Council, of any such notorious Misdemeanors by them committed, as aforesaid; And also upon any insolent, and contemptuous, or indecent Carriage and Misbehaviour, to or against our said Council, shewed or used by any such Person or Persons, so called, convented, and appearing before them, as aforesaid; That in all such Cases, they, our said Council, or any two of them, for the time being, shall and may have full Power and Authority, either here to bind them over with good Sureties for their good Behaviour, and further therein to proceed, to all Intents and Purposes, as it is used, in other like Cases, within our Realm of England; Or else, at their Discretions, to remand and send back, the said Offenders, or any of them, unto the said Colony in Virginia, there to be proceeded against and punished, as the Governor, Deputy, or Council there . . . shall think meet; or otherwise, according to such Laws and Ordinances, as are and shall be in Use there, for the Well-ordering and good Government of the said Colony.

XVI. AND for the more effectual Advancing of the said Plantation, we do further . . . GIVE and GRANT, unto the said Treasurer and Company, full Power and Authority, free Leave, Liberty, and Licence, to set forth, erect, and publish, one or more Lottery or Lotteries, to have Continuance . . . for the Space of our [one] whole Year, next after the Opening of the same; And after the End and Expiration of the said Term, the said Lottery or Lotteries to continue and be further kept, during our Will and Pleasure only, and not otherwise. . . .

XVII. AND our further Will and Pleasure is, that the said Lottery and Lotteries shall and may be opened and held, within our City of London, or in any other City or Town, or elsewhere, within this our Realm of England, with such Prizes, Articles, Conditions, and Limitations, as to them, the said Treasurer and Company, in their Discretions, shall seem convenient:

XX. AND further, our Will and Pleasure is, that in all Questions and Doubts, that shall arise, upon any Difficulty of Construction or Interpretation of any Thing, contained in these, or any other our former Letters-patents, the same shall be taken and interpreted, in most ample and beneficial Manner for the said

Treasurer and Company, and their Successors, and every Member thereof.

XXI. AND lastly, we do, by these Presents, RATIFY AND CONFIRM unto the said Treasurer and Company, and their Successors, for ever, all and all Manner of Privileges, Franchises, Liberties, Immunities, Preheminences, Profits, and Commodities, whatsoever, granted unto them in any our former Letters-patents, and not in these Presents revoked, altered, changed, or abridged.

THE Mayflower Compact, drawn up on shipboard, was intended not only as a basis for the government of the colony in the absence of a patent, but also, according to Bradford, as an offset to the "discontented and mutinous speeches" of some of the company, to the effect that when they landed "they would use their own liberty; for none had power to command them, the p tent they had being for Virginia, and not for New England, which belonged to another government, with which the Virginia Company had nothing to do." REFERENCES. Text in Bradford's History of Plymouth Plantation, Mass. Hist. Coll., Fourth Series, III., 89, 90. Bradford does not give a list of signers. On the early history of the Plymouth Colony, see Mourt's Relation (Dexter's ed., 1865); Morton's New England Memorial; Young's Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers, 1602-1625; Arber's Story of the Pilgrim Fathers. The laws of the colony, 1623–1682, are in the Plymouth Colony Records, XI.

In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are underwritten, the loyall subjects of our dread soveraigne Lord, King James, .. haveing undertaken, for the glorie of God, and advancemente of the Christian faith, and honour of our king & countrie, a voyage to plant the first colonie in the Northerne parts of Virginia, doe by these presents solemnly & mutualy in the presence of God, and one of another, covenant & combine our selves togeather into a civill body politick, for our better ordering & preservation & furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by vertue hearof to enacte, constitute, and frame such just & equall lawes, ordinances, acts, constitutions, & offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meete & convenient for the generall good of the Colonie, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. .

No. 5. Ordinance for Virginia

July 24/August 3, 1621

THE first assembly in Virginia, and the first representative assembly in America, was convened July 30/Aug. 9, 1619, by Governor Yeardley, under authority of a commission executed by the Virginia Company in November, 1618; and the ordinance of 1621, probably of similar tenor, granted to the colony for the future the same form of government. The model here outlined was closely followed by the later English colonies.

REFERENCES. Text in Stith's History of Virginia (Sabin's ed., 1865), Appendix IV. The records of the assembly of 1619 are in Hening's Statutes at Large, I. The "Orders and Constitutions" of 1619-1620 are in Force's Tracts, III. See also W. W. Henry's First Legislative Assembly in America, in Report of Amer. Hist. Assoc., 1893, pp. 301-316; Brown's First Republic in America, 308-324.

An Ordinance and Constitution of the Treasurer, Council, and Company in England, for a Council of State and General Assembly.

