Part 23

And whereas great Frauds and Abuses have been committed in the purchasing Lands of the Indians, to the great Prejudice of Our Interests, and to the great Dissatisfaction of the said Indians; in order therefore to prevent such Irregularities for the future, and to the End that the Indians may be convinced of Our Justice, and determined Resolution to remove all reasonable Cause of Discontent, We do, with the Advice of Our Privy Council, strictly enjoin and require, that no private Person do presume to make any Purchase from the said Indians of any Lands reserved to the said Indians, within those Parts of Our Colonies where We have thought proper to allow Settlement; but that if, at any Time, any of the said Indians should be inclined to dispose of the said Lands, the same shall be purchased only for Us, in Our Name, at some publick Meeting or Assembly of the said Indians to be held for that Purpose by the Governor or Commander in Chief of Our Colonies respectively, within which they shall lie: and in case they shall lie within the Limits of any Proprietary Government, they shall be purchased only for the Use and in the Name of such Proprietaries, conformable to such Directions and Instructions as We or they shall think proper to give for that Purpose: And We do, by the Advice of Our Privy Council, declare and enjoin, that the Trade with the said Indians shall be free and open to all our Subjects whatever; provided that every Person, who may incline to trade with the said Indians, do take out a Licence for carrying on such Trade from the Governor or Commander in Chief of any of Our Colonies respectively, where such Person shall reside; and also give Security to observe such Regulations as We shall at any Time think fit, by Ourselves or by Our Commissaries to be appointed for this Purpose, to direct and appoint for the Benefit of the said Trade; And We do hereby authorize, enjoin, and require the Governors and Commanders in Chief of all Our Colonies respectively, as well Those under Our immediate Government as those under the Government and Direction of Proprietaries, to grant such Licences without Fee or Reward, taking especial Care to insert therein a Condition, that such Licence shall be void, and the Security forfeited, in Case the Person, to whom the same is granted, shall refuse or neglect to observe such Regulations as We shall think proper to prescribe as aforesaid.

And We do further expressly enjoin and require all Officers whatever, as well Military as those employed in the Management and Direction of Indian Affairs within the Territories reserved as aforesaid for the Use of the said Indians, to seize and apprehend all Persons whatever, who, standing charged with Treasons, Misprisions of Treason, Murders, or other Felonies or Misdemeanors, shall fly from Justice, and take Refuge in the said Territory, and to send them under a proper Guard to the Colony where the Crime was committed of which they stand accused, in order to take their Tryal for the same.

Given at Our Court at St. James's, the Seventh Day of October, One thousand seven hundred and sixty three, in the Third Year of Our Reign.

GOD SAVE THE KING.

London: Printed by Mark Baskett, Printer to the King's most Excellent Majesty; and by the Assigns of Robert Baskett. 1763.

_1 p. folio. Copies in Antiq., and P. C.; also in Mass. State Archives, and John Carter Brown Library. Entered on Patent Rolls; entered in Privy Council Register, III Geo., vol. 3, p. 102. Printed in "London Gazette," October 8, 1763, and in several of the colonial newspapers, as the "Providence Gazette," December 17, 1763; also in the "Annual Register," vi, 208, Knox, "New Collection of Voyages," 1767, ii, 265, and elsewhere._

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Text of treaty can be consulted in Chalmers' _Collection of Treaties_, i, 467.

[2] The events leading up to the issuing of this proclamation have been so thoroughly treated in C. W. Alvord's "Genesis of the Proclamation of 1763" in _Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections_, vol. xxxvi, p. 20, and in C. E. Carter's _Great Britain and the Illinois Country_ (Prize Essay of the Amer. Hist. Assoc., 1910) that any explanatory notes in this place seem unnecessary.

[3] _Nipissim_ in proclamation as printed in the _London Gazette_.

1764, March 26.

[Colonizing Granada and other Islands.]

BY THE KING.

A PROCLAMATION.

GEORGE R.

