The Connecticut courant and Hartford weekly intelligencer — Hartford, Conn., 1774-06-14 00:00:00, page 1

B oft on, June 3, 1774.
The following BILLS now pending in
Parliament, arrived lad Night in Capt.
Williamson, in 36 Days from Bristol.
.4 BILL for the impartial Adminift ration of Justice in the
Cases of Persons queftionedfor any Ails done by them in
the Execution of the Law, orfor the Suppreflion of Riots
and'■Tumults, in the Province of the Mallach ufetts-
Bay in New-England.
WHEREAS in His Majesty’s Province of Mas
sachusetts-Bay in Blew-England, an Attempt
hath lately been made to throw oft' the Authority of
the Parliament of Great-Britain over the said Pro
vince ; and an aftual and avowedßefiftance, by open
.Force, to theExecution of ccrtainAfts of Parliament,
hath been furred to take place, uncontrouled and
unpunished, in Defiance of His Majesty’s Authority,
& to the utterSubverfion of all lawful Government.-
And whereas, intheprefent diferdered State of the
said Province, it is of the utmost importance to the
general Welfare thereof, and to theß.e-eftablilhment
of lawful Authority throughout the fame that nei
ther the Magistrates acting in Support of the Laws,
nor any of His Majefty’sSubjefts aiding and aflifting
them therein, or the Suppreflion of Riots & Tumults,
raised in Opposition to the Laws and Statutes of this
Realm, Ihould be discouraged from the proper Dis
• charge of their Duty, by an Apprehension, that in
case of their being questioned for any Afts done'
therein, they may Ise liable to be brought to Trial
for the fame, before Per fens who do not acknowledge
the Validity of rhe Laws in the Execution whereof,
or the Authority bf the Magistrate in the Support of
whom such Afts had been done :
In order therefore to remove every ditch Difcou
couragement from the Minds of His Majesty’s Sub-
Je&s, and to induce them, upon all properOccafions,
.to exert themselves in Support of the Publick Peace
of the Province, and of the Authority of the King
and Parliament of Great-Britain over the fame : Be
it enabled by the King’s Most Excellent Majesty, by
and with the Advice and G'chfent of the Lords Spi
ritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present
Parliament aflembled, and by the Authority of the
fame, That if at any Time, within the Space of
Years from and after the any Bill
or Bills of Indiftment shall be found against any Per
son for Murther, or other capital Offence, in the
Province of the Massachusetts-Bay, and it shall ap
pear, by Information given upon Oath to the Gover
nor, or in his Absence to the Lieutenant Governor,
©f the said Province^ that the Fast was committed
by the Person indifted, while he was either in the
Execution of his Dity as a Magistrate, for the fup
preflion of Riots,or in theSuppert of theLaws of Re
venue, or that he was acting in h's Duty as anOfficer
of Revenve, or acting under the Direction and Or
der of any Magistrate for the Suppreflion of Riots,
or for the carrying into Effeft the Laws of Revenue,
. or aiding and aflifting in any of the Purposes afore
" said ; and if it (hall also appear, to the Satisfaction
of the said Governor or Lieutenant Governor ref
pe&ively, that an indifferent Trial cannot be had
within the said Province, in that Case it ftiall and
may be lawful for the Governor or Lieutenant Go
vernor to direst, that the Indictment ftiall be tried
In feme other of his Majesty’s Colonies, or in Great-
Britain, and forthat Purpose to order the Person in
'. diftedto be sent under a fufficient Custody to the
Place appointed for his Trial; arid that there may
be no Failure of Justice from the want of Evidence
'in such Cases, it ftiall and may be lawful for the
Governor, or in his Absence the Lieutenant Gover
■ nor, to fettle and afleft a teafonable Sum to be al
lowed for the Expences of such Witnefles as the
Prosecutor, or the Person indifted, ftiall desire to be
Summoned ; which Sum ftiall be advanced by the
Commiflioners of His Majesty’s Customs, to the
Witness, who, upon the Receipt thereof, ftiall enter
into a Recognizance before a Judge of the Superior
Court, to appear and give Evidence upon the Trial
of such Indiftment.
