, shal have a casting Vote, whensoever-
there shal be an equivote, either in the General Assembly,
Quarter, Court or Councel.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
37
1
[NONE TO BRING IN OR ENTERTAINE STRANGERS W'THOUT
LEAVE]
[43] BE IT also Enacted; THAT no person Master of any
Vessel, or other, do bring into any of our Towns within the
Province, any person or persons, without the approbation of
the President, or three of the Councel, or the Select-men of
each Town: Nor that any Inhabitant within this Province,
do entertain in his family any person that is not so allowed,
for more than one week, without giving notice thereof to one
of the Members of the Councel, or to the Select-men of the
Town to which they belong; On penalty of forfeiting ffive
pound to the Town & of being liable to be sued, & giving bond
to free the Town from damage. PROVIDED, this Order shal
not hinder any man from taking of an Apprentice, or cove-
nant servant for year or years, that is at pr'sent sound & wel.
And if such servant shal fal sick, or lame, He shal be main-
tained by his Master during the date of his indenture, or
coven't and afterwards by the Town in case of necessity.
[CONSTA: TO WARNE FREEMENS MEETINGS TO CHUSE DEPUTIES]
[44] IT IS Enacted by this Assembly and the Authority
thereof; THAT the several Constables in each Town of this
Province, do warn & call together the ffreemen of their
respective Towns on the first Munday in ffebruary annually,
and from among themselves to make their election of Deputy
for the General Assembly; who are to meet at Portsmouth on
the first Tuesday of March, by Ten a clock in the forenoon:
And the number of Deputies for each Town to be, as follow-
eth. Viz: Three for the Town of Portsmouth: Three for the
Town of Hampton: Three for the Town of Dover: And Two
for the town of Exceter. Whose names, after their Election
& acceptance, the several Constables shal make return of to
the Assembly, as above, under their hands. And if any Con-
stable neglect his duty in calling the ffreemen together, or
making return of the names of the Deputies chosen as above;
he shal pay the sum of ffive pound to the Treasurer, for the
use of the Province, for every such neglect. And if any
Deputy after his election & acceptance, shal neglect his
attendance at the time & place of meeting, or absent himself
from the said Assembly without leav; He shal pay a ffine of
Twenty shillings to the Province, for every day's absence; &
so proporc'onably for every part of a day; unless some inevi-
table providence, or such other occasions hinder, as shal be
judged by the major part of the Assembly, a sufficient excuse
for the said absence.
38
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
[FEE FOR ENTRY OF ACTIONS.]
[45] IT IS Ordered; That for entry of every Action of
Appeal from the Quarter Courts, shal be paid Twenty shil-
lings in mony.
ACTS OF THE ASSEMBLY IN PORTSMOUTH MARCH 12,
1680-81.
[ACT RELATING TO TERMS OF COURT REPEALED.]
[46] *WHEREAS this Assembly made an Act for the
constituting three Courts in the year, for Trial of Actions
within this Province, besides that of the General Assembly;
and it being found by experience, that great charge doth
attend such multiplicity of Courts: They have thought fit, to
repeal the said Act.
[TWO TRIAL TERMS PROVIDED FOR EACH YEAR.]
[47] AND IT IS further enacted by this Assembly and the
Authority thereof; that for the time to come, there shal be
but Two Courts annually held within this Province for Trial
of Actions (excepting the Court of Appeals;) w'ch shal be held
on the first Tuesday in June; & the first Tuesday in Decemb'r.
The first Court in June next 1681, to be held at Dover; the
Second at Hampton; and the third at Portsmouth, & so suc-
cessively in order. And the Court of Appeals shal be held in
Portsmouth the first Tuesday in September annually; at
which Court there shal be a Jury of Twelv men, to attend the
legal Trial of all Actions of Appeal from the aforesaid Courts
from time to time.
[THE ACT OR LAW FOR THE RATE, NOT INSERTED AMONG THE
AFORESAID LAWS IS AS FOLLOWS.]
[48] FFOR the more equal & impartial valuation of Houses
& Ships, & other estates of Merchants, traders, & handicrafts
men, which must of necessity be rated by wil & doom; Be it
Enacted, &c. That the Select-men of the several Towns,
Shal forthwith take an account of all such estates, with the
value thereof, according to their ordinary way of rate; a list
of which estates so taken & valued, shal be transmitted to a
Committee of ffour men, chosen by this Assembly out of
Dover Portsm Hampton & Exceter, together with Two of the
*In the margin of the English copy, against this paragraph, appears the
date,-"Mar: 12, 1680-81,"-which is all the record affords to indicate the time
of the passage of this and the subsequent acts.
1
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
39
Councel. Which Committee shal examine & compare the
said lists & bring the estates to an equal value, having
respect to the places where they ly, that no Town or person
be burthen'd beyond proporc'on: which Act of the Committee
in the valuac'on of the said estates shal stand as a Rule,
according to which Rates & assessments shal be made for
the future. The persons chosen for this Committee are Ric:
Walden Esqr Elias Stileman Esqr Mr Rob't Elliot, Mr Ant:
Nutt Mr Ralph Hall, Mr Ed: Gove: & the time of meeting, the
2d Tuesday in April, at Portsmouth.
[LIST OF MALES AND ESTATES TO BE TAKEN.]
[49] *IT IS Ordered &c. That Warrants be forthwith
issued out to the Select-men of the several Towns within this
Province, that they do forthwith take a list of all the male
psons of 16 years old & upward in their respective Towns,
with the value of all y'r estates according to such Rules as are
past the Court; & all persons that are to be rated by Wil &
doom; & make Returns thereof to the Committee for that
affair, at or before the second Tuesday in April next.
[PROVINCE RATE.]
[50] +FFOR defraying the public charge of the Province,
It is Ordered, &c. That a Rate be made of Three half pence
in the pound upon all persons & estates (the President and
Councel ministers & elders of the Churches excepted) in this
Province, according to the valuac'on made by this Assembly.
And that the Select-men in the several Towns forthwith per-
form the duty of their places, in the making such Rates, &
com'itting them to the Constables to be im'ediately collected.
And the same to be transmitted to the Treasurer of the Prov-
ince. This Rate is to be paid in the species at the prises fol-
lowing. Viz: Merchantable boards at any mils in Pascata-
way River, at the usual place of delivery, at 30s Tun. Mer-
chantable white-oak pipe-staves at some convenient landing-
place where the Constable shal appoint, at 3s 1000. Red-
oak pipe-staves (ut supra) at 25s 1000. Indian corn 3s P
bushel. Wheat at 5s bushel. Oats at 2s per bushel. Malt
at 4s bushel. ffish at price currant.
ffish at price currant. And whosoever shal
pay the Rates in mony, shal be abated one third part.
*This act seems to be very nearly identical with No. 12, ante.
given in the English copy in the order it takes in this connection.
inserted in the order it has in the American copy.
No. 49 is
No. 12 is
†This section numbered 50 should be compared with No. 15, ante. No. 50
is the section as given in its order in the English copy. No. 15 is inserted
in this text in the order it takes in the American copy.
40
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
[ACTS OF THE ASSEMBLY IN PORTSMOUTH MAY 3,
1681.]
[PROVINCE RATE.]
[51] *FFOR defraying the Public charge of the Province;
IT IS ordered by this Assembly, &c. THAT the Select-men
in the several Towns within this Province, Shal forthwith
make a Rate upon the persons & estates of the several inhab-
itants within their respective Towns, of Two pence upon the
pound, to be collected by the Constables of each Town, as the
Law directs; & the said Rate so collected forthwith to pay to
the Treas'r for the end aforesaid, in the species, at the prises
following: Viz:
Merchantable Pine boards at the landing-place, at 30s mil.
Do. Red-oak pipe staves at 30.
Do. Hogshead-staves at 20.
Do. White-oak pipe-staves at 31.
Do. Wheat at 5s bushel.
Do. Indian corn at 2s. 6d.
Do. Malt at 3s.
Do. Pease at 3s. 6d.
ffish at 1s p C. under price currant.
The landing place in each Town for the delivery of the said
Rate, to be appointed by the Select-men thereof: and the
charge of transportation to the Treasurer; to be paid out of
the Rate.
[VALUATION OF VESSELS.]
[52] IT IS Ordered by this Assembly, &c That all Ships,
Ketches, Barks, & other vessels shal be valued at 20s tun.
According to which all Rates shal be made upon such estates.
[DUTY OF TOWN OFFICERS.]
[53] THE Constables & Select-men are required in His
Ma'ts name to attend their respective duties, in fulfilling the
abovesaid Act.
[PUBLISHMENT TO TOWNS.]
[54] THIS was Ordered to be published under the Prov-
ince Seal to the 4 Towns May 6th 1681.
*This section, No. 51, as well as No. 50, is given in the English copy. No.
15, the corresponding section in the American copy, may not have been
intended as a part of these laws.
In the margin of the English copy, against this act, appears the date
"May 3d 1681," which is all the record affords to indicate the time of the
passage of this and the subsequent acts.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
41
[Second Session Held at Portsmouth (?) March 24, 1679-80.]
[CHAPTER 1.]
AN ACT PASS'D BY THE COUNCEL & ASSEMBLY, TO WRITE TO
THE GOVERN'R OF THE MASSACHUSETS: DRAWN UP, AS
FOLLOWS.
[As it has been deemed advisable to treat the entire body of laws termed
the "Cutt Code" as a single chapter, and to give it place under the title
of the first session of this assembly as "Chapter 1," although it occupied
the attention of the assembly at times during the entire legislative year
and in a part of the succeeding year, the single act which follows under
this title of the second session will not be regarded as the only legisla-
tion of this date. The two addressed to the king, found in the Journal of
the President and Council, are quite similar in tone and purpose to this
act.
This resolve, as it would be termed under the modern style of legislative
language, is of historical value as indicating the sentiment of a part of the
people, and probably a majority, towards the Massachusetts Bay Colony with
which they had been identified in government for nearly forty years.
It is transcribed from the MS. in the English archives, entitled, "The Acts
and Orders of the President and Council of His Ma'ts Province of New
Hampshire," January 1, 1679-80 to May 5, 1680. I, Province Papers, 410;
Belknap, Farmer's ed., 91; Charles W. Tuttle, I, Proceedings N. H. His-
torical Society, 346.]
To the much Hon'd the Govern'r & Councel of the Massachusets Col-
ony.
To be communicated to the General Court in Boston.
Portsm. in the Province of New Hampshire 25 March 1680.
THE late turn of Providence, made among us by the All-
ordering hand, hath given occasion for this present applica-
tion; wherein we crave leav, as we are in duty bound,
1 Thankfully to acknowledg yo'r great care for us, & yo'r
kindness towards us, while we dwelt under yo'r shadow; own-
ing our selves deeply obliged that you were pleased, upon our
earnest request & supplication, to take us und'r yo'r Govern-
ment, & ruled us wel, whilst we so remained; so that we can-
not give the least countenance to those reflections that have
bin cast upon you, as if you had dealt injuriously with us.
2. That no dissatisfaction with yo'r Government, but
merely our submission to Divine Providence, & Obedience to
His Ma'ts Commands, to whom we owe Allegiance, with-
out any seeking of our own, or desire of change, was the only
cause of our complying with that present separation from you,
that we are now under; but should have bin heartily rejoiced,
if it had seemed good to the Lord & His Ma'ty to have set-
tled us in the same capacity as formerly.
3 AND withall we hold our selves bound to signify, that it
is our most unfaigned desire, that such a mutual correspond-
ence betwixt us may be settled, as may tend to the Glory of
God, the Honor of His Ma'ty whose Subjects we all are, &
42
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
the promoting the common interest & defence ag't the common
enemy; that thereby our hands may be strengthned being of
our selves weak & few in number; & that if there be opportun-
ity of being any ways serviceable unto you, we may show how
ready we are, thankfully to embrace the same.
Thus wishing the pr'sence of God to be with you in all yo'r
administraco's, and craving the benefit of your prayers &
endeavours, for a blessing upon the heads & hearts of us, who
are seperated from our brethren, We subscribe, &c.
[Third Session Held at Portsmouth June 7-10, 1680, 32
Charles II.]
[CHAPTER 1.]
[AN ACT RELATING TO THE FARES OF MEMBERS OF THE ASSEM-
BLY, JURYMEN, AND SOLDIERS ON FERRIES.]
[XIX, State Papers, 668.]
It is ordered that all that keepe fferrys w'thin this province
shall cary to and fro w'thout any pay all or any of the Coun-
cil Dep'tes for the Gennerall Assembly Jurymen w'ch are upon
the Service of the province; & all Troop'rs in their common &
gen: musters shall pay but 3d horse & man & ffoot Soldiers
only at a gen Muster shall pay one penny a person.
[Fourth Session Held at Portsmouth, Oct. 11 and 12, 1680,
32 Charles II.]
[The provisions of the preceding body of laws, from and including sec-
tion No. 16, relating to constables, to section No. 46, relating to the terms
of court, are given as under the above date and session, but for conven-
ience all are treated as in Chapter 1, first session. No acts which would
properly be assigned to this session have been found except those embod-
ied in the articles of the body of laws.]
[Fifth Session Held at Portsmouth (?) December 7, 1680,
32 Charles II.]
[CHAPTER 1.]
[*ACT APPOINTING A DAY OF PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING.]
[XIX, State Papers, 674.]
The president & Council w'th the Assembly Considering
that having begun y'r yeare w'th ffasting (as y'r was a
*The order of the President and Council for a day of fasting and prayer,
referred to in this act, is printed in XIX, State Papers, 660.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
43
greate deale of cause considering how matters were Curcom-
stanced with us) & having had since y't time much experience
of the L'ds wonted goodness in hearing o'r prayers wee have
thought it o'r duty to end o'r yeare w'th thankesgiveing & to
pay the vowes that wee made in the day of our ffeares &
shearchings of heart y't were upon us
doe therefore ord'r & appoynt the 2d Thursday in January
next to be Kept a solemne day of praise & thanksgiving thrô
out this province prohibiting all servile Labour y't day to
all the Inhabitants of the same, and calling upon y'm to enter
into the L❜ds house & bless his Name for all his mercies for
this yeare past to o'r Nation & o'rselves—ticulerly for pre-
serving the prodistant Interist & the life of his Maj'tie from
the plotts & designes of the popist party, for causing a good
agreement betweene the Council & deputys for favouring us
with health & peace in o'r borders, for graciously permitting
us to stand one yeare Longer in his Vineyard Und'r the enjoy-
m't of o'r Lib'ties & pr'viledges both Civil & Ecclesiasticall,
and for affording us a competence of the fruites of the earth
for our maintainance, for all w'ch & for all the rest of his kind-
nesses (to many for us to reccon Up in ord'r before him) wee
account the L'ds Name worthy to be praised, and doe advise
to heartiness & seriousness in this duty soe y't the fruite of
o'r Lipps being offered up (thrô him) as alsoe the fruite of o'r
lives by a right ordering of o'r conversation wee may see more
of Gods Salvation, goodness & mercie may follow us & o'rs &
wee may dwell in the house of the Lord all the dayes of o'r
Lives there to praise him all the dayes of our Lives/.
[SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY.]
[First Session Held at Portsmouth (?) March 1 and 12, 1680-1,
33 Charles II.]
[CHAPTER 1.]
[AN ACT DESIGNATING A DAY OF FASTING AND PRAYER.]
[This act is described as an order of the Council and General Assembly,
and is printed in Farmer's Belknap, pp. 458, 459. The manuscript record
cannot now be found. No record of any other acts passed at this session,
distinct from those given in this body of laws, has been discovered. The
entry after article 45, ante, indicates that the concluding parts of the
"Code" were before the assembly at this period. This assembly made pro-
vision for a province rate by an act (body of laws, articles 50 and 51) sim-
ilar to that passed at the March session, 1681-2, (Province Records, Book 1,
p. 42), and which will be printed in its order in the following pages. It
was in this month that President John Cutt died. According to Belknap,
Farmer's ed., p. 94:-"During the remainder of the Council's administra-
tion [Waldron's] the common business went on in the usual manner, and
nothing remarkable is mentioned excepting the prosecutions of Barefoote
and his assistants."]
44
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
Upon serious consideration of the manifold sinful provoca-
tions among us, as of the sundry tokens of divine displeasure
evident to us, both in the present dangerous sickness of the
honorable president of the council for New- Hampshire, in the
continuance of whose life is wrapt up much blessing, whose
death may occasion much trouble; as also in respect of that
awful portentous blazing star, usually foreboding sore calamity
to the beholders thereof; and in regard of the great need that
we have of more than ordinary presence of Almighty God with us,
in our necessary applications to his royal majesty, our sọv-
ereign lord the king; as also having a real sympathy with the
great thoughts of heart in our brethren and neighbors, as they
are circumstanced; ever seriously and loyally imploring the
divine favor for the continuance of his majesty's life and pros-
perous reign, as the protection of God's cause and church
against the popish party throughout the world; humbly crav
ing covenant mercy to be continued to us, and ours after us in
their generations, as also God's crowning the several seasons
of the year with suitable goodness: The council and general
assembly for the province of New-Hampshire, have appointed
the next Thursday, being the 17th day of this instant March,
a day of public fasting and prayer, to be solemnly kept by all
the inhabitants thereof, hereby strictly inhibiting all servile
labor thereon. Commending the same to all elders, churches,
ministers, and people, that they fervently wrestle with the
Lord, that he may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and
cause his face to shine upon us in all our concerns.
[Second Session Held at Portsmouth (?) May 3, 1681, 33
Charles II.]
[For acts of this session see body of laws, ante, Nos. 51, 52, 53, 54.]
•
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
45
[COLONIAL ENTRY BOOK, MINUTES OF THE COMMITTEE FOR
TRADE AND PLANTATIONS, VOL. 106. P. 332. COUNCIL
CHAMBER, WHITEHALL, DECEMBER 23, 1681. *RE ACTS
OF ASSEMBLY & ORDERS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE COUNCIL.]
JOURNAL.
New Hampshire.
*
Several Acts of Assembly and orders of Council
receiv'd from New-Hampshire the 20th of Sept. last are read,
and their Lo’ps being dissatisfied both with the stile and mat-
ter of them, will offer to his Ma'ty that they may bee wholy
rejected, and that the same method bee used in passing of
Laws in that Province as in other His Ma'ties
Planta'ons, and that the Laws of England bee in force, except
where any particular circumstance of the Place shall require
any alteration which is to bee provided for by particular and
subsidiary Laws.
Laws.
Land.
And whereas the people in New-Hampshire have taken upon
them to dispose of and confirm Lands to them-
selves, their Lo'ps think fit that all Laws to that effect bee set
aside and that the determina'on of all Titles of Land bee
reserved to His Ma'ty.
Report.
Upon the whole matter their Lo'ps agree to
Report to his Ma'ty that the proceedings of the Goverment
in New Hampshire have been soe irregular that it will bee
necessary that some person bee sent by his Ma'ty to settle
the Country, with such Commission and Instructions as are
usualy given to other Governors.
*
*The foregoing recommendations from the Lords Committee on Trade
and Plantations are so explicit and unequivocal, and are so fully compre-
hensive of all the acts transmitted by the Cutt administration in New
Hampshire that the presumption must be held very conclusive as to the
fate of the so-called Cutt Code with the royal authority having final dis-
position of the subject. This formal order, however, if transmitted to the
province authorities, has not been preserved, and the local record of it with
the home government has not been discovered. Possibly the province
officials were not seasonably informed as to the repeal of the Cutt Code by
the home government, and if so this might account for the apparent
absence of records of important general legislation in the time of Wal-
dron's administration.
*
46
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
[THE ADMINISTRATION OF RICHARD WALDRON, PRESIDENT
OF THE PROVINCE, ACTING UNDER APPOINTMENT AS DEP-
UTY PRESIDENT BY AUTHORITY OF THE COMMISSION OF
JOHN CUTT, MARCH 27, 1681, TO OCTOBER 4, 1682, BEING
IN THE THIRTY THIRD AND THIRTY FOURTH YEARS
OF CHARLES II.]
[THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY.]
[First Session Held at Portsmouth (?), March 7, 1681-2, 34
Charles II.]
[CHAPTER 1.]
[The two following acts are all that have been found which appear to
have been passed in the period between the death of President Cutt in
March, 1681, and the succession of Gov. Cranfield in Oct., 1682. The acts are
from proceedings of the assembly of date March 10, 1681-82. This copy is
from papers in the English archives entitled "Acts, Orders & Proceedings
of the Presid't & Council of His Ma'ts Province of New Hampshire in New
Engl'd since the Transmission in Octo'r last An’o D'm 1681." It accompanies
a letter of the President and Council of 22 May-21 August, 1682. It is
really a journal of proceedings beginning 22 November, 1681, and dated at
the end 21 August 1682. XIX, State Papers, 681. These acts are also found
in Province Records, Council Book 4, p. 42. They have been printed, I,
Province Papers, 431. It is quite possible that the dissatisfaction
pressed in the home governments towards the legislation already essayed
in the province would deter the assembly from exercising these powers
without great circumspection, but a larger number of enactments might
be looked for in the time April, 1681, to Nov., 1682, more than a year and
a half.]
ex-
[AN ACT RELATING TO RECIPROCAL TRADE RELATIONS WITH
MASSACHUSETTS.]
IT IS ORDERED by the General Assembly & the Autority
thereof; That all Ships, Ketches, Barks, Sloops, Lighters, or
other Vessels belonging to the Inhabitants of the Massa-
chusets Colony, May have free egress & regress into any of the
Ports or harbours within this Province, and have free liberty
to trade as before our late change, without being liable to pay
Pouder-mony, or any other duties, but what our own Inhab-
itants are liable to pay, for their Vessels: PROVIDED the
like Order be made by the General Court of the Massachusets
Colony, respecting all Vessels belonging to the inhabitants
of this Province. It is to be understood, That this Act shal
reach all vessels belonging to us or them, coming directly
from forain Parts to our or their Ports or harbours as wel as
from any Ports or harbours within the united Colonies, or the
neighbouring Provinces.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
47
IT IS ALSO ENACTED by the Autority aforesaid; That
what goods or merchandise being imported into any of their
or our Ports, having paid the Custom at importac'on, shal not
be liable to pay any further or other Custom then afore-
said, upon transportation to any of our or their Ports; it
appearing by Certificate from the Collector of the Place
whence such goods came, that the Custom is paid.
This ORDER not to take place until the like Act be made
by the General Court of the Massachusets Colony.
[CHAPTER 2.]
[AN ACT TO ESTABLISH RATES ON PERSONS AND ESTATES.]
IT IS ENACTED by the GENERAL ASSEMBLY, That a
Rate shal forthwith be made & issu'd out on all the Inhab-
itants within this Province of New Hampshire, at one peny
in the pound, on persons & estates; to be paid in mony, or in
the species following That is to say
Wheat at five shill bushel. White-oak Pipe-staves at three
Pease at four shillings.
pound
Malt at three shil. six pence. ffish two
Indian corn at 3s bushell. curr't.
Boards at 30s m: foot.
thousand
rials under price
To be paid at the usual places for delivery, Rate pay. AND
That the Select-men in the several Towns, do forthwith per-
form the duty of their Places in making such Rates, & com-
mitting them to the respective Constables to be immediately
collected, & the same to be transmitted to the Treasur'r of the
Province upon the Province charge.
ORDERED, That this Act be publish'd, under the Province
Seal, in the four Towns.
48
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
[THE ADMINISTRATION OF EDWARD CRANFIELD, LIEUTEN-
ANT-GOVERNOR OF THE PROVINCE BY COMMISSION DATED
MAY 9, 1682, OFFICE ASSUMED OCTOBER 4, 1682; SUPER-
SEDED BY JOSEPH DUDLEY, WHO WAS COMMISSIONED
PRESIDENT OF NEW ENGLAND OCTOBER 8, 1685, AND
WHO ASSUMED OFFICE IN THE PROVINCE MAY 25, 1686,
WALTER BAREFOOTE HAVING BEEN APPOINTED DEPUTY
LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR IN 1683, AND HAVING ACTED
AS LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR IN THE SPRING OF 1684, DUR-
ING THE ABSENCE OF THE LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR IN
NEW YORK, AND AFTER HIS DEPARTURE FROM THIS
PROVINCE MAY 16, 1685.]
[COMMISSION OF EDWARD CRANFIELD.]
[Council Book 4, p. 41.]
[Under this commission Lieutenant-Governor Cranfield, and, in his ab-
sence, the deputy, Walter Barefoote, governed the province from October 4,
1682, to May 25, 1686. The affairs of the people, public and private, were
very much unsettled by intense contentions which arose over a variety of
subjects, the principal being the management of the Masonian claim. The
Lieutenant Governor gave his commission, in some particulars, a very dif-
ferent construction from that conceded by the representatives of the people
and those who were in opposition to his measures. For a statement of the
issues see I, N. H. Province Papers, pp. 491-574, Farmer's Belknap, ch. 8, and
Chalmers's Present United Colonies, passim.]
Charls the second by the grace of god king of England Scot-
land ffrance & Ierland Defender of the faithe &c
To our trustey and well beloved Edward Cranfeilde esqr
Greating whereas our Colony of the masithutets alius Masa-
thutets baye w'thin our dominion of new england in Amerimac
[America] hath taken upon themselves to Exercise a gover-
ment & Jurisdiction over the Ihabitants & planters in the
townes of Portsmouth Hamton Dover Exitor & all other the
townes & lands in our province of new Hamshire Leying &
extending it selfe from three Miles northwarde of Merimack
River unto the Province of maine not having any legall righte
or Authority Soe to doe w'ch saide Jurisdiction & all further
Exersises thereof we have thought fit by the advice of our privi
Counsill to Inhibit & restraine for the future, & doe hereby
Inhibit & restraine the same & whereas the goverment of that
parte of our saide province of New hamshire soe Limited &
founded as aforesaide now is & remaines under our Imediate
Care & protection to the end therefore that our loving Sub-
jects the planters & Inhabitants w'thin the limits aforesaide
maye be protected & defended, in theire respective rights lib-
ertyes & Propertyes & that dew & Impartiall Justice maye
be administred in all Cases Civill & Criminall & that all pos-
"
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
49
2.
sible Care maye be taken for the juste quiet & orderly gover-
ment of the same Now know ye that we Reposing Espisiall
Trust & Confidence in the prudence Courage and Loyallity of
you the saide Edward Cranfeild Esqr oute of our espitiall
grace certaine knowlage & meere motion have thought fit to
Constitute & appoynte *[and by these presents doe constitute
and appoint] you our Leftinant Governour & Commander in
Cheife of all that parte of our province of Newhamshire
within our dominion of new England in America lying &
Extending It self from three miles Northward of merimack
river or any parte thereof unto our province of maine; & we
doe hereby requier and Command you to doe & exicute all
things in dew manner that shall belong unto your saide Com-
mande & the trust we have reposed in you according to the
Sevirall powers & directions granted or appoynted you under
1.
this present Commission & the instrucktions herew'th given
you: or by such further Powers & Instructions as Shall at any
time hereafter be granted or appoynted you under our Signet
& signe manuall & according to such reasonable laws and
Statutes as now are or hereafter shall be made & agreed upon 3
by you with the advice & Consent of our Counsill & the assem-
bly of our saide province & Plantation under youre Gover-
ment in such manner & forme as is here after Expressed and
we doe hereby Constitute and appoynte Robert Mason Esqr
proprieter Richard Walldron Thomas Daniell William
Vaughane Richard Martaine John Gillman Elias Stileman
Job Clements Wallter Barefoote & Richard Chamberlayne
Esqr be of our Counsill of our saide province of Newhamshire
During our pleasure who are to be Assisting unto you with
theire advice in the manegment of the affaires & Conserns of
the goverment of the said province of New hamshire; in rela-
tion to our Service & the good of our Subjects there & wee
doe hereby give full power to you the saide Edward Cranfeilde
after you shall have firste taken an othe for the dew Exicu-
tion of the office And trust of our Leftinant Governour &
Commander in Cheife in & over our saide province of new-
hamshire which the saide Councill or any five of them have
hereby full Power & authority & are required to Adminester
unto you, to give & Adminster to each of the members of our
saide Counsill as well the oaths of Alegence & Supramicy
and the test menchoned in the act of parliment made in the
twenty fifth yeare of our reigne Intituled an Act for prevent-
ing dainger which maye happen from popish Recasants as an
oath for the dew Execution of theire plases & trust & we doe
hereby give & grante unto you full Power & authority to Sus-
pend any of the members of our saide Counsill from sitting
voting or asisting therein if you Shall finde Just Cause for soe
*Correction from English copy.
4
50
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
doing & our will & pleasure is that if by the death Departure
oute of the saide province or Suspention of any of our Coun-
sellors there shall happen to be A vacancy in our saide
Counsill any five whereof we doe hereby appointe to be a
Quorum we doe hereby Requier you to Certifie us by the
firste opportunity of such vacancy by the death departure
suspension of any of our saide Counsellors that we maye
under our Signet & signe manuall Constitute & Appointe
others in theire roome, but that our affairs At that distance
maye not suffer for want of a dew number of Counsellors if
ever it shall happen that there are Lese then seven of them
residing in our saide Province we doe hereby Give & grante
unto you full Power & authority to Chouse as many persons
oute of the principall free holders Inhabitants of our saide
Province as will make upp the full number of the Counsill
to be seven & now more w'ch persons soe Chosen & ap-
poynted by you Shall be to all intents & purposes our Coun-
sellors in our saide Province, till either they are Confirmed by
us; or till by the Nomination of other Counsellors by us under
our signe Manuall & Signet the saide Counsill hath above
seven persons in it, & our will & pleasure is; that every mem-
ber of our saide Counsill Suspended by you or displased by
us shall be uncapable during such vacancy [suspension] &
after being soe displesed; to be a member of the genirall
assembly & we doe hereby give & grante unto you full power
& authority w'th the advice & Consent of our saide Counsill
from time to time as need shall requier to summon & Call
(genirall assemblyes of the free holders w'thin your gover-
ment; in Such manner & forme as by the advice of our saide
Counsill you shall finde most conveniant for our Service &
the good of our saide province untill our pleasure shall be
further knowne therein & our will & pleasure is; that the
persons theire upon duely elected by the Major parte of the
ffree holders and being soe returned & having before theire
setting taken the oaths of allegence & Supramicy which you
shall Commissionate fit persons under the Publick Seale to
adminester & w'thoute taking which none shall be Capable
of sitting though elected, shall be Called & held the Generall
assembly of that Province And that you the saide Edward
(Cranfeild by & w'th the advice and Consent of our saide
Counsill & assembly or the Major parte of them Respectively;
have full power & authority to make Constitute & ordaine
Laws Statutes and ordanances for the publick pease wellfaire
& good Goverment of our saide Province & Plantasion & of
the people & Inhabitants thereof & such others as Shall
Relate [resort] thereto: & for the benifit of us our Ayres &
Successors w'ch saide Laws Statutes & ordanances are to be
Neare as Conveniantly maye be agreable unto the Laws &
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS,
51
Statutes of this our Kingdom of England; Provided that all
1
such Laws Statutes & ordinances of what nature & Kind
[duration] Soe ever bee w'thin three months or sooner after
the making of the same, Transmitted unto us under the Pub-
lick Seale for our allowance & approbation of them as allso
duplicates thereof by the next Conveyance & in case all or
any of them, being not before Confirmed by us shall at any
time bee disallowed & not approved & soe Signified by us our
heires & Successors under our or theire signe Manuall & sig-
nett or by order of our or theire privy Counsill unto you the
saide Edward Cranfeilde or to the Commander in Cheife of
our saide Province for the time being then such or soe many
of them as Shall be soe disallowed and not approved Shall
from thense forth Cease determine & bee utterly voide & of
none Effect any thing to the Contrary thereof notwithstand-
ing; and to the end nothing maye be passed or done by the
saide Counsill or assembly to the Prejudice of us our ayres or
Sucsesors wee will & ordaine that you the saide E'wd Cran-\
feilde Shall have & Injoye a Negative voice in the making &
passing of all laws Statutes & ordinances as aforesaide &
that you shall & maye likewise from time to time as you shall
Judge Nesesary proroge and dissoule [all] Genirall Assem-
blyes as aforesaide and our will & pleasure is that you Shall
& maye keep & use the Publique Seale allready appoyneted
[by us] for that Province, & we doe further give & grante
unto you the saide E'd Cranfeild full power & Authority from
time to time & at any time hereafter by your self or by any
other to be authorized by you in that behalfe to Adminester &
give the oaths of Allegence Now Established within this our
Realme of England to all & every Such person & persons as
you shall think fitt who shall at any time or times pass into
the saide Province or shall be Resident or abiding there & we
doe hereby give & grante unto you full power & Authority to
erect Constitute & Establish such & soe many Courts of Judi-
cature & Publick Justice within the saide Province & Planta-
tion Within your Goverment as you * & they shall think fitt
& nessesary for the hearing & determing of all Causes as well
Criminall as Civill according to Law & Equity; & for award-
ing of Execution there;upon withall Reasonable & Nessesary
Authorityes fese & Priviliges belonging unto them & wee
doe hereby authorize & Impower you to Constitute and
appoynte Judges Justices of the pease Sheriffs & other Nes-
seary Officers & Ministers in our saide province for The better
adminestration of Justice & putting the Laws in exicution &
to adminester such oath or oaths as you shall finde reason-
able for the due Exicution & performance of officers, places
*These words, "& they," were the occasion of controversy. I, Province
Papers, 556.
52
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
& Charges & for the clearing of the truth in Judiciall Causes;
& we doe hereby give & grante unto you full power & author-
ity where you shall see Cause & thereupon shall Judge any
[offender or] offenders in Criminall matters or for any fines
or forfitures due unto us fitt Objects of our mercy to pardon
& remitt al such offendowers fines or forfitures before or after
sentance given Treason & willfull murther only Excepted in
w'ch Causes you shall likewise have power upon exterordi-
nary Occasions to grante Repreives to the Offendowers
therein untill and to the intent; our pleasure maye be knowne
therein, & it is our will & pleasure & we doe hereby Expressly
Declare that it shall & maye be lawfull from time to time &
for all & every person & persons who shall think him or them-
selves agreved by any sentance Judgment or decree pro-
nounced given or made w'thin our saide province in aboute
or Conserning the tittle of any land or other reall Estate or
mony Personall Action or suite above the value of fifty
pounds & not under to Appealle from such Judgments sen-
tance, and decree unto us our heires and Sucsesors; and our
or there privy Counsillers but with and under this Caution
and Limitation that the Appealante shall first enter into and
give good security to paye such Coste and Charges as shall be
awarded by us in Case the firste sentance bee Confirmed;
and provided allso that Exicution bee Not suspendid by
reason of any such Appeale unto us & our further will &
pleasure is and soe we doe hereby declare that in all Crim-
inall Causes where the punishment to be inflicted on offenders
shall extend to lose of life or limbe, the Case of willfull
murther only excepted the party Convicted shall either be
sent over into this our kingdom of England w'th a trew state
of his Case & Conviction or Exicution shall be respited untill
the Cause shall be here represented unto us our heires & Suc-
sesors in our or theire privy Councill & orders sent & returned
therein & wee doe hereby give & grante unto you the saide
Edward Cranfeilde by your self your Captaines & Com-
manders by you to be authorized full power & authority to
levy armes muster Command or employe all persons whatso-
ever residing w'thin our saide province of Newhamshire &
as occasion shall serve them to transfer from one place to
another for the resisting & withstanding all Enimies Pirates
& rebells both at land & sea & toe transporte such fforces to
any of our Plantations in America as occation shall requier
ffor the Defence of the same Against the Invatyon or Attempt
of Anny of our Enemyes and them if occatyon shall Requier
to persue & prosicute in or oute of the limits of our saide plan-
tations or any of them & if it shall please god them to van-
quish apprehend and take & being taken either according to
the law of Armes to put to death or to keep & preserve alive
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
53
at your discrestion & to Exicute marshall law in time of Inva-
tion Insurrection or war & duringe the Continuance of the
same, & to doe & exicute all & every other thing w'ch to a
Captaine Genirall doth or ought of righte to belong as fully
& amply as any of our Captaines Generall doth or hath
usally done & we doe hereby give & grante unto you full
power & authority by & w'th the advice and Consent of our
saide Counsill to Erect raise & build in our Province & plan-
tation aforesaide or any parte of it such & soe many forts
platforms Cattles Cittyes Broughes Townes & fortifications
As by the advice aforesaide shall be Judged Nesseary and
the same or any of them to fortifye & furnish with ordinance
ammunition and all sorte of Armes fitt and Nesseary for the
security & defence of our saide province & by the advice
aforesaide the same againe or any of them to demolish or
Dismantle as maye be moste Convenient & if any Invasion
shall at any time happen or other distruction detriment or
Anoyance bee made or done by Indians or others upon or unto
our good Subjects inhabiting within our saide province of
Newhamshire we doe by these presents for us our heires &
sucsesors declare ordaine & grante that it shall & maye be
lawfull to & for our Subjects soe Commisionated by you from
time to time & at all times for theire Espitiall defence &
safety to encounter Expell repell & resist by force of armes
& all other fitting wayes & meanes whatsoever all & every
such person or persons as shall at any time hereafter attempt
or Enterprise the distruction Invasion detriment or anoy-
ance of any of our saide loving Subjects or theire plantation
or Estates & above all things we doe by these sents will
requier & Commande you to take all possible Care for the
discountenance of vice & incourigement of vertue & good
living that by such example the Infidells maye be united
[invited] & desire to pertake of the Christian religion & for
the greater ease & Satisfaction of our saide loving Subjects
in matters of Religion wee doe hereby will & requier & Com-
mande that Liberty of Consience shall be allowed unto all
Protistants & that such espitially as shall be Conformable to
the rites of the Church of England shall bee particularly
Countenanced & Encouraged & for Supporting the Charge
of the Goverment of our saide Province of Newhamshire our
will & pleasure is and wee doe by these presents authorise
& requier you & our saide Counsill to Continue such Taxes
and Imposisions as have been & are now levied and Imposed
upon the Inhabitants thereof and that the same be levyed &
destributed to those ends in the best and moste equall man-
ner that can be untill A generall assembly of our saide prov-
ince shall have Considered & agreed upon the fittest wayes
for raising of taxes in such proportion as maye be requisite
54.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
for defraying the Charge Of the Goverment & it is our
further will and Pleasure that all Publick monyes Reaised
or to be Raised within our saide province be Ishued oute by
warrant from you by & with the advise and Consent of the
Counsill & disposed by you for the Supporte of the Gover-
ment & not otherwise and you are to Exersise all Powers
belonging to the place and office of viceadmirall of & in all
the seas & Coasts belonging to your Goverment according to
such Commision authority and Instructions as you shall
receive from our dearest Brother the Duke of Yorke our
high Admirall of our fforiegne plantations or from our high
Admirall or Commisioners for Exicuting the office of lord
high Admirall of our fforeigne Plantations for the time
being and we doe give you Power to appoynte ffaires &
Markets according as you with the advice of the Counsill
shall think fitt and we doe hereby give and grante unto
you full power & authority to appoynte within your saide
province and plantation under your goverment such & soe
many ports harbours Bayes havens & other places for the
Convenience and security of Shiping & for the better Load-
ing and unloading of Goods & Merchandizes in such & soe
many places as by you with the advice and Consent of the
saide Counsill shall be thought fitt and Convenient and in
them or any of them to erect Nominate & appoynte Custome
houses wharehouses and Officers Relating thereunto & them
to Allter Change place or displace from time to time as with
the advice aforesaide shall be thought fitt Provided all-
wayes; that all dew Obedience be given to the Severall acts of
Parliment made within this our kingdome of England and to
the Rules & methods scribed thereby for the security and
Encourigment of trade & Navigation and we doe hereby
requier and Command all Officers & minesters Civill & Mili-
tary & all other Inhabitants of our saide Province and Planta-
tion under your Goverment to bee Obedient Ayding and
assisting unto you the said Edward Cranfeild in the Exicu-
tion of this our Commision and of the powers and author-
ityes therein Contayned and we doe herby further give and
grante unto you full Power & Authority to Constitute
Appoynt and Commisionate any fitt Person to be your Deputy
within our saide Province under your Commande whome we
doe order and Appointe to bee of our Counsill and doe hereby
Grante unto him full power and Authority to doe & exicute
what Soever hee shall bee by you authorized & appoynted to
doe in persuance of & according to the Powers and Authori-
tyes granted unto you in this our Commision & wee doe Like-
wise authorize & Impower you to remove & displace any
such deputy Apointed by you as you shall [see] Cause and in
Case you shall happen to dye; & there be noe other Person
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
55
upon the place Commisionated by us to bee Commander in
Cheife our will & pleasure is that the then present Counsill
of New hamshire doe take upon them the adminestration of
the goverment and Exicute this Commission & the Severall
powers and Authorityes herein Conteined & that such Coun-
cellor who shall be at the time of your death Residing within
our province of Newhamshire and nominated in this our Com-
mision before any other at that time Residing there doe pre-
side in our saide Counsill with such Powers & preheminenses
as any former president hath used & Injoyed within our saide
province untill our pleasure shall be known therein, & in Case
you shall bee absent oute of our saide Province of Newham-
shire & there be noe Debuty appoynted by you or other per-
son upon the place Commisionated by us to be Commander
In Cheife; our will & pleasure is that our saide Councill shall
likewise take upon them the adminestration of the Gover-
ment Untill you shall arrive at our saide province & whereas
Severall of the Inhabitants of the saide Province of Newham-
shire have been sometime & now are in the posesion of Sev-
erall quantityes of Lands & are saide to have made Consider-
able Improvements thereon having now title for the same,
or such pretended title only as hath been derived from
the goverment of Massithutets baye in vertue of theire
Imaginary Line w'ch title as it hath by the opinion of our
judges in England been alltogether set aside soe the Agents
dewly Impowered by our saide Collony of the Masithutets
baye have Consequently disowned any righte either in the
Soyle or Goverment thereof from the three miles line afore-
saide and it Appearing unto us that the Ansestors of Robert
Mason Esqr obtained grants from our greate Counsill Estab-
lished of Plimouth for the tract of land aforesaide & where
at very greate Expense upon the same untill molested &
finally driven oute, which hath occasioned a lasting Com-
plainte for Justice by the saide Robert Mason ever since our
Restoration however to prevent in this Case any unreason-
able demands which mighte be made by the saide Robert
Mason for the righte he Clameth in the saide Soyle wee have
obliged the said Robert Mason under his hand and Sealle to
declare that he will demande nothing for the time paste
Untill the four and twentieth daye of June which was in the
yeare of our Lord God one thousand Six hundred Seaventy
and Nine nor Molest any in there Posesion for the time to
Come but will make outt titles to them and theire heires for
ever provided that they will Paye unto him upon a fare agree-
ment in lew of all other Rents Six pence in the pound accord-
ing to the Just and trew yearly value of all houses builte by
them, and of all lands whether gardons Orchards Arable or
Pasture which have been improved by them; which hee will
56
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
agree shall be bounded oute unto every of the partyes Con-
cerned and that thee Residue maye remaine unto himself to
bee disposed for his best advanetage but if notwithstanding
the saide overture from the saide Robert Mason which
seemes to be faire unto us any of the Inhabitants of the saide
Province of Newhamshire shall Refuse to agree with the
saide Robert Mason or his Agents upon the terms aforesaide
our will & Pleasure is that you shall have power & you are
hereby Impowered to Interpose & reconsile all Difirences if
you Can that shall or maye arise betweene the saide Robert
Mason & the saide Inhabitants but if you cannot then we
doe hereby Command & requier you to send into England
such Causes fayerly & Impartially Stated together w'th your
oppinion & reasons upon the same that soe wee our ayres &
Sucsesors by & with the advice of our and there privy Coun-
sill maye Determine therein according to right & Lastly
wee doe hereby declare & appoynte that you the Saide Edward
Cranfeild shall & maye holde Execute and enjoye the office
& place of our Leftinant Governour & Commander in Cheife
in & over our Province & plantation of Newhamshire together
with all & Singular the Powers & Authorityes hereby granted
unto you for & during our Pleasure & wee doe hereby further
declare our will & pleasure to bee that our Commision bear-
ing date the Eighteenth daye of September; one thousand
Six hundred Seavnty nine doe from henceforth Sease deter-
mine & become utterly voide In Wittness whereof wee have
Caused these our letters to be made Patents Witnes our
Self at Westminster the ninth daye of Maye in the foure and
thirtieth yeare of our Reigne-
Barker
INSTRUCTIONS
1 You are not to Suffer any Publicke mony whatsoever to
be Ishued or disposed of otherwise then by A warrante under
your hand but the Assembly maye be neverless permitted
from time to time to vew & examin the accounts of mony or
Vallew of Mony disposed of by vertew of such Laws as they
shall make w'ch you are to signifye unto us as occation shall
serve
2 And you shall observe in the frameing & passing of laws
that now fines forfitures & penalltyes be Mentioned therein
to be appoynted or become payble Otherwise then to us
our Ayres & Sucsesors for the Supporte of the goverment &
to the informer except in speciall Cases
3 And it is our Express will & pleasure that all laws what-
soever for the good goverment and Supporte of our sayde
Province of Newhamshire be meade Indifinate & w'thoute
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
57
limitation of time except the same be made for a temporary
end & which shall expiar and have its full Effect within a ser-
tayne terme—
4 And therefore you Shall not Reinact any law w'ch shall
bee once Inacted by you except upon very urgent occation
but in noe Case more then once w'thout our Express Consent
5 You are upon Calling & meeting of the assembly to
nominate & appoynte a fit person to serve you as your Clarke
& you are to take Care that he doe furnish you w'th Coppyes
of all votes orders & prosedings of the Assembly as often as
you shall see Cause which you shall transmit unto us & our
Committe of treade & Plantations by the first oppertunity &
Duplicots by the next Conveyance-
6 And whereas wee think it fitt for the better adminestra-
tion of Justice that a law be passed in the Assembly wheare
in shall be sett the valew of monyes Estates Eather in goods.
or lands under w'ch they shall not be Capable of serving as
jurious our pleasure is that the first opportunity you pre-
pare and inact one to the purpose—
[EXTRACT FROM BOOK OF LAWS OF ENGLAND ACCOMPANYING
THE INSTRUCTIONS.]
16th of King Charles the first in the Statat Book, page
1108 Sectyon the 5th-
Bee it likewise declared & inacted by Authority of this
present Parliment that neither his magesty nor his Privy
Counsill have or ought to have any Jurisdiction Power or
Authority by Inglish bill Petition Articles Leybill or any
other Arbotary waye whatsoever to Examin or draw into
question, Determine or dispose of the land Teniments; herri-
ditiments goods or Chattells of any the Subjects of this king-
dom but that the same ought to be tryed & determined in the
ordinary Course of Justice & by the ordinary Course of the
law
[GOVERNOR'S ORDER.]
[RICHARD CHAMBERLAIN TO BE REGISTRAR AND CLERK.]
[Council Book 1, p. 48.]
Octob'r 23d 1682.
Ordered by the Govern'r, That Richard Chamberlain Esqr
have the registring or recording of all Bils & Deeds of sale,
mortgages Wills (All which are hereby to be so recorded) as
Perquisits & appertaining to his Office of Secr & Cl. of the
Counsel: As also, That he be Cl of all the Courts of Judica-
ture held within this Province; And have the entry of all
Actions, Appeals, Judgments; And the making of all process,
58
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
writs of attachm't & other writs, & Execucons; And do all
other acts relating to the said Courts, during the Pleasure
of the Governour.
Vera Copia from the Councel Book
Teste
R: Chamberlain Secr'io
[FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY.]
[First Session begun and held at Portsmouth November 14, 1682,
34 Charles II.]
[Second Session begun and held at Portsmouth January 9,*
1682-3, 34 Charles II.]
[This collection of laws is sometimes designated as the "Cranfield Code."
The copies here given are transcripts from drafts found in the English
archives. The first two in the order given bear the seal of the province
and the signature of Edward Cranfield, the Lieutenant-Governor. These,
differing from each other in particulars which will be specified, are found in
the same custody, both bearing the same evidences of authenticity, viz.: the
seal of the province, the signature of the Lieutenant-Governor, and the
attestation of Richard Chamberlain, clerk of the Council. A letter of the
Lieutenant-Governor to Sir Leoline Jenkins, dated January 10, 1682-3, and
endorsed as received May 10, 1683, contains this paragraph:-
"Herewith I send the Laws that I have thought fit to pass and putt under
the Seal. I sent you some few others that you might see the nature of
these people."
Lieutenant-Governor Cranfield's letter of date January 23, 1682-3, con-
tains this sentence:
"I herewith send your Lordships a duplicate of the Laws I have passed,
which if your Lordships please to disallow of, it may be a means of having
better made for the future: in the meantime, I govern them by the Laws of
England."
The second P. S. to the above letter, in the Governor's own hand, dated
30 January, contains this sentence:
"I herewith send the laws I have passed in the late Assembly."
Of the two sets of enactments which bear the seal and the Lieutenant-Gov-
ernor's signature, the one which is now printed in full is presumed to be the
earlier because it contains a provision in regard to the choice of jurors and
other town officers, Sect. 16, which is wanting in the other. The first or
popular method was not in accordance with the ideas of the Lieutenant-Gov-
ernor. Its elimination or the substitution of the English method as to
choice of jurymen would mark a later modification of the laws. This, which
we designate as the earlier draft, presumably would be the one transmitted
January 10, it being remembered that the first session of the assembly was
November 14, and the second, January 20. Assuming that the transcript
which omits the section relating to the choice of jurymen is the second, and
that it was completed subsequent to the first session, it would be expected
that some additions would appear. For convenience in reference the first
draft is designated as A, and the second as B. Paper B has an additional
section which is entitled:-"For bringing plenty of money into this Prov-
ince by putting a value on foreign Coin." This section is given immedi-
ately after the series of enactments as found in paper A. Another copy of
these laws is in the office of the secretary of this state. This copy has
been printed in Vol. 8, Collections of the N. H. Historical Society, pp.
*Edward_Randolph, in a letter to the Lords of Trade and Plantations,
gives this date as January 9; I, Provincial Papers, 491. Belknap, Farmer's
ed., 98, gives January 20 as the date of dissolution of this assembly. Belk-
nap adds that a dissolution of the assembly was hitherto unknown in this
province. Adams's Annals of Portsmouth makes a statement to the same
effect.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
59
90-96, and in I, Province Papers, pp. 444-451. This collection may be desig-
nated as paper C. Sections 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, of paper C are
not found in A. Section 21 of C is apparently an amendment of section
16 of paper A made by substitution of the latter section for the former.
Section 18 of paper B, relating to the value of foreign coin, is the same as
section 20 of paper C, section 18 of D. The transcript of the laws desig-
nated as paper C is attested by Richard Chamberlain as "vera copia." If
this record is correct it must be concluded that sections 22, 23, 24, 25, 26,
and 27 of paper C were added by amendment to the sections in paper B.
Two other manuscripts which purport to be copies of the Cranfield laws
remain to be considered. These are transcripts from papers in the English
archives. One of them will be designated as D, and the other as E.
Manuscript D is endorsed as laws of New Hampshire, passed at an assem-
bly held November 14, 1682. It is attested over the date March 3, 1682
(1682-3), as a true copy of the laws on file by Richard Chamberlain, clerk
of the Council. It will be discovered by comparison of C, the copy printed
in I, Province Papers, pp. 444-451, with the copy D that there are but
slight differences between them. These variations are for the most part
verbal and in the numbering of sections. Manuscript D will be found
in the pages of this volume following A and B. The manuscript desig-
nated E does not bear any attestation as a true copy of the laws of
New Hampshire. It has the appearance of a draft that may have been the
basis of amendments and revisions for the laws in the form in which they
finally appeared. This paper may contain the propositions for legislation
which occasioned the remark of Lieutenant-Governor Cranfield before
quoted: "I sent your honor some few others that you might see the nature
of these people." This manuscript, and five bills relating to the subject
matter of sections 16, 22, 23, 24, and 25 of the draft designated as paper D,
will be found in the appendix.
Presumably the five bills which relate respectively to nonsuit (section 22),
confession of judgment (section 25), small causes (section 23), town charges
(section 16), and attachments (section 24), were introduced in the assem-
bly, adopted, and at some stage of the proceedings subsequent to the
arrangement of the paragraphs in draft A and its transmission, incorpo-
rated in the final draft which is designated as D.
Under the current titles, Fourth General Assembly, first and second
sessions, paper A constitutes chapter 1, paper B, chapter 2, paper C, chap-
ter 3, and paper D, chapter 4.
""
This code of laws, the Cranfield Code, so-called, was discredited in advance
by the advices of the Lieutenant-Governor. No record, however, from the
Lords of Trade and Plantations, the attorney general, or solicitor general, of
recommendations to, or action of the king in council, concerning them has
been discovered. In the MS. D, the marking "stet, or "st.," appears on
the margin against every section except 14, 15, 16, and 22. Against 14 and
against 16 is the character X Against 15 and 22 there is no marking.
These characters are apparently not in the handwriting of the body of the
MS. Whether they indicate an examination of the acts by the proper
authorities in England, with reference to confirmation or rejection, is at
this time only a subject of conjecture. The suggestion made in reference
to the Cutt Code, that it was not included in the list of laws reported by
Governor Dudley in 1702, as in force in New Hampshire, applies to the
Cranfield Code, and is evidence, negative it may be, that the hint of the
Lieutenant-Governor himself was effectual, and that this body of laws was
also disallowed.
After the assembly was dissolved by the Lieutenant-Governor in January,
1682-3, the relations between the popular party and his party became so
much strained that legislation was practically impossible. Only one act,
that for the restraint of pirates, 1684, was passed in the regular course.
Finding himself in irreconcilable disagreement with the popular branch
of the assembly, the Lieutenant-Governor, with the consent and co-opera-
tion of his council, assumed that the commission gave them authority to
erect courts and regulate procedure, to continue rates, to regulate trade and
commerce, and to establish ordinances on other subjects. This course, and
his aggressive policy in behalf of the Masonian interest, greatly exasper-
ated the people, and a contentious and disorderly period marks the history
of this administration. Farmer's Belknap, ch. 8; Chalmers's Annals of the
Present United Colonies, passim; I, N. H. Province Papers, pp. 433-590.]
60
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
{SEAL}
EDW CRANFIELD.
[CHAPTER 1, (A).]
LAWS MADE BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE
PROVINCE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, BY
THE ADVICE AND CONSENT OF THE
COUNCELL AND GENERALL ASSEM-
BLIE, HELD AT PORTSMOUTH THE
14TH OF NOV: 1682.
[34 Charles II.]
[1. JUSTICE.]
·
BE IT ENACTED by the Governor by the advice & consent
of the Councell and Assembly, And it is ENACTED by the
Authority of the same, That Justice & right be equally &
impartially administred unto all men, not sold, denied or
causelessly deferred unto any.
[2. ADULTERY.
BE IT ENACTED &c That whosoever shall commit Adul-
tery with a married woman, or one betrothed to another man;
Both of them shall be fined Ten pound a peece; & shall wear
two Capitall letters, viz (AD) cut out in cloth, & sown upon
their uppermost garments on their arm, or back. And if at
any time any person so offending, shall appear without the
said letters, he or she shall be lyable to pay a fine of ffivè
pound as oft as the offender shall be so found.
[3. FORNICATION.]
BE IT ENACTED &c. That if any man commit ffornication
with any single woman; They shall both be punished by pay-
ing each a fine not exceeding ffive pound. And in case any
com'it carnall copulation after contract before mariage;
They shall be amerced fifty shillings a peece.
[4. BURGLARY.]
FFORASMUCH as many persons of late years have bin &
are apt to be injurious to the lives & goods of others, notwith-
standing all Laws & means to prevent the same; It is there-
fore ENACTED, &c. That if any person commit Burglary,
by breaking open any Dwelling house or Warehouse; or shall
forcibly rob any person in the field or highway; Such offender
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
61
:
shall for the first offence be branded on the right hand with
the letter (B) or (R). And if he shall offend in the like kind
a second time, he shall be put to death, or otherwise greev-
ously punished as the Court shall determine.
[5. STEALING.]
BE IT ENACTED &c. That if any person shall be legally
convict of Stealing or purloining any Horses, Cattell, Mony
or other goods of any kind, he shall be punished, by restoring
threefold to the party wronged; And a ffine not exceeding
Twenty shillings, or corporall punishment to be inflicted, as
the nature & circumstances of the Case may require.
[6. STEALING VESSELS.]
And whosoever shall Steale or attempt to steal any Ship,
bark or vessell of burden, or any public am'unition; Shall be
severely punished according to the nature of such a fact,
Provided it extend not to life or limb.
[7. PROFANE SWEARING.]
BE IT ENACTED &c. That whosoever shall prophane the
sacred and blessed Name of God, by vain swearing or curs-
ing; Shall pay a ffine of Ten shillings, or be set in the stocks
an hour.
[*8. DRUNKENNESS.]
BE IT ENACTED &c. That whosoever shall be found
drunk, shall pay a fine of Ten shillings, or sit an hour in the
stocks. And whosoever shall drink to excess, so as thereby
to disguise himself, discovering the same by speech or behav-
ior, he shall pay a ffine of Three shillings & four pence or sit
in the stocks half an hour.
[†9. LYING.]
BE IT ENACTED &c. That if any person being sixteen
years of age, or upwards, shall wittingly or willingly make
or publish any Lye, which may tend to the damage or hurt of
any particular person, or with intent to deceiv or abuse the
people with false news or reports; he shall be fined for every
offence Ten shillings, or sit in the stocks an hour.
*This is numbered 9 in the later copy.
†This is numbered 8 in the later copy.
62
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
[10. LORD'S DAY.]
FFOR preventing of the prophanation of the Lords day,
Whosoever shall on the Lords day be found to do unnecessary
servile labour, travell, sport or frequent Ordinaries in time
of public worship, or idely straggle abroad; The person so
offending shall pay a fine of Ten shillings, or be set in the
stocks an hour. And for discovery of such Offenders, IT IS
ORDERED, That the Constable with some other meet per-
son whom he shall choose, Shall in the time of public wor-
ship go forth to any suspected places within their Precincts.
to find out any offender as above, & when found to return
their names to some Justice of the Peace who shall forthwith
send for such Offender, & deal with him according to Law.
[11. SCRIPTURES, MINISTERS.]
BE IT ENACTED &c. That whosoever shall speak con-
temptuously of the Scriptures, or holy penmen thereof; Shall
be punished by fine not exceeding five pounds. And who-
soever shall behave himself contemptuously toward the
Word of God preached, or any Minister thereof called, &
faithfully dispensing the same in any Congregation; either
by manifest interrupting of him in his ministeriall dispensa-
tions, or falsely charging him with teaching error; Such
Offender shall pay a ffine of Twenty shillings or sit two hours
in the Stocks.
[12.
BURNING FENCES.]
BE IT ENACTED &c. That if any person do willlfully & on
purpose burn down any mans ffence; he shall make good the
damage to the party wrong'd, & be amerced fforty shillings,
& bound to the good behavior for six months.
[13. LANDMARKS.]
BE IT ENACTED &c. That whosoever shall willfully pluck
up, remove, or deface any Landmark or bounds between
party or party that hath bin or shall be orderly made or set
up by persons thereunto appointed; he or they shall be fined,
not exceeding ffive pound for such offence.
[14. CORPORAL PUNISHMENT.]
FFORASMUCH as sundry dissolute persons are too ready
to run into the transgression of such Laws, unto which ffines
are annexed, & perhaps are so indigent as that the paying of
ffines may be very injurious to themselves and ffamilies; BE
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
63
ÍT THEREFORE ENACTED &C. That every person so
offending not having five pound ratable estate according to
the valuation stated by Law (or parents or masters, under
whose Government they are, that will forthwith pay the
fine;) Shall be lyable to be whip'd: viz for an offence where
the fine doth not exceed 10s five stripes where the fine does
not exceed 20s ten stripes; Where the fine doth not exceed
51 20 stripes; And where the fine doth not exceed 101 thirty
stripes; or upwards, not exceeding forty stripes.
[15. CONSTABLES, RATES.]
BE IT ENACTED &c That if any Constable shall fail to
clear his Province Rates within his year, or such time as shall
be limited him by the Trustees or Overseers of the Town; he
shall be Lyable to have his estate distrained by Warrant
from the Treasurer, directed to the Marshall of the Province
for the sum not gathered.
And for all Town-rates made & com'tted to the Constable by
the Trustees or Overseers of the Town, to be collected within
the time limited; The Constable failing of his duty herein,
shall be lyable to have his estate distrained by Warrant
from the Trustees or Overseers, directed to the Marshall for
the sum not gathered. And whereas the Constables of the
severall Towns are injoined to clear their Rates, on penalty
of making good the same out of their own estates, IT IS
ORDER'D That if any person or persons within this Prov-
înce rated, shall refuse to pay his Rate or Rates, & discover
his own estate to the Constable; he shall have liberty to seize
his person & carry him to the next prison there to remain till
he pay the same, or give security so to do.
[16. JURORS, ASSEMBLYMEN, OVERSEERS.]
FFOR the regulation of the choice of Jurors, Assemblymen,
Trustees or Overseers for the respective Towns &c BE IT
ENACTED &c. That all persons, setled inhabitants & free-
holders in any Town of this Province of Twenty one years,
and no other, Shall have liberty of giving their votes for the
choice of Assemblymen, Jurors, Trustees or Overseers for the
respective Towns, Constables, or other necessary Town Offi-
cers, or in any other Town concerns. Nor shall any be
chosen Assembly-men, Jurors, or Trustees &c. for the Towns,
but such. And further, No person shall be deemed a free-
holder, but such as hath a ratable estate of 151 according to
valuation of stated by Law.
64
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
[17. RATE.]
FFOR defraying the public charges of the Province, BE IT
ENACTED &c. That a Rate be made of ffour pence in the
pound upon all persons & estates within the Province accord-
ing to valuation thereof last set: And that the Trustees or
Overseers in the severall Towns do forthwith effect it, com-
'itting the same into the hands of the respective Constables,
to be collected & transmitted into the hands of the Province
Treasurer, in the species at the prices following. Viz:
Merch'ble Pine boards at any convenient landing place in
Pascataqua river at 26s p mille.
Ditto white oak pipe staves at some convenient landing
where the Constable shall appoint 50s
Ditto red oak Pipe staves ut supra 35s m:
Beef at 2d
Pork at 3d
pound
po'd:
Indian corn at 3s bushell.
Wheat at 5s bush:
m:
Pease at 4s P bush:
Malt at 3s bush:
ffish at Price currant
And whosoever will pay their Rates in mony, shall be abated
one third part.
The said Rate being paid into the Treasury, what comes not
in mony, to be converted into mony, & applied to the uses
following. Viz:
A Present of Two hundred pound in money to our Hon'd
Governor, as soon as sd Rate can be collected & converted
into mony; and the remainder to answer any other Province
charge that doth or may arise.
[18. SUMMONS AND ATTACHMENT.]
BE IT ENACTED &c. That all Sum'ons & Attachments
shall be served Six days inclusively before the Court where
the Case is to be tried; & the cause or ground of the Action
shall in the sd process be briefly declared, & in what capac-
ity the Plaintiff sueth; whether in his own name, or as
Assignee, Gardian, Execut'r Adm'nstrat'r, Agent, or such
like; Or in defect thereof, if exception be taken before the
Parties join issue, it shall be accounted a legall bar; & the
Plaintiff shall be lyable to pay costs. But no circumstantiall
error in a Sum'ons or Attachment where the person & cause
intended may be rationally understood, shall be taken as a
sufficient ground for a Nonsuit
BY ORDER R: CHAMBERLAIN
C'k of the Councell.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
65
SEAL
EDW CRANFIELD.
[CHAPTER 2, (B).]
LAWS MADE BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE
PROVINCE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, BY
THE ADVICE AND CONSENT OF THE
COUNCELL AND GENERALL ASSEM-
BLIE, HELD AT PORTSMOUTH THE
14TH OF NOV., 1682.
[34 Charles II.]
[This MS. copy of the original duplicate, so-called, now designated as
MS. B, and transmitted by the lieutenant-governor, as the endorsement on
the paper seems to indicate, to the home government, and there received
May 10, 1683, differs from the foregoing, chapter 1, only in the two partic-
ulars that in it one section, 16 of chapter 1, is omitted, and the section fol-
lowing, numbered 18, is added. This similarity of the two MSS. renders
it unnecessary to print the MS. B in full.]
[18. VALUATION OF FOREIGN COIN.]
FFOR bringing plenty of mony into this Province by put-
ting a value on forain coin; BE IT ENACTED &c. That the
severall sorts of currant forain coin herein after named, shall
pass here in all payments at the value hereby put upon them;
That is to say, The peece of eight ryals of Spain, or dollars
of Sevil, Mexico & Pillar, & all lesser Peeces, provided they
be good silver, at Six shillings eight pence by the ounce Troy
waight. PROVIDED That all monies payable upon former
contracts, be paid in specie according to agreement.
By Order R: Chamberlain
Cl of the Councell.
This is the Duplicate of the abovesaid Laws allready sent.
Dr.
SEAL
[CHAPTER 3, (C).]
LAWS MADE BY THE HONORABLE, THE
GOVERNOR, WITH THE ADVICE AND
CONSENT OF THE COUNCIL AND GEN-
ERAL ASSEMBLY, HELD AT PORTS-
MOUTH, THE 14TH OF NOVEMBER, 1682.
[34 Charles II.]
[The copy of the body of laws sometimes called the Cranfield Code
which was preserved in the files of the secretary of the province and after-
wards in the office of the secretary of state, and in this connection desig-
nated as MS. C, having already been published as above stated, and being
quite nearly identical with the copy which is printed hereafter as Chap-
ter 4, designated as MS. D, it is not deemed necessary to reproduce it in
this work.]
5
66
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
[CHAPTER 4, (D).]
LAWS MADE BY THE GOVERNOR WITH THE ADVICE
& CONSENT OF THE COUNCELL AND GENERAL
ASSEMBLY HELD AT PORTSM'TH IN THE PROV-
INCE OF NEW-HAMPSHIRE THE 14TH NOVEM-
B'R 1682.
[34 Charles II.]
[This copy of the Cranfield Code, so-called, is the one designated as D.
The date of certification by Richard Chamberlain, the clerk of the prov-
ince council, is March 3, 1682-3, and the endorsement indicates that it was
received into official custody in England June 4, 1683. Its publication will
make available several corrections of the copy heretofore in use in the
publications of the state.]
1. JUSTICE.
BE IT ENACTED by the Govern'r with the advice & consent
of the Councell & Generall Assembly, And it is ENACTED
by the Authority aforesaid; That Justice & Right be equally
& impartially administred unto all men, not sold, denied, or
causelessly deferred unto any.
Stet
2.
ADULTERY.
BE IT ENACTED &c. That whosoever shall commit Adul-
tery with a married woman, or one betrothed to another man,
both of them shall be fined; viz Ten pounds a peece; And
shall wear two Capitall letters viz (AD) cut out in cloth, &
sowed upon their uppermost garments, on their arm or back.
And if at any time any person so offending shall appear with-
out the sd letters, he or she shall be liable to pay a fine of
ffive pounds as often as the offender shall be so found.
Stet
3.
FFORNICATION.
BE IT ENACTED &c. That if any man commit ffornica-
tion w'th any single woman, they shall both be punished, by
paying each a fine not exceeding ffive pound. And in case any
commit carnall copulation after contract before mariage, they
shall be amerced ffifty shillings a peece.
Stet
4. BURGLARY.
BE IT ENACTED &c. ffor as much as many persons of late
years have been, & are apt to be injurious to the lives & goods
of others, notwithstanding all Laws & means to prevent the
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
67
same, That if any person com'it Burglary by breaking open
any Dwelling house, or warehouse, or shall forcibly rob any
person in the field or highways; Such offender shall for the
first offence be branded on the right hand with the letter (B)
or (R). And if he shall offend in the like kind a second time,
he shall be put to death, or otherwise greevously punished,
as the Court shall determine.
Stet
5
STEALING.
BE IT ENACTED &c. That if any person in this Province
shall be legally convicted of stealing or purloining any horses,
cattell, mony, or other goods of any kind; He shall be pun-
ished, by restoring threefold to the party wronged; & a fine
not exceeding 20s. or corporall punishment, to be inflicted as
the nature or circumstance of the Case may require.
Stet
6 STEALING VESS:
AND whosoever shall steal or attempt to steal any Ship,
Bark, or Vessell of burden, or any public am'unition; shall be
severely punished according to the nature of such a ffact;
Provided it extend not to life or limb.
Stet
7. SWEARING &C.
BE IT ENACTED &c. That whosoever shall prophane the
sacred & blessed name of God by vain swearing, or cursing;
shall pay a fine of Ten shillings, or be set in the stocks an
hour.
Stet
8 LYING.
BE IT ENACTED &c. That if any person being sixteen
years of age, or upwards, shall wittingly or willingly make
or publish a Lye, which may tend to the damage or hurt of
any particular person, or with intent to deceiv & abuse the
people with false news or reports; He shall be fined for every
such offence Ten shillings, or sit in the stocks an hour.
Stet
9
DRUNKENESS.
BE IT ENACTED &c. That whosoever shall be found
drunk, shall pay a fine of Ten shillings, or sit an hour in the
stocks. And whosoever shall drink to excess, so as thereby
to disguise himself, discovering the same by speech or behav-
iour; he shall pay a fine of three shillings & four pence, or
sit in stocks half an hour.
t
Stet
68
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
!
10 LORDS DAY.
•
BE IT ENACTED &c. for prevention of the prophanac'on of
the Lords day; That whosoever shall on the Lords day be
found to do unnecessary servile labour, travell, sport, or
frequent Ordinaries in time of public worship; or idely
straggle abroad; the person so offending shall pay a fine of
Ten shillings, or be set in the stocks an hour. And for dis-
covery of such offenders, IT IS ORDERED, that the Consta-
ble with some other meet person whom he shall choose, shall
in the time of public worship go forth to any suspected places.
within their precincts, to find out any offender as above, &
when found, to return their names, to some Justice of the
Peace, who shall forthwith send for such offender, & deal
with him according to Law.
Stet
11. SCRIPT: MINIST'RS.
BE IT ENACTED &c. That whosoever shall speak con-
temptuously of the Scriptures, or Holy penmen thereof, shall
be punished by fine not exceeding five pound. And whoso-
ever shall behave himself contemptuously toward the word
of God preached, or any Minister thereof called, & faithfully
dispensing the same in any Congregation; either by manifest
interrupting of him in his ministeriall dispensations, or
falsely charging him with teaching error; Such offender shall
pay a fine of twenty shillings, or sit two hours in the stocks.
Stet
12
BURN FENCES.
BE IT ENACTED &c. That if any person do willfully & on
purpose burn down any mans fence; he shall make good the
damage to the party wronged, & be amerced forty shillings
and bound to the good behaviour for six months.
Stet
13 LANDMARK.
BE IT ENACTED &c. That whosoever shall willfully pluck
up, remove, or deface any Land mark or bounds between
Party or party that hath bin or shall be orderly made or set
up by persons thereunto appointed he or they shall be fined,
not exceeding ffive pounds for such offence.
Stet
14 CORP. PUNISH:
FFORASMUCH as sundry dissolute persons are too ready
to run into the transgression of such Laws, unto which finest
are annexed, & perhaps are so indigent, as that the paying of
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
69
fines may be very injurious to themselves & families; BE IT
THEREFORE ENACTED &c. That every person so offend-
ing, not having five pound ratable estate according to the
valuac❜on stated by Law (or parents or Masters under whose
Government they are, that will forthwith pay the fine) shall
be liable to be whipt, viz for an offence where the fine does not
exceed ten shillings, five stripes; where the fine does not
exceed twenty shillings, ten stripes; where the fine doth not
exceed five pound, twenty stripes: And where the fine doth
not exceed ten pound, thirty stripes, or upwards not exceed-
ing forty stripes.
[Marked] X
15. CONST: RATES
BE IT ENACTED &c. That if any Constable shall fail to
clear his Province Rates within his year, or such time as shall
be limited him by the Trustees or Overseers of the Town; he
shall be lyable to have his estate distrained by warrant from
the Treasurer, directed to the Marshall of the Province, for
the sum not gathered. And for all Town Rates made &
com'itted to the constable by the Trustees or Overseers of
the Town, to be collected within the time limited; the Con-
stable failing of his duty herein, shall be lyable to have his
estate distrained by warrant from the Trustees or Overseers,
directed to the Marshall for the sum not gathered. And
whereas the Constables of the severall Towns are injoined to
clear their Rates, on penalty of making good the same out of
their own estates, IT IS ORDERED, that if any person or
persons within this Province rated, shall refuse to pay his
Rate or Rates, & discover his own estate to the Constable, he
shall have liberty to seize his person, & carry him to the next
prison, there to remain till he pay the same, or give good
security so to do.
[No mark against this section in MS.]
16. MINIST'RS.
FFOR defraying the present charges arisen in the severall
Towns for the support of the Ministers of the Gospell; as
also for paym't of the necessary expences of the Assembly
men of each Town during their Sitting, & other necessary
occasions relating to the Town; BE IT ENACTED &c. That
the Trustees or Overseers (hitherto called Select-men) in the
respective Towns where they live, do make such Rates upon
all persons & estates in the severall Towns, to be forthwith
collected by the Constable, as may answer the occasions
aforesd (as formerly) untill further order; & that particular
70
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
care be taken, with reference to all arrearages of Rates, that
the same may be forthwith collected, & paid to the persons
to whom they are due.
[Marked] X
17. RATE.
FFOR defraying the public charges of the Province, BE IT
ENACTED &c. That a Rate be made of ffour pence in the
pound upon all persons & estates within the Province, accord-
ing to valuac'on thereof last set, & that the Trustees or Over-
seers in the severall Towns do forthwith effect it, com'itting
the same into the hands of the respective Constables, to be
collected & transmitted into the hand of the Province Treas-
urer, in the species at the prices following, viz Mer'ble Pine
boards at any convenient landing place in Pascataqua river
at 26s m: Ditto Whiteoak Pipe-staves at some convenient
landing where the Constable shall appoint, 50s m: Ditto
Red oak Pipe staves (ut supra) 35s m: Beef at 2d lb.
Pork at 3d. Indian corn at 3s bush: Wheat at 5s
bush: Pease at 4s bush: Malt at 3s bush: ffish at
price currant. And whosoever will pay their Rates in mony
shall be abated one third part. The said Rate being paid
into the Treasury, what comes not in mony, to be converted
into mony, & applied to the uses following. viz A present
of two hundred pound in mony to our Hon'd Governor, as
soon as sd Rate can be collected, & converted into mony, &
the remainder to answer any other Province charge that
doth or may arise.
Stet
18. MONY
FFOR bringing plenty of Mony into this Province, by put-
ting a value on forain coin, BE IT ENACTED &c. That the
severall sorts of currant forain coin herein after named, shall
pass here in all payments, at the value hereby put upon them.
That is to say, the Peece of Eight ryalls of Spain, or Dollars
of Sevil, Mexico, & Pillar, & all lesser Pieces, provided they
be good silver, at Six shillings eight pence by the ounce Troy
waight. Provided, that all monies payable upon former con-
tracts be paid in specie according to agreement.
Stet
19. JURIE.
WHEREAS a BILL was lately passed for regulation of the
choice of Jurors, Assembly men, Trustees. or Overseers for
the respectiv Towns &c. And it appearing that the man'er
of choice of Jurors therein expressed, is absolutely contrary
to the known Laws & Statutes of the Kingdom of England;
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
71
:
BE IT therefore ENACTED &c That the Clause in the sd
Bill relating to the choice of Jurors be repealed: And that
for the future Jury men shall be impanelled by the Sheriff or
Marshall of the Province for the time being, & sum'oned &
returned to the Court of Pleas, as it is customary in Eng-
land, & all other His Ma'ts Plantac'ons. And whosoever is
legally returned of the Jury, & appears not, & this appears
by the Oath of the Marshall, shall pay twenty shillings for
his default; unless sickness or other necessary occasions pre-
vent, such as shall give the Judg satisfaction.
Stet
20. BAIL.
THAT no person be a looser through the Officers neglect;
BE IT ENACTED &c. That no Marshall, Constable, or
other Officer shall bail any person that he hath attached,
without sufficient surety, viz one or more that is a setled
inhabitant in this Province, and that hath a visible estate to
be responsible according to the bonds required. Provided,
no mans person be imprisoned, that shall tender to the Offi-
cer sufficient security by his own estate to answer the Attach-
ment, unless in such case where the Law allows neither bail
nor main prise.
St.
21. WITHDRAW ACTION
BE IT ENACTED &c. That any person who is Plaintiff in
any Court within this Province shall have liberty at any time
before verdict given therein, to withdraw his Action; in which
case he shall pay full costs to the Defendant.
Stet
22 NONSUIT.
BE IT ENACTED &c. That if any person do make default
of appearance in any Court where he is Plaintiff, having been
three times distinctly called by the Marshall or other Officer
appointed thereto, he shall be nonsuited, & lyable to pay the
Deft costs. And if the Deft fail to make his appearance, if it
appear by the process that goods were attached, or surety or
sureties bound for his appearance; after the surety hath bin
three times called, the Cause shall proceed to Triall, & if
Judgment be given for the Plaint, execuc'on shall issue forth
against the Deft and the surety or goods attached shall stand
good for a month after Judgment. But if the execuc'on be
not levied within one month after Judgment, the goods
attached, or sureties bound, shall be discharged.
[No mark against this section in original MS.]
72
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
23. SMALL CAUS:
BE IT ENACTED &c. That every Justice of Peace in the
respective Town where he dwells, shall have power hereby to
hear & determine any Civil action where the debt or damages
exceed not forty shillings. Provided the Attachment &
Sum❜ons are made out or signed by the Clark of the Court of
Pleas for the time being. And it shall be lawful for the
party aggrieved by such determination, to appeal to the next
Court of pleas, or to the Governor & Councell, giving security
to prosecute such Appeal, & abide the Order therein.
St
24.
ATTACHM'T
BE IT ENACTED &c. That all Sum'ons & Attachments
shall be served six days inclusively before the Court where
the Cause is to be tried; & the cause or ground of the Action
shall in the sd process be briefly declared; & in what capacity
the P'f sueth; whether in his own name, or as assignee,
guardian, executor, adm'nstrator, or Agent, or such like; or
in defect thereof, if exception be taken before the parties join
issue, it shall be counted a legall bar, & the P'f shall be lyable
to pay costs. But no circumstantiall error in a Sum'ons or
Attachment, where the person & cause intended may be
rationally understood, shall be taken as a sufficient ground
for a nonsuit.
St
25
CONFESS JUDGM’T.
BE IT ENACTED &c. That any person attached, desiring
to prevent further charge, shall have liberty at any time
before the sitting of the Court where he is to answer, upon
notice given to the Plaintiff or his Attorney, to appear before
the Judg & Clerk of sd Court, & acknowledg a Judgment;
which shall stand good & valid in Law; Provided, that the
goods attached or Sureties bound, shall not be discharged
till a month after the acknowledgment of such Judgm't
unless the creditor give under his hand, that he is satisfied.
Provided also such acknowledgment of Judgment by any
person or persons not inhabiting within this Province, shall
not free them, unless they produce a sufficient surety, that is
a setled inhabitant within the limits of this Province, to
ingage with him or them in the acknowledgment of the sd
Judgment; & execuc'on to stand good against the surety for
a full month after.
St
VERA COPIA from the Originall Laws on file
Teste RIC'DO CHAMBERLAIN C'lk Co'ncil.
Mar: 30 1682
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
73
[CHAPTER 5.]
[AN ACT RELATING TO FINES AND FORFEITURES.]
[This paper was found in a separate enclosure, and not in the packages
containing the foregoing acts, time of Cranfield. In a handwriting differ-
ent from that of the matter which follows, in a corner of the front page, is
the memorandom: -"Papers relating to the Appeal of Vaughan ag't Mason
for a decree in Chancery."]
Portsmo' in New Hampshire
At A generall Assembly held in Portsmo' afforesaid the
fourtenth day of November 1682
It is enacted by the Gov'r & Councill w'th the advice & con-
sent of the Assembly that all fines forfeitures & penalties
arising by the breach of any Law within this Province shall
be payable to his Maj'tie his Heires & Succesors for the
Suport of this Goverm't, & to the informer. Except in
speciall cases where the Law otherwise directs, & the same to
bee com'ited into the hands of the Province Treasurer for the
affores'd Use
Portsmo' in New Hampshire
Richard Waldron Jun'r & John Pickering late Members of
the Gen❜ll Assembly Testifie that the above is. A true coppy
of an act of Assembly taken out of the Assemblies book which
was approved by the Gov'r & Councill, & passed for A Law
in the Province
Taken upon Oath March 31-1686
Richard Waldron Jun'r
Befor us Robt Elliot of the Councell John Pickerin
John Hinckes of the Councell
[FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY.]
[First Session Begun and Held at Newcastle January 14 and
15, 1683-4.]
[No acts were passed in this assembly. Belknap, Farmer's ed., 104.]
[SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY.]
[First Session Begun and Held at Portsmouth (?) May 27, 1684.]
[This assembly was immediately dissolved without results in legislation.
Letter to the Lords of Trade, May 23, 1684, I, Province Papers, 544. In this
communication it is stated that this assembly was the third which had
been summoned in the period of Lieutenant-Governor Cranfield's adminis-
tration. Belknap, Farmer's ed., 109. The governor stated in a letter to
74
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
the Lords of Trade above mentioned, that "notwithstanding, in obedience
to your lordships commands, we have called an assembly, we cannot think
it prudent or safe to let them sit." The order from the home government
for calling the assembly was with a view to having colonial legislation en-
acted for the suppression of piracy.]
[SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY.]
[First Session Begun and Held at Portsmouth (?) July 22, 1684.]
[This was the last assembly called in the time of this administration
either by Lieutenant-Governor Cranfield or his deputy, Barefoote. One act
was passed and thereupon the assembly was dissolved. Belknap, Farmer's
ed., p. 110. No other was summoned or assembled until after the beginning
of the Allen-Usher administration in 1692.]
[CHAPTER 1.]
AN ACT FOR THE RESTRAINING & PUNISHING PRIVATEERS
AND PIRATES.
[This act was passed July 22, 1684, at the special instance of the home gov-
ernment. Farmer's Belknap, 110. It reappears in the same terms in the
act of Aug. 17, 1699, with the exception of the date, 1684, the insertion of
Lieutenant-Governor Cranfield's name, the limit allowed for desertion, and
the ending. A manuscript copy is in the Public Record office in London.
The entry of receipt is 17 Nov., 1684. The act of 1699 was repealed by the
King in Council Oct. 22, 1700. This copy is from N. H. Council Book 4, p.
108.]
WHEREAS nothing can more contribute to His Sacred
Ma'ts Honour, then that such Articles as are concluded &
agreed on in all Treaties of Peace, should by all His Ma'ts
Subjects according to their duty, be most inviolably preserved
& kept in & over all His Ma'ts Dominions & Territories;
And whereas not only against such Treaties of Peace made
by His Ma'ty with his Allies, but also contrary to His Ma'ts
Royal Proclamac'ons several of His Subjects have, and do
continually, go off from this Province into forraign Princes
Services, and sail under their Com'issions contrary to their
duty & good Allegiance, & by fair means cannot be restrained
from so doing:
BE it therefore ENACTED by the Hon'ble Edward Cran-
field Esqr Governor of the Province of New Hampshire, by
& with the advice and consent of the Council & General
Assembly thereof, And it is hereby ENACTED by the
Authority of the same That from & after publicac'on hereof
it shall be ffelony for any person, which now doth, or within
four years last past heretofore hath, or hereafter shall
inhabit or belong to this Province to serv in America in an
hostile man'er, under any fforaign Prince, State, or Poten-
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
75
tate or any imployed under any of them against any other
forraign Prince State or Potentate in amity with His Ma'ty
without special Licence for so doing under the hand & seal-
of the Governour & Com'and'r in chief of this Province for
the time being; And that all and every such Offender or
Offenders contrary to the true intent of this Act, being
thereof duly convicted in any of His Ma'ts Courts of Judica-
ture within this Province, to which due Authority is hereby
given to hear & to determine the same, as other Cases of
ffelony, shall suffer pains of death without benefit of the
Clergy.
PROVIDED nevertheless, That this Act, nor any thing
therein contained, shall extend to any person or persons
which now are or have bin in the Service or Imployment
of any fforraign Prince State or Potentate whatsoever, that
shall return to this Province & leav & desert such Service &
Imployment before the 22th day of October next insuing,
rendring themselvs to the Governor or Com'and'r in chief
for the time being and giving him such security as he shall
appoint for their future Good behaviour; & That they shall
not depart this Province without the Govern'rs leav.
And for the better & more speedy execuc'on of Justice
upon such, who having com'itted Treasons Piracies ffelonies,
& other Offences upon the Sea, shall be apprehended in, or
brought prisoners to this Province, BE it further ENACTED
by the Authority aforesd, That all Treasons, ffelonies, Pira-
cies, Robberies, Murthers, or Confederacies com'itted, or that
hereafter shall be com'itted upon the Sea, or in any Haven,
Creek, or Bay, shall be inquired, tried, heard determined, &
judged within this Province in such like form as if such
Offence had bin committed in & upon the land; And to that
end and purpose Com'issions shall be had under the Kings
Great Seal of this Province, directed to the Judg or Judges
of the Admiralty of this Province for the time being, & to
such other substantiall persons as by His Ma'ts Govern'r or
Com'and'r in chief of the Province for the time being, shall
be named or appointed, Which said Com'ission'rs, or such a
Quorum of them as by such Com'ission shall be thereunto
authorized, shall have full power to do all things in & about
the Inquiry, Hearing, Determining, Adjudging, & Punishing
of any of the Crimes & Offences aforesd as any Com'ission'rs
to be appointed by Com'ission under the Great Seal of
England, by vertue of a Statute made in the 28th year of the
Reign of King Henry the Eighth, are impowered to do &
execute within the Kingdom of England; And that the sd
Offenders which are or shall be apprehended in, or brought
Prisoners to this Province, shall be liable to such Order,
Process, Judgment & Execuc'on by vertue of such Com'iss'n
76
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
to be grounded upon this Act, as might be awarded or given
against them if they were proceeded against within the
Realm of England, by vertue of any Com'ission grounded
upon the sd Statute.
And all Trials heretofore had against such Criminal or
Criminals, before any Judg or Judges, by vertue of such
Commission or Authority at any time heretofore granted, &
all Proceedings thereupon are hereby ratified, confirmed, &
adjudged lawful; And all such Judges, with all & every the
Inferior Officers that have acted thereby, are hereby indem-
nified to all intents & purposes whatsoever; And in case
they or any of them shall at any time hereafter be sued,
vexed, molested, or troubled for any such their Proceedings
as aforesd; He or they so sued, vexed, or molested, shall plead
the General issue, & give this Act in evidence, any Law,
Statute, Custom, or Usage to the contrary in any wise not-
withstanding.
And be it further ENACTED by the Authority aforesd,
That all & every person or persons, that shall any way know-
ingly intertain, harbour, conceal, trade, or hold any corre-
spondence by letter, or otherwise, with any person or persons
that shall be deemed or adjudged to be Privateers, Pirates,
or other Offenders within the construction of this Act, and
that shall not readily endeavour to the best of his or their
power, to apprehend or cause
cause to be apprehended such
Offender or Offenders, shall be liable to be prosecuted as
Accessaries & Confederates, & to suffer such pains & penal-
ties as in such case by Law is provided And for the better
& more effectual execuc'on of this Act,
BE it further ENACTED by the Authority aforesd That
all Com'iss'n Officers in their several pr'cincts within this
Province are hereby required & impowered, upon his or their
knowledg or notice given, that any Privateers, or other per-
sons suspected to be upon any unlawful design, are in any
place within their respective precincts, to raise & levy such
a number of well armed men as he or they shall think need-
ful for the seizing, apprehending, & carrying to Gaol all &
every such person or persons or in case of any resistance, or
refusal to yeeld obedience to His Ma'ts Authority, it shall
be lawful to kill or destroy such person or persons & all &
every person or persons, that shall oppose or resist, by strik-
ing or firing upon any of the com'anded Parties shall be
deemed, taken, & adjudged as ffelons, without benefit of the
clergy. And every such Officer that shall omit or neglect his
duty herein, shall forfeit ffifty pounds currant money of the
Province for every such Offence, to be recovered in any of
His Ma'ts Courts of Record within this Province, by Bill,
Plaint, or Informac'on, wherein no essoin, wager of Law, or
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
77
Protection shall be allowed; one moiety thereof to be to our
Soveraign Lord the King his heirs & successors, for & towards
the Support of the Government of this Province, & the con-
tingent charges thereof, and the other moiety to the Informer.
And all & every person or persons, that upon Orders given
him or them, shall refuse to repair im'ediately with his or
their arms well fixed, & am'unition, to such place or places
as shall be appointed by the sd Officers and not readily obey
his Com'ands, in the execuc'on of the pr'misses shall be lia-
ble to such ffine or corporal punishment, as by a Regimental
Court Marshal shall be thought fit.
Passed by the Govern'r Council and Assembly the 22th
day of July 1684.
R: Chamberlain Cl Concil.
[ORDINANCES ENACTED AND PUBLISHED, WITHOUT
THE CONCURRENCE OF AN ASSEMBLY, BY THE
LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR, THE LIEUTENANT-
GOVERNOR AND COUNCIL, OR THE COUNCIL,
1682-1685, BEING IN THE TWENTY-THIRD, TWEN-
TY-FOURTH, AND TWENTY-FIFTH YEARS OF
CHARLES II, AND THE FIRST YEAR OF JAMES II.]
-
[The only act upon which Lieutenant-Governor Cranfield and the popular
branch of the assembly would agree, after the dissolution of the fourth
assembly in January, 1682-3, was the one to restrain privateers and pirates,
passed in the seventh assembly, July, 1684, and this measure was the result
of the urgent desires of the home government. 8, Coll. N. H. Historical
Society, 174; Farmer's Belknap, 110. The representatives of the people and
the lieutenant-governor, being in irreconcilable disagreement as to all
important measures which were properly the subject of legislation, the
latter assumed authority to make orders for such purposes as commanded
his approval. His action in respect to these affairs was based partly upon
his own construction of the terms of the royal commission under which
he was to govern the province, and partly on what he assumed to be neces-
sities of the situation. His adoption and adherence to this policy, and his
attempts to enforce his ordinances, only intensified the disaffection which
had been manifested from the very beginning of his administration. The
conflict which ensued resulted in what was actually a recall from the prov-
ince, though it was in the form of a leave of absence granted on his solicita-
tion. He relinquished the government of the province in the spring of 1685.
Farmer's Belknap, ch. 8, passim. The government was continued by his
deputy, Walter Barefoote, under the same commission, until the administra-
tion of this province was assumed by Joseph Dudley, president of New Eng-
land, in May, 1686. The deputy, who had become acting governor for this
interim, had been a firm partisan of his principal. He continued the same
policy, and succeeded to the exercise of those powers and prerogatives which
the people refused to recognize either as valid or tolerable.
The ordinances which the Cranfield and Barefoote administrations sought
to substitute for legislation obtained in the ordinary course of procedure
78
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
in the assembly are given in the following pages. The arrangement is as
nearly in the order of time as practicable, the dates of two of the orders not
being preserved, if ever recorded. All of the orders on which the dates are
entered appear to have been drawn before Mr. Barefoote's succession to the
office of acting governor.]
[CHAPTER 1.]
[SUMMONS FOR A NEW ASSEMBLY, 1682.]
[State Papers, Colonial, vol. 57, Public Record Office, London, Eng. Printed
XIX, N. H. State Papers, 689.]
ORDERED by the Govern'r in Councel, That a Sum'ons or
Warrant issue forth in His Ma'ts Name, & agreeable with
His Royal Com'iss'n and be directed to the Constables of the
four Towns respectively, for the election of Deputies for the
General Assembly Viz:
N: Hampshire
BY THE GOVERNOUR.
IN HIS MA'TS NAME you are hereby required, with the
soonest convenience to call together the ffreeholders of the
town of Portsmo' (so of the rest) for the chusing of Three per-
sons (so Two for Excet'r) of the same; such as shal be fitly
qualified to be Deputies for the Gen'l Assembly. And the
Three persons (so Two) so elected by the Majority of Votes
(as hath bin used) Shal make their personal appearance at
Mr George Snell's house in Portsmo' on the second Tuesday
in November next (being the 14th day thereof) by nine a
clock in the forenoon, in order to making of such Laws &
constitutions as are agreeable to this place, & not repugnant
to those of Engl'd according to His Ma'ts present Com'ission.
And you shal return the names of the elected Deputies; &
if any of them shal be absent from the Town meeting you
shal give him notice of such his election. Hereof fail not.
Dated at Portsmo' Octob'r 4th 1682.
And you are also hereby required to administer the Oath
of Allegiance to all His Ma'ts Subjects inhabiting within
the Town aforesaid
(Directed to the Constables.)
[Passed Oct. 10, 1682.]
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
79
[CHAPTER 2.]
[ORDER FOR THE REGULATION OF FEES, 1682.]
[Council Book 1, p. 50. Printed I, N. H. Province Papers, 454; 8, N. H. His-
torical Society Collections, 122.]
ffees of Court
To the Judg for every Action
4s
To the Assistants; each
To the Prothonotary or Clark
To the Provost Marshall.-
3s
2s: 6d
1s
To each Jury man—
To the Bedell-
0:6d
0:6
To every Justice of Peace for every Action before him 2s:
ffor every execucon thereon
2s:
To the Treasur'r for entring of vessels, ships, &
sloops &c
1s
ffor clearing the same-
1s
ffor all monies issued out & rec'd, for every pound
ffor copie of cocket
1s
0 : 6d
To the Capt'n of the ffort.
201: an.
audited.
ffor every vessell passing the ffort-
To the Audit'r of the King Revenue for every pound
To the Secret Pan-
1s
0:6d
:
101
upon a ffine of a Delinquent
Upon admonition—
2s: 6d
2:6
Reasons of Appeal-
Answer to Reasons of Appeal.
Judgm't confessed-
ffor every probate of a will
2s:
2s
2s
1s
ffor registering every deed, bill of sale, bond, execu-
con, &c. as formerly Capt: Stileman, had.
ffor copies (as formerly) every page
1s
ffor every Attachm't-
1s
ffor every Sum'ons-
0 :6d
ffor every Execuc'on-
2s
ffor every ordinary petic'on to the Council or Court.
ffor every name more than one.
1s
0:6d
ffor every petic'on to remit or mitigate a fine &c.-
ffor every evidence filed.-
2s
0:3d
Attesting before the Councell &c.
1s
Order of Councell
1s
Copy of such Order-
1s
:
80
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
To the Provost Marshall for every Attachm❜t &c.
To the Prison keepers a peece
pound-
2$
41: 0: 0:
To the Pr: Marshall for levying execu'con of 101 &
under in Portsmo'
ffrom 101 to 501 6d in the pound besides the form'r 1s—
And for every pound levied above 501 & under 1001
for every pound above 501
And for every 1001 & upwards for every pound above
1001 he shall take-
1s
6d
0 :3d
0 :1d.
Allowed by the Govern'r in Councell Jan: 19. 82)
R: Chamberlain Cl &c.
[CHAPTER 3.]
[ORDER RELATING TO SEAMEN WHO ABSENT THEMSELVES
FROM THEIR SHIPS WHILE IN THE PROVINCE.]
[Printed I, N. H. Province Papers, 473; 8, N. H. Historical Society Collec-
tions, 131.]
SEAL.
By the Governor
Whereas great inconvenience and damage
have arisen to masters, commanders, and owners
of ships and vessels arriving in this said Prov-
ince, by reason of the seamen absenting themselves and going
away from the said ships and vessels and the service therein,
contrary to law and their own agreements,-These are, there-
fore, in his Majesty's name, to require all and singular the
mates and other seamen that are or shall be within this said
Province not to presume to go from their respective ships
and vessels without leave first obtained from their respect-
ive commanders, unless they shall have and show a pass or
certificate under my hand and seal, licensing them there-
unto, under penalty of paying all the damages thereby sus-
tained by their respective commanders, owners, or mer-
chants employing them, or imprisonment until they shall
pay and satisfy the same; and no sloopman shall presume to
transport such mates or other seamen not showing such pass
or certificate as aforesaid, and all justices of peace and con-
stables within the said Province are hereby likewise required
to make stay of such mates and other seamen going away as
aforesaid. Given under my and and seal the
* * *
And it is hereby likewise ordered that no private house
presume to harbor any such mates or seamen, under the
severest penalty of the law.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
81
[CHAPTER 4.]
[ORDER REQUIRING INHABITANTS OF THE ISLES OF SHOALS
TO TAKE THE OATH OF ALLEGIANCE.]
[Printed I, N. H. Province Papers, 473; 8, N. H. Historical Society Collec-
tions, 132.]
SEAL
New Hampshire.
BY THE GOVERNOR
These are, in his Majesty's name, to require
and command you and every one of you, the
inhabitants of the south half of the Isle of Shoals, forthwith
to yield obedience to his Majesty's government established
here in the Province abovesaid by virtue of his royal com-
mission bearing date the 29th of May, 1682; and that all who
are of years qualified for it repair to the house of Nathaniel
Fryer, Esq., Deputy Governor, to take the oath of allegiance
to be true to our sovereign lord the king, his heirs and lawful
successors. And hereof fail not, as you will answer the con-
trary upon pain of his Majesty's high displeasure.
[CHAPTER 5.]
[ORDER PROHIBITING TOWN MEETINGS EXCEPT WHEN
APPROVED BY JUSTICES OF THE PEACE, 1682-3.]
[Printed I, N. H. Province Papers, 455; I, N. H. Historical Society Collec
tions, 96.]
BY THE GOVERNOR.
New Hampshire.
For prevention of disturbance by unlawful assemblies and
meetings, such as we have too lately experienced, and such
as may for the future arise to the terror of his Majesty's sub-
jects within the said Province: Ordered, That the trustees or
overseers of the respective towns therein, or others, presume
not to call any public meeting about any town business, or
on other pretence whatsoever, without leave first obtained
from the justices or justice of the peace of the said respect-
ive towns, upon just representation of the necessariness of
such town or public meeting, on such penalty as the law
directs, to be inflicted upon unlawful assemblies.
Dated the 3d day of March, 1682-3.
Superscribed, To the Constable of Portsmouth, To be published.
6
82
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
[CHAPTER 6.]
[ORDER REGULATING THE MANUFACTURE OF BOARDS, 1683.]
[Council Book I, p. 57. Printed I, Province Papers, 468; 8, N. H. Historical
Society Collections, 152.]
New Hampshire.
BY THE GOVERN'R & COUNCEL
WHEREAS frequent_Complaints are made by the Mer-
chants Inhabitants of Jamaica, Barbados Leeward Islands
& other His Ma'ts Plantations to which Pine boards are
exported from this sd Province, of the unreasonable thin-
ness & uneven wayvy edg of Boards, which unremedied, may
prove of great detriment to the Trade of the Province, & loss
of that Trade: It is therefore hereby ORDERED That from
henceforth no Pine boards shall be accounted [merchant-
able] or delivered in payment, that are not one full inch in
thickness and square edged. And if any boards be cut
otherwise, such allowance shall be made unto the buyer or
receiver thereof, as [shall] be adjudged reasonable by a
sworn Surveyor or Cul[ler] be appointed for that purpose.
Dat the 4th of October in the 35 [year] of the Raign of our
Soveraign Lord King Charles the Second, &c. A'oq D'ni
[1683]
R: Chamberlain Cl Concil:
[CHAPTER 7.]
[ORDER RELATIVE TO THE PRICE OF FOREIGN COINS, 1683.]
[Council Book I, p. 56. Printed I, N. H. Province Papers, 480; 8, N. H. His-
torical Society Collections, 161.]
New Hampshire
BY THE GOVERN'R & COUNCEL.
WHEREAS there was an Act passed in this Province in
January last in hopes of bringing plenty of mony into this
Province, That Peeces of Eight ryals of Spain, or Dollars of
Sevil, Mexico & Pillar, & all lesser peeces (provided they be
good silver) shall pass in payment at Six shillings eight
pence by the ounce Troy waight: Which sd Act, it is found
by experience, doth not answer the ends it was intended for:
It is therefore hereby ORDERED, That the Peece of Eight
ryals of Spain or Dollars of Sevil, Mexico or Pillar shall pass
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
83
at Six shillings the Dollar; at three shillings the half Dollar;
at One shilling six pence the quarter Dollar; at [nine] pence
the Ryal: And all other Monies or Bullion of the ffineness
of [the] Standard of England at Seven shillings the Ounce
Troy waight; And [the] Dollar of Peru at ffive shillings, &
so proportionably for lesser Coins. All which Monies shall
continue to pass currant within this sd Province, till our
Soveraign Lord the King His heirs or Success'rs shall think
fit to alter & change the same. Dat the 4th of Octob'r in the
35th Year of the Raign of our Sov'n Lord Charles the Sec'd
King of Engl'd &c A'oq D'ni 1683.
R: Chamberlain Clr' Concil.
[CHAPTER 8.]
[ORDER RELATIVE TO THE COLLECTION OF RATES, 1683.]
[Council Book I, p, 59. Printed I, N. H. Province Papers, 472; 8, N. H. His-
torical Society Collections, 129.]
New Hampshire
BY THE GOVERNOR & COUNCEL.
ORDERED, That the respective Constables within this
Province, do forthwith pay to the Treasurer thereof all such
monies as they have collected upon the Province (ffour penny)
Rate; And to forbear to collect any other Rate, till the sd
Province Rate be fully levied Also It is hereby Ordered,
That they give in their Accounts of all monies by them col-
lected; as well for the Province, as other Rates. Dat the
22th of Octob'r 1683.
R: Chamberlain Cl Council.
[CHAPTER 9.]
[ORDER RESTRICTING THE LUMBER TRADE BY MASSACHUSETTS
VESSELS AND GRANTING PRIVILEGES TO VESSELS OF OTHER
COLONIES, 1683.]
[Council Book I, p. 61; I, Province Papers, 463; 8, N. H. Historical Society
Collections, 125.]
New Hampshire
BY THE GOVERN'R & COUNCIL.
Whereas the Parliament of England hath, for the good &
welfare of His Ma'ts sd Kingdom of England in their Wise-
dome thought fit to make good & wholesom Laws for the in-
84
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
couragement of Trade & Navigac'on & the increase of Ship-
ping; by the means whereof the wealth safety and strength
of his Ma'ts Dominions are likewise increased: And for the
better observac'on of those Laws His Ma'ty out of His
Princely Wisedom & care of His good Subjects the Merchants
& Mariners hath in pursuance thereof not only directed His
Royal Proclamac'ons to all His Governm'ts, strictly requir-
ing & com'anding them to give due observance to the sd Laws;
but particularly & frequently His Letters to the Colony of the
Massachusetts Bay for the regulation of the abuses in the
pr'misses: Notwithstanding all which the sd Colony have, in-
stead of discountenancing all persons that have infringed the
sd Laws & Acts, protected & incouraged them in their illegall
Importacions, & made their Ports places of reception for all
forain prohibited Com'odities, not only as to what hath bin
consumed within their own Jurisdiction, but by the Sloops,
under pr❜tence of loading timber (which We ffind very injuri-
ous to the Trade in this Province) drawing all the Ships to
Boston, & thereby supplying all the Neighbouring Colonies, to-
tally to the discouragement of English Merchants & Mariners:
And this by experience We know, having made seisure & con-
demnac❜on of some prohibited Com'odities coming from Bos-
ton. Now forasmuch as the Govern'r & Council of His Ma'ts
sd Province of New Hampshire think our selves in duty bound,
not only to observ His Ma'ts sd Laws our selvs, but also to
use all the care & diligence to prevent [the said] abuses &
discountenance them in others: We therefore [His Ma'ts] sd
Govern'r & Councel Have thought fit for the sd reasons of [the
breaking] of the sd Acts of Trade, & for the benefit of the same
& the advantages that will accrue [to this] Province [to] re-
strain & We do hereby restrain & prohibit [the sloops & Ves-
sels] coming from the Colonys of the Mass Con: Plimouth
[torn] under the burthen of One hundred Tun unless allowed
& licensed by the Govern'r by a writing under [his hand from]
loading any boards or timber in this Province, under for-
feiture of Such Sloops & Vessels, from & after the ffirst day of
April next insuing the date hereof: And for the incourage-
ment of Shipping & navigac'on of the Merchants & Seamen
of England It is hereby Ordered, That for the space of Three
years next to come (unless His Ma'ty shall please to make
any alterac'on hereof) All Vessels coming from all other Hist
Ma'ts Plantac'ons of what burthen soever shall have free lib-
erty to load & carry away any boards timber or other com’odi-
ties to any other His Ma'ts Plantac'ons, only paying the usuall
rate for Powder as is & has bin usually paid in Barbados. Dat
the 22th of Octob'r in the 35th year of the Raign of our Sover
Lord Charles the Second King of Engl'd A'oq D'ni 1683
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
85
[CHAPTER 10.]
[ORDER TO REGULATE THE CONDUCT OF MINISTERS WITH REF-
ERENCE TO THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE SACRAMENTS,
1683.]
[Printed, Farmer's Belknap's History of New Hampshire, p. 467; I, N. H.
Province Papers, 484; 8, N. H. Historical Society Collections, 163.]
At a council held at Great Island December 10, 1683.
New Hampshire-
BY THE GOVERNOR AND COUNCIL.
It is hereby required and commanded that all and singular
the respective ministers within this province for the time
being do, from and after the first day of January next ensu-
ing, admit all persons that are of suitable years, and not
vicious and scandalous in their lives, unto the blessed sacra-
ment of the Lord's supper, and their children unto baptism.
And if any persons shall desire to receive the sacrament of
the Lord's supper, or their children to be baptized according
to the liturgy of the church of England, that it be done
accordingly, in pursuance of the laws of the realm of Eng-
land, and his majesty's command to the Massachusetts gov-
ernment. And if any minister shall refuse so to do, being
thereunto duly required, he shall incur the penalty of the
statutes in that case made and provided, and the inhabitants
are freed from paying any duties to the said minister
The aforesaid order was published.
R. Chamberlain, Clerk Council.
[CHAPTER 11.]
[ORDER FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF COMMITTEE TO REPORT AS
TO THE ASSESSMENT OF A PROVINCE TAX, 1683-4.]
[N. H. Council Book I, p. 64. Printed I, N. H. Province Papers, 475; 8, N.
H. Historical Society Collections, 156.]
New Hampshire.
At a Councel held at Gr't Island Jan: 15th 1683
Present the GOVERNOUR.
Robert Mason Esqr Propriet'r
Walt Barefoot
R: Chamberlain
Esqrs
Nathan. ffrier.
Rob't Elliot
Esqrs
John Hinks
WHEREAS the General Assembly have refused to pass
any Bill for supporting the charge of the Government, and
His Ma'ty hath by His Royal Commission bearing date the
86
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
9th of May 1682, given power to the Govern'r & Councel to
continue such Taxes & Impositions as have bin, & are now
levied & imposed upon the Inhabitants: In pursuance
thereof, ORDERED by the Govern'r & Councel, That a Com-
mittee of the Councel do forthwith inspect former Accounts,
what monies have bin formerly levied & collected for the
purposes & uses aforesd, & to make their Report thereof to
the Govern'r in Councel, to the end such monies, as shall be
found necessary, may be forthwith raised, & committed to
the hands of the Constables of the respective Towns, & paid
to the Treasur'r of the Province for the time being.
[CHAPTER 12.]
[ORDER FOR THE CONTINUATION OF THE TAXES FORMERLY
LEVIED BY THE ASSEMBLY, 1683-4.]
[Council Book I, p. 70. I, N. H. Province Papers, 488; 8, N. H. Historical
Society Collections, 167.]
New Hampsh in
New England.
BY THE GOVERN'R & COUNCEL.
WHEREAS We have lately had intelligence by a Letter
from Capt'n Hook to Capt'n Barefoot one of the Councel of
this His Ma'ts Province, that he had advice from the Cap-
tain of the ffort at Casco, of a sudden Rising & onset intended
by the Indians upon the English at the Eastward: And
Whereas the Assembly have bin lately tendred a Bill for
raising a Revenue for the ffortifying & defending our selvs
against His Ma'ts enemies, did absolutely refuse & reject
the same, without giving any reason for so doing, or prepar-
ing any other for defreying the charge of the public service:
We His Ma'ts Govern'r & Councel, finding the public Treas-
ury so empty & bare that there is not so much money as to
pay a single messenger, & those persons that are the sup-
port of the Province, have not estates to support themselvs
in the War (if any should happen) without due payment for
their service; in considerac'on of the pr'misses, by vertue of
His Ma'ts Royal Com'iss'n bearing date the 9th May 1682 And
also of His Ma'ts Royal Instrucc'ons to the Govern'r bearing
date the 29th April 1682, have, for the raising a Revenue for
fortifying & defraying the necessary charges of the Govern-
ment, that there may be a magazeen of am'unition & pro-
vision, & of mony to pay indigent Souldiers, as also for such
emergencies as a War will necessarily produce, thought fit
to continue, & do hereby continue all such Taxes & Imposi-
tions as have bin formerly laid upon the Inhabitants (except-
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
87
ing only the Rate of the Penny in the pound, raised in time of
usurpac'on without a General Assembly;) Com'anding &
requiring all & singul'r the Constables & Collectors forth-
with to perform their duty in levying & collecting the same,
& paying it in to the Treasur'r. Dat ffeb: 1683.
[CHAPTER 13.]
[ORDER FOR LIMITATION OF THE TIME FOR EFFECTING AN
AGREEMENT WITH AND TAKING DEEDS FROM ROBERT
MASON, 1683-4.]
[Council Book I, p. 85. Printed I, N. H. Province Papers, 476; 8, N. H. His-
torical Society Collections, 156.]
New Hampshire
BY THE GOVERN'R.
WHEREAS Robert Mason Esqr hath made complaint
unto me, that very few of the Inhabitants have come to him
to take Deeds of their lands in this Province from him accord-
ing to the condic'ons laid down in His Ma'ts Royal Com-
'iss'n of the 9th of May 1682, notwithstanding he hath bin
upon the place for almost five months time ready to grant the
same upon the terms aforesd: But now in regard severall
persons may still expect the same benefit after the prosecu-
c'on of His Claim, he hath desired me to signify to all persons
concerned that they have one months time after the date
hereof to make an agreement with himself (if they think fit)
otherwise I am desired to certify to His Ma'ty such their
refusall, that the sd Mason may be discharged from such
Obligac❜on: Given under my hand & the Seal of the Prov-
ince the 17th of ffebr 1683.
Vera copia from the Original
Teste Ric'do Chamberlain Secr❜io
Edw: Cranfield
}
[CHAPTER 14.]
[ORDER FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF GARRISONS.]
[Council Book I, p. 76. Printed I, N. H. Province Papers, 499; 8, N. H.
Historical Society Collections, 251.]
New Hampshire
BY THE GOVERN'R & COUNCEL.
ORDERED, That the Meeting house at Dover be im'edi-
ately fortified, and a Line drawn about it; which Meeting
house shall be the Main garrison for defending the Inhabit-
88
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
ants against the attaques of the enemy: Also, That the
house formerly called the Watch house be a by-gard likewise,
That the houses of Peter Coffin Esqr & Richard Otis be By-
garrisons for Cacheecha, for Securing the Inhabitants that
dwell thereabouts
R: Chamberlain Cl Concil
[CHAPTER 15.]
[ORDER RELATIVE TO THE EMPLOYMENT OF SENECA AND
MOHAWK INDIANS, 1683-4.]
[Printed 2, N. H. Historical Society Collections, 199; I, N. H. Province
Papers, 499.]
New-Hampsh. in New-England.
SEAL OF
YE
PROVINCE
By His Ma'ts Councel.
There being an appearance of an Insurrec-
tion of the Indians in this & other His Ma'ts
Colonies of New-England, with an intent to
destroy His Ma'ts Subjects; It is therefore humbly desired
by us of His Ma'ts Councel, That the Hon'ble Edward Cran-
field Esqr. the Govern'r & Capt'n General of this sd Province,
will be pleased to take upon him the trouble, to go to the
Hon'ble Colonel T. Dungans, Govr.-[illegible]—and treat
with him for procuring such a number of Mohauck, Senacar, or
other Indians to march into this sd Province, for defence &
security thereof as the Hon'ble Govern'r shall think needfull,
and to make such Capitulacons & Agreement for their pay,
as his Hon'r shall find reasonable, & what his Hon'r shall
do therein we shall agree unto it, and that the sd Mohauck,
Senecar, or other Indians, be paid out of such monies as shall
be raised in the sd Province, in pursuance of the Powers
granted by His Ma'ts Royal Commission. And His Ma'ts sd
Councel do ingage our selves to see the Mohaucks, Senecars,
or other Indians (as his Hon'r shall judg fit to be imployd)
out of the Public monies that are now raising for that pur-
pose. Given under our hands & the Seal of the Province the
one & twentieth day of March, 1683/4, and in the 36th year
of His Ma'ts Raign.
Robert Mason
W. Baref.
R. Chamb.
R. Elliot.
Jo. Hinks.
NOTE.-The name of Mason seems to be in his own handwriting, while
the other names are evidently written by one hand. In place of the seal
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
89
are the words, "Seal of the Province." The body of the paper was written
by R: Chamberlain, Clerk of the Council. Possibly the whole is but a copy
or draft of the original.
[CHAPTER 16.]
[ORDER FOR THE COLLECTION OF THE PROVINCE RATE, 1684.]
[N. H. Council Book I, p. 97. Printed I, Province Papers, 490.]
New Hampshire
SEAL
BY THE GOVERN'R & COUNCEL.
WHEREAS HIS MA'TY hath bin pleased, for
the support of the charge of this His Ma'ts Gov-
ernment of New Hampshire to authorize & require Us the
Governour & Councel, to continue such Taxes & Impositions
as have bin levied upon the Inhabitants before the arrival of
His Ma'ts Royal Commission of the 9th of May 1682; And
that the same be levied & distributed to those ends in the best
& most equal manner that can be untill a General Assembly
of the s'd Province shall have considered & agreed of the
fittest ways for raising of Taxes, in such proporc'on as may be
requisite for defraying the charge of the Government: These
are therefore in His Ma'ts Name straightly to require & com-
'and you Antony Nutter Constable, forthwith to levy & collect
the within written Province Rate within the space of Three
months next insuing; And to pay the same to the Treasurer of
the s❜d Province, for supporting the Honour of His Ma'ts Gov-
ernment and defraying the emergent & necessary charges of
the same. ffail not, as you will answer the contrary, & the
Penalties that were in such case inflicted upon Constables so
making default, by the former Government. And for so
doing this shall be your Warrant. GIVEN under our hands
& the Seal of the Province the Tenth day of May 1684.
To Antony Nutter Const'ble
Edw Cranfield
Robert Mason
Walter Barefoote
Rich'd Chamberlain,
John Hinckes
James Sherlock
Mer'ble Pine boards at any convenient landing place at 26s
m'.
Ditto Whiteoak Pipestaves &c. at 50s
Ditto Red oak Pipestaves &c. at 35s
90
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
Beef at 2d
po'd Pork at 3d
Ind: corn at 3s bush. Wheat at 5s
Pease at 4s Malt at 3s ffish at Price curr't
And whosoever shall pay the Rates in mony, shall be
abated one third part.
[CHAPTER 17.]
[ORDER TO EFFECT THE COLLECTION OF RATES FROM DELIN-
QUENTS, 1684.]
[N. H. Council Book I, p. 132. Printed I, N. H. Province Papers, 543.]
New Hampsh
By the Gov: & Council.
Whereas there have bin Warrants to the several Constables
of the Towns in the sd Province bearing date the 10th May
last for collecting a Rate continued by the Govern'r & Council
by vertue of His Ma'ts Royal Com'ission bearing date the 9th
May 1682, and the sd Constables seem to be in a combina-
c'on not to collect the sd Rate, nor have done their duty
according to their Oaths, nor collected any considerable part
of the same, notwithstanding they have had the Lists of the
sd Rates under the hands of the Gov: & Council & under the
Seal as they were formerly s'd in their hands near Six months:
These are therefore in His Ma'ts Name to impower & require
you Tho: Thurton Prov't Marshal of the sd Province forth-
w'th to collect the sd Rate continued as aforesd: And all the
sd Constables are hereby likewise required & com'anded to
be at all times (provided it be between Sun rising & sun set-
ting) aiding & assisting to the sd Tho: Thurton Prov't Marsh'l
in the pr'misses & in forcing open any dores for the better &
more effectually getting in of the sd Rate, & for pr'servac'on
of His Ma'ts Peace. Given under our hands & the seal of the
Province the 24th Nov: 84) & in the 36th of the Reign of our
Sov: Ld Ch: the Sec'd K. of Engl'd &c.
E: Cranf:
W: Baref:
Jo: Hinks
R: Mason
R Chamberl.
Ja: Sherlock
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
91
[CHAPTER 18.]
[ORDER SUSPENDING THE ENFORCEMENT OF EXECUTIONS,
1684.]
[Council Book I, p. 131. Printed I, N. H. Province Papers, 547; 8, N. H.
Historical Society Collections, 215.]
New Hampsh
in
New England)
BY THE GOVERNOR.
Being charged in the Petic'on of Nathaniel Wear (among
other things) for erecting Courts seperate from the Assembly,
And their Lordships, to whom his Ma'ty hath referred the
considerac❜on of the sd Wears Petic'on, having required me
to give a speedy Answer to the several Charges therein
expressed, which I have already done by Capt'n Bolston; I
thought my self bound in modesty & duty both to His Ma'ty
& their Lo'ps to suspend Execuc'ons in Mr Masons concerns
or my own, untill such time as His Ma'ty and their Lo'ps
Pleasure be signified whether the Courts be legally consti-
tuted; which if they be not, the Proceeding had thereupon
must consequently be illegal: The Major part of the Inhabit-
ants of the said Province remaining of an Opinion that the
Assembly ought to be joined with my Self in the constituting
of Courts. Which is the ground & reason of my giving order
to the Prothonotary Rich'd Chamberlain Esqr for stopping
Execuc❜ons (as aforesd) to quiet the minds of the People.
Given under my hand & Seal at Great Island the Tenth day of
Novemb'r 1684.
Edw Cranfield [seal]
[CHAPTER 19.]
[ORDER MAKING APPROPRIATIONS FOR COMPENSATION OF THE
LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR FOR SPECIAL SERVICES AND FOR
OTHER PURPOSES, 1684-5.]
[Council Book I, p. 145. Printed I, Province Papers, 555; 8, N. H. His-
torical Society Collections, 223.]
New Hampsh
BY THE COUNCIL.
FFORASMUCH as the ffifth part of the Rents & Revenues
of the sd Province, were assigned by Rob't Mason Esqr Pro-
prietor, to His most Excell't Ma'ty our Sovereign Lord
Charles the Second King of England &c. for the use & benefit
92
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
of the Governor of the sd Province, for & towards his better
support & maintenance during his abode in his Government:
And whereas through the perverse obstinacy of the most part
of the inhabitants, who have opposed the sd Proprietor, the sd
Rents and Revenues have bin so inconsiderable, that the sd
Governor hath had no benefit or advantage by the sd Assign-
ments: And for that the Hon'ble Edward Cranfield Esqr
Govern'r of the sd Province did in March last make a voyage
to New York at the desire of His Ma'ts Council of the sd Prov-
ince to treat with the Hon'ble Colonel Thomas Dongan in
order to secure the Peace of this sd Province against the
attempts of the Indians Who then threatned a General insur-
rection which he successfully effected at his own great charge
& expence of Upwards of fourty pounds We therefore His
Ma'ts sd Council of the sd Province of New Hampshire for the
reasons abovesd, Do give & hereby allow to the sd Hon'ble
Edward Cranfield Esqr the pr'sent Govern'r of the said Prov-
ince One hundred pound an'um from the time of his first
Arrival, & to be paid together with the 401 expended on his
Journey to New York out of the present Rate now collecting
by vertue & authority of His Ma'ts Royal Com'ission bearing
date the Nineth of May 1682; And that the residue of the sd
Rate be disposed of for & towards the payment of Salaries to
the Several Officers, & discharging the Public Debts of the sd
Province which have bin contracted since the Arrival of the
sd Governor. Given under Our hands & the Seal of the said
Province the 2d January 1684 And in the 36th Year of His sd
Ma'ts Reign
[ADMINISTRATION OF JOSEPH DUDLEY, PRESIDENT
OF NEW ENGLAND.]
[COMMISSION FROM JAMES II DATED OCTOBER 8, 1685. AS-
SUMPTION OF GOVERNMENT UNDER THE COMMISSION, MAY
25, 1686. ADMINISTRATION TERMINATED DECEMBER 20,
1686, BY THE ARRIVAL OF SIR EDMUND ANDROS, WHO ON
JUNE 3, 1686, HAD BEEN COMMISSIONED TO BE GOVERNOR
OF NEW ENGLAND.
PRESIDENT, JOSEPH DUDLEY.
DEPUTY PRESIDENT, WILLIAM STOUGHTON.
SECRETARY, EDWARD RANDOLPH.*
TREASURER, JOHN USHER.
*Mr. Randolph was a prominent and influential person in the politics
of this period. A sketch of his career and a list of documents which illus-
trate the part he had in public affairs are given in Historical Papers, by
C. W. Tuttle, pp. 277 to 326.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
93
COUNCIL
Joseph Dudley
William Stoughton
Peter Bulkley
Richard Wharton
Wait Winthrop
Bartholomew Gedney
Simon Bradstreet
Robert Mason
John Pynchon
Nathaniel Saltonstall
Fitz-John Winthrop
Dudley Bradstreet
Edward Tyng
Jonathan Tyng
Francis Champernowne
John Hinckes*
Edward Randolph
John Usher]†
[COMMISSION OF JOSEPH DUDLEY
TO BE PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL FOR THE TERRITORY AND
DOMINION OF NEW ENGLAND, (MASSACHUSETTS BAY, MAINE,
NEW HAMPSHIRE, AND THE NARRAGANSETT COUNTRY,
OTHERWISE CALLED KING'S PROVINCE), DATED OCTOBER
8, 1685, 1 JAMES II.]
[This appointment and commission were regarded as evidence of marked
progress in the development of a purpose and policy subversive of the meth-
ods and theories of local self government to which the New England col-
onies had become accustomed. Belknap, Farmer's ed. p. 117. No recognition
of any right of popular representation in an assembly in either colony or
for the entire dominion appears in the instrument. This was the occasion
of sharp remonstrance in behalf of the people. I, N. H. Province Papers,
592.
This policy is attributed to Charles II and his ministers, and it seems
to have found equal favor with James II. It will be noted, however, that
the council under the presidency of Joseph Dudley recommended to the ✔
crown authorities the adoption of some system of popular legislative as-
sembly. Chapter 8, post. The scheme of a law-making council, appointed
by royal authority, was in operation during the brief term of President
Dudley and that of Sir Edmund Andros which immediately followed, till
the latter's deposition by a popular uprising in Boston April 18, 1689. The
Andros commission, however, contained much more ample powers in re-
spect to legislation than were granted in the Dudley commission. Soon
after the downfall of James II and the accession of William and Mary, the
assemblies were restored and again became an essential feature of the local
provincial governments. As long as the royal authority continued in the
*John Hinckes was the only member of the council who was distinctively
a representative of New Hampshire. He resided at Great Island. Biograph-
ical sketch, 8, N. H. Historical Society Collections, p. 360. Robert Mason was
rather a representative of the Masonian proprietors than of the people of the
province, and Mr. Hinckes might not have been the person selected by the
people for this office had the choice been committed to them.
†Some confusion is discovered in the disagreements of authorities, and ap-
parent errors in spelling the names of the councilors in the manuscripts and
prints. Several are mentioned as declining the offices and possibly some
vacancies were filled.
94
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
American colonies, the privilege of legislation on local affairs, subject to con-
firmation and repeal by the home government, was permitted to the province
assemblies. Under this commission the president and council enacted or-
ders which had the form and force of law in the several colonies and pro-
vinces of New England. 3, Palfrey, History New England, chap. XII.
Many of the historians of New England have subjected the governments
of which Joseph Dudley and Sir Edmund Andros were successively chief
magistrates to severe arraignment. It is well, however, for all students
of this period to re-examine the original documents, official reports, proc-
lamations, laws, orders, and correspondence, with reference to this sub-
ject, not necessarily with a view to a revisal of judgments of the past,
but to permit the acts and motives of the prominent figures of each party
in that epoch to be viewed in the milder light of modern historical criti-
cism. A number of documents which are useful in this behalf are ex-
tended in the Journal of the President and Council of New England, 1686,
passim. Others are accessible in the Documents Relating to the Colonial
History of N. Y., Vol. 3; Rhode Island Colonial Records, Vol. 3; Colonial
Records of Connecticut, Vol. 3; N. H. Province Papers, Vols. 1 and 2.
The copy here used is transcribed from the draft in the archives of the
state of Connecticut. This was supplied by the courtesy of Hon. Charles
J. Hoadley, state librarian. Heretofore, the fact that a complete copy was
in existence in New England had not been ascertained, and a fragment only
was published in Vol. I of the N. H. Province Papers.
By the terms of the last paragraph of the commission of Sir Edmund An-
dros, dated June 3, 1686, the commission of Joseph Dudley and others as a
president and council for the dominion of New England should close and
become void on the publication of the commission of the former. (See
commission of Sir Edmund Andros, post.)
The publication of the commission of Governor Andros occurred in De-
cember, the day succeeding that of his arrival. Mass. Historical Society
Collections, Vol. 7, 3d series, p. 164. II, N. H. Province Papers, p. 11.]
James the Second by the Grace of God King of England,
Scotland, France & Ireland Defender of the Faith &c To all
to whom these pr'sents Shall come Greeting. Whereas a
writt of Scire Facias has been ysued out of Our high Court
of Chancery ag'st the late Govern'r & Comp'a of the Massa-
chusetts Bay in New England whereby the Governm't of that
Colony and Members thereof is now in Our hands, And Wee
being minded to give all protection & Encouragement to Our
good Subjects therein and to provide in the most effectual
manner that due and impartial Justice may be administered
in all Cases Civil & Criminal, and that all possible Care may be
taken for the just quiet & orderly Government of the Same.
Know yee therefore that Wee by and with the advice of Our
Privy Council have thought fit to erect and Constitute and by
these pr❜sents for us our Heirs & Successors do erect, Consti-
tute and appoint a president & Council to take Care of all that
our Territory & Dominion of New England in America com-
only called & known by the Name of Our Colony of the Mas-
sachusett Bay & Our Provinces of New Hampshire & Main
& the Narragansett Country otherwise called the Kings Prov-
ince with all the Islands, Rights and Members there unto ap-
pertaining and to order Rule and Govern the same according
to such Methods and Regulations as are herein after Spec-
ified & declared untill Our chief Governor Shall arrive with'in
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
95
our said colonies. And for the better Execution of our Loy'll
pleasure in this behalf, We Do hereby nominate and appoint
Our Trusty and Well beloved Subject Joseph Dudley Esq. to
be the first president of the sd Councill & to continue in the
said office untill Wee our Heirs or Successors shall otherwise
direct. And we do likewise Nominate & appoint Our Trusty
& Wellbeloved Subjects Simon Bradstreet, W'm Staughton,
Peter Bulkley, John Pinchon, Robert Mason, Rich'd Whar-
ton, Wait Winthrop, Nathaniel Salstonstall, Bartholomew
Gidney, Jonathan King, John Usher Dudley Bradstreet,
John Hinks, Francis Champernoon, Edward King Jo Fitz
Winthrop & Edwd Randolph Esqs to be of our Councill within
Our said Territory and Colony, and that the said Joseph Dud-
ley and every succeeding President of the Said Councill Shall
and may Nominate and appoint any One of the Members of the
sd Councill for the time being to be his Deputy & to Preside
in his absence: And that the said President or his Deputy
& any Seaven of the said Councill shall be a Quorum and our
express Will and pleasure is that no person shall be admit-
ted to sit or have a vote in the said Councill untill he hath
taken the oath of allegiance and the oath hereafter men-
tioned for the Due and impartial Execution of Justice & the
faithfull Discharge of the Trust in them reposed which oath
Wee do hereby authorize & Direct the said Simon Bradstreet
William Staughton, Peter Bulkley, John Pinchon, Robert
Mason, Richard Wharton, Wait Winthrop Nathaniel Sal-
stonstall, Bartholomew Gidney, Jonathan King, John Usher
Dudley Bradstreet, John Hinks, Henry Champernoon, Edwd
King John Fitz Winthrop and Edward Randolph or any three
of them first to administer unto the said Joseph Dudley the
First President, & the said Joseph Dudley having taken the
said oath, Wee Do Will authorize and require him & the
President for the Time being to administer the same from
time to time and every other the members of our Councill
And we do hereby Will and require & Command Our sd Pres-
ident & Councill & every of them to whom this our pleasure
shall be made known that all Excuses whatsoever set apart,
They faill not to assemble and meet together at Our Town
of Boston in New Engl'd as soon as may be within the space
of twenty days at the furthest next after the arrival of this
our Commission at our sd Town of Boston. & there to cause
this our Commission or Lret patent to be read before such of
them as shall be there assembled together with the Exempli-
fication of the Judgmt passed in our High Court of Chancery
against the sd late Gov'r & Company of the Massachusett Bay.
And having duely taken the sd oaths to proceed to choose,
Nominate & appoint such officers and servants as they shall
96
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
think fitt and necessary for Our Service. And also to appoint
such other times and places for their future meetings as They
or the major part of them (whereof the President or his Dep-
uty to be one) shall think fitt & agree & Our Will and pleas-
ure is that our said Council shall from time to time have and
use such Seale only for the sealing their Acts and Orders &
Proceedings as shall be apointed by Us, our Heirs and Suc-
cessors for the purpose. And Wee do by these Presents for
Us our Heirs & Successors Constitute, Establish, Declare &
appoint Our sd President & Councill & their successors for
the time being to be a Constant & Setled Court of record for
the Administration of Justice to all our subjects inhabiting
w'thin the Limits afores'd, in all Cases as well Civill as Crim-
inal, and that the President or any seaven of the Councill for
the Time being Shall have full power & Authority to hold
plea in all Cases from time to time as well in Pleas of the
Crowne & in all matters relating to the Conservation of the
Peace & Punishment of offenders as in Civill Suits & Actions
between Party & Party or between Us or any of our Subjects
there, whether the same do concern the Realty & Relate to
any Right or Freehold & Inheritance, or whether the same
Do concern the personality and relate to some matter of Debt,
Contract, Damage or other personal Injury, and also in all
mixd Actions which may concern both Realty & Personality,
and therein after due and orderly proceeding & deliberate
hearing of both sides, to give Judgm't to award execution
as well in Criminal as in civil Cases as afores'd. So always
that the Forms of Proceedings in such Cases and the Judgm't
thereupon to be given be as Consonant and agreeable to the
Laws and Statutes of this Our Realm of England as the pres-
ent State & Condition of our Subjects inhabiting within the
Limitt aforesaid & the circumstances of the place will admit
& the president & Councill for the time being & every one of
ye'm respectively before they be admitted to their several and
respective offices & charges Shall also take this oath following.
You shall swear well & Truly to administer Justice to all
His Ma'ts Good Subjects inhabiting within the Territory &
Dominion of N. Engld under His Maj's Government, and also
duly faithfully to Discharge and execute the Trust in you
reposed according to the best of your Knowledg. You shall
spare no person for Favor or affection, nor any Person grieve
for hatred or ill will. So help you God.
And we do further hereby give and grant unto our said
President & Councill or to the Major part of them full power
& authority to erect, Constitute & Establish such & so many
County Courts & other inferior Courts of Judicature & pub-
lique Justice within our said colony & Dominion as they shall
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
97
think fitt and necessary for the hearing and determining of
all Causes as well Criminal as Civill, according to Law and
Equity and for awarding of executions thereupon, with all
reasonable & necessary powers, Authorities, Fees & privi-
ledges belonging unto them. Nevertheless it is our Will &
Pleasure and so We Do hereby expressly Declare That it
shall & may be lawfull from time to time to and for all &
every person who shall think him or themselves agrieved by
any Sentence, Judgm't or Decree pronounced given or made
as aforesaid in about or concerning The Title of any Land
or other Real Estate or in any personal Action or Suit above
the value of Three hundred pounds and not under to appeal
from Such Judgm't Sentence & Decree unto Us in Our Privy
Councill. But with & under this Caution & Limitation that
the Appellant shall first enter into & give good security to
pay full Costs in Case No Relief shall be obtained upon such
Appeal. And for the better Defence and Security of all Our
Loving Subjects within our sd Territory & Dominion of New
Engl'd Our further Will & pleasure is, & We do hereby au-
thorize require and Command Our Said President & Coun-
cill for the Time being in our Name & under the seal by us
appointed or to be appointed to be used, to give and issue
forth Commissions from time to time to such person & per-
sons whom they shall judg best qualified for the Regulation
& Discipline of the Militia of our Said Territory & Dominion
and for the Arming & Mustering the Inhabitants thereof &
Instructing them how to bear and use their Arms & that Care
be taken that such good Discipline shall be observed as by
the Said Councill Shall be prescribed, and that if any Inva-
sions Shall at any time be made or other Destruction Detri-
ment or Annoyance made or done by Indians or others upon
or unto our good subjects Inhabiting within the said Terri-
tory and Dominion.
We by these pr'sents for Us Our Heirs and Successors De-
clare, Ordain & Grant that it shall & may be lawfull to & for
our said Subjects so commissioned by our said Councill from
time to time & all Times for their Special Defence & Safety
to Encounter, Expel, repell and resist by Force of Arms &
all other fitting ways and means whatsoever all & every Such
Person & persons as shall at any time hereafter attempt
or enterprize the Destruction, Invasion, Detriment or annoy-
ance of any of our said Loving Subjects or their plantations
or Estates. And above all things We do by these presents
Will, require & Command our sd Councill to take all possible
Care for the Discountenance of all vice & encouragement of
virtue & good Living, that by Such Example The Infidels may
be invited & desire to partake of the Christian Religion. And
7
98
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
for the greater Ease & Satisfaction of our said Loving Sub-
jects in Matter of Religion Wee Do hereby, Will Require &
Command that Liberty of Conscience shall be allowed unto
all persons and that such especially as shall be Conformable
to the Rights of the Church of Engl'd, shall be partic-
ularly Countenanced & encouraged. And further Wee Do
by these presents, for Us our Heirs & Successors give &
grant unto the said Councill & their Successors for the time
being full and free Liberty, power and Authority to hear &
determine in all Emergencies relating to the Peace & Good
Government of Our Subjects within the said Province & also
to Summon & Convene any person or persons before you &
punish Contempts. And to Cause the oath of Allegiance to
be administered to all & every person & persons who shall
be admitted to any office of Preferm't, and for supporting the
charge of our Government of our said Territory and Dominion
in N. Engl'd. Our Will and Pleasure is and We Do by these
presents Authorize & require the said President and Councill
to continue such Taxes & Impositions as have been and are
now laid & imposed upon the Inhabitants thereof & That
They levy & Distribute or cause the same to be levied & dis-
tributed to those Ends in the best & most equal manner, They
can Also Our Will and pleasure is, and Wee Do hereby Di-
rect & appoint that if the said President of our Councill shall
happen to dye that then from and after the Death of the
said President his Deputy shall succeed him in the office of
President and shall & may Nominate & choose any one of
the said Councill to be his Deputy to preside in his absence
And the sd Deputy so succeeding shall continue in the sd.
office of president untill our Further Will & Pleasure be
known therein. And if any of the Members of the said Coun-
cill shall happen to dye Our Will and Pleasure is, and We
Do hereby Direct & appoint the President of Our Councill for
the time being to Elect some other person to be a Member of
the said Councill for that time. And to send over the name
of such Person, so chosen & the names of Two more whom our
President shall judg fitly qualified for the sd Trust. That
Wee Our Heirs & Successors may nominate and appoint which
of the Three shall be the Member in the place of the member
so dying And lastly Our Will & pleasure is that the said
President and Councill for the time being Do prepare & send
unto us such Rules & Methods for their owne proceedings as
may best suit with the Constitution of Our Territory & Do-
minion, afores'd. And for the better Establishing our Au-
thority there & the Government thereof that We may alter or
approve the same as We shall think fitt.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
99
In witness whereof Wee have caused these [presents*] to
be made patents Witness ourself at Westminster the 8th day
of October in the first year of our reign.
pr ipsum regem
A true copy examined by me
Barker
Ed Randolph Secry
[PROCLAMATION OF THE INAUGURATION OF GOV-
ERNMENT UNDER A PRESIDENT AND COUNCIL.]
[May 25, 1686; Journal, N. H Copy, p. 5.]
A Proclama'cont by the President and Council (being
Printed) was openly read in Court, and commanded to be
published by beat of drumme and sound of trumpet, which
was accordingly done and many coppies delivered out to the
People, one whereof as followes:
Whereas, We have received from his most Excellent Maj'tie
Our Sovereign Lord James the Second King of Engl'd Scotl'd
France and Irel'd Defendor of the Faith &c'a The Exempli-
ficac❜on of a judgm't in his high Court of Chancery under his
Maj'ties great Seal of Engl'd bearing Date the thirteenth of
October in the first Year of his Maj'ties Reigne; against the
Governour and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New
Eng'ld: whereby the Government thereof and all the mem-
bers thereunto belonging is now in his Maj'ties hands
And his Maj'tie having been graciously pleased to declare
that he is minded to give all protection and encouragem't to
all his good Subjects therein, and to provide in the most
effectuall manner that due and impartiall Justice may be ad-
ministered in all cases civill and criminall, and all care taken
for the quiet and orderly Governm't of the same. And in
order thereto it hath pleased his most excellent Majesty by
his Commission bearing Date the Eight day of October in
the first year of his Reigne under the great Seal of Engl'd to
erect and constitute a President and Councill to take Care of
all that his Territory and Dominion of New Engl'd called
the Massachusetts Bay, the Provinces of New Hampshire and
Maine, and the Narragansett Country, otherwise called the
Kings Province with all the Islands Rights and Members
thereunto belonging, and to order, rule and govern the same,
*Illegible.
†On May 25 it was "ordered that the Proclamation which was this day
read in open Court and published by beat of Drumme and Sound of Trumpet
be sent to all the Tounes belonging to his Maj'ties Governm't." Journal,
N. H. copy, p. 10.
100
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
according to the Rules, methods and Regulations Secifyed
and Declared in the said Commission: Togeather w'th His
Maj'ties Gracious Indulgence in matters of Religion.
And for the Execution of his Royall Pleasure in that be-
halfe he Maj'tie hath be[en] pleased to appoint Joseph Dud-
ley Esq to be the first Presid't of his Maj'ties said Councill,
and Vize-Admirall of these Seas, and to continue in the said
Offices, untill his Majesty shall otherwise direct, and also to
appoint Simon Bradstreet, William Stoughton Peter Bulkley,
John Pincheon, Robert Mason, Richard Wharton, Wait Win-
throp, Nathaniel Saltinstall, Bartholomew Gidney, Jonathan
Ting, John Usher, Dudley Bradstreet John Hinks, Francis
Champernoon, Edward Tyng, John Fitz Winthrop and Ed-
ward Randolph, Esq'rs to be His Maj'ties Council in the said
Colonye and Territoryes.
The President and Councill therefore being Convened ac-
cording to the direction and form in the s'd Commission, and
haveing taken the Oathes therein required, and finding it Pri-
marily needfull, that speedy and effectual Care be taken for
the maintenance and pr'servation of the Peace, have accord-
ingly appointed, and authorized Justices of the Peace in the
Severall Countyes, Procints and Principall Townes through-
out the Severall Provinces; and do also hereby continue all
and every the grand Juries of the Severall Countyes, Con-
stables, Select, Towns-men, and Such as have lately had the
charge of Watches, in there Severall and respective offices,
charge and trust, till others be orderly appointed to Succeed
them. And the said President and Councill doe hereby in
his Majestyes name, strictly command and require the sev-
erall Justices of the Peace, Select Townsmen, Overseers of
the Poor, Surveyors of the High Wayes, Constables and other
inferiour officers who have had the Care of Watches, and who
are now commissionated or Continued as afores'd, diligently
and faithfully to Intend, pursue and Execute their Severall
and respective offices, charges and trusts for the Preservac'on
of the Peace and for Suppressing and discountenancing all
disorder and Vice. And We do hereby require all his Majes-
tyes Subjects within the s'd Colony and Territoryes to be
obedient, aiding & assisting to all Such Justices of the Peace,
Constables and other officers in the execuc'on of their Severall
offices and places at their utmost Perrill.
God Save the King.
[ACTS OF 1686.]
[The acts immediately following, and termed orders in the record, are,
all except three, as explained in the notes under chapters 40, 41, and 42,
found in the text of the Journal of the President and Council for the Do-
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
101
minion of New England which remains in the English archives. An exact
copy has been procured, and in the transcription of the orders for this
publication, a chronological arrangement has been pursued as far as prac-
ticable. A part of these orders, having been selected and arranged for
publication in print, while the government from which they emanated
was in existence, and issued under date of June 10, 1686, it has been deemed
advisable to preserve the identity of the acts or orders so published in their
presentation here. They constitute chapters 1, 13, and 14, following. These
three are copies of the printed publication of 1686, while the others con-
form to the text of the original records. At the expense of a slight
deviation from the order in which the sections of chapter 1 appear in the
manuscript journal, the identity of the original printed publication is pre-
served. It will be noted by chapter 50 that the laws relating to the mil-
itary and the observance of the Lord's Day were also ordered printed. The
existence of imprints made under that order has not been ascertained. An
order of considerable elaboration, regulating the militia, was enacted early
in the Andros administration. This will be found in its order in the pages
immediately following those devoted to the acts or orders of the time of
President Dudley in 1686. Orders here given, as chapters 22, 50, and 51,
indicate a definite purpose on the part of this government to systematize the
laws enacted and to be enacted for the dominion. The acts which have
been preserved from the Andros regime followed closely upon the termi-
nation of President Dudley's administration, and the members of the
committee above mentioned were continued in the new government. The
legislation of these successive governments may well be considered as the
result of one policy which was dominant in fact if not in equal degree in
both. The royal purpose outlined in the commissions may be definitely
traced in the laws and orders enacted by the legislative councils from early
in 1686 to the spring of 1689.
The Dudley council, like that of Andros, exercised judicial and admin-
istrative as well as legislative functions. It may not be possible to dis-
tinguish in all instances the acts which are to be regarded as legislative
from those which are administrative or judicial. For the purpose of this
work such a classification has been undertaken. Among the acts that may
be considered legislative, however, though omitted from this publication,
are a number that relate to affairs manifestly local to persons and places
of other provinces than New Hampshire.
It will be observed that the endeavor has been to include in this selec-
tion (1) all orders which may fairly be regarded as legislative acts having
general application in the dominion; (2) all orders which, though primarily
local in object and operation, might be taken as indicating a rule of action
to be followed in like cases wherever occurring; and (3) all orders, whether
in form local or general, public or private, legislative, judicial, or adminis-
trative, having special application, interest, or importance to the province
of New Hampshire as a political division, or to persons, property, or affairs
in that province, and to omit none that would seem to belong in either of
these three clauses. Nevertheless, errors of individual judgment in this
behalf may be expected, but they will readily be corrected by reference to
the original records. In aid of such further investigation, a list of nearly
all the more important of the omitted acts and orders of the council of
1686 is appended and will be found at the end of pages devoted to the 60
chapters of this selection of acts and orders.
The bibliographical description of the imprint of 1686, mentioned as
being preserved in the archives of New Hampshire, is as follows:
•
•
[Seal with motto.] SIGILUM PRAESID &
& . CONCIL DOM. REG
Nov. ANGLIA •)
• IN.
[The figure of an Indian with bow and arrow occupies the middle of the
seal. A representation of this device may be found in 8, N. H. Historical
Society Collections, p. 286.]
[Title.] By the President and Council of His Majesties | Territory and
Dominion of New England | in America. | An Order for the | Holding of
Courts and execution of Justice. | Published the 10th of June 1686. ! ]
102
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
SEAL
BY THE PRESIDENT AND COUNCIL OF HIS
MAJESTIES TERRITORY AND DOMINION
OF NEW ENGLAND IN AMERICA.
[CHAPTER 1.]
AN ORDER FOR THE HOLDING OF COURTS AND EXECUTION OF
JUSTICE.
Published the 10th of June, 1686. [2 James II.]
[This act was passed in sections May 26, 27, 28, 29, and June 2, 1686, and
was printed. An original copy of the imprint is preserved as an insert in
New Hampshire Province Records, Council Book 1, p. 169. The reproduction
here is from the original imprint. In the form in which it was enacted, it
is found in the manuscript copy of the journal of President Dudley and the
council, transcribed from the English archives and now deposited in the
secretary of state, pages 15 to 44, passim. Printed also in I, Ñ. H. Province
Papers, p. 593, and 8, N. H. Historical Society Collections, p. 278.
Transcripts from the manuscript journal will be referred to in these pages
in prefatory notes to all the orders which are from that source. Citation
will be to the "Journal, N. H. copy.'
The acts or orders transcribed from the original printed copy will be dis-
tinguished by especial mention in the appropriate prefatory note.]
[Section 1. Passed May 27, 1686.]
TO the end that Justice may be equally distributed within
This His Majesties Territory and Dominion, and Criminal
Offenders against His Majesties Lawes duely punished, It
is Ordered by the PRESIDENT and Council, That in each sev-
eral County and Province within this Government, there shall
be Erected and Settled, and by the AUTHORITY aforesaid
there is hereby Erected, Appointed and Settled a COUNTY
COURT, to be held and kept as a Court of Pleas and of General
SESSION of the Peace, within each County and Province afore-
said, The times, places & order of which County Court are as
followeth (viz.)
For the County of Suffolk to be held at Boston, Four Courts in
the year.
The first on the last Tuesday in July next.
The second on the last Tuesday in October following.
The third on the last Tuesday in January.
The fourth on the last Tuesday in April. And so on the same
days annually.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
103
For the County of Middlesex:
The first at Cambridge on the first Tuesday in October.
The second at Charlestown on the third Tuesday in December.
The third at Concord on the first Tuesday in April.
The fourth at Charlestown on the third Tuesday in June. And
so on the same dayes annually.
For the County of Essex.
The First at Ipswich on the last Tuesday of September.
The Second at Salem on the last Tuesday in November.
The Third at Ipswich on the last Tuesday in March.
The Fourth at Salem on the last Tuesday in June. And so
Annually.
For the County of Hampshire,
The First at Springfield on the last Tuesday in September.
The Second at North-Hampton on the last Tuesday in March,
annually.
For the Province of New Hampshire,
The First at Great-Island the first Tuesday in October.
The Second at Portsmouth, the First Tuesday in April.
For the Province of Main,
The first at York, the second Tuesday in October.
The Second at Wells, the second Tuesday in April.
And for the more Regular and certain Keeping of the afore-
said COURTS, It is Ordered that they shall consist of such
Member or Members of the Council in each County and Prov-
ince as shall be therein resident (not excluding any others of
the Council who shall think fit to be present) together with
such Justices of the Peace, as' (where need is) shall be partic-
ularly commissioned thereunto: So that the number in each
County Court be alwaies three at the least, and one of them a
Member of the Council, who being assembled at the times and
places appointed, have full Power and Authority to open and
hold the said County Courts and to proceed to the hearing,
trying, and issuing of all Civil Causes & Pleas whatsoever,
and of all Criminals not extending to Life or Limb, and upon
Judgement given to award Execution making such Adjourn
ments as to them shall seem fitt, and punishing all Con-
tempts, as unto such a Court of right doth belong; from which
several County Courts, and the Judgment in them given in
all Civil Cases, there shall an Appeal lye to be orderly made
and brought to the President and Council at their next Court,
to be held for that end, as hereafter is appointed, unto which
Court of Appeals the Appellant shall bring the whole Case as
104
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
it was pleaded and tryed in the Inferior Court between the
Appellant & Defendant, and both shall have further Liberty
of all such additional Evidences and Pleas to be brought as
doth not alter the Issue that hath been between them.
It is further Ordered, Declared and Appointed, That there
shall be held by the President or in his absence the Deputy-
President and Council, a Stated Superiour Court of Grand
ASSIZE and General Goal-Delivery for this His Majesties
whole TERRITORY and DOMINION, to be kept Thrice in
the Year at BOSTON; i. e. On each First Tuesday in the
Moneths of November, March and July, and so Annually. In
which Superiour Court so to be held shall be here tryed and
finally Issued all Cases of Appeal, all Capital Cases, and all
such Pleas of the Crown, and other matters of greater Con-
cernment as are above the Cognizance of inferior Courts,
and proper thereto to be determined, saving alwayes unto
all persons Liberty of Appeal unto His Majesty in Council as
in and by His Majesty's Royal Commission is granted, limitted
& appointed.
[Section 2, Passed May 26, 1686.]
And for the more ready Dispatch of small Causes, where
the Dammage besides Cost shall not exceed the Summe of
Forty Shillings, It is Ordered and declared that the President
and each Member of the Council hath Power to hold Plea of,
and to give Judgment, and award Execution in all such Causes,
as heretofore hath been in use. The like Power have any
two of the Justices joyning together. And from the Sentence
and Judgment in these Cases to be given, there shall be an
Appeal to the next Court of the County and no higher.
[Section 3, Passed May 28, 1686.]
It is also further Ordered by the Authority aforesaid, That
in all Legal Process within this His Majesties Territory &
Dominion to be allowed and accounted valid in the several
Courts now constituted, the Original Writt shall alwaies be
under the Hand and Seal of the President, or of some Mem-
ber of the Council, or of the Clerks of the County Courts within
their several Precincts: And in small Actions, under the hand
and seal of such as are to try them. And all such Writts
as shall be above Twenty Pound value shall be also stamped
with the SEAL of the Secretaries Office; all which Original
Writts abovesaid, and all Executions upon Judgement given
shall be directed to be served by the Provost-Marshal, County-
Marshal or their Deputyes and no other, except in small Cases,
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
105
where the Constable of the Town shall be sufficient; and
where the Cause is to be tryed in the County Court, every
Original Writt shall be served fourteen dayes before the Sitting
of the said Court, and pursuant thereunto a Declaration of
the Plantiffe shall be also entered with the Clerk of the
Court seven dayes before its Sitting, and the same time (of
seven dayes) is given for the Entrance of the Reasons of Appeal
with the Secretary in all Cases of Appeal to the Supream
Court.
It is further Ordered, That the Acknowledgment of all
Deeds or other Legal Instruments that are to be Entred
upon Record, shall be made before & be signed by the President
or some Member of the Council and no other.
Further, That the Office for the Probate of Wills and Grant-
ing Administrations, be holden by the President for the time
being, and his Clerk, at the Council-House on Thursdayes at
Ten of the Clock in the morning; and in the other Provinces
and remote Countryes, by such Judge and Clerk as the said
President under his Hand and Seal shall Authorize, and at
such Time as shall be appointed, taking Fees according to
the Statutes, the said Clerks being herein accounted as Dep-
uties to the Secretary and Register, and from him to take Depu-
tation accordingly.
Further, That such as from time to time shall be allowed
and sworn Attournyes by the Council and County Courts (and
they only to receive Fees and plead in any of His Majesties
Courts,) and no other presume to offer Pleading, save that
every man is allowed to plead his own Case.
That no Affidavit or Testimony is in any Civil Case to be
taken out of the Court where the Tryal is Holden, except be-
fore some Member of the Council where the Witness is at a
great distance from the Court, or incapable of coming, or
bound to Sea before the Tryal, and then in presence of the
Opposite party if he may be had, and seasonable Notice be
given to him thereof: And all Witness in Criminal Cases to
give their Evidence in open Court.
[Section 4, Passed May 29, 1686.]
That where Judgement hath passed in any former Court
within this TERRITORY and DOMINION, and Execution
hath not been taken out and Levied, the party for whom
Judgement hath passed shall have a Writt of Scire facias from
the Secretary or Clerk of the Court, whence a new Execution
should proceed to the Adverse party to appear before the
Court that hath proper Cognizance thereof and shew cause
why Execution should not go out, and in case of Non-Appear-
106
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
ance, or that sufficient cause be not shewn to the Court for
Arrest of Judgement, Judgement shall be affirmed and Execu-
tion granted accordingly.
That the County Courts shall appoint in every Town a fit-
ting person for Clerk to take the accounts of Births and Bur-
ials, (unto which Office, Mr. Richard Buckley is appointed for
BOSTON) which shall be quarterly brought into the Clerks
of the County Courts, for which such Clerk shall receive three-
pence for each Name and pay one penny for every Name to the
Clerk of the County Court, and every person next related or
concerned is hereby Ordered to give notice and make payment
as above-said, within the space of one week upon the pœnalty
of five shillings; and that the several Ministers and Justices
do in like manner at every County Court make Return of the
Marriages by them severally solemnized, and pay to the Clerk
three pence for every Couple.
That Licenses for Holding of Taverns, Inns, Strong-water
Houses, & Retailers in & without doors, and publick Victual-
lers, be granted by the County Courts of the several Shires
and Provinces to which the several Inn-holders shall give
Bond and pay accustomed Fees and Duties, as hath been in
Use; and the Treasurer and such others as shall be from time
to time appointed, have hereby Power granted them to agree
with the Dutyes of Excise, and no person licensed shall pre-
sume to draw until he hath made such Agreement with the
Treasurer as abovesaid. And it is Ordered that none presume
to draw Drink without License upon the penalty of Five
pounds for every Conviction (according to the late Usage) to
be made before some Member of the Council, or any Two of
the Justices, within the County, and the Fine to be Levied by
Writt from such Member of the Council, or Justices, and the
same to be divided, one half to His Majesty and returned to
His Treasury here, and the other half to the Informer.
For the orderly and equal Appearance of Juries to serve in
Courts,
It is Ordered, That the Constables and Select-men in the
several Towns within this His Majestyes Territory and Do-
minion, do before the first day of July next give unto the seve-
ral Marshals of the Counties in which the Towns severally
lye, a full and true List of all the Free-holders and Inhabitants
meet to serve on Juries; and that the Marshalls thereupon in
their several Counties, with the Assistance of one of the Jus-
tices thereto Appointed, shall prick the Pannel or Pannels for
the Grand or Petty Jurors, who shall be summon'd by the Mar-
shal fourteen Dayes before the Court, and the Pannel delivered
to the Clerk of the Courts under the Marshal's Hand, that they
may serve accordingly.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
107
[Section 5. Passed June 2, 1686.]
That the Fees to be paid in all Tryals and Issues at Law
shall in no case pass the particular Orders of the President
and Council.
In the Tryal of Small Cases. VIZ.
For the Attachment or Summons
A Sub-poena to summons Witness
Entrance
Fileing the Papers, each paper
Judgement
Confessing Judgment
Execution
Affidavit out of Court
1.
S.
d.
0
1
0
0
3
4
0
0
2
0
0
6
0
1
0
0
0
21250
0
0.
6
0
Acknowledgements of Deeds & other Instruments 0
If the Deed be above a hundred pound
In Tryals of the County Court,
For Stamping the Writt in the Secretary's Office
Attachments if above a hundred pound
0
0
0
4
0
2
0
The Juryes, for every Verdict
Entrance of the Action
Confessing Judgement
0
6
0
0
10
0
2
Additional Entrance of Judgment above 201.
License to Keep Publick Houses
U
10
5
0
Judgement
2
0
Execution
2
6
Probate of a Will and Administration
0
6
0
Copies of the Will, Attestation & Inventory
If the Estate be above two hundred pounds
In all Appeals before the President & Council,
Entrance
Judgement
0
7
0
1 0
0
0
5
For Serving Executions accustomed Fees.
Return of a Proclamation
0
Serving a Replevin
0
Release of a Fellon
0
HHH
1
0
1 6
1
6
Besides accustomed Fees for Travel
The Keepers Fees, in all Causes as are accustomed.
The Coroner's Fees.
For the Inquisition of untimely Death, & of the
Goods of the Deaceased,
Besides Allowance for Travel.
And where no Goods from the Country
}:
1 0 0
0 13
4
108
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
1
Officers for the Several Courts Viz,
For Suffolk,
Mr. Daniel Allin
Mr. Thomas Dudley
} Clerks
Mr. John Blake, Coroner.
Mr. John Winchcombe Marshals.
Mr. Nathaniel Page
For Middlesex,
Capt. Laurence Hammond Clerk
Mr. John Green, Marshal.
Mr. Samuel Gookin Coroner.
For Essex,
Mr. Stephen Sewal, Clerk.
Lieut: Jeremiah Neal, Marshal..
Mr. Samual Gardiner, Coroner.
1
Mr. John Holioak
Mr. Samuel Patrick
For Hampshire,
Clerks
Mr. Samuel Marshfield, Marshal.
Mr. Joseph Hawley, Coroner.
For the Province of New Hampshire.
Richard Chamberlain Esq; Clerk.
Mr. Pheasant Estwick, Coroner.
*Who shall be all sworn to the faithful Discharge of their
Trust.
[CHAPTER 2.]
[AN ORDER PRESCRIBING THE OATH OF OFFICE FOR JUSTICES
OF THE PEACE† AND DIRECTING BY WHOM THE SAME SHALL
BE ADMINISTERED.]
[Passed May 26, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint men-
tioned in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 11.]
Ordered
That the Severall Gentlemen of the Councill upon their
return home Do administer the oath of Allegience to the
Justices of the Peace in their respective Countyes, which oath
of a Justice is as follows
*This clause does not appear in the Journal record.
†The Journal, N. H. copy, p. 12, contains the following entry of a list of
Justices of the Peace for this Province.
"A Commission to the Gentlemen of the Province of New Hampshire for
Justices of the Peace,
To Walter Barefoot
Henry Green
Rich'd Waldron jun'r
Peter Coffin
Richard Chamberlaine
Esq'rs
John Gerrish &
Robert Elliot
Thomas Graffort
Gentm'
Rob't Wadleigh
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
109
Yee shall swear that as Justices of the Peace in the County
of Suffolk &c'a according to the Commission Given You Yee
shall do equall right to the Poor and to the rich after your
best understanding and knowledge according to Law, and
yee shall not be of Councill of any Quarrell that shall come
before you, yee shall not lett for gift or other cause, but
well and truly You shall do your office of Justice of the Peace
in that behalfe takeing only appointed Fees, and you shall
not direct or cause to be directed any Warrant (by you to be
made) to the Partyes, but you shall direct all Your War-
rants to Constables tithing men and other Officers proper for
the execuc'on of the same in the sd County haveing alwayes
regard to his Majestyes Gracious Indulgence in matters of
Religion and this shall Yee do without favour or respect to
Persons, so help you God.
[CHAPTER 3.]
[AN ORDER AUTHORIZING MINISTERS AND JUSTICES OF THE
PEACE TO SOLEMNIZE MARRIAGES.]
[Passed May 29, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint men-
tioned in note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 23.]
[Ordered.]
A proclamac'on published Impowring the Severall minis-
ters and Justices of the peace in his Ma'tys Territory to con-
sumate marriage, and no other persons without Licence from
the Presid't or his Deputy and entred with the Secretary be-
fore marriage.
[CHAPTER 4.]
[AN ORDER FOR DUTIES ON IMPORTS, EXCISE, AND FOR OTHER
REVENUES.]
[Passed June 2, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint referred
to in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 35.]
Ordered
That for the present Support of the Governm't its thought
necessary to continue the duty of one penny in the pound upon
goods brought from England, untill his Majesties pleasure
be fully known therein.*
Ordered
* *
* * *
That the duties of Excise and Impost be continued and be
levyed & collected by the Treasurer for the Support of his
Ma'tys Government here established for Impost viz't
*At this point in the Journal is the entry as follows:-"The necessity
of an Assembly discoursed."
110
1686.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS,
For every Pipe or Butt of Fyall Wines,
And for any Wines of the Western Islands
For Medera Wines
Butt or Pipe of Sherry, Sark, Malaga,
Muscadells, Tent and Allicant Wines
Every hoggshead of Strong Waters
£
CR CR
Ten Shillings.
10s
13
4
£1
£1
For excise as formerly, and for the pr'sent better settle-
ment of this Service and more full direction and enabling of
the Said Treasurer to preform his trust
It is Ordered and Declared,
That the Severall beforementioned rates and duties shall
be collected as formerly according to such rules, methodds,
and directions as hath been lately used & in force, and the
sd Treasurer is impowred to have such officers under him as
he shall find needful to collect the same.
Ordered
That no person break bulk and unload untill he hath made
Entry with the Treasurer, or officers under him, the Quan-
tity or Quality of Such Wines and Licquor upon Oath if the
master be thereunto required, and That no goods be landed
upon any Key or Wharffe, or any other place but upon the
Key where his Ma'tys Storehouse is unless Security be given
by the Master, or the persons to whome the Wines &c are con-
signed or mony paid for their respective dutyes, upon for-
feiture of the said goods.
Ordered
That every Vintner, or other retailer of any Wines &c. Do
within thirty dayes next after the publication of this Order,
attend the Treasurer, or Commitee to be appointed at the
Town of Boston, and account for their arrears, and renew
their Licenses, and also give bond for their excise according
to former usage, and further. That those persons who shall
presume to sell or Vent any Wine, Licquor or strong drink
untill they have agreed with the Treasurer or any of his offi-
cers shall for the first offence pay five pounds mony and for
the second offence be proceeded against as the statutes of
England direct.
Ordered
That the Treasurer, or his officers collect the Powder Duty
viz't Twelve pence per Ton, or one pound of powder, for the
supply of his Ma'tys Castles and Forts according to former
custome.
Further Ordered
That the Treasurer take immediate care for the security
of Trade for Pelfry and Beaver with the Indians, and that no
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
111
person presume to trade for either of them without the Treas-
urers Licence upon penalty of the former Lawes and usage of
this place, the Province of New hampshire excepted.
[CHAPTER 5.]
[AN ORDER RELATIVE TO THE COMPENSATION OF THE PRESI-
DENT.]
[Passed June 2, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint referred
to in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 40.]
Ordered
**
That the President have an honourable maintainance when
tis known how the Revenue will arise, and that M'r Paige
have five pounds a quarter for his attendance on the President.
[CHAPTER 6.]
[AN ORDER RELATIVE TO THE CONTINUANCE OF THE RATES
AND IMPOST ON WINES &C. AND CONCERNING CERTAIN AF-
FAIRS OF BOSTON.]
[Passed June 2 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint referred
to in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 40.]
Ordered
That the Proclamac'on for continuing rates and Impost
upon Wine &c (with the Following proclamac’on to pr’vent
fire) be published.
Whereas the late Governm't hath by an act bearing date
the 17th of Novemb'r 1683, and by another act on the 13th of
February following made prudent provision to pr'vent the
danger of Fire in Boston by Ordering and enjoyning all build-
ings to be of brick or stone, and covered with slate or tile,
And Informac'on being given, that Sundry wooden buildings
are intended and begun
It is hereby Declared.
That the afores'd Acts and every clause therein are thought
needfull and are hereby continued in force, and the Select men,
Grand Jury-men and Constables are also hereby required
to take care the afores'd Acts be exactly observed till further
Order be given therein.
The Votes of the Towne for Levying rates for Supply of the
poor and the Townes occasions, also for finishing the Almes
house are allowed. And the Select men and Committe ap-
pointed in that affair are Impowred to take effectuall care
to pursue and execute the same, and from time to time shall
make report to the President and Councill of what they shall
raise thereon, and this to be of force till further order.
112
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
In Answer to the motion of the Select men of Boston, Show-
ing that there Town Treasury is so exhausted that they stand
in need of a present Supply for maintenance of the poor &c.
They are ordered to proceed in due and equall manner to
levy the Same upon the Inhabitants and estates of the Towne.
[CHAPTER 7.]
[AN ORDER CONCERNING THE RIGHT AND PRIVILEGE OF THE
INDIAN TRADE AT PEJEPSCOTT.]
[Passed June 2, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint referred
to in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 41.]
Ordered
That the Right and Priviledge of the Indian Trade at Po-
jepscott and in the late land belonging to M'r Thom's Pur-
chass shall be reserved to Richard Wharton Esq'r his heires
and Assignes in as ample and beneficiall man'er as the s'd
M'r Purchass or his Agents at any time heretofore enjoyed
the Same.
[CHAPTER 8.]
[AN ORDER RELATING TO THE MISSION OF ROBERT MASON IN
ENGLAND.]
[Passed June 2, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint referred
to in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 42.]
Ordered
That Instructions be drawn up for Robert Mason Esq'r now
bound for England copie whereof followes.
That our Addresses to his Ma'ty and Lords Com'tees for
Trade and Forreign Plantations, be by the Sec'ry delivered,
and recommended to M'r Masons convenience, and he re-
quested with M'r Blathwayte humbly to present the Same.
Further That the Sec'ry draw up, and deliver to M'r Mason,
and desire him to Lodge with M'r Blathwayte, a Memoriall
That if Judgment pass against Road Island and Connecticot
or they resigne, it will be of Great Importance and Satis-
faction to all his Majestyes Subjects in those and this Colony
to be annexed under the same Government, at least that the
Free commerce that hath alwayes been between the Said
Colonyes may be continued without w'ch neither can Subsist.
That it will be much for his Ma'tys Service, and needfull
for the Support of the Governm't and prosperity of all these
Plantations to allow a well regulated Assembly to repr❜sent
the people in making needfull lawes and levyes.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
113
That in regard Our Mint being disallowed by his late Ma'ty
being not by his Licence erected, nor haveing his Royall Im-
press hath long time discontinued, and Wee haveing no staple
com'odities to pass currant in payments as in other planta-
tions, by which Our Trade for want of money is much per-
plexed and decayed.
That his Ma'tys Licence, direction and Impress, be Season-
ably prayed, for establishing a mint in this His Dominion,
with an allowance of Such alloy, or abatement in weight as
may Secure our mony from Transportac'on. And That M'r
Blathwayt be desired upon all good occasions to lay Such
memoriall before the Lords of the Councill, with Signification
that as soon as the Government is setled the Queries sent
by their Lordshipps will be answered, and Such other mat-
ters as may be of importance will be humbly offered to their
considerac'on.
That all Sugar imported from any of his Ma'tys West Indie
Plantations to New England and Shipp'd off from thence to
Engl'd, may have an abatement of So much of the duties as
is made appear by Certificate to have been duely paid in the
Plantations.
That all Tobacco Shipp'd from New Engl'd to London, have
the penny in the pound abated.
[CHAPTER 9.]
[AN ORDER APPOINTING A PROVOST MARSHAL, CONSTITUTING
COUNTY MARSHALS HIS DEPUTIES, AND PROVIDING FOR HIS
COMPENSATION.]
[Passed June 3, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint referred
to in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 44.]
Ordered
That Major Buckley do enjoy and execute the Office of Pro-
vost Marshall, and that the County Marshalls hold of him as
Deputies and pay him Such part and portion of their Ffees
from time to time as the President and Councill shall here-
after determine.
[CHAPTER 10.]
[AN ORDER GRANTING A PRESENT OF £100 TO THE PRESIDENT.]
[Passed June 3, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint referred
to in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 44.]
[Ordered that]
A present of a hundred pound be paid to the President out
of the first monyes raised by the Treasurer.
8
114
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
[CHAPTER 11.]
[AN ORDER RELATIVE TO FORT LOYAL, THE COMPENSATION OF
THE COMMANDER AND THE USE OF IT AS A PRISON.]
[The first paragraph of this order was passed June 2, and the second June
3, 1686, 2 James II. These orders were not included in the imprint referred
to in chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, pp. 44, 46.]
Ordered
That Captaine Edward Ting have the com'and of Ffort
Loyall, and a yearly maintainance annexed to it.
That the former allowance be paid to Capt. Tyng till further
Order for his Support and that the fort be made use of as a
prison for the present.
[CHAPTER 12.
[AN ORDER RELATIVE TO THE GRANTING OF ORIGINAL WRITS.]
[Passed June 8, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint referred
to in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 47.]
Ordered
2
B
*
That Capt. Edward Ting and Capt. Charles Frost have
power to grant Originall Writts.
[CHAPTER 13.]
AN ORDER FOR THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF SURVEYORS OF SHIPS
AND VESSELS, &C.
[This order was passed June 8, 1686, 2 James II, and is included in the
imprint filed as an insert in manuscript N. H. Province Records, Council
Book I, p. 169, mentioned ante in the note to chapter 1. Printed in I, Pro-
vince Papers, p. 600; 8, N. H. Historical Society Collections, 284. The repro-
duction here is from the original imprint. The Journal gives the order in
much briefer form. It was apparently elaborated for the original publi-
cation. The text is as follows in the Journal, N. H. copy, p. 47, viz.: "Or-
dered, That Surveyors of Shipps in Boston have four shillings per diem."]
WHEREAS In the several Counties and Sea-port Towns there
have been appointed meet Persons for the Surveying of Ships
(either which are building or defective) and damnified Goods;
It is hereby DECLARED,
That the said Persons are Continued in that Service, and
for their Satisfaction shall receive each of them from the Em-
ployers, Four Shillings, for every Survey Made and Returned
under their hands.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
115
[CHAPTER 14.]
BOUNDS AND POWER OF TOWNS, &C.
[This order was passed June 8, 1686, 2 James II. It is contained in the
imprint filed in manuscript N. H. Province Records, Council Book I, p. 169,
mentioned ante in note to chapter 1. Printed in I, Province Papers, p. 600;
8, N. H. Historical Society Collections, 285. The reproduction here is from
the original imprint. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 47.].
It is ORDERED and DECLARED, That the Bounds of all
Townships shall Be and Continue as heretofore settled, and
that they shall be run between Town and Town for time and
manner as hath been formerly required & used; And that
each Town have the same Liberty and Power of Choosing and
Instructing their Select-men, Constables and other Officers
for the Management of their own Affairs as they have used
& exercised, and all such Elections to be made by the Free-
holders in every Town.
It is also Ordered, That all Contracts, Agreements, and Orders
regularly made in any Town, respecting either their Ministers
or School-Masters as to their Maintenance, or any other Person
Concerned or the publique Benefit of the Town, shall re-
main good and valid for the whole time that they were made
for, and shall accordingly be Pursued, put in Execution, and
Fullfilled.
And for the future Raising and Defraying of all such Pub-
lique Charges in Towns as shall be needfull;
It is Ordered, that Whatsoever Summe or Summs shall be
graunted by the Inhabitants for that end, in any of their town-
Meetings regularly assembled, shall be by the Select-men first
presented to two of the next Justices of the Peace within the
same County, or to One of the Members of the Council therein
Resident, to be by Him or them allowed and under-written,
which being so obtained, the Select-men or such Raters as shall
be specially chosen by the Town for that Service, shall assess
the said Summs upon each particular Inhabitant that is within
their Town (the Members of His Majesties Council excepted)
in due proportion to their known Abilities and Estates, and
thereof shall make a distinct and perfect List under their
Hands, setting down every man's Name and particular Pro-
portion, with which List so perfected the Select Men shall
apply themselves to one of the Justices of the Peace for that
County, or to any Member of the Council, who shall make
his Warrant thereupon under his Hand and Seal directed to
the Constables of each Town respectively, for the speedy
Levying and Collecting of all such Assessments within a fitting
time prefixed, with Power of Distress in case of refusal or neg-
116
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
lect of Payment by any one, as formerly, and all Summs so
collected shall be by the Constables carefully and duely paid
in according as the Select-men shall appoint: And if any Con-
stable shall neglect to perform his Duty in the premises, he
shall be lyable to respond all such Summs as through his de-
fault shall not be collected and paid in.
And further, It is Ordered, That whereas there are several
small Towns and Villages by the late Government put under
the Direction of several Committees the said Committees are
hereby continued in their full Power until the President and
Council shall take further order:
!
The Narraganset Countrey called the Kings-Province having
hitherto been unsettled is not to be understood to be intended
in this Order or any thing contained therein.
[CHAPTER 15.]
[AN ORDER FOR THE SALE OF AN INDIAN FOR A TERM OF
YEARS.]
[Passed June 14, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint referred
to in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 56. This is an act
local to the Massachusetts part of the dominion. It is given here, however,
as indicating a peculiar exercise of authority, apparently a revision of
a judgment of some inferior court.]
Upon application of the Keeper of the Prison in Boston,
That Some persons in Scituate had prosecuted George the
Indian to a judgment of transportation, and they not haveing
attended that Judgment the Treasurer is
Ordered
To Sell George the Indian (but not to exceed Seaven years)
and to apply him to work to satisfie his Fees.
[CHAPTER 16.]
[AN ORDER TO PREVENT THE LANDING OF GOODS AT THE ISLES
OF SHOALS WITHOUT PAYMENT OF CHARGES AT SOME DESIG-
NATED PORT.]
[Passed June 18, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint referred
to in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 60.]
Ordered
·
That no Shipps do unliver any Part of their Loading in the
Isles of Shoals, before they have first entred with the Collector
of his Ma'tys Customes, and also with the Officer for receiveing
his Ma'tys Imposts and Revenues arising upon Wine, Rum'
&c'a Imported either in Boston Salem, or Piscataqua: and
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
117
that all Shipps and Vessells tradeing to the Eastward of
Cape Porpus shall enter at Some of the aforesaid Ports, or at
the Town of Falmouth in the province of Maine.
[CHAPTER 17.]
[AN ORDER PROHIBITING THE SALE OF STRONG DRINKS TO
INDIANS WITHOUT LICENCE.]
[Passed June 18, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint referred
to in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 61.]
Ordered
That any Person pr'sumeing to Sell, or deliver any Strong
beer, Wine, Cyder, Rum, or any other Strong Drinke to any
Indian or Nigroe, without express License from Some of his
Ma'tys Councill, or any two Justices of the Peace, shall be
fined and have Execuc'on thereupon made ag'st him by him
or them before whom convicted was made, the fine not ex-
ceeding five pounds, and the offender to be Com'td to prison
untill paid or Satisfaction be made: according to the usage
of the late Government.
[CHAPTER 18.]
[AN ORDER DIRECTING AS TO THE COLLECTION OF DELIN-
QUENT RATES.]
[Passed July 1, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint mentioned
in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 62.]
Upon reading the Humble petition of Isaac Johnson, Tim-
othy Cutler, John Simpson and Jacob Hurd Constables of
Charlestowne for some years past Praying to be Impowred to
gather in the mony due to them from Severall of the Inhabi-
tants of the said Towne, Or otherwise to be freed and dis-
charged from the towne, who accounted the aforesaid Con-
stables lyable for the full payment of their Rates
It is
Ordered
That the Late Constables do proceed against them accord-
ing to the way of Recovering of small debts by the Com'on
Law, and this to be a Rule in all Like cases.
118
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
[CHAPTER 19.]
[AN ORDER RELATIVE TO THE RESTORATION OF EDWARD GOVE
TO HIS ESTATE.]
[Passed July 12, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint referred
to in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 68. An entry for
July 8, p. 67, is as follows: "His Ma'tys letter relating to Edward Gove
(was read) but upon his non appearance there was nothing done in that
matter this day." "At the next meeting the act following appears.]
;
Upon reading his Ma'tys gracious Letter bearing date at
-Whitehall the 12th of Aprill 1686 in the second year of his
Ma'tys reigne Directed to us his Ma'tys President and Coun-
cill of this His Ma'tys Territory and Dominion, Signifying
that he had pardoned Edward Gove of his Crime of high Trea-
son &c. Authoriseing and requireing us to restore the Said
Gove to his estate and to the possession thereof in Such man-
ner and form, as if he had not been Convicted.
Ordered
That the Justices of the Peace, or Martiall of the Province
of New Hampshire give an account of what houses and lands
were in the possession of Edward Gove at the time of his Con-
viction, That he may have an Order to be repossessed of them
pursuant to his Ma'tys Letter.
[CHAPTER 20.]
[AN ORDER APPOINTING A MARSHAL FOR THE PROVINCE OF
NEW HAMPSHIRE.]
[Passed July 12, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint referred
to in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 69.]
Ordered
That Mr. Pheasant Eastwick be Marshall of the Province of
New Hampshire, and he is hereby appointed accordingly.
[CHAPTER 21.]
[AN ORDER RELATING TO LANDS ON THE MERRIMACK RIVER
AND LAKE WINNIPESAUKEE CONVEYED BY SACHEM WANA-
LANSET TO JOHN BLACKWELL AND OTHERS.]
[Passed July 12, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint men-
tioned in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 69. See chap-
ter 53, post.]
Upon reading the Petition of John Blackwell Samuell
Shrimpton and Charles Lidgett Esq'rs on behalf of them
Selves and divers others his Ma'tys Loyall Subjects as well
in England as in this his Ma'tys Territory and Dominion,
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
119
Shewing their purchase of Wanalanset chief Indian Sachem on
Merimack River, as, also of Robert Mason Esq'r, who chal-
lenged an Interest therein under grant from his Ma'tys Royall
Progenitors, and of other his Ma'tys Subjects former pur-
chassers of and legally intituled to Some considerable part
thereof Severall tracts of Land on both Sides of the Said River
of Merimack and Lake of Weneposiocho thereunto adjoyning
togeather with the Said River from the Said Lake down to
the Sea and the Royaltyes and Sole right thereof to them
Selves their heires and As'signs intending a considerable
Plantation there if they might receive the countenance of his
Ma'tys Authority in So doing. Also shewing that the Said
Purchasses were made Dureing the time of the Late Gov-
ernm't here & the Deeds and grants acknowledged before the
then Magistrates, and duely registred as the Laws required
But others of them and also Some generall deeds comprizing
the whole from the Said Sachem and Mr Mason remaine un-
registerd by reason of the late uncertainty and invalidity of
those lawes and Jurisdictions. But in as much as his Ma’ty
hath Substituted Us the President and Councill as well of
the Massathusetts Colony as of the Province of New Hamp-
shire wherein the greatest part, if not the whole pr'mises lye,
and Commissionated a Register for Recording Deeds and Con-
veyances for the better ascertaining their title to all and Sin-
gular the pr'mises, Praying Our allowance of the Said Pur-
chases, and order for registring all the Deeds and Convey
ances thereof as approved by Us. Desireing Our appoint-
ment and nomination of the pr'mises (with the addition of the
Townshippes of Concord, Chelmsford, Groton, Lancaster Stow
and Dunstable, as also of twelve miles more in breadth of the
unplanted Wilderness land, lying in a straight Parrallel line on
the West Side thereof (from end to end) a County to be called
by the name of Merrimack County annexing the Conservation
of the Said River to the Petitioners the Purchassers thereof.
Ordered
That the abovementioned Petition be granted Provided
That the Deeds not already Registred be according to the
Order of the President and Council (lately made) acknow-
ledged before some member of the Councill before they pass
to the Registry. And that the Said Lands with the addition
of twelve miles on the Westward and the Townes therein
mentioned be raised into a perticular County, Saveing to per-
ticular persons their Just challange of any rights in the Soyle
within the Said Tract. Provided the same be challenged and
pursued in Law within the Space of three yeares next, or Such
further time as his Ma'ty shall please to allow to pursue titles
to wast Lands, and also Saveing to Mr William Wharton his
right to the Moity of Six miles Square passed to him by
120
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
Jonathan Tyng Esq'r Provided the same be Extra the Six
miles on the Westward of the River conteined in the Deeds
Signed by Mr Mason and Sachem Wonolanset.
[CHAPTER 22.]
[AN ORDER APPOINTING A COMMITTEE ON REVISION OF THE
LAWS.]
[Passed July 12, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint men-
tioned in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 69. See chap-
ters 47 and 48 post. The publication above named bears date June 10, 1686.
This committee evidently was appointed with reference to other or further
work on the laws. The comprehensive character of the series of enact-
ments which emanated from the Andros council, soon after this date,
indicates the exercise of considerable labor and care in the treatment of
a variety of subjects of legislation. The intimate relation which existed
between the Dudley council and the Andros council should not be over-
looked. The members of this committee were all named as members of
the council which succeeded that of which Mr. Dudley was president.]
[Ordered]
The Deputy President, Capt Winthrop, Mr Wharton and
Mr Usher appointed a Com'tee for reviseing the Lawes.
[CHAPTER 23.]
[AN ORDER FOR THE REGULATION OF ENTRIES BY COASTING
VESSELS.]
[Passed July 12, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint men-
tioned in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 72.]
[Ordered]
That all Coasting Vessells, That freight to other Colonyes
or provinces make a Generall Entry of the Contents of their
Loading, and pay for their Cocquet and Clearing two sh and
six pence, and this to be posted in the Collectors Office and
on the Exchange.
[CHAPTER 24.]
[AN ORDER FOR THE ADMISSION OF PAUL MILLER, A NATIVE
OF HAMBURG, TO CITIZENSHIP IN THE DOMINION OF NEW
ENGLAND.]
[Passed July 12, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint men-
tioned in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 73.]
Upon reading the Petition of Paul Miller Ma'r born in the
City of Hambrough Inhabitant in Boston for severall yeares
It is
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
121
!
Ordered
That Paul Miller upon takeing the Oath of Allegience be
admitted a free Denison, and to have the same privilidges &
benifitts of any of his Ma'tys Subjects in this his Territory
and Dominion.
[CHAPTER 25.]
[AN ORDER CONCERNING CERTAIN FRENCH PROTESTANT IMMI-
GRANTS.]
[Passed July 12, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint men-
tioned in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 73.]
Upon application of the French Protestants (lately arrived
from S't Christophers) to the President for admission to re-
side and dwell in this his Ma'tys Dominion, and to bring in
their effects and concerns here,
Ordered
That upon the takeing the Oath of Allegience before the
President and under his hand and the Seal of his Ma'tys Ter-
ritory and Dominion, they be allowed to reside and dwell in
his Ma'tys s'd Dominion; and to proceed from hence and re-
turn hither as freely as any other of his Ma'tys Subjects and
this to be an order for all such French Protestants that shall
or may come into this his Ma'tys Territory and Dominion.
[CHAPTER 26.1
[AN ORDER RESPECTING THE COLLEGE AT CAMBRIDGE.]
[Passed July 20, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint men-
tioned in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 74.]
The colledg at Cambridge being in an unsetled posture by
the late Alteration of the Government; and Mr Increase
Mather's dismissing himself from further care and service
there, The Councill have agreed to meet there upon Fryday
next 23d Instant to consider of Some form of settlement
thereof; Mr Mather to have notice given him of said Meeting,
and be Desired to be there p'snt, likewise
Ordered
that the rules and Orders drawn up by said Mr Mather re-
ferring to the Government of the Schollars there p'sented to
the Councill for considerac'on be inclosed and directed unto
Mr John Leverett for his own, and the other Principall Schol-
lars (now upon the Place) their purusall and consideration of
what may be needfull to be further added thereto respecting
the Disputations and exercises of the Graduates, or any other
thing.
122
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
;
[CHAPTER 27.]
A
[AN ORDER FOR THE ADMISSION OF MUNGO CRAWFORD,
SCOTCHMAN, TO THE PRIVILEGES OF OTHERS HIS MAJESTY'S
SUBJECTS HERE.]
[Passed July 20, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint men-
tioned in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 78.]
[Ordered]
That Mungo Craford Scotchman an Inhabitant of the Town
of Boston haveing for many years past dwelt there and Con-
tributed unto Publick charges upon takeing the Oath of Al-
legience have Certificate given him by the President under the
Publick Seal that he is allowed to trade, and deal and enjoy
Liberties and Priviledges as other his Ma'tys Subjects here.
[CHAPTER 28.]
[AN ORDER RELATIVE TO JOHN TUFTON'S WASTE LANDS.]
[Passed July 20, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint men-.
tioned in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 78.]
John Tuftons Petition was read relateing to the wast of his
Estate, and
Ordered
that a Copie of it be Sent unto John Hinks Esq'r, and com-
municated to mr Vaughan and others concerned to prepare
Some answer to be layd before the Councill upon Thursday
the 5th of August next or some Sooner day if it may be, when
of the County Court holden there.
[CHAPTER 29.]
[AN ORDER RESTRAINING THE EXPORTATION OF GRAIN ON AC-
COUNT OF A DANGER OF A SHORT HARVEST AND A SCARCITY
OF PROVISIONS.]
[Passed July 22, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint men-
tioned in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 80. Repealed
August 25, 1686.]
Upon application of the Select men of Boston, and danger
of a short harvest, for pr'vention of Inconveniency and Suffer-
ing to the Inhabitants of this Government through a Scarcity
of Provisions. The President & Councill have thought meet
and do hereby
Order
That no sort of Corn or graine be Exported or carryed out
of this Government untill further Order under the penalty
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
123
of forfieture of all Sorts of Corn or graine shipped or laden
upon any boat or Vessell towards exportation, and all Officers
appointed to the inspection of the Landing or loading off
Goods are required carefully to look after all transgressiors
of this order, and to seize all such corn or graine exporting or
carrying out contrary thereunto.
[CHAPTER 30.]
[AN ORDER FOR PROCEEDINGS AGAINST DELINQUENT CONSTA-
BLES FOR THE RECOVERY OF ARREARS OF RATES FORMERLY
ASSESSED.]
[Passed July 22, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint men-
tioned in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 81.]
Ordered
That all arrears of Rates formerly assessed to the use of any
Towne, the Select men are allowed to take their action against
the late Constable or Constables of their respective Townes
who are behind in their accounts of payments, and upon re-
covery of Such arrears to be levyed and disposed of to the
uses first Intended: And the said Constables are alike allowed
to proceed against the perticular persons who are behind in
paying of their respective assessment, and the like method is
to be used by the Treasurer and Constables for the Collecting
and gathering in the County and Cuntry rates that are yet
standing out.
John Appleton of Ipswich is continued in the Office of Clerk
of the County Court holden there.
[CHAPTER 31.]
[AN ORDER PRESCRIBING THE OATH TO BE TAKEN BY AT-
TORNEYS.]
[Passed July 26, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint men-
tioned in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 85.]
Ordered
That the Oath following be administred to the Attourneys
before they be admitted Attourneyes in Court.
You shall do no falshood nor deceit, nor consent to any to
be done in this Court, and if You know of any to be done You
shall give knowledge thereof to the Judge of this Court for
the time being or Some other of his Ma'tys Councill, or Assist-
ants of this Court that it may be reformed You shall delay
no man for lucre or malice, You shall encrease no fees but
be contented with Such ffees as are by Order of Councill or
124
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
·
the Judge of this Court allowed You, or that may be allowed
You in time to Come. You shall plead no Plea, nor sue any
Suits unlawfully to hurt any man, but such as shall stand
w'th Order of the Law, and Your Conscience, You shall not
wittingly or willingly sue, nor cure to be Sued any false
Suite, nor give aid, or consent to the Same on paine of being
expulsed from the Court for ever, And further You shall use
and demean Your Selfe in Your office of an Attorny within the
Court according to Your Learning & Discretion. So help
You God.
[CHAPTER 32.]
[AN ORDER FOR A JUSTICE OF THE PEACE TO PRICK A JURY FOR
THE COUNTY COURT IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.]
[Passed July 26, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint men-
tioned in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 86.]
Upon the Proposall of Mr Waldron the younger of the neces-
sity of Juries to be prickt and returned to serve in the County
Court of the Province of New-Hampshire It is
Ordered
That mr Gearish one of his Ma'tys Justices of the Peace for
that Province be appointed to prick a Jurie to Searve for that
occasion.
[CHAPTER 33.]
[AN ORDER APPOINTING JOHN HINCKES TO BE CAPTAIN OF THE
FORT AT GREAT ISLAND AND OF THE BAND OF TRAINED SOL-
DIERS THERE STATIONED.]
[Passed July 26, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint men-
tioned in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 86.]
Ordered
That a Commission be forthwith drawn, and sent to John
Hincks Esqr one of his Ma'tys Councill, at Great Island to be
Capt of the Fort there, and also of the band of trained Soul-
diers upon that Island and places adjacent.
[CHAPTER 34.]
[AN ORDER PRESCRIBING THE TERMS ON WHICH RICHARD WAL-
DRON, JR., MAY EXERCISE CERTAIN OFFICES IN NEW HAMP-
SHIRE.]
[Passed July 26, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint men-
tioned in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 86.]
Ordered
That mr Richard Waldron the younger upon payment of
tenn pounds yearly to mr Richard Chamberlaine of Ports-
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
125
mouth be Empowred to Supply the place and office of Clerk
of the County Court, and of the Probate of Wills, and to be
Deputy Register to Edward Randolph Esq'r in the Province
of New Hampshire upon the Same tearms as Mr Scottow is
Deputed in the Province of Maine, with Liberty to act him-
selfe or Recom'end a fitt person to that Service to be allowed
of by the President and Councill.
[CHAPTER 35.]
[AN ORDER RELATING TO THE MAINTENANCE OF REV. MR.
RADCLIFFE.]
[Passed July 26, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint referred
to in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 87.]
In answer to Mr Ratcliff's desire for maintainance pur-
suant to the Letters of the Right Hon'ble the Com'tee for
Trade bearing date the 30th of October, 1685, it is
Ordered
That the Contribution money Collected in the Church where
he performs divine Service, be Solely applyed to the main-
tainance of mr Ratcliffe.*
[CHAPTER 36.]
[AN ORDER EXEMPTING CERTAIN VESSELS FROM PAYMENT OF
POWDER MONEY.]
[Passed July 26, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint men-
tioned in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 87.]
[Ordered]
That no Powder mony be paid by Vessells in this Govern-
ment comeing from Connecticot and Road Island and belong-
ing to the Said Places.
*Several other entries besides the orders herein reproduced are found
in the Journal. They will have special historical interest as indicating the
measures taken at this time on behalf of a local establishment of the Eng-
lish church. It will be noted also, in an examination of the Journal, that
the council was not infrequently occupied with the ecclesiastical affairs
of the towns and parishes of the territory. Much material pertinent to
the local history of the churches is preserved in the journals of the councils
and assemblies, controversies having been brought to those bodies for final
adjudication.
126
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
[CHAPTER 37.]
[AN ORDER APPOINTING A JUDGE TO PRESIDE IN CERTAIN
COUNTY COURTS.]
[Passed July 26, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint men-
tioned in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 87.]
The President and Councill haveing considered the neces-
sity of appointing a perticular person to preside as Judge in
the Severall County Courts that may be certainly present for
the direction of the Court, William Stoughton Esq'r Deputy
President is hereby intreated and Impowred to take the
charge and care of the Severall Courts and Countyes of Suf-
folk Middlesex and Essex, for w'ch Service the President and
Council will Seasonably take care that there be a reward
assigned.
[CHAPTER 38.]
[AN ORDER RELATING TO THE CHANCERY OF BONDS.]
[Passed July 27, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint men-
tioned in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 88.]
Ordered
That the Courts of Pleas in each County be Impowred to
Chancery Peenall bonds where the forfietures were found by
the Juries.
[CHAPTER 39.]
[AN ORDER DESIGNATING PORTS OF ENTRY.]
[Passed July 30, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint men-
tioned in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 92.]
Ordered
That the Ports hereafter mentioned and no other be the
Ports of Entry, where goods may be delivered and Shipped
off. viz't
That Boston be the head Port of Entry for Charles-Town
and Hull.
That Salem be the Port for Lynn, Gloster, Cape-Ann and
Marblehead.
That Ipswitch be the Port for Salisbury and Rowley
That Great Island be the Port for the Town of Hampton
for the Isle of Shoales, and for the Town of Kettery in the Pro-
vince of Maine.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
127
[CHAPTER 40.]
[AN ORDER REGULATING THE IMPORTATION AND SALE OF
WINES, LIQUORS, AND TOBACCO, AND PROVIDING A REV-
ENUE.
[Enacted July 30, 1686, 2 James II. Not entered in the Journal, N. H. copy.
Mass. Archives, Vol. 126, pp. 41-44. This act appears as a separate paper
in the Massachusetts Archives, and is apparently incomplete. It is given,
however, as evidence of the intention of the president and council in ref-
erence to the subject matter of this legislation. See notes to chapters 41
and 42, post.]
fforasmuch as the Support of his Majestyes Govrm't and the
publique charges require a constant and certaine Returne and
Supply And it being repr'sented that there are great debauch-
eryes both amongst the English and Indians by their exces-
sive use and consumption of wine strongwaters and Tobacco
Sold by retaile by means of which Tillage husbandry and
trade are greatly hinderd and the Countrey impoverished
It is therefore orderd and enacted that from and after the
tenth day of Jan. instant all sorts of wines Brandy Rhum or
other strongwaters and all Tobacco that shall be imported
and all strong waters simple or compound that shall be dis-
tilled or made & consumed in any pt of this his Majestyes
Dom'n and Govrm't shall: for and dureing the space and
tearme of three years next ensueing be charged with and pay
the respective dutyes and imposcions heereafter expressed viz:
Every But or pipe of ffidoney wines of ffiall or
the Western Isl'ds
£01: 0:00
Every But or pipe of psadaes or sweet wines of
those Isl'ds
£02: 0:00
Every pipe of Madra wine
£02: 0:00
Every But or pipe of Sherry Sacke Mall'a:03:10:00
Canaree Tent or allicant
All Sorts of ffrench wines Tun
imported gall
all sorts made in the Countrey
P £ 1d f:
Brandy gall
Rhum Racke and all sorts of distilled spirits
All Tobacco: whether in leafe twist Roll or cut
And to in able the Tr'r and his officers for the tyme being to
collect the Same-All powers and Authorityes and privi-
ledges form❜ly given: granted or allowed to any former Tr'r
for the tyme being are hereby effectually vested in and
04: 0:00
00:01:00
00:00:08
gall
00:06
11/1
128
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
graunted to the Tr'r and his officers for & dureing the sd
tearme of three years:
And it is orderd that noe Master or Comander of any ship
or other vessel importing any of the afores'd Comodityes or
goods into any part of this his Majestyes Dominion shall either
upon the open Sea, neer the Coast or in any Bay Harbor Cove
Creeke River or other place, unload or suffer to be unloaden,
or delivrd out of his ship or vessell any of the goods or Com-
oditys aforesd before entry be made with the Tr'r (for the
tyme being or his officers thereunto appointed) upon oath if
thereunto required of the quantity or quality of such goods
and That noe goods shalbee landed on any Wharfe Key or
other place but on the Key or Wharfe where his Maj'ties
Warehouses shalbee for the tyme being untill such master or
son to whome such goods shalbee consigned have first made
paym❜t or given Security for paym❜t of the respective dutyes
due as afores'd on the Same, upon paine of forfeiture of all
such goods as shall bee unloaden or Landed otherwise or the
valew thereof to be recorded of such master or officers by
action informac'on or Compl't in any of his Majestyes Courts
that may have proper Cognizance thereof to be disposed of one
halfe to the informer and the other halfe to his majesty to be
imployd to the support of his Ma'tyes Goverm❜t heer.
And in case any sons to whome such goods shalbee con-
signed shall refuse or delay to give Security as afores'd then
such goods shalbee Lodged in Some of his Majestyes Ware-
houses under the Care of his Ma'tyes Warehousekeeper and
Cooper And the Master importing the Same shall have lib-
erty to make sale of soe much thereof as will pay his freight
and other Reasonable charges and in case the tyes con-
cernd shall not in three months after such goods shalbee
landed pay the dutyes afores'd or give security to transport
and carry such goods to some other port or place out of this
his Ma'tyes Dom'n and not to land or deliver the same on or
in any part of the ffrench seas Coasts or Territoryes Between
his Majesteys Dom'n heer and Newfoundland, It shall be law-
full and the Treasurer or officers by him appointed are heerby
impoured to sell soe much thereof as will pay the afores'd
dutyes and charges ariseing thereon:
And in case any ship or vessel belonging to this his Majes-
tyes Dom'n or other vessell that shall afterwards come into
any t of this Goverm't to Load or recruit shall unload or
deliver any of the afores'd goods on or in the ffrench seas,
Coasts or Territoryes within the afore limited bounds haveing
not first enterd and paid or secuerd the duty as afores'd in
some port of this his majestyes Dom'n such master shall de-
clare upon oath before he be Pmitted to enter what quantity
;
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
129
of such goods he hath Soe delivrd on the ffrench Coasts, and
pay or secure the full dutyes for the Same as afore'sd
Provided nevertheless that this act shall not restreine any
Masters of Ships or other vessels nor merch'ts in distress upon
this or the ffrench Coast to sell and deliver soe much of any
the Comodityes afores'd as may be needful to relieve them
with provisions or other Supplyes
Provided alsoe that all and every son importing any of
the goods afores'd that shall pay or secure the dutyes upon
importac'on shall upon exportac'on thereof being within 12
months giveing his owne oath or other good evidence thereof
that it bona fide is the very same without mixture for which
he paid or secured the duty and giveing bond to transport the
same as afores'd shall have abatem't & allowance or be repaid
the full duty for such quantity or part as he shall soe Trans-
port, and the Tre'r and officers in their severall ports are
heerby impowred and allowed to make reasonable abatem'ts
for damage or delay happening to such goods either before
or after such goods are landed being before the sale thereof-
Orderd alsoe that all distillers of strong waters shall keep
and monthly render to the Tr'r a distinct and trew acco' upon
oath if required of the quantity of all Sorts of strongwaters.
they shall distill and Sell & shall for the same pay 6d
gall besides the form'r Excise except onely such spirits as
shall be refined or drawne from Brandy, Rhum or other Liq'rs,
or wine that have paid The afores'd dutyes, And in case any
Such distill'rs give not a Satisfactory acco' to the Tr'r of their
Sale and consumption he or his officers shall have power weekly
or as often as may be thought needful with a Constable to
enter into their Stillhouses Warehouses shops Cell'rs or other
suspected places to search Survey Tast and Gage Such Liq'rs
and if any distillors shall Indeavour in any other house or
place but such as they ordinarily & usely use and imploy
to conceale any strong waters from the knowledg of the
Treasurer or his officers he or they may Enter as afores'd any
Such Suspected places Seiz and dispose all such strong waters
as be soe conceal'd one third part to his Maj'ty for the Support
of his Govrm't heer, one third to the inform'r and the other
third to The use of the Tr'r or his officers appointed and im-
ployd to seiz the same
Orderd alsoe That the Revenues ariseing by licenses for
Retaile of wine Beer ale Cyder Liq'rs and strong drink and
the penny £ on Goods imported in the Massachusetts Col-
lony be continued Raised and collected through this his
Ma'tyes Goverm't, for and dureing the tearme of 3 years:
afores'd according to the form'r laws orders and usages in
the Massachusetts Collony: And that all laws and orders there
9
130
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
published for Restreining & punishing sons unlicensed from
Retayling wine Liq'rs beer Cyder or other strong drinke be
in forced thorough this his Ma'tyes Goverm't till further order
And that The Tr'r or form'r officers of the Excise or Licenses
for the tyme being Suspecting any son to sell wine beer
Cyder or any Sort of liq'rs or strong drinke without license
and declareing the ground of there Suspic'on to the next
Justice shall have his Warr't to a constable enter into and
search any Such Suspected places and finding any more wine
Liq'r &c: in any such house or place then such sons may
reasonably expend for their owne or familyes necessary use,
or of w'ch a Reasonable acco' shall not be given they may Seiz
the same and if a Satisfactory acco' be not given to such Jus-
tice by the Pty owning or claimeing the same, he may by his
Warr't order the same to be disposed of one halfe to the poore
of the towne and the other halfe to the inform'r &c:
[CHAPTER 41.]
A BRANCH OF THE ACT FOR CONTINUEING AND ESTABLISHING
OF SEVERALL RATES, DUETYES AND IMPOSTS RELATEING TO
THE EXCISE.
[Enacted July 30, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in Journal, N. H. copy.
Mass. Archives, vol. 126, pp. 45, 46. This is a separate paper in the Massa-
chusetts Archives. It is given place, with chapter 40, ante, and chapter 42,
post, in the order of time, although neither of the three is found extended
in the journal from which the orders and acts preceding and following are
extracted. Compare chapters 40 and 41 with chapters 4 and 6, ante.]
And it is further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That
there be paid unto his Ma'tie an Excise upon all Wines,
Brandy, Rumm And other distilled Waters Mum Syder Ale
and beere That Shall be Sold by Retaile in any towne or
place within this Dominion By those that Retayle the Same,
(That is to say) for Every Butt or Pipe of Wine fifty Shillings
for Every quart of brandy Rumm or other distilled Waters
two Pence for Every Hoggshead of Mum five Shillings for
Every Hoggshead of Syder Ale or beere two Shillings and
Six pence all Currant money And after that Rate for any
greater or Smaller Quantityes And for the due and Orderly
Collecting and Receiving the Excise aforesaid Itt is Hereby
Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That all Retaylers of
wine brandy Rum and other distilled Waters Mum Syder
ale and beere within this Dominion Shall upon the Pur-
chase or Receipt of all or any the Liquors before Expressed
Make Entry thereof with the Threasurer or Such person or
Persons as Shall be appointed And pay the Dutyes and Excise
aforesaid Und'r the Penalty of forfeiture of all Such Liquors
As Shall be found in any Retaylers house Not being duely En-
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
131
•
tered And the Excise paid as aforesaid And Every Retayler
Who Shall Make his owne Syder Brew Ale or beere or Distill
Strong Waters Shall from time to time And att all times When
He or theres Shall Make Brew or Distill the Same Make Entry
with the Threasurer or Such other Person or Persons As Shall
be appointed Of all Such Syder Ale Beere or Distilled Waters
By them made brewed or Distilled And pay the Assize afore-
said Und'r the like Penalty and forfeiture of all such Liquors
As Shall be found in any Retaylers house Not Entred And
the Excise Not paid And to that End It shall And may be
Lawful to and for the Threasurer Or Such other person or
persons As Shall be appointed to Receive the Excise aforesaid
When and Soe often As He or they Shall thinke fitt in the
day time To Enter into any Retaylers house Seller or Ware-
house To Search for Such Liquors As are not Entred Nor the
Excise paid for the Same And to Gage any Caske or Caskes
And Such Liquors being found to seize and Secure Accord-
ingly Provided alwayes That it Shall and may be Lawful for
the said Threasurer or any Person or Persons that Shall be
appointed to Receive the Excise aforesaid To agree with any
Retayler for his Excise for one whole yeare in One intire Sum'e
To be paid quarterly As he or they in their discretion Shall
think fitt to agree for without Makeing any Entry as afore-
said Provided alwayes And be itt Enacted by the Authority
aforesaid That noe Person or Persons whatsoever Shall Sell
any wines Brandy Rum Distilled Waters Mum Syder ale beere
or any other Liquors by Retayle Without a Lycense Nor Shall
any Person Sell lesse Quantity of Strong Waters then five
Gallons Or of wine then a Quarter Caske att one time With-
out first obteyning a Lycense for the Same und'r the Penalty
of five pounds for each Default The one halfe of all Penaltyes
and forfeitures Conteyned in this act to be to the use of his
Ma'tie And the other halfe to him or them That Shall Inform
or Sue for the Same in any of the Courts within this Do-
minion.
[CHAPTER 42.]
[AN ORDER ESTABLISHING FEES IN THE COURT OF ADMIRALTY.]
[Enacted July 30, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in Journal, N. H. copy.
Mass. Archives, vol. 126, p. 47. This is a separate paper in the Massachu-
setts Archives. It appears in the form of an order, and is presumed to be
properly a part of the official record. It is possible, however, that it is a
draft intended for consideration but not formally adopted. This remark
may be applicable also to the acts given as chapters 40 and 41, ante.]
It is orderd That noe informac'on be admitted into the
Court of Admiralty till the same be signed by the informer
and exhibited to the Vice Admirall or Judg of the Admiralty
132
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
and their or one of their allowance Certifyed to the Register
And he to take bond of the informer for Psecution And upon
rec't of his Libell to Issue Pcess or citation in order to tryall
The Judges ffees
ffor Certificate that to the Reg'r & allowance of
the information
ffor tryall on every compl't or informac'on the
valew Sued for being not above £40 to be pd
by the informer
£00:05:00
}
01:00:00
ffor any Sum exceeding 40£ 12d £ the fee not
to exceed
10:00:00
ffor the exemplification every sentence Judgm't
order or Decree
00:10:00
ffor the Judges attest without the Seale
00:02:00
ffor all warr'ts of appraisem't under the seale
00:05:00
ffor warr'ts without the Seale
00:00:00
ffor ordinary warr'ts of Survey
00:02:00
ffor warr'ts of Survey Under the Seale
00:05:00
The Reg'rs ffees
ffor entring the Compl't & receiveing the libell £00: 2: 6
ffor every warr't or Citation
£00:01:00
ffor entring Sentence Judgm't or decree & ex-
emplification attested if Demanded
£00:10:00
ffor the Reg'rs attest
£00:01:00
ffor fileing all returns upon apprisem't or Survey-
Justices fees
ffor every every Pannell & warr't for a Jury
£00:02:00
[CHAPTER 43.]
[AN ORDER RELATING TO THE RECORDS OF THE PROVINCE OF
NEW HAMPSHIRE.]
[Passed August 5, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint men-
tioned in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 93.]
A Letter of the Second of August from the Inhabitants of
Portsmouth in answer to mr Tuftons Petition, was read and
Ordered to be considered the next Councill day.
A Letter dated the 30th of July from Portsmouth Signed
by mr Hincks, Capt Barefoot and others informing that the
Records of that Province were removed from thence by Water
to Boston by Joshua Bradbent.
Mr. Chamberlain Secretary of that Province was sent for to
the Councill to give an acco' of that matter, who acknowl-
edged his Order to his Servant to deliver to Bradbent Such
Writings as concerned mr Mason & himselfe, but did not di
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
133
rect him to ask for, or remove any of the Records belonging
to the Said Province.
A Warrant directed to the Marshall to apprehend Broad-
bent and bring him before the Council to answer for that
fact.
Ordered
That Mr Chamberlaine permit Captaine Stileman to View
the Records of New hampshire if desired by him.
[CHAPTER 44.]
[AN ORDER FOR THE RETURN OF THE RECORDS OF PORTS-
MOUTH.]
[Passed August 5, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint men-
tioned in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 94.]
Ordered
That the Records of Portsmouth be return'd by Land to the
Province of New Hampshire.
[CHAPTER 45.]
[AN ORDER FOR THE RELIEF OF FRENCH PROTESTANT REFU-
GEES.]
[Passed August 5, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint men-
tioned in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 95.]
[Ordered.]
That a Breef be drawn up, and Printed, & read in all meet-
ing houses, to Supply the necessityes of the ffrench* lately ar-
rived here in great distress a coppie whereof followeth.
There are lately arrived fifteen french familyes with a Re-
ligious Protestant Minister, who are in all men, women and
children more then four score soules and are such as fled from
France for Religions Sakes, and by their long passage at Sea
their Doctor and twelve men are dead, and by other inconven-
iences the living are reduced to great sickness and poverty and
therefore objects of a true Christian Charity.
Alsoe fifty persons men, women, and children, which were by
the Cruelty of the Spaniards beaten off from Elutheria (an
Island of the Bohemiahs) naked and in great distress, as also
many other poor French Protestants are dayly expected (as
Letters inform) who will bring further distress and charge
with them. The President & Councill have intreated Capt
*Several other entries appear on the Journal besides the votes and orders
herein reproduced, which relate to refugees and immigrants who had then
recently come in great distress among the New England people.
134
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
Elisha Hutchinson and Capt Samuell Sewall to receive and
distribute the Same among them according to the direction
of the President and Councill from time to time for their re-
spective necessityes, and to whom such as are betrusted in
the Severall townes are desired to return what shall be Col-
lected: And the Ministers in the Severall Townes are desired
to Publish this Order and to put forward the people in their
Charity.
[CHAPTER 46.]
[AN ORDER FOR PRICKING THE PANELS FOR JURIES IN THE
COMMON PLEAS COURT FOR IPSWICH.]
[Passed August 10, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint men-
tioned in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 97.]
Ordered
That Mr William Brown with the Marshall of the County
of Essex prick the Pannells of the Grand and Petty Juries for
the next Court of Pleas for Ipswich.
[CHAPTER 47.]
[AN ORDER CONCERNING THE RECORDS OF THE PROVINCE OF
NEW HAMPSHIRE.]
[Passed August 10, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint men-
tioned in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 97.]
Joshua Bradbent was brought before the Councill to an
swer the Complaint of Severall Justices of the Peace belong-
ing to the Province of New Hampshire for conveying the Rec-
ords of that Province to Mr Chamberlaine at Boston, he plead-
ing it was done by mistake upon a Note sent for some paper
and his Adversaryes not proveing any perticular against him,
was returned back to prison, and an order sent to desire the
Justices to examine the matter referring to s'd Bradbents con-
veying them away-
Ordered
That Mr Richard Chamberlaine do w'thin tenn dayes next
repair to his place at Piscataqua to officiate in the Clerks
and Recorders place, or otherwise Capt Stileman to officiate
there untill further order.
Ordered
That the Records of New Hampshire lately brought from
thence be by Mr Chamberlaine committed to Capt Stileman
and Capt Pickering to be returned again and delivered to
John Hincks Esq'r to be kept in his house, whither the Clerks
may have recourse at all times.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
135
[CHAPTER 48.]
[AN ORDER UPON THE PETITION OF JOHN TUFTON RELATING
TO TIMBER IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.]
[Passed August 10, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint men-
tioned in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 98.]
In answer to the Petition of Capt John Tufton praying an
Injunction against the Inhabitants for Cutting of Timber in
the Province of New Hampshire and for continueing the 2s
per Tonn upon boards & Lumber.
The President and Councill Do declare That the whole
cause lying before his Ma'ty for finall determination w'ch
they Expect Speedily to be brought, see no cause to make
any new Order or Alteration in the affair between Mr Mason
and the Inhabitants of the abovesaid Province.
[CHAPTER 49.]
[AN ORDER REPEALING THE RESTRAINT IMPOSED ON THE EX-
PORTATION OF INDIAN CORN.]
[Passed August 25, 1686. Not included in the imprint mentioned in the
note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 101.]
Ordered
That the restraint upon Indian Corn be Repealed.
[CHAPTER 50.]
[AN ORDER FOR PRINTING THE MILITARY LAWS AND THE ORDER
FOR THE STRICT OBSERVANCE OF THE LORD'S DAY.]
[Passed August 25, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint men-
tioned in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 102. ~ See chap-
ter 22, ante, and chapter 48, post.j
Ordered
That the Military Lawes be printed, also the Order for the
strict observation of the Lords-day.
[CHAPTER 51.]
[AN ORDER APPOINTING A TIME FOR THE SESSION OF THE COM-
MITTEE TO REVISE THE LAWS.]
[Passed August 26, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint mẹn-
tioned in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 104. See chap-
ters 22 and 47, ante.]
Ordered
That on Tuesday next the Com'tee appointed to revise the
Lawes sitt to revise the Lawes in order to present them to his
Ma'ty.
136
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
[CHAPTER 52.]
[AN ORDER FOR THE PAYMENT OF AN ACCOUNT FOR WINES.]
[Passed September 26, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint men-
tioned in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 106.]
Mr Wharton presented his account (of Wine drank out on
the Entrance of his Ma'tys Government amounting to twenty
one pound, which being read was
Ordered
to be paid by Mr Treasurer Usher.
[CHAPTER 53.]
[AN ORDER RELATIVE TO FUNDS RAISED FOR THE RELIEF OF
THE FRENCH REFUGEES.]
[Passed September 27, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint men-
tioned in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 113.]
Ordered
That the money lately gathered at Salem by way of Contri-
bution for the relief of the poor distressed ffrench Protestants
be returned thither for the necessary Support of the French
lately arrived there, and to be distributed according to dis-
cretion.
[CHAPTER 54.]
(AN ORDER ALLOWING WILLIAM PARTRIDGE OF DOVER TO SELL
LIQUORS TO HIS WORKMEN.]
[Passed November 9, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint men-
tioned in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 123.]
William Partridge of Dover presenting a Petition, that he
might be allowed to sell Licquors to his workmen for their
refreshment whilst they are imployed in cutting and haleing
of Masts for his Ma'tys Navy. It is
Ordered
That the said William Partridge may sell Licquors as afore-
said and no otherwise any law statute or usage to the contrary
notwithstanding.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
137
[CHAPTER 55.]
[AN ORDER RELATING TO THE MONEY RECEIVED BY EDWARD
CRANFIELD FROM THE SALE OF THE ESTATE OF EDWARD
GOVE.]
[Passed November 9, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint men-
tioned in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 123.]
Upon Complaint of Edward Gove relateing to Mr Cranfield's
Sale of said Goves Estate, It is
Ordered
That a Report be made unto his Ma'ty of Esq'r Cranfields
Estate in New England, and what money was received by him
of such persons as purchassed the Estate of Edward Gove.
[CHAPTER 56.]
[AN ORDER RELATING TO THE SERVICE OF PROCESS IN SMALL
CAUSES.]
[Passed November 9, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint men-
tioned in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 124.]
[Ordered]
That the Justices of the Peace have notice that those words
in the Law for holding Courts &c viz't (except in small Cases
where the Constable of the Town shall be Sufficient) are not
to be understood in any other Sence, but that the Said Justices
may direct their attachments to the Provost Marshall, or any
of his Deputyes for the Countyes or places wherein they serve
as well as the Constables.
[CHAPTER 57.]
[AN ORDER ANNEXING THE TOWN OF STOW TO THE COUNTY OF
MERRIMACK.]
[Passed November 9, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint men-
tioned to the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 125.]
Ordered
That the Town Stow be added to the County of Merrimack,
and that our Order in Answer to Capt Blackwells Petition*
be passed under the Seal of the Government.
*Ante, chapter 21.
138
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
[CHAPTER 58.]
[A RECOMMENDATION TO THE MINISTER TO SHORTEN HIS
SERMON.]
[Passed November 9, 1686. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 127.]
The minister that preaches on Thursday next to be prayed
from this Court to hasten his Sermon because of the short
dayes.
[CHAPTER 59.]
[AN ORDER REGULATING THE PRICE OF GRAIN.]
[Passed December 8, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint men-
tioned in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 136.]
Whereas in Severall Publick and other payments to be made
in Country pay, there hath been heretofore a dependance upon
the annuell Settlem❜t of the prizes of graine by the late Gen-
erall Court, to the end therefore that there may be no failure
or disadvantage in any Such case The President and Councill
do
order
the following Rates for corne to pass in the Country for
this year in payments between man and man, not obstructing
perticular contracts (vizt.)
Wheat at five shillings the Bushell.
Rye at four Shillings the Bushell.
Pease at four shillings the Bushell.
Indian Corn at two shill and Nine pence Bushell.
Oates at two shillings the Bushell.
And it is furthered Ordered That the Ministers in the Sev-
erall Townes be freed from Rates as formerly, and that this
order be forthwith printed and published.
[CHAPTER 60.]
[AN ORDER REGULATING THE FEES OF THE WINE COOPER.]
[Passed December 8, 1686, 2 James II. Not included in the imprint men-
tioned in the note to chapter 1, ante. Journal, N. H. copy, p. 140.]
Ordered
That the Ffees following be allowed to his Majestyes Wine-
Cooper (viz't)
For Gageing every Cask...
-tasting every Cask on board.
-takeing up Wines
Tonn.
-Trim'ing Ton...
Tasting every Cask on shoar.
But in Case there be above tenn
Cask then only per Cask
. . . £
...£
6
తేత
6d
£
4
£
10
..£
4
£
3
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
139
Orders passed by the Council of 1686, not included in the foregoing publications,
these being regarded as local to other colonies than New Hampshire, or as belong-
ing under classification as affairs of administration or of judicial cognizance.
Recorded in Journal, N. H. copy, unless otherwise stated.
May 26.
Order for the preparation of military commissions.
May 27.
Order for the continuance of Robert Earl as prison keeper at Boston.
Order appointing Joshua Scottow justice of the peace for Maine.
May 28.
Order that the accounts of the late Treasurer be brought in.
Order that John Jacobs bring in an account of the persons in arrears on
the duties on wine.
John Usher elected Treasurer.
Richard Buckley appointed clerk with reference to shipping of horses.
John Green appointed Marshal of Middlesex.
June 1.
A libellous paper made and published by some of the deputies of the late
general court and signed by Edward Rawson read and considered.
Order that Mr. Rawson be examined about the paper.
Order for the appointment of officers to serve execution.
Order for the selectmen of Boston to draw up a brief of their laws and
customs and make recommendations.
Order that the Treasurer supply the Indian forts with powder and shot.
Order that Mr. Mason go to England and present an address to the King
and a letter to the Lords Commissioners of Trade and Plantations. (Copies
of both documents are extended in the record.)
Order that Capt. Jenner stay and take Mr. Mason on board.
Order that the Treasurer lay in provision on board ship for Mr. Mason's
entertainment and also pay his passage and Mr. Shippen to return his
money.
Order for issuing a proclamation to promulgate regulations for the pre-
vention of fires in Boston.
Order concerning the prudential affairs of Boston.
Order concerning the privilege of the Indian trade at Pejepscot.
June 3.
Order that the Treasurer farm out the excise.
June 8.
Order relating to local courts of Hampshire and the fees of court officers
for probate and other business.
Order as to the allowance for Capt. Ting, and the payment of certain ar-
rears to him.
Order to the court in Narraganset country and appointment of Nicholas
Manning Marshal of Falmouth and places adjoining.
Order empowering Edward Ting and Charles Frost to grant original
writs.
June 11.
Order about powder in a warehouse in Boston.
Order for a committee to settle as to lots in Worcester.
-
Order for a committee to enquire and represent methods in trade as might
be for the benefit and improvement of government. [Committee named of
gentlemen in Boston, Charlestown, Salem and (Mr. Hinckes and Mr. Wal-
dron), Piscataqua The instructions to this committee are extended in the
record.]
A committee appointed to enquire as to the measures that should be taken
to promote trade and navigation, improve the condition of the people and
remove grievances, and William Vaughan, Richard Martin, Nathaniel Fryar,
Richard Waldron Jr., Robert Elliott, Rubin Hull, of Piscataqua named
with others.
June 13.
Order to Edward Rawson former Secretary to deliver records to Edward
Randolph, Secretary of this government.
140
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
June 15.
Order of appointment of Mr. Pheasant Eastwick Water Bailey on both
sides of Piscataqua.
Order for bringing in the books of record of Narraganset lands.
Order appointing John Appleton of Ipswich, Clerk of the Common Pleas
for Essex County
Order for a committee to settle controversies about lands in Worcester
and for the settlement of the affairs of that place.
Order as to fees of John Marshal, keeper of the council house.
Order appointing William Rawson messenger in the Secretary's office.
Order relating to the Narraganset records.
June 18.
Order relating to the records of the province of Maine.
Order for arms for the fort in Casco.
July 1.
Order as to the maintenance of Mr. Robert Ratcliffe, a minister of the
Church of England.
July 8.
Order for the release of the "ketch" Prosperous of Piscataqua, Michael
Mann, master, a coasting vessel improperly seized.
Order as to rates in the hands of constables in Massachusetts, and for the
enforcement of payments, and accounting by them.
Order providing regulations in regard to safer methods and places for
keeping powder in and about Boston.
Order for the relief of the master of a ship landing a load of salt and pro-
viding security for the collector.
July 20.
John Hammond of Wells appointed marshal of the province of Maine.
Order relating to the records of the commissioners court in Boston.
Order relating to records of the province of Maine.
Order for the settlement of differences between the master of the barque
Robert and certain poor emigrants from the Isle of Elutheria as to the pay-
ment of their transportation.
Order for certain justices of the peace to assist in holding the county
court for Suffolk County.
July 22.
Order relating to regulations for the prevention of fires in Boston.
July 25.
Order appointing Daniel Stevens keeper of the Middlesex county jail.
July 26.
Order appointing a committee to examine the accounts of the steward of
the college.
Order for summons to persons in Woburn represented to be in contempt
of a proclamation for a day of fasting and humiliation.
July 30.
Order relating to the apprehension of a prisoner escaped from the prison
at Cambridge.
Order upon the case of the Woburn parties charged with being in con-
tempt of the order for a day of fasting and humiliation.
Aug. 5.
Warrant for apprehension of Joshua Broadbent for carrying away New
Hampshire records. Mass. Archives, vol. 126, pp. 50, 51.
Aug. 7.
Warrant to seize John Courser of Boston for selling liquor without license.
Mass. Archives, vol. 126, pp. 52, 54.
Aug. 10.
Order relative to the unauthorized cutting of timber in Newbury.
Aug. 20.
Order with reference to the ketch Adventure on the way from Newfound-
land to Madeiras, touching at Boston.
Order for payment for work done on town house.
}
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
141
Aug. 23.
Order of council on will of John Viall. Mass. Archives, vol. 126, p. 71.
Aug. 25.
Order for the relief of John Gold, imprisoned for treasonable utterances.
Order for the relief of Dr. Allen in respect to unequal taxation.
Sept. 19.
Kings order to Col. Dongan to deliver up fort and country of Pemaquid to
Sir Edmund Andros. Mass. Archives, vol. 126, p. 94.
Sept. 25.
Order relative to the charges of the castle.
Order for Capt. Clapp to surrender the castle and make account.
Order in favor of Erasmus Stephens captured by pirates and escaped.
Order giving instructions to a constable as to procedure for collection of
votes.
Order for relief of James Carne from fines for not training.
Order for the further relief of John Gold.
Order for license to Richard Crisp to erect a building to be used for in-
struction in the use of weapons.
Order allowing lands for the settlement of the Elutherian people in Maine.
Sept. 24.
Order forbidding a bonfire for a celebration in Boston.
Order that a market be kept in Boston and a committee to attend to
that business.
Sept. 27.
Draft of an act for bank of credit. Mass. Archives, vol. 126, pp. 103, 107,
Sept. 30.
Naturalization of M. Louvé, a French merchant. Mass. Archives, vol.
126, p. 108.
Oct. 22.
Order confirming certain grants of land on petition of Jonathan Ting and
others.
Oct. 24.
Order to seize a ketch of Thomas Ashley. Mass. Archives, vol. 126, p. 134.
Nov. 9.
Order for the settlement of the town of Quabaug.
Order for setting apart the 26th Nov. inst. as a day of thanksgiving.
Order for Mr. Randolph to appoint a deputy to take care of the customs
on the west side of Kennebeck river.
Order that the rectification of the minute book be given in charge of the
President and Deputy President.
Order that Bridget Phillips and Thomas Doughty be relieved from certain
mill rents.
Order for further relief of John Gold.
Order for maintenance of George Holt and wife.
Order in reference to schools of Muddy river.
Order appointing John Conney, Sr., wine cooper.
Order relating to the collection of mill rents in the province of Maine.
Nov. 11.
Order that constables be provided with Staves at the town's charge.
Order for constables in Charlestown.
Order requiring masters of vessels trading in Kennebeck to go on shore
and make entry before they break bulk.
Orders respecting the reception of Governor Andros.
Order that a selectman accompany the constable every time he makes
a distress for a vote towards building the hospital.
Orders for the payment of allowances and compensation to several public
officers.
Order for the support of Goodwife Reading for one year.
Order appointing Rowland Cox one of the marshals for Suffolk county.
Order for a special vote to meet Suffolk county charges.
142
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
1
Nov. 18.
Order that Mr. Treasurer Usher be allowed £10, for visiting the pro-
vinces of New Hampshire and Maine.
Nov. 23.
Order for distribution of certain funds for the relief of the poor French
people who are settling in the Narragansett country.
Nov. 28.
Order to grant executions for payment of excise. Mass. Archives, vol. 126,
p. 155.
Dec. 8.
Order relating to the disposition of the records in the hands of Edward
Rawson, late secretary.
Dec. 12.
Petition of 45 citizens of New Hampshire that a supersedeas may be
granted to writs of execution beginning to be issued. Mass. Archives.
Order relating to the support of a minister in Malden.
Order relating to the maintenance of schools in Hadley.
Order relating to the prudential affairs of Hadley.
Order relating to the schools of Muddy river.
Order as to certain poor Elutherians.
Order further regulating the controversy about Worcester lands.
Order relating to the prosecution of unlicensed houses.
Order for the payment of the President and other public officers.
Dec. 15.
Orders for payment of certain public officials and settlement of accounts.
Orders to trespassers complained of in Charlestown.
Dec. 16.
Orders further as to the support of a minister in Malden.
ROYAL PROVINCE OF NEW ENGLAND.
1686.
MASSACHUSETTS BAY, NEW PLYMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE,
MAINE, THE NARRAGANSETT COUNTRY OTHERWISE CALLED
THE KING'S PROVINCE, WITH ALL THE ISLANDS, RIGHTS,
AND MEMBERS TO THE SAID COLONIES AND TERRITORIES
IN ANY WISE APPERTAINING.
1687.
THE ABOVE DESCRIBED TERRITORY, WITH RHODE ISLAND
ADDED IN DECEMBER, 1686, AND CONNECTICUT ADDED IN
OCTOBER, 1687.
1688.
ALL THE ABOVE DESCRIBED TERRITORY, WITH THE ADDITION
OF NEW YORK AND EAST AND WEST JERSEY, WITH THE
TERRITORIES THEREUNTO BELONGING.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
143
[ADMINISTRATION OF SIR EDMUND ANDROS.]
[COMMISSION FROM JAMES II, DATED JUNE 3, 1686; ADMINIS-
TRATION BEGUN UNDER IT DECEMBER 20, 1686; TERMIN-
ATED BY A POPULAR UPRISING APRIL 18, 1689. 2, 3, 4, 5,
JAMES II, INTERREGNUM DECEMBER 11, 1688, TO FEBRU
ARY 13, 1688-9, I WILLIAM AND MARY.
GOVERNOR, SIR EDMUND ANDROS.
LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR, FRANCIS NICHOLSON.¹
SECRETARY, EDWARD RANDOLPH.
DEPUTY SECRETARY, JOHN WEST.
TREASURER, JOHN USHER.
CHIEF JUSTICE, JOSEPH DUDLEY.2
ATTORNEY-GENERAL, JOHN GRAHAM.
COUNCIL.
Joseph Dudley,
Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1686-1689
William Stoughton,
66
66
66
66
""
John Pynchon,
66
66
66
""
66
Peter Bulkeley,
66
66
"66
66
66
Edward Randolph,
(6
"6
66
66
66
Richard Wharton,
""
66
66
66
(6
John Usher,
(6
""
(6
(6
(6
Jonathan Tyng,
(6
66
66
66
66
Samuel Shrimpton,
66
66
66
1687-1689
66
(6
William Brown, Jr.,
Simon Lynde,
Province of New Hampshire, 1686-1688
66
66
66
66
(6
66
66
("
Robert Mason,3
John Hinckes,
66
66
(6
66
66
66
Bartholomew Gedney,"
4
Province of Maine,
1686-1689
Edward Tyng,5
66
66
66
66
66
Thomas Hinckley,
Colony of New Plymouth,
1686-1689
Barnabas Lothrop,
66
66
(6
66
66
(6
William Bradford,
66
66
66
66
66
66
Daniel Smith,
66
"6
66
""
66
66
John Walley,
(6
66
66
،
66
(6
Nathaniel Clarke,
66
66
66
66
66
(6
John Coggeshall,
1686-1689
Colony of Rhode Island,
¹ Commissioned April 20, 1688. Palfrey's History of New England, ed. of
1890, vol. 3, p. 562, note 1.
2 As to appointment of John Palmer as chief justice, see Hutchinson's
History, vol. 1, p. 331; Palfrey's History of New England, ed. of 1890, vol. 3,
p. 562, note 1.
3 Robert Mason died at Esopus, N. Y., in the fall of 1688. Belknap's His-
tory of New Hampshire, Farmer's ed., p. 121.
4
* Residence, Salem. Palfrey's History of New England, ed. of 1890, vol. 3,
p. 533.
Residence, Falmouth. Id. p. 534.
144
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
Walter Clarke,
Colony of Rhode Island,
1686-1689
John Sanford,
66
66
66
66
66
(6
John Greene,
(6
66
66
66
66
66
Richard Arnold,
66
66
66
66
66
66
John Albro,
(6
66
66
66
66
66
Walter Newberry,
66
66
66
66
66
66
John Sprague,
66
66
66
66
66
66
Fitz-John Winthrop,*
Wait Winthrop,*
Robert Treat,
John Allyn,
Frederick Philipse,
Colony of Connecticut, 1686-1689
66
66
66
66
(6
66
66
66
66
66
Colony of New York,
66
1687-1689
66 66
1688-1689
Jervis Baxter,
66
(6
66
66
66
Stephen Van Cortland,
66
66
66
(6
66
66
Anthony Brockholst,
66
(6
66
66
66
66
Nicholas Bayard,
66
(6
66
66
66
66
John Youngs,
66
<<
66
(6
66
66
Francis Nicholson,
(6
(6
66
66
John Palmer
66
66
66
66
Richard Smith,
Narragansett Country,
1687-1689
1688-1689
1687-1689]+
[FIRST COMMISSION OF SIR EDMUND ANDROS, GOVERNOR OF
THE DOMINION OF NEW ENGLAND, DATED JUNE 3, 1686.]
[The government of Sir Edmund Andros, at first including only the ter-
ritory specifically designated in the commission, was extended over Rhode
Island in December, 1686, and over Connecticut in October, 1687. Documents
Relating to the Colonial History of New York, vol. 3, p. 537; Rhode Island
Colonial Records, vol. 3, pp. 212-218; N. H. Province Papers, vol. 1, p. 1;
Massachusetts Historical Society Collections, 3d series, vol. 7, p. 139; Pal-
frey's History of New England, ed. of 1890, vol. 3, pp. 535, 543. By a new
commission in 1688 the king constituted Andros governor of all the Eng-
lish possessions on the mainland of North America except Pennsylvania,
Delaware, Virginia, and the Carolinas. The Territory and Dominion of New
England was now to embrace the country between the fortieth degree of
latitude and the river of St. Croix, thus including New York and the Jerseys.
The seat of the government was to be at Boston. id, 561.
This was regarded as a further advancement, on the part of the home
government, in the policy quite distinctly foreshadowed by the prior com-
mission and temporary administration of President Dudley. The Andros
commission was unequivocal in its disposition of the law-making powers.
The recommendations of President Dudley and his council on this subject
* Palfrey's History of New England, ed. of 1890, vol. 3, p. 485.
†The list of councilors given in Palfrey's New England, ed. of 1890, vol. 3,
p. 604, includes Simon Bradstreet, Dudley Bradstreet, Nathaniel Saltonstall
and Francis Champernowne. These four persons were not named in the
list contained in the instructions to Governor Andros September 12, 1686.
It is not the commission but the instructions that contains the names of
the council as first designated. The commission for Joseph Dudley and
his council, which took effect in May, 1686, before the date of the Andros
commission, and which contains the list of the appointees for the Dudley
council, is not an authority as to the membership of the Andros council,
inasmuch as the list contained in the instructions of September 12, 1686,
must be regarded as conclusive on this point. Mr. Charles W. Tuttle, a
careful historian, also names Captain Champernowne (who died in 1687)
as a councilor under the Andros commission, but cites no authority. His-
torical Papers, 1889, p. 120.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
145
(Acts of 1686, ante, chapter 8) had not been adopted. This power was
reposed in the governor and council, the declaration of the commission
being that they were to make such laws, impose such taxes, and apply them
to such purposes as they might think proper, but, as nearly as might con-
veniently be, agreeable to the laws and statutes of the kingdom of England.
Mr. Falfrey states (History of New England, ed. of 1890, vol. 3, p. 485)
that the council of which Joseph Dudley was president had no legislative
authority. It should be noted, however, that this writer admits that he
had not been able to find the commission, and probably had never seen the
full text of the instrument from which the Dudley council derived its
powers. (Id. p. 485, n. 4.)
That commission contained these provisions:-“And we do
courts
grant
full power and authority to erect, constitute and establish
with all reasonable and necessary powers, authorities, fees
and privileges belonging to them," also, "to continue such taxes and im-
positions as have been and are now laid and imposed upon the inhabitants
thereof, and that they levy and distribute or cause the same to be levied
and distributed to those ends in the best and most equal manner.” (Ante,
pp. 97, 98.) It was manifestly an authorization for the exercise of legis-
lative powers, though limited in important particulars and to specific sub-
jects. The practical construction of their powers under the commission on
the part of President Dudley and his council is best discovered in the
text of the acts and orders which emanated from them, and which have
been previously given in these pages.
There was no question as to the grant of legislative powers in the Andros
commission. It is not necessary in this connection to trace the development
of his policy. It is amply described and discussed in the authorities cited.
The purposes traceable in the execution of the Andros commission and
the methods employed, it may be remarked in brief, eventually brought
on a collision between the representatives of the administration and the
people, which resulted, in 1689, in a conspicuous failure of the form and
spirit of colonial government which it was the mission of Sir Edmund
Andros to promote and establish. This result was perhaps made possible,
and certainly hastened, by the civil commotion in England and by the
prospect of the revolution, of which both parties in the colonies were well
informed. In accordance with the authority granted to the governor and
council of New England at this time, laws were enacted, and, as they were
operative in New Hampshire as well as in the other colonies of New Eng-
land, they are hereinafter presented in their order. At the first formal
meeting of the governor and council, December 30, 1686, it was ordered
that "all officers, both Civil and Military, should be continued in their
places of trust; that the laws, not repugnant to the laws of England, in
the several Colonies should be and observed during his excellencie's pleas-
ure."
N. H. Province Papers, vol. 2, pp. 10, 12, 13; Farmer's Belknap, pp.
119, 120. See also Andros Tracts, edited by W. H. Whitmore, and published
by the Prince Society, 1868, 1869, 1874; and Mr. West's letter to Mr. Allyn
of March 24, 1687-8, Colonial Records of Connecticut, vol. 3, quoted post.
The instructions which followed and supplemented the commission are
also given as far as obtainable. The commission issued to Governor Andros
in respect to his admiralty powers and jurisdiction will be found in the
appendix in a translation from the original law Latin. An ancient copy
of the first commission is preserved in the archives of the state of Massa-
chusetts. This has been printed in the third series, vol. 7, Collections of the
Mass. Historical Society, pp. 139-149. The manuscript copy is now par-
tially illegible. It has been used, however, for these pages, defective pas-
sages being indicated by brackets and restoration being made from the
Mass. Historical Society's imprint. The copy of the commission in N. H.
Province Papers, vol. 2, pp. 1-10, is, according to the editor's note (p. 1),
from a manuscript copy in the office of the N. H. secretary of state.
Another imprint, probably from the same type, is found in N. H. Historical
Society Collections, vol. 8, pp. 268-278. The New Hampshire manuscript
copy cannot now be found. The imprint from it in N. H. Province Papers,
vol. 2, pp. 1-10, has been compared by Mr. B. F. Stevens with the copy in
the English archives, preserved in the Public Record office in London, and
the few differences in phraseology by him discovered noted and due cor-
rections made. This appears in the volume used for the purpose by Mr.
Stevens, and which is now in the custody of the New Hampshire Historical
Society at Concord, N. H.
10
146
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
The second commission, dated April 7, 1688, of course differs from the
first in its preliminary recitals, and necessarily in the description of the
territory which had then been included in his jurisdiction. Several omis-
sions of language employed in the body of the first commission are notice-
able in the second. These are indicated in the text of the first commission,
which is hereafter given in full, by these characters, thus: *|
*. One
clause inserted in the second commission, and not found in the first, is
given in a marginal note indicating its proper connection. The text of
the second commission will be given place in its chronological order in
these pages. It is printed from the text in the English archives, New Eng-
land Entries, XXXIII, 381, as reproduced in Documents Relating to the
Colonial History of New York, vol. 3, pp. 537-542.
The instructions herein reproduced are for the most part from copies
recently made from the English archives. The one of date September 13,
1686, relating to the charter of Rhode Island, and the one of date October
31, 1686, relating to goods shipped in bond, are from the manuscript in the
Massachusetts archives. The full text of the formal and principal instruc-
tions of date September 12, 1686, is in its general terms quite similar to
the text of the instructions which accompanied the second commission of
1688. These formal instructions of 1688 were formerly cited in the English
archives as New England, XXXIII, 392, and they are now reprinted from
transcripts from that original in Records of the Colony of Rhode Island,
vol. 3, pp. 248-254, and in Documents Relating to the Colonial History of
New York, vol. 3, pp. 543-549. The presentation of the instructions of Sep-
tember 12, 1686, will supply an important part of the documentary history
of the Andros administration which has not heretofore been accessible in
the publications of the early records of the states. It embodies very largely
the points which were incorporated in the instructions of 1688; but on
account of the changes necessitated by the enlargement of the jurisdiction
and indicated by commission and instructions of 1688, it has been deemed
advisable to include both texts in these pages. The preliminary part of
the last instructions gives the most authoritative statement now obtain-
able as to the personnel of the council as it was understood in the home
government to be constituted in 1688.
The historical review of this period and the comments on the Andros
administration, including references to the laws and orders promulgated,
and criticisms of them, and the incidental citation of many authorities, are
adequately presented by Bancroft in his last revised edition of the His-
tory of the United States, vol. 1, ch. XVIII, p. 590, under title of the Revo-
lution of 1688; Palfrey's History of New England, ed. of 1890, vol. 3, chapters
XIII, XIV, XV, pp. 512-598; Belknap's History of New Hampshire, Farmer's
ed., ch. IX; Chalmers's Political Annals of the American Colonies, 1780.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 126, pp. 7-16.]
James the Second by the Grace of God King of England
Scotland France and Ireland Defender of the faith etc'a To
our Trusty and Well Beloved S'r Edmund Andros Knight
Greeting Whereas the Government of that part of our Ter-
ritory and Dominion of New England heereafter mentioned
is now in our hands, and being minded to Give all Protection
and Incourageme't to our good Subjects therein & to Provide
in the most Effectuall manner for theire Security and Well-
fare, Wee therefore Reposeinge Especiall Trust and Confi-
dence in the Prudence Courage and Loyalltye of you the said
S'r Edmund Andross, out of our Especiall Grace and certaine
knowledge and meere motion have thought fitt to Constitute
and appoint and by these Presents Do Constitute and appoint
y'u the said S'r Edmund Andros to be our Captain Gennerall
and Governour in Chiefe and over all that our Territory and
Dominion of New England in America Commonly called or
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAws, 1686.
147
knowne by the name of our Collony of the Massachusetts Bay,
our Collony of new Plimouth, and our Provinces of new
Hampshire and Maine, The Narragansett Countrey otherwise
called the Kings Province w'th all the Islands Rights and
members to the Said Collonyes and Territoryes in any wise
appertayneing, And for yo'r Better Guidance and Direction
Wee do heereby require and command you to Do and Execute
all things in Due manner that shall Belong Unto the said
office, The Trust Wee have Reposed in you according to the
Severall Powers, Instructions, and Authorityes mentioned in
these presents or such further Power, Instructions, and
Authorities as you shall heerewith Receive or which shall
at any time heereafter be Granted or appointed you Under
our Signett Or Signe Manuall or by order in our Privy Coun-
cill & according to such Reasonable Laws and Statutes as
are now in force or such other as shall heereafter be made
and Established within that our Territory and Dominion of
new England aforesaid, And Our Will and Pleasure is that
you the Said S'r Edmund Andross having after yo'r arriveal
in New England and Publication of these our Letters Pat-
tents, first taken the oath of Allegiance together with the
oath of Duely Executing the office of our Captain Gennerall
and Governour in Chiefe of our said Territory and Dominions,
Which our Councill there or any three of them are heereby
Required Authorised and Impowered to Give and Administer
Unto you, You shall Administer unto each of the members of
our Councill, as Well the Oath of Allegiance as the oath of
the Due Execution of their Severall places and Trust, And
Wee do heereby Give and Grant unto you full power and
Authority to suspend any member of our Councill from Sit-
ting, Voting, and Assisting therein as you shall finde Just
cause for your so Doing; and if it shall at any time heereafter
happen that by the Death, Departure out of our Said Terri-
tory or Suspention of any of our Councellors or that other-
wise there shall be a Vacancy in our said Councill; any five
whereof wee Do heereby appoint to be a Quorum; Our Will
and Pleasure is that you signifye the same unto us by the
first opportunity, That wee may order Under our Signett and
Signe Manuall Constitute and appoint others in theire Roome;
*But that our affaires at that Distance may not Suffer for
Want of a Due number of Councellors if ever it shall happen
that there are Less then Seven of them Residing upon the
Place, Wee do heereby Give and Grant to y'u full power and
Authority to Choose as many Persons of the principall Inhab-
itants thereof as will make up the full number of our Coun-
cill to be Seven and no more, Which persons by Vertue of
such Choice shall be to all Intents and Purposes our Coun-
* The clauses enclosed were omitted in the second commission.
