The Connecticut courant — Hartford, Conn., 1774-04-19 00:00:00, page 2

fed conjiflency of such a variety of grants,made
nt so many different times, fheweth, that their
being bounded westward by the great South fca,
was so far from being through deception or ac°
cident that it was absolutely the effect of dejigt
of a confident and fixed plan- That this cfpe.
cially was the case with regard to the Connec
ticut charter, is farther to be argued from this
consideration, that it was agreeable to the royal
Will, and the original deSign of the great Ne
w patent, that fpecisl encouragement
Should be given and a larger extent of country
granted; to such adventurers as had run the
greiteft rifk,and done the mod for the advance
meet ofhs majesty's honour and dominion,aod
that it Should be proportionate to the number as
well as merit of the planters, Says his majesty,
" Our will and pteafore is, that refpefl be had
as well to the proportion of the adventurers, as
to the Special hazard, exploit er mep't of any
perfob so to be recompensed, advanced or re
wardedft" On theft principles the fitft plan
ter! dfGbnneCEcut ought io all reason and justice
to have had as exrecGve a territory as any co
lony whatfoerer. No adventurers had endured
greater hardships, performed nob{tf teats, and
been at greater expence than they, in making
fett'emcots in the American wPderbefs. Their
expense in purchasing the native right to the
country, lo the purchase made of thiiir lord
Ships oflhe right of preemption, and in subdu
ing that bloody and terrible nation, ihtPeqxots,
by far exceeds the expense of any ether colony,
so far as I am able to collet from the records
and histories of those ancient times. No colo
cy, at that day, extended their Settlements
with such rapidity as they • and through their
means it was wholly that Connecticut was net
a province oftbe States General. These emi
fat service,, which 'Connecticut bad done the
crown, were well khown to his majesty when
his letters patent were issued under the
broad seal, and are particularly recognifed in
them. Cao there, therefore, be a more ground
iejs idle and /alfe representation than this, That
bit majed, was deceived in bis grant ? Or whit,
can betray greater ignorance of the history cf
ancient tranf^ioos ? Is not the supposition
that Cjnne&icut was to be cooped up within
the narrow limits,between Narraganfet bay, and
New Netherlands, within the fmallcft limits of
any of the North- American colonies, abfoiuWy
incompatible With,th,oyal will as Specified a
bove, as well as with the words of the charter ?
Yea, is it not an injury to the royal honor and
munificence, as well as a firained and: i liberal
condruaion of the charter, to fuppbfe it ?
Should it be urged that pur charter pri
vileges are endangered by the colony's extend
_±_ - —.— —,-—— _____ __—
* Govr. Hutebiftfa's biftory.
, New-England patent.
[Concluded fam ear lafl.j
MUCH more however, might be said, on
this head,were it worth while to resume
it. I wish only to mention two or three
things further. Rfpecially, that the limits of
the Conneaicut patent are much left cxtecGre
than the limits of the other old colonies granted
about the fame time. The province of Massa
chusetts Bay greatly exceeds it as to the extent
of boundaries. Had this been through mistake
or defeeption, it is to be presumed that the
king aod council would have cut short their li
mits in the fecood charter : But even io that
which was granted as late as the year 1691,
when the country was well known, the bounda
ries of the province were much enlarged*. The
old colon, of Virginia had the fame extent
westward to the South sea, and one of the ori
ginal patentees who refufed to rcGgo the original
Patent to the crown, in 1609, it is said, has
lately recovered territory, by virtue of said an
cient grant, to the South fca. This fheweth
that the king was not deceived in those grants
It will be to the purpose to observe again, that
the original patent of North Virginia, as it was
then called, lying from 38 to 45 degrees of
North latitude had the fame extension, io a di
re&ioo parallel with the Equinoctial line ; that
this was the case with the great patent of New-
England, io 1620 ; with that of the Alafa
chu/etts, in 1628 ; with the grant to the earl
of Warwick in ,630 and with the^charter of
the colony of Connecticut in 1662, This per-
log jutifttjaion to the controverted lands, it is
replied,that it can be no forfeiture ofhazardiog
of any rights or privileges, to exercise powers
veiled in the colony by charter, within the
known and express boundaries of it, over their
own lands, purchased and fettled by their own
people ; aod therefore there is no danger from
this qcurter. The lands are certainly well ex.