TUESDAY, Jrir 14, THE [NUMBER 494. J
CONNECTICUT / C O U R A N T,
and V HARTFORD
WEE K L Y intelligencer;
Containing the Freiheit ADVICES, both FOREIGN and DOMESTIC.
Open to all PARTIES, but not under the influence of ANY.
A BILL for the better regular : ng the Government of the
Province of the detts-Bay in North-
America.
JfAAEREAS by Letters Patent under the Great Seal
of England, made in the Third Year of the
Reign of their lateMajefties Kingand Queen
Mary, for uniting, erefting, and incorporating, the
several Colonies, Territories, and Tracts of Land
therein mentioned, into One real Province, by the
Name of their Majelties Province of the Majfachu
fetts-Bay, in New-England, whereby it was amongst
other Things ordained and eftablilhed, That the
Governor of the said Province should from thence
forth be appointed and commiflionated by their Ma
jcfties, their Heirs and Succeftbrs, it was however
granted and ordained, That from theExpiration of
the Term, for, and during which the Eight and
Twenty Persons, named in the said Letters Patent,
were appointed to be the First Counfeliors or Aflif
tants to the Governor of the said Province for the
Time being, the aforefaid Number of Eight and
Twenty Counfeliors or Assistants ftiould yearly Once
every Year, forever thereafter, be, by the General
Court or Assembly, newly chosen :
And whereas the said Method of elefting such
Counfeliors or Assistants, to be veiled with the seve
ral Powers, Authorities, and Privileges therein men
tioned, although conformable to the Praftice, there
tofore used, in such of the Colonies thereby united,-
in which the Appointment of the refpeftive Gover
nors had been veiled in the General Courts or As
semblies of the said Colonies, hath by repeated ex
perience, been found to be extremely ill adapted to
the Plan of Government eftablilhed in the Province
of the Mafachufetts-Bay, by the said Letters Patent
herein before mentioned, arid hath been so far from
contributing to the Attainment of the good Ends
and Purposes thereby intended, and to the promot
ing of the internal Welfare, Peace, and good Go
vernment} or to the Maintenance of that just Subor
dination to, and Conformity with, the Laws of Great-
Britain, that the Manner of exercising the Powers,
Authorities, and Privileges, aforefaid, by the Per
fens so annually elected, hath for feme Time past
been such as had the most manifeft Tendency to ob
ftruft, and in great Measure defeat the Exe .ution of
the Laws, to weaken the Attachment of His Majes
ty’s well-disposed Subjdfts, in the said Province, to
His Maieftv’s Government, and to encourage the ill
difpofed among them to proceed even to Afts of
direst Resistance to, and Defiance of, His Majesty’s
Authority ; and it hath accordingly happened, that
an open Resistance to the Execution of the Laws hath
aftually taken place in the Town of Boston and the
Neighbourhood thereof, within the said Province s
And be it further Enabled, That the Governor, or
in his Absence the Lieutenant Governor, if he ftiall
direst the Trial* to be had in any other of His Ma
jesty’s Colonies, ftiall transmit the Indiftment, to
gether with the Recognizances of the Witnefles, un
der the Seal of the Province, to the Governor of
such other Colony ; who Ihall immediately issue a
Commiflion of Oyer and Terminer, and deliver or
cause to be delivered the said Indiftment, with the
said Recognizances, to the Chief Justice, and such
other Perfens as have usually been Commiflioners of
Oyer and Terminer there , who ftiall have Power
to proceed upon the said Indiftment, as if the fame
had been found before th :m, and the Trial ftiall
thereupon proceed in like Manner to all Intents
and Purposes, as if the Offence had been committed
in such Place : And in case the Governor, or in his
Absence the Lieutenant Governor, shall direst the
Trial to be had in Great-Britain, he ftiall then trans
mit the Indiftment together with the Recognizan
ces of the Witnefles, under the Seal of the Province,
to one of his Majesty’s principal Secretaries of State,
who ftiall deliver or cause to be delivered the'fame, to
the Master of the Crown Ofice, and the Indiftment
ftiall be tried in the next-Term, at the Bar of the
Court of King's Bench, in lik^Manner, to all Intents
and Purposes, as if the Offence had been committed
in the County of Middlcfex.
