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Show 74- R H 0 D E I S L A N D. at the expiration of the year be excluded from his office, the only thing perhaps which he has to fub~ft upon. Were t.he judges to aCt with impartiality, and to dectde a caufe to the preJUdice or di!advantage of any great or popular lea~er, they ~ould probably never be re-eleCted; indeed, ~hey are mcapable ~n general of determining the merits of a [Ult, for they are exceedingly illiterate, and, where they have nothing to make them partial, are managed almofi: intirely by th_e lawyers.. In fhort, to give an idea of the wretched ftate of thts colony, I~ has. happened more than once, that a perfon has had fuffiCient mfluence to procure a frefh emiffion of paper-money, folely to defraud his creditors: for having perh~ps borrowed a confiderable fum of money, when the difFerence of exchange has been 1 zoo per cent. he has afterward, under fanCl.ion of the law,. repaid only the fame nominal fum in new currency, when the difference has amounted perhaps to 2500 per cent.-Such alas l is the fituation and charaCl.er of this colony. It is needlefs, after this, to obferve that it is in a very declining 11::ate; for it is 'impoffible that it fhould profper under fuch abufes. Its Weft Indian trade has diminifhed; owing indeed, in fome meafure,. to the other colonies having entered more largely into th1s lucrative branch of commerce : it has loft during the war, by the enemy, above 150 veffels: its own privateers, and it has generally had a great many, have had very ill fuccefs: having_ kept up a regiment of provincial troops, it has alfo been loaded with taxes, and mapy of the people have been oppreffed by the. and probably with better reafon, to forbid it; nothing could excufe the cor .. rupt and mercenary fpirit of thofe governors, who prefumed to connive at and encourage it.-The honorable Francis Fauquier, lieutenant-governor of Virginia, who, amongfr fame few others, never could be prevailed upon to countenance it, refufed at one time an offer of near 2001. for the grant of a. permit to make a fmgle voyage. mode P R 0 V I D E N C E. mo. de of collecting them ·· for , the allembl y h av·m g d eter-m~ ned the quota of each townlhip, the inhabitants have been afi~ffed by the town-council~, confil1::ing of the affi11::ants refidwg there, the jufl:ices of the town, and a few freeholders ele~ed ~nnual_ly by tbe freemen; and thefe have been generally partta~ 1!1. their affeffments, as mufi: neceffarily happen under a combmat10n o_f fuch circuml1::ances.--After having faid fo ~n.uch. to the ~tfadv~ntage of this colony, I iliould be guilty of Inju{hce and Ingratttude1 were I not to declare that there are many worthy gentlemen in it, who fee the misfortunes of their country, and lament them; who are fenfible that ·they arife ~rom the wretched nature of the government, and wilh to have It altered; who are courteous and polite; kind and hofpitable .to {hangers ; and capable of great acts of generofity and goodnef~, as I myfelf experienced during a very fevere fit of illnefs whtch ~ l~y under at this place.-The paper-money here is as bad as It IS pofli ble to be; the difference of exchange being at leafi: 2 soo per cent. T~e 4th of Se~tember I .took leave of Newport, and having crofied over the nver at Bnl1::ol-ferry, where it is about a mile broad, and two other inconfiderable ferries, I arrived in the evening at Providence. This is the chief town of what was formerly called P.!'ovidence Plantation in N arraganfct, and is at pre[! nt the fccond confiderable town in the province of Rhode * Eath t~wnfhip is managed by a town-council, coniilting of the affiltants who rertde 111 the town, the jultices of the town, and fix freeholders chofen an.n ually by the freemen of the town ,· the maJ·or !>art of the m J· s a quorum, wtth f~ll power to manage the. afFairs and interell: of the town to which they re(p~cbvely belong, to grant llcences to public houfes; and are a probateoffice for ~roving wills, and granting adminiltration, with appeal to governor ~md councd, as fupr eme ordinary. Douglas's Summary, vol. ii. p. s5• L 2 Iiland. 75 |