}
148
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
cellors within our said Territory untill they be confirmed by
us, or that by nomination of others by us under Our Signe
Manuall and Signett, the said Councill shall have Seven Per-
sons in it,* And Wee do heereby Give and Grant unto you
full Power and Authority by and with the advice & Consent
of our Said Councill or the Major part of them to make Con-
stitute and ordaine Laws, Statutes and ordinances for the
Publick peace Wellfare and good Government of our said
Territory and Dominion, and of the People and Inhabitants
thereof, and such others as shall Resort thereto, and for the
Benefitt of Us our heires and Successors, which said Laws and
Statutes and ordinances are to be as neere as Conveniently
may be agreeable to the Laws Statutes and ordinances of
this our Kingdome of England, Provided that all such Laws
statutes & ordinances of what Nature, Duration soever be
within three months or sooner after the making of the same,
Transmitted unto us under our Seale of New England for our
Allowance or Approbation as alsoe Duplicates thereof by the
next conveyance, And Wee do by these presents Give and
Grant unto you full power and Authority by & with the Ad-
vice and Consent of our said Councill or the Major part of
them to Impose and Assesse & Raise and Levy such Rates
and Taxes as you shall finde necessary for the Support of the
Government Within our Territory and Dominion of new Eng-
land to be Collected Levyed, and to be Imployed to the Use
aforesaid in such manner as to you and our said Councill or
the Major part of them shall seeme most Equall and Reason-
able, And for the Better Supporting the Charge of the Gov-
ernment of our said Territory and Dominion, Our Will and
Pleasure is and Wee do by these presents authorise and
Require you the said S'r Edmund Andros and our said Coun-
cill to Continue such Taxes and Impositions as are now Laid
and Imposed upon the Inhabitants thereof, And to Levy and
Distribute or cause the Same to be levyed and Distributed to
those Ends in the Best & most Equall manner, Untill you
shall by and with the advice & consent of our Councill agree
on, and Settle such other Taxes as shall be Sufficient for the
Support of our Government there which are to be applyed to
that Use and no other, And our ffurther Will & Pleasure is
that all Publick money raised or to be Raised or appointed
for the Support of the Government within our said Territory
and Dominion be Issued out by Warrant or order from you
by and with the advice and Consent of our Councill as afore-
said And our Will & Pleasure is that you shall and may
Keepe and use our Seale appointed or to be appointed by us
for our said Territory and Dominion, *And Wee do further
* The clauses enclosed were omitted in the second commission.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
149
Give and Grant unto y'u the Said S'r Edmund Andros full
power and Authority from time to time and at all times heere-
after by your Selfe or by any other to be Authorised by y'u
in that Behalfe to Administer and Give the oath of Alle-
giance now Established within this our Realme of England
to all and every such Person as you shall think fitt or shall
at any time or times pass into our said Territory or shall be
Resideing or abideing there, |* And Wee do by these presents
ordaine Constitute and appoint our Governour and Councill
of our said Territory and Dominion for the time being to be
a Constant & settled Court of Record for the Administration
of Justice to all our Subjects Inhabiting Within our Said
Territory and Dominion in all Causes as Well Civill as Crim-
inall with full power and Authority to hold Pleas in all
Causes from time to time as Well in Pleas of the Crowne and
all matters Relateing to the Consevation of the Peace and
Punishment of offender, as well in civill Causes or actions
Betweene Partie and Partie, or betweene us and any of our
subjects there Whether the same do Concerne the Realty and
Relate to any Right of freehold and Inheritance, or whither
the same Do Concerne the Personalty and Relate to matter
of Debt Contract Dammage or other personall Injury And
also in all mixt actions which may Concerne both Realty and
Personallty, and therein after Due and orderly Proceeding
and Deliberate Heareing of both Sides to Give Judgement
and to award Execution as well in Criminall as in Civill Cases
as aforesaid so allwayes that the fformes of Proceedings in
such Cases and the Judgement thereupon to be Given be as
Consonant and Agreeable to the Laws and Statutes of this
our Realme of England as the present state and Condition of
our subjects Inhabiting within our said Territory and Domin-
ion and the Circumstances of the Place Will admitt; And
Wee do ffurther heereby Give and Grant unto you full power
and Authoritye with the advice and consent of our said Coun-
cill to Erect Constitute and Establish such and so many
Courts of Judicature and Publick Justice within our said Ter-
ritory & Dominion as you and they shall think fitt & neces-
sary for the Determineing of all Cases as Well Criminall as
Civill according to Law and Equitie, and for awarding of
Execution thereupon with all Reasonable and necessary Pow-
ers Authorityes fees and Priviledges Belongeing to them as
also to appoint and Commissionate fitt Persons in the Sev-
erall Parts of our said Territory to administer the oath of
allegiance unto such as shall be obliged to take the same¦*
And Wee do heereby Grant unto you full power and Author-
ity & Constitute and appoint Judges and in cases Requisitte
Commissioners of oyer and Terminer Justices of the Peace,
* The clauses enclosed were omitted in the second commission.
150
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
Sherriffes and all other necessary officers & ministers within
our said Territory for the Better Administration of Justice,
and putting the Laws In Execution and to administer such
oath and oaths as are Usually Given for the Due Execution
& Performance of offices and places and for the Cleereing of
Truth in Judiciall Causes, And our ffurther Will and Pleas-
ure is and Wee do heereby Declare that all actings & proceed-
ings at Law or Equitie heeretofore had or done, or now De-
pending within any of the Courts of our said Territory, And
all Executions thereupon be heereby Confirmed & Continued
so far forth as not to be avoyded for want or Defect of any
Legall power in the said Courts; But that all and every such
Judiciall actings, Proceedings and Executions shall be of the
same fforce, Effect and Vertue, as If such Courts had acted
by a Just and Legall Authoritye And Wee do further by
these Presents will and Require you to permitt Appeales to
be made in Cases of Error from one Court, in our said Terri-
tory and Dominion of New England unto our Governour and
Councill in Civill Cases, Provided the Value appealed for, Do
Exceed the Summ of one hundred pounds Sterling, & that
Security be first Duely Given by the Appellant to answer
such Charges as shall be awarded in case the first Sentance
shall be affirmed And Whereas wee Judge it necessary that
all our Subjects may have Libertye to appeale to our Royall
Person in cases that may Require the Same, Our Will and
pleasure is that if either partie shall not Rest satisfyed with
the Judgement or sentance of our Governour and Councill
they may then appeale in our Privy Councill, Provided the
matter in Difference Exceed the Reall Value of three hun-
dred pounds Sterling & that such appeale be made Within
one ffortnight after Sentance, and that Security be likewise
Given by the Appellant to answer such Charges as shall be
awarded in case the Sentance of the Governour and Councill
be Confirmed; And Provided also that Execution be not Sus-
pended by reason of any such appeale unto us; And Wee do
heereby Give and Grant unto you full power where y'u shall
see cause and shall Judge any offender or offenders in Capi-
tall and Criminall matters; or for any fines or fforfeitures
Due unto Us fitt objects of our Mercy to pardon all such
offenders and to Remitt such fines and fforfeitures (Treasons
& Willfull Murther) onely Excepted in which Causes y'u shall
likewise have power upon Extraordinary Occasions to Grant
Reprieves to the offender therein Untill and to the Intent
our pleasure may be further Knowne, And Wee do hereby
Give and Grant unto you the said S'r Edmund Andross by
your Selfe yo'r Captaines & Commanders by y'u to be author-
ized full power and Authority to Levy Arme, Muster Com-
mand or Imploy all persons whatsoever Residing within our
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
151
said Territory and Dominion of New England, and as occa-
sion shall serve to Transferr from one place to another for the
Resisting and Withstanding of all Enemies, Pirates and
Rebells both at Land and Sea to Transferr such forces to any
of our Plantations in America as occasion shall Require for
the Defence of the same against the Innovation or attempt
of any of our Enemies and them if occasion shall Require to
pursue and prosecute in or out of the Limitts our said Terri-
tory and Plantations or any of them, And if itt shall so please
God them to Vanquish and Being taken either according to
the Law of Arms to put to Death or keape & reseave alive at
your Discretion, as also to Execute Martial Law in time of
Invasion or Insurrection or warr, & During the Continuance
of the same & upon Souldiers in pay and to Do and Execute
all and every other thing which to a Cap't Gennerall doth
or ought of Right to Belong as fully and Amply as any of our
Cap't Gennerall doeth or hath useally [done] And Wee do
heereby Give and Grant unto you full Power [and] Authority
to Erect raise & Build within our Territory & [Dominion]
aforesaid such and so many fforts Plattformes, Castles,
[Cities] Burroughs, Townes & ffortifications as you shall
Jud[g necessary] and the same or any of them to fortifye and
furnis[h with Ordinance] Ammunition & all Sorts of Arms
fitt & n[ece]ssary for [the Security] and Defence of our said
Territory; And the Sam [e aga]ine [or any of] them to Demol-
ish or Dismantle as may be [most convenient]
Wee do hereby Give and Grant unto you the said S'r Ed-
mund Andr[os] full power and Authority to Erect one or
more Court or Courts of Admirall within our said Territory
and Dominion for the heareing and Determineing of all
Marine and other Causes and matters Proper therein to be
heard and Determined with all Reason [able] necessary Power
Authority fees and Priviledges, And you are to Exercise all
Powers Belonging to the place and office of Vice Admirall of
and in all the Seas and Coast about yo'r Government accord-
ing to such Commission, Authority and Instructions as y'u
shall receive from our Selfe under the Seale of our Admirallty
or from our High Admirall of our fforreigne Plantations for
the time being And ffor as much as Divers mutinees and
Disorders do happen by Persons Shipped and Imployed att
Sea; And to the End that such as shall be Shipped at Sea may
be Better Governed and ordered Wee do heereby Give and
Grant unto you the said S'r Edmund Andros our Captaine
Gennerall and Governour in Chiefe full power & Authority
to Constitute and appoint Captaines and masters of Ships
and other Commanders Commissions to Execute the Law mar-
tiall, and to use such Proceedings, Authorityes Punishments
Correction and Executions upon any offender or offenders
152
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
1
which shall be mutinous, Seditious, Disorderly or any way
Unruly at Sea or Dureing the time of theire Abode or Resi-
dence in any of the Ports, Harbours or Bays of our said Terri-
tory and Dominion as the Cause shall be found to Require
according to Martial Law, Provided that nothing heerein
Contayned shall be Confirmed [Construed] to the Enabling
y'u or any by your Authority to hold Plea or have Jurisdic-
tion of any offence, Cause, matter, or thing Committed or
Done upon the Sea or Within any of the Havens, Rivers or
Creekes of our said Territory & Dominion Under your Gov-
ernment By any Captaine, Commander, Lieutenant, Master,
or other officer, Seaman, Souldier, or persons Whatsoever,
Who shall be in Actuall Service and Pay and on Board any
of our Ships of Warr or other Vessells acting by Immediate
Commission or Warrant from our Sellfe under the Seale of
our Admirallty or from our High Admirall of England for
the time being, But that such Captaine Commander, Lieu-
tenant, master, officer, Seaman, Soldier, or other Persons so
offending shall be lef[t] to be Proceeded against and Tryed
as the Merritt of their offences shall Require either by Com-
mission under our Greate seale of England as the Statute of
Henry the Eight Directs or Commissioners from our high
Court of Admirallty, accor[ding] to the Act of Parliament
passed in the Thirteenth year of [the] Reigne of the late king
our most Deare and most Intirely Beloved Brother of ever
Blessed Memory Entituled an act for the Establishing Arti-
cles and orders for the Regulateing and Better Government of
his Majesties Navies Ships of Warr & forces by Sea and not
otherwise, Saveing only that it shall and may be Lawfull for
you upon any such Captaine or Commander Refusing or neg-
lecting to Execute, or upon his negligence or undue Execution
of any the Written orders hee shall Receive from you for our
Service and the Service of our said Territory and Dominion
to suspend him the said Captaine or Commander from the
Exercise of his said office of Commander and Committ him
into Salfe Custodye; Either on Board his own Ship or else-
where at the Discretion of you, in order to his Being brought
to answer for the same by Commission either under our Great
Seale of England or from our said High Admirall as is before
Expressed in w'ch Case Our Will and Pleasure is that the
Cap't or Commander so by you Suspended shall Dureing such
his Suspention and Committment be Succeeded in his said
office by such Commission or Warrant officer of our said Ship
appointed by yo'r[our] Selfe, or our High Admirall of Eng-
land for the time Being, as by the knowne Practice and Disci-
pline of our Navy, Doeth and ought next to Succeed him as
in Case of Death, sickness, or other ordinary Disability, Hap-
pening to the Commander of any of our Ships and not other-
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
153
wise, you standing also accounteable to us for the Truth and
Importance of the Crimes and misdemeanours for Which you
shall so Proceed to the Suspending of such our said Captain
and Commander, Provided also that all Disorders and mis-
demeanours Committed on shoare by any Cap't, Commander,
Lieutenant, master or other officer or Seaman, Souldier or
Person whatsoever Belonging to any of our Ships of Warr,
or other Vessells acting by Immediate Commission or War-
rant from our Selfe under the Seale of our Admirallty or from
our High Admirall for the time being may be tryed and Pun-
ished according to the Laws of the Place where any such
Disorders, offence, and misdemeanours shall be so Committed
on Shoare. Notwithstanding such offender be in our Actuall
Service and Born in our pay on board any such our Ships of
Warr or other Vessell acting by Immediate Commission or
Warrant from our Selfe or our High Admirall as aforesaid
so as he shall not Receive any Protection for the Avoydeing
of Justice for such offences Committed on shoar[e] from any
pretence of his Being Imployed in our Service at S[ea] Wee
do likewise Give and Grant unto y'u full power and [author-
ity] by and w'th the advice and Consent of our said Cou[ncil
to agree] with the Planters and Inhabitants of our said
Ter[ritory and] Dominion Concerning such Lands, Tene-
ment[s &] Heredit[aments as now] are or heereafter shall be
in our Power [to dispose of and them to] Grant unto any Per-
son or Persons for s[uch termes and under such] moderate
Quitt Rents, Services and Acknow [ledgements to be there]
upon Reserved Unto Us as shall be appointed [by us. Which
said grants] are to pass and be sealed by our Seale of New
England [and being] Entred upon Record of such officer and
officers as y'u shall a[ppoint] thereunto, shall be Good and
effectuall in Law against Us [our] Heires and Successors,
And Wee Give you full power and Aut[hority] to appoint
so many ffairs, Marts and marketts as you with the advice of
our said Councill shall think fitt, As Likewise to order and
appoint within our said Territory such and so many Ports
Harbours, Bayes, Havens and other Places for the Conven-
ience and Security of Shipping, and for the Better Loading
and Unloading of Goods and merchandises as by you with
the advice and Consent of our Councill shall be thought fitt
and necessary, and in them or any of them to Erect, nominate
and appoint Custome houses, Warehouses and officers Relate-
ing thereunto, and them to alter Change Place or Displace
from time to time as with the advice aforesaid shall be
thought fitt, *|And above all things Wee do by these presents
Will and Require & command you to take all possible Care
for the Discountenance of Vice and Encouragement of Ver-
tue and Good Liveing that by such Example the Infidells may
154
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
be Invited to partake of the Christian Religion; And for the
Greater ease and Satisfaction of our Loveing Subjects in mat-
ters of Religion Wee do heereby Will Require and Command
that Libertye of Conscience be allowed to all persons, and
that such Especially as shall be Conformable to the Rites of
the Church of England be particularly Countenanced and
Incouraged,|* And ffor as much as Pursuant to the Laws
& Customes of our Collony of the Massachusetts Bay and of
our Collony and Provinces aforementioned Divers marriages
have been made and Performed by the Magistrates of our said
Territory, Our Royall Will and Pleasure is hereby to confirme
all the said Marriages and to Direct that they be held Good
and Vallid in the same manner to all Intents and purposes
what soever as if they had been made and Contracted accord-
ing to the Laws Established Within our Kingdome of Eng-
land, And wee do heereby require & Command officers and
Ministers Civill and Millitary, & all other Inhabitants of our
said Territory and Dominion to be obedient aiding and Assist-
ing unto you the said S'r Edmund Andros in the Execution of
this our Commission and of the Power and Authority therein
[men]sioned, and upon your Death or absence out of our said
[Ter]ritory unto the Commander [in] Chiefe; To Whom Wee
do therefore by these Presents Give and Grant all and Singu-
lar the Powers and [Authorityes] aforesaid to be Exercised
and Injoyed by him Dureinge [our pleasure] or untill your
Arriveal within our said Territory [and Domin]ion. † And
if in case of such Death or absence there [be no per]son upon
the Place appointed by us to be Commander in Chiefe, Our
Will and Pleasure is that the then present Councill of our
said Territory aforesaid do take upon them the Administra-
tion of the Government and Execute this Commission and
the Severall Powers and Authorityes heerein Contayned, and
that the first who shall be at the time of your Death or ab-
sence Residing within the same do Preside in our said Coun-
cill with such Power and Preheminences as any fformer Presi-
dent hath used and Injoyed within our said Territory or any
other our Plantations in America untill our Pleasure be
ffurther knowne or your Arriveal as aforesaid, And Lastly
our Will and Pleasure is that *our Commission bearing Date
the Seven and Twentieth Day of September in the first yeare
* The clauses enclosed were omitted in the second commission.
† At this point an additonal clause appears in the commission of 1688. It
is as follows:-"As Wee do further hereby give and grant full power and
authority to our Lieut. Governor to do and execute whatsoever he shall be
by you authorized and appointed to do and execute, in pursuance of and
according to the powers and authoritys granted to you by this Commis-
sion."
The term "Lieut. Governor" is just prior to this clause substituted for
commander-in-chief, in the new commission, thus creating this office for
the dominion.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
155
of our Reigne Constituteinge our Trusty and Well Beloved
Joseph Dudley, Simon Bradstreet, William Stoughton Esq'rs
and others to be our President and Councill of our Territory
and Dominion of new England do from the Publication of
these presents cease and Become Void, And that|* you the
said S'r Edmund Andros shall and may hold, Execute and
Injoy the office and place of our Captaine Gennerall and Gov-
ernour in Chiefe in and over our Territory and Dominion
aforesaid with all its Rights members and appurtenances,
whatsoever Together with all and Singular the Powers and
Authorities heereby Granted unto you for, and During our
Will and Pleasure; In Witness whereof Wee have caused
these our Letters to be made Pattents-Witness our Selfe at
Westminster the third Day of June in the second yeare of our
Reigne.
Brerc De Privato Sigillo.
[Endorsed]
Barker.
June: 3, 1686 His Maj'ts Com'ission to S'r Edm Andros.
Copy.
(
JAMES R.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR OUR TRUSTY & WEL-BELOVED S'R EDMUND
ANDROS KN'T OUR CAPTAIN GENERALL AND GOVERNOR IN
CHEIF IN AND OVER ALL THAT OUR TERRITORY AND DOMIN-
ION OF NEW ENGLAND IN AMERICA COMMONLY CALLED
OUR COLONY OF THE MASSACHUSETS BAY, OUR COLONY
OF NEW-PLYMOUTH, OUR PROVINCES OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
AND MAINE, AND NARRAGANSET COUNTRY OR KINGS PROV-
INCE. GIVEN AT OUR COURT AT WINDSOR THE 12TH DAY
OF SEPTEMBER 1686 IN THE SECOND YEARE OF OUR REIGN.
[English Archives, Colonial Entry Book, vol. 61, p. 283.]
S'R EDM. ANDROS HIS INSTRUCTIONS.
1 Preamble
With these Our Instructions you will receive Our Commis-
sion under Our Great Seal of England constituting you Our
Captain Generall and Governor in cheif of all that Our Terri-
tory and Dominion in New England in America, commonly
called and known by the name of Our Colony of the Massa-
chusets Bay, Our Colony of New Plymouth, and Our Prov-
inces of New Hampshire and Maine, and of the Tract of Land
called the Narraganset Country or Kings Province, with all
the Islands, Rights and members thereunto belonging.
1
156
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
2 To repaire to his Governm't and to Convene the Councill.
Whereupon you are to fit your Self with all Convenient
Speed, and to repair to your Government aforesaid, and being
arrived there, you are to take upon you the Execution of the
Place and Trust wee have reposed in you, and forthwith to
call together the members of Our Councill for that Our Terri-
tory and Dominion, by name, Joseph Dudley William Stough-
ton, Robert Mason, Thomas Hinckley, Walter Clark, John
fitz Winthorp, John Pinchon, Peter Buckly Wait Winthorp,
Richard Wharton, John Usher, Bartholomew Gidney, Jona-
than Tyng, John Hinks, Edward Ting, Barnaby Lathrop,
John Sandford, Willliam Bratford, Daniel Smith John Wal-
ley, Nathaniel Clerk, John Coxshell, Walter Newberry John
Green, Richard Arnold, John Alborough and Edward Ran-
dolph Esquires.
3 To publish his Commission.
At which meeting after having published Our Said Letters
Patent constituting you Our Captain Generall and Governor
in Cheif of Our said Territory and Dominion, you shall take
your Self, and also administer to the members of Our Coun-
cill, as well the Oath of Allegiance as the Oath for the due
Execution of their Places and Trusts.
4 To Communicate Such of his Instructions as he shall think fit.
And you are to Communicate unto Our Councill of Our said
Territory and Dominion from time to time such and so many
of Our Instructions as you shall find Convenient for Our Ser-
vice to be imparted unto them.
And you are to permit the members of Our Councill to have
and injoy freedom of Debate and Votes in all things to be
debated of by them.
5 Seaven of the Councill to be a Quorum.
And altho' by Our Commission aforesaid, Wee have thought
fit to direct that any five of Our Counselors make a Quorum
It is nevertheless Our will and Pleasure that you do not Act
with a Quorum of less than Seven Members unless upon ex-
traordinary Emergencies.
6 To trasmitt the Names & Characters of 12 persons to Supply
vancancies in the Councill.
And that Wee may alwayes be informed of the Names of
persons fit to supply the Vacancies of Our Councill, You are
to transmit unto Us by One of Our Principal Secretaries of
State, and to the Lords of Our Privy Councill appointed a
Committee for Trade and Forrein Plantations, with all con-
13
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
157
venient Speed the Names and Characters of twelve persons
Inhabitants of Our said Territory, whom you shall esteem
The best qualified for that Trust and So from time to time
when any of them shall dye, depart out of Our said Territory
or become otherwise unfit, You are to Supply the first num-
ber of twelve Persons by nominating others to Us in their
Stead.
7 Not to Suspend Councelors without Cause signified to the
Committee.
And Our will and Pleasure is that you do not suspend any
of the Members of Our Councill without good & sufficient
Cause, and in Case of Suspension of any of them, You are
forthwith to transmit unto us as aforesaid, and to Our Com-
ittee for Trade and Forreign Plantations the Reasons for the
Same together with the Charge and proof against the said
Persons and their Answer thereunto.
8 The cheif officers to be men of Estate and ability.
And in choice of members of Our said Councill upon any
Vacancy, as also of the cheif Officers, Judges, Assistants, Jus-
tices and Sheriffs, You are alwayes to take Care that they
may be Men of Estate and Abilities, and not necessitous Peo-
ple or much in Debt, and that they be persons wel affected
to Our Government.
9
To Send an account of Members by him put into the Councill.
And you are from time to time to send Us and Our Com-
mittee of Trade and Plantations, the Names and Qualitys of
any members by you put into Our said Councill by the first
oppertunity after Your So doing.
10 The Lawes to Continue in force untill others shall be made.
Our will and Pleasure is that all Lawes, Statutes, and Ordi-
nances within Our Territory and Dominion of New England
shall Continue and be in full force and vigor So far forth as
they do not in any wise Contradict, Impeach, or Derogate
from Our Commission Orders, or Instructions untill such
time as with the advice and consent of the Councill, You
shall pass other Lawes for the good Government of Our S'd
Territory and Dominion, which you are to do with all Con-
venient Speed.
11 To transmitt authentick Copies of Lawes &c.
And Our Express will and Pleasure is, that you transmit
authentick copies under the publick Seal of all Lawes Stat-
utes and Ordinances w'ch at any time Shall be made and
158
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
Enacted within Our said Territory and Dominion Unto Us
and Our Committee for Trade and Plantations within three
months or Sooner after their being Enacted together with
Duplicates thereof by the next Conveyance upon pain of Our
highest Displeasure, and of the Forfeiture of that yeares Sal-
ary, wherein you shall at any time or upon any pretence what-
soever, omit to send over the said Lawes and Ordinances as
aforesaid within the time above Limitted, as also of Such
other penalty as Wee Shall please to inflict.
12 Lawes not allowed and disapproved by his Ma'ty to become void.
And if any Lawes Statutes and Ordinances made & En-
acted by you and Our Councill, or by Our Governor and Coun-
cill of New England for the time being shall at any time be
disallowed and not approved and so signified by Us Our
Heires or Successors, under Our or their Sign Manual and
Signet, Or by Order of Our or their Privy Councill, unto you
the said S'r Edmund Andros, or to Our Governor or Com'-
ander in Cheif of Our said Territory and Dominion for the
time being, then Such and So many of them as shall be so
disallowed and not approved, shall from thenceforth cease
determine and become void.
13 The Enacting Stile.
And you are to observe in the passing of Lawes that the
Stile of Enacting the same, By the Governor and Councill be
henceforth used and no other.
And wee do hereby Signify unto you Our Express Com-
mands that all writs be issued in Our Royall Name through-
out Our said Territory and Dominion.
14 Fines & penalties to be to the use of the Governm't.
You are to take especiall Care that no Act or Order be
passed within Our said Territory and Dominion in any Case
for levying Fines and inflicting Penalties, whereby the Same
shall not be reserved to Us for the publick uses of the Gov-
ernment, as by the said Act or Order shall be Directed.
15 To Continue the present Taxes.
Whereas by Our Commission wee have given unto you full
Power and Authority with the Advice and Consent of Our
Councill or the major part of them to Impose, attest, [assess?]
Raise and Levy Such Rates and Taxes as you shall find neces-
sary for the Support of Our Government in Our said Terri-
tory, Our will and pleasure is, that you continue to Raise
and Levy such Rates Taxes and Impositions as are now or
have lately been Laid and Imposed within Our said Colony,
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
159
untill upon your further Examination and inquiry you shall
represent unto us the Nature and quality of Such Rates,
Taxes and Impositions how the same are Raised and Levyed,
and what other Taxes may be Raised and Levyed, and to
what Value yearely, as also what shall be necessary for the
Support of the annual Charge of Our Government there.
16 No money to be disposed of, but by the Governors warrant.
You shall not permit any publick money whatsoever to be
issued or disposed of otherwise then by your Order or war-
rant under Your hand.
17
Accounts of the Revenue to be transmitted half yearely.
And you are to Cause the Accounts of all such money or
Value of money attested by You to be transmitted every half
Yeare to Our Committee of Trade and Plantations and to Our
High Treasurer or Comm'rs of Our Treasury for the time
being wherein shall be specified every particular Summ
Raised or disposed of together with the Names of the Persons
to whom any payment shall be made, and for what uses, with
Sufficient Vouchers for every payment, to the end wee may
be satisfied of the due application of the Revenue Raised or
to be Raised within Our said Territory.
18 Not to remitt Fines or Forfeitures above 10£ nor to dispose of
Escheats without his Ma'tys directions and not to passe any Act
&c to the prejudice of the Revenue.
You shall not Remitt any Fines or Forfeitures whatsoever
above the Summ of ten pounds before or after sentence given
nor dispose of any Escheats, untill you shall have first Signi-
fed unto Us the nature of the offence or occasion of Such
Fines, Forfeitures or Escheats with the particular Summs
or Value thereof (which you are to do with all Speed unto
Our High Treasurer or Comm'rs of Our Treasury for the time
being and to Our Committee of Plantations,) and shall have
received Our directions therein. But you may in the mean
time Suspend the payment of the Same. And you are par-
ticularly not to pass any Law or do any Act by Grant Settle-
ment or otherwise, whereby Our Revenue may be Lessned or
Impaired without Our Especiall Leave or Command therein.
19 To dispose of Lands at a Moderate Quit Rent.
And whereas there are great Tracts of Lands within Our
said Dominion and Territory yet undisposed of, and other
Lands Tenements and Hereditam'ts for which Our Royall
Confirmation may be wanting, Wee do hereby authorize and
direct you to dispose of Such Lands for a moderate Quit Rent
160
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
not under Two shillings Six pence for every hundred Acres,
and to reserve such acknowledgem'ts unto Us for the Con-
firmation of other Lands Tenements and Hereditam'ts as you
shall think most equitable and conducing to Our Service.
20 Lieut Governor to have half the Salary and perquisits during
the Gov'rs absence.
And whereas Wee are willing to provide for the Support
of Our Government in Our said Territory by setting a part
Sufficient Allowances to Such as Shall be Our Lieutenant
Governor or Commander in Cheif residing for the time being
within the Same, Our pleasure is that when it shall happen
that you shall be absent from that Our Said Territory, One
full moyty of the Salary and of all perquisits & Emolum'ts
whatsoever, w'ch would otherwise become due unto You,
Shall, during the time of your absence be paid and Satisfied
unto Such Lieuten't Governor or Commander in Cheif, who
shall be Resident upon the Place for the time being, which
wee do hereby Order and allot unto him for his better main-
tenance and for the Support of the dignity of that Our Gov-
ernment.
21 Not to be absent without leave in Councill.
You are not to presume upon any pretence whatsoever to
be absent from your Government without first having ob-
tained Leave for so doing from Us in Councill, Wee hereby
Declaring that Our Verball Leave or other permission what-
soever except Such Leave in Councill shall not be esteemed
sufficient warrant for the same, as is particularly set forth
& directed by an Order in Councill bearing date the third day
of November 1680 herewith delivered unto You.
22 To require the Sec'ry to furnish him with Copies of all pro-
ceedings to be transmitted.
You are to require the Secretary of Our said Territory or
his Deputy for the time being to furnish you with transcripts
of all Such Acts and publick Orders as shall be made from
time to time, together with a Copy of the Journal of the
Councill to the end the same may be transmitted unto Us and
to Our Committee for Trade and Plantations, which he is duly
to perform upon pain of incurring the Forfeiture of his Place.
23 To transmitt a Mapp of the Country.
(
And you shall transmit unto Us by the first oppertunity a
Map with the exact Discription of the whole Territory under
your Governm't with the severall Fortifications You shall find
or Erect there.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
161
24 Not to displace Officers &c without Sufficient Cause.
You shall not displace any of the Judges, Justices, Sheriffs,
or other cheif Officers within Our said Territory, without,
good and Sufficient Cause, which you are thereupon to Sig-
nify to Us and to Our Committee of Plantations; And to pre-
vent Arbitrary Removalls of Judges and Justices of the Peace
You are not to express any Limitation of time in the Commis-
sions w'ch you are to grant to fit Persons for those Imploy-
m'ts, nor shall you Execute your Self or by Deputy any of
the said Offices, nor Suffer any Person to Execute more Offices
then One by Deputy.
25 To Suspend Military officers upon misbehaviour.
And all military officers upon misbehaviour & unfaithful-
ness in the Execution of their Trusts, You shall and may Sus-
pend or discharge as shall appear upon due Examination
thereof most agreeable to Justice.
26 To transmit an acc't of Establishm'ts.
You are to transmit unto Us with all Convenient Speed A
particular Account of all Establishm'ts of Jurisdictions
Courts, Offices and Officers, Powers, Authorities Fees and
Priviledges which Shall be granted or Setled within Our Said
Territory to the end you may receive Our approbation and
directions therein.
27 To regulate salaries.
You shall likewise take especiall care, with the advice and
consent of Our said Councill, to Regulate all Salaries & Fees
belonging to Places, or paid upon Emergencies, that they
may be within the Bounds of moderation, and that no Exac-
tion be made upon any occasion whatsoever.
28 To discountenance Vice.
You are to take Care that Drunkenness and Debauchery
Swearing and Blasphemy be severely punished, and that
none be admitted to publick Trusts and Imploym'ts whose
ill fame & conversation may bring a Scandall thereupon.
29 To permit liberty of Conscience.
You are to permit a liberty of Conscience in matters of Re-
ligion to all Persons, So they be contented with a quiet and
peaceable injoyment of it, without giving offence or Scandall
to the Government.
11
162
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
ว
[
30 No mans life member or freehold but by Law to be harmed.
And wee do hereby require and Command you that no
mans life, member, Freehold or Goods be taken away or
harmed in Our said Territory but by Established and known
Lawes not repugnant to, but as much as Conveniently may be
agreeable to the Lawes of Our Kingdom of England.
31 To administer the oath of Allegiance to officers.
You shall administer or Cause to be administred the Oath
of Allegiance to the Members and officers of Our Councill,
All Judges and Justices, and all other Persons that shall hold
any offices in Our said Territory by Virtue of any Patent
under Our Great Seal of England, or Our Seal of New Eng-
land.
32 The Inhabitants to be armed and Listed.
You shall take Care that all Planters, Merchants and Chris-
tian Servants be well and fitly provided with Armes And
that they be Listed under Officers, and when and as often as
you think fit, mustered and trained, whereby they may be in
a better readines for the Defence of Our said Territory and
Dominion under your Government
33 Not to make to frequent & unnecessary marches.
And you are to take especiall care that neither the fre-
quency nor unreasonableness of remote marches, musters
and Trainings be an unnecessary Impediment to the affaires
of the Planters.
34 To take an Inventory of Stores.
You shall take an Inventory of all Armes, Ammunition &
Stores remaining in any of Our Magazines and Garrisons
within Our said Territory, and Send an account of them
yearely to Us by one of Our Principall Secretaries of State,
and to Our Committee for Trade and Plantations.
35 To take an account of Armes and Am'unition bought with the
publick money.
And you are also to demand an account of what other
Armes and Ammunition have been formerly bought with the
publick moneys there for the Security of Our said Territory
and the same to transmit unto Us by one of Our Principall
Secretarys of State and to Our Committee for Trade and for-
eign Plantations.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
163
36 To Settle Store-Houses.
And you are to take especiall Care that fit Store Houses be
Setled throughout our Said Territory for receiving and keep-
ing of Armes, Ammunition, and other publick Stores.
37 To assist the neighboring Plantations upon occasion.
And in case of Distress of any of Our Plantations you shall
upon application of the respective Governors thereof to you,
assist them with what ayd the Condition and Safety of Your
Government can permit.
38 Entrys to be made of Goods Imported and Exported, &
accounts to be transmitted.
And that wee may be the better informed of the Trade of
Our said Territory, You are, with the advice and Consent of
Our Councill to take Care that due Entries be made in all
Parts of all Goods and Commodities Imported or Exported
from thence, and from, and to what Places they come and go.
And that a yearely account thereof be transmitted by you
unto Us by Our High Treasurer or Comm'rs of Our Treasury
for the time being, and to Our Committee for Trade forrein
Plantations.
39 To give an acc't of the Strenght of his neighbors.
And Our will and Pleasure is that you do from time to time
give an account of what Strength Your bordering Neighbors
Are, be they Indians or Others, by Sea and Land, and what
correspondence, you do keep with them.
40 To encourage the Indians to trade with the English.
You are to encourage all you can the Indians upon all occa-
sions, that they may apply themselves to the English Trade
and Nation rather then to any others of Europe, But you are
also to act so prudently in respect of yo'r European Neigh-
bors as to give them no Cause of Complaint against you;
41 To purchase Lands from the Indians upon occasion.
And when any oppertunity shall offer for purchasing great
Tracts of Land for Us from the said Indians for small summs,
you are to use yo'r discretion therein, as you shall judge of
the Convenience, prejudice, or advantage that may arise unto
Us by the Same.
42 To Report Concerning Mr Dudleys Petition.
Whereas Joseph Dudley Esq and others by their Petition
have humbly prayed Our Royall Grant and Confirmation of
164
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
certain Lands lying upon the River of Merrimack and the
Lake of Wenepesioco in New England together with the Fish-
ing of the said River and Lake, you are upon your Arrival to
Examin the said Petition, and to Report unto Us Your opin-
ion, what may be fit for us to do therein.
43 To Report touching Lands desired by M'r Wharton.
And whereas Richard Wharton Esq're has likewise made
humble Sute unto Us for Our Confirmation of certain Lands
at Pojepscot in the Province of Maine, You are likewise to
inquire into and Examin the State and Condition of the Said
Lands, and to make Report thereof unto Us that Our further
pleasure may be known.
44 To Report concerning the Title to the Narraganset Country.
And wee being also informed that divers disputes have
arisen concerning the Right of Propriety to the soile of the
Narranganset Country or Kings Province, You are in the
same manner to make Strict inquiry and to Examin as well
Our own Right and title to the Soile of the Said Province as
other Claimes that may be made by any other Persons there-
unto and to make Report unto Us how you find the Same, to
the end Our further Pleasure may be signified thereupon.
45 To Suppress the Ingrossing Commodities.
You are to Suppress the Ingrossing of Commodities tend-
ing to the prejudice of that freedom which Commerce and
Trade ought to have, and to Settle Such Orders and Regula-
tions therein with the advice of Our Councill as may be most
acceptable to the generality of the Inhabitants.
46 To Encourage Trade.
You are to give all due encouragem❜t and Invitation to
merchants and others who shall bring Trade unto Our said
Territory, and in particular to the Royall African Company
of England.
47 To prohibit trading from Africa without Leave from the
Company.
And you are to take care that there be no Trading from
Our said Territory to any Place or part in Africa, within the
Charter of the Royal African Company, And you are not to
suffer any Shipps to be Sent thither without their Leave and
Authority.
48 To observe the Treaty's with Forrain Princes.
And wee do hereby Strictly Command and injoine you care-
fully to observe the Treaties concluded by Us with any for-
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
165
reign Prince or State, And in case any Private Injury or Dam-
age shall be offered or don to any of Our Subjects in those
Parts by the Subjects of any Such Prince or State, You shall
take care to give Us an Account thereof with all convenient
Speed, and not to permit or encourage Reparations thereof
to be sought in any other way then what is directed and
agreed on by the said Treaties.
49 To pass a Law against Pirats.
And whereas Wee are informed of great Disorders and
Depredations dayly Committed by Pirats and others to the
prejudice of Our Allyes Contrary to the Treaties between Us
and the good Correspondency which ought to be maintained
between Christian Princes and States; And there being a Law
Passed in Our Island of Jamaica against Such illegall Pro-
ceedings, Our will and Pleasure is that Such a Law, a copy
whereof is herewith delivered unto you be passed within Our
Territory and Dominion of New England which you are to
transmit unto Us by the first oppertunity.
50 To pass a Law for ascertaining mens Estates in respect of
Jurats.
And whereas wee think it fit for the better administration
of Justice that a Law be passed wherein shall be Set the
Value of Mens Estates either in Goods or Lands, under which
they Shall not be Capable of Serving as Jurors.
You are
therefore by the first oppertunity of transmitting any Lawes
hither for Our Approbation to Send one to that purpose.
51 To pass a Law for restraining Severity of masters and Over-
seers.
You Shall pass a Law for the Restraining of Inhumane
Severity which by ill masters or Overseers may be used
towards their Christian Servants or Slaves, wherein Provi-
sion is to be made, that the wilfull killing of Indians and
Negros be punished with Death, and a fit penalty Imposed
for the maiming of them.
52 To encourage the Conversion of Negros.
And you are also with the Assistance of Our Council to
find out the best meanes to facilitate and encourage the Con-
version of Negros and Indians to the Christian Religion.
53 To endeavor the raising Stocks & work Houses.
You are to Endeavor with the Assistance of the Councill
to provide for the raising of Stocks, and Building publick
work Houses in Convenient Places for the Imploying of poor
and Indigent People.
166
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
54 A Survey to be taken of Harbors.
And you Shall cause a Survey to be taken of all the con-
siderable Landing places and Harbors in Our said Territory,
and to Erect in any of them Such Fortifications as shall be
necessary for the Security and Advantage of Our said Terri-
tory, which Shall be Don at the publick Charge of the
Country.
55 To take possession of Pemaquid.
And whereas Wee have thought fit to annex Our Fort And
Territory of Pemaquid to Our Colony of New England Our
will and Pleasure is, that with the first Conveniency after
your arrivall you take possession of the Same upon the deliv-
ery thereof by Our Trusty and Wellbeloved Colonel Thomas
Dungan Our Governor of New York pursuant to Our Instruc-
tions to him in that behalf, and that you give Order for the
Security of the Fort and Territory in the best manner that
may be.
56 To give account of the wants of the Place.
You are likewise from time to time to give Us by One of
Our Principal Secretaries of State, and Our Committee for
Trade and forreign Plantations an accompt of the wants and
Defects of Our said Territory, what are the Cheif products
thereof, what new Improvem'ts the Industry or Invention
of the Planters hath afforded, what probable advantage may
be gained by Trade, and which way you conceive wee may
Contribute towards them.
57 not to permitt Printing without Licence.
And forasmuch as great Inconvenience may arise by the
Liberty of Printing within Our said Territory under Your
Government, You are to provide by all necessary Orders that
no Person keep any Printing Press for printing nor that any
Book, Pamphlet or other matters whatsoever be printed with-
out your Especiall Leave and Licence first obtained.
58 To take order for what shall be necessary for the good of the
Country.
And if any thing shall happen that may be of advantage
and Security to Our said Territory, which is not herein or by
Our Commission provided for, Wee do hereby allow unto
You, with the advice and Consent of Our Councill to take
Order for the present therein, giving Us Speedy notice
thereof that you may receive Our Ratification, if wee shall
approve the Same.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
167
59 Not to declare warr, except ag'st Indians upon Emergencies.
Provided alwayes, and Our Will and Pleasure is that you
Do not by Color of any Power or Authority hereby given you
Commence or Declare warr without Our knowledge and com-
mand therein, Except it be against Indians upon Emergen-
cies wherein the Consent of Our Councill shall be had, and
you are to give Us a particular Account thereof with all
Speed.
60 To give an account of Proceedings.
Lastly you shall upon all occasions give unto Us by One of
Our Principal Secretaries of State, and the Lords of Our
Privy Councill appointed a Committee for Trade and Forrein
Plantations a particular account of all proceedings and of
the Condition of Affaires within your Governm't.
By his Ma'tys Command
Sunderland P.
/Ex.
MEM'D CONCERNING RHODE ISLAND.
[English Archives, Colonial Entry Book, vol. 61, p. 305.]
M'd about Rode
Island & Providence
plantation.
read 12 7'ber 1686
The Colony of Rhode Island & Provi-
dence Plantation in New England
upon notice of the Quo warranto
brought against their Charter have
voted in their generall Assembly &
declared by Proclamation, that they
would not stand suit with his Ma'ty and Have made an Ad-
dress to that purpose, humbly praying the particulars fol-
lowing
The Confirmation of their Priviledges & Liberty of Con-
science.
That Attestations for the Execution of offices may be
allowed off, instead of Oaths, for those who shall desire it.
And that the Port of Newport may be a free Port, paying
Duties.
Whereupon the Lords of the Committee have agreed to
move his Ma'ty that S'r Edmund Andros may have orders to
demand the surrender of their Charter, having assured them
of His Royal Countenance and Protection, to exercise the
same Powers in the Government of that Colony as is directed
by His Ma'tys Commission for the others in New England.
And further that if the Colony of Conecticut shall desire
to surrender their Charter, S'r Edmund Andros may likewise
have power to take them under his government.
M'd Their Ld'ps having represented this matter to his
Maʼty on the 12th of September 1686 the following Instruc-
tion was thereupon ordered to be prepared for his Ma'tys
Signature
168
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
Additional Power and Instruction to Our Trusty & wel-
beloved S'r Edmund Andros K'nt Our Captain General &
Governor in Chief in and over Our Territory and Dominion
of New England in America. Given at our Court of Wind-
sor the 12th day of September 1686 in the second year of Our
reign.
[INSTRUCTIONS TO GOVERNOR ANDROS CONCERNING THE
CHARTER OF RHODE ISLAND.]
JAMES. R.
[Mass. Archives, vol. 126, pp. 159, 160.]
1
Additionall Powers and Instructions for our Trusty and
welbeloved S'r Edmond Andros Kn't our Capt'n Generall and
Governour in Cheife in an over our Territory and Dominion
of New England in America. Given att our Court att Wind-
sor this 13th day of september, In the second yeare of our
Reigne 1686.
Whereas wee have been pr'sented with the humble address
of our Governour and Company of our Colony of Road Island
and providence Plantation within our Territory and Domin-
ion of New England, beareing date the 3d day of June last
wherein they take notice of our writt of Quo-Warranto
against their Charter and theirupon declaireing their resolu-
tion not to stand suite w'th us, have submitted themselves
and their Charter to our Royall determination. Our will and
pleasure is, and wee doe hereby, authorize & Impower you
upon your arivall in those parts, to demande in our name,
the surrender of their s'd Charter into your hands, in pursu-
ance of their s'd declaration and address and taking our s'd
Colony of Road Island & providence plantation under your
Goverment, to exercise the like powers and authorities in ref-
erence, to the same, as wee have given and granted, unto you
by our Comision under the great sealle of England for the
Goverment of other Colonyes within our s'd Territory & Do-
minion of New Engl'd assureing our good subjects of our Col-
ony & Plantation afores'd of our Royall Countenance and
protection in all things wherein our service and their welfare
shall be concerned and giving us by the first opportunity an
account of their behaivour and of your proceedings in obedi-
ence to these our Comands
And in case itt shall happen that upon the Like Writt of
Quo-Warranto issued against the Charter of our Governour
and Company of our Collony of Connecticott, they shall be
induced to make Surender of their Charter our will and pleas-
ure is and wee doe hereby Authorize and Impower you in our
name to recieve such surrender and to take our s'd Colony of
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
169
Connecticott under your Goverment in the same manner as
before expressed.
By his Ma'ties Comand.
Copie.
Sunderland. P.
ADDITIONALL INSTRUCTIONS FOR OUR TRUSTY AND WELLBE-
LOVED S'R EDMUND ANDROS KN'T OUR CAPT'N GENERALL
AND GOVERNOUR IN CHEIF OF OUR TERRITORY AND Do-
MINION OF NEW ENGLAND IN AMERICA &C.
Ja's R
[Mass. Archives, vol. 7, pp. 1-3.]
In case any shipp or vessel duely Navigated and qualified
to Trade shall arrive in any of Our Collonyes of New Eng-
land with any of the Enumerate Commodityes of the Groweth
of any of Our Plantations, You are Carefully to Examine or
Cause to be Examined whether such shipp had before Lad-
ing given bound According to Law, And if she had not given
bond then you are to Cause, Seizure to be made of the said
shipp and Loading According to Law, and if itt appeares
that she had given bond you are to Examine whether such
bond was to Come to England, Wales or Berwick and no other
place, or to England Wales Berwick or to some of Our plan-
´taʼons, And in Case her bond was given to Come to England
Wales and Berwick, and to noe other place, you are to forbid
the said shipp to unlade with you, and if notwithstanding
thereof she shall put any of the said goods on shoare in any
parte of New England you are to keep an Exact Account
thereof And to take good proofe upon Oath of the quanti-
tyes and Qualityes of the said goods put soe on shoare And
by the first oppertunity to transmitt the same to Our Com-
mission'rs of Our Customes in England, that they may give
Order for Sueing and recovering the penalty and forfeiture
of the bond, and if such bond was given in any of Our planta-
tions you are alsoe with the first Convenience, to give Notice
and the Proof thereof to Our Governour of such Plantation
and the Coll'r of Our Customes there for the time being that
they May take Care for the Speedy puting such bond in suite,
but if such bond was to Come to England Wales and Ber-
wick or some of Our plantations in such Case you are to per-
mitt the said shipp to unlade Examining the Certificates, from
the Officers in Our plantations where she Laded whereby to
satisfie yourself that Our Dutyes were there paid for the goods
on Board, and if any of the aforesaid goods shall be found
on board for which Our Dutyes have not beene paid you are
to make Seizure thereof for non-payem't of the said Dutyes
According to the Laws and Rules for Collecting Our Cus-
tomes in England. And to prevent the many fraudes mis-
170
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
cheefs and Incoveniences in granting Certificates to shipps
giving bond in Our Kingdome of England Dominion of Wales
or Towne of Berwick upon Tweede the Commissioners of Our
Customes in England have Caused Certificates in blancks to
be sent to the Customer Comptroller and Coll'r of Each Port
in this Our Kingdome with Directions to grant the same as
Occasion shall serve you are to Cause all such Certificates
of bonds Given in England Wales or Berwick to shipps arrive-
ing within Our Territory and Dominion of New England to
be produced as well to the Collector of Our Customes there
for the time being or his Deputy or Deputyes as to the Officer
or Officers appointed by you to receive the same, and the said
Commission'rs of Our Customes having formely sent Over a
sufficient Number of Printed Certificates in Blanks of sev-
erall sorts the better to discover the truth of Certificates of
bonds given in New England aforesaid; you are to give Order
And take Care that the Secretary or Navall Officer do Joyne
with the said Coll'r of Our Customes or his Deputy or Depu-
tyes in granting the said Certificates And that they Doe not
Grant any other Certificates then those beforementioned nor
them without the hand and seale of the said Collect'r or his
Deputy nor Accept of any security upon Bond given in any
of Our Collonyes of New England without the Privity and
approbation of the said Coll'r or his Deputyes or of any Cer-
tificates in Discharge of such bond- without the like Privaty
and approbation.
And whereas Our said Commission'rs of Our Customes have
thought itt necessary for Our service that all Certificates
hereafter to be granted in the severall courts within Our
Kingdome of England Dominion of Wales and Towne of Ber-
wick upon Tweed in Order to the Clearing of Bonds given in
Our plantations be signed and Sealed by the principall Offi-
cers of Our Customes in Each of the s'd Ports and afterwards.
transmitted to Our said Commission'rs to be signed by them
in Like manner as Certificates are Signed by them for Plan-
tation bonds given in this Our Kingdome To which purpose-
they have Caused printed forms of the said Certificates in
Blanks to be sent to the said Officers with the necessary
Instructions (one of w'ch Certificates will be Delivered to you
for your perusall) You are to give Order and take Care that
noe Certificates which shall not be Attested by Our said Com- `
mission'rs of Our Customes in England for the time being
in the manner aforesaid be accepted of and accompted of any
validity or Effect to discharge any plantation bond given in
any Collony or place within Our Territory and Dominion of
New England aforesaid Given att Our Court att Whitehall
this 31d Day of October 1686. in the second yeare of Our
Reigne.
By his Maj'ties Command.
Sunderland. P:
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
171
ORDER THAT THE JURISDICTION OF PEMAQUID BE IN THE
HANDS OF SIR EDMUND ANDROS.
[Collections of the Mass. Historical Society, 3d series, vol. 7, p. 160.]
JAMES R. Trusty and well beloved. We greet you well.
Whereas we have thought fit to direct, that our Fort and
Country of Pemaquid, in regard of its distance from New
York, be for the future annexed to and continued under the
Government of our Territory and Dominion of New England.
Our will and pleasure is, that you forthwith deliver or cause
to be delivered, our said Fort and Country of Pemaquid with
the great guns, ammunition and stores of war, together with
all other utensils and appurtenances belonging to the said
Fort, into the hand of our trusty and well beloved Sir Ed-
mund Andros, Knight, our Captain General and Governor in
chief of our Territory and Dominion of New England, or to
the Governor or Commander in Chief there, for the time being,
or to such person or persons, as they shall impower to receive
the same, and for so doing, this shall be your warrant. Given
at our Court at Windsor, this 19th day of September, 1686, in
the second year of our reign. By his Majesty's command.
Sunderland P.
Col. Dongan to deliver Pemaquid Fort to Sir Edmund
Andros.
LETTER TO S'R EDM ANDROS FOR ANNEXING CONECTICUT TO
N. ENGLAND.
[English Archives, Colonial Entry Book, vol. 61, p. 353.]
James R
Trusty and welbeloved we greet you well; Having seen a
letter lately sent from the Generall Court of Our Colony of
Conecticutt in New England to Our R't Trusty and R't welbe-
loved Cousin & Councelor Robert Earle of Sunderland Presi-
dent of Our Councill, and one of Our principal Secretaries of
State, wherein they represent their desires to continue as they
are, but if wee Shall think fit otherwise to dispose of them,
they do, in all duty, declare their readiness to Submitt to Our
Royall Commands, hoping wee may be more inclined to annex
them to the Government of New England, than to any other;
Wee, having taken this matter into Our Royall Consideration,
do hereby authorize and direct you to Signify to them Our
good liking and acceptance of their Dutifull Submission; and
to take the Said Colony of Conecticutt under yo'r Government
(to which wee are pleased to annex the Same) in Such manner
and under the Same Regulations as are directed by Our Com-
mission and Instructions to you for the good Government of
172
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
the other Colonies under yo'r Care, assuring them also of Our
particular Regard and Royall Protection. And Our further
pleasure is that you admitt, and Cause Our Trusty and welbe-
loved Robert Treat Esq're the present Governor, and John
Allen Esq're the present Secretary of Conecticutt to be Sworn
of Our Councill in New England. And for So doing this Shall
be yo'r warrant; And so wee bid you farewell. Given at Our
Court at Windsor the 27th day of June 1687 in the third yeare
of Our Reigne.
By his Ma'tys Command
Sunderland.
HIS MA'TYS LETTER FOR THE VALUATION OF PIECES OF 8 &C.
IN N. ENG.
[English Archives, Colonial Entry Book, vol. 61, p. 326.]
Trusty and welbeloved Wee greet you well, Whereas it may
Conduce to the benefit of Trade & the Commerce of Our Sub-
jects within Our Territory and Dominion of New England,
that the Currant Value of Pieces of Eight and other forreign
Coyn, be forthwith Setled according to the usage of Our other
Plantations; Our will and Pleasure therefore is, That by Pro-
clamation under Our Seal for Our said Dominion of New Eng-
land you Regulate the Price of pieces of Eight, and other for-
rein Coyn Imported thither, in Such manner & to Such a Cur-
rant Value, as you, with the advice of Our Councill Shall find
most requisit for Our Service and the Trade of Our Subjects
there.
And for so doing this shall be yo'r warrant. Given at Our
Court at Whitehall the 31th day of October 1686, in the Sec-
ond year of Our Reign.
By his Ma'tys Command
Sunderland.
HIS MATYS LETTER TO S'R EDMUND ANDROS TO INQUIRE
INTO THE COMPLAINT OF ROB'T ORCHARD & TO REDRESS
THE SAME.
[English Archives, Colonial Entry Book, vol. 61, p. 356.]
James R.
Trusty and welbeloved wee greet You well, Whereas wee
Subject Robert Orchard having Complained Unto Us of Sev-
erall great grievances and hardships imposed upon him, by
the late Governor and Company of the Massachusets Bay, Wee
did referr the Consideration thereof to the Committee of Our
Council for Trade and Plantations, and they having repre-
sented unto Us that it is fit the Pet'r Should be releived, and
that he hath Suffred with relation to Our Service, Our will
and Pleasure is, and Wee do hereby authorize You to inquire
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
173
into the matter, and to take Care that the Pet'r be redressed
in his Said Complaints according to Justice; And that you
give him all due encouragem't otherwise as there shall be
occasion; Given at Our Court at Windsor the 30th day of July
1687, in the 3d yeare of Our Reigne.
By his Ma'tys Command
Sunderland P.
THE KINGS LETTER FOR SWEARING SAMUEL SHRIMPTON OF
THE COUNCILL IN N. ENGLAND.
[English Archives, Colonial Entry Book, vol. 61, p. 365.]
James R.
Trusty and welbeloved wee greet You well, Whereas wee
are well Satisfied of the Loyalty, Integrity, and ability of Our
Trusty and welbeloved Samuel Shrimpton gent; Wee have
thought fitt hereby to Signify Our Will and pleasure to You,
that forthwith upon receipt hereof you Cause him the said
Samuel Shrimpton to be Sworn of Our Councill of that Our
Colony of New England, And for &c, And so &c, Given at
Our Court at Whitehall the 10th day of November 1687 in the
3d year of our Reign.
By &c.
Sunderland P.
To Our Trusty & welbeloved S'r Edmund Andros Kn't &c.
The like for
Wm Brown The like letter issued for William Brown Jun'r
gent
Simon Linds The like, for Simon Linds gent
Rich'd Smith The like for Richard Smith gent
HIS MA'TYS LETTER TO S'R EDM. ANDROS TOUCHING THE
TRYALL OF PIRATS.
[English Archives, Colonial Entry Book, vol. 61, p. 365.]
James R.
Trusty and welbeloved wee greet you well, whereas wee
have received frequent informations from Our Severall Col-
onys and Plantations in America, that instead of a due Prose-
cution of Pirats that have been Seized either upon the high
Sea or upon Land, an unwarrantable practice has been car-
ryed on to bring them immediatly to their Tryalls before any
Evidence could be produced against them, and that Such other
methods of like Nature have been used, whereby the most
Notorious Pirats have, as it is well known, either by the facil-
ity or partiallity of the Juries been acquitted for the Crimes
whereof they Stood accused, and So permitted, with their
Shipps and Confederates to Continue their accustomed Pira-
cies, to the great detriment of Trade, and prejudice of the
174
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
Subjects of Our good Brother the Catholick King, and Our
Other Allyes; Wee being therefore Willing to put an end to
Such evill practices, and to Cause the most Severe and impar-
tiall Prosecutions to be had against a Sort of people who are
destructive of humane Society and Commerce. Wee have
thought fit to take this matter into Our most Serious Consid-
eration, and amongst other necessary Provisions for the Sup-
pressing of Pirates, Wee do hereby Strictly Charge and re-
quire You, and all Our Officers and Loving Subjects under
your Government to take all possible Care and use all due
meanes to Seize and apprehend all Pirats and Sea Rovers, their
Confederats and accomplices, with their Ships, Goods and
Plunder, and the Said Pirats and accomplices to Cause to be
Straitly imprisoned and kept in Safe Custody with their Ships,
Goods and Plunder untill Our Royall pleasure Shall be known,
concerning their being respectively prosecuted, Such Pirats
or Privateers, their Confederats and accomplices only ex-
cepted, who Shall lay hold of and deserve Our gracious Par-
don in pursuance of Our Declaration directed to S'r Robert
Holmes Our Sole Commissioner in that behalf bearing date
the 21th day of August Last, A copy whereof wee Send you
hereunto annexed for your Information. And wee do further
Strictly Charge and require You not to grant any Pardon unto
Pirats or Sea Rovers upon any pretence whatsoever nor to
permit them to be brought to Tryall, untill upon Signification
of their Crimes to Us, or upon the arrivall of the said S'r Rob-
ert Holmes, time and oppertunity may be allowed to all partys
Concerned for the bringing of Evidence against Such Male-
factors from the parts or places where the Piracies or Rob-
erries have been Committed, And that wee shall have given
Such necessary Orders for their prosecution and Tryalls as to
Law Shall appertain, and most effectually Conduce to the Sup-
pressing of Pirats and Privateers in America. Given at Our
Court at Whitehall the 13th day of October in the Third year
of Our Reign.
By his Ma'tys Command
Sunderland P.
THE KINGS LETTER TO S'R EDM. ANDROS TOUCHING THE LORD
ADMIRALLS MOIETY FROM THE WRECK.
[English Archives, Colonial Entry Book, vol. 61, p. 367.]
James R
Trusty and welbeloved wee greet you well, Whereas a wreck
has been lately discovered neer the Coast of Hispaniola, from
whence a considerable quantity of Silver and other Treasure
has been taken up and carryed to divers parts of Our Domin-
ions in America by Severall of Our Subjects there, who Con-
tinue to Search for, and take up Silver and other Treasure
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
175
from the said wreck; And one full moitie of all Treasure and
Riches taken upon, out of, or from the bottom of the Sea, being
by ancient Ordinances of the Admiralty due unto Us as Lord
high admirall, according to the Report or Certificate of the
Judge of Our high Court of Admiralty and Judge Advocat;
Wee do therefore hereby charge and Require you and all other
officers under your Government to take care that one moiety
or half part of all Plate, Silver, Gold or Treasure of any kind,
taken up out of the said wreck neer Hispaniola, or from any
other wreck whasoever, which hath lately been brought or
shall be brought into the plantation under yo'r Government,
be duly recovered and received for Our use, without admitting
of any Excuse or Pretence whatsoever either of paying Our
Tenths, or of any Contract, Commission or Order from any
person or persons under Color of Letters Patents or any other
Grant from Us, wee having reserved all matters of dispute in
that behalf, unto Our Royall determination; And of your pro-
ceedings herein you are from time to time to give an accompt
unto the Comm'rs of Our Treasury, to the end You may receive
Our further directions for the disposall of all such Treasure
and Riches as Shall be recovered and received by you in Right
of Our Admiralty as aforesaid; And So wee bid you farewell,
From Our Court at Whitehall this 20th day of October 1687 in
the third year of Our Reign.
By his Ma'tys Command
Sunderland P.
THE KINGS LETTER TO S'R EDM. ANDROS SETLING THE REV-
ENUE IN ENGLAND.
[English Archives, Colonial Entry Book, vol. 61, p. 359.]
James R
Memorand. On the 15th of November 1687
the following Establishment for the Govern-
m't of N. England was sent to S'r Edm. An-
dros.
Trusty and welbeloved wee greet you well, Whereas by Our
Commission bearing date the third day of June in the Second
Year of Our Reign, wee have given unto you full power and
authority with the advice and Consent of Our Councill or the
Major part of them to Impose, Assess, Raise and Levy Such
rates and Taxes as you shall find necessary for the Support
of Our Governm't in Our Territory and Dominion of N. Eng-
land And further by Our Instructions have directed that you
Continue to raise and Levy Such rates and Impositions as are
now or have Lately been Laid and Imposed within Our said
Colony, Untill, upon yo'r further Examination and Inquiry
you should Represent unto Us the nature and quality of Such
176
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
Rates, Taxes and Impositions, how the Same are raised and
Levyed, and what other Taxes might be raised and Levyed
and to what value yearly as also what Should be necessary for
the Support of the annual Charge of the Government. In pur-
suance whereof You have transmitted unto Us the present
State of Our Revenue in New England to the effect following.
The State of his Ma'tys Revenue in New England.
The present Revenue arises by Customes, Imposts, Excise
and Country Rates Continued by an Act passed there Since
the arrival of S'r Edmund Andros, Vizt.
The Imposts and Customes
with the usuall abatement of
one third for the Payment in
mony as heretofore amounted
to
But that abatement being
now taken off, and only an al-
lowance made of twelve per
Cent for Leakage upon Liquors
it will, as is supposed, amount
to more
The Excise was farmed by
the late President and Councill
last year for
But being now managed by
Comm'rs will probably amount
to more
The Country Rate at one
penny per pound in Country
Pay by the abatement of one
third to reduce it to mony as
usuall, and other Charges may
bring it in money to about
But by an Act lately passed
no abatement being to be made
it may amount to more about
£
s d
1346: 4: 7
1596: 4: 7
250:00:00
}
450:00:00
1050:00:00
600:00:00
670: 00:00
1200:00:00
3846 4: 7
530:00:00
In all-
Which you have represented to be Short of the necessary
Charge of the Government, which is as followeth.
For two Companys of Foot Soldiers a Chiru-
geon Chaplain master Gunner and Armorer
Two Gunners for Boston, Fort Hill, South
and North Battery at 12d per diem each
A Commissary and Storekeeper at 4s per diem
One master Gunner in the
Castle on Castle Island at 2s
per diem
A Gunner for the Castle and
Battery in Castle Island
£ s d
2278: 4: 2
36:10:00
73:00:00
36:10:00
54:15:00
S
18 5:00
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
177
A Gunner at Pascataway at 12d a day
A Gunner at Pemaquid
The Cheif Judge
Two other Judges
The Treasurers allowance at
Five per Cent for Receiving the
Revenue for 3846£ 4s 7d com-
puted at
Receiver of the
Customes
and Imposts at two shillings
per pound Computed at
Several officers in the Out
Ports for receiving the Dutys
there about
For Collecting the Excise
about
18: 5:00
18: 5:00
150:00:00
240:00:00
}
390:00:00
192: 6: 3
159:12: 6
651:18: 9
100:00:00
200:00:00
The Governors Salary as paid in England
1200:00:00
Which in all amounts to about
4720:12:11
Which is more then the present Revenue
computed at
3846: 4: 7
By the Summ of
874: 8: 4
Besides
Repaires for the fortifications
Fire and Candle for the Severall Guards
Other Contingent Charges in the Government,
For the discharge whereof, in pursuance of Our Instruc-
tions, you have proposed as the easiest and best way to ad-
vance Our Revenue
1st That the Impost upon wine being at
present
may be raised to £1:10s: 00d Pipe
2dly That the Excise upon wines Re-
tailed being at pres't
may be raised to One Shilling per
Gallon w'ch is
3dly And Brandy Rum &c retailed,
from 8d Gallon to
4thly That the Excise of Beer, Ale, and
Sider Retailed be raised from
01s 3d to
£ S d
0:10:00
0:13: 4
1:00: 0
equally.
Pipe
3:10:00 Pipe
660 Pipe
0: 1:0 Gallon
0: 2 6 barrell
And whereas the Country Rate by reason of the great dis-
proportion of the Prices and Value of Horses and Cattle
Sheep, Corn &c in the Severall parts of the Government being
unequall and Contrary to the usage of Severall Places under
your Government, which occasions great trouble and Expence
12
178
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
in the Collecting and bringing in the Revenue; You have
therefore proposed, that wee would please instead thereof for
the future, to order a Certain Summ, or authorize Our Coun-
cill to do it, for so much as Shall be wanting yearly to defray
the Charge of the Government (after the Customes, Imposts,
and Excise paid as aforesaid) by equall Shares and Portions.
on the Severall Countys and Townes, and that the manner of
attesting the Same be according to former usage.
Wee do hereby approve of your proceedings in pursuance of
Our Said Commission and Instructions, and of Your Care in
the Setling and providing for the necessary Expence of the
Government within Our Said Territory and Dominion, and do
accordingly, by this our Royall Order, Charge and Require you
and Our Councill; to Cause the Said Customes, Imposts, Ex-
cise, Country Rates, and other Duties mentioned and Proposed
as above, to be forthwith Setled, Levyed and Collected for the
discharge of the necessary Expence of Our Said Government,
So as that you do not fail, every Six months or half yearly to
transmitt an accompt thereof unto Us according to Our In-
structions, That we may be Satisfied of the due Application of
Our Said Revenue, And to the intent that Wee may give you
Such directions for the ease and benefit of Our Subjects under
your Government as from time to time shall appear requisit,
And inasmuch as there are Severall Casual Profits and Rights
of the Crown that may and do happen & accrue from time to
time, not mentioned in the afore recited State of Our Revenue,
Our further will and Pleasure is, that you Cause an exact
Accompt to be kept and transmitted unto Us as abovesaid,
without disposing of any part of Such Casual and Contingent
Revenue, untill you shall have received Our particular Direc-
tions therein; And so wee bid you farewell, From Our Court
at Whitehall this Seventh day of November 1687 in the Third
year of Our Reign
By his Ma'tys Command
Sunderland P.
To Our Trusty & welbeloved S'r Edmund
Andros Kn't Our Captain Generall, & Gov-
ernor in Chief of Our Territory & Dominion of
New England in America, And to Our Gov-
ernor or Commander in Cheif thereof for the
time being.
LETTER TO THE GOV'R OF N. ENGLAND TO ASSIST THE GOV'R
OF NEW YORK AGAINST THE FRENCH.
[English Archives, Colonial Entry Book, vol. 61, p. 368.]
James R.
Trusty and welbeloved Wee greet you well, Whereas Wee
have received Information from Our Trusty and welbeloved
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
179
Thomas Dungan Esq'r Our Governor in Cheif of New York
of an attempt lately made by the French upon the five
nations or Cantons of Indians, Vizt. the Maquas, Sinicas,
Cayougues, Oneydos and Onondaques who from all times have
Submitted themselves to Our Government, and by acknowl-
edgements of Our Soveraignty are become Our Subjects; And
wee being very Sensible of what great prejudice it may be to
Us and Our Subjects if any Encroachment be allowed Upon
Our Dominions, or the French permitted to Invade Our Terri-
torys or to annoy Our Subjects, without a due Care in Us to
preserve the Peace of Our Government, and to give all due
Protection to Such as have brought themselves under Our
Subjection Wee have therefore signified Our pleasure to Our
Said Governor of New York, that in Case the people of Can-
ada continue to Invade Our Dominions and annoy those In-
dians he shall, with the utmost of his power Endevor to Defend
and Protect them, and to preserve Our Right in those Parts,
To which purpose, in Case the ayd and assistance of Our Sub-
jects within Our Territory and Dominion of New England,
Shall be thought necessary by him, and So Signified unto You,
Wee do hereby Strictly Charge and require you to afford him
Such aid and assistance for the repelling and pursuing the
French, either by Numbers of Men or otherwise as the Condi-
tion and Safety of Our Said Territory Under your Govern-
ment Shall permitt, And wee do accordingly hereby give you
full power and Authority to levy, Arme, and Imploy all Per-
sons residing within your Government in the resisting and
withstanding the Invasion of the French or their attempts
upon any part of Our Dominions in America; And them if
there Shall be occasion to pursue in or out of Our Said Domin-
ions; And to do and Execute all and every thing which you
shall find necessary for the protecting Our Subjects and main-
taining Our Rights in those parts, And for So doing this Shall
be your warrant. Given at Our Court at Whitehall the 11th
day of November 1687 in the third year of Our Raign.
By his Ma'tys Command
Sunderland P.
HIS MA'TYS LETTER TO S'R EDM. ANDROS, ON THE PROCLAMA-
TION FOR SUPPRESSING PIRATS & PRIVATEERS & CONCERN-
ING PIRATS GOODS GIVEN TO S'R R. HOLMES.
[English Archives, Colonial Entry Book, vol. 61, p. 379.]
James R.
Trusty and welbeloved Wee greet you well, Whereas for
the better Suppressing of Pirats and Privateers in America,
Wee have thought fit to issue out our Royall Proclamation
bearing date the 20th day of January in the third year
180
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
of Our Reign, Whereby Wee are graciously pleased to prom-
ise Our full and ample pardon unto all Pirats and Privateers
under the Conditions therein at large expressed, as also to
declare Our will and pleasure, that in Case any Pirat or Priva-
teer Shall in Contempt of Our princely mercy unto them
thereby offered, wilfully and obstinately persist in their accus-
tomed Piracies & Outragious Practices, or Shall not Surren-
der themselves in the manner therein directed, all and every
Such person or persons, Shall be pursued with the utmost
Severitys and the greatest Rigor that may be untill They and
every of them be utterly Suppressed and destroyed. Wee do
hereby direct and Require, that upon Receipt of a Printed
Copy of the Said Proclamation herewith Sent unto you, you
cause the Same to be forthwith published within yo'r Gov-
ernm't and that in the Execution thereof, You, and all our offi-
cers and ministers whatsoever be ayding and assisting to Our
Trusty and welbeloved S'r Robert Holmes Kn't whom wee
have Constituted and appointed Our Sole Comm'r in that
Affair, & to all Persons appointed by him. And whereas for
the better encouragem't of the said S'r Robert Holmes to
undertake So great a Service, Wee have been pleased to give
and grant unto him all manner of Wares, Merchandizes, Goods
and Chattels whatsoever, of what nature or kind Soever of or
belonging, or which do or shall belong to any of the Said
Pirats or Privateers or which be, or Shall be Piratically taken
by them, or any of them, either on board any Ship or Vessell
or upon the Land in any part or parts of America, or any the
Islands or Seas, Limits or Territorys thereof, whensoever or
wheresoever the Same Shall be found, within, and for and
during the Space of three Yeares, and all Our Right, Title In-
terest, Claim and demand whatsoever unto the Same and every
part thereof; To have, hold, take, receive and Enjoy the Same
unto the Said S'r Robert Holmes, his Executors Administra-
tors and Assignes, to his and their own proper use and benefit,
and as his and their own proper Goods and Chattels, without
any accompt thereof or therefore to be made or rendred to Us,
Our heires and Sucessors, as by the Said Letters Patents, a
Copy whereof is likewise herewith Sent you may more at
large appear. Wee do therefore hereby strictly Charge and
Command you, and all officers of Our Revenue and others
whom it may Concern within Your Government to pay, deliver
Answer and make good, or Cause to be paid, delivered An-
swered and made good unto the said S'r Robert Holmes or his
Assignes, all Such Wares, Merchandizes, Goods and Chattels
of or belonging to Pirats, or which Shall have belonged or
shall belong to any Pirats or their Accomplices, in what hands
Soever they Shall be found, according to the full intent and
meaning of Our above recited Letters Patents, for which the
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
181
Acquitance of the Said S'r Robert Holmes, or of his assignes
Shall be a Sufficient discharge; And So Wee bid you farewell.
Given at Our Court at Whitehall this twenty Second day of
January 1687 in the third year of Our Raign.
By his Ma'tys Command
Sunderland P.
HIS MA'TYS LETTER TO S'R ED. ANDROS TO REPORT THE
BOUNDARIES OF THE GOVERNMENT.
[English Archives, Colonial Entry Book, vol. 62, p. 13.]
James R.
Trusty and welbeloved Wee greet you well, Whereas for the
composing of Disputes and differences that have arisen be-
tween Our Subjects and the Subjects of Our good Brother the
most Christian King in America, And for the preventing fur-
ther occasions of Controversy in those parts; Wee have
thought fitt to constitute and appoint Comm'rs to Treat with
the Comm'rs appointed by Our Said good Brother the most
Christian King for the Setling and determining the Bounds
and Limits of the Colonies, Islands & Territories within Our
respective Dominions or depending on Us in America. And
whereas the said Comm'rs have Signed and Sealed an Instru-
ment for the preventing Hostilities or violent proceedings
between Our respective Subjects untill the 1 day of Janu-
ary next and afterwards from that day forward, untill wee
Shall Send express Orders in writing concerning the Same;
To the end therefore the Said Limits and Boundaries may be
Setled before that time, and that Our Said Comm'rs may be
well informed of the Bounds and Limits of Our Plantation
under yo'r Governm't Wee do hereby Signify Our will and
pleasure that you forthwith give Us an exact account and full
Information of the Boundaries and Limits of that Our Planta-
tion, and of the Indians & Territories depending thereon,
which you are to do with all Convenient Speed And So wee
bid you farewell. from Our Court at Whitehall the first day
of April 1688 in the fourth Year of Our Reign.
By his Ma'tys Command
Sunderland P.
182
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
[LAWS ENACTED BY SIR EDMUND ANDROS, GOVERNOR, AND
HIS COUNCIL, FOR THE TERRITORY AND DOMINION OF NEW
ENGLAND, 1686-9; 2, 3, 4, 5, JAMES II.]
[The acts which follow, passed by Governor Andros and council, are not
preserved in the New Hampshire local records. They are, however, named
by titles in N. H. Province Papers, vol. 2, pp. 16, 17. The dates of enactment
assigned to them are verified by the concluding parts of the several acts. It
will be noted that this legislation took place early in the administration,
which was continued from December 19, 1686, to April 18, 1689, this period
being in the second, third, fourth, and fifth years of the reign of James II,
the interregnum, December 11, 1688, to February 13, 1688-9, and the first year
of the reign of William and Mary. These acts were manifestly applicable
and in operation in this province. The only imprint from them which has
heretofore been accessible is that found in Colonial Records of Connecticut,
vol. 3, pp. 402-436, edited by J. Hammond Trumbull, and published in 1859.
The impression has also been prevalent that the Wadsworth copy of these
acts, which is in the custody of the library of Yale University, and which
was the basis of the edition produced by Mr. Trumbull, was the only tran-
script extant. Fifteen of the eighteen acts, however, are preserved in the
archives of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, and must be regarded as
the best evidence of the text of the original acts, since the records of the
Andros administration were kept in Boston, and should be found in the
records of Massachusetts. The acts bear the seals and the signature of Gov-
ernor Andros. There seems to be no ground for question as to their authen-
ticity. Another transcript similar to the Wadsworth copy, and known as
the Talcott copy, has been in the custody of Charles J. Hoadley, the state
librarian of Connecticut, until recently, or with the descendants of the per-
son who anciently possessed the copy. A copy of this Talcott copy, so called,
was made by Mr. Hoadley, but it has not been published. It is understood
that the original Talcott copy has been lost. In these pages the Massachu-
setts manuscript has been selected as the more desirable text for the pur-
poses of the work. The three acts not found in the Massachusetts archives.
(chapters 5, 15, and 17 as herein designated) are reprinted from the copies
in vol. 3 of the Colonial Records of Connecticut. It would be expected that
legislation would continue in the council of Governor Andros from time
to time subsequent to March 24, `1687-8, which is the date of the last of the
series so far as hitherto discovered. An examination of the records, and
other investigation among the collections of state documents of that per-
iod, fails to disclose the later laws, if any were enacted between March 24,
1687-8, and April 18, 1689, when the government of Sir Edmund Andros
terminated. Mr. Robert E. Cumming, in a historical note prefatory to vol.
1, Colonial Laws of New York, 1894, p. xviii, referring to the administration
of Sir Edmund Andros in that colony, says:
"The governor and council were continued as the law making power, and
laws so passed were to continue in force until disapproved by His Majesty.
Andros arrived in New York in August, [1688] and on August 11 New York
was annexed to New England. At a council held August 29, 1688, the bill
for levying £2555 6s, which had been suspended by the Dongan council, was
ordered to be fully executed. Thus things continued till the accession of
William of Orange to the English throne."
No acts are published in this edition of Colonial Laws of New York.
The enumeration of acts previously passed, as incorporated in the act of
December 29, 1687, (chapter 14 as herein designated), would indicate that
the series to that date is preserved in full in the modern collections. Mr.
Allyn of Connecticut, in a letter to John West, deputy secretary in the
Andros government, of date January 27, 1687, mentions a "law that doth
confirm our local laws," as one which he had not received but had seen in
Springfield. This does not appear in the Wadsworth collection of acts.
Mr. West, replying to Mr. Allyn, March 24, 1687-8, says: "The order
formerly made for confirming local laws was only intended for a short time,
until some acts and laws then under consideration could be passed, which
being done that ceased; and lately on some debate in council had thereupon,
was so resolved. So that now we are not to be guided by any laws or orders
but such as are made and published by His Excellency and council, or the
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
183
laws of England, where they have not provided." This is further evidence
tending to the conclusion that acts previously passed were not recognized
by this administration as continuing in force or validity except for the
time being, and only until other legislation could be formulated. To this
point the text of the commission, and article 10 of the first issue of instruc-
tions, (those of September 12, 1686), should be consulted. Other items in
the contemporary correspondence of several officials given in vol. 3 of the
Colonial Records of Connecticut, and other publications and contemporary
documents, are pertinent to the history of the laws of the Andros adminis-
tration. Mr. Trumbull, the editor of the Connecticut publication, in a pre-
fatory note, says: "No copy of the laws themselves, or of any one of
them, is now preserved in the secretary's office [Connecticut], and it was
not until after much inquiry and fruitless search, that they were found in
the manuscript pages appended to a copy of the first Book of the Colony
Laws (ed. 1673), belonging to the library of Yale college. This volume, at
the period of the usurpation, was in the possession of Mr. John Wadsworth,
Sen., of Farmington (one of the assistants from 1679 to 1689), who care-
fully recorded in it the acts and orders of each session of the General Court
from May, 1673, to March, 1687, and 'the Laws of the Territory of New Eng-
land,' in force during the government of Andros in Connecticut. These last
fill thirty-eight closely written pages,-mostly written by Mr. Wadsworth
himself, with the occasional assistance of his son, John Wadsworth, Jun.,
and of some other person whose handwriting has not been identified. They
are arranged [in the Colonial Records of Connecticut, vol. 3] in the order
in which they are named in the enforcing act, [chapter 14, herein]—the acts
which were passed subsequent to the annexation of Connecticut following
in course. It has been thought best to publish these laws entire and all
together in this place [Connecticut Colonial Records],-although a chrono-
logical arrangement would refer several of them to subsequent pages of the
appendix. In transcribing them for the press it has not been judged worth
while to retain the peculiar orthography or the contractions and abbrevia-
tions of Mr. Wadsworth's record."
The arrangement here adopted is strictly chronological. This puts some
of the acts in an order different from that in which they stand in the Colo-
nial Records of Connecticut, before cited.
It was one of the causes of complaint against the Andros government, and
this was urged by Increase Mather in England, that the laws were not
"printed as was the custom with the former governments, so that the people
were at great loss to know what was law and what was not." Palfrey's His-
tory of New England, ed. of 1890, vol. 2, pp, 325, 360.
An act cited in the Massachusetts archives, vol. 126, pp. 245-261, under date
of March 10, 1686-7, by title, "Act Establishing and Regulating Courts of
Judicature," is but a rough draft of the one cited in vol. 40, pp. 221-244, under
date of March 3, 1686-7, by title "An Act for Establishing Courts of Chancery
and Judicature." This in turn does not differ materially from the act num-
bered 2 in the Connecticut publication, under title, "An Act for Establishing
Courts of Judicature and Publique Justice." The text presented (chapter 2)
is the one in the Massachusetts archives, which appears to be the most per-
fect.
The original journal of the Andros government is not preserved in full in
any known custody. The parts or abstracts of it which are accessible in the
public record office in London have been transcribed and added to the archives
of the commonwealth of Massachusetts. The original, covering the first
four months of the administration, is in the collections of the American Anti-
quarian Society at Worcester, Mass. Palfrey's History of New England, ed.
of 1890, vol. 3, p. 518, note 2.
Several orders and warrants, emanating from the Andros council, are
among the entries in these journals. Such of these orders as were appar-
ently of general application, or on other considerations are of particular
interest in connection with the subject of the legislation of the periods, are
indicated in the later pages devoted to this administration.
Doubtful and defaced words and passages occasionally appear in the
manuscripts, and such instances are noted. The corrections are made by
comparison of the Massachusetts and Connecticut records.]
184
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
[CHAPTER 1.]
AN ACT FOR THE CONTINUEING AND ESTABLISHING OF SEV-
ERALL RATES DUTYES AND IMPOSTS.
[Passed March 3, 1686-7, 3 James II. The act as here printed is from the
original in the Massachusetts files. See same act in Colonial Records of
Connecticut, vol. 2, p. 405; Palfrey's History of New England, ed. of 1890,
vol. 2, p. 321.]
BE ITT ENACTED by the Governor and Councill And itt is
hereby Enacted and ordained by the Authority of the same
That the Severall Rates Duties and Imposts hereafter men-
toned and Expressed Bee and are hereby Continued and Es-
tablished to be paid to his Majestye towards the support of
the Goverment and Defraying the Publique Charge thereof
and to be Collected and Leavyed in manner and forme as
herein is Directed and Prescribed (That is to say) That the
Treasurer for the tyme being) shall from yeare to yeare in
the month of July without Expecting any other Order Send
his Warrants to the Constable and Selectmen of every Towne
within this Territory and Dominion Requireing the Consta-
ble to Call together the Inhabitants of the Towne who being
soe Assembled shall Chuse some one of the said Inhabitants
to be A Comissioner for the Towne who together with the
selectmen shall Sometime in the Month of August then next
Ensueing make A list of all the Male persons in the same
towne from sixteene yeares old and upwards and A true Esti-
mac'on of all Reall and personall Estates being or Reputed
to be the Estate of all and every the persons in the same
towne or otherwise under their Custody or manageing Ac-
cording to the Just valluac'on And to what persons the same
Doeth belong whether in their owne towne or else where soe
near as they Can by all Lawfull meanes which they may use
(That is to say) of houses Lands of all Sorts as well broken
up as other (Except such as Doeth or shall lye Com'on) Mills
Shipps and all Small Vessells Merchantable goods Cranes
Wharfes and all sorts of Cattle all other knowne Estate what-
soever either At Sea or on Shoare All which Persons and
Estates are by the said Comissioner and Selectmen to be
Assessed and Rated as hereafter ffolloweth (that is to say)
every person aforesaid (Except the memb'rs of his Majesties
Councill) one shillings and eight pence by the Head And all
Estates both Reall and personall At one penny for every
Twenty Shillings according to the Rates of Cattle hereafter
mentoned The Estates of all Merchants Shopkeepers and
factors shall be assessed by the Rule of Com'on Estimac'on
according to the best Discretion of the Assessors haveing
regard to their stock and Estate be it produced to veiw or not
し
​NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
185
in whose hands soever it be And if any such Merchants find
themselves overvalued if they can make it Appeare to the
Assessors they are to be eased by them if not by the next
Court of Sessions And houses and Lands of all sorts (Except
as aforesaid) shall be Rated at an Equall and Indifferent
value according to their worth In the townes and places
where they lye Alsoe every Bull and Cow of ffower yeares
old at forty shillings And betweene one and two yeares old
at twenty shillings And every Ox of ffower yeares old and
upuards At five pounds Every Horse and Mare of three
yeares old and upwards five pounds Betweene two and
three at three pounds of one yeare old and upwards att thirty
shillings Every Ewe sheep Above one yeare old ten shillings
every Goate Above A yeare old Att eight shillings Every
weather Sheepe Above A yeare old At ten shillings Every
swine Above one yeare old At twenty shillings Every Ass
Above one yeare old At forty shillings And all Cattle of all
Sorts under A yeare old are hereby Exempted As Alsoe all
Hay and Corne in the Husbandmans hands Because all Mea-
dow Arrable ground and Cattle are Ratable as aforesaid And
for all Such persons as by the Advantage of their Acts and
trads are more enabled to help Beare the Publique Charge
then Com'on Laboureres and workemen As Butchers Bakers
Brewers Victulers Smiths Carpenters Taylors Shomakers
Joyners Barbers Millers and Masons with all other Manuall
persons And Artists such are to be Rated for Returne and
gaines proporc'onable unto other men for the produce of their
Estates Provided that in the Rate by the Poll such persons
as are Disabled by Sicknes Lamenesse, or other Infirmity
shall be Exempted And for such Servants and Children as
take not wages their parents And Masters Shall pay for them
But Such as take wages shall pay for themselves.
AND IT IS FURTHER ENACTED by the Authority Aforesaid
that the Comissioners for the severall Townes in every Sheire
or County within this Dominion shall yearely upon the first
Wendesday in the Month of September Assemble at their
sheir Or County Towne And bring with them fairely written
the Just Numb' of Males Listed as aforesaid And the Assesse-
m'ts of Estates made in their Severall Townes according to
the Rules and Direcc'ons in this present Act Expresessed And
the said Comissioners being Soe Assembled shall Duely and
Carefully Examine all the said Lists And Assessm'ts of the
severall Towns in that Sheire or County and shall Correct
and perfect the same according to the true intent of this Act
as they or the Major part of them shall Determine And the
same Soe perfected they shall Speedily transmit to the Treas-
urer under their hands or the hands of the Major part of
186
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
them and thereupon the Treasurer shall give warrants to the
Constables to Collect and Levy the same soe As the Whole
Assessm❜ts both for persons and Estates may be paid in unto
the treasurer before the twentieth Day of Novemb' Yearely
And every one shall pay their Rate to the Constable in the
same Towne where it shall be Assessed And if the Trea'r
Cannot Dispose of it their the Constable shall send it to such
place in Boston or Elsewhere as the Trea'r shall Appoint at
the Publique Charge to be allowed the Constable upon his
Accompt with the Trea'r And for all such places as are not
within the bounds of any towne The Lands with the persons
and Estates thereupon shall be Assessed by the Rates of the
Towne next unto It The Estimac'on to be by the Distance of
the Churches And if any of the said Comissioners or Select
men shall wittingly faile or neglect to performe the trust
Comitted to them by this Act in not Makeing Correcting per-
fecting or transmitting any of the said Lists or Assessm'ts
According to the Intent thereof Every such offender shall be
fined forty Shillings for every such Offence or soe much as
his Maj'ty Shall be Damified thereby Provided the same be
prosecuted within Six Moneths.
AND ITT IS FURTHER ENACTED by the Authority aforesaid
That upon all Distresses to be taken for any of the Rates and
Assessm'ts Aforesaid the Officer shall Distreyne goods or
Chattells if they may be had And if noe goods then Land or
houses if neither houses nor Lands can be had within the
towne where such Distress is to be taken then to Attach the
Body of such persons to be carried to prison their to be kept
till the next Court of Sessions (Except they put in Security
for their Appearance there Or that payment be made In the
meane tyme.
AND ITT IS FURTHER ENACTED by the Authority aforesaid
That the prices of all sorts of Corne to be Received upon any
Rate by vertue of this act shall be such as the Governor and
Councill shall sett from yeare to yeare and in want thereof
At price Currant in Boston.
AND ITT IS FURTHER ENACTED by the Authority aforesaid
that every Constable within this Territory or Domin'on Shall
on the Penalty of five pounds Clear up all their Accounts
with the Trea'r for the Rates of their Severall Towns by the
first of May yearely And they and every of them are hereby
Impoured to presse Boates or Cartes for the Better and more
Speedy Sending in their Rates According to the time Ap-
pointed And if any Constable shall not have Collected the
Rates and Assessments Comitted to their Charg by the Trea'r
Dureing the time of his office That he shall notwithstanding
the Expirac'on of his office have power to Leavy by Distress
?
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
187
all such Rates and Levyes And if hee bring them not into
the Trea'r according to his warrant The Trea'r shall Dis-
treyne Such Constables goods for the same And if the Con-
stable be not Able to make payment It shall be Lawfull for
the Trea'r to Distreyne for all Arrearages of Rates And
Levyes any man or men of that towne where the Constables
are unable And that man or men upon Complaynt to the
Supreame Court of Judicature shall have order to Collect the
same Againe Equally of the Towne with his Just Damages
for the same
AND IT IS FURTHER ENACTED by the Authority aforesaid
That it shall and may be Lawfull for the selectmen of each
Towne where straingers Are or shall be to Assesse all such
straingers According to the Cargoes they Import Or in case
of their Refusall to Give A true Account of their Estate to
Assesse them in any Moneth in the yeare yearely According to
their best Discretion in the same manner as other Inhabitants
are Assessed and Rated by force of this Act And to be Levyed
Accordingly.
AND IT IS FURTHER ENACTED by the Authority Aforesaid
that for All wines Brandy Rum and other Strong waters that
shall Att any tyme or times hereafter be Imported into his
Majestyes Territory or Dominion of New England or any part
thereof from any place whatsoever there shall be paid to the
Trea'r or other person or persons as shall be Appointed to
Receive and Collect the same The Customes and Duties fol-
lowing (that is to say) for every Butt or Pipe of ffiall Wynes
or any other wynes of the Westerne Islands the sume of tenn
shillings every Pipe of Mydera Wynes Thirteene shillings
fower pence Every Butt or Pipe of Sherry Sack Malaga Can-
ary Muscadells Tents And Alligants Twenty Shillings Every
Hogshead of Brandy Rum or other strong waters twenty shil-
lings And soe proportionally for Greater or Lesser Quainti-
tyes of Each Kind And for the Better secureing the Cus-
tomes and Dutyes Aforesaid
BEE IT FURTHER ENACTED by the Authority Aforesaid
that noe person or persons whatsoever shall or may Breake
Bulke or unloade Any of the Comodityes Aforesaid untill Due
Entry be made both of the Quaintity and Quality of such
wynes or other Lyquors Upon Oath if Required with the
Trea'r or such other person or persons as shall be Appointed
to Collect the Customes and Duties aforesaid And that the
Customes are Duly paid for the same And that noe goods
be Landed upon any key wharfe or any other place but upon
such key wharfe or place as shall be Appointed under the
penalty of the forfeite of all such goods.
AND IT IS FURTHER ENACTED by the Authority aforesaid
That all goods wares Merchandizes and Provisions of all sorts
188
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
(Excepting ffish Sheeps wool Cotton wool and salt) w'ch from
any place shall be Imported into Any Harbour port shoare or
place within this Dominion shall be Rated in A Just pro-
porc'on with Estates Ratable in the Contrey (that is to say)
for every twenty shillings value shall be paid one penny in
money the valluac'on to be as followeth (that is to say) Every
hundred pounds Att the place from whence It came to be
Accompted here Att one hundred And twenty pounds to be
paid by the person Importing such goods or those to whom
consigned And soe in proporc'on for all Greater or Lesser
Quaintityes And to the End the said Dutyes may be paid
and Collected ITT IS FURTHER ENACTED by the Authority
aforesaid that all Goods and provisions as Aforesaid Im-
ported shall by the Master or purser of Each ship or other
vessell in which they are Brought before breaking Bulke or
Landing any of the said goods be Certified unto the said
Treasurer or Receiver Impowred in the severall Ports or
places where they are brought on penalty of forfeiture of
twenty shillings per Tunn according to the Burthen of the
shipp or vessell wherein they are Brought from tyme to tyme
And all and Every such Receiver shall Carefully and truly
Enter all such goods with their severall Marks Casks Packs
fardells Trusses Chests Trunks Cases and all other things
howsoever called or Distinguished with the names of the
p'rsons to whom such goods or other things are sent and Con-
signed or are owners thereof soe far as may by all Lawfull
meanes be Discovered And all persons to whom such goods
and other things aforesaid are Consigned or sent or are the
owners thereof shall from tyme to tyme before such goods
are Landed Signify the true and Just vallue thereof by shew-
ing the true and p'rfect Invoyce thereof unto the aforesaid
Receiver for each port who are hereby Required to Enter the
grosse sume thereof in a Booke for that purpose what the
said goods or other things Amount unto And shall forthwith
Demand and Receive the severall Rates and Assessments
Aforemenc'on'd. And in case of Denyall or Delay of pay-
ment the Receiver shall Levy the same by Distresse upon the
said goods at the Rate or Price sett in the Invoyce out of
which he shall have two shillings per pound for his tyme
and Labor therein
AND BE ITT FURTHER ENACTED by the Authority aforesaid
that if any Invoyce or bill of Parcells shall be falsified Con-
cealed or not produced of any goods or other things Imported
as Aforesaid It shall be Lawfull for the Trea'r or Collector
with the selectmen of each Towne to Rate all such goods or
the owners or other Agents for the same according to their
best Discretion PROVIDED It be not lesse then fower pounds.
1
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
189
Tunn as the same stands Entred in the bill of Loading or
in the Boateswaine or other officers Booke
AND IT IS FURTHER ENACTED by the Authority Aforesaid
that there shall be paid unto his Majesty An Excise upon all
wines Brandy Rum' and other Distilled waters Mum' Syder
Ale and Beere that shall be Sold by Retayle in any towne or
place within this Dominion by those that Retayle the same
(that is to say) for every Butt or pipe of wine ffifty Shillings
for every quart of Brandy Rum' or other Distilled waters two
pence for every hogshead of Mum' five Shillings for every
Hogshead of Syder Ale or Beere two Shillings Six pence all
Currant money And after that Rate for Any Greater or
Smaller Quaintityes And for the Due and orderly Collecting
and Receiveing of the Excise aforesaid IT IS HEREBY ENACTED
by the Authority Aforesaid that all Retaylers of wyne Brandy
Rum' and other Distilled waters Mum' Sider Ale and Beere
within this Dominion shall upon their purchase or Receipt
of all or any of the Liquors before Expressed make Entry
thereof with the Trea'r or such person or persons As shall be
Appointed And pay the Dutyes and Excise Aforesaid under
the penalty of fforfeiture of All Such Liquors as shall be
found in any Retaylors House not being Duely Entred And
the Excise paid As Aforesaid And Every Retaylor who shall
make his owne Sider Brew Ale or Beere or Distill strong
Waters shall from tyme to tyme and At All tymes when he
or they shall make Brew or Distill the same make Entry with
the Trea'r or such other person or p'rsons as shall be Ap-
pointed of all such Syder Ale Beere or Distilled waters by
them made Brewed or Distilled And pay the Excise Aforesaid
and under the like penalty and forfeiture of all such Liquors
as shall be found in any Retaylors house not Entred and the
Excise not paid And to that End It shall and may be Lawfull
to and for the Trea'r or such other person or p'rsons as shall
be Appointed to Receive the Excise Aforesaid when and soe
often as he or they shall thinke fitt in the Day tyme to Enter
into Any Retaylors House Cellar or warehouse to search for
such Liquors as are not Duly Entred nor the Excise paid for
the same And to Gage Any Caske or Caskes And such Liquors
being found to seize and secure Accordingly PROVIDED al-
ways that It shall and may be Lawfull for the said Trea'r or
any other person or psons that shall be Appointed to Receive
the Excise Aforesaid to Agree with any Retaylor for his
Excise for one whole yeare in one Intire Sum'e to be paid
quarterly as he or they in their Discretion shall thinke fitt
to Agree for without makeing any Entry as Aforesaid PRO-
VIDED Always And Bee It Enacted by the Authority Afore-
said that noe p'rson or p'rsons whatsoever shall sell any
190
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
Wynes Brandy Rum Distilled waters Mum Sider Ale Beere
or any other Liquors by Retayle without A Lycence nor Shall
Any person sell Lesse Quaintity of any strong water then
five Gallons or of Wyne then A Quarter Caske at one tyme
without first obtaining A Licence for the same under the Pen-
alty of five pounds for Each Default the one halfe of all pen-
alty And forfeiture Contayned in this Act to be to the use of
his Ma'ty and the other to him or them that shall Informe or
[illegible] for the same in any of the Courts within this Do-
minion
AND IT IS FURTHER ENACTED by the Authority aforesaid
that all shipps or vessells Above twelve tunns coming into
any port or part of this Dominion to trade or traffique And
that either in the whole or the Greatest part thereof are not
belonging to the Actuall Inhabitants of the said Dominion
shall every voyage they make pay twelve pence per Tun' or
one pound of Powder for Each Tun' for the Supply of his
Ma'tys Castles or fortes within this his Ma'ties Dominion to
be Received by the Trea'r or such other p'rson or p'rsons as
in the severall portes and places shall bee Appointed to Re-
ceive the same And this Act of the Revenue and the severall
parts thereof to Continue untill the Governor by and with the
Advice and consent of the Councill Agree on and settle such
other Rates taxes and Imposic'ons as shall be Sufficient for
Support of his Ma'ties Goverment
Boston
Councill House the third day of March: 1686:
E Andros.
E Randolph Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 2.]
AN ACT FOR ESTABLISHING COURTS OF JUDICATURE AND
+
PUBLICK JUSTICE.
[Passed March 3, 1686-7, 3 James II. The act is here printed from the
original in the Massachusetts files. See also Colonial Records of Connecticut,
vol. 3, p. 411. See also as to this act general note ante.]
For the better and more Orderly Regulation and Estab-
lishm❜t of the severall Courts of Justice within this his Maj-
esties Dominion As well in respect of the times as the places
for holding the same./
BEE ITT ENACTED by the Governour by and with the Ad-
vice and Consent of the Councill And it is hereby Enacted
and Ordained by the Authority of the same That in each
respective County throughout this Dominion there shall be
holden Quarterly a Court of Sessions by the Justices of the
peace of the same County; who are hereby required to heare
and Determine all matters relateing to the Conservac'on of
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
191
the Peace and Punishment of Offenders; And whatsoever else
is by them Cognizable, according to Law; Which Court shall
be held and kept att the respective times and places herein
menc'oned and expressed (That is to say) Att Bristoll for the
County of Bristoll On the ffirst Wednesday in the Moneth of
June September December and March; Att Barnstable for
the County of Barnstable On the same dayes Att Plymouth
for the County of Plymouth the Second Wednesday in June
September December and March Att Cambridge for the
County of Midd'x on the first Tuesday in June and December.
Att Charles Towne within the same County the first Tues-
day in September and March Att Portsmouth for the Prov-
ince of New Hampshire On the first Twesday in June Sep-
tember December and March Att Northampton for the
County of Hampshire On the ffirst Twesday In June and De-
cember, And att Springfeild for the same County the first
Twesday in September and March Att Yorke for the Province
of Main the Second Wednesday in June September December
and March Att Salem for the County of Essex the Second
Wednesday in June and December And att Ipswich for the
same County On the Second Wednesday in September and
March Att Boston for the County of Suffolke the Second
Wednesday in June September December and March Att
Newport for Road Island Kings Province and Providence
Plantion on the Second Twesday in the Moneths of June
and December And att Rochester for the same place On the
ffirst Twesday in March and September)
BEE ITT FURTHER ENACTED by the Authority aforesaid
That in each respective County within this Dominion there
be alsoe holden an Inferiour Court of Com'on Pleas by a Judge
assisted with two or more of the Justices of the County who
shall have Jurisdicc'on over all Causes wherein any ffreehold
is not concerned to the Value of Tenn pounds with Costs and
noe more And that the same be held and kept att the same
time and in the same place of the respective Countyes and
Precincts where the Justices of the Peace shall hold and keepe
the Quarter Sessions and that none Of the said Courts be kept
Oftner nor in any other place or manner then is hereby
ordered PROVIDED That noe Suit be had nor process taken
out of this Court for any matter or cause of acc'on not exceed-
ing the Value of ffourty Shillings./
PROVIDED NEVERTHELESS and itt is hereby Enacted by the
Authority aforesaid That in respect the Towne of Boston
within the County of Suffolke is the Cheife Seate of Trade
within this Dominion And it is found by experience that a
quicker and more Speedy dispatch of all Marratyne and mer-
chandizeing affaires gives the greatest sattisfacc'on to all par-
192
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
ties concerned. Itt shal and may be Lawfull for the Judge
or Judges of the said Court to hold and keepe the same Once
every Two Moneths att Boston aforesaid and not oftner;
And to have Jurisdiccon over all causes wherein any freehold
is not concerned to the Value of Twenty pounds with costs
and noe more.
AND BEE Itt further Enacted by the authority aforesaid
That there be a Superiour Court of Judicature The Judges
whereof are hereby Authorized and Impowred to have Cogni-
zance of all pleas reall personall or mixt as well in all Pleas
of the Crowne and in all matters relateing to the Conservac'on
of the Peace and Punishment of Offenders as in Civill Causes
or acc'ons betweene party and party; and betweene his Maj-
estie and any of his Subjects; Whether the same doe concerne
the Reallity and Relate to any Right or ffreehold and Inherit-
ance Or whether the same doe Concerne the p'rsonallity and
relate to matter of Debt Contract Damage or p'rsonall Injury
And alsoe in all mixt acc'ons; which may Concerne both realty
and personalty; and after deliberate heareing to give Judg-
ment and Award execuc'on as fully and amply to all intents.
and purposes whatsoever as the Courts of Kings Bench Com-
'on Pleas and Exchequer within his Majesties Kingdome of
England have or ought to have; Soe alwayes that the forme
of proceeding & the Judgments thereupon to be given be as
Consonant and agreeable to the Lawes and Statutes of his
Majesties Realme of England as the pr'sent State of the In-
habitants and the Circumstance of the Place will admitt
Which Court shall be holden att such times and places as
herein after is lymitted and appointed (that is to say) ffor the
County of Suffolke att Boston on the Last Twesday in Aprill
July October and January ffor the County of Middlesex att
Cambridge the third Twesday in August Att Charles Towne
the Third Twesday in May And December For the Countyes
of Plymouth and Barnstable Att Plymouth the Last Wednes-
day in September and March For the County of Bristoll att
Bristoll the first Twesday in October and Aprill For Roade
Island Kings Province and Providence Plantation att New-
port the Second twesday in October and Aprill For the County
of Essex att Salem the Second Wednesday in May and No-
vember.
ATT IPSWICH the first Wednesday in September and March
For the Province of New Hampshire and the Westerne part
of the Province of Maine (Includeing the Towne of Wells Att
Portsmouth the Munday following each of the Courts of Ips-
wich For the Easterne part of the Province of Maine Att ffal-
mouth the ffryday following the September Court Att Ports-
mouth ffor the County of Hampshire att Northampton the
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1686.
193
third Twesday in October And att Springfeild the third Twes-
day in Aprill following PROVIDED That noe Suite be had or
Processe taken out of this Court for any matter or cause of
acc'on not exceeding the sum'e of Tenn pounds unlesse where
freehold is concerned.
AND BEE IT FFURTHER ENACTED by the authority aforesaid
That appeales in cases of Errour may be made from the Infe-
riour Courts of Com'on Pleas afore menc'oned to this Court
for any Judgment there given PROVIDED the writt of Errour
be brought within Tenn dayes after such Judgment given in
the Inferiour Court./
ITT IS ALSOE further Enacted by the authority aforesaid
That itt shall and may be Lawfull for any person or persons
to appeale In case of Errour; from the said Superiour Court
to the Governour or President and Councill in all Civill causes
PROVIDED the value appealed for doe exceed the sum'e of One
Hundred pounds Sterling security being first given by the
Appellant to answere such charges as shall be awarded in
case the first Judgment be affirmed AND In case either party
shall not rest satisfied in the Judgment or Sentence of the
Governour and Councill he shall have liberty to make his
appeale to his Majestie in Councill PROVIDED the matter in
difference exceed the reall Value of Three Hundred pounds
Sterling and that such appeale be made within ffourteene
dayes after Judgment And that security be likewise given to
answere such charges as shall be awarded In case the Judg-
ment of the Governour & Councill be affirmed./
BEE ITT further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid that
there be a Court of Chancery within this Dominion which
shall have power to heare and Determine all matters of Equity
in as full and ample manner as his Majesties High Court of
Chancery in England hath or ought to have To be holden by
the Governour or such person as hee shall appoint to be Chan-
cellor Assisted with five or more of the Councill Who in this
Court shall have the same power and authority as Masters of
Chancery in England have or ought to have w'ch Co'rt shall
sitt att such times and places as the Governo'r shall from time
to time appoint./
PROVIDED alwayes That any person may appeale from any
Sentence or Decree made or given in this Co'rt unto his Maj-
estie in Councill where the matter in Difference shall exceed
the reall Value and sum'e of Three Hundred pounds Sterling
as in case of appeale from the Governour and Councill is pro-
vided./
FFURTHER ITT is ordered and Enacted by the authority
aforesaid That all and every of the Judges of the severall
Courts aforemenc'oned be; and hereby are sufficiently Im-
13
194
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1687.
poured to make order and establish all such Rules and Orders
for the more Orderly practiceing and proceeding in their said
Courts As fully and Amply to all intents and purposes what-
soever as all or any of the Judges of the severall Courts of
Kings Bench Com'on Pleas or Exchequer in England Legally
doe./
PROVIDED alwayes that none of the said Courts of Sessions
Inferiour Courts of Com'on Pleas or Superiour Courts of Judi-
cature shall sitt longer then three days att any of the times
aforesaid AND to the end that noe person shall be Damnified
by mistake of his Lawyer for matter of forme onely BEE ITT
ENACTED and Declared by the Authority aforesaid That the
Judges shall att all times upon motion made in Court Order
amendments; and shall not upon Arrest of Judgment or Writt
of Errour for matter of forme onely reverse any Judgment
whatsoever./
PROVIDED alwayes and be itt further Enacted by the
authority aforesaid that all issues in fact that shall be or arise
in any of the said Courts shall be tryed by Twelve good and
Lawfull men of the Vicenage AND That noe person or per-
sons whatsoever shall be returned on a Jury But what shall
have and be worth in Reall or p'rsonall estate to the value of
ffifty Marks PROVIDED alsoe that all writts shall issue out of
the Clerks Office of the Severall Co'rts within this Dominion
in his Majesties name under the Seale of the Office and Signed
by the Clerke./
Boston:
Councill House
the third day of March: 1686.
Ed Randolph Sec'ry:
[CHAPTER 3.]
AN ACT IMPOWRING JUSTICES OF THE PEACE TO DECIDE DIF-
FERENCES NOT EXCEEDING FORTY SHILLINGS.
[The act as here printed is from the original in the Massachusetts files.
Passed March 3, 1686-7, 3 James II. Colonial Records of Connecticut, vol. 3,
p. 414; Massachusetts archives, vol. 40, p. 232.]
Whereas many Inconveniencyes may arise unto the Inhab-
itants of this Territory by being vexed and troubled with
Suits att Law for Small and Tryvall Injuries debts & Tres-
passes wherein the Customary ffees and Charges may Exceed
the Originall Debt and Damages.
For the prevention Whereof./
Bee itt Enacted and Ordained by the Governour by and
with the Advice and Consent of the Councill and it is hereby
Enacted by the Authority of the same That all manner of
L
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1687.
195
Debts Trespasses and other matters not Exceeding the value
of fforty shillings (wherein the Title of Land is not Concerned)
shall and may be heard, adjudged and Determined by any of
his Maj'ties Justices of the peace in this Territory within their
Respective precincts, which said Justices are hereby Required
upon Complaint made to grant a Warrant or Summons
against the party Complained of thereby Requireing him to
appeare and answer the said Complaint and in Case of non-
appearance to Issue out a Warrant of Contempt directed to
the Constable to bring the Contemner before him as well to
answer the said Contempt as the plaintiffs action and may if
he see cause fine the Contemner Provided the said ffine Ex-
ceed not Ten shillings to be accounted for to the Receiver of
his Maj'ties Revenue and after Judgement given in either
Case may grant a warrant of Distress directed to the Consta-
ble to Levy the said fine debt Damage & Charges upon the
Deffendants goods and Chattles, who by virtue thereof shall
Exposse the same to sale returning the overplus (if any be)
to the Deffendant, and for want of Such Distress to take the
Deffendants body into Custody and him Carry and Convay to
the Com'on Gaol of the precinct, there to Remaine till he shall
have satisfied the Debt & Charges. And the Justices are Re-
quired to Keepe fair Records of all their proceedings therein
from time to time and if in matter of ffact either party shall
Demand a Jury itt shall be allowed him, but att the proper
Costs and Charge of the party Desireing the same & the Jus-
tice shall Summons a Jury accordingly
Councill house in Boston the Third Day of March 1686.
E: Andros.
E'd R Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 4.]
AN ACT AGAINST PIRATES, AND FOR PREVENTION OF PIRACY.
[The act as here printed is from the original in the Massachusetts files.
Passed March 4, 1686-7, 3 James II. Colonial Records of Connecticut, vol. 3,
p. 415.]
BEE IT ENACTED by the Governour by and with the Advice
and Consent of the Councill, And it is hereby Enacted and
Ordained by the Authority of the same, That henceforth it
shall not be lawfull for any person that now doth, or here-
after shall Inhabit, come in, or belong to this Dominion, to
serve in America in any Hostile manner, under a fforreigne
Prince, State or Potentate in Amity with his Majesty without
speciall Lycense from his Majesty, or the Governour of this
Dominion under the Publick Seale, or some of his Majestyes
196
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1687.
Governours, or other lawfull Authority under him else where
for their so doing, And that all and every [such]* Offender, or
Offenders being duely convicted shall suffer the paines of
death./ AND 'TIS FURTHER ENACTED That all and every
person or persons that shall any way knowingly entertaine,
harbour, Conceall, trade, or hold any correspondence by Let-
ter, or otherwise with any person or persons that shall be
deemed and adjudged to be Privateers, Pirates or other
Offenders within the Constructions of this Act, And that shall
not readily endeavour to the best of his or their power to
apprehend or cause to be apprehended such Offendor or Of
fendors, shall be lyable to be prosecuted as accessaryes and
Confederates and suffer such paines and penaltyes as by Law
is in such cases provided./
FURTHER IT IS ORDERED That the Chief Commission Officer
then present upon the Plantation, Town or Harbour where
there is none of the Councill or Justice of peace resideing and
at hand, Is hereby required and Impowred upon his knowl-
edge or Information given that any Privateers, Pirates, or
other persons suspected to be upon any such unlawful de-
signes, to grant Warrants to the Constables of the place to
apprehend and seize every such person or persons and if need
be shall assist the Constable, and raise such a number of well-
armed men, as he or they shall think meet for the seizing of
every such person or persons, and Carrying of them before
the Governour or some of the Councill, or next Justice of the
Peace to be further Examined and proceeded against as the
Law directs./
AND in case of any resistance or refusall to yield Obedience
to such Authority and seizure, It shall be Lawfull to kill or
Distroy, such person or persons and all and every person that
shall oppose, or resist, by strikeing, or firing upon the officers,
or any of them that are by him Commanded for his aid and
assistance shall be deemed and adjudged Capitall Offenders,
and be put to death, and every such Officer that shall omitt
or neglect his duty therein, being Legally Convicted within
three months after such his neglect, shall forfiet fifty pounds
in mony for every such Offence, to the use of his Majesty for
support of this his Government./
AND every person or persons that upon Orders given him,
or them, shall refuse to repair immediatelye with his or their
arms well fixed, and amunition, to such place, or places, as
shall be appointed by the said Officer, and not readyly obey
his Com❜and, in the Execuc'on of the premises shall be lyable
to pay a fine of five pounds in money, or suffer such Corporall
*The word is torn from the Massachusetts record and is supplied from
the Connecticut imprint.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1687.
197
punishment as the Justices or Sessions of the peace that have
Cognizance thereof shall determine./
Boston Councill house
the fourth day of March 1686:
Ed Randolph Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 5.]
E Andros.
AN ORDER OF COUNCIL, FOR PIECES OF EIGHT.
[Passed March 10, 1686-7, 3 James II. Colonial Records of Connecticut,
vol. 2, p. 416; Century Dictionary, vol. 2, title "dollar"; Palfrey's History of
New England, ed. of 1890, vol. 3, p. 515, n. 4. This act is not preserved in
the Massachusetts files.]
At the Council Chamber in Boston, the tenth day of March,
1668 [1686].
By his Excellency the Governour, by virtue of His Maj-
esty's authority for settling the value of pieces of eight and
other foreign coin, to be current according to the usage of
other his Majesty's plantations as may be most requisite for
his Majesty's service and conduce to the benefit of trade and
commerce of his Majesty's subjects in his Territory and Do-
minion of New England in America, It is Ordered and En-
acted by the Governour by and with the advice of the Council,
that pieces of eight, Seville, pillar and Mexico, of due weight,
be and shall henceforth pass current at six shillings per piece,
and half pieces, quarter pieces and rials of the same coin,
pro rata; and that it be forwith published by proclamation,
that all persons may conform thereto accordingly.
Examined per John West, Dep. Secr❜ty.
[CHAPTER 6.]
AN ACT FOR REGULATEING THE ASSIZE OF CASKS AND PRE-
VENTING DECEIT IN PACKING OF FFISH BEEFE AND PORKE
FOR SALE.
[This act is printed from the original in the Massachusetts files. Passed
May 10, 1687, 3 James II. Colonial Records of Connecticut, vol. 3, p. 416.]
BEE ITT ENACTED by the Governour and Councill and Itt
is hereby Enacted and Ordained by Authority of the same;
That from henceforth All Sorts and kind of Caske used for
any Liquor ffish Beefe Porke or any other Comodities to be
put to Sale within this his Majesties Territory and Dominion
of New England shall be of London Assize (That is to say)
Butts to Containe One Hundred Twenty and Six Gallons
Puncheons Eighty ffoure Gallons Hoggsheads Sixty Three
198
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1687.
Gall: Teirces ffourty Two Gallons Barrells Thirty One Gal-
lons and an halfe And made of sound well seasoned Timber:
and free of Sap And that fitt persons be appointed from time
to time in all places needfull to Gage all such Caske; and
such as shall be found of due Assize shall be marked with the
Gagers marke; who shall have for his paines foure pence P
Tun And every Cooper shall set his Distinct Brand marke on
his owne Caske on penalty of fforfeiture of Twenty Shillings
And whosoever shall put to Sale any new Caske being Defect-
ive either in Workemanship Timber or Assize as aforesaid
upon proofe thereof made before One Justice of the peace he
shall forfeite such Caske and be fined the sum'e of Tenn shil-
lings and soe proportionably for greater or lesser Caske./
And be itt ffurther Enacted by the Authority aforesaid
That the Justices of the Peace Att their first Generall Quarter
Sessions to be holden in each respective County within this
Dominion shall yearely in every Towne needfull thereof
Choose and appoint a fitt person or persons to be Gagers and
Packers and him to sweare for the due Execuc'on of his
Office; Which if hee shall refuse hee shall pay the sum'e of
ffourty shillings and another shall be chosen and appointed
in his Stead; And that every Gager and Packer shall take
care that all Caske in which he Packs Beefe Porke Mackerell
ffish or other goods Com'itted to his care be of true and full
Assize; and that they Pack the same in noe other Caske what-
soever upon penalty of Tenn Shillings for every Caske by
them Packed that is or shall be Defective in that respect And
for the Preventing of ffraud and deceite in the Packing of
ffish beefe and Porke to be put to Sale BF IT ENACTED and it
is hereby further Enacted and Ordained by the authority
aforesaid That in every Towne where any such goods are
packed up for sale the Gager or Packer of such Towne or of
the Towne wherein they are putt to sale or shipped; shall see
that it be well and Orderly performed (That is to say) Beefe
and Porke the whole halfe or Quarter and soe proportionably;
that the best be not Left out And soe ffish and Mackerell that
they be packed all of One kind And that all caske soe packed
be full and the ffish sound and well seasoned Setting his seale
on all Caske so packed and he shall receive of the Owners for
soe packing and sealing ffoure Shillings Tunn And if any
such goods be put to sale or shipped of without the Packers
marke They shall be forfeited./
AND IT IS FFURTHER ENACTED by the authority aforesaid
That all sorts of Greene Dry Salted or Pickled ffish Sturgeon
fflesh or Butter That shall be put up for Transportac'on to a
fforaigne Markett shall be searched Surveyed and Repacked
by a Sworne Packer who shall take strict care that the same
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1687.
199
be put up in tight Caske of full Gage Salted with Suitable
Salt And such as shall be soe saved and for its Condic'on sound
merchantable and full the Packer shall seale with such Brand
marke as shall be assigned to the Towne and such other Cutt
marke added as may note the sort of Provision and time when
packed And all such other Provisions as the Packer shall find
wholesome and usefull, though for Its Quallity it be not mer-
chantable hee shall cause to be well packed salted filled and
sealed with the letter R And such other Letters as may Sig-
nifie the towne Specie and time of packing And if any Master
of a Shipp or other Vessell or any Officers or Marriners be-
longing thereto shall receive any such provisions not marked
and sealed as aforesaid aboard any their ships or Vessells he
or they who shall offend therein shall forfeit double the Value
of all such provisions And he that ownes the Provisions shall
forfeit the same And if any Cooper or other person shall shift
any ffish fflesh or butter either on board or on shoare after
the same hath beene soe sealed and marked by the Packer;
And SHALL shipp or EXPORT the same; The Packer haveing
not allowed thereof and a New Sealed and Marked the Caske
whereinto such provisions are shifted All persons acting
Ordering or assisting therein shall be sett in the Pillory and
shall Likewise pay Double Damages to any person wronged
thereby./
AND ITT IS FFURTHER ENACTED by the authority aforesaid
That where any such provisions have Layne above Three
Moneths under the Packers Marke Betwixt the Moneths of
May and October They shall againe upon Exportac'on or sale
be viewed or Searched by the Packer (that is to say) Soe many
of them as may pr'bably discover the Condic'on of the whole;
and if any be Decayed or Deceitfully Dealt with the Packer
shall cull and repack the same Soe as to distinguish and
marke the same for merchantable or refuse according to their
Condic❜on and if those who Shipp or export any such pro-
visions shall neglect or refuse such Second search or Survey
The Packer is hereby Ordered and Impoured to Deface his
former marke And for soe doeing shall be paid as if he had
repacked the same./ And if the Owner refuse to satisfie the
Packer; such Packer shall have redresse on Complaint to any
Justice of the Peace who are hereby Impoured to Compell the
payment thereof by Distresse./
AND FFURTHER IT IS ENACTED By the Authority aforesaid
That all ffines fforfeitures and penalties Ariseing by force
and Vertue of this act shall be the One Halfe to his Majestie
his heires and Successo'rs ffor Support of this Government
here And the other halfe to him or them that shall Informe
and sue for the same in any of his Majesties Courts within
this his Territory and Dominion aforesaid./
200
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1687.
AND ITT IS FFURTHER ENACTED by the Authority aforesaid
That the Gager in every Sea Porte Towne within this Domin-
ion shall measure all salt that shall be Imported and sold out
of any Shipp or other Vessell being Likewise sworne for the
faithfull Discharge of that Office and shall have Three halfe
pence for every hoggshead of Salt by him measured; to be
paid the One halfe by the buyer and the other halfe by the
Seller PROVIDED alwayes That if any of the aforemenco’ned
Comodities shall bee packed into halfe barrells or ffirkins the
same shall be made in proporc'on to the assize aforesaid and
marked by the Packer as afore in this act is Directed./
AND IT IS FFURTHER ENACTED by the authority aforesaid
That all Tarr that shall be exposed to sale within this Domin-
ion shall be in barrells halfe barrells & Thirds of a barrell &
of the measure & Assize following (that is to say) The barrell
to containe Thirty Gallons the halfe barrell and Third of a
barrell after the same gage and in noe other caske whatsoever
and all Caske to be made for that use are to be made of the
said assize and branded by the Cooper as aforesaid under the
penalty of fforfeiture of all such Caske as are not of due assize
And if any Tarr shall be exposed to sale in any Caske not
branded as aforesaid the same shall be Likewise forfeited./
E Andros
By Order of his Excellency
and Councell
John West D Sec'ry.
Councell Chamber in Boston the tenth day of May in the
third yeare of his Mat'ies Reigne Annoq'e Dm'i 1687.
[CHAPTER 7.]
AN ACT FOR THE REGULAC'ON OF CATTLE CORNEFEILD AND
FFENCES.
[This act is printed from the original in the Massachusetts files. Passed
May 10, 1687, 3 James II. Colonial Records of Connecticut, vol. 3, p. 419.
Compare act of October 7, 1692, post, and act of May 10, 1718, post.]
BEE IT ENACTED By the Governour and Councell and It is
hereby Enacted by the Authority of the same That All com'on
feilds und'r Improvement Every party interessed shall from
time to time make good his part of ffence and the Owner or
Owners of the Major part of such feilds shall Order and Limitt
the proporc'on of Cattle that shall be put to feed thereon
Annually The time When and manner of Improvement
thereof which is to be observed by all persons interessed
therein On paine to Answere All damages that shall come
thereby And where Lands have formerly beene Improved in
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1687.
201
Com❜on and any One Owner of Such Lands be minded to Im-
prove his part in Severall if there be noe agreement bindeing
to the Contrary the Owner of the Land next adjoineing to
him shall beare the One halfe of the Charge of the ffence
against him who shall Improve in Severalty But where Lands
lye in Com'on unfenced if One Owner shall improve his part
by fenceing in severall and the Others shall not He who shall
Soe Improve shall secure his Land against Other mens Cattle
and shall not Compell him that joineth upon him to make any
ffence with him Except he alsoe shall Improve in severall as
the Other doth. And Where One man shall Improve before
his Neighbour and Soe make the whole ffence if after his said
neighbour shall alsoe improve he shall then Satisfye for halfe
the Others ffence against him accordeing to the pr'sent value
and shall maintaine the same. And if the first Improver
shall after lay Open his said feild then the said Neighbour
shall Enjoy his said halfe ffence to his Owne use purchased
as Aforesaid and shall alsoe have liberty to buy the Other
halfe ffence paying according to pr'sent valuac'on to be made
by two men Indiferently Chosen by Either party, PROVIDED
Alwayes that this Law shall not Extend to house Lotts not
Exceeding tenne acres but if Such One shall Improve his
neighbour shall be Compellable to make and maintaine One
halfe of the ffence betweene them whether he Improve or not
AND IT IS FURTHER ENACTED By the Authority aforesaid That
the Selectmen or Townesmen shall from yeare to yeare ap-
point two or more in Each towne (if need require) of the
inhabitants thereof to veiw all com'on ffences and to take due
notice of the Reall defects and insufficiency thereof who shall
forthwith acquaint the Owners thereof with the Same and if
the Said Owners Doe not within Six dayes time or Otherwise
as the Veiwer shall appoint sufficiently repair their said De-
fective ffences then the said Veiwers shll forthwith repair or
renew them and shall have double recompence for all their
Costs Labour and Care To be payed by the Owner of Such
insufficient ffence or ffences And shall by warrant from any
Justice of the peace Levy the same Either upon the Corne or
Other goods of the Delinquent. And the said ffence veiwers
shall twice Every yeare veiw ffences and such as they returne
sufficient shall be accounted good for three months after un-
lesse proofe be made that it is impaired And such ffence as
is accounted sufficient against Other Cattle shall alsoe be
accounted good against sheep and the Owners to be lyeable
to Satisfye Damage Done by them.
AND IT IS FURTHER ENACTED by the authority aforsaid
That all unruly horses or Other unruly Cattle haveing beene
Soe judged by the Select men shall be lyeable to Double Dam-
202
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1687.
ages And all swine unyoaked or unringed shall be lyeable to
Damage ffence or noe ffence And that All swine be yoaked
from the first of March to the Last of October yearly and
ringed All the yeare Except where any perticuler Towne
shall Otherwise agree. And that it shall be in the Libertye
of any person in any Towne besides those thereto appointed
findeing any swine unyoaked or unringed as aforesaid to
drive them to the pound and to Demand One shilling per
head for Every such swine Which shall be payed by the Own-
ers thereof One halfe for himselfe And the Other halfe to
the use of the poor of the Towne./ It is likewise Enacted by
the Authority aforesaid that there be One Sufficent pound or
more made and maintained in Every Towne and Village
within this Dominion for the Impoundeing Swine and Cattle
found Damage ffeasant.
E Andros.
By Ord'r of his Excellency
and Councell.
John West D Secry.
Council Chamber in Boston
the tenth of May 1687.
And in the third yeare of his Mat'ies Reigne.
[CHAPTER 8.]
AN ACT FOR THE DUE REGULAC'ON
DUE REGULAC'ON OF WEIGHTS AND
MEASURES.
[This act is printed from the original in the Massachusetts files. Passed
May 10, 1687, 3 James II. Colonial Records of Connecticut, vol. 3, p. 420.
Compare act of October 7, 1692, post, and act of May 10, 1718, post.]
To the End that weights and measures may be One and the
Same Throughout this his Majestyes Dominion BEE IT EN-
ACTED by the Governour and Councell And it is hereby En-
acted and Ordeined by Authority of the Same That the brasse
and Copper weights and measures formerly sent out of Eng-
land with Certificate out of the Exchequer to be the approved
Winchester measure according to the standard in the Ex-
chequer Bee the publick allowed Standards throughout this
his Majestyes Dominion for the proveing and Sealing All
weights and measures thereby And the Constables of Every
Towne within this Dominion (not already Supplyed) shall
within three months next Comeing previde Upon the Towne
Charge One bushell One halfe Bushell One peck One halfe
peck One ale quart One Wine pint and halfe pint One Ell
One yard One Sett of brasse Weights to four pounds after
Sixteene Ounces to the pound with fitt Scales and steale
beame tryed and proved by the aforesaid Standards and
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1687.
203
Sealed by the Treasurer or his Deputye in his pr'sence (Which
shall be kept and used Only for Standards in the Severall
townes) who his hereby authorized to doe the same for which
he shall receive from the Constables of Each towne two pence
for Every weight and measure soe tryed proved and Sealed
And the Constables of Every towne shall Comitt those
weights and measures unto the Custody of the selectmen of
their Townes for the time being who with the Constable are
hereby Enjoyned to Choose One able man for Sealer of all
weights and measures for their Owne towne from time to
time and till another be Chosen Who shall be pr'sented unto
the next Court of Sessions and their sworne to the faithfull
discharge of his Duty And shall have power to send forth his
Warrants by the Constable to all the inhabitants of Each
towne to bring in all such weights and measures as they make
any use of in the month of Aprill from yeare to yeare at Such
time and place as he shall appoint and make returne to the
Sealer in Writeing of all persons Soe Sum'oned That then
and there all such weights and measures may be proved and
Sealed with the Towne Seale (which is likewise to be provided
by the Constables at Each townes Charge Who shall have for
Every Weight and measure Soe Sealed One penny from the
Owners thereof at the first Sealing And all Such weights and
measures as Cannot be brought to their just Standard he shall
deface and destroy And after the first Sealing shall have noth-
ing soe long as they Continue just with the Standard And it
is further Enacted by the authority aforesaid That if any Con-
stable selectman or Sealer Doe not duely Execute this Law
Soe farr as to Each and Every of them appertaines they and
Each of them shall forfeite to his Ma'tye for Every Such
neglect by the Space of One Month the Sum'e of forty shillings
for Support of his Government here And Every person neg-
lecting to bring in their weights and measures at the time
and place appointed being duely warned thereto shall like-
wise forfeite three shillings and four pence the One halfe
whereof to be to his Majestye as aforesaid And the Other
halfe to the Sealer aforesaid And the penalty herein men-
c'oned to be levyed by distresse by Warrant from any Justice
of the peace./
AND IT is further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That
in Every Sea Port Towne within this Dominion the Constable
or Constables are likewise to provide upon the Townes Charge
One hundred Weight One halfe hundred One quarter of One
hundred and One fourteene pounds weight made of iron to
be tryed proved and sealed as aforesaid and be kept as Stand-
204
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1687.
ards in the Said Severall Townes to be used as before for other
weights and measures is directed./
Councill Chamber in Boston
the tenth of May 1687:
And in the third yeare of his
Mat'ies Reigne.
By Ord'r of his Excellency
and Councill.
John West D Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 9.]
E Andros
AN ACT FOR DESTROYING OF WOLVES.
[This act is printed from the original in the Massachusetts files. Passed
May 11, 1687, 3 James II. Colonial Records of Connecticut, vol. 3, p. 422.
Compare act of October 7, 1692, post, and act of May 10, 1718, post.]
FFOR the Encouragement of persons to Destroy Wolves
BEE ITT Enacted by the Governour and Councill And it is
hereby Enacted by the Authority of the same That whoso-
ever shall att any time hereafter kill or Destroy any Growne
Wolfe in any County within this Dominion he shall be paid
and allowed att the publique charge of the County within
which the same is or shall be killed The sum'e of Twenty Shil-
lingshead AND for a Wolfes Whelp halfe soe much AND
if any Indian shall in like manner kill or destroy any growne
Wolfe he shall be paid and allowed at the Publique charge of
the County within which the same shall be killed the sum'e of
Tenn shillings head And for a Wolfes Whelp halfe soe
much AND that the same be Raised by Order of the Justices of
the Peace att their Quarter Sessions in each respective County
with other County Charges; And duely paid and satisfied ac-
cordingly.
Councill Chamber in Boston the Eleventh day of May in the
third yeare of his Mat'ies Reigne Annoq'e D'ni. 1687.
By Command of his Excell'y
and Councill.
John West D Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 10.]
E Andros.
AN ACT FOR REGULATEING THE PURCHASE OF LANDS FROM
INDIANS.
[This act is printed from the original in the Massachusetts files. Passed
June 1, 1687, 3 James II. Colonial Records of Connecticut, vol. 3, p. 422.]
FORASMUCH as private persons Tampering and Dealing with
Indians about Sale and Conveyance of Lands without the Ly-
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1687.
205
cense and knowledge of the Authority; hath beene found of
soe greate pr'judice and Inconvenience That this as well as all
other Governm'ts and Collonyes have by Law forbid the same
NOTWITHSTANDING the which severall persons have and Doe
Dayly pr'sume to Tamper and Deale with Indians about the
purchase of New Lands; And for Confirmac'on of Lands form-
erly pr'tended to be purchased and from them take and receive
Deeds of Sale, Gifts Mortgages Conveyances Leases Contracts
or Confirmac'ons without any Leave or Lycense for the same
to the Apparent pr'judice of his Majesties Anncient Right and
Interest and Disturbance of the Government BEE ITT THERE-
FORE ENACTED by the Governour and Councill and Itt is
hereby Enacted by the authority of the same That from hence-
forth noe person or persons whatsoever Doe pr'sume to tamper
or treat with any Indian or Indians about the purchase sale or
Confirmac'on of any Land or Lands whatsoever within this his
Majesties Territory and Dominion of New England NOR from
them or any of them take or receive any Deed of Sale Gift
Mortgage Conveyance Lease Contract or Confirmac'on what-
soever without Leave or Lycense first had and obteyned from
the Governour for the tyme being under his hand and Seale
On penalty of fforfeiture of Twenty pounds for every acre of
Land That any person or persons shall tamper or Treate with
any Indian or Indians for the purchase sale Lease contract or
confirmac'on thereof as aforesaid Or for which any Deed of
Sale Gift Mortgage Conveyance Lease contract or confirmac'on
shall be taken or received as aforesaid AND that all such
Deeds of Sale Gifts mortgages Conveyances Leases contracts
and confirmac'ons made and obteyned without such Lycense
as aforesaid shall be utterly void and null AND WHEREAS Sev-
erall persons By vertue of such Clandestine and Irreguler pur-
chases lay clayme to sev'rall tracts and parcells of Land within
this his Majesties Dominion On which noe settlement Improve-
ment or Inclosure hath beene made to this Day ITT IS THERE-
FORE further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That from
and after the date hereof Noe person or persons whatsoever
shall pr❜sume by vertue or Colour of any such Clandestine and
irreguler purchases to settle upon improve or inclose any
Land or Lands whatsoever within this Dominion That have
not beene some time heretofore settled improved or inclosed
without first shewing their clayme and pr'tence to such Lands
unto the Governour for the time being And obteyning his
Lycense grant or confirmac'on for the same under the penalty
of Tenn pounds for every acre that shall be settled Improved
or inclosed contrary hereunto The one halfe of all which pen-
altyes and forfeitures to be to the use of his Majestie his heires
and successors and the other halfe to him or them that shall
206
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1687.
Informe or sue for the same in any of his Majesties Courts
within this Dominion wherein noe Essoine protecc'on or wager
of Law shall be allowed./
Councill Chamber Att Boston the first day of June in the
Third yeare of his Ma'ties Reigne Annoq'e D'ni 1687.
E Andros.
By Order of the Governo'r
and Councill.
John West, D. Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 11.]
AN ACT FOR PROBATE OF WILLS & GRANTING LETTERS OF
ADMINISTRATION.
[This act is printed from the original in the Massachusetts files. Passed
June 1, 1687, 3 James II. Colonial Records of Connecticut, vol. 3, p. 423.]
BEE ITT ENACTED by the Governor and Councill And Itt is
Enacted and ordained by the Authority of the same That the
probate of all wills and l'res of Administrac'on shall be from
Hencefforth granted by the Governor or such person as he shall
Commissionate under the seale of the office for that purpose
Appointed And that All wills Relateing to any Estate within
the severall Countyes of Suffolk and Midds' shall be proved at
Boston before the Governor or such p'son as shall be Commis-
c'onated as aforesaid But in Regard of the Remotenesse of
other Countyes from the said place And to prevent the Charge
of Bringing Witnesses soe farr each Inferiour Court of Com'on
Pleas shall and are hereby Impowred to take the Examinac'on
of witnesses to any will within their Respective Countys upon
oath and the same with the will to Certifye to the secreataryes
office at Boston with all Convenient Speed under the Hand of
the Judge and Clarke of the said Court That the probat thereof
may be granted Accordingly And on Extraordinary occac'ons
or Necessity the Judges of the Inferriour Courts Assisted with
two Justices of the peace within the said Remote Countyes
may and Are hereby Impowred at any tyme out of Court to
take the Examinac'on of Wittnesses to any will to be produced
before them upon Oath and to Certifye the same as aforesaid
And in case any Debate or Controvercy Shall Arise About
sweareing and Examn'ng such Wittnesses or allowing the will
The said Court or Judge and Justices may heare and Deter-
mine the same And if any be unsatisfied with their proceedings
therein they may Appeale to the Governor or such other person
Comissionated as aforesaid before the probate of Such will
be granted.
AND ITT IS FURTHER ENACTED and Ordained that the sev-
erall Judges of the Inferriour Courts within the said Remote
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1687.
207
Countyes in Open Court or on Extraordinary occac'on or Ne-
cessity out of Court assisted with two Justicies of the peace
Aforesaid may and Are hereby Authorized and Impowred to
grant probates of any will or Letters of Administracc'on to
any person or sons where the Estate of the person Makeing
such will or of the Intestate on which letters of Administra-
c'on is Desired Doeth not Exceed the vallue of ffifty pounds
Anything herein before Contained to the Contrary hereof in
any wise notwithstanding.
PROVIDED always that any person or p'sons Concerned in
the Probate of such will or letters of Administrac'on to be
Granted by the Judg of the Inferriour Courts As aforesaid
may within three monh After the Granting thereof bring his
or their Appeale or Appeales therein before the Governor or
such other son Commissionated As Aforesaid
Councill Chamber in Boston the ffirst day of June in the
third yeare of his Ma'ties Reigne Annoq'e D'ni 1687.
By Ord'r of the Governor
and Councill
John West, D. Sec'ry.
E Andros.
[CHAPTER 12.]
AN ACT FOR REGULATEING THE FFISHING TRADE AND FFISH-
ERMEN.
[This act is printed from the original in the Massachusetts files. Passed
June 1, 1687, 3 James II. Colonial Records of Connecticut, vol. 3, p. 424.]
WHEREAS much Damage hath beene sustained and the
Creditt of the ffishing Trade is greately Impaired by the bad
makeing of ffish and Disorderly actings of ffishermen ffor the
prevention whereof for the future BEE IT ENACTED by the
Governour and Councill & It is hereby Enacted and Ordained
by the authority of the same That att every ffishing place
within this Dominion One or more Discreete and honest per-
son or persons be annually or oftner as need shall require
appointed and sworne by the Justices in their respective
Countyes to be Viewers and Cullers of ffish who shall view
and Cull all ffish to be Delivered and Received And what they
approve as Merchantable the Receiver shall accept And what
is refused ffish shall be cast by ALL Sun burnt salt burnt and
Dry ffish; which hath beene first Pickled; and all ffish salted
with Tertudos salt and thereby Spotted to be Judged refused.
And the said Viewers for their Labour and paines aforesaid
shall be allowed One penny per Quintall for every Quintall of
Merchandizable ffish soe Viewed and Culled to be paid the
208
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1687.
•
One halfe by the Deliverer and the other halfe by the Receiver
AND IT IS FFURTHER Enacted by the authority aforesaid That
noe Mackarell shall be caught (Except) for Baite or spending
while ffresh before the first of July Annually nor shall any
Mackarell be caught with Sceanes att any time whatsoever
under the penalty of fforfeiture of all such Mackarell and the
Sceanes Vessell or boate used and Imployed to Catch the same
AND for pr'venting Disorders amongst ffishermen It is Like-
wise Enacted that none belonging to any ffishing Vessell or
boate shall Refuse or neglect to obey the Orders of the Master
of such Vessell or boate to which they belong for the times and
Seasons of ffishing AND that all ffishermen that are or shall be
shipped upon a Winter & Spring Voyage Duely attend the
same according to the Custome or agreement with Respect to
time And all ffishermen that are or shall be shipped upon a
ffishing voyage for the whole summer shall not pr'sume to
breake of their Voyage before the Last of October without the
Consent of the Owner Master and shoaremen On penalty of
ffourty shillings Besides all Damages that shall be Occasioned
thereby All penalties ffines and fforfeitures ariseing by this
Act to be the One halfe to his Ma'tie his heires and Successo'rs
and the other halfe to him or them that shall Informe & sue
for the same in any Court within this Dominion./
Councill Chamber in Boston the first day of June in the
Third yeare of his Ma'ties Reigne Annoq'e D'ni 1687
By Ord'r of the Governor
and Councill.
John West D. Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 13.]
E Andros.
AN ACT FOR MAKEING OF BARRELLS KILDERKINNS AND OTHER
VESSELLS USED FOR ALE OR BEERE AND SYDER AND FOR
REGULATEING THE ASSIZE OF STAVES AND BOARDS.
[This act is printed from the original in the Massachusetts files. Passed
June 1, 1687, 3 James II. Colonial Records of Connecticut, vol. 3, p. 425.]
WHEREAS the Ale Brewers and Beere Brewers and makers
of Cyder of this his Majesties Territory and Dominion of New
England have used and Dayly doe use for Their owne Singuler
Lucre profitt and gaine to sell Ale Beere and Syder in Barrells
Kylderkinns and ffirkins of much lesse Quantity Content Rate
and assize then they ought to be to the greate Hurte pr'judice
and Damage of his Majesties Leige people FOR REFORMAC'ON
WHEREOF BEE ITT ENACTED by the Governour and Councill;
And itt is hereby Enacted and Ordained by the Authority of
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1687.
209
the same That every Cooper that shall or Doe make any of the
said Vessells for beere ale or syder to be putt to sale shall
make the same Vessells and every of them of good and Sea-
soned Wood and putt his proper marke upon every of them
AND that every Barrell for such Use shall containe Thirty
Two Gallons Every Kilderkin Sixteene Gallons and every ffir-
kin Eight Gallons of his Majesties Standard Gallon of Wine
measure Soe that they shall be of good and just measure or else
above and not under And that noe Cooper shall make any
other Vessell for Beere Ale or Syder to be sold within this
Dominion of any Greater or Lesser Number of Gallons then is
abovesaid Unlesse hee shall cause to be marked upon every
such Vessell that hee shall soe make of greater or Lesser num-
ber of Gallons; the true and certaine Number of as many Gal-
lons as every such other Vessell shall containe to the Intent
that every person may know the contents thereof AND BEE
ITT ffurther Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That noe
Beere Brewer nor Ale Brewer or Seller of Syder att any time
after the ffirst day of September next shall putt their Beere
Ale or Syder to sale to any person or persons to be Spent and
Occupyed within this Dominion in any other Barrells Kilder-
kinns ffirkins Or other Vessells of Wood other then shall be
made and marked by the Cooper as aforesaid and to containe
and hold the Quantity of Gallons before menc'oned of full and
Just measure or above and not under that measure AND for
the Due Regulation of Staves Bee it ffurther Enacted by the
authority aforesaid That in all Sea Port Townes within this
Dominion where Staves are Usually shipped of to be trans-
ported beyond Sea The Select men or Townes men shall annu-
ally or Otherwise as need shall bee Choose one or more Honest
and Skillfull person or persons within their Towne to be.
Viewer and Cullers of all Staves and heading to be transported
who shall be pr'sented and sworne to the ffaithful Discharge
of their Office Att the next Sessions of the Peace to be holden
in such County And such Viewers shall have power to Cast
by all such Staves as they Judge not to be Merchantable either
in Respect of Wormholes or want of assize And that all Mer-
chantable Staves be of the Dimenc'on and assize following
(That is to say) Pipe Staves to be in Length ffoure ffoote and
an halfe In breadth Three Inches and an halfe without Sapp
In thicknesse Three Quarters of an Inch well and even hewed
and sufficient for use All Hoggshead Staves Whether of White
or Red Oake to be in Length Three ffoote Two Inches or up-
wards All Barrell Staves to be in Length One and Thirty
Inches well and even Hewed and Dressed and of Proportion-
able breadth and Thicknesse And heading ffor Pipe Staves to
be in Length Twenty Eight Inches And for Hoggsheads and
14
210
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1687.
Barrells Suitable to the Caske to be made thereof And the
Viewer shall enter into a booke the number of such staves as
hee approved and for whome and give a Note thereof under
his hand and shall be allowed Two shillings Thousand for
every Thousand of staves hee shall soe search as well the
Refuse as merchantable to be paid by him who setts him on
worke And all Staves put on board any shipp or other Vessell
to be exported not viewed culled and approved as aforesaid
shall bee forfeited the one halfe to his Majestie his heires and
Successo'rs and the other halfe to him or them that shall seize
Informe and sue for the same as afore is Directed AND if any
Master or other Officer of any shipp or other Vessell shall
receive on board such shipp or Vessell any parcell of Staves
not Viewed Culled and approved as aforesaid and soe Certi-
fied by a Note under the Viewers hand; the Master of such
Shipp or other Vessell shall fforfeite the sum'e of ffive pounds
for every Thousand of Staves soe Unduely received to be Dis-
posed of for the uses and in manner aforesaid AND ITT IS
FFURTHER ENACTED by the Authority aforesaid That from
henceforth noe boards shall be cutt of any Pine Spruce or
Cedar att any saw Mill within this Dominion for sale or Ex-
portation but such as shall bee when sawed of the Thicknesse
of One full Inch Or halfe an Inch and all halfe Inch boards
to remaine in whole or halfe stocks pinned togeather And noe
single boards shall be accounted and passe for merchantable
but such as are one full Inch in Thicknesse and Stocks or halfe
stocks to be full halfe Inch thick and all to be well and even
sawed Nor shall any man marke any boards above the Just
and true measure thereof On paine of fforfeiting all such
boards or the Value thereof Either Sawne or Marked Contrary
to this act upon the survey of any sworne measurer or Culler
of boards to be thereto appointed The One halfe of which ffor-
feiture to be to his Majestie And the other halfe to him that
will Informe and sue for the same by Bill plaint or Informa-
c'on in any Court within this Dominion./
Councill Chamber in Boston the Tenth day of August in the
Third yeare of his Ma'ties Reigne Annoq'e D'ni 1687.
By Order of the Governor
and Councill,
John West D. Sec'ry
E Andros.
(
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1687.
211
[CHAPTER 14.] 1
AN ACT DECLAREING THE SEVERALL LAWES MADE BY THE
GOVERNOUR AND COUNCILL TO BE IN FORCE WITHIN THE
LATE COLLONY OF CONNECTICOTT NOW ANNEXED TO THIS
GOVERNM'T AND FOR SETTLING COURTS.
[This act is printed from the original in the Massachusetts files.
Passed December 29, 1687, 3 James II. Colonial Records of Connecticut, vol.
3, p. 402. It has place here in its chronological order. It contains provisions
applicable to all the colonies and provinces constituting the dominion of
New England. Possibly it indicates the tenor of similar drafts, with modifi-
cations to such local conditions and designations, sent to other provinces or
colonies but not preserved in local archives. It is also specially important
as containing a schedule of the acts previously promulgated by this govern-
ment which corresponds to the list of acts preserved either in Massachusetts
or Connecticut. See notes accompanying the Connecticut imprint and the
correspondence in the same volume. Colonial Records of Connecticut, vol.
3, p. 402, and numbers 107, 108, and 114, in appendix of that volume,—cor-
respondence of Allyn and West.]
WHEREAS his most Sacred Maj'tie Our Dread Sovereigne
hath beene graciously pleased to annex the Late Collony of
Connecticott to his Territory and Dominion of New England
and to Establish the Same under One Intire Governm't and
Dominion And Whereas Sev'rall good any Wholesome Lawes
have Beene Lately Continued made and Enacted by the Gov-
ernour and Councill for the good Rule Order and Government
of the said Dominion which are as necessary and agreable
unto that part of his Majesties Territory now Lately Ennexed
as to the Rest of the said Dominion under this Government
BEE ITT therefore Enacted by the Governour and Councill
and itt is hereby Enacted and Ordained by Authority of the
Same That the Severall Acts and Lawes hereafter mentioned
and Expressed Made by the Government and Councill within
the Territory and Dominion aforesaid are and shall be of force
in and throughout all that part of this Government Lately
Called the Collony of Connecticott now Annexed as fully and
Effectually as if the Same had beene under this Government
When the Same were Severally Ennacted (That is to say) An
Act for Continueing and Establishing of Severall Rates Dutyes
and Imposts An Act for Establishing of Courts of Judicature
and Publique Justice An Act for Impowring Justices of the
Peace to Decide Differences not Exceeding forty shillings An
Act against Pirates and for Prevention of Piracy An Act or
Order Settling the value of Peeces of Eight An Act for Regu-
lateing the Assize of Caske and Preventing Deceit in Packing
of ffish beefe and Porke for Sale An Act for the Regulation of
Cattle Cornefeilds and ffences An Act for the Due Regulation
of Weights and Measures An Act for Destroying of Wolves
212
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1687.
An Act for Regulating the Purchass of Lands from Indians
An Act for Probate of Wills and Granting Letters of Admin-
istrac❜on An Act for Reguateing the ffishing Trade and ffisher-
men And one other Act Intituled an Act for makeing of Bar-
rells Kilderkins and other vessells used for Ale or Beere and
Syder and for Regulateing the Assize of Staves and Boards
And itt is further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That
there shall be holden Quarterly a Court of Sessions Within
the Severall Countyes of Hartford New London New Haven
and ffairefeild att such times and places as hereafter is men-
tioned and Expressed (That is to say) att Hartford for the
County of Hartford and att New Haven for the County of
New Haven on the first Twesdayes in March June September
and December att New London for the County of New London
and att fairefeild for the County of fairefeild on the Second
Tuesdayes in March June September and December
And itt is further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That
in Each of the said Countyes there shall be an Inferiour Court
of Pleas to be holden and kept att the same times and places
as the said Courts of Sessions shall be held att; and to be
opened Soone after the said Sessions are Ended And to the
End there be noe failure of Justice in all Cases within the
Countyes aforesaid It is hereby further Enacted by the Author-
ity aforesaid That the Judges or one of Them doe goe that
Circuite twice every yeare and hold and keep the Superiour
Court of Judicature att the Severall times and places follow-
ing (That is to Say) att New Haven for the Countyes of New
Haven and ffairefeild on the Tuesdayes following the Sev'rall
Courts in the Circuite att Road Island the Which Circuite is
to begin and be holden att Plymouth for the County of Ply-
mouth and Barnstable on the Last Wednesday in March and
September and the ffrydayes following att Bristoll for The
County of Bristoll and the Tuesdayes after att New Port for
Road Island Kings Province and Providence plantation, And
att Hartford for the Countyes of Hartford and New London
On the ffrydayes following the said Courts att New Haven
any former Act or Order to the Contrary Notwithstanding.
AND ITT IS FURTHER ENACTED by the Authority aforesaid
That in regard the Severall Townes in the County of Hamp-
shire are Scituated Neere Hartford aforesaid the Superiour
Court of Judicature Shall not be Longer held and kept within
the said County But all Cases and Causes for the future there
ariseing proper for the said Court to be heard Issued and Deter-
mined att the Courts appointed to be holden att Hartford as
aforesaid And Whereas by Reason of the appointing one Supe-
riour Court of Judicature to be holden for Severall Countyes
Some Difficulty may arise about the Severall Sherriffes of the
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1687.
213
Respective Countyes giveing their Attendance on the said
Court It is therefore further Enacted by The Authority afore-
said That the Sherriffes for the time being of the Severall
Countyes of Barnstable ffairefeild New London and Hamp-
shire and the Province of Maine Doe Send their Deputyes or
under Sherriffes to attend att Such Superiour Courts as are
appointed for the said Countyes Wheresoever the same shall
be held and there make Due Returne of all Writts and Pre-
cepts Which to the said Severall Sherriffes have beene Di-
rected And the Said Severall Sherriffes of the Countyes afore-
said When and Soe often as they shall be by Such Writt or
Precepts Commanded to Doe the Same by his said Deputy or
under Sherriffe shall returne and Send a Jury or Juryes to
the said Superiour Courts for Tryall of the Causes betweene
party or partyes or otherwise any former Law or usage to the
Contrary Notwithstanding./
AND WHEREAS by a former Act Intituled an Act for Estab-
lishing of Courts of Judicature and Publique Justice The
Inferiour Courts of Common Pleas; were Limitted and ap-
pointed to have Jurisdiction over all Causes Onely Wherein
any ffreehold is not Concerned To the value of Ten pounds
with Costs and noe more Except in the County of Suffolk,
Where the Jurisdiction of the said Court Extended to Twenty
pounds with Costs and noe more And all Causes and Actions
Whatsoever above that value or Where in any ffreehold was
Concerned were to be Comenced and prosecuted att the Supe-
riour Court of Judicature The which by Reason of the remott-
nesse of the Judges Clerks Atturnyes and other Officers and
ministers of the said Court from Diverse parts and places
within the Said Dominion hath beene found of great trouble
Expence Prejudice and Inconveniency to Severall persons who
have been forced to Sue in the Said Court and thereby not
Answered the End Designed, which was the Due and Speedy
Administration of Justice To remedy which for the future Bee
itt Enacted by the Governour and Councill and itt is hereby
Enacted and Ordained By the Authority of the Same That
from henceforth the Severall Inferiour Courts of Pleas to be
holden within the Respective Countye in this Territory and
Dominion of New England shall have power and Jurisdiction
in all Causes and Cases personall and mixt, Wherein Tittle of
Land is not Concerned To any Summe or value whatsoever
and that the Severall Clerks of the said Courts shall and may
Issue out Writts to any Summe or value Accordingly Any
thing in the said Act Before Recited to the Contrary notwith-
standing PROVIDED alwayes and itt is hereby Enacted by the
Authority aforesaid That itt shall and may be Lawfull to any
for any Deffendant or Deffendants if hee or they Shall See
meete to remove any Acc'on Cause or Suite from any of the
214
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1687.
said Inferiour Courts to the said Superiour Court of Judica-
ture By Writt of Habeas Corpus or Certiorarie which are to
Issue out of the Clerks Office of the Superiour Court aforesaid
Special baile being first given Before one of the Judges of
the said Inferiour Courts, by the party or partyes Desireing
the Same and Certified into the said Clerks Office accordingly
PROVIDED alwayes and itt is hereby further Enacted by the
Authority afores'd That where any Deffend't or Deff'ts in any
of the Inferiour Courts aforesaid shall Offer to remove his or
their Suite or Acc'on to the Superiour Court and to give Spe-
ciall Bayle to Answer the Same and abide the Determination
of that Court therein the Same shall Bee admitted and taken
and Such Convenient time allowed for the bringing of the
said Writt of Habeas Corpus or Cersiorai as the Distance of
Such Court from Boston may Require PROVIDED That not
Longer time be given then to the Court following after such
Offer made of Removall and Baile given as aforesaid And
forasmuch as the Often holding of the Superiour Court in the
Circuite in the Countyes of Middlesex and Essex is found to
give more trouble and Charge to his Majesties Subjects then
the necessity of bussiness And Suits Requires and in regard
of their neerenesse to Boston Where all Causes may be Tryed
itt is Therefore further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid
That for the future the said Court shall be onely holden twice
every yeare in Each of the said Countyes (That is to say) for
the County of Middlesex att Charlestown Cambridge or Con-
cord on the first Tuesdays in may and November and for the
County of Essex att Salem or Ipswich on the first Wednesday
in March and September the Mundayes following Each of
Which Courts in Essex the [same]* is to be [holden at]*
Portsmouth as in the Act for Settling Courts is Provided any
former Act or Order to [con]*trary notwithst[anding, Bos-
ton, the Twenty] *Ninth Day of December in the Third yeare
of his Majesties Reigne Annoq'e Domini 1687./
Exa'ined P
John West, D. Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 15.]
AN ACT CONCERNING PEDDLERS.†
[Passed prior to January 27, 1687-8, 3 James II. Colonial Records of Con-
necticut, vol. 3, pp. 435, 439. This act is not preserved in the Massachusetts
files.]
Whereas many persons have lately taken upon them the
practice of peddlers and petty chapmen, passing from town
* These words are illegible or torn in the Massachusetts copy, and the
text is restored by reference to the act as printed in vol. 3, Colonial Records
of Connecticut.
† See Mr. Allyn's letter to West, 27 Jan., 1687, (No. cxviii, [vol. 3, Colonial
Records of Connecticut]).
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
215
to town vending sundry wares, and that which is unservice-
able at excessive rates, to the great detriment of the settled
trade of this county, for prevention whereof,
Be it enacted by the Governour by and with the advice and
consent of the Council, and it is hereby enacted by the author-
ity of the same, that henceforth no person shall expose to sell,
in any town or farm, any manner of goods, wares or merchan-
dize, except in the town or farm where such person inhabits,
nor shall any person or persons pass from town to town trad-
ing, trafficking or dealing as a merchant, factor, peddler or
petty chapman. And if any person shall presume so to do, every
of the justices of the peace are hereby required, upon complaint
or information of such offences, to cause the person and all
such goods, ware and merchandize as shall appertain to him,
to be seized and secured, and to return the person from con-
stable to constable until he shall [be] brought to the gaol of
the county from whence he set out, there to abide till the next
Quarter Sessions, then and there to be proceeded against: and
upon due proof, the Court of Sessions shall have power to
amerce the said peddler not exceeding ten pounds for one
conviction, the one half to his Majesty for the support of the
government and the other half to the informer. Provided
nothing in this Act shall be interpreted to restrain merchants
and factors coming from beyond seas and exposing their goods
to sale in any town within this Territory wherein they shall
reside, any thing in this Act to the contrary notwithstanding.
Examined per John West, Dep. Sec.
[CHAPTER 16.]
AN ACT FOR AN ADDITIONAL DUTY OF IMPOST AND EXCISE,
AND FOR THE BETTER COLLECTING AND SECUREING HIS
MAJESTIES REVENUE.
[This act is printed from the original in the Massachusetts files. Passed
February 15, 1687-8, 4 James II. Colonial Records of Connecticut, vol. 3,
p. 433. See also Palfrey's History of New England, ed. of 1890, vol. 3, p. 345.]
WHEREAS the severall Rates Dutyes and Imposts hereto-
fore continued and Established are found to be farr short of
the Ordinary and necessary charge required for the mainte-
nance and Support of his Majesties Government of this his
Territory and Dominion of New England; which that It may
be supplyed in the best and easiest manner BEE ITT ENACTED
by the Governour and Councill And Itt is hereby Enacted and
Ordained by the Authority of the same That for all Wines
Brandy Rum and other strong waters; That shall att any time
or times hereafter be imported into this his Majesties Territory
and Dominion of New England or any part thereof from any
f
216
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
place whatsoever there shall be further payed to his Majesties
Trea'r or Receiver Generall or such other person or persons as
are or shall be appointed to Collect and receive the same the
Addic❜onall customes and Duties following (that is to say) ffor
every Pipe of ffiall wines or any other wines of the Westerne
Islands the sum'e of Twenty shillings: for every pipe of Ma-
dera Wines Sixteene shillings and Eight pence ffor every Pipe
of sherry sack Mallagor Canary Muscadells Tents and Alli-
gants Tenn shillings over and above the Customes and Duties
menc'oned and expressed In one other act Intituled an Act for
the continueing and Establishing of severall Rates Duties and
Imposts AND WHEREAS by the said Act the Excise on all wines
sold by Retaile within the said Territory and Dominion is men-
c'oned to be paid after the Rate of ffifty shillings per Pipe ITT
IS HEREBY FFURTHER ENACTED by the Authority aforesaid
that from henceforth in Leiw and stead of the said ffifty shil-
lings per pipe there shall be paid to his Majesties Treasurer
or Receiver Generall aforesaid Or to such other person or per-
sons as are or shall be appointed to Collect and receive the
same for all wines sold by Retaile within any part of the said
Territory and Dominion by the person or persons who shall
Retaile the same the Excise of one shilling for every Gallon
soe by them Retayled In the like manner as in the said Act is
Directed and appointed AND ITT IS FFURTHER ENACTED by
the Authority afores'd That from henceforth there shall be
Likewise payed to his Majesties Treasurer and Receiver Gen-
erall or other Officers as aforesaid An Addic'onall Excise of
ffoure pence for every Gallon of Brandy Rum or other Distilled
waters retailed and for every Barrell of Beere Ale or Syder
Retailed One shilling and three pence to be paid by such as
Retaile the same Over and above what is menc'oned to be
paid in the before recited act and to be collected and received
In such manner and forme as by the said Act is Directed And
for the better collecting and secureing of the severall Duties
Imposts and Excise due and payable to his Majestie for the
support of his Governm't here ITT IS FFURTHER ENACTED BY
the Authority aforesaid that all goods wares and m'rchandize
whatsoever that att any time or times hereafter shall be Im-
ported in any shipp or vessell from any part or place whatso-
ever out of this Dominion shall be Landed and putt on shoare
att and in one of the Ports hereafter menc'oned and Declared
(that is to say) Att Boston Salem Portsmouth Bristoll New-
port New London Seabrooke New. Haven Milford ffairfeild or
Stanford and att such places and times there as shall be
appointed for the same; and att or in noe other port place or
time whatsoever under the penalty of forfeiture of such goods
as shall be Landed or Delivered from on board any such shipp
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
217
or vessell contrary hereunto AND that all Masters or Com-
manders of shipps or other Vessells which att any time here-
after shall arrive or come into any or either of the Ports afore-
said shall and doe within ffoure and Twenty houres after
Arrivall make entry of such shipp or vessell with the Officer
or Officers as are or shall be appointed and Authorized to Col-
lect and receive his Majesties dutys there and give a Generall
List or account of her Loading with their severall Marks Num-
bers and Contents As farr as hee knoweth (And upon Oath if
required) AND that noe goods wares or merchandize whatso-
ever be Landed or putt on shoare out of any shipp or other
Vessell in any the Ports aforesaid before perticuler entry be
made thereof by the Owner or such person or persons to whome
such goods wares and m'chandizes are consigned with the
said Officer or Officers and his Majesties Duties first paid and
satisfied and a permitt granted by him or them for the same
under the penalty of forfeiture of all such goods wares and
m'chandizes as shall be Otherwise Landed or Delivered out of
any such shipp or Vessell And That noe Master of any such
shipp or Vessell doe att any time or times hereafter bring his
said shipp or Vessell to any wharfe or key in any of the ports
aforemenc'oned before such time as hee shall have duely
entred his said Shipp or Vessell with the Officer or Officers
aforesaid and given them notice thereof under the penalty of
fforfeiture of ffifty pounds for every such Offence AND WHERE-
As his Majestie hath beene and is greatly Defrauded and
Injured in his Excise by Retailers Concealing their wines and
other Liquors in Private houses ITT IS THEREFORE FFURTHER
ENACTED by the Authority aforesaid that noe person or per-
sons on any pr'tence or Colour whatsoever for the future shall
or may take in receive Harbour Entertaine Keepe or Conceale
in his or their Dwelling houses Cellars or Warehouses any
quantity or percell of wines or other Liquors belonging to any
Lycensed person or persons retaylor or Retaylors under the
penalty of fforfeiture of Twenty pounds for every such Quan-
tity or p'cell of wines or other Liquors soe taken in received
Harboured Entertained Kept and concealed as aforesaid
Neither shall any person or persons whatsoever sell or Deliver
or cause permitt or suffer to be sold or Delivered to any Re-
taylor or Retaylors out of his or their houses Cellars or Ware-
houses any lesse Quantity of wines or other Liquors then by
Law they are permitted to sell or Deliver under the penalty of
the fforfeiture of all such wines or other Liquors as shall be
found in any such house Cellar or warehouse And that Itt shall
and may be Lawfull for any Justice of the peace upon Com-
plaint and Oath made of any wines soe sold and Delivered or
Kept and concealed as aforesaid to Issue forth his warrant
for the searching of any such house Cellar or warehouse and
218
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
for seizeing and secureing all such wines and other Liquors
as shall be there found That the same may be in Legall man-
ner Proceeded against and condemned accordingly AND
WHEREAS by the before recited Act Liberty is given for any
person or persons to sell and Deliver the Quantity of ffive Gal-
lons of any strong waters and not under unlesse Retaylors.
ITT IS HEREBY ENACTED AND DECLARED That for the future
none except such as are Lycensed Retaylers shall sell or De-
liver to any person or persons any Lesse Quantity of Rum
Brandy or other Distilled waters then a Quarter Caske under
the penalty in the said Act menc'oned any former Law or usage
to the contrary notwithstanding
Councill Chamber in Boston on Wednesday the ffifteenth
day of ffebruary in the ffourth yeare of his Ma'ties Reigne
Annoq'e D'ni, 1687.
Passed By ord'r in Councill
John West, D. Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 17.]
E Andros.
AN ACT FOR REGULATING THE CHOICE OF SELECT MEN, CON-
STABLES AND OTHER OFFICERS IN THE RESPECTIVE TOWNS
WITHIN THIS DOMINION.
[Passed March 17, 1687-8, 4 James II. Colonial Records of Connecticut, vol.
3, p. 427. Letter, West to Allyn, id., p. 440. This act is not preserved in the
Massachusetts files. Compare chapter 5, p. 81, ante, time of Cranfield. Pal-
frey's History of New England, ed. of 1890, vol. 3, p. 345.]
Whereas it hath been a continued practice and custom in
all or most of the several Towns within this Dominion annu-
ally to choose Selectmen, Townsmen or Overseers, for the
assessment of the inhabitants and executing other matters and
things in the laws by them appointed to be done and per-
formed, It is therefore enacted by the Governour and Council,
That it shall and may be lawfull for the inhabitants in each
respective town within this Dominion, on the third Monday in
May yearly, to meet and convene together, by the major vote
* In a letter to Mr. Allyn, March 24, 1687-8, Mr. West, referring to the act
regulating the choice of selectmen and other town officers, remarks as fol-
lows: "The which as it is an act of grace designed for the benefit and ease
of the people, hope will be so understood and fully answer that end.”
The editor of the Colonial Records of Connecticut, in a note to this pas-
sage (p. 440), says: "It was hardly 'so understood' in Massachusetts or
Connecticut. 'One Law they are sensible of, which doth prohibit all Town
Meetings, excepting on a certain day once a year; whereas the Inhabitants
have occasion to meet once a Month, sometimes every Week, for relief of
the Poor or other Town Affairs. But it is easy to penetrate into the Design
of this Law, which was (no Question) to keep them in every Town from
complaining to England, of the Oppressions they are under.' Narrative of
the Miseries of New England. (Reprint, 1775, p. 3.)”
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
219
there to choose and nominate any even number of fit persons
inhabiting within their respective towns, not exceeding eight,
to be selectmen, townsmen or overseers for the several towns
respectively. The one half of which number so to be chosen
shall be of those that served in that office the year before and
the other half new persons, who are to serve together as select-
men, townsmen or overseers until the next time for the annual
election; at which time, the half of the number of the said
selectmen, townsmen or overseers in each respective town are
to be chosen of new persons, and those who have served their
two years to be discharged, and the other half with them that
are new chosen to continue in said office; that so from year to
year half the selectmen, townsmen or overseers of each re-
spective town may be changed, and each man serve two years
in the said office, and no more, and that none be chosen unto
the said office but such as have not served therein by the space
of two years past.
And whereas by one Act, intituled, An Act for the contin-
uing and establishing of several Rates, Duties and Imposts,
amongst other things it is enacted, the constable by warrant
from the treasurer is to call together the inhabitants of the
town, who being so assembled shall choose one of the said
inhabitants to be a Commissioner for the town, It is therefore
further enacted and declared, that for the future the Commis-
sioner shall be annually chosen by and out of the inhabitants,
in each respective town within this Dominion, on the day
before mentioned for the choice of selectmen, townsmen or
overseers.
And the next day after such choice made as aforesaid,
the old selectmen, townsmen or overseers and commis-
sioners in each respective town shall and do give notice to the
persons that are or shall be chosen to serve in the said offices
for the year ensuing, of such their election, if they were not
present when the choice [was] made, and to meet them at
some convenient place within the said town, to take upon them
the said offices; and in case any person or persons chosen as
aforesaid to be selectmen, townsmen or overseers, or commis-
sioners in any town, shall refuse to serve in the said offices,
that then the said selectmen, townsmen or overseers shall forth-
with give notice of such refusal to the next justice of the peace
in the county, and that in such case any two justices of the
peace, one being of the quorum shall and are hereby author-
ized and impowered, by warrant under their hands and seals,
to nominate and appoint some other person or persons within
such towns to serve in the place or stead of such as shall so
refuse.
And it is further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That
the selectmen, townsmen or overseers shall be and are hereby
220
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
authorized and appointed to be overseers of the poor within
their respective towns, and shall and may with the consent and
approbation of any two justices of the peace, one being of the
quorum, make rates and assessments within their respective
towns for their relief; and to cause the same, by warrant under
the hands of two such justices of the peace, to be collected by
the constable, as hath been formerly accustomed, and pay into
their hands, who are to distribute the same for the maintain-
ance of the poor within their respective towns; and for set-
ting their poor on work, and for putting children apprentices,
which to be done by the consent of two such justices as afore-
said; rendering an account to the inhabitants of each respec-
tive town, at the expiration of each year, at the time when
they shall meet to choose new officers, of all sums of money
by them received, or rated and not received, of all stocks as
they or any of the poor have in their hands, what apprentices
they [have] put out and bound, and what poor they have set
at work or relieved; which account is to be taken, examined
and allowed of by any two such justices of the peace as afore-
said. And the said selectmen, townsmen or overseers are
hereby authorized and required to meet together in the re-
spective towns once every month, to consider of those things
and to take effectual order and care therein for relief of the
poor as aforesaid. And the said selectmen, townsmen or over-
seers shall be and are hereby further authorized and impow-
ered to provide and agree with herdsmen, shepherds, bell-men
&c.; for the maintainance and repair of bridges, churches, meet-
ing houses, town houses, school houses, watch houses, cages,
and stocks, where the same are, or occasion for them, in their
respective towns; and shall and may, by warrant from any
two justices of the peace, one being of the quorum, make assess-
ments on the inhabitants, and to cause the same to be levied
by the constables to satisfy and defray the charge and expense
thereof; of all which to render a distinct and plain account
at the yearly town meeting of the inhabitants, to be examined
and allowed of in like manner as before is provided for the
money raised or to be raised for the relief of the poor.
And it is further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That
from henceforth it shall not be lawful for the inhabitants of
any town within this Dominion to meet or convene themselves
together at a town meeting, upon any pretense or colour what-
soever, but at the times before mentioned and appointed for
the choice of town officers as aforesaid.
And it is further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That
the several constables in the respective towns within this Do-
minion shall be likewise chosen and nominated in the said
annual town meeting, and the persons so chosen presented to
:
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
221
the next Court of Sessions to be holden in the respective coun-
ties, there to take the oath usually administered for the faith-
ful discharge of that office for one year or until another be
sworn in his or their places; and that if any person or persons
so nominated and chosen shall refuse to serve or take the oath
as aforesaid, he shall forfeit and pay for the use of his Majesty
the sum of five pounds, to be recovered by bill, plaint or infor-
mation in any of his Majesty's courts within this Dominion;
and the said Court of Sessions shall forthwith order and ap-
point any other person or persons to serve in his or their steads,
who, if too remote to attend at the Sessions, may be sworn
before any justice of the peace out of sessions.
Council Chamber in Boston, on Saturday the 17th day of
March, 1687, in the fourth year of the reign of our Sovereign
Lord King James the second, and examined,
per John West, D. Secretary.
[CHAPTER 18.]
AN ACT FOR SETLING THE MILITIA.
[This act is printed from the original in the Massachusetts files. Passed
March 24, 1687-8, 4 James II. Colonial Records of Connecticut, vol. 3, p. 429.
See also Palfrey's History of New England, ed. of 1890, vol. 3, p. 346.]
WHEREAS it is absolutly necessary that the inhabitants
throughout this Territory and Dominion be well armed and
trained up in the art military as well for the honour and ser-
vice of his most Excellent Majestye as for the preservac'on
and Defence thereof from any violence or invasion whatsoever
BEE IT THEREFORE ENACTED By the Governour and Councill
and it is hereby ENACTED and ordained by the authority of
the same that no person whatsover above Sixteene yeares of
age remaine unlisted by themselves masters mistresses or im-
ployers under the Cap't or other Officers in the respective
places of their abode in foote or horse the space of six weekes
on penalty of forty shillings and so for every six weekes such
persons shall remaine unlisted and that every foot souldier be
provided with a well fixed muskett the barrell not under three
foot in length and the bore for a bullett of twelve to the pound
a Collar of bandeliers or Cartouch box with twelve charges of
powder and bullett at the least and a sword or if the officer
so appoint with a good pike and sword and so shall appeare
when and where appointed upon penalty of six shill' for his
default in not appearing and four shill' for want of each charge
of powder or bullett muskett pike sword bandeliers or car-
touch box so as the whole penalty for any person at one time
Exceed not tenne shill' and that every soldier belonging to the
horse shall when and where commanded appeare and be pro-
222
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
vided with a good serviceable horse covered with a good sad-
dle with holsters breastplate and crupper a case of good pis-
tolls and sword and halfe a pound of powder and twenty
sizable bulletts on penalty of tenne shill' for each times ab-
sence and six shill' for default of each the particulers above
menc'oned so as the whole penalty for one time exceed not fif-
teene shill' And every trooper have at his usuall place of abode
a well fixed Carabine with belt and swivell on penalty of tenne
shill' which they shall bring into the feild when commanded
upon penalty of answering the same att a Court Martiall PRO-
VIDED Neverthelesse that if any person who is to provide
armes or ammunition cannot purchase them by such meanes
as he hath he shall bring to the Clerke of the company so
much corne or other merchantable goods as by apprizement
of the Clerke and two of the company mutually chosen by
them shall be judged of a greater value by a fifth part then
such armes and ammunic'on is of and thereupon shall be
excused from the penaltyes for want of armes and ammunic'on
(but not from appearance) untill he be provided for and fur-
nished which the said Clerke shall doe as soone as may be by
sale of such goods and render the overplus (if any) to the party
But if any person be not able to provide himselfe armes and
ammunic❜on through his meere poverty if he be single he shall
be putt to service by any Justice of the peace to procure him
Estate to purchase armes with and his master shall finde him
armes dureing his service if otherwise the selectmen Townes-
men or Overseers shall provide and furnish him with armes
and ammunic’on at the publiqe charge of the Towne the which
armes shall be kept by the Clarke of each respective company
well fixed and fitt for service under the care and inspecc'on
of the chiefe military officer there AND IT IS FURTHER EN-
ACTED BY the authority aforesaid that no person so listed as
aforesaid shall departe thence without a discharge from the
Commander of the company or troop where listed on penalty
of forty shill' And that no Commander of any company or
troop shall refuse when desired to give a discharge in writeing
to any that is removeing his abode out of the precincts under
the penalty of five pounds AND IT IS FURTHER ENACTED AND
ORDAINED BY the authority aforesaid that all Cap'ts of Com-
panyes of foot or troops of horse shall within six months from
and after publicac'on of this act provide for their companyes
and troops drumms drummers and Collours Trumpetts Trum-
peters & banners att their own charge under penalty of tenne
pounds and so for every six months such Commanders shall
remaine unprovided And that the Collonells of the respective
regiments or Other Chiefe Officers shall once every yeare at the
least issue out their warrants to their inferiour Officers Com-
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
223
manding them to make diligent search and inquiry in their
severall precincts that all be duely listed armed and equipped
and to returne to them such defects as shall be found to the end
the same may be reformed on penalty of one hundred pounds
And that three times in Every yeare (or oftner if command be
given by his Majestyes Cap't Generall or Commander in Chiefe
for the time being) the severall Companyes and Troops in Each
regiment shall meete at the next and most convenient places
to be appointed by their respective officers to be then and there
by them mustered and exercised AND IT IS FURTHER ENACTED
By the authority aforesaid that once every yeare or oftner if
thereunto commanded each particuler Cap't or Lieu't where
no Cap't is appointed shall give to his field Officer and the
field Officer to his Majestyes said Cap't Generall or Com-
mander in Chiefe for the time being fair written rolls of their
respective Companyes and regiments And if any field Officer
Cap't or other inferiour Officer or souldier shall neglect or
contemne performing the Lawfull Commands of their respect-
ive Superiour Officers he or they shall be punished by fine Cash-
eering or other punishment according to the discrec'on of A
Court martiall PROVIDED alwayes AND IT IS HEREBY ENACTED
AND DECLARED By the authority aforesaid That the severall
fines and forfeitures menc'oned in this act and not declared in
what manner they shall be recovered and how disposed of that
all such as do relate to any person under the degree of a Cap't
shall be to the respective Cap'ts to defraye the charge of their
Companyes or troops and to be Levyed before the next exer-
ciseing day by distresse and sale of the Offenders goods by the
Cap'ts warrant to the Clerke But if the offender be a servant
the Owners goods shall be lyable to the distresses and sales
as aforesaid so that satisfacc'on may be made And for all
other penaltyes menc'oned in this act the same shall be Levyed
by distresse and sale of the Offenders goods and Chattells by
warrant from the Chiefe field Officers in the respective places
or from his Ma'tyes Cap't Generall or Commander in Chiefe
for the time being One halfe thereof shall be to our Soveraigne
Lord the King his heires and Successors for and towards the
support of his Government here and the other halfe to the
informer AND IT IS FURTHER ENACTED By the authority afore-
said that all persons Listed as aforesaid shall readily attend
and serve on the watch when appointed under the penalty of
three shill' for each default And that it shall and may be Law-
full for any Cap't or other Commic'on Officer under the degree
of a Cap't in their Cap'ts absence to grant warrants of distresse
against any person whatsoever that shall absent themselves
from their duty on the watch or nightguards they keeping an
Exact account of all sume's and forfeitures levyed and re-
224
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
ceived thereby which they are to render to their Superiour
Officers when required PROVIDED alwayes that no troopers
shall be obliedged to watch or ward but under the command
of his propper officer and in his propper armes AND IT IS ALSOE
FURTHER ENACTED by the authority aforesaid that no person
whatsoever presume to fire any small armes after eight of the
clock at night unlesse in case of an alarum insurrecc❜on or
other Lawfull occasion and in either of the said cases four
musketts or small armes distinctly fired or where greate gunns.
are the fireing of one great gunn and two musketts or small
armes distinctly and beating of drumm shall be taken for an
alarum and every person that shall neglect his duty in takeing
and giving forward any alarm by fireing as aforesaid or shall
be guilty of fireing any Small arms after eight of the clock at
night unlesse as aforesaid shall be fined or otherwise punished
at the discretion of a Court martiall not extending to life or
limb And in case of such alarm every souldier is immediatly
to repayre armed to his Collours or Court of guard upon
the penalty of five pounds AND for the better prevention of
false alarms That no Cap't Master or Commander of any shipp
or vessell rydeing at anchor in any the harbours ports or bayes
within this Dominion or any other person fire any gunn after
eight of the clock at night under penalty of forty shill' for
every gunn so fired to be Levyed by warrant from the chiefe
Officer not under the degree of a Cap't (who is hereby impow-
ered to Administer an Oath and give judgement Thereupon)
by distresse or sale of the Offenders goods and for want of dis-
tresse the said Chiefe officer is hereby impowered to Committ
such offender to goale there to remaine untill payment of the
same And that in case the said chiefe Officer shall not per-
forme his duty therein he shall forfeite tenne pounds to be
Levyed by warrant from the Govern'r or Commander in Chiefe
for the time being PROVIDED allwayes that this clause shall in
no wise concerne or extend to any Cap't or Officer of any of
his Majestyes Shipps of warr for their fireing at setting of the
watch PROVIDED alwayes AND 'TIS HEREBY FURTHER EN-
ACTED and declared by the authority aforesaid that all trum-
peters and drummers lately in service or that shall by the sev-
erall Cap'ts be put into that service shall hold and attend the
said service dureing the Cap'ts pleasure upon the salary of
forty shill' annum for a trumpeter and twenty shill'
annum for a drummer finding their trumpett & drumm and
twenty shill' for a trumpeter and tenne shill' for a drummer if
the Cap't finde them upon penalty of forty shill' PROVIDED
allwayes and it is hereby FURTHER ENACTED and declared that
all the members of his Majestyes Councill Justices of the peace
Sheriffes Coroners and all Officers of Courts Ministers the
·
225
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
President fellows Students and officers of Harvard Colledge
professed & allowed School-masters Phisicians & Chirurgeons
Threasurers Surveyors & Dep't Surveyors Masters of shipps
and other vessells above twenty Tunns in actuall imploy con-
stant fishermen and herdsmen the Clerks belonging to the
Sec'ryes Office and One Servant of every member of the Coun-
cill shall be and are hereby Excepted and excused from traine-
ing or watching as before in this act is required as alsoe all
Officers imployed about his Majestyes revenue PROVIDED all-
wayes and IT IS FURTHER ENACTED that in case the fines and
forfeitures for defaults allowed to the Cap'ts as aforesaid shall
fall short of the Charge of providing Drumms drummers and
Collours the account thereof being given to the cheife field
Officer and by him allowed the sum'e wanting shall be sup-
plyed and satisfyed by the Select men Townesmen or Over-
seers out of the money raised or to be raised to defray other
publiqe charges in Each respective Towne Councill Chamber
in Boston on Saturday the twenty fourth day of march in the
fourth yeare of the reigne of our Sovereigne Lord King James.
the Second over England &c annoqe D'ni 1687.
By order in Councill &c
sir
John West, D. Sec'ry.
E Andros,
[Letter from Capt. Nathaniel Thomas, April 18, 1688.]
[Massachusetts Archives, vol. 128, p. 173.]
Marshfeild Aprill 18 1688
I Received the Acts Returned which I sent back to you together with an
act for settleing the Millitia Concerning which upon perusall some Doubts.
have arrisen which I Request you to move to his Exelence & send me his
Resolution therin.
as first the act Requireing that noe p'rson whatsoever above sixteen yeares
of age Remaine unlisted &c Except as is therin Excepted.
Whether old men are therby Intended the former Law of this Colony Ex--
scuseing them at sixty yeares of age, & some have been formerly freed on
that account here.
2 whether such as have been freed by the Governm't here whilest standing
for some Bodily Infirmity are now to be Listed
3 whether such as in the late Indian Warr served as Comission officers &
have been therefore freed from Training in a Lower Capasity by the former-
law of this Colony are Now to be Listed
4 whether such as by the former law here were freed for that they had
three sons listed in the Company are now to be listed again
sir pray Please to favour me with a few lines in answer to these who am
your humble serv't
Nath'll Thomas
sir the act for the makeing of Barrills &c & the assize of Staves & bo'rds
was never Received here soe that w'tout quetion you never sent it
[The foregoing communication. having general reference to the Andros
acts, is more particularly pertinent to the militia act.]
•
15
226
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWs, 1688.
[SECOND COMMISSION TO SIR EDMUND ANDROS, AS Gov-
ERNOR OF THE DOMINION OF NEW ENGLAND.]
[April 7, 1688, 4 James II. Archives of England, New England, vol.
XXXIII, p. 381. Printed in Documents Relating to the Colonial History of
the State of New York, vol. 3, pp. 537-542.]
James the Second by the Grace of God King of England,
Scotland France and Ireland Defender of the Faith &c. To
our trusty and welbeloved S'r Edmund Andros Kn't Greeting:
Whereas by our Commission under our Great Seal of England
bearing date the third day of June in the second year of our
reign wee have constituted and appointed you to be our Cap-
tain Generall and Governor in Cheif in and over all that part
of our territory and dominion of New England in America
known by the names of our Colony of the Massachusets Bay,
our Colony of New Plymouth, our Provinces of New Hampshire
and Main and the Narraganset Country or King's Province.
And whereas since that time Wee have thought it necessary
for our service and for the better protection and security of
our subjects in those parts to join and annex to our said Gov-
ernment the neighboring Colonies of Road Island and Con-
necticutt, our Province of New York and East and West Jer-
sey, with the territories thereunto belonging, as wee do hereby
join annex and unite the same to our said government and
dominion of New England. Wee therefore reposing especiall
trust and confidence in the prudence courage and loyalty of
you the said Sir Edmund Andros, out of our especiall grace cer-
tain knowledge and meer motion, have thought fit to consti-
tute and appoint as wee do by these presents constitute and
appoint you the said S'r Edmund Andros to be our Captain
Generall and Governor in Cheif in and over our Colonies of the
Massachusets Bay and New Plymouth, our Provinces of New
Hampshire and Main, the Narraganset country or King's Prov-
ince, our Colonys of Road Island and Connecticutt, our Prov-
ince of New York and East and West Jersey, and of all that
tract of land circuit continent precincts and limits in America
lying and being in breadth from forty degrees of Northern lati-
tude from the Equinoctiall Line to the River of S't Croix East-
ward, and from thence directly Northward to the River of
Canada, and in lenght and longitude by all the breadth afore-
said throughout the main land from the Atlantick or Western
Sea or Ocean on the East part, to the South Sea on the West
part, with all the Islands, Seas, Rivers, waters, rights, mem-
bers, and appurtenances, thereunto belonging (our province of
Pensilvania and country of Delaware only excepted), to be
called and known as formerly by the name and title of our ter-
ritory and dominion of New England in America.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
227
And for your better guidance and direction Wee doe hereby
require and command you to do & execute all things in due
manner that shall belong unto the said office and the trust wee
have reposed in you, according to the severall powers instruc-
tions and authoritys mentioned in these presents, or such fur-
ther powers instructions and authoritys as you shall herewith
receive or which shall at any time hereafter be granted or
appointed you under our signet and sign manual or by our
order in our Privy Councill and according to such reasonable
lawes and statutes as are now in force or such others as shall
hereafter be made and established within our territory &
dominion aforesaid.
And our will and pleasure is that you the said S'r Edmund
Andros having, after publication of these our Letters Patents,
first taken the Oath of duly executing the office of our Captain
Generall and Governor in Cheif of our said territory and
dominion, which our Councill there or any three of them are
hereby required authorized and impowered to give and admin-
ister unto you, you shall administer unto each of the members
of our Councill the Oath for the due execution of their places
and trusts.
And wee do hereby give and grant unto you full power and
authority to suspend any member of our Councill from sitting
voting and assisting therein, as you shall find just cause for so
doing.
And if it shall hereafter at any time happen that by the
death, departure out of our said territory, or suspension of any
of our Counselors, or otherwise, there shall be a vacancy in our
said Councill, (any five whereof wee do hereby appoint to be a
Quorum) Our will and pleasure is that you signify the same
unto us by the first opportunity, that Wee may under our
Signet and Sign Manuall constitute and appoint others in their
room.
And Wee do hereby give and grant unto you full power
and authority, by and with the advice and consent of our said
Councill or the major part of them, to make constitute and
ordain lawes statutes and ordinances for the public peace wel-
fare and good governm't of our said territory & dominion and
of the people and inhabitants thereof, and such others as shall
resort thereto, and for the benefit of us, our heires and suc-
cessors. Which said lawes statutes and ordinances are to be,
as near as conveniently may be, agreeable to the lawes & stat-
utes of this our kingdom of England: Provided that all such
lawes statutes and ordinances of what nature or duration so-
ever, be within three months, or sooner, after the making of
the same, transmitted unto Us, under our Seal of New Eng-
land, for our allowance or disapprobation of them, as also
duplicates thereof by the next conveyance.
1
228
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
And Wee do by these presents give and grant unto you full
power and authority by and with the advice and consent of
our said Councill, or the major part of them, to impose assess
and raise and levy such rates and taxes as you shall find neces-
sary for the support of the government within our territory and
dominion of New England, to be collected and levyed and to
be imployed to the uses aforesaid in such manner as to you &
our said Councill or the major part of them shall seem most
equall and reasonable.
And for the better supporting the charge of the governm't
of our said Territory and Dominion, our will and pleasure is,
and wee do be these presents authorize and impower you the
s'd S'r Edmund Andros and our Councill, to continue such
taxes and impositions as are now laid and imposed upon the
Inhabitants thereof, and to levy and distribute or cause the
same to be levyed and distributed to those ends in the best
and most equall manner, untill you shall by & with the advice
and consent of our Councill agree on and settle such other
taxes as shall be sufficient for the support of our government
there, which are to be applied to that use and no other.
And our further will and pleasure is, that all publick money
raised or to be raised or appointed for the support of the gov-
ernment within our said territory and dominion be issued out
by warrant or order from you by & with the advice and con-
sent of our Councill as aforesaid.
And our will and pleasure is that you shall and may keep
and use our Seal appointed by Us for our said territory and
dominion.
And wee do by these presents ordain constitute and appoint
you or the Commander in Cheif for the time being, and the
Councill of our said territory & dominion for the time being,
to be a constant and setled Court of Record for the administra-
tion of justice to all our subjects inhabiting within our said
Territory and Dominion, in all causes aswell civill as criminall
with full power and authority to hold pleas in all cases, from
time to time, as well in Pleas of the Crown and in all matters
relateing to the conservation of the peace and punishment of
offenders, as in Civill causes and actions between party and
party, or between us and any of our subjects there, whether
the same do concerne the realty and relate to any right of free-
hold & inheritance or whether the same do concerne the per-
sonalty, and relate to matter of debt contract damage or other
personall injury; and also in all mixt actions which may con-
cern both realty and personalty; and therein after due and
orderly proceeding and deliberate hearing of both sides, to
give judgement and to award execution, aswell in criminall as
in Civill cases as aforesaid, so as always that the forms of pro-
ceedings in such cases and the judgement thereupon to be
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
229
given, be as consonant and agreeable to the lawes and statutes
of this our realm of England as the present state and condi-
tion of our subjects inhabiting within our said Territory and
Dominion and the circumstances of the place will admitt.
And Wee do further hereby give and grant unto you full
power and authority with the advice and consent of our said
Council to erect constitute and establish such and so many
Courts of Judicature and public Justice within our said Terri-
tory and Dominion as you and they shall think fitt and neces-
sary for the determining of all causes aswell Criminall as Civill
according to law and equity, and for awarding of execution
thereupon, with all reasonable and necessary powers authori-
ties fees and privileges belonging unto them.
And Wee do hereby give and grant unto you full power and
authority to constitute and appoint Judges and in cases requi-
site Commissioners of Oyer and Terminer, Justices of the
Peace, Sheriffs, & all other necessary Officers and Ministers
within our said Territory, for the better administration of Jus-
tice and putting the lawes in execution, & to administer such
oath and oaths as are usually given for the due execution and
performance of offices and places and for the cleering of truth
in judiciall causes.
And our further will and pleasure is and Wee doe hereby
declare that all actings and proceedings at law or equity here-
tofore had or don or now depending within any of the courts
of our said Territory, and all executions thereupon, be hereby
confirmed and continued so farr forth as not to be avoided for
want of any legall power in the said Courts; but that all and
every such judiciall actings, proceeding, and execution shall be
of the same force effect and virtue as if such Courts had acted
by a just and legall authority.
And wee do further by these presents will and require you
to permit Appeals to be made in cases of Error from our Courts
in our said Territory and Dominion of New England unto you,
or the Commander in Cheif for the time being and the Councill,
in Civill causes: Provided the value appealed for do exceed the
sum of one hundred pounds sterling, and that security be first
duly given by the Appellant to answer such charges as shall
be awarded in case the first sentence shall be affirmed.
And whereas Wee judge it necessary that all our subjects
may have liberty to Appeal to our Royall Person in cases that
may require the same: Our will and pleasure is that if either
party shall not rest satisfied with the judgement or sentence of
you (or the Commander in Cheif for the time being) and the
Councill, they may Appeal unto Us in our Privy Councill: Pro-
vided the matter in difference exceed the value and summ of
three hundred pounds ster'g and that such Appeal be made
within one fortnight after sentence, and that security be like-
230
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
wise duly given by the Appellant to answer such charges as
shall be awarded in case the sentence of you (or the Com-
mander in Cheif for the time being) and the Councill be con-
firmed: and provided also that execution be not suspended by
reason of any such appeal unto us.
And Wee do hereby give and grant unto you full power
where you shall see cause and shall judge any offender or
offenders in capitall and criminall matters, or for any fines or
forfeitures due unto us, fit objects of our mercy, to pardon
such offenders, and to remitt such fines and forfeitures, treason.
and willfull murder only excepted, in which case you shall
likewise have power upon extraordinary occasions to grant
reprieves to the offenders therein untill and to the intent our
pleasure may be further known.
And Wee doe hereby give and grant unto you the said S'r
Edm'd Andros by your self your Captains and Commanders, by
you to be authorized, full power and authority to levy arme
muster command or imploy, all persons whatsoever residing
within our said Territory and Dominion of New England, and,.
as occasion shall serve, them to transferr from one place to
another for the resisting and withstanding all enemies pirats.
and rebells, both at land and sea, and to transferr such forces
to any of our Plantations in America or the Territories there-
unto belonging, as occasion shall require for the defence of the
same against the invasion or attempt of any of our enemies,.
and them, if occasion shall require to pursue and prosecute in
or out of the limits of our said Territories and Plantations or
any of them, And if it shall so please God, them to vanquish;
and, being taken, according to the law of arms to put to death
or keep and preserve alive, at your discretion. And also to
execute martiall law in time of invasion insurrection or warr,.
and during the continuance of the same, and upon soldiers.
in pay, and to do and execute all and every other thing which
to a Captain Generall doth or ought of right to belong, as fully
and amply as any our Captain Generall doth or hath usually
don.
And Wee do hereby give and grant unto you full power
and authority to erect raise and build within our Territory
and Dominion aforesaid, such and so many forts platformes,.
Castles, cities, boroughs, towns, and fortifications as you shall
judge necessary; and the same or any of them to fortify and
furnish with ordnance ammunition and all sorts of armes fit
and necessary for the security & defence of our said territory;
and the same again or any of them to demolish or dismantle
as may be most convenient.
And Wee do hereby give and grant unto you the said S'r
Edmund Andros full power and authority to erect one or more
Court or Courts Admirall within our said Territory and Do-
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
231
minion, for the hearing and determining of all marine and
other causes and matters proper therein to be heard & deter-
mined, with all reasonable and necessary powers, authorities
fees and priviledges.
And you are to execute all powers belonging to the place
and office of Vice Admirall of and in all the seas and coasts
about your Government; according to such commission
authority and instructions as you shall receive from ourself
under the Seal of our Admiralty or from our High Admirall
of our Forreign Plantations for the time being.
And forasmuch as divers mutinies & disorders do happen
by persons shipped and imployed at Sea, and to the end that
such as shall be shipped or imployed at Sea may be the better
governd and ordered; Wee do hereby give and grant unto you
the said S'r Edmund Andros our Captain Generall and Gov-
ernor in Cheif, full power and authority to constitute and
appoint Captains, Masters of Ships, and other Commanders,
and to grant unto such Captains Masters of Shipps and other
Commanders, commissions to execute the law martial, and to
use such proceedings authorities, punishments, correction and
execution upon any offender or offenders who shall be muti-
nous seditious, disorderly or any way unruly either at sea or
during the time of their abode or residence in any of the ports
harbors or bays of our said Territory and Dominion, as the
cause shall be found to require, according to martial law.
Provided that nothing herein conteined shall be construed to
the enabling you or any by your authority to hold plea or have
jurisdiction of any offence cause matter or thing committed
or don upon the sea or within any of the havens, rivers, or
creeks of our said Territory and Dominion under your govern-
ment, by any Captain Commander Lieutenant Master or other
officer seaman soldier or person whatsoever, who shall be in
actuall service and pay in and on board any of our shipps of
Warr or other vessells acting by immediat commission or
warrant from our self under the Seal of our Admiralty, or
from our High Admirall of England for the time being: but
that such Captain Commander Lieu't Master officer seaman
soldier and other person so offending shall be left to be pro-
ceeded against and tryed, as the meritt of their offences shall
require, either by Commission under our Great Seal of Eng-
land as the statute of 28 Henry VIII directs, or by commis-
sion from our said High Admirall, according to the Act of
Parliament passed in the 13th year of the raign of the late
King our most dear and most intirely beloved brother of ever
blessed memory (entituled An Act for the establishing arti-
cles and Orders for the regulating and better governm't of His
Ma'tys navys, shipps of warr, and Forces by sea) and not
otherwise. Saving only, that it shall and may be lawfull for
232
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
you, upon such Captains or Commanders refusing or neglect-
ing to execute, or upon his negligent or undue execution of
any the written orders he shall receive from you for our serv-
ice, & the service of our said Territory and Dominion, to
suspend him the said Captain or Commander from the exer-
cise of the said office of Commander and commit him into safe
custody, either on board his own ship or elswhere, at the dis-
cretion of you, in order to his being brought to answer for the
same by commission either under our Great Seal of England
or from our said High Admirall as is before expressed. In
which case our will and pleasure is that the Captain or Com-
mander so by you suspended shall during such his suspension
and committm't be succeeded in his said office, by such com-
mission or Warrant Officer of our said ship appointed by our
self or our High Admirall for the time being, as by the known
practice and discipline of our Navy doth and ought next to
succeed him, as in case of death sickness or other ordinary
disability hapning to the Commander of any of our ships &
not otherwise; you standing also accountable to us for the
truth & importance of the crimes and misdemeanors for which
you shall so proceed to the suspending of such our said Cap-
tain or Commander. Provided also that all disorders and
misdemeanors committed on shore by any Captain Command-
er, Lieuten't, Master, or other officer seaman soldier or person
whatsoever belonging to any of our ships of warr or other
vessells acting by immediat commission or warr't from our
self under the Great Seal of our Admiralty or from our High
Adm'll of England for the time being may be tryed & pun-
ished according to lawes of the place where any such dis-
orders offences and misdemeanors shall be so committed on
shore notwithstanding such offender be in our actuall service
and borne in our pay on board any such our shipps of warr or
other vessells acting by immediate Commission or warrant
from our self or our High Admirall as aforesaid; so as he shall
not receive any protection (for the avoiding of justice for such
offences committed on shore) from any pretence of his being
imployed in our service at sea.
And Wee do likewise give and grant unto you full power
and authority by and with the advice and consent of our said
Councill to agree with the planters and inhabitants of our said
Territory and Dominion concerning such lands tenements &
hereditaments as now are or hereafter shall be in our power
to dispose of, and them to grant unto any person or persons
for such termes and under such moderat Quit Rents, Services
and acknowledgements to be thereupon reserved unto us as
shall be appointed by us. Which said grants are to pass and
be sealed by our Seal of New England and (being entred upon
record by such officer or officers as you shall appoint there-
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
233
unto, shall be good and effectuall in law against us, our heires
and successors.
And Wee do give you full power and authority to appoint
so many faires martes and markets as you with the advice of
the said Councill shall think fitt.
As likewise to order and appoint within our said Territory
such and so many ports harbors, bayes havens and other
places for the convenience and security of shipping, and for
the better loading and unloading of goods and merchandize
as by you with the advice and consent of our Councill shall be
thought fitt and necessary; and in them or any of them to erect
nominat and appoint Custom houses ware houses and officers
relating thereunto; and them to alter change, place, or dis-
place from time to time, as with the advice aforesaid shall be
thought fitt.
And forasmuch as pursuant to the lawes & customes of our
Colony of the Massachusetts Bay and of our other Colonies and
Provinces aforementioned, divers marriages have been made
and performed by the Magstrats of our said territory; Our
royall will and pleasure is hereby to confirm all the said mar-
riages and to direct that they be held good and valid in the
same manner to all intents and purposes whatsoever as if they
had been made and contracted according to the lawes estab-
lished within our kingdom of England.
And Wee do here by require and command all officers and
ministers, civill and military and all other inhabitants of our
said Territory and Dominion to be obedient aiding and assist-
ing unto you the said S'r Edm'd Andros in the execution of
this our commission and of the powers and authorityes therein
conteined, and upon your death or absence out of our said
Territory unto our Lieut. Governor, to whom wee do there-
fore by these presents give and grant all and singular the
powers and authorityes aforesaid to be exercised and enjoyed
by him in case of your death or absence during our pleasure,
or untill your arrivall within our said Territory and Dominion;
as Wee do further hereby give and grant full power and
authority to our Lieut. Governor to do and execute whatso-
ever he shall be by you authorized and appointed to do and
execute, in pursuance of and according to the powers and
authoritys granted to you by this Commission.
And if in case of your death or absence there be no person
upon the place, appointed by us to be Commander in Cheif; our
will and pleasure is, that the then present Councill of our Terri-
tory aforesaid, do take upon them the administration of the
Governm't and execute this commission and the severall pow-
ers and authoritys herein conteined; and that the first Coun-
selor who shall be at the time of yo'r death or absence residing
within the same, do preside in our said Councill, with such
234
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
powers and preheminencies as any former President hath used
and enjoyed within our said territory, or any other our planta-
tions in America, untill our pleasure be further known, or
your arrivall as aforesaid.
And lastly, our will and pleasure is that you the said S'r
Edmund Andros shall and may hold exercise and enjoy the
office and place of Captain Generall and Governor in Cheif in
and over our Territory and Dominion aforesaid, with all its
rights members and appurtenances whatsoever, together with
all and singular the powers and authorityes hereby granted
unto you, for and during our will and pleasure.
In Witness whereof Wee have caused these our letters to
be made Patents. Witness our self at Westminster the sev-
enth day of Aprill in the fourth year of our raign. [1688]
By Writ of Privy Seal
Clerke
[INSTRUCTIONS FOR SIR EDMUND ANDROS.]
[Archives of England, New England, vol. XXXIII, p. 392. Documents Re-
lating to the Colonial History of the State of New York, vol. III, pp. 543-549,
April 16, 1688.]
INSTRUCTIONS TO OUR TRUSTY AND WELBELOVED S'R EDMUND
ANDROS KN'T OUR CAPTAIN GENERALL AND GOVERNOR IN
CHEIF IN AND OVER OUR TERRITORY AND DOMINION OF NEW
ENGLAND IN AMERICA.
With these our Instructions you will receive our Commis-
sion under our Great Seal of England constituting you our
Captain Generall & Governor in Cheif in and over our Colonies
of the Massachusetts Bay and New Plymouth, our Province
of New Hampshire and Main, the Narraganset Country or
King's Province, our Colonies of Road Island and Connecti-
cutt, our Province of New York and East and West Jersey,
and all of that tract of land circuit continent precincts and
limits in America lying and being in breadth from Forty
Degrees of Northern Latitude from the Equinoctiall Line to
the River St. Croix Eastward, and from thence directly North-
ward to the River of Canada and in length and longitude by
all the bredth aforesaid throughout the Main Land from the
Atlantic or Western Sea and Ocean on the East part, to the
South Sea on the West part; with all the islands seas rivers
waters, rights members and appurtenances thereunto belong-
ing (our Province of Pensylvania and country of Delaware
only excepted), to be called and known as formerly by the
name and title of our Territory and Dominion of New Eng-
land in America.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWs, 1688.
235
And you are accordingly forthwith to take upon you the
execution of the place and trust Wee have reposed in you, and
with all convenient speed to call together the Members of the
Councill by name Joseph Dudley, William Staughton Robert
Mason Anthony Brockholls Thomas Hinckley, Walter Clark,
Robert Treat John Fitz Winthrop, John Nicholson, Frederick
Philips, Jervis Baxter, John Pinchon, Peter Buckley, Wait
Winthrop, Richard Wharton, Stephen Courtland, John Usher,
Bartholomew Gidney, Jonathan Ting, John Hincks, Edward
Ting, Barnaby Lathrop, John Sandford, William Bradford,
Daniel Smith, Edward Randolph, John Spragg, John Walley,
Nathaniel Clerke John Coxhill, Walter Newberry, John Green,
Richard Arnold, John Alborough, Samuel Shrimpton, John
Young, Nicholas Bayard, John Palmer, William Brown Jun-
ior, Simon Linds, Richard Smith, and John Allen, Esquires.
At which meeting after having published our said Commis-
sion or Letters Patents, constituting you our Captain Generall
and Governor in Cheif of our said Territory and Dominion,
you shall (after first taken the like Oath your self) administer
to the Members of our Councill, the Oath for the due execu-
tion of their places and trusts.
And your are to communicate unto our said Councill from
time to time such and so many of our instructions as you shall
find convenient for our service to be imparted unto them.
And you are to permit the Members of our Councill to have
and enjoy the freedom of debate and votes in all things to be
debated by them.
And although by our Commission aforesaid Wee have
thought fit to direct that any five of our Councelors make a
quorum; it is nevertheless our will and pleasure that you do
not act with a quorum of less than seven Members, unless
upon extraordinary emergencies.
:
And that wee may always be informed of the names of per-
sons fit to supply the vacancies of our Councill, you are to
transmit unto us by one of our Principall Secretaries of State
and to the Lords of our Privy Councill appointed a Committee
for Trade and Foreign Plantations, with all convenient speed,
the names and characters of twelve persons, inhabitants of
our said Territory whom you shall esteem the best qualified
for that trust; and so from time to time when any of them
shall dye, depart out of our said Territory, or upon any other
occasion, you are to supply the first number of twelve persons
by nominating others to Us in their stead.
And our will and pleasure is that you do not suspend any
of the Members of our said Councill without good and suffi-
cient cause; and in case of suspension of any of them, you are
forthwith to transmitt unto us as aforesaid and to our Com-
mittee for Trade and Forreign Plantations, your reasons for so
236
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
doing, together with the charge and proof against the said
persons, and their answer thereunto.
And in the nomination of any Members of our said Coun-
cill unto Us upon any vacancy, as also in the choice of the
Cheif Officers, Judges, Assistants, Justices and Sheriffs, you
are always to take especiall care that they be men of estate
and abilities, and not necessitous people or much in debt, and
that they may be persons well affected to the government.
Our will and pleasure is that all lawes statutes and ordi-
nances within our Territory and Dominion of New England
aforesaid shall continue and be in full force and vigor, so farr
forth as they do not in any wise contradict impeach or dero-
gate from our said Commission Orders or instructions untill
such time as with the advice and consent of the Councill you
shall pass other lawes for the good government of our said Ter-
ritory and Dominion, which you are to do with all convenient
speed.
And Wee do further charge and require you to transmitt
authentick copies under the public Seal, of all lawes statutes
and ordinances which at any time shall be made and enacted
within our said Territory and Dominion, unto Us as aforesaid
and to our Committee for Trade and Plantations, within three
months, or sooner, after their being enacted, together with
duplicats thereof by the next conveyance, upon pain of our
highest displeasure, and of the forfeiture of that years salary,
wherein you shall at any time or upon any pretence whatso-
ever omit to send over the said lawes and ordinances as afore-
said, within the time above limited, as also of such other pen-
alty as wee shall please to inflict.
And if any lawes statutes and ordinances made and enacted
by you and our Councill, or by the Commander in Cheif and
Councill of New England for the time being, shall at any time
be disallowed and not approved, and so signified by Us, our
heires, or successors, under our or their Sign manual and Sig-
net, or by order of our or their Privy Councill unto you the
said S'r Edmund Andros or the Commander in Cheif of our
said Territory and Dominion for the time being; then such
and so many of them as shall be so disallowed and not ap-
proved, shall from thence forth cease determine and become
void.
And you are to observe in the passing of lawes that the Stile
of enacting the same by the Governor and Councill, be hence-
forth used and no other.
And Wee do hereby signify unto you our express commands
that all writs be issued in our Royall Name throughout our
said Territory and Dominion.
You are to take especiall care that no act or order be passed
within our said Territory in any case for levying fines and
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
237
inflicting penalties, whereby the same shall not be reserved
to us for the publick uses of the government; as by the said
act or order shall be directed.
Whereas by our commission aforesaid Wee have given unto
you full power and authority with the advice and consent of
our Councill or the major part of them, to impose assess raise
and levy such rates and taxes as you shall find necessary for
the support of the government of our said Territory; our will
and pleasure is that you continue to raise and levy such rates
taxes and impositions as are now or have lately been laid and
imposed within our said Territory, untill upon further exam-
ination and inquiry you shall represent unto Us the nature
and quality of such rates and impositions, how the same are
raised and levyed and what other taxes may be raised and
levyed and to what value yearly, as also what shall be neces-
sary for the support of the annuall charge of our government
there.
You shall not permit any publick money whatsoever to be
issued or disposed of otherwise then by your order or warrant
under your hand.
And you are to cause the accompts of all such money or
value of money, attested by you, to be transmitted every half
year to our Committee of Trade and Plantations, and to our
High Treasurer or Comm'rs of our Treasury for the time being;
wherein shall be specified every particular summ received or
disposed of, together with the names of the persons, to whom
any paym't shall be made and for what uses, with sufficient
vouchers for every payment; to the end Wee may be satisfied
of the due application of the revenue, raised or to be raised
within our said Territory.
You shall not remitt any fines or forfeitures whatsoever
above the summ of ten pounds before or after sentence given,
nor dispose of any escheats, untill you shall have first signi-
fied unto us, to the Comm'rs of our Treasury or High Treasurer
for the time being, and to our Committee of Plantations, the
nature of the offence or occasion of such fines forfeitures or
escheats, with the particular summs or value thereof, and
shall have received our directions therein.
And whereas there are great tracts of land within our said
Territory and Dominion yet undisposed of, and other lands
tenements and hereditaments for w'ch our royall confirma-
tion may be wanting; Wee do hereby authorize you to dispose
of such lands for a moderate Quit Rent, not under two shillings
six pence for every hundred acres; and to reserve such ac-
knowledgm'ts unto us for the confirmation of other lands
tenements & hereditaments as you shall think most equitable
and conduceing to our service.
238
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
And whereas Wee are willing to provide for the support of
our government in our said Territory by setting apart suffi-
cient allowances to the Commanders in Cheif residing for the
time being within the same; our pleasure is that when it shall
happen that you shall be absent from that our Territory, one
full moiety of the salary and of all perquisites and emoluments
whatsoever which would otherwise become due unto you, shall
during the time of your absence be paid and satisfied unto
such Commander in Cheif who shall be resident upon the place;
which wee do hereby order and allott unto him for his better
maintenance and for the support of the dignity of that our
government.
You are to require the Secretary of our said Territory for
the time being, to furnish you with transcripts of all such
acts and Publick Orders as shall be made from time to time,
together with a copy of the Journal of the Councill, to the
end the same may be transmitted unto us as aforesaid, and to
our Committee for Trade and Plantations, which he is duly to
perform, upon pain of incurring the forfeiture of his place.
You shall not displace or suspend any of the Judges Jus-
tices Sheriffs or other cheif officers within our said Territory,
without good and sufficient cause; which you are thereupon to
signify to us and to our Committee of Plantations.
All Military Officers upon misbehaviour and unfaithfulness
in the execution of their trusts, you shall and may suspend
or discharge, as shall appear, upon due examination thereof,
most agreeable to justice.
You are to transmitt unto us with all convenient speed, a
particular accompt of all establishments, of jurisdictions,
courts, offices and officers, powers, authoritys, fees and priv-
iledges which shall be granted or setled within our said Ter-
ritory; to the end you may receive our approbation and direc-
tions therein.
And whereas since our Accession to the Crown, Wee have
appointed a new Seal for our Colonies of New England, as also
another Seal for our Province of New York, which being now
united under one governm't, Wee do hereby direct and require
that the Seal appointed for the said colony of New England be
henceforth made use of for all that our Territory and Dominion
in its largest extent & boundaries aforementioned; and that
the Seal for our Province of New York be forthwith broken
and defaced in your presence.
You shall take especiall care with the advice and consent of
our said Councill, to regulate all salaries and fees belonging
to places or paid upon emergencies, that they may be within
the bounds of moderation, and that no exaction be made upon
any occasion whatsoever.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
239
You are to take care that drunkenness and debauchery,
swearing and blasphemy, be severely punished; and that none
be admitted to publick trusts and imployments whose ill fame
and conversation may bring a scandall thereupon.
You are to permitt a liberty of conscience in matters of reli-
gion to all persons, so they be contented with a quiet and
peaceable enjoym't of it, pursuant to our gracious declaration
bearing date the fourth day of Aprill in the third year of our
reign; w'ch you are to cause to be duly observed and put in
execution.
And Wee do hereby require and command that no mans life
member freehold or goods be taken away, but by established
and known lawes, not repugnant to, but as much as conven-
iently may be, agreeable to the lawes of our Kingdom of
England.
You shall take care that all planters, merchants, and chris-
tian servants shall be well and fitly provided with arms, and
that they be listed under officers, and when and as often as
you shall think fit, mustered and trained, whereby they may
be in a better readiness for the defence of our Territory and
Dominion aforesaid, or of any other of our plantations in case
of distress; wherein you shall, upon the application of the
respective Governors, assist them with what aid the condi-
tion and safety of your government may premitt.
You are nevertheless to take especiall care that neither the
frequency nor unreasonableness of remote marches musters
and trainings, be an unnecessary impediment to the affairs of
the inhabitants or planters under your government.
You shall take an inventary of all armes ammunition and
stores remaining in any of our magazines and garrisons within
our said Territory and send an account of them yearly to Us,
by one of our Principall Secretaries of State, and to our Com-
mittee for Trade and Plantations.
And you are also to demand an account of what other armes
and ammunition have been formerly bought with publick
money there, for the security of our said Territory, and the
same to transmitt unto us by one of our Principall Secretaries
of State, and to our Committee for Trade and Foreign Plan-
tations.
You are to take especiall care that fit store houses be setled
throughout our said Territory, for receiving and keeping of
armes and ammunition and other publick stores.
And you shall transmitt unto us by the first opportunity a
Mapp with the exact description of all the whole country as
farr as any discovery shall be made thereof, and of the severall
fortifications you shall find or erect there.
And that Wee may be the better informed of the trade of our
said Territory, you are, with the advice and consent of our
240
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
Councill, to take care that due entrys be made in all ports, of
all goods and commodities imported or exported from thence,
and from and to what places they come and go; and that a
yearly account thereof be transmitted by you unto Us, by our
High Treasurer or Comm'rs of our Treasury for the time being,
and to our Committee for Trade and Foreign Plantations.
Our will and pleasure is that you do from time to time give
us an account of what strength your bordering neighbors are,
be they Indians or others, by sea and land, and what corre-
spondency you keep with them.
And when any oppertunity shall offer for purchasing great
tracts of lands for Us from the Indians for small summs, you
are to use your discretion therein, as you shall judge of the con-
venience prejudice or advantage that may arise unto us by the
same.
Whereas Joseph Dudley Esq're and others by their petition
have humbly prayed our royall grant and confirmation of
certain lands lying upon the River Merrimack and the Lake-
Wenepesioco in New England, together with the fishing of the
said River and Lake; you are to examine the said petition, and
to report unto Us your opinion what may be fit for Us to do
therein.
You are to suppress the ingrossing of commodities tending
to the prejudice of that freedom which commerce and trade
ought to have, and to settle such orders and regulations therein
with the advice of our Councill as may be most acceptable to
the generality of the Inhabitants.
You are to give all due encouragement and invitation to
merchants and others who shall bring trade unto our said
Territory, and in particular to the Royall African Company
of England.
And you are to take care that there be no trading from our
said Territory to any place or part in Africa within the charter
of the Royall African Company; and you are not to suffer any
shipps to be sent thither, without their leave and authority.
And Wee do hereby strictly command and enjoin you care-
fully to observe the treaties concluded by Us with any For-
rein Prince or State; and in case any private injury or damage
shall be offered or don to any of our subjects in those parts
by the subjects of any such Prince or State, you shall take care
to give Us an account thereof with all convenient speed and
not to permitt or encourage reparations thereof to be sought
in any other way, then such as shall be agreeable to the said
treaties, and the instructions herewith given you.
And whereas Wee are informed of great disorders and dep-
redations dayly committed by pirats & others to the prejudice
of our allyes, contrary to the treatys between Us and the good
correspondency which ought to be maintained between Chris-
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
241
tian Princes and States; and there being a law passed in our
Island of Jamaica against such unwarrantable proceedings;
Our will and pleasure is that such a law (a copy whereof is
herewith delivered unto you) be passed within our Territory
and Dominion of New England, which you are to transmitt
unto Us as aforesaid by the first oppertunity.
And whereas Wee think it fit for the better administration
of justice that a law be passed wherein shall be set the value
of men's estates, either in goods or lands, under which they
shall not be capable of serving as Jurors; you are therefore
by the first oppertunity of transmitting any lawes hither for
our approbation, to send one for that purpose.
You shall pass a law for the restraining of inhuman severity
which by ill masters or overseers may be used towards the
christian servants or slaves; wherein provision is to be made
that the wilfull killing of Indians and Negros be punished
with death, and a fitt penalty imposed for the maiming of
them.
And you are also with the assistance of our Councill to find
out the best means to facilitate and encourage the conversion
of Negros and Indians to the Christian religion.
You are to endeavor with the assistance of the Councill to
provide for the raising of stocks and building publick work
houses in convenient places, for the imploying of poor and
indigent people.
You are likewise from time to time to give Us, by one of our
principal Secretaries of State and our Committee for Trade
and Forreign Plantations an account of the wants and defects
of our said Territory, what are the cheif products thereof,
what new improvements the industry or invention of the plant-
ers hath affoarded, what probable advantages may be gained
by trade, and which way you conceive Wee may contribute
towards them.
And forasmuch as great inconveniences may arise by the
liberty of printing within our said Territory, under your Gov-
ernment, you are to provide by all necessary orders, that no
person keep any printing press for printing, nor that any book
pamphlet or other matter whatsoever be printed without your
especiall leave and license first obtained.
You are to encourage all you can the severall Indians on the
Continent, upon all occasions, that they may apply them-
selves to the English trade and nation, rather than any others
in Europe.
And whereas Wee have received information that the
French have lately made an attempt upon the Five Nations or
Cantons of Indians, who from all times have submitted them-
selves to our government, and by their acknowledgm'ts of
our Sovereignty are become our subjects; and that divers of
16
242
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
our subjects, as well Indians as others, have been surprized
and deteined in Canada; Wee do therefore think fit that you
forthwith demand from the Governor of Canada the setting at
liberty our said subjects, as well Indians as others, surprized
by them in the lawfull prosecution of their trade, together
with the restitution of their goods and effects. And as We
are sensible of what great prejudice it may be to Us and our
subjects if any incroachm't be allowed upon our Dominion,
or the French permitted to invade our Territories or to annoy
our subjects, without a due care in Us to preserve the peace
of our Governm't and to give all due protection to such as
have brought themselves under our subjection; Wee do there-
fore hereby charge and require you to give notice at the same
time to the said Governor of Canada, that upon mature con-
sideration Wee have thought fit to own the Five Nations or
Cantons of the Indians viz't the Maquaes, Sinecas, Cayougues,
Oneydes, and Onondagues, as our subjects, and resolve to pro-
tect them as such; so as nevertheless upon information of any
injury offered or which shall be offered or don by them to any
of the subjects of our good Brother the most Christian King,
to cause, as Wee do hereby direct you to cause intire satisfac-
tion to be made for the same, and the Indians withheld from
disturbing the French in any manner whatsoever. Provided
they do abstein on their parts from making warr upon those
Indians our subjects or doing them any injury. And in case
the people of Canada shall notwithstanding this Declaration
persevere in invading our Dominions and annoying those
Indians, you are with the utmost of your power to defend and
protect them; and if need shall require, to levy arm or imploy
all persons residing with in yo'r Governm't in the resisting
and withstanding the invasion or attempts of the French; and
them, if there shall be occasion, to pursue in or out of the lim-
its of your said Governm't and to do and execute all and every
other thing w'ch you shall find necessary for the protecting
our subjects & preserving our rights in those parts. And for
the better performance thereof, Wee do hereby give you full
power and authority to erect and build such forts castles and
platformes, and in such place or places as to you shall seem
requisite for this service. And in case it shall happen that
upon this occasion the aid or assistance of our neighboring
Colonies may be usefull; you are to give notice thereof to our
severall Governors and Proprietors in any of our plantations
upon the Continent of America, to whom Wee have already
sent orders to affoard you such help as the exigency shall
require.
And whereas for the composing of severall disputes and dif-
ferences that have arisen between our subjects and the sub-
jects of our good Brother the Most Christian King, in Amer-
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
243
ica, and for the preventing further occasions of controversy
in those parts, Wee have lately thought fitt to constitute and
appoint Comm'rs to treat with the Comm'rs appointed by our
said good Brother the most Christian King, for the purpose
aforesaid, as also to settle and determine the bounds and lim-
its of the Colonies Islands, and territories within our respect-
ive Dominions or depending on Us in America, for the accom-
plishm't whereof a further time will be requisit in regard of
the distance of those places from whence the necessary infor-
mations are to be received, Wee have therefore authorized
and impowered our said Comm'rs to sign and seal an Instru-
ment with the Comm'rs of the Most Christian King for the
preventing all acts of hostility or violent proceedings between
our respective subjects (a Copy whereof is herewith sent unto
you.) And Wee do accordingly expect from you a conform-
ity to our directions herein, by avoiding all occasions of mis-
understanding between our subjects and those of the Most
Christian King, without permitting any hurt to be don them
in their persons or estates untill the day of January 1688.
and after that time untill Wee shall send you new orders
under our Sign Manuall; it being our pleasure that you enter-
tain a good correspondence with the Governor and Officers of
the said King in those parts, and take care that no just com-
plaint be brought unto Us against you in that behalf.
1
11
And to the end the said Limits and Boundaries may be
setled before the day of January next, and that our Com-
m'rs may be well informed of the full extent of our Territory
and Dominion of New England and its dependencies; you are
forthwith to give us an exact account and full information of
the Boundaries and Limits thereof, and of the Indians and
Territories depending thereon; which you are to do with all
convenient speed.
Lastly. If any thing shall happen that may be of advan-
tage and security to our said Territory which is not herein or
by our commission provided for; Wee do hereby allow unto
you, with the advice and consent of our Councill, to take order
for the present therein; giving Us speedy notice thereof, that
you may receive our ratification if Wee shall approve the same.
Provided always, and our will and pleasure is, that you do
not by color of any power or authority hereby given you, com-
mence or declare warr without our knowledge and command
therein; except it be against Indians upon emergencies,
wherein the consent of our Councill shall be had. And you
are to give a particular account thereof with all speed unto Us,
by one of our Principall Secretarys of State, and to the Lords
of our Privy Councill appointed a Committee for Trade and
Forreign Plantations; as in the generall of all publick proceed-
244
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
ings from time to time, and of the condition of affaires within
your Government.
Given at our Court at Whitehall the 16th day of Aprill
1688, in the fourth year of our Reign
By His Majesty's Command
Sunderland P.
[ORDERS IN COUNCIL.]
[DECEMBER 20, 1686, TO APRIL 19, 1689.]
[These orders are copies or abstracts primarily from the minutes of coun-
cil, records, and files in the office of the secretary of the commonwealth of
Massachusetts, relating to the administration of Sir Edmund Andros, sup-
plemented by additional excerpts from the original journal for the first
four months, which is in the possession of the American Antiquarian Society
at Worcester, Mass. (Palfrey's History of New England, ed. of 1890, vol. 3,
p. 518, note 2.) The records of that period are fragmentary at best, and the
following extracts, moreover, are not to be regarded as embodying an
attempt to present a complete exhibit of what is shown by documents which
are now accessible. The purpose is merely to supplement the presentation
of the commissions, instructions, and acts, by the addition of such abstracts.
and titles as will indicate the jurisdiction which the governor and coun-
cil exercised in this government, both as respects the subject matter with
which they had to do, and the methods of procedure under the powers.
granted them by the royal authority. It will be understood that the orders
and other memoranda here given are from the copies of records in the
English archives made for the commonwealth of Massachusetts and now
in the custody of the secretary at the state house in Boston, unless it is spe-
cially stated that the order or extract is from the journal which is in the
custody of the American Antiquarian Society. The journal copy in the
office of the secretary of the commonwealth, above mentioned, includes
only the period from December 20, 1686, to December 29, 1687. Council
Records, vol. 2, pp. 105-161.]
[CHAPTER 1.]
[ORDER FOR CONTINUING THE GOVERNMENT.]
1
[Passed December 20, 1686. From the American Antiquarian Society
manuscript.]
Ordered that the following Declaration be forthwith passed
and Published in these words
By his Ex'ce the Governour, and Councill./
These are to declare and Publish That all Officers Civill and
Military and the Officers of his Ma'tys Revenues, togeather
w'th all Dutyes and Imposts as now Setled in this Town of
Boston, and other parts of this Government are hereby Con-
tinued till further Order, and all persons are required to Con-
form thereto accordingly
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
245
[CHAPTER 2.]
[ORDER FOR DISTRIBUTION OF THE DECLARATION.]
[Passed December 21, 1686. From the American Antiquarian Society
manuscript.]
Ordered that Copies of the Declaration made by his Ex'ce
and Councill on the 20th Instant, be Sent to the Severall
Clerks of the County Courts in this Governm't for their Direc-
tion./
[CHAPTER 3.]
[ORDER FOR ISSUING NEW COMMISSIONS.]
[Passed December 30, 1686. From the American Antiquarian Society
manuscript.]
Ordered by his Excellence that the names of fitt persons be
returned and That New Commissions for Civill & Military
officers throw the whole Dominion be forthwith prepared &
Sent to the severall colonyes & provinces accordingly.
[CHAPTER 4.]
[ORDER FOR CONTINUING TOWN GOVERNMENTS.]
[Passed January 3, 1686-7. From the American Antiquarian Society
manuscript.]
Ordered That the Select Men, Constables, Overseers of the
poor and all other Town Officers for manageing the Pruden-
tiall Affaires thereof be Continued and elected and are to act
in all Town Affaires in their Severall bounds as formerly./
[CHAPTER 5.]
[ORDER FOR DUTIES AND IMPOSTS IN THE SEVERAL GOVERN-
MENTS.]
[Passed January 3, 1686-7. From the American Antiquarian Society
manuscript.]
Ordered That the late Dutyes and Imposts of twenty shil-
lings per hoggshead upon Wine Rum &c now Payed in the
Colony of the Massathusetts, be likewise Collected and paid
in the Severall Late Governments of New Plymouth, Road
Island and Providence Plantation, and also Kings Province
upon every hoggshead of Wine Rumme &c Imported and Con-
sumed there which Dutyes and Imposts are to commence from
and after the Publication of this Order./ and to be paid to
Such officers as by his Ex'ce the Governour shall be thereunto
appointed.
246
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
[CHAPTER 6.]
[ORDER FOR A COMMISSION TO REVISE THE LAWS.]
[Passed January 3, 1686-7. From the American Antiquarian Society
manuscript.]
Ordered That a standing Committee be appointed to revise
the Lawes of the Severall late Governments of the Massathu-
setts Bay New Plymouth, Road Island &c and to make a Col-
lection of Such as are fit and necessary for the use of this Gov-
ernment.
[CHAPTER 7.]
[ORDER FOR PAYING PUBLIC CHARGES.]
[Passed January 4, 1686-7.]
Ordered That the Treasurer pay the arrears & publick
charges of the Forts and Castles
[CHAPTER 8.]
[ORDER FOR A SINGLE RATE.]
[Passed January 4, 1686-7.]
That a single Country Rate of one penny in the pound be
levyed & collected in all the late Colonyes and Provinces,
towards defraying the publick charge of this his Maj'tes Gov-
ernment.
[CHAPTER 9.]
[ORDER FOR COLLECTING THE RATE.]
[Passed January 12, 1686-7.]
Ordered That the Secretary send the order of Council of
the 4th instant to the Treasurer for Collecting the Rate to his
Maj'tie, and that the Treasurer issue out his Warrants for
collecting the same accordingly.
[CHAPTER 10.]
[ORDER FOR SHIPPING PORTS.]
[Passed January 22, 1686-7, according to the copy in the Massachusetts
archives. This section is not found in the American Antiquarian Society
manuscript.]
Upon Mr Randolph's proposeing it very necessary for his
Maj'ties service that Ports be appointed for loading and un-
livering shipps and Vessells in this Dominion:
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
247
It was Ordered: That the severall Towns, of Boston, Salem,
Piscataqua, New Bristoll & Newport in Road Island be the
only allowed Ports in this Dominion.
[CHAPTER 11.]
[ORDER PROHIBITING PRINTING WITHOUT A LICENSE.]
[Passed January 28, 1686-7. From the American Antiquarian Society
manuscript.]
Ordered That no Papers, books, or Pamphletts be henceforth
printed either in Boston or Cambridge untill Licensed accord-
ing to Law. And that No Printer be admitted of and Licensed
to Print untill he hath Given five hundred pound bound to
his ma❜ty in the secretarys office not to print any unlicensed
papers, books or Pamphletts.
That Copies of Books &c to be printed be first perused by
mr Dudley late Presid't and upon his Allowance of them for
the Press, that one Copie thereof so allowed and attested by
him be brought to the Secr'ys Office to be left on Record, and
receive from him an Imprimator./
[CHAPTER 12.]
[ORDER FOR CHANGING THE COURTS.]
[Passed February 4, 1686-7. From the American Antiquarian Society
manuscript.]
Ordered That the Court where Civill and Criminal Causes
are tryed be altered and made more convenient for that pur-
pose
[CHAPTER 13.]
[ORDER FIXING THE TIMES OF HOLDING COURTS.]
[Passed February 25, 1686-7. From the American Antiquarian Society
manuscript.]
Ordered That the four first tuesdays in March, June Septem-
b'r and Decemb'r be the times of holding Quarterly Courts
thro' the whole Territory.
[CHAPTER 14.]
[ORDER REGULATING THE ISSUE OF WRITS.]
[Passed February 25, 1686-7, A. M. From the American Antiquarian
Society manuscript.]
Ordered That all Writts should issue out of the Clerks Office
in the Severall Courts w'thin this Dom' in his Ma'ties Name
and under the Seal of the Office and signed by the Clerk
248
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
[CHAPTER 15.]
[ORDER REGULATING THE PAYMENT OF DUTIES.]
[Passed February 25, 1686-7, P. M. From the American Antiquarian
Society manuscript.]
Ordered That all masters prodúceing a Certificate from the
Officers of the Customes That the dutyes were paid at the port
of unlivery such goods shall pay no other dutyes and that care
be taken for Masters to know their duty therein./
[CHAPTER 16.]
[ORDER FOR CONTINUING ACTIONS IN THE SUPERIOR COURT.]
[Passed March 1, 1686-7.]
Ordered: That the following Proclamation be forthwith pub-
lished.
BY THE GOVERNOUR & COUNCILL.
All Persons concerned in any action depending from the late
Inferiour Courts of this Countey or other Counteys within this
his Maj'ties Dominions, and appointed to be heard by the
Grand Assize the first day of March at Boston, or other supe-
riour Court in any part of this Territory are to take notice,
that the said Causes as also all Originall Processes that have
been out to any further Courts wherein any Freehold is con-
cerned or other action above the value of twenty pounds in the
County of Suffolk, or tenn pounds in any other County or Prov-
ince are continued to be heard by the Superiour Court of Judi-
cature at their first Sessions in the severall Countyes and Pre-
cincts as the same are now appointed and Limited in an Act
passed by the Gov'r and Councill for that end.
God save the King
Ordered That copies of the Proclamation be sent to the sev-
erall Clerks of the County Courts for their direction.
[CHAPTER 17.]
[ORDER MAKING THE SECRETARY ALSO THE REGISTER.]
[Passed March 5, 1686-7.]
It was ordered and Assented to That the Sec'ry is Register
of the Government, and do appoint his Dep'ties, and to have
fees according to his Commission./
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
249
[CHAPTER 18.]
[ORDER CONTINUING FORMER LOCAL LAWs.]
[Passed March 8, 1686-7.]
The following Proclamation relateing to Locall Laws and
orders not yet revised Ordered to be published and proclaimed.
By the Governour & Councill.
Whereas there are severall Laws and orders not yet revised
for which Bills are Ordered to be prepared against the next
session of the Councill, and that there be no defect for want
thereof in the meantime; It is Ordered and directed: That the
severall Justices Town Officers & other persons concerned do
proceed in their severall places & trusts according to former
usage and directions given by the late President and Councill,
and such other Locall Laws in the Severall parts of this Do-
minion, as are not repugnant to the Laws of England, his
Maj'tie Commission for Governm't and Indulgience in mat-
ters of Religion, nor any Law or Order already made or passed
by the Governour & Councill untill further Order, saveing to
his Maj'tie his rights whatsoever.
[CHAPTER 19.]
[ORDER NAMING PORTS OF ENTRY.]
:
[Passed March 8, 1686-7. From the American Antiquarian Society
manuscript.]
Ordered That the Towns hereafter mentioned be the only
allowed ports of Entry and Clearings of Vessells tradeing in
this his Ma'ties Territory and Dom' of New England in Amer-
ica
viz't
Boston
Salem
portsmouth
pem'aquid
Bristoll &
Newport
and No others in this Dom: be allowed for Mast'rs of Vessells
to unliver and Load./
[CHAPTER 20.]
[ORDER FIXING THE VALUE OF MONEY.]
[Passed March 10, 1686-7. From the American Antiquarian Society
manuscript.]
It was Ordered That all pieces of Eight of Civill, Piller and
Mexico of 173d weight shall pass in payment at six shillings
a peice and that the pr'sent New Engl'd mony do passe for
อ
250
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
value as formerly, the half peeces of eight quarters Royalls
and half Royalls do pass pro rato (is meant Coyn and Value)
Spanish pistolls at 4 penny 6. graines at 22s N. E. money
[CHAPTER 21.]
[ORDER FOR COLLECTING ARMS AND AMMUNITION.]
[Passed March 19, 1686-7. From the American Antiquarian Society
manuscript.]
Ordered That the Treasurer issue out a Warrant to have all
the Small arm's, amunic'on &c: where ever found to be brought
to the Treasurer./
[CHAPTER 22.]
[TABLE OF FEES.]
[Passed April 6, 1687. From the American Antiquarian Society manu-
script.]
The Marchalls fees Examined, and a paper of ffees pr'pared
by W'm Stoughten Esq'r a Coppie whereof follows viz't--
For Serveing a Writt in Boston or Charles Town
if w'thin one mile or else where
Every miles Travell out 3d and home 3d
Levying ffines and execuc'ons not exceeding £20:
12d pound
For all Sum's above £20 and under 100£ 9d P
pound
29
£ 1,,-
3
""
""
£
£ —,, 1,,—
£
0,, 9
all Sum's above 10011 21 P sent
£ -
6
Every miles Travell above 20 miles out 2d and
home 2d
£
2
""
Executing Writts of possession, Escheat Assigne-
ment of Dower and of possession
Attendance on a prison
diem
Every bond w'th Suretyes for appear'e
Serveing a Sum'ons and Subpena
Every Verdict
Replevin Serveing
[CHAPTER 23.]
[ORDER FOR AN ACCOUNT OF FINES.]
ER ER ER ER ER CR
£ -
£
4,,—
,,3,,
£
6
""
6
99
""
£
99
1,,—
£
99
1,,-
£
[Passed April 13, 1687. From the American Antiquarian Society manu-
script.]
Ordered That the Clerks of the Severall Courts make a fair
Roll of all fines, estates and Amerciam'ts due to his Ma'tie
and return it to the Treas'r w'thin ten dayes after the raiseing
of Each Court
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
251
[CHAPTER 24.]
[ORDER REGULATING THE TAKING OF MACKEREL.]
[Passed May 9, 1687.]
Resolved and Ordered: That noe Mackerell be taken before
the first of July, except for Baite or spending while fresh, nor
with a Seane att any time under penalty of forfeiture of Fish,
Craft and Vessell as formerly, untill an Act for Regulateing
the Fishery shall be passed.
[CHAPTER 25.]
[ORDER FOR THE TRANSFER OF PUBLIC RECORDS.]
[Passed May 25, 1687.]
Ordered: That all publicque Records in the Last Govern-
ments now annexed under this Dominion be brought to this
Towne and putt into the Custody of the Secr❜ty or his Dep'ty
[CHAPTER 26.]
[ORDER REGULATING THE GRANTING OF LICENSES.]
[Passed May 25, 1687.]
Ordered That all Lycenses for Publique Houses, be granted
in open Sessions and to such onely as are persons of good
repute and have convenient Houses and att least Two Bedds
to entertaine Straingers and Travellors, for which to give
security by Recognizance, except att Boston and Charles
Towne where none to be Lycensed without the approbation of
the Treasurer.
[CHAPTER 27.]
[ORDER IN REGARD TO QUAKERS.]
[Passed June 1, 1687.]
The Petition of Edward Wanton of Scituate in behalfe of
himselfe and other Quakers who have had their goods seized
to pay the Ministers Rates praying to be relieved therein was
read.
Ordered That the Constable of the said Towne have notice
hereof and make returne to his Excellency in convenient speed
of his proceedings therein.
-252
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
[CHAPTER 28.]
[ORDER FOR RELIEF OF EDWARD WANTON, QUAKER.]
[Passed June 23, 1687.]
On the Complaint of Edward Wanto' about his goods being
Distreyned by the Constable of Scituate for payment of the
Ministers Rate
Resolved That the said Wanton being a Quaker and attend-
ing other Worship then the Ministry of the Towne, and the
Distresse made since his Maj'ties gracious indulgence the same
is not approved off, but the Goods Distreyned and now in the
Constables hands as by his returne to be restored.
[CHAPTER 29.]
[RESOLVE FIXING THE SALARIES OF THE COURT.]
[Passed July 27, 1687.]
Resolved and Ordered That there be allowed & paid to the
Chiefe Judge of this Dominion out of his Maj'ties Revenue
ariseing here the Sallary of one hundred and fifty pounds
annum; and to each other Judge of the Superiour Court the
Sallary of one hundred & twenty pounds ann.
[CHAPTER 30.]
[RESOLVE FOR REGULATING THE INDIAN TRADE.]
[Passed July 27, 1687.]
Resolved That the Indian Trade be Regulat as former
Law till further order.
[CHAPTER 31.]
[ORDER FOR THE EXECUTION OF A JUDGMENT AGAINST WIL-
LIAM VAUGHAN.]
[Passed July 28, 1687.]
Upon produceing an Order & determinac❜on of his Maj'ty and
Councill dated 19. November 1686. On the appeale of W'm
Vaughan from a verdict & Judgm't given against him on the
sixth day of November 1683, in his Maj'tys Courts in New
Hampshire at the suite of Robert Mason Esq're as proprietor
of that Province for certaine Lands & Tenem'ts in Portsmouth
in said Province which Verdict & Judgment is thereby Rati-
fied and confirmed.
Ordered that the Judges of the Superiour Court doe cause
the said Judgment to be forthwith executed accordingly.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
253
[CHAPTER 32.]
[ORDER FOR RAISING MONEY ALLOWED TO MR. RANDOLPH.]
[Passed July 28, 1687.]
Ordered. That the Justices of the Peace in each County doe
with their next Rates for Publique Charges Raise and Leavy
monyes to pay what allowed Mr Randolph.
[CHAPTER 33.]
[RESOLVE FOR A SPECIAL COMMISSION OF OYER AND TERM--
INER.
[Passed August 10, 1687.]
His Excellencye proposed to know what way propper to
try the severall persons committed on suspicion of Pyracy.
Resolved That a speciall Commic'on of Oyer and Terminer
be granted by his Excell'cye under the Broad Seale of this.
Territory to such persons as he shall think fitt, to try all such
Offenders.
[CHAPTER 34.]
[RESOLVE FOR INCREASING THE REVENUE.]
[Passed August 10, 1687.]
On consideration had of the Charge of the Governm't and
Revenue not sufficient to defray the same.
Advised and Resolved: That the most proper & easy way to
supply the same is that wine may pay thirty or forty shillings
Pype Custome and Rumm, Brandy and Strong Waters
twelve or sixteene pence P gall: excise.
[CHAPTER 35.]
[ORDER FOR A COMMITTEE TO REGULATE FEES.]
[Passed September 3, 1687.]
Ordered: That Joseph Dudley W'm Stoughton Rob't Mason,.
John Usher and Edward Randolph Esq'rs or any three of them
whereof One of the Judges to be one with the Deputy Secr: do
forthwith make a settlement & Regulac'on of all Fees for
Courts, Offices and Officers throughout this Dominion and Re-
port the same to this Board accordingly.
254
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
[CHAPTER 36.]
[ORDER FOR SUSPENDING AN EXECUTION AGAINST NATHANIEL.
WEARE.]
[Passed September 28, 1687.]
Upon reading this day in Councill the Petic'on of Nathan'll
Weare to be releived against an Execution issued out in the
late Government of New Hampshire for a fine of fifty pounds
then sett upon him on pretence for imbezelling the Records
and now given to the Sheriff to levy.
Ordered That in regard the said Execuc'on hath beene so
long time since issued forth and not yett served it be suspended
untill the allegac’ons be Examined by the Judges at their next
Circuite into those parts and reporte made thereof to this
Board.
[CHAPTER 37.]
[ORDER FIXING PRICES.]
[Passed September 28, 1687.]
Upon reading the Reporte made by the Justices of the Peace
of Boston pursueant to an Order of this Board the last day,
concerning the prices of Corne for money.
Ordered That the currant prices of Corne in payment of the
publique rates be as followeth, viz't Wheate, four shillings P
Bushell, Rye two shillings eight pence, merchantable Indian
Corne, one shill, eight pence, Pease, three shill: six pence,
Oates one shill'g four pence, Mault and Barly att three shill'gs
[CHAPTER 38.]
[ORDER FOR A THANKSGIVING.]
[Passed November 19, 1687.]
Ordered That Thursday the first day of Dec'r next ensueing
be solemnly and Publiqly kept & observed in all Townes and
places within this his Majestyes Dominion of New England as
a day of praise and thanksgiving to Almighty God for his
Majestyes health (whom God long preserve to Reigne over us)
& his many Royall favours bestowed on his subjects here & for
all other blessings and mercyes of health, plenty &c'a
[CHAPTER 39.]
[ORDER FOR RELIEF OF THE POOR.]
[Passed November 30, 1687.]
Ordered That the Justices of the Peace in the severall Coun-
tyes, Townes and precincts throughout this Dominion doe pro-
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
255
vide for the necessary releife and maintainance of the Poore in
each Towne in such manner as by the Laws and Statutes of
England is directed.
[CHAPTER 40.]
[RESOLVE FOR ASSISTANCE TO GOV. DONGAN.]
[Passed December 2, 1687.]
Upon reading a Letter received by his Excellencye from
Gov'r Dongan att Albany dated the eighteenth Nov'r past
desireing assistance of Souldiers &c against an invasion said
to be made by the French on his Majestyes Governm't of New
Yorke.
Advised and Resolved That an answer be returned to Gov-
ernour Dongan by his Excellency signifying the receipt of his,
and his Excellencyes readinesse to assist him with such force
as this Government can afford when his Maj'tyes service shall
require it; and to know how far he is engadged or what else
particularly may be of advantage for his Majestyes service.
[CHAPTER 41.]
[ORDER FOR AN INVENTORY OF THE PUBLIC RECORDS.]
[Passed February 3, 1687-8. Massachusetts Archives, vol. 128, p. 36.]
Forasmuch as the severall Orders formerly made for taking
an account of the publique Records of the late Massathusetts
Collony have not beene attended that the same might be putt
into the Sec'ryes Custody and all persons have recourse to
them as Occasion Ordered that Mr Isaac Addington and Mr
John Herbert Coward be and are hereby desired and author-
ized in the presence of Mr Edward Randolph Sec'ry and Mr
Edward Rawson the late Sec'ry or some one in his behalfe to
take an account in writeing of all the said Records and that
they beginn the same on Tuesday next and continue day by
day about the same till compleated and that then all the said
Records be delivered into the hands and Custody of the said
Sec'ry and the account thereof by them taken forthwith re-
turned to this board under their hands
256
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
[ORDERS OF THE GOVERNOR AND COUNCIL HERE
REFERRED TO BY TITLE ONLY,-DECEMBER 20,
1686, TO DECEMBER 27, 1687*,-THE FULL TEXT
BEING RECORDED IN THE JOURNALS OR COPIES
AND ABSTRACTS OF JOURNALS ACCESSIBLE AT
BOSTON AND WORCESTER, AS BEFORE STATED.]
Dec. 21, 1686.
Order that the castle on Castle Island be speedily repaired, and that Mr.
Gibbs's house at Fort Hill be fitted to receive the companies of soldiers, and
that committed to the Treasurer's care.
Dec. 31, 1686.
Order relative to duties upon wine, rum, &c., in New Plymouth, Rhode
Island, Providence Plantation, and King's Province.
Jan. 4, 1686-7.