pressed within cur charter, we have at ledl
some ground aod colour of claim and where
this is the cafejt is fife to exercise jurifdi&ioo-
Should the colony exercise powers with
wh ; ch they are not veiled by charter, this pro
bably might expose them, but they are veiled
with a right to make towns and counties with
in their own limits, ao^ therefore may exercise
these powers with fafety in that way. Of this
opinion are some of the greatest attornies in the
colony. Dr. Johofon, who has done so much
honour to himfclf, and to this colony in the
court of Great Britain, advised to this mea
sure aod a&ed for it, in the Assembly, as fife
and expedient ; as did most of the other honor
ed geotiemen of the council,among whom were
others eminent in the law department. Would
these worthy Senators beiray the very cooflituri.
on. by which they exist, in their civil capaci
ty ? By no meant.
Farther, has it been Gid, and will it still
be urged, that the province cf Massachusetts
loft their charter by this very means, extending
jorifdi&ioD to the province ol Main, the reply
is, this is a palpable mistake. They loft their
charter through the arbitrary and despotic met
fores of James II when the city of London and
a great part of the corporations ib England were
robbed of their charters just rights and privile
ges Connecticut as wei as the M,ff,chufetts
were directed to surrender their charter, and it
was preferred by a mere flratagem§. King
James by these detefhble measures made him
felf so much the objc& of onircrfal odium that
he was ob'iged to abd cae the throne ; and
" the prosecution of quo warrantor, the judg
ments thereon, and the surrenders of charters
were resolved to be a violation of ancient rights,
to »be illegal and .grievaocesf" The It fi cf
charters and privileges at this season can never,
in reason, be mentioned as a precedent in any
case. Beside among all the pretences for which,
it is said, their charter was taken away, I can
not find any historian affirming this to be one.
Governor Hutchmfon represents the opposition
made to the ads of trade to be the principal
thing which deprived that colony of it's ancient
charter. His words are, " The whole colony
of the Massachusetts left their charter! this be
ing one great article of charge agaieft its " Mr.
Hook a counleUer of note enumerates the in
fiances wherein they had a&ed contrary to their
charter, among which he never so much as men
tions the affair of the province of Main*.
Further in their pref-nt charter which puffed
the great Seal in 1691 the province of Main is
included, which fheweth that the king and his
council viewed it as belonging to that province,
and therefore their claiming it aod exerc fiog
jurifd &ion there could it not in reason be any
ground of offence. In Short was a more id e
whim c^r propagated than this that we codan
ger our chatter by exercifiog juri'diaion over
our own people fettled within the express li
mits ofit : or by an application to his majesty
in council for a decifibn with regard to the
lands io controversy ?
With regard to the expenee, which the co
lony hath been at already relative to the weftero
lands, the whole of it so far as I am able to
fiod does not amount to £ 340 but to allow it
at large, to be sure, let it be Called £.370,
this will be less, by corfiderable, than the fifth
part of a farthiog 00 the pound in the general
lift of the colony ; so that a man who har£ rod
in the lift will have to pay five pence to defray
his part of the colony charge'. This is the 4
larming expence which the colony of Connefli*
§ Qfo warrant's were ordered to be brought
b, the attorney general against Connecticut and
Rhode- I/land. The Charter of the latter was
in fa fl surrendered to the King.
f Gnvr Hwtcbinfon' s biftory vol. I. p 3,0.
±Hvebinfen,p- 322, 323.
* Hatchinfonp. 411.
