declarare interpretari addere sive diminuere pro Nostrae libito voluntatis pront securitati Nostrae Terrae Nostrae viderimus expediri And therefore We Command you That from henceforward you observe the Premises in all things so only that as often whensoever and wheresoever We please We may Declare Interpret Add to and Diminish from the said Statutes and every part of them according to Our Will and Pleasure so as We shall see it expedient for the safety of Us and Our Land aforesaid In the next place I shall instance Ireland That it is a Conquer'd Kingdom is not doubted Cooke Rep. Fol. 18. but admitted in Calvin's case and by an Act of the 11th 12th and 13th of King James acknowledged in express Words viz. Whereas in former times the Conquest of this Realm by His Majesty's most Royal Progenitors Kings of England c. That by virtue of the Conquest it became of the Dominion of the Crown of England and subject to such Laws as the Conqueror thought fit to impose until afterwards by the Charters and Commands of H. 2. K. John and H. 3. They were Intituled to the Laws and Franchises of England as by the said Charters reference being thereunto had may more fully appear I shall only instance two The First is out of the close Rolls of H. 3. wherein the King after Thanks given to G. de Mariscis Justice of Ireland signifies That himself and all other his Lieges of Ireland should enjoy the Liberties which he had granted to his Lieges of England and that he will grant and confirm the same unto them Claus 1. H. 3. Dorso 14. which afterwards in the 12th Year of His Reign he did as followeth Rex dilecto fidelio suo Richardo de Burgo Justiciar ' suo Hibern Salutem Mandarimus vobis firmiter praecipientes quatenus certo die loco faciatis venire coram vobis Archi-Episcopos Episcopos Abbates Priores Comites Barones Milites Libere Tenentes Balivos singulorum Comitatuum coram eis publici legi faciatis Chartum Domini Johannis Regis Patris Nostri cui sigillum suum appensum est quam fieri fecit jurari a Magnatibus Hiberniae de legibus consuetudinibus Angliae observandis in Hiberniae Et praecipiatis eis ex parte nostra quod leges illas consuetudines in Charta praedicta contentas de caetero firmiter teneant observent The King to his Faithful and Beloved Richard de Burg Justice of Ireland Greeting We have Commanded you firmly enjoyning you That on a certain day and place you make to come before you the Arch-Bishops Bishops Abbats Priors Earls Barons Knights and Free-holders and the Bayliffs of every County and before them you cause to be publickly read the Charter of the Lord King John our Father to which his Seal is affixed and which he caused to be made and Sworn to by the Nobility of Ireland concerning the Laws and Customs of England to be observed in Ireland And commanded them on our behalf That for the future they firmly keep and observe those Laws and Customs contained in the Charter aforesaid By all which it is evident That after the Conquest and before the recited Charters the Inhabitants there although composed of many Free-born English Subjects who settled themselves amongst them were neither govern'd by their own Laws nor the Laws of England but according to the good pleasure of the Conqueror And if you will take the Opinion of Sir Edward Coke in his Annotations on the Great Charter he tells you plainly That at the making thereof it did not extend to Ireland or any of the King 's Foreign Dominions but after the making of Poyning's Law which was in the 11th Year of H. 7 long after the Great Charter it did extend to Ireland I have only one Instance more and that is The usage of Foreign Nations in their Plantations and Settlements abroad The Governments of the Vnited Provinces and Denmark are well known in Europe and yet in all their Plantations their Governments are despotical and absolute all the power is in the hands of a Governour and Council and every thing is ordered and appointed by them as is sufficiently manifest to those that are acquainted with Batavia Surrinam Curasao New York when formerly in their hands and the Island of St. Thomas By which it is evident That those Kingdoms and Principalities which are of the Dominion of the Crown of England are subject to such Laws Ordinances and Methods of Government as the Crown shall think fit to Establish The next thing then to be proved is That New England and all the English Colonies are subject to the Dominion of the Crown of England as Wales and Ireland are and not to the Empire of the King of England as Scotland is 'T is a fundamental point consented unto by all Christian Nations that the first Discovery of a Countrey inhabited by Infidels gives a Right and Dominion of that Countrey to the Prince in whose Service and Imployment the Discoverers was sent Thus the Spaniard claims the West-Indies the Portugals Brasile and thus the English these Northern parts of America For Sebastian Cabot imployed by King Henry 7. was the first Discoverer of these Parts and in his Name took Possession which his Royal Successors have held and continued ever since therefore they are of the Dominion of the Crown of England and as such they are accounted by that excellent Lawyer Sir John Vaughan in his reports Vauh Rep. Craw versus Ramsey which being granted the Conclusion must necessarily be good and it will follow That Englishmen permitted to be Transported into the Plantations for thither without the Kings Licence we cannot come can pretend to no other Liberties Privileges or Immunities there than anciently the Subjects of England who removed