I. To all People, to whom these Presents shall come, be seen, or heard, The Treasurer, Council, and Company of Adventurers and Planters for the city of London for the first Colony of Virginia, send Greeting. KNOW YE, that we . . . have thought fit to make our Entrance, by ordering and establishing such Supreme Councils, as may not only be assisting to the Governor for the time being, in the Administration of Justice, and the Executing of other Duties to this Office belonging, but also, by their vigilant Care and Prudence, may provide, as well for a Remedy of all Inconveniences, growing from time to time, as also for the advancing of Increase, Strength, Stability, and Prosperity of the said Colony:

II. WE therefore . . . by Authority directed to us from his Majesty under the Great Seal, upon Mature Deliberation, do hereby order and declare, that, from hence forward, there shall be Two SUPREME COUNCILS in Virginia, for the better Government of the said Colony aforesaid.

III. THE one of which Councils, to be called THE COUNCIL OF STATE (and whose Office shall chiefly be assisting, with their

Care, Advice, and Circumspection, to the said Governor) shall be chosen, nominated, placed, and displaced, from time to time, by Us, the said Treasurer, Council, and Company, and our Successors: Which Council of State shall consist, for the present, only of these persons, as are here inserted, viz. Sir Francis Wyat, Governor of Virginia, Captain Francis West, Sir George Yeardley, Knight, Sir William Neuce, Knight Marshal of Virginia, Mr. George Sandys, Treasurer, Mr. George Thorpe, Deputy of the College, Captain Thomas Neuce, Deputy for the Company, Mr. Pawlet, Mr. Leech, Captain Nathaniel Powel, Mr. Christopher Davison, Secretary, Dr. Pots, Physician to the Company, Mr. Roger Smith, Mr. John Berkeley, Mr. John Rolfe, Mr. Ralph Hamer, Mr. John Pountis, Mr. Michael Lapworth, Mr. Harwood, Mr. Samuel Macock. Which said Counsellors and Council we earnestly pray and desire, and in his Majesty's Name strictly charge and command, that (all Factions, Partialities, and sinister Respect laid aside (they bend their Care and Endeavours to assist the said Governor; first and principally, in the Advancement of the Honour and Service of God, and the Enlargement of his Kingdom amongst the Heathen People; and next, in erecting of the said Colony in due Obedience to his Majesty, and all lawful Authority from his Majesty's Directions; and lastly, in maintaining the said People in Justice and Christian Conversation amongst themselves, and in Strength and Ability to withstand their Enemies. And this Council, to be always, or for the most Part, residing about or near the Governor.

IV. THE other Council, more generally to be called by the Governor, once Yearly, and no oftener, but for very extraordinary and important Occasions, shall consist, for the present, of the said Council of State, and of two Burgesses out of every Town, Hundred, or other particular Plantation, to be respectively chosen by the Inhabitants: Which Council shall be called THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, wherein (as also in the said Council of State) all Matters shall be decided, determined, and ordered, by the greater Part of the Voices then present; reserving to the Governor always a Negative Voice. And this General Assembly shall have free Power to treat, consult, and conclude, as well of all emergent Occasions concerning the Publick Weal of the said Colony and every Part thereof, as also to make, ordain, and enact such gen

eral Laws and Orders, for the Behoof of the said Colony, and the good Government thereof, as shall, from time to time, appear necessary or requisite;

V. WHEREAS in all other Things, we require the said General Assembly, as also the said Council of State, to imitate and follow the Policy of the Form of Government, Laws, Customs, and Manner of Trial, and other Administration of Justice, used in the Realm of England, as near as may be, even as ourselves, by his Majesty's Letters Patent are required.

VI. PROVIDED, that no Law or Ordinance, made in the said General Assembly, shall be or continue in Force or Validity, unless the same shall be solemnly ratified and confirmed, in a General Quarter Court of the said Company here in England, and so ratified, be returned to them under our Seal; It being our Intent to afford the like Measure also unto the said Colony, that after the Government of the said Colony shall once have been well framed, and settled accordingly . . . and the same shall have been so by us declared, no Orders of Court afterwards shall bind the said Colony, unless they be ratified in like Manner in the General Assemblies.

THE attempt of the Dorchester Adventurers to establish a colony on Cape Ann, in 1623, as a base for fishing operations, failed; but there were a few scattered settlements in the region of Massachusetts Bay when, March 19/29, 1627/8, a grant for a land and trading company was obtained from the Council for New England. The patent was confirmed, with the addition of powers of government, by the royal charter of March 4/14, 1628/9. A local government, known as "London's Plantation in Massachusetts Bay in New England," was established at Salem, under the direction of John Endicott. In 1630 the charter and government of the colony were transferred to America, and the local government under Endicott was discontinued. The charter remained in force until 1684, when it was annulled by writ of scire facias. REFERENCES. Text in Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, I., 3-19. The grant of 1627/8 is recited in the charter. Important contemporary documents and accounts are