fully or inadvertantly have seated themselves upon any Lands so reserved to, or claimed by the said Indians, without any lawfull Authority for so doing, forthwith to remove therefrom. And in case you shall find upon Strict enquiry to be made for that purpose, that any Person or Persons do claim to hold or possess any Lands within Our said

upon pretence of Purchases made of the said Indians, without a proper Licence first had & obtained, either from us or any of Our Royal Predecessors, or any Persons Acting under Our or their Authority, you are forthwith to cause a Prosecution to be carried on, against such Person or Persons, who shall have made such fraudulent Purchases, to the end that the land may be recover'd by a due Course of Law. And whereas the wholesome Laws which have at different times been passed in several of Our said Colonys, and the Instructions which have been given by Our Royal Predecessors, for restraining Persons from purchasing Lands of the Indians, without a Licence for that purpose, & for regulating the proceedings upon such Purchases, have not been duly observ'd; It is therefore Our express Will and Pleasure, that when any Application shall be made to you, for Licence to purchase Lands of the Indians, you do forbear to grant such Licence; untill you shall have first transmitted to Us by Our Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, the particulars of such Application, as well in respect to the Situation, as the Extent of the Lands so proposed to be purchased, and shall have receiv'd Our further Directions therein. And it is Our further Will & Pleasure, that you do forthwith cause these Our Instructions to you, to be made publick, not only within all parts of Our said 'Inhabited by Our Subjects, but also amongst the several Tribes of Indians, living

1 Colony or Province.

within the same, to the end that Our Royal Will and Pleasure in the Premises may be known, and that the Indians may be apprised of Our Determined Resolution to support them, in their just Rights, and inviolably to observe Our Engagements with them.

Draught of an Instruction' for the Governors of Nova Scotia, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Virginia North Carolina South Carolina, Georgia. Barbadoes, Leeward Islands Bermuda, Bahama and Jamaica relative to the Tenure of the Commissions to be by them granted to the Judges and other Officers and Ministers of Justice in the said Colonies.

Whereas Laws have been lately passed or attempted to be passed in several of our Colonies in America, enacting that the Judges of the several Courts of Judicature or other Chief Officers of Justice in the said Colonies shall hold their Offices during good behaviour; and whereas the Governors or other Chief Officers of several others of our said Colonies have granted Commissions to the Judges or other Chief Officers of Justice by which they have been impowered to hold their said Offices during good Behaviour contrary to the express directions of the Instructions given to the said Governors or other Chief Officers by us or by our Royal Predecessors; And whereas it does not appear to us that in the present situation and Circumstances of our said Colonies it would be either for the interest and advantage of the said Colonies or of this Our Kingdom of Great Britain that the Judges or other

I Transmitted to the several Governors under date of December 12th, 1761.—ED.

Chief Officers of Justice should hold their Offices during good Behaviour. It is therefore our express will and pleasure that you do not upon any pretence whatever, upon pain of being removed from your Government give your Assent to any Act by which the Tenure of the Commissions to be granted to the Chief Judges or other Justices of the several Courts of Judicature shall be regulated or ascertained in any manner whatsoever. And you are to take particular care in all Commissions to be by you granted to the said Chief Judges or other Justices of the Courts of Judicature that the said Conimissions are granted during Pleasure only, agreeable to what has been the Ancient Practice and Usage in our said Colonies and Plantations

Letter from the Secretary of State (Earl of Egremont) to the Governors of the North American Plantations.

[From New York Colonial Documents, Vol. VII, p. 482.]

WHITEHALL Dec 12. 1761.

[This circular, after setting forth the impracticability of recruiting the Regular Regiments in North America, from Great Britain, urges the Governors of the several provinces "to carry into the most speedy and Effectual Execution this Very important object" and concludes as follows:]

"I have also in Command from the King to acquaint you, that tho' the present Situation of Affairs, would have fully justified, the having required of the Provinces, as large a number of Men as they ever have raised for any of the former Campaigns, instead of the quota, which was demanded the last year; yet, His

Maj" considering the high importance of the Service, which makes the subject of this letter, and being desirous to Ease the burthens of his faithful Subjects, as far as shall be consistent with their own Safety, has been pleased to require only the same number of Men, as for the last year, in order thereby to facilitate a measure, so essential as the compleating the Regular Regiments, by Recruits to be furnished from the Provinces in N° America; and the King is persuaded that the said Provinces, duly sensible of His Majtys tender and paternal care for their welfare, will in return, readily, and chearfully comply with the orders now sent you.

I am ettc.

EGREMONT.

Representation from the Lords of Trade to the King, recommending the disapproval of two Acts passed in New Jersey in April, 1761.

[From P. R. O. B. T. New Jersey, Vol. 17, p. 122.]

WHITEHALL Dec 22; 1761

To the King's most Excellent Majesty

May it please your Majesty

We have had under Our Consideration two Acts passed in Your Majesty's Colony of New Jersey in April 1761, and We humbly beg leave to lay the said Acts before Your Majesty together with such Observations as have occurred to Us upon them.

The first of these Acts is Entituled, An Act for obviating doubts respecting the Acts of Assembly past last Session and for confirming the proceedings of the Courts of Justice in this Province since the demise of His late Majesty.

As this Act is of a New & extraordinary nature and materially affects Your Majesty's Royal Prerogative, it ought not to have been passed, without a Clause suspending and deferring it's execution, until Your Majesty's Pleasure should have been known; This however is a defect arising entirely, from the inattention of Your Majesty's Governor, and does not in Our humble Opinion Affect the Merits of the Act itself; and We mention it only to point Out to your Majesty, the litte regard shewn by the Governors in General, of your Majesty's American Colony, to those Instructions which respect their Conduct in the passing of Laws.

The Objections, upon which We shall humbly propose that this Act may be repealed, have reference to the particular Provisions of it, which apply themselves to three distinct Objects;

1st To establish & confirm all Acts done by the Legislature and by the Courts of Justice, between the decease of His late Majesty & the Proclamation of your Majesty in that Colony.

2dly To continue the Session of the General Assembly which shall have been called and met at any future demise of the Crown, for Six Months after the proclamation of the Successor.

3a To declare, that no Court or Office of Justice shall be dissolved or discontinued, until the Expiration of Six Months, after any future demise of the Crown.

Upon a full Consideration of these several Provisions they appear to Us both unnecessary & inexpedient for the following Reasons;

1st because no doubt has ever arisen in any event of the nature of that referred to, nor can any doubt ever arise with any Shadow of reason to the validity of Acts done in the Name of the deceased Prince, before such decease could have been known, or legally promulged.

2 Because the Reasons which gave rise to the Act of Parliament for continuing the sitting of Parliament