With regard to this objection, that were
our title pe ed, there would be oc profpea of
success, as the cause never will be determined
on principles of law or equity, but wholly co
such as sire political, I would reply, that such
an objection does very little honor to ihe king
and council, and I had much rather that such
an injurious imputation mould be made by others
than myfelf I will maintain nobler fentimeots
ofhi s majeffy, and of his council. Indeed Gon
nc&icut have reason to maintain Sentiments en
tirely different from these. In the Mason caofe
the lords and noblemen found him money to
proficute his suit, aod they expired nothing
from him unless he mould obtain bis cause ; yet
when they found law and equity to be on the
fide of Conncaicuot^y, even agaieft their o&n
| | Mr. Life's account was about£ 133 10 0
Commifrner's bill . 172 0 0
for collecting papers and Rating 7
the case I allow ) 3° 00
cut hit been at to the gci&fiuehanrai eu r e||.
With regard to the cxpcafe of prosecuting
it to a final issue, this can be determined with
the greatest probability from the charges which
have arisen in causes of a similar, nature. The
Mafen cause, as it is often cal'ed, during the
whole time o^Dr Johnson's refideoce in Eng
land, and 'till it was finally issued, cost the co
lony somewhat short of £ 7000. L M. which
is considerably left than one penny on the pound
in the grand lift 1 That the Sufoehnnat
cause will ever be protracted to the fame length,
or be of one half of the expeofe to the colony,
is not rcafonab'e to foppofe. On the Gift ap
plication for commissioners tbi/ciufe will be de
termined ; for if commiffiooers are appointed to
fettle the boundaries between the colopyuf Con
neflicut and the prpprjftoi, of Pennsylvania,
it will be on this greuid, that the two colonies
are bounded 00 each other, and will determine
the point, that we have lands to the weflward
ofthe province of New York, If commission
ers fhoold not be appointed, it will be a deter
mination that we have no lands in those parts,
aod will be a final iffoe to the bufioefs. To
have this pornt determined, whether we ihall
have cimmiffijccrs or not, it will not be neces
sary to fend an agent to the Britilh court, as it
was in the former cacfe. It will only be rc
ceffary to foppert Mr. Life, our present agent
in England, whose salary is £. 50 flerliog per
annum, the cost of which, fuppofiog the Goal
deeffiao (hould be protruded for three years,and
the cost offoh'dtirg commiffoners ffioold be e
quaho the whole, cost of the trial § of the Mo-'
began cause, and ©fall the copies and grants
from offices made use cf in said trial ; the whole
amount would not even then be £.zceo fler
ling, considerably less than a half penny on the
pound in the general lift. A man who has an
estate of one hundred pounds in the common
lift, would have four foi lings and two pence te
pay, were the colony to defray the whole cx
peofe But it is by no means, probable that the
expeofe of a determination with regard to com
missioners, will amount to more than one half
of this sum.
Belize the Sufqu&nnab company have voted
£. 1600 towards defraying the cost of suit, if
the colony will proffate their cWm. Eighteen
pence, or two fhiliiogs, therefor, on each £.IOO
h the general lift is the mmofi of the cost to the
colony,which may probably or reafenably be e: $
petted, in order to determine the point whether
w: have any lands weft of the river Delaware cr
not. This is the bnmenfe expence which the
co'ony are like to undergo io order to iffoe this
matter ? Is it not high time to call more town
meetings, and to convene another parliament
at Middletown, to confutt on this important
a^r?
£. 335 100
Befdes this I know of no dired expense which the
Sufauebannab cause bath occasioned to the colony,
yet to be large en;ugb in the account I have allow
e d£-34 10 myre for l know not what, and after
all it amounts to /^alarming sum above.
1 The grand lift oftbe colony, returned lafl
October, amounts to f I 795807 , 7. One
penny on the pound raises about £. 7495
§ When lipeak of the coll of trial, I meat
only the cost of suit This in the Mohegan cauje
os charged by Mr, Life, is 1040—19— 1.