Whereas We have taken into Our Consideration, the great Benefit which will arise to the Commerce of Our Kingdoms and the Interests of Our Subjects, from the speedy Settlement of Our Islands of Grenada, the Grenadines, Dominica, St. Vincent, and Tobago. We do therefore think fit, with the Advice of Our Privy Council, to issue this Our Royal Proclamation to publish and declare to Our loving Subjects, that We have, with the Advice of Our said Privy Council, given the necessary Powers and Directions for an immediate Survey and Division into proper Parishes and Districts, of such of the said Islands as have not hitherto been so surveyed and divided, and for laying out such Lands in the said Islands, as are in Our Power to dispose of, into Allotments for Plantations of different Size and Extent, according as the Nature of the Land shall be more or less adapted to the Growth of Sugar, Coffee, Cocoa, Cotton, or other Articles of beneficial Culture, reserving to Us, Our Heirs, and Successors, such Parts of the said Islands as shall be necessary for erecting Fortifications thereon, and for all other military Purposes, for Glebes for Ministers, Allotments for Schoolmasters, for Woodlands, High Roads, and all other publick Purposes; and also reserving such Lands in Our Islands of Dominica and St. Vincent, as, at the Time of the Surrender of those Islands, were and still are in the Possession of the French Inhabitants of those Islands, which Lands, it is Our Will and Pleasure should be granted to such of the said Inhabitants as shall be inclined to accept the same, upon Leases for Terms absolute, or for renewable Terms, upon certain Conditions and under proper Restrictions. And We do hereby further publish and declare, that the Allotments for Plantations in Our Islands of Grenada, the Grenadines, Tobago, and St. Vincent, shall contain to Three Hundred Acres, with some few Allotments in each Island of Five Hundred Acres; and that the Allotments in Our Island of Dominica, which is represented to be not so well adapted to the Cultivation of Sugar, and which from its Situation requires in Policy to be well peopled with White Inhabitants, shall be in general from Fifty to One Hundred Acres.

And whereas We have thought fit to declare to Our Parliament at the Opening of the present Session, Our Gracious Intention of reserving for the publick Use, whatever Sums shall be produced by the Sale of any of the Lands belonging to Us in the Islands of the West Indies, which were ceded to Us by the late Treaty; We do further publish and declare, that when these Allotments, or a sufficient Part of them, shall have been laid out, the same shall be set up to Sale by Auction, at a Price per Acre, to be fixed thereon by Commissioners appointed for that Purpose, under Our Great Seal of Great Britain, who shall give publick Notice of the Time and Place of such Sale.

And We do hereby further publish and declare, that the Lands so set up to Sale by Auction, shall not be sold, but upon the following Terms, and under the following Conditions and Reservations, that is to say,

That each Purchaser shall immediately pay into the Hands of such Person as We shall appoint to receive the same, Twenty per Cent. of the whole Purchase-Money.

That the Remainder of the Purchase-Money shall be paid by different Installments, viz. Ten per Cent. within the First Year after the Purchase, Ten per Cent. more within the Second Year after such Purchase, and Twenty per Cent. within every successive Year, until the Whole is paid.

That each Purchaser of Lands which have been cleared and improved, shall, within the Space of Three Months from the Date of the Grant, settle and constantly keep upon the Lot purchased, One White Man or Two White Women for every Hundred Acres contained in the said Lot; and, in Default thereof, shall be subject to the Payment of Twenty Pounds per Annum for every White Woman, and Forty Pounds for every White Man, that shall be wanting to compleat the Number.

That the Purchaser of uncleared Lands shall clear and cultivate One Acre in every Twenty in each Year, until Half the Land so purchased shall be cleared; and, in Default thereof, shall pay Five Pounds per Annum for every Acre not cleared, pursuant to such Condition; and such Purchaser shall also be obliged to settle and constantly keep upon the Lot so purchased, One White Man or Two White Women for every Hundred Acres, as the same shall be cleared.

That each Purchaser shall, besides the Purchase-Money, be subject to the Payment of an Annual Quit-Rent to Us, Our Heirs, and Successors, of Six-pence per Acre, under the Penalty of Five Pounds per Acre upon Non-payment thereof; such Quit-Rents, in the Case of the Purchase of cleared Lands, to commence from the Date of the Grant; and the first Payment to be made at the Expiration of the First Year; and in Case of the Purchase of the uncleared Lands, such Quit-Rents to commence at the Expiration of Twelve Months from the Time each Acre is cleared.

That in Case of Failure in the Payment of the Purchase-Money in the Manner above directed, the Purchaser shall forfeit all Right to the Lands purchased.