Order that the usual times and places for holding courts in New Plymouth
and Rhode Island be as formerly, and marriages also, till further order.
March 8, 1686-7.
Order that the inhabitants of Bristol be exempted from paying the present
rate.
Order that some of the chief merchants of Boston and Salem attend the
council to be consulted about pieces of eight.
[This last order does not appear in the American Antiquarian Society
manuscript.]
May 4, 1687.
Order that jurors be returned for the superior court of Essex county.
May 6, 1687.
Order that jurors be returned for the superior court of Middlesex county.
May 20, 1687.
Order that certain letters of His Majesty be published.
Order that certain acts and the proclamation about mackerel fishing be
published.
Order that John Usher's bond on account of some wines seized be given up.
Order for a committee to examine Mr. Randolph's and Mr. Addison's ac-
counts for several public documents.
May 25, 1687.
Resolve that the distress upon the goods of John Upton of Reading is
illegal.
Resolve that a small vessel be provided for His Majesty's service on the
coasts.
June 20, 1687.
Resolve in regard to Humphrey Johnson's claim to lands in Scituate.
June 24, 1687.
Resolve on the petition of John Green for satisfaction of his expenses om
his voyage for England and return in the service of the colony of Rhode
Island.
June 29, 1687.
A grant of land in the Narragansett country to Richard Wharton approved.
Order that John Swarton of Beverly have 50 acres of land.
*[“The minutes of council between December 29th, 1687, and May 16th, 1692.
are missing from the collection in the State Paper Office in London, as
appears from letters of Robert Lemon to the secretary dated August 1st and
September 18th, 1846." Copy of entry in Council Records of Massachusetts.}
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1688.
257
July 20, 1687.
Resolve confirming Charles Ledgitt's title to lands claimed by Jonathan
Selleck.
Petition of John Cutler for confirmation of lands in Charlestown granted.
Petition of Samuel Ballatt for confirmation of lands in Charlestown
granted.
Petition of Henry Mountford for confirmation of lands in Boston granted.
July 27, 1687.
Order granting land in Watertown to Mary Sherman.
Resolve that the court of sessions and inferior court of common pleas for
the province of Maine be held at York and Wells.
Resolve for courts in the county of Cornwall.
July 28, 1687.
Resolve that the Treasurer pay what money is wanting for repairing the
castle, battery, and wharf at Fort Hill, etc.
Order that the ketch Speedwell, bought and employed for His Majesty's
service, be continued, and a boat provided for her.
Order that a boat be provided for His Excellency and another for the
use of the castle.
Aug. 4, 1687.
Resolve that His Excellency write to the Governor of Port Royal about
Salem ketches taken by a French man-of-war.
Aug. 10, 1687.
Patents for lands allowed and approved, viz: to John Usher, lands in Bos-
ton; to Henry Mountford, lands in Boston; to Charles Ledgitt, lands in
Charlestown.
Aug. 17, 1687.
Order changing time and place of certain courts in Maine, Massachusetts,
and Rhode Island.
Order that the inhabitants of Kennebunk be accounted as part of the town
of Wells for rates.
Aug. 24, 1687.
Order that certain letters and proclamations of His Majesty be published.
Resolve that vessels be permitted to go to the wreck after giving security.
Aug. 31, 1687.
Order for the collection of certain mill rents and payment to Edward
Tyng, and that the Treasurer cause an account of mills and rents to be taken.
Order that Justice Thomas Leonard be suspended from office.
Sept. 21, 1687.
Order that writs issued by James Cornish be esteemed good and valid as if
issued out by the proper clerk.
Sept. 23, 1687.
Order that towns in Essex county make returns of inhabitants and estates,
and bind over seditious persons.
Order that the judges assist in preparing certain bills.
Sept. 24, 1687.
Order that the justices of the peace in Boston, or any five of them, meet
and consider the price of corn, and how like to continue between this and
Christmas.
Sept. 30, 1687.
Order confirming lands on Paucatuck Neck to Simon Lyndes.
Oct. 22, 1687.
Resolved that His Excellency proceed to take Connecticut under his gov-
ernment.
Oct. 25, 1687.
Order in regard to a ferry from Newbury to Salisbury.
Order that the Treasurer take care to defray the expense and charge of
His Excellency's journey to Connecticut.
1
258
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
Nov. 1, 1687. ·
Resolves and proceedings relative to the taking of Connecticut under His
Excellency's government.
Nov. 2, 1687.
Justices of the peace and sheriffs in Connecticut appointed.
Order that an account of the country debt for Connecticut be made, and
rates collected and applied accordingly.
Nov. 23, 1687.
Order that titles of acts be inserted in an act relating to the former laws
in Connecticut.
Dec. 19, 1687.
Order granting lands in the Nipmug country to Joseph Dudley, William
Stoughton, and Daniel Cox.
Order confirming lands in Roxbury to Joseph Dudley.
Order confirming lands in Boston and Rumney Marsh to Nicholas Page
and Anna, his wife.
Petition of Capt. Richard Martin for confirmation of lands in Charlestown
granted.
Petition of Edward Tyng for confirmation of lands in Maine granted.
Order that lands petitioned for by Richard Thayer be surveyed and dis-
posed of as His Excellency shall think fit.
Petition of Capt. Silvanus Davies for confirmation of lands in Maine
granted.
Petition of Vines Ellicott for a grant of Hogg Island in Casco Bay granted.
Petition of Edward Shippen for confirmation of lands in Boston granted.
Petition of Roger Clapp for confirmation of lands in Dorchester granted.
Petition of Capt. Benjamin Davies for confirmation of lands in Boston
granted.
Dec. 27, 1687.
Order that the superior courts in Essex and Middlesex be reduced to two
circuits in the year and so inserted in the said act.
[The_following orders are copied from the original documents in the
Massachusetts Archives, vols. 128 and 129.]
Jan. 4, 1687-8.
Order for collecting a country rate in Connecticut.
Order in regard to executions on judgments issued by the courts in the
late colony of Connecticut.
July 19, 1688.
Proclamation for continuing and confirming all officers, civil and military,
in New York and East and West Jersey.
Aug. 29, 1688.
Order for the execution of an act passed by Gov. Thomas Dongan of New
York, for raising £2555 6d in that province.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
259
[NEW HAMPSHIRE IN THE PERIOD BETWEEN THE
TERMINATION OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF
THE DOMINION OF NEW ENGLAND BY GOV-
ERNOR SIR EDMUND ANDROS AND THE SECOND
TEMPORARY UNION WITH THE MASSACHUSETTS
BAY COLONY.]
[April 18, 1689, to March 19, 1689-90, First and Second Years
of William and Mary.]
[The history of the province during the short period in which the towns
comprised in it were without government by any active, external authority,
either by royal commission, union with other colonies, or federation of the
towns themselves, is worthy of special attention on account of the singular
political conditions which existed, and which compelled them to resort to
systems of self-government, in which each town was independent of the
others and practically not responsible to any superior authority, except as,
in theory, they were still subject to the laws of England. Efforts on the
part of the towns for a mutual union and self-government under a compact
or league were continued for nearly a year by the representatives and prin-
cipal citizens of Portsmouth, Dover, and Exeter, with the co-operation of
one of the factions into which the people of Hampton were then divided;
and these efforts were abandoned only when, in view of the state of affairs
in Hampton, further prosecution of the plan seemed futile. A convention of
delegates representing the towns had agreed upon a form of federated gov-
ernment. The completion of a union under it was not accomplished for the
reasons already stated. Meantime the French and Indians had begun hos-
tilities with unprecedented energy and severity. The towns were constantly
exposed to destructive inroads by the savages, against which, isolated as
they were, and limited in resources for self-defence, they were unable to
offer adequate resistance. They again sought a union with Massachusetts, +
this colony having resumed its former government and recalled its magis-
trates within a month after the deposition of Sir Edmund Andros. The
terms of union were satisfactorily arranged. Preliminary measures, with
a view to its speedy accomplishment, were taken by the governor and coun-
cil of the Bay colony, and on the nineteenth day of March, 1689-90, their
action was confirmed and a full list of magistrates named for New Hamp-
shire. An extended review of these events was made by the late Charles W.
Tuttle, and published in the proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical
Society for 1879. The same paper was reprinted in a collection of his works
edited by Albert Harrison Hoyt, 1889, pp. 197-214. This subject was also
treated by the late Chief Justice Samuel D. Bell under the title "Unsettled
State of the Province," 8, Collections of the New Hampshire Historical So-
ciety, p. 396. The form of government agreed upon and recommended by
the convention of the towns, January 24, 1689-90, is given in this connection,
and designated as "Document A." "This venerable state document," says
Mr. Tuttle, "came to my hands many years ago, with some manuscripts of
John Tuttle of Dover, a member of the convention, and my paternal ances-
tor." With the permission of the Massachusetts Historical Society Mr.
Tuttle's monograph will be printed in the appendix to this volume. Another
of the most important state papers pertaining to the documentary history
of New Hampshire at this period is the petition for annexation, which is
also here reproduced and designated as "Document B." Annals of Ports-
mouth, by Nathaniel Adams, p. 90; Dover Historical Memoranda, by Alonzo
H. Quint and others, in the files of the Dover Enquirer; History of Hampton,
by Joseph Dow, p. 115; History of Exeter, by Charles H. Bell, p. 67; 2, Ñ. H.
Province Papers, pp. 30-46.]
260
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
[DOCUMENT A.,
[PROPOSED FORM OF GOVERNMENT.]
[This important document, whose existence was not known except to its
private custodians for nearly two hundred years, was but recently brought
into general notice through publication by, the Massachusetts Historical
Society in connection with an address before the society October 9, 1879, by
Charles W. Tuttle, who found the original among papers which had
descended to him from John Tuttle of Dover. Proceedings of the Massa-
chusetts Historical Society, vol. 17, pp. 218-228; Historical Papers, by Charles
W. Tuttle, pub. 1889. The draft of the document which is preserved is in
the handwriting of John Pickering, a lawyer in Portsmouth at that time.
A facsimile is presented in the volume of proceedings above cited, between
pages 226 and 227. Mr. Tuttle's commentaries on the document and its rela-
tions to the history of the period in which it originated are given in the
appendix of this volume.]
New hampshir
In New england
At a meeting of the Cometee Chosen by
the Inhabetants of the Respective towns
within this province for settellment of a
method of order & goverment over the same untell thair
mag'tis take Care thareof held in Portsmouth the 24th day of
January 1689-
whare as senc the Lat Revolution in the masesethutes Col-
lony noe order from thair mag'stys hath yet arived for the
settelment of goverment in this province and no Athority
being Lefft in the province save that of the Lat Jestesis of
peac: which considring our present sercomstances Cant An-
swer the end of goverment vid: the Raising men mony ad so
forth for our defenc against the Comon Enimy-
Resolved that a presedent and Counsell Consisting of ten
persons as allso a treshuerer ad secketary be Chosen in the
province in maner & forme folloing vid:-
for the Cownsell three persons of the Inhabetants of ports-
mouth
three persons of the Inhabetants of hamtoun
too persons of the Inhabetants of dover and
too persons of the Inhabetants of Exseter
which persons shall be Chosen by the mager vot of the In-
habetants of the town whare thay Live and the presedent
tresherer and secketary to be Chosen by the mager vot of the
whol province which presedent shall allso have the power
over the maleshe of the province as mager and the presedent
ad Cownsell so Chosen or the mager part tharof. shall with all
convenant Speed Call an asembly of the Representtetivs of
the peplle not Exseeding three persons from one towne which
S'd presedent and Cownsell or the mager part of them whareof
the presedent or his deputy to be on together with the Repre-
sentatives a for S'd or the mager part of them from time to
time shall make such acts ad orders & Exert such powers
ad athority as may in all respects have a tendansee to the
presarvation of the peac puneshment of ofenders and defenc
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
261
of thair mags'tis subjects against the comon Enimy provided
thay Exseed not the bounds his Lat mags'ty king Charls the
second very grashously plesed to Limet in his Roiall comishon
to the Lat presedent and Cownsell of this province
Rob't Wadleigh
Will'm W* hilton
Samuell Leavett
Jonathan Thing
John woodman
John Gerrish
John Tuttle
Thomas Edgeley
John Robearts
Nich's ffollett
Henry green
Nath'll weare
Samuell Shueber (?)
Morris D Hobs
his marke
Henry Dow
Edward Gove
nathanll ffryer
W'm vaughan
Robt Elliot
Rich'd Waldron
John Pickerin
Tho Cobbett
[DOCUMENT B.]
[PETITION OF THE INHABITANTS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, FEB. 20,
1689-90.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 229. A very imperfect transcript of this docu-
ment is printed in 2, N. H. Province Papers, pp. 34-39. The original dis-
closes some twenty names not found in the printed text above cited. The
transcript now given also follows the exact phraseology of the original so
far as possible. A supplementary petition, to the same purpose, was for-
warded from New Hampshire to the Massachusetts Bay government subse-
quently to the principal one here given. A copy of that paper is to be found
in 2, N. H. Province Papers, p. 40.]
To the Hon'able the Governour & Councill of their Maj'ts
Colony of the Mattathusets in New England-
The humble Addresse of the Inhabitants and train-solders
of the Province of New-Hampshire febr'y 20, 1689
Humbly sheweth
That whereas Since the late Revolution in yo'r Colony you
have Exerted A power of Goverment over their Maj'ts Sub-
jects & Inhabitants therein w'ch wee are given to understand
their Maj'ts have been graciously pleas'd to approove off, and
Impower'd you to Continue the same till further order; And
wee who were formerly under yo'r Goverment having been for
some time distitute of power Sufficient to put our selves into
A capacity of defence against the com'on enemie, and having
w'th great Expectation awaited their Maj'ts order for A set-
tlem't amongst us w'ch not yet ariving; considering also how
liable wee are to destruction by the Enemy w'ch of our selves.
wee cannot prevent; wee are therefore Necessitated at present
to Supplicate yo'r Hon'ours for Goverment & Protection as
formerly untill their Maj'ts pleasure shall be known concern-
* [His mark.]
262
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
ing us. Hereby obliging our selves to A due submission
therto, and payment of our Equall proportion (according to
our capacity) of the charge y't shall arise for the defence of
the Country against the common Enemy, praying also that
such persons may be Commissionated to com'and the Militia
as have alreadie been, or shall be chosen by the trained sol-
diers in the respective Towns, desireing yo'r Hon'rs to grant
us this our requests
& yo'r pet'rs shall ever pray
Christieen dudliah
Tho Wiggin
Nathaniel Wright
the mark of
phillip d dudey
Simon Wiggin
Roger kellee
georg veasee J
John Powel S
Alicksander gorden
philip hunton
Tho: veasee O
sillvanes wintworth
Moses gillman Ju'r
John sinkler O
Mark stacey
humphree willson
Moses Gilnan
John Gillman
John Gillman sener
the mark of
[illegible]
Kinsley Hall
the mark of
+Philip × Cotter
James Gillman
Moses Gillman
Daniel Beane
Sam Hilton
Chares gliddon
the mark of
Ed: × Roo
his
W'm x Perkin
mark
Jn'o Symons
his marke
Jn'o wheeler by ord'r
thees order
Steven Robeson
Andrew Wiggin
Thomas Read
Thomas Wiggin
*William Hilane
Isaac Cole
George person
will: morgin ×
will wintworth
Necolas gorden
Johnathan Clark
John doohser
thomas dudlee
·
· Jean fickett
Robert powel R
ben: Jones B
Peter Coffin
Edw: Gillman
John foullsam
Nathaniel Pinkham
Moses Leavitt
Francis Lyford
Stephen dudlay
Natha: Lad
the mark of
Edward deyar
John Wadleigh
Will Ardell
the mark of
James Thomas
the mark of
Robert R Smart
his
W'm w Hilten
mark
Rob't Smart Jn'r
Henry Williams
Jn'o Hilten by ord'r
Robert wadlee
Illegible in manuscript. Taken from Provincial Papers, vol. 2, p. 35.
† Illegible in manuscript. Taken from Provincial Papers, vol. 2, p. 36.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
263
Ed: danell
Ed meser- §
Tho Jackson
Rich: morgin: Ju'r R
georg Roberds S
the mark of
henry
John dam
Langstoff seenyar
henry Langstr
*John Keniston
the mark of
georg S Brawn
Jams Sinkler
Ephra ffoullsham
willm more
Nehemiah Leavitt
the mark of
willeam x tayler
Biley Dudly
Thiophilus Dudley
Samuell Gillman
Samuell Bean
John Beane
the mark of
Eliazar × Elkins
John Scribner
the mark of
daved D Robeson
Jeremiah Gillman
Joseph meder
John sinkler Ju'r
Natha hall
Rich: skamon
will skaman
Georg Jons
the mark of
Richard R Roo
John Nutter
Samuel Rowlines
Joseph Stower
the mark of
Icabod I Rawlins
Godff Godkin
John willson
the mark of
thos × Rawlins
John Gillman
David: Larance
Sam'll Leavitt
Jonathan Thing
Theo Smeth
Samuell Thing
the mark of.
James × skeed
the mark of
necolas N Kooes
the mark of
John O Bean
the mark of
anthony horn
John dery his marcke o
John willie his marck x
Robert Evens sen'r by order: John Church
Sam'l Heard
John Ham
Thomas Downes
Nathainel heard
ben [illegible]
John ffoste
Elizabeth
her
horne
mark
William kin
Edward Allen
Jno Ellis his O Marke
Thomas Robberts
John Drew
his
Ezechell × wintworth
his
mark
Jenkin o Jones
mark
his
Gershom x Wintworth
mark
John Cooke
his
George R Ricker
mark
his
Maturin M Ricker
mark
Mark Gayles his O Marke
Joseph Canne
John Cook his R Marke
William Waymouth
William Willy his ×
Thomas Austin [Marke
Illegible in manuscript. Taken from Provincial Papers, vol. 2, p. 36.
*
264
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
Isack Stokes his S Mark:
David Hammilto
Joseph Roberts
Thos: whithous sen'r his
[T Marke
Hatevill Roberts
Ralph Hall
John Roberts
william ffurber ser
Roger Rosce (?)
Nath ffryer
Tho Cobbett
sidrach walton by his order
Elias Stileman
John Davis
hen o Sise
frences Pitman his o marck
John hayes
Jeremiah Burnum
John Buss
John meder Ju
barned Squier his x marck
nicholas Duer
william tas cut his marcke
Thomas bickford
william wilsens his marck W
bengemen mathus his
Joseph kent
[marck B
Tho tebbets
Richard Harris
John bickford
Robt Elliot
John Hatch
Joshua ffryer
*Nath. Fryer junior
James Smith
Nathaniel Hull
John horen his x marck
Robert Burnum
Richard wallden
John meder Sr his W
Joseph Davis
[marcke
Stephen willey his x
Moses: Davis
Beriah Higgens
[marck
Charels Adems Sa his
[marck C A
Jon buncker his marcke
John pineer (?)
[BD
Salathel denbow his
[marck O
Stephen Jenken his marck O philep dudley by order
William durgen pr order
Jn'o Shipway
Thomas navans
Geo: Snell
the mark of
Splan E Lowell
Daniell duda
the mark of
Richard R monson
John Jackson
John Davis jur
John Woodman
Thomas Packer
John Robearts
zachariah feild
John Hall
William ffurber
James Davis
Tho: Grafton
Sam: wentworth
John Tucker Sener
John Chevalle
Daniell wentworth
Thomas Stevns
the mark of
petter P B ball
the mark of
Lewes × willeams
John Cotten
John Gerrish
Thomas Edgerley
John Rand
the mark of
tho: T R Roberds seenyar
thomas young
Thomas Chesle se
Philip Chesley
Thomas Chesle
Roberd Watson
Stephen Jones
thomas aish his O marck
phillop Chesly his × marck
X
Edwerd E Lethers his marck
* Illegible in manuscript. Taken from Provincial Papers, vol. 2, p. 37.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
265
:
John Pitman
Ratchard James
Chars Alin
John fos his mark
•
John sherburn
Richard × gos his mark
Jn'o J Luery (?)
Edward Cate
Fran: x Jones his Mark
John savage
the mark of
Robert S hinkson
Henry keesicke
Jems derry his d mark
Neathan [illegible]
John Johnston
Tho Lewis
John Cate
Ed × kasee his mark
W'm Pitmàn
Nathaniel Ayers
the mark of
petter P wells
John P Philbrook his
Mark Ayers
the mark of
tho: E Evens
Robert Pudington his P Mark Samuel neal
W'm Cotton
John harlett his B Mark
Aaron Moses
the mark of
John × holmes
gorg walker
John Sevey
the mark of
samuell sevay P
the mark of
thomas × Barns
the mark of
samuell × Rand
the mark of
Antho: A Bracket
Waltar Nele
Tobias Langdon
Wlia partridge
Sam'll Blagdon
Elisha Plaisted
matthew nelson
Joseph Alexander
John Baker
Obadiah Mors
John bruster
Richard Waterhouse
John Drew
Richard webber
Th: Lucey
thomas beek
Nicolas Walden
Edward keesick
John treeweek
Henry Sherboun
marke
wiliam × deaves
Sam'll Wentworth
John Snell
the mark of
[Mark
willeam W R Richards
Samuell Burnum
william seavy
the mark of
Nathanielle O Sevay
Thomas Rand
George Tebly
the marke of
frances × Rand
the mark of
John × marden
John Pickerin seeyer
John Partridge
John ffletcher
Jn'o Plaisted
Samuel Clarke
George Hunttris
John Wakcom
Benjamin Cotton
John M westbruck
John westbruck
George ffabin
Elisha heard
John olver
Jacob Lavers
Jotham Lewis
John Tucker Juner
Daniell wascott
John hil
Abraham Lewis
Nicolas Bennett
266
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
Timothy Daivs
thomas Edments
Thomas Jackson
the mark of
Job J westebruck
willeam × bond his mark
W'm Vaughan
Samuel Keais
Sam'l Penhallow
John Cutt
John Dennet
Nathaniel Drake
the mark of
thomas × Pudinton
James Tucker
william Cate
John Pickerin Junior
Rich'd Martyn
Rich'd Waldron
Richard Joselin (?)
W'm Partridge
John Light
John sharborn seeyar by
[his order
John J ffoss sen his mark
John bery Senyer his J mark william wallis
the mark of
george G walles
the mark of
Sem [illegible] C M
Thomas markham
James paseval
Philip lewes
John ffabin
Edward Gove
John Moulton sen'r
the mark of
Isack I godfree
John Sanburn
John Godfree
Joseph sanbun (?)
*Jonathan Philbrick
John Smith
Thomas Derborn
Nath'l Bachiler
*John Moulton, jun.
*Samuel Sherburne
John Sherburn: m'r
the mark of
[illegible] O Richards
the mark of
John J Lewes
John Partredge
the mark of
Lenard L weeks
John Qnton (?)
the mark of
moris × hobs
Daniell Tilton
Thomas wabster (?)
John Tayler
Moris hobes
:
Joseph Sw [mutilated]
Abraham drak
Hhumphry Perkins
the mark of
willem × Lain
*the mark
× of Samuel
Х
*Nathaniel Sanborn [Shaw
*John Tuck
Edmd Johnson
Joseph Cass
banjemin fifeild
Samuell Colcord
Daniel Richard
John Leavitt
william field
Joseph moultn
[by order
Richard Sanbourn
Christopher Page
Nathanell Bachelor Jn'r
Abraham Drake
the mark of
bengabin x molton his marke Isack x maston
Samuel Robey
Samuell ffog
Aaron Sleeper
*John Cram
the marke of
John D sowter
thomas Philbrick
* Illegible in manuscript. Taken from Provincial Papers, vol. 2, p. 39.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
267
I
[THE INTER-CHARTER PERIOD, FROM THE DEPOSI-
TION OF THE ANDROS GOVERNMENT APRIL 18,
1689, TO THE INAUGURATION OF SIR WILLIAM
PHIPPS AS GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS
UNDER THE NEW CHARTER MAY 24, 1692,-THE
NEW HAMPSHIRE TOWNS HAVING BEEN RE-
CEIVED INTO TEMPORARY UNION WITH THE
MASSACHUSETTS BAY ON THE PETITION OF THE
INHABITANTS DATED FEBRUARY 20, 1689-90, AC-
CEPTED AND APPROVED BY THE GOVERNOR.
AND COUNCIL FEBRUARY 28, 1689-90, AND CON-
FIRMED BY ACT OF THE GENERAL COURT MARCH
19, 1689-90.]
[First, Second, Third, and Fourth Years of William and Mary.]
[The course of political and governmental affairs in Massachusetts Bay
colony in the so-called inter-charter period, after the deposition of Sir Ed-
mund Andros from the governorship of the dominion, was largely controlled
by two important conditions. The abrogation of the first charter by decree
of the court of chancery June 18, 1684, which was followed by the establish-
ment of the single colonial government of 1686 over New England, and the
undetermined questions relating to the future form of government that
might be accorded by William and Mary after the English revolution, created
one of these conditions. The other was the state of war existing between
the colonies and the French and Indians, which continued from 1688 to 1698.
The influence of the first of these conditions was negative as respects the
systematic development of statute law by legislation on the part of the col-
ony. The other was positive, and created a necessity for a long series of
acts of a trend peculiar to a war period and gave character to nearly all
the legislation that transpired in the Bay colony between April, 1689, and
June, 1692.
It had been the duty imposed upon the Dudley and Andros administrations
by the commissions and instructions which defined their mission, to sup-
plant or, at least, to essentially modify the existing status in the provinces
and colonies which constituted the dominion; and to provide a new code to
be consonant with a scheme of colonial government radically different from
that which had previously existed. This is quite clearly indicated in the
previous pages of this work devoted to that period (p. 92 et seq.). The politi-、
cal leaders of Massachusetts were making strenuous and well directed efforts
with the government of William and Mary to obtain a renewal of the ancient
charter, and, failing in that, to obtain in some form of new charter as ample
guaranties as possible in the changing conditions of affairs on both sides of
the Atlantic. Hence the action of the governor and assistants and the gen-
eral court in Massachusetts with respect to the first charter was character-
ized by the utmost circumspection. While it was deemed necessary to fol-
low the forms of administration and legislation to which the people had
become accustomed under the first charter, it was not considered advisable,
in terms, to declare and assert its absolute restoration and acceptance as
the organic law, inasmuch as such action might seem to be in defiance of the
decree of forfeiture and calculated to prejudice the home government
against Massachusetts in the consideration of the cause which the agents of/
the colony were urging in England.* The acts of the Andros government
were generally regarded by the controlling majority in the colony as inci-
dents of authority illegally imposed. The party which resumed the control
of affairs in the spring of 1689, therefore, promptly dispersed the Andros
courts and repudiated the Andros laws. Having driven the official repre-
sentatives of the Andros government from power, the leaders of the old
* Palfrey's History of New England, ed. of 1890, vol. 4, p. 24, note 1.
268
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
regime in Massachusetts proceeded with a wise caution, but with well
defined purpose, to deal with a delicate and critical situation.
"In Massachusetts," says Mr. Palfrey, "the government which was set up
[1689] was on all hands understood to be provisional merely. This admis-
sion was unfortunate for the public repose, both as indicating timidity on
the part of the persons at the head of affairs, and as keeping alive a question
which left the obligations of citizens undetermined. The case of Massachu-
setts differed from that of Rhode Island and Connecticut in the very impor-
tant particular that her charter had been formally vacated by legal process.
But this had been done with circumstances of such injustice, and so resem-
bling those which in England had excited extreme resentment when the
municipal corporations were the sufferers, that the new King and his servants
would not probably have taken offense, had Massachusetts, like her two
sister communities, reconstituted her ancient government as still of right
existing; while the local administration would have derived respect and
authority from the confidence displayed in that pretension.”
"The first general court constituted according to the ancient charter
adjourned after a five weeks' session, having first declared the laws to be
provisionally revived which were in force at the time of the inauguration of
the Council under Dudley's presidency, instructed the judicial courts to
resume their functions as exercised at that time, and confirmed subordinate
officers, military and civil, in their places. This was all which for the pres-
ent could be done and things remained in a state of great uncertainty till,
near the end of the year, Bradstreet was able to communicate to the Court a
letter from the King giving authority to the persons now in office to 'con-
tinue the administration of the government' till his further pleasure should
be made known. His further pleasure was not announced till nearly three
years more; but meanwhile this order fortified the temporary government,
and produced a more satisfactory condition of affairs."
"Instead of retaining their places by virtue of this missive, as it seems
they would have been justified in doing, the Magistrates chose to interpret
it as authority for maintaining the old charter government; and annual elec-
tions were accordingly ordered and held for the present as in former times,
resulting in three successive designations of Bradstreet and Danforth to the
two highest offices [after 1689]. The General Court must have considered
itself as increasing its chances for a renewal of the vacated charter when it
modified the law for admission to the franchise, reducing the amount of the
pecuniary qualification, and repealing the provision which required a testi-
monial to the candidate's religious character from his minister, a certificate
from selectmen to the effect that he was 'not vicious in life,' being now recog-
nized as equivalent." Palfrey's History of New England, ed. of 1890, vol.
4, p. 24.
The enlargement of the powers of the governor, to be exercised at times
when neither the general court nor governor and council might be in ses-
sion, by act of the general court in May, 1691, is a fact not to be overlooked
in an examination of the records of administration and legislation of the
latter part of the inter-charter period.
The following act of date May 29, 1691, is found in the Court Records:
"For a more Speedy dispatch of such necessary Orders as may Concern the
Common Safety, and defence of their Majesties Interests, during the Con-
tinuance of the present Warr, Ordered that in the Vacancy of this Court, or
the Council, the Governour for the time being, with Advice of so many of
the Magestrates, or Assistants, as are at hand to Consult with, is hereby
impowered to issue forth such Orders and Commands according to the
Emergency, in as full and effectual Manner, as the whole Council (if Sitting)
might do, and the Said Orders, and Commands are to be Accordingly Ob-
served, and Obeyed."
It has long been a familiar assumption that the government of Sir Edmund
Andros was a usurpation. While a discussion of that question is not neces-
sary or pertinent in this connection, it may be remarked that New Hamp-
shire, Massachusetts Bay, and the other political divisions of the dominion
were English colonies and not independent states. If the charter of Massa-
chusetts Bay was abrogated upon regular procedure in chancery culminat-
ing in the decree of forfeiture of 1681; if the government of King James II
had the right under the English constitution to erect governments for the
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
269
colonies; and if the commission and instructions to Sir Edmund Andros
were consonant with that authority, then in what sense can his government
be regarded as a usurpation? The autocratic designs of the home govern-
ment are not necessarily involved in the consideration of the question
whether there was here a lawful exercise of royal authority in the consti-
tution of a form of government for New England. There is, indeed, occa-
sion for a reconsideration of the status of the Andros government as a fact
in the constitutional history of the American colonies.
The compilations of Massachusetts colonial laws published under the
supervision of Mr. William H. Whitmore, by authority of the city of Boston,
the first edition in 1887 and the second in 1889, afford the means for exten-
sive examination of the statute law in that colony as it existed prior to the
presidency of Joseph Dudley.
The association of the towns of New Hampshire with the Bay colony for
governmental purposes at the time is known as the "second union." Under
it New Hampshire was, for the time being, practically an organic part of
the colony of Massachusetts Bay. The functions of government were exer-
cised in the towns thus annexed in practically the same manner, and to prac-
tically the same extent, as in the other parts of the colony. One or more of
these towns sent representatives to the Massachusetts general court. The
laws enacted by it were operative in New Hampshire, and the people of the
province were aided and protected, as were the settlers on the other fron-
tiers, by the authority and resources of Massachusetts.
Meantime the efforts of the agents of Massachusetts to obtain for the col-
ony a renewal of the first charter, or, if that were found impracticable, a
grant of another, in order that the government might be settled upon a cer-
tain and permanent basis, were measurably successful. A new charter was
at length accorded under date of the seventh day of October, 1691. Plymouth
and the newly acquired territory of Acadia were both incorporated with
Massachusetts, and Maine was retained as part of the colony.
"By a singularly unfortunate arrangement," says Mr. Doyle,* “due in all
likelihood to a corrupt exercise of private influence by the proprietor, New
Hampshire was allowed to remain separate, a gap in the otherwise contin-
uous line of defense against Canada.
However advantageous the privilege of statehood may have been to her
people in a later period, there can be little question that grievous burdens
and untold hardships were entailed for years by the restoration of her iden-
tity as a separate province, and the concomitant assumption of the obliga-
tion of maintaining a province government for only four or five towns, and
public defense for a large frontier in all the succeeding wars with the Indians
and with Canada.
The policy of absolute disassociation of the provincial administration of \
New Hampshire affairs from that of Massachusetts, and the actual execution
of the functions of office in the province, or from his residence in Boston by
Lieutenant-Governor Usher, proved so unsatisfactory during the continuance
of the Allen commission, that, in 1699, the governorship of both provinces
was committed to the same person, and this continued to be an important
and invariable feature of the commissions of the successive governors until
1741. Paramount authority over both provinces in respect to military
affairs was, however, committed to Governor Phipps by the commission
under which he assumed office in Massachusetts in 1692.
The methods by which the exclusion of New Hampshire from the govern-
ment to be established under the Massachusetts charter of 1691 was accom-
plished, are explicitly stated by Mr. Doyle,§ upon the authority of the report
* English Colonies in America, by J. A. Doyle, vol. 3, p. 290.
† It will, however, be remembered that the commission of Governor Bello-
mont was of earlier date than the beginning of his administration.
The fact is not overlooked that the administration of New Hampshire
and Massachusetts was for a protracted period practically in the hands of
their respective lieutenant-governors, the governor being absent from New
England for some five years. John Wentworth was then lieutenant-governor.
of this province.
§ English Colonies in America, by J. A. Doyle, vol. 3, p. 294.
270
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
from the Earl of Bellomont, dated June 11, 1700. (Colonial Papers, America
and West Indies, p. 569.)
The three years intervening between the termination of the government
of Sir Edmund Andros in 1689 and the inauguration of the administration
of Sir William Phipps under the new charter in 1692, impresses those who
seek material for the legislative history of the province of New Hamp-
shire as well as that of the colony of Massachusetts Bay as presenting more
discouraging obstacles, as compared with the practical results to be accom-
plished, than any other period from 1679 to 1775. For the purposes of this
work the attempt has been made to investigate the archives and digest the
material which constitutes the record of legislation by the general court of
Massachusetts Bay in the interval between 1689 and 1692, as they afford the
only extant evidence of the current local acts and resolves, now described as
session laws, under which the people of the province of New Hampshire, as
well as those of the colony of Massachusetts Bay, were for the time governed.
While the act of the governor and assistants, February 28, 1689-90, probably
determines the date of the beginning of this union, its practical termination
cannot be so exactly ascertained. The presumption is that the union con-
tinued until the administration of Governor Bradstreet was succeeded by
that of Sir William Phipps, May 24, 1692. It may not be possible to state
the exact political status of the New Hampshire towns in the period between
the date when government was inaugurated under the new charter in May,
1692, and the date when Lieutenant-Governor Usher commenced his admin-
istration in New Hampshire, under the Allen commission, in August of the
same year.
The acts and resolves which follow have been transcribed from the manu-
script archives in the office of the secretary of the commonwealth of Massa-
chusetts. It has been difficult and, indeed, impossible to ascertain in all
cases where the line of demarkation is to be drawn between acts of adminis-
tration and acts of legislation. The attempt, however, has been made to
present the record of the general court, whether of acts, resolves, or orders,
possibly including in some instances those entries which cannot be other-
wise described than as proceedings, in such chronological order, with such
descriptive titles, and in such a degree of completeness as will enable the
student to trace through this period the course of legislation under which
the political development of the province and state proceeded.
The commentaries which may be consulted as to the events which moved
in this interesting epoch are becoming more numerous and more readily
accessible as time passes. The titles of some of the more important modern
works are here mentioned. The citations to many other writers are given
with particularity in the text and notes of the authorities referred to in the
list which is added.
Charter of Massachusetts Bay, 1629, in Federal and State Constitutions,
1878, by Ben: Perley Poore, vol. 1, p. 932; charter of Massachusetts Bay, 1691,
id., p. 954; same document in Acts and Resolves, Public and Private, of the
Province of the Masaschusetts Bay, Ames and Goodell edition, 1869, p. 1; Ban-
croft's History of the United States, 1888, vol. 2, chap. 2; Parkman's Count
Frontenac and New France under Louis XIV, 1877, chaps. 9-15; Doyle's Eng-
lish Colonies in America, 1889, vol. 3, chaps. 5 and 6; Palfrey's History of
New England, 1890, vol. 4, chaps. 1-4; Chalmers's Political Annals of the
Present American Colonies, 1780, chaps. 16, 17, and 18; Winsor's Narrative
and Critical History of America, vol. 5, chap. 2; Andros Tracts, pub. by the
Prince Society, vol. 1, 1868; vol. 2, 1869; vol. 3, 1874; Fiske's Beginnings of
New England, 1889, chap. 6, and the bibliographical notes in the same work,
p. 279; Belknap's History of New Hampshire, Farmer's ed., chap. 10; Diary
of Samuel Sewall, 1674-1729, Collections of the Massachusetts Historical So-
ciety, fifth series, vol. 5; Whitmore's Colonial Laws of Massachusetts, 1887
and 1889.]
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
271
[OFFICERS OF THE GOVERNMENT, 1689-90.]
GOVERNOR, SIMON BRADSTREET.
[Declaration May 10, 1689.
Appointed president of the council May 25, 1689.]
DEPUTY-GOVERNOR, THOMAS DANFORTH. [Declaration May
10, 1689.]
He was
SECRETARY, ISAAC ADDINGTON. [June 11, 1689.
appointed clerk of the council April 20, 1689.]
TREASURER, JOHN PHILLIPS. [June 11, 1689.]
STEWARDS FOR THE PUBLIC AFFAIRS OF THE COUNTRY, JOHN
FOSTER AND ADAM WINTHROP. [April 20, 1689.]
MAJOR-GENERAL, WAIT WINTHROP.
[April 20, 1689.]
ATTORNEY-GENERAL, ANTHONY CHECKLEY. [June 14, 1689.]
MARSHAL-GENERAL, JOHN GREEN.
William Stoughton
John Richards
John Foster
Peter Sargent
David Waterhouse
Isaac Addington
Adam Winthrop
James Russell
John Phillips
Penn Townsend
Joseph Lynde
James Parker
John Jolliffe
Eliakim Hutchinson
Nathaniel Oliver
John Smith
Edmund Quincy
William Bond
[Aug. 15, 1689.]
ASSISTANTS.
John Nelson
Wait Winthrop
Samuel Shrimpton
William Brown
Bartholomew Gedney
Thomas Danforth
Elisha Cooke
John Eyre
Dudley Bradstreet
Richard Sprague
Jeremiah Dummer
William Johnson
John Hathorne
Andrew Belcher
Nathaniel Saltonstall
Richard Dummer
Robert Pike
Daniel Peirce
[SURRENDER OF THE GOVERNMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF
S'r
THE NEW COUNCIL.]
[Mass. Court Records, April 18-20, 1689.]
At the Town House Boston 18th April 1689
Our Selves as well as many others the Inhabitants of this
Town and Places adjacent being Surprised with the Peoples
Sudden taking to Arms; In the first motion whereof we were
wholly Ignorant; are driven by the Present Exigence and
272
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
necessity to Acquaint your Excellency, That for the quieting,
and Security of the People inhabiting this Countrey from the
imminent dangers they many ways lye open and exposed
unto; And for your own Safety, We Judge it necessary, That
you forthwith Surrender, and deliver up the Government and
Fortifications to be Preserved to be disposed according to
Order and direction from the Crown of England which is Sud-
denly expected may arrive; promising all Security from Vio-
lence to your self; Or any other of your Gentlemen and Soul-
diers in Person or Estate Or else we are assured they will
endeavour the taking of the Fortifications by Storm if any
Opposition be made
S'r
S: Bradstreet
John Richards
Elisha Cook
Is'a Addington
John Foster
Peter Sergent
David Waterhouse
Adam Winthrop
To S'r Edmund Andros Kn't
Thursday April 15th 1689
Jn'o Nelson
Wait Winthrop
Sam'l Shrimpton
W'm Browne
Barth'o Gedney
William Stoughton
Tho's Danforth
Sent by M'r Nath'l Oliver and M'r John Eyre
At the Townhouse in Boston 19th April 1690 [1689]
The People of the Countrey being up in Arms for their own
Necessary Safety, and defence from the im'inent dangers they
apprehend they lye open unto, and being many hundreds of
them drawn down to Boston, having the fort here already
delivered up and Put into their Hands, And Captain Trefroy
accompanying these with S'r Edmund Andros his Order and
Command to Yourself for the delivering up the Castle, with all
the Stores and am'unition there, unto the Forces now sent
down, without any Opposition or Resistance as you have
regard unto your own or Company's Safety; Upon the Refusal
whereof you will necessarily expose yourself and Men to the
Force of the People, Promising unto you that upon your Peace-
able Submission there shall no Violence be offered to yourself
or Company in Person or Estate./
Sim Bradstreet
John Richards
Elisha Cook
Isa: Addington
William Johnson
Adam Winthrop
David Waterhouse
William Stoughton
Tho's Danforth
Ja: Russell
John Foster
Peter Sergeant
Wait Winthrop
Sam'l Shrimpton
To Ensign John Pipon Com'ander of the Castle
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
273
Boston / April 20th 1689
A Council for Safety of the People and Conservation of
Peace
PURSUANT to the Advice given unto S'r Edmund Andros
Whereupon the Fortifications and Government were Surren-
dered And also being constreined by the Military Forces now
in Arms
IT IS AGREED that the Gentlemen that were Present and
Subscribed that Advice together with such other of the old
Magistrates Or such other Gentlemen as they shall Judge
meet to Associate to them, are entrusted with the Safety of
the People and Conservation of the Peace untill there be a
farther and more Orderly Settlement. And Simon Brad-
street Esq'r is Chosen to Preside./
Simon Bradstreet
William Stoughton
John Richards
John Foster
Peter Sergeant
David Waterhouse
Isa: Addington
Adam Winthrop
J Nelson
Wait Winthrop
Sam Shrimpton
W'm Browne
Barth'o Gedney
Tho's Danforth
Elisha Cook
as declared
WE whose Names are underwritten being invited by the
Gentlemen above named to be added unto them of the Coun--
cil Do consent to and approve of, what was done by the Said
Gentlemen in their Advice given unto S'r Edmund Androes,
And do Accept of the Said Invitation and will give our Assist-
ance therein
Ja Russell
John Phillips
Penn Townsend
Joseph Lynde
James Parker Sen'r
John Joyliffe
El'm Hutchinson
Nath Oliver
May 1st Nath Saltonstall
Rich'd Dummer
Rob't Pike
Daniel Peirce
John Eyre
Dudley Bradstreet
Rich'd Sprague
Jer- Dummer
W'm Johnson
John Hathorne
Andrew Belcher
John Smith
Edmund Quincey
Will'm Bond
[AGREEMENT FOR CALLING TOGETHER A LEGISLATURE.]
[Mass. Court Records, May 2, 1689.]
AGREED, unto a paper representing the necessity of a
farther consultation and Advice of the People for the direct-
18
274
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
ing to the exercise of that Power and Authority which is
necessary in the present exigence. Signifying the expedience
of the Several Towns of this Colony respectively to meet, and
Choose one or more able, discreet Persons (not exceeding two
for one town) to convene at Boston upon Thursday the Ninth
instant at two a Clock afternoon, (such as then can reach it,
the other Towns as soon as they can) fully impow'red then
and there to consult, advise, Join, and give their Assistance
with the Council now Sitting
ORDERED to be directed to the Captain and Select Men of
the Several Town's, Printed and dispersed
Boston to Send Four
[Orders Issued by the Council for the Safety of the People and
Conservation of the Peace Previous to the Organization of the
Legislative Body of Representatives from the Towns, Which
Convened May 9, 1689.]
April 20, 1689.
[Mass. Court Records, vol. 6.]
Order that a letter be dispatched to Col. Edward Tyng, Major Thomas
Savage, Capt. Silvanus Davis, and Capt. Simon Willard, now abroad in the
army at the eastward, to dismiss Majors Brockhurst, Macgregory, and Lock-
ert, Lieut. Weems, Capt. Manning, Ensign Smith, Lieut. Jordan and such
others as they shall judge suspicious, and to take command of the forces
there.
April 22, 1689.
Order that a small convenient room be erected in the castle for the accom-
odation of the gentlemen now prisoners, and that the breast-work at the
lower battery be raised with all expedition.
Order regulating the garrison at the castle.
Agreement that any member of the council (whereof the president to be
one) being assembled, and nine concurring, shall be a quorum, and the presi-
dent advised not to act in matters of considerable weight with less than
twenty.
Declaration that the several constables in the respective towns are con-
tinued in their offices.
Order that, in the present emergency, every member of the council have
the power of a justice of the peace.
April 23, 1689.
Order appointing military officers. Major Richard Waldron appointed
commander-in-chief in New Hampshire.
Order regulating communication with the gentlemen confined at the fort
or castle.
April 24, 1689.
Order that Col. Bartholomew Gedney send a suitable messenger to Pena-.
cook to discover the number and state of the Indians in those parts.
April 26, 1689.
Order that soldiers may go into the country to work.
May 2, 1689.
Order that Tuesday, May 7, be kept as a day of fasting and solemn prayer.
May 4, 1689.
Order that friendly Indians going to Maine be furnished with arms and
ammunition.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
275
May 6, 1689.
Order allowing eleven soldiers to go to New York.
Order giving soldiers from the eastward an extra allowance.
May 10, 1689.
Agreement that Thursday, May 16, be a fast-day.
And that Wednesday, May 22, be the day for the meeting of the repre-
sentatives at Boston at two o'clock.
[The two preceding agreements of May 10 were made by the newly assem-
bled representatives.]
[CONTINUATION OF THE GOVERNMENT.]
[THE GOVERNMENT CONTINUED UNTIL MAY 22.]
[Mass. Court Records, May 10, 1689.]
The Representatives declared they Continued the present
Council for Safety of the People and Conservation of the
Peace in the Same Station until Wednesday the Twenty Sec-
ond of May Instant, At which time they have Agreed to Con-
vene at Boston
Wait Winthrop Esq'r is Continued Commander in Cheif of
the Militia until farther Settlement.
And as any Emergency shall Require are Authorised to
Levy Soldiers, Com'isionate Officers for the Defence of the
Inhabitants, Or what else shall be Necessary for the Mainte-
nance of the Peace within Said time, Unless Orders Arrive
from England in the mean time; and then the Countrey to be
Consulted in their Representatives before any Administra-
tions be by Said Orders
[DECLARATION BY THE REPRESENTATIVES.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 24. Court Records, May 10, 1689.]
Boston the 10'th of May 1689.
Wee the Representatives of the Severall Townes of the Mas-
sachusetts Colony in New-England, Do hereby declare in the
behalfe of our Selves and the severall Town's which we
appear for. Viz't That for the ensuing part of this year; The
Govern'or Deputy Govern'or and Assistants chosen and
Sworne in May One Thousand Six hundred Eighty and Six
according to our Charter Rights and the Deputys then sent
by the ffreemen of the severall Town's. To be the Govern-
ment now setled in our abovesaid Colony. And that Major
Wait Winthrop is Major Generall of our forces in New-Eng-
land; untill the ffreemen renew their choice, and that if the
pr'sent Government do desire more Assistants haveing en-
larged the ffreemen there shall be (a Supply) immediatly
made according to Charter for the Remaining part of the year
upon the day that the Generall Court shall appoint; Hopeing
that all People will Rest satisfyed; till we have confirmation
from the Crown of England which we dayly hope for.
276
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
Voted at the Chamber of the Country Representatives, as
attest Clerk of s'd Company
Copy
Ebenezer Prout.
[DECLARATION BY THE COUNCIL.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 26. Court Records, May 10, 1689.]
Boston May 10'th 1689/
In Answer to a Declaration drawn up and Signed by Eben-
ezar Proutt as Clerke to the Company of Representatives of
the severall Town's of the Massachusetts Colony in New-Eng-
land dated at Boston the day and year abovesaid declaring
that the Govern'r Deputy Governo'r and Assistants chosen
and Sworn in May One Thousand Six hundred Eighty and
Six according to Charter Rights And the Deputies then sent
by the Freemen of the severall Town's to be the Governm't
now Setled in the aboves'd Colony &c'a-
There appearing onely Sixty Six persons as the Representa-
tives of Forty Four Town's and Villages within the said Col-
ony And the Return's from some of the said Town's and places
being defective and incertain in a full representation of the
mind's of the People thereabout.
Wee thinke it necessary that the People of the said severall
Town's and Villages do more fully and expressly signify their
minds in that matter. And that the other Town's and places
within the said Colony (haveing no knowledge of the said
Declaration) be notified to convene their respective Inhab-
itants to manifest their minds relating to the same. And
three of the late Assistants resident in the Colony being ab-
sent, that there be opportunity to consult them. And the
whole number (if together) being but Thirteen, That the Peo-
ple by themselves or Representatives, choose such and so
many as they shall thinke convenient to joyn with them for
the Com'on Safety and Conservation of the peace and the
Exercise of such farther Acts of Authority as shalbe neces-
sary according to any Emergency untill there can be a more
Orderly Setlement of Government./
S: Bradstreet
Tho: Danforth
John Hathorne
Sam'll Appleton
William Johnson
Jn'o Smith
John Richards
Elisha Cooke
Is'a Addington
Major Pike was also present at the Agreem't but gone home
before Signing
Copy Examin'd
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
277
[ORDERS PROMULGATED BY THE COUNCIL FOR THE
SAFETY OF THE PEOPLE AND CONSERVATION
OF THE PEACE, SOMETIMES TERMED THE GOV-
ERNOR AND ASSISTANTS, IN THE PERIOD BE-
TWEEN MAY 10, 1689, THE DATE OF THE DECLA-
RATION OF THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
PEOPLE IN FAVOR OF THE RESTORATION TO
THEIR OFFICES OF THE GOVERNOR, DEPUTY-
GOVERNOR, AND ASSISTANTS CHOSEN AND
QUALIFIED IN MAY, 1686, AND THE PERMANENT
ORGANIZATION OF THE GENERAL COURT MAY
22, 1689, BEING A PERIOD OF PROVISIONAL GOV-
ERNMENT.]
[CHAPTER 1.]
[SOLDIERS WITHDRAWN FROM FORTS ANN AND PEJEPSCOT.]
[Mass. Court Records, May 11, 1689.]
Upon advice of L't Coll Edward Tyng, and Major Tho's
Savage It's Ordered that Major Thomas Savage take Care
forth with to Draw off the Souldiers and Stores at Fort Ann,
and at the fort Pegipscut, And that a Vessell be provided to
bring them Home
[CHAPTER 2.]
[STEWARDS TO PROVIDE A VESSEL AND SUPPLIES.]
[Mass. Court Records, May 11, 1689.]
Ordered that the Stewards for the Public Affairs forthwith
provide a Vessell to bring home the Souldiers and Stores from
fort Ann, and Pegipscut, And do Likewise dispatch away
one barrell of Pork, three bushells of Pease, and three hun-
dred weight of Bread unto the Garison Sagadahock
[CHAPTER 3.]
[A COMMISSION APPOINTED FOR THE PROVINCE OF MAINE.]
[Mass. Court Records, May 13, 1689.]
The Council being Informed of the present distressed and
Unsettled Condition of the Inhabitants, of the Province of
Main And having formerly invited Major Charles Frost, and
Capt'n Francis Hooke to Joyn with this Present Council, Do
Recommend the Special Care of that Province unto the before
named Gentlemen together with Coll'o Edw'd Tyng, Major
John Davis, Capt Joshua Scottow, M'r Sam'l Wheelwright,
}
278
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
and Capt John Wincot, the whole Number, or the Major Part
of them, to Consult, Advise, Determine, and Put in Execu-
tion, whatsoever they shall Judge necessary in the present
Exigence, or upon any Emergency that May Happen tending
to the Common Safety, and Preservation of the peace with in
that Province. And it is expected, that all Officers, and peo-
ple, within the Said Province do Attend and Observe the
Orders, of the Said Gentlemen, or the Major Part of them,
and Yeild Obedience thereto; desiring that nothing may be
Acted that may Obstruct any treaty of Peace, with the In-
dians, which Madackawando hath promis't to Mediate
[CHAPTER 4.]
[SUPPLIES FOR SOLDIERS AT SHEEPSCOTT.]
[Mass. Court Records, May 13, 1689.]
Upon the Motion of Edward Taylor of Sheepscott in behalf
of himself and Other the Inhabitants there:
Ordered that the Stewards of the Public Affairs do deliver
unto the Said Taylor Six bushells of Pease, and a Barrel of
Molasses for the Present Releif of the Souldiers there. And
that twenty Soldiers be Continued there (Such as the Inhab-
itants can perswade with, to Stay) until farther Order, And
to be paid from the Time this Order takes Place upon them;
the Stewards farther to Supply the twenty Soldiers staying
with Shoes and Stockins
[CHAPTER 5.]
[MAJOR HENCHMAN CONTINUED COMMANDER OF THE UPPER
MIDDLESEX REGIMENT.]
[Mass. Court Records, May 13, 1689.]
Ordered, That Major Thomas Henchman be Continued
Com'ander in Cheif of the Upper Regiment, within the County
of Middlesex as formerly; until farther Settlement. And
together with Wait Winthrop Esq'r Com'ander in Cheif of
the Militia to make such Regulations of Officers in Said Regi-
ment, as shall be Thought Necessary
[CHAPTER 6.]
[SIR EDMUND ANDROS ALLOWED A CLERK AND SERVANTS.]
[Mass. Court Records, May 21, 1689.]
Liberty is granted to S'r Edmond Andros to have the Ser-
vice of M'r Hudson, his Clerk, to pass in and out of the Fort
upon his particular business, and Others of his Household
Servants.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
279
[ACTS, ORDERS, AND RESOLVES OF 1689-90.]
[CHAPTER 1.]
[THE GOVERNOR, DEPUTY GOVERNOR, AND COUNCIL ACCEPT
THE GOVERNMENT.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 27. Court Records, May 24, 1689.]
Boston, 24'0 May, 1689
Upon the Occasion of the Revolution of the late Governm't
under S'r Edmund Andros and at the instance and repeated
desires or demand of most of the Town's and Villages within
the Massachusetts Colony manifested in their respective
places and sent to us by their Representatives.
Wee who are of the persons chosen and Sworn Govern'r
Deputy Gov'r and Assistants (according to Charter) in the
year 1686.
From the present necessity and for Satisfaction of the Peo-
ple do consent to accept the care and Government of the
People of this Colony according to the Rules of the Charter
for the Conservation of the peace and Safety of the people
and puting forth such farther Acts of Authority civill and
Military as shalbe necessary according to any Emergency
untill by direction from England there be an Orderly Setle-
ment of Government.-
Provided such Addition be made of fit persons to assist us
as hath been desired. And farther consent that the Respec-
tive Towns send their Representatives for our Assistance so
far as they may be concerned therein and as need shall require.
Expecting that all Encouragement be given by the due and
ready Obedience of the people. And that what hath been
Acted by the Councill for the Safety of the People & Con-
servation of the peace respecting the management of the pub-
lique Affayres be allowed And the present Stewards be reim-
bursed in convenient time./.
S: Bradstreet
Tho: Danforth
Nath: Saltonstall
Ja: Russell
Peter Tilton
Sam'll Appleton
Robt. Pike
24'th abovesaid.
John Richards
Elisha Cooke
William Johnson
John Hathorne
Is'a Addington
Jn'o Smith./.
Voted. This was accepted chearfully by the Representa-
tives as an Answer to their Declarations for the Setling Civill
280
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
Governm't within the Colony of the Massachusetts in New-
England.
Indors't/.
as attest, Ebenezer Proutt
Clerke to the Representatives.
Upon the Publication hereof it was declared by the Gentle-
men Subscribing that they do not intend an Assumption of
Charter Governm't nor would be so understood.
Copy./. Examin'd
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 2.]
[NO SAILORS FROM THE FRIGATE ROSE TO COME ASHORE
WITHOUT A PASS.]
[Mass. Court Records, May 27, 1689.]
Upon Complaint of Capt John George, Com'ander of their
Majesties Ship Rose, That the Seamen belonging to Said Fri-
gatt do frequently come, and Remain on Shore, without Leave
in Considerable Numbers Neglecting, the Service of the
Frigatt
Ordered that all persons belonging to the Said Frigat now
on Shore do forthwith repair to their Duty on board; Unless
they shew Just Cause to the Council, to the Contrary And
that no Officer, or Seaman belonging to S'd Frigat be here
after found on Shore, without a Certificate from the Captain,
Lieutenant, or Other Cheife Officer, for the time being on
board, On Pain of Imprisonment. This Order to be Posted
up at the Coffea house, and the Ship Tavern, in Boston
[CHAPTER 3.]
[SIR EDMUND ANDROS REMOVED TO THE CASTLE.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 84. Court Records, June 6 and 7, 1689.]
Voted by the Representatives, That S'r Edmund Andros be
forthwith Removed to the Castle and Carefully kept and
secured (tell farther ord'r) by a suffitient gard — o'r honered
Governor and assistants consenting hereunto
Boston June the: 6'th 1689:
Ebenezer Prout
Clerk to the Representative
Consented to by the Councill 6'0 June, 1689.
Is'a Addington Cl're
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
281
[CHAPTER 4.]
[JOHN WEST REMOVED TO THE PRISON.]
[Mass. Court Records, June 7, 1689.]
An Order passed for the Removeing M'r John West from
the Castle to the Prison in Boston And Warrent, was Accord-
ingly Signed by Order of the Govern'r and Council
[CHAPTER 5.]
[THE GOVERNOR, DEPUTY GOVERNOR, AND COUNCIL ACCEPT
GOVERNMENT ACCORDING TO THE FORMER CHARTER.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 87. Court Records, June 6, 1689.]
To the Hono'ble Simon Bradstreet Govern'er Thomas Dan-
forth Deputy Gov'er and the Assistants now sitting.
The declaration of the Representatives of the severall
Townes in the Massachusetts Colony humbly sheweth
That whereas your Hon'rs in the Answer to the Declaration
given in to you by the Representatives of the severall Town's
the 24'0 May 1689 did consent to accept the care and Govern'nt
of the People of this Colony according to the Rules of the
Charter, and putting forth such further Acts of Authority
Civill and Military as were Necessary untill by direction from
England there be an orderly Settlement of Government, and
upon publication thereof were pleased to say that you did not
intend assumption of Charter Government.
We do now humbly pray considering the present circum-
stances of this Colony, you would be pleased by vertue of the
Authority devolved on you by us the Representatives of the
severall Town's in this Colony, To accept Government accord-
ing to our Charter Rules by the Name of Gover'er and Coun-
cell for the Massachusetts Colony, and exercise such Autho-
rity in the s'd Colony as was formerly used according to the
Laws made by our Charter Governm'nt (excepting such as
may be judged repugnant to the Laws of England) untill
further Order from England, and that the Major Generall and
the five Assistants lately chosen take their respective Oaths
and pray there may be No longer delay in this matter. We
can't proceed in any thing till this foundation be setled.
Boston June the 4th 1689. Voted on the affirmative
as Attests Ebenezer Prout Clerk.
Accepted by the Gov'er and Council 7. 4 1689.
Copy Examin'd
Order Thomas Danforth.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
282
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
[CHAPTER 6.]
[CAPT. TREFRY AND ENS. PIPON RELEASED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 88. Court Records, June 7, 1689.]
The Govern'r & Councell do move that Cap't Trifry and
Ens'n Papoon be forthwith dismist from their restraint noth-
ing being objected against them
7. 4-89. passed in the affirmative desireing the Consent of
the Representatives hereto.
order. Tho: Danforth.
we consent provided proclamation be now made & nothing
apeare against them by to morow noone.
passed in the affirmative
order Ebenezer Prout Clerk
T: D. ord'r
Consented unto by the Gov'r & Councill.
7. 4. 89.
[CHAPTER 7.1
[CHARLES LIDGETT RELEASED ON BAIL.]
[Mass. Court Records, June 7, 1689.]
It being agreed that S'r Edmund Andross be this Day re-
moved to the Castle, and that the Fort be Cleered so as to free
the Countrey from farther Charge of a Garrison
Ordered that M'r Charles Lidgett be Enlarged from his
Restraint, He giveing in Three thousand pound Bond, with
Sufficient Sureties to Respond all Complaints that shall be
brought in Against Him, and put on file with the Secretary
within two Months next Coming, and for his Good Abbear-
aence
[CHAPTER 8.]
[ARMS AT THE FORT TO BE INVENTORIED AND REMOVED.]
[Mass. Court Records, June 8, 1689.]
Ordered That Capt Edw'd Wyllys Com'and'r in Cheif at the
Fort in Boston take a True Inventory of all the Arms, that
he finds left in the Fort, and Remove the Same to the Town
house, taking Care, that they be Secured from Loss, and Spoil
[CHAPTER 9.]
[CAPT. PROUT TO DELIVER CERTAIN PROPERTY.]
[Mass. Court Records, June 8, 1689.]
Capt Timothy Proutt is Ordered to Deliver unto Will'm
Banton the perticulars by him Mentioned in a Note on file;
which he demands as his Own.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
283
[CHAPTER 10.]
[SUPPLIES TO BE SENT TO SHEEPSCOTT.]
[Mass. Court Records, June 8, 1689.]
The Stewards, are Ordered to Deliver provisions to the
Value of four pounds to be Sent to Shipsgutt for the Supply
of those in the Fort there./
[CHAPTER 11.]
[THE STATE OF THE MILITIA TO BE SETTLED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 98. Not in Court Records.]
Voated that there be care taken for the Setlement of the
Militia in the whole Collony forthwith: & that ther be a Com-
itty consisting of members of both houses to Consider & draw
up the methods meet for that setlement
Past in the affirmative by the Representatives w'th Refer-
ence to o'r Hon'rd Majestrates consent
Consented unto
10. 4. 89
Ebenezer Prout, Clerk
[CHAPTER 12.]
order. th: Danforth
[PIRATES TO BE SUPPRESSED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 96. Court Records, June 10, 1689.]
That speedy care be taken for the suppressing of all pirats
upon o'r Coast & that A Com'ittie be forthw'th Chosen for
that End
10'th: 4: 89/ Past in the affirmative by the Representatives
w'th Refference to o'r Hon'rd majestrates consent
Consented unto 11'th 4'mo 1689
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
order John Hathorne
The Committee Chosen to Consider of the Eastward Con-
cerns are desired also to act in the aboves'd-
Consented unto 11'th 4'mo 1689:
as attest Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 13.]
[A COMMISSION ON EASTERN AFFAIRS APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 96. Not in Court Records.]
Voated Thatt a Com'itty bee Chosen out of both houses to
Consid'r w't is necessary to bee done about the East'rn busi-
nes:
11'th: 4 89/
attest Ebenezer: Prout Clerk
284
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
Consented to by the Councell, & they have chosen the
Worp'll Tho. Danforth Esq'r & John Phillips Esq'r to be of
this com❜ittee desiring others to be added by the repr❜senta-
tives
June. 11, 1689
order. John Richards:
We have Chosen Cap't Jn'o Price Cap't Joseph Lynde &
m'r Chr'r Webb to be of this Com'ittie
June 11: 89
attest Ebenezer Prout Clerk.
[CHAPTER 14.]
[RICHARD WILKINS APPOINTED POSTMASTER.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 97. Court Records, June 11, 1689.]
M'r Richard Wilkin[s] is nominated for post master to re-
ceive all letters & deliver the Same out: to receive one penny
for Each Single letter, desiring the consent of the Representa-
tives
June. 11, 1689
order tho: Danforth
Consented unto by the Representatives
June 11: 1689
Attest Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 15.]
[A GARRISON FOR THE CASTLE PROVIDED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 97. Court Records, June 11, 1689.]
Moved that fifty sufficent Carefull men be setled at the
Castle till further ord'r upon the Country's charge
Past in the affirmative by the Representatives Desireing the
Hond Majestrates consent
June 11'th 1689
Consented unto;
ord'r Ebenezer Prout Clerk
by order John Hathorne
[CHAPTER 16.]
[BENJAMIN GERRISH APPOINTED CLERK OF THE WRITS AT
SALEM.]
[Mass. Court Records, June 11, 1689.]
M'r Benj'a Gerrish is Ordered to Officiate, as Clerk of the
Writts, at Salem, untill Some other Meet person be Chosen
and Settled in that place, as the Law Directs./
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
285
[CHAPTER 17.]
[JOHN USHER TO BE CALLED TO ACCOUNT.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 99. Court Records, June 12, 1689.]
Moved that m'r Jn'o Usher be called to an acc'tt for his
Issueing out of warrants in his own name & Raiseing of mony
in an arbitrary way. And what Complaints may be further
brought in ags't him Reffering to his actions in the Late
gov'rnt
June 11: 1689 past in the affirmative. As attests
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented to
ord'r Ja Russell
June 12: 1689
[CHAPTER 18.]
[EDWARD WILLEY APPOINTED CLERK OF THE WRITS AT
BOSTON.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 103. Court Records, June 12, 1689.]
It is ordered by this Court that m'r Edw: Willy officiate as
clark of the writts in Boston untill there be an orderly choyce
& settlem❜t of some other meet person as the law directs.
12. 4. 89. Voted by the Mag'ts on the affirmative
order John Hathorne
Consented to by the Representatives
12:4:89/
As atests Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 19.]
[DR. BULLIVANT RELEASED ON BAIL.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 103. Not in Court Records.]
Ordered by the Gov'r & Councill that D'r Bullivant be in-
larged from his restreynt, Hee giveing 300'l bond with surety
to respond all complaynts that shall be brought in ag't him,
& put on file with the Secretary within two M'os next Come-
ing, & for his good abbearance
7.4. 89. passed on the affirmative Desireing the Consent of
the Representatives hereto.
Consented unto As Attest
June: 12: 1689
order tho: Danforth
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
286
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
[CHAPTER 20.]
[TOWNS AUTHORIZED TO CHOOSE TOWN OFFICERS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 109.]
Boston, 13'0 June, 1689.
By the Gov'r & Councill, & Convention of the Repr'senta-
tives
It is Declared that all the Towns in this Jurisdicc'on may
as they shall see meet, respectively make choyce of Consta-
bles, Select men, and other Town officers, as they were woont
to do before the change of the Governm't in 1686: May accord-
ing to the Lawes of this Colony then in force, and the persons
so chosen are hereby impowered to act in their sev'rall places
accordingly.
voted on the affirmative by the Gov'r & Councill, desireing
the Consent of the Representatives hereunto.
Jn'o Smith order
Consented unto by the Representatives
As attests Ebenezer Prout: Clerk
[CHAPTER 21.]
[LIEUT. WEEMS PLACED IN COMMAND AT PEMAQUID.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 99. Court Records, June 14, 1689.]
That I't Weems be written to forthw'th at pemaquid to
take care of that Garrison; And that mise be made him &
his Company of the Kings pay from this time forward till
further order And that their be a suply of what provission
&c is necessary for s'd Garrison
June 14: 1689 past in the affirmative, As attests
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented to by the Gov'r and Councill, die predict.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 22.]
[A VESSEL TO CRUISE FOR PIRATES.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 112. Court Records, June 14, 1689.]
That one suitable Vessell be forth with fitted out to Clear
o'r Coast of pirates w'ch may bee after Improved to transport
Souldiers amunition & provisions for the Eastern Expedition
& from thence to range the Coasts of Acada to secure o'r ffish-
ing Vessells. And the Treasur'r is desired and appoint'd by
the most Effectual meanes to see this ord'r put in Execution.
June 11: 1689 past in the affirmative
As attests Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented to by the Gov'r and Councill
June 14'0 1689.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry./
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
287
[CHAPTER 23.]
3
[MILITARY OFFICERS CONTINUED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 113. Court Records, June 14, 1689.]
For a present Stating of the Militia, It's declared that all
Com'ission Officers of the severall Company's and Regiments
within this Colony of the Massachusetts who were standing
in Com❜on upon the Twelfth day of May, 1686, yet Liveing
and not rendred uncapable by age, or other just Exception
against them (to be judged of by the Governm't) or removed
from the Town be and are hereby continued in and restored to
their respective places and Com'and according to the Tenor
of their said Com'on untill farther Setlem't. And that all
vacancies be forthw'th fil'd up of meet persons to be nomi-
nat'd by the Householders and Souldiers of such Company
upwards of twenty one yeares old (Servants excepted) to be
presented unto the Gov'r and Councill and Convention of Rep-
resentatives (if together;) Or otherwise to the Gov'r and Coun-
cill for their allowance and Confirmation if they see meet. and
if not allowed of, to nominate Others as afores'd
Voted in the affirmative by the Gov'r and Councill 14'0
June, 1689.
Consented unto:
144
89
Is'a Addington Sec❜ry
As Attests Ebenezer Prout Clerk
M'r Christopher webb Ent'r his disent
[CHAPTER 24.]
[ANTHONY CHECKLEY CHOSEN ATTORNEY-GENERAL.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 110. Court Records, June 14, 1689.]
M'r Anthony Chickley is Chosen aturney Gen'll in behalfe
of their majesties King William & Queen Mary Voted in the
affirmative by the Representatives Desiring Our Hon'rable
Magestrates Consent hereunto: as attests
June 14 1689
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented to by the Governo'r and Councill
June 14'0 1689.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
288
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
[CHAPTER 25.]
[OFFICERS OF THE CASTLE APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 112. Court Records, June 14, 1689.]
m'r John Fayerweather is continued Captain of the Castle
and in Chiefe Com'and of the Garrison and Souldiers there
untill farther Order; And Nathanael Williams is appointed
and continued Leif't of the Castle and Garrison and Souldiery
there under s'd Cap'n ffayerweather untill farther Order.
June 14: 1689: Voted On the afirmative
As attests Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented unto by the Governo'r and Councill.
14'0 June, 1689.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 26.]
[A COMMISSION TO DISCOURSE WITH THE INDIANS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 113. Court Records, June 14, 1689.]
Whereas the warr w'th the Indians was begun in the time
of the late Goverment Under S'r Edm'd Androsse, It is moved
that Some meet sons be appointed to discourse the Indians
that are in hostility ag't us & inquire the Reasons & grounds
of Such their hostility, (that if wrong were done by the Eng-
lish, reparation may be made or satisfaction given, or If the
Indeans were the Aggressors in the warre Considerations may
be had accordingly.
And the Said sons may likewise Treat w'th the cheife
Indeans between Penicook & Pemaquid that have not ingaged
against us, & endeavor that they continue their neutrality &
mainteine their ancient friendship w'th us
June 14: 1689 voted In the affirmative
As attests Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Govern'r and Councill, June 14'o 1689.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 27.]
[NO ARMS OR AMMUNITION TO BE SUPPLIED TO INDIANS OR
FRENCH WITHOUT A LICENSE.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 113. Court Records, June 14, 1689.]
It is ordered by the Govern'r & Councel & Repr'sentatives
of this Colony, that no son whatsoever, during the time of
hostility with the Indeans pr'sume directly or Indirectly to
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
289
sell Barter give, or by any meanes Supply any indian or
Indians, or the neighbouring French, w'th Armes or Am'uni-
tion of any kinde whatsoever without licence first obteined
from the Govern'r & Councell, on paine of being reputed Ene-
myes to the Crowne & English Nation, & to be proceeded ag't
as Such with utmost Severity of Law.
June 14: 1689: Voted In the affirmative
As attests Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Govern'r and Councill June 14'0 June
1689.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 28.]
[GARRISON AT THE CASTLE ESTABLISHED AND CONTINUED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 112. Court Records, June 14, 1689.]
Wee move that the fifty men that are appointed for the Gar-
rison att the Castle bee Substantiall Soldiers, taken out of the
Severall neighbouring townes. & to bee in Constant pay on
the publick acc'tt-Every privat Sentinall his wages to bee
five shillings weeke in or as money & this to Continue till
furth'r ord'r
June 14: 1689: Voted in the affirmative
As attests Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Govern'r an Councill, 14'o June, 1689.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 29.]
[CERTAIN PUBLIC MONEY ΤΟ BE DELIVERED TO THE
STEWARDS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 115. Court Records, June 15, 1689.]
We move that the fifteen pounds in mony w'ch was Rec'd
by John Higginson of m'r Thomas Offley Colect'r at Salem by
order of the Councell of Safty & conservation of the peace for
the publique Use, be deliverd to m'r John ffoster & m'r Adam
Winthrop who ware Stewards for the publique 'r order of
the aforesaid Councell.
June 15'th: 1689 Voted in the affirmative By the Repre-
sentatives as attests
Ebenezer Prout clerk
Consented to by the Gov'r and Councill, June 15'o 1689.
Is'a Addington Sec❜ry
19
290
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
[CHAPTER 30.]
[CALL FOR COMPLAINTS AGAINST MAJOR MACGREGORY.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 114. Court Records, June 15, 1689.]
Voated that this day forthwith proclamation bee made by
beate of Drum that if any person have Any Just Complaints
Against Major Macgregory that they bring the'm by Tuesday
next at twelve of the Clocke to the Secretary; And if no thing
apeares Against him by that time: that then hee bee Set at
Liberty.
June 15: 1689:/
As attests Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Representatives
Consent❜d to by the Gov'r and Councill
15'0 June, 1689.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 31.]
[THOMAS LARKIN RELEASED ON BAIL.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 120. Court Records, June 18, 1689.]
Ordered that Thomas Larkin be released from his Confine-
ment He giveing bond of One hundred pounds with Security
personally to appear to answer all Complaints or Informations
that shalbe brought in against him by any person or persons
and put on file with the Secretary within two months next,
relating to the Exercise of the Place or Office executed by him
in the time of S'r Edmund Andros his Governm't as a mes-
senger or under Sheriffe, at the next Court after the End of
s'd two month's, to be holden for their Ma'ties within the
County of Suffolke (that Shall have proper cogniscance of said
Complaints or Informations) and to abide the Order of Court
therein and not to depart without Licence. And in the inter-
im, to bee of good behaviour towards their said Ma'ties and
all their Leige Subjects.
The like Order for Sam'll Massey late Prison Keeper in
Boston, as to the Exercise of his Office
June 18: 1689: Voted by the Representatives in the affirm-
ative atests
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Is'a Addington Sec❜ry
die predict. Consent'd to by the Gov'r and Councill
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
291
[CHAPTER 32.]
[APPORTIONMENT OF THE GARRISON AT THE CASTLE.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 121. Court Records, June 18, 1689.]
Its ordered that fifty able Soldjers be provided for the gar-
rison at the Castle, to be taken out of the severall neighboring
townes, & to be in Constant pay on the publ: acc't every pri-
vate soldjer his wages to be five shill: week in or as
money.
Viz't from Boston sixtene charlstown foure, Roxbery four
Dorchester six, Milton two, Braintrey foure, Waymouth two,
Cambr. two, Cambr. village one, Watertown three, Oburn
two, Mauldon one, Hingham three. If there be need the
cheife offic'r of each Company is impowered to impress, and
are to take effectuall car that they be put down to the Castle.
On thursday morneing next, the 20'th instant. The provis-
sions for the Soldjers to be at the Country charge.—
Voted in the affirmative by the Governo'r and Councill.
June 18'0 1689:
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
June 18: 1689: Voted in the affirmative By the Representa-
tives
Atests Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 33.]
[CHARGE TO BE DRAWN UP AGAINST JOHN USHER.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 117, p. 120. Court Records, June 19, 1689.]
Voted by the Representatives. That there be A Charg
Drawn up & sent after M'r Jn'o Usher
June 19'th 1689
Attest Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented to by the Govern'r and Councill June. 19'o 1689.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 34.]
[UPPER CAMBRIDGE AUTHORIZED TO NOMINATE MILITARY
OFFICERS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 124. Court Records, June 19, 1689.]
Voted by the Representatives. That the Inhabitants of the
upper farms of Cambridge next Concord, above five miles dis-
tants from their own town have Liberty, to nominate, A Left't,
and Ensigne, according to the Direction of the Order of this
292
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
Convention to be presented for allowance & Confirmation as
in the s'd order.
June: 19: 1689. Atests
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented to by the Governo'r and Councill June 19'o 1689.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 35.]
[MEDFORD AND VICINITY TO HAVE A MILITARY COMPANY.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 125. Court Records, June 19, 1689.]
Voted By the representatives that the Inhabitants of Mead-
ford together with the ffarmers belonging to Charlestowne
inhabiting above menotimy river & on the North side of Mis-
tick river W'ch belong to the ffoot be a Company & have lib-
erty to nominate ther respective Comission Officers according
to direction of the orders of this Convention to be presented
for allowance & confirmation as in Said order.
June 19'th: 1689 Atests
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Consent'd to by the Governo'r and Councill.
19'0 June, 1689.
[CHAPTER 36.]
[GREAT GUNS REMOVED FROM THE FORT TO THE BATTERY.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 129. Court Records, June 20, 1689.]
Voted by the Representatives that the Great Guns w'ch are
now in the fort in Boston be removed to the Battery by M'r
Willis & M'r Samson stoder-
June 19: 1689 Atests
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Consent'd to by the Governo'r and Councill.
June. 20'th 1689./
[CHAPTER 37.]
[APPROPRIATION FOR A PIER AT CASTLE ISLAND.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 129. Court Records, June 20, 1689.]
Voted by the representatives that fifteen pounds be allowed
out of the Country stock for the building of a pere at the
Castle Island for the Security of Boates-
June: 20'th: 1689: Attests:
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Consented to by the Govern'r and Councill.
June. 20'th 1689
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
293
[CHAPTER 38.]
[A NEW TROOP AUTHORIZED TO NOMINATE OFFICERS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 127. Court Records, June 20, 1689.]
Ordered by the Representatives: That the New Troop in
the upper Regim't of Midd'x be allowed to Nominate their
Comission officers according to Declaration of this convention
for stating the Militia
June 20'th: 1689 Atests
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
the Gov'rn'r & Councill consenting therto.
Consented unto by the Governo'r and Councill June. 20'th
1689./.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 39.]
[SIXTY SOLDIERS TO BE SENT TO THE EASTWARD.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 134. Court Records, June 21, 1689.]
Ordered that threescore able men be forthwith Raysed to
be sent into the Eastern parts under the Conduct of Captain
[John] Withington for the preservation and Security of those
parts and the Inhabitants thereof from the Depredations of
the Indian Enemy and repulsing any Attempts that shalbe
made by them untill farther Order and provision be made for
the suppressing of that Enemy; The Treasurer to Supply what
shalbe necessary for the fitting them out for that Service, to
be reimbursed as Speedily as may be by the most Effectual
course that can be taken
June, 21'0 1689. The Governo'r and Councill Voted this
Order in the Affirmative./
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
The Representatives voted this order In the Affirmative:
p'r order John Bowles.
[CHAPTER 40.]
[COMMISSIONER APPOINTED FOR NEW OXFORD.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 134. Court Records, June 21, 1689.]
It is Ordered, That m'r Isaac Bertrame Dutuffeau be Com-
'issioner for the Towne of new Oxford, & have Authority for
Tryall of Small Causes not Exceeding forty shillings and to
Act in all other matters as any one Assistant may doe, As the
Lawes of this Colony direct untill farther Setlement.
Boston June 21'o 1689./
294
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
The Governo'r and Councill Voted this Order in the Affirm-
ative.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
This Order aboves'd Consented to by the Representatives
Attests Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 41.]
[THE FORMER LAWS CONTINUED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 138. Court Records, June 22, 1689.]
By the Govern'r & Councell & Repr❜sentatives of the Colony
of the Massachusetts Assembled June 14'th 1689.
It is declared that all the lawes made by the Governor &
Company of S'd Colony, Which were in force on the twelfth
day of May 1686 (Except any that are repugnant to the lawes
of England) are the lawes of this Colony, & Continue in force
till further Settlem't to w'ch all Inhabitants & residents here
are to give due Obedience.
:
Past in the affirmative by the Representatives
June 22'd: 1689
1689.
Attest: Ebenezer Prout: Clerk
Consented unto by the Governo'r and Councill 22'd June,
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 42.]
[ROBERT EARLE APPOINTED PRISON-KEEPER IN BOSTON.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 138. Court Records, June 22, 1689.]
Rob't Earle is appointed Prison kee in Boston Untill a
further Settlem❜t
June. 21, 1689/passed by the Counsil w'th reference to the
Consent of the Repr'sentatives.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Attests Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented to by the Representatives:
June 22'ond 1689
[CHAPTER 43.1
[SIXTY SOLDIERS TO BE SENT TO THE EASTWARD.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 136. Court Records, June 22, 1689.]
Ordered that three Score able men be forw'th Raysed to be
sent into the Eastern parts for the preservation and Security
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
295
of those parts and the Inhabitants thereof from the Deprada-
tions of the Indian Enemy and Repulsing any attempts that
shalbe made by them untill father Order and Provision be
made for the Suppresing of that Enemy: the Treasurer to
supply what shall be necessary for the fitting them out for
that service to be reimbursed as speedily as may be by the
most effectual course that can be taken The Choice of A Com-
'ander, & what is farther necessary to be done for the Effecting
thereof, is left w'th the Gov'r & Councill:
Voted by the Representatives in the affirmative
June 22'd: 1689/
Attests Ebenezer: Prout Clerk
Consented unto by the Gov'r and Councill.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry./.
[CHAPTER 44.]
[OFFICERS OF THE LOWER MIDDLESEX REGIMENT APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 144. Court Records, June 27, 1689.]
Considering the present danger of an assalt by the Indians
on the County of Midlesex it is ordred that John Philips
Esq'r be Comander in Cheife of the lower Regiment in midle-
sex & that maj'r Tho Hinksman be comander in Cheife of
the uper Regiment in midlesex & so to Continue untill an
orderly nomination of majors can be made for the Said Regi-
ments
June 27: 1689
Voted by the Representatives in the affirmative
As Attests Ebenezer Prout: Clerk
Consented unto by the Govern'r and Councill
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 45.]
[RATE OF PAY OF THE SOLDIERS TO BE SENT TO THE EAST-
WARD.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 142. Court Records, June 27, 1689.]
Ordered that the Pay to be allowed unto the Sixty Soul-
diers intended for the Eastern parts against the Indian Ene-
my be ffive Shillings weeke in or as money to every private
Sentinal, besides Victuals; And Forty Shillings head over
and above the Stated pay for every ffighting Indian that shal-
be Slain or taken in that Service, to be paid unto the party
then Engageing.
296
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
Voted in the Affirmative by the Gov'r and Councill. 27'o
June, 1689.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Attests Ebenezer Prout: Clerk
Consented unto by the Representatives
Dated as abovs'd
[CHAPTER 46.]
[COMMISSION FOR THE PROVINCE OF MAINE CONTINUED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 150. Court Records, June 28, 1689.]
It is Declared that Thomas Danforth Esq'r President and
Others named with him in the Com'ission for Government
within the Province of Mayne formerly granted by the Gov-
ernour and Company of the Massachusetts Bay, are continued
in the Exercise of the Government over that Province and
the Inhabitants thereof untill farther Order./
Boston, 28'0 June, 1689.
Voted by the Representatives in the affirmative
Dated as aboves'd
Attests Ebenezer Prout: Clerk
Consented to by the Govern'r and Council
28'0 June, 1689.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 47.]
[A FLYING ARMY TO BE RAISED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 152. Court Records, June 29, 1689.]
Voated by the Representatives that Some meet person or
persons be apointed & Comissionated to comand a party of
Volunteires to be raised by Beate of Drum to be improved as
a fflying Army on our ffrontier Townes &c for the distruction
of our Indian Enimies & for compensation for their Servis
they shall be paid out of the publique Tresury So much for
every head or Scalp of our Indian Enimies they shall bring in,
as the Govener & Councell shall Judge meet not exceding ten
pounds p'r head in or as mony respect being had to the Quality
of the Enimie taken or destroyd & what ever Indian plunder
they can take shall be theire owne
June 29'th 1689:
Attests Ebenezer Prout Clerk
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
297
[CHAPTER 48.]
[ENCOURAGEMENT OFFERED FOR VOLUNTEERS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 157. Court Records, July 1, 1689.]
Boston: pr'o July: 1689.
Whereas the Convention of the Governo'r and Councill and
Representatives of the massachusetts Colony are given to
understand that Sundry of the Inhabitants of Newbury and
other Towns Adjacent do willingly offer themselves to go
forth in pursuit of the Indian Enemy, haveing lately com-
mitted depradations and Mischeifes at Cochecha.
For Encouragm't to any that shall voluntarily undertake
so good a service; Its agreed that all those who shall willingly
offer themselves to that service may Expect to receive Eight
pounds head for every ffighting man that shalbe by them
taken or destroyed to be paid in or as mony out of the pub-
lique Treasury besides the Indian plunder taken to be their
own. The party or partys so going forth to be put under suit-
able Conduct
Voted by the Representatives in the affirmative
Attests Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented to by the Governo'r and Councill. pr'o July,
1.689.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 49.]
[TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY MEN TO BE IMPRESSED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 156. Court Records, July 1, 1689.]
It is ordered that forthwith two hundred & forty men be
Impressed, to be put under meet Conduct in pursute of the
Enemy.
July 1, 89.
Voted in the affirmative by the Governo'r and Councill.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Voted by the Representatives in the affirmative
Dated as above'd
Attests Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 50.]
[EDMUND QUINCY APPOINTED SERGEANT-MAJOR.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 157. Court Records, July 1, 1689.]
Ordered by the Representatives that m'r Edmund Quinsey
be serg't Major of the South Regiment of Suffolk and So to
298
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
Continue untill an orderly Nomination & confirmation of A
Major Can be made for the s'd Regim't.
July the first 1689
Attests Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Consented unto by the Gov'r and Councill.
[CHAPTER 51.]
[FRIENDLY INDIANS TO BE PROCURED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 162. Court Records, July 2, 1689.]
It is ordered that m'r Jn'o Stanton be Intreated to procure
A hundered or more of fighting men of the Mohegens & pe-
quots to be improved against o'r Com'on Indian Enemie, to
be und'r the Command of s'd M'r Stanton;
July 2'd 1689: Voted in the affirmative by the Representa-
tives
Attests Ebenezer Prout: Clerk
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Consented to by the Govern'r and Councill
July: 2'd, 1689.
[CHAPTER 52.]
[INDIANS OF NEW PLYMOUTH TO BE PROCURED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 162. Court Records, July 2, 1689.]
It is ordered by the Representatives that Cap't Benj.—
Church of New Bristoll be sent unto and intreated to use his
Endeav'r to procure A hundered Indians Inhabiting the Col-
ony of New Plimouth of such as he may think fit for service
against o'r Indian Enemie to be und'r the Command of s'd
Cap't Church
July 2'd: 1689:
Consented to by the Governo'r and Councill:
2'd July. 1689.
$
Attests Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 53.]
[VOLUNTEERS TO BE CALLED FOR.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 160. Court Records, July 2, 1689.]
That forthwith Drums bee beaten up in Boston And Townes
Adjacent for volenteirs to goe forth ffor the Succour and
releife of our Neighbours and ffreinds At pascattaqua des-
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
299
tressed by the Indian Enemies and for the destruction of sd
Enemies and for theire incouredgment they shall have Liberty
to nominate theire officers And shall receive out of the pub-
licke treasury Eight pounds ffor every fighting mans head or
Scalpe that they shall bring in and Care shall bee taken for
theire provision And what ever Indian plunder falls into
theire hands shall bee theire Owne-
July 2'd: 1689./ Voted in the affirmative by the Repre-
sentatives
Attests Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented to by the Governo'r and Councill
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 54.]
[CONFERENCES OF MILITARY OFFICERS TO BE HELD.]
[Archives, vol. 107, p. 160. Court Records, July 2, 1689.]
ffor the releife of the frontier towns, exposed to many fears,
being in a Continuall danger of being Surprized by the enemy,
Its ordered by the Gov'r & Councill, & Representatives now
assembled, that the Com'anders of the Severall Regim'ts, do
forthwith give notice to the Cap'ts of their troops to meet with
them, & Consult how the troopers may be disposed & im-
provd as may best Conduce to the releife & comfort of those
that are indangered. And the troopers as well as those that
belong unto the [illegible] So to be ordered as that they may
Joyn together, in scouting upon the outsides of the frontier
Towns, in such wise as that they may observe the motions of
the Enemy, & give notice of danger to the Towns or farmes
adjac't as any may appear: & they are also impowered to
Kill & destroy the Enemy as any oppertunity shall pr'sent
Voted in the affirmative by the Representatives
July: 2'd: 1689/
Attests Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented to by the Governo'r & Councill.
July, 2'd, 1689.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 55.]
[THREE HUNDRED MEN TO BE RAISED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 161. Court Records, July 2, 1689.]
Ordered that three hundred men be forthwith raysed and
detached out of the severall County's in proportion following
Viz't Boston Regiment Sixty-Suffolke South Regiment
300
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
Sixty-Essex lower Regiment Seventy-Essex Upper Regi-
ment Sixty-Middlesex lower Regiment ffifty-to be put
under meet Conduct for the Security and Safeguard of the
out Frontier Town's as well within this Colony as the Eastern
parts, and for the distressing and destruction of the Indian
Enemy as they shall have Orders and oppertunity. Warrants
to bee forthwith issued by the Secretary unto the Majors or
Com'anders in Chiefe of the said severall Regiments, Requir
ing them to grant out their warrants unto the Captain's of
the severall Companys in their respective Regiments to detach
or Impress a certain number of Souldiers out of Each Com-
pany by an Equal proportion, well appointed with Armes &
Am'unition to be at their place of Rendevous by ffriday next
or sooner the ffifth of July instant at Newbury or where else
the Majors shall bee directed The Governo'r and Councill to
Nominate and Com'issionate Suitable Com'anders for them,
and to give Orders and Instructions for their disposal and
proceeding.
Voted by the Representatives in the affirmative
July 2'd: 1689/
Attests Ebenezer Prout: Clerk
Consented to by the Governo'r and Councill
2'd July: 1689.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 56.1
[REGULATIONS FOR FRIENDLY INDIANS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 30, p. 312. Court Records, July 2, 1689.]
Boston Jully 2'd 1689: A Declaration
Whereas There is A Considerable Number of Indians that
are now Gathered togeather who by their late Murthers &
depradations made in Severall places In the Eastward p'ts
have declared them selves publiq'e Enemies to their Majes❜ts
and their Subjects here, The Governo'r and Councill & repr'-
sentatives now Assembled, being verry Tender of the lives of
those Indians that Are in Amity w'th us, Do Therfore declare
that They Expect & require that All Such Indians as would
Avoyd the danger of being pursued & prosecuted As Confed-
erates with the Common Enemy's do on publication hereof
withdraw them Selves ffrom All Manner of resort unto &
Correspondence w'th the Enemie And Also bring in their
Names & places of aboade to the Cap't or Cheife officer of The
Train Band to them next Adjoineing, And to take advice of
them for theire security & Such as Shall Neglect so to do,
They ar hereby to know that if them Selves or relations do
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
301
suffer with the Common Enemy Their Blood will be upon
their own heads
Voted by the Representatives in the affirmatives
Attest Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
Consented to by the Governo'r and Councill.
2'd July, 1689.
[CHAPTER 57.]
[SCOUTS TO BE SENT TO DUNSTABLE AND LANCASTER.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 169. Court Records, July 3, 1689.]
Boston 3'0 July 1689
The Inhabitants of Dunstable haveing Represented to the
Convention of the Governo'r and Councill and Representa-
tives of the Massachusetts Colony, their great ffear's and
apprehentions of Dangers of a sudden surprise or Attacque
of the Indian Enemy, And understanding that your Troop is
rallying this day at Cambridge you are hereby desired and
Ordered forth w'th to dispatch two party's of twenty Each
out of your Troop well appoynted with Armes and Amunition,
one party for Dunstable and the other for Lancaster for the
Releife and Succor of those places, and to scout about the
heads of those Towns and oth'r places adjacent to discover
and observe the Enemy's/. Motion, and to take surprize or
destroy them as you shall have oppertunity: Order being
taken for the raiseing of men for the strengthing of the Fron-
tier Towns and Suppressing of the Enemie, whereby the s'd
partys may be releived in three or four days
To Cap'ne Thomas Prentis, at Cambridge These
Voted in the affirmative by the Representatives.
Attests Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented to by the Governo'r and Councill.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 58.]
[A MESSENGER TO TREAT WITH THE MAQUAS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 168. Court Records, July 3, 1689.]
That Some meet person or persons be desired to goe up to
Treat with the Moquas to renew our former Aliance and to
oblige them to Send forth A suficient Number of their men to
the easterne parts to destroy our Indian Enimies for a Consid-
eration to be paid them for every Indian Enimies head or
scalp they shall bring to us.
302
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
Voted on the Afirmative by the representatives desireing
Our honored Majest's consent hereunto
June 27'th: 1689
Attests Ebenezer Prout: Clerk
Consent'd to by the Governo'r and Councill, and that a meet
Present of ffifty or Sixty pounds be made unto them.
3'0 July, 1689.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
the above s'd Sume Consented unto by the Representatives
Attests Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 59.]
[DECLARATION TO BE PUBLISHED TO FRIENDLY INDIANS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 168. Court Records, July 3, 1689.]
Its Ordered that the declarac'on referring to the Indians in
amity with us be forthwith published unto them, by Cap't
Tho: Prentice, & m'r Noah Wiswall, who are ordered to re-
payre to their plantacc'ons at Puncapaug & Natick & when
called together prudently to discourse them referring to y'r
Own circumstances, in this time of Hostility with their Coun-
try men o'r Enemyes, and to lett them Know y'r own security
is the intent of the Courts sending unto them, And if they
shall choose to abide in their sev'rall plantacc'ons for safe-
guard of their corn &c the Gov'r & Councill will then at the
publicque charge choose & send some meet persons to reside
among them under whose conduct they must yeeld thems: or
if they can propound any better Expedient that will be more
effectuall for their security, the Gov'r & Councill will Consider
thereof.
Also to propound to them that the Indians w'ch are come
among the English from Peny Cook, wamesit &c may come
& Sojourn among them, during the pr'sent distresse
Voted by the Representatives in the affirmative
3'd July: 1689
Attests Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent❜d to by the Governo'r & Councill
1
1
3'0 July, 1689.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 60.]
[ASSISTANCE OF PLYMOUTH COLONY AND CONNECTICUT TO BE
ASKED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 167. Not in Court Records.]
That messengers be forthwith dispatched to plymouth and
4.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
303
Connecticut Colonies to desire their advise and assistance in
the present Expedition ag't the Indian Enimies
Voted by the Representatives in the affirmative
July 2'd: 1689
Attests Ebenezer Prout: Clerk
Consented to by the Govern'r & Councill
3'o July, 1689.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 61.]
[COURTS TO BE HELD AT STATED TIMES AND PLACES.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 174. Court Records, July 4, 1689.]
It is Declared that all Courts of Judicature as formerly held
w'thin this Collony according to the Direction of the Law
Title Courts, made by the Governo'r & Company; bee holden
at the stated times & places, as mentioned in said Law.
till farther Settlement
Un-
June 28'th: 1689
Attests Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Voted by the Representatives in the affirmative
Consented to by the Govern'r and Councill
3'0 July, 1689.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 62.]
[MILITARY OFFICERS AUTHORIZED TO EXECUTE THEIR COM-
MISSIONS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 171. Court Records, July 4, 1689.]
Wheras it was declared by the Governo'r & Council & Rep-
resentatives on the 14'0 June last past that for a pr'sent set-
tling of the Militia all Com'ission Officers of the several Mili-
tary Companys & Regim'ts within this Colony of the Massa-
chusetts, who were standing in Com'ission upon the twelfth
day of May 1686 yet living & not rendred uncapable by age
or other just exception ag't y'm (to be judged of by the Gov-
erm't) or removed fro' the Towns, are thereby continud & re-
stord to their respective places & com'and according to the
tennor of their s'd Com'issions until further settlem't, And
that all vacancies should forthwith be filled up by the Nomina-
tio' of meet sons to be pr'sented to the Govern'r & Council
&c: for their allowance & confirmatio' It is further declared
that all such Com'ission Officers as were so com'issioned as
aforesd & all such as have been or shall be allowed & con-
firmed as afores'd are hereby impowered & authorized to exe-
304
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
cute their military power according to their respective places
& trust And all sons are required to yield obedience to y'm
accordingly, on penalty of being proceeded ag't as the law
directs in case any shall refuse or fayle y'rin.
Past in the affirmative by the Govern'r and Councill. 3'0
July, 1689.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
Voted in the affirmative by the Representatives
July: 4'th 1689
Attests Ebenezer Prout: Clerk
[CHAPTER 63.]
[THOMAS LARKIN RELEASED ON BAIL.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 182. Court Records, July 4, 1689.]
The Mag'ts Consent that the Pet'i Largin* giveing his own
bond 100❜l for his good behavior & appearance at Court to
answ'r be inlarged forthwith. & in case he go his sea voyage
as he propounds he shall be licensed so to do, provided he
gives forty pounds bond to the Selectmen of Boston w'th suf-
ficient suretys that his wife and Children shall not be Charge-
able to the town of Boston
July 4❜th 1689/ Voted in the affirmative by the Represent-
atives Attests
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Consented to by the Governo'r and Councill
[CHAPTER 64.1
[DETACHMENT FOR THE SECURITY OF FRONTIER TOWNS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 176. Court Records, July 5, 1689.]
Boston July the 5, 1689
By order of the Governo'r & Councill & repr❜sentatives
Its ordered that the ffifty men detached out of the Lower
Middlesex Regiment be disposed of by Majo'r John Phillips
As he shall thinke meet for the Security of the ffrontier Towns
in Said County Viz't Dunstable Lancast'r Stow & Groton As
Also for the destruction of the Enemy as they shall have
oPtunity. to be put under the respective Com'anders of s'd
places.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Consented unto by the Representatives
Dated as aboves'd
Attests Ebenezer Prout: Clerk
* [Tho's Larkin in Court Records.]
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
305
[CHAPTER 65.]
[JOHN BUTTRICK TO BE A LIEUTENANT IN STOWE.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 175. Court Records, July 5, 1689.]
The Towne of Stow in the uper Regiment of midlesex have-
ing no officer it is Ordred that John Buttrick be Leutenant of
the Said Towne; to Comand for watching & warding & w't
also may be nessesary untill further Nomination & Setlement.
Voted in the affermative by the Representatives
July: 5'th 1689
Attests Ebenezer Prout: Clerk
Consented to by the Governo'r and Councill
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 66.]
[MILITIA TO BE ORGANIZED AND EQUIPPED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 184. Court Records, July 6, 1689.]
Voted by the Representatives that the Comitys of Milletia
in the Severall Townes of this Colony do'e forthwith order
their Severall foot Companies & Troops to meet together in
y'r severall towns & the Severall Comanders Se that their
Severall Companys & Troops be well fixt w'th armes & amuni-
tion according to law, & that the Said Comitys of Militia have
herby power to order & apoint Such part of their S'd Com-
panys & Troops (as they shall Judge meet upon any Emer-
gency or assalt of their Neighboring Townes) to their assist-
ance & releife & to apoint such officers & leaders as are
Nessesary & to give orders & instructions to such leaders &
partys as they shall send forth as they Judge meet & Such
Militia shall forthwith from time to time give an acc'o of
their acctions to the Maj'r of y'r Regim't
Voted by the Representatives in the affirmative
Attests Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented to by the Governo'r and Councill
6'0 July, 1689:
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 67.]
[INDIANS NOT TO COME INTO THE TOWNS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 30, p. 313. Court Records, July 6, 1689.]
Forasmuch as there hath of late been a more than Ordinary
Recourse of Indians to the Towns of Boston and Charlestown
20
306
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
to the disquieting of the People and danger of Exposing such
Indians as are friendly unto us to mischiefes and Violence
besides other inconveniences that may attend the same.
For Prevention whereof during this time of hostility and
for Security of all such Indians as pretend not to be concerned
or hold correspondence w'th the Enemy It's Ordered that
from and after Publication hereof all such Indians do abide
and remain in the severall places to be assigned unto them
And that none do presume to come into the Town's of Boston
or Charlestown or any other Town. unless it be on some Spe-
cial Errand or message without Licence from the Governo'r
One or more member of the Councill or Chiefe military Officer
in such Town.
And it's Farther Ordered that the Military officers of Bos-
ton and Charlestown in their respective places do from time
to time Order a Constant watch and Ward to be kept upon
the neck of Land between Boston and Roxbury and upon the
Causeway in Charlestown to Examin all Indians travelling
to or from Either of the said Town's and to search their Bas-
kets or other carriage for Powder or Am'unition and Seise
upon all they find, Likewise to apprehend and secure all
Indians whome there is ground to Suspect of any ill intention,
and bring them before the next magistrate or Cheife military
officer to be Examined.-
And that there be a convenient numb'r of men Set to Ward
in Each Town of this Colony upon the Sabbath dayes, and
to walke the Rounds in and about their severall Towns in the
time of publique Worship; the Military Officers to see the
same Effected, the said Warders to Examin all travailers and
Idle walkers that absent themselves from the publique wor-
ship, and to secure such as give them not a Satisfactory
answer
Voted by the Representatives in affirmative
July 6: 1689/
Attests Ebenezer Prout: Clerk
Consent'd to by the Govern'r and Councill.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 68.]
[PEMAQUID TO BE PROTECTED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 184. Court Records, July 6, 1689.]
Voted by the Representatives that speedy Care be taken for
the preservation of pemaquid & their majesties people &
Intrest there;
July: 6: 1689:
Attests Ebenezer Prout Clerk
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
307
[CHAPTER 69.]
[JOSHUA BROADBENT RELEASED ON BAIL.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 182. Court Records, July 6, 1689.]
Ordered by the Representatives that Joshua Broadbent be
Released from his Imprisonm't he giveing bond to the value
of five hund'rd pounds w'th sufficient surty's to answer all
complaints that shall be brought in & Entered with the Sec'ry
w'thin two months at the next county Court holden at Boston
after the end of s'd two months and also for his good abear-
ance in the meantime
July: 6: 1689: Attests
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
Consented to by the Governo'r and Councill.
[CHAPTER 70.]
[ARMS AND AMMUNITION TO BE DELIVERED TO CAPT. PROUT.]
[Mass. Court Records, July 6, 1689.]
An Order Past to M'r Francis Burrough's to deliver the
Arms, and Ammunition brought from the Eastward unto
Capt Timothy Proutt
[CHAPTER 71.]
[CAPT. MANNING RELEASED ON BAIL.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 191. Court Records, July 12, 1689.]
Ordered by the Representatives That Cap't Nicolas Man-
ning be inlarged from his restraint he giveing in bond of two
hunderd pounds with Suficient Surties to appear at the County
Court for Suffolke to be held at Boston in October next come-
ing to answer all Such Compl'ts as shalbe objected ag't him
by any sons on their Maj'ties be halfe, and Entered w'th
the Secr'y w'thin two months next comeing and to abide the
ord'r of s'd Court therein &c and in the mean time to be of
good behaviour
July: 12'th: 1689: Attests
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Consented to by the Gov'r and Councill.
July, 12'0 89.
308
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
[CHAPTER 72.]
[FRIENDLY INDIANS AT WELLS TO BE PAID.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 30, p. 314. Court Records, July 13, 1689.]
The Governo'r and Councill do Order that the ffriend
Indians lately Imployed in the publique Service at Wells be
paid Nine shillings a man, Eight whereof in suitable Clothing
and one Shilling apeice in money in Recompence of their s'd
Service, m'r Treasurer with the Assistance and direction of
m'r Noah Wiswall to Order and convay the said payment unto
them; If any of them have already received any part thereof,
the same to be Abated./.
13'0 July, 1689.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
Consented to by the Representatives
Dated as above s'd
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 73.]
[TWENTY SOLDIERS TO BE SENT TO CHELMSFORD.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 203. Court Records, July 13, 1689.]
Ordered by the Representatives That twenty men be forth
w'th' Dispatched away to Major Henchman to be for the Re-
leife of Chelmsford farms, or such places as he shall se cause
to dispose of them to: Eight of them to be for the North of
Merrimack; the men to be taken out of those men that are or
ought to be Imprest & have not apeared
July: 12'th: 1689
Attests Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Is'a Addington Sec'ry./.
Consented to by the Gov'r and Councill.
13'0 July, 1689.
[CHAPTER 74.]
[A FAST DAY APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 11, p. 46. Court Records, July 13, 1689.]
Ordered that Thursday the 25'th of July instant be kept as
a day of humiliation and solemn prayer unto God for his gra-
cious presence with and direction to his poor people of this
Country under their present difficult circumstances by reason
of the warr with the Indians &c'a. And that a Bill be drawn
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
309
up printed and sent forth to the severall Towns for that End,
And that all Servile Labour be inhibited on that day.-
13'0 July: 89
The Gov'r and Councill have voted this Order in the affirm-
ative
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented unto by the Representatives
[CHAPTER 75.]
[JOSEPH DUDLEY TO BE CONFINED IN HIS OWN HOUSE.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 204. Court Records, July 13, 1689.]
Upon the severall Motions of m'r Joseph Dudley and in con-
sideration of his great indisposition of Body, Its' Ordered that
he shalbe forthwith remov'd from the Prison and confined to
his own house at Roxbury till farther Order, not to go out of
his said house or precincts of his yard or back side adjoyning,
at any time, Except to the Publique worship of God on the
Sabbath & Lecture dayes and that under a sufficient gard to
conduct him from his own house to the said Meeting and back
again; which gard is to be Ordered and appointed by the Cap-
tain of the Foot Company in Roxbury, And he the said m'r
Dudley to give bond to the value of Ten Thousand pounds
with Sufficient Suretys to bee and remain a true prisoner
according to the contents and true meaning of this Order
untill he shalbe released by Order of Law; Or otherwise dis-
posed of by direction from the Governm't of the Massachusetts
Colony
Voted by the Governo'r and Magistrates in the Affirmative;
agreeable to a Message sent in from the Representatives by
severall of their members consenting to an Ease for m'r Dud-
ley, So y't he remain under Confinem't.
July. 13'0 1689.
[CHAPTER 76.]
[BEVERLY TROOP TO BE INCREASED.]
I. A. S.
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 204. Court Records, July 13, 1689.]
Information beinge given that Beverly Troop is but smale
it is ordered that Cap't Will'm Raymon Cap't of s'd Troope
have Liberty to List so many as May make up S'd Troope Sixty
men besides oficers: provided. he list none that shall rend
310
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
}
themselves from any foot Captaine upon, disgust taken or dis-
content or otherwise uncapeable for that service
July: 12'th 1689/
Attests Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented to by the Governo'r and Councill.
13'0 July, 1689.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 77.]
[CERTAIN INDIANS ALLOWED TO REMAIN IN CONCORD.]
[Mass. Court Records, July 13, 1689.]
Ordered that these Indians Viz't James Spleen, and His
family, Little James and His family, Peter Muckamagg and
His family, with the Consent of the Major Part of the Inhabi-
tants of Concord be Continued in Said Town, under the Con-
duct of L't Simon Davis, or in His absence L't Deliverance
Wheeler.
[CHAPTER 78.]
[ADJOURNMENT.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 203. Court Records, July 13, 1689.]
The Representatives agree to Adjorn to the fifteenth day of
Aug'st at Nine A Clock in the morning (Except upon Eme-
gency the Gov'r & Councill se Cause to call them to gether
before s'd time
July: 13'th: 1689/
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented to by the Gov'r and Councill
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 79.]
[JOHN GREEN APPOINTED MARSHAL-GENERAL.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 265. Court Records, August 15, 1689.]
Boston, 15'0 August 1689./.
m'r John Green is appointed Marshall Generall of this Col-
ory for pr❜sent, & untill a further Settlement.-
Voted in the Affirmative by the Governo'r and Magis-
trates.-
"
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Consented to by Representatives
Dated as aboves'd
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS.
311
[CHAPTER 80.]
[JOSEPH THAXTER TO COMMAND THE RESOLUTION.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 265. Court Records, August 15, 1689.]
The Governour and Councill do Order that m'r Joseph
Thaxter of Boston be Com'ander of the new Sloop named the
Resolution, who is Ordered forthwith to take the charge of
said Sloop and Ship Six able Seamen upon her that She may
be Speedily fitted up and made ready to attend their Majesties
Service, to bee sent forth upon such Expeditions as the Gov-
ernour and Councill shall order.-
Boston, 15'0 August, 1689.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
15 August 1689 Consented to by The Representatives
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 81.]
[A PUBLIC LOAN DESIRED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 271. Court Records, August 16, 1689.]
Ordered by the Representatives that the Gentlemen of this
Colony and persons of Estate be desired to advance and dis-
burse money and other necessaries in behalfe of the Colony
for the carrying on of the warr against the Indians and for
the defraying of the charge thereof, And the publique faith
is hereby given unto such as shall disburse on that Acco❜tt to
be repaid the same out of the first publique Rate or assess-
ment that shall be made and collected.-.
August: 16'th: 1689/
Ebenezer Prout: Clerk
Consented to by the Councill./.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry-
1
[CHAPTER 82.]
[A COMMISSION TO FIT OUT THE SOLDIERS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 271. Court Records, August 19, 1689.]
Ordered that Mess'rs John ffoster Edward Bromfield and
Joseph Parsons be a Com'ittee for the Warr to manage the
Affayres thereof in the providing and furnishing out the Soul-
diery that shall from time to time be detached and sent forth
for their Majesties Service, with provisions Am'unition &
other necessary's and to assist in other incident matters refer-
ring thereunto as they shalbe directed and receive Orders from
312
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
the Governour and Councill; all which to be done on the
Accompt and at the charge of the publique
past in the affirmative by the Representatives
August: 17'th: 1689:
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Governo'r and Councill
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
Voted by the Representatives that Cap't Jerimiah Dum'er
m'r Edward Brumfeild: m'r Joseph Persons be aded to the
abovs'd Com'ittee
16: 1689
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 83.]
[TOWN COMMITTEES IN MAINE APPROVED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 270. Court Records, August 17, 1689.]
This Convent'n haveing used an order drawn by the Pres-
id't of the Province of Mayne impowreing Cap't Silvanus
Davis, Cap't Anthony Brackett, L't George Ingerson, L't
Thadeus Clark, Eliha Gunnison & L't Elisha Andrews a
Com'ittee for regulating the affaires of the plantacc'on of ffal-
mouth, and for the ordering and disposing the people into
Garrisons, Scouting, watches, & wardings and for regulating
the Militia of the Town for their defence & destrucc'on of the
Enemy, do approve thereof, and the like order to be made for
other Towns in that Province of Suitable persons in their re-
spective Towns,
Approved of by the Governo'r and Councill.
17'0 Aug'o 1689.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
Consented to by the Representatives
17'o Aug'o 1689
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 84.]
[THE RESOLUTION TO CRUISE FOR PIRATES.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 277. Court Records, August 19, 1689.]
Information being given that Thomas Hawkins Thomas
Pownds and others confederates with them have lately pirat-
ically Surprised and taken two Vessells within the Massa-
chusetts Bay the One a Katch belonging to Salem and the
other belonging to Piscataqua, and are Supposed to be waiting
to com'it farther Robberies.-
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
313
It's Ordered that the Sloop Resolution Joseph Thaxter
Com'ander be forthwith fitted with Gun's Artillery Am'uni-
tion & Provisions and that fforty able Seamen be Shipt upon
her to be speedily sent forth for the Securing of the Coast and
Vessells passing in and out upon their lawfull buisness; The
said Joseph Thaxter to be com'issionated to cruse with said
Vessell upon this Coast in search for the said Pirates or others
who upon Examination and search shalbe found to be upon
the like wicked and unlawfull designe, and to pursue Surprise
and in case of resistance and opposition by force of Armes to
Subdue kill and destroy them, and such as they take to bring
them and Vessells into Boston to be proceeded against by
the Authority according to Law.
•
And for Encouragement to those men who shall go forth
in said Vessell upon that Expedition It's Ordered that they
be upon usual monthly wages, and upon any casualty befall-
ing any of the said men by loss of Limb or otherwise be
maimed that meet allowance and provision be made for such.
And the Treasurer is Ordered to furnish and Supply all pro-
visions and necessarys for seting forth of said Vessell.
Voted in the Affirmative by the Governo'r and Councill.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Consented unto by the Representatives
aug'st: 19'th: 1689
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 85.]
[MESSENGERS APPOINTED TO TREAT WITH THE MAQUAS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 278. Court Records, August 19, 1689.]
Ordered that Colonel John Pynchon, Major Thomas Savage
and Captain Andrew Belcher be desired and Impowred as
Messengers or Agents for this Government to go up to Albany
and in the name and behalfe of the Government of this Col-
ony to treat the Maqua's and (if advised by the Gentlemen
upon the place) with the other Nations of Indians in confed-
eracy with them, and to renew the ancient ffriendship betwixt
them and the English, and to make a Suitable present to
them, and that a Commission and Instructions be given them
for their management in that Affayre./.
Boston, 20'0 august, 1689./.
Past in the affirmative by the Representatives
Ebenezer Prout, Clerk-
Consented to by the Governo'r & Councill.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
314
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
[CHAPTER 86.]
[COMMISSION TO TAKE A LIST OF MEN FROM THE EAST.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 280. Court Records, August 20, 1689.]
Ordered that the persons herein named be a Com'ittee to
take a List of the names of the men lately come from the
Eastern parts and the places from whence they came, that
are now resident in the severall Towns of this Colony and to
make Return thereof unto this Sessions.
Viz't for Boston Mess'rs Timothy Thornton William Robie
Joseph Proutt. For Salem Mess'rs Benjamin Marston Benja-
min Gerrish. For Charlestown m'r Thomas Lord. For Mar-
blehead Lt Robert Bartlet. For Beverley Cap'ne Paul
Thorndike.
Past in the affirmative by the Representatives
Aug'st: 20'th: 1689:
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Consented to by the Governo'r and Councill.
20'th Aug'st 1689.
[CHAPTER 87.]
[SIX HUNDRED MEN TO BE RAISED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 280. Court Records, August 20, 1689.]
Ordered that Six hundred men horse and ffoot bee forth-
with raised within this Collony to bee sent forth in their
Majestys Service for the Suppressing and destruction of the
Indian Enemy: out of the Severall Regements in proportion
following: viz't: Boston Regiment Eighty one: South Regi-
ment of Suffolke one hundred And one: Middlesex Lower Regi-
ment Eighty: Middlesex Upper Regiment Seaventy two:
Essex upper Regiment Ninety fower: Essex Lower Regiment
one hundred and Eight: Hampshire Regiment Sixty fower
And the Majors of the severall Regiments are ordered forth-
with to Issue out theire Warrants to the Committes of Militia
of the Respective Townes: within theire Severall Regiments
to detach A proportionable number of men out of Each Com-
pany and Troop: well Appointed with Armes and Ammuni-
tion to Attend that Service: And to Rendevous at the severall
Townes and places following Viz't: Boston Regiment at Bos-
ton South Regiment of Suffolke at Roxbury: Middlesex Lower
Regiment at Wooborne: The upper Regiment at Chelmsford:
Essex Lower Regiment at Ipswich: The upper Regiment at
Haverill: Wendsday the Twenty Eight of this Instant August:
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
315
The one fifth part of the Above Six hundered to bee troopers
Desireing the Hon'r Gov'r & Councells Consent
Past in the affirmative by the Representatives
Aug't: 20'th: 1689:
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
The majo'r of Each Regiment to appoint a meet son att
the Respective Randezvoous to take care of the Soldiers im-
pressed & Sent thither, to appoint them quarters & pr’vent
their Straggling, Untill disposed of by Authority
[CHAPTER 88.]
[ESCORT TO BE PROVIDED FOR THE MESSENGERS TO ALBANY.]
[Mass. Court Records, August 20, 1689.]
Ordered that Capt Browne of Sudbury; provide Ten able
Troopers well Acoutred, with Arms, and Ammunition, and
provision to Wait upon the Gentlemen that are to be Sent to
Albany, to be Ready on Thursday next in the Morning
[CHAPTER 89.]
[NINETY INDIANS TO BE ENLISTED.]
:
[Mass. Archives, vol. 30, p. 314. Court Records, August 21, 1689.]
It is ordered that ninety Indians be provided from Puncka-
poge Naticke & other friend Indeans to goe forth w'th our
Army, & to that end that order be sent to Cap't Prentis L't
Swift & m'r Wiswall to make provission accordingly.
Boston 21. Aug't 89 voted in the Affirmative by the Gov-
erno'r & Magistrates desireing the Consent of the repr'senta-
tives
Consented to by the Representatives
Dated as aboves'd
Ja: Russell
Ebenezer Prout, Clerk
[CHAPTER 90.]
[DESERTERS SUMMONED TO APPEAR.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 283. Court Records, August 21, 1689.]
Information being given that 17: Soldjers that were put into
the Garrison at Saco, have deserted their trust, & their Ma'ties
service, and is a very bad presid't It is ordered that said sold-
jers be forth with Sum'oned to appear befor this Court to
give an acc't of there acc'on herein
}
316
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
As also those that are come away disorderly from Cochecho.
or any other of the Garrisons.
Aug't 21, 1689./
voted in the Affirmative by the Governo'r & Councill desire-
ing the Consent of the repr❜sentatives
by order Ja: Russell
Consented unto by the Representatives
Dated as aboves'd
Ebenezer Prout: Clerk
[CHAPTER 91.]
[APPROPRIATION FOR THE MESSENGERS TO ALBANY.]
[Mass. Court Records, August 21, 1689.]
An Order pas't to M'r Treasurer to make such Provision as
is Needfull for the Supplies of the Messengers now going to
Albany, and for their Accom'odation, and expences in their
Travail, and to deliver unto them forty pounds Money, And to
Charge his disburse to the Public Account.
[CHAPTER 92.]
[MESSENGERS TO ALBANY IMPOWERED TO IMPRESS.]
[Mass. Court Records, August 21, 1689.]
An Order Passed to Major Thomas Savage, and Capt An-
drew Belcher appointed as Messengers to Albany in the Coun-
try's Service, Impowring them to Impress Horses, Men, or
Provisions, as there may be Occasion on the Road, within this
Colony And all Constables, and Other Officers are Required
to Assist, and forward, them as needfull
[CHAPTER 93.] .
[COURT OF ASSISTANTS ADJOURNED.]
[Mass. Court Records, August 21, 1689.]
It's Ordered that the Court of Assistants to have been
holden the first Tuesday of Septemb'r next be Adjourned unto
the Last Tuesday of the Same month of September
[CHAPTER 94.]
[MAJOR WADE'S TROOP TO NOMINATE OFFICERS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 287. Court Records, August 22, 1689.]
Ordered That the Troop under the Com'and of Majo'r Jona-
than Wade doe forthwith Compleat their Com'ission officers,
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
317
that it may be Settled for the service of the Country; & to
that End majo'r Wade the pr'sent Captaine doe w'thout delay
call the troop together, & cause them to nominate Such offi-
cers as are Wanting to be pr'sented to this convention or
Councill for Confirmation. But if the s'd majo'r wade refuse
to call the Troop together as abovesaid Then William Green
Cornett is hereby required to Call the Troop together & pro-
ceed to nomination as well of Captaine as other Comission
officers as are wanting forthwith to be pr'sented for confirma-
tion.--
Boston, 22'd August, 1689.-
Voted in the Affirmative by the Governo'r and Councill.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Consented to by the Representatives
Dated as above s'd
Ebenezer Prout: Clerk
[CHAPTER 95.]
[TWENTY-FIVE DESERTERS TO BE SENT TO WELLS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 287. Not in Court Records.]
Ordered by the Representatives that twenty five of the
Eastern men that are come hither w'thout order deserting
their Garrisons or plantations, be sent to wells for the releif
of that Town, they finding provission for said soldiers at their
own Costs & beareing theire equall proportion in the whole
Charge of this present warr w'th the Indians
Augs't 22'ond 1689: Past by the Representatives in the
affirmative Desiring the Hon'rd Gov'r & Magestrates Con-
sent-
Ebenezer Prout, Clerk--
Consent'd to by the Governo'r & Councill.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 96.]
[CAPTAINS APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 70, p. 160. Court Records, August 24, 1689.]
Ephraim Hunt of
Weymouth
Boston
James Convers Jun'r Woburn
Thomas Bernard
Jacob Moore
Simon Willard
Sudbery
Salem
Thomas Noyse
Jn'o King
Newbery
North hampton
1
318
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
The seven
sons above named are Nominated and apoint'd
to be Cap'ts of the Companys now Ordered to bee Raised to
go against the Indian Enemie
Past in the affirmative by the Representatives
Aug'st 23'd: 1689:
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Governo'r and Councill
24'0 August, 1689.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 97.]
[CAPTAINS OF INFANTRY APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 287. Not in Court Records.]
The Names of the Severall Persons Chosen to be Cap'ts for
the foot men Pressed for the present Expidition-
for Suffolke south Regim't, Andrew Gardner
for Boston Regim't, Serg't Nath Hall of Boston
for Midd'x Lower Regim't, Cap't James Convers of Woburn
for the Uper Regim't, of Midd'x: Ensign Jacob Moore of
Sudbury
for Esex Lower Regim't, Cap't: Simon Wilard of Salem
for the uper Regim't Cap't Thomas Noyse of Newbery
for North hampshire L❜t Jn'o King of north hampton
Past in the affirmative by the Representatives Desireing
the Hon'rd Gov'r & Magestrates Consent
Aug'st 23'th: 1689:
Consented
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 98.]
[COMMITTEES OF MILITIA TO DIRECT IMPRESSMENTS.]
[Mass. Court Records, August 23, 1689.]
It is Ordered that the Com'ittee of Militia in Each Town
upon the Receipt of Warrents for Impress of Soldiers shall
forthwith meet, and direct the Press Master to press such
persons, as they shall Judge meet, (all things considered) for
their Majesties Service; And shall give Him or them that are
to Impress, their Names in Writing under their Hands
[CHAPTER 99.]
[AMMUNITION TO BE PURCHASED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 289. Court Records, August 24, 1689.]
M'r John Foster m'r Edward Bromfield and m'r Joseph
Parson the Com'ittee appointed for the warr are desired forth-
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
319
with to buy up Forty barrells of good Gunpowder and a pro-
portionable Quantity of Shot and Lead at the best Rates they
can for the publique Stoares and their Majesties Service to be
paid for by the Treasurer./.
24'0 August, 1689./.
Past in the affirmative by the Governour and Councill.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Consented to by the Representatives
Dated as above s'd
Ebenezer Prout: Clerk
[CHAPTER 100.]
[CAPT. SWAINE TO COMMAND THE EXPEDITION.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 289. Court Records, August 24, 1689.]
Cap'ne Jeremiah Swayne is chosen and appoint'd Com'ander
in Chiefe of the fforces now Ordered to be raysed and sent
forth against the Indian Enemy.
Past in the Affirmative by the Govern'r and Councill.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
24'0 August, 1689./.
Consented to by the Representatives
Dated as above:
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 101.]
[SELECTMEN TO SECURE PUBLIC LOANS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 288. Court Records, August 24, 1689.]
Aug't: 24'th 1689.
At the Convention of the Gov'r & Councill and the Repre
sentatives, of the Massachusetts Colony in New-England.—
Agreed that the select men of the Severall Towns within
this Colony be desired to see what Subscriptions they can get.
within their respective Towns for the lóane of money goods.
or provision as they have upon the publique credit to cary on
the affaires of the warr with the Indians, and to defray other
the present occasions of the Publique to be repayd by the
Tr'er out of the first moneys that shall be Collected by a Pub-
lique assessm't, & to make a Speedy return of w't they do
herein to the convention if sitting or to the Gov'r & Councill
and that it be forthw'th printed: & sent to the severall Towns
Past in the affirmative by the Representatives
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented to by the Governo'r and Councill.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry/.
320
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
[CHAPTER 102.]
[DELEGATES APPOINTED TO ATTEND A CONVENTION ON THE
WAR.]
[Mass. Court Records, August 24, 1689.]
Thomas Danforth Esq'r and Elisha Cook Esq'r are Chosen
and Appointed Com'issio'rs for this Colony, to meet with the
Gentlem❜n that shall Come from the Other Colony's to Consult,
advise, and Agree with them ab't the management of the
Warr with the Indians, and of other Affairs referring to the
Publick
[CHAPTER 103.]
[CAPTAINS APPOINTED.]
:
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 296. Court Records, August 29, 1689.]
Voted that Edward Cricke be Captain of the Company de-
tached out of Boston Regiment; And that Nathan'l Hall be
Captain of the Company detached out of the South Regiment
of Suffolke./.
Past by the Governo'r and Councill
Boston. 29'0 Aug'st 1689.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
The Representatives Consent to Cap't Cricke
29'o Aug'st 1689:
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 104.]
[ARMS PAWNED BY INDIANS TO BE COLLECTED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 30, p. 314. Court Records, August 29, 1689.]
Ordered that Cap'ne Prentis and m'r Noah Wiswall be
desired to gather up the Armes belonging to the Indians now
at Natick and pawned out to severall persons in the Country,
Engageing the publique Credit for the severall Sum'es taken
up upon them the said Indians Offering themselves to go
forth in their Ma'ties Service in the Expedition against the
Indians. And that they see to have those Armes forthwith
fixed up that are not fit for Service.
29'0 August, 1689./.
Past by the Governo'r and Councill
29'0 August, 1689/.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
Consented unto by the Representatives
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
321.
[CHAPTER 105.]
[HEADQUARTERS OF THE TROOPS APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 300. Court Records, August 29, 1689.]
Ordered that the head Quarters for the Forces now detached
for their Ma'ties Service in the present Expedition against
the com❜on Indian Enemy be as follow Viz't Casco Newiche-
wanick, Havarill and Groton-untill farther Order./.
29'0 August, 1689.
Voted in the affirmative by the Governo'r and Councill.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
29'0 August 1689.
Consented unto by the Representatives
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 106.]
[TREASURER TO ISSUE NOTES FOR THE PUBLIC LOAN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 296. Court Records, August 29, 1689.]
Ordered that the Treasurer draw his Notes upon the Gen-
tlemen that have Subscribed to advance money's upon Loane
for the carrying on the charges of the Indian Warr &c'a for
the paying in of the same, And that the Treasurer Supply the
Gentlemen appoint'd a Com'ittee for the Warr out of the
said moneys, to make provision for the Forces.
29'o Aug'o 1689.
Voted in the affirmative by the Governo'r and Councill
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Consented to by the Representatives
4
29'th aug'st: 1689.
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 107.]
[A CAPTAIN APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 296. Court Records, August 31, 1689.]
Ordered by the Representatives That Nath: Halle be Com--
'issionated Cap't of the Soldiers Raised in Boston Regim't for
this present Expidition against the Indian Enemie
Aug'st: 29'th: 1689:
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Is'a Addington Sec'ry./.
Consented by the Governo'r and Councill.
21
322
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
[CHAPTER 108.]
[SCOUTS ORDERED TO THE FRONTIER.]
[Mass. Court Records, August 29, 1689.]
An Order past to Coporal Eben'r White to move with the
Troopers detached out of the Two Regim'ts of Suffolk to the
Rendevous at Groton, which is Appointed One of the Head
Quarters, and there to Improve them in Scouting about those
Towns adjacent until farther Orders (And the Counstables of
the Town are hereby Ordered to provide for their Quarters)
And they are further, Ordered to Kill and Destroy the Enemy
as they may./
[CHAPTER 109.]
[A LIEUTENANT APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 300. Court Records, August 30, 1689.]
Ordered that Thomas Bancroft Jun'r of Reddinge be Lieu't
to Cap't James Convers: of the Souldiers of the Lower Regim't
in Middlesex Impressd to Serve theire Majesties ag't the
Indian Enemy:
30'th Aug'st 1689
Past in the affirmative by the Representatives
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Governo'r & Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 110.]
[TREASURER AND COMMISSIONERS TO PROVIDE SUPPLIES.]
[Mass. Court Records, August 30, 1689.]
Ordered that the Treasurer take Order with the Com'is-
sion'rs for the Warr for Providing two thousand pound of
Bread four Barrells of Porke, two Barrells Molasses, two bar-
rels Pease, two Barrells Rhum, two barrells Salt, two Bar-
rells of Powder, Six hundred w't of Shott, and Six hundred
of flints and to Ship the Same on board the Vessell now bound
for Casco for the Supply of the Soldiers there and going now./
[CHAPTER 111.]
[A LIEUTENANT APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Court Records, August 30, 1689.]
Peter Noyes Jun'r of Sudbury is Appointed Lieuten't to
Jacob Moore Captain of the Company detached out of the
Upper Regiment of Midd'x
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
323
[CHAPTER 112.]
[TREASURER TO PROVIDE FOR THE COMMISSIONERS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 300. Court Records, August 30, 1689.]
Boston. Aug. 30, 1689
Ordered That the Treasurer of the Country make suitable
provission for the Com'issioners of the Colony. appointing a
meet place for their entertainem't.
Past by the Governo'r and Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
Consented to by the Representatives
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 113.]
[A LIEUTENANT APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 302. Court Records, August 31, 1689.]
Ordered that Jn'o Davies sen'r of Rockberry be Lieu't to
Cap't Andrew Gardiner Cap't of the souldieres Impressed In
the south Regiment in the County of Suffolke for theire Maj-
esties service
Aug'st 31'o: 1689:
Past in the affirmative by the Representatives Desireing
the Hon'rd Gov'r & Magestrates Consent
Ebenezer Prout: Clerk
Consented by the Governo'r and Councill.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 114.]
[A LIEUTENANT APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 302. Court Records, August 31, 1689.]
M'r Ambrose Daws is apointed L❜t to Cap't Nath: Hall ag’st
the Indian Enemie
31'o Aug'st: 1689/
Past in the affirmative by the Representatives
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
Consent'd to by the Governo'r & Councill
[CHAPTER 115.]
[ASSIGNMENT OF TROOPS TO STATIONS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 302. Court Records, August 31, 1689.]
Ordered That the Souldiers detached out of the Severall
Regiments in this colony be Appointed forthwith to march to
324
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
the head quarters respectively as hereafter named their to
attend further Orders from the Govern'r & Councill, or the
Com'ander in cheife.
Cap't Nath: Hall-Those out of Boston Regim't
Cap't Sim'o Willard
}
to
Essex Lower Regim't) Casco.
to
Cap't Andr'o Gardner.. Suffolke South Regiment Newicha-
Cap't James Convers Middlesex Lower Regim't Swannicke
Cap't Jacob More
Cap't Tho. Noise
middlesex Upper Regim't to Groton.
Essex Upper Regim't to Haverill.
Horse-Middlesex Uper Regiment to Groton
Suffolke Horse to Groton
Essex Uper Regim't Horse to Haverill
Lower Regim't middlesex Horse to Newichawannicke.
Essex lower Regim't to Newichawannick.
31'o. August, 1689.
Past by the Governo'r and Magistrates
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented to by the Representatives
[CHAPTER 116.]
[APPROPRIATION FOR THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 302. Court Records, August 31, 1689.]
Ordered by the Representatives That the Com'and'r in
Cheife be furnished w'th ten pounds in monys by the tresurer
for his suply in fiting him selfe for the present service Desir-
ing the Hon'rd Gov'r & Councill Consent
Augs't 31'o 1689
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
Consent'd to by the Governo'r and Councill.
[CHAPTER 117.]
[CAPT. THAXTER TO IMPRESS FORTY MEN.]
[Mass. Court Records, August 31, 1689.]
Ordered that Capt Joseph Thaxter Com'ander of the Sloop
Resolution do forthwith Impress ffourty Able Men for their
Majesties Service in S'd Sloop
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
325
[CHAPTER 118.]
[TREASURER TO ISSUE WARRANTS FOR A VALUATION.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 306. Court Records, September 6, 1689.]
The Treasurer havinge omitted to give forth his warrants
for a Valuation In time prefixed by Law: It is therefore
ordered that he forthwith send forth his warrants to the Con-
stable and Selectmen of every Towne within this Collonie
requiringe the Constable to call together the Inhabitants of
the Towne to choose a comissioner to Joine w'th the Select
men in Makinge a list of all Male persons in the same Towne
from sixteene years old & upward & a true Estimation of all
personall & reall Estates acordinge to the direction of the
law in that Case made & provided The Comiss'rs for the sev
erall townes In every shire to assemble at their shire Towne
to Examine & perfect theire Said lists upon the 2'd Wednes-
day In October next & speedily to transmit the same to the
Treas'r under theire hands or the Major part of them:
Sep'tr 6: 1689/ Past in the affirmative by the Representa-
tives Desiring the Hon'rd Gov'r & Magistrates
die predict.
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Governo'r & Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 119.]
[UPPER CAMBRIDGE TO HAVE A COMPANY.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 107, p. 306. Court Records, September 6, 1689.]
Ordered that the soldiers of the upper farmes of Cambridge
next Concord above five miles distant from theire owne towne
shall be under the Comand of Lieu't David ffiske & Ensigne
Ephraim winchip & are obliged to al duty as souldiers from
time to time as ocassion shall be
Sep'tr 6: 1689: past in the affirmative by the Representatives
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented to by the Govern'r & Councill
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 120.]
[A FAST DAY APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 11, p. 47. Court Records, September 7, 1689.]
At the Convention of the Governo'r & Councill &c'a
It having pleased the God of heaven, to Multiply still the
tokens of his Holy and Righteous displeasure against us, not
326
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
only by the whole series of his providences towards us in the
Sumer past, but also by the Growing dificulties of A distres-
ing Indian War; in which our Barbarous Enemies, Notw'th-
standing utmost Endeavours that have been used to leave
them inexcusable in their continuing hostilyty, are yet Invad-
ing of us, and are now flusht w'th such success of their
attempts and Increase of their Numbers, as threatens A
spreading of that unhappy flame into diverse Corners of the
Land, unless the God of armies graitously smile upon the
present Expedition against them; Unto all which uncom-
fortable Circumstances, there is added, as yet more Ominous,
our own Extreme unpreparedness for the mercies of God, by
our Continuance in those provoking Evills which have drawn
Divine Judgm'ts upon us so that our onely Hopes of Diliver-
ance are in his Soveraign Grace, who when wee go on fro-
wardly in the way of o'r own hearts, can see o'r ways &
heale us
Upon Consideration whereof, together w'th the present cir-
cumstances of the state of Europe, It is ordered, That Thurs-
day the Nineteenth day of this Instant september be observed
as a day of Humiliation w'th fasting and prayer, Throughout
this Colony And that all servile Labor be therefore Every
where on that day forborn. And it is hereby Recom'ended
unto the Churches, Ministers and People in the severall Towns
and villages, That they Solemnly apply themselves unto the
dutyes of the day humbly Imploring the blessing of God upon
their most Gracious Ma'ties King W'm and Queen Mary w'th
the whole English Israel. And that Gods sence and bless-
ing may also be w'th & upon o'r fforces gone & going forth to
Engage against o'r pagan Adversary's. And that hee would
farther grant those many other both spirituall & temporall
blessings w'ch tend unto o'r full Establishm't
Past in the Affirmative by the Representatives Desireing
the Hon'rd Gov'r and Magistrates Consent
Boston, Sep't: 7'th: 1689
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented unto by the Governo'r and Councill.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 121.]
[A COMMISSARY APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Court Records, September 7, 1689.]
John Jacob is Appointed by the Govern'r and Council to be
Com'issary for the Garrison at the Head Quarters in Newiche-
wannick and Instructions were Voted, and given Him
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
327
[CHAPTER 122.]
[THE TREASURER TO PAY THE SAILORS OF THE RESOLUTION.]
[Mass. Court Records, September 7, 1689.]
Ordered that the Treasurer forthwith pay off the Wages
due to the Men, that Served the Sloop Resolution Joseph
Thaxter Commander upon their Majesties Service
[CHAPTER 123.]
[THE COMMISSIONERS TO PROVIDE SUPPLIES.]
[Mass. Court Records, September 7, 1689.]
An Order past to the Comission'rs for the Warr to provide
a Considerable Quantity of Am'unition provisions and Cloth-
ing, and Other Necessaries for Supply of the forces gone, and
going forth ag't the Common Indian Enemie
[CHAPTER 124.]
[ASSOCIATES APPOINTED FOR HAMPSHIRE COUNTY.]
[Mass. Court Records, September 8, 1689.]
Ordered that Coll'o John Pynchon, M'r William Clark of
North hampton, Capt Aaron Cooke jun'r of Hadley, and Capt
Samuel Partrigg of Hatfeild, be allowed, and Confirmed Asso-
ciates, for the County of Hampshire, And Col❜o John Pynchon
and M'r William Clerk are Invested with Magistratical Power
till farther Settlement
[CHAPTER 125.]
[APPROPRIATION FOR THE MESSENGERS TO ALBANY.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 45. Court Records, September 7, 1689.]
Ordered that the Sum'e of two hundred and nineteen pounds
in money payable by bill of Exchange unto Cap'ne Andrew
Belcher directed to the Hono'ble Symon Bradstreet Thomas
Danforth Samuel Shrimpton Esq'rs or Either of them Signed
John Pynchon Thomas Savage dated Albany 26'th Sept'r
1689. in part of the charge of their Journy to Albany & treaty
with the maqua's &c'a be forthwith paid by the Treasurer
Octob'r 7'th 1689 Past in the affirmative by the Repre-
sentatives
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Governo'r and Councill.
{
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
328
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
[CHAPTER 126.]
[JOHN WEST TO BE REMOVED TO THE JAIL.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 46. Not in Court Records.]
we desire that m'r John West may be removed forthwith
from the Castle to the Comon Goal in Boston ther to be kept
till ffurther order.
Voted in the affirmative as attest
7'th: 8: 89
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented unto by the Gov'r & Councill.
[CHAPTER 127.]
order. T. D.
[COMMISSIONERS TO PROVIDE SUPPLIES.]
[Mass. Court Records, October 7, 1689.]
Mess'rs John Foster, Edward Bromfeild, and Joseph Par-
sons Com'issio'rs for the Warr, are desired, and Ordered forth-
with to Provide the Particulars following for the Supply of
the forces at Newichewannick to be Speedily Sent up thither
Vis't ffour peices of Duffals, or Blankets, in want thereof two
Peices of Red Cotton, twenty Axes, thirty Hatchets, Sixty
Pair of Shoes, Sixty Pair of Stockins, fifty Coats, breaches,
and Drawers, One Hh'd Rhum, Cheese, Shoenailes, Leather
for Indian Shoes./
This by the Govern'r & Council.
[CHAPTER 128.]
[MILITARY OFFICERS TO HAVE COMMISSIONS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 46. Court Records, October 8, 1689.]
Ord❜rd That all millitary Com'ission officers that have been
nominated by the Severall foot Comp's and troops within this
Colony haveing been pr'sented & approved of by the Conven-
tion, or by the Governo'r & Councill, in the absence of the
representatives, have Com'issions graunted them for their
respective offices as the Law directs-
Octob'r 8'th 1689. by the Representatives
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented to by the Governo'r & Councill
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
329
[CHAPTER 129.]
[MILITARY OFFICERS DISMISSED.]
[Mass. Court Records, October 8, 1689.]
Whereas Capt Richard Sprague, Capt'n Laurance Ham'ond
and L❜t John Cutler Sen'r of Charlestown have behaved them-
selves Contemptuously against the Government of this Col-
ony, It is hereby Ordered, and declared that the Said Richard
Sprague, Lawrance Hammond, and John Cutler are dismissed
from their Several Military Offices as the Law directs./
[CHAPTER 130.]
[TROOPERS ALLOWED TO RETURN TO THE INFANTRY.]
[Mass. Court Records, October 8, 1689.]
Upon Reading the Petition of Isaac Hill, Jon'a Sprague
Benjamin Muzzey Sen'r &c in behalf of themselves, and Others
late belonging to the Three County Troops, manifesting their
Unwillingness to Serve Under the Command of Capt Will'm
Green And upon Hearing of Both parties; It is Ordered that
the Said Petitioners, and Others, who are disatisfied with the
Said Captain Return to Serve in the foot Company's of the
Several Towns, and Places, whereto they do belong
[CHAPTER 131.]
[CHARLESTOWN COMPANIES TO NOMINATE OFFICERS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 48. Court Records, October 9, 1689.]
Whereas Cap't Rich'd Sprague, Cap't Lawrence Hammond
& L❜t John Cutler sen'r of Charlestowne are dismissed from
their respective military offices in the Companyes there. It
is ordered That majo'r Gen'r Winthrop be desired Speedily
to give notice to the two Companyes of charlestowne, & ap-
point a day for their meeting, to nominate Com'ission officers
to make a full Supply in S'd Companyes, & pr'sent the same
to the Convention, or to the Governor & Councill for appro-
bation as soon as may be. And that the S'd Majo'r Generall
be pr❜sent on the day appointed to Endeavor a peaceable pro-
cedure & issue.
Boston the 9'th 8b'r 1689
Voted by the Governo'r & Councill
Ja: Russell ord'r
Consented unto by the Representatives-
Dated as abovs'd
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
330
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
$
[CHAPTER 132.]
[THE TREASURER AUTHORIZED TO BORROW MONEY.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 52. Not in Court Records.]
Ordered by the Representatives for the paym't of Cap't
Belchers bill of Exchange the treasurer be desired to Borrow
mony upon Intrest if it Cannot other wise be had the same be
repaid out of the first rate that shall be raised.
October 9'th: 1689
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Is'a Addington Sec❜ry
Consented to by the Governo'r & Councill
[CHAPTER 133.]
[THE TREASURER TO BUY ALL THE POWDER IN THE MARKET.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 52. Court Records, October 11, 1689.]
Ordered by the Representatives, That the Treasurer doe
forth with buy all the powder that is in merchants hands here
for the Supply of the Country—
Octob'r 11'th: 1689
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Consented to by the Governo'r and Councill.
[CHAPTER 134.]
[CHARLESTOWN COMPANY TO NOMINATE OFFICERS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 183. Court Records, October 11, 1689.]
At the Convention of the Gouv'r & Counsell & the Repre-
sentatives of the Mathatusets Colloney
whereas Cap't Laurence Hammond by order of the Conven-
tion is dismist from his millitary Command & office in Charles-
towne, It is hereby ordred that John Call Ensigne of the Mil-
litary Company Late under the Counduct of s'd Cap't Ham-
mond doe Appoint & order the s'd Company to meet together
upon munday Next the fourteenth of octob'r Instant to Nom-
inate A suttable son to be Cap't of s'd Company & other
Commission officers that may be wanting & pr'sent the same
unto the Gov'r & Councell ffor there Allowance & Confirma-
tion
Boston the 11'th of octob'r 1689
past in the affirmative by the Representatives
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Consented to by the Governo'r and Councill
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
331
[CHAPTER 135.]
[CHARLESTOWN COMPANY TO NOMINATE OFFICERS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 53. Court Records, October 11, 1689.]
Att the Convention of the Governo'r & Councill and Repre-
sentatives of the Massachusetts Colony
Whereas Capt'ne Richard Sprague, & L't Jn'o Cutler sen'r
are by order of the Convention, dismist from their Respective
Millitary offices and Com'and, It is hereby ordered that serg't
Edward Wilson serg't stephen Watters of the Millitary Com-
pany in Charlstown, late under the Conduct of s'd Capt'ne
Richard sprague doe appoint & order the s'd Company to
meete upon munday next the fourteenth of Octob'r Instant to
Nominate suitable persons to be Cap't & L❜t of s'd Company,
And present the same unto the Govern'r and Councill for
their allowance & Confirmation-
Boston 11'th octob'r: 1689
past in the affirmative by the Representatives
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent❜d to by the Governo'r & Councill.
Attest'r Is'a Addington Sec'ry/.
[CHAPTER 136.]
[ADJOURNMENT.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 52. Court Records, October 11, 1689.]
The Representatives do adjorn to the twenty fourth of this
Instant octob'r at three aClock afternoone Except a ship from
England then w'thin three days after the arivall of s'd ship
And all Towns are to be sent unto to send in their Represen-
tatives to be a full house on tuesday the fifth of november
next Desiring the Hon'rd Gov'r & Magestrates Consent hereto
Boston: 11'th: 1689
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented to by the Governo'r and Councill.
Is'a Addington Sec❜ry
[CHAPTER 137.]
[SUFFOLK AND UPPER MIDDLESEX TROOPERS TO BE DRAWN
OFF.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 63. Court Records, October 24, 1689.]
Ordered by the Representatives That the Troopers on the
Cuntrys service w'ch belong to suffolk & the uper Regim't
of Midd'x be forthw'th drawn off
24'th octob'r 1689:
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
332
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
[CHAPTER 138.]
[THE CLERK TO SUMMON ABSENT MEMBERS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 196. Not in Court Records.]
Voted and agreed by the Representatives That the Clerke of
this house doe give notice & Signifie unto the Representa-
tives of the severall Townes of this Collonie who are absent
from this present session that they are desired to give theire
presence at the next meeting of the Convention In Boston
upon Tuesday the fifth of Novemb'r next at three of the Clock.
afternoone unto w'ch time they have adjourned to Consult
advise & transact In all such matters as doe concerne the
publique:
Boston Octob'r 25 1689
Christopher Webb order
Consent'd to by the Governo'r & Councill.
Attest'r Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 139.]
[CAPT. MOORE'S COMPANY TO BE DISCHARGED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 73. Court Records, November 6, 1689.]
Ordered by the Representatives That Capt'ne Jaccob Moore
w'th his Company at Groton be forthw'th drawne off and dis-
charged desireing the Hon'rd Gov'r & Councill Consent
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Novemb'r 6: 1689:
Consent'd to by the Gov'r & Councill
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 140.]
[TROOPS AT CASCO TO BE WITHDRAWN AND DISCHARGED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 72. Court Records, November 6, 1689.]
The Com'ission'rs for the Colony's having Com'ended it to
the Governo'r and Councill, that the Souldiers belonging to
the Frontier Townes, now at any of the head quarters,
together with all Sick wounded, & other wise unfitted for
Service, be forthwith dismissed home, As also the Troopers
there or elsewhere, And in Case there be not a prospect of an
oppertunity to prosecute the Enemie, that then the Indians
that are upon service, and So many of the English Souldiers
as may with Safety to the people of the remote Plantations be
Spared, be as Conveniently & privately as may be returned
home
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
333
It is agreed & ordered, That in Case there be no prospect of
prosecuting the Enemy, Majo'r Benjamen Church Comander
in Cheife, of the forces abroad at Casco, & the parts adjacent,
with the advice of his Com'ission officers, and the officers, &
Some of the principall persons upon the places, doe place a
Sufficient Number of Souldiers, at Such garrisons, & out Plan-
tations, in those parts, as may Secure the Same, and make
out a party to offend the Enemy, in Case of any attempt And
dispose them under Suitable officers, that they may be under
good Goverment & order, taking distinct Lists of the names
& numbers of Souldiers ordered to remayne in each place, And
the S'd Com'ander in Chiefe, and other his officers & Soul-
diers, as privately as may bee forthwith drawe offe home, &
be discharged, And meet Supplys & provisions be Sent for
the drawing offe them that are to Come home and to furnish
them that Stay behinde
past in the affirmtive by the Representatives
Nov'br: 6th: 1689:
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented to by the Governo'r & Councill
Nov'r 6, 1689./.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 141.]
[TROOPS AT NEWICHWANNOCK TO BE WITHDRAWN AND DIS-
CHARGED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 74. Court Records, November 8, 1689.]
Boston: 8'0 Novemb'r 1689.
The Com'ission'rs of the Colony's haveing Com'ended it to
the Governo'r & Councill that the Souldiers belonging to the
ffrontier Town's now at any of the head Quarters together
with all Sick, wounded and otherwise unfitted for Service be
forthwith dismissed home, As also the Troopers there or else-
where; And in case there be not a prospect of an Oppertunity
to prosecute the Enemy that then the Indians that are upon
Service and so many of the English Souldiers as may with
Safety to the People of the remote Plantations be spared be
as conveniently & privatly as may be returned home.-
It is Agreed and Ordered in case there be no prospect of
prosecuting the Enemy, That Major Jeremiah Swayne Com-
'ander in chiefe of the Forces at Newichewannick or Salmon
Falls, with the advice of his Com'ission Officers and Some of
the principal Gentlemen of the Province of New Hampshire
and Maine (neerest to him) do post a Sufficient number of
Souldiers at such Garrisons and out plantations in those parts
334
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
as may secure the same and Offend the Enemy in case of
Attempt, to be disposed under suitable Officers for their good
Government and Order, takeing distinct Lists of the Names
& number of Souldiers Ordered to remain at Each place.
And the said Com'ander in Cheife and other his Officers and
Souldiers as privatly as may be forthwith to draw off home
and be discharged./.
Voted by the Governo'r & Council
Ja: Russell ord'r
Consented to by the Representatives
Dated as aboves'd
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 142.]
ESSEX COUNTY RECORDS TO BE DELIVERED TO THE NEW
CLERK.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 75. Court Records, November 8, 1689.]
The Magistrates of the County Court for Essex Informing
that the s'd Court have appointed m'r Benj'a Gerrish to be
Clerke of s'd Court, desiring an Order for the Records to be
put into the hands of said m'r Gerrish. It is Ordered that
Cap'ne Stephen Sewall late Clerke of s'd Court do deliver all
the Bookes and Records in his hands belonging to s'd County
unto the said Benjamin Gerrish the present Clerke, that so
all persons concerned may have the benefit thereof as they
shall need.
Voted by the Magistrates
Ja: Russell by ord'r
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented to by the Representatives
Nov'br 8'th 1689/
[CHAPTER 143.]
[CHARLESTOWN COMPANY TO MEET TO CONSIDER THE AP-
POINTMENT OF OFFICERS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 75. Court Records, November 8, 1689.]
Nov'br 8'th: 1689:
Ordered by the Representatives That the Millitary Company
form'rly under the Com'and of Cap'ne Richard Sprague In
Charlstown be Conveened together on Munday next & that
it be signified to them that Cap't Joseph Lynd is alowed ther
Captaine & that M'r Sam'll Hayman is apointed to be their
Lieu't & m'r Timothy Phillips to be their Ensigne w'ch if
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
335
they yeild obedience to: Will be well taken but if they be
unsatisfied theirw'th they are then by there vote to nominate
two other meet sons to be their Leiu't & Ensigne and make
speedy return thereof to the Gov'r, & Councill for Confirma-
tion if they se meet
Desireing the Hon'rd Gov'rs & magistrates Consent
Ebenezer Prout: Clerk
past by the Magestrates 9'br 8. 1689
Ja: Russell P ord'r
[CHAPTER 144.]
[JOHN JORDAN RELEASED ON BAIL.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 73. Court Records, November 8, 1689.]
Agreed by the representatives.-Thatt L't [John] Jordan
giveing bond to the Value of one hund'rd pounds Currant
mony of N England to answere w't may.bee alledged against
him att the next County Court held att Boston Upon adjur-
ment-Shall bee released out of prison-
Nov'br 6: 1689
Voted by the representatives in the affirmative
Consented to by the Magistrates
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Ja: Russell by ord'r
Nov'r 8'th 1689./.
[CHAPTER 145.]
[SIX RATES TO BE LEVIED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 80. Court Records, November 8, 1689.]
Boston Novemb'r 8'th 1689:
Resolved by the Representatives Nemine Contra Dicente
That sixe Rates on whereof to be in money be Levied forth-
with on the Inhabitants of this Collonie for paying of Soul-
diers & publique Charges that have arisen since the Revolu-
tion by Reason of the war & securing the castle & prison
&c'a and that the Treasurer forthwith Isue forth his war-
rants for efecting the same
The prises of Corne are as followeth
Wheat at five shillings six pence P bushell
Barely & Barely Malt at three shillings six pence
Rye at three shillings
Indian Corne at three shillings
Pease at four shillings
336
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
Those that pay money on the five Rates for pay to have a
third abated
Desiring the hon'rd Gov'rs & Magistrates Consent:
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented to by the Magistrates
Ja: Russell by ord'r
Nov'r 9'th 1689./.
[CHAPTER 146.]
[THE GOVERNMENT PROCLAIMED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 100. Court Records, December 16, 1689.]
By the Governour and Councill and Representatives of the
Colony of the Massachusetts Bay in New-England convened
at Boston, the Third day of December 1689./
Whereas at the instant Request and importunity of this
People by their Representatives convened at Boston the fifth
day of June last past before the date of these presents The
Governour; Deputy Governour and Assistants declared their
Acceptance of Government according to the Charter Rules
by the Name of Governour and Councill of the Massachusetts
Colony. And to Exercise such Authority within s'd Colony
as was formerly used by the Law's made by the Charter Gov-
ernment (Excepting such as may be judged repugnant to the
Law's of England) untill further Order from England./
It haveing likewise been declared, That all the Laws made
by the Governour and Company of this Colony which were in
force on the twelfth day of May, One Thousand Six hundred
Eighty Six (Except as above Excepted) should be in force
untill farther Settlement./
And whereas his sacred Majesty in answer to the Address
of the s'd Gov'er and Councill &'ce hath by his most Gracious
Letter of the twelfth of August 1689, In the first year of their
Majesties Reign (Directed as followeth Viz't To such as for
the time being take care for preserving the Peace and Admin-
istring the Law's within our Colony of the Massachusetts Bay
in New England in America) been pleased to signify that his
Majesty is given to understand that they had taken upon
them the present care of the Government. And hath thought
fit by his Royal Authority graciously to Authorise and im-
power them to continue in his Name their Care in the Admin-
istration thereof and preservation of the peace untill his
Majesty shall have taken such Resolutions and given such
directions for the more Orderly Settlement of s'd Government
as shall most conduce to his Majesties Service, and the Secur-
ity and Satisfaction of his Subjects within this Colony, as by
his Majesties s'd Letter; put forth in print doth appear.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
337
All their Majesties Subjects as well Officers Civill and Mili-
tary, and all Inhabitants and Strangers residing within this
Colony are therefore hereby required to take notice thereof,
and to yeild Obedience unto the s'd Government accordingly,
as they will answer the Contrary at their Peril./.
past in the affirmative by the Representatives
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Councill.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 147.]
[A PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION ASKED FOR THE WIDOW OF CAPT.
PEASE.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 117. Court Records, December 4, 1689.]
Whereas Capt'n Samuel Pease did voluntarily expose him-
selfe in the Service of their Majesties & this Countrey, in the
Late Expedition against the pirates, who infested the Coast,
& did much dam'age to their ma'ties Subjects here, in which
Expedition he Lost his Life, & hath Left a widow, & foure
Orphans in a poore & Low Condition, It is Recom'ended to
the ministers of the Severall Towns in this Collonie, to make
a Collection in their respective Congregations for the releife
of the s'd widow & Orphans: & paying for the Cure of Two of
the Companie. belonging to the S'd Capt'n that were wounded
in the s'd Service, the money that shalbe gathered, to be putt
into the hands of Majo'r Generall Waite Winthrop, m'r Adam
Winthrop. to be Improved for the ends afores'd, as they shall
Judge meete.
Boston Decemb'r 4'th 1689
Past in the affirmatives by the Representatives Desiring
the Govern'r & Magestrates Consent
past by the Magistrates
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Ja: Russell order
[CHAPTER 148.]
[ONE RATE AND A HALF TO BE LEVIED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 101. Court Records, December 4, 1689.]
Ordered by the Representatives That there be forthwith
one Rate & an halfe in money Raysed by assessm't on the
Inhabitants of this Collonie to defray those Charges That are
and may arise for the Managing of the afayres of sd Collonie
22
338
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
by our Representatives In England and That the Treas'r
Issue forth his warrants; acordingly
Boston: 4'th Dec- 1689/
Ebenezer Prout: Cl
Attest'r Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Consent'd to by the Governo'r & Councill
die predict.
[CHAPTER 149.]
[A THANKSGIVING DAY APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 11, p. 48. Court Records, December 7, 1689.]
It haveing pleased the God of heaven to Mittigate his many
frownes upon us In the sum'er past with A mixture of some
very signall Favours; and In the middest of wrath so far to
Remember mercy, That o'r havest hath not wholy failed That
o'r Indian Enemies have had A Check put upon their designes
of Blood & spoile, that others have not seene their Desires
accomplished upon us; and that we have such hopes of o'r
god's adding yet more perfection to o'r Diliverances: In as
much also; as the Great God hath of Late Raised up such A
defence to the protestant Religion and Intrerst abroad In the
world; Espetially in the happy accession of their Majesties
o'r soveraignes King William & Queen Mary to the Throne.
It is therefore Ordered that Thursday the ninteeneth of
Decemb'r Instant be kept as A day of Thanksgiveing througout
this Colonie, and all serville Labour on said day is hereby
Inhibited and the severall Ministers & assemblies are Exhorted
to observe the same, by Celebrateing the Just praises of all-
mighty God, of whose tender mercys it is that we are not Con-
sumed
Decemb'r 7'th: 1689
Past in the affirmative by the Representatives desiring the
Hon'rd Gov'r & majestrates Consent
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented to by the Councill.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 150.]
[ELISHA COOKE APPOINTED: AGENT TO ENGLAND.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 104. Court Records, December 7, 1689.]
Voted & unanimously agread by the Representatives that
Elisha Cooke Esq'r be desired forthwith to undertake a Voy-
age for England, to Joyne with S'r Henry Ashurst Kn't and
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
339
Baronet and M'r Increase Mather (if he shall then be resident
in England) to Negotiate & transact the publique Affayres of
this Colony there, And that full power according to Instruc-
tions be given to them or either of them to be our Agents, or
Agent, for the end aforesayd,
6'th of Dec— 1689
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented to by the Govern'r & Councill with the Oblitera-
tion of the word Representative; & interlining of Agents
7'0 Decem'r 1689./
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[The above amendment was made by erasure and correction of the orig-
inal bill. ED.]
[CHAPTER 151.]
[THE DECLARATION OF WAR TO BE PUBLISHED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 107. Court Records, December 7, 1689.]
Voated by the Representatives that their Majesties Declara-
tion of warr against the ffrench be fforthwith published in
Boston desiring the consent of our honored Majestrates her-
unto-
7'th of Dec-1689
Ebenezer Prout Cl
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Consented to by the Governo'r & Councill
[CHAPTER 152.]
[THE PAY OF OFFICERS AND MEN FIXED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 107. Court Records, December 7, 1689.]
Ordred that all Officers under Comission & Soilders under
Impres. being Imployed by this Goverment against the
Indian Enemies shall have the like wages P'r week & In like
pay as the officers & Soilders Resaved in the last warr w'th
the Indians in the yeare 1675 & 1676
7'th of Dec-1689
Voated in the affirmative by the Representatives desiring
the Consent of our honored Majestrates
die predict.
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented to by the Governo'r and Councill.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
340
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
[CHAPTER 153.]
[A COMMISSION APPOINTED TO GRANT DEBENTURES.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 111. Court Records, December 10, 1689.]
M'r Eliakim Hutchinson m'r Petor Serjant m'r Sampson
Sheafe, m'r John Eyre and m'r Thomas Brattle (all or any
three of them) are desired and appointed a Com'ittee to grant
Debenters for wages to the Souldiers that have been lately
imployed in their Maj'ties Service against the com'on Indian
Enemy which Com'ittee are to sit in Boston at such time as
they shall appoint, giveing publique notice thereof, the said
Com'ittee to receive the Com'issary's Accompts, that what
and of whome any of the Souldiers have taken up any thing
may be notified, Every Souldier to bring Certificate from his
Com'ander for the time he hath Served and a Certificate from
the Captain out of whose Company he was impressed that he
served with his own Armes or hath returned the Armes he
was furnished with; Or else the full value thereof to be de-
falked out of his wages unless good cause be shown to the con-
trary.
It is likewise Ordered that if any Town or particular person
have Supplyed any Souldier towards his wages they are with
all Speed to give in the Accompt thereof to the severall Com-
'issary's who Served in the respective head Quarters that so
it may be incerted in the said Com'issary's Accompts and
returned to the Com'ittee as abovesaid. All which being
considered the Com'ittee is to pass Each Souldier's Debenture
to the Treasurer for payment of what may be due./.
10'th Decemb'r 1689.
Voted in the Affirmative by the Councill
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
The Representatives Consent to the Bill abovs'd
Dec-13'th: 1689
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
it is the desire of the Representatives that this order may
be printed that the several Townes may have the Knowledge
thereof
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 154.]
[CAPT. GARDINER ALLOWED TO RETURN HOME.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 114. Court Records, December 13, 1689.]
It is ordered that Cap't Gardener now at Barwick be li-
censed to return home, & the Com'and of those Soldjers under
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
341
his care com'itted unto Major Charles frost. & the Secretary
is ordered accordingly to signifie the same to ym both. & to
send to Major ffrost a Com'ission to take the Governm't of
said Company.
Boston 13'th x'br 1689
past by the Magistrates
Consented to by the Representatives
Dated as above
Ja: Russell ord'r
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 155.]
[RETAILERS TO PROVE PAYMENT OF EXCISE.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 116. Court Records, December 13, 1689.]
It is ordered that the Clerks of the County Courts respec-
tively Summons All the Retailers of Wine Beer Ale Cider
Rum &'c To Appear before the County Court to w'ch they be-
long Then & there to Shew their paiment of their dewes As
the Law directs, for their draught Since the Revolution of the
Governement And for the future to Give Security to Observe
the Law Title Ordinaries or Otherwise to be dischargd from
that Imployment And their dewes to the Countrey for what
is past to be leavied As the Law directs
Boston' 13'th Decemb'r 1689:
past by the Magistrates
Consented to by the Representatives
Dated as aboves'd:
1
Ja Russell order
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 156.]
1
[THE TREASURER TO PROVIDE AMMUNITION.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 116. Court Records, December 13, 1689.]
Ordered by the Representatives That the treasurer do forth
w'th take Care that their be A sufficient stock of powder bulets
provided. & that the severall Comittees of Militia do forthw'th
take care that their Towns be provided w'th Amunition as
the Law Directs And all Persons are hereby prohibited from
Transporting powder arms or amunition w'thout Licence
from the Gov'r & Councill, on penalty of forfiting vessells &
Cargoe
Dec-: 13'th: 1689
Consented to by the Magistrates
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Ja: Russell Order
342
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
!
[CHAPTER 157.]
[ONE THIRD OF THE SOLDIERS IN MAINE TO BE WITHDRAWN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 241. Court Records, December 13, 1689.]
Ordered by the Representatives that one third p't of the
soldiers in the province of maine be Drawn off & in Case their
be A necessity of more to assist them there: that the persons
w'ch are Come into this Colonie from the s'd Province be Im-
prest & sent thether to strengthen the Remaineing townes in
S'd Province forthw’th
Dec'r: 13'th: 1689:
past by the Magistrates
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Ja: Russell Order
[CHAPTER 158.]
[CAPT. TOWNSEND TO BE REIMBURSED FOR MONEY ADVANCED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 117. Court Records, December 14, 1689.]
Cap't Pen Townsen is Requested by this Convention to take
up so much mony as is due to be paid to Cap't Andrew Belcher
for the Expedition upon w'ch he was sent with the other Gen-
tle'm to albany. And It is hereby ordered that the monys
comeing Due and shall be received from the ordinaries and
Retailers of Wine, Rhume, ale beer Cider &'c shall be paid in
to S'd Cap't Townsen untill he be fully Reimbursted the
monys by him paid as aboves'd
past in the affirmative by the Representatives
Dec-: 14'th: 1689
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented to by the Councill
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 159.]
[A COMMISSION TO AGREE WITH THE RETAILERS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 118. Court Records, December 14, 1689.]
Major John Richards m'r James Russell & Cap't Elisha
Hutchinson & the Treasurer are Nominated & Impowred a
Com'ittee to make agreement, with all ordinary keepers &
retaylers of wine Rhum' Brandy, Beeres, Ales, Cyder &c, for
1
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689.
343
their draught, as the law directs, as well for that past, Since
the 18'th of Aprill as for the future
Dec-: 14'th: 1689
past in the affirmative by the Representatives
Ebenezer Prout: Clerk
Consent'd to by the Councill
Is'a Addington Sec'ry./.
die predict.
[CHAPTER 160.]
[DAVID JAMESON RELEASED FROM PRISON.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 114. Court Records, December 16, 1689.]
In Answ'r to the petition of David Jamison Ordered by the
Representatives That David Jamison be Released out of prison
paying prison ffees
Our hon'rd Magistrates Consenting hereto:
Decemb'r 14'th 1689:
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Councill
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
16 x'br 89
[CHAPTER 161.]
[AN APPROPRIATION FOR THE AGENTS IN ENGLAND.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 126. Court Records, December 16, 1689.]
Voted by the Representatives, That the Tresurer forthw'th
take Care to provide bills of Exchange for A Thousand Pounds
ster'l payable to o'r Agents in England towards the Defraying
the publique Charges of this Colony that are & may arise there
Dec-: 16'th: 1689
Consented to by the Councill
die predict.
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 162.]
[SOLDIERS TO HAVE THEIR POLL TAX ABATED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 126. Court Records, December 16, 1689.]
Voted by the Representatives, That the Souldiers that were
Impressed by order of S'r Edmond Andross & sent forth
against the Indian enemie, doe reserve their head money of
the Six rates in their owne hands, untill further order And
that the Select men in every Towne do Send an account to
344
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
}
the Treasurer, by the Constable, what their head money
amounts unto-
Dec 14'th: 1689:
past in the affirmative by the Representatives—
Consent❜d to by the Councill.
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
16'0 Decemb'r 1689.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 163.]
[APPROPRIATION FOR JOHN MARSHALL'S SALARY.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 141. Court Records, December 21, 1689.]
Voted by the Representatives That the Treasurer doe pay to
John Marshall out of the five rates fifteene pounds, for this
yeares Sallery
Dec-: 14'th: 1689:
Consent'd to by the Councill
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Decem'r 21'o 1689./.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry./.
[CHAPTER 164.]
[AN EMBARGO DECLARED.]
[Mass. Court Records, December 21, 1689.]
For the better Safety and Convenience of Ships, and Pas-
sengers now bound to Europe, It is agreed, and Ordered that
there be a Present Stop and Embargo of all Vessells bound to
Europe until farther Order, And all Officers imployed for the
Clearing and dispatching of Vessells outward bound are here-
by required to take Notice thereof
[CHAPTER 165.]
?
[JOHN WILKEY TO BE COMMON EXECUTIONER.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 180. Court Records, January 1, 1689-90.]
Agreed with John Wilkey to be the com'on Executioner at
annu', to be paid him Quarterly,
the Rate of Twenty pounds
as formerly The Representatives consenting
pr' January, 1689.
past by the Councill
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
The Representatives Consent hereto
Christopher Webb: order
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
345
[CHAPTER 166.]
[SUPPLIES TO BE PROVIDED FOR SOLDIERS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 157. Court Records, January 2, 1689-90.]
Ordered that the Soilders that are posted betwene oyster
River & wells be Suplyed with ten Coates fiften paire Drawers
fiften paire Stockins & fiften paire shouse, & one barell of
Rum; The Com'ission'rs for the warr to provide them & send
them to Serg't James Thorpe to be distributed amongst the
Said Souldiers./
voated in the Affirmative by the Representatives Desiring
our Honoured majistrates consent
Jan: 2:
John Bowles pr order
Consent'd to by the Councill
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 167.]
[CHARGES TO BE DRAWN UP AGAINST THE ANDROS GOVERN-
MENT.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 155. Court Records, January 2, 1689-90.]
Ordered that William Stoughton Bartholomew Gedney and
William Browne Esq'rs with such other Gentlemen (who
were Members of the late Councill in the time of S'r Edmund
Andros his Governm't) as they shall thinke fit to advise with,
be and are hereby desired to draw up such Informations as
they can give referring to the transactions of S'd Governm't
that were Oppressive & injurious to the people, aswell touch-
ing the manner of passing Acts in s'd Councill as the Execu-
tion of them, and any other matter's relating to the exercise
of said Governm't which were grievous and illegal, and to
present the same speedily to the Councill./
89
2'd Jan'r: 88
past in the affirmative by the Representatives
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Councill.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry./.
[CHAPTER 168.]
[COMMISSIONER FOR MARRIAGES IN BILLERICA.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 157. Court Records, January 2, 1689-90.]
Cap't Jonathan Danforth of Bilerica is appointed by the
Council to Joine sons in Marriage in the Said Towne of
346
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
Bilerica; w'th reference to the Consent of our brethren the
Repr❜sentatives./.
2'ond Janu'ry. 1689.
Is'a Addington Secʼry./.
consented to by the Representatives
2: January 1689.
as atest John' Higginson ord'r
[CHAPTER 169.]
[BILL FOR GRANTING DEBENTURES TO BE PRINTED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 156. Court Records, January 3, 1689-90.]
Ordered by the Representatives that the Bill for granting
debenter be printed & sent to Each town in this Colony
3'd Jan'r 1688
Desiring the Hon'rd majestrates Consent
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Councill
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 170.]
[SUPPLIES TO BE SENT TO SOLDIERS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 158. Court Records, January 4, 1689-90.]
Ordred that thirty shirts ten paire of Drawers ten paire
shouse & ten paire of Stockings & Six Coates more be sent to
Serj'a James Thorpe for the Suply of the Soilders that are
posted betwene Oyster River & wells-
3'd Jan'r 89
Consent❜d to by the Councill
Ebenezer Prout Cl
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
4'o Jan'ry 89./.
[CHAPTER 171.]
[APPROPRIATION TO COAST TOWNS FOR FORTIFICATIONS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 160. Court Records, January 4, 1689-90.]
Voted by the Representatives, That for the Incouragement
of Salem, Boston, Marblehead, Beverly & Hull to fortifie
against a forreigne Enemie, they shall be allowed the value
of their proportion, to Five Single Country rates, as muney
(they making it appeare that they have disbursed that value,
for great gun's & amunition) to be allowed & paid them out
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
347
of the next rates, that shall be raysed for paying publique
Charges
4 Jan❜r: 1688
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented to by the Councill
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 172.]
[ADDITIONAL DUTIES FOR THE COMMITTEE ON DEBENTURES.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 159. Court Records, January 4, 1689-90.]
The Gentlemen of the Com'ittee appointed for passing of
Souldiers Debentures are likewise desired and Ordered to
receive Examin and Audit all Accompts that may bee pre-
sented unto them for Quartering billeting or transporting of
Souldiers or Supply's sent unto them from time to time, and
other charges accrewing by the Warr w'th the Indians by
order of the Govrm't Also to grant Debentures to the Soul-
diers who have served in Garrison at the Castle whose wages
is Stated ffive Shillings weeke & the corp'l six And to pass
the same to the Treasurer for payment.
4'th Jan'r: 1689
past by the Representatives
!
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Councill
Is'a Addington Sec'ry./.
[CHAPTER 173.]
[JOSEPH DUDLEY RELEASED UNDER GUARD.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 165. Court Records, January 7, 1689-90.]
In answre to a motion made by Joseph Dudley Esq'r for
his inlargement from his present Confinement the Repre-
sentatives doe Consent, that sayd M'r Dudley have Libertie
to goe home to his ffamilie, in order to the Settleing his
affayres, provided he be under a sufficient Guard at his owne
Charges (which Guard wee leave to the Councill to Appoynt.)
and be in A readiness to atend his Majesties Com'and in order
to his Transportation for England when he shall be Ordered
thereunto
4'th: Jan'r 1688
past by the Repr'sentatives
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
348
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
The Councill consent to this bill And do Impower Cap'ne
Samuel Ruggles to appoint two Sutable persons to be a
Guard as aboves'd
7'o Jan'ry. 89.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 174.]
[MR. GRAHAM TO COME TO BOSTON UNDER GUARD.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 171. Court Records, January 15, 1689-90.]
Janu'r 15'th 1689
Ordered by the Representatives that M'r Grayham have
liberty to Come up to Boston under a sufficient guard at the
apointment of Cap't Fayreweather to dispose of his children
& order his afayres our hon'rd Magistrates Consenting
Christopher Webb
[CHAPTER 175.]
order
[THOMAS OAKES APPOINTED AGENT TO ENGLAND.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 171. Court Records, January 18, 1689-90.]
•
The Representativs not having Received an Answer to
their former Bils referring to another Agent, & being made
more sensible of the Countries desire of the same have there-
fore again voted the sending of Doctor Thomas Oakes as our
Representative or Agent to joyne with the Worshipfull Elisha
Cook, & others formerly chosen to man'age our Affaires in
England
15 Jan: 1688
Consented by the Councill
John Bowles p'r. order.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry./.
18'0 Jan❜ry 1689./.
[CHAPTER 176.]
$
{
[MEETINGS OF COURTS POSTPONED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 174. Court Records, January 20, 1689-90.]
Upon consideration of the necessity of forwarding the con-
cernm'ts of the publique now to be dispatched for England
which must be constantly attended untill that worke be
finished./.
It is Ordered that the next County Court for Suffolke to be
holden in Ordinary course of time appointed by Law upon
the last Tuesday of this present month of January, be put
2
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
349
off unto the last Tuesday in February next the twenty ffifth
of the same, and be then holden & kept.-And that the Court
of Assistants to be holden in Ordinary course of time ap-
pointed by Law on the first Tuesday in March next be put
off unto the third Tuesday of the same march being the 18'th
day and be then kept. And that Appeales from that County
Court unto the next Court of Assistants be good as if the said
Court had been holden and kept at the appointed time; The
Reasons of Appeale being given in so many dayes as the Law
directs before the keeping of said Court:
20'th Jan'ry 89.
past in the affirmative by the Magistrates nemine contra-
dicente
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
Consented to by the Representatives
Dated as above s'd
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 177.]
[CONVENTION TO BE CALLED A GENERAL COURT.]
[Mass. Court Records, January 20, 1689-90.]
Agreed that this Convention be henceforth termed a Gen-
eral Court, and be Accounted such in all Respects
[CHAPTER 178.]
[APPROPRIATION FOR ARTILLERY.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 176. Court Records, January 23, 1689-90.]
Ordered that the Treas'r pay to m'r John Hobard [Hub-
bard in Court Records] thirty five pounds in Country pay as
money in part payment for teen great guns bought of him
for strengthening of the Fortifications on Castle Iland
Boston 23'0 Janu'r 1689
past in the affirmative by the Representatives
Consent'd to by the Councill
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 179.]
[APPROPRIATION IN FAVOR OF BENJAMIN ROLFE.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 11, p. 49. Court Records, January 31, 1689-90.]
31'th January: 168% Voted by the Representatives that
m'r Benjamin Rolfe shall have Sixteen pounds payd him by
350
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
the Treasurer in or as money for his Service as a Chaplain to
our fforces sent into the Province of Maine to Falmoth, from
the 14 of July to the 14 of November last past Our Honoured
magistrates Consenting thereto.
Consented to by the Magistrates
Jan'r 31. 1689/90
Daniell Epps (order)
Ja: Russell ord'r
[CHAPTER 180.]
[APPROPRIATION IN FAVOR OF SIMEON STODDARD.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 218. Court Records, February 5, 1689-90.]
It is ordered that the Tre'r make paym't to m'r Simeon Stod-
dard 50'1 for w'ch D'r Cook obliged on behalfe of the Publ:
& also that he sattisfie & pay w't is due to him for entertein-
m't of the Com'ission'rs, & w't else upon acc't do appear to be
justly due to him.-
feb'r 5'th 1688 past in the affirmative by the Representa-
tives
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Consented to by the Gov'r & Councill.
die predict./.
[CHAPTER 181.]
[MILITARY OFFICERS APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 222. Court Records, February 6, 1689-90.]
It is Ordered that John Phillips Esq'r be Com'issionated to
be Serj't Major of the Lower Regiment of Midd'x, Major
Thomas Henchman be Com'issionated to be Serj't Major of
the Upper Regiment of Midd'x, That m'r Edmund Quinsey be
Com'issionated to be Serj't Major of the South Regiment of
Suffolke, untill there be an orderly Nomination—
And that the Secretary do forthwith prepare Com'issions
Signed and Sealed for all Com'ission Officers of the severall
Military Companys and Troops within this Colony ready to
be delivered unto the Clerks of the s'd Severall Companys and
Troops or who else shalbe appointed to call for the same.
Boston. 6'0 Feb'ry 1689.
past in the affirmative by the Deputies
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry/
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
351
[CHAPTER 182.]
[CREDIT VOTED TO THE AGENTS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 222. Court Records, February 6, 1689-90.]
Ordered that if the Agents for this Colony in England shall
have Occasion for more mony's there than what is now
advanced and Ordered for their Supply's that they take up
what shalbe necessary for the Service of this Colony upon the
publick Credit not exceeding the Sum'e of One Thousand
pounds and draw Bills upon the Treasurer for the same.
6'0 ffeb'ry. 1689./.
past in the affirmative by the Representatives
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented to by the Governo'r and Councill
die predict.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 183.]
[ENCOURAGEMENT TO VOLUNTEERS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 223. Court Records, February 6, 1689-90.]
For Encouragem't to any competent number of Gent'n
that shall offer themselves to undertake An Expedition
against the French at Port Royal and places adjacent as hath
been proposed by the Com'ittee appointed to consider of that
affayre, Reporting the absolute necessity of seting forward
the same for the Security and defence of this Country & the
Navigation and ffishery thereof against the ill designes and
attempts that may be made upon us by those ill neighbours,
and others who may be animated and Succoured by them
there being warr openly declared by ou'r Sovereign Lord
King William ag't the ffrench King and his Subjects and
divers Acts of hostility haveing already been com'itted by the
Subjects of the ffrench King in Surprising and takeing sev-
erall of the ffishing Katches & other Vessells belonging to this
Country.
It is Agreed and Ordered that permission be given for the
raysing of volunteers for that Expedition and that Com'is-
sions from this Governm't be granted to all necessary Officers
for that Service.
That One of the Sloops now in the Country's Service be lent
them gratis for two or three months and the other Sloop for
lesser time as shal be limited
That the sole benefit and profits of the s'd ffrench Country
when reduced) be appropriated unto the Undertakers or Com-
352
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
panys waiting his ma'ties Com'ands and Setlement for the
future disposal (that is to Say, the Indian Trade and what
plunder may be reasonably made both of Stores of warr &
otherwise saveing the performance of all such Articles as
may be concluded with the Inhabitants upon Surrender) this
Governm't to have the first tender and refusal of the great
Artillery if drawn off the place./.
Boston. 6'0 ffeb'ry 1689.
Voted in the Affirmative by the Governo'r & Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
Consented to By the deputies order
[CHAPTER 184.]
Joseph Lynde
[GIFTS VOTED TO INDIAN MESSENGERS.]
[Mass. Court Records, February 6, 1689-90.]
It is Ordered, That the Treasurer give unto each of the
Indians Messengers late come from Albany, Trucking Cloth
Coats of two Yards apeice
[CHAPTER 185.]
[CERTAIN TOWNS CALLED TO ACCOUNT FOR RATES.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 224. Court Records, February 7, 1689-90.]
Att a generall Court Holden at Boston ffeb 7'th 1688
whereas Severall Complaints have bin presented to This
Court against Andever, Haverall Aimesbury, wenham and
marblehead for withholding the one halfe of their propor-
tion in A Single Contrey Rate (or mor) compared with other
Townes, of the like quantytie and quality which amounts to
neer four Hundered pounds in The Seaven rates and halfe
itt is therefore ordered by this Court that the Commission-
ers and two of the Select men of each of Said Townes be Sent
for to Answer Said complaint before this court to be pro-
ceeded with according to the merit of their cause, allso that
they have warning to bring w'th them A Copey of the List
which was returned from their Select men by their commis-
sioners to their Sheir Town with the number of male persons
and Assesments of estates as the Law Dericts.
feb'r 7'th 1688
Consented unto by the deputies desiering the consent of
our honered majestrates P order
Joseph Lynde
Consented to by the Magistrates and Thursday next, the
13'th of ffebruary instant to be the day for hearing the s'd
Compl❜t and warrants accordingly to issue forth.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
•
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
353
[CHAPTER 186.]
[APPROPRIATION IN FAVOR OF THOMAS SWIFT.]
[Mass. Court Records, February 12, 1689-90.]
Ordered, That the Treasurer do pay unto L't Tho's Swift
for his charge in Supplying of the Indians, and for his Care,
and Charge of them this Summer last past, the Sum' of forty
five Shill'gs
[CHAPTER 187.]
[AN ELECTION ORDERED.]
[Mass. Court Records, February 13, 1689-90.]
Voted in the Affirmative, that the Freemen that are or shall
be in this Colony proceed to Election of Govern'r Deputy
Govern'r, Assistants, and Other Officers as the Charter and
Laws of Said Colony directs
[CHAPTER 188.]
[APPROPRIATION IN FAVOR OF JOHN EMERSON.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 11, p. 49. Court Records, February 14, 1689-90.]
voted by the deputies that m'r [John] Emerson be paid by
the Tresu'r of this Colony in or as mony for his servis as a
minist'r to the army the sum of twelve pounds
Dated as above s'd [Feb. 14, 1689/90.]
Consented to by the magistrates
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 189.] .
[FAST DAY APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 11, p. 50. Court Records, February 14, 1689-90.]'
At A Gen'll Court held at Charlstown by adjournm't feb'r
12'th 1689/90
This Court taking into their serious Consideration the many
Calls of God's Providence upon his People, to be much and
often in Solemn manner imploring his Favour; and having
by Experience found it good to draw nigh to God, who will
be sought to by the House of Israel, Do therefore recommend
to the earnest Supplications of all that fear God, the common
Interest of the Protestant Religion in the World, which hath
so many potent Adversaries; as also the Accomplishment of
such Scripture Prophesies as seem to be near the birth, and
1
23
354
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
must be ushered in with Prayer. More especially the present
state of our own Nation, with their Allies; that the Wars in
Ireland may have a good issue; that all Animosities amongst
God's People may be removed, and their hearts united & that
King William and Queen Mary may have their Throne estab-
lished and be made great Blessings; that Peace and Truth
may flourish in those Kingdoms under their happy Conduct.
The Condition also of the Land we live in, which is under
many awfull Frowns of God; That He will pardon the Sins
that have so provok'd Him; that He will reform and heal us;
that he will preserve us from the Rage of our heathen Ene-
mies; that He will improve and prosper us in Winning the
Natives of the Country, to the Saving Knowledge and Obedi-
ence of the Only true God; that so there may be One Fold
and One Shepherd: that He will guard us against foreign
Invasion; take away the prevailing and mortal Distemper of
the Fever and Small Pox: That He will provide for us a Set-
tlement of our Liberties, giving us to that end, Favour with
our Soveraign; defeating all Enterprises against us; Preserv-
ing, and giving good Success to our Agents; affording Direc-
tion in the management of all our arduous Affairs; That He
will uphold our Churches, bless our Seed-Time and Harvest;
that there may be no Famine of Bread, nor of hearing the
Words of the Lord.
Now that all persons, in their several places; Ministers and
People, may with the more Intenseness and Solemnity apply
themselves to so great and seasonable a Duty, This Court doth
Appoint the Sixth of March next to be observed as a Day of
publick Prayer & Fasting throughout this Jurisdiction,
Hereby forbidding all servile Labour thereon.
14'0 ffeb'ry 1689.
Voted in the Affirmative by the magistrates
Consented by Deputies
1
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Ebenezer Prout Cl
[CHAPTER 190.1
[SUPPLIES TO BE PROVIDED FOR SOLDIERS.]
[Mass. Court Records, February 14, 1689-90.]
Ordered That the Comission'rs for the Warr be desired forth-
with to Provide the following particulars for Supply of the
Soldiers in Garrison at Casco, and the Places Adjacent,
That is to Say, One hundred pair of Shoes, Falls, and Plains
One hundred Shirts, or Linnen, and Threed to make them
three peices of Cotton, for Waistcoats, and Drawers. Forty
Coats made up or Cloth suitable for the Same; with threed
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
355
Buttons, and Binding &c'r Sole Leather, Shoe Nailes, and
Shoe threed, ffive, or Six dozen Pair of Good Yarn Stockins
Some Neckcloth Stuffe, three, or four hundred w't of Tobacco,
some pipes, One peice of Dustals for Blankets Bread, Peise
Beife, and Pork for two month's Victualling of eighty Men,
One barrel of Rhum, One hhs'd of Molasses, & other things
according to a Bill, of Particulars, halfe a Bushell of Oat meal,
One hundred w't of Sugar./
[CHAPTER 191.]
[PRICES OF SUPPLIES FIXED.]
[Mass. Court Records, February 14, 1689-90.]
Agreed That Provisions of Porke, and Beaf, Lent to the
Country, be set at the Prices following Viz't Porke at Seven
Farthings Pound as money, and Beife, at three half pence
Pound as Money
[CHAPTER 192.]
[LAW RELATING TO FREEMEN AMENDED.]
1
[Mass. Court Records, February 14, 1689-90.]
It is Ordered by this Court, That the Clause in the Law
title Freemen, referring to Ministers giving Certificate to Per-
sons Desiring their Freedom, be and hereby is repealed, And
the Sum of Ten shillings is reduced to ffour shillings in a
Single Country Rate (without heads of Persons) Or that the
Person to be made free have houses or Lands of the Cleer
Yearly Value of Six Pounds Freehold w'ch Value is to be
returned to the Court by the Select Men of the Place, or the
Major part of them who also are to Certify that such Person
is not Vicious in Life And the Additional Law title freemen,
made October 15'th 1673 is hereby likewise repealed./
[CHAPTER 193.]
[CONSTABLES TO CLEAR UP THEIR ACCOUNTS.]
[Mass. Court Records, February 15, 1689-90.]
Considering the Present necessity of the Country for
Supply of the Soldiers in actual Service abroad, and other
Pressing Occasions, This Court seeth meet to Order, And be
it therefore Ordered, That all Constables respectively do
within One Month from this date cleer up their Accompts,
with the Treasurer of the Country for the Money rates com-
'itted to them, On Penalty of ffive Pounds for each Constable
that shall make default therein
356
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
[CHAPTER 194.]
[GUARD AT THE CASTLE REDUCED.]
[Mass. Court Records, February 15, 1689-90.]
Ordered That the Guards at the Castle be Lessened, And
that the Captain, the Gunner, and His Mate, One Corporal,
and Sixteen private Sentinals be a present guard there until
farther Order And that the Major General, Or in his Absence
the Major of Boston Regiment take care upon any Emergency,
forthwith to Appoint a Sufficient Number of Men to move
down to the Castle for the Inforcement thereof
[CHAPTER 195.]
[BOSTON MAGISTRATES TO INSPECT THE CASTLE.]
[Mass. Court Records, February 15, 1689-90.]
Ordered, That the Magistrates for the time being dwelling
in Boston be a Com'ittee to inspect the Affairs of the Castle,
as to the new Making, or Repairs of the Fortifications there,
and what else shall be tho't Necessary for the Strengthning, &
Securing the Same, the Said Magistrates or the Major Part of
them to direct therein
[CHAPTER 196.]
[MAJOR FROST TO PURSUE THE ENEMY IN MAINE.]
[Mass. Court Records, February 17, 1689-90.]
Upon late intelligence received from Casco, That some few
dayes Since a Small Party of the Indian Enemy to the Number
of ab't Ten, came to a Plantation within three Miles of Fal-
mouth, and drove away from thence Twenty head of neat
Cattle or Upward, and it is Supposed their head Quarters
are not far distant, and a fair prospect if Speedily prosecuted
of doing Service upon them, It is therefore desired, and
Ordered that Thomas Danforth Esq'r President of the Prov-
ince of Main, do forthwith dispatch his Order to Major
Charles Frost to Levy, and detach to the Number of One
hundred Men, within that Province, For making up of w'ch
Number he may take part of those Soldiers now in their
Maj'ties Service, as well in Hampshire, as in the Province of
Main, and to March down to Falmouth to Capt Simon Willard,
and to take Him, and as many of the Soldiers, as can be Spared
from that Garrison with Him, and Speedily Prosecute the
Enemy, if Possible to their Head Quarters, And Leave the
whole Management of the Affair to the prudence of the Said
Charles Frost to Appoint Com'anders as he shall see meet
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
357
[CHAPTER 197.]
[CAMBRIDGE ALLOWED PUBLIC INNS AND RETAILERS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 249. Court Records, February 18, 1689-90.]
Upon Consideration of the frequent Occasions for concourse
of people at the Town of Cambridge, It is Ordered that the
said Town be allowed the priviledge of two publick Inns,
And two Retailers, out of doors.
Charlstown. 18'0 Feb'ry 1688:
Voted in the Affirmative by the Magistrates.
Consented to by the Deputies
་
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 198.]
[PIRATES PARDONED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 248. Court Records, February 18, 1689-90.]
Upon Reading the severall Pet'cons of William Coward,
Peleg Heath, Christopher Knight and Thomas Storey sev-
erally found guilty of Piracy and Felony At the last Court
of Assistants for this Colony and Sentenced to be put to death
humbly Praying the Favour of this Court.
The Court do Remit the said Sentence of death unto Each
of the abovenamed persons; And they paying the charges of
their prosecution and Imprisonm't their Release from prison
is hereby Ordered.
The Magistrates past this in the Affirmative.
18'0 Feb'ry 1689.
Attest'r Is'a Addington Sec❜ry
Consented unto the deputies order
[CHAPTER 199.]
Joseph Lynde
[LAWRENCE HAMMOND TO DELIVER COUNTY RECORDS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 249. Court Records, February 18, 1689-90.]
It is Ordered by this Court That Cap'tn Laurence Ham'ond
deliver to the Order of the County Court for Midd'x the Re-
cords of that County That is to Say, all Bookes and Files by
him formerly received from m'r Danforth sometime Recorder
of that County; As also all other Books of Record and Files
belonging unto the said County, in his custody.
The Magistrates past this in the Affirmative
18'0 Feb'ry 1689.
Consented to by the Deputies
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
358
1
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
[CHAPTER 200.]
[ARREARS OF TAXES TO BE PAID.]
[Mass. Court Records, February 18, 1689-90.]
Whereas Complaint hath been made, that during the time
of the Late Governm't Several Rates were Com'itted to Con-
stables part of which being gathered by them is Still Resting
in their Hands, and other part remains Yet ungathered, by
which Means the Publick charge is very unequally born.
For Redress whereof It is Ordered by this Court, That all
Constables to whome, any rate or Rates, were committed
since the last of December 1686 to be gathered for the use of
any County or Town, within this Colony, who issued not their
Acc'tts for the Same before the 18'th of April 1689 do forth-
with give an Acc'tt of their Receipts, and Payments of such
Rates to the County Treasurer, or Select Men respectively
any Obstruction that hath hitherto been Notwithstanding.
And the County Courts, and Select Men, respectively are
hereby Impowered to Order the Collecting all Arrear's of
such rates, as the Law directs
[CHAPTER 201.]
[APPROPRIATION IN FAVOR OF THE MARSHAL GENERAL.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 253. Court Records, February 20, 1689-90.]
The Tre'r is ordered to pay unto the Marshall Gen'll 25'l
the one halfe in or as money as recompence for Service in his
place.
Past by the Magistrates in the Affirmative.
20'th ffeb'ry 1689.
Attest'r Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented to by the Deputies it being for the yeare.
[CHAPTER 202.]
[TROOPERS TO PAY TAXES AS OTHERS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 253. Court Records, February 20, 1689-90.]
Whereas at the generall Court held at Boston Octob'r the
13'th 1680 a law was made & published by theire order In the
following. That is to Say.
This Court being Informed of the great deficiency gener
ally found among the Troopers some in one kinde some in
others &c'a & for prevention of future mistakes In the Law
Title Charges publique wherein Troopers Claime abatem't as
to theire persons & horses being exempted
ļ
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
359
It is ordered by this Court & Authority thereof That hence-
forth all Troopers (Excepting only those who by the first
law Anno 1648. were allowed five shillings a man & the abate-
ment of theire head & horse w'ch is only to be understood as
to one single Country Rate) shall pay for theire heads & horses
to all publique assessm'ts as others doe any Law Custome or
usage to the Contrary not withstanding; provided that such
as Listed themselves upon the accompt of that preveledg
hereby abated as to theire head & horse only shall have free
liberty to dispose of theire horses & list in the foot Comp'a
againe
It is ordered by this Court that the said law be & is hereby
revived & In force as it was at any time at & after the publi-
cation thereof
Charlstown: 20'o: Feb'r: 1688
Past in the affirmative by the Deputies
die predict.
Ebenezer Prout Cl
Consented to by the Magistrates
Attest'r Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 203.]
[WILLIAM WARREN PARDONED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 394. Court Records, February 20, 1689-90.]
Voted that w'm warren be Remited the sentence of Death
which was justly passed upon him by the Last Court of assist-
ants for felony Piricy and murder and paying the Charges of
his prosecution & Imprisonm't his Release from prison is
hereby ord❜rd
Charlstown 20'th Feb'r § by the Deputies
Consent'd to by the Magistrates
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
die predict.
Attest'r Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 204.]
[SAMUEL WATTS PARDONED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 251. Court Records, February 20, 1689-90.]
Voted that Samuel Watts, be Remitted the Sentence of
death, which was Justly passed upon him, by the last Court
of assistants, for felony piracy & murther, and paying the
360
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
Charges of his prosecution & Imprisonment, his release from
prison is hereby ordered
Charlstowne ffeb'ry 20'th 1688
90
by the Deputies
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented to by the Magistrates
die predict.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 205.]
[DANIEL LANDER PARDONED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 252. Court Records, February 20, 1689-90.]
voted that Danil Lander be Remited the sentenc of death
which was Justly passed apon him by the Last Court of asist-
ants for fellony pirasy and murder: he paying the Charges
of prossecution & imprisinment his Releas from prison is
hereby ordered:
feb'r 20'th 1689
by the Deputies
Consented to by the Magistrates
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 206.]
[RICHARD GRIFFIN PARDONED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 394. Court Records, February 20, 1689-90.]
voted that Richard griffin be Remited the Sentance of death
which was passed upon him Justly by the Last Court of
asistants for felony piracy & murder he paying the charg of
prosecusion & imprisinment his Releas from prisson is hereby
ordered:
feb'r 20'th 1688 by the Deputies
90
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Attest'r Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
Consented to by the Magistrates
die predict.
[CHAPTER 207.]
[JOHN SICTERDAM PARDONED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 251. Court Records, February 20, 1689-90.]
Voted that John Sicterdam, be Remitted the Sentence of
death, which was Justly passed upon him by the last Court of
assistants, for felony piracy & murther, And paying the
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
361
Charges of his prosecution & Imprisonment his Release from
prison is hereby ordered
Charlstowne ffebr'ry 20'th: 1688
by the Deputies
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented to by the Magistrates.
die predict
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 208.]
[ELEAZER BUCK PARDONED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 251. Court Records, February 20, 1689-90.]
voted that Eliazer buck be Remitted the sentance of death
which was passed upon him Jusly at the last Court of assist-
ants for piracy fellony & murdor he paying the Charges of
prossecution & imprisinment his Releas from prisson is hereby
ordered
feb'r 20'th 1688
by the Deputies
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Magistrates
die predict.
}
Attest'r Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 209.]
[WILLIAM DUNN PARDONED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 252. Court Records, February 20, 1689-90.]
Voted that William Dunn be Remitted the Sentence of
death, which was Justly passed upon him, by the last Court
of assistants, for felony piracy & murther and paying the
Charges of his prosecution & Imprisonment, his release from
prison is hereby ordered
Charlstowne, ffebr'ry 20'th168%
by the Deputies
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented to by the Magistrates
die predict.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 210.]
[ELECTION DAY APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Court Records, February 20, 1689-90.]
It is Ordered, That for the Year 1690 the Day of Nomina-
tion of Magistrates be Tuesday the two & twentieth of April
362
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
next, and the Day for the Com'ission'rs of the Several Town's
to bring in their Votes to the respective shire Town's be ffri-
day the Twenty fifth day of the Same month of April And
the Day for Openning, and Perusing the Votes at Boston as
the Law directs, be Tuesday the Sixth day of May following
[CHAPTER 211.]
[BOSTON ALLOWED FOUR REPRESENTATIVES.]
[Mass. Court Records, February 20, 1689-90.]
Upon Consideration of the Number of Freeholders in the
town of Boston, The Court judgeth it meet to grant Liberty
unto the Town to Send ffour Deputies to the General Court
[CHAPTER 212.]
[AMESBURY TO BE A FRONTIER TOWN.]
[Mass. Court Records, February 21, 1689-90.]
Considering the Situation of Aimsbury lying exposed to
the Incursion of the Indian Enemy, It is Ordered that the
Said Town of Aimsbury be Accounted a Frontier Town, And
have, and enjoy the Exemptions, and Priviledges by Law,
granted to Frontier Towns
[CHAPTER 213.]
[MILITIA REGIMENTS ESTABLISHED.]
[Mass. Court Records, February 21, 1689-90.]
This Court considering how Necessary it is that the Several
Train'd Bands in this Colony be so disposed, as that they may
be drawn together with all readiness, and expedition, for
defence of the principal Sea Ports, and repelling fforeign
Invasion, Do therefore Order That the Military Company's,
and Troops within the County of Essex be divided into three
distinct Regiments in this Manner Viz't The Companies of
Salem, Lyn, Marblehead, Beverly, and Manchester, are
Henceforward to be an Entire distinct Regiment by them-
selves; And the Companies of Ipswich Rowley, Glocester,
Wenham, Topsfeild, and Boxford are in like Manner made
one Regiment; And the Companies of Newberry, Salisbury,
Havaril, Andover, Aimsbury, and Bradford are to be one Com-
pleat Regiment, And it is further Ordered that a Suitable
person be Speedily Appointed to take Charge of the Said
Companies of Salem, Lynn, Marblehead, Beverly, and Man-
chester, as their Sergeant Major
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
363
-
[CHAPTER 214.]
[TAX LISTS TO BE REVISED.]
[Mass. Court Records, February 21, 1689-90.]
FORASMUCH as Complaint is made of great inequality in the
Last Assessment, It is Ordered that the Select Men, & Com-
'ssioners of each Town do again Revise the List then given in,
and take Special Care that all Troopers, and their Horses be
added, and that the Several Towns in the County of Essex by
their Select Men, and Com'issioners do again meet, and recify
their Assessments in all Respects, And by their Com'issioners,
send the Lists of the Heads, and estate of each person to their
shire Town upon the Eleventh Day of March next, there to be
examined, and Adjusted as the Law appoints And return of
the whole to be made to the Treasurer, at or before the fif-
teenth of the Same March, And that the Treasurer grant
forth his Warrents Accordingly
[CHAPTER 215.]
[CHELMSFORD MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 349. Not in Court Records.]
These may Certify the Hon'd Generall Court that the per-
sons under named are Joyned in full Comunion with the ch'h
off christ at Chelmsford, not haveing Taken out theire ffreedom
vid.
Jn'o perrum
Joseph perkis
Nath'll Butterfeild
Edward Spaulden
Joshuah ffletcher
Sam'll ffletcher
will- ffletcher
89
Chel'd 11. march. 88-
John Spaulden
Ely ffoster
Sam'll Cleavland
Abrah- Parker
Sam'll ffoster
John Bates
Attested by Thomas Clark
The persons abovenamed are allow'd to have their fredom
by the Court
Ebenezer Prout Cl
Consent'd to by the Magistrates
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 216.]
[SLOOP RESOLUTION TO CARRY A MESSAGE TO ENGLAND.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 299. Court Records, March 13, 1689-90.]
Ordered that the Sloop Resolution be forthwith fitted up
and dispatched away for England at the publick charge with
364
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
Advice to their Ma'ties of the present danger their Ma'ties
Colony's in these American parts are in of Incursions by the
French at Canada now in actual hostility with the Crown of
England. And of the want of Armes and Am'unition to fur-
nish the Country for theire defence. And that some Gentle-
men or Merchants be desired to take up Money on the publick
Account to Load her at the best Rates they can agree; the
Treasurer m'r Edw'd Bromfield and m'r Joseph Parson are
appointed a Com'ittee to purchase oyle or Logwood to load
her without delay.
Voted in the Affirmative by the Magistrates
13'6 March. 1688
Consented to by the Deputies
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 217.]
[ESSEX COUNTY COMMISSIONERS SUMMONED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 299. Court Records, March 13, 1689-90.]
Complaynt being made that the order passed by this Court
for the regulac'on of the assessm❜ts upon the Towns in Essex
have not ben attended.-
It is ordered that the com'ission'rs of the County whose
names are subscribed to the return made to this Court. be
forthwith sum'oned to appear befor this Court. Tuseday. 18'th
instant bringing the lists of the particular valluation of the
Severall Towns w'th them:
March 13'0 1688
90
uties.
Voted in the affirmative by the Dep-
Consent'd to by the Magistrates
Penn Townsend order.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 218.]
[MEETING OF THE COURT OF ASSISTANTS POSTPONED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 299. Court Records, March 13, 1689-90.]
By reason of the present Emergency's of the Country It is
ordered that the Court of Assistants to have been held on Tues-
day the 18'th of March instant be Adjourned unto the Second
Tuesday in April next being the Eigth of the same month,
And the said Court is hereby accordingly Adjourned unto
that day.
13'0 March. 1689./.
Voted in the Affirmative by the Magistrates.
Consented to by the Deputies
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
365
[CHAPTER 219.]
[POWDER TO BE PURCHASED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 301. Court Records, March 14, 1689-90.]
Ordered that m'r Edward Shippen now intended a Journy
to Pensilvania be desired to purchase Fifty Barrells of Gun-
powder if there to be had for the Supply of the Publick Stores
of this Colony; And more if to be bought at Reasonable Rates,
and to forward the same to Boston with the first opportunity.
Voted in the Affirmative by the Magistrates
14'0 march. 1689.
Consented to unto by the Deputies
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 220.]
[COMMISSIONER FOR MARRIAGES APPOINTED FOR CONCORD.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 304. Court Records, March 14, 1689-90.]
The Deputies Grant that m'r James minott is the person
Allowed to marrie persons in Concord that are legally pub-
lished
14th march 1688
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 221.]
[BARTHOLOMEW GEDNEY APPOINTED SERGEANT-MAJOR.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 304. Court Records, March 14, 1689-90.]
Major Bartholomew Gidney is appoynted Serg't Major of
the South Regim't in Essex untill a further settlem't, and the
secretary is ordered forth with to cause his com'ission to be
drawn & sealed.-
14'0 March 1689.
Voted by the Magistrates in the Affirmative.
Consented to by the Deputies
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
366
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
[CHAPTER 222.]
[AN EXPEDITION TO BE SENT AGAINST THE FRENCH.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 301. Court Records, March 14, 1689-90.]
Forasmuch as their Ma'ties Colony's in these American
parts are infested by the French now in actual hostilyty
against the Crown of England, and in danger of an Attack
by them. It is Ordered that an Expedition against the French
at Nova Scotia and Laccadie be prosecuted at the Publick
charge with all Speed
9
march 14: 168 voted the deputies in the afirative
ord'r Joseph Lynde
Consented to by the Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 223.]
[TOWN RATES TO BE FIXED BY THE COURT.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 302. Court Records, March 14, 1689-90.]
It Appearing to this Court that the Law directing for the
Makeing publiq'e Assesments hath not been Attended by
Some Townes, w'ch hath Ocasioned much dissattisfaction, &
is greatly pr'judiciall to the publique Affaires, It is therefore
Ordered that for the present Emergency & for carrying on
the Nessesary occasions of the Countrey, The proportion of
Each Town to A single Countrey Rate shall be Assigned by
this Court, And if any Town shall finde them Selves Agrieved
thereat, Upon their presenting to the Generall Court A Liste
of their Heads & Estates as the Law directs, if then it Shall
Appear that they are Over rated, Abatement Shall be made
Accordingly, And the Select Men of Each Town respectively
are required at or before the 20th of Aprill next to make &
perfect their Rates according to the Liste of Each Mans
heads & Estate, and deliver the Same to the Constables to be
by them Collected As by warrant shall be directed from the
Treasur❜r on penalty of paying such fine Or fines As the Gen-
erall Court on hearing the Complaint Exhibited Against them,
shal judge Meet to impose
Voted by the Deputies
14'th march 1688
90
Consented to by the Magistrates
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
die predict.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
367
[CHAPTER 224.]
[COMMISSION TO REVISE THE RATES.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 300. Court Records, March 14, 1689-90.]
Pursuant to an order passed for assigneing to each Town
y'r proporcc'on to a single rate Major Jn'o Richards, James
Russell Esq'r and Jonathan Corwine Esq'r are appoynted a
Com'ittee with some of the Deputies to Compare the lists
that have of late years ben returned to the Tre'r from the
sev'rall towns, & to assigne to each Town such a sum'e as
shall to y'm appear to be equall & just, making report to
this Court wednesday 19'th instant The deputies have
Chosen Ensig'n tim❜o tilestone Lt Symon stacia [Stacey] M'r
oliver purchas Cap't Joseph Lynde M'r Will'm Bond M'r
Christop'r web to Joine with the sons above named for the
End abovesaid one tuseday next to meet.
14. 1. 89. Voted by the Deputies
the mag'ts Consent hereto
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 225.]
[TEN RATES LEVIED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 300. Court Records, March 14, 1689-90.]
ffor Management of the present Concernes of the publiq'ue
refering to the warr w'th the Indians, the Expedition against
the ffrench, Dispatch for England to their Majes'ts providing
of Amunition; & reimburseing such as have Advanced mony
for the Warr; Its ordered that Tenn Single Rates be Leavyed,
And that the Treasurer forthw'th graunt his warrant Accord-
ingly-And such as make paiment in mony to be Abated one
Third part, the price of corn to be bushel as followes: wheat
5's: Rye 4s: ottes 1 s: 6 d Indian Corn 3's: 6'd peas 4's Barley &
barly malt 4's & that the grounds of Raiseing this mony be
inserted in the Treasu❜rs warant
March 14'th 1688
uties
9
Voted in the affirmative by the Dep-
Consented to by the Magistrates
Penn Townsend ord'r
die predict.
Is'a Addington Cl're
1
368
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
[CHAPTER 226.]
[MARBLEHEAD ALLOWED TWO PUBLIC HOUSES.]
[Mass. Court Records, March 14, 1689-90.]
Marblehead is granted to have two Publick Houses of
Entertainment
[CHAPTER 227.]
[CHANGES IN THE MILITIA.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 314. Court Records, March 15, 1689-90.]
This Court being inform'd that it will be for their Majesties
Service / It is therefore Ordered that the Souldiers in Salem
now under the Command of Cap't John Price, and Cap't
Stephen Sewall, be equally laid into Four Companies, by the
Militia of said Town And the Trained Souldiers in Marble-
head are to be equally divided to make Two Companies, by
Major Gedney, and the Militia of said Marblehead. And
Marblehead Troop is hereby dismiss'd. And the s'd Two
Companies are to be under the Command of Cap't John Legg
and Cap't Nathanael Norden.
Voted by the Magistrates in the Affirmative
15'0 March. 1689./.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
Consented to by the Deputies
Penn Townsend ord'r
[CHAPTER 228.]
[A TOWN NAMED WOODSTOCK.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 315. Court Records, March 15, 1689-90.]
Voted by the Deputies that the Name of the Plantatio'
granted to Roxbury, be Woodstock, And that Cap't Thomas
Thirston & L't sam'll Barber of Medfield & L't Josiah Chafin
of Mendon be A Com'ittee to advise and assist in the ordering
& setling of their Town affayres
Consent'd to by the Magistrates
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
369
[CHAPTER 229.]
[APPROPRIATION IN FAVOR OF DANIEL LANGDON.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 314. Court Records, March 15, 1689-90.]
Voted by the Deputies, That m'r Adam Winthrop doe pay
for the Cure & dyet of Daniel Langdon, Eight pounds out of
the money Collected by breife, for the Widow Pease & her
Children & Cure of two wounded men—
March 15'th 1688
Consented to by the Magistrates.
Penn Townsend ord'r
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 230.]
[COMMISSIONERS APPOINTED TO PROCURE SUPPLIES.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 314. Court Records, March 15, 1689-90.]
Cap'n Nathanael Green, m'r Rich'd Middlecott, m'r Na-
thanael Oliver Cap't Andrew Belcher and Cap't Samuel Legg
are desired and appointed a Com'ittee to consult and advise
what may be necessary of Shiping Provisions and Am'unition
and other Stores to accom'odate the Expedition ag't the
French at Nova Scotia and L'Accadie and make provision
accordingly with all Speed. And Report the same to this
Court
1
Voted the deputies in the afirmative
15'0 March 1689.
ord'r Joseph Lynde
Consent'd to by the Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 231.]
[MAJOR GEDNEY TO COMMAND THE EXPEDITION.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 321. Court Records, March 18, 1689-90.]
Majo'r Bartholomew Gidney is chosen & appointed to be
Com'ander in cheife of the forces designed for an Expedition
against the French our brethren the Deputyes hereto Con-
senting.
18. march: 1689.
Consented unto by the Deputies
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
24
370
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
[CHAPTER 232.]
[CONVENTION OF THE COLONIES CALLED FOR.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 321. Court Records, March 19, 1689-90.]
Thier Maj'sts Subjects in these Northern Plantations of
America haveing of late been Invaded by the French & In-
dians & many of them barborously Murthred, and are in great
dainger of further Mischiefs, for the prevention whereof It
is by this Court thought Necessary That Lettors be written
to the Several Governors of the Neighbouring Collonys desior-
ing them to Appoynt Com'issinors to meet at New York on
the last Monday in Aprel next, there to Advise and Conclude
on.Sutable Methods in Assisting each other for the Safety of
the whole Land, And that the Gov'r of New York be desiored
to Signifie the Same to virgenia Maryland & parts adjacent.
Voted in the Affirmative by the Magistrates.
19'0 March 1689.
The Deputies Consent hereunto,
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Daniel Epps, order
[CHAPTER 233.]
[REGULATIONS FOR THE FRIENDLY INDIANS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 30, p. 316. Court Records, March 19, 1689-90.]
Upon Consideration of the great Danger and Inconvenience
both English, and Friend-Indians are exposed unto, during
the present War with the Eastern Indians: It being very diffi-
cult to discern between Friends & Foes
This Court doth Order and Appoint that all the Indians
inhabiting this Colony, in Amity with us, do forthwith repair
to the Towns of Natick and Punckapaug, and dwell there; not
transgressing the Limits of their Town: and such as are now
abroad, are forthwith to return to their respective Stations;
as also such as are sojourning within any of our Towns,
excepting only those who are constant dwellers in English
Houses. Provided the Indian Women and Children be not
hereby restrained from frequenting the Flats where they have
been accustomed to get Clams; nor the Indians, from fishing
at the Lower Falls of Charles River, and at Neponset Mill.
And for the better encouragement of the Inhabitants of
Natick & Punckapaug to abide in their Habitations and to
plant, they are to be assisted in drawing Timber to build a
Fort in each Town; the charge of which is to be defrayed by
the Treasurer. And Cap't Thomas Prentis, Lieut. Thomas
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
371
Swift, and Cap't Noah Wiswall are desired and impowered to
take effectual care for the settlement and Regulation of the
Indians according to the true Intent of this Order, and are to
apoint two meet persons to reside at Natick, and one at Punck-
apaug, who are to call over the Names of the Indians Men &
Women, every Morning & Evening, and to do what else shall
be found necessary & Expedient in this Affair.
Voted in the Affirmative by the Magistrates.
19'0 March. 1689
The Deputies Consent hereunto/
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Daniell Epps order
[CHAPTER 234.1
[COMMISSIONERS APPOINTED TO PREPARE THE EXPEDITION.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 327. Court Records, March 19, 1689-90.]
ffor the better & more speedy setting forth the forces
designed ag't the ffrench at Port Royall Major Gen'll Win-
throp, Major Jn'o Richards Major Elisha Hutchison and Colo
Sam❜ll Shrimpton, or any three of them are nom'inated & im-
powred a Com'ittee, by the authourity of this Court to grant
orders, & make such Impresses as shall be necessary in order
there unto: as the Councill might do:
Past in the Affirmative by the Magistrates.
19'0 March. 1689/90.
Consented unto by the Deputies
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 235.]
[NEW HAMPSHIRE TAKEN INTO THE GOVERNMENT.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 328. Court Records, March 19, 1689-90.]
Upon Reading and perusal of an Act of the Hono'ble Gov-
erno'r and Councill. dated the 28'th day of ffebruary last past.
In Answer to the Petition of the Principal Gentlemen and
Inhabitants of New Hampshire for Protection and Governm't
from this Colony as formerly untill their Majesties pleasure
shalbe known concerning them; And the Com'issionating of
Officers to take the Command of the Militia there.
This Court do hereby manifest their consent & approbation
of the said Act of the Governour and Councill in that behalfe;
And do farther consent that their Ma'ties Subjects of said
New Hampshire be fully taken under the Protection and care
372
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
of this Government, Upon the same Conditions in all Respects
with the Inhabitants of this Colony and the Severall Officers
Civill & military by them present'd are approved
19'0 March 1689/90.
past in the affirmative by the Deputies
Consented to by the Magistrates.
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
Newhampshire for Province offesers
m'r william Vaughan: magor
m'r samuel Penhalo:
dover military offesers
treshuer
John Pickerin—
Recorder
John Gearish
Cap't
John tuttell
Leff't:
william ffurbor Ju'r:
Ensign
oster River John woodman
Cap't
James davis
Leff't:
Stephan Jons-
Ensign
Ecseter
william mor
Cap't
samuell Levet
Leff't:
Johnathan thing
Ensigen
Ports'o military offesers
for the bank walter Nele
John pickerin
Cap't
Leff't.
tobyas Langdon
Ensig'n
great Iland Nathanil ffrier
Cap't
tho: Cobbat
Lef't
sidrach walton
Ensig
hamton
Samuel sharbon
Cap't
Edword gove—
Leff't:
John molton
Ensign
for Jestis of Peace in ports'o
m'r william vaghon
m'r Richard marten
m'r Nathaniel frier
for dover m'r John gearish
for Exseter m'r Robert wadlee seen'r
the above wretten Is a lest of the severall offesers names
presented ffrom each town in above S'd Province and to be
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
373
presented to the honrable govener and Councill of the masa-
chusets Colony
John Pickerin by order
Voted in the affirmative by the Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
19'0 March 1689.
Consented to by the Deputies
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 236.]
[JOHN PYNCHON TO REGULATE FRIENDLY INDIANS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 316. Court Records, March 20, 1689-90.]
ffor the better setling the Indians belonging to Hampshire
John Pinchon Esq'r is requested & hereby impowred to dis-
pose said Indians to such place or places for their abode as
may prevent y'r being Exposed to danger. and with such
limitacc'ons & direcc'ons as may be least disquiet to the
English. the Indians to have warneing that they Exceed not
the lim❜ts appoynted y'm upon y'r uttermost Pill.
Voted in the affirmative by the Magistrates
20'th march. 1689.
Consented unto by the Deputies
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
1
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 237.]
[PENN TOWNSEND TO COMMAND THE EXPEDITION.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 345. Court Records, March 20, 1689-90.]
Voted that Cap't Pen Townsend be Com'ander in Cheife
against the French in the sent Expedition And that he
have a Majors Com'ishon given him
20'0: march 1688 by the Deputies
Ebenezer Prout Clerke
Consented to by the Magistrates
Att'r Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 238.]
[ENCOURAGEMENT FOR VOLUNTEERS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 345. Court Records, March 21, 1689-90.]
1 For the Encouragement of such Gentlemen Souldiers as
shall be Listed for the Service of their Majesties in the present
374
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
Expedition against the French of Nova Scotia or L'Acadie.
1st It is that they shall be Paid as those improved against
the Indian Enemies, in all respects
2 If the French shall not Surrender Upon the Articles
offered them; but shall necessitate our Forces to Expose
themselves in Assault (God Succeed in our time), Then, be-
sides their Stated Pay, the just Half of all Plunder taken
from the Enemy shall be shared among the Officers & Soul-
diers, (Stores of war only excepted)
3 If it so happen (which God forbid) that any of ours
fall in the Attempt then what would rightfully have belonged
to such Persons, if they had lived, shall be made good to their
Widows and children; or if none such be, to those who have
the next legal Right
Voted in the Affirmative by the Magistrates
20'th March. 1689.
Consented unto by the Deputies
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 239.]
[NEW COMPANY FORMED IN BOSTON.]
癟
​[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 348. Court Records, March 21, 1689-90.]
The traine Soldiers inhabiting the lands belonging to the
Towne of Boston lying to the Eastward of Winnasimitt Ferry,
together with Noddles Island & Hogge Island are henceforth
to be a distinct foot Company: & are hereby ordered forthw'th
to nominate meet sons for their Com'ission officers & pr'sent
them to this Court for their allowance & Confirmation.
And the three County Troop is hereby dismist.
21'0 March. 1689./90.
1
The Magistrates have past this in the Affirmative./.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
Consented to by the Deputies
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 240.]
[HULL EXEMPTED FROM IMPRESS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 347. Court Records, March 21, 1689-90.]
Considering the Situation of the Town of Hull in this time
of warr, lying open to Invasion by Sea.
It's Ordered that the Inhabitants of said Town be Exempted
from Impresses to publique Service unless by Special direc-
tion of the Councill or Generall Court untill farther Order;
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
375
The Inhabitants of said Town of Hull keeping suitable
watches and wards for their own Security, and being never
less than Twenty able men constantly residing upon the place;
And Erecting a Beacon at Alderton point for to make a Sig-
nal of the approach of Ships If more than three together to
give Notice
Past in the Affirmative by the Magistrates
21'o march, 1689.
Consented unto by the Deputies
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 241.]
[CHARLESTOWN ALLOWED TO BUY POWDER.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 347. Court Records, March 21, 1689-90.]
There being no powder to be retailed in Charlstown for the
Supply of the Countrey and divers Garrisons wanting Amuni-
tion James Russell hath liberty To purchase One barrell of
m'r Thomas And to receive it out of the powder that is Already
Seized for the Countrey Service provided that he sell none
but for the Supply of the Countrey As to there defence Ag't the
Enemy And keep Accompt to whom he sells the Same
Past in the Affirmative by the Magistrates
21'0 March, 1689./.
Consented to by the Deputies
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 242.]
[COUNTY COURT TO BE HELD AT CAMBRIDGE.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 347. Court Records, March 21, 1689-90.]
It is ordered that the County Court to be held at Cambr. the
beginning of Apr: next: shall & is hereby appoynted to be
Kept the third Tuseday of the same month.—
Voted in the Affirmative by the Magistrates.
21❜o March, 1689./
Consented to by the Deputies
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
376
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
[CHAPTER 243.]
[FRONTIERS TO BE STRENGTHENED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 348. Court Records, March 21, 1689-90.]
ffor the relieft and strengthning the ffrontier Townes Ex-
posed more then others to the fury and rage of the Enemie the
Majore Gen'll is hereby ordered and Impowred to give his
warrants to the Majores of the Regiments that they take
effectuall Order, that the Millitia of the Townes belonging to
their Regiments respectively doe send unto sd ffrontiers, such
number of foot soldiers and dragoons for theire relief and
strengthning as the Majore Gen'll shall Judge meet to order
The sayd souldiers to be sent forth well fitted with Armes &
amunition and to be relieved at the discretion of the militia
of their respective Townes, untill further order be taken, in
such man'er to be ordered as shall appeare to be equall, not
Opressing any Person or place whille others are eased
21'o: march 1688
Past in the affirmative by the Deputies
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Magistrates
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 244.]
[ASSISTANCE TO CHARLESTOWN FOR DEFENCE.]
{Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 348. Court Records, March 22, 1689-90.]
In Answer to the Petition of the Select Men of Charlestown
and for their Encouragement to put themselves into a Posture
of Defence against a foreign Enemy, It is ordered that the
great Guns taken from them by the late Governm't, be restored
to them; and the said Town of Charlestown are allowed their
proportion to two Single Country-Rates as Money to be
abated them out of the next Rates that shall be raised for
defraying of publick Charges, They making it appear that
they have disbursed to that value in great Artillery Am'uni-
tion for said Town as to the Militia of sd Town shall seem
most convenient-
21'o march: 1683
Past in the affirmative by the Deputies
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Magistrates
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
377
[CHAPTER 245.]
[ADDITIONS TO THE COMMISSION TO PREPARE THE EXPEDI-
TION.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 346. Not in Court Records.]
The Hon'ble Gov'r is requested to afford his pr'sence & to
Joyne with the Gent'm impowred by this Court to grant
orders, & to make Impresses as shall be necessary for the
speady setting forth the forces designed ag't the ffrench Also
Cap't Samul Sewall is hereby added to said Com'ittee.-
Voted in the affirmative by the Magistrates.
21'0 March. 1689./.
Consented to by the Deputies
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 246.]
[RATES TO BE JUSTLY APPORTIONED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 361. Court Records, March 22, 1689-90.]
Voted by the Deputies that as to the seven Rates & halfe
emitted by this Court their be effectuall Care taken (& that
within a year at utmost after the Date hereof) that theire be a
Regulation thereof according to proportion. all Townes in the
Collony Compared by This Court & what any have falen short
it shall be Levied upon them by warant from the tresu'r
within one year
22'0 march: 1688
Consented to by the Magistrates.
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 247.]
[BOSTON MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 61. Noted in Court Records, March 22, 1689-90.]
March 13 1689
Persons admitted to be freemen
S'r William Phipps. Sworn
Majo'r Gen'l Winthrop Sworn
m'r Charles Morton
L't william Bond
Danl Andrew
Abraham Jones
Samuel Symonds
Capt. Thomas Savage
m'r Sam'l Linde Sworn
John Comes
Thomas Savage Gold Smith
John Clow
378
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
Phinehas Sprague
Ebenezar Prout.
m'r John Foster
m'r Peter Sergeant
m'r John Aires.
m'r Nathaniel Oliver.
m'r Pigam Blower
Tim. Philips.
Peter King.
m'r Edw'd Brumfeild
m'r Simeon Stoddard
m'r Joseph parsons
22'0 march, 1689.
Ezek. Clesby
Joseph Bilknap.
Cap't Sam'l Legge.
Cap't w'm Clarke
Cap't Butelir
m'r Joseph Prout
m'r Samson Stoddard.
m'r w'm Clutterbucke.
m'r Rob't Bronsdon.
m'r Rich'd Middlecott.
m'r Benj'a Alford
Cap't Benj'a Davis,
Voted by the Court to be ffreemen.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[Endorsed] Boston Freemen
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 248.]
FREEMAN'S 'OATH TO BE DELIVERED BY A MAGISTRATE.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 360. Court Records, March 22, 1689-90.]
whereas divers Returns are presented unto this Court of
sons to be made fre & the time being short before the Nom-
ina'ts ordered that al Such sons allowed the privilig of fre-
dom by this Court may have the fremans oth Administred
unto them by any one majestrat: and Return thereof to be
made to the Secretary
22'd: march 1688 by the Deputies
Consent❜d to by the Magistrates
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 249.]
[AN IMPRESS AND A NEW COMMANDER FOR THE EXPEDITION.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 361. Court Records, March 22, 1689-90.]
If upon the Encouragem't given men do not readily and
voluntarily offer themselves in the present Expedition for
their Ma'ties Service against the French at Nova Scotia and
L'accadie, the Hon'ble Gentlemen nominat'd a Com'ittee for
the Speedy Seting forward the same are Impoured to give
forth their Orders to Impress men for that Service so many as
shalbe necessary not Exceeding ffive hundred in the whole./.
And the Hon'ble S'r W'm Phipps K'nt haveing voluntarily
offered himselfe to that Service is desire'd to take the chief
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
379
Com❜and of all the Forces that shalbe raysed for that Expedi-
tion, and Shiping and Seamen Imployed therein, And it's
Ordered that Suitable Com'issions be given forth from this
Governm't unto S'r William Phipps, And to all Captains and
other proper Com'ission officers as well of the Sea as Land
Officers that may be Improved in the aforesaid Expedition,
And that Instructions and Articles be drawn up and given
by the Governo'r and Councill unto the Com'ander in Chiefe
and other officers for their direction in the aforesaid Expedi-
tion.
Voted by the Deputies in the affirmative
Consent'd to by the Magistrates
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
22'0 March, 1689.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 250.]
[CHAPLAIN TO THE EXPEDITION APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 11, p. 53. Court Records, March 22, 1689-90.]
Ordered that M'r Joshua moody be Requested to be the
minist'r to our fleet & army for the Estward Expedition
against the french
22'0 March 1689.
by the Deputies
1
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the magistrates.
Att'r Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 251.]
[MALDEN MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 349. Noted in Court Records, March 22, 1689-90.]
This may Sertifie home it may conserne that these persons
under written may be made free acording to the act of the
generall court as the Judgment of the Select men of maulden
doe aprehend
A
Joseph Wayte
Edward marshell
Samuell green
John Sprague Ju'r
Thomas newall
Left Willson
Isak hill
Jonathan Sprague
James Chadwick
Jacob winstad
Benjamin whitamore
Jonathan [illegible]
Jacob Parker
Simon grover
William Bucknam
Thomas Burken
Joses Bucknam
Lif't Samuell Sprague
380
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
Joseph floyd
William Lerebe
John floyd'
Thomas Oaks
Nathaniell Haward
Lazurus grover
Phinias Sprague
Joseph Lamson
Sargent fosdick
Thes are members of the church that have not bin made free
Thomas Skinner Ju'r
Phinias Upam
Nathaniell Upam
Phillip Atwood
William Bordman
John green
Samuell Sprague Ju'r
Thomas Green
Nathaniell dunnam
Obadia Jenkins
John Chamberlen
Joseph Sargent
William Tell
Thomas grover
John Sargent Se'r
by order and in the name of the Select men
march 17 1689-90
John Sprague
22'd March. 1689
Voted by the Court to be ffremen
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent❜d to by the Magistrates
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 252.]
[WATERTOWN MEN MADE FRFEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 351. Noted in Court Records, March 22, 1689-90.]
Abiah Sherman
Caleb Church
Sam'll Edey
wattertown
In full Communion
22'd March. 1689.
Voted by the Court to be ffremen
Consent'd to by the Magistrates.
Nick's withe
Tho: Rider
m'r Jn'o Baily
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
381
1
[CHAPTER 253.]
[CHARLESTOWN MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 351. Noted in Court Records, March 22, 1689-90.]
Charlestown
22'ond March. 1689.
Samuell Marshall
Sam'll Heman
Eleaz'r phillips
Voted by the Court to be ffremen
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Magistrates
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 254.]
[CONCORD MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 352. Noted in Court Records, March 22, 1689-90.]
In Concord the: 3 of 1'st munthe T88
89
An acount taken of the nonfreemen which are free holders,
whos housing and Lands do a mount to the vallew of Six
pounds raute by the year
mr Jams minerd
Danell Dane
Thomas gobile, s
Robord Blood, s
John wheler, s
Nemiah hunt, s
Samuell davis, s
John Shaperd, s
Abraham Tempel
Recherd Tempel
Isaac Tempel
Simon Davis
Roberd Blood
Simon Blood
Josiah Blood
Judath poter
Nathanell Stone
Nathaell Harwood
Eliphelet fox
John Ball
Samuell flecher
Timithy Ries
Samuell Stratten
Johnethen hubord
Joshua wheler
Jamas Smally
Nathanell Buse
John wood
Abraham wood
Obadiah wheler'
John Haward
Thomas wheler
John Jones
Steven Hosmer
John Hartwill
Thomas: Wheeler:
Jonathan Baret
Nathaniel: Billing: select men
Steven Hosmor
Eliphelet ffox
22'0 march. 1689.
Voted by the Court to be ffremen
Consent'd
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
382
1689-90.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, -
[CHAPTER 255.]
[CONCORD MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
´[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 353. Noted in Court Records, March 22, 1689-90.]
Concord March 12'th &
All whom the knowledge of what is here expr'ssed doe con-
cerne may please hereby to understand, that the sons here
named are members in the full com'union of the Church
Leiften't Simon Davis, Leiften't Jonathan Prescot, Joseph
ffrench, Thomas Pellet, Samuel Hunt; Eliezer fflag, Samuel
Hartwell, Samuel Myriam, John Wheeler, Samuel How,
Abraham Tayler, John Hayward, Nathainel Ball, Samuel
Wheate, Timothe Wheeler, John Myriam, Daniel Pellet; Witt-
nesse my hand:
22'd March. 1689.
Edward Bulkely
All abovewritten (Except Daniel Pellet) Voted to be ffree-
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
men.
his age being question'd
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 256.]
[BOXFORD MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 353. Noted in Court Records, March 22, 1689-90.]
John Peasly:
Thomas redington:
Joseph Byxbe:
Samuell Symonds
Daniell wood
abraham redington
John Kimball
Thomas andrew
Joseph andrew
We the Select men of boxford do acording to our Judgment
acount thesse men above written capable to be maid free
men
Thomas hazzen is also Capebul to be mead a free man
22. march. 1689.
William foster
william pabody
in the name of the rest
Voted by the Court to be freemen
Consent'd to by the magistrates.
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
383
[CHAPTER 257.]
[TOPSFIELD MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 353. Noted in Court Records, March 22, 1689-90.]
Wee the selectmen of Topsfeild whoss names are Under
Wrighteen, doe by Verty of an order from the Generall Court
of the Massachusetts Colony sitting in Charlsown by Adjourn-
ment, wherein wee are impowred to returne to the Court all
that doe desier to bee ffreemen acording to Law doe give in
the names of those that at pr'sent doe desier there ffreedom,
M'r William Perkins M'r Timothy Perkins Corp'l Samuell
Standly whoe are in full Communion with the Church of God
here in Topsfeild and doe Live apon there owne Lands, also
Sarg't John Housy and Corp'l John Curtiss and Joseph
Townes sen'r are men that has Lands of there owne aCording
to Law and are not Bilious in their Lifes, but authorides in
Judgment and true to the Goverment now Established over
us as witnes o'r hands the :8: March 1688
the selecte men of Topsfield
Thomas Dorman
Samuel Standle
Samuel Howlett
22. March 1689.
Voted by the Court to be fremen
Thomas persins
Daniel Reddington
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent❜d to by the Magistrates
Is'a Addington Sec⭑ry.
[CHAPTER 258.]
[MEDFORD MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 355. Noted in Court Records, March 22, 1689-90.]
Meadford March 12-1689
Pursuant to an Order of the General Court sitting in-
Charlstowne by Adjorment Feb 1680 Reffering to Free
men, that M'r Eben'r Prout, Stephen Francis, Jonathan
Tuffts, John Tuffts and Nath'll Wade, are p'rsons suffetient
to answare the Law, both in Respect of lives and Estate also
Jn'o Wittmore who is a member of church in Watertowne, &
not vitious in life,
by order of the Select men,
John Hall
Thomas willis
Select men
.384
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1689-90.
22'd March. 1689.
Voted by the Court to be fremen
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the magistrates
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 259.]
[SALEM MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 360. Noted in Court Records, March 22, 1689-90.]
Salem Village 18'th March 1688
90
To the Honourable Gen'll Court of the Mathathusets Colony
in N- E now sitting at Charls-Towne
These are to certify that the following nominated persons
are Members & in full Communion with the Church of our
Lord Jesus in the Village abovesd Viz. Nathanael Ingersoll.
Abraham Wolcott. Zechariah Goodale Sen'r Edward Putman
Daniell Andrew Tho: Wilkins Sen'r John Putman secundus.
Henry Wilkins. Aaron Way. Benj'a Wilkins. James Putman.
sam: Sibly, John Tarbell. Benj'a Putman. Jonathan Putman
Samuel Nurse. William Way. Samuel Abbie.-
Yo'r Honours
In all due obedience
1
Sam: Parris Pastor,
22'd March 1689.
Voted by the Court to be fremen
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Magistrates
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 260.]
[ROXBURY MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 360. Noted in Court Records, March 22, 1689-90.]
The persons whose names are herunder written presenting
themselves to the select men of Roxbury being Inhabitants of
the sd Toun for their ffreedom according to an act of the Gen-
erall Court 12 ffebruary 163% and being by the sd select men
adjudged qualified according to the sd act are as followeth:
Henry Bowen Sworn
Joshua Sever
Samuel Gords
Samuel Payson
Isaac How Sworn
John Scott
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
385
m'r Neth. walter. Sworn by m'r Shrimpton
Tho: Mooer. Sworn
89
90
Attested: 12 March 16§% By:
22'0 March, 1689
Voted by the Court to be ffremen
Consent❜d to by the Magistrates
Samuell Ruggles
John Gords
Timothy Stevens
Nathaniell Holmes
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 261.]
[NEW CAMBRIDGE MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 20. Not in Court Records.]
new Cambridge march 26 1690
To the Honored generall Courtt now
89
90
The Subscribers hereof with reference To a Late Order pub-
lished by the generall Courte Sittinge in Charlstowne by
adjournment baringe date 12 of ffebruarie 1688 Wherein they
have declared that Such persons as pay four shillings to a
single Countrie Rate and have houses or lands of the Cleare
yearly value of six pound free hold and are not vicious by this
law these persons under written are capable of being made
fre men sober persons and of good behaviour
their names John ffuller senior nathaniell willson sen
James prentis sen John mason John Kennarich John Hide
Seabis Jackson Abraham Jackson nathaniel hamond
These next flowing are the names of members in full com-
munione with the church in new Cambridge Thomas gretwood
nathaniell Helie: John ward, william ward Jacob bacon
Ebenezer Stone william Hide Eliezer Hide. Edward Jakson
Steeven Cook
Ebenezer wiswall
John Mason
select men of Cambridge
The persons above named are allow'd to have their fredom
by the court
Ebenezer Prout C'l
Consent'd to by the Gov'r & Magistrates.
1
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
386
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
}
[CHAPTER 262.]
[MALDEN MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 20. Not in Court Records.]
malden aprill. 8. 1690
To the honoured generall court siting in boston upon an
ajornement the 17 day of aprill these persons according to the
act of the generall courte we aprehend may take up there free-
dom
Benjamin Weeb
Tryall Newbery
Samuel Wayt
John Mudg
John Sprague by order
and in the name of
the Select men
The persons above named are allowed to their fredom
Aprill: 18'0: 1690. by the Court
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Governo'r & Council.
att'r Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 263.]
[SALEM MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 13. Not in Court Records.]
These may certifie Thee Honored Generall Court that the
men below named are quallified to our understanding: accord-
ing to the law lately made: for to be made ffree
Capt Jonathan walcot
Ensigne Thomas fflint
Sarjant Job Swinaton
Sarjant John Buxton
Mr Joseph Hutchinson sen'r
Joseph Holton sen'r
Joseph pope
John fflint
Joseph Holton Jun'r
william Sibley
William Osburn
thomas haines
Thomas ffullor Jun'r
Jacob ffuller
Edward Bishop sen'r
Thomas Rayment
Joshua Rea Jun'r
Walter phillips sen'r
ffrances Nurs sen'r
Thomas preston
Joseph fflint
Benjamine ffuller
In the name and by the order of the Committee of Salem
village the 8'th April 1690:
John Putnam
The persons above named are allowed to have their fredom
by the Court
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Governo'r and Magistrates
Att'r Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
387
Wee whose names are Under written, know not any thing
to the Contrary but that the persons named on the other Side
have free holds worth Six pounds anum & that to the best
of our knowledge are not vicious in life
dated the 16'th 2'mo 1690
Stephen Sewall
Benj'a Gerrish
Samuel Gardner
Select men
Israel porter
of Salem
mr Israell porter
Rob't Gibbs
Joseph Herrick
[illegible] Woods.
Capt Nath'll Norden
Capt Jn'o pitman
m'r Benj. Gale
The persons herein named are also allowed by the Court
Aprill: 18'0: 1690
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Gov'r & magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 264.]
[ROXBURY MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 14. Not in Court Records.]
A List of the names of such of the Inhabitants of Roxbury as
by us select men Whose names are underwritten are adjudged
qualified according to Law for freemen: 8 April 1690
Peter Gardner
Mr John Howard
Edmund Weld Sworn
John Hemmingway
John Newel Sworn
Benjamin Gamblin
Jacob Newel Sworn
Josiah Holland
Jams ffrissel Sworn
John Griggs
Samuel Pevey
Jams Draper sen'r Sworn
Samuel Ruggles
John Gore
Samuell Gore
Timothy Stanten
Nathaniel Holmes
Thomas Cheiny Sworn
John Holbrook
Samuel Weld Sworn
Isaac How-Sworn
John Ruggles 2'd
William Heath
Jonathan Peake
John May
John Perram
Isaac Morriss
Jacob Chamberlain
John Bugbey:
m'r William denison
Sworn by m'r Shrimpton
bengamin Dowse sworn
John davis
John lyon Sworn
in full Communion
388
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
The persons above named are allowed to have their fredom
by the Court
Aprill 18'0 1689 [1690]
Consent'd to by the Gov'r & Council
Ebenezer Prout Cl
att'r Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 265.]
[THREE MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 20. Not in Court Records.]
These are to signify that these men that are under written
are in full Com'union and desire there freedom according to
a former law
This 16'th April: 1690-
Sam'll Andrew
Samuell Oldum
Nathaniell Robbins
Samuell Robbins
The persons above named are allowed to have theire fredom
by the Court
Aprill: 18'0: 1690
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Consent'd to by the Govern'r & Magistrates.
[CHAPTER 266.]
[BILLERICA MEN MADE FREEMEN.
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 23. Not in Court Records.]
To the Honour'd Generall Court Sitting in Charlstown the
8: of Aprill. 1690.
The Select men of Billericah doe Certify that the persons.
under written are according to law for the obtaining their
freedom to wit Capt Ralph Hill, john wilson sen john Starns
Sworn, Cornet john lane, jonath. Hill Nath. Page; james Patti-
son. Henry jests junr john Trull seni'r john Baldwin Jno
Rogers Daniel Shead juni'r Caleb farle Seni'r Sam'el frost.
sarg't john Marshall, Jonath. Danforth juni'r Joseph foster.
Dated in Billericah 8: 2'mo 1690.
attest Sam'el Manning seni
Clark of the selectmen
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
389
The persons above named are allowed to have their fredom
by the Court
Aprill: 18'0: 1690
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Governo'r & Council
att'r Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 267.]
[WATERTOWN MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 22. Not in Court Records.]
Watertowne the: 7'th of Aprill: 1690-
By virtue of an order from the General Court baring Date:
feb: the: 12-1689: The selectmen have nominated persons for
to be made freemen as followeth
Josiah Jons
`John Livermore
Thomas Woolson
Joseph Gearfield
Josiah Treadway
John woodward
Benjamin Killingten
John Bond
John ffisske
Joseph Heringten
Thomas Hammon
Mikell Barsto
Joseph Peirce sen'r
John waight
Daniel Heringten
Rodger willingten
william Shattuck
John Genevy
John parkhust
Nathainel Bright
Samuel Hager
Palsgrave willington
Thomas Heringten
Nathaniel Bond
John Kimboll
Jonathan Smith
John Begelo sen'r
the persons above named: we doe not know them to be
Vicious in Life:
Allso the persons above named have a sefeciency of estate
as the lawe requiers
Isack Mixor senr
Daniel Harrin senr
Richard Child senr
Philip Shattuck
Benjamin Gearfield
All selectmen of watertowne
members in full Communion
Mr John Biscoe
Joseph Undurwoode
Mr Willy godard sen'r
Samuell thatcher
John Baron
Thomas Whitney
Thomas Ridur
Richard Cuttin Senyer
Henary Spring Juneyer
Jonathan Stimson
1
390
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
Richard Chilld Juneyer
[name illegible]
Samuell Begaloo
Benjamin [illegible]
Benjamin pearse
Benjamin garfilld
Richard Chillde
more Uppon the acount of Esteate
dannill Warrin
The persons above named are allowed to have their fredom
by the Court
Aprill: 18'0: 1690
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Governo'r & Magistrates.
att'r Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 268.]
[WOBURN MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 23. Not in Court Records.]
To the Honoured Generall Court now sitting in Boston the
17'th of Ap❜l 90:
The Select men of Woburne whose names are heerunto Sub-
scribed, present the Respective persons, whose names are heer-
unto also Subscribed, in order to have their freedom in our
Judgment being capable for the same According to law:
Persons to be made free
Joshua Sawyer
Nath'nl Richardson
Will: Wyman
Jacob Wyman
Steven Richardson
Josiah Wood
Benj: Simonds
Caleb Symonds
Sam: Blogget
Georg Reed
Henry Sum'ers
John Peirce
Georg Brush
Jonathan Wyman
Seth Wyman
Select men as Aforsd
Sam: Walker
John Wright
John Richardson:
Dat: 15 of Ap'l 90:
The persons above named are allowed to have their free-
dom by the Court
Aprill: 18'0: 1690
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Governo'r & Magistrates
att'r Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
t
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
391
[CHAPTER 269.]
[SALISBURY MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 25. Not in Court Records.]
The names of those that by the order of the Generall Coart
baring date the 12'th of feb: 1689:/90 may bee made free men
according as wee the Select men of the town of Sallisbury Do a
Judge are as followeth:--
Mr Will Hooke
Mr Tho: Mudget
Q: Will Osgood
Danell Moudy
Philip Grele
Joseph Eaton
Simon ffrench
Isaac Buswell
Ephraim Severanc
Sam'll ffelows: J
Sam'll Estman
Joseph fflecther
Ben'm Allin
Sam❜ll Gill
Andrew Grele
L: John Stevenes
E: Nath'll Brown
Joshua Bayle
John fflanders
Sam'll ffowlere
Ephraim Brown
James Carre
Solomon Shepard
Nath'll Whitcher
Abraham Brown
John Clough S'r
John Clough: J:
Richard Smith
Meres tucker
Jereme Allin
Nath'll Eastman
Isaac Grene
Philip fflanders
Will: Allin
Richard Hubard
Jacob Morrell
Jarvis Ringe
John Allin
these are members of the church in full comunion
mr Robt Pike J'r
Joseph Truo
benjamin Estman
Jacob: Morrill
Henry True:
selectmen
Ben Eastman
Ephrim brown
The persons above named are allowed to have their fredom
by the Court
Aprill 18'0 1690
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Gov'r & Magistrates
*
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
392
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
[CHAPTER 270.]
