Had the late reigns, before the accession of the great William and Mary, to the throne of England, but taken the measures of them, and her present majesty, in depressing vice, and advancing the union and wealth, and encouraging the prowice and bravery of the nation, they might by this time have been capable to have given laws to any monarch on earth; but spending their time in the pursuit of an absolute monarchy (contrary to the temper of the nation, and the ancient constitution of the government) through all the meanders of state craft: It has apparently kept back the glory, and dampt all the most noble affairs of the nation. And when under the midwifry of Machiavilan art, and cunning of a daring prince, this MONSTER, tyranny, and arbitrary government, was at last just born, upon the holding up of a finger! or upon the least signal given, ON the whole nation goes upon this HYDRA.

The very name of an arbitrary government is ready to put an Englishman's blood into a fermentation; but when it really comes, and shakes its whip over their ears, and tells them it is their master, it makes them stark mad; and being of a memical genius, and inclined to follow the court mode, they turn arbitrary too.

That some writers, who have observed the governments and humors of nations, thus distinguish the English:

The emperor (say they) is the king of kings, the king of Spain is the king of men, the king of France the king of asses, and the king of England the king of devils; for that the English nation can never be bridled, and rid by an arbitrary prince. Neither can any chains put on by dispotic and arbitrary measures hold these legions. . . . to conclude this plea, I find not amongst all the catalogues of heroes or worthy things in the English empire, peers to these undertakers; therefore we must needs range them with the arbitrary princes of the earth, (such as the great Czar or Ottoman monarch) who have no other rule to govern by, but their own will. . . .

John Wise, The Churches Quarrel Espoused (Boston, 1772), No. ii, 147148.

Dummer was a minister in New England, but later entered into English politics. He was agent of Massachusetts in England from 1710 to 1721. This is the most famous statement of the rights of the colonies in this period. - Bibliography: Tyler, American Literature, II, 116-120; Palfrey, New England, IV, 277-580 passim; J. A. Doyle, English in America, Puritan Colonies, II, 371-372; Channing and Hart, Guide, § 130. For previous discussions of charters, see Contemporaries, I, Nos. 67, 105 109, 114, 116, 135.

THE

The 2d Charge in the Bill against the Charter Governments, that they have

exercis'd arbi

trary Power, answer'd.

HE other Charge in the Bill is, That they have exercis'd arbitrary Power. If this be aim'd at the Proprietary Governments, which however I don't accuse, I have nothing to say, but am sure that the Charter Governments stand clear of it. The Thing speaks loudly for itself. For in the Governments, where there are Charters, and those Charters entire, all Officers Civil and Military are elected by the People, and that annually; than which Constitution nothing under Heaven can be a stronger Barrier against arbitrary Rule. For should it be allow'd, that the People, corrupted or deceiv'd, might instead of wise Magistrates chuse Tyrants and Oppressors to Lord over them one Year; yet it can't be imagin'd, that after they have felt the Smart of it, they will do so the next. Nor can there be a greater Obligation on the Rulers themselves to administer Justice, than that their Election depends on it the next Year. Hence the frequent Choice of Magistrates has bin ever a main Pillar, upon which all who have aim'd at Freedom in their Schemes of Government, have depended.

AS the Reason is incontestable, so the Fact is apparent, that these Governments, far from retrenching the Liberty of the Subject, have improv'd it in some important Articles, which the Circumstances of Things in Great Britain perhaps don't require, or won't easily admit.

To instance in a few; There has bin from the beginning an Office erected by Law in every County, where all Conveyances of Land are enter'd at large, after the Grantors have first acknowledg'd them before a Justice of Peace; by which means much Fraud is prevented, no Person being able to sell his Estate twice, or take up more Money upon it than it's worth. Provision has likewise bin made for the Security of the Life and Property of the Subject in the Matter of Juries, who are

not return'd by the Sherriff of the County, but are chosen by the Inhabitants of the Town a convenient Time before the sitting of the Courts. And this Election is under the most exact Regulation, in Order to prevent Corruption, so far as Humane Prudence can do it. It must be noted, that Sherriffs in the Plantations are comparatively but little Officers, and therefore not to be trusted as here, where they are Men of ample Fortunes. And yet even here such flagrant Corruptions have bin found in returning Juries by Sherriffs, that the House of Commons thought it necessary in their last Session to amend the Law in this Point, and pass'd a Bill for choosing them by Ballot.

REDRESS in their Courts of Law is easy, quick, and cheap. All Processes are in English, and no special Pleadings or Demurrers are admitted, but the general Issue is always given, and special Matters brought in Evidence; which saves Time and Expence; and in this Case a Man is not liable to lose his Estate for a Defect in Form, nor is the Merit of the Cause made to depend on the Niceties of Clerkship. By a Law of the Country no Writ may be abated for a circumstantial Error, such as a slight Mis-nomer or any Informality. And by another Law, it is enacted, that every Attorney taking out a Writ from the Clerk's Office, shall indorse his Sirname upon it, and be liable to pay to the adverse Party his Costs and Charges in Case of Non-Prosecution or Discontinuance, or that the Plaintiff be Non-suit, or Judgment pass against him. And it is provided in the same Act, That if the Plaintiff shall suffer a Nonsuit by the Attorney's mis-laying the Action, he shall be oblig'd to draw a new Writ without a Fee, in case the Party shall see fit to revive the Suit. I can't but think that every Body, except Gentlemen of the long Robe and the Attornies, will think this a wholesome Law, and well calculated for the Benefit of the Subject. For the quicker Dispatch of Causes, Declarations are made Parts of the Writ, in which the Case is fully and particularly set forth. If it be matter of Account, the Account is annex'd to the Writ, and Copies of both left with the Defendant; which being done Fourteen Days before the Sitting of the Court, he is oblig'd to plead directly, and the Issue is then try'd. Whereas by the Practice of the Court of King's Bench, Three or Four Months Time is often lost after the Writ is serv'd, before the Cause can be brought to Issue.