That no Person shall purchase at any publick Sale more than Five Hundred Acres of cleared or uncleared Lands, in the Islands of Grenada, and the Grenadines, Tobago, and St. Vincent's, and in the Island of Dominica the Quantity shall be restrained to Three Hundred Acres; and in Order to enforce this necessary and essential Regulation, that a Condition shall be inserted in every Grant, to be made in Consequence of such Purchase, that in Case any Purchase shall be made contrary thereto, so that the Property of the Purchaser in the Islands where the Lands lie, shall thereby amount to more than the above Quantity respectively, the same shall be void, the Money paid thereon forfeited, and the consequential Grant of no Effect.

That all and every Purchaser of Lands, upon the foregoing Terms and Conditions, shall immediately, upon the Payment of the first Twenty per Cent. of the Purchase-Money, receive a Bill of Sale, signed by the said Commissioners, which shall entitle such Purchasers to a Grant of the said Lands, under the Seal of the Islands, containing the aforementioned Conditions and Reservations: Which said Purchase, and Grant in Consequence thereof, duly registered in the proper Offices, shall be good and valid in Law against Us, Our Heirs and Successors, unless the same shall be revoked: And We do hereby declare the same revocable by Our Commissioners of Our Treasury, or Our High Treasurer for the Time being, within Twelve Months from the Date thereof; in which Case such Purchase and Grant shall become void and of no Effect; and upon Notice of such Revocation, the said Commissioners shall return to such Purchaser the Money paid upon the Purchase, with legal Interest thereon, and reasonable Allowance for any Improvements made on the said Lands.

And whereas the Establishing Towns in proper Situations, within the said Islands, will conduce greatly to the Convenience of the Inhabitants, and the Benefit of Trade and Commerce; We have therefore thought fit, with the Advice of Our Privy Council, to direct a proper District in every Parish in each Island, to be laid out for that Purpose, into Lots for Tenements of different Size and Extent; and each Town-Lot to have a proportionate Allotment of Land contiguous to such Town, for a small Field or Pasture, allowing one Acre for every ten Foot in Front of the Town-Lot to which it is to be annexed; but no Field-Lot to exceed the Quantity of Six Acres.

And We do hereby further publish and declare, that such of these Town and Pasture-Lots, in each Island, as consist of Lands, which have been already cleared and improved, shall be set up to Sale by publick Auction, at a Price per Foot in Front of each Town-Lot, and a Price per Acre of the Field-Lot, to be fixed upon such Lot, by the said Commissioners, in like Manner as upon the Allotments for Plantations.

And We do further publish and declare, that the Lots, so set up to Sale by Auction, shall not be sold but upon the following Terms and Conditions; that is to say,

That the Purchase-Money, shall be paid in the same Proportion, by the like Installments and upon the same Conditions as are required in the Case of the Purchase of Allotments for Plantations.

That each Tenement shall be charged with the Payment of an Annual Ground-Rent to Us, Our Heirs, and Successors, of One Penny per Foot in Front, and Sixpence per Acre, for each Acre of the Field annexed to such Tenement; the said Rents to commence at the Expiration of one Year from the Date of the Purchase, and the Purchaser to be liable to the same Penalties, in Case of Failure of the Payment of the Purchase-Money, and the Ground-Rent and Quit-Rent, as We have already required in respect to the Purchase of Allotments for Plantations.

And We do further publish and declare, that the Reservations, which We have directed to be made for Town and Pasture-Lots of uncleared Lands, shall be granted in Fee Simple by Our Governor in Chief, under the Seal of the Islands, to any Persons, who will give such Security as Our Commissioners shall approve, for building on such Town-Lots within a reasonable Time, to be fixed by Our said Commissioners; and also for Inclosing, Fencing, and properly Clearing for Pasture, the Fields that shall be granted with such Tenement.

And We do further publish and declare, that We have directed that no more than one Town-Lot be granted to any one Person, and that no more than Six Acres of Pasture-Land be annexed to such Town-Lot, whatever Number of Feet in Front it shall consist of.

That each Grantee shall be obliged, under proper Penalties, to the Payment of an Annual Ground-Rent to Us, Our Heirs, and Successors, of One Penny per Foot in Front of the Town-Lot for a Tenement, and Sixpence per Acre for each Acre of the Pasture-Lot; the first Payment to be made within two Years from the Date of the Grant.