[DORCHESTER MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 26. Not in Court Records.]
dorchester this: 14th: aprell: 90
the nams of thos that are capable, according to law to be
alowed their freedom of the inhabitents of dorchester, are as
follows
thos that are in full Com'union are
Charls Davenport
Samuel Pason
Henry garnsy
Peeter Lion
Standfast foster
Daved Joans
John Blacke
John Breeck
Ebenezer Billings
Thomas trott jun'r
Daniel preston
Noah Beman
Ephraim Pason
such as are capable by their freehold and vallable Estate
Thomas Andrews
James Backer
Thomas Bird
James Bird
John Minot
Gorg Minot
William Rossen
Richerd Butt
John Blackman
Hopstill Humphry
Samuel Hall
Samuel Robinson
James Robinson
Isack Riall
Samuel Sumner
Ebenezer Withington
Phillep Wthington
Richerd Evins
Isack Humphry
Samuel Wals
the above named persons not being vicious in Life as attested
by the selecttmen
Richard Hall
Samuel Clap
Timothy tilestone
John Withington
Henry Leadbetter
The persons above named are allowed to have their fredom
by the Court
18'0 April 1690
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Governo'r & Council
att'r Is'a Addington Sec'ry
´NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
393
[CHAPTER 271.] ·
[MARLBOROUGH MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 27. Not in Court Records.]
ffor the Honourable generall court assembled at Boston or
els where in the Mattathussetts Bay this is to signifie that the
parsons whose names are here entred humbly Dessirs the ab-
probation of the honoured court in order to there admittance
to the freedome of this body politick and corporate
1 colume
Obediah ward
thomas How
Increas Ward
John newtten
John mainerd sr
Isace How
thomas Brigham
John fay
James woods
John Brigham Sworn./.
3 colume
thomas Rice
Johnathan Jonson
Isace amsden
John Barritte
Samuell goodenew
Nathanell Josline
Eliazer How
thomas martine
2 colume
John Barnes
Samuell Brigham
Richard Barns
4 colume
Joshua Rice
moses newtten
Wee the Select men of the towne of marlborough in per-
suance to an order of the generill courtt conserning the inlarg-
ment of free men bering Date the 12 feb: 1689 doe certify
under our hands that all the parsons named in the first and
second colume here above written doe each for themselves pay
four shill: to a single country rate and all those named in the
third and fouth colume have houses and lands of the clear
yearly vallue of six pounds and not to our knowlidg vicious
in life
Dat: th. 7. March 1690
Obediah ward
Richard Barns
Į
Samuel Brigham
Thomas Rice
John Brigham
394
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
The persons above named are allowed to have their freedom
by the Court
Aprill: 18°: 1690
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Governo'r and Magistrates
att'r Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 272.]
[BOSTON MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 61. Not in Court Records.]
List of Church Memb'r taken into the South Church since
the yeare 1681.
Mr John Eyres
Jeremiah Bumsted
Roger Judd
Mr James Olliver
Mr W'm Brattle
Joseph Squire
Mr Benja Davis
Mr. Nath'a Olliver
Mr Sam'll Christie
John Nicholes
Richard Draper.
John Eastmone
Robert Hussey.
Will: Downinge
Mr Joseph Bosset
Joseph Holmes
James Dunny
Joseph Belknap
Mr Daniell Quinsey-
George Elistone
Robt Hawkins
Sam❜ll Taber-
Jn'o Proctor
Josiah Grise
Sam'll Grise
John Marshall
Mr peter Sergeant
Ebenez'r Hayden
Eleazer Moody
Daniell Olliver Sworn
John Connibell
william Manley.
Others that desire ffreedome of the Countrie
Jeremiah Belchar Sworn
Capt william write
Mr Rich'd Medlecott
James Halsey
John Carthew
Thomas walker
Tymothy wadsworth
Major Tho: Savage
Thomas Cushin
Richard Procter
Mr Benj'a Alford
James Greene
Thomas Atkins
Nathan'll Thayer
Sam'l Townsend: Sworn
Aproved of by the Select men of Bostone Apr: 15'th 1690
Attested
John Joyliffe Record'r
The above named are allowed to have their fredom by the
Court
Aprill: 18°: 1690
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
395
Consent'd to by the Governor and Magistrates
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[Endorsed] Boston Return for ffreemen 1690
[CHAPTER 273.]
[CLAUSE OF THE MILITARY LAW REPEALED.]
[Mass. Court Records, April 18, 1690.]
Ordered that the Clause in the Law relating to Military
Watches, made in the Year 1664 Excusing any Person liable
to watch for paying twelve pence in Money be, and is hereby
Repealed, referring to Listed Soldiers
[CHAPTER 274.]
[CAPTAIN LIEUTENANT OF THE SIX FRIENDS APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Court Records, April 18, 1690.]
Capt Gregory Sugars is Appointed Captain Lieutenant
of the Ship Six Friends, and Com'issionated accordingly
[CHAPTER 275.]
!
[SALARIES OF MILITARY OFFICERS FIXED.]
[Mass. Court Records, April 19, 1690.].
Ordered, That Captain John Fayerweather be allowed for
the Year last past until the first of June next for his Service
as Captain of the Castle as Money fifty pounds, Also that Lieu.
tenant Nathaniel Williams be allowed Twenty five pounds as
money for his Service at the Castle for the time past, Also that
the gunner be allowed Thirty pounds Annum as money,
and that the Gunners mate be allowed Eighteen pounds
Annum as Money
[CHAPTER 276.]
[DETACHMENT TO BE SENT TO ALBANY.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 64. Court Records, May 14, 1690.]
Ordered that pursuant to the Agreement of William Stough-
ton and Samuel Sewall Esq'rs Com'ission'rs from this Colony,
with the Com'ission'rs from the other Governm'ts met at New
yorke, the first of may instant. One hundred and Sixty Soul-
diers be detached out of this Colony in proportion following,
396
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
That is to Say, out of Hampshire Regiment fforty: Middlesex
lower Regiment twenty, Upper Regiment Ten. Essex upper
Regiment Ten, Middle Regiment Twenty, South Regiment
Twenty South Suffolke Regiment Two and twenty, Boston
Regiment Eighteen. to be Improved for the Strengthning of
Albany and prosecution of the com'on Enemy ffrench and
Indians.
by the Deputies
may: 15'0: 1690
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Governo'r & Magistrates
[CHAPTER 277.]
I [no signature]
[DEDHAM MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 350. Not in Court Records.]
✔
Dedham the 22 Apriel 1690*
A List of the Names of those persons In this Towne Who by
our Valuation according to lawe May be Admited to freedom
Jon'a ffairbank
Jams Thorp
John Didg
John Everit
Sam'll Everit
John Hunting
Timot. Whiting
Dan'll Auldice
Asahail Smith
Eleazer Kingsbury
Michael Metcalf
Thom- ffuller
Dan'll Pond
John Gay
Nath Bullard
John Alldis
Dan'll ffisher
Nath Richards
Dan'll Wight
Amos ffisher
Ralph Day
Robert Avery
Jon'a Gay
John ffuller
Subscribed by Ezra Mors
William Avery
Daniell Fisher Select Men
Joseph Wight
John ffuller
The Court do allow the fredom of the above named persons
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented to by the Govern'r & Magistrates.
Boston. May, 15'o 1690./.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
397
[CHAPTER 278.]
[WOBURN MEN MADE FREEMEN.
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 24. Not in Court Records.]
Eleazer Bateman
Joseph Right Jun'r
}
of woburn memb'rs in full Com'union
The Court do allow fredom to the persons above named
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented to by the Govern'r and Magistrates.
May 15'0 1690./
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 279.]
[BOSTON MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 62. Not in Court Records.]
A list of Severall sons that offer them selves to the Select
men of Bostone for theire ffreedome May 14'th 1690. quallified:
according to law-
Thomas Harwood
Joseph Briscoe-
Sam'll Townsend Jun'r
Joseph Ustice
Jeremiah ffitch
Roger Kilcup
Samuell Rucke sen'r
John Greene
Henery Dawsen
Hezechiah Hinksman
Nathaniell Hinksman
Michaell Shaller
George Hallet sen'r
John Addams—
Isaac Goose.--
mr Thomas Brattle-
Richard Wilkins
Benjamen Pemberton
{
phillip Squire
Ellis Calender
Thomas Skiner
Grimstone Bond
Samuell Jackline
William Clough
Jarvis Ballard
John Wiswall
Joseph Bill
John Tuttle
Edward Tuttle
Elisha Tuttle
Jonathan Tuttle
Isack Lewis-
Elias Mavericke
Joseph Husey-
Thomas Jackson
Allowed by the Selectmen-
Attested John Joyliffe Record'r
The persons above named are allowed their fredom by the
Court
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
Consented to by the Governo'r and magistrates
Boston. May. 15'o 1690./.
398
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
[CHAPTER 280.]
[GLOUCESTER AND WATERTOWN MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 350. Not in Court Records.]
William Stevins
Timothy Day
John passens
Edwerd Huse
Thomas Kent
Jephrey passens
being in full Com'union with the church at gloster desirs to
be made free
atest James Steevens
at Watertowne-
Joseph Mason—
John Warren Jun'r-
Thomas Straite-
Samuel Biggilo
being in full comunion
in full Com'union
attests William Bond
The persons above are allowed their fredom by the Court
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Consent'd to by the Governo'r & Magistrates
16❜o. May. 1690./.
[CHAPTER 281.]
[LYNN MEN MADE FRFEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 351. Not in Court Records.]
Lyn: persons pr'sented to the Generall Court for their
freedom.
That are in full Communion with the Church. in Lyn: that
are Nonfreemen
Lieutenn't Jn'o Burrill. Sen'r Sam'l Edmonds
Jn'o Burrill Jun'r
Jn'o Hawcks. Sen'r
Henry Collins Sen'r
W'm Smith
Moses Haven
Joseph. Collins Sen'r
Jonaathan Selsbee
Crispus Brewer
Jn'o Lynzey
Allin Brade Sen'r
Josiah Rhoads
Joseph Burrill
Joseph Rhoades
Joseph Newhall
Joseph. ffarr
John Ballard
Cornelius Browne
Thomas ffarrar
as
Attests. Oliver Purchis
Voted by the Court to be fremen
Consent❜d to by the Magistrates-
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
399
[CHAPTER 282.]
[APPROPRIATION IN FAVOR OF SALEM FOR DEFENCE.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 65. Court Records, May 16, 1690.]
Pursuant to an Order of this Court for the Encouragement
of Salem Boston &c'a to fortify against a Forreign Enemy that
they be allowed the value of their proportion to two Single
Country Rates as money they makeing it appear that they have
disbursed that value for great Guns and am'unition) to be
allowed and paid them out of the next Rates that shalbe raysed
for paying publick charges. The Com'ittee of Militia of Salem
haveing made Return that they have disbursed a greater value
on that Occasion Its' Ordered that the Treasurer give Order
to the Constables of Salem to pay unto the Com'ittee of militia
the value of the said Town's proportion to two single Country
Rates as money out of the Ten Rates now assessed & to be
Collected./
Voted in the Affirmative by the Magistrates
16'0 May, 1690.
Consented to by the Deputies
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 283.]
[APPROPRIATION IN FAVOR OF CAPT. FAYERWEATHER.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 65. Court Records, May 16, 1690.]
In answer to the Request of Capt fayrweather for allowance
for Extraordinary Charges in Expences & wharfing the Dep-
uties do allow that the Treasurer pay unto s'd Capt fayr-
weather twenty pounds in or as mony the hon'rd magistrates
Consenting
future Salary Refferred to the Gen'l Court of Election
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
May 16'o: 1690
Consent'd to by the Governo'r & Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
400
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
[OFFICERS OF THE GOVERNMENT, 1690-91.]
[GOVERNOR, SIMON BRADSTREET.
DEPUTY GOVERNOR, THOMAS DANFORTH.
TREASURER, JOHN PHILLIPS.
SECRETARY, ISAAC ADDINGTON.
MAJOR-GENERAL, WAIT WINTHROP.
1
COMMISSIONERS FOR THE COLONY, WILLIAM STOUGH
TON, SAMUEL SEWALL.
COMMISSIONERS IN RESERVE, ELISHA HUTCHINSON,
THOMAS DANFORTH.]
Nathaniel Saltonstall
Peter Tilton
James Russell
Samuel Appleton
Robert Pike
ASSISTANTS.
Samuel Sewall
Elisha Cooke
William Johnson
John Hathorne
Elisha Hutchinson
Isaac Addington
John Smith
Wait Winthrop
Jonathan Curwin
John Phillips
Jeremiah Swayne
Sir William Phipps
Thomas Oakes
[CHAPTER 1.]
[BOSTON COMMISSIONERS ELECTED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 42. Court Records, May 28, 1690.]
Boston
The Gentlemen Chosen by the fremen for Comitioners at A
publik meting upon lawfull warning upon 22d of Aprill-1690:
Are: Capt Theophilus ffrary
Attested
Mr: John Joylife
Capt Pen Tounsend
Mr Timothy Thornton
Mr John Clarke
Mr Edward willis
Mr John fforster
John Joyliffe Record'r
Whereas the Law provides that the Com'isin'rs of Boston
are to be allowed by the Court of Assistants, w'ch Court is
not Near at hand, It is desiored the persons above nomi-
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
401
nated for this year insuing, may be Alowed by this Hon'rd
Gen'll Court:
mr Secrt'r to grant Com'isson
Voted by the Magestrets May 29: 90
Elisha Hutchinson ord'r
Consented unto by the Deputies
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 2.]
[ROBERT PIKE TO COMMAND THE FORCES AT THE EASTWARD.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 101. Court Records, May 30, 1690.]
Order'd by the Deputies that maj'r Robert Pike be Com-
'and'r In Cheife of the forces that are gon & goeing Eastward
for the Destruction of the Com'on french & Indian Enemie
The Hon'rd magistrates Consenting
Boston may: 30: 1690
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Governo'r and Magistrates.
[CHAPTER 3.]
Att'r Is'a Addington
[COMMISSIONERS IMPOWERED TO IMPRESS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 101. Court Records, May 30, 1690.]
Ordered that Mess'rs John Foster, Edward Bromfield and
Joseph Parson Com'ission'rs for the Warr or any of them be
and are hereby Impoured to take up and (if need be with the
assistance of a Constable) to Impress On the Country's acco't
all such Provisions as they shall from time to time receive
Order from the Governour and Council, for the Supply of such
Forces as are or shalbe sent forth against the com'on Enemy;
And all Constables are hereby Ordered to be aiding and
assisting to the said Com'ission'rs or either of them in the
Execution of this order upon their demand thereof.
Past in the affirmative by the Deputies
may 30: 1690
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented to by the Governo'r & Magistrates
26
att'r Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
402
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
[CHAPTER 4.]
[HADLEY MEN MADE FREEMEN.
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 91. Not in Court Records.]
the names of sevrall of the inhabitants of hadlye moveinge
for ther ffredom to this Court are as folouth:
nehemiah dikenson
Jonathan marsh
Peter montague
nathiel white
John Goodman
Jacob warner
daniall marsh
thos abovnamed persons acoreng to our observation are
qualified acording to that late law about fremen
as atest:
Aaron Cooke
Thomas howe
nathaniell white
select of
hadlye may:
21'st 1690-
The persons above named are allowed their fredom by the
Deputies
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
May: 30'o: 1690
Consent'd to by the Gov'r & Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 5.]
[CAPT. FAYERWEATHER'S SALARY FIXED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 102. Court Records, June 6, 1690.]
Ordered that Cap'ne Jn'o Fairweather be allowed fourscore
pound Annum to be p'd quarterly, by the Cuntry Treasurer
In or as mony for his salery as Cap'ne of the Castle voted in
the affirmative by the Deputies
The Hon'rd Gov'r & magistrates Consenting
Boston: 30'0 may 1690
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Gov'r & Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 6.]
[THE GUNNER'S SALARY FIXED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 102. Court Records, June 6, 1690.]
Voted by the Deputies That the Gun'r of the Castle be
allowed forty pounds ann to be pd by the Country Treas-
urer in or as mony for his salery as Gun'r of the Castle
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
403
Desireing the Hon'rd Gov'r: & magistrates Consent
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
may 30'o: 1690
Consent'd to by the Gov'r & magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 7.]
[SALARY OF THE GUNNER'S MATE FIXED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 102. Court Records, June 6, 1690.]
Voted by the Deputies That the Gun'rs mate of the Castle
be allowed twenty six pounds ann-to be pd by the Country
Treasurer in or as mony for his salery as Gun'rs mate of the
Castle
Desireing the Hon'rd Gov'r: & magistrates Consent
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
may: 30'o: 1690
Consent'd to by the Governo'r & magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 8.]
[NORTHAMPTON MEN MADE FREEMEN.}
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 104. Not in Court Records.] .
A list of the names of the members in full communion, in
the church of Northampton, that are not yet made freemen:
Ebenezer wright
Nathaniel Edwards
mathew Clifton
william Clarke jun'r:
william Phelps
Samuel Smith
Samuel Parsons
John Alexander
william Southwell
Samuel Curtis
Philip Pain
Samuel wright
Thomas Sheilden
m'r warehom Mather
Nathaniel Alexander
John King jun'r
Joseph wright
. Attested by william Clark sen'r
Joseph Hawley
Medad Pomry
The persons above named are allowed their fredom by the
Deputies
may 30'o 1690
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Gov'r & Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
404
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
[CHAPTER 9.]
[BRAINTREE MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 104. Not in Court Records.]
persons in full com'union wth the ch of Braintree and de-
sire they may bee made free
Joseph crosbey
John adams
Samuel payn
Robert feild
John Bass junior
wiliam nightingall juner
presented by
Samuel Tompson
The persons above named are allow their fredom by the
Deputies
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
may 30'o: 1690
Consent'd to by the Gov'r & Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 10.]
[SCOUT ORDERED FOR THE FRONTIER.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 102. Court Records, May 31, 1690.]
Ordered that the major Generall issue out his ord'r unto
Cap't Thomas Browne forthwith to raise the Troop under his
Com'and and Devid into squadorns suitable to scout for the
preservation of Marlborow Lancester Groton & Dunstable for
on weaks time
Past in the affirmative by the Deputies
may: 31'o: 1690
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Governo'r & Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry./.
[CHAPTER 11.]
[BRADFORD COMPANY AUTHORIZED TO NOMINATE OFFICERS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 102. Not in Court Records.]
In answer to the Petition of some Inhabitants of Bradford
It is Ordered by the Deputies that the Company in s'd Town
do forth w'th meett and nominat officers as the Order of Court
Directs
The Hon'rd magistrates Consenting
May 31'0: 1690
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Governo'r & Magistrates.
Is'a Adding
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
405
[CHAPTER 12.]
[INHABITANTS OF BRADFORD TO NOMINATE MILITARY OFFI-
CERS.
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 101. Court Records, May 31, 1690.]
In answer to the Petition of some of the Inhabitants of
Bradford It is ordered that all Inhabitants of s'd Towns qual-
ified according to Court order do forthw'th meet & Nominate
officers for their foot Company and that they forthw'th make
Return to the Court or Councill for allowance
Past in the affirmative by the Deputies
May: 31'o: 1690
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Gov'r & Magistrates
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 13.]
[JOHN KNIGHT APPOINTED POST-RIDER.]
[Mass. Court Records, May 31, 1690.]
John Knight of Charlestown is Appointed a Post for the
Country's Service as Occasion may be, and all Inn Keepers and
fferrymen are Ordered to further Said Knight in his Journy-
ing, with Necessary Provision for Himself, and Horse and,
with Speedy Transportation, the Accompt, whereof under the
Hand of S'd Knight is to be Accepted, and Paid by the
Treasurer; And Said Knight is empowered to Press Horse, or
Horses with furniture, so Often as the Necessity of the Pub-
lick Affairs shall require it, with Persons convenient to Man-
age them
[CHAPTER 14.]
[SCOUTING PARTY ORDERED OUT.]
[Mass. Court Records, May 31, 1690.]
Ordered that the Major General forthwith Order Capt Ralph
Hill forthwith to raise the Troop under his Command and
divide into Squadorns Suitable to Scoutt for the Preservation
of Andover, and Chelmsford for one weeks time
[CHAPTER 15.]
[RICHARD BRICKLEY APPOINTED COMMISSARY.]
[Mass. Court Records, June 2, 1690.]
M'r Richard Brickley is Appointed by the Govern'r and
Council to be Comissary to the fforces posted at Piscataqua
and had a Warrant, and Instructions given him for his Place
1
十
​406
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
[CHAPTER 16.]
[IIAMPSHIRE ASSOCIATES ELECTED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 105. Court Records, June 2, 1690.]
Northm'n Aprill: 25: 1690
The Comitiners for the County of Hampsheir being met
to gether as the Law directs and on oppening the votes of the
freemen of sd county for nomintion of Assoceates for the
County Court And on parusall of sd votes do find that the
freemen have made Choics of Corgnell Pinchen Leiu't w'm
Clark Cap't Aron Cook sen'r And Cap't Sam'll Pattrigge to
be Associets:
As Attests Joseph Belknap}
Medad Pumry
Thomas Hovey
Sam'll Root
sheir
Comitionr
Comitionrs
for the Conty
of Hampheir
3'0 June. 1690./.
The Gov'r & Magistrates approve and allow of the persons
abovenamed present'd by the Freemen of Hampshire, to be
associates for holding of Courts within that County, and Major
John Pynchon & L't William Clarke are likewise invested
with Magistratical power within that County
Consented to by the Deputies
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 17.]
Ebenezer Prout Cl
[HATFIELD MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 91. Not in Court Records.]
Sever'll Inhabitants in Hatfeild that are to be allowed the
freedome of this comonwealth according to law this 19 May
1690
Cap't Jn'o Allin
Ens Dan'll White
Sam'll Marsh
John Wells
John ffeild--
Stephen Genings
Memb'rs in full Comunion w'th the Chi in Hatfeild as attests
John Cowels
Nath'll Dickenson Sen'r
Richd Morton Sen'r
William Williams
Pastor of the church there
Sam'll Dickenson Sen'r
John White
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
407
being men of estats: alowable by the late law to be admited
the ffredom of this Jurisdicktion: being men not vitious in
life and have also desired it as attest
John Allis
Danille warner
select men
John Coleman
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
The persons above named are allowed their fredom by the
deputies
may 30'o: 1690
Consent'd to by the Gov'r & Magistrates
3'0 June. 90
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 18.]
[HADLEY MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 91. Not in Court Records.]
John Porter
John John Smith
Sam'l Philip Smith
Joseph Smith
Sam'l Chiliab Smith.
Dan'l Hubbard
Hezekiah Porter
John Philip Smith
All these above expressed are members of the Church of
Christ at Hadley in full Com'union and desire to be made
ffree as Attests
Hadley May 21 1690
Jn'o Russel Pasto'r
The persons above named are allowed their fredom by the
Deputies
may 30'o: 1690
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Gov'r & Magistrates.
3'0 June
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 19.]
[NEWBURY MEN MADE, FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 103. Not in Court Records.]
Newbury May 14'th 1690
Theas are to signifie unto the honoured Generall Court Now
sitting att Boston: That theas parsons under written are set-
tled free house houlders and have lands sufficient free hold
according to law or order of Court to be Made free men of
the Company of the mathathus'ts Colleny in New England viz
sarjant Joseph Coker Joseph Bayley Isack Bayley Cornet
Jonathan moore John worth steaphen Jaques silvanus Plum'r
John Emery Jun'r serjant Jn'o hall Jn'o webster Jun'r
408
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
Theas parsons above named are sufficient for Estate and
not visious in Conversation
as attest John Emery
Abraham Adams
Joseph Pike
select
men
for Newbery
The Deputies do allow of the persons above named to take
their fredom
Boston: 30'0: may: 1690/
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Gov'r & Magistrates
3'0 June, 1690.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 20.]
[WENHAM MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 103. Not in Court Records.]
A list of the names of sons in Wenham who desire to be
made freemen
sons in full Com'union
Richard Dodg
James ffreind
Tho's ffiske Juni'r
W'm ffairefield
Ephraim Kemball
Zecheas Gooldsmith
John Edwards
John Dodg Juni'r
freeholdrs
Walter ffairefield
John Porter
That the sons abovementiond are Capeable of being
made freemen by o'r Lawe
Attests Tho's ffiske
william ffiske
Richard Huttn
Sam'uell Kemball
Select men
The persons above named are allowed their fredom by the
Deputies
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
may: 30'o: 1690
Consent'd to by the Gov'r & Magistrates
June. 3'0 1690
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 21.]
[NORTHAMPTON MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 104. Not in Court Records.]
A list of the p'rsons in Northampton w'ch According to
the Late Law made in febb: 1688 may be mad free
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
409
John Person
Thomas Limon
Hezekiah Root
A Bell Jones
Richerd Limon
william Miller sen'r
Israell Rust
Sam'll Hotton
Sam'll Marshall
Noah Cook
Joseph Edwerds
Sam'll Edwerds
Jedediah Strong
Ensigne Pe'r Clap
John Searles
Isack Shelden sen'r
Jonathan Root
John Limon weeivr
John Limon shomaker
Ebneker Allard
The persons Above said are of order by Conversations And
not Any vicious in Life And of estate According to the Late
Law title freemen As Attests-
May: 20: 1690
william Clark sen'r
Joseph Hawley
Medad Pumry
The persons above Named are allowed their fredom by the
Deputies
may: 30'o: 1690
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Gov'r & Magistrates.
3'0 June, 90/
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 22.]
[EXPEDITION AGAINST CANADA.]
1
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 105. Court Records, June 6, 1690.]
With Respect to the Pposalls of sending Millitary Forces &
shiping to the atacking of Cannada.
Voted that the designe be attended w'th all Expedition, &
that the Neighbouring Colonies & provinces be forth w'th ac-
quainted with o'r Expectation of their assistance, the Hon'rd
magistrates Consenting-
June 3'0: 1690
Consent❜d to by the Magistrates
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Att'r Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 23.]
[FOUR HUNDRED MEN TO GUARD FRONTIER TOWNS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 107. Court Records, June 4, 1690.
Ordered that there be a detachment of ffour hundred able
Souldiers well appointed with armes and Am'unition for their
Ma'ties Service against the com'on Enemy, out of the militia
410
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
of this Colony (those already posted in the Eastern parts, ex-
cept Cap'ne Wiswalls Comp'a to be Esteem'd part of that
number) Two hundred to be improved chiefly for the Security
of Havarill Aimsbury Exiter Dover Kittery yorke & Wells
Frontier Town's the other two hundred to be improved chiefly
for Security of Bradford Andover Dunstable Chelmsford
Groton Lancaster & Marlborough, ffourscore of this two hun-
dred to be Troopers; the whole to be divided into Company's
of ffifty to Each and to be put under Suitable Com'anders with
full Com'on to prosecute and destroy the Enemy in all parts
as opportunity shall present either by joyning two or more
Companys together or in smaller ty's and to be constantly
kept together & Improved moveing up and down in their
respective Stations on the outside of the Towns whereto they
shalbe assigned for the defence of such Towns and to offend
the Enemy, the Frontier Towns to send out two or three of
their own Inhabitants who are acquainted with the woods
daily for Scouting: s'd Troopers to be divided Into four p'ts
as Well as the foot, & to be Com'anded by the chief officer of
the foot. & that one Capt be com'ander of one Hundred, & the
leu't to Com'and half the Company under him while seperated.
Vot'd in the affirmative by the Gov'r & Magistrates.
4'0 June. 1690./
Consented to by the Deputies.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 24.]
Neh. Jewet ord'r
[TWO CAPTAINS APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 105. Court Records, July 4, 1690.]
Voted that Cap't Thomas Voss of Milton & Cap't Dan'll King
of Salem be Capt's in this present Expedition agst Canada
June 3'o 1690 past in the affirmative by the Deputies
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Magistrates
4'0 June 1690
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 25.]
[ENCOURAGEMENT FOR A POPULAR LOAN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 111. Court Records, June 6, 1690.]
For Encouragem't to such Gentlemen Merchants or others
that shall voluntarily Subscribe to the Loan of money for
the furnishing and Seting forth the Expedition against the
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
411
Com❜on Enemy French and Indians in Canada River, upon
the publique Credit. Besides the Repayment of such money, .
So advanced, After the charges of said out Set, Ship hire,
Officers, Seamen and Souldiers wages are defrayed, and all
Stores of great and small Artillery and Am'unition that
shalbe taken in said Expedition with such proportion of the
plunder as shalbe assigned to the Officers Seamen and Soul-
diers for their Encouragem't being first Set out. The Re-
maining part of Plunder to be equally divided betwixt the
Country and the persons Subscribing as aforesaid./.
Past in the affirmative by the Deputies
June: 6'0: 1690
•
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Magistrates
Att'r Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 26.]
[BOSTON ALLOWED MORE PUBLIC HOUSES.]
[Mass. Court Records, vol. 36, p. 111. Court Records, June 7, 1690.]
Upon a motion of the Select men of Boston intimateing the
inconveniences ariseing from the too Small number of publick
houses allowed by the law Voted that if they exceed not fif-
teen Retailers & Twenty five Inholders they may be allowed
as the County Court shall give license/
Past in the affirmative by the Deputies
June 6'0 1690
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Governo'r & magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 27.]
[COMMISSIONERS APPOINTED TO PREPARE THE EXPEDITION.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 112. Court Records, June 7, 1690.]
For the more Speedy and Effectual Seting forth the Expe-
dition intended for their Ma'ties Service against the Com'on
Enemy at Canada./.
S'r William Phipps K'nt Major Elisha Hutchinson mr Peter
Sergeant m'r Richard Middlecutt, m'r Nathan'l Oliver m'r
John Eyre, Cap'tn Samuel Hayman, Cap'ne Andrew Belcher
and Cap'ne Samuel Legg are desired and appointed a Com'ittee
for the manageing and carrying on of that designe And they
or any ffive of them are fully Impoured to order the takeing
412
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
J
up and Impressing of Suitable Ships and other vessells, with
all ffurniture and Stores for the fiting of them for Service,
And to agree with and Imploy such Tradesmen Seamen and
others as they shall find needfull thereabout; Also to provide
Stores of Provisions and other Supply's for the furnishing of
said Expedition./ And to Improve such person or persons
under them to act in any of the premisses as the s'd Com'ittee
shall judge necessary
7'o June, 1690./.
Vot'd in the affirmative by the Gov'r & Magistrates the Dep-
uties consenting.
Consented by the Deputies
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 28.]
[BEVERLY TROOP CONTINUED CONDITIONALLY.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 113. Court Records, June 10, 1690.]
In Answer to the Petition of Beverley Troopers.
It's Ordered that if they can make up a number of fforty
able Troopers in that Town (with the addition of those of
Salem village now listed with them) every way Equipped and
furnish'd according to Law, that they continue to be a Troop
and have Liberty to nominate their own Officers and present
them unto this Court or the Council for approbation at or
before the 20'th of this present June, to be annexed to Major
Gedney's Regim't otherwise that the Town be divided into
two Foot Company's
Past in the affirmative by the Gov'r & Magistrates.
June 10'th 1690.
I: Addington Sec'ry
Consented to by the Deputies
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 29.]
[APPORTIONMENT OF THE GUARD FOR THE FRONTIER.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 114. Court Records, June 10, 1690.]
For the Speedy Executing of the Order of this Court for a
detachm❜t of four hundred Souldiers (eighty whereof to be
Trooper's) for the Security of the Frontier Towns; the Major
Generall is hereby Ordered forthwith to issue out his warrants
to the Majors of the severall Regiments to detach the above
number of Souldiers in proportion following Viz't Boston
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
413
Regiment ffifty five, Suffolk South Regiment Seventy one, Mid-
dlesex lower Regiment Sixty eight; Upper Regim't ffifty one,
Essex north Regm't fforty Six; Middle Regim't ffifty One, the
South Regim't ffifty One, East Hampshire thirty. Each Major
to have consideration to the Souldiers Sent out upon the two
last orders for Albany & the Eastward as part of said Num-
ber: Suffolk and Middlesex Souldiers horse & foot to be Ren-
devouzed at Concord on the sixteenth instant The Souldiers
of the other Regim'ts to be rendevouzed at Andover on Said
day, and there to attend further order
past in the affirmative by the Deputies
June 10'o: 1690
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented to by the Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 30.]
[EIGHTY TROOPERS TO BE DETACHED TO THE FRONTIER.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 112. Court Records, June 10, 1690.]
Voted that the Maj'r Gen'rl Forthw'th Issue out his War-
rants to the Majo'rs of the Regim'ts, & they to the Cap'ts of
the Troops herein Mentioned, for the detaching of Eighty
Troopers w'ch are to attend the sent Expedition for the
security of the Frontier Townes: Able well appoynted with
armes & Amunitio'n out of Cap't whites Troop Ten, Cap't
Eliots Ten Cap't prentice Fifteene; Cap't Green's Seaven,
Cap't Browne Fourteene Cap't Hill. Ten. Cap't Floyd Eight
Cap't Osgood Six. who are to be hastned to Randezvouze at
Andover. (40 und'r the Com'and of Cap't Chaundler, & 40
Unto Concord under the Com'and of Cap't Davis:) the Six-
teenth day of this Instant
past in the affirmative by the Deputies
June 10'o: 1690
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 31.]
[SIXTY MEN POSTED AT PORTSMOUTH.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 114. Court Records, June 10, 1690.]
Ordered that Sixty of the ffour hundred Souldiers appointed
to be raysed by order of this Court be put under the com'and
of Cap'ne John Floyd, and forthw'th posted at Portsmouth in
East Hampshire for the farther Enforcem't and strengthning
414
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
of that Post.
And otherwise to be improved ag't the com❜on
Enemy as they shalbe Ordered.-
Past in the affirmative by the Gov'r and Magistrates the
Deputy's consenting
Boston. 10'th June. 1690./.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Consented to by the Deputies
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 32.]
[COMMISSIONERS APPOINTED TO PREPARE THE EXPEDITION.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 115. Court Records, June 11, 1690.]
For the more Speedy and Effectual Setting forth the Expe
dition Intended for their Ma'ties Service against the com'on
Enemy French and Indians at Canada &c'a./.
S'r William Phipps K'nt Major Elisha Hutchinson, m'r
Peter Sergeant, m'r Benjamin Alford, m'r Nathanaell Oliver
m'r John Eyre, Captain Samuel Hayman, Cap'ne Andrew Bel-
cher and Cap'ne Samuel Legg are desired and appointed a
Com'ittee for the manageing and carrying on of that designe
And they or any ffive of them are fully Impoured to Order the
fitting of such Ships & other Vessells as are or shalbe taken up
in said Service, And to agree with and Imploy such Tradesmen
Seamen and others as they shall find needfull thereabout;
Also to provide Stores of provisions & other Supply's for the
furnishing of said Expedition. And to improve such person
or persons to act under them in any of the premisses as the
said Com'ittee shall judge necessary.
Past in the Affirmative by the Magistrates.
June. 11'0 1690./.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Consented to by the Deputies
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 33.]
[SIR WILLIAM PHIPPS TO COMMAND THE EXPEDITION.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 116. Court Records, June 12, 1690.]
Ordered that S'r William Phipps Kn't be Generall of the
Forces that shall be Listed for their Majesties service, in an
Expedition Intended by sea, ags't the Com'on Enemy French
& Indians at Cannada &c. And that a Sutable Commission &
Instructions be Given him Accordingly
June 12'th 1690.
past in the Affirmative by the deputies
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent❜d to by the Governo'r & Council.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
415
[CHAPTER 34.]
[JOHN WALLEY TO BE LIEUTENANT-GENERAL OF THE EXPE-
DITION.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 116. Court Records, June 12, 1690.]
Ordered that Majo'r Jn'o Walley be Lieu't Gener'll of the
Forces that shall be Listed for their Majesties service in an
Expedition Intended by sea agst the Com'on Enemy French &
Indians at Cannada &c And that a Sutable Com's-& In-
structions be Given accordingly
June 12'th 1690..
past in the Affermative by the deputies
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Gov'r & Council
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 35.]
[A FLEET TO BE PREPARED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 116. Court Records, June 12, 1690.]
Ordered that ffive Suitable Ships of warr, and other Neces-
sary Shiping & vessells for Victuallers Attenders & fireships
be forthw'th Impressed taken up and fitted for their ma'ties
service in the Expedition by sea ag'st the Com'on Enemy
ffrench and Indians at Canada &c and the ship whereof An-
drew Dolbers is master be one for that Service
past in the affirmative by the Deputies
June 12'0: 1690
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented to by the Gov'r & Magistrates
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 36.]
[VOLUNTEERS TO BE CALLED FOR.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 117. Court Records, June 12, 1690.]
Voted that forthw'th clama- be Made to se what volun-
tiers will appear to goe under S'r William Phipps Knight
Gen'rl & Majo'r Jn'o Walley Lieu't Generall to serve their
Majesties ags't the French at Cannada: w'th the Tearmes
annexed
June 12'o: 1690 past in the affirmative by the Deputies
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented to by the Magistrates
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
416
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
[CHAPTER 37.]
[FAST DAY ORDERED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 11, p. 53. Court Records, June 13, 1690]
Ordered that the 10'th of July next be Kept a sollem day of
ffasting & prayer for Suplicating Gods Com'passions towards
us in our present distressed Condicc'on, & that a bill be ac-
cordingly Drawn, & printed./
13'0 June, 1690./
Past in the affirmative by the Gov'r & Magistrates, with
reference to the Deputies consent.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
Consented to by the Deputies
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 38.]
[THOMAS CHANDLER APPOINTED CAPTAIN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 118. Court Records, June 13, 1690.]
Voted that Cap't Thomas Chaundler, be a Cap't of one of
the Companies that are to be Imprest for the defence of the
Frontier Townes from Dunstable Eastward, soe far as Brad-
ford downeward W'ch sd Company is to Consist of Fourty
Troopers & Thirty foot souldiers.
June 9'0 1690
Past in the affirmative by the Deputies
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Governo'r & Magistrates
13'0 June, 1690
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 39.]
[SIMON DAVIS APPOINTED CAPTAIN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 118. Court Records, June 13, 1690.]
Voted that L't Simon Daves, be a Cap't of one of the Com-
panies that are to be Imprest for the defence of the Frontier
Townes from Dunstable, Westward so far as Marlburrough,
w'ch sd Company is to Consist of Fourty Troopers & Thirty
foot souldiers.
June 9'0 1690
Past in the affirmative by the Deputies
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Consent'd to by the Governo'r & Magistrates
13'0 June 1690.
t
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
417
[CHAPTER 40.]
[THOSE HIRING SUBSTITUTES TO PERFORM CERTAIN DUTIES.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 120. Court Records, June 14, 1690.]
This Court considering how many men are necessarily
drawn out of the several Town's of this Colony in this time of
distress and danger by reason of the Assaults of the Enemy,
thereby increasing the burden of watching warding & Scout-
ing.
It's therefore Ordered that where any person com'anded
to go forth in any Expedition shall hire another to Serve in
his Room; Such person abideing at home shall nevertheless
be Obliged to attend all Duty Civil & Military in the place he
belongs to.
Past in the affirmative by the Deputies
June 11'0 1690
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Governo'r & Magistrates
14'0 June. 1690
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 41.]
[COMMISSIONERS TO OVERSEE FRENCH PRISONERS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 122. Court Records, June 14, 1690.]
Whereas the ffrench Soldjers lately brought to this place
from Port Royall, did surrender upon capittulacc'on, that the
Same may be duly Kept m'r Tho: Broughton, Cap't Joshua
Scottow, & m'r William Coleman are appoynted a Com'ittee
to inspect and regulate that affaire, with whose approbacc'on,
or any two of them given under their hands in writeing: liberty
is granted unto said Soldiers to dispose themselves into such
familyes as shall be willing to Enterteyn them, untill there be
opportunity to transport themselves to some of the ffrench K's
Dominions in Europe, for w'ch they shall have licence under
the hand of the master of such vessels as they are to be trans-
ported in being pr'sented to the Gov'r and in the mean time
demeaning y'ms peaceably & orderly-and Keeping them-
selves within limits appoynted unto them by the aboves'd
Com'ittee. and with out license obteined from the Gov'r as
above s'd not to depart from the place to w'ch they are Dis-
posed by order of the Com'ittee as above./
Past in the affirmative by the Deputies
June 14'0: 1690
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Governo'r & Council.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
27
418
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
[CHAPTER 42.]
[THREE SHIPS IMPRESSED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 120. Not in Court Records.]
Ordered that Cap't Belchers ship Cap't Craties ship & Cap't
parsons new Ship be taken up forth w'th for the Service of
their maj'ties ag'st the french at canada
June 14'0 1690
Past in the affirmative by the Deputies
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Governo'r & Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 43.1
[COMMISSIONERS APPOINTED TO SECURE POWDER.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 120. Court Records, June 16, 1690.]
Ordered that m'r Tim'o Thorneton M'r Sam'll lilly & m'r
Jn'o Ballintine be and are appointed a Com'ittie forthwith to
search where they apprehend any powder may be Conceald
whether in Vessells or houses or Els where and to seize &
secure what they shall find in private hands for their maj’ties
service & make Return thereof to this Court on Wedensday
next at nine of the Clock & all Constables & other officers are
to aid & assist them in Effecting the same
past in the affirmative by the Deputies
June 14'0: 1690
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Gov'r & Council.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 44.]
[THREE SHIPS IMPRESSED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 121. Court Records, June 14, 1690.]
Ordered that the ship Swan whereof Cap't Tho Gilbart is
Com'ander, the ship whereof Cap't Cratie is Com'ander, the
New ship whereof Cap't Joseph Parson is Com'ander: w'th all
stores of warr, belonging to Each of them be forthwith taken
up in order to their being fitted as shipps of Warr for their
Majesties Service in the Expedition Intended for Cannada
ags't the Common Enemy French & Indians
And M'r Sampson stoddard M'r Joseph Eldridg & M'r
Peeter Butler are hereby ordered & Impowred to take up &
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
419
Impress the sd shipps &c. for the service aforesd And all offi-
cers are to be aiding & Assisting them herein.
Past in the affirmative by the Deputies
June 14'0: 1690
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 45.]
[EMBARGO TO BE STRICTLY ENFORCED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 121. Not in Court Records.]
Ordered that the Embargo upon Ships & other vessells be
strictly Observed in Boston, & all other ports & harbours in
this Goverment till the tenth of Sep't next, that no Ship or
other vessell during said time be permitted to goe out unless
the Gov'r & Councel shal see cause for advantage to the pub-
lique to give Spetiall License to any. And that any ship or
other vessell that shall take in & Load any Provissions or
am'unition to, Export contrary to this order shall be forfeited
both vessell & Loading to the use of their Majestyes, the offi-
cers appointed in the Severall ports to take Entry, & give out
cleareings to vessells are to take effectuall care for the due
observance of this Order.
June 14'th 1690.
past in the affirmative by the Deputies
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consented to by the Gov'r and Magistrates.
1
}
die predict./.
Att'r Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 46.]
[EMBARGO CONTINUED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 122. Court Records, June 14, 1690.]
Ordered that the Embargo upon shipps & other Vessells be
Continued & stricktly Observed in Boston, & all other ports,
& Harbours w'thin this Governm't, untill the Tenth day of
Sept'r next And that noe ship or other vessell Saile out of any
Harbours or port afores'd. Or Load any provissions or amuni-
tion to Export the same w'thout spetiall License first had &
obteined from the Gov'r by advice of the Councill, on paine of
forfeiting all such provissions or Amunition soe Loaden for
Exportation Contrary to the Intent of this order, Together
w'th the ship or vessell they shall be Loaden upon w'th all
her Tackle & appurtenances to the use of their Majesties
And the officers appoynted in the severall ports to Reveiw
420
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
Entry's & give Clearings to Vessells are to take Effectuall
Care for the due Observance of this order.
past in the affirmative by the Deputies
June 14'0: 1690
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 47.]
[SUPPLIES TO BE SENT TO PORTSMOUTH AND WELLS.]
[Mass. Court Records, June 18, 1690.]
Mess'rs John Foster, Edward Bromfield, and Joseph Par-
sons Com'issioners for the Warr, are desired, and Ordered
forthwith to provide, and send forward unto Portsmouth &
Wells the Quantity of Provisions, Cloathing, and Other Neces-
saries herein Mentioned on the Public Account, for the Sup-
ply of the Soldiers posted in those Parts Viz't Nine thousand
weight of Bisquets, twenty bb Pork, Twenty Bushels, of Pease
One hund'd Shirts, Fifty Coats, Waistcoats, and Drawers,
Forty Hats, or Capps, One hund'd pair of Shoes, One thousand
of flints two bb Sugar, and two hh'ds of Rhum, ffour hund'd
weight of Tabacco: Such of the Above Particulars as are re-
turned Home from Port Royal, to be improved for this Supply
One half to be sent unto Portsmouth, and the Other half to
Wells, with an Accompt thereof unto the Com'issary in each
Place, The Com'ittee who have the Care, and Custody of the
Stores from Port royall are also Ordered to Accom'odate the
above Supply thereout, as far as they Can
[CHAPTER 48.]
[CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 130. Court Records, June 19, 1690.]
At a Session of the Generall Court of the Massachusetts
Colony in Boston, 28'th of May, 1690./.
Whereas the Hon'ble S'r W'm Phipps Knight is appointed
to take the Cheife Com'and And Majo'r John Walley to be
Second unto him in Com'and of all the fforces that shall be
provided for their Majestyes service in an Expedition by Gods
assistance intended for Cannada agst the Com'on Enemy
ffrench and Indians.
All Gentlemen Souldiers & Seamen that shall list them-
selves for the said Service are desired to Enter their Names
w'th such sons herein after Named appointed for Muster-
Masters in the severall Regiments where such souldiers and
seamen dwell or have their abode, and to be in readiness to
Randevous at such tyme and place as shall be assigned by
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
421
the s'd Muster Masters respectively, the souldiers to appear
compleatly armed.
And for Encouragm't to persons willingly to offer them-
selves to Said Service.
It is ordered.
l'st. That the pay of all Land officers and private Senti-
nels shall be in all Respects equall to what hath been already
allowed to those improved agst the Indian Enemy.
2'ly That the pay of all sea officers and seamen shall be
after the same Rate proportionably to what shall be paid unto
them lately improved in the Port Royall Expedition.
3'ly Besides the stated pay, one juste halfe part of all
plunder taken from the Enemy shall be shared among the
officers Soldiers & Seamen, Stores of war Excepted.
4'ly If it so happen (w'ch God forbid) that any of ours fall
in the attempt then what would rightfully have belonged to
such person or persons if they had lived shall be made good to
their widdows & Children, and if none such be then to those
who have the next legall Right.
5'th If any person be soe wounded as to loose a Limb or
the use thereof soe as thereby to be disinabled for bodily La-
bour further consideration shall be had to such out of the
part of plunder accruing to the publique.
past by the Deputies In the affirmative
19'0 June, 1690.
Neh. Jewet by ord'r
Consent'd to by the Magistrates
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 49.]
[MUSTER-MASTERS APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 131. Court Records, June 19, 1690.]
Muster Master for the severall Regim'ts Viz't
Regiments
For Majo'r Saltonstall's
Majo'r Applton's-
Majo'r Gidney's-
Majo'r Hinksman's-
Majo'r Phillip's
Majo'r Huchinson's
Majo'r Quinsey's
1
m'r Henry Short Newbury
Nath'l Rust Ip's
Benj- Geerish sale-
Henry Woodiss Concord
Sam'l Phipps Charlestown
Sam'l Champney Cambr-
w'm Coleman Boston
Joseph Dive waynoth
Sam❜l Ruggls Jun'r Robx'r
Past in the affirmative by the Deputies
June 19'0: 1690
Consent'd to by the Magistrates
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
422
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
[CHAPTER 50.]
[A SHIP IMPRESSED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 133. Court Records, June 20, 1690.]
Ordered that the New Ship wher of Thomas Carter is Com-
ander be forthwith taken up and Impressed for their Majes-
tyes Service, And m'r Sampson Stoddard m'r Joseph Eldridge
and m'r Peter Butler the Com'ittie apointed for taking up of
Ships, are hereby ordered w'th the assistance of the Marshall
Gen'll to Impress the said ship for the Service aforesd, in
order to her being Speedily fitted up a ship for war, report
being made by the Com'ittie that Cap't Craties Ship is unfit
for the Service
past in the affirmative by the Deputies
June 20'o: 1690
Consented to by the Magistrates
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
die predict.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 51.]
[RELIEF OF SOLDIERS ON THE FRONTIERS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 133. Court Records, June 20, 1690.]
To the Intent
That seasonable Releife may be yielded unto Souldiers Sent
or to be sent for Security of the Frontiers.
The Com'ission officers of Each Town or Military Company
from whence such Souldiers were drawn are hereby Impowred
as they shall find cause from time to time to detach other able
persons well appointed according to Law to Serve in their
Stead, to be Listed under the same Officer such Souldiers so
to be releived then are; which being performed, the s'd Officer
is forthwith to give the others their dismission. Provided
such Exchange occasion no charge to the Publick
June 20. 1690.
past in the affirmative by the Deputies
Neh: Jewet by ord'r
Consent'd to by the Governo'r & Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 52.]
[OFFICERS OF THE EXPEDITION APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 135. Not in Court Records.]
The persons here under named are Nominated for Majo'rs
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
423
& Captaines of the fforces to be sent forth in the Can'ada Ex-
pedition-
Majo'rs
Cap'ts for Essex
Majo'r Thomas Savage
Majo'r Nath'll Wade
Cap't Sam'll Ward-
Ips'w
Beverly
Marblehead
Cap't W'm Rayman
Cap't Nath. Norden of
Cap't W'm Wormall
Cap't Jn'o Gould
m'r Georg Corwin
L't stephen Greenliffe
Midlesex. L't John Call
Suffolk.
L❜t Joseph Wilson
L't Nath'll Douse of
Cap't Ebenez'r Prout
Cap't Jon'a Danforth
Cap't Eph. Savage--
Cap't Jn'o Wing
Cap't Bazoon Allen
Cap't Andrew Gardner
Cap't Jn'o Withington
Cap't Ed'w Willy
Cap't Thomas Barnard
Cap't Ephraim Hunt
Cap't Thomas Andrews
Lynne
Topsfeild
Salem
Newberry
Charls Town
Malden
Charlstown
Medford
Billreca
Redding
Boston
Boston
Muddy River
Dorchester
Boston
Boston
Weymoth
Hingham
June 20❜th 90. past in the Affirmative by the Deputies
Jn'o Clark order
Consent'd to by the Magistrates
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 53.]
[CAPT, OSGOOD ALLOWED TO RECRUIT HIS TROOP.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 137. Court Records, June 21, 1690.]
Voted In answer to Cap't Osgoods Request with respect to
makeing up of his Troop: It is granted in case the Cap't of
the foot Company se it beneficiall to them to make up s'd
Troop To the number of Forty, out of the foot Company of
persons sufficient to attend S'd service: otherwise the Troop'rs
there to be Listed Into the foot Company & that to be devided
& the new Company to Nominate their own officers & to send
downe their names to the Councill to be allowed & Com'is-
sionated before the Last day of this Instant
June 12'0 1690 past in the affirmative by the Deputies
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Gov'r & Council
21'o June, 1690.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
424
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
[CHAPTER 54.]
[SHIP'S GUNS TO BE IMPRESSED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 137. Court Records, June 21, 1690.]
Ordered That Cap't Joseph Eldrige w'th the marshall Gen'll
forth with seize and secure the ten Guns and apurtenances
w'ch are now takeing out of Cap't Gilberts ship & se them
dilivered aboard the s'd ship for their maj'ties service in the
present Expedition ag'st Can'ada
Past in the affirmative by the Deputies
June 21'0 1690
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Magistrates
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 55.]
[SHIPS TO BE IMPRESSED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 136. Court Records, June 21, 1690.]
Ordered that the Comitte appoynted by this Court for the
Manageing the Affaires respecting the Cannada Expedition
be & are hereby Impowred to Order the takeing up & Impress-
ing such & soe Many vessells as shall be thought necessary
for fire shipps victuallers & Attenders & such furniture &
Appurtenances as shall be necessary for setting forth as well
the shipps for War as the other Vessells.
June 21, 1690
past in the affirmative by the deputies
Ord'r Neh: Jewet
Consent'd to by the Magistrates
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 56.]
[PILOTS FOR THE EXPEDITION SENT FOR.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 138. Court Records, June 26, 1690.]
Ordered that Cap't Alden be forthwith Sent with the Sloop
Mary to Port Royall, to bring pilates from thence for the Ex-
pedition agst Canada and to touch at Casco in his returne
home, and take in what Guns are left there.
June 26'th 1690.
past in the Affirmative by the Deputies
order John Clark
Consent'd to by the Governo'r and Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
425
[CHAPTER 57.]
[TEN RATES LEVIED IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 139. Court Records, June 27, 1690.]
Fforasmuch as there is order for the Raysing of Ten Single
Country Rates for the necessary defraying of the publick
charges ariseing within this Goverm't for the secureing of
theire Majestyes Interest & Subjects against the Invasions of
the com❜on Enimy, French & Indians, and for carrying on the
affaires of the warr ags't the sd com'on Enimy. And For as
much as their Ma'ties Subjects of the Province of New Hamp-
sheire upon their own desire and application made are taken
under the protection of & anexed unto this Goverm't untill
their Majesties pleasure be knowne concerning them, It being
altogether just & Equall that they bear a proportionable part
of the publick charge. Its therefore ordered that ten Single
Rates be raysed & Collected w'thin s'd Province according to
the direction of the Law; The Treasurer to send his Warrants
to the Sellectmen & Constables of each Town w'thin said Pro-
vince to take a valuation of Estates and assess their Inhabi-
tants accordingly to be forthwith collected.
past in the affirmative by the Deputies
June 27'0: 1690
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
[CHAPTER 58.]
[HAMPTON AUTHORIZED TO CHOOSE TOWN OFFICERS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 138. Court Records, June 27, 1690.]
Ordered that there be warrants Sent im'ediately to the
[torn] of Hampton to choose their select men & Constables
for [torn] towne
Past in the affirmative by the Deputies
June 27'0: 1690
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Gov'r & magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 59.]
[EMBARGO DESIRED IN OTHER COLONIES.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 139. Court Records, June 27, 1690.]
Ordered that the Goverm'ts of Plimoth Road Island & Con-
netticot be forthwith Sent to and desired that there may be a
Strick Imbargoe upon all vessells untill the 20'th of Septem-
ber next
past in the affirmative by the Deputies
June 27'0 1690
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Gov'r & Magistrates.
Toa Addington Sec'ro
426
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
[CHAPTER 60.]
[WOBURN ALLOWED TWO PUBLIC HOUSES.]
[Mass. Court Records, June 27, 1690.]
Upon the desire of the Select Men of Woburn, the Said
Town are allowed to have two Houses for Publick entainm't
[CHAPTER 61.]
[VESSELS VIOLATING THE EMBARGO TO BE RETURNED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 140. Court Records, June 28, 1690.]
Upon Information given that a Katch laden with Provisions
Sailed out of Charlstown harbour the last night without any
permit or Licence from the Governm't and contrary to the
Order of the Generall Court for the strict holding of the Em-
bargo. It's Ordered that the Sloop Mary Cap'ne John Alden
Com'ander or some other Suitable vessell be forthwith sent
out into the Bay to make search for the s'd Katch or any
others that have eluded the Order for the Embargo and
Sayled without permit from the Governo'r and bring them
back again into this Port of Boston.
past in the affirmative by the Deputies
June 28'0: 1690
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Gov'r & Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 62.]
[THE EMBARGO CONTINUED AND ENFORCED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 142. Court Records, June 28, 1690.]
For further Enforceing the order of this Court already pub-
lished for the strict observance of the Embargo on all ships
and other vessells within this Goverment
It's hereby ordered that the Embargo on all shiping be con-
tinued unto the 10'th day of Decemb'r next, And that within
that tyme no sort of Goods, Lumber, or provissions be Laden
or put on board any ship, or other vessell without Speciall
Licence first obteyned from the Governo'r & Council and due
Entry thereof made with the officer appointed thereto, on pain
of forfeiting Such ship or other vessell w'th all her tackle &
appurtenances, Goods, Lumber, & provissions Laden thereon
contrary to the intent of this order, or any Vessell attempting
to Sayle out of any port or harbour within this Goverment
without permit from the Gov'r one third to the use of their
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
427
Maj'ties one third to the Governo'r & the other third thereof
to the Informer.
past in the affirmative by the Deputies
June 28'0: 1690
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Governo'r & Magistrates
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 63.]
[FAST DAY APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 11, p. 53. Court Records, June 28, 1690.]
It is Ordered by this Court that Thirsday the tenth of July
next be kept as a Day of HUMILIATION, with fasting and
Prayer throughout the Colony and that all servile Labour be
then forborn. And it is hereby Recommended unto the sev-
eral Ministers and Assemblies throughout this Jurisdiction,
That they Solemnly attend the Duties of the Day with Im-
portunate Supplications to the God of Heaven that of his
Infinite Mercy He would not fight against us Himselfe by a
Mortall Contagion, that He would defeat our Pagan and Anti-
christian Adversaries, succeed our various Expeditions, give
direction in all our ardious Affairs; prosper our Agents for
the full Establishment of our Government; that there may
be a good Effect of the Gospel among the Indians, with all
Divine Blessings upon their Majesties and the Parliament,
and the whole English Israel; and the Accomplishment of
such Prophesies as give us Hope of Light for the People of
God in this dismal Evening. But above all, for the Plentifull
Effusions of such Grace upon all sorts of Men among us, as
may prepare us for the mercies that are so needfull for us.
Past in the affirmative by the Deputies—
June 28'0 1690
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Gov'r & Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 64.]
[MILITARY OFFICERS TO HAVE THEIR COMMISSIONS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 26, p. 146. Court Records, July 3, 1690.]
Voted that the Captains that have accepted of their places
for the present Expedition agst Canada have forthw'th their
Comissions, & order to beat up for vollenteirs.-
July 3'd (90)
past in the Affirmative by the Deputies
John Clark order
Consent'd to by the Magistrates
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
428
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
[CHAPTER 65.]
[CAPTAINS OF SHIPS APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 146. Court Records, July 3, 1690.]
Order that.
I
Cap'ne Joseph Parsons be appointed and com'issionated to
take the Com❜and of the ship america Merch't now imployed
in their Ma'ties Service on the Canada Expedition.
And that Cap'ne Thomas Carter be appointed & Com'is-
sionat'd to take the Com'and of the Ship John & Thomas
now imployed in their Ma'ties Service on the Canada Expedi
tion./.
Boston, July, 3'o 1690./.
Past in the affirmative by the Deputies
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
Consent'd to by the Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 66.]
[GUNS TO BE DELIVERED TO CAPT. CARTER.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 147. Court Records, July 4, 1690.]
Ordered that Captain John Fayerweather Com'ander of the
Castle deliver unto Cap'ne Thomas Carter Com'ander of the
Ship John and Thomas now improved in their Ma'ties Service,
the Gun's Set out by the Com'ittee for the furnishing of said
Ship, It being represented that they may be removed without
disabling the Castle, there being other Guns to be mounted
to fill up their places-
passed in the affirmative the Deputies
Boston, July, 4'd 1690.
John Clark order
Consented to by the Gov'r & Magistrates
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 67.]
[RHODE ISLAND ASKED FOR ASSISTANCE.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 149. Court Records, July 14, 1690.]
Voted that the Governm't of Road Island be forthw'th
Desired to Raise what Seamen and Souldiers they Can, for to
serve their maj'ties in the Expedition ag'st Canada
past in the affirmative by the Deputies
July 5'0 1690
Ebenezer Prout Clerk
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
429
[CHAPTER 68.]
[ROXBURY ALLOWED ANOTHER PUBLIC HOUSE.]
[Mass. Court Records, July 5, 1690.]
The Town of Roxbury are Allowed one House of Publick
entertainment within the Limits of Said Town more than is
already allowed them by Law, The Select Men to Approve and
present a Suitable Person for that Employment unto the
County Court, for their Licence
[CHAPTER 69.]
[CHAPLAINS APPOINTED FOR THE EXPEDITION.]
[Mass. Court Records, July 5, 1690.]
Voted, That M'r John Wise, M'r Jeremiah Sheppard, M'r
John Emmerson, M'r Nehemiah Walter, and M'r Nathaniel
Overtun be desired to Accompany, S'r William Phipps Kn't
as Ministers in the Expedition against the ffrench at Canada
[CHAPTER 70.]
[CAPT. JOHNSON'S SALARY FIXED.]
[Mass. Court Records, July 5, 1690.]
Ordered that William Johnson Esq'r be allowed Nine
Pounds Month for his Service as Captain of a Foot Com-
pany, & Captain Lieutenant of their Majesties Forces under
S'r William Phipps in the Expedition against Port royall
[CHAPTER 71.]
[COMMISSARY-GENERAL'S SALARY FIXED.]
[Mass. Court Records, July 5, 1690.]
Ordered that M'r Henry Deering be allowed Six Pounds P
month for his Service as Com'issary General under S'r W'm
Phipps in the Expedition to Port royall
[CHAPTER 72.]
[APPROPRIATION IN FAVOR OF BENJAMIN EMMS.]
[Mass. Court Records, July 5, 1690.]
M'r Benjamin Emm's Master of the Ship Six friends is
allowed Six pounds in Money for his Trouble, and Expences
about the impressing of Seamen for the Port royall Expedi-
tion, to be paid by the Treasurer
430
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
[CHAPTER 73.]
[SURGEONS APPOINTED FOR THE EXPEDITION.]
[Mass. Court Records, July 5, 1690.]
Ordered that M'r Morris, M'r Thomas Pemberton M'r John
Barton, M'r Kennet, and M'r Hooper be desired to go Chyrur-
gions in the Present Expedition
[CHAPTER 74.]
[TWO SHIPS ORDERED TO THE RELIEF OF CAPE COD.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 150. Court Records, July 8, 1690.]
Upon Information that a party of the ffrench Enimy are
Landed at Cape Cod, & doe Annoy that Collony who have
Sent to us for Speedy help It is Ordered that Cap't Alden &
M'r Welsh with forty men well armed in each Vessell be forth-
w'th dispatched thither for their Assistance, And one vessell
more to cruse in the Bay to give Notice to our Shipps gone
forth.
July the 8'th 1690 Passed in the Affirmative the Depu-
ties
John Clark Order
Consent'd to by the Gov'r & Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 75.]
[LIEUTENANT OF THE CASTLE APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Court Records, July 8, 1690.]
Voted that L't Nathaniel Williams be Lieutn't of the Castle
under Capt John Fayerweather, And that there be Twenty
able Men well Armed sent down thither by the Major Gen-
eral's Order for Strengthning the Garrison there until
further Order
[CHAPTER 76.]
[MORE SHIPS ORDERED TO CAPE COD.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 158. Court Records, July 14, 1690.]
Upon Intelligence that the Coast is infested by some Ene-
mies Ships of War Privateers or pirates.
Its Ordered that the Ship Six ffriends and Ship Swan now
fitted up for Service be forthwith sent about Cape Cod unto
the Southward to cruise for them and Endeavo'r to Surprise
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
431
them with two other of the small Vessells now taken up for
their Ma'ties Service./.
Past in the affirmative by the Gov'r & Magistrates
14'0 July-1690./.
Consented to by the Deputies.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Neh. Jewet order
[CHAPTER 77.]
[A MEETING OF THE COMMISSIONERS ORDERED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 159. Court Records, July 14, 1690.]
Ordered that the Com'ission'rs of the Colony's be sent unto,
to meet at Boston upon Thursday the 31'th of July Instant to
consult of the publique Affayres.
July, 14'0 1690./.
Past in the Affirmative by the Magistrates
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
past In the affirmative by the deputies
[CHAPTER 78.]
Neh. Jewet ord'r
[RHODE ISLAND INVITED TO JOIN IN THE WAR.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 159. Court Records, July 14, 1690.]
Voted that Road Island Governm't be im'ediately sent to
and treated with about their joyning with us in carrying
on the war against the Com'on Enemy
Past in the Affirmative by the deputies
14'0 July, 1690./
Neh. Jewet Ord'r
Consent'd to by the Gov'r & Magistrates
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 79.]
[POST ESTABLISHED FROM BOSTON TO RHODE ISLAND.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 159. Court Records, July 14, 1690.]
Voted that a post for speedy intelligence be maintained be-
tween this place & Road Island for a full discovery of the
motions of the ffrench or Privateers on those coasts
Past in the Affirmative by the deputies
14. July. 1690.
Neh. Jewet by Ord'r
Consent'd to by the Gov'r & Magistrates
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
432
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
[CHAPTER 80.]
[SUFFOLK COUNTY COURT POSTPONED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 164. Court Records, July 15, 1690.]
Whereas by reason of the publique Occasions and present
Emergency's through distress of the War April County Court
for Suffolke hath been adjourned from time to time and ap-
pointed to have met this day there being a necessity of dis-
missing the s'd Court It is Ordered that all Writts and Pro-
cess Served for the said Court be and are hereby continued
unto the next Court of said County, and be available and of
force as if served for the said Court.—
Past in the Affirmative by the Governo'r and Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
15'0 July 1690./
voted & Consented too by the Deputies
[CHAPTER 81.]
Neh. Jewet ord'r
[A CAPTAIN APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 161. Court Records, July 15, 1690.]
John March of Newbury is appointed to be a Captain of
one of the Company's for the Canada Expedition; and he
forthwith to take care to list a Company under him for that
Service./
Past in the affirmative by the Gov'r & Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
15'0 July 1690./
Consented to by the Deputies
Neh: Jewet ord'r
[CHAPTER 82.]
[RELIEF OF SOLDIERS' FAMILIES AUTHORIZED.]
[Mass. Archivès, vol. 36, p. 165. Court Records, July 15, 1690.]
Ordered that where any heads of ffamilys in any Town are
sent forth in the publique Service against the com'on Enemy,
the Select men of such Town take care to give present neces-
sary Releife to such Family's (not exceeding two Shillings P
weeke to a Family) upon the Credit of such person's wages,
what shalbe so advanced by the Select men of any Town, the
Accompt thereof being first adjusted by the Com'ittee for
Debentures is to be deducted out of such Souldiers wages, and
the Sum'e thereof to be allowed and made good by the
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
433
Treasurer unto the Select men out of such Town's publique
Assessm't
And the severall Com'issary's to the Forces now abroad or
that may hereafter be sent forth are hereby Ordered not to
credit any Souldier whilst abroad above one halfe the value
of his wages./.
15'0 July, 1690.
Past in the affirmative by the Gov'r and Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Voted & Consented to by the Deputies.
[CHAPTER 83.]
Neh. Jewet Ord'ı
[TWO AND ONE-HALF RATES IN MONEY LEVIED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 164. Court Records, July 15, 1690.]
The present distressed Condition of the Country by reason
of the Com'on Enemy and other Emergencies requiring daily
Supplies from the publick Treasury, It is therefore ordered
that Two Single Country Rates & a half be forthwith levyed
in Money to be raised upon each Town according to the late
Settlement made by the Gen'll Court, and brought in to the
Treasurer at or before the Tenth of September next on pen-
alty of Ten pounds Fine upon each Constable that shall
neglect more than ten days after said Tenth of September to
clear his Accounts with the Treasurer. And it is further
ordered that the Select Men of each Town, doe within twenty
days next coming perfect the Lists of their Towns as the Law
directs for the Ten Rates agreed upon by the Gen'll Court in
March last, and deliver the same to the Constables to be
gathered as warrant from the Treasurer upon penalty of
five pounds for each Townsman that shall neglect his Duty
therein
Past in the Affirmative by the Gov'r and Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
15'0 July, 1690./.
Consented to by the deputies
[CHAPTER 84.]
Neh. Jewet ord'r
[REINFORCEMENTS TO BE RAISED FOR THE EASTWARD.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 165. Court Records, July 15, 1690.]
Ordered that One hundred English Souldiers with what
number of Freind Indians can be procured bee forthwith
raysed for the Strengthning of the Forces in the Eastern
28
434
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
parts, to enable them to make out a body against the comon
Enemy
15'0 July 1690/
past in the affirmative by the deputies
Neh. Jewet Ord'r
Consent'd to by the Gov'r and Magistrates
Is'a Addington Sec'ry:
[CHAPTER 85.]
[MILITARY OFFICERS APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Court Records, July 15, 1690.]
Ebenezer White of Weymouth, is Appointed for Lieutn't &
Nathaniel Wales of Braintry for Ensign unto Capt'n Ephraim
Hunt Commander of a Company raised for their Majesties
Service against the Common Enemy
[CHAPTER 86.]
[DETAIL OF REINFORCEMENTS FOR THE EASTWARD.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 166. Court Records, July 17, 1690.]
Ordered that the Major Generall forthwith grant out his
warrants to the Majors of the severall Regiments of Militia
hereafter mentioned for detaching their respective propor-
tions of Souldiers well appointed with armes and am'unition
for their Ma'ties Service, as followeth to make up One hun-
dred men Ordered for the strengthning of the Forces East-
ward (that is to Say) Midd'x lower Regiment Seventeen, Upper
Regiment Twelve, Boston Regiment Sixteen, Suffolke South
Regiment Twenty, Essex South Regiment ffifteen Middle
Regiment ffifteen, North Regiment ffive, to Randezvouz upon
Tuesday next the two and twentyeth of this instant where
Each Major shall appoint who is forthw'th to send away his
number under some suitable person unto Newbury and de-
liver them to Cap'ne Stephen Greenlefe jun'r to be by him
conducted or sent unto Piscataqua to be disposed of by Major
Pike Com❜ander in Chiefe for the filling up the severall Com-
pany's there under his Com'and not to be posted in Garrisons
Past in the affirmative by the Gov'r and Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
17: July. 1690
voted & Consented to by the deputies
Neh. Jewet Ord'r
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
435
[CHAPTER 87.]
[AUTHORITY TO HIRE A SUBSTITUTE FOR TOWN DUTY.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 166. Court Records, July 15, 1690.]
Ordered that Captain Jonathan Danforth now goeing forth
in their Ma'ties Service in the intended Expedition for Can-
ada, have Liberty to hire some meet person in said Town to
Serve his Domestick Occasions in his Absence, and that the
s'd person be Exempted from Impresses to any publick Ser-
vice, other than attending duty in the Town, during said
Expedition
July 17. 1690
voted & past in the Affirmative by the deputies.
Neh. Jewet ord'r
Consent'd to by the Gov'r & Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 88.]
[PROVISION FOR A HOSPITAL.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 167. Court Records, July 18, 1690.]
Ordred that the Select men of Boston take care that the
house in the fort on the hill be provided for Entertainm'tt of
Sick & wound'd Souldiers & Seamen, also to provide sutable
Nurses provision & all necessarys at the charge of the Coun-
try
18'0 July. 1690
past in the affirmative by the Gov'r and Magistrates.
Consented to by the Deputies.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
Neh. Jewet by ord'r
[CHAPTER 89.]
[EXPENSE OF THE HOSPITAL TO BE PAID BY THE TREASURER.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 167. Court Records, July 18, 1690.]
Whereas there is an order passed this day for the Select
men of Boston to take care of the Sick & wounded Souldiers
& Seamen in their Majesties Service
Ordered that the Country Treasurer doe pay & reimburse
what the Said Select men Shall expend for the releif & Suc-
cour of Such Sick & wounded persons-
July 18'0 1690.
Past in the Affirmative by the deputies
Neh. Jewet ord'r
Consent'd to by the Gov'r & Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
436
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
[CHAPTER 90.]
[INSTRUCTIONS TO COMMISSIONERS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 167. Court Records, July 18, 1690.]
Ordered that the Hon'd Gov'r & Councill give such Sutable
Instructions unto the Hon'rd Comission'rs of this Collonie
according to the capacity & Necessity of this Collony as they
shall Judg most Expedient to be concluded of by them & the
Comission'rs of the Other Collonges upon their Meeting at
Boston which is to be the 31'th of this Instant.—
18'0 July. 1690
past in the Affirmative by the Deputies
Neh. Jewet ord'r
Consent'd to by the Gov'r & Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 91.]
[THE FORCE FOR THE EXPEDITION DETACHED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 168. Court Records, July 18, 1690.]
Ordered that the Vollunteers, Seamen & Souldiers, now
Listed for their Majesties Service be made up the number of
twenty three hundred by detachment out of the severall Regi-
ments of Millitia, v't Majo'r Quinsy three hundred & Ninety,
Majo'r Phillips three hundred eighty foure; Majo'r Huchin-
son three hundred & twenty, Majo'r Henchman Three hun-
dred & eight majo'r Appleton Three hundred & eight, Majo'r
Gidney Three hundred & eight, Majo'r Saltonstall Two hun-
dred Eighty two: & that the Majo'r Gen'rl Issue out his War-
rants forthwith to the Severall Majo'rs for that End that they
may be Ready to attend the Gen'rls order
18 July 1690.
past in the Affirmative by the Deputies.
Neh: Jewet ord'r
fo'r Randezvouze Majo'r Quinseys at Roxbourough. Majo'r
Philleps's at Charlstowne: Majo'r Henchman at Cambridg.
& All Essex souldiers at Salem upon the 29'th of this Instant
& troopers in Each Regm't to be Imprest to serve as foot
souldiers. proportionably to the foot in Each Towne
Consent'd to by the Magistrates,
N. Jew't ord'r
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
die predict.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
437
[CHAPTER 92.]
[CHAPLAINS APPOINTED FOR THE EXPEDITION.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 11, p. 56. Court Records, July 31, 1690.]
Ordered that the Rev'd m'r John Hale, m'r John Wise m'r
Grindal Rawson and m'r John Emerson Ministers of Gods
word be desired to accompany the General and Forces in the
Expedition against Canada to carry on the worship of God
in that Expedition
Past in the affirmative by the Gov'r & Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
31'0 July, 1690. Voted & past in the Affirmative by the
deputies
Neh. Jewet ord'r
[CHAPTER 93.]
[ABATEMENTS IN THE QUOTAS OF VARIOUS TOWNS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 174. Court Records, August 1, 1690.]
Ordered that Medfield be abated Ten Souldiers, Wrentham
Eight, and Mendon ffifteen of the proportion assigned by
Major Quinsey to be raysed within their Severall Towns for
the present Expedition, the Remainder of the said proportion
to appear at Brantry on Munday the fourth of august instant
at twelve a clock./.
1 August. 1690.
past in the Affirmative by the Deputies
Neh. Jewet ord'r
Consent'd to by the Gov'r and Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 94.]
[FRIENDLY INDIANS TO BE ENLISTED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 173. Court Records, August 1, 1690.]
Ordered that Lieu't Thomas Swift take Speedy care to pro-
vide Sixty or more of the Friend Indians well ffurnish'd with
Armes & Am'unition to be sent out under a Suitable Com-
'ander ag't the com'on Enemy.
Past in the Affirmative by the Magistrates.
pr'o August. 1690./.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
Consented to by the Deputies.
Neh. Jewet ord'r.
438
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
[CHAPTER 95.]
[PLYMOUTH ASKED FOR ONE HUNDRED MEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 174. Court Records, August 1, 1690.]
There appearing to be need of some more Souldiers to be
sent to the Eastern parts for enabling them to pursue the
Enemy to their Head-Quarters It is ordered that a Letter be
forthwith writ to the Governour and Council of Plymouth for
their Speedy Assistance with one Hundred Men furnished
with Arms Ammunition and Provisions for two Moneths time.
Past in the Affirmative by the Magistrates
pr'o Aug'o 1690./.
Consented too by the Deputies:
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 96.]
Neh: Jewet Order
[REINFORCEMENTS FOR THE EASTWARD.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 173. Court Records, August 1, 1690.]
For the better Strengthning of the Eastern parts and
Enabling them to make out a moveing body against the En-
emy. It's Ordered that One hundred Souldiers (over and
above those lately Ordered there) be forthwith provided by
detachm❜t out of the several Regiments of Militia of this
Colony, the North Regiments of Essex and Midd'x excepted)
to be sent up thither And the Majo'r General to give out his
warrants accordingly
pr'o Aug'o 1690.
Past in the Affirmative by the Magistrates
past by the deputes
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
N. Jewet order
[CHAPTER 97.]
[ADJOURNMENT.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 174. Court Records, August 1, 1690.]
voted that this Court be adjourned till the 2'd widensday of
october next at one aclock unless the Gov'r & Councill give
out spetial Order for meeting before
past by the Deputies.
1. 6. 90
Consent'd to by the Gov'r and Magistrates.
N. Jew't
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
439
[CHAPTER 98.]
[ABATEMENT OF QUOTAS OF SEVERAL TOWNS.]
[Mass. Court Records, August 1, 1690.]
Major Henchman having returned the Number of Volun-
teers for the Canada Expedition, which is farr Short of what
was Appointed to be raised in his Regiment, Pleading the
Inability of many Frontier town's to Send the Number he
hath proportioned each Town, the Said Major is hereby
Ordered to send so many Souldiers, well fixed out of his Regi-
ment, as will make up the Volunteers Two hundred Viz't Out
of Concord Twenty five, Sudbury Twenty, Bilrica Eight, Stow
Seven, who are to be at Charlestown upon Monday next the
fourth instant at twelve a Clock the other Towns of that Regi-
ment to Send their Volunteers
[CHAPTER 99.]
[APPROPRIATION IN FAVOR OF CAPT. SUGARS.]
[Mass. Court Records, August 1, 1690.]
Ordered, That Captain Gregory Sugars be Paid the Sum of
Seven Pounds Month wages for his Command and Service
in the Ship Six ffriends, on the Port Royall Expedition
[CHAPTER 100.]
[CAPTAIN OF A FIRE-SHIP APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Court Records, August 1, 1690.]
Capt Robert Small is Appointed Captain of the Ship Swal-
low, appointed a fire Ship
[CHAPTER 101.]
[CAPTAIN OF A FIRE-SHIP APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Court Records, August 1, 1690.]
Capt. Andrew Knott is Appointed Captain of the Ship Re-
turn, appointed a fire Ship
[CHAPTER 102.]
[BOXFORD MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 178. Not in Court Records.]
To the honerad Genarall Cort thes few Liens bee to Signefy
to the honerad Cort that thes men whoes names bee undr
440
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
written dezier to be mead free men of this Jurisdiction:
naemly Mosis Tiler Nathaniel Browen daniel wood John
Stiels: thes bee in Church falowship
John pearly Joseph Pebody and John Andrus: the Selact
men of the Town have obsarved the men above named and
fiend them to be qualefied a Cording to both the rewels pre-
scribed for them to goe by and not vissious in Lief as atest
John Pebody in the neam of the reast of the Selact men of
Boxford and with thair Consent this 23 of September 1690
The persons above Named were allowed to be ffremen P
the Deputies.
John Clark Cler
Consent'd to by the Gov'r and Assistants.
Octob'r Court, 1690.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 103.]
[ORDER FOR THE PAYMENT OF SEAMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 180. Court Records, October 8, 1690.]
Ordered that Mr. Treasurer forthwith supply Cap't John
Alden With Thirty pounds in Money for the paying off the
Seamen who lately were press'd to serve in the Sloop Mary
in the Eastern Expedition.
Oct'r 10'th 1690.
Pass'd in the Affirmative by the Governour & Assistants
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
Consented to by the Deputyes
John Clark Cler-
[CHAPTER 104.]
[SCOUTING PARTY DISMISSED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 180. Court Records, October 8, 1690.]
Ordered that Major Saltonstal do dismiss home the Scout
of Ten Troopers appointed to be imployed between Havaril
and Salisbury &c'a by direction of the said Major, for Secu-
rity of said Town's in the time of Harvest.
Vot'd in the Affirmative by the Gov'r and Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
Octob'r 10'th 1690./.
Consented unto by the Deputies
John Clark Cler
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
441
[CHAPTER 105.]
[LIEUT. SCARBOROUGH'S COMMAND DISMISSED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 180. Court Records, October 8, 1690.]
orderd that major Pynchon doe dismiss all the Souldiers
that were sent up from here under the comand of leutenant
Scarbroh into the County of hamshire
octob'r 10'th 90.
Voted in the Affirmative the Deputyes
John Clark Cler
Consented to by the Govern'r and Assistants
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 106.]
[THOMAS BRATTLE APPOINTED PUBLIC NOTARY.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 183. Court Records, October 8, 1690.]
Ordered that Mr. Thomas Brattle be admitted & sworn
Publick Notary for this Colony, that office being at present
vacant.
Voted in the Affirmative by the Govern'r and Assistants.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
Boston Oct'o 11'o 1690.
Consented to by the Deputies
John Clark Cler's
[CHAPTER 107.]
[GARRISONS STATIONED AND FORCES DISBANDED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 182. Court Records, October 8, 1690.]
Ordered, that ffifty of the Souldiers now abroad in the East-
ern parts, be Continued at Wells under the Conduct of L't
Elisha Andrews, Thirty at York under Some fitt person in
quality of a sergeant to Com'and them, and one hundred at
Piscattaque under the Conduct of Capt'n James Convers,
Maj'r Pike & the rest of the Com'anders & Souldiers under
him, to be fforthwith disbanded, all hired men to be detayned,
except Such as are disinabled by wounds or Sickness, Maj'r
William Vaughan to take the Cheife Com'and of the whole
and by the advice of the other Com'ission officers, and Some
of the principall Gentlemen upon the place, to Improve them
for the discovery & prosecution of the Indian & french enemie
and Strengthning of those parts, untill the beginning of No-
vember next, unless the Council Shall See Cause to Continue
the whole or any te thereof for longer time.
octob'r 11'th 1690. Voted in the Affirmative p'r the Dep-
uties
John Clark Cler
Consent'd to by the Governo'r and Assistants.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
442
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
[CHAPTER 108.]
[THE EMBARGO REMOVED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 183. Court Records, October 8, 1690.]
Ordered that the Embargo upon Shipping formerly laid by
Order of this Court be and hereby is taken off.
Voted in the Affirmative by the Gov'r and Assistants.
Boston oct'o 11'o 1690
Consented to by the Deputyes
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
John Clark Cler'e
[CHAPTER 109.]
[SUPPLIES TO BE SENT TO THE EASTWARD.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 183. Court Records, October 8, 1690.[
Ordered that there be forthw'th Sent Supplyes of Cloathing
and all other Necessaryes for the Soldiers that remayne at the
Eastward, to be paid out of the two Rates & halfe already
granted of mony for that end-
Octob'r 11'th 90: Voted in the Affirmative p'r the Deputies
John Clark Cler's
Consent'd to by the Gov'r & Assistants
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 110.]
[COMMISSION APPOINTED TO EXAMINE ACCOUNTS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 182. Court Records, October 8, 1690.]
Ordered that Cap't Joseph Lynde M'r Sam'll Champney and
John Clark be of the Committie to Joyne with some of the
Hon'rd Majestrates to examine the State of the Country with
respect to their Debts by the Treasuro'rs Acco'ts which may
give light how to grant Sum's for the defraying the same
when they have made report to this Court, And that the Court
be adjourned to the Twenty first of this Instant at one of the
Clock afternoone
voted in the Affirmative p'r the Deputies
Octob'r 11, 1690:
John Clark Cler
Consent'd to by the Governo'r and Assistants M'r James
Russell and Majo'r Elisha Hutchinson being joyned to the
Gent'n abovenamed, to be of the Com'ittee
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
443
[CHAPTER 111.]
[GARRISONS SOUTH OF THE MERRIMACK DISMISSED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 191. Court Records, October 21, 1690.]
Ordered that all Souldiers posted in any of the Towns or
Garrisons on the South side of Merrimack River, at the pub-
lick charge, be forthwith dismist And that Major Henchman
be written unto to take Effectual care for the Execution of
this Order.-
Past in the Affirmative by the Gov'r and Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Oct'o 22, 1690.-
Consented to by the Deputies
John Clark Cler's
[CHAPTER 112.]
[RELIEF FOR FAMILIES OF SOLDIERS KILLED OR CAPTURED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 190. Court Records, October 21, 1690.]
There being Severall Souldiers that were Imployed in their
Maj'ties Service Slaine & Carried Captive from the ffort at
Casco, and the Com'issary being also Carried away, that So
their accounts Cannot be adjusted and their wives & relations
being in want. It's ordered that the Com'ittee for Deben-
tures, give out debentures for one quarter part of wages, that
Shall appeare due to them for their Service, according to
Certificate, from their Captains, for present untill there be
oppertunity of Settling those accompts
22'th October 1690
past in the affirmative by the Deputies
Tymothy Prout order
Consent'd to by the Governo'r and Assistants
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 113.]
[CAPT. FAYERWEATHER'S SALARY DOCKED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 190. Court Records, October 21, 1690.]
Ordered that Cap't John ffairwether doe abate two Months
Sallary for his absence this Summer from the Castle
Octob'r 22'th 1690./ past in the Affirmative p'r the Dep-
utyes
John Clark Cler's
Consent'd to by the Gov'r and Assistants.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
444
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
[CHAPTER 114.]
[GARRISON AT THE CASTLE REDUCED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 190. Court Records, October 21, 1690.]
Ordered that L't Nath Williams be forthwith dismissed
from present attendance at the Castle and that there be con-
tinued there for this Winter only Twenty men including the
officers
octob'r 22'th 1690.
past in the affirmative p'r the Deputies
John Clark Cler's
Consented to by the Gov'r and Assistants.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 115.]
[GARRISONS DISMISSED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 190. Not in Court Records.]
Ordered that all the Garrison Souldiers posted in the Towns
of Havaril, Salisbury and Aimsbury be forthwith dismist,
And that Major Saltonstall be written unto to take Effectual
care for the Execution of this Order.-
Past in the Affirmative by the Gov'r and Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
Octob'r 22, 1690.
Consented to the Deputies
John Clark Cler's
[CHAPTER 116.]
[APPROPRIATION IN FAVOR OF LIEUT. WILLIAMS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 191. Court Records, October 25, 1690.]
Ordered that L't Nath Williams be paid by the Country
Treasuro'r for his Service at the Castle since the 8'th of July
last fifteene pounds in or as mony, in full for his Service Since
that tyme unto the tyme that he is Desmist by this Court.
octob'r 23'th 1690:/ past in the Affirmative
utyes
the Dep-
John Clark Cler's
25 Consented to by the Gov'r and Assistants.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
445
[CHAPTER 117.]
[BILL OF PRICES.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 191. Court Records, October 21, 1690.]
Ordered that the Price of Graine in payment of Rates for
this present yeare be as followes vz't wheat at foure shillings
sixpence bushell, Indean Corne at three shillings p'r Bush'll
Barly and Barly malt three & six pence p'r bush'll Pease four
shillings p'r bush'll Oates at one shilling Six pence bushell,
Marchantable Pork seal'd by a sworne Packer at three pounds
p'r Barrell, & marchantable Beefe seal'd as afores'd at thirty
six shillings p'r Bar'll These prises to be for this Collony ex-
cept west Hampsheire—
And for Hampsheir that the prizes be as followes vz't wheat
at four shillings, Peas, Barly & Barly Malt three shillings
bushell Indean corne two shillings & six pence bush'll
March'ble Pork Seal'd by a Sworn Packer at three pounds
p'r Barrell, & marcht'ble Beife at thirty shillings bar'll-
octob'r 24'th 1690./ passed in the Affirmative by the Dep-
utyes
John Clark Cler
Consent'd to by the Gov'r and assistants Rye, being first
obliterat'd by the Deputies.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 118.]
[APPROPRIATION IN FAVOR OF THE SECRETARY.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 195. Court Records, October 21, 1690.]
Ordered that the Country Treasurer pay m'r Secretary ffifty
pounds In or as mony towards Sattisfaction for his Salery-
Octob'r 25'th 1690:
past in the Affirmative by the Deputyes
John Clark Cler's-
Consented to by the Governour & Assistants
Sam-Sewall Ord'r
[CHAPTER 119.]
[A LIEUTENANT APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 195. Court Records, October 21, 1690.]
Ordered that Icabod Plaisteed be Leiftenant to Cap't James
Convers-
octob'r 25'o 1690.-
voted in the affirmative the Deputyes
Jn'o Clark Cler's
Consent'd to by the Gov'r and Assistants.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
446
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
[CHAPTER 120.]
[LAWS TO BE REVISED FOR PRINTING.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 196. Court Records, October 25, 1690.]
Ordered that Cap't Pen Townsend Cap't Joseph Lynde &
Cap't Sam'll Ruggles be of a Com'ittee to Joyne w'th Some of
our honr'd Majestrates to peruse in order to the reprinting
such Lawes as has been formerly made by this Court and are
most Expedient in the Vigorous execution for reforming of
vice, And make Returne thereof to this Court at their next
Sitting
Octob'r 25'o 1690-
voted in the affirmative by the Deputyes
John Clark Cler's
Consent'd to by the Gov'r and Assistants.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
And Add to the sons above appoynted Sam'll Sewal Esq'r
& Is'a Addington Esq'r
[CHAPTER 121.]
[BOARD OF SURVEY ON A BRIDGE.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 195. Court Records, October 25, 1690.]
in Answer to a petistion of malden woburn and Reading
Reffering to mistick bridg: ordered that cap: frarey leuť'n
willyam bond and Leut'n David fissk ar opinted a comity to
tak a survay of said Bridg and consider of what Repayer it
wanteth as allso who are the touns that ought to do it and
make Report there of to this court at their naxt siting
the deputies have past this with Reference to the consent of
our honoured mareshals
25't october 1690
Samuel Tompson per order
Consent'd to by the Gov'r and Assistants
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 122.]
[ADJOURNMENT.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 196. Court Records, October 25, 1690.]
ordered that this Court be Adjourned to the fourth of No-
vember next at Nine a Clock in the Morning.
octob'r 25'o 1690.
Voted in the Affirmative by the Deputyes
John Clark Cler's
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
447
[CHAPTER 123.]
[BILL OF PRICES.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 217. Court Records, October 21, 1690.]
Ordered that the price of Graine in payment of Rates for
this present yeare be as follows vz't wheat at four shillings
six pence p'r Bush'll Indean corne at three shillings p'r bush-
ell, Barly and Barly Malt at four shillings p'r bush'll noe barly
to pass after the first of Aprill, Pease at four Shillings P
bush'll & oates at Eighteen pence p'r bush'll Merchantable
Pork Sealed by a Sworn Packer, at three pounds p'r bar'll
Mercht❜ble Beife Sealed as aforesd at thirty Six shillings P
bushell, these prises to be for this Collony except west hamp-
sheir-
And for Hampshere that the Prises be as followes vz't
wheat four shillings, Pease, Barly & Barly Malt, three Shil-
lings p'r bush'll no Barly to pass after the first of Aprill,
Indean corne two shillings six pence per Bushell, Mercht❜ble
Pork Sealed by the Sworne Packer Three pounds p'r bar'll and
Merch'tble Beife Sealed as aforesd at thirty shillings p'r Bar-
rell
Novemb'r 5'th 1690./ past in the Affirmative p'r the Dep-
uties
John Clark Cler
Consent'd to by the Governo'r and Assistants
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 124.]
[CAPT. ALDEN ALLOWED TO GO TO NOVA SCOTIA.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 219. Court Records, November, 1690.]
Upon the desire of Cap't John Alden to have the use of the
Sloop Mary for a Voyage to Nova Scotia proposing to En-
deavour the Redemption of the English captives now in the
Enimies hands and to visset Port Royall to inquire into the
State of the people there being subjected to the obedience of
the Crown of England, and to carry some provisions for their
Supply, Liberty is granted him to proceed accordingly at his
own charg, not to carry w'th him any amunition more then
for the Necessary use of the vessell, And to Endeavour his
Return to Boston again with Said Vessell within one month
or six weeks tyme at farthest.
Novemb'r 6'th 1690-past in the Affirmative the Dep-
utyes
Consent'd to by the Gov'r and Assistants.
John Clark Cler
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
448
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
[CHAPTER 125.]
[ENCOURAGEMENT TO VOLUNTEERS AGAINST THE INDIANS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 217. Court Records, November, 1690.]
For the Encouragement of L't Elisha Andrews or any other
meet persons that shall be approved of by the Govern'r &
Council and such Vollunteirs as shall list themselves to goe
out with them ag'st the com'on Enimy ffrench & Indeans, It's
ordered that they shall be allowed twelve pounds in or as
mony for every man of the Enimy they shall Kill or bring in
alive, in leiu of wages, and to be paid three shillings p'r week
a man whilst they are out in the Service in Leiu of Provision,
as also Eight pounds in or as mony afores'd for every English
captive they shall recover, and bring back out of s'd Enimies
hands, and that they shall be allowed what benifitt they can
make of their Weomen & Children and plunder
Novemb'r 6'th 1690./ past in the affirmative p'r the Dep-
uties
Consent'd to by the Gov'r and Assistants.
John Clark Cler
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 126.]
[GARRISON AT PISCATAQUA REDUCED.]
[Mass. Archives vol. 36, p. 220. Court Records, November, 1690.]
Ordered that all the officers and Souldiers in their Maj'ties
Service now abroad at Piscattaque, be forthwith dismist, and
drawne home only ffour & twenty to remayne behinde, Such
as Cap't Convers & Lieu't Andrews shall appoint to Stay, (as
many of the hired men as are fitt for Service,) to be of that
number, Twelve to be posted at Wells, and the other Twelve,
where Maj'r Vaughan, Maj'r ffrost Capt'n Convers & L't
Andrews Shall apprehend they may be the most needed and
to Continue untill the Gove'r & Council give order for their
drawing offe. Supplys of provisions & Cloathing to be Sent
for the Support of them that remayne,
Wesson & Eaton of Redding, Hutchinson of Charlstowne,
Jn'o Goffe of Cambridge, John Belcher of Boston & John
Hadlock of Salem, & Ebenezer Batchellor of Wenham & John
Smith of Dorchester Samuel Shove of Braintry Pticulerly
to be dismist home
past in the afirmative the dep'ts
Novemb'r 7'th 1690
orde'r Joseph Lynde
Consent❜d to by the Gov'r and Assistants
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
449
[CHAPTER 127.]
[GARRISONS ON THE MERRIMACK WITHDRAWN.]
[Mass. Archives vol. 36, p. 220. Court Records, November, 1690.]
Ordered that the Garrison Souldiers at Varnums and Co-
burns upon Merrimack River, be forthwith discharged & dis-
mist home, And Major Thomas Henchman is desired and ap-
pointed to see this order Executed.-
Past in the Affirmative by the Gov'r and Assistants.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Nov'r 7'0 1690.
Consented to by the Deputyes-
John Clark Cler
[CHAPTER 128.]
[EXCISE COMMISSION APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Archives vol. 36, p. 220. Court Records, November, 1690.]
Major John Richards, m'r James Russell, Major Elisha
Hutchinson, and m'r Treasurer or any three of them, are
appointed A Committee to agree with the Keepers of all pub-
lick Licensed Houses & Retailers for their draught for this
present year m'r Treasurer to order the giveing of them notice
of the time to be appoint'd for the Committees meeting to
that End.
Past in the Affirmative by the Gov'r & Assistants
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
nov'r 7'0 1690.-
Consented to by the Deputies
[CHAPTER 129.]
John Clark Cler
[VALUATIONS TO BE BROUGHT IN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 221. Court Records, November 7, 1690.]
Ordered, that the Com'issioners of the Towns, who mett,
and brought in their Valluations, upon the Seccond Wedns-
day of October last, doe meete againe on the fourth Wednsday
of this Instant November being the 26'th of the same at their
Shire Towns, (Except, Meddlesex, who Shall meete at Con-
cord) & bringe in the Same Lists which they have already
taken that so the number of heads, which were then given in,
in each Towne, may be transmitted to the Treasurer under
their hands, & that the Treasuro'r issue forth his warrants
accordingly
past in the Affirmative p'r the Deputies
Novemb'r 6'th 1690.
29
John Clark Cler's
450
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
The Commission'rs of Midd'x to Examin and correct the
List of Dunstable Valuation for the last Rates, and to make
them such abatem't, as shall appear, they have by mistake of
the Law over valued themselves.
1
*
Nov'r 7th 1690.
past in the affirmative p'r the Deputies
Consent'd to by the Gov'r and Assistants.
John Clark Cler
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 130.]
[TWENTY RATES LEVIED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 222. Court Records, November, 1690.]
Towards the Discharging of the Countreys Debts & defray-
ing of Publick Charges. Its Ordered that the Treasuro'r
forthwith Issue out his warrants for the Raiseing of Twenty
Single Country Rates upon the Inhabitants of this Goverment
according to the prises of Provision Sett, and if any pay mony,
that they have a third abated, and all persons that have
Creddit with the Country to pay by Discount and that the
Poll mony be reduced to twelve pence p'r head in those twenty
Rates on each Rate
Nov'r 7th 1690 past in the affirmative p'r the Deputies
John Clark Cler
Consent'd to by the Govern'r and Assistants
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 131.]
[APPROPRIATION IN FAVOR OF THE AGENTS IN ENGLAND.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 222. Court Records, November, 1690.]
Ordered that Mr. Treasurer Pay unto the use of our Pub-
lick Agents now upon the Service of the Country in England;
to the Reverend Mr. Increase Mather One Hundred Pounds,
to Elisha Cook Esq'r & Thomas Oakes Esq'r Fifty pounds
apiece, in or as Money
Nov'r 7. 1690
Past in the affirmative by the Deputies.
John Clark Cler
Consent'd to by the Gov'r and Assistants.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
451
[CHAPTER 132.]
[VACANCY FILLED IN THE WOODSTOCK COMMITTEE.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 219. Court Records, November, 1690.]
wheras ther was a comittee apointed by the generall court
to order the afayres of New Roxbery now called woodstock
and one of the comittee being disinabled by the providence of
god Namely capten therston of med feeld its orderd that en-
sighn Richard elis of dedham doe suply his place and be of
the comitee and impoured as the other was:
past by the deputies
7'th of november 1690
Samuell Tompson
per order
Consent'd to by the Governo'r and Assistants
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 133.]
[MYSTIC BRIDGE TO BE REPAIRED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 73. Court Records, November, 1690.]
Ordered that the Towns of Charlstown and meadford do
forthwith Sufficiently repair Mistick Bridge, lying within the
precincts of those two Town's, and present the Accompt of
the charge thereof unto the General Court that it may be
determined how it shalbe born.-
Novemb'r 7'0 1690. past in the affirmative p'r the Deputies
John Clark Cler
Consented to by the Gov'r and Assistants.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 134.]
[A PUBLIC LOAN TO BE RAISED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 221. Court Records, November, 1690.]
Major Elisha Hutchinson, Captain Samuel Sewall, m'r
Peter Sergeant, Captain Penn Townsend, Captain Samuel
Hayman, m'r James Taylor, m'r Nathanael Oliver, Captain
Andrew Belcher Captain Samuel Legg, and m'r John Clarke
are desired forthwith to use their Endeavours to procure the
Sum'e of three or ffour thousand pounds in money upon Loan
for the present paying off the Seamen and Souldiers at their
Return from Canada, and for other Emergencies, upon the
publique Credit; And this Court do hereby Engage halfe the
452
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
publique Rates now agreed to be made & Levyed, and the
Country's part of all such Plunder as they shall recover from
the Enemy at Canada &c'a and bring home with them; And
all money's ariseing upon Impost, as Security to such Gentle-
men who shall advance money on that Accompt, until they
be fully repaid. And the abovenamed Gentlemen are ap-
pointed a Committee to receive the Country's part of plunder
into their hands and make Sale thereof to the most advan-
tage, Rendring an Accompt of the produce of the same to the
Gen'll Court
Novemb'r 7'th 1690.-past in the affirmative p'r the Dep-
uties
John Clark Cler
Consent'd to by the Gov'r and Assistants
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 135.]
[A COMMITTEE TO REVISE THE LAW OF PUBLIC CHARGES.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 222. Court Records, November, 1690.]
Ordered That Major Edmund Quinsey, m'r William Bond,
Captain Daniel Epps, and Captain Samuel Partrigg, with
ffour others, who shalbe nominated by the house of Deputies,
be a Committee to revise the Law intituled Charges Publick,
with the Additions, and to draw up and present unto the
next General Court, what they shall agree upon to be consid-
ered in order to Establishm't as a Rule to the just and equal
makeing of Publick Assessments.—
Past in the Affirmative by the Gov'r and Assistants.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
Nov'r 7'0 1690.
Consented to by the Deputyes and they have voted that
Majo'r Gidney, Major Jn'o Richard, m'r Tho oliver & m'r Nehe-
miah Jewett, be added to the Gen'tmen above to be of the
Com'ittee for the end afores'd and Majo'r Richards to appoint
tyme & place of meeting-
nov'r 7'o 90
[CHAPTER 136.]
John Clark Cler
[APPROPRIATION IN FAVOR OF CAPT. ALDEN.]
[Mass. Court Records, December 10, 1690.]
A Bill past to the Treasurer to Pay Capt'n Alden for his
own, and Seamens wages, and Accompt of Disbursem't for
his Voyage to Sagadahock on the Publick Accompt, the Sum"
of Seventeen Pounds one shilling and four pence
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
453
[CHAPTER 137.]
[ORDNANCE AND STORES IMPRESSED TO BE RESTORED.]
[Mass. Court Records, December 10, 1690.]
An Order past to the Com'ittee appointed to receive into
their Custody, the Publick Stores returned from Canada, to
restore all the Guns, and other things whatsoever, which
were taken out of any Ship, or Vessell or borrowed of any
Particular person to furnish out that expedition, unto the
Proper owners thereof, or their Order they making it so
Appear, taking receipts for what they deliver
[CHAPTER 138.]
[COUNTRY PRODUCE TO BE LEGAL TENDER.]
[Mass. Court Records, December 10, 1690.]
Ordered That all Country Pay, with one third abated, shall
pass as Currant Money to pay all Countrey Debts at the Same
prises sett by this Court; Except what hath been borrowed
in Money shall be paid in Money
[CHAPTER 139.]
[APPROPRIATION IN FAVOR OF SILVANUS DAVIS.]
[Mass. Court Records, December 10, 1690.]
Ordered, That the Treasurer pay unto Capt Silvanus Davis
Thirty Pounds as Money for his Present Relief on Acc'tt of
his Serving their Majesties as Commander of the fort at
Casco &c't
[CHAPTER 140.]
[APPROPRIATION IN FAVOR OF RICHARD KEATS.]
[Mass. Court Records, December 10, 1690.]
Ordered That the Treasurer Pay to Richard Keates the
Sum of Ten pounds as Money, in full of his Accompt for Ser-
vice done, and expences at the Prison
[CHAPTER 141.]
[SOLDIERS WITHDRAWN FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE AND MAINE.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 221. Court Records, November, 1690.]
ordered that al the Soldiers that are in the Countryes
pay in Newhamshire & the province of mayne be forthwith
drawne of:
454
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
Xbr 12'th 1690: past in the afirmative the deput's
as attest Joseph Lynde ord'r
Consent'd to by the Gov'r and Assistants.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 142.]
[SUPERNUMERARY PUBLIC HOUSES ALLOWED TIME TO CLOSE
THEIR BUSINESS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 241. Court Records, December 10, 1690.]
Forasmuch as there have formerly been more houses of
publick Entertainment and Retailers. Set up in several Towns
Especially in the Town of Boston, than are allow'd by Law,
and many persons pleading the extreem damage it would be
unto them to be put down, without granting them some time
to dispose of the Quantitys of drinke now upon their hands.
It's therefore referred unto the respective County Courts, to
take the same into consideration, to grant an indulgence to
such Supernumerary's for a certain time of three or ffour
months as they shall see meet, for the disposing of the drinke
upon their hands, they paying for the same as other Licensed
houses do.
Also upon the motion of the Select men of Hingham Its
granted that there be a house of publick Entertainm't allowed
at Cohasset on the Road betwixt Hingham and situate, to be
kept by such person as the s'd Select men shall approve, and
the County Court licence.-
past in the afirmative the deputies as attest
Xb'r 13: 1690:—
Joseph Lynde ord'r
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Consent'd to by the Gov'r & assistants.
[CHAPTER 143.]
[MIDDLESEX RECORDS TO BE DELIVERED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 253. Court Records, December 10, 1690.]
Ordered that the County Court of Middlesex take Effectual
care that the Order of this Court made in March last past for
Captain Laurance Hammond to deliver up the publick Re-
cords of said County in his hands be duely Observed.
Past in the affirmative by the Gov'r & Assistants.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
16 x'br 90-
passed in the affirmitive by The debitys
Christopher osgood ord'r
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
455
[CHAPTER 144.]
[APPROPRIATION IN FAVOR OF ROBERT PIKE.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 254. Court Records, December 10, 1690.]
ordered That Major Robert Pike be allowed for his service-
To the Countrye against The Coman Enemye att The East-
ward: Eight pounds per. month.
decemb❜r 19, 1690.
Passed in The affirmitive by the debutys.
Christopher osgood ord❜r
Consent'd to by the Gov'r & Assistants.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 145.]
[SPRINGFIELD MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 255. Not in Court Records.]
To the honoured Gen'll Corte sitting at Boston Dec: 10:
1690:
May it Please yo'r honoured Selves to accept of this account
of Sundry Inhabitants of the Town of Springfeild which we
the Subscribing Select men of said Springfeild do humbly
present to the honoured Gen'll Courte to have the Liberties of
freemen granted to them, being Persons that pay 4's in a
single Country Rate w'thout heads of Persons viz. Thomas
Cooper; Abel Wright sen'r Nathan'll Burt sen'r & Jn'o Blisse:
or Persons that are of the cleare yearly value of Six pounds
freehold viz:
John Dorchester
James Dorchester.
Eliakim Cooley.
Benja: Cooley
Joseph Cooley
Joseph Leonard.
Joseph Bedortha
Edward ffoster.
Samuel Stebbins
Joseph Thomas
Thomas Day Jun'r
John Mirricke:
Sam'll Bliss Jun'r
Nathan'll Blisse.
Jonatha Morgan
David Morgan
James Barker.
Sam'll Bedortha
Benja: Leonard
Jonathan Ball
John Harman
Joseph Ely
John Burt
Samuell Lamb
Josias Marshfeild
Thomas Stebbins
Edward Stebbins
Benjamin Stebbins
Jonathan Burt Jun'r
David Lumbard
Isaac Cotton
John Cotton
Sam'll Blisse 3'tius
Samuel Miller
John Miller
Tho: Swetnam
Charles fferrey
Daniel Lamb
456
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
Several of these pay above 4's in a single Rate besides heads
Al being good livers, & not vicious in life, & several of
y'm being the members of o'r Church in full Com'union
(42. In all
decemb'r 19: 1690
'
John Holyoke
James Warriner
Select men
by us
John Hitchcock
Japhet Chapin
of Springfeild
Passed in The affirmitive by The debutys
Christopher osgood ord'r
Consent❜d to by the Gov'r and assistants
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 146.]
[APPROPRIATION IN FAVOR OF JOHN PYNCHON.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 259. Court Records, December 10, 1690.]
Xbr 22'th 1690 ordered that Majo'r John pinchon be paid
Sixtene pounds as mony out of the Rates of west hamshir:
for his servis unto Albany: & his man and Expences in Said
Jorny
Joseph Lynde ord'r
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Consent'd to by the Gov'r and assistants.
[CHAPTER 147.]
[FORM FOR PAPER MONEY ADOPTED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 260. Court Records, December 10, 1690.]
N'o (
N'o (
Locus
Sigilli
) 20's
) 20's
This indented Bill of Twenty Shillings, due from the
Massachusets Colony to the possessor shall be in
Value equal to Money, and shall be accordingly Ac-
cepted by the Treasurer, and Receivers subordinate
to him, in all publick Payments; and for any stock at any
time in the Treasury.
Boston in New England: Decemb. 10, 1690.
By order of the Gen'll Court
23'th Decemb'r 1690.
Voted in the affirmative by the Gov'r and assistants.
Consented To by the deputys.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
Christopher osgood ord'r
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
457
[CHAPTER 148.]
[NATHANIEL RUST TO ISSUE CERTIFICATES TO MAJOR WARD'S
MEN.
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 259. Court Records, December 10, 1690.]
By Reason of the death of The Major Sam'll ward, and The
Rest of his officers belonging to his Company that were in the
service of his majesty in The Canada expedition there ariseth
great difficulty to the Souldiers to obtein their Certificates in
order to their debenturs, itt is therefore ordered that m'r
Nathaniell Rust of ipswich be appointed to supply that va-
cuaty and To Grant out Certifficates to the Souldiers sent out
under the Conduct of sd Major
passed and allowed by the deputys
23 decemb'r 1690.
attest Christopher osgood order
Consented to by the Gov'r and assistants.
24'th
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 149.]
[AN ISSUE OF BILLS OF CREDIT AUTHORIZED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 261. Court Records, December 10, 1690.]
Whereas for the Maintaining and defending of their Majes-
ties interests against the hostile invasions of Their ffrench
and indean Enemys (who have began and are Combined in
the prosecution of a bloody war, upon the English of their
Majestys Colonys and plantations in New England) This Col-
ony hath Necessarily Contrasted sundry Considerable debts;
which This Court Taking into Consideration. and being desir
ous to approve themselvs just and honest in The discharge
of the same, and that Every person who hath Creditt w'th the
Country for the use of any of his Estate disbursments or ser-
vice done for the publick, May in Convenient Time Receive
due and equall satisfaction; withall Considering the present
poverty and Calamities of the Country, and (through Scarcity
of Money) the want of an adequate measure of Commerce:
wherby thay are disadvantaged in Making present payment.
as desired yet being willing to settle and adjust the accompts
of sd debt, and to Make payment theroff w'th what speed thay
Can.
itt is ordered by This Court That Major Elisha Hutchinson:
Major John Phillips Captain. pen Tounsend m'r Adam Win-
throp. & m'r Timothy Thornton: or any three of them be and
are hereby appointed and Empowred a Committee for the
458
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
I
Granting forth of printed Bills in such forme as is agreed
upon by This Court (None under five shillings Nor exceeding
the sum of five pounds) in one bill.) unto all such persons who
shall desire the same, to whome y's Colony is indebted for
such sum or sums of Money as thay shall have debentures
from the Committee, or Committees, that are or shall be ap-
pointed to Give out the same; Every of which Bills according
to the sum therein Expressed shall be of Equall value w’th
Money And The Treasurer and all Receivers subordinate to
him shall accept and Receive the same accordingly in all
publick payments No more of sd bills to be Printed or
Granted forth then for the sum of seaven thousand pounds
and the Colony is hereby engaged to satissfy the value of sd
bills: as the Treasury shall be enabled. & any person having
any of sd bills in his hand, may accordingly Returne the same
to the Treasurer, and shall Receive the full sum theroff in
Money, or other Publicke stock at the money price as stated
for that Time. And if any of sd bills, be worne in any per-
sons hands, so as Thay desier to Reneiw them: Returning
them to the Committee Thay shall have New ones of the same
Numbers and sums given out.-
23'th Read and Voted by the Gov'r and assistants in the
affirmative
decemb'r 24, 1690
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Christopher osgood ord❜r
Past in The affirmative by the deputys
die predict.
Consent'd to by the Governo'r and assistants, with the alter-
ation in that article of the number of Bills to be print'd or
granted forth for the Sum'e of Seven thousand pounds
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 150.]
[COMMITTEE ON DEBENTURES ENLARGED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 259. Court Records, December 10, 1690.]
For the Easy and more Speedy giveing out of Souldiers
Debentures Captain Samuel Legg, m'r ffrancis Burroughs,
and m'r Joseph Parson, are hereby desired and Empoured to
joyne with the Com'ittee already appointed to that Service,
And any three of the said Committee to act in that Affayre.-
Decemb'r 24'o 1690./.
Past in the Affirmative by the Governo'r and assistants.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Past in the affirmetive by the deputys
attest Christopher osgood
ord'r
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690.
459
[CHAPTER 151.]
[COMMISSIONERS FOR MARRIAGES IN NEWBURY APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 260. Court Records, December 10, 1690.]
Mr. John Woodbridge and Cap't Daniel Pierce of Newbury,
and each of them are impowered to join Persons together in
Marriage in that Town according to the Direction of the Laws
in that behalf made,
Decemb'r 24'th 1690.
Past in the Affirmative by the Governo'r and Assistants.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Past in the affirmative by the deputys
Christopher osgood ord'r
[CHAPTER 152.]
[ADJOURNMENT.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 260. Court Records, December 10, 1690.]
Ordered That This Court be adjourned Till the 18 of March
Next insueing at nine of the Clock in the forenoone Except
the Gov'r and Counsell see Reason upon speciall occasion to
Call the Court sooner:
Past by the deputys on the affirmative
Christopher osgood ord'r
Decemb'r 24: 1690.
Consent'd to by the Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 153.]
[ALMSBURY MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 256. Not in Court Records.]
In Answar to the pertition of the select men of Armsbury
Decemb'r 8'th 1690 Theas P'rsons underwritten are admited
to the freedom of this Jurisdiction
Viz Capt: Tho Haring
John barnad
John foot
Thomas sarjant
Thomas barnad sen'r
Thomas Curriar
Nathan Gould
Thomas Colby sen'r
Thomas steevens
Thomas fowlar
Joseph Lankestar sen'r
Henry blazdell sen'r
Henry Tuksbery sen'r
Jn'o kimball
Moses Morrel
Orlando bayley:
460
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690-91.
}
24'th x'br 1690 past in the afirmative P ye deputies
Joseph Lynde ord'r
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Consent'd to by the Gov'r and Assistants.
[CHAPTER 154.]
[FURTHER ISSUE OF BILLS OF CREDIT.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 383. Court Records, February 6, 1690-91.]
Whereas the Committee appointed for the Granting out
Bills of Credit (in the fforme agreed upon by this Court at
their session in December last past) for the Publick Debts
necessarily contracted by this Colony in the Maintenance and
defence of their Maj'ties Interest ag't the Hostile Invasions
of their ffrench and Indian Enemies, were limited to a certain
Sume, which is found to be ffar short of what is absolutly
necessary.
It's therefore Ordered that the said Committee do in like
manner proceed to the Printing and giving forth of said Bills
to all Persons desiring the same, who shall produce and de-
liver unto them a Debenture or Debentures from the Commit-
tee or Committees that are or shall be thereunto appointed or
shall produce an Order of this Court or of the Governour and
Council for the full Sume expressed in such Debenture or
Order: Every of which Bills of the Sume of Twenty shillings,
shall be accepted in all publick Payments by the Treasurer,
and all Constables or other Receivers Subordinate to the
Treasurer in leiu of Money at twenty One shillings and so pro-
portionably for all Bills of Greater or lesser Sum'es (no One
Bill to be for a less Sume than two shillings nor exceeding the
Sume of Tenn Pounds) and the Select men of each Towne may
send the Debentures of the Severall persons in their Towne to
the said Committee by some meet Person, who shall Receive
Bills for the same, deliver'd to the said Select men and by
them given out to the Persons to whome they are due. And
the Colony hereby stands engaged to satisfy the Value of said
Bills as the Treasury shall be enabled; And any Person hav-
ing of said Bills in his hand, returning the same to the Treas-
urer shall accordingly Receive the just Sume exprest in said
Bills in Money or other Publick Stock at the Money Price as
stated for that time.-
past in the afirmative ye depu'ts
5'0 Feb'ry. 1690./1
Joseph ord'r
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
6'th Consented to by the Magistrates
voted again the 10'th day.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690-91.
461
[CHAPTER 155.]
[GLOUCESTER MAN MADE A FREEMAN.]
[Mass. Court Records, February 6, 1690-91.]
M'r John Emmerson Jun'r of Glocester is Admitted to be a
freeman of this Jurisdiction
[CHAPTER 156.]
[ORDER FOR THE RELIEF OF JOAN CLAPP.]
[Mass. Court Records, February 6, 1690-91.]
In Answer to the Petition of Joane Clap relict widow of
Capt Roger Clapp late of Boston Deceased Ordered that what
Appears to be Justly due unto Said Capt'n Clapp sometime
Capt of the Castle, for his Service to this Colony, be paid unto
his Execut'rs by the Country Treasurer as soon as may be,
And M'r Russell, and the Treasurer are Appointed to exam-
ine, and Settle his Accompt
[CHAPTER 157.]
[A PRIVATEER COMMISSIONED.]
[Mass. Court Records, February 6, 1690-91.]
In Answer to the Petition of Samuel Adams of Boston
Praying that a Com'ission may be granted him to go forth
Commander of a Small Vessell against the french Enemy,
Ordered that a Com'ission be granted him for their Majesties,
and the Colonies Service against the Said Common Enemy So
that Security be given
[CHAPTER 158.]
[A THANKSGIVING DAY APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Court Records, February 6, 1690-91.]
This Court being deeply Sensible of the Divine Goodness
and Mercy appearing in the preservation of the Royall Person
of our Sovereign, King William, and the Signall Victory
bestowed by Heaven upon his Armes in Ireland, And the
remarkable disappointments at the Same time given to the
great Enemies of the Protestants Interest, Being also sensible
of the Divine Bounty expressed in the Prevention of many
Calamities, and destructions, which have been impending
over us; In any Measure of help, wherewith God has Assisted
us against our Enemies; In the recovery of so many sick
People among those which have been Arrested with the Epi-
462
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 169C-91.
demical Distempers newly raging in the midst of us; In the
Plentifull Harvest which was last vouchsafed us, And the
happy arrival of so many Vessells from England in the depth
of this Hard Winter which have brought unto us Necessary,
and Seasonable Supplies, Do therefore Appoint Thursday the
Twenty Sixth of this instant February to be Celebrated
throughout this Colony as a Day of Public, and Solemn
Thanksgiving unto the Almighty God for these and the Like
his undeserved Favours Forbiding all Servile Labour on the
s'd Day, And Exhorting the Severall Ministers, and Assem-
blies every where to endeavour such Praises may be Offered,
as God may be glorified with, And that Conversation there-
with be Offered, so as to give us farther hopes of seeing the
Salvation of God
[CHAPTER 159.]
[APPROPRIATION IN FAVOR OF NATHANIEL BARNES.]
[Mass. Court Records, February 6, 1690-91.]
Ordered, That Thirty shillings be Paid in or as Money by
the Country Treasurer unto Nath'l Barnes for Paper, Quills,
Wax &c't disburst by him on the Public Accompt, as he was
Clerk to S'r William Phipps in the Canada expedition
[CHAPTER 160.]
[IMPRESSED ORDNANCE TO BE RESTORED.]
[Mass. Court Records, February 6, 1690-91.]
In Answer to the Petition of Capt John Higginson of Salem,
Setting forth that by Virtue of a further Order for the return-
ing to him, a Parcel of Paterara's Chambers, Blunderbusses,
Iron Potts &c't which were impressed by Order of S'r Edmund
Andros for Public Service, before he Could come to receive
them, many of them were disposed of by Order of Authority
for public use; praying that what is Left of them may be re-
turned, and that he may be paid for what has been disposed of
It's Ordered that what of the within mentioned Goods were
improved by this Government, or remain in their possession
either be returned, or be paid for by the Government
[CHAPTER 161.]
[NEWBURY ALLOWED ONE MORE PUBLIC HOUSE.]
[Mass. Court Records, April 14, 1691.]
In Answer to the Motion of the Select Men of Newberry
Granted, That the Town of Newbury be allowed one House of
Public entertainment, more, than formerly Allowed by Law
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690-91.
463
[CHAPTER 162.]
[APPROPRIATION TO BOSTON FOR DEFENSE.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 384. Court Records, February 6, 1691.]
Ordered that the Treasurer doe allow to the Towne of Bos-
ton their proportion to two Single Country rates, out of the
Rates already granted, towards the Charge of their ffortifica-
tions great gun's & amunition, according to an order formerly
made by this Court-
past by the deputies
febu'r 7'th 169
Joseph Lynde. ord'r
Consented to by the Gov'r & Assistants
1
Febr. 7, 169
Sam'l Sewall Order
[CHAPTER 163.]
[TOWNS TO PURCHASE AMMUNITION.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 386. Court Records, February 6, 1691.]
Whereas many Towns are unprovided of a Town Stock of
Ammunition according to Law, in this time of publick danger
by the French and Indian Enemy); there being a considerable
Quantity now brought into the Country, whereby both Towns
and particular persons may be Supplyed.
It's Ordered by this Court, That the Select men of each
Town within this Colony, do provide a full Stock of Ammuni-
tion for their Town as the Law directs by the first day of
Aprill next, and make Return thereof unto the Major General,
under the penalty expressed in Said Law Title Military
Sect. 15.
Past in the Affirmative by the Gov'r and Assistants.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Feb'ry 10'th 1690./
Consented unto the dep'ts
Joseph Lynde ord'r
[CHAPTER 164.]
[A LEVY OF EIGHT THOUSAND POUNDS ANNUALLY FOR FOUR
YEARS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 386. Court Records, February 6, 1691.]
for the dischargeing of the publick Debts Contracted within
this goverm't for the maintenance & defence of their majes'ts
interists against the hostile invasions of their french & indian
Enemies It is ordered that the sum of Eaight thowsand pounds
464
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690-91.
be annually assessed upon the Estates and persons within this
goverment by the space of four years next Ensuing to be Col-
lected & paid into the Tresury of this Colony Either in the
bills of Credit to be granted forth by ord'r of this Court or in
graine or provsion at the mony price as it shalbe annually set
by the general Court and to be paid in by the first of may
yearly.
febr 10'th 169 past in the affirmative by the deput's
Joseph Lynde ord'r
Consent'd to by the Magistrates.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 165.]
[AN ACCOUNT OF PLUNDER AND STORES TO BE TAKEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 386. Court Records, February 6, 1690-91.]
It is ordered that Maj'r Bartholmew, Geydney Cap't: Daniel
King: Cap't: John March, for Essex Maj'r Nath: Wade Cap't:
Joseph Lynde, Cap't Ebenezer Prout for Middlesex, Capt John
Wing, Cap't Ephraim Hunt & Cap't Thomas Barnard, for Suf-
folk, are hereby impowred, to make strickt inquiry, in their
respective Counties, after what plunder may any ways be Con-
cealed, by such as Came from Canada in the late expedition,
and alsoe of all stores which were brought back, att the return
of the souldiers & make returne of what they doe herein to the
Gov'r & Council
past in the afirmative the dep'ts
feb'r 10: 1699/
Joseph Lynde ord'r
Consented to by the Magistrates
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 166.]
[AN INSPECTION OF THE MILITIA ORDERED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 394. Court Records, February 6, 1690-91.]
Ordered That the Major General forthwith send his war-
rants unto the Majors of the several Regiments of Militia
within this Colony, to make inquiry into the State of their
respective Regiments, and to Order Each Captain of Foot and
Horse to cause a view of armes be made in his Company, and
to see that all his Souldiers be provided with Armes and Am-
munition fit for Service, as the Law directs, and to cause the
ffine imposed by Law for defects in that kind to be estreated
upon delinquents, & to make Report of their doings herein
unto the Major General by the first of april next, As also that
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1690-91..
465
the Several Majors, do Order such watches and Scoutings in
& about the Frontier Towns as with the advice of the Com-
mittee of Militia in said several Towns, shalbe thought neces-
sary for their own Security and Observance of any motion of
the Enemy So as to prevent their being Surprised.
feb'r 10'th 169
past in the afirmative P the dep'ts
Joseph Lynde ord'r
Consent❜d to by the Gov'r and assistants.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 167.]
[COMMISSARY'S WAGES FIXED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 35, p. 233. Court Records, February 6, 1690-91.]
ordered that Commissaryes wages be thre pounds m'o in
or as mony: past in the afermative the dep'ts feb'r 11: 169 f
Joseph Lynde ord'r
Consent'd to by the Grov'r and Assistants.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 168.]
[TWO PENSION COMMISSIONS APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 386. Court Records, February 6, 1690-91.]
Ordered That m'r William Bond, Captain Joseph Lynde,
Captain Theophilus ffrarey and Captain Samuel Ruggles, for
the County of Suffolke and Middlesex, m'r Samuel Gardner
Captain John Higginson and Captain Stephen Sewall for the
County of Essex, be two distinct Committees, to hear the Peti-
tions and consider the circumstances of all such Souldiers and
Seamen sent forth by order of this Governm't as have been
wounded Sick or maimed in their Maʼties Service in the pres-
ent Warr with the ffrench and Indians and what is meet to
be allowed unto Each of said persons by the publick, And to
make Report of their doings herein unto this Court or to the
Gov'r and Council. The said Committees respectively to
make known the place and times of their meeting for that
end.
voted in the affirmative by the Deputies
11'o ffeb'ry 1690/1.
Dudley Bradstreet ord'r
Consent'd to by the Gov'r and assistants.
30
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
466
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1691.
[CHAPTER 169.]
1
[QUARANTINE AGAINST SMALLPOX VICTIMS.]
{Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 388. Court Records, February 6, 1690-91.]
Whereas since the abatement of the Small Pocks in Boston,
many persons are returned to Town out of the Country,
whether they had withdrawn themselvs for fear of the Con-
tagion: And whereas Complaint is made, that the Bodies of
Persons dying of the Small Pocks at Rumney Marsh are car-
ried through the Town to the South Burying Places to the
Offence and hazard of many of the Inhabitants, who have not
had the Distemper
This Court doth therefore Order, That all Persons dying at
Rumney-Marsh & parts adjacent, of the small Pox, their
Bodies shall be buried in some Convenient Place on that side
of the Water, and none of them shall be brought over to Bos-
ton under the Penalty of Five pounds in Money to the use of
the Poor in Boston, to be recovered by any one ore more of the
elect-Men, of the Heirs Executors, Administrators, Parents,
or Masters of the deceased; Any Usage to the Contrary Not
withstanding.
February, 11'th 169 Past in the Affirmative by the Gov-
ernour & Assistants
Consented to by the Deputies:
Sam❜l Sewall ord'r
Dudley Bradstreet ord'r
[CHAPTER 170.]
[MARLBOROUGH MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 37, p. 10. Not in Court Records.]
These may certify whomsoever it may concern, That Ens.
John Woods, Samuel Ward, Joseph Newton sen'r, and John
Bouker, are in full Communion with the Church of Marlbur-
rough, and are of an orderly conversation in their places, wit-
nes my hand this 26'th day of March 1691
W'm Brinsmead
approv'd to be ffreemen by the General Court
att'r Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 171.]
[BOSTON MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 37, p. 9. Not in Court Records.]
To thos gentellmen that are the selectt men of Boston that
it is the desire of Samuell Jonson senior and John Bull senior
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1691.
467
both of Boston that we may be admited as fre men if youe
gentellmen shal se cos to present us unto the honerd county
courtt
Samuell Johnson
John Bull
Jabes Neges
Sam'll Marshall
James English
David Jenner
Aproved of by the select men of Bostone the 6'th of
Aprill 1691
Attested
John Joyliffe Record'r
att'r Is'a Addington Sec'ry
approved of by the General Court
[CHAPTER 172.]
[GUARD DETAILED TO ACCOMPANY COMMISSIONERS.]
[Mass. Court Records, April 14, 1691.]
Ordered, That there be thirty Troopers provided to Accom-
pany the Commissioners to Wells out of Lynn Troops Six,
Ipswich Troop eight, Rowley Troop eight, Newberry Troop
eight, and that Capt ffloyd be desired to Command them
[CHAPTER 173.]
[TWENTY FOUR THOUSAND POUNDS TO BE RAISED.]
[Mass. Court Records, April 14, 1691.]
Whereas this Court have already agreed, That for the
Necessary discharge of the Public Debt the Sum of eight
thousand Pounds be Annually assessed upon the estates, and
Persons within this Government by the Space of four Years
next ensuing to be Collected, and paid into the Treasury of
this Colony by the first of May Yearly. The growing Emer-
gencys, and Exigences of the Country dailey arising, and
farther likely to rise Necessarily calling for Speedy disburse-
ments, without which no Encouragement will be given to any
to Attend Public Service, Nor can there be Suitable Provision
made for the Safety of the Country against the ffrench, and
Indian Enemy, It's therefore Ordered That there be Twenty
four thousand Pounds of said Sum raised, and Assessed upon
the Estates, and Persons within this Government, by the Val-
uation of the last Year, Or by such Valuation as shall be
made by the next general Court, to be Collected, and paid
into the Public Treasury, either in Money, or bills of Credit,
Or in grain at Money Price, as Stated by this Court (the per-
sons paying grain to pay for the Transportation of it) the Con-
stables of each Town to gether the Said Sums, and pay it
468
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1691.
into the Select Men; And they to the Treasurer by the first of
May One Thousand Six Hundred and Ninety Two; Excepting
such persons as are unable to pay in that time (they being
so Judged by the Select Men of the Town) such shall give Bill
to the Constables, or Select Men of the Town to pay their pro-
portion by the first of May One Thousand Six Hundred and
Ninety ffour At which time the Constables and Select Men
of each Town, shall Clear their Accompts with the Country
Treasurer; The Constables and Select Men to deliver to the
Treasurer what they shall receive from time to time every
Six Months
[CHAPTER 174.]
[APPROPRIATION IN FAVOR OF NATHANIEL HALL.]
[Mass. Court Records, April 14, 1691.]
Ordered that Capt Nathaniel Hall be allowed three Pounds
to be paid him in or as Money by the Country Treasurer for
his extraordinary charge, and Service in Chirurgery whilst he
served as a Captain
[CHAPTER 175.]
[COMMISSIONERS APPOINTED TO TREAT WITH THE INDIANS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 37, p, 5. Court Records, April 14, 1691.]
Thomas Danforth Esq'r W'm Stoughton Esq'r Major Bar-
tholomew Gedney, Major Robert Pike, Major W'm Vaughan,
and Major Charles ffrost are desired to undertake a journey
to Wells, as Commission'rs from the Governm't to meet with
the Eastern Indian Sachems there according to Agreem❜t
upon the first of May next, relating to the lengthning out
the time of the Truce, or concluding a peace, as the said Com-
mission'rs shall thinke advisable upon their discourse with
the Indians and receiveing such overtures as they shall make
And that a Commission and Instructions be accordingly given
them; any three of the said Gent'n to act in this affayre
April. 15'th 1691./.
Past in the affirmative by the Gov'r and Assistants.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
Consented to by the Deputies
Dudley Bradstreet ord'r
[CHAPTER 176.]
[ANDOVER MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 37, p. 9. Not in Court Records.]
May it plese the honoured Generill Court to take notice
that these persons under Righten deiser to be mayd freemen
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1691.
469
These are shuch as we judg may be mayd freemen acord-
ing to law
Thomas Johnson
ffranses deane
John bridiges
Andruw ffoster
Joseph Robinson
Edward Phelps
James ffrie
John osgood jun'r
William Johnson
Walltar Ritt
John Russe
Timothy osgood
These under Righten are members in full communion
John maston sanier
William Blunt
John Abbute
Stevon porter
Gorge Abbute
Joseph Lovjoy
Samuel Hoult
william Lovjoy
Hopstill Tyler
John Tyler
Thomas Chandler
John Barker
Henry Hoult
April 18'th 1691.
allowed of by the Court
Robberd Russell
John Abbut
John Chandler
Sealact men of Andover
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 177.]
[THREE MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 37, p. 9. Not in Court Records.]
Theas may signefie unto the honoured Generall Court sit-
ting in boston Aprill 14'th 1691 that m'r Jonathan woodman
Thomas Hull are parsons quallefied acording to Law bearing
date feb: 3'd 89 whoe disiar to be admited to the freedome of
this Jurisdiction Also Jonathan Emery is Joined to the
Church in full Comunion whoe also desiarath like freedom
as attest
approved of by the General Court
Joseph Pike
ordar
April. 18, 1691.
Att'r Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 178.]
[WEYMOUTH MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 37, p. 10. Not in Court Records.]
waymoth the 16 march 1691
wee whose names are under written potision to the hon-
ered generall cort Sitting in boston the 14 day of aprell by a
470
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1691.
gornment that wee may bee admeted to be made free men
being all in full communion with the church of way moth
John whitmarsh
Joseph drake
Jarves Cates
thomas randol
Jacob nash atest the truth of this
approved of by the General Court
April 18'th 1691.
John randol
John Clanshar
Joseph Shawe
epharem Corell
with in writen
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 179.]
[LYNN MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 37, p. 12. Not in Court Records.]
To The Honou'rd Generall Court.
a presentation as Meet persons ffor ffreemen
Leiu'tt Lewis
M'r Habersfeild
Thomas ffarrar Jun'r
Joseph Meriam.
Will'm Merriam.
Ebenezer Hathorn
John Edmunds
Rich'd Hood sen'r
John Ingals Sen'r
Rob't Ingolls
Benjam'n ffar
Henry Collins Jun'r
Daniell Hithins sen'r
John Burrill 2'd
Ebenezer Stocker.
Moses Hawks.
Thomas Baker
Benjam❜n Rednap.
Thomas Jovory
Joseph Mansfeild Ju'r
Rob't Potter Jun'r
Eleazer Lynzy
Will'm ffarrington
John Newhall sen'r
Aquilla Ramsdell
Joseph Bread
Allin Bread 3'tius
Timothy Bread
Mathew ffarrington Jun'r
Nathaniell Newhall sen'r
}
Sam'll Hort
Joseph Hort
Richard Haven sen'r
Cl: Robert Potter sen'r
Jonathan Hudson
Moses Hudson
John Moor
Edward ffuller
Samu'll Rhodes.
Ensign John Newhall.
Andrew Townsend
Andrew Mansfeild
Will'm Bassett sen'r
Willa'm Bassett Jun'r
John Lewis Jun'r
Sam'll Jynks
Nathan Newhall Jun'r
Benjam❜n Collins
John Richards
John Diven
Theophilus Bayly
Cornet Johnson
Daniell Mansfeild
Thomas Graves sen'r
Samu'll graves
Rob't Rand Jun'r
Samuell Moors
Nathaniell Ballard
John Bread
Daniell Needham
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1691.
471
Thomas Chadwell
Ens: Edw'd Baker.
Thomas Lewis
Samuell Ingalls
Henry Collins Jun'r
Joseph Mansfeild Jun'r
Josiah Rhodes
Richard Hood
Theophilus ffarrington
Samuell Bligh.
John Jynks
These persons superscribed we The select men Chosen By
The Town of Lyn present as persons we Judge by their Es-
tates and qualifications Allowable by Law to be Admitted
to Their ffreedome, They being ffree holders and of sober
Conversation.
By Approbation of The select men Chosen by The Town
of Lyn as attests our hands
ffeb'r 24, 1690. 91.
John Burrill sener
Samuell Johnson
Thomas Laughlon Junor
Edward Baker
Andrew Townsend
Joseph Bread
John Burrill jun'r
The persons superscribed That are presented for ffreemen
are (as far as I can Judge) orthodox In Relligion and of sober
conversation.
Jeremiah Shepard
It is requested of The honoured Court that If the persons
superscribed be Admitted to ffreedome that The worshipfull
William Hathorn or Capt'n Jonathan Curwin be Authorized
to give them their oath
approved of by the General Court.
April. 18, 1691.
att'r Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[CHAPTER 180.]
[READING MEN MADE FREEMEN.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 37, p. 10. Not in Court Records.]
Reding October: the: 24: 1690
These are to Signifie unto the honnored Generall Corte: the
desiers of Severall of our Inhabitance to be admitted to the
priviledg of ffreemen if the honnored Corte please-
The names of those that are in full communion
Joshuah Eaton
Jonathan Eaton
Thomas Damman
John Nickols
James Nickols
Nathanell Parker
David Hartshorne
John Parker
Timothy Hartshorne
Jerimiah Swaine
John Browne
Cornelius Browne
472
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1691.
Samuell Damman
John Burnap
John Boutwell
Richard Harden
Jonas Eaton
Joseph Hartshorne
John Woodward
Thomas Nickols
William Eaton
Thomas Burnap
John Wesson
William Arnall
ffrances Huchison
Timothy Wilely
Joseph Burnap
John Eaton
Benjamin Hartshorne
Nathanell Gouen
Samuell Smith
William Robbins
Samuel Lilly
The names of those that are houshoulders which are alowed
acording to the late law
Robbart Burnap
John Uptan Sr
Gorge fflint
David Bacheller
John Dunton
John Rix
ffrances Smith
John Bacheller
by order of the Select men
Approved of by the General Court
April 18'th 1691.
att'r Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[OFFICERS OF THE GOVERNMENT, 1691-92.]
GOVERNOR, SIMON BRADSTREET.
DEPUTY GOVERNOR, THOMAS DANFORTH.
TREASURER, JOHN PHILLIPS.
SECRETARY, ISAAC ADDINGTON.
MAJOR-GENERAL, WAIT WINTHROP.
MARSHAL-GENERAL, SAMUEL GOOKIN.
COMMISSIONERS FOR THE COLONY, WILLIAM STOUGH-
TON, THOMAS DANFORTH.
COMMISSIONERS IN RESERVE, ELISHA HUTCHINSON,
SAMUEL SEWALL.
William Stoughton
ASSISTANTS.
John Hathorne
Nathaniel Saltonstall
James Russell
Peter Tilton
Samuel Appleton
Robert Pike
Elisha Cooke
William Johnson
Elisha Hutchinson
Samuel Sewall
Isaac Addington
John Smith
Wait Winthrop
Jonathan Curwin
John Phillips
Sir William Phipps
Thomas Oakes
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1691.
473
[CHAPTER 1.]
[GRANT OF LAND TO JOHN EYRE.]
[Mass. Court Records, May 21, 1691.]
Upon the report of Major Elisha Hutchinson, Capt Sam:
Sewall, and Capt Penn Townsend, who (in Answer to the
Petition of M'r John Eyre of Boston Merchant, prefer'ed at
the Sessions of this Court in April last past) were Appointed
a Com'ittee to take a Survey of the Land belonging to the
Prison in Boston in Order to this Courts consideration of
their granting a Strip thereof unto the Said John Eyre, as
an Accomodation to his Dwelling House adjoining, the Said
Committee setting forth their Opinion, That the fence of the
Prison Land, as now it stands, being carried four foot farther
in at the Front, and two foot farther in from the Southwest
corner of Said Eyre his House, and from thence to run in a
Streight Line so far as the Said Eyre's Land extends will
make a Convenient Passage way of Nine foot wide in the
Front, and Seven foot Wide at the rear of Said house from the
Walls unto the Prison Land; which Strip of Nine Foot at the
Front, &c't may be granted unto him without prejudice of the
Prison Accom'odations according as is delineated in a Platt
under their return, The Court do grant the Said Strip of
Land unto the Said John Eyre, and his Heirs, for ever; he
being at the Charge, and making up a good Sufficient Fence,
and have a full confirmation thereof under the Colony's Seal
[CHAPTER 2.]
[RELIEF OF SOLDIERS' FAMILIES.]
[Mass. Court Records, May 25, 1691.]
Forasmuch as Severall Soldiers, and Seamen lately im-
ployed in their Maj'ties Service to Canada, are not yet re-
turned home, whose Families, stand in need of Supplies the
most of the Soldiery belonging to the Town of Roxbury and
Dorchester. It's Ordered, That Captain Sam'l Ruggles of
Roxbury, and Captain Samuel Clapp of Dorchester take pres-
ent care to procure a List of the Names of the Said Companies
respectively, together with an Accompt of what each partic-
ular persons has already been Paid by the Select men of the
Town to which they belong, As also what they have taken
up of the Commissaries, and to transmitt the Said Lists and
Accompts to the Committee for Debentures, who are Ordered
to grant Debentures unto such Persons, their Wives, or such
other as Legally represent them for four Months Wages A
474
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1691.
Piece, deducting w't has been already advanced to either
of them in Part thereof Unless they have information of any
persons, who dyed in the Said Service before the Expiration
of four Months, and to Adjust their debentures for so long
time as they Lived
[CHAPTER 3.]
[ROXBURY ALLOWED A RETAILER OF LIQUORS.]
[Mass. Court Records, May 26, 1691.]
In Answer to the Motion of the Select Men of Roxbury the
Priviledge of having a retailer of Strong Liquors, and Wine
out of Doors, is granted unto the Said Town, to be Kept by
some Suitable Person, to be presented by the Select Men
for the County Courts Approbation./
[CHAPTER 4.]
[AMOUNT OF BILLS OF CREDIT LIMITED.]
[Mass. Court Records, May 26, 1691.]
Ordered That the Bills of Public Creditt already given,
and to be given out for Adjusting Country debts shall not
exceed the Sum' of fforty thousand Pounds which is Sup-
posed will amount to the full of what the Country is indebted
and will probably be Called in again by the rates already
granted, And that M'r John Foster, Capt Joseph Lynde, and
Capt Samuel Ruggles be, and are hereby Appointed a Com-
mittee to call in and take into safe custody the Plates which
the Bills were printed off with, And to examine what Bills
are still resting in the Committees hands not given forth,
Also to examine what Sum in the Said Bills are already
drawn into the Treasury, and to direct that the Country have
Creditt in the Treasurers Books for that Sum; and to dispose
of, and Secure those Bills, as there may be no Danger of their
Coming forth again into any private hands
[CHAPTER 5.]
[APPROPRIATION IN FAVOR OF ROBERT WILLIAMS.]
[Mass. Court Records, May 26, 1691.]
Ordered That the Treasurer Pay Robert Williams eight
pounds in Country Pay for his last Years Service to the
Country
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1691.
475
[CHAPTER 6.].
[PRICES IN WEST HAMPSHIRE REGULATED.]
[Mass. Court Records, May 27, 1691.]
Ordered, That the Prices of grain, and Provisions in the
Payment of all Public Assessments be the Same in the County
of West Hampshire, as in the other Countys' of this Colony
any former Order to the Contrary Notwithstanding
1
[CHAPTER 7.]
[COLLECTION OF THE LAST LEVY HASTENED.]
[Mass. Court Records, May 27, 1691.]
Whereas the General Court at their Session in April last
past for discharging of the Public debts already Contracted,
and for Answering of the future necessary charges which
may arise in Providing for the General Safety, and defence
of their Majesties Interests against the Hostile Invasions of
their ffrench, and Indian Enemies, did grant the Sum of
Twenty ffour thousand pounds to be Assessed upon the
Estates, and Persons, within this Governm't either by the
Valuation taken the Last Year, or a new Valuation to be
made by direction of this Court, the whole to be Collected,
and Paid by the first Day of May 1692 either in Money, or
the Public Bills of Credit formerly emitted by Order of this
Court, Or in grain, and Provisions at the Money Prices as
last Stated (without any Charge to the public for Transpor-
tation) with such ease, and forbearance to be given to persons
judged unable to make Present Payment, as in, and by the
Said Grant reference thereunto being had is expresst Upon
farther Considerations of the pressing necessary Occasions,
It is granted, and Ordered by this Court, That the Treasurer
do forthwith issue out his Warrants for Making the Said
Assessment of Twenty four thousand pounds by the Twen-
tieth of June next, within the Several Towns of this Gov-
ernment, each of the Said Towns their proportionable part
thereof according to their last Valuation; hereby impower-
ing the Select Men of each Town to regulate each partic-
ular persons' proportion thereunto as equal as they can,
according to the direction of the Law, the Head Money to be
set as in the Last twenty rates, And the Sum of Twelve thou-
sand pounds part of the Above mentioned Twenty four thou-
sand pounds to be Collected, and paid into the Treasurer by
the first day of September next in either of the Species
Abovementioned, respect to be had in the Collection thereof
to persons Judged by the Select Men of each Town unable as
476
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1691.
Aforesaid, such persons to have further time allowed them for
the payment of their proportions
[CHAPTER 8.]
[FORT ON GREAT ISLAND TO BE REPAIRED.]
[Mass. Court Records, May 27, 1691.]
For the Putting the Fort on great Island in some posture
of Defence to prevent a Surprize by Sudden Invasion Ordered
That the Com'ittee of the Militia of the Province of New
Hampshire do take Speedy care for the Necessary reperation
of said fort And that the Powder money, and imposts of that
Place be drawn out of the Collectors hands by Order of the
Said Comittee and improved for a Supply of Ammunition
and other Necessaries as formerly And that the Upper Regi-
ment within that province detach out of the respective Town's
a proportionable Number of Men, with Arms, Am'unition, and
Provisions, not exceeding Six, constantly to Attend their
Majesties Service in that fort, and to be Assistant in the re-
pairing thereof, And the Major with the Advice of Committee
to exchange or relieve as Often as he shall see cause, And
this continue until this Court, or the Governour, and Council
shall take further Order
[CHAPTER 9.]
[APPROPRIATION IN FAVOR OF SALEM.]
[Mass. Court Records, May 28, 1691.]
Ordered That Salem Town be allowed Twenty Pounds out
of their last Twenty rates as a Salary for the Gunner of
their Fort for this Year, commencing from the date hereof
[CHAPTER 10.]
[COURTS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.]
[Mass. Court Records, May 28, 1691.]
Whereas the Late troubles in the eastern parts hath hith-
erto prevented a Settlement of Courts of Justice in the Prov-
ince of New hampshire, Ordered, That the Present Justices
of Peace within said Province, or the Major part of them do
hold a Quarterly Court for Trial of Causes, and Punishment
of Criminals in such Method, and Manner, and with such
power, and Authority, and at such time as the Associate
Courts have formerly used to be held in those Parts, And
this to Continue till Associates be Chosen in such time, and
Manner as the Law directs, and that the Said Justices have
power to Nominate, and Swear, a Marshall for this present
Year
NEW HAMPSHIRE PLOVINCE LAWS, 1691.
477
[CHAPTER 11.]
[APPROPRIATION IN FAVOR OF JOHN HATHORNE AND JONATHAN
CORWIN.]
[Mass. Court Records, May 29, 1691.]
Ordered, That M'r Treasurer pay unto M'r John Hathorne,
and M'r Jonathan Corwin the Sum of Ten Pounds as Money
for their Charges, and expences in a Journey to York, and
other eastern parts, by Order of the Governour, and Council
in April 1690
[CHAPTER 12.]
[ABATEMENT OF TAXES TO SOLDIERS.]
[Mass. Court Records, May 29, 1691.]
According to a former Order, allowing head Money for Six
rates unto such Soldiers as were imprest, and Performed Ser-
vice for the Country in S'r Edmund Andros's time, this Court
allow's the like unto all Soldiers imprest within the County
of Hampshire, as Aforesaid
[CHAPTER 13.]
[APPROPRIATION IN FAVOR OF THOMAS
[Mass. Court Records, May 29, 1691.]
IVORY.]
Ordered, That Forty shillings as money be paid unto
Thomas Ivory of Lynn for a Horse of his imprest, and Lost
in the Public Service
[CHAPTER 14.]
[PRICES OF COMMODITIES REDUCED.]
[Mass. Court Records, May 29, 1691.]
Ordered, That the Money prices of Grain, and provisions.
for the payment of the rates now Appointed to be gathered,
shall be One third abated of the prizes Ordered for the last
rates
[CHAPTER 15.]
[GOVERNOR IMPOWERED TO ISSUE ORDERS.]
[Mass. Court Records, May 29, 1691.]
For a more Speedy dispatch of such necessary Orders as:
may Concern the Common Safety, and defence of their Ma--
jesties Interests, during the Continuance of the present Warr,.
478
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1691.
Ordered that in the Vacancy of this Court, or the Council,
the Governour for the time being, with Advice of so many of
the Magestrates, or Assistants, as are at hand to Consult
with, is hereby impowered to issue forth such Orders and
Commands according to the Emergency, in as full and effect-
ual Manner, as the whole Council (if Sitting) might do, and
the Said Orders, and Commands are to be Accordingly Ob-
served, and Obeyed
[CHAPTER 16.]
[APPROPRIATION IN FAVOR OF STEPHEN WATERS.]
[Mass. Court Records, May 29, 1691.]
Ordered that Stephen Waters be paid the Sum of Five
Pounds for his Son's wages, who Attended upon Docter Ed-
wards in the Canada Expedition
[CHAPTER 17.]
[AN ORDER FOR THE BETTER COLLECTION OF RATES.]
[Mass. Court Records, May 29, 1691.]
Whereas the fine imposed by Law upon Com'issioners Se-
lect Men, or Constables for Neglect of making, correcting per-
fecting, or Transmitting the Lists of Rates, or Assessm'ts of
their respective Towns by Virtue of a Warrant from the
Treasurer, or Collecting of the Same, as by Law they are re-
spectively required, has by Experience been too Small to
enforce the Attendance of their Duty, to the great Obstruction
of the Public Affairs, and to no little prejudice of their Majes-
ties Service, It is Ordered That every Commission, Select
Man, or Constable, who shall refuse, or Neglect to discharge
their Several Trusts committed to them, in Order to making,
correcting, perfecting, transmitting, or Collecting the Severall
Rates, or Lists of Assessment which the Treasurers Warrant
by Virtue of the Law, or by Special Order of the General
Court shall from time to time require of them, shall pay as a
fine such sum or Sum's of Money as the County Court shall
determin, not exceeding thirty pounds, And if the Greater
Part of the Select Men of any Town shall so refuse, or Neglect,
as that the making of the rates, or Lists of Assessm'ts shall
be Omitted the Space of one month next after the receipt of
the Treasurers warrant for making the Same, This Court or
the Governour, and Councill may forthwith Nominate and Ap-
point, three or more meet persons, Settled Inhabitants, and
Freeholders of this Government, which persons so Nominated
and Appointed, shall have as full power, and Authority in all
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1691.
479
things respecting the making, perfecting, Correcting, and
Transmitting rates and Lists of Assessment, as any Commis-
sioner, and Select Men Orderly chosen by the Town, have or
ought to have by Virtue of any Law or usage, and the Charge
expended in performing said work shall be defrayed by the
County Treasurer
And it is Ordered that the Treasurer shall give forth his
Warrants to the Select Men of each Town or Persons Nomi-
nated, and impowered as Aforesaid to Assess the Several In-
habitants of their Town for such Sum, or Sum's, as from time
to time he shall receive Order from this Court, and the Same
to Com'itt to the Constables, or Collectors with a Warrant
under their Hands, requiring him or them to Collect, and Pay
the Same to the Treasurer According to his Warrant, and
they shall likewise give Notice under their Hands to the
Treasurer of their having made such rates, and Committed
them to the Constables or Collectors under the same penalty
as for refusing to make the Same. And any Constable not
Attending his Duty in Collecting the rates in Manner as by
such Warrant is required, shall pay such fine as the County
Court shall Judge not exceeding thirty pounds, And the Gen-
eral Court or Governour, and Councill may Nominate, and
Appoint some meet person, or persons to Collect such rates,
and bring them into the Treasurer or his Order, And such
person, or persons so Nominated, and Appointed shall have
as full power, and Authority in that behalf as Constables have
or Ought to have by Law, or usage, And any Constable that
hath Collected any Sum or Sums by Virtue of such Warrant,
and shall refuse or Neglect to transmitt or deliver the Same
to the Treasurer or his Order as his Warrant shall direct,
shall pay double all such sum or Sum's as he hath so Col-
lected, and not delivered According to Warrant. And it is
hereby Ordered, that the Treasurer for the time being shall
prosecute all such Offenders, whether Com'issioners Select
Men, or Constables at the County Court for that shire, where
the Offender Dwells, and shall be Allowed for his charge and
trouble therein, One Quarter part of such fine so recovered, to
his own proper use and benefitt, And it is further Ordered that
the Treasurer forthwith reinforce his Warrants to all such
Select Men, who have not made, and Committed to the Sev-
eral rates Ordered by the General Court who are thereupon
forthwith to finish, and Compleat the same according to his
Order; And the like Order is to be Observed for making, and
Collecting of Town or County rates and the prosecution to be
by such person, or persons as the County Court, or Select men
of the respective Towns shall see meet to impower
480
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1691.
[CHAPTER 18.]
[APPROPRIATION IN FAVOR OF LAWRENCE DENNIS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 36, p. 245. Court Records, May 30, 1691.]
Ordered that Laurence Dennis be paid by the publike for
his Sixteene n'tt Cattle Twenty pounds as mony
May 30: 1691 past in the Affirmative the deputies-
Joseph Lynde ord'r
Consent'd to by the Deputy Gov'r and Assistants.
Is'a Addington Sec'ry.
[CHAPTER 19.]
[APPROPRIATION IN FAVOR OF THE SECRETARY.]
[Mass. Court Records, May 30, 1691.]
Ordered that the Treasurer pay unto the Secretary Seventy
Pounds as mony, towards Satisfaction for his Salary the two
Last Year's, and extraordinary Service
[CHAPTER 20.]
[PENSIONS TO DISABLED SOLDIERS AND SAILORS.]
[Mass. Court Records, May 30, 1691.]
Ordered, with reference to the Several Persons here under
named, lately imployed as Seamen, and Soldiers, in their
Maj'ties Service against the ffrench, and Indian Enemy, who
were wounded, and Maim'd in Said Service, That a Yearly
Stipend be Allowed them as followeth, until this Court, or
the Governour, and Council take further Order-Viz't
To Elisha Cross the Sum of
Samuel Randall of
John Whitmarsh of Weymouth
Capt Ephraim Savage
Jon'a Tredaway
Charles Mackarty
Nath Webber
Sam Morgan
Israel Heale
Six Pounds
Fifty Shill'gs
Annum
Annum
Fourty shill'gs Annum
Ten Pounds
Annum
Forty shill'gs
Annum
Three Pound
Annum
Forty shillings
Annum
Three Pounds
Annum
Forty shillings
Annum
[CHAPTER 21.]
[IMPRESSED VESSELS TO BE PAID FOR.]
[Mass. Court Records, June 2, 1691.]
Ordered That all Ships or Vessells that were impressed for
their Majesties Service in the late Expedition to Canada, that
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1691.
481
are not returned, or were lost in the Said expedition, be paid
for by the Country, according to the Apprizement made by
the Government before Said Vessells were sent out, And the
Owners of said Vessells, who receive pay for their Vessels Ac-
cording to Apprizement as Abovesaid shall have no hire
allowed them for the Service of said Vessels before they were
lost; And what is saved that did belong to any of the Said
Vessels that were cast away in Said Expedition, to belong to
the Country
[CHAPTER 22.]
[A GARRISON TO BE POSTED AT WELLS.]
[Mass. Court Records, June 2, 1691.]
Ordered, That there be Forty able Soldiers well Appointed
with Armes, and Ammunition, posted at Wells for the Secu-
rity, and defence of their Maj'ties Subjects ag'st the Assaults
of the French, and Indian Enemy, five being already upon the
place; the Major General to issue out his Warrants for a
Detachment of thirty five more out of the Regiments of Militia
in the County of Essex in this Proportion Viz't Eleven out of
the South regiment, ffourteen out of the middle Regiment,
and Ten out of the North Regiment, to rendevous at Newberry
upon the Tenth day of this Instant June
[CHAPTER 23.]
[A GUARD SHIP TO BE PROVIDED.]
[Mass. Court Records, June 2, 1691.]
For the better defence of the Sea Coast, and Convoy of
Ships inward, and outward bound; Ordered, That a Suitable
Ship be forthwith provided, and sett forth for a Guard Ship,
to cruise along shore, and to be in areadiness to be sent upon
any expedition, And it is left to the Governour and Council to
take up, fit, and employ said Ship, so as may be most for their
Majesties Service, and Safety of the Country
[CHAPTER 24.]
[AN EMBARGO DECLARED.]
[Mass. Court Records, June 2, 1691.]
For the better Providing for the Security of Navigation,
and defence of their Ma'ties Interests, Ordered that all Ships,
and Vessells be, and are hereby Embargo'd, & restrained from
Sailing out of any Port, or Harbour, within this Government,
And this to Continue until the Governour, and Council take
further Order
31
482
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1691.
[CHAPTER 25.1
[A GARRISON ORDERED FOR THE CASTLE.]
[Mass. Court Records, June 2, 1691.]
Ordered, That there be Sixty Soldiers (including the Offi-
cers) maintained in Garrison at the Castle, until this Court,
or the Governour, and Council take further Order
[CHAPTER 26.]
[SCOUTS ORDERED FOR THE FRONTIERS.]
[Mass. Court Records, June 2, 1691.]
Ordered, That there be a Scout of Six Men in the Eastern
parts, four in the County of Essex, four in the County of
Midd'x, and ffour in the County of west Hampshire allowed
at the Public charge on the Heads of the Frontiers to be im-
proved for the Discovery of the Approach of the Enemy, by
the Majors of the Frontier Regiments as they shall Judge
most Necessary; Or as they shall receive Order, and Direction
from the Governour and Councill
[CHAPTER 27.]
[AN ASSEMBLY CALLED IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.]
[Mass. Court Records, June 2, 1691.]
Whereas the inhabitants of the Province of New Hampshire
upon their Petition have been taken under this Government,
and Protection thereof until their Majesties pleasure shall
be further Known Concerning them, and have Accordingly
"Obliged themselves to the Payment of an equal Proportion
with the rest of the Country of all Charges arising by this
Present Warr; It's Ordered that the Secretary write a Letter
in the Name of this Court to the Justices of Peace within said
Province, directing them or the Major Part of them to send
forth Particular Summons to their respective Towns to chuse,
and impower two meet persons from each Town to Assemble
together with the Said Justices, or the Major Part of them
at Portsmouth on the Twenty third of June Instant, the Said
Assembly to take Effectual care to have the Claims, and Ac-
compts of all public disbursements Adjusted, and a Present
Assessment and Levy to be made upon the inhabitants of that
Province in such way, and Manner as may be agreable to
former Custom amongst them, or Otherwise most Acceptable,
to be Collected, and Paid into the Treasury of Said Province,
and issued thence for Payment of Said Disbursements, by
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1691.
483
Order of Said Justices or the Major Part of them, Said Jus-
tices in their Auditing, and Adjusting all Accompts of dis-
bursements, and Service done relating to the Warr to Pro-
ceed according to such rules, and Methods therein, as have
been Attended by the Committee Appointed in Boston for
that End
[CHAPTER 28.]
}
[FASTERN GARRISONS ESTABLISHED FOR THE WINTER.]
[Mass. Court Records, October 16, 1691.]
Ordered That all the Soldiers now in Garrison Eastw'd
continue in their several Posts until the fifteenth of November
next, and then be dismissed, excepting so many as may be
tho'tt necessary (not exceeding Sixty) for the Strengthning
of the Frontiers in the Provinces of Main, and N Hampshire
this Winter, And that Major Will'm Vaughan and Major
Charles Frost with Capt'n John March do order the Same ac-
cordingly having Particular regard to the Town of Wells, and
that the provisions &c't now in the Store at Portsmouth in
Custody of Commissary Buckley be improved for the use of
the Soldiers that shall remain, And that such of the Soldiers
as are hired Men be in the Number of those that remain
[CHAPTER 29.]
[GARRISON AT THE CASTLE REDUCED.]
[Mass. Court Records, October 16, 1691.]
Ordered that all the Soldiers at the Castle be forthwith dis-
mist, except the Captain, the Gunner, Gunners Mate, & Seven-
teen Sentinells
[CHAPTER 30.]
[APPROPRIATION IN FAVOR OF NATHANIEL WADE.]
[Mass. Court Records, October 17, 1691.]
Upon reading the Petition of Major Nath Wade, Ordered
that in Consideration of a Wound received in their Maj'ties
Service at Canada, whereby he has lost much of the use of
one of his hands, the Treasurer pay him the Said Wade ffif-
teen pounds in Bills
[CHAPTER 31.]
•
[APPROPRIATION IN FAVOR OF JOSEPH MARKS.]
[Mass. Court Records, October 17, 1691.]
Ordered, That M'r Treasurer Pay unto Joseph Marks of
Quabaog imployed in their Maj'ties Service against the
484
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1691.
french, and Indian Enemy under Captain Bull, and taken
Prisoner at Schenectady, and Kept along while Prisoner, five
Pounds as money out of the rates in Springfield
[CHAPTER 32.]
[APPROPRIATION IN FAVOR OF RUTH GREEN.]
[Mass. Court Records, October 17, 1691.]
Ordered that Twenty Pounds in Country Pay be Paid unto
Ruth Green widow of the late Marshall John Green of Cam-
bridge in full of the Arrears of his Salary
[CHAPTER 33.]
[ANOTHER MILITARY COMPANY ALLOWED IN WATERTOWN.]
[Mass. Court Records, October 17, 1691.]
In Answer to the Petition of Sundry of the Inhabitants of
Watertown livng very remote from the Centre of the Town,
Praying that they may be eased of the Burden of Attending
Military Exercises at the Town, and may be Admitted to
gather, a Company of themselves, Ordered that the Inhab-
itants of the Upper Part of the Town, dividing at the Middle
of the Great Plain, be a distinct Military Company, And have
the Priviledge of Nominating a Lieutenant, and Ensign
[CHAPTER 34.]
[CONSTABLES TO COLLECT ARREARS IN RATES.]
[Mass. Court Records, October 22, 1691.]
Forasmuch as the Treasurer informs that in many Towns:
there is a great Omission, and Neglect of Constables to Col-
lect and bring in the Publick Assessments committed unto
them, to the great Obstruction of carrying on the Publick
Affairs, For quickening of them to their duty, It's Ordered
that the Treasurer send forth his Warrants to the Constables
of the respective Towns, requiring them forthwith to collect,
and bring in all such Publick Assessments and Arrear's there-
of, as have been, or shall be Com'itted unto them under the
Hands of the Select Men, or the Major Part of them, or
the recorder, or Clerk of the Select Men by their Order ac-
cording to former usage of the Town which shall be a Suffi-
cient Authority unto the Constables Such Part of said Assess-
ments, as are already due to be forthwith collected, and
brought in, and the Remainder by the Time set for bringing
in of the same According to the Treasurers former Warrants,
and in such Species and at such Prizes as is directed in said'
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1691.
485
Warrants by Order of this Court, And that the Constables
certify the select Men of their Town that within fifteen days
next coming they make return that they have made and Com-
mitted their Assessments according to former warrants
[CHAPTER 35.]
[APPROPRIATION FOR THE MARSHAL-GENERAL'S SALARY.]
[Mass. Court Records, October 23, 1691.]
Ordered, that the Marshall General be paid Twenty Pounds
by M'r Treasurer in Bills of Credit for this Year's Salary Ac-
counting from March Last
[CHAPTER 36.]
[APPROPRIATION IN FAVOR OF NICHOLAS BAXTER.]
[Mass. Court Records, October 23, 1691.]
Ordered That the Treasurer Pay unto Nicholas Baxter
formerly Gunner of the Castle, Seventeen Pounds four
Shill'gs in bills of Creditt, in full of the Arrears of his Salary
[CHAPTER 37.]
[APPROPRIATION IN FAVOR OF LIEUTENANT WILLIAMS.]
[Mass. Court Records, October 24, 1691.]
Ordered that Lieut'nt Williams be Allowed out of the Pub-
lick Treasury the Sum of four Pounds month for what
time he hath been in Service at the Castle this Summer Past
[CHAPTER 38.]
[APPROPRIATION IN FAVOR OF THOMAS SAVAGE.]
[Mass. Court Records, October 24, 1691.]
In Answer to the Petition of Major Thomas Savage, Pray-
ing to be Allowed for his Service, and expence in a Journey
to Albany on the Publick Occasion, Ordered that he be reim-
bursed Eight Pounds in or as Money
[CHAPTER 39.]
[A DAY OF THANKSGIVING APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Court Records, October 24, 1691.]
A Day of Publick Thanksgiving thro'out this Colony is Or-
dered to be Kept on Thursday the fifth of November next and
a Bill was Drawn up, and Agreed to, for the Same Prohibit-
ing all Servile Labour on Said Day
486
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1691.
[CHAPTER 40.]
[APPROPRIATION FOR SICK AND WOUNDED SOLDIERS.]
[Mass. Court Records, October 24, 1691.]
Ordered that Thirty five Pounds fourteen Shillings &
Eleven Pence disburst by Capt'n Sewall, L't Pickering M'r
Hirst M'r Gerrish, Capt'n Samuel Gardner, and Doctor Swin-
ton all of Salem, be Paid by the Country Treasurer; It being
disburst for Sick and Wounded Men landed in the Town of
Salem upon their return from Canada, the Names of the Per-
sons being given into this Court with an Accompt
[CHAPTER 41.]
[COMPENSATION TO CONSTABLES FOR COLLECTING ARREARS. ]
[Mass. Court Records, October 24, 1691.]
}
Whereas thrô the neglect of Select Men in some Town's
in not making, and Committing the Publick Assessments of
their Town in time as directed by the Treasurers warr'tt the
Constables of some Towns are changed, as also some Con-
stables are removed by Death before the Perfecting of their
Collections It falls as a Burthen on the Succeeding Consta-
bles to do the work of their Predecessors, Ordered that all
such Constables for their Pains in Collecting of such rates,
as ought to have been Committed unto, and gathered by
Others, or the Arrears thereof shall be Allowed after the rate
of Six Pence on the Pound out of all such Sums as they shall
so Collect, and return unto the Treasurer, And the Publick to
be reimbursed such Allowance out of the fines of those
through whose default the Same was Occasioned
[CHAPTER 42.]
[APPROPRIATION IN FAVOR OF SAMUEL MORGAN.]
[Mass. Court Records, December 11, 1691.]
Ordered in Answer to the Petition of Samuel Morgan That
he be paid the sum of ffour Pounds by M'r Treasurer towards
the Charge of his cure
[CHAPTER 43.]
[TOWNS ALLOWED ABATEMENT FOR SOLDIERS.]
[Mass. Court Records, December 11, 1691.]
Whereas in the last Lists of Valuation taken in the Year
1690, the Generality of the Towns left out the Heads of such
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1691.
487
of their Inhabitants as were then Abroad in their Majesties
Service on the Expedition to Canada; some Towns not Know-
ing what was done in that Matter put all the s'd Heads into
their Lists, which makes, an inequality in bearing of the
Public Charges. It's therefore Ordered, That upon Certificate
from the Select Men, and Com'issioner of such Town, Pre-
sented unto the Treasurer, therein setting forth the Names,
and Number of the Inhabitants of such Town, then abroad
upon the said Service, such Town shall be Abated the sum
thereof, out of their Public Assessm'ts
[CHAPTER 44.]
[APPROPRIATION IN FAVOR OF JONATHAN PRESCOTT.]
[Mass. Court Records, December 11, 1691.]
Ordered that the Treasurer pay unto Doct'r Jonathan
Prescot the sum of Twenty Pounds, as money, or in Bills of
Credit for the cure of several Persons wounded in their
Majesties Service
[CHAPTER 45.]
[SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO ASSESS CHARLESTOWN.]
[Mass. Court Records, December 11, 1691.]
Whereas the Select Men of Charlestown have refused or
neglected to discharge the trust Committed to them for
making Perfecting, and Transmitting the rates or Lists of
Assessment of the several Inhabitants of their Town to the
Proportion of Twenty four thousand Pounds formerly granted
by this Court, according to the Treasurers Warr't to them
directed, It is Ordered by this Court, That Capt Nath'l Cary,
M'r Peter Tuft Sen'r, M'r Samuel Ballet, Capt Jn'o Call M'r
Jacob Green Jun'r M'r Richard Lowden, and M'r John Newell
Sen'r be, and are hereby Appointed, and Impowered to make
the Said Assessments of the Town of Charlestown on their
several Inhabitants their Proportion of the Twenty four thou--
sand Pounds Aforesaid, and to give a Warrant under their
Hands to the Constables or Collectors that shall be Appointed
for Collecting the same, according to an Order of this Court
made in May last, And the Act of them or any four of them
to be Valid in the Premises
[CHAPTER 46.]
[A PARISH ESTABLISHED IN CAMBRIDGE.]
[Mass. Court Records, December 15, 1691.]
Upon reading of the Petition of the Farmers, and Inhabit'ts
of the Farms within the Precincts, and Bounds of the Town
488
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1691.
of Cambridge towards Concord, therein setting forth their
distance (the neerest of them Living above five Miles) from
Cambridge Meeting house, the Place of the Public Worship
Praying that According to former Applications by them sev-
eral Years since made unto this Court, for the Advantage of
themselves, families, and Posterity, they may have this
Courts favour, and Licence in Order to the calling of a fit
Minister for dispensing the Gospell among them; As also that
they may be a distinct Village for the Ends Proposed in their
Said Petition, The Select Men of Cambridge having had a
Copy of S'd Petition sent them with a Notification of the
time for their being heard thereupon, this day, and Accord-
ingly Attending After a full hearing, and Consideration of
what was Offered by both Parties; It is granted, and Ordered
by this Court that the Petitioners be, and are hereby Per-
mitted, and Allowed to invite, and Settle, an Able, and Or-
thodox Minister for the dispensing of the Gospell among
them; And that all Inhabitants living within the Line for-
merly stated by a Committee of this Court Anno 1684, begin-
ning at the first run of Water, or Swampy Place over which
is a Kind of a Bridge in the way on the Southerly side of
Francis Whitmores house towards the Town of Cambridge
Aforesaid cross the Neck of Land lying between Woburn
Line, and that of Watertown side upon a Southwest, and
Northeast course, do Pay unto the Ministers maintenance
there, And are hereby Impowered Annualy to chuse three, or
five meet persons to Assess their Inhabitants for the Support,
and Maintenance of their Minister, As also a Constable, or
Collector to gather the Same by Warrant from the Said As-
sessors The Said Farmers not being hereby discharged from
Paying their Proportion as formerly unto all Public charges
in the Town, Except what refers to the Ministry so long as
they Maintain an Able Minister among themselves
[CHAPTER 47.]
[A COLLECTOR FOR CHARLESTOWN APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Court Records, December 16, 1691.]
M'r Samuel Gookin is hereby Nominated Appointed & fully
impowered to be Collector in the Town of Charlestown, by
Warrant under the Hands of the Assessors Appointed by this
Court, or from the Treasurer, to gather in their Proportion
of the Public Assessments of Twenty four thousand Pounds
formerly granted by this Court; And to require such Assist-
ance in any case as he shall find needfull, and all Persons are
required to be Aiding and Assisting unto Him accordingly,
And that he have meet compensation for his Service
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1691.
489
[CHAPTER 48.1
[ANOTHER ASSESSOR FOR CHARLESTOWN APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Court Records, December 17, 1691.]
Capt'n Joseph Lynd is hereby Added unto the Other Per-
sons Named in an Order of this Court of the 11'th of Decem-
ber currant for Assessing of the Inhabitants of Charlestown
their proportion of the Twenty four thousand Pounds for-
merly granted by this Court, to the sum Mentioned in the
Treasurers warrant, And said Lynd together with the others
Appointed, or any four of them, are Ordered & fully im-
powered to Attend that service as directed by said Order,
which shall be unto them a Sufficient Authority
[CHAPTER 49.]
[TOWN OF NEWTOWN ESTABLISHED.]
[Mass. Court Records, December 18, 1691.]
In Answer to the Petition of the Inhabitants of Cambridge
Village, sometimes called New Cambridge lying on the South
side of Charles River, being granted to be a Township, Pray-
ing that a Name may be given unto the Said Town; It's
Ordered that it be henceforth called New Town, And that
the Said Town's Brand Mark be N
[CHAPTER 50.]
[IPSWICH ALLOWED ANOTHER PUBLIC HOUSE.]
[Mass. Court Records, December 18, 1691.]
In Answer to the request of the Select Men of Ipswich Lib-
erty is granted to the Said Town to have another House of
Public Entertainment more than formerly, the Person to
Keep the Same, to be Allowed by the Countey Court, with the
Approbation of the Select Men
[CHAPTER 51.]
[EASTERN GARRISONS TO BE RELIEVED.]
[Mass. Court Records, December 18, 1691.]
Ordered that the Majors of the Several Regiments of
Militia, who have Soldiers now Posted in the Eastern Parts,
that have been long abroad in the Service, be, and are hereby
impowered to releive them by detaching, and Sending out of
their respective Regiments so many able Soldiers in their
Room to the respective Officers, and Com'and'rs under whom
490
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1691.
the others to be Drawn off are Posted, the fresh Men to be
upon the Place before the Others come off
[CHAPTER 52.]
[A FAST DAY APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Court Records, December 18, 1691.]
A Day of Publick ffasting with Prayer, is Ordered to be
Kept throughout this Colony on thursday the fourteenth of
Jan'ry next, and all Servile Labour is inhibited on said Day,
and an Order was Accordingly Drawn up
[CHAPTER 53.]
[AN ACT ESTABLISHING DUTIES ON IMPORTS AND EXPORTS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 37, p. 342. Court Records, December 25, 1691. The
following is taken from an original printed copy in the Archives.]
[SEAL.]
AT A
GENERAL COURT
For Their MAJESTIES Colony of the Massachusetts BAY in
NEW-ENGLAND, Sitting at BOSTON, upon Adjournment, De-
cember. 22th. 1691.
Forasmuch as these Coasts have been and still are infested
with divers Piratical Sea Rovers and other Enemies; whereby
Sundry Depredations, Robberies and Damages have been done
to and Committed upon many of the KING and QUEENS Majes-
ties Liege Subjects, their Vessels, Goods and Estates to the
great Impoverishing and hurt of the same.
For the Guarding and Defending of the Seas and Coasts
against all Persons intending, or that shall intend the Dis-
turbance of Their Majesties Subjects and the inter course of
Trade. And for the better Defraying of the Necessary Ex-
pences thereof, which cannot otherwise be Effected.
This Court doth Enact, and be it Enacted by the Authority
thereof, That to the Intent aforesaid, the several Duties and
Impositions hereafter mentioned, on all Goods and Commod-
ities coming in and going out of This their Majesties Colony,
and on all Ships and other Deck Vessels, coming in and going
out of said Colony, be duly Collected and Paid from the Fif-
teenth day of January next, to the Tenth Day of May next en-
sueing, which will be in the Year of our LORD One Thousand
Six Hundred Ninety and Two.
That is to say,
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1691.
491
A
On Goods and Commodities coming into this Colony.
Inward
For every Pipe of Wine, five Shil-
lings
For every Hogshead of Rhum, five
Shillings
and so
Proportion-
ably for
smaller
Caske.
For every Hogshead of Sugar, twelve Pence.
For every Hogshead of Molasses, six Pence.
For every Hogshead of Tobacco, six Pence.
For every Ton of Logwood, twelve Pence.
For every Barrel of Traine Oyle, three Pence.
For every Barrel of Pork, three Pence.
For every Barrel of Beife, one Penny half Penny.
For every Hundred Bushells of
Pease, or Wheat, two Shillings.
For every Hundred Bushells of
Indian Corn, Rye, or Barley, one
Shilling.
& so
Propor-
tionably
for lesser
Quanti-
ties.
For every Hogshead of Salt, two Pence.
And for all other Commodities, Goods, Wares, Silver,
Bullion and Money, the sum of Ten Shillings for
every Hundred Pounds Value.
For every Ship or Deck Vessell coming in, the sum
of six Pence Per Ton.
On Goods and Commodities going out of this Colony.
For every Hundred Quintals of Merchantable
Fish, the sum of six Shillings & eight Pence
For every Hogshead of Fish, three Pence,
Outward.
For every Barrel of Mackerel, one Penny.
For every Thousand feet of Deal boards, Planke,
or Joyce, three Pence.
For every Thousand of Pipe, Hogshead or Barrel
Staves, three Pence.
For every Thousand of Hoopes, four Pence.
For every Thousand of Shingles, one Penny.
For every Barrel of Strong Beer or Sider, one
Penny.
For every Hundred Pounds Value in Peltry, the
sum of Ten Shillings.
For every Ship or other Deck Vessell, going out,
the sum of six Pence Per. Ton.
And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid,
That if any Goods or Merchandise whatsoever, whereof the
Duties and Impositions aforesaid, are or shall be Due, be
brought into any Port, Place or Creek of this Colony, and Un-
492
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1691.
laden out of any Ship, or other Vessel; Or if any be put on
Board any Ship or other Vessel for Transportation; the said
Duties and Impositions due for the same, not being paid in
Mony, or lawfully Tendered to the Collector or Collectors
thereof, according to the true meaning of this Act, from and
after the Fifteenth day of January aforesaid: That then all
such Goods and Merchandises shall be forfeited, one Moiety,
or the value thereof, unto Their Majesties, for the use afore-
said; and the other Moiety to him or them that shall Seize or
inform and Sue for the same.
And if any Master or Commander of any Ship, or other
Deck Vessel Arriving here, from other Parts, do break Bulk,
or Unlade any part of his Lading before the payment of six-
pence in Money Per Ton for his Ship or Vessell; Or if any Mas-
ter or Commander of any Ship or other Deck Vessel, do take
in any Lading, before the payment of six-pence in Money Per
Ton for his Ship or Vessel, such Master or Commander so
Offending contrary to this Act, shall pay five shillings Per
Ton for what his Ship or Vessel shall measure; to be Recov-
ered of such Master or Commander, One half for Their Majes-
ties; to the use aforesaid, and the other half to the Receiver
of the Duties aforesaid, or to him that shall Inform and Sue
for the same.
And for the more effectual Collecting and Receiving of the
Duties and Impositions before mentioned, And that the Mony
arising upon said Duties and Impositions may be Appropri
ated to, and Employed for the Intents and Uses before men-
tioned, and no other whatsoever; This Court doth Nominate
and Impower Mr. Eliakim Hutchinson, Mr. John Foster, Mr.
Nathaniel Oliver, Mr. John Ayre, and Mr. Andrew Belcher: (or
such others as the Governour and Council shall Appoint) to be
a Committee or Commissioners to manage the same; who are
also impowred to appoint Collectors and Receivers under
them to Collect and Receive all the Moneys which shall arise
and become due upon any Goods, Wares, Merchandise and
Tonnage of Vessels by vertue of this Act, and to dispose of
the same for the said Uses from time to time, according to the
Orders they shall receive from the Governour and Council.
[CHAPTER 54.]
[FRENCH PEOPLE EXCLUDED FROM SEAPORT AND FRONTIER
TOWNS.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 37, p. 342. Court Records, December 25, 1691. This is
taken from an original printed copy on the same sheet as the forego-
ing act.]
This Court being Sensible, That altho' several French
Protestants, who fled from Persecution, coming lately over Sea
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1691.
493
into this Country, were orderly Entertained and Succoured
here Yet since that, many others of a contrary Religion and
Interest have been brought hither; and some have obtruded
themselves; whereof frequent Complaints have been made.
And it being a time of War between the two Crowns of
England and France, and the Publick Safety Endangered by
Suffering such a mixt Company among us, especially in and
about the Sea Ports and Frontier Towns.
For Prevention thereof,
It is Ordered, That from and after the last day of January
next Ensuing, none of the French Nation be permitted to take
up their Residence, or be in any of the Sea-Port, or Frontier
Towns within this Government, but such as shall be Licensed
by the Governour and Council.
Nor shall any of said Nation open Shop, or Exercise any
Manual Trade in any of said Towns, without the Approbation
of the Select-Men of such Town first orderly obtained. On
pain of Imprisonment, by Warrant from any Magistrate or
Commissioner; there to remain until Released by Order of
the Governour and Council.
And the Select-Men and Constables in said Towns are ap-
pointed to have Inspection of the due Observance of this
Order.
Printed and Published by Order of the Court.
Isaac Addington, Secr.
[CHAPTER 55.]
[LISTS TO BE MADE OF THOSE UNABLE TO PAY THE LAST
RATES.]
[Mass. Court Records, December 23, 1691.]
Whereas in the grant of the Sum of Twenty four thousands
Pounds, by the General Court in April last Past, to be Paid
within the Space of one Year for discharging of the Public
debts, Provision is made for the ease, and forbearance of Par-
ticular Persons as shall be Judged unable to Pay their propor-
tion thereof within that time, This Court do Order that the
Select Men, or Assessors in each Town do give in a Lists of
the Names of all such Persons within their respective Towns,
whom they Judge wholly unable to make Present Payment
in whole or in Part, unto the Constables, or Collectors for said
Town, who are to take Notice thereof, and to forbear the Said
Persons, Accordingly; All such Persons Notwithstanding to
remain Debtors unto the Colony for the respective Sums, As-
sessed upon them, and giving their Bills to Pay the Same unto
the Treasurer or his Successors in Said Office, or Assignes
494
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1691-2.
[CHAPTER 56.]
[COLLECTORS FOR DEDHAM APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Court Records, December 24, 1691.]
Thomas Metcalfe Sen'r, and Samuel Guild are Nominated,
appointed, and fully Impowered Collectors for the Town of
Dedham, to gather in the Arrears of all such rates as were
committed unto James Thorp late Constable of Dedham
dece'ed; the Select Men examining the Lists thereof, to see,
who has already Paid, and the same so examined to Committ
unto the Collectors, and the Treasurer to grant his warrant
to them for Collecting of the Same
[CHAPTER 57.]
[SLOOP MARY TO GUARD THE COAST.]
[Mass. Court Records, December 25, 1691.]
Ordered that the Sloop Mary be forthwith fitted for their
Maj'ties Service, and be improved, for the Gaurding, and Se-
curing of this Coast against Pirates, and Other Enemies that
infest the Same
[CHAPTER 58.]
[REGULATIONS FOR FRIENDLY INDIANS.]
[Mass. Court Records, March 10, 1691-2.]
For Prevention of Danger to the ffriend Indians, and in-
convenience to their Maj'ties Subjects, by the Said Indians
having resort unto the English Town's, and Plantations, in
this Time of Warr as formerly, or moving to, and again in the
Woods neer the Frontiers, or the Enemies Quarters Ordered
that the Natic, Puncapaug, Kekomochick, and Hassanamis-
cock Indians be and are hereby restrained from going to the
Northward of Connecticut Old Path at their Peril
[CHAPTER 59.]
[MARSHAL-GENERAL'S SALARY INCREASED.]
[Mass. Court Records, March 10, 1691-2.]
Granted unto Samuel Gookin Marshall General fifteen
Pounds in bills of Credit, as an Addition to his Salary for this
Last Year
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1691-2.
495
[CHAPTER 60.]
[CERTAIN TERRITORY ANNEXED TO SUDBURY.]
[Mass. Court Records, March 10, 1691-2.]
In Answer to the Petition of the Select Men of Sudbury
Ordered that the out Dwellers Adjoining unto the Said Town,
Comprehended within the Said Line, beginning at Matthew
Rice's from thence to Cornet William Brown's, Corp'll Henry
Rice's, Thomas Drury's Tho's Walker's, Jun'r, John How's,
and Sam'l Winch's (not belonging unto any Other Town) be
Annexed unto the Town of Sudbury, and continue to bear
their Part of all Dutys, and Partake of all Priviledges there
as formerly until further Order
[CHAPTER 61.]
[A COLLECTOR FOR WATERTOWN WARNED.]
[Mass. Court Records, March 11, 1691-2.]
Whereas in the Years 1687, and 1688, two Town rates were
Committed to Joseph Mason Constable of Watertown by
Benjamin Garfield, Simon Stone, and others select Men of
said Watertown then being; which Town rates said Mason
begun to Collect: But refuseth to finish Gathering, and Pay-
ing the Same as he ought; This Court therefore in Answer to
the Petition of the Select Men of Watertown, Do order that
Joseph Mason do now take in hand, fully to collect the Said
Town rates, and Pay them in to the present Select men of
said Watertown, or their Order, at or before the last of May
next ensuing, upon Peril of Paying all Damages that shall
be Sustained by Said Town by reason of the Neglect of Said
Mason in not Collecting or Paying Said Rates; Any Pretended
Prohibition of the Former Government; Or any Process of
any Inferior Court of the Pres't Govern't notwithstanding./
[CHAPTER 62.]
[EMBARGO DECLARED, AND EXPORT OF PROVISIONS PRO-
HIBITED.]
[Mass. Archives, vol. 37, p. 326. Not in Court Records.]
By the Governo'r and Council.
Upon Consideration of the present danger to Ships and
other Vessells inward and outward bound, by reason of a
Vessell of the ffrench Enemy lying upon the Coast. It's or
dered That all Ships and other Vessells lying in any Port or
harbour within this Governm't be and hereby are restreined
496
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
and Prohibited from Sayling out or departing thence until
further Order: the cleerings or dispatches to any already
granted notwithstanding: And the Captain of the Castle and
Officers of the several Ports are hereby required to see to the
effectual Observance of this Order.-
And forasmuch as there is a prospect of the Expence of a
considerable Quantity of Provisions in the public Occasions
for their Ma'ties Service, relating unto the War and the com-
mon Safety, and but little expected in from other parts. It's
likewise Ordered that from and after the date and publication
hereof, no kind of provisions, (Fish and Mackerel onely Ex-
cepted) be laden or put on board any ship or other Vessell for
Exportation; Or be carried out of this Government.-
Boston. March. 26'o. 1692.
order ut Supra
Is'a Addington Sec'ry
[OFFICERS OF THE GOVERNMENT, 1692.]
GOVERNOR, SIMON BRADSTREET.
DEPUTY GOVERNOR, THOMAS DANFORTH.
TREASURER, JOHN PHILLIPS.
SECRETARY, ISAAC ADDINGTON.
MAJOR-GENERAL, WAIT WINTHROP.
COMMISSIONERS FOR THE COLONY, WILLIAM STOUGH-
TON, SAMUEL SEWALL.
COMMISSIONERS IN RESERVE, THOMAS DANFORTH,
ELISHA HUTCHINSON.
Sir William Phipps
Nathaniel Saltonstall
Wait Winthrop
Peter Tilton
Robert Pike
Elisha Hutchinson
Isaac Addington
John Hathorne
Thomas Oakes
ASSISTANTS.
William Stoughton
John Richards
James Russell
Elisha Cooke
Samuel Sewall
John Smith
Jonathan Curwin
John Phillips
Samuel Appleton
[CHAPTER 1.]
[DUTIES ON IMPORTS AND EXPORTS CONTINUED.]
[Mass. Court Records, May 5, 1692.]
Ordered That the Act made at a Session of the General
Court, the Two, and Twentieth Day of December One thou-
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
497
sand Six hundred Ninety One, For the Laying of several
Duties, and Impositions on all Goods, and Commodities com-
ing in, and going out of this their Majesties Colony, and on
all Ships, and Deck Vessells, coming, and going out of Said
Colony from the fifteenth of January Past unto the Tenth
Day of this Present May, One thousand Six hundred, and
Ninety Two, Be and hereby is continued in all the Clauses,
and Articles thereof, to Abide, and remain in full force unto
the Tenth day of November next, And the Several Duties, and
Impositions arising, and growing due by Virtue thereof,
within that time, to be duely collected, and Paid Accordingly
to the Tenor of Said Act, to be employed unto the End, and
Intent in Said Act Mentioned, And the Persons Nominated,
and empowered thereby a Committee, or Commiss'rs to man-
age the Same; And all Collectors, and receivers under them,
are hereby continued in their respective Power, and Trust./
[CHAPTER 2.]
[NO REAL ESTATE TO BE ACCEPTED FOR TAXES.]
[Mass. Court Records, May 6, 1692.]
Whereas the Tender of Land or Houses in the Payment
of Public Assessments is found inconsistent, with the Carry-
ing on of the Public Occasions for their Majesties Service
respecting the Com'on Safety, and Prosecution of the Warr
It is Ordered-
That henceforth no Lands, or Houses shall be Accepted in
pay'mt of any Public Assessments, any Law, or Usage to the
Contrary notwithstanding; But if the Species required by
Warrant be not tendred, nor other Suitable goods, to be
found, whereon to make distress, That then the Constable, or
Collector do take the Person, and Committ Him to Prison
[CHAPTER 3.]
[SECURITIES FOR THE PUBLIC LOAN TO BE DELIVERED UP.]
[Mass. Court Records, May 6, 1692.]
Whereas sundry Gentlemen, Merchants, and Others In-
habitants of Boston, upon, a Proposal from the Govern'r and
Council, about twelve months since, Advanced the Sum of
One thousand Pounds or Upwards, in Money for Supporting
of the Garrison at the Castle, and Defreying the Charge of
a Guardship, upon the deposit of Bills of Creditt in the Hand
of Samuel Sewall Esq'r to one half More in Value for Security
of being repaid their Money, within one Year; which time is
36
498
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
now expired. It is Ordered; That Said M'r Sewall do deliver
the Said Bills so Deposited, unto the Persons Concerned in
Said Loan, without any farther Order, upon their Demand;
This Court desiring their Continuance of the Said Security
for some further time
[CHAPTER 4.]
[A FAST DAY APPOINTED.]
[Mass. Court Records, May 6, 1692.]
A Bill was drawn up, and Passed for a General Fast to be
Kept, upon Thursday the Twenty Sixth of May Currant, And
all Servile Labour on Said Day inhibited
[CHAPTER 5.]
[APPROPRIATION IN FAVOR OF ISAAC ADDINGTON.]
[Mass. Court Records, May 6, 1692.]
Whereas Isaac Addington Esq'r hath with great Ability
and Integrity served this Government in the Place of Secre-
tary ever Since April 1689, And whereas the Secretaries Office,
by reason of the Warr, and Other Pressing troubles, has dur-
ing this Time been Constantly Attended with extraordinary
Labour and Toil This Court do therefore Order, that the
Treasurer forthwith Pay unto Said Addington Sixty Pounds
in Bills of Credit; Besides what has been formerly Paid
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
499
[ADMINISTRATION OF SAMUEL ALLEN.]
[ROYAL COMMISSIONS, INSTRUCTIONS AND LAWS IN
THE TIME OF THE GOVERNMENT OF SAMUEL
ALLEN, MARCH 1, 1691-2, TO JULY 31, 1699, 3, 4, 5, 6,
7, 8, 9, 10, 11, WILLIAM AND MARY.]
[THE COMMISSION OF SAMUEL ALLEN, GOVERNOR, AND JOHN
USHER, LIFUTENANT-GOVERNOR, DATED MARCH 1, 1691-2, 3
WILLIAM AND MARY.]
[This commission inaugurated another radical change in the government
of the province. The union with Massachusetts was terminated. The Ma-
sonian patent had been transferred in 1691, as it was supposed, by a valid
conveyance from the minor heirs of Robert Tufton Mason, lately deceased,
to Samuel Allen, a little later to be commissioned as governor, As this
interest controlled the appointment, a revival of the old controversy in the
province was inevitable, and about it political issues were again raised and
contested. The privilege of a local assembly, however, was restored, and
afterwards always conceded in the royal commissions. Local legislation by
popular assemblies in this province, which for various causes had been sus-
pended for a period of nearly ten years, with the exception of the passage
of the one act relating to pirates, in the latter part of the Cranfield régime,
was resumed under this commission in 1692, and was an uninterrupted
function of government down to 1775, when the royal authority was ter-
minated by the Revolution. It does not appear that the authority under
which Lieutenant-Governor Usher acted was by a commission distinct from
that of Governor Allen. He is named in that instrument, and his prerog-
atives are therein sufficiently stated. No record of a separate commission is
discovered by careful search in the state and English records. Lieutenant-
Governor Usher, a Boston stationer, was a son-in-law of Governor Allen,
who was a London merchant, and the interests of the two were identical
with reference to the prosecution of the Masonian claim. Lieutenant-Gov-
ernor Usher was the actual administrator of the office for about five years.
Governor Allen did not come personally to his government until 1697, and
then only because he felt compelled by the hazard to which his personal
interests were exposed by the management of the opposing party, which had
secured the removal of his son-in-law from office and the appointment of
William Partridge as lieutenant-governor. While there were sharp divisions
between the executive and the assembly on questions of legislation and gen-
eral policy, affairs were never allowed to pass to such extremes as were
reached in the Cranfield administration. Legislation proceeded in the usual
course and the enactments of 1692 were the beginning of a system of statute
law which has persisted to the present time.
As the Allen-Usher interest had prominent place in the government of the
province in actual administration at two considerable periods between 1692
and 1715, Mr. Usher having obtained his second commission as lieutenant-
governor in 1703, their identification with the government and their oppor-
tunities in behalf of the Masonian claim cannot be overlooked in the enumer-
ation of influences operating on legislation. Mr. Usher, however, in his
second administration, was expressly restrained by his commission from
intermeddling with the appointment of judges or juries, or otherwise in
matters relating to the disputes between Allen and the inhabitants. Farm-
er's Belknap, p. 160. Governor Allen died May 5, 1705, just as the inhabitants
of the province and his representatives were on the point of a settlement of
the controversy over his Masonian title. 3 Province Papers, 275 and 355.
His son, Thomas Allen, resumed the prosecution of the claim and it contin-
ued to be a very active and troublesome element in the affairs of the prov-
ince until the decease of the younger Allen in 1715. It was next revived by the
right heirs of Mason, the point having been at last taken against the
Allens that their title was defective on account of the failure of their an-
500
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
cestor to perfect his procedure and effectually dock the entail in the bargain
with the heirs of Robert Tufton Mason, who were in nonage in 1691. 29
N. H. State Papers, preface and documents, passim.
The commission of William Partridge, by which John Usher was super-
seded in the office of lieutenant-governor, was procured by the party in
opposition to the Allen-Usher administration in 1696. It was issued as of
date June 6 by the lords justices, at the instance of Sir Henry Ashurst in
the absence of the king.
Inharmonious relations with the assembly had continued for a consider-
able part of Lieutenant-Governor Usher's term of service in the province,
and the abrogation of his authority created a necessity for the assumption
of the government by Governor Allen in person. He appears by the record
to have essayed the functions of administration in the latter part of 1698
and the first part of the winter of 1698-9.
Previous to this date, however, the Earl of Rellomont had been commis-
sioned as governor, but his delay in assuming government in this province
afforded Governor Allen his brief opportunity.
Thus it transpired that the governorship was successively administered by
the lieutenant-governor, Usher, by the president of the council, John
Hinckes, by the second lieutenant-governor, Partridge, and finally by Gov-
ernor Allen himself, all in the lifetime of the commission of Samuel Allen as
governor.
The details of the events thus very briefly outlined may be examined in
Belknap, Farmer's edition, chap. 11; Palfrey, History of New England, vol.
4, edition of 1890, pp. 205-219; Doyle, English Colonies in America, vol. 3,
pp. 294, 329; Shirley, The Early Jurisprudence of New Hampshire, Proceed-
ings N. H. Historical Society, vol. 1, p. 304.
In the time of the several administrations in New Hampshire under the
Allen commission and eight years after the revolution of 1688, that system
of general colonial administration which had existed from 1660 to 1675 was
reintroduced. On the fifteenth of May, 1696, the king appointed a special
board to promote trade and to inspect and improve the plantations. It was
to consist of the chief officers of state and eight nominated members. Five
members were to constitute a quorum. The journals and files of this de-
partment are an invaluable repository of the history of the relations of the
colonies to the home government. To this body was committed most im-
portant functions relative to colonial legislation; therefore, recourse to its
records must constantly be had for the ascertainment of the disposition of
the acts of our assembly when referred to the commissioners for trade and
plantations by the privy council for their advice and suggestion on the
question of confirmation or repeal.
While these records and the related documents are accessible for exam-
ination in the public record office in London, it should also be noted in the
interest of those who may have occasion for special investigation in this
direction, and do not find it practicable to consult the original records in the
English capitol, that a transcript of the entire Board of Trade Journal and
the documents related to it has been procured by the Historical Society of
Pennsylvania, and is now accessible to the public in its library in Phila-
delphia.
In respect to the relations of the province with the mother country in
the period under consideration, it may be noted in this connection that
a valuable series of works of reference published by the English govern-
ment and entitled Calendars of State Papers, Colonial Series, is now acces-
sible. They are a digest of the colonial papers above mentioned. These
publications are in the New Hampshire state library and in other American
institutions of similar character. They are invaluable to the student of
the period to which they specially relate. At this time the work of calendar-
ing the colonial papers in the English public record office, now referred to,
has been brought down approximately to the beginning of the Allen admin-
istrations in this province, that is, to the month of July, 1692. Vol. I, 1574-
1660, London, 1860; vol. II (America and West Indies), 1661-1668, London,
1880; vol. III, 1669-1674, London, 1889; vol. IV, 1675-1676, with addenda, 1574-
1674, London, 1893; vol. V, 1677-1680, London, 1896; vol. VI, 1681-1685, London,
1898; vol. VII, 1685-1688, London, 1899; vol. VIII, 1689-1692, London, 1901.
The editorial prefaces to these volumes will be found interesting to Amer-
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
501
ican students of the history of the colonial periods to which the volumes
severally relate.
In any view of the relations of the colonies with the mother country
at this period and of the statutes operative upon them, the laws of the
realm known as the Navigation Acts should not be passed over without
particular examination. Their effect upon administration and legislation
in the colonies, and upon the commercial interests and industrial progress
of the people was important and far reaching.
One of the most significant and comprehensive of the series of acts was
that of 15 Charles II (1663), entitled, “An act for the encouragement of
trade." "The preamble," says Mr. Doyle (English Colonies in America, vol.
2, p. 201), "summed up with more clearness than is often found in formal
documents the objects aimed at in the colonial policy of England from the
days of Clarendon to the days of Grenville."
These acts may be consulted in the successive printed editions of the
Statutes of the Realm of England, beginning with the volumes edited by
Thomas Manby and continuing in the subsequent publications of the same
character in the period ending with the American Revolution.
In reviewing this period with reference to conditions affecting legislation,
the fact cannot be overlooked that the ten years' war, 1688-1698, was a
continuing factor and menace in provincial affairs until the termination of
the Allen administration.
The principal historical authorities as to this war, prominent among which
are Mr. Parkman, have been already cited. See also Farmer's Belknap,
chap. X; Mather's Remarkables of the Eastern War; Pike's Journal, Col-
lections of the New Hampshire Historical Society, vol. 3, p. 40; id. edited by
Rev. A. H. Quint, D. D., 1876.]
[COMMISSION OF SAMUEL allen.]
[From manuscript volume in the office of the secretary of state, entitled,
on four red labels, "Lords of Trade, 1753," "Earl of Londoun, 1757," "Coun-
cil Records, 1698 to 1707," "Copy of Commissions, &c., 1698 to 1706." Correc-
tions of the text which appear in brackets are made from the copy of the
commission in the public record office in London. 3 Province Papers, cor-
rected ed., N. H. Historical Society.]
William and Mary by the Grace of God King and Queen of
England Scottland, ffrance and Ireland Defend'rs of the Faith
&c'a
Grant of the Governm't to Sam'l Allen with the Bounds.
To our Trusty and wellbeloved Samuel Allen Esq'r Greet-
ing Wee reposeing espetiall Trust and Confidence, in the pru-
dence Courage and Loyalty of you the said Samuel Allen, out
of our Espetiall Grace, certain knowledge and meer motion,
Have thought fitt to constitute and Appoint, and by these
presents doe Constitute and Appoint you the said Samuel
Allen, to be our Governour and Com'and'r in cheife of all that
part of our Province of New Hampshire, within our Dominion
of New England in America, Lying and Extending it selfe
from thre Miles Northward of Merrimack River or any part
thereof unto the Province of Main with the South part of the
Isle of Shoales;
502
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
Governo'r Req'rd to doe & Execute all things according to this
Comission
And we doe hereby require and Com'and you to doe and
execute all things in due maner, that shall belong unto your
said Com'and and the Trust we have reposed in you, accord-
ing to the severall powers and directions granted or appointed
you by this pr'sent Com'ission and the Instructions herewith
given you, or by Such farther powers and Instructions as shall
at any time hereafter be granted or appointed you under our
Signet or Signe Manuall, and according to Such reasonable
Laws and Statutes as now are, or hereafter shall be made and
agreed upon by you with the advice and Consent of our Coun-
cil and the Assembly of our said Province and Plantation
under your Governm't in Such man'er and forme as is hereafter
expressed
Governo'r to Administer oaths to the Counc'l & they to him
And we doe hereby give full power to you the said Samuel
Allen after you shall have first taken the oath for the due
Execution of the Office and Trust of our Governo'r and Com-
'and'r in Cheife in and over our said Province of New Hamp-
shire which the said Council or any five of them have hereby
full power and Authority and are required to Administer unto
you, to give and Administer to each of the Members of our
said Councill as well the oaths appointed by Act of Parliam't,
to be taken instead of the Oaths of allegiance and Supremacy,
as the Test, and an oath for the due Execution of their Places
and Trust;
Governo'rs power to Suspend any Member of the Council.
And wee doe hereby give and grant unto you, full power
and Authority to Suspend any of the Members of our said
Council from Sitting, voting and assisting therein if you shall
find Just cause for Soe doing.
Five of the Council to be a Quorum
And our Will and pleasure is that if by the death departure
out of our Said Province or Suspenc'on of any of our said
Councellors, there shall happen to be a vacancy in our said
Council (any five whereof wee doe hereby appoint to be a
Quorum) Wee doe hereby require you to Certifie us by the
first oppertunity of Such vacancy by the death, departure
Suspenc❜on or otherwise of any of our Councellors, That we
may under our Signet and Signe Manuall Constitute and.
appoint others in their roome.
NAW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
503
If Less y'n Seaven in the Council, power in the Governo'r to
choose freeholders to make up the Numb'r
And if it shall at any time happen that there are Less then
seaven of them resideing in our said Province Wee doe hereby
give and grant unto you full power and Authority to choose
as many persons out of the principall freeholders Inhabitants
of our said Province, as will make up the full number of the
Council to be seaven and no more, which Persons So chosen
and appointed by you shall be to all intents and perposes, our
Councillors, in our said Province, till either they are confirmed
by us, or untill by Nomination of other Councillors by Us, by
our Signe Manuall and Signett the said Council hath above
seaven persons in it.
Power to Call assemblys of the Freeholders
And we doe hereby give and grant unto you full power and
Authority with the Advice and Consent of our said Councill
from time to time as need shall require to Sum'on and call
assemblies of the Freeholders within your Governm't in Such
manner and forme as by the advice of our Council you shall
find most convenient for our Service and the good of our said
province
And our will and pleasure is that the persons thereupon
duely elected by the Major part of the freeholders and being
Soe returned and haveing before their sitting taken the Oaths
appointed by Act of Parliam't to be taken instead of the Oaths
of Allegiance and Supremacy and Subscribed the Test which
you shall Commissionate fitt persons under the publick Seale
to Administer, and without takeing and Subscribing whereof
none shall be capable of Sitting though ellected, shall be called
and held the Assembly of our said Province
Power to make & ordaine Lawes &c'a
And that you the said Samuel Allen by and with the Advice
and Consent of our said Council and Assembly or the Major
part of them respectively have full power and Authority to
make Constitute and ordaine Lawes Statutes and Ordenances,
for the publick peace, Wellfare and good Governm't of our
said Province and plantac'on and of the people and Inhabi-
tants thereof, and Such others as shall resort thereto, and for
the benefitt of us our heires and Successors,
To be as agreeable as may be to the Law's of Engl'd
which said Lawes Statutes and Ordenances, are to be as
near as may be agreeable unto the Lawes and Statutes of this
our Kingdome of England
504
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
To be Transmitted to Engl'd in 3 mo's for Aprobation or dis-
allowance
Provided that all Such Statutes and Ordinances of what
nature or durac'on Soever, be within Three months or sooner
after the makeing of the same transmitted unto us, under the
publick Seale for our Approbac'on or disallowance of them,
as also duplicates thereof by the next conveyance, And in case
all or any of them (being nott before confirmed by us) shall at
any time be disallowed and nott approved and Soe Signifyed
by us our heires and Successors under our or their Signe
Manuall or Signett, or by order of our or their Privy Councill
unto you the said Samuel Allen or to the Com'and'r in cheife
of our said Province for the time being, then Such or Soe
many of them as shall be soe disallowed and nott approved,
shall from thenceforth cease determine and be utterly void
and of none effect any thing to the Contrary thereof in any
wise notwithstanding
Governo'r to Enjoy a Negative Voyce
And to the end nothing may be passed or done by the Said
Council or assembly to the prejudice of us our Heires and Suc-
cessors, Wee Will and ordaine that you the said Samuel Allen
shall have and Enjoy a negative Voyce in the makeing and
passing of all Lawes Statutes and Ordenances as afores'd.
Governo'rs power to disolve & prorogue Gen'll Assembly
and that you shall and may likewise from time to time as
you shall Judge it necessary Prorogue and Dissolve all Gen-
erall Assemblyes as aforesaid And our Will and pleasure is
that you shall and may keep and use the publick Seale Ap-
pointed or to be appointed by us for that our Province.
Power to administer Oaths to all the Governo'r shall think fitt.
And wee doe further give and Grant unto you the said Sam-
uel Allen full power and Authority from time to time and att
all times hereafter by your Selfe or by any other to be Author-
ized by you in that behalfe, to Administer the Oaths ap-
pointed by Act of Parliam't to be given instead of the Oathes
of Allegiance and Supremacy, to all and every Such person or
persons as you shall think fitt, who shall at any time or times
passe into our said Province, or shall be resident or abideing
there.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
505
Power to Establish Courts of Justice
Wee doe hereby give and Grant unto you full Power and
Authority to Act Constitute and Establish Such and Soe
many Courts of Judicature and Publick Justice within our
Said Province as you and they shall think fitt, and necessary
for the hearing and determining of all causes, as well Crim-
inall as Civill according to Law and Equity and for awarding
of Execution thereupon with all reasonable and necessary
Powers and Authoritys ffees and Priviledges belonging unto
them.
Power to Constitute Judges, Justices, Sheriffs & other Necessary
officers
And we doe hereby Authorize and Impower you to Consti-
tute and appoint Judges Justices of the Peace Sherriffes and
other necessary Officers and Ministers in our said Province for
the better Administrac'on of Justice and putting the Lawes
in Execution, and to Administer or cause to be Adminis
tered Such oath or Oaths as are usuall, for the due Execution
and performance of offices and places of Trust, and for the
clearing of truth in Juditiall Causes.
appeale to his Ma'ties Royall person, to the vallue of £100 Ster
And Whereas we doe Judge it necessary that all our Sub-
jects may have to appeall to our Royall person in Cases that
may deserve the Same Our Will and Pleasure is That if either
Party shall not rest Satisfyed with the Judgm't or Sentence
of the Superiour Court of our Said Province, they may then
Appeale unto us in our Privy Councill Provided the matter
in difference exceed the reall vallue and Sum'e of One hundred
pounds Sterl' And that Such Appeale be made within one
fortnight after Sentence and that Security be likewise duely
given by the Appellant to answer Such Charges as Shall be
awarded in case the first Sentence be Confirmed And provided
also that Execution be not Suspended by reason of any Such
Appeale unto us,
Power in the Governo'r to Pardon Offences except Treason & Will-
full Murther & to repreive for that untill his Ma'ties Pleasure
knowne
And Wee doe hereby give and grant unto you full power
and Authority where you Shall See Cause and thereupon Shall
Judge any offender or offenders in Criminall matters or for
any Fines or forfeitures fitt objects of our Mercy to Pardon
506
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
and remitt all Such offences ffines and fforfeitures before or
after Sentence given (Treason and Willfull Murder onely ex-
cepted) In which cases you shall likewise have power upon
extraordinary occasions to grant Reprieves to the offender
therein untill and to the intent our pleasure may knowne
therein.
Power to Arme Levy Muster Com'and or Imploy all persons, &
them to transfirr from one place to Another
And we doe hereby give and grant unto you the said Sam-
uel Allen by your Selfe your Captaines and Com'anders by
you to be Authorized full Power and Authority to levy Arme
Muster Com'and or Imploy all persons whatsoever residing
within our said Province of New Hampshire, and as occasion
shall Serve them to transfirr from one place to another, for
the resisting and withstanding of all Enemys Pyrates and
Rebells both at Sea and Land.
Power to errect Forts, Plattformes Castles Cittys &c'a
And Wee do hereby Give and Grant to you full Power and
Authority by and with the Advice and Consent of our said.
Councill, to errect raise and build in our Said Province Such
and Soe many Forts Platforms, Castles Cittyes Burroughs,
Townes and ffortifications, as by the advice aforesaid shall be
adjudged necessary and the Same or any of them to fortifie
and furnish with Ordinance Amunition and all Sorts of Armes
fitt and necessary for the Security and. defence of our Said
Province
& the Same to demilish
And by the Advice aforesaid the same againe or any of
them to demolish or dismantle as may be most convenient
Power to errect Courts Admirall
Wee doe hereby give and grant unto you the said Samuel
Allen full Power and Authority to errect one or more Court
or Courts Admirall, within our Said Province for the hearing
and determining all Marine and other Causes and Matters
proper to be heard therein with all reasonable and necessary
Powers Authorities ffees and Privilidges. And alsoe to exer-
cise all Powers belonging to the place and office of Vice Ad-
mirall, of and in all the Seas and Coasts belonging to your Gov-
ernm't according to Such Commission Authority and Instruc-
tions as you shall receive from us under the Seale of our
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
507
Admirallty or from our high Admirall or Comission'rs for
Executing the office of Lord high Admirall of our fforeigne
Plantac❜ons for the time being.
Power to Appoint ffaires, Marts & Marketts
And we doe hereby give unto you full Power to Appoint
ffaires Marts and Marketts within our Said Province as you
with the Advice of our said Councill shall think fitt,
Power to Appoint Ports harbours &c'a for Shipping
and to order and appoint Such and Soe many Ports har-
bours Bayes havens and other places for the convenience and
Security of Shipping and for the better Loading and unload-
ing of Goods, and Merchandizes, in Such and Soe many places
as by you with the Advice and Consent of our Said Councill
shall be thought fitt and convenient
Power to appoint Custome houses Warehouses &c'a.
And in them or any of them to errect Nominate and Appoint
Custome houses Warehouses and offices relating thereunto
and them to alter change place and displace from time to
time as with the advice aforesaid shall be thought fitt.
all officers Civill & Millitary to be Aiding & Assisting to the Gov-
erno'r in Execution of y's Comission
And Wee doe hereby require and Com'and all Officers and
Ministers Civill and Millitary and all other Inhabitants of our
Said Province to be obedient ayding and assisting unto you
the Said Samuel Allen in the Execution of this our Com'is-
sion and of the powers and Authorities therein contained,
John Usher Esq'r To be Leiu't Governo'r
and In case of yo'r death or absence out of our Said Province
unto our Trusty and Wellbeloved John Usher Esq'r our Leiu't
Governour or to the Com'ander in cheife of our said Province
for the time being, To whome Wee doe therefore by these
Pr'sents Give and Grant all and Singular the Powers and
Authorities aforesaid to be executed and enjoyed by them
respectively during our pleasure or untill your Arivall within
our Said Province,
In absence of Governo'r & Leiu't first in Council to Preside, w'th
Such power as any former Presid't
And if upon Such death or absence there be no person upon
the Place Comissionated by us to be Com'ander in cheife,
508
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
our Will and pleasure is that the then present Councill of New
Hampshire doe take upon them the Administrac'on of the Gov-
ernm't and to Execute this Com'ission and the Severall Powers
and Authorities herein contained, And that Such Councillour
who shall be at the time of your death residing within our
Province of New Hampshire and Nominated in our Instruc-
tions to you before any other at that time residing there Doe
Preside in our said Councill with Such Powers and Prehem-
inences as any former President hath used and enjoyed within
our Said Province, untill our Pleasure shall be knowne therein
or yo'r arivall as aforesaid.
And Lastly We doe hereby ordaine and Appoint that you
the Said Samuel Allen shall and may hold Exercise and enjoy
the office or place of our Governour and Com'ander in cheife
in and over our Province and Plantac'on of New Hampshire
together with all and Singular the Powers and Authorityes
hereby granted unto you for and during our pleasure Provided
allwayes that nothing herein contained shall be taken or con-
strued to derogate from or to alter or diminish the Powers or
Authorityes granted by our Comission under our great Seale
of England, bearing date the Twelfth day of December last to
our Trusty and Wellbeloved S'r William Phips Kn't or to our
Leiu't Governo'r of our Province of the Massachusetts Bay in
refference to the Millitia and the Forts and Places of Strength
within our Said Province of New Hampshire So as Neverthe-
less that neither the said S'r William Phips nor our said Leiu't
Governour shall take upon him or themselves to Suspend any
officer appointed by us or you in pursuance of this our Comis-
sion, to any Comand in the Millitia or Governm't of any fforts
or Places of Strength within our said Province Except for mis-
demeanour in which case he or they may proceed to Suspend
or displace any Such officer [from the Execution of their
places and Trust] Giveing us a Speedy Account of his
or their Procedings therein; In Wittness whereof Wee have
caused these our Letters to be made Patents, Wittnesse our
Selves at Westminster the first day of March, in the fourth
Year of our Reigne
per Breve de Privato Sigillo Dup❜l.
[INSTRUCTIONS TO SAMUEL ALLEN.]
Chute.
[Council Book 4, pp. 375-382. Corrections in the text which appear in
brackets are made from the copy of the instructions in the public record
office in London. 3 Province Papers, corrected ed., N. H. Historical Society.]
Marie R
Instructions for Our Trusty and welbeloved Samuel Allen
Esq'r Our Governor and Comander in Cheif in and over Our
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
509
Province of New Hampshire within Our Dominion of New
England in America, And in his Absence to the Comander in
Cheif of our Said Province for the time being
With these our Instructions, you will receive our Com'n
under our Great Seal of England, Constituting you our Gov'r
and Comander in Cheif of all that part of our Province of New
Hampshire within our Dominion of New England in America
Lying and Extending it Selfe from three miles Norward of
Merimack River or any part there of unto the Province of
Maine, with the South part of the Isle of Shoales where being
Arrived you are forth with to call together the Members of our
Councill for that our Province by name John Usher Esq'r Our
Lieutenant Governor of our Said Province John Hinks
Nathaniel Fryer, Thomas Graffort [Crawford], Peter Coffin,
Henry Green, Robert Elliot, John Garish, John Walford
[Ware] and John Love Esq'rs. At which meeting, after have-
ing Published in usual maner our Said Comission, Constituting
you our Governour, and Comander in Cheif of Our S'd Province
you shall tak yo'r Self and also Administer, unto Each of the
Members of our Said Councill as well the Oaths appointed of
Parliamt to be taken, instead of the Oaths of Allegiance &
Supremacy as the Test and the Oath for the due Execution of
their places & Trust--And you are to Com'unicate unto our
s'd Councill from time to time, Such, and So many of our In-
structions, as you Shall find conveniant, for our Service to be
imparted unto them.
Our will and Pleasure is that the Members of our Councill
Shall and may have and Enjoy ffreedome of debate and votes
in all things to be debated of in Councill
And Altho by Our Comission afore Said wee have thought
fitt to direct, that any three of Our Councill Make a Quorum
It is never the less Our will & Pleasure that you doe not Act
with a Quorum of less than five Members Excep upon Extraor-
dinary Emergencies
And that wee may be all wayes Informed of the names &
Characters of persons fitt to Supply the vacancies of our Said
Councill, you are to transmit unto us by one of o'r Principall
Secretaries, of State And to the Lords of Our privy Councill
appointed, a Com'ittee of trade and Plantations, with all Con-
veniant Speed, the names & Characters of Six persons Inhab-
itants of our Said Province whome you Shall Esteem the best
quallified to Succeed in that Trust, And from time to time,
when any of them shall dye Depart out of our Said Province
or become other wayes unfitt, you are to Nominate Soe many
other persons to us in their Stead-
And in the Choice & Nomination of the Members of our Said
Councill as also of the Principall Officers Judges, Assistants,
Justices and Sherriffs-you are all wayes to take care, that
510
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
they be men of Estate and Abillity & not Necessitous people,
or much in debt and that they be persons well affected to Our
Government-
You are not to Suspend the Members of Our Councill, with-
out good & Sufficient Cause, and in Case of Suspention of any
of them, you are forthwith to Transmitt unto us, as afore Said,
And to Our Com'ittee for Trade and Plantations, your reasons
for So doeing together with the Charges & proofs against the
Said persons, and their Answer there unto-You are from
time to time to Send unto us & to Our s'd Committe the names
and quallities of any members by you put into Our Sad Coun-
cill: By the first Conveniancy aft'r yo'r Soe doing-
you are to Transmitt Authentick Copies under the Pubick
Seal of all Lawes Statutes & Ordinances now in force, Or
which at any time Shall be made, And Enacted within our S'd
Province uto us And our Committee for Trad & forrine Plan-
tations, within Three months or Sooner After there being En-
acted Together with Duplicates there of by the next Convay-
ance upon paine of our hyest Displeasure, And the forfeture
of that years Sallary wherein you Shall at any time, upon any
pretence whatsoever Omitt to Send over the S'd Laws & Ordi-
nances afore Said within the Time above lim’itted—
You Shall take care that the members of the Assembly be
Ellected only by freehoulders As being most agreeable to the
Custom of England To w'ch you are as neer as may be to Con-
forme your Selfe-And you Shall reduse the Sallarys of the
Members of the Assembly to Such a Modderate proportion, as
may be no grevence to the Countrey where in never the less
you are to Use yo'r discretion Soe that no inconveniancy may
arrise thereby: You are to take Care that no mans life member
freehold or goods be taken away or harmed in our Said Prov-
ince But by Established & knowne Laws Not repugnant to,
but as much as may be agreeable to the Laws of our King-
dome of England-.
you Shall administer or cause to be administred the Oaths
appointed by Act of Parliament, to be taken insead of the
Oaths of Allegiance & Supremicy As also the Test unto the
members and Officers of Our Councill & Assembly-All Judges
& Justices and all other persons that hold any office in our
Said Province by vertue of any Patten under our Great Seal
of England or the Publike Seal of New Hampshire: And you
are to permit liberty of Concience to all persons Except (Papes)
So they be contented with a quiet & peacable Enjoym❜t of it
not Giveing offence or Scandall to the Governm't. you are not
to pass any Act or order within that our Province in any case
for Leving money and Enflecting fines & Penalties whereby
the Same Shall not be reserved to us, for the Publik uses as
by the S'd Act or order Shall be directed, And wee doe pertic-
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
511
ularly Requier & Com'and that no money or valew of money
what Soever, Be given or granted by any act or order of Assem-
by to any Governor Lieu't Governor or Comander in Chief of
our Said Province that shall not according to the Stile of Acts
of Parliam't in England be mentioned to be given & granted
unto us with the Humble desire of Such Assembly-That the
Same be applied to the use and Behoofe of Such Governor
Lieu't Governor or Com'ander in Chief If wee Shall Soe think
fitt, or if wee shall not Apove of Such gifte of Applcation
that the S'd money or valew of money Be then disposed &
Apropreated to Such other uses as in the Said Act or order
Shall be mentioned, And that from the time the same shall be
Raised it Remaine in the hand of the Receiver of that our
Province, untill our Royall pleasure Shall be knowne therein
Our will & pleasure is that all Publik moneys Raised or to
be Raised within our s'd Province of New Hampshire, for the
Care & Support of the Governem't there be ishued out by
warrant from you: By & with the advice & Concent of the
Councill and not other wise--you are from time to time to per-
mitt the Assembly to vew & Examin the Acco'ts of money or
valew of money-disposed of by vertue of Such Lawes As are
now in force or Shall be passed by them; which you are to
Signifie unto them as occasion shall serve—
Our Exprese will & pleasure is that all Lawes w'tsoever
for the good [of the] Governem't & Supporte of our S'd Prov-
ince Be made indifirent [indefinite] & w'thout Limitation of
time Except the same be for a temperiary Ende & which
shall Expire, And have its full Effect with in a Certain
time, And therefore you shall not Enact any Law w'ch
Shall be Once Enacted by you: Except upon verry [any]
urgent Occasions, But in no case more then once without
our Exprese Consent-you Shall not Remitt any fines or
forfutures what Soever, above the Sum of ten pound before or
after Sentance given, nor dispose of any Eschets fines or for-
fittures untill upon Signifing unto our Committe of Trade and
Plantaions. & to the Commissioners of our Treasury for the
time being the nature of that offence or occasion of Such fines
forfeturs or Eschets with the perticular Sums, you shall have
Rec'd our directions therein. But you may in the meine time
Suspend the paym't of the S'd fines & forfetures: you shall not
Pmitt any Act or order to pass within our Said Province,
whereby the price or valew of Currant Money within yo'r Gov-
ernem't may be altered without our ticular leve or direction
therein-And you are ticularly not to pass any Law or doe
any Act by grant Settelm't or other waies whereby our Rev-
enew may be lessoned or impaired without our espetial leave
or Comands therein. you are to Requier the Secretary of our
Province or his deputy for the time being to vide Transcripts
i
512
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
of all Such acts and Publik Orders As Shall be made from time
to time Together with a Copie of the jurnall of the Councill
to the End the Same may be Transmitted unto us as above
directed which he is duely to performe upon paine of Encuring
the forfeture of his place--you Shall not displace any of the
Judges, Justices Sheriffs or other Officers or Ministers with in
our Said Province with out good & Sufficient cause, to be
Signified unto us, & our Com'ittee of Plantions Nor shall you
Execute yo'r Selfe or by Deputy any of the Said Offices nor
Suffer any person to Execute more offices then one by a
deputy-you shall not Erect any Court or office of Dudecate-
ture, not before Erected or Established without Our Esspetiall
order And you are to transmitt unto us: with all Convenant
Speed, a perticular Acco'te of all Establishm'ts of Jurisdic-
tions, Courts offices & Officers powers Authorities fees & Privi-
lidges, Granted, or setled with in our S'd Province to the Ende
you may Receive our Especiall directions therein-you Shall
likewise take a Spetiall care with the advice and consent of
our S'd Councill To regulat all Sallaryes & fees Belonging
to places or paid upon Emergences, that they be within the
bounds of Moderation, And that no Exaction be made upon
any occasion w'tsoever you are to take care that Drunken-
ness & Debauchery Swearing & Blasphemy be severly pun'-
ished And that none be admitted to Publik Trust & Em-
ploym't whose ill fame & Conversation may bring Scandall
thereupon you shall take care that all Planters & Christian
Servants be well & fitly vided with Armes & that they be
listed under officers. And when & as offten as you shall thinke
fitt Mustred & Trained whereby they may be in a better Redi-
ness for defence of our S'd Provinc under yo'r Governem't
You are to take Esptiall care, that neither the freqensy
or unreasonableness of Remote Marches Musters & trainings
Be unnessary Empedim'ts to the Affaires of the Planters
In case of Distresse of any of our Plantations you shall upon
application of the Respective Governors to you, Assiste them
with w't Aide, The Condition & Safety of yo'r Governem't
will mitt you shall Cause a Survey to be taken of all the Con-
siderable landing places, & Harbours in our S'd Province And
with the Advice of Councill Erect in any of them Such
fortifications as shall be Nessary for the security & advan-
tage of our Province, which shall be done at the Pubik Charge
of the Country: not Doubting of the cheerfull Concurrance of
the Inhabitants there unto fro-the Comon Security and Ben-
efit they will receive thereby
You shall tak an Inventory of all Armes Amunition & stores
Remaining in any of our Magasens or Garrisons in our S'd
Province and send an Acount yearely of them to us, By one
of our Principal secretarys of State unto our Committe of
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
513
Trade and Plantations-you are to take Espetiall care that
fitt storehouses be setled, throughout our Province for Re-
ceiving & keeping of Armes Amunition & other Publick stores
That wee may be the beter Informed of the Trad of our Said
Province, you are to take care that due Enteries be made, In
all Ports of all goods & Com'odites Imported or Exported from
thence, And from & to what places they come and goe, And
that a yearely Acco't thereof, be trasmitted by you unto us
by one of our Principall Secretarys of State & to our Committe
for Trade & Plantations you are to Suppres the Engroseing
of Commodities, And to setle such orders & Regulations there-
in with the Advice of our Councill, As may be most acceptable
to the Inhabitants you are to give all due Incoragem't and
Invitations to Merchents & others who Shall bring trade unto
our Said Province, or any wayes Contribut to their advantage,
And in ticular to the Royall African Comp'a And you are
to take care that there be no Trading from New Hampshire to
Any place in Affrica within the Charter of the Royall Affrican
Comp'a And you are not to Suffer any Ships to be Sent theither
without their leave or Authority-You are carefully to observe
all the Articles Contained in the Treaty for the Composing of
Differencys & the Establishing of Peace in Amerrica Con-
cluded at Maderid the 8/18 day of July 1670 with the Crowne
of Spaine-And in case any privat Ingury or damage Shall be
offered or done to any of our Subjects in those parts by any of
the Subjects of the King of Spain, or of any other Prince or
State in Am'ity with us. you shall take care to give us an Acco't
with all Conveniant Speed by one of our Principall Secretary's
of State And to our Com'itte for Trade & Plantations And not
to permitt or Encourage Reperations to be Sought in any other
way then what is directed & agreed in the Said Artickeles of
Madrid; and other treties, & you are perticularly not to Grant
Com'issions of warr or Reprisals against any Prince or State,
or their Subjects in Ammity with us, to any person w't Soever,
without Our Spetiall Comand
You are not to admit or Allow of any Apeales what Soever
to be made from the Governor & Councill unto the Assembly:
But whereas wee Judge it Absolutly necessary that all our
Subjects May have liberty to Appele unto us in cases that
may Deserve the Same, Our will & Pleasure is That if Either
parties Shall not rest Satisfied with the Judgem't & Sen-
tance of our Governor or Comader in Cheif & Councill they
may then Aple unto us in our Privy Councill Provided the
Matter in difference Exceed the Reall valley or Sum of One
hundred pound Starling: and that Such Appele be made
within one fortnight after Sentance and security first given
by the Appealant to Answer such Charges as shall be
awarded, in case the Sentance of our Governor or Comander in
37
514
1
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
Cheif and Councill be Confirmed, provided also that Execu-
tion be not Suspended By reason of any Such appele unto
us, And in as much as it may not be fitt that apples be to
frequently & for to Small a valew brought unto our Governor
& Councill, you Shall there fore with the Advice of the Coun-
cill propose a Law to be passed wherein the method & limi-
tation of Apeales unto our Governor & Councill may be Setled
& Restrained in Such maner as shall be found most conveniant
& Easey to our Subjects in our Said Province-you Shall
Endeavour to get a Law passed for the restraing of inhuman
severritys which by ill Masters or overseers may be used
towards their Christian Servants or Slaves, And that pro-
vission be made there in: That the willfull killing of Indians
& Negros be punished with Death, & that a Penalty be imposed
for the maiming of them-you are also with the Assistance
of the Councill and Assembly to find out the best meanes to
facillitate & Incourage the Convertion of Negros & Indians to
the Christian Religion-you are to recom'end, to our Councill
& Assembly the Raysing of a stock & building of Publik
work houses in Conveniant places for the imploying of poor
& Indigent people—
And for as much a great Inconveniances may arise by the
liberty of Printing w'thin our Province of New Hampshire,
you are to provide by all necessary ord'rs that no person use
any Press for Printing upon any occassion what soever, with
out yo'r spetial Licence first obtained-
Latly-If any thing Shall happen that may be of Advan-
tage or security to our Said Province, which is not herein, or
by our Com'ission Pvided for, wee doe hereby Authorise &
Direct you with the Advice & consent of our Councill to take
order, for the presant therein, Giving us by one of our Princi-
pall Secretary of State & the Lords of our Privie Councill ap-
pointed a Committee for Trade & foren Plantations Speedy
notice thereof and of all yo'r proceedings and the Condition of
Afaires within yo'r Governem't for our Information & direc-
tion Provided allwayes that you doe not by couler of any
power, or Authority hereby given you Commence or declare
warr without our knowledge and Comand therein Except it be
against Indians upon Em'ergencies, wherein the Consent of
our Councill Shall be had And Speedy notice thereof given
unto us, Given at our Court at Kensington [Whitehall], the
Seventh [third] day of March 1691 in the fourth yeare of our
Reighn.
By her Maj'ties Comand
Nottingham
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
515
[COMMISSION OF WILLIAM PARTRIDGE, LIEUTENANT-GOVER-
NOR OF THE PROVINCE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.]
[This copy is from the same volume in which is found Governor Allen's
commission, ante. The commission to William Partridge bears date June
26, 1696, 8 William III. The appointee did not assume office under this
authority until December 14, 1697. The commission had been issued by the
lords justices in the absence of the king. The instrument in terms revoked
the powers of Mr. Usher as lieutenant-governor under the Allen commission.
Meanwhile John Hinckes, as president of the council, acted as governor
until Mr. Partridge assumed office on the date above named. The lords of
trade, on or about August 3, 1697, were prevailed upon to modify the Par-
tridge commission to the extent of directing Mr. Usher to act until Mr.
Partridge should qualify and assume his office. 2 Province Papers, 216, 217.
This doubtless hastened the movements of Mr. Partridge, inasmuch as Mr.
Usher was just at the point of resuming his functions when Mr. Partridge
published his commission and assumed the government. Mr. Partridge acted
as lieutenant-governor until September 15, 1698, when Governor Allen,
appearing in person, took the government into his own hands, his commis-
sion being still operative, although that of the Earl of Bellomont, his suc-
cessor, had then been issued. Mr. Usher appeared before the governor and
council November 29, 1698, and claimed a seat in the board and the office of
lieutenant-governor under his construction of the order of the lords of trade
before mentioned. After a sharp controversy over the subject in the coun-
cil he was permitted to take his seat as councillor, and his claim of right to
exercise the office of lieutenant-governor if not allowed was, at least, not
overruled.
On the question whether the governor and council actually and formally
recognized Mr. Usher as lieutenant-governor at this time, different conclu-
sions seem to have been reached by Mr. Shirley (Early Jurisprudence of New
Hampshire, Proceedings of N. H. Historical Society, vol. 1, p. 304), and Mr.
Doyle (English Colonies in America, vol. 2, p. 332). This status of the office
of governor and lieutenant-governor was maintained by the incumbents
until July 31, 1699, when the Earl of Bellomont assumed the office in New
Hampshire under his commission, and thereupon immediately recognized
Mr. Partridge as his next subordinate. 2 Province Papers, 276-313. The
methods employed on the one side and the other at this period may be
traced in the contemporary documents: Lieutenant-governor Usher's letters,
2 Province Papers, 208-210; letter of president and council, id., 218; letter of
instructions to Ichabod Plaisted, id., 264; letters, id., 266, 267; letters of Sir
Henry Ashurst, id., 296, and 3 Province Papers, 125; Early Jurisprudence of
New Hampshire, Shirley, Proceedings of the N. H. Historical Society, vol. 1,
p. 304; Palfrey's History of New England, ed. of 1890, vol. 4, pp. 204-219; Eng-
lish Colonies in America, Doyle, vol. 2, pp. 328-333; Belknap's History of New
Hampshire, Farmer's ed., chap. 11.]
WILLIAM the Third by the grace of God, King of Eng-
land Scotland france & Ireland defender of the fayth &c to
our Trusty and well beloved William Partridg Essq'r Greet-
ing Wee Reposeing Especiall Trust & Confidence in yo'r Pru-
dence Courage & Loyalty have thought fitt to Nominate and
appoint and we doe by these Pr'sents, Nominate and appoint
you the S'd Willi'm Partridge, to bee our Leiu't Governor of
our Province of Newhamps'r in America, To have hold Exer-
cise & Injoy the Said office & place of our Leiu't Governor of
our Said Province of Newhamp'r with all the Rights pr'vel-
idges, proffitts & Advantages to the Same belonging and apper-
taining, for and duering our pleasure, to bee at any time Signi-
fyed under our Royall Signett & Signe manuall which Said
516
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
Signature Shall to all Intents & purposes, revoake and make
Null this our Commission. And in Case of the death or ab-
sence of our Governor in cheife of our Said Province of New-
hamp'r for the time beeing, Wee doe heerby authorize and Re-
quier, you or Such other our Leu't Governor, as wee shall at
any time heerafter appoint under our royall Signett & Signe
mannuell, to Exicute and performe all and Singuler the powers
and directions Containd in our Commission granted or to be
granted unto our Said cheife Governor, or now in force or
Such instructions as he hath or Shal at any time receave
from us, and you are to follow Such orders and directions.
as you shall receave from our S'd Governor in cheife of
our Said Province of Newhamp'r for the time being And
we doe heerby Com'and all & Singuler of our officers
Minnisters & Loveing Subjects of our S'd Collony and
dominion and all others whome it may Concearne, to take
due notice thereof. AND WHERAS, by our Commission
under our great Seale Bearing date the first day of March
in the fowerth yeare of our Reigne Wee have Constituted and
apointed our Trusty and well beloved Sam'll Allen Essq'r to
be our Governor, & Jn'o Usher Essq'r to be our Leiu't Gov-
ernor of our Said Province of New Hamph'r, Wee doe by these
Pr'Sents Revoak Soe much of our Said Commission wherby
the s'd Jn'o Usher Essq'r is Constituted and appointed to be
our Leu't Governo'r of our Said Province of Newhamps'r, and
all the Powers and authorityes therby granted to him, de-
clearing the same to be for the future voyde, & of none Efect
Soe farr as it Relates to the said Jn'o Usher: In Wittness
wherof wee have Caused these our Letters to be made pat-
tents, Wittness Thomas Arch: Bishop of Canterbury, and the
rest of the Guardians and Justices of the Realme att westmin-
ster the twenty Sixth day of June in the Eight yeare of our
Reigne
Chute.
Loco Sigilli
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAW8, 1692.
5.17
[EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY.]
[Held at Portsmouth, One Session, October 4, 1692, to October 7,
1692.1
[OFFICERS OF THE GOVERNMENT.]
[SAMUEL ALLEN, GOVERNOR, residing in London, not present
in the province.
JOHN USHER, LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR, residing in Boston;
present in the province, acting as governor.
THOMAS NEWTON, SECRETARY.
JOHN HINCKES, PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL.
HENRY PENNY, CLERK OF THE COUNCIL.
RICHARD MARTYN, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE.
ELIAS STILEMAN, CLERK OF THE HOUSE.
MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL.
John Hinckes,
Portsmouth.
Nathaniel Fryer,
Robert Elliott,
William Vaughan,
Richard Waldron,
66
66
66
66
Peter Coffin,
Exeter.
Henry Green,
Hampton.
Nathaniel Weare,
(6
MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE.
Portsmouth, Richard Martyn.
Elias Stileman.
John Pickering.
Dover,
John Woodman.
Job Clements.
Exeter,
William Furber, Jr.
William Moore.
Samuel Leavitt.
Hampton,
John Smith.
:
Joseph Smith.
John Hussey, did not qualify.
Isles of Shoals, James Blagdon.]
*Of the councillors named in Governor Allen's instructions, only John
Hinckes, Nathaniel Fryer, Peter Coffin, Henry Green, and Robert Elliott
qualified August 13, 1692, when John Usher assumed the government under
his commission as lieutenant-governor. A council meeting was held August
15, the records of which have been lost, but at that meeting Nathaniel
Weare must have been appointed a councillor. He soon had business that
called him temporarily out of the province, and, to keep the number of
councillors up to seven, residing in the province, William Vaughan and
Richard Waldron were appointed members September 29, 1692, and qualified
the same day. In the absence of the lieutenant-governor the next senior
member of the council, as named in the instructions who had qualified,
became president of the council.
518
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
[The validity, for the time being, as well as the survival of the laws regular-
ly enacted for the government of the people inhabiting these towns and this
province in either of the different periods into which their history is divisi-
ble are questions to be determined only on exhaustive judicial consideration.
The King, the ultimate authority in the government of the Colonies, in 1686,
indicated quite distinctly the opinion and desire of the home government,
possibly equivalent to a decree, as to the continuance of colonial laws al-
ready enacted. In the instructions to Sir Edmund Andros, article 10, ante,
P. 157, it was declared and ordered that all laws not inconsistent with the
royal commission and instructions then issued for the territory of the
Dominion of New England, were to be continued, and to be and remain in full
force and vigor until the Governor and his Council should in the future pass
other laws in their stead. Until something is shown to change the status
of the pre-existing colonial laws which was indicated or created by this edict,
it might well be supposed that such laws previously valid would be regarded
as possessing a continuing validity. Nevertheless, the views of Lieutenant
Governor Cranfield, as indicated by his remarks elsewhere quoted, ante, p.
57 (and to be the subject of further comment in the introduction), and the
opinions of Lieutenant Governor Usher and his Council, as well as those of
Governor Joseph Dudley, as far as they may be extracted from his acts and
writings in response to the requirement of transmission of copies of the
existing laws, are entitled to due examination and consideration on this ques-
tion. (See also Shirley, Early Jurisprudence of N. H., Proc. N. H. Hist. Soc.,
vol. 1, p. 299.) The subject was formally presented to the province council
at an early date in the administration of Lieutenant-Governor Usher. Por-
tions of the council records are wanting in the manuscript volume in the
state's custody and special attention is called to the fact in the printed copy,
3 Province Papers, 4. A record supplied from the public record office in Lon-
don, which is now quoted, purports to be an official statement of the con-
temporary understanding of the province council but not of the general as-
sembly.
The record is as follows:
"14 Octo'r 92 WHEREAS the King in his Commission &'ca hath Granted
powers for the well Govern't of the place a continuance of such reasonable
Lawes and Statutes as now are and likewise what shall hereafter be agreed
upon and that the Revenue may not be lessened or Impaired without Speciall
leave Proposed what Lawes and Revenue now are in this place to be of force
and continued that noe failure may be either as to his Maj'tes Right or Sub-
jects Properties or Liberties.
"New-hampshire Friday 14, 1692.
"The answer of the Councill to the Lieut. Gov'rs. proposalls this day made
"Considering the many Resolutions & changes of late in this Province for
severall years past they are of opinion that there were noe Lawes nor stand-
ing revenue in this Province when the Lieut. Gov'r arrived here so that
what is necessary for the Kings Service & the Support of his Govern't are
to be enacted by the Lieut. Gov'r Council & Assembly." (Board of Trade,
New Hampshire, I, 23; 3 Province Papers, 4.)
In 1702 Governor Dudley was requested by the home government to send
over copies of all laws in force in the province. In response to this require-
ment he forwarded sixty-one acts (fifty-eight besides the three passed by the
general assembly which was in session at the time of transmission) omit-
ting thirty-two acts of the period, 1692-1702, and omitting everything en-
acted in the previous periods. The journals of the council and assembly and
the record of the early laws name the titles or give the text of ninety acts
in the same period. The text of eight of these has not been found. Those
included in Governor Dudley's collection are individually designated in the
following pages. In 1693 a list purporting to be the acts passed in 1692, that
is, at the October, 1692, and March, 1692-3, sessions, sixteen in number, was
submitted by William Popple to the attorney-general for examination pre-
liminary to his advising the crown as to their confirmation or disallowance.
The record indicates royal action on several of this series of acts. The
"Act concerning the prudential affairs of towns" and the "Act against
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
519
law suits above £20," for some reason, were not included in the list trans-
mitted. The former of these was sent over by Governor Dudley in 1702,
but it does not appear that the other was included in any transmission, per-
haps because it was regarded as of only a temporary nature. The list sub-
mitted by Mr. Popple* in 1693 will be found in the appendix. In the Novem-
ber session, 1694, it appears that the lieutenanat-governor made a speech to
the two houses relative to raising £400 to be presented to Mr. William
Blaythwaite for passing of the laws made and sent to England for con-
firmation. Again it appears that in November, 1695, the subject was brought
up. 3 Province Papers, 27. At a session of the council and assembly Novem-
ber 9, 1695, Lieutenant-Governor Usher made a formal proposition which
stands on record as follows:
"Gentlem'n: Having at your first sitting proposed for raising of money
for passing of yo'r Laws in England, least by reason of want of due appli-
cation your Laws be rejected; desire your answer to the same."
"The Assembly answered, they had considered what proposed; but find
the Province was not capable to raise more money at present." 3 Province
Papers, 36.
This part of the record suggests several considerations. It would seem
that the business of forwarding the examination of province laws in the
home government was expensive. The provincials did not, at this time, at
least, regard the results as sufficiently valuable to justify the proposed out-
lay. Furthermore, the party of opposition, as represented by the popular
branch in the assembly, doubtless regarded the maintenance of an agency
in their behalf near the home government to counteract the influence of the
governor in his attempt to establish his title to the Masonian lands as more
important to them than an agent to secure the confirmation of the province
laws 3 Province Papers, 125; 19 id., 730, 734. The record discloses the fact
that a considerable number of the acts of that day are missing, and probably
less care in forwarding them for re-examination in England was then be-
stowed than is in evidence for an earlier and later period.
*WILLIAM POPPLE.
The Dictionary of National Biography gives in substance the two follow-
ing items:
"William Popple, son of Edmund Popple, sheriff of Hull in 1638; nephew
of Andrew Marvell; became a London merchant, and in 1696 was appointed
secretary of the Board of Trade; was intimate with John Locke who was
one of the Lords Commissioners of the same Board. Died in 1708.
"William Popple, grandson, dramatist. 1701-1764. In 1737 became a soli-
citor and clerk of the reports to the board; appointed governor of the Ber-
mudas in 1745 in room of his relative Alured.”
He continues as secretary to the year 1722, when his place is taken by
Alured Popple, who acts till 1737 or 1738, when the former became lieutenant-
governor of Bermuda.
†WILLIAM BLAYTHWAITE.
There is a long account of him in the Dictionary of National Biography,
of which the following is, in part, a summary:
1649?-1717. The only son of William Blaythwaite of St. Martin's in the
Fields. His first appointment was as one of Sir William Temple's secretaries
at the Hague in 1668. In Rome, in 1672, he appears to have been on some
kind of public business. Later, he appears to have been at Stockholm and
Copenhagen; purchased in 1683 from Mathew Locke the post of secretary at
war,-a position which before the Revolution of 1688 seems to have been syn-
onymous with a clerkship of a committee of council, and, according to Lut-
trell, he became clerk of the council in ordinary in 1686, and clerk of the
privy council in February, 1689. He attended William III during his cam-
paign in Flanders, and whilst abroad discharged the duties of secretary of
state. From May, 1696, to 1706, he was one of the commissioners for trade,
and remained secretary at war till 1704. Member for Bath, 1693 to 1710:-
his house at Bath was fitted up for Queen Anne's use. Retired from active
life in 1710. The brief notice in the New York Colonial Documents, vol. v, p.
507, says he held the office of auditor-general of the King's revenues in Amer-
ica for thirty-one years, and was succeeded by Horatio Walpole.