themselves into Ireland could have done For it is from the Grace and Favour of the Crown alone that all these Flow and are dispenced at the pleasure of him that sits upon the Throne which is plain in the great Charter it self where after the Liberties therein granted by the King it concluded thus Tenendas habendas de Nobis haeredibus Nostris in perpetuum To have and to hold of Us and Our Heirs for ever which by the Learned Sir Edward Coke is thus explained These words saith he are not inserted to make a Legal Tenure of the King but to intimate that all Liberties were at first derived from the Crown Instit page 2. fol. 4. Barbados Jamaica the Leeward Islands and Virginia have their Assemblies but it is not sui juris 't is from the grace and favour of the Crown signified by Letters Patents under the Broad Seal But the Laws made by these Assemblies with the consent of the Governour are no longer in force than till the King is pleased to signifie his Disapprobation of them which power he hath always reserâ—â—â—â—o himself and can whenever he thinks fit Repeal
Persons from New York who took and extorted extraordinary and intollerable Fees 7. That it was impossible to know the Laws that were made and yet dangerous to break them 8. That by some in open Council and by the same in private Converse it was affirmed That the People in New England were all Slaves and the only difference between them and Slaves was their not being Bought and Sold and that it was a Maxime delivered in open Court by one of the Council That they must not think the Privilege of English-men would follow them to the end of the World 9. That they were denied the Privileges of Magna Charta and that Persons who did but peaceably object against raising Taxes without an Assembly were for it severely Fined 10. That Juries have been pick'd and pack'd and that some People have been Fined without a Verdict yea without a Jury 11. That some People have been kept long in Prison without any Information against them or being charged with any Misdemeanor or Habeas Corpus allowed 12. That Jury-men were Fined and Imprisoned for refusing to lay their Hands upon the Book as they came to be Sworn contrary to the Common Law of New England 13. That there was a discovery made of Flaws in the Titles of their Lands and that the Governour denied that there was any such thing as a Town among them and that more than a few were by Terrors drawn to take Patents at excessive rates 14. That Writs of Intrusion were issued out 15. That the Governour caused their Lands to be measured out for his Creatures and that the right owners for pulling up the Stakes have been grievously molested and several Persons had their Commons begg'd 16. That the forcing of the People at the East-ward to take Patents gave a rise to the late unhappy Invasion by the Indians 17. That blank Patents were got ready to be sold at great Prices 18. That the Governour and five or six of the Council did what they would and that all such as were Lovers of their Country were seldom admitted 19. That all manner of craft and rage was used to hinder Mr. Mather's Voyage to England and to ruine his Person 20. That although the King promised Mr. Mather a Magna Charta for redress of Grievances and that the Governour should be Wrote unto to forbear these measures that he was upon yet they were still injur'd in these very things which were complained of 21. That the Ministers and Churches have been discountenanced 22. That they were imbryar'd in an Indian-War and that the Officers and Soldiers in the Army were under Popish Commanders 23. That the rest of the English Plantations being alarm'd with just fears of the French who have treated the English with more than Turkish Cruelty could not but stir them up to take care for their own Preservation lest they should be delivered to the French before Orders could come from His Hihgness the Prince of Orange and the Parliament of England 24. That they have for their Example the Nobility Gentry and Commons of England and above all they esteem it their Duty to God so to have done Thus far have I trac'd the Declaration and do not know that any one thing material is omitted I shall now mention some other Matters which have occurred 'T was credibly Reported That Boston and all the Inhabitants were to be destroyed and to that end the Mohacques were to be brought down That there were several Fire-works prepared in the Fort and Vaults dug under Ground to blow up the Town That the Soldiers at the East-ward were all poisoned with Rum That there were thirty Sail of French Frigats upon the Coast With several other trifling things which I cannot recollect These are the principal Reasons alleaged for their taking up Arms now the end can be no other than the redress of those Evils ' complained of The next thing then to be considered of is Whether all or any of the Reasons aforesaid are sufficient to justifie their Proceedings and whether the proposed end can be attain'd by such Measures 1. That there was a Popish Plot is without doubt and if England at that time had fallen under the Yoak of Roman Tyranny 't is as certainly true New England must have undergone the same Fate but that this should be used or introduced as a Reason or Argument for vacating their Charter is beyond my Conception for if they had once prevailed How weak a rampart would the Charter have been against so cruel and powerful an Enemy Would the Papists have made Westminster-Hall the Arbiter Certainly no their Will would have been their Law and the Hedge would have been broke