And in order the more effectually to conduce to the Peopling Our said Islands with industrious White Inhabitants, upon which their Strength and Security do essentially depend; We have thought fit, with the Advice of Our said Council, to direct a Quantity of Land, not exceeding Eight Hundred Acres, to be reserved in such Parts of every Parish in each Island respectively, as are not adapted for Sugar Plantations, for the Accommodation of poor Settlers, to be divided into Lots, of not less than Ten, not more than Thirty Acres each; And we do hereby further publish and declare, that the said Allotments are to be granted in Fee Simple, under the Seal of Our said Islands, to such poor Protestants as shall apply for the same, in Proportion to their respective Abilities to cultivate the said Lands; and subject to the following Conditions; that is to say,

That each Grantee shall, at the Expiration of four Years from the Date of the Grant, pay a Quit-Rent to Us, Our Heirs, and Successors, of Six-pence per Acre, for every Acre then cleared, and a Penalty of Two Shillings per Acre, for every Acre of Land uncleared; which said Penalty of Two Shillings per Acre shall be reduced to Six-pence per Acre, as the Land shall be cleared; and in Case of Failure of such Rent and Penalty, the Grantee shall be subject to the further Penalty of the Payment of Five Pounds for every Acre, for which such Quit-Rent shall not be paid.

That each Grantee shall enter upon and occupy the Land within Three Months from the Date of the Grant; and shall continue to occupy and improve the same, for Twelve successive Months, from the Time of such first Settlement.

That the Lands shall, for the Space of Seven Years, be unalienable by Sale, nor shall the same be let, set or assigned over during the same Term, otherwise than to the Use and Benefit of any Child or Children of such original Settler, without especial licence in Writing first had and obtained, from the Chief Governor or Commander in Chief of Our said Islands for the Time being; and in Case of Failure or Default in either of the two last mentioned Conditions, the Grant to be void.

And We do hereby further publish and declare, that all Grants made of the said Allotments for poor Settlers, as also all Grants made of Town and Pasture Lots of cleared and uncleared Lands, shall be absolute and final.

That in all Grants to be made of Allotments for Plantations and Town and Pasture Lots, and of Lands for poor Settlers, there shall be a Reservation to Us, Our Heirs, and Successors of all Mines of Gold and Silver.

And We do further publish and declare, that the first Sale of Lands shall be in the Month of June next, if the Surveys can be made so soon; due Notice of which, as also of the Place of Sale, will be given by Our Commissioners appointed as aforesaid, for the Disposal of the said Lands.

Given at Our Court at St. James's, the Twenty-sixth Day of March, One thousand seven hundred and sixty-four, in the Fourth Year of Our Reign.

GOD SAVE THE KING.

_A printed copy is noted in Crawford's "Handlist of Proclamations" as being in the Society of Antiquaries, but it could not be found by the present editor, who used the "London Gazette" as the source of his transcript. Entered on Patent Rolls, and in Crown Office Docquet Book, vol. 12; entered in Privy Council Register, III Geo., vol. 3, p. 342. Printed in "London Gazette" March 27, 1764._

1772, August 26.

[For Apprehending Destroyers of the Gaspee.]

BY THE KING.

A PROCLAMATION:

FOR THE DISCOVERING AND APPREHENDING THE PERSONS WHO PLUNDERED AND BURNT THE GASPEE SCHOONER; AND BARBAROUSLY WOUNDED AND ILL TREATED LIEUTENANT WILLIAM DUDINGSTON, COMMANDER OF THE SAID SCHOONER.

