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Show 8o M A S S A C 'H U S E T S - B A Y. :attention and care in houfing the G1eep, and guarding them againfl: accidents, and , wild beafl:s, which \~ould not e_afily be compenfated, it would be very ditncult to mcr~a(e the1r n~mbers to any great amount. The Americans feem co_n ~c~ous of this faCt, and, notwith!l:anding a very fevere proh1blt10n, contrive to procure from England, every year, a confiderable number of rams, in order to improve and multiply the breed. What the lands beyond the Alleghenny and upon the banks of the Ohio may be, I do not know ; they are faid to be very rich: but the climate I believe is not lefs fevere; and I think, upon collating different accounts, that the feverity of heat and cold is not much abated by cultivation. The air becomes dryer and more wh~lefome, in proportion as the woods are cut down, and the ground is cleared and cultivated; but the cold is not lefs piercing, nor the fnow lefs frequent. I think therefore upon the whole, that America, though it may with par. ticular care and attention, produce fmall quantities of tolerably good wool, will yet never be able to produce it in fuch plenty and of fuch a quality as to ferve for the nece!fary confumption of its inhabitants . The government of this province is lodged in the hands of a governor or lieutenant-governor, appointed by the king; a council of twenty-eight perfons, chofen annually, with the governors approbation, by the general alrembly ~.t; and a houfe of reprefentatives t annually elected by the freeholders. The ,.., They are chofen by the new reprefentatives, and the lafl: year's counfcl] ors; fo that each coun!"ellor has a vote in his own re-eleCtion. The governor has a negative to every counfellor's election, without being obliged to affign a rea fan. t Each reprefentative mufl: be refidcnt in the towniliip for which he is tleCtcd; he mufl: alfo have a plurality of votes refpeeting the number of voters, and not in compariron only of the other candidates; he is paid for his attend.~ nce and Cervices, cHld fubjeet to a fJne if he neg ech them, governor M A S 'S A C H U S E T S - B A Y. governor commi111ons all the militia, and other military officers; and, with confent of the council, alfo nominates and appoints all civil ofi1cers, except thofe th at are concerned ill the revenue. He calls and acijourns the aficmb1y, and has in every refpetl a very exteniive authority.. His faLry, with perquifltes, a'mounts to about I 3001. !l:erling per _' ear. The governor and council tGgether have the pro ' ate of wills, and the power of granting admini!l:rations and divorces. There are feveral ,courts CJf judicature. All atl:ions under twenty ihillings fierling are cognizable by a jull:ice of peace~ fro n whofe determination there lies an appei11 to the inferior county-com:t of ·common .... plcas; and from hLnce to the fuperior provincial court in its circuits, which is alfo a court of oyer and terminer in criminal affairs, and is held by a chief ju!l:ice and fome al11i1:ant judges. In this court, if the determination is not fatisfatl:ory, a rehearing of the cau[c may be had with a difFerent jury*; and even, by petition to the gen eral affembly, a fecond rehearing: the dernier refort is to his majelty in council, but this on] y in cafes of 3 oo 1. fierling value: and the appeal mufi: be made within fourteen days after judgment. The e(labliilied religion here, as in aU the other province., of New England, is that of the congregationali(ls; a religion, different in [ome trifling articles, though none very material, from the prefbyterian. There are, beGdes thefe however, great numbers of people of diff~rent pcrfuafions, particularly of the religion of the church of England; which feems to gain ground, and to become more faG1ionable every day. A church has been lately eretl:ed at Cambridge, within fight of the college ; which has greatly alarmed the cong regationalills, who confider .it as the mo!l: fatal {lroke, that could poffibly l1ave been levelled at their religion. The building is degan , .'If Juries are, I believe, appointed partly by lot, and partly by rotation. ~ and Sr |