down with a great deal of ease Is it reasonable to imagine that after they had with Force and Violence attained their wished-for End in Old England they would make use of Politicks in New And as preposterous and unreasonable to Fancy that for that end the Charter was called in Question especially when you consider that four decades of Years have already past since the Crown of England first thought it not fit for them to hold any longer and several Years after the Popish Plot was discovered before the Scire Facias issued out 2. That the Charter was injuriously and illegally Condemned without giving them timely notice of it or allowing them to answer for themselves might bear some weight with it if true but it will appear quite otherwise and that they had opportunity enough to have made Defence on behalf of their Charter if they had thought fit For several Years before the proceedings to the Condemnation thereof our late Soveraign King Churles the Second by His Letters signified to them the many Complaints that were made to him of their Encroachments and ill Administration of the Government and to command that they should send over Agents sufficiently Authorized to answer the same which at length they so far comply'd with as to send them But when they were called to hear and answer the said complaints always excused and avoided the principal part thereof pretending they were not sufficiently impowered to that purpose and afterwards other Agents were sent fully impowered to answer but not to submit or conclude any thing And when His Majesty was pleased to cause a Writ of Quo Warranto to be sued forth against the Charter and sent over with his Gracious Declaration and proposals of such Regulations to be made therein as might be agreeable with His Majesty's Service and the good and welfare of his Subjects here and required an intire submission thereto the General Court would not submit to or comply therewith only a Letter was sent to the Right Honourable Sir Lionell Jenkins then Secretary of State Dated the 10th of December 1683. Subscribed by the Governour and eight of the Assistants only wherein after the acknowledgment of their having had a Copy of the Quo Warranto and his Majesty's Declaration they say That the major part of the
any Christian Settlement reduced to the extreamest Wants and Necessities And all things brought to that pass that if our unhappy Domestick Troubles had not intervened the War before this time would have been advantageously Finished without any Rates or Taxes on the Country for by his Excellencies good Husbandry the standing Revenue would have defrayed the Charge 'T is true you have lost some of your Friends and Relations in that Expedition but could the Governour keep them a Live Are not Diseases in Armies as Fatal to Men as the Sword When Death comes 't is not to be avoided and you see that all your Art and Care hath not been sufficient to Preserve your dearest Friends at Home from the greater Morcality which hath run through this Crountry Did any of them Dye neglected Which of them wanted any thing to be had in those Parts Did his Excellency lye upon Beds of Down and fare Deliciously every Day No the same Meat the same Drink the same Lodging in their Quarters and Marches very common to all only he was generally the least taken care for To what a degree of Madness and Impiety are we then grown so Falsly and Maliciously to Re-criminate a Person who for your Defence and Security hath so generously exposed himself to the Hardships of that Cold and Uncomfortable Clymate and the Fatigues of War against a Barbarous and Savage People And certainly if God Almighty hath not given over this People to believe Lies their Eyes must be by this time open and they cannot but know how much they have been put upon Shamm'd and Abus'd Who are Popish Commanders in the Army Will any Man Bare-fac'd Aver so great an untruth It must be Confessed there was one and no more under that Circumstance who had the Command of a Company of the King 's standing Forces and was not Commissioned for the Army besides if he had hath he not Lived long amongst us Did any one ever question his Ability Courage Fidelity and Conduct and ought not that Liberty of Conscience which has been so hotly Preached up even to the Encouragement of immoral Acts amongst you be equally beneficial to him with other Men Especially when the Gentlemen in the Country were so far from offering their Service in the Expedition that some of the most Eminent amongst them have absolutely refused the Service and they have been told the Governours proposal to the Council about his going to the Eastward met with no Opposition lest some of the Military Men there should have been bound in Honour to have taken that Imployment upon themselves 23. That some of the English Plantations in the West-Indies which were Contiguous to the French should be Alarm'd is no wonder for they were ever Jealous of their Neighbourhood and alwaies stood upon their Guard but that you should be afraid of being delivered up to the French when there is neither War betwixt the two Crowns nor any Frenchmen that we can yet here of to receive you is one of the most unaccountable things in the World From what parts must they come From Canada you know they can not they want both Men and Ships and have reason enough to look to themselves France have their Hands full at home and 't is well known they cannot spare any from the West-Indies they made their outmost Effort against Estalia and by the best Intelligence I can get in that Service