A
520
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
There seems to have been, for some time after 1692, as well as before, no
effective system governing the transmission, examination, confirmation, and
repeal of the acts, or the return of records and entering the same in the
province books, which enabled the people or officials of that time in this
province to know what was the exact status of their laws. In addition to
the fact of transmission of acts in 1693, already referred to in this note as
submitted for the consideration of the attorney-general in England by Mr.
Popple, there is further evidence of a compliance with the commands of the
king's commission to the governor in respect to the transmission of the laws
and proceedings of the assembly. Such is the controversy of 1695, above
referred to, over the question of compensation to Mr. Blaythwaite "for pass-
ing of the laws made and sent to England for confirmation.” 3 Province
Papers, 27, 36. Under date of June 13, 1698 (id., p. 61), the assembly jour-
nal contains this entry: "So far are the Laws foregoing, and Minutes Coun-
cil & Assembly, sent home for England, by Capt. Jno. Long." Note the
comments of Mr. Shirley, Proceedings of the N. H. Historical Society, vol.
1, p. 297.
At least five acts passed in the period 1692 to 1702 (Act for establishing
courts of public justice within the province, passed August 17, 1699; Act
for the punishment of criminal offenders, passed June 14, 1701; Act for
recording deeds and conveyances, passed June 14, 1701; Act for taking affi-
davits out of court, passed June 21, 1701; Act for regulating trials in civil
causes, passed October 4, 1701), and these, too, among the most important
of the series, appear to have been repealed by the king or queen in council,
and, nevertheless, continued in the province publications of the public laws
as in full force until after the American revolution. Other anomalous con-
ditions will be observed by examination of the memoranda which accompany
the individual acts.
Both the state archives and the state publications, as well as the records
and papers accessible in England, have been searched with reference to every
act of which either the text or title is preserved, for the purpose of ascer-
taining the fact of confirmation or repeal by the king or queen in council.
Whenever that fact has been ascertained it is mentioned in the note which
follows the title of the act in the current printed text. If nothing is stated
on this point in the note, it will be understood that nothing to indicate a
confirmation or repeal of the act by the home government has been dis-
covered.
The titles of all acts and bills which appear by the records to have been
under consideration by the council and assembly or house of representatives
have been traced in the journal of the council and assembly, and in that of
the house in periods for which it is preserved, and on that authority the
dates of the acts have been ascertained. The house journals, however, for the
time of the Allen administration have not been preserved, if, indeed, they
were ever extended into a formal record by the clerks. For the period from
August 7, 1699, to October 4, 1701, the house journal is extant, and is printed
for the first time in 19 State Papers, 719-740. Certain action on the part of
the house of representatives under date of July 11, 1700, is quite suggestive
of the possibility that it had not previously been deemed advisable, or, at
least, necessary to extend the house journal from the temporary minutes
that may have been made from time to time. This vote was as follows:
"Whereas there is an Ilconveniance in not haveing A fair transcript of all
votes and other writeings passed In the house of Representatives Since the
Earl of Bellomo't our Gov'r and Comander In Chief's Arival heer
“Voted That A fair Transcript be Drawn up by the Clerk of the Assembly
out of the papers thereto belonging in A book and the Charge thereof being
Allowed by A Comitte Apointed be paid out of the Publicque Treasury."
It will be remembered that down to this time the four towns of Ports-
mouth, Dover, Hampton, and Exeter were the principal political components
of the province.
The Isles of Shoals were incorporated as a town by Massachusetts Bay
in 1661, but at this time a majority of the inhabitants resided on the islands
which were within the boundaries of the province of Maine. The name of
this town was Appledore. The church, court-house, and principal ordinary
were formerly on Smutty Nose, and Hog island had a considerable popula-
tion. Upon the erection of the province of New Hampshire in 1679, the
southerly half of the Isles of Shoals became thereby separated from Massa-
chusetts Bay, and the northerly part of the group became nearly depopulated.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
521
After 1684 courts ceased to be held on Smutty Nose or Church island, and in
1685 the meeting house had fallen into decay. Jenness's Isles of Shoals,
pp. 101, 105, 106.
It is important to note these facts in connection with the first appearance
of the Isles of Shoals as a town, with representation in the general assembly
of this province.
Newcastle was set off from Portsmouth and made a separate town in
1693, and Kingston was chartered in 1694, but the latter was not of sufficient
importance to be represented in the general assembly for a considerable
time after this date. In the assessment act of 1699 it was not included with
the other towns for any portion of the tax levy. A vote as to the repre-
sentation of Kingston under date of November 18, 1708, appears in the rec-
ords. 3 Province Papers, 369. The Isles of Shoals and Newcastle were
represented in the popular branch of the general assembly for the first
time in the tenth general assembly, 1693-1694, post, p. 565; Jenness, Isles of
Shoals, 6th Ed., pp. 100-113; New Castle, by John Albee (1885), p. 119.
The Masonian claim had, as it was supposed, passed by purchase to Gov-
ernor Samuel Allen, and the management of those who were interested for
and against that title continued to be an ever potent element in obstructing
or promoting legislation which might affect that controversy. Laws took
form and substance according to which party was in the ascendency in each
administration. These comments relate more especially to the time from
1692 to 1702, and they are also, in some important particulars, pertinent
to previous experiments in legislation in the province.
The government of Massachusetts under the second charter was inaugu-
rated in 1692. The first volume of the Ames-Goodell edition of the province
laws of that colony, published in 1869, has 1692 as the point of begin-
ning. Lieutenant-Governor Usher, whose first administration in New Hamp-
shire was practically from the autumn of 1692 till sometime in 1696, residing
meantime in Massachusetts, presumably had access to the current Massa-
chusetts session laws, and doubtless was well informed as to the course and
character of legislation in that jurisdiction. By reason of his relations with
the assembly of the province of New Hampshire he occupied a position of
influence in the shaping of its laws. This influence was, however, as the
history of his administration would indicate, in some instances of a negative
rather than a positive character.
It may be remarked in passing, at this point, that the Massachusetts acts
of the time between 1692 and 1699 were contemporaneously printed, and
were, in that form, accessible in New Hampshire. This would facilitate
their use for reference, at least, by the assembly of this province. A copy
of the edition of 1699 of the Massachusetts Laws, 1692 to 1699, with supple-
ments to 1701, is in the custody of the New Hampshire state library. This
edition also contains transcripts of the communications from the home gov-
ernment showing the confirmation, repeal, or other disposition of Massa-
chusetts acts which had been considered by the king or queen in council.
Id., pp. [1], [2], [3], [4], and [1], [2], between pp. 176 and 177. The body
of this book is described on one of its pages as a reprint.
From 1699 to 1741, as will also be noted, the same person was governor for
both provinces, and from this method of administration an influence opera-
ating in favor of uniformity of legislation would probably be discovered.
The relations of the people of New Hampshire with the Bay colony had been
such, moreover, that at many points it would be expected for other reasons,
that statutory enactments in the former province at this period might dis-
close a similarity of purpose, form, and method, when compared with the
contemporary acts of Massachusetts Bay. The production of this edition
of the New Hampshire laws will now render such a comparison as prac-
ticable and convenient as it is interesting and suggestive.
In the notes which accompany the individual acts from this point of time
the manuscript records in the office of the secretary of state, with other
material for reference, are cited by volume and page as far as the acts are to
be there found. When no citation to any state manuscript record of laws is
made, it will be understood that the act is not in the state archives.
No evidence has been discovered in the course of the investigations made
in connection with the preparation of this work indicating that the laws of
this province enacted in the period of the Allen-Usher administration were
contemporaneously printed, or that any attempt was ever made to print
them as a body until they appeared in the third volume of the Province
522
1692.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS,
Papers, pp. 164-228.* The earliest of the acts of that period to find its way
into the printed collection of the province laws published in 1716 is one
enacted in 1696. This act and a few others following between its date and
the beginning of the administration of Joseph Dudley in 1702 appear in
the several editions of 1716, 1761, and 1771.
The act of March 9, 1692-3, indicates the method in vogue in the period of
the Allen commission for giving the officials and people of the several towns
information as to the text of their laws. The act makes it the duty of the
secretary of the province to send written copies of the laws, as they are
passed from time to time, to the towns at the expense of the province
treasury.
It will be found interesting to observe, in a comparison of the text of the
acts of general legislation passed in the time of Allen and Bellomont
with those in the time of Dudley and Shute, how largely the acts of the
earlier period, though nominally ignored, (those at least of date prior to
1696), reappear in part or in entirety in the laws made and published in
the later period. Without this comparison it will be impossible to obtain
an adequate view of the development of the system of statutory law which
obtained in this province in the latter part of the colonial period.
The representation from the board of trade to the queen in council, 19
July, 1706, opens thus (Board of Trade, New England, vol. 41, p. 186):
"Having received & perused a Collection of the Laws in force in your
Majesty's province of New Hampshire in New England and Consulted the
Opinion of Your Majesty's Attorney General there-upon in point of Law as
also of the R't Rev. the Lord Bishop of London in reference to the Church;
we humbly beg to represent that Several of the said Laws are unfit for Your
Maj'tys Approbation viz:
"An Act concerning Marriages Births & Burials, This Act gives power to
Justices of the Peace to join persons in Marriage, who have been thrice pub-
lished on meeting days, and is not conformable to the Laws of Engl'd nor
to the Acts allowed by your Maj'ty in your other plantations.
•
"An Addt'l Act... ditto.. being upon the same foot is likewise unfit
for your Majesty's approbation
"An Act for maintenance and Supply of the Ministry within this province.
This Act leaves the Ministry perfectly at the Will of the people, and also
leaves it wholly in the People's choice whether they will have a Ministry or
no, and exempts all persons who shall serve God separately according to
their own persuasion from Contributing to the Minister
"July 23, 1703. Ordered that copys of two of the Acts of New Hampshire,
viz't An Act Concerning Marriages Births and Burials, and an Act for the
maintenance and supply of the Ministry be sent to the Lord Bishop of
London, and his opinion desired thereon
"August 6, 1703. The Lord Bishop of London's Notes upon the two Acts
of New Hampshire which were sent to him the 23d of last month were read,
and Ordered to be taken into consideration together with the said Acts
when the Board shall be ready to report upon them.”
(
From Mr. Attorney-General's report upon a collection of laws in force in
1703. Report dated August 17, 1704 (Board of Trade, New England, 13, Q.
43):
"As to the Act concerning marriages Births and Burials which gives
power to Justices of the peace, or Settled ministers, residing here, to Joyn
persons in Marriage, who have been thrice published on meeting days. I
see no reason to allow Justices of the peace to marry.
"As to the Act for the Maintenance and Supply of the ministry &c. this
Act leaves the Ministry perfectly at the will of the people, and also leaves
it in the peoples choice whether they will have a minister or not, and
exempts all persons who shall serve God Separately according to their own
suasion from contributing to the minister, so that there is no settled
ministry at all in this Colony, therefore I think the Law is not fitt to be
confirmed."
The Bishop of London's answer cannot be traced in the record office.
The brief letter from the secretary, Mr Popple, July 23, 1703, simply trans-
*It should be observed that we do not now refer to the time of the admin-
istration of the Earl of Bellomont, in which the now well known edition of
1699 (five acts) was printed.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
5.23
mits the two acts and asks his opinion. In the representation of the board
to Her Majesty, July 19, 1703, setting forth the reasons for disallowance,
there is an allusion to the Bishop of London as the ecclesiastical authority
who had been consulted on certain features of these acts. These reasons
are almost in the same words as the report of the attorney-general, August
17, 1704, as will be seen by the accompanying quotations.
The order in council repealing them states no reasons except that by the
representation of the board of trade they are not fit for the royal appró-
bation.
It may be of interest to note that a paper containing a petition to the
governor and council of Massachusetts Bay from the inhabitants of the
church of England of the town of Braintree as to the question of support of
the ministry, dated October 18, 1703, and proceedings of council thereon, is
indorsed:
"Rec'd
Read
}
7 June 1704
Communicated to
the Board by the Bishop
of London"
The relations of the previously enacted laws of England, Massachusetts,
and New Hampshire with the later jurisprudence of this province and state
is now and always will be an important subject for practical, as well as
theoretical, consideration.
In an article published in the third volume of "Collections, Historical and
Miscellaneous," by Farmer and Moore, Concord, N. H., 1824, under the title,
"New Hampshire Law, Its Sources," a production attributed to excellent
legal and historical authority, the summary of the sources of our law (p.
205), contains the following:
"IV. The common law, or usages and customs. The basis of this law is
Freedom, for it springs from the voluntary consent of the people. Who-
ever makes the statutes, the people make the common law. Our common law
may be referred to three sources:
"1. Such parts of the common law of England as were deemed suitable
to our condition.
"2. Usages which insensibly grew up in the country when we were in a
manner neglected by the parent state, and almost independent of it. 1630-
1660.
"3. The statutes, orders, and ordinances which were framed by the legis-
lature before 1690, and which no longer bind as statutes, but which still
retain their influence, because they were agreeable to the genius, manners,
and habits of the people, and therefore they were wise and good laws."
It will be assumed for the purpose of arranging the acts which follow,
with reference to the successive assemblies and sessions to which they should
be assigned in chronological order, that the fact of dissolution terminates
the life of an assembly; that the fact of prorogation marks the termina-
tion of a session; while the term adjournment merely indicates the end of a
sitting, as, for instance, a legislative morning, afternoon, evening or day.
This division of legislative periods is based upon the entries in the journals,
which are approximately complete after 1692 for the council and assembly.
The journals of the house of representatives are, if they ever were entered
up, as before remarked, missing for the entire period of the Allen adminis-
tration, 1692-1698, while there are also serious gaps at subsequent intervals.
Report of the Secretary of State on Indexing the Laws and Records, 1885;
preface to Index to Council Records, 1631-1784; preface to Index to House
Journals, 1711-1775.]
524
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
[First Session, October 4, 5, 6, 7, 1692.]
[CHAPTER 1.]
AN ACT FOR THE SUPORTE OF THE GOVERMENT REPAIRING
FFORTIFICATIONS STRENGTHING THE FRONTEERS &Ç—
[Passed October 7, 1692. 4 William and Mary. Council Book 4, p. 76;
Laws, 1692-1698, p. 16; Province Records, A, p. 107; printed 3 Province Papers,
164.]
Wee theire Majesties moste loyall & dutifull Subjects the
Representatives of this there majesties province Convined in
generall assembly being sensible of the greate Charge & Ex-
penses w'ch have allready arrisen & must nessesarily bee
daly growing & Increasing in defending & Securing of theire
Majestyes Subjects & interest and in prosecuting the war
againste there french & Indian Enemies have Cheerfully &
unanimusly given & granted & doe hereby give & grante unto
there moste Exelent Mag'tes there heires & Sucsesors to the
end & Intent afores'd & for the defraying of other Nesseary &
Contingent Charges in & aboute the Supporte of the Gover-
ment of this there Majestyes province those Severall asses-
ments following & humbly beeseech there mag'tes to Except
of the same
Bee it therefore Enacted by the Leftinante Governour and
Counsill & Representatives Convening in generall assembly &
it is hereby Enacted & ordained by the Authority of the Same
that a rate be forthw❜th made on all sones & Estates boath
reall & sonall (there Majesties Counsill Settled Minestree &
Shoole Masters only Excepted) in Equall proportion as here
after Exprest That the treasurer for the time being doe forth-
with send forth his Warrants to the Constables & Select men
of every towne within the saide province requiring the Con-
stables to Call together the Inhabithants of the Townes who
beeing soe assembled shall Choose Sume one of saide İnhab-
itants to bee a Commisioner for the Towne who together w’th
the Select men Shall make a list of all male sons in the
Same towne from sixteene years old & upwards & a trew
Estemation of all reall & sonall Estates beeing or reputed
to bee the State of all & every the sons in the saide towne
or any peculiar in the province or otherwise under there Cus-
tody or manegment to the Just valuation & to what son
the Same doth belong whether in there one towne or elce
where Soe nere as they Came by all Lawfull Means which they
maye use to Saye of houses or lands of all Sorts as well broken
up as other Except Such as doe; or Shall lye Common Mills,
Ships, & all Sorts of Small vessells Merchandable goods,
Cranes Wharfs & all Sorts of Cattle & other knowen Estates
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
525
what Soever att sea; or on Shoare; all which sons & Estates
are by the Select men & Com'isioners to bee assesed & Rated
as hereafter Exprest Viz't every son afores'd (Except before
Excepted) all others, every Male at one Shilling & Sixpence
head and for all Such sons as by the advantage of there
trades and arts are more Inabled to help bare the publique
Charge then Common Labourrers & workmen are As Butchers
Bakers Brewers Vitulars Smiths Carpenters Taylers Shoo-
makers Joyners Barbers Millers & Masons with all other Man-
nuall sons & artificers are to be rated for Returns & gaines
proportionably unto other men for the produce of theire Es-
tates, and for all such Servants and Chilldren as take not
wages there masters or parents Shall paye for them But such
as take wages Shall paye for them selves & all & every son
aforesaide Except before Excepted, Shall bee assessed & rated
at three pence in the pound for every twenty Shillings, boath
Psons & Estates that shall be founde according to the rates
of Cattle hereafter mentioned the Estate of all Merchants
Shop kepers and factors shall bee assessed by the Rule of Com-
mon Estimation According to the disscression of the assesors,
having regard to there Stock being present to vew or not, in
whose hand Soever it bee & if any Such Merchante finde them
Selves over vallued & Can make it appeare to the Assesors
they are to bee eased by them if not by the next Courte of
quarter Sessions held in the Province, & houses & lands of all
Sorts Except before Excepted, Shall be taxed at an Equall and
Indeferent vallue according to there worth in the place where-
in they lye and all Cattle to bee valued Every Cow at fower
years old and upwards at fourty Shillings heffers & Steers
of three yeares old at thirty Shillings and betweene One and
two yeares old at twenty Shillings-Every Ox at fower years
old & upwards at three pounde, Every horsse and mare of
three yeares old and upwards at three pound and betweene two
and three yeares old at forty five Shillings of one years old at
Sixteene Shillings every Ewe Sheepe above One years old at
five Shillings, every whether Sheepe above a yeare old Six Shil-
lings, Every Swine above a yeare old at twelve Shillings, all
Cattle of all Sorts under a yeare old are hereby Exemted; the
foregoing act to Stand in force for this perticular Rate for
this yeare & no longer; the s'd rate to be forthw'th Collected
& transmitted to the treasurer of the province & to be p'd in
the Sepcies at the prisis following viz't, Merchantable pine
boards at thirty Six Shillings thousand Red Oak hhd Staves
att twenty Shillings; thousand White oake pipe Staves at
three pound thousand Beefe at two pence pound porke
att three pence 11 Indian Corne at three Shillings bushell
Wheate at five Shillings bushell Malte at three Shillings;
bushell good Sounde pease att fower Shillings; bushll,
1
526
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
fish and Mackrill at price Currante and whosoever will paye
theire rates in mony Shall bee abated one third parte & the
Constable of the Severall townes in the province are to Col-
lect all the above Saide rates and transmit them to the treas-
urer and the Charges of the Constable in Sending in the rates
to the Treasurer to bee allowed on the Publique-
John Usher Leftinant Governour
Richard Martayne Speaker
Henry Penny Depity Secritary
NOTE. The following extract from the Journal of the Council and
Assembly presents a provision supplementary to the foregoing act:
"Thursday, 6th October, 1692. Ordered that the Treasurer of this Prov-
ince advance 20 lbs in Provisions for the soldiers at Oyster River & else-
where, which said sume is to be defrayed out of the first money to be raised
by act of the Govern'r, Council & Assembly." 3 Province Papers, 3.
[CHAPTER 2.]
AN ACT CONCERNING THE PRUDENTIALL AFFAIRES OF THE
TOWNES IN SAIDE PROVINCE,
[Passed October 7, 1692. 4 William and Mary. Council Book 4, p. 81; Laws,
1692-1698, p. 14: Province Records, A, p. 111; Dudley collection, public record
office in London, folio 23; printed in 3 Province Papers, 167. This act was
not included in the list filed with the attorney-general by Mr. Popple August
22, 1693. 23 State Papers, 132. Compare act of May 2, 1719, post.]
Bee it Enacted by the Leftinant Governour & Counsill to-
gether with the generall assembly, & it is hereby Enacted by
the authority of the Same, that it Shall & maye bee lawfull
for the Select men of each towne w'thin this province or the
Major parte of them w'th the approbation of one Justice of
the peace, to Convene the free holders of there towne to
geather, to Consider debate & Conclude of Such things as are
Nessesary for the prudentiall affairs of there towne as often
as they Shall finde occation & they or the Major parte of them
Soe mett to make Such orders as they Shall finde Nessesary;
for the prudentiall Concernes of there towns provided the
penallty of any defaulte made of Such orders Shall not Exceed
the Sume of twenty Shillings & once in the yeare to meet to
geather to make Choice of Select men not Exceeding the num-
ber of Seaven to mannage the prudential affairs of there
towns w'ch S'd Select men are to See that there towns are pro-
vided with a Stock of powder w'ch Shall bee one barrell to
every fifty Souilders and Shot proportionally with flints And
it is further Enacted by the authority aforesaide that the ffree-
holders Soe mett Shall make Choice of meete sons for Con-
stables & if the son Chosen Shall refuse to Serve hee Shall
paye a fine the Sum of five pounds one half to the use of the
towne & the other halfe to the use of the pore in said towne
& the freeholders Shall make Choyce of another, as allso to
-
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
527
make Choyce of Overseers of the poor; Packers of porke beefe
& Mackrill Sealers of Leather cullors of Staves to take Care
they be provided w'th a Schoole master not vistious in Con-
versation & it is further Enacted by the authority afores'd
that the Select men of each towne w'thin this province or the
Major parte of them w'th a Justice of the pease are Impowered
to make assesments on the visibble Estates of the Inhabitants
& of sons according to valuation; of there Incoms, to defraye
the Nesseary Charges awrising w'thin there townes & to give
warrante unto the Constable for Collecting the Same & pay-
ing it according to order & warrante given by the Select men
w'th one Justice of peace & s'd Select men are yearly to
give an account of all mony Soe Raysed by them to one of
the Justices of the peace w'th three men Chosen by the free-
holders as a Com'itte for that End that there maye bee noe
damage to any man-
John Usher Leftinant Governour
Richard Martin Speaker
Henry Peny Depity Secretary
[CHAPTER 3.]
ANN ACTE FOR THE ESTABLISHING A REVENEW FOR THE DE-
FRAYING THE PUBLIQUE CHARGE OF THE PROVINCE—
[Passed October 7, 1692. 4 William and Mary. Council Book 4, p. 83; Laws,
1692-1698, p. 1; Province Records, A, p. 113; Dudley collection, public record
office in London, folio 3; printed in 3 Province Papers, 168.]
Wee there Majesties moste Loyall & Dutifull Subjects the
Representatives of this there Maj'tes Province Convend in
Generall assembly being Sensible of the greate Charges & Ex-
penses wich have allready arrisen & muste Nessesarly bee
dayly growinge & Increasing In defending & Securing of there
Maj'ties Subjects & Interests & in prosecuting of the war
againste there french & Indian Enemies have Cheerfully &
unanimusly given & granted & doe hereby give & grante unto
there moste Exelent Majesties there Ayres & Sucsesors to the
end & Intent afores'd & for the defraying of other the Nesseary
& Contingent Charges in and aboute the Supporte of the Gov-
erment of this there Majesties Provinse the severall Dutyes,
Impostes & Exsise on the wines liquers & goods hereafter men-
tioned, & humbly beseech there Majesties to accept the Same
& that it maye be Enacted & be it Enacted by the Leftinante
Governour & Counsill & Representatives; Convened in; Gen'all
Assembly & it is hereby Enacted & ordaned by the Authority
of the Same that from & after the twenti ninth daye of this
Instante month October in the yeare of our Lord 1692 there
Shall be p'd by the Importer of all wines & Liquers & goods
528
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
hereafter Specified that Shall be Imported into this province
over the Sea the rates hereafter mentyoned to the Treasurer or
other officer appoynted to receive the Same that is to Saie for
every butt or pipe of fiall wine or other wines of the western
Islands the Sum of ten Shillings mony Every pipe of madera
wine thirteene Shillings Every butt or pipe of Sherry Sake
Malago Canary muscadill tent & allegante twenty Shillings,
& for every hhd of brandy Rume or other Strong distelled
liquars ten Shillings & soe proportionally for greater or lesser
quantityes of eatch ticular Liquers & the better to prevent
ffraude bee it further Enacted by the authority' aforesaide,
that if any master mate or purser of any Ship or vessell what-
soever or Any Marchante factor or other person whatsoever
Shall breke bulke or land any liquers afores'd before he or they
have made dew; entry thereof booath of the quantity and quall-
ity of Sutch wines or other liquars upon oath if requiered and
paye Such dutyes as are Requiered by this act to the treasurer
or Sutch other son as Shall be Appoynted to Collecte &
reseve the Customes & Dutyes aforesaide then & in Such Case
all Such goods as Shall be landed withoute entery & Custome
maide & paide as aforesaide Shall be forfited on the Testi-
mony of two or more Credible witnesses as afores'd: & it is
further Enacted by the Authority aforeSaide that all such
wines & Liquers that att Anny time or times hereafter Shall
be Imported in Anny Ship or vessell from Anny porte or place
whatsoever into this Province Shall be Landed & Putt on
Shore upon Such keye & wharfe & plases as shall be appoynted
by the Leftinante Governour & Counsill & at such times as
Shall Likewise be appoynted as afores'd & at or in no other
parte place or time whatsoever w'thout a mit from the
treasurer or officer Appoynted under the Penalty of the for-
fiture of all Sutch wines & Liquers as shall be landed & Delev-
ered from on board any Such Ship or vessell Contrary here
unto, one third to there Majesties one third to the Governour or
Leftinant Governour & the other third to him or them that
shall Sew or Informe for the Same as afores'd & be it further
Enacted by the Authorty afores'd that for all goods wares
& merchandize whatsoever that Shall bee Imported into this
Province over the Seas after the said Twentieth ninth daye of
October in the S'd yeare of our lord 1692) fish Shepes wooll
Cotton wooll & Salte & all Sorts of provision only Excepted
there Shall be p'd by the Importer or him or them to whome
Cousined the Severall Impostes & dutyes, following that is to
Saye for every twenty Shills vallew Shall be p'd one penny in
mony the valuation thereof to be as followeth that is to Saye
for every hundred pounds valew at the place from whence
Sutch goods Shall come to be accounted here at one hundred
& ten pounds & so In proportion for greater or Lesser quanti-
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
529
tyes, & for every Hogsed of tobacco foure pence & for every
hhd of Sugar Eight pence Every hhd Mollases foure pence, &
to the end S'd dutyes Laste mentyoned maye be duly p'd &
Collected, bee it further Enacted by the authority aforesaide
that Such goods & Merchandize Imported as afores'd into this
province Shall by the master or pusser of Such Ship or vessell
as they are Imported in or; the merchant factors or other son
or sons Importers being owners of; or having any of the
goods wares & merchandize; Consined to them that by this
act bee liable to paye Imposte or duty Such son or sons
Shall by themselves or order Cause the same to be entred w’th;
& give a trew & Just valew thereof & trew & perfect Invoyce
unto the treasurer or other officer appoynted for that purpose
& paye there duty or Secure the Same to be p'd as by this act
is provided before Sutch goods wares & merchandize be
Landed or put into any boote or vessell in order to be landed
on the fforfiture of twenty Shills tunn According to the
Burthen of the Ship or vessell Such goods or Merchandize are
Imported in; one third parte to there Maj'ties one thurd parte
to the Governour or Com'r In Cheife for the time beinge and
one third parte to him or them that shall Sew or Informe for
the same, And the s'd Treasurrer or other officer to be Ap-
poynted as afores'd and hereby Requird Carefully & Trewly
to Enter all sutch goods, wares & Marchandize w'th there sev-
erall markes, Caskes, Pake, fordells, Truses, Chestes, trunkes
& all other thinges howsoever Caled or Distinguished w'th
the Names of the Persons hoo owneth, or to hoome sutch goods
are sent or Consignd, & the treasurer or other officer are hereby
required to demand & receive the Severall dutyes & Impostes
in this act aforementyoned In Case of the deniall or delaye
of Payment thereof as afores'd the s'd tresurer or other officer
are hereby Impoured to Levy the Same by distress & sale of
the goods & Merchandize not paying the Dutyes as afores'd
at the rate & price in the Invoice thereof mentyoned & to have
& receive twelve pence in the pound over and above the Saide
Dutyes and Impostes for his & there time or Labour therein
and it is likewise further Enacted & ordained by the Authority
afores'd that every Ship or vessell above thirty Tuns Comming
into any porte or portes of this province from over the Sea to
trade or traffick all or the major parte of the owners whereof
are not actually Inhabitants of this province, Shall every
voiadge they make paye Eighttene pence in mony tunn or
one pound of powder for the Supply of there Maj'ties fortes &
fortifications w'thin this province, to be reaceved by the treas
urer or sutch other person or persons as Shall be Appoynted
to receive the Same, and it is further Enacted by the authority
aforesaide that every merchante or other son Importing
Anny wines or other Liquers into this province Shall be
8
530
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
allowed twelve Cent for Lequid provided the Saide wines
or other Liquers have not bin filled up, on board & that Every
hhd of wine or Liquer that Shall not have ful Seven Inches left
therein & every but or pipe of wine or other Liquers that have
not Nine Inches Lefte therein Shall be accomp'td for outs, &
the Marchante or Importer to paye no Impostes or duty for
the Same, anything herein Conteyned to the Contrary notw'th-
standing and it is Hereby further Enacted & declared by the
authority afores'd that if all or any of the wines or Liquors as
aforesaide be landed & after wards be exported out of this
province w'thin three months after the Importatyon, thereof,
there shall be repaid & discounted by the treasurer or other
officer appoynted to receive the S'd Imposte unto the Im-
porters or there assignes two third partes of w't they p'd or
Secured to be p'd for Soe much as he or they Shall Exporte hee
or they making oath to the Saide officer or officers who are
hereby Impowered to adminester the Same that it is the Same
wines & Liquers for w'ch the whole dutyes hath been paide or
Secured to be p'd & that it is Exported w'thin the time Limited
as afores'd by this act Excepting only Such wines & Liquers as
shall be transported into the Province of maine oute of this
province for w'ch noe Such Impostes Shall bee drawne bake
or receved as afores'd any thing herein Conteined to the Contr
thereof in any wise not w'th Standing & it is further hereby
Liquise Enacted & ordained by the Authority afores'd that
there Shall bee given & granted unto there S'd Maj'ties: there
Ayres & Sucsesors for the use afores'd on Exsise upon all
wines brandy rum & other distelled Liquors Sider Alle & beare
that Shall be Sold by retaile in any towne or place w'thin this
provinse by those that Retaile the same in Manner and forme
as is hereafter Expressed and declared that is to Saye for
every butt or Pipe of wine ffivety Shills for every hhd of Sider
alle or beere two Shills & Sixpence for every quarte of rum
brandy & other distelled Liquers two pence all Currant mony
of this province & after that Rate for anny greater or Smaller
quantityes & for the dew & orderly Collecting and Receving of
the Exsise aforesaide it is further Enacted by the Authority
aforesaide that all Retailers of wine Brandy Rum Sider alle
or beere w'thin this province Shall upon there Purchase or
Resaite of all or any of the Liquers before Expressed make
Entry thereof with the Treasurer or other officer Appoynted
to Collect or Receive the Same and paye the Dutyes and Exsise
aforesaide under the Penallty of forfiture of all Sutch Liquors
as Shall be found in any Retailers house not being duly
Entered & the Exsise thereof p'd as afores'd provided allso
that it Shall & maye be Lawfull to & for the Treasurer or Sutch
other officer as shall be appoynted by him to Collect & Reseve
the s'd Exsise to agree w'th any Retailer for his Exsise for
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
531
one Hoole yeare in one Intire Some to be p'd quarterly or
other waies as he & they can agree for, w'thoute making Any
Entryes as afores'd provided allways & be it further Enacted
by the authority afores'd that no son or sons what soever
Shall Sell any wines Brandy rum Distild waters Sider beere
alle or other Liquers by retaile w'thoute a Lisense first had &
obtained from one or more Justis of the peace w'ch Shall be
held good & valued untill the next quarter Sessions w'thin this
Province Neither Shall it or maye be Lawfull for anny son
or sons whatsoever to Sell Les quantyes of any Strong
waters then of two galls, or of wine then one quarter Caske
at one time w'thoute first obtaining a Lisense for the Same
under the Penalty of five pounds for eatch Defaulte being
thereof Convicted by the oath of two or more Substantiall
witnesses all w'ch penalltyes & forfitures Shall be one half
thereof to there S'd Majesties, there heirs & Sucsesors for the
supporte of the Goverment & the other halfe to the Informer
who Shall Sew for the Same & Shall bee Reccovered by bill
plainte or Information in any Courte of Record w'thin this
province & it is hereby Enacted & declared by the authority'
aforeS'd that this sent acte Entiteled an acte for the Estab-
lishing a Revenew for the defraying the Publike Charge of the
Province Shall Remaine & Continew in force for the terme &
Space of one hole yeare & no longer anything herein before
Contained to the Contrary whereof in any wise not with
Standing-
John Usher Leftinante Governour
Richard Martaine Speaker—
Henry Penny Debity Secritary-
[CHAPTER 4.]
AN ACTE FOR THE DUE REGULATION OF WAITES AND
MESURES-
[Passed October 7, 1692. 4 William and Mary. Council Book 4, p. 87; Laws,
1692-1698, p. 19; Province Records, A, p. 120; Dudley collection, public record
office in London, folio 31; printed in 3 Province Papers, 173. Confirmed by
the queen in council November 19, 1706, public record office, New England.
F, folio 214; New Hampshire bundle 2, no. 56. Re-enactment May 14, 1718,
reprinted post. See also act of 1687, ante, p. 202,]
To the end that waites & Mesures maye be one & the Same
throughoute this province be it Enacted by the Leftinante
Governour & Counsill together with the generall assembly &
it is hereby Enacted & ordained by the authority of the Same
that the treasurer of this province Shall provide one Set of
waites & measures as are acording to the approved Whin-
chester measure allowed In England in the Exchecker w'ch
532
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
shall be the publike allowed Standerd through oute this prov-
ince for the proving & Sealing all waites & measures thereby;
& the Constables of every towne w'thin this province not all-
ready Supplyed Shall w'thin three months next Comming
provide upon the towne Charge one bushell one half bushell
one peck one halfe peck one ale quarte one wine pinte & halfe
pointe one ell one yard one Set of brass waites to foure Pounds
after Sixteene ownses to the pound w'th fit Scales & Steale
beame tried & proved by the afores'd Standard & Sealed by the
treasurer or his Debuty in his presents w'ch Shall be kept &
used only for Standerds in the Severall townes who is hereby
Authorized to doe the Same for w'ch he Shall Reseve
from the Constable of eatch towne two pence for weight
& measure Soe tryed proved & Sealed & the Constable
of every towne Shall Commit those weights and measures
unto the Custody of the Select men of there towne for the
time being who w'th the Constable are hereby Injoyned to
Choose one able man for Sealers of all waites & measures
for there one towne from time to time untill another be Chosen
who shall be presented unto the next Courte or Some Justice
of the pease there to be Sworne to the faithfull Discharge of
his dewty and Shall have power to Send forth his warrantes
by the Constable to all the Inhabitants of eatch towne to bring
in all Such waites & measures as they make any use of in the
month of aprill from yeare to yeare at Such time & places as
hee Shall Appointe & make returne to the Sealer in writing
of all persons so Summoned that then & there all Sutch waites
& measures maye be proved & Sealed w'th the towne Seale
w'ch is Likewise to be provided by the Constable att etch
townes Charge who Shall have for Every weight & measure
Soe Sealed one penny from the owners thereof at the first
Sealing & all Such waites & measures as cannot be brought
to there Just Standerd hee Shall deface & distroye and after
the first Sealing Shall have nothing for Soe long as they Con-
tinew Juste with the Standerd; and it is further Enacted by
the Authority aforeSaide that if any Constable Select men or
Sealer Doe not Dewly Execute this law Soe far as to eatch and
every of them Appertaines they & eatch of them shall forfit for
Every Neglecte the Space of one month the Some of forty
Shills the one halfe to the Informer the other halfe to the
Pore of the towne where Such Defaulte is found and Every
person Neglecting to bring in there waites & measures at the
time & place Appoynted being Duly warned thereto shall Like-
wise forfit three Shills fourpence the one halfe thereof to the
use of the pore aforesaide the other halfe to the Sealer, &
the penallties herein mentioned to be Levied by distress by
warrante from anny Justice of the peace; and it is further
Enacted by the authority afores'd that Every Seaporte Towne
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
533
1
w'thin this province the Constable or Constables are to pro-
vide Liquesie upon the towne Charge one Hundred waight
made of Iron to be tryed proved & Sealed as afores'd & one
halfe hundred & one quarter of one hundred & one fourteen
Pound weighte made of Iron to be proved & Sealed as afores'd
& to be Kept as Standards in the s'd Severall townes to be
used as before for other waites & measures as is directed, &
it is further orderred by the authority afores'd that all Still-
yards that are or shall be approved of by the standard Shall
be allowed of in any or all the townes in Saide province & in
the Liberty of boath byer & Seller to waigh by which they
please—
John Usher Leftinante Governour
Ritchard Martin Speaker-
Henry Penny Deputy Secretary-
[CHAPTER 5.]
AN ACT FOR ALLOWANCES MADE TO THE REPRESENTATIVES-
[Passed October 7, 1692. 4 William and Mary. Council Book 4, p. 88;
Laws, 1692-1698, p. 13; Province Records, A, p. 122; Dudley collection, public
record office in London, folio 20; printed in 3 Province Papers, 175. Con-
firmed by the queen in council November 19, 1706. Public record office,
New England, F, folio 214; New Hampshire bundle 2, no. 56. See also act
of May 14, 1718, printed in New Hampshire laws, ed. of 1716-26, p. 61,
reprinted post.]
Whereas the Severall Representatives of this Assembly can
not officiate & discharge that honorable & greate truste re-
posed in them w'thoute being at greate Charge & Expence
bee it therefore Ennacted by the Leftinant Governour & Coun-
sill & Representatives Convene in Generall assembly & it is
hereby Enacted by the authority of the same that the allow-
ances to each Representative of the people Shall be three
Shillings diem to Commence from there Coming oute untill
there Returne home allowing one daye for Comming oute &
one daye for there Returne home to bee paide oute of thee
Rates made in thee Sevirall townes in the province for defray-
ing towne Charges
John Usher Leftinante Governour-
Ritchard Martin Speaker-
Henry Penny Debity Secretary—
534
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
[CHAPTER 6.]
ANN ACT AGAINSTE SHIPING OF HORSES WITHOUTE ENTRING
[Passed October 7, 1692. 4 William and Mary. Council Book 4, p. 89;
Laws, 1692-1698, p. 13; Province Records, A, p. 123; Dudley collection, public
record office in London, folio 21; printed in 3 Province Papers, 175. Con-
firmed by the queen in council November 19, 1706. Public record office, New
England, F, folio 214; New Hampshire bundle 2, no. 56. See also act of
May 14, 1714, New Hampshire laws, ed. of 1716-26, p. 52, reprinted post.]
Bee it Enacted by the L'tt Governour Counsill & Repre-
sentatives Convened in Genirall assembly & it is hereby
Enacted & ordained by the authority of the Same that from
& after the twentyeth ninth of this Instante October no master
or Com❜ander of any ship or vessell Shall receive on boarde his
Ship or vessell in this province of Newhamshire any horse
gillding or mare; but Such as Shall be entred into a book
w'th the Cullor particular markes & age as neare as maye bee
knowne & son from whome Such was laste boughte & proofe
by witness he was the trew owner thereof to be kept in a book
by an officer Appoynted thereunto w'ch officer is hereby
authorized to vew all Such as Shall be Shipt; & for every horse
Mare or Guilding Soe Entered, there Shall bee paide to the
Saide officer by the owner of Such horses the Sum of Six
pence each & every Commander or master of any vessell who
Shall take on boarde; any other horse mare or Guilding Ex-
cept Such as hee shall receive a note under the hand of the
Saide officer; Soe to be Entered as aforesaide Shall forfitt the
Sum of foure pounds to bee disposed one halfe to the Informer
the other halfe to there Majesties for the use of the Province-
John Usher Leftinante Governour-
Richard Martayne Speaker-
Henry Penny Debyti Secritary—
1
[CHAPTER 7.]
AN ACTE AGAINSTE LAW SUTES ABOVE TWENTY POUNDS
[Passed October 7, 1692. 4 William and Mary. Council Book 4, p. 89;
Laws, 1692-1698, p. 18; Province Records, A, p. 124; printed in 3 Province
Papers, 176. This act was not included in the Dudley collection nor in the
list of acts passed 1692, filed by Mr. Popple August 22, 1693. There is no
entry reported from the public record office to indicate that it was ever trans-
mitted.]
Bee it Enacted by the Leftinante Governour & Counsill to-
gether with thee Generall Assembly & it is hereby enacted &
ordained by the authority of the same whereas there Majesties
Subjects Inhabiting this Province have for a long time w’th
the Expence of lives & Estates Stood upon there one Defence
againste Majestyes ffrentch & Indyan Enimyes to there greate
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
535
Impoverishment: & allmoste utter undoeing & have no pros-
pecte for the future of Defending there Magesties Interest
here w'thoute greatest Expence & Hazard Soe that w'thout
outemoste in Coragment, of being preserved from Disturbans
in there Rights & Prosperityes will be Induced at laste to quitt
all to there Majesties Enemies for proventyon whereof bee it
Enacted by the authority afores'd that no Royall action or
writ of Ejectment for the posesion or title of anny Lands nor
any sonall action or Sute where the valew Sewed for
Exceede the Som of twenty pounds be prosecuted by any son
or sons in any Courte w'thin this province for the time &
Space of two yeares following from & after the twenty ninth
daye of October 1692 & soe long after as this war Shall Con-
tinew but that this act shall be a bar thereto & all persons
Shall & are hereby preserved & Continued in there Rights
prosperities & posesions and hooesoever shall trespas upon
the Same Shall paye the Damage Accuring thereby—
John Usher Leftinante Governour—
Ritchard Martin Speaker-
Henery Penny Deputy Secritary—
[CHAPTER 8.]
AN ACT FOR REGULATING OF CATTLE CORNE FEILDS &
FENCES-
[Passed October 7, 1692. 4 William and Mary. Council Book 4, p. 90;
Laws, 1692-1698, p. 15; Province Records, A, p. 125; Dudley collection, public
record office in London, folio 27; printed in 3 Province Papers, 176. Con-
firmed by the queen in council November 19, 1706. Public record office, New
England, F, folio 214; New Hampshire bundle 2, no. 56. See also act of
May 14, 1718, New Hampshire laws, ed. of 1716-26, p. 117, reprinted post;
also act of 1687, ante, p. 200.]
•
Bee it Enacted by the Leftinante Governour and Counsill
togeather with the genirall assembly & it is hereby Enacted
and ordayned by the authority of the Same thatt in all Com-
mon feilds under Improvement every party Interressed Shall
from time to time make good his parte of fence & the owner or
owners of the Major parte of Such feilds Shall order and limit
the proportion of Cattle that Shall be put to feed thereon an-
nually the time when and manner of Improvement thereof,
which is to be observed by all persons Interressed therein on
paine to answer all Damage that Shall come thereby and
where land have formerly been Improved in Common any one
owner of such lands be minded to Improve his parte in Severall
if there be no agreement binding to the Contrary the owner of
the land next adjoying to him Shall bare the one halfe of the
Charge of the fence againste him who Shall Improve in Severall
but where lands lye in Common unfenced, if an owner Shall
Improve his parte by fencing in Seaverall and the other Shall
not; hee who Shall so Improve Shall Secure his lands againste
536
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
other mens Cattle and Shall not Compell him that Joyneth
upon him to make any fence with him Except he allso Shall
Improve in Severall as the other doth & where one man, Shall
Improve before his Neihbour and Soe make the whole fence if
after his S'd Neihbour Shall allso Improve he shall then Sat-
isfye for halfe the others fence againste him according to the
present valew & Shall mainetaine the Same & if the first Im-
prover Shall after laye open his said feild then the S'd Neih-
bour Shall Enjoye his S'd halfe fence to his one use purchased
as afores'd & shall allsoe have Liberty to bye the other halfe
fence paying according to present valuation to be made by
two men Indifirently Chosen by either party & it is further
Enacted by the authority afores'd that the Select men or
townesmen shall from yeare to yeare appointe two or more in
each towne if need requier, of the Inhabitants thereof to vew
all Common fences & to take all dew notice of the reall defects
& Insufisiansy thereof who Shall forthwith acquaint the
owners thereof with the Sam and if the Saide owners doe not
within Six dayes time or otherwise as the vewers Shall ap-
poynte Suficiantly to repaire the Saide defective fences then
the Saide vewers Shall forthwith repaire or renew them and
Shall have double Recompence for all there Coste labour and
Care to be paide by the owner of Such in Sufficient fence or
fences & Shall by warrante from any Justice of peace Levy the
Same either upon the Corne or other goods of the delinquent
& the s'd fence vewers Shall twice every yeare vew fences &
Such as they returne Sufficient Shall be accounted good for
three months after unless proofe be made that it is Impared
and Such fence as is accounted Sufficient againste othere Cat-
tle Shall allso be accounted good againste Sheepe and Swine
and the owners to be lyable to Satisfye damage done by them
& it is further Enacted by the authority aforesaide that all
unruly horses or other unruly Cattell, haveing bin so Judged
by the Selecte men shall be Liable to Doble Damidge It is
allsoe Enacted by the authority aforesaide that theire be one
Sufficient pound or more made and mentained in every towne
within this Province for the Impounding Swine & Cattle
founde damage fesante-
John Usher Leftinante Governour—
Ritchard Martayne Speaker-
Henery Penny Debity Secretary
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
537
[CHAPTER 9.]
AN ACT FOR SETLING THE MILITIA
[Passed October 7, 1692. 4 William and Mary. Council Book 4, p. 92;
Laws, 1692-1698, p. 8; Province Records, A, p. 128; Dudley collection, pub-
lic record office in London, folio 11; printed in 3 Province Papers, 178. Con-
firmed by the queen in council November 19, 1706. Public record office, New
England, F, folio 214; New Hampshire bundle 2, no. 56. Compare act of
May 14, 1718, New Hampshire laws, ed. 1716-26, p. 91, reprinted post, also
act of March 24, 1687-8, ante, p. 221.]
Whereas the sent State & Condition of this province doth
of nesesity requier that the Inhabitants thereof Should be
well armed & trained up in Art Military as well for the honour
and Service of there moste Exelent Majestyes as for the ser-
vation of there one lives & fortunes Bee it Enacted & ordained
by the Leftinante Governour Counsill & Representatives Con-
vened in generall assembly And it is hereby Enacted & or-
dained by the authority of the Same that noe male son
w'tsoever from the adge of sixteene yeares & upwards remaine
unlisted by themselves or masters Mistriss or Imployers under
the Captaines in the respective places of there abode the
Space of one Callendermonth after there arivall or Coming
to reside or Sojourne in any place within this province on pen-
allty of twenty Shills & Soe for every month Such son or
sons Shall remaine unlisted & that every Soldyer Shall be
well provided w'th a well fixed gun or fuse Sword or hatchet,
Snapsack Catouch box, horne Charger & flints w'th six
Charges of powder & soe Shall appeare when & where ap-
pointed upon penallty of five Shills for his defaulte in not
appearing & three Shills for want of any of the aforeS'd gun
armes or aminition above mentioned soe as the whole pen-
allty at one time for one son excede not ten Shills & that
every Sooilder Shall have at his habitation & abode one pound
of good pouder & twenty Sizable bullets on penallty of ten
Shills for each defaulte & that each son Shall bring the
Same into feild when Com'anded on the like penallty of tenn
Shillings soe as the whole penallty for one son at one time
exceed not fifteene Shillings And it is hereby further Enacted
by the authority aforesaide that it Shall and maye be lawfull
for any son or sons that by Reason of urgent occasions or
other Emergancy Cannot appeare upon the guard or watches
to put a well Armed man in theire roome who if approved of
by the Captaine of the Guard shall excuse his or theire absence
& all sons listed as afores'd under the respective Captaines
in the Severall places of there abode shall readily attend &
Serve on watches & wards when appointed under the penallty
of three shills for each defaulte & in Case any son be not
able to provide himself armes & ammunition as afores'd
538
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
through poverty, if he be Single he Shall be put to Service by
any Justice of the pease w'thin this province to procure him
estate to purchase Such armes & ammunition & that his or
theire master or mistriss shall finde & provide his armes &
am'unition during his Service And it is allsoe further Enacted
by the authority afores'd that noe son whatsoever presume
to fire any Small armes after Eight of the Clock of night
unless in Case of Alarme Insurrection or other lawfull occa-
sions & in either of the S'd Cases three muskets or Small armes
distinckly fiered or where greate guns are the fiering of one
greate gun & two muskets or Small armes distinckly & beat-
ing of drum Shall bee taken for an alarm & every son that
Shall neglect his duty in taking & giving forward an Alarm
by fiering as afores'd or Shall be guilty of fireing any Small
armes after Eight of the Clock at night unless as afores'd Shall
be fined forty Shills: & in Case of Such allarme every Souilder
is Imediatly to repare armed to his Coullours or Courte of
guard upon the penallty of five pounds & it is hereby likewise
further Enacted by the authority afores'd that the Comision
officers in each respective towne w'thin this province Shall be
a Com'itte of Militia for the ordering the military affaiers of
the towne for the Settelm't garrisons appoynting the Severall
Inhabitants there to theire respective places & garrisons &
orderind watching warding Scouting prohibiting fireing of
guns by daye as they Shall See Occasion & the Severall In-
habitants are hereby required to yeilde due obedience to the
orders of the S'd Committe on penallty of fine not Exceding
twenty shills or riding the wooden horse or other Military
Corporall punishment to be Inflicted upon the offenders at the
discretion of the s'd Committe & it is further Enacted & de-
clared by the Authority afores'd that all fines & forfitures men-
tioned in this act & not otherwise to be disposed of Shall be
levied by distress & Sale of the offenders goods by the Cap-
taines warrant for that purpose to be granted to the Clerke
of Such Company to be Improved & laide oute for the use of
the Company to defraye the publick Charge thereof & it is
further Enacted by the authority afores'd that all Captaines
& other Com'ision officers are hereby required to yeild ready
& due obedience to all orders & warrants they shall from tyme
to time receive from the Gove'r Lef't Governour or Com'ander
in Cheife for the time being, or Major of thee Regiment on pen-
allty of five pounds for every neglect or defaulte to be levyed
by distress & Sale of the offenders goods by warrant from the
Major to the Sherriff of the province one halfe thereof to be to
the use of our Sovereigne lord & laidy King William & Queen
Mary theire heires & Sucsesors & the other halfe to him or
them that Shall Informe for the Same & it is further Enacted
& ordained by the authority afores'd that noe son Soe listed
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
539
as afores'd during this sent war Shall departe thence w’th-
oute a discharge from the Comitte of the towne first had
where Such son is an Inhabitante of & obtained, or in Case
of there denyall from Gove'r or Commander in Cheife for the
time being on penallty of twenty pounds to be levied by dis-
tress & Sale of the offenders goods by warrante from any
Justices of the pease w'thin this province to the Sheriff who
are hereby Impowered to grante forth Such warrante upon
Complainte to them made for that purpose and to adminester
an oath if occasion requier w'ch S'd fine of twenty pounds when
levied as afores'd shall be Improved to the use of the towne
from whome Such son shall soe departe as afores'd at the
discrection of the s'd Justices And it is further Enacted & de-
clared by the authority afores'd that all Drummers now in
Service or that hereafter Shall by the Severall Captaines be
put into that Service during the Captaines pleasure shall be
allowed & receive twenty Shillings annum if they finde
there one Drums or tenn shills annum if the Captaine find
there drums & that no son that now is listed in any Com-
pany or hereafter that Shall be Soe listed & appointed to that
Service Shall refuse the Same upon penallty of twenty Shills
to be levyed by distress and Sale of the offenders goods by
warrante from the Captaine of Such Company to bee disposed
of for the defraying the publick Charge thereof & in Case Such
Captaine Shall find a drum for the use of the Company he Shall
deduct the price thereof oute of the fines, & it is hereby En-
acted & ordained by thee authority aforesaide that all & every
Pson & sons that hereafter Shall be detached or Impressed
oute of any of the Companyes within this province for theire
Majesties Service by theire Superiour officers or by warrante
from the Governour or Commander in Cheife for the time be-
ing or thee Major of the Regiment Shall appeare & attend
Such Service at the time & place to be appointed on penallty of
ffour pounds to be Leved as afores'd & disposed of to the use
and Incourigment of such as Shall goe in the Service above
mentioned & if the refusall of Such son or sons offending
be accompanied with Contempt Such son or sons Shall be
punished w'th death or Some other grevious punishment as the
matter may requier at the Discresion of a Courte Martiall &
for the better releife & defence of any of the Townes & garri-
sons within this province that Shall be attached by the Enemy
It is hereby Enacted by the authority afores'd that each Cap-
taine w'thin this province are hereby Authorized & Com❜anded
to list or detach Soe many of his men not Exceding one third
of his Company provided allwayes that there be no less then
five men left in each garison w'ch men soe listed or detached
Shall be ready upon the first advice of the Enemyes attacke
of any Towne or Garrisons by order of the Cheife Officer of the
540
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
Towne forthwith to march (under Such Conduct as the s'd
Cheife Officer of the Towne shall appointe) to the releife of any
Towne or Garrison Soe attacked & not to waite any further
orders of any superiour authority for there March leaste the
time of doeing Service Should be elapsed & in Case any son
or sons Soe listed or detached as afores'd Shall refuse or
neglect (upon notice given) Such March or attendance upon
Such Service shall paye a fine not Exceding forty Shills to be
disposed of as laste above mentioned or be punished w'th Such
Corporall military punishment at the direction of the Cap't or
Cheife officer of the towne & for the provention of advantadge
or Encourigment to the Enemy during this sent war It is
hereby Enacted & ordained by the authority afores'd that noe
Ind'n Corne be Stowed or left at any remote ungarrisons
houses or places but all brought w'thin Commande of Some
garrison or garrisons on penallty of paying five Shills a daye
by the owner of the S'd Corne for every daye Such Corne Shall
Soe remaine Stored or left at any remote ungarisand houses
or place after notice thereof given to Such owner by one of the
Committe of Militia of the Towne whereto Such owner doth or
maye belong Such penallty to levyed by distress & Sale of
the offenders goods by warrante from the Comitte of mylitia
to be disposed of by them for the use of the garison Such
offendrs Shall belong unto & be it further Enacted by the
authority afores'd that in Case of the Enemyes attackt of our
Neighbours in the County of Yorke in the province of the
masithutets baye it Shall & maye be in the power of the sent
Lef't Gov'r w'th the advice & Consent of the Counsill to raise
& detache men in the moste Conveniante parte of this prov-
ince & to order there March unto the S'd County of Yorke for
the releife & Assistance of there Majestyes Subjects there pro-
vided allwayes & it is hereby further Enacted & declared by
the authority afores'd that nothing in this act Contained Shall
be expounded Construed or understood to diminish allter or
abridg the power of the Gov'r Left Gov'r or Comander in
Cheife for the time being but that in all things & upon all
occasions he or they maye act as fully & freely as any Gov'r
Lef't Gov'r or Com'ander in Cheife ought or mighte doe to all
intents & purposes as if this act had never been made any thing
in this act contained to the Contrary notw'thstanding pro-
vided & it is hereby Enacted & declared by the authority
afores'd that all the members of theire Majestyes Counsill
Justices of the pease Sheriffs minesters Treasurer of there
Majestyes province Collector or deputy Collector Searcher &
Survaour of there Majestyes Customs Schoolmasters & Chyrur-
geons Shall be freed from being listed in any Company w’thin
this Province & from all watching & warding or other military
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
541
duty anything herein before Contained to the Contrary thereof
in any wise notwithstanding—
John Usher Leftinante Governour-
Richard Martaine Speaker-
Henry Penny Depity Secritary—
[CHAPTER 10.]
AN ACT FOR THE ESTABLISHING COURTS OF JUDICATURE FOR
THE EASE & BENIFIT OF THEIR MAIGESTIES SUBJECTS WITH-
IN THIS PROVINCE
*
[Passed October 7, 1692. 4 William and Mary. Council Book 4, p. 98;
Laws, 1692-1698, p. 4; Province Records, A, p. 140; printed in 3 Province
Papers, 183. This act was not included in the Dudley collection forwarded
to the lords of trade in 1702. It is mentioned in the list of acts passed by
the general assembly in 1692, at the October and March sessions, and sub-
mitted to the attorney-general by Mr. Popple August 22, 1693. The act of
1699 was evidently intended to supersede it. The judges holding office under
this act were dismissed upon the advent of the Bellomont administration in
1699. Farmer's Belknap, 156. The repeal of the act of 1699 by the queen
in council in 1706 raises an interesting question in the history of the New
Hampshire judiciary as to the theoretical status of the court existing on the
basis of the act of 1699. What, moreover, was the effect of the repeal, in
1706, of the act of 1699 upon the act of 1692? Was the constructive repeal
of the act of 1692 by the enactment of 1699 of any effect upon the act of 1692?
In such circumstances was the act of 1692 to be regarded as revived? Shir-
ley, Early Jurisprudence of New Hampshire, Proceedings of the N. H. His-
torical Society, vol. 1, p. 298; cases cited, Morrison's Digest, p. 717. Com-
pare act of June 10, 1686, ante, p. 102, and act of 1686-7, ante, p. 190. Copp v.
Henniker, 55 N. H., 185; Perkins v. Scott, 57 Id., 60, 64, 68, 69, 80, 81; Connecti-
cut River Lumber Company v. Olcott Falls Company, 65 Id., 327, 344, 345, 346,
347; State v. Saunders, 66 Id., 41, 67.]
Whereas the orderly Regulac'on & Establism't of Courts
of Judicature throughout this province as well in respect of
time as place doth tend very much to the honour & dignity
of the Crowne as to the Ease & benifit of the Subject Bee it
Enacted by the Lef't Govern'r & Counsill & Representetives
Convened in General Assembly & it is hereby Enacted &
ordained by the authority of the Same that every Justice of
the pease that resides w'thin any towne w'thin this province
are hereby fully Impowered & Authorizd to have Cognizances
of all Causes cases of debt & trespases to the valew of forty
Shills or under w'ch Causes & Cases Shall be heard tryed &
finally determined w'thout a Jury by every Justice of the
peace that resides w'thin any towne w'thin this province;
where the Cause of action doth arise the process of warning
Shall be a Sum'ons under the hand of the Justice directed to
*Thursday, 6th October, 1692. Resolved, that Nathan'll Fryer & Robert
Elliott, Esqrs., be and hereby are appointed a Committee to join with such
committee of the other house as they shall appoint, for establishing Courts
of Judicature and that they pr'ceed upon the same. 3 Province Papers, 3.
The House Journal has not been found, and the names of the other members
of this committee cannot now be given.
542
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
the Constable of the towne or presinct or any deputed by him
where the party Complained against doth live w'ch Sum'ons
being Psonally Served or left at the defend'ts house two dayes
before the daye of hearing of the Plaint Shall be a Sufficient
Authority to & for the s'd Justice; as afores'd to proced on
Such Cause or Causes & determin the Same in the defend'ts
absence to grant Execution thereon ag't the Defend'ts son
or for want thereof his Estate, w'ch the said Constable of the
towne or precincts or his deputy Shall & maye Serve allwaies
Provided; & bee it further Enacted by the authority afores'd
that if the plantiff or Defend't Shall desire a Jury it Shall be
allowed but at the proper Coste & Charges of the person De-
siring the Same & for the Increase of vertue & the discourig-
ing of evill doers throughout this province bee it further En-
acted by the authority afores'd that there Shall bee held & kept
yearely & every yeare four quarterly Courts of Sessions of the
pease w’thin this province at the dayes & time hereafter named
& Expressed that is to Saye on the first tewsdaye in March
June September & December at Portsmouth w'ch Courts of
Sessions of the pease Shall onely hold & Continew for the
Space & time of two dayes & no longer & for the more Regular
& benificiall distributions of Justice to the Inhabitants of this
province bee it further Enacted; by the authority afores'd that
there be kept & held a Courte of Com'on Please w’thin this
province at the times & places hereafter named & Expresed
that is to Saye at Such plases as the Court of Sessions are to
be kept & to begin the next daye after the Sessions terminat
& only held & Continew for the Space & time of three dayes &
noe longer & that there be one Judg & three Justices ap-
pointed & Commissionated to hold the Same Courte of please
three whereof to be a Quorum & that the Severall & respec-
tive Courts hereby Established Shall have Jurisdiction to
heare try & finally determine all actions & Causes of actions
& all matters & things & Causes tryable at the Com'on Law of
what nature or kind soever not Exceding twenty pound &
where title of land is not Conserned provided allwayes & it
is hereby; Enacted by the authority aforesd that there Shall
bee an Appeale or removall by habeas Corpus of any son
or of any action or Suite or of any Judgm't or Execution that
Shall be determined in this Court to the next Supreme Courte
of Judicature to w'ch Saide Courts of Com'on please there
Shall belong & be appoynted & Comityonated for that purpose
one Clerk of the Court to draw enter & keep the Records declir-
ations pleas & Judgm'ts there to be had & made & for the more
orderly proceedings in the S'd Courte all process & writs of
what nature soever for the Com'and of persons to appeare &
to Exicute the Judgm'ts Executions of the Courtes aforesd
Shall be directed to the Sherife of this province & Executed
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
543
by him his under Sheriff or debuty & all process & writs for
actions betwixt party & party in the S'd Courte Shall Ishew
out of the office of the Clerke of the Courte Signed Curiam
& that there Mai'ties Subjects Inhabiting within this province
may have all the good proper & Just wayes & meanes for the
Securing & recovering there Just rights & demands within the
Same, bee it further Enacted & it is hereby Enacted & or-
dained by the authority aforesd that there Shall bee held &
kept a Supreme Courte of Judicature; w'ch Shall be dewly
& Constantly Kept at portsmouth & not else where at the Sev-
erall times hereafter mentioned & that there be 4 Justices at
the leaste appointed & Com'isionated to hold the Same Corts;
two whereof w'th the Cheife Justice to be a Quorum w'ch
Supreame Courte are hereby fully Impowred & authorizd to
have Cognizance of all please Civill Criminall & mixt as fully
& amply to all Intents & purposes w'tsoever as the Courts of
kings bench Com'on please & Exchequer w'thin theire Maj'ties
Kingdom of England have or ought to have in & to w'ch Su-
preame Courte all & every son & sons w'tsoever shall or
maye if they Shall Soe See mete Com'ence or remove any
action or Suite or Shall or maye by warrant writ of Error or
Sertiorari remove out of the Courts of Sessions & Com'on
please; any Judgm't Inform'on or Indictm't there had & de-
pending & maye Correct Errors in Judgm't if there be Just
Cause allwayes provided & bee it further Enacted by the
authority aforesd that this Supreame Courte Shall be Con-
stantly & dewly kept & held at portsmo aforesd on the laste
Tewsdayes in Aprill & October Yearly & every yeare Provided
allsoe that they Shall not Sit longer then 6 dayes & bee it
further Enacted by the authority aforesd that it Shall not be
lawfull for any son or sons whatsoever appoynted Elected
or Com❜isionated to be a Justice or Judg of the aforesd Courts
to Exicute or officiate his or theire S'd place or office untill
Such time as hee or they Shall respectively take the Oaths
appoynted by act of parliment to be taken Instead of the
oaths of allegance & Supremacy & Subscribe the test in open
Courte & bee it further Enacted by the authority aforesd that
all & every the Justices or Judges of the Severall Courts be-
forementioned bee & are hereby Sufficiantly Impowered to
make order & Establish all Such rules & orders for the more
orderly practising & proceding in there S'd Courts as fully &
amply to all Intents & purposes w’tsoever as all or any of the
Judges of the S'd Severall Courts of Kings bench Com'on Pleas
& Exchecquer in Ingland legally doe provided allwayes & bee
it further Enacted by the authority aforesd that no sons
Right or propertys Shall be by any of the aforesd Courts de-
termined Except where matteres of fact are either acknowl-
idged by the partyes or Judgm't be acknowlidged, or passeth
544
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692.
by the defendts faults for want of plea or answer unless the
fact be found by the verdit of twelve men of the Neighbour-
hued as it ought of right to be by the law & it is hereby En-
acted by the authority aforesd that there Shall be a Court of
Chancery w'thin this province w'ch S'd Courte Shall have
power to heare & determine all matters of Equity & Shall bee
esteemed & accunted the high Court of Chancery of this
province & bee it further Enacted by the authority aforesd
that the Gove'r & Counsill bee the S'd high Courte of Chan-
cery & hold & keep the S'd' Courte & that the Gove'r maye
depute nominate & appointe in his Stead a Chncellor & be
assisted with Such other sons of the Counsill as shall by him
be thought fit & Convenient together w'th all nesesary officers
Clerks & Registers as to the S'd high Courte of Chancery are
needfull provided allwayes & it is hereby further Enacted
by the authority aforesd that any ffreeholder planter Inhab-
itant or Sojourner within this province maye have liberty if
hee or they See meet to make his or there appeale or appeales
from any Judgment obtained by him or them againste him
or them in Case of error in the Severall Courts aforesd in Such
manner & forme as is hereafter expresed that is to Saye from
the Courts of Com'on please to the Supreame Court for any
Judgment not Exceding twenty pounds and from the Su-
preame Courte to the Governour & Counsill for any decree or
Judgment above the valew of fifty pounds & from the Gov-
ernour & Counsill to there Majties in Counsill for any decree
or Judgment above the valew of one hundred pounds Sterling
as in theire Maigesties Letters Patents to the Governour doth
direct-
Hen'ry Penny Dep't secret'ry
Jn'o Usher Lif'tnt Gover'r
Ritchd Martin Speker
[CHAPTER 11.]
AN ACT FOR DISSTROING OF WOULES
[Passed October 7, 1692. 4 William and Mary. Council Book 4, p. 102;
Laws, 1692-1698, p. 12; Province Records, A, p. 146; Dudley collection, public
record office in London, folio 19; printed in 3 Province Papers, 187. Con-
firmed by the queen in council November 19, 1706. Public record office, New
England, F, folio 214; New Hamphire bundle 2, No. 56. Compare act of May
14, 1718, New Hampshire laws, ed. of 1716-26, p. 109, reprinted post; also act
of May 11, 1687, ante, p. 204.]
Be it Enacted by the Leiu't Governour & Councill; To
Geather with the Gen'll Assembly: And it is hereby Enacted
& ordained by the Authority of the Same; That whoe Soever
Shall at any time here after kill or distroye, any Grouen wolfe,
in Any Towne within this Province He Shall be paid &
Allowed, at the Publique Charge of the Same Towne, The Sum
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692-3.
545
of Twenty Shillings head & for a wolfes whelpe, halfe Soe
much; And that the Same be raised by the Selectmen in Each
Respective Towne, with other Towne Charges, And duely
paid & Satisfied accordingly—
John Usher Leiu't Govern'r
Richard Martine Speaker
[NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY.]
[Held at Great Island (Newcastle), Two Sessions, March 1, 1692-3,
to August 5, 1693.]
[OFFICERS OF THE GOVERNMENT.]
SAMUEL ALLEN, GOVERNOR, residing in London; not present
in the province.
JOHN USHER, LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR, residing in Boston;
present in the province, acting as governor.
THOMAS DAVIS,* SECRETARY.
JOHN HINCKES, PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL.
THOMAS DAVIS, CLERK OF THE COUNCIL.
JOHN GILMAN, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE.
JOHN PICKERING, CLERK OF THE HOUSE.
MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL.
John Hinckes,
Portsmouth.
Nathaniel Fryer,
66
Robert Elliott,
66
Peter Coffin,
Exeter.
Henry Green,
Hampton.
Nathaniel Weare,
William Vaughan,
Richard Waldron,
66
Portsmouth.
66
MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE.
Portsmouth, Elias Stileman.
John Pickering.
Samuel Keais.
Dover,
John Woodman.
William Furber.
Job Clements, refused to qualify.
John Tuttle, returned March 6, 1692-3.
John Gilman.
Jonathan Thing.
Exeter,
Hampton,
Henry Dow.
Thomas Philbrick.
Joseph Swett.
Isles of Shoals, Thomas Dimond.
*Thomas Davis was appointed secretary of the province and clerk of the
council January 3, 1692-3, and qualified the same day.
546
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692-3.
[First Session, March 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 1692-3.]
[CHAPTER 1.]
[A BILL OF FEES.*]
[Approved by the lieutenant-governor and council March 2, 1692-3. Laws,
1692-1698, p. 50. Not included in the Dudley collection in the public record
office in London. Compare act for regulating fees, passed May 2, 1718, New
Hampshire laws, ed. 1716-26, p. 82, reprinted post.]
The Secretarys Fees
A Pass for each Vessell..
Certificate that a Vessell was built here
or belongs to his Maj'ties Subjects.
Bill of Health...
Special Warrant or Mittimus.
Every Bond
Every Oath of one or more persons to one
Depostion before the Governo'r..
Every Licence to Ordinaries to be re-
ceived & accounted for by the Clark of each
County
Commission for principal places of profit
under the great Seale ..
Every other Commission und'r the great
Seale
Every Commission for Clarke of the
Peace
Commission for each field Officer.
Commission for each other Millitary
officer
Warrant for Deputy Surveyers, or other
officers imployed about the Revenue
Every Commission of the peace..
Registry
Registring every Patent....
Registring every Deed Grant Conveyance
Letter of Attourney or other writing.
Copy thereof
Council
Every Order in Council....
Copying Acts of the Governour and Coun-
cil for each Sheet containing Fifteen Lines
and Six words ...
£
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""
99
3,,
99
""
£,,
¯", 10,
""
99
9,
""
""
*The Journal of the Assembly does not present evidence that this bill of
fees was formally passed by both houses and approved as an act. On the
contrary, it was evidently subject only to the separate action of the gov-
ernor and council. 3 Province Papers, 5.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692-3.
547
Patents
Every Warrant to Survey Lands not
Patented
Every Patente for a House or House Lot
or parcel of Land und'r one hundred
acres
from One hundred to one Thousand.
Above one Thousand...
Chancery
Every Subpena or other wrighting in
Chancery
Every Injunction
Every Commission out of Chancery.
Attachment
£,,
99
5,9
""
199
12,,
"}
"9
1,, 10,,
"9
وو
£,,
3,,
99
10,,
99
""
10,,
4,,
""
""
6,,
99
99
29
99
99
10,,
Sequestrac'on or Writt of Error.
Supersedeas
10,,
""
99
"
6,,
"
Attachment with Proclamation.
Commission of Rebellion...
Perogative
For Letters of Administration, Warrant
of appraisement, Bond & fileing of the In-
ventory
Recording a Will or Inventory of one
Sheet
Every Sheet more containing Fifteen
lines and Eight words to a line..
Allowing Accounts and Setling and
Dividing Intestates Estates...
Every Lycence for Marriage.
Every Citation to appeare before the
ordinary
£,, 1,,
99
""
,,
2,, 6,,
99
""
99
8,,
99
699
29
10,,
99
99
2,9
أأ
""
Every Quietus
99
اي اي
6,
22
99
In the Superiour Court
the Judges Fees
And to his Clarke....
Entring every Action for Tryall.
£,, 1,,
""
""
99
199
99
Taking every Special Baile...
Allowing a Writt of Error, taking Baile
and Certifying the Same into Chancery.
Allowing a habeas Corpus.
Taking the acknowledgm't of Deed in
Court
Confessing Judgment for himselfe &
Clerke.
5,, -
99
99
99
""
99
""
99
10,, -"
5,, -""
,,
99
5,
6,, 8,,
99
548
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692-3.
2,,
99
""
""
399
99
Acknowledging Satisfaction
Satisfaction upon a
Judgm❜t or Record
Allowing Guardians to an Infant.
Swearing every Attourney in this
Court..
In all Criminal Cases where party fined.
Allowing every Bill of Costs...
Clerk of the Superiour Court
his fees in Civil Cases
1,,
""
99
""
1,, -
99
"7
99
""
1,,
29
1
Every Rule of Court...
For the Seale to every Writt and Entry..
£,,
99
3,,
""
1,, 6,,
22
99
ings
Filleing every Declaration
Copy of Declaration and other plead-
Entring appearance
Every Writt of Error allowed..
Every Witness Sworne, or Evidence
read
1,, 6,,
"9
""
""
3,,"
1,,
""
""
99
2,,
99
"9
99
"9
""
Igg
Entring General Issue
1,, 6,,
22
99
Every Special pleading
2,,
""
99
99
Signing a Judgment by default.
Copyes thereof
Copy of every Rule of Court..
Entring every Special Baile..
Entring Judgm'ts in the Minutes..
Swearing the Jury and Ent: pannells..
Taking every verdict
Recording it
Copy of all things not before menc'oned
for first Sheet
Every Sheet more
6,,
""
99
""
92
99
1,
99
1,,
""
""
6,,
""
99
99
99
1,, 6,,
"2
99
399
""
2,,
99
""
99
99
2,,
""
Copy Sheet
Every appearance
•
Entring Satisfaction on Record.
Nonsuit after Committed to the Jury.
Allowing a Guardian
Fileing the Records of each Action in the
roles
In Criminal Cases
Drawing and Ingrossing every Indictm't
or Information
99
99
""
""
""
99
899
Every Action withdrawn or Nonsuit.
Every Petition read.
3,,
""
99
""
""
1,,
""
1,,
""
Order thereon
29
""
1,,
99
Copy
3,9
"9
99
2,,
Every tales
ວາ
22
99
""
""
99
3,,
29
""
""
6,, 8,,
£,,
4,9
99
""
""
99
2,,
8
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692-3.
549
For the discharge of any person upon
Baile for the Peace good behaviour, Con-
tempt and the like and Warrant thereon..
Every Imparlance
For awarding and making forth Process
against the Def't on information..
For the Discharge of every Indictment
for felony where Ignoramus found...
For the dismission of persons Indicted
for Smaller Offences
For the Plea not Guilty to an Indictm't
or Information
all Special Pleadings Sheet.
For a Submission ..
For Judgment thereon
For the venire facias
For a discharge
4.,
99
29
99
मेने
2,,
""
""
2,,
7,, 4,,
,,
4,, 4,,
""
""
199
8
""
""
2,,
29
22
29
2,,
99
99
2,,
2,,
""
99
99
2,, 6,,
""
""
4,,
cổ cô có
99
2,,
""
99
6,,
2,,
•
""
""
99
29
2,,
""
99
4,,
3,,
""
""
4,,
99
2,,
""
""
5,,
""
Every Subpena
Every Evidence on the Tryall.
Ent. Judgment on every Information..
Every Judicial Writt thereon.
Every Writt of Restitution
•
Appearance on Every Recognizance.
Discharge on every Recognizance.
Allowing every Supersedeas..
Every Scire facias on a Recognizance.
Drawing and Entring every Order.
Copy thereof ....
Every Warrant for the Peace or good be-
haviour
Entring every Action for Tryall.
and to his Clerke..
Taking every Special Baile.
In the Inferiour Court.
the Judges Fees-
£,,
""
10,,
6,,
99
99
99
""
2,, 6,,
"2
5,,
3,, 4,,
99
99
1,,
""
1,, 6,,
6
99
""
Following a Writt of Error Taking Baile
and Certifying the Same into Chancery.
Confessing Judgment for himselfe &
Clearke
Acknowledging Satisfaction upon Judg
m't on Record
Allowing Guardians to an Infant.
Allowing every Bill of Costs...
The Clerk of the Inferiour Court
his Fees in Civil Cases
For every Writt Entry and Seale.......
£
""
2,,
"
550
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692-3.
Fileing every Declaration other plead-
ings & Copy
Entring appearance
Calling and Swearing the Jury
•
Every Witness Sworn or Evidence read
Ent: and Recording the Verdict..
Making up the Record and Copy..
Copys of all Records for the first Sheet 1s
Every Sheet more 8d..
2,, 6,,
99
""
99
199
29
1,, 6,,
99
99
""
99
1,
99
199
6,,
6,,
5,,
"
22
""
1,,
99
99
8,,
وو
"9
29
99
2,,
"
2,,
"9
""
5,,
"9
""
""
22
99
299
Clerke of the Sessions or
Peace his Fees
Every Action withdrawn or nonsuit.
Every Imparlance
Entring Judgment or Confession and
Copy
Commission to Audito'rs To entring
returne
·
Drawing and Ingrossing every Indict-
ment or Information
Copy
Sheet
For the venire facias.
Every appearance
For the discharge of any person upon
Baile for the Peace, good behaviour Con-
tempt and the like, and Warrant thereon
Every Imparlance
For awarding and making forth Process
against the Def't on Information...
For the discharge of Every Indictment
for Felony when Ignoramas found.....
For the dismission of persons Indicted for
Small Offences
For the Plea not Guilty to an Indictm't or
Information
D'r all Special Pleadings Sheet..
For a Submission
• •
For Judgment thereon
For a discharge
£,,
4,,
""
99
""
99
8,9
""
99
2199
"
2,,
99
99
99
99
"9
añar an
2199
"
29
99
7,9 4,9
4,, 4,,
99
1,,
99
""
99
99
899
2,,
99
99
2,
""
99
2499
2,,
99
99
2,,
99
99
Every Scire facias on a Recognizance..
Every Subpena
Every Evidence on the Tryall.
Entring Judgment on every Information
Every Judicial Writt thereon.
Every Writt of Restitution .
Appearance of Every Recognizance.
Discharge on every Recognizance.
Allowing every Supersedeas
99
""
"9
""
24,, 6
99
4,,
2,,
6
6
99
6,,
99
""
""
29
2199
2,,
""
99
4,,
"9
•
3,,
""
""
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692-3.
551
Serving every venire and returne..
Copy of every pannelle.
D'r and Entring every Order.
Copy thereof ..
Every Warrant for the Peace or good be-
haviour
Every Licence for a Retailer to the Jus-
tices & Clerke
•
Serving every Capias
Every Returne
Baile Bond
Levying Every Execution the first 100 11
D'a.
above that ll not exceeding 10 11.
4,,
99
29
99
2,,
99
""
2,, 6
""
6,9
The Sheriffs Fees
£
3,,
""
1,9
""
99
99
""
""
1,,
1,,
""
""
29
""
""
6
2,, 6
6
""
"9
""
Every person Committed to Prison.
Upon his release ..
Serving of the Writt of hebere facias pos-
sessione
Every Tryall
22
99
5,
99
99
1,
For a Talles.
""
1,,
99
""
99
ا ميسي
If the Sheriffe travel to Serve any Writt
or to give possession, to be allowed mile
out
The Cryer or Marshalls Fees
Calling the Jury
6
22
£,,
1,,
4
Every Witness Sworne
""
""
99
Every Verdict
Every Nonsuit
""
99
""
"9
199
199
Attourney or Councills Fees
Pleading Fee, on a Tryall in Towne.
In the Countrey
£,, —,, 10,,
99
1,,
""
""
99
3,, 4
""
""
6,9
""
""
""
The Terme Fee
Attending the Execution of a Writt of
Enquiry
D'r every Declaration or other pleadings
Ent. every Judgment on the roll..
Making up the Record for Tryall where
directed by the Judges
•
Makeing a Baile peece..
The Messengers Fees
For Every person taken into his Custody
For every Mile travelling outwards.....
For every day a Prisoner is in his Custody
for Lodgings Dyat and Attendance..
Ret of his Warrant
23
£,,
""
""
399
6,9
5,,
""
6,,
أأ
10,
"9
6
2,, 6
2,,
"9
""
"9
552
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692-3.
}
1
Jurymans Fees
For every Verdict delivered...
The Fees of the Great Seale
Every Grant or Confirmation for a House
& Ground or House Lot or parcell of Land
of 100 acres or und'r...
From 100 to 500 or under.
Between 500 and a Thousand.
Above 1000 to 5000
All above 5000 ..
For the Seale in all other cases.
Every Writt out of Chancery.
Every Injunction or Supersedeas.
Every Commission
£
""
£,,
99
10,,
1,,
10,
1,, 10,,
5,,
""
""
10,,
""
99
10,,
1,,
92
•
""
99
6,,
6,,
Every Decree
99
6,,
Every Writt of Error
29
""
6,,
Fees for the Small Seale
£
-", 10,,
3,,
99
-99
3,,
""
Every Licence of Marriage.
Certficates Passes Bills of health for each
Vessell
Every Warant to Survey Land...
The Naval Officers Fees
For Entring of all Ships and Vessells
trading to this Dominion from abroad for
taking account of the Passengers & for
Clearing the S'd Vessell
For Examining and Recording Certifi-
cates that Bonds are given according to the
Acts of Navigation and Trade...
For every Bond taken here not to break
the Said Acts with Duplicates of the Same
5s
For Examining of all Cocquets Bills of
Store and Certificates of the Freedome of
Ship or Vessells trading to this Dominion
For takeing an Account of all Such Ships
as load the Growth of this Dominion, with
the perticulars Ships and whether bound..
For Entring and Cleering all Vessells
trading within this Dominion .
For every Warrant of appraism't or Sur-
vey
For every Oath administred..
22
22
29
£
""
4,, 6
5,
5,,
2,, 6
""
99
2,, 6
""
1,, 3
99
99
2,, 6
99
99
1,,
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692-3.
553
Fees for the Receiver of his Majest's Duties and Imposts
Established by the Governor and Councill
Entry of every Vessell from forraign
parts exceeding 40 tuns.
Entry of every Vessell und'r that burthen
Entry of every Vessell from any part of
the Dominion with Goods for which duty is
payable ..
Every Entry of goods
Every Permit
Every Certificate that the Duty is paid for
Goods Shipped to other parts of this Do-
minion
Surveyers Fees
For Every House Lot not exceeding three
acres
For all other Lands Every dayes work..
For every Servant Imployed in work &
travel Diem
·
For the Surveyors Travel
Diem..
If more Lots then one in a Towne to be at
the Owners Choice to pay the Surveyor by
the day
Justices Fees
Every Sum'ons or Warrant in Smaller
Cases
Every Subpena for one or more Witness
Every Execution
•
Copy of any Judgment by them given...
Every Warrant to Search for goods
Stolen, or to bring any person before them
in Criminal Cases
Every Recognizance
To the Constables for Serving every Sum-
'ons Warrant or Execution
2199
£
29
2,
1,,
22
""
6
,,
3
99
""
29
3
22
""
""
99
£
29
5,,
""
99
13,, 4
""
""
4,,
99
£,,
-6
99
""
2
99
99
99
6
""
""
6
99
199
""
""
2,,
6
""
99
To the Jury
59
4,,
The Coroners Fees
For taking every Inquisition to be paid
out of the Estate of the deceased..
£
"9
13,, 4
If no Estate then out of the County Treas-
ury
وو
2'd March 1692/3
6,, 8
The Severall ffees before menc'oned were read and allowed
of by the Liu't Governo'r and Council till further order-
Tho: Davis Secr'y-
;
554
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692-3.
!
[CHAPTER 2.]
AN ACT FOR RAISEING MONY FOR SUPPORTE OF THE GOV-
ERNEM'T IN REPAIREING FFORTEFICATIONS & MAKEING
VISIONS FOR SOULDIERS-
[Passed March 9, 1692-3. 5 William and Mary. Council Book 4, p. 110;
Province Records, A, p. 165; printed in 3 Province Papers, 195. Included in
Mr. Popple's list but not among the laws transmitted by Governor Dudley
in 1702.]
Wee their Majesties: most Loyall & Dutifull Subjects, the
Repr'sentatives of this their Majesties Province Convened in
Gen'rl Assembly: Being Sencible of the great Charge & Ex-
pencew'ch hath all ready a Rissing & must necessaryly be dayly
groeing & increaseing in defending & secureing their Majesties
Subjects & Interestes, against their ffrench & Indian Enemies,
Have Cherefully & unanimousely Given & granted. And doe
hereby Give & grant unto their most Excellent Majesties their
Heires & Sucksesers to the End & Intent afore said the Sum'e
of Six hundred Pound, and Humbly beseech their Maj'ties to
Accept the Same-/
Bee it therefore Enacted by the Leiu't Governour & Councill
& Repr'sentatives Convened in Gen'll Assembly: And it is
hereby Enacted And ordained by the Authority of the Same,
That a Rate of Six hundred Pounds be forth with made, on all
persons & Estates, Reall & personall, Through out the Prov-
ince without Ex'eption of any Person, but Min'isters, Accord-
ing as it is hereafter proportioned to Each Towne, viz the
proportion of the Towne of Portsmouth to this Rate is: Two
hundred & Ten pounds: The proportion to the Towne of Hamp-
ton, to this Rate, is Two hundred Pounds, the proption to
the Towne of Dover is to this Rate one hundred & Ten pounds:
The proportion to the Towne of Exeter, to this rate is Eighty
pounds. That the Treasurer doe forthwith Send forth his
warrants to the Selectmen of Each Towne for the makeing the
said Rate & Assessem't According to this proportion.
the rate to be made by the selectmen & Com'issioner, accord-
ing to valewation of Estates & all other methods setled there
aboute: by late act of Assembly for making and Collecting
the last Province Rate. And the Rate & Assesem't soe made
to be forth with Comitted to the Respective Constables, w’th
warrants to Collect & transemitt the same, to the Treasurer,
for the Time being: who is to pay the Charge of Transporta-
tion, out of the Publick Treasure, And who soever payeth not
ready mony, have Liberty of paying: in any of the Speties at
the prices here after mentioned provided they pay after the
rate of Three Shillings for Two Shillings: mentioned in the
Rate, soe as to bring all to mony the Speties are mercht'ble
Pine Boards at Thirty Six Shill's Thousand: m'rbl Red
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692-3.
555
Oak hoggeh'd Staves at Twenty Shill's Thousand: merch't
white Oake Pipe staves at Three pound thousand: mer-
chatable Beefe at Two pence pound: merch'tbl Porke at
Three pence pound: Indian Corne at Three shill's
bushell, wheat at five shill's bushel, Malt at three shill's
bush: & good sound Pease at four Shillings bushell,
ffish & Mackrell at price Currant, Provided it be in the
power of the Selectmen, where any Persons are Aged &
Decriped or soe indigent that they are uncapeable of paying
any thing to favour Such in their Rates—
Tho's Davis Secretary
John Usher Leiu't Governour
John Gillman Speaker
[CHAPTER 3.]
AN ACT TO COMPELL CONSTABLES TO DOE THEIR DUTIES IN
COLLECTING RATES-
[Passed March 9, 1692-3. 5 William and Mary. Council Book 4, p. 111;
Laws, 1692-1698, p. 23; Province Records, A, p. 167; Dudley collection, public
record office in London, folio 40; printed in 3 Province Papers, 196. Con-
firmed by the queen in council November 19, 1706. Public record office, New
England, F, folio 214; New Hampshire bundle 2, no. 56. Compare the act
for regulating townships, choice of town officers, and setting forth their
power, passed May 2, 1719, and the act relating to constables collecting rates
or assessments, New Hampshire laws, ed. of 1716-26, pp. 133, 151, both re-
printed post.]
Bee it Enacted by the Leiu't Gover'r & Counsell & Repre-
sentatives Convened in Generall Assembly: And it is hereby
Enacted & ordained: by the Authority of the Same, That if
any Constable w'thin this Province shall neglegt his duty in
Collecting any Rate or Rates, Comitted to him, By Such as are
Legally Authorized thereto, or shall Omitt to make up &
ajust his Account with the Treasurer or Selectmen, within
three monthes time After, Such rates Shall be Com'itted to
him to Collect, Then & in Such Case, It shall be Lawful for
the Treasurer in Case of Province Rates, or the selectmen,
w'th one justice of peace, in Case of Towne Rats to Isshew
forth his or their warrants, to the shereiffe to distraine upon
the Estate of Each Constable so delinquent to the full valew of
Such Rates w'ch he hath omitted to Collect, or pay in Accord-
ing to ord❜r within the time of three monthes before mentioned
Tho's Davis Secr'y
•
John Usher Leiu't Govern'r
John Gillman Speaker
:
556
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692-3.
[CHAPTER 4.]
AN ACT TO EASE PEOPLE THAT ARE SCRUPELLOUS IN SWEAR-
ING
[Passed March 9, 1692-3. 5 William and Mary. Council Book 4, p. 109;
Laws, 1692-1698, p. 25; Province Records, A, p. 159; Dudley collection, public
record office in London, folio 47; printed in 3 Province Papers, 193. See act
of May 14, 1718, New Hampshire laws, ed. of 1716-26, p. 71, reprinted post.]
·
For as much there are Sundry persons w'thin this Province
out of a tender Concience Refuse to give their Evidences, on
Oath, in any mater or thing that is Depending in any of the
Courts with in the Same-
Bee it therefore Enacted by the L't Govern'r Council &
Representatives now mett in Gen'll Assembly-And by the
Authority of the Same, that in Such Case, the Person or Per-
sons Refuseing to swear shall give in their Evidences or Testi-
monyes, in man'er & forme following: That is to Say I A: B:
doe Sollemly promise, as in the presence of God to speak the
Truth the whole truth, & noting but the truth; To the matter or
thing in question--And be it further Enacted by the Authority
afore said, That if any Such Person or Persons, Soe Refuseing
as afores'd Shall be Som'oned to Serve upon any Jury I any
Court within this Province, then such person or persons, shall
make the Engagem't ffollowing that is to Say. I: A: B: Do Sol-
lemly promise as in the pr'sence of God that I will well &
Truely try the Isshew between; C: D: Plaintife, & F: G: De-
fendant, According to Evidence, And in Case any Such Person
or Persons So Called, to Evidence or to Serve upon any Jury:
and Declareing as afore Said, shall afterwards, be Convicted of
willfull falsehood that then & in Such Case, Such person or
persons Shall undergoe the same Pun'ishm't as in Case of will-
full Perjury is appoynted & provided And be it Enacted by the
Authority afore Said That any person or persons Desireing the
Same Shall be allowed, the Liberty of holding up the hand in
Swering: And all oathes soe taken Shall accounted as good &
valed as by laying the hand on the Bible/
[CHAPTER 5.]
AN ACT FOR THE TREASURER TO PAY FOR THE COPIES OF THE
LAWES OF THIS PROVINCE
[Passed March 9, 1692-3. 5 William and Mary. Council Book 4, p. 109;
Laws, 1692-1698, p. 26; Province Records, A, p. 160; Dudley collection, public
record office in London, folio 49; printed in 3 Province Papers, 194. No record
of confirmation or repeal.]
Bee it Enacted by the L't Governour Councill & Representa-
tives Convened in Gene'rl Assembly--and it is hereby ordred
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692-3.
557
Enacted & ordained by the Authority of the Same; That the
Secretary of this Province, Doe forthw'th from time to Time
Send to Each Towne, within this Province Copies fairely writ-
ten of all the Lawes that shall from time to time, be made by
the Leiu't Govern'r Counsel & Gen'll Assembly for this Prov-
ince And that the ffeeies for the Same Shall be p'd by The
Treasurer out of the Publick Revenew-/
[CHAPTER 6.]
AN ACT TO PR'VENT CONSEALING OF ESTATES FROM
ASSESSM❜TS
[Passed March 9, 1692-3. 5 William and Mary. Council Book 4, p. 110;
Laws, 1692-1698, p. 26; Province Records, A, p. 165; Dudley collection, public
record office in London, folio 51; printed in 3 Province Papers, 194. Con-
firmed by the queen in council November 19, 1706. Public record office, New
England, F, folio 214; New Hampshire bundle 2, no. 56. See New Hamp-
shire laws, ed. of 1716-26, p. 99, reprinted post.]
Whereas it is found by Experiance, That sev'rall persons
doe what in them lies, to Conseal & secure, their Estates, from
time to time, And will not give in a True & Perfect Inventory
& Acco't of the Same to the Selectmen, and Com'issioner from
time to time Appointed for the making of rates (So that those
who make Conscience of w't they doe pay more then their
Proportion) through their neglect./
Bee it therefore Enacted by the Leiu't Governo'r Counsell &
Repr❜sentatives now meet in Gena'll Assembly: & by the Au-
thority of the Same, That who soever shall after the Date here-
of Lend out any of his Rateable Estate, & not give in the Same,
in his Invoyce or perticuler, when Called there unto, By the
selectmen & Com'issioner, for Every Pound Rateable Estate,
that shall be, so left out & not Disscovred, The Selectmen,
w'th the Com'issioner, Shall have power, to rate such Person,
that Shall So Conseal, & not Discover, the Same, the Sum' of
five shills for every pound, that Shall be Soe Consealed and
not discovered as aforesaid—
[CHAPTER 7.]
AN ADITIONALL ACT TO THE LAW INTITLED CORNEFEILDS &
FENCES
[Passed March 9, 1692-3. 5 William and Mary. Council Book 4, p. 108;
Laws, 1692-1698, p. 24; Province Records, A, p. 157; Dudley collection, public
record office in London, folio 43; printed in 3 Province Papers, 192. Con-
firmed by the queen in council November 19, 1706. Public record office, New
England, F, folio 214; New Hampshire bundle 2, no. 56. Compare act of
May 14, 1718, New Hampshire laws, ed. of 1716-26, p. 117, reprinted post; also
act of 1687, ante, p. 200.]
Whereas in the lat act made Conserning Corne feilds &
fences the latter Clause there of Saieth Such fence as is Ac-
558.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692-3.
counted Suffitient against other Catle, shall allso be ac-
counted: good against sheepe & swine; w'ch will not Secure
mens Corne, in feilds neer Townes in Some plases-
Be it therefore Enacted by the Leiu't Govern'r Counsell &
Representatives, now meet in Gen'll Assembley: And by the
Authority of the Same, That it Shall be in the power, of
the selectmen, of the sevrall Townes, to make Such orders,
as Shall be necesary to preserve Corne, As also to Determen;
what shall be Accounted a Suffitient fence against, all sortes
of Catle, (any thing in the foregoeing Act made Concering
Corne feilds & fences) to the Contrary not w’thstanding
[CHAPTER 8.]
AN ACT CONSERNING MARRIAGES, BIRTHS & BURIALLS-/
[Passed March 9; 1692-3. 5 William and Mary. Council Book 4, p. 108;
Laws, 1692-1698, p. 24; Province Records, A; p. 158; Dudley collection, public
record office in London, folio 44; printed in 3 Province Papers, 193. Repealed
by the queen in council November 19, 1706. Public record office, New Eng-
land, F, folio 211; New Hampshire bundle 2, no. 55; see introductory note,
ante, p. 521, for reasons for the repeal. Compare act of May 14, 1718, New
Hampshire laws, ed. of 1716-26, p. 47, reprinted post.]
Bee it Enacted by the Leiu't Govern'r Councill & Repre-
sentatives Conve'd in Gen'll Assembly: And it is hereby En-
acted and ordained By the Authority of the Same, That it
Shall & may be Lawfull for any Justice of peace or settled
Min'ister, residing within this Province, To joyne Persons
in Marrage, provided they be published Three publique meet-
ing dayes according to former Custome, And who Soever is
joyned So in Marrige shall pay to the Justice or Min'ister, So
marring them five shillings And shall w'thin one weeke, take
Care to have his, Marridge recorded by the person Deputed, to
Record, Berths & Burialls, And to pay for the same six pence,
But if they Neglect it above, a week then to pay Twelve pence,
for Every Copple So Married: Be it Likewise further Enacted
And it is hereby Enacted And ordained by the Authority
aforesaid That the Clarke in Every Towne, w'thin this Prov-
ince, Shall record Bearths, & Burialls, And all persons Con-
cerned are to take care to Give notice thereof to the S'd
Clarke w'thin one month And pay for Every Bearth & Buriall,
Six pence, if w'thin one Month, or Else Twelve pence And the
Clark to returne Every quarter of a yeare, a List of all mar-
rages Bearthes & Burialls unto the Register Appointed for the
Province paying two pence to the Register for Every name
Soe Registred
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1693.
559
In this session it appears that several orders were passed which, although they
do not have the formality of acts, are of a legislative character, and explanatory
of or supplemental to the bills which appear by the record to have become laws.
March 2, 1692-3.
The copy of all the fees as they were settled in the time of Sir Edmund
Andrews [Andros] being read, were allowed of till further order. 3 Prov-
ince Papers, 5.
Ordered, that the Bill concerning the manner of swearing be taken into
consideration and that Mr Waldron be desired to bring the Laws of New
York, that this board may consider of the same. 3 Province Papers, 5.
March 6.
Ordered, that a Capt. be settled at the fort and that he be allowed 201b p'r
Ann., and that a Gunner be likewise agreed with as cheap as may be. 3
Province Papers, 7.
March 8.
Capt. Fryer having produced a Bill of his disbursement for ladder and
other necessaries for the use of the fort and for drink given the men at
mounting the guns, amounting to 2lbs 7s 6d, Ordered, that the same be
allowed, and that the Treasurer pay him out of the revenue of the Province,
3 Province Papers, 8.
Ordered, that the Judge adjourne the Court that is now sitting at Ports-
mouth, and that the Assembly men have notice to attend the General As-
sembly tomorrow, at ten o'clock in the forenoon. Adjourned to Thursday,
9'th Martii, at 10 o'clock forenoon. 3 Province Papers, 8.
March 9.
Mr. Tucker's Bill of charges at their Maj'ties Fort read and allowed, and
ordered to be paid by the Treasurer, being 10lb 14s 6d. 3 Province Papers, 9.
Ordered, that the Treasurer do forthwith take care that the Platforme at
the Fort be repaired according to the information given in by him. 3 Prov-
ince Papers, 9.
[Second Session, July 25, 26, 27, 29, August 1, 3, 5, 1693.]
[CHAPTER 1.]
AN ADDITION TO AN LATE ACT ENTITULED AN ACT TO COMPELL
CONSTABLES TO DOE THEIR DUTY IN COLLECTING RATES— ./
[Passed August 5, 1693. 5 William and Mary. Council Book 4, p. 103;
Province Records, A, p. 150; Dudley collection, public record office in Lon-
don, folio 41; printed in 3 Province Papers, 187. Repealed by the queen in
council November 19, 1706. Public record office, New England, F, folio 211;
New Hampshire bundle 2, no. 55. See act in New Hampshire laws, ed. of
1716-26, p. 151, reprinted post.]
Bee it Enacted by the Leiu't Govern'r Councill & Repre-
sentatives Convened in Gen'll Assembly-And it is hereby
Enacted, & ordained by the Authority of the Same,—That
where Constables are negligent in Collecting & paying, in
the Rates Legally Com'itted to them, That then the warrant
for Distraineing up their Estates-According to former act,
shall also be to Apprehend & imprison their persons, where no
Estate appeares untill they finde Estate to Answer the Law:
And it is hereby further Enacted by the Authority afore Said,
that if any Person or Persons neglect or faile the paym't of
their respective Rates affter Demand Made by the Constable
at their house or usiall place of abode and no Estate appeares,
whereon to take disstress, then it shall be in the power, of the
Constable, By warrant from a justice of peace to apprehend
560
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1693.
& imprison Such Person untill Said rates, And all necessary
Charge there about be paid: And in case any person shall
remove out of the Towne where he is rated into any other
Towne within this Province, before Said rate is payd, Then
and in such case the next justice of peace Shall direct a war-
rant to the Sheriffe for leving the Said rate, on the Estate,
or for want thereof on the Person soe Removeing where Ever
he is to be found within this Province-
Tho: Davis Secr'y
John Usher
John Gillman
[CHAPTER 2.]
AN ACT FOR MAINTENANCE & SUPPLEY OF THE MINISTREY
[AND SCHOOLS] WITHIN THIS PROVINCE /
[Passed August 5, 1693. 5 William and Mary. Council Book, p. 104;
Laws, 1692-1698, p. 27; Province Records, A, p. 153; Dudley collection, public
record office in London, folio 52; printed in 3 Province Papers, 189. Repealed
by the queen in council November 19, 1706. Public record office, New Eng-
land, F,folio 211; New Hampshire bundle 2, no. 55. See introductory note,
ante, p. 521, for reasons for this repeal. Compare act of May 14, 1718, New
Hampshire laws, ed. of 1716-26, p. 51, reprinted post.]
Bee it Enacted by the Leiu't Govern'r Counsill & Repre-
sentatives Conve'd in Gen'll Assembly: And by the Authority
of the Same, And it is hereby Enacted & Ordained: That it
shall & may be Lawfull for the freholders, of Every respective
Towne Convened, in Publik Towne meeting: as offten as they
shall see occassion to make Choice of, & by themselves, or any
other Person or Persons by them appointed, to agree with a
Minister, or Min'est'rs for the Suppley of the Towne, And
what Annuall Sallery shall be allowed him & the Minister,
so made Choice of, and agreed with, shall be accounted the
Setled Minister of the Towne, And the Selectmen for the time
being Shall make rates, and Assesm'ts upon the Inhabitants
of the Towne for the paym't of the Min'isters Sallery as
afores'd in Such maner & forme as They doe for Defraying of
other Towne Charges, which Rates by warrant from a justice
of peace, w'th the select men to the Constable or Constables
of the Towne, shall be by him or them Collected & payd
according to the Direction of the Selectmen for the End afore
said, Provided allwayes that this act doe not at all Interfere
w'th their Majesties grace & favour in Allowing their Sub-
jects liberty of Contience nor shall any Person under pretence
of being of a different perswassion be Exchused from paying
towards the Supporte of the Setled Min'ister or Min'isteres
of the Towne but only Such as are Conscientiously So; and
Constantly attend the publick worship of God on the Lords
day according to their owne p'rswassion; And they only Shall
be Excused from paying towards the Support of the Min'istrey
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1693.
561
of the Towne, And it is hereby further Enacted & Ordained,
that for the building & repayring of meeting houses, Min-
isteres houses School houses, And allowing a Sallary to a
School Master in Each Towne within this Province the
selectmen, in the respective Townes, Shall raise money by an
Equall rate, an Assesm't upon the Inhabitants, in the Same
maner, as in this present act directed for the mainetenance of
the Min'ister, And Every Towne within this Province, (Dover
onely Excepted Dureing the warr) shall from and after the
Publication, here of provide a School, Master for the Supply
of the Towne, On Penalty of Ten pounds Annom, for neg-
lect there of: To be paid one halfe to their Maj'ties the other
halfe to the poore of the Towne-/
[CHAPTER 3.]
AN ACT FOR SETLING A POSTE OFFICE W'THIN THIS PROVINCE
[Passed August 5, 1693. 5 William and Mary. Council Book 4, p. 106;
Laws, 1692-1698, p. 28; Province Records, A, p. 155; Dudley collection, public
record office in London, folio 55; printed in 3 Province Papers, 190.]
Where as Tho's Nele Esq'r for him selfe, his Executo'rs
Administrato❜rs & assignes, has obtained, from their most
Excellent Maj'ties full power and Authority: By letters Pat-
tens und'r the great Seal of England bearing Date the 17th
day of ffebruary 1691 To Erecte Setle & Establish within their
said Majesties, Collonies & Plantations in Amereca an office
or offices for the receiveing & Dispatching of letters & Packetts
According to Direction, und'r Such Rates, and Sum'es of
money as the planteres, Shall agree to give, And for as much
as Applycation, has bin made to the Leiu't Govern'r & Councill
for Incuragem't in this Affaire Be it therefore Enacted, And
ordained by the Liu't Go'r Counsell and Representatives, Con-
vened in Gen'll Assembly: And it is hereby Enacted And
ordained by the Authority of the Same, That a Poste office
& officer, be henceforth Appointed & Setled in Some Con-
venient place within the Towne of Portsmouth: ffor Receiveing
& Dispatching awaye according to Direction All tres and
Packetts, That Shall be brought there into, and no Person or
Perso's whatsoever shall presume, to Carry or recarry any Let-
ter or Letters for hire, but onely Such as belonge to the Poste
office Dureing their power and Authority from the afore Said
Tho's Nele, Except Such Letters as Merchants, and Masters
w'ch shall be sent by any Masters, of any Ship Boat or other
vessell; of Merchandize, or by any other, Person Employed by
them, for the Carring of Such Letters, Afore Said, According
to the Respective, Directions, And also Except letteres to be
562
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1693.
I
sent by any privat friend or friends, in their way or Journ'y
or Travell; or by any messenger or messengers sent on purpose
for or Concering: The private affaires of any Person or Per-
sons, And who Ever offendes against this Act, shall forfitt the
sum of Ten pounds, one halfe to their Maj'ties towards the
Support of the Governem❜t of this Province, The other halfe to
the Post Master, Gen'll who Shall Sue & prosecute for the
Same, And it is hereby further Enacted, by the Authority
afores'd that all Letters, and Packetts brought in, to this part,
from beyound sea: (other then Such Letteres as before Ex-
epted) shall by the Importer beforth with delivered at the Poste
house, or to the Officer belongeing there unto, w'ch officer shall
pay a halfe penny to the Importer for Each letter or Packett
So delivered, and for Each letter so brought in from beyond
sea, shall be pay by the person to whom directed, two pence,
and for a Packquet (quantity) no lesse then three letters:
besides Bills Loading Invoyces, Gazetts &c four pence, And
for Each letter brought from Boston, into this Province not
Exceeding six pence, and Doble for a Packquett, & so propor-
tionably for letteres on this Sid Boston, And for all other
Letteres from beyound Boston Shall be paid what is the Ac-
customary allowance, in the Governem't from whence they
come, And it is hereby also ffurther Enacted & Ordained by
the Authority afore said: that in case any officer belongeing
to the Poste office should omitt their Duty: in keeping Con-
stant Postes for the Carring of letters, to the Severall places
& staidges appointed, or Shall neglect Seasonably and faith-
fully to Deliver forth the Letters According to the Intent of
this act Such Officer Soe offending: shall forfitt the sum'e of
five pounds, the one halfe to their Majesties, The other halfe
to the party Agreved, who shall Sue for the Same, And all
Letters Concerning their Maj'ties Service Shall be Rec'd & dis-
patched away, w'th all Possible Speed, according to there
Direction free from all Charge, and w'thout Demanding pay
for the same, anny thing herein before Contained to the Con-
trary not with Standing: And it is further en Acted & ordained
that the officer of the Post house, haveing Licens granted to
Retaile Beer, Sider & Ale, w'thin Doores according to Law,
Shall have his Excise ffree and no officer of the Exsise shall
demand any thing of him for the Same, and his Person to be
Excused from watching and warding Provided allwayes, that
this Act nor any thing therein Contained shall Continue in
force, any longer then Three yeares from & after the Publica-
tion thereof-
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1693.
563
[CHAPTER 4.]
AN ACT FOR RAISEING OF MONEY FOR SUPPORTE OF THE Gov-
FRNEM'T IN REPAIREING FFORTIFICATIONS & FOR REIM-
BURSFING OF THE TREASUREY
[Passed August 5, 1693. 5 William and Mary. Council Book 4, p. 104;
Laws, 1692-1698, p. 29; Province Records, A, p. 151; printed in 3 Province
Papers, 188. Not included in the Dudley collection in the public record office
in London.]
Wee their Maj'tes most Loyall & dutyfull Subjects, The
Representatives of this their Majesties Province Convened, in
Gen'll Assembly being sencible of the great Charge & Expence
w'ch hath allready bin Exspended And will be dayly groeing,
and increaseing, in Defending & Secureing, the ffrontier Garri-
sons, both by Sea & Land, against their Maj'ties ffrench and
Indian Enemies-Have Chearfully & unanimously Given &
granted And doe hereby Give & grant, unto their Most Exelent
Maj'ties their Heires & Successors to the End & intent afore-
said: the Sum'e of Two hundred Pounds, and Humbly beseech
their Majesties to accept the same Be it therefore Enacted by
the Leiu't Govern'r Councill & Representatives Convened in
Gen'erall Assembly-And it is hereby Enacted & ordained
by the Authority of the Same that a rate of Two hundred
pounds, be forthw'th made on all persons, and Estates, Reall
& Personall, Through out this Province w'thout Exception
of any persons, but Ministers, According as it is here after,
Proportioned to Each place, viz: The proportion of Ports-
mouth, And new Castle to this rate is Seventy pounds-The
Proportion of Hampton to this Rate is Sixty Six pounds 13s
4d the proportion of Dover, is to this rate Thirty pounds: The
proportion of Exeter, to this rate is Thirty three pounds 6s 8d
And that the Treasurer, Doe forth with Send forth his war-
rants To the Selectmen, of Each place for the makeing of the
Said rate and Assessm't according to this proportion, And the
rate to be made by the Selectmen, & Com'ishion'rs according
to valueation, of Estates, and all other methods Setled there
abouts by an Act of Assembly made in the fourth yeare of
their Maj'ties Reigne for makeing & Collecting a Province
Rate, And the rate, and Assesm't Soe made to be forth with
Com'itted to the respective Constables, with warrants to Col-
lect, & Transmitt the Same to the Treasurer for the Time
being, on or before the last day of September next Ensueing,
the Publication, hereof: who is to pay the Charge of Trnspor-
tation, Out of the Publique Treasure, And who Soe Ever payes
not ready money: have liberty of paying, in any of the Species
at the prices in the last Province Rate, mentioned Provided
that they pay after the rate of Three shillings for Two Shil-
564
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1693.
lings, mentioned in the Rates Soe as to brin all to money Pro-
vided & also that it be in the power of the Selectmen where
any Persons are Aged, Decrepid or Soe Indigent that they are
uncapable of paying any thing to favour Such in y'r rates
John Usher
John Gillman
Tho: Davis Secr'y
[CHAPTER 5.]
AN ACT TO PR’VENT THE PROPHANATION OF THE LORDS DAY—
[Passed August 5, 1693. 5 William and Mary. Council Book 4, p. 103;
Laws, 1692-1698, p. 22; Province Records, A, p. 147; Dudley_collection, public
record office in London, folio 39; printed in 3 Province Papers, 187. Con-
firmed by the queen in council November 19, 1706. Public record office, New
England, F, folio 214; New Hampshire bundle 2, no. 56. Compare act for
the better observation and keeping the Lord's day, passed July session, 1700,
printed New Hampshire laws, ed. of 1716-26, p. 7, reprinted post.]
Be it Enacted by the Leiu't Govern'r Councill & Representa-
tives Convened, in Gener'll Assembly: And it is here by En-
acted & ordained by the Authority of the Same, That who
Soever Shall on the Lords day be found to doe any unneces-
sary Servall Labour, Travell, Sports, or frequent, ordinary in
Time of Publique Worship, or Idly Stragle abroad; The Per-
son Soe offending Shall pay a fine of Ten Shillings or be Set
in the Stockes an hower, And for discovery of Such offenders
It is hereby ordred that the Constable, doe, Requier, what
Person or Persons he shall See meet, in time of Publick wor-
ship, to goe forth to any Susspected place within their pre-
cincts, to finde out any offend'rs as above, And w'n found to
Secure him, And as Soone as possible to cary him before Some
Justice of peace, who Shall deale w'th him According to Law
And who Soever Shall refuse to Obay the Constable, in Attend-
ing him aboute this act, Shall pay a fine, of forty Shillings to
the Use of their Maj'ties
Tho's Davis Secr'y
John Usher
John Gillman
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1693.
565
[TENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY.]
[Held at Newcastle, Two Sessions, October 18, 1693, to May 24,
1694.]
[OFFICERS OF THE GOVERNMENT.]
SAMUEL ALLEN, GOVERNOR, residing in London; not present
in the province.
JOHN USHER, LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR, residing in Boston;
present in the province, acting as governor.
THOMAS DAVIS, SECRETARY.
JOHN HINCKES, PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL, suspended Feb-
ruary 2, 1693-4.
NATHANIEL. FRYER, PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL, succeeded to
the office February 2, 1693-4.
THOMAS DAVIS, CLERK OF THE COUNCIL.
JOHN PICKERING, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE.
MARK HUNKING, CLERK OF THE HOUSE.
MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL.
John Hinckes, Newcastle, suspended February 2,
Nathaniel Fryer,
1693-4.
Newcastle.
66
Robert Elliott,
Peter Coffin,
Exeter.
Henry Green,
Hampton.
Nathaniel Weare,
(6
William Vaughan, Portsmouth.
Richard Waldron,
66
MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE.
Portsmouth, John Pickering.
John Plaisted.
Mark Hunking.
John Woodman.
Dover,
Job Clements.
William Furber.
Exeter,
Moses Leavitt.
Theophilus Dudley.
Hampton,
Daniel Tilton.
John Redman.
Joseph Moulton.
Newcastle,
Shadrach Walton.
James Randall.
Isles of Shoals, William Weymouth.
566
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1693.
[First Session, October 18, 19, 20, 21, 1693.]
[CHAPTER 1.]
AN ACT FOR THE RENEWING & CONTINUEING AN ACT FOR THE
ESTABLISHING A REVEN’EW FOR THE DEFRAING THE PUB-
LICK CHARGE OF THE GOVERNEMENT——
[Passed October 21, 1693. 5 William and Mary. Council Book 4, p. 113;
Laws, 1692-1698, p. 21; Province Records, A, p. 170; Record of Acts, vol. 1,
p. 1; printed in 3 Province Papers, 198. Not included in the Dudley collec
tion in the public record office in London.]
Whereas at the Sessions of this Court begun & held the
first Tuseday in October 1692 An act was made Entitetuled
an Act for the Establishing a Reven'ew for the Defraying
the Publick Charge of the Goverm❜t to stand in force untill
the Eight & Twentyeth day of October 1693 w'ch act is neer
Expired-./
Bee it therefore Enacted & ordained by the Leiu't Govern'r
Council & Represetatives in Gen'll Assembly now Convened,
And it is hereby Enacted & Ordained by the Authority of the
Same, That the S'd act & Every part of it be, and hereby is
Revived & Continued in full force, To all intentes & purposes,
from & affter the Twenty ninth day of October 1693: And Shall
So Continue untill the Thirtyeth day of October 1694 Excep-
ing & makeing voyd the Clause or part of the S'd Act Relat-
ing to Slops or Boates, That trade a longe the shore, to be
free from paying of Powder Money that comes into this Prov-
ince for Traffick from any part or Harbour on this Sid Con'ect-
ticutt-./
Tho's Davis Secr'y
[CHAPTER 2.]
John Usher
John Pickerin
AN ACT FOR THE SETLING & DISTREBUSION OF INTESTATES
ESTATES & SUCH AS PROVE INSOLUEVENT./
[Passed October 21, 1693. 5 William and Mary. Council Book 4, p. 112;
Laws, 1692-1698, p. 21; Province Records, A, p. 168; Dudley collection, public
record office in London, folio 35; printed in 3 Province Papers, 196. Re-
pealed by the queen in council November 19, 1706. Public record office, New
England, F, folio 211; New Hampshire bundle 2, no. 55. Compare act for
the settlement and distribution of the estates of intestates, passed May 14,
1718, printed in New Hampshire laws, ed. of 1716-26, p. 102, reprinted post.]
Bee it Enacted & ordained by the Liu't Govern'r Council
& Representatives Convened in Generall Assembly: & by the
Authority of the Same-/ That when any person Dyes In-
testate; Administration of such Intestates goods & Estates,
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1693.
567
Shall be granted unto the widow, or next of Kin or boath, or
upon their refuseall to one of their Credito'rs as the Judge for
probate of wills And granting Administrations Shall thinke
fitt, The Said Judge taking bond with security for their Ad-
min’istring according to Law: And after all just Debts, &
ffunerall Charges are paid the remaineing goods & Estate, as
well reall as personall shall be Distributed in maner ffollow-
ing: That is to say one third part of the Personall Estate, to
the wife of the Intestate for Ever; And one third part of the
Houses & Land during her life, unlese She was otherwayes
Endowed before marriage, And all the resedue of the Reall
& personall Estate, by Equall portions to, & amonge the Chil-
dren, Except Such who have, an Estate by setlement, of the
Intestate in his life time, Saveing allway to the Eldest Son
Surviveing a double portion, where no Isshew of an Elder
Brother Appeares, And where any Estate in houses & Lands
Cant be divided without great prejudice, the Said Land Shall
be valewed by three or four able men, Appointed thereto upon
Oath, & the Eldest Son have the refuseall thereof: Paying to
the other Children their proportions of the valew: But if the
Eldest Son Except not, then one of the other may on the Same
termes: But in Case there be no wife the whole the Estate shall
be distributed amonge the Children; in man'er afore Said,
And where no Children to the next of Kin; And it is further
Enacted By the Authority afore Said that in case of Insolevent
Estats: The judge for probats of wills, & granting Admin'is-
trations, shall Nom'itate & appoint two or three fitt persons
to be Com'issinoners, w'th time Allotted to Receive & Exam-
ine, all Claimes from the Creditors, to the Estate, & w't they
find justly due, To make report of to the Judge who Shall
ord'r a Distrebution of said Estate; both Reall & Personall,
Amongst the Credito'rs According to proportion, Saveing
only to the widdow, her third of Houses & Lands Dureing her
life, And it is further Enacted by the Authority afore said that
all Lands Shall be Accounted as Chatles & lyable to paym't
of Debts, where there is not Personall Estate Sufficient to
Satisfie the Same--/
Tho's Davis Secr'y
John Pickerin
John Usher
568
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1694.
[Second Session, May 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23,
24, 1694.]
[CHAPTER 1.]
AN ADITIONALL ACT FOR INCURRAGEMENT OF THE POST
OFFICE.
[Passed May 24, 1694. 6 William and Mary. Council Book 4, p. 113; Laws,
1692-1698, p. 31; Province Records, A, p. 171; Dudley collection, public record
office in London, folio 57; printed in 3 Province Papers, 198.]
Whereas not w'th Standing a late act, for the Setling a
Poste office with in this Province Sundrie Letters, are brought
by Slops & other vessells alonge shore, to the Prejudis of
those, who are at the Charge of keeping a post goeing once a
weeke by land-./
Bee it Enacted by the Leiu't Govern'r Council & Repr❜senta-
tives Convened in Gen'll Assembly: And it is hereby Enacted
& ordained by the Authority of the Same, That from & after
the Publication hereof; all masters of Slopes or other vessells,
Ariveing with in this Province shall forthwith deliver; all
Letters by them brought in (Excepting only Such as Conserne
the Loading of their vessells) unto the Collecter or such officer,
w'th whome they make Entrey of their vessells, which letters
the Said officer w'th all Conveniant Speed; Deliver into the
Poste house, or as the Poste master shall order, And for Every
letter so brought in Shall be paid Two pence, by the person to
whome the Same is directed Provided allwayes that the
weekely Poste by land doe Constantly Keepe between Boston
& Portsmouth, And that this act nor anything therein Con-
tained Shall Contin'ue in force any longer then the late Act
Intiteled (an act for setling a Post office within this Province)
w'ch was lim'ited to three yeares from And after the Publica-
tion thereof./
[CHAPTER 2.]
AN ACT FOR THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF DEEDS—./
[Passed May 24, 1694. 6 William and Mary. Council Book 4, p. 114; Laws,
1692-1698, p. 31; Province Records, A, p. 172; Dudley collection in the public
record office in London, folio 59; printed in 3 Province Papers, 198. Re-
pealed by the queen in council November 19, 1706. Public record office, New
England, F, folio 211; New Hampshire bundle 2, no. 55. Compare act for
recording deeds and conveyances, passed June session, 1701, printed in New
Hampshire laws, ed. of 1716-26, p. 17, reprinted post.]
Bee it Enacted by the Leiu't Govern'r Council & Repr❜senta-
tives Convened in Gen'll Assembly: And it is hereby Enacted
& ordained by the Authority of the Same, That it shall be in
the power of any one of their Maj'ties Council, or any Justice
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1694.
569
of peace, w'thin this Province, To take the Acknowledgem't
of All Deeds of Sale & Deeds of Giftes: the parties desireing
the Same, to be done, shall pay for the doeing thereof Two
shillings to him that takes the Acknowledgem❜t & if any per-
son or persons haveing Signed Sealed & Delivered, Such Deed
or deeds, & shall refuse to come before one of the Council, or
a justice of peace, to acknowledge the same Deed, it Shall be
in the power of any one of the Council, or Justices of the Peace,
forthwith to Isshue out his warrant to the shreiffe or a Con-
stable of the S'd Province to Cause the Delinquent to Come
before him to Acknowledge, s'd Deed of Sale, or Deed of Gifte,
& if the Person Shall refuse to doe it, Then it Shall be in the
power, of a member of the Council or justice of the peace, to
Com'itte him to prison; w'thout Baile or maineprice there to
lye untill he shall acknowledge the Same Deed— ./
[CHAPTER 3. .]
AN ACT TO PREVENT EXPENCE OF TIME & GAMEING IN
ORDINARYES
[Passed May 24, 1694. 6 William and Mary. Council book 4, p. 114; Laws,
1692-1698, p. 32; Province Records, A, p. 173; Dudley collection in the public
record office in London, folio 60; printed in 3 Province Papers, 199. Compare
act of April 25, 1721, New Hampshire laws, ed. of 1716-26, p. 162, reprinted
post.]
Bee it Enacted by the Liu't Govern'r Council & Repr❜senta-
tives Convened in Gen'll Assembly: And it is hereby Enacted
& ordained by the Authority of the Same, That no Person
w'thin this Province, shall play at Cardes, dice Tables, nine
pines or other games, for money in or aboute any Publick
house, of Entertainem't on penalty of three Shillings four
pence fine after, the Publication, here of: To be paid by the
Person so gameing for mony And ten shillings ffine to be
paid: by the Keeper of Such house of Entertainement, And that
Do sea seamen, or other Persons in pay Hired for a Longer or
Shorter time doe Sit Tipeling: in any Publick house of Enter-
tainem't above one hower, at a time, on like penalty as above,
The Convicktion to be before a justice of peace, And the fine
to goe one halfe to the Informer, And the other, halfe, to the
poor of the Towne--.
570
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1694.
[CHAPTER 4.]
AN ACT FOR ALTERING THE SESSION OF THE SUPREAM COURT-
[Passed May 24, 1694. 6 William and Mary. Council Book 4, pp. 115, 124;
Laws, 1692-1698, p. 32; Province Records, A, pp. 174, 186; printed, in part, in
3 Province Papers, 199. Not included in the Dudley collection in the public
record office in London.]
Whereas by a late Act Entituled, an act for the settlem❜t of
Courts of Dudicature, The Supream Courts of this Province,
were appointed to be held on the last tusedayes of October &
Aprill yearly: w'ch time interfering with Some other Courts
may prove injurious for pr'vention whereof
Be it Enacted by the Lieu't Govern'r Councill & Representa-
tives Convened in Gen'll Assembly-And it is hereby Enacted
& Ordained: By the Authority of the Same, That from & after
the publication hereof The Supream Courts of this Province,
be Continually held on the first Tusedays of October & Aprill
yearely-Any thing in the former act to the Contray, not with
Standing-
Past by the Assembly
Past by the Councill.
assented to by
Mark Hunking-Clerk:
Will: Redford Dep't Secry't
John Usher L: Gov'rnour
[CHAPTER 5.]
AN ACT FOR RESTRAINING OF INHUMAN SEVERITYS—
[Passed May 24, 1694. William and Mary. Council Book 4, p. 115; Laws,
1692-1698, p. 33; Province Records, A, p. 174; Dudley collection in the public
record office in London, folio 61; printed in 3 Province Papers, 200. Re-
pealed by the queen in council November 19, 1706. Public record office, New
England, F, folio 211; New Hampshire bundle 2, no. 55. Compare act of
May 14, 1718, New Hampshire laws, ed. of 1716-26, p. 99, reprinted post.]
Bee it Enacted by the Leiu't Govern'r Council & Repr❜senta-
tives Convened in Gen'll Assembly: And it is hereby Enacted,
& ordained by the Authority of the Same, for the prevention
& restraineing of Inhuman Severity w'ch by Evill masteres
or Over Seeres, may be used towards their Christian Servants:
That from & after the Publication; Here of if any man Smites
out the Eye, or tooth of his manservant or his Maid servant,
or otherwise Maime or Disfuguir them much unless it be, by
meer Causallty: He shall let him or her goe free, from his Ser-
vice, And Shall Allow Such further Recomepence, As the
Court of the quart'r sessions Shall Adjudge him, & it is further
Enacted & ordained by the Authority afore said: That if any
Person or Persons w't Soever, w'thin this Province Shall will-
fully: Kill his Indian or Nogro Servant or Servants be shall
be Pun'ished with Death./
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1694.
571
[CHAPTER 6.]
AN ACT TO PR’VENT SEAMEN NEGLECTING THEIR DUTY— ./
[Passed May 24, 1694. 6 William and Mary. Council Book 4, p. 115; Prov-
ince Records, A, p. 175; printed in 3 Province Papers, 200. Not included in
the Dudley collection in the public record office in London. Compare act
for the regulation of seamen, passed June session, 1701, printed New Hamp-
shire laws, ed. of 1716-26, p. 19, reprinted post.]
Bee it Enacted by the Leiu't Govern'r Council & Repr'senta-
tives, Convened in Gen'll Assembly: And it is here by Enacted,
& ordained by the Authority of the Same, That from & after
the Publication hereof: That all Contractes between Masteres
of vessells, And Seamen; who have Shipped them Selves for a
voyage, And Signed to the Masteres Book for proofe of ship-
ing; shall be obliged, to attend the Service on Board & proceed
the voyage, Accordingly And who Soever Soe Shipped, Shall
desert, his Serviece & Ship him Selfe with any other, Shall pay
a fine of fforty Shillings & loose the time that he hath Served
(The fine to be for their Majesties use for Support of their
Majesties Governem't: And returne the mony w'ch he may
have Rec'd for part of wages Due or to be due, and who So ever
shall Entertaine any Such Seamen, Abord any Vessell or Elce
where, After notice givine by the Master who first shiped him,
Shall pay a fine, of Three pounds, to their Maj'ties for Sup-
porte of their Governem't & in Case any Soe Shipped, Shall
absent them Selves, or Run away from their Service: It is
further Enacted by the Authority of the Same, That it shall
be in the Power of a justice of the Peace by Isshewing out,
his warrant, or hew & Cry to Endeavour to apprehend him, &
Committ, him to Prison; untill the vessell he belonges to be
ready to Saile, And then Deliver him to the Master, Provided
the master will paye the Charges there about, to be deducted
out of the Seamens wages-./
In this session it appears that the following orders were passed as explana-
tory of or supplemental to the foregoing formal acts. Province Papers, vol. 3,
passim.
May 15, 1694.
Ordered, that a Township be granted by this Board unto the Petitioners
of Hampton that have desired the same. 3 Province Papers, 19.
Ordered, that notice be given to the selectmen of Hampton that they give
notice to their town to make choyce of persons to give their Relations where
the bounds of a Township graunted by this Board to several persons of
Hampton shall begin, and to make a return of the same to this Board on the
18th inst. 3 Province Papers, 19.
May 18.
Whereas there was an order for the selectmen of Town of Hampton to
attend this Board on this inst., to give their relation where the bounds of
a new Town, granted to sundry sons of said Hampton, should begin; Capt.
Hen. Dow apeared in behalfe of the Selectmen and made a return, as on
file. 3 Province Papers, 20.
572
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1694.
James Prescott appeared in behalf of the petition'rs and humbly leaves
to the consideration of the L't Govern'r and Council, where and how farr the
Township shall be and run as to the bounds thereof. 3 Province Papers, 20.
Ordered, that the Township of the Young men of Hampton as to the affair
thereof, be laid aside, the board not agreeing. 3 Province Papers, 21. His-
tory of Hampton, Dow, vol. 1, p. 152.
May 23.
The Lower House sent up their answer as to choyce of 2 men in the nega
tive. The L't Govern'r proposed to this Board that 4 of the Council should
view the Fort & compute the charge, and whether it was not necessary.
Answered in the affirmative. The Committee appointed, (viz.,) Robert
Elliott, Peter Coffin, Hen. Green, Nath. Weare, Esqrs., made their return,
viz., that for the pr'sent security of their Maj'ties Fort and to make up the
breast work & place to secure the King's stores, we judge needful £100, &
for the scons to defend the great guns, £400. 3 Province Papers, 22.
May 24.
The L❜t Governor declares, as for the Acts, viz., about the Bounds and
Highways, he would not assent to them, since they had so often intimated
to the Council of Mr. Allen's coming. 3 Province Papers, 23.
[ELEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY.]
[Held at Newcastle, Two Sessions, November 1, 1694, to May 8,
1695.]
[OFFICERS OF THE GOVERNMENT.]
SAMUEL ALLEN, GOVERNOR, residing in London, not present in
the province.
JOHN USHER, LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR, residing in Boston;
present in the province, acting as governor.
THOMAS DAVIS, SECRETARY.
NATHANIEL FRYER, PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL.
THOMAS DAVIS, CLERK OF THE COUNCIL.
GEORGE JEFFREYS, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE.
JOHN PICKERING, CLERK OF THE HOUSE.
MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL.
Nathaniel Fryer, Newcastle.
Robert Elliott,
66
Peter Coffin,
Exeter.
Henry Green,
Hampton.
Nathaniel Weare,
66
William Veughan, Portsmouth.
Richard Waldron,
66
MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE.
Portsmouth, George Jeffreys.
John Pickering.
John Plaisted.
'
+
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1694.
573
;
John Woodman.
William Furber.
Kinsley Hall.
John Folsom.
Dover,
John Hall.
Exeter,
Hampton,
Newcastle,
Nathaniel Batchellor.
Thomas Roby.
John Smith.
Thomas Cobbett.
James Randall.
Isles of Shoals, John Fabes.
[First Session, November 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 1694.]
[CHAPTER 1.]
[AN ACT FOR RENEWING AND CONTINUING THE ACT FOR DEFRAY-
ING THE PUBLIC CHARGE OF THE GOVERNMENT UNTIL THE
SECOND DAY OF NOVEMBER, 1695.]
[Passed November 2, 1694. 6 William and Mary. Record of title and
passage, 3 Province Papers, 24. The text of this act has not been found.
It was doubtless similar in its provisions to other acts of like title which
are printed.]
[CHAPTER 2.]
AN ACT FOR THE RAISEING OF MONEY FOR SUPPORT OF THE
GOVERNEM❜T—/
[Passed November 10, 1694. 6 William and Mary. Council Book 4, p. 124;
Laws, 1692-1698, no. 1; Province Records, A, p. 187; printed in part in 3
Province Papers, 207. Not included in the Dudley collection in the public
record office in London.]
Wee their Maj'ties most Loyall & Dutifull Subjects, the
Representatives: Convened in Gen'll Assembly: Being Sensi-
able of the great Charges & Expences, w'ch hath all ready
Arissen & must be Expended in maintenance of Souldiers for
Defence & securety of their Maj'ties Subjects in this Province,
against a french & Indian Enemy: Have Cheerefully & unanni-
mously Given & granted, And doe heêre by Give & grant unto
their most Excellent Maj'ties their Heires & Successours to
the End & Intent afore Said the Sum of Seven hundred pounds
And Humbly Beeseech their Maj'ties to accept the Same—./
Be it therefore Enacted by the Leiu't Govern'r Councill &
Representatives Convined in Gen'll Assembly And it is hereby
Enacted And Ordained by the Authority of the Same, that a
Rate of Seven hundred pounds be made on all persons &
Estates Reall & Personall Throughout the Province, Accord-
ing as it is here affter proportioned to Each Town: viz Portsm❜o
574
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1694.
proportion to this Rate, is One hundred Sixty seven pounds
Hampton Proportion to s'd Rate is Two hundred & Thirty
pounds Dover Proportion to this Rate is Ninty pounds, Exeter
Proportion to said Rate is One hundred Twenty Seven pounds,
New Castle Proporti. to this Rate is Eighty Six pounds And
that the Treasurer doe forthwith send his warrants to the
Selectmen of Each Town for making the Said Rate, and As-
sesem't, according to this proportion, And the Rate to be
made by the Selectmen & Comissioner, According to the
valewation of Estates & all other methodes Setled there
abouts-according to that act of Assembly made in the year
1692, for making & Collecting a Province Rate in that year,
And the Rates & Assesem'ts So made Shall be Com'itted to
the sev'rall Constables w'thin three Months time, w'th war-
rants to Collect & Transemitt, the Same to the Treasurar for
the Time being: the Said Rate to be p'd in mony, or the Spe-
cies at the Prices herein Mentioned viz: Mer'ble Pine Boards
at Thirty shill's thousand, m'rble whit Oak Pipe Staves-
at Three pound Thousand white Oak hh'd Staves at Thirty
shill's Thousand, Red Oak hh'd Staves at Twenty Shillings
thousand wheat at five shill's bush: good pease at four
shill's bush: Malt at three shill's Bush: Indian Corne two
shill's & Six pence P bush: fish & Mackrell at Price Currant;
good Beefe at Seven farthings d. Porke at Two pence halfe
Penny: And it is also Provided it be in the Power of the Select-
men, where any Poore Decriped Indigent Persons that they
are uncapable of paying any thing to favour Such-./
John Pickerin Clerk
in behalfe of the Councill W'm Redford Dep't Secr
John Usher Leiu't Governour
In this session it appears that the following orders were passed as explana-
tory of or supplemental to the foregoing formal acts. Province Papers, vol. 3,
passim.
November 2, 1694.
A vote was sent to the Lower House for reviving and continuing the act
for defraying the public charges of the Governm't until the second day of
November, 1695, w'ch past both Houses, and was assented to by the L't
Govern'r, and proclaimed the same day. 3 Province Papers, 24.
November 3.
In answer to the L't Governor's proposals yesterday, the Lower House
sent up for sending sixty men for six months, and to raise Provision and
ammunition for them, or longer, as necessity should require. Ordered, that
a letter be drawn up to be sent for Boston for that purpose. 3 Province
Papers, 25.
November 7.
The Lower House sent up the following votes, viz.: one for the Settlem't
Town Bounds; one for the Restraint of Horses on the Commons, and one for
laying out of the Highways; which Bills this Board gave their dissent ag'st.
3 Province Papers, 26.
November 10.
The Lower House being sent for up to this Board, the L't Governor made
a speech to them, as on file, relating to raising of £400 to be presented to
Mr. W'm Blaithwaite for passing of the Laws made & sent for Engl'd, for
confirmation. 3 Province Papers, 27.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1695.
575
[Second Session, May 8, 1695.]
[No Acts.]
[TWELFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY.]
[Held at Newcastle, Two Sessions, May 15, 1695, to November 2,
· 1695.]
[OFFICERS OF THE GOVERNMENT.]
SAMUEL ALLEN, GOVERNOR, residing in London, not present in
the province.
JOHN USHER, LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR, residing in Boston;
present in the province, acting as governor.
THOMAS DAVIS, SECRETARY.
NATHANIEL FRYER, PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL.
THOMAS DAVIS, CLERK OF THE COUNCIL.
GEORGE JEFFREYS, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE.
JOHN PICKERING, (?) CLERK OF THE HOUSE.
MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL.
Nathaniel Fryer, Newcastle.
J
Robert Elliott,
66
Peter Coffin,
Exeter.
Henry Green,
Hampton.
Nathaniel Weare,
66
William Veughan, Portsmouth.
Richard Waldron,
66
MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE.
Portsmouth, George Jeffreys.
John Woodman.
John Pickering.
John Plaisted.
Dover,
John Hall.
Exeter,
Hampton,
William Furber.
Kinsley Hall.
John Folsom.
Nathaniel Batchellor.
John Smith.
Thomas Roby.
Newcastle, Elias Stileman.
James Rendall.
#
576
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1695.
[First Session, May 15, 16, 18, 20, 21, 24, 1695.]
[CHAPTER 1.]
[AN ACT FOR ALLOWING TWELVE POUNDS TO THE POST FOR
ENCOURAGEMENT THE ENSUING YEAR, PROVIDED THE POST
IS KEPT.
[Passed May 24, 1695. 7 William III. The text of this act has not been
found. Record of title and passage, 3 Province Papers, 31.]
[CHAPTER 2.]
[AN ACT EMPOWERING SELECTMEN IN EACH TOWN TO PROVIDE
BREAD FOR FOUR DAYS' MARCH OF THE SOLDIERS IM-
PRESSED.]
[Passed May 24, 1695. 7 William III. The text of this act has not been
found. Record of title and passage, 3 Province Papers, 31.]
[CHAPTER 3.]
[AN ACT FOR REGULATING PUBLIC HOUSES OF ENTERTAIN-
MENT.]
[Passed May 24, 1695. 7 William III. The text of this act has not been
found. Record of title and passage, 3 Province Papers, 31. See amendatory
act passed July 2, 1697, and act of January, 1715, New Hampshire laws, ed.
of 1716-26, p. 58.]
[CHAPTER 4.]
AN ACT FOR PROVIDING A PRISON-
[This act is found in Council Book 4, p. 117; Laws, 1692-1698, p. 34; Prov-
ince Records, A, p. 177; Record of Acts, vol. 1, p. 7. It bears the name of
George Jeffreys, speaker. He served in this office in the tenth, eleventh,
and twelfth assemblies, November 1, 1694, to July 23, 1696. The exact date
of its passage is not ascertained. The act must have been passed in this
period, though no mention of it appears in the journal of the council and
assembly, 3 Province Papers, 23, 41. There is no entry in regard to it re-
ported from the public record office in London, and it was not included in
the Dudley collection.]
Whereas great inconveniency may arise for want of a Prison
within this Province----
Be it Enacted and ordained by the Lieu't Govern'r Councille
and Representatives Conveined in Generall Assembly, And itt
is hereby Enacted, and Ordained by the Authority of the Same,
That the Treasurer doe forthw'th Agree with Mr. Samuell
Cutt for his windmill in Portsm'o and cause the Same to be
fitted for a Prison untill further care be taken there about de-
fraying the Charges thereof out of the Publik Treasury:-
In behalfe of the Councill
Assented
Geo Jaffreys Speaker
W'm Redford Dep't Se'ry.
John Usher Lieu't Gov'r
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1695.
577
[Second Session, September 11, 12, 13, 14, 1695.]
[CHAPTER 1.]
[AN ACT FOR RAISING THREE HUNDRED POUNDS.]
[Passed September 14, 1695. 7 William III. The text of this act has not
been found. Record of title and passage, 3 Province Papers, 32.]
[CHAPTER 2.]
[AN ACT FOR CONTINUING THE IMPOST.]
[Passed September 14, 1695. 7 William III.
7 William III. The text of this act has not
been found. Record of title and passage, 3 Province Papers, 32.]
[THIRTEENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY.]
[Held at Newcastle, Two Sessions, November 6, 1695, to July 23,
1696.]
[OFFICERS OF THE GOVERNMENT.]
SAMUEL ALLEN, GOVERNOR, residing in London; not present
in the province.
JOHN USHER, LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR, residing in Boston;
present in the province, acting as governor.
THOMAS DAVIS, SECRETARY.
NATHANIEL FRYER, PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL.
THOMAS DAVIS, CLERK OF THE COUNCIL.
GEORGE JEFFREYS, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE.
JOHN PICKERING, CLERK OF THE HOUSE.
MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL.
Nathaniel Fryer,
Newcastle.
Robert Elliott,
Peter Coffin,
Henry Green,
Nathaniel Weare,
William Vaughan,
Richard Waldron,
66
Exeter.
Hampton.
66
Portsmouth.
66
MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE.
Portsmouth, George Jeffreys.
John Pickering.
John Plaisted.
41
578
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1696.
Dover,
John Woodman.
William Furber.
John Hall.
Exeter,
Theophilus Dudley.
Moses Leavitt.
Hampton,
Daniel Tilton.
Josiah Sanborn.
Newcastle,
Thomas Cobbett.
Shadrach Walton.
[First Session, November 6, 7, 8, 9, 1695.]
[CHAPTER 1.]
[AN ACT TO RAISE FOUR HUNDRED POUNDS BY A RATE FOR THE
PAYMENT OF HIS MAJESTY'S SOLDIERS DETACHED FOR SER-
VICE IN THIS PROVINCE.]
[Passed November 9, 1695. 7 William 111. The text of this act has not
been found. Record of title and passage, 3 Province Papers, 38.]
[Second Session, July 8, 9, 10, 13, 18, 23, 1696.]
[CHAPTER 1.]
AN ACT FOR THE PAYM'T OF THE CURE OF SOULDIERS THAT
ARE WOUNDED—
[Passed July 23, 1696. 8 William III. Council Book 4, p. 125; Laws, 1692-
1698, p. 35; Province Records, A, p. 188; Record of Acts, vol. 1, p. 5; Dudley
collection in the public record office in London, folio 62; printed in 3 Prov-
ince Papers, 207. Confirmed by the queen in council November 19, 1706.
Public record office, New England, F, folio 215; New Hampshire bundle 2,
no. 56. Compare act of May 14, 1718, New Hampshire laws, ed. of 1716-26,
p. 98.]
For the better Incouragem't of Souldiers to Adventure their
Persons against the ffrench & Indian Enemie./
Bee it Enacted, and Ordained by the Lieu't Govern'r Coun-
cill & Representatives Convened in Gen'll Assembly: And it
is hereby Enacted and Ordained by the Authority of the Same,
That in case any Person within this Province (being actually
in Armes: by the Comand of his Officer or as a volantier) shall
be wounded by the ffrench & Indian Enemie, the charge of his
cure Shall be paid out of the Publick Treasurey-./
in behalfe of the Councill
George Jaffreys, Speaker
W'm Redford D Secry't-
}
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1696.
579
[CHAPTER 2.]
AN ACT REQUIRING ALL PERSONS, TO TAKE THE OATHS AP-
POINTED TO BE TAKEN, INSTEAD OF THE OATHS OF ALLE-
GIANCE AND SUPREMACY— ./
[Passed July 23, 1696. 8 William III. Council Book 4, p. 116; Laws, 1692-
1698, p. 37; Province Records, A, p. 176; Record of Acts, vol. 1, p. 2; Dudley
collection in the public record office in London, folio 67; printed in 3 Province
Papers, 201. See also New Hampshire laws, ed. of 1716-26, p. 1; 1761 edition,
p. 124; 1771 edition, p. 1. Repealed by act of June 20, 1792. New Hampshire
laws, 1792 edition, p. 401. State v. Jackson, 69 N. H., 516.]
Whereas a late Horried & Detestable Conspiracy, against
his Maj'ties Sacred Person, as by the Providence of Allmighty
God, been happily Discovered: And there by his Maj'ts Royall
person preserved to the Intent that all his Subjects, within
this Province, may now recognize their duty and Alle-
giance-./
Bee it therefore, Enacted & ordained by the L't Govern'r
Counciel & Representatives Convened in Gen'erall Assembly:
And it is hereby Enacted & Ordained, By the Authority of
the Same That all male Persons, w'thin this Province from
Sixteen yeares old & upwards, on due notice of time, And
place Shall appeare, And take, the Oaths appointed by act of
Parliment to be taken Instead of the Oaths of Allegianc &
Supremacie, And that two or more Justices of the peace, ap-
pointed thereto by the Lieu'tt Govern'r for Each Towne, Shall
give notice for time & place of meeting & Administer the S'd
Oaths in the Respective Towns accordingly: Returning a
List of the Names of all Persons So Sworne, into the Secri-
taries Office, And in case any Person Shall Refuse to take,
the S'd Oathes, The persons Impowred to Administer, ` the
Same Shall forth w'th Com'itt him to the Com'on Goale, there
to Remaine w'th out Baile or maine Prize, for the Space of
three Monthes, unless he pay down forty shillings, for the use
of the poore, And become bound w'th Sufficient Securities, to
be of the good Behaviour, And to appeare att the next Quarter
Sessions of the Peace where if he continues Obstinate in his
refuseall, To take the S'd Oaths he shall be fined not Exceding
Ten pounds, And his Bonds, of good Behaviour Continued:
And whereas there are Certaine Persons who are Scrupelous
in Swering Every such person or persons shall make & Sub-
scribe, the Oath of fidellitye ffollowing viz: I A: B: doe Sin-
cearely promise & declare et'c
In behalfe of the Councile
Assented
George Jefferys Speacker
W❜m Redford: D-Secry't
John Usher L't Govern'r
580
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1696.
[CHAPTER 3.]
AN ACT FOR SETTLING A FERRY BEETWEEN PORTSMOUTH AND
NEW CASTLE./
[Passed July 23, 1696. 8 William III. Council Book 4, p. 126; Laws, 1692-
1698, p. 35; Province Records, A, p. 189; Record of Acts, vol. 1, p. 4; Dudley
collection in the public record office in London, folio 65; printed in 3 Prov-
ince Papers, 208. No record of confirmation or repeal.]
Whereas John Partridge has Made Applic for Liberty of
keeping a fferry between Portsm'o & New Castle
Be it Enacted & Ordained by the Lieu't Govern'r Councill
and Representatives Convened in Gen'll Assembly-And it is
hereby Enacted and Ordained by the Authority of the Same,
That the S'd John Partridge shall have Liberty And it is
hereby granted him to Keepe a Ferry for Transeportation of
Passeng❜rs Between Portsm'o and New Castle viz from Ports-
mouth to the Island, he the S'd Partridge now liveth on and
Soe to the Great Island & Back againe for w'ch he shall
Receive of Each person Backword or forward five pence, And
this Liberty to Continue to him the S'd Partridge his Heires
Executo'rs & Administrato'rs for & during the Space of one
& Twenty yeares & Soe much long'r as the s'd Partridge shall
live, and further to have liberty of Selling Drink free of
Excise taking Licence for the same, And Entring into Recog-
nizance for keeping good orders as the Law Directs, Pro-
vided the said John Partridge doe forthwith Provid Sufficient
Boate or Boates Canno or Cannowes for keeping of s'd fferrys
And give Constant attendance upon the Same accord-
ingly:-/
In behalfe of the Councill
Assented
Geo: Jaffrys Speaker
W'm Redford Dp't Secry't
John Usher L'tt Govern'r
[CHAPTER 4.]
AN ACT FOR CONTINUEING & REVIEWING THE LAWES ALLREADY
MADE, FOR SETTELING & INCOURAGEING THE WEEKLY POST
FROM BOSTON TO THIS PROVINCE.
[Passed July 23, 1696. 8 William III. Council Book 4, p. 118; Laws, 1692-
1698, p. 34; Province Records, A, p. 178; Record of Acts, vol. 1, p. 6; printed
in part in 3 Province Papers, 203. Not included in the Dudley collection in
the public record office in London.]
For as much as Application has bin made to the Hon'bl the
Leiu't Govern'r Councile & Repr'sentatives Conveined in
Gen'll Assembly by the Post Master, for Some Assistance
from this Goverment towards the Supporte of the Charges of
the Post, as others his Maj'ties Province have given-./
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1696.
581
Bee it Enacted and Ordained by the L't Govern'r & Councile
and Representatives conveined in Generall Assembly: And it
is here by Enacted & Ordained by the Authority of the Same,
That the Act made, for Setlement of a Post office, within this
Province, in the yeare one Thousand Six hundred Ninty three,
in Titled An act for Setling a Post Office,-The act made En-
titeled an Aditionall act, for incouragem't of the Post Office,
one thousand Six hundred ninty and four: And the Act In-
titled an act for incoragem't of the Post to Continue, between
Boston & Portsm'o made & passed at A geneall Assembly
held May fifteenth, one thousand Six hundred Ninty & five be
revived & Continued for one whole year from Publication
hereof any thing in the former acts to the Contrary not with
standing
In behalfe of the Councile
Assented
Geo: Jaffreys Speaker
W'm Redford D: Secry't
John Usher L't Govern'r
In the record of this session the following communications passing between the
lieutenant-governor and the assembly are reported:
November 7, 1695.
Speech of His Excellency, in part:
"The King expects none should serve him at his own expense, & I am
fully satisfied yo'r Taxes and Rates are not so great as those at Boston,
for a person of 50lbs rent here pays but 10lbs, and at Boston about £20;
So I demand you of the Assembly your advice here with the Council." 3
Province Papers, 33.
November 9.
Further proposals of His Excellency:
"Gentlem❜n: Having at your first sitting proposed for raising of money
for passing of yo'r Laws in England, least by reason of want of due applica-
tion your Laws be rejected; desire your answer to the same." 3 Province
Papers, 36.
The Assembly answered, they had considered what proposed; but find the
Province was not capable to raise more money at present. 3 Province
Papers, 36.
July 10, 1696.
A Bill was sent up to desire that application might be made to the Gov-
ernment of the Massachusetts for 50 men. Desired that an Express might
be sent to Boston accordingly. 3 Province Papers, 39.
[FOURTEENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY.]
[Held at Newcastle and Hampton, Two Sessions, September 16 to
September 24, 1696.]
[OFFICERS OF THE GOVERNMENT.]
SAMUEL ALLEN, GOVERNOR, residing in London; not present
in the province.
JOHN USHER, LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR, residing in Boston;
present in the province, acting as governor.
THOMAS DAVIS, SECRETARY.
582
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1696.
NATHANIEL FRYFR, PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL.
THOMAS DAVIS, CLERK OF THE COUNCIL.
JOHN PLAISTED, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE.
RICHARD JOSE, CLERK OF THE HOUSE.
MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL.
Nathaniel Fryer,
Newcastle.
Robert Elliott,
66
Shadrach Walton.*
66
Peter Coffin,
Exeter.
Henry Green,
Nathaniel Weare,
Hampton.
66
Joseph Smith,*
William Vaughan,
Richard Waldron,
66
Portsmouth.
66
MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE.
Portsmouth, John Plaisted.
Richard Jose.
John Pickering.
John Hall.
Dover,
A
Thomas Chesley.
Job Clements.
į
Exeter,
Samuel Leavitt.
David Lawrence.
Hampton,
John Redman.
John Tuck.
Samuel Dow.
Newcastle,
Theodore Atkinson.
John Hatch.
[First Session, Held at Newcastle, September 16, 19, 1696.]
[No Acts.]
[Second Session, Held at Hampton, September 22, 23, 24, 1696.J
[CHAPTER 1.]
AN ACT FOR CONTINUING THE ACT OF IMPOST & EXCISE
[Passed September 24, 1696. 8 William III. Council Book 4, p. 126; Laws,
1692-1698, p. 36; Province Records, A, p. 190; Record of Acts, vol. 1, p. 3;
printed in 3 Province Papers, 208. Not included in the Dudley collection in
the public record office in London.]
*It is not known when Shadrach Walton and Joseph Smith were appointed
councillors. Shadrach Walton first appeared in the council September 16,
1696, and Joseph Smith September 22, 1696. It is probable that their appoint-
ment was not confirmed by the crown, as they did not serve after the end
of this assembly.
L
1
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1696.
583
f
Whereas at a Gen'll Assembly: held Septemb'r the four-
teenth 1695 an act was passed for the Continuance of the Act
for the Excise & Custom w'ch act, would then have been Ex-
pired, the first day of November following and then was Con-
tinued untill, the Third day of November 1696 which will
Soone be Expired— ./
Be it therefore Enacted, and Ordained by the L❜tt Govern'r
Council & Representatives Convened in Gena'll Assembly
And it is hereby Enacted and Ordained by the Authority of
the Same, That the s'd act and Every part of itt, Be & hereby
is Revived, and Continued, in full force & vertue, to all intents
& purposes from & After, the third day of November, next
following: untill the fourth day of November, one Thousand
Six hundred Ninty & Seven, Excepting & making void that
part or clause of S'd Act relating to Sloopes or Boats Trading
along The shore, to be free from paying of Powder mony That
comes into this Province, to Traffique from any part, or Har-
bour on this Side Connecticott, anything in the late act made
(to the Contrary not with standing) in November last— ./
John Plaisted Speaker
In behalfe of the Councill
Assented to by
W'm Redford D Secret'r
John Usher L'tt Govern'r &
Com'ander in Cheife-
[CHAPTER 2.]
AN ACT FOR RAISEING SIX HUNDRED POUNDS FOR DEFRAYING
THE PUBLICK CHARGE OF THE PROVINCE
[Passed September 24, 1696. 8 William III. Council Book 4, p. 127; Laws,
1692-1698, p. 36; Province Records, A, p. 191. Not included in the Dudley
collection in the public record office in London.]
Wee his Maj'ties most loyall & Dutifull Subjects the Rep-
resentatives Convend in Generall Assembly for this his Maj'-
ties Province being Sencible of the great Charge, & necesity
of Raiseing money: for paym't & subsistance of Souldiers at
the Kings ffort, and in service upon the frontiers of this Prov-
ince for the defence & security of the Same against the ffrench
& Indian Enemie, for time past & to come, Have Cherefully,
and Nunanimousely Given & granted, And doe by these
pr'sents Give & Grant unto his Most Excellent Majesty, his
Heires Successors for paym't of Such Souldiers at his Majestys
ffourt, and in the fronter garrisons afore S'd the Sum of Six
hundred pounds And humbly beseech his Majestie to accept
the Same-/
Be it therefore Enacted & Ordained by the L'tt Govern'r
Councile and Representatives, Convened in Gen'll Assembly—
And it is hereby Enacted & Ordained by the Authority of the
Same, That a Rate be made forthwith upon all persons &
584
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1697.
Estates, both reall & personall Throughout this Province, to
the valew of Six hundred pounds, in maner & forme following
viz That Portsm'o pay One hundred Twenty nine pounds Six
Shillings Hampton One hundred seventy two pounds fourten
shillings & Sixpence Dover One hundred Seventeen pounds.
Sixteen shill's Six pence, Exeter one hundred Six pounds Six-
teen shillings; New Castle Seventy three pounds Seventeen
Shillings, w'ch Sumes Amounts to Six hundred pounds, and
that the Treasurer Sends out his warrants, forthwith to the
Constables of Each Town accordingly Requireing them to
Assemble the Inhabitants to make choise, of two Assessors,
for Each Towne, And after such Assesors are So legally
Chosen; they are to take the Oath Appointed by Law for As-
sesors, and they So Sworne Shall together, with the Selectmen
in Each Towne, assese the Inhabitants of their Town, And the
Rates and Assessments Soe made Shall be forthwith Trans-
mitted to the Treasurer for the Time being & the Treasurer
Shall at or before the Twenty day of October next Isshue out
his warrants to the Respective Constables to Collect & gather
in Said Rates accordinly.
In behalfe of the Councile
Assented to by
John Plaistead Speaker
W❜m Redford D Secrtry
John Usher L't Govern'r
and Comand'r in cheife-
The following appears in the journal record of this session:
September 23, 1696.
A vote was sent to the Assembly that an humble address might be made
to his most Sacred Majesty to send a General Govern'r over these his Gov-
ernments, and to annex us as in his princely Wisdom as he shall see meet.
3 Province Papers, 45.
[FIFTEENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY.]
[Held at Newcastle, Four Sessions, June 8, 1697, to December
15, 1697.]
[OFFICERS OF THE GOVERNMENT.]
SAMUEL ALLEN, GOVERNOR, residing in London; not present
in the province.
JOHN USHER, LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR, residing in Boston;
not present in the province.
HENRY PENNY,* SECRETARY.
JOHN HINCKES, PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL, acting as gov-
ernor.
HENRY PENNY, CLERK OF THE COUNCIL.
JOHN PICKERING, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE.
THEODORE ATKINSON, CLERK OF THE HOUSE.
*Charles Story was admitted and qualified as secretary of the province and
clerk of the council January 19, 1696-7; dismissed February 2, 1696-7. Henry
Penny qualified the next day.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1697.
585
MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL.
John Hinckes,
Newcastle.
Nathaniel Fryer,
66
Robert Elliott,
66
Peter Coffin,
Exeter.
Henry Green,
Nathaniel Weare,
William Vaughan,
Richard Waldron,
Hampton.
66
Portsmouth.
66
MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE.
Portsmouth, John Pickering.
John Plaisted.
Samuel Keais.
Dover,
John Gerrish.
Exeter,
John Gilman.
Simon Wiggin.
Hampton,
Ephraim Marston.
John Redman.
Newcastle,
Benjamin Brown.
Theodore Atkinson.
William Seavey.
[First Session, June 8, 9, 10, 23, 24, 25, 26, 30, July 1, 2, 1697.]
[CHAPTER 1.]
AN ACT FOR THE RAISEING OF SIX HUNDRED & FIFTY POUND
TO DEFRAYE THE PUBLICK CHARGE OF THE PROVINCE—
[Passed July 2, 1697. 9 William III. Council Book 4, p. 119; Laws, 1692-
1698, p. 39; Province Records, A, p. 179; printed in 3 Province Papers, 203.
Not included in the Dudley collection in the public record office in London.]
Wee his Maj'ties most Loyall, & Dutifull Subjects, The Rep-
r'sentatives, Convend in Gen'll Assembly for this his Maj'ties
Province Being Senceable of the great Charge dayly ariseing
*John Hinckes assumed the office of president of the council November 3,
1696, perhaps with the consent of the council but against the express order
of Lieutenant-Governor Usher, who had been acting as governor and had
suspended Mr. Hinckes from the board. Mr. Hinckes's claim was that Wil-
liam Partridge's commission as lieutenant-governor contained a revocation of
the authority of Mr. Usher, and that Governor Allen had requested him to
assume the office until Lieutenant-Governor Partridge assumed the gov-
ernment of the province. Mr. Usher claimed that his commission was good
until Mr. Partridge was formally published (which did not occur until
December 14, 1697), and that Governor Allen had no right to give an order
pertaining to the constitution or organization of the council, because he had
not yet formally and regularly assumed the government, and could not be
regarded as having assumed it until he had first come into the province and
there taken the oaths of office, and that the council, as against the order of
the lieutenant-governor, had no power to appoint.
586
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1697.
for payment & Subsistance of Souldieres for our Defence, and
Security against the ffrench & Indian Enemy untill the first
day of September next Ensueing-Have cherfully and unan-
imousely: Given and Granted, And doe by these pr'sents give
& grante―./
Unto his most Excelent Maj'tie his Heires and Successors.
the Sum of Six hundred & fifty pounds, To be applyed first,
to the Subsistance and paym't of the Masathusets, Souldiers,
now in his Maj'tie Service; in this Provence And then to the
paym❜t and Subsistance of the Souldiers of our own Inhabi-
tants, and all just Debts, accrewing by other Incident Charges
-And humbly beseech his Maj'tie to Accep the Same.-
Bee it therefore Enacted & Ordained, By the President,.
Councill and Representatives, Convened in Gen'll Assembly,
And it is hereby Enacted And Ordained by the Authority of
the Same, That a Rate be forthwith made, upon all persons
& Estates, both Reall & personall, Through out this Province,
in proportion to the Sev'rall Townes as followeth viz't That
of the Town of Portsm❜o pay the sum of One hundred and forty
pounds, one shilling & Six pence, The Town of Hampton one
hundred Eighty seaven pounds, two shillings & four pence,
halfe penny-The Towne of Dover one Hundred Twenty
Seaven pounds-Nine Shillings & seven pence, halfe pen'y-
The Towne of Exeter one hundred fifteen pounds fourten shil-
lings, The Towne of New Castle, seaventy nine pounds,
twelve shillings & Six pence--, And that the Treasurer, doe
forthwith Send his warrants to the Constables of the Respec-
tive Towns Requireing them to Assemble the Inhabitants-To
make Choyce of two Assessors in Each Towne, wher they are
not allready chosen for the yeare, To joyne with the Selectmen,
in making the Rate & Assessm❜t according to this act To
whome the Treasurer Shall also give warrant pursuant here
unto And the Rates & Assessem't Soe made to be Com'itted to
the Constables of the Respective Towns, w'th a warrant from
a Justice of the peace and the Selectmen & Assessors to Col-
lect the Same & pay it in to the Treasurer, for the time being-
The one halfe by the last of August Next Ensueing-and the
other halfe by the last of November following: And because
Some persons, are in a better Capassity for pr'sent paym't
then others the selectmen & Assessors, shall notifie unto the
Constables und'r their hand whoe in their Opin'ion is most
able, and from whome the Constable shall Collect, the first
paym't, & further, That the Rates & Assesm'ts to be Col-
lected pursuant to this Act shall be paid in money or the
Species at the prices here after Mentioned, to be delivered at
Portsm❜o to the Treasurer or his ord'r
John Pickerin Speaker
John Hinkes President
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1697.
587
Henry Penny Secrit-
viz't Red Oak hh'd Staves-15s m:
mercht'b Pine Boards-25sm:
Wite Oak Pipe staves-45s m:
Scall fish at-10s
Cod fish at-12s
Vera Copia-
q'll
q'll
Henry Penny Secrit.
[CHAPTER 2.]
AN ACT TO PREVENT DAMAGES BY HORSES— ./
[Passed July 2, 1697. 9 William III. Council Book 4, p. 120; Laws, 1692-
1698, p. 44; Province Records, A, p. 181; Record of Acts, vol. 1, p. 8; Dudley
collection in the public record office in London, folio 71; printed in 3 Prov-
ince Papers, 204. See also New Hampshire laws, ed. of 1716-26, p. 2; 1761
edition, p. 132; 1771 edition, p. 2. Repealed by act of June 20, 1792. New
Hampshire laws, 1792 edition, p. 401.]
Whereas there hath bin Complaint made of
Loc Sigil unruly horses doeing of Damages in this Prov-
ince, both in Corne feilds Medowes & Pastures,
w'ch if not timely Prevented will be very pr'juditiall to the
Inhabitants of the Province-./
Bee it therefore Enacted by the President Councill & Rep-
r'sentatives Convened in Gen'll Assembly, And it is hereby
Enacted & Ordained by the Authority of the Same, That no
Horse nor horse Kinde Shall be Suffred to goe loose upon any
of our Comons, belonging to any Towne in this Province with-
out they have, a Suffitient, pare of ffetters on, from the last of
March to the last of October from yeere to yeere upon the pen-
alty of paying ten Shillings, the one halfe to him that Im-
pounded them the other halfe to the selectmen for the use of
the Poore of that Towne where they are impounded and if any
mans Horse or Horse kinde Shall be found in any mans Corne
feild, Meddow, Pastur, or other inclosure the Owner of any
such horse or Horse kinde shall pay a fine of ten Shillings:
money: The one halfe to him: that Impound, them The other
halfe to the over seers of the poore, for the poore of that
Towne, where, they did Damage, befor Such Horse or Horse
Kinde shall be Released out of pound besides all Damages, if
such Horse or Horse kind have not on A sufficient pare of
fetters Except there be proof that Such Horse or Horse Kind,
have bin used to go with suffitient fetters, or had brookin, or
lost them, In Such case to pay only the Damages of the first
offence, And in no case, Shall any unruly Horse, Be Suffred
to goe on the Com'ons, or Horse kind, as above said, That is
knowne to be unruly w'th fetters, Though never So well fet-
tered upon the pen'alty: of the owners paying Ten': Shillings
money; the one halfe to them that Impounded them, the other
1
588
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1697.
halfe to the Use of the Poor afore Said Neither shall any per-
son, that is not, a free houlder keepe any Horse or Horse kind
upon any of the Com'ons upon the pen'alty of Teen shillings,
to be Taken by the Constable, by warrant from a Justice of
the peace, in that Town, where the offence was Com'itted the
halfe to them that shall Impound them; the other halfe for
the use of the poor afore said—
Vera Copia Henry Penny Secret'r
John Pickerin Speaker
Henry Penny Secret.-
John Hinks President-
[CHAPTER 3.]
AN ADITION TO THE ACT RELATING TO EXCISE FOR IMPOWER-
ING THE TREASURER, OR ANY APPOINTED BY HIM TO ENTER
INTO ANY RETALERS CILLER OR WARE HOUSE, THAT HAVE
NOT AGREED W'TH HIM; AND THERE SEIZE ALL DRINKE NOT
DUELY ENTRED AND THE EXCISE NOT PAYD
[Passed July 2, 1697. 9 William III. Council Book 4, p. 122; Laws, 1692-
1698, p. 43; Province Records, A, p. 184; printed in 3 Province Papers, 205.
Not included in the Dudley collection in the public record office in London.]
Bee it therefore Enacted by the President Council and
Representatives Convened in Gen'll Assembly: And it is
hereby Enacted and Ordained by the Authority: afore Said:
that the Treasurer him Selfe; or Any appointed by him may
& Shall have liberty: as offten as he shall See Cause, in the
day time to Enter into the houses Storehouses or Cillers of
any Lycenced house or Retailer, that have not agreed with
the Treasurer, or any by him Appointed for agreem't of the
Same, There to Seize any Wine, Rum or other Liquor Accord-
ing to Said act, And to dispose of the Same, one third to the
Informer, the rest to the use of the Province unless: the Treas-
urer See Cause, other wayes to agree with the Dilinquent per-
son And the Treasurer when he sees Cause, to Give warrant
to any Constable to be Ayding & Assisting herein
John Pickerin Speaker
Henry Penny Secrit.
John Hincks president
Vera Copia Henry Penny Secrit.—
[CHAPTER 4.]
AN ACT FOR THE SECURITY & PRESERVATION OF THE RECORDS
OF THIS PROVINCE
[Passed July 2, 1697. 9 William III. Council Book 4, p. 122; Laws, 1692-
1698, p. 43; Province Records, A, p. 185; Dudley collection in the public record
office in London, folio 69; printed in 3 Province Papers, 206.]
Where as the scatring of the Records of this Province into
Sundry places, and persons hands hath bin much to the
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1697.
589
Detteriment of his Maj'ties Subjects therein for the future
prevention whereof Bee it Enacted by the President & Coun-
cill & Representatives Convened: in Gen'll Assembly: And it
is hereby Enacted by the Authority of the Same, that all
Records of all kindes belonging to this Province, before the
Arrivall here, of John Usher Esq'r Leiu't Governour, bee de-
posited, into the hands of Majo'r William Vaughan Esqr: at
Portsmouth, be giving Copies to any that have occassion, tak-
ing the usiall fees for the Same-/
Vera Copia Henry Penny Secrt.
John Pickerin Speaker
Henry Penny Secret.-
John Hincks President
[CHAPTER 5.]
AN ACT FOR REPEALING PART OF THAT ACT: MADE IN THE
YEERE ONE THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED NINTY FIVE-./ LIM-
'ITTING EVERY TOWN IN THIS PROVINCE TO FOUR HOUSES OF
ENTERTAINEM'T BESIDES FERRIES, AND BEING NOT THOUGHT
FITT, TO ANSWER THE END FOR W'CH IT WAS MADE.—!
[Passed July 2, 1697. 9 William III. Council Book 4, p. 121; Laws, 1692-
1698, p. 44; Province Records, A, p. 183; Record of Acts, vol. 1, p. 9; printed
in 3 Province Papers, 205. Not included in the Dudley collection in the
public record office in London.]
}
Bee it therefore Enacted by the President & Councill &
Keresentatives Convened in Gen'll Assembly-And it is hereby
Enacted, and Ordained, by the Authority of the Same, that
that part of the act: which Lym'itts Every Town to four;
Houses of Entertainem't & no more, is hereby Repealed & here
after, is left to the Discretion, of the Justices of the peace, at
the quarter Sessions, to Lycence Soe many & no more then
they Shall judge needfull & Conveniant Haveing respect to
the other part of the act: That none be licenced but according
to s'd act & Every time they renew their Licence to bring
und'r The hand of the Selectmen, of the Town whereto they
belonge, or the Majo'r part of them: that they are persons
duly quallified for the Same,-./
Vera Copia Henry Penny Secrit.
John Pickerin Speaker
Henry Penny Secret'r
John Hincks President
}
590
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1697.
[CHAPTER 6.]
AN ACT FOR PROVIDING A PRISON IN THIS PROVINCE
[Passed July 2, 1697. 9 William III. Council Book 4, p. 123; Laws, 1692-
1698, p. 42; Province Records, A, p. 185; Record of Acts, vol. 1, p. 13; printed
in 3 Province Papers, 206. Not included in the Dudley collection in the pub-
lic record office in London.]
The Sherrife of this Province Complaing that the want of a
Prison in this Province, Renders him uncapeable of perfor
ing his Office Bee it therefore Enacted by the President, &
Councill & Representatives Convened in Gen'll Assembly: And
it is hereby Enacted, and Ordained by the Authority of the
Same, That the Sheriffe forth with take up the ffort on m'r
Thomas Grafforts Hill at Portsm'o for that use and see it
fitted accordingly The Charge thereof to be payd out of the
Treasury & the Owner to be allowed forty Shillings annum
Rent for the Same untill further order
Vera Copia: Henry Penny Secrt.
John Pickerin Speaker-
Henry Penny Secret.-
John Hincks President
In this session it appears that the following orders were passed as explanatory
of or supplemental to the foregoing formal acts:
June 25, 1697.
Treasurer Partridge, Esq., bringing in his acco❜tts (as formerly Treasurer
of this Province) to the Council, they approving of said acco❜tts & balancing
the same, to be due to the province 44lb : 17: 9; the same acco❜tts being
sent to the Assembly, and after perusal, the speaker returned them to this
Board with their consent and approbation of the same. Adjourned to-
morrow morning, 10 of the clock. 3 Province Papers, 51.
June 26.
A Bill sent for repealing that part of an Act made in 1694, relating to
the allowance of 4 public Houses and no more, in each town,-both past by
President and Council. 3 Province Papers, 51.
July 1.
Bill sent up from the other house about records, &c., returned to the
other house with this amendment: That all records of all kinds, belonging
to this Province until the time of Lt. Govern'r Usher's arrival, be deposited
in the hands of Major William Vaughan, Esq., he giving copies to any that
have occasion, taking the usual fees. 3 Province Papers, 52.
[Second Session, September 1, 1697.]
[No Acts.]
The following vote passed at this session indicates one feature of the jurisdic-
tion exercised by the assembly of this period:
September 1, 1697.
In answer to a petition from the selectmen of Dover to the Presid't, Coun-
cil and Assembly, concerning David Hamilton's being town charge; and
therefore pray that what estate and movables the said Hamilton hath left,
that the selectmen may have power to dispose of the same for the said Ham-
ilton's subsistance: Public notice having been given to the relations of said
Hamilton by order of Council, that they should appear at this General ses-
sions & Assembly, if they, had anything to object against said Petition, why
it should not be granted; but none appearing,
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1697.
591
Ordered, That the selectmen are hereby impowered to make sale of part
or all the lands or other estate within the town of Dover belonging to the
said Hamilton, and improve the same for his maintenance. 3 Province
Papers, 54.
[Third Session, October 5, 6, 7, 8, 1697.]
[CHAPTER 1.]
AN ACT FOR RAISEING OF THREE HUNDRED POWNDS TO DEFRAY
THE PUBLICK CHARGE OF THE PROVINCE—
[Passed October 8, 1697. 9 William III. Laws, 1692-1698, p. 41; Record
of Acts, vol. 1, p. 10. Not included in the Dudley collection in the public
record office in London.
Wee his Maj'ties most Loyal & dutifull Subjects the Repre-
sentatives conveened in general Assembly for this his Maj'ties
Province (considering the great charge of pay & Subsistence
of Souldiers for our Owne defence against the ffrench &
Indian enemy by which the Province is become considerably
in debt) have Chearfully & unanimously given & granted &
doe by these pr'sents give & grant unto his Most Excell❜t
Maj'tie his hires & Success'rs the Sume of three hundred
pounds to be applied to the payment of the Province Debts &
other charges dayly ariseing & Humbly Beseech his Maj'tie
to accept the Same
Bee it therefore Enacted & Ordained by the Presid't & Coun-
cill & representatives conveened in Generall Assembly & it is
hereby Enacted & ordained by the Authority of the Same that
A Rate be made upon all persons & Estates both real & P'r-
sonal throughout this Province in proportion to the Several
Towns as ffolloweth Viz't that the Towne of Portsm❜o pay the
Sum' of Sixty four pounds thirteen shillings the Towne of
Hampton Eighty Six pounds Seven shillings & three pence
the Towne of Dover fifty Eight pounds sixteen shillings &
nine pence the Towne of Exeter ffifty three pounds Eight Shil-
lings The Towne of New Castle thirty Six pounds ffifteen shil-
lings & that the Treasurer Send out his Warrants to the Con-
stables of the respective towns requireing them to Assemble
the inhabit'ts to make choce of two Assessors in each town
(where they are not already chosen for the year to Joyne with
the Selectmen in makeing the rate & Assesm't according to
this act, to whom the treasurer shall also give Warr't persu
ance hereto & the rates & assesm't Soe made to be Comitted
to the Constables of the respective towns by the tenth of May.
next ensueing, with Warrant from a Justice of peace & the
Select men & assessors to Collect the Same & pay it into the
Treasurer for the time being, in money by the tenth day of
June next following which will be in the year of o'r Lord
One thousand Six hundred Ninety Eight-
John Pickerin Speak'r—
Hen: Penny Secrt-
John Hinckes President-
592
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1697.
[CHAPTER 2.]
AN ACT FOR CONTINUEING THE ACT OF IMPOST & EXCISE
[Passed October 8, 1697. 9 William III. Laws, 1692-1698, p. 42; Record of
Acts, vol. 1, p. 12; printed in 3 Province Papers, 208. Not included in the
Dudley collection in the public record office in London.]
Whereas the late act for Continueing the act of Impost &
Excise untill the fourth day of Novemb'r one thousand Six
hundred Ninty Seven is now almost Expierd-
Bee it there fore Enacted by the pr❜sident and Councill and
Representatives Conveened in General Assembly and it is
hereby Enacted and Ordained by the Authority of the Same
That the S'd act and every part of it be and is hereby Revived,
& Continued in full force and vertue to all Intents & purposes
from and after the forth day of Novemb'r next Ensueing untill
the fifth day of Novemb'r One thousand, Six hundred Ninty
Eight, Excepting & makeing voyde that part or clause in the
act relateing to Sloops or bouts Tradeing along the Shoer to be
free from paying of powder money that coms into this prov-
ince to Trafficke from any port or harbour on this Side Con-
netticut, any thing in the late act made to the contrary not
withstanding,—
John Pickerin Speak'r
Hen. Penny Secrit.-
John Hinckes President
[CHAPTER 3.]
AN ACT FOR TO PR'VENT TRESPASSES IN CUTTING DOWN TREES
UPON LANDS WITHOUT FENCE &c—
[Passed October 8, 1697. 9 William III. Laws, 1692-1698, p. 38; Dudley
collection in the public record office in London. folio 63; printed in 3 Prov-
ince Papers, 202. See act of June 14, 1701. Compare act of May 14, 1718,
New Hampshire laws, ed. of 1716-26, p. 65, printed post.]
Whereas Trespases are Very frequint upon mens rights &
propertis of Timber when the Same is not within fence to
the great prejudice of many of his Majest's good Subjects In-
habiting this province for prevention where of-
Bee it Enacted by the pr❜sident & Councill and Representa-
tives Conveened in general assembly And it is hereby Enacted
And ordained by the Authority of the Same That who Soever
Shall Cut downe any Tree or Trees without Leave from the
Owner or Owners Shall pay to the party damnified five Shil-
lings for each Tree, or more according to the Vallue of the
Trees, & the owners shall be accounted those, or Such as
derive a Right from those, to whom the Land upon which
Said Trees grow is Layd out and bounded by the layers out
of Land Chosen in each Towne, or others Legally appointed
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1697.
593
thereto, unless in Such Case, where the right of the Timb'r,
belongs to one, and the right of Land (whereon Said Timber
growes) belongs to another, and then the damage accrewing by
such Trespases shall be paid to him to whom the right of Tim-
ber belongs. And who soever Shall Cutt downe any bound
mark Trees shall pay a fine of forty Shillings to his Maj’tie
his heires and Successors towards the Support of this his
Maj'tis Goverm't, and that Every Justice of the peace within
this province, shall have power to hear and determine the
Causes above Said, alwayes provided, that this act or any
thing therein Contained, Shall not be understood to Inter-
medle with Such Trees as his Maj'tie has been pleased to re-
serve for Masts, Bow Sprits, & Yards for Supploy of his Royal
Navy-
John Pickerin Speak'r-
Hen. Penny Secrt.-
John Hinckes Presid't-
[Fourth Session, November 30, 1697.]
[No Acts.]
[SIXTEENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY.]
[Held at Portsmouth, One Session, December 28, 1697, to March
11, 1697-8.]
[OFFICERS OF THE GOVERNMENT.]
SAMUEL ALLEN, GOVERNOR, residing in London; not present
in the province.
WILLIAM PARTRIDGE, LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR, under commis-
sion of June 26, 1696; residing in Portsmouth, acting as
governor.
JOHN USHER, LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR, claiming the office
under the Allen commission; residing in Boston and not
acting in the province.
HENRY PENNY, SECRETARY.
JOHN HINCKES, PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL.
HENRY PENNY, CLERK OF THE COUNCIL.
HENRY DOW, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE.
CLERK OF THE HOUSE.
MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL.
John Hinckes,
Newcastle
Nathaniel Fryer,
66
66
Robert Elliott,
42
594
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1697-8.
Peter Coffin,
Henry Green,
Exeter
Hampton
66
Nathaniel Weare,
William Vaughan,
Richard Waldron,
Portsmouth
66
MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE.
Portsmouth, John Pickering.
1
Samuel Keais.
John Plaisted.
Dover,
Joshua Cromwell.
James Davis.
Exeter,
William Furber.
Samuel Leavitt.
John Folsom.
Hampton, Henry Dow.
Newcastle,
•
Benjamin Fifield, dismissed Dec. 29,
1697.
Joseph Swett, qualified Jan., 1697-8.
John Smith.
Theodore Atkinson.
William Seavey.
[First Session, December 28, 29, 1697, January 3, 5, February
8, 9, March 8, 9, 10, 11, 1697-8.]
[No Acts.]
The following order passed in this session has not been placed among the formal
acts:
January 5, 1697-8.
Ordered, that upon a petition from John Partridge, of Portsmouth, inno'r,
setting forth his poverty and through weakness in his limbs not able to
labor;
Ordered, that the Treasurer allow him forty shillings on his Excise. 3
Province Papers, 58.
[SEVENTEENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY.]
[Held at Portsmouth, One Session, April 5, 1698, to October 11,
1698.]
[OFFICERS OF THE GOVERNMENT.]
SAMUEL ALLEN, GOVERNOR, residing in London, afterwards
in Newcastle; assumed the government September 15,
1698.
WILLIAM PARTRIDGE, LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR, acting as gov-
ernor until September 15, 1698.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698.
595
JOHN USHER, claimant to the office of lieutenant-governor
under the Allen commission.
HENRY PENNY, SECRETARY.
JOHN HINCKES, PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL.
HENRY PENNY, CLERK OF THE COUNCIL.
JOHN PICKERING, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE.
THEODORE ATKINSON, CLERK OF THE HOUSE.
MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL.
John Hinckes,
Nathaniel Fryer,
Robert Elliott,
Peter Coffin,
Henry Green,
Nathaniel Weare,
William Vaughan,
Richard Waldron,
Newcastle
66
66
Exeter
Hampton
66
Portsmouth
66
MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE.
Portsmouth, John Pickering.
John Plaisted.
Samuel Keais.
Dover,
John Tuttle.
William Furber.
James Davis.
Exeter,
Samuel Leavitt.
Theodore Dudley.
Hampton,
Henry Dow.
John Smith.
Joseph Swett.
Newcastle,
Theodore Atkinson.
:
William Seavey.
[First Session, April 5, 6, 7, 8, June 14, August 9, 1698.]
[CHAPTER 1.]
AN ACT FOR REGULATING FEES.
[Passed April 8, 1698. 10 William III. Laws, 1692-1698, p. 58; Record of
Acts, vol. 1, p. 20; Dudley collection in the public record office in London,
folio 79; printed in 3 Province Papers, 211.]
Be it Enacted & Ordained by the L't Governo'r Councill &
Representatives conveened in Gen'll Assembly, An it is hereby
Enacted & ordained by the Authority of the Same-
That the Establishm❜t of the fees belonging to the Severall
Officers, in the Province be as followeth-
596
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698.
Justices Fees
For every Attachm't or Sum'ons for actions
not Exceeding 40s Six pence..
Supena Each witness.
Entring the Action 3s..
fileing papers each paper...
Every warrant for Criminalls.
Bond for apeale.
Copy of Evidence.
Copy of Judgm't..
Every Recognizance.
•
Confessing Judgment
•
Affedavied out of Court.
Each dayes attendance at the Sessions to be
p'd out of the fines..
Acknowledging any Deed or Mortgage or
any other Instrument..
Every Execution...
Coroners Fees
For taking any Enquesition to be paid of
the Estates of the Deseaced..
If no Estate then to be paid out or the Pub-
lick Revenew.
£,,
6
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Fees for probets Granting of wills Adminestrations &c
For Granting Administrat. a Bond & Letter
of Administration und'r the Seal of the
Office, if the Inventory amount to thirty
Shillings to the Regester three Shillings
Six pence
If the Inventory be und'r Thirty pounds.
Probat of Will where the Inventory amounts
to thirty pounds or upwards to the
Judge
To the Regester.
If under thirty pounds..
Recording of will or Inventory of one page
& fileing the Same....
If more Each page of twenty Eight Lines,
Eight words in a Line...
for Copy of A will or Inventory twelve pence
page Each page to Contain as afore-
S'd
Allowing Aco'ts Setling & Dividing of En-
testate Estates.
Every Sitation
Every Quietus..
199
6
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NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698.
597
Warrant for Apprisem't.
•
Makeing out A Commission, for Receiving
and Examining Claimes of Credito'rs to
Ensolvant Estates, & Regestring of the
Same
Regestring the Commissioners Report, After
the rate of one Shilling
Accomp❜t as afore Said...
•
99
""
2199
""
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page to be
1,,
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29
For Entring an order upon the Adminis-
trato'r to pay out of the Estate in pro-
portion unto the Severall Credito'rs Re-
turned by the Commissioners....
Secretary's Fees
The Engrossing of Acts or Lawes of the
Gen'll Assembly one Shilling
page to
be paid as afore Said out of the Publick
revenew
Every Commission for the Justices of Each
County & Commission of Oyer & Ter-
miner Ten Shillings to be p'd out of the
Publick revenew...
Every Commission for Military Officers to
be p'd out of the Publick revenew……..
Special Warrant or Mittem's by ord'r of the
Gov'r & Councill Each...
Every Commission und'r the great Seal, for
place of proffit.
Every Bond..
Every order of Councill to the benifitt of any
perticular persons
Every Petition to the Governo'r & Council,
or Gen'll Assembly according to the im-
port, from one Shilling, to Ten Shilling
A passe or a Sea briefe.
A Bill of health..
Every writt, for Ellecting of Assemblymen,
directed to the Sheriffe, or Marshall,
under the Province Seal five Shillings to
be paid out of the Publick revenew....
For Transcribing the acts or Lawes, passed
by the Gen'll Assembly into a book
Twelve pence a page, Each page to con-
tain Twenty Eight Lines, Eight words
to a Line, & So proportionably to be paid
out of the publick revenew-
""
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598
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698.
In the Superriour Court
The Justices Fees-
Entry Every Action for Tryalls.
Out of which to the Clerke..
Takeing Every Special Bayle.
Allowing of a write of Error.
Allowing a Habeis Corpus.
Confesing Judgment.
Acknowledgeing Satisfat of Judgm't on Rec-
ord ...
In all Crimenall Cases where assiceis sett..
Taxing Every Bill of Costs one Shilling..
Clerkes Fees
Every writt & the Seal...
Every Rule of Cost....
£,, -
22
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siteing Every declaration.
To the jury to be paid downe the Plaintife
Entring appearance ..
Signing a judgment by default.
Taking Every verdict & recording of it.
Copys of all Records one Shilling a page
Each Page Containing Twenty Eight
Lines, Eight words in a Line.
Lese then one page..
Every Action withdrawne, Non Sute...
Every petition Red..
Order thereon ...
Filleing the Records of Each Ation, two
pence a paper
Every Execution...
In Criminall Casses
Drawing & Engroseing Every Indictm't or
Information....
Every appearance
For the discharge of any person upon Baile
for the peace, good behaviour contempt
& the Like & warrant thereon..
For awarding & making forth, Proses
against the defendent on information..
Every warrant for the peace good behaviour
In the Inferior Court
Justices Fees-
Entring Every action..
Of which the Clerke is to have...
3,,
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99
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NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698.
599
Taking Special Bayle Two Shillings Of w'ch
the Clerke one...
Confesing of judgment..
Acknowledging Satisfac of judgm't on
Record
Taxing Every Bill of Costs one Shilling
whereof Sixpence to the Clerke. . . . . . .
To the jury to be paid dow by the Plantife
Clerks Fees
For Every writt and Seale..
Entring appearance.
•
Entring and Recording the Verdict.
Making up the Records..
Copys of all records Each page as before...
Every Action withdrawne or non Sute.
Every Execution....
2,,
22
22
1,,
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Clerks of the Sessions or peace his fees-
Entring Complaint or Indictment.
Discharge of a Recognizance.
Making forth proses against Criminalls....
Every Sum'os
Every warrant for the peace or good be-
haviour
£,,
99
99
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99
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Every house for Publick Entertainm't or
retaileing whereof two to the Clearke..
Sheriffes Martialls or Constables ffees
ffor serving every sum'ons for tryall...
every Capias or attachm't two shillings & if
above one mile three mile besides..
Baile bond....
Serving execution or levying of it for the first
twenty pound or under one shilling
pound, above that not exceeding fourty
pounds six pence pound above fourty
pounds not exceeding one hundred
pounds three pence pound for what
soever exceedes one hundred pounds two
pence pound besides four pence
mile from travailing from home—
every Tryall one shilling.
every precept for choosing Representatives
to be paid out of the publick Revenue..
Cryers fees
ffor calling the Jury six pence..
every Non suit one shilling.
every Verdict twelve pence..
1,,
99
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22
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NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698.
Goalers ffees
ffor turning the key upon every prisoner
Com'itted five shillings..
discharge two shillings six pence.
•
for dyett for each prisoner two shillings &
six pence P weeke and so proportion-
able he finding the same.
•
39
5,,
2,, 6
2,, 6
"
And be it further enacted by the Authority of the same
That what officer soever shall aske demand and take any
greater or other fees then are before mentioned for the mat-
ter afores'd or any of them and be thereof duely convicted in
any Court of Record with in this province shall forfeit and
pay the sum' of ten pounds Currant money one Moiety whereof
to be unto our Soveraigne Lord the King his heires and Suc-
cessors for and towards the Support of the Government of this
his province and the contingent charge thereof and the other
Moiety to the Informer or him that shall sue for the same in
any Court of Record wherein No Essoign protection or Wager
of Law shall be allowed And shall further pay unto the partie
grieved double the value of the excessive fees so taken.
John Pickering speaker
Henry Penny Secr
William Partridge L'ft Govern'r-
[CHAPTER 2.]
AN ACT FOR PRESERVATION OF HIGH WAYES & FOR MAKEING
SUCH OTHER AS MAY BE NEEDFULL—
[Passed April 8, 1698. 10 William III. Laws, 1692-1698, p. 48; Dudley col-
lection in the public record office in London, folio 76; printed in 3 Province
Papers, 210. Compare act of May 14, 1718, New Hampshire laws, ed. of
1716-26, p. 149, reprinted post.]
Bee it Enacted be the Lieu't Govern'r Councill & Repre-
sentatives Conveened in General Assembly And it is hereby
Enacted by the Authority of the Same That all high wayes
throughout this province be maintained at the Same breadth
formerly Allotted And if any p'rson Shall Incroach thereon
by fenceing laying wood digging of pitts or any other Accum-
brance whatsoever to the dam'age or danger of any person
uppon complaint to any Justice or any Justices of the peace
in that towne where any Such fact Shall be done the S'd Jus-
tices is hereby Impowered forthwith to Send for the person
Complained of & uppon due prooffe to bind him over to the
Quarter sessions or Impose a fine on the delinquent person
according to the Nature of the offence not Exceeding ten Shil-
lings besides All Cost the one halfe to the Informer the other
halfe to the Use of the poor of the towne and for any high-
wayes to be layed out on Application made to the Quarter
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698.
601
session by the Selectmen of any towne Shewing the neces-
sity & conveniences of the Same the Quarter sessions are
hereby Impowered to Appoint a meet Committee to Lay out
Such highways as may be most Convenient & Safe for trav-
ailers, & to order due Sattisfaction to be given by the towne
through which Such highway lies, to the party thrô whose
Land Such way Shall be Laied and If any Shall be dissattis-
fied with the Sattisfaction given uppon their Address to the
quarter Sessions the S'd sessions are hereby Impowered to
heare & determine according to Right and it is hereby further
Enacted that the Selectmen of Each Towne within this prov-
ince are hereby Impowered either by them Selves or A com-
'ittee Appointed by them to lay out perticculer & private high-
wayes provided due Sattisfacttion be made to the person
through whose Land Such highway Shall be made but if the
party Shall not be sattisfied with what the Sellectmen or Com-
'ittee by them appointed doe he or they have Liberty to make
their Addresse to the quarter sessions who are hereby Impow-
ered to doe Justice therein
John Pickerin Speak'r-
Hen: Penny Secrit-
W'm Partridge Lieu't Gov'r—
[CHAPTER 3.]
[AN ADDITIONAL ACT RELATING TO CONSTABLES.]
}
[Passed April S. 1698. 10 William III. Laws, 1692-1698, p. 46; Record of
Acts, vol. 1, p. 18; Dudley collection in the public record office in London,
folio 75; printed in 3 Province Papers, 209.]
Whereas by a former act made The Several Towns in this
Province are Impowered to make choyce of meet persons to
Serve as Constables, & the person or persons Soe chosen, Re-
fussing to take the oath & Serve in Said office Shall pay a
fine of five pounds, but not Said in Said act how the fine Shall
be taken-
Bee it there fore Enacted by the Lieu't Govern'r Councill &
Representatives Conveened in generall Assembly & by the
Authority of the Same As an Adition to that former act, That
from hence forth, If any person Soe chosen to Serve the office
of Constable Shall refuse to take the Oath and Serve in Said
Office when Called thereunto by a Justice of the peace The
S'd Justice of the peace, is hereby Impowered to grant his
warrant to the Constable to appr'hend the body of Such per-
son & Convay him to his Maj'ties Prison in this Province
there to be Secured untill he pay the S'd fine of five pounds
and all nessesary charg about the Same/
John Pickerin Speak'r-
Hen: Penny Secit—
W'm Partridge Lieu't Govern'r
602
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698.
[CHAPTER 4.]
AN ADDIONAL ACT CONCERNING MARRIAGES BERTHS AND
BURIALLS-
[Passed April 8, 1698. 10 William III. Laws, 1692-1698, p. 45; Record of
Acts, vol. 1, p. 18; Dudley collection in the public record office in London,
folio 73; printed in 3 Province Papers, 209. Repealed by the queen in coun-
cil November 19, 1706. Public record office, New England, F, folio 211; New
Hampshire bundle 2, no. 55. See introductory note, ante, for reasons for this
repeal.]
Whereas not with Standing the former act made for Record-
ing Marriages Berths & Burialls, great Neglect has been
therein,-
Bee it Enacted by the Lieu't Govern'r Councill and Repre-
sentatives Conveened in General Assembly & by the Author-
ity of the Same That whosoever Imediatly Concerned heerin
Shall neglect for the future to give notice Of Such marriages
Berths & Burialls, to the Clark of the Towne wher he lives,
within one month after Such marriages births & burialls
Shall hapen he Shall pay unto the Clarke for his owne use,
the Sume of Two Shillings to be Levied by Warrant from a
Justice of the peace to the Constable of the Towne
(
John Pickerin Speak'r-
Hen: Penny Scrit.-
W❜m Partridge Lieu't Govern'r
[CHAPTER 5.]
}
[AN ACT FOR CHANGING THE TIME OF HOLDING THE COURT
OF COMMON PLEAS.]
[Passed April 8, 1698. 10 William III. Laws, 1692-1698, p. 46; Record of
Acts, vol. 1, p. 19; printed in part in 3 Province Papers, 209. Not included
in the Dudley collection in the public record office in London.]
Whereas it is found by Experiance that the uncertentie
of the begining of the Court of Common Pleas in this Prov-
ince is verey great dam'age to his Majest's Subjects the act
formerly made for the Establishing Courts of Judicature Say-
ing the Court of Common pleas Shall begine the day after the
Quarter Sessions Terminate and end but cannot begin the
Same day the Sessions end-
Bee it therefore Enacted by the Lieu't Govern'r Council and
Representatives conveened in General Assembly, & by the
Authority of Same That that part of S'd act which Say the
Court of Common Pleas Shall begin the day after the Quarter
Sessions terminate & end Is hereby repealled And that for the
futter the Court of Com'on pleas Shall begin upon the Wedens-
day after the Quarter Sessions begin notwithstanding the
Sessions be not Ended And that all writts Shall goe out Re-
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698.
603
!
turnable for that day And Juriors for that Court Sum'oned
then to appear Provided this act Shall be no [bar] to any
Writts that are already gon out and Served Tryable at the
Next Court,
John Pickerin Speak'r-
Hen: Penny Scrit.-
W'm Partridge Lieu't Gov'r—
[CHAPTER 6.]
}
AN ACT FOR RAISING OF FOUR HUNDRED POUNDS TO DEFRAY
THE PUBLICK CHARGE OF THE PROVINCE
[Passed April 8, 1698. 10 William III. Laws, 1692-1698, p. 47; Record of
Acts, vol. 1, p. 17. Not included in the Dudley collection in the public record
office in London.]
Wee his Maj'ties Most Loyal & Dutifull Subjects the Repre-
sentatives conveened in General Assembly for his Maj'ties
Province consid'ring how much the Province is already in
debt & other Charges daily arising have Chearfully & unan-
imously given & Granted & doe by these pr❜sents give & grant
unto his Most Excellent Maj'tie his heirs & Success'rs the
Summe of four hundred pound to be applyed to the payment
of the Province debts & other Charges daily arising & humbly
Beseech his Maj'tie to accept the Same,-
Bee it therefore Enacted & ordained by the Lieu't Gov'r &
Councill & Representatives Conveeined in General Assembly
And it is hereby Enacted and ordained by the Authority of
the Same That a rate be made on all persons & Estates both
real & personall throughout this Province in proportion to
the Several Towns as falloweth Viz't that the Towne Of
Portsm❜o pay the Sum'e of Ninety pounds four Shillings the
Towne of Hampton One hundred & Ninteen pounds three Shil-
lings The Towne of Dover Eighty pounds nine Shillings The
Towne of Exeter Seventy three pounds four Shillings The
Towne of New Castle thirty Seven pounds And that the treas-
urer Send out his Warrants to the Constables of the respective
Townes requiering them to Assemble the Inhabitants to make
choyce of two assessors (where they are not already chosen
for the year) to Joyn w'th the Selectmen in makeing the Rate
& assessm't according to this act to whom the Treasurer Shall
alsoe give Warrant pursuant here to & the rates & Assessm❜ts
Soe made to be committed to the Constables of the respective
Towns by the first day of Aug'st next ensuing with Warr't
from a Justice of peace & the Select men & assess'rs to Col-
lect the Same & pay it into the Treasurer for the time being
in money by the first day of Novemb'r next following,-
John Pickerin Speak'r-
Hen: Penny Secrit.-
W'm Partridge Liu't Govern'r
604
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698.
At the beginning of the record of the sitting of the council and assembly, by
adjournment to the second Tuesday of June, 1698 (June 13), the following memo-
randum is entered:
June 13, 1698.
So far are the Laws foregoing, and Minutes Council & Assembly, sent
home for England, by Capt. Jno. Long. 3 Province Papers, 61.
In the same part of the session (in which no formal acts are reported) the fol-
lowing order is entered:
June 14.
Mr. Jno. Bridger's petition being read to this Board and sent to the
assembly praying some asisitance of men for a guard to him to view the
woods to see what stoers are to be had for his majesty's use, he being com-
missioned thereto, and as by his petition on file,
Ordered, by the Lieut. Govern'r Council and General Assembly, that sixty
men be forthwith raised in the several towns within this Province, with
arms, horses, ammunition & provision, to attend the service aforesaid, at
time and place, when and where, the Lieut. Governor shall appoint, & that
the said Bridger be from time to time Incoraged and assisted in this his
maj'ty's service within this Province. 3 Province Papers, 62.
In the same session, at the August sitting (in which also no formal acts are
reported), the following orders appear:
August 9, 1698.
The petition of Rich'd Gerrish, commander of the ship Benjamin, con-
cerning the remitting his powder money being read, Ordered, that he pay
his powder money here as he did at Boston. 3 Province Papers, 63.
Application being made to the Lieut. Govern'r, Council and General Assem-
bly, by Mr. John Bridger, &c., that Incoridgment may be given to the inhab-
itants of this Province for sowing of hemp the next season, in order to gain
a right understanding what this Province may be able to produce of that
kind towards the supply of his maj'ty's naval stores,
Ordered, that the gentlemen of the Assembly do give notice hereof to the
inhabitants within their respective towns, and endeavor the promoting so
good a work tending to his maj'ty's service and their own interest. 3 Prov-
ince Papers, 63.
[EIGHTEENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY.]
[Held at Newcastle, One Session, January 5, 1698-9, to January
7, 1698-9.]
[OFFICERS OF THE GOVERNMENT.]
SAMUEL ALLEN, GOVERNOR, residing for the time being at
Newcastle.
WILLIAM PARTRIDGE, LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR.
JOHN USHER, claimant to the office of lieutenant-governor
under the Allen commission.
SAMPSON SHEAFE,* SECRETARY.
JOHN USHER, PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL.
SAMPSON SHEAFE,* CLERK OF THE COUNCIL.
JOHN PICKERING, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE.
THEODORE ATKINSON, CLERK OF THE HOUSE.
*Qualified November 28, 1698; removed from office by change of govern-
ment July 31, 1699.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698-9.
605
MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL.
John Hinckes,
Nathaniel Fryer,
Robert Elliott, sus-
pended January
Newcastle
66
27, 1698-9.
66
Sampson Sheafe,¹
1
66
Peter Coffin,
Exeter
Kinsley Hall,¹
66
Henry Green,
Hampton
Nathaniel Weare,
Joseph Smith,¹
Peter Weare2
William Vaughan,
66
1
66
Richard Waldron,
Portsmouth
66
John Usher,
Boston
MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE.
Portsmouth, John Pickering.
Samuel Penhallow.
Samuel Keais.
Dover,
John Tuttles
William Furber
James Davis³
Exeter,
Moses Leavitt4
Theophilus Dudley¹
Hampton,
Newcastle, James Randall.
Theodore Atkinson.
[First Session, January 5, 6, 7, 1698-9.5]
[CHAPTER 1.]
AN ACT FOR CONTINUING UNTO HIS MAJESTY THE SEVERALL
DUTIES OF CUSTOM EXCISE IMPOST AND POWDER MONEY
OR TUNNAGE OF SHIPPING.-
¹Joseph Smith was appointed as councillor November 29, 1698, Kinsley
Hall, December 13, 1698, and Sampson Sheafe, January 7, 1698-9. John Usher
had claimed to be entitled to the office of president of the council since he
ceased to act as lieutenant-governor, December 14, 1697, but on account of his
absence, and the opposition of the council, he did not actively assert his
right until January 5, 1698-9. The members of the council were all removed
by the change of government July 31, 1699; a part of them, however, were
reappointed.
2Admitted Feb. 15, 1698-9. 2 Province Papers, 297.
"Hist. Strafford County, p. 824.
*Bell's Hist. of Exeter, p. 151.
"The journal of this council and assembly is misplaced in the Province
Papers, being printed in vol. 2, pp. 286-293, instead of in vol. 3, where it
should be, in regular course.
606
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698-9.
[Passed January 7, 1698-9. 11 William III. Laws, 1692-1698, p. 49; Record
of Acts, vol. 1, p. 14; printed in 3 Province Papers, 211. Not included in
the Dudley collection in the public record office in London.]
Whereas the late Act of General Assembly of this Province
dated the fifth day of October Anno Dom'i One thousand Six
hundred Ninety & Seven Entituled an Act for Continuing of
the Act for Impost & Excise Expired the fifth day of Novemb'r
last past-
Wee therefore his Maj'ts Loyall & Dutifull Subj'ts the Rep-
resentatives of this his Maj'ties Province of New Hampsh'r
takeing into Consideration the Necessity of granting a Supply
of money Doe hereby grant unto his most Excellent Maj'ty
to the Intents and Ends hereafter mentioned the Severall
Duties and Impositions upon all wines Liquors goods Wares
Merchandizes that Shall be imported into this Pro'ce, Excise
and Tunnage of Shipping heretofore granted, & from thence
Continued by Severall Acts untill the Siad fifth day Novemb'r
last past, and Pray that it may bee Enacted-
And bee it accordingly Enacted by the Hono'rble Samuel
Allen Esq'r Govern'r Councill & Representatives in General
Court Assembled, And it is Enacted and ordained by Author-
ity of the Same, That from & after this Seventh day of Jan'ry
One thousand Six hundred Ninety and Eight, untill the fifth
day of Novemb'r next Ensuing; the Several Rates and duties
Sett upon all Wines, Liquors & Merchandizes that Shall be
Imported into this Province & all duties of Tunnage in and
by the Said former acts of Impost Excise, Custo❜m and Tun-
nage money bee, and are hereby continued to be paid in and
by the S'd act as directed, That is to Say, the Duties of Impost,
Customs and Excises to be imployed by the reception of the
Earl of Bellomont, and the Tunnage money for Supply of his
Maj'tis fforts William & Mary at New Castle—
Assented to by—
Samuel Allen-
John Pickerin speaker
Sampson Sheafe Secr.-
1
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698-9.
607
[ADMINISTRATION OF RICHARD, EARL OF BELLO-
MONT.]
[ROYAL COMMISSIONS, INSTRUCTIONS, AND LAWS
IN THE TIME OF THE GOVERNMENT OF RICHARD,
EARL OF BELLOMONT, JULY 31, 1699, TO MARCH 5,
1701-2. CONTINUED UNDER WILLIAM PARTRIDGE,
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR, UNTIL JULY 13, 1702. 11,
12, 13, 14, WILLIAM III, AND I, ANNE.]
[THE COMMISSION OF THE EARL OF BELLOMONT AS GOVERNOR
OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, DATED JUNE 18, 1697. 9 WILLIAM III.]
[From manuscript volume in office of Secretary of State, labelled, "Lords
of Trade, 1753—Earl of Loudoun, 1757-Council Records, 1698 to 1707—Copy
of Commissions, &c., 1698 to 1706," p. 11.]
[The English colonies along the upper Aflantic region, including Maine and
New York, at the time of the appointment of Richard Coote, Earl of Bello-
mont, whose commission as governor of New York, Massachusetts, and New
Hampshire was issued in June, 1697, were about to be given a respite, by
the treaty of Ryswick, from the state of war which had existed during near-
ly ten years between France and England, and had in all that period in-
volved the colonies of both parties in actual hostilities. The overshadowing
question of colonial administration was that which involved all the measures
to be provided for, present and future defense against the French and In-
dians. Another subject that was urgent, and of large importance to legiti-
mate trade on the high seas, demanded heroic treatment on the part of the
home government as well as of the colonies. The avenues of ocean traffic
were infested with pirates. (4 Palfrey, Hist. of New England, p. 179; 3
Doyle, English Colonies, p. 322.)
"The late war had been carried on largely by privateers, and the line of
demarkation between the privateer and the pirate was easily overstepped."
(Doyle, English Colonies, vol. 3, p. 325.)
Trade was impaired and put in jeopardy in a variety of ways by the ex-
isting conditions.
"Here, then," says Mr. Doyle (Id. p. 326), "was a series of administrative
difficulties which called for the appointment of a Governor aloof from and
above the ordinary life of the colonies."
The Earl of Bellomont "was not, like Andros, the creature of a detested
government, the instrument of an impossible policy. His administration
was not, like that of Phipps, stained by invasion, by defeat, and by domestic
calamity. His Protestantism was definite and zealous enough to win favor
with the old school of Puritans; he was statesman and courtier enough to
impress and overawe men of the stamp, of Dudley. Neither in character
nor in intellect was there much in him of real greatness. His dispatches are
those of a zealous and resolute administrator, but they show no special
insight into the problems of colonial policy. He was assuredly not a cal-
culating dissembler; his outspoken impulsiveness made that impossible.
Yet there was some touch of insincerity in the man who was winning the
hearts of the Bostonians by a frank compliance with their tastes and usages,
and yet writing home that every public servant, even to the meanest offi-
cer, should be an Englishman born. He was not corrupt, yet the calamity
608
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698-9.
which clouded his career could hardly have befallen a public servant raised
above all personal eagerness for gain.* It was both his own good fortune
and that of Massachusetts that his better qualities, in all of which we can
trace something of the Irishman, his tact, his sympathetic good-humor, his
high courage and capacity for plain speech, were specially needed in the man
who had to bridge over the gulf between the old political system and the
new."
The governor did not come to the colonies until the next year after the
date of his commission, and he did not personally assume the government
of Massachusetts in that colony until another year had elapsed. In that col-
ony he found, among the troublesome local questions with which he had to
deal, the one of long standing and persistence which related to appeals
from the colonial courts to the courts in England or to the privy coun-
cil, and that other one which was locally regarded of only little less impor-
tance than the first, the question of a permanent salary for the royal gov-
ernor. On both of these subjects the Massachusetts council and assembly
were implacable and unyielding. (4 Palfrey, Hist. of New England, p. 174,
et seq.)
The progress of the administration of Gov. Bellomont in Massachu-
setts either in respect to its successful or unsuccessful features, is not perti-
nent to these preliminary observations in the more elaborate form accorded
it by the historians of that period.
In New Hampshire the province government had drifted into conflict and
confusion by reason of the reprehensible action of Lieutenant-Governor
Usher and Governor Allen in their attempts to exploit their property claims
as successors to the rights of the heirs of John Mason, for their private
profit and advantage, in conjunction with the administration of their com-
mission as chief magistrates of the province. The near approach of the
beginning of a new administration necessarily attracted the most inter-
ested attention of the people and their officials and representatives in the
local government. Each party made early and strenuous effort to place it-
self in favorable relations with the new governor.
"An assembly being called" (in 1698), says Mr. Belknap (Hist. New Hamp-
shire, Farmer's Ed., p. 153), “one of their first acts was to write to the lords
of trade, acknowledging the favor of the king in appointing one of their own
inhabitants to the command of the province, complaining of Usher, and
alleging that there had been no disturbances but what he himself had
made; declaring that those counsellors whom he had suspended were loyal
subjects and capable of serving the king; and informing their lordships
that Partridge had now qualified himself, and that they were waiting the
arrival of the Earl of Bellomont.
"They also deputed Ichabod Plaisted to wait on the Earl at New York, and
compliment him on his arrival. ‘If he should find his lordship high, and
reserved, and not easy of access, he was instructed to employ some gentle-
man who was in his confidence to manage the business; but if easy and free,
he was to wait on him in person; to tell him how joyfully they received
the news of his appointment, and that they daily expected Governor Allen,
whose commission would be accounted good, till his lordship's should be
published, and to ask his advice, how they should behave in such a case.'
The principal design of this message was to make their court to the earl,
and get the start of Usher, or any of his friends, who might prepossess
him with an opinion to their disadvantage. But if this should happen
Plaisted was directed 'to observe what reception they met with. If his lord-
ship was ready to come this way, he was to beg leave to attend him as far as
*The charges made against the Earl, involving his relations with a com-
mercial company with which he was connected, as given in the histories of
New England, are noteworthy features in the narrative of his administra-
tion, and this is what is referred to in the text. His company had a grant
from the king of spoil that might be taken from the pirates. The busi-
ness seems to have been under the personal direction of Bellomont as the
managing director of the corporation. The notorious Captain Kidd was
one of the persons who was connected with that business and whose ca-
reer, in its last period, involved the reputation of the corporation. (See 3
English Colonies, Doyle, p. 334.)
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698-9.
609
Boston, and then ask his permission to return home'; and he was furnished
with a letter of credit to defray his expenses. This message, which shows
the contrivers to be no mean politicians, had the desired effect.”
Further on in the narrative Mr. Belknap (p. 155) says: "In the spring
(1699), the earl of Bellomont set out for his eastern governments. The coun-
cil voted an address, and sent a committee, of which Usher was one, to pre-
sent it to him at Boston; and preparations were made for his reception in
New Hampshire; where he, at length, came and published his commission,
to the great joy of the people, who now saw at the head of the government,
a nobleman of distinguished figure and polite manners, a firm friend to the
revolution, a favorite of King William, and one who had no interest in op-
pressing them.
"During the controversy with Allen, Partridge had withdrawn; but upon
this change, he took his seat as lieutenant-governor, and the displaced coun-
sellors were again called to the board. A petition was presented against
the judges of the superior court, and a proclamation was issued for justices
of the peace and constables only to continue in office, whereby the judges'
commissions determined. Richard Jose was made sheriff in the room of
Ardell, and Charles Story secretary in the room of Sheafe.
“The government was now modelled in favor of the people, and they rejoiced
in the change, as they apprehended the way was opened for an effectual
settlement of their long continued difficulties and disputes. Both parties
laid their complaints before the governor, who wisely avoided censuring
either, and advised to a revival of the courts of justice, in which the main
controversy might be legally decided. This was agreed to, and the neces-
sary acts being passed by an assembly, (who also presented the earl with
five hundred pounds which he obtained the king's leave to accept) after
about eighteen days' stay, he quitted the province, leaving Partridge, now
quietly seated in the chair, to appoint the judges of the respective courts.
Hinckes was made chief justice of the superior court, with Peter Coffin, John
Gerrish and John Plaisted for assistants; Waldron chief justice of the in-
ferior court, with Henry Dow, Theodore Atkinson, and John Woodman for
assistants.
"One principal object of the earl's attention was, to fortify the harbor,
and provide for the defence of the country in case of another war. He had
recommended to the assembly, in his speech, the building of a strong fort
on Great Island, and afterward, in his letters, assured them that if they
would provide materials, he would endeavor to prevail on the king to be at
the expense of erecting it. Col. Romer, a Dutch engineer, having viewed
the spot, produced to the assembly an estimate of the cost and transporta-
tion of materials, amounting to above six thousand pounds. They were
amazed at the proposal; and returned for answer to the governor, that in
their greatest difficulties, when their lives and estates were in the most
imminent hazard, they were never able to raise one thousand pounds in a
year; that they had been exceedingly impoverished by a long war, and
were now struggling under a heavy debt, besides being engaged in a con-
troversy with 'a pretended proprietor'; that they had expended more 'blood
and money' to secure his majesty's interest and dominion in New-England
than the intrinsic value of their estates, and that the fortifying of the har-
bor did as much concern Massachusetts as themselves; but they concluded
with assuring his lordship, that if he were 'thoroughly acquainted with their
miserable, poor and mean circumstances, they would readily submit to what-
ever he should think them capable of doing.' They were also required to
furnish their quota of men to join with the other colonies in defending
the frontiers of New-York in case of an attack. This, they thought ex-
tremely hard, not only because they had never received the least assistance
from New-York in the late wars, but because an opinion prevailed among
them, that their enemies had received supplies from the Dutch at Albany,
and that the plunder taken from their desolated towns had been sold in
that place. There was, however, no opportunity for affording this assist-
ance, as the New-Yorkers took care to maintain a good understanding with
the French and Indians, for the benefit of trade."
Mr. Palfrey also gives a graphic account of the state of affairs in New
Hampshire upon the advent of the Earl of Bellomont as governor of the
province.
43
610
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698-9.
He says (4 History of New England, p. 215):- "While Lord Bellomont
remained in New York, his commission for New Hampshire not being yet
published, Allen came over, and assumed the chief magistracy of New Hamp-
shire. Usher also appeared there, and claimed to be admitted to a seat in
the Council. This led to a dispute, which was terminated for the present by
the Governor's dissolving the Assembly. Everything remained in suspense
till Lord Bellomont, having inaugurated his government in Massachusetts,
came to Portsmouth, where he confirmed Partridge in the place of Lieu-
tenant-Governor, and made other arrangements which so recommended him
to the people, that, in token of their good will, the Assembly gave him five
hundred pounds. He returned from New Hampshire to Boston after two
or three weeks, leaving Partridge at the head of the administration, his own
commission having superseded that of Allen. By letter he advised the
Province to provide materials for a fort in Portsmouth Harbor, at a cost
estimated at more than six thousand pounds, by an engineer whom he em-
ployed. The Assembly replied that they had never, when the exigency was
greatest, been able to raise more than a thousand pounds in a year, and that
they were now especially disabled by reason of their debt incurred in de-
fending themselves against the Indians, and of the insecurity of their prop-
erty, occasioned by the claim of Allen; and they went on to complain that,
after spending more money in the defence of the border than their estates
were now worth, they should be called upon, as they had been, to send men
to protect the frontier of New York,-a colony in which, they said, their
savage enemies found a refuge, and a market for their spoils. They pro-
fessed, however, their disposition to do any thing which he should esteem it
reasonable to demand, when he should have acquainted himself with their
poverty.
"The Lords of Trade looked to New Hampshire as a source of supply of
naval stores for the use of the royal navy, and instructed the new Governor
accordingly, who entered into the scheme with his characteristic zeal. But
he found himself 'obstructed by some cross accidents,' among which were
the mismanagement of two agents of the Admiralty, the pending Indian
war, and the 'distractions' occasioned by Allen's proceedings in turning
people out of their properties without process of law.' He refused to enter
into the controversy with Allen respecting the proprietorship of the soil,
referring it to the judicial courts which were instituted in conformity with
his advice. What he had seen of Allen had affected him with profound
disgust. That adventurer had attempted to bribe him to 'favor his cause.'
First he offered him in general terms, ‘a handsome recompense.' Then he
proposed to 'divide the Province' with him, and to match his daughter with
a younger son of the Earl, endowing her with 'ten thousand pounds in
money.
But I told him,' wrote Bellomont, 'that I would not sell justice,
if I might have all the world.' Allen accompanied the Earl part of the way
on his departure from New Hampshire to repeat the offer, and came to Bos-
ton to press it yet again 'with more earnestness than ever,' representing
that the lands claimed by him were 'worth twenty-two thousand pounds
per annum at three-pence per acre quit-rent.' Bellomont wrote to the Lords
of Trade that 'Usher, indulging his choleric temper,' had refused to take his
place in the Council, and that Blathwayt, formerly Secretary to the Board,
was corruptly concerned with Allen. Nor was he much better satisfied with
Partridge, after some experience with that functionary. 'I take it,' he wrote
to the Lords of Trade, 'to be the chiefest part of the trust and business of
a Lieutenant-Governor of this province to preserve the woods for the King's
use, and that it was no more fit to commit that duty to a millwright than
to set a wolf to keep sheep;' and he refused to permit Partridge to load a
ship with timber for Lisbon, and rebuked him for making the request.
"When Allen brought his business into the newly constituted courts, he
expected to find a record of judgments obtained by Mason in Governor
Cranfield's time. But it was sought for in vain, while several leaves relat-
ing to the period appeared to have been abstracted from the books. Allen's
case was thus at a disadvantage. He could get no verdict in his favor, and
was mulcted in costs. He claimed the right of an appeal to England, but
the court refused to allow it. The Assembly then passed laws, with Part-
ridge's concurrence, confirming the titles which Allen had impeached, and
directing surveys to determine the boundaries of the lands which had been
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698-9.
611
1
in litigation. Allen petitioned the King in Council, who authorized an appeal,
to be prosecuted within eight months. The previous refusal of it by the
New Hampshire courts occasioned great displeasure on the part of the
Lords of Trade, who expressed their feeling with emphasis in letters to
Lord Bellomont. He died before they came to his hand. Allen sent Usher,
and the province sent William Vaughan, a counsellor and a popular favorite,
to represent them respectively in England."
The following account of province conditions as presented at the time
of the arrival of Bellomont and his assumption of office here in August,
1699, is given by Mr. Doyle, English Colonies in America, vol. 3, p. 332.
"In the midst of these broils Bellomont reached the colony. His whole
stay there lasted only a few weeks. As might have been expected, he did
little to give stability or efficiency to the government. His genial bearing
won the hearts of the colonists.* The urgent representations of the need
for guarding the frontier were probably not without effect. Still more, he
brought home to the English government what manner of men they were
to whom the colony was given over. Allen was ill-advised enough to at-
tempt to deal with Bellomont as he had dealt with Blathwayt. He pro-
posed to share his own territorial rights with him, and he offered his daugh-
ter with a substantial dowry as a match for Bellomont's younger son. A
highbred Irish nobleman was not likely to be won by a proposal to make
Usher's sister-in-law a member of his household. The offer only added
something to the bitterness with which Bellomont denounced Allen in his
dispatches. His invective however was not limited to the Proprietor. It
extended impartially to all who were scrambling for place or striving to
make profit of New Hampshire, to Usher, to Blathwayt, and to Partridge.
The latter was exporting ship-timber to Portugal. Discreditable and in-
expedient as such a trade doubtless was in a public servant, yet Bellomont
is obliged to admit that Partridge had not violated any law. At the same
time he strongly urges the necessity for dealing with the forests of New
Hampshire as nurseries of timber for the royal navy."
"But to return to Allen;" Mr. Belknap, continuing his narrative (p. 157)
says: "He [in 1700] had as little prospect of success in the newly established
courts, as the people had, when Mason's suits were carried on under Cran-
field's government. On examining the records of the superior court, it was
found that twenty-four leaves were missing, in which, it was supposed, the
judgments recovered by Mason were recorded. No evidence appeared of
his having obtained possession. The work was to begin anew; and Waldron,
being one of the principal landowners and most strenuous opposers of the
claim, was singled out to stand foremost in the controversy with Allen, as
his father had with Mason. The cause went through the courts, and was
invariably given in favor of the defendant with costs. Allen's only refuge
was in an appeal to the king, which the court, following the example of their
brethren in the Massachusetts, refused to admit. He then petitioned the
king; who, by an order in council, granted him an appeal, allowing him
eight months to prepare for its prosecution.
"The refusal of an appeal could not fail of being highly, resented in Eng-
land. It was severely animadverted on by the lords of trade, who. in a
letter to the Earl of Bellomont upon this occasion, say: "This declining to
admit appeals to his Majesty in council, is a matter which you ought very
carefully to watch against in all your governments. It is an humor that
prevails so much in proprieties and charter colonies, and the Independency
they thirst after is now so notorious, that it has been thought fit those con-
siderations, together with other objections against those colonies, should be
laid before the parliament; and a bill has thereupon been brought into the
house of lords for re-uniting the right of government in their colonies to
the crown.'
"Before this letter was written the earl died at New-York, to the great
regret of the people in his several governments, among whom he had made
himself very popular. A copy of the letter was sent to New-York; but the
bill mentioned in it was not passed into an act of parliament. For some
reasons of state it was rejected by the house of lords.
*They voted him five hundred pounds. The act is the one printed in the
Prov. Papers (vol. ii, p. 332; post, chap. 3.)
†This is told in a letter from Bellomont June 19, 1700 (Col. Papers, Am.
and W. Indies, 561).
612
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698-9.
"The assembly of New-Hampshire, having now a fair opportunity, endeav-
ored as much as possible to provide for their own security; and passed two
acts, the one for confirming the grants of lands which had been made within
their several townships; the other for ascertaining the bounds of them.
Partridge gave his consent to these acts, but Allen had the address to get
them disallowed and repealed because there was no reserve made in them of
the proprietor's right.”
The administration of Frontenac, so fruitful of disasters to the English
colonies in a long series of years, was terminated by the death of that dis-
tinguished and capable representative, promoter and defender of the in-
terests of France in the new world in 1698, the year of the Earl of Bello-
mont's assumption of government in New York. The "breathing spell" be-
tween the wars of these colonies continued during the five years that next
ensued. The fires of war, however, were again in flame almost at the be-
ginning of the administration of Joseph Dudley, the successor of the gov-
ernor and lieutenant-governors of New Hampshire under the Bellomont
and Partridge commissions. The work of Mr. Parkman, "Frontenac and
New France under Louis XIV," brings his narrative somewhat past the date
of the death of Frontenac. Its conclusion is very nearly at the end of the
Bellomont-Partridge administration in New Hampshire in 1702. An official
correspondence with the Earl of Bellomont relative to affairs more or less
in controversy between the English and French colonies was among the
last public acts of Frontenac.
The contemporary correspondence between the officials of the home gov-
ernment and the board of trade on the one side of the ocean, and of the
colonial executives, the officials of the colonies, and the representatives of
the parties to conflicting interests on the other side, is now more complete-
ly and conveniently accessible to the American student of the history of this
period than at any other time prior to the last half dozen years. The notes
which accompany the texts of the works of Mr. Palfrey and Mr. Doyle are
excellent guides to the original sources of information. Besides, the very
complete transcript of the correspondence and records of the Board of Trade
and the Commissioners for the Colonies, which was made by the late Mr.
B. F. Stevens in England, and but recently completed for the Historical
Society of Pennsylvania, is now a work of reference in the library of that
institution at Philadelphia. This brings that vast collection of indispensable
original information home to the American public, and answers the purposes
of American investigators as well, perhaps, as those purposes can be sub-
served until this series of early documents shall be published in its
complete form or in well digested abstracts, similar in result to what is
seen in the governmental undertaking which is in progress in England, and
which is embodied in the volumes of Calendars, to which reference and cita-
tion have already been made in a preceding note in this volume, in connec-
tion with the treatment of the period of the Allen-Usher administration.
Additional documents relating directly to the administration of the Earl
of Bellomont in New Hampshire are printed in the Council Records, N. H.
Province Papers, vol. 2, pp. 305-358.]
WILLIAM THE THIRD by the Grace of God of England,
Scottland, ffrance, and Ireland, King; defender of the ffaith
&c TO our Right Trusty, and Right well beloved Cousin Rich-
ard Earle of Bellomont Greeting. WEE Reposing, especiall
trust and Confidence, in the Prudence courage, and loyalty
of you the said Earle of Bellomont of our especiall grace cer-
tain Knowledge and meer moc'on, have thought fitt to Consti-
tute and appoint, and by these pr'sents doe Constitute
and appoint you the said Richard Earle of Bellomont,
to be our Governor, and Comander in Cheife of all that parte
of our Province of New Hampshire within our Dominion of
New England in America lyeing and extending it Selfe from
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698-9.
613
*
three Miles Northward, of Merrimack River, or any part
thereof unto the Province of Main with the South part of the
Isle of Shoales AND WEE doe hereby require and Command
you to doe and Exicute all things in due manner, that shall
belong unto yo'r Said Command, and the trust wee have re-
posed in you according to the Severall powers and direcc❜ons V
granted or appointed you by this pr'sent Commission; and
the Instrucc'ons herewith given you or by Such further powers
or intrucc'ons as shall at any time hereafter be granted or ap-
pointed you under our Signett or Signe manuall, and accord-
ing to Such reasonable Lawes and Statutes as now are or here-
aft'r shall be made and Agreed upon by you with the Advice
and Consent of our Councill, and the Assembly of our Province
and Plantac'on, under yo'r Government in Such manner and
fforme as is hereafter expressed: AND wee doe hereby give
full power unto you the said Earle of Bellomont after you
shall have first taken the Oath for the due Execuc'on of the
Office and trust of our Governor and Commander in Cheife in
and over our Said Province of New Hampshire which the S'd
Councill or any five of them have hereby full power & Auth-
ority and are required to Administer unto you) to give and
Administer to each of the Members of our S'd Councill as well
the Oaths appointed by Act of Parliam't to be taken instead
of the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacye as the Test, and
an Oath for the due Execuc'on of their places and trust and
likewise to require them to Subscribe the late Association
menc'oned in an Act of Parliament made in the Seaventh and
Eight yeares of our Reigne Entituled, an Act for the better
Security of his Maj'ties Royall person and Governm't AND
WEE DOE hereby give and grant unto you full power and
Authority to Suspend any of the members of our Said Councill
from Sitting Voting or Assisting therein if you shall finde
Just cause for soe doing AND our will and pleasure is that if
by the death departure out of the Province or Suspenc'on of
any of our Councillors there shall happen to be a vacancy in
our Said Councill any three whereof wee doe hereby appoint
to be a Quorum Wee doe hereby require you to Certifie us by
the first oppertunity of Such Vacancy by the death departure
Suspenc'on or otherwise of any of our Councillors that wee
may under our Signett & Signe Manuell Constitute and ap-
point, others in their Roome And if it shall at any time hap-
pen, that there are less then Seaven of them resideing in our
Said Province wee doe hereby give and grant unto you full
power & Authority to choose as many persons out of the prin-
cipal ffree holders, Inhabitants of our Said Province as will
make upp the full Number of the Councill to be Seaven and
noe more which persons soe chosen and appointed by you
shall be to all intents and purposes our Councellors in our Said
614
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698-9.
Province till either they are Confirmed by us or untill by the
Nominac❜on of other Councellors by us under our Signe Man-
uall and Signett, the Said Councill have above Seaven persons
in itt. AND WEE DOE hereby give and grant unto you full
power and Authority with the Advice and Consent of our Said
Councill from time to time as need shall require to Summon
and call Assemblys of the ffreehold'rs within yo'r Governm't
in such manner and forme as by the Advice of our Councill
you shall finde most convenient for our service and the good
of our Said Province AND OUR WILL and pleasure is that
the persons thereupon duely Elected by the Major part of the
ffreeholders and being soe returned, and haveing before their
sitting taken the Oaths appointed by Act of Parliament to be
taken instead of the Oaths of Allegiance, and Supremacy and
Subscribed the Test and Associac'on aforesaid which Oaths
you shall Commissionate fitt persons under the publicke Seale
to Administer and without takeing the Said Oaths and Sub-
scribeing the Said Test and Associac❜on none shall be capable
of Sitting tho' Elected shall be called and held the Assembly
of our Said Province, And that you the Said Earle of Bello-
mont by and with the Advice and Consent of our said Coun-
cill and Assembly or the Major part of them respectively have
full power and Authority to Constitute, and ordaine Lawes,
Statutes and Ordinances for the Publicke peace welfare, and
good Government; of our Said Province and Plantac'on and
of the people & Inhabitants thereof and Such other as shall re-
sort thereto and for the benefitt of us our heires and Suces-
sors which Said Lawes Statutes and Ordinances are to be as
neare as may be agreeable unto the Lawes and Statutes, of
this our Kingdome of England PROVIDED that all Such
statutes and Ordinances, of what nature & durac'on soever, be
within three Months or Sooner after the makeing of the Same
transmitted unto us under the Publicke Seale for our Appro-
bac'on or Disallowance of them, as alsoe duplicates thereof
by the next conveyance AND in case all or any of them being
not before Confirmed by us, shall at any time be disallowed
and not approved, and Soe Signified by us our Heires and Suc-
cessors under our or their Signe Manuall & Signett or by or-
der of our or their privy Councill unto you the Said Earle of
Bellomont or to the Commander in Cheife of our Said Province
for the time being, then Such or soe many of them
as shall be disallowed, and not approved of shall from
thenceforth cease determine and be utterly voyd and of
none effect any thing to the contrary thereof in any wise not-
withstanding AND to the end nothing may be passed or done
by the Said Councill and Assembly to the prejudice of us our
heires and Successors wee will and Ordaine that you the
said Earle of Bellomont shall have and enjoy a Negative Voice
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698-9.
615
in makeing and passing of all Lawes Statutes and Ordinances
as aforesaid AND that you shall and may likewise from time
to time as you shall Judge it necessary prorouge and dissolve
all Generall Assemblyes as aforesaid AND our will and pleas-
ure is that you shall and may Keep and use the publicke Seale
appointed or to be appointed by us for that our Province AND
WEE DOE further give and grant unto you the said Earle of
Bellomont full power and Authority from time to time, and
at all times hereafter by yo'r selfe or by any other to be auth-
orized by you in that behalfe to Administer the Oaths ap-
pointed by act of Parliament to be given instead of the Oaths
of Allegiance and Supremacy to all and every Such person
and persons as you shall thinke fitt who shall at any time or
times passe into our said Province or shall be resident or
abideing there-WEE doe hereby give and grant unto you full
power and Authority to Erect Constitute and Establish Such
and Soe many Courts of Judicature and públicke Justice with-
in our said Province as you and they shall thinke fitt and
necessary for the hearing and determining of all Causes as
well Criminall as Civill according to law & equity and for
awarding of execuc'on thereupon with all reasonable and
necessary powers, Authorities, ffees and priviledges belong-
ing unto them As alsoe to appoint and Commissionate fitt per-
sons in the Severall parts of yo'r Government to Administer
the Oaths appointed by act of Parliament to be taken instead
of the oaths of Allegiance & Supremacy and the Test unto
Such as shall be obliged to take the Same AND WEE DOE
hereby Authorize and Impower you to Constitute and appoint
Judges Justices of the peace Sheriffs and other Necessary
Officers and Ministers in our Said Province for the better Ad-
ministrac❜on of Justice and putting the Lawes in Execuc'on
and to Administer, or Cause to be Administred Such oath or
Oaths, as are usuall for the due Execuc'on and performance
of place & places of trust and for the Clearing of truth in
Judiciall Causes WEE DOE further by these presents will
and require that Appeals be permitted to be made in cases
of Error from our Courts in New Hampshire unto you our
Governor and to our Council and in yo'r absence from
our said Province to our Lieutenant Governor and our
- said Councill in Civil Causes PROVIDED the value ap-
pealed for doe exceed the Sum'e of one hundred Pounds
Sterling and that Security be first given by the Appellant to
Answer Such charges as shall be Awarded in case the first
Sentence shall be affirmed AND WHEREAS wee Judge it
necessary that all our Subjects may have liberty to appeale
to our Royal person in cases that may deserve the same OUR
will and pleasure is that if either partie shall not rest Satisfied
with the Judgment or Sentence of the Superior Court of our
616
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698-9.
Said Province they may then Appeale unto us in our Privy
Councill provided the matter in difference exceed the true
value and Sum'e of Three hundred Pounds Sterling and that
Such Appeals be made within ffourteen dayes after Sentence
and that Security likewise be duely given by the Appellant
to Answer Such Charges as shall be awarded in case the first
Sentence be confirmed and provided alsoe that Execuc'on be
not Suspended by reason of any such appeale unto us AND
WEE doe hereby give and grant unto you full power and
Authority where you shall see cause and thereupon shall
Judge any Offend'r or Offenders in Criminall matters or for
any ffines or fforfeitures fitt objects of our mercy to par-
don & remitt all such offences ffines and fforfeitures
before or after Sentence given (Treason and wilfull mur-
der onely Excepted) In which Cases you shall likewise
have power upon extraordinary occasions to grant Re-
prieves to the Offenders untill and to the intent our
pleasure may be Knowen therein AND WEE doe hereby give
and grant unto you the Said Earle of Bellomont by yo'r Selfe
yo'r Captaines and Command'rs by you to be Authorized full
power and Authority to levy Arme Muster Command or im-
ploy all persons whatsoever resideing within our Said Province
of New Hampshire and as occasion shall Serve them to Trans-
ferre from one place to another for the Resisting & withstand-
ing of all Enemies Pirates and Rebells both at Land and Sea
and to Transport such forces to any of our Plantac'ons in
America as occasion shall require for defence of the same ag't
the Invasion or Attempts of any of our Enemies and them if
occasion shall require to prosecute in or out of the limitts of
our Said Province or Plantac'ons or any of them AND if it
shall please God them to Vanquish apprehend and take, and
being taken either according to the Law of Armes to putt to
death or Keep and preserve alive at yo'r discretion and to Ex-
ecute Martiall Law in time of Invasion Insurrecc'on or warr
and dureing the Continuance of the same as alsoe upon Sould-
iers in pay and to doe and Execute all and every other thing
and things which to a Captaine Generall doth or ought of
Right to belong as fully and Amply as any our Captaine Gen-
erall doth or hath usually done AND WEE doe hereby give
and grant unto you full power and Authority by and with the
Advice and Consent of our Said Councill to Erect raise and
build in our Province Such and Soe many fforts, Platformes,
Castles Cittyes Burroughs Townes and ffortificac'ons as by the
advice aforesaid shall be Judged necessary and the Same or
any of them to ffortifie and ffurnish with Ordnance Ammuni-
tion and all other sort of Armes fitt and necessary for the se-
curity and defence of our Said Province and by the advice
aforesaid the same againe or any of them to demolish or dis-
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698-9.
617
mantle as may be most convenient.
WE DOE HEREBY give
& grant unto you the Said Earle of Bellomont full power and
Authority to Erect one or more Court or Courts Admirall
within our Said Province for the hearing & determining all
Marine and other Causes and matters proper to be heard
therein with all Reasonable and necessary powers Authorities
ffees and priviledges as alsoe to Exercise all power belonging
to the place and office of Vice Admirall of and in all the Seas
and Coasts belonging to yo'r Governm't according to Such
Commission Authority & Instrucc'ons as you shall receive
from our Selfe under the Seale of our Admiralty; or from our
high Admir❜ll or Commission'rs for Executeing the Office of
Lord high Admirall of our fforreigne Plantac'ons for the time
being AND FORASMUCH as diverse mutinies and disorders
doe happen by persons Shipped and Imployed at Sea to the
end therefore that such persons may be the better Governed
and Ordered, wee doe hereby give and grant unto you the
Said Earle of Bellomont our Captaine Generall and Governor
in Cheife, full power and Authority to Constitute and appoint
Captaines Ma'rs of Shipps and other Commanders and to grant
to such Captaines Ma'rs of Shipps and other Comanders Com-
missions to Execute the Law Martiall and to Use Such pro-
ceedings Authority punishm't Correcc'on & Execuc'on upon
any Offender or Offenders which shall be mutinous Seditious
disorderly or any way unruly either at Sea or dureing the
time of abode or residence in any of the ports Harbours or
Bays of our Said Province or Territories, as the Cause shall
be found to require according to martiall Law PROVIDED
that nothing herein contained shall be Construed to the en-
abling you or any by yo'r Authority to hold Plea or have Ju-
risdicc'on of any offence cause matter or thing comitted
or done upon the high Sea or w'thin any of the havens
Rivers or Creekes of our Said Province or Territories
under yo'r Government by any Captaines, Comanders Lieu-
tenants Master or other Officer Seaman Souldier or per-
son whatsoever who shall be in actuall Service and pay in
and on board any of our Shipps of warr or other Vessells act-
ing by imediate Commission or Warrant from our Commis-
sion'rs for Executeing the Office of our High Admirall of Eng-
land under the Seale of our Admiralty or from our High Ad-
mirall of England for the time being But that Such Captaines
Com'ander Lieutenant Master Officer Seaman Souldier or any
other person Soe offending shall be left to be proceeded ag’t
and tryed as the meritt of their Offences shall require either
by Commission under our Great Seale of England as the Stat-
ute of the Twenty Eight of Henry the Eight directs or by Com-
mission from our Said high Admirall according to the Act of
Parliament passed in the thirteenth year of the Reigne, of the
618
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698-9.
late King Charles the Second Entituled Act for Establishing
Articles and Orders for the regulateing and better Governm't
of his Maj'ties Navys Shipps of warr and fforces by Sea and
not otherwise Saveing onely that it shall and may be Lawfull
for you upon any Such Captaine or Commander refuseing or
neglecting to Execute or upon his negligent or undue Execu-
c'on, of any of the written Orders he shall receive from you for
our Service, and the Service of our Said Province to Suspend
him the Said Cap't or Com'and'r from the Exercise of his Said
Office of Comand'r & Com'itt him into Safe Custody either on
board his own Shipp or Elsewhere at the discretion of you in
order to his being brought to Answer for the Same by Com-
mission, under our Great Seale of England, or from our Said
High Admirall as is before Expressed IN WHICH case our
will and pleasure is that the Cap't or Commander Soe by you
suspended shall dureing Such his suspension and Committ-
ment be Succeeded in his Said Office by Such Commission or
Warr❜t Officer of our Said Shipp appointed by our Commis-
sion'rs for Executeing the Office of our High Admirall of Eng-
land, or by our High Admirall of Engl❜d for the time being, as
by the Knowne practice and Discipline of our Navy does and
ought next to Succeed him as in case of death Sicknesse or oth-
er Ordinary disability happening to the Com’ander of any our
Shipps of warr and not otherwise you standing alsoe account-
able to us for the truth & Importance of the Crimes and Misde-
meanors, for which you shall soe proceed to the Susspending
of Such our Cap't or Comand'r PROVIDED alsoe that all such
disorders & Misdemeanors comitted on shoare by any Cap't
Com'ander Lieutenant Master or other Officer Seaman Soul-
dier or person whatsoever belonging to any of our Shipps of
warr or other Vessells acting by Imediate Commission or War-
rant from our Com'issioners for Executeing the Office of our
High Admirall of England under the Seale of our Admiralty
or from our High Admirall of England for the time being may
be tryed and punished according to the Lawes of the
place where any Such disorders Offences and Misdemean-
ors shall be soe comitted on shoare Notwithstanding Such
Offender be in our Actuall Service and born in our pay on
board any Such our Shipps of warr or other Vessells acting by
Imediate Comission or Warrant from our Commission'rs for
Executing the Office of our High Admirall, or from our High
Admirall as aforesaid soe as he shall not receive any pro-
tecc'on for the avoydeing of Justice for Such Offences Com-
itted on shoare from any pretence of his being Imployed in our
service at Sea OUR WILL AND pleasure that all publicke
monyes raised or to be raised within our said Province and
other the Territories depending thereupon be Issued out by
warrant from you by and with the Advice and consent of the
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698-9.
619-
Councill and disposed of by you for the Support of the Gov-
ernm't and not otherwise AND WEE doe hereby likewise give
and grant Unto you full power & Authority by and with the
Advice of our Said Councill to agree with the Inhabitants of
our Province and Territories aforesaid for Such Lands Tene-
ments AND Hereditaments as now are or hereafter shall be
in our power to dispose of and them to grant to any person or
persons for such Tearmes and under Such Moderate Quitt
rents Services and acknowledgm'ts to be thereupon reserved
unto us as you by and with the Advice aforesaid shall thinke
fitt which S'd grants are to passe and be Sealed, by our Seale
of New Hampshire and being entred upon Record by such Offi-
cer and Officers as you shall appoint thereunto shall be good
and effectuall in Law against us our heires and Successors
AND WEE doe hereby give you full power to appoint ffaires
Marts & Marketts within our Said Province as you with the
Advice of our said Councill shall thinke fitt and to order &
appoint Such and Soe many Ports Harbours, Bays Havens and
other places for the Convenience and security of Shipping and
for the better loading and unloading of goods and M'rchan-
dizes, in Such and Soe many places as by you with the Ad-
vice and Consent of our Said Councill shall be thought fitt &
convenient and in them or any of them to erect Nominate and
appoint Custome Houses Warehouses and Offices relateing
thereunto and them to alter Change place or displace from
time to time as with the Advice aforesaid shall be thought fitt
AND WEE doe by these presents Will require and Com'and
you to take all possible care for the discountenance of Vice
and encourageing of virtue and good Liveing that by Such
Examples the Infidells may be invited and desire to pertake
of the Christian faith AND FURTHER our will and pleasure
is that you shall not at any time hereafter by colour of any
power or Authority hereby granted or menc'oned to be
granted take upon you to give grant or dispose of any Office
or place within our said Province and Territories which now
is or shall be granted under the Great Seale of England any
further then that you may upon the Vacancy of any Such Office
or Suspension of any Officer by you putt in any per-
son to Officiate in the intervall untill the said place be
disposed of by us under the Great Seale of England or
that our direcc'ons be otherwise given therein AND WEE doe
hereby require & Com❜and all officers and Ministers Civill and
Military and all other Inhabitants of our Said Province to be
Obedient Ayding and Assisting unto you the Said Earle of
Bellomont in the Execuc'on of this our Com'ission, & of the
powers and Authorities therein contained and in case of yo'r
death or absence out of our Said Province unto Such person
as shall be appointed by us to be our Lieutenant Governor or
620
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698-9.
Comander in Cheife of our Said Province to whome wee doe
therefore by these presents give and grant all and Singuler the
powers and Authorities afores'd to be Executed and enjoyed
by him dureing our pleasure, or untill you returne to our S'd
Province AND if upon such death or absence there be noe
person upon the place Comissionated by us to be Comander
in Cheife OUR WILL and pleasure is that then the present
Councill of New Hampshire doe take upon them the Adminis-
trac❜on of the Governm't and Execute this Com'ission and the
Severall powers and Authorities therein contained and that
such Councellor who shall be at the time of yo'r death reside-
ing within OUR Province of New Hampshire, and Nominated
in our Instrucc'ons to you before any other at that time reside-
ing there doe preside in our Said Councill with Such powers
and preheminences as any form'r President hath used and en-
joyed within our Said Province untill our pleasure shall be
Knowen therein or yo'r returne as aforesaid LASTLY wee doe
hereby ordaine and appoint that you the Said Earle of Bello-
mont shall and may hold Execute and enjoy the Office and
place of our, Governor & Com'ander in Cheife in and over our
Province & Plantac'on of New Hampshire togeither with all
& singuler the powers and Authorities hereby granted unto
you for and dureing our pleasure imediately upon yo'r Arri-
vall within our Said Province of New Hampshire and the Pub-
licac'on of this our Com'ission from which time our Comission
to our Trusty and welbeloved Samuel Allen Esq'r to be Gov-
ernor and Comander in Cheife of our said Province of New
Hampshire is imediately to cease & become voyd IN WITT-
NESSE whereof wee have caused these our letters to be made
Patents WITTNESSE Thomas Archbishopp of Canterbury
and the rest of the Guardians and Justices of the Kingdome
at Westminster the Eighteenth day of June in the ninth yeare
of our Raigne
Chute
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698-9.