NOR are the People of New-England oppress'd with the infinite Delays and Expence that attend the Proceedings in Chancery, where both Parties are often ruin'd by the Charge and Length of the Suit. But as

in all other Countries, England only excepted, Jus & Æquum are held the same, and never divided; so it is there: A Power of Chancery being vested in the Judges of the Courts of Common Law as to some particular Cases, and they make equitable Constructions in Others. I must add, that the Fees of Officers of all sorts are setled by Acts of Assembly at moderate Prices, for the Ease of the Subject.

IT were easy to mention other Articles, but that I persuade my self it is needless. The Charter Governments are celebrated for their excellent Laws and mild Administration; for the Security of Liberty and Property; for the Encouragement of Vertue, and Suppression of Vice; for the promoting Letters, by erecting Free-Schools and Colleges; and in one Word, for every Thing that can make a People happy and prosperous. To these Arts it is owing, that New-England, though she has attain'd but little more than the Age of a Man, with all the Disadvantages under which she labours in respect to her Trade and Climate, and almost a perpetual Indian War, has hitherto flourish'd far above any other of the Plantations.

THIS being the Case of the Charter Governments, let us turn the Tables, and see how it far'd with them when in an evil Reign they lost their Charters. Then the Governour of New-England with Four or Five Strangers of his Council, Men of desperate Fortunes, and bad if any Principles, made what Laws, and levy'd what Taxes they pleas'd on the People. They, without an Assembly, rais'd a Penny in the Pound on all the Estates in the Country, and another Penny on all imported Goods, besides Twenty Pence per Head as Poll Money, and an immoderate Excise on Wine, Rum, and other Liquors. Several worthy Persons, having in an humble Address represented this Proceeding as a Grievance, were committed to the common Jail for a High Misdemanour; deny'd the Benefit of the Habeas Corpus Act; try'd out of their own County; fin'd exorbitantly, and oblig'd to pay 160l. for Fees, when the Prosecution would hardly have cost them so many Shillings in Great Britain. And to compleat the Oppression, when they upon their Tryal claim'd the Privileges of Englishmen, they were scoffingly told, Those Things would not follow them to the Ends of the Earth. Unnatural Insult! must the brave Adventurer, who with the Hazard of his Life and Fortune, seeks out new Climates to inrich his Mother Country, be deny'd those common Rights, which his Countrymen enjoy at Home in Ease and Indolence? Is he to be made miserable, and a Slave by his own Acquisitions? Is the Labourer alone unworthy of his Hire, and

shall they only reap, who have neither sow'd nor planted? Monstrous Absurdity! Horrid inverted Order!

THESE Proceedings, however Arbitrary and Oppressive, were but the Prelude: The Catastrophe was, if possible, yet more dismal. Having invaded their Liberties, by an easy Transition the next Attack was directly on their Properties. Their Title to their Lands was absolutely deny'd by the Governour and his Creatures upon two Pretences: One, that their Conveyances were not according to the Law of England; the Other, that if they might be thought to have had something like a Title formerly, yet it now ceas'd by the Revocation of their Charters. So that they who had fairly purchas'd their Lands, and held them in quiet Possession for above Fifty Years, were now oblig'd to accept new Deeds from the Governour, and pay for them a third Part of their Value, in order to ascertain their Titles, or otherwise they would be seiz'd for the Crown. . . A 5th Objection, that the Charter

Colonies will grow great and formidable, answer'd.

THERE is one Thing more I have heard often urg'd against the Charter Colonies, and indeed 'tis what one meets with from People of all Conditions and Qualities, tho' with due respect to their better Judgments, I can see neither Reason nor Colour for it. 'Tis said, that their encreasing Numbers and Wealth join'd to their great Distance from Britain will give them an Opportunity in the Course of some Years to throw off their Dependance on the Nation, and declare themselves a free State, if not curb'd in Time by being made entirely subject to the Crown. Whereas in Truth there's no Body tho' but little acquainted with these or any of the Northern Plantations, who does not know and confess, that their Poverty and the declining State of their Trade is so great at present, that there's far more Danger of their sinking, without some extraordinary Support from the Crown, than of their ever revolting from it. So that I may say without being ludicrous, that it would not be more absurd to place two of His Majesty's Beef-Eaters to watch an Infant in the Cradle that it don't rise and cut its Father's Throat, than to guard these weak Infant Colonies to prevent their shaking off the British Yoke. Besides, they are so distinct from one another in their Forms of Government, in their Religious Rites, in their Emulation of Trade, and consequently in their Affections, that they can never be suppos'd to unite in so dangerous an Enterprize. It is for this Reason I have often wondered to hear some Great Men profess their Belief of the Feasibleness of it, and the Probability of it's some Time or other