or War there was not one Frigat Must they then drop out of the Clouds or do you expect a Fleet from Utopia Certainly this must needs convince any considering Man that these poor People have been extremely abus'd and they must be Stupid and Senseless who think that Sir Edmond Andros and Ten or Twelve Men more for that is all the Number said to be concerned in this wonderful Plot Could they be guilty of so horrid a Wickedness and Impiety Were able to deliver so many Thousand Men well appointed into the Hands of a few French-men who from God knows whence were to come The Lord knows when 24. That it was either their Duty to God or that they had the Nobility Gentry and Commons of England for their Presedent I cannot by any means allow and I am amaz'd to see Christians call that a Duty which God has so remarkably shewed his Displeasure against in all Countries and Ages Is not Rebellion as the Sin of Witchcraft Numb 11.12.16 Who was it that sent the Leprosie amongst the Children of Israel for their murmering Psal 78. Or how came the sudden Fire with which they were burnt up How many Thousands perished by the Pestilence Or were they a few that were stung to Death by the Fiery Serpents Do we not read that the Earth opened and swallowed up some of their Captains with their Wives and Children quick which horrible Destruction fell upon the Children of Israel for their murmering against Moses whom God had appointed their head and chief Majestrate What shall I say of Absalom What of a Achitophel Or what of Sheba Holy Writ is so full of Examples of the like Nature that no Body can esteem that a Duty which is so often testified against And as it is far from being their Duty to God so there is no Parellel between the Proceedings of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in England and theirs here for the Design of Establishing Popery and Arbitrary Government in this Colony is altogether Ridiculous and Incredible for who was to have effected it Could those few of the Church of England that with the hazard of their Lives and Fortunes so lately opposed it in Europe and that in all Ages have been the only Bulwork against it Or were the Presbyterians Independants or Anabaptists to have brought this about It must have been one of those for I dare be bold to say there are not Two Roman Catholicks betwixt this and New York I have sufficiently demonstrated in the third Article the little Right we have to any other Government in the Plantations and that we cannot justly call that Arbitrary which by the Law we are obliged to submit to So that betwixt their Condition and ours there can be no Parity As their Reasons and yours were different so are the Measures which have been taken for his late Highness the Prince of Orange having well-weighed and considered the tottering Condition of the Protestant Religion all over Europe thought it was high time for him to take up Arms as well for his own Preservation as that of his Neighbours and Allies We do not find that notwithstanding the Danger that hung over their heads the People of England took up Arms to right themselves but instead thereof they became humble Suppliants to his Highness for his Favour and Protection which he was pleased to grant them Neither do we find that the Lords Spiritual and Temporal assumed any Authority for which they had no colour of Law As they are Peers they are invested with the highest Authority and are the
6. Who are meant by abject Persons from New York wants an Explanation for none of the Gentlemen that came from thence now in any Authority but are well known to have liv'd there for a long time in Esteem and Reputation enough to merit a better Epethite of all good and honest Men and I believe it will one day appear that their Faithful discharge of their Duties their constancy and steadiness to the Church and Laws of England and unshaken Loyalty and Fidelity to the Crown was their greatest Crime I am not well acquainted what Fees were taken but this I know that a Committee of the Council were appointed to make a settlement of Fees for all Officers throughout the Government which was effected approved of and sent to England and if any one have exceeded those Limits they deserve to be called to account but it ought to be in a due course of Law For the personal miscarriages of a Ministerial Officer are no sufficient Warrant for an Insurrection neither ought the whole Government to be Subverted because Tom or Harry are ill Men. The Authority can but provide good and wholsome Laws for the punishment of Evil doers and cause those Laws to be put in execution against Offenders But if any one doth me a personal wrong for which I have a Remedy by Law and I will not take it I ought not to quarrel with the Government for 't is my own Fault and I might have redress if I would Personal Crimes must be censured Personally and a Government ought no more to be scandalized and aspersed because an Extortioner is in it than because there is a Felon or a Traitor 7. I need not tell you that the Statute Laws of England are Printed at large and that many Abridgments of them are so likewise and easie enough to be procured neither can it be but very well known that all the Acts of the Governour and Council were solemnly published with Sound of Trumpet as soon as made and Authentick Copies afterwards transmitted to the Clerks of each respective County throughout the Territory Why then it should be said that it was impossible to know the Laws I see no reason unless by it is meant the Common Law and if so you may as well quarrel