621
HIS MAJESTY'S INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE RIGHT HONORABLE
RICHARD EARL OF BELLOMONT HIS MAJESTY'S GOVERNOUR
AND COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF HIS PROVINCE OF NEW HAMP-
SHIRE IN NEW ENGLAND IN AMERICA: AT THE COURT ATT
WHITEHALL THE 31TH DAY OF AUGUST 1697 IN THE NINTH
YEAR OF HIS MAJESTY'S REIGNE.
[Archives of England, New England, vol. 36, p. 286.]
Earle of Bellomont Gov'r of New Hampshire
With these his Majesty's Instructions you will receive his
Majesty's Commission under the Great Seal of England con-
stituting you his Governor and Commander in chief of all that
part of his Province of New Hampshire within his Dominion
of New England in America
Bounds of the Province
lying and extending it self from three Miles Northward of
Merrimack River or any part thereof unto the Province of
Maine, with the South part of the Isle of Shoals;
Counsellors.
where being arrived, you are forthwith to call together the
Members of his Majesty's Councill for that province, by name
[William] Partridge Esq'r his Majesty's Lieutenant Govern-
our of the said province, John Usher, John Hinks, Nathaniel
Fryon [Fryer], Thomas Crawford, Peter Coffin, [Henry]
Green, Robert Elliot, John Parish, John Ware, and John Love
Esq'rs
After publication of his Commission to take the Oaths &c and to
administer the same to the Council.
At which meeting after having published in usual manner
his Majesty's said Commission constituting you his Govern'r
and Commander in chief of the said Province, you shall take
your self, and also administer unto each of the Members of
the said Councill, as well the Oaths appointed by Act of par-
liament to be taken instead of the Oaths of Allegiance and
Supremacy, as the Test and the Oath for the due Executeon of
your and their places and Trust, As likewise both you and
they shall subscribe the Association mentioned in a late Act
of Parliament, Entituled, An Act for the better security of his
Majesty's Royall Person and Government.
622
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698-9.
To communicate to them such of his Instructions as he shall see fit.
And you are to communicate unto his Majesty's said Coun-
cill from time to time such and so many of his Instructions as
you shall find convenient for his service to be imparted unto
them.
The Council to have freedom of Debate and Vote
His Majesty's Will and Pleasure is That the Members of his
Councill shall and may have and enjoy freedome of Debate and
Votes in all things to be debated of in Councill.
Not to act with a Quorum of less than five, except upon extraordi-
nary occasions.
And altho' by his Majesty's Commission aforesaid, he has
thought fit to direct that any three of his Councill make a
Quorum, It is neverthelesse his Will and Pleasure that you
doe not act with a Quorum of lesse than five members, Except
upon extraordinary Emergencies.
To transmit the names & Characters of 6 persons fit to supply the
vacancies in Council.
And that his Majesty may be always informed of the Names
and characters of persons fitt to supply the vacancies of his
said Councill, you are to transmit unto him by one of his Prin-
cipal Secretaryes of State, and to the Commissioners for Trade
and Plantations with all convenient speed, the Names and
characters of Six persons Inhabitants of his said province,
whom you shall esteem the best qualified to succeed in that
Trust,
And when any of them shall die to name others to his Ma'ty in
their stead.
and so from time to time when any of them shall dye, depart
out of his said Province, or become otherwise unfit, you are to
nominate so many other persons to his Majesty in their Stead.
To take care that the Counsellors &c be men of Estates & Abilities
& well affected to the Government.
And in the choice and nomination of the Members of his
Majesty's said Councill, as also of the principall Officers,
Judges, Assistants, Justices, and Sherriffs, you are always to
take care that they be men of Estates and ability, and not
necessitous people, or much in debt, and that they be persons
well affected to his Majesty's Government.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698-9.
623
Not to suspend any of the Council without good Cause & to trans-
mit the Reasons &c for his so doing.
You are not to suspend the Members of his Majesty's Coun-
cill without good and sufficient cause, and in case of suspen-
sion of any of them, you are forthwith to transmit unto his
Majesty as aforesaid, and to the Commissioners for Trade and
Plantations your reasons for so doing, together with the
charges and proofs against the said persons, and their Answers
thereunto.
To send the names and Qualities of Persons admitted into the Coun-
cil by him.
You are from time to time to send unto his Majesty, and to
the said Commissioners, the Names and Qualities of any Mem-
bers by you put into the said Councill, by the first conven-
iency after your so doing.
To send authentick Copys of Laws &c
You are to transmit authentick Copies under the Publick
Seal, of all Laws, Statutes, and Ordinances now in force, or
which at any time shall be made and enacted within the said
Province, unto his Majesty, and the Commissioners for Trade
and Forreigne Plantations, within three months or sooner
after their being enacted, together with Duplicates thereof,
by the next conveyance, upon pain of his Majestys highest
displeasure, and the forfeiture of that years Sallary, wherein
you shall at any time, or upon any pretence whatsoever, omit
to send over the said Laws and ordinances aforesaid within
the time above limited.
The Members of the Assembly to be elected onely by Freeholders.
You shall take care that the members of the Assembly be
elected only by Freeholders as being, most agreable to the cus-
tome of England, to which you are as near as may be to con-
forme your self.
To reduce the Salary of the Members of the Ass'bly as may be no
Grievance.
And you shall reduce the Sallary of the Members of the As-
sembly to such a moderate proportion, as may be no grievance
to the Country, wherein neverthelesse you are to use your dis-
cretion, so as no inconveniency may arise thereby.
624
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698-9.
To proceed by Law.
You are to take care that no mans life, member, Freehold,
or Goods be taken away, or harmed in the said province, but
by established and known Laws not repugnant to, but as much
as may be agreable to the Laws of his Majesty's Kingdome of
England.
To administer the Oaths &c to all publick Officers.
You shall administer or cause to be administred, the Oaths
appointed by Act of parliament to be taken instead of the
Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy, as also the Test unto the
Members and officers of the Councill and Assembly, all
Judges, and Justices, and all other persons that hold any office
in the said Province by virtue of any Patent under his Maj-
esty's Great Seal of England, or the Publick Seal of New
Hampshire; And likewise require them to subscribe the fore-
mentioned Association.
To permit Liberty of Conscience to all but Papists.
And you are to permit a liberty of conscience to all persons
(except Papists) so they be contented with a quiet and peace-
able enjoyment of it, not giving offence or Scandall to the Gov-
ernment.
Rules about Acts for raising of money.
You are not to passe any Act or Order within that Province
in any case for levying money, and inflicting Fines and penal-
ties, whereby the same shall not be reserved to his Majesty for
the publick uses as by the said Act or Order shall be directed;
And his Majesty do's particularly require and Command that
no money or value of money whatsoever, be given or granted
by any Act or Order of Assembly to any Governour; Lieuten-
ant Governour or Commander in chief of the said province,
which shall not according to the Stile of Acts of parliament in
England be mentioned to be given and granted unto his Maj-
esty with the humble desire of such Assembly, that the same
be applyed to the use and behoof of such Governour, Lieuten-
ant Governour, or Commander in chief if his Majesty shall so
think fitt, or if he shall not approve of such Gift or application,
that the said money or value of money be then disposed of, and
appropriated to such other uses as in the said Act or Order
shall be mentioned, and that from the time the same shall be
raised, it remaine in the hands of the Receiver of that Prov-
ince, untill his Majesty's Royall Pleasure shall be known
therein.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698-9.
625
Mony to be issued by Warrant with the advice of the Council.
His Majesty's Will and pleasure is that all Publick Monys
raised or to be raised within his said Province of New Hamp-
shire, for the use and support of the Governm't there, be is-
sued out by Warrant from you, by and with the advice and
consent of the Councill and not otherwise.
The Ass'bly to be permitted to view the Publick Acc'ts
You are, from time to time to permit the Assembly to view
and examine the Accompts of money, or value of money dis-
posed of by virtue of such Laws as are now in force, or shall
be passed by them, which you are to signifie unto them as oc-
casion shall serve.
Laws to be indefinite & without Limitation of time &c
His Majesty's Express Will and Pleasure is, that all Laws
whatsoever for the Good of the Government, and support of
his said province be made Indefinite, and without limitation
of time, except the same be for a Temporary end, and which
shall expire and have it's full Effect within a certaine time.
No Act once enacted by him to be re-enacted but upon extraordinary
occasions, and in no case more than once.
And therefore you shall not re-enact any Law which shall
be once enacted by you, except upon any urgent occasions,
but in no case more than once without his Majesty's Expresse
consent.
Not to remit Fines or Forfeitures, nor dispose of Escheats, without
his Ma'tys direction.
You shall not remit any Fines or Forfeitures whatsoever
above the Sum'e of Ten pounds before or after sentence given,
nor dispose of any Escheats, Fines, or Forfeitures untill upon
signifying unto the Commission'rs of his Majesty's Treasury,
or High Treasurer for the time being, and to the Commis-
sioners for Trade and Plantations, the nature of the offence, or
occasion of such Fines, Forfeitures, or Escheats with the par-
ticular Sums, you shall have received Our Directions therein;
But you may in the mean time suspend the payment of the
said Fines and Forfeitures.
The Value of the current mony not to be altered.
You shall not permit any Act or Order to passe within the
said Province whereby the price or value of the Current money
within your Government may be altered without his Majesty's
particular leave or direction therein.
44
3
626
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698-9.
To pass no Law &c that may lessen the Revenue
And you are particularly not to passe any Law or do any
Act by Grant, Settlement, or otherwise, whereby his Majesty's
Revenue may be lessened or Impaired without his Especial
leave or Commands therein.
The Sec'ry to provide Copys of Acts &c to be transmitted.
You are to require the Secretary of the said Province or his
Deputy for the time being to provide Transcripts of all such
Acts and publick Orders as shall be made from time to time,
together with a Copy of the Journal of the Councill to the end
the same may be transmitted unto his Majesty and his Com-
missioners for Trade and Plantations as above directed, which
he is duly to performe upon paine of incurring the forfeiture
of his place.
Not to displace Judges Justices &c without good cause.
You shall not displace any of the Judges, Justices, Sherriffs,
or other officers or ministers within the said Province, with-
out good and sufficient cause to be signified unto his Majesty,
and his Commissioners for Trade and Plantations,
Nor to execute any of the s'd Offices by himself or Deputy.
nor shall you execute your self or by Deputy any of the said
Offices, nor suffer any persons to execute more Offices than one
by Deputy.
Not to establish any new Court or Office &c
You shall not erect any Court or Office of Judicature not
before erected or established without his Majesty's especiall
Order.
To transmit an Acc't of all Courts, Offices &c
And you are to transmit unto him with all convenient speed
a particular account of all Establishments of Jurisdictions,
Courts, Offices, and Officers, Powers, Authorities, ffees, and
priviledges granted or settled within the said province, to the
end you may receive his Majestys especiall direction therein.
To regulate Salaries and Fees &c
You shall likewise take especiall care with the advice and
consent of the said Councill to regulate all Sallaries and Fees
belonging to Places or paid upon Emergencies, that they be
within the bounds of moderation, and that no exaction be
made upon any occasion whatsoever.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698-9.
627
To punish Drunkenness & Debauchery.
You are to take care that Drunkennesse and Debauchery,
Swearing and Blasphemy, be severely punished, and that none
be admitted to publick Trust and Imployment whose ill Fame
and conversation may bring Scandall thereupon.
To take care that all Planters &c be well arm'd & muster'd &c.
You shall take care that all Planters and Christian Servants
be well and fitly provided with arms, and that they be listed
under Officers, and when and as often as you shall think fitt,
muster'd and trained, whereby they may be in a better readi-
nesse for the defence of the said province under your Govern-
ment.
Not to make too frequent or remote Marches.
You are to take especial care that neither the frequency nor
unreasonablenesse of remote Marches, Musters, and Trainings
be an unnecessary Impediment to the Affairs of the Planters.
To assist any of the other Plant'ns in distress.
In case of distresse of any of his Majesty's Plantations, you
shall upon application of the respective Governors to you,
assist them with what aid the condition and Safety of your
Government will permit.
The Sole Power of impressing Seamen is vested in him.
Whereas upon complaints that have been made to his
Majesty of the irregular proceedings of the Captains of some
of his Ships of War in the Impressing of Seamen in several of
his Plantations, his Majesty hath thought fitt to order, and
has given directions to the Commission'rs of the Admiralty ac-
cordingly, that when any Captaine or Commander of any of his
Ships of War in any of his said Plantations shall have occa-
sion for Seamen to serve on board the Ships under their Com-
mand, they do make their application to the Governours and
Commanders in chief of his Plantations respectively; To whom
as Vice Admirals his Majesty is pleased to commit the Sole
power of Impressing of Seamen in any of his Plantations in
America, or in sight of any of them;
To furnish his Ma'tys Ships with men as there shall be occasion.
you are therefore hereby required upon such application
made to you by any of the Commanders of his Majesty's said
Ships of War within his said Province of New Hampshire, to
take care that his said Ships of War be furnished with the
Number of Seamen that may be necessary for his Majesty's
Service on board them from time to time.
628
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698-9.
To survey the considerable landing places
You shall cause a Survey to be taken of all the considerable
Landing places and harbours in his Majesty's said province,
and to erect Fortifications as shall be necessary.
and with the Advice of his Councill, erect in any of them,
such Fortifications as shall be necessary for the Security and
advantage of his Province, which shall be done at the publick
charge of the Countrey, not doubting of the chearfull concur-
rence of the Inhabitants thereunto, from the common Security
and benefit they will receive thereby.
To send yearly an Inventory of all Arms, Amunition &c in the
Magazines.
You shall take an Inventory of all Arms, Ammunition and
Stores remaining in any of his Majesty's Magazines or Garri-
sons in his said province, and send an Account of them yearly
to his Majesty by one of his principal Secretaries of State, and
to his Commissioners for Trade and Plantations.
To settle publick Storehouses.
You are to take especiall care that fitt Store houses be setled
throughout the said province for receiving and keeping of
Arms, ammunition and other publick Stores.
That due Entries be made of Good imported & Exported, and Copys
thereof yearely transmitted.
That his Majesty may be the better informed of the Trade of
his said Province, you are to take care that due Entries be
made in all Ports of all Goods and Commodities Imported or
Exported from thence, and from and to what Places they
come and goe, and that a yearly account thereof be trans-
mitted by you unto his Majesty by one of his Principal Sec-
retaries of State and to his Commissioners for Trade and Plan-
tations.
To suppress the engrossing of Commoditys.
You are to suppresse the Ingrossing of Commodities, and to
Settle such Orders and Regulations therein with the Advice
of the Councill as may be most acceptable to the Inhabitants.
To incourage Merch'ts
You are to give all due incouragement and invitation to
Merchants and others who shall bring Trade unto the said
province, or any ways contribute to the advantage thereof,
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698-9.
629
G
Particularly the Royal
and in particular to the Royall African Company.
Not to suffer any Trading to any place within the Charter of the R’l
African Comp’a
And you are to take care that there be no Trading from New
Hampshire to any Place in Africa within the Charter of the
Royall African Company, and you are not to suffer any Ships
to be sent thither without their leave or Authority.
To observe the Treaty (of Madrid 1670) between England & Spain
You are carefully to observe all the Articles contained in
the Treaty for the composing of differences, and the establish-
ing of Peace in America, concluded at Madrid the th day of
July 1670 with the Crowne of Spaine.
ΤΟ
To inform his Ma'ty in case of any injury offered to his Subjects.
And in case any private Injury or damage shall be offered
or done to any of his Majesty's Subjects in those parts by any
of the Subjects of the King of Spaine, or of any other Prince
or State in Amity with his Majesty, you shall take care to give
him an account with all convenient Speed by one of his Prin-
cipal Secretaries of State, and to the Commission'rs for Trade
and Plantations,
Not to permit Reparations.
and not to permit or incourage reparations to be sought in
any other way than what is directed and agreed in the said
Articles of Madrid and other Treaties;
Not to grant Commiss'ns of War &c
And you are particularly not to grant Commissions of War,
or Reprizals against any Prince or State, or their Subjects in
amity with his Majesty to any person whatsoever, without his
Especiall Command.
No appeals to be made from the Gov'r & Council to the Assembly.
You are not to admit or allow of any Appeals whatsoever
to be made from the Governour and Councill unto the Assem-
bly; But whereas his Majesty judges it absolutely necessary,
that all his Subjects may have liberty to appeal unto him in
cases that may deserve the same;
630
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698-9.
Appeals may be made to his Ma'ty, the value being above 300ɩɩ
His Will and Pleasure is, that if either Party shall not rest
satisfied with the Judgment or Sentence of the Govern'r or
Commander in chief, and Councill, they may then appeal unto
his Majesty in his Privy Councill Provided the matter in dif-
ference exceed the real value or Sum'e of Three hundred
pounds Sterling, And that such Appeal be made within one
fortnight after Sentence and Security first given by the Ap-
pellant to answer such charges as shall be awarded, in case
the Sentence of the Governour or Commander in chief and
Councill be confirmed. Provided also that Execution be not
suspended by reason of any such appeal unto his Majesty,
To get an Act pas'd to regulate Appeals to the Gov'r &c
and inasmuch as it may not be fitt that Appeals be too fre-
quently, and for too small a value brought unto the Governour
and Councill, you shall therefore with the advice of the Coun-
cill propose a Law to be passed, wherein the method and limi-
tation of Appeals unto the Governor and Council may be set-
led and restrained in such manner as shall be found most con-
venient and easy to his Majesty's Subjects in his said Province.
To get an Act pass'd ag'st inhumane severities
You shall endeavour to gett a Law passed for the restrain-
ing of inhumane Severities which by ill Masters or Overseers
may be used towards their Christian Servants or Slaves, and
that Provision be made therein that the wilfull killing of In-
dians and Negroes may be punished with Death, and that a
penalty be imposed for the maining of them.
To incourage the conversion of Negroes &c to the Chris'n Religion
You are also with the assistance of Our Councill and Assem-
bly to find out the best means to facilitate and encourage the
conversion of Negroes and Indians to the Christian Religion.
Publick work-houses.
You are to recommend to the Councill and Assembly the
raising of a Stock and building publick Workhouses in con-
venient places for the imploying of poor and Indigent people.
No printing Press to be kept without his licence.
And forasmuch as great inconveniences may arise by the
liberty of Printing within the Province of New Hampshire,
you are to provide by all necessary Orders that no person use
any Presse for printing upon any occasion whatsoever without
your especiall licence first obtained.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698-9.
631
To do any thing for the Advantage of the Province.
And if anything shall happen that may be of advantage or
Security to the said Province, which is not herein or by his
Majesty's Commission provided for, His Majesty do's hereby
authorize and direct you with the advice and consent of his
Councill to
And to inform his Ma'ty thereof
take Order for the present therein, giving him by one of his
principal Secretaries of State, and his Commissioners for
Trade and Forreigne Plantations, speedy notice thereof, and
of all your proceedings, and the condition of affairs within
your Government for his Majestys information and direction
But not to declare War without his Ma'tys command, except ag't In-
dians upon emergencies.
Provided alwaies that you do not by color of any power or
Authority hereby given you commence or declare War without
his Majest's knowledge and command therein, Except it be
against Indians upon Emergencies, wherein the consent of Our
Councill shall be had, and speedy notice thereof given unto his
Majesty.
The Laws relateing to the Plant'ns and the Trade thereof to be
punctually observed.
And whereas the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in parlia-
ment, upon consideration of the great Abuses practised in the
Plantation Trade have by an humble addresse represented to
his Majesty, the great Importance it is of both to this his
Kingdome, and to his Plantations in America, that the many
good Laws which have been made for the Government of the
said Plantations, and particularly the Act passed in the 7th
and 8th years of his Majesty's Reigne, Entituled, An Act for
preventing Frauds and Regulating Abuses in the Plantation Trade,
be strictly observed; You are therefore to take notice, that
whereas notwithstanding the many good Laws made from
time to time for preventing of Frauds in the Plantation Trade,
it is neverthelesse manifest that very great abuses have been,
and continue still to be practised to the prejudice of the same;
which Abuses must needs arise either from the insolvency of
the persons who are accepted for Security, or from the remis-
nesse or connivance of Such as have been, or are Governours
in the severall plantations, who ought to take care that those
persons who give Bond should be duely prosecuted in case of
Non performance, His Majesty takes the Good of his Planta-
632
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698-9.
tions, and the improvement of the Trade thereof by a Strict
and punctual observance of the severall Laws in force con-
cerning the same, to be of so great importance to the benefit
of this his Kingdome, and to the advanceing of the Duties of
his Customs here, that if he shall be hereafter informed that
at any time there shall be any failure in the due observance of
those Laws within the foresaid Province of New Hampshire
by any wilfull Fault or Neglect on your part, His Majesty shall
look upon it as a Breach of the Trust reposed in you by him,
which he shall punish with the losse of your place in that Gov-
ernment, and such further marks of his displeasure as he shall
judge reasonable to be inflicted upon you for your offence
against his Majesty in a matter of this consequence, that he
now so particularly charges you with.
To give due incouragement to the Officers of the Adm❜ty & Customs.
And whereas his Majesty has given Orders for the Commis-
sionating of fitt persons to be Vice Admirals and officers of
his Admiralty and Customs in his severall Plantations upon
the Continent of America, and particularly within his Domin-
ions of New England, and New York, His Majesty do's there-
fore hereby will and require you to give all due countenance
and encouragement unto the said Officers of his Admiralty
and Customs in the execution of their respective offices and
Trusts in all the places under your Government.
By their Excellencies Command
Ja: Vernon.
(Seal.)
[ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTION, JUNE 10, 1699.]
William R.
To our Right trusty and well beloved cosin, Richard Earle
of Bellomont, our Govern'r and Commander-in-chief of our
Province of New Hampshire, in New England, in America;
and to our L't Govern'r and Coman'r-in-chiefe of our said Prov-
ince, for the time being, Greeting: with this you will receive
a Seal, prepared by our order for the use of the Government
of New Hampshire; which Seale is engraven with our Arms,
Garter, Supporters, Motto and Crown; with this Inscription
around the same: SIG. PROVINCE NOSTRE DE NOV.
HAMPTONIA IN AMERIC: and our will and pleasure is, and
we do hereby authorize you and our L't Govern'r, or com-
mander-in-chiefe of our said Province, for the time being,
to affix the said Seale to all patents and grants of Land, and
to all Publick acts and Instruments of Governm't which shall
be made and passed in our name, within our said Province;
and that it be to all intents and purposes of the same force and
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698-9.
633
(
validity as any former Seale appointed for the public use of
the Government in our said Province, hath heretofore been;
which former Seals are not to be made further use of or af-
fixed to any public acts or Instruments whatsoever, but to be
defaced and broken.
Given at our Court at Kensinton, the tenth day of June,
1699, in the tenth year of our Reign.
By his Maj'ty's command,
[3 Province Papers, 80.]
1699, Aug 15.
Ja. Vernon.
His Excellency produces a former Great Seal of this Province, which he
rece'd this day from the hands of Sam'l Allen, Esq., late Govern'r, and which
he caused to be cut in two and defaced, prusuant to his Maj'ty's warrant
bearing date the tenth day of June, 1699, in the tenth year of his Maj'ty's
Reign; and the silver of the said former Seal, his Excellency hath delivered
to the Secretary to be restored to Sam'l Allen, Esq., aforesaid. 3 Province
Papers, 80.
His Excellency doth also deliver to W'm Partridge, Esq., L't Govern'r, a
new great seale lately sent to his Excellency from England; and orders
that the Secretary do enter his Maj'ty's warrant in the Council Book, au-
thorizing and commanding the use of the said seale within this his Maj’ty's
Province; which warrant bears date as aforesaid. 3 Province Papers, 80.
[ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS, JAN. 19, 1700-1.]
[Council and Assembly Journal, May 23, 1701.]
To Our Right Trusty and Right well beloved Cousen Richard
Earle of Bellomont our Cap't Gen'll and Gov'r in Cheife of our
Provinces of the Massachusetts, Bay New York and New
Hampsh❜r in America, and of the Territories thereupon De-
pending &c: Or to our Comand'r in Cheife of our Province of
New Hampsh'r for the time being/ (New Hampshire)
WILLIAM R
Right Trusty and Right well beloved Counsen, wee Greet
you Well, Whereas the Welfare and Securitye of our Planta-
c'ons in America require the Utmost care and Applicac❜on of
Such as are entrusted with the Governm't of each of them.
you are in our Name to require our Councill, And the Gen'rll
Assembly of our Province of New Hampsh'r to exert the Ut-
most of their Power, in Provideing for the Building and Main-
taineing of Such fforts either at piscataway or elsewhere with-
in that province as are Necessary for their Security, without
being Burthensome to their Neighbours, any further then ab-
solute Necessity shall require.
And in Case the ffrontier of our Province of New York be at
any time invaded by an Enemy. You are likewise to call upon
our province of New Hampshire, to make good in Men (or
634
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1698-9.
Mony in lieu thereof) their Quota of Assistance, Pursueant to
the Repartition, herewith sent you./
And you are withall to Signifie to them, that according to
y'r behaviour in this Occasion, they will recommend them-
selves to our Royall Grace and ffavour. Soe wee bid you
heartily ffarewell. Given at our Court at Hampton Court the
19th day of January 170 in the Twelfth yeare of our Reigne/'
By his Maj'ties Command
Ja: Vernon/
The Quota of Men to be ffurnished by his Maj'ties Respective
plantac❜ons on the Continent of America towards the Defence
of the ffrontiers of New York in Case they be Invaded by an
Enemy./
Massachusetts Bay
New Hampshire
•
Rhode Island and Providence Plantac'on.
Connecticutt
New York .
East New Jersey
West New Jersey
Pensilvania
Mary Land
Virginia
•
Men
350-
40—
48-
120
200-
60-
60-
80-
160-
240-
1358
[HIS MAJESTYS LETTER TO THE EARL OF BELLOMONT, RELATING
TO ACCESSORIES IN CASE OF PIRACIES BEYOND THE SEAS,
FEBRUARY 2, 1700-1.]
Right trusty and right well-beloved Cousin-We greet you
well:
Whereas by Our letters bearing date the 10th Febr'y, 1699-
1700 we thought fit to give you several directions relating to
the trial of Pirates in Our Province of New York, and whereas
an Act of Parliament is since passed for the more effectual sup-
pression of Piracy, pursuant to which a Commission under the
Great Seal of England has been also sent you, impowering you
and others to proceede accordingly in reference to Our said
Province, and to our Province of East and West New Jersey
and Our Colony of Connecticut,
Our Will and Pleasure is that notwithstanding anything
contained in Our aforesaid letters of the 10th of Febr'y 1699-
1700 you henceforward take care to Govern yourself in mat-
ters relating to Pirates according to the intent of the Act of
Parliament and Commission aforementioned,
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1699.
635
But whereas Accessories in cases of Piracies beyond the
Seas are by the said Acts left to be tried in England accord-
ing to the Statutes of the 28th of King Henry, the 8th, We do
hereby further direct & require you to send all such Acces-
sories in cases of Piracy in Our aforesaid Provinces of New
York, the East and West New Jerseys and our Colony of Con-
necticutt with the proper Evidences, that you may have
against y'm into England in order to their being tried here.
And you are to give notice of Our Pleasure herein to our
Provinces of East and West New Jersey and to the Governor
and Company of the Colony of Connecticutt, that they may con-
form themselves thereunto. So we bid you heartily farewell.
Given at Our Court at Kensington the 2d day of February,
1700-1, In the twelfth year of our Reign.
[2 Province Papers, 339.]
By his Majesty's Command.
[NINETEENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY.]
[Held at Portsmouth, Six Sessions, August 7, 1699, to September 9,
1702.]
[OFFICERS OF THE GOVERNMENT.]
RICHARD, EARL OF BELLOMONT, GOVERNOR, residing in New
York; present in the province the first session; died in
New York March 5, 1701-2.
JOSEPH DUDLEY, GOVERNOR, residing in Roxbury, Mass.; as-
sumed the government July 13, 1702; present in the prov-
ince.
WILLIAM PARTRIDGE, LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR, residing in
Portsmouth.
SAMPSON SHEAFE,* SECRETARY; removed from office August
16, 1699.
CHARLES STORY, SECRETARY; qualified August 18, 1699; re-
moved by change in government July 13, 1702; reap-
pointed and qualified July 13, 1702.
JOHN HINCKES, PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL.
SAMPSON SHEAFE, CLERK OF THE COUNCIL; removed August
16, 1699.
CHARLES STORY, CLERK OF THE COUNCIL; qualified August
18, 1699; removed July 13, 1702; reappointed July 13, 1702.
SAMUEL PENHALLOW, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE; removed to
the council July 13, 1702.
*Sampson Sheafe was reappointed secretary July 31, 1699, when the Earl
of Bellomont assumed the government.
636
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1699.
JOHN PICKERING, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE; chosen July 17,
1702.
THEODORE ATKINSON, CLERK OF THE HOUSE.
MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL.
John Hinckes,*
Nathaniel Fryer,
Robert Elliott,
Peter Coffin,
Newcastle.
66
66
Exeter.
Dover.
*
John Gerrish
Henry Green, dismissed at his
own request August 7, 1699;
died August 5, 1700,
Nathaniel Weare, dismissed at
his own request August 1,
1699; reappointed and qualified
July 13, 1702,
Henry Dow, appointed July 13,
1702,
Richard Waldron, appointed Au-
gust 9, 1699; removed by
change of government July
13, 1702,
William Vaughan, appointed
April 7, 1701; removed by
change of government July 13,
1702,
Samuel Penhallow, appointed
July 13, 1702,
John Plaisted, appointed July 13,
1702,
George Jaffrey, appointed July
13, 1702; qualified July 22,
1702; suspended August 18,
1702,
Hampton.
66
66
Portsmouth.
MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE.
66
66
66
66
Portsmouth, Samuel Penhallow, removed to the
council July 13, 1702.
John Plaisted, removed to the council
July 13, 1702.
Samuel Keais, qualified July 17, 1702.
*John Hinckes, Nathaniel Fryer, Robert Elliott, Peter Coffin, John Gerrish,
Henry Green, and Nathaniel Weare were appointed members of the council
July 31, 1699. Of these John Hinckes, Nathaniel Fryer, Robert Elliott, Peter
Coffin, and John Gerrish were removed by change of government July 13,
1702, and reappointed members of the council on the same day, all qualifying
on that day except John Gerrish, who qualified July 21, 1702.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1699.
637
Portsmouth,
Dover,
Exeter,
Hampton,
:
•
William Cotton, qualified July 17, 1702.
John Tuttle,* withdrew May 23, 1701.
James Davis,* qualified June 10, 1701.
John Woodman.
Nathaniel Hill.
Theophilus Dudley.
Moses Leavitt.
Henry Dow, removed to the council
July 13, 1702.
Francis Page, qualified July 17, 1702.
John Smith, withdrew May 23, 1701.
Timothy Hilliard, qualified June 10,
1701; dismissed July 19, 1701.
*The procedure that was employed at this time in cases of vacancy in the
house of representatives is indicated by the following which related to the
withdrawal of John Tuttle and the appointment of James Davis as repre-
sentatives from Dover.
The original from which this copy is made is in the custody of the Library
of Congress, Manuscript Department, at Washington.
Province of New Hampshr
William the third by the Grace of God of England Scottland France and
Ireland King defender of the Faith &c:
To Richard Jose Esq'r. our Sheriff or Marshall of our said Province of
New Hampshire.
Wee Command that upon receipt hereof you forthwith make out yo'r pre-
cepts directed unto the Select men of Dover within our said Province of
New Hampshire Requiring them to cause the Freeholders and other Inhab-
itants of their Town duely Qualified to Assemble at such time and place as
they shall appoint to Elect and Depute One fitt person being a Freeholder
and Resident in the Same Town to serve for and Rep'rsent them Respective-
ly; in the stead and place of Cap't John Tuttle, in a Great and Gen❜ll Court
or Assembly by us appointed by Adjornm't to be Conven'd held and Kept
for our Service at the Town of Portsmo'. Upon Tuesday the Tenth day of
June next at tenn of the Clock in the Forenoon And to Cause the Person
soe Elected and Deputed, by the major part of the Electors present at such
an Election to be timely Notified and summoned by the Constable or Con-
stables of such Town to Attend our Service in the said Generall Assembly
on the day and time above prefixed and soe de die in diem, dureing their
session and sessions And to returne the said precepts, with the Name or
Names of the person soe Elected and Deputed, Unto yo'r selfe whereof you
are to make returns together with this writt. And of yo'r doeings therein
Under yo'r hand into our Secretaryes Office one day at the Least before the i
said Court sitting Hereof you are not to Faile at yo'r perrill. Wittnesse the
Hon'rble W'm Partridge Esq'r L't Govern'r and Comand'r in Chiefe in and
over our Province of New Hampshire the Twenty Sixth Day of May In the
thirteenth year of our Reigne Annoq Domini 1701.
Past the Secretaryes Office
Cha: Story Secretary
[On verso is:]
W'm Partridge
!
"In Persuance of the w'thin Writt of Ellection to me directed I have made
out my Presept to the select men of the towne of dover and there is Re-
turned to me by the s'd select men Left: James Daves to serve of and In the
Gennarall Assembly for s'd Provinc and Notified Accordingly June 10th 1701.
Richard Jose Sherriffe"
[Endorsed:]
1701 A precept to the Sheriffe dated the 26th May 1701 for the elecion of
and Assembly man in loco Cap't Jn'o Tuttle.
638
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1699.
Hampton,
Newcastle,
James Rendall.
John Tuck, qualified August 14, 1701.
Joseph Swett.
Theodore Atkinson.
[The continuation of the development of a body of statute laws for the
province proceeded during the Bellomont-Partridge administration with due
and ordinary reference to the progress already made in the time of the
Allen-Usher administration. While, on the one hand, the council and the
Assembly, from 1699 to 1702, were relieved of the positive checks that had
been placed in the way of certain lines of legislation by the refusal of the
assent of the former governor and lieutenant-governor, on the other hand,
the adverse influence of those persons was transferred to the mother coun-
try. There they succeeded by various forms of influence in procuring the
disallowance of nearly all the laws enacted here in the later period which
they regarded obnoxious to their interests. This element in the statutory
history of the province must be sought in an examination of the records
and documents which were contemporary with the enactment, allowance,
and disallowance of the laws.
In the house of representatives, July 10, 1700 (Journal, 19 State Papers,
p. 726, et seq.), it was voted that:
"Whereas there is a great deficiency in this province for want of several
laws humbly offered-
"That a committee be chosen of both houses for drawing up the same and
that they be referred to the next assembly for a full confirmation."
August 21, 1700, it was voted in the house:
"Whereas there is a deficiency in this province for want of several laws,
it is humbly offered that a committee be chosen out of each house for tran-
scribing and drawing up of such a body as may be suitable to the constitu-
tion of the province by the assembly."
January 30, 1700/1, the house "voted that whereas it hath been already
moved that a committee out of both houses be appointed for drawing up
such laws as may be suitable for the constitution of the province, we humbly
crave leave to remind your honors of the same, conceiving it to be of abso-
lute necessity.
"Voted, that the speaker and Captain Dow deliver the minds of this house
in answer to a proposal sent from the upper house by Richard Waldron,
Esq., for considering what laws is necessary for the present.
"Answer, that the mind of the house is, it should be left to the discretion
of a committee appointed for that purpose.
"On the return of the Speaker and Captain Dow, [voted:-]
"That a conference with the lieutenant-governor and council be offered by
Mr. Plaisted and Mr. Theophilus Dudley.'
February 4, 1700/1.
""
“The lieutenant-governor and council in answer to a former vote for
choosing a committee to draw up such laws as might be necessary for the
province have chosen John Hinckes and Robert Elliott, Esq., to be assisted
by the secretary.
"Voted for this house Captain John Pickering and Captain Henry Dow are
of the committee to be assisted by the clerk."
February 5, 1700/1.
"Voted, that whereas sundry gentlemen are now appointed for drawing up
several laws as a committee that each person during the service be paid from
the public treasury three shillings per diem."
The corresponding action of the council and assembly on this subject is
found in 3 Province Papers, 113, 118, 123, 129.
It will be observed in succeeding pages of the Journals that at the June
session, 1701, a considerable body of laws, apparently intended to supply to
some extent, what had previously been wanting, was reported and passed.
There were at least ten of these acts at the two sessions held in June of that
year. A number of other important acts were presented and passed in the
interval between the appointment of the committee and the termination of
the Partridge administration; but to what extent they were proposed by the
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1699.
639
committee under a definite plan for completing an adequate body of laws
can not now be certainly ascertained; but it may be a reasonable presump-
tion that the results proceeded from systematic action on the part of the
persons deputed for this special service.
It is a less important fact, but one of no little interest, that in the time of
Bellomont laws of the province were first printed. This fact, with the
almost complete dispersal and destruction of the original copies of this pub-
lication, had passed out of the common knowledge of the people; and, in-
deed, it is probable that for more than a hundred years prior to the pub-
lication of the third volume of our series of Province Papers, lawyers and
other students of the history of New Hampshire jurisprudence were wholly
unaware of the existence of any printed pamphlet containing the laws of the
council and assembly of this province passed at the August session of 1699.
There were but five of these acts, and they occupied ten folio pages. The
late George H. Moore, LL. D., superintendent of the Lenox library, in a pub-
lication dated May, 1889, gives an account of his discovery of one of these
pamphlets in 1888, which he supposed was unique.
A copy of the title and the subject matter of his pamphlet is here given,
and is as follows:
"Memoranda | concerning | the New Hampshire Laws | of | 1699 | by | George H.
Moore, LL. D. | Superintendent of the Lenox Library | Tamquam tabula de nau-
fragio | New York | Printed for the Author | mdccclxxxix |
"THE NEW HAMPSHIRE LAWS OF 1699.
"The volume of Acts and | Laws; | Passed by the | General Court | or | Assem-
bly | of His Majesties | Province of New-Hampshire | in | New-England: | Boston, in
New-England: | Printed by B. Green: Sold by Eleazar Russel at his Shop in
Portsmouth. 1716. has been recognized hitherto as the first printed laws of
New Hampshire. It was a small folio of sixty pages, besides the title, and
with sundry supplements added within the next ten years after its issue,
had no rival or successor for a long period of time.
"The sale catalogue of a British bookseller, issued last year (1888) in Exe-
ter, England, changed all this, and the first printed laws of New Hampshire
now and hereafter must be dated seventeen years earlier, in the last year
but one of the seventeenth century. In that catalogue the following item
appeared, under the head of “America and the West Indies.”
"Acts and Laws passed by the General Court or Assembly of His Majesties
Province of New-Hampshire in New England, begun and held at Portsmouth on
Monday, August 7th, 1699. folio, pp. 10. rare 2 l. 2 s. Boston, printed by B. Green
and J. Allen Printers to His Excellency the Earl of Bellomont, 1699.'
"As soon as this catalogue made its appearance in New York the book was
promptly ordered by cable; but it had already been secured by an English
buyer, who was quick to perceive the value of his prize, and did not relin-
quish it to my continued and eager pursuit until he received pounds for his
shillings.
"From the time when William Smith of Exeter, N. H., first called atten-
tion to the subject of the sources of New Hampshire Law (Farmer & Moore:
III, 201) to this day, no one of the writers who have discussed the subject,
has betrayed any knowledge or suspicion of the fact that any of the laws of
that Province were printed before 1700. Yet, strange to say, the evidence of
such printing was patent among its official records, and (stranger still) has
been in print for more than twenty years. In the identical volume of the
Provincial Records in which its Editor quotes the volume of 1716 and repeat-
edly refers to it as 'the first printed laws of the Province,' the history of
an earlier edition is distinctly indicated, and the evidence appears of the fact
that the Laws of 1699 were printed in the year in which they were enacted,
and that the printing, which was probably ordered by the Governor, was paid
for by the Province Treasurer.
“The Earl of Bellomont, who was Governor of New York, Massachusetts
and New Hampshire from 1697 to 1701, published his Commission in the lat-
ter province on the 31st July, 1699, at Portsmouth, where he met the Legis-
lature, a few days later, on the seventh of August. He was welcomed with
great joy by the people and began his administration under the most favor-
640
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1699.
able auspices. The session continued for ten days, and the record of the
last day is as follows:
"[Journal of the Council and Assembly 17th August, 1699.]
"Several acts having passed both Houses, were consented to by his Ex-
cellency the Govern'r, and by him signed accordingly: viz:
"An Act for Restraining and Punishing Privateers and Pirates.
"An act to return able and sufficient Jurors to Serve in the several Courts
✓ of Justice, and to Regulate the Election of Representatives to Serve in the
General Assembly within this Province.
>
'An Act for a Tax or Assessment, of Five Hundred Pounds.
"An Act for Establishing Courts of Publick Justice within this Province.
"An Act for continuing several Rates and Duties of Custom, Excise, Im-
post and Powder Money, on Tonnage of Shipping.*
"After which his Excellency was pleased to prorogue the Assembly to
Monday the 18th of September next.'
"At an adjourned meeting, November 9th, 1699:
"Bartholomew Green, printer, his letter from Boston, dated 24th October,
1699, was read, relating to the printing of Several Laws of this Province,
amounting to three pounds.
"Ordered, that the said sum be allowed, and an order forthwith granted
to the Treasurer for pay't of the same.'
"The laws thus printed were those of which the titles are given above,
making a volume of ten pages—folio, title verso blank, pp. 3-10, ending with
Finis, signatures A and B in fours and C in one. An imitation of the title
page precedes this notice.
"Two only of the five statutes of 1699 appear in subsequent editions or
publications of the Laws of New Hampshire the act respecting Jurors and
regulating the election of Representatives to serve in the General Assembly,
and the act establishing Courts of Justice. Bellomont transmitted them all
to the Commissioners of Trade and Plantations, upon which they declared to
the Lords Justices their inability to make a perfect Report, because of the
confusion and uncertain state of the former Acts of that Province-but they
recommended the repeal of the Act for restraining and punishing Privateers
and Pirates; and with reference to the gift of five hundred pounds to the
Governor, they advised that he be permitted to receive it. Both these recom-
mendations were adopted by the King in Council on the 22d October, 1700.
"The tax of £500 for the gift to the Earl of Bellomont was assessed upon
all persons and estates, according to each town's proportion, as follows:
"Portsmouth
"Hampton
"Dover
"Exeter
"New Castle
•
112. 15. 00
148 18. 09
•
100 11 03
•
91. 10. 00
46. 05. 00
"The motive of the gift is declared in the language of the act-‘in testi-
mony of our great regard and respect unto His Lordship, under whose happy
Conduct we assure ourselves to enjoy great quiet and felicity.'
"This precious little volume, in many respects the most interesting of all
the publications of New Hampshire Laws, is not now known to exist, save
in this one copy-and as several of the Province Laws can be found nowhere
else, New Hampshire (as Massachusetts has done before) must resort to the
collections in New York or Pennsylvania to enable her to inspect the origi-
nal editions, or to recover copies, of several of her ancient statutes, hitherto
inaccessible to the modern student of her history.
"Lenox Library:
"New-York: May, 1889."
George H. Moore.
*It is a curious feature in this act that the name of the Governor accom-
panies his title in the enacting clause, viz: "Be it therefore Enacted by his
Excellency the Earl of Bellomont Governour,” etc.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1699.
641
The evidence that the imprint of 1699 might be in existence in its original
form was, as Mr. Moore remarked, always accessible in the manuscript jour-
nal of the council and assembly, and, by the publication of that journal in
1869, the record proof was brought out of the obscurity of the unprinted and
unindexed manuscript.
Mr. Moore was in error in his supposition that the copy which he dis-
covered was the only one extant.
There is a duplicate in the public record office in London, which the edi-
tor has examined. He has also examined the copy which Mr. Moore pro-
cured, and which is now the property of the Historial Society of Pennsyl-
vania and deposited in the Charlemagne Tower collection of colonial laws in
the library of that institution at Philadelphia, and there had opportunity
to observe the common characteristics of the two pamphlets.
It has also been stated in the notes in this volume, ante, page 518, that in
1702 Governor Dudley was requested by the home government to send over
copies of all existing laws of the province.* The copies which he forwarded
in conformity with these directions were in manuscript, with the exception
of the five Bellomont acts which constituted the contents of the pamphlet
publication of 1699. In this Dudley transmission a copy of the pamphlet
was included instead of a manuscript of the same laws. The acts thus
transmitted are now contained in a bound volume with a title on the outside
of the vellum cover (a copy of which title will appear in the appendix to
this volume), and this bound volume is in the custody of the public record
office in London.
The two original pamphlet copies of the Bellomont laws of 1699, above
described, are the only ones that have, as yet, come within the knowledge of
the editor of this volume.
In 1893 he caused a transcript to be made from the original imprint now
in the custody of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, by its permission,
but he was then desired not to procure a fac-simile of it. This material
was reprinted in the New Hampshire State Papers, volume 19, pages 693-
707. In the same connection, also, Mr. Moore's descriptive pamphlet was
reprinted on pages 709-713.
At the same time, 1893, a pamphlet edition of these laws and Mr. Moore's
memoranda was made from the type of the State Papers, and two hundred
copies were bound in paper covers.
A fac-simile reprint of the original folio is now, by recent permission of
the Historial Society of Pennsylvania, being produced for the state, and a
limited number of copies will be offered for the accommodation of the spe-
cial demand for them that now exists.
There is evidence of a purpose on the part of the council and assembly
in 1701 to continue the printing of the province laws. The entry in the
house journal for July 18 is as follows:
"A request to have a committee appointed for copying out such laws as
shall be thought needful, formerly passed in this Province against next meet-
*The manuscript original of the Dudley collection, as on file in London,
has the following preliminary notes on successive pages:
(p. 3) "PROVINCE OF
"NEW HAMPSHIRE
"In Obedience to his Majesties Commands to transmitt Authentick Coppyes
of all the Severall Lawes now in force in this province the thirty Nine Sheets
following are humbly laid before your Lordshipps, together with the three
Acts made in this present Assembly, praying they may obtain her Majesties
most Gratious Allowance and Confirmation.
"Your Lordshipps most Obedient and
"Cha: Story Secretary."
most faithfull Servants
"J Dudley,
"John Pickerin Speaker
(p. 4) "The Acts following have been duely Extracted out of the Books &
compared by
"Cha: Story Secretary of her
Majesties province of
New Hampshire."
45
642
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1699.
ing of this House in order to have them printed." (19 State Papers, p. 737.)
This appears to have been a house resolution, as the Journal of the Coun
cil and Assembly upon the same date has the following entry:
"A note sent up from the House of Representatives that a committee be
appointed to copy out such laws as hath formerly been passed in this
Province, what shall be thought needful against the next sessions of the
House, in order to be printed." (3 Province Papers, p. 144.)
The journals do not disclose any further action on the subject in the time
of Mr. Partridge's administration.
If any laws were printed at the time, in accordance with such action
of the legislature as is here indicated, they have not been discovered, and
the existence of such printed laws is not now known.
It is not improbable that the current orders from the home government
for the transmission of a complete collection of the laws of the province
deterred the council and the assembly in the execution of their purpose, if
they had entertained an intention to proceed with the printing of their
laws. It is reasonable to suppose that they would consider the risk of print-
ing current session laws which might in the near future be repealed by the
king in council, and of an expense thus incurred for no useful purpose.
The Journal of the Board of Trade, vol. 14, p. 219, under date December 2,
1701, contains the following minutes:
"A letter from Mr. Partridge, Lieutenant Governor of New Hampshire,
dated at Portsmouth in New England, the 8th of September last, was read;
and the Acts of Assembly and Minutes of Council from the 7th of March to
the 14th of August last, therein mentioned, were laid before the Board;
Whereupon ordered that a letter be prepared to direct him to transmit a
complete and authentic collection of all the laws of New Hampshire."
Nothing has been discovered in the English archives to indicate that the
return of such a transcript of the laws was made and forwarded before Mr.
Partridge was succeeded by Governor Dudley the following summer. It is
also possible, of course, though not probable, that the order was never
despatched to Mr. Partridge. As Colonel Dudley was able on the twenty-
third of July, five days after his assumption of Government on the eigh-
teenth, to forward a collection of the laws, there is little room for doubt
that the preparation of the copies had been well advanced under the direc-
tion supposed to have been sent to Mr. Partridge before the expiration of his
term.
The next appearance of a printed copy of the laws of the province was in
the edition of 1716. The body of this publication contained sixty pages.
The date of the first act included was July 8, 1696, and the last one January
14, 1715.
In subsequent editions of that publication the laws of later enactment
were added from time to time with continuous paging. A reprint of one of
these compilations was made by state authority under the direction of the
secretary of state in 1886, by the authority of the act of July 23, 1885.
The original from which this reprint was made was a copy belonging to
the New Hampshire Historical Society having an imperfect title-page. The
absence of the date of imprint at the bottom of the title-page had been
supplied by a writing which was erroneous. The date on the title-page of
the reprint thus appeared to be 1726, whereas it should have been 1716.
In this edition of 1716, the following entitled acts, passed in the time of
the Allen and Bellomont commissions, are included:
·
An Act requiring all Persons to take the Oaths appointed to be taken in-
stead of the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy. Passed July 23, 1696.
An Act to prevent Damages by Horses. Passed July 2, 1697.
An Act to Return Able and Sufficient Jurors to Serve in the several Courts
V of Justice, and to Regulate the election of Representatives to Serve in the
General Assembly within this Province. Passed August 17, 1699.
An Act for Establishing Courts of Publick Justice within this Province.
Passed August 17, 1699.
An Act for the better Observation and Keeping the Lord's Day. Passed
July 19, 1700.
An Act to prevent Impounding Cattel wrongfully. Passed June 14, 1701.
An Act against Adultery and Polygamy. Passed June 14, 1701.
An Act against Trespassing in Town Commons. Passed June 14, 1701.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1699.
643
An Act forasmuch as Sheriffs, Under-Sheriffs, and Constables have often-
times need of Aid, and Assistance in the Execution of their respective Offices.
Passed June 14, 1701.
An Act for Regulating of Tanners, Curriers, and Cordwainers, and for the
better preventing of Deceits, and Abuses by Tanners, Curriers, Dressers or
Workers up of Leather. Passed June 14, 1701.
An Act for the Punishing Criminal Offenders. Passed June 14, 1701.
An Act for Recording Deeds and Conveyances. Passed June 14, 1701.
An Act for Regulation of Seamen. Passed June 21, 1701.
An Act for taking Affidavits out of Court. Passed June 21, 1701.
An Act for Regulating of Tryals in Civil Causes. Passed Oct. 4, 1701.
Of these fifteen acts, none of which is of later date than 1702, five, at least,
were repealed by the king or queen in council long prior to the publication
of the compilation of laws completed in 1716. The five acts now referred to
were those entitled as follows:
An Act for Establishing Courts of Public Justice within this Province.
An Act for the Punishing Criminal Offenders.
An Act for Recording Deeds and Convenyances.
An Act for taking Affidavits out of Court.
An Act for Regulating of Tryals in Civil Causes.
In later years these laws, and perhaps others that appeared to have been
subjects of royal repeal, notwithstanding that disapprobation, became a
permanent part in the system of province law.
This fact emphasises the significance of the statement of a writer before
quoted to the effect that the common law of the province was in process of
development through the entire province and colonial period.
Mr. Jacob Bailey Moore, who was one of the publishers of the "Collec-
tions, Historical and Miscellaneous," in 1824, was the father of George H.
Moore, the librarian and collector whose memoranda on the laws of 1699 have
been incorporated in these notes. The fact should not be overlooked that
George H. Moore names William Smith as the author of the article from
which quotation has been made on page 522, ante, entitled, "New Hampshire
Law, Its Sources."
In an article contributed to the "Proceedings of the American Antiquarian
Society," for April, 1876, under the title "Notes, Historical and Bibliographi-
cal, on the Laws of New Hampshire," the author, Albert Harrison Hoyt, re-
marks as follows:
“During the administrations of Lieutenant-Governors Usher and Partridge,
of Governors Allen and the Earl of Bellomont,-that is, between 1692 and
1702,-numerous laws were enacted. The record of fifty-eight of these has
been preserved, from which it appears that two were disallowed by the King
in Council."
This remark is doubtless predicated on the record evidence of the repeal
of the two acts named in the royal rescript sent over in 1704 and printed in
3 Province Papers, page 285. The further and later information on this
point, which has been afforded by an examination of the documents now ac-
cessible in the public record office in London, is that a number of other acts,
besides the two named, passed between 1692 and 1702, were repealed by the
home government.
The two laws to which Mr. Hoyt refers were "An Act for the confirmation
of Town Grants" and "An Act to prevent Contention and Controversies that
may arise concerning the Bounds of the respective Towns within the Prov-
ince."
A list of the laws in this period (1692-1702) which were repealed by the
king or queen in council prior to the beginning of the succeeding adminis-
tration of Joseph Dudley, will be appended at the point where the presenta-
tion of the laws enacted under the administration of Bellomont and Part-
ridge is concluded in this volume.
As elsewhere stated, the collection of the New Hampshire laws forwarded
by Governor Dudley in July, 1702, were not, as far as the record indicates,
laid before the board of trade until June 29, 1703. They were considered by
this tribunal on occasions until July 23, when the remainder of them, not
already finally disposed of, were submitted to the attorney-general for his
opinion in point of law. In October, 1704, an elaborate report was returned
by the crown law officers. On the eleventh of June, 1706, this collection of
644
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1699.
laws, with the attorney-general's report, was again taken up for further
consideration. In July their lordships had been through the enactments
and, on the eighteenth, directed that a report be made on them. It is stated
in an entry of July 19 that the board of trade advised the repeal of thirteen
and the confirmation of thirteen of them. The last entry referring to them
is of date December 6, by which it appears that a copy of an order of the
queen and council had been received by the board confirming their recom-
mendation, the original of that order being of date November 19, 1706. Thus
it appears that the Dudley collection of New Hampshire laws, and perhaps
other acts of the same province, were under consideration at intervals in a
period of more than four years after transmission, before they were finally
disposed of by the queen in council. (Board of Trade Journals, vol. 16, pp.
168, 169, 181, 182, 185, 186, 187, 199, 202, 247, 380; vol. 17, pp. 140, 333, 359, 360,
361; vol. 19, p. 7.)
The letter addressed, August 17, 1704, to the Lords Committee for Trade
and Plantations by Edward Northey, the attorney general, in response to
their request to him for his opinion on the New Hampshire laws, is pre-
served in the records of the Board of Trade for New England, vol. 13, folio
43. This is presumed to be the attorney general's report on the New Hamp-
shire laws mentioned in an entry of June 6, 1706, as being before the Lords
of Trade in connection with the laws then under consideration by them.
The original is:
"Endorsed:--New Hampshire | Mr. Attorney Gen'lls Report | upon a collec-
tion of all the Laws in Force in N. Hampsh| in 1703 | Recd the 19 Aug't
1704 Read 11th June 1706 | Q 43. | Entred F. p. 156. | Ex'd.”
The text of the communication is as follows:
"To the Right Hon'ble the Lords Comm'rs ffor Trade & Plantations.
"May it please y'r Lord'ps
"In humble obedience to y'r Lord'ps order of Reference signifyd by Mr.
Popple, I have consider'd of ye several Laws of New Hampshire herein after
mentioned. Viz't
[1] "An Act for defraying ye Publick charge of ye Province.
[2] "An Act for Settling ye Militia.
[3] "An Act for Killing of Wolves.
[4] "An Act for the allowance of representatives.
[5] "An Act against shipping of Horses without Entering.
[6] "An Act concerning ye Prudential Affairs of the Towns.
[7] "An Act for Regulating of Cattle, Corn ffeilds & Fences.
[8]
"An Act for Regulating of Weights & Measures.
[9] "An Act for the settling & distribution of Intestates Estates & such as
prove insolvent.
[10] "An Act to prevent the prophanation of ye Lords day.
[11] "An Act to compell Constables to do their duty in Collecting Rates.
[12] "An Addition to a late Act Entitled an Act to compell Constables to do
their duty in collecting Rates.
[13] “An addition to ye Law entitled Corn ffeilds & ffences.
[14] “An Act concerning Marriages births & Burials.
[15] "An Act to Ease people that are scrupulous in Swearing.
[16] "An Act for the Treasurer to pay for the Copys of the Laws of this
Province.
[17] "An Act to prevent concealing Estates from Assessors.
[18] "An Act for maintenance and Supply of the Ministry within this prov-
ince.
[19] "An Act for Settling a Post office within this Province.
[20] "An additional Act for Incouragem't of ye post office.
[21] "An Act for the acknowledging of Deeds.
[22] "An Act to prevent expence of time and Gaming in ordinaries.
[23] "An Act for the Restraining of Inhumane Severity's.
[24] "An Act for the paym't of ye Cure of Soldiers that are wounded.
[25] "An Act to prevent Trespasses in Cutting down Trees upon Lands with-
out ffences.
[26] "An Act for settling a fferry between Portsmouth & New-castle.
[27] "An Act requiring all persons to take the Oaths appointed to be taken
instead of the oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy.
128[ "An Act for the security & preservation of ye Records of this Province..
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1699.
645
[29] "An Act to prevent damages by Horses.
[30] "An Additional Act concerning Marriages Births & Burials.
[31] "An additional Act about Constables.
[32] "An Act for preservation of High-ways and for making such other as
may bee needfull.
[33] "An Act for regulating Fees.
[34] "An Act for settling a fferry between Swamscot and Mr. Richard Hil-
tons house in the Township of Exeter.
[35] "An Act for the better observation and Keeping ye Lords day.
[36] "An Act against Adultery and Poligamy.
[37] "An Act for ye punishm't of Criminal offenders.
[38] "An Act for recording deeds & Conveyances.
[39] "An Additional Act past for settlem't of Intestates Estates, thereto
added Insolvent Estates how to be dispos'd off.
[40] "An Act against trespassing in Town Commons.
[41] "An Act, fforasmuch as Sheriffs under-Sheriffs and Constables have
often times need of Aid and Assistance in the Execution of their
Respective Offices.
[42] "An Act to prevent Impounding Cattle wrongfully.
[43] "An Act regulating Tanners Curriers and Cordwainers &c for the bet-
ter preventing deceits and abuses by Tanners Curriers dressers or
workers up of Leather.
[44] "An Act for taking Affidavits out of Court.
[45] "An Act for Regulating of Seamen.
[46] "An Act for repairing his Majestys highways.
[47] "An Act for the confirmation of Town grants.
[48] "An Act to prevent contention and controversy that may arise con-
cerning the bounds of ye respective Towns within this province.
[49] "An Act for regulating of Tryals in Civil Causes.
[50] "An Act for continuing several Rates and dutys of Custom Excise Im-
post and Powder money or Tonnage of Shipping.
[51] "An Act for restraining & Punishing Privateers & Pyrates.
[52] "An Act to return able and Sufficient Jurors to serve in the Several
Courts of Justice, and to regulate ye Election of Representatives, to
serve in the General Assembly within this province.
[53] "An Act for a Tax or Assessment of five hundred pounds.
[54] "An Act for Establishing Courts of publick Justice within this Prov-
ince.
[55] "An Act for continuing several Rates and dutys of Custom excise Im-
post and powder-money on Tonnage of Shipping.
[56] "An Act for raising 4601 for defraying the publick Charge of this prov-
ince past in November 1699.
[57] "An Act about powder money.
[58] "An Act for Impost & Tonnage.
[59] "An Act for Raising 5001 by a Land Tax in New Hampshire.
"As to some of which Laws, viz't the Act for defraying the publick charge
of ye Province, the Act for settling a Post office, and the additional act for
the Encouragem't of that office, The two Acts for continuing several Rates
and dutys of Custom Excise Impost and powder money on tonnage of ship-
ping. The Act for Raising 4601 for defraying the publick Charge, and the
other act for Impost and Tonnage I find they are Expired.
"And as to the Act for restraining and punishing privateers & Pyrates
I find that hath been repealed. [Act of Aug. 17, 1699.]
"And as to the two acts Each for raising 5001 by a Tax I find the same
have been allready confirmed. [Act of Aug. 7, 1699, and Act of Sept. 13,
1701.7
"And as to the rest of the s'd Laws I concieve they are agreeable to Law
and Justice, and do not contain any thing prejudicial to her Majestys Royall
preogative, save such of them onely and in such points & particulars, as are
herein after menc'oned and observed to y'r Lord'ps Viz't
"As to the act concerning the prudential affairs of Towns, in regard it is
not plain w't may be included within ye prudential affairs of a Town I think
it proper to confirm this Law for a Čertain time onely, and till her Maj'ty
her heirs or Successors, by order in Council shall make any other order
touching the same. [Act of Oct. 7, 1692.]
ކ
646
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1699.
"And as to the Act for ye settling & distribuc'on of Intestates Estates &
such as prove insolvent, This Act (making a distribuc'on of the real Estates
as well as the sonal Estates of the deceased among all the Children) I
am of Opinion, is not fitt to be approvd, it altering ye descent of Inheritances
of persons residing in Engl'd and contrary to ye course of descents of In-
heritances in England, and it will be inconvenient to divide plantac'ons. And
in another part of it, for dividing Estates of Insolvents equally among ye
creditors it is contrary to ye Laws of England, not having any regard to
the nature of the Securitys for those Debts. [Act of Oct. 21, 1693.]
"As to the Act entitled an addic'on to [the] Late act Entituled an act to
compell constables to do their dutys in collecting of Rates, I am of opinion
This Act (subjecting the bodys of Persons to be imprisoned, for the rates
layd on them in the Towns If they have no visible Estate) is unreasonable,
there not being allowd an Appeal to ye Justices ag'st ye rates. [Act of
Aug. 5, 1693.]
"As to the Act concerning marriages, Births and Burials, which gives
power to Justices of ye peace, or Settled ministers, residing here, to Joyn
persons in Marriage, who have been thrice published on meeting days, I see
no reason to allow Justices of ye peace to marry. [Act of Mar. 9, 1692-3.]
"And as to ye Act for the maintenance and supply of ye Ministry, &c.
this Act leaves the Ministry perfectly at ye will of ye people, and alsoe
leaves it in ye peoples choice whether they will have a minister or not, and
Exempts all persons who shall serve God separately according to their own
persuasion from contributing to ye Minister, so that there is no settled min-
istry at all in this Colony. Therefore I think this Law is not fitt to be
confirmed. [Act of Aug. 5, 1693.]
"As to the Act for acknowledging of deeds, I think it unreasonable, in
giving a Justice of peace power to committ a man who will not acknowledge
his deed, ffor that if the son denys the deed, the Justice may hereby ad-
judge that to be his deed, w'ch is not, & bind him, the acknowledgm't ought
to be Voluntary, and the person to whom it is made ought to take care of
it. [Act of May 24, 1694.]
"As to the Act to prevent expence of time and gaming in Ordinaries I
think it seems too severe, y't playing at nine pins or any other game for
money should be prohibited. [Act of May 24, 1694.]
"As to the Act for Restraining of inhuman severitys, I think it too Large,
that willfully killing a mans own Negroe serv't, shall Be punish'd with
death, for that is not the description of Murder, w'ch is killing of Malice he
that doth it in his own defence, doth it willfully, therefore it should be
said without provocation, or of Malice: [Act of May 24, 1694.]
"As to the Act to prevent damages by horses this Act disables all persons
to putt cattell on the commons, Except ffreeholders, it should have been or
their Tenants: [Act of July 2, 1697.]
"As to ye Act for punishm't of Criminal Offenders, there are several good
provisions in this Law; but this is unreasonable, that if a man who is con-
victed of perjury reverses his Judgm't he is to reco[ver] his damages against
those who did procure such Judgm't w'ch will discourage prosecutions for
perjury, since on the reversall, (w'ch may be for form) the prosecutor must
answer damages to ye persons Convicted: [Act of June 14, 1701.]
"As to the Act for Recording deeds and Conveyances I see no objection
ag'st this Act, but the objection ag'st the Act for acknowledgm't of deeds,
for by this act alsoe, The Justice hath power to committ a man refusing to
acknowledge his deed, so that ye Justice is absolute Judge to determine
whether this deed was made or not. [Act of May 24, 1694, and June 14,
1701.]
"As to the additional Act for settling Intestates Estates &c. The Estates
of Insolv't persons are thereby to be distributed equally among the Credi-
tors without regard to ye nature of their debts, w'ch is contrary to ye Law
of England, It alsoe gives appeal to ye Governour, but none to ye Queen.
[Act of June 14, 1701.]
"As to the Act for taking affidavits out of Court By this Law affidavits
to be us'd at tryalls, and to prove deeds, may be taken without notice to the
other side, w'ch is unreasonable and not to be allowed; [Act of June 21,
1701.]
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1699.
647
"As to the Act for regulating Seamen, I have no Objection to it, Except
that therein is a Clause w'ch I doubt will include Cap'ts of ye Queens Men
of Warr, Viz't y't if any Mast'r or com'and'r of any ship or Vessell, shall ship
any Seaman knowing him to be first entertaind on board another ship or
Vessel and after notice thereof given shall not dismiss him, shall forfeit
51. [Act of June 21, 1701.]
"As to ye act for regulating of Tryals In Civil causes I onely observe that
by this Law Errors and Reviews are allowd in this province to ye Governour
and the Council, but no appeal to her Maj'ty: [Act of Oct. 4, 1701.]
"And as to the act for Establishing Courts of publick Justice within this
province, This Act I concieve intrenches on her Maj'tys prerogative, and
power given to her governour to Erect courts, and allthough it allows an ap-
peal to her Maj'ty, where the value in demand is above 3001, yett it prevents
her Maj'ty allowing an appeal if for less, w'ch she may doe If she pleases.
[Act of Aug. 17, 1699.]
"All which is humbly
"submitted to y'r Lord'ps
"Great Wisdo[m]
"Edw Northey
"Aug'st 17th, 1704."
Of the fifty-nine acts which the attorney-general enumerates as the sub-
ject of his examination and conclusions, he recommends fifteen for repeal.
He included among these two of the trio which had been disapproved for
ecclesiastical reasons by the Bishop of London. These were,-
"The Act concerning Marriages, Births and Burials, and,
"The Act for the Maintenance and supply of the ministry," both repealed
November 19, 1706, on the concurring recommendations of the Bishop of
London and the attorney-general.
The comments of the attorney-general on the "Act for Establishing Courts
of Public Justice within this Province," (passed August 17, 1699,) will be
read with special interest.
The reappearance of the same acts, or those which are substantially the
same, in the 1716 edition of the Province Laws, (p. 4 et seq.) and the persist-
ence of those laws during the remainder of the province period, notwith-
standing the recommendations of the attorney-general and the resulting
orders of repeal by the queen in council, which is the subject of remark
elsewhere in these notes, are conspicuously anomalous features of the his-
tory of the statutes of the province.
No adequate explanation of the facts has been discovered or suggested
since the recent exposition of the events related to this element in the his-
tory of the province laws.
In respect to eleven acts, to which he suggested objections, the attorney-
general's recommendations were adopted.
One of the acts which he named for repeal was confirmed, and on three
others there was no action.
It may be recalled in this connection that of the eleven acts passed at
the Cctober session. 1692, and the eight, (including, as an act, the bill of fees
of March 2, 1692-3.) passed at the March session, 1692-3, nineteen in all,
sixteen were forwarded to the home government for examination in 1693,
N. S., with a view to their confirmation or repeal in accordance with the
requirements of the commission and instructions issued to the provincial
governor. It appears by the records in London that these sixteen acts (a
list of which will be given in the appendix to this volume) were handed
over by Mr. Popple to the attorney-general August 22, 1693. There is no
evidence that, as a result of this submission, the law officers of the crown
ever took any further action relative to the identical papers embodying
those sixteen acts. It is possible that they were allowed to await the in-
stitution of such further proceedings and the appearance of such special
inducements as were under consideration in the province assembly in 1695.
(Note ante, p. 519.) Furthermore, there is no internal evidence afforded
by the later correspondence between the attorney-general and the lords of
trade from 1702 to 1706, which indicates that this particular set of sixteen
acts of the 1693 transmission were exhumed and placed under consideration
in any later period.
648
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1699.
The "Act for restraining and punishing Privateers and Pirates," passed
August 17, 1699, was disposed of with more than ordinary promptitude by
the king in council. Important state policy may have been involved in
the colonial laws on the subject of piracy. (See note, ante, p. 607.) The
repeal occurred October 22, 1700. N. England, C, Fol. 299.
Mr. Hoyt also remarks that "the General Assembly began to print the
Session Laws as early as 1704; but it was not till May 15, 1714, that any steps
were taken to have the statute laws revised and codified."
Mr. Hoyt is a cautious, critical, and painstaking writer on the subject
which he treated in this monograph. He was, presumably, not aware, at the
time his paper was prepared, of the existence of the ancient printed edition
of the acts of 1699. It is possible also that the time in which steps were
taken to have the statute laws revised and codified in this province ought
not to be limited to a date as late as 1714.
The authority for Mr. Hoyt's statement of the number of acts passed in
the province between 1692 and 1702 is apparently the publication in 3 Prov-
ince Papers, pp. 164-228. That enumeration is somewhat modified and en-
larged by the recourse that has been had recently, for the purposes of this
work, to the manuscripts in the state archives and in the public record office
in London.
"The Early Jurisprudence of New Hampshire" was the subject of the an-
nual address before the New Hampshire Historical Society June 13, 1883, by
John Major Shirley. He remarks (Proceedings of the Society, vol. 1, p. 299;
pamphlet edition same address, pp. 69), that "the first laws put in print
were those of 1704." Mr. Shirley's impression on this point may have been
derived from a too liberal reading of the statement of Mr. Hoyt above quoted.
There was a publication of the statutes of some of the English colonies
which bore the date of 1704. It was an abstract of American laws possibly
intended to meet the necessities of those having commercial relations with
the colonists, and to afford information for purposes of trade and business.
Massachusetts was included in this work, but the editor of this volume has
not seen any edition of that publication which included an abstract of the
laws of the province of New Hampshire.
The work referred to is biblographically described as follows:
"An | Abridgment | of the | Laws | In Force and Use in | Her Majesty's Plan-
tations; (viz.) of |
Virginia
Jamaica
Barbadoes
New England
(New York
Carolina &c.
Maryland
"Digested under proper Heads in the Method of Mr. Wingate, and Mr.
Washington's | Abridgements. |
"LONDON, | Printed for John Nicholson at the King's-Arms in | Little Britain,
R. Parker, and R. Smith, under the Royal-Exchange, and Benj. Tooke at the
Middle Temple-Gate in Fleetstreet, 1704. |
"THE PREFACE.
"Most gentlemen trading to, or concern'd in Her Majesty's Plantations,
having frequent occasion to consult the various Laws of each place, do con-
stantly meet with great Difficulty in procuring them; some being so scarce
as hardly to be come at, and others very bulky and dear. Hereupon 'twas
thought necessary to get all together, tho' at the expense of about Five
Pounds, and for the Common Advantage to make an Abridgement of them;
following the same method which was made use of in the Continuation of
Mr. Washington's Abridgment, and which Mr. Wingate had formerly used.
"To the Performance of which the Publishers were encouraged by several
Gentlemen concerned in those countries, judging it very useful for those that
liv'd there, or had any concern therein, as well as other Persons who would
be willing to compare the Laws and Constitutions of each Country, or
Province, one with another.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1699.
649
"This Work having been a considerable time in preparing and perfect-
ing, it gave opportunity of procuring from those parts several Laws in
Manuscript, and some very lately made, which are added in the Appendix.
"The Whole is performed with all Care and Exactness; and it can hardly
be doubted but 'twill give Satisfaction to the Candid Reader; And hereafter,
if any Gentleman in those parts will transmit to the Booksellers any Authen-
tick Laws that have not been printed, or any new Laws that have been, or
shall be made in any other of Her Majesty's Plantations, Care shall be
taken to put them in a proper and suitable method, and they shall be printed
in another Volume. So wishing Health to all our Plantations, and Pros-
perity to the Trade thereof,
"London.
"March 1, 17034."
Farewel.
The pagination after the preface is continuous through the laws of Vir-
ginia, Jamaica, and the Barbadoes in the order named, pp. 284.
Then follows Maryland with a new pagination, pp. 1 to 71.
Next in order is New England, pp. 1-100, also with a new pagination.
In the preliminary statement, Laws of New England, p. 1, the editor says:
"The English Plantations in the Massachusetts Bay, commonly called New
England," etc.
This evidently indicates that no other colony in New England was in-
tended or included under the term "New England" for the purposes of this
compilation.
An appendix, pp. 285-294, contains an abstract of the laws of New York, and
a continuation of the appendix, pp. 295-304, contains "Laws for Church Af-
fairs in New England, i. e. Massachusetts Bay in New England, 1692.”
The latter part of p. 304 and a supplement, pp. (1)-(8), contains miscella-
neous matter in the nature of advertisements and catalogues of books for
sale by Thomas Ward.
Mr. Shirley also remarks (Id. p. 297), that "as late as October 9, 1700, we
find Pollexfen and his eminent associates advising the Lords Justices in
respect to laws passed in New Hampshire at the August session, 1699, that
they 'cannot make a perfect Report (because of the confusion and uncertain
state of the former Acts of that Province) until we receive a complete and
authentic collection of the whole, which has accordingly been required.' 2
Province Papers, 332.
"Whether this record of pre-existing laws was furnished or not is a subject
upon which we have no light."
Of course it is now known that the requisition which was ordered for
Lieutenant-Governor Partridge in 1701 and which was made upon Governor
Dudley by the home government at the beginning of his administration, and
with which the latter made compliance by returning the laws that we de-
scribe as the "Dudley Collection," solves the doubt which was expressed by
Mr. Shirley in his text.
In the report of the New Hampshire State Librarian for 1892 there appears
"A Check-List of New Hampshire Laws, 1789-1891." In this catalogue the
original pamphlet publication of 1699 is mentioned as the earliest edition of
the printed laws of New Hampshire, and the bibliographical description
given is from the copy in the Charlemagne Tower collection at Philadel-
phia.
It may be remarked, in passing, that the formal announcement of the
confirmation of thirteen New Hampshire acts and the repeal of thirteen acts
by the queen in council bears date November 19, 1706, all these twenty-six
acts having been passed by the council and assembly of the province between
1692 and 1702.
Referring now more particularly to the two acts passed September 12, 1701,
entitled, “An act for the confirmation of town grants" and "An act to pre-
vent contention and controversies that may arise concerning the bounds of
the respective towns within this Province," it can be said that this legisla-
tion was the subject of very energetic opposition on the part of Mr. Allen
and Mr. Usher, and a full treatment of the issues that were raised over the
caveat which Mr. Allen filed against them, which is noted on the original
papers in the public record office in London, might widen out to include the
650
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1699.
controversy over Allen's claim to the waste lands in its full extension. Such
a discussion will not be attempted.
It does appear, however, by the records or journals of the board of trade,
that Governor Dudley's letter accompanying his collection of the laws of
New Hampshire was of date July 23, 1702; that his letter and the laws were
laid before the board June 29, 1703; that the Lords of Trade took up these
laws for consideration June 30, 1703; that they were referred to the attorney-
general for his opinion upon them in point of law, and particularly, as to
the two laws above named, "which their Lordships conceive fit to be re-
pealed, as seeming to intrench upon the rights of particular persons," July
23, 1703. Board of Trade Journal, vol. 16, pp. 168, 169, 186; Board of Trade,
New England 40-97.
The report of the attorney-general, returned to the Lords Commissioners
for Trade and Plantations, (in advance of his more elaborate review of the
entire body of these laws which has been presented in the foregoing pages
in extenso,) is as follows:
"May it please yo'r Lord'ps
"In Obedience to yo'r Lord'ps Order of reference I have considered of an
Act of ye province of new Hampshire Intitled an Act for ye confirmacon of
Town grants and am humbly of Opinion that it is fit that the same be re-
pealed for that it confirms all Grants of Lands that have been heretofore
made unto any son or sons by the Inhabitants of the respective Towns
within that province or by the Select men or a committee in each Towne
without having any Regard to or Saveing of the Rights of any Psons who
might be intitled to ye same before the making such Grants.
"I have also considered of an other Act of that province intitled an Act to
p'rvent contention and Controversy that may arise concerning the Bounds of
the respective Towns w'thin this Province, and am of opinion that this is
also fit to be repealed if the same intrenches on the Rights of Pticular per-
sons as I find by Mr. Popple's Letter the same hath been made appear to
Yo'r Lord'ps to doe.
"All w'ch is humbly Submitted
"to Yo'r Lord'ps great wisdome
(Board of Trade, New England, 12/M. 46.)
"Edw Northey
"Augst 7th 1703."
On the basis of this report of the attorney-general the board of trade made
a representation to the queen for the disallowance of these two acts. In this
communication the same words are used as in the attorney's report-"that
it confirms," &c, . . . down to . . . "such grants," adding, "Which Proceed-
ing especially whilst the Controversies in Course of Law between the said
Proprietor and the Inhabitants of the Province, relating to the Right he has
always Claimed are yet depending we conceive to be very undue and not fit
to be allowed."
The board of trade states further in this communication as follows:
"And another of the said Acts, Entitled An Act to prevent contention and
controversies that may arise concerning the Bounds of the respective Towns within
the Province, seeming to us of such doubtful construction, as that the same
may intrench on the Rights of Particular sons we humbly offer that Your
Majesty would please to declare your disallowance and repeal of both the
said Acts." Board of Trade, New England, 40/125.
The royal order, which was in conformity with the foregoing recom-
mendation, was as follows:
"At a Court of Saint James', the 11th day of November, 1703.
"Present,
"The Queen's most Excellent Majestie in Council.
"Upon reading this day at the Board a representation from the Lords'
Commissioners of Trade and plantations, dated the 29th October last past,
relating to two Acts past in the Assembly of her Majesty's Province of New
Hampshire, the one entitled An Act for the Confirmation of Town Grants,
and the other entitled an Act to Prevent Contention and Controversy that
may arise, concerning the Bounds of the Respective Towns within this Prov-
ince; And the said Lords Commissioners humbly offering their opinion that
her Majestie would please declare her disallowance and repeal of both the
said Acts:
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1699.
651
Her Majesty with the advice of the Privy Council is pleased to declare the
disallowance and disapprobation of the said two Acts; and pursuant to her
Majesty's pleasure thereupon, the said two Acts are hereby Repealed and
declared null and void, and of none effect.
“WILLIAM BLATHWAYT." (3 Province Papers, 285.)
In a communication to the board dated December 24, 1703, ex-Governor
Allen expresses "thanks for their care in examining the merit of his case
and in giving a just and righteous report in his favour to Her Majesty 'as to
the wast lands of which I have taken possession agreeable to the Methods
of Her Majesty's Attorney General and how to proceed in their Courts here
if any disturbances should be given me before or after having taken pos-
session and also how I may bring a writ of ejectment against those . . . in
possession to pay me a quit rent as lawful proprietor. But the Government
to prevent my proceeding against them for usurping on my right by an un
Legall way have made two laws which your Lordships have here inclosed
which I humbly pray may be repealled.' Board of Trade, New England,
12/024.
The royal decree relative to the two acts was presented by Governor Dud-
ley at a joint session of the council and assembly May 25, 1704, and publicly
read. It was ordered that this order be also published by beat of drum.
This record is given somewhat in detail, as it presents very clearly the
method of procedure in this class of cases, resulting sometimes in the con-
firmation, sometimes in the repeal, and sometimes in the laying aside,
without action, of the province laws returned to the home government for
examination.
It is not out of place at this point to recall the observations offered in a
note, ante, p. 519, relative to efforts of lieutenant-governor Usher to procure
a grant of £400 from the assembly of the province, to be paid to Mr. Blath-
wait for "forwarding the laws." Mr. Blathwait, as is disclosed by the rec-
ords now accessible, was acting as an attorney before the departments of
the home government in the interest of Mr. Allen and Mr. Usher in re-
spect to their claim of title under the Masonian patents. The proposed
grant for the nominal purpose of compensating Mr. Blathwait for services
in forwarding the consideration of the Province Laws was strenuously
urged by Mr. Usher but effectually opposed by the assembly.
The act of 1701, by which funds were provided for Mr. Vaughan, the agent
of the province, that is to say, the agent of the party in opposition to the
Allen claim, naturally moved Mr. Usher to energetic endeavors to bring
the real purpose of this measure to the attention of the lords of trade and
to procure its disallowance.
Governor Bellomont in his correspondence with the home government,
expressed himself without reservation as to the reprehensible relations of
Mr. Blathwait to the claims and interests of Allen and Usher with respect
to the title to the territory of New Hampshire.
(Doyle, 3 English Colonies, pp. 294, 295, 332, 333; Letter of the Earl of
Bellomont, June 19, 1700, Colonial Papers, Am. and W. Indies, 561.)
The act of September 13, 1701, entitled “An Act for Raising Five Hundred
and Fifty Pounds for Defraying the Public Charge of the Province,” and “An
Act for Raising Two Hundred Pounds Additional for the Use of Major
Vaughan, our Agent in England" of date May 30, 1702, were the occasion of
controversy before the lords of trade. It appears that an authentic copy of
the first act had not reached the London attorney of the province, and that
Mr. Usher was the one who was moving for an inquiry as to the disposition
of the funds raised by it.
The following data is from the Board of Trade Journal:
May 4, 1702.
"Copy of an Act of the Gen'll Assembly of New Hampshire; Dated the 13th
of September last, intituled An Act for raising 550 L: for defraying the Pub-
lic Charge of the Province, brought hither some time since by Mr. Usher,
was read: And thereupon ordered that the Secretary write to Sir Henry
Ashurst to enquire whether he have an Authentic Copy of the said Act, and
if so to desire him to attend the Board with it as soon as may be." Board
of Trade Journal, 15/4.
652
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1699.
May 13, 1702.
"A Letter from Sir Henry Ashurst, signifying that he has not the Act of
New Hampshire of the 13th of September last for defraying the Public
Charge of that Government, was read." Board of Trade Journal, 15/18.
July 6, 1702.
"Sir Henry Ashurst attending as had been directed, desired a Copy of the
New Hampshire Act for Levying 550 Ls &c, which was Ordered accordingly
to be given him." Board of Trade Journal, 15/121.
August 7, 1702.
"A Letter from Sir Henry Ashurst in answer to one writ him the 14th of
the last month relating to an Act of New Hampshire for raising 550, was
read; And thereupon ordered that Mr. Vaughan lately arrived as Agent from
the said Province, and Mr. Partridge be desired to attend the Board on
Monday next in the afternoon." Board of Trade Journal, 15/155.
August 10, 1702.
"Mr. Vaughan Agent for New Hampshire and Mr. Partridge, with Mr.
Chamberlain attending the Board as they had been desired, And being asked
several Questions relating to an Act passed there in September 1701 for rais-
ing 550m, Mr. Vaughan answered, that he not being Treasurer (Mr. Spen-
hallow [Penhallow] the Speaker of the Assembly being now in that place)
could give no Account of the Disposal of that Money; Tho' indeed Some
part of it, was remitted to him, to bear his Expences as Agent of the Prov-
ince: And that he believed an Authentic Copy of the Act might have been
sent over for her Majesty's Approbation, but was miscarryed. And Mr.
Partridge desiring a Copy of the said Act, it was ordered to be given him ac-
cordingly." Board of Trade Journal, 15/157.
The records do not disclose what was the final disposition of this subject
in the board of trade. It may be presumed, however, that Major Vaughan,
the agent of the province, and his coadjutors, Mr. Ashurst* and Mr. Part-
ridge, made an accounting or explanation satisfactory to the board.
It does not seem advisable further to anticipate the inquiries that may
arise concerning the history of individual acts or groups of acts which were
passed in this period. At no previous date have the opportunities been so
ample or convenient for research in this direction as they are at present.
The best index to the original manuscripts, Board of Trade Journals, and
kindred documents, now available is the Calendar of Papers in the English
Archives and Record Office relating to New Hampshire, published in volume
23, New Hampshire State Papers, and in volume 10, Collections of the New
Hampshire Historical Society.
The suggestions already made as to the utility of critical comparison of
the acts of the period between 1692 and 1702, with those of the later period
which includes the administrations under the commissions of Governor Dud-
ley and Governor Shute, and with those of Massachusetts Bay in the cor-
responding period, may perhaps be repeated without disadvantage or impro-
priety at the conclusion of these notes on the statutes.]
*SIR HENRY ASHURST.
Son of Henry Ashurst, merchant and founder of the family of Ashurst of
Waterstock in Oxfordshire. The son was the builder of Waterstock. He is
described in Chester's Marriage Licenses as "gent of Hackney, Middlesex,":
married, in 1670, Dyana, daughter of Lord Paget. The New York Colonial
Documents, vol. iv, p. 771, says: "though a zealous dissenter he was created
a baronet just before the Revolution." He acted as agent for Massachusetts
and New Hampshire (New York volume says agent for Mass.) to 1702. In
1706, also, he presented a petition on behalf of the colony of Connecticut.
Died in 1710.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1699.
653
[First Session, held at Portsmouth, August 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15,
16, 17, 1699.]
[CHAPTER 1.]
AN ACT FOR RESTRAINING AND PUNISHING PRIVATEERS AND
PIRATES.
[Passed August 17, 1699. 11 William III. Reprint of the Green and Allen
edition of 1699, 19 State Papers, 696, and pamphlet, 1893; Dudley collection
in the public record office in London, folio 149; Records of Acts, vol. 1, p. 31.
Repealed by the king in council October 22, 1700. 2 Province Papers, 332.
Public record office, New England, C, folio 299. Compare acts of July 22,
1684, and March 4, 1686-7. See note, ante, p. 607.]
Felony, to serve in hostile manner under any forreign Prince with-
out Licence.
Whereas nothing can more contribute to His Sacred Majes-
ties Honour than that such Articles as are concluded and
agreed on in all Treaties of Peace should by all His Majesties
Subjects according to their Duty be most inviolably preserved
and kept in and over all His Majesties Dominions and Terri-
tories. And whereas not only against such Treaties of Peace
made by His Majesty with His Allies, but also contrary to
His Majesties Royal Proclamation several of His Subjects
have and do go, into Forreign Princes Services, and Sail under
their Commissions contrary to their Duty and good Allegi-
ance, and by fair means cannot be restrained from so doing.
Be it therefore Enacted by His Excellency the Governor,
Council and Representatives, Convened in General Assembly,
and it is hereby Enacted by Authority of the same, That from
and after Publication hereof, it shall be Felony for any person
which now doth, or within four years last past, hath, or here-
after shall inhabit or belong to this Province, to Serve in an
Hostile manner under any Forreign Prince, State or Poten-
tate, or any Imployed under any of them, against any other
Forreign Prince, State or Potentate in Amity with His Maj-
esty of Great Britain, without special Licence for so doing
under the Hand and Seal of the Governour or Commander in
Chief of this Province for the time being. And that all and
every such Offender or Offenders, contrary to the true intent
and meaning of this Act, being thereof duly Convicted in His
Majesties Superiour Court of Judicature within this Province,
to which Court, Authority is hereby given to hear and deter-
mine the same as other Cases of Felony: shall suffer pains of
Death without benefit of Clergy.
654
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1699.
Saving for such as shall desert before the 29. of September 1700.
Provided nevertheless, That this Act nor any thing therein
contained shall extend to any person or persons which now are
or have been in the Service or Imploy of any Forreign Prince,
State or Potentate whatsoever, that shall return to this Prov-
ince, and leave and desert such Service and Imployment be-
fore the Twenty Ninth Day of September, Anno One thousand
Seven Hundred, rendring themselves to the Governour or
Commander in Chief for the time being, and giving him such
Security as he shall appoint for their future good behaviour.
And also that they shall not depart the Province, without the
Governours Ticket Licence.
Treasons, Felonies, Piracies &c. committed on the Sea to be inquired
heard & judged, as if committed on Land, by Commission directed
to the Judge of the Admiralty &c.
And for the better and more speedy Execution of Justice
upon such who having committed Treasons, Piracies, Felonies,
and other Offences upon the Sea, shall be apprehended in, or
brought Prisoners to this Province.
Be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That all
Treasons, Felonies, Piracies, Robberies, Murthers, or Confed-
eracies committed, or that hereafter shall be committed upon
the Sea, or in any Haven, Creek or Bay where the Admiral
hath Jurisdiction, shall be punished with Death; and shall be
Inquired, Tryed, Heard, Determined and Judged within this
Province in such like form, as if such Offence had been com-
mitted, in and upon the Land; and to that end and purpose,
Commissions shall be had under the Seal of this Province,
directed to the Judge of the Admiralty of this Province for
the time being, and to three or more such substantial per-
sons, as by His Majesties Governour or Commander in Chief
of this Province for the time being, with the advice and con-
sent of the Council shall be named and appointed, which said
Commissioners, or such Quorum of them as by such Commis-
sion shall be thereunto Authorized, shall have full power to
do all things, in and about the Inquiry, hearing determining,
adjudging and punishing of any of the Crimes and Offences
aforesaid, as any Commissioners to be appointed by Com-
mission under the Great Seal of England, by virtue of a Stat-
ute made in the Twenty Eighth Year of the Reign of King
Henry the Eighth are Impowred to do and execute within the
Kingdom of England. And that the said Offenders which are
or shall be apprehended in, or brought Prisoners to this Prov
ince, shall be liable to such Order, Process, Judgments and
Execution, by virtue of such Commission to be grounded upon
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1699.
655
this Act as might be awarded or given against them if they
were proceeded against within the Realm of England, by vir-
tue of any Commission grounded upon the said Statute.
All Tryals heretofore had by virtue of such Commission ratified.
And all Tryals heretofore had against such Criminal and
Criminals before any Judge or Judges by virtue of such Com-
mission or Authority at any time heretofore granted, and all
proceedings thereupon are hereby ratified and confirmed and
adjudged lawful. And all such Judges with all and every the
Inferiour Officers that have acted thereby, are hereby Indemp-
nified to all intents and purposes what soever. And in case
they or any of them shall at any time hereafter be sued, vexed,
molested or troubled for any such their Proceedings as afore-
said, he or they so sued, vexed, molested or troubled, shall
plead the General Issue, and give this Act in Evidence: Any
Law, Statute, Custom or Usage to the contrary in any wise
notwithstanding.
}
Persons knowingly entertaining, harbouring, concealing or corre
sponding with any Privateers or Pirates to be accounted Acces-
saries and confederates.
And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That
all and every person and persons that shall any way know-
ingly entertain, harbour, conceal, trade or hold any corre-
spondence by Letter or otherwise, with any person or persons,
that shall be deemed and adjudged to be Privateers, Pirates,
or other Offenders within the Construction of this Act, and
that shall not readily endeavour to the best of his or their
power to apprehend, or cause to be apprehended such Offend-
er or Offenders shall be liable to be prosecuted as Accessaries
and Confederates, and to suffer the like pains and penalties as
in and by this Act is provided for the Principals.
Commission Officers Impowred and required to seize & apprehend
all Privateers, Pirates &c.
And for the better and more effectual Execution of this Act.
Be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That all
Commission Officers in their several Precincts within this
Province are hereby required and Impowred, upon his or their
knowledge, or credible notice given that any Privateers, Pi-
rates, or other persons suspected to be on any unlawful design,
are in any place within their respective Precincts, to raise
and levy such a number of well Armed men as he and they
shall think needful for the seizing, apprehending and carrying
to Goal all and every such person and persons; and in case of
any resistance or refusal to yield Obedience to His Majesties
656
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1699.
Authority, it shall be lawful to kill or destroy such person
or persons; and all and every person and persons that shall
oppose or resist by striking or firing upon any of the Com-
manded parties, shall be deemed, taken and adjudged as
Felons, and shall suffer the pains of Death.
Penalty for Officers neglect of duty.
And every such Officer that shall omit or neglect his duty
herein, shall forfeit Fifty Pounds, currant Money of this Prov-
ince for every such Offence, to be recovered in any of His Maj-
esties Courts of Record within this Province, by Bill, Plaint
or Information, wherein no essoign, wager of Law or protec-
tion shall be allowed; one Moiety thereof to be to our Sover-
aign Lord the King, His Heirs and Successors, for and towards
the Support of the Government of this Province and the con-
tingent Charges thereof; and the other Moiety to the Informer.
Penalty for non appearance in Armes.
And all and every person and persons that upon orders
given him or them shall refuse to repair immediately with his
or their Arms well fixed and Ammunition, to such place or
places as shall be appointed by the said Officer, and not readily
obey his Command in the premises, shall be Imprisoned with-
out Bail or Mainprize, until the next General Sessions of the
Peace within the same County, and by the Justices of the
same Court fined, not exceeding Ten Pounds, or be corporally
punished, not exceeding Ten Stripes, at the discretion of the
Justices.
Recompence for discovering & seizing of Pirates Goods.
For the better Encouragement to make diligent Enquiry
after, and Seizure of Pirates Goods.
Be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That
whatsoever person or persons shall make discovery and seiz-
ure of any Goods or Treasure, that shall be brought into this
Province by any Pirate or Pirates, or inform of or disclose the
same, so as such Goods or Treasure be seized and secured to
be answerable in the Law, every such person or persons shall
have and receive as a recompence for such Service, one fifth
part of the Goods and Treasure so seized and secured, or of the
value thereof within ten days next after Condemnation of said
Goods or Treasure, to be paid by order of the Justices of the
Court where the Tryal shall be had,
}
(
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1699.
How such Goods shall be secured.
657
and all the Remainder of such Goods and Treasure to be
secured by order of the Justices of such Court for the use and
benefit of the true and right Owners thereof if any such ap-
pear, by themselves, Factors, Agents or Attorneys, within the
time of eighteen months next after such Condemnation, and
shall make out their right thereunto, all just and reasonable
Charges being first deducted and paid thereout. And if no
Claimer or Claimers appear and make out their Right thereto
within the said time of eighteen months then all the remainder
of such Goods and Treasure the Charges as aforesaid, being
first deducted and paid thereout to be delivered into His Maj-
esties Treasury within this Province, there to be lodged until
His Majesties Pleasure shall be signified, how the same shall
be disposed of.
[CHAPTER 2.]
AN ACT TO RETURN ABLE AND SUFFICIENT JURORS TO SERVE
IN THE SEVERAL COURTS OF JUSTICE, AND TO REGULATE
THE ELECTION OF REPRESENTATIVES TO SERVE IN THE GEN-
ERAL ASSEMBLY WITHIN THIS PROVINCE.
*
[Passed August 17, 1699. 11 William III. Reprint of the Green and Allen
edition of 1699, 19 State Papers, 700, and pamphlet, 1893; Dudley collection in
the public record office in London, folio 150; 3 Province Papers, 216; New
Hampshire laws, 1716 edition, p. 3; 1761 edition, p. 188; 1771 edition, p. 3.
No record of confirmation or repeal by the king in the public record office.
Repealed by act of the legislature June 20, 1792. New Hampshire laws, 1792
edition, p. 401.]
Writ of Venire for Jurors to be issued 15 days before the Court.
Be it Enacted by His Excellency the Governour, Council
and Representatives Convened in General Assembly, and by
the Authority of the same, That the Clerks of the several
Courts of Justice within this Province fifteen days at least
before the day limited by Law for holding such Courts from
*The influence of the governor in effecting a modification of the earlier
draft of this bill is manifest in the following extract from the journal of the
council and assembly, August 9, 1699:-
"The Bill entituled an Act chooseing and returneing of Jurors to Serve in
the Severall Courts of Justice Sent upp by the House of Representatives with
Amendm'ts was read. And his Excellency observeing that in the said bill
the ffreeholders of the respective Townes are to make choice of Jurors by
virtue of warrants directed to them from the Justices of the respective
Courts is contrary to the practise of England where the Sheriffe returne
Jurors, he is therefor of opinion that for the more Exact Conformity to the
Lawes and practise of England; it will be best the said Comittee prepared
the said bill, doe prepare a new bill wherein the Sheriffe shall have the care
and charge of returneing and Impannelling Jurors to which the Councill
doe consent."
Compare the action, of the assembly on this subject in the time of Cutt
and Cranfield.
46
658
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1699.
time to time, shall make out a Writ of Venire Facias, directed
unto the Sheriff of the Province, Commanding him in His Maj-
esties Name to Impannel and return so many good and law-
ful men for Grand and Petit Jurors, out of the several Towns
within this Province in as near a proportion as may be accord-
ing to the number of Inhabitants,
Qualification of Jurors.
each person so returned to have an Estate of Freehold worth
Forty Shillings Per Annum at the least, or Fifty Pounds Ster-
ling in personal Estate; And the Sheriff shall cause each per-
son named in his Pannel to be duly Summoned and Warned
to attend the Service of the Court where the same is return-
able. The Grand Jurors for the Quarter Sessions of the
Peace, to Serve one whole year from the time of their being
Sworn,
Penalty on Jurors makeing default.
and every person Impannelled and Summoned as aforesaid,
to Serve as a Juror at any of the said Courts who shall make
default by not appearing or not attending the Service required
of him, shall loose and forfeit the Sum of Forty Shillings, un-
less such persons make a reasonable Excuse for the same to
be approved and allowed by the Justices of the said Court,
the said Forfeiture to be unto the use of our Soveraign Lord
the King, for and towards the Support of the Government,
and for answering the incident charges thereof, and to be Im-
posed and set by the Justices of the Court where the Venire is
returnable.
Tales de circumstantibus.
And when it shall happen by reason of Challenge, default
in appearance or otherwise there shall not remain a sufficient
number to make up a Petit Jury, the Sheriff by Command of
the Justices of the Court shall return so many persons de tal-
ibus circumstantibus, as shall be required to make up a full
Jury.
The Coroner to return Jurors & serve Writs, in case
And in case where the Sheriff shall be a party, or re-
lated to either of the parties, the Jury shall be Impannelled
and returned by the Coroner, who is also hereby Impowred
to Serve Writs in cases where the Sheriff is concerned.
Qualification of Representatives, and Electors.
And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid,
That no person Inhabiting within this Province, other than
Freeholders of the value or income of Forty Shillings Per An-
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1699.
659
num or upwards in Land, or worth Fifty Pounds Sterling
at the least in personal Estate, shall have any Vote in the
Election of Representatives; or be capable of being Elected
to Serve in the General Assembly, and the tryal of such Quali-
fication as aforesaid, shall be by the last Lists of Rates and
Assessments which the Select men of each respective Town,
are hereby required to bring with them for that end, upon all
dayes and times appointed for such Election.
Town Clerk to be chosen and sworn.
And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That
there be a suitable person Chosen in each Town after the same
manner used for Choice of other Officers to be Town Clerk to
Serve in the said Office until another be Chosen and Sworn in
his stead; and every such Town Clerk shall have an Oath Ad-
ministered unto him, by a Justice of the Peace well and truly
to Execute the said Office and Trust.
[CHAPTER 3.]
AN ACT FOR A TAX OR ASSESSMENT, OF FIVE HUNDRED
POUNDS.
[Passed August 17, 1699. 11 William III. Reprint of the Green and Allen
edition of 1699, 19 State Papers, 701, and pamphlet, 1893; Dudley collection
in the public record office in London, folio 151; Record of Acts, vol. 1, p. 26.
Confirmed by the king in council October 22, 1700. Public record office, New
England, C, folio 300; 2 Province Papers, 333.]
WE His Majesties Loyal and Dutiful Subjects the Represen-
tatives of His Majesties Province of New-Hampshire, Con-
vened in General Assembly, do chearfully and unanimously
give and Grant unto His Most Excellent Majesty the Sum of
Five Hundred Pounds in Money, humbly beseeching Your Ma-
jesty, that the same may be applyed and appropriated unto
the sole and Proper use of His Excellency Richard Earl of
Bellomont, Your Majesties Governour in Chief of this Prov-
ince. In Testimony of our great regard and respect unto His
Lordship, under whose happy Conduct we assure our selves to
enjoy great quiet and felicity; And pray that it may be En-
acted.
And be it Enacted accordingly by the Governour, Council
and Representatives, Convened in General Assembly, and by
the Authority of the same, That the said Sum of Five Hundred
Pounds to and for the use aforesaid be Raised by a Tax or
Assesment to be made and laid in manner as is hereafter ex-
pressed, upon all persons and Estates both real and personal
lying, being and belonging to the several Towns and the Dis-
660
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWs, 1699.
tricts thereof within this Province, according to each Towns
proportion toward the same, as followeth; That is to say,
Portsmouth, One Hundred & Twelve Pounds,
Fifteen Shillings
Hampton, One Hundred Forty Eight Pounds
Eighteen Shillings and Nine Pence
Dover, One Hundred Pounds, Eleven Shillings
& Three Pence
Exeter, Ninety One Pounds, Ten Shillings
New Castle, Forty Six Pounds, Five Shillings
Z
s
d
112 15 00
148 18 09
100 11 03
91 10 00
46 05 00
And that the Treasurer send out his Warrant to the Con-
stables of the respective Towns, Requiring them to Assemble
the Inhabitants to make choice of two Assessors where they
are not already Chosen for the year, to joyn with the Select-
men in making the Rate and Assesment according to this Act
to whom the Treasurer shall also give Warrants pursuant
thereto. And the Rates and Assesments so made to be com-
mitted to the Constables of the respective Towns by the last
of September next ensuing, with Warrants from a Justice of
the Peace. And the Selectmen and Assessors to Collect the
same, and pay unto the Treasurer for the time being, in Mony
by the Twentyeth Day of December next following.
[CHAPTER 4.]
AN ACT FOR ESTABLISHING COURTS OF PUBLICK JUSTICE
WITHIN THIS PROVINCE.
[Passed August 17, 1699. 11 William III. Reprint of the Green and Allen
edition of 1699, 19 State Papers, 702, and pamphlet, 1893; Dudley collection in
the public record office in London, folio 153; 3 Province Papers, 218; New
Hampshire laws, 1716 edition, p. 4; 1761 edition, reprint, p. 1; 1771 edition, p.
5. Note that this act was continued in fact until the act of February 9,
1791, which appears to have been intended as a substitute; laws, 1792 edition,
p. 63. Repealed by the queen in council November 19, 1706. Public record
office, New Hampshire bundle 2, No. 55; New England, F, folio 212. Repealed
June 20, 1792. Laws, 1792 edition, p. 402; Moody v. Demeritt, 1 N. H., 188;
Copp v. Henniker, 55 N. H., 185; Perkins v. Scott, 57 N. H., 60, 64, 68, 69, 80,
81; Connecticut River Lumber Co. v. Olcott Falls Co., 65 N. H., 327, 344, 345,
346, 347; State v. Saunders, 66 N. H., 41, 67. Compare act of June 10, 1686,
ante, p. 102, act of 1686-1687, ante, p. 190, and act of October 7, 1692, ante, p.
541.
This has always been regarded as the statutory foundation of the province
judiciary system existing during a long period following the enactment. It
was evidently intended as a substitute for the act of October 7, 1692. Mr.
Belknap (History of New Hampshire, Farmer's ed., p. 156), referring to the
brief period in which the Earl of Bellomont was actually present and en-
gaged in the province in the administration of this part of his government
(July 31 to August 17, 1699), states that "a petition was presented against the
judges of the superior [supreme] court, and a proclamation was issued for
justices of the peace and constables only to continue in office, whereby the
judges' commissions determined." Mr. Belknap further states in the same
connection that the Earl, after about eighteen days' stay, quitted the prov-
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1699.
661
ince, leaving Partridge, now quietly seated in the chair, to appoint the judges
of the respective courts. The original parchment commission of the judges
of the superior court of judicature, now in the custody of the archives de-
partment of the library of congress at Washington, has recently been ex-
amined by the editor. It bears date August 16, 1699, and purports to have
been executed by the Earl of Bellomont in person. It is a document pos-
sessing special interest as supplementing the history of the judiciary act of
1699, and its text is here presented in as literal form as practicable.
•
WILLIAM, the third by the Grace of God, of England, Scottland, France,
and Ireland, King defendor of the Faith &c: To all unto . . . whome these
pr'sents shall Come Greeting. WHEREAS in and by an Act made, and passed,
by the General Assembly, within our Province of New Hampshire in New
England; in this pr'sent Eleaventh yeare; of our Reigne; Entituled, an Act
for Establishing Courts of . . . Justice, in our said Province.
Justice, in our said Province. It is. Enacted,
and Ordained, that there be held, and Kept, a Superior Court, of Judicature;
within the same at Certaine dayes and times yearly in the said Act limitted,
and Expressed, by one Cheife, Justice, and three other Justices, to be thereto
appointed and Commissionated, by the Govern'r of our said Province for
the time being, any three of whome, to make, a Quorum: And to have cogni-
zance, of all Pleas, & Causes, as well Civill, (not und'r ye valeu of twenty
pds; except where title of Land is concerned) as Criminall; as fully and
Amply to all intents and purposes whatsoever, as our Courts of Kings bench,
Com'on pleas; and Exchequ❜r within our . . . Kingdome of England, have or
ought to have; and to give Judgm't and Award Execuc'on therein. KNOW
YEE therefore, that wee Reposeing Speciall trust and Confidence, in the
Loialty, Knowledge, and Ability of our Trusty and well beloved John Hinckes;
Peter Coffin; John Gerrish; and John Plaisted . . . Esq'rs have Constituted,
and appointed the said John Hinckes to be our Cheife Justice, and the
said peter Coffin, John Gerrish, and John Plaisted . . . the other Justices, of
our said Superiour Court of Judicature to be held and Kept by them or any
three of them; with full power and Authority, unto him the said John
Hinckes . as Cheif . . . Justice, and to the said Peter Coffin John Ger-
rish, and John Plaisted as other the Justices, of our said Superiour
Court, to doe Execute, and performe, all and whatsoever, by them, or any of
them Respectively, by Law may or ought to be done, and according as to
Justice apportains TO HOLD THE SAID Office of Cheife Justice, unto him
the said John Hinckes . . . and of other . the Justices of our said Court,
unto the said peter Coffin, John Gerrish, and John Plaisted... Respective-
ly for and dureing our pleasure. And wee doe hereby give, and grant,
unto the said John Hinckes, peter Coffin John Gerrish & John Plaisted
Respectively for the due Execuc'on of their said Office, and Trust, all such
fees, Profitts, and perquisites thereto belonging, as by Law are or shall be
Established within our said Province. IN TESTIMONY whereof wee
have Caused the Public Seals of our said Province to be hereto affixed.
WITTNESSE Richard Earle of Bellomont; our Cap't Generall, and Govern'r
in Cheif; in and over our Province of New Hampshire aforesaid; at Ports-
mouth; the Seventeenth day of August; in the Eleaventh yeare, of our
Reign Annoq Dni: 1699
•
•
•
•
•
The efforts of the then late Governor Allen in behalf of his own interests,
as affected by the pending legislation, is indicated by the following entries:-
"The Petic'on of Samuell Allen Esq'r about the reviveing Courts that his
Processe may be continued and noe Timber felled was read./"-Journal of
the Council and Assembly, August 7, 1699.
"The Bill about reviveing the Supreem Court of Judicature read a Second
time.
"His Excellency [the Earl of Bellomont] proposes to the Councill that he
thinkes they could not with Justice proceed to a third reading of Said bill
untill Colonel Samuell Allen late Govern'r of this Province be heard in An-
swer to that part of Said bill which reflects on the Justice of his Adminis-
trac'on." id. August 8, 1699, A. M.
"Colonel Samuell Allen with his Councill according to notice given ap-
peared before his Excellency and Councill to Answer to the reflecc❜ons con-
tained in the bill about reviveing & continueing of writts and processes &c:
and alsoe the meritts of Said bill, and to the Petition of Richard Waldron
662
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1699.
Esq'r Major W’m Vaughan and Cap't Henry Dow upon which Said Petition is
Grounded.
"The Petitioners with their Councill appeared before his Excellency and
Councill at the Same time and being heard severally to Said Petition and
bill, his Excellency desired the Said parties with their Councill to with
draw and declared to them that was offered by their Councill on both sides
should be Considered." Id., August 9, 1699, A. M.
The fact that ex-Governor Allen was interested in antagonism to this act,
the fact that he had interested and influential agents active for years in his
cause in England, and the fact that the act was finally repealed by the
queen in council in 1706, should not be disassociated in any examination of
the judicial history of the province as it was developing at this particular
period.]
Justices of the Peace Impoured to hear & determine causes of 40
s. value or under, where title of Land is not concerned.
WHEREAS the orderly Regulation and Establishing Courts
of Justice, as well in respect of time as place for the holding
of the same, doth very much tend to the Honour and Dignity.
of the Crown, and to the ease and benefit of the Subjects.
Be it therefore Enacted by His Excellency the Governour,
Council and Representatives, Convened in General Assembly,
and by the Authority of the same, That every Justice of the
Peace in the same Town where he resides, be, and hereby is
fully Authorized and Impowred to hear, try and determine all
Pleas and Actions of Debt and Trespass, where Title of Land
is not concerned, arising or hapning within this Province, to
the value of Forty Shillings or under, and to give Judgment
therein and to award Execution thereupon,
Appeal.
and either party agrieved at the Judgment or Sentence
given by any such Justice in Civil Causes, may appeal there-
from unto the next Inferiour Court of Common Pleas, the party
appealing giving Security before such Justice unto the Ap-
pellee in a reasonable Sum to prosecute his Appeal with effect,
and to answer and pay such Cost and Damages as shall be
awarded against him in case the first Sentence be affirmed.
Court of Sessions of the Peace.
And for the better Conservation of the Peace, and punish-
ment of Offenders.
Be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That there
shall be Held and Kept by the Justices of the Peace within
this Province or so many of them, as shall be limited by the
Commission of the Peace to make a Quorum. Four Quarterly
Courts or General Sessions of the Peace yearly at the Town of
Portsmouth on the first Tuesdayes on the Months of March,
June, September and December from time to time; which said
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1699.
663
Court shall have Cognizance of all matters and things proper
to the Jurisdiction of said Court relating to the Conservation
of the Peace, and punishment of Offenders; according to the
Laws and Statutes in force within this Province. And the
Sessions of the said Court shall hold and continue by the space
of two dayes and no longer.
Inferiour Court of Common Pleas.
And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That
there shall be Held and Kept at Portsmouth aforesaid, an In-
feriour Court of Common Pleas by four Justices to be ap-
pointed and Commissionated thereto by the Governour, or in
his absence the Commander in Chief for the time being; any
three of whom to make a Quorum; the said Court to be held
and begin at the time and dayes following: That is to say, on
Thursday next after the rising of the Court of the Quarter
Sessions of the Peace from time to time; which said Inferiour
Court of Common Pleas shall have Cognizance of, hear, try
and determine all Actions, Matters and Causes tryable at the
Common Law, not exceeding the Sum or value of Twenty
Pounds, and where Title of Land is not concerned, and give
Judgment therein and award Execution accordingly.
Appeal.
Provided nevertheless, That either party agrieved at any
Judgment or Sentence given in the said Court may appeal
therefrom unto the next Superior Court of Judicature; such
Appellant giving sufficient Security in double the Sum or
value recovered unto the Appellee, before one or more of the
Justices of the Inferiour Court, to prosecute his Appeal with
effect, and to answer and pay such Costs and Damages as shall
be awarded against him in case the first Sentence shall be
affirmed.
Superiour Court of Judicature.
And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That
there be held and kept at Portsmouth aforesaid, and not else-
where within this Province a Superiour Court of Judicature
by one chief Justice, and three other Justices, to be appointed
and Commissionated thereto by the Governour, or in his ab-
sence the Commander in Chief for the time being; any three of
whom to make a Quorum, on the second Tuesday in August,
and on the second Tuesday in February yearly from time to
time, which said Courts shall have Cognizance of all Pleas,
and Causes, as well Civil (not under the value of Twenty
Pounds except where Title of Land is concerned) as Criminal
as fully and amply to all intents and purposes whatsoever, as
664
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1699.
the Courts of Kings Bench, Common Pleas and Exchequer
within His Majesties Kingdom of England, have or ought to
have, and are hereby Impowred to give Judgment and award
Execution therein,
Appeal to the Governour and Council.
and it shall be in the liberty of any Party, Plaintiff or De-
fendant agrieved at any Judgment or Sentence given in the
said Superiour Court to appeal therefrom unto the Governour
and Council. Provided the value appealed for exceed the Sum
of One Hundred Pounds Sterling, and that sufficient Security
be given, in manner as in and by this Act is before directed to
prosecute the same, and to pay such costs and damages as may
be awarded in case the first Sentence shall be affirmed.
Appeal to His Majesty in Council.
And it is hereby further Enacted and Ordained, That in all
Civil Causes to be commenced at the said Superiour Court of
Judicature, where the matter in controversie exceeds the true
value and Sum of Three Hundred Pounds Sterling, it shall and
may be in the liberty of the party agrieved to review the said
Cause by a new Process out of the said Court once and no
more; and if either party shall not rest satisfied with the Judg
ment or Sentence of the said Superiour Court, either upon the
first Tryal, or upon the Review, such party may appeal there-
from unto His Majesty in Council. Provided the matter in
difference exceed the true value and Sum of Three Hundred
Pounds Sterling, and that such Appeals be made, within four-
teen days after Sentence given; And that Security be likewise
given by the Appellant, to answer such Charges as shall be
awarded, in case the first Sentence shall be confirmed.
Writs to issue forth of the Clerks Office.
And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That
all Writs and Processes for bringing any Actions or Suits to
Tryal in any of the Courts aforesaid shall be Summons, Capias
or Attachment, and shall Issue out of the Clerks Office of the
same Court under the Seal thereof, and Signed by the Clerk,
and shall be directed to the Sheriff, Under-Sheriff or Deputy,
and Executed fifteen days before the day of the Courts Sitting,
and to be returned to the Court from whence the same Issued.
For Tryals before a Justice to be granted by such Justice.
Writs or Processes for Tryal before a Justice of the Peace,
to be granted by such Justice, directed unto a Constable or
Constables, and to be Executed seven days before the day ap-
pointed for such Tryal, & to be returned to the Justice.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1699.
665
Reasons of Appeal to be filed in the Clerks Office.
And be it further Enacted, That any person appealing from
any Judgment or Sentence given in any of the Courts afore-
said, shall file a Declaration in the Clerks Office of the Court
appealed from, therein briefly assigning the Errors in such
Judgment fifteen days at least before the day of the Sitting of
the Court appealed unto. And if the Appeal be made from a
Sentence or Judgment given by a Justice of the Peace, such
Declaration shall be filed with the Justice by the like time.
Power of Chancery in several Cases.
And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That
as well the Justices of the Inferiour Court of Common Pleas,
as the Justices of the Superiour Court of Judicature respec-
tively; where the forfeiture or penalty of any Obligation with
a Condition underwritten, or a penalty annexed to any Arti-
cles, Agreement, Covenants, Contracts, Charter party or other
Specialty or Forfeiture of any Estate granted upon condition,
executed by Deed of Mortgage or Bargain and Sale with de-
feazance, shall be found by Verdict of Jury, or by default or
confession of the Obligor, Mortgager or Vender, are hereby
Impowred and Authorized to moderate the Rigor of the Law.
And on consideration of such Cases according to equity and
good Conscience to Chancer such Forfeiture, and to enter up
Judgment, for the just Debt and Damages, and to award
Excution accordingly, only in real Actions upon Mortgage, and
Bargain and Sale, with defeazance, the Judgment to be con-
ditional, that the Mortgager or Vender, and his Heirs Execu
tors or Administrators do pay unto the Plaintiff such Sum as
the Court doth determine, to be justly due thereupon within
two months time after Judgment entered up, for discharging
of such Mortgage or Sale, and that the Plaintiff recover pos-
session of the Estate Sued for, and Execution to be awarded
for the same;
Justices of the Courts to be Sworn before the Governour or Com-
mander in Chief or such as he shall appoint.
and the Justices of the said several Courts as well Superiour
as Inferiour respectively, shall take the Oath following, to be
Administred to each of them by the Governour, or in his ab-
sence by the Commander in Chief for the time being, or such
as shall be by him thereto appointed. That is to say,
Oath.
YOU Swear, That well and truly you shall Serve our Sov-
eraign Lord the KING and His People in the Office of a Jus-
tice of the
And that you will
Court of
666
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1699.
do equal Law and Execution of Right to all people, poor and
rich, after the Laws in force within this Province, and Usage
within the same, and in such cases, as the Law doth specially
provide to be relieved in equity, there to proceed according to
equity and good Conscience, without having regard to any
person whatsoever. So help you God.
Any Law, Usage or Custom to the contrary in any wise not-
withstanding.
[CHAPTER 5.]
AN ACT FOR CONTINUING SEVERAL RATES AND DUTIES OF CUS-
TOMS, EXCISE, IMPOST AND POWDER MONEY ON TONNAGE
OF SHIPPING.
[Passed August 17, 1699. 11 William III. Reprint of the Green and Allen
edition of 1699, 19 State Papers, 706, and pamphlet, 1893; Dudley collection in
the public record office in London, folio 154; Record of Acts, vol. 1, p. 28.]
WHEREAS in and by one Act of General Assembly of this
Province made and past in the Fourth Year of the Reign of
KING William and Queen Mary, Entituled, An Act for defray-
ing the Publick Charge of the Province, there was given and
granted unto their said Majesties several Duties of Impost,
Excise and Tonnage of Shipping in the said Act particularly
enumerated and set down; which said Duties have been and
are continued by Acts since made, until the fifth day of No-
vember next ensuing, at which time they will expire, unless
revived by an Act of this Assembly.
Be it therefore Enacted by His Excellency the Earl of Bello-
mont Governour, Council and Representatives Convened in
General Assembly; And it is hereby Enacted and Ordained by
the Authority of the same, That from and after the fifth day
of November next ensuing, the several Rates and Duties set
upon all Wines, Liquors and Merchandizes that shall be Im-
ported into this Province, and all Duties of Tonnage and Ex-
cise in and by the said former Act of Impost and Excise, Cus-
tom and Tonnage Money, be, and are hereby continued to be
paid as in and by the said Act is directed for and during the
space and time of one year: That is to say, until the fifth day
of November, which will be in the Year of our Lord, One Thou-
sand and Seven Hundred. And the Money arising thereby to
be applyed towards the Support of this His Majesties Govern-
ment.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1699.
667
•
[ACTS PASSED IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF WILLIAM PART-
RIDGE, LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR, SEPTEMBER 18, 1699, To
JULY 13, 1702, THIS BEING IN THE ABSENCE FROM THE PROV-
INCE OF HIS EXCELLENCY THE EARL OF BELLOMONT, GOVER-
NOR, UNTIL HIS DECEASE, MARCH 5, 1700-1, AND DURING THE
PERIOD ENSUING TO THE BEGINNING OF THE SECOND AD-
MINISTRATION OF JOSEPH DUDLEY, GOVERNOR, WHOSE COM-
MISSION WAS DATED APRIL 1, 1702, AND WHO ASSUMED THE
GOVERNMENT IN THIS PROVINCE JULY 13, 1702.]
[NINETEENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY, Continued.]
[Second Session, Held at Portsmouth September 18, November 7,
8, 9, 21, 1699.]
[CHAPTER 1.]
AN ACT FOR RAISEING OF FFOUR HUNDRED AND SIXTY POUNDS
FOR DEFRAYEING, THE PUBLICK CHARGE OF THIS PROVINCE.
[Passed November 21, 1699. 11 William III. Dudley collection in the pub-
lic record office in London; Record of Acts, vol. 1, p. 29.]
Wee his Maj'ties Most Loyall and dutifull Subjects, the L't
Govern'r Councill and Repr'sentatives Conven'd in Gener'll
Assembly for this his Maj'ties Province, considering how much
the Province is already in Debt, and other charges daily arise-
ing, have Chearfully and Unanimously, Given, and Granted,
and doe by these pr'sents, give and grant, Unto his Most Ex-
cellent Maj'tie his Heires, and Successors; the sum'e of ffour
hundred and Sixty pounds to be Applyed to, the payment of
the Province Debts, as are already due, And for the Building
of a Prison; and nextly for paym't of other debts daily Arise-
ing.
Bee it therefor Enacted, and Ordained, by the L't Govern'r
and Councill, and Repr'sentatives, Conven'd in Gener'll As-
sembly. And it is hereby Enacted, and Ordained by the Au-
thority of the same, that a Rate be made on all persons and
Estates, both reall and personall throughout this Province in
Proporc'on to the severall Townes as foll: The Towne of Ports-
mouth to pay the Sum'e of one Hundred and Three Pounds
Seaventeen shillings. The Towne of Hampton One hundred
and thirty Seaven pounds ffive Shillings; The Towne of Dover;
Ninety two pounds twelve shillings. The Towne of Exeter,
Eighty three pounds, ffourteen shillings.. The Towne of New-
castle, fforty two pounds twelve shillings. And that the
Treasurer, send out his warr'ts to the Constable of the Re-
668
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1699.
spective Townes, requireing them to Assemble the Inhabitants
to make choice of two Assessors (where they are not already
chosen for the year to Joyne with the select men in makeing
the Rate, and Assessm't according to this Act, to whome the
Treasurer shall alsoe give warr'ts pursueant hereto. And the
Rates, and Assessments soe made to be Comitted to the Con-
stables of the Respective Townes, by the first day of Aprill
next ensueing; with warrants from a Justice of the Peace.
And the select men and Assessors to collect the same; and pay
it into the Treasurer for the time being by the Last of June,
then next following in mony.
At this session it appears that the following orders, not taking the technical
form of acts, were passed as explanatory of or supplemental to the foregoing for-
mal legislation. 3 Province Papers.
1699, Nov. 9
A petition of Eliz. Harvey was read relating to her having abatement of
excise, by reason she keeps the post office.
Ordered, that the Secretary give notice by writing to the Treasurer that
said Mrs. Harvey be exempted from paying any excise for Beer, ale, or cider,
according to the laws of this Province, so long as she keeps the post office.
3 Province Papers, 88.
Voted, That a strong logg house be built in the Province for a Prison, of
thirty foot long, fourteen wide, one story of seven foot high, two brick
chimneys in the mids, five foot each, to be don forthwith strong and sub-
stantial, the Treasurer, the Overseer, and the charge, to be paid out of the
next Province Assessment; to be sett in Portsmouth, in or near the Great
Fort. 3 Province Papers, 88.
Samuel Penhallow, Esq., Treasurer, having acquainted this Board that he
paid the post master one pound ten shilling for public use:
Ordered, that the said sum of one pound ten shillings be paid out of the
publick Treasury. 3 Province Papers, 89.
Bartholomew Green, printer, his letter from Boston, dated 24th October,
1699, was read, relating to the printing of several Laws of this Province,
amounting to three pounds.
Ordered, that the said sum be allowed, and an order forthwith granted
to the Treasurer for paym't of the same. 3 Province Papers, 89.
Ordered that the Secretary of this Province do forthwith enter all Acts
and Laws passed by the Govern'r, Council and Assembly of this Province
(which is not already entered) into a Record Book, and that the said Secre-
tary be paid for the same as the Law directs. 3 Province Papers, 89.
Ordered, that the Boat bought by late Treasurer, Major Joseph Smith, for
the use of his Maj'ty's fort W'm and Mary, of this Province, be forthwith
delivered to Capt John Hincks, with all oars and masts thereto belonging;
And that the Secretary issue forth an order to the said Capt. Hincks for
taking possession of said Boat from any person in whose custody the same
may be found. 3 Province Papers, 89.
The L❜t Govern'r proposed to this board that a General Thanksgiving dạy
may be appointed throughout this Province, to be kept solemnly, for the
preservation of his Maj'ty's sacred person, the many blessings of health
amongst us, Plenty of Harvest, and especially for so good a settlement in this
Government laterly made by his Excellency the Earle of Bellomont, our
Govern'r, on Tuesday the 23d of this instant November, And that Proclama-
tions be issued forth accordingly to every town of this Province. 3 Province
Papers, 89.
Ordered, that Sam'l Penhallow, Esq., Treasurer, doe take care to provide
firewood, candles, and other necessaries sufficient for the use of the Council
and Representatives, from time to time, during their publick meetings in the
winter season.
3 Province Papers, 89.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1699.
669
Ordered, that Mr. Sampson Sheafe, late Collector of the Impost of this
Province, do forthwith give acc'tt to the present Treasurer, Sam'l Penhallow,
Esq., what monies he received during his continuance in that office, and that
the Secretary signifie the same from that Board. 3 Province Papers, 90.
Ordered, that Mr. Taylor, Secretary to his Excellency the Earle of Bello.
mont, for his care and deligence in transcribing several writings for the use
of this Province, when his said Excellency arrived here, have presented him
as a Reward or gratuitie, twenty pieces of Eight; and that the Secretary
issue forth an order to the Treasurer for payment of the same. 3 Province
Papers, 90.
Mr. John Smith one of the House of Representatives, came up to this Board
as a messuage from said House, with their concurrence, concerning keeping
a General Thanksgiving day, as aforesaid.
Ordered that proclamations be sent to each town for keeping a General
Thanksgiving day on Thursday the 23d inst. 3 Province Papers, 90.
1699, Nov. 21
A petition of Capt. John Tuttle, on behalf of himself and soldiers at the
Garrison at Dover, relating to money formerly due to them, and allowed by
Council, was read.
Ordered, that the Secretary do make out an order to the Treasurer for
payment of 10lbs immediately to Capt. Tuttle, on behalf of himself and sol-
diers, and that the remainder be paid out of the 4601bs rates. 3 Province Pa-
pers, 94.
[RULES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES IN FORCE AU-
GUST 7, 1699.]
[19 State Papers, 721.]
For Regulateing the House they have voted That the ffol-
lowing Articles be Observed viz
first
That Every Member of this Assembly that Shall be Absent
Att the Time Appointed for meeting And Att Calling Over
Shall pay threepence to the Clark for Every such defect
Secondly
That whosoever Shall by Any Misbehave'r In Speech or Ac-
tion Justly offend Any of the members of the House he Shall
for the first be Admonished the second fined As the house
think meet
thirdly
That none Speak twise untill Every one have liberty to
Speak once
fourtly
That Every Member Direct his Speach to the Speaker and
not one to Another and when they have A mind to Speak to
Any Case they Ask leave of him to Speak
fivethly
That none Smoak tobaco In the house After Calling over on
Penalty of 3 d for the Clerk
Sixthly
That The Speaker Shall have A Casting Vote when there
shall be An Equal Vote
670
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1699.
Seventhly
That Any Member of the House Shall have Liberty to Enter
his Decent from Any Vote without giveing Any Reason
thereof
Eighthly
That If the Speaker be Absent the House may Choose A
Speaker Protempore that the Affaires of the House May be
Carried on Notwithstanding Such Vacency
Ninthly
That If any Member After being Entered and Qualified Shall
Absent himself A Day without leave from the House he shall
Pay a fine of five Shilings Except he Shew to the house A sufi-
tient Reason for his Soe Absenting-
Tenthly
1
That If Any Member of this House Shall be by the Major
Part of the House thought Unfitt And not Qualified for S'd
Place It Shall be In there power to Dismiss Such Person Give-
ing notise to the Town where he belonged to Choose Another
to fill up such Vacency
The reference to amendments adopted August 15, 1722, is
as follows:-
[4 Province Papers, 322, 323.]
Voted that the third parragraph (In the former orders of the
house) &c be mended, viz. That no Member Speak twice, untill
every one have libberty to Speak once to the matter or Cause
in Question, Whether it be vote Resolve or Order Bill &c.
Voted, That any member of this house that shall neglect to
weare his sword or be found without it during the sessions of
Gen'll assembly from this Day shall pay a fine of one shilling
to the clerk of this house for the use of the house and the fine
to be Repeated as often as found without a sword.
In the record for July 17, 1701, (19 State Papers, 736, 737,)
are the following additions to the rules:-
The Publicque Afairs of the House of Representatives be-
ing much Obstructed by Persons Sitting and Lying on the bed
Voted That Whosoever hence forward Either Sitt or ly Down
Shall forfeit three pence To the house for A fine for Every such
Default After the House Is Called over
Whereas the Publicque Affairs of this Hous Is much ob-
structed by Reason of several Members thereof Soe offten
withdraw themselves Into the Chimney to take tobacco and
sitt Talking And not Attend the Afairs of the House.
Voted That Whoesoever Shall Soe doe for the future Shall
pay A fine of three pence to the Clerk for Every Such Offence
Except leave be givein &c
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1700.
671
[Third Session, Held at Portsmouth May 7, June 11, 12, July 9, 10,
11, 18, 19, August 20, 21, 22, October 9, 1700, January 29, 30, 31,
February 1, 3, 4, 5, March 7, 8, 1700-01, April 29, May 20, 23, June
10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20, 21, July 16, 17, 18, 19, August 14, 28,
29, 30, September 10, 11, 12, 13, 1701.]*
[CHAPTER 1.]
[AN ACT TO ALLOW ABRAHAM CLEMENTS A NEW TRIAL IN THE
SUPERIOR COURT.]
[Passed June 12, 1700. 12 William III. The text of this act has not been
found. In Council Book 2, p. 226, the petition on which the act was founded
is entered, and that is printed here as it discloses the substance of the act.]
The Petic'on of Abraham Clements of Hampton conceining
his haveing a Tryall at the Court of Com'on pleas the 7th June
1699; at the Suite of one Nath'll Ayres at which Court Judg-
m't was obtained ag't said Clements Upon w'ch he Appealed
to the Superiour Court foll. but the Governm't being Changed
the sd Superiour Court was altered & at the next Superiour
Court that was held the Judges was of opinion that the Cause
could not be tryed before them for w'ch he craves a New tryall
next Superiour Court was read at this board and sent to the
House of Repr'sentatives by m'r Cha: Story Secretary.
M'r Hill brought m'r Clements petic'on from the House of
Repr❜sentatives; to the board; with a Vote on back side of Said
petic'on; that Abraham Clements petic'on within menc’oned
conserneing a hearing of his Case at the next Superiour Court
be granted. Agreed to by the L't Govern'r and Councill and
Ordered that a Bill be drawen accordingly.
*The death of the Earl of Bellomont occurred in the period of this session,
i. e., on March 5, 1700/1. The event occasioned some question as to whether
the existing assembly should continue notwithstanding the death of the gov-
The following action is indicated by the record:-
ernor.
[19 State Papers, 731; May 22 and 23, 1701. House Journal.]
"May 22.
"The house being Att A Debate whither through the Death of The Earle
of Bellomont there Power be not Ended therefore Desire the Speaker to Pro-
pose to the L't Gov'r & Councel for there Opinians In the Matter-
"May 23.
"M'r Waldron Sent Down To answear the Dout of the house Refering to
there power's being Lessened by the Death of the Earl of Bellom't &c
"The mind of the L't Gov'r & Councel Is that the Powers In An Officers
Are not Altered by his Death
"It being Debated Again In the house they are most of the Same mind
with the L❜t Gov'r & Councel but Some Objecting the Speaker Is Desired to
Inform the L❜'t Gov'r & Councel that the major part was for goeing on and
Acting as formerly-"
672
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1700.
i
[CHAPTER 2.]
AN ACT FOR SETTLING A FFERRY BETWEEN SWAMSCOTT AND
M'R RICH'D HILTONS HOUSE IN THE TOWN'PP OF EXETER.
[Passed June 12, 1700. 12 William III. Dudley collection in the public
record office in London, folio 87; Record of Acts, vol. 1, p. 39. No record of
confirmation or repeal in the public record office.]
Whereas the Said Richard Hilton has made Application,
for liberty of Keeping a fferry between Swamscott and the
Said Richard Hiltons House, Be it therefor Enacted and Or-
dained by the L't Gov'r and Councill and Repr'sentatives Con-
veen'd; in Generall Assembly. And it is hereby Enacted and
Ordained by the Authority of the Same; that the Said Richard
Hilton have full power Lycense and Liberty from the day of
the date hereof for transporting of all Horses Travellers, and
passingers between Swamscott and the Said Richard Hiltons
House Cross the River backwards or fforwards, to and fro as
need shall require for which he shall receive of each person
Single two pence and for every Horse and Rider Six pence à
time either passing backwards or fforwards, provided there be
a Convenient way on both Sides the River layed out to Said
fferry without makeing it a province Charge. And further be
it Enacted that the Said fferry shall continue Remaine and be
to the Sole use benefitt and behoofe of him the Said Richard
Hilton his heires Exec'rs and Adm'rs for and dureing the
Space of ffifty years from the date hereof. and that the Said
Richard Hilton, shall have liberty of Selling beer and Cyder
free from Excise takeing Lycense for the Same, and entring
into Recognizance, for Keeping Good Orders as the Law di-
rects. Provided the Said Rich'd Hilton doe forthwith provide
Sufficient Boat or Boates, Cannoe or Cannoes for Keeping of
Said fferry, and give or Keep Constant Attendance upon the
Same accordingly.
[CHAPTER 3.]
AN ACT FOR THE BETTER OBSERVAC'ON & KEEPING THE LORDS
DAY.
[Passed July 19, 1700. 12 William III. Dudley collection in the public
record office in London, folio 91; Record of Acts, vol. 1, p. 40. No record of
confirmation or repeal. Printed in 3 Province Papers, 222; New Hampshire
laws, 1716 edition, p. 7; 1761 edition, reprint, p. 44; 1771 edition, p. 8.]
Be it Enacted and Ordained by the L't Gov'r Councill and
Representatives, Conven'd in Gener'll Assembly And it is En-
acted by the Authority of the Same, that all and every person
and persons whatsoever shall on that day Carefully apply
themselves to the dutyes of Religion and piety, Publikely &
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1700-1.
673
Privately And that noe Tradesman Artificer Labour'r or oth-
er person whatsoever shall upon the Land or water doe or Ex-
ercise any Labour buisinesse or work of their Ordinary calling,
nor use any Game Sport, play or Recreation on the Lords day
or any part thereof (works of Necessitye and Charity onely Ex-
cepted) upon paine that every person Soe offending shall for-
feit ffive shillings.
Further it is Ordered and Declared that noe Traveller,
Drover, Horse Courser, Waggoner Butcher, Higler, or any
their Servants shall Travaile on that day, or any part thereof
Except by Some adversitye they were belated, and forced to
Lodge in the Woods, Wildernesse or high wayes the night be-
fore, and in Such Case to Travaile noe further than the next
Inn or place of Shelter on that day upon the penaltye of
Twenty shillings.
Further it is Ordered that noe Vintner Innholder or other
person, Keeping any Publick House of Entertainem't shall en-
tertaine or Suffer any of the Inhabitants of the Respective
Towns where they dwell, or others not being Strangers or
Lodgers in Such Houses to Abide or Remaine in their Houses,
Yards, Orchards, or ffeilds, drinking or Idely Spending their
time on Saturday Night after the Sunn is Sett, or on the Lords
day or the Evening following, Upon the paine and penaltye
of five shillings for every person payable by themselves Re-
spectively that shall be found Soe drinking or abideing in any
Such House or dependences thereof as aforesaid, and the like
Sum'e of ffive shillings to be paid by the Keepers of Such
Houses for every person entertained by them.
And for the better Execution of all and every the foregoing
Orders, every Justice of the Peace within this province shall
have power and Authority to Convent before him any person
or persons who shall offend in any of the Pticulers before men-
tioned and upon his owne View or other legall convicc’on of
any Such offense to Impose the ffine and penaltye for the same,
and to Restraine and Committ the offender Untill it be Satis-
fied or to Cause the Same to be levyed by distresse & Sale of
the offenders goods, Returneing the Overplus if any be, and in
Case any Such offender be Unable or Refuse to Satisfie Such
ffine, to Cause him to be put in the Cage or Sett in the Stocks
not exceeding three hours, All fines and penalties accrewing
by this Act to be to the benefitt and Releife of the poor of Such
Town, where the offences is comitted and delivered into the
hands of the Select men or Overseers of the poor for that end.
And all Ma'rs and Gov'rs of ffamilyes are hereby required to
take effectuall Care that their Children, Servants and others
Under their Imediate Governm'ts doe not transgress in any of
the foregoing perticulers. And all and every Justices of the
peace Constables and Select men are required to take effec-
47
674
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1700-1.
tuall Care and Endeavour that this Act in all the perticulers
thereof be duely observed as alsoe to Restraine all persons
from Swimming in the Water unnecessarily; and Unseason-
ably walking in the Streets or ffeilds in any part of this prov-
ince Keeping open their Shopps or following their Seculer oc-
casions or Recreations in the Evening preceeding the Lords
day or any part of the Said day or Evening following.
And all persons are Strictly required to be obedient and
Aiding and Assisting Such Justices, Constables and other
officers herein, as they will Answer the contrary at their perill.
[CHAPTER 4.]
AN ACT FOR CONTINUING SEVERAL RATES & DUTYS OF CUS-
TOMES EXISE IMPOSTS AND POWDER MONY, OR TONNAGE
OF SHIPPING.—
[Passed February 1, 1700-1. 13 William III. Record of Acts, vol. 1, p. 37;
not in the Dudley collection in the public record office in London.]
Whereas In and by an Act of Gener'll Assembly of this
Province made in the ffourth year of the Reign of King Wil-
liam and Queen Mary, entitled an act for defraying the pub-
lick charge of the Province, there was given & granted unto
their said Maj’ties, severall duties of imposts excise and Ton-
nage of shipping paying powder mony to all Vessells above
thirty tunns as in said Act Pticular enumerated & sett downe,
which said duties have been continued by reviveing said act,
untill the ffifth of November last and that clause of said act
relating to Vessells upwards of thirty tunns being found by
experience to be greatly disadvantagious to his Maj'tie as to
the income of lesser vessells who come and goe for nothing
Be it therefore enacted by the Lt Govern'r Councill and Rep-
r'sentatives Conven'd in Generall Assembly, and it is hereby
enacted and ordained & by the authority of the same; that
from and after the one and thirtyeth of this instant January
the severall rates and duties sett upon all Wines Liquors and
m'rchandizes; that shall be imported into this Province and all
duties of tonnage of all Vessells above twelve tonns, And all
duties of Excise custome and tonnage mony in said act; and
now expressed in this, be and are hereby continued, to be
paid, in such manner as in the aforesaid Act, declared; for
and during the space of one year, that is to say untill the one
and thirtyeth day of January which will be in the year of our
Lord one thousand seven hundred and one, and the mony aris-
ing thereby to be applyed towards the support of this his Maj'-
ties Governm't and to be paid unto the Treasur'r or whom he
shall appoint the person receiving the same to receive twelve
pence pound for the mony or value thereof in powder, such
Vessells as come loaden or half loaden with Corn provisions
and hay to be excluded from paying powder mony.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1700-1.
675
[CHAPTER 5.]
AN ACT FOR RAISING OF THREE HUNDRED POUNDS FOR DE-
FRAYING THE PUBLICK CHARGE OF THE PROVINCE.
[Passed March 8, 1700-1. 13 William III. Record of Acts, vol. 1, p. 45;
not in the Dudley, collection in the public record office in London.]
We His Majs'es most Loyal & dutiful subjects the Left't
Govenor Council & Representatives convened in Generall As-
sembly for his Majs'ts Province, Considering how much the
Province is already in debt & other charges daily arising have
cheerfully and unanimously given & granted & do by these
presents, give & grant unto His most excellent Majs'ts his
heirs & successors, the sum of three hundred pounds to be ap-
plyed to the payment of the Province debts, now due. Be it
therefore enacted, & ordained by the Left: Governor Council
& Representatives convened, in Generall Assembly and it is
hereby enacted and ordained by the authority of the same, that
a rate be made on all persons & estates both real & personal
through out this Province in proportion to the several towns
as followeth (Viz) the Town of Portsm'o sixty eight pounds
ten shillings, the towne of Hampton ninety pounds seventeen
shillings: the town of Dover fifty nine pounds fifteen shillings,
the town of Exeter fifty five pounds seven shillings, New-Cas-
tle twenty five pounds eleven shillings: & that the Treasurer
send forth his warrants to the Constables of the respective
towns requireing them to assemble the inhabitants, to make
choice of two assessors where they are not already chosen for
the year) to join with the Selectmen in making the rate & as-
sessment according to this Act, to whom the Treasurer shall
also give Warrants pursuant hereto & the rates and assesse-
ments so made to be com'ited to the several Constables of the
respective towns, by the last day of this Instant month of
March with Warrants from a Justice of the peace & the Select
men & assessors to collect the same & pay it into the Treasurer
for the time being by the last day of June next following the
date hereof, in money or in the spesives at the prices following
viz: merchantable pine boards at a convenant Landing place
where the Constable shall appoint at twenty shillings per
thousand: ditto boards delivered at the Treasurers house at
twenty three shillings per thousand merch'tb red Oak h'h
Staves at ditto landing place at fourteen shillings per thou-
sand. If delivered at the Treasurers house seventeen shillings
six pence per thousand merchantable white Oak pip staves
at ditto landing place fifty four shillings per thousand: If at
the Treasurers house three pounds per thousand, whiteoak h’h
staves at twenty two shillings p'm but if to the Treasurer at
his house twenty six shillings per thousand, merchantable cod
676
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1701.
fish at 14 shillings kentle, Refug Cod at nine shillings
kentle hack & hadock at seven shillings kentle & pollock
good & sound at six shilings six pence.
[CHAPTER 6.]
AN ACT AGAINST ADULTERY AND POLYGAMYE./
[Passed June 14, 1701. 13 William III. Dudley collection in the public
record office in London, folio 95; Record of Acts, vol. 1, p. 65. Printed in 3
Province Papers, 224; New Hampshire laws, 1716 edition, p. 9; 1761 edition,
reprint p. 48; 1771 edition, p. 10. No record of confirmation or repeal in
the public record office in London. Repealed by act of the legislature June
20, 1792. New Hampshire laws, 1792 edition, p. 402.]
Whereas the Violation of the Marriage Covenant is highly
provokeing to God, and destructive to ffamilies.
Be it therefor Enacted by the L't Gov'r Councill and Repre-
sentatives Conven'd in General Assembly and by the Author-
ity of the Same, that if any man be found in bedd with another
mans wife, the man and woman for offending being thereof
Convicted shall be Severely whipt not exceeding thirty Stripes
Unless it appeare upon Tryall, that one partye was Surprized
and did not consent, which shall abate the punishm't as to
such partye. And if any man shall committ Adultry the man
and woman that shall be Convicted of Such Crime, before his
Maj'ties Justices of the Superiour Court of Judicature shall be
Sett upon the Gallows by the Space of an hour, with a Rope
about their necks and the other one [end] cast over the Gal-
lows, And in the way from thence to the Common Goal, shall
be severely whipt not exceeding fforty Stripes each. Alsoe
every person and persons Soe offending, Shall for ever after
weare a Capitall Letter: A: of two inches long and proportion-
able in Bignesse, cutt out in Cloath of a contrary Colour to
their Cloaths, and Sewed upon their Upper Garments, on the
out Side of their Arme or on their Back in open View, and if
any person or persons haveing been Convicted, and Sentenced
for such Offence, shall at any time be found without their Let-
ter Soe worne, dureing their abode in this Province, they shall
by Warrant from a Justice of the Peace, be forthwith Appre-
hended, and Ordered to be Publickely whipt not Exceeding
ffifteen Stripes, and Soe from time to time toties Quoties
And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, that
if any person or persons within this his Maj'ties Province, be-
ing Marryed or which hereafter shall Marry, doe at any time
after the day of the date hereof, presume to Marry any person
or persons the former husband or wife being alive, or shall
continue to live soe Marryed, that then every Such Offence
shall be ffelony, and the person and persons soe offending shall
Suffer death as in Cases of ffelony./
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1701.
677
Bee it further Enacted and declared by the L't Gov'r Coun-
cill and Repr❜sentatives Conven'd in Generall Assembly. And
it is hereby Enacted and declared by the Authority of the
Same, that if any Married person man, or woman, has lately
or shall hereafter goe to Sea, in any Shipp or other Vessell
bound from one Port to another, where the Passage is Usual-
ly made in three Months time. And Such Shipp or other Ves-
sell has not been, or shall not been heard of within the Space
of three full years next after their putting to Sea from Such
Port or shall onely be heard off under Such Circumstances as
may rather Confirme the Opinion Commonly received of the
whole Companyes being utterly lost in every Such Case, the
matter being laid before the Govern'r and Councill and made
to appear the man or woman, whose Relation is in this man-
ner parted from him or her may be Esteemed Single and Un-
married, and upon Such Declaration thereof and Lycense ob-
tained from that Board may Lawfully Marry againe any Law
Useage or Custome to the contrary Notwithstanding./
[CHAPTER 7.]
AN ACT FOR THE PUNISHMENT OF CRIMINALL OFFENDERS./
[Passed June 14, 1701. 13 William III. Dudley collection in the public
record office in London, folio 99; Record of Acts, vol. 1, p. 61; New Hamp
shire laws, 1716 edition, p. 14; 1761 edition, reprint, p. 11; 1771 edition, p.
16. Repealed by the queen in council Nov. 19, 1706. Public record office,
New England, F, folio 212; New Hampshire bundle 2, no. 55. Repealed by
act of the legislature June 20, 1792. New Hampshire laws, 1792 edition,
p. 402. Compare Massachusetts act of the same title, passed Nov. 1, 1692.]
Be it Enacted by the L't Gov'r Councill & Repr'sentatives
Conven❜d in Gener'll Assembly and by the Authoritye of the
Same, that if any person or persons shall prophainely Swear,
or Curse in the hearing of any Justice of the peace or shall be
thereof Convicted by the Oaths of Two Wittnesses or Con-
fession of the party before any Justice of the peace every Such
offender shall pay a ffine of one shilling which ffine shall be
for the use of the poor of the Town where the Offence was com-
mitted, And if the Offender be not able to pay the Said Sum'e,
then to be Sett in the Stocks not Exceeding Two hours; And
if any person shall utter more prophane Oaths or Curses at the
Same time, and in heareing of the Same persons, he shall pay
to the use aforesaid the Sum'e of Two shillings for every oath
or Curse after the first or be Sett in the Stocks not Exceeding
three hours. Provided it be proved ag't the Offender within
thirty days after the Offence is Committed./
Further Be it Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, that
every person Convicted of Drunkennesse by View of any Jus-
tice of the Peace, Confession of the party or Oaths of Two
678
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1702.
Wittnesses, Such person Soe Convicted shall pay a ffine of
ffive shillings to the use of the poor where Such Offence is
committed, and if the Offender be Unable to pay the Said
Sum'e to be Sett in the Stocks not Exceeding three hours, at
the discretion of the Justice before whome the Convicc'on shall
be. And upon a Second Convicc'on of Drunkennesse every
Such offender, over & above the penaltye abovesaid shall be
bound with one Sufficient Surety in the Sume of Tenn pounds
with Condic❜on for his good behaviour, And for want of Such
Security he shall be Sent to the Common Goal untill he finde
the same Provided he be Convicted thereof within Six Months
after the Offence committed. And the Justice or Justices are
hereby Impowred and Authorized to Restraine or Commit the
Offender, Untill Said ffine be Satisfied, the ffine to be delivered
to the Select men, or Overseers of the Poor for the use of the
Poor as abovesaid./
It is further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, that who-
soever shall Steal or Purloine any Mony Goods or Chattells,
being thereof Convicted by Confession or Sufficient Wittnesse
upon Oath every Such Offender shall forfeit Treble the Value
of the Mony Goods or Chattells Soe Stolen, or Purloined unto
the Owner or Owners thereof. And be further punished by
ffine or whipping at the discretion of the Court or Justices that
have Cognizance of Such Offence not Exceeding the Sum'e of
ffive pounds or Twenty Stripes. And if Such Offender be Un-
able to make Restitution or pay Such three ffold damages,
Such offender shall be enjoyned to make Satisfacc'on by Ser-
vice. And the prosecutor shall be, and hereby is Impowred to
dispose of Said Offender in Service to any of his Maj'ties Sub-
jects for Such Tearme as shall be assigned by the Court or Jus-
tices, before whome the prosecution was. And every Justice
or Justices of the Peace in this Province, is hereby Authorized
and Impowred to hear & determine all Offences ag't this Law,
Provided the damage Exceed not the Sum'e of fforty shillings.
Be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, that if
any man committ ffornication with any Single woman, upon
due Convicc'on thereof they shall be both ffined Unto his Maj'-
tie not Exceeding ffifty shillings a peice, or be Corporally pun-
ished by whipping not Exceeding tenn Stripes a peice, at the
discretion of the Sessions of the Peace, who shall have Cogni-
zance of the Offence. And he that is accused by any woman
to be the father of a Bastard Child begotten of her body, she
continueing Constant in her accusation being Exam'd upon
Oath and put upon the discovery of the truth in the time of
her Travell by the Middwife who is required to doe the Same,
he shall be adjudged the Reputed father of Such Child not-
withstanding his deniall and stand Charged with the Mainten-
ance thereof with the Assistance of the mother as the Qua'r
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1702.
679
Sessions shall Order. And shall give good Securitye for the
same, and to Secure the Town from Charge where such Child
shall happen to be Born or shall be Committed to Prison, un-
till he finde Such Sureties as the Sessions require; Unless the
Pleas and Proofs made and produced, on the behalfe of the
man accused and other Circumstances be Such as the Qua'r
Sessions shall soe cause to Judge him Innocent and accquitt
him thereof. And otherwayes dispose of the Child And every
Justice of the peace, may binde to the next Qua'r Sessions of
the peace, him that is Charged to have begotten a Bastard
Child, and if the woman be not then delivered, the Sessions
may Order the Renewall of his Bond that he may be forth
comeing when the Child shall be Born./
Further it is Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, that every
Justice of the Peace within this Province, may cause to be
Stayd and Arreasted all Affrayers, Rioters, Disturbers, or
Breakers of the peace or any other that shall gue Armed Of-
fensively to putt his Maj'ties Subjects, in ffear by threatning
Speeches. And Upon view of Such Justice, Confession of the
Partye or Legall Proofe, of any Such Offence, the Justice may
committ him to Prison, Until he the Offender finde Such Sure-
ties as is required for his good behaviour, and Cause his Armes
or weapons to be taken away and Apprized, and Answered
to his Maj'tie as forfeited. And may further punish the
Breach of the peace in any person that shall Smite or Strike
another by ffine to the King not Exceeding Twenty Shillings
or Require bond for their good behaviour, and to pay all Just
Costs, as alsoe may make out Hue and Cryes after Runn away
Servants Theifs and other Criminalls./
And it is further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, that if
any person or persons of the age of ffourteen years or upwards
shall wittingly or willingly make or publish any Lye or Libell
tending to the Defamation or damage of any perticuler person
make or Spread any false News or Reports with intent to abuse
and deceive others every Such person or persons that shall
offend in any of the perticulers before mentioned, and being
duely convicted for the Same before, one or more Justices of
the Peace shall be ffined according to the degree of the Offence
not Exceeding Twenty shillings for the first Offence, and ffinde
Suretie or Sureties for their good behaviour. And if the
Partye be Unable to pay Said ffine, and Just Cost & ffees then
to be Sett in the Stocks not Exceeding three hours or pun-
ished by whipping, at the discretion of the Justice according
to the Nature of the offence, And the Said Justice or Justices
may Restraine and committ the offender untill he pay the Said
ffine, And ffinde Surety or Suretyes for the Good behaviour./
And Be it further Enacted & Ordained by the Authority
aforesaid that if any person or persons either by their own
680
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1701. .
Act, or by the Subornation unlawfull procurement, reward,
Sinister perswasion or means of any other, shall wilfully and
Corruptly Committ any manner of wilfull perjury by his or
their Deposition in any Court of Record, and being duely Con-
victed thereof or attainted by Law shall pay as a ffine to the
use of his Maj'tie the Sum'e of Tenn pounds and shall Answer
all damages that any person or persons may Sustaine by rea-
son of any Such offence, who have Liberty to Sue for the Same
in any of his Maj'ties Courts of Record. And alsoe to be Im-
prisoned by the Space of Six Months without Baile or Maine-
prize. And the Oath of Such person or persons Soe offending
is not to be evi'ce in any Court of Record, untill Such time as
the Judgm't given ag't the said person or persons shall be Re-
versed by Attaint or otherwise And upon every Such Reversall
the parties Agreived to Recover his or their damages ag't all
and every Such person and persons, as did procure the Said
Judgment soe Reversed att the Com'on Law. And if itt hap-
pen the s'd Offender or Offenders So Offending not having
Goods or Chattells to the Value of twenty pounds then he or
they shall be Sett on the Pillory by the Space of one whole
Hour in some publick place. Where the offence was com-
mitted or where he was convicted for the Same & to have both
his Ears nayled, & from thenceforth to be disinabled for ever
to be Sworn in any Court of Record Untill Such time As the
Judgment shall be reversed
And all & Every person & persons who shall Unlawfully &
corruptly procure any Witnesse or Witnesses by Letters, Re-
wards, promises or by Any other Sinister & Unlawful means
whatsoever to committ Any Wilfull & corrupt perjury in Any
matter or cause Whatsoever depending or Shall depend in suit
or Variance by Any Writt Action, Bill, Complaint or Informa-
tion in Any Court of Record every Such offender being thereof
duly convicted or Attainted by Law shall for his or their of
fence be proceeded against & Suffer the like pains, penalties
forfitures & Disability in all respects as before mentioned
[CHAPTER 8.]
AN ACT FOR RECORDING DEEDS AND CONVEYANCES.
[Passed June 14, 1701. 13 William III. Dudley collection in the public
record office in London, folio 107; Record of Acts, vol. 1, p. 48; New Hamp-
shire laws, 1716 edition, p. 17; 1761 edition, reprînt, p. 41; 1771 edition, p. 19.
Repealed by the queen in council Nov. 19, 1706. Public record office, New
England, F, folio 212; New Hampshire, Q, no. 55. Repealed by act of the
legislature June 20, 1792. New Hampshire laws, 1792 edition, p. 402.]
For Preventing and Uncertaine Sales of Houses & Lands
and to the intent it may be the better Known what title or in-
terest persons have, in or to Such Estate as they shall offer to
Sell
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1701.
681
Be it Enacted by the L't Gov'r Councill and Repr'sentatives,
Conven'd in General Assembly and by the Authority of the
same, that henceforth all Deeds or Conveyances of any Houses
or Lands within this Province Signed or Sealed, by the partie
or parties Granting the same haveing good and Lawfull Right
or Authoritye thereto and acknowledged by Such Grantee or
Grantor before a Justice of the peace and Recorded at length
in the Records of this province where such Houses and Lands
doe lye shall be Valued to pass the Same, without any other
Act or Ceremony in the Law whatsoever. And that from and
after three Months next after publicac'on of this Act, noe Bar-
gaine, Sale, Mortgage or other Conveyance of Houses and
Lands, made and Executed within this Province, shall be good
and in Law to hold Such Houses and Lands ag't any other per-
son & persons but the Granter and Granters and their heires
onely unlesse the Deed or Deeds thereof be acknowledged and
Recorded, in manner as is before Expressed.
Provided neverthelesse that when and Soe often as it shall
happen any Granter to live in parts beyond the Sea, or to be
removed out of this Province, or to be dead before any deed or
Conveyance by him or her made be acknowledged as aforesaid
in every such Case the Proofe of Such Deed or Conveyance,
made by the Oaths of Two of the Wittnesses thereto Sub-
scribed before any Court of Record within this Province shall
be Equivalent to the Parties owne acknowledgm't thereof.
Bee it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid that if
any Granter or Vender of any Houses or Lands shall Refuse
to acknowledge as is abovesaid any Grant Bargaine Sale or
Mortgage by him or her Signed & Sealed being thereunto re-
quired by the Grantee or Vendee, his her or their heires or
Assignes it shall be Lawfull, for any Justice of the peace with-
in this province, where Such Granter or Vender Lives, upon
Complaint to Send for the partys Soe refuseing: And if he or
she persist in Such Refuseall, to Committ him or her to prison
without Baile or Maine prize, Untill Such partie shall ac-
knowledge the Same, it being first made appeare and proved
to be the Act and Deed of the Same partie by the Oath of one
or More of the Wittnesses thereto Subscribed, and Such
Grantee or Vendee fileing a Coppy of his Deed soe proved in
the Records of the Province shall thereby Secure his Title in
the Meane time, And the same shall be Accounted Sufficient
Caution to every other person or persons, ag't Purchaseing the
Estate in Such Deed mentioned to be Granted.
Provided Nothing in this Act be Construed, Deemed or Ex-
tended, to Barr any widdow of any Vender or Mortgager, of
Lands or Tenements from her Dowry or Right in or to Such
Lands or Tenements, who did not legally Joyne with her hus-
band, in Such Sale or Mortgage or otherwise lawfully Barr or
Exclude her Selfe from Such her Dowry or Right.
}
682
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1701.
Bee, it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, that any
Mortgage of any Lands or Tenements, his or her heires Exec'rs
or Adm❜rs haveing received full Satisfacc'on and payment of
all Such Sum'e and Sum'es of Mony as are Really due to him
by Such Mortgage, shall at the Request of the Mortgager, his
heires Exec'rs or Adm'rs acknowledge and Cause Such Satis-
facc'on and payment to be entred in the Margent of the Record
of Such Mortgage in the Province Records, and shall Signe
the Same, which shall for ever thereafter, discharge defeat and
Release Such Mortgage And perpetually Barr all Acc'ons to
be brought thereupon in any Court of Record, and if Such
Mortgager his or her heires Exec'rs or Adm'rs shall not within
tenn dayes next after request in that behalfe made, and tender
of his her or their Reasonable Charges Repaire to the Records,
and their make and Signe Such acknowledgm't as aforesaid,
or otherwise Signe and Seale a discharge of the Said Mortgage
and Release, and quitt Claime to the Estate therein mentioned
to be Granted & acknowledg the Same before a Justice of
peace he she or they Soe refuseing shall be Lyable to make
good all damages for want of Such discharge or Release to be
Recovered by acc'on or Suite in any Court, of Record. And in
Case Judgm't pass ag't the partie Soe Sued, he she or they Soe
cast shall pay unto the Adverse partye treble Cost ariseing
Upon Such Suite.
Bee it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, that the
Recorder for this province shall fairely enter and Record at
length all Deeds Conveyances and Mortgages of Lands Tene-
ments Rents or other hereditaments, lying and being within
Said province Made Executed, acknowledged or proved in
Manner aforesaid, which shall be brought to him to Record,
and shall on receipt thereof into the office note thereupon the
day Month and yeare, when he received the same, and the
Record shall beare the same date And every such Recorder
before he Execute the Said Office, shall be sworne truely and
ffaithfully to Execute the same. And it shall and May be
Lawful to and for the Recorder aforesaid to ask and Receive
for entring and Recording any Deed, Conveyance or Mortgage
two shillings, and if above One side of a whole Sheet of paper
in Said Deed, after the Rate of twelve pence P page, and Six
pence for his Attestation on the Originall of the time Book
and folio, where it is Recorded, and for discharge of a Mort-
gage as aforesayd one shilling and Noe more.
And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid that
all Deeds of Bargaine and Sale or Mortgage heretofore made
and Executed according to fformer Lawes and useags within
this province shall be Valid and effectuall.
And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid that
whereas the Records of this Province are of Great Moment and
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1701.
683
concerne to the Inhabitants thereof, that they shall not be
Committed into the hands of any person whatsoever as Rec-
order, Unless he be a person of Known Integritie, alsoe that
he be a ffreeholder within the Same. And if a Valueable Es-
tate to Respond any damage that may Accrew.
[CHAPTER 9.]
AN ADDITIONALL ACT PAST FOR SETTLEMENT OF INTESTATES
ESTATES THERETO ADDED INSOLVENT ESTATES HOW TO BE
DISPOSED OFF.
[Passed June 14, 1701. 13 William III. Dudley collection in the public
record office in London, folio 111; Record of Acts, vol. 1, p. 53. Repealed by
the queen in council Nov. 19, 1706. Public record office, New England, F,
folio 212; New Hampshire, Q, no. 55. Re-enacted with the addition of two
clauses May 13, 1718, post.]
Be it Enacted by the L't Gov'r Councill & Repr'sentatives
Conven'd in Generall Assembly; and it is hereby Enacted and
Ordained by the Authority of the same, that when the Estate
of any person dec'd shall be Insolvent or Insufficient to pay all
Just Debts, which the deceased Owed, the Same shall be Sett
forth and distributed too and among all the Creditors in pro-
portion to the Sum'es to them respectively oweing, soe farr
as the Said Estate will extend, Saveing that the Debts
due to the Crown, the Sicknesse, and Necessary funerall
Charges of the dec'd are to be first paid: And the Ex-
ec'r or Adm'r appointed to any Such Insolvents Estate before
payment, to any be made (Except as aforesaid) shall Repr’sent
the Conditions and Circumstances thereof, unto the Judge for
Probate of Wills; & Granting of Administrac'ons, and the
Said Judge shall Nominate and appointe two or more Indif-
ferent persons to make a true and equall Apprizement of Such
Estate and Administer an Oath unto them for that purpose.
And shall alsoe Nominate and appoint two or more fitt persons
to be Com'rs with full power to receive and Examine, all
Claimes of the Severall Creditors, and how they are made out,
and such Com'rs shall cause the times and places of their
meeting to Attend the Creditors for the Receiveing and Exam-
ing their Claimes to be made Knowen and Published, by post-
ing up the same in some publick place in the Shire Town of
this Province, and of the next Town adjoyneing. And that
Six Months, or more, as the Circumstances of an Estate may
require) shall be allowed by the Judge unto the Creditors, for
bringing in their Claimes & proveing their Debts, at the end
of which limitted time Such Com'rs shall make their Report:
and pr❜sent a List of all the Claimes unto the Judge (both of
what Debts made legall appeare, and others) who shall Order
them meet recompence out of the Estate, for their care & La-
684
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1701.
bour in that affaire, and Debts due to the Crown, Sickness and
ffunerall and necessary Charges; as is herein before Provided,
being first Subducted, shall order the Residue and Remainder
of the Estate, to be paid and distributed to and among the
other Creditors that shall have made out their Claimes in such
Pportion as the Estate will beare, Saveing unto the widdow if
any be, her Right of Dowry according to Law in the Houses
and Lands of the dec'd which Said Dowry at the Expirac'on of
her Terme to be alsoe distributed amongst the Creditors in a
like proportion.
Provided that notwithstanding the Rport of any Such
Com'rs and Allowance thereof made it shall be Lawfull to and
for the Exec'r or Adm'r to contest the Proofe of any Debt at
the Common Law. And noe Processes in Law Except for
Debts due to the Crown, Sicknesse and ffunerall Charges, shall
be allowed ag't the Exec'r or Adm'r of any Insolvents Estate
soe long as the Same shall be depending as aforesaid And
whatsoever Creditors shall not make out his or her Claime
with Such Com'rs before the full Expirac'on of the limitted
time, Such person shall be for ever thereafter, Barred of his
or her Debt, Unlesse he or she cann finde Some further Estate
of the dec'd not before discovered and put into the Inventory:
And that it shall be Lawfull for any person Agreived at any
Sentence, Order or decree, made by the Judge of Probate, Lib-
erty of an Appeale unto the Gov'r and Councill, Such Appel-
lant giveing bond in a Reasonable Sum'e with Sufficient Se-
curitye to prosecute his Appeale to effect, and to Abide and
performe the determinac'on that shall be made thereupon.
[CHAPTER 10.]
AN ACT AGAINST TRESSPASSING IN TOWN COMMONS.
[Passed June 14, 1701. 13 William III. Dudley collection in the public
record office in London, folio 115; Record of Acts, vol. 1, p. 52. Printed in
3 Province Papers, 225; New Hampshire laws, 1716 edition, p. 10; 1761 edi-
tion, reprint, p. 45; second appendix, p. 2; 1771 edition, p. 11.~ Samuel Allen
filed a caveat against this act. Public record office, New Hampshire bundle
Q, no. 18. No record of confirmation or repeal in the public record office.
Repealed by act of the legislature June 20, 1792. New Hampshire laws, 1792
edition, p. 402.]
Compl't being made to the Gen'rll Assembly by Severall
persons within this Province, that ill disposed persons doe pre-
sume, to ffence in some of their Principall Com'ons and ffeed-
ing Land belonging to their Severall Towns without haveing
any Grant or Leave from the Town for the Same, which is a
Great disturbance to the peace of his Maj'ties Subjects and
tend to the Great Detriment of the Inhabitants of the Towns
where Such Lands doe belong, if not timely Prevented.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1701.
685
Bee it therefor Enacted by the L't Gov'r Council and Repr'-
sentatives Conven'd in Gen'rll Assembly and by the Authority
of the Same, that whosoever shall pr'sume to ffence or Build,
upon any Town Common Land, without first obtaineing a
Grant or Leave from the Town for the Same, shall pay a ffine
of ffive pounds to his Maj'tie his heires, and Successors, for
and towards the Support of this his Governem't and Twenty
shillings Monthly, to the Select men of the Town where Such
Tresspass is committed, for the use of the poor of the Town,
for soe long as the Tresspasser shall continue his Said ffence
or building on the Common Land after Convictm't
[CHAPTER 11.]
AN ACT, FFORASMUCH AS SHERIFFES UNDER SHERIFFES AND
CONSTABLES HAVE OFTEN TIMES NEED OF AID & ASSISTANCE
IN THE EXECUTION OF Y'R RESPECTIVE OFFICES.
[Passed June 14, 1701. 13 William III. Dudley collection in the public
record office in London, folio 116; Record of Acts, vol. 1, p. 56. Printed in
New Hampshire laws, 1716 edition, p. 11; 1761 edition, reprint, p. 220; 1771
edition, p. 12. No record of confirmation or repeal in the public record office.
Repealed by act of the legislature June 20, 1792. New Hampshire laws, 1792
edition, p. 402.]
Bee it therefor Enacted by the L't Gov'r Councill and Rep-
r'sentatives, Conven'd in Generall Assembly and by the Au-
thority of the same, that when and Soe often as any Sheriffe,
Under Sheriffe, or Constable, shall be in the Execution of his
Office, for the preservation of the peace, or for Apprehending
or Secureing any person or persons for violateing the same,
or for any other Criminal matter or cause, it shall and may be
lawfull to and for Such Sheriffe, Under Sheriffe or Constable,
to require Suitable aid and Assistance therein and if any per-
son or persons being required, by any Sheriffe, Under Sheriffe
or Constable in his Maj'ties name to aid or Assist him in the
Execution of his Office as aforesaid, shall neglect or refuse Soe
to doe, and be thereof Convicted before one or more of his
Maj'ties Justices of the peace Such offender or Offenders shall
be ffined to the use of the poor of the Towne where the Offence
shall be committed, not Exceeding Twenty shillings, at the dis-
cretion of Such Justice or Justices according to the Circum-
stance Aggrevateing or Lessning Such offence. And if Such
Offender or Offend'rs be Unable or shall not forthwith pay the
Said ffine Such Justice or Justices may Punish him or them by
Imprisonm't not Exceeding fforty ffour hours, or by Sitting in
the Stocks not Exceeding ffour hours.
And if any person or persons not being really and bona fide
a Sheriffe Under Sheriffe, or Constable shall pr'sume to abuse
his Maj'ties Name and Authority in pretending him or them-
selves to be any or either of the Said Officers, and take upon
686
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1701.
:
him or themselves to Act as such or to require, any other per-
son or persons to aid or Assist him or them, in any matter or
thing belonging to the duty of a Sheriffe, Under Sheriffe, or
Constable, every person or persons soe offending, and being
thereof convicted shall forfeite, and pay a ffine not exceeding
ffifty pounds according to the Nature & Circumstance Aggra-
vateing his Offence, at the discretion of the Court before
whome the Convicc'on shall be, one Moiety of the Said ffine or
fforfeiture to be made Unto his Maj'tie towards the Support of
the Governm't in this his Maj'ties Province, and the other
Moiety to him or them that shall Informe and prosecute for
the same.
And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, that
any of his Maj'ties Justices of the Peace for the pr'servac'on of
the same, or upon View of Breach thereof, or of any other
transgression of Law proper to his Cognizance done or Com-
mitted, by any person or persons whatsoev'r shall and hereby
is Impowred in the absence of a Sheriffe Under Sheriffe or
Constable to require any person or persons to apprehend and
bring before him Such offender or offend'rs and every person
or persons, that shall neglect or refuse to obey any Justice
or Justices in apprehending Such offend'rs or offenders being
thereunto required as aforesaid, shall incurr and Suffer the
like paines and penaltye as is before provided, for Refuseing
and neglecting to Assist any Sheriffe, Under Sheriffe or Con-
stable in the Executeing of his Office as before mentioned.
[CHAPTER 12.]
AN ACT TO PREVENT IMPOUNDING CATTLE WRONGFULLY.
[Passed June 14, 1701. 13 William III. Dudley collection in the public
record office in London, folio 118; Record of Acts, vol. 1, p. 47. Printed in
New Hampshire laws, 1716 edition, reprint, p. 9; 1771 edition, p. 10. No
record of confirmation or repeal in the public record office. Repealed by act
of the legislature June 20, 1792. New Hampshire laws, 1792 edition, p. 402.]
Be it therefor Enacted by the L't Gov'r Councill and Rep-
r'sentatives, Conven'd in Generall Assembly and by the Au-
thority of the same, that any person that Apprehend himselfe
wronged by his Cattle or other Creatures being Impounded,
shall have liberty to Replevin them out of Pound. Provided
he or they give good Securitye to presecute his Replevin to
effect, and to pay all Cost and damage, that shall be Recovered
ag't him, and every of the Justices of the peace in this Prov-
ince, are Authorized & Impowred to grant out such Replevin
to the Constable (after Securitye given as abovesaid) and to
heare and determine the same to the Value of fforty Shillings
or Under and Grant Execution to the Constable to Levy the
same.
-
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1701.
687
[CHAPTER 13.]
AN ACT FOR REGULATEING OF TANNERS CURRIERS CORD-
WAYN'RS &C: FOR THE BETTER PREVENTING OF DECEITS AND
ABUSES BY TANNERS, CURRIERS, DRESSERS OR WORKERS UPP
OF LEATHER.
[Passed June 14, 1701. 13 William III. Dudley collection in the public
record office in London, folio 119; Record of Acts, vol. 1, p. 77. Printed in
New Hampshire laws, 1716 edition, p. 12; 1771 edition, p. 13. No record of
confirmation or repeal in the public record office. Repealed by act of the
legislature June 20, 1792. New Hampshire laws, 1792 edition, p. 402.]
Be it Enacted: by the L't Gov'r Councill & Repr'sentatives
in Generall Court Assembled, and by the Authority of the
Same, that noe person or persons useing or occupying the Art
or Mistery of a Currier or Shoomaker by himselfe or any other,
shall use or Excersise the ffeat or Mistery of a Tanner, on paine
of the forfeiture of Tenn shillings for every hide or Skinn, by
him or them soe Tann'd whilst he or they shall use or occupye
any of the Misteries aforesaid nor shall any Tanner whilst he
useth the Mistery of Tanning by himselfe or any other, use or
occupye the Said Trade or Mistery either of Currier or Shoo-
maker, upon paine of the like forfeiture aforesaid
And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, that
noe person or persons whatsoever, useing or occupyeing the
Mistery or ffaculty of Tanning shall at any time or times here-
after, offer or put to Saile any Kinde of Leather, which shall
be Insuffitiently Tann'd or which hath been overlimed or burnt
in the Limes or not well dryed after Tanning, or that shall
not be Sealed, as in and by this Act is hereafter directed, upon
paine of fforfeiteing all such Leather soe offered or put to Sale.
And be it further Enacted by the Authoritye aforesaid, that
noe person or persons whatsoever useing or occupyeing the
Mistery or ffacultye of Currying shall or may Curry any Kinde
of Leather Except it be Sealed as by this Act hereafter is Pro-
vided, nor shall Curry any hide not thoroughly Dryed, or shall
use any deceitfull or Subtile mixture thing wayes or meanes
to corrupt the same, but shall with good Sufficient Stuffe
ffresh not Salt, thoroughly liquor itt untill it will receive noe
more, nor shall Burne or Scald, any Hide or Leather in the
Currying, but shall work the same Suffitiently in all respects,
upon paine of fforfeiting all Such Leather Soe Marred or Hurt
by his Evil Workmanshipp or handling, And shall pay the
full damage and worth of the Leather to the owner thereof
which shall be adjudged by the Sealers or Searchers and Re-
coverable before any Court of Record within this Province, or
before one Justice of the Peace; if the Sum'e doe not Exceed
fforty shillings.
688
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1701.
And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, that
noe person or persons useing or occupying the Mistery or ffac-
ultye of a Shoomaker, shall work upp any Leather, that is not
Tann'd and Curried as aforesaid on paine of forfeiteing all
Shooes Boots or other wares, made or wrought up of Such In-
suffitient Leather, And for the better and more effectuall Exe-
cution of this Act. Be it Enacted by the Authority aforesaid
that all Leather that is or hereafter shall be Tanned or Curried,
shall before the Same Pass out of the Tann'rs or Curriers yard,
House or Place, respectively where it was wrought, be Viewed
by the Sworne Searchers and Sealers of Leather by Law di-
rected, who shall be Annually Chosen, in such Towns as there
shall be need, who shall have two Severall Marks, or Seales
to be prepared by the Town for that purpose, with one they
shall Seale all the Leather they finde well Tann'd as aforesaid,
and with the other they shall Seale or Mark all they shall finde
Sufficiently Curried as is before mentioned, and noe other;
And the Said Searchers and Sealers, are hereby Authorized,
and Impowred, Ex officio to make Search and View in any
House, or other place within their limitts, where they conceive
any Leather to be, whether Wrought up or otherwayes, as oft
as they shall think meet, and if they or any of them shall finde
any Leather Sold or offered to be sold, which shall be Tann'd
Curryed, handled or Used contrary to the true intent and
meaneing of this Act, or shall finde any Leather in whole
Sydes out of the Possession of a Tanner not being Sealed with
the Seale to be used for Leather onely Tann'd or out of the
Possession of the Currier not being Sealed with the Seal to be
used for Leather when Curried. In every Such Case it shall
and may be Lawfull for the Said Searchers and Sealers, or
any of them to Seize all Such insufficient and Unsealed Leath-
er, whither it be wrought up or not, and if the Owner or
Claimer thereof shall not Submitt to the Judgm't of the Offic'r
or Officers, that Seized the Same, such Officer or Officers shall
retaine such Leather in his or their Custody untill Tryal
thereof be had, as is hereafter directed and Judgement thereof
given in: In Such Case the Said Officer or Offic'rs shall within
three dayes after Such Seizure, Informe some Justice of the
peace thereof who shall thereupon appoint four or five men,
honest and Skilfull in Leather to View the same in the pr'sence
of the Owner or Claimer or without him (if haveing notice) he
does not appeare and to Report Unto him upon their Oaths
the defect which they finde in such Leather, which Report
such Justice shall Returne unto the Court or Justice Respec-
tively before whome the tryall of Such Leather shall be; but
in Case the Said Viewers shall Report that they doe not finde
such Leather or wares soe Seized in any Respects defective,
according to the intent of this Act the Justice that appointed
(
689
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1701.
such Veiwers shall cause the same to be forthwith discharged
from the Seizure made by such Offic'r or Officers.
And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, that
noe person or persons whatsoever shall or may withstand or
Resist the Searchers & Sealers in the due Execuc'on of their
Office, nor in Seizing any Insufficient Leather or Wares, on
paine of fforfeiting the Sum'e of five pounds for every Such
offence and the ffee for Searching and Sealeing of Leather
shall be one penny hide, which fee the Tanner & Currier
Respectively shall pay upon Sealeing the Said Leather from
time to time, and shall pay three pence P Mile, after the first
Mile, for every Mile any Sealer or Searcher, shall Travell.
And noe Sealer or Searcher of Leather, shall refuse within
convenient time to doe his Office, or shall Allow any Leather
or Wares, which are not sufficient on paine of forfeiting fforty
shillings, nor shall take any Bribe or Exact more, then his
fees, on penalty of fforfeiting Tenn p'ds for every Such offence
And it is further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, that
all ffines, Penaltyes & fforfeitures, that shall Arise and Grow,
by Virtue of this Act, shall be disposed as foll one halfe part
for the Support of this his Maj'ties Governm't to be paid to the
Treasurer for the time being and one halfe part to the Seiz'r
or Seiz'rs of Such Insufficient Leather, or to him or y'm that
shall Informe or Sue for the Same. The Said ffines penaltye
or fforfeitures to be Recovered by Acc'on, Bill, Plaint or In-
formac’on in any Court of Record, within y's Province, or
where the matter Exceed not fforty Shillings, before any Jus-
tice of the Peace, within the Same.
[CHAPTER 14.]
AN ACT FOR TAKEING AFFIDAV'TS OUT OF COURT.
[Passed June 21, 1701. 13 William III. Dudley collection in the public
record office in London, folio 127; Record of Acts, vol. 1, p. 75. Printed in
New Hampshire laws, 1716 edition, p. 20; 1761 edition, reprint, p. 10; 1771
edition, p. 22. Repealed by the queen in council Nov. 19, 1706. Public rec-
ord office, New England, F, folio 212; New Hampshire, Q, no. 55. Repealed
by act of the legislature June 20, 1792. New Hampshire laws, 1792 edition,
p. 402.]
Forasmuch as it is often necessary, that Wittnesses in Civill
Causes be Sworne out of Court, when by Reason of their goeing
to Sea liveing more then five Miles distance from the place,
where the Cause is to be Tryed Age, Sicknesse or other bodily
Infirmitye they are Rendred uncapable of Travell, and ap-
peareing in person at the Court, to the intent therefore that
all Wittnesses may Indifferently testifie their certaine Knowl-
edge, and the whole truth in the Cause they are to Speake
unto.
48
690
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1701.
Be it Enacted by the L't Gov'r Councill and Repr'sentatives,
Conven'd in Gen'rll Assembly and by the Authority of the
same, that for any the Reasons before mentioned, and not
otherwise, every Justice of the Peace or others, Lawfully Com-
missionated or Impowred thereto, by Two or more of the Jus-
tices of the Superiour or Inferiour Court respectively may take
Affidavitts out of Court, soe as a Notification with Reasonable
time, be first made out and delivered to the adverse Party if
within this Province, or left at the Place of his dwelling or
Usual abode, to be pr'sent at the time of takeing Such Affidav't
if he think fitt And every Such Wittnesse shall be carefully
Exam'd and Cautioned to Testifie the whole Truth, and being
Sworne the Justices shall Attest the same with the day Month
and yeare of the Caption thereof. And that the Adverse party
was pr❜sent (if soe) or that a Notification was Sent him, and
shall Seale up the Testimony and deliver it to the party (if de-
sired) at whose request it was taken: And noe person inter-
ested shall write or draw up the Testimony of any Wittnesse,
in such Cause, nor any Attorny in his Clients Cause; And if it
manifestly appeare any Testimony to be written or drawen up
by any interested, or the Attorney in the Cause, or be Re-
turned from any Justice of the peace, by other hand then his
owne, into the Court where the same is to be used, Unsealed,
or the Seale haveing been broken upp, all Such Testimonyes
shall be Rejected by the Court, and be Utterly Voyde and of
noe effect in Law
And Be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid that
every Justice of the Peace, shall be and is hereby Impowred,
upon request to him made to Grant Summons for the appear-
ance of any Witnesse before him in any Civill or Criminall
Cause, where Such Wittnesse is bound to Sea before the time
of Tryall, and to take his Deposition in Such Cause the Ad-
verse party being pr❜sent or Notification sent him as aforesaid.
Provided Nevertheless that Wittnesses to bonds Spenaltyes,
Letters of Attorny and other Instrum'ts in writeing Under
the hand of the partye Executeing the same or to Accompts
or Testimonies relateing to persons out of this Governm't or
to be Sent beyond the Sea may be Sworne without such Noti-
fication as aforesaid.
And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, that
all Affidavitts; relateing to the Possession of any Houses or
Lands, or any other matt'r In Perpetuam Rei memoriam: shall
be made and taken before Some Court of Record or Two or
more Justices of the Peace Quorum Unus.
And it is further Enacted that all persons for swearing
themselves in any Such Affidav'ts taken as aforesaid, shall
incurr the same penalties as if they had been taken in open
Court.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1701.
691
}
[CHAPTER 15.]
AN ACT FOR REGULATEING OF SEAMEN.
[Passed June 21, 1701. 13 William III. Dudley collection in the public
record office in London, folio 127; Record of Acts, vol. 1, p. 73. Printed in
New Hampshire laws, 1716 edition, p. 19; 1761 edition, reprint, p. 43; 1771
edition, p. 21. No record of confirmation or repeal in the public record office.
Repealed by act of the legislature June 20, 1792. New Hampshire laws, 1792
edition, p. 402.]
Whereas Great Loss and damage is frequently occasioned
to Trade and Navigation by Seamen deserting their Employ
or Voyage they are entred upon or being taken off the same
by Arreast & Restraint for Debt or pretence thereof, for Rem-
edy whereof.
It is Enacted by the L't Gov'r Councill and Repr'sentatives
Conven❜d in Generall Assembly and by the Authority of the
Same, that if any Victualler Inn Keeper, Seller of Wine
or Strong Liquors, Shop Keeper or any other person what-
soever shall Trust or give Creditt to any Marrin'r or Sea-
man belonging to any Shipp or other Vessell, without the
Knowledge and allowance of the Ma'r or Command'r thereof.
Noe processes or Attachm't for any Debt Soe contracted with-
out Knowledge and Allowance as aforesaid shall be Granted
against or Served upon Such Marriner or Seamen Until he
have performed the Voyage he is then entred Upon, and be
discharged of the Same. And every Processes Granted con-
trary hereunto and serveing thereof shall be deemed and ad-
judged utterly Voyd in Law. And any Justice of the peace
within this Province before whome it shall be made appear,
that any Marrin'r or Seaman belonging to any Shipp or Ves-
sell is committed, or Restrained upon Processes Granted for
any Debt, or pretention of Debt made whilst Such Marrin'r or
Seaman was ingaged & Actually Entred & in pay on any Voy-
age shall forthwith Order his Release.
And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, that
if the Ma'r or Commander of any Shipp or any Vessell, shall
Shipp any Seaman Knowing him to be first entertained and
Shipped on board another Shipp or Vessell after notice thereof
given him, shall not forthwith dismiss him every such Ma'r
or Command'r Soe offending being thereof Convicted; shall
forfeit and pay the Sum'e of five pounds, One Moiety thereof
to the use of the poor of the Town where the offence was com-
mitted, And the other Moiety to him or them that shall In-
forme & Sue for the Same, by Acc'on Bill, Plaint, or Infor-
mac'on in any Court of Record; And Such Seamen soe ship-
ping himselfe, shall forfeit and pay the Value of one Months
wages that he shall soe agree for, to be Recovered Imployed,
and disposed off in manner as aforesaid.
692
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1701.
And further be it Enacted that if any Marriner or Seaman,
haveing Shipt himselfe on board any Shipp or other Vessell
to proceed in any Voyage and Under pay (the same being
made to appear by his hand Sett to the Ma'rs Book or other
writeing of Such Agreem't) shall neglect his attendance and
duty on board, and absent himselfe from his Said Service, upon
Complaint thereof made to any Justice of the Peace in this
Province; Such Justice is hereby Impowred to Convent Such
Marrin'r or Seaman before him, and upon Convicc'on of his
Soe absenting himselfe as aforesaid to Committ him to Prison
that Soe he may be Secured, and forth Comeing to proceed on
the Voyage he has Soe agreed to, And to be delivered by Order
of the Justice that Committed him or some other Justice in
this Province.
[CHAPTER 16.] ·
AN ACT FOR REPAIREING HIS MAJ'TIES HIGH WAYES.
[Passed June 21, 1701. 13 William III. Dudley collection in the public
record office in London, folio 129; Record of Acts, vol. 1, p. 43. Confirmed by
the queen in council Nov. 19, 1706. Public record office, New England, F,
folio 215; New Hampshire bundle Q, no. 56; attorney general's report, Bun-
dle M, no. 46.]
To the end that his Maj'ties High wayes and Bridges
throughout this Province may be Kept in Good Repaire for
the future, and for direcc'on to Surveyors thereof to See the
same done
Bee it Enacted by the L't Gov'r Councill & Repr’sentatives,
Conven'd in Generall Assembly and by the Authority of the
Same; that every Householder, Cottager or Labour'r able to
Labour of the age of Twenty one yeares, and being noe hired
Serv't by the yeare shall by himselfe and with his Oxen those
that have them or by a Sufficient Labour'r work every High
way day, when & where he is appointed by the Surveyors not
exceeding Eight hours, for one dayes work, or shall pay as a
ffine for every dayes neglect two shillings Six pence, for a
Man, and five shillings for a man and ffower Oxen and soe
proportionable for less time then a day, any person for such
neglect (after Publick notice Given by Such Surveyors, of Such
High way day, being thereof Convicted before any of his Maj'-
ties Justices of the peace in this Province within one Month
after Such default made, And not haveing Reasonable Excuse
to be allowed by Such Justice, the Said Justice shall Grant
his warr❜t to a Constable to levy Said penaltye, by distress of
the offenders Goods with all Just cost, and if noe goods cann
be found then to Restraine and Imprison the Offender Untill
payment be made, the Said ffine to be Improved by the Sur-
veyors for the Repaireing of his Maj'ties High wayes or
Bridges
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1701.
693
Provided alwayes that noe person be Charged, above a due
proportion to the High wayes either in Labour, or his Teames,
without being paid for the Same.
[CHAPTER 17.]
AN ACTE FOR THE CONFERMATYON OF TOWN GRANTS-
[Passed September 13, 1701. 13 William III. Council Book 4, p. 130; Dud-
ley collection in the public record office in London, folio 130; Printed in 3
Province Papers, 228. ~ Attorney general's report, public record office, Bundle
M, no. 46. Repealed by the queen in council Nov. 11, 1703. Public record
office, New England, E, folio 188; 3 Province Papers, 285. Consult prelimi
nary note, ante, p. 649.]
Bee it Enacted by the Liften't Gover'r Councill and Repre-
sentatives Convend in Gen'rll Assembly and by the Author-
yty of the same, that all Grants of Lands that have bin Here-
tofore Made Unto anny Person or Persones By the Inhabytants
of the Respective townes w'thin this Province, or by the Se-
lectemen or a Committee in Eatch Respective town Shall be
Accompted, and Held to be good and Vallued Unto the sev
erall Granttees there Heires, Exec'rs and Assignes for Ever
Anny Law Usadge or Custom to the Contrary Notwithstand-
inge
12th Septem'r 1701 This Bill was Red Three times and Paste
by the Councill to be Enacted, & Sent Downe to the House of
Representatives for Concurrence
Charles Story Secretary
Eodem Die Pass'd By the Assembly hoo Desiers this bill
maye be EnActed, the Lift: Gover'r Consenting thereto
By the Lift Gover'r
Sam'll Penhallow Speker
I Assent to the Enactinge this Bill
W❜m Partridge L't Gover'r
[CHAPTER 18.]
AN ACT FOR RAISEING FFIVE HUNDRED AND FFIFTY POUNDS
FOR DEFRAYEING THE PUBLICK CHARGE OF THE PROVINCE.
[Passed September 13, 1701. 13 William III. Not included in the Dudley
collection in the public record office in London, but filed in a separate cover,
Board of Trade, New England, 11. Record of Acts, vol. 1, p. 58.]
Wee his Maj'ties Most Loyall and Dutifull Subjects the
L❜t Gov'r Councill and Repr'sentatives Conven'd in Gen'rll As-
sembly for this his Maj'ties province, and for the defrayeing
the Engadgem'ts as alsoe for Laying before his Maj'tie and
Councill, Sundry Great Agreivances that Said province is La-
bouring Under, have Given and Granted, and by these pr'sents
694
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1701.
:
doe give and Grant unto his Most Excellent Maj'tie his heires
and Successors the Sum'e of ffive hundred and ffifty pounds to
be Applyed as aforesaid and is herein Exprest; (to Say) three
hundred pounds, for Imploying a person to lay before his most
Excellent Maj'tie the great Agreivances of Said province and
alsoe soe much more of Said ffive hundred and ffifty pounds as
will make upp S'r Harry Ashursts hundred pounds, these to
be first paid, the remainder of Said ffive hundred and ffifty
pounds to be Employed for payment of the province En-
gagem❜ts already made Be it therefor Enacted and Ordained
by the L❜t Govern'r Councill and Repr'sentatives Conven'd in
Gen'rll Assembly and it is hereby Enacted and Ordained by
the Authority of the same; that a Rate be made on all persons
and Estates both Reall and personal throughout y's province,
in proportion to the Severall Towns as foll- (viz) the Town
of Portsmo' one hundred and Twenty ffive pounds Eleaven
shillings Eight pence: Hampton one hundred and Sixty Six
pounds Eleaven shillings and two pence, Dover one hundred
and Tenn pounds tenn shillings and Tenn pence. Exeter one
hundred and one pounds Nine shillings and Six pence Newcas-
tle fforty five pounds Sixteen shillings & Tenn pence, and that
the Treasur'r send forth his warr'ts to the Constables of the
respective Towns requireing them to Assemble the Inhabi-
tants to make Choice of two Assessors; where they are not al-
ready Chosen for the year; to Joyne with the Select men in
makeing the Rate and Assessm't according to this Act, to
whome the Treasur'r shall alsoe give warr'ts pursueant hereto.
And the Rates and Assessm'ts soe made to be Committed to
the Severall Constables of the Respective Towns by the first
day of October next with warr'ts from a Justice of the peace,
and the Select men and Assessors to Collect the same, and pay
it into the Treasur'r for the time being by the one and thir-
tyeth day of Dec'br then next after in Mony or in Species at
the prices foll-viz m'rchantable pine Boards at a Convenient
Landing place, where the Constable shall appoint at 20s P
Thousand Ditto: Boards d'd at the Treasur'rs House at 23s
M: m'rchantable Redd Oak h'h'd Staves at Ditto Landing
place at 14s M: if d'd at the Treasurers House: 17s 6d :
M: m'rchantable white Oak pipe Staves at Ditto Landing place
at 53s : M: if at the Treasurers House 311 : M: White Oak
h'h'd Staves at ditto Landing place at 20sm: if at the
Treasur❜rs House 11: 5s: M'rchantable Codd fish at the Treas-
ur❜rs House at 12s Quintle, Refuge Codd ffish at Ditto place:
8s: 6d Mackerill at Ditto place at 16s Barr'll Hake and
Haddock at ditto place at 7s 6d Quint'l Pollock at ditto
place at 6s 6d Quintle. Good pork at ditto place at 2d
pd Good Beafe at Ditto place at 1d p'd Good peas at
ditto place at 4s Bushell. Good wheat at Ditto place at
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1701.
695
4s 6d Bushell. Good Indian Corn at ditto place at 2s 6d
Bushell. Provided Nevertheless that all persons that pay
their Rates in Lumber shall pay it before the 5th day of No-
vember next
[CHAPTER 19.]
AN ACTE TO PR'VENT CONTENTYON & CONTROVERSY THAT
MAYE ARISE CONSERNINGE THE BOUNDS OF THE RESPECTIVE
TOWNES WITHIN THIS PROVINCE—
[Passed September 13, 1701. 13 William III. Council Book 4, p. 128; Dud-
ley collection in the public record office in London, folio 131. Printed in 3
Province Papers, 226. Attorney general's report, public record office, Bun-
dle M, no. 46. Repealed by the queen in council Nov. 11, 1703. Public record
office, New England, E, folio 188; Bundle N, no. 21; 3 Province Papers, 285.
Special minutes from the Journal of the Board of Trade, with reference to
this act, in the appendix. Consult preliminary note, ante, p. 649.]
Bee it Enacted, by the Lift'nt Gover'r Counsill & Represen-
tatives Convend In Gen'rll Assembly and by the Authoryty of
the same that the Line between the Provinces and the Massa-
thewsets Bay & New-Hampshere from the Sea westwardly,
Shall be the southerly Bounds of the towne of Hampton, and
the Northerly Bounds as following viz: five Miles Dew North
from Hampton Meetinghous, to a Marked Tree at or Nere Win-
nicutt River, & Thence Westwardly on a Directe Line to a
Marked tree Within two Miles of Exeter Meeting House, and
thence on a Directe Line to a Marked tree Nere Ass brooke by
the Highwaye, and thence on a Directe Line to an old bound
tree Marked, A Mile & a Halfe South from Exeter fales, and
thence, upon a weste & by North Line as far as the utmoste
Extente of Salesbury towne bounds, Westwardly-and thence
to Runn a hed Line Southerly till it meete w'th the aforesaid
Bound Line betwene the Province of the Massathusets and
New-Hampshere the Bounds by the Sea Estward from Hamp-
ton Meetinghouse to begin from the Causewaye and thence to
Run five Miles alonge Shore by the High waye w'ch is Sup-
posed, to end aboute Joslins Necke, and thence on a Directe
Line, westwardly to the bound tree ffive Miles North of Hamp-
ton Meetinghouse
Exeter Bounds Estwardly to begin at the mouth of Lam
perill River and Thence on a Directe Line over the Grete Baye
to a Marked tree at Wales Cove & Thence to Run South & by
Este to Hampton Bounds, and thence by Hampton Bounds,
to the South bound tree a Mile and a halfe South of Exeter
fales and thence to Run on a weste and by North Line, tenn
Miles into the woods, and from the Mouth of Lamperill River
aforesaid Up said River to the fales whereon was formerly a
sawmill Comonnonly Called Wadlones Uper mill & thence
696
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1701.
weste & by North into the Woods, four Miles & thence to Runn
a hed Line Southerly to meete w'th the Hed of the Southward
bound Line, Reserving to the towne of Dover the Hoole prev-
elidge of the Said Lamperill River Streme, and ffalls for the
Erectinge Mills Dames &c: on Ether side the River with out
Annoyance from the Towne of Exeter and that No Interup-
tyon be given by Anny to prevent the transportatyon of Tim-
ber Downe the River to the Lower fales By Makeing boomes or
otherwayes
Dover Bounds Northerly Begines at the Middle of Quamp-
hegen ffales and So up; the River ffoure Miles or thereabouts
to a Marked Tree by the Rivers side Within a Mile of whitehall
and ffrom the Said Quamphegen fales, Downe the River to Hil-
tons Poynt and from Thence to Cannyes Crike & Thence on a
Directe Line to Hoogstie Cove with the Mashes on the Grete
Baye and foure Hondred Acres of Upland Adjoyninge thereto
as formerly Laid out and from hoogstie Cove over to Lamperill
River Mouth and So Up the River to the Uper fales, Whereon
was formerly a Saw mill Comonly Called Wadlones Upper
Mill and thence west and by North in to the woods two Miles,
and Thence to Run a hed, Northerly to meete w'th the Hed,
of the Northward Bound Line on Newchewanake River, all-
wayes Reservinge Unto the towne of Dover the whole preve-
lidge of the Said Lamperill River Streme and fales for the
Erectinge Miles, Dames &c: on Ether Side the River w'thout
anoyance from the towne of Exeter and that No Interuptyon
be given by Anny to pr'vent the transportatyon of Timber
Downe the River to the Lowre fales, by makeing Boomes or
otherwaies
Portsmo' is Bounded by the Sea and the River and Butts
on all the other three townes, before mentyoned, New-Castle
& Kingstown to be Bownded According to there Charters Pro-
vided Kingston Do Not Entrench Upon Exeter Bounds-
and whareas Sundery Lands, Sutch as the Lands of Swamp-
scutt and those Lands betwene Hampton and the Massathew-
sets bounds are now setled w'thin the Bounds of our townes
aforesaid Which Ware Not formerly, So all Persones haveinge
Righte title or Intereste in and to the Said Lands, are Hereby
preserved in there Said Rightes and Propperties, as ffully and
Ampply as before the settlement/
12th Septem❜r 1701 this Bill was Red Three times & Passed
by the Counsell to be Enacted and Sent Downe to the House
of Representatives for Concurrence Charles Story Secretary
Eodem Die Passed by the Assembly whoo Desiers this bill
May be Enacted the Liften't Gover'r Consenting thereto
Sam'll Penhallow Speaker
By the L't Gover'r I assen to the Enacting this Bill
W❜m Partridge Lif't Gover'r
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1701.
697
The following orders and abstracts from the records are here given in subor-
dinate form as supplemental to or explanatory of the legislation of the session
in which the foregoing formal acts were passed:
1700, May 7.
Whereas there remains formerly due to John Cross, James Phillipps,
Thomas Maurdyn, Thomas Barnes, Reuben Haines and Henry Langmaid,
Twenty and four pounds for their service as soldiers at the fort W'm and
Mary:
Ordered, that the said sum be paid out of the next Province Rate. 3 Prov-
ince Papers, 95.
Mr. John Hinkes, his account for his service as Capt. of the fort W'm and
Mary, with other articles in said acc'tts from the 17th of August, 1699, to this
present day, was delivered to this Board, the whole amounting to 591b: 11s:
02d, as upon file, was allowed and approved of, and ordered to be paid out of
the next Province rate. 3 Province Papers, 95.
Whereas there is due to Mr. Charles Story, from the 17th of August to the
17th of February last past, six pounds for his salary as secretary: Ordered
that an order go forth to the treasurer for the paym't of the same. 3 Prov-
ince Papers, 96.
1700, June 11.
Whereas Thomas Laton, pursuant to an order of Council of the 19th of
February last past, was sent as a messenger by the L't Govern'r to the Earle
of Bellomont, then in Boston, to give him and account of some Indians'
proceedings at Cochecha, for which service said Laton was promised one
pound, eighteen shillings:
Ordered, that the Secretary grant an order to the treasurer to pay the
said Laton one pound, eighteen shillings: 3 Province Papers, 97.
1700, June 12.
Shadrach Walton's petition was read, relating to 25lb: 04s: 02d due to him
for his wages as Captain of the fort W'm and Mary.
Ordered that the said sum of 25lb: 04s: 02d be discounted with Capt.
Walton in part of the publick money in his hand, which he formerly re-
ceived of Mr. Pheasant Eastwick, as per his receipt appears. 3 Province
Papers, 98.
A vote was sent up from the House of Representatives to this Board as
follows: Upon reading a letter of the 6th of June, 1700, from his Excellency
the Earle of Bellomont, our Governor, &c, directed to the L't Govern'r, Coun-
cil and Representatives of the Province of New Hampshire, importing the
danger we may be exposed to and the necessity of well fortifying our
Harbour,
Voted, that an answer be forthwith given his Excellency in a letter from
the Gen'll Assembly, wherein first to acknowledge the many benefits and
advantages that have accrued to the inhabitants of this poor Province the
year past, who have enjoyed a great deal of peace and quietness, without
disturbance, being the fruits and effects of his Excellency's prudent con-
duct and good settlement of the Governm't here; also to represent to his
Excellency the extreme poverty and inconsiderableness of this Province, hav-
ing been extremely lessened and impoverished by the late war, and just now
wading through the difficulty of discharging all publick debts, formerly
contracted for our defense ag'st the common enemy, besides the unhappy
circumstances we at present labor under, by a growing charge to defend
our Rights and properties ag'st one, who, for lending a few hundred pounds
to a pretended proprietor, claims the possession of our Houses and Lands,
which, with the expense of so much blood and mony, even far beyond the in-
trinsic value thereof, our ancestors and Selves have hitherto defended, both
in the former Indian war and in the late French and Indian war, whereby
his maj'ty's Right, interest and dominion in and over this part of our ter-
ritory of New England, hath hitherto been preserved; but, however, with all
humble gratitude to acknowledge his Excellency's great care and con-
cernedness for our future defense in time of danger, and to assure his Ex-
cellency that when ever he shall see cause to order the building a more
sufficient fortification on the Great Island, we will contribute according to
our utmost ability towards finding materials for the same, which we shall
698
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1701.
be more particular in when his Excellency shall please to send us an esti-
mate of the charge thereof, w'ch we account our selves obliged to, as well
in duty to his most Excellent Maj'ty, as for our own preservation, only we
desire his Lord'pp may be put in mind that the fortifying Piscataqua River
doth as much concern the Massachusetts as y's Province, whose interests on
that side the River is of much more value than ours on this, and pray that
the Hon'ble L't Govern'r and Council will join with us herein.
Passed by the House of Representatives.
3 Province Papers, 100.
1700, July 9.
Theodore Atkinson, Clerk.
W❜m Partridge, Jun'r, gave in his account to this Board, amounting to 18s,
for riding and going to each town in the Province to get a list of the soldiers
and officers of the militia to be sent to his Excellency; was passed and
allowed.
Ordered, that the Secretary make out an order to the Treasurer for the
same. 3 Province Papers, 104.
Mr. Samuel Winckley's petition was read at this Board, relating to the
importing 41 tearces of Rum, about one year 1-2 ago into this River, and
25 Hogsheads of Molasses, and paid full duties for the same; But some
small time afterwards exported 21 tearces of Rum out again of said River
and 13 Hogheads of Molasses.
Ordered, that if it appear by the officers' Books, that such duty was fully
paid, and that such quantities of liquor and molasses was exported, as al-
leged in said petition, that then the said Sam'll Winckley have his draw-
back allowed, as the law directs. 3 Province Papers, 105.
Whereas his Excellency, the Earle of Bellomont, our Govern'r, has been
pleased to recommend to the L't Govern'r and Council, the consideration of
some addition to be made to the Secretary's Salary:
Ordered, that considering Mr. Charles Story, the present Secretary, for
his extraordinary service in transcribing the Laws, Minutes of Council, &c.,
to send for England, that he be allowed twelve pounds for his said service
the year past, besides the accustomed salary of twelve pounds per annum.
3 Province Papers, 105.
1700, July 11.
Samuel Penhallow, Esq., Treasurer, came to this Board and desired an
order of Council for 50lb, which he disbursed towards building a Goal, there
being a rate made for 4601b; wherein is expressed for payment of the Prov-
ince debts, building a Goal, &c.
Ordered, that the said 50lb be allowed, and an order accordingly granted
for paym't of the same, out of the last 460lbs Rate. 3 Province Papers, 108.
Whereas, there is cause of suspicion that the Indians are designing mis-
chief ag'st us.
Ordered, that Major W'm Vaughan do forthwith send out his commands
to the Captains and committee of the Militia in the respective towns within
this Province, to take care that the several Garrisons be put in repair, and
to order such watches and wards as may prevent a surprise in case the In-
dian should break out into a new war, and that the Secretary give him notice
accordingly. 3 Province Fapers, 108.
Whearas there Is more then ordinary grounds of fear that the Indians
will break forth In A way of hostility Against us
It is humbly Offered by this house that the Indians henceforward be Att
noe time Sufered to Come Within the Bodyes of any of the Towns within
this Province but whereas Some of them Profes Subjection to the Crown
of Engl'd that soe long they be sup'lyed with Suetible Necessaryes Att Some
Frontier Places According to the Discretion of the Honerable the Gov'r &
Councel and that Effectual Care be taken for Repairing the severel Garri-
sons And maintaining A Constant Watch In Every Respective Town. 19
State Papers, 727.
1700, July 19.
Mr. John Plaisted brought up the letter from the House of Representa-
tives, to be sent to his Excellency Richard, Earle of Bellomont, about an
estimate of Col. Romer's computation of materials for the building of a fort
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1701.
699
at Great Island, which is as follows, and was signed by the Govern'r and
Council, and Representatives:
Portsmo', 18th July, 1700.
May it please your Excellency,-We have received Col. Romer's cumputa-
tion of the materials necessary for the building of a fort at the Great
Island; and made the lowest estimate of what the same will cost to be pro-
vided, and brought in place, which comes here inclosed and amounts to six
thousand one hundred and five pounds, fourteen shillings and eight pence,
a sum so much beyond the capacity of the poor people of this small and in-
considerable Province that we do not know what to say to it; in our great
straits and utmost necessity for raising money to defray the charge arising
by reason of the late war, which lay hard upon us, both by sea and Land,
we never could advance one thousand pound in one year, though our lives
and estates lay at stake. And now having been necessitated to make a
considerable rate and assessment this year to bring the Province out of
debt; considering also the present danger of another war with the Indians,
for that we have just cause by the carriage of the Pennicook Indians when
last here, to suspect they design mischief against us; which gives occasion
to be at a great expense in Garrisoning our frontiers, and providing for our
own defense, so as to prevent a surprise; we shall be wholly uncapable of
doing anything towards the fort at Great Island this year.
We are so sensible of your Excellency's care for and favor towards us,
that were your Excellency thoroughly acquainted with our miserable, poor
and mean circumstances, we should readily submit to what your Excellency
should think us capable of doing in this matter.
We heartily lament your Excellency's removal so far from us, especially
at such a time as this; but most humbly pray your Excellency to give such
orders as that we may have some relief and assistance from our neighbors
of the Massachusetts, in case the Indian War should break forth again.
We will give your Excellency no further trouble at present, but crave
leave to subscribe,
May it please your Excellency,
Sam'l Penhallow,
Henry Dow,
Your most faithful and obedient ser's,
John Gerrish
John Woodman,
Theophilus Dudley,
John Smith,
Joseph Swett,
Peter Coffin,
Rob't Elliott,
Richard Waldron,
John Plaisted,
Nath'l Hill,
Theodore Atkinson,
John Tuttle,
James Rendle,
W'm Partridge,
John Hinkes,
3 Province Papers, 110.
1700, Oct. 9.
Ordered, that Mr. Sampson Sheafe have five pounds paid by the Treasurer
of this Province, out of the next rate (made for payment of publick debts
of said Province), for transcribing of several Laws in a Book, when he was
Secretary. 3 Province Papers, 115.
1700-01, Jan. 31.
Mr. Nath'l Hall brought up the petition of Mr. David Hamilton from the
House of Representatives, which was read at y's Board, and the answer was,
that they were humbly of opinion that the select men of the town of Dover,
together with the petitioner, be ordered to appear at the next Gen'll Assem-
bly and bring in a particular acc'tt of said estate. Which answer the L't
Govern'r and Council agreed with; and ordered that the Secretary give
notice to the present select men of Dover, that they, together with such
select men as is now living, which took the estate of said petitioner's father
into their hands, be sent for, and bring in an acc'tt of the value and partic-
ulars thereof; and of the charge they have been at in maintenance of David
Hamilton, deceased. 3 Province Papers, 118.
1700-01, March 8.
Mr. Charles Story, Secretary, gave in his acc'tt to this Board for his ser-
vice, &c., as Secretary, which was sent to the House of Representatives, and
brought hither again, who allowed said Charles Story sixty pounds, which
was likewise allowed at this Board.
700
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1701.
Ordered that the said sixty pounds be paid out of the next Province rate
and that an Order go to the Treasurer accordingly. 3 Province Papers, 127.
Treasurer's acc'tts was given into this Board and sent down to the House
of Representatives, who returned the same back, with an estimate of what
Debts are now due from the Province, and allowed the Treasurer's account
to be one hundred and four pounds, twelve shillings, which was likewise
allowed at this Board.
Ordered the same be paid out of the next Province Rate. 3 Province
Papers, 127.
1700-01, March 8.
Voted That there be p'd to L't Gov'r Partridge for the Use of S'r Henry
Ashurst As A Gratification for Servise Done this Prov'ce by him fivety pounds
Sterling out of the Income of the River As Soon As Possible. 19 State
Papers, 730.
1701, June 10.
Mr. Richard Jose, sheriffe of this Province, appeared at this Board and
produced a Commission under the seal of the Province, and signed by the
late Earle of Bellomont, dated at Portsmo', the first day of August, 1699, for
the office of Sheriffe, to execute the said office from said first day of August
till the 29th day of September, 1700; and likewise made complaint that the
said commission was falsely recorded by the late Secretary, Mr. Sampson
Sheafe; which commission being examined before the L't Govern'r and Coun-
cil, was found to be falsely recorded by Omitting the true time of said sher-
iff's continuing to execute his office, by two months or thereabouts.
Ordered, that it be entered under the Record, that it is a false Record,
and that the present Secretary record the original de novo. 3 Province
Papers, 132.
1701, June 11.
Edward Toogood brought to this Board a debenter for £15 due to himself,
Sam'l Whidden and Mr. Penhallow's man, for one day's work going to New-
ichawanock to discover a quarry of stones for building the fort at Great Isl-
and,-Was read.
Ordered that Edw'd Toogood be paid 7s., Sam'l Whidden, 5s. 6d., Mr. Pen-
hallow's man, 2s. 6d., out of the Treasury. 3 Province Papers, 133.
1701, June 21.
៥
Voted that for the reimburseing the Hon'ble W'm Partridge, Esq., our L't
Govern'r, in part, for what we have expended for the use of this Province,
that he shall have one hundred pounds out of the next assessment that
is made in this Province, and also that there shall be paid to Sir Henry
Ashurt, so much as shall make up that we gave him the 8th March, 1700,-
one hundred pounds curr't money of New England.
Past by the Assembly-Nemine contradicente.
Consented to by the Council,
3 Province Papers, 139.
Henry Dow, Clerk pro tempore.
Voted that Mr. Charles Story shall have twelve pounds paid him out of
the next assessment made in this Province as a gratification for his extraor-
dinary service done for said Province.
Consented to by the Council; Past by the Assembly-Nemine contradi-
cente.
3 Province Papers, 139.
1701, July 17.
Henry Dow, Clerk pro tempore.
Mr. Francis Tucker, his acc'tt amo' to eight pounds for rent of the ware-
house for the fort, from the 8th April, 1699, to 8th April, 1701, was allowed
and ordered to be paid out of the next Rate. 3 Province Papers, 142.
W'm Partridge, Esq., L't Govern'r, produced an acc'tt to this Board for
sundries owing him by the Province, amounting to four pounds, eight shil-
lings and four pence, was allowed at this Board, and ordered to be paid by
the Treasurer. 3 Province Papers, 142.
Mr. W'm Cotton's acc'tts from Febr'y, 1699, to Sept'br 1700, for riding &c.,
about Province Business, was read, amounting to three pounds; allowed but
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS,
701
1701.
two pounds ten shillings thereof, And ordered to be paid by the Treasurer
out of the next Province Rate. 3 Province Papers, 142.
John Hinkes, Esq., produced his acc'tts to this Board, relating what was
due to him from this Province for the service of himself and soldiers at the
Fort W'm and Mary, with other articles in said acc'tts, from the 17th of May,
1700, to the 17th of May, 1701, amounting to 78lbs 6s: 3d:, was read and al-
lowed of, and ordered to be paid by the Treasurer, out of the next Province
Rate. 3 Province Papers, 142.
Samuel Comfort's Acc'tt being read at this Board, amounting to one Pound,
eight shillings and six pence, was allowed-being for five square Ashen Oars,
17 foot each, for the Fort Boat; And ordered that the same be paid out of
the next Province Rate. 3 Province Papers, 142.
1701, July 19.
The petition of Nath'l Ayers, relating to a case depending between him
and Abraham Clements, was read again at this Board.
Ordered, that the said petition be granted and that the Secretary issue
forth a supersedeas to stop the executing execution ag'st Nath'l Ayers in
said case. 3 Province Papers, 145.
Whereas a vote was sent up to this Board on Thursday last, from the
House of Representatives, that an Act be past to repeal a former Law about
small vessels paying tonnage and other duties, &c., trading betwixt the Mas-
sachusetts Governm't, and because the said Act is near expiring,
Ordered that the Treasurer, or any other officer appointed for collecting
said duty, do hereafter forbear the demanding or receiving any such duty
according to the tenor of the said former act, more than what was accustom-
ary before said act was made, and that the Secretary give notice to said
officers accordingly. 3 Province Papers, 145.
1701, August 14.
Jeremiah Gillman, one of the Constables for the town of Exeter, in the
year 1698, appeared at this Board according to summons in order to give
an account how, and to whom, he paid the publick money which he had
warr'tts to collect according to act of Assembly.
Ordered, that the said Gillman do make up said acc'tt with the present
Treasurer within 14 days' time, and to pay the balance of said acco❜tt to said
Treasurer. 3 Province Papers, 147.
James Bunker, Constable of the Town of Dover in the year 1698, appeared
at this Board according to summons to make up his acc'tt as abovesaid.
Ordered, that the said Bunker pay to the Treasurer of said Province, one
pound twelve shillings, in fourteen days' time. 3 Province Papers, 147.
1701, August 30.
Capt. Aaron Everdon, command'r of the ship Hope, having made applica-
tion to this Board, to be abated as to paying of powder money for said
ship,
Ordered, that said ship pay one half quantity of powder or money equiva-
lent of what she use formerly to pay, and no more for this present voyage,
and that an order go to the Treasurer accordingly. 3 Province Papers, 149.
And that A fitt Person or two may be Imployed As Agent or Agents to
Represent this Province In Engl'd And that for the Defraying the Charges
three hundred pounds be Raised and Paid out of the Treasury. 19 State
Papers, 738.
702
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1701.
[Fourth Session, Held at Portsmouth October 2, 3, 4, 1701.]
[CHAPTER 1.]
AN ACT FOR REGULATEING OF TRYALLS IN CIVILL CAUSES.
[Passed October 4, 1701. 13 William III. Dudley collection in the public
record office in London, folio 135; Record of Acts, vol. 1, p. 67. Printed in
New Hampshire laws, 1716 edition, p. 21; 1761 edition, reprint, p. 6; 1771 edi-
tion, p. 24. Repealed by the queen in council Nov. 19, 1706. Public record
office, New England, F, folio 212; New Hampshire bundle Q, no. 55. Re-
pealed by act of the legislature June 20, 1792. New Hampshire laws, 1792
edition, p. 402.]
Be it Enacted by the L't Gov'r Councill & Repr'sentatives
Conven❜d in Generall Assembly, and by the Authority of the
Same, that all acc'ons Tryable at the Common Law above
fforty shillings Value, as alsoe Titles of Land shall be first
brought to the Inferiour Court of Common Pleas (Excepting
onely acc❜ons or Causes relateing to the Crown, which may be
Tryed at either the Inferio'r Court of Common Pleas, or the
Superiour Court of Judicature. And that all writts Processes,
Declarations Indictments, Pleas, Answers, Replications and
Entryes in the Severall Courts of Justice within this Province
shall be in the English Tounge and noe other. And that noe
Sum'mons, Processes, writt Judgment or other Proceedings
in Court or Courts of Justice shall be Abated, Arrested or
Reversed, for any Kinde of Circumstantiall Errors or Mis-
takes, where the person or Case, may be Rightly Understood
and intended by the Court, nor through defect or want of
forme Onely. And the Justices on motion Made in Court
may Order Amendm'ts thereof.
And it is further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, that
if any person shall Cause Processes to be Served upon another
on pretence of Debt Tresspass or for any other matter, or
cause and discontinue his Suite, or be Non Suite, the Justices
of the Court, where Such Processes is Returnable shall give
Judgment for the Defend't to Recover Reasonable Costs: And
in Case the Defendant in any Suite being duely Served with
Processes, and Returne thereof made into the Court, where the
same is Returnable doe not appear by himselfe or his Attor-
ny, his Default shall be Recorded and Judgment be entred
Upp ag't him thereupon Unlesse before the Jury be dismist,
he shall come into Court, and Move for a Tryall, in which
Case he shall be admitted thereto, paying down to the Ad-
verse party the Cost he have binn at soe farr, and the plt
shall pay for entring the Acc'on as New.
And ffurther It is Enacted, that as well the Justices of the
Superiour Court of Judicature as the Justices of the Inferiour
Court of Common Pleas and Justices of the Court of Generall
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1701.
703
Sessions of the Peace in this Province, be and are hereby
Respectively Impowred, to make Necessarye Rules for the
more Orderly Practizeing in such Court, Soe as that the Said
Rules be not Repugnant to the Lawes of this Province, as
alsoe from time to time to appointe and Settle, a Clerk to
Officiate in Such Court, And to doe all things proper to that
Office, who shall be Under Oath, well and truely to Execute
and discharge the same;
And Be it further Enacted that the Said Clerk of the Sever-
all Courts aforesaid, may and are hereby Respectively Im-
powred to Grant Summons for Wittnesses directed to the
Partie to be Summoned for Wittnesse, which Summon's shall
be made out in fforme following that is to Say.
To: A: B: of: C: Greeting. you are hereby required in his
Maj'ties Name to make yo'r appearance, before our Justices
of our Lord the King, at the next
Court of
to
to be held at Portsmo' in New Hampshire, on the
give Evidence of what you Know, relateing to an acc'on or
Plea of
then and there to be heard, and Tryed, be-
twixt A: B: of
Plaintiffe, and D: E: of H: Defendant,
hereof faile not as you will Answer yo'r Default Under the
Paines and Penaltyes in the Law, in that behalfe made &
Provided Dated at P: the
day of
of his Maj'ties Reigne, Annoq Domini
in the yeare
A: D: Clerk.
And Be it further Enacted, that if any person, who shall
be Served with Lawfull Processes or Summons to Testifie, De-
pose or give Evidence Concerneing any Case or matter, de-
pending in any of the Courts aforesaid, And haveing tendred
unto him or them such Reasonable Sum'e or Sum'es of Mony
for his or their Costs and Charges, as haveing regard to the
Distance of the Places, is necessary to be allowed in that be-
halfe, Doe not appeare according to the Tenor of the Processes
or Summons haveing noe Lawfull or Reasonable Lett or Im-
pediment to the contrary, that then the Partie Soe makeing
Default, shall for every Offence Loose and fforfeit fforty shil-
lings And shall yield further Recompence to the partie
Agreived, according to the Loss and hinderance that he shall
Sustaine, by reason of the Non Appearance of Such Wittnesse,
or Wittnesses the Said fforfeite or Damage to be Recovered by
the partie Soe Agreived against the Offender or Offenders, by
Acc'on of Debt in the Inferiour Court of Common Pleas within
this Province, where noe Essoigne Protection or Wager of
Law to be allowed: And two shillings Diem shall be Ac-
counted due Satisfacc'on to any Wittnesse for his Travell and
Expence, and noe more to be allowed in Civill Cases. And if
Such Wittnesse live within three Miles of the place of the
Courts Sitting whereto he is Summoned, and be not to Pass
any fferry, then one shilling and Six pence diem, shall be
704
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1701.
Accounted Sufficient; And noe person serveing as a Justice
Juror Wittnesse or otherwise, shall be Required to use any
other Ceremony, in takeing of their Respective Oaths then lift-
ing up the hand as has been Accustomed.
And it is further Declared & Enacted by the Authority
aforesaid, that it shall be in the Libertye of the party
Agreived, at the Judgment Given in any Inferior Court of
Commo'n Pleas to Appeale therefrom, Unto the next Superio'r
Court of Judicature, to be held within this Province. And
the Partie Soe Appealing before his Appeale be allowed shall
give Sufficient Securitye to prosecute the Same with effect,
and to Answer and pay all intervening damages, occasioned
to the Appellee by his being delayed, with additional Costs in
case the Judgment be Affirmed, And Execution shall be
Stayed & Suspended Untill after the Tryall had upon the
Appeale.
And ffurther it is Enacted that the Partie Appellant shall
produce, and give into the Court, where Such Appeale is to be
Tryed Attested Coppyes, of the Writt, Judgem't and of all the
Evidences filed in the Inferiour Court, And shall alsoe file a
Declaration in the Clerks Office, of the Inferiour Court Breifly
Setting forth the Reasons of his Appeal Under his Owne, or
Attornyes hand ffourteen dayes at Least, before the day of
the Sitting of the Court, where the same is to be Tryed, And
the Clerk of the Inferiour Court shall note thereupon Under
his hand the day of the Receipt thereof. And shall alsoe
Transcribe, a True Coppy thereof and Attest the same at the
Charge of the Appellant to remaine on file in the Office, And
then deliver the Originall Declaration, made upp Under the
Seal of the Court to the Appellant, to be by him transmitted,
and pr'sented to the Court, where such Appeale is to be
Tryed, And each partie shall be Allowed, the benefitt of any
New and further Plea and Evidence.
And be it further Enacted that Execuc'on in any Case, shall
not be Granted, Untill the Expirac'on of Twenty ffour hours,
next after the entring upp of Judgment, And that noe person
Imprisoned upon Meane Processes Shall be held, in Prison
upon Such processes above the Space of thirty dayes next after
the Riseing of the Court where the Same is Returnable; Not-
withstanding Judgm't thereupon Recovered, Unless Such per-
son be continued there by haveing his body taken by Execu-
tion, nor shall the Prison Keeper, discharge any Such Prison-
er, haveing Judgment entred upp against him, within the Said
Space of thirty dayes after the Courts Riseing to the intent
his body may be taken in Execution; but by Speciall Order of
the Partie, at whose Suite he stands Committed; Signified in
writeing under his hand, nor shall any Goods or other Estate
Attached to Respond the Judgment that shall be Recovered
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1701.
705
or Suite brought be Released or Discharged from Such Arreast
Untill the Expirac'on of thirty dayes next after Rendring of
Judgment for the Plaintiffe in Such Suite, to the intent he
may take the same by Execution, for Satisfyeing of Such
Judgment in whole or in part, soe far as the Value thereof
cann Extend, if he think fitt Unless the Judgm't be Sooner or
otherwise Satisfied.
And Be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, that
it shall be in the liberty of the Partie Agreived, at the Judg-
m't given in the Inferiour Court of Com'on Pleas or in the Su-
periour Court of Judicature Respectively by New Processes to
Review the Said Case once in Each Court And the Partie
bringing Such acc'on of Review, shall produce and pr'sent At-
tested Coppyes of the writt Judgment, and of all the Evi-
dences, on file in the fformer Tryall, And each partie shall
have the benefitt, of any New and further Plea & Evidence.
Provided noe acc'on of Review shall be brought after the
Expiration of three years from the time of Rendring the Judg-
ment to be Reviewed, Saveing Unto any Infant ffeine Covert
or person Non Compos Mentis Imprisoned in Captivitye or
out of this Province the Tearme of three years next after
their comeing of full Age or Such Imperfection Removed to
bring his or her acc'on of Review, and not afterwards.
And it is further Enacted that Execution shall not be
Stayed or Suspended for or by Reason of any processes of
Review.
And be it further Enacted that in Cases of Appeales from
the Superiour Court of Judicature to the Gov'r and Councill
every person soe Appealeing from any Judgm't or Sentence
given in the Superio'r Court aforesaid shall file a declaration
in the Clerks Office of the Court appealed from, therein
breifely Assigneing the Errors in Such Judgm't ffifteen dayes
at least before the day of the next Sitting of the Gov'r and
Councill to hear Appeals, which shall be on the Second Tues-
dayes of the Months of November and May Annually. Any
useage or Custome to the contrary Notwithstanding.
49
706
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1702.
[Fifth Session, Held at Portsmouth, May 12, 13, 14, 28, 29, 30, June
30, July 1, 17, 18, 20, 21, August 18, September 8, 9, 1702.]
[CHAPTER 1.]
AN ACT FOR CONTINUEING SEVERALL RATES AND DUTYS OF
CUSTOME EXCISE IMPOST AND POWDER MONY OR TONNAGE
OF SHIPPING.
[Passed May 29, 1702. 1 Anne. Dudley collection in the public record
office in London, folio 143; Record of Acts, vol. 1, p. 89.]
Whereas in and by an Act of Gen'll Assembly of this prov-
ince Made in the fourth year of the Reigne of King W'm and
Queen Mary Intituled an act for Defrayeing the publick
Chearge of the province. there was geven and Granted Unto
there Said Maj'tys Severall Dutyes of Impost Excise and Ton-
nage of Shipping paying powder Mony to Lay all Vessells
above thirty Tu'ns as in Said Act, Pticulerly Enumerated and
Sett down Which Said Dutyes have bin continued by reviveing
Said act year by year which is Expired.
Bee: itt therefore Enacted by the L't Gov'r Council and
Repr'sentatives Conven'd in Gen'll Asembley; and it is hereby
Enacted and ordained by the Authority of the Same that from
and after the fifteenth day, of this Instant May the Severall
Rates and Dutyes Sett upon all wines Liquors, and Merchant-
dize that Shall be Imported into this province, and all dutys,
of Tonnage Mony in Said act Expressed, be and are hereby con-
tinued to be paid in Such Manner as in the afore Said Act de-
clared for and dureing the Space of one year that is to Say
Untill the fifteenth day of may. Which will be in the year of
our L'd one thousand-Seaven hundred and three, the Mony
ariseing thereby to be Applyed to the Support of his Maj'tyes
Governm't and to be paid unto the Treasurer or whome he
Shall appoint, the person receiveing the Same to receive
Twelve pence pound for the Mony or Value thereof in pow-
der Such Vessells as Come Loading or halfe Loading with
Corne Provisions and hay to be Excluded for paying powder
Mony.
[CHAPTER 2.]
[AN ACT FOR RAISING TWO HUNDRED POUNDS ADDITIONAL FOR
THE USE OF MAJOR VAUGHAN AS AGENT IN ENGLAND.]
[Passed May 30, 1702. 1 Anne. The text of this as an engrossed act has
not been found, but see vote of May 20, 1702, printed post, p. 708. Also see
preliminary note, ante, p. 651.
The following orders are abstracted from the records and here given in subor-
dinate form as supplemental to and explanatory of the legislation of the session
in which the foregoing formal acts were passed:
1
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1702.
707
1702, May 13.
James Phillips having this day brought in his acc'tts for arrears of wages,
due to him from the 15th of March, 1695-6, to the 17th of May, 1701, being 5
years, 2 months and 2 days, at 26lbs per annum, and there appearing
to be 61b: 9s: 02d: due to the said Phillips, more than the Capt. of the fort
hath rece'd for that time.
Ordered, that the said 61b: 9s: 02d be paid out of the Treasury of this Prov-
ince, and the Secretary make out an order accordingly. 3 Province Papers,
156.
1702, May 29.
Voted, that Major W'm Vaughan be supplied with twenty pounds out of
the Publick Treasury, for his passage and accommodation in going for Eng-
land, as Agent for the Province.
Past by the L't Govern'r and Council. Cha. Story, Secretary.
Past by the Assembly,
Henry Dow, Clerk pro tempore.
3 Province Papers, 157.
Pursuant to an order of Council of the 3d of December, 1701, which was
directed to several persons therein mentioned, to run the lines between Town
and Town in said Province, with such others as the select men of the several
Towns should send with them, did this day make their return of the lines
and Bounds between Town and Town; as upon file, which was allowed and
approved of by the Council.
And ordered, that the persons who took such care and diligence in run-
ning said lines or Bounds be justly paid out of the publick Treasury of this
Province, when the next rate shall be paid, each person to have 3s per diem.
3 Province Papers, 157.
A vote was sent up to this House that an address and memorial relating
to the affairs of this Province, as upon file, be sent by the L't Govern'r, Coun-
cil and Representatives to his Maj'ty, as also a Commission for Major W'm
Vaughan, to go Agent to England for said Province, to transact and manage
all matters and affairs relating to the Quota of men and money for New
York, and the complaints made against said Province, &c., which was read
at this Board and approved of. 3 Province Papers, 158.
1702, May 30.
John Cross appearing at this Board and acquainting their Hon'rs he hath
arrears due to him as a soldier at the fort W'm and Mary, for services done
some time before the 17th of May, 1701; and having examined his debenters,
and what money hath been paid him before said 17th of May, 1701, find there
is due to him from the Province, 6lbs 9s more than the Capt. of the fort rec'd
for him; which, when paid, is in full of said Cross his wages to the said 17th
of May, 1701, excepting 4lb, which is supposed to be in Mr. Penhallow's
hands.
Ordered, that the Treasurer pay the same out of the first money that shall
be raised by the Province for the payment of such debts, and that an order
go from the Secretary accordingly. 3 Province Papers, 158.
Voted, that Mr. Charles Story, for his late extraordinary service done the
Province, be paid six pounds by the Treasurer out of the first income of the
River.
Past by the Assembly.
Henry Dow, Clerk pro tempore
Read at this Board and ordered that the Treasurer pay the same accord-
ingly. 3 Province Papers, 159.
Whereas Mr. Leverett and Mr. Dudly were sent for by the Assembly to be
helpful in the Province concerns, and they being satisfied ten pounds each,
as a gratification for their pains by the Treasurer,
Voted, that the Treasurer be reimbursed the said twenty pounds, out of
the next assessment made in y's Province.
Past by the Assembly.
Henry Dow, Clerk pro tempore.
Read at this Board and approved of. 3 Province Papers, 159.
•
708
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1702.
Voted, that Capt. Mark Hunkin be desired to accompany Major W'm
Vaughan to Boston, and that the charge be defrayed by the Public Treasurer
out of the next assessm't.
Past by the Assembly.
Read at this Board and approved of.
Theodore Atkinson, Esq., his debenter
this Board was allowed and approved of.
Patience Atkins' Debenter being read
allowed and approved of.
Henry Dow, Clerk pro tempore.
3 Province Papers, 159.
amo. to 5lbs 1s 00d, being read at
3 Province Papers, 160.
at this Board, Amo' to 5lbs was
Ordered that the Secretary make out an order to the Treasurer to pay the
same. 3 Province Papers, 160.
Voted, that what ever Major Vaughan shall have occasion for as Agent,
besides 3001bs formerly granted to negotiate the affaires of this Province,
before his Maj'ty in England, that an Act be passed for raising of 200lbs
more, in case he should have occasion for it.
Read at this Board and approved of.
Past by the Assembly.
3 Province Papers, 160.
Henry Dow, Clerk pro tempore.
Whereas Major W'm Vaughan, Recorder of this Province, is going for Eng-
land, and no person yet appointed for to receive said Records, and they
being put into his hands by Act of General Assembly.
Voted, that Mr. Samuel Penhallow be Recorder, and to Act therein as the
law direct, and that the said Major Vaughan deliver all the Records in his
custody to the said Sam'l Penhallow.
Past by the House of Representatives.
Henry Dow, Clerk pro tempore.
Allowed and approved of by the Council. 3 Province Papers, 160.
Whereas Major W'm Vaughan, Recorder of this Province, is employed in
a voyage for England on the Public service of the Province.
Voted, that the said Vaughan do forthwith deliver unto Mr. Samuel Pen-
hallow, all the Records of this Province now in his hands, both Books and
files, and that the said Penhallow do execute the office of Recorder until the
said Vaughan's arrival again into this Province; And then the said Sam’l
Penhallow to redeliver the said Records into the hands of the said W'm
Vaughan; and now to give the said Vaughan a receipt for the same accord-
ingly.
Past by the L't Govern'r and Council.
By the Assembly,
3 Province Papers, 161.
1702, July 1.
Charles Story, Secretary.
Theodore Attkinson, Clerk.
Information being given by Sam'l Penhallow, Esq., Treasurer, to this House
of Representatives, of several sorts of lumber in his own, and in several of
the constables' hands, rec'd for the last Province Rate, which is now such
a Dead commodity that it will not fetch such price as was concluded they
would; Our advice, therefore, to the said Samuel Penhallow, is, that he use
the best of his skill in disposing of what lumber is in his own and said con-
stables' hands, to the best advantage and benefit of the Province; Rendering
a just and true account of what shall be by him done on that account. In-
formation upon file.
By order,
Henry Dow, Clerk pro tempore.
Read at the Council Board, allowed and approved of
3 Province Papers, 162.
Chas. Story, Secretary.
Whereas his Excellency the Hon'ble JOSEPH DUDLEY, is daily expected
to take upon him the Government of this Province, and the Hon'ble W'm
Partridge being desired to entertain him at his house:
Voted, That the said W'm Partridge, Esq., be paid out of the publick
Treasury, for what charge or expense he may be at in entertaining him.
Theodore Attkinson, Clerk.
Read at the Council Board, allowed and approved of.
3 Province Papers, 163.
Chas. Story, Secretary.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692-1702.
709
ACTS PASSED IN THE PROVINCE OF NEW HAMP-
SHIRE BETWEEN OCTOBER 7, 1692, AND JULY 13,
1702, AND CONFIRMED BY THE KING OR QUEEN
IN COUNCIL.
(1) "An Acte for the Due Regulation of Waites and Measures.'
Passed, October 7, 1692.
Confirmed November 19, 1706.
(2) "An Act for Allowances Made to the Representatives."
Passed October 7, 1692.
Confirmed November 19, 1706.
22
(3) "Ann Act Againste Shiping of Horses withoute Entring.”
Passed October 7, 1692.
Confirmed November 19, 1706.
(4) "An Act for Regulating of Cattle Corne Fields and
Fences."
Passed October 7, 1692.
Confirmed November 19, 1706.
(5) "An Act for Setling the Militia.”
Passed October 7, 1692.
Confirmed November 19, 1706.
(6) "An Act for Disstroing of Woules."
(7) "An Act to Compell
lecting Rates."
Passed October 7, 1692.
Confirmed November 19, 1706.
Constables to Doe their Duties in Col-
Passed March 9, 1693.
Confirmed November 19, 1706.
(8) "An Act to Pr'vent Consealing of Estates from As-
sessm❜ts."
Passed March 9, 1693.
Confirmed November 19, 1706.
(9) "An Additional Act to the Law Intitled Cornefields &
Fences."
Passed March 9, 1693.
Confirmed November 19, 1706.
(10) "An Act to Pr'vent the Prophanation of the Lords Day.”
Passed August 5, 1693.
Confirmed November 19, 1706.
(11) "An Act for the Paym❜t of the Cure of Souldiers that are
wounded."
Passed July 23, 1696.
Confirmed November 19, 1706.
(12) "An Act for a Tax or Assessment of Five Hundred
Pounds."
•
Passed August 17, 1699.
Confirmed October 22, 1700.
710
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692-1702.
(13) "An Act for Repairing His Maj'ties High Wayes.”
Passed June 21, 1701.
Confirmed November 19, 1706.
ACTS PASSED IN THE PROVINCE OF NEW HAMP-
SHIRE BETWEEN OCTOBER 7, 1692, AND JULY 13,
1702, AND REPEALED BY THE KING OR QUEEN IN
COUNCIL.
(1) “An Act Conserning Marriages Births & Burialls."
Passed March 9, 1693.
Repealed November 19, 1706.
(2) "An Addition to an Late Act Entitled an Act to compell
Constables to Doe their Duty in Collecting Rates.”
Passed August 5, 1693.
Repealed November 19, 1706.
(3) "An Act for Maintenance & Supply of the Ministrey [and
Schools] within this Province."
Passed August 5, 1693.
Repealed November 19, 1706.
(4) "An Act for the Setling & Distribusion of Intestates Es-
tates & such as Prove Insoluevent."
Passed October 21, 1693.
Repealed November 19, 1706.
(5) "An Act for the Acknowledgement of Deeds."
در
Passed May 24, 1694.
Repealed November 19, 1706.
(6) "An Act for Restraining of Inhuman Severitys."
Passed May 24, 1694.
Repealed November 19, 1706.
(7) "An Additional Act Concerning Marriages Births and
Burialls."
Passed April 8, 1698.
Repealed November 19, 1706.
(8) "An Act for Restraining and Punishing Privateers and
Pirates."
Passed August 17, 1699.
Repealed October 22, 1700.
(9) "An Act for Establishing Courts of Publick Justice within
this Province."
Passed August 17, 1699.
Repealed November 19, 1706.
(10) "An Act for the Punishment of Criminal Offenders."
Passed June 14, 1701.
Repealed November 19, 1706.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCE LAWS, 1692-1702.
711
(11) “An Act for Recording Deeds and Conveyances.'
Passed June 14, 1701.
""
Repealed November 19, 1706.
(12) "An Additional Act Past for Settlement of Intestates
Estates thereto added Insolvent Estates how to be
Disposed of."
Passed June 14, 1701.
Repealed November 19, 1706.
(13) "An Act for Taking Affidav'ts Out of Court."
Passed June 21, 1701.
Repealed November 19, 1706.
(14) "An Act for the Conformatyon of Town Grants."
Passed September 13, 1701.
Repealed November 11, 1703.
(15) "An Act to Prevent Contentyon & Controversy that may
Arise Conserning the Bounds of the respective Townes
within this Province."
Passed September 13, 1701.
Repealed November 11, 1703.
(16) "An Act for Regulating of Tryalls in Civill Causes."
Passed October 4, 1701.
Repealed November 11, 1703.
ACTS PASSED AT THE JULY SESSION OF THE GEN-
ERAL ASSEMBLY AFTER THE ASSUMPTION OF
GOVERNMENT BY JOSEPH DUDLEY JULY 13, 1702.
(1) "An Act about Powder Money."*
Passed July 17, 1702.
Confirmed November 19, 1706.
(2) "An Act for raising Five Hundred Pounds by a Land Tax
in New Hampshire."+
Passed July 17, 1702.
Confirmed December 17, 1702.
*It has been remarked that thirteen acts were confirmed and thirteen
repealed by the queen in council November 19, 1706. It requires the act
above named, sent over in the Dudley collection, but actually passed after
the termination of the government under Lieutenant-Governor Partridge,
to make the thirteen confirmed.
†This was one of the three acts of the general assembly convened after the
arrival of Governor Dudley, which were transmitted in the Dudley collection.
The purpose of the act commended it for early consideration and confir-
mation.
APPENDIX.
CONTAINING DOCUMENTS, NOTES, AND OTHER SUPPLE-
MENTARY MATERIAL, RELATING TO THE FORE-
GOING ACTS, AND TO THE AFFAIRS OF
THE PROVINCE IN THE PERIOD
OF THE ENACTMENT
OF THOSE LAWS.
APPENDIX A. I.
FORMER PRINTED COLLECTIONS, TRANSLATIONS,
AND ABRIDGEMENTS OF THE STATUTES OF ENG-
LAND AND GREAT BRITAIN.
An historical enumeration and description of antecedent
publications of the statutes, will best contribute to a right
understanding of the necessity and origin of the [then] pres-
ent undertaking; [i. e., the collection and publication of the
statutes of the realm in the royal commissioners report, 1810.].
and of the principles upon which it has been planned and
executed.2
All the publications in print of general collections, trans-
lations, and abridgements of the statutes, and of the acts of
particular sessions, which have been hitherto discovered, are
specified in two catalogues¹ subjoined to this introduction.
The statute rolls previous to the beginning of the reign of
Henry VII, being sometimes in Latin and sometimes in
French, and from that time uniformly in English, the printed
editions, according to their several periods, contain the stat-
utes, either, 1st, in the languages in which they were respec-
tively passed, proclaimed, or printed during various periods
from the time of Hen. III to the end of the reign of Ric. III
'One of these catalogues is that included here as "Appendix B," and the
other, being confined to a special group of acts not so important in respect
to the purpose of the present work, has not been given place with the first
catalogue as an appended article.
"It is not possible to treat of the beginnings of systems of statute law of
local enactment in the British colonies without constant reference to the
antecedent and contemporary statutes of England and Great Britain. The
ground-work of the structure of statute law in any British colony of the
period prior to the American Revolution must necessarily be discovered in
the laws, statutory, common, and customary, of the mother country. It
is not to be expected that the libraries of this country can afford any such
facilities for the examination of the original publications of the "laws of the
realm" (not to mention the original manuscripts) as are available in the
British Museum and perhaps other libraries and collections in London. It
is not impracticable, however, within the pages of a work of the character
and scope of the one in hand, to present such descriptions of the earlier
printed collections of the statute laws of England and Great Britain, and
such chronological tables of titles and dates of publication as will serve to
outline the development of that branch of English law, and point out what
authorities and texts are available for the ascertainment of the full and
exact letter and terms of that law at any given period. The "Statutes of
the Realm" were compiled and published under the direction of a royal
commission between 1810 and 1828 with a comprehensiveness and with a
critical care which surpassed any previous presentation of those laws, and
which bears well the test of comparison with later undertakings in the
same direction. One volume, published in 1824, contains an alphabetical
index and another (1828) a chronological index, in all eleven volumes.
In the edition which belongs to the Social Law Library in Boston, the fourth
volume is in two parts, making that set one of twelve volumes. The editors
of this work were E. T. Tomline, John Raithby, John Caley, and W. Elliott.
APPENDIX.
715
without any translation; or, 2dly, translated for the whole or
some part of those periods, and during subsequent periods, in
English; or, 3dly, in Latin and in French, respectively, to the
end of Edward IV or Ric. III, inclusive, with or without
a translation, and in English from the beginning of Ric.
III or of Hen. VII.
The earliest of the printed editions or collections above re-
ferred to is an Alphabetical Abridgement of Statutes, as well
previous as subsequent to Edw. III, in Latin and French, the
latest statute in which is 33 Hen. VI, A. D. 1455. This is
supposed to have been published before 1481.
Another very early edition, but supposed to be later than
the preceding, and to have been printed about 1482, is a Col-
lection of the Statutes, not abridged, from 1 Edw. III to 22
Edw. IV, in Latin and French. This and the preceding
article are attributed to the joint labours of the printers
Lettou and Machlinia.
The statutes passed in the only parliament holden by Rich-
ard III were printed in French by Caxton or Machlinia, or
both, soon after they were passed, this being the first in-
stance of a sessional publication. The like course was ob
served in the reigns of Henry VII and Henry VIII, from
which time the statutes appear to have been regularly printed
and published at the end of each session.
The collection printed by Pynson probably about the year
1497, 13 Hen. VII, but certainly before 1504, 19 Hen. VII,
contains the statutes from 1 Edw. III to 1 Richard III, in-
clusive, in Latin and in French respectively, and those from
1 to 12 Hen. VII in English.
Mr. Lowndes, in his "Bibliographers' Manual," says of this edition: "This
work, published under the authority of the Record Commission, is of the
highest importance to the lawyer and historian, each statute having been
copied from the original record, and every public act inserted, many of
which are omitted from the common collections."
The article descriptive of the former printed collections, translations, and
abridgments of the statutes of England, which is here quoted in full, is
from volume one of the collection of 1810-1828. It constitutes section one
of chapter one of the introduction, pp. xxi-xxx. The next following part,
which is herein designated as "Appendix B," being a "Catalogue of Printed
Collections, Translations, and Abridgments of the Statutes of England and
Great Britain," is from the above described edition of the "Statutes of the
Realm," constituting an appendix (A) to the introduction, in volume one of
the principal and collective work or report of the Royal Commission, pp. xlix-
lxii. (There are, of course, other descriptive monographs and tables in the
Record Commission's edition of the laws of England, as, for instance, a table
of special publications and editions of particular laws, which would occupy
too large a space for repetition in these pages.) These selections have been
made first on account of their manifest utility, and, in the next place, be-
cause they are accurate and exhaustive and cover a period including the
entire colonial and provincial history of New Hampshire. Indeed, such a
supplement seems to be of the utmost value, if it be not actually indispensa-
ble, in the exposition of the relations which existed in the colonial period
between the province statute law and the contemporary and antecedent
statute law of the mother country.