Be it therefore Enabled, by the KING’s most Excel
lent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Con—
sent of the Lord’s Spiritual and Temporal, and Com
mons, in this present Parliament assembled, and.
by the Authority of the fame, That from and af
ter the
so much of the Charter granted by their Majesties-
King William and Queen Mary, to the Inhabitants
of the said Province of the Massachusetts-Bay, in New-
England, and all and every Clause, Matter and Thing
therein contained, which relates to the Time and.
Manner of elefting the Assistants, or Counfeliors, for
the said Province, and all eleftions and Appoint
ments of such Counfeliors andAfliftants made in pur
suance thereof, shall and that
from and after the said the Council
or Court of Assistants of the said Province for the
Time being, Ihall be composed of such of the Inha
bitants or Proprietors of Lands within the fame, as
shall be thereunto nominated and appointed by His
Majesty, his Heirs and Succeflbrs, by Warrant under
his or their Signet or Sign Manual, and with the
Advice of the Privy Council, agreeable to the Prac
tice noW used in Refpeft to the Appointment of
Coufellors in such of His Majesty’s other Colonies
in America, the Governors whereof are appointed
by Commiflion under the Great Seal of Great-Bri
tain : Provided that the Number of the said Aflif
tants or Counfeliors shall not at any one Time ex
ceed nor be less than
And whereas it is, under, these Circumstances, be«
come absolutely neceflary, in order to the Preserva
tion of the Peace and good Order of the said Pro
vince, the Proteftion of His Majesty’s well-disposed
Subjefts therein resident, the Continuance of the
mutual Benefits arising from the Commerce & Cor
respondence between this Kingdom and the said
Province, and the maintaining of the just Depen
dance of the said Province upon the Crown and Par
liament of Great-Britain, that the said Method of
annually elefting the Counfeliors or Assistants of the
said Province Ihould no longer be fuftered to conti
nue, but that the Appointment of the said Coun
feliors or Assistants ftiould henceforth he put upoii
the like Footing as is eftablilhed in such other of his
Majesty’s Colonies or Plantations in America, the
Governors whereof are appointed by His Majesty’s
Commiflion under the Great Seal of Great-Britain t
And it is hereby further Enabled, That the said As
sistants or Counfeliors so to be appointed as afore
faid, shall hold their Offices refpefti rely, for and
during the Pleasure of His Majesty, his Heirs or
Succeflbrs, and shall have and enjoy all the Powers,
Privileges, and Immunities, at present held, exer
cised, and enjoyed by the Assistants or Counfeliors
of the said Province, constituted and elefted from
Time to Time, under the said Charter, except as
herein after excepted : and shall also, upon their
Admission into the said Council, and before they
enter upon the Execution of their Offices, respec
tively take the Oaths, and make, repeat, and sub
scribe, the Declarations required, as well by the said
Charter as by any Law or Laws of the said Province
now in force, to be taken by the Assistants or Coun
feliors, which have been so elefted and constituted
as aforefaid.
And be it further Enabled by the Authority afore
faid, That from and after the
it shall and maybe lawful for His Majesty’s Gover
nor, for the Time being, of the said Province, or,
in his abferice, for the Lieutenant Governor, to no
minate and appoint, under the Seal of the Province,
from Time to Time, the Judges of the Inferior
Courts of Common Pleas, Commiflioners of Oyer
and Terminer, the Attorney General, Sheriffs, Pro-*
vofts Marshals, Justices of the Peace, and other Of
ficers to the Council or Courts of Justice belonging,
and to remove the fame without the Consent of the
Council ; and that all Judges of the Inferior Courts
of Common Pleas, Commiflioners of Oyer and Ter
miner, the Attorney General Sheriffs, Provosts Mar
foals, Justices, and other Officers so appointed by
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