because every common Person doth not understand Euclid or Aristotle for the knowledge of the Law cannot be attained without great Industry Study and Experience and every Capacity is not fitted for such an Undertaking Ex quovis Ligno non fit Mercurius If this was a Grievance What a miserable condition are they in now that instead of not knowing the Law there is no Law for them to know 8. What rash or indiscreet Expressions may fall from any single Person of the Council either in his private or politick Capacity I will not undertake to justifie all Men are not endued with qualifications alike every one in that Station ought to give his Opinion as he himself understands the Matter and if any one have unadvisedly uttered Words so disagreeable I know no Body injur'd by it neither can the Government be justly censur'd for it 9. That the Privileges of Magna Charta and other Liberties of English-men were denied them is a thing which can never be made appear however admitting it I have sufficiciently discuss'd that Point in the Third Article By the Persons said to be severely Fined for peaceably objecting against raising of Taxes without an Assembly I conjecture are meant the Ipswich-men who were so far from a peaceable objecting that they assembled themselves in a riotous manner and by an Instrument conceived in Writing did Associate and oblige themselves to stand by each other in opposition to the Government and by their Example influenced their Neighbours to do the like And this by the Law is esteemed an Offence of that Nature that it is next door to Rebellion for which they were Indicted Tryed and Convicted either by Verdict or their own Confession 10. I cannot justifie that Sheriffs who doth either pick or pack a Jury 't is both repugnant tothe Law and his Oath and he deserves no favour that can be Guilty of such a Crime but let him first be known and the thing proved for I do not remember any one that hath been Convicted nor so much as accused for such an Offence Judgments upon Demurers and Defaults are so practicable and warrantable by the Law that nothing can excuse the enumerating them amongst the Grievances in the Declaration but the Pen-man's want of Knowledge in that Profession 'T is a Maxime Volenti non fit injuria and when both Plantiff and Defendant do by a joynt consent submit to the determination of the Court or by their own negligence make default Who hath the wrong Where is the Injury This hath been a practico so frequently used in your former Government though under another Name that no body can be ignorant of it 11. That any one hath been Imprisoned without being charged with Crime or Misdemeanour is an Allegation which I dare be bold to say can never be proved I have heard indeed an Habeas Corpus demanded upon the Statute of the 31. C. 2. was denied in Major Appleton's Case who was one of the Ipswich-men before-mentioned but let any considering Man peruse the Act and I believe he will be easily convinced that it is particularly limitted to the Kingdom of England besides he was committed only because he would not find Sureties for the good Behaviour and the question was not whether he should be Bailed for upon finding the said Sureties he must have been discharged of course so that it was not the want of an Habeas Corpus detain'd him in Prison but his own wilful and obstinate Humour if they do but consider well how many Gentlemen lie now in stinking Goals and close Prisons without either Mittimus or Crime laid to their charge and without the allowance of an Habeas Corpus although demanded I am sure they cannot but blush when they read that part of the Declaration 12. That Jurymen were fined and imprisoned for refusing to lay their hands to the Book I presume is a mistake probably they may have been fined for their contempt and sent to Prison for not paying that Fine which by the Law may be Justified for evrey Court may fine any man for a contempt in open Court and they themselves are Judges of the Contempt Whether it be a forcing of Conscience or not I shall leave to Casuists but I am very well satisfied it is not comprehended within the late Indulgence Yet admit it were the Judges are sworn to do their Duties in their Offices according to the Laws of the Land Prescription is a good and sufficient Law the form of laying the Hand upon the Book hath been the only modus of Swearing time out of mind therefore the laying the Hand on the Book in Swearing is a good Law and the Judges cannot dispence with it Salvo Sacramento
if they did a Judgment in such a case would be erroneous and reversible and 't is dangerous to admit of Innovations The Common Law of New England is brought in to Warrant the lifting up the Hand but I take that to be rara Avis in Terris for I challenge the whole Territory to produce one Precedent of such a resolved case but perhaps by it Prescription is intended if it be that will as illy serve the turn as th' other for the Colony hath not been long enough settled to claim any advantage by that Right neither if it had would it be admitted without apparent violation of their Charter being absolutly repugnant to the Laws of England 13. Fully to discuss the question concerning the Titles of their Lands would be a Subject too Copious for the present Design therefore I shall only glance at it as I pass by being resolved when time shall serve to declare my Opinion more amply on that Subject in the mean time let every considering Man Examine well the Charter which is the very basis of all their Rights unless they will set up a Power above