716
APPENDIX.
The small edition of the Antiqua Statuta first printed by
Pynson in 1508, and afterwards frequently reprinted, contains
the Magna Carta, Carta de Foresta, the Statutes of Merton,
Marlbridge, Westminster 1 and 2, and other statutes previous
to 1 Edward III in Latin and French, respectively. These
are the earliest printed copies now known of those statutes.
The Abridgement of the Statutes in English, to 11 Hen. VIII,
translated and printed by John Rastall, is preceded by a
preface of the propriety of the laws being published in
English. This appears to be the first English abridgement
of the statutes, and it helps to ascertain the period when the
statutes were first "endited and written" in English, as the
preface ascribes that measure to Henry VII. Subsequent
English abridgements were published at various times by
Rastall and other printers.
Various editions of the Alphabetical Abridgement of the
Statutes, above mentioned as published before 1481, were
from time to time printed, enlarged by the abridgement of
subsequent statutes. Of these the edition by Owen, including
the statutes of 7 Hen. VIII, was printed in 1521.
An ap-
pendix, containing the abridgement of the acts of the next
ensuing session, 15 Hen. VIII, was printed in 1528, when a
title was added. These collections form an exception to the
general description of the editions of the statutes, for not only
the statutes previous to and in the reign of Ric. III are
abridged in Latin or French, but the Abridgement of the Stat-
utes of Hen. VII and Hen. VIII is in French, although they
were originally passed and printed in English.
In 1531 Berthelet printed an edition of the Antiqua Statuta
similar to the editions by Pynson, with some additions. In
1532 Berthelet also printed a collection of statutes previous
to 1 Edw. III not included in the Antiqua Statuta. This col-
lection he entitled "Secunda Pars Veterum Statutorum," and
it is always so distinguished. It was frequently reprinted.
The statutes contained in it are in French and Latin respec-
tively.
Neither in the Antiqua Statuta by Pynson, nor in the Sec-
unda Pars Veterum Statutorum were the contents arranged
with any chronological accuracy. In the Antiqua Statuta the
two charters and the statutes of Merton and Marlbridge, and
Westminster 1 and 2 are placed first, and the other matters
follow in a very confused manner. No better order is pre-
served in the Secunda Pars. These two parts of the Vetera
Statuta were frequently reprinted together. The edition of
them by Tottell in 1556 is the most known. This varies from
Pynson's and Berthelet's in some readings of the text of the
statutes, and it is enlarged by the addition of "certain Statutes
with other needful Things taken out of Old Copies examined
by the Rolls," printed at the end of the first part. Editions
APPENDIX.
717
by Tottell in 1576 and 1587, and later editions by various
printers, insert only a partial selection of ancient statutes, with
further various readings, and add some modern statutes. On
a comparison made for the purpose of ascertaining the fact
there is reason to conclude that the copy used by Lord Coke
in his Second Institute was that of 1587.
The earliest printed translation, not abridged, of the char-
ters and of several statutes previous to 1 Edw. III, appears
to have been made by Ferrers, a member of parliament, from
the editions of the Vetera Statuta and Secunda Pars before
noticed. It was first printed in 1534, and contains the great-
est part, but not all, of the matters included in those editions,
but does not arrange them in chronological order. In 1540
and 1542 other editions of this translation were published,
with some amendments and additions.
It
In 1543 the Statutes in English from the time of Henry III
to 19 Hen. VII, inclusive, chronologically arranged, were
printed by Berthelet in one volume, folio. It has not been
satisfactorily ascertained that any complete chronological
series of the statutes from Magna Carta to 1 Edw. III, either
in their original language or in English, or that any transla-
tion of the statutes from 1 Edw. III to 1 Hen. VII had been
published previous to this edition by Berthelet, though some
books refer to editions by Berthelet as of 1529 and 1540.¹
appears probable that the translation in this edition by
Berthelet was made from the small editions of the Vetera
Statuta and Secunda Pars, and from Pynson's edition of the
Nova Statuta, 1 Edw. III to 1 Ric. III, inclusive. This edi-
tion contains some translations, particularly of the Dictum de
Kenilworth, not included in either of the editions of Ferrers's
translations. With respect to the others previous to 1 Edw.
III, it agrees in general with the second edition of Ferrers's
translation; and Cay, in the preface to his edition of the stat-
utes, conjectures that the whole of the translation in this
edition was made by Ferrers. No translation of the Statuta
Walliæ, 12 Edw. I, is given either by Ferrers or in any subse-
quent edition. Several other statutes, also, have been always
printed without translations.
"The Great Boke of Statutes" commences with 1 Edw. III
and ends with 34 Hen. VIII. It is entirely in English. It
appears to have been published at different times in separate
parts; and it seems not unlikely that the earliest part may
have been published previous to the English edition printed
by Berthelet in 1543, from which it differs in some particulars.
Of such difference one instance is the insertion of Cap. 7 of 2
Ric. II, Stat. 1, respecting Pope Urban, which is omitted in
Berthelet, 1543, and subsequent editions, from whence it
¹Herbert's Ames, 417: Brady's History of England, vol. i, p. 658.
718
APPENDIX.
seems probable that this part was published before the severe
prohibitions by the acts of Hen. VIII against acknowledging
papal power.
William Rastall (or Rastell) who, in 1557, published his first
edition of a Collection of all the statutes which were before
that year imprinted, was a sergeant-at-law, and was made a
judge in 1558. In this collection the statutes are distributed
under apt titles in alphabetical order, the preambles, for the
most part, being omitted, and a brief mention, only, made of
such statutes as were expired or repealed, or of a private or
local nature. It gives all the statutes to the end of Richard
III in Latin or in French, as they were at first published,¹ and
all the subsequent statutes in English. The same collection,
having the statutes prior to Henry VII translated into English
instead of being inserted in their original language, was
printed about 1579, and reprinted very frequently afterwards
until 1621. In these successive editions the new statutes were
from time to time abridged and inserted under their proper
titles. The translation contained in this collection appears to
have been executed with superior care and industry. Where
it borrows from foregoing versions it occasionally amends
what was faulty. Translations are inserted in it of some mat-
ters not before translated; of others, translations entirely new
and more faithful are given, and the whole was sedulously re-
vised from time to time, the later editions, particularly those
of 1591 and 1603, correcting errors which had escaped notice
in the earlier editions. Rastall died in 1565, and it is not
known by whom these English editions of the collection bear-
ing his name were prepared or edited.
The edition of the statutes in English by Barker, in two
volumes, folio, frequently bound up in one, ending with 29
Eliz., the title to which affords the earliest instance of the
term "Statutes at Large," agrees in general, as to the statutes
previous to 1 Hen. VII, with the English edition by Berthelet
in 1543.
After the edition of Rastall's Collection in English in 1579
it does not appear that any of the statutes from 1 Edw. III
to 1 Hen. VII were printed in Latin or French until some of
them were so printed in the edition by Hawkins in 1735.
The English edition, 1618, which in the title page is said to
contain all the acts at any time extant in print until 16 Jac.
I, published by the king's printers, Norton and Bill, in two
1"I have put every Statute in the tonge that it was first written in. For
those that were first written in latin or in frenche dare I not presume to
translate into English for fear of misseinterpretacion. For many wordes and
termes be there in divers Statutes, both in latin and in frenche, which be
very hard to translate aptly into English."-Epistle or preface prefixed to
W. Rastall's Collection, edit. 1557. In the edition of 1579 and the subse-
quent editions this sentence is omitted from the preface.
APPENDIX.
719
""
volumes, large folio, is usually called "Rastall's Statutes,'
although the editor of the collections before noticed had been
long deceased. The latest acts inserted in this edition are
of 7 Jac. I, being the last session preceding the publication.
The translation of the statutes previous to Hen. VII does not
follow the improved translation adopted in the editions of
Rastall's Collection in English. It agrees with the transla-
tions of Berthelet, 1543, and Barker, 1587, except that it is
not so correctly printed.
In the same year, 1618, a collection in English of sundry
statutes frequent in use, ending with 7 Jac. I, was published
by Pulton. Several statutes not included in the edition called
Rastall's 1618, are for the first time translated in this edition,
and are so noted to be in the preface. The most important
of these are, Ordinatio pro Statu Hibernie, as of 17 Edw. I, but
being, in fact, of 17 Edw. II; Ordinatio Forestae, 34 Edw. I;
De Aspartatis Religiosorum, 35 Edw. I; De Terris Templario-
rum, 17 Edw. II. Several subsequent editions of this collec-
tion were printed after the death of Pulton. Those of 1635
and 1640 are remarkable for giving the progressive answers to
the Petition of Right, 3 Car. I, and the king's speech on pro-
nouncing the assent, "Soit droit fait come il est desiré," which
are not contained in any other general collections, though they
were printed by authority in the sessional publication of the
statutes of that year.
As this English edition by Pulton has been much copied by
subsequent editors of the statutes, it deserves particular no-
tice.1
The original edition, published in 1618, contained many
corrections of the then existing translation, by rendering it
more conformable to the records in the Tower, and further
corrections were from time to time made in the subsequent
editions. But several errors and inconsistencies were suf-
fered to remain in consequence of the translation following
the old printed copies of the Latin and French text, which
frequently differ from those records.2 Some of the corrections
made in the various editions of the English Collection called
Rastall's were, indeed, adopted, but several matters translated
in Rastall's English Collection are not included in Pulton's,
¹See further as to this edition by Pulton and its defects as a general col-
lection, Sect. II. p. XXVIII. [Statutes of the Realm.]
See 4 Inst. 51 as to errors in the printed editions of the statutes extant
at that time in consequence of their differing from the records; and see the
volume usually called Cotton's Abridgement of the Records in the Tower,
but which, in fact, is an abridgement of the Rolls of Parliament from 5 E. II
to 1 Ric. III, made by Bowyer, Keeper of the Records. In these, many vari-
ations between the statute, as printed, and the Parliament Roll, are stated,
but without adverting to the circumstance how far the printed statutes
agreed with the Statute Roll. See also Prynne's preface to Cotton's Abridge-
ment, fo. 3, 4.
720
APPENDIX.
particularly several of the statutes of uncertain date, usually
classed together after the reign of Edw. II. A change of
phraseology, also, is occasionally made in Pulton, not always
to the improvement of the translation. Titles are put at the
heads of the several chapters, which are, in fact, intended as
abridgements of their contents, and which were not given in
former editions to the chapters of any statute previous to Edw.
IV, though in the chronological table of statutes subjoined to
Rastall's Collection titles of a similar kind occur from the
beginning of the reign of Edward III. Several parts or chap-
ters of the statutes subsequent to 1 E. III are omitted, and
only noticed by the titles or abridgements.
From 1618 to 1735 the great body of the statutes continued
to be published entirely in English, but the small collections.
of the statutes previous to 1 Edw. III in French and Latin
were frequently reprinted till after 1618, and these were suc-
ceeded by the collection in Lord Coke's Second Institute.
editions bearing the name of Pulton were continued from time
to time from 1618 to 1670, the last by Manby, who had previ-
ously edited the statutes passed in the time of Car. I and
Car. II.
The
During the usurpation partial collections of acts for differ-
ent series of years were published from 1646 to 1654, and an
authentic collection by Scobell, the clerk of the parliament,
from 1640 to 1656. After the Restoration editions of the stat-
utes Car. I and Car. II were published by the king's printers
and others.
In 1676 Keble's edition of the statutes at large, ending with
27 Car. II, was published by the king's printers, "carefully
examined by the Rolls of Parliament." This edition is in
many instances more correct as to the statutes subsequent to
Hen. VII than the editions by Barker or Pulton, or that called
Rastall's, 1618. It was from time to time reprinted, and con-
tinued by additional volumes. The translation of the statutes
previous to Henry VII, contained in all the editions called
Keble's, was copied from the latest edition of Pulton.
The edition of the statutes by Serjeant Hawkins, published
in 1735 in six volumes, folio, ending with 7 Geo. II, contains
the respective Latin and French texts of most of the statutes
to 8 Edw. IV, with translations of such as had been before
translated, and as appeared to him to be in force or use. Of
some of these statutes a translation, only, is given, without
the original text. Of the statutes and parts of statutes con-
sidered by him as obsolete, or which are expired or repealed,
the original text is given without a translation, and occasion-
ally an abridgement without either the text or translation.
From his preface he seems not to have been aware that the
early statutes had ever been printed in Latin or French in any
APPENDIX.
721
collection except the Second Institute of Lord Coke, and he
gives the text from the Statute Rolls in the Tower, from
ancient manuscripts, or from the Second Institute, all in
many instances varying from the earliest printed editions.
An appendix is subjoined to the sixth volume, containing the
text of some of the more ancient statutes which are omitted,
or of which translations, only, are given in the body of the
work, "together with some antient Records of Statutes
omitted in the Statute Roll, but entered in other Parliamen-
tary Records." Upon the subject of the translation Hawkins
thus expresses himself in his preface: "It was proposed to
make a new Translation of the French and Latin Statutes, and
it must be owned that there are some Mistakes in the Old
Translation, but it having, by its long Use, obtained a kind of
prescriptive Authority, and seeming for the most Part to have
been done with greater Learning and Accuracy than can be
expected from any modern Hand, willing to undertake a
Work of such Difficulty, and it being easy for the Reader to
correct the Mistakes in it by the Help of the Original, it was
judged most proper to retain it.”
Cay's edition of the statutes, published in 1758 in six vol-
umes, folio, ending with 30 Geo. II, is very much upon the plan
of Hawkins's edition, with the following additions: in cases
where the statutes are printed from the Statute Rolls in the
Tower, the numbers of the respective membranes of the Rolls
are quoted; and in other cases the several manuscript authori-
ties from which they are printed are distinctly cited. The
Latin and French text, respectively, of several statutes prior
to Edw. III, and the French text of the statutes 23 Hen. VI,
12, 14, 17, and 22 Edw. IV, which had been omitted by Haw-
kins, are given from manuscripts. Several instruments not
included in the previous editions by Hawkins, Pulton, and
others, are inserted from the early printed copies, and some
matters not contained in any former edition of the statutes
are printed from the Parliament Rolls. The translation of
the statutes previous to Hen. VII is the same as Keble's and
Pulton's. In his preface Cay attributes the whole of that
translation to George Ferrers in the time of Henry VIII, and
speaks thus of it: "It is not a good one, and the Mistakes in
it are very numerous and considerable: It has often been de-
sired that a new Translation should be made, but as this has
been used for some Ages, not only by the Public in general,
but even by the Parliament, and many Statutes are recited in
subsequent Acts in the Words of this Translation, it seems
to be too much authenticated for an Editor to presume to re-
ject it."
The editions by Hawkins and Cay were for some time con-
tinued by several volumes containing the statutes of subse-
quent years.
1
50
722
APPENDIX.
In 1762 was printed the first volume of an edition of the
Statutes at Large, which was completed in 1765, by Ruffhead,
in nine volumes, quarto, ending with the statutes, of 4 Geo.
III. In this edition is included all that was comprehended in
Cay's. Several matters, however, which by Cay were inserted
in the body of his work, were printed by Ruffhead in an ap-
pendix subjoined to the ninth volume; and in this appendix
are also introduced some Acts of Henry VII and of subseqeunt
reigns taken from former printed copies, and also from the
Parliament Rolls, and the Inrollments of Acts in Chancery.
This edition was reprinted in 1769, &c., and has been regular-
ly continued from time to time by volumes containing the
statutes of subsequent years.
Pickering's edition of the Statutes at Large, in twenty-three
volumes, octavo, ending with the statutes 1 Geo. Il, was
printed at Cambridge and published at various times between
1762 and 1766. A twenty-fourth volume, containing the pre-
face and index, was published in 1769. This edition contains
the same matters, and, for the most part, in the same order as
Cay's edition, with the addition of the statutes afterwards
passed, and also of some instruments and translations from
former printed copies and other sources, which, "though
deemed antiquated," were added "on account of their Public
or Constitutional Importance." In an appendix subjoined to
the twenty-third volume some of the matters are inserted
which are contained in Ruffhead's appendix. This edition,
also, has been regularly continued by subsequent volumes
published from time to time.
It should be observed that the matters for the first time in-
troduced by Hawkins, Cay, Ruffhead, and Pickering, respec-
tively, are few in number, and that some of them are clearly
not entitled to the character of statutes.¹ It is evident, also,
that Ruffhead and Pickering took, each, advantage of the cir-
cumstance of their editions being in the course of publication
during the same period, and that, in the insertion of new
matters, they by turns borrowed from each other.
Neither Hawkins, Cay, Ruffhead, nor Pickering take any
notice of the French text of the statutes of Richard III, which
have been stated by some writers2 to have been originally in
English, whereas the editions of the Nova Statuta by Pynson,
Rastall's Collection, and the sessional publication of the stat-
utes of Richard III prove that the statutes of that reign were
originally published in French, although in and after the reign
'See Note on the ordinance 46 Edw. III, relative to lawyers and sheriffs
being returned to parliament, printed in page 394 of the statutes in this
volume.
2See Reeves's History of the English Law, cap. 26, and Christian's edition
of Blackstone's Commentaries, Lib. 1, cap. 2, in the notes.
APPENDIX.
723
of Henry VI many bills in the form of acts are entered on the
Parliament Roll in English.
The translation now chiefly in use, which was first inserted
in Pulton's edition, 1618, and thence copied, with a few correc-
tions, into subsequent editions, and afterwards into those of
Keble, Hawkins, Cay, Ruffhead, and Pickering successively,
does not answer wholly, either to the text as given from the
records or manuscripts, or to the text of any of the old printed
editions, the translation having been in part altered by Pulton
and other editors to suit it to the text, as taken from the
record, and being in part suffered by them to remain as in the
earliest editions, without making the alterations necessary to
remedy errors which were equally repugnant to the old printed
copies and to the record. Throughout the whole translation,
also, sentences are frequently inserted or omitted, contrary to
the authority of the Latin or French text as given from the
record or manuscript in the opposite column of the book, and
the translation, thus varying from the text of the record or
manuscript, is sometimes consistent with, and sometimes con-
trary to the old printed copies, which are not at all noticed.
Many palpable errors and omissions have been allowed to
remain without notice in all the translations. Corrections,
comparatively very few in number, were silently made in the
progress of the editions called Pulton's and Keble's. Those
made from time to time in Rastall's English Collection were
numerous and important, but they have not been fully adopted
in any editions of the statutes at large. The suggestions of
corrections by notes in the margin of Cay's edition are very
rare, comparatively with the numerous errors actually exist-
ing, but the number of these suggestions was somewhat in-
creased in the edition by Ruffhead, though not to any consid-
erable extent. The like observations apply to Pickering's
edition, respecting which, however, it is material to notice
that, of many of the obsolete, expired, or repealed statutes or
parts of statutes, a translation, only, is given by Pickering
from the edition by Pulton and that called Rastall's, 1618, with
some amendments, while the Latin or French text, or an
abridgement in English, is given in the editions by Hawkins,
Cay, and Ruffhead.
Upon the whole, it is ascertained that no complete collec-
tion has ever been printed containing all the matters which,
at different times and by different editors, have been pub-
lished as statutes. The earliest editions of entire statutes
were printed at the latter end of the fifteenth century, and
began with the statutes of Edward III in their original
language. The statutes of Henry III, Edw. I, and Edw. II
were not printed entire until the beginning of the sixteenth
century, and then in small collections by themselves in their
724
APPENDIX.
original language, and none of these printed copies quote any
record or manuscript as an authority for the text which they
exhibit. Later editions of the statutes, which combine the
period previous to Edward III with that of Edward III and
subsequent kings, omit the original text of the statutes pre-
vious to Henry VII, giving translations, only, of those statutes,
and the subsequent statutes in English; and the most modern
editions which, in some instances, insert the original text of
the statutes previous to Richard III from the Statute Roll and
ancient manuscripts omit the translation of many parts of
them, and in other instances give a translation without the
text, and also omit many acts in the period subsequent to
Hen. VII. Further, it is to be observed that the several
printed editions differ materially from each other in the text
of the statutes previous to Hen. VIII. The copy of the Stat-
ute of Gloucester, 6 Edw. I, in the editions printed by Tottell
in 1556 and 1587, and by Lord Coke in his Second Institute,
varies most materially, not only from that in the earlier
printed editions by Pynson in 1508 and 1514, and by Berthelet
in 1531, but also from that in the edition by Marshe in 1556,
the same year in which the first edition by Tottell was printed.
The copy of this statute, printed by Hawkins from the Statute
Roll in the Tower, varies as well from those printed by Tot-
tell and Lord Coke as from those by Pynson, Berthelet, and
Marshe. This instance is mentioned, as the Statute of Glou-
cester is the earliest now existing on any Statute Roll.¹ Many
other instances occur, even in cases where the necessity of
correctness was most peculiarly requisite. Such are the
ancient statutes relating to the assize of bread, the composition
of weights and measures, and the measuring of land. In all
these the calculations in the several printed copies vary from
each other, and are all incorrect, some in one particular, some
in another. It may be noted, moreover, that many verbal
variations occur between the several editions which appear
essentially to agree with each other. Thus the copies in Tot-
tell, 1556, 1587, and the Second Institute, though generally
accordant, are not precisely so; and the same observation ap-
plies to the editions by Pynson, Berthelet, and Marshe. These
verbal variations may be said to be innumerable, and though
for the most part minute, they are occasionally important.
After the commencement of the reign of Edward III a greater
degree of correctness and uniformity prevails, but so late as
the reign of Henry VII some instances of material variation
continue to be met with. The acts of Richard III were printed
¹There is reason to believe, from the appearance of the Great Roll of Stat-
utes in the Tower, that the membranes which contained the statutes pre-
ceding the Statute of Gloucester have been detached from those which now
exist.
APPENDIX.
725
in French, first by Caxton, and afterwards in Pynson's edi-
tion of the statutes from the commencement of the reign of
Edw. III. In the editions by Berthelet, Barker, and others
these acts of Ric. III were printed in English, agreeing in sub-
stance with the French text. But in the editions by Pulton
and subsequent editors there are essential variances in the
translation, not only from the sense of the French text, but
also from the former English editions; and even of the statutes
of Henry VII, though always printed in English, the copies in
the editions by Pulton and subsequent editors differ in several
instances from those in the earlier printed collections.
It is, moreover, ascertained that no one complete printed
translation of all the statutes previous to Hen. VII exists.
Some which are omitted from Berthelet, 1543, and the other
early editions, including that called Rastall's, 1618, are in-
serted in Pulton, 1618, and in editions since published. On
the contrary, several parts of the statutes from 1 Edw. III to
1 Hen. VII, translations of which are inserted in Berthelet,
Rastall, and other editions, are omitted, and merely abridge-
ments thereof given in Pulton and subsequent editions. All
the statutes, therefore, which have been hitherto translated
can be found only by uniting Pulton, 1618, and Rastall, 1618,
together with Rastall's English Collection, and the English
editions by Berthelet, Middleton, and Barker. Many errors
and inconsistencies occur in all the translations, resulting
either from misinterpretation or from improper omissions or
insertions, and there are many ancient statutes of which no
translation has ever yet been printed.
1296
APPENDIX.
APPENDIX A. II.
CATALOGUE OF PRINTED COLLECTIONS, TRANSLATIONS,
AND ABRIDGMENTS OF THE
STATUTES OF ENGLAND AND GREAT BRITAIN.*
[1481-1785.]
[Reproduced from "Statutes of the Realm" Royal Commission's edition, 1810-1828, Volume I, Introduction, Appendix A.]
No.
Date when printed.
Printer's name.
TITLE OR DESCRIPTION.
Size.
1
1481
or before.
2
v
1482
3
4
LO
5
Lettou and
Machlinia.
Machlinia
Vieux Abridgement des Statutes.
thin
The latest act abridged is 33 H. VI. c. 13. A. D. 1455.
fol.
Nova Statuta.
fol.
or 1483.
1484
1488
or after.
1491
or after, and
before 1502.
Machlinia,
or Caxton.
Machlinia
or Caxton.
Containing the Statutes from 1 Ed. III. to 22 Edw. IV.
Statuta apd Westmonasteriu edita anno primo Regis Ricardi tercii.
See Appendix B. [Statutes of the Realm.]
fol.
fol.
Wynkyn de Worde.
fol.
Statutes made in the First, Second, and Third Parliaments of Henry
VII. Sce Appendix B. [Statutes of the Realm.]
Statutes 1, 3, & 4 H. VII. See Appendix B. [Statutes of the Realm.]
The following are the Titles or Introductions to each Year:
"The Kynge our Sovereyn lorde Henry the seventh after the con-
quest by the grace of God kynge of Englonde and of Fraunce and
lord of Irlonde at his Parlyament holden at Westmynster the
Seventh Day of Novembre in the first yere of his reigne to thonour
of God and holy chirche and for the comen profyte of the royame
by thassent of the lordes Spirytuell and temporell and the comons
of the sayde Parlyamente assembled and by the Auctorite of the
sayde Parliamente hath do to be made certeyn Statutes and Ordi-
naunces in manner and forme following.”
"I The second Parlyament holden in the thirde yeer of kinge Henry
the VII.'
""
* This chapter of supplemental material, here designated as "Appendix A, II;" is from volume 1 of the English publication begun in 1810 and completed in 1828,
and bibliographically known as "The Statutes of the Realm." That collection of the laws of England is more fully described in the note to Appendix A, I, ante,
APPENDIX.
727
6
1495
or after.
W. de Worde.
R. Pynson.
77
1497
or after, and
before 1504.
Rich. Pynson.
King's Printer
after 1508.
8
1499.
9
1502
or after.
W. de Worde.
10
1504
William Faques.
King's Printer.
11
1508
1514, 1519, &c.
R. Pynson.
12
1514
or after.
R. Pynson.
" To the Worship of God and holy chirche and for the comen wele
and profit of this reame of Englonde &c. the xiii Jan. in the
fourth yere of his reyne.
Statutes "Anno vii° Henrici Septimi."
Anno xi Henrici vij. Statuta bonum publicum concernencia edita
in parliamento tento apud Westmonasterium xiiij die Octobris anno
regni illustrissimi Dñi nostri Regis Henrici septimi xi°. See Ap-
pendix B. [Statutes of the Realm.]
Nova Statuta.
Containing the Statutes from 1 Ed. III. to 12 Hen. VII. inclusive.
Abbreviamentum Statutorum.
A Reprint and Continuation of No. 1. See No. 17.
A Reprint of the Statutes xi Hen. VII. with the Addition of The
Statutes xii Hen. VII.
See Appendix B.
[Statutes of the Realm.]
Anno xix Henrici VII. Statuta bonum publicum concernentia edita
in Parliamento tento apud Westmonasterium xxv die Januarii
anno regni illustrissimi Domini nostri Regis Henrici Septimi.
These were reprinted by Pynson when he became King's Printer. Several
of the Sessional Publications of this Reign were also reprinted by
W. de Worde and others. See Appendix B. [Statutes of the Realm.]
Parvus Codex qui Antiqua Statuta vocatur.
fol.
fol.
fol.
12mo.
fol.
4to.
This Description is given in the Colophon at the End of the Table of 12mo.
Statutes, &c.
Statutes 3, 4, and 6 Henry VIII. "Emprynted by the Commandment
of our Sovereign Lord the King and his Councell."
fol.
13
1519
1527, &c.
John Rastall.
It appears that the Statutes after this Time continued to be regularly
published at the End of each Session by the King's Printer, and were
reprinted by other Printers. See Appendix B. [Statutes of the Realm.]
The Statutes-more fully described at the Conclusion thus:
"The Abbreviac'on of Statutis translatyd out of French into English
by John Rastall and imprinted by the same John the xxv day of
October in the xi yere of the reign of our sovereign Lord Kyng
Henry the VIII. with the privilege of our seyd soverein Lord, &c.
8vo.
728
APPENDIX.
No.
Date when printed.
Printer's name.
TITLE OR DESCRIPTION.
Size.
14
1521
R. Pynson.
Owen's Abridgement. See Post, No. 17.
15
1525 &c.
R. Redman.
Antiqua Statuta.
Nearly the same as Pynson's 1508, &c. ante, No. 11.
16
1527
R. Wyer.
or after.
The Statute upon the Assyse of Bread and Ale after the Pryce of a
Quarter of Wheate, &c.
17
1528.
R. Pynson.
Le Breggement de touz les estatuz auxibien des veillez coe des novellez
novellement abriggez correctez et ame'dez par Guillaume Owein
de Medill Temple. Et imprimez par Richarde Pynson tanq; al
xix an du tres victorieux et soveraigne Roy He'ry le VIII. defen-
sour de la foy. Anno Dñi M. D. xxviii.
12mo.
4to.
12mo.
12mo.
18
1528.
J. Rastall.
Magnum Abbreviamentum Statutorum Anglie usq ad annum XV
Hen. VIII. inclusive.
19
1529
T. Berthelet.
This was also reprinted by others. In some Copies the Acts of the Year.
21, 22, and 23 are in a separate Abridgement added at the End.
The Statutes. See post, No. 31.
fol.
1540
20
1531
King's Printer.
R. Pynson.
or before.
21
1531
T. Berthelet.
1532, 1540, &c.
The Statutes of Westmynster commonly called Westmynster Prymer
made in the third yeare of Kinge Edwarde I.
Magna Carta cum aliis antiquis Statutis; quorum Catalogum in fine
aperis reperies.
fol.
16mo.
22
23
1532
1540 &c.
Uncertain.
T. Berthelet.
24
1533
W. Rastall,
Nearly the same as Pynson's 1508, &c. ante, No. 11.
Secunda Pars Veterum Statutorum.
The two last were both frequently reprinted by Berthelet and others.
Here begynith the hole Abrygeme't of all the Statutz aswel the olde
as the New with divers other tytles & Statutes which were never
imprynted before in englishe as shall appere to al those that dily-
ge'tly serchyth. Cum gratia & privilegio a rege indulto.
The grete Abregement of the Statutys of Englond untyll the xxij yere
of King Henry the viij. Cum privilegio regali.
Abridgements of the Years 22, 23, and 24 are annexed.
16mo.
8vo.
APPENDIX.
729
25
1534
1540
1542
R. Redman.
El. Redman.
T. Petyt.
Ferrers's Translation.
26
1538
T. Berthelet.
27
1538
1540
R. Redman.
Eliz. Redman,
88888
28
1542
29
30
1543
W. Myddylton.
T. Petyt.
T. Berthelet.
The Boke of Magna Carta with divers other Statutes, whose names
appere in the next lefe folowynge, translated into Englyshe. Fa-
cessat calumnia.-At the End "Thus endyth the boke called Magna
Carta translated out of Latyn and Frenshe into Englyshe by George
Ferrerz." Imprynted, &c.-Cum privilegio Regali.
The Editions 1540 & 1542, have the following Title:
"The Great Charter called in Latyn Magna Carta with divers Olde
Statutes whose titles appeare in the next leafe. Newly corrected.
Cum privilegio ad imprimendum solum.'
Statutes to be executed by Justices of the Peace, &c.
"In this Book are conteyned those Statutes, whiche to put in Exe-
cution the Justices of Peace, Sheriffes, baylyffes, constables, and
other Ministers of Justice, were of late admonished by the Kynge's
Majestie, on peyne to runne into his gracis mooste hyghe indigna-
tion and displeasure.
""
The greate Abbrydgement of all ye statutes of Englande untyll the
xxx yere of the reygne of our moste drad soveraygné lorde kynge
Henry the eyght. To whom be all honour, reverance, and joyful
contynuaunce of his prosperous reygne, to the pleasure of God and
weale of thys hys realme. Amen. Cum privilegio Regali.
The Edition 1538, has a Supplement of the 31st Year. That of 1540 has a
Supplement of the 31st and 32d Years.
The greate Abbrydgement of all ye Statutes of Engla'de, untyl the
xxxiii yere of the reygne of our moste drad soueraygne lord King
Henry the Eyght. To whom be all honour, reverence and joyful
contynuance of his prosperous reygne, to the pleasure of God and
weale of thys hys realme. Amen. Cum privilegio Regali.
The Statutes whiche the Justices of Peace, mayres, sheriffes, bayliffes,
constables, and other Offycers have been commanded by the kynges
majesty, not only by his proclamations, to put in execution, upon
peyne of hygh displeasure, but also by an Acte of parlyament
made and established the 33 yere of his hygheness moosté gra-
ciouse reigne.
See Stat. 33 Hen. VIII. c. 10.
8vo.
8vo.
8vo.
8vo.
8vo.
730
APPENDIX.
No.
Date when printed.
Printer's Name.
31
1543
1564
T. Berthelet.
Wykes.
32
1543, 1544, 1551
33
1563
1575
Between
1541 and 1548
T. Berthelet,
King's Printer.
Powell.
W. Myddylton,
to 21 & VIII.
inclusive; and thence
T. Berthelet.
34
1551
T. Gaultier.
T. Powell.
35
1556
R. Tottell.
•
TITLE OR DESCRIPTION.
The Statutes in English from Magna Carta to 19 H. VII. inclusive.
"In this Volume are conteined the Statutes made and establisshed from
the time of kyng Henry the thirde, unto the fyrste yere of the
reigne of our most gratious and victorious soveraine Lorde king
Henry the viii. Anno M.D.XLIII.”
Statutes of Henry VIII.
"The Second Volume conteyninge those Statutes which have been
made in the tyme of the most victorious reigne of our most gra-
cious soveraigne lorde kyng Henry the Eyght. Londini in ædibus
Thomae Bertheleti, Typographi regii excus'. Anno verbi incar-
nati MDXLIII. Cum privilegio ad imprimendum solum.
The First Edition contains the Acts only to 33 H. VIII. inclusive.
The great Boke of Statutes co'teynyng all the Statutes made in the
Parlyamentes from the begynnynge of the fyrst yere of the raigne
of kynge Edwarde the thyrde tyll the begynnyng of the xxxiiii yere
of the most gracyous raigne of our soveraigne Lorde kyng Henry
the viii. Cum privilegio.
It seems probable that the Title Pages and Tables of these Collections, No.
32 & 33, were frequently prefixed to Collections of several Sessional Pub-
lications bound together. The Signatures, paging, and Dates of several
Sessions in such Collections being separate; and different Editions of
the several Sessions being found in different Collections.
See List of Sessional Publications, Appendix B. [Statutes of the
Realm.]
The newe greate abredgement, brefly conteyning all thactes and
Statutes of this realme of England, untyl the XXXV yere of the
reigne of our late noble kynge of most worthye and famous
memorye Henry VIII (whose soule God pardone) newly revysed,
trulye corrected and amended, to the great pleasure and com-
moditie of all the readers thereof.
Magna Charta cum Statutis quae Antiqua vocantur, jam recens excusa,
& summa fide emendata, juxta vetusta exemplaria ad Parliamenti
rotulos examinata: quibus accesserunt nonnulla nunc primum typis
edita: apud Richardum Tottelum 12 Jun. 1556. Conferre and then
preferre. Cum privilegio ad imprimendum solum.
Size.
fol.
fol.
fol.
8vo.
8vo.
APPENDIX.
731
36
1556
T. Marshe.
37
1557
1559, 1565, 1574, &c.
W. Rastall's Collection.
See No. 42.
R. Tottell.
38
888
1560
R. Tottell.
39
1564
H. Wykes.
40
1576
R. Tottell.
1578
41
1602
1608, 1618, &c.
42
1579
1582, 1587, 1589, 1591,
1598, 1603,
1611, 1615,
1621
W. Rastall's collection
in English.
See No. 37.
T. Wight,
Stationers' Company.
C. Barker,
Queen's Printer.
An Edition by Tottell of the Secunda Pars Veterum Statutorum dated
1555 or 1556 is generally bound up with the Magna Charta, &c. of
1556. See No. 22.
Magna Carta et cetera antiqua statuta nunc noviter per diversa exem-
plaria examinata et summa diligentia castigata et correcta; cui
adjecta est nova Tabula valde necessaria. First prove and then re-
prove.
A Collection of all the Statutes (from the begynning of Magna Carta
unto the yere of our Lord 1557) which were before that yere im-
printed. And furst a Pistle* necessary to be redde by them that
shall use this booke. In ædibus Richardi Tottelli.-Cum privilegio
ad imprimendum solum.
*The Epistle to the Reader from "William Rastall, Serjeant at Law."
In this Collection the Statutes previous to Henry VII. are in French or
Latin respectively. See No. 42.
· Pulton's Abstract of Penal Statutes. See No. 44.
Statutes from Magna Carta to 19 H. VII. See ante, No. 31.
Magna Charta cum statutis, tum antiquis tum recentibus, maximopere
animo tenendis, nunc demum ad unum tipis edita; per Richardum
Tottell; [Tottill] Anno domini 1576 [1587.] Cum privilegio ad im-
primendum solum.
Magna Charta cum statutis tum antiquis tum recentibus, maximopere
animo tendentis, jam noviter excusa, & summa diligentia emendata
& correcta. Cui adjecta sunt nonnulla Statuta nunc demum tipis
ædita.
In the Editions 1608, 1618, &c. modern Acts were from Time to Time added
at the End.
A Collection of all the Statutes, from the beginning of Magna Charta
unto this present yeare of our Lord God 1579, newlye augmented,
and diligentlie perused. Whereunto are added two verie necessarie
Tables. The one declaringe by order of Alphabet, all the severell
Titles, with the speciall & most necessarie matters contayned
therein. Whereby Justices of Peace, Coroners, Eschetors, Maiors,
Shiriffes, Bayliffes, Constables, &c. and all other her hyghnes Sub-
jectes, shall (under their apt Titles in the same Table) finde what
8vo.
4to.
fol.
8vo.
8vo.
732
APPENDIX.
No.
Date when printed.
Printer's name.
TITLE OR DESCRIPTION.
and wherewyth they are charged by any maner of Statute. In
the other Table being at thend of this Booke are set downe the
severall times of the Parliaments, wyth the Titles at large, of
every the Statutes made therein, whereby the reader may easilie
finde what Statute it shall please him to seeke for, after the verie
same order, which in the sundry Volumes of Statutes at large is
used. Anno Domini 1579.
The Edition 1579 is the earliest yet found of this Collection, which contains
the Statutes previous to Henry VII. translated into English. See No.
37. The Subsequent Editions state in their Title Pages that the Collec-
tion is “under Titles placed by order of Alphabet:" and add the Abridge-
ment of succeeding Statutes from time to time: That of 1621 includes
the Statutes of 7 Jac. I.
The whole Volume of Statutes at large which at anie time heeretofore
have beene extant in print, since Magna Charta until the xxix.
yeare of the reigne of our most gratious sovereigne Ladie Elizabeth
by the Grace of God Queene of England, France, and Ireland, De-
fender of the Faith, &c. With Marginall Notes and a Table of
necessarie use newly added hereunto.-Cum privilegio Regiæ Majes-
tatis.
An Abstract of all the penall Statutes, which be in generall force and
use, wherein is conteined the effect of all those Statutes, which do
threaten to the Offenders thereof, the losse of life, member, lands,
goods or other punishment, or forfeiture whatsoever. Whereunto
is also added, in their apt titles, the effect of such other Statutes,
wherein there is anie thing materiall, and necessarie for each Sub-
ject to knowe. Moreover the authoritie and dutie of all Justices,
sheriffes, coroners, eschetors, maiors, bayliffes, customers, comp-
trollers of custome, stewardes of leetes and liberties, aulnégers,
and purveyors, and what things by the letter of several Statutes
in force, they may, ought, or are compellable to doe. Collected
by Fardinando Pulton of Lincolnes Inn gentleman.
Size.
small
fol.
fol.
8vo.
43
1587
C. Barker.
44
1594
first printed
1560, 1577, 1596, &c.
Pulton's Penal Statutes.
R. Tottell.
APPENDIX.
733.
45
1606, 1608,
1612, 1617, 1618, &c.
Pulton's Kalendar,
and Abridgement.
Stationers' Company. A Kalendar or Table comprehending the effect of all the Statutes that
46
1618, 1621,
usually called
Rastall's Statutes.
Norton and Bill,
King's Printers.
47
1618,
1628, 1632,
1635-6, 1640,
1661, 1670,
Pulton's Statutes.
Fletcher & al for
Stationers' Company.
have been made and put in print from Magna Carta to 4 Jac. I.
Showing which are repealed, expired, altered, worn out of use,
made for particular persons or places, and which are general, in
force and use: Whereunto is annexed an Abridgement of all the
Statutes whereof the whole or any part is general, in force and
use; with Notes of such Matters as are doubtful, &c. Editum per
mandatum Domini Regis. Collected by Fardinando Pulton of Lin-
coln's Inn Esq. Cum privilegio.
The Statutes at Large; Conteyning all such Acts which at any time
heretofore have beene extant in print from Magna Charta [until
16 Jac. I.] Divided into Two Volumes; with Marginal Notes and
divers necessary Tables newly added thereunto. Together with
especial Markes whereby the Reader may easily know which of the
same Acts are wholly voyd either by Expiration or Repeale.
The latest Statutes printed in this Edition are those of the Session 7 Jac. I.
being the last preceding the Time of Publication in 16 Jac. I.
A Collection of sundrie Statutes frequent in use: with Notes in the
Margent and references to the Booke cases, and Bookes of Entries
and Registers where they be treated of. Together with an Abridge-
ment of the residue which be expired, repealed, altered, and worne
out of use, or doe concern privat persons, places, or things, and
not the whole Commonwealth. Whereunto be added certain ma-
terial Statutes never printed before in English. Also a necessary
Table or Kalendar [i. e. Index of principal Matters]: By Fardi-
nando Pulton of Lincolnes Inn Esq.
The first Edition of this Collection ended with 7 Jac. I. The Sentence in
the Title, respecting the Statutes never before printed, is omitted in the
Title Page of some of the subsequent Editions:-The several Editions
were successively enlarged by inserting the Statutes passed after 7 Jac. I.
The last Edit. 1670, is by Manby, Editor of No. 49., and contains the Stat-
utes to 22 Car. II. the Parliament ending 11th April 1670.
AN. B. A Collection of ACTS and ORDINANCES beginning 1640, (16, 17
Car. I.) and continued till 1656, was published in 1658, during the
USURPATION, by Scobell, as a Continuation of Pulton. It was stated
to be examined by the Original Records, and printed by special Order
fol.
fol.
fol.
734
APPENDIX,
}
No.
Date when printed.
Printer's name.
48
1667
Assigns of J. Bill,
and C. Barker,
King's Printers.
49
1667 &c.
Manby's Statutes.
Streater & al.
50
1676
1681
1684
1695
Keble's Statutes
Assigns of John Bill,
& al.
King's Printers.
TITLE OR DESCRIPTION.
of Parliament: Scobell being then Clerk of the Parliament. Partial
Collections and Abridgements of Acts passed during the Usurpation
were also printed at various Periods in 1640, 1649, 1650, 1651, 1652,
1654, 1655, 1657, &c. by Husband, Field, Wright, Hills, Twyford, and
others.
A Collection of all the Statutes at large now in force: beginning 16
Car. I. 1640, & ending 19 Car. II. 1667, with the Titles of such as
are expired & repealed. In Two Parts. Together with Notes in
the Margin & Tables of the several Sessions of Parliament and
of the Titles of all the Statutes both Public and Private: and an
Alphabetical Table of all the Matters contained in the whole book.
A Collection of the Statutes made in the reigns of King Charles I.
and II. with the Abridgement of such as stand repealed or expired.
Continued after the Method of Mr. Pulton, with References one
to the other, &c; Titles of the Private Acts; and a Table of prin-
cipal Matters. By THOMAS MANBY Esq.-London printed, &c. Cum
gratia & Privilegio Regie Majestatis.
The First Edition ended with the Statutes 19 Car. II. The Statutes 20
and 22 Car. II. were added afterwards.
The Statutes at Large in Paragraphs [the Title to the Edit. 1681. adds
here "and Sections or Numbers,"] from Magna Charta until this
time, ["untill the reign of K. Charles II." Edit. 1684, &c.] carefully
examined by the Rolls of Parliament: With the Titles of such
Statutes as are expired, repealed, altered or out of use. Together
with the Heads of Pulton's, or Rastall's Abridgements in the
Margin, and the addition of New References from other Books of
Law; and a new Table. [i. e. Index]: By JOSEPH KEBLE of Gray's
Inn Esquire.
""
The Edition 1695 continues the Title thus:
"In this Impression are added all the Statutes made in the reign of
K. James II. King William and Queen Mary, to the End of the
last Session of Parliament May 3, 1695; in the 7th year of the Reign
of his Majesty K. Will. III. In Two Volumes.
Size.
fol.
fol.
fol.
fol.
APPENDIX.
735
51
1706
Bill, &c.
King's Printers.
Bill & al.
King's Printers.
Baskett & al.
King's Printers.
Baskett, &c.
King's Printers.
The Statutes at large in Paragraphs and Sections or Numbers from
Magna Charta to the end of the Session of Parliament, March 14,
1704; in the fourth year of the Reign of her Majesty Queen Anne.
Carefully examined by the Rolls of Parliament. With the Titles
of such Statutes as are expired, repealed, altered, or out of use;
together with the Heads of Pulton's or Rastall's Abridgements in
the Margin; and above One thousand References from other Books
of Law, with Alphabetical Tables: In Three Volumes.
Vol. I. contains the Statutes, in English, from Magna Carta to 43
Eliz.-Vol. II, from 1 Jac. I. to 6 & 7 Will. III. with Indexes to all
the Statutes in both Volumes. These two Volumes appear very
similar to the latest Edition of Keble's Statutes 1695, from which
perhaps they differ in nothing but the Title Page. The Title in
Vol. III. in some Copies is "A Supplement to the last Edition of
the Statute Book, beginning with the seventh and eighth years
of the Reign of King William III. and continued to the End of
the Session of Parliament, March 14, 1704, in the fourth year of
the Reign of Her Majesty Queen Anne; carefully examined by the
Rolls of Parliament. With an Alphabetical Table." In other
Copies the Title of this Vol. III. is thus varied "The Statutes at
Large; beginning, [&c. as before]-with an Alphabetical Table.
Vol. III."
Addenda to the third Volume of the Statutes at large; beginning with
the fourth year of the Reign of Q. Anne, and continued to the End
of the last Session of Parliament, April 1, 1708, in the seventh
year of her Majesty's Reign. Carefully examined by the Rolls
of Parliament. With an Alphabetical Table.
Statutes at Large from the seventh year of Q. Anne to the End of the
eighth and last Session of the fifth Parliament of Great Britain,
7th March 1722, 8 Geo. I. Carefully examined by the Rolls of
Parliament. With an Alphabetical Table. In Two Volumes.
[These two Volumes serve as Vol. IV. and V. of the Statutes printed in
1706, and the Addenda 1708. No. 51, 52. The Table is at the End of
the Second Volume.]
The Statutes at Large from Magna Charta to the Seventh Year of
King George the Second inclusive. In Six Volumes, by WILLIAM
HAWKINS Esq. Serjeant at Law.
fol.
fol.
fol.
fol.
52
1708
53
1724
54
1734, 1735,
Hawkins's Statutes.
736
APPENDIX.
No.
Date when printed.
Printer's name.
*
TITLE OR DESCRIPTION
In most Copies of this Work, Magna Carta and the Charter of the For-
est, are printed from the Statute Roll in the Tower; though by an
Error of the Press, the Quotation "Ex MS. in Bibliotheca Cotton" is
printed at the beginning of the Charter of the Forest; the Quota-
tion in the subsequent Pages being "Ex Rat. Orig. in Turr. Lond."
But one Copy, at least, of this Volume still exists in which the
Great Charter is printed from 2 Inst. and also from MS. Cott. Claud.
D. II. and the Charter of the Forest from that MS. only. It may
therefore be concluded that in the general impression these Pages
were cancelled, and the Copies printed from the Statute Roll sub-
stituted in their place.
Statutes at Large from the ninth year of K. Geo. I. to the End of
the seventh and last Session of the seventh Parliament of Great
Britain, 7 Geo. II. Carefully examined by the Rolls of Parliament.
With an Alphabetical Table.
This serves as Vol. VI. of the Edition 1706, &c. No. 51, 52, 53. and brings
that up to the same Period as Hawkins's Edition. The Six Volumes
are preserved in some Libraries bound uniformly and lettered 'Keble's
Statutes.'
An Abridgement of the Public Statutes in force and use from Magna
Charta to 11 Geo II. In Two Volumes: By JOHN CAY Esq.
4
A New Edition, continued to 1 Geo. III. was published in 1762, by H. B.
Cay, Esq; and in 1766 a separate Volume, containing the Statutes from
11 Geo. II. to 1 Geo. III; as a Supplement to the First Edition.
Statutes at Large from the seventh year of King George II. to 14
George II. inclusive. To which is prefixed a Table of the Titles
of all the Publick and Private Statutes during that Time. Vol. VII.
This makes Vol. VII. as well to Hawkins's Edition No. 54, as to the Edition
1706, &c. No. 51, 52, 53, 55. There is an Index to this Volume; at the
End.
Statutes at Large 15 Geo. II. to 23 Geo. II. inclusive. With a Table of
the Titles of all the Public and Private Statutes during that Time.
Vol. VIII.
Size.
fol.
fol.
fol.
fol.
55
1736
Baskett & al.
King's Printers.
56
1739
King's Printer.
1762
1766
1772
Cay's Abridgement.
57
1742
1759
Baskett & al.
King's Printers.
58
1758, 1759.
Baskett & al.
King's Printers.
APPENDIX.
737
Baskett & al.
King's Printers.
1758, 1759
59
1758
Cay's Statutes.
Baskett & al.
King's Printers.
60
1762, 1765,
1769, 1770,
Ruffhead's Statutes.
1785
61
1762, 1769,
Pickering's Statutes.
Baskett & al.
King's Printers.
Baskett & al.
King's Printers.
Eyre and Strahan.
King's Printers.
Printer to Cambridge
University.
Statutes at Large 24 Geo. II. to 30 Geo. II. With a Table of Titles, &c.
Vol. IX.
An Index to both Volumes is printed at the End of Vol. IX.
The Statutes at Large from Magna Charta to the thirtieth Year of
King George the Second inclusive. In Six Volumes, by the late
JOHN CAY Esq.
In 1769 and 1771 Two Volumes were published, and in 1773 a Third, to
continue this Edition to 13 Geo. III. with Indexes at the End of the
Vols. 1771 and 1773. These serve as Volumes VII, VIII. IX of Cay's
Edition, and X, XI, XII of Hawkins's. ·
The Statutes at Large from Magna Charta to the End of the last
Parliament, 1761. In Eight Volumes; by OWEN RUFFHEAD Esquire.
The Statutes at Large from 2 Geo. III. [exclusive] to 5 Geo. III.
[exclusive.] With a Copious Index [to the Statutes from Magna
Carta to 4 Geo. III inclusive] and an Appendix, consisting of obso-
lete and curious Acts, some of which were never before printed.—
Volume the Ninth.
The Statutes at Large from Magna Charta to 25 Geo. III. exclusive,
with a copious Index, and an Appendix consisting of obsolete and
curious Acts, some of which were never before printed. By Owen
Ruffhead Esq.-A new Edition, in Ten Volumes, revised, corrected,
and continued by CHARLES RUNNINGTON Esquire.
These Editions have been regularly continued by additional Volumes.
The Statutes at Large from Magna Charta to the End of the Eleventh
Parliament of Great Britain, Anno 1761. Carefully collated and
revised, with References, a Preface, and a new and accurate Index
to the whole. By DANBY PICKERING of Gray's Inn Esquire.
Twenty-four Volumes.
This Edition has been regularly continued by additional Octavo Volumes.
[Several Abridgements of the Statutes, and Collections or particular Selec-
tions from them, have from time to time appeared, which do not seem
worthy of specific Notice. Such are Wingate's Abridgement, in several
Octavo Volumes; Annual Abridgements, in thin Folio Volumes or Parts
printed by the King's Printer during the early Part of the present
Reign; Williams's Digest of the Statute Law; Addington's Penal
Statutes, &c. &c.]
fol.
fol.
4to
4to
4to
8vo.
51
738
APPENDIX.
APPENDIX B.
ORDINANCES ADOPTED FOR MUNICIPAL REGULA-
TION OR LOCAL GOVERNMENT PRIOR TO THE
FIRST UNION WITH MASSACHUSETTS BAY.*
EXETER
[ORDERS MADE BY THE COURT AT EXETER PREVIOUS TO THE
UNION WITH MASSACHUSETTS, 1643.]
4th day of the first week in the 10th month, 1639.
Imprimis. That Mr. Edward Hilton, his upland grounds
is bounded in breadth from the creek next from his house
towards Exeter on the one side, and a certain point of land
over against Captain Wiggins his house between the marsh
and the upland that's his bounds on the other side, and it is
to extend into the main by the same distance in length as it is
in breadth, and that he shall have all the meadowes which he
found unoccupied from his house to the mouth of Lampril
River.
2dly. That all the meadowes that belong unto the town of
Exeter laying between the Town and Mr. Hilton's house, as
likewise the meadows from Lamprill River unto the head of
the little bay, shall be equally divided into four parts, whereof
the 4th part shall be divided by lot to such of the inhabitants
of the town of Exeter as have no cattle or fower [four] goates,
and the profit of the hay which grows thereupon shall be
divided among those that have the other parts, until such
time as they have cattle of their own, or till they sell the
ground to those that have cattle.
3dly. That the three other parts shall be equally divided
among those that have cattle, to each head of cattle their pro-
portion to be divided to each of them by lot-which divisions
are to be made betwixt this and the next Court.
4thly. That all the inhabitants of the towne of Exeter
shall [have] their uplands lotts' for planting laid outt by the
*The development of systems of local self-government on the part of the
first towns established within the boundaries of New Hampshire, i. e., in the
period prior to 1641-43, was subject to the operation of peculiar local con-
ditions, local necessities, local interests, and local opinions in regard to
ecclesiastical concerns not radically unlike those observed in the neighbor-
ing Massachusetts towns. The records of local legislation on the part of the
magistrates and in town meetings of that period, that have come down to
us are meagre and desultory. Something, however, remains to indicate how
these pioneers in local self-government in the earliest towns organized in this
colony treated various subjects that were presented in the conduct of public
business, and provided for the management of public affairs.
The following pages are from the transcriptions of Hon. S. D. Bell, first
published in vol. 1, N. H. Prov. Papers, pp. 137-145.
APPENDIX.
739
River between stony creeke and the creeke on this side of
Mr. Hilton's, according to the number of persons and cattle,
in equal proportion, no proportions to be divided to them by
lott, except such persons as live on the other side of the River;
and Will. Hilton and goodm. Smart who are to have the lotts
on the other side of the river where the town shall be thought
most convenient, by the Ruler Needam and Mr. Starre deputed
to this purpose.
5thly. That whosoever shall carry themselves disorderly
or irreverently in the Court towards the magistrates or in their
presence, shall be liable to such a censure as the Court shall
think meet.
The first day of the 8th mo. 1640.
It is ordered and agreed upon by the inhabitants of the
towne of Exeter, that none shall fell any oke timber within
half a mile of this part of the town, except it be upon their
planting lott, or for building or fencing, upon the penalty of
each tree five shillings.
6th day of the 12 mo. 1639
That no man shall set fire upon the woods to the destroying
of the feed for the cattle or the doing of any other hurt, under
paine of paying the damages that shall issue thereby, after the
middle of the 2d month.
That every man shall fall such trees as are in his lott being
offensive to any other. And if after due warning any shall
refuse, to pay half a crown for every tree that is so offensive.
That every action that is tried, the party that is cast in it
shall pay to the jury four shillings.
6th day of the 1 mo'th 1640.
That no wines or strong water shall be sold by retail to
the English but by Thomas Wardle.
It is ordered that whosoever shall dig a sawpit and shall
not fill it or cover it, shall be liable to pay the damages that
shall come to man or beast thereby.
It is ordered that all the swine that is not carried down the
river by the 4 day of the 2d month, the owner shall be liable to
pay the damage that befall any thereby.
That all grounds, woods, and such priviliges as appertain
to the town, such inhabitants as have their lots small or great
in the bounds of the town, shall be liable to pay such comon
charges as the town shall be at, according to their proportion
of ground, cattle or other privileges they doe injoy in the town,
present or absent.
It is further ordered that every man that is an inhabitant
in the town shall have free liberty to trade with the indians
in anything except it be powder, shot, or any warlike weapons,
or sacke or other strong waters according to the former order,
740
APPENDIX.
and as for prices of what corn there shall be traided with
them, shall not exceed four shillings the bushell.
It is here recorded that Anthony Stanyon hath satisfied the
Cort concerning the offence given by him to our Ruler
Nedham.
An Order and Law
It is enacted for a law, constituted, made and consented
unto by the whole assembly, at the Court solemnly met to-
gether in Exeter the 9 day of the 2 month, Ano. 1640.
That if any person or persons shall plot or practise either
by combination or otherwise, the betrayinge of the contry or
any principal part thereof into the hands of any foreign State,
Spanish, Dutch or French, contrary to the allegiance we pro-
fess and owe to our dread soverign lord King Charles his heirs
and successors, it being his majesties pleasure to protect us
his loyal subjects, shall be punished with death.
If any person or persons shall plot or practise treacherye,
treason, or rebellion, or shall revile his majesty the Lord's
Anointed, contrary to the allegiance we professe and owe to
our dread sovereign Lord King Charles his heirs and succes-
sors (ut supra) shall be punished with death.
Numb. 16.
Exo. 22, 28.
1 Kings, 2, 8, 9, 44.
Second day mo'th 9, 1640.
Imp. That Edward Ristworth is chosen by order of Court
to be secretary to the Court to look to the Book and to enter
all such actions are brought and to have 12d. laid down at
the entering every action
2dly. It is likewise agreed upon that the lands that are
laid out according to the former order both for their butting,
bounding and proportion, are now confined and ratified in
the Court Rowles.
3dly. It is a law made that if other person or persons shall
by any means draw sides to make comotions or seditions in
these our jurisdictions, he shall pay ten pounds and stand
liable to the further order of the court.
4thly. It is agreed upon that the miller shall take for his
wayt? and towle 5 lb? of meal and whatever is wanting more
is to be made good by him, and he to stand liable to the
Courts censure upon just and sufficient testimony to the same.
5thly. It is agreed that all pitts and holes are to be filled
up and trees removed which lye near the way, within a fort-
nights time, or else they are to pay 10s. and be liable to the
censure of the Court.
6thly. That all creeks are free, only he that makes a
weare therein is to have in the first place the benefit of it in
fishing time, and so others may set a ware either above or
below and enjoy the same liberty.
APPENDIX.
741
It is agreed by the Inhabitants of Exeter, that every man
shall fence, the next spring, a general fence, every man an
equal proportion, according to the quantity of the ground
lying within the fence, by the middle of the second month,
which will be 1641: and what damage can bee made apear for
want of a sufficient fence, he that does it is to make it good,
and if the said fence be not sett up at the day appointed, every
day after, he that is behind hand, herein shall pay five shil-
lings a day.
3d day month 12th, 1640.
It is agreed upon that Mr. William Hilton is to enjoy those
marshes in Oyster River which formerly he had possession of
and still are in his possession, and the other marsh which Mr.
Gibbins doth wrongfully detain from him with the rest of
those marshes which formerly he hath made use of so far
forth as they may be for the public good of this plantation;
And so much of the upland adjoining to them as shall be
thought convenient by the neighborhood of Oyster River,
which are belonging to this body.
It is further agreed upon the former agreement, that every
one shall fence his proportion of ground, and if any refuse,
whosoever shall fence it shall have the use of it till they be
fully satisfied, if it be old ground, and if it be new he shall have
it for his pains.
. Whereas it was formerly agreed upon in general that all
the towne should generally fence, and when they came to fence,
particularly others, should do as much for them in fencing as
they did for their outsides, which upon further consideration
is not thought equal, therefore now it is agreed that when we
come to fence in particular, that it may be put to the consider-
ation of two indifferent men what their fence was worth, by
those which fenced; the outside is to be made good unto them
again by such as it appertains to.
It is likewise agreed that whoever buys the Indian Ground
by way of purchase, is to tender it first to the town before they
are to make proper use of it is particular to themselves.
Month first, day the 12th, 1640.
Imprimis. Whereas the highways, by virtue of a former
order, were to be in breadth 3 pole at the least, yet notwith-
standing they are straightened in divers places, we do there-
fore here again order that they should be rectified and made
the full breadth as aforesaid, betwixt this and the middle of
the second month, which shall be in the year of our Lord
1642, and also such ground as is taken in contrary to order to
be rectified within the said time.
d. 30, mo. first, 1641.
It is agreed upon that all the swine above a year old and
upwards, are to be sent down into the great bay by the 10th
742
APPENDIX.
day of the second month, and what swine are found in the
town after that time, above that age, what hurt they do in a
sufficient fense, their owners are to make it good.
It is further agreed that according to former orders, that all
are to have their fences finished of their home lots, by the mid-
dle of the next month, or otherwise to stand the perill that
may ensue.
It is agreed that none but inhabitants of the towne shall
plant within the towns liberties without their consent.
d. 10th, m. 4th, 1641.
It is ordered that Goodman
shall allow the Indians
which was spent
one bushell of corn for their labor per
by them in re-planting of that corne of theirs which was
spoiled by his corne, and he is to make up their losse at har-
vest, according as that corne may be judged worse than their
corne which was now hurt.
Last day of June, 1641.
It is agreed upon that thar shall be none accusations
dvulged or spread abroad, of any person or persons but what
there be proved by the month of two or three witnesses, for
they that shall so do shall be liable to the Court censure; this
is not in point of damages, but in point of slander in a mans
good name.
m'th 5th, d. 10th, 1642.
The censure of the Court against Thomas Wright, for con-
temtuous or cariage and speeches against both the Court and
the magistrate, for which he is to be fined 20s., and to pay all
Court charges besides, and his liberty is to be taken away, as
he is a freeman.
It is agreed that all manner of cattle are to have keepers a
days, and are to be looke to at night and kept up; if any dam-
age come to any, answerable satisfaction must be made.
It is further ordered by the Court, 6 d. 3 mon., 1643, that
Thomas Wardell, William Winberne, Samuel Walker and
Robert Reade, shall have liberty and authority to search the
house or houses of any person within this jurisdiction, and to
take into their custody [and make] sale of any such corne as
they shall find in them which is more than the party or parties
shall have need of for their own families till harvest next; and
provided that the parties above named make good pay for the
said corn and as good a price as it is generally sold for in the
River, and these parties to dispose of such corne sold by them,
unto such poor people as stand in most need of it, for the best
pay they can make, and at the same price which the parties
above named buy it at.
7th day of the 9th mo. 1642.
Our honored Ruler, Mr. Thomas Wilson, doth give his ap-
probation and confirms all those wholesome laws and orders
APPENDIX.
743
which are here recorded, which were made in the time that
Mr. Needham was ruler.
5th of the 7th mo. 1643.
Christopher Lawson binds himself in the sum of ten pounds
sterling unto the country to answer a presentment brought
against him for extortion by William Cole, Tho. Wright,
James Wall, William Wentworth, and Tho. Pettit, and this to
be answered by him at the next court which shall be holden
for Exeter either here or elsewhere.
It is further ordered at the court holden the 5th of the 7th
mo., 1643, that Tho. Biggs shall pay unto the Sagamore for
taking away his net and hurting of it 5s.
It is further ordered that Tho. Biggs shall be whipt 6 stripes
for taking away a scythe of Capt. Wiggons and other petty
larcenies.
It is ordered that Will Cole and Robt. Smith shall oversee"
the farmes about the town and give warning to them whose
fences are defective, and if they be not amended, the owners
thereof to pay for any hurt is done through those fences.
744
APPENDIX.
APPENDIX C.
COMBINATIONS FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN NEW
HAMPSHIRE.*
The grant of territory in New England to Capt. John Mason did not confer
upon him any power of political government; but the grant of so much
power as should be necessary to protect his own rights and the rights of his
servants, as well as to preserve order, must be understood as implied in the
concession made to him. In the absence of any general government, even
of the simplest sort, the several communities or clusters of inhabitants in
New Hampshire found themselves compelled at an early period to combine
for self-protection. These separate communities were settled at and in the
neighborhood of Strawberry Bank (Portsmouth), Great Island (Newcastle),
Exeter, and Dover.
THE LOWER PASCATAQua.
It is not possible, at the present time, to determine the year when the
inhabitants on the lower Pascataqua, including Strawberry Bank, Great
Island, and Little Harbor, first entered into a "combination" or local govern-
ment. Hubbard' says, that "after Captain Neal's going away" to England
(1633) the inhabitants entered into a combination for the better enabling
them to "live orderly one by another." They chose for their first governor
"Mr. Francis Williams, an agent sent by Captain Mason, this Williams being
a prudent man, and of better quality than the rest." He held this office for
several years. In 1638 he exercised his authority seemingly, however, beyond
the limits of his jurisdiction, in quelling the violent disturbance at Dover,
which grew out of the factious disputes between Larkham and Knollys and
their respective partisans.2
It would appear that the inhabitants on the lower Pascataqua entered into
a combination for a second time previous to 1643. The editor of the Pro-
vincial Papers of New Hampshire mentions an existing court record, bearing
date the year last named, in which "John Pickering is injoined to deliver
the old combination of Strawberry Bank the next court." And in the grant
of glebe lands by the "inhabitants of the lower end of Pascataquack," May
25, 1640, signed by "Francis Williams, Governor, Ambrose Gibbins, Assist-
ant," and others, reference is made to an existing "combination," The
record of both the earlier and later combinations has undoubtedly perished,
nor is there any record of their substance. When Massachusetts extended
her jurisdiction over New Hampshire all these combinations were dissolved,
and some of the persons, like Williams, who have been prominent in the
local governments, were appointed to civil or military offices under the gov-
ernment of Massachusetts.
EXETER.
In the year 1638 the Rev. John Wheelwright and others, who had been
banished in the preceding year from the colony of Massachusetts Bay, on
account of their active participation in the theological controversy incited
by Mrs. Ann Hutchinson, or on acount of their known sympathy for her
doctrines, made a settlement at Exeter. They first instituted a church, con-
cerning which Winthrop, under date of December 13, 1638, says:
Those who went to the falls at Pascataquack gathered a church, and
wrote to our church [in Boston] to desire us to dismiss Mr. Wheelwright to
them for an officer; but because he desired it not himself, the elders did not
*This compilation is from Historical Papers by Charles Wesley Tuttle, edited by Albert
Harrison Hoyt, with a memoir of the author by John Ward Dean, Boston, 1889. It is repro-
duced as a most convenient and instructive presentation of the ideas of the early inhabitants
of the first towns of New Hampshire which took form and substance in local constitutions in-
tended to be in the nature of a permanent organic law. The marginal notes are Mr. Tuttle's
unless otherwise indicated.-A. S. B.
¹ History of New England, 219, 220.
2 Belknap, Farmer's ed., chap. ii.
3 Prov. Papers of New Hampshire, i. 111, 112.
APPENDIX.
745
propound it. Soon after came his own letters, with theirs, for his dismis-
sion, which thereupon was granted. Others also (upon their request) were
dismissed thither.¹
The people whom the Rev. John Wheelwright led or early attracted to the
"falls at Pascataquack," entered into a written combination for the purpose
of government in 1639. Shortly afterward this instrument was altered to
suit the views of those who were not inclined to profess in strong terms
their allegiance to the king. But in the year 1640 there was a reaction in
public sentiment, and the original combination "in substance" was re-
adopted, with the following preliminary statement:
Whereas a certen combination was made by us, the brethren of the church
of Exeter, w'th the rest of the Inhabitants, bearing date Mon. 5th d. 4, 1639,
w'h afterwards, upon the instant request of some of the brethren, was altered
& put into such a forme of wordes, wherein howsoever we doe acknowledge
the King's Majesty our dread Soveraigne & our selves his subjects: yet some
expressions are contained therein w'h may seeme to admit of such a sence
as somewhat derogates from that due Allegiance w'h we owe to his Hig-
nesse, quite contrary to our true intents & meaninge: We therefore doe
revoke, disannul, make voyd, and frustrate the said latter combination, as if
it never had beene done, and do ratify, confirme, & establish the former, w’h
wee onely stand unto as being in force & virtue, the w'h for substance is
here set downe in manner & forme following. Mon. 2d. d. 2, 1640.
2
Whereas it has pleased the lord to move the heart of our Dread Sover-
aigne Charles by the grace of god king of England, Scotland, France, & Ire-
land to grant license & liberty to sundry of his subjects to plant them selves
in the Westerne partes of America: Wee his loyall subjects, brethren of the
church of Exceter, situate & lying upon the river of Piscataquacke, w'th
other inhabitants there, considering w'th our selves the holy will of god &
our owne necessity, that we should not live w'th out wholsome lawes & civil
government amongst us, of w'h we are altogether destitute, doe in the name
of Christ, and in the sight of god, combine our selves together, to erect &
set up amongst us such Government as shall be (to our best discerning)
agreeable to the will of god: professing our selves subjects to our Sover-
aigne Lord King Charles according to the libertys of our English Colony of
the Massachusetts, and binding our selves solemely by the grace & helpe
of christ & in his name & feare to submit our selves to such godly & christian
laws as are established in the Realme of England to our best knowledge: &
to all other such lawes w'h shall upon good grounds be made & inacted
amongst us according to god, y't we may live quietly & peaceably together
in all godlyness & honesty. Mon. 5th d. 4th, 1639.³
The following names were subscribed to the above:
John Wheelwright
Augustine Storre
Thomas Wight
William Wentworth
Henry Elkins
his
George X Walton
mark
1 Winthrop's Hist. of New England, i. 338.
his
George X Barlow
mark
Richard Moris
Nicholas Needham
his
Thomas X Wilson
mark
2 It will be observed that Governor Winthrop uses the phrase, "the falls at Pascataquack,
and that the Exeter compact of civil government contains the expression, "Exceter, situate
& lying upon the river of Piscataquacke." Both expressions refer to the stream now called
the Exeter river, the Indian name for which was Squamscott. The falls in the river are still
popularly called Squamscott falls. The reader will consider the importance of the fact that in
1638 and 1639 the expressions above cited were used to designate the Pascataqua river, or a
branch of it, as bearing upon the contention of Mr. Jenness (Notes on the First Planting of
New Hampshire, etc.) respecting the southern limits of the Hilton Patent. He remarks (pp.
54, 55): "It may well be doubted whether at the time the Hilton Patent was granted [1629-
30], the name Piscataqua was ever applied by the English or the Indians to Exeter River." As
we have seen, the name was so applied in 1638 and 1639, and it is probable that its application
then was in harmony with the popular usage from the time of the first English settlements on
the Pascataqua. See Tuttle's Historical Papers, pp. 103, 104, note 3.
It appears that the original writing, containing the combination adopted in 1639, has been
lost; but we have it for substance" in the new combination adopted in 1640, as given above.
Unless this fact is borne in mind, the date, "Mon. 5th d. 4th, 1639," affixed to the paper
draughted in 1640, is likely to mislead the reader. For a fac-símile of the paper, see Bell's
History of Exeter.
746
APPENDIX.
Samuel Walker
Thomas Pettit
Henry Toby
William Wenbourne
his
Thomas X Crawley
mark
Chr Helme
his
Darby X Feild
mark
his
Robert X Read
mark
Edward Rishworth
his
Francis X Mathews
mark
Ralph Hall
his
Robert X Soward
mark
Richard Bullgar
Christopher Lawton
his
George X Rawbone
mark
his
William X Coole
mark
his
James X Walles
mark
Thomas Levitt
Edmund Littlefield
his
John X Crame
mark
his
Godfrye X Dearborne
mark
Philemon Pormort
Thomas Wardell
his
Willia X Wardell
mark
his
Robert X Smith.
mark
HILTON PATENT.
It is probable that the settlers within the territory granted in 1630 to
Edward Hilton (see Tuttle's Historical Papers, note 3, pp. 103 and 104) had
some kind of civil government as early as 1633, but there is no record of a
formal combination for that purpose prior to the year 1640. The form of
local government entered into on the 22d of October, 1640, is usually, but
erroneously, spoken of by Hubbard, Belknap, and more modern writers, as
the "Dover Combination." The instrument is here reproduced. It will be
observed that the name Dover does not occur in it, and that the signers
describe themselves as residing on "the River Pascataquack." The Hilton
Patent included, so it was claimed,, not only a portion of the present town
of Dover, but also a portion of the present towns of Newington, Greenland,
and Stratham. Among the signers was Captain Francis Champernowne.
Champernowne never resided in Dover. His residence in 1640 was in that
part of Greenland which was then claimed to be a portion of the Hilton
Patent.
The original Hilton Patent combination is supposed to be lost, but a
copy, made for Governor Cranfield, was sent by him to England in 1682, and
is now in the Public Record Office. Some of the subscribed names are evi-
dently misspelled. The following copy is taken from Jenness's Abstracts
of Original Documents relating to New Hampshire:
Whereas sundry Mischeifes and inconveniences have befaln us, and more
and greater may in regard of want of Civill Government, his Gratious Ma'tie
having hitherto Settled no Order for us to our Knowledge—
Wee whose names are underwritten being Inhabitants upon the River
Pascataquack have voluntarily agreed to combine ourselves into a Body
Politique that wee may the more comfortably enjoy the benefit of his
Maj'ties Lawes, and do hereby actually engage our Selves to submit to his
Royal Maj'ties Lawes, together with all such Orders as shalbee concluded
by a Major part of the Freemen of our Society, in case they be not repug-
nant to the Lawes of England and administered in the behalfe of his
Majesty.
And this we have mutually promised and concluded to do, and so to
continue till his Excellent Maj'tie shall give other order concerning us.
In Witness wee have hereto Set our hands the two and twentieth day of
October in the Sixteenth yeare of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord Charles
by the grace of God King of Great Britain, France, & Ireland, Defender of
the Faith, &c.
APPENDIX.
747
Annoq: Dom'i 1640.
John Follett
Robert Nanney
William Jones
Philip Swaddon
Richard Pinckhame
Bartholomew Hunt
William Bowden
John Wastill
John Heard
John Hall
Fran. Champernoon
Steven Teddar
John Ungroufe
Thomas Canning
Hanserd Knowles
Edward Colcord
Henry Lahorn
Abel Cannmond
Henry Beck
Robert Huggins
Thom. Larkham
Richard Waldern
William Waldern
William Storer
William Furbur
John Phillips
Tho. Dunstar
William Pomfret
Tho. Layton
Tho. Roberts
Edward Starr
James Nute
Anthony Emery
Richard Laham
Bartholomew Smith
Samuel Haines
John Underhill
Peter Garland
John Dam
John Cross
George Webb
James Rawlins
This is a true copy compared with ye Originall by me
EDW. CRANFIELD.
[Endorsed] New England N. Hampshire. The Combination for Govern-
ment by the people at Pascatq (1640).¹
Re'd ab't 13th Febr. 82-3.
1 With reference to the so-called Dover Combination, see also Historical Memoranda of
Ancient Dover by A. H. Quint, Scales's edition 1900, pp. 17, 19, 20; 17 N. H. State Papers, 501; 25
N. H. State Papers, 741.-A. S. B.
748
APPENDIX.
APPENDIX D.
MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY.
PREAMBLE:
Liberty 1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
THE BODY OF LIBERTIES, 1641.*
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Persons and property inviolable except by law.
Equal justice to all.
The general court alone to impose oaths.
Unavoidable absences not punishable.
Public services required only by law.
Exemptions from public service.
Limit of military service.
Property taken for public use to be paid for.
9. Monopolies forbidden but patents allowed.
10. Fines on alienations, heriots, &c., forbidden.
11. Wills and alienations allowed.
12. Freedom of speech and action in public meetings
permitted.
13. Property abroad not taxable here.
14. Conveyances by married women, children, or in-
sane persons legalized by the general court.
15. Fraudulent deeds invalid against just claims.
Free fishing and fowling defined.
16.
17. Free emigration allowed.
*As Portsmouth and Dover consented to a union with Massachusetts Bay
colony in 1641, and as Hampton was already regarded as a municipal estab-
lishment of the Bay colony, Exeter having joined the Union a little later
(1643), it will be noted that the adoption and publication of the Body of
Liberties, as the first elaborate scheme of statute law made operative by
Colonial legislation in New Hampshire as well as Massachusetts Bay, were
important steps forward in home rule, very nearly contemporaneous with
the accomplishment of the first union of the two colonies. The transcript
of the Body of Liberties here presented is based on the manuscript of
Elisha Hutchinson. A fac-simile of it is printed in William H. Whitmore's
edition of the Colonial Laws of Massachusetts, published by order of the
city council of Boston, 1889, pp. 32-61. Opposite each page of the manuscript
fac-simile is a line-for-line printed version. This is adopted for reproduction
in this connection. The table of contents which precedes and the index
which follows the text should also be credited to Mr. Whitmore's compila-
tion. The identification of this as the original text of the Body of Liberties
which was actually adopted by the general court in 1641. and the demon-
stration of the fact that the production of that code was largely the work
of Rev. Nathaniel Ward, and that the authorship is not assignable to Rev.
John Cotton, are among the prominent features of Mr. Whitmore's intro-
duction, which occupies the first twenty-eight pages following the preface
of the volume published in 1889. Mr. Whitmore, in turn, acknowledges his
indebtedness to Mr. F. C. Gray for important results of researches related
APPENDIX.
749
i
18. Provision made for bail.
19.
Assistants punished for misconduct.
20. Judges punished for misconduct.
21.
Summons served not over six days before the
court, and the cause to be specified therein.
22. False claims to excessive debts or damages pun-
ishable.
23. Legal rate of interest fixed at 8 per cent per
24.
annum.
Contributory negligence a good defence.
25. Technical errors not allowed if the court under-
stand the person and the cause.
26. Unpaid attorneys allowed.
27. Written pleas and answers permitted.
28. Suits may be discontinued before a verdict, and
renewed in another court.
29. Trials may be either by the bench or by a jury.
30. Jurors may be challenged.
31. Special verdict allowed, and appeals to the gen-
eral court.
32. Cattle or goods may be replevined.
33. Imprisonment for debt regulated.
34. Common barrators punished.
35. Distress of perishable goods regulated.
36. Appeals from inferior courts provided.
37. Malicious suits punished.
38.
39.
Evidence to be recorded on court rolls.
Court may respite executions in all actions.
40. Deeds or promises given under duress are invalid.
Persons accused of crime shall be tried at the
41.
next court.
42. No one shall be tried twice for the same offence.
to the origin and history of the Body of Liberties. A companion volume
to the one issued in 1889 was published by the city council of Boston in
1887, this also being edited by Mr. Whitmore. The earlier volume contains
other valuable material constituting the text of important parts of the
printed statute law of the Bay Colony promulgated in the period covered
by the first union, 1641-1679.
Recourse may be had, of course, for further investigation of the sources
of these laws, to the lately printed colony records of Massachusetts Bay for
the same period, but the two volumes brought out by Mr. Whitmore more
conveniently and satisfactorily exhibit the statute law of the colony which
took form in the periodical compilations or revisions of that time, and in the
occasional supplements which appeared, than would the more elaborate
volumes of the journal records and archives. It should be remembered that
it was these compilations and contemporary printed editions of the early
laws with which the officers of the government and the principal inhabitants
of the colony were most familiar. This suggestion is, of course, equally
applicable to the people of the New Hampshire towns which were then re-
garded as an organic part of the Massachusetts Bay.
The ninety-eight numbered articles, with the section containing the pre-
amble and the one containing the concluding paragraph, constitute the
required one hundred. Introduction by Mr. Whitmore, edition of 1889, p. 9.
-A. S. B.
}
750
APPENDIX.
70
43. Punishment by whipping regulated.
44. Time for executing criminals regulated.
45.
Torture forbidden.
46. Barbarous or cruel punishments forbidden.
47. Death inflicted only on the evidence of two or
three witnesses, or the equivalent.
48. Public records open to inspection.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
Jury service regulated.
Towns to choose jurymen.
Towns to elect associates in inferior courts.
Children, strangers, and others to be protected
in all suits.
Age of discretion fixed at twenty-one.
Powers and duties of moderators defined.
The fullest liberty allowed in pleas and answers.
Town meetings protected from disturbance.
57. Inquests in case of sudden deaths.
58. Church regulations may be enforced by civil
courts.
59. Church officers and members amenable to civil
law.
60. Church censure inoperative upon civil officers.
61. Silence on conscientious grounds allowable.
62.
Qualifications of deputies to the general court.
63. The expenses of certain officials to be a public
charge.
64. Court records to be fully kept by the clerk.
65.
66.
The Word of God to overrule any custom or pre-
scription.
Freemen in each town to manage their pruden-
tial affairs.
67. The chief officers to be elected annually by the
freemen, and may be discharged for cause at
other meetings of the general court.
68. Deputies need not reside in the towns choosing
them. The number of deputies to be fixed only
from year to year.
69. Consent of a majority required to dissolve or ad-
journ the general court.
70. Freedom of speech and vote ordained.
71. Casting vote allowed to presiding officers.
72. Reprieves and pardons regulated.
73. Messengers may be sent abroad on public affairs.
74.
Selectmen allowed.
75. Protests in all meetings shall be allowed and
recorded.
76. Jurors may consult bystanders in open court.
1
77. Voting not compulsory.
APPENDIX.
751
78. Public money to be spent only with the consent
79.
80.
of the tax-payers.
Provision for widows in case of intestacy.
Wives not subject to conjugal correction.
81. Gavelkind regulated.
82.
83.
84.
Daughters as co-partners.
Appeal from parental tyranny.
Protection for orphans.
85. Runaway servants protected.
86. Transfers of indentures of servants.
87. Servants recompensed for bodily injuries.
88. Servants to be rewarded.
89. Christian immigrants welcome.
90.
Shipwrecked vessels to be assisted.
91. Slavery prohibited.
92. Cruelty to animals forbidden.
93. Travelling drovers assisted.
94. Death penalty for certain crimes.
95. Relations between church and civil authority
defined.
96. These liberties to have the force of law.
97.
Suits allowed to give effect to these liberties.
98. Liberties to be revised annually for three years.
Penalty if the general court in the next three years neglect
liberty 98.
A COPPIE OF THE LIBERTIES OF THE MASSACHU-
SETS COLONIE 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 will be
the tranquillitie and Stabilitie of Churches and Common-
wealths. And the deniall or deprivall thereof, the disturb-
ance if not the ruine of both.
We hold it therefore our dutie and safetie whilst we are
about the further establishing of this Government to collect
and expresse all such freedomes as for present we foresee
may concerne us, and our posteritie after us, And to ratify
them with our sollemne consent.
We doe therefore this day religiously and unanimously de-
cree and confirme these following Rites, liberties and prive-
ledges concerneing our Churches, and Civill State to be respec-
tively impartiallie and inviolably enjoyed and observed
throughout our Jurisdiction for ever.
752
APPENDIX.
1. No man's 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 ways 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 colour of law or Countenance of Author-
itie, unlesse it be by vertue or equitie of some expresse law of
the Country waranting the same, established by a generall
Court and sufficiently published, or in case of the defect of a
law in any parteculer case by the work of god. And in Capi-
tall 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 Inhab-
itant or forreiner shall enjoy the same justice and law, that
is generall for the plantation, which we constitute and execute
one towards another without partialitie or delay.
3. No man shall be urged to take any oath or subscribe
any articles, covenants or remonstrance, of a publique and
Civill nature, but such as the Generall Court hath considered,
allowed, and required.
4. No man shall be punished for not appearing at or before
any Civill Assembly, Court, Councell, Magistrate, or Officer,
nor for the omission of any office or service, if he shall be
necessarily hindred by any apparent Act or providence of
God, which he could neither foresee nor avoid. Provided that
this law shall not prejudice any person of his just cost or
damage, in any civill action.
5. No man shall be compelled to any publique worke or
service unlesse the presse be grounded upon some act of the
generall Court, and have reasonable allowance therefore.
6. No man shall be pressed in person to any office, worke,
warres or other publique service, that is necessarily and suffi-
tiently exempted by any naturall or personall impediment,
as by want of yeares, greatnes of age, defect of minde, fayling
of sences, or impotencie of Lymbes.
7. No man shall be compelled to goe out of the limits of
his plantation upon any offensive warres which this Common-
wealth or any of our freinds or confederats shall volentarily
undertake. But onely upon such vindictive and defensive
warres in our owne behalfe or the behalfe of our freinds and
confederats as shall be enterprized by the Counsell and con-
sent of a Court generall, or by Authority derived from the
same.
8. No mans Cattel or goods of what kinde soever shall be
pressed or taken for any publique 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. And if his Cattle or goods
APPENDIX.
753
shall perish or suffer damage in such service, the owner shall
be suffitiently recompenced.
g.
No monopolies shall be granted or allowed amongst us,
but of such new Inventions that are profitable 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, ward-
ships, Liveries, Primer-seisins, yeare day and wast, Escheates,
and forfeitures, 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 meamories, whether excommunicate
or condemned shall have full power and libertie to make there
wills and testaments, and other lawfull alienations of theire
lands and estates.
12. Every man whether Inhabitant or fforreiner, free or
not free shall have libertie to come to any publique Court,
Councel, or Towne meeting, and either by speech or writeing
to move any lawfull, seasonable, and materiall question, or to
present any necessary motion, complaint, petition, Bill or
information, whereof that meeting hath proper cognizance, so
it be done in convenient time, due order, and respective
manner.
13. No man shall be rated here for any estaite or revenue
he hath in England, or in any forreine partes till it be trans-
ported hither.
14. Any Conveyance or Alienation, of land or other estaite
what so ever, made by any woman that is married, any childe
under age, Ideott or distracted person, shall be good if it be
passed and ratified by the consent of a generall Court.
15. All Covenous or fraudulent Alienations or Convey-
ances of lands, tenements, or any hereditaments, shall be of
no validitie to defeate any man from due debts or legacies,
or from any just title, claime or possession, of that which is
so fraudulently conveyed.
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 pre-
sincts of the towne where they dwell, unlesse the free men
of the same Towne or the Generall Court have otherwise
appropriated them, provided that this shall not be extended
to give leave to any man to come upon others proprietie with-
out there leave.
17. Every man of or within this Jurisdiction shall have
free libertie, notwithstanding any Civill power to remove both
himselfe, and his familie at their pleasure out of the same, pro-
vided there be no legall impediment to the contrarie.
52
754
APPENDIX.
Rites Rules and Liberties concerning Juditiall proceedings.
18. No mans person shall be restrained or imprisoned by
any Authority whatsoever, before the law hath sentenced him
thereto, If he can put in sufficient securitie, bayle or main-
prise, for his appearance, and good behaviour in the meane
time, unlesse it be in Crimes Capital, 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
sentenced among 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 to-
gether, it shall be judged by the whole Court, and not sever-
allie as before.
20. If any which are to sit as Judges in any other Court
shall demeane themselves offensively in the Court, the rest of
the Judges present shall have power to censure him for it,
if the cause be of a high nature it shall be presented to and
censured at the next superior Court.
21. In all cases where the first summons are not served
six dayes before the Court, and the cause breifly specified
in the warrant, where appearance is to be made by the
partie summoned, it shall be at his libertie whether he
will appeare or no, except all cases that are to be handled
in Courts suddainly called, upon extraordinary occasions,
In all cases where there appeares present and urgent
cause Any Assistant or officer apointed shal have power to
make out Attaichments for the first summons.
22. No man in any suit or action against another shall
falsely pretend great debts or damages to vex his Adversary,
if it shall appeare any doth so, The Court shall have power
to set a reasonable fine on his head.
23. No man shall be adjudged to pay for detaining any
debt from any Crediter above eight pounds in the hundred for
one yeare. And not above that rate proportionable for all
somes what so ever, neither shall this be a coulour or counte-
nance to allow any usurie amongst us contrarie to the law of
god.
24. In all Trespasses or damages done to any man or men,
If it can be proved to be done by the meere default of him or
them to whome the trespasse is done, It shall be judged no
trespasse, nor any damage given for it.
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
APPENDIX.
755
or mistakes, If the person and cause be rightly understood and
intended by the Court.
26. Every man that findeth himselfe unfit to plead his owne
cause in any Court shall have Libertie to imploy any man
against whom the Court doth not except, to help him, Pro-
vided he give him noe fee or reward for his paines. This
shall not exempt the partie him selfe from Answering such
Questions in person as the Court shall thinke meete to demand
of him.
27. If any plantife shall give into any Court a declaration
of his cause in writeing, The defendant shall also have liber-
tie and time to give in his answer in writeing, And so in all
further proceedings betwene partie and partie, So it doth not
further hinder the dispach of Justice then the Court shall be
willing unto.
28. The plantife in all Actions brought in any Court shall
have libertie to withdraw his Action, or to be nonsuited before
the Jurie hath given in their verdict, in which case he shall
alwaies pay full cost and chardges to the defendant, and may
afterwards renew his suite at an other Court if he please.
29. In all Actions at law it shall be the libertie of the
plantife 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 defend-
ant, and likewise every delinquent (to be judged by a Jurie)
to challenge 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, and tales
de cercumstantibus impaneled in their room.
31. In all cases where evidence is so obscure or defective
that the Jurie cannot clearely and safely give a positive ver-
dict, whether it be a grand or petit Jurie, It shall have libertie
to give a non Liquit, or a spetiall verdict, in which last, that
is in a spetiall verdict, the Judgement of the cause shall be
left to the Court, and all Jurors shall have libertie in matters
of fact if they cannot finde the maine issue, yet to finde and
present in their verdict so much as they can, If the Bench
and Jurors shall so differ at any time about their verdict that
either of them cannot proceede with peace of conscience the
case shall be referred to the Generall Court, who shall take
the question from both and determine it.
32. Every man shall have libertie to replevy his Cattell or
goods impounded, distreined, seised, or extended, unlesse it be
upon execution after Judgement, and in paiment of fines.
Provided he puts in good securitie to prosecute his replevin,
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APPENDIX.
And to satisfie such demands as his Adversary shall recover
against him in Law.
33. No person shall be Arrested, or imprisoned upon exe-
cution or judgment for any debt or fine, If the law can finde
competent meanes of satisfaction otherwise from his estaite,
and if not his person may be arrested and imprisoned where
he shall be kept at his owne charge, not the plantife's till
satisfaction be made: unlesse the Court that had cognizance
of the cause or some superior Court shall otherwise provide.
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.
35. No mans Corne nor hay that is in the field or upon the
Cart, nor his garden stuffe, nor any thing subject to present
decay, shall be taken in any distresse, unles he that takes it
doth presently bestow it where it may not be imbesled nor
suffer spoile or decay, or give securitie to satisfie the worth
thereof if it comes to any harme.
36. It shall be in the libertie of every man cast condemned
or sentenced in any cause in any Inferior Court, to make their
Appeale to the Court of Assistants, 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
satisfie what his Adversarie shall recover 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.
37. In all cases where it appears to the Court that the
plantife hath wilingly and witingly done wronge to the defend-
ant in commenceing and prosecuting any action or complaint
against him, They shall have power to impose upon him a
proportionable fine to the use of the defendant, or accused
person, for his false complaint or clamor.
38. Everie man shall have libertie to Record in the pub-
lique Rolles of any Court any Testimony given upon oath in
the same Court, or before two Assistants, or any deed or evi-
dence legally confirmed there to remaine in perpetuam rei
memoriam, that is for perpetuall memoriall or evidence upon
occasion.
39. In all actions both reall and personall betweene partie
and partie, the Court shall have power to respite execution
for a convenient time, when in their prudence they see just
cause so to doe.
40. No Conveyance, Deede, or promise whatsoever shall be
of valaditie, If it be gotten by Illegal violence, imprisonment,
APPENDIX.
757
threatenings, or any kinde of forcible compulsion called Dures.
41. Everie man that is to Answer 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 may be done without prejudice of
Justice.
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 equal to a gentleman
be punished with whipping, unles his crime be very shame-
full, 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 martial law, nor
shall the body of any man so put to death be unburied 12
howers, unlesse it be in case of Anatomie.
45. No man shall be forced by Torture to confesse any
Crime against himselfe nor any other unlesse it be in some
Capitall case where he is first fullie convicted by cleare and
suffitient evidence to be guilty, After which if the cause be of
that nature, That it is very apparent there be other conspira-
tours, or confederates 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 cruel.
47. No man shall be put to death without the testimony of
two or three witnesses or that which is equivalent thereunto.
48. Every Inhabitant of the Country shall have free lib-
ertie to search and veewe any Rooles, Records, or Regesters
of any Court or office except the Councell, And to have a
transcript or exemplification thereof written examined, and
signed by the hand of the officer of the office paying the ap-
pointed fees therefore.
49. No free man shall be compelled to serve upon Juries
above two Courts in a yeare, except grand Jurie men, who
shall hould two Courts together at the least.
50. All Jurors shall be chosen continuallie by the freemen
of the Towne where they dwell.
51. All Associates selected at any time to Assist the Assist-
ants in Inferior Courts shall be nominated by the Townes
belonging to that Court, by orderly agreement amonge them-
selves.
52. Children, Idiots, Distracted persons, and all that are
strangers, or new commers to our plantation, shall have such
allowances and dispensations in any Cause whether Criminall
or other as religion and reason require.
53. The age of discretion for passing away of lands or such
事
​758
APPENDIX.
kinde of herediments, or for giveing of votes, verdicts or Sen-
tence in any Civill Courts or causes, shall be one and twentie
yeares.
54. Whensoever anything is to be put to vote, any sen-
tence to be pronounced, or any other matter to be proposed,
or read in any Court or Assembly, If the president or moder-
ator thereof shall refuse to perform it, the Major parte of the
members of that Court or Assembly shall have power to ap-
point any other meete man of them to do it, And if there be
just cause to punish him that should and would not.
55. In all suites or Actions in any Court, the plaintife
shall have libertie to make all the titles and claims to that he
sues for he can. And the Defendant shall have libertie to
plead all the pleas he can in answere to them, and the Court
shall judge according to the entire evidence of all.
56. If any man shall behave himselfe offensively at any
Towne meeting, the rest of the freemen then present, shall
have power to sentence him for his offence. So be it the
mulct or penaltie exceede not twentie shilings.
57. Whensoever any person shall come to any very sud-
daine untimely and unnaturall death, Some assistant, or the
Constables of that Towne shall forthwith sumon 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.
58. Civill Authoritie hath power and libertie to see the
peace, ordinances and Rules of Christ observed in every church
according to his word. so it be done in a Civill and not in an
Ecclesiastical way.
59. Civill Authoritie hath power and libertie to deale with
any Church member in a way of Civill Justice, notwithstand-
ing any Church relation, office or interest.
60. No church censure shall degrad or depose any man
from any Civill dignitie, office, or Authoritie he shall have in
the Commonwealth.
61. No Magestrate, Juror, Officer, or other man shall be
bound to informe present or reveale any private crim or
offence, wherein there is no perill or danger to this plantation
or any member thereof, when any necessarie tye of conscience
binds him to secresie grounded upon the word of god, unlesse
it be the case of testimony lawfully required.
62. Any Shire or Towne shall have libertie to choose their
Deputies whom and where they please for the Generall Court.
So be it they be free men, and have taken there oath of fealtie,
and Inhabiting in this Jurisdiction.
APPENDIX.
759
63. No Governor, Deputy Governor, Assistant, Associate,
or grand Jury man at any Court, nor any Deputy for the Gen-
erall Court shall at any time beare his owne chardges at any
Court, but their necessary expences shall be defrayed either
by the Towne or Shire on whose service they are, or by the
Country in generall.
Everie Action betweene partie and partie, and pro-
ceedings against delinquents in Criminall causes shall be
briefly and destinctly entered on the Rolles of every Court by
the Recorder thereof. That such actions be not afterwards
brought againe to the vexation of any man.
65. No custome or prescription shall ever prevaile amongst
us in any morall cause, our meaneing is maintaine anythinge
that can be proved to bee morrallie sinfull by the word of god.
66. The Freemen of every Towneship shall have power
to make such by laws and constitutions as may concerne the
wellfare of their Towne, provided they be not of a Criminall,
but onely of a prudentiall nature, And that their penalties
exceede not 20 sh. for one offence. And that they be not
repugnant to the publique laws and orders of the Countrie.
And if any Inhabitant shall neglect or refuse to observe them,
they shall have power to levy the appointed penalties by dis-
tresse.
67. It is the constant libertie of the free men of this planta-
tion to choose yearly at the Court of Election out of the free-
men all the General officers of this Jurisdiction. If they
please to dischardge them at the day of Election by way of
vote, They may do it without showing cause. But if at any
other generall Court, we hould it due justice, that the reasons
thereof be alleadged and proved. By Generall officers we
meane, our Governor, Deputy Governor, Assistants, Treas-
urer, Generall of our warres. And our Admirall at Sea, and
such as are or hereafter may be of the like genrall nature.
68. It is the libertie of the freemen to choose such deputies
for the Generall Court out of themselves, either in their owne
Townes or elsewhere as they judge fitest And because we can-
not foresee 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 attend the Gen-
erall Court in the behalfe of the Countrie) 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 behoofefull for the best
welfaire thereof.
69. No Generall Court shall be desolved or adjourned with-
out the consent of the Major parte thereof.
70. All Freemen called to give any advise, vote, verdict,
or sentence in any Court, Counsell, or Civill Assembly, shall
760
APPENDIX.
have full freedome to doe it according to their true Judge-
ments and Consciences, So it be done orderly and inofensively
for the manner.
71. The Governor shall have a casting voice whensoever
an Equi vote shall fall out in the Court of Assistants, or gen-
erall assembly, So shall the presedent or moderator have in all
Civill Courts or Assemblies.
72. The Governor and Deputy Governor Joyntly consent-
ing or any three Assistants concurring in consent shall have
power out of Court to reprive a condemned malefactour, till
the next quarter or generall Court. The generall Court onely
shall have power to pardon a condemned malefactor.
73. The Generall Court hath libertie and Authoritie to
send out any member of this Comanwealth of what qualitie,
condition or office whatsoever into forreine parts about any
publique message or Negotiation. Provided the partie sent
be acquainted with the affaire he goeth about, and be willing
to undertake the service.
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 fitt men to order the planting or pru-
dentiall occasions of that Town, according to Instructions
given them in writing, Provided nothing be done by them con-
trary to the publique laws and orders of the Countrie, pro-
vided also the number of such select persons be not above
nine.
75. It is and shall be the libertie of any member or mem-
bers of any Court, Councell or Civill Assembly in cases of mak-
ing or executing any order or law, that properlie concerne
religion, or any cause capitall, or warres, or Subscription to
any publique Articles or Remonstrance, in case they cannot
in Judgement and conscience consent to that way the Major
vote or suffrage goes, to make their contra Remonstrance
or protestation in speech or writeing, and upon request
to have their dissent recorded in the Rolles of that Court. So
it be done Christianlie and respectively for the manner. And
their dissent onely be entered without the reasons thereof,
for the avoiding of tediousness.
76. Whensoever any Jurie of trialls or Jurours are not
cleare in their Judgements or consciences conserneing any
cause wherein they are to give their verdict, They shall have
libertie in open Court to advise with any man they thinke fitt
to resolve or direct them, before they give in their verdict.
77. In all cases wherein any freeman is to give his vote,
be it in point of Election, makeing constitutions and orders,
or passing sentence in any case of Judicature or the like, if
he cannot see reason to give it positively one way or an other,
he shall have libertie to be silent, and not pressed to a deter-
mined vote.
APPENDIX.
761
78. The Generall or publique Treasure or any parte thereof
shall never be exspended but by the appointment of a Generall
Court, nor any Shire Treasure, but by the appointment of the
freemen thereof, nor any Towne Treasurie but by the freemen
of that Towneship.
Liberties of Women.
79.
If any man at his death shall not leave his wife a com-
petent 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 shall be made to Authoritie assembled in some
Court, from which onely she shall receive it.
81.
Liberties of Children.
When parents dye intestate, the Elder sonne shall
have a doble portion of his whole estate reall and personall,
unlesse the Generall Court upon just cause alleadged shall
Judge otherwise.
82. When parents dye intestate haveing 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
any childe timely or convenient mariage, or shall exercise any
unnaturall severitie towards them, such childeren shall have
free libertie to complaine to Authoritie for redresse.
84. No 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.
Liberties of Servants.
85. If any servants shall flee from the Tiranny and crueltie
of their masters to the howse of any freeman of the same
Towne, they shall be there protected and susteyned till due
order be taken for their relife. Provided due notice thereof
be speedily given to their maisters from whom they fled. And
the next Assistant or Constable where the partie flying is har-
boured.
86. No servant shall be put of for above a yeare to any
other neither in the life time of their maister nor after their
762
APPENDIX.
death by their Executors or Administrators unlesse it be by
consent of Authoritie assembled in some Court or two Assist-
ants.
87. If any man smite out the eye or tooth of his man-ser-
vant, 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 recom-
pense as the Court shall allow him.
88. Servants that have served diligentlie and faithfully to
the benefitt of their maisters seaven yeares, shall not be sent
away emptie. And if any have bene unfaithfull, 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 Au-
thoritie.
Liberties of Forreiners and Strangers.
89. If any people of other Nations professing the true
Christian Religion shall flee to us from the Tiranny or oppres-
sion of their persecutors, or from famyne, warres, or
the like necessary and compulsarie cause, They shall
be entertayned and succoured amongst us, according to
that power and prudence god shall give us.
90. If any ships or other vessels, be it friend or enemy,
shall suffer shipwrack upon our Coast, there shall be no
violence or wrong offerred to their persons or goods. But
their persons shall be harboured, and relieved, and their goods
preserved in safety till Authoritie may be certified thereof,
and shall take further order therein.
91. There shall never be any bond slaverie, villinage or
Captivitie 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 Israell
concerning such persons doeth morally require. This exempts
none from servitude who shall be Judged thereto by Au-
thoritie.
Off the Bruite Creature.
92. No man shall exercise any Tirranny or Crueltie towards
any bruite Creature which are usuallie kept for man's 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.
94. Capitall Laws.
1. If any man after legall conviction shall have or worship
any other god, but the lord god, he shall be put to death.
APPENDIX.
763
2. If any man or woeman be a witch, (that is hath or con-
sulteth with a familiar spirit,) They shall be put to death.
3. If any man shall Blaspheme the name of god, the father,
Sonne or Holie ghost, with direct, expresse, presumptuous or
high handed blasphemie, or shall curse god in the like man-
ner, he shall be put to death.
4. If any person committ any wilfull murther, which is
manslaughter, committed upon premeditated mallice, hatred,
or Crueltie, not in a mans necessarie and just defence, nor by
meere casualtie against his will, he shall be put to death.
5. If any person slayeth an other suddaienly in his anger
or Crueltie of passion, he shall be put to death.
6. If any person shall slay another through guile, either
by poysoning or other such divelish practice, he shall be put
to death.
7. If any man or woeman shall lye with any beaste or
bruite creature by Carnall Copulation, They shall surely be
put to death. And the beast shall be slaine and buried and
not eaten.
8. If any man lyeth with mankinde as he lyeth with a
woeman, both of them have committed abhomination, they
both shall surely be put to death.
9. If any person committeth Adultery with a maried or
espoused wife, the Adulterer and Adulteresse shall surely be
put to death.
10. If any man stealeth a man or mankinde, he shall surely
be put to death.
11.
If any man rise up by false witnes, wittingly and of
purpose to take away any mans life, he shall be put to death.
12. If any man shall conspire and attempt any invasion,
insurrection, or publique rebellion against our commonwealth,
or shall indeavour to surprize any Towne or Townes, fort or
forts therein, or shall treacherously and perfediouslie attempt
the alteration and subversion of our frame of politie or Gov-
ernment fundamentallie, he shall be put to death.
95. A Declaration of the Liberties the Lord Jesus hath given to
the Churches.
1. All the people of god within this Jurisdiction 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 revealed in
his word.
2. Every Church hath full libertie to exercise all the ordi-
nances of god, according to the rules of scripture.
3. Evry Church hath free libertie of Election and ordina-
tion of all their officers from time to time, provided they be
able, pious and orthodox.
764
APPENDIX.
4. Every Church hath free libertie of Admission, Recom-
mendation, Dismission, and Expulsion, or deposall of their
officers and members, upon due cause, with free exercise of
the Discipline and Censures of Christ according to the rules
of his word.
5. No Injunctions are to be put upon any Church, Church
officers or member in point of Doctrine, worship or Discipline,
whether for substance or cercumstance besides the Institu-
tions of the lord.
6. Every Church of Christ hath freedome to celebrate dayes
of fasting and prayer, and of thanksgiveing according to the
word of god.
7. The Elders of Churches have free libertie to meete
monthly, Quarterly, or otherwise, in convenient numbers and
places, for conferences and consultations about Christian and
Church questions and occasions.
8. All Churches have libertie to deale with any of their
members in a church way that are in the hand of Justice. So
it be not to retard or hinder the course thereof.
9. Every Church hath libertie to deale with any mages-
trate, Deputie of Court or other officer what soe ever that is
a member in a church way in case of apparent and just offence
given in their places, so it be done with due observance and
respect.
10. Wee allowe private meetings for edification in religion
amongst Christians of all sortes of people. So it be without
just offence for number, time, place, and other cercumstances.
11. For the preventing and removeing of errour and
offence that may grow and spread in any of the Churches in
this Jurisdiction, and for the preserveing of trueith and peace
in the several churches within themselves, and for the main-
tenance and exercise of brotherly communion, amongst all
the churches in the Countrie, It is allowed and ratified, by
the Authoritie of this Generall Court as a lawfull libertie of
the Churches of Christ. That once in every month of the
yeare (when the season will beare it) It shall be lawfull for
the minesters and Elders, of the Churches neere adjoyneing
together, with any other of the breetheren with the consent of
the churches to assemble by course in each severall Church
one after an other. To the intent after the preaching of the
word by such a minister as shall be requested thereto by the
Elders of the church where the Assembly is held, The rest of
the day may be spent in publique Christian Conference about
the discussing and resolveing of any such doubts and cases of
conscience concerning matter of doctrine or worship or gov-
ernment of the church as shall be propounded by any of the
Breetheren of that church with leave also to any other Brother
to propound his objections or answeres for further satisfaction
APPENDIX.
765
according to the word of god. Provided that the whole action
be guided and moderated by the Elders of the Church where
the Assemblie is helde, or by such others as they shall appoint.
And that no thing be concluded and imposed by way of Au-
thoritie from one or more Churches upon an other, and onely
by way of Brotherly conference and consultations. That the
trueth may be searched out to the satisfying of every mans.
conscience in the sight of god according to his worde. And be-
cause such an Assembly and the worke theirof can not be
duely attended to if other lectures be helde in the same weeke.
It is therefore agreed with the consent of the Churches. That
in that weeke when such an Assembly is held, All the lectures
in all the neighboring Churches for that weeke shall be for-
borne. That so the publique service of Christ in this more
solemne Assembly may be transacted with greater deligence
and attention.
96. Howsoever these above specified rites, freedomes, Im-
munities, Authorities and priveledges, both Civill and Eccle-
siastical are expressed onely under the name and title of
Liberties, and not in the exact form of Laws or Statutes, yet
we do with one consent fullie Authorise, and earnestly in-
treate all that are and shall be in Authoritie to consider them
as laws, and not to faile to inflict condigne and proportionable
punishments upon every man impartiallie, that shall infringe
or violate any of them.
97. Wee likewise give full power and libertie to any person
that shall at any time be denyed or deprived of any of them,
to commence and prosecute their suite, Complaint or action
against any man that shall so doe in any Court that hath
proper Cognizance or judicature thereof.
98. Lastly because our dutie and desire is to do nothing
suddainlie which fundamentally concerne us, we decree that
these rites and liberties, shall be Audably read and deliber-
ately weighed at every Generall Court 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 Deputy 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
shall be paid out of their proper estate, and not by the
Country or the Townes which choose them, and whensoever
there shall arise any question in any Court amonge the Assist-
ants and Associates thereof about the explanation of these
Rites and liberties, The Generall Court onely shall have power
to interprett them.
766
APPENDIX.
INDEX TO BODY OF LIBERTIES.
References are to the number of the Liberty.
Abatements, 25.
Actions, malicious, punished, 37.
-to be enrolled, 64.
Adjournments, 69.
Admiral, annual election of, 67.
Adultery punished by death, 94.
Age of discretion, 53.
Alienation of lands and estates allowed, 11.
see Conveyances.
Animals, cruelty to, forbidden, 92.
Answers may be in writing, 27.
Appeals, security for, to be given in six days, 36.
Assembly, presiding officer to be suspended and punished for
refusing to put a vote, 54.
casting vote in, 71.
protest allowed in, 75.
Assistants, punished for misbehavior in court, 19.
may issue attachments, 21.
court of appeals, 36.
appeal from, to general court, 36.
associates to, how chosen, 51.
Attendance, non-, before any court or officer, not punishable,
if unavoidable, 4.
Bail allowed, 18.
Banishment, power of, reserved to general court, 1.
Barrator, common, punishment of, 34.
Bench, see Judges.
Bestiality punished by death, 94.
Blasphemy punished by death, 94.
Capital cases, reserved for general court, 1.
punishment, allowed only on full evidence, 47.
see Executions.
Cause, to be stated in summons, 21.
criminal, to be tried at next court, 41.
Children not to convey estates, 14.
entitled to proper marriages, 83.
see Wife.
Churches, to be sustained by the civil power, 58.
- members amenable to civil power, 59.
censure not to affect civil authority, 60.
APPENDIX.
767
Churches, privileges and rights defined, 95; especially to gather
churches; to govern by Gospel rules; to elect and ordain
officers; to admit and dismiss members; to be free from
injunction; to appoint fasts and thanksgivings; to hold
conferences; to discipline members while in the hands of
civil authority; to discipline members who are church
members; to hold private religious meetings, and to hold
councils of churches.
Conveyance, valid, 11.
invalid in certain cases, 14.
covenous and fraudulent, illegal, 15.
under duress, illegal, 40.
Court, neglect of, 4.
contempt of, 18.
errors and abatements, 25.
proceedings may be in writing, 27.
to give judgment on special verdicts, 31.
when differing from jury may refer to the general
court, 31.
to keep public records, 38.
may respite execution, 39.
to enter all actions on rolls, 64.
Court, General, power in capital cases, 1.
power over life, person and property, 1.
appeal to, 31, 36.
to ratify certain conveyances, 14.
adjournment of, 69.
powers over great ponds, 16.
to revise and ratify these Liberties annually for three
years, 98.
penalty for neglect of Liberty, 98, last clause.
Crime, no one to be tried twice for the same, 42.
Daughters to take as co-partners, 82.
Debt, imprisonment for, 33.
Deputies, how to be chosen, 62, 67.
-term of office, 67.
Dismembering, power of, reserved to general court, 1.
Dissection of malefactors, 44.
Distress, perishable goods taken in, 35.
Drovers allowed privileges in travelling, 93.
Duress invalidates all conveyances or promises, 40.
Election, annual, of officers, 67.
Emigration permitted, 17.
Escheats forbidden, 10.
Estates, see Intestate.
Execution, criminal, condemned, not to be executed in less
than four days from sentence, 44.
5
768
APPENDIX.
Exemptions from war or public service, 6.
Fishing, free, 16.
Foreigners to have equal protection, 2.
Forfeitures forbidden, 10.
Fowling, free, 16.
Freedom of speech and vote, 70.
General Court, see Court, General.
Governor to have a casting vote, 71.
see Officers.
Great ponds, fishing in, 16.
Heriots, forbidden, 10.
Honor and good name protected, 1.
Householders, rights to free fishing and fowling, 16.
Idolatry punished by death, 94.
Idiots not to convey estates, 14.
Informations not to be laid, 61.
Inhabitants all to have equal justice, 2.
Inheritances free from fines, etc., 10.
Inquests provided, 57.
Interest, legal rate to be eight per cent, 23.
Intestate estates, how divided, 81, 82.
Jeofails, statute of, 25.
Judges, punished for misbehavior in court, 20.
may try actions without jury, 29.
may approve challenges of jurors, 30.
Judgments, errors in, 25.
may be respited, 39.
see Suits.
Jurors, right to challenge, 30.
may allow challenges, 30.
may bring in a non-liquit, 31.
time of service, 49.
to be chosen by fellow-townsmen, 50.
may consult bystanders in open court, 76. ·
not compelled to vote on verdict, 77.
grand, to be paid, 63.
Lands free from fines, etc., 10.
Law of God to be followed in lack of statute, 1..
Laws, capital, 94; inflicting death penalty for:
Heresy, § 1.
Witchcraft, § 2.
Blasphemy, 3.
Murder, 4, 5.
Poisoning, 6.
Bestiality, 7.
Sodomy, 8.
APPENDIX.
769
Adultery, 9.
Man stealing, 10.
Perjury against life, 11.
Treason, 12.
Laws to be published, 1.
Liberties to have the force of laws, 96.
breach of, noticed by the courts, 97.
to be revised and ratified annually for three years, 98.
Life inviolable except by action of law, 1.
Liveries forbidden, 10.
Malefactors, after execution, to be buried within twelve hours,
unless dissected, 44.
Man-stealing punished by death, 94.
Marriage, parents to settle children in, 83.
Married women not to convey estates, 14.
Meetings, foreigners allowed to act in, 12.
moderator to have casting vote at, 71.
Monopolies forbidden, 9.
Murder punished by death, 94.
Non-liquit, see Verdict, special.
Oath not compulsory, 3.
Officers, general, defined, 67.
elected by freemen, 67.
tenure of office, 67.
to be repaid their expenses, 63.
Orphans to be bound out only by order of court, 84.
Patents allowed, 9.
Perjury, touching life, punished with death, 94.
Person, not to be arrested or punished except by law, 1.
to be free from arrest for debt or fine, if estate can be
found, 33.
Pleas may be in writing, 27.
Poisoning, punished with death, 94.
Ponds, see Great Ponds.
Prescription not to be maintained against Gospel, 65.
Presiding officer, see Assembly.
Press, see Work, public.
Primer-seisins forbidden, 10.
Property to be taken only by law, 1.
- not to be taken for public use without compensation, 8.
Protest allowed, 75.
Prudential affairs to be settled by towns, 66.
officers elected, 74.
Public expenses, see Officers.
service in foreign parts not compulsory, 73.
Punishment of married women, 80.
barbarous, forbidden, 46.
53
770
APPENDIX.
Punishment, capital, see Laws.
bodily, see Stripes.
Records, open to public examination, 48.
certified copies obtainable, 48.
of protests to be made, 75.
of courts to be kept, 38.
Removal of officers for cause, 67.
Replevin allowed, 32.
Reprieves, how granted, 72.
Rivers, see Great Ponds.
Security to be given in cases of replevin, 32.
Servants, to be protected, 81.
transfers of, regulated, 86.
injury to, 87.
to be rewarded at end of term, 88.
Slavery prohibited, 91.
Sodomy punished with death, 94.
Son, elder, to have double portion of intestate estate, 81.
Strangers, Christian, to be received and aided, 89.
shipwrecked, to be protected, 91.
see Foreigners.
Stripes, not above forty to be given, and gentlemen to be
exempt, 43.
Suits, vexatious, to be punished, 22.
— not to be abated, arrested, or reversed for technical
errors, 25.
may be withdrawn and renewed in another court, 28.
of children, idiots, strangers, etc., to be specially pro-
tected, 52.
parties given fullest liberty to claim and to answer, 55.
Summons to be served at least six days before trial, 21.
Taxes not to be assessed on estate outside of colony, 13.
Testimony to be recorded, 38.
in perpetuam rei memoriam, 38.
Torture greatly restricted, 45.
Town meeting, disturbance at, to be punished, 56.
Towns, to choose deputies, 62.
-to regulate their prudentials, 66.
Treason punished by death, 94.
Treasure, public, how to be disbursed, 78.
Trespass, no damages for, if party injured caused it, 24.
Trials may bẹ by the bench alone or with a jury, 29.
Usury forbidden, 23.
see Interest.
Verdict, suits may be withdrawn before, 28.
special, may be given, 31.
APPENDIX.
771
Vote, casting, 71.
must be put, 54.
Voting, freedom of, 70.
not compulsory, 77.
War beyond the colony, service not compulsory, 7.
Wardships forbidden, 10.
Waste, year and day, forbidden, 10.
Water-mark, high and low, limits of free fishing and
fowling, 16.
Widow to receive dower, 79.
Wife and children not to be taken away, 1.
Wills allowed, 11.
Witchcraft punished by death, 94.
!
Women, maimed, free from bodily punishments by hus-
bands, 80.
Work, public, no man to be impressed for, without due com-
pensation, 5.
Wreck, in case of, goods to be protected, 90.
Written pleas and answers allowed, 27.
772
APPENDIX.
APPENDIX E. I.
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ROYAL PROVINCIAL GOV-
ERNMENT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.¹ 1680.
BY CHARLES WESLEY TUTTLE.
Address before the Society, December 29, 1880.
[Proceedings New Hampshire Historical Society, pp. 338-352; Id Historical
Papers by Charles Wesley Tuttle, edited by Albert Harrison Hoyt, 1889,
pp. 175-19.4.]
The event which we commemorate on this occasion is the most memorable
in the annals of New Hampshire. This event is no less than the organization
of the first lawful government over the Province of New Hampshire, the
establishment of a political existence which has now endured for two cen-
turies. It is no less an event than the emancipation of the first generation of
settlers on this soil from the bondage of an usurper, and the recovery of their
birthright and independence. The year 1680 is commonly regarded as the
end of the first period of New Hampshire history. It seems to me this period
is properly divided into two: the first, beginning in 1623 and ending in 1641,
during which the first settlements were made, and four towns had arrived at
maturity; the second period beginning with the extension of the jurisdiction
of Massachusetts over the towns and the entire province, and ending with
the establishment of a government over New Hampshire, raising it to the
dignity of a British province in the year 1680. I shall now briefly consider
the events of these two periods, particularly those leading to the establish-
ment of a royal government in 1680.
In the year 1620 James I. of England granted to forty persons, consist-
ing of nobles, knights, and gentlemen, all the territory in North America
lying between the 40th and the 48th degree of north latitude, and between
the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, with power to govern the same. This
association was styled "The Council established at Plymouth, in the county
of Devon, for the planting, ordering, ruling, and governing of New England
in America.” To this vast extent of territory was given the name New
England. Except a few scattered English settlements on the coast of
Maine it was still an unbroken wilderness throughout. The Council pro-
ceeded to make small grants of their territory along the Atlantic coast to
such Englishmen as desired to make plantations in America. In 1622 this
Council granted to Capt. John Mason, who had just returned to England
from Newfoundland, where he had been governor of a colony of English for
1 This address was delivered before the New Hampshire Historical Society at a special
meeting convened at Portsmouth, Dec. 29, 1880,- the two hundredth anniversary of the estab-
lishment of a royal provincial government over New Hampshire. The address has been
printed by that society in vol. 1 of their Proceedings, 1876-1888, and is here reproduced with
their consent. The author had intended to enlarge the address before its publication by the
society, but was prevented by his failing health and sudden death.-H.
•
The reproduction of Mr. Tuttle's monograph and a part of Mr. Doyle's narrative in this
volume results from a sense of the necessity of a more elaborate statement of the historical.
setting for the beginning of the province government than is given in the note on page 1, ante;
and this consideration is supplemented by the argument of convenience in having the latest
and most authoritative treatment of that epoch accessible to the student of the laws of the
time of President Cutt in the same book in which they are now put before the public.
The paper of Mr. Tuttle, here reprinted, and the extracts from the work of Mr. Doyle
which follow, will afford those who consult this volume an introduction to the history of the
events connected with the establishment of a province government in New Hampshire, an
insight into the character, motives, and interests of those who had to do with that government
and with those events, and an apprehension of the main features of the policy of state and
the trend of political forces to which, in the light of modern research and the material at pres-
ent available in aid of it, results and consequences now clearly manifest in the history of the
period were attributable. Due allowance must, however, be made for the fact that it is as
difficult for historians as it is for other public teachers not to betray, in their statements of
fact and their comments on men and events, more or less of political, ecclesiastical, and per-
sonal bias. With a comparatively complete record of the official proceedings before him, and
with the aid of the productions of the historians of different periods, even though they may
be in some sense argumentative and partisan, the student of that period of colonial history
ought to be able to reach well founded conclusions.—A. S. B.
S
APPENDIX.
773
seven years, all the land lying along the Atlantic from Naumkeag river to
the Merrimack river, and extending back to the heads of those rivers. This
tract of land was then and there named Mariana, and, I submit, in compli-
ment to the Spanish Infanta, to whom Prince Charles of England was then
affianced, and not in compliment to the Princess Henrietta Maria, as his-
torians will have it. In 1622 the Council granted to Captain Mason and Sir
Ferdinando Gorges all the land lying between the Merrimack river and the
Kennebec river, extending sixty miles inland, and this was called the
province of Maine. This grant included what was afterward New Hamp-
shire. Seven years later, in 1629, Mason and Gorges divided their grant of
the province of Maine, Mason taking that part lying between the Merrimack
river and the Pascataqua river, and naming it New Hampshire. The Coun-
cil confirmed this to him by a grant. This is the first appearance of the
name New Hampshire in New England, and it survives today, the only name
of an English county applied to any of the states.¹
In 1628 the council granted to several persons or associates, known after-
wards as the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, a tract of land lying between
Charles river on the south and the Merrimack river on the north, and ex-
tending three miles beyond these two rivers, and east and west from the
Atlantic to the Pacific ocean. The Council had never hitherto made a grant
of such an enormous extent of territory and of limits extending beyond the
rivers that bounded it. A patent so ample was regarded with astonishment,
especially as it covered Mason's patent, Mariana, and also Capt. Robert
Gorges's patent of Massachusetts Bay. This mischievous grant not only
broke up the Council at last, but gave trouble for one hundred years to all
the colonies that bounded on it.
In the spring of 1623 David Thomson, with a small company, established
himself at Little Harbor, at the mouth of the Pascataqua river, on the
large grant that had been made to Mason and Gorges only the year before.
So far as known this was the first settlement in this state. About the same
time a settlement was made at Dover. For fourteen years these were the
only settlements in New Hampshire. Hampton was settled in 1637 by people
from Massachusetts; Exeter in 1638 by Wheelwright and others banished from
Massachusetts. Captain Mason had great expectations of making his prov-
ince worthy of his efforts. His employment at home as paymaster and
treasurer of the army in the wars with Spain and France had prevented his
visiting his American province. He had sent agents and servants with all
necessary articles to make a plantation and look for mines. In 1635 he was
made vice-admiral of New England, and was preparing to come hither when
he fell ill and died, to the great comfort of Massachusetts Bay. He was an
1 The state of New York was so named in honor of the Duke of York, afterwards James
II.-H.
2 It is not possible, with our present information, to fix the date of the first settlement of
Dover, or more properly Hilton's Point, now called Dover Neck. If was probably at least four
or five years after the settlement made in 1623 by David Thomson and others at Pannaway, or
Little Harbor, at the mouth of the Pascataqua. See Declaration of Allen, Shapleigh, and
Lake, in Belknap (Farmer's ed.) 435, and Prov. Papers of New Hamp. i. 159; Notes on an in-
denture of David Thomson and others, by Chas. Deane, LL. D., in Proceedings of Mass. Hist.
Soc. for May, 1876; Jenness's Notes on the First Planting of New Hampshire, 14-24; and Tut-
tle's Memoir of Capt. John Mason, 18. All these authorities discredit the vague statement of
Hubbard, from which it has been inferred that he assigned the year 1623 as the date of the
settlement at Hilton's Point. But see note 18 in Tuttle's Memoir of Mason, by the editor of
that work, showing that for some time before his death Mr. Tuttle was inclined to place more
reliance on Hubbard's statements.-H.
The "Notes on an Indenture of David Thomson and others," by Charles Deane, and the
"Notes on the First Planting of New Hampshire," by John Scribner Jenness, cited above by
Mr. Hoyt, have been given a further publication by incorporation in the appendix to vol. 25,
New Hampshire State Papers, pp. 661-788. Allusion to this question of the priority of settle-
ment at Odiorne's Point and Dover Point is made in the preface to N. H. State Papers, vol. 27,
p. iii. The "Historical Memoranda Concerning Persons and Places in Old Dover," collected
by Rev. Dr. Alonzo Hall Quint and others and published in the Dover Enquirer from 1850 to
1888, have been published in part in book form under the editing of John Scales. The date and
place of this republication is given as Dover, March, 1900. This book contains more or less
data of the first settlement at Dover. In an address on the occasion of the two hundred and
fiftieth anniversary of the first parish church in Dover, Oct. 28, 1883, by Dr. Quint, the
address being enlarged into a history of the parish and published in 1884, the author, on page
13, gives his conclusions as to the date of the settlement at Dover Point. The First settle-
ment of New Hampshire," an address by Joseph B. Walker on the occasion of the unveiling
of a granite memorial, erected by the Society of Colonial Dames of New Hampshire, at the
supposed site of the settlement at Odiorne's Point, October 21, 1899, Granite Monthly, vol. 28,
p. 56, is a recent contribution on the subject of the first settlement.-A. S. B.
774
APPENDIX.
unflinching royalist and churchman,-a neighbor that the Bay much dis-
liked.¹
No sooner was Mason dead than dreams of aggrandizement visited the
leading minds of the Bay. They had discovered that the Merrimack river,
after running southerly fifty or sixty miles, turned and ran easterly thirty
or forty miles to the Atlantic ocean. They construed their patent to mean
that their northern bounds should be three miles north of the northernmost
point of Merrimack river, and from that point run east to the Atlantic
ocean and west to the Pacific. It was plain enough to see that such a con-
struction would not only take into their jurisdiction all Mason's patent,
but most of Gorges's in Maine. Their east line ran into Casco bay, and all
south of it, to the Pacific ocean, was Massachusetts. They notified the people
of New Hampshire that they were living within the Massachusetts patent,
and threatened them that they would look into their northern boundaries, and
would see how far north the Merrimack river extended.
The first thing was to seize upon the fair lands in Mason's patent, called
by the Indians Winnicowitt, and grant it to their people. In 1639 they in-
corporated it a town by the name of Hampton, and its allegiance was
always claimed by the Massachusetts government. Massachusetts had re-
solved to get the three other towns under her jurisdiction by her policy of
intrigue, without actual force. Portsmouth was strongly Episcopalian, and
Episcopalians were royalists. Dover was divided, part Episcopalian and part
Puritan. The settlers of Exeter and Hampton were Puritans. Massachu-
setts began to intrigue with Dover, and the Puritan element fell into her
embrace, taking along with them the royalists. Portsmouth was persuaded
to follow Dover, some of the leading loyalists having been first tampered
with by the Puritan agents of Massachusetts. Portsmouth and Dover
yielded to the jurisdiction of Massachusetts in 1641; Hampton was already
there, but Exeter held out till 1643.
New Hampshire, or Mason's patent, as it was frequently called, was now
entirely wiped out from the political map of New England. The only
power to remedy this great abuse was in the king of England. He was now
in arms and about to enter into a death struggle with the Puritan parliament.
The heirs of Capt. John Mason were young, the eldest not above ten years
of age. Massachusetts having gotten these four towns into her jurisdiction,
then made her territory into counties. She formed all the towns north of
the Merrimack river, including Portsmouth, Dover, Exeter, and Hampton,
into one county, and named it Norfolk.
Prior to 1641 no general government had ever been placed over the towns.
Each settlement, except Hampton, had associated and agreed upon articles
by which they would be governed till the king should otherwise direct.
The jura regalia were in the king. Captain Mason was expecting the
destruction of the charter of Massachusetts, and that a general governor
would be placed over New England. This would have secured to his
province all the government that was needed. A period of nearly forty
years now followed, during which the name of New Hampshire was seldom
if ever heard. New generations had come upon the soil, and the people
had become hardened into Puritan usages.
2
The restoration of Charles II. to the throne of England in May, 1660,
was received in all the New Hampshire towns with joy by the royalists
that remained, and by those who longed for emancipation from the yoke of
Massachusetts. The Puritan element joined Massachusetts in deploring the
event. In the month of July that colony received authentic information
1 For a complete presentation of all known facts in regard to Mason's interests in New
England, see Tuttle's Memoir of Capt. John Mason, edited by John Ward Dean, A. M., and
published by the Prince Society, 1887.-H.
A very important and voluminous addition to the accessible material relating to the his-
tory of the Masonian interest in New England resulted from the donation of the records and
papers of the Masonian Proprietary to the state of New Hampshire by Robert Cutts Peirce of
Portsmouth in 1891, two years subsequent to the publication of Mr. Hoyt's edition of the works
of Mr. Tuttle. The Peirce collection of Masonian documents, with additions gathered from
other sources, has been published by the state in its State Papers series, vols. 27, 28, and 29, 1896.
A further description of the contents of this collection and more elaborate cómments on its
place and its value in the documentary history of the province and state may be consulted in
the editor's preface on p. iii in each of the volumes.-A. S. B.
2 See Notes on an Indenture of David Thomson and others, by Charles Deane, LL. D.
in Proceedings of Mass. Hist. Soc. for May, 1876.-H.
This paper is reprinted in 25 N. H. State Papers, pp. 711-739.—A. S. B.
APPENDIX.
775
that the king was on the throne of his ancestors, and immediately received
into its bosom two of the flying regicides. More than a year elapsed before
His Majesty was proclaimed king in that jurisdiction. The time had now
arrived when those persons and those colonies in New England which had
been aggrieved by the acts of Massachusetts could apply for redress in
England. The king was ready to hear the complaints of his loyal subjects
and do them justice. No one having interests in New Hampshire had greater
and longer grievances than Robert Mason, grandson and heir of John Mason,
the founder and proprietor of the province. His estate extended from the
waters of the Pascataqua to the Naumkeag river, and every inch was then
under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts. The first step towards recovering
his estate was to get rid of the jurisdiction of Massachusetts and restore to
the king his jura regalia. The sympathy and good wishes of all the inhab-
itants impatient of Puritan rule went with him, but they were unable to
assist him beyond expressing their wishes. A great political question was
involved in Mason's undertaking. His action, if successful, might lead not
only to the recovery of his estate, but to the independence of New Hamp-
shire; but if unsuccessful, then farewell to the province forever. What had
been designed for a British province in New England had been for many
years converted into a frontier county of Massachusetts. The name New
Hampshire could not be found on any political map of New England.
Robert Mason set about his design with a spirit worthy of his ancestors.
He suffered nothing to turn him aside. Before the end of the first year of
His Majesty's reign he presented his claim for the territory of New Hamp-
shire, in its fullest extent, to the king. His Majesty submitted its legal
aspect to his attorney-general, who soon reported that "Robert Mason,
grandson and heir of Capt. John Mason, had a good and legal title to the
Province of New Hampshire." All well so far; but how was Mason to get
control of it? Massachusetts, the most powerful colony in New England,
had long been in possession of the province, claiming it to be within her
patent and jurisdiction. Here was a new and untried difficulty, and before
any solution had been reached, His Majesty had been advised to send com-
missioners to New England, with authority to examine the many complaints
which had been made to him, determine them where they could, and where
they could not, report the facts to His Majesty for his determination. Four
commissioners were sent in 1664 and were well received in all the colonies
except Massachusetts, where they met with steady opposition.¹ The king
gave them no directions concerning Mason's claim to the territory of New
Hampshire, neither did he forbid their attempting to compose the difficulty.
Massachusetts having refused to treat with them on any question where she
was concerned, nothing was accomplished by way of negotiation.
In June, 1665, the royal commissioners passed into New Hampshire on
their way to Maine. The inhabitants received them kindly, and those
opposed to the rule of Massachusetts prayed the commissioners to deliver
them from that colony. They received a petition signed by about thirty
inhabitants of Portsmouth, among whom were Champernowne, Pickering,
Sherburne, Hunking, and many other well-known persons, setting forth
their grievances under Massachusetts laws and fanaticism, which had become
oppressive, and praying for relief. Another petition, addressed to the king,
was placed in their hands. It was signed by inhabitants of the four towns,
praying His Majesty to take Ñew Hampshire under his royal protection, that
they might be governed by the laws of England. The commissioners, being
satisfied that Massachusetts was but an usurper in that province, appointed
justices of the peace in the king's name, with power to act under the laws
of England, and to continue until the king's pleasure should be made known,'
and departed into Maine. Massachusetts hastened to undo all that the com-
missioners had done in New Hampshire.
That colony, seeing that Mason was persistent in seeking to recover from
its grasp the province of New Hampshire,- now resorted to intrigue with
Mason's relative and agent, Joseph Mason, living at Portsmouth. For this
1 See pages 115, 116, Historical Papers by C. W. Tuttle.
2 These petitions are printed in Jenness's Transcripts of Original Documents relating to
New Hampshire, 48, 49.-H.
The same documents are reprinted in N. H. State Papers, vol. 17, pp. 473-604.-A. S. B.
776
APPENDIX.
purpose they first dispatched their secretary, Edward Rawson, and after-
wards Robert Pike. Their final proposition was to surrender to Robert
Mason his lands if he would consent that Massachusetts jurisdiction might
continue over them. Robert Mason unhesitatingly rejected the proposition
when it was communicated to him. He had no wish to live under that
government; he desired to restore his province to the jurisdiction of
English laws. Had Mason then and there yielded, there had been an end
to New Hampshire. After some years, no progress having been made with
the adjustment of the claim, Mason presented a petition to the king, stating
that he had received no satisfaction and was wearied with the delay. Gorges
had been equally unsuccessful in recovering out of the grasp of Massachusetts
his province of Maine. The king dispatched copies of these complaints by
the hands of Edward Randolph to the magistrates of Boston, and required
from them an answer to Gorges's and Mason's claims. The colonies sent
agents to England to make answer. The matter was referred to the Lord
Chief Justices of England to hear and determine. To the surprise of all,
the Massachusetts agents disclaimed title to the soil, but contended for juris-
diction over the province. The judges decided that the jurisdiction of Massa-
/chusetts went no farther than the boundaries expressed in the patent, and
those boundaries, the judges said, cannot be construed to extend farther
northward along the river Merrimack than three English miles. This
decision was approved by the king, and there was an end to Massachusetts
jurisdiction over so much of New Hampshire.
No sooner was this decision reached than the Massachusetts agents made
application to the king to settle the four towns, Poris mouth, Dover, Exeter,
and Hampton, under Massachusetts, at the same time stigmatizing the “in-
habitants of those towns as few and of mean estate," and therefore of little
consequence to any one. Massachusetts bestirred herself and procured peti-
tions to be signed by some inhabitants in all the towns, requesting this
to be done, and forwarded the same to their agents in London, who presented
them to the Lords of the Committee for Trade and Plantations, but it was to
no purpose; the king had resolved that Massachusetts should have no more
territory or jurisdiction. The colony agents had approached Mason to buy
his interest in the province while the matter was pending before the Lord
Chief Justices, and he refused to sell to them. They were more successful
with Gorges.¹
Mason was bound to stand by his interests in the province. He had now
pursued them since the restoration of King Charles II., eighteen years before.
It was his earnest desire that the king should establish his government over
the province, and at length his wishes were gratified. In July, 1679, the
king wrote to the colony of Massachusetts, rebuking them for having pur-
chased without his knowledge or consent, Gorges's province of Maine, and
bade them to prepare to deliver it to him, when he should be ready to receive
it. He told them they need not expect the province of New Hampshire would
be annexed to that colony; that he had in view the establishing there such
method as would benefit and satisfy the people of that place. He ordered
the colony to recall all the commissions they had granted for governing New
Hampshire, and thus prepared the way for his royal government. The four
towns in the province now awaiting the new government contained only
about four thousand inhabitants, although Portsmouth and Dover had been
settled nearly sixty years before, and Hampton and Exeter forty years.
No new settlement had been made while under the jurisdiction of Massachu-
setts,-proof enough of the blighting effect of Puritan rule over this province.
Most of the present inhabitants never knew any other government than
Massachusetts, having been born and reared under it. But among the aged,
forty years' captivity had not entirely destroyed their love and reverence for
the English church and the English laws.
It is a notable fact that the chief trade of the province at this time was
in masts, planks, boards, and staves. Fishing seems to have been laid aside
altogether. The new government immediately urged His Majesty to make
the Pascataqua river a free port, and annex the south half of the Isles of
Shoals.
Charles II. and his ministers had now resolved to establish a government
over that part of the province of New Hampshire, which had been deter-
1 See page 117 and note 3, Historical Papers by C. W. Tuttle.
{
APPENDIX.
777
•
mined to lie outside the northern bounds of Massachusetts jurisdiction, and
which contained within its limits only four towns, namely, Portsmouth,
Dover, Hampton, and Exeter. Among the considerations which led His
Majesty to this undertaking were the petitions of the loyal inhabitants sent
to him from time to time, asking to be taken into his immediate care and
protection; the determination to see that his faithful subject, Robert Mason,
had that justice done him which he had so long prayed for; and the pres-
ervation of those forests in the province which had yielded for the royal
navy during many years the finest masts in the world.
At that time three species of colonial government were in vogue among
the British colonies in America. There were chartered governments,
like Massachusetts and Connecticut; proprietary governments, like the
provinces of Maine and Maryland; and provincial governments, like New
York and Virginia. A provincial or royal government consisted of three
branches, a governor or president, and a council, both nominated and
appointed by the king, and an assembly chosen by the people. It is mani-
fest that in this form of government the just prerogatives of the crown and
the constitutional privileges of the people are equally attended to.
Such a
government had been established in Virginia as early as 1619, and was hailed
with applause. It has the distinction of being the first legislative assembly
in America. It was an auspicious day for New Hampshire when Charles II.
adopted for it a provincial government, a government that continued over
it for almost a hundred years. There had never been in New England, and
there never was afterwards, a government of this kind. New Hampshire has
the distinction of being the only royal government this side of the Hudson
river,—a government administered by the king's commission in the hands
of his lieutenant.
The royal commission for the government of the province of New Hamp-
shire is dated Westminster, Sept. 18, 1679. It is in the form of other com-
missions for government, and is briefly as follows: it inhibits and restrains
the jurisdiction exercised by the colony of Massachusetts over the towns of
Portsmouth, Dover, Exeter, and Hampton, and all other lands extending
from three miles to the northward of the river Merrimack, and of any and
every part thereof to the province of Maine; constitutes a president and
council to govern the province; appoints John Cutt, Esq., president, to con-
tinue one year, and till another be appointed by the same authority; Richard
Martyn, William Vaughan, and Thomas Daniel of Portsmouth, John Gilman
of Exeter, Christopher Hussey of Hampton, and Richard Waldron of Dover,
Esquires, to be of the council, who were authorized to choose three other
qualified persons out of the several parts of the province, to be added to .
them. The said president, and every succeeding one, to appoint a deputy
to preside in his absence; the president or his deputy, with any five, to be a
quorum. They were to meet at Portsmouth in twenty days after the arrival
of the commission, and publish it. They were to constitute a court of record
for the administration of justice, according to the laws of England, so far
as circumstances would permit, reserving a right of appeal to the king
in council for actions of fifty pounds value. They were empowered to
appoint military officers and take all needful measures for defence against
enemies. Liberty of conscience was allowed to all Protestants, those of the
Church of England to be particularly encouraged. For the support of gov-
ernment they were to continue the present taxes till an assembly could be
called; to which end they were within three months to issue writs under the
province seal for calling an assembly, to whom the president should recom-
mend the passing of such laws as should establish their allegiance, good
order, and defence, and the raising taxes in such manner and proportion as
they should see fit. All laws to be approved by the president and council,
and then to remain in force till the king's pleasure should be known, for
which purpose they should be sent to England by the first ships. In case
of the president's death his deputy to succeed, and on the death of a coun-
cillor the remainder to elect another and send over his name, with the
names of two other meet persons, that the king might appoint one of the
three. The king engaged for himself and his successors to continue the
privilege of an assembly in the same manner and form, unless by incon-
venience arising therefrom he or his heirs should see cause to alter the
If any of the inhabitants should refuse to agree with Mason or his
same.
Ꮴ
778
APPENDIX.
agents on the terms stated in the commission, the president and council
were directed to reconcile the difference, or send the case, stated in writing,
with their own opinions, to the king, that he, with his privy council, might
determine it according to equity."
The king was extremely desirous to compose the differences likely to arise
between the inhabitants of the province and Mason, the proprietor. He
points out in the commission, with some detail, what he wishes the presi-
dent and council to do in the matter.
2
Who suggested to the king the names for president and council does not
appear, but there were not in the whole province straighter Puritans or
firmer friends of the Massachusetts colony. They were avowed enemies
of the Anglican church, and they loved the laws and jurisprudence of Eng-
land none too well. Every one had been in office under Massachusetts during
the usurpation, and every one had signed the recent petitions sent to the
king, praying to remain under the jurisdiction of that colony. They hated
Mason for detaching the province from Massachusetts, and they hated his
claim to the soil more. All had gained considerable estates, mainly by com-
mercial transactions. The planters of New Hampshire had no representative
in the executive part of this new government. The Massachusetts Puritans
must have smiled grimly when they saw the names of their partisans in the
royal commission.
3
Charles II. and his ministers had been completely duped; and they found
it out before the first year of the administration had ended. All the members
of the executive government were born in England, and were now advanced
in years. They had lived in the province between thirty and forty years,
and were well known in every part of it. John Cutt, named president in
the commission, was one of three enterprising brothers whose names were
already conspicuous in the commercial annals of Portsmouth. His whole
life had been passed in commercial adventures. The sails of his vessels had
whitened every sea known to the commerce of New England. He had
long been known as an eminent and opulent merchant. He was now
well advanced in years, and lived in Portsmouth, the commercial metropolis
of the province. His spacious homestead on Strawberry Bank was part of
the lands which had been reduced to cultivation by the agents of Captain
Mason half a century ago. President Cutt had not seen much of public life.
He appears to have avoided it. Once only had he been a member of the gen-
eral court of Massachusetts, and after a few days' service he got excused
from further attendance. Occasionally he was a commissioner of the county
court, and often a selectman of Portsmouth. In 1663 the town elected
him constable, but he refused to accept, and paid his fine, five pounds. He
was an active and conspicuous member of the Rev. Joshua Moody's church.
His name stands with the original members.*
Richard Waldron, one of the council, had no equal for ability and force of
character in the whole province. He had been longer a resident than any
other member of the board, and was a steady adherent to Massachusetts.
He had been many years a member of the general court and seven years
speaker of the house of deputies. He was strongly opposed to Mason's
interest, and his influence in New Hampshire had always been great. The
other five members of the council named in the commission, Richard Martyn,
William Vaughan, Thomas Daniel, John Gilman, and Christopher Hussey,
had had considerable experience in the local government under Massachusetts.
1 Belknap's Hist. of New Hamp., Farmer's ed., 88, 89. For the commission to Pres.
Cutt, see Coll. Hist. Soc. of New Hamp., viii. 1-9.-H.
See also Laws of the province of New Hampshire, 1771, pp. 1-6; I Province Papers, pp.
373-382; Constitutions of the United States, ed. 2, 1878, compiled by Ben. Perley Poore, vol.
2, p. 1275; ante, p. 2.—A. S. B.
2 It is probable the suggestion originated with Robert Mason or Edward Randolph.
-H.
3 It does not appear that any deception or duplicity was used in procuring the nom-
ination of Cutt and his councillors. They were leading men in the province, and most
capable of organizing the new government; and undoubtedly it was chiefly for this reason
that they were selected. They expressly declared their reluctance to accept office under
the commission. President Cutt was an honest and fair-minded man, and while he lived
exerted his influence to have the king's wishes and commands, as expressed in the com-
mission, faithfully observed. But his death, which occurred soon after the government
was organized, put the control of affairs into the hands of men less wise and less moder-
ate.-H.
4 See note 2, p. 120, Historical Papers by C. W. Tuttle.
APPENDIX.
779
The royal commission having passed the seals, the king wrote a letter
to the president and council, and placed both, with the provincial seal, in the
hands of Edward Randolph, to carry to the province of New Hampshire.
The king also gave Randolph a portrait of His Majesty, and the royal arms
to be set up at the seat of government. Randolph placed these somewhat
bulky articles on a New England vessel which never reached its destination,
and thus New Hampshire was deprived of these memorials of royalty.
Randolph's route lay by the way of New York. He sailed from England
the last of October, and arrived in Portsmouth on the 27th of December, 1679,
little more than three months after the royal commission had passed the
seals. Randolph at once presented himself to Mr. John Cutt, "a very just
and honest man," says Randolph, and acquainted him with his royal errand.
Cutt lost no time in sending summons to the members of the council named
in the commission to meet at his house and receive from Randolph His
Majesty's communications. On the first day of January, 1680, the council
assembled, and Randolph placed in their hands His Majesty's letter and the
royal commission for the government of the province. The letter and com-
mission being read, most of the council desired time to consider whether they
would accept. Waldron and Martyn were decidedly opposed to the commis-
sion. President Cutt and John Gilman of Exeter were ready to accept the
commission. Nearly three weeks were spent in deliberating the matter
by the hesitating members of the council. At last, seeing that the president
was determined to organize the government within the time required by
the commission, and that their places were likely to be filled by others, they
accepted, and took the oaths of office on the 21st of January. Meantime
President Cutt notified the inhabitants of the province to assemble at Ports-
mouth on the 22d day of January, and hear his Majesty's commission read
and proclamation made of His Majesty's having received the province of
New Hampshire under his gracious favor and protection. This must have
been a memorable day in Portsmouth, for it is recorded that great acclama-
tion and firing of cannon followed the announcement that they were under
His Majesty's government.¹
On that day the organization of the executive government was completed.
The president made choice of Richard Waldron as deputy-president, and the
number of the council was made complete by the election of three new mem-
bers. Proclamation was then made that all persons holding office in the
province should continue in their places until further orders be taken by
His Majesty's government. The next step was to summon an assembly. A
warrant was dispatched to the selectmen of all the towns, then only four
in number, requesting them to send to the president and council a list of
the names and estates of the inhabitants. This being done, the council
selected from the selectmen's list the names of such persons as they judged
qualified to vote for assemblymen, and returned these names to the select-
men. Great complaint was made that many fit persons were deprived of
the elective franchise. It is easy to see that the council had an opportunity
to make the assembly, and probably did so. The election was ordered to
take place March 9, and not above three persons for the assembly were to
be chosen in any one town.
The members of the assembly were summoned to appear at Portsmouth on
March 16, to attend to His Majesty's service. On that day the first legislature
in New Hampshire assembled and was organized. It consisted of eleven
persons, two from Exeter, and three from each of the other towns. Thus,
in two and one half months after the arrival of the royal messenger with
the commission the government was completely organized over the prov-
ince, a government that was destined to continue, with but few interrup-
tions, for a hundred years. New Hampshire was restored to her place on
the political map of New England, never again to disappear. She was
raised to the dignity of a British province in America.
Portsmouth had the honor to be the seat of government during the entire
1 Belknap's Hist. of New Hamp., Farmer's ed., 90-96; Paper by Chas. Deane, L.L. D.,
on the Records of the President and Council of New Hamp., in Proceedings Mass. Hist. Soc.
xvi. 256-260; Notes Historical and Bibliographical on the Laws of New Hamp., by Albert H.
Hoyt, in Proceedings of American Antiquarian Soc., 1876; and Jenness's Transcripts of
Original Documents relating to New Hampshire.-H.
2The principal officers of the government resided, and the assembly convened, on
Great Island (now New Castle), which until 1693 was included in the town of Portsmouth
See note 2, page 103, Historical Papers by C. M. Tuttle.-H.
780
APPENDIX.
period of the royal government. Here were the scenes of all that was
splendid in a provincial court. Portsmouth gave of her citizens the chief
of the new government, John Cutt, and she also gave the last royal governor,
Sir John Wentworth. The provincial government was succeeded by a
republican government, whose centenary is at hand. Esto Perpetua.
APPENDIX E. II.
[THE GOVERNMENTS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, 1679-1699.]
[CAUSES MOVING. IN THE ERECTION OF THE PROVINCE AND THE CHARACTER OF
THE ADMINISTRATIONS UNDER IT.
[Extracts from the Narrative in "English Colonies in America," Vol. III, by
J. A. Doyle, M. A., Oxford, 1889.]
[By permission of the publishers, Henry Holt & Company.]
"The cautious and tentative policy of the Crown in its dealings with Massa-
chusetts was shown in the settlement of New Hampshire. No attempt was
made, for the present, to dislodge those who had held office under Massa-
chusetts. A government was established on the accustomed model of a
Governor, called a President, a Council nominated by the Crown, and a
representative Assembly elected by the freeholders. But the royal mandate
which settled this contained the significant clause that the Assembly was
√ to be continued unless the King or his heirs should see cause to alter the
same. In other words, every political and personal right might at any
moment be placed at the disposal of an irresponsible governor.¹
فر
"For the present, however, the King's advisers were wise enough to excite
no suspicion by their choice of instruments. Cutt, the first President, was
a loyal citizen of Massachusetts. Waldron, one of the Council, had held
civil and military office under that government, and, as far as can be known,
his colleagues were men of the same stamp. One of the first acts of the
new administrators was to send a letter to Massachusetts acknowledging the
past kindness of that government, protesting that the separation had not
been a voluntary act, and expressing a hope that the two colonies would
continue helpful to one another."
3
“The cupidity of Mason and the energetic malevolence of Randolph soon
overturned this peaceful state of affairs. In the summer of 1680 the latter
visited the colony in his new capacity of Collector of Customs. By his
proceedings he got cast in damages in a civil action, and had to ask pardon
of the Council for his insolence towards them. Though the decision of
the English government had overthrown Mason's rights of sovereignty, it
had left him with certain territorial claims. In the end of 1680 he came
out to enforce these, strengthened by a nomination as a member of
the Council. It is clear that a majority of the inhabitants, includ-
ing all the most wealthy and influential, were well affected to Massa-
chusetts. In their
eyes Mason was a greedy adventurer, eager for
an alliance by which he might rob them of their lands, while the Crown
stripped them of their political rights. When he proceeded to put in force
his claims as a landholder he was met by an injunction from the Council
prohibiting his interference, and threatening to report the matter to the
King. He refused to sit in council, and after some further dispute came
back to England. [3 English Colonies, 211, 212.]
The commission appointing the President and Council and determining the mode of
government is in the eighth volume of the New Hampshire Historical Society's Collections.
[See note at beginning of the last preceding article as to several other prints containing
the Cutt commission.—A. S. B.
2 For this letter see Mass. Records, vol. v. p. 280.
3 Belknap, p. 93.
4 Ib.
s
APPENDIX.
781
"Meanwhile a drama had been enacted on the borders of Massachusetts
which showed what arbitrary government by a nominee of the Crown really
meant. Mason's visit to New Hampshire had proved that the change of
government there was not in itself of much advantage to him. But in one
way it might be made so. If he could enlist the newly framed government
in his interest, then the lack of any popular control would make things
easy for him. The opportune death of Cutt enabled the scheme to be car-
ried out.¹ By some intrigue, of which the actors have succeeded in obliter-
ating the traces, the governorship was bestowed on Edward Cranfield. His
exploit in misleading the Massachusetts agents was significant, but it was
a venial freak of malevolence compared with his doings in his own colony.
Nothing can show more fully how colonial administration had deteriorated
since the days of the first Lord Clarendon than the appointment of Cran-
field. Randolph, vindictive and unscrupulous as he was, was something
better than a mere instrument of extortion. The policy of the Crown
towards Massachusetts was harsh, narrow, and ungenerous, and left room,
no doubt, for corruption. Still it was an administrative policy, and Ran-
dolph's very faults made him in some ways a fit instrument for carrying it
out. But Cranfield was a mere political freebooter, and went to his task
in the spirit of a Roman proconsul in the worst days of the Republic, of an
Indian official in the worst days of the Company. He advanced Mason a sum
of money on his territorial claim, receiving as interest a hundred and sixty
pounds a year. By this arrangement it became to the advantage of Cran-
field to secure Mason a good annual return from his estate, and also to in-
crease its permanent value.³
"Unluckily our knowledge of Cranfield's doings in his province rests
mainly on the testimony of his victims. But what his letters tell us of his
conduct and opinions at least shows that there was no improbability in the
charges brought against him. In describing the trap which he had laid for
the Boston agents, he shamelessly avows that he 'writ in their favor to
insinuate himself into their counsels. In the midst of his administration
he leaves his duties and goes off to Boston, as he says himself, 'on purpose
to pry into the intrigues and politics of the government.' His specific for
curing the evils of New England is the overthrow of the college at Cam-
bridge. He is never weary of denouncing it. It is the place 'whence these
half-witted philosophers turn either atheists or seditious preachers." It
'sends forth rebellious trumpeters,' and supplies all the colonies 'with fac-
tious and seditious preachers.' Such was the man who was to teach the
people of New Hampshire the advantage of being transferred from the con-
trol of Massachusetts to that of the Crown.
6
"For more than three years Cranfield ran his course of extortion and
tyranny. A series of actions of ejectment were brought by Mason or by
small holders in collusion with him, and were tried by packed juries. The
more patriotic and reputable members of the Council were removed without
reason given.' An arbitrary value was assigned to Spanish silver, and the
settlers were forced to take it as legal payment. Before Cranfield had been
in the colony a year his misdeeds provoked what was treated as a rebellion,
though it seems rather to have deserved the name of a riot. The character
of the leader, Gove, who was certainly a drunkard, and seemingly a madman
as well, compelled the more reputable inhabitants, such as Waldron, to side
with Cranfield in putting down the outbreak. Gove's accomplices were par-
doned. He himself was sentenced to death, but his punishment was com-
muted to three years' imprisonment."
1 According to Mr. Bouton, Cutt died March 27, 1681 (New Hampshire Provincial Papers
p. 310)..
2 Colonial Papers, 1682, March.
3 Belknap, p. 96.
4 See the letter quoted above.
5 Cranfield to Commissioners for Plantations (Oct. 19, 1683).
6 Vaughan's Journal; cf Weare's Complaint to the King and Privy Council.
7 This is stated by Belknap (p. 101 ) apparently on the authority of the records.
8 Weare's Complaint. The answer of the Privy Council takes this charge as proved
(Belknap, App. p. 504).
9 Belknap, in his account of Gove's insurrection, refers to manuscript letters written by
Gove himself. Randolph sent a report of the affair to the Lords of Trade. It is in the Provin-
cial Papers (pp. 168-73). Apparently it is endorsed by Waldron.
•
;
782
APPENDIX.
;
5
"To do Cranfield justice, he does not seem to have been a man of blood.
With almost grotesque ingenuity he discovered in every political and every
judicial incident an opening for making profit. As his chief opponent in the
colony said in a formal petition to the Crown, 'he came for money, and
money he will get." The Assembly refused to levy a rate for general pur-
poses of government. The refractory members were punished by being
appointed constables, a post from which each had to exempt himself by a
payment of ten pounds. When the settlers drew up a petition against their
Governor, to be laid before the King, Cranfield expressed a wish that he
could discover the offenders. 'It would be the best haul he ever had,
worth a hundred pounds a man. Besides these civil disturbances Cranfield
contrived to embroil himself with the settlers on ecclesiastical matters. In
December, 1683, he issued an order that all persons not vicious nor scandalous
in their lives should be admitted to the two sacraments. This order was, if
not designed, at least speedily used as a weapon for a personal attack. In a
revenue case one of the Crown witnesses was suspected of perjury, Moody,
the minister of the church to which the witness belonged, denounced him,
or at least his offense, from the pulpit, and excluded him from the Lord's
Supper. Thereupon the Governor informed Moody that he himself, Mason,
and another of their party should present themselves as communicants. As
expected, they were refused admission. For this offense Moody was tried
and imprisoned. Four of the six magistrates before whom the case was tried
were at first for acquittal. Two of them however were terrified into giving
way, and the other two were afterwards punished by deprivation. It is
added that Cranfield then sent a message to Cotton, the minister at Hamp-
ton, that he intended to present himself in like fashion at his church.
We may believe that even statesmen who were willing to use the Eucharist
as, in Cowper's words, 'the pick-lock to a place,' would have shrunk from
making their own reception thereof an instrument of personal malevolence.
"In 1684 an attempt to levy a rate in direct defiance of the vote of the
Assembly was met in each of the townships by armed resistance, against
which Cranfield was wholly powerless. At the same time his victims were
opposing him by more lawful means, and had sent home a petition to the
King setting forth the various misdeeds of the Governor. By the time that
their petition came on for consideration a new spirit, and in some ways a less
dangerous one, was at work in colonial politics. The isolated outrages of
Cranfield would interfere with more comprehensive schemes of arbitrary
government. He himself, too, had little motive for holding to his post.
The bargain with Mason had proved a failure. The settlers had shown a
temper which an English official of the Court party could hardly have fore-
seen. It must have been clear to Cranfield that a career of extortion meant
a career of civil war, in which success must be doubtful. The Lords of
Trade reported that Cranfield had perverted justice in the cases arising out
of Mason's claim, and had exceeded his power in determining the value of
coin. He was not, however, actually displaced, but was allowed to vacate
his office in a somewhat informal fashion.10 His three years of office had done
something to strengthen the hands of the Massachusetts patriots. If any
New Englander was halting between submission and resistance, the spec-
tacle of Cranfield governing New Hampshire might well turn the scale.1¹¹~ [3
English Colonies, 226-229.]
1 Vaughan's Journal in Belknap (p. 481).
2 Vaughan's Journal in Belknap (p. 480).
3 Deposition of Peter Coffin in Provincial Papers (p. 232).
8
4 For these proceedings against Moody see Belknap (pp. 104, 105) and Provincial Papers
(vol. i. pp. 182-6).
[ A recent article by Frank B. Sanborn on "The so-called Rebellion of 1683" is published
in 32 Granite Monthly, 39, 85.]
5 Vaughan's Diary, p. 477.
6 Ib. p. 479.
7 Deposition of John Foullsam, Constable for Exeter (Provincial Papers, p. 211).
8 Ib. p. 226.
9 Report of Lords of Trade (Provincial Papers, p. 238).
10 The King, by an order in Council, allowed Cranfield to go to Jamaica or Barbadoes for
his health (Col. Papers, 1684, Aug. 6). He did not, however, avail himself of the permission for
nearly a year.
11 A letter from Randolph to William Lloyd, Bishop of St. Asaph, March 28, 1685 (Tanner
MSS., in the Bodleian Library, vol. xxxi. fol. 7), shows that the writer was fully alive to the
mischievous effect of Cranfield's administration.
APPENDIX.
783
"The weakest part in the policy adopted towards Massachusetts was the
treatment of New Hampshire. There is among the Colonial Papers a full
account, by no means improbable in itself, of the intrigue by which this was
brought about.¹ One Samuel Allen, a London merchant, bought from Mason
these rights of which he had so signally failed to make profit in the days
of Cranfield. The success of Allen's speculation depended on the policy
now adopted towards New Hampshire. Accordingly, he made interest with
the advisers of the Crown by transferring shares in his undertaking to three
noblemen. One was the Duke of Leeds, with whom he had before had some
dealings. Another was Leeds's associate in power, in unpopularity, and in
corruption, Lord Lonsdale. The third was one of William's Dutch favorites,
the younger Schomberg, Lord Lienster. Leeds, however, and as it would
seem his associates, backed out of the arrangement. Allen then fell back on
a humbler accomplice. Blathwayt, the Clerk to the Privy Council, advanced
him a sum of money. For this, if the claim to New Hampshire was made
good, Allen was to repay him three thousand pounds, or in default of such
payment half his proprietary rights.
"The date of this transaction is not stated. But we can hardly be wrong
in supposing that the exclusion of New Hampshire from Massachusetts and
the establishment of a separate proprietary government there was due to the
corrupt influence of Blathwayt. No charter was granted, but in 1692 a
commission was issued to Allen constituting him Governor. His son-in-law,
Usher, a thriving tradesman at Boston, was Lieutenant-Governor, and a Coun-
cil was appointed, nominated in part by the Crown, in part by the Propri-
etor. Allen's commission also authorized him to summon a representative
Assembly elected by the freeholders. But nothing was said as to the num-
ber of representatives or the frequency of their meetings, nor had the colo-
nists any guarantee that this would form a permanent part of their consti-
tution. [3 English Colonies, 294, 295]
"It was no wonder that Bellomont should write bitterly of the intrigue
which handed over New Hampshire to Allen. There it is clear the Governor
found himself in a hotbed of petty and sordid squabbles. The circumstances
under which Allen had gained his proprietorship made it certain that he
would deal with the territory in the same spirit as Mason and Cranfield.
That in itself could not but be fatal to the influence of Allen himself and of
all who acted for him in the colony. The settlers of New Hampshire had
been taught by experience to regard a Proprietof as a greedy plunderer.
Some of them had, indeed, taken advantage of the interregnum at the Revo-
lution to seize the documents on which the proprietary claims rested. The
ringleader, one Pickering, was afterwards imprisoned and compelled to
restore the documents, but at a later day it was discovered that they had
been so mutilated as to prejudice Allen's claim. Moreover, the settlers were
exasperated, and with justice, at their severance from Massachusetts. They
may have had no special sympathy with that colony. But no position could
be more wretched than that of a little, isolated, and independent settlement,
in the middle of a line of frontier constantly threatened by savages. The
very nature of the attack made matters worse. If the danger had been that
of invasion and permanent occupation, then the interests of Massachusetts
and New Hampshire would have been identical, and the weaker colony would
have been sure of help. But the war which France was waging was not,
as yet at least, a war of conquest. It was a war of partial and local destruc-
tion. The more efficient was the defense along the frontier of Massachusetts,
the more certain was it that the tide of invasion would hurl itself against
the one undefended district. We may well believe that the petition for à
system of joint defense under a general Governor came from those inhabi-
tants of New Hampshire who were from past association hostile to Massa-
chusetts, and yet felt the helplessness of their own colony, isolated under a
Proprietor.
1 This scandalous story is told very fully and plainly in a report from Lord Bellomont
June 11, 1700 (Col. Papers, America and West Indies, p. 569).
2 The commission is printed in the New Hampshire Provincial Papers (vol. ii. pp. 52-69).
['Ante, pp. 501-508.]
3 See above.
4 Belknap, p. 150. Prov. Papers, vol. ii. pp. 74, 87; vol. iii. p. 298.
V
784
APPENDIX.
1
"To take money either by official salaries or by quit-rents out of a colony
thus placed was not a hopeful undertaking. Poor as Allen's prospects of
success were, he made them worse by his choice of a Deputy. He appointed,
or one should rather say he secured the appointment, as Lieutenant-Governor,
of his son-in-law, John Usher. Usher was a bookseller at Boston, and a man
of good means. His wealth did not make him indifferent to official gains.
The Assembly of the colony was indignant, and justly indignant, at his
demands for a salary at the very time when they were brought to the verge
of beggary by the need for defending the frontier." But Usher's zeal on
behalf of his principal was not quickened by actual want. Moreover, though
not indifferent to gain, Usher seems to have scrupulously confined himself
to demands made in a constitutional fashion, and to have had a real sense
of the straits in which the colony was placed." Under such a Governor there
was no chance of a repetition of the corrupt machinery by which Cranfield
had levied toll on the settlers.
3
"But Usher's failure to fulfill Allen's hopes did not make him acceptable-
to the colonists. Substantially, he seems to have been honest and fairly
sensible. But he had none of the graces which make an official popular,
nor the real powers which make men tolerate faults of manner.
He was.
vain and pompous, wholly wanting in suavity, tact, and dignity. He was
not connected with the colony by birth or residence. The spectacle of a
Boston tradesman coming over at intervals and playing at sovereignty was
not likely to reconcile the settlers to a system which they had more substan-
tial grounds for disliking.
"It was not long before Usher found himself opposed by the settlers and
deserted by Allen. From the latter he could get no support, beyond some
bills which were dishonored. With the former he fared even worse. Past
experience had at least given the New Hampshire settlers a certain aptitude-
for independent and collective action. In 1695 Usher provoked a conflict by
removing three councilors.* One of them was Vaughan, who had taken the
chief part in the conflict with Mason and Cranfield. Another was Waldron,
who seems to have been himself a man of capacity, and was strengthened by
the position and reputation of his father. The ejected councilors at once
took steps for the removal of Usher. The policy of the English government
towards New Hampshire during the years which followed the Revolution
may be almost said to have shown an ingenuity in error. It was neither
popular nor strong. By handing over the colony to a greedy adventurer it
alienated the settlers. By the appointment of men ill-chosen and arbitrarily
changed, it forfeited all chance of official experience or continuous tradition
in administration. Upon the recommendation of the disaffected settlers one
Partridge was appointed Lieutenant-Governor in the stead of Usher. He
had been a shipwright at Portsmouth and it is not unlikely that he may
have been known to Phipps, and so recommended to court. We may infer,
too, that, since his appointment was immediately due to the influence of
Ashurst, he belonged to that party who wished to see the colony incorporated
with Massachusetts.
"In the summer of 1697 Partridge landed with his commission as Deputy-
Governor. On the plea of some informality or delay in his taking the
necessary oath, Usher attempted to resist his appointment.' The majority
of the settlers, however, stood by the new Lieutenant-Governor, and issued a
proclamation affirming that Usher's commission was null and void.s
1 Usher's commission does not seem to be extant. For his position, see Dunton's Letters.
from New England, published for the Prince Society, pp. 68-78. [See note as to Usher's au-
thority under Allen's Commission, ante, p. 499.]
रु
2 Belknap, pp. 149-151; Prov. Papers, vol. ii. p. 137.
3 See his speech to the Assembly (Prov. Papers, vol. iii. p. 42).
4 Belknap, p. 152. This is referred to in Prov. Papers (vol. ii. p. 267).
5 Partridge's commission is in the Prov. Papers (vol. ii. p. 259). [Ante. pp. 515, 516.]
6 Bellomont to the Lords of Trade, November 28, 1700 (New York Doc. vol. iv. p. 795). I
remember rebuked Sir Henry Ashurst for procuring Mr. Partridge to be made Lieutenant-
Governor of New Hampshire, who is a carpenter by trade and a sad weak man. I told him
that his genius had a strong bias to carpenter-governors, for he it was, with Mr. Mather, that
got Sir William Phipps made Governor of New England.
7 Partridge to Lords of Trade, Jan. 3, 1697 (Prov. Papers, vol. ii. p. 266).
8 Ib. p. 215.
APPENDIX.
785
"Usher prudently remained at Boston and contented himself by sending
home a dispatch in which he described 'the Piscataqua rebellion,' the prepar-
ations of horse and foot which had been made to seize him, and the danger
that the French would fall upon the country while it was thus rent with
civil war.¹ It is impossible not to think that the Boston shop-keeper felt a
certain satisfaction in writing a dispatch to the English government in which
he could describe himself as the object of an insurrection. The Lords of
Trade in answer told Usher to act provisionally as Lieutenant-Governor till
Partridge had fulfilled the necessary formality. They also announced Bello-
mont's appointment to the governorship.2
"In August, 1698, matters were still further complicated by the arrival of
Allen in the colony. He did not claim any higher post than that of a locum
tenens pending the arrival of Bellomont. But he contrived to entangle him-
self in petty disputes with the Assembly concerning the appointment of
officials and the levying of rates. He also upheld the claims of Usher, not,
as it would seem, to retain the office of Lieutenant-Governor, but to sit as a
member of Council. The Deputies contended that the appointment of Par-
tridge, by depriving Usher of office, left him without qualification for the
Council. With that one exception the disputes seem to have turned chiefly
on formal points of procedure." [3 English Colonies, 329-332.]
APPENDIX E. III.
[DOCUMENTS AND AUTHORITIES THAT MAY BE CON-
SULTED ADVANTAGEOUSLY WITH REFERENCE
TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A PROVINCE GOV-
ERNMENT IN NEW HAMPSHIRE AND THE ENACT-
MENT AND DISALLOWANCE OF THE LAWS EN-
ACTED BY ITS EARLIEST ASSEMBLIES.]
[Letter, President and Council of New Hampshire to the Lords Committee of
Trade and Plantations. May 7, 1681.* Extract.]
"And first, as a Civil matters, We humbly referr Yo'r Lo'ps to the view
of our Laws, & of Our Acts & Orders, which We from time to time have made
& pass'd (& now sent) since y arrival & in pursuance of His Ma'ts Gracious
& Royal Commission: There being little of note, & worthy to be communi-
cated to yo'r Lo'ps relating to that General head, but what is to be found
among those Laws, Acts, Orders & entries All which We find very satisfactory
to the People & conducing much to their Peace and quiet.
As for Ecclesastics, those affairs remain as formerly Each Town of the
Province is supply'd with an Orthodox Minister, to the satisfaccon of His
Ma'ts Subjects.'
[Letter, Richard Chamberlain to William Blaythwait, May 14, 1681. R'd July
24, 1681.5 Read 10, November, 1681. Colonial Entry Book New Hamp-
shire, p. 5. Extract.]
"The Laws were made (as far as the Council have power to be legislative)
and published just as we came (all but that for courts, & the Rate, now
lately done.) When they were read at the Assembly, in order to correction
& amendment, I made my remarks (such as they were) and first took ex-
ceptions to the whole System in general being collected mostly out of the
Massachusetts Laws (& surely it could not wel stand with the mind &
pleasure of His Ma'ty that we here should cast off obedience to their Juris-
1 Usher's letters describing the proceedings against him are in the Board of Trade
Papers, New England, vol. viii.
2 Letter from the Lords of Trade to Usher, Aug. 3, 1697 (Prov. papers, vol. ii. p. 217).
3 Allen's speech to the Assembly (Tb. p. 292).
4 This letter is printed in full, 17 State Papers, 541-543.
5 This letter is printed in full, 17 N. H. State Papers, 544-546.
54
786
APPENDIX.
diction, & yet voluntarily submit to, & yoak our selves so inseperably to
their laws,) & then because unnecessary, the King having sent a great
Volume of Laws copiously & accurately done to their hands. I did likewise
make my objections sereatim to some different & repugnant ones; as to that
of punishing Manslaughter with death; disallowing marriage by Divines, &
giving the power to the Councel (but that was amended as to the former
part,) to that arbitrary Sentence in case of ffornication of fine, marriage,
corporal punishment, or all, or any of them: & that was likewise qualified
with Deletion of the words [or all.] To the making, Larceny, Robery &
Burglary not ffelony, nor punishable by Death, but after a third time, at the
discretion of the Court The law for false witness is defferent, & others, &
that of confirmacon I conceiv ipso facto repugnant. But my Excepcons
were over-ruled, unless in the above menconed amendments, & some verbal
& literal errata.
There was a Protestacon desired to be entered by Mr Mason as to the
said Law of confirmacon of Town grants, & I desired to speak to it, and
give my Opinion, as it is part of the Commission, I grounded upon some
Rules of Law, that they had disabled themselves from being mediators
thereby & compared it to some known cases in the Law of England &c."
[Letter, Richard Chamberlain to The Lords, Committee on Trade and Plantations.
May 16, 1681.1 Extract.]
"Upon the Second of March the Councel & Deputies met, being called the
General Assembly, to hear Appeals having formerly declared themselves to
be a Court of Appeals (but they have no such power by His Ma'ts Commis-
sion, which appoints Appeals to His Ma'ty before yo'r Lo'ps) and to review
the Laws they had made, at their former Meetings an Abstract whereof are
by this Ship sent to Yo'r Lo'ps for His Ma'ts allowance I gave my Opinion
as they were read, which of them were different, which repugnant to the
Laws of England & the Commission as I conceived that for confirmation of
titles & Town-grants to be which are declared by His Ma'ts Commission
& Letters to be illegal, as Yo'r Lo'ps have at the Hearings before you con-
cerning M'r Mason's interest given Yo'r Judgements.
I desire to acquaint Yo'r Lo'ps that the Councel several times would have
imposed an Oath of Secrecy upon me, which I have refused, as being
inconsistent with my Commission.
•
""
[Council of New Hampshire to the King, May 31, 1681.2 Extract.]
"Wee have also framed severall lawes & constitutions (A coppie whereof
we herew'thall send) w'thout any repugnancy to, & in as great an Identity
to & consonancy w'th Yo'r Maj'tys lawes as our Abillities would reach, & as
we thought most Sutable to our Circumstances, in obedience to w'ch yo'r
Maj'tys Subjects have heitherto peaceably & to their good Sattisfaction
demeaned themselves, not doubting but if yo'r Maj'ty w'th the Advice of
yo'r most Hon'ble Privy Councill see meet to confirme them they will
through Gods blessing attaine the ends proposed in yo'r Maj'tys Comission
of keeping the people in a right understanding of & Submission to yo'r
Maj'tys Royall Authority, the suppressing of vice & encouraging of
vertue.
•
[Narrative of Proceedings.]
"The Councill have declared themselves to have a Legislative power and
that no Law shalbe of force but what is made by the Assembly and ratified
by them. They have declared themselves a Court of Appeals and have
Denyed Appeals to his Maj'ty.
They have made a Law to confirm the Laws of the Massachusets Colony
and the Title to Lands derived from that authority."
[Report Concerning the Government of New Hampshire. The Lords Committee
on Trade and Plantations to the King in Council, January 13, 1681-2.]
"Wee have under our consideration the State of your Ma'ties Province of
New Hampshire in New England which has been lately Seperated from the
Colony of the Massachusetts Bay and is now governed by a President and
1 This letter is printed in full, 17 N. H. State Papers, 546-551.
2 This letter is printed in full, 17 N. H. State Papers, 551-555.
817 N. H. State Papers, 555-559.
APPENDIX.
787
Councill nominated and appointed by Your Ma'ties Commission dated the
18 (?) of September, 1679. Wee have alsoe perused Severell Letters, Orders
of Councill, And Acts of Assembly lately received from that place, whereby
it appears to us that some persons now in the Government there, have car-
ried on and abetted diverse irregular proceedings which are in noe manner
consistent with Yo'r Ma'tys Service and the intended Settlement of that
Province. And wee doe likewise find the public Acts and orders (the most
part of them) soe unequall incongruous and absurd, and the methods whereby
the Councill and Assembly have proceeded in the establishment of the Same
Soe disagreeable and repugnant to the powers and directions of Your Ma'ties
said Commission that Wee cannot hope for Such a Settlement and regulation
of Officers in that Province as their dependence on Your Ma'ty and welfare
of the peace doe require unless your Ma'ty shall appoint Some fit and able
person of whose fidelity and Sufficiency Your Ma'ty is well assured, who may
be authorized and impowed by Your Ma'tys Commission and Instruction,
to Settle that place under such kinds of government and Laws as are neces-
sary for the regulation and improvement of that Province. Which Wee
humbly offer to yo'r Ma'ty as the best means to prevent all farther irreg-
ularities and to render that place as well usefull to the Crown as able to
defend it self from the attempt of the Natives or any Foreign Invasion all
which &c."
"Councill Chamber, 13 Janʼry, 1681.”
"Craven, Clarendon,
"Ailesbury, Fauconberg,
"L. Jenkins, Edw Seymour.
[Authorities of a More General Nature than the Foregoing.]
1. Belknap, History of New Hampshire, chapter 6 and 7, treats of the
period on which the separate province government for New Hampshire was
established.
2. The complaint of Robert Mason against the President and Council of
New Hampshire, 1681, read in the Lords Committee of Trade and Plantations
November 10, 1681. This communication discusses the acts of the assembly
passed in the time of Cutt and Waldron. Printed in full, 17 N. H. State
Papers, 559-562.
3. Documents relating to the administration of John Cutt, President, and
Richard Waldron, Deputy President, under the Cutt commission, 1 N. H.
Province Papers, 409-433. These papers relate, for the most part, to the
government affairs of the province.
A copy of an enactment of March 7, 1681-2, relating to a province rate, is,
however, given on p. 431; also on pp. 413-414, several orders of the president
and council are reproduced.
4. Documents relating to the administration of President Cutt and Deputy-
President Richard Waldron, 17 N. H. State Papers, 533-562; reprinted from
the Jenness Transcripts.
5. Records of the President and Council of New Hampshire, 1679-1682, 19
N. H. State Papers, 647-681.
6. Documents relating to the boundary line controversy between New
Hampshire and Massachusetts, 19 N. H. State Papers, 179-646.
7. Documents of a general nature relating to the Masonian controversy,
29 N. H. State Papers.
788
APPENDIX.
APPENDIX F. I.
[INSTRUCTIONS CONCERNING MASON'S CLAIM, AD-
DRESSED TO THE GOVERNOR AND COMPANY OF
THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY.]
[33 Charles II.]
[This order is not preserved in the original records of this state. It is a
Massachusetts Bay document. It was especially a command to the courts
and government of that colony, but it was notice, also, to the government
and people of New Hampshire as to the attitude of the crown towards
Mason's claim to the proprietorship of the soil of the province.
The stress of the influences moving from the home government by reason
of its intervention in behalf of Robert Mason's proprietorship is well indi-
cated by the instructions to President Cutt contained in his commission, the
special instructions of October 1, 1680, (29 State Papers, 118,) and the direc-
tions in the commission of Edward Cranfield as lieutenant-governor, ante,
p. 55; id., 29 State Papers, 120.
The instructions here reproduced are from 29 State Papers, 121.
In a somewhat imperfect form it was printed, 1 Province Papers, 451-453,
and from the same type in 8 Collections of the New Hampshire Historical
Society, 97, 98. Documents relating to the period of the administration of
Lieutenant-Governor Cranfield and his deputy, Walter Barefoote, occupy a
large part of vol. 1, Province Papers, viz., pp. 433-590. As much or more
space in 8 Collections of the N. H. Hist. Soc. is accorded to the Cranfield
papers, viz., pp. 79-267. Mr. Jenness makes a valuable addition to the printed
documents relating to this administration in his "Transcripts," reprinted in
17 State Papers, pp. 473-603. See also same volume, pp. 611-619. The manu-
script copy of this order, or these instructions, is in New Hampshire Province
Records, Book 1, p. 47.
For an account of the province under Lieutenant-Governor Cranfield and
his deputy, Walter Barefoote, see Farmer's Belknap, chapter 8; The So-Called
Rebellion of 1683, by Frank B. Sanborn, 32 Granite Monthly, 39-56, 85-111;
1 Prov. Papers, 433, et seq.; 8 Collections, N. H. Hist. Soc., 79, et seq.; 17
State Papers, 563, et seq.; 29 State Papers, 118, et seq.; Farmer's Belknap,
Appendix, pp. 459-511; Council Records, Cranfield's Administration, October
4 to October 14, 1682, 17 State Papers, 563-567; id. 19 State Papers, 687-691.]
Trusty & Welbeloved We greet you wel. There having
been long depending before Us the Petic'on & Complaint of
Our Trusty & Welbeloved Subject Robert Mason Esq'r repre-
senting ye great hardships & injuries he has for many years
suffered by being opposed in ye prosecution of his right by
Our Corporation of ye Massachusets Bay, and by them wrong-
fully kept out of possession of a Tract of land lying between
ye Rivers of Naumkeck and Merrimack, & three miles North-
ward thereof, granted unto him by vertue of Letters Patents
from Our Royal Grandfather of Blessed memory: And whereas
We have received the Opinion of Our Attorny & Sollicitor
general, that ye said Rob't Mason, who is Grandson & heir of
John Mason, has a good and legal Title to ye Lands convey'd
to him by ye name of the Province of New Hampshire, where-
upon We were pleased to referr ye matters in difference be-
tween Our said Corporac'on and the Complainant unto ye
Lords Chief Justices of Our Courts of Kings Bench & Com'on
pleas, who have presented Us with their Report, setting forth,
APPENDIX.
789
+
that all Parties appearing before them, William Stoughton &
Peter Buckley Esq'rs your Messengers & Agents had dis-
claimed Title to ye Lands claimed by ye Petic'on'r; And that
it appearing to them that ye said Lands were y'n in ye pos-
session of several other persons not before them, so they
esteemed it most proper to direct ye Parties to have recourse
to the Judicature setled upon the place for ye decision of any
Question of propertie, until it should appear that there is just
cause of complaint against Our Courts of Justice there for in-
justice or greevance. To ye end therefore that Justice may be
administred with ye most ease; and ye least expence to all ye
sd Parties who shal see cause to defend their respective Titles,
We have thought fit hereby to signify Our Pleasure unto you,
that ye sd Robert Mason be forthwith admitted to prosecute
his Right before ye Courts of Judicature established
its of that Our Corporac'on; & that in all cases
lim-
Mason
shall claim any improved Lands, & that ye . . . shal dispute
his Right, a Trial at Law may b . . . wherein no son, who
has any Lands in ye . servants or tenants under him
depend . . . which such person shall be so impl . . . And
that if it shal so happen, that ye dispensation of Justice hereby
directed shal be delayd by you; or such Judgement given,
wherein ye s'd Robert Mason shal not acquiesce, he may y'n
appeal unto Us in Our Privy Councel; & that all sons con-
cerned be obliged to answer such appeal within ye term of
Six months after ye same shal be so made And for as much as
Yo'r sd Messengers have in yo'r name disclaimed before ye
Lords Chief Justices as aforesd, all title to ye Lands claimed
by the sd Rob't Mason, Our further Wil & Pleasure is, That
in case ye said Rob't Mason shal lay claim to any cel of
Lands situate within the bounds aforesd, which are not im-
proved or actually possessed by any particular son or tenant
in his own right, you do thereupon proceed to put ye sd Rob't
Mason into ye possession of those Lands, & cause his Title to
be recorded, so y't he may not receiv any further disturbance
thereupon. And in case you shal refuse so to do, & shal not
show good cause to ye contrary within ye space of Six months
after demand of possession so to be made by ye sd Rob't
Mason, We shal then without further delay take ye whole
Cause of ye sd Rob't Mason into Our considerac'on in Our
Privy Councel, with the damages sustained by him by reason
thereof, & shal give Judgm't upon ye whole matter as in a
cause where Justice has bin denied. And to ye end ye sd
Rob't Mason may not be any ways hindred in ye prosecuc'on
of his right, We do strictly charge & com'and you to secure
him, his servants & agents from any arrests & molestations
w'tsoever during his or their aboad within ye limits of yo'r
Jurisdiction, We having granted him Our Royal Protection
790
APPENDIX.
until ye matters complain'd of by him shal be fully deter-
mined And so expecting yo'r ready obedience to Our Com❜ands
hereby signified unto you, We bid you farewel. Given at Our
Court at Whitehall ye 23th day of June 1682 in ye ffour &
thirtieth Year of Our Raign.
By His Maj'ts Command
L: Jenkins*
Superscr. To Our Trusty & Welbeloved ye Govern'r &
Company of Our Colony of ye Massachusets Bay in New Eng-
land.
Vera Copia from ye Original . . . mined by it being left in
ds by Rob't Mason Esq'r
Chamberlain Secr
Prov'ce of New Hampsh'r
[The periods indicate places in the original eaten by mice.-ED.]
APPENDIX F. II.
NEW HAMPSHIRE LAWS AND ORDINANCES MADE BY
THE GOV'R WITH THE ADVICE & CONSENT OF
THE COUNCIL & & ASSEMBLY CONVENED IN
PORTS'O THE 14TH NOVEMB'R 1682.
[34 Charles II.]
[This copy of a draft of a part of the so-called "Cranfield Code" is the
one referred to in the note on p. 59 of this volume. The original from
which this is taken is filed with other transmissions of laws of the time of
Cranfield and now deposited in the public record office in London. This
particular paper, as it is in the public record office, bears endorsement as
follows: "14 Nov. 82. Laws & Orders made in New Hampshire in New
England. Rx. 13. T. bx 82-3."
This document has been designated for the purposes of this work as
"Manuscript E."
In a communication to the Lords Committee of the Privy Council on
Trade and Plantations, dated Dec. 1, 1682, Lieutenant-Governor Cranfield
says:-
"Some laws are passed, but should I have awaited Mr. Chamberlain's tran-
scription of them, I would not have given your Lordships a sight of them
by this conveyance, but by the next opportunity shall send them authentic
*SIR LEOLINE JENKINS.
There is a long account in the Dictionary of National Biography, of which
the following is an epitome.
1623-1685. Born at Llantrissant, Glamorganshire; head of Jesus College,
Oxford, 1660-1; deputy professor of civil law in the university; assessor of
the chancellor's court; in 1664 entered the College of Advocates; served on
a committee for framing rules for decision in prize cases 6 Feb. 1664-5; on
21 March was appointed assistant judge of the court of admiralty and suc-
ceeded Dr. Exton as judge; resigned the headship of Jesus College 1673.
Represented England at various congresses in France, at Cologne, at Nyme-
guen; was resident ambassador to the States-General; was member of parlia-
ment for Oxford; sworn of the privy council 11 Feb. 1679-80; and succeeded
Henry Coventry as secretary of state 26 April; resigned the seals 4 April,
1684, and retired.
APPENDIX.
791
under the seal as is directed." Jenness Transcripts, 17 N. H. State Papers,
573. In this quotation the original peculiarities of spelling have not been
followed as they can be seen in the volume cited.
The inference seems to be fairly drawn from the language quoted that a
draft of such portion of the code as was then (Dec. 1, 1682) available was
forwarded without the formality of the attachment of the province seal or
the attestation of the province secretary. It is consequently assumed that
the paper presented in this connection and here designated as "Appendix C
(I)" and in the body of this volume as "Manuscript E,” is a copy of a part
of the code containing, in its then state of construction, twenty-one articles.
In a letter of date January 10, 1682-3, addressed to Sir Leoline Jenkins,
the lieutenant-governor says:-"Herewith I send the laws I have thought
fit to pass and put under the seal." This accounts for a second and pre-
sumably more formal and complete set of the laws. This letter, as filed in
the public record office, is endorsed as received May 10, 1683.
In a letter dated January 23, 1682-3, the lieutenant-governor says: (17 N. H.
State Papers, 583,) "I have sent your Lordships by a letter of this date by
way of Barbadoes, a duplicate of the laws I have passed which if your Lord-
ships please to disallow of it may be the means of having better made for the
future. In the meantime, I govern them by the laws of England.”
The presence of several transcripts of the New Hampshire laws of the time
of Cranfield in the public record office in London, in various stages of perfec-
tion, is evidently accounted for by the diligence of the lieutenant-governor
in his correspondence, including several transmissions of drafts of the laws.
See note, ante, p. 59.]
Whereas his Maj'te out of his Princly care and wisdome
hath in his Late Commission for the Greater Ease of his good
Subjects here in point of Religion been gratiously pleased to
Allow us liberty of our consciencies in matters of worship, and
hath given Speciall charge that all Vice be discountenanced
and vertuous liveing Incouraged and seeing that the faithfull
Dispenseing of the word of God and ordinances of his House
are principle means both Instituted and blessed by god for
Those good Ends.
An act for Encouragem't of the ministry
1 Be it Therefore Enacted by the Gov'r and Council, w'th
the advice and consent of the Assembly that the present. Min-
isters of the Gospell that are amongst us, of the benefitt of
whose Labours we have had Long Experience, Shall be con-
tinued and Countenanced in their worke as formerly and a
comfortable maintenance Allowed them out of the Treasury
of the respective Townes for their Support therein, and Such
others as hereaft Shall be duely Elected to the Ministry and
approved as has beene accustomed amongst us Shall Like-
wise have the benefit of this Act
An act ag't profanac'on of the L'ds day.
2 For Prevention of the Profanation of the Lords Day be
it enacted that whosoever shall on the Lords Day be found to
doe unnecessary Servile Labour, Travil Sport, or frequent ordi-
naryes in time of publiq worship or Idly Stragle abroad the
Pson soe offending shall pay a ffine of Ten Shillings or be
792
APPENDIX.
[
Sett in the Stocks an houre, and for discovery of such offend-
ers it is ordered that the Constable w'th some other meet
son whom he shall choose Shall in the time of publiq Wor-
ship goe forth to any Suspected places within their precincts
to find out any offend'r as above, & when found to returne
their Names to Some Justice of Peace who Shall forth w'th
Send for Such offender and deale w'th him accord'g to Law
An act ag't contempt of the word and ministry thereof
3 Be it further Enacted that whosoever shall speak con-
temptuously of the Scriptures or holy Penmen thereof Shall be
Punished by fine not exceeding ffive pounds, and whosoever
Shall behave himself contemptuously toward, the word of
God Preached or any Minister thereof, called and ffaithfully
Dispensing the same in any Congregation, either by manifest
Interuption of him in his Ministeriall Dispensations or falsely
chargeing him w'th teaching Error Such offender shall pay
a fine of Twenty Shillings or Sitt two houres in the Stocks-
An act ag't curseing & Sweareing-
4 Be it also Enacted that whosoever Shall profane the
Sacred and blessed name of God by vaine Swearing or cursing
Shall pay a fine of Ten Shillings or be sett in the Stocks an
houre.
An act ag't Drunkeness
5 Be it further Enacted that whosoever Shall be found
Drunk shall pay a fine of Ten shillings or Sitt an hour in
Stocks, and whosov'r shall Drink to Excess Soe as thereby to
disguise himself discovering the same by Speech or behaviour
he shall pay a fine of Three Shill' and fourepence or Sitt in
Stocks halfe an houre:
An act ag't Lyeing.
6 It is Enacted by the Authority affores'd that If any son
being Sixteen yeares of age or upwards, Shall wittingly or
willingly make or publish any Lye w'ch may tend to the
dam'age or hurt of any perticular person, or w'th Intent to
deceive and abuse the People w'th ffalse news, or Reports he
shall be fined for every Such offence, Ten Shillings or Sitt an
hour in Stocks.
An act for the free & ready admistration of Justice.
7. Its further Enacted by the authority afforesd That Jus-
tice and right be Equally and Impartially administred unto
all men not Sold denyed or causelessly deferred unto any
APPENDIX.
793
An act to make fines &c'a payable to the King his heirs &c'a
8 It is Enacted by the Gove'r & Council w'th the Advice
and consent of the Assembly, that all fines, forfeitures, & pen-
altyes, arrising by the breach of any Law within this Province
Shall be payable to his maj'te his heirs & Successors for the
Support of this Governm't & to the Informer, Except in Spe-
cial cases, where the Law otherwise Directs and the Same to
be committed into the hands of the Province Treasur'r for the
use affores'd.
An act for the regulac❜on of Jury men Assembly men
9th For Regulation of the choice of Jurors Assembly men
trustees overseers for the respective Towns &c It is Enacted
that all persons Settled Inhabitants, and ffreeholders, in any
Town of this Province, of the Age of Twenty one years, and
noe others Shall have liberty of giveing their votes for the
choice of Assembly men Jurors, trustees, or Overseers, for the
respective Townes, Constables or other necessary Towne offi-
cers or in any other Towne concerned, nor shall any be chosen
Assembly men, Jurors or Trustees for the Townes but Such
And further noe son shall be deemed afreeholder but such
as hath a Rateable Estate of ffifteen pounds, According to
valuation Stated by Law
An act to Impower the Trustees to defray charge in each Town &c'a
10th For Defraying the present charges Arrissen in the
Several Townes for the Support of the Ministers of the Gos-
pell, as also for payment of the necessary Expences of the
Assembly men of each Towne dureing their Sitting and other
necessary occasions Relating to the Towne,
Be it enacted &c that the Trustees or overseers hitherto
called Select men in the respective Townes where they live,
doe make Such Rates upon all sons and Estates in the Sev-
erall Townes to be forth with collected by the Constable as
may Answer the occasions afforesaid: as formerly untill fur-
ther order, and that perticular care be taken with refference
to all arrearages of rates that the Same may be forthw'th col-
lected and paid to the persons to whome they are due/
An act to give the Constable power to gath'r Rates.
11 Be it further Enacted that If any Constable Shall
fail to cleare his province Rates within his yeare or Such time
as Shall be Limmitted him by the Trustees or overseers of the
Towne he shall be Lyable to have his Estate distrained by
warrant from the Treasu'r directed to the Marshall of the
Province, for the Summ not Gathered, and for all towne rates
794
APPENDIX.
!
made and Com'itted to the Constable by the Trustees or over-
seers of the Towne to be collected, within the time Limmitted,
The Constable faileing of his duty herein, Shall be Lyable to
have his Estate destrained by warr't from the Trustees or
overseers directed to the marshall, for the Summe not Gath-
red; And whereas the Constables of the Severall Townes, are
Injoyned to cleare their Rates on Penalty of making good the
same out of their owne Estates, It is ordered that If any per-
son or persons within this Province Rated shall refuse to pay
his Rate or Rates or discover, his Estate to the Constable he
shall have Liberty to Seize his person and carry him to the
next Prison, there to Remaine till he pay the same or give
good Security Soe to doe:/
An act to Confirm former Judgm'ts
12 It is farther Enacted by the Authority afforesaid that
all Judgem'ts & Executions formerly Granted in any civill
or Criminall cases by Legall authority within this Province
be held as good and valid for and against any Person as when
they were granted by the former authority at the time of
Tryall:/
13
An act ag't Burglary
Forasmuch as many persons of Late yeares have beene
& are apt to be Injurious to the lives & goods of others not-
withstanding all Laws and meanes to prevent the Same
It is therefore Enacted &c that if any p'rson com'itt Bur-
glary by Breaking open any Dwelling house, or warehouse,
or shall forceably Rob any son in the ffield or high wayes
Such offender Shall for the first offence, be branded on the
Right hand with the Letter B or R and if he shall offend in
the like kind a Second time he shall be putt to Death or other
wayes Greviously punished as the Court shall determine.
An act ag't ffellony
14th And whosoever Shall Steale or attempt to Steale
any Shipp Barq or Vessell of Burden or any publiq ammuni-
tion Shall be Severely punished according to the nature of
Such a fact, provided it extend not to life or Limb
An act ag't Stealeing or Purloyning
15 It is farther Enacted by the authority afforesd that if
any son in the Province Shall be Legally convicted of Steale-
*ing or purloyning, any horses Cattle money or other goods,
of any kind, he Shall be punished by restoreing threefold, to
the party wronged and a fine not Exceeding twenty Shillings
APPENDIX.
795
or Corporall punishment to be Inflicted as the nature or Cir-
cumstance of the Case may require.
An act ag't Adultry.
16 Be it farther Enacted by the Authority affores'd that
whosoever shall comitt Adultry w'th a married woman, or
one betrothed to another man both of them Shall be fined
viz't Tenn pounds apeice and Shall weare two Capitall Let-
ters A D Cut out in Cloth and Sewed upon their upermost gar-
ment, on their arme or Back, & if at any time any person So
offending Shall appeare without the said Letters he or Shee
Shall be Lyable to pay a fine of ffive pounds as often as the
ofend'r Shall be Soe found.
An act ag't ffornicac❜on
17 It is ordered and Enacted by the Authority affores'd
that if any man com'itt ffornication w'th any Single woman,
they Shall both be punished by paying each a fine not Ex-
ceeding five pounds; And in case any com'itt carnall Copula-
tion, after contract before marriage, they shall be Amerced
ffifty shillings apeece-
An act ag't removeing the Land marks
18 Be it ffarther Enacted &c that whosoever Shall wilfully
pluck up remove or deface, any Land marke or bounds be-
tweene party & ty, that hath been or Shall be orderly made
or Sett up, by sons thereunto appointed he or they Shall be
fined, not Exceeding ffive pounds for Such offence-
An act ag't burning of fences
19 It is further Enacted by the Authority afforesaid, that
if any son doe wilfully and on purpose burne downe any
mans fence, he shall make good the dam'age to the party
Wronged; and be Amerced fforty Shillings & bound to the
good Behaviour for Six months
An act to Inflict corporal punishm't where the offend'r is indig't
20 Forasmuch as Sundry disolute sons are to ready to
run into the Transgression of Such Laws, which fines are an-
nexed, and phaps are soe indigent as that the paying of fines
may be very Injurious to themselves or ffamilyes.
Be it therefore Enacted by the Authority affores'd that
every son Soe offending not haveing ffive pounds rateable
estate, according to the valuac'on Stated by Law, or parents,
or master under whose Governm't they are that will forthwith
796
APPENDIX.
pay the fines shall be Lyable to be whipt (viz't) for an offence
where the fine doth not exceed ten shillings five stripes, where
the fine doth not exceed Twenty Shillings ten stripes, where
the fine doth not Exceed ffive pound, Twenty Stripes & where
the fine doth not exceed Ten pounds thirty Stripes or up-
wards not Exceeding forty Stripes
An act to Impower Justices of the peace to grant Sum'ons & try
Small Cases
21 To prevent Labour and Travil in goeing to one pertic-
ular place and son in the province for Summons and at-
tachm❜ts
Be it Enacted that any Justice of the peace in the Towne
where he lives Shall have hereby full power to grant Sum-
mons and attachm'ts in all cases Civil and Criminall, as also
any Justice of peace hereby Impowred to heare Issue and de-
termine any case civill or Criminall according to law, wherein
the fforfeiture penalty Debt or Trespass Doth not Exceed
fforty Shillings, provided that it Shall be in the Liberty of any
person, agreived giveing in good Security to appeale to the
next Court of pleas
APPENDIX F. III.
LAWS MADE BY THE HON'BLE THE GOVERNOR WITH
THE ADVICE & CONSENT OF THE COUNSILL &
GENERAL ASSEMBLY HELD AT PORTSMOUTH YE
14° OF NOVEMBER-1682-
[34 Charles II.]
[This copy of the so-called Cranfield Code is from the original retained and
preserved in the New Hampshire province and state records to the present
time. It is found in the volume entitled "Council Book 4," pp. 58-67. No copy
has been discovered in the English archives which is an exact duplicate of
this in the numbering of the articles, but it is practically a copy in every
particular as to substance. The one in the English custody most nearly
identical is that printed in the body of this volume, ante, pp. 66-72. While
this New Hampshire copy has, as before stated, been printed in 1 Province
Papers, pp. 444-451, (1867) and in 8 N. H. Hist. Soc. Collections, pp. 90-96,
(1866) it has now been deemed best to subserve the convenience of those who
may have access to this volume and not to the printed volumes of New
Hampshire Province Papers nor to the printed collections of the New Hamp-
shire Historical Society, by including the New Hampshire draft in this
volume as a part of the appendix. The copy now printed in this connection
is a literal transcript from the original in the state archives, while the copy
found in 1 Province Papers and 8 Collections N. H. Hist. Soc. is not. This
copy of the laws is the one referred to in the note in the body of this volume,
ante, pp. 58, 59, as paper "“C.”]
APPENDIX.
797
New Hampshire
Laws made by the Hon'ble the Governor with the advice &
Consent of the Counsill & Generall Assembly held at Ports-
mouth the 14'0 of November 1682-
1 [JUSTICE.]
Bee it Enacted by the Governour by & with the advice and
Consent of the Counsill and Assembly and it is hereby En-
acted by the Authority aforesaide; That Justice and Righte
be Equally & Impartially Adminestred unto all men, not
Solde denyed or Carruselesly deferred unto any
2 [ADULTERY.]
Bee it Enacted &; That whosoever Shall Committ Adultery
w'th a married woman or one betrothed to another man both
of them Shall be fined Viz't ten pounds a peice and shall
ware two Capitall Letters Viz't A D Cutt out in a Cloath &
Sowed upon theire uppermoste garments on theire arme or
back & if at any time any person soe offending shall appeare
withoute the saide letters hee or shee Shall be Lyable to
paye a fine of five pounds as often as the offendower shall be
soe founde
3 [FORNICATION.]
Bee it Enacted &; that if any man commit fornication w'th
any Single woman they shall both bee punished by payeing
each a fine not exceding five pounds and in case any committ
carnall Copulation after Contract before maraige they shall
bee amerced fifty Shillings apeice-
4 [BURGLARY.]
For as much as many sons of late yeares have been &
are apt to be injurious to the Lives & goods of others not with
Standing all law & means to prevent The Same, it is therefore
Enacted &c that if any son Committ Burglary by breaking
open any dwelling house or where house or shall forecibly
robb any son in the feild or high wayes Such offendors
shall for the first offence bee branded on the righte hand w’th
the Letter B or R: & if hee shall offend in the like kinde a
second time he shall be put to death or otherwise greivously
punished as the Courte shall determine
5 stelinge
Bee it Enacted &; that if any son in this Province shall
be Legally Convicted of Stealing or proloyning any horses:
Cattle, mony or other goods of any kind hee shall be punished
798
APPENDIX.
by restoring three fold to the party wronged & a fine not ex-
ceeding twenty shillings or Corporall punishment to be in-
flicted as the nature or Circunstance of the case maye requier;
6 Shipes or barkes-
Bee it Enacted &; that whosoever shall steale or attempt to
Steale any Ship Barkue or vessell of Burden or any publick
ammunition shall be Severely punished according to the
nature of such a factt provide it Extend not to life or limbe—
7 profane swereing & Cursinge
Bee it Enacted &; that whosoever shall profaine the Sacred
& blessed name of god by vaine Swearing or Cursing shall
paye a fine of tenn Shilling or be sett in the Stocks an houre-
8 [LYING.]
Bee it Enacted &; that if any son being Sixteene yeares
of age or upwards; Shall witingly or willingly make or publish
any lye w'ch maye tend to the damage or hurt of any pertic-
ular son; or with intent to deceive or abuse the people with
falce news or reports he shall be fined for every such offence
ten Shillings or sitt an hour in the Stocks-
9 Drunke's
Bee it Enacted &; that whosoever shall be found drunk
Shall paye a fine of ten Shillings or Sett an hour in the Stocks
& whosoever shall drink to exses so as there by to disguise.
himselfe discovering the same by speech or behaviour he shall
paye a fine of three Shillings & four pence or sitt in stockes
halfe an houre
10 [LORD'S DAY.]
Bee it Enacted; & for prevention of the prophanation of the
Lords daye that whosoever shall on the lords daye be found
to doe unnecessary sirvile labour travell sports or frequent
ordinaries in time of publick worship or Idely Straggle
abroade the person soe offending shall paye a fine of ten shil-
lings or be sett in the Stocks an hour & for discovery of such
persons Itt is ordered that the Constable with some other
meete son whom he shall Choose; shall in the time of pub-
licke worship goe forth To any suspected place w'th in theire
preciness to find out any Offendor as above; & when found to
return theire names to sum Justice of the peace who shall
forthwith send for such offendour & deale w'th him according
to law
APPENDIX.
799
11 [SCRIPTURES, MINISTERS.]
Bee it Enacted &; that whosoever shall speake Contempt-
iously of the Scriptures or wholy pen men thereof shall be
punnished by fine not exceding five pounds & whosoevr shall
behave himself Contemptiously to ward the word of god
preached or any minester thereof called & faithfully: dis-
pensing the same in any Congregation either by manifest
interupting of him in his Ministeriall dispensation or falsly
Charging him w'th teaching errour Such Offendor shall paye a
fine of 20s or set two hours in the Stocks
12 [BURNING FENCES.]
Bee it Enacted &; that if any son doe willfully & on pur-
pose burn downe any mans fence; he shall make good the
damage to the party wronged & be amerced forty shillings &
bound to the good behaviour for six months
13
[LANDMARKS.]
Bee it Enacted &; that whosoever shall willfully pealuck
up remove or deface any lands marke or bounds between party
or parte that hath been or shall bee orderly made or sett up by
persons thereunto appoynted in the Severall towns he or they
shall be fined not Exceding five pounds for such offence
14 Judegem't Person's to be whiped.
For as much as sundry disolate sons are too ready to run
into the transgression of Such laws unto w'ch ffines are an-
nexed & Phaps are soe Indigent as the paying of fines may
be very Injurious to themselves & familyes bee it therefore
Inacted that every son soe offending not having five pound
ratable estate according to the valuation stated by law or
parents or master or masters under whose Govrnm't they are
that will forthw'th paye the fine, shall bee Lyable to be whipt
viz't for an offence where the fine does not exceed twenty
shillings five Stripes where the fine doth not exceed twenty
[forty?] Shillings ten stripes where the fine doth not Exceed
five pounds twenty strips & where the fine doth not Exceed
ten pound thirty strips or upward not exceeding forty Strips.
15 [CONSTABLES, RATES.]
Bee it Enacted &; that if any Constable shall faile to Cleare
his Province rates w'thin his yeare or such time as shall be
limited him by the Trustees or oversers of the towne he shall
be lyable to have his Estate distrned: by warrants from the
Treasurer directed to the marshall of the Province for the
sum not gathered-
800
APPENDIX.
And for all Towne rates made & Commited to the Constable
by the Trustees or Overseers of the towne to be Collected
w'thin the time Limited the Constable failing of his duty
herein shall be lyable to have his Estate distrained by war-
rante from the Trustees or Overseers directed to the Marshall
for the sum not gathered-
And where the Constables of the Severall towns are in-
joyned to cleare theire rates on penallty of making good the
same oute of theire owne Estates It is ordered that if any
Pson or sons w'thin this province rated shall refuse to paye
his rate or rates & discover his owne Estate to the Constable
he shall have liberty to Seize Person & carry him to the next
prison there to remaine till; he paye the same or give good
security soe to doe
16 17 [16. MINISTERS.]*
For defraying the sent Charges arrisen in the Severall
towns for the supporte of the minesters of the gospell as allso
for payment of the nessesary expenses of the Assembly men
of each towne during there Sitting; & other nesseary occa-
sions relating to the towne Bee it Enacted & that the Trus-
teers or Overseers hitherto called selectmen, in the respective
towns where they live doe make such rates upon all sons
& Estates in the Severall townes to be forthw'th Collected
by the Constable as maye answer the occasions afore saide
as formerly untill further order; & that particular Care be
taken with reference to all arrearages of rates that the same
maye be forth w'th Collected & p'd to the sons to whome
they are due.
18 19 [17. RATE.]
For defraying the publicke Charges of the province bee it
Enacted & that a rate be made of fourpence in the pound upon
all sons & Estates w'thin the province according to valu-
ation thereof laste sett & that the Trustees or Overseer's in
the Severall townes doe forthw'th efect it Commiting the
Same into the hands of the respective Constable to be Cǝl-
lected & transmitted into the hand of the province Treasurers
in the Species at the prices following viz't-
Mer'ble pine boards at any Convenient landing place in
Piscattaqua River at 26s
m
*A dissimilarity between this draft, or at least the imprint of it, which
appears in I Province Papers and in 8 Collections of N. H. Hist. Soc., and
those that are on file in the English archives, doubtless arises from a clerical
error in the division of articles 16 and 17, as a result of which there appear
to be two more articles in the American than in the English copy. The
numbering of the articles according to the American draft is indicated after
article 15 by the figures at the left of those in brackets, which are employed
to include the revised numbering.
APPENDIX.
801
Ditto white oake pipe Staves at any Convenient landing
where the Constable shall appoynt at 50s m
Ditto Red O P. Staves ut Supra at 35s m
Beafe at 20:1
Poarke at 3d :1
Indian Corne at 3s : bush'll
Wheate at 5s
: bush'll
Pease at 4s
: bush'll
: bush'll
Malte at 3s
ffish at price Currante
And Whosoever will paye theire rates in mony shall be
abated one third parte; The saide rate being paid into the
Treasure that Comes not in mony to be Converted into mony
& applied to the uses following viz't A prosent of two hundred
pounds in mony to our Hon'd Govern'r as soone as the saide
rate can be Collected & Converted into mony and the remain-
der to answer any other province [charge] that doth or maye
arise-
20 [18. MONEY.]
For bringing plenty of mony into the province by putting
a value on fforreigne coine Bee it Enacted & that the severall
sorts of forreigne coine herein after named shall passe here in
all paym❜ts at the value here set upon them that is to Saye
the price of eighte ryalls of spane or dollers of sevill Mexico
& piller & all lesser peices provided they be good sillver att six
shillings Eight pence the ounce Troy weighte provided
that all monyes payeble upon former Contracts bee paide in
specie according to agrement;
21 [19. JURY.]
Whereas a bill was lately passed for regulation of the
choise of Jurors Assembly men Trustees or overseers for the
respective Townes & it appearing that the manner of Choise
of Jurors therein Expressed is absolutely Contrary to the
knowne Laws and Statutes of the kingdome of England bee it
therefore Enacted by the Honarable Edwarde Cranfeild Esq'r
Leftinant Governour & Commander in Cheife of his Majesties
province with the advice & Consent of the Councill & Gen-
erall Assembly thereof & it is hereby Enacted by the authority
aforesaide that the Clause in the s'd bill relating to the Choise
of Jurors be repealed & that for the future Jury men shall
bee Impaniled by the Sherriff or Marshall of the Province for
the time being & summoned & returned to the Courte of
Please as it is Customary in England & all other his Majestyes
Plantations & whosoever is legally returned of the Jury &
appeares not & this appeares by the oath of the marshall paye
55
802
APPENDIX.
twenty shillings for His defaulte unless sickness or other
nesseary occation prevent such as shall give the Judge sat-
isfaction-
22 [20. BAIL.]
That no son maye be a Looser through the officers neg-
lect Bee it Enacted &; that now marshall Constable or other
Officer shall baile any son that he hath attatched w'thoute
Sufficient Security viz't one or more that is settled Inhabitants
in the Province & that hath a visible Estate to be responsable
according to the bonds required provided no mans son be
Imprisoned; that shall tender to the officer Sufficient Security
by his owne Estate to answer the attachment unless in Such
Case where the law allows neither baile nor maineprize—
23 [21. WITHDRAWING ACTIONS.]
Bee it Enacted &; that any son who is plantive in any
Courte w'thin this province shall have liberty at any time
before verditt given to w'thdraw his action in which case hee
shall paye full Coasts to the defendante-
24 [22. NONSUIT.]
Bee it Enacted &; that if any son doe make defaulte of
appearence in any Courte where he is Plantiff having been
three times distinckly called by the marshall or other officer
appoynted thereto; he shall be nonsuted & Lyable to paye the
defendante costs & if the defendante faile to make his appear-
ence if it appeare by the prosess that goods whare attached
or Surety or suretyes bounde for his appearence after the
surety hath been three times Called the Cause shall proceede
to tryall & if Judgment bee given for the Plantiff, Exicution
shall Ishu forth againste the defendante & the surety or goods
attached shall stand good for a month after Judgment but if
the exicution be not Levied within one month after Judgment
the goods attached or suretyes bounde shall be discharged---
[23. SMALL CAUSES.]
Bee it Enacted &; that every Justice of the pease in the
respective Towne where he dwells; shall have power hereby
To heare & determine any sivill; action where the debt or
damages exceed not forty shillings provided the attachments
& Summons are made oute or signed by the Clarke of the
Courte of Please for the time being & it shall bee lawfull for
the party aggreived by such determination to appeale to the
next Courte of Please or to the governour & Counsill giving
security to prosicute such Appeale, & abide the order
therein-
}
APPENDIX.
803
[24. ATTACHMENT.]
Bee it Enacted &; That all Summonds and attachments
shall be Served six dayes before the Courte where the case
is to be tryed and the Cause or grounds of the Action shall in
thee saide Proses be breifely declared and in what Capasity
the Plantiff sueth whether in his owne name or as Assigne
Guardian Exsecitor Adminestrator; Agent; or such like or
in defect thereof if exception be taken before partyes Joyne
Ishu it shall be Counted a Legall bare and the Plantife shall
be Lyable to paye Coste but now Circumstantiall Errors in a
summons; or attachmente where the person and Cause in-
tended maye be rationally understood; shall be taken as a
sufficiente grounde for a Nonsute-
[25. CONFESSING JUDGMENT.]
Bee it Enacted &; that any son attached desiring to pre-
vent further Charge shall have liberty at any time before the
Sitting of the Courte where he is to answer upon notice given
to the Plantiff or his atturney to appeare before the Judge &
Clark of the saide Courte & Acknowlidge a Judgment w'ch
shall stand good & vallid in law provided that the goods at-
tached, or suretyes bounde shall not be discharge; till a month
after the acknowligment of such Judgment unless the Creditor
give under his hand that he is satisfied provided allso such
acknowligment of Judgment by any person or sons not
Inhabiting w’thin this province shall not free them unless
they produse a sufficient surety that is a setled Inhabitante
w'thin the Limitts of this Province to ingage w'th him or
them in the acknowlidgment of the saide Judgment & Exicu-
tion to stang good againste the surety for a full month after—
Vera Copia from the Originall Laws
Teste
Richard Chameberlaine
APPENDIX F. IV.
NEW HAMPSHIRE.
A BILL CONCERNING PLAINTIFFS & DEFENDANTS
NON APPEARANCE.
[34 Charles II.]
[This bill is one of a file or package in the New Hampshire papers in the
public record office in London, time of. Cranfield. It differs from a group of
five other bills filed in the same custody and same package, and probably at
the same time, which are here printed under the title "Appendix F. V," only
in respect to the formality of a seal being affixed to this bill and not to
either one of the other five. The filing for the bundle containing this bill
and the other five which bear no evidence of sealing is as follows:-"Laws
and Bills made in New Hampshire, Rx 10 May 83."
804
APPENDIX.
The date of transmission from New Hampshire is not shown, hence the
difficulty of identifying them with any particular letter or date of sending
on the part of the lieutenant-governor or secretary of the province.
The terms of this bill or act, whichever it may actually have been, are
identical with those of Article 22, Cranfield Code, "D," ante, p. 71. It will be
noted, also, that the bill or act in its separate form is in better phraseology
than is presented in the code above cited and marked "D."]
SEAL
By the Governour by and with the advice and
consent of the Councell and Assembly. Bee it En-
acted, that if any person doe make default of
appearance in any Court where he is Plantiff, having been
three times distinctly called by the Marshall, or other Officer
appointed therto; he shall be nonsuited, and lyable to pay the
Defendant costs; and if the Defendant fail to make his appear-
ance, if it appeare by the process, that goods were attatched,
or Surety or Sureties bound for his appearance, after the
Surety hath been three times called, the cause shall proceede
to Tryal, and if Judgment be given for the plantiff, execution
shall issue forth against the Defendant, and the Surety or
goods attatched shall stand good for a month after Judgment:
but if the Execution be not levied within one month after
Judgment, the goods attatched, or Sureties bound, shall be dis-
charged.
APPENDIX F. V-1.
[A BILL RELATING TO CONFESSION OF JUDGMENT.]
[34 Charles II.]
[This is the first in order of the five acts or bills filed in a single bundle.
in the public record office in London, with the one sealed and printed, ante,
"Appendix F. IV." Compare this bill or act, whichever it may be consid-
ered, with Article 25, Cranfield Code, in the body of this work, ante, p. 72.
It will be recalled in this_connection that Lieutenant-Governor Cranfield,
in his letter to Sir Leoline Jenkins of date Jan. 10, 1682-3, says: "Herewith
I send the laws that I have thought fit to pass and putt under the seal. I
send you some few others that you might see the nature of these people." There
is nothing in the records or archives to identify, with any degree of cer-
tainty, the "few others" to which the lieutenant-governor refers in the sen-
tence last above quoted. It is a question whether the acts or bills included
in Appendix F, IV and V, are those referred to. If they were it appears,
nevertheless, that each one of them had been embodied in the draft of the
laws as they stood at the time of the certification by Secretary Chamberlain
March 30, 1682. [1683.] See certificate at the bottom of the page, copy of
the Cranfield Code, in the body of this work, ante, p. 72.]
By the Governour By and with the Advice and Consent of
the Councell and Assembly: Bee it further Enacted, That any
Person attached, desiring to prevent further charge, shall have
liberty at any time before the sitting of the Court where he is
to answer, upon notice given to the Plantiff or his Attorney,
to appeare before the Judge and Clerk of said Court, and ac-
knowledge a Judgement; which shall stand good and valid in
APPENDIX.
805
law, provided that the goods attatched or Sureties bound shall
not be discharged till a month after the acknowledgment of
such Judgment, unless the Creditor give under his hand that
he is satisfied: Provided also, such acknowledgment of Judg-
ment by any person or persons not inhabiting within this
Province, shall not free them, unless they produce a sufficient
Surety, that is a setled Inhabitant within the limitts of this
Province, to engage with him or them in the acknowledgment
of said Judgment and Execution, to stand good against the
Surety for a full month after.
APPENDIX F. V-2.
A BILL FOR SMALL CAUSES.
[34 Charles II.]
[This is the second in order of the five acts or bills described in the note
to Appendix F. V, 1, ante. Compare this bill with Article 23, Cranfield
Code, in the body of this work, ante, p. 72.]
Bee it Enacted by the Governo'r with the advice and con-
sent of the Councell and Assembly; That every Justice of
Peace in the respective Towne where he dwells, shall have
power hereby to hear and determine any Civil Action where
the debt or damages exceed not 40s provided, the attatch-
ments and Sum'ons are made out or signed by the Clark of
the Court of Pleas for the time being. And it shall be lawfull
for the party aggreived by such determina'con, to appeal to
the next Court of Pleas, or to the Governo'r & Councell, giving
Security to prosecute such appeale, & abide the Order therein.
APPENDIX F. V—3.
'A BILL TO MAKE RATES TO DEFRAY TOWNE CHARGE.
[SUPPORT OF MINISTRY.]
[34 Charles II.]
[This is the third in order of the five acts described in the note to Appen-
dix F. V, 1, ante. Compare this bill with Article 16, Cranfield Code, in the
body of this work, ante, p. 69.]
ffor defraying the present charges arisen in the Severall
Towns for the support of the Ministers of the Gospell, as also
for payment of the necessary expences of the Assembly men
of each Towne during their sitting and other necessary occa-
sions relating to the Towne: Bee it Enacted, &c That the
Trustees or Overseers (hitherto called Select men) in the re-
spective Towns where they live, doe make such rates upon all
806
APPENDIX.
persons & Estates in the severall Towns, to be forthwith col-
lected by the Constable; as may answer the occasions afore-
said (as formerly,) untill further order; and that perticular
care be taken, with reference to all arrearages of rates, that
the same may be forthwith collected, and paid to the persons
to whom they are due.
APPENDIX F. V-4.
A BILL FOR SERVING ATTACHMENTS.
[34 Charles II.]
[This is the fourth in order of the five acts or bills described in the note
to Appendix F. V, 1, ante. Compare this bill with Article 24, Cranfield Code,
in the body of this work, ante, p. 72.]
Bee it further Enacted, &c. That all Sum'ons & Attatchm'ts
shal be served six days inclusively before the Court, where the
case is to be tryed, and the cause or ground of the action shall
in the s'd process be breifly declared, and in what capacity the
Plantiff sueth; whether in his own name, or as Assignee, Guar-
dian, Executor Administrat, or Agent, or such like; or in
defect therof, if exception be taken before parties joine issue,
it shal be counted a legall barr, and the Plantiff shal be liable
to pay cost: but no circumstantial error in a sum'ons or attatch-
m't where the person and cause intended may be rationally
understood, shal be taken as a sufficient ground for a nonsuit.
APPENDIX F. V-5.
A BILL FOR THE VALUE OR PRICE OF FFORAIGNE
COINE.
[34 Charles II.]
[This is the fifth in order of the five acts or bills, described in the note to
Appendix F. V, 1, ante. Compare this bill with Article 18, Cranfield Code,
in the body of this work, ante, p. 70.]
ffor bringing plenty of mony into this Province, by putting
a value on fforraigne Coine; Bee it Enacted, &c. That the sev-
erall sorts of currant fforraigne coine herein after named, shall
pass here in all payments at the value hereby putt upon them;
That is to say, the peice of Eight ryals or Spaine, or dollars
of Cevil Mexico, and Pillar, and all lesser peices; provided
they be good Silver, at six shillings eight pence by the Ounce
Troy weight: provided, that all monies payable upon former
contracts, be paid in specie according to agreement.
APPENDIX.
807
•
APPENDIX F. VI.
[A BILL FOR RAISING MONEY FOR SUPPORT OF THE
GOVERNMENT.]
[34 Charles II.]
[This document is found in the archives of this state and not in those in
London. In the New Hampshire state documents it does not have place in
the manuscript volumes or documentary collections of the province acts.
It is in a volume of miscellaneous papers which bears the title,
"Misc. Prov. & State Papers," vol. 1, p. 21. It is one that is preserved
in the state papers, and the original, which has not been discovered, may
have borne the province seal and the signature of the lieutenant-governor,
but this is not probable. Whether his assent can be presumed depends
upon the evidence contained in this copy and its endorsements, the official
statements in which reference is made to it, and the conduct of the province
government subsequently with reference to putting such an act into execu-
tion. The certification at the end of the body of the bill will be noted, as
follows:
"passed By the Councell by order:'
"R. Chamberlin C¹ of the Councell."
Immediately following what purports to be a copy of the certification by
Mr. Chamberlain, it will be observed, is a memorandum, as follows:
"a true Coppie taken when it was presented to the generall asembly at
theire second time of meetinge ye 14th November, 1682.
"taken by mee
"Nath: Weare."
Nathaniel Weare was the agent representing the anti-Mason interest in
England in the winter of 1683-4. I Province Papers, 519, Biog. of Nathaniel
Weare, 8 N. H. Hist. Coll., 380.
This last memorandum determines the date of the pendency of the bill
but it does not prove the fact of passage of it by the house of representa-
tives. In the absence of a journal of the house for the time of Cranfield it is
impossible to ascertain, "by the book," what transpired in that branch of
the council and assembly. The endorsement on the paper is also significant.
It is as follows:
"No. 26 Copie of the Bill for raysinge of money for suport of ye Gov-
ernment."
It will be seen by reference to page 72, Cranfield Code (“D”), in the body
of this volume, ante, that the last article included in the draft which has a cer-
tification as a true copy under date of March 30, 1682 [1683?] is numbered
twenty-five (25). The numbering of this bill being 26, it might well be
assumed that the enactment (if the bill had ever been perfected as such),
would be the next article in the arrangement of acts in the codification.
Compare the numbering of the articles in the copy in Appendix C, III, ante,
with the numbering of the certified copy "D" in the body of the volume,
ante, pp. 66-72. In connection with the article numbered 17 on p. 64, ante,
that numbered 17 on p. 70, ante, and the bill under consideration, the orders
of the lieutenant-governor and council, constituting chapters 11 and 12, pp.
85 and 86, ante, should be read, inasmuch as the orders of 1683-4, referred to,
presuppose the former enactment of certain tax laws. By orders for the
continuance of them the lieutenant-governor and council were manifestly
endeavoring to supply a revenue for the province government.
This was in the period in the Cranfield administration when the assembly,
that is, the house of representatives, refused to participate in any legislation
by the council and assembly.
There is a very pointed allusion in Lieutenant-Governor Cranfield's letter
of January 23, 1682-3 (17 State Papers, 582), to a bill which answers well
the description of the one under consideration.
He says: "I recommend this inclosed Bill (it having passed the Councill)
for the raising a Revenue to support the Government, but all endeavors
were rendered ineffectual. . . . I dissolved them upon the 20't Instant this
Bill was judged by all indifferent men to be the most equollent way for
808
APPENDIX.
raising of money that could be thought of, but since they have refused to
do their duty to his Maj'ty in that particular, I shall with the consent of the
council continue the impositions that have been lately raised upon the In-
habitants as is directed by his Maj'ts Commission."
In consonance with the purpose thus expressed, action was subsequently
taken without the concurrence of the assembly for the continuance of
taxes formerly assessed. Chapters 11 and 12, ante, pp. 85, 86; 1 Prov. Papers,
488, 490. See also Edward Randolph's letter to the Lords Committee on
Trade and Plantations, 1683, 1 Prov. Papers, 491, 493; Farmer's Belknap,
App. 463.
In view of all the apparent circumstances, the opinion is ventured that
this bill was tendered to the assembly by the lieutenant-governor and coun-
cil, and the representatives would not and never did assent to it.
The bill was printed, 17 State Papers, 613, 614, 615 (1889), with comments
on p. 615, by the editor of that volume, Mr. Isaac W. Hammond.
Much of the data upon which an opinion might now be predicated was at
that time not accessible to Mr. Hammond.
See notes, ante, pp. 48, 58, 77; Farmer's Belknap, 98.]
ffor the beter raisinge a revenue for the defrayinge the
Charge & nececery expence of the govornment, and for Sup-
port of the govornor of his maj'tys province
wee the Councell & Generall Asembly for the uses aforsd
doe give & Grant unto his most Exelent maj'ty: our supreme
leage lord & Sovaraigne: his heires & succesors the Costoms &
dutys hearafter expresed: And Bee it enacted By the honour-
eble Edward Cranfeild esq: Lftenent Govornor Comander in
Cheife of this province with the advise and Consent of the
Councell & Genarall asembly therof And it is hearby enacted:
by the authoriety aforsd: That for every Butt or pipe of fiall:
wine or groth of any of the westeren Islands imported, into
this province shall bee payed aight shillings And for every
pipe, of madery wine twelve shillings And after the Same
reate for any other Sorts of wine And for every hogshead of
rum: brandy: or destilied: Liquors sixe shillings and prepor-
tionably: for greater or lesser quantitys and for all other
goods & marchentidise of what natuer or kinde soever, which
Shall Bee imported: into the sd province either by sea: or
land: of every twenty Shillings value of the sd goods or mar-
chentdise: except Cotton wooll: Salt: graine & flesh Shall bee
payd one peny, & for any Sort of timber which shall bee trans-
ported out of the sd province there shall bee payd the reats
& dutys followinge: that is to say for every tun of timber:
sixe pence, for every thousand foott of boards & slit worke
one shillinge: pipstaves one shillinge sixepence thousand:
hogshead staves one shillinge thousand: barrall staves:
ninepence thousand & all other sorts of lumber shall pay
sixepence tun: for every mast of twenty fouer Inches diam-
eter & upward: shall bee payd: sixpence for every Inch: yards
of twenty Inches & upward ninepence for every Inch: boll-
sprits of twenty fouer Inches & upwards fouerpence for every
Inch And all other masts yards & boulsprits: under the demen-
tions aforsd: to pay by the tun: as other timber
APPENDIX.
809
Be it further enacted by the authorety aforsd that every
shipe barque Catch or any vessell havinge one or more deks
that Shall Come: to ancor: in any port harbour: or river within
this province & shall trade traficke & Lade any goods therin
shall pay one shillinge or one pound of good Gun powder for
every tun burthen that every such Shipe barque Catch or
other vessell shall bee of All which dutys and impositions if
payd in mony shall bee Collected by and payd unto the treas-
uerer of the province for the time beinge, And if in gunpow-
der, then to the Cap't of the poart, provided allways & bee it
hearby Enacted and declared that all Ships & other vesalls
of fourcore tun: & upwards that Shall Lade any sort of timber
are freed from payinge any Dutys for the Same except it bee
for masts yards & bolsprits aforsd
And bee it further Enacted: by the Authority aforsd that
every master or Comander of any Shipe barque or other vessall
marchents or mariners livinge in this province Shall make a
true & perfict entry with the treasuerer of the province for
the time beinge of all Such goods & marchendise as they
Shall import or have on board & before landinge the Same or
any part thereof shall pay the dutys & Customs hearby layd
upon them or agreed to bee payd for the Same And in Case
any person shall presume to put on Shore any goods before
entry therof made & Custome payd or agreed for as aforsd
all such goods & marchentise Shall bee forfitt one thirde part
therof to the Informer & the other two thirds to the uses of
the government as before exprest:
And bee it Also Enacted that no shipe barque or other vesall
Shall bee permited the departuer of this province untill he
hath Cleared with the treasuerer of the province as aforsd &
payd the dutys & Customs for the timber & other lumber as
aforsd that shall bee laden upon the pennelty of twenty
pounds to bee served upon the master or his shipe barque or
other vessall
provided that the ships & other vessells or such parts and
Shars therof as doe bona fida belonge unto the Inhabitence
of this province are hearby freed & exempted from payment
of powder mony & the sd dutys upon timber & other lumber
passed By the Councell by order:
R Chamberlin C of the Councell
a true Coppie taken when it was presented to the generall
asembly at their second time of meetinge the 14th November
1682
taken by mee
Nath: Weare
810
APPENDIX.
APPENDIX G. I.
[THE ANCIENT PRINTED COPY OF THE ORDERS OF
THE COUNCIL GOVERNING THE DOMINION OF
NEW ENGLAND TEMPORARILY IN THE PRESI-
DENCY OF JOSEPH DUDLEY, 1686. 2 JAMES II.]
[In a note referring to these orders in the former part of this volume,
pp. 100, 101, a bibliographical description of a very early folio imprint con-
taining them was given.
This, of course, is not to be regarded as distinctively a New Hampshire
folio. It was doubtless printed in Massachusets. It was a publication, not
of any one colony, but of the dominion. If duplicates of it exist the fact
is not generally known. In the investigations made in the preparation of
this work no other copy has been discovered, nor has the existence of another
copy been ascertained. At some time, comparatively recent, the manuscript
laws of the province of New Hampshire, enacted prior to the beginning of
the administration of Governor Dudley in 1702, and remaining in the state
archives, were collected and bound in a single volume. This imprint was
included and bound in with the manuscripts and for many years was pre-
served in the seclusion of this binding. This volume of manuscript laws is.
designated as Council Book I. The printed folio has now been separated
from the book and measures taken for the reproduction of the text in fac-
simile. In order to preserve its identity as nearly as possible in its presen-
tation in this appendix, a fac-simile has been specially made, though of
necessity on a reduced scale from the printed part of the pages of the origi-
nal. It appears by the order of the council, ante, p. 135, that it was then the
purpose to cause the military laws to be printed as well as those "for the
strict observation of the Lord's day." What laws were referred to in this
last clause as relating to the observance of the Lord's day is problematical.
It may be that the reference is to the former enactments of the several
colonies. Chapter 6, p. 246, ante. Chapter 18, p. 249, ante.
It is also a question as to what laws were under consideration as indi-
cated by chapter 51, ante, p. 135. Reference is made in a note, ante, p. 183,
to the complaint made in England in the time of the Andros administration
that the laws were not printed, as was the custom with the former govern-
ments, so that the people were at a great loss to know "what was law and
what was not."
If the orders, which are the subject of the reprint which follows, were
actually printed and circulated about the time of their date, they are proof
of a disposition then existing on the part of the council, of which Colonel
Dudley was president, to give the more important enactments circulation in
print. It is possible that the administration of Sir Edmund Andros, which
immediately followed, and to which that of Colonel Dudley was preparatory,
was deserving of the strictures of Mr. Mather as to its neglect to follow the
precedent set by the preliminary administration of the Dudley council in
seasonable and adequate publication of the laws in the printed form.
The reduced fac-similes of the original folio pamphlet imprint of the orders
of President Dudley and council appear on the eight pages immediately fol-
lowing this note.]

An Order for the Holding of COURTS dc.
169
07 SY
NO.
BY THE
PRESIDENT and COUNCIL OF HIS MAJESTIES
TERRITORY And DOMINION of NEW-ENGLAND
in AMERICA.
AN ORDER FOR THE
HOLDING OF COURTS
3. And EXECUTION of JUSTICE.
T
Pablished the 10th of June 1686.
O the end that Juftice may be equally diftributed within This His
Majefties Territory and Dominion, and Criminal Offenders
againſt His Majefties Lawes duely punished,
the PRESIDENT and Council, That in each feveral County and Province
It is Ordered by
within this Government, there fhall be Erected, and Settled, and by the
AUTHORITY aforefaid there is hereby Erected, Appointed and Settied a
COUNTY COURT, to be held and kept as a Court of Pleas and of General
SESSION of the Peace, within each County and Province aforefaid
times, places & order of which County Court are as followeth (viz.)
For the County of Suffolk to be held at Bofton, Four Courts in the year,
The first on the last Tuesday in July next.
The fecond on the left Tuesday in October following.
The third on the last Tuesday in January.
The
The fourth on the laft Taefday in April. And fo on the fame days annually.
B
For
811

An Order for the Holding of COURTS &c.
For the County of Middlefex:
The firft at Cambridge on the firft Tuesday in October.
The fecond at Charlestown on the third 1nefday in December.
The third at Concord on the first Tuesday in April
The fourth at Charlestown on the third Tuesday in June. And fo
on the fame dayes annually.
For the County of Effex.
The Firft at Ipfwich, on the last Tuesday of September.
The Second at Salem on the last Tuesday in November.
The Third at Ipfwich on the laft Tuesday in March.
The Fourth at Salem on the last Tuesday in June. And fo Annually
For the County of Hampshire,
The First at Springfield on the laft Tuesday in September.
The Second at North-Hampton on the laft Tuefday in March, annually.
For the Province of New-Hampshire.
The Firft at Great-Iland, the firft Tuesday in October.
The Second at Portfmouth, the First Tuesday in April.
For the Province of Main,
The first at Tork, the fecond Tuesday in October.
The Second at Wells, the fecond Tuesday in April.
And for the more Regular and certain Keeping of the aforefaid
COURTS, It is Ordered that they fhall confift of fuch Member or
Members of the Council in each County and Province as fhall be there-
in refident (not excluding any others of the Council who fhall think fit
to be prefent) together with fuch Juices of the Peace, as (where
need is) fhall be particularly commiffioned thereunto: So that the num-
ber in each County Court be alwaies three at the leaft, and one of them
a Member of the Council, who being aflembled at the times and places
appointed, have full Power and Authority to open and hold the faid
County Courts and to proceed to the hearing, trying, and iuing
of all Civil Caufes & Pleas whatfoever, and of all Criminals not exten-
ding to Life or Limb, and upon Judgement given to award Execu
tion making fuch Adjournments as to them fhall feem fitt, and punish-
ing all Contempts, as unto fuch a Court of right doth belong; from
which feveral County Courts, and the Judgment in them given in all Civil
Cafes, there fhall an Appeal lye to be orderly made and brought to the
Prefident and Cound at their next Court, to be held for that end, as
hereafter is appointed, unto which Court of Appeals the Appellant fhall bring
the whole Cafe as it was pleaded and tryed in the Inferior Court between
the Appellant & Defendant, and both fhall have further Liberty of all fuch
additional Evidences and Pleas to be brought as doth not alter the fue
that hath been between them.
If
813

An Order for the Holding of COURTS .
$
It is further Ordered, Declared and Appointed, That there fhall be
held by the Prefident or in his abfence the Deputy-Prefident and Coun
cil, a Stated Superiour Court of Grand ASSIZE and General Goal-Deli-
very for this His Majefties whole TERRITORY and DOMI-
NION, to be kept Thrice in the Year at BOSTON; i. e. On
cach Firft Tucfday in the Moneths of November, March and July, and
fo Annually. In which Superiour Court fo to be held fhall be here try-
ed and finally Iffed all Cafes of Appeal, all Capital Cafes, and all fuch
Pleas of the Crow, and other matters of greater Concernment as are
above the Cognifance of inferior Courts, and proper thereto to be de-
termined, faving alwayes unto all perfons Liberty of Appeal unto His Ma
jefty in Council as in and by His Majesty's Royal Commiffion is gran-
sed, limitted appoined:
And for the more ready Difpatch of fmall Caufes, where the Dama
mage befides Coft fhall not exceed the Summe of Forty fhillings, It is
Ordered and declared that the Prefident and each Member of the Council
hath Power, to hold Plea of, and to give Judgment, and award Execution in
all fuch Caufes, as heretofore hath been in ufe. The like Power have
any two of the Juftices joyning together. And from the Sentence
and Judgment in thefe Cafes to be given, there fhall be an Appeal to
the next Court of the County and no higher.
It is alfo further Ordered by the Authority aforefaid, That in all Le
gal Procefs within this His Majefties Territory & Dominion to be allow
ed and accounted valid in the feveral Courts now conftituted, the Ori-
ginal Writt fhall alwares be under the Hand and Seal of the Prefident,
or of fome Member of the Council, or of the Clerks of the County Courts
within their feveral Precincts: And in mall Actions, under the hand
and feal of fuch as are to try them. And all fuch Writts as fhall be a
above Twenty Pound value fhall be alfo ftamped with the SEAL of
the Secretaries Office; all which Original Writts abovefaid, and all
Executions upon Judgement given fhall be directed to be ferved by the
Provoft-Marshal, County-Marjhal or their Deputyes and no other, except
in finall Cafes, where the Conftable of the Town fhall be fufficient; and
where the Caufe is to be tryed in the County Court, every Original
Writt fhall be ferved fourteen dayes before the Sitting of the faid Court, and
purfuant thereunto a Declaration of the Plantiffe fhall be alfo entered with
the Clerk of the Court feven dayes before its Sitting, and the fame time
(of feven dayes) is given for the Entrance of the Reafons of Appeal with
the Secretary in all Cafes of Appeal to the Supream Court.
It is further Ordered, That the Acknowledgment of all Deeds
or other Legal Inftruments that are to be Entred upon Record, fhall b
made betove & be figued by the President or fome Member of the Council anc
no other.
Further, That the Office for the Probate of Wills and Granting Ad-
miniftrations, be holden by the President for the time being, and hi
Clerk, at the Council-Houfe on Thursdayes at Ten of the Clock in the
Morning
B 2
815

57
Jes
An Order for the Holding of COURTS G.
morning and in the other Provinces and remote Countryes, by fucli
Judge and Clerk as the faid Prefident under his Hand and Seal fhall Au-
thorize, and at fucly Time as fhall be 2 appointed, taking Fees accord-
ing to the Statutes, the faid Clerks being herein accounted as Deputies to
the Secretary and Regifter, and from bim to take Deputation accordingly.
Further, That fuch as from time to time fhall be allowed and fworn At
fornyes by the Council and County Courts, and they only to receive Fees
and plead in any of His Majefties Courts, ) and no other prefume to offer
Pleading, fave that every man is allowed to plead his own Cafe.
That no Affidavit or Teftimony is in any Civil Cafe to be taken out
of the Court where the Tryal is Holden, except before fome Mem-
ber of the Council where the Witnefs is at a great diftance from the
Court, or incapable of coming, or bound to Sea before the Tryal, and then
in prefence of the Oppofite party if he may be had, and feafonable No-
tice be given to hit thereof: And all Witnefs in Criminal Cafes to give
their Evidence in open Court.
That where judgement hath paled in any former Court within
this TERRITORY and DOMINION, and Execution hath
not been taken out and Levied, the party for whom Judgement hath
paffed thall have a Writt of Scire facias from the Secretary or Clerk
of the Court, whence a new Execution fhould proceed to the Adverſe
party to appear before the Court that hath proper Cognizance there-
of and fhew caufe why Execution fhould not go out, and incafe of Non-
Appearance, or that fufficient caule be not fhewn to the Court reft
of Judgement, Judgement fhall be affirmed and Execution graunted accor
dingly.
That the County Courts fhall appoint in every Town a fitting perfon for
Cto take the accounts of Births and Burials, ( unto which Office, Mr.
Richard Bukicy is appointed for BOSTON) which fhall be quarterly
brought into the Clerks of the County Courts, for which fuch Clerk
hall receive three-pence for each Name and pay one penzy for every Name
to the Clerk of the County Court, and every perfon next related or con-
cerned is hereby Ordered to give notice and make payment as above-faid,
within the space of one week upon the penalty of five fillings; and that
the feveral Minifters and Juftices do in like manner at every County Court
make Return of the Marriages by them feverally folemnized, and pay to
the Clerk three pence for every Couple.
That Licenfes for Holding of Taverns, Inns, Strong-water Houfes,& Retai
ders in & without doors, and publick Victuallers, be granted by the County
Courts of the feveral Shires and Provinces to which the feveral Inn-hold-
fers fhall give Bond and pay accuftomed Fees and Duties, as hath been
in ufe, and the Treafurer and fuch others as fhall be from time to time
appointed, have hereby Power graunted them to agree with the Dutyes
of Excife and, no perfon licenfed thall prefume to draw until he hath
made fuch Agreement with the Treafurer as abovefaid. And it is.
Ordered that hone prefume to draw Drink without Licenfe upon the p
airy Five ponnas for every Conviction (according to the late age)
..li
to
817

Settlement of Fees,
37
to be made before fome Member of the Council, or any Two of the Jufti-
ces, within the County, and the Fine to be Levied by Writt from fuch
Member of the Council, or Juftices, and the fame to be divided, one
half to His Majefty and returned to His Treafury here, and the other
half to the Informer.
For the orderly and equal Appearance of Juries to ferve in Courts,
It is Ordered, That the Conftables and Select-men in the feveral
Towns within this His Majeftyes Territory and Dominion, do before the
first day of July next give into the feveral Marſhals of the Counties in
which the Towns feverally lye, a full and true Lift of all the Free-holders
and Inhabitants meet to ferve on Juries; and that the Marshals there-
upon in their feveral Counties, with the Aultance of one of the Juftices
thereto Appointed, fhall prick the Pannel or Pannels for the Grand or Pet-
ty Jurors, who fhall be fummon'd by the Marinal fourteen Dayes before
the Court, and the Pannel delivered to the Clerk of the Courts under
the Marshal's Hand, that they may ferve áccordingly.
That the Fees to be paid in all Tryals and Iffues at Law fhall in no
cafe paſs the particular Orders of the Prefident and Council.
In the Tryal of Small Cafes. VIZ.
i. s..
d.
For the Attachment or Summons
A Sub-poena to fummons Witnefs
Entrance
Fileing the Papers, each paper
Judgement
Confefling Judgement
Execution
Affidavit out of Court
20
3
3
4.
0 2
2
C
20
Acknowledgments of Deeds & other Inftruments o
If the Decd be above a hundred pound
In Tryals of the County Court,
For Stamping the Wrict in Secretary's Office c
Attachments if above a hundred pound
The Juryes, for every Verdick
Entrance of the Action
Confelling Judgement
26
60
10 O
NO
0
2
Additonal Entrance of Judgement above 201.0
Licenfe to Keep Publick Houfes
Judgement
Execution
C
10 0
50
2 0
26
Probate
819

Settlement of Fees.
Officers Names.
Probate of a Will and Adminiftiation)
Copies of the Will, Atteftation & Inventory)
If the Eftate be above two hundred pounds
In all Appeals before the Prefident & Couhsil,
Entrance
6 0
07
Judgement
5 6
For Serving Executións
accustomed Fees.
Return of a Proclamation
Serving a Replevin
16
Releaſe of a Fellon
066
Befides accuſtomed Fees for Travel.
The Keepers Fees, in all Caufes as are accustomed.
