CHAPTER VI.

The colony exercises sovereignty in external affairsConfederates with Connecticut, Newhaven, and Plymouth - Terms of Confederation - Effects of it in America-Commissioners of the united colonies receive a diplomatic agent from Acadie, and the GovernorGeneral of Canada sends an envoy to the Swedish Governor on the Delaware, and negociates with the Dutch on the Hudson-Massachusetts coins moneyState of the colony-Parliament exempts New England from taxes-The people resolve not to ask favours of Parliament-Decline to send delegates to the Assembly of Ministers at Westminster-Sir Harry Vane advocates their cause-Parliament exempts them from certain duties-Prerogative claims-Sole control of coloniesSketch of its origin-Idea of navigation laws, suggested by James I.-General Court calls in the aid of the elders, and deliberates on the subject of parliamentary control, and refuses to submit-They remonstrate with the House of Commons, and obtain a favourable answer.

WE have now arrived at a period in the history of this little commonwealth in which we may clearly

trace the origin of the federal union of the several states of the great republic. We have shown that the people maintained that their institutions were established by the free consent, and for the benefit of all; that the country was their own, and that no man had a right to enter it without their permission; that they had full and ample power of governing, by men chosen from among themselves, according to such laws as they should see fit to enact, provided that they were not repugnant to those of England; that they held the keys of the territory; were entitled to prescribe terms of naturalization to all noviciates; and further that they were only subject to the King according to the Charter, and not otherwise. In short, they insisted that to all intents and purposes they were independent, except as restrained by the terms of their compact. This claim was illustrated by their acts; hitherto they had sustained it by the manner in which they managed their internal affairs. In one or two instances, as we have seen, they showed a disposition to exert external sovereignty also. This intention was now boldly avowed and openly acted upon; Massachusetts this year (19th May, 1643) entered into "a firm and perpetual league,' offensive and defensive, with the provinces of Plymouth, Connecticut, and Newhaven, under the designation of the United Colonies of New England. All these were rigidly Puritanical.

Rhode Island was rejected under the plausible pretext of being within the jurisdiction of Plymouth, but in reality because she indulged the inhabitants with more toleration in religious opinions than Massachusetts approved.

The substance of the agreement is as follows:* "Each colony to retain a distinct and separate jurisdiction; no two to join in one jurisdiction without the consent of the whole; and no other to be received into the confederacy without the like

consent.

Upon notice from three magistrates of any colony of an invasion, the rest shall immediately send aid-Massachusetts one hundred, and each of the rest forty-five men; and if a greater number be necessary, the Commissioners to meet and determine upon it. Two delegates from each Government, being Church members, to meet annually the first Monday in September, the first meeting to be held at Boston, then at Hartford, Newhaven and Plymouth, and so yearly, in that order, saving that two sittings successively be held at Boston. All matters wherein six shall agree to be binding upon the whole; but if the majority be under that number, the matter in question to be referred to the General Court, and not to be obligatory unless the whole agree to it.

*See Hutchinson, vol. 1, p. 124.

"A President for preserving order to be chosen by the Commissioners annually out of their number.

"The Commissioners shall have power to establish laws or rules of a civil nature, and of general concern for the conduct of the inhabitants, viz., relative to their behaviour towards the Indians, to fugitives from one colony to another, and the like.

"No colony to engage in war, except upon a sudden exigency, and in that case to be avoided as much as possible, without the consent of the whole.

"If a meeting be summoned upon any extraordinary occasion, and the whole number of Commissioners do not assemble, any four who shall meet may determine upon a war, when the case will not admit of a delay, and send for the proportion of men agreed upon out of each jurisdiction, but not less than six shall determine the justice of the war, or have power to settle bills of exchange, or make levies for the same.

"If a colony break an article of the agreement, or any way injure another, the matter shall be considered and determined by the Commissioners of the other provinces."

The unity of action obtained by this treaty, the respect the Court of Commissioners maintained and enforced, not only within their own juris

diction, but with their French, Dutch, and Indian neighbours, and the weight and influence they enjoyed among all the inhabitants of this continent, first suggested the Congress, and then the Federal Government of the present day.

It was a bold step to take without the assent of a higher authority, but the intestine troubles of England left her but little time to inquire into matters that sank into insignificance, when compared with the momentous struggles in which she was engaged, and it was suffered to pass either without notice or without rebuke.

This union subsisted until 1686, and presented a great obstacle in the way of adjusting every dispute between the mother country and the colonies, as the Commissioners ever counselled a firm opposition to what they called prerogative encroachment. When disobedience was unsafe, they recommended delay; and when remonstrance was unavailing, they advised resistance. But they never ceased to deny the rights, and impugn the motives of the parent State, ungraciously regarding concessions as marks of weakness, and perversely constructing every refusal into an act of despotism. It mainly contributed to foster the feelings that subsequently ripened into rebellion. It illustrated the vast power of numbers and unity, the advantage that disaffection derives from centralization, and the easy and simple