the Kimgs and then let him tell me in whom the Fee simple of that Tract of Land betwixt Charles's River and Merry-mack remains if in the Grantees or their Heirs How do they derive their Titles form them If in the Governour and Company of the Massathusets Bay they must inquire whether pursuant to the Directions and Powers to them granted it is by good and sufficient Conveyances in the Law derived unto them If they find it so they must not be disturbed with Fears and Jealousies for nothing can hurt them if not they are infinitely obliged to those Persons who have made them sensible of their Weaknesses in a time when by His Majesties Letter Patents the Governour was impowered to supply all such Defects and not upon Terms either excessive or unreasonable but upon such as were both easy and moderate which will plainly appear to any Man who will but give himself the trouble to peruse the Table of Fees settled and allowed by the Council yet still every Man was at his own Liberty to take a Patent of Confirmation or to let it alone as is apparent enough by the many Petitions now lying in the Secretary's Office which altho' his Excellency was always ready so far as in him lay to Grant yet the more necessitous Affairs of the Govermment which both he and all about him ever preferr'd to their private advantage took up so much of his time that not above twenty ever passed the Seal and I am very well assured that not one Example can be produced that the least compulsion was ever used in this case to any Man living within this Dominion If the Governour did say there was no such thing amongst you as a Town what can be inferred from thence 'T is not to be presum'd but his Discourse tended only to a Body Corporate and Publick For you generally call that a Town in America where a number of People have Seated themselves together yet 't is very well known 't is so in Name only not in Fact I take that Body of People to be a Town properly so called who by some Act of Law have been Incorporated and in that sense there is no such thing as a Town in the Massathusets neither was there a Power to make such before his Excellency's Arrival for One Corporation cannot make another The Case of Suttons Hospital Co. Rep. 14. That Writs of Intrusion were issued out is doubtless true and the Government would have justly merited a severe censure if all waies should have been free and open for the Subject to attain his right and none left for the King They would think themselves highly injur'd to be refused a Capias or any other common Writ and I 'm sure the other is as peremptory an one in the Kings Case and had the Penman been never so little acquainted with the Natura brevium or the Register he would have been asham'd to have stuffed up the Declaration with such Matter which can be of no other service than to amuse and deceive ignorant People Have there been more than seven Writs of this kind issued out during Sir Edmonds Administration Or more than two Prosecuted And were any of them against either Poor or Ignorant Persons that had neither Purses nor Brains to defend themselves Hath it not been against such as both for their Estates and Capacities are sufficiently known to be eminent And the business of Deer-Island was brought on for no other intent then that right might be done to the King here and that the Party if agrieved might in a regular way have brought it to the Council-Board in England for their Determination And I think if this matter were rightly understood it would be of excellent service to the Country for such a Judgment would sufficiently instruct them what they have to trust to 15. That their Commons might be begg'd is not very strange but that the Governour must be Criminal because such a thing is asked of him is a barbarous inference To whom have they been granted Or for which of his Creatures have they been measured out I should be glad to see that Man who would bare-fac'd instance one partioular grant of any Man 's Right or Possession passed by Sir Edmond during his Government 'T is true that at the request of Lieutenant Coll. Lidget a Gentleman who hath long lived among you in Reputation equal to the best whose Fortunes were not so narrow that he needed a dependance upon any one and by a plentiful Estate which he possessed in Charles-Town had a right to a proportionable share or dividend in all the vacant and unapropriated Lands belonging to the said Town the Governour and Council did grant him a piece of the said vacant Lands which the Pen-man corruptly calls Commons contiguous to a very considerable Farm which he was there owner of which I presume they might very lawfully do for it can never be made appear That the People of Charles-Town either in Law or Equity had a Right or Title to the said Land without a Grant from the Governour and Company of the Massathuset's Bay exempted under the Seal of the Corporation pursuant to the Rules and Directions of their Charter they can have no Legal Claime and I am fure such can never be produced and I think they have as slender a pretence to an equitable one when the Land hath always lain wast and undivided to the profit and advantage of the Claimer without any manner of charge or expence Besides it cannot be consistent with the Interest of new Plantations that two or three Hund. Thousand Acres of Land should be taken up by a small number of People who are not capable of improving one tenth part of it and the rest lie vacant under the notion of Commons when Persons of Ability equally concerned would improve it but cannot because