The Coroner's Fees
For the Inquifition of untimely Death, Y
& of the Goods of the Deaceafed,
Befides Allowance for Travel.
And where no Goods
from the Country.
013
Officers for the Several Courts
For Suffolk,
Viz,
Mr. Daniel Allin
Mr. Thomas Dudley)
Mr. John Blake, Coroner
Clerks
Mr. John Winchcombe Marihals:
Mr. Nathaniel Page)
Y
For Middlefex,
Capt. Laurence Hammond Clerk-
Mr. John Green, Marihal.
Mr. Samuel Gookin Coroner.
For
821

Encouragement for Surveyers of Ships.
For Effex,
Mr. Stephen Sewal, Clerk.
Lievt': Jeremiah Neal, Marthal.
Mr. Samuel Gardiner, Coroner.
For Hampire,
Mr. John Holioak ) Clerks
Mr. Samuel Patrick)
Mr. Samuel Marfufuld, Marshal.
Mr. Jofeph Hawley, Coroner.
For the Province of New-Hampſhire.
Richard Chamberlain Efq; Clerk.
Mr. Pheasant Eftwick Coroner.
Who fhall be all fworn to the faithful Difcharge of their Truft:
An ORDER for the Encouragement of SURVEYERS of Ships
and Veffels. c.
W
HEREAS In the feveral Counties and Sea-port Towns
there have been appointed meet Perfons for the Sut-
veying of Ships (either which are building or defect-
tive) and damnified Goods;
It is hereby DECLARED, That the faid Perfons are Continued
in that Service, and for their Satisfaction fhall receive each
of them from the Employers, Four fillings, for every Survey
Made and Returned under their hands.
C 2
It
823

I
Bounds and Power of Towns, &T
Tis ORDERED and DECLARED, That the Bounds
of all Townships fhail Be and. Continue as heretoforefettled, and
that they fhall be run between Town and Town, for time and
manner as hath been formerly required & ufed; And that each Town have
the fame Liberty and Power of Choofing and Inftructing their Se-
lett-men, Conftables and other Officers for the Management of their own
Affairs as they have ufed & exercifed, and all fuch Elections to be made
by the Free-holders in ever Town.
It is alfo Ordered, That all Contracts, Agreentents, and Orders regular-
ly made in any Town, refpecting either their Minifters or School-
Mafters as to their Maintenance, or any other Perfon Concerned or the
publique Benefit of the Town, hall remain good and valid for the whole
time that they were made for, and fhall accordingly be Purfucd, put in
Execution, and Fafilled.
And for the future Raifing and Defraying of all fuch Publique Charges
in Towns as fhall be needful;
It is Ordered, that Whatfoever Summe or Summs fhall be graunted
by the Inhabitants for that end, in any of their Town-Meetings, regu-
larly affembled, fhall be by the Select-men firft prefented to of the
next Juftices of the Peace within the fame County, or to One of the
Members of the Council therein Refident, to be by Him or them allow-
ed and under-written, which being fo obtained, the Select-men or fuch Re-
ters as fhall be fpecially chofen by the Town for that Service, fhall af-
fefs feid murs upon cati particular inhabitant thats whtheir
Town (the Members of His Majefties Council excepted) in due propor-
tion to their known Abilities and Eftates, and thereof fhall make a di-
ftinct and perfect Lift under their Hands, fetting down every man's
Name and particular Proportion, with which Lift fo perfected the Select
Men fhall apply themfelves to one of the. Juftices of the Peace for that
County, or to any Member of the Council, who fhall make his War-
rant, thereupon under his Hand and Seal directed to the Conftables
of each Town refpectively, for the fpeedy Lewying and Collecting of
all fuch Affeßments within a fitting time prefixed, with Power of Diftrejs in
cafe of refufal or neglect of Payment by any one, as formerly, and all Summs
fo collected fhall be by the Conftables carefully and ducly paid in accor-
ding as the Select-men fhall appoint: And if any Conftable fhall neglect
to perform his Duty in the premifes, he fall be fyable to refpond all fuch
Summs as through his default fhall not be collected and paid in
And further, It is Ordered, That whereas there are feveral ſmall Towns
and Villages by the late Government put under the Direction of feveral,
Committees the faid Committees are hereby continued in their full Power
until the Prefident and Council fhall take further order: .
The Narraganfer Countrey called the Kings-Province having hitherto
been unfettled is not to be understood to be intended in this Order o
any thing contained therein.
825
APPENDIX.
827
APPENDIX G. II.
JOHN
[AN ORDER RELATING TO LANDS ON THE MERRI-
MACK RIVER AND LAKE WINNIPESAUKEE CON-
VEYED BY SACHEM WANALANSET TO
BLACKWELL AND OTHERS, AND FOR CONSTI
TUTING A COUNTY TO BE CALLED MERRIMACK.]
[Passed July 2, 1686, 2 James II., ante, 118, 137. Massachusetts Archives,
vol. 136, p. 31.]
[This order, which resulted from a petition to the president and council,
1686, from John Blackwell relative to landed interests in the Merrimack val-
ley, appears in its proper place in the journal of the president and council,
ante, 118, 137. It will be noted in chapter 57, ante, 137, that the town of
Stowe, Mass., was added to the proposed county by order of November 9,
1686, and in the same connection it was also provided that the order should
"pass under the seal of the government." The due execution of this order
is indicated by the fact that the engrossed act or order exists at this time
in the form originally given it when the seal was attached and the secre-
tary's attestation affixed. This appears upon the face of the paper to have
occurred July 12, 1686, and an endorsement is borne on the engrossed order
of date November 9, 1686, ante, p. 137, recognizing the vote of that date, and
its requirement of the addition of the town of Stowe, to the newly created
county of Merrimack. All this was prior to the assumption of government
in the dominion of New England on the part of Sir Edmund Andros and his
council, which transpired December 20, 1686.
The legal status of this order, from the point of view of those contempo-
rary with the period of the actual existence of the dominion of New Eng-
land, may have depended upon two considerations: (1) the extent of the
authority to legislate given the president and council under the first com-
mission, viz., the one of date October 8, 1685, ante, p. 92, issued to Joseph
Dudley and his associates as president and council, and (2) the recognition
or confirmation of the order by the Andros council, if any such ratification
were required. See order of March 6, 1686-7, ante, p. 249. See also comments
in notes, ante, on pp. 93, 100, 144, 182.]
SEAL
BY THE HON'BLE THE PRESIDENT AND COUNCILL
OF HIS MA'TYS TERRITORY AND DOMINION OF
NEW-ENGL'D IN AMERICA:
Joseph Dudley
UPON reading the Petition of Jn'o Blackwell, Samuel
Shrimpton and Charles Lidgett Esq'rs on behalfe of them
Selves, and divers others his Ma'tys Loyall Subjects as well in
England as in this his Ma'tys Territory and Dominion Shew-
ing their purchase of Wanalanset chief Indian Sachem on
Merimack River, as also of Robert Mason Esq'r (who chal-
lenged an interest therein under grant from his Ma'tys Royall
Progenitors, and of other his Ma'tys Subjects former pur-
chassers of, and legally intituled to Some considerable part
thereof) Severall Tracts of Land on both Sides of the S'd
River of Merimack and lake of Wenepesiocke thereunto ad-
joyning, togeather with the Said River from the Said Lake
down to the Sea, and the Royaltyes & Sole right thereof to
them Selves their heires and Assigns, intending a consider-
828
APPENDIX.
}
able Plantation there if they might receive the countenance
of his Ma'ty's Authority in So doing. ALSO SHEWING That
the Said Purchasses were made during the time of the late
Government here, and the deeds and grants acknowledged
before the then Magistrates and duely Register'd as the Laws
required, but others of them and also some generall Deeds
compriseing the whole, from the said Sachem and Mr Mason,
remains unregister'd, by reason of the late uncertainty and
invalidity of those laws, and Jurisdictions: But in as much as
his ma❜ty hath substituted Us the President and Councill as
well of the Massachusetts Colony as of the Province of New-
hampshire (wherein the Greatest part if not the whole pre-
mises lye) and com'issionated a Register for Recording Deeds
and Conveyances: ffor the better assertaining their title to
all and singular the Premises Pray Our allowance of the said
Purchasses, and order for registring all the Deeds and Con-
veyances thereof as approved by Us: Also desiring Our ap-
pointment and nomination of the Premises (with the addition
of the Townshipps of Concord, Chelmsford, Groton, Lancas-
ter Stow and Dunstable as also of twelve miles more in bredth
of the unplanted Wilderness lands lying in a streight parral-
lel Line on the West side thereof from End to End) a County
to be Called by the name of Merimack County annexing the
conservation of the Said River to the Petitioners the Pur-
chassers thereof
ORDERED That the abovementioned Petition be Granted:
PROVIDED, That the Deeds not already Registered be accord-
ing to the Order of the President and Councill, lately made,
acknowledged before Some Member of the Councill before
they pass to the Registry, and that the Said Lands with the
Addition of Twelve miles on the Westward, and the Townes
therein mentioned, be raised into a perticular County, by the
name of Merimack County SAVEING to perticular persons their
just challenge of any rights in the soyle with in the Said Tract
Provided the same be challenged and pursued in Law within
the space of three years next or Such further time as his Ma'ty
shall please to allow to pursue Titles to waste Lands, and
also Saveing to m'r William Wharton his Right to the Moity
of Six miles square passed to him by Jonathan Tyng Esq'r,
provided the Same be Extra the Six miles on the Westward
of the River conteined in the Deeds Signed by m'r Mason and
Sachem Wanalanset: In Witnes whereof We his Ma'ties Pres-
ident & Councill of his abovesaid Territory & Dominion have
caused this Our Order to be attested under the Seale ap-
pointed by his Ma'tie for the confirmation of all Our Publique
Acts. Given at the Councill house in Boston this 12th day
of July Anno Domini 1686 Annoq R R Jacobi secundi Anglice
&c. Secundo.
BY ORDER OF THE HON'BLE THE PRESIDENT AND COUNCILL—
Ed Randolph Sec'ry
APPENDIX.
829
APPENDIX H. I.
THE DOMINION OF NEW ENGLAND, 1686-1689.
Executive and Legislative Council.*
*
Revised List. Compare, pp. 143, 144, ante.
Joseph Dudley, Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1686-1689.
William Stoughton, Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1686-1689.
John Pynchon, Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1686-1689.
Peter Bulkley, Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1686-1689.
Edward Randolph, Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1686-1689.
Richard Wharton, Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1686-1689.
John Usher, Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1686-1689.
Jonathan Tyng, Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1686-1689.
Samuel Shrimpton, Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1687-8-1689.
William Brown, Jr., Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1687-8-1689.
Simon Lynde, Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1687-1689.
Robert Mason, Province of New Hampshire, 1686-1688.
John Hinckes, Province of New Hampshire, 1686-1688.
Bartholomew Gedney, Province of Maine, 1686-1689.
Edward Tyng, Province of Maine, 1686-1689.
*Since the completion of the list of members of the council in the govern-
ment of Sir Edmund Andros, 1686-1689, ante, pp. 143, 144, further investiga-
tion has been given the subject, particularly by conference and correspond-
ence with those persons in the different states which were formerly included
in the dominion of New England who are in touch with special means of
information on the subject. No evidence has been, meanwhile, adduced to
change the personnel of the list as printed ante, pp. 143, 144. It has been
found advisable to alter the spelling of certain names, and to assign John
Sprague to Plymouth Colony instead of Rhode Island.
The editor of "Documents relating to the early history of the state of New
Jersey," Mr. William Nelson, is of the opinion that no councillors for East
Jersey or West Jersey were named in any of the instructions of Sir Ed-
mund Andros. Mr. Nelson remarks, in correspondence with the editor of
this volume, that "Jeremiah Basse was governor of both provinces during
Andros's administration in New York, and although Andros attempted to
assert authority over New Jersey in 1688 and 1689, it was recognized only very
partially, and then owing to questions regarding the title to certain tracts
of land which had been granted by patents issued by Governor Richard
Nicolls, of New York, before the arrival of Governor Philip Carteret, the
appointee of the Lords Proprietors, who, under the grant of King Charles
II to the Duke of York, and the conveyance of the Duke of York to the
Lords Proprietors, were vested with the right of government as well as the
title to the soil of New Jersey. Those communities which received grants
from Colonel Nicolls declined to pay quit-rents to the Proprietors, and in
order to dispute the title of the latter, were disposed to recognize Andros as
governor. The history of the whole matter is very fully set forth in the
documents contained in the New Jersey archives.
•
"Perhaps some further details may be found in Whitehead's 'East Jersey
under the proprietary Government,' a revised edition of which was published
in 1874."
See, also, comments of Mr. Washburn, Judicial Hist. of Mass., Andros-
period.
830
APPENDIX.
Thomas Hinckley, Colony of New Plymouth, 1686-1689.
Barnabas Lothrop, Colony of New Plymouth, 1686-1689.
William Bradford, Colony of New Plymouth, 1686-1689.
Daniel Smith, Colony of New Plymouth, 1686-1689.
John Walley, Colony of New Plymouth, 1686-1689.
Nathaniel Clarke, Colony of New Plymouth, 1686-1689.
John Sprague,¹ Colony of New Plymouth, 1688-1689.
John Coggeshall, Colony of Rhode Island, 1686-1689.
Walter Clark, Colony of Rhode Island, 1686-1689.
John Sanford, Colony of Rhode Island, 1686-1689.
John Greene, Colony of Rhode Island, 1686-1689.
Richard Arnold, Colony of Rhode Island, 1686-1689.
John Albro, Colony of Rhode Island, 1686-1689.
Walter Newberry, Colony of Rhode Island, 1686-1689.
Fitz-John Winthrop, Colony of Connecticut, 1686-1689.
Waitstill Winthrop, Colony of Connecticut, 1686-1689.
Robert Treat, Colony of Connecticut, 1687-1689.
John Allyn, Colony of Connecticut, 1687-1689.
Fredryck Flypse,2 Colony of New York, 1688-1689.
Jervas Baxter, Colony of New York, 1688-1689.
Stevensen van Cortland,3 Colony of New York, 1688-1689.
Anthony Brockholes, Colony of New York, 1688-1689.
Nicholas Bayard, Colony of New York, 1688-1689.
John Youngs, Colony of New York, 1688-1689.
Francis Nicholson, Colony of New York, 1687-1689.
John Palmer, Colony of New York, 1688-1689.
Richard Smith, Narragansett Country, 1687-8-1689.
APPENDIX H. II.
COMMISSION FOR SIR EDM ANDROS TO BE VICE AD-
MIRALL OF NEW ENGLAND. 30 APRIL, 1688.* 4
JAMES II.
[61 Colonial Entry Book, 405, Parchment Book of Barbadoes, 88.]
[The working theory upon which this compilation has been developed in-
cluded, as an essential feature, the recognition of the necessity of accom-
panying the laws passed in each political administration with the royal com-
missions and instructions by which the action of governors, legislative as-
semblies, and courts in the colonies was limited, directed, and controlled.
¹Hutchinson's Massachusetts, vol. 1, p. 354. Baylies's Hist. Mem. New Ply-
mouth, pt. 4, p. 43.
"In the MSS. department, New York Public Library, the spelling used for
this name is "Frederick Philipse." The form printed above is from an
original autograph.
Stephanos is the spelling used by the MSS. Dept., N. Y. Pub. Lib.
*On the original record, the date precedes the title.
APPENDIX.
831
The admiralty jurisdiction in this state has, in modern times, had compar-
atively circumscribed, infrequent, and unimportant exercise. This is doubt-
less the reason why the interest manifested by lawyers of the state in the
subject of admiralty jurisdiction, either in its existing powers and provisions
or in its historical antecedents, is not as pronounced as that manifested
towards other departments of jurisprudence.
There was, moreover, in the early colonial period a sameness and similarity
in the terms employed, and in the provisions incorporated in admiralty com-
missions, that might render a multiplication of those commissions in publi-
cations having the purpose and scope of the present work superfluous, cum-
bersome, and undesirable. A complete and literal translation of one of these
ancient admiralty commissions into the modern English vernacular is an
infrequent, if not an entirely unknown, feature in legal and historical
treatises or compilations emanating from national or state archives, from the
universities, or from private publishing houses in the United States.
The one selected for translation and incorporation in this volume is that
issued to Sir Edmund Andros, governor of the dominion of New England,
which, from 1686-1689, included New Hampshire. The original text is in the
ancient law Latin, and is preserved among the documents in the public record
office in London.
The copy transmitted for the present purpose was made under the super-
vision of the late Benjamin F. Stevens of London, a distinguished docu-
mentary archæologist, and, as it was a literal transcript of the official law
Latin text, a translation became necessary. This was made, at the request
of the editor, by Prof. John King Lord of Dartmouth College, a gentleman
whose experience and standing in his profession is a sufficient guarantee of
technical skill and careful attention to the requirements of accuracy in any
undertaking of this character on his part.
In respect to certain items of technical or doubtful import, it may also be
remarked, Professor Lord availed himself of the advice of Dean Bigelow of
the Boston University School of Law, who is a well-known specialist in law
Latin documents.
The London records indicate that the admiralty commission of Sir Edmund ·
Andros, except as to the formalities of the beginning and ending, the vari-
ation of dates, the names of the appointees to the office, the descriptions of
the area within which the respective commissions were intended to be oper-
ative, and the official execution of the instruments, is in the same terms as
that of Lord Willoughby, which was issued in 1666, and related to the Bar-
badoes and regions thereto adjacent. In fact, the record, after setting out
the formalities for the beginning and the ending of the 1688 commission of
Sir Edmund Andros, outlining his admiralty jurisdiction, appropriate to and
concurrent with his jurisdiction as political governor of the dominion of
New England, refers to the Willoughby admiralty commission of 1666 for the
text to be consulted, and from which the body of the Andros commission is
to be reconstructed. This necessarily renders the draft here presented in
a certain degree a composite. The reconstruction of the Andros commis-
sion, according to the requirements of the London record, has been effected
in every detail in such manner and form that the process can be traced with-
out misconception by comparison of the printed text with the accompanying
marginal notes.
The letter of Professor Lord, which follows the commission, affords a
valuable explanation of the quality of the law Latin employed by the official
scriveners in the original draft of the document and an interesting descrip-
tion of the peculiarities and difficulties encountered in an attempt to accom-
plish a satisfactory translation.]
James King.
James the Second by the Grace of God King of England,
Scotland, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith &c.
Since the office of Lord high admiral heretofore granted to
us by the most Serene King Charles the Second our most
illustrious Brother, by His letters patent under the great
Seal of England, still remains in our Royal person, divers
reasons specially moving us thereto, to our Beloved Edmund
832
APPENDIX.
Andros send greeting: For taking cognizance of and proceed-
ing in whatsoever Causes, Civil and maritime, and Complaints
Contracts, Offenses or quasi Offenses, Crimes, Pleas, Debts,
Compensations, Accounts, Charter Parties, Conventions, Suits
Trespasses, Wrongs, Extortions Demands and Businesses Civil
and maritime occurring or that may occur whatsoever
between merchants, or between Owners and Proprietors of
Ships and other vessels and merchants, or others whatsoever,
with the same Owners and proprietors of ships and other ves-
sels, wheresoever within the Jurisdiction of our Admiralty of
our Colonies of Massachusetts Bay and New Plymouth, of our
Provinces of New Hampshire and Main, our Territory of Nar-
raganset Or our Province of New York and Jersey east and
west, of the whole Tract, Land Circuit, Continent Precincts.
and Limits in America being in Latitude from forty degrees
of North Latitude, from the Equinoctial Line as far as the
River of the Holy Cross toward the East and thence directly
toward the North as far as the River of Canada, and in Longi-
tude through the whole Latitude afore said in and through
the Continent from the Sea and the Atlantic or western Ocean
toward the Eastern as far as the southern sea toward the
western, together with all the Islands, seas, Streams, Waters,.
Rights, Members and Appurtenances whatsoever to the same
belonging (our Province of Pennsylvania and our Territory
of Delaware Only excepted) to be named and recognized as
heretofore by the name and Title of the Territory and Domin-
ion of New England in America, of occupiers and users or
between whatsoever other persons held, made begun or con-
tracted for any thing, matter cause or business, or wrong
whatsoever, as well in on or over the sea or public Streams
whether fresh waters Ports, rivers or creeks and places over-
flowed whatsoever within the flow or ebb of the sea and at
high water or upon the shores or Banks whatsoever adjacent
to the same or any one of them from whatsoever first bridges
toward the sea through our Colony of New England and the
parts aforesaid respectively or elsewhere beyond the sea
whatsoever explored or to be explored, together with all and
singular Their Causes occurring arising, depending, annexed
and associated whatsoever, wheresoever, in whatever way
such causes and Complaints, Contracts and other premises.
aforesaid or any one of them may arise, be celebrated, con-
tracted or take place, to be heard and determined According
to the Civil and Maritime Laws and Customs received in the
principal admiralty court of our Colony of New England and
of the parts aforesaid and of any one of them.*
*At this point, with the words "And Moreover," the text of the Andros
commission is restored by adaptation of Lord Willoughby's admiralty com-
mission for the Barbadoes jurisdiction, 1666, time of Charles II, the substi-
tutions being indicated in every instance by comparison of the words in:
brackets in the body of the text with the words in the notes.
!
APPENDIX.
833
AND Moreover in all and Singular Complaints Contracts,
Conventions, and Causes and Businesses Civil and Maritime
beyond the sea to be fulfilled or by contract completed
[in the maritime jurisdiction, aforesaid¹] in whatever way
arising or happening.
•
AND in other Causes, and Matters all and singular which
in any way affect or in some way concern, or of Right ought
to have pertained or to pertain to the Maritime Jurisdiction
of our aforesaid Lord the King his Admiralty aforesaid in
the [maritime jurisdiction aforesaid²]
AND generally in all and singular other Causes Suits
Crimes, Offenses, Excesses Complaints, Wrongs, Evil Deeds
or quasi Evil Deeds, Regratings, Forestallings, and Maritime
Businesses whatsoever through the places aforesaid within
the Maritime Jurisdiction aforesaid of our Lord the King his
Admiralty . . . [in the maritime jurisdiction aforesaid³]
over the sea or water, or Banks, or Shores of the same in
whatever way made, Committed, perpetrated or arising.
LIKEWISE for Inquiring on the oath of honest and Loyal
Men of the [maritime jurisdiction aforesaid"] as well within
their Liberties and Franchises as without, wherever Dwell-
ing as well of all and singular [the things which] of right by
the Statutes, Ordinances and Constitutions of the Principal
Admiralty Court aforesaid ought to be inquired of, as of
wreckage and of all and singular the goods and Chattels of
whatsoever Robbers, Pirates Homicides and Felons in what-
ever way offending within the Maritime Jurisdiction of our
aforesaid Lord the King his Admiralty aforesaid.
AND of the goods Debts and Chattels of all and singular
those who maintain or are Accessories, Advisers, Aiders or
Assistants whatsoever.
AND also of the goods Debts and Chattels of whatsoever
other persons, Felons of themselves, and of any other person
Felon of himself, within the Maritime Jurisdiction aforesaid,
however or in whatever way they have come to death where-
soever such goods Debts and Chattels or any parcel of the
¹In Lord Willoughby's admiralty commission for the Barbadoes jurisdic-
tion, at this point the following words occurred, viz., "either in the aforesaid
Island of Barbadoes, and the places aforesaid, or in the Insular parts of the
same adjacent."
In Lord Willoughby's admiralty commission for the Barbadoes_jurisdic-
tion, at this point the following words occurred, viz., "aforesaid Island of
Barbadoes and other places aforesaid and Insular parts adjacent to the
same whatsoever."
In Lord Willoughby's admiralty commission for the Barbadoes jurisdic-
tion, at this point the following words occurred, viz., "of Barbadoes and of
other places aforesaid."
"In Lord Willoughby's admiralty commission for the Barbadoes jurisdic-
tion, at this point the following words occurred, viz., "said Island of Barba-
does and other places aforesaid, and the Insular parts of the same across the
sea and adjacent to any one of them."
56
834
APPENDIX.
same may have been Found or may be Found, may have been
Forfeited or may be Forfeited or may appear of whatever
kind it may be on the Sea, Water or Land in
time jurisdiction aforesaid¹]
•
[the mari-
AND also of the Goods, Debts, and Chattels of whatever
other persons Felons of themselves, and of any other Felon of
himself within the Maritime Jurisdiction aforesaid, found or
to be found or happening whatsoever.
AND furthermore as well of the Goods, Debts and Chattels
of whatever other Traitors, Felons and Homicides whereso-
ever offending within the Jurisdiction aforesaid.
AND of the goods, debts and Chattels of those who main-
tain or are Accessories, Advisers, Aiders, or supporters And
of the goods, debts, and Chattels of whatsoever Fugitives,
Attainted Men, Condemned Men As Banished or in demand
for treachery, Felony, Homicide, or Murder, or any other
Offense whatever or Delict in whatever way made or to be
made.
AND also of goods on the sea, Flotson, Jotson, Lagan,
Shares in Treasure found or to be found Deodand. And of
the goods of Whatsoever others held or to be held as Derelict,
or found or to be found by chance or in whatever way due or
to be due. And of all other Casualties as well in on or over the
sea and shores, Creeks or Coasts of the sea, or maritime parts
as in On or over fresh waters, Ports, public Streams Rivers
or Creeks whatsoever or places overflowed within the Flow
or Ebb of the Sea or high Water or upon the Shores or Banks
of any one of the same, from the first bridges whatsoever the
Sea in whatever way whensoever or howsoever arising hap-
pening or coming about by whomsoever or wherever the
goods, debts, or other premises or any parcel of the same are
found or may be found within the maritime Jurisdiction
[in the maritime jurisdiction aforesaid²]
AND moreover of Anchorages and Ladings, or Ballasting
of Ships and of Fishes Royal viz: Sturgeons, Balenæ Whales,
Porpoises, Dolphins, Riggi and Graspelii and in general of
singular fishes whatsoever having in themselves great or
extraordinary size or fatness, of right or by Custom pertain-
ing or in any way looking toward our aforesaid Lord the King
in the said Office of his Admiralty of . . . [in the maritime
¹In Lord Willoughby's admiralty commission for the Barbadoes jurisdic-
tion, at this point the following words occurred, viz., “said Island of Barba-
does and other places aforesaid, and the Maritime parts of the same and
adjacent to any one of them as well within their Liberties and Franchises
as without."
"In Lord Willoughby's admiralty commission for the Barbadoes jurisdic-
tion, at this point the following words occurred, viz., "of the Island of Bar-
badoes and of other places aforesaid, or through other of the Islands afore-
said adjacent to the same."
APPENDIX.
835
jurisdiction aforesaid¹] also Wreckage of the Sea and goods,
debts and Chattels and other premises all and singular to-
gether with all and all kinds of Fines, Mulcts, Revenues, For-
feitures, Amercements, Redemptions, and Recognitions what-
soever Forfeited or to be Forfeited, and Money Penalties im-
posed or inflicted or to be imposed or inflicted for Trespasses,
Offenses, Wrongs, Extortions Contempts, and other Evil Deeds
whatsoever or for any other thing, matter, or Cause whatso-
ever, in whatever way held or to be held, presented or to be
presented, assessed, offered forfeited or adjudicated . . . [in
the maritime jurisdiction aforesaid²] in the Admiralty Court
of . [in the maritime jurisdiction aforesaid³] And also to-
gether with Amercements Revenues, Fines, Perquisites,
Mulcts and money penalties whatsoever and forfeitures of
whatsoever Recognitions before you or your Deputy or the
Deputy or other Justiciaries of our aforesaid Lord the King
his Heirs and Successors his Admiralty of . . . [in the mari-
time jurisdiction aforesaid¹] or three of them.
AND all and singular, Treacheries, Robberies, Felonies,
Murders, Homicides, Confederacies, and other Offenses, Tres-
passes, Contempts, Misprisions, Spoliations, and Evil Deeds
committed or to be committed within the Maritime Jurisdic-
tion aforesaid, through Letters Patent Commissions of the
same Lord the King his Heirs and Successors according to
the Statutes therefor made and provided and the Customs re-
ceived in the Principal Court of the said Lord the King his
Admiralty aforesaid under the great Seal of England made
and to be made in the . . . [in the maritime jurisdiction
aforesaid³] to be Heard and Determined assigned or to be
assigned to occur, imposed or to be imposed or inflicted, or
in any other way, on Occasion of the premises to our afore-
said Lord the King or his Heirs or Successors therein in what-
ever way due or to be due whatsoever, to be sought, de-
manded, released, taken, collected, received, and obtained.
'In Lord Willoughby's admiralty commission for the Barbadoes jurisdic-
tion, at this point the following words occurred, viz., "Barbadoes aforesaid,
and of other places aforesaid."
"In Lord Willoughby's admiralty commission for the Barbadoes jurisdic-
tion, at this point the following words occurred, viz., "said Island of Barba-
does and other Islands Colonies and Plantations aforesaid; or the maritime
parts of the same and adjacent to any of them whatsoever."
In Lord Willoughby's admiralty commission for the Barbadoes jurisdic-
tion at this point the following words occurred, viz., "Barbadoes and of
other places aforesaid."
"In Lord Willoughby's admiralty commission for the Barbadoes jurisdic-
tion, at this point the following words occurred, viz., "Barbadoes aforesaid
and other places aforesaid."
"In Lord Willoughby's admiralty commission for the Barbadoes jurisdic-
tion, at this point the following words occurred, viz., "said Island of Barba-
does and other places aforesaid and the maritime parts of the same or adja-
cent to any one of them whatsoever."
836
APPENDIX.
AND for Guarding and preserving the service of the afore-
said Lord the King and the Office of his High Admiral afore-
said for the time being.
AND MOREOVER for taking, putting into Execution and
making and commanding to execute Recognitions, Cautions,.
Obligations and Stipulations whatsoever, as well for the ser-
vice of our aforesaid Lord the King as our own, or at the in-
stance of whatever parties, for Conventions, or Debts, and
other Causes whatsoever.
LIKEWISE Ships, persons, things, goods, wares and Mer-
chandise whatsoever for the premises and any one of them,
and other Causes whatsoever concerning them, wheresoever
they may have been found or discovered . . . [in the maritime
jurisdiction aforesaid¹]
·
AND also for other Conventions, Causes and Delicts what-
soever in whatever way contracted or arising, Provided the
Goods and persons of the Debtors be found within the Juris-
diction aforesaid according to the civil and Maritime laws
and Customs received and used in the Admiralty Court of our
Lord the King for actual Arrest or for making and command-
ing Arrest, and Themselves with their Causes and Businesses-
whatsoever Arising, Depending, Incident, Annexed Associ-
ated, together with other causes, civil and maritime, and com-
plaints Contracts and other premises all and singular what-
soever, heretofore respectively expressed, according to the
laws and Customs aforesaid, and by other lawful ways, meth-
ods and means of Hearing, Examining, Discussing and Deter-
mining with a proper Fine, by which you may better know or
be able to act.
And for compelling to answer, with the Power of any Tem-
poral Coercion and of other penalty and Fine, according to
the laws and Customs aforesaid, for making and administer-
ing Justice, whatsoever persons in that part as the case shall
demand. And also when there has been a disregard of the
form of law whether in raising the flag, or the noise, and in
showing only the Ensign of Justice, having inquired into the
truth of the matter, for arresting the Wrongdoers, Despisers
and Violators of the Law and Jurisdiction of our aforesaid
Lord the King his Admiralty of [in the maritime jurisdic-
tion aforesaid²], Usurpers, Delinquents and Contumacious
men in their absence, Shipmasters, Mariners, Oarsmen, Fish-
ermen, Shipwrights and other Workmen and Experts what-
¹In Lord Willoughby's admiralty commission for the Barbadoes jurisdic-
tion, at this point the following words occurred, viz., "said Island of Barba--
does and other places aforesaid or the maritime parts of the same or to any
one of them adjacent whatsoever, within their Liberties and Franchises or
without."
"In Lord Willoughby's admiralty commission for the Barbadoes jurisdic-
tion, at this point the following words occurred, viz., "Barbadoes and of the
other places aforesaid."
APPENDIX.
837
soever pursuing Nautical Matters whatsoever, as well by and
according to said civil and Maritime Laws and Customs and
Ordinances aforesaid and their Deserts, as by the Laws and
according to the Statutes and Ordinances of our abovesaid
Lord the King and of his Realm of England aforesaid therein
made and provided . . . AND by the Power herein granted
to us of Mulcting, Correcting, Punishing, Chastising and Re-
forming, and of Imprisoning and of making and ordering to
be Imprisoned in Whatsoever Prisons within the . . . [in the
maritime jurisdiction aforesaid¹] and of releasing and fully
exonerating and making and commanding to be exonerated
whatsoever Prisoners therein may have been released.
AND public Streams, Ports and Rivers and fresh Waters
and Creeks whatsoever within the maritime Jurisdiction
aforesaid wheresoever existing [in the maritime juris-
diction aforesaid²] for the Preservation as well of the Fleet
of his Royal Majesty and of the Fleets and Navies of the
Realms and their Owners as of Fishes whatsoever growing in
the same Streams and places aforesaid.
LIKEWISE the Ordinances and Statutes aforesaid of our
Lord the King and of his Realm of England aforesaid whatso-
ever therein made and provided by and according to the
power therein given to us in the .. [maritime jurisdiction
aforesaid³] of preserving and of making and comanding to
be executed and preserved and of doing, freeing and execut-
ing all and singular other things in the premises and in any
one of them as of right or according to the Laws and Statutes,
and Ordinances aforesaid they ought to be done.
AND Moreover Nets too close, and other unlawful Imple-
ments or Instruments whatever for catching fish wheresoever
in the Sea, or public Streams, Ports, Rivers fresh Waters, or
Creeks. [in the maritime jurisdiction aforesaid¹] wher-
ever used or employed, of punishing correcting, and reform-
ing their users and employers according to the Statutes and
Ordinances aforesaid of our Lord the King and his Realm of
England aforesaid to the Contrary made and provided, and of
¹In Lord Willoughby's admiralty commission for the Barbadoes jurisdic-
tion, at this point the following words occurred, viz., "Island of Barbadoes
and other places aforesaid and the maritime places of the same or adjacent
to any one of them."
"In Lord Willoughby's admiralty commission for the Barbadoes jurisdic-
tion, at this point the following words occurred, viz., "in the said Island of
Barbadoes and other places aforesaid and the Maritime parts of the same
and adjacent to any one of them whatsoever."
*In Lord Willoughby's admiralty commission for the Barbadoes jurisdic-
tion, at this point the following words occurred, viz., "Said Island of Bar-
badoes, and other Islands, Colonies and Plantations aforesaid, and the mari-
time parts of the same and adjacent to any one of them whatsoever.”
"In Lord Willoughby's admiralty commission for the Barbadoes jurisdic-
tion, at this point the following words occurred, viz., “aforesaid Island of
Barbadoes and other places aforesaid and the maritime parts of the same or
adjacent to any one of them whatsoever."
838
APPENDIX.
Fulminating, Promulgating, and Interposing Sentences and
Decrees whatever, and of Demanding them for Execution
with the Cognizance and Jurisdiction of whatever Causes
Civil and Maritime, which are of the sea, or in any way con-
cern or have respect to the crossing or passage of the sea, or
Journey by ship or Maritime voyaging, or the Maritime Juris-
diction aforesaid, or the places and limits of the Admiralty
aforesaid, of our Lord the King aforesaid for the Recog
nizance aforesaid, and other things whatever ascertained or
to be ascertained. Also with the power of proceeding in the
same according to the laws civil and Maritime, and the Cus-
toms received and used in the Court aforesaid, as well from
mere office stirred or moved as well as at the Instance of any
party according as the Case shall demand and it shall seem ex-
pedient.
ALSO with Cognizance and Decision of Wreckage great
and small, and of the Death, Drowning, and the Viewing of
the dead Bodies of whatsoever persons, in whatever way
killed or drowned, or to be killed or drowned, or Murdered or
to be Murdered or in any other way brought to death in the
sea or public Streams, Ports, fresh Waters or Creeks whatso-
ever within the Flow and Ebb of the Sea and high Water
through the . . . [in the maritime jurisdiction aforesaid¹]
Likewise together with the Custody and Preservation of the
Statutes of this Realm of England concerning Wreckage and
concerning the Office of Coroner in the Third and Fourth
Years of Edward the First and the Statute de bonis spoliatis
super mare &c. in the Twenty Seventh year of Edward the
Third formerly Kings of England, respectively made and
provided.
AND together with the Cognizance of Mayhem in the places
aforesaid within the Jurisdiction and the Flow and Ebb of
the Sea and the Water there belonging, With the Power also
of Punishing Delinquents therein whatsoever according to
the demand of the Law and the Custom of the Principal Court
of Admiralty aforesaid, and other things all and singular
which in the Premises only and thereabout may be necessary
or in any way opportune, by and according to the laws civil
and maritime, and the Statutes and Ordinances aforesaid, in
the Style manner and Custom of the Principal Court aforesaid
of our Lord the King his Admiralty of . . .[in the maritime
jurisdiction aforesaid²] and according to the Tenor of the Let-
ters Patent aforesaid of our Lord the King to us therein
¹In Lord Willoughby's admiralty commission for the Barbadoes jurisdic-
tion, at this point the following words occurred, viz., "said Island of Barba-
does and other places aforesaid and the maritime parts of the same and
adjacent to any one of them whatsoever."
"In Lord Willoughby's admiralty commission for the Barbadoes jurisdic-
tion, at this point the following words occurred, viz., "Barbadoes and other
places aforesaid."
APPENDIX.
839
granted, As far as they concern the Office of Vice Admiral
and not otherwise (of Which Letters Patent a Copy is An-
nexed to these Presents) to be made, exercised and executed
by You of whose Fidelity and Circumspection, and Industry
herein we have the utmost Confidence, our Powers and Au-
thorities in the . . . [maritime jurisdiction aforesaid¹]
AND also over all and singular the Shores of the Sea, pub-
lic Streams, Ports Rivers fresh Waters, Creeks and arms as
well of the sea as of Streams, and the Coasts whatsoever of
the... [maritime jurisdiction aforesaid²] we Commit by
these Presents and Grant with Power of Appointing and Sub-
stituting in your place one or more Deputy or Deputies as
often as shall seem expedient to you in the premises.
·
AND also of nominating, establishing, ordaining, assigning
and constituting under you from time to time whatever Offi-
cers and Ministers (Judge, Registrar and Marshal always ex-
cepted) may be necessary suitable and opportune for the said
office and the Exercise of the same in the [maritime
jurisdiction aforesaid³] SAVING always our Right as Su-
preme Admiral of . . . [in the maritime jurisdiction afore-
said*] from which it is not our will by these Presents in any
way to Derogate, AND Saving the Right of any Settler or
Grantee of Appealing from any Final Sentence of any inter-
locutory Decree in the Admiralty Court aforesaid To us or
our Representative, Commissioner General or special, by us
constituted or to be constituted. And You the aforemen-
tioned . . . [Edmund Andros5] our Vice-Admiral Commis-
sioner and Deputy in the Office of Vice-Admiral in and for
the... [maritime jurisdiction aforesaid®]
¹In Lord Willoughby's admiralty commission for the Barbadoes jurisdic-
tion, at this point the following words occurred, viz., "said Island of Barba
does and in other Islands Colonies, and Plantations aforesaid and the Mari-
time and Insular parts of the same and adjacent to any one of them what-
soever."
In Lord Willoughby's admiralty commission for the Barbadoes jurisdic-
tion, at this point the following words occurred, viz., "same Island of Barba-
does and of other places aforesaid and of the Maritime and Insular parts or
adjacent to any one of them."
"In Lord Willoughby's admiralty commission for the Barbadoes jurisdic-
tion, at this point the following words occurred, viz., "said Island of Barba-
does and in the other places aforesaid and the maritime and Insular parts
of the same and adjacent to any one of them whatsoever."
*In Lord Willoughby's admiralty commission for the Barbadoes jurisdic-
tion, at this point the following words occurred, viz., "said Island of Barba-
does and other Islands, Colonies and Plantations aforesaid."
"In Lord Willoughby's admiralty commission for the Barbadoes jurisdic-
tion, at this point the following words occurred, viz., "William Baron Wil-
loughby."
"In Lord Willoughby's admiralty commission for the Barbadoes jurisdic-
tion, at this point the following words occurred, viz., "whole Island of Bar-
badoes and other Islands Colonies and Plantations aforesaid and the Mari-
time and Insular parts of the same and adjacent to any one of them what-
soever."
840
APPENDIX.
LIKEWISE together with all and singular Fees, profits,
Advantages, Emoluments, Commodities and Appurtenances
whatever due and belonging to the same Office of Vice-Ad-
miral, Commissioner or Deputy in . . . [the maritime juris-
diction aforesaid¹] according to the Ordinances and Statutes.
of our Lord the King's said Admiralty Court of England, we
ordain, establish and Depute by these Presents, to continue
merely at our good Pleasure.
PROVIDED always nevertheless, and under this law and
Condition, That in the position aforesaid you. . . [Edmund
Andros2] Annually, viz: at the End of each Year between the
Feasts of St. Michael the Archangel and of All Saints or
thereabouts and as much more quickly as can conveniently
'be done for the distance of the place and the Uncertainty
of the Sea and the Winds effectually inform us or our Repre-
sentative and our Commissioner General, or special by Us
Appointed or to be Appointed of all that which from time
to time you have with Vigor done, executed, collected or re-
ceived in the premises or any of the premises, With your full
Account thereof made in Authenticated Form and Sealed with
the Seal of the Office aforesaid remaining in your Custody
From then and after Default therein then these our Letters
Patent concerning the Office of Vice-Admiral granted to you
as stated, shall be empty and void and of no force or effect.
COMMANDING Moreover on the part of the Most Serene
Lord the King and by his Authority granted to us by his
Highness in the premises for their due execution, to all and
Singular, Chiefs, Justiciaries, Mayors, Sheriffs, Captains,
Seneschalls, Bailiffs, and Keepers of the Gaols and Prisons of
the Lord the King Himself whatsoever or Constables and other
Ministers and Faithful Subjects and his Lieges whatsoever,
and to any one of them as well within their Liberties and Fran-
chises as without, That to you, your Deputy whatsoever and
other Officers of our same Lord the King his Admiralty in
[the maritime jurisdiction aforesaid³] assigned or to be
assigned for the execution of the premises or any of them,
they be Attentive, Favoring, Aiding Submissive and equally
Obedient in all things as is fitting, under penalty of Contempt
of the Letters Patent of the Lord the King Himself and his
تمام
¹In Lord Willoughby's admiralty commission for the Barbadoes jurisdic-
tion, at this point the following words occurred, viz., "said Island of Barba-
does and the other places aforesaid and the Maritime and Insular parts of
the same and adjacent to any of them whatsoever."
"In Lord Willoughby's admiralty commission for the Barbadoes jurisdic-
tion, at this point the following words occurred, viz., "William Baron Wil-
loughby."
In Lord Willoughby's admiralty commission for the Barbadoes jurisdic-
tion, at this point the following words occurred, viz., "said Island of Barba-
does and other places aforesaid and the Maritime and Insular parts of the
same and the part adjacent to any one of them whatsoever."
APPENDIX.
841
Royal Majesty and of the Premises all and Singular to Us by
the same Letters Patent made and granted and under press-
ing danger.¹ Given in our Palace of White Hall Under our
Seal of Admiralty representing an Anchor (which we herein
use) on the Thirtieth Day of April in the Fourth year of our
Reign, and in the year of the Lord 1688.
JR
At the command of the most Serene Lord the King
S Pepys
APPENDIX H. III.
LETTER, JOHN K. LORD TO A. S. BATCHELLOR, JUNE
12, 1903, RELATING TO THE TRANSLATION OF THE
WILLOUGHBY-ANDROS ADMIRALTY COMMIS-
SION.*
DARTMOUTH COLLEGE, HANOVER, N. H.
JUNE 12, 1903.
Hon. A. S. Batchellor, Editor State Papers, Littleton, N. H.:
DEAR SIR:-I enclose herewith the copy of the Latin commission of Wil-
liam, Baron Willoughby, with the beginning of that of Sir Edmund Andros,
together with a translation which I have made at your request.
I should like to say a few words in regard to the commission and the trans-
lation. The Latin of the commission, if not peculiar to itself, is character-
istic of the documents of the time when this was given. It is a mixture of
Latin words in their proper meaning, of Latin words in the corrupt use of
the middle ages, and of English words Latinized in form only, as wreckum
maris for "wreckage." The commission is verbose and repetitious beyond
measure. All that it contains could have been much better said in a quarter
of the space. Words and phrases like "in the aforesaid Island of Barba-
does and the Maritime parts adjacent" appear with meaningless repetition,
till one suspects that the writer received so much a line for what he wrote,
and therefore added phrase to phrase merely to increase his stipend by the
bulk of his work. Paragraph follows paragraph in defining the places and
applications of Willoughby's authority, that could have been sufficiently
stated in a few brief and direct expressions. Synonymous legal terms con-
stantly recur for no other reason, it would appear, than that they gave a
show of exactness and authority. The sentences are loose and rambling,
running on by the addition of clauses till often the meaning is almost lost,
or greatly confused.
The translator of such a document has the choice of two methods of ren-
dering the Latin: he may give the evident meaning of the passages in direct
and modern phrase, but such a translation, while sufficient to show the
intent of the document, loses entirely the character of the original; or he
may endeavor to reproduce the form and substance of the Latin as nearly
as may be in his English. I have chosen the latter method. The result is
that the translation is harsh, unidiomatic and in places almost ungrammat-
"The Lord Willoughby commission is not quoted beyond this point. The
conclusion of that commission was as follows: "Given at Whitehall under
the Seal of our Admiralty, Representing an Anchor, which we use in this
place. On the Twenty Sixth Day of January Anno Domini One Thousand Six
Hundred and Sixty Six and in the Year of our Most Serene Lord Charles the
Second King of great Britain, France and Ireland Defender of the Faith &c
the Eighteenth."
The conclusion above inserted after the point here indicated is from a
transcript of the English copy of the Andros commission, translated from
the law Latin in which the instrument is written.
*Consult in connection with the documents in Appendix H the comments
of Pollock and Maitland, History of English Law, vol. 1, chap. 3.
842
APPENDIX.
ical, but in these respects it copies, with great exactness, the original. The
idioms that belong to the Latin I have translated by the corresponding Eng-
lish idioms, but those that belong to the writer or the time I have retained
in their fullness and harshness, e. g., the words "aforesaid" and "whatso-
ever," even when their repetition obscures the sense, as "whatsoever Com-
plaints whatsoever."
I have been the more ready to adopt this method because the translation
thus obtained accords very closely in the peculiarities which I have named
with the English charters of the time. They present the same repetition,
the same accumulation of unnecessary phrase, and the same obscurity.
As an illustration of the attempt to preserve the form of the original I
would refer to the translation, on page 1, "from the Equinoctial Line as
far as the River of the Holy Cross." Of course this means the equator and
the St. Croix river, but though the writer doubtless knew about the equator,
I doubt very much whether he had any definite idea where the river was,
and he used a name without a knowledge of what boundary he was setting,
and hence I have kept his phrase.
The capitalization and the punctuation of the original have been retained
as far as possible.
The first paragraph on page 7 contains a passage of some perplexity, but
it seems to mean that if at any time the forms of law had been disregarded
in the opening of court, either in raising the flag or in making a noise (per-
haps by drum or trumpet), or in raising the ensign of justice, then Wil-
loughby was to take cognizance of such breach of form and law.
In making out some of the doubtful expressions I have been very much
indebted for valuable suggestions to Melville M. Bigelow, Ph. D., dean of
the Boston University Law School, whose acquaintance with medieval law
Latin enables him to speak with authority on such matters.
Sincerely yours,
JOHN K. LORD.
APPENDIX.
843
APPENDIX I. I.
UNSETTLED STATE OF THE PROVINCE.
NOTES* BY HON. SAMUEL DANA BELL, LL. D., CHIEF JUSTICE OF NEW HAMP-
SHIRE, 1859-1864.
[Reprinted from 8 Collections of the N. H. Historical Society, pp. 396-402.]
It may be premised that, almost from the commencement, this was a
period of anxiety and distress from the Indian war.
June 28, 1689, Waldron and twenty-two others were killed, and twenty-
nine captured at Dover; August, 1689, eighteen killed at Oyster River;
August, 1689, two killed at Andover; February 2, 1690, sixty killed, twenty-
seven captured, at Schenectady; March 18, 1690, twenty-seven killed, fifty-
two captured, at Salmon Falls; August 22, 1690, one taken at York; August
22, 1690, fourteen killed, six taken, at Fox Point, Newington; July 4, 1690,
eight killed, one taken, at Lamprey River; July 5, 1690, eight killed at
Exeter; July 6, 1690, sixteen killed, at Wheelwright's Pond, Lee; July 7, 1690,
three killed, at Amesbury, Mass.; July or August 3, 1690, one killed, one
wounded; September 21, 1690, eight killed, twenty-four wounded, at Maquoit,
near Casco; January 25, 1692, forty-eight killed at York, Me.; July 18, 1692,
six killed, one wounded, at Lancaster, Mass.; August 1, 1692, six killed, at
Billerica, Mass.; September 28 and 29, 1692, two killed at Berwick; twenty-
one killed at Sandy Beach (Rye).
We are, of course, not to expect much fullness nor regularity in the records
of mere political incidents.
This is the account of Dr. Belknap; quite too concise to be accurate:
"The revolution at Boston, though extremely pleasing to the people of
New Hampshire, left them in an unsettled state. They waited the arrival
of orders from England; but none arriving, and the people's minds being
uneasy, it was proposed by some of the principal gentlemen that a con-
vention of delegates from each of the towns should consider what was best
to be done. The Convention Parliament in England was a sufficient prece-
dent to authorize this proceeding. Deputies were accordingly chosen, and in-
structed to resolve upon some method of government.
For
NOTE.-The members of this convention were.
Portsmouth--Major William Vaughan, Richard Waldron, Nathaniel Fryer,
Robert Elliot, Thomas Cobbett, Capt. John Pickering.
Dover-Capt. John Woodman, Capt. John Gerrish, John Tuttle, John Rob-
erts, Thomas Edgerly, Nicholas Follet.
Exeter-Robert Wadley, William Moore, Samuel Leavitt.
It does not appear from Hampton records whether they joined in this con-
vention or returned immediately to the government of Massachusetts.
At their first meeting, January, 1690, they came to no conclusion, but
afterwards they thought it best to return to their ancient union with
Massachusetts. A petition for this purpose being presented, they were
readily admitted, till the king's pleasure should be known (March 12), and
members were sent to the general court, which met there in this and the
two following years.
NOTE. The original petition, signed by three hundred and seventy-two
persons, is among the files in the secretary's office of Massachusetts, and a
copy of it is in the office of the secretary of state of New Hampshire. (See
pp. 293-98, 8 Hist. Soc. Coll.)
The representatives during this period were, for Portsmouth:
1690, Elias Stileman, John Foster; 1691, Richard Waldron, John Pickering;
1692, Richard Waldron.
None were sent from any other town.
The gentlemen who had formerly been in commission for the peace, the
militia, and the civil offices were, by town votes, approved by the general
*The editor of the Historical Society Collections, volume 8, remarks on p. 396, that Judge
Bell's memoranda should be read in connection with papers printed in the same volume, pp.
292-303, a part of which material is reproduced in this volume, ante, pp. 239-266.
844
APPENDIX.
court, restored to their places, and ancient laws and customs continued to
be observed.
(NOTE. The names of the military and civil officers, as presented to the
governor and council, and approved by them, and the deputies of Massa-
chusetts in March, 1690, may be seen on pages 299-300, 8 Hist. Soc. Coll.)
Had the inclination of the people been consulted, they would gladly have
been annexed to that government. This was well known to Mather and the
other agents; and when soliciting for a new charter they earnestly re-
quested that New Hampshire might be included in it. But it was answered
that the people had expressed an aversion to it, and desired to be under a
distinct government.
In this unsettled state of affairs it was proposed to call a convention to
advise in what manner to proceed, and to agree upon some form of govern-
ment. Major William Vaughan, Richard Waldron, Nathaniel Fryer, Robert
Elliot, Thomas Cobbett, and Capt. John Pickering were chosen deputies from
Portsmouth. [Adams's Annals of Portsmouth.]
1690, the convention recommended a reunion with Massachusetts until the
king's pleasure should be known. Application was made to that govern-
ment and readily agreed to. The union took place on the 12th of March.
Mr. Richard Waldron and Capt. John Pickering were elected and sent repre-
sentatives to the general court.
The town voted that Mr. William Vaughan, Mr. Richard Martyn, and Mr.
Nathaniel Fryer, who were formerly chosen by the town, and confirmed as
magistrates by the governor and council of Massachusetts Bay, be the per-
sons that are to attend that work, according to their oaths taken.
·
The record of Exeter on this subject is: At a town meeting held at Exeter
December 25, 1689, then chosen to meet the messengers of the province_to
consult about settling matters for this town, Robert Wadleigh, senior, En-
sign William Moore, Samuel Leavitt.
Also that these men are empowered, after they return home, to convene
the people to receive the opinion of said people of the other towns. Nothing
further has been observed.
The record of Dover on this subject: At a public meeting appointed to be
held at the meeting-house upon Dover Neck October 28, 1639,
The inhabitants of the town being met, Voted, The said meeting to be legal.
At a public town meeting, held at Dover this 28th of October, 1689,
Voted, That Lieut. John Tuttle is chosen to open the votes at Portsmouth,
for the choice of a commissioner, by a majority of votes, for the joining
with the commissioners of the United Colonies and to join with the rest of
the representatives of this province in giving such instructions to the said
commissioners as shall be thought meet for the vigorous management of
the present war.
NEW-HAMPSHIRE: DOVER NECK, IN NEW-ENGLAND.
At a public town meeting held January 1, 1689-90: Whereas this province,
since the last revolution in the Massachusetts colony, has been destitute of
government, and has hitherto waited their Majesties' order for a settlement
thereof, which, not yet arriving, and seeing a present necessity of falling
into some method of government in order to our defence against the com-
mon enemy:
Voted, nemine contradicente, that six persons be chosen in this town as com-
missioners to meet with the commissioners of the other towns of the prov-
ince, to confer about and resolve upon a method of government within this
province, and what the said commissioners of the whole province, or the
major part of them shall conclude upon and agree as to the settlement of
government among us we, the inhabitants of Dover, shall hold as good and
valid to all intents and purposes, hereby obliging ourselves to yield all ready
obedience thereunto until their Majesties' order shall arrive for the settle-
ment of the government over us.
The persons chosen by the majority of votes of the town are Capt. John
Woodman, Capt. John Gerrish, Lieut. John Tuttle, Mr. Thomas Edgerly,
Lieut. John Roberts, Mr. Nicholas Follet.
This passed a clear vote in the town meeting in Dover meeting house this
first day of January, 1689. These seem all that appear on the Dover records.
APPENDIX.
845
The records of Hampton are as follows:
Resolves relating to the formation of government July 8, 1689. In answer to
a letter bearing date 2d of July, 1689, subscribed by several gentlemen of
Portsmouth and Great Island, Ensign Henry Dow, Serj. John Smith, and Mr..
Joseph Smith were all chosen and appointed to go to Portsmouth upon
Thursday next, the 11th of this instant, as the town representatives, who
are to meet with those chosen out of the other towns in this province, there
to consider of what shall be adjudged meet and convenient to be done by the
several towns in this province for their peace and safety until we shall have
orders from the crown of England. And they are to bring a true account
of every particular which shall be adjudged meet to be done by the major
part of the said representatives chosen by the several towns in this province,
unto our town meeting upon Saturday, the 13th inst., that so the town at
that meeting may agree and consent to any or all of the said particulars if
they shall see cause.
At a meeting of the town of Hampton this 22d of October, 1689-Having
there received from the honorable the governor of the Massachusetts colony,
intimating the readiness of the confederate colonies, viz., of Plymouth and
Connecticut, for the vigorous prosecution of the war, and expecting the
province of New Hampshire should send a commissioner to consider and
agree, so far forth as is reasonable, with the said commissioners for the
vigorous prosecution of the said war against the common enemy; we there-
fore, of the town of Hampton, considering the charge and great expense, in
several contingencies, that happened since the murderous invasion of the
Indian enemy, and not knowing how far it may further proceed, we agree
now to send, according to request, a commissioner for to debate and con-
sider of what is expedient for the future, and hold ourselves bound to com-
ply with those methods that shall be agreed on for the defence of our
country and ourselves, for any time hereafter the date hereof.
These men do dissent from this vote: Henry Dow, William Sanborn, senior,
Samuel Cass, Jacob Perkins, Abraham Cole, Aaron Sleeper, William Marston,.
John Redman, Jr., Ebenezer Perkins, Mephibosheth Sanborn, John Leavitt,
David Wedgewood, Philip Towle, senior, Christopher Palmer, Thomas Nudd,.
Benjamin Moulton.
December 18, 1689. The town, considering the unsettled state that we are
in for want of government, and so the more incapacitated to defend our-
selves against the invasion of any enemy, do think meet that some persons
be chosen to meet with some persons deputed by the several towns, to con-
sider and debate the matter that be now incumbent upon us, and make report
of their advice to the town at the next meeting, or otherways. The persons
so chosen as above were Mr. Nathaniel Weare, Capt. Samuel Sherburne, and
Ensign Henry Dow; Abraham Green dissents.
January 20, 1689. At a public meeting of the town of Hampton:
Forasmuch as, since the late revolution in the Massachusetts colony, no
orders from their Majesties have yet arrived for the settlement of govern-
ment in this province, and no authority being left in our province but that
of the late justices, which, considering our present circumstances, can not
answer that end of government, viz., the raising of men, money, &c., for our
defence against the common enemy; and the neighboring towns, Portsmouth
and Dover, having considered that there is a present necessity of falling into
some method of government, in order to our defence against our professed
enemies; and they having chosen six persons in each town, as commissioners.
to meet with the commissioners of the other towns in the province, to con-
fer about and resolve upon a method of government within this province,
the said commissioners having sent to us to desire us to join with them,
and to send our commissioners, with full power to agree upon a method of
government, as they have: We, therefore, the inhabitants of the town of
Hampton, in answer to their request, have agreed to send them six persons
as our commissioners, to join with the commissioners of the other towns of
the province, to confer about and resolve upon a method of government with-
in this province. And what the said commissioners of the whole province, or
the major part of them, shall conclude and agree upon as the settlement of
government amongst us, if these our said commissioners, viz., Henry Green,
Esq., Ens. Henry Dow, Mr. Nathaniel Weare, Captain Samuel Sherburne,
Morris Hobbs, sen., and Mr. Edward Gove, in discoursing and agreeing about
846
APPENDIX.
the same, if they or the major part of them shall see just cause to comply
and agree with the other commissioners as to the way and method of gov-
ernment that shall be settled amongst us, and shall subscribe thereto, we,
the inhabitants of the town of Hampton, reposing special trust and confi-
dence in our said commissioners, what they shall agree to, or the major part
of them, we shall hold as good and valid to all intents and purposes, hereby
obliging ourselves to yield all ready obedience thereto until their Majesties'
order shall arrive for the settlement of government over us.
Voted.
These men dissent: Joshua Shaw, Benjamin Swett, Henry Moulton, John
Smith Taylor, William Sanborn, sen., Ephraim Marston, Jonathan Wedge-
wood, James Marston, John Hussey.
Oct. 20, 1691, receiving a letter from John Pickering by the order of Maj.
Vaughan, wherein is requested that some men be sent to Portsmouth tc
advise what is most requisite and needful to be done in our defence against
the common enemy, we have made choice of Mr. Nathaniel Weare, Henry
Dow, and Mr. Joseph Smith, as a committee to meet with the gentlemen of
this province that shall now meet according to his letter, and what shall be
our proportion of charge, or men and pay, in order to our future defence, we
held ourselves obliged to, in that method as our said commissioners, or two
of them, shall agree and subscribe to.
(For the "Petition of New-Hampshire Settlers," see p. 293, 8 Hist. Soc. Col.)
In his letter to Major Pike Mr. Weare says: "It was for the most part con-
cluded that we had no governors, nor authority in this province."
"Many essays were made to make some government till their Majesties
should take further order."
"At first there was, in the several towns, persons chosen to manage the
affairs of government in this juncture of time, but that was for the same
reason laid aside."
"Afterwards three persons were chosen in the town of Hampton to meet
with the commissioners of the other towns, if they see cause to appoint any
to debate and conclude what was at this time necessary to be done in relation
to some orderly way of government, and to make their return to the several
towns for approbation or otherwise.
But the inhabitants of Portsmouth met and made choice of some persons
to meet with the commissioners of the other towns to debate and consider
of what was to be done, in order to the settlement of some government till
their Majesties should give order in the matter. What they did they engaged
themselves certainly to comply with. The inhabitants of the town of Hamp-
ton began to be very jealous of their friends and neighbors, that they would
bring them under several inconveniences in commanding from them men and
money as they pleased, some very hard to be brought to any thing; but after
several meetings did choose six persons as commissioners, with power accord-
ing to the other towns, viz., Portsmouth, Dover, and Exeter, and every man
then present agreed to such method as was then drawn up."
"Then the towns were to choose persons for that end, and the inhabitants
of Hampton met." "The major part seemed fearful and suspicious," "and
so they made a vote they would not choose, and so all proved ineffectual.”
"The inhabitants of Portsmouth drew up and signed, so many as did, as
I am informed, for I never saw it, to the governor and council of the Massa-
chusetts colony, to take this province into their care, protection, and gov-
ernment as formerly, and so the other towns, Dover and Exeter, complied
with, how generally I know not, and so brought it to Hampton on Wednes-
day, the 20th of February last, when the soldiers were there; no intimation
given for the end of signing the petition, so that several children and ser-
vants made up the number of names. It was quickly after, by William
Vaughan, Esq., and Capt. John Pickering, brought into the province, declared
to be accepted by the said governor and council, with orders given to meet
on such a day, for choosing selectmen and constables, and other town officers,
according to former usage, as appears by order given to Justice Green bear-
ing date the 4th of March, 1689-90." "What was done on that day, yourself
knows."
"That choosing of major, treasurer, and recorder, was not accord-
ing to former usage." It was pressed by some to have a vote taken, if Hamp-
ton would comply. He objects to "fifty persons prescribing the method of
government for two hundred. To the subscribers acting contrary to their
petition:
APPENDIX.
847
"Formerly," he says not to meddle with the custom and usage of the gen-
tlemen of Piscataqua, "we, at Hampton, had the choice of our magistrates
and officers; and how the assistants, or magistrates, at Portsmouth, can
grant any warrants, or exercise the administration of government over
Hampton, that never chose them, I know not; so that, upon the whole, the
government of Massachusetts cannot, I suppose, exercise or appoint any
governors over us till they have authority to do so from the crown of Eng-
land, or we, or the major part in the several towns, do pray for it, which at
present is not in Hampton, as it plainly appears. So that to be subjected to
a government in the province, and principally at Portsmouth, will be very
tedious." And he apprehends distractions, heart-burnings, disobedience to
supposed commanders, &c., and remonstrances, that may reach as far as
England, and so make way for a person to be deputed by the crown of Eng-
land, that may, under color of a commission, exercise his own will.
Date, March 15, 1689-90.
APPENDIX I. II.
NEW HAMPSHIRE WITHOUT PROVINCIAL GOVERN-
MENT.*
1689-1690.
BY CHARLES WESLEY TUTTLE.
The political condition of the royal province of New Hamp-
shire during the short period it was without government, be-
ginning with the deposition of Sir Edmund Andros on the
18th day of April, 1689, and ending with the re-annexation of
that province to Massachusetts on the 19th of March, 1690,-
eleven months,—has received but little attention from his-
torians. Dr. Belknap gives but little space, less than
twenty lines, in his admirable history of New Hampshire,
to the consideration of the civil affairs of this period, and is
not entirely accurate in this. His relation of other events is
more extended and correct.
The fall of the government of Sir Edmund Andros over
New England, an event in which neither the province nor
the people of New Hampshire had any part, left that prov-
ince without any government. The provincial officers of his
appointment, civil and military, had no authority to act after
his overthrow by the action of the people of Massachusetts.
*This monograph, which treats particularly of the events of 1689-1690, was
the result of the discovery of the ancient document containing a proposed
form of government for the four New Hampshire towns, to answer the
exigency occasioned by the downfall of the Andros government in the spring
of 1689. The document to which reference is made is printed in full, ante,
pp. 260, 261, and is the subject of a note, ante, p. 260. It was there stated that
Mr. Tuttle's valuable discussion of that document would be given place in
the appendix.
The text of this article is extracted from Historical Papers by Charles W.
Tuttle, edited by Albert H. Hoyt, pp. 195-214.—A. S. B.
848
APPENDIX.
The four ancient towns, Portsmouth, Dover, Hampton, and
Exeter, which then constituted that entire province, were
again in a state of independence, as they were when annexed
to Massachusetts in the year 1641. They were now stronger
in population and in political organization. Fifty years' ex-
perience had given them an almost perfect system of domes-
tic self-government. But for the exigencies of the times,
which required a bond of political union and unity of action,
they might have remained in their independent state without
inconvenience, so well regulated were their domestic con-
cerns, and orderly their inhabitants.
The people of the other colonies and provinces in New
England, under the government of Sir Edmund Andros, were
likewise left without government; but they had systems of
government under which they had long been accustomed to
live, and which they could readily resume. In less than one
month after the overthrow of Andros the colonies of Massa-
chusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Plymouth returned
quietly to their former governments, and recalled their
former magistrates.
New Hampshire had been a royal province little more than
nine years when the revolution in New England occurred.
During this period it had been governed by royal commis-
sions in the hands of officers appointed by the king of Eng-
land. Two entirely different systems of government had
been set over the province, neither of which suited the genius
and wants of the whole people. They were therefore with-
out any system of government, suited to their desires, to fall
back upon. The four towns remained eleven months with-
out union or any provincial government.
The war with the eastern Indians, begun in the province of
Maine in the summer of 1688, was only slumbering when the
government of Sir Edmund Andros was overthrown in April,
1689. It was destined to break forth with great and terrible
energy, supported by the moral strength, at least, of a new
foe, before the summer ended, and to rage with little interrup-
tion till the peace of Ryswick, more than seven years later.
To add greater calamities to New England, on the 7th of
May England declared war against France, an act that
finally led to a fierce and bloody conflict between their Amer-
ican colonies, notwithstanding the treaty of colonial neu-
trality made between these two crowns less than three years
before. This unhappy event in Europe encouraged the In-
dians in their war on the English, and darkened the prospect
of all New England.
A mighty scheme for the conquest of New York and of
Hudson's Bay was already devised in France, although the
treaty of colonial neutrality provided that if the two crowns
7
APPENDIX.
849
should break friendship in Europe their colonies in America
should remain in peace and neutrality. Actual collision with
the French did not take place before November, a delay
more on account of Boston trade than on account of the
treaty stipulations. The blow then came from a squadron on
the coast of Acadie, recently from France, and said to be de-
signed to surprise Boston.
The four towns in New Hampshire, nestling between Massa-
chusetts and the province of Maine, again under the jurisdic-
tion of the Bay colony, seemed far enough removed from
either of the enemies of the English.
Suddenly, in the darkness of the morning of the 28th day
of June, the third month after their government had been
withdrawn, a body of Indians swooped down like a bird of
prey on the frontier village of Cocheco in Dover, and de-
stroyed it, killing a large number of the inhabitants, and
carrying away into captivity as many more. Among the
slain was the venerable Richard Waldron, for more than forty
years the admitted chief in civil and military affairs in the
province. Within one week after the overthrow of Andros
he had been appointed by the council of safety, in Massachu-
setts, commander-in-chief of the New Hampshire regiment.
A few hours after this memorable tragedy had ended six
of the principal gentlemen of Portsmouth received from
Richard Waldron, Jr., a brief account in writing of what had
befallen his venerable father and others at Cocheco, by the
hands of the barbarous Indians. They immediately wrote a
joint letter to Major Pike at Salisbury, the nearest military
commander in Massachusetts, enclosing this account of the
disaster, for the governor and council, and requesting assist-
ance in this exigency of affairs, "wherein the whole country is
concerned."
Major Pike wrote a short letter to the governor, requesting
speedy orders and advice, and forwarded it with the others
to Boston.
Governor Bradstreet received the letters at midnight the
same day of the massacre, the next day laid them before the
general court. Their contents were quickly considered, and
a letter to the gentlemen of Portsmouth was prepared and
forwarded. The court expressed concern for their friends
and neighbors, looking upon the affair as concerning all, but
declined "to exert any authority in your Province." The let-
ter concluded with advice to them to "fall into some form or
constitution for the exercise of government for your safety
and convenience."
A few days later, the 2d day of July, seeing the defenceless
condition of the province, the general court ordered that
"drums be beaten up in Boston and the adjacent towns for
57
850
APPENDIX.
volunteers to go forthwith for the succor and relief of our
neighbor friends at Piscataqua, distressed by the Indian ene-
mies." To encourage volunteers, the court offered to provide
their sustenance, and gave them liberty to nominate their
own officers. They were also authorized to receive from "the
public treasury eight pounds for every fighting man's head or
scalp that they shall bring in," and also to share all plunder
taken from the Indians.
This dreadful massacre, the greatest in all points of view
in the annals of the province, spread terror among the in-
habitants, and weakened their strength. It opened their eyes
to the fact that their geographical position offered them no
security from the blows of the barbarous enemy. It brought
freshly before them their helpless condition by reason of the
want of provincial government. Executive authority to raise
military forces and provide for them, by impressment if neces-
sary, to construct public defences and garrison them, to levy
and collect taxes, and, above all, to make a treaty with other
colonies for joining in a common defence against common
enemies, was now needed more than ever.
The magistrates and military officers in the province, ap-
pointed by Andros, had undoubtedly exercised a feeble sway.
The question had long been debated by the inhabitants
whether their functions were wholly suspended. At length
they generally concluded, "that we had no Governor nor au-
thority in this Province so as to answer the ends of govern-
ment, and to command and do in defence of their Majesties'
subjects against the common enemy.”
The refusal of the general court to exercise in the province
any of the functions of government, now so much needed
there, the advice to form a government among themselves,
and the great and pressing need of one at this juncture of
affairs, led to the first attempt to that end since the fall of
Andros. Several gentlemen of Portsmouth and Great Island
sent letters to the several towns in the province, requesting
them to make choice of fit persons to meet on the 11th day of
July, and to "consider of what shall be adjudged meet and
convenient to be done by the several towns in the Province
for their peace and safety, until we shall have orders from the
crown of England." Whatever should be agreed on by this
convention was to be submitted to the towns for their ap-
proval. Nothing appears to have come of this.
While the matter of provincial government was under con-
sideration and debate in the towns, Massachusetts was
actively preparing for the common defence of all the New
England colonies against the French as well as the Indians.
On the 17th of July she summoned her ancient allies, the
colonies of Connecticut and Plymouth, to send commission-
7
APPENDIX.
851
ers to Boston, "according to the rules of our ancient union
and confederation," to consider measures for "a joint and vig-
orous prosecution of the common enemy." The commission-
ers assembled on the 16th day of September, and carefully
examined the causes of the Indian war. They formally de-
clared "the same to be just and necessary on the part of the
English, and ought to be jointly prosecuted by all the Col-
onies." They directed notice to be sent to the towns in New
Hampshire of their meeting and action, with a request for
their "concurrence and assistance in a joint management of
the war," and adjourned to meet again on the 18th day of
October.
With the first month of autumn came another attack of the
barbarians on the province. On the 13th of September the
settlement on Oyster river, a place fated to feel the stroke
of savage vengeance oftener and more severely than any other
in the province, was attacked by Indians, and eighteen per-
sons were slain.
On the 10th day of October Governor Bradstreet carried
out the request of the commissioners by direction of the gen-
eral court. He wrote a letter to Richard Martyn, William
Vaughan, and Richard Waldron, principal persons in New
Hampshire, acquainting them of what had been done by the
commissioners of the United Colonies, and requesting a com-
missioner to be sent from that province to meet the commis-
sioners at their next meeting. On the 16th these gentlemen
sent a joint answer, wherein they expressed their thanks
for what had already been done for the defence of the coun-
try, and regretted that there was insufficient time for the
towns to assemble and make choice of a commissioner before
the next meeting of the commissioners. They declared their
determination to communicate the request to the several
towns forthwith, so that a commissioner might be chosen for
any later meeting of the commissioners.
Near the end of October the several towns held meetings
and voted for a commissioner of the United Colonies of New
England, an act that gives the province new importance in
history. The votes of the towns were sent to Portsmouth,
and it appeared that William Vaughan was elected commis-
sioner. Dover appointed John Tuttle agent to take the vote
of the town to Portsmouth to be counted with the votes of the
other towns, and to assist in giving instructions to the com-
missioner chosen as to the management of the war.
The commissioners of the United Colonies now assumed the
direction of the war, which was carried on at the joint ex-
pense of all. Connecticut had strongly hinted that Rhode
Island should be invited to join the confederation. Gov-
ernor Bradstreet was prevailed on to write to Governor Clark
852
APPENDIX.
on the 2d day of August, setting out the necessity of making
a joint defence against the common enemies of the English,
and requesting advice and assistance. It does not appear
that any ever came. Rhode Island had not been admitted to
the confederation in former years.
On the 6th of December the commissioners of the colonies,
Vaughan with them, assembled in Boston to consider the war
with the French. Although this war had been declared
seven months before in Europe, no considerable injury had
been inflicted on New England till recently. Intelligence
had now arrived that war had been publicly declared against
the English at Port Royal, and that English fishing vessels
in that quarter had been seized, some kept, and others sent to
France; that the French were aiding and assisting the Indian
enemy with arms and ammunition, thereby showing their in-
tention, by all ways and means, to hurt and destroy their
Majesties' subjects, a thing they will continue to do so long
as they have any considerable fortified fort or harbor near
us. The commissioners therefore recommend that in the
United Colonies and provinces in these parts his Majesty's
declaration of war against France be forthwith published,
and that care be taken that the militia be well settled, and
the fortifications in seaport towns be made serviceable. They
also recommend that a committee of fit persons be appointed
to inquire into the present condition of our French neighbors,
and to find what measures need be taken in regard to them, so
as to prevent their doing further injury, and giving further
assistance to the Indians, and make report.
On the 18th of December Hampton was so sensible of the
want of government that three of its principal inhabitants,
namely, Nathaniel Weare, Samuel Sherburne, and Henry
Dow, were selected to meet persons chosen by other towns,
and consider and debate this matter of government, and make
report at the next town meeting. Nothing, however, seems
to have come of this, except that Hampton now began to be
very jealous of the other towns.
When the memorable year 1689 ended, the four towns in
New Hampshire were still without union and without gov-
ernment. The prospect of having a provincial government
set over them by William and Mary was no better than when
the government of Andros was withdrawn from them, more
than eight months before. A conflict of arms with the
French was impending. The veteran Frontenac, the greatest
soldier in the New World, now again the military chief of
New France, had been three months in Canada, and was pre-
paring to crush the English settlements in New England.
At this juncture of affairs Portsmouth, Dover, and Exeter
came to an understanding that each should choose commis-
•
APPENDIX.
853
*
*
sioners with full power to meet in joint convention and devise
"some method of government in order to their defence against
the common enemy."
Hampton seems to have been unreasonably jealous of the
other towns, and to have delayed action in the matter of pro-
viding a provincial government. This applies to part, not all
the inhabitants. Portsmouth, Dover, and Exeter elected
their commissioners to the convention; and the commission-
ers of the two former towns were forced to request Hampton
to elect her commissioners. She delayed action nearly three
weeks in a matter of so much consequence, and finally
brought all to nought.
Exeter sent four delegates, and the other towns six each,
to the convention, making twenty-two in all. They were the
chief persons in the four towns of the province, and heads of
families. The commissioners met in convention in Ports-
mouth, the metropolis of the province, on the 24th of January,
1690. How they organized, or who their officers were, is un-
known. The convention unanimously adopted a simple form
of self-government, substantially like that set over the prov-
ince by the royal commissions of Charles II. to President
Cutt and also Lieutenant-Governor Cranfield. To give their
act the greatest force and authority, each and every member
of the convention set his hand to the instrument in which was
drawn the form of the new provincial government. This cel-
ebrated document, the only remaining record of the conven-
tion now known, is in the hand-writing of John Pickering, a
lawyer of Portsmouth, and a member of the convention.
Having finished its labors, the convention adjourned to meet
again after the election of officers for the new government,
and count the votes.
This venerable state document, now printed here for the
first time, came to my hands many years ago, with some man-
uscripts of John Tuttle of Dover, a member of the conven-
tion, and my paternal ancestor. The convention being a
novel proceeding, its records would not likely go with the
public archives of the province. It is amazing that so fragile
and homeless a document should find its way down to this
time in such good state of preservation. It could not have
been seen by Dr. Belknap, otherwise he would have related
more fully and accurately the action of the convention.
The new government was to consist of a president, secre-
tary, and treasurer to be chosen by the whole province; also
a council of ten members to be chosen by the four towns,-
Portsmouth and Hampton having three each, and Dover and
Exeter two each, and a legislative assembly.
On the 30th day of January, 1690, six days after the adop-
tion of the form of government, a town meeting was held in
854
APPENDIX.
Dover to choose two members of the council, and to vote for
president, secretary, and treasurer. Capt. John Gerrish and
Capt. John Woodman, two leading citizens, were elected
members of the council. The votes for the other provincial
officers were given and sealed up, to be opened by the com-
missioners and counted with the votes of the other towns.
About the same time a town meeting was held in Hampton
to elect three members of the council, and to vote for pres-
ident, secretary, and treasurer of the province. A majority
agreed not to vote for any provincial officers, to the great sur-
prise of the whole province. The six commissioners of
Hampton had agreed in convention to the form of govern-
ment, and subscribed the record. This action speedily put an
end to the attempt to form a provincial government.
The events of the war were thickening. Schenectady had
been destroyed at one blow, and a French and Indian force
was already on its way from Canada to the Pascataqua, though
then unknown in the province. A crisis had arrived. These
towns must have a government over them.
Some of the leading gentlemen in Portsmouth drew up a
petition, addressed to the governor and council of Massa-
chusetts, praying for government and protection as formerly,
till their Majesties' pleasure should be known, and declaring
readiness to bear a proportion of the charge for defence of the
country against the common enemy. This was now the 20th
of February, 1690. The petition was quickly carried through
all the towns, and received three hundred and seventy-two
signatures. Fifteen members of the convention, two thirds
of the whole, signed it, all from Exeter, and all from Ports-
mouth except Robert Elliot, all from Dover except John Tut-
tle, John Roberts, and Nicholas Follett, and all from Hamp
ton except Nathaniel Weare, Henry Dow, and Henry Green.
The original petition is preserved with the Massachusetts
archives.
Nathaniel Weare, a principal inhabitant of Hampton, and
a member of the convention, was much grieved at the action
of Hampton in refusing to elect officers and complete the
organization of the provincial government. He was in favor
of the plan of self-government, and opposed to annexation to
Massachusetts to the same extent as before. He says that
this petition was brought to Hampton on the 26th day of
February, while the militia were assembled there, and that
many signed it without knowing what it was; and also that
many children and servants there did the same. Hampton
now clearly preferred to remain in her independent state.
This petition was quickly taken to Boston by John Pick-
ering and William Vaughan, and was presented to the gover-
nor and council on the 28th day of February. It was received
1
1
L
APPENDIX.
855
and the prayers of the petitioners granted. The governor
and council forthwith appointed William Vaughan, Richard
Martyn, and Nathaniel Fryer, known adherents to the colony,
magistrates over the province; and Vaughan then and there
took the oath of office. Order was given for the towns to
make choice of civil and military officers to complete the new
organization, and present their names to the general court
for confirmation, which was quickly done.
In a few weeks John Pickering was dispatched to Boston
in behalf of the province with a full list of officers, civil and
military, and a joint letter of recommendation from William
Vaughan and Richard Waldron, to lay the same before the
governor and council and the deputies. On the 19th day of
March, 1690, both branches approved the action of the gov-
ernor and council on the 28th of February, and confirmed the
list of officers. Only the day before, Frontenac's party of
French and Indians had fallen on the eastern frontier of
Dover, and destroyed the village of Salmon Falls.
The province was now again fully restored to its former
relations with Massachusetts, and remained till the com-
mission of Samuel Allen as governor of the province was
published there August 13, 1692.
During this period of suspended government over the prov-
ince only one act of violence appears against any of the offi-
cers appointed by Andros. Richard Chamberlain was secre-
tary from 1680 to 1686, when the government of Joseph Dud-
ley was extended over the province, and that office abolished.
He was then made clerk of the judicial courts, and held that
office till the government of Andros was withdrawn. The
records and files of the province, as well as of the courts, were
in his possession, having come there by virtue of his official
station. The people resolved to get them from him, although
no one had a better right to hold them. Capt. John Picker-
ing, a resolute man, the same mentioned in these pages,
with an armed force proceeded to Chamberlain's house, and
demanded the records and files. Chamberlain very properly
refused to give them to him without some legal warrant for
his security and protection; thereupon Pickering seized them
with force, and carried them out of the province.
856.
APPENDIX.
APPENDIX J. I.
LIST OF ACTS PASSED IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, 1692-3, TRANSMITTED [BY
MR. POPPLE] TO THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL, 22
AUGUST, 1693.* [5 WILLIAM III.]
[67 Colonial Entry Book, 225.]
(Referred to in Notes ante, pp. 517 and 638, and in Notes to Individual Acts,
1692-1702, passim.)
Sr.
Whitehall the 22d. of August, 1693.
The Right hono'ble the Lords of the Committee of Trade
and Plantacons having receiv'd divers Laws lately past in the
Gener'll Assembly of the Province of New Hampshire in New
England for her Ma'tys Confirmation or dissallowance, Their
Lops are pleased to Order the said Laws which you will here
with receive according to the Enclosed List to be sent to You
for Your Opinion whether the Same may be Confirmd by her
Ma'ty I am
Sr.
Your Most humble Servant.
Acts Past in the Gener'll Assembly of
Newhampshire, 1692.
An Act for Establishing A Revenue for the defraying the
Publick charge of the Revenue [Province].
An Act for Establishing Courts of Judicature for the ease
and benefit of their Ma'ties Subjects within this Province.
An Act for the Settling the Militia.
An Act for Regulating of Cattle, Corn Fields and Fences.
An Act for the Support of the Governm't Repairing Forti-
fications, Strengthening Our Frontiers against the Indians
and French Enemys, Providing Provisions and other neces-
sary Occasions for the Mannagem't of this War.
An Act for the due Regulations of Weights & Measures.
An Act ag'st shipping of horses without Entering.
An Act for Allowance to the Representatives.
An Act for destroying Wolves.
An Act for Raising Money for the Support of the Governm't
and Repairing Fortifications and Making Provisions for
Soldiers.
?
An Act to Compell Constables to do their duty's in Collect-
ing Rates.
*Note remarks of Mr. Shirley, I, Proceedings of N. H. Hist. Soc., 297; Id.
Pamphlet Edition, p. 67.
>
APPENDIX.
857
An Act to ease people that are Scrupulous of Swearing.
An Act for the Treasurer to pay for the Copies of the Laws
of the Province.
An Act to prevent Concealing Estates from Assessors.
An Adition to the Law Entitled Cornfields & Fences.
An Act Concerning Mariages, Births and Burials.
APPENDIX J. II.
THE ILLUMINATED TITLE-PAGE OF THE VOLUME OF
MANUSCRIPT LAWS OF THE PROVINCE OF NEW
HAMPSHIRE KNOWN AS THE DUDLEY COLLEC-
TION.
In a series of bound volumes in the public record office in London relat-
ing to the laws of the province of New Hampshire, one is the Dudley col-
lection, so called, to which frequent reference has been made in the preced-
ing pages. The binding is in vellum, and the title-page is lettered in ink on
the outside of the front cover. The contents of the volume are fifty-one of
the manuscript acts enacted between the beginning of the October session
of 1692 and the beginning of the administration of Joseph Dudley in 1702,
the printed pamphlet edition of the acts of the August session 1699, time of
Bellomont, described in detail in the note which begins on p. 638, ante,
the printed pamphlet having its place in the arrangement of acts in the book
in the regular order of time (a manuscript act of November 21, 1699, one of
the fifty-one above enumerated, being written on a large sheet and folded
in), and three acts which had been passed and approved by Governor Dudley
at the July session, 1702, before the date of transmission of the collection,
in all fifty-nine acts, fifty-four being in manuscript copy and five in print,
but all being bound together to constitute the single volume.
Volume two of this series is the printed volume of acts of the province edi-
tion of 1716 with the printed additions or continuation to and including 1718.
Volume three is the printed province compilation, general laws, edition of
1761.
Volume four is the printed collection of temporary acts, 1761.
Another series of volumes of New Hampshire laws in manuscript in the
London archives is by the record office arrangement as follows:
Old No.
New No.
282
1
Dates.
1703-1714
283
2
1715-1741
284
3
1742-1757
285
4
1758-1762
286
5
1762-1766.
287
6
1767-1770
288
7
1771-1774
289
8
1767-1770
The laws of the time of the commissions of Cutt, Cranfield, Andros, Allen,
and Bellomont are found in more incomplete and fragmentary groups in the
collections at the record office in the files and in special assignments, prior
in point of chronological order to the two series of volumes above described.
23 N. H. State Papers, Index, p. 550.
The imprint on the page succeeding the one containing these memoranda
is a fac-simile of a pen and ink drawing which is a very perfect representa-
tion of the actual appearance of the title on the outside cover of the volume
containing the Dudley collection. The cut used for this purpose is on a
scale somewhat reduced from that of the original title-page. The process
of reproduction is first a pen and ink drawing made in the record office by
permission, for use in illustrating this work, next a photograph from that
drawing resulting in a picture reduced to the size of the present page, and
next the engraving from the photograph.
858
APPENDIX.
N:1
NEW HAMPSHIRE
A Collection of the
Laus in Force in
New Hampshire
in 1702.
Recet with bolonel
Dudleystre of the 23
July 1702. New Engla
D: folio 273.
d
APPENDIX.
859
APPENDIX J. III.-1.
JULY THE 19TH 1706, REP'N UPON THE COLLECTION
OF THE LAWS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE IN NEW ENG-
LAND, FOR CONFIRMING 13 & REPEALING 13 OF
THE SAID LAWS.
[B. T. New England, vol. 41, p. 186.]
[Several documents and records contained in the English archives, now col-
lected in the public record office in London, relative to the history of the acts
of the general assembly of the province of New Hampshire, 1692-1702, are pre-
sented in Appendix J. III and Appendix J. IV, in order that both the pro-
cedure to which they were subjected, and the reasons that appear to have
been adduced for confirming some, repealing others, and laying aside still
others without action, may be examined in the light of the exact official ac-
count of the transaction.
Fifty-six of the fifty-nine acts under consideration, as previously stated,
belonged in the period covered by the legislation under the commissions of
Governor Allen and the Earl of Bellomont.
The first occurrence in the serious business of disposing of the acts
transmitted by Governor Dudley in 1702 was the report of Mr. Northey, the
attorney-general, submitted to the Lords Commissioners for Trade and
Plantations in 1704. The full text of this letter appears in the body of the
notes on the laws passed in the time of administration under the commission
of the Earl of Bellomont. Ante, pp. 644-647.
The next stage in the proceedings appears in the report of the Lords Com-
missioners for Trade and Plantations, which was transmitted to the Privy
Council in July, 1706. This document is given in full in Appendix J. III—1.
The decrees of the queen in council, pronounced in November of the same
year, and here given in full in Appendix J. IV—1 and J. IV-2, constitute the
last chapter in the history of these acts that can be presented as a part of
the contemporary record.
The next compilation of the acts of the province was the one which was
completed about the time of the termination of Colonel Dudley's active in-
cumbency of his office of governor in New Hampshire, and which was pub-
lished in 1716. It will doubtless be found interesting and instructive in
tracing the history of the separate acts of a general and permanent nature,
which had been passed in the period beginning in October, 1692, and ending
in July, 1702, to compare those acts as printed in this volume with the same
or similar acts which reappear in the printed edition of the province laws
of 1716, and with those contained in the printed supplements of 1718 and
later dates.
The copy of the report of Mr. Northey, the attorney-general, on the acts
contained in the so-called Dudley transmission of 1702, was not received by
the editor until a very late date in the compilation of material for this vol-
ume. The copy of the report of the Commissioners for Trade and Plantations,
and of the decrees of the queen in council on the same laws, were not pro-
cured until very near the time of closing the forms. A more natural arrange-
ment of these documents would be to group them together in notes or in an
appendix. Such a disposal of them in the text was impracticable for the rea-
sons above indicated. Nevertheless, there will probably be no serious re-
sulting inconvenience to those who may have occasion to refer to them as
they now appear in the work.
In the notes which accompany the acts for the period 1692 to 1702, as, for
illustration, that on chapter 2, "An Act Concerning the Prudentiall Affaires
of the Townes in Said Province,” p. 526, ante, it will be observed that there is
a reference in these terms: "Compare Act of May 2, 1719, post." It was ex-
pected that the acts passed under the commission of Governor Dudley, 1702-
1718, and those of the time of Governor Samuel Shute, might be included in
this volume. It was not ascertained until after the notes and text above re-
ferred to had been prepared and printed that the material available at the
termination of the period of the Bellomont-Partridge administrations was
860
APPENDIX.
sufficient for the first volume. The references to acts of the time of the suc-
ceeding administrations of Governor Dudley and Governor Shute in the notes
to the acts, 1692-1702, must be taken to refer to a volume hereafter to be
published, or to the 1716 edition, including the supplements from time to
time added to that edition.
In the examination of the province records in the state archives and other
available sources of information on the point in question, no conclusive evi-
dence has been discovered to indicate that the action of the attorney-general,
the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, and the queen in coun-
cil, or of either of those parties, relative to the laws transmitted by Governor
Dudley in the collection of 1702, was officially published in the colonies. As
stated in the notes to the acts passed in the time of administration under the
commission of the Earl of Bellomont, ante, pp. 638 to 652, the repeal of cer-
tain acts, and the confirmation of others, on earlier dates than November,
1706, was not only known and made a matter of record in the province, but it
was in some instances by public proclamation and the beat of drums. (See
lists, ante, pp. 709, 710, 711, and note, ante, p. 651.) The existence of the fact
and record of the repeals and confirmations of November 19, 1706, however,
has not been within the knowledge of local historians, lawyers, judges, and
other commentators on the laws in the latter part of the time that has inter-
vened between 1706 and a comparatively recent date.
It is probable that the orders of the queen in council in 1706 relative to
the New Hampshire laws were known to Lieutenant-Governor John Usher,
inasmuch as his position in the government would place him in the way
of being informed as to such events, and, besides, his own pecuniary ter-
ests were largely involved with the claims of the Allen party unless his
relations with the Masonian title had been greatly changed in this period.
As ex-Governor Samuel Allen had died in 1705, a son, Thomas Allen, brother-
in-law to Lieutenant-Governor Usher, had assumed the prosecution of the
claim, and the great trial of the case of Allen v. Waldron before the superior
court of judicature ensued in 1707. It is hardly supposable that the parties
and counsel in this cause, in which the exact status of the law of New Hamp-
shire concerning the constitution, powers, procedure, and jurisdiction of the
courts was a most important consideration, were not advised as to the action
of the home government, especially in the repeal of the act relating to the
trial of civil causes, and the act establishing courts of public justice. Allen
v. Waldron, 2 N. H. Prov. Papers, 514-562; Id., 29 N. H. State Papers, 172.
The repeal of this series of acts was commented upon by Mr. William
Smith in 1824 in his article on the Sources of New Hampshire Law, 3 Farmer
and Moore's Collections, 204; Id., 1 Proceedings of the New Hampshire State
Bar Association, p. 680.]
To the Queen's most Excellent Majesty.
May it please your Majesty.
Having received & perused a Collection of the Laws in
force in your Majesty's Province of New Hampshire in New
England, and Consulted the Opinion of your Majesty's Attor-
ney General thereupon in point of Law, as also of the R't Rev-
erend the Lord Bishop of London in reference to the Church;
We humbly Represent to your Maj'ty that Several of the said
Laws are unfit for your Maj'tys Approbation, viz't
An Act for the Settling and distribution of Intestates Estates, and
such as prove Insolvent. [Ante, p. 566.]
This Act making a Distribution of the Real Estates as well
as of the personal Estates of the Deceased amongst all the
Children, alters the Descent of Inheritances of persons resid-
ing in England, and is contrary to the Course of Descents of
APPENDIX.
861
Inheritances in England; besides that it will be inconvenient
to divide plantations.
The other part of the Act, which is for dividing the Estates
of Insolvents equally amongst Creditors, is contrary to the
Laws of England, not having any regard to the nature of the
Securities for those Debts.
An Act Entituled,
An Addition to a late Act Entituled An Act to compel Constables to
do their Duties in Collecting Rates. [Ante, p. 559.]
This Act Subjecting the Bodies of persons to be imprisoned
if they have no Visible Estate for the rates laid on them in the
Townes, is unreasonable, no appeal being allowed to the Jus-
tices against the s'd Rates.
An Act concerning Marriages, Births & Burials. [Ante, p. 558.]
This Act gives power to Justices of the peace to join persons
in Marriage, who have been thrice published on meeting days,
and is not conformable to the Laws of Engl'd nor to the Acts
allowd by your Maj'ty in your other plantations.
An additional Act concerning Marriages, Births & Burials;-
being upon the same foot with the preceeding Act, is like-
wise unfit for your Majesty's approbation. [Ante, p. 602.]
An Act for maintenance and Supply of the Ministry within this
province. [Ante, p. 560.]
This Act leaves the Ministry perfectly at the Will of the
people, and also leaves it wholly in the people's Choice
whether they will have a Ministry or no, and exempts all per-
sons who shall serve God Separately according to their own
perswasion, from Contributing to the Minister.
An Act for the Acknowledging of Deeds. [Ante, p. 568.]
is unreasonable, in giving a Justice of peace power to Com-
mit a Man who will not acknowledge his Deed, for that if a
person denies the Deed, the Justice may thereby adjudge that
to be his Deed which is not, and bind him: The acknowledg-
ment ought to be Voluntary, and the person to whom it is
made, ought to take care of it.
An Act for restraining inhumane Severities. [Ante, p. 570.]
This Act as it is drawn, is too large, in that the Wilfull kill-
ing a Man's own Negro Servant is to be punished w'th Death;
for that is not the Description of Murther (which is killing
862
APPENDIX.
with Malice) He that do's it in his own Defence, do's it wil-
fully. Therefore it ought to be said in the Act without Provo-
cation, or of Malice.
An Act for the punishment of Criminal Offenders. [Ante, p. 677.]
This Act has Several good provisions in it, But this is un-
reasonable, that if a Man who is Convicted of perjury reverses
his Judgment, he is to recover his Damages against those who
did procure such Judgment, which will discourage prosecu-
tions for perjury, since on the reversal (which may be for form)
the prosecutor must Answer Damages to the persons Con-
victed.
An Act for recording Deeds & Conveyances. [Ante, p. 680.]
There lies the same objection against this Act as against
that aforementioned, For the acknowledging of Deeds, viz't
That it gives a justice of peace power to commit a Man who re-
fuses to acknowledge his Deed, so that the Justice is absolute
Judge to determine whether this Deed was made or not.
An Additional Act for Settlement of Intestate Estates, thereto added
Insolvent Estates how to be disposed of. [Ante, p. 683.]
By this Act, the Estates of Insolvent persons are thereby to
be distributed equally among the Creditors, without regard to
the nature of their Debts, which is contrary to the Law of
England; It also gives appeal to the Governor, but none to
Your Majesty.
An Act for taking Affidavits out of Court. [Ante, p. 689.]
. By this Act, Affidavits to be used at Trials, and to prove
Deeds, may be taken without notice to the other side, which is
judged unreasonable.
An Act for regulating of Tryals in Civil Causes. [Ante, p. 702.]
This Act allowing Errors and Reviews to the Gov'r and
Council, but not appeals to Your Majesty, dos intrench upon
your Royal Prerogative.
An Act for Establishing Courts of publick Justice within this prov-
in.ce. [Ante, p. 660.]
This Act, in giving power to Your Maj'ty's Governor to
Erect Courts, do's likewise intrench upon Your Majesty's
Royal prerogative, and altho it allows an Appeal to your Ma-
APPENDIX.
863
jesty, where the value in Demand is above £300; Yet it pre-
vents your Majesty's allowing an Appeal if for less, which it
ought to be in Your Majesty's power to admit in such Case, as
you think proper. All which Acts having been duly Consid-
ered by Us, We humbly offer, that the same be disallowed and
Repealed by your Maj❜ty.
And finding no objection to the following Laws, We are
humbly of opinion that the same be allowed and Ratifyed by
your Maj'ty viz't.
An Act for Settling the Militia.
An Act for killing of Wolves.
[Ante, p. 537.]
[Ante, p. 554.]
An Act for the allowance of Representatives.
533.]
[Ante, p.
An Act against Shipping of Horses without Entring. [Ante,
p. 534.]
An Act for regulating of Cattle Corn Field & Fences.
[Ante, p. 535.]
An Act for Regulating of Weights & Measures. [Ante,
p. 531.]
An act to prevent the prophanation of the Lord's Day.
[Ante, p. 564.]
An Act to Compel Constables to do their Duty in Collecting
Rates. [Ante, p. 555.]
An Addition to the Law Entituled Corn Feilds and Fences.
[Ante, p. 557.]
An Act to prevent concealing Estates from Assessors.
[Ante, p. 557.]
An Act for the payment of the Cure of Soldiers that are
wounded. [Ante, p. 578.]
An Act for repairing His Maj'tys High Ways. [Ante, p.
692.]
An Act about powder Money.¹
All w'ch is most humbly Submitted
Dartmouth.
Rob't Cecil.
Ph: Meadows.
W'm Blathwayt.
John Pollexfen.
Matt: Prior.
Whitehall,
July 19th 1706.
¹See marginal note on p. 711.
864
APPENDIX.
APPENDIX J. III.—2.
[EXTRACTS FROM THE JOURNAL OF THE BOARD OF
TRADE RELATIVE TO THE LAWS OF THE PROV-
INCE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.]
[Volume 16.]
The Collection of the Laws of New Hampshire received from
Colonel Dudley, with his Letters of the 23d of July 1702, were
laid before the Board, and some entrance made into the con-
sideration thereof. (Page 168, 29 June, 1703.)
Their Lordships took again into consideration the Laws of
New Hampshire and made some Progress therein. (Page 169,
30 June, 1703.)
Their Lordships again made further Progress in considering
a Collection of the Laws of New Hampshire. (Page 181, 15
July, 1703.)
A further Progress was made in considering the Collection
of the Acts of New Hampshire mentioned in some late Minutes.
(Page 182, 20 July, 1703.)
A further Progress was made in considering the Laws of
New Hampshire. (Page 185, 21 July, 1703.)
The remainder of the New Hampshire Acts were read; and
thereupon Ordered the whole Collection thereof be sent to Mr.
Attorney Gen'll for his Opinion in point of Law. (Page 186,
22 July, 1703.)
Ordered that Copys of two of the Acts of New Hampshire
Viz't An Act concerning Marriages Births and Burials, and
an Act for maintenance and supply of the Ministry be sent to
the Lord Bishop of London, and his opinion desired thereon.
(Page 187, 23 July, 1703.)
The Lord Bishop of London Notes upon the two Acts of New
Hampshire, which were sent to him the 23d of the last Month,
were read, and Ordered to be taken into Consideration to-
gether with the said Acts when the Board shal be ready to
report upon them. (Page 199, 6 August, 1703.)
Mr Attorney Generals Report upon the 2 Acts of New
Hampshire, mentioned in the Secretarys Letter to him of the
23 July last, was read, and Directions given for Preparing a
Report that the said Acts may be repealed. (Page 202, 13
August, 1703.)
A Rep'n for Repealing two Acts of New Hampshire, was
also agreed, and ordered to be transcribed. (Page 247, 28 Oc-
tober, 1703.)
A Rep'n for repealing two Acts of New Hampshire, was
also Signed. (Page 247, 29 October, 1703.)
า
APPENDIX.
865
Copy of an Order of Council of 11th November last, upon
a Rep'n of 29th October foregoing, repealing 2 Acts of New
Hampshire, was read. (Page 380, 24 January, 1703-4.)
[Volume 17.]
The Secretary acquainting their Lord'ps that Mr Attorney
and Mr Sollicitor General have returned several Laws of
Maryland, Barbadoes, New Hampshire, Bermuda, Leeward
Islands, Massachusetts Bay, Virginia and Pennsylvania;
Whereupon ordered that a Copy of Mr Attorney General's
Report upon the Pennsylvania Laws be communicated to Mr
Penn. (Page 140, 19 October, 1704.)
[Volume 18.]
Their Lordships then entered into the consideration of a
Collection of Laws in force in New Hampshire and read sev-
eral of the said Laws, together with Mr Attorney General's
Report thereupon, and gave Notes for preparing a Representa-
tion upon the whole as soon as their lordships shall have gone
through the said Collection. (Page 333, 11 June, 1706.)
Their Lordships took into consideration the Collection of the
Laws in force in New Hampshire in 1702, and made some prog-
gress therein. (Page 359, 17 July, 1706.)
Their Lordships again took into consideration the Laws of
New Hampshire, mentioned in yesterdays Minutes and went
through the same, And ordered that a Report be prepared for
repealing several of the said laws. (Page 360, 18 July, 1706.)
A Representation upon the Collection of the Laws of New
Hampshire in New England for confirming Thirteen and re-
pealing Thirteen of the said Laws, was agreed & signed.
(Page 361, 19 July, 1706.)
[Volume 19.]
The Copy of an Order of Council of the 19th of the last
month upon a Representation of the 19th of July foregoing,
for confirming 13 New Hampshire Laws was read.
The Copy of an Order of Councill of the same date upon the
same Representation for repealing 13 Laws of New Hamp-
shire, was read. (Page 7, 6 December, 1706.)
58
866
APPENDIX.
7
APPENDIX J. IV.-1.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
COPY OF AN ORDER OF COUNCIL OF THE 19TH OF THE
LAST MONTH [NOVEMBER] UPON A REP'N OF
THE 19 OF JULY FOREGOING FOR REPEALING 13
LAWS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE APPROVING THE
SAME.
Recd
Read
}
6 Decemb'r 1706.
Entred F. fo: 210. Q. 55.
[B. T. New England, Vol. 13, Q. 55.]
+
At the Court at Kensington
the 19. of November 1706
Present
The Queen's most Excell't Majesty
His Royall Highness
Lord Keeper
Lord Treasurer
Duke of Somersett
Lord Chamberlain
Earl of Barkeley
Lord Visc't Cholmondeley
Lord Coningsby.
Mr Boyle
Mr Secretary Hedges
Mr Secretary Harley
Lord Cheif Justice Holt
Mr Vernon
Mr How
Whereas, by Commission under the Great Seal of England,
the Governor, Councill and Assembly of Her Ma't's Province
of New Hampshire in New England have been authorized
and Empowered to make, constitute and ordain Laws, Stat-
utes & Ordinances for the Publick Peace, Welfare and good
Governm't of the said Province: Which Laws, Statutes and
Ordinances are to be, as near as conveniently may be, agree-
able to the Laws and Statutes of this Kingdom, and to be
transmitted to Her Ma'ty for Her Royall Approbation or Dis-
allowance of them. And Whereas in pursuance of the said
Powers there have been past in the General Assembly of Her
Ma't's said Province of New Hampshire the several Acts, En-
tituled,
An Act for the Settling and Distribution of Intestates Es-
tates, and such as prove Insolvent. [Ante, p. 566.]
An Act Entituled An Addition to a late Act to Compell Con-
stables to do their Duties in Collecting Rates. [Ante, p. 559.]
An Act concerning Marriages, Births and Burials. [Ante,
p. 558.1
An Additional Act concerning Marriages Births and Buri-
als. [Ante, p. 602.]
จ
APPENDIX.
867
An Act for Maintenance and Supply of the Ministry within
this Province. [Ante, p. 560.]
An Act for the acknowledging of Deeds. [Ante, p. 568.]
An Act for Restraining Inhumane Severities. [Ante, p.
570.]
An Act for the Punishm't of Criminal Offenders. [Ante, p.
677.]
An Act for Recording Deeds & Conveyances. [Ante, p. 680.]
An Additional Act for Settlement of Intestates Estates,
Thereto added Insolvent Estates how to be disposed of.
[Ante, p. 683.]
An Act for Taking Affidavits out of Court. [Ante, p. 689.]
An Act for Regulating Tryals in Civil Causes. [Ante, p.
702.]
An act for Establishing Courts of Publick Justice within
this Province. [Ante, p. 660.]
Which said several Acts having been perused and consid-
ered by the Lords Commissioners of Trade and Plantations,
who by their Report this day read at the Board, are humbly of
Opinion That the said Acts are not fitt for Her Ma't's Royal
Approbation, Her Majesty, with the advice of Her Privy Coun-
cill, is hereby pleased to Declare Her Royal Disapprobation
and Disallowance of the said Acts, and pursuant to Her Ma't's
Pleasure thereupon, the said Acts are hereby Repealed, and
Declared voyd and of no Effect.
A true copy
John Povey
APPENDIX J. IV-2.
COPY OF AN ORDER OF COUNCIL OF THE 19 OF THE
LAST MONTH [NOVEMBER] UPON A REP'N OF
THE 19 JULY FOREGOING FOR CONFIRMING 13
LAWS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE APPROVING THE
SAME.
Recd
Read
}
6 Decemb'r 1706.
Entred F. fo: 213. Q. 56.
[B. T. New England, vol. 13, Q. 56.]
At the Court at Kensington
the 19 of Novemb'r 1706
Present
The Queen's most Excell't Ma'ty
868
APPENDIX.
His Royall Highness
Lord Keeper
Lord Treasurer
Duke of Somersett
Lord Chamberlain
Earl of Berkeley
Lord Visc't Cholmondeley
Lord Coningsby.
Mr Boyle
Mr Sec'ry Hedges
Mr Sec'ry Harley
Lord Chief Justice Holt
Mr Vernon
Mr How
Whereas by Commission under the Great Seal of England
the Governor Councill and Assembly of Her Ma't's Province
of New Hampshire in New England, have been authorized
and impowered to make, constitute and ordain Laws, Statutes
and Ordinances for the Publick Peace, Welfare and good Gov-
ernm't of the said Province: Which Laws Statutes and Ordi-
nances are to be, as near as conveniently may be, agreeable
to the Laws and Statutes of this Kingdom, and to be trans-
mitted to Her Ma'ty for Her Royall Approbation or Disallow-
ance of them. And Whereas in pursuance of the said Powers
several Laws, past in the General Assembly of Her Ma'ts
Province of New Hampshire have been transmitted from
thence, the Titles whereof are as follow.
An Act for Settling the Militia. [Ante, p. 537.]
An Act for Killing of Wolves.
[Ante, p. 554.]
An Act for the Allowance of Representatives.
533.]
[Ante, p.
An Act against Shipping of Horses without Entring.
[Ante, p. 534.]
An Act for Regulating of Cattle, Corn ffeilds & ffences.
[Ante, p. 535.]
An Act for Regulating of Weights and Measures. [Ante,
p. 531.]
An Act to Prevent the Prophanation of the Lords Day.
[Ante, p. 564.]
An Act to Compell Constables to do their Duty in Collecting
Rates. [Ante, p. 555.]
An Addition to the Law Entituled Corn Feilds and Fences.
[Ante, p. 557.]
An Act to prevent Concealing Estates from Assessors.
[Ante, p. 557.]
An Act for the Payment of the Cure of Soldiers that are
wounded. [Ante, p. 578.]
An Act for Repairing His Ma'ts High Ways. [Ante, p. 692.]
An Act about Powder Money.¹
1
Which said Laws having been perused and considered by
the Lords Commiss'rs of Trade and Plantations, were this Day
presented to the Board with their humble Opinion That the
¹See marginal note, ante, p. 711.
7
APPENDIX.
869
same be approved; Whereupon Her Ma'ty with the Advice of
Her Privy Councill is graciously pleased to Declare Her Ap-
probation of the said Laws, and, in pursuance of Her Ma'ts
Royall Pleasure thereupon, the same are hereby Confirmed,
finally enacted and Ratified accordingly.
A true copy
John Povey
INDEX OF SUBJECTS.
Absence, unavoidable, not punishable.
Accounts, province, examination of
assembly to view
Actions, see also Trials.
allowed by Body of Liberties .....
children, idiots, insane, and strangers protected in
continued
defaults in
•
Page.
752
442
625
765
757
248
804
documents in, technical form of, not to be vital 72, 702, 754, 802, 862
false claims in, penalty for
non-suits in
pleas and answers in, liberty of
record of
review of
•
transfer of
•
withdrawal of
Admiralty, court of, fees of
•
power to establish
Admiralty cases, trial of
Admission, liberty of, to churches
Adultery, penalty for
Affidavits, taking of, out of court.
Africa, trade to
Age, lawful
•
for choosing a guardian
of consent
of discretion
Agents, see also Commissioners.
public, power to send
to Albany, appropriation for
escort for
•
to England, appointment of
appropriation for
credit voted to
•
754
34, 71, 755, 802, 804
758, 817
759
35, 755
213
35, 71, 755, 802
131
151, 230, 506, 617
75
764
15, 60, 66, 676, 763, 795, 797
105, 689, 817, 862
164, 240, 513, 629
33
33
15
757
760
316, 327
315
338, 348, 701, 707
343, 450, 701, 706-708
Alienations, fines on, forbidden
•
making of, power of
Allegiance, oath of
Almshousés
351
753
753
5, 51, 81, 95, 149, 162, 579
111
see also Workhouses.
Amendments, judges to order
194
Ammunition not to be supplied to Indians or French without license.. 288
public, inventory of
•
purchase of
•
·
162, 239, 512, 628
318, 330, 341, 365, 369, 463
stealing of, penalty for
transfer of
16, 61, 794, 798
to be collected
307
250, 418
towns to be provided with
transportation of, without license, prohibited
Animals, domestic, cruelty to, prohibited
341, 526
341
762
rights of, when travelling
762
Appeals, fees for
to assembly
38
•
reasons of, to be filed
to assembly from council prohibited
665
755
513, 629
to council
72, 150, 193, 229, 544, 615, 630, 664, 705, 802, 805, 813.
871
872
INDEX.
Page.
Appeals to court of general sessions of the peace
to crown
...
to inferior court
72, 802, 805
4, 52, 97, 150, 193, 229, 505, 513, 544, 615, 629, 630, 664
· •
to superior court
to supreme court
•
Appropriations for agents to England
for artillery
for commander of expedition
for messengers to Albany
for pier
•
to coast towns for fortifications
to president or governor
815, 862
.662
193, 663, 704, 815
542, 544
343, 450, 701, 706-708
349
324
316, 327
292
•
346, 463
64, 70, 91, 113, 511, 801
Arms not to be supplied to Indians or French without license
pawned by Indians to be collected
public, inventory of
transfer of
to be collected
•
·
transportation of, without license, prohibited
Arsenals, see Storehouses, public.
Arson, penalty for
Artillery, appropriation for.
impressed, to be restored
impressment of
transfer of
•
•
Assembly, general, adjournment of, power of
appeals to
•
from council, prohibited
clerks of, power to appoint
convening of, agreement for
authority for
declaration of
288
}
320
162, 239, 282, 512, 628
307
250
341
15
349
453, 462
424
292, 428
759
755
513, 629
57
273
6, 50, 112, 503, 614
•
dissolution of, power of
275
•
51, 504, 615, 759
members of, election of 37, 63, 70, 510, 623, 758, 759, 793
expenses of
fares of, on ferries
misconduct of
•
69, 793, 799
42
754
names of ... 517, 545, 565, 572, 573, 575, 577
578, 582, 585, 594, 595, 605, 636-638
oaths of
qualifications of
salaries of ..
to be summoned
New Hampshire
prorogation of, power of
to be called a general court
to impose oaths
•
to interpret Body of Liberties
to revise Body of Liberties
to send public agents
to view public accounts
Assistance from neighboring plantations
marshals authorized to call
to neighboring plantations
to New York ...
to sheriffs and constables
to wrecked vessels.
Assistants, see also Councillors.
election of
meeting of
misconduct of, penalty for
names of
Associates for Hampshire county appointed
for Hampshire county elected
for inferior courts, choice of
Attachments, clerks authorized to grant
councillors authorized to grant
503, 510, 614
658, 758
510, 533, 623
332
482
51, 504, 615
349
752
765
765
760
625
242, 302, 428, 431, 438
30
163, 512, 627
178, 255, 395, 633
685
762
353
364
754
271, 400, 472
327
406
757
33
33
INDEX.
873
Page.
796
Attachments, justices of the peace authorized to grant
marshals authorized to serve
nature of
notice of
release of
service of
to stand when
Attorneys, definition of
oaths of..
•
•
only, to plead causes
Bail allowed
sureties for
•
Ballast not to be cast in certain places
Barrels, see also Casks.
size of, regulation of
•
Bastardy, penalty for
Bestiality, penalty for
Bible, see Scriptures..
Bills of credit, issue of
Births, returns of
• •
Blasphemy, see also Profanity.
penalty for
regulation of
Boards, regulations for making of
Boats, see also Vessels.
for Fort William and Mary
Body of Liberties
suits allowed under
•
to be considered as law
to be interpreted by general court
to be revised by general court
Bonds, chancery of
Boundaries, destruction of, penalty for
of the government
of towns
Bounty on wolves
Branding of horses
Brewers, regulation of
Bribery, penalty for
Bridges, destruction of, penalty for
repair of
Buggery, penalty for
Burglary, penalty for
Burials, returns of
Burning of fences, penalty for
•
•
22
34, 64, 72, 137, 803, 806
32
705
33, 64, 72, 137, 803, 806
34
105
123
817
754
34, 71, 802
33
208
678
13, 763
457, 460, 474
106, 558, 602, 817, 861
12, 763
627
82, 210
668
751
765
765
765
765
126
20, 62, 68, 593, 795, 799
181, 243
115, 571, 572, 574, 695, 707, 825
28, 204, 544
24
208
20
20
446, 451
13, 763
16, 60, 66, 794, 797
106, 558, 602, 817, 861
20, 62, 68, 795, 799
of woods, regulation of
Capital punishment, time of ...
•
21, 739
757
to be executed only on testimony of witnesses.
to be referred to the crown
Captives in Nova Scotia
757
•
52
•
447
release of, to be demanded
241
•
Casks, see also Barrels.
size of, regulation of
Cattle, impounding of, wrongfully, penalty for
regulation of
Cavalry, see Troopers.
Chancery, court of, appeals from
power of
Chaplains, appointments of
Charges against Andros government
Children, cursing of parents by, penalty for
disobedient, penalty for
inheritance by
197
686
•
200, 535, 742
193, 544
establishment of
•
of bond's
193, 544
126
665
353, 379, 429, 437
345
14
14
761
874
INDEX.
{
elders of, meetings of
election and ordination allowed to
fast and thanksgiving days to be celebrated by
freedom of belief allowed in
members of, amenable to civil law
organization of, liberty of
Civil authority in churches
•
Civil officers, see also Provincial and Public officers.
church censure not to depose
Children, liberties of
Page.
761
orphan, protection of
protection of, in suits
761
757
redress of, against parental severity
sale of liquor to, penalty for
761
36
Churches, see also Meetinghouses.
authority of
censure of, not to depose civil officers
civil authority in
763
758
758
conventions of, allowed
•
discipline in
764
764
764
763
•
764
764
liberties of
763, 764
758
763
758
758
764
•
754
57
·
57, 124, 284, 285, 740
33, 57
746
745
501
·
144, 226, 830
612
48
1
93
515
364
400
436
431
323
4
328, 379, 427
245
116
churches allowed to discipline
Claims, false, in suits
•
Clerks of the assembly, appointment of, power of
Clerks of court, appointments of
Coin, see Money.
powers of
Combination, Dover
Exeter
Commission of Samuel Allen
of Sir Edmund Andros
of Earl of Bellomont
of Edward Cranfield
of John Cutt
of Joseph Dudley
of William Partridge
Commissioners, see also Agents.
Essex county, summoned
for Boston
instructions to
meeting of
provision for
Commissions, military, authority to issue
military officers to have
for officials to be issued
Committees, town, continued
•
•
Commodities, prices of ..29, 39, 40, 47, 64, 70, 89, 138, 186, 254, 355, 445, 447
475, 477, 554, 555, 574, 587, 675, 694, 800, 801
to be legal tender
Commons, town, charges of
trespass on, penalty for
Conference of military officers
Confession of judgment
Connecticut, annexation of
courts in, establishment of
embargo desired in
•
laws to be in force in
Conscience, liberty of
Consent, age of
Constables, assistance to
compensation of
•
delinquent, proceedings against
election of
453
739
684
299
34, 72, 803, 804
112, 171
212
425
211
5, 53, 98, 154, 161, 239, 510, 624
15
685
486
123, 358
526, 793
686
justices of the peace may act in absence of
to clear their rates, penalty for failure 25, 29, 63, 69, 116, 186
355, 479, 484, 555, 559, 793, 799, 861
526, 601
to serve, penalty for refusal
INDEX.
875
Page.
Contempt of court, authority to punish
penalty for
of Scriptures or ministers, penalty for
Contracts to be paid in the same species
validity of
•
Convention of churches allowed
of the colonies
Conversion of Indians and negroes
Conveyances by married women, minors, idiots, and
legalized
fraudulent, invalid against just claims
making of, power of
Coopers, regulation of
wine, fees of
·
5
739
18, 62, 68, 792, 799
23
115
764
320, 370
165, 241, 514, 630
insane may be
753
753
753
208.
138
687
742
658
658
•
62, 68, 757, 761, 795, 799
513, 629
72, 150, 193, 229, 544, 615, 630, 664, 705, 802, 805, 813
96
276
235, 509, 622
160, 238, 512, 626
3, 95
4, 5, 148.
Cordwainers, regulation of
Corn, seizure of, in Exeter
Coroner to impanel jurors in certain cases
to serve writs in certain cases
Corporal punishment
Council, appeals from, to assembly prohibited
appeals to
authority of, to establish courts
declaration of
freedom of debate in
•
journal of, to be transmitted
meetings of
powers of
quorum of
•
rules of
to be a court
vacancies in
Councillors, see also Assistants.
•
3, 50, 95, 147, 156, 227, 235, 502, 509, 613, 622
8.
3, 5, 96, 149, 228
50, 147, 156, 227, 502, 503, 613, 622
appointment of
defamation of, penalty for
names of
7, 98, 235, 503, 509
19
2, 49, 93, 95, 100, 143, 144, 173, 235, 271, 273, 400
472, 509, 517, 545, 565, 572, 575, 577, 582
585, 593-595, 605, 621, 636, 829, 830
oaths of .... 3, 4, 49, 95, 96, 147, 227, 235, 502, 509, 510, 613, 621
powers of
•
qualifications of
suspension of
5, 17, 22, 26, 33, 98, 104, 227, 228, 815
157, 236, 510, 622
49, 50, 147, 157, 227, 235, 502, 510, 613, 622
to be members of the court of chancery
to have freedom of debate and voting
Counsel, unpaid, allowed
Counties, establishment of
•
Court, clerks of, appointments of
powers of
contempt of, authority to punish
penalty for
council to be a
defamation of, penalty for
• •
sentence of, refusal to pronounce
Court, general, see Assembly, general.
assembly to be called
Court, inferior, appeals from
appeals to
associates for, choice of
•
chancery, power of, vested in
establishment of
jurisdiction of
•
justices of, oath of
terms of
Court, superior, appeals from
appeals to
chancery, power of, vested in
establishment of
•
193
235, 509, 622
755
119, 827
57, 124, 284, 285, 740
33, 57
5
739
3, 5, 96, 149, 228
19
758
349
663, 704
662
757
665
663
663
665
663
•
664, 705, 815
193, 663, 704, 815
665
663, 815.
876
INDEX.
Court, superior, jurisdiction of
justices of, oath of
terms of
Court of admiralty, establishment of, power of
Court, supreme, appeals to
fees of
Court of chancery, appeals from
establishment of
Page
663, 815
665
663, 815
542, 544
151, 230, 506, 617
131
193, 544
193, 544
Court of general sessions of the peace, or court of pleas, appeals to 72, 802, 805
establishment of
jurisdiction of
terms of
•
Court of pleas, see Court of general sessions of the peace.
Courts, abolishment of
account of, to be transmitted
Connecticut, establishment of
English language to be used in
establishment and regulation of
establishment of, power of
jurisdiction of
officers of, names of
•
power of appointment of
proceedings of, confirmed
records of
rules of, judges impowered to make
terms of
...
662, 811
663, 813
662, 811, 813
38
•
161, 238, 626
212
702
102, 190, 212, 247, 476, 512, 541
660, 811, 813, 815, 862
51, 96, 149, 229, 505, 615, 626
24, 213, 542, 543
108, 821, 823
51, 149, 229, 505, 509, 615
150, 229
759
193, 543, 703
24, 38, 102, 191, 192, 212, 214, 247, 303, 348, 375, 432, 542
543, 570, 602, 811, 813, 815
length of
Credit, bills of, issue of
Creeks, freedom of
Crown, appeals to
194, 542, 543
457, 460, 474
740
4, 52, 97, 150, 193, 229, 505, 513, 544, 615, 629, 630
claim of, to wreckage
fines payable to
fines reserved to
jurisdiction of, over property of subjects
land titles reserved to
Cruelty, parental
suppression of
Cullers of staves, appointment and duties of
Curriers, regulation of
tanners not to be
Cursing, see also Profanity.
of parents by children, penalty for
Custom, Scripture to overrule
•
Custom houses, establishment of, power of
Customs, duties, see Impost.
officers of, power to appoint
regulations of
Damages, exorbitant, penalty for claiming
Daughters, inheritance of, in intestate estate
Death, sentence of, remitted
time of executing
664, 815, 862
174
56, 73, 158, 236, 510, 793
510, 624
57
45
761
165, 241, 514, 570, 630, 861
209
687
687
14
759
54, 153, 507, 619
54, 153, 507, 619
163, 169, 187, 239, 248
35, 754
761
357, 359-361
757
757
52
235, 509, 622
346
347
340, 346, 347, 443, 457, 458
22
to be inflicted only on testimony of witnesses.
to be referred to the crown
Deaths, see Vital records.
Debate, freedom of, to councillors
Debentures, bill for, to be printed
committee on, duties of
for pay of soldiers
Debt, prisoners for, regulation of
Deeds, see also Conveyances.
acknowledgments of
former, declared valid
•
105, 568, 681, 815, 861, 862
682
INDEX.
877
Deeds, recording of
registers of, appointments of
fees of ..
qualifications of
Defamation of councillors, penalty for
of courts, penalty for
of judges, penalty for
Defaults in court
Deposal, liberty of, to churches
Deputy, execution of public office by
Deputy-governor, see also Lieutenant-governor.
appointment of, power of
election of
Deserters sent to Maine
summoned
Discretion, age of
•
Dismission, liberty of, to churches
Distillers, regulation of
Disturbance of the peace, penalty for
of town meetings, penalty for
Domestic animals, cruelty to, prohibited
rights of, when travelling
Dover combination .
Drunkenness, definition of
•
penalty for
regulation of
·
•
Duties, customs, see Impost, Excise, Powder money.
Eastern affairs, committee on
Elders of churches, meetings of
Elections, day of, appointed
privilege of, allowed to churches
to be held
Page.
680, 862
57, 248
682
682
19
19
19
804
764
•
512, 626
54
353
317
315
757
764
129
•
19, 679
758
762
762
746
21
21, 61, 67, 677, 792, 798
627
Embargo continued
declared
raised
·
desired in other colonies
violation of
Embezzlement of public records, penalty for
Emigration, free
•
English, Indians to trade with
English language to be used in court
Entry, ports of, appointments of
power to appoint
Escort for messengers to Albany
•
Essex county commissioners summoned
detail from militia of
pensions in
•
•
records to be delivered
scout ordered in
•
•
283
764
361
763
353
419, 426
344, 419, 481, 495
425
442
426
19
753
241
702
126, 246, 249
54, 153, 233, 249, 507, 619
315
364
481
465
334
482
557
497
567, 683, 860, 862
•
566, 860, 862
668
110, 189, 215, 492, 588
342, 449
Estate, concealment of, from assessment, penalty for
real, not to be accepted for taxes
Estates, insolvent, settlement of
intestate, settlement of
Excise, abatement of
collecting of
•
committee to agree with retailers for
levying of ..... 109, 130, 189, 215, 253, 490, 530, 566, 582, 592, 605, 666
payment of, to be proved
• •
postmasters exempted from
Executions by former courts to be valid
manner of levying of
marshals authorized to levy
resistance against, penalty for
suspension of
time of granting
674, 706
341
562
23, 794
30, 31, 104
22
18
91, 254
704
878
INDEX.
Page.
Exeter combination
7745
Expedition against Nova Scotia .. 366, 369, 371, 373, 374, 377-379, 401, 409-411
414, 415, 418, 420-422, 424, 427-430, 432
434-437, 439, 440, 453, 462, 464, 473, 480
Expenses of members of the general assembly
of officials
• •
Exportation of grain allowed
prohibited
Exports, duties on .......
entries of
exemptions from
Expulsion, liberty of, to churches
Fairs, appointment of, power of
Falsehood, penalty for
Fares of certain persons on ferries
Fast days, churches allowed to observe
proclamations for
•
Fees, account of, to be transmitted
exorbitant, penalty for
for appeals
for marriages
former, continued
•
of court of admiralty
of marshals
of sealers of leather
of surveyors of vessels
of wine coopers
of witnesses
regulation of
tables of
•
Felony, penalty for
Fences, breaking down of, penalty for
burning of, penalty for
common, in Exeter
construction of
regulation of
Ferries, establishment of
fares of certain persons on
Fines, collection of, manner of
marshals authorized to collect
•
on alienations, heriots, etc., prohibited
payable to the crown
payment of, manner of
remission of
•
reservation of, to the crown
return of, to be made
Fire-ships
Fires, prevention of
•
setting of, in woods, penalty for
Firkins, size of, regulation of
Fish, inspectors of
•
packing of, regulation of
Fishing, free, in certain waters
Fishermen, regulation of
Five Nations to be English subjects
Fleet, organization of
Flying army
Foreigners, Christian, protection of
liberties of
Forests, burning of, regulation of
Forgery, penalty for
•
69, 793, 799
759
135
122
806
809
513, 628, 809
764
54, 153, 233, 507, 619
20, 61, 67, 679, 792, 798
42
764
43, 308, 325, 353, 416, 427, 490, 498
161, 238, 626
600
38
558
559
131
22, 30, 250
689
114
138
703
161, 238, 253, 512, 626
79, 107, 250, 546, 596-600, 819, 821
·
•
16, 17, 794, 797
20
20, 62, 68, 795, 799
741
741, 742
200, 535, 557, 743
580, 672
42
30, 31
29
753
56, 73, 158, 236, 510, 793
31
150, 159, 230, 237, 511, 616, 625
510, 624
250
439
111
21, 739
208
207
197, 207
753
207
242
415
296
762
762
21, 739
19
194
Form, judgments not to be reversed for defect of
not vital in certain legal documents
Fornication, penalty for
Fortifications, appropriations to coast towns for
authority to dismantle
•
72, 702, 754, 802, 862
16, 60, 66, 678, 795, 797
346, 463
53, 151, 230, 506, 616
INDEX.
879
Page.
53, 151, 230, 242, 506, 512, 616, 628, 633
476, 559, 572, 697, 698
Fortifications, authority to erect
construction and repair of
Fowling, free, in certain waters
Freedom of speech
Freemen admitted
·
753
753, 759
•
363, 377-394, 396-398, 402-404, 406-409, 439, 455, 456
459, 461, 466, 468-471
qualifications of
378
25, 355, 658
oath of
492
French, arms and ammunition not to be supplied to, without license…….. 288
exclusion of, from frontier towns
expedition against ... 366, 369, 371, 373, 374, 377-379, 401, 409-411, 414
415, 418, 420-422, 424, 427-430, 432, 434-437
439, 440, 453, 462, 464, 473, 480
prisoners, regulation of
regulation of
French Protestants, admission of
417
493
121
relief of
Frontier towns
133, 136
362
defense of
376, 404, 405, 409, 412, 413, 416, 422, 465, 482
French excluded from
492
Gambling, penalty for
21, 569
Garrisons, dismissed
establishment and maintenance of
reduced
relieved
443, 444, 449
87, 284, 289, 291, 308, 356
441, 476, 481-483, 559, 698
444, 448, 483
•
Gates, breaking down of, penalty for
General assembly, adjournment of, power of
appeals to
from council prohibited
clerks of, power to appoint
convening of, agreement for
authority for
declaration of
489
20
759
755
•
513, 629
57
273
6, 50, 112, 503, 614
dissolution of, power of
275
•
51, 504, 615, 759
members of, election of .. 37, 63, 70, 510, 623, 758, 759, 793
expenses of
fares of, on ferries
misconduct of
names of
oaths of
·
69, 793, 799
42
754
517, 545,.565, 572, 573, 575, 577
578, 582, 585, 594, 595, 605, 636-638
qualifications of
salaries of
to be summoned
New Hampshire
•
prorogation of, power of
to be called a general court
to impose oaths
•
to interpret Body of Liberties
to revise Body of Liberties
to send public agents
to view public accounts
General court, assembly to be called .....
Gentlemen not to be punished by whipping
Government, acceptance of
continuation of
establishment of, in New Hampshire
form of, in New Hampshire, 1689
proclaimed
surrender of
Governor, see also President.
absence of .
appropriations to
authorized to issue orders
deputy, appointment of, power of
•
503, 510, 614
658, 758
510, 533, 623
332
482
51, 504, 615
349
752
765
765
760
625
349
757
279, 281
275
772, 780
260
336
271
160
•
64, 70, 91, 511, 801
477
54
880
INDEX.
Governor, deputy, election of
election of
entertainment of
lieutenant, appointment of
appropriation to
oath of
•
salary and perquisites of
succession to office of
to have deciding vote
to hold no other office
Grain, exportation of, allowed
prohibited
Grants, town, confirmation of
•
Page.
353
353
708
507
511
160, 238
3, 4, 49, 95, 96, 147, 227, 235, 502, 509, 613
54, 154, 233, 507, 620
760
512, 626
135
122
693
481, 494
33
Guard-ship
Guardians, age for choosing
Guns, see Artillery.
Hampshire county, associates for, appointed
327
•
elected
406
soldiers impressed in, taxes abated to.
477
Harbors, see also Ports.
obstruction of
33
surveying of
166, 512, 628
121
•
321
604
753
574, 601, 741
600
692, 740
24
Harvard College, regulations of
Headquarters, military, established
Hemp, raising of
Heriots, fines on, prohibited
Highways, laying out of
protection of
repairing of
Hogsheads, see Casks.
Horses, branding of
regulation of
shipping of, regulation of
Hospital, establishment of
►
•
House of Representatives, rules of, 1699
Idiots, conveyances by, may be legalized
protection of, in suits
Idolatry, penalty for
Immigrants, protection of
Imports, duties on, see Impost.
entries of
Impost, abatement of
collecting of
levying of
rebate of
•
23, 24, 201, 574, 587
534
435
669, 670
753
757
12, 762
762
513, 529, 628, 809
113
110, 116, 188, 215, 248, 492
109, 111, 127, 184, 187, 188, 215, 245, 253, 490, 496, 527
566, 577, 582, 592, 605, 666, 674, 706, 808
Impressment, exemption from
of seamen
of ships
of soldiers
of supplies
power of, to messengers to Albany.
• •
Imprisonment forbidden in certain cases
limited in certain cases
Indentures of servants, transfer of
530
374
324, 627
412, 418, 422, 424
297, 318, 371, 378
401
316
32
704
761
288
320
310
Indians, arms and ammunition not to be supplied to, without license..
arms pawned by, to be collected
certain, allowed to remain in Concord
commission to treat with
conversion of
excluded from towns
cruelty to, suppression of
friendly, declaration to
•
288, 301, 313, 467, 468
165, 241, 514, 630
165, 241, 514, 570, 630, 861
305
302
employment of, for military purposes
•
•
88, 298, 301, 315
353, 433, 437
308
payment of
INDEX.
881
Indians, friendly, regulation of
gifts to
killing of, penalty for
labor of, sale of
purchase of land from
pursuit of
sale of liquor to, penalty for
to be English subjects
to trade with the English
trade with ...
Inferior court, appeals from
appeals to
associates for, choice of
chancery, power of, vested in
establishment of
jurisdiction of
justices of, oath of
terms of
Inhabitant, town, definition of
only, to plant in Exeter
Inheritance by children
by widows
Inns, see Public houses.
Inquests, authority for
•
Insane persons, conveyances by, may be legalized
protection of, in suits
Insolvent estates, settlement of
Inspectors of fish
Instructions to Samuel Allen
to Sir Edmund Andros
to Earl of Bellomont
to commissioners
to Edward Cranfield
Interest, legal rate of
Internal revenue, see Excise.
Intestate estates, settlement of
•
share of daughter in
share of oldest son in
Page.
300, 370, 373, 494, 698
352
165, 241, 514, 570, 630, 861
116
163, 204, 240, 741
356, 401, 448
117
242
241
110, 112, 163, 241, 252, 739
663, 704
662
757
665
663
663
665
663
36
742
761
761
758
753
757
567, 683, 860, 862
207
508
155
621
436
56
754
566, 860, 862
761
761
21
Intoxication, definition of
penalty for
regulation of
Inventories for taxes
Jail, see Prison.
Journal, council, to be transmitted
Judges, appointment of, power of
appointments of
defamation of, penalty for
displacing of
•
disqualified to sit
•
empowered to establish rules
misconduct of
•
21, 61, 67, 677, 792, 798
627
27, 38, 39, 184, 449, 524
160, 238, 512, 626
149, 229, 505, 509, 615
126
19
161, 238, 512, 626
31
193, 543, 703
754
oath of
salary of
665
252
to order amendments
Judgments by former courts to be valid
confession of
execution of
•
resistance against, penalty for
reversal of, on matter of form, prohibited
Jurisdiction of Massachusetts over New Hampshire prohibited
of the crown over property of subjects
over New Hampshire assumed
Jurors allowed to consult bystanders
194
23, 794
34, 72, 803, 804
252, 704
18
194
2, 5
57
371
•
760
challenge of
755
choice of
32, 63, 70, 106, 124, 134, 657, 658, 757, 793, 801, 819
default of, penalty for
658
59
882
INDEX.
Jurors, fares of, on ferries
qualifications of
Jury, service on, regulation of
trial by
Justice, administration of
Justices of the peace, appeals from
appointed
displacing of
oaths of
powers of
Kidnapping, penalty for
Page.
42
165, 194, 241, 658
757
25, 194, 755
60, 66, 752, 792, 797
72, 662, 802, 805, 815
372
161, 238, 512, 626
108, 505, 510
72, 109, 194, 558, 662, 686, 690, 796, 802
805, 815, 861
14, 763
208
Kilderkins, size of, regulation of
King, see Crown.
King's Province, or Narragansett country, excepted from certain or-
ders
title to
Land, grants of
Labor of an Indian, sale of
purchase of, from Indians
Land titles
confirmation of
determined how
116, 825
164
116
473
163, 204, 240, 741
7,55
23, 118
23
45
reserved to king
Landmarks, destruction of, penalty for
Lands, common, charges of
trespass on, penalty for
public, disposal of, power of
Language, English, to be used in court
Larceny, penalty for
Law, martial, power to execute
Law suits, limitation of
Laws, distribution of
duration of
former, confirmed
continued
of England, publications of
power to make
printing of
recording of
•
re-enactment of
revision of
•
style of enacting
·
to be in force in Connecticut
to be in force unless disallowed
•
20, 62, 68, 593, 795, 799
739
684
153, 159, 237, 619
702
16, 17, 61, 67, 678, 794, 797
transmission of, for confirmation or disallowance
Lawyers, see Attorneys.
53, 151, 230, 616
534
556
56, 511, 625
28, 157, 236, 742
249, 294
714
50, 148, 227, 503, 614
135, 446, 668
668
57, 511, 625
120, 135, 246
158, 236, 511
211
6, 158, 236
•
•
51, 148, 157, 160
227, 236, 238, 504, 510, 512, 604, 614, 623, 626
Leather, sealers of, fees of
689
powers and duties of
688
penalty for neglect of duty
689
sealing of
workers of, regulation of
Legal tender, commodities to be
Legislature, see General Assembly.
Letters, carrying of, regulation of
Libel, penalty for
Liberties, Body of, suits allowed under
Liberty of conscience
to be considered as law
to be interpreted by the general court
to be revised by the general court
to receive sacraments
Licenses, granting of
Lieutenant-governor, see also Deputy governor.
688
687
453
561, 568
20, 679
765
765
765
765
5, 53, 98, 154, 161, 239, 510, 624
85
.. 106, 110, 136, 817
INDEX.
883
Page.
507
Lieutenant-governor, appointment of
appropriation to
salary and perquisites of
Liquors, distillers of, regulation of
duties on, see Impost.
importation of, regulation of
retailers of
committee to agree with
sale of, licenses for
•
to Indians and negroes, penalty for
to servants and children, penalty for
seizure of, in certain cases
Loan, public,
Lord's day, violation of, penalty for
Lumber, see also Boards.
trade, regulations for
Lying, penalty for
•
Mackerel, protection of
Mail, see also Post.
carrying of, regulation of
Maine, commission for government of
committee on eastern affairs
deserters sent to
men from, list of, to be taken
soldiers sent to
soldiers withdrawn from
town committees in, approved
Manslaughter, penalty for
Map to be transmitted
•
511
160, 238
129
127, 527
136, 357, 474, 739
342, 449
106, 110, 251, 531, 817
117
36
588
311, 319, 321, 330, 410, 451, 497
17, 62, 68, 564, 672, 791, 798
Mariners, idling in public houses by, penalty for
impressment of
navy, trial of
pay of
regulation of
Markets, appointment of, power of
Marriages, authority to perform
commissioners for, appointment of
comfirmation of
fees for
publication of
returns of
•
Marshal-general, appropriation to
salary of
Marshals, appointment of
fees of
powers of
•
Martial law, power to execute
Masonian title
•
83
20, 61, 67, 679, 792, 798
251
561, 568
277, 296
283
317
314
293, 294, 356
342, 453
312
763
160, 239
569
324, 627
232, 618
327, 440
80, 280, 571, 691
54, 153, 233, 507, 619
26, 109, 558, 861
345, 365, 459
154, 233
558
26, 558, 861
106, 558, 602, 817, 861
358
485, 494
118
22, 30, 250
22, 29-31
53, 151, 230, 616
7, 8, 55, 87, 91, 122, 135, 788
Massachusetts, jurisdiction of, over New Hampshire prohibited
New Hampshire letter to, 1680
trade with
Measures and weights, regulation of
sealers of
Meat, packing of, regulation of
•
Meeting-houses, building and repairing of
town, authorized
Meetings, religious, allowed
Merchants, encouragement of
disturbance in, penalty for
prohibited
Middlesex county, pensions in
•
records to be delivered
scout ordered in
Military laws, printing of
Military commissions, authority to issue
•
•
2, 5
41
46, 83
202, 531
203
197, 207
561
764
218, 526
758
81, 220
628
465
357, 454
482
4
135
884
INDEX.
•
Page.
Military officers, appointment and nomination of 124, 278, 288, 291, 293
295, 297, 305, 316-323, 326, 329-331, 334, 350, 365, 369, 372, 373
378, 401, 404, 405, 410, 414-416, 422, 423, 430, 432, 434, 445
conference of
continued
dismissal of
299
287, 303
329
pay of.... 339, 395, 402, 403, 429, 443, 444, 455, 465, 476, 485
suspension of
to have commissions
Military service, limit of
•
Militia, establishment and regulation of
inspection of
161, 238, 508
328, 379, 427
752
4, 52, 97, 150, 162, 221, 230
239, 283, 292, 305, 309, 325, 362, 368, 374, 395, 404, 405
409, 412, 413, 423, 434, 438, 484, 506, 512, 537, 616, 627
Millers, rates of ....
Ministers, authority of, to perform marriages
contempt of, penalty for
support of
•
•
464
740
109, 558, 861
18, 62, 68, 792, 799
69, 115, 125, 560, 791, 793, 800, 805, 825, 861
•
to administer the sacraments
Minors, conveyances by, may be legalized
Mint, establishment of
Moderators, duties and powers of
Money, see also Revenue.
foreign, valuation of
grants of, style of
paper, form of
issue of
85
753
113
758, 760
65, 70, 82, 172, 197, 249, 801, 806
511, 624
456
public, expenditure of
457, 460, 474
54, 56, 148, 159, 228, 237, 511, 618, 625, 761
289.
•
public loan
•
transfer of
raising of, see Taxes.
value of
•
Monopolies, suppression of
Mortgages, recording of
•
Murder, of Indians and negroes, penalty for
penalty for
Muster-masters, appointment of
Mutiny, suppression of
311, 319, 321, 330, 410, 451, 497
Narragansett Country or King's Province, title to
Naturalization
·
511, 625
164, 240, 513, 628, 753
682
165, 241, 514, 570, 630, 861
excepted from certain orders
•
Naval officers, appointment of, power of
appointments of
salary of
succession of
suspension of, power of
to have commissions
trial of
Negligence, contributory
Negroes, conversion of
cruelty to, suppression of
killing of, penalty for
sale of liquor to, penalty for
New Hampshire, assembly called in
courts in
13, 763
421
151, 231, 617
164
116, 825
120-122
231, 617
311, 395, 428, 439
439
232, 618
232, 618
379
231, 618
754
165, 241, 514, 630
165, 241, 514, 570, 630
165, 241, 514, 570, 630, 861
117
482
476
government, form of, 1689
260
royal provincial, establishment of
772
governments of, 1679-1699
.780
•
jurisdiction of Massachusetts over, prohibited
2,5
jurisdiction over, assumed
371
letter to Massachusetts, 1680
officers, civil, in
41
372
military, in
372
petition of inhabitants of
261
?
records of
132-134
seal of
3, 51, 148, 228, 238, 504, 632, 633
INDEX.
885
New Hampshire, soldiers withdrawn from
taxes assessed in
timber in, cutting of
unsettled state of
Page.
453
425
135
843
without provincial government, 1689-90
847
•
178, 255, 395, 633
34, 71, 755, 802, 804
441
447
New York, assistance to
Non-suit
Notaries, appointment of
Nova Scotia, captives in
•
expedition against .. 366, 369, 371, 373, 374, 377-379, 401, 409-411
414, 415, 418, 420-422, 424, 427-430, 432
434-437, 439, 440, 453, 462, 464, 473, 480
739
Oak trees, felling of, penalty for
Oath, administration of, manner of
authority to administer
general court alone to impose
of allegiance
of attorneys
of freemen
•
of governor and councillors
of judges
of justices of the peace
•
556, 559, 704
504, 510, 615
752
5, 51, 81, 95, 149, 162, 579
123
378
3, 4, 49, 95, 96, 147, 227, 235, 502, 509
510, 613, 621
665
108, 505, 510
503, 510, 614
624
512, 626
758
764
of members of the general assembly
of public officers
Office, public, execution of, by deputy
Officers, civil, see also Officers, provincial, and public.
church censure not to depose
churches allowed to discipline
court, appointment of, power of
names of
customs, appointment of, power of
•
•
51, 149, 229, 505, 509, 615
108, 821, 823
54, 153, 507, 619
military, appointment and nomination of 124, 278, 288, 291, 293
295, 297, 305, 316-323, 326, 329-331, 334, 350, 365, 372, 373
378, 401, 404, 405, 410, 414-416, 422, 423, 430, 432, 434, 445
conference of
•
continued
dismissal of
299
287, 303
329
pay of .. 339, 395, 402, 403, 429, 443, 444, 455, 465, 476, 485
suspension of
to have commissions
naval, appointment of, power of
appointments of
salary of
succession of
suspension of, power of
to have commissions
trial of
•
presiding, powers and duties of
provincial, see also Officers, civil, and public.
commissions for, to be issued
continued
election of
expenses of
names of
salaries of
town, authority to elect
continued
election of
powers of
161, 238, 508
328, 379, 427
231, 617
311, 395, 428, 439
439
232, 618
232, 618
379
231, 618
758, 760
245
100, 244
353, 759
759
92, 93, 143, 144, 271, 287, 310, 344, 372, 400
441, 472, 496, 517, 545, 565, 572, 575, 577
581, 582, 584, 593-595, 604, 635, 636
445, 480, 485, 494, 697-699
286
100, 245, 249
32, 63, 70, 115, 218, 425, 526, 527, 793
public, see also Officers, civil, and provincial.
account of, to be transmitted
appointment of, power of
bribery of, penalty for
220
161, 238, 626
51, 149, 229, 505, 509, 615, 619
20
886
INDEX.
+
Officers, public, oaths of ...
qualifications of
Ordination, privilege of, allowed to churches
Ordnance, see Artillery.
Orphans, protection of
Page.
624
157, 236, 509
suspension or displacing of
161, 238, 512, 626
763
761
527
253
561
197, 207
357, 359-361
Overseers of the poor, election of
Oyer and terminer, special commission of
Packages, carrying of, regulation of
Packing of meat and fish, regulation of
Pardons granted
power to grant
•
Parents, cursing of, by children, penalty for
severity of, to children
Parishes, establishment of
Patents allowed..
•
Peace, disturbance of, penalty for
•
justices of the, see Justices of the peace.
Peddlers, suppression of
Pemaquid, Me., annexation of
Pensions, committees on
protection of
granted
Perjury, penalty for
Personal rights, protection of
Pilots, procuring of
150, 230, 505, 616
14
761
487
753
19, 679
214
166, 171
306
465
480
14, 680, 763, 862
162, 239, 624, 751, 752
Pier, appropriation for
292
424
Pirates, accessories to
76, 196, 634, 635, 655
goods of, reward for discovery of
656
securing of
657
pardoned
357, 359-361
suppression of
74, 165, 173, 179, 195, 240, 253, 283, 286, 312, 653
trial of
Pits, uncovered, penalty for leaving
Planting in Exeter restricted
Pleas, liberty of
•
written, allowed
Plymouth colony, assistance asked from
634, 654, 655
739
742
758, 817
755
438
embargo desired in
Poll tax of soldiers abated
Polygamy, penalty for
Poor, overseers of, election of
425
343, 477
676
527
support of
Postage, rates of
Postriders, appointments of
Powder, see Ammunition.
relief of
Poor-houses, see Alms-houses, Work-houses.
Ports of entry, appointment of, power of
appointments of
Post, see also Mail.
from Boston to Rhode Island
Post office, establishment of
•
Post officials, neglect of duty by, penalty for.
packages carried by, with exceptions
Postmasters, appointments of
•
exempted from excise
Powder money, assessment and collection of ..... 110, 529, 566, 605, 666, 674
701, 706, 809
payment of, exemptions from, 125, 566, 583, 592, 674, 701, 809
36, 111, 112, 165, 220, 241, 254, 514, 630
54, 153, 233, 249, 507, 619
126, 246, 249
431
561
568, 576, 580
562
561
562
284
562
405
President, see also Governor.
appropriation to
authorized to try certain cases
power of, to vote
salary of
succession to the office of
113
815
36
111
6, 98
INDEX.
887
Page
758, 760
Presiding officers, powers and duties of
Prices of commodities .. 29, 39, 40, 47, 64, 70, 89, 138, 186, 254, 355, 445, 447
475, 477, 554, 555, 574, 587, 675, 694, 800, 801
in West Hampshire county
Printing without license forbidden
Prison, construction of
establishment of
Prison-keeper, appointment of
Prisoners for debt, regulation of
French, regulation of
in Nova Scotia
of war, disposal of
pardon of
recovery of, reward for
to be tried at the next court
Privateers, see also Pirates.
aiding of, penalty for
commissioned
suppression of
Probate of wills, manner of
registers of, appointments of
Proclamations for fast days
for thanksgiving days
475
166, 241, 247, 514, 630
•
668, 698
114, 576, 590
294
22
417
447
52, 151, 230, 616
357, 359-361
448
757
76
461
74, 653
105, 206, 815
57, 124, 248
43, 308, 325, 353, 416, 427, 490, 498
42, 254, 338; 461, 485, 668, 669
Profanity, see also Blasphemy.
penalty for
regulation of
Property abroad not taxable
•
concealment of, from assessment, penalty for
jurisdiction of the crown over
taken for public use
Protest, liberty of
relief of
Protestants, French, admission of
liberty of conscience to
Provincial officers, see also Civil and Public officers.
commissions for, to be issued
continued
17, 61, 67, 677, 792, 798
627
753
557
57
752
760
121
133, 136
5
245
100, 244
353, 759
759
election of
expenses of
names of
92, 93, 143, 144, 271, 287, 310, 344, 372, 400
441, 472, 496, 517, 545, 565, 572, 575, 577
581, 582, 584, 593-595, 604, 635, 636
445, 480, 485, 494, 697-699
Province accounts, assembly to view
salaries of
examination of
to collect rates
Public houses, licenses for
Provost marshal, appointment of
number of
reduction of
privilege of
regulation of
625
442
113
90
106, 251, 817
589, 590
454
357, 368, 411, 426, 429, 454, 462, 489
•
576
153, 159, 232, 237
512, 626
161, 238, 626
51, 149, 229, 505, 509, 615, 619
Public lands, disposal of, power of
Public office, execution of, by deputy
Public officers, account of, to be transmitted
appointment of, power of
bribery of, penalty for
oaths of
qualifications of
•
suspension or displacing of
Public records, defacing of, penalty for
•
embezzlement of, penalty for
falsification of, penalty for
inventory of
open to inspection
security of
transfer of, to Boston
20
624
157, 236, 509
161, 238, 512, 626
19
19
19
255
757
588, 590
251
888
INDEX.
1
Public revenue, see also Money, Taxes.
account of, to be transmitted
impairment of
settlement of
Public service, exemption from
Page.
159, 237
159, 511, 626
175
752
property taken for
required only by law
•
Public waters
752
752
753
Punishment, capital, time of
to be imposed only on testimony of witnesses
to be referred to the crown
757
757
52
corporal
cruel, prohibited
62, 68, 757, 761, 795, 799
757
Quakers, relief of, from certain rates
Quarantine against smallpox
251, 252
466
Quorum of council
3, 50, 95, 147, 156, 227, 235, 502, 509, 613, 622
Quotas of certain towns abated
Rape, penalty for
Rates, see Taxes.
•
Real estate not to be accepted for taxes
Rebellion, penalty for
Recommendation, liberty of, to churches
Records, court
of Essex county to be delivered
of Middlesex county to be delivered
of the province of New Hampshire
public, defacing of, penalty for
embezzlement of, penalty for
falsification of, penalty for
inventory of
•
open to inspection
security of
transfer of, to Boston
Registers of deeds, appointments of
fees of
437, 439
15
497
12, 763
764
759
•
334
357, 454
132-134
19
·
19
19
255
757
588, 590
251
57, 248
682
qualifications of
682
Registers of probate, appointments of
57, 124, 248
5, 53, 98, 154, 161, 239, 510, 624
Religious meetings allowed
764
755
Religion, liberty of conscience in
Replevin allowed
Representatives to the general assembly, see Assembly, general, members of.
Reprieves, granting of, power of
Revenue, internal, see Excise.
public, see also Money, Taxes.
account of, to be transmitted ..
impairment of
settlement of
Review of actions
Rhode Island, annexation of
•
assistance asked from
embargo desired in
post to
Rights, personal, protection of
Rivers, obstruction of .
Rope-makers, see Cordwainers.
Royal African Company, protection of
Rules of court, judges impowered to make
of council
of the house of representatives, 1699
Sabbath, violation of, penalty for
Sacraments, liberty to receive
ministers to administer
Sailors, idling in public houses by, penalty for
impressment of
52, 150, 230, 506, 616
159, 237
159, 511, 626
175
35, 755
112, 167, 168
428, 431
425
431
162, 239, 624, 751, 752
33
•
164, 240, 513, 629
193, 543, 703
8
669, 670
17, 62, 68, 564, 672, 791, 798
85
85
569
324, 627
INDEX.
889
Sailors, navy, trial of
pay of
•
regulation of
Salary of judges
Page.
232, 618
327, 440
80, 280, 571, 691
252
of military officers ..339, 395, 402, 403, 429, 443, 444, 455, 465, 476, 485
of naval officers
of representatives
of the lieutenant-governor
of the marshal-general
of the president
of the secretary
regulation of
Salt, inspection of
•
439
510, 533, 623
160, 238
485, 494
111
445, -697-699
161, 238, 512, 626
200
561
527
115, 561, 825
561
105, 817
299, 301, 304, 322, 404, 405, 440,
18, 62, 68,
465, 482
792, 799
759
Schoolhouses, building and repairing of
Schoolmasters, appointment of
support of
•
to be provided, penalty for neglect
Scire facias, writs of
Scouting parties ...
Scriptures, contempt of, penalty for
to overrule custom
Seal of the province
Sealers of leather, fees of
3, 51, 148, 228, 238, 504, 632, 633
neglect of duty by, penalty for
powers and duties of
Sealers of weights and measures
Seamen, idling in public houses by, penalty for
impressment of
navy, trial of
pay of
regulation of
Seaports, French excluded from
Secretary, salary of
Sedition, penalty for
Selectmen, election of
power of
•
Sentences, remission of, power of
Servants, care of
cruelty to
•
•
faithfulness of, to be rewarded
idling in public houses by, penalty for
indentures of, transfer of
killing of, penalty for
liberties of
•
maiming of, penalty for
negligence of, penalty for
runaway, protection of
sale of liquor to, penalty for
Service, military, limit of
public, exemption from
•
property taken for
required only by law
justice of the peace may act in absence of
Sheriffs, assistance to
Ships, see Vessels.
tanners not to be
•
Shoemakers, regulation of
Silence allowed in court on conscientious grounds
Slander, see also Defamation, Lying.
penalty for
Slavery prohibited
Slaves, cruelty to, suppression of
rights of
•
Smallpox
Sodomy, see Buggery.
Soldiers, see also Militia, Troopers, Volunteers.
assignment of, to stations
689
689
688
203
569
324, 627
232, 618
327, 440
80, 280, 571, 691
492
445, 697-699
740
63, 793
760
52
37, 762
165, 241, 514, 570, 761, 861
762
569
761
•
570, 861
761
570, 762, 861
762
761
36
752
752
752
752
685
686
688
687
758
20, 679, 742
762
165, 241, 514, 570, 630
762
354, 466
. 323, 413, 441, 448
890
INDEX.
Soldiers, commission to fit out
discharge of
•
families of, relief of
fares of, on ferries..
impressment of
not excused from watches
pay of
debentures for
poll tax of, abated
relief of
Page.
311, 369, 371, 377
332, 333, 441, 443, 444, 448, 449
432, 443, 473
42
297, 318, 371, 378
395
295, 339
340, 346, 347, 443, 457, 458
raising and detachment of .... 299, 314, 395, 404, 405, 409,
343, 477
412, 413
sent to Maine
423, 433, 434, 436, 438, 574, 604
422
293, 294, 356
supplies for
277, 278, 283, 286, 322, 327, 328, 345, 346, 354, 369
transfer of
withdrawal of
wounded and sick, assistance to
401, 420, 442, 576
329
277, 331-333, 342, 453
Son, oldest, inheritance of, in intestate estate
Speech, freedom of
Spoils, inventory of, to be taken
Staves, cullers of, appointment and duties of
size of, regulation of
Stealing, see Felony, Larceny, Burglary.
Stocks, building of
Storehouses, public, establishment of
Strangers, liberties of
•
protection of, in suits
regulations respecting
taxation of
Substitutes, hiring of
Succession of naval officers
to the office of governor
to the office of president
Suffolk county court continued
pensions in
•
Sugar, duties on
Suits, see Actions.
•
•
Summonses, clerks authorized to issue
councillors authorized to issue
form of
•
•
justices of the peace authorized to issue
nature of
non-appearance in answer to, penalty for
service of
Sunday, violation of, penalty for
Superior court, appeals from
appeals to
chancery, power of, vested in
establishment of
jurisdiction of
•
justices of, oath of,
terms of
•
486, 578
761
753, 759
464
209
209
165, 241, 514, 630
163, 239, 513, 628
762
757
37
187
417, 435
232, 618
54, 154, 233, 507, 620
6, 98
432
465
113
33, 703
5, 33
703
796
34, 64, 72, 754, 803, 806
35, 703
33, 64, 72, 754, 803, 806
17, 62, 68, 564, 672, 791, 798
664, 705, 815
193, 663, 704, 815
665
663, 815
663, 815
665
663, 815
Supplies for soldiers 277, 278, 283, 286, 322, 327, 328, 345, 346, 354, 369, 401
··
impressed, to be restored
impressment of
420, 442, 576
453
401
Supreme court, appeals to
Sureties for bail
Surgeons, appointment of
Surveyors of vessels
Surveys of harbors
Swine, regulation of
•
Swearing, see Profanity.
•
Tanners not to be shoemakers or curriers
regulation of
•
542, 544
34, 71, 802
430
114, 823
166, 512, 628
202, 739, 741
687
687
INDEX.
891
Tar, sale of, regulation of
Taverns, see Public houses.
Tax lists, revision of
Taxation, concealment of estate from, penalty for
of strangers
Taxes, abatement of, to soldiers
to towns
..
•
Page.
200
363
557
187
343, 477
486
apportionment of 366, 367, 377, 563, 574, 584, 586, 591, 603, 660, 667
675, 694
assessment of
511, 624
28, 39, 40, 47, 64, 69, 70, 86, 184, 246, 253, 335, 337
367, 425, 433, 450, 463, 467, 487, 489, 510, 527, 554, 563, 566, 573
577, 578, 583, 585, 591, 603, 659, 667, 675, 693, 706, 793, 800, 805
assessment of, style of
authority to impose, 6, 53, 70, 98, 148, 158, 228, 237, 510, 527, 561, 793
collection of .. 25, 29, 63, 69, 83, 89, 90, 116, 117, 123, 186, 246, 355, 358
475, 478, 479, 484, 488, 493-495, 527, 554, 555, 559, 793, 799, 825
constables to collect, penalty for failure 25, 29, 63, 69, 116, 186, 355
479, 484, 555, 559, 793, 799, 861
158, 228, 237
former, continued
inventories for
•
of troopers not abated
provost marshal to collect
real estate not to be accepted for
refusal or neglect to pay, penalty for
town's authority to levy
towns called to account for
valuation for
27, 38, 39, 184, 449, 524
358
90
497
29, 559, 861
115
352
26, 38, 57, 185, 325, 449, 524
764
Thanksgiving days, churches allowed to celebrate
proclamations for
Timber, see also Trees.
cutting of, in New Hampshire
Time, waste of, penalty for
Titles,, land, confirmation of
determined how
reserved to the King
Tobacco, duties on
•
42, 254, 338, 461, 485, 668, 669
135
569
23, 118
23
45
113, 127
127
757
659
116
312
739
684
693
36
742
importation of, regulation of
Tonnage, tax on, see Powder money.
Torture prohibited except in capital cases
Town clerk, choice of
Town committees continued
•
in Maine approved
Town commons, charges of
trespass on, penalty for
Town grants, confirmation of
Town inhabitants, definition of
•
only, to plant in Exeter
Town meetings authorized
disturbance in, penalty for
prohibited
Town officers, authority to elect
continued
election of
powers of
Towns authorized to maintain ministers
bounds of, establishment of
218, 526
758
81, 220
286
100, 245, 249
32, 63, 70, 115, 218, 425, 526, 527, 793
certain, called to account for taxes
coast, appropriations to
establishment of
•
French excluded from certain
frontier
220
560
115, 571, 572, 574, 695, 707, 825
352
346, 463
489
492
362
defense of
376, 404, 405, 409, 412, 413, 416, 422, 465, 482
Indians excluded from
305
prudential affairs of
planting in, restricted
powers of
•
quotas of, abated
742
115, 560, 757-760
526
437, 439
892
INDEX.
Towns, rates of
taxes of, abated
titles of, confirmed
•
to be provided with ammunition
Trade, encouragement of
lumber, regulations for
regulation of
to Africa
with Indians
with Massachusetts
Treason, penalty for
•
Treasurer, accounts of
Treaties, observance of
Trees, see also Timber.
boundary, cutting of, penalty for
cutting of, without owner's permission, penalty for
oak, felling of, penalty for
offensive, felling of
Trespass on town commons, penalty for
penalty for
Trials, see also Actions.
Page.
366, 367
486
23
341, 526
164, 240, 513
83
169, 513, 631
164, 240, 513, 629
110, 112, 163, 241, 252, 739
46, 83
12, 740, 763
590
164, 240, 243, 513, 629
593
592
739
739
684
592
authority for
15
councillors authorized to hold
17, 22, 98, 104
counsel, unpaid, allowed in
755
documents in, technical form of, not to be vital 72, 702, 754, 802, 862
jury
25, 194, 755
justices of the peace authorized to hold
72, 194
manner of, choice of
755
of admiralty cases
75
pleas and answers, written, allowed in
755
record of
•
regulation of
review of
silence allowed in, on conscientious grounds
to take place at the next court
two, for the same offence, prohibited
Troopers, see also Militia, Volunteers, Soldiers.
taxes of, not to be abated
to serve as foot soldiers
Troops, see Soldiers.
•
759
702
705, 862
758
757
757
358
436
Usury
Valuation for taxes
of foreign coin
of vessels
Verdicts, special, allowed
Vessels, entry of
·
fleet of, to be organized
impressed, to be paid for
impressment of
stealing of, penalty for
surveyors of
valuation of
violating embargo
wrecked, assistance to
•
•
Veto, power of
Vice, suppression of
Vital records, see Births, Marriages, Burials.
Volunteers, encouragement to
raising of
Voters, see Freemen.
Voting not compulsory
War, convention to consult on
declaration of, to be published
declarations of, forbidden
754
26, 38, 57, 185, 325, 449, 524
65, 70, 82, 172, 197, 249, 801, 806
40
755
116, 120
415
480
412, 418, 422, 424
16, 61, 67, 794, 798
114, 823
40
425
762
51, 504, 614
5, 53, 97, 153, 161, 239, 512, 619
297, 351, 373, 421, 448
296, 298, 415, 420, 427
760
320
339
167, 243, 514, 631
INDEX.
893
War, prisoners of, disposal of
Warrants, marshals authorized to serve
Watching, soldiers not excused from
Waters, public
•
Weights and measures, regulation of
sealers of
Weirs, setting of, in creeks
West Hampshire county, prices in
•
scout ordered in
Whipping, regulation of
Widows, inheritance by
Wills, making of, power of
Wine cooper, fees of
probate of, manner of
Witchcraft, penalty for
Witnesses, see also Summonses.
fees of
Wolves, bounty on
Women, liberties of
married, conveyances by, may be legalized
Page.
52, 151, 230, 616
22
395
753
202, 531
203
740
475
482
757
761
753
105, 206, 815
138
13, 763
703
28, 204, 544
1
761
753
761
21, 739
165, 241, 514, 630
174
114
664
104, 194, 236, 247, 815
105, 817
not subject to corporal punishment by husband.
Woods, burning of, regulation of
Work-houses, see also Almshouses.
establishment of
Wreckage, crown's claim to
Writs, authority to grant
issue of
nature of
of scire facias, when granted
service of
104, 247, 658, 815
1
INDEX OF NAMES OF PERSONS,
PLACES, ETC.
Page.
Page.
Abbe, Samuel
384
Amesbury, Mass... 352, 362, 410, 444
Abbott, George
469
459, 843
John
469
Amsden, Isaac
393
Adams, Abraham
408
Andover, Mass., 352, 362, 405, 410, 413
Charles
John
15, 264
468, 469, 843
397, 404
Andrew, Daniel
377, 384
Samuel
•
Addington,
461
Joseph
382
737
Samuel
388
Thomas
382
•
312, 441, 448
Isaac, 255, 256, 271-273, 276, 279-281
286-314, 317-328, 330-333, 337-340
342-354, 357-361, 363-392, 394-428
430-438, 440-452, 454-460, 463-472
480, 493, 496, 498
Ailesbury, Lord
787
Albany, N. Y., 255, 315, 316, 327, 342
352, 395, 396, 413, 456, 485, 609
144, 156, 235, 830
424, 426, 430, 440, 447
Albro, John
Alden, John
Alderton point
Andrews, Elisha
John
Thomas
440
392, 423
Andros, Sir Edmund ..92-94, 101, 141
143-151, 154, 155, 158, 167-169, 171-
176, 178, 179, 181-183, 190, 195, 197
200, 202, 204, 206-208, 210, 218, 225-
228, 230, 231, 233, 234, 236, 244, 259
267-270, 272, 273, 278-280, 282, 288
290, 343, 345, 462, 477, 518, 559, 607
810, 827, 829-832, 841, 847-850, 852
452
375
Aldis, Daniel
John
Alexander, John
Joseph
•
Nathaniel
Allard, Ebneker
Allen, see Allyn.
396
•
396
Appledore
403
Appleton, John
265
Major
855, 857
520
123, 140
421, 436
Samuel
403
.276, 279, 400, 472, 496
Alford, Benjamin
•
378, 394, 414
Ardell,
609
William
409
262
Arnold, Richard
• •
144, 156, 235, 830
Bazoon
Benjamin
Charles
Daniel
Doctor
Edward
Jeremy
(
John
William
•
472
423
Ash, Thomas
264
391
Ashley, Thomas
141
•
265
108, 821
Ashurst, Sir Henry, 338, 500, 651, 652
141
Ass brook
263
Atkins, Patience
391
Thomas
694, 700, 784
695
708
394
391, 406, 773
Samuel, 74, 269, 270, 499-504, 507, 508
515-517, 521-523, 545, 565, 572, 575
577, 581, 584, 585, 593, 594, 604, 606
608-612, 620, 633, 638, 642, 643, 649-
651, 661, 662, 783-785, 855, 857, 859
Thomas
William
Allis, John
Atkinson, Theodore, 582, 584, 585, 594
595, 604, 605, 609, 636, 638, 698
Atwood, Philip
Ault, John
699, 708
380
15
860
Austin, Thomas
Avery, Robert
·
15, 263
396
499, 860
William
396
391
Ayer, John
271-273, 340, 411, 414
407
473, 492
235, 830
Ayers, John
Mark
Nathaniel
378, 394
265
265, 671, 701
Allyn, see Allen.
John .144, 145, 172, 182, 214, 218
894
INDEX.
895
Page.
Page.
Bachiler, see Batchelor.
•
Nathaniel
Nathaniel, Jr.
Bacon, Jacob
•
Bailey or Bayley, Isaac
•
John
Joseph
Joshua'
Bean, Daniel
262
14, 266
John
263
266
Samuel
263
385
Beard, Joseph
15
407
•
Beck, Henry
747
380
Thomas
265
407
Bedortha, Joseph
455
•
391
Samuel
455
Orlando
459
Belcher, Andrew .. 271, 273, 313, 316
Theophilus
Baker, Edward
470
327, 330, 342, 369, 411, 414, 451, 492
471
•
Captain
James
John
392
Jeremiah
.265
John
418
394
448
Thomas
Baldwin, John
Ball, John
Jonathan
Nathaniel
Peter
Ballantine, John
Ballard, Jarvis
470
Belknap, Joseph
388
381
455
382
378, 394, 406
Bellomont, Richard, Earl of, 270, 500
515, 520, 522, 606-617, 619, 621, 632-
635, 638-643, 651, 659-661, 667-669
671, 697, 698, 700, 783-785, 857, 859
264
418
Bennett, Nicholas
397
Berkeley, Earl of
John
Nathaniel
Samuel
Bancroft, Thomas, Jr.
•
Banton, William
Barbadoes
398
Bernard, Thomas
470
Berry, John
860
265
866, 868
317
266
257, 487
Berthelet, Thomas, 716-719, 724, 725
322
282
Berwick, Me.
82, 84
Berwick-on-Tweed, Eng.
728-730
340, 843
169, 170
368
Barber, Samuel
Barefoote, Walter, 43, 48, 49, 74, 77
78, 85, 86, 88-90, 108, 132, 788
Barker, C., 8, 56, 99, 155, 718-720, 725
Beverly, Mass., 256, 309, 314, 346, 362
Bickford, John
•
412, 423
15, 264
731, 732, 734
Thomas
Bigelow, John
264
•
389
James
455
John
469
Samuel
Biggs, Thomas
390, 398
743
Barlow, George
745
Bill, John
718, 733-735
Barnard, John
•
Thomas
Thomas, Sr.
Barnes, John
Nathaniel
Richard
459
Joseph
397
423, 464
•
Billerica, Mass.
345, 346, 388, 423
459
439, 843
393
Billings, Ebenezer
392
462
•
Nathaniel
381
393
Bird, James
392
Thomas
265, 697
Thomas
392
Barnstable, Mass.
191, 212
Biscoe, John
389
Barrett, John
393
Bishop, Edward
•
336
Jonathan
381
Bixby, Joseph
382
Barron, John
Barstow, Michael
Bartlett, Robert
Barton, John
389
Black, John
392
389
Blackman, John
392
•
314
Blackwell, John
118, 137, 827
430
Blagdon, James
•
517
Baskett,
735-737
Samuel
265
Bass, Jeremiah
829
•
Blaisdell, Henry
459
•
John, Jr.
404
Blake, John
108
Bassett, William
470
William, Jr.
470
Blathwayt, William, 112, 113, 519, 520
574, 610, 611, 651, 783, 785, 863
Batchellor, see Bachiler.
Bligh, Samuel
•
471
David
472
Bliss, John
•
455
Ebenezer
448
Nathaniel
455
John
472
Samuel, Jr.
455
Nathaniel
• •
573, 575
Samuel, 3d
455
Bateman, Eleazer
Bates, John
Bath, Eng.
•
Baxter, Jervis
397
Blodgett, Samuel
390
363
Blood, Josiah
381
519
Robert
381
144, 235, 830
Simon
381
Nicholas
485
Blower, Pigam
378
Bayard, Nicholas
•
144, 235, 830
Blunt, William
469
Bayley, see Bailey.
Boardman, sée Bordman.
Beaman, Noah
392
•
Bolston, Captain
91
896
INDEX.
Bond, Grimstone
John
Nathaniel
Page.
397
389
389
Page.
Bristol, R. I. (New Bristol), 247, 298
Broadbent, Joshua. 132-134, 140, 307
Brockholst, Anthony 144, 235, 830
Brockhurst, Major
274
•
William, 266, 271, 273, 367, 377, 398
446, 452, 465
380
394
• •
Bordman, William
Bosset, Joseph
Boston, Mass. 93, 95, 102, 104, 106
110-112, 116, 120, 122, 126, 132, 134
139-141, 144, 176, 182, 186, 191, 192
197, 200, 202, 204, 206-208, 210, 214
216, 218, 221, 225, 244, 247-251, 254
256-258, 269, 272, 274-276, 281, 282
285, 290-292, 294, 298, 299, 304-307
311, 313, 314, 317, 318, 320, 321, 324
328, 332, 335, 336, 339, 346, 348, 356
358, 362, 365, 374, 377, 378, 386, 390
393-397, 399, 400, 407, 411, 412, 419-
421, 423, 426, 431, 434-436, 447, 448
454, 455, 461, 463, 466, 467, 469, 473
490, 497, 499, 517, 545, 562, 565, 568
572, 575, 577, 580, 581, 584, 593, 605
609, 610, 640, 668, 697, 708, 744, 776
781, 783-785, 811, 815, 817, 843, 849
851, 852, 854, 855
Bromfield, Edward, 311, 312, 318, 328
364, 378, 401, 420
13
378
Bromhall, George
Bronsdon, Robert
Brookline, Mass. (Muddy River), 141
•
Broughton, Thomas
Brown, Abraham
Benjamin
Captain
Cornelius
Ephraim
George
John
Nathaniel
Thomas
William
William, Jr.
Brush, George
Buck, Eleazer
142, 423
417
391
585
315, 413
398, 471
391
263
14, 471
391, 440
404
134, 271-273, 345, 495
143, 173, 235, 829
390
361
Buckley, see Bulkeley.
14
483
472
Major
113
747
Richard
106, 139
Bowen, Henry
384
Bucknam, Joses
379
Bowker, John
466
William
379
Bowles, John
Bowyer,
293, 345, 348
719
Bugby, John
387
Bulkeley, see Buckley.
Boxford, Mass.
Boyle,
362, 382, 439, 440
Edward
382
Brackett, Anthony
866, 868
13, 265, 312
Peter, 93, 95, 100, 143, 156, 235, 789
Boulter, Nathaniel
Boutwell, John
Bowden, William
829
Brattle, Thomas
William
Breck, John
Breed, Allen, 3d
•
398
291, 404, 434, 437
448, 523
340, 397, 441
..
Bradford, William, 143, 156, 235, 830
Bradford, Mass. 362, 404, 405, 410
416
Bradstreet, Dualey, 93, 95, 100, 144
271, 273, 465, 466, 468
Simon, 93, 95, 100, 144, 155, 268, 270-
273, 276, 279, 281, 327, 400, 472, 496
Brady, Allen
Braintree, Mass.
849, 851
Bullard, Nathaniel
Bullivant, Doctor
Bumstead, Jeremiah
Bunker, James
John
Burden, Thomas
Burke, Henry
Burnap, John
Bull, Captain
John
484
466, 467
396
Bullgar, Richard
746
•
285
394
15, 701
264
379
.
13
472
Joseph
472
394
Robert
472
392
Thomas
472
470
Burnham, Jeremiah
264
•
John
Joseph
470
Robert
15, 264
470, 471
Samuel
265
Timothy
470
Burrill, John
398, 471
Brewer, Crispus
3.98
John, Jr.
398, 471
Brewster, John
265.
John, 2d
470
Sergeant
13
Joseph
398
Brickley, Richard
405
Burroughs, Francis
307, 458
Bridger, John
604
Burt, John
455
Bridges, John
469
Jonathan, Jr.
455
Brigham, John
393
Nathaniel
455
Samuel
393
Buss, John
264
Thomas
393
Nathaniel
•
381
Bright, Nathaniel
389
•
Buswell, Isaac
391
Brinsmead, William
466
Butler, Captain
378
Briscoe, Joseph
397
Peter
418, 422
Bristol, R. I., 191, 192, 212, 216, 248
Butt, Richard
•
256
Butterfield, Nathaniel
392
363
•
INDEX.
897
Buttrick, John
Buxton, John
Call, John
Callender, Ellis
Cambridge, Eng.
Philip, Jr.
Page.
305
386
Cheney, Thomas
Chesley, Philip
•
330, 423, 487
397
722
Cambridge, Mass., 103, 121, 140, 191
Thomas
Cheswick, see Kesick.
Chevalle, John
Child, Richard
Richard, Jr.
Cholmondeley, Viscount
Page.
387
264
15
15, 264, 582
264
389, 390
390
192, 214, 247, 291, 301, 325, 357, 375
385, 421, 436, 448, 484, 487-489, 781
•
813
Christy, Samuel
Cambridge Village, Mass.
291
Church, Benjamin
Canada river
Caleb
411
Canmond, Abel
John
747
866, 868
394
298, 333
380
15, 263
Canney, Joseph
15, 263
Church island
•
Canney's creek
696
Clanshar, John
Canning, Thomas
747
Clapp, Captain
Canterbury, Archbishop of, 516, 620
Joan
Cape Ann
Peter
126
Cape Cod
430
Roger
Cape Porpoise
Samuel
117
Carey, Nathaniel
487
Clarendon, Lord
Carney, James
141
Clark or Clarke,
Carr, James
Governor
391
521
470
141
461
409
258, 461
392, 473
781, 787
234
851
•
Carter, Richard
Thomas
15
John, 13, 400, 423, 424, 427, 428, 430
422, 428
Carteret, Philip
829
Carthew, John
Jonathan
Nathaniel
•
440-452
262
394
143, 156, 235, 830
Casco, Me., 86, 140, 321, 322, 324, 332
333, 354, 356, 424, 443, 453, 843
Samuel
265
Thaddeus
312
Casco bay
258, 774
Thomas
363
Casey, Edward
Walter
265
144, 156, 235, 830
Cass, Joseph
Samuel
Castle island
Cate, Edward
John
William
Cates, Jarvis
William
266
327, 378, 403, 406, 409
•
845
William, Jr.
403
•
176, 256, 292, 349
Cleasby, Ezekiel
378
265
Cleaveland, see Cleveland.
265
Clement or Clements, Abraham, 671
266
701
470
Job ...... 15, 49, 517, 545, 565, 582
Caxton,
715, 725, 726
Cleveland, Samuel
363
Cay, H. B.
736
Clifford, John
14
John
717, 721-723, 736, 737
John, Jr.
14
Cecil, Robert
863
Clifton, Matthew
403
Chadwell, Thomas
471
Clough, John
377, 391
Chadwick, James
379
John, Jr.
•
391
Chaffin, Josiah
William
368
397
Chamberlain, Jacob
387
378
•
John
380
Richard, 49, 57-59, 64-66, 72, 77, 80
82, 83, 85, 88-91, 108, 124, 132-134
652, 785, 786, 790, 803, 804, 807, 809
823, 855
Champernowne, Francis ..93, 95, 100
144, 746, 747, 775
Champney, Samuel
Chandler, John
Thomas
Chapin, Japhet
Charles river
421, 442
469
413, 416, 469
456
370, 489, 773
Charlestown, Mass., 103, 117, 126, 139
141, 142, 191, 192, 214, 250, 251, 257
258, 291, 292, 305, 306, 314, 329-331
334, 353, 375, 376, 381, 383-385, 388
405, 421, 423, 426, 436, 437, 448, 451
487-489, 813
Checkley, Anthony
271, 287
Chelmsford, Mass., 119, 308, 314, 363
405, 410, 828
Clutterbuck, William
Cobbett, Thomas.. 261, 264, 372, 573
578, 843, 844
449
Coburn,
Cocheco (Dover) . 88, 297, 316, 697
849
Coffin, Peter, 15, 88, 108, 262, 509, 517
545, 565, 572, 575, 577, 582, 585, 594
595, 605, 609, 621, 636, 661, 699
Coggeshall, John .. 143, 156, 235, 830
Cohasset, Mass.
Coke, Lord,
Coker, Joseph
Colby, Thomas
Colcord, Edward
Samuel
454
717, 720, 721, 724
407
459
747
266
Cole, Abraham
Isaac
William
Coleman, John
845
262
743, 746
407
417, 421
470
398
•
William
Collins, Benjamn
Henry
898
INDEX.
Collins, Henry, Jr.
Joseph
Comes, John
Comfort, Samuel
Concord (Penacook)
Page.
Page.
470, 471
Curtis, John
383
398
Samuel
403
377
Curwin, see Corwin.
701
Cushing, Thomas
394
274, 288, 302
Cutler, John
257, 329, 331
117
Concord, Mass., 103, 119, 214, 291, 310
325, 365, 381, 382, 412, 421, 439, 449
488, 813, 828
Timothy
Cutt, John, 1-3, 9, 10, 13, 43, 45, 46, 59
266, 777-781, 787, 788, 853, 857
Coningsby, Lord
866, 868
Samuel
576
Connecticut Old Path
494
Cutting, Richard
389
Conney, John
141
Connibel, John
394
Dalton, Samuel
•
14
Converse, James, 318, 322, 324, 441, 445
Dam, John
15, 263, 747
448
James, Jr.
317
Cook or Cooke, Aaron
402, 406
John, Jr.
Thomas
15
Damon, Samuel
472
•
471
Aaron, Jr.,
327
Dane, Daniel
381
Doctor
350
Danforth,
357
Elisha,
271-273, 276, 279, 320, 338
348, 400, 450, 472, 496
Jonathan
345, 423, 435
Jonathan, Jr.
388
John
263
Noah
409
Thomas, 268, 271-273, 276, 279, 281-
285, 296, 320, 327, 356, 400, 468, 472
Stephen
385
496
Cooley, Benjamin
455
Daniell, Edward
263
Eliakim
455
Thomas
2, 3, 13, 49, 777, 778
Joseph
455
Dartmouth, Earl of
863
Cooper, Thomas
455
Davenport, Charles
392
Corell, Ephraim
470
Davis or Davies, Benjamin ..258, 378
Copenhagen, Denmark
519
394
Cornish, James
257
Captain
413
Corwin, George
423
James 264, 372, 594, 595, 605, 637
Jonathan, 367, 400, 471, 472, 477, 496
John
•
15, 264, 277, 323, 387
Cotter, Philip
.262
•
John, Jr.
264
Cotton,
719
Joseph
264
Benjamin
265
Moses
•
264
Isaac
455
Samuel
381
John
13, 264, 455, 748
Silvanus
258, 274, 312, 453
Seaborn
10, 14, 782
Simon
310, 381, 382, 416
William
13, 265, 637, 700
Thomas, 545, 553, 555, 560, 564-567
263
140
255
•
357
406
258
•
14
141
266, 746
Coues, Nicholas
Courser, John
Cowerd, John Herbert
William
Cowles, John
Cox, Daniel
Moses
Rowland
Cram, John
Cranfield, Edward, 1, 9, 10, 46, 48-52
54, 56, 58-60, 65, 66, 73, 74, 77, 87-
92, 137, 499, 518, 610, 746, 747, 781-
784, 788, 790, 791, 796, 801, 803, 804
807, 808, 853, 857
418, 422
Cratie, Captain
Craven, Lord
•
Crawford, see Graffort.
•
Mungo
Thomas
Crawley, Thomas
Cricke, Edward
Crisp, Richard
Cromwell, Joshua
Dawson, Henry
Day, Ralph
Thomas, Jr.
Timothy
Deane, Francis
Dearborn, Godfrey
•
Henry
Thomas
Dedham, Mass.
Deering, Henry
Denbow, Salathiel
Dennett, John
Dennis, Lawrence
Dennison, William
Derry, James
John
Deven, John
396, 451, 494
429
264
787
13, 266
480
122
387
509, 621
265
746
263
•
320
470
141
726, 727
594
406
15
402
404
406
480
545
John
697, 707, 747
Dive, Joseph
•
421
Currier, Thomas
459
Dodge, John, Jr.
408
Philip
Crosby, Joseph
Cross, Elisha
•
•
De Worde, Wynkyn
Dickinson, Nathaniel
Nehemiah
Samuel
·
Dimond, Thomas
572, 575, 577, 581, 582
Timothy
266
William
265
Dawes, Ambrose
323
397
396
455
398
469
14, 746
14
14, 266
INDEX.
899
Page.
Page.
Dodge, Richard
408
Duser, John
262
Dolbear, Andrew
415
Dutuffeau, Isaac Bertram
293
Dongan, Thomas, 88, 92, 141, 166, 171
Dyer, Edward
262
179, 182, 255, 258
Dorchester, James
455
Earle, Robert
139, 294
John
455
Eastman, Benjamin
391
Dorchester, Mass... 258, 291, 392, 423
John
394
448, 473
Nathaniel
391
Dorman, Thomas
383
Samuel
391
Doty, Thomas
141
Eastwick, Pheasant, 108, 118, 140, 697
Dover Neck
Dover, 2, 12, 24, 25, 37, 38, 48, 87, 136
259, 260, 372, 410, 517, 520, 545, 554
561, 563, 565, 573-575, 578, 582, 584-
586, 590, 591, 594, 595, 603, 605, 636
637, 640, 660, 667, 669, 675, 694, 696
699, 701, 744, 746, 748, 773, 774, 776
777, 843-846, 848, 849, 851-855
(Cocheco) .. 88, 297, 316, 697, 849
(Newichwannock) 321, 324, 326, 328
Dow, Henry, 14, 261, 545, 571, 593-595
609, 636-638, 662, 699, 700, 707, 708
Samuel
Jonas
Jonathan
Joseph
Joshua
William
823
Eaton,
448
John
472
472
471
391
471
472
Eddy, Samuel .
380
333, 700
773, 844
Edgerly, Thomas, 15, 261, 264, 843, 844
Edmonds, John
470
Samuel
398
Thomas
266
845, 846, 852, 854
Edwards, Doctor
478
582
John
408
Downes, Thomas
263
Joseph
409
Downing, William
394
Nathaniel
403
Dowse, Benjamin
387
Samuel
409
Nathaniel
Drake, Abraham
Ensign
Joseph
Nathaniel
Draper, James
Richard
Drew, John
Drury, Thomas
Duda, Daniel
Philip
423
Eldredge, Joseph
418, 422, 424
14, 266
Elkins, Eleazer
263
13
Gershom
14
470
Henry
745
266
Ellicott, Vines
258
387
Ellins, Anthony
13
394
Elliott, Captain
413
•
•
263, 265
495
264
•
262
Robert, 13, 27, 39, 73, 85, 88, 108, 139
261, 264, 509, 517, 545, 565, 572, 575
577, 582, 585, 593, 595, 605, 621, 636
638, 699, 843, 844, 854
Dudley,
707
Ellis, John
263
Richard
262
Elliston, George
263
451
394
133, 140
455
•
353, 429, 437
461
747
408
407
469
429
•
467
350, 370, 371, 452
397
15
392
15, 263
265
701
396
396
Billy
Christian
Joseph, 9, 48, 59, 77, 92-95, 100, 101
143-145, 155, 156, 163, 235, 240, 247
253, 258, 267-269, 309, 347, 518, 519
522, 607, 612, 635, 641-644, 649-652
667, 708, 711, 810, 827, 829, 855, 857-
860, 864
264
10, 14
262
Philip
Samuel
Stephen
Theophilus, 263, 565, 578, 595, 605
637, 638, 699
108, 262, 821
Elutheria
Ely, Joseph
Emerson, John
John, Jr.
Emery, Anthony
John
John, Jr.
Jonathan
Emmes, Benjamin
English, James
•
Epps, Daniel
Eustis, Joseph
Evans, John
Richard
Robert
•
Thomas
Duer, Nicholas
Dummer, Jeremiah
•
264
271, 273, 312
Richard
271, 273
Dunham, Nathaniel
380
Thomas
•
Dunn, William
361
Everdon, Aaron
Dunny, James
394
Everett, John
Dunstable, 119, 301, 304, 404, 410, 416
Samuel
Dunster, Thomas
Dunton, John
Durgin, William
450, 828
747
472
264
Durham (Oyster River), 345, 346, 372
526, 741, 843, 851
Exeter, 2, 12, 24, 37, 38, 48, 78, 259
260, 372, 410, 517, 520, 545, 554
563, 565, 572-575, 577, 578, 582, 584-
586,591, 594, 595, 603, 605, 636, 637
640, 645, 660, 667, 672, 675, 694-696,
701, 738-741, 743-745, 748, 773, 774
7
900
INDEX.
Page.
Page.
852-854
645, 672, 696
695
Exeter, 776, 777, 779, 843, 844, 846, 848
(Squamscott)
Exeter falls
Follett, Nicholas, 15, 261, 843, 844, 854
William
15
Folsom, Ephraim
263
John
262, 573, 575, 594
Exeter river
Eyre, see Ayer.
745
John, Jr.
14
Peter
14
737
Foot, John
459
Eyres, see Ayers.
Fort Ann
277
Fort hill
176, 256, 257
Fabes, John
13, 573
Fort Loyal
114
Fabin, George
265
•
Fort Pejepscot
277
John
266
Fort William and Mary, 606, 668, 697
Fairbanks, Jonathan
396
701, 707
Fairfield, William
408
Fosdick, Sargent
380
Fairfield, Conn.
212, 216
Foss, John .... 13, 15, 263, 265, 266
Falmouth, Me., 117, 139, 192, 350, 356
Foster, Andrew
469
Faques, William
727
Edward
455
Farley, Caleb
388
Eli
363
Farmington, Conn.
183
John, 271-273, 289, 311, 318, 328, 378
Farr, Benjamin
470
400, 401, 420, 474, 492, 843
Joseph
398
Joseph
388
Farrar, Thomas
398
Samuel
363
Thomas, Jr.
470
Standfast
·
392
Farrington, Matthew, Jr.
470
William
382
Theophilus
471
Fowler, Samuel
391
William
470
Thomas
459
Fauconberg, Lord
787
Fox, Eliphalet
381
•
Fay, John
393
Fox point
843
Fayerweather, John, 288, 348, 395, 399
Francis, Stephen
383
402, 428, 430, 443
Frary, Captain
446.
Fellows, Samuel, Jr.
391
Ferrers, George
717, 721, 729
Ferry, Charles
455
Theophilus
Simon
400, 465
French, Joseph
382
391
Fickett, Jean
262
Friend, James
408
Field,
734
Frissell, James
387
Darby
746
Frontenac, Count
•
612, 852, 855
John
Robert
William
406
Frost, Charles, 114, 139, 277, 341, 356.
404
448, 468, 483
266
Samuel
388
Zachariah
264
Frye, James
469
Fifield, Benjamin
14, 266, 594
Fryer, Joshua
264
William
14
Fisher, Amos
396
Daniel
396
Nathaniel, 13, 81, 85, 139, 261, 264
372, 509, 517, 545, 559, 565, 572, 575
577, 582, 585, 593, 595, 605, 621, 636
Fisk, David
John
Thomas
325, 446
389
Nathaniel, Jr.
108
Fuller, Benjamin
Thomas, Jr.
408
Edward
William
408
Jacob
Fitch, Jeremiah
397
John
Flagg, Eleazer
382
Thomas
Flanders, John
391
Thomas, Jr.
Philip
391
William
843, 844, 855
264
386
470
386
385, 396
396
386
14
Fletcher,
733
John
13, 265
Furber, William, 15, 264, 545, 565, 573
575, 578, 594, 595, 605, 747
Joseph
Joshua
Samuel
William
John
Joseph
Thomas
Joseph
•
391
William, Jr.
372, 517
363
363, 381
Gale, Benjamin ..
387
363
Gambling, Benjamin
387
Flint, George
472
Gardner or Gardiner, Andrew, 318
386
386
Peter
323, 324, 340, 423
387
386
Samuel,
108, 387, 465, 486, 823
Floyd, John
Fogg, Samuel
Follett, John
380, 413, 467
Garfield, Benjamin
380
Joseph
266
Garland, Peter
747
Gaultier, T.
389, 390, 495
389
747
730
INDEX.
901
389
Gay, John
Jonathan
Gayles, Mark
Page.
396
396
263
Gedney, Bartholomew, 93, 95, 100, 143
156, 235, 271-274, 345, 365, 368, 369
412, 421, 436, 452, 464, 468, 829
Genevy, John
Page.
695, 696
Great bay
Great Island (Newcastle), 85, 93, 103
124, 126, 372, 476, 545, 580, 609, 697
699, 700, 744, 779, 813, 845, 850
Green or Greene, Abraham
Bartholomew
Captain
845
640, 668
413
George, John
Gernsey, Henry
280
392
Gerrish,
Benjamin 284, 314, 334, 387, 421
John, 15, 108, 124, 261, 264, 372, 509
·
486
Henry, 14, 108, 261, 509, 517, 545
565, 572, 575, 577, 582, 585, 594, 595
605, 621, 636, 845, 846, 854
Isaac
391
Jacob, Jr.
487
585, 609, 636, 661, 699, 843, 844, 854
James
394
Richard
604
John, 108, 139, 144, 156, 235, 256, 271
Gibbons, Ambrose
741, 744
310, 380, 397, 484, 821, 830
Gibbs,
256
Nathaniel
369
Robert
387
Gidney, see Gedney.
Ruth
Samuel
484
•
379
•
Gilbert, Thomas
•
418, 424
Thomas
380
Gill, Samuel
391
William
317, 329
Gilman, Daniel
14
Greenland
746
Edward
James
14, 262
262
•
Greenleaf, Stephen
Stephen, Jr.
423
434
Jeremiah
263, 701
Gretwood, Thomas
385
John, 2, 3, 14, 49, 262, 263, 545, 555
Griffin, Richard
360
560, 564, 585, 777-779
Griggs, John
387
Moses
14, 262
Grise, Josiah
394
Moses, Jr.
262
Samuel
394
Samuel
263
Groton, Mass., 119, 304, 321, 322, 324
Glanfield, Peter
13
332, 404, 410, 828
Glidden, Charles
262
Grover, Lazarus
380
Goffe, John
Gloucester, Mass.
Gobel, Thomas
Goddard, Willy
Godfrey, Isaac
John
Godkin, Godfrey
Gold, John
Goldsmith, Zaccheus
•
126, 362, 398, 461
Simon
379
381
Thomas
380
389
Guild, Samuel
494
14, 266
Gunnison, Elisha
312
•
266
263
Habersfield,
470
448
Hadley, Mass.
142, 327, 402, 407
141
Hadlock, John
448
408
Hagar, Samuel
389
Goodale, Zachariah
•
Goodenow, Samuel
Goodman, John
Goose, Isaac
Gordon, Alexander
Nicholas
Gords, John
384
Hague, Holland
519
393
Haines, see Haynes.
402
Reuben
697
Gookin, Samuel, 108, 472, 488, 494, 821
Samuel
747
397
Thomas
386
262
Hale, see Heale.
262
John
437
385
Hall, John, 15, 264, 383, 407, 573, 575
Samuel
Gore, John
Samuel
Gorges, Ferdinando
384
387
387
•
.773, 774, 776
Robert
773
John, Jr.
Joseph
Kinsley
Kinsman
•
•
578, 582, 747
15
15
262, 573, 575, 605
14
Goss, Richard
265
Nathaniel, 263, 318, 320, 321, 323, 324
Gould, John
423
Nathan
459
Gove, Edward, 14, 27, 39, 118, 137, 261
Gowing, Nathaniel
468, 699
14, 27, 39, 264, 746
392
266, 372, 781, 845
Graffort, see Crawford.
Thomas
Grafton, Thomas
•
Graham, John
Graves, Samuel
Thomas
Greeley, Andrew
Philip
392
472
Hallett, George
397
Halsey, James
394
•
108, 509, 590
Ham, John
15, 263
264
William
13
143, 348
Hamburg, Germany
120
470
Hamilton, David
264, 590, 591, 699
470
Hammond, John
•
391
391
140
Lawrence, 108, 329, 330, 357, 454, 821
Nathaniel
385
Ralph
Richard
Samuel
902
INDEX.
Page.
389
Hemenway, John
Hammond, Thomas
Hampton, 2, 12, 24, 25, 37, 38, 48, 126
259, 260, 372, 425, 517, 520, 545, 554
563, 565, 571-575, 577, 578, 581, 582
584-586, 591, 594, 595, 603, 605, 636-
638, 640, 660, 667, 671, 675, 694-696
748, 773, 774, 776, 777, 782, 843, 845-
848, 852-854.
(Winnicowitt)
Henchman, Hezekiah
Major
Nathaniel
Thomas
Herle, William
Herrick, Joseph
Page.
387
397
421, 436, 439, 443
397
278, 295, 308, 350, 449
13
387
Herring, Daniel
389
774
Thomas
459
Harding, Richard
472
Higgins, Beriah
264
Harlett, John
265
Harley,
866, 868
Higginson, John
Hiland, William
289, 346, 462, 465
262
Harmon, John
455
Hill,
671
Harrington, Daniel
389
Joseph
389
Captain
Isaac
413
•
329, 379
Thomas
389
John
Harris, Richard
264
Jonathan
•
Hartford, Conn.
212
Nathaniel
15, 265
388
637, 699
Hartshorn, Benjamin
472
Ralph
388, 405
David
471
Hilliard, Timothy
14, 637
Joseph
472
Hills,
734
Timothy
471
Hilton,
696
Hartwell, John
381
Edward
14, 738, 739, 746
Samuel
382
•
John
262
Harvard College
225
•
Richard
645, 672
Harvey, Elizabeth
Thomas
Harwood, Nathaniel
Thomas
668
13
381
397
•
Hatch, John
Hatfield, Mass.
Hathorne, Ebenezer
264, 582
327, 406
470
John, 271, 273, 276, 279, 283-285, 400
Samuel
•
William
Hilton's point
261, 262, 739, 741
Hinckes, John, 73, 85, 88-90, 93, 95, 100
122, 124, 132, 134, 139, 143, 156, 235
500, 509, 515, 517, 545, 565, 584-587
589-593, 595, 605, 609, 621, 635, 636
638, 661, 668, 697, 699, 701, 829
Hinckley, Thomas 143, 156, 235, 830
291, 423, 454
262
696, 773
472, 477, 496
William
471
Hingham, Mass.
Haven, Moses
398
Hinkson, Robert
Richard
398
Hitchcock, John
Haverhill, Mass., 314, 321, 324, 352, 362
410, 440, 444
Hawkes, John
398
Moses
470
Hawkins, Robert
394
Thomas
312
William
718, 720-724, 735-737
Hawley, Joseph
•
108, 403, 408, 823
Hayden, Ebenezer
394
Hayes, John
•
264
Hayman, Samuel .. 334, 381, 411, 414
Hitchens, Daniel
Hobbs, Henry
Morris
•
Hog island
Hogsty cove
Holbrook, John
Holland, Josiah
Holmes, John
Joseph
Nathaniel
Sir Robert
14, 261, 266, 845
258, 374, 520
265
456
470
15
696
387
387
265
394
•
385, 387
174, 179-181
451
Holt,
866, 868
Haynes, see Haines.
George
141
Deacon
13
Matthias
13
Samuel
13
Henry
Samuel
Holton, Joseph
469
469
386
Hayward, John
381, 382
Joseph, Jr.
386
Nathaniel
380
Holyoke, John
108, 456, 823
Heard, see Hurd.
Heale, Israel
Healey, Nathaniel
Benjamin
Elisha
480
Hood, Richard
470, 471
385
Hook, Francis
86, 277
15
265
John
15, 747
Nathaniel
263
William
Hooper,
Elizabeth
John
391
430
Horn, Anthony
263
263
264
Samuel
263
William
15
Heath, Peleg
357
Hort, Joseph
470
William
387
Samuel
470
Hedges,
866, 868
Horton, see Hutton.
Helme, Christopher
746
Hosmer, Stephen
381
INDEX.
903
Hovey, Thomas
Page.
406 Indians:
How,
866, 868
Naticks
Howard, John
387
Oneidas
Page
494
179, 242
Howe, Eleazer
393
Onondaguas
179, 242
Isaac
384, 387, 393
Pequots
298
John
495
Peter Muckamagg
310
Samuel
Thomas
Howlett, Samuel
382
Ponkapaugs
494
393, 402
Senecas
.
88, 179, 242
383
Wonalanset
118-120, 827, 828
Hubbard, Daniel
407
Ingalls, John
470
John
•
349
Robert
470
Jonathan
381
Samuel
471
Richard
391
Ingersoll, Nathaniel
384
•
Huckins, James
15
Ingerson, George
312
Hudson,
278
Jonathan
470
Moses
•
470
Hull, Nathaniel
Hudson river
Huggins, Robert
Reuben
Thomas
Hull, Eng.
nnn
747
Ipswich, Mass., 103, 123, 126, 134, 140
191, 192, 214, 314, 362, 421, 423, 457
467, 489, 813
Isles of Shoals, 81, 116, 126, 501, 509
517, 520, 521, 545, 565, 573, 613, 621
264
13, 139
Ivory, Thomas
469
519
Jacklin, Samuel ..
Hull, Mass.
126, 346, 374, 375
Jackson, Abraham
Isaac
Hunt, Bartholomew
Humphrey, Hopestill
Hunking, John
Mark
Ephraim
Nehemiah
Samuel
392
Edward
•
392
John
•
•
13
Richard
13, 565, 570, 708, 775
Seabis
·
776
470, 477
397
385
385
13, 263
13
385
•
747
Thomas
13, 264, 266, 397
317, 423, 434, 464
Jacobs, John
139, 326
381
Jaffrey, George, 13, 572, 575-581, 636
382
Jamaica
82, 165, 241
Hunting, John
396
James, Richard
265
Huntoon, Philip
262
Jameson, David
343
Huntress, George
265
Jaques, Stephen
407
Hurd, see Heard.
Jeffreys, see Jaffrey.
Jacob
117
Jefts, Henry, Jr.
388
Hurst,
486
Jenkins, Sir Leoline, 58, 787, 790, 791
Husband,
734
Obediah
380
Huse, Edward
398
John
Hussey, Christopher
Joseph
..
2, 3, 777, 778
383, 517, 846
Stephen
Samuel
264
•
Jenks, John
471
470
397
Jenner, Captain
139
•
Robert
394
David
467
Hutchinson,
448
Jennings, Stephen
406
·
Ann
Eliakim
744
Jewett, Nehemiah, 410, 421, 422, 424
271, 273, 340, 492
431, 432-438, 452
Elisha, 134, 342, 371, 400, 401, 411
414, 421, 436, 442, 449, 451, 457, 472
Johnson, Cornet
470
Edmund
266
473, 496, 748
Humphrey
256
Francis
Joseph
Hutton, Richard
472
Isaac
117
386
John
13
408
Jonathan
393
•
Samuel
Hyde, Eleazer
•
John
William
Indians:
Cayougas
George
Hassanamiscocks
409
Samuel
466, 467, 471
385
Thomas
469
385
William, 271-273, 276, 279, 400, 429
385
Johnston, John
Jolliffe, John
469, 472
265
271, 273, 394, 397
179, 242
400, 467
116
Jones, Abel
409
494
James Spleen
310
Abraham
Benjamin
377
262
Kehomochicks
494
David
392
Little James
310
Francis
•
265
Maquas
179, 242, 301, 313, 327
George
263
Mohawks
88
Jenkin
263
Mohegans
298
John
381
904
INDEX.
Jones, Josiah
Stephen
William
Jordan, John
Page.
389
15, 264, 372
747
274, 335
Joscelyn, see Joslin.
Jose, Richard
582, 609, 637, 700
Jacob
Joslin,
Nathaniel
Richard
Joslin's Neck
695
393
Larkham, Thomas
Larkin, Thomas
•
• •
Larrabee, William
Laughlin, Thomas, Jr.
Lavers, George
Lawrence, David
Lawton, Christopher
Page.
744, 747
290, 304
263, 582
380
471
13
265
743, 746
266
Leach, James
13
695
Leadbetter, Henry
392
Judd, Roger
•
394
Lear, Tobias
13
Leathers, Edward
264
Keats, Richard
•
Keais, Samuel, 13, 266, 545, 585, 594
Keble, Joseph, 720, 721, 723, 734-736
Leavitt, John
266, 845
595, 605, 636
453
•
Moses, 14, 262, 565, 578, 605, 637
Nehemiah
Samuel, 14, 261, 263, 372, 517, 582
263
Kelly, Roger
Kendrick, John
Kennebec river
262
594, 595, 843, 844
385
Thomas
746
141, 773
Lee
843
Kennebunk, Me.
Kennett,
Kenniston, John
Kent, Edward
Joseph
·
257
Leeds, Duke of
783
430
Leeward islands
82
263
Legg, John
368
398
Samuel ..369, 378, 411, 414, 451, 458
264
Leighton, Thomas
697, 747
Kesick, Edward
265
Leonard, Benjamin
455
Henry
265
Joseph
455
Keyes, see Keais.
Thomas
257
Kidd, Captain
608
Lettou,
715, 726
Kilcup, Roger
397
Leverett,
707
Killington, Benjamin
389
John
121
Kimball, Ephraim
408
Lewis, Abraham
265
John
382, 389, 459
Isaac
397
Samuel
•
Kin, William
King, Daniel
John
John, Jr.
408
John
13, 266
263
John, Jr.
470
410, 464
Jotham
265
317, 318
Lieutenant
470
403
Peter
•
378
Philip
•
Thomas
13, 266
265, 471
Kingsbury, Eleazer
396
Lidgett, Charles
•
•
118, 257, 282, 827
Kingston
521, 696
Lienster, Lord
783
Kittery, Me.
126, 410
Light, John
266
Knight, Christopher
357
Lilly, Samuel
418, 472
John
405
Knollys, Hanserd
744, 747
Knott, Andrew
439
Knowles, John
14
Ladd, Nathaniel
262
Laham, Henry
Richard
Lake, Thomas
747
Lindsay, Eleazer
John
Lisbon, Portugal
Little harbor
(Pannaway)
Littlefield, Edmund
Livermore, John
•
470
398
•
•
610
744, 773
773
746
389
747
Locke, John
519
773
Matthew
519
Lamb, Daniel
455
Lockert, Major
274
Samuel
455
Lombard, David
455
•
Lamprey or Lampereel river, 695, 696
London, Eng., 113, 499, 500, 517, 519
-738, 843
Lamson, Joseph
380
545, 565, 572, 575, 577, 581, 584, 593
594, 641, 643, 647, 649, 651
Lancaster, see Langster.
Long, John
520, 604
Joseph
•
459
Lonsdale, Lord
783.
•
Lancaster, Mass., 119, 301, 304, 404, 410
Lord, Thomas
314
828, 843
Lothrop, Barnabas, 143, 156, 235, 830
Lander, Daniel
360
Louvé, M.
Lane, John
388
Love, John
•
William
266
Langdon, Daniel
369
Lovejoy, Joseph
William
Tobias
265, 372
Lovell, Splan
Langmaid, Henry
697
Lovett, Thomas
Langster, Henry
15, 263
Lowden, Richard
141
509, 621
469
469
264
14
•
487
INDEX.
905
Lucey, Thomas
Luery, John
Lux, William
Lyford, Francis
Lyman, John
Richard
Thomas
Page.
265
265
13
262
409
409
409
Page.
Mason, John, 385, 608, 744, 772-775,
•
778, 788
Joseph
398, 495, 775
Robert, 7, 8, 49, 55, 56, 73, 85, 87-91
93, 95, 100, 112, 119, 120, 132, 135
139, 143, 156, 235, 252, 253, 610, 611
775-778, 780-784, 786-790, 827-829
Robert Tufton
Lynde, Joseph, 271, 273, 284, 334, 352
357, 366, 367, 369, 442, 446, 448, 454
456, 460, 463-465, 474, 480, 489
Samuel
377
Simon
143, 173, 235, 257, 829
Lynn, Mass., 126, 362, 398, 423, 467, 470
Lyon, John
Peter
·
Massey, Samuel
Mather,
•
Increase
Wareham
Mathes, see Matthews.
499, 500
290
784, 810, 844
121, 183, 339, 450
403
471, 477
Matthews or Mathes, Benjamin,
15
387
264
392
Francis
746
Maverick, Elias
397
McCarthy, Charles
480
May, John
387
Macgregory, Major
274, 290
Maynard, John
393
Machlinia,
715, 726
Meader, John
•
15, 264
Madeira islands
140
John, Jr.
264
Madrid, Spain
629
Joseph
263
Malden, Mass., 142, 291, 379, 386, 423
Meadows, Philip
863
446
Medfield, Mass
368, 437, 451
Manby, Thomas
..
501, 720, 733, 734
Medford, Mass.
.292, 383, 423, 451
Manchester, Mass.
362
Mendon, Mass.
368, 437
Manley, William
394
Menotomy river
292
Mann, Michael.
140
•
Merriam, John
382
Manning, Captain
274
Nicholas
139, 307
Joseph
Samuel
O
470
382
Samuel
388
William
470
Mansfield, Andrew
470
Daniel
470
Joseph, Jr.
470, 471
Merrimack river, 2, 48, 49, 118, 119
164, 240, 308, 443, 449, 501, 509, 613
621, 773, 774, 776, 777, 788, 827
Maquoit, Me.
843
Messer, Edward
Marblehead, Mass., 126, 314, 346, 352
Metcalf, Michael
•
362, 368, 423
Thomas
263
396
494
March, John
432, 464, 483
Middlecot, Richard, 369, 378, 394, 411
Marden, John
265
Middleton, W.
725, 729, 730
Thomas
697
Milford, Conn.
216
Marion, John
14
Miller, John
455
Markham, Thomas
266
Marks, Joseph
483
Paul
Samuel
120, 121
455
Marlborough, Mass., 393, 404, 410, 416
William
409
466
Milton, Mass.
291, 410
Marsh, Daniel
402
Minard, James
381
Jonathan
402
Minot, George
•
392
Samuel
406
James
365
Marshall, Edward
379
John
392
John
140, 344, 388, 394
Mirick, John
•
455
Samuel
Marshe, T.
Marshfield, Josias
Samuel
Marston, Benjamin
381, 409, 467
724, 731
455
108, 823
314
Mixer, Isaac
389
Ephraim
535, 846
Isaac
14, 266
James
846
John
469
Monson, Richard
Montague, Peter
Moody, Daniel
Eleazer
Joshua
Moore, Ensign
Jacob
John
264
402
•
391
394
13, 379, 778, 782
14
317, 318, 322, 324, 332
470
Thomas
14
Jonathan
•
407
William
Martin, Richard
Thomas
Martyn, Richard, 2, 3, 10, 13, 49, 139
266, 517, 526, 527, 531, 533-536, 541
544, 545, 777-779, 844, 851, 855
Marvell, Andrew
Thomas
William
Moors, Samuel
Morgan, David
Jonathan
Richard, Jr.
Samuel
14, 845
258, 372
385
263, 372, 517, 843, 844
393
470
455
455
•
263
519
480, 486
906
INDEX.
Morgan, William
Morrill, Jacob
Page.
Page.
262
Newhall, Nathan, Jr.
470
391
•
Nathaniel
470
Moses
Morris,
459
Newichwannock (Dover), 321, 324, 326
430
328, 333, 700
Isaac
387
Newichwannock river
696
Richard
745
Newington
746, 843
Morton, Charles
Morse, Ezra
Obediah
Richard
Moses, Aaron
John
Moulton, Benjamin
396
Newport, R. I., 167, 191, 192, 212, 216
13, 265
247, 249
377
Newton, John
393
406
Joseph
•
466
265
Moses
393
13
266, 845
Henry
•
14, 846
John
14, 266, 372
Thomas
Newtown, Mass.
Nichols, James
John
517
489
471
394, 471
John, Jr.
266
Thomas
472
Joseph
14, 266, 565
Nicholson, Francis
•
143, 144, 830
Mountford, Henry
257
John
235
Muddy River, Mass.
(Brookline), 141
Nicolls, Richard
829
142, 423
Nightingale, William, Jr.
404
•
Mudge, John
Mudgett, Thomas
386
Noddle's island
374
391
Muzzey, Benjamin
329
Mystic bridge
446, 451
Mystic river
292
Norton,
Nathaniel
Northampton, Mass., 103, 191, 192, 317
318, 327, 403, 408, 813
Northey, Edward.. 644, 647, 650, 859
718, 733
368, 387, 423
Nanney, Robert
747
Noyes, Peter, Jr.
322
•
Nash, Jacob
470
Thomas
317, 318, 324
Natick, Mass., 302, 315, 320, 370, 371
Nudd, Thomas
14, 845
Naumkeag river
773, 775, 788
--
Neal or Neale, Jeremiah
• ·
108, 823
Nurse, Francis
Samuel
386
384
•
Samuel
265
Nute, James
15, 747
Thomas
561
James, Jr.
15
Walter
13, 265, 372, 744
Nutter, Anthony
15, 27, 39, 89
Needham, Daniel
Nicholas
Negus, Jabez
Nelson, John
470
739, 740, 743, 745
467
271-273
John
263
Oakes, Thomas, 348, 380, 400, 450, 472
496
Matthew
265
Oates, Richard
15
Neponset mill
370
Odiorne, John
13
Nevins, Thomas
264
Offley, Thomas
289
New Bristol, R. I., (Bristol) 247, 298
Oldham, Samuel
388
New Cambridge, Mass.
385
Oliver, Daniel
394
New Haven, Conn.
212, 216
James
394
New London, Conn.
212, 216
John
265
New Oxford, Mass
293
Nathaniel, 271-273, 369, 378, 394, 411
New Roxbury, Mass. (Wood-
414, 451, 492
stock)
451
Thomas
452
New York, N. Y., 48, 92, 370, 395, 608
Orchard, Robert
172
Newberry, Tryal
Walter
610, 611, 635, 779
386
144, 156, 235, 830
Osborne, William
386
Joseph
•
Newbury, Mass., 140, 257, 297, 300, 317
318, 362, 407, 408, 421, 423, 432, 434
459, 462, 467, 481
Newcastle, 73, 521, 545, 563, 565, 572-
575, 577, 578, 580-582, 584-586, 591
594, 595, 603-606, 636, 638, 640, 644
660, 667, 675, 694, 696, 744, 779
(Great Island), 85, 93, 103, 124, 126
372, 476, 545, 580, 609, 697, 699, 700
744, 779, 813, 845, 850
Newell, Jacob
John
Thomas
Newhall, John
•
•
Osgood, Captain
Christopher
John, Jr.
Timothy
William
Otis, see Oates.
Overton, Nathaniel
Owen, William
Oyster River (Durham)
Packer, Thomas
387
387, 487
Page,
Anna
379
470
398
Nathaniel
Christopher
Francis
372, 526, 741, 843, 851
264
111
258
266
14, 637
108, 388, 821
413, 423
455-459
469
469
391
429
716, 728
345, 346
INDEX.
907
Page.
Page.
John
Page, Nicholas
Paine, Philip
Samuel
Palmer, Christopher
Pannaway (Little harbor)
258
Perkins, Abraham
14
403
Ebenezer
845
404
Humphrey
266
845
Isaac
14
144, 235, 830
Jacob
845
773
Timothy
383
Paris, see Parris.
William
15, 262, 383
Parish, John
621
Perkis, Joseph
363
Parker, Abraham
363
Perley, John
440
Jacob
379
Perridge, see Pidge.
James
271, 273
Pettit, Thomas
743, 746
John
471
Petyt, T.
729
Parker, Nathaniel
471
Phelps, Edward
469
Thomas
Parkhurst, John
13
William
403
389
Philadelphia, Pa.
500
Parris, Samuel
•
384
Philbrick, Jonathan
266
Parsons, George
262
Thomas
266, 545
Jeffrey
398
Philbrook, John
265
John
398, 408
Thomas
14
Joseph, 311, 312, 318, 328,
401, 418, 420, 428, 458
364, 378
Philipse, Frederick
144, 235, 830
Phillips, Bridget
141
•
403
Eleazer
381
383
James
697, 707
388
257
392
384, 392
Peabody, Joseph
440
William
382
Samuel
Thomas
Partridge, John, 13, 265, 266, 580, 594
Samuel
327, 406, 452
William, 136, 265, 266, 499, 500, 515
585, 590, 593, 594, 600-604, 607-612
621, 633, 635, 637, 638, 642, 643, 649
652, 661, 667, 693, 696, 699, 700, 708
711, 784, 785, 859
698
108, 823
William, Jr.
Patrick, Samuel
Patterson, James
Paucatuck Neck
Payson, Ephraim
Samuel
•
•
John, 271, 273, 284, 295, 304, 350, 400
Major
Timothy
Walter
Phipps, Samuel
457, 472, 496, 747
421, 436
334, 378
386
421
Sir William, 267, 269, 270, 377-379,
400, 411, 414, 415, 420, 429, 462, 472
496, 508, 607, 784
Pickering, Danby
722, 723, 737
John, 13, 73, 134, 260, 261, 265, 372
373, 517, 545, 565-567, 572, 574, 575
577, 582, 584-586, 588-595, 600, 606
636, 638, 641, 744, 775, 783, 843, 844
846, 853-855
Peake, Jonathan
387
John, Jr.
•
Pearse, see Peirce.
Lieutenant
Benjamin
390
Pidge, John
Pease, Samuel
337
Pierce, see Pearse, Peirce.
Widow
369
Pike,
Peaslee, John
382
Joseph
266
486
396
15
408, 469
Peavey, Samuel
387
Peirce, see Pearse.
Daniel
•
John
Joseph
Robert, 271, 273, 276, 279, 400, 401
434, 441, 455, 468, 472, 496, 776, 846
271, 273, 459
390
Pineer, John
389
4
Pinkham, Nathaniel
Pejepscot, Me.
Pellet, Daniel
Thomas
112, 139, 164
382
Richard
Pipon, John
•
849
264
262
747
272, 282
382
Pemaquid, Me., 141, 166, 171, 177, 249
Pemberton, Benjamin
Thomas
286, 288, 306
397
430
274, 288, 302
Penhallow, Samuel, 266, 372, 605, 635
636, 652, 668, 669, 693, 696, 698-700
707, 708.
Penacook (Concord)
Penn,
•
Piscataqua (Portsmouth), 116, 134
139, 140, 177, 247, 298, 312, 405, 434
441, 448, 633, 847
Piscataqua river, 29, 39, 64, 70, 140
698, 744-746, 773, 775, 776, 850, 854
Pitman, Francis
John
264
•
265, 387
William
Plaisted, Elisha
265
265
865
Ichabod
445, 608
John, 265, 565, 572, 575, 577, 582-585
594, 595, 609, 636, 638, 661, 698, 699
603
Plummer, Silvanus
407
841
Plymouth, Eng.
772
266
Plymouth, Mass.
191, 192, 212
363, 387
Pollexfen, John
863
Penny, Henry, 517, 526, 527, 531, 533-
536, 541, 544, 584, 587-593, 595, 600-
Pepys, S.
Percival, James
Perham, John
908
INDEX.
Page.
Pomeroy, Medad
403, 406, 409
Pomfret, Lieutenant
15
William
747
Pond, Daniel
396
Ponkapaug
302, 315, 370, 371
Pope, Joseph
386
Popple, Alured
519
Edmund
519
Putnam, James
John
•
John, 2d
Jonathan
Page.
384
386
384
384
Pynchon, John, 93, 95, 100, 143, 156
235, 313, 327, 373, 406, 441, 456, 829
Pynson, Richard 715-717, 722, 724, 725
William, 518-520, 522, 644, 647, 856
William, Jr.
Port Royal, N. S., 257, 351, 371, 417
420, 421, 424, 429, 439, 447, 852
•
Porter, Hezekiah
Israel
John
Stephen
727, 728
519
Quabaug
141, 483
Quamphegon falls
696
Quenton, John
266
407
Quincy, Daniel
394
387
Edmund
271, 273, 297, 350, 452
407, 408
Major
421, 436, 437
469
125, 140
470
265
15, 264
•
470
265
265
Portsmouth, 2, 3, 9, 11, 12, 24, 25, 27
29, 37-43, 46, 48, 58, 60, 65, 66, 73
74, 78, 81, 103, 124, 132, 133, 191
192, 214, 216, 249, 252, 259, 260, 372
413, 420, 483, 517, 521, 542, 543, 545
554, 559, 561, 563, 565, 568, 572, 573
575-577, 580-582, 584-586, 589-591
593-595, 603, 605, 610, 635-637, 639
640, 642, 644, 653, 660, 662, 663, 667
668, 671, 675, 694, 696, 702, 703, 706
744, 748, 774-780, 784, 796, 797, 813
843-854
(Piscataqua), 116, 134, 139, 140, 177
247, 298, 312, 405, 434, 441, 448, 633
847
744, 778
(Strawberry Bank)
Potter, Judith
Radcliffe, Robert
Ramsdell, Aquilla
Rand, Francis
John
Robert, Jr.
Samuel
Thomas
•
Randall, James, 13, 565, 573, 575, 605
John
Samuel
Thomas
638, 699
470
480
470
Randolph, Edward, 58, 92, 93, 95, 99
100, 125, 139, 141, 143, 156, 190, 194
195, 197, 235, 246, 253, 255, 256, 776
778-781, 808, 828, 829
Rastall, John. 716, 727, 728, 734, 735
William, 718-720, 722, 723, 725, 728
Robert
381
470
Robert, Jr.
470
Pounds, Thomas
312
Povey, John
867, 869
Rawbone, George
731, 733
746
Powell, John
Rawlins, see Rollins.
262
Robert
262
Rawson, Edward .. 139, 142, 255, 776
Grindal
T.
437
730
Prentice, Captain
William
413
140, 392
James
385
Ray, see Rea.
Thomas
301, 302, 315, 320, 370
Raymond, Thomas
386
Prescott, James
William
572
309, 423
Jonathan
382, 487
Rea, Joshua, Jr.
386
Preston, Daniel
Read, see Reed.
392
•
Richard
Thomas
Price, John
Proctor, John
•
Prout, Ebenezer, 276, 280-347, 349-351
353, 354, 357-361, 363-369, 371-392
394, 396-399, 401-428, 464.
Robert
386
742, 746
Thomas
262
284, 368
394
Reading, Goodwife
141
•
394
!
Reading, Mass., 256, 322, 423, 446, 448
Redford, William, 570, 574, 576, 578-
471
581, 583, 584
Joseph
314, 378
Redington, Abraham
382
Timothy
282, 307, 443
Prynne,
719
Daniel
Thomas
•
383
•
.382
Pryor, Matthew
863
Redman, Eliz
729
Puddington, Robert
265
John
14, 565, 582, 585
Thomas
266
John, Jr.
845
Pulton, Ferdinando, 719-721, 723, 725
R.
728, 729
732-735
Rednap, Benjamin
470
Purchase, Oliver
367, 398
Thomas
112
Reed, see Read.
George
390
Purmort, Philemon
746
Rendall, see Randall.
Purrington, Robert
Putnam, Benjamin
Edward
13
Rhodes, Joseph
398
384
Josiah
398, 471
384
Samuel
470
INDEX.
909
Page.
Rice, Henry
495
Russ, John
Joshua
393
Matthew
495
Thomas
Timothy
393
Page.
469
Russell, James, 271-273, 279, 285, 315
316, 329, 334-337, 341, 342, 350, 367
375, 400, 442, 449, 461, 472, 496
381
John
407
Richards,
266
Robert
469
Daniel
266
John, 271-273, 276, 279, 284, 342, 367
Rust, Israel
Nathaniel
409
•
421, 457
371, 449, 452, 470, 496
Rye
843
Nathaniel
396
(Sandy Beach)
843
William
265
Richardson, John
390
Saco, Me.
315
Nathaniel
390
Stephen
390
Ricker, George
263
Maturin
Rider, Thomas
380, 389
Ring, Jarvis
Ritt, Walter
Rishworth, Edward
Rix, John
391
740, 746
469
472
Robbins, Nathaniel
388
•
Samuel
388
William
472
Salmon falls
Roberts, George
263
Hatevil
John
Joseph
264
•
15, 261, 264, 843, 844, 854
263
Sagadahock, Me.
St. Christopher's
St. Croix river, 144, 226, 234, 831, 842
St. Martin's in the Fields, Eng., 519
Salem, Mass., 103, 116, 126, 136, 139
191, 192, 214, 216, 247, 249, 256, 284
289, 312, 314, 317, 318, 346, 362, 368
384, 386, 387, 399, 410, 412, 423, 436
448, 462, 476, 486, 813
Salisbury, Mass., 126, 257, 362, 391, 421
440, 444, 695, 849
333, 843, 855
Şaltonstall, Major, 421, 436, 440, 444
Nathaniel, 93, 95, 100, 144, 271, 273
279, 400, 472, 496
277, 452
120
264
Sanborn, John
14, 266
Thomas
15, 263, 264, 747
Joseph
266
Robinson, David
263
Josiah
578
James
392
Mephibosheth
845
Jonathan
14
Nathaniel
266
Joseph
Samuel
469
Richard
266
392
William
14, 845, 846
Stephen
Roby, Henry
262
Sandy Beach (Rye)
843
14
Sanford, John
144, 156, 235, 830
Samuel
266
Sargent, John
380
Thomas
573, 575
Joseph
380
William
314
Peter, 271-273, 340, 378, 394, 411, 414
Rochester, Mass.
191
451
Rogers, John
Rollins, Ichabod
James
Samuel
Thomas
388
Thomas
459
Rolfe, Benjamin
349
Savage, Ephraim
423, 480
263
Henry
13
747
John
265
263
Thomas, 274, 277, 313, 316, 327, 377
263
394, 423, 485
Rome, Italy
519
Sawyer, Joshua
390
Romer, Colonel
609, 698, 699
Saybrook, Conn.
216
Root, Hezekiah
Jonathan
409
Scammon,
14
409
Richard
263
•
Samuel
Rosce (?), Roger
Rowe, Edward
Richard
Rowley, Mass.
Roxbury, Mass., 258, 291, 306, 309, 314
323, 368, 384, 387, 421, 429, 436, 473
406
William
263
264
Scarborough, Lieutenant
441
262
Schenectady, N. Y.
484, 843, 854
263
Scituate, Mass.
•
• •
116, 251, 252, 256
.126, 362, 467
Scobell,
Scott, John
D
720, 733, 734
384
Scottow, Joshua 125, 139, 277, 417
Royal, Isaac
Ruck, Samuel
Ruffhead, Owen
Ruggles, John, 2d
474, 635
Scribner, John
392
Searles, John
397
Seaver, John
722, 723, 737
387
Joshua
Seavey, John
.263
409
13
384
265
Samuel, 348, 385, 387, 446, 465, 473
474
Samuel, Jr.
421
Nathaniel
Samuel
Thomas
265
•
265
13
Rumney Marsh, Mass.
·
258, 466
Runnington, Charles
737
William
Sellick, Jonathan
•
•
13, 265, 585, 594, 595
257
910
INDEX.
Severance, Ephraim
Sewall, Captain
•
Samuel, 134, 377, 395, 400, 445, 446
451, 463, 466, 472, 473, 496-498
Stephen, 108, 334, 368, 387, 465, 823
Seward, Robert
746
Seymour, Edward
787
•
Shackford, William
15
Shaler, Michael
397
Shapleigh, Nicholas
773
Page.
391
Sinclair, John
•
486
John, Jr.
Sise, Henry
Skeed, James
•
Thomas, Jr.
Thomas
Skinner, Thomas
Sleeper, Aaron
Sloper, Sergeant
Small, Robert
Page.
262
263
264
263
397
380
266, 845
14
13
•
439
Shattuck, Philip
389
•
Smalley, James
•
381
William
389
Smart, Goodman
739
Shaw, Benjamin
14
Robert
14, 262
Joseph
Joshua
470
Robert, Jr.
262
14, 846
Smith, Asahel
396
Samuel
266
Bartholomew
•
747
Sheafe, Sampson, 340, 604-606, 635, 669
699, 700
Daniel
Edward
•
143, 156, 235, 830
14
Sheepscott
Thomas
Shedd, Daniel, Jr.
Sheldon, Isaac
Shepard, Jeremiah
388
Ensign
274
278, 283
Francis
472
· •
409
James
15, 264
403
•
429, 471
John
Solomon
381
John, 14, 266, 271, 273, 276, 279, 286
400, 448, 472, 496, 517, 573, 575, 594
595, 637, 669, 699, 845
391
John John
407
Sherburne,
775
John Philip
407
Henry
13, 265
Jonathan
389
John
265, 266
Joseph, 14, 15, 407, 517, 582, 605, 668
• •
Samuel 14, 261, 266, 372, 845, 852
Sergeant
13
Richard
845, 846
144, 173, 235, 391, 830
Sherlock, James
89, 90
Robert
14, 743, 746
Sherman, Abiah
380
Samuel
•
403, 472
Mary
257.
Samuel Chiliab
407
Edward
•
Shippen,
Ships, vessels, etc.:
Adventure
America
139
Samuel Philip
407
258, 365
Theophilus
William
263
398
140-
Smutty Nose island
520, 521
{
428
Benjamin
604
John
Hope
701
Snell, George
•
Somers, see Summers.
78, 264
265
John and Thomas
428
Somerset, Duke of
866, 868
Mary
424, 426, 440, 447, 494
Southwell, William
403
Prosperous
140
Sowter, John
266
Resolution
311-313, 324, 327, 363
Spaulding, Edward
363
Return
439
John
363
Robert
140
Sprague, John, 144, 235, 380, 386, 829
Rose
280
830
•
Six Friends
395, 429, 430, 439
John, Jr.
379
Speedwell
Swallow
Swan
Shipway, John
257
Jonathan
329, 379
439
Phineas
378, 380
418, 430
Richard
271, 273, 329, 331, 334
·
13, 264
Samuel
•
Short, Henry
Shortridge, Richard
•
Shove, Samuel
Shute, Samuel
421
Samuel, Jr.
•
13
Spring, Henry, Jr.
•
379
380
389
448
Springfield, Mass., 103, 182, 191, 193
Shrimpton, Samuel, 118, 143, 173, 235
271-273, 327, 371, 385, 387, 827, 829
Sibley, Samuel
455, 456, 484, 813
Squamscot (Exeter) 645, 672, 696
522, 652, 859, 860
Squamscot falls
745
384
Squamscot river
745
William
386
•
Squire, Barnard
264
•
Sicterdam, John
360
Joseph
394
•
Silsby, Jonathan
398
Simonds, see Symonds.
Philip
Stacey, Mark
397
262
•
Benjamin
390
Simeon
367
John
262
Stamford, Conn.
216
Simpson, John
117
•
Staniel, Anthony
14
Sinclair, James
263
•
Stanley, Samuel
383
•
INDEX.
911
Page.
Page.
Edward
Stanton, John
Timothy
Stanyan, Anthony
Starr, Augustine
•
Stearns, John
Stebbins, Benjamin
Edward
298 Symonds, Samuel ....
377, 382
387
Tabor, Samuel
394
•
740
Tarbell, John
384
•
739, 745
Tascott, William
264
747
Taylor,
669
388
Abraham
382
455
455
Anthony
Edward
14
278
Samuel
Thomas
Erasmus
455
James
451
•
455
John
266
Stevens, Daniel
140
John Smith
846
141
William
263
James
John
398
Tebbetts, Thomas
264
391
•
Thomas
Timothy
William
Tebly, George
265
264, 459
Teddar, Stephen
747
385
Tell, William
380
398
Temple, Abraham
381
Stileman, Elias, 10, 13, 27, 39, 49, 133
134, 264, 517, 545, 575, 843
Isaac
381
Richard
381
Stiles, John
440
•
Sir William
519
Stimson, Jonathan
389
•
Tewksbury, Henry
459
Stocker, Ebenezer
470
•
Thatcher, Samuel
389
Stockholm, Sweden
519
Thaxter, Joseph
311, 313, 324, 327
Stoddard, Sampson, 292, 378, 418, 422
Thayer, Nathaniel
394
·
Simeon
350, 378
Richard
258
Stokes, Isaac
264
Thing, Jonathan, 14, 261, 263, 372, 545
Nathaniel
Stone, Ebenezer
Simon
385
Samuel
263
•
381
Thomas,
375
495
James
262
Stony creek
739
Joseph
455
Storer, William
747
Nathaniel
225
693, 696-700, 707
357
Stower, Joseph
Strahan,
Story, Charles, 584, 609, 635, 637, 641
•
Thomas
Stoughton, William, 92, 93, 95, 100, 126
143, 155, 156, 235, 250, 253, 258
271-273, 345, 395, 400, 468, 472, 496
789, 829
Stow, Mass., 119, 137, 304, 305, 439
Thomas
Thurton, Thomas
Tilestone, Timothy
Tilton, Daniel
Thompson, Samuel
..
404, 446, 451
Thomson, David
773
Thorndike, Paul
314
Thornton, Timothy, 314, 400, 418, 457
Thorpe, James
345, 346, 396, 494
Thurston, Captain
451
368
90
827, 828
367, 392
263
14, 266, 565, 578
737
Peter
279, 400, 472, 496
Straight, Thomas
398
•
Tipping, Captain
14
Stratham
746
Toby, Henry
746
Stratton, Samuel
381
Toogood, Edward
700
Strawberry Bank (Portsmouth) 744
Topsfield, Mass.
362, 383, 423
778
Tottell, Richard, 716, 717, 724, 730-732
Streeter,
734
Towle, Philip
845
Strong, Jedediah
409
Townes, Joseph
383
Sudbury, Mass., 315, 317, 318, 322, 439
Townsend, Andrew
470, 471
495
Penn, 271, 273, 342, 364, 367-369, 373
Sugars, Gregory
395, 439
400, 446, 451, 457, 473
Summers, Henry
390
Samuel
394
Sumner, Samuel
392
Samuel, Jr.
397
Sunderland, Earl of, 167, 169-175, 178
Treadway, Jonathan
480
179, 181, 244
Josiah
389
Swaddon, Philip
747
Treat, Robert
144, 172, 235, 830
Swaine, Jeremiah, 319, 333, 400, 471
Trefry, Captain
272, 282
Swarton, John
256
Trewick, John
265
Sweetman, Thomas
455
•
Trott, Thomas, Jr.
392
•
Joseph
Swett, Benjamin
Swift, Thomas
Swinerton, Job
846
True, Henry
391
545, 594, 595, 638, 699
Trull, John
388
· •
315, 353, 371, 437
Tuck, John
266, 582, 638
386
Tucker,
559
Swinton, Doctor
486
Francis
700
Symonds, see Simonds.
James
266
Caleb
390
John
•
•
13, 264
912
INDEX.
Page
Waldron, Richard, 1-3, 9, 10, 15, 27, 39
43, 45, 46, 49, 73, 139, 261, 264, 266
274, 517, 545, 559, 565, 572, 575, 577
582, 585, 594, 595, 605, 609, 611, 636
638, 661, 671, 699, 747, 777-781, 784
787, 843, 844, 849, 851, 855, 860
Richard, Jr. ..15, 108, 124, 139, 849
William
Tucker, John, Jr.
Meres
Tufton, John
Tufts, John
•
Page.
265
391
•
122, 132, 135
Jonathan
Peter
383
383
•
487
Tuttle, Edward
Elisha
John, 15, 259-261, 372, 397, 545, 595
605, 637, 669, 699, 843, 844, 851, 853
397
397
Jonathan
Twyford,
Tyler, Hopestill
John
747
•
Moses
Tyng, Edward, 93, 95, 100, 114, 139
143, 156, 235, 257, 258, 274, 277, 829
Jonathan, 93, 95, 100, 120, 141, 143
156, 235, 828, 829
Wall, James
Wallace, George
Wales, Nathaniel
Wales cove
854
Walford, John
397
Walker, George
•
734
Joseph
469
469
440
434
695
509
265
13
Samuel
390, 742, 746
Thomas
Thomas, Jr.
•
394
4915
743
13, 266
James
746
William
266
Walley, John, 143, 156, 235, 415, 420
747
830
389
Walpole, Horatio
519
747
Walter, Nathaniel
385
380
Nehemiah
429
•
380
Walton, George
745
291, 325
256, 472
Wamesit
Wanton, Edward
Underhill, John
Underwood, Joseph
•
Ungroufe, John
Upham, Nathaniel
Phineas
Upper Cambridge, Mass.
Upton, John
Usher, John, 74, 92, 93, 95, 100, 120
136, 139, 142, 143, 156, 235, 253, 256
257, 269, 270, 285, 291, 499, 500, 507
509, 515-521, 526, 527, 531, 533-536
541, 544, 545, 555, 560, 564-567, 570
572, 574-577, 579-581, 583-585, 589
590, 593, 595, 604, 605, 608-612, 621
638, 643, 649, 651, 783-785, 829, 860
Van Cortland, Stephen
Stevenson
•
Varney, Humphrey
Varnum,
Vaughan, William, 2, 3, 13, 49, 73, 122
Shadrach, 264, 372, 565, 578, 582, 697
Ward, Increase
John
Nathaniel
Obediah
Samuel
Thomas
John'
Warner, Daniel
302
251, 252
393
385
748
393
423, 457, 466
14
William
385
144, 235
Wardell, Thomas
William
739, 742, 746
746
830
Ware, see Weare.
15
509, 621
449
407
402
390
398
359
456
Wastill, John
747
262
Waterhouse, David
271-273
262
Richard
265
866, 868
Waters, Stephen
331, 478
632-634
Watertown, Mass., 257, 291, 380, 383
141
389, 398, 484, 488, 495
410
Watson, Robert
264
Watts, Samuel
359
•
265
Way, Aaron
384
316, 317
William
384
383, 423, 464, 483
Weare, see Ware.
262
139, 252, 261, 266, 372, 441, 448, 468
483, 517, 545, 565, 572, 575, 577, 582
585, 589, 590, 594, 595, 605, 611, 636
651, 652, 662, 698, 706-708, 777, 778
784, 843, 844, 846, 851, 852, 854, 855
Veasey, George
Thomas
Vernon,
James
Viall, John
•
Vose, Thomas
Wacom, John ...
Wade, Jonathan
Nathaniel
Wadleigh, John
•
Robert, 14, 108, 261, 262, 372, 843
Wadsworth, John
Jacob
Warren, Daniel
John, Jr.
William
Warriner, James
Nathaniel, 14, 91, 254, 261, 517, 545
565, 572, 575, 577, 582, 585, 594, 595
605, 636, 807, 809, 845, 846, 852, 854
Peter
Christopher, 284, 287, 332, 344, 348
844
183
John, Jr.
183
Webb, Benjamin
Timothy
394
•
Waite, John
389
Joseph
379
George
Samuel
386
Webber, Nathaniel
Walden, Nicholas
265
Richard
605
386
367
747
480
265
INDEX.
913
Page.
Page
•
Webster, John, Jr.
Thomas
Wedgewood, David
Jonathan
Weeks, Leonard
Weems, Lieutenant
Weld, Edmund
·
Samuel
Wells, John
Peter
Samuel
407
Wiggin or Wiggins, Simon, 262, 585
14, 266
Thomas
14, 262, 738, 743
845
•
Wight, Daniel
396
846
Joseph
396
13, 266
T.
731
274, 286
Thomas (see Wright)
745
387
Wiley, Timothy
472
387
Wilkey, John
344
406
•
Wilkins, Benjamin
384
265
Henry
384
392
Richard
•
284, 397
Wells, Me., 103, 140, 192, 257, 308, 317
345, 346, 410, 420, 441, 448, 467, 468
Thomas
384
Willard, Simon, 274, 317, 318, 324, 356
481, 483, 813
Willey, Edward
·
285, 423
Welsh,
•
430 .
John
263
Wenbourne, William
742, 746
Stephen
264
Wenham, Mass.
352, 362, 408, 448
William
263
Wentworth, Daniel
264
Williams,
737
Edward
Ezekiel
'Gershom
John
•
•
Sir John
Samuel
15
Francis
744
263
Henry
262
263
Lewis
264
•
269
•
Nathaniel .288, 395, 430, 444, 485
780
Robert
474
•
·
Silvanus
William
Wesson,
John
13, 264, 265
262
William
406
Willington, Palsgrave
389
262, 743, 745
Roger
389
448
Willis, see Wyllys.
472
Edward
400
West, John, 143, 145, 182, 197, 200, 202
204, 206-208, 210, 214, 215, 218, 221
Westbrook, Job.
John
•
Thomas
Willoughby, Baron
383
831, 841
Westcott, Daniel
Weymouth, William
225, 281, 328
Wilson, Edward
266
Humphrey
13, 265
265
263, 565
330
•
14, 262
Weymouth, Mass., 291, 317, 421, 423
434, 469, 470, 480
Wharton, Richard, 93, 95, 100, 112, 120
136, 143, 156, 164, 235, 256, 829
John
Joseph
Lieutenant
Nathaniel
263, 388
423
379
385
Thomas
742, 745
William
264
Winch, Samuel
495
William
Wheat, Samuel
•
119, 828
Winchcomb, John
108, 821
382
Wincot, John
278
Wheeler, Deliverance
310
Wing, John
423, 464
John
262, 381, 382
Wingate,
737
Joshua
381
John
15
Obediah
381
Winkley, Samuel
698
Thomas
381
Winnicowitt (Hampton)
774
•
Timothy
382
Winnicut river
6915
Wheelwright, John
•
744, 745, 773
Winnipesaukee lake
118, 119, 164
Samuel
277
240, 827
Wheelwright's pond
843
Winnisamet ferry
374
Whidden, John
13
Winship, Ephraim
325
Samuel
13, 700
Winsted, Jacob
379
Whitcher, Nathaniel
391
Winthrop, Adam, 271-273, 289, 337, 369
White, Captain
413
457
Daniel
406
•
Ebenezer
John
Nathaniel
Whitehall
Whitehouse, Thomas
322. 434
Fitz-John, 93, 95, 100, 144, 156, 235
830
406
402
Wait, 93, 95, 100, 120, 144, 156, 235
271-273, 275, 278, 329, 337, 371, 377
696
400, 472
15, 264
Waitstill
830
Whiting, Timothy
396
Wise, John
•
429, 437
Whitmarsh, John
470, 480
Wiswall, Ebenezer
385
Whitmore, Francis
488
John
397
Whitney, Thomas
389
Whittemore, Benjamin
379
Noah .302, 308, 315, 320, 371, 410
Withington, Ebenezer,
John
383
John
Wiggin or Wiggins, Andrew, 14, 262
Philip
•
392
293, 392, 423
392
61
914
INDEX.
Page.
Page.
Woburn, Mass., 140, 291, 314, 317, 318
Wright,
734
390, 397, 426, 446, 488
Abel
455
Wolcott, Abraham
384
Ebenezer
403
Jonathan
386
John
390
Wood, Abraham
381
Joseph
403
Daniel
382, 440
Joseph, Jr.
397
John
381
Nathaniel
262
Josiah
390
Samuel .
403
Woodbridge, John
459
Thomas (see Wight)
742, 743
Woodis, Henry
421
William
394
Woodman, John, 15, 261, 264, 372, 517
545, 565, 573, 575, 578, 609, 637, 699
Wyer, R.
728
Wyeth, Nicholas
380
843, 844, 854
Wykes, H.
730, 731
Jonathan
469
Wyllys, see Willis.
Woods,
387
Edward
282, 292
James
393
Wyman, Jacob
390
John
466
Jonathan
390
Woodstock, Mass.
368
Seth
•
390
(New Roxbury)
451
William
390
Woodward, John
Woolson, Thomas
Worcester, Mass
Wormall, William
Worth, John
Wrentham, Mass.
389, 472
389
York, Duke of
·
54, 829
139, 140, 142, 256
York, Me., 103, 191, 257, 410, 441, 477
423
407
Young, Thomas
813, 843
264
437
Youngs, John
144, 235, 830
A
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