Whereas We have received Information, That upon the 10^{th} Day of June last, between the Hours of Twelve and One in the Morning, in the Providence or Narrowganset River, in Our Colony of Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations, a great Number of Persons, armed with Guns and other offensive Weapons and led by Two Persons, who were called the Captain and Head-Sheriff, in several armed Boats, attacked and Boarded Our Vessel called the Gaspee[1] Schooner, then lying at single Anchor in the said River, commanded by Our Lieutenant William Dudingston, under the Orders of Our Rear-Admiral John Montagu, and having dangerously wounded and barbarously treated the said William Dudingston, took, plundered and burnt the said Schooner: We, to the Intent that such outrageous and heinous Offenders may be discovered, and brought to condign Punishment, have thought fit, with the Advice of Our Privy Council, to issue this Our Royal Proclamation: And We are hereby graciously pleased to promise, that if any Person or Persons shall discover any other Person or Persons concerned in the said daring and heinous Offences, above mentioned, so that he or they may be apprehended and brought to Justice, such Discoverer shall have and receive, as a Reward for such Discovery, upon Conviction of each of the said Offenders, the Sum of Five Hundred Pounds. And if any Person or Persons shall discover either of the said Persons who acted as, or called themselves, or were called by their said Accomplices, the Head-Sheriff or the Captain, so that they, or either of them, may be apprehended and brought to Punishment, such Discoverer shall have and receive, as a Reward for such Discovery, upon Conviction of either of the said Persons, the further Sum of Five Hundred pounds, over and above the Sum of Five Hundred Pounds herein before promised, for the discovery and apprehending any of the other common Offenders, abovementioned; and if any Person or Persons concerned therein, except the Two Persons who were called the Head-Sheriff, and Captain, and the Person or Persons who wounded Our said Lieutenant William Dudingston, shall discover any one or more of the said Accomplices, so that he or they may be apprehended and brought to Punishment, such Discoverer shall have and receive the said Reward or Rewards of Five Hundred Pounds, or One Thousand Pounds, as the Case may be, and also Our gracious Pardon for his said Offence. And the Commissioners for executing the Office of Treasurer of Our Exchequer, are hereby required to make Payment accordingly of the said Rewards. And We do hereby strictly charge and command all Our Governors, Deputy-Governors, Magistrates, Officers, and all other Our Loving Subjects, that they do use their utmost Diligence in their several Places and Capacities, to find out, discover and apprehend the said Offenders, in Order to their being brought to Justice. And We do hereby command that this Our Proclamation be printed and published in the usual Form,[2] and affixed in the principal Places of Our Town of Newport, and other Towns in Our said Colony, that none may pretend Ignorance.

Given at Our Court at St. James's, the Twenty-Sixth Day of August, 1772, in the Twelfth Year of Our Reign.

GOD SAVE THE KING.

Printed by Solomon Southwick, Printer to the Honorable the Governor and Company of the Colony of Rhode-Island and Providence-Plantations, in New-England.

_1 p. folio. Copy in R. I. Historical Society. Entered in Privy Council Register, III Geo., vol. 9, p. 428. Printed in "R. I. Colonial Records," vii, 107._

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The numerous documents relating to the burning of the Gaspee are printed in _R. I. Colonial Records_, vol. 7, pp. 55-192; also in R. I. Historical Society _Proceedings_, 1890-91, pp. 80-92, and _Publications_, vol. 7, pp. 238-244.

[2] This is the only proclamation of which the editor finds record that was printed outside of Great Britain. A marginal note appended to the entry of the proclamation in the Privy Council Register (III Geo., vol. 9, p. 428) reads: "N. B. The original proclamation under the Great Seal was sent over to Rhode Island with the Commission &c by the Secretary of State." In the _London Gazette_ of September 8, 1772, an article dated at Whitehall, August 29, and evidently officially inspired, recites the circumstances of the attack upon the Gaspee, the appointment of a commission of inquiry, and the issuance of a Proclamation which was "to be printed and published within the said Colony of Rhode Island." Under date of December 22, 1772, Governor Wanton of Rhode Island wrote to the Sheriffs of the several counties: "In obedience to the King's command, signified to me, by the Right Honorable the Earl of Dartmouth, one of his principal secretaries of state, I have caused to be printed His Majesty's proclamation for discovering and apprehending the persons who plundered and burnt the Gaspee schooner; copies of which, I send you by express, which you are forthwith to affix in the most public places of the several towns within your colony" (_R. I. Colonial Records_, vii, 117). John Howland relates that the proclamation was posted near the Market house in Providence, but was struck down by a patriotic citizen and "mingled with the filth of the street" (Stone's _Life of Howland_, p. 37).

The editor could find no printed copy of this proclamation in England, but a few days after returning to America had the good fortune to discover one of the original broadsides, which was purchased for the R. I. Historical Society.

1774, December 16.

[Providing Copper Currency for Virginia.]

BY THE KING.

A PROCLAMATION

GEORGE R.